Contents

1. The Great Controversy in Scripture

2. Love

3. What is the Reason for the Delay?

4. Who Wrote Genesis?

5. Genesis—Some Background Thoughts

6. The Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil

7. GENESIS—A TEACHER'S GUIDE

8. From Sodom and Gomorrah to Hell

9. God Seeks to Kill Moses

10. Pagan Gods of Egypt

11. Was God Fair to the Egyptians and the Canaanites?

12. EXODUS---A TEACHER'S GUIDE

13. The Levitical Offerings

14. LEVITICUS---A TEACHER'S GUIDE

15. Smiting the Rock-The Sin of Moses

16. NUMBERS---A TEACHER'S GUIDE

17. DEUTERONOMY---A TEACHER'S GUIDE

18. Rahab and the Two Spies

19. JOSHUA ---- A TEACHER'S GUIDE

20. JUDGES--- A TEACHER'S GUIDE

21. RUTH --- A TEACHER'S GUIDE

22. Major Study Questions for 1 Samuel

23. 1 SAMUEL--- A TEACHER'S GUIDE

24. David: A Man After God's Own Heart?

25. 2 SAMUEL---A TEACHER'S GUIDE

26. 1 KINGS---A TEACHER'S GUIDE

27. 2 KINGS---A TEACHER'S GUIDE

28. 1 CHRONICLES---A TEACHER'S GUIDE

29. 2 CHRONICLES---A TEACHER'S GUIDE

30. EZRA AND NEHEMIAH---A TEACHER'S GUIDE

31. ESTHER---A TEACHER'S GUIDE

32. Job “If God Didn't Do It, Who Did?”

33. JOB---A TEACHER'S GUIDE

34. PSALMS---A TEACHER'S GUIDE

35. PROVERBS---A TEACHER'S GUIDE

36. ECCLESIASTES---A TEACHER'S GUIDE

37. THE SONG OF SOLOMON---A TEACHER'S GUIDE

38. LAMENTATIONS---A TEACHER'S GUIDE

39. ISAIAH---A TEACHER'S GUIDE

40. JEREMIAH---A TEACHER'S GUIDE

41. “For My Own Name's Sake”

42. EZEKIEL---A TEACHER'S GUIDE

43. DANIEL---A TEACHER'S GUIDE

44. HOSEA---A TEACHER'S GUIDE

45. JOEL---A TEACHER'S GUIDE

46. AMOS---A TEACHER'S GUIDE

47. OBADIAH---A TEACHER'S GUIDE

48. JONAH---A TEACHER'S GUIDE

49. MICAH---A TEACHER'S GUIDE

50. NAHUM---A TEACHER'S GUIDE

51. HABAKKUK---A TEACHER'S GUIDE

52. ZEPHANIAH---A TEACHER'S GUIDE

53. HAGGAI---A TEACHER'S GUIDE

54. ZECHARIAH---A TEACHER'S GUIDE

55. MALACHI--- A TEACHER'S GUIDE

1. The Great Controversy in Scripture

1.    The Bible teaches that there are other beings in the universe besides humans:

A.    God (and Christ) existed before this earth was created: Ps. 90:2[1]; Jn 1:1-3[2]; Jn 17:24[3]; Heb1:8-10[4]; 1 Pet 1:20[5]; Eph 1:4, 5[6]; Col. 1:15-17[7]

B.    Angels - More than 300 references in the King James Version : Psalms 91:11[8]; Hebrews 1:4-2:2[9];Exodus 23:23[10]; 1 Chronicles 21:16[11]; 2 Samuel 24:16-17[12]

C.    Satan/Devil - Ezekiel 28:13[13]; Revelation 12:7-12[14]; Genesis 3:1-4[15]; Approximately 200 references in King James Version ; See handout on Satan.

D.    Other Beings : Job 1:6[16]; Job 2:1[17]; Job 38:4-7[18]; Daniel 9:21[19]; Acts 12:7[20]; Hebrews 13:2[21]; compare Revelation 22:16[22]; 2 Peter 1:19[23]; 1 Corinthians 4:9[24]; Ephesians 1:9-10; 3:9-10[25]; Colossians 1:19-20[26]

2.    Satan wanted to take the place of God: Isaiah 14:12-14[27]; Ezekiel 28:11-15[28]; Matthew 4:8-9[29]

3.    God has said that sin (which began with Satan) will lead to death: Genesis 2:17[30]; Romans 6:23[31]

4.    Satan has accused God of being a liar: Genesis 3:1-5[32]; Job 1:6-12[33]; Job 2:1-6[34]

5.    Sometime before this earth was created, war arose in heaven: Revelation 12:1-12[35]; Ezekiel 28:12-16[36]

6.    Satan and his followers were excluded from heaven: Luke 10:18[37]; John 8:44[38]; John 12:31[39]; Col. 2:15[40]; 2 Peter 2:4; Jude 6; Revelation 12:7-12

7.    When Satan lost his battle to overthrow God in heaven, he came to this earth to tempt us: Revelation 12:7-10[41]; Genesis 3:1-4[42]; Ezekiel 28:12-16[43]

8.    Satan claims to be the master of this world. He claims that this world belongs to him: Job 1 & 2[44]; Matthew 4:8,9[45]; 1 Kings 22[46]; 2 Chronicles 18[47]; John 12:31[48]; John 14:30[49]; John 16:11[50]; 2 Cor.4:4[51]; Eph. 2:1,2[52]; Eph. 6:16[53]; 1 John 5:19[54]

9.    Satan claims that we are his because we have sinned and he has the right to destroy us: Zechariah 3:1-5[55]; Jude 9[56]

10.    God promised to demonstrate the truthfulness of his statement in Genesis 2:17[57]: Genesis 3:15[58]; Romans 3:1-4[59]; Romans 3:25-27[60]

11.    The whole rest of the universe is watching us to see what is going to happen: 1 Corinthians 4:9[61]; Ephesians 1:7-10[62]; Eph. 3:9-10[63]; Colossians 1:19-20[64]

12.    Christ promised that he would deal with the sin problem. In order to do that he must deal with Satan’s lies as well as our misbehavior: Romans 8:3[65]; Romans 3:4[66]

13.    Christ died for sinless angels too, because they were the first ones to hear Satan’s accusations against God: Ephesians 1:7-10[67]; Eph. 3:7-10[68]; Colossians 1:19-20[69]; John 12:32[70] ( GNB )

14.    God needs to clear his own name in order to win in the great controversy: (See handout Ezekiel #3:For My Own Name’s Sake)

15.    Ezekiel 20 and 36[71] are very instructive chapters. They should be read carefully and the implications considered. Please note this particular theme:

In Egypt: Read Ezekiel 20:4-7[72] about how God tried to help Israel in Egypt, then note:

Ezekiel 20:8,9 : 8 “But they defied me and refused to listen. They did not throw away their disgusting idols or give up the Egyptian gods. I was ready to let them feel the full force of my anger there in Egypt. 9 But I did not, since that would have brought dishonor to my name , for in the presence of the people among whom they were living I had announced to Israel that I was going to lead them out of Egypt... ( GNB )

In the wilderness: Read Eze 20:10-12[73], then note:

Ezekiel 20:13-14 : 13 “But even in the desert they defied me. They broke my laws and rejected my commands, which bring life to anyone who obeys them. They completely profaned the Sabbath.

I was ready to let them feel the force of my anger there in the desert and to destroy them. 14 But I did not, since that would have brought dishonor to my name among the nations which had seen me lead Israel out of Egypt ... (See Exodus 32:7-14[74])

The second generation in the wilderness: Read Eze. 20:15-20[75], then note:

Ezekiel 20:21-22 : 21 “But that generation also defied me. They broke my laws and did not keep my commands, which bring life to anyone who obeys them. They profaned the Sabbath. I was ready to let them feel the force of my anger there in the desert and to kill them all. 22 But I did not, since that would have brought dishonor to my name among the nations which had seen me bring Israel out of Egypt ...

After the Babylonian captivity: Read Eze. 20:37-42[76], then note:

Ezekiel 20:43-44 : 43 “‘Then you will remember all the disgraceful things you did and how you defiled yourselves. You will be disgusted with yourselves because of all the evil things you did. 44 When I act to protect my honor, you Israelites will know that I am the LORD, because I do not deal with you as your wicked, evil actions deserve.’ The Sovereign LORD has spoken.” (GNB)

Right throughout Israelite history God has had to act, not primarily for the “salvation” of his people but for the honor of his own name! The great controversy is not so much about how God saves you and me but about how God answers Satan’s accusations against his character and government.

Note especially that the purpose of the Sabbath is to remind us of this particular very important truth. The Sabbath is to be a time when we get to know our God and are reminded of our relationship with him. (Ezekiel 20:12[77]; Eze. 20:20[78]) We need to understand his character and as much about him as possible and not just the right name by which to refer to him.

If the Sabbath is not being used for this purpose, then as far as God is concerned we are profaning it. (Ezekiel 20:13-21[79])

In Ezekiel 36 after all of Israel is in captivity, he explains further:

Ezekiel 36:20-22: 20 Wherever they went, they brought disgrace on my holy name, because people would say, These are the people of the LORD, but they had to leave his land.’ 21 That made me concerned for my holy name, since the Israelites brought disgrace on it. The everywhere they went. 22 Now then, give the Israelites the message that I, the Sovereign LORD, have for them: What I am going to do is not for the sake of you Israelites, but for the sake of my holy name , which you have disgraced in every country where you have gone. 23 When I demonstrate to the nations the holiness of my great name-the name you disgraced among them-then they will know that I am the LORD ... (28) You will be my people, and I will be your God... 32 Israel, I want you to know that I am not doing all this for your sake ... 36 Then the neighboring nations that have survived will know that I, the LORD, rebuild ruined cities and replant waste fields.

I, The LORD, have promised that I would do this-and I will. ( GNB )

This is why Ezekiel repeats the phrase “Then they will know that I am the LORD” or “for my own name’s sake” or something similar at least 46 times in his book. (See handout Ezekiel #3: “ For My Own Name’s Sake” )

Isaiah also realized and stated that God’s reputation was the key issue in Scripture:

Isaiah 48:11:

What I do is done for my own sake—

I will not let my name be dishonored or let anyone else share the glory that should be mine and mine alone.” ( GNB )

Daniel 9:14-19 : Daniel recognized that God must do something for his own reputation.

Summary: There has been a continuous war going on in our universe since before this earth was created. Lucifer, one of God’s foremost angels, began to have rebellious ideas in heaven. After some time he managed to get more than one-third of the angels to side with him against our wonderful Father-Creator-God. Thus “war” began in heaven. Finally, Lucifer, now turned into God’s “adversary” or “Satan”, was excluded from heaven and came down to our earth to cause trouble here. He convinced our first parents to join him in rebellion. From that day to this, we have been surrounded and controlled by sin. Down through the years Satan has been quite successful in convincing most of us that God is really a lying tyrant whose behavior is often “severe, exacting, revengeful, arbitrary” “stern”, “harsh”, “inflexible”, “unforgiving” and “implacable”—“One to be feared, dreaded and even hated”. ( Signs of the Times , January 20, 1890; Bible Training School, November

1, 1908; Review and Herald , November 17, 1891; Christian Education 73; EW 218; GC 534-536)

Jesus Christ was born into this sinful, rebellious world to fully and finally answer Satan’s charges—he came to “deal with sin”. (Romans 3:25-27; Romans 8:3) Now God is waiting for us here on this earth to discover and understand the fact that he has won this “great controversy”. He is waiting for a time when enough of us have “gotten the message” so that through the gift of the empowering Holy Spirit they can spread this truth throughout the world just before he returns in glory to redeem his faithful, trustworthy friends. Sin and those who refuse to separate themselves from sin will come to a final end and this world will once again be a peaceful, safe place to live for the rest of eternity.

© Copyright 1999-2008, Kenneth Hart info@theox.org

2. “Love”

1 John 4:8,16: “...God is love,...”

Matthew 22:36-40:36 “Teacher,” he asked, “which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” 37 Jesus answered, “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the greatest and the most important commandment. 39 The second most important commandment is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as you love yourself.’ 40 The whole Law of Moses and the teachings of the prophets depend on these two commandments.” (GNB)

It sounds so profound and yet so simple! Love is probably the word that has come to be associated with Christianity more than any other. But is it really that simple? Follow me as we consider it for a few minutes.

What God wants most of all in His universe is loving, understanding friends. But love is much more than just a warm, fuzzy emotional response. Think of the implications of this simple concept!

In order to be able to love one must also be able to hate. Otherwise “love” has no meaning. God wants much more than mere robots. Suppose you took a tape recorder and after inserting a nice new tape pressed the record button and spoke clearly into the microphone the following words: “I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you, etc.” for as long as you wanted. If you then should rewind the tape and push the play button would you be delighted to know that the tape recorder was saying “I love you?” Would you give the recorder a big hug for such a wonderful expression of appreciation and love? Of course not. You would think that the whole exercise was a bit silly because the tape recorder has no control over what it says. It only repeats what you tell it.

So in order for God to have creatures that truly love Him, He had to create them with freedom of choice. This in turn implies a lot of other things. Let’s consider.

If God wants real love, and at the same time grants real freedom, then He must give us a basis on which to build that love. In essence, He must truly love us if He wants a love response in return. He will, in effect, have to “win” our love. But how do you do this if someone is truly free?

To be really free, one must have choices. Choices are not the same as chances. Sometimes children play a game where they put something valuable or desirable in one hand and then put both hands behind their back. After a moment or two, during which they may or may not have moved the object from one hand to the other they then bring both hands out for you to choose which one you want. Now if the item is large enough or irregularly shaped enough you may get a clue by the appearance of the hands themselves, but for the moment let us assume that you have no idea which hand contains the item. When you choose one hand or the other, you are playing a chance game. God does not play chance games. If salvation were based on chance, then we are truly dealing with an arbitrary God who just enjoys entertaining Himself with our foolish activities.

In order for God to give us real freedom, He must give us real choices. That means that we not only must be able to see what we are choosing, but more than that we must have some idea of the implications of that choice down the line. If you make a choice because something looks good or feels good, but you have no idea whether you are getting a deadly weapon or a child’s toy, it is really nothing more than chance. In order to have a real choice you must know what the item is, and have some idea about the future implications of choosing it. Furthermore, if we lived in a universe that

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was completely chaotic so that a choice that appeared good today would turn out to be deadly tomorrow, again, any real freedom would be gone.

So, in order to make real love possible, God had to create an orderly universe in which choices that are good today are still good tomorrow. We would have to be able to study reality at least long enough during one lifetime so that we could get a pretty good idea what the results of each of our regular choices was going to be. But think of the implications of this! We would need to have a universe that is orderly enough so that “science” would be possible. “Laws” would describe the way things work.

In allowing us freedom, God recognized that sooner or later someone might choose to work against His plan. Then He would have to deal with the problems that arose. As we know historically, Lucifer, the leader of the angels was the one who rebelled. (Revelation 12:7-9[80]) He, in turn, convinced our first parents to join him in that rebellion. (Genesis 3:1-19[81]) Thus our world became the testing ground for the “great controversy”. God no doubt wished that He could prevent any evil consequences from befalling any of His children, but in order to have an atmosphere of love, God knew that He would have to stand back and allow things to take their course. God certainly has and had the power to step in at any moment and prevent anyone from sinning or even prevent the consequences of anyone’s sins. But if He did that, He would have to overrule our freedom.

Instead God chose to allow things to take their natural course, with people mostly reaping the consequences of their own actions and those of their forefathers. God would only step into human history to exercise His power and force when it was absolutely necessary to preserve the human race or to prevent them from losing contact with Him.

And so we read the record of the Old Testament. God had to allow things to go from bad to worse according to human choices until finally at the time of the flood, things had become so bad that God was about to lose contact with the human race completely. Many things still needed to be demonstrated. So God Himself drowned all of His children except eight.

And so the story went on for thousands of years. Now it is our turn to live on the earth. And God is preserving a complete record of everything that is being thought, said, and done here on planet earth as a permanent protection against such a thing ever happening again.

A million or even a billion years into eternity, as we are living in complete harmony and peace together, someone may again decide to rebel. God will only need to pull out the “videotape” of the history of this world from the Divine Museum to remind everyone what the consequences of such a decision would be. God only needs to let “sin” happen once.

Our little planet is and will forever be the lesson book of the universe. God has declared that “love” is the best, even the only way, to run a universe, and the devil, and this earth, are in the midst of an experiment to try to prove that God is wrong. We may choose which side of this whole “great controversy” we are going to be on. But as we decide let us remember that the consequences and implications of each choice are far from “simple”!

© Copyright 1999-2002, Kenneth Hart khart@llu.edu

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3. What is the Reason for the Delay?

1.    If God is omnipotent, omniscient, and completely sovereign, how can He talk about “delay”? (See Matthew 25:5[82], 2 Thessalonians 2:1-10[83]; Hebrews 10:37[84]; Revelation 10:6[85]) What reasons does the Bible give for the apparent delay? (2 Thessalonians 2:1-10[86]; Revelation 7:1-3[87]; 1 Corinthians 10:13[88]; 2 Peter 3:9-12[89])

2.    What is the major reason for the delay in Christ’s second coming? Is it that God’s fixed time has not yet arrived, and the universe is waiting for Him? Is it that God is waiting for a certain level of wickedness when man’s “cup of iniquity” (See EGW comments below) will be full, when the human race will have passed even God’s level of tolerance? Is it that God is waiting for His people to “be sealed” so Satan’s final efforts to deceive will not mislead them? Is God waiting for us or are we waiting for Him?

3.    If God is waiting for us, will there ever come a time when “we” will be ready? What specifically do you think God is waiting for? Do we have any control over whether Christ’s coming is hastened or delayed? (2 Peter 3:12[90])

4.    What should be our attitude toward commemorating “the great disappointment” of 1844? Should we celebrate, or weep? Are we still a “great disappointment” to God? Are we still guilty of “unbelief, murmuring, and rebellion” or “unbelief, the worldliness, unconsecration, and strife” that Ellen White identifies as the reason for the delay? Or have we now accepted the three angels’ messages, proclaiming them to the world?

Discussion Proposals:

Christians who have looked forward to the second coming of Christ so prominently predicted in the New Testament have wondered why God has waited so long to come again. Paul and the other New Testament writers seemed to think that it would happen even before they died. (See 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17[91]) So what is God still waiting for? Jesus answered the accusations of Satan, won His case, and secured the eternal freedom of the universe almost two thousand years ago. Surely He is anxious to get finished with this rebellion! He certainly looks forward to giving His reward to His “saints”!

But the Bible also suggests that those who live to see Jesus come will have suffered through some very difficult times. Certainly Satan is not going to give up without a fight. Revelation 13:1-8[92] seems to suggest that almost the whole world will follow after the “Dragon”. But Satan will not be able to deceive God’s faithful because they have been prepared for what is coming.

How many times has God started over with different groups to try to prepare them for this moment? Even one-third of the angels in heaven were deceived by Satan. (Revelation 12:4[93]) But the “saints” who live at the end will “no longer be like children, forever changing our minds about what we believe because someone has told us something different or because someone has cleverly lied

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to us and made the lie sound like the truth.” (Ephesians 4:14[94], NLT) We must become mature Christians “who have trained themselves to recognize the difference between right and wrong and then do what is right.” (Hebrews 5:14[95], NLT) Could we come to the place where we are prepared to say “even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel that is different from the one we preached to you, may he be condemned to hell!”? (Galatians 1:8,9[96], GNB) God is waiting for a group who are this mature. While we are still eager and willing to learn, like a little child, we must also be fully convinced of the truth about God as Job was who refused under the most terrible testing to be disloyal to the God he knew.

It is people like this whom God is waiting for. If He were to allow Satan to exercise his full deceptive powers on the “church” as it now is, far too many would be led astray. So God continues to instruct His angels to hold back the “winds of strife” (Revelation 7:1-3[97]) until the “saints” are ready to be “sealed”. They must be so convinced of the truth and unshakably committed to God that nothing will be able to persuade them to change their picture of God. Then God will be able to turn to the universe and proudly ask them to watch as Satan does his worst and God’s true people remain loyal to the truth that they have come to love.

Could human beings ever become like this? Think of all the people down through the centuries who have believed that they were God’s true people while misrepresenting Him terribly! Remember especially those who nailed Him to the cross and then hastened to their places to keep the Sabbath holy in commemoration of the One whom they had just crucified! Who are we more like? The Pharisees or Jesus? Is our understanding of Father, Son and Holy Spirit more like His or theirs? Do we on a day-by-day basis choose to do what is right in the eyes of God because it is right? Or do we still need high walls of protection to keep us from straying from the truth? The Bible says that we need to be working to hasten His coming. (2 Peter 3:8-12[98]) Instead, are we the reason for the delay? Surely God won’t wait any longer than He has to!

Scriptural passages:

Matthew 25:5: “Now while the bridegroom was delaying, they all got drowsy and began to sleep.” (NASB)

2 Thessalonians 2:1-10: “Concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered together to be with him: I beg you, my brothers and sisters, 2not to be so easily confused in your thinking or upset by the claim that the Day of the Lord has come... 3Do not let anyone deceive you in any way. For the Day will not come until the final Rebellion takes place and the Wicked One appears, who is destined for hell. He will oppose every so-called god or object of worship and will put himself above them all. He will even go in and sit down in God’s Temple and claim to be God...

®Yet there is something that keeps this from happening now, and you know what it is. At the proper time, then, the Wicked One will appear. 7The Mysterious Wickedness is already at work, but what is going to happen will not happen until the one who holds it back is taken out of the way. Then the Wicked One will be revealed, but when the Lord Jesus comes, he will kill him with the breath from his mouth and destroy him with his dazzling presence. The Wicked One will come with the power of Satan and perform all kinds of false miracles and wonders, 10and use every kind of wicked

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deceit on those who will perish. They will perish because they did not welcome and love the truth so as to be saved.” (GNB)

Revelation 7:1-3: “After this I sawfour angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds so that no wind should blow on the earth or the sea or against any tree. 2And I saw another angel coming up from the east with the seal of the living God. He called out in a loud voice to the four angels to whom God had given the power to damage the earth and the sea. 3The angel said, “Do not harm the earth, the sea, or the trees, until we mark the servants of our God with a seal on their foreheads.” (GNB)

1    Corinthians 10:13: “Every test that you have experienced is the kind that normally comes to people. But God keeps his promise, and he will not allow you to be tested beyond your power to remain firm; at the time you are put to the test, he will give you the strength to endure it, and so provide you with a way out.” (GNB)

2    Peter 3:9-12: “8But do not forget one thing, my dear friends! There is no difference in the Lord’s sight between one day and a thousand years; to him the two are the same. 9The Lord is not slow to do what he has promised, as some think. Instead, he is patient with you, because he does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants all to turn away from their sins.

10But the Day of the Lord will come like a thief. On that Day the heavens will disappear with a shrill noise, the heavenly bodies will burn up and be destroyed, and the earth with everything in it will vanish. 11Since all these things will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people should you be? Your lives should be holy and dedicated to God, 12as you wait for the Day of God and do your best to make it come soon—the Day when the heavens will burn up and be destroyed, and the heavenly bodies will be melted by the heat.” (GNB)

Other Bible References:

Revelation 9:4; 13:16-18; 14:9-11; 15:2; 16:2; 20:3,4[99]; Ezekiel 9[100]; Ephesians 4:30; 1:13[101]

Ellen White:

“Time will last a little longer until the inhabitants of the earth have filled up the cup of their iniquity, and then the wrath of God, which has so long slumbered, will awake, and this land of light will drink the cup of His unmingled wrath.”--ITestimonies 363 (1863); Last Day Events 41.1

“The long night of gloom is trying, but the morning is deferred in mercy, because if the Master should come, so many would be found unready. God’s unwillingness to have His people perish, has been the reason of so long delay.” 2Testimonies 194; Evangelism 694 (1868)

“The cup of iniquity is nearly filled, and the retributive justice of God is about to descend upon the guilty.”- 4Testimonies 489 (1880). {LDE 41.2}

“But has the word of the Lord failed? Never! It should be remembered that the promises and the threatenings of God are alike conditional...

“Had Adventists, after the great disappointment in 1844, held fast their faith and followed on unitedly in the opening providence of God, receiving the message of the third

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angel and in the power of the Holy Spirit proclaiming it to the world, they would have seen the salvation of God, the Lord would have wrought mightily with their efforts, the work would have been completed, and Christ would have come ere this to receive His people to their reward.” Ms. 4, 1883 (Evangelism 695)

“The wickedness of the inhabitants of the world has almost filled up the measure of their iniquity. This earth has almost reached the place where God will permit the destroyer to work his will upon it.”- 7Testimonies 141 (1902). {LDE 41.3}

“The light that was to lighten the whole earth with its glory was resisted and by the action of our own brethren has been in a great degree kept away from the world...

“The law of Ten Commandments is not to be looked upon as much from the prohibitory side as from the mercy side. Its prohibitions are the sure guarantee of happiness and obedience. As received in Christ, it works in us the purity of character that will bring joy to us through eternal ages.” Selected Messages, vol. 1, p. 234,235 (comments about 1888)

“Just as soon as the people of God are sealed in their foreheads --it is not any seal or mark that can be seen, but a settling into the truth, both intellectually and spiritually, so they cannot be moved--just as soon as God’s people are sealed and prepared for the shaking, it will come. Indeed, it has begun already; the judgments of God are now upon the land, to give us warning, that we may know what is coming.” (MS 173, 1902). S.D.A. Bible Commentary Vol. 4, p. 1161; LDE 219; Maranatha 200; The Faith I Live By 287; 1MR 249,250; 10MR 252

“The shortness of time is urged as an incentive for us to seek righteousness and to make Christ our friend. This is not the great motive. It savors of selfishness. Is it necessary that the terrors of the day of God be held before us to compel us through fear to right action? This ought not to be.” (Review and Herald, Aug. 2, 1881)

“Christ is waiting with longing desire for the manifestation of Himself in His church. When the character of Christ shall be perfectly reproduced in His people, then He will come to claim them as His own. It is the privilege of every Christian not only to look for but to hasten the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, (2 Peter 3:12, margin).Were all who profess His name bearing fruit to His glory, how quickly the whole world would be sown with the seed of the gospel. Quickly the last great harvest would be ripened, and Christ would come to gather the precious grain.” (Christ’s Object Lessons 69, 1900; Counsels to Teachers 324.3; LDE 39.2,3; Lift Him Up 274.6,7; Maranatha 112.5; PH145 6.3; Sons and Daughters of God 32.7)

Ellen White: Evangelism 694-697; Last Day Events 32-42; Maranatha 136

© Copyright 1995-2005, Kenneth Hart khart@llu.edu

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4. Who Wrote Genesis?

"The idea that the Pentateuch could be composed of several sources was provoked mainly by the existence of two creation stories in Genesis 1-3.” (Anchor Bible Dictionary) It was noted that Genesis 1 used the name Elohim for God while Genesis 2 used mainly YHWH or Yahweh. Critical scholars suggested that this was because two different authors or even groups of authors had written two different accounts of creation and someone later tried to put these two different stories together to form the books of "Moses”. They eventually believed that there were four major sources for the books of "Moses”. These were called E for the author(s) primarily using the name Elohim, J for the author(s) using JHWH or YHWH or Yahweh, P for the "priestly” portions, and finally D for the deuteronomist or second giving of the law.

Much of the original thinking that went into these ideas has been discredited, but many scholars still believe in these different sources for the books of Moses. It is sometimes referred to as the multiple document theory or the "Graf Wellhausen System” for two of its main contributors.

"Although Genesis is anonymous, the Pentateuch was considered essentially one book in Jewish tradition, and its authorship as a whole attributed to Moses. Mosaic authorship was the established view of the church, as well as of Jewish tradition, until the mid-eighteenth century. At that time, critical scholars began reconsidering the character of the Pentateuch’s literary features and concluded that it reflected a composite picture of literary sources that had been pieced together in stages over many centuries by a series of unknown editors. The final edition, as it exists today, was thought to be the work of Ezra (fifth century B.C.). Although modifications of this source theory have been made, many modern scholars still operate under some version of it. It fails, however, to give adequate attention to the internal evidence that the Pentateuch is a unified work, rather than a hodgepodge of sources. The theme of Israel’s blessing and covenant, as well as the unity of the historical narrative from Abraham’s election to Israel’s origins, shows that the books are better interpreted as a cohesive whole.

"Scholars who have not adopted the source theory believe that the Pentateuch was composed by Moses for many of the same reasons that the Jews originally so concluded. First, the individual books of the Pentateuch contain specific references to Moses as the author of various sections (Exodus 17:14; 24:4-8; 34:27[102]; Numbers 33:1,2[103]; Deuteronomy 31:9, 22[104]). Second, there are forty allusions in the Old Testament to Moses as the author of the "Law” or "Book” of Moses: (1) "the Law” (Joshua 8:34[105]; 2 Chronicles 14:4; 31:21; 33:8[106]; Ezra 10:3[107]; Nehemiah 8:2, 7, 14; 10:34, 36; 12:44; 13:3[108]); (2) "the Book of the Law” (Joshua 1:8; 8:34[109]; 2 Kings 22:8[110]; Nehemiah 8:3[111]); (3) "the Book of the Law of Moses” (Joshua 8:31; 23:6[112]; 2 Kings 14:6[113]; Nehemiah 8:1[114]; cf. Daniel 11:13[115]); (4) "the Book of Moses” (2 Chronicles 25:4; 35:12[116]; Ezra 6:18[117]; Nehemiah 13:1[118]); (5) "the Law of the Lord” (1 Chronicles 16:40[119]; 2 Chronicles 31:3; 35:26[120]; Ezra 7:10[121]); (6) "the Law of God” (Nehemiah 10:28[122]); (7) "the Book of the Law of God” (Joshua 24:26[123]; Nehemiah 8:18[124]); (8) "the Book of the Law of the Lord” (2 Chronicles 17:9; 34:14[125]); (9) "the Book of the Law of the Lord their God” (Nehemiah 9:3[126]); and (10) "the Law of Moses the servant of God” (Daniel 9:11[127]; cf. Malachi 4:4[128]). Third, Moses is the prominent figure in the Books of Exodus through Deuteronomy, and therefore he may reasonably be considered the most qualified person to have authored these books. The specific geographical, topographical, and historical details given in these books require the

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author to have had a firsthand knowledge of the events described. Also, conservative Christian scholars point to New Testament evidence that the early church followed the Jewish tradition: (1) "the book of the law” (Galatians 3:10[129]); (2) "the book of Moses” (Mark 12:26[130]); (3) "the law” (Matthew 12:5[131]; Luke 16:16[132]; John 7:19[133]); (4) "the law of Moses” (Luke 2:22[134]; John 7:23[135]); and (5) "the law of the Lord” (Luke 2:23, 24[136]).

“DATE: c.1460 B.C.

"One of the most careful evaluations of the Biblical and archaeological evidence suggests that the exodus from Egypt may have occurred about 1445 B.C. If this is the case Genesis was probably written a short time before that during the time when Moses was tending sheep. The book of Job may have been written about the same time by Moses.” (Believer’s Study Bible)

In the light of the above arguments, it is clear that to suggest that Moses did not write the first five books of the Bible known as the "Law” or the "Torah” or the "Pentateuch” (which means five books in Greek) is to reject the testimony of most of the rest of Scripture, even the testimony of Jesus Himself. While we may recognize that there are legitimate differences in style in different parts of these books, there is no way a person can reject the Mosaic authorship and still hold that the rest of the Bible is reliable.

For more information contact: Kenneth Hart

khart@llu.edu

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5. GENESIS - SOME BACKGROUND THOUGHTS

Historical Background

Genesis was most likely written about 1500 BC by Moses, probably near Mt. Sinai, while herding sheep for his father-in-law, Jethro. Moses also probably wrote Job about the same time. Nineteenth century higher critics didn’t think Moses could have been the author for the following reasons: a. the use of three different names for God with different sections of the book seeming to prefer one or the other; b. many repetitions of stories suggests that the “author” drew from several different sources and couldn't fully put them together; c. conditions described in the book were not supposed to have been present until long after Moses' death; d. Location names from a much later period seem to be used instead of the earlier names; e. the traditional stories of the creation, flood, and some patriarchs are so similar to other stories from Babylon etc. that it is assumed that the “author” copied these stories. Fortunately for us, many of the claims of higher critics have been clearly refuted by modern archaeology. For more details see SDA Bible Comm. vol. 1, p. 201-204.

Discussion:

Looking back into eternity we see God seated on His throne and on His right hand we see Christ the Morning Star or Light Bearer (in Latin it is translated Lucifer) and on His left the creature named Lucifer bearing one of the names of God. Of all God's creatures none could better explain the things of God or better represent God than Lucifer. When God prepared to create this world they did not include Lucifer, the creature, in their deliberations because he had nothing to contribute. This was one of the factors that contributed to his growing jealousy of Christ who had humbled Himself so much that He was known as Michael the Archangel. Soon after Satan was cast down God went ahead with His plans to create this earth. (What do you think Satan was cast down to?)

The story of Genesis is the sad story of the rapid decline of the human family from sinless perfection in the garden of Eden to its conclusion with putting Joseph in a coffin in Egypt.

All of these books need to be studied in their setting, but how broad should we make the setting? To get the best possible understanding of what the issues were in the garden of Eden we must look at all the available evidence on what had taken place in the universe up to that point. Scripture can always be interpreted best when we take the broadest possible context. So where do we look in the Bible to learn what had happened before Eden and to discover who else out there might be looking on? For example, during creation week, who was watching?

A. Who was observing the creation of our world?

God is eternal, All three Members of the Godhead: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit were there from the beginning: Isa 57:15 (NIV) - “For this is what the high and lofty One says-He who lives forever, whose name is holy...”

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Habakkuk 3:6 (NIV) - “...His ways are eternal.”

John 1:1 - “In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God, and the Word was God... v.14 “All things were made by Him, and without Him was not anything made that was made.” compare Micah 5:2[137]; Colossians 1:16[138]; 1 Timothy 6:16[139]

Angels were there: Hebrews 1:14[140]; Revelation 12:7-9[141]

Sons of God: Conservative scholars imply that other worlds had been created and their inhabitants were also observing--compare Job 1,2[142] (see especially 1:6, 2:1 where some modern translations have angels, but in Hebrew the words are “sons of God”) To support this see Job 38:4-7[143]. First, please notice an important technical point. In Hebrew poetry when two lines seem to give a parallel thought, the second line is explaining or repeating or confirming what is in the first line, e.g. Morning Stars and Sons of God. When God began the creation of the world, we thus see who was watching. When God had finished creation, they “sang together, and shouted for joy.” The entire universe were watching very closely on creation week. We only showed up on Friday as newcomers.

Lucifer was there: Isaiah 14:12-15[144]; Ezekiel 28:12-17[145]; Revelation 12:7-9[146]

See Revelation 12:4[147] for the first mention of the war in heaven. When did Satan begin his work of deception and accusation? What is Satan actually trying to accomplish by his accusations? See Isaiah 14:12[148]; Ezekiel 28:12-19[149]; Matthew 4:9[150]. Notice how many times he tried to set himself up as a god.

After sin arose in the heart of Lucifer (Ezekiel 28:15[151]), he spread his rebellious thoughts to one-third of the heavenly angels (Revelation 12:4[152]) and then there was “war in heaven” Revelation 12:7-9[153]. Lucifer (now Satan-the accuser v.10[154]; compare Zechariah 3:1-5[155]; Job 1:6; 2:1[156]) wanted to occupy the place of God and exercise the authority of God, but without using God's methods. Thus he began to accuse God's government and malign His character. Satan, a mere creature, wanted to be worshiped, not only by his fellow creatures but by his Creator (Matthew 4:8[157])!! Incredible as it may seem, at the very end, here on this earth, he will almost succeed. (Revelation 13:3,4[158])

Satan's charges and accusations against God have not been made in private, but before the entire universe. In 2 Corinthians 11:14, Paul gives us a clear idea about how Satan actually does his work, and how he appears to us. It should teach us that although one lies in the most winsome ways, no matter how appealing he appears, if he is not telling us the truth we must reject him. Compare Deuteronomy 13:1-5[159], and 1 Kings 13[160] (esp. vss. 18,19)

God on the other hand has gone out of His way to be gracious to His fallen and unfallen children. Everything He does is open before the entire universe. (Compare Job 1 and 2[161]-an example of one of the councils which God called to discuss plans with His unfallen children.) Even Christ's death was for them: Ephesians 1:3[162]; Ephesians 3:9,10[163]; and especially Colossians 1:19,20[164]. And it is not only Christ who was being observed, see 1 Corinthians 4:9.

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No doubt the entire universe was watching as God created this earth. We have no evidence that any other world was created like our world. As the Creator proceeded, Day One to Day Seven, it was apparent that many of Satan's claims were false. Imagine the freedom God gave Adam and Eve. At great risk, He shared with us as far as possible the power to create. He was even fair with Satan in placing the tree of knowledge of good and evil in the garden.

Sin and God's Foreknowledge:    If God had all the foreknowledge to know all this trouble

was coming why did He create a being who would one day become Satan? Why didn't He just blot Lucifer out and then blot out the memory of him so we wouldn't know? Then God could just go ahead and repeat this anytime anyone would entertain the thought of sin. How do we know that God hasn't done this? The great controversy is proof. Only God would have known. Just imagine the lengths God has gone to to prove to us that He does not manipulate us. God would rather lose one-third of his angels and most human beings rather than limit our freedom.

B. Issues related to creation:

Creation Week: Acts 16:31[165] tells us that all God is asking for is trust, perfect trust. Romans 14:23[166] says that sin is a breach of this trust. Imagine the universe watching creation week day-by-day. What do we learn about God from creation week? Do you see any evidence that God can be trusted? Do you hear any answers to Satan’s charges? Remember that Satan charged that God is arbitrary (not respectful of human freedom). Satan claims that God is vengeful, exacting, unforgiving, and severe. He cannot be depended upon to tell the truth. Are there any answers to his accusations given in creation week? Apparently God could have created our entire world just by the snap of His fingers. Why did He take so long? Do any of God’s actions during creation week suggest that He is selfish in any way? Imagine the beautiful place He has created for His creatures. Why do you think He made us male and female? What better way for God to show His willingness to share as much as possible His creative power. Wouldn't it be just like God to have this work in an atmosphere of love and just like Satan to pervert this as much as he can? Consider how much Satan has done to pervert the power we have to procreate, and thus to destroy what it says to us about God.

What was this ultimately saying to the angels? Or do we have any evidence that there are creatures that reproduce anywhere else in the universe? Compare Christ's discussion of marriage in heaven (the woman with seven husbands Matthew 22:29,30[167]). When our children are young, we are like God to them. Can you think of any better way for God to illustrate the problems He was facing in dealing with us? Are you really willing to respect the freedom of your children so that when they are ready to leave you are ready to let them go? God did. We must be very careful what we say about parents because we sometimes suggest that perhaps if their children have problems it was their fault. What about God? He lost a third. What about God's respect for our freedom? He gave us the freedom to love and obey Him or hate Him and spit in His face.

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Tree of Knowledge: Would it have been necessary for God to put a tree of knowledge of good and evil in the garden if Satan had not rebelled? The tree of knowledge of good and evil was put where it was primarily to try to answer some of the questions that had already been leveled against God, perhaps if Satan had not already rebelled and raised the questions the tree would not have been there. Adam and Eve would have had an opportunity to exercise their freedom in some other way as the rest of the universe does. In the garden, disguised as a beautiful iridescent snake, Satan comes as Lucifer (“light bearer” in Latin) pretending to bring “new light”. He still claims that title, and we must not forget that one day he will come claiming to be Christ Himself. Matthew 24:23, 24[168].

What about the placement of the tree of knowledge of good and evil? To be fair to Satan, and yet limit his access to Adam and Eve, he was allowed to approach them only at one tree. This tree was placed, however, in the center of the garden near to the tree of life. When God told them not to go too near the tree, He was only trying to protect them. Had God said anything to Adam and Eve about death yet? When did He first talk about death? Remember that shortly Satan was to claim that this was a lie (Genesis 3:4[169]). The ultimate, direct answer to this question doesn't come until crucifixion week.

The Sabbath: After the significant events of all creation week comes the Sabbath, the day of rest, and celebration to consider all that has taken place. At the end of crucifixion week the very next day was a day to consider and celebrate what Christ has done for us. The Sabbath was no mere test of our obedience. The Sabbath was made for us, Mark 2:27,28[170]. The primary function of the Sabbath is to provide an opportunity for us to be reminded of the essential truths in the great controversy over the character of God which were revealed in creation and in crucifixion. No wonder most people who do not understand the issues in this controversy find it difficult to understand why we observe the Sabbath. Without this background understanding, the Sabbath is regarded merely as a legalistic hangover from Jewish times.

On the seventh day God said, “We would like to set aside this day to memorialize all that creation has said in answer to Satan's charges?” Shouldn't we make this a time of special togetherness to celebrate God's answers given at the beginning, at Sinai, and at the cross (remember that Christ rested in the tomb) to refute Satan's charges? Doesn't this say a lot about God and about the Sabbath and the risks He was willing to run in giving such freedom to us. That first Sabbath was a great day of victory for God, and helps to explain why there has been so much conflict over the Sabbath down through the ages. No wonder Satan has worked so hard to destroy the meaning of the Sabbath!

C. Issues Related to sin:

“Dying, thou shalt die” (Genesis 2:17) is a Hebrew idiom for “you will certainly die”.

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Adam and Eve's sin: In the garden, wasn't the worst problem-the first human sin-the inclination to open themselves, both of them, to Satan's deceits or accusations and not to trust God?

Notice that Satan's first recorded act was to make some specific accusations against God. When talking about the fruit, he said specifically that God had lied. (Gen. 3:4[171]) Would you trust a liar? He also suggested that God was withholding something from them. He said, I don't know why God is holding this back from you. If God is so good, why would He be cheating you out of this? Right there from the very beginning God is pictured as being arbitrary and exacting. Then when it is all over, God expels them from the garden on their very first offense. What if our parents treated us this way? Doesn't it seem that our sinful parents are more forgiving than our loving heavenly Father-God? If God is really loving and gracious, why did He throw them out on the first offense? What did He mean when He said, on the day that you eat of the fruit, you will die? Did He mean that He would kill them? Was God clarifying the issues here or making things more confusing? Doesn’t it seem like God is acting in just the way Satan had claimed He does.

Adam wasn't willing to trust God with his happiness. He didn't see how he could emotionally survive without Eve. It was a very difficult decision for Adam, but rather than trusting God and letting God make the decision about what he should do, Adam took things into his own hands. Compare Abraham, Hagar and Sarah (see below). Think of the millennia of conflict which have come out of that situation-the Arab-Israeli conflict, etc. Why didn't Adam wait until evening when God would come so they could consult together about the tree? Why didn't Eve consult with her husband on the issue? Think how different things would be if Eve had only said to the talking serpent, “Perhaps you are right about this tree, but it doesn’t seem to agree with what God has told us. Let me talk to Adam and God about this, and if it is indeed a good idea to eat this fruit I will come back tomorrow!”

The results of sin: What do you think went through Adam’s head as Eve told him what she had done? Did he think, “God is so gracious he will forgive us.” The question is, did God forgive them? Certainly, but forgiveness doesn't undo the results of the sin. God forgave them and continued to forgive them. Sin is not just a legal problem recorded in a book and stamped forgiven when we ask for it. It is a real problem and leads to real changes. Sin damages people. The consequences are in no way arbitrary. It is very real and it scars us. Even God cannot undo this without violating our freedom.

What if Adam and Eve had come honestly forward and asked for forgiveness? Would God have treated them differently? It raises the question, do we have to ask for forgiveness? By contrast with Adam and Eve can you think of anyone in the Bible besides Jesus who was tested to the ultimate, and was given all sorts of misrepresentations of God, etc., and yet stood firm? What about Job? Is there anything in the Bible that suggests that God is absolutely forgiveness personified? Even before we ask? See the prodigal son (Luke 15:11-31[172]) The father didn't even let his son finish his speech.

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Do you think Adam and Eve who were living in a perfect environment fully comprehended death? When was the first time that anyone in the universe had an opportunity to see what was the death that was the wages of sin? It can't be the first death that is referred to here, because Christ (John 11:11-15[173]), Paul (1 Corinthians 15:51[174]), and others refer to that simply as a sleep. They must be talking about the second death. (See Revelation 20:6[175]) No doubt the universe was asking when the first lamb was killed, is this the death that You are talking about? When Abel was killed, again they asked is this the death that You are talking about? Similar questions were raised at the flood, and at the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah when fire was poured out? The second death is so awful that God decided that He must demonstrate it Himself. Certainly Adam and Eve didn't understand. The angels themselves didn't understand. This is why Colossians 1:19,20[176] and Ephesians 1:9,10[177] and 3:9,10 say that the death of Christ affects the whole universe-brings harmony and order to heavenly beings as well as us. These loyal angels didn't need forgiveness. The cross didn't make it possible for them to be forgiven. But it was to show them something. In order to answer all the questions that had been raised in the universe, even before the time of the flood, many things had to be done, especially as demonstrated at the cross.

Through all these crises God, in effect, says to the universe, “The most important thing that I have to say to you cannot be said yet. I am waiting for a time when the people who are most apparently my obedient children, will actually be ready to crucify my Son to demonstrate the hazards of worshiping Me out of fear. They appear to be absolutely dedicated to the 'blueprint'. They believe in Me. They believe in the Bible. They study it. They spend much time memorizing it and reading it out loud. In fact, they believe in all the right things, but they will torture Me to death in the name of God and in the name of the truth and the Scriptures.”

So there is no reason to be afraid of God. He never says, “Love Me or I'll kill you”. But there is certainly plenty of reason to be afraid of sin and its consequences.

The answer to what God stated in Genesis 3:15[178] was not fully clarified even for the beings in the rest of the universe until Christ's death-compare Colossians 1:20[179]; Romans 3:24-26[180] (How did Jesus die on Calvary, did God execute Him?); compare Romans 4:25[181] where the word “delivered” (KJV) in Greek is exactly the same as the word for the results of God's wrath in Romans 1:18, 24, 26, 28[182] translated “gave them up”.

Adam's first sacrifice: How did Adam feel as he killed his first sacrificial lamb, perhaps with a stone? Don't you think that he turned in prayer to God and said, “I can't do this, it is making me sick?” God would no doubt have replied, “That is just the point, may it always make you sick! Sin is deadly and I want you to take it seriously.

God and the use of force: What God wants most-love and trust-can never be produced by force. This should be obvious from a little reflection, but there is more. God is clearly the most powerful Being in the universe. If He could win the great controversy and establish the trust and love of His children by exercising that force He should have done so long ago! In the Bible we find that

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the use of overwhelming force gets peoples’ attention for a while (consider the Flood - Genesis 6-11[183]; Mt. Sinai - Exodus 19,20[184]) but it never succeeds in really producing lasting love and trust. (See Genesis 11:1-9[185]; Exodus 32[186]) The Flood was a powerful demonstration, but as soon as people could gather in groups after the Flood, they were building a tower to escape this God that they didn't trust! The Devil admits that God has plenty of power but it only makes him tremble with fear. (James 2:19[187])

One of the main issues in the great controversy is the use of force. God ordinarily refuses to use force but Satan loves it. Can you imagine Satan touring the universe after the flood and saying, “I told you so!” Would God allow such a thing to take place unless there was a very important reason? This was probably God's greatest exercise of force in the entire Bible and what kind of people did He manage to save? They certainly were convinced about His power and His existence (they built a tower to protect themselves) but it didn't lead them to love and trust Him. It demonstrates that you don't win people by a show of power or force.

The Flood:    We have no evidence that everyone who drowned in the flood will be lost. But

then if you measure success in terms of numbers, God has never done very well. God would be a failure on Madison Avenue. The most common question that children ask regarding these books is, “Why would God destroy all the children-in the flood, in Sodom, etc?” (We must recognize that there were other good and righteous people who were laid to rest before the flood began.) Was it God's choice to save only eight or did He save anyone who would go into the ark? Is this a demonstration of what God's destruction is like?

Don't you think that Satan felt that he was about to win just before the flood? Don't you suspect that he accused God of playing foul?

The Tower of Babel: The story of the tower of Babel is the first of many stories in the Bible that suggest that God can get people’s attention for a little while by a show of force or power, but the results never last very long. The first inhabitants of Babylon built the tower of Babel not because they didn’t believe in God, but because they didn’t trust Him and they were trying to escape His power! Often in more modern times we have suggested that if God would just step in and use His power to take charge of things people would respect and reverence Him more. The story of the tower of Babel should teach us that the use of force never accomplishes what God wants most-love and trust.

God calls Abraham After the flood it was not long before people were just as bad as before! Soon God chose Abraham to separate himself from his kindred and travel a long distance and establish a separate nation that was supposed to honor and worship the true God. God didn't call them for special privileges (although there were some of these) but for special responsibilities (which they never really lived up to!).

Abraham offers Isaac: When Abraham was going to sacrifice his son, he said, God I'm on my way, but I'm asking lots of questions. Abraham struggled with God in prayer for three days and three nights, before he came up with the conclusion that God could either provide a substitute or

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resurrect his son. (Hebrews 11:17-19[188]) Real trust, real faith says I'm on my way, but let me ask questions as I go. Much larger issues were at stake than just whether Abraham would survive a test of his faith. To understand all that was involved it is essential to read Patriarchs and Prophets, pp. 154, 155[189].

It wasn't so strange in Abraham's day for someone to go out and sacrifice his son. Some pagan religions (Molech) did it regularly. Abraham probably did not regard sacrificing his son as being the same as murdering him. Sacrificing was a form of offering something to God, and the death was only secondary.

God's long patient wait for us today makes Him look good, but it makes us look bad. Are we personally concerned about how God looks or about how we look?

Anthropomorphism and God:    Why does the Bible so often picture God as if He had ordinary human limitations? (Genesis 3:9; 11:5; 18:20[190]) While the wording of these passages comes from Moses and not God, it is clear that He is using terminology that we humans are familiar with and picturing God as someone like us that we can understand. The Bible elsewhere clearly shows that God in fact knows everything. (See Psalms 139:1-18[191]; Job 37:16[192]; 1 John 3:20[193]) God is present everywhere. (Psalms 139:7-12[194]; Hebrews 4:13[195])

The God of the Old Testament was Christ: It is essential to understand this if we are to put all the stories together into one consistent picture of God. (1 Corinthians 10:4[196])

Prayer is conversation with God: In Scripture there are a number of examples of people talking with God. Some of them seemed to speak with incredible forthrightness. Look at Abraham's conversation with God in Genesis 18:22-33[197]. Would this qualify as a “prayer”? Abraham spoke very straight with God and was called His friend. (See Genesis 18:25; 15:6[198]; 2 Chronicles 20:7[199]; Isaiah 41:8[200]; James 2:23[201]) Moses had a similar experience (Exodus 32:7-14[202]) and so did Peter (Acts 10:9-16[203]). They seemed to know God very well and they were jealous for His reputation. But they felt amazingly free, reverently, to speak very candidly to God.

Isaac, the son of laughter: If you were as old as Sarah and Abraham were when God promised to give them a son, wouldn't you laugh? (Genesis 17:17; 18:11-15[204]) Sarah was about 90 (and past menopause) and Abraham was nearly 100. When questioned, Sarah even lied about laughing! But both of them were put in Hebrews 11 as examples to people of all ages of the kind of faith God is looking for! However, Abraham's repeated failures to trust God at critical times (Genesis 12:10-20; 20:1-13[205]; compare Genesis 26:1-11[206]) necessitated the hardest test of all, the sacrifice of the promised son! (Genesis 22:1-14[207]) Abraham struggled for 3 days and 3 nights with the dilemma of God's asking him to sacrifice the promised son as they journeyed to the place chosen by God. He finally concluded that God was able even to resurrect his son if necessary. (Hebrews 11:19[208])

The rite of circumcision:    Genesis 17:11,12[209]. Abraham and his descendants lived in the midst of a large group of tribes that generally worshiped fertility. It is quite possible that the giving

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of the rite of circumcision had something to do with this. If a young Israelite man were tempted to sneak into one of these fertility cult services perhaps the fact that he was circumcised might have made his origins obvious and prevented him from getting fully involved with some temple “virgin”. Some experts believe that circumcision also is more hygienic for the male and leads to less infection and less cancer in his female partner.

Lot and his daughters: Genesis 19:7[210]. This passage is first of all clear evidence of how different culture was in Lot's day than it is in our own. We cannot imagine a father in his right mind offering his virgin daughters to such a crowd under any circumstances, let alone in an attempt to protect the honor and dignity of strangers! One wonders how Lot's daughters could have remained virgins in that environment! It is clear from events that happened later (Genesis 19:30-38) that their thinking had been corrupted even if their bodies were not. Why were Lot and these two daughters living in a cave when uncle Abraham was nearby?

Polygamy:    While the Old Testament does not come out clearly and discuss polygamy and all its aspects, it is clear that God made a single wife for Adam. It is also abundantly clear that in every case where there is sufficient evidence available to us, these multiple marriages caused troubles! (Sarah vs. Hagar; Rachel vs. Leah etc)

Remember:

There will always be many things left unanswered from each book but we must keep reading for we will find that the same questions and problems recur. We will always have all the books of the Bible before us, but we will be concentrating primarily on one book each time.

© Copyright 1998-2006, Kenneth Hart khart@llu.edu

EGW Quotes:

“Then the end will come. God will vindicate His law and deliver His people. Satan and all who have joined him in rebellion will be cut off. Sin and sinners will perish, root and branch (Mal. 4:1[211]),--Satan the root, and his followers the branches. The word will be fulfilled to the prince of evil, 'Because thou has set thine heart as the heart of God;...I will destroy thee, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire....Thou shalt be a terror, and never shalt thou be any more.' Then 'the wicked shall not be: yea, thou shalt diligently consider his place, and it shall not be;” 'they shall be as though they had not been.' Ezekiel 28:6-19[212]; Psalms 37:10[213]; Obadiah 16[214]

“This is not an act of arbitrary power on the part of God. The rejecters of His mercy reap that which they have sown. God is the fountain of life; and when one chooses the service of sin, he separates from God, and thus cuts himself off from life. He is 'alienated from the life of God.' Christ says, 'All they that hate me love death.' Ephesians 4:18[215]; Prov. 8:36[216]. God gives them existence for a time that they may develop their character and reveal their principles. This accomplished, they receive the results of their own choice. By a life of rebellion, Satan and all who unite with him place

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themselves so out of harmony with God that His very presence is to them a consuming fire. The glory of Him who is love will destroy them.”

“At the beginning of the great controversy, the angels did not understand this. Had Satan and his host then been left to reap the full result of their sin, they would have perished; but it would not have been apparent to heavenly beings that this was the inevitable result of sin. A doubt of God's goodness would have remained in their minds as evil seed, to reproduce its deadly fruit of sin and woe.

“But not so when the great controversy shall be ended. Then, the plan of redemption having been completed, the character of God is revealed to all created intelligences. The precepts of His law are seen to be perfect and immutable. Then sin has made manifest its nature, Satan his character. Then the extermination of sin will vindicate God's love and establish His honor before a universe of beings who delight to do His will, and in whose heart is His law.”

“Well, then, might the angels rejoice as they looked upon the Saviour's cross; for though they did not then understand all, they knew that the destruction of sin and Satan was forever made certain, that the redemption of man was assured, and that the universe was made eternally secure. Christ Himself fully comprehended the results of the sacrifice made upon Calvary. To all these He looked forward when upon the cross He cried out, 'It is finished.'” The Desire of Ages 763,764

Human beings-a new and distinct order:

All heaven took a deep and joyful interest in the creation of the world and of man. Human beings were a new and distinct order. They were made “in the image of God,” and it was the Creator's design that they should populate the earth.” 4RH 380:1:1; 1BC 1081

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6. The Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil

A.Questions:

1.    Was the tree of knowledge of good and evil placed in the garden of Eden before sin or after sin?

2.    Would it have been necessary for God to put a tree of knowledge of good and evil in the garden if Satan had not rebelled?

3.    Did God put the tree of knowledge of good and evil in the midst of the garden near the tree of life? (Genesis 2:9; 3:3[217]) If so, why? Was that fair? To Adam and Eve? To Satan? Was the test too hard? (1 Corinthians 10:13[218])

4.    God said they would die if they ate of the tree (Genesis 2:17[219]) and Satan said they wouldn’t (Genesis 3:4[220]). Who appeared to be right?

5.    Was the tree intended to be an arbitrary test of our obedience?

6.    Do you think Satan was surprised that God gave him permission to test or to try to deceive Adam and Eve, if he did it only at the tree in the midst of the garden?

7.    When did man first see that “death” that God had spoken about in Eden?

8.    Whose sin was worse, Eve’s or Adam’s (1 Timothy 2:14[221])? What would you understand is so bad about what she did? Was God being unfairly harsh in this experience?

9.    Shouldn’t we desire to be like God as Eve tried to be?

10.    What kind of God would expel Adam and Eve on their very first offense? Would you still be alive if your parents had treated you like this?

11.    Why is God apparently so arbitrary?

12.    Is the Sabbath, like the tree of knowledge of good and evil, a perfectly arbitrary test of our willingness to obey? (3RH:603:1:2; 1BC 1106[222]; OHC 343[223])

B.    Suggested Answers:

1.    To be fair to Satan, and yet limit his access to the holy pair he was allowed to approach them only at one tree, which was, however, placed in the center of the garden near to the tree of life. (Genesis 2:9[224]) When God told them not to go too near the tree, he was only trying to protect them. Nothing had yet been said about death being the result of sin (Genesis 2:17[225]; Romans 6:23[226]). Remember that shortly Satan was to claim that this was a lie (Genesis 3:4[227]).

2.    The tree of knowledge of good and evil was put in the garden primarily to try to answer some of the questions and accusations that had already been leveled against God.

3.    Perhaps if Satan had not already rebelled and raised the questions the tree would not have been there. Adam and Eve would have had an opportunity to exercise their freedom in some other way as the rest of the universe does. (Lucifer didn’t need any tree!)

4.    The tree of knowledge of good and evil was in the midst of the garden near the tree of life. (Genesis 2:9[228]) Why were they put so close together? Adam and Eve couldn’t go to the tree of life without seeing the other tree. God did not hide the tree of knowledge of good and evil—where the devil could approach them—in a dark corner of the garden. He put it right there where they’d see it. What do you suppose the Devil had to say about that? Why would God give Satan that chance to approach them; because God could easily have said, “Satan, and you evil angels, you may never come near these people; I refuse to allow you.” But that’s not the way God runs His universe. He put the tree of the knowledge of good and evil right there, so that when they went to the Tree of Life, which they needed to do, they saw the other tree. Think what that says about freedom! Don’t you think the onlooking beings (See Job 38:2-7[229]) were saying, What’s all this about God not respecting our freedom? He even gives Satan a chance to represent his cause there. But He wouldn’t let Satan tempt them more than they were able to bear (1 Corinthians 10:13[230]), so He advised Adam and Eve in their inexperience not to go near that tree. Eve was careless, and sure enough she was tempted. But that tree was not primarily a test of obedience. It was there to protect them. Satan was limited to that tree. Otherwise he

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would have followed them wherever they went in the garden, popping out from behind every bush, flower, or tree to trying to tempt them. If Satan had been free to tempt them whenever and wherever he wanted, wouldn’t he have gone to the tree of life? Furthermore, Satan knew that our first parents had been told not to go there. Why do you think God told them not to go to that one particular tree?

5.    If you take what I would call the “this world view,” as if there were no other intelligent creatures in the universe, and if one does not recognize there has been a war up in Heaven (Revelation 12:7[231]), then you would say that the tree of the knowledge of good and evil was placed in the garden before sin—that is, before man sinned. But there was already an enemy abroad. That’s why the tree was put there. And he was limited to that tree. So if you take the larger, great controversy view, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil was place in the garden after sin. And the Sabbath (based on our world’s cycles), as we know it, was given after sin. That tree was not put there as a test of obedience. That tree was put there to help them, to protect them. To limit the places where Satan could approach them.

6.    In the beginning God warned our first parents, “In the day you eat of it (the tree of the knowledge of good and evil) you will die.” (Genesis 2:17[232]; compare Romans 6:21,23[233]) In our day this has come to be understood commonly to mean, “My children, you either love and obey Me, or I’ll torture you for eternity in the fires of hell.” If God has said this, could we ever really love and trust Him? How could we ever fit this in with 1 John 4:18 (The Living Bible), “We need have no fear of someone who loves us perfectly; his perfect love for us eliminates all dread of what he might do to us. If we are afraid, it is for fear of what he might do to us, and shows that we are not fully convinced that he really loves us?” How many people have found it possible to accept that picture of God and still try to serve Him and therefore offer Him the obedience that springs from fear?

References: Genesis 2:9,17; 3:1-5[234]; Romans 6:20,23[235]; 1 Corinthians 10:13[236]; 1 Timothy 4:14[237]; 1 John 4:18[238]

Discussion Questions:

What actually happened to Eve when she ate of the fruit? What does sin actually do to people?

Traditional model suggestions:

Her sin was recorded in a book of record in heaven, where, if it was not forgiven, it would be held against her in the judgment and therefore God’s wrath (justice) would be poured out on her.

Is the most serious thing about sin the way God reacts to it?

Trust-Healing Model suggestions:

Sin is a poison and Eve and later Adam were actually changed by it. Their minds were corrupted and somehow deranged by their doubt and then rebellion against God. If they had been left alone by God, the sin would have actually destroyed them that very day. God has artificially kept sinners alive all these years to give us a chance to learn the truth about Him. We can only be saved if we are healed of this “sin” condition. In the end God will simply leave His permanently rebellious children to reap the perfectly natural results of their own choices, which is eternal death. This is the death that God had warned Adam and Eve about in the very beginning!

Our lives are constantly dependent on God who created and is in control of all things:

Nehemiah 9:6: 6"You alone are the Lord. You made the heavens, the highest heavens, and all their host, the earth and everything upon it, the seas and everything in them. You keep them all alive, and the host of heaven prostrate themselves before You.” (Tanakh, The Holy Scriptures-Jewish translation)

Genesis 2:7: “then the LORD God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being. “ (RSV)

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“Then the Lord God took some soil from the ground and formed a man out of it; he breathed life-giving breath into his nostrils and the man began to live.” (GNB) [Footnote: ground...man: The Hebrew words for “man” and “ground” have similar sounds.]

Psalms 33:6,9: 6 “By the word of the LORD the heavens were made, and all their host by the breath of his mouth. . . 9 For he spoke, and it came to be; he commanded, and it stood forth.”(GNB)

Psalm 104:20-21: 20 “You made the night, and in the darkness all the wild animals come out. The young lions roar while they hunt, looking for the food that God provides.” (GNB)

Psalms 104:27-30: 27 “These all look to thee, to give them their food in due season. 28 When thou givest to them, they gather it up; when thou openest thy hand, they are filled with good things. 29 When thou hidest thy face, they are dismayed; when thou takest away their breath, they die and return to their dust. 30 When thou sendest forth thy Spirit, they are created; and thou renewest the face of the ground.” (RSV)

Psalms 147:8-9: 8 “He covers the heavens with clouds, he prepares rain for the earth, he makes grass grow upon the hills. 9 He gives to the beasts their food, and to the young ravens which cry.” (RSV)

Psalms 104:16-17: 16 “The trees of the LORD are watered abundantly, the cedars of Lebanon which he planted. 17 In them the birds build their nests; the stork has her home in the fir trees.” (RSV)

Job 26:7-10: [speech of Job] 7 “He stretches out the north over the void, and hangs the earth upon nothing. 8 He binds up the waters in his thick clouds, and the cloud is not rent under them. 9 He covers the face of the moon, and spreads over it his cloud. 10 He has described a circle upon the face of the waters at the boundary between light and darkness.” (RSV)

Job 26:11-14: [speech of Job] 11 “The pillars of heaven tremble, and are astounded at his rebuke. 12 By his power he stilled the sea; by his understanding he smote Rahab. 13 By his wind the heavens were made fair; his hand pierced the fleeing serpent. 14 Lo, these are but the outskirts of his ways; and how small a whisper do we hear of him! But the thunder of his power who can understand?” (RSV)

Jeremiah 10:13: “When he utters his voice there is a tumult of waters in the heavens, and he makes the mist rise from the ends of the earth. He makes lightnings for the rain, and he brings forth the wind from his storehouses.” (RSV)

Acts 17:25-28: 25 “nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all men life and breath and everything. 26 And he made from one every nation of men to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their habitation, 27 that they should seek God, in the hope that they might feel after him and find him. Yet he is not far from each one of us, 28 for ‘In him we live and move and have our being’; as even some of your poets have said, ‘For we are indeed his offspring.’” (RSV)

Isaiah 40:26: “Lift up your eyes on high and see: who created these? He who brings out their host by number, calling them all by name; by the greatness of his might, and because he is strong in power not one is missing.” (RSV)

These verses make a very strong case for the fact that we could not take even one breath or one beat of the heart without God constantly exercising His power. He is the one who makes it possible. If He should step back and allow us to reap the consequences of our sin, we would perish instantly. This is what would have happened to Adam and Eve if God has just left them to reap the results.

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“Parents, in wisdom and love teach your children the grand lesson that in God we live, and move, and have our being. Every pulsation of the heart is a rebound from the touch of the finger of God. He watches over us by day, and under his wings we find shelter by night. His preserving care is over us, whether we wake or sleep. He is as a sentinel to guard us from Satan's power, or we should be taken captive by him. Jesus is our constant friend. We are to look to him moment by moment, and by looking to him we are to live.” Review and Herald, December 2, 1890 par. 15

7. Ellen White: Education 130,13; Patriarchs and Prophets 115; The Upward Look 50; Signs of the Times, March 20, 1884; 1ST 419:2:4-3:0; Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, December 2, 1890

“The Lord has given me a view of other worlds. Wings were given me, and an angel attended me from the city to a place that was bright and glorious. The grass of the place was living green, and the birds there warbled a sweet song. The inhabitants of the place were of all sizes; they were noble, majestic, and lovely. They bore the express image of Jesus, and their countenances beamed with holy joy, expressive of the freedom and happiness of the place. I asked one of them why they were so much more lovely than those on the earth. The reply was, “We have lived in strict obedience to the commandments of God, and have not fallen by disobedience, like those on the earth.” Then I saw two trees, one looked much like the tree of life in the city. The fruit of both looked beautiful, but of one they could not eat. They had power to eat of both, but were forbidden to eat of one. Then my attending angel said to me, “None in this place have tasted of the forbidden tree; but if they should eat, they would fall.” Then I was taken to a world which had seven moons. There I saw good old Enoch, who had been translated. On his right arm he bore a glorious palm, and on each leaf was written “Victory.” Around his head was a dazzling white wreath, and leaves on the wreath, and in the middle of each leaf was written “Purity,” and around the wreath were stones of various colors, that shone brighter than the stars, and cast a reflection upon the letters and magnified them. On the back part of his head was a bow that confined the wreath, and upon the bow was written “Holiness.” Above the wreath was a lovely crown that shone brighter than the sun. I asked him if this was the place he was taken to from the earth. He said, “It is not; the city is my home, and I have come to visit this place.” He moved about the place as if perfectly at home. I begged of my attending angel to let me remain in that place. I could not bear the thought of coming back to this dark world again. Then the angel said, “You must go back, and if you are faithful, you, with the 144,000, shall have the privilege of visiting all the worlds and viewing the handiwork of God.” [Bold added] Broadside 2 - To Those who are receiving the seal of the living God, January 31, 1849, par. 7; Review and Herald, August 1, 1849 par. 18; A Sketch of the Christian Experience and Views of Ellen G. White (1851) p. 22,23; Early Writings p. 39,40; Christian Experience and Teachings of Ellen G. White (1922) p. 98,99; Maranatha (1976) p. 368

© Copyright 1999-2006, Kenneth Hart khart@llu.edu

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7. GENESIS - A TEACHER’S GUIDE

THE CENTRAL QUESTION:

What does this book/story say to us about God?

This question may be broken down further as follows:

a. Why did God do it/allow it?

_b. Why did He record it for our study?_

1. What picture of God would you have if the only evidence you had was the book of Genesis? Genesis is the only record we have for several millennia-one-half or more-of this world’s history. Does this seem adequate?

In the book of Genesis we see God creating our world, warning our first parents of the danger of the deceiver, putting them out of the garden after they sinned, asking Noah to build an ark, preserving Noah and his family in that ark as He drowns the rest of humanity, picking out Abraham and his descendants to be His special representatives in the earth, and then working with Abraham’s descendants despite their very human lives. While God felt it was necessary to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah, before He did so, He discussed the matter with His friend Abraham. (Genesis 18[239])

The book starts with the most wonderful promise of a perfect world, "In the beginning God created...” and ends with the results of man’s sins: "...in a coffin in Egypt.” We have almost no external evidence by which to corroborate any of the events of the book of Genesis. Archaeology has found a lot of material which is not inconsistent with the accounts of Genesis but neither does archaeology positively confirm what we read in Genesis. It is important to note that we cannot disprove any part of Genesis from archaeology.

In Genesis God is not only the all-powerful Creator, but the One who sits down to discuss personal matters with Abraham. While Adam and Eve were excluded from the Garden of Eden on their first offense, Abraham and Sarah were still blessed with a child despite laughing at God’s promise and then lying about it! (See Genesis 17:17; 18:10-15[240])

God miraculously preserved the family of Jacob by working against their schemes and blessing Joseph in the land of Egypt. Fortunately, at the time the rulers of Egypt were the Hyksos, "the Greek form of an Egyptian word meaning ‘ruler(s) of foreign land(s),’ i.e., of alien origin (Redford 1970), used to refer to non-natives who ruled over portions of Lower Egypt as the 15th Dynasty in the first half of the 2d millennium b.c.” [Anchor Bible Dictionary] The Hyksos, whose language seems to suggest they came from western Asia, perhaps Amorites from Canaan or Phoenecians, apparently felt a close kinship with Joseph. Joseph in turn, was very God-like in his treatment of His brothers despite the terrible way in which they had treated him.

God began His work here on earth by creating the beautiful Garden of Eden and giving it to Adam and Eve. When their descendants became so evil that God was afraid of losing contact with the human race, he preserved Noah and his family to start over. It wasn’t long before conditions seemed to be just as bad again and God had to pick out Abraham so He could work with him and his family. They were certainly not saints but their history serves as a lesson book for the rest of us.

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“While this book tells stories about people, it is first and foremost an account of what God has done. It begins with the affirmation that God created the universe, and it ends with a promise that God will continue to show his concern for his people. Throughout the book the main character is God, who judges and punishes those who do wrong, leads and helps his people, and shapes their history. This ancient book was written to record the story of a people’s faith and to help keep that faith alive.” (GNB)

The name Genesis comes from Greek and means “beginnings” or “origins” and was the name assigned to this book by the Greek translators about 250 BC when it was first translated into the Greek from the original Hebrew. In Hebrew the book is called Bereshith which is the first word in the book and means “in the beginning”.

Some relatively recent scholars have contended that Moses could not have written the books we normally attribute to him. For a brief answer to those charges see the handout Genesis #3 entitled “Who Wrote Genesis?”

When you read Genesis what picture of God do you see as He deals with Adam, Noah, Abraham, etc.?

2.    What kind of God would create Lucifer-and this earth-if He had foreknowledge of sin, the flood etc.? Why did He give Solomon wisdom, (1 Kings 3:5-9[241]; 2 Chronicles 1:7-12[242]; Matthew 12:42[243]), and Samson strength? (Judges 13:25; 16:28[244])

God is not afraid to move ahead with His plans even when He knows in advance that everything is not going to work out just the way He would like to see it work out. To God, love and freedom, which are inseparable, are the essential principles by which He constantly works. While we believe that God has always had the power and authority to overrule the events of the universe to make things work out the way He wants them to, He refuses to create “robots” or to treat us as “robots”. (See handout Genesis #4 on “Love”). Thus God created all His creatures with the power to love Him or hate Him and spit in His face.

For freedom to work, we need to see not only the results of good choices but also the results of bad choices. God allows us to proceed and reap the consequences of our choices. The Bible discusses not only the lives of those who mostly did what is right, but also the lives of those who rebelled against God and lived lives which were mostly wasted. God intends that the story of this one rebellious planet will be preserved as a warning for all eternity against the hazards of rebellion and sin. So the consequences of both good and bad choices must be preserved in the record for eternity.

Would you prefer to live in a world or a universe without “love” or “freedom”? How does Satan feel about “love” and “freedom”? Would you be willing to give up some of your “freedom” in order to have a little more “security”?

3.    Whatwere Satan’s charges against God at the very beginning? (Compare Genesis 3:1-5[245]; Job 1 & 2[246]; Revelation 12:7-12[247]; Isaiah 14:12-15[248]; Ezekiel 28:1-6,12-15[249]) Do you think it is significant that this planet became the center of the great controversy almost immediately after it was created?

This planet has become the “Theater of the Universe”. (1 Corinthians 4:9[250]) Satan has believed and taught that his way is superior to God’s way. He has accused God of being a liar, a tyrant, an arbitrary, severe, vengeful, unforgiving and exacting Ruler and Judge. After war

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broke out in heaven (Revelation 12:7-12[251]) Satan could not remain in heaven and he ended up here on planet earth. When God decided to create "a new and distinct order” of beings (1BC 1081[252]; RH 2/11/1902; SDG 7) to populate this earth, Satan demanded to be given opportunity to invite (tempt) them to joint his side in rebellion against God. God created this earth in a such a way as to answer many of Satan’s accusations even before he had a chance to speak them to our first parents. But when they sinned God set about to make sure that this "sin experiment” would never happen again. God has worked very hard and even been willing to come and live among us and give His life to answer all of Satan’s accusations and provide a permanent and convincing proof that Satan’s way leads only to unhappiness and destruction.

We chose to become the "guinea pigs” in this "sin experiment”. The entire universe is watching to see what the final outcome will be. God has won His case (Romans 4:3[253]) but He is still having a very difficult time reaching and convincing us of the rightness of His cause.

As perverse as it may seem, Satan down through the generations has used religion as the primary weapon against God! If Satan came out and identified himself and began to make accusations against God, most of us would probably reject his statements out of hand. Instead, he finds ways to get religious peoples to believe in his lies and promote them as "religious truth”. This makes it very difficult sometimes to decide who is telling us the truth.

Can you identify some "lies” about God that are believed as "gospel truth” by certain religious groups?

4. What does the creation story say about God? Does the story seem too childish or simple? Is this story more about geology or theology? (Genesis 1 & 2[254]) What difference would it make? Why did God take seven days to create planet earth when He no doubt could have done it in an instant? When He had finished His work, He "rested.” If God doesn’t get tired what does this mean?

The book of Genesis is primarily a book about God. Even if God had told Moses using the language of heaven all the details of how He created our world in the beginning, Moses could not have told anyone else because there was no developed vocabulary to discuss such issues in Moses’ day! Thus the story of creation is intended not as a scientific treatise but a simple and beautiful account of God’s activities during that first week of our history. It is intended to provide only a brief overview of the "Who” of creation and not a discussion of the "how”.

When He was finished, God "rested” from His work, not because He was tired at all but simply because He was finished. The word "rested” here is the word used by a lawyer when he says, "I rest my case”, because he is finished. It is not the word for rest from wearisome toil.

Genesis tells us that our heritage goes back to the God of the universe. We are His sons and daughters. We are created in His image. He cares about us. We all are truly brothers and sisters, the children of one "Parent”. This should lead us to regard each other and our "Father” in very different terms than many do today. If we descended from a long line of one-celled creatures, salamanders, and apes, then our evolutionary roots would suggest that we should be constantly fighting for the best place, the best spouse (or spouses), and the "right” to dominate our peers. Which of these two "worlds” would you prefer to live in?

Does it matter to you that God is our heavenly "Parent”? If so, why?

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5.    Why did God put the tree of knowledge of good and evil in the midst of the garden near the tree of life? (Genesis 2:9; 3:3[255]) Was that fair to Adam and Eve? To Satan? God said they would die if they ate of the tree (Genesis 2:17[256]) and Satan said they wouldn’t. Who appeared to be right? When did man first see that ultimate death that God had spoken about in Eden?

Placing the tree of knowledge in the garden of Eden was certainly not a simple test of our obedience as is often suggested. Sin had already caused war in heaven (Revelation 12:7-12[257]) and now the devil was demanding equal access to the new creatures. God, realizing the hazard of that, told Satan that he could have access to them only at that one tree. He was not allowed to pursue them all around the garden, appearing in whatever attractive form he might choose to continually harass them. God limited him to that one tree, but at the same time placed that tree near the tree of life in the center of the garden where Adam and Eve would be able to see it every time they came to eat of the tree of life. Satan thus could not claim that God had hidden him off in some inaccessible corner of the garden where they would never see him, and God could rightly state that He was giving the devil adequate access to the new pair. Thus the tree of knowledge of good and evil was intended to be a protection for our first parents and not a test! God tried His best, within the limits of freedom to warn them about their wily foe. (See handout Genesis #5 on “The Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil”)

6.    Whatwas Eve’s sin? What does her experience with the serpent tell us about our situation and what we need to be aware of? What would you understand is so bad about what she did? Whose sin was worse, Eve’s or Adam’s? (1 Timothy 2:14[258]) Was God being unfairly harsh in this experience? Shouldn’t we desire to be like God as Eve tried to be?

Eve’s sin was not in trusting the serpent, but in distrusting God. She had no reason to mistrust anyone up to that point, but God had warned them about that tree. Eve, in the excitement of the moment, chose to disregard the very clear warnings that God had given them and instead to trust this "miracle serpent”.

Think of how many people in our day make the same mistake! Eve had seen that tree there on many previous occasions. She could have said to the serpent, "You may be right in what you say, but I would like to discuss it with my husband and with God. If it is a good idea to accept your offer, I will be back tomorrow or the next day!” Just think of all the problems that could be avoided if we took that same approach when we are tempted.

Adam on the other hand, sinned deliberately in the full knowledge of what he was doing. Instead ofwaiting to discuss the matter with God, Adam also rushed ahead and ate of the fruit. Both of them, when they fully realized what they had done were ready to blame God!

What would you have done if you had been Adam when Eve came to him?

7.    What kind of God would expel Adam and Eve on their very first offense? Would you still be alive if your parents had treated you like this? Why is God apparently so arbitrary?

This certainly seems harsh. But consider the consequences of God’s possible options. If He decided simply to punish them and let them stay in the garden, then Satan would tour the universe in delight, exclaiming that he had been right that sin does not lead to death as God had said. (Genesis 2:17[259]) If God had simply allowed them to die the natural consequence of choosing to live apart from the Source of life, they would have died right then and there, but the

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universe looking on would have conclude that God had somehow killed them, and they would have obeyed God in the future not out of complete trust and love, but out of fear, which is totally unacceptable to our loving God. So the only acceptable loving thing to do was to say, “wait until I can show you the truth about My previous statement.” That answer and others associated with it did not come until Jesus died on the cross. (Romans 3:25-27[260])

Was it a mistake for God to say that sin leads to death? (Genesis 2:17[261]) Does it seem to you that God really needed to expel Adam and Eve on their first offense? Couldn’t He have been a little more forgiving? (Matthew 18:21-35[262])

8.    When God came down to talk to them, why did He call out, “Where are you?” (Genesis 3:9[263]) Didn’t He know? Compare the story of Babel (Genesis 11:5[264]), and Abraham and Sodom. (Genesis 18:20[265])

In many places in the Bible, God allows Himself to be pictured as having the usual limitations of an ordinary human being. This is called anthropomorphism -from a Greek word that means “in the likeness or form of a human being”. God did this not because any of these limitations were real for Him, but so that we could relate to Him as a Friend who is easier for us to understand. God chooses to speak to us as if He were a human like us.

If God chose to speak to us using heavenly language or ways of expression, would we be able to comprehend them? Is it a mistake for God to be so willing to reach down to us at our level?

9.    How do you think Adam felt as he tried to kill that first lamb? With a stone?

It was God’s original intent that the process of sacrificing a lamb as a sin offering would be an absolutely horrendous and abhorrent thing each time humans did it. It was to teach us how terrible sin is-it even results in the death of innocent victims. But very quickly people became so calloused about death that killing animals was considered a very usual and ordinary thing. It reached the place where in the times of Jesus, the offerings in the court of the temple were carried on like some kind of circus. The priests who carried out the ceremony often received a portion of the sacrifice, so it became a kind of competition to see who could attract the most “customers”.

No doubt Adam was nauseated and horrified by the sight of that first blood. Perhaps he even exclaimed to God, “this is making me sick!” and God may have responded, “I hope it always makes you sick!” We should recognize sin for the terrible thing it is, and fear it. Instead we have become accustomed to sin and quite comfortable with it. As a result of the many ways in which our thinking has become warped and twisted, we now fear God and love sin! How could we allow Satan to twist things so backwards!?

Is sin really deadly serious? How do you know for sure?

10.    What kind of a God would destroy all but eight in a flood? Could you have destroyed all: women, children, babies, animals? What do you think would have happened if God had not stepped in? Would He have lost contact with man completely? Why didn’t He just let everything go bad and self-destruct at the time of the flood? Why didn’t God just send His Son at that point? Don’t you think the Pharisees, in the time of Christ, prayed for a flood to destroy all the “wicked people” (especially Romans) so they could control the world?

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See handout Genesis #6 on “Genesis - Some Background Thoughts”. How do you

suppose Satan felt as the time of the flood approached and it seemed that the whole world was turning to his side? There must have been an enormous amount of gloating in Satan’s camp as they felt that they were just about to win the war here on planet earth (after losing in heaven!). But God realized that there were still some very important things to be said, that could not yet be explained adequately to human beings or even to the beings in the rest of the universe.

So God did something that surprised and angered even the Devil. God “rescued” the one family that were still paying some attention to Him by bringing them into the ark with a representative group of animals. Then God drowned all the rest. God was not being unfair in this action because all the facts were not yet on the table. No doubt Satan toured the universe and accused God of being totally unfair and arbitrary, even severe and unforgiving. But the Devil consistently uses all the force that God will allow him to exercise in persuading humans to join his side, and on this occasion God was simply trying to level up the playing field. God did not remove anyone’s freedom by drowning them. God will raise up every one of those who died in the flood to see the judgment and face God at the time of the second or third coming. (See John 5:28,29[266]) Each one of them will be fairly judged just as every other person who has ever lived will be. There were no doubt some savable young children who drowned in the flood, but only God knows who they were. They will be in heaven and we can ask them how they feel about the events that ended their lives.

A million years into eternity, do you think we will view the flood differently than we do now? Why?

11. Does the flood tell us that God is not forgiving? Was this God the Father? Who was the God of the Old Testament? (1 Corinthians 10:4[267]) In what way was God pleased by the odor of Noah’s sacrifice? (Genesis 8:21[268]) What was the final result of the flood? (See the Tower of Babel, Genesis 11:1-9[269]) What had they learned from this experience? What had God demonstrated? What did the on-looking universe learn from this? Why has God apparently done almost nothing for so many millennia since then? (Compare 2 Peter 3:8,9[270])

1 Corinthians 10:4[271] makes it quite clear that the “God” of the Old Testament was Jesus Christ Himself. Many Christians want to solve the problem of the Old Testament simply by ignoring it because they don’t know what to do with many of the stories that are included there. They suggest that God was pleased by the “odor” of sacrifices because that was the only way they could think of that God could “perceive” that a sacrifice had been offered. They knew how they felt when a lovely aroma filled the room and they believed that was how God felt when they sacrificed to Him. The Flood, as suggested above, was God’s rescue of the human race. He could not allow Satan to cut off all communication with planet earth.

But although the outcome of the flood at first appeared to be good (God was able to start over with Noah and his family) it was only a relatively short time until groups of people began gathering together to form towns and cities and they decided to protect themselves against this “God” that they didn’t trust. No one apparently appreciated what God had done for them. They were determined to build a tower high enough so they could determine what was in the clouds (and thus why it rains) or perhaps even high enough to protect themselves in case of

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another flood. This was one of the first good demonstrations that the use of force can never accomplish what God wants most-freedom, love and trust.

12.    Did Ham’s behavior really result in the destruction of his descendants, the Canaanites? (Genesis 9:23[272]) Is this fair? (See Exodus 20:4-6; 34:6,7[273]; Numbers 14:18[274]; Deuteronomy 2:33,34; 5:9,10; 7:9,10; 20:16-20[275]; Joshua 10:40[276]; Contrast Ezekiel 18:20[277])

Ham’s descendants, especially the Canaanites, lived in the land which God had promised to Abraham. It was not God’s goal to just wipe out one group of people so He could find a place for another group to live. The Canaanites had actually been very privileged in earlier years. God sent His first missionary (Abraham) to them. Some of them were convinced and joined themselves to the household of Abraham. (Genesis 14:14[278]) They were given 430 years to consider their relationship to Yahweh and evidence suggests that their conduct just became more and more debased. Yahweh recognized that if He allowed the Israelites to live among such a people, they would very quickly destroy whatever good influence that He had been able to have on them.

If Israel had been truly converted as God had hoped, He would have pushed back the Canaanites with the use of "hornets” and as the Israelites settled into the land they could have gradually won these "pagans” to the service ofYahweh. This, of course, was out of the question after Israel demonstrated how quickly they could be perverted at Peor. (Numbers 25[279]) So God was left with the only possibility that had any chance of succeeding, and that was to give the Canaanites a fair trial and opportunity to learn of the truth and then when they had clearly rejected it, to ask the Israelites to annihilate them.

13.    In light of the flood, what does it say about God that He continues to wait now? Does it bother us that He continues to wait, especially for the last 150 years since we have been announcing His soon return? (Compare Jonah, Esther)

See handout Genesis #7 on “The Reason for the Delay”. In the emergency crisis just before the flood God had to do something to avoid complete loss of His contact with this planet. In our day, God is waiting for a group that will take Him seriously enough to prepare themselves and others to stand through the very difficult final events of this world’s history. God is not waiting for some distant time that He has set as the right time to come. He is waiting until He can safely allow the Devil to carry out his last attack on God’s true people, knowing that they can stand up under that attack. As soon as God has a people who are so "settled into the truth” or "sealed” with God’s seal that they cannot be moved no matter what the Devil does to them, then God will allow the final events to happen.

14.    What was God’s original purpose in calling Abraham? Was God partial in picking Abraham’s family? Why do you think God called Abraham? (Compare Melchizedek, Jethro, Job) Isn’t God a vegetarian? (Genesis 18:8[280]) Why did He wait for Abraham to cook meat for Him when He could have created anything for their meal? Did God really need a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch to pass between cut pieces of animal to confirm His relationship with one of His best friends? (Genesis 15:17[281])

God called Abraham to leave Ur of the Chaldees (Southern Iraq) because God had a special mission for him to accomplish. Not only did God want to separate Abram and his wife

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Sarai from their idolatrous relatives and friends, but He wanted to move them to a relatively open country where they could grow into a large nation honoring Him. Although we do not know much about the times in which Abram lived, it is quite clear that conditions had deteriorated once again to the place where there were very few people paying any attention to God.

God always meets us where we are! God approached Abraham using the cultural customs that were expected in Abraham’s day. There are many examples in Scripture of God reaching out to meet us in ways and under circumstances which, according to other portions of Scripture are not His ideal. To God, it is much more important to commune with us than it is to argue about the methodology. Thus God uses anthropomorphic (See above) and culturally acceptable ways of talking and communication that are appropriate to the times in which each of us lives. How many other places in Scripture can you think of that are similar?

15.    Would you dare to say to God, "Shouldn’t the Judge of all the earth do what is right?” (Genesis 18:25[282]) Would this conversation with God qualify as prayer? Did Abraham represent God well? Would you dare to talk to God as Abraham did? (Compare Moses [Exodus 32:9-14[283]]; Peter [Acts 10:13-17[284]]; David [Psalms 51[285]]) What do you think of his conversation with God over Sodom? Was the heavenly reporting system inadequate? (Genesis 18:20,21[286]. Compare Eden [3:9[287]], Babel [11:5-7[288]]) Isn’t God omniscient? Couldn’t He believe what He heard?

In Scripture there are a number of examples of people talking with God. Some of them seemed to speak with incredible forthrightness. Look at Abraham’s conversation with God in Genesis 18:22-33[289]. Would this qualify as a "prayer”? Abraham spoke very straight with God and was called His friend. (See Genesis 18:25; 15:6[290]; 2 Chronicles 20:7[291]; Isaiah 41:8[292]; James 2:23[293]) Moses had a similar experience (Exodus 32:7-14[294]) and so did Peter (Acts 10:9-16[295]). They seemed to know God very well and they were jealous for His reputation. But they felt amazingly free, reverently, to speak very candidly to God.

Once again God is using language that is appropriate to us to describe Himself. God knew exactly what was going on in Sodom, but Abraham didn’t. So God discussed the situation in Sodom with Abraham as if He had the same limitations that Abraham did. There is no limitation in God’s knowledge.

Psalms 139[296] is one of the clearer places in Scripture where we are told that God knows and sees everything. We speak of this capacity of God as His "omniscience”. This word never occurs in Scripture but the ideas are there. Read Psalms 139 and 147[297] and compare Jeremiah 23:23,24[298]; Zechariah 4:10[299]; Isaiah 40:13,14,25-28[300]. God even knows the future as well as the past. See Daniel 2, 7-9[301]; Isaiah 7:14-9:6[302]; Matthew 24[303], etc. Since God obviously knows everything past, present and future, He is only talking to us in the kind of language we understand.

16.    Why did both Abraham and Sarah laugh when God told them they were going to have a baby? (Genesis 17:17; 18:11-15[304]) Why would God ask Abraham to sacrifice the son of the promise? Did Abraham ask any questions? (Hebrews 11:19[305]; PP 148-155[306]) Shouldn’t we say, "If God has said it, I believe it and that is all there is to it?” Pay special attention to what this story says to the on-looking universe. (1 Peter 1:12[307])

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After God had promised several times that He would give them many descendants Abraham and Sarah had grown old and basically accepted the idea that Ishmael would be their “son”. Sarah was way past menopause and she was certain that her time for having children was over. Under those circumstances, it is not surprising that both of them laughed when God told them they were going to have a baby boy. But Abraham had lied about his wife on several occasions suggesting that he wasn’t completely sure that he could trust God to care for him when it came right down to the details of his day-by-day life. Since God had chosen Abraham as the one person He was going to try to demonstrate His plan through, God needed to know and show the on-looking universe that He could trust this man. Thus God brought on Abraham in his old age the severest test of all. Finally, Abraham was ready and he stood firm under this test. It was a marvelous demonstration to the universe that Abraham was a real “friend” of God. Many questions could and should be raised about this story: Was this a case of God asking Abraham to perform a human sacrifice? Was this test harder for Abraham or Isaac? Why did Isaac agree to die? See handout Genesis #6 on “Genesis - Some Background Thoughts” section on Abraham Offers Isaac. See especially Patriarchs and Prophets pp. 154, 155.

17.    What does it mean for God to say He recognizes Abraham as righteous because of his trust? (Genesis 15:6[308]) How could Abraham be credited with trusting God, when he lacked the faith even to tell the truth about his wife? (Genesis 12:10-20; 20:1-13[309]) Please note that Isaac did the same. (Genesis 26:1-11[310]) If God had foreknowledge what is the meaning of “confidence?”

Again we see God here using our language. God knew before Abraham was born what he was going to do. But for us reading the account it is easier for us to relate to the story when it is put in our terminology. God was simply saying here that Abraham would turn out to be a trusted friend (See 2 Chronicles 20:7[311]; Isaiah 41:8[312] and James 2:23[313]). If you had omniscience, how would you discuss such matters with others who do not?

18.    Why did God give them the rite of circumcision, when He foreknew that it would eventually lead to so much conflict and misunderstanding? (Genesis 17:11-12[314]; PP 364[315])

Abraham and his descendants lived in the midst of a large group of tribes that generally worshiped fertility. It is quite possible that the giving of the rite of circumcision had something to do with this. If a young Israelite man were tempted to sneak into one of these fertility cult services perhaps the fact that he was circumcised might have made his origins obvious and prevented him from getting fully involved with some temple “virgin”. Some experts believe that circumcision also is more hygienic for the male and leads to less infection and less cancer in his female partner. God repeatedly asked Abraham and his descendants (and us) to do things that set us apart from the “world”. These things are meant to be a protection for us. Unfortunately, later the children of Israel, especially the males who had gone through the rite, began to feel that this rite identified them as God’s special people and thus gave them the right to many special privileges. It was this misunderstanding of the original intent of circumcision that God later argued against and not the circumcision itself.

19.    What kind of a God would turn Lot’s wife into a pillar of salt just because she glanced back? (Genesis 19:26[316]) Why would Lot offer his virgin daughters to that crowd instead of the angels?

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(Genesis 19:7[317]) If Lot is to be considered a "just man” (2 Peter 2:8,9[318]) isn’t his first duty to his daughters?

This passage is first of all clear evidence of how different the culture was in Lot’s day than it is in our own. We cannot imagine a father in his right mind offering his virgin daughters to such a crowd under any circumstances, let alone in an attempt to protect the honor and dignity of strangers! One wonders how Lot’s daughters could have remained virgins in that environment! It is clear from events that happened later (Genesis 19:30-38[319]) that their thinking had been corrupted even if their bodies were not. Why were Lot and these two daughters living in a cave when uncle Abraham was nearby?

This is primarily a thought question. What would you have done? Would we all be better off if God had just allowed Lot and his entire family to disappear into history instead of giving rise to the very troublesome nations known as the Ammonites and the Moabites? This story must be compared to others in the Scriptures: See handout Genesis #8 on “From Sodom and Gomorrah to Hell”.

20.    Why would the chosen man of God offer nose rings and bracelets to a potential wife for Isaac? (Genesis 24:22[320]) Would Peter (1 Peter 3:3[321]) and Paul (1 Timothy 2:9[322]) condemn this?

Once again we are reminded that things were different in those days. These gifts were the normal things given to a potential bride in those days. God Himself is pictured as doing something similar in Ezekiel’s day! (See Ezekiel 16:11-13[323]) By contrast in Peter and Paul’s day these things often were worn by the "temple prostitutes” who sponsored sexuality as a part of religion. We cannot try to force our cultural norms on people in other times and nations. There are many, many examples of such cultural differences in Biblical times, especially in Old Testament times. Once again God had more important things to accomplish than to stop everything and try to "straighten out” practices that we might consider questionable.

21.    How do you think God regarded Jacob’s many wives, and their stealing from and deceiving their own relatives as they departed? (Genesis 31:19-21[324])

It should be obvious from the story itself that this arrangement was not God’s ideal and it led to many problems. These stories are not told to set up these individuals as examples for us or for the people in any other generation. They are told simply to report on what actually happened so that we can get enough of the context so we can understand how and why God did what He did under the circumstances. Almost every part of this story is a concession to some situation that was far from God’s ideal. Jacob fled to Laban because he had stolen the birthright from his brother. Jacob discovered that he was married to Leah instead of Rachel after being deceived by Laban. Laban had squandered the dowry that Jacob had given to him, which should have been the rightful possession of his daughters, etc. Rachel apparently felt that having this family "god” with them might protect her in some way. It obviously didn’t work since a short time later she died in childbirth. What would you have done if you had been in God’s place?

22.    If God chose the tribe of Judah as the future kings of Israel, why is He killing off Judah’s sons? (Genesis 38:1-30[325]) Why do you think God chose Judah and Tamar (a Canaanite teen-age bride, one time prostitute) as the ancestors of Christ? (Compare Rahab. [See Joshua 2[326] and Ruth 4[327]]) Why did He choose to mention them specifically by name? (Matthew 1:3[328])

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This is a great story in the Bible, but one that many people have never heard of. This one chapter interlude in the story of Joseph is in marked contrast to the behavior of Joseph. Judah was about to be absorbed into the Canaanite peoples it appears when the sudden deaths of Er and Onan led to a significant problem. Jacob was soon left with one son, since his wife died, and Judah was afraid that if he asked Shelah to marry Tamar he too might die. We have no clear indications of why either of the first two sons died. Sudden deaths, especially at an early age were often considered as a punishment from God. It is possible that they had some congenital disease, or that God actually killed them. We do not know for sure.

The tribe of Judah was not chosen as the ancestral line of Christ and the ruling household of Israel because of this behavior of their ancestors, but in spite of it. Judah himself later became quite a noble leader among the brothers. I believe that this story and the stories of Rahab and Ruth were preserved, and these women’s names specifically mentioned in Matthew 1 because Jesus, who is the only Person ever to be born on this planet with the opportunity to choose His own ancestors, wanted us to know that He was the descendant of a very typical family. In fact, these women despite their sins, were noteworthy for their courage in doing what they did. God is not afraid to have them recognized and pointed out as His ancestors!

23. What is the purpose of all the genealogies? Were these just for the benefit of the Israelites? Why are so few women mentioned in these genealogies?

Genealogies were considered very important to the ancient peoples because they served as a link to one’s ancestral line. It was by preserving the ancestral lists that people could be sure that they were descendants of important people of the past. This custom, when practiced in moderation can serve a useful purpose, but when carried to exorbitant lengths was condemned by the apostle Paul. (See 1 Timothy 1:4[329] and Titus 3:9[330])

Unfortunately, the ancient world (and even much of our world today) is a world of men. Women seemed to be present just to serve the needs of men. This was not God’s plan, but the result of human sin. (God created them equal in the beginning - Genesis 1:26; 2:18-25[331]). The Biblical record is simply a report of how things were, not a report of how they should have been or how God had planned for things in the beginning.

© Copyright 1999-2005, Kenneth Hart khart@llu.edu

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8. From Sodom and Gomorrah to Hell

1.    Sodom and Gomorrah were wicked cities thought to be located at the southern end of what is now the Dead Sea. Their terrible story is told in Genesis 18 and 19. Rampant homosexuality and other sins led to their destruction.

2.    Lot and his two daughters, with the help of God’s angels, fled the cities of the plain and instead of going to live with righteous Uncle Abraham, began living in a cave. As the Bible describes it, the two daughters got their father drunk and became pregnant by him. The two nations, Ammon and Moab, that arose from this incestuous arrangement were some of the most troublesome to Israel down through the years (Genesis 19:30-38).

3.    Chemosh (the "god” of the Moabites) and Molech or Moloch (the "god” of the Ammonites) required the offering of children by "passing them through the fire as a fulfillment of a pledge to Molech”. The fire was actually built inside the hollow metal god to make him red hot. The notion was that if the child was burned by this process, he must be cursed by the "god” and if not he was blessed.

4.    In later years, possibly during the times of Solomon, a temple and an altar to Molech, the "god” of Lot’s descendants, were set up in the valley of the sons of Hinnom (possibly an earlier Canaanite name) to the west and south of Jerusalem. Sons and daughters of Israelites were offered on this altar. Joshua 15:18 and 18:16[332]; 2 Chronicles 28:3; 33:6[333]; Jeremiah 7:30-32; 19:1-10; 32:35[334]; Lev. 18:21[335]; Deut. 12:31; 18:10[336]; 2 Kings 16:3; 17:17; 21:6; 23:10[337]; Ps. 106:37, 38[338]; Isaiah 57:5[339]; Ezek. 16:20, 21[340]; Mic. 6:7[341].

5.    In Josiah’s day, in an attempt to turn Judah back to the worship of the true God, Yahweh, Josiah desecrated this altar and temple by burning human bones on it and tearing it down. (2 King 23:10[342]) It then became a place for garbage and rubbish. God further told Jeremiah to call it a valley of slaughter where many Jews were killed in the final conquest of Jerusalem (Jeremiah 19:10-13[343]).

6.    The name of the valley in Hebrew was ge-ben-hinnom--valley of the children of Hinnom-which was later shortened to Gehenna (Hebrew) or Ge’ena (Greek).

7.    As the major trash dump for the city of Jerusalem it later became a place of rats, scavenger birds, and perpetual burning and thus a symbol for "hell” (compare Jude 7[344]).

8.    Thus the "fire and brimstone” that fell on the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah led to the "symbol” of "hell” which was the perpetually burning garbage dump outside Jerusalem located on the site of the old "temple” erected by someone in Old Testament times to the worship of the pagan "gods” worshiped by the nations descended from Lot and his daughters after their escape from those wicked cities.

© Copyright 1998-2001, Kenneth Hart khart@llu.edu

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9. God Seeks to Kill Moses

Exodus 4:24-26[345] How do you understand this passage? Does God really want to kill Moses? If God wanted to kill Moses, surely the sovereign God could have done so? So what is going on here? 1.    Abraham was given very clear instructions about the rite of circumcision:

Genesis 17:1-14

When Abram was 99 years old, the Lord appeared to him and said, “I am the Almighty God. Obey me and always do what is right. 2I will make my covenant with you and give you many descendants.” 3Abram bowed down with his face touching the ground, and God said, 4"I make this covenant with you: I promise that you will be the ancestor of many nations. Your name will no longer be Abram, but Abraham, because I am making you the ancestor of many nations. 6I will give you many descendants, and some of them will be kings. You will have so many descendants that they will become nations.

7 “I will keep my promise to you and to your descendants in future generations as an everlasting covenant.

I will be your God and the God of your descendants. I will give to you and to your descendants this land in which you are now a foreigner. The whole land of Canaan will belong to your descendants for ever, and I will be their God.”

9 God said to Abraham, “You also must agree to keep the covenant with me, both you and your descendants in future generations. You and your descendants must all agree to circumcise every male among you. 11-12From now on you must circumcise every baby boy when he is eight days old, including slaves born in your homes and slaves bought from foreigners. This will show that there is a covenant between you and me. 13Each one must be circumcised, and this will be a physical sign to show that my covenant with you is everlasting. 14Any male who has not been circumcised will no longer be considered one of my people, because he has not kept the covenant with me.” (GNB)

2.    Abraham followed those instructions exactly:

Genesis 17:23-27

23 “On that same day Abraham obeyed God and circumcised his son Ishmael and all the other males in his household, including the slaves born in his home and those he had bought. 24Abraham was 99 years old when he was circumcised, 25and his son Ishmael was thirteen. 26They were both circumcised on the same day, 27together with all Abraham's slaves.” (GNB)

Genesis 21:4 When his son Isaac was eight days old, Abraham circumcised him, as God commanded him. (NIV)

3.    Circumcision was practiced very carefully even in Jesus’ day. Anyone who did not receive this rite was not considered a part of God’s people. (See Genesis 34)

Exodus 12:43-50: 43 The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “These are the Passover regulations: no foreigner shall eat the Passover meal, 44but any slave that you have bought may eat it if you circumcise him first. 45No temporary resident or hired worker may eat it. The whole meal must be eaten in the house in which it was prepared; it must not be taken outside. And do not break any of the animal's bones. 47The whole community of Israel must celebrate this festival, 48but no uncircumcised man may eat it. If a foreigner has settled among you and wants to celebrate Passover to honour the Lord, you must first circumcise all the males of his household. He is then to be treated like a native-born Israelite and may join in the festival. 49The same

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regulations apply to native-born Israelites and to foreigners who settle among you.” 50All the Israelites obeyed and did what the Lord had commanded Moses and Aaron.” (GNB)

Leviticus 12:3: “On the eighth day, the child shall be circumcised.” (GNB)

John 7:20-24: 20 The people answered, “You have a demon! Who is seeking to kill you?” 21 Jesus answered them, “I did one deed, and you all marvel at it. 22 Moses gave you circumcision (not that it is from Moses, but from the fathers), and you circumcise a man upon the sabbath. 23 If on the sabbath a man receives circumcision, so that the law of Moses may not be broken, are you angry with me because on the sabbath I made a man's whole body well? 24 Do not judge by appearances, but judge with right judgment.” (RSV) (See also The Desire of Ages 456,457[346])

4.    During the forty years that Moses was working with sheep in the wilderness of Midian, he married and had two children. (Exodus 2:21,22; 4:20[347]) He also wrote the book of Genesis. (Patriarchs and Prophets 251) Thus he knew very well the story of Abraham and the requirement and promise of circumcision.

“Though called a “Cushite woman” (Numbers 12:1, R.V.), the wife of Moses was a Midianite, and thus a descendant of Abraham. In personal appearance she differed from the Hebrews in being of a somewhat darker complexion. Though not an Israelite, Zipporah was a worshiper of the true God. She was of a timid, retiring disposition, gentle and affectionate, and greatly distressed at the sight of suffering; and it was for this reason that Moses, when on the way to Egypt, had consented to her return to Midian. He desired to spare her the pain of witnessing the judgments that were to fall on the Egyptians.” Patriarchs and Prophets 383,384

5.    Moses had neglected to circumcise his second son on the eighth day as required by the Law because of his wife’s objections:

“Moses returned to his father-in-law and expressed his desire to visit his brethren in Egypt. Jethro’s consent was given, with his blessing, “Go in peace.” With his wife and children, Moses set forth on the journey. He had not dared to make known the object of his mission, lest they should not be allowed to accompany him. Before reaching Egypt, however, he himself thought it best for their own safety to send them back to the home in Midian.

“A secret dread of Pharaoh and the Egyptians, whose anger had been kindled against him forty years before, had rendered Moses still more reluctant to return to Egypt; but after he had set out to obey the divine command, the Lord revealed to him that his enemies were dead.

“On the way from Midian, Moses received a startling and terrible warning of the Lord's displeasure. An angel appeared to him in a threatening manner, as if he would immediately destroy him. No explanation was given; but Moses remembered that he had disregarded one of God's requirements; yielding to the persuasion of his wife, he had neglected to perform the rite of circumcision upon their youngest son. He had failed to comply with the condition by which his child could be entitled to the blessings of God's covenant with Israel; and such a neglect on the part of their chosen leader could not but lessen the force of the divine precepts upon the people. Zipporah, fearing that her husband would be slain, performed the rite herself, and the angel then permitted Moses to pursue his journey. In his mission to Pharaoh, Moses was to be placed in a position of great peril; his life could be preserved only through the protection of holy angels. But while living in neglect of a known duty, he would not be secure; for he could not be shielded by the angels of God.” Patriarchs and Prophets 255,256 (1890) Compare Spiritual Gifts, vol. 3, p. 195,196[348] (1864); The Spirit of Prophecy, vol. 1, p. 175,176[349]; Compare also The Signs of the Times, February 26, 1880[350]

God does not intend for His instructions to be ignored or taken lightly. Political and religious leaders are

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always in the public spotlight and Moses' lack of compliance with the Law would have been discovered almost immediately even in such a private matter as his son's circumcision. How could he expect the children of Israel to follow his directions and commands as though they were from God when he, himself was out of compliance with one of God's clearest commands? Thus God on this occasion found it necessary to remind Moses of his duty just as parents constantly do with their children. In other words, God is here acting just as we would expect any loving, concerned, caring parent would!

© Copyright 1999-2005, Kenneth Hart khart@llu.edu

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10. Pagan Gods of Egypt

Name

Responsibility

Form or Sacred Animal

Aker

Earth-god • Helper of the dead

Two lion heads

Amon

Wind-god • God of Thebes • Helper of the pious

Human (ram and goose sacred)

Anubis

Glorifier of the dead

Jackal-headed, blackskinned

Apis

Ensures fertility

Bull

Aton

Sun-god

Atum

Primordial creature-god

Serpent-human

Bes

Protection at birth • Dispenser of virility

Group of demons

Edjo

Goddess of Delta/Lower Egypt

Uraeus serpent

Geb

Earth-god • Consort of Nut • Begetter of Osiris

Human

Hathor

Sky-goddess • Goddess of love, dance, alcohol Theban deity; Goddess of love, beauty, and joy.

Cow; Cow-headed human figure; cow horns

Heket

Primordial goddess, Goddess of fertility

Frog

Heqt

Wife of Khnum; Symbol of resurrection and fertility.

Serpent-headed

Horus

Sky-god

Falcon

Isis

Goddess of life and healing • Daughter of Geb • Consort/sister of Osiris • Mother of Horus

Human

Khepri

Primordial god • Rising Sun

Scarabaeus

Khnum

Giver of the Nile • Creator of mankind

Human with ram’s head

Khons

Moon-god

Human

Maat

Justice • Daughter of Ra

Human

Meskhenet

Goddess protector of newborns and of destiny

Vulture or human

Min

God of virility and reproduction

Mut

“Eye of the sun,” consort of Amon

Vulture or human

Nekhbet

Goddess of Upper Egypt

Nut

Sky-goddess • Consort of Geb • Mother of Osiris and Seth • Mother of heavenly bodies

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Osiris

Dead pharaohs • Ruler of dead, life, vegetation, fertility cycle and resurrection

Human with staff and whip - Sun

Ptah

Creator-god • Lord of artisans

Ra

God of sun, earth and sky • Father of Maat • National god

Human with falcon head

Sekhmet

Goddess of war and sickness

Human with lion head

Selket

Guardian of life • Protector of dead

Scorpion

Seshat

Goddess of writing and books

Seth

God of chaos, desert and storm, protector of crops • Brother of Osiris

Shu

God of air, bearer of heaven

Sobek

Creator-god

Crocodile

Sothis

God of Nile flood waters

Thermuthis

Goddess of fertility and harvest; fate

Serpent

Thoth

God of wisdom, moon, chronology • Messenger of gods

Ibis or baboon

Thoueris

Goddess of fertility and women in labor

Hippopotamus

What Egyptians Worshiped

The two chief Egyptian deities were Osiris and Isis (supposed to be sun and moon). Other inferior gods were the stork, ape, cat, hawk, and some 20,000 other creatures.

Thebes worshiped a ram, Memphis an ox (Apis), Bubastis a cat, Momemphis a cow, the Mendesians a he-goat, the Hermopolitans a fish called “Latus,” the Paprimas the hippopotamus, the Lycopolitans the wolf. The ibis was deified because it fed on serpents, the crocodile out of terror, the ichneumon because it fed on crocodiles’ eggs.”

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Egyptian Pharaohs -1570 -1223 B.C.

Ahmosis I

1570-46 B.C

Amenhotep I

1546-26 B.C.

Thutmose I

1526-12 B.C.

Thutmose II

1512-04 B.C.

Thutmose III

1504-1450 B.C.

Hatshepsut

1504-1483 B.C.

Amenhotep II

1450-25 B.C.

Thutmose IV

1425-17 B.C.

Amenhotep III

1417-1379 B.C.

Amenhotep IV

1379-62 B.C.

Smenkhkare

1364-61 B.C.

Tutankhamon

1361-52 B.C.

Ay

1352-48 B.C.

Horemheb

1348-20 B.C.

Rameses I

1320-18 B.C.

Seti I

1318-04 B.C.

Rameses II

1304-1236 B.C.

Merneptah

1236-1223 B.C.

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The Ten Plagues on Egypt

The Plague

The Effect

1.

Blood (7:20)

Pharaoh hardened (7:22)

2.

Frogs (8:6)

Pharaoh begs relief, promises freedom (8:8), but is hardened (8:15)

3.

Lice (8:17)

Pharaoh hardened (8:19)

4.

Flies (8:24)

Pharaoh bargains (8:28), but is hardened (8:32)

5.

Livestock diseased (9:6)

Pharaoh hardened (9:7)

6.

Boils (9:10)

Pharaoh hardened (9:12)

7.

Hail (9:23)

Pharaoh begs relief (10:11), promises freedom (10:17), but is hardened (10:20)

8.

Locusts (10:13)

Pharaoh bargains (10:11), begs relief (10:17), but is hardened (10:20)

9.

Darkness (10:22)

Pharaoh bargains (10:24), but is hardened (10:27)

10.

Death of firstborn (12:29)

Pharaoh and Egyptians beg Israel to leave Egypt (12:31-33)

Adapted from Nelson’s Complete Book of Bible Maps and Charts and the Woman’s Study Bible and Anchor Bible Dictionary and other sources.

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Hardening Pharaoh’s Heart

Did God harden Pharaoh's heart or did Pharaoh harden his own heart? (Exodus 9:34-10:1[351]) If so what does that mean? Is God here manipulating Pharaoh’s mind in order to accomplish His goal of getting the children of Israel out of Egypt? Who killed the firstborn in Egypt, and why?

Discussion:

In ancient times, most nations worshiped multiple “gods”. But usually each nation had one chief “god”. The surrounding nations and peoples would usually “rate” these gods as to their power and might based on how well their followers did in battle. This meant that a powerful nation like Egypt was thought to have one or more powerful gods that protected them and fought for them. A group of people that had not even had their own country for 400 years and furthermore had been slaves for perhaps a quarter of that time would be thought of as being very weak and their “god” would also be thought of as very weak. Even the children of Israel had begun to think of their “god” as weak when He didn’t rescue them from slavery, didn’t protect their children, etc.

In order for the true God to get some respect in this kind of environment He had to show His power in some dramatic way. This was the purpose of the ten plagues. The ten plagues of Egypt were each directed at one of the Egyptian “gods”. Evidence for this is as follows:

Exodus 9:14-17: “This time I will punish not only your officials and your people, but I will punish you as well, so that you may know that there is no one like me in all the world. If I had raised my hand to strike you and your people with disease, you would have been completely destroyed. But to show you my power I have let you live so that my fame might spread over the whole world. Yet you are still arrogant and refuse to let my people go.” (GNB) Compare NIV[352] and TLB

Exodus 12:12: “On that night I will go through the land of Egypt, killing every first-born male, both human and animal, and punishing all the gods of Egypt. I am the LORD.” (GNB) Compare NIV[353] and TLB; Compare Exodus 18:11[354]; 2 Samuel 7:23[355]

Numbers 33:3,4: “The people of Israel left Egypt on the fifteenth day of the first month of the year, the day after the first Passover. Under the Lord’s protection they left the city of Rameses in full view of the Egyptians, 4 who were burying the firstborn sons that the Lord had killed. By doing this, the Lord showed that he was more powerful than the gods of Egypt.” (GNB) Compare NIV[356] and TLB

Egyptologists have discovered that the ancient Egyptians worshiped almost everything that they could not understand. They worshiped flies, bulls, and even beetles apparently because of their phenomenal ability to reproduce. They worshiped the sun and the river Nile because they seemed to be controlled by very powerful but unexplainable forces. If you visit Egypt today, you will be able to buy souvenirs that are small replicas of these “gods” of ancient Egypt.

First-born sons were considered the special property of the “gods”. Pharaoh was worshiped as a “god” and his first-born son was worshiped as the next “god” in line for the throne.

Pharaoh had come to believe that his “gods” were very powerful. He felt that they had helped his family to conquer and drive out the Hyksos rulers that had controlled Egypt at the time when Joseph first came to Egypt. (See Exodus 1:8[357]) They had helped his armies be successful in many battles. He saw no reason why his “gods” couldn’t deal easily with the God of these slaves.

Each of the plagues of Egypt was specifically directed at one of the Egyptian “gods”. (See Exodus #5 - Pagan Gods of Egypt) As Pharaoh saw his “gods” being destroyed and even being

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turned into plagues, it made him very angry. He became more and more stubborn and determined to defeat this bunch of slaves and to discredit and disgrace their God.

Pharaoh was not prevented from saying yes to Moses and God after any of the plagues. Moses originally asked simply that the children of Israel be allowed to leave the country so they could worship Yahweh before he mentioned the threat of any plagues. Pharaoh responded by demanding that they work harder. (Exodus 5:6-9[358])

Biblical references:

What is implied by the hardening of hearts? Did God harden Pharaoh’s heart or did Pharaoh harden his own heart? Read carefully the following passages:

God hardened Pharaoh’s heart: Exodus 4:21; 7:3; 9:12; 10:1,20,27; 11:10; 14:4,8,17[359] Pharaoh’s heart was hardened: Exodus 7:13,14,22; 8:19; 9:7,35[360] Pharaoh hardened his own heart: Exodus 8:15,32; 9:34[361] Compare similar passages:

Joshua 11:20: “For it was the LORD’s doing to harden their hearts that they should come against Israel in battle, in order that they should be utterly destroyed, and should receive no mercy but be exterminated, as the LORD commanded Moses.” (RSV); compare Isaiah 6:9,10; 2 Thessalonians 2:7-12.

1 Samuel 6:1-6: “1 The ark of the LORD was in the country of the Philistines seven months. 2 And the Philistines called for the priests and the diviners and said, <What shall we do with the ark of the LORD? Tell us with what we shall send it to its place.’ 3 They said, <If you send away the ark of the God of Israel, do not send it empty, but by all means return him a guilt offering. Then you will be healed, and it will be known to you why his hand does not turn away from you.’ 4 And they said, <What is the guilt offering that we shall return to him?’ They answered, <Five golden tumors and five golden mice, according to the number of the lords of the Philistines; for the same plague was upon all of you and upon your lords. 5 So you must make images of your tumors and images of your mice that ravage the land, and give glory to the God of Israel; perhaps he will lighten his hand from off you and your gods and your land. 6 Why should you harden your hearts as the Egyptians and Pharaoh hardened their hearts? After he had made sport of them, did not they let the people go, and they departed?’” (RSV)

Some substances harden when heated, like clay. Others melt, like ice, and butter. If you put all of these into an oven and turn up the heat one will harden and the other two will melt. All you did was warm it up. God revealed Himself to Pharaoh so clearly in many ways. He demonstrated the impotence of Pharaoh's “gods”. And Pharaoh said, "No, No, No!" until his heart got harder, and harder, and harder. God precipitated that by bringing him the light. But Pharaoh actually did it to himself by saying “no”.

Exodus 9:34-10:1: “34 But when Pharaoh saw that the rain and the hail and the thunder had ceased, he sinned yet again, and hardened his heart, he and his servants. 35 So the heart of Pharaoh was hardened, and he did not let the people of Israel go; as the LORD had spoken through Moses. Then the LORD said to Moses, "Go in to Pharaoh; for I have hardened his heart and the heart of his servants, that I may show these signs of mine among them,” (RSV)

Even in our day people respond differently to the presentation of truth. Some love it and are attracted to it. Others see that it will require changes in their lives and become angry-their hearts become harder. But all we can do is present the truth to them in the most attractive way possible.

© Copyright 1999, Kenneth Hart khart@llu.edu

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11. Was God Fair to the Egyptians and the Canaanites?

Questions to be Answered:

1.    What is the evidence in this case? What are our reliable sources? What do we know for sure about the conquest of Canaan and the exodus from Egypt? Who appeared to do most of the killing? (Joshua 10:11)

2.    Collect all the data. See Genesis 12:7; 13:14-17;15:5,13-21; 17:3-14; 22:15-18; 26:2-5,24; 28:4,10-16; 35:9-12; 48:4[362]). After possessing this land, the children of Israel were to be a blessing to all nations: Genesis 12:3; 22:18; 26:4; 28:14[363]; Galatians 3:8[364] compare Exodus 23:20-33[365]. See Exodus 23:20-33; 33:1,2; 34:10-16[366]; Leviticus 18:24-30; 20:24-28; 26:14-46[367]; Numbers 33:50-56[368]; Deuteronomy 4:5,6,15-40; 7:1-11,16-26; 8:20; 9:1-6; 20:10-18[369]; Genesis 15:16-21[370]; Acts 7:2-8[371].

3.    Do we have any archaeological or historical evidence that is helpful? What does it mean?

4.    What happened during the 430 years between Abraham and Moses? (See Genesis 15:13,16[372]; Exodus 12:40,41[373]; Acts 7:6[374]; Galatians 3:17[375])

5.    Does God ever want to destroy His children? (See #27 - Does God Discipline His Children?)

6.    Which was ultimately more serious: What the Israelites did to the Canaanites, or what the remaining Canaanites did to the Israelites? (See Matthew 10:28[376]; Luke 12:5[377])

7.    Who was responsible for the deaths of all the people who died in the wilderness? Was it God? Other Commentators:

"Some assert that the Israelites were commanded by God to commit a primitive and barbarous act of murder against innocent people when they were directed to annihilate the Canaanites (w. 6, 8, 10). Such a notion does not take into account these considerations: (1) Unlike murder, justified killing is not based on hatred (Gen. 9:6; 14:13-16[378]; Ex. 22:2[379]; Rom. 13:1-4[380]; cf. Ex. 20:13; 21:12[381]). (2) The Canaanites were not innocent (Gen. 9:25[382]; Lev. 18:25[383]; Deut. 12:29-31[384]). Ugaritic texts found at Ras Shamra in Syria have filled in our picture of the infamous degradation not only of Canaanite society, but of their religion as well. (3) God waited over 400 years before executing judgment on their unrighteousness (Gen. 15:16[385]; Lev. 18:24; 20:1-5[386]; Deut. 20:17, 18[387]; cf. 2 Pet. 3:9[388]). Nevertheless, they refused to respond to the judgment of Sodom and Gomorrah or to the mercy presented by Abraham, Melchizedek and perhaps others (Gen. 12:8[389]; Josh. 2:9-13; 9:24[390]). (4) God had chosen Abraham’s descendants on the basis of grace rather than their own merits (Deut. 9:4, 5[391]), and He gave to them the land of Canaan as an inheritance (Gen. 15:18-21[392]). At that time Israel was a theocracy (ruled directly by God), and the extermination was God’s direct and explicit command (cf. Ex. 23:27-30[393]; Deut. 7:3-6[394]; Josh. 8:24-26[395]). Israel was God’s instrument of judgment against the Canaanites (Deut. 9:4, 5[396]). As the world is to be purified by a "great and dreadful day of the Lord” before the coming kingdom (Mal. 4:5[397]), so Israel’s land was to be purified by the fires

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of His judgment through Israel.” Believer’s Study Bible

"The Samaritan Pentateuch reads, "Now the sojourning of the children of Israel, and of their fathers in the land of Canaan and in the land of Egypt, was 430 years.” The Alexandrine copy of the LXX. has the same reading; and the same statement is made by the apostle Paul, in Ga 3:17, who reckons from the promise made to Abraham to the giving of the law. That these three witnesses have the truth, the chronology itself proves; for it is evident that the descendants of Israel did not dwell 430 years in Egypt; while it is equally evident, that the period from Abraham’s entry into Canaan to the Exodus, is exactly that number. Thus, from Abraham’s entrance into the promised land to the birth of Isaac, was 25 years; Isaac was 60 at the birth of Jacob; Jacob was 130 at his going into Egypt; where he and his children continued 215 years more; making in the whole 430 years. See Kennicott’s Dissertation on the Hebrew Text. sojourning. Ac 13:17[398] Heb 11:9[399] four hundred. Ge 12:1-3; 15:13[400] Ac 7:6[401] Ga 3:16,17[402]" The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge.

"The discussion on Gen. 15:13[403] points out that Paul’s statement in Gal. 3:17[404] and other evidence make it clear that this 430 years includes the period from Abraham’s call to leave Haran to Jacob’s actual descent into Egypt 215 years later, and that the interval between Jacob’s entry into Egypt and the Exodus was another 215 years. Since in the time of Moses, Palestine was considered a part of the Egyptian empire, it is not strange to find an author of that period including Canaan in the term "Egypt.” Not being familiar with the political situation in Moses’ time, but feeling that the 430 years included the patriarchal sojourn in Canaan, the translators of the LXX specifically included within this period the time of their sojourn "in the land of Egypt and the land of Canaan.” The prophecy that the fourth generation of those who had entered Egypt would leave it (Gen. 15:16[405]), and its recorded fulfillment (Ex. 6:16-20), make impossible any other explanation of the 430-year period.” SDA Bible Commentary

The land of Canaan (named after Ham’s son, Canaan: Genesis 10:15-18) was later promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (Genesis 12:7; 13:14-17;15:5,13-21; 17:3-14; 22:1518; 26:2-5,24; 28:4,10-16; 35:9-12; 48:4). After possessing this land, the children of Israel were to be a blessing to all nations (Genesis 12:3; 22:18; 26:4; 28:14; Galatians 3:8 compare Exodus 23:20-33[406]).

The land was given to the descendants of Canaan until they filled up their cup of iniquity (Genesis 15:16-21[407]; Acts 7:2-8[408]), as a fulfillment of God’s 400-year prophecy. God sent them His first "missionary” to see if He could convert them to the worship of the one true God. But if they did not accept God’s plan, then God would replace them with another group of people who had been chosen to do what He wanted them to do. God was thus choosing Abraham’s descendants primarily for a special responsibility.

God not only sent Abraham to the Canaanites as the first "missionary”, He left six of Abraham’s seven sons to live among them to be "missionaries” to them. Unfortunately, these sons and their families adopted the ways of the Canaanites instead of serving to convert the

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Canaanites as they should have. God took Isaac, one of the sons of Abraham, and blessed his two sons. God finally selected the younger of Isaac’s two sons to be the ancestor of His promised Messiah. But God could not trust even Jacob His chosen patriarch to remain faithful to Him while continuing to live among the people of Canaan. So God allowed a famine to come and Jacob (Israel) and his children traveled down to Egypt to stay there for a while.

In Egypt they were despised by the Egyptians because of their occupation (Genesis 46:33[409]) and their type of worship. This allowed them to multiply in relative seclusion with a minimum of mixing with heathen nations. But finally He had to take them out of Egypt because they were being cruelly oppressed. (Exodus 3:7-10[410])

"Gods” were rated in those days primarily according to how their worshipers did in battle. Thus there would be almost no respect for the "God” of a nation of slaves. Even among the descendants of Abraham, Yahweh, their God, had lost a great deal of respect after leaving them in Egyptian slavery, to suffer even the killing of their sons, for so many years. God (Yahweh) had to do something quite dramatic to gain some respect once again.

God started by showing that He was in fact superior to the Egyptian "gods”. (Exodus 12:12[411]; Numbers 33:4[412]) He actually turned their "gods” into plagues! (See Exodus 7-12[413]) This got everybody’s attention and actually resulted in some of the Egyptians following the Israelites out of Egypt.

At the foot of Mt. Sinai, after giving them the Ten Commandments, He gave them a lot of other instructions. One of the key instructions was about how they were to deal with the Canaanites. (See Exodus 23:20-33; 33:1,2; 34:10-16[414]; Leviticus 18:24-30; 20:24-28; 26:14-46[415]; Numbers 33:50-56[416]; Deuteronomy 4:5,6,15-40; 7:1-11,16-26; 8:20; 9:1-6; 20:10-18[417]; Genesis TG #12; Joshua TG #14;1 Samuel TG #8; Nehemiah TG #3; see also PP 436,437 and PP 543[418]) He made it very clear that if they would exercise faith in Him, they would not have to fight at all. God told them that He would use the forces of nature to drive the Canaanites out of the land. This was absolutely essential because if they mixed with these people and intermarried with them theywould be led to worship their corrupting "gods”. God told them this would prove to be a fatal trap.

Unfortunately, they did not exercise the necessary trust in God, and later (Deuteronomy 20:16-18[419]) they were told that they would have to utterly destroy these nations.

Different words are used to describe what God would do with these inhabitants of Canaan. In the earlier passages the typical word is:

Strong’s # 1644 garash (gaw-rash’); (Exodus 12:39; 23:28-31; 33:2; 34:11[420]; Leviticus 21:7,14[421]; Numbers 22:6,11; 30:9[422]; Deuteronomy 33:27[423]; Joshua 24:12,18[424]; Judges 2:3; 6:9; 9:41; 11:2[425]; 1 Samuel 26:19[426]; 1 Kings 2:27[427]; 1 Chronicles 17:21[428]; etc

a primitive root; to drive out from a possession; especially to expatriate or divorce: KJV-- cast up (out), divorced (woman), drive away (forth, out), expel, X surely put away, trouble, thrust out. (DIC)

Def: to drive out, expel, cast out, drive away, divorce, put away, thrust away, trouble, cast

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up

Strong’s # 3582 kachad (kaw-khad’);a primitive root; to secrete, by act or word; hence (intensively) to destroy: Genesis 47:18[429]; Exodus 9:15; 23:23[430]; Joshua 7:19[431]; 1 Samuel 3:17[432] KJV-- conceal, hide, cut down (off), desolate. (DIC)

Def: to hide, conceal, cut off, cut down, make desolate, kick But in the later passages it changes to:

Strong’s # 2763 charam (khaw-ram’); a primitive root; to seclude; specifically (by a ban) to devote to religious uses (especially destruction); physical and reflexive, to be blunt as to the nose.

KJV-- make accursed, consecrate, (utterly) destroy, devote, forfeit, have a flat nose utterly (slay, make away). (DIC): Exodus 22:20[433]; Leviticus 21:18; 27:28,29[434]; Numbers 21:2,3[435] Deuteronomy 2:34; 3:6; 7:1; 13:15; 20:17[436]; Joshua 2:10; 6:18,21; 8:26; 10:1,28,35,37,39,40 11:11,12,20,21[437]; Judges 1:17; 21:11[438]; 1 Samuel 15:3; 7-9,15,18[439]; 1 Kings 9:21[440] Def: to ban, devote, destroy utterly, completely destroy, dedicate for destruction, exterminate to split, slit, mutilate (a part of the body)

Strong’s #2040 harac (haw-ras’); a primitive root; to pull down or in pieces, break, destroy:

KJV-- beat down, break (down, through), destroy, overthrow, pluck down, pull down, ruin, throw down, X utterly: Exodus 15:7; 19:21,24; 23:24[441]; Judges 6:25[442]; 2 Samuel 11:25[443]; 1 Kings 18:30; 19:10,14[444].

Def: to tear down, break down, overthrow, beat down, break, break through, destroy, pluck down, pull down, throw down, ruined, destroyer, utterly

Strong’s #5221 nakah (naw-kaw’); a primitive root; to strike (lightly or severely, literally or figuratively):

KJV-- beat, cast forth, clap, give [wounds], X go forward, X indeed, kill, make [slaughter], murderer, punish, slaughter, slay (-er, -ing), smite (-r, -ing), strike, be stricken, (give) stripes, X surely, wound: Genesis 4:15; 8:21; 14:5,7,15,17; 19:11; 32:8,11; 34:30; 36:35; 37:21[445]; Exodus 2:11-13; 3:19; 5:14,16; 7:17,20,24; 8:16,17; 9:15,25,31,32; 12:12,13,29; 17:5,6; 21:12,15,18-20,26; 22:2[446]; Leviticus 24:17,18,21; 26:24[447]; Numbers 3:13; 8:17; 11:33; 14:12,45; 20:11; 21:24,25; 22:6; 22:23,25,27,28,32; 25:14,15,17,18; 32:4; 33:4; 35:11,1518,21,24,30[448]; Deuteronomy 1:4; 2:33; 3:3; 4:46; 7:2; 13:5; 19:4,6,11; 20:13, 21:1; 25:2.3,11; 27:24,25; 28:22,27,28,35; 29:[449]7; Joshua 7:3,5; 8:21,22,24; 9:18, 10:4,10,20,26,28,30,32,33,35,37,39,40; 8:10-12,14,17; 12:1,6,7; 13:12,21; 15:16; 19:47; 20:3,5,9[450]; Judges 1:4,5,8,10,12,17,25[451], etc.

Def: to strike, smite, hit, beat, slay, kill

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Strong’s #3423 yarash (yaw-rash’); or yaresh (yaw-raysh’); a primitive root; to occupy (by driving out previous tenants, and possessing in their place); by implication, to seize, to rob, to inherit; also to expel, to impoverish, to ruin: Genesis 15:3,4,7,8; 21:10; 22:17; 24:60; 28:4; 45:11[452]; Exodus 15:9; 34:24[453]; Leviticus 20:24; 25:46[454]; Numbers 13:30; 14:12,24; 21:24,32,35; 27:11; 32:21,39; 33:52,53,55; 36:8[455]; Deuteronomy 1:8; 21,39; 2:12,21,22,24,31; 3:12,18,20; 4:1,5,14,22,26,38,47; 5:31,33; 6:1,18; 7:1,17; 8:1; 9:1,3-6,23; 10:11; 11:8,10,11,23,29,31; 12:1,2,29; 15:4; 16:20; 17:14; 18:12,14; 19:1,2,14; 21:1; 23:20; 25:19; 26:1; 28:21,42,63; 30:5,16,18; 31:3,13; 32:47; 33:23[456]; Joshua 1:11,15; 3:10; 8:7; 12:1; 13:1,6,12,13; 14:12; 15:14; 15:63; 16:10; 17:12[457]; etc

KJV-- cast out, consume, destroy, disinherit, dispossess, drive (-ing) out, enjoy, expel, X without fail, (give to, leave for) inherit (-ance, -or) + magistrate, be (make) poor, come to poverty, (give to, make to) possess, get (have) in (take) possession, seize upon, succeed, X utterly.

Def: to seize, dispossess, take possession off, inherit, disinherit, occupy, impoverish, be an heir

Strong’s #6 ‘abad (aw-bad’); a primitive root; properly, to wander away, i.e. lose oneself; by implication to perish (causative, destroy): Exodus 10:7[458]; Leviticus 23:30; 26:38[459]; Numbers 16:33; 17:12; 21:29,30; 24:19; 33:52[460]; Deuteronomy 4:26; 7:10; 20:24; 8:19,20; 9:3; 11:4,17; 12:2,3; 22:3; 26:5; 28:20,22,51,63; 30:18; 32:28[461]; Joshua 7:7; 23:13,16[462]; Judges 5:31[463]; 1 Samuel 9:3[464], etc.

KJV-- break, destroy (-uction), + not escape, fail, lose, (cause to, make) perish, spend,

X and surely, take, be undone, X utterly, be void of, have no way to flee.

Def: perish, vanish, go astray, be destroyed

It should be clear from what we have said so far that a fundamental change came in God’s instructions to them. If they had exercised adequate trust and faith, the heathen nations would have been driven out of the land, but may have survived among the nearby nations to learn later the truth about Jehovah. (Deuteronomy 4:6) It is only fair, however, to note that they had had the witness and testimony of Abraham (the first and only foreign missionary of his day!), Isaac, and Jacob and their entire families (including hired workers, slaves etc.) for hundreds of years and had not been converted yet!

God’s instructions were spelled out in the following passages:

1) Exodus 23:20-33

20 "I will send an angel ahead of you to protect you as you travel and to bring you to the place which I have prepared. 21 Pay attention to him and obey him. Do not rebel against him, for I have sent him, and he will not pardon such rebellion. 22 But if you obey him and do everything I command, I will fight against all your enemies. 23 My angel will go ahead of you and take you into the land of the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Canaanites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, and I will destroy (kachad) them. 24 Do not bow down to their gods

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or worship them, and do not adopt their religious practices. Destroy (harac) their gods and break down their sacred stone pillars. 25 If you worship me, the LORD you God, I will bless you with food and water and take away all your sicknesses. 26 In your land no woman will have a miscarriage or be without children. I will give you long lives.

27 “I will make the people who oppose you afraid of me; I will bring confusion among the people against whom you fight, and I will make all your enemies turn and run from you. 28 I will throw your enemies into panic;x I will drive out the Hivites, the Canaanites, and the Hittites as you advance. 29 I will not drive them out within a year’s time; if I did, the land would become deserted, and the wild animals would be too many for you. Instead, I will drive them out little by little, until there are enough of you to take possession of the land. 31 I will make the borders of your land extend from the Gulf of Aqaba to the Mediterranean Sea and from the desert to the Euphrates River. I will give you power over the inhabitants of the land, and you will drive them out as you advance. 32 Do not make any agreement with them or with their gods. 33 Do not let those people live in your country; if you do, they will make you sin against me. If you worship their gods, it will be a fatal trap for you.” (GNB)

XI will...panic; or I will send hornets among your enemies.

2)    Exodus 34:11,12:

11"Obey the laws that I am giving you today. I will drive out the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, as you advance. Do not make any treaties with the people of the country into which you are going, because this could be a fatal trap for you.” (GNB)

3)    Leviticus 18:24-30:

24 "Do not make yourselves unclean by any of theses acts, for that is how the pagans made themselves unclean, those pagans who lived in the land before you and whom the LORD is driving out so that you can go in. 25 Their actions made the land unclean, and so the LORD is punishing the land and making it reject the people who lived there. 26-27 They did all these disgusting things and made the land unclean, but you must not do them. All of you, whether Israelites or foreigners living with you, must keep the LORD’s laws and commands, 28 and then the land will not reject you, as it rejected the pagans who lived there before you. 29 You know that whoever does any of these disgusting things will no longer be considered one of God’s people.

And the LORD said, <Obey the commands I give and do not follow the practices of the people who lived in the land before you, and do not make yourselves unclean by doing any of these things. I am the LORD your God.’” (GNB)

4)    Leviticus 20:24-28:

22 "The LORD said, Keep all my laws and commands, so that you will not be

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rejected by the land of Canaan, into which I am bringing you. 23 Do not adopt the customs of the people who live there. I am driving out those pagans so that you can enter the land. They have disgusted me with all their evil practices. 24 But I have promised you this rich and fertile land as your possession, and I will give it to you. I am the LORD your God, and I have set you apart from the other nations. 25 So then, you must make a clear distinction between animals and birds that are ritually clean and those that are not. Do not eat unclean animals or birds. I have declared them unclean. 26 You shall be holy and belong only to me, because I am the Lord and I am holy. I have set you apart from the other nations so that you would belong to me alone.

"Any man or woman who consults the spirits of the dead shall be stoned to death; any of you that do this are responsible for your own death.’” (GNB)

Just as God warned the Canaanites and gave them a period of probation, He also warned the Israelites and spelled out to them what would happen to them if they were no more faithful than the former inhabitants of the land.

5) Leviticus 26:14-46:

14 "But if you will not hearken to me, and will not do all these commandments, 15 if you spurn my statutes, and if your soul abhors my ordinances, so that you will not do all my commandments, but break my covenant, 16 I will do this to you: I will appoint over you sudden terror, consumption, and fever that waste the eyes and cause life to pine away. And you shall sow your seed in vain, for your enemies shall eat it; 17 I will set my face against you, and you shall be smitten before your enemies; those who hate you shall rule over you, and you shall flee when none pursues you. 18 And if in spite of this you will not hearken to me, then I will chastise you again sevenfold for your sins, 19 and I will break the pride of your power, and I will make your heavens like iron and your earth like brass; 20 and your strength shall be spent in vain, for your land shall not yield its increase, and the trees of the land shall not yield their fruit.

21 "Then if you walk contrary to me, and will not hearken to me, I will bring more plagues upon you, sevenfold as many as your sins. 22 And I will let loose the wild beasts among you, which shall rob you of your children, and destroy your cattle, and make you few in number, so that your ways shall become desolate.

23 "And if by this discipline you are not turned to me, but walk contrary to me, 24 then I also will walk contrary to you, and I myself will smite (nakah) you sevenfold for your sins. 25 And I will bring a sword upon you, that shall execute vengeance for the covenant; and if you gather within your cities I will send pestilence among you, and you shall be delivered into the hand of the enemy. 26 When I break your staff of bread, ten women shall bake your bread in one oven, and shall deliver your bread again by weight; and you shall eat, and not be satisfied.

27 "And if in spite of this you will not hearken to me, but walk contrary to me, 28 then I will walk contrary to you in fury, and chastise you myself sevenfold for your sins. 29 You shall eat the flesh of your sons, and you shall eat the flesh of your daughters. 30 And

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I will destroy your high places, and cut down your incense altars, and cast your dead bodies upon the dead bodies of your idols; and my soul will abhor you. 31 And I will lay your cities waste, and will make your sanctuaries desolate, and I will not smell your pleasing odors. 32 And I will devastate the land, so that your enemies who settle in it shall be astonished at it. 33 And I will scatter you among the nations, and I will unsheathe the sword after you; and your land shall be a desolation, and your cities shall be a waste.

34 "Then the land shall enjoy its sabbaths as long as it lies desolate, while you are in your enemies’ land; then the land shall rest, and enjoy its sabbaths. 35 As long as it lies desolate it shall have rest, the rest which it had not in your sabbaths when you dwelt upon it. 36 And as for those of you that are left, I will send faintness into their hearts in the lands of their enemies; the sound of a driven leaf shall put them to flight, and they shall flee as one flees from the sword, and they shall fall when none pursues. 37 They shall stumble over one another, as if to escape a sword, though none pursues; and you shall have no power to stand before your enemies. 38 And you shall perish among the nations, and the land of your enemies shall eat you up. 39 And those of you that are left shall pine away in your enemies’ lands because of their iniquity; and also because of the iniquities of their fathers they shall pine away like them.

40 "But if they confess their iniquity and the iniquity of their fathers in their treachery which they committed against me, and also in walking contrary to me, 41 so that I walked contrary to them and brought them into the land of their enemies; if then their uncircumcised heart is humbled and they make amends for their iniquity; 42 then I will remember my covenant with Jacob, and I will remember my covenant with Isaac and my covenant with Abraham, and I will remember the land. 43 But the land shall be left by them, and enjoy its sabbaths while it lies desolate without them; and they shall make amends for their iniquity, because they spurned my ordinances, and their soul abhorred my statutes. 44 Yet for all that, when they are in the land of their enemies, I will not spurn them, neither will I abhor them so as to destroy them utterly and break my covenant with them; for I am the LORD their God; 45 but I will for their sake remember the covenant with their forefathers, whom I brought forth out of the land of Egypt in the sight of the nations, that I might be their God: I am the LORD.”

46 These are the statutes and ordinances and laws which the LORD made between him and the people of Israel on Mount Sinai by Moses. (RSV)

6) Numbers 33:50-56:

50 "There in the plains of Moab across the Jordan from Jericho the Lord gave Moses 51 the following instructions for Israel: <When you cross the Jordan into the land of Canaan, 52 you must drive out (yarash) all the inhabitants of the land. Destroy all their stone and metal idols and all their places of worship. 53 Occupy the land and settle in it, because I am giving it to you. 54 Divide the land among the various tribes and clans by drawing lots, giving

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a large piece of property to a large clan and a small one to a small clan. 55 But if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land, those that are left will be as troublesome as splinters in your eyes and thorns in your sides, and they will fight against you. 56 If you do not drive them out, I will destroy you, as I planned to destroy them.” (GNB)

7) Deuteronomy 7:1-11:

1 “The Lord your God will bring you into the land that you are going to occupy, and he will drive many nations out of it. As you advance, he will drive out seven nations larger and more powerful than you: the Hittites, the Girgashites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. 2 When the LORD your God places these people in your power and you defeat them, you must put them all to death. Do not make an alliance with them or show them any mercy. 3 Do not marry any of them, and do not let your children marry any of them, 4 because then they would lead your children away from the LORD to worship other gods. If that happens, the LORD will be angry with you and destroy you at once. 5 So then, tear down their altars, break their sacred stone pillars in pieces, cut down their symbols of the goddess Asherah, and burn their idols. 6 Do this because you belong to the LORD your God. From all the peoples on earth he chose you to be his own special people.

7"The LORD did not love you and choose you because you outnumbered other peoples; you were the smallest nation on earth. 8 But the LORD loved you and wanted to keep the promise that he made to your ancestors. That is why he saved you by his great might and set you free from slavery to the king of Egypt. 9 Remember that the LORD your God is the only God and that he is faithful. He will keep his covenant and show his constant love to a thousand generations of those who love him and obey his commands, 10 but he will not hesitate to punish those who hate him. 11 Now then, obey what you have been taught; obey all the laws that I have given you today.”....

16    “Destroy every nation that the LORD your God places in your power, and do not show them any mercy. Do not worship their gods, for that would be fatal...

17    "Do not tell yourselves that these peoples outnumber you and that you cannot drive them out. 18 Do not be afraid of them; remember what the LORD your God did to the king of Egypt and to all his people. 19 Remember the terrible plagues that you saw with your own eyes, the miracles and wonders, and the great power and strength by which the LORD your God set you free. In the same way that he destroyed (abad) the Egyptians, he will destroy all these people that you now fear. 20 He will even cause panic^3 among them and will destroy those who escape and go into hiding. 21 So do not be afraid of these people. The LORD your God is with you; he is a great God and one to be feared. 22 Little by little he will drive out these nations as you advance. You will not be able to destroy them all at once, for, if you did, the number of wild animals would increase and be a threat to you. 23 The LORD will put your enemies in your power and make them panic until they are destroyed. 24 He will put

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their kings in your power. You will kill them, and they will be forgotten. No one will be able to stop you; you will destroy everyone. 25 Burn their idols. Do not desire the silver or gold that is on them, and do not take it for yourselves. If you do, that will be fatal, because the LORD hates idolatry. 26 Do not bring any of these idols into your homes, or the same curse will be on you that is on them. You must hate and despise these idols, because they are under the LORD’s curse.” (GNB)

a cause panic; or send hornets, or send plagues.

Deuteronomy 7:20:

"Moreover the LORD your God will send hornets among them, until those who are left and hide themselves from you are destroyed.” (RSV)

8)    Deuteronomy 11:22-25:

23 “Then he will drive out all those nations as you advance, and you will occupy the land belonging to nations greater and more powerful than you. 24 All the ground that you march over will be yours. Your territory will extend from the desert in the south to the Lebanon Mountains in the north, and from the Euphrates River in the east to the Mediterranean Sea in the west. 25 Wherever you go in that land, the LORD your God will make the people fear you, as he has promised, and no one will be able to stop you.” (GNB)

9)    Deuteronomy 20:1-20

1"When you go out to fight against your enemies and you see chariots and horses and an army that outnumbers yours, do not be afraid of them. The LORD your God, who rescued you from Egypt, will be with you. 2 Before you start fighting, a priest is to come forward and say to the army, 3 <Men of Israel, listen! Today you are going into battle. Do not be afraid of your enemies or lose courage or panic. 4 The LORD your God is going with you, and he will give you victory.’

5 "Then the officers will address the men and say, <Is there any man here who has just built a house, but has not yet dedicated it? If so, he has to go home. Otherwise, if he is killed in battle, someone else will dedicate his house. 6 Is there any man here who has just planted a vineyard, but has not yet had the chance to harvest its grapes? If so, he is to go home. Otherwise, if he is killed in battle, someone else will enjoy the wine. 7 Is there anyone here who is engaged to be married? If so, he is to go home. Otherwise, if he is killed in battle, someone else will marry the woman he is engaged to.’

8 "The officers will also say to the men, <Is there any man here who has lost his nerve and is afraid? If so, he is to go home. Otherwise, he will destroy the morale of the others.’ 9 When the officers have finished speaking to the army, leaders are to be chosen for each unit.

10 "When you go to attack a city, first give its people a chance to surrender. 11 If they open the gates and surrender, they are all to become your slaves and do forced labor for you. 12 But if the people of that city will not surrender, but choose to fight, surround it with your army. 13 Then, when the LORD your God lets you capture the city, kill every man in it. 14 You may,

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however, take for yourselves the women, the children, the livestock, and everything else in the city. You may use everything that belongs to your enemies. The LORD has given it to you. 15 That is how you are to deal with those cities that are far away from the land you will settle in.

16 “But when you capture cities in the land that the LORD your God is giving you, kill everyone. 17 Completely destroy (charam) all the people: the Hittites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, as the LORD ordered you to do. 18 Kill them, so that they will not make you sin against the LORD by teaching you to do all the disgusting things that they do in the worship of their gods.” (GNB)

Deuteronomy 20:16-18.

"However, in the cities of the nations the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance, do not leave alive anything that breathes. Completely destroy them--the Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites--as the Lord your God has commanded you. Otherwise, they will teach you to follow all the detestable things they do in worshiping their gods, and you will sin against the Lord your God.” (NIV)

vss. 16-18.

"In the cities of these nations whose land the Lord your God is giving you as a patrimony, you shall not leave any creature alive. You shall annihilate them--Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, Jebusites--as the Lord your God commanded you, so that they may not teach you to imitate all the abominable things that they have done for their gods and so cause you to sin against the Lord your God.” (NEB)

(See Ellen White comment below)

10) Psalms 106:34-41:

34    They did not kill the heathen,

As the LORD had commanded them to do,

35    but they intermarried with them

And adopted their pagan ways.

36    God’s people worshiped idols,

And this caused their destruction.

37    They offered their own sons and daughters

As sacrifices to the idols of Canaan.

38    They killed those innocent children,

And the land was defiled by those murders.

39    They made themselves impure by their actions

And were unfaithful to God.

40    So the LORD was angry with his people;

He was disgusted with them.

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41 He abandoned them to the power of the heathen,

And their enemies ruled over them. (GNB)

Some feel that these destructive ideas are found only in the Old Testament, but what do you think of Luke 20:18?

11)    Luke 20:18. "Everyone who falls on that stone will be cut to pieces; and if that stone falls on someone, it will crush him to dust.” (GNB) [see also Matthew 21:44]

Ellen White:

12)"The    utter destruction of the people of Jericho was but a fulfillment ofthe commands previously given through Moses concerning the inhabitants of Canaan: "Thou shalt smite them, and utterly destroy them.” Deuteronomy 7:2. "Of the cities of these people, . . . thou shalt save alive nothing that breatheth.” Deuteronomy 20:16. To many these commands seem to be contrary to the spirit of love and mercy enjoined in other portions of the Bible, but they were in truth the dictates of infinite wisdom and goodness. God was about to establish Israel in Canaan, to develop among them a nation and government that should be a manifestation of His kingdom upon the earth. They were not only to be inheritors of the true religion, but to disseminate its principles throughout the world. The Canaanites had abandoned themselves to the foulest and most debasing heathenism, and it was necessary that the land should be cleared of what would so surely prevent the fulfillment of God’s gracious purposes.

"The inhabitants of Canaan had been granted ample opportunity for repentance. Forty years before, the opening of the Red Sea and the judgments upon Egypt had testified to the supreme power of the God of Israel. And now the overthrow of the kings of Midian, of Gilead and Bashan, had further shown that Jehovah was above all gods. The holiness of His character and His abhorrence of impurity had been evinced in the judgments visited upon Israel for their participation in the abominable rites of Baalpeor. All these events were known to the inhabitants of Jericho, and there were many who shared Rahab’s conviction, though they refused to obey it, that Jehovah, the God of Israel, "is God in heaven above, and upon the earth beneath.” Like the men before the Flood, the Canaanites lived only to blaspheme Heaven and defile the earth. And both love and justice demanded the prompt execution of these rebels against God and foes to man.” Patriarchs and Prophets p. 492 (1890)

13)"The Lord does not delight in vengeance, though he executes judgment upon the transgressors of his law. He is forced to do this, to preserve the inhabitants of the earth from utter depravity and ruin. In order to save some, he must cut off those who have become hardened in sin. Says the prophet Isaiah: "The Lord shall rise up as in mount Perazim, he shall be wroth as in the valley of Gibeon, that he may do his work, his strange work, and bring to pass his act, his strange act.” [Isaiah 28:21] The work of wrath and destruction is indeed a strange, unwelcome work for Him who is infinite in love.” The Signs

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of the Times August 24, 1882

14)"Though God is strict to mark iniquity and to punish transgression, He takes no delight in vengeance. The work of destruction is a -strange work’ [Isaiah 28:21] to Him who is infinite in love.” Patriarchs and Prophets 139 (1890); compare GC 627

15)    “The rabbis had a saying that there is rejoicing in heaven when one who has sinned against God is destroyed^1; but Jesus taught that to God the work of destruction is a strange work. That in which all heaven delights is the restoration of God’s own image in the souls whom He has made.” The General Conference Bulletin December 1, 1895; Christ’s Object Lessons 190 (1900)

16)    "At this time even [on the border of Canaan near Kadesh Barnea], had they shown true and sincere repentance, God might have given them another trial, as he did the ancient Ninevites; but instead of this they sank down in utter despondency. They knew that God was in earnest with them. They passed a sleepless night, but with the morning came a hope. They determined to redeem their cowardice. They would not look toward the wilderness, or the Red Sea, but they would equip themselves for war, and would seize the land and possess it by their might, peradventure their works might be accepted of God. They confessed saying, "We have sinned against the Lord, we will go up and fight, according to all that the Lord our God commanded us.” [Deuteronomy 1:41] Here again their transgressions had turned their light into darkness. The Lord had never told them <to go up and fight.’ He did not design that they should gain the land of promise by warfare, but through submission and unqualified obedience to his commands.” The Signs of the Times, September 2, 1880

17)    "God had made it their privilege and their duty to enter the land at the time of His appointment, but through their willful neglect that permission had been withdrawn. Satan had gained his object in preventing them from entering Canaan; and now he urged them on to do the very thing, in the face of the divine prohibition, which they had refused to do when God required it. Thus the great deceiver gained the victory by leading them to rebellion the second time. They had distrusted the power of God to work with their efforts in gaining possession of Canaan; yet now they presumed upon their own strength to accomplish the work independent of divine aid. <We have sinned against the Lord,’ they cried; <we will go up and fight, according to all that the Lord our God commanded us.’ Deuteronomy 1:41. So terribly blinded had they become by transgression. The Lord had never commanded them to <go up and fight.’ It was not His purpose that they should gain the land by warfare, but by strict obedience to His commands.” Patriarchs and Prophets 392 (1890); RH November 5, 1903 (second article)

18)    "Though God had granted the prayer of Moses in sparing Israel from destruction, their

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apostasy was to be signally punished. The lawlessness and insubordination into which Aaron had permitted them to fall, if not speedily crushed, would run riot in wickedness, and would involve the nation in irretrievable ruin. By terrible severity the evil must be put away....In the name of <the Lord God of Israel,’ Moses now commanded those upon his right hand, who had kept themselves clear of idolatry, to gird on their swords and slay all who persisted in rebellion. <And there fell of the people that day about three thousand men.’ [Exodus 32:27,28] Without regard to position, kindred, or friendship, the ringleaders in wickedness were cut off; but all who repented and humbled themselves were spared.

"Those who performed this terrible work of judgment were acting by divine authority, executing the sentence of the King of heaven....

"It was necessary that this sin should be punished, as a testimony to surrounding nations of God’s displeasure against idolatry....

"Love no less than justice demanded that for this sin judgment should be inflicted. God is the guardian as well as the sovereign of His people. He cuts off those who are determined upon rebellion, that they may not lead others to ruin. In sparing the life of Cain, God had demonstrated to the universe what would be the result of permitting sin to go unpunished. The influence exerted upon his descendants by his life and teaching led to the state of corruption that demanded the destruction of the whole world by a flood....

"So with the apostasy at Sinai. Unless punishment had been speedily visited upon transgression, the same results would again have been seen. The earth would have become as corrupt as in the days of Noah. Had these transgressors been spared, evils would have followed, greater than resulted from sparing the life of Cain. It was the mercy of God that thousands should suffer, to prevent the necessity of visiting judgments upon millions. In order to save the many, He must punish the few. Furthermore, as the people had cast off their allegiance to God, they had forfeited the divine protection, and, deprived of their defense, the whole nation was exposed to the power of their enemies.” Patriarchs and Prophets 324,325 (1890); RH February 11, 1909; contrast 4SP 195; Compare PP 706; CC 176; #12

Historically what happened is recorded in the books of Numbers, Deuteronomy and especially Joshua.

19)    Numbers 21:32:

"The Israelites captured it and its surrounding towns and drove out the Amorites living there....34 The Lord said to Moses, ‘Do not be afraid of him, I will give you victory over him, all his people, and his land. Do to him what you did to Sihon, the Amorite king who ruled at Heshbon.’ 35 So the Israelites killed Og, his sons, and all his people, leaving no survivors, and then they occupied his land.” (GNB)

20)    Deuteronomy 2:34:

"At the same time we captured and destroyed every town, and put everyone to death, men, women, and children. We left no survivors.” (GNB)

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21)    Deuteronomy 3:3,6:

"So the LORD also placed King Og and his people in our power, and we slaughtered them all...6 We destroyed all the towns and put to death all the men, women, and children, just as we did in the towns that belonged to King Sihon of Heshbon.” (GNB)

22)    Joshua 10:40:

"So Joshua smote all the country of the hills, and of the south, and of the vale, and of the springs, and all their kings: he left none remaining, but utterly destroyed all that breathed, as the LORD God of Israel commanded.” (KJV)

vs. 40. "So Joshua massacred the population of the whole region--the hill-country, the Negeb, the Shephelah, the watersheds--and all their kings. He left no survivor, destroying everything that drew breath, as the Lord the God of Israel had commanded.” (NEB)

23)    Joshua 11:11:

"And they smote all the souls that were therein with the edge of the sword, utterly destroying them: there was not any left to breathe: and he burnt Hazor with fire.” (KJV)

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24)    Joshua 11:14.

" And all the spoil of these cities, and the cattle, the children of Israel took for a prey unto themselves; but every man they smote with the edge of the sword, until they had destroyed them, neither left they any to breathe.” (KJV)

25)    Joshua 24:12.

"And I sent the hornet before you, which drove them out before you, the two kings of the Amorites; it was not by your sword or by your bow.” (RSV)

Summary:

It should be clear from these passages that God granted the peoples of Canaan a period of probation amounting to 430 years. He sent them "missionaries”-His friends Abraham, Lot, Job and Melchizedek-but they continued to grow more and more wicked. At the end of their period of probation, because of their wickedness, God’s plan was to drive them out or to hand them over to the Israelites.

In the same way, God gave the land to the Israelites for a period of about 600-700 years. They turned out to be just as wicked as their predecessors in the land. After 600 years, the northern kingdom of Israel was thus allowed to go into oblivion or death at the hands of the Assyrians. The southern kingdom of Judah remained for about 130 years longer until they were conquered three times in a row by Nebuchadnezzar. Their land was totally destroyed and they were taken off to captivity. Later they came back, but only as a nation in subjection to the ruling powers.

Those who chose to come back were given another 500+ years to try to learn the lessons God wanted them to learn. At that point after rejecting Jesus and crucifying Him, their nation was totally destroyed by the Romans. They have never again fully possessed the land.

© Copyright 1999-2006, Kenneth Hart khart@llu.edu

Appendix:

1. Not all rabbis felt this way. Rabbi J.H. Hertz in his commentary on Exodus 14:30 says:

the Egyptians dead upon the sea shore. The fact that the Egyptians had to perish mars the completeness of Israel’s victory. "When the Egyptian hosts were drowning in the Red Sea,” say the Rabbis, "the angels in heaven were about to break forth into songs of jubilation. But the Holy One, blessed be He, silenced them with the words, <My creatures are perishing, and ye are ready to sing!’” In the same spirit, a medieval rabbi explained why a drop of wine is poured out of the wine-cup on Seder eve at the mention of each of the plagues that were inflicted on the Egyptians. Israel’s cup of joy, he said, cannot be full if Israel’s triumph involves suffering even to its enemies.” The Pentateuch and Haftorahs, edited by THE CHIEF RABBI (J. H. Hertz); Oxford University Press, 1930

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12. Exodus - a Teacher’s Guide

THE CENTRAL QUESTION:

What does this book/story say to us about God?

This question may be broken down further as follows:

a.    Why did God do it/allow it?

b.    Why did He record it for our study?

1.    After picking out Abraham’s family to be His representatives to the world, why did God leave them down there in Egypt for so long, until they had apparently forgotten everything they had ever known about Him, and had been brought to such grinding slavery? Do you think the other nations in Moses’ day would have respected the “God” of a nation of slaves? Did God choose the children of Israel for special privileges or special responsibilities?

The land of Canaan (named after Ham’s son, Canaan: Genesis 10:15-18) was promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (Genesis 12:7; 13:14-17;15:5,13-21; 17:3-14; 22:15-18; 26:2-5,24; 28:4,10-16; 35:9-12; 48:4[465]). After possessing this land the children of Israel were to be a blessing to all nations (Genesis 12:3; 22:18; 26:4; 28:14[466]; Galatians 3:8[467] compare Exodus 23:20-33[468]).

The land was given to the descendants of Canaan until they filled up their cup of iniquity (Genesis 15:16-21; Acts 7:2-8[469]), as a fulfillment of God’s 400 year prophecy. God was thus choosing Abraham’s descendants primarily for a special responsibility. But they needed to be separated for some time from the Canaanites so they wouldn’t adopt their “religious” practices. In Egypt they were despised by the Egyptians because of their occupation (Genesis 46:33,34[470]) and their type of worship. This allowed them to multiply in relative seclusion with a minimum of mixing with heathen nations. But finally He had to take them out of Egypt because they were being cruelly oppressed. (Exodus 3:7-10[471])

“Gods” were rated in those days primarily according to how their worshipers did in battle. Thus there would be almost no respect for the “God” of a nation of slaves. Even the Israelites had lost a great deal of respect for their God, Yahweh, after He left them in Egyptian slavery for so many years. God had to do something quite dramatic to gain some respect once again.

2.    Why do you think there was a decree to kill all the male children? (Exodus 1:16,22[472]) If you could have asked one of the Israelites about their God as all the male babies were being killed (Exodus 1:15-22[473]), how do you think they would have described Him? Did the devil have anything to do with this? If so, why?

Male children (especially the firstborn) were considered to be the special property of the “gods” of most ancient heathen nations. By destroying the male children, you would eventually destroy a nation completely because the girls would be married to men of other nations and thus would be expected to adopt their “gods” and their nationality. Except under very special circumstances, women did not inherit property from their parents. (See exception among Israelites: Numbers 26:33; 27:1-10; 36:1-13[474]; Joshua 17:3-6[475] ) When the Egyptians began killing the Hebrew baby boys, the Hebrews must have felt that their nation was on the verge of extinction. It seemed to indicate to them the total impotence of their “God”.

No doubt the devil had done some very careful thinking and calculating about the progress of things among “God’s people”. He must have realized that things were getting pretty serious for

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“God”. Under those circumstances, it is quite possible that the devil thought it was time for Yahweh to consider sending a “Messiah” to rescue His downtrodden people. If so, the devil may have reasoned, if we kill all the baby boys we will be able to destroy or prevent the coming of the “Messiah”.

3.    Why did God ask Moses to take off his shoes before approaching the bush? (Exodus 3:5[476]) What are the implications of God choosing the name “I AM WHO I AM” (Exodus 3:13,14[477]) for Himself? Why would God choose a verb rather than a noun as a name? This same name is used in the book of Genesis. Had Moses already heard of this name, or was the book of Genesis written after this disclosure?

Moses’ experience with the burning bush took place near Mt. Sinai (Exodus 3:1[478]). God wanted to impress Moses with the solemnity of the occasion and the seriousness of His message. In accordance with the customs of that day God asked Moses not to come too close and to remove his sandals to show respect. (Compare Joshua 5:13-15[479]; Ezekiel 24:15-24[480]) He also covered his face because he was afraid to look at God (Exodus 3:6[481]).

The Hebrew word transliterated YHWH was the ancient name for Israel’s God. It was probably pronounced as Yahweh. It is sometimes referred to as the TETRAGRAMMATON or “four-letter word”. It was regarded by the Hebrews as being too holy to pronounce. As a result, whenever they read the Bible and came to this name for God, they would actually pronounce the word Adonai in its place. Adonai means Lord. Ancient and modern Hebrew is normally written without any vowels! As you read along you put in the correct vowels yourself! Hundreds of years later, when Hebrew was no longer spoken and had become a “dead” language, they developed a system of vowel “points” that suggested which vowels were supposed to go where. Since they did not pronounce the word YHWH when they were reading, but pronounced Adonai instead, they actually put in the vowels for Adonai under the letters for YHWH. Much later when people were even less familiar with the Hebrew language, they tried to put the vowels from Adonai into the consonants for YHWH and the hybrid word YaHoWeH or Jehovah was the result. This name was never used for God in ancient times. YHWH is actually a special form of the verb “to be”. It is translated in various ways: “I am WHO I am”; “The Eternal One” etc. We do not know when Moses first learned this name for God but it is included in the books of Genesis and Job, each of which was written before Exodus. In most English translations wherever the Hebrew has YHWH the English translation will have “LORD” in small capital letters. Thus you can know when this special personal name for God is being used.

4.    Why did Moses apparently not tell Jethro his father-in-law the truth about his plans for going to Egypt? (Exodus 4:18[482]) Why did Moses apparently lie to Pharaoh in requesting permission to go into the wilderness for only three days to worship their God? (Exodus 5:3[483])

God told Moses that Aaron would be his spokesperson (Exodus 4:14-16[484]). Moses’ first task when approaching Egypt was indeed to find and talk to Aaron. No doubt his first questions were about the family and what was happening to all of them. It is very likely that Moses even told Jethro more details of his plans that are not recorded in the Bible. This is not an attempt on the part of Moses to deceive his Father-in-law.

By their statement to Pharaoh, Moses and Aaron were making it clear to him that they did not nor ever could consider him as a “god”. They were also suggesting that they were rejecting all the

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other “gods” of Egypt. This is why they needed to go out into the desert to worship their own “God”. They told Pharaoh that they must go out to follow the explicit instructions of their “God”. If they had really only wanted to go out for three days, it is quite likely that they could have arranged it with Pharaoh. There was a great deal implied by Moses’ and Aaron’s statement to Pharaoh and he understood these implications very well!

5.    What is the meaning of, or reason for the incident with Moses’ son on the way to Egypt? (Exodus 4:24-26[485]) What is the meaning of “The anger of the Lord was kindled against Moses”? (Exodus 4:14[486])

See handout Exodus #3: “God Seeks to Kill Moses. ”

6.    How would you respond today if someone appeared to you as Moses did showing the three miraculous “signs” as proof of his divine mission? (See Exodus 4:1-9[487]) If this is a good kind of proof or evidence, should God be using more of it today?

Human beings have always had a tendency to be impressed by things that they cannot understand or which seem to indicate some sort of mysterious or miraculous power. It is clear from Scripture that even genuine miracles can sometimes be counterfeited by human beings, not to mention the Devil! (See Exodus 7:8-13[488]) The Devil can even make himself appear as an “angel of light”. (2 Corinthians 11:14,15[489]) At the end of this earth’s history, the Devil will perform many miracles and lead astray almost the whole world! (See Matthew 24:4,5,23-27[490];) This would suggest that to trust in miracles is the most dangerous thing of all! Miracles are perhaps the poorest kind of evidence! In the case of Pharaoh, God used these simple “miracles” just to let Pharaoh know that he was not dealing with a few ordinary humans. God already knew that He would soon present a lot more convincing evidence—the ten plagues, the crossing of the Red Sea, etc.!

7.    What was the purpose of the ten plagues? Why is God apparently using might and power (Compare Zechariah 4:6[491]) to get the children of Israel out of Egypt? Who killed the firstborn in Egypt, and why? Does God destroy the wicked in the end? (See 1 Chronicles 10:3,4,13,14[492]) Did God harden Pharaoh’s heart or did Pharaoh harden his own heart (Exodus 9:34-10:1[493])? If so what does that mean?

See handout Exodus #4: “Hardening Pharaoh’s Heart”.

8.    Why could God help the children of Israel win the battle against the Amalekites only when Moses’ arms were up? (Exodus 17:11[494]) Was this some kind of magic?

The fact that the children of Israel could succeed in battle only when Moses’ hands were held up was an indication to everyone that God was the One who was actually winning the battle. This was not some kind of magic. It was God’s way of helping them remember that He was going to fight for them and conquer the land for them. Proof that they were not capable of winning any battles on their own is given dramatically in Deuteronomy 1:34-45[495]. The story of the Israelites vs the Amalekites is a long and very interesting one! (See Esther - A Teacher’s Guide: #’s 3,10,11, and additional notes at the end)

9.    Why did God give the children of Israel meat to eat, if He knew it was not good for them? (Exodus 16:1-15[496]) Compare Numbers 11:4-34; 21:4-9[497].

We have record of three times when the children of Israel complained about the food. It was usually the “mixed multitude” who were the first to complain. (Numbers 11:4[498]) On the first occasion

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God gave them quails to eat for a day or two and began to feed them with manna. (Exodus 16:1-36[499]) On the next occasion, they were complaining about the manna itself and God sent them enough quail to last a month (Numbers 11:4-34[500]) but many of them died in a plague. What do you think of God’s way of reacting to the request for meat in Numbers 11:18-20[501]? Doesn’t this sound like a pouting child? Why would God allow Himself to be pictured like this? God recognized that the children of Israel had rejected His leadership at this point. (See modern versions) They despised the provisions He knew were for their best good. On the third occasion God didn’t give them any food but sent them fiery serpents instead, followed by a bronze serpent so they could be preserved from death (Numbers 21:4-9[502]). Was God losing His patience? God simply withdrew His daily protection from them and they experienced what they would have experienced if God had not been daily preventing it earlier. (Deuteronomy 8:15[503]; Ellen White comments #a) Did God miraculously provide food for all the animals as well?

10.    At Mt. Sinai, was it the Father, the Son, or the Holy Spirit that was manifested on top of the mountain? (Exodus 19,20[504]; 1 Corinthians 10:1-4[505]; John 5:39[506]; Luke 24:44[507]) Why did God consider it necessary to come down on Mt. Sinai as He did? What was He trying to teach them (us) about Himself? What do you think God actually accomplished by this display of power? Why did He behave so differently 1400 years later on the Mt. of Olives (Matthew 23:37-39[508]), or the Mt. of Beatitudes (Matthew 5)?

The God who came down on the top of Mt. Sinai was “gentle Jesus, meek and mild”. (1 Corinthians 10:1-4[509]) It really wouldn’t matter since Jesus states plainly that if we have seen Him we have seen the Father, (John 1:9[510]) and He is sending us another “Comforter” just like Himself, The Holy Spirit. (John 14:16; 16:7[511]) In this case God realized that He needed to do something really dramatic to get the attention of the Israelites. Although He had managed to get them out of the land of Egypt, they were still not so sure of His power. See #11 below. God wants us to recognize His power but not to be frightened by it. (Exodus 20:20[512]) The circumstances 1400 years later were very different and called for a different manifestation.

11.    Do you think that God overdid the “fear” experience at Mt. Sinai? If so how do you explain what was happening 40 days later while Moses was still on top of the Mount? Why do you think the Israelites were so terrified after the Sinai experience? Why wasn’t Moses afraid? (Exodus 20:19,20[513]) Or was he? (Hebrews 12:18-21[514])

God has demonstrated repeatedly in Scripture that the use of force and power never succeeds in accomplishing what He wants most. After God’s first great show of power at the time of the flood, the people built the tower of Babel, not because they had respect for God but because they were trying to escape His judgments. (See Genesis 11:1-9[515]) The ten plagues finally convinced Pharaoh to let the children of Israel go. But three days later he was in hot pursuit of them. (See Exodus 14:5-31[516]). After the tremendous show of power on Mt. Sinai, the children of Israel rebelled 40 days later and built a golden calf which they called “Yahweh”-their “god”. Much later, after Mt. Carmel, even the fiery prophet Elijah was scared to death a day later when he heard Jezebel’s threats. (See 1 Kings 18,19[517]) Tremendous exhibits of God’s power only seem to set things up for a great downfall a short time later.

12.    Why does God say He will visit “the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generations”? (Exodus 20:5[518]) Moses knew this wasn’t right! (Job 21:19,20[519]; Ezekiel 18[520]; Deuteronomy 24:16[521])

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God is not here threatening some vengeful act upon the children of those who disobey Him. The God who made the laws of heredity and of cause and effect is simply stating what He knows is true. (Ezekiel 18[522]) Human beings need to learn that sin has serious consequences even sometimes for the innocent! This is part of what we are to learn in the great controversy. (Deuteronomy 29:19-21[523]; See Ellen White comments # b)

13.    Do you think the ten commandments are descriptive laws (like the law of gravity they describe how things actually work) or proscriptive laws (they are given by someone in authority to tell us what we may or may not do-like speed limit laws)?

Most people think of the Ten Commandments as proscriptive laws, perhaps because of the way they were given and the wording of the laws. If you were setting up a new community with entirely new laws, would you leave out any of the ten? Would you allow people to murder, commit adultery, steal, lie, etc. In order to live together in peace and harmony, we need to observe all ten. In light of this, the commandments might better be understood as “You will not...” statements. There is a very good reason for every one of these commands. Those who choose to violate them simply reap the results of their own choices. Such laws then are descriptive and not proscriptive. (See Ellen White comments #c)

14.    What is the meaning of “he shall serve him forever^1’ (Exodus 21:6[524])?

The following note, abbreviated from A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament by Arndt and Gingrich, may be helpful. “To the ancient near-eastern mind the vast stretches of time that we try to envision as ‘forever’ were unfathomable. To them the term forever just meant ‘as long as it is supposed to last’. The Greek lexicon describes this as ‘of time to come which, if it has no end, is also known as eternity’.” While these verses suggest that forever does not have to go on for a long time, the righteous can be assured that eternal life will have no end because “there will be no more death.” (Revelation 21:4[525]; compare Revelation 20:14[526]) The servant mentioned in this verse clearly could not serve beyond his own death! The words “forever”, “eternal”, and “everlasting” all have similar meanings in the ancient languages. Compare Jude 7.

15.    What were the people asking for in Exodus 20:18,19[527]? Why?

This is the first suggestion in the Bible of the idea of a mediator or intercessor. It was not God’s idea that they needed one, it was their idea because they were afraid. They were asking Moses to serve as their mediator with God. They wanted an intercessor to protect them from dying when God spoke to them. In more modern times, Christians have wanted a Mediator to appease God’s wrath and change God’s attitude toward them. Jesus Himself said,

John 16:26,27:

26 kai; ouj legw ulmin o|ti ejgw; ejrwthisw to;n patera peri; ulmwn: (Nestle-Aland Greek NT)

“I say not unto you that I will speak unto my Father for you.” (Tyndale)

“I am not saying to you that I shall be asking the Father concerning you..” (Concord. Literal)

“I say not unto you, that I will pray unto the Father for you...” (Geneva)

“I say not unto you, that I will pray the Father for you...” (KJV)

“I do not say to you that I will pray the Father for you...” (RSV)

“I do not say that I will ask the Father for you,..” (Williams)

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“I do not say that I shall pray to the Father for you,..” (Jerusalem; NEB)

“I do not say that I will ask him on your behalf,..” (GNB)

“I don’t tell you I’ll ask the Father for you.” (Beck)

“I do not tell you that I will ask the Father for you.” (NAB)

“I am not saying that I will ask the Father on your behalf...” (NIV)

“I do not say to you that I will request the Father on your behalf...” (NASB)

“I do not say to you that I will ask the Father on your behalf...” (NRSV; Translator’s)

“I do not say that I shall have to petition the Father for you.” (Anchor)

“I won’t have to ask him for you.” (CEV)

“I’m not telling you that I will make requests on your behalf...” (The Five Gospels)

“I will not say to you, <I will ask the Father on your behalf.’” (Schonfield)

“I won’t need to ask the Father to grant you these requests...” (TLB)

“I do not say that I will intercede with the Father for you...” (Twentieth Century)

“I shall not have to ask the Father in your behalf.” (Norlie)

“I do not promise to intercede with the Father for you...” (Goodspeed)

“I need make no promise to plead to the Father for you,..” (Phillips)

“I am not saying that I will ask the Father on your behalf [for it will not be necessary].” (Amplified) “I won’t continue making requests of the Father on your behalf. I won’t need to.” (The Message) “After that, you’ll feel more comfortable in going to the Father directly and in my name asking Him for anything you need. And I’ll be asking Him for things for you as well.” (The Clear Word)

Nowhere does the Bible suggest that God’s attitude toward us needs changing. (Romans 5:8[528]; 2 Corinthians 5:18,19[529]) God has sent Christ Jesus to plead with us to come back to Him!

16.    After reading through the entire experience of the Israelites while they were camped at the base of Mt. Sinai, do you think God wants us to fear Him, to be His obedient servants, or to be His friends? (like Moses-Exodus 33:11-13,17; 34:8,9[530]; Numbers 12:6-8[531])

There are only a few people in the Bible that are described as God’s friends. Abraham (Genesis 15:6 18:25[532]; 2 Chronicles 20:7[533]; Isaiah 41:8[534]; Romans 4:3[535]; Galatians 3:6[536]; James 2:23[537]); Moses (Exodus 33:11-13,17; 34:8,9[538]; Numbers 12:6-8[539]; Deuteronomy 5:4; 34:10[540]); Job (Job 1:8; 2:3; 42:7,8[541]).; John 13:23; 19:26; 21:7; 21:20[542]). These “friends” of God obviously had such a relationship with Him that He could treat them like friends (John 15:15[543]). Notice the clear distinction that Jesus makes between servants and friends. John seems to be the person who understood this perhaps best of all. It is certain that God doesn’t want us to fear Him (1 John 4:18[544]).

17.    How could the Israelites be kind to strangers and foreigners if they were to utterly destroy anyone who offered any sacrifice to any “god” except the Lord? (Exodus 22:20,21[545])

Since the children of Israel were living under a theocracy and not a secular government, worshiping any other “god” was not only foolish and direct rebellion against the true God, but was also treason against the government! Death has almost always been the accepted punishment for treason. But foreigners or aliens who were respectful to the true God were to be treated generously just like Israelites. (Exodus 12:19,48,49; 22:21[546]; Leviticus 18:26; 19:33,34; 23:22; 25:6[547]; Deuteronomy 1:16; 10:18; 14:28,29; 16:11,14; 31:12[548], etc)

18.    What is wrong with boiling a kid in its mother’s milk? (Exodus 23:19[549], Exodus 34:26[550], Deuteronomy 14:21[551])

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This was an ancient Canaanite ritual connected to their worship of fertility. God is here doing everything He can to keep His people away from such corruption. This custom was spelled out in the Ras Shamra tablets found in ancient Ugarit, a Syrian coastal city opposite the island of Cyprus.

19.    Why are only the men asked to attend the annual festivals to worship God (Exodus 23:17[552])?

In the ancient patriarchal system the males were the ones who were counted and specifically commanded to attend the festivals. (Compare Matthew 14:21; 15:37[553]; John 6:10[554]) This was not a prohibition against anyone else attending. (1 Samuel 1:1-23[555]; Luke 2:41-45[556]) As “patriarchs” the men represented their whole families in the command as well as in the fulfillment of that command. In actual fact, everyone who possibly could attended these gatherings.

20.    Why was the “angel” who was sent to lead the children of Israel so unforgiving (Exodus 23:21; 32:11-14;32:34,35; 33:1-6[557])? Why is God pictured as so stern in some of these passages?

It is clear from the accompanying passages that the Lord wanted to lead His people into the land of Canaan. It is also clear that God wanted them to take Him seriously. When the children of Israel were not cooperating with God, He could not bless them, take care of them, and go ahead of them as He had planned. The Bible suggests that only those who are in complete harmony with God can expect His full blessing. The “angel of the Lord” in this passage is Christ, Himself. Throughout the books of Moses, God is pictured as very particular, even detailed, in his instructions. This is not the same as arbitrary and exacting. It suggests that God is interested in every detail of our lives and understands much better than we do the consequences of wandering away from Him. To a group of ex-slaves accustomed to being given detailed orders every day of their lives, these commands and even the penalties that went with them did not seem out of line. (See Joshua 1:16-18[558])

21.    What is the meaning and purpose of “An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth”? (Exodus 21:23-25[559]; Leviticus 24:19,20[560]; Deuteronomy 19:16-21[561]; See Matthew 5:38-42[562]) Do you think this was ever God’s ideal?

In order to understand this command it is necessary to understand the community and society in which it was given. In 1901 a black diorite stone was found in the acropolis of Susa (Biblical Shushan). It was 7 ft. 4 % in. tall and 24 inches around at the base. On the top it showed a picture of Hammurabi, the sixth king of the first dynasty of Babylon, who lived approximately 1728-1686 B.C. shortly after the days of Abraham. In the picture, Hammurabi was standing in front of the sun-god Shamash. Underneath the picture were 282 laws spelled out in the form of a civil law code originally containing 3,624 lines divided into 39 columns. Many years later the stone was captured by the Elamites and taken to Susa where five of the columns were erased. In the preface and epilogue Hammurabi tells how he has been commissioned by the “gods” to be a wise ruler over the people. The people are to come and read the laws and know what is right to do. Compare these rules from the Code of Hammurabi (CH) with the Biblical injunctions:

CH 196: “If a citizen destroys the eye of the son of a citizen, his eye shall be destroyed.”

CH 197: “If he breaks the bone of a citizen, his bone shall be broken.”

CH 198:”If he destroys the eye of a subordinate or breaks the bone of a subordinate, he shall pay one mina of silver.”

CH 200: “If a citizen knocks out a tooth of a citizen, his tooth shall be knocked out.”

In the CH there is a clear distinction between free citizens and serfs (subordinates). In the

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Hebrew laws each person is treated as a person in his own right.

CH 199: “If he destroys the eye of a citizen’s slave, or breaks the bone of a citizen’s slave, he shall pay half of the purchasing price.”

Exodus 21:26: “And if a man smite the eye of his servant, or the eye of his maid, that it perish; he shall let him go free for his eye’s sake.”

In general the laws of Moses were more humane and recognized the rights of the individual more than the CH did. In 1948, an even earlier code know as the Code of Lipit-Ishtar was discovered and published. It was written in Sumerian one or two centuries before the Code of Hammurabi but is very similar and in fact contains a number of laws that are identical. Also in 1948, the Code of King Bilalama of Eshnunna who ruled some 300 years before Hammurabi was published. It is clearly a predecessor to the other two codes. In 1954, an even earlier code, known as the code of Ur-Nammu, was discovered and found to be much more humane that any of the three pagan codes. This would suggest that the closer the laws were to the original verbal commands given by God to all men (compare Genesis 26:5[563]) the more they reflect the great Lawgiver. (See SDA Bible Commentary, vol. 1, p. 616-619)

22.    Why was it necessary for Moses and the others who were called up into the mount to wait for extended periods of time before they were ready to approach God? What changes actually took place during this time? What do you think happened to Moses that caused his face to shine (Exodus 34:29-35[564])? Did Moses ever describe God’s back? (Exodus 33:23[565]) Why couldn’t Moses see God’s face (Exodus 33:20[566])? Was God saying, “If I catch you peeking at Me, I’ll kill you?” Or was there some other reason why Moses couldn’t look at Him?

God had told Moses that no one could see His face and live. Note carefully that this does not refer to occasions when God appeared in human form and veiled His glory. In this case Moses asked to see God in His full glory. (Exodus 33:18[567]) The fact that God said he could not is no arbitrary command on God’s part. Exposed to the full light of God’s glory sinful human beings would be consumed. God is here showing Moses as much of His glory as Moses can tolerate.

23.    What was God’s original plan for the conquest of the land of Canaan (Exodus 23:27,28[568])?

God had given the inhabitants of Canaan 400 years of probation. (Genesis 15:12-16) Abraham had traveled up and down in their land and no doubt spoke to them about the true God. They should have known the true God through their ancestors as well. When these Canaanites had become so wicked that God felt it was necessary to drive them out of the land, He still made it clear that any of them who would recognize the true God and worship Him would be accepted. (See above #17) For the next 1200 to 1300 years the land was to be given to the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. (Genesis 17:7,8; 26:3,4; 28:13,14[569]) Nevertheless they also were clearly warned of the consequences if they followed the footsteps of their predecessors in the land. (See Leviticus 26:14-46[570]; Deuteronomy 7:17-26; 8:18-20; 11:17; 29:24-28[571]) The punishment promised to the Jews was perhaps even more severe than that meted out to the Canaanites! See Handout Exodus #5: “Was God Fair to the Egyptians and the Canaanites?”

24.    Why did a God who said, “Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image” (Exodus 20:4[572]) immediately ask them to make the ark with its two golden angels? (Exodus 25:10-22[573])

The word “cherub” or the plural “cherubim” probably comes from an Assyrian word karabu

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meaning “to bless” or “to pray”. The position of these “cherubim” facing each other and the Shekinah representing God’s presence above the mercy seat in the middle is not suggestive of an idol, but represents God’s plan to bless the children of Israel if they will remain faithful to Him. Furthermore, the ark was located in the most holy compartment of the tent or tabernacle. It was thus out of view of all people except the High Priest and those who prepared it for carrying when the tent moved. The ark was never intended as an object of worship.

25.    When God began giving the commandments, why didn’t He say simply, “There are no other gods” instead of “Thou shalt have no other gods before me?” Does God just want to be pre-eminent among others or is He the only God? (Exodus 20:3[574])

God is here using a Hebrew idiom that means “besides me”, “in addition to me”, or “in opposition to me”. This command in connection with the next one clearly forbids the worship of any other “god”. God does however recognize that the children of Israel have come from an environment and were going to a new country where many “gods” were worshiped. These polytheistic religions were strictly forbidden. God says again and again “I am the LORD” and there is none else. (See Joel 2:27[575])

26.    Why did God say, “Thou shalt not kill” and then order His own children to kill so many times: the man who gathered sticks on Sabbath (Numbers 15:32-36); anyone who worships Molech (Leviticus 20:2[576]); the man who cursed (Leviticus 24:10-18[577]); or who murders someone (Numbers 35:16-24[578]); false prophets (Deuteronomy 13:1-5[579]); promoters of a new religion (Deuteronomy 13:6-18; 17:2-5[580]); or someone who is disrespectful to his parents (Deuteronomy 21:18-21[581]); who commits adultery (Deuteronomy 22:20-27[582]); or people who steal (Joshua 7[583])?

At this time when the Israelites are first entering into their new land, God needs to have the full cooperation of all in order to get things started right. See “Leviticus-A Teacher’s Guide” question # 7.

© Copyright 1998-2005, Kenneth Hart khart@llu.edu

Ellen White Quotes:

ST, September 2, 1880[584]; PP 392[585]; RH, November 5, 1903[586].

a.    Patriarchs and Prophets 429

Because they [the children of Israel] had been shielded by divine power they had not realized the countless dangers by which they were continually surrounded. In their ingratitude and unbelief they had anticipated death, and now the Lord permitted death to come upon them. The poisonous serpents that infested the wilderness were called fiery serpents, on account of the terrible effects produced by their sting, it causing violent inflammation and speedy death. As the protecting hand of God was removed from Israel, great numbers of the people were attacked by these venomous creatures.

b.    Patriarchs and Prophets 306

“Visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate Me.’ It is inevitable that children should suffer from the consequences of parental wrongdoing, but they are not punished for the parents’ guilt, except as they participate in their sins. It is usually the case, however, that children walk in the steps of their parents. By inheritance and example the sons become partakers of the father’s sin. Wrong tendencies, perverted appetites, and

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debased morals, as well as physical disease and degeneracy, are transmitted as a legacy from father to son, to the third and fourth generation. This fearful truth should have a solemn power to restrain men from following a course of sin.”

c. Christ’s Object Lessons 315

God requires perfection of His children. His law is a transcript of His own character, and it is the standard of all character. This infinite standard is presented to all that there may be no mistake in regard to the kind of people whom God will have to compose His kingdom. The life of Christ on earth was a perfect expression of God’s law, and when those who claim to be children of God become Christlike in character, they will be obedient to God’s commandments. Then the Lord can trust them to be of the number who shall compose the family of heaven. Clothed in the glorious apparel of Christ’s righteousness, they have a place at the King’s feast. They have a right to join the blood-washed throng. Christ’s Object Lessons 315; God’s Amazing Grace 148 (1900)

“Who can measure or anticipate the gift of God? For ages sin had interrupted the flow of divine benevolence to man; but God’s mercy and love for the fallen race have not ceased to accumulate, nor lost their earthward direction. The inhabitants of the world, their reason perverted, have turned the earth into a lazar-house. But God still lives and reigns, and in Christ He has poured on the world a healing flood. In the gift of God’s dear Son, a definite view of His character has been given to the race that is never absent from His mind. His very heart is laid open in the royal law. That infinite standard is presented to all, that there may be no mistake in regard to that kind of people God would have compose His kingdom. It is only those who are obedient to all His commandments who will become members of the royal family, children of the heavenly King. These will be honored with a citizenship above, a life that measures with the life of God,--a life without sorrow, pain, or death throughout eternal ages.” The Signs of the Times, November 17, 1898

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13. The Levitical Offerings

Name

Scripture

References

Purpose

Consisted Of:

God's Portion

Priests'

Portion

Offerer's

Portion

Prophetic Significance

(1) Burnt Offering (olah, Heb.):

a.    Sweet aroma;

b.    Voluntary

Lev. 1:3-17; 6:8-13.

(1)    To propitiate for sin in general (1:4).

(2)    To signify complete dedication and consecration to God; hence it is called the “whole burnt offering.”

According to wealth:

(1)    Bull without blemish (1:3-9);

(2)    Male sheep or goat without blemish (1:10-13);

(3)    Turtledoves or young pigeons (1:14-17).

Entirety burned on the altar of burnt offering (1:9) except the skin (7:8).

Skin only (7:8).

None.

Signifies complete dedication of life to God:

(1)    On the part of Christ (Matt. 26:39-44; Mark 14:36; Luke 22:42; Phil. 2:5-11.

(2)    On the part of the believer ( Rom. 12:1-2; Heb. 13:15).

2) Grain Offering

(minhah,

Heb.):

a.    Sweet aroma;

b.    Voluntary.

Lev. 2:1-16; 6:14-18; 7:12, 13.

The grain offering accompanied all the burnt offerings; it signified one's homage and thanksgiving to God.

Three Types:

(1)    Fine flour mixed with oil and frankincense (2:1-3);

(2)    Cakes made of fine flour mixed with oil and baked in an oven (2:4), in a pan (2:5), or in a covered pan (2:7);

(3)    Green heads of roasted grain mixed with oil and frankincense (2:14, 15).

Memorial portion burned on the altar of burnt offering (2:2,9,16)

Remainder to be eaten in the court of the tabernacle (2:3, 10; 6:16-18; 7:14, 15).

None.

Signifies the perfect humanity of Christ:

(1)    The absence of leaven typifies the sinlessness of Christ (Heb. 4:15;

1 John 3:5).

(2)    The presence of oil is emblematic of the Holy Spirit (Luke 4:18; 1 John 2:20, 27).

(3) Peace Offering (shelem, Heb.):

a.    Sweet aroma;

b.    voluntary

Lev. 3:1-17; 7:11-21, 2834

The peace offering generally expressed peace and fellowship between the offerer and God; hence it culminated in a communal meal. There were three types:

(1)    Thank Offering: to express gratitude for an unexpected blessing or deliverance.

(2)    Votive Offering: to express gratitude for a blessing or deliverance granted when a vow had accompanied the petition.

(3)    Freewill Offering: to express gratitude to God without regard to any specific blessing or deliverance.

According to wealth:

(1)    From the herd, a male or female without blemish (3:1-5);

(2)    From the flock, a male or female without blemish (3:6-11);

(3)    From the goats (3:12-17).

Note: Minor imperfections were permitted when the peace offering was a freewill offering of a bull or a lamb (22:23).

Fatty portions burned on the altar of burnt offering (3:3-5).

Breast (wave offering) and right thigh (heave offering; 7:30-34)

Remainder to be eaten in the court by the offerer and his family

a.    Thank offering-to be eaten the same day (7:15).

b.    Votive and free will offerings- to be eaten the first and second day (7:16-18).

Note: this is the only offering in which the offerer shared.

Foreshadows the peace which the believer has with God through Jesus Christ (Rom. 5:1, Col. 1:20).

(4) Sin Offering

(hattat,

Heb.):

a.    Non-sweet aroma;

b.

Compulsory.

Lev.

4:1-5:13,

6:24-30.

To atone for sins committed unknowingly, especially where no restitution was possible. Note Num. 15:30, 31: The sin offering was of no avail in cases of defiant rebellion against God.

(1)    For the high priest, a bull without blemish (4:3-12).

(2)    For the congregation, a bull without blemish (4:13-21).

(3)    For a ruler, a male goat without blemish (4:22-26).

(4)    For a commoner, a female goat or lamb without blemish (4:27-35).

(5)    In cases of poverty, two turtledoves or two young pigeons (one for a sin offering, the other for a burnt offering) could be substituted (5:7-10). (6) In cases of extreme poverty, fine flour could be substituted (5:11-13; cf. Heb. 9:22).

(1)    Fatty portions to be burned on the altar of burnt offering (4:8-10), 19. 26,

31, 35).

(2)    When the sin offering was for the high priest or congregation, the remainder of the bull was to be burned outside the camp (4:11, 12, 20, 21).

When the sin offering was for a ruler or commoner, the

remainder of the goat or lamb was to be eaten in the

tabernacle court (6:26)

None.

Prefigures the fact that in his own death:

(1)    Christ was made sin for us ( 2 Cor. 5:21);

(2)    Christ suffered outside the gates of Jerusalem (Heb. 13:11-13).

(5)

Trespass

Offering

(<asham, Heb.):

a.    Non-sweet aroma;

b.

Compulsory.

Lev.

5:14-6:7;

7:1-7

To atone for sins committed unknowingly, especially where restitution was possible.

(1)    If the offense were against the Lord (tithes, offerings, etc.), a ram without blemish was to be brought; restitution was reckoned according to the priest's estimate of the value of the trespass, plus one-fifth (5:15, 16).

(2)    If the offense were against man, a ram without blemish was to be brought restitution was reckoned according to the value plus one-fifth (6:4-6).

Fatty portions to be burned on the altar of burnt offering (7:3-5).

Remainder to be eaten in a holy place (7:6, 7).

None.

Foreshadows the fact that Christ is also our trespass offering (Col. 2:13).

Leviticus #3

For more info: contact khart@llu.edu

14. LEVITICUS - A TEACHER’S GUIDE

THE CENTRAL QUESTION:

What does this book/story say to us about God?

This question may be broken down further as follows:

a. Why did God do it/allow it?

_b. Why did He record it for our study?_

1. What picture of God would you have if you had only the book of Leviticus? Is anything about God clearly revealed in this book or in the ceremonial law? What was the purpose of such a book?

Name: In Hebrew: Wayyiqra', (pronounced va-YIK-rah) “and (he) called” - the first words of the book. Also called “the law of the priests” by Hebrews.

Greek LXX: Leuitikon, “Levitical (priesthood, or service).” The priestly tribe.

Latin: Leviticus

English: Leviticus

The first book to be studied by a Hebrew child. Almost never studied by Christians. Some 40 references in the NT.

Author: conservative scholars believe it was written by Moses.

Dating: Exodus 40:1,17[587]: 2nd year, first month, first day: set up tabernacle or tent.

Numbers 1:1: 2nd year, second month, first day: begin the census.

Between these dates: Leviticus. March-April, 1445 BC

20 chapters in Leviticus begin: “the LORD spoke to Moses.”

38 times that expression is used in the book.

More direct quotations from God than any other book.

Themes: Holiness: Leviticus 11:44,45: 44 I am the Lord your God, and you must keep yourselves holy, because I am holy. 45 I am the LORD who brought you out of Egypt so that I could be your God. You must be holy, because I am holy.”

The basic words for Holiness (qodesh, qadesh, qadosh, Heb.) occur over 100 times in Leviticus and mean: separate, distinct, unique, private possession.

God is set apart from all things earthly, sinful, and wrong.

Humans are to live lives of purity and obedience.

To be holy means to be like God, to be like Jesus.

Atonement (Reconciliation): Leviticus 17:11[588]

The verb “to make atonement” (kaphar, Heb.) occurs some 49 times; the noun form “atonement” (kippurim, Heb., plural) occurs 3 times. The basic idea inherent in these words is “to cover, to make a covering.”

The sacrifices of the Old Testament did not actually remove sins, “For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and goats could take away sins” (Heb. 10:4[589]); rather, the Levitical offerings covered sins until Christ came as the perfect sacrifice to take away all the sins of the world (cf. Leviticus 16:3[590], note; Rom. 3:25[591]; Heb. 9:15[592]).

The ceremonies in Leviticus were a sandbox model of the plan of salvation.

God’s special people are to live separate and holy lives because they have been reconciled to God and are “at-one” with Him.

Such people will love their neighbors as they love themselves. Lev. 19:18

Leviticus 1-7 are the heart of the sacrificial system. Three things happen in the sacrificial system:

The sinner admits he is guilty and rightfully should die because of his sin.

The sinner ceremonially transfers his sins to the innocent sacrifice.

The sinner establishes a renewed relationship with God and God accepts the offering as representing the sinners true condition.

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Leviticus includes many things which seem very strange to us:

Sacrifices for unintentional sins. Lev. 4

Elaborate ceremonies for cleansing and purification. Lev. 8-16.

A lot of details about sexual behaviors. (Lev. 12, 18, 20)

Laws about mildew in one’s house. (Lev. 13:47-59; 14:33-56)

Nadab and Abihu are struck down by fire in the tabernacle and we are not even sure why! (Lev.

10)

Warnings against idols and other religions.

Blessings and curses: (Lev. 26,27)

Do sacrifices have any real meaning for us today? Are they everlasting? Lev. 16:29,31,34

Almost any open sin was to be punished by death.

Foreshadows the priestly work of Christ. Is one of the “most New Testament” of Old Testament books. See the New Testament book of Hebrews.

Leviticus was a mandate for the lives of the Hebrews in OT times, just as the Sermon on the Mount is a mandate for NT Christians.

A faithful observance of the laws and directions given in Leviticus would have prevented the downfall of the Hebrew nation. Jerusalem would be the capital of the world, and the Hebrew people would be God’s holy people.

If Christians would faithfully observe the principles in the Sermon on the Mount we would be living now in the New Jerusalem. If only!?

God cares about every detail of our lives. He wants us to be a healthy, holy and happy people.

Jesus said that everything written in the Old Testament was about Him. (John 5:39,40[593]; Luke 24:44[594]) Paul said that it is profitable for our study. (2 Timothy 3:16,17[595]) If we are able to understand the context in which it is said or written, it should tell us about the God who did such a thing in such a setting. Remember that the God of Leviticus is Jesus. (1 Corinthians 10:1-4[596])

2.    Abraham married his sister, Isaac married the daughter of his first cousin, and Jacob married two of his cousins who were also sisters, Amram (Moses’ father) married his aunt (Numbers 26:59[597]), Reuben committed adultery with one of his father’s wives, but yet Leviticus 18:6,8,9,11,18; 20:11,17[598] forbids such marriages. How can God bless those who break His rules?

These two passages in Leviticus do not make pleasant reading. They are written like this because such a serious warning needed to be made. These types of marriages were common in the land of Canaan to which they were going. God wanted them to avoid any such practices. In earlier times, when many people, like Abraham were wandering herders, it was much more difficult to get to know a wide variety of other peoples, especially who were also worshipers of your God. Thus God often cooperated in the finding of wives for some of the patriarchs from among their relatives. The other choice was to choose a pagan wife and the results may have been worse! Compare Numbers 36:11[599].

3.    What do you think of all the ceremonies and sacrifices? What was actually accomplished by all that blood (Hebrews 9:16-10:4[600])? What did the ceremonial system do for the Jews? In Christ’s day how were they observing these ceremonies? (Compare John 2:13-22[601]; compare #b below) What meaning were they getting out of them? Is there any explanation in Leviticus as to the meaning of each of the symbols and sacrifices? For example, can you find a verse that says that the lamb represents or is a type of the Christ to come? Can we tell from the Biblical record what it was that they began to read into these services? (See Malachi 2:4-7[602]) In the time of Christ, why were they offering sacrifices? If they understood the meaning of the ceremonial system, why didn’t they recognize Christ? What does or should it mean to us? Or should we interpret Colossians 2:14[603] to mean that it was nailed to the cross and we shouldn’t waste time studying it any more? Is there anything in the Bible that is without meaning for us at the present time? When we say that “All scripture, inspired of God, is profitable” (2 Timothy 3:16[604]), do we really mean all, even Leviticus?

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Jesus apparently intended for these records to be preserved for our benefit. (See #1) What did the on-looking universe learn from Leviticus? One of the major points of disagreement in the great controversy is over the question of whether or not sin actually leads to death. (Genesis 3:1-4[605]) In the Biblical ceremonial system, almost every sin was somehow connected with a death. In analyzing the meaning of the whole ceremonial system in the book of Hebrews, the author (possibly Paul) suggests that: (Hebrews 10:1-4[606])

a.    The sacrifices are to remind us of our sins.

b.    The ceremonial system was only a shadow and not a true and faithful model of the true system.

c.    None of these sacrifices could actually take away sin.

Satan has claimed that God has lied to us about death being the result of sin. This would be a beginning of the complete answer to that accusation that would ultimately be given at Calvary. Has God told us the truth, and can He be trusted?

There is a lot to suggest that God expected cleanliness, purity and holiness.

There was an elaborate system for “dealing with sin.” It gave the people some idea of what God had in mind for dealing with their sins.

Although there is very little suggested by the book of Leviticus as to the meaning of the various ceremonies it is quite apparent that at least some of the prophets who wrote later understood much of the meaning. It is also apparent that many of the people misunderstood what was intended. (Isaiah 1:10-21[607]; Amos 5:21-24[608]; Psalms 51:1-19[609]; Micah 6:1-8[610]; Hosea 6:4-6[611]; Jeremiah 3:15,16; 7:21-26; 31:31-34[612])

4.    Were all these sacrifices necessary because, “without the shedding of blood there is no remission (forgiveness) of sin?” (Hebrews 9:22[613]) Does this suggest that before the coming of Christ all these sacrifices were necessary since His blood had not yet been shed?

Read Hebrews 9:16-10:4[614]. See #1 and #3 above. See also Ellen White comments #a-d.

5.    Why does God give us so much detail about the tabernacle, the offerings, even the clothing of the priests, and not give us any explanation about what it all means? How did God intend for those people to get the meaning of it all? (For proof that a mere mechanical offering of sacrifices is not what God wants, look at Psalms 51:10-19[615]; Isaiah 1:11-18[616], Jeremiah 7:21-26; 3:14-16; 31:31-34[617], Amos 5:21-24[618], Micah 6:1-8[619], Hosea 6:4-6[620], and Hebrews 10:1-4[621].) Is there any evidence that God made provision for the people to be instructed? All these sacrifices-even the death of Christ-are useless without the meaning. The death of Christ doesn’t just provide the “right” blood-it must be understood. If the death of Christ does not change us from rebels to understanding and trusting friends willing to listen and let God heal us, then His death has no real impact on us. Believing that there is some “magical” power in the blood is sometimes called “hematolatry”.

It is very clear that later prophets did understand the meaning. So we must ask ourselves how they discovered it. Did they learn just by observing, many times, the ceremonies themselves? It is clear that Moses understood what God really wants of us in passages like Leviticus 19:18[622]; Deuteronomy 6:4;10:12-22[623]. It should have been clear that sin leads to death, even the death of innocent victims. It should have been clear that their sins were symbolically transported from them through the sin offerings and the work of the priests until they were placed on the head of the scapegoat and carried off into the wilderness to perish. This was to suggest that their sins, once forgiven, were permanently removed from them. We do not know if Moses was given additional instructions which he passed on to them but which were not written in his five books.

6.    What would you do if we suddenly discovered that we had misinterpreted some part of scripture, and God expected us to continue sacrificing animals? Could you take a lamb and confess your sins over it and then kill it? In this context, what do you think is the meaning of the statement that “Christ is the Lamb, slain from the foundation of the world?” (Revelation 13:8[624]; Compare Revelation 5:6,12[625]; John 1:29,36[626]) Did the people perceive the love of God in all of this?

This is a thought question. Each person needs to think it through on his own and answer it for himself.

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7. There is a lot of evidence to suggest that butchers are brutalized by their constant killing. Don’t you think that God knew that this would happen to the Israelites? How did God expect them to maintain their reverence for life? Does this partially explain their apparent casual attitude even toward human life?

They rapidly came to the conclusion that almost any open sin should be punished by death! (Joshua 1:16-18[627]; Leviticus 24:10-23[628]; Numbers 15:30-36[629]; Exodus 21:12-17; 22:19,20; 31:14,15; 35:2[630]; Leviticus 20:2-5,9-16,27[631]; Numbers 1:51; 3:10,38; 18:7; 25:5; 35:16-21[632]; Deuteronomy 13:5-18; 17:25,12; 18:20; 21:18-21; 22:20-25[633])

Look at the commandments and the associated death penalties:

Commandment

Death decree:

Exodus 20:3: Thou shalt have no other gods before me.

Exodus 22:20: Offering sacrifices to any other God than Yahweh Leviticus 20:2: Offering your child to Molech Numbers 25:5; Deuteronomy 17:2-5: Anyone worshiping Baal or any other “god” Deuteronomy 13:5: Any interpreter of dreams or prophet who turns you from Yahweh Deuteronomy 13:6-18: Anyone telling you to worship anyone except Yahweh Deuteronomy 18:20: Any prophet speaking in My name when I did not command him to do so or anyone prophesying in the name of any other “god”

Exodus 20:4-6: Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth:

5 Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; 6 And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.

Exodus 22:20: Offering sacrifices to any other God than Yahweh Leviticus 20:2: Offering your child to Molech Numbers 25:5; Deuteronomy 17:2-5: Anyone worshiping Baal or any other “god”

Exodus 20:7: Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.

Exodus 21:17; Leviticus 24:10-23: Cursing Deuteronomy 18:20: Any prophet speaking in My name when I did not command him to do so or anyone prophesying in the name of any other “god”

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Exodus 20:8-11: Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9 Six days shalt thou labor, and do all thy work: 10 But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: 11 For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.

Numbers 15:32-36: Gathering sticks on the Sabbath

Exodus 31:14,15; 35:2: Doing any work on the Sabbath

Exodus 20:12: Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.

Exodus 21:15: Hitting one’s father or mother Leviticus 20:9: Cursing one’s father or mother Deuteronomy 21:18-21: Disobeying or rebelling against parents

Exodus 20:13 Thou shalt not kill.

Exodus 21:12,14; Leviticus 24:17,21; Numbers 35:16-21: Murder

Exodus 20:14 Thou shalt not commit adultery.

Leviticus 20:10-12; Deuteronomy 22:22,2325: Adultery

Leviticus 20:14: Marrying a woman and her mother

Deuteronomy 22:20,21: Premarital sex Exodus 22:19; Leviticus 20:15,16: Sexual relations with an animal Leviticus 20:13: Homosexuality

Exodus 20:15:Thou shalt not steal.

Numbers 15:30,31: Any deliberate sin Exodus 21:16: Kidnaping

Exodus 20:16 Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.

Deuteronomy 19:18-21

Exodus 20:17: Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbor’s. (KJV)

Other sins were also associated with death decrees:

Any deliberate sin: Numbers 15:30,31[634] Kidnaping: Exodus 21:16[635]

Getting close to the Tent of Assembly if you are not a Levite: Numbers 1:51 Anyone not of Aaron’s family trying to be priest: Numbers 3:10, 38[636] Any non-priest coming too near the sacred objects: Numbers 18:7[637] Anyone practicing “magic”, “sorcery”, or “witchcraft”: Exodus 22:18[638] Anyone consulting the “spirits” of the dead: Leviticus 20:6,27[639] Anyone disobeying either the judge or the priest on duty: Deuteronomy 17:12[640] Any prophet speaking in My name when I did not command him to do so or anyone prophesying in the name of any other “god”: Deuteronomy 18:20[641] Getting drunk and going to worship Yahweh if you are a priest: Leviticus 10:8,9[642]

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Homosexuality or having sex with an animal: Leviticus 20:13,15,16[643]; Exodus 22:19[644];

Deuteronomy 27:21[645] Failing to participate in the Passover without a good reason: Numbers 9:13[646] Failing to cleanse yourself in the proper way after being defiled: Leviticus 19:13[647]

8.    Today we have a ceremony that points back to what all these ceremonies pointed forward to (Luke 22:7-18[648]), but we only drink unfermented grape juice and eat small unleavened wafers. Why didn’t God come quietly down on Mt. Sinai, give the Sermon on the Mount, and introduce something like our communion service back then?

Even though God came down on Mt. Sinai with such awesome terror that the people were certain they were going to die (Exodus 20:18-20[649]), and God stayed on top of the mountain in fire and smoke and cloud, it was only forty days later that they were dancing drunk and (probably) naked in a fertility cult ritual at the base of that same mountain! If God had come down and spoken softly to them they would not even have noticed that He was present. God gave them ceremonies that were not that much different from the ones that they had come to regard as religious ceremonies among the heathen. This was not ideal but it was easier for them to recognize such ceremonies as religious ceremonies. God had to work with what they were somewhat familiar with in order to get them to follow His guidance. Introducing things that were completely strange would have been rejected or misunderstood.

9.    Were these laws, which we often call “the law of Moses” (Daniel 9:11[650]; Malachi 4:4[651]; Matthew 19:7, 22:24[652]; Mark 7:10[653]; John 1:17[654]), actually thought up by Moses, or were they given by God? (Leviticus 26:46; 27:34[655]) Doesn’t 1 Corinthians 10:4[656] suggest that Christ was actually the One who gave these regulations? Why then did He say what He said about these ceremonies when He was here in person? (Compare Matthew 5-7[657])

These ceremonies were intended for a primitive group of people who had recently come out of a very pagan environment and slavery. God’s ideal was to speak to His friends face-to-face as He spoke to Moses. (Exodus 33:11[658]; Numbers 12:6-8[659]) But God recognized that they needed a “sandbox demonstration” of the plan of salvation. Jesus and the later prophets were seeking to get the people to grow up in their spiritual experience.

10.    Today Christians look forward to, even long for, the coming of “the kingdom of God” where God will be the true ruler. How would you feel living under the rules given by God himself in Exodus through Deuteronomy where murderers (Exodus 21:12[660]: Leviticus 24:17,21[661]), thieves (Exodus 21:16[662]), adulterers (Leviticus 18-20[663]), people who use bad language (Leviticus 24:16[664]), people who disrespect their parents (Exodus 21:15,17[665]; Leviticus 20:9[666]), Sabbath-breakers (Exodus 31:14,15; 35:2[667]; Numbers 15:32-36[668]), idolaters (Leviticus 19:2-5[669]; Deuteronomy 17:2-6[670]), false prophets (Deuteronomy 13:5[671]), mediums (Leviticus 20:27) even people who can’t control their animals (Exodus 21:29[672]), or are immoral (Exodus 22:16[673]; Leviticus 20:15[674]) or homosexual (Leviticus 20:13[675]) or rebellious (Joshua 1:18[676]) are killed on the spot? Is this the way God wants to rule His people? How did they feel about being ruled like this (Joshua 1:18[677])?

This was the kind of language they used themselves and this was the kind of language they could understand. It was certainly not the kind of kingdom that God wants to preside over for eternity. God must speak to people where they are in their understanding. This is another part of God’s effort to convince His children that sin is serious! See #7 above.

11.    Is there any value for us in looking back to see how God chose to reveal Himself to a bunch of escaped ex-slaves at the foot of Mt. Sinai? Is it important for us to understand the difference between the sin offering, the guilt offering, and the cleansing offering? Do we need to know about the blood, the fat, the kidneys, and the thigh, etc.?

See the handout: Leviticus #3 - Sacrificial Offerings

If all Scripture is supposed to be “profitable” (2 Timothy 3:16,17[678]) then it must include the book of Leviticus. It is important for us to see how far God is willing to stoop down to reach rebellious

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humans. It is also important for us to see that He never takes sin lightly. Since we are not today offering animal sacrifices it is perhaps less important for us to know the details of each sacrifice, but we should have an understanding of the overall picture of what God is trying to do in this book.

12.    What is the meaning and purpose of “An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth?” (Exodus 21:24,25[679]; Leviticus 24:20[680], Compare Deuteronomy 19:21[681]; see Matthew 5:38-42[682]) Do you think this was ever God’s ideal?

See Exodus Teacher’s Guide question #21. God’s ideal is always that people live together with Him in love and harmony. This can only happen where people do what is right because they believe that it is right. Remember that God’s original plan was for us all to be living in the garden of Eden!

13.    Why did God feel it was necessary to send fire down out of heaven to burn to death Nadab and Abihu? (Leviticus 10:1-11[683]; Numbers 3:4[684]) What was so bad about what they did? Is this what God would really like to do when we are irreverent? Is this His ideal? Was this the Father or the Son? (See 1 Corinthians 10:4[685]) Might this lead one to worship God out of fear? Were these deaths a natural result of their sins? Don’t you imagine that the Devil mocks God for having to do this to his children? Do these methods help God to win friends that He can speak quietly to like Moses and Elijah? After one of these experiences could you say with conviction that there is no need to be afraid of God? If God put all sinners to death there would be no one left, so why does He seem to make such an issue of irreverence?

This was obviously a severe punishment for sin. It should be compared with the stories of the flood (Genesis 6-8[686]); Sodom and Gomorrah (Genesis 19:23-25[687]), Lot’s wife (Genesis 19:26[688]), Er and Onan (Genesis 38:6-10[689]), the first born in Egypt (Exodus 12:29,30[690]), the slaughter after the golden calf experience (Exodus 32:25-29[691]), the stoning of Achan’s family (Joshua 7[692]), the people of Beth-Shemesh (1 Samuel 6:19[693]), the Israelites after David numbered them (2 Samuel 24:15[694]), the she-bears (2 Kings 2:23-25[695]), Korah, Dathan, and Abiram (Numbers 16:1-35[696]), Uzzah (2 Samuel 6:6[697] compare 1 Chronicles 13:9-14; 26:4,5[698]), Mt. Carmel (1 Kings 18[699]), the 185,000 Assyrians (2 Kings 19:35[700]), Ananias and Sapphira (Acts 5:1-11[701]), and the third angel’s message (Revelation 14:9-11[702]). God uses very dramatic methods and very strong language at times. He does this because we are acting like small children and He doesn’t want to lose us. When we are noisy, He must raise His voice. When we are irreverent He does serious things to warn us of the consequences of irreverence. It is not safe to talk about any of these serious occasions unless you have some understanding of what God is really like from the rest of the <66'. And certainly no one should give the third angel’s message without such an understanding!

Nadab and Abihu were apparently drunk and ignoring God’s directions by trying out some new incense in the tabernacle. One of God’s major challenges throughout human history is to get reverence without fear. “All who serve me must respect my holiness; I will reveal my glory to my people”. (Leviticus 10:3[703], GNB) Since reverence for God is the beginning of wisdom (Job 28:28[704]; Proverbs 1:7; 9:10[705]) it is essential that we respect Him. When people don’t respect Him they don’t even pay attention! When God does something dramatic as in these cases, God gets their attention for sure, but mixed with fear. The Bible is a history of God’s various attempts at balancing reverent understanding and fear. He wants to speak to us quietly, as He did to Moses on the mount face-to-face (Exodus 33:11[706]; Numbers 12:6-8[707]), or Elijah on the same mount (1 Kings 19) but if we are not paying attention, then God sometimes must do something dramatic as a lesson to all the people.

As we observe God “stooping down” to communicate with these people at their level, shouldn’t we respect God even more, and seek to follow His example as we try to explain the gospel to others? What God wanted at this point in history was holiness, sanity, order, purity, and reverence. The nations around were worshiping crocodiles, beatles, lice, flies, Molech (the hollow god who “expected” children to be offered in his red hot hands), and Dagon (the fish god). Look at what we know about Dagon from 1 Samuel 5 & 6[708]. The ark had been captured from the Israelites when the two sons of Eli, thinking of it as a “good luck charm” took it into battle and lost it. It was taken down to one of the Philistine cities and placed in the temple of Dagon the fish god as if to thank Dagon for helping them conquer the Israelites. In the morning, the priests of Dagon came in and Dagon had fallen off his stand onto his face on the floor. They quickly picked him up and propped him up so they

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could pray to him, “Dear God Dagon, Father of Baal, Bless us. Thank you for helping us to conquer Israel and their “God” in the battle yesterday, etc.” The next night they left the ark in front of Dagon again, and when the priests came in in the morning they found that Dagon had not only fallen off his stand, but had been shattered into several pieces. So they picked him up and cemented him together and then they put him back on his stand, and prayed, “Dear God Dagon, Father of Baal, All Powerful One, Bless us, and protect us, etc.” How stupid can one be! No wonder it helped to be drunk when you worshiped such gods! Being drunk also seemed to help them “speak in tongues”, and carry on many of their other fertility cult practices. The true God is trying to say to the Israelites that He is not like these other “gods”.

God has gone out of His way to distinguish His form of worship from all the others around. Isn’t it obvious why God says, “Don’t come drunk into My Presence”? (see Leviticus 10:8[709]) This is the reason for the Nadab and Abihu story. It wasn’t just that they mixed up their own concoction of incense. They were being totally irreverent. And then they staggered drunk into the tabernacle. God, who no doubt hated to do such a thing, felt it was necessary because of the setting, to speak out very forcefully against this disdain for His directions, and it says, “Suddenly the Lord sent fire, and it burned them to death there in the presence of the Lord.” (Leviticus 10:2[710]) In effect, what they had tried to do was mix a few pagan customs into their religious services. When you look back at those pagan religions, they included the most unspeakable acts of immorality and even bestiality, so God warns against all that in Leviticus 18 & 20[711]. Notice even the suggestion that the priests dress in such a way that when they climbed the steps, they would still be modest before the kneeling worshipers. (Exodus 20:26; 28:42[712]) All these little details say something about God. It is not just that God wanted to demonstrate His authority in governing every moment of their lives. He wanted to keep them from even the first steps in following heathen practices.

There are some who want to believe that God never puts to sleep any of His children in the “sleep death” which we call the first death. They seek to understand all the passages mentioned above by suggesting that when God gives some kind of signal to the Devil, the Devil delights in destroying anyone whom God will allow him to destroy. While we might applaud their desire to put God in the best possible light, this argument doesn’t remove full moral responsibility from God in any case. If God knows in advance that anyone who is handed over to the Devil will be killed immediately, then God, by the very act of handing them over, is condemning them to death.

We must also remember that every one of these people who have died is going to rise again, either in the first resurrection or the second. (John 5:28,29[713]; 1 Corinthians 15:22[714]) The same compassionate Judge that will judge each of us will judge them. Whether or not their lives were shortened by some unnatural event, they will be judged with all the love that God shows for every one of His children. If there is any way He can save them He will. Even though some of these individuals committed some serious sins, there are no verses in the Bible that say that they will be automatically condemned to eternal destruction. There were some very young children who died in the flood and among the firstborn of Egypt. We have no evidence that they were all wicked.

Another possibility that has been suggested is that God hands them over to the Devil to do with as he pleases. In such a case, don’t you think that the Devil would have at least once refused to do what God had predicted would happen, thus making God into a “false prophet?” God predicted that the firstborn of Egypt would die on a certain date. (Exodus 4:23; 11:5; 12:12,29; 13:5[715]) Don’t you think the Devil, if he were given the opportunity, would have liked to prevent this final plague and the subsequent departure of God’s people from Egypt?

See also The Final End of Sin and Sinners, sections II - VI.

14. Why did God give them such a list of clean and unclean animals (Leviticus 11[716]; Deuteronomy 14[717]) if He knew that meat of any kind wasn’t good for them? Why didn’t He simply say that the best foods are the fruits, nuts, and grains that He gave Adam and Eve, (Genesis 1:29[718]) but if they needed more than this they could eat the vegetables that were given later? (Genesis 3:18[719]) What is the purpose of all the rules about “uncleanness?” (Leviticus 5:2,3; 7:19-21; 10:10; 11; 13:1-15:33[720]) Why does having a baby girl make you more unclean (or at least for a longer time) than having a baby boy? What was God trying to tell them through the elaborate ceremonies for cleansing?

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There are two major lists of clean and unclean meats given by Moses: Leviticus 11[721] and Deuteronomy 14[722]. In neither place does God spell out the reasons or principles for determining that any particular animal is “clean” or “unclean.” Nor does He tell us whether these lists are for ceremonial purposes or health purposes. Furthermore, many of the animals and birds that are mentioned cannot be identified for sure in our day.

The passages seem primarily concerned with helping an ordinary person to identify those creatures that God did not want them to eat. Simple rules were given for separating the clean from the unclean. It should be obvious that “chewing the cud” and “having a split hoof” doesn’t have any immediate causal relationship to whether the meat is safe to eat.

The people clearly had a desire for meat and this led to several disastrous episodes. (Numbers 11; 21:4-9[723]) It also seems clear that God did not want them to eat meat!! In the beginning, God no doubt gave Adam and Eve a marvelous variety of wonderful fruits, nuts and grains to eat. It is not clear why He asked the children of Israel to eat essentially one food for forty years! But where did they get all the animals, flour, wine, and olive oil that were needed for the sacrifices at the tabernacle? If these items were all available, weren’t they eating them, at least occasionally? It is important to realize that God cares about what happens to us and wants us to be healthy, happy and holy. He would not ask us to abstain from anything that is for our best good.

It is also important to realize that God is very much interested in our bodies and our physical, mental and social health as well as our spiritual health. It was never God’s idea that we “mortify the body” to benefit the soul as some religious groups have suggested.

The Bible suggests that “as a man thinks in his heart, so is he.” (Proverbs 23:7[724]) The mind is not just an ethereal essence, it is a function that takes place in the brain and is therefore very much affected by the condition of the rest of our body. It has also been said that we are what we eat and drink. It is very obvious that the thinking of a drunk man has been affected by his alcohol. People with ulcers and upset stomachs tend not to be in their best moods or thinking capacities.

Jews have come to be known as an intelligent, healthy people. This is at least partly because of the directions about food given by God that many of them still follow. Many of these health rules given so long ago have been corroborated by modern medical and nutritional science.

It is very interesting to note that God also forbade them to eat meat with the blood or fat still in it or attached to it. (Genesis 9:4[725]; Leviticus 3:17; 7:22-27; 17:10-16; 19:26[726]; Deuteronomy 12:16,23-25; 15:23[727]; 1 Samuel 14:31-35[728]; Acts 15:20,29; 21:25[729]; compare Ezekiel 33:25[730]; Zechariah 9:7[731]) The blood, and to a lesser degree the fat was considered to be the life of the animal. Thus it belonged only to God who gave the life. This apparently came about because when someone or an animal was accidentally killed, it was usually the blood and the fat that seemed to come out first. Many ancient peoples including the Hebrews, the Akkadians, and the Canaanites suggest in their poetry that blood equals life. From a health point of view it is clear that blood and fat are the most dangerous parts of the meat. It is also clear that those are the parts that carry the waste matter that gives meat its flavor. Is God saying that they are to eat meat only as needed for nourishment and not to learn to like it for its flavor? This would certainly be a much healthier approach than what is done in our day!

God forbade the people to eat of many of the “unclean” animals because they carried parasites or other diseases transmissible to man. Other foods were no doubt forbidden because their flesh was not a healthy diet. In a day when people did a great deal more physical exercise by walking wherever they had to go and doing almost all labor by hand, there was not the same concern about avoiding cholesterol and fat in the diet as there might be today.

In Genesis 9:1-4; 11:10-26[732] (contrast Genesis 5[733]) it is apparent that after God permitted the descendants of Noah to eat flesh food their lives were shortened precipitously. Whether this was a direct result of the flesh eating we do not know. When God agreed on one occasion to allow the children of Israel to eat the quail that He sent, many of them became seriously ill and many died. Whether this was because the meat was somehow not healthy, or they simply ate too much of it when they had not been used to such a diet, or whether they did not have means to preserve it properly for eating later, it clearly had a disastrous effect.

Modern science has demonstrated repeatedly that man does not need to eat meat to have good health. In fact, we would be healthier if we avoided meat completely. All endurance athletes follow this practice for all practical purposes. In our day, most of us would be healthier if we also avoided

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the “milk and honey” (cholesterol and sugar) that were promised to the people in the land where they were going!!

In ancient times, they did not have all the medical knowledge that we depend on so much today. There was no public health department to make sure that the food they ate, the water they drank, and even their environment were healthy. For this reason, God had to give rules that each person could apply personally to avoid anything that might lead to sickness or death. It was not always possible to know when a woman was bleeding vaginally whether this was her monthly period or whether she had some sexually-transmitted disease. As we have now learned from the AIDS epidemic, she would be much more likely to contract certain STD’s when she was bleeding. With no antibiotics or diagnostic tests available it was safest thus for her to avoid sexual intercourse at any time when she was having a “discharge” of any kind.

Other rules regarding “uncleanness” are also clearly for the purpose of preventing the transmission of communicable diseases. Contact with the dead could easily put one at risk for serious disease. While we cannot explain all of the details for each command which God gave, it is reasonable to assume that God had a good reason for them and someday He will make that clear to them and to us!

15. In what way were the sins transferred to the lamb, to the priest, to the tabernacle, and finally to the scapegoat? Is it even possible to transfer sins or guilt? What is the true nature of sin?

As Paul says in Romans 8:3: “What the Law could not do, because human nature was weak, God did. He condemned sin in human nature by sending his own Son, who came with a nature like our sinful nature, to do away with sin.” (GNB) In other words, the ceremonial system did not actually remove sins or it would not have been necessary for Jesus to come and die. Furthermore, when comparing the old Jewish System with the true Sacrifice-Jesus, Himself-he says this in Hebrews 10:1-4,11,17,18[734]:

“The Jewish Law is not a full and faithful model of the real things; it is only a faint outline of the good things to come. The same sacrifices are offered forever, year after year. How can the Law, then by means of these sacrifices make perfect the people who come to God? If the people worshiping God had really been purified from their sins, they would not feel guilty of sin any more, and all sacrifices would stop. As it is, however, the sacrifices serve year after year to remind people of their sins. For the blood of bulls and goats can never take away sins...Every Jewish priest performs his services every day and offers the same sacrifices many times; [Exodus 29:38[735]] but these sacrifices can never take away sins...And then he says, <I will not remember their sins and evil deeds any longer.’ [Jeremiah 31:34[736]] So when these have been forgiven, an offering to take away sins is no longer needed.” (GNB)

It was very clear in Paul’s mind that sins were not removed by all these sacrifices. The sacrificial system was only a “faint outline” of the truth as it was demonstrated in the life and death of Jesus Christ. Please read the full story of Paul’s comparison of the two systems as described in Hebrews 9 and 10.[737]

In light of this hindsight you might ask, Why would God bother to set up this whole system in the first place? There are several possible explanations:

1.    The children of Israel were looking for a system of sacrifice and worship that was at least somewhat familiar to them. Just as they had trouble with the “invisible God” on the top of Mt. Sinai and wanted the golden calf instead, they were looking for a system that they could understand somewhat in terms of what they had grown accustomed to from their pagan environment. God did not ask them to totally change their pattern of worship lest they reject His suggestions without even much consideration. People may not like the form of worship that they are currently engaged in, but they will tend to be very resistant to any radical change in it which comes too quickly.

2.    As we noted when comparing the Code of Hammurabi and the Laws of God given through Moses, even these pagan systems of worship can be traced ultimately back to the true worship of God as established outside the garden of Eden. When an Israelite came to the sanctuary and confessed his sins onto the head of a lamb, he was saying that the lamb or goat or bull was now to take his place. (Leviticus 4) Then the sinner himself was to take the life of the victim representing himself. This was supposed to teach that sin reacts upon us and destroys us. Then after the

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appropriate preparations are made, portions of the offering were to be placed on the altar of burnt offering. There it was consumed by the fire representing God’s presence. This was supposed to teach them that sin cannot survive in God’s presence. Unfortunately they tended to get the message that if you were willing to pay for your sins by offering a lamb then you could go ahead and live your life as you wanted.

3.    God wanted them to get the very serious message that sin leads to death. See #3 and #4 above.

4.    Later writers even in the Old Testament made it quite clear that God keeps a permanent record of sins. (Ecclesiastes 12:13,14[738]; Ezekiel 18; 33:10-20[739]) It should be obvious to us that if we can remember our past sins then our guardian angel can remember them, and God can remember them as well. God does not treat us well because He has forgotten that we ever were sinners, but because He chooses to ignore our past records in light of the changes that have taken place in our lives. (Jeremiah 31:34[740]; Hebrews 10:17[741])

Sin is something that happens in people. There is no such thing as a commodity called “sin” that can be separated from a person and carried around or placed on the head of an animal. It follows then that the only way to “deal with sin” is to make a change in people and in their relation to their God. This change is so remarkable that God calls it a new birth. (John 3:3-8[742])

16.    Be sure to read Leviticus 19! But even in this chapter why does God keep telling them, “do it because I say so!” Is this the best reason that God could find?

At this point in time, at the foot of Mt. Sinai, this was the reason that had the greatest force in their thinking. After seeing the demonstration of God’s power and glory on the mountain, like little children they felt that they had better obey what He told them. (Exodus 19:8; 24:3,7[743]) They were not ready for thinking at the higher moral levels yet.

17.    What is implied by the expression, “an aroma pleasing to the Lord”? (Leviticus 1:9,13,17; 2:2,9,12[744], etc.) Why are leaven and yeast never to be offered on the altar? (Leviticus 2:12[745]) Why did the Lord tell the children of Israel not to eat any fat or any blood? Would that be a good health rule even today? (Leviticus 3:1[746]7)

The true God is contrasted with idols several places in Scripture by the fact that He can smell! (Deuteronomy 4:28[747]; Psalms 115:6[748]; contrast Isaiah 1:13[749]) But if the sacrifices are not given from a truly repentant and thankful heart they will do no good. (Leviticus 26:31[750]) The “aroma” is only meaningful if it represents a humble person truly seeking forgiveness and fellowship that is “intelligent worship” (Romans 12:1,2[751]) and will result in a transformation of the sinner. “It is the humble, grateful, reverential heart that makes the offering as a sweet-smelling savor, acceptable to God.” Our High Calling 197[752]

Yeast/leaven were regarded as symbols of sin. (Exodus 12:15,19; 13:7; 34:25[753]; Leviticus 2:11; 6:17; 23:17[754]; Deuteronomy 16:4[755]) The blood represented the life which belongs to God, and God also claimed the fat. (Genesis 9:4[756]; Leviticus 3:17; 17:10-16; 19:26[757]; Deuteronomy 12:23-25[758]; 1 Samuel 14:31-35[759]) It is possible that since fat and blood are what give meat its flavor, God was specifically asking them to remove the blood and the fat so they would be less likely to develop a taste for meat. Clearly, as we now recognize from modern medical science, the blood and the fat are the most dangerous portions of the meat.

18.    How can a person be held guilty for doing something that he didn’t realize was wrong? (Leviticus 4:14,23,28; 5:1,3,4,17[760]) Is this fair? (Compare Numbers 15:27-31[761]; Deuteronomy 17:12[762]; Psalms 19:13[763]) Why was God so particular about all these Levitical rules?

God is here describing presumptuous, willful, blatant sins that are done in open defiance of God and His commands. The Hebrew says literally, “with a high hand”, suggesting a total disdain of the consequences. The Bible describes sin as rebelliousness and if we persist in it not even God can heal us or save us.

© Copyright 1999-2005, Kenneth Hart khart@llu.edu

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Ellen White Quotes

a.    “The sacrificial offerings, and the priesthood of the Jewish system, were instituted to represent the death and mediatorial work of Christ. All those ceremonies had no meaning, and no virtue, only as they related to Christ, who was himself the foundation of, and who brought into existence, the entire system. The Lord had made known to Adam, Abel, Seth, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, and the ancient worthies, especially Moses, that the ceremonial system of sacrifices and the priesthood, of themselves, were not sufficient to secure the salvation of one soul.

“The system of sacrificial offerings pointed to Christ. Through these the ancient worthies saw Christ, and believed in him. These were ordained of God to keep before the people the fearful separation which sin had made between God and man, requiring a mediating ministry. Through Christ, the communication which was cut off because of Adam’s transgression, was opened between God and the ruined sinner. The infinite sacrifice that Christ voluntarily made for man remains a mystery that angels cannot fully fathom.” Review and Herald 12-17-1872 (1RH 114:3:3,4; 2SP 10,11; QOD 678)

b.    “As Jesus came into the temple, He took in the whole scene. He saw the unfair transactions. He saw the distress of the poor, who thought that without shedding of blood there would be no forgiveness for their sins.” The Desire of Ages 157

c.    “If Adam had not transgressed the law of God, the ceremonial law would never have been instituted. The gospel of good news was first given to Adam in the declaration made to him that the seed of the woman should bruise the serpent’s head; and it was handed down through successive generations to Noah, Abraham, and Moses. The knowledge of God’s law, and the plan of salvation were imparted to Adam and Eve by Christ Himself. They carefully treasured the important lesson, and transmitted it by word of mouth, to their children, and children’s children. Thus the knowledge of God’s law was preserved.” 1 Selected Messages 230

d.    “If man had kept the law of God, as given to Adam after his fall, preserved by Noah, and observed by Abraham, there would have been no necessity for the ordinance of circumcision. And if the descendants of Abraham had kept the covenant, of which circumcision was a sign, they would never have been seduced into idolatry, nor would it have been necessary for them to suffer a life of bondage in Egypt; they would have kept God’s law in mind, and there would have been no necessity for it to be proclaimed from Sinai or engraved upon the tables of stone. And had the people practiced the principles of the Ten Commandments, there would have been no need of the additional directions given to Moses.” 3Spiritual Gifts 299 (1864); 1Spirit of Prophecy 264,265; Patriarchs and Prophets 364; The Signs of the Times, June 17, 1880

e.    “Offences punished with death.—I. The following offences also are mentioned in the law as liable to the punishment of death:

1.    Striking, or even reviling, a parent. Ex. 21:15, 17.

2.    Blasphemy. Lev. 24:14, 16, 23.

3.    Sabbath-breaking. Ex. 31:14; 35:2; Num. 15:32-36.

4.    Witchcraft, and false pretension to prophecy. Ex. 22:18; Lev. 20:27; Deut. 13:5; 18:20.

5.    Adultery. Lev. 20:10; Deut. 22:22.

6.    Unchastity. Lev. 21:9; Deut. 22:21, 23.

7.    Rape. Deut. 22:25.

8.    Incestuous and unnatural connections. Ex. 22:19; Lev. 20:11, 14, 16.

9.    Manstealing (Kidnaping). Ex. 21:16; Deut. 24:7.

10.    Idolatry, actual or virtual, in any shape. Lev. 20:2; Deut. 13:6, 10, 15; 17:2-7; see Josh. 7 and 22:20 and Num. 25:8.

11.    False witness in certain cases. Deut. 19:16, 19.

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II. But there is a large number of offences, some of them included in this list, which are named in the law as involving the penalty of “cutting off from the people.” On the meaning of this expression some controversy has arisen. There are altogether thirty-six or thirty-seven cases in the Pentateuch in which this formula is used. We may perhaps conclude that the primary meaning of “cutting off” is a sentence of death to be executed in some cases without remission, but in others voidable—(1) by immediate atonement on the offender’s part; (2) by direct interposition of the Almighty, i.e., a sentence of death always “recorded,” but not always executed.” (Smith’s Bible Dictionary, article on “punishments”)

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15. Smiting the Rock - The Sin of Moses

(Is it Serious to mistrust and misrepresent God?)

Numbers 20:1-13.

Doesn’t God appear to be very arbitrary, exacting, vengeful, unforgiving and severe in this story? God appears to be very considerate of the people but He seems very harsh on Moses. What had been Moses’ role before the people? Didn’t he almost stand in the place of God? Would one last minute lapse in faithfulness lead God to totally reject us?

What was Moses’ sin at the rock? Did he disobey God? Did he get angry? Did he spoil God’s symbol? Did he misrepresent God? Why did God not allow Moses into the promised land? Did He forgive Moses? If Moses was forgiven shouldn’t he have been allowed to enter? It was only a short time after Moses’ sin when he arrived in heaven. What do you think the angels said to him about this experience. What did he say to them?

Discussion:

Notice first of all what God said about the behavior of Moses and Aaron:

Numbers 20:12:

...Because ye believed me not, to sanctify me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore ye shall not bring this congregation into the land which I have given them. (KJV)

...Because you did not believe me, and because you did not honor me as holy before the people, The New Century Version ...Because you have not believed Me, to treat Me as holy in the sight of the sons of Israel, ... (NASB) ...Because you did not believe in me, to sanctify me in the eyes of the people of Israel,... (RSV) ...Because you did not believe me and did not sanctify me in the eyes of the people of Israel,... The Living Bible

...Because you did not believe that I could proclaim my holiness in the eyes of the sons of Israel... (Jerusalem)

...Because you did not trust Me enough to affirm My sanctity in the sight of the Israelite people,...

Tanakh, The Holy Scriptures ...Because you did not have-trust in me to treat-me-as-holy before the eyes of the Children of Israel, therefore: you (two) shall not bring this assembly into the land that I am giving them! The Five Books of Moses

...Because you did not trust in me enough to honor me as holy in the sight of the Israelites,... (NIV) ...You did not trust me so far as to uphold my holiness in the sight of the Israelites... (NEB) ...Because you did not trust me by paying me due honor in the presence of the Israelites... (Smith-Goodspeed)

...Because you did not have enough faith to acknowledge my holy power before the people of Israel... (GNB)

...You didn’t trust me! You didn’t show the Israelites how holy I am! So you will not bring this congregation into the land I’m giving them. God’s Word ...Because you refused to believe in my power, these people did not respect me....(CEV)

Then the Lord said to Moses in the hearing of Aaron, <Because you acted rashly and judged the people by calling them rebels, because you disobeyed me and struck the rock instead of speaking to it, and because you told the people that you would give them water confirming what they already believed-that you were the one who brought them out of Egypt, therefore,

I will not let you lead these people into Canaan. They need to know that what you said is not true and what you did was not right. You have destroyed their faith in me. I am their Rock, not you.’ (The Clear Word)

The most serious thing that Moses did was not disobeying God, the people had done a lot of that and they were allowed to go in. The most serious thing that Moses did was not spoiling a symbol, many symbols had been spoiled down through the years. The most serious thing Moses did was to misrepresent God before the people. Moses had come to stand in the place of God to the people. They had come to believe that whatever Moses did was God’s will and represented God. So on this

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occasion when God wanted to speak kindly to the people to win them by kindness (Romans 2:4) Moses spoke to them angrily instead.

How did God treat Moses after this? God was “just” by showing how seriously He regarded Moses’ sin. Even though Moses pleaded to be allowed to go in (Deuteronomy 1:27; 3:23-28[764]) God needed to show that the sin that Moses had committed was serious not just because God was unhappy with it, but because it had serious consequences! But God’s mercy is shown so much more abundantly by the fact that He showed Moses the entire land of Canaan in vision from the top of Mt. Pisgah, and then He buried Moses, resurrected him (Jude 9[765]), and took him to the heavenly Canaan! (Matthew 17:1-8[766]; Mark 9:2-9[767]; Luke 9:28-36[768]) Moses was even asked to come back down to this earth to encourage the Son of God when He was facing His toughest trial.

Misrepresenting God was the original sin of Satan! Satan came from God’s presence and said subtle things that misrepresented God. When Satan committed this very sin in heaven it started the great controversy! So what does it do to us and to others when we misrepresent God? What happens when we misrepresent God to our children? We stand in the same position to our young children as Moses did to the children of Israel! God had wanted to say something important about Himself to the people and Moses prevented it. How often do preachers misrepresent God in the pulpit? God had to show before the entire universe that what Moses had done was very serious.

On two previous occasions Moses had correctly represented God at key points. (See Exodus 32:7-14[769]; Deuteronomy 9:6-13; 26-29[770]; Numbers 14:11-16[771]) One of the chief characteristics of a true friend is that they stick up for your reputation. And Moses was known as God’s best friend even speaking to Him face to face. (Exodus 33:11[772]; Numbers 12:1-8[773]; Deuteronomy 34:1-12[774])

What does it mean not to trust in God enough to represent Him correctly? Is our relationship with God important enough to us-do we really trust Him enough-to do what He tells us to do? How often do we commit this sin of Moses’? How many things does God ask us to do that seem trivial or not important to us but may be very serious in God’s eyes? The most basic definition of sin in the Bible is Romans 14:23: “Any action that is not based on faith is sin.” (GNB) When there is a breakdown in trust between God and us He cannot heal us! Do we want to be servants or do we want to be trusting friends?

This story makes it clear that the whole sin experiment is not about us and how God saves us. It is about God: His character, His government, and how He wants to relate to His children. So when Moses misrepresented God to the very people who had been chosen to correctly represent God to the entire world, it was very serious.

Bible References: Numbers 20:1-13[775]; Exodus 17:1-7[776]; Deuteronomy 1:37; 3:23-28; 34:1-8[777]; Jude 9[778]; Matthew 17:1-8[779]; Mark 9:2-9[780]; Luke 9:28-36[781]; Ezra 10:2[782]; Romans 1:18; 14:23[783] Ellen White: Patriarchs and Prophets 471-490[784].

© Copyright 1995, Kenneth Hart khart@sachs.llu.edu

Last Modified: June 26, 2001

C:\My Documents\WP\Answers\answers-2\MOSES-Rock.wpd

EGW Comments

“Here Moses sinned. He became wearied with the continual murmurings of the people against him, and at the commandment of the Lord, took the rod, and, instead of speaking to the rock, as God commanded him, he smote it with the rod twice, after saying, “Must we fetch you water out of this rock?” He here spoke unadvisedly with his lips. He did not say, God will now show you another evidence of his power, and bring you water out of this rock. He did not ascribe the power and glory to God for causing water to again flow from the flinty rock, and therefore did not magnify him before the people. For this failure on the part of Moses, God would not permit him to lead the people to the promised land.

“This necessity for the manifestation of God’s power made the occasion one of great solemnity;

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and Moses and Aaron should have improved it to make a favorable impression upon the people. But Moses was stirred; and in impatience and anger with the people because of their murmurings, he said, “Hear, now, ye rebels; must we fetch you water out of this rock?” In thus speaking, he virtually admitted to murmuring Israel that they were correct in charging him with leading them from Egypt. God had forgiven the people greater transgressions than this error upon the part of Moses; but he could not regard a sin in a leader of his people as in those who were led. He could not excuse the sin of Moses, and permit him to enter the promised land.

“The Lord here gave his people unmistakable proof that he who had wrought such a wonderful deliverance for them in bringing them from Egyptian bondage, was the mighty Angel, and not Moses, who was going before them in all their travels, and of whom he had said, “Behold, I send an Angel before thee, to keep thee in the way, and to bring thee into the place which I have prepared. Beware of him, and obey his voice; provoke him not; for he will not pardon your transgressions; for my name is in him.” Moses took glory to himself which belonged to God, and made it necessary for God to do that in his case which should forever satisfy rebellious Israel that it was not Moses who has led them from Egypt, but God himself. The Lord had committed to Moses the burden of leading his people, while the mighty Angel went before them in all their journeyings, and directed all their travels. Because they were so ready to forget that God was leading them by his Angel, and to ascribe to man that which God’s power alone could perform, he had proved them, and tested them, to see whether they would obey him. At every trial they failed. Instead of believing in, and acknowledging, God, who had strown their path with evidences of his power, and signal tokens of his care and love, they distrusted him, and ascribed their leaving Egypt to Moses, charging him as the cause of all their disasters. Moses had borne with their stubbornness with remarkable forbearance. At one time they threatened to stone him.

“The Lord would remove this impression forever from their minds, by forbidding Moses to enter the promised land. The Lord had highly exalted Moses. He had revealed to him his great glory. He had taken him into a sacred nearness with himself upon the mount, and had condescended to talk with him as a man speaketh with a friend. He had communicated to Moses, and through him to the people, his will, his statutes and his laws. His being thus exalted and honored of God made his error of greater magnitude. Moses repented of his sin, and humbled himself greatly before God. He related to all Israel his sorrow for his sin. The result of his sin he did not conceal, but told them that for thus failing to ascribe glory to God, he could not lead them to the promised land. He then asked them, if this error upon his part was so great as to be thus corrected of God, how God would regard their repeated murmurings in charging him (Moses) with the uncommon visitations of God because of their sins.” Spirit of Prophecy, vol. 1, p. 310-312

“But Moses was provoked with the people because of their unreasonable course, and he spoke hastily in anger.” RH December 9, 1909

“Aaron and Moses both sinned in not giving glory and honor to God at the waters of Meribah. They were both wearied and provoked with the continual complaining of Israel, and, at a time when God was to mercifully display His glory to the people, to soften and subdue their hearts and lead them to repentance, Moses and Aaron claimed the power of opening the rock for them.” 3T 301,302

“The sins of good men, whose general deportment has been worthy of imitation, are peculiarly offensive to God. They cause Satan to triumph, and to taunt the angels of God with the failings of God’s chosen instruments, and give the unrighteous occasion to lift themselves up against God. The Lord had himself led Moses in a special manner, and had revealed to him his glory, as to no other upon the earth. He was naturally impatient, but had taken hold firmly [40] of the grace of God, and so humbly implored wisdom from Heaven, that he was strengthened from God, and had overcome his impatience so that he was called of God the meekest man upon the face of the whole earth.” Spiritual Gifts Volume 4A, pg. 39,40

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“Moses smote the rock in wrath and took the glory to himself. The continual waywardness and murmuring of the children of Israel had caused him the keenest sorrow, and for a little time he forgot how much the Lord had borne with them, and that their murmuring was not against him, but against God. He thought only of himself, how deeply he was wronged, and how little gratitude they manifested in return for his deep love for them.” Early Writings 163

“More than this, Moses and Aaron had assumed power that belongs only to God. The necessity for divine interposition made the occasion one of great solemnity, and the leaders of Israel should have improved it to impress the people with reverence for God and to strengthen their faith in His power and goodness. When they angrily cried, “Must we fetch you water out of this rock?” they put themselves in God’s place, as if the power lay in themselves. By these words they greatly dishonored Christ, their invisible Leader. God, not man, should have been glorified. The Lord reproved these leaders, and declared that they should not enter the Promised Land. Before the Hebrew host He demonstrated that the sin of the leader was greater than the sin of those who were led.--Manuscript 169, Oct. 12, 1903; The Upward Look 299

“The water gushed forth in abundance to satisfy the host. But a great wrong had been done. Moses had spoken from irritated feeling; his words were an expression of human passion rather than of holy indignation because God had been dishonored. “Hear now, ye rebels,” he said. This accusation was true, but even truth is not to be spoken in passion or impatience. When God had bidden Moses to charge upon Israel their rebellion, the words had been painful to him, and hard for them to bear, yet God had sustained him in delivering the message. But when he took it upon himself to accuse them, he grieved the Spirit of God and wrought only harm to the people. His lack of patience and self-control was evident. Thus the people were given occasion to question whether his past course had been under the direction of God, and to excuse their own sins. Moses, as well as they, had offended God. His course, they said, had from the first been open to criticism and censure. They had now found the pretext which they desired for rejecting all the reproofs that God had sent them through His servant.

“Moses manifested distrust of God. ‘Shall we bring water?’ he questioned, as if the Lord would not do what He promised. ‘Ye believed Me not,’ the Lord declared to the two brothers, ‘to sanctify Me in the eyes of the children of Israel.’ At the time when the water failed, their own faith in the fulfillment of God’s promise had been shaken by the murmuring and rebellion of the people. The first generation had been condemned to perish in the wilderness because of their unbelief, yet the same spirit appeared in their children. Would these also fail of receiving the promise? Wearied and disheartened, Moses and Aaron had made no effort to stem the current of popular feeling. Had they themselves manifested unwavering faith in God, they might have set the matter before the people in such a light as would have enabled them to bear this test. By prompt, decisive exercise of the authority vested in them as magistrates, they might have quelled the murmuring. It was their duty to put forth every effort in their power to bring about a better state of things before asking God to do the work for them. Had the murmuring at Kadesh been promptly checked, what a train of evil might have been prevented!” Patriarchs and Prophets 417,418

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16. NUMBERS - A TEACHER’S GUIDE

THE CENTRAL QUESTION:

What does this book/story say to us about God?

This question may be broken down further as follows:

a.    Why did God do it/allow it?

b.    Why did He record it for our study?

1. What picture of God would you have if you had only the book of Numbers? What was the universe looking on learning about God in these books? Where and when did Moses write it down? (see Numbers 36:13[785])

The book of Numbers is the historical account of the experiences of the children of Israel from the time they left Mt. Sinai until they arrived at the plain of Moab across from Jericho. It gets its name from the two times when the military-aged men were counted. (Numbers 1,26[786]) It could also be called the book of complaints or murmurings!

They murmured against Moses and God because of their food and drink. (Numbers 11:4-6; 21:5[787])

Miriam and Aaron complained against Moses because of his "colored” wife. (Numbers 12:1-3[788])

Moses complained about the job God had given him! (Numbers 11:10-15[789])

The People murmured against Moses and God for bringing them out into the desert to be destroyed by the sword in an attempt to enter the land of promise. (Numbers 14[790])

Korah, Dathan, and Abiram complained about the leadership of Moses and Aaron.

The people murmured because of what happened to the rebels: Korah, Dathan, and Abiram (Numbers 16:1-3,11,41[791])

They complained when God appointed Aaron as their High Priest (Numbers 17:10-13[792])

It also includes the stories of: the 12 spies, Aaron’s rod that budded, Moses’ sin at the rock, the deaths of Miriam and Aaron, the victories over Sihon and Og, Balaam and his talking donkey, the war against Midian, and Moses’ review of theirjourney so far and his initial instructions for conquering and dividing up the land.

The book of Numbers is the story of the experiences of the children of Israel from Mt. Sinai to Kadesh Barnea where they rebelled against God, and then their 38 years of wandering in the wilderness until they came back to the borders of the land of Canaan. It shows, as some have suggested, that it was a lot easier for God to get the Israelites out of Egypt than it was to get Egypt out of the Israelites! It is an important part of "the many and various ways” (Hebrews 1:1[793]) God has revealed Himself in Scripture. It provides significant historical

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information about the situation in which God is trying to work with His people. Ultimately, all God is asking for is that we trust Him. But how do you accomplish this with a group like these people at the foot of Mt. Sinai?

2. Why did God instruct them to number the men of war if He didn’t want them to fight? (Numbers 1 and 26) Why weren’t the mixed multitude counted? Or did they become integrated into the different tribes? Why do you think the Levites were counted from age 1 month, while other tribes were counted beginning at age twenty?

During this book more than 600,000 men died in the wilderness. Were they all converted before they died? Is there evidence that God was making great progress toward His ultimate goal of saving as many souls as possible in His kingdom? (or is that His ultimate goal) Is there evidence that the next generation was a lot better than the first? (Hebrews 4:5-11[794]) Could one cautiously say that God is failing to accomplish what He really wants to accomplish here? It is more important in God’s eyes to allow us the freedom of choice-realizing that we may reject Him-and to preserve an accurate record of the sin experience for the universe to study than it is to save each one of us. (See Ellen White comments #a)

Does God measure His success in terms of numbers of converts as we are so prone to do? Or is He trying to demonstrate something infinitely more important even than our salvation? God is saying something about Himself that will make the universe secure against apostasy and rebellion for eternity. Jesus had begun this work by moving among the angels as an angel. Now He is having to meet the children of Israel where they are and speak a language they can understand! Did they think of the controversy in heaven when they looked at the sanctuary tent? (Exodus 25:9,40; 26:30; 27:8[795]; Hebrews 9:23,24[796])

When God found it necessary to leave them in the wilderness until all the men over age 20 had died, the two census takings made it clear to everyone that things had worked out exactly as God had predicted. (Numbers 26:64,65[797]) This was a warning to the next generation that God was serious in what He said, but God also realized that if they were not cooperating with Him, He could not lead them successfully into Canaan. Later history proved that since they did not allow Him to "drive” out their enemies for them, they did not succeed in fully removing the Canaanites, and thus were led into the fatal idolatry and rebellion against God that marked their future course. The "mixed multitude” were apparently gradually integrated into the tribes as we never hear of them again.

The Levites were not to go out and fight under any circumstances. Thus it was appropriate to count them from age one. They did not actually begin their life work in the sanctuary until age 25. (Numbers 8:24,25[798])

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3.    If the Tent of Meeting was intended as a place of worship, why did He instruct them to put to death anyone who came near it? (Numbers 1:51; 3:10,38; 4:15-20; 17:12,13; 18:2,3,7,22[799]; Compare Deuteronomy 25:5[800]; Hosea 5:7[801]; Exodus 29:33[802]) Howwere the people to present their offerings if they couldn’t come near the Tent? (Leviticus 1:1-5[803]) If only Aaron and the Levites were to go in it, what happened in Exodus 33:7-11[804]? Moses went in with Joshua from the tribe of Ephraim who apparently stayed behind even after Moses left?

To "come near the tent” is an expression used to describe the work of the priests. The people were clearly intended to bring their offerings to the tabernacle (tent). God gave these strong warnings against anyone performing the function of a priest because He knew how easy it would be for them to fall into idol worship if each person felt that he was just as qualified as anyone else to perform the duties of the priest.

Numbers 16:40[805]: "to be a reminder to the people of Israel, so that no one who is not a priest, who is not of the descendants of Aaron, should draw near to burn incense before the LORD, lest he become as Korah and as his company--as the LORD said to Elea’zar through Moses.” (RSV)

4.    Why did God forbid even the Kohathites, whose responsibility it was to carry all the sacred furniture, to ever look on it or touch it lest they die? (Numbers 4:15,20; 18:1-3,7[806]) What had to be done to take care of the tabernacle that could possibly have occupied 8,580 men? (Numbers 4:34-48[807])

Again God is trying to impress upon the Israelites the seriousness of His commands and the reverence that they needed to show for everything that He had established as a part of the worship ceremonies. Besides carrying all that needed to be carried when they moved camp, these men (or a portion of them) apparently also served as the sanctuary choir at the time of worship ceremonies. Only men from 30 to 50 (Numbers 4:23-47[808]) were allowed to participate. It would take a large choir to be heard well by millions of Israelites.

In later years the Levites were divided into twelve large companies each of which served for one month of each year. During the rest of the time they apparently were at home serving the needs of their local communities. During the time in the wilderness they no doubt traded off carrying all the things that belonged to the tabernacle.

5.    What is the meaning and the purpose of the "test for jealousy” or the "test for unfaithfulness?” (Numbers 5:11-31[809]) Do you think that perhaps the way this test was actually carried out would have caused a person either through fear or guilt to reveal the truth? Considering the

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characteristics of males and females, it is more likely that the husband would be unfaithful. Was there a test for the husband if the wife became jealous? Why were the women so often treated as "property?” By contrast what about the "rights” accorded to the daughters of Zelophehad (Numbers 26:33; 27:1-11; 6:1-12[810]; Joshua 17:3-6[811]; 1 Chronicles 7:15[812]) and God’s directions regarding the inheritance laws?

The rights of women in Bible times, and even in more modern times in many parts of the world were and are very limited. Women were often regarded as "property” or almost like slaves to serve their husbands. This "test for jealousy” was clearly designed to bring a sinful person to confess their sin. There is no evidence that there was any such test for men. God, however, used every opportunity that He could to raise the status of women in the community. One way in which He did this was to make it very clear that they could inherit property, at least when they had no brothers, and pass it along to their children. God was constantly doing little things to raise the status of those who were lowest in the society-slaves, women, even animals. (Compare Galatians 3:28 where God sets forth His ideal)

Many ask why there was no test for men. The New Testament corrects this lack very clearly. Matthew 5:27-30[813] sets the test for men. In fact, the standard is so high that it probably implicates every adult male. And Jesus goes straight to the "heart” of the matter and discusses even the thought and the motive of each male. While the woman might indeed develop symptoms suggestive of some STD’s (Numbers 5:21,22,27[814]) the man is to take out his eye or cut off his hand if it leads him into sin.

6.    What was the purpose of the Nazirite vows as outlined in Numbers 6:1-21[815]? What is sinful about being in the presence of a dead body? How could that possibly contaminate someone? (Leviticus 11:31,32[816]; Numbers 5:2; 6:11; 19:11-18[817])

The term used here means "to separate”, "to consecrate”, "to dedicate” in a religious sense. It provided a recognized way in which an Israelite man or woman could set aside a period of time in their life and dedicate it especially to God. They were told to avoid anything that might even be a symbol of sin during this time. There are several references to people in the Bible setting themselves apart for a period of time like this. (See Judges 13:5,7,17[818]; Amos 2:11,12[819]; Zechariah 7:3[820]) Nazirite is not to be confused with Nazareth, the home of Jesus in the New Testament.

7.    We are told that a disaster would have struck if the Levites had not been dedicated to the Lord. What could possibly be the source of such a disaster? (Numbers 8:19[821]; Compare Numbers 16:41[822]-

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50) Do you get the impression that God was watching every move that the people made and if anyone did anything wrong God would strike him?

God has set the descendants of Levi and especially Aaron aside to perform the duties of the priesthood. Much later when non-Levitical people began feeling that they could serve as priests for other "gods” and some even tried to offer sacrifices unto Yahweh it proved a disaster on every occasion. (1 Samuel 7:5-14[823]; 2 Chronicles 26:16-21[824]) This is another example of God using "crisis interventions” in His dealing with people who are acting like little children. God realizes how serious it would be (and proved to be) if they turned away from the true worship of God. He was doing everything He could to prevent that.

8. We have record of three times when the children of Israel complained about the food. Who always seemed to be the first to complain? (Numbers 11:4[825]) On the first occasion God gave them quails to eat for a day or two and began to feed them with manna. (Exodus 16:1-36[826]) On the next occasion, they were complaining about the manna itself and God sent them enough quail to last a month (Numbers 11:4-34[827]) but many of them died in a plague. What do you think of God’s way of reacting to the request for meat in Numbers 11:18-20[828]? Doesn’t this sound like a pouting child? Why would God allow Himself to be pictured like this? On the third occasion God didn’t give them any food but sent them fiery serpents instead, followed by a bronze serpent so they could be preserved from death (Numbers 21:4-9[829]). Was God losing His patience? Did God miraculously provide food for all the animals as well?

It was usually the "mixed multitude” who were the first to complain. (Numbers 11:4[830]) God recognized that the children of Israel had rejected His leadership at this point. (See modern versions) They despised the provisions He knew were for their best good. On the third occasion, God simply withdrew His daily protection from them and they experienced what they would have experienced if God had not been constantly protecting them. (Deuteronomy 8:15[831]; Ellen White comments #b) While we do not know exactly how the animals were provided for, it is clear that with the large herds that they had it would have been impossible for them to get enough food in such a desert place.

Deuteronomy 8:14-16: 14 "then your heart be lifted up, and you forget the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage, 15 who led you through the great and terrible wilderness, with its fiery serpents and scorpions and thirsty ground where there was no water, who brought you water out of the flinty rock, 16 who fed you in the wilderness with manna which your fathers did not know, that he might humble you and test you, to do you good in the end.” (RSV)

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It is clear that God did not expect Adam and Eve to eat nothing but "manna”. He gave them a wonderful garden with all manner of fruits, nuts and grains to eat. Most of us would be most upset if God told us that He was giving us a special food that would be our only food from now until we die! It was no doubt very nutritious and the price was right, but it was still a real trial for the people, especially those in the mixed multitude that weren’t so sure about this Yahweh in the first place!

It was probably also a way of weaning them from the corrupting influences and the unhealthful effects of the diet that they had been used to in Egypt.

9.    What do you think of Moses’ complaint to the Lord in Numbers 11:10-15[832]? What does this imply about the relationship between them?

This is just one of several places where God and Moses talk to each other in the common language that parents use even today when speaking about their children. (See Exodus 32:7-14; 34:10[833]; Deuteronomy 9:12[834]) Moses obviously felt very comfortable speaking to God about his troubles! Realizing that God and Moses were accustomed to speaking "face-to-face” perhaps this is not too difficult to understand. (Exodus 33:11[835]; Numbers 12:6-8[836]; Deuteronomy 34:10[837]; but see also Numbers 14:14[838]; and Deuteronomy 5:4[839]) Moses was obviously very concerned about what he was going to do next. God had promised the Israelites something that Moses had no idea how they were going to provide.

10.    Why can’t God speak to all His people as He did to Moses-clearly, and face-to-face-instead of in riddles? (Exodus 33:11[840]; Numbers 12:6-8[841]; Deuteronomy 34:10[842])

Compare Numbers 14:14[843] and Deuteronomy 5:4[844]. While the Israelites had clear evidence of God’s daily presence with them, their relationship with God did not allow them to respond to Him as Moses did. God clearly prefers the Moses kind of relationship and each of us should covet it. But in order to experience that kind of relationship we must be prepared to respect God for who and what He is. We must be prepared to take Him seriously as He speaks to us in Scripture without asking for miracles, and we must be constantly in tune with the "still, small voice”. (See 1 Kings 19:12[845]) Many of us think that God needs to appear in power before we are ready to respond to Him, and thus we are preventing the very relationship that He wants with us. Others simply ignore every effort God makes to communicate with them.

God loves each one of us. We are His children. He wishes He could speak face-to-face with us as He did with Adam and Eve. Let us never forget that ideal. If God were to appear to

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us in His full glory at this point, of course, we would be consumed because of our sinful state. (Exodus 33:20[846]; Deuteronomy 4:24[847]; Hebrews 12:29[848])

11.    Is it fair that God visits the sins of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations? (Exodus 20:5[849]; Numbers 14:18[850] but compare Exodus 34:17[851]) How do you think this actually happens?

God clearly deals with each of us as individuals. (Deuteronomy 24:16[852]; Compare Ezekiel 18; 33:10-20[853]) This is not an example of God getting angry and threatening us and our children with terrible things if we don’t do what He wants us to do! God is here warning us that our children look up to us as "gods” when they are tiny. Even later in life they learn continuously from our example. Thus when we behave in a rebellious way, it is picked up almost immediately and duplicated. It is a law of the mind that by beholding we become changed. (2 Corinthians 3:18[854]; GC 555[855]) Thus God is here simply stating the facts of what happens in human experience. It should make us think very seriously before misbehaving especially in front of our children!

12.    Why did the Israelites later become so exclusive and so "us-versus-them” in their thinking, when God clearly says that the native born and the stranger are to be treated the same? (Exodus 12:49; 22:21; 23:9[856]; Leviticus 19:34[857]; Numbers 15:14-16[858])

As we progress through the Old Testament we observe a very interesting thing happening between the Israelites and their neighbors. For most of their history the Israelites were all too ready to mix with their "neighbors” and adopt their pagan religious customs. Finally in the days of Ezra and Nehemiah a change was brought about. Nehemiah particularly, made it very clear that they were not to intermarry or associate too freely with their heathen neighbors. (Nehemiah 13[859]; Ezra 10[860]) As a result they never went back to worshiping idols or getting involved with the fertility cult ceremonies. But instead of welcoming these "neighbors” to learn about the true God and thus proving to be the blessing to the entire world that they were supposed to be, they were afraid to have anything at all to do with them. This led to the condition we find in the days of Jesus where the most scrupulous of the Jews went through an elaborate ceremony of washing every time they came home from the market lest they be contaminated by some form of contact with a gentile! How sad!

13.    Why was God so harsh on the man gathering sticks on the Sabbath? (Numbers 15:32-36[861]) Was the man given a chance to repent? Why did God ask the people to stone the man? If he

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needed to be destroyed, why didn’t God Himself do it? (as He did to Nadab and Abihu -Leviticus 10:1-11[862]; and Korah, Dathan, and Abiram - Numbers 16:30-35[863]) What affect do you think this had on the people?

This story should be compared with the story of Achan in Judges 7[864]. God apparently asked the people to stone this person so they would personally experience how serious He regarded this issue. This was an act of open rebellion or presumptuous sin as described in the verses above. God could not allow such an act to go unpunished without lessening the impact of His every command. God is once again having to treat the Israelites like little children here. He would have much preferred to sit down with them as He did much later on the Mt. of Beatitudes (Matthew 5-7[865]) and spell out exactly how He wants us to relate to each other.

14.    What would we do if we were told to follow the advice regarding deliberate sins as found in Numbers 15:30,31[866]? What percentage of our sins are deliberate? If sin is "rebelliousness” (1 John 3:4[867]) isn’t that always deliberate?

While God has not asked us to impose the death penalty for rebelliousness in the Christian era, we should learn from the experiences of those who went before us. Virtually all real sin is rebellious and lawless and thus would have qualified in Moses’ day for the death penalty. Doesn’t Paul say that "sin pays its wage-death”? (See Romans 6:23[868], GNB) We take sin altogether too lightly in our day. It is a deadly poison and we need to recognize it for what it is. When we sin we are literally destroying ourselves!

15.    Would you dare to speak out against the Lord after seeing His glory appear, then watching Korah, Dathan and Abiram and their families being swallowed up by the earth and fire burning up 250 men before your eyes? (Numbers 16:16-35[869]) What kind of mental state do you think the people were in that allowed them to act so rebelliously at that point? How would you feel if you had been promised the opportunity to be one of the "conquering nation” that was to inherit and enjoy a land "flowing with milk and honey” and then were suddenly told that you would spend the rest of your life in a hot, dry desert and would never see the "promised land”?

This is primarily a thought question. But it should alert us to the incredible mental state that the people were in at the time. It is true that they had undergone a real "shock” but if they had relied on God, He would have been more than ready to help them. Satan had gained such complete control of them that whatever God wanted them to do seemed to be exactly what they were not going to do.

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16.    What do you think of the method God used to identify the tribe of Levi as His priests? (Numbers 17) Why don’t we use "budding rods” today? Wouldn’t that be a more sure way of electing church officers?

While this method is more impressive, and more certainly a direct act of God than "drawing straws” or "casting lots” it is still a way of making God fully responsible for the choice. If God chooses a leader, even though that person may be the best one available at the time, then the natural thing to do if something goes "wrong” is to blame God instead of taking personal responsibility for your own choices. God used such methods many times in the Scripture, but it was not His ideal. (See Joshua 7:16-19; 14:2; 18:1-10[870]; 1 Samuel 14:42[871]; 1 Chronicles 24:31; 25:8; 26:13,14[872]; Nehemiah 10:34; 11:1[873]; Psalms 22:18[874]; Joel 3:3[875]; Obadiah 11[876]; Jonah 1:7[877]; Nahum 3:10[878]; Matthew 27:35[879]; Mark 15:34[880]; Luke 23:34[881]; John 19:24[882]; Acts 1:26[883]) In these examples it is clear that in some cases it was just a random way to divide things. It was used by peoples besides the Jews. Scholars are not sure exactly how it was done. Some think it was like drawing straws and others suggest that it may have been a matter of marking stones and then shaking them together in a container and drawing them out one by one to see who gets the marked one(s).

Since God had also given them the urim and thummim on the high priest’s ephod, one might wonder why they didn’t use that device. In our day, God chooses not to use such methods, I believe it is because He wants us to think through our choices and take full responsibility for them. If however, as in Bible times, it is just a matter of randomly assigning duty or property, it is probably as good a method as any.

17.    Why were only the males allowed to eat the most holy offerings? (Numbers 18:8-10[884])

These very special portions of certain offerings were dedicated to the Lord and were to be eaten only in the temple courtyard. (See Leviticus 2:3,10; 6:17,18,29; 7:6[885]) These portions of the offerings were not to be carried home and eaten by the entire family but to be eaten only by the priests themselves in the temple. Since only males were to serve as priests, only males could eat these portions.

18.    What was so serious about Moses’ sin when he struck the rock instead of speaking to it? (Numbers 20:2-13[886]; Deuteronomy 3:23-28[887]) Moses had spoken so well of God so many times before (Exodus 32:10-14; Numbers 14:13-25), why did this one incident of apparent passion disqualify him from entering the promised land? Why was Aaron also punished?

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See separate handout Numbers #3 - “Smiting the Rock-The Sin of Moses”.

19.    What is the meaning of the whole story of Balaam? (Numbers 22-25;31[888]) Is this a story we should quote as evidence that we should “persevere in prayer?” Why did God “change His mind” and let Balaam go to curse Israel after He had told him not to earlier? What was Balaam’s motive for wanting to go? Can you imagine asking permission from God to go and curse His people? What was the final end of Balaam? (Numbers 31:8[889])

See Numbers 31:8,16[890]; Deuteronomy 23:4,5[891]; Joshua 13:22; 24:9,10[892]; Nehemiah 13:2[893]; Micah 6:5; 2[894] Peter 2:15,16[895]; Revelation 2:14[896]. Balaam becomes a symbol of greed and sin throughout the Bible. Balaam recognized what maybe even the heathen did not: that the only way to conquer Israel was to lead them into sin. Balaam was supposed to be a representative of the true God. For him to betray and entice God’s people into sin is considered one of the worse sins in the Bible. Balaam was apparently so consumed by the possibility of the reward that he was hoping to receive that he was ready to throw away every principle that he had and sell his soul to the devil. It may seem impossible to us that greed could cause a person to go to these lengths but look at people today! Balaam’s tragic end while fighting with the Midianites against the Israelites shows what must be the fitting end for such greed.

20.    When God asked the Israelites to destroy the Midianites, why would God tell them to utterly destroy men, women, even baby boys, but leave alive the unmarried women and girls? (Numbers 31:7,17,18[897]; compare Deuteronomy 2:16-18[898]; 1 Samuel 15:1-3[899]) Wasn’t it these same “unmarried women” that had gotten them into such trouble already? (Numbers 25:1-9; 31:16[900]) What do you think the 12,000 soldiers would do with their 16,000 “virgins” and what would be done with the 64 who were a “tax for the Lord?” (Numbers 31:36-46[901]) Compare the experience with Sihon and the Amorites and Og and his people (Numbers 21:21-35[902]) when they killed everyone. (Numbers 21:34,35[903]) Why were the Midianites treated differently?

The Midianites were descendants of Abraham and his third wife, Keturah. (Genesis 25:1[904]) They had accepted Balaam’s plan to lead the children of Israel into sin, and so were openly cooperating with the Devil. Unmarried women would be expected to marry and adopt the religion and culture of their husbands. Initially these women were assigned work around the camp as servants even some serving the priestly families and perhaps even the family of

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Aaron and thus would be considered a "tax for the Lord”. Remember that the tithes were given to the sons of Levi as their support and a tithe of the tithe was given to Aaron’s family as their support. Since God had given all of these peoples previous knowledge of the truth through their association with Abraham and the descendants of Isaac and Jacob, these people should have cooperated with God. They should have been following Jehovah and not leading His people away from worshiping Him.

© Copyright 1999-2006, Kenneth Hart khart@llu.edu

Ellen White Quotes The security of the universe was even more important than the salvation of man.

a.    "It was in order that the heavenly universe might see the conditions of the covenant of redemption that Christ bore the penalty in behalf of the human race. The throne of Justice must be eternally and forever made secure, even tho the race be wiped out, and another creation populate the earth. By the sacrifice Christ was about to make, all doubts would be forever settled, and the human race would be saved if they would return to their allegiance. Christ alone could restore honor to God’s government. The cross of Calvary would be looked upon by the unfallen worlds, by the heavenly universe, by Satanic agencies, by the fallen race, and every mouth would be stopped....Who is able to describe the last scenes of Christ’s life on earth, His trial in the judgment hall, His crucifixion? Who witnessed these scenes?--The heavenly universe, God the Father, Satan and his angels.” The Signs of the Times, July 12, 1899

b.    "Because they [the children of Israel] had been shielded by divine power they had not realized the countless dangers by which they were continually surrounded. In their ingratitude and unbelief they had anticipated death, and now the Lord permitted death to come upon them. The poisonous serpents that infested the wilderness were called fiery serpents, on account of the terrible effects produced by their sting, it causing violent inflammation and speedy death. As the protecting hand of God was removed from Israel, great numbers of the people were attacked by these venomous creatures.” Patriarchs and Prophets 429

c.    "Balaam inquired of God if he might curse Israel, because in so doing he had the promise of great reward. God said, Ye shall not go; but he was urged by the messengers, and greater inducements were presented. Balaam had been shown the will of the Lord in this

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matter, but he was so eager for the reward that he ventured to ask God the second time. The Lord permitted Balaam to go. Then he had a wonderful experience; but who would wish to be guided by such an experience as that of Balaam? There are those who would understand their duty clearly if their duty was in harmony with their natural inclinations. Circumstances and reason may indicate clearly their duty, but when against their natural inclination, these evidences are frequently set aside. Then these persons will presume to go to God to learn their duty. But God will not be trifled with. He will permit such persons to follow the desires of their own hearts. Ps. 81:11,12: "But my people would not hearken to my voice; . . . So I gave them up unto their own hearts’ lust; and they walked in their own counsels.”

"Those who desire to follow a course which pleases their fancy are in danger of being left to follow their own inclinations, supposing them to be the leadings of God’s Spirit. The duty of some is indicated sufficiently clear by circumstances and facts; but, through the solicitations of friends, in harmony with their own inclinations, they swerve from the path of duty and pass over the clear evidences in the case; then, with apparent conscientiousness, they pray long and earnestly for light. They have earnest feeling in the matter, and they interpret this to be the Spirit of God. But they are deceived. This course grieves the Spirit of God. They had light and in the very reason of things should have understood their duty; but a few pleasing inducements balance their minds in the wrong direction, and they urge these before the Lord and press their case, and the Lord allows them to have their own way. They have so strong an inclination to follow their own course that He permits them to do so and to suffer the results. These imagine that they have a wonderful experience.” Testimonies, vol. 3, pp. 73,74 (1872); RH July 27, 1886

Additional material

21. Why were the spies sent in to check out the land? Compare Numbers 13:1,2[905] and Deuteronomy 1:19-32[906]. How often does God let us have our own way and suffer the consequences? Compare Balaam. Numbers 22[907]. See EGW #c above.

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17. DEUTERONOMY - A TEACHER’S GUIDE

THE CENTRAL QUESTION:

What does this book/story say to us about God?

This question may be broken down further as follows:

a.    Why did God do it/allow it?

b.    Why did He record it for our study?

1. What picture of God would you have if you had only the book of Deuteronomy? Where and when was this book given to Moses and written down? (see Deuteronomy 1:1[908])

“In all the Hebrew manuscripts the Pentateuch forms one roll or volume divided into larger and smaller sections called parshioth and sedarim. It is not easy to say when it was divided into five books. This was probably first done by the Greek translators of the book, whom the Vulgate follows. The fifth of these books was called by the Greeks Deuteronomion, i.e., the second law, hence our name Deuteronomy, or a second statement of the laws already promulgated. The Jews designated the book by the two first Hebrew words that occur, ‘Elle haddabharim, i.e., “These are the words.” They divided it into eleven parshioth. In the English Bible it contains thirty-four chapters.

“ It consists chiefly of three discourses delivered by Moses a short time before his death. They were spoken to all Israel in the plains of Moab, in the eleventh month of the last year of their wanderings.

“The first discourse (1-4:40) recapitulates the chief events of the last forty years in the wilderness, with earnest exhortations to obedience to the divine ordinances, and warnings against the danger of forsaking the God of their fathers.

“The second discourse (5-26:19) is in effect the body of the whole book. The first address is introductory to it. It contains practically a recapitulation of the law already given by God at Mount Sinai, together with many admonitions and injunctions as to the course of conduct they were to follow when they were settled in Canaan.

“The concluding discourse (ch. 27-30) relates almost wholly to the solemn sanctions of the law, the blessings to the obedient, and the curse that would fall on the rebellious. He solemnly adjures them to adhere faithfully to the covenant God had made with them, and so secure for themselves and their posterity the promised blessings.

“These addresses to the people are followed by what may be called three appendices, namely:

(1)    a song which God had commanded Moses to write (Deuteronomy 32:1-47[909]);

(2)    the blessings he pronounced on the separate tribes (Deuteronomy 33[910]); and

(3)    the story of his death (Deuteronomy 32:48-52[911]) and burial (Deuteronomy 34[912]), written by some other hand, probably that of Joshua.

“These farewell addresses of Moses to the tribes of Israel he had so long led in the wilderness ‘glow in each line with the emotions of a great leader recounting to his contemporaries the marvelous story of their common experience. The enthusiasm they kindle, even to-day, though obscured by translation, reveals their matchless adaptation to the circumstances under which they

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were first spoken. Confidence for the future is evoked by remembrance of the past. The same God who had done mighty works for the tribes since the Exodus would cover their head in the day of battle with the nations of Palestine, soon to be invaded. Their great lawgiver stands before us, vigorous in his hoary age, stern in his abhorrence of evil, earnest in his zeal for God, but mellowed in all relations to earth by his nearness to heaven. The commanding wisdom of his enactments, the dignity of his position as the founder of the nation and the first of prophets, enforce his utterances. But he touches our deepest emotions by the human tenderness that breathes in all his words. Standing on the verge of life, he speaks as a father giving his parting counsels to those he loves; willing to depart and be with God he has served so well, but fondly lengthening out his last farewell to the dear ones of earth. No book can compare with Deuteronomy in its mingled sublimity and tenderness.’ Geikie, Hours, etc.

“The whole style and method of this book, its tone and its peculiarities of conception and expression, show that it must have come from one hand. That the author was none other than Moses is established by the following considerations:

(1.) The uniform tradition both of the Jewish and the Christian Church down to recent times.

(2.) The book professes to have been written by Moses (Deuteronomy 1:1; 29:1; 31:1, 9-11[913], etc.), and was obviously intended to be accepted as his work.

(3.) The incontrovertible testimony of our Lord and his apostles (Matt. 19:7, 8[914]; Mark 10:3, 4[915]; John 5:46, 47[916]; Acts 3:22; 7:37[917]; Rom. 10:19[918]) establishes the same conclusion.

(4.) The frequent references to it in the later books of the canon (Joshua 8:31[919]; 1 Kings 2:9[920]; 2 Kings 14:6[921]; 2 Chronicles 23:18; 25:4; 34:14[922]; Ezra 3:2; 7:6; Nehemiah 8:1; Daniel 9:11, 13) prove its antiquity; and

(5) the archaisms found in it are in harmony with the age in which Moses lived.

(6.) Its style and allusions are also strikingly consistent with the circumstances and position of Moses and of the people at that time.

“This body of positive evidence cannot be set aside by the conjectures and reasonings of modern critics, who contended that the book was somewhat like a forgery, introduced among the Jews some seven or eight centuries after the Exodus.” (Easton’s Bible Dictionary)

This book reveals the final instructions of the great prophet Moses to the children of Israel. He did his very best to pass on to them his wonderful relationship and understanding of the God he loved. It was written in the final month of Moses’ life as they were camped across the Jordan from Jericho. It was his final gift to them. So many of their future problems are spelled out in its discourses. If the children of Israel had only heeded its instruction the history of the Old Testament would have been completely different.

2. Why does Moses give a completely different reason for keeping the Sabbath in Deuteronomy 5:12-15[923] than what he gave in Exodus 20:8-11[924]? Which form of the commandment do you think was given by God and written on the tables of stone? (Deuteronomy 5:22[925]) Does this mean that God is not too particular about the reasons why we are to worship Him?

This is not a change in the reason for observing the Sabbath but an addition. God had told them clearly even in Exodus that one of the reasons for obeying Him was that He had brought them out

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of Egypt (Exodus 20:2[926]). The same God who made us in the beginning-and thus should be worshiped for that reason-has also set us free from sin and all its consequences, symbolized here by deliverance from Egypt, and thus should be worshiped for rescuing us. God continues to add meaning to the observance of the seventh-day Sabbath all through Scripture. (See Exodus 31:12-17[927]; Isaiah 66:23[928]; Ezekiel 20:12,20[929]; Mark 2:27,28[930])

3.    What is the purpose of the whole theme of “obey Me and I will bless you, disobey Me and I will curse/destroy you” in the book of Deuteronomy? (Deuteronomy 8:18-20; 11:26-29; 27:11-28:68; 30:1-20[931])

This is the kind of language people who are at the very basic levels of moral thinking understand. God always has to deal with people where they are in their understanding, and not where He is or even where He wishes they were! Since “by beholding we become changed” God is here describing the terrible consequences of following the evil ways of the nations they were supposed to drive out of the land. Subsequent history proves that God was right in every detail!

4.    What are the real reasons that God destroyed the inhabitants of Canaan and gave the land to the Israelites? (Deuteronomy 9:1-6[932]; Compare Deuteronomy 9:27-29[933] Compare Exodus 23:27-31; 34:10-17[934]; Leviticus 18[935]; Numbers 14:13-19; 33:50-56[936]; Deuteronomy 12:29-31; 13:12-16[937]) Doesn’t God seem very paranoid about any of the Israelites worshiping any other “gods”? (Deuteronomy 17:2-7[938])

a.    Because the Canaanites are wicked. (Leviticus 18:24,25[939]; Numbers 33:55,56[940]; Deuteronomy 9:4,5[941])

b.    Because God promised this land to your ancestors. (Exodus 32:13[942]; Deuteronomy 9:5; 10:15; 11:9[943])

c.    To uphold God’s reputation. (Exodus 32:11,12[944]; Numbers 14:13-19[945]; Deuteronomy 9:28,29[946])

d.    Because worshiping their “gods” would be a fatal mistake for you. (Exodus 23:33; 34:12-17[947]; Leviticus 18:21,24,25[948]; Deuteronomy 12:27-29; 17:2-7; 13:5-18; 29:17-28[949])

e.    To prove that there is no other God like Jehovah. (Exodus 34:10-16[950]; Deuteronomy 10:17[951])

f.    Following their cultural practices would be a fatal mistake for you. (Leviticus 18:2-30[952]; Numbers 33:55,56[953])

g.    To fill the land with righteousness and holy living. (Deuteronomy 11:8-25; 13:3,4[954])

But God also loved all these other peoples: Deuteronomy 10:18,19[955]; Exodus 22:18; 23:9[956]; Leviticus 19:34[957]. See question #21 below. See also “Was God Fair to the Egyptians and Canaanites?” (Handout Exodus #5)

5.    In light of God’s statements that He wanted Moses to step aside and allow Him to destroy the Israelites, (Exodus 32:7-10[958]; Numbers 14:11,12[959]; Deuteronomy 9:12-14[960]) why does Moses say, “It was not His will to destroy you”? (Deuteronomy 10:10[961], NIV) What was really going on between God and Moses? Did Moses succeeded in convincing God to change His mind?

If God in fact knows the future as suggested elsewhere in the Bible, then we must accept that God knew what Moses would say under these circumstances and even what He Himself would do in response. In this light, there seems to be only one reason for God to behave in such a way. It is

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to demonstrate before the universe the truth about Moses’ relationship to God. While God already knew what Moses would do and say, the rest of the universe needed to see this to understand why God felt about him the way that He did. God knew that He would soon bring Moses right into heaven to live among the angels and they needed a chance to see how loyal and righteous Moses really was.

6.    Why did God take so long to say exactly what it was that He wanted of the people-reverence, love, obedience, faithfulness (trust) and worshipful praise? (Deuteronomy 10:12-22[962]) Is there anything in these verses that we would object to today? Why did Moses wait until Deuteronomy for giving the “great commandment” (Deuteronomy 6:4-6[963])? Shouldn’t he have started with this commandment?

God gave His two great commandments: Love God first and fully (Deuteronomy 6:4-6[964]) and your neighbor as yourself (Leviticus 19:18[965]) at times when the people were more settled and reflective. These ideal goals are spelled out in several places: Deuteronomy 10:12-22; 11:13,22; 24:5-22[966]; Leviticus 19[967]). But God realized that most of the people were not ready for principled living yet. Moses certainly understood these principles but to most of the people it was still “an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth”. (Exodus 21:23-25[968]; Leviticus 24:19,20[969]; Deuteronomy 19:16-21[970]; See Matthew 5:38-42[971]) Notice that all of God’s laws are given for our own good.

7.    What was God really asking them to do when He said, “Remember these commands and cherish them. Tie them on your arms and wear them on your foreheads as a reminder?” (Deuteronomy 11:18[972]) If He really commanded them to do this, why did He speak against it in Matthew 23:5[973]?

God was asking them to make Him central in their lives. He was trying to get them to realize that this world is primarily a “prep” school for the hereafter. It was not His intention that they come to wear these items as some sort of badge of sainthood, but as a reminder for themselves and their children that God is to be number one in their lives. He spoke against it in the New Testament precisely because they had totally misconstrued His intentions.

God wanted them to put Him first in everything they thought (forehead) and did (hand).

8.    How could Moses make the statement, “When that time comes, you must not do as you have been doing. Until now you have all been worshiping as you please?” (Deuteronomy 12:8[974] compare Judges 17:6; 21:25[975])

A society in which everyone does whatever he wants to do is total chaos unless that society is totally controlled by love and righteousness. The last three chapters of Judges illustrate this clearly. In this passage God is telling the people that they must come together and worship in one place following the guidelines He gives them or it will be disastrous for them.

9.    Should we still be following the advice in Deuteronomy 13:1-3[976]? God Himself seemed to use miracles to convince even Pharaoh to believe in Him, but now He says, “A prophet or an interpreter of dreams may promise a miracle or a wonder, in order to lead you to worship and serve gods that you have not worshiped before. Even if what he promises comes true, do not pay any attention to him.” (GNB) What criteria is God suggesting that we should use to judge miracle workers?

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God is here spelling out the principle that we need to think clearly through what we are doing and why we are doing it. Religious claims are everywhere, even in our day, but God is warning us that the Devil also has the power even to perform “miracles” (Matthew 24:4, 24[977]; 2 Corinthians 11:14[978]; Revelation 13:14[979]). Everything must be investigated thoroughly in order to protect us from being led astray.

10.    Why does God forbid the eating of blood? (Genesis 9:4[980]; Leviticus 3:17; 7:25-27; 17:1-16; 19:26[981]; Deuteronomy 12:16,23-25; 15:23[982]; compare Acts 15:28,29[983]) Why is it that if you live in the original part of the promised land, you are not to kill and eat any of the sacrifices at home, but if the land is expanded and you live in an outlying area, it is okay to kill and eat the sacrifices at home? (Deuteronomy 12:14[984]; Compare Deuteronomy 12:20-21[985])

God repeatedly told them not to eat blood. (Genesis 9:4[986]; Leviticus 3:17; 7:23-27; 17:1-16; 19:26[987]; Deuteronomy 12:16,23-25; 15:23[988]; compare Acts 15:28,29[989]) Earlier He told them not to eat the fat either. (Leviticus 3:17; 7:23-25[990]) There are several possible reasons why God gave these commands. Blood represents life. In ancient cultures many people believed that if you ate the blood you would somehow incorporate the strength of the creature whose blood you ate. God explains that blood does represent life and all life belongs to Him as the only Giver of life. Blood also carries the impurities from the body in it. It, and fat, are what gives the meat its flavor. God is saying here that men should only eat meat as a necessary means to sustain life and not for the pure pleasure of its taste. Blood carries various kinds of disease as well. The young Christian church felt that these prohibitions should also apply to Christians. (See Acts 15:28,29[991])

11.    Why would God forbid them to shave the forehead (the front of the head) as a sign of mourning? (Deuteronomy 14:1[992]) Why would God forbid them to boil a kid in its mothers milk? (Compare Exodus 23:19; 34:26[993]; Deuteronomy 14:21[994]; compare Leviticus 22:28[995] and Deuteronomy 22:6[996])

Tablets found at Ras Shamra, the ancient Ugarit, show that it was the custom of the ancient worshipers of Baal and others to cut themselves and shave themselves in certain ways to indicate mourning and attempting to get their “god’s” attention. (Compare 1 Kings 18:28[997]; Jeremiah 16:6; 41:5; 47:5[998]; see also Leviticus 21:5[999]; Ezekiel 7:18[1000]; and Micah 1:16[1001]) Boiling a kid (a young goat or sheep) in its mother’s milk was a similar custom of the ancient Baal fertility religion. See Exodus Teacher’s Guide question #18. God is doing everything possible to warn the people of the dangers of getting involved in these idolatrous rites.

“The prohibition against boiling a young goat has received no entirely satisfactory explanation. Perhaps it attacked a pagan fertility rite, had a humane basis, or was connected with the Feast of Harvest. Since the statute prohibits cooking a kid in the milk of its own mother, its symbolism could have been focused on those who looked contemptuously on the relationship ordained of God between mother and child or on those who placed so low a value on life as to cook a young kid in what should have given it life. Later Judaism extended this to prohibit eating meat with any dairy product in the same meal, going beyond the directive in the text.” (Women’s Study Bible)

“A prohibition against imitating the superstitious rites of the idolaters in Egypt, who, at the end of their harvest, seethed a kid in its mother’s milk and sprinkled the broth as a magical charm on

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their gardens and fields, to render them more productive the following season.” (Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871); Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset, and David Brown - article on Exodus 23:19[1002])

“Unlike the Canaanites who boiled young goats alive in the milk of their mothers as a sacrifice to fertility gods, Israel was to practice a more humane method of animal sacrifice. Israel was to be different from its neighbors—that is, holy.” (Nelson’s Study Bible)

12.    Why does God say to them, you are free to “spend (the tithe) on whatever you want-beef, lamb, wine, beer. . . eat and enjoy yourself” (Deuteronomy 14:22-27[1003], GNB)? Should we return to this custom today? (Please note that these are the strongest forms of alcoholic beverage mentioned in the Bible)

There are many things that are not good for us that God does not at first specifically forbid. In this passage, God is saying that to worship Him should be foremost in our thinking, and even doing so in a less than ideal way is better than not doing it at all. Similar statements are made about divorce (Deuteronomy 22:19,29; 24:1-4[1004]; Matthew 19:4-8[1005]; Exodus 21:7-11[1006]; Deuteronomy 21:10-17[1007]), polygamy (Leviticus 18:18[1008]; Deuteronomy 17:17[1009]), slavery (Exodus 21:16,20[1010]; Ephesians 6:9[1011]; Colossians 4:1[1012]) God goes on to clearly spell out the hazards of alcohol (Leviticus 10:9[1013]; Proverbs 31:4-7; 20:1; 23:29-33[1014]; Habakkuk 2:15[1015]) Later God spells out the ideal (1 Corinthians 10:31; 3:16,17; 6:19,20; 9:27[1016]) and explains what the final result will be (1 Corinthians 6:10[1017]).

13.    Deuteronomy seems to have a “kinder, gentler” approach to almost everything. Why would the previous books be written in harsher language? Why the change? Did God change, did Moses change, or had the people changed?

God is here seeking to bring the people up a little higher in their understanding of Him and His requirements. When they first came out of slavery it was difficult for Moses to speak to them in these more gracious terms. Later as they came to experience God’s love and daily care, they would hopefully be prepared to “grow up” a bit.

14.    Who wrote Deuteronomy 34-the account of Moses’ death? If it was not written by Moses, does that mean it is not inspired?

There are many parts of the Scripture for which we do not know the author-Judges, 1&2 Kings, many Psalms, etc. This does not mean these portions are uninspired. The only thing that determines that something is inspired is that God wants us to know it and it is true. There are even parts of the Scripture that we regard as “inspired” that are not true! (See Genesis 3:4,5[1018]; 1 Kings 13:18[1019]) But these are accurate representations of what actually happened. It was probably Joshua who wrote Deuteronomy 34. Who knew Moses better? And Joshua probably wrote Joshua as well, so we know that he was capable of writing “inspired” Scripture.

15.    What do you think of Moses’ final words to the people in Deuteronomy 27:1-33:29[1020]? Does it sound like a parent speaking to his children?

This is Moses’ final passionate speech to the people that he had cared for like a tender mother for 40 years. If you had been Moses what would you have said? It was also God’s last chance to

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speak through this great man. Both of these “parents” wanted to do everything they could to instruct the people so no one could say they were not warned!

16.    How long is the “forever” in Deuteronomy 15:17[1021]? (Compare Exodus 21:6[1022]) Does this shed any light on other uses of the word “forever” in the Bible? (Compare Revelation 14:9-11[1023])

The following note, abbreviated from A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament by Arndt and Gingrich, may be helpful. “To the ancient near-eastern mind the vast stretches of time that we try to envision as <forever’ were unfathomable. To them the term forever just meant <as long as it is supposed to last.’ The Greek lexicon describes this as < of time to come which, if it has no end, is also known as eternity’.” While these verses suggest that forever does not have to go on for a long time, the righteous can be assured that eternal life will have no end because “there will be no more death.” (Revelation 21:4;20:14[1024]) See Exodus Teacher’s Guide question #14 and The Final End of Sin and Sinners, section on “How long is Forever, Eternal, Everlasting?”

17.    What do you think of the uncannily precise predictions of what would happen to the children of Israel if they turned away from God to serve other “gods”? (for example: Deuteronomy 7:3-6; 11:16-17; 28:15-68[1025]) Didn’t virtually all these predictions come to pass almost exactly as He had predicted?

This may be the best evidence in the whole of Scripture that God can foresee the future. With warnings as specific as these, how could the Israelites proceed in the way they did to wander away from God in almost every conceivable way?

18.    What was the purpose of all the detailed instructions about going to war, if they were not supposed to fight? (Deuteronomy 20[1026]) Why do you suppose they were to treat the peoples of Canaan differently than the peoples of other areas that they might conquer in later years? Did they give the people of Jericho or Ai a chance to surrender as they were instructed? (Deuteronomy 20:10-12[1027])

See Exodus Teacher’s Guide question #8 and Section III entitled “DESTRUCTION DESCRIBED AS AN ACT OF GOD’S PEOPLE UNDER HIS DIRECT GUIDANCE” in The Final End of Sin and Sinners. God never commanded them to “go up and fight” (Deuteronomy 1:41[1028]). The disastrous results of each of their attempts to proceed without God’s guidance should have made it clear to them that they were totally dependent on Him.

19.    Why did Moses give them the divorce laws? (Deuteronomy 24:1-4[1029] Compare Matthew 5:31,32; 19:3-10[1030]; Mark 10:2-12[1031]; Luke 16:18[1032] but note Malachi 2:16[1033])

See question #12 above. Divorce was never God’s plan. (See Genesis 2:24[1034]; 1 Corinthians 6:16[1035]; Ephesians 5:31[1036]) Adam was given one wife. The experience of millions down through the millennia is clear evidence that neither polygamy nor divorce is God’s ideal. But God also knows that even He must speak to people where they are in their understanding. This is the way He deals with those who are too stubborn to recognize the wisdom of His ideal commands.

20.    Why would God ask them to exclude from the assembly for 10 or more generations any child born illegitimately? (Deuteronomy 23:2[1037]) Why were sexually deformed males also excluded? (Deuteronomy 23:1[1038]) Why were women excluded? Do we have any information about how some of these illegitimate children may have been conceived? (Deuteronomy 23:17,18[1039])

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This is another chapter dealing with issues that they were going to face as they entered the land of Canaan. This is not a command against Israelites born out of wedlock. This was a prohibition against children who might be born as a result of heathen fertility practices. (Deuteronomy 23:17,18[1040]) Such foreigners who might be very prone to lead the children of Israel to other “gods” were forbidden to participate in their sanctuary worship service and not from salvation as such. (Nehemiah 13:1,7[1041]; Lamentations 1:10[1042]; Isaiah 56:3,5[1043]) There were a number of ancient religions that castrated males who wanted to be especially dedicated to the “gods”. (See Leviticus 21:20[1044]; Daniel 1:3[1045]) But on a later occasion a Eunuch was highly honored by God. (See Acts 8:27,40[1046]) Eunuchs were even employed by the kings of Israel and Judah (2 Kings 9:32[1047]; Jeremiah 29:2[1048]) There was a lot of religious prostitution in ancient times. (1 Kings 14:23,24; 15:12[1049]; 2 Kings 23:7[1050]; Jeremiah 3:2[1051])

21.    How could they spare the family of Rahab after all that God had said about Canaanites, prostitutes, etc.? After the specific instructions regarding Moabites and Ammonites given in Deuteronomy 23:3-6[1052], how could they elect David as their most famous king when his great grandmother was a Moabitess and his great, great grandmother was a Canaanite prostitute? (Matthew 1:5,6[1053]; Ruth 4:13-22[1054]) Why didn’t they at least keep quiet about it? Does it sometimes seem like God is saying, “Do as I say, and not as I do?” Why would Jesus then choose this exact family as the ancestors of King David and later of Jesus Himself? Is He taking delight in breaking His own rules?

God is here demonstrating that He values and deals with people on the basis of their individual characters and not just as groups. The stories of Tamar (Genesis 38[1055]), Rahab (Joshua 2[1056]) and Ruth (the book of Ruth) are clear evidence that God loves and cares for anyone who responds to His love. Remember that every single person who has ever lived on this earth will be resurrected and judged at the end in light of the life which he lived. (John 5:28,29[1057])

22.    What was the purpose of the Levirate marriage law? (Deuteronomy 25:5-10[1058]) If it were in force today, do you think you would comply?

This law was a common one among ancient peoples. It is still practiced in some places today. The purpose of this law was to maintain the family land and the line of succession which was very important to Israelites. It primarily served as a kind of social security system to protect women who had lost their husbands. In their way of thinking, when a man lost his wife, he had lost a precious possession. By contrast, when a woman lost her husband, she has lost her owner! In some parts of Africa today many of these traditions are practiced. Some languages don’t even have a word to describe an unmarried adult female! She is supposed to be attached to some man!

23.    Does Deuteronomy 29:17-28[1059] make you think of a kind and loving God who is forgiveness personified?

This is a very forceful direct warning of the dangers that they are headed for! These are not punishments from God but direct consequences of their behaviors.

© Copyright 1999-2006, Kenneth Hart khart@llu.edu

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18. RAHAB AND THE TWO SPIES

Read the story of Rahab in Joshua 2. Where else is Rahab mentioned in Scripture? See Joshua 6:17,22-25[1060]; Ruth 4:18-22[1061]; 1 Chronicles 2:9-15[1062]; Matthew 1:4,5[1063]; Luke 3:32[1064]; Hebrews 11:31[1065]; James 2:25[1066]. Rahab was a Canaanite prostitute (she may have been connected to a fertility cult religion of the day) who lived in Jericho in the days of Joshua and the conquest of that city. Consider the implications of this story from the perspective of each of the participants:

Rahab:

Were Rahab and all her family saved because she lied so well? (See Hebrews 11:31[1067])

How many of the people who ended up on Hebrews 11 are specifically recorded in other parts of the Scripture as lying?

(Abraham [Genesis 12:13; 20:2[1068]]; Sarah [Genesis 18:9-15[1069]]; Isaac [Genesis 26:6[1070]];

Jacob [Genesis 27:18-29[1071]]; Moses [Exodus 4:18; 5:3[1072]]; Rahab [Joshua 2:4,5[1073]])

What does Rahab’s testimony to the spies tell us about her?

Does this mean that we can practice "situation ethics” and lie when the circumstances seem to call for it?

Why did a very prominent leader from the tribe of Judah (Salmon) marry her?

Why did Paul (God?) put Rahab in Hebrews 11[1074]?

Why did James put Rahab in James 2:25[1075]?

Why was she mentioned by name in Matthew 1:5[1076]?

She could very easily have decided to tell the truth to preserve her own life. If the soldiers had forced their way past her and done a search of the house, what would they have done with the spies and with Rahab? Lot told the truth at his door in Sodom. Genesis 19:4-11[1077]. Rahab lied at her door. Who was the better person?

Was Rahab put into Hebrews 11 because, by chance, she married into the right family and therefore by accident became an ancestor of Christ? If she was nothing more than a "black sheep” in her family, why is she mentioned so frequently in Scripture? People usually try to keep quiet about their "black sheep!” Rahab is mentioned twice in ways that suggest that her faith was somehow on a par with Abraham who was the greatest example of faith in Scripture! (See Hebrews 11:31[1078]; James 2:25[1079])

Was Rahab included in Hebrews 11 because she raised such a great son-Boaz-who was a real gentleman? What do you think she said to her son about her earlier life in Jericho? Boaz was noteworthy in a time of idolatry and immorality. As he came to work in the fields in the morning he said to his workers, "The Lord be with you!” (Ruth 2:4[1080]) Was Rahab featured in the Scriptures to suggest to us the importance of the work of mothers?

Have you thanked God in prayer for the record of Rahab in the Bible? (See Joshua 2:1-24; 6:17,25[1081])

Was Rahab’s life saved and featured in Hebrews 11 because her intentions were good? (See Ellen White below)

On what basis did Rahab decide to trust the spies, and their God, with her future welfare?

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How did Rahab become a prostitute? She may have been sold into it. Some families in those days sold daughters to pay off their debts. She may have been dedicated to it as a "cult prostitute”. As a "cult prostitute” she would work in the "temple” of a heathen "god” and serve the "worshipers” who came there. It is also possible that Rahab was a "prostitute” because that was one way she attracted business for her "inn”. What do you think the soldiers who came to Rahab’s home knew about her? Had they ever been to her "inn” before?

Since there is no evidence of any such thing as a hotel in Rahab’s day and Jericho was a major center for traffic from Egypt to Mesopotamia and the kingdom of the Hittites, might Rahab’s "Inn” have been the natural place for "strangers” to gather for the night? Where did these visitors usually stay? Compare Genesis 19:1-3[1082] and Judges 19:10-21[1083].

Spies:

Were the spies engaged in a very "honest” work?

Were they telling people the truth about what they were doing?

What did the spies expect to happen when they entered Rahab’s place?

What did they say to Rahab?

Were they honest with her about who they were?

She apparently found out fairly quickly. Did God somehow reveal this to her? If Rahab lived in the wall, (actually between the inner and outer walls) of Jericho her house could not have been very large. Probably the only possible place to hide was on the roof. This was spring time and that meant harvest time for the flax. Rahab no doubt had the roof quite covered with drying flax. Hiding in the midst of large stacks of flax would be relatively easy. If you had been one of the spies, lying under the flax on the roof, what would you be praying? Maybe "Help me not to move!” or "Help me not to sneeze!” Were they supposed to be "fighting their way into Canaan?” If they had allowed God to conquer the land for them, would they have needed to spy?

Should Rahab and the spies have agreed that they would trust God enough to tell the truth at all times and allow Yahweh to take care of them? If so, why bother to hide! Shouldn’t they have stood in the doorway and greeted the soldiers!

Why did they enter Rahab’s "Inn” to begin with? Were they looking quickly for a place to hide? Or did they think that perhaps she might be a good source of information about the place? How long do you think it took Rahab to discover the true identity of the spies? How did she know who they were?

God:

If you were God looking down on all of this, what would you do? Is any of this story evidence of God’s ideal for the behavior of His children?

Is God trying to say anything important to us through all of this? Jesus tells us to be as "wise as serpents, but as harmless as doves”. (Matthew 10:16) Isn’t the serpent or snake regarded as a very deceptive creature? Why would Jesus use this illustration?

Is there any place in this whole story where God speaks and commends any of the participants on their behavior? Was Rahab congratulated by God for lying well?

There are many stories in the Bible about which God appears to make no comment other

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than helping his prophets and apostles to record them as they actually happened. How often even in the New Testament does God comment on the events that take place? When Paul rebuked Peter to his face in public did God comment? (See Galatians 2:11-14[1084]; compare 2 Peter 3:15,16[1085]) Do any of these stories include instructions that we should follow them as our example? (Compare 1 Corinthians 10:6,11[1086])

In light of God’s placing Rahab, Jephthah, Samson, and Gideon in Hebrews 11 aren’t you glad that He is the one doing the judging in the end? If we are lost despite a God who is as gracious as this, there truly is no redeeming factor in our lives! Not only that, the story of the prodigal son suggests that when God accepts us back, He treats us as if we had never sinned-He takes us back 100%! (See Luke 15:11-32[1087])

What does this story teach us about God? Was Satan involved in any way? What was Satan doing as the spies entered Rahab’s place?

Notice some of the interesting ideas of other commentators about Rahab:

"Rahab’s name comes from a root meaning "to be wide or broad.” It appears to be the shortened form of a theophoric name (cf., for example, Rehabiah, 1 Chr 23:17; 24:21[1088]). The exact nature of Rahab’s occupation has been the subject of considerable controversy. Most interpreters now see her as a "secular” prostitute without any cultic or sacred connections. Not only is this in keeping with the biblical description, but there was a Hebrew term (qedesa) available to the author had he wanted to highlight her status as a "sacred” prostitute. The use of the term "innkeeper” in certain Jewish traditions may be seen as an attempt to improve upon her professional standing, but that is not necessarily the case.” Anchor Bible Dictionary)

RAHAB:

[RAY hab] (spacious)-- a harlot of Jericho who hid two Hebrew spies, helping them to escape, and who became an ancestor of David and Jesus (Joshua 2:1-21; 6:17-25[1089]; Matthew 1:5[1090]). Rahab’s house was on the city wall of Jericho. Rahab, who manufactured and dyed linen, secretly housed the two spies whom Joshua sent to explore Jericho and helped them escape by hiding them in stalks of flax on her roof (Joshua 2:6[1091]).

Rahab sent the king’s messengers on a false trail, and then let the two spies down the outside wall by a rope through the window of her house (Joshua 2:15[1092]). When the Israelites captured Jericho, they spared the house with the scarlet cord in the window-a sign that a friend of God’s people lived within. Rahab, therefore, along with her father, her mother, her brothers, and all her father’s household, was spared. Apparently she and her family were later brought into the nation of Israel.

Matthew refers to Rahab as the wife of Salmon (Ruth 4:20-21[1093]; Matthew 1:4-5[1094]; Luke 3:32[1095]); (Salma in 1 Chronicles 2:11[1096]). Their son Boaz married Ruth and became the father of Obed, the grandfather of Jesse, and the great-grandfather of David. Thus, a Canaanite harlot became part of the lineage of King David out of which the Messiah came (Matthew 1:5[1097]);

(Rachab, KJV)-- perhaps an early sign that God’s grace and forgiveness is extended to all, that it is not limited by nationality or the nature of a person’s sins.

The Scriptures do not tell us how Rahab, who came out of a culture where harlotry and idolatry were acceptable, recognized Jehovah as the one true God. But her insights recorded

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in (Joshua 2:9-11) leave no doubt that she did so. This Canaanite woman’s declaration of faith led the writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews to cite Rahab as one of the heroes of faith (Hebrews 11:31), while James commended her as an example of one who has been justified by works (James 2:25).

According to rabbinic tradition, Rahab was one of the four most beautiful women in the world and was the ancestor of eight prophets, including Jeremiah and the prophetess Huldah. (from Nelson’s Illustrated Bible Dictionary. Copyright © 1986, Thomas Nelson Publishers)

Ellen White:

The Signs of the Times, June 16, 1890

"When it is in the heart to obey God, when efforts are put forth to this end, Jesus accepts this disposition and effort as man’s best service, and he makes up for the deficiency with his own divine merit.” (TMK 229; Faith and Works 50; MLT250; 1SM 382)

The Desire of Ages 638

"Those whom Christ commends in the judgment may have known little of theology, but they have cherished His principles. Through the influence of the divine Spirit they have been a blessing to those about them. Even among the heathen are those who have cherished the spirit of kindness; before the words of life had fallen upon their ears, they have befriended the missionaries, even ministering to them at the peril of their own lives. Among the heathen are those who worship God ignorantly, those to whom the light is never brought by human instrumentality, yet they will not perish. Though ignorant of the written law of God, they have heard His voice speaking to them in nature, and have done the things that the law required. Their works are evidence that the Holy Spirit has touched their hearts, and they are recognized as the children of God.”

© Copyright 1999-2006, Kenneth Hart khart@llu.edu

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19. JOSHUA - A TEACHER’S GUIDE

THE CENTRAL QUESTION:

What does this book/story say to us about God?

This question may be broken down further as follows:

a.    Why did God do it/allow it?

b.    Why did He record it for our study?

_c. How does it affect you today?_

1.    What picture of God would you have if you had only the book of Joshua? Who do you think wrote this book which includes events even after Joshua’s death? (see Joshua 24:29-33[1098])

The Jews (including Jesus) recognized three divisions in the Old Testament: The Law, the Prophets, and the Psalms (also called the Writings). See Luke 24:44[1099]. Joshua is the first book of the second division called “the Prophets” in Hebrew Bibles, because they regarded the author as a prophet. In the Hebrew Bible the “prophets” are divided into the former prophets (Joshua, Judges, Samuel, and Kings) and the latter prophets (most of what we call “the prophets”).

Just as the books of Moses were probably written by Moses, Joshua was probably written by Joshua, perhaps with some secretarial help, and the accounts of events after his death added by an assistant or a later Bible writer to round out the story of Joshua. Note how similar the last of Joshua is to the first of Judges. The Jewish Talmud (Baba Bathra 14b) says that Joshua wrote the book and that Eleazar added the ending except for Joshua 24:33[1100], which was added by Phinehas (Baba Bathra 15a, 15b). This would suggest that the book was written early in the 14th century BC, after the exodus in 1445-1405 BC. There are no extra-Biblical historical or archaeological data that positively confirm any of the events in the book of Joshua. The actual conquest of the land took between five and seven years. Josephus suggests that Joshua’s life was divided into three parts: 45 years before the exodus, 40 years with Moses, and 25 years as the sole leader of Israel.

The book should be considered as the conclusion to the exodus and included historically with the books of Moses. It seems to suggest that whenever the people were in obedience to God, they were signally blessed even in war. It also shows the beginning of the problems that arose as the people began to settle in among the pagan peoples of the land and the disastrous results of their adopting the customs and religious practices of these peoples. It shows how even good men like Joshua can get into trouble by moving ahead without consulting God. (See Ai story, and agreement with the Gibeonites). God helped them correct the problems that resulted and continued to work with them in every way He could.

2.    Why do you think Moses changed Joshua’s name from Hoshea? (Numbers 13:8,16[1101]) Do you know anyone else in the Bible named Joshua? (Hebrews 4:8[1102], KJV)

The name Joshua is a shortened form of Jehoshua (Yehoshua’) which means “salvation of (or by) Jehovah (Yahweh)”. Moses changed Joshua’s name from the simpler Hoshea’ (Deuteronomy 32:44[1103]; Numbers 13:8,16[1104]) which means only “savior” or “salvation”. This was probably to make it clear that the God of Israel was now Yahweh and Yahweh only. Moses also recognized that only Yahweh could save anybody. It is possible that Hoshea’ was originally named after one of the Egyptian “gods” but this is unlikely.

In the New Testament, the name Yehoshua’ was shortened to Yeshua’ or Joshua and when translated into Greek became Yesous or Jesus (in English). This is shown by looking at Acts 7:45[1105] or Hebrews 4:8[1106] in the King James Version and then comparing the translation in a more modern version or looking in the margin of the KJV. So “Jesus” was really named “Joshua” after this great Old Testament “prophet”.

3.    With a promise such as the Lord gave him (Joshua 1:5-9; 23:9,10[1107]; compare Leviticus 26:6-13[1108]; Deuteronomy 7:24; 11:25; 31:6-8; 32:30[1109]; Exodus 23:20-33[1110]; Deuteronomy 20:16-18[1111]; Genesis 12:1-3[1112])

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why didn’t he continue the conquest of the land until there were no Canaanites left?

God is here repeating a promise He had made many times from Abraham to Moses. It was God’s plan that the children of Israel occupy the land and become a “spectacle” or “theater” to the known world who would pass through Palestine on their various travels. (Compare 1 Corinthians 4:9[1113])

God wanted them to follow His plans exactly with ever increasing commitment and faith. God would have taken care of all their enemies in Palestine without any problem just as He dealt with the Egyptians. But God could not and still cannot bless and prosper those who rebel against Him. As was seen in the case of Ai, even the sin of one man caused the removal of God’s umbrella of protection from all of Israel. So when many of the Israelites began to wander from God’s original plan, He could only back away and let them struggle to conquer the land on their own. At times they were fully on God’s side and their victories proved it. Battles were won without the loss of a single Israelite. But most of the time they were too busy “conquering the land” to even notice that God was not fully with them.

If Joshua had been able to keep their focus on Yahweh until the task was done, they could have had the whole land and been a shining light to the land of Palestine and to the world.

4.    If you had been Joshua would you have been encouraged by the people’s promise, “We will obey you, just as we always obeyed Moses?” (Joshua 1:16,17[1114]) Was Joshua being honest when he said, “be faithful to the Lord, as you have been till now?” (Joshua 23:8[1115])

Did Joshua’s heart cheer or sink as he heard these words? Clearly the people did not see a great contradiction in this passage. They were excited by the new leadership and not concerning themselves with the details of their past history. In both cases above, the speakers were being as generous in their assessments as God was when referring to his friend David. (See handout on David: A Man After God’s Own Heart?)

5.    Does the people’s statement in Joshua 1:18-“Whoever questions your authority or disobeys any of your orders will be put to death”-give us any idea of their attitude toward the value of human life?

There are many stories in the Old Testament that suggest that human life was regarded as fairly cheap or insignificant. A man was stoned for picking up sticks on the Sabbath. (Numbers 15:32-36[1116]) They were told to kill people for almost any open violation of a known commandment. (See Leviticus Teacher’s Guide #7; Leviticus 24:10-23[1117]; Numbers 15:30-36[1118]; Exodus 21:12-17; 22:19; 31:14,15; 35:2[1119]; Leviticus 20:2-5,9-16,27[1120]; Numbers 1:51; 3:10,38; 18:7; 25:5; 35:16-21[1121]; Deuteronomy 13:5-10; 17:25,12; 18:20; 21:18-21; 22:20-25[1122])

This either meant that they felt human life was easily expendable or that “sins” were regarded as much more serious than at the present time! The sacrificial system called for the death of an animal for almost any significant sin. They apparently became used to the “shedding of blood”. In this sort of a situation God needed to make the punishment for a sin very “serious” in order to make any impression at all!

In our day we are very concerned about these incidents for at least two reasons: 1) In this life, we are constantly surrounded by, and involved in, sin. It is very easy therefore to become so accustomed to it that we do not regard it as very serious. 2) By contrast, this life is the only “life” we know. We have never had the opportunity to experience “real life” in the way that God intended for us to experience it as Adam and Eve did in the garden of Eden. Since our very temporary “life” is all we know we regard it as very precious. We take very seriously anything that even shortens it by a small amount.

But God knows that this human, physical “life” is really nothing in contrast to what God has in store for us if we are faithful to him. So God regards this “life” as relatively unimportant, since He can “awaken” any of us who has died at any time. In fact, He will awaken every one of us at the end, either at the second coming or at the third coming. (See John 5:28,29[1123]) At that time each of us will be judged fairly by Him based on our response to Him in our very brief “lives” here. Jesus Himself

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made it clear how He feels about these issues in Matthew 10:28[1124] and Luke 12:4,5[1125]. (Look at several different versions on these texts)

So we see that we have gotten these two absolutely crucial issues just backwards in our minds. While we regard sin as relatively unimportant and “life” as very important, God regards sin as very important and this “life” that we know as relatively unimportant. If we get these issues straightened out in our minds and see things more from God’s perspective, then His responses to some of these situations in the Old Testament may seem more reasonable.

6.    Why do you think the spies went into Rahab’s house? (Joshua 2:1[1126]) What do you think of a God who would save Rahab and all her family because she did such a good job of lying? (Joshua 2:1-16; 6:22,23[1127]) What does lying have to do with faith? (Hebrews 11:30,31[1128]; James 2:25[1129]) Why was this woman chosen as an ancestor of King David and of Christ? (Matthew 1:5[1130]) On what basis do you think Rahab decided that these Israelites were the people of God? Do you think Rahab and her family were the only ones in Jericho who believed in the God of Israel and therefore the only ones who could be saved? Do we have any evidence that any of the other members of her family were believers in God? Or were they saved because they came inside her house? (Joshua 6:22-25[1131]) Compare Noah and the ark. How could the spies be so confident that they would be able to preserve her and her family? (Joshua 2:14[1132])

See handout #38 on Rahab and the Two Spies.

7.    Why did the angel that appeared to Joshua present a very military appearance and seem to suggest an approach of war or battle if he really didn’t want them to fight? (Joshua 5:13-15[1133])

Joshua himself was preparing for battle and it was important for him to realize that the One who was in charge of this conquest was the Lord Himself. It was only as they recognized God’s control and followed His plan for the conquest that they could possibly succeed. Joshua should have asked the angel for guidance in the upcoming battles! Compare the stories of David at the threshing floor (1 Chronicles 21:16[1134]) and Balaam (Numbers 22:23,31[1135]). This is not the first time an angel had wielded a sword before God’s people.

8.    Why do you think the Angel asked Joshua to take off his sandals? Are bare feet more respectful in some way? (Joshua 5:15[1136]; compare Exodus 3:5[1137])

A similar command had been given to Moses. (Exodus 3:5[1138]) By accepting the worship offered by Joshua this “Angel” showed that He was none other than Jesus Himself. (See Revelation 19:10[1139]; compare Patriarchs and Prophets 488[1140]) The first verse of Joshua 6 that follows this verse is only parenthetical and the passage continues, revealing that it is the Lord who is speaking. Thus Joshua was in the very presence of God Himself.

Joshua was asked to remove his sandals as Moses had been because the practice of taking off one’s sandals or shoes before entering a holy place has been a custom in the Near East since ancient times. Near Eastern peoples feel that wearing shoes or other footwear into a holy place carries dust and other impurities into the “clean” or “holy” place and thus brings impurity into it. Many Middle Eastern groups still follow this tradition.

9.    What was the purpose of the elaborate seven day process to conquer Jericho? Why do you think God demanded that everything of value in Jericho be kept for the temple, when He didn’t make the same demand regarding other cities they conquered? (Joshua 6:1-25[1141])

This was a very specific plan designed to remind the Israelites that this was God’s battle and not theirs. The ancient city of Jericho was only about 8 acres in size and only a portion of the men of war, selected from each of the tribes, marched around the city. The seven-day ritual was to give the children of Israel a chance to develop faith in God’s plans and to give them a chance to think about

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what God was doing. (Patriarchs and Prophets 493[1142]; Hebrews 11:30) If they had allowed God to win all their battles in His own way, they would have conquered the entire land without fighting!

There is a great deal of discussion among scholars about the archaeological evidence that should have been left by this conquest of Jericho. It is very clear that Jericho had been inhabited for generations before this battle. It is also quite clear from archaeological evidence that the area remained almost uninhabited for centuries thereafter. The “walls” were apparently made of mud brick and what was left of them may have been totally demolished and eroded away by centuries of weather since then. The walls that have been discovered at the presumed site of old Jericho do not date to the time of this battle. For more details about the times of this battle and the archaeological evidence that has been discovered see any good Bible Commentary. See SDA Bible Commentary, vol. 2, p. 42.

Kathleen Kenyon carefully excavated a portion of what is regarded as ancient Jericho and based on archaeological dating methods determined that all that was left from the times of Joshua were one part of a wall and a portion of a floor. That is not much to go on when trying to decided exactly what happened “when the walls came tumbling down”!

Bryant Wood, a current research archaeologist has reviewing Ms. Kenyon’s materials and some additional findings of more recent excavations at the site of Old Jericho. There is some exciting new evidence coming out suggesting that Ms. Kenyon may have mis-dated the “destruction” of Jericho and that a three foot layer of ash may have, in fact, resulted from the destruction we read about in the book of Joshua. There will certainly be more about this in the near future in archaeological journals.

10. What kind of God would order the stoning of Achan, his wife, his children, and all his animals (Joshua 7:15[1143])? Was that the Father, the Son, or the Holy Spirit? Why would God ask the Israelites themselves to do it? (Joshua 7:15,25,26[1144]) Could this have been “gentle Jesus, meek and mild?”

This story is a real challenge for teachers of children and young people. The young people don’t have such a problem with Achan being stoned as he seemed to be clearly guilty. But why did God ask the people to stone his wife, his children, their pets, and everything they owned? Did Achan’s children have anything to do with his sin? Some have suggested that the children may have helped dig the hole in the floor of the tent. If so, it was probably because their father demanded it! Aren’t children taught to obey their parents? So why are the children being punished with their parents? Children are not always punished with their parents. (See Numbers 16:32[1145], where Korah’s children did not participate in their father’s punishment; Ezekiel 18:20[1146])

When reading such a story we must remember that there is no verse in Joshua that suggests that Achan or any member of his family will be eternally lost. That issue must be left up to God who has the power to resurrect each one of them and will (John 5:28,29[1147]). If Achan’s children are savable God will save them. This is rather the story of severe discipline for a grievous sin which, if it had been ignored would have led to widespread disregard of God’s commands. At this critical time in the history of Israel they needed the full blessing and guidance of God in each step they took. Unfortunately, even after the death of Achan and his family they did not seem to be ready to ask God what to do at each step of the way as they should have. None of Achan’s family came forward to admit what had happened until there was no other option left.

Some have asked why 36 men from other families should have died in the battle at Ai when it was Achan’s sin (unknown to any of the 36) that was at fault. (Compare Leviticus 10:6[1148]; Deuteronomy 29:19[1149]) But did any of them or their leaders inquire of the LORD before they attempted to conquer Ai? Or did they rush up there assuming that they could accomplish this “little job” on their own? In this sense they were each responsible for what happened to them personally.

The New Testament in 1 Corinthians 10:4[1150] suggests that Christ Jesus was the One who led the Israelites in their wanderings. This would suggest that He was the One who gave the command to stone Achan and his family. Christ has always stood in the position among the Godhead of representing the Godhead to their “creatures”! He represented God to the angels before this world

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was created and now He represents God to us.

It is important to remember that life was regarded as fairly cheap in those days! The people (probably including Achan and his family) had said that anyone that should disobey any of Joshua’s commands or even question his orders should be put to death! (See Joshua 1:18[1151]) This is not just a question of whether Achan’s family deserved to be stoned. When you are working with a group that makes a statement like Joshua 1:18, how do you discipline those who disobey in a serious enough way to make it meaningful? Achan’s motives could only have been selfish. There may have been good reasons for Achan’s family to have been included in the punishment. None of them confessed even though they knew what had happened! It is possible that they all had the same greedy, selfish spirit that apparently guided Achan to do what he did. Achan and his entire family were given lots of opportunities to confess. God needed to say something through this experience. It appears that Achan had hardened his heart repeatedly against the appeals of God and was not willing to confess until he had been pointed out by God Himself!

The children of Israel needed to understand that their only hope of success in the conquest of the land was in obedience to God’s commands. If God didn’t go with them they had no chance of driving out those powerful nations. (Deuteronomy 7:1-6[1152]) Why would the same God order the stoning of Achan and his family and after commanding that adulterers be put to death (Leviticus 20:10-12[1153]; Deuteronomy 22:22,23-25[1154]) just tell the woman taken in adultery (John 8:1-11[1155]) to go home and be a better woman from then on? The answer must be in the circumstances surrounding each different case. Why didn’t the children of Israel, or at least the disciples in Jesus’ day, ask Him to explain why He ordered the burning and stoning of Achan? How should we answer such questions today?

11.    What do you think of Joshua’s speech after the Ai incident? (Joshua 7:7-9[1156]) Was he just as bad as the people? Why do you think Joshua failed to inquire of the Lord before he sent the troops up to Ai?

Joshua was clearly upset by what had happened. Perhaps he realized that he was partially to blame for not having clearly consulted Yahweh before sending the troops to Ai. It is worth noting that Joshua was commendable in turning immediately to Yahweh when the problem developed.

It is particularly important to note Joshua’s statement about God’s involvement and the results that might follow for God’s reputation! It was God’s great name that would be blasphemed or even despised if such events continued. Joshua like Moses before him recognized that this was an even more important issue than the fate of Israel! (Compare Genesis 18:25[1157]; Exodus 32:7-14[1158]; Deuteronomy 9:6-13,26-29; 32:26,2[1159]7; Numbers 14:11-16[1160]; Job 42:7,8[1161]; Ezekiel 36:22,23[1162]; Daniel 9:14-19[1163]; John 15:15[1164]; Romans 1:18; 2:17-24[1165]; contrast Jonah) God’s friends are jealous for His reputation. Real friends are always like that!

12.    Why did God apparently use the casting of lots in the case of Achan and other Bible stories? (For example, choosing Judas’ replacement: Acts 1:23-26[1166]) Why don’t we choose church leaders this way now? Wouldn’t we feel more confident that we had gotten the right person? Why not use it to identify sinners? (Joshua 7:13-26; 14:2[1167]; Judges 20:9[1168]; 1 Samuel 10:20[1169]; 1 Chronicles 6:54,6[1170]1; Jonah 1:7[1171]; Matthew 27:35[1172]; Acts 1:26[1173])

We do not know exactly how the casting of lots was done in ancient times. Some have suggested that it was like the drawing of the shortest straw. In any case it was an apparently chance method of determining something which in this case was considered to be directed and guided by God. It was clearly used many times in Scripture. The problem with the use of such methods was that Satan could also have controlled their use unless God prevented him from doing so. Is it God’s plan for us to use such methods today? No! (See quotes below) Even though it might at first appear to be a more certain method for determining what is God’s will, it also gets us “off the hook”. If God does the “choosing” then we don’t have to take any responsibility for the results. If God used such a method in our day and chose the best person available for the job, but later we came to feel that that person was not doing everything just right, it would be very human for us to begin blaming God for the way things were going!

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God clearly did at times direct the use of lots. It was probably the most expeditious way to accomplish what needed to be done at the time. But why not ask the high priest to inquire from the Urim and Thummim? Why not ask God in prayer? God had directly communicated with Joshua in the past, why not just tell Joshua now? In this case it was probably better to use the “lots” so that everyone could see that the process was not being manipulated in any way by Joshua or any of the leaders.

13.    What do think of the fact that Joshua made the treaty with the Gibeonites based on lies? Should he have been bound by it? (Joshua 9[1174]) Again the Canaanites were blessed for lying! Why didn’t Joshua inquire of the Lord first? What would have happened if the Gibeonites had come and told the truth and said they wanted to worship the true God?

It is clear that Joshua could have done better by inquiring of the Lord before entering into such an important agreement. Exactly how God would have handled things if Joshua had inquired from Him first we do not know. Once again, we find God making the best of a bad situation! Gibeon was the capital city of the Hivites (Joshua 11:19[1175]), one of the nations that was to be destroyed by the Israelites (See Exodus 23:20-31[1176]; Deuteronomy 20:16-18[1177]) As God had predicted, their land did become a part of the inheritance of Israel. They become water carriers and woodcutters. Unfortunately, not a single nation actually was attracted by their understanding of God and His religion as portrayed in the lives of the Israelites and so we do not know how such a situation might have been handled. We do however have individual examples: Rahab and her descendants were greatly blessed by her decision to cast her lot with the people of Yahweh. (See Patriarchs and Prophets p. 505-507[1178])

14.    What do you think of the victory at the battle of Gibeah? (Joshua 10:1-15[1179]) Was God helping them fight? Who sent the hailstones (vs. 11) and held back the sun? (vs. 12-14) Is this an example of the “hornets” mentioned in Exodus 23:28[1180] and Deuteronomy 7:20[1181]? (1 Samuel 5:9; 14:15[1182]) What do you think Joshua was referring to when he said, “I sent the hornets before you”? (Joshua 24:12[1183]) Why did he say, “your swords and bows had nothing to do with it” [the conquest of the land]?

It is quite clear in the context that God was the One who was the victor in this battle. Even Joshua seemed to recognize that. It is too bad that their swords and bows were involved in any way! This was no doubt another of the many demonstrations given by God that He was superior in every way to the “gods” of these other nations. Why didn’t all of the other nations recognize that? If we think of the “hornets” as a reference to the forces of nature, this would clearly fit into that category.

15.    Was the fact that Joshua hamstrung the horses and destroyed the chariots evidence that he at least was trying to follow God’s directions in avoiding fighting? (Joshua 11:9[1184])

At least Joshua seemed to be trying to prevent the Israelites from building up some kind of formidable force that they might come to depend on for the future conquest of other nations. Please also note that this was at God’s command. God never intended for them to “fight their way into Canaan”.

16.    Why did they sometimes totally destroy everybody as in Joshua 6:21; 8:25; 10:7-15,28-41; 11:8,1114,18,20[1185]? (Compare Deuteronomy 20:16-18[1186]; Numbers 31:13-18,49[1187])

In Deuteronomy 20 clear instructions were given on the conquest of future cities. If these were cities located in the territory to be occupied completely by the Israelites they were to destroy their enemies completely leaving alive nothing that breathed. In later battles in more distant places the peoples were to be given an opportunity to surrender first and then if they refused, only the military were to be destroyed. The remainder of the population were to be taken as slaves. These instructions were presumably given because the nations that occupied the land of Canaan had been

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given their time of probation and had not in any way turned to Yahweh but had become very debased by their fertility cult religions. (See SDA Bible Commentary, vol. 2, p. 38-41) They had been given an opportunity to learn about God from the times of Abraham.

17.    In what way did the Lord harden the hearts of the people who were fighting against Israel? (Deuteronomy 20:10-18[1188]; Joshua 11:20[1189])

God does not actively harden the heart of anyone. See handout #23: “Hardening Pharaoh’s Heart”. People’s hearts are hardened when they repeatedly vote against God and thus harden themselves against His appeals. By fighting against God’s people these enemies of Israel “hardened their own hearts”. They demonstrated that they had reached a stage where it was essentially impossible for the God of truth to reach them.

18.    Why didn’t Joshua go down and conquer the land of Philistia? (Joshua 13:2,3[1190]) Think how much trouble it would have saved later.

This is a thought question. If God had given them the power to totally eliminate their enemies, (or better yet, If He had done it for them) or at least drive their enemies out of the land, why did they allow them to remain? For one, some of the Israelites chose to use their conquered enemies as slaves. This made their own life more “comfortable” but also subjected them to a much greater risk of being drawn down by their culture and religious practices. We must assume that since God promised that He would go with them and fight their battles, it would have been possible for them to conquer or drive out all of these other nations. The fact that so many were left behind and so much trouble resulted later can only be attributed to their lack of faith, resolve, or willingness to follow God’s guidance.

19.    What kind of relationship do you think existed between the Israelites and all the cities of Canaan that were not conquered but continued to exist among them? (Joshua 13:13; 15:63; 16:10; 17:13,18[1191]; Compare Joshua 23:13[1192]) How do you explain the statements that Jerusalem was conquered several times, but it was still ruled by the Jebusites? (Joshua 10:1-5,23; 12:10; 15:63; 18:28[1193])

It is quite clear from subsequent history, that all of the evils that God predicted would take place if they allowed these other nations to remain, actually happened. They intermarried with them. They adopted their religious practices. Much later, some of them so thoroughly adopted their customs and languages that they could no longer speak Hebrew or even Aramaic!! (Nehemiah 13:24[1194])

The Jebusite city of Jerusalem consisted of two parts. The stronghold situated on Mt. Zion was much better fortified than the area to the north and east. It was this area that apparently was conquered by the Israelites. It later became known as the city of David.

20.    Was it true that “the Lord gave to Israel all the land that he had solemnly promised their ancestors?” (Joshua 21:43; 23:14,15[1195]) Did they then have peace? (Joshua 21:44; 22:4[1196]) Was it true that “not one of all their enemies had been able to stand against them, because the Lord gave the Israelites the victory over all their enemies?” (Joshua 21:44,45; 23:9[1197]) Did Israel actually have “security from their enemies around them?” (Joshua 23:1[1198]) Do you think it was actually possible for them to carry out the command “Do not neglect any part of [the law of Moses], and then you will not associate with these peoples left among you or speak the names of their gods or use those names in taking vows or worship those gods or bow down to them?” (Joshua 23:6,7[1199])

Joshua was apparently a great military leader. He was victorious in virtually every battle that he fought. After he had apparently eliminated the larger armies associated with many of the major cities, it appears that he encouraged the individual tribes to clean out the remaining enemies from their separate territories. This the tribes did not succeed in doing. Perhaps Joshua felt that he had done his part in making the land secure against their enemies and thus he was able to make the

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statements he did in his farewell speech. If they had followed through with their side of the bargain, God would certainly have fulfilled His part. Once again Joshua makes statements that are terrible in their accuracy as to what would happen if they failed to follow God!

21.    Why were some of the Israelite tribes so reluctant to move in and conquer their enemies if “any one of you can make a thousand men run away?” (Joshua 23:10[1200])

This is really hard to understand. It must have been in their lack of trust in God’s commands that the task seemed insurmountable. There is certainly no evidence that God failed to carry out His promises. But once again, they did not trust God and wanted to take credit more for the accomplishments themselves and thus allowed the Divine opportunity to slip by them.

22.    What do you think is implied by the warning against intermarrying with the Canaanites? (Joshua 23:12,13[1201]) Joshua obviously warned them very strongly against worshiping other “gods.” (Joshua 23:15,16[1202]) Does this seem to have had a very long-lasting effect? Do you think that some of the Israelites were still worshiping the gods of Mesopotamia and Egypt as Joshua seemed to imply? (Joshua 24:14,23[1203])

Joshua certainly must have understood their natural tendency to follow these debasing practices. The advertising industry even in our day seems to have understood this point! It is quite a testimony to Joshua’s influence that the whole nation seemed to be influenced by his righteousness even during the times of the old men who outlived him. But the force of character of a single leader would not be able to stem the tide of sin that seemed so attractive to the Israelites. These idols were probably small cult figurines of the fertility goddesses of the Canaanites. These same “gods” had been worshiped long ago by the peoples that their ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob had faced. They probably collected some of these “idols” in their conquests of Canaan. Joshua is telling them to avoid the attraction of these deceitful cults.

23.    After the people had promised to serve the Lord, why do you think Joshua said they couldn’t? (Joshua 24:18,19[1204])

This is no doubt a statement made out of his many years of personal experience with them. He knew what their pitfalls were and suspected what the final result would be.

24.    What does Joshua 24:31[1205] imply about the leadership of Joshua? Were they really serving the Lord all those years? How does this fit with Joshua 24:14,23[1206]?

Joshua was no doubt a great leader. He made his share of mistakes, but his life was a great moral influence for good on the people. But they were already beginning to pick up the evil practices that were to be their downfall.

© Copyright 1999-2006, Kenneth Hart khart@llu.edu

Ellen White Comments

Selected Messages, vol. 2, p. 328)

“I have no faith in casting lots. We have in the Bible a plain "Thus saith the Lord" in regard to all church duties.”

SDA Bible Commentary, vol. 6, p. 1054

“Let none be led from the sound, sensible principles that God has laid down for the guidance of His people, to depend for direction on any such device as the tossing up of a coin. Such a course

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is well pleasing to the enemy of souls; for he works to control the coin, and through its agency works out his plans. Let none be so easily deceived as to place confidence in any such tests. Let none belittle their experience by resorting to cheap devices for direction in important matters connected with the work of God.”

“Why Achan's Family Perished.--Have you considered why it was that all who were connected with Achan were also subjects of the punishment of God? It was because they had not been trained and educated according to the directions given them in the great standard of the law of God. Achan's parents had educated their son in such a way that he felt free to disobey the word of the Lord. The principles inculcated in his life led him to deal with his children in such a way that they also were corrupted. Mind acts and reacts upon mind, and the punishment, which included the relations of Achan with himself, reveals the fact that all were involved in the transgression.” Manuscript 67, 1894;Child Guidance 234; 2BC 998

“From Shechem the Israelites returned to their encampment at Gilgal. Here they were soon after visited by a strange deputation, who desired to enter into treaty with them. The ambassadors represented that they had come from a distant country, and this seemed to be confirmed by their appearance. Their clothing was old and worn, their sandals were patched, their provisions moldy, and the skins that served them for wine bottles were rent and bound up, as if hastily repaired on the journey.

“In their far-off home--professedly beyond the limits of Palestine--their fellow countrymen, they said, had heard of the wonders which God had wrought for His people, and had sent them to make a league with Israel. The Hebrews had been specially warned against entering into any league with the idolaters of Canaan, and a doubt as to the truth of the strangers’ words arose in the minds of the leaders. ‘Peradventure ye dwell among us,’ they said. To this the ambassadors only replied, ‘We are thy servants.’ But when Joshua directly demanded of them, ‘Who are ye? and from whence come ye?’ they reiterated their former statement, and added, in proof of their sincerity, ‘This our bread we took hot for our provision out of our houses on the day we came forth to go unto you; but now, behold, it is dry, and it is moldy: and these bottles of wine, which we filled, were new; and, behold, they be rent: and these our garments and our shoes are become old by reason of the very long journey.’

“These representations prevailed. The Hebrews ‘asked not counsel at the mouth of the Lord. And Joshua made peace with them, and made a league with them, to let them live: and the princes of the congregation sware unto them.’ Thus the treaty was entered into. Three days afterward the truth was discovered. ‘They heard that they were their neighbors, and that they dwelt among them.’ Knowing that it was impossible to resist the Hebrews, the Gibeonites had resorted to stratagem to preserve their lives.

“Great was the indignation of the Israelites as they learned the deception that had been practiced upon them. And this was heightened when, after three days' journey, they reached the cities of the Gibeonites, near the center of the land. ‘All the congregation murmured against the princes;’ but the latter refused to break the treaty, though secured by fraud, because they had ‘sworn unto them by the Lord God of Israel.’ ‘And the children of Israel smote them not.’ The Gibeonites had pledged themselves to renounce idolatry, and accept the worship of Jehovah; and the preservation of their lives was not a violation of God's command to destroy the idolatrous Canaanites. Hence the Hebrews had not by their oath pledged themselves to commit sin. And though the oath had been secured by deception, it was not to be disregarded. The obligation to which one's word is pledged--if it do not bind him to perform a wrong act--should be held sacred. No consideration of gain, of revenge, or of self-interest can in any way affect the inviolability of an oath or pledge. ‘Lying lips are abomination to the Lord.’ Proverbs 12:22. He that ‘shall ascend into the hill of the Lord,’ and ‘stand in His holy place,’ is ‘he that sweareth to his own hurt, and changeth not.’ Psalms 24:3; 15:4.

“The Gibeonites were permitted to live, but were attached as bondmen to the sanctuary, to

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perform all menial services. ‘Joshua made them that day hewers of wood and drawers of water for the congregation, and for the altar of the Lord.’ These conditions they gratefully accepted, conscious that they had been at fault, and glad to purchase life on any terms. ‘Behold, we are in thine hand, they said to Joshua; ‘as it seemeth good and right unto thee to do unto us, do.’ For centuries their descendants were connected with the service of the sanctuary.

“The territory of the Gibeonites comprised four cities. The people were not under the rule of a king, but were governed by elders, or senators. Gibeon, the most important of their towns, ‘was a great city, as one of the royal cities,’ ‘and all the men thereof were mighty.’ It is a striking evidence of the terror with which the Israelites had inspired the inhabitants of Canaan, that the people of such a city should have resorted to so humiliating an expedient to save their lives.

“But it would have fared better with the Gibeonites had they dealt honestly with Israel. While their submission to Jehovah secured the preservation of their lives, their deception brought them only disgrace and servitude. God had made provision that all who would renounce heathenism, and connect themselves with Israel, should share the blessings of the covenant. They were included under the term, ‘the stranger that sojourneth among you,’ and with few exceptions this class were to enjoy equal favors and privileges with Israel. The Lord's direction was- ‘If a stranger sojourn with thee in your land, ye shall not vex him. But the stranger that dwelleth with you shall be unto you as one born among you, and thou shalt love him as thyself.’ Leviticus 19:33, 34. Concerning the Passover and the offering of sacrifices it was commanded, ‘One ordinance shall be both for you of the congregation, and also for the stranger that sojourneth with you: . . . as ye are, so shall the stranger be before the Lord.’ Numbers 15:15.

“Such was the footing on which the Gibeonites might have been received, but for the deception to which they had resorted. It was no light humiliation to those citizens of a ‘royal city,’ ‘all the men whereof were mighty,’ to be made hewers of wood and drawers of water throughout their generations. But they had adopted the garb of poverty for the purpose of deception, and it was fastened upon them as a badge of perpetual servitude. Thus through all their generations their servile condition would testify to God's hatred of falsehood.” Patriarchs and Prophets p. 505-507

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20. JUDGES - A TEACHER’S GUIDE

THE CENTRAL QUESTION:

What does this book/story say to us about God?

This question may be broken down further as follows:

a.    Why did God do it/allow it?

b.    Why did He record it for our study?

_c. What should it teach us today?_

1. What picture of God would you have if you had only the book of Judges? Who do you think wrote this book which includes events scattered over 300 years?

To many people’s minds this book is perhaps the lowest point in Israel’s Old Testament history. Yet we can see several indications that God is still doing His very best to reach these people who are so prone to rush off to worship the “gods” of the Canaanites. This book could be described as the ups and downs of God’s people depending on whether they were faithful to Him or worshiping other “gods”. It is particularly noteworthy to read in the midst of this book several passages that indicate that someone even in the days of the Judges or soon thereafter recognized the difficulties they were having and the reasons why.

Judges 10:16:

Biblia Hebraica:

p ,lair;c|yI lm[|B' wvip|n' rx'qTi hwhyAta, Kdb|[Yw' MB;r|Qimi rkNIh yhiljalAta, KrysiYi' “...kai; wligoyuichsen ejn twl koipW Israhl.” (Septuagint)

“...and His soul is grieved with the misery of Israel.” (Young’s Literal)

“...And they put away the strange gods from among them, and served the LORD: and his soul was grieved for the misery of Israel.”

(Geneva, KJV, Darby, ASV, NASB)

“...And His soul could no longer endure the misery of Israel.” (NKJ)

“...and He could not bear the miseries of Israel.” (Tanakh)

“...and he became indignant over the misery of Israel.” (RSV)

“...and he was grieved by their misery.” (TLB, NLT)

“...And he could bear Israel’s misery no longer.” (NiV, NASB 1995 Footnote:

His soul was short with the misery of Israel)

“...and the plight of Israel become intolerable to him.” (Anchor)

“...he could no longer bear the plight of Israel.” (REB)

“...and he became troubled over Israel’s distress.” (GNB)

“...Finally, there came a time when the Lord could no longer stand to see them suffer.” (CEV)

“... So the Lord could not bear to have Israel suffer any longer.” (God’s Word)

“...and he could no longer bear to see Israel suffer.” (NRSV)

“...who could bear Israel’s suffering no longer.” (New Jerusalem)

“...So he felt sorry for them when he saw their suffering.” (NCV)

“...The Lord had pity on His people and couldn’t stand by and see them suffer any longer.” (Clear Word)

“...and His heart became impatient over the misery of Israel.” (Amplified Bible)

Judges 17:6; Judges 21:25:

Biblia Hebraica:

p .hc [y wyny[iB| rvYh' vyai laircyB| Jl,m, Tyai Mhih; symYB'.

6 ejn tai" hlmeirai" ejkeiinai" oujk hln basileu;" ejn Israhl, ajnh;r to; ajgaqo;n ejn ojfqalmoi" aujtou ejpoiiei. (Septuagint)

“...in those days there is no king in Israel, each that which is right in his own eyes doth.” (Young’s Literal)

“In those dayes there was no king in Israel, but euery man did that which was good in his owne eyes.” (Geneva)

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“In those days there was no king in Israel, but every man did that which was right in his own eyes.” (KJV)

“In those days there was no king in Israel; every man did what was right in his own eyes.”

(Darby, NKJ, ASV, RSV, Amplified, NEB, REB, NASB, NASB 1995)

“In those days there was no king in Israel. Each one did what was right in his own eyes.” (Anchor) “In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what he thought best.” (NAB)

“In those days there was no king in Israel, and every man did as he pleased.” (Jerusalem; Tanakh) “In those days there was no king in Israel, and everyone did as he saw fit.” (NJB)

“In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as he saw fit.” (NIV)

“(For in those days Israel had no king, so everyone did whatever he wanted to-whatever seemed right in his own eyes.)” (TLB)

“In those days Israel had no king, so the people did whatever seemed right in their own eyes.” (NLT) “In those days there was no king in Israel: every man did what seemed right in his own eyes.” (Leeser)

“In those days there was no king in Israel; all the people did what was right in their own eyes.” (NRSV)

“There was no king in Israel at that time; everyone did whatever they wanted.” (GNB)

“This was before kings ruled Israel, so all the Israelites did whatever they thought was right.” (CEV) “In those days Israel didn’t have a king. Everyone did whatever he considered right.” (God’s Word) “At that time Israel did not have a king, so everyone did what seemed right.” (NCV)

“In the old days of Israel before the monarchy, men lived by the best light they had.” (Knox)

“In those days there was no king or central government in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes, especially if he had money. This was the case with Micah.” (Clear Word)

“Judges is the history of the Hebrew people from the death of Joshua, c. 1375 B.C., to the establishment of the monarchy, c. 1050 B.C., a period of approximately 300 years. The book takes its name from the title by which the men who governed Israel during this period were known. These judges were appointed by God (Judges 3:15; 4:6; 6:12[1207]; etc.). Civil and military authority centered in the office of judge, though the book of Judges stresses principally the military leadership of the judges in delivering Israel from foreign bondage. Since their exploits were largely military in character, the term ‘chieftain’ would seem to describe their function more accurately. The need for such leaders arose out of the prevailing apostasy, anarchy, and foreign oppression. The more illustrious of the judges, such as Gideon, Deborah, and Samson, became national heroes.

“Ancient Jewish tradition makes Samuel the author of the book (see Babylonian Talmud Baba Bathra 14b, 15a). The recurring expression, “In those days there was no king in Israel” (Judges 17:6; 18:1; 19:1; 21:25[1208]), indicates that the book was written after the establishment of the monarchy under Saul. However, it must have been written before David’s victory over the Jebusites and his capture of Jerusalem early in his reign (2 Samuel 5:6-9[1209]; cf. Judges 1:21; 19:10, 11[1210]).

“The occupation of Canaan by the Hebrews was a gradual process (see Judges 2:3[1211]). The preliminary conquest, which was completed in 6 or 7 years after the crossing of the Jordan, brought sufficient land under Hebrew control to provide permanent homes for all and to make possible the tribal apportionment of the land (Joshua 7:16, 23[1212]). But even after “Joshua took the whole land,” and “the land rested from war” (Joshua 11:23[1213]), he told the people that “there remaineth yet very much land to be possessed” (Joshua 13:1[1214]). At first the Hebrews occupied chiefly the mountainous region in the center of the country, while the various Canaanite tribes continued to live in the valleys....

“Some of the judges seem to have ruled the entire nation, whereas others served only one tribe or a group of tribes. The record in the book of Judges is largely one of military operations. Separated as the Hebrew tribes were from one another by fortified Canaanite towns, they were exposed to attack, and it was only with difficulty that they could unite their efforts to hold onto the land they had already wrested from the hostile population. Apostasy and idolatry still further weakened the bonds of national unity. The great lesson of the book is that sin and apostasy result in the withdrawal of God’s protecting hand, but that true repentance brings deliverance and that righteousness exalts a nation.” SDA Bible Commentary, Judges

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“If all the terms of the judges are calculated consecutively, along with the stated periods of oppression, the total number of years is 407. Neither a fifteenth- nor a thirteenth-century B.C. date of the Exodus allows for this much time. The reasonable conclusion is that the careers of several of the judges overlapped. For example, 10:7 suggests that the careers of Jephthah and Samson were contemporaneous. Several of the judges acted locally rather than on behalf of all Israel. The period of the judges (cf. Ruth 1:1[1215]; 2 Samuel 7:11[1216]; 2 Kings 23:22[1217]) may be reckoned from the death of Joshua and the elders (Joshua 24:31[1218]; Judges 2:7-10[1219]), 1390-1350 B.C. (based on a fifteenth-century date of the Exodus), to the coronation of Saul as the first king, c. 1050 B.C.” (Believer’s Study Bible)

2.    Why would God’s people carry on a practice of cutting off the big toes and thumbs of conquered kings? (Judges 1:6,7[1220]) We expect the heathen to be cruel, but shouldn’t God’s people “love their enemies?” (Matthew 5:43,44[1221])

This practice was quite widespread in ancient times. It prevented the conquered foe from ever using a bow again or handling a spear or javelin. It was also regarded as a way to spread fear among one’s enemies. The Israelites simply adopted this practice from their enemies. “Similar practices involving decapitated bodies are mentioned in the Mari texts and in classical sources and are widespread among preliterate and semiliterate cultures. See Gaster, Myth, Legend and Custom in the Old Testament, pp. 416-417,528.” (Anchor Bible - Judges p. 55)

3.    What kind of relationship do you think existed between the Israelites and all the cities of Canaan that were not conquered but continued to exist among them? (Joshua 13:13; 15:63; 16:10; 17:13,18[1222]; Compare Joshua 21:43-45; 23:10-16[1223]) How do you explain the statements that Jerusalem was conquered several times, but it was still ruled by the Jebusites? (Joshua 10:1-5,23; 12:10; 15:63; 18:28[1224]; Judges 1:27-34[1225]) How do you explain the differences between Judges 1:8; 1:21[1226]? [There is a difference of readings in some ancient texts in Judges 1:18,19]

This was clearly not God’s plan. God had said repeatedly that they should have nothing to do with these wicked and pagan peoples who had reached the point where God said that they should be driven out or destroyed. It wasn’t long, as we know, before the Israelites became attracted by the fertility cult worship ceremonies and were drawn into what was to prove to be their downfall. (See Exodus 23:32; 34:12; Deuteronomy 7:6,25; 12:30; Hosea 4:17)

The city of Jebus (Jerusalem) lay on the border between the territories assigned to Benjamin (North and East) and Judah (South and West). It is likely that the less well protected and unwalled area to the South and West (which later become know as the city of David), was at least partially conquered by the tribe of Judah, while the more formidable and well fortified area to the North and East could not be conquered by the Benjaminites, or even by the tribe of Judah (Joshua 15:6[1227]3).

4.    Why were some of the Israelite tribes so reluctant to move in and conquer their enemies if “any one of you can make a thousand men run away?” (Joshua 23:10; Compare Deuteronomy 32:30) How can you reconcile this with the statement that they were not able to conquer the people of the plain because of their iron chariots? (Judges 1:18,19[1228]; Compare Joshua 17:18[1229]) Couldn’t they be driven out by “the forces of nature?” (Exodus 23:20-33[1230])

This statement was originally a poetic one given by Moses describing what would happen if Israel disobeyed. (Deuteronomy 32:30[1231]) Joshua is just suggesting that they had or could carry it out. The “iron chariots” were not fully iron but only had iron parts (a completely iron chariot would have been too heavy to be usable). The real reasons why Israel didn’t drive out or conquer their enemies were probably:

a.    They grew tired of fighting.

b.    They felt that by keeping these peoples as servants they would be better off.

c.    They were cowards.

d.    They didn’t stay close enough to God to allow Him to help them conquer their enemies.

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e. They didn’t recognized the terrible danger of living with them in their midst and being attracted by their “gods”.

5.    Was it right for the man of Bethel to betray his whole city to save himself?(Judges 1:22-26[1232]) Should God’s people reward him for this? Compare Rahab. (Joshua 2[1233])

This is a thought question. How do you feel about their doing this?

6.    What do you think of God’s going back on His word? (Judges 2:1-5[1234]) Or did He? (Exodus 23:32,33[1235]; Deuteronomy 7:6,25; 12:30; 29:19; 22-28; 31:17-18; 34:1[1236]2; Joshua 23:11-16[1237])

God had repeatedly warned them that if they adopted the “gods” of these conquered nations they would suffer terrible consequences. That is exactly what happened. But these consequences were the natural result of what they did, and not a punishment imposed on them by God.

7.    Are the first two chapters of Judges plagiarized from the end of Joshua?

Even the last part of Deuteronomy was probably written by Joshua. Moses could not have written about his own death and burial! The editor who put together the book of Judges (probably Samuel) meant only to show its connection to Joshua.

8.    What happened to the next generation after Joshua that they “knew neither the Lord, nor what He had done for them” (Judges 2:10[1238])? Is Judges 3:1-7[1239] an answer?

It has been said many times that those who refuse to learn from history are doomed to repeat it! Others have suggested that what we learn from history is that we don’t learn from history! It was inevitable that if Canaanites were left behind in the land of Canaan they would come into repeated contact with the Israelites who had moved in. The rest is history! When the Israelites turned away from Jehovah, all He could do was to allow them to reap the consequences of their own actions.

9.    What do the following passages teach us about God’s anger and its results?

Look first at God’s prediction of what would happen if they left Him:

Deuteronomy 31:16-18:

16 “And the LORD said to Moses, “Behold, you are about to sleep with your fathers; then this people will rise and play the harlot after the strange gods of the land, where they go to be among them, and they will forsake me and break my covenant which I have made with them. 17 Then my anger will be kindled against them in that day, and I will forsake them and hide my face from them, and they will be devoured; and many evils and troubles will come upon them, so that they will say in that day, 'Have not these evils come upon us because our God is not among us?’ 18 And I will surely hide my face in that day on account of all the evil which they have done, because they have turned to other gods.” (RSV)

16 The Lord said to Moses, “You will soon die, and after your death the people will become unfaithful to me and break the covenant that I made with them. They will abandon me and worship the pagan gods of the land they are about to enter. 17When that happens, I will become angry with them; I will abandon them, and they will be destroyed. Many terrible disasters will come upon them, and then they will realize that these things are happening to them because I, their God, am no longer with them. 18And I will refuse to help them then, because they have done evil and worshiped other gods.” (GNB)

Deuteronomy 31:17: (the key words)

ph,m ynp; yTirTs|hJ pyTibZ[W alhhAp/Yb /b yPa' hrjjJ" aljh| alhh p/YB' rmaW t/rxw t/Br t/[r' lhaxml lkiall, hyhW .hLaih; t/[rh' ynlaxml yBir|qiB| yh'ljal ^yai AyKi l['

“...ojrgisqhisomai qumW eij au[tou;...kai;kataleiiyw auftou;kai; ajpostreyw to;proiswpoin mou ajp! auftwn,” (Septuagint)

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“...Mine anger hath burned against it in that day, and I have forsaken them, and hidden My face from them,” (Young’s Literal Translation)

“...Wherefore my wrath will waxe hote against them at that day, and I will forsake them, and will hide my face from them:” (Geneva)

“...my wrath shall be kindled against them...I will forsake them and hide my face from them.” (Rheims-Douay)

“...my anger shall be kindled against them...I will forsake them...I will hide my face from them.” (KJV, Leeser, Darby, ASV, Amplified, NASB, NASB 1995, RSV, NRSV, NIV)

“...My anger shall be aroused against them...and I will forsake them,...I will hide My face from them,” (NKJV)

“...my anger will be roused against them...I shall abandon them and hide my face from them.” (NEB, REB)

“...my anger will flare up against them; I will forsake them and hide my face from them.” (NAB)

“...I will be so furious that I will abandon them and ignore their prayers.” (CEV)

“...my anger will flare up against them...I will abandon them...I will conceal my face from them;” (Five Books of Moses)

“... I will become angry with them. I will abandon them and turn away from them.” (God’s Word) “...Then my anger will flame out against them and I will abandon them, hiding my face from them,” (TLB)

“...my anger will blaze forth against them. I will abandon them, hiding my face from them,” (NLT)

“...I will become very angry at them, and I will leave them. I will turn away from them,” (NCV)

“...my anger shall blaze against them,...I will forsake them, and withhold my favor from them.” (Smith-Goodspeed)

“Then shall my anger blaze against them, and I will forsake them, withdrawing my favour from them...” (Moffatt)

“...my anger will then blaze out against them...” (Berkeley)

“...my anger shall blaze against them; I will forsake them and hide my face from them.” (Jerusalem) “... my anger will blaze against them; I shall desert them and hide my face from them.” (NJB)

“...My anger will flare up against them, and I will abandon them and hide My countenance from them.” (Tanakh)

“...I will have to withdraw my protection from them and leave them at the mercy of their enemies.” (Clear Word)

Earlier God had said:

Leviticus 26:14 The Lord said, “If you will not obey my commands, you will be punished. If you refuse to obey my laws and commands and break the covenant I have made with you, I will punish you. I will bring disaster on you—incurable diseases and fevers that will make you blind and cause your life to waste away. You will sow your seed, but it will do you no good, because your enemies will conquer you and eat what you have grown. I will turn against you, so that you will be defeated, and those who hate you will rule over you; you will be so terrified that you will run when no one is chasing you.

18 “If even after all this you still do not obey me, I will increase your punishment seven times.

I will break your stubborn pride; there will be no rain, and your land will be dry and as hard as iron. All your hard work will do you no good, because your land will not produce crops and the trees will not bear fruit.

21 “If you still continue to resist me and refuse to obey me, I will again increase your punishment seven times. I will send dangerous animals among you, and they will kill your children, destroy your livestock, and leave so few of you that your roads will be deserted.

23 “If after all this punishment you still do not listen to me, but continue to defy me, then I will turn on you and punish you seven times harder than before. I will bring war on you to punish you for breaking our covenant, and if you gather in your cities for safety, I will send incurable diseases among you, and you will be forced to surrender to your enemies. I will cut off your food supply, so

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that ten women will need only one oven to bake all the bread they have. They will ration it out, and when you have eaten it all, you will still be hungry.

27 “If after all this you still continue to defy me and refuse to obey me, then in my anger I will turn on you and again make your punishment seven times worse than before. Your hunger will be so great that you will eat your own children. I will destroy your places of worship on the hills, tear down your incense altars, and throw your dead bodies on your fallen idols. In utter disgust I will turn your cities into ruins, destroy your places of worship, and refuse to accept your sacrifices. I will destroy your land so completely that the enemies who occupy it will be shocked at the destruction.

I will bring war on you and scatter you in foreign lands. Your land will be deserted, and your cities left in ruins. 34-35Then the land will enjoy the years of complete rest that you would not give it; it will lie abandoned and get its rest while you are in exile in the land of your enemies.

36 “I will make those of you who are in exile so terrified that the sound of a leaf blowing in the wind will make you run. You will run as if you were being pursued in battle, and you will fall when there is no enemy near you. 37You will stumble over one another when no one is chasing you, and you will be unable to fight against any enemy. 38You will die in exile, swallowed up by the land of your enemies. 39The few of you who survive in the land of your enemies will waste away because of your own sin and the sin of your ancestors.

40 “But your descendants will confess their sins and the sins of their ancestors, who resisted me and rebelled against me, 41and made me turn against them and send them into exile in the land of their enemies. At last, when your descendants are humbled and they have paid the penalty for their sin and rebellion, I will remember my covenant with Jacob and with Isaac and with Abraham, and I will renew my promise to give my people the land. 43First, however, the land must be rid of its people, so that it can enjoy its complete rest, and they must pay the full penalty for having rejected my laws and my commands. 44But even then, when they are still in the land of their enemies,

I will not completely abandon or destroy them. That would put an end to my covenant with them, and I am the Lord their God. 45I will renew the covenant that I made with their ancestors when I showed all the nations my power by bringing my people out of Egypt, in order that I, the Lord, might be their God.” (GNB)

Numbers 32:13-15: “The Lord was angry with the people and made them wander in the wilderness for 40 years until that whole generation that had displeased him was dead. 14And now you have taken your fathers’ place, a new generation of sinful men ready to bring down the fierce anger of the Lord on Israel again. 15If you people of Reuben and Gad refuse to follow him now, he will once again abandon all these people in the wilderness, and you will be responsible for their destruction.” (GNB)

Deuteronomy 29:19: “Make sure that there is no one here today who hears these solemn demands and yet convinces himself that all will be well with him, even if he stubbornly goes his own way. That would destroy all of you, good and evil alike.” (GNB)

Deuteronomy 32:15-30:

“They abandoned God their Creator and rejected their mighty saviour.

16 Their idolatry made the Lord jealous; the evil they did made him angry....

18    They forgot their God, their mighty saviour, the one who had given them life.

19    “When the Lord saw this, he was angry and rejected his sons and daughters.

20    ‘I will no longer help them,’ he said; ‘then I will see what happens to them, those stubborn, unfaithful people....

21    “So I will use a so-called nation to make them angry; I will make them jealous with a nation of fools.

22    My anger will flame up like fire

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and burn everything on earth....

26    I would have destroyed them completely, so that no one would remember them.

27    But I could not let their enemies boast that they had defeated my people, when it was I myself who had crushed them.’” (GNB)

Joshua 7:1-12: “But the people of Israel broke faith (Compare Numbers 20:12)...the anger of the LORD burned against the people of Israel ...Therefore the people of Israel cannot stand before their enemies; they turn their backs before their enemies, because they have become a thing for destruction. I will be with you no more,” (RSV)

“The Lord was furious with the Israelites...12 this is why the Israelites cannot stand against their enemies. They retreat from them because they themselves have now been condemned to destruction! I will not stay with you any longer unless you destroy the things you were ordered not to take!” (GNB)

Joshua 23:16: “if you transgress the covenant of the LORD your God...Then the anger of the LORD will be kindled against you,...you shall perish quickly from off the good land which he has given to you.” (RSV)

Judges 2:12-14: “and they forsook the LORD...they provoked the LORD to anger...he gave them over to plunderers, who plundered them; and he sold them into the power of their enemies round about, so that they could no longer withstand their enemies.” (RSV)

Judges 2:19-23: “‘But whenever the judge died, they turned back and behaved worse than their fathers, going after other gods,...the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel...I will not henceforth drive out before them any of the nations that Joshua left when he died,

22 that by them I may test Israel, whether they will take care to walk in the way of the LORD as their fathers did, or not.’ 23 So the LORD left those nations, not driving them out at once, and he did not give them into the power of Joshua.” (RSV)

Judges 3:7-9: 7 “And the people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, forgetting the LORD their God...Therefore the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel, and he sold them into the hand of Cu’shan-rishatha’im king of Mesopota’mia;” (RSV)

Judges 10:6-12: 6 “And the people of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of the LORD...the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel, and he sold them into the hand of the Philistines and into the hand of the Ammonites,” (RSV)

It should be very clear from all of these passages that God’s “anger” is not like our anger. “The Bible repeatedly describes God’s anger as His turning away in loving disappointment from those who don’t want Him anyway, thus leaving them to the inevitable and awful consequences of their own rebellious choices." (A. Graham Maxwell)

Romans 1:18-28:

18 “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and wickedness of men who by their wickedness suppress the truth...24 Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves,...26 For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. 28 And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a base mind and to improper conduct.”

How does God feel about leaving His children to the consequences of their own choices?

Hosea 11:1,2,7-9: The Lord says, “When Israel was a child, I loved him and called him out of Egypt as my son.

2But the more I called to him, the more he turned away from me....

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7They insist on turning away from me. They will cry out because of the yoke that is on them, but no one will lift it from them.

8"How can I give you up, Israel? How can I abandon you? Could I ever destroy you as I did Admah, or treat you as I did Zeboiim? My heart will not let me do it! My love for you is too strong.

9I will not punish you in my anger; I will not destroy Israel again. For I am God and not a human being. I, the Holy One, am with you. I will not come to you in anger.” (GNB)

It seems that this turning away from God and reaping the consequences, which we have called God’s “wrath”, was a recurrent theme in Judges: Judges 3:7,8,12,15; 4:1-3; 6:1-8; 10:6-16; 13:1[1240]. Doesn’t the section in Judges 10:6-16 seem like a very logical response on God’s part? What should God have done at this point? God’s wrath or anger or fury is a recurrent theme throughout the Bible. How does what we have learned here in Judges impact your understanding of Revelation 14:9-11[1241]?

10.    Why do you think the Angel addressed Gideon as a “brave and mighty warrior” when he was secretly hiding in a wine press trying to thresh some wheat? Why do you think Gideon’s father had altars to Baal and Asherah? (Judges 6:25[1242]) Is the story of Gideon and his fleece a story of great faith (Judges 6:36-40[1243]) or very weak faith? Should we be asking for such signs today? Shouldn’t Gideon have put away his many wives and a concubine and his idols (Judges 8:27-31[1244]) before God blessed him? Why did God allow him to kill the people of Sukkoth and Penuel (Judges 8:5-17[1245])?

The only reason for Gideon to be called a “brave and might warrior” was that he was willing to do what God asked him to do after God went to considerable effort to convince him! It took four miracles before Gideon was ready to go to battle with the Midianites. (Judges 6:11-21, 36-40; 7:9-15[1246]) Gideon’s father had fallen prey to the prevailing customs of the times and that is why he had these idols on his property. Gideon’s faith needed a lot of help and it was not the best kind of help either. In our day we have the accumulated evidence of all of Scripture and the rest of history. We should not need the miracles that Gideon needed to get him to do what God asked. If God should depend on motivating us by the use of miracles in our day, what would prevent the devil from using “miracles” as well, and then how would we know who was doing the miracle? God must use people where they are, speak to them in language that they can understand, and lead them no faster than they are able to follow. He did not demand that Gideon be a perfect saint before God would work with him. If God worked with and for only perfect saints, what chance would any of us have? The people of Sukkoth and Penuel were apparently a wicked and doubting group. They were selfish and ungenerous traitors and cowards. They were not willing to cooperate with God’s chosen leaders even after God had clearly performed a great miracle to show that He was blessing them. Such people would have been a real problem for leadership in the future.

11.    Of what value is the story of Abimelech? (Judges 9:1-57[1247]) Why was it included?

This is one more example of the terrible depths to which the nation was sinking. Abimelech had no right or call to serve as a “king” except his illegitimate relationship to Gideon and his desire to rule.

12.    How would you have responded if you had been Jephthah’s daughter? (Judges 11:31, 34-40[1248]) Don’t you think Jephthah’s promise was rash? Did God expect him to abide by it after he had made it?

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There is no verse that says that what Jephthah did was God’s plan. In those days most of the houses were built in a U-shape with a central courtyard where many of the animals were kept. No doubt Jephthah assumed that the first thing to come out of the courtyard would be one of these animals appropriate for a sacrifice. When his daughter appeared first he was shocked but thought that in the light of his vow he must carry it out. (Leviticus 27:28,29[1249]) We are not really sure what happened to his daughter.

There is a good example of how the nations of that day thought about different “gods” found here in the story of Jephthah. Jephthah said to the king of the Ammonites, who was trying to reclaim the land that Moses and the Israelites had conquered by destroying King Sihon:

Judges 11:24: “Are you going to try to take it back? You can keep whatever your god Chemosh has given you. But we are going to keep everything that the LORD, our God, has taken for us.” (GNB)

13.    What is implied by the angel’s response when Manoah asked for his name? (Judges 13:17,18[1250]) Do you think that Samson was actually led down to Timnah to choose a Philistine bride by the Lord? (Judges 14:3,4[1251]) Did God actually bless Samson to kill a thousand men with the jawbone of an ass? What do you think was Samson’s actual source of power? (Judges 15:15[1252]) What do you expect to happen when the Holy Spirit is poured out on us in our day?

Yahweh’s (Jehovah’s) messenger or angel is following a pattern that is similar to the experience of Moses at the burning bush (Exodus 3:13[1253]) and Gideon (Judges 6:17[1254]). The name God gives through His angel is “Wonderful” or “Wonder-Worker”. To people in those days the important thing about a “god” was how powerful He was.

Many ancient cultures believed in many “gods”-polytheism-and had a “god” for each different thing that happened. The Bible does its best to eliminate polytheism, and thus ends up suggesting that everything that happens comes from the one God-monotheism. Thus when Samson did things that seemed mysterious or unexplainable to the people they naturally attributed them to Yahweh. There is no reason for us to be confused by such statements today because we know that there is only one God and we understand His relationship to the Devil and the work of the Devil. We should also recognize that neither God nor the Devil need to be involved for us to be led into sin in many cases. (See James 1:12-15[1255])

We can learn from other parts of Scripture that the Holy Spirit prefers to work in a very different way. (Galatians 5:22,23[1256]) But in this case God worked with His appointed leaders to do what the people expected a leader to do in those days. We certainly do not have a verse referring to these experiences that says, “Go and do likewise”!!

14.    Did God actually lead the people in those days to do things that He would later tell them He didn’t want them to do? What do we learn from the massive wars between the different tribes of Israel? (Judges 20:1-3,18,21,25[1257])

We have no way of knowing this side of the kingdom of heaven exactly how God was involved in each of these events. We do know, however, that they thought God was responsible for everything that happened.

These battles were a part of the terrible story of the Levite and his concubine (Judges 19-21[1258]). In those days it was felt that the ultimate way to solve any grievance was to go to war! What the people of Gibeah did was terrible and the rest of Israel felt that such evil must be eliminated from the land. The bigger question might be: Why didn’t they eliminate all the Canaanites from among them when these people were clearly doing similar things?

15.    Why did God use precious space in the scripture to include the incredible story of the Levite and his concubine? (Judges 19-21 see prior endnote) Are you glad that this story is included in the Bible? Does it increase your faith? Do you find any verses that say that God was happy about what was done?

This is an actual story that had to be told to explain the elimination of almost one complete tribe of Israel. It is also an example of what happened when “every man did was right in his own eyes”

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(Judges 17:6; 21:25[1259]). This important piece of background history is necessary for us to understand other statements made in the Bible. It should at least make us look at God with greater respect and appreciation to realize that He was still doing His best to work with such people.

16.    Would it still be correct to think of this period as a “Theocracy” where God is the real ruler? If so what is implied by Judges 17:6; 21:25 see prior endnote? Who were supposed to be the religious leaders to keep them loyal to the true God? Does the story of Micah help us to understand what was going on? (Judges 17,18[1260])

Times were very difficult in the days of the Judges primarily because they followed whatever notion they had instead of following God. These are simply historical accounts that explained major events that took place that could not be ignored and needed to be explained even to their children. (See various translations of Judges 17:6 under #1 above)

17.    The Bible is supposed to be an answer to Satan’s charges against God in the great controversy. Do the books of Joshua and Judges help very much? Is it clear from these two books exactly what God is trying to accomplish? Why didn’t God move in on a few occasions and clean up the mess? (Compare Habakkuk 1,2[1261] and Micah 4:1[1262]2) How would you compare the picture of God that you get out of these two books with the picture of God in the Pentateuch (the five books of Moses)?

Events after the death of Joshua certainly demonstrated how quickly things could deteriorate! The picture that Moses had in the Pentateuch was quite elevated. Here we see things at their lowest. It is pretty hard to get any clear understanding about God from these books where so little that is done is clearly God at work! These books do, however, give us a pretty clear picture of the historical background of the times and thus help us to understand why God does some of the things that He does do!

18.    Of all the people in the Bible (e.g., Job, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Hosea) who could have been included in the list of heroes of faith in Hebrews 11, why do you think so many people from the period of the judges are included? (Hebrews 11:32[1263])

God is giving us an encouraging note here. If even the people of the book of Judges could be included among the heroes of faith in Hebrews 11[1264], we have a chance too!

19.    Would you agree with Hebrews 4:8? Did the people enter the kind of relationship of rest and peace that God wanted?

They clearly did not enter into the “rest” that God wanted to give them. (Contrast Joshua 21:4345[1265]) Even after wandering in the wilderness for 40 years they didn’t seem to learn much, and they were so quick to be attracted by the fertility cult religions around them. In such a setting there is no way it can be God’s rest!

© Copyright 1999-2006, Kenneth Hart khart@llu.edu

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21. RUTH - A TEACHER’S GUIDE

THE CENTRAL QUESTION:

What does this book/story say to us about God?

This question may be broken down further as follows:

a. Why did God do it/allow it?

_b. Why did He record it for our study?_

1. What picture of God would you have if you had only the book of Ruth? What is the historical background of this book? Who do you think wrote the book? Why was it written?

“AUTHOR: Unknown

“The author of Ruth is not identified by the text. Many name Samuel as author; others suggest Hezekiah, Ezra, or even David as having penned the book; but there is no textual evidence to support any of these theories.

DATE: 1010-970 B.C.

“Though there is no unanimity among ancient or modern scholars in dating the Book of Ruth, the first verse places the historical setting of the book during the period of the judges (c. 1375-1050 B.C.). The genealogy in Judges 4:18-22[1266] suggests the latter part of that era. The book as it now stands could hardly have been completed earlier than the time of David, as he is mentioned by name in 4:22. If the book had been written as late as the time of Solomon, it seems likely that this notable figure would have been included in the genealogy. Therefore, the Book of Ruth is dated during the reign of David (1010-970 B.C.).

“THEME: Faithfulness and Redemption

“The period of the judges was a time of lawlessness: characterized by violence and crime, infected with restlessness and continuous warfare, tormented by spiritual apathy and apostasy, and marked by base and corrupt leaders. Although the events in this historical epic were contemporaneous with that period, this book portrays the peaceful home life of a family faithfully honoring the Lord and trusting His providence, in spite of economic adversity and surrounding idolatry, discouragement and death (Judges 17:1[1267]). The key term in the story is ‘kindness’ (hesed, Heb.), meaning covenant loyalty (Ruth 1:8; 2:20; 3:10[1268]). Ruth and Boaz illustrate what covenant righteousness and loyalty are about in an era when ‘everyone did what was right in his own eyes’ (Judges 21:25[1269]).

“The book shows how the patriarchal promises found fulfillment in the establishment of a messianic dynasty, as God quietly but providentially began to achieve His salvific purposes through the faithfulness of a single family. The book describes common settings (e.g., a barley field, a city gate), where common people (e.g., a worker, a landowner), were doing common activities (e.g., harvesting, business, marriage, childbearing). Nevertheless, they were being guided by the mysterious hand of God, who was using their uncommon faith to prepare the way for Israel’s greatest king, David (Ruth 4:22[1270]). No event in the life of God’s people is truly common or insignificant, because He is incessantly involved.

“Nowhere is the sanctity of the home more evident than in the Book of Ruth. The book portrays a woman who epitomized godly womanhood (cf. Prov. 31:10-31[1271]). The book is (1) the exciting story of the romantic love between Ruth and Boaz—Gentile and Jew united in the ancestry of the Messiah; (2) the matchless account of devoted friendship between Ruth and Naomi—two women

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unlike in every way except in their love for one another; and especially, (3) an unfolding of the magnificent, life-changing drama of reconciliation between God and man, in which Yahweh God redeems helpless and sinful man, just as the Hebrew kinsman-redeemer, Boaz, redeemed Ruth, a widowed Gentile idolatress, from childlessness and poverty. The responsible exercise of man’s will is balanced by the sovereign activity of God (who is named twenty-three times in the eighty-five verses of Ruth); for as Ruth chose the godly Hebrew family with determined commitment, even so God adopted her in a permanent relationship into His family. The providence of God gives victory in overwhelming adversities, even as Ruth’s decision to remain with the aged, poverty-stricken Naomi was rewarded, not only with the security of a wealthy husband, but also with the joy of motherhood and a place in the ancestry of the Messiah. The Moabitess Ruth was woven into the family of God with the scarlet thread of redemption.

“LITERARY STRUCTURE: An ancient literary device for structuring material, especially common in the Old Testament, is called chiasm. It consists of repeating or matching a series of elements in reverse order. The inversion may involve repetition or paralleling of words, ideas, actions, or characters. This produces a structure of parallel elements that meet in the center. In the Old Testament such a device is found organizing extensive narratives, prophetic sermons, short speeches, and poetic passages. A short poetic example is Deuteronomy 32:16[1272].(a) They provoked Him to jealousy(b) with foreign gods;(b) With abominations(a) they provoked Him to anger.

“The Book of Ruth is an example of a chiastically structured narrative, whose turning point is at the end of chapter 2. This yields the following parallel sections:

1:1-5: The Family of Elimelech

1:6-22: The Faithfulness of Ruth

2:1-23 The Kinsman-Redeemer in the Barley Field

3:1-18 The Kinsman-Redeemer at the Threshing Floor

4:1-17 The Faithfulness of Boaz

4:18-22 The Family of David

In Ruth the chiastic structure serves to highlight the reversal of barrenness to blessing accomplished by the Lord’s gracious providence.” (Believer’s Study Bible)

“The author has many purposes. (1) Historically, he provides information as to certain activities and customs in the period of the judges. (2) Theologically, the book emphasizes the sovereign activity of God’s providential working in the affairs of man. Not only does God’s promise to the seed of Abraham go on through the troubled time of the judges, but He so arranges the details of earth’s history and the chosen line to include salvation for Gentiles as well. Ruth thus provides an important link in the unfolding messianic genealogy. (3) Devotionally, the book provides several analogies between the work of the kinsman-redeemer of ancient Israel and that of Jesus Christ, who serves as the saving Mediator for all men. It also assures the believer of God’s continuing love for a helpless mankind and of His willingness to meet man’s needs. An exciting story of true romance, the book also gives instruction in practical living in such things as personal morality, a genuine concern for the needs of others, and the necessity for personal godliness in the face of testing and adversity. A great deal of helpful information for today’s Christian woman may also be found in the example of Ruth, whose virtues of godliness, purity, humility, honesty, fidelity, and thoughtfulness remain an exemplary standard for all. Similarly, Boaz becomes for the Christian man a model of God-given strength, honor, graciousness, courtesy, and compassion that can give encouragement for becoming a believing gentleman in the finest sense of the word.” (King James Version Study Bible -

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Intro to the book of Ruth)

“Ruth and Boaz are part of a longer line that often shows God’s grace combined with human frailty. One of David’s ancestors was Perez (Ruth 4:12, 18[1273]), son of an irregular union between Judah and his own daughter-in-law, Tamar, who was “more righteous” than the patriarch himself (Gen. 38:26[1274]). The closing few verses of Ruth 4:18-22[1275]) are commonly said to be a later addition to the book, but genealogies are not unusual in ancient narratives. Also, this genealogy underlines a particular value of Ruth, its revelation of the mixed ancestry of King David and through him, of Jesus Christ.

“Looking beyond this witness to the legitimacy of David’s kingship, we should note the significance of the book in the light of the gospel. Ruth follows the faith of Abraham, as she leaves home and family to go to a foreign land under the Lord’s care. The universal scope of the gospel comes to light as Ruth the Moabite finds the blessing promised to all the nations in Abraham’s descendants. Finally, Ruth becomes an ancestor of Christ, who in Himself will reconcile to God such different nations as Moab and Israel.” (New Geneva Study Bible - Intro to the book of Ruth)

This small book tells of events that took place during the time of the Judges. After reading Judges, it is a wonderful breath of fresh air. There were still some kind, considerate people who followed the laws and rules given to Moses by God. While all Israel is in a state of disaster because of turning away from God, a foreigner, a Moabitess woman by the name of Ruth, responded to the truth as lived in the life of her in-laws and became an ardent follower of Yahweh, Israel’s true God. Because of her love and loyalty she becomes the great-grandmother of King David and an ancestor of Christ. Boaz, her second husband, was the son of Rahab, the Jericho prostitute, who married a leader of the tribe of Judah by the name of Salmon. Salmon was a descendant of Judah and Tamar, the Canaanite, one-time prostitute, who was waiting for someone else to fulfill his levirate obligations to her! (Genesis 38[1276]) It should be clear from all this that God will work with anyone who is serious about “knowing” Him and willing to listen to Him.

The amazing thing about all these stories is that they are the stories of real people whom God is going to choose as His ancestors! God doesn’t try to hide the “black sheep” in His family. He goes out of His way to tell their stories. He even writes special books in the Bible to do so. Moreover, in the days when women didn’t count for much at all in the thinking of most men, God seems to emphasize the stories of the colorful women in His family. A whole chapter tells the story of Tamar (Genesis 38 see prior endnote), a whole chapter tells the story of Rahab (Joshua 2[1277]), a whole book carries the name of Ruth, and two whole chapters tell the story of Bathsheba. (2 Samuel 11,12[1278]) The book of Ruth is one of only two books in the Bible named after women. For Rahab and Ruth, we know considerably more about them than we do about their husbands!

2. Ruth was a Moabitess. Where did the Moabites come from? (Genesis 19:30-38[1279]) What relationship were Israel to have with the Moabites? (Deuteronomy 23:3-6[1280]; Nehemiah 13:1,2[1281]) Balak, one of the kings of Moab, tried to overcome Israel by paying Balaam to curse them. (Numbers 22-25[1282]) There was constant warfare between Israel and Moab for many years. (Judges 3:12-30[1283]; 2 Samuel 8:2,11,12[1284]; 1 Chronicles 18:2,11[1285]; 2 Kings 1:1; 3:4-27[1286]) The prophets spoke bitterly against Moab. (Isaiah 15,16; 25:10[1287]; Jeremiah 9:25,26; 25:17,21; 48:1-46[1288]; Ezekiel 25:8-11; Amos 2:1,2; Zephaniah 2:8-11)

The Moabites were descendants of Lot’s incestuous relationship with his elder daughter. As far

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as we know she later intermarried with the surrounding tribes and no doubt Moab and his descendants were fully integrated into Canaanite custom and culture by the time Israel came back from Egypt. The many verses mentioned above tell the story of the terrible feud between these old cousins. God apparently recognized how serious any relationship with these people would be when He warned the Israelites about them. Deuteronomy 23:3-6[1289]:

3 “No Ammonite or Moabite shall enter the assembly of the LORD; even to the tenth generation none belonging to them shall enter the assembly of the LORD for ever; 4 because they did not meet you with bread and with water on the way, when you came forth out of Egypt, and because they hired against you Balaam the son of Be’or from Pethor of Mesopota’mia, to curse you. 5 Nevertheless the LORD your God would not hearken to Balaam; but the LORD your God turned the curse into a blessing for you, because the LORD your God loved you. 6 You shall not seek their peace or their prosperity all your days for ever. (RSV)

3.    Why do you think the book of Ruth was included in the Canon? (Ruth 4:17-22[1290]) When did the events of this book occur? (Ruth 1:1-2[1291])

This book was probably originally written to explain the ancestry of Israel’s greatest king. It was written no later than the early days of the kings of Israel. It was included because of the important place David had in the history of the nation. It helps also to balance the history of the nation as recorded in the book of Judges! In the Hebrew canon Ruth appears in the Megilloth, or Five Scrolls, along with Song of Solomon, Ecclesiastes, Lamentations, and Esther. The Megilloth belonged to the 3d division of the canon, the Hagiographa, or “Holy Writings”. Each of these books was read in its entirety during one of the five Jewish festivals each year. Ruth was read during Pentecost. But this location for Ruth was probably assigned long after the book was written at the time when the Hebrew canon was put together.

4.    Why did some of “God’s true people” have to flee to the heathen to find food to eat? (Ruth 1:2[1292]) Why do you suppose the famine came?

The warnings in Deuteronomy about the results of turning away from God certainly come to mind as one thinks about a famine occurring in the land. (See Deuteronomy 11:17; 28:15-24[1293]) Core samples from the Dead Sea area suggest that ancient Palestine never had more than marginal agricultural capacity because of the limited annual rainfall total. Famines were a part of ordinary life.

5.    Was Naomi (Mara) right that the Lord had dealt very bitterly with her? (Ruth 1:20,21[1294]) How about Job when he said, “The Lord gave, and now the Lord has taken away”? (Job 1:21[1295], GNB; Compare 2 Samuel 24:1[1296] in contrast with 1 Chronicles 21:1[1297]) Isn’t it clear from the earlier verses that Satan was the one who “took away”? Was this a serious error on Job’s part? (Job 1:22[1298]) Or was he speaking as they understood things in those days? When someone has a horrible accident we sometimes say, “It must have been God’s will.” Are death and sickness ever God’s will?

Remember that it was never God’s plan for humans to leave the garden of Eden! We should all still be living in wonderful peace and security, talking with God on a daily basis and eating from the tree of life. Sin, sickness, and death were never supposed to be a part of that plan. Many ancient peoples believed in the existence of many “gods”. They tended to have a different “god” for each powerful force or event that they knew about. They thought human history was largely determined

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by whether or not they could keep these “gods” happy. Judaism and later Christianity and Islam believe in only one God (Deuteronomy 6:4[1299]). Therefore when the people would have something unexplainable happen to them, whether good or bad, the natural tendency was for them to attribute that occurrence to God. We do much the same day when we say, “It must have been God’s will” or when we call natural disasters “acts of God”.

In some cases it is clear that Satan was actually the one who was responsible for a particular event. He is certainly at least primarily responsible for sin and its overall consequences in our world today.

6.    Why did Ruth become so devoted to Naomi her mother-in-law? (Ruth 1:6-18[1300])

Since it looked very unlikely that Naomi would ever produce more sons to marry her, and since Naomi was certainly not “blessed” with a lot of money, we must assume that Ruth was attracted by some personal characteristic of Naomi’s or by her religion. The Moabites and the Israelites were perpetual enemies, so Ruth wasn’t likely to join the Israelites because she thought that they would welcome her with open arms. In light of Ruth’s beautiful statement in Ruth 1:16,17[1301] we must believe that Ruth was convinced that Yahweh was superior in every way to Molech!

7.    What do Boaz’s statements to Ruth imply about conditions in those days? (Ruth 2:8,9[1302]; Compare Ruth 2:22[1303])

It is clear that women in general and probably especially a foreign woman without a husband would be considered an easy target for those men in the area who wanted to take advantage of them. Boaz and Naomi were doing their best to be sure that Ruth was protected as much as possible. Remember what happened to the Levite’s concubine just a few miles from Bethlehem in those days! (See Judges 19[1304])

8.    Why do you think Boaz took such an interest in Ruth? (Ruth 2:4-7,10-16[1305])

Boaz seemed to be a very godly and kind man. Ruth was young and may have been quite attractive as well. But no doubt Boaz, being a wealthy landowner had met attractive young women before. Some have suggested that Boaz may have had other wives, but there is no suggestion of this in Scripture. It is even possible that some of the Jews were reluctant to marry this son of a former Canaanite prostitute. In any case, he was apparently attracted to Ruth and was ready to give her special treatment.

9.    Would you want your daughter to do what Ruth did in Ruth 3? Should we recommend this for our boarding schools?

Times were very different then. We must always remember that God works with people where they are in their experience and in their society. While some of her methods wouldn’t be recommended today, Ruth was following the acceptable practices in the society of her day. Studies show that at least in ancient Arabia nearby, this was a familiar custom. It appears to be supported by laws in several ancient near eastern lands. See Biblical Archaeologist Reader (1970).

10.    Why is there such a detailed telling of the negotiations for buying Elimelech’s property? (Ruth 4:12[1306])

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It seems clear that this was to record that Boaz followed all the rules set down by Moses. He did not want it to appear that because his mother was not a Jewess, and the woman he was arranging to marry was not Jewish that he was ignoring Jewish law. Boaz was being the kind of outstanding citizen that all Jews should have been. If all Israelite men had followed his example, the story of ancient Israel would have turned out quite differently!

11. Do you think the Levirate marriage rule should be followed today? Why, or why not? Apparently it was still followed in the times of Christ. (Deuteronomy 25:5-10[1307]; Matthew 22:23-28[1308]; compare Leviticus 18:16; 20:21[1309])

In our society we would have a lot of trouble with this. But in the society in which they lived this was a good provision. It prevented women from being despised or abandoned because their husbands had died. It provided some social security for older widows. And perhaps most important of all, it provided a potential way for heirs to be raised up to inherit the property of the deceased and to carry his family name.

© Copyright 1996-2006, Kenneth Hart khart@llu.edu

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22. Major Study Questions for 1 Samuel

1. How do you explain 1 Samuel 2:25[1310]: (compare 1 Samuel 2:31[1311]; Exodus 4:21; 7:3; 9:12[1312]; Joshua 11:20[1313]; Isaiah 6:9,10[1314]).

Is it ever God’s wish to put any human being to death? In the first death? In the second death? What do we do with passages in the Bible that seem to suggest that God does put people to death? The sons of Eli were very wicked as we know from 1 Samuel 2:12-17; 22-25; 27-31[1315]. God certainly knew this much better than we do. But what should God do when the people who by birthright should be the ones to best represent Him to the rest of His children are instead terribly misrepresenting Him? Should God say to the angels: “I really wish that they would stop doing all those evil things, but My love for all human beings, even the very evil ones who are misrepresenting Me paralyzes Me and prevents Me from doing anything about it? Should God allow the Devil and His representatives to walk all over Him just because He is such a good Guy and always has to be loving? Would it be loving on God’s part to allow the sons of Eli to misrepresent God to the rest of the children of Israel so that many of them will be repulsed by their activities and abandon the worship of Yahweh? Or did Yahweh love the rest of His children too much to allow two of them to spiritually destroy the others? Look at the following translations of 1 Samuel 2:25[1316]:

, eja;n almartainwn almairthl ajnh;r eij" a|ndra, kai; proseuxontai ulpe;r auftou pro;" kuirion, kai; eja;n twl kuriW almairthl, ti" proseuixetai ulpe;r auftou; kai; oujk h|kouon th" fwnh" tou patro;" autwn, o|ti bouloimeno" ejbouileto kuirio" diafqeirai auftoui". (Septuagint - LXX)

...they obeyed not the voyce of their father, because the Lord would slay them. ([footnote: so that to obey good admonitions is God’s mercy, and to disobey them is his just judgement for sinne] Geneva)

...they hearken not to the voice of their father, though Jehovah hath delighted to put them to death. (Young’s Literal)

...they hearkened not to the voice of their father, for Yahweh was pleased to put them to death. (Rheims)

...they hearkened not unto the voice of their father, because the LORD would slay them. (KJV)

...But they hearkened not unto the voice of their father, because it pleased Jehovah to slay them.

(Wellbeloved/Smith/Porter, 1859)

...they hearkened not to the voice of their father, for (because) Jehovah was minded to slay them. (Darby, ASV)

...they did not heed the voice of their father, because the Lord desired to kill them. (NKJV)

...But they would not listen to the voice of their father; for it was the will of the Lord to (slay) kill them. (RSV, NRSV)

...they did not listen to their father, for it was the Lord’s will to slay them. (Amplified)

...But the Lord had already decided to kill them. So he kept them from listening to their father. (CEV)

...But they wouldn’t listen to their father’s warning—the Lord wanted to kill them. (God’s Word)

...But they would not listen to their father, for the Lord had decided to kill them. (GNB)

...But they would not listen to their father (for Yahweh wanted to kill them). (Anchor)

...But they wouldn’t listen to their father, for the Lord was already planning to kill them. (TLB)

...they would not listen to what their father said, for the Eternal was resolved to slay them. (Moffatt) ...But Eli’s sons wouldn’t listen to their father, for the Lord was already planning to put them to

l/ql| W[m|vyi alw /lAlL,P'tyi ymi vyaiAaf;jy< hw:hyl' !aiw yhilja

/ll|piW vyail| vyai af;jy<Aai

(Biblia Hebraica)

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death. (NLT)

...But they disregarded their father’s warning, since the LORD had decided on their death. (NAB) ...But they would not listen to the voice of their father, for the Lord desired to put them to death. (NASB, NASB 1995)

...But Eli’s sons would not listen to him, because the Lord had decided to put them to death. (NCV)

...His sons, however, did not listen to their father’s rebuke, for it was the LORD’s will to put them to death. (NIV)

...they did not listen to their father’s rebuke, for the LORD meant that they should die. (NEB)

...They would not listen, however, to their father’s rebuke, for the LORD meant to bring about their death. (REB)

...But they did not listen to their father’s words, for Yahweh was bent on killing them. (NJB) [footnote: the ‘hardening’ of the sinner is attributed to Yahweh as its ultimate cause. But this form of expression in no way denies man’s free will.]

...But they ignored their father’s plea; for the Lord was resolved that they should die. (Tanakh)

...But his sons didn’t pay any attention to him. So the Lord decided He must put an end to their wickedness. (Clear Word)

So who actually killed the sons of Eli? They died in battle with the Philistines. (1 Samuel 4:11[1317]) Then how can the Bible even suggest that God killed them? This statement must be compared to the death of Saul who fell on his own sword after being wounded as described in 1 Chronicles 10:13,14[1318] and the death of Nabal who apparently died of a stroke from his partying and drinking. (1 Samuel 25:36-39[1319]) What about others such as Er and Onan (Genesis 38:7,10[1320]); The wicked before the flood (Genesis 6[1321]); the firstborn in Egypt (Exodus 12:26-29; 13:15[1322]; Numbers 3:11-13; 33:4[1323]); Aaron’s sons: Nadab and Abihu (Leviticus 10:2; 16:1[1324]; Numbers 3:4[1325]); the Canaanites killed by the hailstones (Joshua 10:11); the northern Kings of Palestine (Joshua 11:6[1326]); the people killed by Samson with God’s Spirit upon him (Judges 14:19[1327]); and the people of Beth Shemesh who were killed when they looked into the ark (1 Samuel 6:1[1328]9 - see below). All of these individuals are described as being killed by the Lord. What did the Bible writers have in mind when they wrote these words? It seems in each case that the individuals involved had rejected Yahweh and rebelled against Him for a long period of time? As we have seen repeatedly in the earlier Scriptures, when this happens God finally leaves them to the consequences of their own behavior and the result is death. The Hebrew writers thus were looking to the ultimate causes in each case. This is not a misrepresentation of Yahweh, but only an acknowledgment that if God did not allow it it could not have happened. God was apparently active in each of these deaths, but not until each of these people had rebelled against Him and rejected Him repeatedly. Separated from the Source of life it doesn’t really matter how they died. In these unusual cases God apparently had reason to remove them from the current of human events to allow other players to do their parts.

There is plenty of evidence in 1 Samuel alone that God was in contact with Samuel, Saul, and David on a regular basis. He gave them detailed instructions on what to do, who they would meet at certain places, how to conduct battles, and even directed their travel plans, telling them where it was safe to go and who would be reliable etc. (See 1 Samuel 10:1-9,22; 23:9-13[1329]; 2 Samuel 2:1-7[1330]) The book of Job, written hundreds of years earlier discusses the role of the devil in the case of Job. If God had wanted the people at this time to “correctly” ascribe these deaths to the devil, He certainly could have told them so.

“When David offended against God by numbering the people, one angel caused that terrible destruction by which his sin was punished. The same destructive power exercised by holy angels when God commands, will be exercised by evil angels when He [allows] permits.

There are forces now ready, and only waiting the divine permission, to spread desolation everywhere.” Spirit of Prophecy vol. 4, p. 441 (1884); 14MR 3; LDE 243; Great Controversy 614 (1888)

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2. Does the Lord change His mind? 1 Samuel 2:30; 15:10,11,29,35; 26:19[1331].

These passages need to be compared to others which are similar: Genesis 6:6,7[1332]; Exodus 32:14[1333]; Numbers 23:19,20[1334]; Judges 2:18[1335]; 2 Samuel 24:16[1336]; 1 Chronicles 21:14[1337]; Jeremiah 26:19[1338]; Amos 7:3,6[1339]; Jonah 3:10[1340]; and contrasted with others: Deuteronomy 10:17[1341]; 1Samuel 15:29[1342]; Isaiah 40:8[1343]; Jeremiah 4:28[1344]; Zechariah 8:14[1345]; Malachi 3:6[1346]; Romans 11:29[1347].

For some students of the Bible, these passages are a real problem. They seem to be in direct contradiction to each other. This is the exact reason why we need to take a very careful look at them! For example, look carefully at the four verses mentioned in 1 Samuel 15. God appears to go back and forth in His statements.

Some people try to explain such apparent flip-flops in God’s thinking by suggesting that they are the result of the writer’s lack of a full understanding of God, or perhaps a result of the writer’s cultural background. (Compare Exodus 9:34-10:4[1348] - who really hardened Pharaoh’s heart?) But these suggestions are less than satisfactory if God actually has foreknowledge! Shouldn’t God have known in advance that these passages would raise questions? Shouldn’t He have left them out of Scripture?

But doesn’t a more careful look at the entire context provide us with a more reasonable solution? Was it God’s idea to make Saul king in the first place? No! The people were the ones who were insisting on a king. So God warned them, and Samuel warned them, but they still insisted. So God allowed them to have a king. He helped them choose the kind of king that they were looking for. But God knew from the beginning what the results of Saul’s life would be. Wasn’t God sorry even before Saul was made king that the people weren’t willing to allow God Himself to be their king? Certainly God was not happy that Saul turned out the way he did! Would it be accurate then to say that God was sorry from the very beginning that He had to make Saul king? If that is correct, then all the statements we read in the chapter are fully correct! God was sorry He made Saul king, and God doesn’t need to change His mind like humans do!

A careful look at the other passages allows a similar explanation. In Exodus 32:14 and Numbers 14:11-25, God is simply testing Moses, for the benefit of the onlooking universe. He wanted them to see what a loyal friend Moses actually was. Moses cared enough even about his former friends in Egypt that he didn’t want them to think evil of Yahweh! And he certainly didn’t want anyone to think less of Yahweh!

God was not sorry that He made humans. (Genesis 6:6,7[1349]) He Himself said that He was very pleased with His work in making us. (Genesis 1:31) But God knew what was coming. He knew that we would need a flood in Noah’s day, but He was very sorry that it was necessary. Those were His children that were perishing! God was sorry that we made such poor use of our freedom of choice and so often chose to rebel against Him. But He would do it all just the same way if He had it all to do over again. Our freedom of choice is essential in our response to God’s love and God wouldn’t change that at any cost. (See handout #13 on “Love”)

Repeatedly throughout Scripture, God weeps as He sees us make bad choices. But that doesn’t mean that He would do things differently if He had it to do over again. So God does His best to represent Himself in a way that is meaningful to us in our language and culture. He portrays Himself as a human being might be portrayed. But He knows perfectly well how it is all going to work out in the end, and He does what He has to do anyway.

3. Did both the heathen and the Israelites think that the “ark” was a “god?” (1 Samuel 4:5-9; 5:7[1350])

This was a common idea in their day. Heathen gods were almost invariably represented by an idol or at least by a picture or a symbol. By making use of these idols, pictures, or symbols the ancients believed that they could manipulate their “gods” to do what they wanted them to do. That is exactly what Hophni and Phinehas were trying to do. But Yahweh had His own agenda! By the time He finished and the ark was back at headquarters where it was supposed to be, everyone had a great deal more respect for Yahweh! And they realized pretty well that this “box” was a symbol of

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something much stronger and more powerful than any of the pagan “gods” that they had dealt with before.

4. What happened at Beth Shemesh when the ark of God was returned? (1 Samuel 6:19[1351]):

Here is another verse that poses a problem for Bible translators. In this case, what the verse seems to say in Hebrew doesn’t make good sense or even seem possible. How could over 50,000 people all look into the ark? Did God wait until all of them had “looked” before He killed those who had looked? If not, were others climbing over dead bodies to get to the ark so they could look and be killed also? It seems ridiculous. So what is really meant by this verse? Look at the different ways that translators have struggled to best represent the truth as they understand it.

M[B; JYw hwhy T/ra|B' iar| yKi vmvAtybi yviniaB| JYw 9 hKhAyKi M[;h; ilB|atYw vyai 1l,ai MyVimijl vyai My[bv Biblia Hebraica .hl/dgi hKm' M[Bi hwhy

19 Kai; oujk hjsmenisan oil uibi; leconiou ejn toi" ajndraisin Baiqsamu", ofti eidan kibwton kuriou, kai; ejpataxen ejn au[toi" ebdomhikonta a[ndra" kai; penthikonta ciliada" ajndrwn. kai; ejpenqhsen ol laoi", oti ejpataxen kuirio" ejn tW laW plhgh;n megailhn sfodra. (Septuagint)

50,070 people died.

And he smote of the men of Beth-shemesh, because they had looking in the Arke of the Lord: he slew even among the people fiftie thousand men and threescore and ten men: (Geneva [Footnote: for it was not lawfull to any either to touch or to see it, save onely to Aaron and his sonnes, Numbers 4:15-20])

But he slew of the men of Bethsames, because they had seen the ark of the Lord: and he slew of the people seventy men, and fifty thousand of the common people. (Douay-Confraternity) And he smote among the men of Beth-shemesh, because they had looked into the ark of the Lord, namely, he smote among the people seventy men and fifty thousand men: (Leeser- Jewish) And he smote the men of Bethshemesh, because they had looked into the ark of the LORD, even he smote of the people fifty thousand and threescore and ten men: (KJV)

And he smote of the men of Beth-shemesh, because they had looked into the ark of Jehovah, he smote of the people seventy men, and fifty thousand men; (ASV)

Then He struck the men of Beth Shemesh, because they had looked into the ark of the Lord. He struck fifty thousand and seventy men of the people, (NKJV)

The sons of Jeconiah, however, did not rejoice along with the men of Beth-shemesh when they saw the ark of the Eternal; so he struck [[fifty thousand and]] seventy of them. (Moffatt, 1935) And he went striking down the men of Beth-shemesh, because they had looked upon the ark of Jehovah. So he struck down among the people seventy men-fifty thousand men- (New World)

He struck down some of the men of Beth-shemesh because they had looked into the ark of the LORD. He struck down of all the people, 50,070 men, (NASB; NASB, 1995 [Footnote: Exodus 19:21[1352]; Numbers 4:5, 15, 20[1353]; 2 Samuel 6:7[1354]])

The sons of Jechoniah, however, did not rejoice with the men of Bethshemesh, when they looked upon the ark of the LORD. Therefore he smote among them seventy men (fifty thousand men)... (Smith-Goodspeed)

70 people died:

And he smote among the men of Beth-shemesh, because they had looked into the ark of Jehovah, and smote of the people seventy men; (Darby)

And the Lord slew some of the men of Beth-shemesh, because they had looked into the ark of the Lord; He slew seventy men of them [fifty thousand men], (Amplified)

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But God struck down some of the men of Beth Shemesh, putting seventy of them to death because they had looked into the ark of the LORD. [Footnote: a few Hebrew manuscripts; most Hebrew manuscripts and Septuagint: 50,070] (NIV)

Some of the men of Beth-Shemesh looked inside the sacred chest, and the Lord God killed seventy of them. [Footnote: seventy: a few Hebrew manuscripts; most Hebrew manuscripts: seventy men, fifty thousand men.] (CEV)

God struck down some of the people from Beth Shemesh because they looked inside the ark of the Lord. He struck down 70 people. [Footnote: “70 people” is found in a few Hebrew manuscripts and the writings of the ancient Jewish historian Josephus. Massoretic Text and Greek read “50,070 people”.] (God’s Word)

But the Lord killed seventy of the men of Beth-shemesh because they looked into the Ark. (TLB)

But the sons of Jeconiah did not rejoice with the rest of the men of Beth-shemesh when they welcomed the Ark of the LORD, and he struck down seventy of them. (NEB, REB adds [Footnote: probable reading, compare Greek; Hebrew And he struck down some of the men of Beth-shemesh because they had gazed upon the Ark of the LORD; he struck down seventy men among the people, fifty thousand men.]

The descendants of Jeconiah did not join in the celebration with the inhabitants of Beth-shemesh when they greeted the ark of the LORD, and seventy of them were struck down. (NAB)

Of the people of Beth-Shemesh the sons of Jeconiah had not rejoiced when they saw the ark of Yahweh, and (he) Yahweh struck down seventy of them. (Jerusalem, NJB)

And he slew some of the men of Beth-shemesh, because they looked into the ark of the Lord; he slew seventy men of them, (RSV)

The descendants of Jeconiah did not rejoice with the people of Beth-shemesh when they greeted the ark of the Lord; and he killed seventy men of them. [Heb: killed seventy men, fifty thousand men] (NRSV)

[The Lord] struck at the men of Beth-shemesh because they looked into the Ark of the Lord; He struck down seventy men among the people [and] fifty thousand men. [Footnote: force of Hebrew uncertain] (Tanakh-Jewish)

The Lord killed 70 of the men of Beth Shemesh because they looked inside the Covenant Box. (GNB)

Other possible explanations:

But the Lord killed seventy men from Beth-shemesh because they looked into the Ark of the Lord. [Footnote: As in a few Hebrew manuscripts; most Hebrew manuscripts and Greek version read 50,070 men. Perhaps the text should be understood to read the Lord killed 70 men and 50 oxen.’’] (New Living Translation)

Following Israel’s defeat in the battle at Ebenezer, the people of Beth Shemech (sic) continued their wicked ways. Some of the men became curious about the Ark and went out and opened the cover to look inside. The Lord immediately punished them for their disobedience and seventy of them from fifty families died right there by the Ark. (Clear Word)

...He smiteth among the people seventy men—fifty chief men; (Young’s Literal)

But no members of the priesthood had joined in the celebration with the men of Beth-shemesh when they saw the ark of Yahweh, and so he struck down seventy of the people. ([Footnote: this translation was arrived at after a very thorough comparison of the original Hebrew which is defective in some respects with the LXX (Greek) translation and the commentary on this verse by Josephus] Anchor)

Other variations:

The Lord smote the men of Beth-shemesh because they worshiped the ark of the Lord. (Lamsa) ...for prying into the ark of the Lord. (Knox)

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...he slew seventy of the people, fifty to the thousand, (New Berkeley)

See appendix for additional comments.

The original Hebrew of this passage is defective. The first part of the sentence is difficult to understand and translate and the numbers at the end can be understood in several different ways as we have seen above. This does not change the fact that there was irreverence shown for the ark of Yahweh. Yahweh recognizes that when reverence breaks down there is little chance that learning will take place. So repeatedly we see in Scripture that God deals with irreverence quite severely. What about the case of Uzzah? (See 2 Samuel 6:6-8[1355]) Consider with what reverence Moses and Joshua were asked to approach God. (See Exodus 3:1-5[1356]; Joshua 5:13-15[1357])

God seems to struggle in Scripture back and forth between exercising His power in some way and scaring people to death and being kind and gentle and losing their respect. Which do you think leads to worse consequences?

5. What should we do with 1 Samuel 13:1[1358]? Can inspired writings have things left out of them? Did God make a mistake here? (Please note that this type of error is quite rare in the Scriptures)

Here is an example of a different type of problem in Scripture. Some key words are actually missing from the verse. How should we deal with such a problem? See how different translators have struggled with the issue:

A son of a year is Saul in his reigning, yea, two years he hath reigned over Israel. (Young’s Literal) Saul now had beene King one yeere, and hee reigned two yeeres over Israel. (Geneva)

Saul reigned one year; and when he had reigned two years over Israel, ... (KJV, NKJV)

Saul was...years old when he became king; and he reigned two years over Israel. (Darby)

Saul was a young man when he became king, and he ruled Israel for two years. (CEV)

By this time Saul had reigned for one year. In the second year of his reign,... (Footnote: Saul had reigned for one year. The Hebrew, from which the numbers have evidently dropped out in copying, reads: “Saul was ... years old when he began to reign, and he reigned ... and two years over Israel.” TLB)

(Saul was...years old when he became king and he reigned... (two) years over Israel.) (Footnote: A formula like that of 2 Sam 5:4[1359] was introduced here at some time; but the age of Saul when he became king remains a blank, and the two years assigned for his reign in the received text cannot be correct. Tradition (Acts 13:21[1360]) offers the round number “forty years.”] NAB) When Saul had reigned one year,-and two years he reigned over Israel,- (Leeser-Hebrew) [[Saul was . . . years old when he began to reign, and he reigned for . . . years over Israel.]] (Moffatt) Saul was [?] years old when he began to reign, and for two years he reigned over Israel. (New World)

Saul was . . . years old when he became king, and reigned over Israel for . . . years. (NJB)

Saul was . . . years old when he began to reign; and he reigned . . . and two years over Israel. (RSV, NRSV has: [Footnote: the number is lacking in the Hebrew text (the verse is lacking in the Septuagint)] [footnote: two is not the entire number; something has dropped out.])

Saul was ... years old when he became king, and he reigned over Israel two years. ([Footnote: The number is lacking in the Hebrew text; also, the precise context of the ‘two years” is uncertain. The verse is lacking in the Septuagint.] Tanakh-Hebrew)

By this time Saul had reigned for one year. When Saul had been king over Israel two years, (Berkeley)

Saul was a child of one year when he began to reign, and he reigned two years over Israel. (Footnote: of one year. This text is evidently the result of some confusion in the original Hebrew. It is not found in the Septuagint version.] Douay-Confraternity)

Saul was . . . years old when he began to reign, and he reigned . . . years over Israel. (Anchor Bible) The scribes preferred to suppress or leave blank rather than correct. MT (the main Hebrew text) has “Saul was a year old (!) when he began to reign, and he reigned two years over Israel.”... The first part of this statement exercised the ingenuity of the ancient commentators

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and translators considerably. Targums (the Aramaic translation) has “like a one-year-old who has no sins was Saul when he became king.”... Wellhausen is probably correct in supposing the Hebrew word for “two” to be a corrupt duplication of the following Hebrew word for “years”. (The two words look very similar in Hebrew)

Note: This notice was inserted by the Deuteronomist in the spirit of his chronological framework for the stories about subsequent kings (cf. II Sam 2:10; 5:4[1361]; I Kings 14:21;22:42[1362]; etc.), but the figures were not available to him or (if he had them) were subsequently lost. Anchor Bible Commentary

Saul was thirty years old when he became king, and he reigned over Israel forty- two years. ([Footnote: a few late manuscripts of the Septuagint. Hebrew does not have thirty.][Footnote: See the round number in Acts 13:21[1363]; Hebrew does not have forty-.] NIV)

Saul was thirty years old when he became king, and he reigned for forty-two years. ([Footnote: As in a few Greek manuscripts; the number is missing in the Hebrew.] [Hebrew reigned ... and two; the number is incomplete in the Hebrew. Compare Acts 13:21.] NLT)

Saul was thirty years old when he became king, and he was king over Israel forty-two years. ([Footnote: Saul ... years This is how the verse is worded in some early Greek copies. The Hebrew is not clear here.] NCV)

Saul was [thirty] years old when he became king, and he was king of Israel [forty-two] years. ([Footnote: The text of 1 Samuel 13:1[1364] is problematic in all traditions. Some late Greek manuscripts state Saul was 30 years old when he became king. The ancient Jewish historian Josephus and Acts 13:21[1365] state that Saul ruled for 40 years.] God’s Word)

Saul was thirty years old when he became king, and he reigned over Israel for twenty-two years. ([Footnote: thirty years: so some Gk MSS; Heb. A year. twenty-two: prob. rdg.; Heb. two.] REB)

Saul was thirty years old when he began to reign and he reigned for forty years. He had completed his first year as king of Israel and was in his second year when he decided to attack the Philistines. (Clear Word)

Saul was forty years old when he began to reign; and when he had reigned two years over Israel, (ASV)

Saul was [forty] years old when he began to reign; and when he had reigned two years over Israel, (Footnote: the complete numbers in this verse are missing in the Hebrew. The word “forty” is supplied by the best available estimate.] Amplified)

Saul was forty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned thirty two years over Israel. (NASB, NASB 1995)

Saul was fifty years old when he became king, and he reigned over Israel for twenty-twob years. ([a. Fifty years: prob. rdg.; Heb. a year.] [b. prob. rdg.; Heb. two] NEB)

{The verse is left out entirely} [Footnote: One Ancient Translation does not have verse 1; Hebrew has as verse 1 Saul was ... years old when he became king, and he was king of Israel for two years. The Hebrew text is defective at two points in this verse.] (GNB)

{The verse is left out entirely} (Jerusalem Bible)

This example is quite a puzzle, as suggested by some of the notes above. It looks like someone was trying to include all the appropriate chronological data for each king so that people could calculate the time periods involved. But apparently the one who included this text (we don’t know for sure if it was the original writer, possibly Samuel, or a later editor, possibly Ezra, who put this verse in) didn’t know what these numbers were supposed to be at the time. It is interesting that the whole purpose of such a verse is the numbers and it is the numbers that are missing! While this verse causes us to scratch our heads to explain its origin, it, of course, has no impact on our understanding of God. Isn’t it likely that in this case there was a simple human error made by someone. It does encourage me to realize that instead of correcting it as they saw fit (as the Egyptians scribes did with their writings all the time) the Hebrews faithfully copied this “error” for thousands of years. That should give us some clues as to how carefully they preserved the rest of the Old Testament Scriptures!

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The challenge of recovering the original text, sometimes called textual criticism or lower criticism, is a sophisticated science. What would you do with the above verse with the two key words missing? Would it be best to leave it as it is and let people struggle with the problem themselves? Look at the sequence that textual scholars usually go through to arrive at the best possible reading of a given passage:

1)    First they look at all the manuscripts available in the original language. The older manuscripts are given more weight than more recent manuscripts. In this case, the numbers are not included in any Hebrew manuscript until very late.

2)    Next the scholars will look at commentaries in the original language. Perhaps an ancient commentary will talk about a verse and give us a hint of some reading that he was looking at that we no longer have available to us.

3)    Scholars also look at ancient translations such as the Greek Septuagint (the LXX), the translation of the “Seventy” begun in Alexandria, Egypt about 200 BC. Again we are suspecting that the translators may have had some documents available to them that are older than the ones that we now have available to us. But we now have the problem of translation as well. Are differences in readings due to having earlier, and perhaps more accurate, documents available to them, or do the differences represent changes that came about in the translation process itself?

4)    Finally, we may look at other assorted documents written by historians, such as Josephus, or even on occasion by unknown authors that comment on a verse or translation. As you can see in the various notes and variations in readings above, all of these methods have been tried on this verse.

Should this verse then be regarded as not inspired, or only partially inspired? What about all the other verses in the Old Testament for which we have less than a completely clear understanding of the original authors words or meaning? What do people say who believe that the Bible was verbally inspired and dictated by God? Does this idea of verbal inspiration seem to be supported by the evidence that we have seen so far in the Old Testament?

6. If you had been looking down from heaven at events as they were happening in the times of the Judges, Ruth and Samuel, what possible solution could you suggest to deal with the problems afflicting the children of Israel? Doesn’t it look like they needed someone to instruct them about the truth? What would be the best way to do this? How about some schools where bright young men (and women?) could be educated to teach and instruct the others? Did they have such schools? What were the “schools of the prophets?” Who started the schools of the prophets? (See EGW quotes below) Compare 1 Samuel 10:5, 9-12; 19:18-24; 28:6,15[1366]; 1 Kings 18:4,13; 19:10[1367]

The true knowledge of God seems to have reached a very low level in those times. But God through Samuel, developed a plan that proved to be of enormous benefit to the entire nation: a series of schools where young people could be educated. They were educated in spiritual matters but also in the practical matters of life. Each one was expected to learn a trade with his hands. This was to prevent him or her from ever falling into poverty. Every Hebrew child was to learn to support himself. Even the apostle Paul used his trade of tent-making as a means to support himself and others when necessary.

But most important, these schools served as an opportunity for young men to study and learn the Scriptures in considerable detail. They could then serve as teachers for the rest of the people. This eventually led to a system of schools and synagogues where all of Israel were to learn about Yahweh. If only they had learned their lessons better!

© Copyright 2000, Kenneth Hart khart@llu.edu

Ellen White Comments

What happened at Beth-Shemesh?

“The men of Beth-shemesh were curious to know what great power could be in that ark, which caused it to accomplish such marvelous things.... And as the people gratified their curiosity and

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opened the ark to gaze into its sacred recesses, which the heathen idolaters had not dared to do, the angels attending the ark slew above fifty thousand of the people.” Spiritual Gifts vol. 4a, p. 110

(1864); Spirit of Prophecy, vol. 1, p. 409 (1870); SR 190,191

“The men of Beth-shemesh quickly spread the tidings that the ark was in their possession, and the people from the surrounding country flocked to welcome its return. The ark had been placed upon the stone that first served for an altar, and before it additional sacrifices were offered unto the Lord. Had the worshipers repented of their sins, God's blessing would have attended them. But they were not faithfully obeying His law; and while they rejoiced at the return of the ark as a harbinger of good, they had no true sense of its sacredness. Instead of preparing a suitable place for its reception, they permitted it to remain in the harvest field. As they continued to gaze upon the sacred chest and to talk of the wonderful manner in which it had been restored, they began to conjecture wherein lay its peculiar power. At last, overcome by curiosity, they removed the coverings and ventured to open it. {589.1}

“All Israel had been taught to regard the ark with awe and reverence. When required to remove it from place to place the Levites were not so much as to look upon it. Only once a year was the high priest permitted to behold the ark of God. Even the heathen Philistines had not dared to remove its coverings. Angels of heaven, unseen, ever attended it in all its journeyings. The irreverent daring of the people at Beth-shemesh was speedily punished. Many were smitten with sudden death. {589.2}

“The survivors were not led by this judgment to repent of their sin, but only to regard the ark with superstitious fear. Eager to be free from its presence, yet not daring to remove it, the Beth-shemites sent a message to the inhabitants of Kirjath-jearim, inviting them to take it away.” Patriarchs and Prophets 589.

“Let men of today take warning from the fate of those who in ancient times presumed to make free with that which God had declared sacred. When the Israelites ventured to open the ark on its return from the land of the Philistines, their irreverent daring was signally punished. ‘He smote of the men of Beth-shemesh, because they had looked into the ark of Jehovah, He smote of the people seventy men, and fifty thousand men; and the people mourned, because Jehovah had smitten the people with a great slaughter. And the men of Beth-shemesh said, Who is able to stand before Jehovah, this holy God?’ 1 Samuel 6:19, 20, A. R. V. {8T 282.2}

“Again, consider the judgment that fell upon Uzzah. As in David's reign, the ark was being carried to Jerusalem, Uzzah put forth his hand to keep it steady. For presuming to touch the symbol of God's presence, he was smitten with instant death.” 8T 283, 284

“Samuel had founded the first regular establishments for religious instruction and the unfolding of the prophetic gifts. Among the chief subjects of study, were the law of God with the instructions given to Moses, sacred history, sacred music, and poetry. In these ‘schools of the prophets’ young men were educated by those who were not only well versed in divine truth, but who themselves maintained close communion with God and had received the special endowment of His Spirit. These educators enjoyed the respect and confidence of the people both for learning and piety. The power of the Holy Spirit was often strikingly manifest in their assemblies, and the exercise of the prophetic gift was not infrequent. These schools, or colleges, were of untold value to Israel, not only as providing for the dissemination of religious truth, but as preserving the spirit of vital godliness (ST July 20, 1882).” {2BC 1037.7}

“The manifestation of the Holy Spirit was similar to its manifestation in the days of Samuel and Saul in the school of the prophets. On one occasion the showers of grace were outpoured, and all that were gathered together were prophesying. Saul drew near, and though when he came, he was filled with a restless, envious, jealous spirit because of David, yet he caught the spirit that was animating those who were praising God, and he also sang praises. The word of inquiry went out, ‘Is Saul also among the prophets?’” (Special Testimonies on Education p. 79 (1897)

“As a result, God struck fifty thousand and seventy of them. Fearful of having the ark remain in their midst, the people sent messengers to the men of Kirjath Jearim, and asked them to take the ark. (It is doubtful that there were 50,070 men at Beth Shemesh. Josephus,6 Keil and Delitzsch and many other authorities say that the text should simply read seventy men, since the 50,000 is lacking in many Hebrew manuscripts.)” (Believer’s Bible Commentary - article on 1 Samuel 6:19)

“The disaster at Beth-shemesh (6:19) was obviously totally unexpected by the Israelite people who lived there; they had, they supposed, been as cautious and devout in handling the ark as the

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Philistines had been since the start of the epidemic. For instance, they made sure that it was carried only by Levites, the sacred personnel specially entrusted with the care of sacred objects. Nowadays we should no doubt attribute the death of seventy people to the same epidemic that had ravaged neighbouring Philistine districts, but Israelite piety rightly saw, though nothing was known of germs and bacteria, that God is in control of the mysteries of life and death.

“The explanation given was an interpretation after the event. It seems that some citizens were guilty of unseemly curiosity with regard to the ark, although it is not clear from the Hebrew whether they peered into it, as the RSV has it, or merely gazed at it. Another explanation is incorporated in the ancient Greek version (known as the Septuagint), and it has been adopted as original by many modern scholars and by the NEB: “ The sons of Jeconiah did not rejoice with the rest of the men of Beth-shemesh when they welcomed the ark of the Lord, and he struck down seventy of them. ” In either case, we would be inclined to feel that the punishment far outweighed the fault, but the passage is at pains to stress the power of God and to warn any Israelites of later centuries who were heedless of him.

At any rate, the ark was temporarily settled at Kiriath-jearim, a step on its way to Jerusalem, but that was still some way in the future (cp. 2 Sam. 6). It may be that the Philistines, glad though they were to be rid of the ark, refused to permit it to be taken to any major Israelite sanctuary. If so, Israel’s lamentation (7:2) is the more readily understood. Besides, Israel was still reeling from the effects of the two defeats in battle. The Philistine victories permitted them to impose their will over much of Israel’s territory. The retrieval of the ark was a temporary cause for joy, but the Philistine domination was not lessened by it. Nevertheless, the return of the ark to Israelite soil was a sign of hope and promise. The “ glory ” had come back to Israel (cp. 4:22) and Israel could be sure that their God would not remain inactive for ever. The certainty of God’s presence is always a sign of hope, however dark the circumstances may be.” (Daily Study Bible Series: article on 1 Samuel 6:19)

“He smote 50,070 men. This account of the numbers smitten is expressed in a very unusual manner in the original, which, besides the improbability that there should be so many guilty and so many slain, occasions many learned men to question whether we take the matter aright. In the original it is, He smote in (or among) the people three score and ten men, fifty thousand men. The Syriac and Arabic read it, five thousand and seventy men. The Chaldee reads it, seventy men of the elders, and fifty thousand of the common people. Seventy men as valuable as 50,000, so some, because they were priests. Some think the seventy men were the Beth-shemites that were slain for looking into the ark, and the 50,000 were those that were slain by the ark, in the land of the Philistines. He smote seventy men, that is, fifty out of a thousand, which was one in twenty, a half decimation; so some understand it. The Septuagint read it much as we do, he smote seventy men, and fifty thousand men. Josephus says only seventy were smitten.” (Matthew Henry’s Commentary on the Whole Bible - article on 1 Samuel 6:19) “The number smitten is expressed in an unusual manner in the original, and it is probable that it means 1170.” (Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary on the Bible)

“Fifty thousand and three score and ten men. Literally, “seventy men, fifty thousand men.” In the Hebrew no conjunction “and” occurs here. Contrary to normal Hebrew syntax, the smaller number comes first. The peculiar word sequence makes the text most difficult of translation. Some have suggested, “He smote seventy men; fifty out of a thousand,” or, “He slew seventy men out of fifty thousand men.” Three reputable Hebrew manuscripts omit the words “fifty thousand.” In Judges 6:15 ’eleph, “thousand,” is translated “family.” It is possible that it should be translated “family” here also. If so, the statement would read, “And he smote among the people 70 men of 50 families.” Most commentators agree that only 70 men of Beth-shemesh we slain. Yet in a city as small as Beth-shemesh even this would be a terrible calamity. Of course, the Philistines would hear of it, and would have one more evidence that God honored their refusal to look into the ark and their reverence for it.” (SDA Bible Commentary article on 1 Samuel 6:19)

“The numbers in v. 19 have created a problem, for there were not 50,000 people in that little village. In Hebrew, letters are used for numbers, and it is easy for a scribe to miscopy or misread a letter. It is likely that seventy men were judged instantly, certainly a “great slaughter” for such a small village. The problem does not affect anything crucial. It is important that we know God did judge their sin. How many were slain is not a vital matter.” (Wiersbe’s Expository Outlines of the Old Testament, article on 1 Samuel 6:19)

6 (6:19-21) Flavius Josephus, The Works of Flavius Josephus (Ant. vi 1:4), p. 178.

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23. 1 SAMUEL - A TEACHER’S GUIDE

THE CENTRAL QUESTION:

What does this book/story say to us about God?

This question may be broken down further as follows:

a.    Why did God do it/allow it?

b.    Why did He record it for our study?

1. Who do you think wrote this book? Why aren’t we given the name of the author? Does that lessen its authority? When was it written?

“First Samuel is actually the first half of a single book that was divided into two parts, 1 and 2 Samuel, because together they were too long to fit on one scroll. The books are named for one of the main characters, who was a prophet and also the last judge to lead Israel.” (CEV)

“The theme of this book, like that of other historical writings in the Old Testament, is that faithfulness to God brings success, while disobedience brings disaster. This is stated clearly in the Lord’s message to the priest Eli in 1 Samuel 2:30: ‘I will honor those who honor me, and I will treat with contempt those who despise me.’

“The book records mixed feelings about the establishment of the monarchy. The Lord himself was regarded as the real king of Israel, but in response to the people’s request the Lord chose a king for them. The important fact was that both the king and the people of Israel lived under the sovereignty and judgement of God (2.7-10). Under God’s laws the rights of all people, rich and poor alike, were to be maintained.” (GNB)

“The two Books of Samuel were originally one volume in the Hebrew text. Upon its translation into Greek (the Septuagint or LXX), Samuel was joined with the Book of Kings, and the total work was called “The Books of the Kingdoms.” In order to keep the work from becoming too voluminous, it was divided at that time into the four divisions now found in the English text. The first two divisions bear the name of the prominent character Samuel—prophet, priest, and anointer of kings. “AUTHOR: Unknown

“The Book of 1 Samuel is anonymous. Jewish tradition claims that the prophet Samuel wrote the Books of Judges and Samuel, while the prophets Gad and Nathan supplied supplementary information concerning the years following Samuel’s death (25:1). Nevertheless, there is no reference to an author in the book. The biblical text does indicate that Samuel made some written records (10:25) and that prophetic figures (Samuel, Nathan, and Gad) chronicled many of the acts of King David (1 Chr. 29:29).

“DATE: 1120-1010B.C.

“First Samuel deals with the period of time between the birth of Samuel and the closing days of Saul’s reign. It begins in a premonarchical setting of a loose, tribal organization and concludes with the death of the deranged King Saul, who ends his own life in the heat of battle with the Philistines. If the birth of Samuel (1:20) is dated c. 1120 B.C., and if David ascended the throne of Judah c. 1010 B.C., then the book covers more than a century of Hebrew history.” (Believer’s Study Bible)

“The books of Samuel have more than biographical and historical interest. The central theme of the books traces God’s gracious and overruling sovereignty in the sad state of affairs in Israel at the end of the period of judges by His providential selection of righteous men (i.e., Samuel and David) who would weld the nation into an instrument of His will and a people for Himself. Despite Israel’s rejection of God as King, He would prove faithful and eventually see to the appointment of

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a godly king, David. With this one He would enter into an everlasting covenant that would affect the destiny of both Israel and all the world. For through David would come Israel’s King par excellence, Israel’s Messiah and the Savior of the world, the Lord Jesus Christ.” (King James Version Study Bible)

“At the beginning of First Samuel, the nation of Israel was at a religious low point. Even the priesthood was corrupt (2:12-17). To make things worse, Samuel’s sons who served as judges in Beersheba were also dishonest (8:2, 3). With such evil leaders as models, the people of Israel showed open disdain for the word of God and refused to listen to His prophet Samuel (8:19).” (Nelson Study Bible)

Although this book bears the name of Samuel, it includes events that occurred after his death. (See 1 Samuel 25:1; 28:3[1368]) 1 and 2 Samuel were regarded as one book by the Hebrews and were a single volume in Hebrew Bibles until first printed in two parts—as we now have it— in 1517 A.D. In the earliest Greek translations 1st and 2nd Samuel were known as “First of Kingdoms” and “Second of Kingdoms”. 1 and 2 Kings were labeled as “Third of Kingdoms” and “Fourth of Kingdoms”. Samuel dominates the first part of this book as: The last judge; one of the greatest of the prophets; founder of the schools of the prophets; (Education 46[1369]) and the one who led out and laid down the principles for the foundation of the Hebrew kingdom. (1 Samuel 10:25[1370]) Jewish tradition suggests that Samuel wrote the first part of this two part volume and Nathan and Gad wrote the second part. (1 Chronicles 29:29[1371]) 2 Samuel probably should be called the book of “David”. These two “books” represent a composite narrative with several authors, brought together under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Samuel died in 1 Samuel 25:1[1372] and is not mentioned at all in 2 Samuel, so he could not have written both books that bear his name. 1 Samuel covers the period from 1100 to 1011 BC and 2 Samuel the forty years of David<s reign, 1011 to 971 BC.

There was a lot of political unrest from 1200 to 900 BC which began with the migrations of the “Sea Peoples” to that area. They settled in the coastal areas and grew stronger and stronger intermingling with the Philistines who apparently were there before them. At first the Israelites were left fairly free to pursue local disputes but then began a long conflict with the Philistines from the days of Samson to the times of David.

2.    What is meant when it says that the Lord closed Hannah’s womb? (1 Samuel 1:5[1373]) Did Hannah make a wise choice in giving her son to be raised by Eli? After seeing Eli’s sons, would you? (1 Samuel 2:12-17[1374]) If you had been Eli would you have accepted this “gift?” If you had been Elkanah would you have accepted Hannah’s decision?

Once again we note the concept that any unexplained event is automatically attributed to God whether or not there is any evidence that He was involved. (See Judges Teacher’s Guide #13 and #14) Hannah gave her son to the Lord and the sanctuary as a sort of thank offering to the Lord and not primarily because she had evaluated Eli’s competence as a parent! Eli accepted the gift as it was given. We don’t know if either of them considered Leviticus 27:28,29[1375] as applicable in this case. Since Hannah regarded the child as a gift from the Lord in answer to her prayer, she felt she must dedicate him to the sanctuary as promised and Elkanah honored her promise.

3.    What do you think of the way Eli’s sons were treating the worshipers and even their respect for the sacrifices that were being offered? (1 Samuel 2:12-17,22[1376]) Why do you think Eli’s sons wanted to grab some of the meat before the fat was removed and before it was boiled? Was it really the Lord’s will that they be put to death? (1 Samuel 2:25[1377])

Eli’s sons were so rebellious and their actions so despicable that they were destroying people’s

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respect for the sacred services. People hesitated even to go to the sanctuary to worship. They apparently had developed an appetite for the portions of the offerings that were supposed to be dedicated to the Lord and which were also unhealthy as items of food. They had no concern whatever for God or His instructions and they were rapidly spreading their disrespect to others. See the extensive discussion of their deaths in Major Study Questions for 1 Samuel #1.

4.    Who was the “man of God” who came to bear the message to Eli? (1 Samuel 2:27[1378]) Are there other unnamed “prophets” in the scripture? Who was the faithful priest predicted in the prophecy spoken to Eli? (1 Samuel 2:35[1379])

There are many unnamed prophets in the Old Testament, both good and evil! (See 1 Kings 13,18[1380] for examples). God apparently chose to use one of these prophets who may even have had an illustrious career serving God, but because of not leaving any writings that were preserved, has not been remembered by name. There have been several suggestions as to the name of the priest mentioned in the prophecy. Some have suggested that it was Samuel himself, others Zadok (see 1 Kings 2:27,35[1381]) and others that this refers ultimately to Christ.

5.    Why do you think the soldiers, including Hophni and Phinehas decided to bring the ark into battle? (1 Samuel 4:3[1382]) Are they the only ones who did it? (Compare Numbers 10:33-36[1383]; 1 Samuel 14:3,18[1384])

Since the ark was regarded as very sacred and even housing God’s presence, it was felt that taking it into battle would force God to act on their behalf and give them the victory. This is a very good example of why God doesn’t want to be portrayed as some sort of idol. As soon as we “idolize” our God then we feel that we can manipulate Him. God will never allow Himself to be manipulated! God at times allowed the ark to be taken into battle as a symbol of the fact that He was in charge of the events that were taking place. (Joshua 6) This was obviously not the case when Hophni and Phinehas carried the ark into battle.

6.    What do we learn from the whole story of the “ark vs. dagon?” Try to imagine yourself as a Philistine there observing all this. Could you kneel down and worship a cemented-together “god?” (1 Samuel 5:1-5[1385]) What do you think of the Philistine’s comments about Pharaoh’s hardening of his heart? (1 Samuel 6:6[1386])

This is a very interesting section of the book. As we have mentioned before, it was the custom in those days to rate “gods” based on the outcome of the battles between their followers. But here was a case where Israel was defeated but their God was clearly more powerful! This must have been a real eye opener for the Philistines! But they remembered what had happened hundreds of years before to Pharaoh and they did not intend to repeat that mistake! (1 Samuel 6:6) There are many lessons to be learned about God by considering the full story of the capture of the ark and its eventual return to Jerusalem. See 2 Samuel Teacher’s Guide #5 and #19; 1 Chronicles Teacher’s Guide #8.

7.    Why does God appear to give the impression that the ark was some sort of Magical Box with mysterious powers? Why were so many Israelites killed for looking into the ark? (1 Samuel 6:19[1387]) How many were actually killed? (See different translations)

While God did everything that He could to impress upon the Israelites that He could not be represented by any earthly “thing”, He apparently felt it was necessary to respond when His “ark” was treated in a disrespectful way by those who should have known better. God seems to be constantly struggling with ways to get us to take Him seriously without being afraid. God’s ideal requires reverence and respect without fear, but that seems to be very difficult to achieve.

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See Major Study Questions for 1 Samuel #3 and #4.

8.    Notice that the Lord threw the Philistines into a “panic” and caused a “great destruction”. (1 Samuel 5:9[1388] (compare Deuteronomy 7:20,22[1389] and Joshua 10:10; 24:12[1390]; Judges 4:15; 8:12; 20:4[1391]1; 1 Samuel 5:9,11; 7:10; 14:15[1392]; 2 Chronicles 20:22[1393]) How does this relate to the “hornets” in Exodus 23:27,28[1394]?

Since “power” was the only thing that these pagans really understood, God demonstrated His “power”! This is a clear example of what God could have done for the benefit of the Israelites on many occasions if they had only trusted in Him. If they had remained loyal to God and kept their attention on the true worship of the only true God, they would have been able to “conquer the world” for Yahweh! It is quite possible that many nations would have recognized the superiority of Israel’s God and would have been ready to consider worshiping the true God. Unfortunately, none of this happened because the Israelites did not fulfill the conditions under which God could bless them in such a signal way. They seemed to be more interested in what people thought about them and their military prowess than they were about what people thought about their God!!

9.    What were the people asking for and what choices did they have when they asked for a king? Where did Samuel get his information about what a king would do to them? Considering the story of the Levite and his concubine (Judges 19-21[1395]) and what happened subsequently, would you as an Israelite have been happy to appoint a Benjaminite as the first king? (1 Samuel 8; 9:1[1396])

Unfortunately, Samuel’s sons seemed to follow the example of Eli’s sons rather than the example of their father! This put the people in a real bind. They saw what other nations were doing and they wanted to be like them, and they were sure that they didn’t need any more of Samuel’s sons. In addition to observing what was happening in the nations around them who had kings, Samuel at least was aware that God had given very specific warnings about having a king. (See Deuteronomy 17:14-20[1397]; 1 Samuel 10:25-27[1398]; compare 1 Samuel 8:4-22[1399])

The Benjaminites had been known as famous warriors for a long time. If Israel was primarily looking for someone to fight their battles for them, then perhaps this was a good choice. They also were very much impressed by the outward appearance of Saul (1 Samuel 9:1,2; 10:23[1400]; but contrast 1 Samuel 9:21;16:7[1401]). Moral considerations were not apparently foremost in their minds!

10.    Why didn’t every adult male in Israel, including Saul, know Samuel when he saw him? (1 Samuel 9:14-19[1402]) Hadn’t he been attending the ceremonies? (Deuteronomy 16)

They clearly should have know who the prophet Samuel was. It appears that the regular temple services as recommended in Deuteronomy 16 had been largely abandoned. Samuel was busy establishing the schools of the prophets in several different locations and was probably away from Ramah for extended periods of time. (1 Samuel 7:16,17[1403]) Ramah was no more than seven or eight miles from Gibeah, the home of Saul, so Saul should have known the prophet.

11.    If God was able to change Saul into a different person, why didn’t He make the change a little more permanent? (1 Samuel 10:9[1404]) Why would God choose someone like Saul if He knew what he would do? What was the reason or purpose for giving all the apparently miraculous signs at the time of Saul’s anointing? (1 Samuel 10:2-16[1405]) Why did God communicate so often by the use of “signs” in those days? (Saul-1 Samuel 10:1-13[1406]; Jonathan and his armor-bearer-1 Samuel 14:6-15[1407]) If we had more faith, would God give us more signs today? Why would God use such unusual methods to defeat the purposes of Saul as those found in 1 Samuel 19:18-24[1408]? Would you respect a king who acted in this way?

God was cooperating with the children of Israel by doing His best to provide the kind of king

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they wanted. God knew very well what the result would be, but He needed to let events play themselves out so the people could learn from the consequences of their choices. God even performed several “miracles” to further confirm the people’s trust in the new king. God was doing what He could to make the system work. This is not an evidence that there was more faith in those days but rather just the opposite! The Holy Spirit was working with and for Samuel and David and used this unusual method to protect the lives of these two faithful men. If Saul had been more responsive to the Spirit he may have been given a “new heart” as he was earlier in a similar situation (1 Samuel 10:9[1409]). But Saul was now selfish and determined to have his own way and was not looking for evidence of God’s leading.

12.    Notice the big difference between Samuel’s attitude towards bribes etc. (1 Samuel 12:1-5[1410]) and that of his sons earlier? (1 Samuel 8:1-2[1411]) What do you think of Samuel’s entire speech? (1 Samuel 12[1412]) Why didn’t Samuel arrive at Gilgal on time? (1 Samuel 13:8[1413]) Was the Lord involved in this?

After listening to Samuel’s speech, Israel was beginning to see the consequences of their choice of a king. Samuel had been a faithful and hard-working leader, but now they had chosen Saul. No doubt God took this opportunity to test Saul’s patience which was never very good. When a man decides to take things in his own hands instead of waiting for God or even His prophet, it is clear that he has abandoned the guidance of God.

13.    What do you think of Saul’s rash demand that they eat no food? (1 Samuel 14:28[1414]) What was the ultimate result when they actually got some food? (1 Samuel 14:31-33[1415])

Once again Saul’s impetuous and rash nature made things more difficult for those who were actually trying to help him. He was in a rush to conquer his enemies, but they would have been able to do a better and more thorough job if they had been allowed to eat along the way. As a result they were too hungry to wait for the meat to be properly prepared and ate like scavengers on a carcass.

14.    If the Lord refused to answer Saul’s prayer earlier, why did He apparently guide the casting of lots to choose the one who had eaten? (1 Samuel 14:37-43[1416]) Notice the response of the people in saving Jonathan (1 Samuel 14:45[1417]; Compare the stories of Jephthah’s daughter, [Judges 11:29,40[1418]]; and Salome when she requested the head of John the Baptist [Matthew 14:6-12[1419]]).

The use of chance methods to determine God’s will has often been attractive to humans. It is clearly not God’s ideal. (See 2BC 247; 6BC 1054) God however specifically instructed them to use this method at times. (See Numbers 26:52-56[1420]) The casting of lots was one of God’s crisis interventions used to accommodate people who refused to use God’s better methods. Even though God apparently guided the “lots” in this case to the selection of Jonathan, even the people refused to carry out the rash dictates of Saul. God was trying to teach Saul something but Saul was not ready to learn.

15.    Compare Samuel’s predictions about what a king would do (1 Samuel 8:11-18[1421]) with what Saul actually did (1 Samuel 14:52[1422]). Why do you think Saul failed to carry out the specific orders of God? Was it just greed?

Saul almost immediately fell into all the usual habits of “kings”. See # 9 above. Saul was repeatedly doing things to establish his own reputation and popularity rather than to strictly follow God’s instructions. It appealed to his sense of pride to arrive home with all these “trophies” of his conquests. And when he wasn’t thinking of himself he was thinking of his children and trying to establish his future dynasty. Even though God gave him a new heart for a while it is apparent that it didn’t last very long.

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16.    What do you think of Samuel’s and Saul’s conversation at Gilgal (1 Samuel 15:10-35[1423]) and the rejection of Saul. With His foreknowledge, why did God choose Saul in the first place? What about Samuel’s comments about God in the light of all that had been happening?

It should be quite clear from this passage that Saul obeyed God only when it fit in with his own plans. Such a person could never be used by God as a spiritual leader of His people. Clear instructions had been given about what was to happen if the people should choose to anoint a king. (See Deuteronomy 17:14-20; 33:5[1424]; Judges 8:2,23[1425]; 1 Samuel8:5-22[1426]) In the light of these passages it should be clear that God knew what was coming. Perhaps God chose Saul, a person such as the people thought would be just right as a king, so that when God chose the person He wanted (1 Samuel 13:14[1427]) they would be more willing to accept God’s choice!

17.    Is it true that God does not change His mind? (1 Samuel 15:29[1428]; Numbers 23:19[1429]; Malachi 3:6[1430]) If so how do you explain 1 Samuel 15:10,35[1431]-“The Lord was sorry that he had made Saul king” and “the Lord changed his mind about punishing the people”? (2 Samuel 24:16,25[1432]) What should we do with passages in the Old Testament suggesting that God “repents”? Repentance suggests changing one’s mind. Could this ever apply to God? (See Genesis 6:6[1433]; Exodus 32:14[1434]; Judges 2:18; 10:16[1435]; 1 Samuel 15:11,35[1436]; 2 Samuel 24:16[1437]; 1 Chronicles 21:15[1438]; Jeremiah 26:13,19[1439]; Ezekiel 24:14[1440]; Joel 2:13,14[1441]; Amos 7:3,6[1442]; Jonah 3:9,10; 4:2[1443]; Compare Psalms 2:12[1444]).

This is a particularly significant chapter. It makes sweeping statements about God which seem to be almost immediately contradicted. How do you put together the following statements from 1 Samuel 15[1445]:

15:10,11: “The LORD said to Samuel, 11 <I am sorry that I made Saul king; he has turned away from me and disobeyed my commands.’ Samuel was angry, and all night long he pleaded with the LORD.” (GNB)

15:29: “Israel’s majestic God does not lie or change his mind. He is not a human being-he does not change his mind.” (GNB)

15:35: “As long as Samuel lived, he never again saw the king; but he grieved over him. The LORD was sorry that he had made Saul king of Israel.” (GNB)

Compare also other passages about God “repenting”. (Genesis 6:6,7[1446]; Exodus 32:14[1447]; Deuteronomy 32:36[1448]; Judges 2:18[1449]; 2 Samuel 24:16[1450]; 1 Chronicles 21:15[1451]; Psalms 106:45[1452]; Jeremiah 26:3,13,19; 31:19; 42:10[1453]; Hosea 11:8[1454]; Joel 2:13,14[1455]; Amos 7:3,6[1456]; Jonah 3:9,10; 4:2[1457]; Contrast Numbers 23:19[1458]; Psalms 110:4[1459]; Jeremiah 4:28; 15:6; 18:8,10[1460]; Ezekiel 24:14[1461]; Amos 7:8[1462]; Zechariah 8:14[1463])

Was it God’s idea for the people to have a king? Certainly not! God was to be their King. But God, realizing the demands of the people did assist in choosing the kind of king they wanted. So the above statements are in fact consistent! This is not a case of God being initially happy that He had chosen Saul as king, and later because of the way things worked out, He became sorry He had done so. God was in fact sorry He had to choose Saul in the first place! Saul wasn’t chosen because God thought it would be a wonderful idea! Saul was chosen because of the demands of the people. God knew in advance what would happen, and He expresses His feelings in Scripture using human language so we can try to understand Him. God knows the end from the beginning. He is not caught unexpectedly by surprise because of the way things work out here on planet earth.

18.    What should we conclude from the question that the people of Bethlehem asked Samuel when he came to anoint David? (1 Samuel 16:4[1464]) What do you think they were expecting?

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Was God encouraging Samuel to be less than truthful about why he had come? The coming of an important official was a great event in those days as transportation was much more difficult and communication as well. When the prophet came to offer a sacrifice, they may have wondered if some great tragedy had taken place. They didn’t know the real reason for his coming, so they could only speculate. As far as they knew Saul was still king and they had not heard of any great reason for Samuel to be visiting them. Considering their attitude toward God (See Exodus 20:18-20[1465]) they may have been actually afraid!

19.    If the Lord doesn’t look at the outward appearance, but only at the heart (1 Samuel 16:7[1466]) why did He choose Saul? Why did Samuel anoint David fairly openly, when he had anointed Saul secretly? (1 Samuel 9:24-10:1[1467])

God did not “choose” Saul in the usual sense that we think of. He picked him out because He realized that he was the kind of person the people wanted and could “look up to!” Saul was anointed somewhat secretly because God’s plan to establish a monarchy had not yet been made public. On the other hand, when Samuel anointed David, Saul was clearly king, and in considerable favor with the people. Thus it was necessary for David to be anointed fairly publicly since Samuel would soon be dead and there would be some question about the anointing of David if it had not been witnessed by others.

20.    What is the meaning of the expression, “an evil spirit from the Lord tormented Saul?” (1 Samuel 16:14,15,16,23; 18:10; 19:9; 20:33[1468]; contrast 1 Samuel 10:9-11; 11:6; 16:14; 19:20-24[1469])

As we have noted before, in the ancient polytheistic societies, there were “good gods” and “bad gods”. If something good happened, it was usually attributed to the actions of one of the “good gods”. If something bad happened, it was blamed on one of the “bad gods”. But Israel had only one God. (Deuteronomy 6:5[1470]) In light of this, when something bad happened it was assumed that God must still be responsible. We would agree even today that nothing could happen if God did not allow it. Thus God in a sense was responsible for the evil spirit that tormented Saul. This was certainly not God’s idea or ideal, but He did not prevent it. Saul had been given great privileges and great blessings, and he himself chose to ignore God’s instructions to him. Thus he rejected God and not vice versa. And when God’s true Spirit is withdrawn from someone, Satan is free to fill the vacuum.

21.    What was the army of Israel doing for 40 days listening to Goliath’s speech every day? (1 Samuel 17:16[1471]) What do you think of David’s speech to Goliath? (1 Samuel 17:45[1472]) Who do you think inspired the ladies to sing that song which led to such jealousy on the part of Saul? (1 Samuel 18:7; 21:11[1473]) It was obviously an exaggeration, David was just a young boy?

It must have been very degrading to listen to someone like Goliath brag every day, several times a day and have no response readily available! David’s attitude to the whole matter was so obviously different than anyone else in the army that it was probably quite a shock at first. David was a man of little experience with military matters but plenty of experience with God as his protector. It is hard to image that anyone but the devil himself was responsible for the songs of those women. There was nothing to be gained by this exaggeration except the anger of Saul! It is certain that Saul didn’t need any more reasons for jealousy.

22.    What do you think of the price that Saul asked for the hand of his daughter? (1 Samuel 18:25-27[1474]-the foreskins of 100 dead Philistines) What was Saul hoping would happen?

It is quite clear that Saul’s hope was that David would be slain in the attempt to collect these

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foreskins. This was a barbarous suggestion!

23.    Why were there idols in David’s home? (1 Samuel 19:9-17[1475]) Why was lying apparently done so frequently and so casually? What about Michal’s lying? (1 Samuel 19:17[1476]) What about David’s lying to the priests? (1 Samuel 21:1-2[1477]) What about David’s lying to the king of Ziklag on multiple occasions? (1 Samuel 27:8-12[1478])

“1 Samuel 19:13: The Hebrew word for image is used elsewhere in Scripture to indicate household idols (see Gen. 31:19, 30-35[1479]; Judg. 18:17-26[1480]; 2 Kin. 23:24[1481]; Ezek. 21:21[1482]; Zech. 10:2[1483]). Some have suggested that here the word means a life-sized object of a man. However, there is no evidence that ancient Israelites kept such objects in their homes. The cover of goat’s hair and clothes was used to make it appear that David was still in bed.” (Nelson Study Bible)

“1 Samuel 19:13[1484] an image. The Hebrew same term is translated “household idols” in Gen. 31:19, 34, 35[1485]; Judg. 18:14[1486]. The Genesis references imply small objects, while the present reference suggests something larger.” (New Geneva Study Bible)

“13. An image. Heb. teraphim (see on Gen. 31:19[1487]; Lev. 19:31[1488]). An image of sufficient size to be mistaken for a man is most unusual.” (SDA Bible Commentary)

David’s sense of truthfulness may not be up to the standards that some would wish for the most famous king of the Israelites! David felt on each of these occasions that the “untruth” was justified. He felt that he must “fight the Lord’s battles” no matter what he had to do to accomplish it. It is hard to imagine why David would have an “idol” in his house. It may have belonged to Michal. We have no way of knowing where it came from or why David had it in his home. Some have suggested that the “pillow” that she used to form the shape of a man may have been a kind of “mosquito net.”

24.    Was it right for David to eat the “consecrated bread”? (1 Samuel 21:1-6[1489]; Compare Matthew 12:3,4[1490]; Mark 2:25,26[1491]; Luke 6:3[1492])

This bread was supposed to be reserved exclusively for the priests. David was not even of the tribe of Levi. By all normal standards he was not allowed to eat the bread. Whether the priest in offering it recognized that David was desperate and perhaps even in a life-threatening situation is hard to know. Perhaps he felt that the bread was his and he had the right to use it as he pleased-in direct contradiction to the Scripture. Notice Jesus’ comments about this occasion.

25.    Didn’t David trust God enough to take care of him? Why did he have to feign madness? (1 Samuel 21:10-15[1493])

This is another example of David taking things into his own hands. God worked with him even though He realized that David was not doing what was best. Somehow between David and God it worked out okay.

26.    Why did the Lord refuse to answer Saul and thus drive him to seek the “witch of Endor” to call up “Samuel” for him? (1 Samuel 28:6-16[1494] Compare 1 Chronicles 10:13[1495])

God had repeatedly instructed Saul in what He wanted Saul to do. Repeatedly, Saul had done what he wanted to instead of strictly following God’s directions. In such circumstances God apparently did not feel it was appropriate to respond to Saul’s demands. Saul, not being a man of patience, instead of “waiting on the Lord”, went to the Witch of Endor. The consequences were terrible. Saul sealed his own doom by repeatedly acting in rash ways without waiting for God’s direction.

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© Copyright 2000-2006, Kenneth Hart khart@llu.edu

Ellen White Comments

The Reward of Faithfulness.--During the first three years of the life of Samuel the prophet, his mother carefully taught him to distinguish between good and evil. By every familiar object surrounding him, she sought to lead his thoughts up to the Creator. In fulfillment of her vow to give her son to the Lord, with great self-denial she placed him under the care of Eli the high priest, to be trained for service in the house of God.” (Review& Herald Sept. 8, 1904). {2 SDA Bible Commentary 1008.6}

“Further provision was made for the instruction of the young, by the establishment ofthe schools of the prophets. If a youth desired to search deeper into the truths of the word of God, and to seek wisdom from above, that he might become a teacher in Israel, these schools were open to him. The schools of the prophets were founded by Samuel, to serve as a barrier against the wide-spread corruption, to provide for the moral and spiritual welfare of the youth, and to promote the future prosperity of the nation by furnishing it with men qualified to act in the fear of God as leaders and counselors. In the accomplishment ofthis object, Samuel gathered companies of young men who were pious, intelligent, and studious. These were called the sons of the prophets. As they communed with God, and studied his word and his works, wisdom from above was added to their natural endowments. The instructors were men not only well versed in divine truth, but those who had themselves enjoyed communion with God, and had received the special endowment of his Spirit. They enjoyed the respect and confidence of the people, both for learning and for piety.

“In Samuel’s day there were two of these schools, --one at Ramah, the home of the prophet, and the other at Kirjathjearim, where the ark then was. Others were established in later times.

“The pupils ofthese schools sustained themselves by their own labor in tilling the soil or in some mechanical employment. In Israel this was not thought strange or degrading; indeed, it was regarded a crime to allow children to grow up in ignorance of useful labor. By the command of God, every child was taught some trade, even though he was to be educated for holy office. Many of the religious teachers supported themselves by manual labor. Even so late as the time of the apostles, Paul and Aquila were no less honored because they earned a livelihood by their trade of tent-making.” Christian Education 61 (1893,94)

“To meet this growing evil, God provided other agencies as an aid to parents in the work of education. From the earliest times, prophets had been recognized as teachers divinely appointed. In the highest sense the prophet was one who spoke by direct inspiration, communicating to the people the messages he had received from God. But the name was given also to those who, though not so directly inspired, were divinely called to instruct the people in the works and ways of God. For the training of such a class of teachers, Samuel, by the Lord’s direction, established the schools of the prophets. {46.1}

“These schools were intended to serve as a barrier against the wide-spreading corruption, to provide for the mental and spiritual welfare of the youth, and to promote the prosperity of the nation by furnishing it with men qualified to act in the fear of God as leaders and counselors. To this end, Samuel gathered companies of young men who were pious, intelligent, and studious. These were called the sons of the prophets. As they studied the word and the works of God, His life-giving power quickened the energies of mind and soul, and the students received wisdom from above. The instructors were not only versed in divine truth, but had themselves enjoyed communion with God, and had received the special endowment of His Spirit. They had the respect and confidence of the people, both for learning and for piety. In Samuel’s day there were two of these schools—one at Ramah, the home of the prophet, and the other at Kirjath-jearim. In later times others were established.

“The pupils of these schools sustained themselves by their own labor in tilling the soil or in some mechanical employment. In Israel this was not thought strange or degrading; indeed, it was regarded as a sin to allow children to grow up in ignorance of useful labor. Every youth, whether his parents were rich or poor, was taught some trade. Even though he was to be educated for holy office, a knowledge of practical life was regarded as essential to the greatest usefulness. Many, also, of the teachers supported themselves by manual labor.

{47.1}

“In both the school and the home much of the teaching was oral; but the youth also learned to read the

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Hebrew writings, and the parchment rolls of the Old Testament Scriptures were open to their study. The chief subjects of study in these schools were the law of God, with the instruction given to Moses, sacred history, sacred music, and poetry. In the records of sacred history were traced the footsteps of Jehovah. The great truths set forth by the types in the service of the sanctuary were brought to view, and faith grasped the central object of all that system--the Lamb of God, that was to take away the sin of the world. A spirit of devotion was cherished. Not only were the students taught the duty of prayer, but they were taught how to pray, how to approach their Creator, how to exercise faith in Him, and how to understand and obey the teachings of His Spirit. Sanctified intellect brought forth from the treasure house of God things new and old, and the Spirit of God was manifested in prophecy and sacred song. {47.2}

“These schools proved to be one of the means most effective in promoting that righteousness which “exalteth a nation.” Proverbs 14:34. In no small degree they aided in laying the foundation of that marvelous prosperity.” Education 46,47 (1903); Patriarchs and Prophets p. 593

“In Samuel’s day there were two of these schools,--one at Ramah, the home of the prophet, and the other at Kirjath-jearim, where the ark then was. Two were added in Elijah’s time, at Jericho and Bethel, and others were afterward established at Samaria and Gilgal.” Fundamentals of Christian Education p. 96,97 (1923)

“The schools of the prophets, established by Samuel, had fallen into decay during the years of Israel’s apostasy. Elijah re-established these schools, making provision for young men to gain an education that would lead them to magnify the law and make it honorable. Three of these schools, one at Gilgal, one at Bethel, and one at Jericho, are mentioned in the record. Just before Elijah was taken to heaven, he and Elisha visited these centers of training.” Prophets and Kings 224,225 (1917)

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24. DAVID: A MAN AFTER GOD’S OWN HEART?

Few, if any, people in the Bible have their lives spelled out in as much detail on the sacred pages as did David. We can follow his activities-both good and bad-for more than five decades. So what is the conclusion that one comes to after reviewing David’s life? Fortunately it is not our job to do the judging, but perhaps we could look over God’s shoulder as he works with David and finally discusses David’s story with his children and even grandchildren. God inspired this record to be recorded about one of His most famous human ancestors. Would you have?

David was called a man after God’s own heart when he was still very young: 1 Samuel 13:14[1496]; Acts 13:22[1497]; compare 1 Samuel 16:6,7[1498]. These were the days when David was a quiet shepherd on the hills of Bethlehem. (See Ellen White #a below)

While still a boy, he used his sling to throw a stone at the unprotected forehead of Goliath and when the giant dropped, David ran up and cut his head off with Goliath’s own sword. He carried that head around with him for the rest of the day! (1 Samuel 17:54,57[1499])

When asked to bring a hundred Philistine foreskins as the dowry price for the king’s daughter, David brought two hundred! (1 Samuel 18:25-27[1500])

David escaped from Saul by taking an "image” that was in his house and putting it in his bed to make it appear like he was sick in bed. (1 Samuel 19:13[1501])

David lied to the High Priest to try to prevent Saul’s helpers from catching him and this led to the death of about 85 priests. (1 Samuel 21 & 22[1502])

After fleeing for years before Saul, David, with a group of people including evil men and ruffians (1 Samuel 30:22[1503]) fled to live in a small town in Philistia where they repeatedly raided local villages killing everyone and then lied to their Philistine associates about what they had been doing. (1 Samuel 27[1504])

David married many different women. (1 Samuel 25:43,44[1505]; 2 Samuel 2:1,2; 3:2-4; 5:13; 12:8; 15:16[1506]; 1 Chronicles 3:1-9; 14:3-7; Compare 1 Kings 3:1 and 1 Kings 11:1-3)

David committed adultery with Bathsheba and then arranged for the murder of her husband so he could marry her! (2 Samuel 11 & 12[1507])

When fighting against the Moabites who had protected his own parents and his own life earlier when he was fleeing Saul, he lined them up in three rows and killed two of the rows of soldiers. (2 Samuel 8:2[1508])

David condemned seven descendants of Saul to death apparently under God’s direction to try to end a famine. (2 Samuel 21[1509]).

David went to war so often that it came to be thought of as an annual "event”. (2 Samuel 11[1510] and 1 Chronicles 20[1511])

To assess his military capability David decided, against advice even from his general, to count up the number of fighting men in the country and 70,000 people died as a result. (2 Samuel 24[1512] and 1 Chronicles 21[1513])

David did so much killing that even God felt that He must protest about it. He forbade David to build the Temple in Jerusalem (1 Chronicles 28:3[1514])

David and his family treated women like pieces of property. Consider the ten concubines who were left behind at the palace to care for it when David fled before Absolom. (See 2 Samuel 16:15-23; 20:3[1515]) Amnon, David’s firstborn son, was consumed with passion for his step sister, tricked her into coming to his bedroom, raped her and then despised her and threw her out. She was then

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treated like a widow. (2 Samuel 13:1-22[1516]) Abishag, one of the most beautiful women in the land, was asked to sleep with David when he was an old man, just to keep him warm! (1 Kings 1:1-4[1517]) Later she was not allowed to marry as any other woman might be allowed. (2 Kings 2:13-25[1518])

David did a terrible job of disciplining his children. Look at the stories and comments about Amnon and Adonijah, his firstborn sons! (2 Samuel 13:1-22[1519]; 1 Kings 1:5,6[1520])

When David want to have the blessings of God in Jerusalem, he decided to bring the ark of God there. He invited all the people and with great military fanfare loaded the ark on a cart to transport it. He didn’t bother to follow God’s instructions on how it was to be carried and when Uzzah reached out and touched the ark and was struck dead, David was afraid and angry at God. (See 2 Samuel 6:1-23[1521]; 1 Chronicles 13:1-14; 15:25-16:6, 43[1522])

David wrote many Psalms suggesting that he was a great thinker, poet and writer. While many of his psalms are beautiful and inspirational, some of his poetry is very vengeful. (See 2 Samuel 22:1-23:7[1523] especially 2 Samuel 22:2-4, 21-28, 26-43[1524]; Psalms 18[1525])

At the very end of his life when he should have learned the truth about God and understood it best he told his son Solomon to execute retribution on two of his "enemies”, Shimei and Joab. (1 Kings 2:5-9[1526])

Despite all of this God said some amazing things about David after his death:

To/about Solomon:

1 Kings 3:14: "And if you will walk in my ways, keeping my statutes and my commandments, as your father David walked, then I will lengthen your days.” (RSV)

1 Kings 11:4: "For when Solomon was old his wives turned away his heart after other gods; and his heart was not wholly true to the LORD his God, as was the heart of David his father.” (RSV)

1 Kings 11:6: "So Solomon did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, and did not wholly follow the LORD, as David his father had done.” (RSV)

To/about Jeroboam:

1 Kings 11:34: "Nevertheless I will not take the whole kingdom out of his hand; but I will make him ruler all the days of his life, for the sake of David my servant whom I chose, who kept my commandments and my statutes;” (RSV)

1 Kings 11:38: "And if you will hearken to all that I command you, and will walk in my ways, and do what is right in my eyes by keeping my statutes and my commandments, as David my servant did, I will be with you, and will build you a sure house, as I built for David, and I will give Israel to you.” (RSV)

1 Kings 14:8: "and tore the kingdom away from the house of David and gave it to you; and yet you have not been like my servant David, who kept my commandments, and followed me with all his heart, doing only that which was right in my eyes,” (RSV)

To/about Abijah:

1 Kings 15:3: "And he walked in all the sins which his father did before him; and his heart was not wholly true to the LORD his God, as the heart of David his father.” (RSV)

1 Kings 15:5: "because David did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, and did not turn aside from anything that he commanded him all the days of his life, except in the matter of Uri’ah the Hittite.” (RSV)

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To/about Josiah:

2 Kings 22:2 "And he did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, and walked in all the way of David his father, and he did not turn aside to the right hand or to the left.” (RSV)

Solomon’s prayer:

2 Chronicles 6:16 "Now therefore, O LORD, God of Israel, keep with thy servant David my father what thou hast promised him, saying, 'There shall never fail you a man before me to sit upon the throne of Israel, if only your sons take heed to their way, to walk in my law as you have walked before me.’” (RSV)

To Solomon:

2 Chronicles 7:17: "And as for you, if you walk before me, as David your father walked, doing according to all that I have commanded you and keeping my statutes and my ordinances,” (RSV)

About Josiah:

2 Chronicles 34:2 "He did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, and walked in the ways of David his father; and he did not turn aside to the right or to the left.” (RSV)

Questions:

Why would the Bible make such statements about David? What was there about David that God seemed to like? Is David really outstanding among the kings of Israel and Judah? Was he so good that God should promise him an eternal dynasty despite what his children did?

Discussion:

David never really abandoned his worship of the true God as many of his contemporaries and his children did. Despite his terrible sins, as soon as the truth of a given sin seemed to hit him he turned immediately to Yahweh. His repentance was deep and sincere. (See Psalms 51[1527]) He seemed to understand to a much greater and deeper dimension than many in the Old Testament the truth about God and His character. Many of the things that David did that we think are terrible were expected of kings in his day! David was very respectful toward Saul whom he regarded as the anointed of God.

It should be clear that it was not because he never sinned, or made a mistake, or was some kind of a “saint” that He was thought of as “a man after God’s own heart”! With all his faults David still was the kind of humble, teachable person who was always ready to listen to God’s instruction. Such "willingness to listen” referred to in the Bible as "obedience” is God’s primary requirement for entering the Kingdom of Heaven. (See 1 Samuel 15:22,23[1528])

David spoke candidly about his feelings. His "prayers” and "songs” in the Psalms show almost the entire range of human feelings. He said many great things about God and became the most quoted Biblical writer even in New Testament times.

As soon as David realized that he had made a mistake he set about to correct it. (See 1 Chronicles 13:1-14; 15:25-16:6, 43[1529]; and Psalms 51[1530])

David made all the preparations for building the temple. He led the people in worship of God on many occasions. He was in close, almost face-to-face, communication with God. (See 2 Samuel 2:1,2)

Ellen White:

The Spirit of Prophecy, vol. 1, p. 379; Spiritual Gifts, Vol. 4a, p. 87

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“I was shown that it was when David was pure, and walking in the counsel of God, that God called him a man after his own heart. When David departed from God, and stained his virtuous character by his crimes, he was no longer a man after God’s own heart. God

did not in the least degree justify him in his sins, but sent Nathan, his prophet, with dreadful denunciations to David because he had transgressed the commandment of the Lord. God shows his displeasure at David’s having a plurality of wives, by visiting him with judgments, and permitting evils to rise up against him from his own house. The terrible calamity that God permitted to come upon David, who, for his integrity, was once called a man after God’s own heart, is evidence to after generations that God would not justify any one in transgressing his commandments; but that he would surely punish the guilty, however righteous and favored of God they might once have been while they followed the Lord in purity of heart. When the righteous turn from their righteousness and do evil, their past righteousness will not save them from the wrath of a just and holy God.”

The Spirit of Prophecy, vol. 1, pp. 378,379

"His crime in the case of Uriah and Bath-sheba, was heinous in the sight of God. A just and impartial God did not sanction or excuse these sins in David, but sent a reproof and heavy denunciation by Nathan, his prophet, which portrayed in living colors his grievous offense. David had been blinded to his wonderful departure from God. He had excused his own sinful course to himself, until his ways seemed passable in his own eyes. One wrong step hadprepared the way for another, until his sins called for the rebuke from Jehovah through Nathan. David awakens as from a dream. He feels the sense of his sin. He does not seek to excuse his course, or palliate his sin, as did Saul; but with remorse and sincere grief, he bows his head before the prophet of God, and acknowledges his guilt. Nathan tells David that, because of his repentance and humble confession, God will forgive his sin, and avert a part of the threatened calamity, and spare his life; yet he should be punished, because he had given great occasion to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme. This occasion has been improved by the enemies of God, from David’s day until the present time. Skeptics have assailed Christianity, and ridiculed the Bible, because David gave them occasion. They bring up to Christians the case of David, his sin in the case of Uriah and Bath-sheba, his polygamy, and then assert that David is called a man after God’s own heart, and that if the Bible record is correct, God justified David in his crimes.”

© Copyright 1996-2006, Kenneth Hart khart@llu.edu

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25. 2 SAMUEL - A TEACHER’S GUIDE

THE CENTRAL QUESTION:

What does this book/story say to us about God?

This question may be broken down further as follows:

a. Why did God do it/allow it?

_b. Why did He record it for our study?_

1.    What picture of God would you have if you had only the book of 2 Samuel? Who do you think wrote this book which includes events scattered over many years?

There is much than can be learned from the story of David. David’s is the only person in the Bible described as “a man after God’s own heart” (I Samuel 13:14[1531]). Others are called God’s friends (for example, Abraham and Moses - 2 Chronicles 20:7[1532]; James 2:23[1533]; Exodus 33:11[1534]; Numbers 12:8[1535]; Deuteronomy 34:10[1536]). Serious Bible students must ask themselves what would have led an inspired writer to make such a statement about David. He obviously committed many sins-polygamy, adultery and murder, for example, and kept idols in his house in Jerusalem. He was very respectful of Saul, as the anointed of the Lord, despite being hunted by him. David never apparently went after idols or other “gods”. Whatever David did, he did with great energy! David wrote many beautiful psalms about God and their relationship, but also many vengeance psalms that sound terrible. (See 2 Samuel 22[1537]; Psalms 18[1538]) Much of his life was spent in consolidating the kingdom of Israel and ridding it of it’s suppressors and then establishing the headquarters that was to be the center of Israeli history for the rest of eternity, Jerusalem. David established Jerusalem as the place where God was to be worshiped and wanted to build the temple that was later built by Solomon. God specifically told David that he was not to build the temple because he had shed so much blood (2 Samuel 7[1539]; 1 Chronicles 28:3[1540]).

It is possible that the expression “a man after God’s own heart” means nothing more than, “a man of God’s own choosing” emphasizing God’s ability and prerogative to set up the kings of Israel. God is clearly here rejecting the “dynasty” of Saul and choosing David, whose “dynasty” will later be confirmed as lasting forever! (2 Samuel 7:16[1541]) The emphasis here is that God is the one who establishes a real kingdom and He will choose a king who suites Him as opposed to one who was what the people wanted like Saul.

Conservative Biblical scholars and Jewish tradition suggest that the last few chapters of 1 Samuel and all of 2 Samuel were written by Nathan and Gad under the direction of King David. (See 1 Chronicles 29:29[1542]) Since Samuel is not mentioned even once in this book and it is almost all about King David, it would probably be more correct to call this book David. In all Hebrew manuscripts written before 1517 AD, 1 and 2 Samuel are included as one book. This would suggest that the material was originally recorded by several authors but later perhaps edited and combined into a single history of the earliest years of the kingdom by another person under the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

2.    In some of these stories, God seems to dialogue with David (1 Samuel 22:10; 23:1-4,9-13; 30:6-8[1543]; 2 Samuel 2:1,2; 5:17-25; 7:1-17; 12:1-15,24,25; 21:1; 24:10-18[1544]), in others, He dialogues with David through a prophet-Nathan (2 Samuel 7:1-17; 12:1-1[1545]5) or Gad (2 Samuel 24:11-13[1546])-and eventually someone writes the account down. How was inspiration operating in all this? Was David inspired, was his prophet inspired, or was the one writing it down inspired?

See note in #1 above. These books were clearly completed after Samuel (1 Samuel 25:1[1547]) and David (2 Samuel 23:1[1548]) were dead. While it may seem to us like God would speak directly to a prophet and have that prophet do His writing for Him, there is much in Scripture that suggests that it was not always done that way. 1 and 2 Chronicles were almost certainly written by Ezra

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hundreds of years after many of the original events took place. 1 and 2 Samuel were also probably compiled by an editor some time later even though the original stories were probably written down in one of the many books mentioned in Chronicles (See 2 Chronicles study guide #2) as a record of the histories of the kings of Israel. This may make us a little nervous as we consider how inspiration works, but we have no right to limit God’s way of working in any sense. The Holy Spirit obviously worked through many different individuals, including all those mentioned in this question, and we should thank God that He has preserved the record for us no matter how He actually accomplished that.

One strong suggestion that these books were compiled by someone at a later date is found in

1 Samuel 13:1, where the original Hebrew does not say how old Saul was when he began to reign nor how many years he reigned. The Hebrew reads literally, “Saul was . . . years old when he began to reign; and he reigned . . . and two years over Israel”. This is a standard formula for reporting the reigns of Hebrew kings. (See 2 Samuel 5:4[1549]; 2 Kings 21:1; 24:8,18[1550], etc.) If we leave out this verse-as earlier editions of the LXX do, then Saul is the only Hebrew king for whom the Old Testament makes no such statement. (The LXX is the symbol for the earliest Greek translation of the Old Testament know as the Septuagint, meaning the “seventy”.) It is possible that a later editor putting all of this material together wanted to give this information about Saul but didn’t have the numbers available to him. It is also possible that the original had the numbers correctly and a later copyist left them out by mistake. In either case, it shouldn’t disturb our view of inspiration at all.

3.    What should be our attitude toward God in these stories? If we have real “faith” should we accept these accounts without asking questions?

God never expects us to accept Him without giving the evidence. The purpose of the Bible is to show us what God has done in human history. “Faith” is another word for trust. God would never ask us to trust Him without giving us plenty of reason to do so. (SC 105)

4.    What is revealed about God by His dealings with David? If God has foreknowledge, how could He at any point choose David as “a man after His own heart?” (1 Samuel 13:1[1551]4 Compare Acts 13:22[1552]) What is it about David that made him a “man after God’s own heart?” Do Psalms 32[1553] and Psalms 51[1554] give you any hints? Later we are told “David did what was right in the eyes of the Lord and did not turn aside from anything that He commanded him all the days of his life except in the matter of Uriah the Hittite.” (1 Kings 15:5[1555], RSV; Compare 1 Kings 11:38,39[1556]; 2 Chronicles 7:17,18[1557]) Would you agree with these statements?

See handout on “DAVID: A MAN AFTER GOD’S OWN HEART”.

5.    In the context of all that David was doing at this point, why did God strike Uzzah dead just for stepping forward to stabilize the ark? (2 Samuel 6:6[1558]; Compare 1 Chronicles 13:9-14; 15; 26:4,5[1559]) Doesn’t it seem that God acts with incredible severity over sins that we consider insignificant, while other sins that we consider to be really bad seem to be ignored? What effect did Uzzah’s death have on the onlookers? What is the meaning of “David was furious because the Lord had punished Uzzah in anger?” (2 Samuel 6:8[1560]) If God consumed every sinner, there would be no one left--so why does God seem to make such an issue of “irreverence?” Compare: she-bears (2 Kings 2:24[1561]); Nadab and Abihu (Leviticus 10:1-11[1562]); but contrast David and the shewbread (1 Samuel 21:1-6[1563]) and Adonijah taking hold of the altar. (1 Kings 1:50,51[1564])

“And the anger of the LORD (Jehovah) was kindled against Uzzah; and God smote him there for his error; and there he died by the ark of God.” (KJV, Darby, ASV)

“Then the anger of the Lord was aroused against Uzzah, and God struck him there for his error; and he died there by the ark of God.” (NKJV)

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“And the anger of the Lord burned against Uzzah, and God struck him down there for his irreverence; and he died there by the ark of God.” (NASB, NASB-1995)

“And the anger of the Lord was kindled against Uzzah; and God smote him there because he put forth his hand to the ark; and he died there beside the ark of God. (RSV)

“The anger of the Lord was kindled against Uzzah; and God struck him there because he reached out his hand to the ark; and he died there beside the ark of God.” (NRSV)

“But the LORD was angry with Uzzah; God struck him on that spot, and he died there before God.” (NAB)

“The LORD’s anger burned against Uzzah because of his irreverent act; therefore God struck him down and he died there beside the ark of God.” (NIV)

“The Lord God was very angry at Uzzah for doing this, and he killed Uzzah right there beside the chest.” (CEV)

“The Lord became angry with Uzzah, so God killed him there for his lack of respect. He died beside the ark of God.” (God’s Word)

“Then the anger of the Lord flared out against Uzzah and he killed him for doing this, so he died there beside the Ark.” (TLB)

“Then the Lord’s anger blazed out against Uzzah for doing this, and God struck him dead beside the Ark of God.” (New Living)

“At once the Lord God became angry with Uzzah and killed him because of his irreverence. Uzzah died there beside the Covenant Box,” (GNB)

“The Lord was angry with Uzzah and killed him because of what he did. So Uzzah died there beside the Ark of God.” (NCV)

“The Lord was angry with Uzzah and struck him down there for his rash act. So he died there beside the Ark of God.” (NEB)

“The Lord was angry with Uzzah and struck him down for his imprudent action, and he died there beside the Ark of God.” (REB)

Then the anger of Yahweh blazed out against Uzzah, and for this crime God struck him down on the spot, and he died there beside the ark of God. (Jerusalem)

“This roused Yahweh’s anger against Uzzah, and for this crime God struck him down on the spot, and there he died beside the ark of God.” (New Jerusalem Bible)

“The Lord was incensed at Uzzah. And God struck him down on the spot for his indiscretion, and he died there beside the Ark of God.” (Tanakh-Jewish)

“When he did so, the Lord struck him, and he died right there beside the Ark. Uzzah had known better than to touch the Ark, but he had lost the sense of its sacredness and had acted rashly. With unconfessed sin in his life he brazenly dared to touch the symbolic presence of God, a right given only to the priests.” (Clear Word)

There are several facts that need to be understood about the story of Uzzah. Uzzah and his brother Ahio were members of the tribe of Levi and they had kept the ark in their home for a long period of time. David decided that he needed the ark in Jerusalem. He decided to retrieve it in grand military style with 30,000 soldiers to accompany him. (2 Samuel 6:1-8[1565]; 1 Chronicles 13:1-14[1566]) It was David’s custom to think in military terms. But God had given strict instructions about how the ark was to be carried. (Numbers 3:27-32; 4:1-20; 7:9[1567], and Deuteronomy 10:8[1568]) David had invited the whole nation to come and observe the bringing of the ark up to Jerusalem.

In this context, when one of the members of the tribe of Levi and members of the household of Abinadab, who should have known that they were not carrying the ark in the correct way, reached out his arm before all of Israel to steady the ark, God struck him dead. God felt that it was necessary at this point to say something very important about the necessity of strict observance of God’s laws. God cannot bless those who are knowingly rebelling against Him. Was Uzzah just being careless? Was he showing off? Uzzah’s irreverence cost him his life. God needed to say something to the whole nation about obedience and this was an opportunity to do so. If God had not

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taken a “stand” when Uzzah sinned, thousands of others would have remembered the incident and felt more free to transgress.

David clearly did things much differently the second time he tried to bring the ark to Jerusalem. (1 Chronicles 15:1-24[1569]) This was no longer a military occasion, but a very solemn celebration of respect for Yahweh’s commands. (See Ellen White notes #1 and #2)

6.    Who changed Nathan’s message to King David and why? (2 Samuel 7:1-17[1570]) Does this mean that Nathan was really not a very reliable prophet?

Nathan was excited about David’s idea, but God had a different plan. He did not want David to proceed with the building of the temple. So God appeared to Nathan and “corrected” his message. God told David that he could proceed with the gathering of materials but his some was to build the temple because he would be much more a man of peace. (1 Chronicles 28:3[1571]) We have already read about times when God “changed His mind” so this should not be a problem. In this case, Nathan simply made the mistake of speaking before consulting God!

7.    Did Michal’s despising of David dancing in the streets have anything to do with her not having children? Why hadn’t she had any before this? (She had already had two husbands; 2 Samuel 3:13-16[1572]) Did God curse her? (2 Samuel 6:14,16,20-23[1573])

At one point in time Michal had really loved David, and even helped to save his life by helping him to escape from her father. Now she apparently despises him. It is possible that she never had any children for several reasons. She may have been infertile because of disease or heredity. She may have been prevented by God from having children, or David may simple have refused to sleep with her even though he wanted her back from her interim husband. It is significant to note that she had no children so far even though she had been married for years to two different husbands!

8.    Why would an anointed King of God’s people measure off his enemies and kill 2/3 of them (2 Samuel 8:2[1574])? These were his great grandmother’s kinsmen (Ruth 4:17-22[1575]) and they had protected his parents (1 Samuel 22:3,4[1576])!

At this point in time, the Moabites were serious enemies of David. He is no doubt here attempting to prevent them from ever being a major threat to his throne again. Perhaps it is because he had Moabite blood in his own veins and had asked help from the Moabites earlier when fleeing Saul that he did not kill them all!

9.    What is implied by the expression “the time of the year when kings usually go to war” (2 Samuel 11:1[1577])?

In the spring of the year it was much easier to organize people to go forth to war. In this case the Ammonites had apparently organized a force against Israel and David’s army was going forth to meet them.

10.    There is plenty of evidence that David had many wives and many concubines. (1 Samuel 25:43,44[1578]; 2 Samuel 2:1,2; 3:2; 5:13; 12:8; 15:16[1579]; 1 Chronicles 3:1-9; 14:3-7[1580]; Compare 1 Kings 3:1[1581] and 1 Kings 11:1-3[1582]) Where did all these wives come from? What is a concubine? In light of all these wives why did God make such an issue about Bathsheba (2 Samuel 12:1-15[1583])? Did the evils that befell David after his sin with Bathsheba occur just as a natural result of what he had done, or was God specifically punishing David? (2 Samuel 11-18[1584]) Did David’s sin lead to the death of that first child (2 Samuel 12:14-23), then the rape of Tamar and the death of Amnon (2 Samuel 13), then the whole conflict with Absolom (2 Samuel 14-18), and the behavior and death of Adonijah? (1 Kings 1:5-10; 2:13-25[1585]) Why are these events largely ignored in 1 Chronicles?

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In Old Testament times, a concubine was a female slave or mistress with whom a man was lawfully permitted to have sexual intercourse. (See details below) The story of Bathsheba and her first husband Uriah are mentioned repeatedly as the major sin of David’s life. It became widely known and led to a great deterioration in his moral influence even on his own children. It is clear that David married many women that he chose himself. He inherited Saul’s wives when he died. He no doubt acquired a number of them in the process of formal agreements with neighboring nations. It was often the custom in those days to marry or take as a concubine the daughter of the king of a nation with whom you were forming a major alliance.

The deaths of four of David’s sons were probably at least partly the direct result of his loss of moral influence with his children. We have no way of knowing the details of why Bathsheba’s first child died. The fact that David could arrange Uriah’s death, even though Uriah was one of his closest friends and most powerful soldiers (2 Samuel 23:39[1586]; 1 Chronicles 11:41[1587]) is so despicable that it could not be ignored by God or the people of Israel.

It is specifically mentioned that David did not discipline Adonijah (1 Kings 1:6[1588]) and the same must have been true for others of his sons.

11.    How would you feel about your new king Absolom if you saw him lying with his father’s concubines on the roof? (2 Samuel 16:20-23[1589]; Compare 2 Samuel 12:8[1590] and 1 Kings 2:13-23[1591]) How well was Ahithophel representing the God that he served? Do you think God had anything to do with this advice? Was this an intentional ploy to lead to Absolom’s eventual destruction? What could possibly be the use of the mixed and conflicting advice of Ahithophel and Hushai? (2 Samuel 17:1-14[1592]) What could possibly be the use of recording the whole story of Absolom and his rebellion?

The whole story of Absolom is the fullest illustration of how low things had gone in David’s household. From the time of Amnon’s rape of Tamar, Absolom’s sister, to Absolom’s banishment and return and then his rebellion against his father and his final death we see a young man that is impatient, deceitful, passionate and ambitious. It is good to remember here that ancient kings of David’s time tended not to record anything in their official records that would reflect badly on their kingdom or their reign. Following this custom, the ancient Egyptian records never record any Egyptian king as losing a single battle. They only reported the battles they won! But the Scriptures don’t hesitate to record the sins of Yahweh’s most prominent followers, in great detail, including the consequences! This makes Scripture much more believable.

There is considerable evidence in Scripture that taking the wives of a former king was the same as saying that you had now irrevocably displaced him. (See 2 Samuel 12:8[1593]; 1 Kings 2:22-25[1594])

Ahithophel understood this clearly and wanted to make sure that since he now was on Absolom’s side and had abandoned his old friend David, Absolom would not reconcile with his father and leave Ahithophel to the mercy of David.

It is significant to note that 2 Samuel 11:3[1595] says Bathsheba was Eliam’s daughter and 2 Samuel 23:34[1596] says Ahithophel was Eliam’s father. This would suggest that Bathsheba was Ahithophel’s granddaughter. If this is true, it may give us another reason for his leaving David.

In any case, Ahithophel’s advice at least in military matters was no doubt the best that was available. He was clearly regarded as a godly and wise counselor.

12.    What is suggested by the statement that more men died in the forest than fell in battle by the sword? (2 Samuel 18:8[1597])

In the tangled dense scrub and irregular terrain on which they were fighting, David’s well-trained forces were far superior to the scattered army of Absolom. As a result more deaths were actually attributed to the fighting conditions than to the sword. Even the death of Absolom was clearly a

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result of this factor.

13.    What do you think of David’s picture of God as presented in the victory song? (2 Samuel 22[1598]; Psalms 18[1599]) Could God be our Savior and also have “smoke pour out of his nostrils and a consuming flame and burning coals from his mouth”? (2 Samuel 22:2-13[1600]) Was David really “right” and “innocent”? (2 Samuel 22:21-25[1601]) It seems more like David when he says, “You make my enemies run from me; I destroy those who hate me...I crush them...I trample them like mud in the streets”. (2 Samuel 22:41-43[1602]) What do you think David was actually thinking about when he talked about “my salvation” and “my Savior”? (2 Samuel 22:2-4[1603])

This “psalm” is clearly the work of a military leader who felt that God had blessed him by helping him win the battle. David felt that God was directly fighting on his side. The description is probably intended to represent a terrible storm that may have occurred and possibly helped David win one of his battles. The thunder, lightening, and clouds were pictured in this very poetic and impressive way as a symbol of God’s control and use of even the forces of nature. Many of the expressions in this chapter are typical of David and can be found in other familiar psalms.

14.    In the list of David’s strong men it states that one man killed 800 men in one battle. (2 Samuel 23:8[1604]) How is this even possible? Compare Samson with the jawbone (Judges 15:15,16[1605]), and Shamgar with his oxgoad. (Judges 3:31[1606])

This man was apparently David’s top soldier. We are not given the details of how the battle actually took place. This soldier was no doubt very good with a sword and probably spent much of the day slaughtering men. Elijah also killed 850 prophets of Baal and Asherah in a short time with the help of the people of Israel so it is apparently possible. (1 Kings 18:19,40[1607])

15.    What caused the Lord’s anger to burn against Israel to incite them to take a census? (2 Samuel 24:1[1608] Compare 1 Chronicles 21:1[1609]) Why should all those people die because of David’s sin? Even David recognized that he was the one who had sinned. (2 Samuel 24:10,17[1610])

As we have noted before, God is regarded as responsible for anything that He allows. (See Judges Teacher’s Guide #13) Instead of attributing evil things that happened to an “evil god” as most of the pagans did, the Israelites believed that Yahweh was overall and responsible for everything. David’s goal here was to assess his military strength so he could plan his future conquests. God wanted David and the whole nation to realize that the only real question is whether God is on your side! With God on your side, you cannot lose even with a few. (See Gideon’s story -Judges 7:15-25[1611]) God clearly won many battles for Israel in which they did not lift a single hand! (See 2 Kings 19:35[1612]; Isaiah 37:36[1613])

David was here feeling some pride in his own accomplishments and beginning to depend on human abilities. The people no doubt felt the same as they saw one enemy after another destroyed before David’s armies. Thus the sin was becoming widespread and although David was the one who had given the command to take the census despite the advice of Joab, he was certainly not alone in thinking that he had accomplished much of this destruction with his own hand and by his own military prowess.

This is one of only a few passages in the Old Testament where Satan is specifically attributed with doing something in the history of the nation. The story of Job probably is the clearest indication of how Satan actually does some of these things. (See Job 1,2[1614]) Satan could not have done anything at all without God’s permission. Thus we note in the book of Job that God is repeatedly mentioned as the One who was causing Job’s suffering.

16.    What do you think led to the eventual division into “Israel” and “Judah?” Who was included in each?

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The ten tribes to the North (Dan, Ashur, Naphthali, Gad, Reuben, Simeon, Manasseh (Joseph), Ephraim (Joseph), Zebulon, and Issachar) became the nation of Israel, while the two tribes to the South (Judah and Benjamin, including most of the Levites) formed the nation of Judah. The division took place as seen in 1 Kings because Solomon levied such heavy taxes that the people demanded relief from his son Rehoboam. When Rehoboam refused, following the advice of his young counselors instead of the older counselors, the ten tribes to the North broke away. But ultimately it was the greed, the sumptuous living, the abandoned life style of Solomon that led to this action.

17.    Has the Bible been written the way God really wanted it to be written or was He limited by the understanding and language of humans? Compare Early Writings vs. Desire of Ages

“Every chapter and every verse of the Bible is a communication from God to men. We should bind its precepts as signs upon our hands and as frontlets between our eyes. If studied and obeyed, it would lead God’s people, as the Israelites were led, by the pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night.” Patriarchs and Prophets 504 (1890)

While Scripture is the word of God, it is presented to us in man’s language. God cannot communicate with us in the perfect language and vocabulary of heaven because it would not mean anything to us! God must stoop down and speak to us in a language that we can understand. God chooses to do this by “inspiring” prophets and apostles who speak for God, but use their own languages, cultural norms, and thought patterns to express themselves. Thus in order for us to best understand what they have written we need to try to recreate the setting in which they spoke and understand as far as possible what the passage meant to the people to whom it was originally written. God understands all of this and chooses to work with it. He could have sent an angel to write the Bible for us. He could communicate with each one of us individually and thus eliminate the need for a written Bible, but God in His wisdom felt that this was the best way to do it.

18.    Is it possible that irreverence is more dangerous than other sins? “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom”. (Job 28:28[1615]; Proverbs 1:7; 9:10[1616]; Compare Psalms 46:10; 111:10[1617]) How is God to get our reverence and respect, while not scaring us to death?

God repeatedly acts in very forceful ways to try to maintain some reverence and respect among us humans. God does this because He knows that if He does not have our attention and respect He can accomplish almost nothing at all. So God is constantly struggling back and forth between scaring us, and having us tremblingly fearful of Him and treating us with more kindness and gentleness and having us lose our respect for Him. This is the history of God’s dealing with the human race down through the ages.

19.    After Uzzah’s death, David apparently offered sacrifices every six paces to get the ark to Jerusalem! (2 Samuel 6:13[1618]) Compare also Solomon’s sacrifices at the dedication of the temple (1 Kings 8:5,62-64[1619]). Is it true that in order to impress God, one should try to offer an enormous number of sacrifices? (But see Amos 5:21-25[1620]; Isaiah 1:10-17[1621], Hosea 6:6[1622]; Micah 6:6-8[1623]) Samuel had already said essentially the same thing “To obey is better than sacrifice.” (1 Samuel 15:22[1624]) Even David recognized that this was true in Psalms 51[1625]. So why did they do it? Did all these sacrifices please God? Did He smell a “sweet savor”?

When God asked His people to offer sacrifices to teach them about the consequences of sin, He recognized that there was a tremendous risk that the purpose of these offerings could be misunderstood. It wasn’t long before people began to feel that offering these sacrifices would somehow please God and even “appease” His wrath or displeasure. It wasn’t long then for people to get the idea that if one or two sacrifices were good, why wouldn’t many sacrifices be even better!

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They completely lost sight of the fact that what God wanted was a changed heart.

© Copyright 1996-2006, Kenneth Hart khart@llu.edu

Ellen White Quotations:

Patriarchs and Prophets 705, 706 (Compare PP 324,325[1626]; CC 176[1627]

“David and his people had assembled to perform a sacred work, and they had engaged in it with glad and willing hearts; but the Lord could not accept the service, because it was not performed in accordance with His directions. The Philistines, who had not a knowledge of God’s law, had placed the ark upon a cart when they returned it to Israel, and the Lord accepted the effort which they made. But the Israelites had in their hands a plain statement of the will of God in all these matters, and their neglect of these instructions was dishonoring to God. Upon Uzzah rested the greater guilt of presumption. Transgression of God’s law had lessened his sense of its sacredness, and with unconfessed sins upon him he had, in face of the divine prohibition, presumed to touch the symbol of God’s presence. God can accept no partial obedience, no lax way of treating His commandments. By the judgment upon Uzzah He designed to impress upon all Israel the importance of giving strict heed to His requirements. Thus the death of that one man, by leading the people to repentance, might prevent the necessity of inflicting judgments upon thousands.”

Patriarchs and Prophets 589

“The survivors were not led by this judgment to repent of their sin, but only to regard the ark with superstitious fear. Eager to be free from its presence, yet not daring to remove it, the Beth-shemites sent a message to the inhabitants of Kirjath-jearim, inviting them to take it away. With great joy the men of this place welcomed the sacred chest. They knew that it was the pledge of divine favor to the obedient and faithful. With solemn gladness they brought it to their city and placed it in the house of Abinadab, a Levite. This man appointed his son Eleazar to take charge of it, and it remained there for many years.”

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26. 1 KINGS - A TEACHER’S GUIDE

THE CENTRAL QUESTION:

What does this book/story say to us about God?

This question may be broken down further as follows:

a. Why did God do it/allow it?

_b. Why did He record it for our study?_

1. What picture of God would you have if you had only the book of 1 Kings? Would He just be One among many? Who wrote this book? Did he copy from earlier sources? Were all the people involved “inspired”? Was there a great deal of “faith” exhibited during the times of 1 Kings?

“First and Second Kings were originally one book. The division into two books was first made in the Septuagint [LXX - 280-150 BC] and then in the Vulgate. Though unknown, the author of the books was probably a prophet who was deeply concerned because his people did not obey the voice of Yahweh. This unknown author made use of various written records which were available at the time, and some of these he mentions by name: (1) the book of the Acts of Solomon (11:41); (2) the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah, cited fifteen times (14:29); (3) the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel, mentioned seventeen times (14:19). Under divine inspiration the author of 1 and 2 Kings made his choices from these sources, and composed this vital portion of the Old Testament.

“The grammar and style of the Hebrew and the content of the Books of Kings indicate that this work was completed during the Babylonian captivity, perhaps shortly after 560 b.c. (2 Kings 25:27-30[1628]). Certain words and phrases used by the writer were most common during the concluding period of the kingdom of Judah and shortly thereafter. The content of the books agrees with the evidence presented by this use of the Hebrew language. The history is treated in detail down to the captivity, and, by way of supplement, to the reign of Evil-Merodach, king of Babylon. The closing verse implies that the writer survived Jehoiachin, but there is no mention of the end of the captivity. If the writer had witnessed that event, he surely would have said something about it. That the final inspired author appears to have used earlier forms of the book or earlier sources is indicated by the expression “to this day” in 8:8 and 12:19.

“Kings records the history of the theocracy, from the last events in the life of David until the end of the theocracy in the Babylonian exile. There is no attempt, however, to give a full and complete history of the kingdoms of Israel and Judah in political terms. The major concerns are to show the progress of the theocratic government of the descendants of Abraham, to explain the reason for God’s temporarily abandoning Israel, and to recall Israel to seek the Lord. Those facts are stressed which relate to the development of Israel’s religious life (1 Kings 2:4; 11:11-13; 15:4[1629]; 2 Kings 8:19; 19:34[1630]). The Books of Kings show how God fulfilled His promise. But when both kings and people sinned grievously against Him, God brought upon them calamities which were just rewards for their unfaithfulness. However, even then God remembered His mercy to David in showing favor to Jehoiachin in the land of captivity. Because the purpose of the writer of Kings is to trace the history of God’s people with reference to their adherence to or rejection of the covenant, the course of the northern kingdom (the ten tribes) is more fully detailed than that of Judah (the two tribes). The northern kingdom had separated from the theocracy and adopted semi-idolatrous worship, so that there was a greater need for the prophets to announce the divine laws. Much stress in the Books of Kings is placed upon the prophetic ministries of Elijah and Elisha, who served as the links between the earlier period and the era of the writing prophets. The books reach a climax as the author makes it clear that the Exile was divine chastisement.

“There are three factors which make the dating of the Kings material extremely difficult: (1) the coregency system, particularly in the southern kingdom, whereby a son officially began his reign during the lifetime of his father, with both father and son receiving credit for the years of coregency; (2) the use of both the “accession-year” system (whereby the year in which a king came to the throne

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was not counted as his first year) and the “nonaccession-year” system (whereby the remainder of the year in which a king was crowned was reckoned as his first year); and (3) the use of both the sacred-year (beginning with Nisan, the first month) and the civil-year (beginning with Tishri, the seventh month) methods of dating. Because of the complexity of the problems involved in the harmonization of the chronology of the Hebrew kings, many have concluded that the biblical dates are obviously contradictory and hopelessly beyond solution. Today, however, the chronological problems are basically solved, and the biblical dating has been demonstrated to be trustworthy and accurate.” (Believer’s Study Bible)

“First Kings is the first half of a single book that was divided into two parts, 1 and 2 Kings, because together they were too long to fit on one scroll. These books continue the history of Israel.” (CEV)

1 Kings tells us of the pinnacle of the history of the kingdom of Israel. During the early years of Solomon’s reign the nation was blessed with a very wise king who stayed close to God’s plan for him and led his nation to preeminence among the surrounding nations. The country was very well off economically and the whole world should have been looking to them as political and spiritual leaders. Unfortunately, instead of making the most of this opportunity and turning the eyes of the world to the worship of Yahweh, they got caught up in the quest for spiraling wages and Solomon allowed himself to be drawn away by his many wives who led him during the later part of his life to the worship of many “gods”. Solomon even reached the place where he accompanied some of his wives in the worship of Molech the Ammonite “god” who “required” the offering of babies to him in his red hot burning hands.

After Solomon’s death we see the early and very rapid deterioration of the spiritual condition of the people being led by their political and “spiritual” leaders first in the northern kingdom of Israel and later in the southern kingdom of Judah.

But there were some remarkable stories of prophets who acted in ways to slow or halt this terrible decline into idolatry and ruin. First there was the younger prophet from Judah (1 Kings 13[1631]) and a little latter the drought in the days of Elijah (1 Kings 18,19[1632]). Both of these prophet’s stories have important lessons for us. 1 Kings ends with the predicted death of King Ahab, perhaps the wickedest king of the northern Kingdom, and the very unusual story of the prophet Micaiah.

“First Kings continues the history of the Israelite monarchy begun in the books of Samuel. It may be divided into three parts: 1) The succession of Solomon as King of Israel and Judah, and the death of his father David. 2) The reign and achievements of Solomon. Especially noteworthy is the building of the Temple in Jerusalem. 3) The division of the nation into the northern and southern kingdoms, and the stories of the kings who ruled them down to the middle of the ninth century B.C.

“In the two books of Kings each ruler is judged according to his loyalty to God, and national success is seen as depending on this loyalty, while idolatry and disobedience lead to disaster. The kings of the northern kingdom all fail the test, while the record of Judah’s kings is mixed.” (GNB)

Author:

“The identity of the author of Kings is unknown, although Jewish tradition holds that its author was Jeremiah. Although there can be no final certainty in the matter, the fact that Jeremiah was not only a member of a priestly, teaching family, but as God’s prophet was an eyewitness and active participant in the events surrounding Judah’s demise, argues for such a possibility. The author of Kings has used many official records and unofficial sources in compiling his history (e.g., 1 Kings 11:41; 14:19, 29[1633], etc.; 2 Kings 20:20[1634]). Although the author has written Kings in a generally historically progressive fashion, he often writes thematically, grouping his facts in a way that is not strictly chronological. Thus, one must not assume that the details of a given chapter necessarily have happened after those of the preceding chapter (See 2 Kings 20:1[1635]). However, especially in the details relative to the divided kingdom, there

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is a general historical progression from 1 Kings 12 to the end of 2 Kings (from the mid-tenth to the midsixth century b.c.). The dates for the respective kings given here result from a careful evaluation of the various dating methods used in ancient Israel as they are compared with certain established anchor dates in the ancient Near East. The difficulty of affixing precise dates is hampered by the various ways in which dates were calculated in Israel. In the northern kingdom, dating was reached by a non-accession system (by which the year that a man became king was listed as both his first year and the last year of his predecessor). In Judah, an accession year system was used, whereby a new king’s first year was calculated from the beginning of the new year in the fall after his enthronement, until about 841 b.c., after which a change was made to the nonaccession system. However, both kingdoms switched to the accession year system in the early eighth century b.c., possibly under the influence of Assyria. Adding to the difficulty is the fact that the length of the reign of some kings included a period of serving as co-regent with their fathers. Despite the complexity of the problem, a relatively accurate system of dating has been established.

“Although the historical trustworthiness of Kings has been demonstrated repeatedly, one must not read these two books simply as history. The two books are, above all, a telling of God’s spiritual dealings with His vacillating people. It narrates how the people of God managed their God-given responsibilities before a sovereign and gracious God. It stands as a record of God’s reward for obedience and faithfulness, and for His judgment of disobedience.” (King James Version Study Bible)

“Evangelical biblical scholars...continue to endorse the traditional view that Jeremiah wrote the books of the Kings. They cite as evidence for his authorship his priestly origin, his prophetic activity, his access to governmental authorities at the highest level, and his great personal involvement in the complex religious, social, and political activities that occurred during the collapse and fall of Judah in the early sixth century b.c. Certainly no other single person would have been in a better position to know the spiritual situation of the day and to have access to the state records, historical information, and source material necessary for writing First and Second Kings.” (Nelson Study Bible)

God must have been incredibly sad to see the events recorded in this book take place. The first half of the book focuses on the wonderful early years of Solomon’s reign. What a contrast to the beginning of 2 Kings where we find Ahab’s son attempting to consult the “god of flies” to see if he is going to die! What would you have done if you had been God watching the events of this book? Jezebel and Ahab dominate much of the later part of the book. It shows how quickly things can deteriorate. But God continues to work through prophets such as Elijah and Elisha to try to get His people’s attention and cooperation once again. God performs some extraordinary miracles in this book. (See 1 Kings 17-19[1636]) In fact the days of Elijah and Elisha saw many remarkable miracles. The schools of the prophets, started by Samuel, and expanded by Elijah and Elisha must have had a good impact on the nation. These schools may have been the most important thing that these prophets accomplished during their lives.

2. What do you think of David’s “hot water bottle” (1 Kings 1:1-4[1637])? What would happen if we followed this custom with church or even government leaders today? What is implied by the statement, “but the king knew her not?” (v. 4) Was this fair to a beautiful young woman like Abishag? (Compare 1 Kings 2:13-23[1638]) How does this statement relate to Matthew 7:23[1639], “I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity?”

This story tells us at least two things. First, customs were very different in those days. And, secondly, it helps to illustrate the Biblical meaning of the word “know”. The beautiful young woman named Abishag turns out to be a sort of pawn in a high stakes gamble for the kingship of the country. It is very important to realize that in those days, the inheritance of the “wives” of a former king was a

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very significant part of the succession process. (See 2 Samuel 12:8[1640]; 2 Samuel 16:20-22[1641])

It should be abundantly clear that in this kind of context to “know” means to be intimate with and even to have sexual intercourse with. Is it possible that God wants to have a relationship with us that is somehow just as close and intimate as the relationship between a husband and his wife? Is it possible that we will have such loving, intimate relationships throughout eternity?

3.    What is the reason God gave so much wealth and wisdom to Solomon? (1 Kings 3:1-15[1642]; 2 Chronicles 1:3-12[1643]) Why do you think God offered to give Solomon essentially anything he asked for? (1 Kings 3:5[1644]) Why did God make so many promises to Solomon? (1 Kings 3:10-15[1645] Compare 1 Kings 9:1-9[1646])

God realized that this was the golden period of opportunity for his chosen people. If Solomon had made the best possible use of all the blessings God bestowed on him, and if he had been able to lead the children of Israel in paths of faithfulness, then these gifts would have proven to be a tremendous blessing to the entire world. As it turned out, God bestowed these gifts and yet He did not limit Solomon’s freedom. It can never be said that God did not give him every possible advantage.

4.    Where did all of Solomon’s wives and concubines come from? (1 Kings 3:1; 11:1-3[1647])

Notice that the 700 wives were apparently all princesses! It was the custom in those days to seal treaties between nations by marrying the daughter of the king of one of the nations to the king or prince of the other nation. Thus most of Solomon’s wives came along with treaties. Concubines were secondary wives, probably in this case wives who were not of royal blood, but whom Solomon married for various other reasons.

5.    What actually led to Solomon’s downfall? In what important ways did he differ from David his father? (1 Kings 3:3; 11:1-6,33,34[1648]) How could God say to Solomon about David, “if you will serve me in honesty and integrity, as your father David did?” (1 Kings 3:14; 9:4; 15:5[1649]; Compare 1 Kings 3:6[1650])

See Handout on “David: A Man After God’s Own Heart?” Solomon was led away from God by his many wives and his life of ease and pleasure. At first, he probably thought that he wanted to be fair to his many wives and they would all eventually become converted. He wanted to be very ecumenical! But instead Solomon was the one who was led astray! (See Nehemiah 13:23-27[1651])

In addition to the many wives, another major cause of his downfall was the extravagant lifestyle lived by many of the people living in Jerusalem. This was supported by a constant demand for higher wages which probably didn’t seem like a big problem, at least at first, since Solomon’s government seemed to prosper so well. But in time the greed led to corruption and fighting and eventual decay and deterioration.

6.    How would you measure wisdom to determine if someone was the wisest man? (1 Kings 4:29-34[1652]) Notice that Solomon was a great scientist. If Solomon was so wise, why was his son apparently so foolish? (1 Kings 12:1-20[1653]; 2 Chronicles 10:1-19[1654])

Wisdom was probably measured by the number of wise sayings that a person produced and by the number of difficult cases he helped to solve. The Egyptians were considered wise because of their early knowledge of so many scientific fields such as astronomy, medicine, architecture, mathematics, music, painting, embalming, and even “mystic philosophy”. Perhaps Solomon had mastered these fields as well, as it is clear that he had close connections to Egypt with Pharaoh’s daughter as his chief wife in his early years.

It would appear from the context that Solomon obtained his “wisdom” at least partially from research and careful study. This seems to be born out by a number of statements in Ecclesiastes. It is interesting to note that Ecclesiastes seems to suggest that Solomon would be handing his kingdom

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over to someone who “never worked a day in his life”! (Ecclesiastes 2:20,21[1655], NLT) Rehoboam obviously showed very little wisdom in his early days. He probably had little or no contact with his father and certain was never disciplined by him.

7.    Was it wise for Solomon to say that he would pay whatever wages the people of Lebanon asked? (1 Kings 5:6[1656])

This led to a spiraling demand for more wages and spiraling taxes to pay for them. Certainly this was not God’s idea! But it is also clear that many modern Christians have been destroyed by the same pursuits. You can imagine that the Israelites would demand higher wages than Solomon was paying to the Lebanese and the demands would only escalate. (See Prophets and Kings 51-74[1657]) As a result of these two evils, his many wives and his opulent lifestyle the nation of Israel began to sow the seeds that would lead to its ultimate demise.

8.    Why do we need all the details about the Temple and about Solomon’s house? (1 Kings 6 & 7[1658])

The original records here were no doubt put together by some scribe or prophet, probably in Solomon’s employment as the temple and home were being built. The records that were amassed in the construction of the temple were no doubt voluminous. Since the temple was the pride of the nation, the writer felt it was appropriate to give considerable detail about the temple and how it was constructed. It gives us some kind of measure of the wealth that Solomon and David his father before him had amassed in Jerusalem. These details are obviously not essential for salvation in our day, but they are an important part of the historical background that helps us to understand the rest of the Old Testament in its fullest possible context.

9.    What do you think Solomon had in mind when he sacrificed so many sheep and cattle that they couldn’t even be counted? (1 Kings 8:5, 62-64[1659]) Did they believe this would please God? (Genesis 8:21[1660]; Exodus 29:18,25,41[1661]; Leviticus 1:9,13,17; 2:2,9[1662]; Numbers 15:3,7,10[1663], etc. Contrast Amos 5:21-24[1664]; Isaiah 1:10-17[1665], Hosea 6:6[1666]; Micah 6:6-8[1667]; Matthew 9:13; 12:7[1668])

A part of the reason so many animals were sacrificed was no doubt the fact that virtually every Israelite family and in many cases perhaps several members of each family would want to bring an offering on this very specially occasion. Solomon probably wanted to show that this was a very large and impressive ceremony-the largest event of his life-and he contributed thousands and perhaps hundreds of thousands of animals to be sacrificed.

Those who contributed animals with the right spirit and the correct intent were no doubt blessed. If their hearts were humbly submitted to God it was a blessed day. Solomon certainly prayed an appropriate prayer. (See 1 Kings 8:22-61[1669]) and God blessed the occasion with His presence by sending his glory and filling the temple. (1 Kings 8:10[1670])

But surely Solomon must have been fully aware of the truth about the purposes and value of such sacrifices because his father spelled it out quite clearly in Psalms 51[1671] after his sin with Solomon’s mother! Unfortunately, Solomon’s later experience makes us wonder if some of Solomon’s sacrifices on this occasion were not given just for “show”.

10.    In Solomon’s dedicatory prayer (1 Kings 8:23-53[1672]) he describes very well what happened later when they turned away from God. (1 Kings 8:46-51[1673]) Where do you think he got these insights, and if he already understood them, how could he as the wisest man who ever lived, turn away from God? Why would Solomon be attracted to the “gods” of these other wives of his? (1 Kings 11:1-13[1674])

This is primarily a thought question. The description of what would happen if they turned away from God was already basically recorded in Deuteronomy 17:14-20; 27:11-29:29; 31:17,18[1675].

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When the children of Israel first entered the land of Palestine, it is possible that they were attracted to some of these pagan deities because the people who lived there before them claimed that the “gods” had to be treated in certain ways and sacrifices must be made to them if one was to get the rain that was so necessary for the soil to bear its crop. In Solomon’s day, this would no longer be the case, as they clearly knew that Yahweh was able to take care of their every need if they were faithful to Him. It is probably impossible for us to fully comprehend why people, and especially someone as wise as Solomon, would ignore all the warnings that had been given against idolatry and end up even sacrificing their own children to these foreign “gods”.

11.    Solomon suggests that the sins of the people may prevent the rains from coming (1 Kings 8:35[1676]). What does this imply about God? (Compare Matthew 5:45[1677]) What is suggested about Solomon’s attitude toward foreigners by his prayer? (1 Kings 8:41-43[1678])

We have no way of knowing exactly what Solomon was thinking as he prayed these words, but we do know that Palestine has always been a land of marginal rainfall and drought has been a constant threat. Solomon no doubt recognized that God could provide them with all the rain they needed if He chose to bless them by doing so. This would lead naturally to the conclusion that if they sinned and displeased God somehow, so that He chose not to bless them with the rains that were so necessary, a drought would be forthcoming. They had no large rivers like the Nile that could easily be tapped for irrigation for many portions of the land.

Solomon was clearly trying to make foreigners feel as welcome as possible on this great festival day. There were probably thousands of them there to observe this dedication. Solomon also had the words of Moses in many places to support the idea that he was suggesting that foreigners, strangers and sojourners were to be treated equally as well as Israel’s native sons if they chose to worship Israel’s God. (Leviticus 24:22[1679]; Numbers 9:14; 15:15,30; 35:15[1680]; Deuteronomy 10:17-19; 14:29; 16:11,14; 23:7,8; 24:17-22; 26:11-13; 27:19; 29:11; 31:12[1681] ) Those foreigners who chose to move to Palestine, settle down as immigrants and join in all the religious festivals and traditions of the Israelites were to be treated essentially as if they were Israelites.

12.    What does it mean when it says that God became angry with Solomon? (1 Kings 11:9[1682])

This is clearly spelled out in Deuteronomy 31:16-18[1683]. It was demonstrated repeatedly in the early days of the judges. (See Judges: A Teacher’s Guide #9; Hosea - A Teacher’s Guide #13; Major Study Questions for Judges - #2; Psalms - a Teacher’s Guide - #6; Nahum - A Teacher’s Guide -#2,3; 2 Samuel - A Teacher’s Guide #5)

God’s anger is not like human anger. God does not lose control of His emotions. But He does become very distressed as He sees us use our freedom to destroy ourselves. If freedom weren’t so important to God, He would probably step in and prevent us from destroying ourselves, but He cannot do this without violating our freedom. So God uses human language-the strongest human language available-to try to warn us of the consequences of going our own rebellious ways. Sometimes we are tempted to take this strong language and assume that God is being controlled by His emotions just as many humans would be under the same situation. But God is only using that strong language to try to get us to take Him seriously. So it is of utmost importance when reading about God’s “anger” to try to remember what that means in Biblical terms and not what it might say in Webster’s or even the Oxford Unabridged Dictionary. As you will discover as you look at the references in previous study guides, the Bible, in many places, using the language of many authors, describes God’s anger as His “letting go”, “handing over”, “turning away from”, “allowing to leave” those who seem bent on rebellion. This always results in inevitable and disastrous consequences, but not at the hands of our loving God. He will always be reaching out to sinners in the words of Hosea 11:7,8:

7 My people are bent on turning away from Me;

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The yoke is all they are fit for—

I can love them no more.

8 How, oh how, can I give you up, Ephraim!

How, oh how, can I hand you over, Israel!

How can I turn you into a Sodom!

How can I treat you like a Gomorrah!

My heart recoils within me,

All my compassion is kindled.” Phillips

13.    Why did God give ten of the tribes to Jeroboam if He had foreknowledge of how wicked he was going to be? (1 Kings 11:31[1684]) How could God have talked to Jeroboam about walking in His ways, if He knew what Jeroboam was going to do? (1 Kings 11:38[1685])

Jeroboam was an ambitious and hard-working young man. It would be natural for him to aspire to the highest position possible in the kingdom. It is very likely that God is here only demonstrating that He knows in advance what is going to happen. The promises that He made to Jeroboam are not really different than the ones he made to many other leaders. This does not imply that God does not have foreknowledge or that He lacks the ability or power to make things come out the way He wants them to come out. It shows us how important freedom is to God. Just as He gave Solomon great wisdom and wealth but did not take away his freedom to misuse those gifts, He does not control Jeroboam either. This is a part of God’s overall demonstration of the truth about His character and government in the setting of the great controversy.

14.    What is the purpose of the story of the older prophet and the “man of God” in 1 Kings 13[1686]? What should we learn from this story? Why do you think the older prophet lied? In what sense did the younger prophet defy the word of the Lord? (1 Kings 13:20-22[1687]) Did the younger prophet do anything wrong? What should he have done?

This story calls for some careful thought because it runs so counter to much of what is considered “faithful” Christianity even in our day. There are several parts of the story that we do not have recorded which might have filled in some of the details that we would like to know.

We do not know the names of either of these prophets. We do not know anything about the rest of their lives. We know very little about God’s earlier conversation with the younger prophet which is referred to in 1 Kings 13:8,9,16,17[1688]. We do not know what the usual work of either of these men was. We are not given any hints about why the older prophet chose to do what he did. Since he was apparently a “prophet of the Lord” why didn’t God send the message for Jeroboam through him? The distance from Jerusalem and even from much of the rest of Judah was not that far from Bethel (11 miles) and it would be relatively easy for a person to walk there and back even in one day.

It is important to remember that Jeroboam was intentionally trying to set this city up as a rival place of worship (Bethel means “house of God”) to prevent the ten northern tribes from worshiping at Jerusalem. Instead of following the practices and Levitical instructions for the correct worship of Yahweh he decided to allow anyone who was willing to do so to serve as a priest (1 Kings 13:33[1689]). He set up temples to worship one of the common symbols of fertility. Although Abraham camped at Bethel and set up an altar there (Genesis 12:8; 13:3[1690]), and Jacob had his vision of the ladder to heaven there (Genesis 28:10-22[1691]), down through the years Bethel became a center of wickedness until Hosea refers to it as Bethaven (“house of wickedness” - Hosea 4:15; 5:8; 10:5[1692]).

Bethel was one of the major centers for the schools of the prophets which were started by Samuel.

“The first mention of the ‘sons of the prophets’ is recorded in 1 Kings 20:35[1693], although the specific origin of the group is unknown. However, the gathering of disciples into the ‘schools of prophets’ was probably originated by Samuel (cf. 1 Samuel 10:5-13[1694]) to help combat the spiritual and moral decline

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of the period. Samuel is described as ‘standing as leader over them’ at Ramah (1 Samuel 19:20; 19:24[1695]). No further mention is made of these companies of prophets in the time of Samuel, but they appear again in the time of Elijah and Elisha, where they are called ‘sons of the prophets’ (1 Kings 20:35[1696]). Gilgal, Bethel, and Jericho appear to have been the major centers of their activities (1 Kings 20:3, 5, 7, 15; 4:1, 38; 6:1; 9:1[1697]). Because of such large numbers of these prophets in existence in the time of Elijah and Elisha, there is strong evidence to assume that the schools continued uninterrupted from the time of Samuel.” (Believer’s Study Bible)

There are many questions that could be raised about the details of the story. Why wasn’t the older prophet at the ceremony to denounce the evil practices of King Jeroboam? What happened to the altar and the worship of the bull calf at Bethel after this experience? Did Jeroboam make any effort to reform his ways after this experience? How many other prophets were living in those days that we know nothing about? Was the older prophet in some way connected with the “schools of the prophets?” The major issue in this story, however, is why a “prophet” of Yahweh would lie to another prophet of Yahweh. As already mentioned we have no other details of their lives on which to base any judgment about their prophetic missions. It should be noted that many other “prophets” mentioned in the Bible lied. (1Kings 22:22-25[1698]; 2Chronicles 18:21-24[1699]; Jeremiah 14:14-16; 23:11-32; 27:14,16; 28:1-17[1700]; Ezekiel 13:1-16,17-23; 33:30-33; 14:9; 20:25,26; 22:28[1701]; Micah 3:11[1702]) Usually however the context of the story as we have it in our day suggests that these “prophets” were not prophets of the true God, although some seem to have claimed to be. (Jeremiah 14:14-16; 27:14,16; 28:15-17[1703]; 1 Kings 22:22-25[1704]; 2 Chronicles 18:21-24[1705]; Ezekiel 13:9[1706]) There are also many prophets of Baal and prophets of Asherah mentioned in Scripture. (See 1 Kings 18:19[1707])

This story should be compared to other places in the Bible where we are warned against accepting religious claims. (See Deuteronomy 13:1-3[1708]; Matthew 24:5,23-26[1709]; Mark 13:6,21-23[1710]; Luke 21:8[1711]; Revelation 13:11-17[1712]) Why would the older prophet go out of his way at considerable effort to lie to the younger prophet? Was he jealous or suffering from wounded pride because God did not choose to send this very much needed message to his home town through him? Did God have anything to do with the “lie” that the older prophet told the younger prophet? What should the younger prophet have done when he heard this lie in the form of a “religious claim”?

This story certainly warns us against accepting statements that sometimes seem so appealing and so humble and “faithful” like “God has said it; I believe it; And that settles it for me”! Such an approach to accepting religious claims would make us totally vulnerable when Satan appears masquerading as an angel of light (2 Corinthians 11:14[1713])

So wh11 Its heads give judgment for a bribe, its priests teach for hire, its prophets divine for money; yet they lean upon the LORD and say, "Is not the LORD in the midst of us? No evil shall come upon us." at should the younger prophet have done when the older prophet lied to him? It would be very impolite and even dangerous to immediately reject any statement made by a “prophet” of Yahweh! (See 1 Kings 20:35-43[1714]) But we should not immediately believe everything that we are told either! The only safety in such a situation would be to inquire of God as to the correct path to follow. Eve should have done this before eating of the fruit of the tree!! (Genesis 3:1-13[1715]) We should reverently but respectfully investigate and inquire before accepting any religious claim. We try to train our children to be very careful in all other areas of life, but we sometimes suggest that in religious matters all that is necessary is “only believe, only believe”!

This is certainly illustrated by all the different religious claims being made on television even in our day. If we were to try to believe every one of them, we would have to believe many contradictory things! The author of Hebrews may have had this in mind when he wrote Hebrews 5:11-6:3[1716]. And Paul suggests something similar in Ephesians 4:13-15[1717]. Surely this is why we are told to test all things (1 Thessalonians 5:21) and even test the spirits (1 John 4:1[1718]).

Faith must be built on a very careful investigation of the truth, with a real desire to follow that truth wherever it leads or we will be deceived.

“The man of God is known by what he flees from, what he follows after, what he fights for, and what he is faithful to. Scripture teaches one more lesson about the man of God: he must be obedient. In 1 Kings 13[1719] a man of God was struck down because he disobeyed God by eating and drinking in a place

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where he had been told not to eat and drink. There is nothing inherently sinful about eating and drinking, but in this case it was against the revealed will of God. So the man of God must be attentive to God’s leading, and strictly obedient.” (Believer’s Study Bible)

15.    What was the purpose for including the curse against the house of Jeroboam? (1 Kings 14:10-16[1720]) Notice the incredible list of sins committed during Jeroboam’s time. Is it fair that Jeroboam’s whole line should be punished because of his sins? (Deuteronomy 24:16[1721]; Ezekiel 18:1-32[1722] see especially Ezekiel 18:19,20[1723])

This section is included in order to explain what happened to this particular dynasty of Israel. It helps to understand that God is still active and in at least one sense is still in control. Yahweh wants us to understand that when He steps back and allows history to take its course it is not that He has lost control or that He doesn’t know-even in advance-what is going to happen. God certainly wants us to realize that although Jeroboam had been told that he would be the first king of the northern kingdom of Israel, and Yahweh had promised to bless him abundantly if he and his children obeyed Yahweh, when he refused and set up his own temples and forms of worship, God had the power and ability not only to predict what was going to happen next, but to make it happen if necessary.

16.    Why were there so many “high places” and “Asherah poles?” (1 Kings 11:7,8; 12:31,32; 13:32,33; 14:23; 22:43[1724]) What was an “Asherah pole” and how was it used? Who was Asherah? (1 Kings 15:13; 16:33; 18:19[1725]; 2 Kings 13:6; 21:3,7 23:4,7[1726] Compare Judges 3:7[1727]; 2 Chronicles 19:3; 24:18; 33:3[1728])

ASHERAH

“Asherah signifies the name of the goddess herself: ‘Now therefore send, and gather to me all Israel unto mount Carmel, and the prophets of Baal four hundred and fifty, and the prophets of the groves [“Asherah”] four hundred, which eat at Jezebel’s table’ (1 Kings 18:19[1729]). The Canaanites believed that ‘asherah ruled the sea, was the mother of all the gods including Baal, and sometimes was his deadly enemy. Apparently, the mythology of Canaan maintained that ‘asherah’ was the consort of Baal, who had displaced El as their highest god. Thus her sacred objects (poles) were immediately beside altars to Baal, and she was worshiped along with him.” - From Vine’s Expository Dictionary of Biblical Words (Copyright © 1985, Thomas Nelson Publishers)

Asherah was the Phoenician goddess of vegetation. She is also referred to in Ugaritic (extra-Biblical) literature as “Lady of the gods” or “Mistress of the gods” and “mother of 70 deities” and “Lady of the Sea”. She was the female counterpart of Baal and her worship seemed to be a particularly dangerous attraction for the Israelites. The symbol of this “goddess” was a wooden pole or tree trunk and thus she was often worshiped in groves of trees on tops of hills otherwise known as “high places”.

17.    If you had been God what would you have done with these kings? (1 Kings 16[1730]) Did God have anything to do with what took place, or is the Bible just giving a “national history” of the children of Abraham? Did these events take place because God caused them to happen or because of human “might and power”? Was God powerless to change the course of events we have recorded here?

God must have had some very interesting conversations with the angels during this period of Israel’s history. I’m sure the angels must have wondered if God was accomplishing anything at all in His working with the children of Israel. While God has the power and ability to do essentially anything He chooses to do, He will not violate our freedom and He must have wept as He watched things deteriorate under these wicked kings.

See #15 above. Much of what happened in these brief histories probably happened as the natural course of human history. But the events of these kings lives were part of the unfolding plan that God knewwould answer the questions that had been raised in the great controversy over His character and government.

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18.    What would you think if your pastor (apparently not married) went off to live for some time with a widow in another land as Elijah did? (1 Kings 17:8-16[1731])

We are reminded once again that customs were different in those days. It is clear that this arrangement worked out for the mutual benefit of all involved. It is a little ironic that while Ahab and Jezebel were searching the world for Elijah whom they accused as being responsible for the drought, Elijah was living in Zarephath (in the New Testament it is know as Sarepta - Luke 4:26[1732]) only a short distance from Sidon, Jezebel’s home town and center for the worship of Baal!

Elijah was apparently given an upstairs room and continued to share meals with the widow and her son. Later he even miraculously raised the son back to life when he died. (1 Kings 17:17-24[1733])

19.    Why did God send the long period of drought on Israel? (1 Kings 17:1[1734]) How do you think Elijah felt facing the 850 prophets of Jezebel on top of Mt. Carmel? Why would God use this dramatic method of challenging their “gods”? (1 Kings 18:1-40[1735]) Compare the ten plagues of Egypt.

Since the Northern Kingdom of Israel had come under the influence of Ahab and Jezebel who were determined to introduce the worship of Baal and Asherah, both of whom were thought to be gods of vegetation and fertility, it is quite reasonable for Yahweh to challenge these “gods” by stopping the rains. This reminds us of the plagues of Egypt where each plague was specifically addressed at one of the Egyptian “gods”. The fact that this was a direct challenge to their “gods” is suggested also by Elijah’s message to Ahab and the people at the end of the drought.

Baal was considered to be the chief “god” of the Canaanites. In order to attain to this position he challenged the earlier chief “god” of the Canaanites, El. According to their mythology, Baal was the mortal enemy of Mot the “god” of the sea. At one point, Baal was killed in conflict with one of the other “gods”-perhaps Mot. Baal’s sister, Anath, became very angry and demanded that Mot resurrect Baal. When Mot refused, Anath kill him, and carried the body of her “brother” to the mountain of the gods where he was resurrected to new life. After that, it was believed that the death and resurrection of Baal became an annual “event”. Each year as Baal died, the dry summer season would begin. This was commemorated with mourning. Each fall, as the rains began again, turning the fields green, it was believed that Baal was raised to life. This was celebrated with joyous and licentious feasting.

“An Evil Queen:

“Jezebel was the daughter of Ethbaal, the king of Sidon and Tyre (Phoenicia), an ardent worshiper of Melquart, the Baal of Tyre. In a political marriage designed to cement an alliance between Israel and Tyre, she became the wife of Israel’s evil king Ahab (1 Kin. 16:31[1736]).

“Jezebel’s domineering influence on Ahab allowed her to bring a fanatical form of Baal worship with her—into her home, into the nation, and even into the temple itself. Four hundred fifty prophets of Baal joined her retinue, along with a similar number of prophets of Asherah, the female consort of Baal. Corrupt, sensual practices involved in the worship of Baal were observed throughout the country, as she demanded that her god be considered equal to Israel’s God (Yahweh). Her insistence on the equality of Baal with God brought her into direct conflict with Elijah, the prophet of God.

“Repeatedly Jezebel had opportunity to see that Yahweh was the true God. Baal was powerless to provide life-giving rains during the drought which occurred as Elijah had prophesied. In a dramatic contest on Mount Carmel, the prophets of Baal were unable to call down fire to their altar, though they danced and chanted, even slashing their own bodies while Elijah taunted them. After Elijah’s simple prayer to God for a demonstration of His power to His people, the fire fell on the altar built by Elijah and consumed the sacrifice (1 Kin. 18:23-38[1737]). Elijah instructed the people to seek out and destroy the prophets of Baal (v. 40). In raging fury, Jezebel sent word to Elijah that she would do the same to him. Jezebel also focused her royal power to a willful and wicked advantage. She arranged for the murder of Naboth and the greedy confiscation of his vineyard which Ahab had coveted (1 Kin. 21:15[1738]).

“Elijah finally delivered the pronouncement of God’s judgment on the royal pair. After Ahab’s

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death, Jezebel wielded her evil power as Queen Mother during the reigns of her sons. She never repented. Defiant and decadent to the end, she applied facial make-up and mocked the newly anointed king who had killed her sons. The eunuchs of her own household threw her to a gruesome death in the field whose owner she had murdered. Elijah’s prophecy that her body would be torn apart by dogs came true (2 Kin. 9:10[1739]).

“Jezebel personifies the principle of reaping what is sown (see Gal 6:7[1740]). She also demonstrates the power and influence of evil, although allowed by God for a limited time in chastisement of His own people when they are disobedient, ultimately never triumphs.

“See also 1 Kin. 16:31; 19:1, 2; 21:5-16[1741]; 2 Kin. 9:10, 22, 30-37[1742]; notes on Idolatry (Is. 42[1743]); Influence (Esth. 4[1744]); Wives (Prov. 31[1745]); chart on The Queens of the Old Testament.” (Woman’s Study Bible)

20.    Why was Obadiah, a faithful servant of God, working for Ahab and Jezebel (1 Kings 18:1-4[1746])?

1 Kings 18:4: “4 and when Jezebel was killing the Lord’s prophets, Obadiah took a hundred of them, hid them in caves in two groups of 50, and provided them with food and water.)” (GNB)

This is not the same Obadiah who later wrote the book by that name. This Obadiah no doubt felt that he needed to keep his position in Ahab’s court to try in a quiet and probably secretive way to prevent Ahab and Jezebel from completely eliminating the worship of Yahweh. It is clear from the passage that he had been somewhat successful, at least for a while in preserving some of Yahweh’s “prophets”. Who were all these “prophets”? Probably students from the schools of the prophets that had been started by Samuel and were greatly expanded after this story by Elijah and Elisha.

“1 Kings 18:4. Associations of prophets, forming a sort of school of the prophets, seem to have existed since Samuel’s day (1 Sam. 10:5-18[1747]). These prophets apparently met together for study, prophesying, service, and mutual spiritual encouragement (cf. 1 Sam. 19:20, 24[1748]; 2 Kin. 2:3-7, 15; 4:1, 38; 6:1; 9:1[1749]). Apparently the great prophets exercised leadership over such schools (2 Kin. 6:1-7).” (King James Version Study Bible)

“Over twenty thousand caves have been found in the vicinity of Mt. Carmel, many of them capable of holding fifty men.” (Nelson Study Bible)

21.    How could Elijah claim to be the only one left who was serving the Lord (1 Kings 19:10,14[1750]) if he knew about Obadiah and his 100 prophets?

Elijah in his depression had apparently forgotten about Obadiah and his hiding of the prophets. If the presence of those prophets had been general knowledge, Jezebel would no doubt have destroyed them. Elijah may even have thought that by this time Jezebel may have killed them.

22.    What is the Lord trying to teach us from the experience of Elijah on Mt. Sinai? Would you rather have Elijah’s experience on Mt. Carmel or his experience at the “mouth of the cave” on Mt. Sinai? (1 Kings 19:11,12[1751]) Who caused the wind, earthquake and fire if the Lord was not in them? Does this tell us anything about how the Lord would like to communicate with us today?

This story is one of the great stories of the Old Testament. God challenges the “gods” Baal and Asherah to a competition on Mt. Carmel. The request was obviously so fair and the outcome would show so clearly who was the real “God” that it was hard to argue against the proposal. No doubt the many “prophets” of Baal and Asherah thought they could somehow slip some fire under the sacrifice and then they would have immediately destroyed Elijah! But Yahweh made sure that no fire came anywhere near that pagan altar. Finally when it was Elijah’s and Yahweh’s turn, and the fire consumed the sacrifice, the wood, the stones and the water, the truth was inescapable! Elijah calling down fire

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from heaven is probably the hero of almost every modern TV preacher! But unfortunately, we learn a hard lesson here. Did this astounding miracle witnessed by almost the entire nation of Israel lead to a massive conversion? About 6 weeks later Elijah still thought that he was the only servant of Yahweh left! Like the story of the flood and the destruction of the firstborn in Egypt, shows of force or power-even impressive miracles-usually don’t lead to big conversions! Once again the TV preachers are wrong. It just doesn’t work. But the shows of power are so impressive that almost every TV evangelist prays for them!

Some 40+ days later Elijah learned a lesson that not many even want to learn. God sent the wind but He did not have anything to say through the wind. Although God no doubt caused the earthquake, He doesn’t prefer to speak through earthquakes. When the fire came, Elijah must have been certain that God was in the fire. Just think about the Mt. Carmel experience! But God did not choose to speak through the fire. God spoke rather through the “sound of a quiet whisper”. God doesn’t want us to obey Him and reverence Him because He has great power. God wants us to get to know Him as a Friend and respect Him because He tells us the truth. Truth doesn’t need to shout. To those who really care about the truth, the quiet evidence of truth is all that is needed. When Elijah learned this lesson He was just about ready for translation. What about us?

23.    Why would God send Elijah to anoint Hazael as king of Syria-Israel’s worst enemy? (1 Kings 19:15[1752]) What is implied by 1 Kings 19:17,18[1753]?

Syria was Israel’s worst enemy at this point in history. But each of these men who are mentioned by name was to accomplish some task that would further the cause of God. Elisha never slew anyone by the sword as far as we know, but He certainly furthered the cause of God. God is here showing that He takes an interest in everything that takes place all over the world and has everything fully under His control.

24.    Why did Benhadad’s officials claim that Israel’s “gods” were mountain “gods”? (1 Kings 20:23[1754])

In ancient times it was thought that each “god” was the “god” over a certain territory and belonged to that territory. The Syrians must have thought that since Samaria is located in the hills Yahweh was a “god” of the hills. Or perhaps they were still thinking of Baal who often had hills or mountains named after him. Since Yahweh controls the whole earth, none of this really matters to Him! Of course, it is also quite likely that the Syrians were just looking for an excuse for their loss in battle!

25.    How did God bring about such an enormous slaughter of Syrians with just a relatively few Israelites? (1 Kings 20:26-30[1755])

There are numerous examples in Scripture that demonstrate that God can slay with many or with few, in fact, He often does best with no “help” at all! Then no human can claim that the victory is his! Compare 1 Kings 20:13-21,28-34[1756]; 2 Kings 19:35[1757]; 2 Chronicles 32:1-23[1758]; Isaiah 37:36[1759]; Judges 7:1-8:28[1760].

26.    Why would the Bible include a story like the story of Micaiah and the “lying prophets”? (1 Kings 22:1-28[1761] Compare 2 Chronicles 18:2-19:2[1762]) What do you think of Micaiah’s explanation of the source of their lying? (1 Kings 22:19-28[1763]; compare Micah 3:5,11[1764] and 2 Samuel 24:1[1765] contrasted with 1 Chronicles 21:1[1766]) Was this an authentic vision of heaven? (Compare 2 Kings 22:19[1767] and Isaiah 6:1[1768]; Job 1:6[1769]) Did God directly deceive all these lying prophets? (See Ezekiel 14:9; 20:25,26[1770]; compare Job 1:6-12; 2:1-7[1771]) Did Ahab need a “lying spirit” to convince him to go up into battle or did he have his mind made up already about what he was going to do? (See James 1:13-15) Compare 2 Chronicles Study Guide #10.

There are lots of interesting factors in this story that need to be considered before we draw any

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conclusions. First of all let’s consider other parallel incidents in other parts of Scripture:

Lying prophets: Jeremiah 14:14-16; 23:11-32; 27:14,16; 28:1-17[1772]; 1 Kings 22:22-25[1773]; 2 Chronicles 18:21-24[1774]; Deuteronomy 13:1-3[1775] Ezekiel 13:1-16[1776]: False male prophets

Ezekiel 13:17-23[1777]: False female prophets-used “magical scarves and wristbands”

Deuteronomy 18:21,22[1778]; Jeremiah 28:9[1779]; Ezekiel 33:30-33[1780]: people regarding true prophecies as entertainment; they will learn the truth when the prophets predictions come true!

It is hard to accept a message that is contrary to one’s personal desires! “A man convinced against his will is of the same opinion still!”

Did God cause them to lie:    Ezekiel 14:9[1781]: If a prophet is deceived it is because I have deceived him.

Ezekiel 20:25,26[1782]: I gave them laws that are not good...

Ezekiel 22:28[1783]: They see false visions and make false predictions. I have not spoken through them.

Micah 3:11[1784]: Prophets who see visions according to the fees they receive!

Why are the people so easily led astray by false leaders? They don’t think for themselves. Bad leadership is only a serious problem when you have blind followers!

Does the Devil attend God’s councils in heaven? Job 1:6-12; 2:1-7[1785]; Daniel 7:9,10[1786]

Christians believe that God hears their prayers. Doesn’t He also have the ability to listen to and even read the thoughts of the Devil? Don’t we believe that God is omniscient? Don’t we also believe based on our understanding of the above passages and our understanding of God’s character that He conducts His “business” in the open? Does this imply that God is fully aware of Satan’s plans at all times and vice versa? The Devil doesn’t need to go to “heaven” to make his case heard in the councils of heaven. When this story was taking place, it is very possible that the Devil spoke up claiming that Ahab was one of his subjects, and God said, “Ahab has done just about everything possible to rebel against Me. He doesn’t listen to anything I tell him, and he continues to promote the worship of Baal and Ashtoreth following the direction of his wife Jezebel. At this point there is nothing more that I can do for him, so I will allow the devil to take control of his future.” But now the devil has another problem. He wants Micaiah to say what he wants Micaiah to say, but he wants it to look like it is a command or direction from God. So long as Micaiah is cooperating with God, the devil cannot take over and control him, but with God’s cooperation he can tell the truth and make it look like God is sending a message through Micaiah for Ahab to go to battle. That is what he planned to do anyway!

The limitations of time and space that we automatically assume when we think of such stories probably don’t apply to God or the Devil. If we remove these limitations, it is quite easy to see how the story could be completely true just as reported.

“Spirits” from the Lord In the Ancient Aramaic translations from the Hebrew Old Testament know as the Targums, the lying “spirit” is identified as the devil. In this story the Devil comes before God requesting to go and destroy Ahab. God allows him to go.

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Does that make God responsible?

God will allow us to believe a lie if we refuse to believe the truth.

God’s “dirty work”: Does God get the Devil to do His “dirty work” for Him? In Christian tradition,

isn’t it always Satan who keeps the fires of Hell burning?

God or the Devil: Who is doing what in this story?: 2 Samuel 24:1[1787]; 1 Chronicles 21:1[1788]; 1 Samuel 31:1-4[1789]; 1 Chronicles 10:1-4,13,14[1790]

Does God send evil? Isaiah 45:7[1791]; Lamentations 3:38[1792]; Amos 3:6[1793]

Ahab and the truth: Is there any evidence at all in this story that Ahab really wanted to know the

truth? Who was “tempting” Ahab to go to battle? Did Ahab have any real fears that he might die? James 1:13-15[1794]; 1 Kings 20:41-43[1795].

Ahab had twice before defeated Benhadad even though Benhadad had 32 other “rulers” helping him. But those two times he had been commanded to do so by Jehovah. They were victorious against enormous odds. (See 1 Kings 20:15,27,29,30[1796]) Who actually was responsible for the victories? (1 Kings 20:13,28[1797]; contrast 1 Kings 20:41-43)

Similar stories:    1 Samuel 28:3-25[1798]: Witch of Endor

Luke 16:16:19-31[1799]: Rich Man and Lazarus

Is this whole story just a dramatic way for God to say, “Ahab refuses to listen to Me, and has decided to do what he wants to do no matter what, so I will let him reap the consequences of his own behavior?”

Do we need to “interpret” these stories? SDA’s want to carefully “interpret” the story of the Rich Man and Lazarus. Billy Graham takes that story quite literally as his main key text for the immortality of the soul and hell. Is it safe to take any part of Scripture “literally”? If you want to take the Bible “literally” how do you deal with Proverbs 31:6,7[1800] and Deuteronomy 14:22-29[1801]?

What “process” should we follow in dealing with the Micaiah story? Does this whole story suggest an approach to Scripture that is very important for our understanding of all of Scripture? Does God at times call His angels together to ask them for suggestions as to how He can deceive someone here on planet Earth because He can’t think of a good way to do it Himself? Is this part of Scripture “inspired” and “profitable”? (See 2 Timothy 3:16[1802])

Did God intend for this story to be recorded in just this way? Or was this story mainly the prophet putting things down the way he understood them?

It should be clear from this story that Ahab had no desire to discover what God’s will or the truth was. All he wanted to do was his own will. Ahab wanted to show off before Jehoshaphat and he thought he could once again defeat the Syrians. Because Yahweh’s name and power had been called into question so many times by Ahab and Jezebel, God chose to demonstrate His power in this way. God clearly predicted each event in this series before it happened. But Ahab chose to ignore God’s final warning to him, even though God had helped him so obviously in the recent past.

© Copyright 2000, Kenneth Hart khart@sachs.llu.edu

EGW Comments:

“God Alone Can Countermand His Orders.--The man of God had been fearless in delivering his

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message of rebuke. He had not hesitated to denounce the king’s false system of worship. And he had refused Jeroboam’s invitation, even though promised a reward. But he allowed himself to be over-persuaded by the one who claimed to have a message from heaven. {2BC 1033.5}

“When the Lord gives a man a command such as He gave this messenger, He Himself must countermand the order. Upon those who turn from the voice of God to listen to counter orders, the threatened evil will come. Because this messenger obeyed false orders, God permitted him to be destroyed” (MS 1, 1912). {2BC 1033.6}

“Although Solomon had longed to prepare the mind of Rehoboam, his chosen successor, to meet with wisdom the crisis foretold by the prophet of God, he had never been able to exert a strong molding influence for good over the mind of his son, whose early training had been so grossly neglected. Rehoboam had received from his mother, an Ammonitess, the stamp of a vacillating character. At times he endeavored to serve God and was granted a measure of prosperity; but he was not steadfast, and at last he yielded to the influences for evil that had surrounded him from infancy. In the mistakes of Rehoboam’s life and in his final apostasy is revealed the fearful result of Solomon’s union with idolatrous women. {Prophets and Kings 88.2}

“The tribes had long suffered grievous wrongs under the oppressive measures of their former ruler. The extravagance of Solomon’s reign during his apostasy had led him {89} to tax the people heavily and to require of them much menial service. Before going forward with the coronation of a new ruler, the leading men from among the tribes determined to ascertain whether or not it was the purpose of Solomon’s son to lessen these burdens. “So Jeroboam and all Israel came and spake to Rehoboam, saying, Thy father made our yoke grievous: now therefore ease thou somewhat the grievous servitude of thy father, and his heavy yoke that he put upon us, and we will serve thee.” {Prophets and Kings 88.3}

“Desirous of taking counsel with his advisers before outlining his policy, Rehoboam answered, “Come again unto me after three days.” And the people departed. {Prophets and Kings 89.1}

“And King Rehoboam took counsel with the old men that had stood before Solomon his father while he yet lived, saying, What counsel give ye me to return answer to this people? And they spake unto him, saying, If thou be kind to this people, and please them, and speak good words to them, they will be thy servants forever.” 2 Chronicles 10:3-7. {Prophets and Kings 89.2}

“Dissatisfied, Rehoboam turned to the younger men with whom he had associated during his youth and early manhood, and inquired of them, “What counsel give ye that we may answer this people, who have spoken to me, saying, Make the yoke which thy father did put upon us lighter?”

1 Kings 12:9. The young men suggested that he deal sternly with the subjects of his kingdom and make plain to them that from the very beginning he would brook no interference with his personal wishes. {Prophets and Kings 89.3}

“Flattered by the prospect of exercising supreme authority, Rehoboam determined to disregard the counsel of the older {90} men of his realm, and to make the younger men his advisers. Thus it came to pass that on the day appointed, when “Jeroboam and all the people came to Rehoboam” for a statement concerning the policy he intended to pursue, Rehoboam “answered the people roughly, . . . saying, My father made your yoke heavy, and I will add to your yoke: my father also chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions.” Verses 12-14. {Prophets and Kings 89.4}

“Had Rehoboam and his inexperienced counselors understood the divine will concerning Israel, they would have listened to the request of the people for decided reforms in the administration of the government. But in the hour of opportunity that came to them during the meeting in Shechem, they failed to reason from cause to effect, and thus forever weakened their influence over a large number of the people. Their expressed determination to perpetuate and add to the oppression introduced

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during Solomon’s reign was in direct conflict with God’s plan for Israel, and gave the people ample occasion to doubt the sincerity of their motives. In this unwise and unfeeling attempt to exercise power, the king and his chosen counselors revealed the pride of position and authority. {Prophets and Kings 90.1}

“The Lord did not allow Rehoboam to carry out the policy he had outlined. Among the tribes were many thousands who had become thoroughly aroused over the oppressive measures of Solomon’s reign, and these now felt that they could not do otherwise than rebel against the house of David. “When all Israel saw that the king hearkened not unto them, the people answered the king, saying, What {91} portion have we in David? neither have we inheritance in the son of Jesse: to your tents,

O Israel: now see to thine own house, David. So Israel departed unto their tents.” Verse 16. {Prophets and Kings 90.2}

“The breach created by the rash speech of Rehoboam proved irreparable. Thenceforth the twelve tribes of Israel were divided, the tribes of Judah and Benjamin composing the lower or southern kingdom of Judah, under the rulership of Rehoboam; while the ten northern tribes formed and maintained a separate government, known as the kingdom of Israel, with Jeroboam as their ruler. Thus was fulfilled the prediction of the prophet concerning the rending of the kingdom. “The cause was from the Lord.” Verse 15. {Prophets and Kings 91.1}

“For three years Rehoboam tried to profit by his sad experience at the beginning of his reign; and in this effort he was prospered. He “built cities for defense in Judah,” and “fortified the strongholds, and put captains in them, {93} and store of victual, and of oil and wine.” He was careful to make these fortified cities “exceeding strong.” 2 Chronicles 11:5, 11, 12. But the secret of Judah’s prosperity during the first years of Rehoboam’s reign lay not in these measures. It was their recognition of God as the Supreme Ruler that placed the tribes of Judah and Benjamin on vantage ground. To their number were added many God-fearing men from the northern tribes. “Out of all the tribes of Israel,” the record reads, “such as set their hearts to seek the Lord God of Israel came to Jerusalem, to sacrifice unto the Lord God of their fathers. So they strengthened the kingdom of Judah, and made Rehoboam the son of Solomon strong, three years: for three years they walked in the way of David and Solomon.” Verses 16, 17. {Prophets and Kings 92.1}

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27. 2 KINGS - A TEACHER’S GUIDE

THE CENTRAL QUESTION:

What does this book/story say to us about God?

This question may be broken down further as follows:

a. Why did God do it/allow it?

_b. Why did He record it for our study?_

1. What do we know about who wrote or put together 1 and 2 Kings? Is this just a summary of the histories recorded by court secretaries in each of the two nations: Israel and Judah? Who wrote the original material? It clearly could not have been written first hand by any one individual since it covers several hundred years of history. If it was edited and published by someone else from materials gathered together at some point, would it be necessary for the original writers and the editor to be “inspired” in order for the material itself to be considered “inspired”? Could we consider written reports produced by writers who chronicled the history of a given king to be “inspired” if they are a correct report of that king’s activities? Was there any continuity or connection between the production of the six historical books: 1&2 Samuel, 1&2 Kings, and 1&2 Chronicles?

See 1 Kings Teacher’s Guide #1 for a general discussion of the authorship and conditions of writing of these two books which were originally one. The SDA Bible Commentary and Dictionary also provide excellent introductions to these two books.

“These books are appropriately designated since they are a record of the reigns of the kings of Judah and Israel from the time of Solomon until the fall of the Jewish monarchy and destruction of Jerusalem in 586 B.C. The title Kings is a literal translation of the Hebrew (Heb melek or pl. melakim), and these books appear in the Hebrew division of the Bible known as the ‘Former Prophets.’” (KJV Bible Commentary)

“First and Second Kings were originally one book in the Hebrew canon, as were the books of Samuel. The translators of the Septuagint, the Greek Old Testament of about 150 B.C., joined Samuel and Kings together and divided the resulting book into four parts. When Samuel and Kings were separated later, these four parts became First and Second Samuel and First and Second Kings.

“Traditionally, Jeremiah was identified as the author of First and Second Kings. However, contemporary critical scholarship has suggested that the books were the result of a compilation process that began with its initial composition in the late seventh century B.C. and concluded in the middle of the sixth century B.C. The proponents of this view have identified a Deuteronomic school of writers as the source of the First and Second Kings because of the emphasis in these books on religious orthodoxy (the Law and the temple), the ministry of the prophets, and the central place of the Davidic dynasty...

“Nevertheless, differences in writing style between the books of Jeremiah and Kings, as well as distinctions in the use of the names of Judah’s kings make any final determination of the authorship of the books of the Kings uncertain. If due weight is given to the long section dealing with Judah (2 Kin. 18:1-25:26[1803]), it may reasonably be said that both books of Kings, except the final appended historical notice (2 Kin. 25:27-30[1804]), is the work of an author who lived through the last days of Judah and the fall of Jerusalem in 586 B.C. Perhaps the spiritual reform that followed the recovery of the Book of the Law during Josiah’s reign (c. 622 B.C.) provided the necessary impetus for the author to gather up his sources and write an account of Israel’s faithfulness to the covenant from the days of David until his own time.

“To compose a work covering nearly four hundred years, the author of the Book of Kings would need excellent source material. Three sources are specifically named: (1) The Book of the Acts of Solomon (11:41), which detailed the events of the Solomonic era; (2) The Book of the Chronicles of

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the Kings of Israel (cited seventeen times in 14:19-15:31), which were the court records of the northern kingdom; and (3) The Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah (mentioned fifteen times in 1 Kin. 14:29-2 Kin. 24:5), which were court records of the southern kingdom. Furthermore, the author might have had biographical accounts of David (2 Kings 1:1-2:11[1805]), Elijah, and Elisha (1 Kin. 16:29-2 Kin. 9:37), and access to the Book of Isaiah (compare Is. 36-39[1806] to 2 Kin. 18:13-20:19[1807]). Such material was preserved in priestly and prophetic centers in both the northern and southern kingdoms...

“The author’s purpose in writing First and Second Kings was not primarily to provide historical information. Instead, the author wanted to evaluate Israel’s spiritual odyssey that resulted in God’s chastisement (2 Kin. 17:7-23; 24:18-20[1808]). As a result, the author devotes considerable attention to evaluating the kings according to the way they responded to the responsibilities detailed in the Mosaic and Davidic covenants. The author notes specifically those who handled such responsibilities well, such as Hezekiah and Josiah. Moreover, the ministry of the prophets as God’s authoritative messengers is highlighted. Particular attention is given to the ministries of Elijah (1 Kin. 17-19; 21[1809]; 2 Kin. 2:1-11[1810]) and Elisha (2 Kin. 2:12-8:15[1811]).

“In the entire account, the author repeatedly underscores the necessity for a genuinely godly walk—one in obedience to God’s law. Particularly in the accounts relating to Elijah, the author contrasts the true worship of the living God with the false religion of the Canaanites (1 Kin. 17; 18[1812]). The main difference between the true God and the false gods is that the living God faithfully fulfills His promises (1 Kin. 8:20, 23-26[1813]). Hence, the author pays special attention to God’s promises in the Davidic covenant. In that covenant, God had promised to bless Israel (1 Kin. 2:4, 5, 45; 3:6, 14; 6:12, 13[1814]; 2 Kin. 8:19[1815]). Yet this blessing was tied to obedience: Israel’s only hope for God’s blessing and true success lay in obedience to God’s word (1 Kin. 2:2-4[1816]). The failures of the Israelites to walk in God’s ways and their subsequent chastisement can serve as a warning to us. At the same time, the prophets, who stood up for God’s truth in a period of decline, can motivate us to stand for truth and righteousness in our time.” (Nelson Study Bible)

“Jewish tradition held that Jeremiah wrote 1 and 2 Kings and Lamentations as well as the prophecy under his name. The points of view of Joshua, Judges, 1 and 2 Samuel, and 1 and 2 Kings, are very similar, and because they develop the theological ideas expressed in Deuteronomy, they are often called “the Deuteronomic History” by modern authors. But the author of 1 and 2 Kings is not identified in the books themselves, and his identity cannot be known with certainty...

“Second Kings has a somewhat unusual ending. The book seems to reach its climax with the reign of Josiah (2 Kin. 23:25[1817]), but this optimism is clouded by a prophecy of impending judgment (2 Kin. 23:26, 27[1818]). Moreover, the narrative stops abruptly with Judah in Babylon, with no theological summary or conclusion. For these reasons, some scholars believe that the main work of writing Kings was done before the time of the Exile. In this theory, the original book of Kings was composed during the reign of King Josiah, and someone living during the Exile updated this history with a brief record of Judah’s final years. But whether one holds to this two-edition hypothesis or to a one-edition (exilic) hypothesis, the book has a unified perspective...

Kings as History: Characteristic of the author is a fondness for recording in detail many features of his nation’s past. This genuine interest in the dates, figures, and institutions of the kingdom of Israel appears in his record of preparations for the temple (1 Kin. 5[1819]), its dimensions and decoration (1 Kin. 6[1820]), and its furniture and vessels (1 Kin. 7:13-51). The writer gives the length of reigns for monarchs in both kingdoms, and he synchronizes their reigns with each other.

“The author organizes and presents Israel’s experience with kingship in periods in order to provide a clear and meaningful account of his nation’s past. Beginning with an evaluation of the united monarchy under Solomon (1 Kin. 1-11), the author carefully depicts its dissolution (1 Kin. 12:1-24[1821]) and the formation of two separate entities, Israel in the north and Judah in the south. He goes on to present the separate history of each realm, until the fall of the northern kingdom in 722 B.C. (2 Kin. 17[1822]). The alternation between the northern kingdom (usually called Israel) and the southern kingdom (usually called Judah) can be confusing, but it is central to the author’s purpose of presenting a unified

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history of all the Israelite tribes.

“In portraying the divided kingdom, the writer points out important differences between the two realms. Kingship in Judah was relatively stable, under the descendants of David, but kingship in Israel was unstable, and there was a succession of dynasties. Twenty kings from nine different families ruled over Israel in the northern kingdom during its existence of about two hundred years. In contrast, twenty kings from one family ruled over the southern kingdom for about three hundred fifty years. The writer concludes his coverage of the northern kingdom with a lengthy commentary on its major shortcomings (2 Kin. 17:7-34[1823]).

“To consider Kings as no more than history of the monarchy would strip the book of its theological value, since the author is not a dispassionate observer, merely chronicling his nation’s past. Nevertheless, the historical value of his work should not be underestimated. In composing a coherent and meaningful account of his nation’s past, the biblical writer has provided an invaluable service to anyone who wants to understand this momentous era in Israelite history.” (New Geneva Study Bible)

“It appears that certain kings had in their service one who bore the title, recorder (Heb mazkir, lit., remembrancer). It is likely that his function was to keep an official record for the king (cf. II Sam 8:16[1824]; I    Kings 4:3[1825]; II Kings 18:l8[1826]; II Chr 34:8[1827]). Parallel accounts in II Chronicles (e.g., cf. I Kings 11:41[1828] and II Chr 9:29[1829]) cite the following writers: Nathan the prophet, Ahijah the Shilonite, and Iddo the seer. Other writers cited separately are Shemaiah the prophet (II Chr 12:5[1830]), Isaiah the prophet (II Chr 26:22; 32:32[1831]), and Jehu the seer (cf. II Chr 19:2; 20:34[1832])...

“Although the writer quotes freely from non-inspired prophetic works, he does not serve only as a compiler. It would be a serious error to assume that his work was merely a collection of extracts, even if he were directed to them by the Holy Spirit. Rather, his references to statements in noninspired works constitute divine approval of the truth of the facts the author of Kings uses. His inspiration is from above, not from divine direction to earthly sources.” (KJVBible Commentary)

“Though the authorship cannot be known with certainty, several suggestions have been made. Some have nominated Ezra as the compiler, while others point to Isaiah as the editor. Compare 2 Kings 18-20 with Isaiah 36-39. A number of scholars say that the writer of 1 and 2 Kings was an unknown prophet or a Jewish captive in Babylon at about 550 B.C. Because Josephus (a prominent Jewish historian of the first century A.D.) ascribes Kings to “the prophets,” many have abandoned the search for a specific author. However, the most probable position is that the prophet Jeremiah was author of 1 and 2 Kings. The early Jewish tradition of the Talmud [Baba Bathra 15a] states that Jeremiah wrote Kings. This famous prophet preached in Jerusalem before and after its fall, and 2 Kings 24 and 25 appear in Jeremiah 40, 41, 52. Jeremiah could have written all but the contents of the last appendix (2 Kin. 25:27-30[1833]), which were probably added by one of his disciples...

“Contemplating the horror of the exile of God’s people, the author compiles 1 and 2 Kings to answer the looming question of why both the northern kingdom of Israel and the southern kingdom of Judah had been taken captive. He writes with a prophetic message, showing that this punishment by captivity to foreign pagan nations was the inevitable consequence of the persistent violation of God’s covenant with them. Kings was written to move the exiles to reflect on their history and return to the Lord. Perhaps this prophetic perspective is one reason why it was included in the “earlier prophets” in the Hebrew Bible.” (Spirit Filled Life Study Bible)

“Second Chronicles, of course, records the history of almost the same period as 1 and 2 Kings. The purposes and emphases of these two histories differ significantly. The kings of Judah were of more interest to the author of Chronicles whereas both the Israelite and Judean monarchs occupied the interest of the author of 1 and 2 Kings. The Books of 1 and 2 Chronicles emphasize especially the priestly elements in the nation’s history, such as the temple and worship, while 1 and 2 Kings give attention to the royal and prophetic elements. In 2 Chronicles the kings of Judah after David are evaluated in reference to David and the worship of Yahweh; in 1 and 2 Kings the rulers of both

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kingdoms are evaluated in reference to the Mosaic Law.” (The Bible Knowledge Commentary)

While Samuel, Nathan, and Gad probably put together 1 and 2 Samuel, Jeremiah is the most likely editor/compiler of 1 and 2 Kings. Those four books however, form a united history of Israel/Judah primarily from the perspective of the kings and prophets who served in those kingdoms. First and 2 Chronicles on the other hand, seem to be the history as recorded by the priests and from their perspective. It was probably put together much later by Ezra. Together these six books give us a view of the events of the histories of both kingdoms that is focused on the spiritual progress of those nations.

2.    What kind of a prophet of God would call fire from God down on the messengers who were sent to call him to see the king? (2 Kings 1:9-17[1834]; Compare Luke 9:51-55[1835]) Why did the Lord strike these men dead? (Is this what it means to come “in the spirit and power of Elijah?” Luke 1:17[1836]) What is implied by the statement, “But before the great and terrible day of the Lord comes, I will send you the prophet Elijah?” (Malachi 4:5[1837]) Some have suggested that the entire SDA church of the last days is to serve as an “Elijah.” In what way would this be true? (Matthew 17:10-13[1838])

Elijah was obviously a very remarkable prophet who had a profound effect on the nation of Israel. It is likely that the most important thing that he did for the nation was the expansion and enlargement of the schools of the prophets which are only briefly mentioned in Scripture. (See EGW comments) But why would Malachi, some 400 years later make a prophecy about someone of his nature coming before the great and terrible day of the Lord? (See Malachi 4:5[1839]) Was it that Elijah called the nation to account in the days of Ahab and Jezebel? Was it that he challenged the “gods” of this world? Was it that he challenged the religious leaders of his day? If John the Baptist was a foretaste of Elijah’s “successor” what was the most important thing he did? Was there any relationship between Elijah’s coming down on the mount of Transfiguration and Jesus’ statement about John in Matthew 17:10-13[1840]? Are we still looking for Elijah to come? How will we recognize him?

“This prophecy led many of the Jews of later times to expect a return to earth of Elijah himself (see John 1:21[1841]). However, this is a prophecy of someone who was to come in “the spirit and power” of Elijah (Luke 1:17[1842]), that is, who would preach a message similar to that of Elijah. Before the first advent of Christ this work was done by John the Baptist (Matt. 17:12, 13[1843]; Luke 1:16, 17[1844]; see on Mal. 3:1[1845]), and before the second advent of Christ a similar work will be done by those who preach the three angels’ messages to the world [See Malachi 4:5[1846]]....

“The very work accomplished by Elijah and John the Baptist is needed today. In these days of moral corruption and spiritual blindness there is need of voices that will fearlessly proclaim the coming of the Lord to the people of earth. The call of this hour is for men and women who will order their lives as did John and Elijah of old, and who will call upon others to do the same. There is needed a work of earnest reform, not only without the church, but within it as well. God calls upon all who would love and serve Him to go forth “in the spirit and power of Elijah” (3T 61, 62).” [See Luke 1:17[1847]] (SDA Bible Commentary)

3.    Of all the prophets we have read about, why would God choose to translate Elijah? (2 Kings 2:1-12[1848]) Having translated Elijah, why would God leave Elisha to die a slow death? (2 Kings 13:14-21[1849]) Having translated Elijah, why would God send him back here to encourage His Son on the Mount of Transfiguration? (Matthew 17:1-9[1850]; Mark 9:2-13[1851]; Luke 9:28-36[1852])

Was Elijah better prepared for translation than any other prophet or priest or king in the Old Testament? Was this a reward for all that he suffered through? Is it possible that there is some reason why God needed Elijah in heaven? When it came time for someone to come down to encourage Jesus, Himself, God Incarnate here on earth, why were Elijah and Moses chosen and not Gabriel or some other very influential or persuasive angel? Jesus spoke on a daily, even hourly, basis

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with His Father in heaven, often praying all night. Is there anything that Moses and Elijah could possibly have said to Jesus that the Father couldn’t have said better?

“Moses and Elijah appeared on the Mount and discussed His approaching death at Jerusalem (Luke 9:30, 31[1853]). Moses and Elijah may represent O.T. saints. Or, if we take Moses as representing the Law, and Elijah representing the Prophets, then here we see both sections of the O.T. pointing forward to the sufferings of Christ and the glories that should follow. A third possibility is that Moses, who went to heaven by way of death, depicts all who will be raised from the dead to enter the Millennium, while Elijah, who was translated to heaven, pictures those who will reach the kingdom by the route of translation.

“The disciples Peter, James, and John may represent NT saints in general. They could also foreshadow the faithful Jewish remnant who will be alive at the Second Advent and will enter the kingdom with Christ.” (Believer’s Bible Commentary)

“Moses and Elijah had been colaborers with Christ. They had shared His longing for the salvation of men. Moses had pleaded for Israel: "Yet now, if Thou wilt forgive their sin--; and if not, blot me, I pray Thee, out of Thy book which Thou hast written." Ex. 32:32[1854]. Elijah had known loneliness of spirit, as for three years and a half of famine he had borne the burden of the nation's hatred and its woe. Alone he had stood for God upon Mount Carmel. Alone he had fled to the desert in anguish and despair. These men, chosen above every angel around the throne, had come to commune with Jesus concerning the scenes of His suffering, and to comfort Him with the assurance of the sympathy of heaven. The hope of the world, the salvation of every human being, was the burden of their interview.” DA 422.2

“Two glorious figures stand engaged in conversation with him. They are Moses, who talked with God face to face amid the thunder and lightnings of Sinai, and Elijah, that prophet of God who did not see death, but was conducted to Heaven in a chariot of fire. These two, whom God had seen fit to favor above all others who ever lived upon earth, were delegated by the Father to bring the glory of Heaven to his Son, and comfort him, talking with him concerning the completion of his mission, and especially of his sufferings to be endured at Jerusalem.” 2SP 328.2-329

There are many questions that we will never be able to answer fully this side of the kingdom. But we have been assured that God will do what is best for all involved. John the Baptist was called the “Elijah” of the New Testament, but God allowed him to fall into the hands of Herod and finally to have his head cut off because of the whims of Herod’s illegitimate wife! Each person’s life is to say something of significance in God’s great plan.

4. Why would God go to all the effort of dividing the Jordan River just so Elijah and Elisha could cross? (2 Kings 2:8,14[1855])

At a time when “gods” were evaluated on the basis of the power they demonstrated in the eyes of men, Yahweh needed to show that He had not lost any of His power! Remember that fifty of the “prophets” from the school at Jericho were watching from the shores as these events took place. In case Elijah’s previous miracles had not been adequate to impress people, or perhaps had taken place some time in the past and were losing their impact, God decided to give this one final demonstration of His power working through Elijah and Elisha in order to remind people what kind of God they were dealing with. Considering the actions of the young men from a few miles away only a short time later, even this miracle witnessed by quite a number of the students of the school in Jericho had little impact on many of them. (2 Kings 2:23-25[1856])

Elisha also needed evidence that God’s power would be with him in his ministry. The miracle of the dividing of Jordan was the first tangible evidence of that power.

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5.    Why do you think the young men were so anxious to go and try to find Elijah? (2 Kings 2:15-18[1857])

Remember that these young men had received a message from the Yahweh that Elijah would be taken up from them. But there are always some doubters in the group. (See EGW comments) It is also possible that they knew that when others heard about the story they would raise questions. Thus they wanted to verify as far as possible the miraculous ascension of their former leader.

6.    Why would a prophet of God be cursing a group of young people and why did God send the she-bears to “tear them?” (2 Kings 2:23-25[1858]) What was the spiritual environment at the time? (2 Kings 1:2-6[1859])

In a land where the king decided that instead of consulting Elijah, who was a few miles away, he would consult Baalzebub, the “god of flies” down at Ekron in the land of the Philistines to determine if he would die as a result of an accident, it was necessary to take pretty stark action to make any impression at all on the populace. These young men had no doubt heard of the miraculous ascension of Elijah and wanted to see a miracle for themselves! But if God gave in to all who called for a miracle for proof of His existence or power, He would never stop performing miracles. In fact, there is plenty of evidence that as the miracles increased there would only be more demand for miracles. So God took a very serious approach to these very irreverent young men. Elisha was just beginning his personal ministry for the people of Israel. He would be traveling about their country for many years in the future. He must have the respect and safety that would allow him to focus on the job God had given him to do and not be constantly distracted by jesting and mischievous youth. God took serious steps to stop such disrespect and at the very beginning of Elisha’s personal ministry people recognized that the same power that had worked with Elijah was in Elisha and he was not to be taken lightly or messed with.

7.    Why do you think the heathen “gods” were so attractive to the people of Israel?

Why are people today attracted to the “idols” or “gods” of this world instead of to the One true God? For one thing, the Devil was constantly at work tempting people to try his “gods”. Furthermore, the worship services connected with these pagan “gods” consisted of drunkenness, dancing, and the pursuit of sexual indulgence as a part of religious worship. There was no struggling with the sins of the flesh. There was no effort involved at all. Just feasting, dancing, drunkenness and sexual orgies. The Devil designed the whole program to entice people to turn away from the constant struggle to be more like Yahweh. There was a constant focusing on the “pleasures of sin.” (See Hebrews 11:25[1860])

In such an atmosphere, the temple services must have seemed a bit tedious and even boring by contrast, especially in the minds of the young people. We have the same basic problem in our world today.

8.    Who were closer to being “savable”-the people in the times of Elijah and Elisha with all their heathen practices, or the Sadducees and Pharisees in the time of Christ? Which of these groups is more like us? Does this have anything to do with the “fullness of time” (Galatians 4:4,5[1861]) when Jesus was to come?

It is interesting to notice that in the days of Josiah when the scroll of the law was discovered in the temple and read to the king and to the people there was a tremendous revival. (2 Chr 34:8-28[1862]; 2 Kgs 22.3-20[1863]) Something similar happened in the days of Ezra. (Nehemiah 8:1-12[1864]) What would have happened if someone had stood up and read the law to the Pharisees and Sadducees? Nothing! They had memorized it! It was nothing new or startling to them. And it made no difference to their lives. Unfortunately, we tend to be much more like them than we are like the people in earlier times. Studying the Bible is “boring”! But that doesn’t fully answer our question. Which one of these two groups was more savable? Paul had been a Pharisee and he certainly was saved. But we see no evidence that he was able to convince many of his peers. With all of his knowledge and persuasion

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why do you think that was?

9.    Didn’t the people of Israel have a mind of their own? It seems that whenever the king did evil, the people would do the same, and when the king did what was right they followed that? (See 1 Kings 15:26,34; 16:13; 22:52[1865]; 2 Kings 3:3; 10:31; 13:2,11; 14:24; 15:9,18,24,28; 23:15[1866]) See 2 Chronicles Teacher’s Guide #14.

“The establishment of national religious centers in competition with the one in Jerusalem is repeatedly referred to in the books of Kings as the sin of Jeroboam (1 Kings 13:34; 14:16; 15:26, 30; 16:2[1867]; 2 Kin. 3:3; 10:29; 13:2; 17:22[1868]). Unfortunately, every northern king followed the path first blazed by Jeroboam. None of them tried to institute a thorough reform. Without determined opposition the sin of Jeroboam brought about the deterioration and demise of Israel (2 Kin. 17:22, 23[1869]).” (New Geneva Study Bible)

“That many of the people of Israel accepted these changes reveals that their hearts were far from the Lord. Their fathers had worshiped a calf before and were punished for it (Ex. 32[1870]). Solomon had erected high places and lost most of his kingdom for it (chap. 11). Korah and his followers had tried to usurp the priesthood and lost their lives for it (Num. 16[1871]). These innovations by which Jeroboam sought to secure his kingdom only ensured its eventual downfall. Those who had a heart for God fled to Judah (2 Chron. 11:14-16[1872]), leaving their brethren to the conveniences—and consequences—of man-made religion. It has been well said that ‘Jeroboam did not deserve so good a post [as king], but Israel deserved so bad a prince.’” (Believer’s Bible Commentary)

We attempt to warn our children about the dangers of “peer pressure”. But what happens when an entire society or nation begins going the wrong way? It is often much easier to stand up to pressure from those who are acknowledged as different from us or opposed to our ideas than it is to resist the subtle pressure of being surrounded by “associates,” “family” and “friends” who are following a bad path. Here is a case where the entire nation headed down the “rosy path” together until they were beyond the reach of God and He had to allow them to disappear from history into oblivion. Once Israel turned away from God they never turned back. This should be a very serious lesson for us.

10.    Why were there so many miracles in the days of Elijah and Elisha? If we had more faith would we see more miracles today? What do you think of a God who would go to such lengths to reach people in such difficult times? Having used all these methods in the Old Testament, why was Jesus so reluctant to use them at key points in His earthly ministry?

There were four periods of significant miracles in the Bible: 1) Creation, 2) the plagues against Egypt and the exodus from Egypt, 3) the days of Elijah and Elisha, and 4) the days of Jesus and his apostles. There were other miracles scattered through the Bible but these are the four great concentrations of miracles. Why do you suppose that was? “A miracle is a signature of God, His sign of confirmation that the proclaimed message is truly His revelation. Miracles do not contradict God’s created order; they are real events, although they transcend the normal pattern of cause and effect...[At the time of the plagues in Egypt] the magicians were able to copy each of the first few miracles (v. 22; 8:7; 9:11) until the plague of lice (8:18, 19). This suggests that the miracles gradually increased in difficulty and/or severity. This should teach us that something that appears to be the work of God may really be the work of Satan (2 Thess. 2:8-12[1873]). In order to be a genuine work of God, an experience must be associated with the proclamation of truth and must bring glory to God.” (Believer’s Study Bible)

[Miracles are defined as:] “Usually phenomena that cannot be explained by the operation of the known laws of the natural world; also the providential alteration of circumstances, or of the human

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attitude and volition, in such a way as to promote good or to restrain evil; from the Latin miraculum, an object or event that impresses those who behold it with wonder and astonishment, that transcends their knowledge, understanding, and experience, and for which, in their finite judgment, the laws of nature or change cannot provide an adequate explanation.

“As to purpose or result, a miracle may be defined in terms of the Greek words thus translated in the NT: (1) dunamis, “ an act of power,” (2) semeion, “a sign” (Luke 23:8[1874]; John 2:11[1875]; etc.). With these Greek terms is often associated the word teras, “wonder” (Matt. 24:24[1876]; Acts 2:22[1877]; etc.). The same miracle would be a wonder by virtue of the awe it inspired in those who witnessed it, an act of power because it was a manifestation of divine power, and a sign in the sense that it was designed to impress truth upon human minds.” (SDA Encyclopedia)

But there are many, even among Christians, who question where there are any “miracles”. We see this demonstrated all the time in the popular press where movies and other media portray “miracles” in some way that is explainable by unusual events. This leads the Anchor Bible Dictionary to say the following after a long discussion of the subtle differences in the Bible between “miracles” and unusual but natural events:

“The key in determining whether an event is miraculous or not lies in the degree of power and magnitude of the event as it is expressed in the text; it is not the quality of the phenomenon which decides the question but rather the manner of its formulation. The decisive factor is a literary one: the expression of excitement and wonder in the face of an incident and the amount of words devoted to its description. The definition of miracle in the Bible, then, is a literary definition: an extraordinary occurrence, attributable to God’s hand (which at times disrupts the order of creation), and which leaves a marked impression in the text; the criteria for determining what is to be considered a miracle are literary in character.” (Anchor Bible Dictionary)

Once again we are confronted with the problem of the supernatural. The scientific world would love to eliminate any mention of the “supernatural”. But there are many “events” in the Bible which cannot be explained in any way without the supernatural. This should not be a surprise to us who believe that the purpose of the Bible is primarily to tell us about God. He is Supernatural!

It is interesting to think about why there were these specific times in the Bible when there were many more “miracles” that at other times. As I have suggested before, it seems that miracles occurred more often at times when there was very little faith. This is in direct contradiction to the ideas propagated by many religious groups that seem to suggest that if we had more faith God would perform more “miracles.”

11. Why do we have all these stories? Why didn’t God just give us a well-worded, brief theological summary statement about Himself? How can God expect us to get anything of real spiritual significance out of these accounts in Kings and Chronicles? Or do you see these stories as giving enough detail, so we can recognize that these are “real” people, living in “real” situations who had to struggle with life’s issues just as we do, and therefore it may provide insights to us about how God relates to people?

These are the books that provide the historical backbone of the Biblical record. The writings of David, Solomon, and all of the prophets are set in the context of these historical books. They help us to understand the context in which the writings occurred. The single most important key to understanding anything that is written is to understand the context in which it was written. Without their context many written passages seem puzzling and lose their meaning. One only needs to come across an old letter written from a friend to understand that problem! Often when we have forgotten what the context was in which the letter was written, it seems almost a mystery. Thus it is essential that we have these historical books to help us to understand what was happening in sacred history so we can understand even the non-historical books.

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12.    What is the purpose of the story of Elisha’s death, and the sudden resurrection of the corpse thrown into that cave where Elisha was buried? (2 Kings 13:20,21[1878]) Can you picture this whole story in your imagination? Compare the story of the water being stirred at the pool of Bethsaida. (John 5:1-18[1879])

“The strange miracle which occurred at Elisha’s tomb must have been an astonishment to the friends of the resurrected man. The plundering Moabites must have been a surprise to the burial party, but what about a dead friend who suddenly stood up alive and well? The purpose of the miracle was (1) to confirm that God was the God of the living, and (2) to seal the witness of Elisha with the divine imprimatur.” (Believer’s Study Bible)

“The physical bodies of Christ and His three great prophetic predecessors are given special attention in Scripture. Moses’ body was buried by God (Deut. 34:5, 6[1880]). Elijah’s body ascended into heaven (2 Kin. 2:11[1881]). Elisha’s body retained power after death (2 Kin. 13:21[1882]); and Christ’s glorified body was physical, yet heavenly (Luke 24:30, 31[1883])." (Woman’s Study Bible)

“Shortly thereafter Elisha died. Elisha’s ministry spanned at least 56 years (including his years of serving as Elijah’s servant) since he was called by Elijah during Ahab’s reign (which ended in 853 B.C.) and Elisha died in Jehoash’s reign (which began in 798 B.C.). The prophet was probably buried as most of the early Israelites were in a cave or tomb (v. 21) hewn out of a rock, after his body was wrapped in linen cloths.

“Some time later some men were laying another man’s body to rest near Elisha’s tomb. They were surprised by a group of Moabite raiders who were apparently going to rob whomever they met. To flee quickly, the Israelite pallbearers removed the stone in front of Elisha’s tomb, threw the corpse of their friend in the tomb, and retreated. When the new corpse touched Elisha’s he came to life and stood up on his feet. Evidently the men who placed the body in Elisha’s tomb observed this. Doubtless they told their story far and wide, and it probably reached the ears of Jehoash for whom this miracle seems to have been intended primarily. Such a sign of the power of God working even through His prophet’s corpse may have both encouraged the king as he anticipated his battles with the Arameans and rebuked him for his lack of faith.” (The Bible Knowledge Commentary)

“This incident probably had a profound effect upon those who witnessed the miracle and upon those to whom it was later related. It was a time of distress and annoyance. The Moabites were making forays into the land and snatching away the new harvests. It was a time when men might well inquire, Where is the God of Elisha? Where are the miracles of the past? The resuscitation of the corpse gave evidence that the God of Israel was not dead. He was ready to work miracles even now. If men would heed the messages of the departed prophet, God would once more grant victory over the intruder and restore security to the land.” (SDA Bible Commentary)

13.    We read that the King of Moab sacrificed his firstborn son on the wall of the city to try to stop the battle from completely destroying his kingdom. What relation was there between this barbaric practice and the end of the battle? (2 Kings 3:26,27[1884]) How many others worshiped Molech by offering their sons or daughters? (Deuteronomy 18:10[1885]; 1 Kings 11:5-8[1886]; 2 Kings 16:3; 17:17,31; 23:10[1887]; 2 Chronicles 28:1-3; 33:1,6[1888]; Jeremiah 7:31; 19:4-6; 32:35[1889]; Ezekiel 16:20,21,36; 23:37,39[1890]; compare Amos 5:25-27 as quoted from the Septuagint in Acts 7:42,43[1891]; Molech was often worshiped just outside Jerusalem in the valley of Hinnom.)

There is not much evidence of what happened here. Some have speculated about what the results of this unusual action were:

“The sacrifice of his own son by the king of Moab so enthused the Moabite troops by its example of dedication, and so horrified the armies of Israel and Judah, that the Moabites were able to repel the Israelite siege.” (Believer’s Study Bible)

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“The Moabite king’s desperate sacrifice of his son is often paralleled in the literature of the ancient Near East. This verse provides an instance where the Bible supplements the information from secular history (i.e., the Moabite Stone). The Israelites left the scene with disgust at what they saw.” (King James Version Study Bible)

“This grisly act was meant to induce the god Chemosh to deliver the Moabites from certain defeat. Child sacrifice was expressly forbidden in Israel (Ex. 34:20[1892]; Deut. 18:10[1893]); nevertheless, two later kings of Judah (Ahaz and Manasseh) apparently practiced it (2 Kings 16:3; 21:6[1894]).” (New Geneva Study Bible)

“To Mesha, the defeat in battle was a sign that his god Chemosh was angry with Moab. As a result, Mesha offered his own son in a sacrifice to please his god. Great indignation against Israel may mean that Mesha’s action was so repulsive that the Israelites broke off their attack, or that the battle suddenly went against Israel. Another possibility is that the Israelites ceased their assault because God was displeased with them in some way.” (Spirit Filled Life Study Bible)

“In cases of great extremity, it was customary in various heathen nations, to offer human sacrifices, and even their own children. This was frequent among the Phoenicians, Greeks, Romans, Scythians, Gauls, Africans, and others; and was the natural fruit of a religious system, which had for the objects of its worship cruel and merciless divinities. The king of Moab, in this case, sacrificed his son to obtain the favor of Chemosh, his god, who, being a devil, delighted in blood and murder, and the destruction of mankind. The dearer anything was to them, the more acceptable those idolaters thought the sacrifice, and therefore burnt their children in the fire to their honor. Ge 22:2, 13[1895]. Dt 12:31[1896]. Jg 11:31, 39[1897]. Ps 106:37, 38[1898]. Ezk 16:20[1899]. Mi 6:7[1900].” (The New Treasury of Scripture Knowledge)

“Defeat in battle was regarded by pagan Near Eastern warriors as a sign that their gods were angry with them. To propitiate his god, Chemosh (1 Kings 11:7, 33[1901]; 2 Kings 23:13[1902]), Mesha offered his firstborn son, the heir to his throne, as a human sacrifice on top of the city wall. He was fighting with all his might. It was not Israel’s intent to annihilate the Moabites; they only wanted to keep their neighbors from rebelling against their sovereignty to keep them under their control. So offensive to the allies was Mesha’s act of sacrificing his son that they withdrew and returned home. Israel had won the battle even though they had not destroyed Kir Hareseth or captured Mesha.

“Some say the fury against Israel, which was great, may refer to God’s anger. More likely it refers to Judah’s anger against Israel for invading Moab in a battle that resulted in their seeing such a repulsive act.

“A remarkable archeological discovery, the Moabite Stone, contains Mesha’s own record of this battle and other battles with Israel. On this stone the Moabite king claimed to have been delivered from the Israelites by his god Chemosh on this day. Though it is true that he was not captured at Kir Hareseth and the Israelites withdrew, Israel and her allies were the real victors in this campaign.

“The account of this battle provides further proof of the sovereignty of Yahweh and of the complete vanity of idols and idolatry. But even with so many proofs Israel continued to spurn the Lord and foolishly worshiped pagan deities.” (The Bible Knowledge Commentary)

“The account ends on a strange note; the helpless king of Moab offered his own son as a burnt offering, and Judah and Edom became so indignant against Israel (Jehoram) that they withdrew from the battle and went home. They should not have allied with Jehoram to begin with. It was the faithful prophet of God, not the wicked king, who saved the nation.” (Wiersbe’s Expository Outlines on the Old Testament)

14. Look at the description of the people in 2 Kings 17:7-23[1903]. How could God’s people possibly have fallen so far? What else could God do with such people? They: 1. worshiped other gods, 2. followed the

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customs of the Canaanites, 3. built pagan places of worship in all their towns, on top of every hill and in every shady place, 4. put up Asherah poles, 5. burned incense on all the pagan altars, 6. disobeyed the Lord’s command not to worship idols, 7. worshiped the stars, 8. served Baal, 9. sacrificed their sons and daughters as burnt offerings to pagan gods, 10. consulted mediums and fortunetellers, 11. devoted themselves completely to doing what is wrong in the Lord’s sight. What could God do to make an impression on such people? “They worshiped worthless idols and became worthless themselves” (vs. 15). Compare Psalms 115:1-8[1904]; Hosea 9:10[1905]; Jeremiah 2:5,17,19; 7:6[1906]; Ezekiel 5, 16, 20[1907] and 2 Chronicles 36:15,16[1908].

This summary passage is a clear and devastating denunciation against the sins of the northern kingdom of Israel. What else could God do with or for them? They had committed every sin and violated every covenant that God had given them since the days of Moses. God had clearly told them what the result would be and now it was to take place.

15.    How do you explain what happened to the people who were imported into “Samaria” to take the place of the Israelites who were exported? (2 Kings 17:24-41[1909]) These are the ancestors of the Samaritans. Notice how they tried to mix different religions, even offering their children as sacrifices (vs. 31).

2 Kings 17:24-28: 24 The emperor of Assyria took people from the cities of Babylon, Cuth, Ivvah, Hamath, and Sepharvaim, and settled them in the cities of Samaria, in place of the exiled Israelites. They took possession of these cities and lived there. 25When they first settled there, they did not worship the Lord, and so he sent lions, which killed some of them. 26The emperor of Assyria was told that the people he had settled in the cities of Samaria did not know the law of the god of that land, and so the god had sent lions, which were killing them. 27So the emperor commanded: “Send back one of the priests we brought as prisoners; make him go back and live there, in order to teach the people the law of the god of that land.” 28So an Israelite priest who had been deported from Samaria went and lived in Bethel, where he taught the people how to worship the Lord.” (GNB)

In ancient times it was believed by many that “gods” had their own “territories”. When you were in the “territory” of a certain “god” you were expected to give reverence and respect to that “god”. This is illustrated by the story of Naaman:

2 Kings 5:16-18: 16 “Elisha answered, ‘By the living Lord, whom I serve, I swear that I will not accept a gift.’

“Naaman insisted that he accept it, but he would not. 17So Naaman said, “If you won’t accept my gift, then let me have two mule-loads of earth to take home with me, because from now on I will not offer sacrifices or burnt offerings to any god except the Lord. 18So I hope that the Lord will forgive me when I accompany my king to the temple of Rimmon, the god of Syria, and worship him. Surely the Lord will forgive me!” (GNB)

A footnote adds: “It was then believed that a god could be worshiped only on his own land”.

So the Samaritans wanted a priest from the “land” to teach them how to worship the “god” of the land! As a result they soon mixed their pagan religions with pieces of Yahweh worship. This made the truth and the true worship of Yahweh even more confusing.

16.    Compare 2 Kings 19 and Isaiah 37-who borrowed from whom? If we cannot believe in prophets who borrow, which of these books are we going to throw out? How do you think Kings and Chronicles were actually written?

See #1 above. Clearly the writer of 2 Kings was not an eye witness of what he wrote. He had to put together his entire “history” from the writings of others. It should not be surprising then that he

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chose to use this historical portion from the writings of Isaiah. He made no claim to originality here. He did not specifically mention Isaiah as the author of this portion but he mentions the names of several others. The people who read God’s word certainly realized perfectly well what had taken place here and had no questions about it.

17. Is 2 Kings 19:35 an example of what God would have done to drive out the inhabitants of Canaan if Israel had allowed Him?

2 Kings 19:35: “That night an angel of the Lord went to the Assyrian camp and killed 185,000 soldiers. At dawn the next day, there they lay, all dead!”(GNB)

Surely no one would question God’s ability to carry out such a feat. There has been a lot of discussion by those who question the supernatural aspects of Scripture as to what happened here:

“Sennacherib’s records make no mention of this event, but the Assyrians typically recorded only their victories. The ancient historian Herodotus recorded that the Assyrian camp was overrun by mice, driving the army away from Jerusalem and suggesting that the Assyrians attributed the deaths to a plague associated with rats. Sennacherib fought another five campaigns but never returned to Judah.” (Woman’s Study Bible)

“The angel of the LORD [None other than Jehovah Himself (cf. Gen 22:15-16[1910]; Num 22:22-35[1911]; Judges 2:1-5; 6:21-23[1912]], He is often thought to be the Second Person of the Trinity in a preincarnate form) killed 185,000 Assyrians that very night. The Greek historian, Herodotus, records the tradition that mice ate the Assyrians’ bowstrings and leather shield handles. Many modern scholars, therefore, attribute the death of the Assyrians to the bubonic plague, but this is doubtful. It was clearly the miraculous judgment of God, regardless of the way He caused the deaths.” (King James Version Study Bible)

“Sennacherib’s inscription boasts of all his mighty victories, but is silent concerning his defeat by the ‘angel of the Lord.’ Defeats and failures were invariably ignored when chronicles were being compiled by the heathen Near Eastern nations.” (Believer’s Study Bible)

Critical scholars have many different things to say about this story. They cannot believe that

185,000 people were involved. Thus they try to imagine ways in which to explain how an error could have crept in. Some say it was only 185 men and the Hebrew symbol for the number 1000 was a mistake. Others suggest that various kinds of plagues could have been involved. And, of course, many while recognizing the basic facts of the story (since they are mostly corroborated by the Assyrian’s own records), believe that the Biblical version of the story must have been written some time later by some of Isaiah’s disciples, and later embellished further by later generations so that we cannot be sure exactly what happened. This is a typical example of the attempts made by those who question all of the supernatural events in Scripture to explain away those events.

18. What do you think of Isaiah changing his statement about King Hezekiah’s death? Does this make Isaiah a false prophet? (2 Kings 20:1-11) Did Isaiah change his mind, or did God change His mind? What was the result?

“Healing by Miracle or Medicine? DIVINE HEALING. This story of Hezekiah’s miraculous healing begins with his being informed by the prophet Isaiah that he will die of his illness. He immediately begins to pray and seek God earnestly, not accepting the fate of death. God’s addition of 15 years to his life suggests that prayer in the face of terminal illness is never inappropriate. But

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Isaiah also directs Hezekiah to apply a poultice of figs to his boil. Some scholars point to the figs as a medical prescription, and attribute the healing power to the poultice. The Bible does not condemn resorting to medical remedies; but, in this case, to think that such a poultice, by itself, could cure a terminal illness seems absurd. God is the Author of all healing benefit, however; and the application of the poultice appears to suggest that human medical aid is never inappropriate either. God alone can heal: He does so by miracle means, by natural means, and by human means. None should be demeaned as unworthy. However, this text clearly shows that Hezekiah’s deliverance from death came from God, not man. (See James 5:14-16[1913].)” (Spirit Filled Life Study Bible)

“What would I do with the remainder of my life if God told me that I had just 15 years to live? What did Hezekiah do with those years? The Bible does not say, for the last event recorded of his reign was the destruction of Sennacherib’s army in 701 B.C. (which probably occurred less than a year after his sickness). It has been suggested that one reason why God prolonged his life was that he had no male heir to the throne (2 Kings 21:1[1914] states that Manasseh was only twelve when he began to reign). However, it is probable that Manasseh was a coregent with his father for nearly ten years, because otherwise it would be impossible to fit the 55 years of his reign into this period of Judah’s history, working back from the fixed dates of the Babylonian Captivity.” (Believer’s Bible Commentary)

“The king’s appeal in prayer was effective with God. Before Isaiah had left the palace on his way home the Lord gave him a second message: to return to the king with word announcing a postponement of his death. Hezekiah had behaved like a true son of David in the way he reacted to God’s first message. Hezekiah’s prayer (what he said) and his tears (how he felt about what he said) moved God to heal him. Isaiah announced that in three days the king would be well enough to worship God in the temple. God promised to add 15 years to Hezekiah’s life (from 701 to 686). The Lord also promised to deliver Hezekiah and Jerusalem from Sennacherib’s siege and to defend Jerusalem for His own sake and for David’s sake (cf. 2 Kings 19:34[1915]).” (The Bible Knowledge Commentary)

God always hears our prayers and even knows what we are going to say before we pray them. Thus it should be apparent that God’s foreknowledge means that He knew exactly what Hezekiah was going to pray and how He Himself would respond. But perhaps for the benefit of the onlooking universe, God allowed this exchange to take place. This led to Hezekiah’s next test, the only recorded failure in his life when the ambassador’s from Babylonia saw everything in his capital. It is hard to know how these additional years affected Hezekiah’s son Manasseh, but it is hard for us to imagine how he could have been more wicked or destructive to God’s cause.

19.    Why did Hezekiah show all his wealth to the Babylonians? (2 Kings 20:13-15[1916]) What do you think Hezekiah said to the emissaries as he was showing them around? Don’t you think he probably said, “Look at how the Lord has blessed me?” In 2 Chronicles 32:31[1917] it suggests that God allowed the Babylonian emissaries to come as a test for Hezekiah. How many of our messages to the world sound like “look how God has blessed us?” The really good news is that God is so gracious that He blesses even us!

This is the one failure in Hezekiah’s life recorded in sacred history. We wonder if Isaiah might have had something to say to Hezekiah before the Babylonian visitors arrived. In any case, Hezekiah’s response to God’s reprimand seems very selfish to us. Maybe Hezekiah was doing what was normally done by kings in his day, but it was the wrong thing to do in this case. Why couldn’t he have talked to them about his wonderful God who had the power to turn the sun dial backwards? He must have said something about it at least. How different would history have been if Hezekiah had done the right thing on this occasion?

20.    Look at the story of Manasseh (2 Kings 21:1-18[1918]; 2 Chronicles 33:1-20[1919]). After living such a wicked life, including putting Isaiah into a hollow log and sawing him in half (See the Pseudepigraphical book of The Martyrdom of Isaiah; Compare Hebrews 11:37[1920]; 4BC 1137; Patriarchs and Prophets 381,382[1921])

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notice the apparently genuine repentance that he showed at the end of his life. But did this repentance reverse all the effects of those years of sinning? (2 Chronicles 33:10-25[1922]) What do you think Isaiah will think and say when he sees Manasseh in the kingdom before he has a chance to learn the “rest of the story?” Will Isaiah walk up to Manasseh and not be able to remember anything that took place and say, “I am so happy to see you, we were such good friends all our lives?” Or will Isaiah walk up to Manasseh and say, “I remember all that you did to me, but I just have one question: “Has God forgiven you? If so, I’ll be glad to have you as my neighbor?” Or would it be safe to live next door to Manasseh if he had only been forgiven and not been really changed? See 2 Chronicles Teacher’s Guide #16.

It is hard to imagine how the son of such an apparently good king could have turned out to be such an awful king as was king Manasseh. Isaiah was some kind of relative to him since they were both a part of the royal family. But Isaiah probably spoke out about some aspect of his profligate life in his younger years or did something else that offended the king and he as king felt that he had the right and the authority to destroy Isaiah whenever he chose.

In the earth made new, there will no doubt be many surprises. Since Isaiah died in the early years of king Manasseh, it would have been impossible for him to know all that happened later. So it will no doubt come as something of a shock when Isaiah first discovers that Manasseh is there. It will be most interesting to see how each of them respond and how God will be involved. It does however provide an excellent opportunity to think about one’s theories of what heaven will be like. Will everyone have forgotten? Will all memory of evil or sin be removed? Some think so. But there is no reason for God to suffer through all of the great controversy and then destroy all of the evidence. It is the record of that evidence that will prevent anyone from making the same mistake again. I don’t know how Isaiah and Manasseh will get together, but if they are both savable and in the kingdom, it will be one more proof that God is the wonderful and gracious Friend that we believe He is.

© Copyright 2000, Kenneth Hart khart@llu.edu

EG White Comments:

“The schools of the prophets, established by Samuel, had fallen into decay during the years of Israel's apostasy. Elijah re-established these schools, making provision for young men to gain an education that would lead them to magnify the law and make it honorable. Three of these schools, one at Gilgal, one at Bethel, and one at Jericho, are mentioned in the record. Just before Elijah was taken to heaven, he and Elisha visited these centers of training. The lessons that the prophet of God had given them on former visits, he now repeated. Especially did he instruct them concerning their high privilege of loyally maintaining their allegiance to the God of heaven. He also impressed upon their minds the importance of letting simplicity mark every feature of their education. Only in this way could they receive the mold of heaven and go forth to work in the ways of the Lord.” PK 224.3-225; 2 BC 1036

“There was a school of the prophets at Gilgal, and also at Bethel and at Jericho. Elijah wished to visit these important places before he was parted from them. His spirit was cheered as, by the direction of God, he was permitted to see the schools of the prophets and the work that was going on in those institutions,--an education which was to keep the wonderful works of God continually before the students, and which magnified the law of God, and made it honorable. The education was of that order which would preserve the souls of all who would be obedient to the law of God. While idolatry was prevailing to an alarming extent, Elijah could see the word of the Lord verified, ‘I have left me seven thousand in Israel, all the knees which. . . have not bowed unto Baal.’" YI, April 28, 1898 par. 6

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28. 1 CHRONICLES - A TEACHER’S GUIDE

THE CENTRAL QUESTION:

What does this book/story say to us about God?

This question may be broken down further as follows:

a.    Why did God do it/allow it?

b.    Why did He record it for our study?

1. Who do you think wrote 1 & 2 Chronicles? (1 Chronicles 29:29[1923]; Compare 2 Chronicles 32:32; 33:18-20[1924]) Do these books have a significantly different perspective than 1 & 2 Samuel and 1 & 2 Kings? Do 1 & 2 Chronicles look like a "biased” report? Why should there be so much repetition? How do you explain the differences? Is there any value in these small differences? What about the Gospels? How did Luke get the information for writing his book? (Luke 1:1-4[1925]) Does God "inspire” people to "compile” books to put in Scripture?

"The Talmud (Baba Bathra 15a) attributes Chronicles to Ezra.” (New Bible Dictionary)

"Originally entitled ‘the words [or events] of the days’ (divre hayyamim, Hebrews), meaning ‘journals’ (1 Chronicles 27:24[1926]), and compiled as a single book, 1 and 2 Chronicles were separated by the translators of the Septuagint c. 180 b.c. [Probably because they were too long to fit on one scroll] and named "things omitted” (paraleipomena, Gk.), to indicate that they contain things omitted from the Books of Samuel and Kings. Although the author and date are not stated, the Talmudic tradition that the Chronicles were penned by Ezra may be correct. Nevertheless, it is customary to speak of the author simply as "the chronicler.” Written from a priestly perspective, the main emphasis centers on the temple in Jerusalem, the Levitical priesthood, and the theocratic lineage of David. The genealogies and narrative of 1 Chronicles span the period from Adam to the end of the life of David. Second Chronicles recounts the downfall of the Davidic dynasty from Solomon to the Exile. Chronicles mentions the northern kingdom (Israel) only incidentally and contains the most complete statistical lists found in the entire Bible. The final verses of Chronicles (2 Chronicles 36:22, 23[1927]) are repeated in Ezra 1:1-3[1928]. The style, substance, and thrust of the Chronicles are carried on through Ezra and Nehemiah. Many believe Chronicles, Ezra and Nehemiah had the same author. If not, the latter two still serve as a fitting sequel. Chronicles follows the people of God into Exile; Ezra and Nehemiah follow them out of Exile and prepare Israel for the coming of the Messiah.

"Internal evidence indicates that the Chronicles were probably composed sometime in the fifth century b.c. A postexilic date is underscored by the mention of the six generations following Zerubbabel (1 Chronicles 3:17-21[1929]) and of the Persian coins, "darics” (1 Chronicles 29:7[1930]).” (Believer’s Study Bible)

"First and Second Chronicles are largely a retelling of events recorded in the books of Samuel and Kings, but from a different point of view. Two main purposes govern the account of the history of the Israelite monarchy in the books of Chronicles:

1) To show that in spite of the disasters that had fallen upon the kingdoms of Israel and Judah, God was still keeping his promises to the nation and was working out his plan for his people through those who were living in Judah. As a basis for this assurance, the writer looked

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to the great achievements of David and Solomon, to the reforms of Jehoshaphat, Hezekiah, and Josiah, and to the people who remained faithful to God.

2) To describe the origin of the worship of God in the Temple at Jerusalem and especially the organization of the priests and Levites, by which the worship was carried out. David is presented as the real founder of the Temple and its ritual, even though it is Solomon who builds the temple.” (GNB)

"The Books of Chronicles record in some detail the lengthy span from the reign of Saul to the return from the Exile. Unlike the exact science of history today, wherein factual accuracy and impartiality of judgment are the standards for estimating what is of permanent worth, ancient biblical history, with rare exceptions, was less concerned with reporting in precise detail all the facts of a situation than with explaining the meaning of those facts. Such history was primarily interpretative and, in the Old Testament, its purpose was to disclose the action of the living God in the affairs of men. For this reason we speak of it as "sacred history”; its writer’s first concern was to bring out the divine or supernatural dimension in history.

"This is apparent when we examine the primary objective of the Chronicler in compiling his work. In view of the situation which confronted the Jewish people at this time (the end of the fifth century B.C.), the Chronicler realized that Israel’s political greatness was a thing of the past. It would be a people under God, or nothing. Yet Israel’s past held the key to her future. The Chronicler proposed to establish and defend the legitimate claims of the Davidic monarchy in Israel’s history, and to underscore the place of Jerusalem and its divinely established temple worship as the center of religious life for the Jewish community of his day. If Judaism was to survive and prosper, it would have to heed the lessons of the past and devoutly serve Yahweh in the place where he had chosen to dwell, the temple of Jerusalem. From the Chronicler’s point of view, David’s reign was the ideal to which all subsequent rule in Judah must aspire.” (New American Bible-RC)

In Hebrew Bibles, 1 and 2 Chronicles, together as one book are the last book in the Old Testament. They were a part of the Hagiographa, or Holy Writings, known later as the third division of the Old Testament. (See Luke 24:44[1931] where this section of the Old Testament is referred to as the Psalms because it begins with that book) In our Bibles it is placed between the four books of Kingdoms (1&2 Samuel and 1&2 Kings) and the books of Ezra and Nehemiah.

"In some Hebrew manuscripts from Spain it appears as the first book among the Writings, where its worship emphases provide a fitting introduction to the following book of Psalms. Its now standard position at the end of the canon follows the practice of the Jewish community in Babylon. In the Septuagint and associated translations (e.g., Vulgate, Ethiopic), the order is Kings, Chronicles, 1 Esdras, 2 Esdras (= Ezra-Nehemiah).” (Anchor Bible Dictionary)

1 and 2 Chronicles are something of a review of portions of Samuel and Kings. Look at 2 Chronicles 36:22-23[1932] and compare Ezra 1:1-3[1933]. Look at all the books referred to in Chronicles. Many scholars feel that Ezra was the one who "compiled” these two books after the exile in Babylon about 425 BC. Ezra was probably the first person to put together something similar

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to our Old Testament. He also started the group known as the scribes. It appears that he wrote 1 and 2 Chronicles based on records of events that occurred hundreds of years before he lived. In the early Hebrew manuscripts 1 and 2 Chronicles were a single book. Originally the two books of Chronicles formed, with the books of Ezra and Nehemiah, a single historical work, uniform in style and basic ideas. The Greek title for these two books, Paraleipomena, means "what’s left” or "things omitted, or passed over” (in Samuel and Kings). These four books were not separated until many years later. How do we explain the differences between the record here in Chronicles and the accounts in Samuel and Kings? Notice that the first nine chapters of 1 Chronicles are all most entirely genealogy. It begins with Adam and brings us up to the times of Saul and David. But the genealogies primarily deal with the people who were immediate ancestors and contemporaries of Saul, David and Solomon and the Levitical priesthood.

If the books of Chronicles were written hundreds of years later, are they a reliable account of what happened? Where did Ezra (assuming he is the author) get his information? Did he have access to all the records of the kings of both Israel and Judah? Were these records completely reliable? How did God’s inspiration work in this process of apparent compilation? Did God reveal to Ezra which portions of these historical records were accurate and correct and should be included in the sacred record? How did Luke write his gospel? (See Luke 1:14[1934]) Do we need multiple accounts of the same events? Compare again the gospels.

2.    What is the purpose of all the genealogies in 1 Chronicles 1-9? Who kept track of all these names of the earlier generations when they became scattered all over the world?

To the Hebrew people in every age, genealogy has been very important. Those who returned to Jerusalem after the exile were expected to prove their lineage before being accepted as a part of the group. This was particularly true of those claiming to be a part of the royal line or of the priesthood. (See Ezra 2:59-63) Thus the Chronicler wanted to show that there was one continuous line of descent from Adam and thus imply that God was guiding them even at this point in their troubled history. Much, but not all, of the information quoted here is taken from earlier documents, especially the Pentateuch. The Chronicler clearly had access to many books that we no longer have available to us, and we can assume that additional information came from those sources.

3.    What is the meaning of "in Peleg’s time the earth was divided”? (1 Chronicles 1:19[1935]; Genesis 10:25)

1 Chronicles 1:19:

19 Eber had two sons: Peleg (which means "Divided,” for it was during his lifetime that the people of the earth were divided into different language groups) and Joktan. (TLB)

19 Eber had two sons. One son was named Peleg, because the people on the earth were divided into different languages during his life. Peleg’s brother was named Joktan. (NCV)

19 Eber had two sons. The first was named Peleg—"division”—for during his lifetime the people of the world were divided into different language groups and dispersed. His brother’s name was Joktan. (NLT)

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19 Eber named his first son Peleg, because in his time the earth was divided into tribal regions. Eber’s second son was Joktan, (CEV)

It is interesting to note that the name Eber mentioned in this verse is thought to be the source of the name Hebrew.

"The division of the earth in Genesis 10:25,32 is most likely related to the events of Genesis 11:1-9[1936]. It does not refer to the splitting apart of the continents, but to the dispersion of peoples at the Tower of Babel. The fact that Peleg’s ancestors are not mentioned as being alive at this time (Noah, Shem, etc.) implies that they had long since died. This is another indication that there are gaps in the genealogy of Genesis 11. In Genesis 11:16-19[1937] there is a considerable shortening of the life span from Eber to Peleg (from 464 to 239 years), which also suggests a time gap and that Eber may have been a distant ancestor of Peleg.” (King James Version Study Bible)

"As to the meaning of the "division of the earth” during the life of Peleg, this may be related to any of the proposed explanations of the name. If Peleg is meant to reflect the West Semitic root, "to divide,” then the division may simply refer to that between the descendants of Peleg and those of his brother Joktan. If Peleg is suggestive of the Akkadian word for "canal,” the division may refer to that between civilized canal builders and nomadic peoples. If Peleg is a geographic name in North Mesopotamia, then the division may suggest the events of Genesis 11:1-9[1938].” (Anchor Bible Dictionary)

It should be obvious from these varied explanations that no clear understanding of the meaning of this name is agreed upon. Each of the possibilities is interesting to think about.

4. It is clear that Saul committed suicide. (1 Samuel 31:3,4[1939]; 1 Chronicles 10:3,4[1940]) How could the Bible writer say, “thus God slew Saul?” (1 Chronicles 10:13,14) Do you think this same writer if he were to describe the death of Judas Iscariot would say, “thus God slew Judas?” Could this statement throw any light on all the other statements about God killing people-for example, Er and Onan (Genesis 38:6-10[1941]; 1 Chronicles 2:3[1942]), Nadab and Abihu (Leviticus 10:1-11[1943]), or Korah, Dathan, and Abiram? (Numbers 16:23-35[1944])

What were the factors that led to the death of Saul? At the very end of his life, he fell on his sword and died. But considering what the young Amalekite man in 2 Chronicles 1:1-10 said, it is possible that even after falling on his sword he was not completely dead and that young man finished the job! But what led to this end? Saul had been mortally wounded by the Philistines. So it would be correct also to say that he was killed by the Philistines. But we know more. If Saul had been faithful to the Lord all of his life and had been following the guidance of God in all that he did, no Philistine could have touched him or his sons. (See 1 Samuel 13:13,14) Saul, himself, states that God (Yahweh) had abandoned him and would not answer him! (1 Samuel 28:6,15 14:31-46) Saul had won many battles against the Philistines in the past. If God had been on his side, he could have won this battle without even fighting. So it is ultimately true that Saul died because God abandoned him. Of course, God only abandoned him because Saul abandoned God. So Saul was responsible for his own death. Nowhere

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does the Bible say that Satan killed Saul but again we know that Saul was led away into all of his problems by the temptations of Satan. Often it is true that more than one factor is involved in causing something to happen. It is like a three-legged stool. Which leg holds up the stool? They all do. So it is true that God killed Saul, but Saul was the primary one responsible, and Satan certainly played his part.

See Handout entitled “Is God a Murderer or a Destroyer?”

5.    Who was it that actually made David’s kingdom strong? (1 Chronicles 11:9,10[1945])

If God had not worked with David and his army of warriors they could not have accomplished much of anything. Remember what happened to Saul. It was the cooperative efforts of David and his men, their dependence on God, and God’s direction and guidance and protection that made it possible for them to win battles. Thus it can be said that both God and David’s fighting men made his kingdom strong.

6.    Notice the position of Uriah the Hittite. (1 Chronicles 11:41[1946] Compare 2 Samuel 23:39[1947]) If God treated David so generously after what he did to one of his best friends and supporters, do we have any need to have Someone intercede with Him-either the Father or the Son-on our behalf? (2 Chronicles 7:17,18[1948]; 1 Kings 11:4,6[1949]; John 16:25-27[1950])

David escaped from Saul and ran for his life. For years he hid here and there throughout the land and even in other countries to escape from Saul. During this time other people gradually joined him. At first, most of those others were criminals or enemies of King Saul. They formed a small group of desperate and skilled soldiers that fought for their lives on a regular basis. We do not know when Uriah joined this group. By the time David became king in Hebron, many of these men were very respectable leaders in the tribe. Uriah was not a Jew, but he was married to the grand-daughter of a very respected counselor. Some of these "mighty warriors” risked their lives repeatedly to defend their group and their leader David. Despite all of this David was willing to sacrifice one of his long term friends and defenders in order to try to get himself out of the serious problem he had created by committing adultery with Bathsheba and getting her pregnant.

Considering the way God treated David, even after this dastardly act, none of us should feel that our case is hopeless. If David is going to be in the kingdom (Hebrews 11:32) then God will certain do everything He can to save each of us.

7.    Why was there so much joy and celebration when David became king? (1 Chronicles 12:38-40[1951])

Since he was a youth David had been recognized as a great fighter and military man. (1 Samuel 18:7,8; 21:11; 29:5[1952]) In fact, this is one of the reasons that Saul was jealous of him. David was young and apparently good looking and he seemed to be blessed with a great deal of charisma. More than this, he had a great relationship with God. Compared with the angry, jealous, depressed, and sullen mood of Saul, David must have seemed like a breath of fresh air. Even after Saul’s death, a protracted war continued between David and Ish-bosheth, Saul’s son. Ish-bosheth was no leader. David was. It was clear in the eyes of the people that

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God was blessing David as he become stronger and stronger while Ish-bosheth became weaker and weaker.

In light of all of this and certainly other factors that we do not know about, the people were delighted after the death of Ish-bosheth to turn to David, hoping for a wise, spiritual, effective leader that would signal the end of the civil war that had dragged on for so long.

8. Note David’s comments about why Uzzah died. "David was angry because the Lord’s wrath had broken out against Uzzah.” (1 Chronicles 13:10-12[1953]) In what sense could it be said that God was “angry” with Uzzah? Did David learn anything from the Uzzah experience? (1 Chronicles 15:2[1954])

It is very important to read the entire history of the story of David and Uzzah. (See 2 Samuel 6[1955]; 1 Chronicles 13:1-14; 15:1-16:7[1956]) There are several factors that we must keep clearly in mind: 1) Uzzah, his father Abinadab, and his brother Ahio were members of the tribe of Levi and should have know better than to put the ark on a cart in the first place. 2) Neither David nor any of the priests apparently took time to consult God about the movement of the ark. This was a major event in the spiritual history of Israel. Shouldn’t God have been consulted? 3) Clear instruction had been given on how to move the ark. See Numbers 3:27-32; 4:1-20; 7:9[1957], and Deuteronomy 10:8. 4[1958]) The ark had been stored in the house of Abinadab, Uzzah’s father, for some time. Shouldn’t they have known every detail about how to care for it and move it? Is it possible that their attitude toward the ark had become casual after such a length of time? Was Uzzah “showing off” in a way that might suggest that his family were obvious superior to others because they were in charge of the ark and God had been blessing them?

In light of all of this and no doubt for other reasons as well, God felt that the lack of respect that had been shown to the ark must be dealt with. David was about to establish the ark in Jerusalem and thus make Jerusalem the recognized spiritual home for the worship of Yahweh forever! Such an event must be planned and carried out with the greatest reverence and respect. Instead, it was in a festive mood, more like the arrival of a military group coming home after conquering an enemy, that David planned to bring up the ark to Jerusalem.

On this occasion God is trying to get a group of people to become a spiritual community. Would it be appropriate to “cut out” anyone who was a “rotten apple” to prevent them from spoiling the whole “barrel”? This does not necessarily mean that Uzzah was a terrible sinner. It may simply mean that he represented opposition to God’s cause, and as such, had to be dealt with to demonstrate something important in the larger context of the great controversy.

In this light, it seems that God did just such a thing on several different occasions. Read the following comments about two different situations:

“Though God had granted the prayer of Moses in sparing Israel from destruction, their apostasy was to be signally punished. The lawlessness and insubordination into which Aaron had permitted them to fall, if not speedily crushed, would run riot in wickedness, and would involve the nation in irretrievable ruin. By terrible severity the evil must be put away....In the name of ‘the Lord God of Israel,’ Moses now commanded those upon his right hand, who had kept themselves clear of idolatry, to gird on their swords and slay all who persisted in rebellion. ‘And there fell of the people that day about three thousand men.’ [Exodus 32:27,28[1959]] Without

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regard to position, kindred, or friendship, the ringleaders in wickedness were cut off; but all who repented and humbled themselves were spared.

"Those who performed this terrible work of judgment were acting by divine authority, executing the sentence of the King of heaven....

"It was necessary that this sin should be punished, as a testimony to surrounding nations of God’s displeasure against idolatry....

"Love no less than justice demanded that for this sin judgment should be inflicted. God is the guardian as well as the sovereign of His people. He cuts off those who are determined upon rebellion, that they may not lead others to ruin. In sparing the life of Cain, God had demonstrated to the universe what would be the result of permitting sin to go unpunished. The influence exerted upon his descendants by his life and teaching led to the state of corruption that demanded the destruction of the whole world by a flood....

"So with the apostasy at Sinai. Unless punishment had been speedily visited upon transgression, the same results would again have been seen. The earth would have become as corrupt as in the days of Noah. Had these transgressors been spared, evils would have followed, greater than resulted from sparing the life of Cain. It was the mercy of God that thousands should suffer, to prevent the necessity of visiting judgments upon millions. In order to save the many, He must punish the few. Furthermore, as the people had cast off their allegiance to God, they had forfeited the divine protection, and, deprived of their defense, the whole nation was exposed to the power of their enemies.” Patriarchs and Prophets 324,325 (1890); Review and Herald, February 11, 1909; contrast 4 Spirit of Prophecy 195; Compare Patriarchs and Prophets 706; Conflict and Courage 176

"David and his people had assembled to perform a sacred work, and they had engaged in it with glad and willing hearts; but the Lord could not accept the service, because it was not performed in accordance with His directions. The Philistines, who had not a knowledge of God’s law, had placed the ark upon a cart when they returned it to Israel, and the Lord accepted the effort which they made. But the Israelites had in their hands a plain statement of the will of God in all these matters, and their neglect of these instructions was dishonoring to God. Upon Uzzah rested the greater guilt of presumption. Transgression of God’s law had lessened his sense of its sacredness, and with unconfessed sins upon him he had, in face of the divine prohibition, presumed to touch the symbol of God’s presence. God can accept no partial obedience, no lax way of treating His commandments. By the judgment upon Uzzah He designed to impress upon all Israel the importance of giving strict heed to His requirements. Thus the death of that one man, by leading the people to repentance, might prevent the necessity of inflicting judgments upon thousands.” Patriarchs and Prophets 705,706; Conflict and Courage 176

See also handout #48 entitled: 2 Samuel - A Teacher’s Guide - question #5 and handout #26a entitled: Major Questions from Exodus - question #8.

9. Why do you think the Philistines started carrying their "gods” into battle? (1 Chronicles 14:8-12[1960]; compare 2 Chronicles 13:8[1961]; 1 Samuel 4:1-11[1962]; 2 Chronicles 28:22,23[1963])

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In the ancient near east it was generally felt that when one nation conquered another nation it was because their "god” or "gods” were stronger than the "god” or "gods” of the defeated nation. This was why Yahweh was so despised after He apparently allowed His people to remain in Egyptian slavery for so many years. It also explains why the plagues of Egypt were necessary. Yahweh needed to demonstrate that He was the "real God”.

Exodus 9:14-17[1964]: "This time I will punish not only your officials and your people, but I will punish you as well, so that you may know that there is no one like me in all the world. If I had raised my hand to strike you and your people with disease, you would have been completely destroyed. But to show you my power I have let you live so that my fame might spread over the whole world. Yet you are still arrogant and refuse to let my people go." (GNB) Compare NIV and NLT

Exodus 12:12[1965]: "On that night I will go through the land of Egypt, killing every first-born male, both human and animal, and punishing all the gods of Egypt. I am the LORD." (GNB) Compare NIV and NLT

In light of this, when armies went out to battle it was considered very important to have their "gods” go with them. This is, no doubt, why Eli’s sons Hophni and Phinehas decided to take the ark down into battle against the Philistines. They were hoping that the presence of the ark would "force” Yahweh to fight for them. (See 1 Samuel 4:1-11[1966])

We don’t know who started this custom first, but it was obviously widely practiced.

10. How do you explain God’s statement to David about Solomon as recorded in 1 Chronicles 17:13[1967] (NIV)? "I will be his father, and he will be my son. I will never take my love away from him, as I took it away from your predecessor (Saul).” Did God actually stop loving Saul? Look at 2 Thessalonians 2:9-12[1968] (GNB) "They will perish because they did not welcome and love the truth so as to be saved.” Is this what happened to Saul? Compare Romans 1:18-32[1969]. Didn’t Solomon do things that were just as evil as what Saul did? Compare this with the statement "I have loved Jacob and his descendants, and have hated Esau and his descendants.” (Malachi 1:2,3[1970], GNB) Do these statements suggest that God only loves His good children? Or does He love His bad children as well? Or is it that when they reach the place where He cannot tolerate their behavior anymore, or He gets tired of working with them, then He becomes angry and punishes them? Or do they reach a place where there is nothing more He can do, so He weeps as He lets them go? (Hosea 11:1-8[1971]) Why did John call himself the "beloved?” (John 13:23; 20:2; 21:7,20[1972]) Were the others not beloved, or was John just being very proud?

See handout #46 - DAVID: A MAN AFTER GOD’S OWN HEART?

This passage is part of the promise made to David that his "dynasty” will last forever. We know that that promise was ultimately fulfilled through Jesus Christ, but to speak such a promise to a humble human being seems almost beyond belief. This, of course is a continuation of the promises made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. (Genesis 12:7; 13:14-17;15:5,13-21; 17:3-14; 22:15-18; 26:2-5,24; 28:4,10-16; 35:9-12; 48:4[1973])

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"Nathan announces the dynastic promises associated with the Davidic covenant. The covenant with David is also celebrated in Psalms 89[1974] and Psalms 132[1975]. God promised that David’s descendants would become a dynasty ruling always over Israel. Individual kings were subject to severe chastisement (2 Samuel 7:14[1976]; Psalms 89:30-32[1977]), but the line of David would never be permanently rejected from the throne (2 Samuel 7:15, 16[1978]; 2 Chronicles 6:16[1979]; Psalms 89:33-37; 132:11, 12[1980]). This covenant was a basis for hope that Israel could be fully restored. The New Testament reveals that the promises to David were fulfilled in Christ. Christ kept the conditions of the covenant perfectly (Hebrews 4:15[1981]); He serves as the Mediator of the covenant of grace (Acts 2:25-36[1982]; Hebrews 9:15[1983]); and He promised to return as conquering King (Matthew 24:29-31[1984]; Mark 13:24-27[1985]; Luke 21:25-28[1986]).” (New Geneva Study Bible)

God can only work with those who are willing to work with Him. David was certainly no "saint”. But God saw something in David that He felt was something that He could build on and He chose his family to be the ancestors of Jesus Christ. No doubt David already knew that God had chosen the tribe of Judah as the tribe from whom the future kings of Israel and later Judah were to come. But David was the lastborn of his father. By the normal laws of inheritance David didn’t have a chance. But David was anointed to be the king of Israel!

Saul was the kind of person the people wanted for a king. He seemed to be strong and powerful, and almost a giant in size. Everyone looked up to him. But Saul didn’t have the Spirit of God in him. God offered him every opportunity, but Saul repeatedly turned away from God and refused to wait for God’s guidance.

As we have already shown up above, Saul rejected God and not the other way around. God cannot bless people who refuse His blessings. How was God supposed to work with people who spend their time consulting witches and mediums? The statement made to David was a recognition that his family would be closer to God and His ideal than the family of Saul had been.

11. 1 Chronicles 21:1 (NIV) says, “Satan rose up against Israel and incited David to take a census of Israel.” 2 Samuel 24:1 (NIV) says, “Again the anger of the Lord burned against Israel, and he incited David against them, saying, 'Go and count Israel and Judah.’” Is there any way in which these two statements could be compatible? Do we have to reject one in order to accept the other? Can you think of parallel passages elsewhere? (Matthew 4:1[1987]; Mark 1:12,13[1988]; Luke 4:1,2[1989]) Could both 2 Samuel 24:1[1990] and 1 Chronicles 21:1[1991] be right? What about the hardening of Pharaoh’s heart (Exodus 9:34-10:1[1992]), or “thus God slew Saul?” (see above #4) In most cases who actually causes us to sin? (James 1:13-15[1993]) Why do you think David was numbering Israel? We need to look through the eyes of someone at that time to understand how they would understand this passage. Naomi said, “Almighty God has made my life bitter” (Ruth 1:20[1994], GNB), but she obviously loved God and led Ruth to do the same. Job said, “The Lord gave and now he has taken away. May his name be praised,” (Job 1:21[1995], GNB) but look more carefully at Job 1 & 2[1996] to see who did the taking away. “Job did not sin by blaming God.” (Job 1:22[1997], GNB) How should we explain passages that state “God

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did this or that” when elsewhere we have confirmation that actually Satan or someone else did it?

Once again we are looking at situations that are like that three-legged stool we mentioned above. In each of these situations God took an active role—He did something. He may not have been the one directly responsible for the trouble or death, but He was involved.

"In 1 Chronicles 21:1[1998] the action of David is said to have been incited by Satan, but in 2 Samuel 24:1[1999] it says that God incited David. Actually both statements are true. Satan was the destructive agent stirring up David’s heart in pride to assess the military strength of his kingdom, rather than to continue to maintain simple trust in God. God here is said to have caused the action in the sense of permitting Satan to put David to the test (cf. Job 1:2[2000])....

"Men’s actions which the Bible calls ‘sin’ are complex in their causes and results. This may be seen in this verse taken together with its parallel. David’s sin in numbering Israel was in some sense the product not only of his own fallen nature (1 Chronicles 21:8,17[2001]) but also of the scheming of the Evil One, here called by the title which means "Adversary.” Satan is anxious to oppose the people of Israel by any means, because they are the channel through which God will redeem creation and display His own glory. The attempts of Satan to oppose God’s plans, however, are futile, because in the infinite wisdom and mystery of God’s will, although God in no way can be called the cause of sin (Exodus 4:21[2002]; Lamentations 3:28[2003]; Romans 8:28[2004]; James 1:2,12,13[2005]), every event, however "good” or "bad,” ultimately serves His purposes.” (Believer’s Study Bible)

"Taking a census was not a wrong thing to do perse. God Himself had previously ordered Moses to make two censuses (cf. Numbers 1:2, 3; 26:2[2006]). However, in this case Satan (cf. 1 Chronicles 21:1[2007]) seized upon the growing pride of David’s heart (1 Chronicles 21:2,3[2008]) to incite him into taking a census, so the king might have a ground of boasting (cf. Daniel 4:30[2009]). God, the controller of all things, allowed the deed to be done so as to bring David to a place of humility and reality (1 Chronicles 21:10[2010]). God and Satan are often involved in the same event, but for different causes (cf. Job)—God so that the believer might be instructed and grow, but Satan, to discredit the believer and therefore, God Himself.” (King James Version Study Bible)

"The apparent contradiction can be resolved by recognizing that though Satan is the author of all evil, he cannot exercise his evil intentions apart from the permission of God. Moreover, God could use him to accomplish His own purposes of judgment (1 Kings 22:19-23[2011]) or discipline (as here with David).” (Nelson Study Bible)

"The antecedent of ‘He’ [in 2 Samuel 24:1[2012]] is the Lord (cf. 1 Samuel 26:19[2013]). According to 1 Chronicles 21:1[2014], however, it was Satan who moved David. At issue here is the mystery of the presence and practice of evil. The Scripture is clear that God is not the author of evil (James 1:13-15[2015]), but it also teaches that the wicked acts of men and of Satan do not fall outside God’s sovereign determination (Exodus 4:21[2016]; 1 Samuel 2:25[2017]; 1 Kin. 22:20-23[2018]; Job 1:12[2019]; Ezekiel 14:9[2020]; Acts 4:27, 28[2021]). Satan is a creature, absolutely subordinate to the sovereignty of God. Satan’s activities and desires cannot create a space that is free from God’s control or that escapes God’s purposes....

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"Second Samuel reports how David brought trouble on the nation but successfully interceded on its behalf. In Chronicles the point of the story is to tell how God led David to discover the holy site for the temple.” (New Geneva Study Bible)

"Leaders, be careful not to overvalue the importance of numbers.” (Spirit-Filled Life Study Bible)

"To number Israel: The census of David in this chapter is also recorded in 2 Samuel 24, but there it states that it was because God was angry with Israel (the reason for this is unclear) that He moved David to take the census. The account of the census has been problematic because God does not cause anyone to sin (James 1:13[2022]) and because it is not apparent why such a census was wrong. (Numbers 1:2, 3; 26:2-4[2023]) The first problem is clarified by comparing 2 Samuel 24:1[2024] with 1 Chronicles 21:1[2025]. God did not directly incite David to do something for which He would then turn around and judge him (1 Chronicles 21:14[2026]); rather, He allowed Satan to influence David to do what David probably already had in his heart to do. (James 1:14, 15[2027])

"This is similar to the times when the Lord allowed Satan to trouble Job (Job 1:12; 2:6[2028]) or when He permitted an evil spirit to torment Saul. (1 Samuel 16:14[2029]) This is one of only three Old Testament references where Satan (literally, "Adversary”) is mentioned by name (see also Job 1:2[2030]; Zechariah 3:1[2031]). The absence of the definite article (the) before ‘Satan’ in 1 Chronicles 21:1 indicates that the title, which emphasized his role in inciting rebellion against God, had already become a proper name.

"Although we are not told why the numbering was evil (v. 7), it was perhaps either an indication that David was trusting more in his military strength than in God’s power (see Psalms 20:7[2032]) or a violation of God’s instruction to Moses on how to conduct a census (see Exodus 30:11-16[2033]). The first would be a sin of motive and the second, a sin of method.” (Spirit-Filled Life Study Bible)

Unfortunately, political, military, and even spiritual leaders often focus on numbers! How often do modern churches measure their success by "numbers?” In this story David seems bent on counting his potential military force to decide if he should go on with more wars. Shouldn’t David have realized that neither he, nor his army were capable of winning any battles? Did David really think that he could somehow conquer his rivals without God’s help if he had enough soldiers? It is interesting to note what other commentators have said about these two apparently contradictory passages.

12. Why did the census totals for the fighting men come out different in 2 Samuel 24:9[2034] and 1 Chronicles 21:5[2035]? There are other apparently different numbers in these books. Does this mean that the "Chronicler” wasn’t very careful about numbers? Shouldn’t the Bible writers be consistent in reporting such details?

"The Books of Chronicles were accused by an earlier generation of Bible scholars of being nothing but historical fiction. Where Chronicles parallels material found elsewhere in the Bible, the author was accused of attempting to glorify the past through exaggerated numbers and other changes in his sources. This led to a very skeptical attitude toward those sections where no parallels or extra biblical data existed. The tendency was to assume inaccuracy or

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fabrication. On the other hand, further investigations in textual criticism and historical evidence have caused most to modify their opinions. Some opponents of biblical inerrancy, however, while recognizing the general accuracy of Chronicles, continue to regard the numbers in the books as unreliable and often exaggerated. Even one evangelical writer claims that there are seven or eight cases in which the number in Chronicles is ten times greater than that of a parallel passage in another book. In defense of the numbers, one conservative Old Testament scholar has shown that there are 629 occurrences of numbers in 1 and 2 Chronicles. Of these, 213 have parallels elsewhere in the Bible. Of these 213 numbers, 194 are the same as those found elsewhere in the Bible. Only nineteen are different and two of these may be regarded as one, since they are simply the same variant numbers found twice (2 Chronicles 2:2,18[2036]). Chronicles is higher in only ten of the remaining 18 cases:

Number in Chronicles    Number in Parallel Passage

7.000    in 1 Chronicles 18:4    vs. 700 in 2 Samuel 8:4

7.000    in 1 Chronicles 19:18    vs. 700 in 2 Samuel 10:18

1.100.000    in 1 Chronicles 21:5    vs. 800,000 in 2 Samuel 24:9

600 in 1 Chronicles 21:25 vs. 50 in 2 Samuel 24:24 3,

600 in 2 Chronicles 2:2, 18 vs. 3,300 in 1 Kings 5:16

20.000    baths in 2 Chronicles 2:10    vs. 20 kors in 1 Kings 5:11

35 in 2 Chronicles 3:15 vs. 18 in 1 Kings 7:15

3.000    in 2 Chronicles 4:5    vs. 2,000 in 1 Kings 7:26

450 in 2 Chronicles 8:18 vs. 420 in 1 Kings 9:28

42 in 2 Chronicles 22:2 vs. 22 in 2 Kings 8:26

"In only four of these is the number ten times greater or more. In six places Chronicles is lower:

300 in 1 Chronicles 11:11    vs. 800 in 2 Samuel 23:8

470.000    in 1 Chronicles 21:5    vs. 500,000 in 2 Samuel 24:9

3 in 1 Chronicles 21:12    vs. 7 in 2 Samuel 24:13

250 in 2 Chronicles 8:10    vs. 550 in 1 Kings 9:23

4.000    in 2 Chronicles 9:25    vs. 40,000 in 1 Kings 4:26

8 in 2 Chronicles 36:9    vs. 18 in 2 Kings 24:8

"To these should be added 1 Chronicles 19:18[2037], where 40,000 foot soldiers compares to 40,000 horsemen in 2 Samuel 10:18; and 2 Chronicles 9:16, in which 300 shekels [One silver shekel equaled approximately 8.26 g. in Babylon and % oz. in Canaan] is evidently regarded as equivalent to three minas [A weight equal to about 50 common shekels each] in 1 Kings 10:17. These differences are hardly sufficient evidence to charge the chronicler with a tendency to exaggerate. Furthermore, in five of these cases of differences, it is reasonably clear that different items are actually being numbered (1 Chronicles 21:5; 21:25[2038]; 2 Chronicles 2:2, 18; 2:10; 8:10[2039]). In one case a number has been rounded (1 Chronicles 21:5[2040]). In one case a different unit of measure is used (2 Chronicles 9:16[2041]). This leaves eleven cases in which an inconsistency in transmission is likely. In only five of these is it likely that the transmission oversight was made in Chronicles (1 Chronicles 11:11[2042]; 2 Chronicles 3:15; 4:5; 22:2; 36:9[2043]). In

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2 Chronicles 8:18[2044] the transmission inadvertency could be either in Chronicles or in Kings. The conclusion of this is that the numbers in Chronicles are remarkably trustworthy—certainly no less so than those in the rest of the Bible. Finally, regarding transcriptional difficulties, it should be noted that numbers are always difficult to copy. Although current Hebrew Bibles spell out numbers, thus decreasing chances of error, numbers were originally written in symbols. Such symbols often involved only dots above a letter or small slashes. These could be smudged or otherwise obscured in old manuscripts, thus leading to a few cases of numerical difficulties.” (Believer’s Study Bible)

Do these differences in numbers challenge our understanding of inspiration? They shouldn’t. There are many ways in which such differences could have arisen as noted above. Our salvation never depends on getting the "numbers” right!

13. How and why would the Lord "repent of the evil” (RSV) of destroying Israel and Jerusalem? (1 Chronicles 21:14,15[2045]) Since the main cause of the "plague” was the sins of the people in Jerusalem, why did God spare that city?

A careful reading of the stories in Samuel and Chronicles seems to indicate that it was primarily David who was responsible for this evil. But the people weren’t far behind their king in pride!

"Intercourse with heathen peoples led to a desire to follow their national customs and kindled ambition for worldly greatness. As the people of Jehovah, Israel was to be honored; but as pride and self-confidence increased, the Israelites were not content with this pre-eminence. They cared rather for their standing among other nations. This spirit could not fail to invite temptation. With a view to extending his conquests among foreign nations, David determined to increase his army by requiring military service from all who were of proper age. To effect this, it became necessary to take a census of the population. It was pride and ambition that prompted this action of the king. The numbering of the people would show the contrast between the weakness of the kingdom when David ascended the throne and its strength and prosperity under his rule. This would tend still further to foster the already too great self-confidence of both king and people. The Scripture says, ‘Satan stood up against Israel, and provoked David to number Israel.’ The prosperity of Israel under David had been due to the blessing of God rather than to the ability of her king or the strength of her armies. But the increasing of the military resources of the kingdom would give the impression to surrounding nations that Israel's trust was in her armies, and not in the power of Jehovah.

"Though the people of Israel were proud of their national greatness, they did not look with favor upon David's plan for so greatly extending the military service. The proposed enrollment caused much dissatisfaction; consequently it was thought necessary to employ the military officers in place of the priests and magistrates, who had formerly taken the census. The object of the undertaking was directly contrary to the principles of a theocracy. Even Joab remonstrated, unscrupulous as he had heretofore shown himself. He said, ‘The Lord make His people a hundred times so many more as they be: but, my lord the king, are they not all my lord's servants? why then doth my lord require this thing? why will he be a cause of trespass to Israel? Nevertheless the king's word prevailed against Joab’....

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"The taking of the census had caused disaffection among the people; yet they had themselves cherished the same sins that prompted David's action. As the Lord through Absalom's sin visited judgment upon David, so through David's error He punished the sins of Israel.” Patriarchs and Prophets p. 746-748 (1890)

God, of course, knew each person’s heart. He knew that David had sinned in desiring this census. He also knew that David, despite his sins, was the most spiritual leader that Israel or Judah would ever have as king. Thus, God chose a punishment that showed the evil of the course of action without destroying those who were closest to Him.

14.    How do you explain 1 Chronicles 21:30[2046], "David...was afraid of the sword of the angel of the Lord?” Was this the response that God wanted as a result of His punishment of David and the people of Israel?

The sword here represents the plague that had fallen on Israel. David was afraid that if he immediately proceeded to Gibeon to sacrifice at the site where the tent built by Moses was kept in those days he might himself be afflicted by the plague.

But David, having seen the angel of the Lord in this place, took that as a sign that God’s presence would in the future meet with them at this new site in Jerusalem. It later became the site for the building of Solomon’s temple, and Herod’s temple.

15.    What did all those Levites actually do each day? Notice their duties. (1 Chronicles 23:2-5[2047])

1 Chronicles 23:25-31: 25 David said, "The Lord God of Israel has given peace to his people, and he himself will live in Jerusalem for ever. 26 So there is no longer any need for the Levites to carry the Tent of the Lord’s presence and all the equipment used in worship.” 27On the basis of David’s final instructions all Levites were registered for service when they reached the age of twenty, 28 and were assigned the following duties: to help the priests descended from Aaron with the temple worship, to take care of its courtyards and its rooms, and to keep undefiled everything that is sacred; 29 to be responsible for the bread offered to God, the flour used in offerings, the wafers made without yeast, the baked offerings, and the flour mixed with olive oil; to weigh and measure the temple offerings; 30 and to praise and glorify the Lord every morning and every evening 31 and whenever offerings to the Lord are burnt on the Sabbath, the New Moon Festival, and other festivals. Rules were made specifying the number of Levites assigned to do this work each time. The Levites were assigned the duty of worshiping the Lord for all time. They were given the responsibility of taking care of the Tent of the Lord’s presence and the Temple, and of assisting their relatives, the priests descended from Aaron, in the temple worship.” (GNB)

Apparently they were divided into groups and were assigned different duties connected with the temple. Each one of them probably served no more than one month a year. The rest of the time they were allowed to live with their families in their assigned places throughout the land and care for their flocks and fields. Many of them were musicians and provided the temple music. (See 1 Chronicles 25[2048])

16.    Why was David choosing "prophets?” Doesn’t God choose prophets? What was the relation between these "prophets” and the harp-players? (1 Chronicles 25:1[2049])

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1 David and the army commanders appointed the sons of Asaph, Heman, and Jeduthun to serve as prophets with lyres, harps, and cymbals.” (God’s Word)

1 King David and the leaders of the Levites chose the following Levite clans to lead the services ofworship: Asaph, Heman, and Jeduthun. They were to proclaim God’s messages, accompanied by the music of harps and cymbals.” (GNB)

In the Old Testament, the temple musicians, who were responsible for leading out in portions of the service of worship were often called “seers” the word commonly used for “prophet” as well. A prophet (a word derived from Greek) means “one who speaks for” someone else, in this case, for God Himself. Musicians were regarded as people who helped to lead out in the worship of God and thus served as a kind of “prophets” for God.

“Asaph: A Levite, son of Berechiah, one of the leaders of David’s choir. 1 Chron. 6:39. Psalms 50 and 73-83 are attributed to him; and he was in after times celebrated as a seer as well as a musical composer. 2 Chron. 29:30[2050]; Neh. 12:46. (b.c. 1050.)” (Smith’s Bible Dictionary)

“The ordinary Hebrew word for prophet is nabf, derived from a verb signifying “to bubble forth” like a fountain; hence the word means one who announces or pours forth the declarations of God.” (Smith’s Bible Dictionary)

“A prophet first received instruction from the Lord and then conveyed it to the people. These 2 aspects of the prophet’s work were reflected in the names by which prophets were known in O.T. times: seer (chozeh or ro’eh) and prophet (nabf) The title of seer was more common in the earlier period of Hebrew history (1 Samuel 9:9[2051]). The term used more frequently in the O.T. was nabf, “prophet,” which designated him as God’s spokesman. As a “seer” the prophet discerned God’s will, and as “prophet” he conveyed it to others.” (SDA Bible Dictionary)

17.    Look at David’s magnificent prayer (1 Chronicles 29:10-19) as he handed over the government and the materials for the temple to Solomon his son. Do these words sound familiar? Why do many of our modern translations not have the doxology at the end of the Lord’s prayer in Matthew 6:9-13? (Compare Luke 11:2-4[2052])

Many modern translations do not have the doxology at the end of the Lord’s Prayer in Matthew 6:9-13[2053] or Luke 11:2-4[2054]. This certainly does not mean that they are trying to change the Bible! In the oldest manuscripts the “doxology” at the end of the prayer is missing. Thus, it is most likely that Matthew and Luke reported the prayer as Jesus spoke it without the doxology. But it wasn’t long before people began to use the prayer for public meetings etc. and a doxology was very appropriate at the end. We do not know where the doxology that is included in some versions of the Bible came from, but we can see that the custom of using a doxology at the end of a public prayer is most Biblical from this prayer by David in 1 Chronicles 29:1019.

18.    Look at 1 Chronicles 29:17 (RSV)-“in the uprightness of my heart I have given these gifts to you”. How could David make such a statement in front of all the people of Israel after what he

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did to Uriah and Bathsheba and with Solomon standing next to him? David repeatedly mentions doing things with the (whole) heart. (1 Chronicles 29:9,17,18,19[2055]; compare Psalms 51:10[2056]) Had David finally learned what God really wants? Notice how much different the end of David’s life was compared to the end of Saul’s.

David is not claiming here that he had never sinned. David is simply stating how he felt about Yahweh and about the future temple to be built with the gifts that he is giving. While David did some terrible things in his life, when he turned back to God he did so with complete repentance and sorrow for his former sins. (See Psalms 51) At this point in his life there was nothing that he wanted to hold back in his service for Yahweh. As we have seen previously, Saul, by contrast, spent his last night consulting a medium who brought up for him an evil spirit impersonating the prophet Samuel.

19. Why wasn’t David allowed to build the temple? (1 Chronicles 22:8; 28:3[2057])

1 Chronicles 22:8: "But the Lord told me that I had killed too many people and fought too many wars. And so, because of all the bloodshed I have caused, he would not let me build a temple for him.” (GNB)

1    Chronicles 28:1-3: 1 King David commanded all the officials of Israel to assemble in Jerusalem. So all the officials of the tribes, the officials who administered the work of the kingdom, the leaders of the clans, the supervisors of the property and livestock that belonged to the king and his sons—indeed all the palace officials, leading soldiers, and important men—gathered in Jerusalem.

2    David stood before them and addressed them: "My friends, listen to me. I wanted to build a permanent home for the Covenant Box, the footstool of the Lord our God. I have made preparations for building a temple to honour him, 3 but he has forbidden me to do it, because I am a soldier and have shed too much blood.” (GNB)

David had been a man of war. Much of his life had been spent in fighting and bloodshed. While often God apparently helped him in doing this, He wanted to make it clear that bloodshed and war were not His plan for the children of Israel. Solomon, a man of peace was to be the builder of the temple.

© Copyright 2000-2006, Kenneth Hart khart@llu.edu

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29. 2 CHRONICLES - A TEACHER’S GUIDE

THE CENTRAL QUESTION:

What does this book/story say to us about God?

This question may be broken down further as follows:

a.    Why did God do it/allow it?

b.    Why did He record it for our study?

1. Who do you think wrote 1 & 2 Chronicles? (1 Chronicles 29:29[2058]; compare 2 Chronicles 32:32; 33:18-20[2059]) Do these books have a significantly different perspective than 1 & 2 Samuel and 1 & 2 Kings? Do

1 & 2 Chronicles look like a “biased” report? Does God “inspire” people to “compile” books to put in Scripture?

See 1 Chronicles - A Teacher’s Guide - #1.

“When it was first written, Second Chronicles brought a ray of hope to a people desperately in need of encouragement. The Israelite community, reduced to a tiny minority in exile among the Babylonians, was struggling to understand its place. Had God’s promises to Abraham and David been revoked because of the nation’s sins? Was there any hope of reviving David’s dynasty? Could Judaism survive without the temple? Second Chronicles addressed questions like these. Its answers came in a historical review of God’s faithfulness to the Israelites. Although the nation had steadily declined over the centuries, God had always been faithful to those who remained true to Him. The good that God had done in the past would be the pattern for His future acts. God would keep His glorious promises to the Israelites.” (Nelson Study Bible)

“Second Chronicles recounts the downfall of the Davidic dynasty from Solomon to the Exile. Chronicles mentions the northern kingdom (Israel) only incidentally and contains the most complete statistical lists found in the entire Bible. The final verses of Chronicles (2 Chr. 36:22,23[2060]) are repeated in Ezra 1:1-3[2061]. The style, substance, and thrust of the Chronicles are carried on through Ezra and Nehemiah. Many believe Chronicles, Ezra and Nehemiah had the same author. If not, the latter two still serve as a fitting sequel. Chronicles follows the people of God into Exile; Ezra and Nehemiah follow them out of Exile and prepare Israel for the coming of the Messiah....

“THEME: The Religious History of Judah: The Chronicles were written to the returned remnant who were rebuilding Jerusalem following their seventy-year Babylonian captivity. The history of the southern kingdom (Judah) is presented in such a way as to help restore its religious and national heritage by showing its unbroken connection with the patriarchal beginnings. The primary historical theme centers about the priestly worship of Judah, from the time of Saul until the return of the Jewish nation to the land following the decree of Cyrus (538 B.C.). This religious history depicts the faithfulness and promises of God to His people, the power of the Word of God, and the central role of worship in the lives of God’s people. In order to underscore these elements, the genealogies point to the forthcoming Messiah and are completed by those recorded in the New Testament (cf. Matt. 1:1-16[2062]; Luke 3:23-38[2063]).

Historical Reliability of Chronicles? See 1 Chronicles Teacher’s Guide #12.

Date: “Internal evidence also points to the fact that the book was written or at least completed in the Persian period, abut 400 B.C. Monetary values are calculated in “drams,” or darics (1 Chron. 29:7[2064]), coins believed to have been introduced by Darius I (522-486 B.C.). The genealogy of David’s family is brought down several generations beyond Zerubbabel (1 Chron. 3:19-24[2065]), who returned to Judea

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during the reign of Cyrus, 539-530 B.C. (Ezra 1:1, 2[2066]; cf. Ezra 2:2[2067]). However, it is possible that these names were added later (see on 1 Chron. 3:19). Based on the average descent of the Hebrew kings, a generation would be about 23 years. On this calculation six generations after Zerubbabel would extend nearly to 400 B.C. Since Chronicles was presumably once joined to Ezra-Nehemiah, the time of the chronicler can also be secured from the internal evidence of those books. The list of the high priests given in Neh. 12:10, 11, 22, 23[2068], extends to Jonathan, Johanan, and Jaddua. Jonathan is known from the Elephantine papyri to have been high priest at least as early as 410. The evidence thus points to the end of the 5th century B.C., or about 400, as the time of the completion of Chronicles.” (SDA Bible Commentary)

“The Hebrew title, “Daily Matters,” like the English title, implies an important and detailed narrative account. Written by the priests of Israel, the books of Chronicles view Israel’s religious institutions—the temple, priesthood, offerings, and feasts—as the essential elements of her national life....

“The case for Ezra’s authorship is well established in Jewish tradition. He was of priestly descent and Levitical training, as well as being the spiritual leader of the new state of Judah after the return from Babylonian captivity. Thus, he would have had access to the records of state and other official documents (cf. 2 Chronicles 16:11; 20:34; 25:26; 28:26; 32:32; 35:27; 36:8[2069]; see note immediately below). Critical arguments for a third century B.C. date are totally unwarranted. Besides, the need for such a book to establish national credibility was much more crucial for Ezra’s community than for the Hasmonean leaders in the second century B.C.

“The details of the history of Israel and Judah in Second Chronicles communicate the great message of redemption—particularly God’s blessing on David and his successors. First Chronicles focuses on the Davidic covenant during David’s time, and Second Chronicles continues that theme in the period after David’s death. Even though Second Chronicles relates the experiences of Solomon and his successors, it continues to emphasize God’s promise of an everlasting dynasty to David. Successors to David came and went. Some were true to the requirements of that covenant—they “walked in the former ways of their father David” (17:3)—and others were not. But God’s commitment to the household of David continued throughout, even after the exile to Babylon.

“Because of this emphasis on covenant, Second Chronicles makes frequent mention of priests, Levites, the temple, and other elements of Israel’s religious life. It tells how Solomon’s temple was built and furnished (2 Chronicles 2:1-8:16[2070]) and includes a thorough description of the temple and its ministry (2 Chronicles 20:5-13, 24-30; 23:12-21; 24:4-14; 29:2-31:21; 34:2-35:19[2071]).

“The centrality of the Davidic covenant also explains why Second Chronicles devotes more attention to Judah than to Israel. Ever since the division into southern and northern kingdoms (2 Chronicles 10:16-19[2072]; see 1 Kin. 11:9-13[2073]), Judah had become the inheritors of God’s promises to David. Though David’s successors ruled only the smaller kingdom of Judah, God had remained faithful to His unconditional covenant with David. Judah was the nucleus through which God would accomplish His work of redemption.” (Nelson Study Bible)

“The Chronicler retells the history of Israel and Judah in order to provide theological answers to three fundamental questions which arose after the Jews returned from exile in Babylonia. How can it be known who are the heirs to God’s covenant promises after the dislocation of exile and return? What was to become of their central political and religious institutions, the Davidic throne and the Jerusalem temple, and how would they be related to one another in the restored community? Thirdly, how were the people to understand the experience of exile and restoration in the light of God’s law

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and grace, His judgment and forgiveness? The discussion of these themes begun in the Introduction to 1 Chronicles is continued here with respect to 2 Chronicles.

“The United Monarchy under Solomon (1:1-9:31). The opening section of 2 Chronicles depicts Solomon as the divinely blessed successor of David. The Chronicler passes over Solomon’s struggle for power (1 Chr. 23:1[2074]) and his later downfall due to intermarriage (1 Kin. 11:1-40[2075]). He shows Solomon as the king of “all Israel” (1 Chr. 11:1[2076]), and as the prime instrument for constructing the temple in Jerusalem (2 Chronicles 2:1-8:16[2077]). There is a brief notice of his death (2 Chronicles 9:29-31[2078]).

“Solomon’s reign is narrated in a topical and symmetrical form, opening and closing with passages describing the king’s wisdom and wealth (ch. 2 Chronicles 1; 9:13-28[2079]). Just inside these passages are sections about his international relations (ch. 2 Chronicles 2; 8:17-9:12[2080]). Inserted between these passages are sections about the building of the temple and Solomon’s other projects throughout Israel (2 Chronicles 3:1-5:1; 8:1-16[2081]), and in the center is the description of the temple dedication (2 Chronicles 5:2-7:10[2082]) and the divine response to it (2 Chronicles 7:12-22[2083]). A concentric outline of this kind emphasizes the topics in the middle, in this case the dedication of the temple.

“The Divided Kingdom (2 Chronicles 10:1-28:26). The record of Israel’s history from Rehoboam to Ahaz focuses on events in the southern kingdom of Judah. Although the Book of Kings is the source of much of the information, Chronicles omits large blocks of material dealing with the northern kingdom of Israel. The focus of Chronicles is Judah and its capital Jerusalem, the place of the Davidic king and the temple of God.

“The kings of the period are measured by the ideal of the united monarchy. The king must be faithful to the Law of Moses; he must support the temple order established by David and Solomon; and he must listen to prophetic and priestly instruction. Some kings are evaluated negatively (Jehoram, 21:4-20; Ahaziah, 22:1-9; Ahaz, 28:1-27), others positively (Abijah, 13:1-14:1; Jotham, 27:1-9). For the most part the records are mixed (Rehoboam, 10:1-12:16; Asa, 14:2-16:14; Jehoshaphat, 17:1-21:3; Joash, 22:10-24:27; Amaziah, 25:1-28; Uzziah, 26:1-23).

“God blessed His people when they were faithful, and chastised them when they turned away from Him. Victory, security, and prosperity came to those who sought the Lord. Defeat, trouble, and illness came upon those who forgot Him.

“The Reunited Kingdom (29:1-36:23). Beginning with Hezekiah, Israel entered a new phase of her history. Like David and Solomon, Hezekiah was able to unite the faithful of Israel and Judah around the Davidic throne through worship and celebration at the temple. [The northern kingdom had been destroyed by the Assyrians and only Judah remained. Hezekiah brought together representatives from both kingdoms to form a single, reunited kingdom with one king and one temple in Jerusalem. The writer of Chronicles devotes more attention to Hezekiah than any other king except David and Solomon. He uses material from 2 Kin. 18-20, but he supplements it broadly, including an extensive account of Hezekiah’s temple reforms and Passover celebration (29:3-31:1). Hezekiah’s reign appears as a return to the glory of Solomon’s kingdom.] This reunited people experienced periods of failure: Manasseh’s apostasy (33:1-10), the reign of Amon (33:21-25), and the kings of Judah just before the Babylonian exile (36:2-14). But each failure was followed by God’s gracious renewal of the people: Manasseh’s restoration (33:11-17), Josiah’s reforms (34:3-35:19), and the return from exile in Babylonia (36:22-23).

“Despite the failures of the reunited kingdom, God continued to grant blessings to His repentant people. He extended His mercy to them, offering them His blessing. At the same time, the events of the period demonstrate the requirements placed on those who longed for the full restoration of the kingdom. The nation must turn to the Lord in humility and live faithfully before Him.” (New Geneva

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Study Bible)

2.    There are many other books or letters mentioned in the Bible, especially in Kings and Chronicles: See Numbers 21:14[2084]; Joshua 10:13[2085]; 1 Kings 11:41; 14:19,29; 15:7,23,31; 16:5,14,20,27; 22:39,45[2086]; 2 Kings 1:18; 8:23; 10:34; 12:19; 13:8,12; 14:15,17,28; 15:6,11,15,21,26,31,36; 16:19; 20:20; 21:17,25; 23:21,28; 24:5[2087]; 1 Chronicles 9:1[2088]; 2 Chronicles 9:29; 12:15; 13:22; 17:9; 25:26; 27:7; 28:26; 32:32; 33:18,19; 35:26; 36:8[2089]; 1 Corinthians 5:9[2090]; 3 John 9[2091]. Do we have any of these books: The Book of the Lord’s Battles; The Book of Jashar; The Acts of Solomon; The Annals of the Kings of Israel; The Annals of the Kings of Judah; The Book of the Covenant; The Book of Samuel the Seer; The Book of Nathan the Prophet; The Book of Gad the Prophet; The Prophecy of Ahijah the Shilonite; The Visions of Iddo the Prophet Concerning Jeroboam the Son of Nebat; The Book of Shemaiah the Prophet; The Genealogical Register; Iddo’s History of Judah; The Annals of the Kings of Israel and Judah; The Book of the Law of The Lord; The Annals of the Kings; The Annals of the Kings of Judah and Israel; The Annals of the Prophets; The Collection of Laments. Were these books inspired? Were some of them used to compose Chronicles? If we found a copy of one of them today, would you add it to the Bible?

“The chronicler had access to many official documents, which he often mentions by name. These include (1) the book of the kings of Israel and Judah (27:7; 35:27; 36:8); (2) the book of the kings of Judah and Israel (16:11; 25:26; 28:26; 32:32); (3) the book of the kings of Israel (20:34; 33:18); (4) the annals (commentary) of the book of the kings (24:27); (5) the book of Nathan, the prophecy of Ahijah, and the visions of Iddo (9:29); (6) the history of Shemaiah (12:15); (7) the annals of Iddo (13:22); (8) the writings of the prophet Isaiah (26:22); (9) the sayings of Hozai [the seers or prophets] (33:19); and (10) the Laments (35:25). The chronicler also cites the canonical books of First and Second Kings.” (Nelson Study Bible)

“These are non-canonical source materials, which the author of Chronicles was, under divine inspiration, led to consult. Many other such Hebrew writings are mentioned by the Old Testament authors (e.g., Josh. 10:13; 2 Sam. 1:18; 1 Kin. 11:41; 14:29; 2 Chr. 9:29; 12:15; 13:22; 24:27; 26:22; 33:19) and, doubtless, others existed and were circulated as well. However, no claim can be made for the inspiration of all these now lost books, inspiration being the Holy Spirit’s particular work in recording God’s revealed truth solely as contained in the canonical Scriptures (cf. Luke 24:44[2092]; 2 Tim.3:16[2093]; Pet 1:21;3:2[2094]). {King James Version Study Bible}

There is no indication that any of these “reference works” not included in our Bibles were considered inspired. The Chronicler (probably Ezra) simply used them as a source of information from which he compiled his records of the history of Judah (primarily) and Israel. They consisted of the court and national records of the two kingdoms he was writing about. Apparently a great variety of these documents were available in Ezra’s day. God helped him to decide what was reliable and worth recording and what was not. This is one of the forms of “inspiration” that is clearly documented in the Biblical record. (Compare Luke 1:1-4[2095])

3.    Solomon’s Temple was probably the most impressive house of worship ever built. Do you think God wanted them to go to that degree of expense in decorating His house with gold and silver and precious stones? We seem to discourage the use of these things today. Why did Solomon think everything needed to be done on such a grandiose scale? Why were so many sheep and cattle sacrificed? (2 Chronicles 5:6[2096]) Why did God fill the temple with “the dazzling light of the Lord’s presence?” (2 Chronicles 5:13,14[2097], GNB) What do you think the universe looking on thought of this building? After the Babylonian captivity, when the temple was rebuilt on a much smaller scale by Haggai, Zechariah, Zerubabbel, Joshua the High Priest, the Levites and the people (see Ezra 3:7-9[2098]),

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God told them that this new temple would be much more glorious than the old one (Haggai 2:3-9[2099])! How could this be true?

The amount of gold that is reported to have been gathered by David and his officials for use in the temple has been estimated by some to be more than all the gold available in the whole world at that time! This raises some questions about whether we correctly understand the numbers and the weights and measures used at that time. (See handout on Hebrew Numbers)

Solomon no doubt wanted to honor Yahweh with the very best that he had to offer. God appeared to recognize his efforts with a magnificent display of glory. Unfortunately, all that gold seemed to attract enemies who thought they would like to take some of it! Gold has no appeal to our heavenly Father. All the gold in the universe belongs to Him. What He is interested in is us. For this reason, a temple that, at least temporarily, served as the “headquarters” for the Messiah and His followers actually contained more “glory” and was considered of more value than the magnificent edifice built by Solomon. This is suggested by Haggai 2:9[2100] and Ezra 3:10-13[2101]. The very presence of Jesus, the Messiah and King of the Universe made the second temple much more “glorious” than the first. He may have been wearing ordinary clothes, and sandals with dirty feet, but He was still “Wonderful Councilor, Almighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace” (Isaiah 9:6) God Himself sat down with His children in a quiet place to discuss important issues including their salvation. This is the kind of understanding friendship that God has always been looking for. He found it, at least briefly in that second temple!

4. Notice the details of Solomon’s prayer (2 Chronicles 6:12-42[2102]; compare 1 Kings 8:14-61[2103]). Did David always obey the law? (2 Chronicles 6:16; 7:17[2104]; 1 Kings 11:38; 15:5[2105]) Does God hold back the rain? (2 Chronicles 6:26[2106]; compare Matthew 5:45[2107]) Does God send famine, or epidemics? (2 Chronicles 6:28[2108]) Does God send scorching winds or locusts? (2 Chronicles 6:28) Can you forgive someone, and still deal with him as he deserves? (2 Chronicles 6:30[2109]) Why didn’t Solomon follow his own suggestion in the treatment of foreigners (2 Chronicles 6:32,33[2110]) instead of building all those heathen temples for his many wives? (1 Kings 11:1-11[2111]) Solomon seemed to show a clear understanding of our sinful condition-“there is no one who does not sin.” (2 Chronicles 6:36[2112]; Ecclesiastes 7:20[2113]; 1 Kings 8:46[2114]; compare Romans 3:23[2115]) Didn’t he recognize that he was a sinner also and was free to sin even more? Why doesn’t 2 Chron. mention Solomon’s wives or concubines or any of his other major problems?

Solomon’s prayer, no doubt given before thousands including many foreigners who came to Jerusalem for this very special occasion, was a model of how to cover most of the “good news” in a few words. How much of what was said was for the specific benefit of their “visitors?” Do you agree with all that Solomon said? It must have been a most memorable occasion. Where did Solomon learn all that he said?

This is a clear example of someone who rises to the occasion and says many things that are clearly “inspired” even though his personal life may not show that he follows his own suggestions or takes his advice to heart! If Solomon and the people of Israel had lived according to this prayer what a different story their history would have been! How often do we speak better than we act?

“Oriental monarchs were not noted for prostrating themselves publicly before anyone. Solomon, however, built a scaffold so that all Israel could see him as he knelt before God with hands spread to the heavens (cf. Ex. 9:29, 33[2116]; 1 Kin. 8:54[2117]; Ezra 9:5[2118]).

“Solomon, who was always rather cosmopolitan, had an insight which may be called prophetic.

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He visualized men of all nations coming, because of God’s great name, to worship in this temple he had built (Ps. 87[2119]; Is. 56:6-8[2120]; Zech. 8:20-23; 14:16-21[2121]).” (Believer’s Study Bible)

“Solomon’s dedicatory prayer (cf. 2 Chr. 6:12-42[2122]) stresses God’s faithfulness (vv. 22-25) and the continuing need for His presence in mighty power among them (vv. 26-30). He follows his twofold general prayer with seven specific requests: (1) for His righteous judgment (vv. 31, 32); (2) for His forgiveness of sin after defeat by the enemy (vv. 33, 34); (3) for healing of the land in time of drought (vv. 35, 36); (4) for removal of various distresses in the land (vv. 37-40); (5) for hearing the prayer of the non-Israelites (vv. 41-43); (6) for hearing the prayer of soldiers sent off to foreign wars (vv. 44, 45); and (7) for hearing the prayer of His people when their sin has taken them into captivity (vv. 46-53). The chronicler reports that Solomon closed his dedicatory prayer with a plea for God’s salvation and goodness to be realized by His people, and with the invoking of God’s grace so as to remember the mercies of David (2 Chr. 6:40-42).” (King James Version Study Bible)

5.    Doesn’t the list of blessings and curses in 2 Chronicles 7:11-22[2123] make it clear that God’s promises and threatenings are alike conditional? How is God involved? (2 Chronicles 7:19-22; 15:2[2124]; compare Deuteronomy 8:18-20; 27:11-26; 28:1-68[2125]; Job 1&2[2126]) Who really was responsible for what happened? Was God acting in an arbitrary way?

Since the days of Deuteronomy God has promised bountiful blessings for obedience and terrible curses for disobedience. These are not arbitrary in any way. Each action produces a result that yields its own harvest. Of course, the Devil loves to get involved and do everything he can to prevent God’s people from experiencing His greatest blessings. God simply cannot use the Devil’s methods: lying, deceit, force, etc. God can only use truth and love. So if we are not moved by that God finally and ultimately has to give up on us. When He does, the consequences are terrible.

7 “Do not deceive yourselves; no one makes a fool of God. People will reap exactly what they sow.” (GNB)

“We are not to regard God as waiting to punish the sinner for his sin. The sinner brings the punishment upon himself. His own actions start a train of circumstances that bring the sure result. Every act of transgression reacts upon the sinner, works in him a change of character, and makes it more easy for him to transgress again. By choosing to sin, men separate themselves from God, cut themselves off from the channel of blessing, and the sure result is ruin and death.” Letter 96, 1896; Selected Messages, Book 1, p. 235; FLB 84; 6BC 1085,1110; 1MR 130,131; The EGWhite 1888 Materials, p. 1576

6.    Why did Jeroboam and his army of 800,000 take their golden calf “gods” to war with them? (2 Chronicles 13:1-18[2127]) Why do you think the Philistines started carrying their “gods” into battle? (1 Chronicles 14:8-12[2128]; compare Numbers 31:6,48,49[2129]; 1 Samuel 4:1-11[2130]; 2 Chronicles 25:14,15; 28:22,23[2131]) Doesn’t it appear that these “gods” were carried along as “good luck charms”? Did they ever help?

It is interesting to note that almost universally in the battles reported in Scripture in which nations carried their “gods” into battle, they lost! Look at the verses suggested above.

Numbers 31:6,48,49: 6 Moses sent them to war under the command of Phinehas son of Eleazar the priest, who took charge of the sacred objects [some translations read “ark” and others suggest it might have been the Urim and Thummim] and the trumpets for giving signals...

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48 Then the officers who had commanded the army went to Moses 49 and reported, “Sir, we have counted the soldiers under our command and not one of them is missing.” (GNB) Contrast Numbers 14:44. (This is one of the rare occasions when God commanded them to carry the “vessels” with them and they accomplished a resounding victory.)

1 Samuel 4:1-11: 1 At that time the Philistines gathered to go to war against Israel, so the Israelites set out to fight them...Let’s go and bring the Lord’s Covenant Box from Shiloh, so that he will go with us and save us from our enemies.” 4 So they sent messengers to Shiloh and fetched the Covenant Box of the Lord Almighty, who is enthroned above the winged creatures. And Eli’s two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, came along with the Covenant Box.

5 When the Covenant Box arrived, the Israelites gave such a loud shout of joy that the earth shook....

10    The Philistines fought hard and defeated the Israelites, who went running to their homes. There was a great slaughter: 30,000 Israelite soldiers were killed. 11 God’s Covenant Box was captured, and Eli’s sons, Hophni and Phinehas, were both killed.” (GNB)

1    Chronicles 14:8-12: 8 When the Philistines heard that David had now been made king over the whole country of Israel, their army went out to capture him. So David marched out to meet them. 9 The Philistines arrived at the Valley of Rephaim and began plundering. 10 David asked God, “Shall I attack the Philistines? Will you give me the victory?”

The Lord answered, “Yes, attack! I will give you the victory!”

11    So David attacked them at Baal Perazim and defeated them. He said, “God has used me to break through the enemy army like a flood.” So that place is called Baal Perazim. 12 When the Philistines fled, they left their idols behind, and David gave orders for them to be burnt.”

(GNB)

2    Chronicles 13:1-18: “War broke out between Abijah and Jeroboam. 3 Abijah raised an army of

400,000 soldiers, and Jeroboam opposed him with an army of 800,000....

“You have a huge army and have with you the gold bull calves that Jeroboam made to be your gods.... 14 The Judeans looked round and saw that they were surrounded. They cried to the Lord for help, and the priests blew the trumpets. 15 The Judeans gave a loud shout, and led by Abijah, they attacked; God defeated Jeroboam and the Israelite army.16 The Israelites fled from the Judeans, and God let the Judeans overpower them.17 Abijah and his army dealt the Israelites a crushing defeat—half a million of Israel’s best soldiers were killed. 18 And so the people of Judah were victorious over Israel, because they relied on the Lord, the God of their ancestors.” Good News Bible

Remember what happened to the Egyptians? Exodus 12:12: 12 “On that night I will go through the land of Egypt, killing every firstborn male, both human and animal, and punishing all the gods of Egypt.

I am the Lord.” Good News Bible: Today’s English Version

Yahweh must defend His honor and His name. Even when people have mistaken ideas about their “gods”, Yahweh must act to defend His name and His reputation. When people act as if these “idols” are somehow a match for the One and only God, Yahweh, He needs to speak and act in unmistakable terms. This seems to be what is happening in these situations.

7. Could God have been responsible for helping Asa kill 1,000,000 Sudanese? (2 Chronicles 14:9-15) Who actually did the killing? (2 Chronicles 14:12) Was it right for Judah’s army to do all that looting?

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(2 Chronicles 14:13-15)

There is a great deal of discussion among Old Testament scholars as to the reality of these large numbers that we read in some passages. It is possible that we have misread some of them. (See handout on Hebrew Numbers) The NIV has this footnote: Hebrew: “with an army of a thousand thousands or with an army of thousands upon thousands."

“A thousand thousand. Some think that this symmetrical number expresses the thought of a very large host in the same way as we today speak of a “myriad” without intending to convey the idea of exactly or even approximately “ten thousand,” the literal meaning of the term. Those who hold this opinion point out that a million men would be entirely out of proportion. Be that as it may, Zerah’s forces were obviously an overwhelming “multitude” to Asa and his army.” (SDA Bible Commentary)

This does not change the basic question as to whether God would assist Asa in killing a large number of people.

“Israel’s victory is frequently highlighted by reporting the numbers of the opposing army (2 Chr.15:18-22; 12:2-4; 13:3; 14:9[2132]).” (New Geneva Study Bible)

“The Ethiopians that attacked Judah (2 Chr. 12:9-10[2133]) were from an ancient African nation just to the south of Egypt, in a region sometimes called Nubia or Cush. This land was known for its rivers, the Blue Nile and the White Nile (Is. 18:1[2134]), its papyrus boats (Is. 18:2[2135]), and its precious topaz gems (Job 28:19[2136]). The people were known for their black skin (Jer. 13:23[2137]), their tallness and smooth skin (Is. 18:2), and their fierceness in battle (Jer. 46:9[2138]).

“The Ethiopians were descended from Noah’s son Ham (Gen. 10:6[2139]; 1 Chr. 1:8-10[2140]), as were the Egyptians (called Mizraim). These two nations were closely connected throughout their histories, and the biblical writers often mention the two together (for example, Is. 20:3-5[2141]; Ezek. 30:4-5[2142]). Ethiopia was generally controlled by the Egyptians until after the time of David (about 1000 AD.). During this period, the Ethiopians often served as hired soldiers for the Egyptian army and others (2 Sam. 18:21-32[2143]; 2 Chr. 12:3[2144]).

“The Ethiopians attained their greatest strength during the time of Hezekiah (about 700 A.D.), when Egypt was suffering from internal disunity and political instability. An Ethiopian dynasty ruled Egypt for 60 years during this period, but an invasion by the Assyrian kings Esarhaddon and Ashurbanipal eventually brought its power to an end (Is. 20:2-6[2145]). Later the prophets Ezekiel (Ezek. 30:4-10[2146]) and Jeremiah (Jer. 46:9-10, 13-14[2147]) predicted that Ethiopia and Egypt would be attacked by the king of Babylon, and the prophet Isaiah foretold a Persian conquest of the territory (Esth. 1:1; 8:9[2148], Is. 43:3[2149]).

“Yet in the midst of these judgments, the Lord promised that someday people of His would return to the Holy Land from Ethiopia (11:11). In fact, Ethiopians would be included among those who would come to Jerusalem to worship the true God (Ps. 68:31[2150]; Is. 45:14[2151]). The New Testament records a partial fulfillment of this promise when an Ethiopian treasurer came to Jerusalem and was converted to Christianity (see Acts 8:27-39[2152]).” (Word in Life Study Bible)

“Asa’s prayer is a remarkable display of faith. It is nothing with thee to help ... with many ... with them that have no power. He knew he was outnumbered approximately two to one (vss. 8-9); but more importantly, he knew that God’s victories did not depend upon the number or strength of men (cf. Jonathan’s similar statement in I Sam 14:6[2153]).” (KJV Bible Commentary)

8. Asa removed all the detestable idols from Judah and Benjamin and the captured territory of Ephraim. (2 Chronicles 14:2,3; 15:8,16[2154] but see verse 17[2155]) Why were they there in the first place? What do you think was the attraction of these “idols?”

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“According to the account in 1 Kings 15:11-15[2156], Asa zealously destroyed idols, including one made by or for his grandmother; he placed dedicated treasures in the temple, and he drove the “perverted persons” out of the land. 2 Chronicles 14:3[2157] appears in conflict with 15:17. There are two points which bring the verse into harmony. One is that the reforms of Asa described in 14:2-5 occurred at the beginning of his reign, whereas 15:17 is an evaluation from near the end of his reign. Also, 14:4 specifically mentions “Judah,” whereas the evaluation in 15:17 concerned “Israel” (see 10:16). It may be that toward the end of his reign, territory in Judah once belonging to Israel saw a re-emergence of unauthorized worship.” (Believer's Study Bible)

We will probably never fully understand what the attraction was in these idols. There were probably multiple factors. There were few other types of “entertainment” available in their day. The alcohol and the sexual perversion were certainly factors as well. Would the quiet, serious worship of Yahweh seem boring after one of these fertility cult ceremonies? Surely the Devil did everything he could to lead people away from the true worship of Yahweh.

9.    Why would they say, “All who would not seek the Lord, the God of Israel, were to be put to death, whether small or great, man or woman?” (2 Chronicles 15:13[2158]) Has the attitude and understanding of the people significantly improved or changed since the time of Joshua? (see Joshua 1:18[2159]; Deuteronomy 17:2-13[2160]; cf. Ex. 22:20[2161]; Deut. 13:6-10, 12-15[2162])

Deuteronomy 17:2-13: 2 “Suppose you hear that in one of your towns some man or woman has sinned against the Lord and broken his covenant by worshiping and serving other gods or the sun or the moon or the stars, contrary to the Lord’s command. 4If you hear such a report, then investigate it thoroughly. If it is true that this evil thing has happened in Israel, 5then take that person outside the town and stone him to death. However, he may be put to death only if two or more witnesses testify against him; he is not to be put to death if there is only one witness. The witnesses are to throw the first stones, and then the rest of the people are to stone that person; in this way you will get rid of this evil.

8 “It may be that some cases will be too difficult for the local judges to decide, such as certain cases of property rights or of bodily injury or those cases that involve a distinction between murder and manslaughter. When this happens, go to the one place of worship chosen by the Lord your God, 9and present your case to the levitical priests and to the judge who is in office at that time, and let them decide the case. 10They will give their decision, and you are to do exactly as they tell you. 11Accept their verdict and follow their instructions in every detail. 12Anyone who dares to disobey either the judge or the priest on duty is to be put to death; in this way you will remove this evil from Israel. 13Then everyone will hear of it and be afraid, and no one else will dare to act in such a way.” (GNB)

Is God suggesting here in Deuteronomy that this is the way He wants such matters to be handled down through the history of Israel? If they had followed this covenant would there have been so many idols in the land? As we have noted earlier in our studies, death penalties were prescribed for almost every violation of the ten commandments. See Leviticus Teacher’s Guide #7.

10.    We have studied at least two stories (1 Kings 13 & 2 Chronicles 18; compare 1 Kings 22) where “prophets” have lied. Why doesn’t God communicate directly with each one of us and thus eliminate this risk? Why does He pick out a prophet here and a prophet there and then tell the kings of Israel to inquire of them? What if Ahab had not questioned Micaiah, being left with Micaiah’s first message and going off to battle and getting slaughtered? What kind of prophets were these who were

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prophesying for Ahab? Were they recognized as bringing words from Jehovah, Baal, Ashtoreth or who? Wasn’t it pretty clear that Ahab already knew what he wanted to do, and probably wouldn’t have changed his plans no matter what Micaiah said? Does God ever convene the heavenly council to try to decide how to tempt someone to do something wrong-even get themselves killed? Can you think of any other stories in the Bible that might compare in “incredibility” with this one? (What about the rich man and Lazarus-Luke 16:19-31[2163]?)

Look at the extensive discussion of this story in the handout 1 Kings - A Teacher’s Guide # 26. The problem of false prophets became very acute in Jeremiah’s day. (See Jeremiah 14:10-16; 23:15-32[2164])

11.    Notice the context of 2 Chronicles 20:20[2165], our key text for believing the prophets. If God could so easily send a message through the prophet and then “miraculously” defeat the enemies of His people, why didn’t He do it many times before this? (Compare Joshua 6[2166]; 2 Kings 19:35[2167]; 2 Chronicles 32:21[2168]; Isaiah 37:36[2169]) If David was so close to God that he could ask detailed instructions about when and how to go to battle, why didn’t God just win the battles for him as God did in this story? Then David may have been able to build the Temple. (1 Chronicles 28:3[2170])

The strategy and outcome of this battle form a striking contrast to Jehoshaphat’s previous battle! (18:28-34) Jehoshaphat’s previous battle was arranged by Ahab against the Lord’s advice, but this one was done following the Lord’s advice. What a difference!

There are many questions for which we cannot have complete answers here in this life. These are some of the things that we will spend a great deal of time discussing in heaven! God always has many ways of dealing with issues and problems that arise here on earth, but He often chooses to do things in a way that doesn’t seem like the best way to go in our eyes. In this case God clearly worked a “miracle” to help the Hebrews to win a decisive battle. If God had offered to win some of David’s battles for him, would David have accepted? God did apparently guide David at times.

“God never leads His children otherwise than they would choose to be led, if they could see the end from the beginning, and discern the glory of the purpose which they are fulfilling as co-workers with Him. Not Enoch, who was translated to heaven, not Elijah, who ascended in a chariot of fire, was greater or more honored than John the Baptist, who perished alone in the dungeon. ‘Unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on Him, but also to suffer for His sake.’ Phil. 1:29. And of all the gifts that Heaven can bestow upon men, fellowship with Christ in His sufferings is the most weighty trust and the highest honor.” DA 224.5-225

12.    Why was it that as long as Jehoiada was alive sacrifices were offered continuously at the temple? (2 Chronicles 24:14[2171]) Why did they so soon abandon this practice after he died? (2 Chronicles 24:15-18[2172]) What caused the tremendous reversal in the life history of Joash? (2 Chronicles 24[2173])

“The high priest, Jehoiada, was Jehoash’s counselor and spiritual advisor. Despite the reform during Joash’s kingship, it appears that the young king’s religious experience was heavily dependent upon the high priest and was decidedly less than a full commitment to the Lord (cf. 2 Chr. 24:2[2174]). After Jehoiada’s death, Jehoash found new counselors and friends who turned his heart away from God, so much so that he did not intervene when his new associates put to death Zechariah, Jehoiada’s son, for his faith (cf. 2 Chr. 24:17-22[2175]). Faith must be personal, not just ‘official.’” (King James Version Study Bible)

“Jehoiada died at the age of 130, and in recognition of his service to the nation he was buried

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among the kings of Judah in the City of David (vs 15, 16). Joash revealed shocking ingratitude after Jehoida’s death not only by allowing the people to relapse into idolatry but also by stoning his benefactor’s son, Zechariah, who cried out against the people’s return to idolatry (vs 17-22).” (SDA Bible Dictionary)

This is a very sad commentary on the life of Joash (Jehoash). In his early years he was protected and cared for by the high priest and his family. But when the priest died, Joash apparently quickly abandoned the ways of Yahweh. It isn’t possible for us to understand at this point all of the issues that led to the change that came after Jehoiada’s death, but it could be that the generational gap between a “father figure” who was over 100 and a young boy was just too large!

13.    Why did God strike Uzziah with leprosy because he tried to offer incense on the altar in the temple? (2 Chronicles 26:16-21[2176]) Compare Uzzah (2 Samuel 6:6,7[2177]); Nadab and Abihu (Leviticus 10:1-11[2178]); Korah, Dathan, and Abiram (Numbers 16:1-35[2179]).

“The account of Uzziah’s violation of and intrusion into the holy place demonstrates several important truths: (1) even rulers are subject to the laws of God; (2) those who violate God’s laws suffer His judgment; (3) the strength and courage of Azariah and the priests in withstanding the king are exemplary for spiritual people in every age. Uzziah spent the remainder of his life with the loathsome disease of leprosy.” (Believer’s Study Bible)

“This passage illustrates the truth that although the believer should obey (Matt. 22:21[2180]) and support the legally constituted government (1 Pet. 2:13-17[2181]) and even pray for governmental leadership (1 Tim. 2:1-3[2182]), where rulers violate the law of God, the believer is to stand for God. No man is above the law of the land or the law of God.” (King James Version Study Bible)

There are many examples of others in Scripture whom God humbled: Pharaoh (Ex. 6,8,15[2183]); Saul (1 Samuel 15:22-26; 31:1-6[2184]); Nabal (1 Samuel 25[2185]); Solomon (1 Kings 11[2186]; Ecclesiastes 2[2187]); Haman (Esther 3-7[2188]); Lucifer (Isaiah 14:12-17[2189]); Nebuchadnezzar (Daniel 4:28-37[2190]); Belshazzar (Daniel 5[2191]); Herod Agrippa I (Acts 12:20-23[2192]). This should be a warning to those who choose to defy God and go their own way.

14.    Most of the time it seemed that when the king did what was right the people followed, and vice versa, but not always. Occasionally the people ignored the king. Look at Jotham, who did what was right, while the people worshiped other “gods”. (2 Chronicles 27:2[2193]) See 2 Kings Teacher’s Guide #9.

[Jotham] “Reigned 750-732 B.C. Jotham reigned during the period of his father Uzziah’s leprosy (750-740 B.C.), and had co-regency with his son Ahaz (735-732 B.C.). For six years he was the sole monarch. The figure “sixteen years” here and in v. 8 probably refers to his co-regency with his father and his independent reign. Adding his four years with Ahaz brings the total to twenty years (2 Kin. 15:30[2194]).” (New Geneva Study Bible)

“The writer of Kings further explains 2 Chronicles 27:2 by stating that ‘the people sacrificed and burned incense still in the high places’ (2 Kings 15:35). The utterances of the prophets of this period give evidence that there existed a deep-seated moral corruption that was sapping the strength of the nation (Isa. 1:4, 21-24[2195]; Hosea 4:1, 2[2196]; Micah 3:10-12[2197]).” (SDA Bible Commentary)

Because of his father’s sin Jotham had to bear many of the burdens of the government during the final years of his father’s reign. It seems that this had a sobering effect on Jotham. But he was unable to bring about reform among the people of Judah. It is interesting to note that most of his predecessors had positive and negative things said about them. There are only positive things said

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about Jotham himself. (Compare 2 Kings 15:32-38[2198])

[In the early days of Isaiah and Jotham] “(t)he outlook was particularly discouraging as regards the social conditions of the people. In their desire for gain, men were adding house to house and field to field. See Isaiah 5:8. Justice was perverted, and no pity was shown the poor. Of these evils God declared, ‘The spoil of the poor is in your houses. Ye beat My people to pieces, and grind the faces of the poor.’ Isaiah 3:14, 15. Even the magistrates, whose duty it was to protect the helpless, turned a deaf ear to the cries of the poor and needy, the widows and the fatherless. See Isaiah 10:1, 2[2199]. {PK 306.1[2200]}

“With oppression and wealth came pride and love of display, gross drunkenness, and a spirit of revelry. See Isaiah 2:11, 12; 3:16, 18-23; 5:22, 11, 12[2201]. And in Isaiah’s day idolatry itself no longer provoked surprise. See Isaiah 2:8, 9[2202]. Iniquitous practices had become so prevalent among all classes that the few who remained true to God were often tempted to lose heart and to give way to discouragement and despair. It seemed as if God’s purpose for Israel was about to fail and that the rebellious nation was to suffer a fate similar to that of Sodom and Gomorrah.” {PK 306.2[2203]}

15. What was the reason for the disastrous wars between Judah and Israel? (2 Chronicles 28:5,6[2204]; 2 Kings 16:5[2205]) What else was happening during this time? (Isaiah 7-9[2206]) Why do you think the Israelites returned the Judean prisoners in the times of Ahaz? (2 Chronicles 28:8-15[2207]) Who was more wicked at the time-Israel or Judah? Why did God allow Israel to win? King Ahaz offered sacrifices to the “gods” of Damascus because they had beaten him in war. (2 Chronicles 28:22,23[2208]) He went on to become very wicked. (vs. 2 Chronicles 24,25[2209])

Ahaz (a)pparently sacrificed [his own children] as burnt offerings to Molech (see on Lev. 18:21; 20:2[2210]; Deut. 18:10; 32:17[2211]). Human sacrifice was one of the most terrible abominations of Palestine, and in the period of Judah it became a not uncommon feature of religious worship (Jer. 7:31; 19:2-6; 32:35[2212]; Eze. 16:20, 21[2213]).” (SDA Bible Commentary)

“The spiritual leadership that began with Uzziah and continued with Jotham disappeared with Ahaz. We wonder why the godly examples of his father and grandfather did Ahaz no good. Historians tell us that Ahaz was co-regent with his father for four years, which means he started when he was sixteen. Did Ahaz become proud? Did he listen to wrong counsel?

“The Ammonite god Molech was worshiped in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom. The king even put his children on the heathen altar. When a father is disobedient to God, often the children suffer most. King Josiah defiled the place (2 Kings 23:10[2214]) and made it a garbage dump. The word gehenna came to refer to the place of eternal judgment, hell.

“Judah experienced a humiliating defeat from Israel, but God mercifully overruled and rescued the people. It was a prophet, not a king or general, who saved the day.

“Instead of repenting and returning to the God of his father and grandfather, Ahaz adopted the gods of the victorious enemy. It seemed logical to him because the enemy was winning! Instead of going by the Word of God, he took the pragmatic approach (Prov. 3:5-6[2215]). Have you ever done that? It is dangerous!” (With the Word Bible Commentary)

It is clear from the surrounding context that Ahaz was a very wicked ruler of Judah. He was leading his people away from God’s plans for them as fast as he could. At the same time, several of the leaders of the northern kingdom of Israel seemed to be quite concerned about their status with Yahweh. A prophet of God named Oded gave clear instruction (2 Chronicles 28:9-15[2216]) which was followed for a change! In this context God seems to have blessed the northern kingdom for coming closer to His will than their southern neighbors!

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“Ahaz’s apostasy was so complete that he practiced human sacrifice. See Lev. 18:21[2217]; Deut. 12:31; 18:10[2218]; 2 Kin. 16:3; 17:17; 21:6; 23:10[2219]; 2 Chr. 33:6[2220]; Ps. 106:37, 38[2221]; Is. 57:5[2222]; Jer. 7:30, 31; 19:5; 32:35[2223]; Ezek. 16:20, 21[2224]; Mic. 6:7[2225].” (New Geneva Study Bible)

16. Look at the incredible sins that Manasseh did (2 Chronicles 33[2226])-offering his children in the fire, putting heathen idols and altars in the temple, consulting mediums and spiritists, rebuilding the high places, making altars to Baal and Asherah, bowing down to the starry host-Manasseh even put Isaiah in a hollow log and sawed him in two (Hebrews 11:37[2227]; PK 382[2228]; 4BC 1137; The Pseudepigraphical book of the Martyrdom of Isaiah). Could God take such a person to heaven after this history? See 2 Kings Teacher’s Guide #19.

“Faithfully the prophets continued their warnings and their exhortations; fearlessly they spoke to Manasseh and to his people; but the messages were scorned; backsliding Judah would not heed. As an earnest of what would befall the people should they continue impenitent, the Lord permitted their king to be captured by a band of Assyrian soldiers, who ‘bound him with fetters, and carried him to Babylon,’ their temporary capital. This affliction brought the king to his senses; ‘he besought the Lord his God, and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers, and prayed unto Him: and He was entreated of him, and heard his supplication, and brought him again to Jerusalem into his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the Lord He was God.’ 2 Chronicles 33:11-13[2229]. But this repentance, remarkable though it was, came too late to save the kingdom from the corrupting influence of years of idolatrous practices. Many had stumbled and fallen, never again to rise.” PK 382.3-383[2230]

“In the case of Manasseh the Lord gives us an instance of the way in which He works. [2 Chron. 33:9-13[2231] quoted.] {3BC 1132.7}

“The Lord has often spoken to His people in warning and reproof. He has revealed Himself in mercy, love, and kindness. He has not left His backsliding people to the will of the enemy, but has borne long with them, even during obdurate apostasy. But after appeals have been made in vain, He prepares the rod for punishment. What compassionate love has been exercised toward the people of God! The Lord might have cut down in their sins those who were working at cross purposes with Him, but He has not done this. His hand is stretched out still. We have reason to offer thanksgiving to God that He has not taken His Spirit from those who have refused to walk in His way (Letter 94, 1899).” 3BC 1132.8

“Following the death of Hezekiah, true religion in Judah not only declined; it was replaced by gross idolatry under the long kingship of Manasseh (vv. 3-20; cf. 2 Kin. 21:1-18[2232]). The chronicler asserts that Manasseh’s captivity and affliction (vv. 11, 12) were the direct result of his activities.

“Assyrian annals indicate that Esarhaddon (681-669 B.C.) assembled at Nineveh all the kings of the “westland” to secure Ashurbanipal’s succession. Manasseh is listed among the 22 kings of the “Hatti-country” who were in vassalage to Esarhaddon.

“The “Prayer of Manasseh,” one of the 14 books of the O.T. Apocrypha, is based entirely on 2 Chronicles 33:13-16[2233]. (cf.2 Chronicles 33:18, 19[2234])

“There is no mention of this prayer in the biblical Books of Kings (cf. 2 Kin. 21:1-18[2235]); thus, this reference to the “book of the kings of Israel” must surely refer to a non-canonical record with the same or a similarly derived title.” (Believer’s Study Bible)

“People who come to faith late in life have much for which to be thankful. Yet often they find it difficult to undo a lifetime of living apart from God. Old habits die hard and little time is left to bring lasting change to the world they are leaving behind. Such may well have been the case for Manasseh

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after his repentance in Babylon (2 Chr. 33:10-12[2236]).

“During most of Manasseh’s reign, Judah paid tribute to Assyria as a vassal state—a fact that may have contributed to Manasseh’s fascination with idolatry (33:2-9), as it had in the days of his grandfather Ahaz. Having resisted repeated warnings from the Lord (33:10), Manasseh was eventually captured and shamed by the Assyrians and deported to Babylon.

“However, when Manasseh recognized his errors and repented, the Lord, true to His promises (for example, Lev. 26:40-45[2237]), delivered him (2 Chr. 33:13[2238]). It was a testimony to the great lengths to which God will go to retrieve a person from sin. It also showed that no matter how evil or outrageous one’s sin might be, God is still able and willing to forgive when He sees genuine repentance.

“Manasseh returned to Jerusalem and immediately began a program of spiritual reform (33:15-17). But it was a case of too little, too late. He had spent his life completely destroying the positive trends initiated by his father Hezekiah. Now he was too old to reclaim that lost ground. Furthermore, he could do little at that point to reverse the generations of wickedness that both preceded and followed him. God’s judgment of Judah was poised to fall. It was only a matter of time (2 Kin. 20:16-18[2239]).

“Thus Manasseh’s life left behind a bittersweet legacy. He had time enough to repent, but very little time to reform. He showed that it is never too soon to turn to God and start living according to His ways.” (Word-in Life Study Bible)

We do not know for sure if Manasseh will be in the kingdom of heaven. If he is, it will certainly be because of the incredible forgiveness of God and His mercy toward sinners. How sad that Manasseh had to be dragged to Babylon (then the southern province of Assyria) with a hook in his nose in order to realize his sins! If Manasseh makes it to heaven, it should be possible for anyone! It will no doubt be somewhat of a shock for all the faithful people who died at Manasseh’s hands, including the prophet Isaiah.

17. What is implied by God’s summary of why He had to let the people go off to Babylonian captivity? (2 Chronicles 36:15-16[2240]; compare 2 Kings 17:5-23[2241]) When God’s people are so bad that they hold God up to open shame, is God losing in the great controversy? That is the battlefield that really counts! Why do you suppose God decided at this point that He had to “let them go?” What is He waiting for in our day?

2 Chronicles 36:15,16: 15 The Lord, the God of their ancestors, had continued to send prophets to warn his people, because he wanted to spare them and the Temple.16 But they ridiculed God’s messengers, ignoring his words and laughing at his prophets, until at last the Lord’s anger against his people was so great that there was no escape. Good News Bible: Today’s English Version

“After Josiah’s death, the kings of Judah were weaklings, mere puppets in the hands of the politicians in Jerusalem or the nations around Judah. The last king was Zedekiah, and then the nation fell to Babylon in 586 B.C.

“Why did Judah decay? Because the people turned from the Lord and worshiped false gods. At first, their godless worship was in secret: they worshiped the Lord in the temple, but also worshiped Baal and other gods in secret. Then they openly turned from the Lord to worship the gods of their enemies. When the Lord sent chastening to them, they repented for a time, but soon they went back to their evil ways. Whenever the Lord would raise up a godly king, his influence didn’t last, because the people ‘reformed’ but didn’t repent and turn to God with all their hearts. Whatever the king did was the popular thing to do, so they did it.

“The church today must beware of the same kind of spiritual decay. Are we worshiping the gods

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of the enemy? Are we proud of our buildings and budgets and statistics? Is there evidence of true holiness and a fear of God in our worship? Are we dependent on the spiritual leaders God gives us? Are we experiencing success because the Lord is with us or because we cooperate with the world? Do we think that because we have the Bible and church buildings and ‘successful ministries’ that God will overlook our sins and stay His hand of discipline? ‘For the time has come for judgment to begin at the house of God’ (1 Peter 4:1[2242]7).

“At any time during those centuries of spiritual decay, the people of Judah could have met the conditions of 2 Chron. 7:14, and God would have healed their land. But they would not turn back to God, so God had to turn against them.

2 Chronicles 7:14: “14 if they pray to me and repent and turn away from the evil they have been doing, then I will hear them in heaven, forgive their sins, and make their land prosperous again.” (GNB)

“What a lesson for God’s people today!” Wiersbe’s Expository Outlines on the Old Testament

© Copyright 1998-2006, Kenneth Hart khart@llu.edu

2 Chronicles #2 - page 15 of 16

Appendix:

Kings of Judah and Israel Judah    Israel

Saul ca. 1050-1011

David ca. 1011-971

Solomon ca. 971-931

Rehoboam

931-913

Jeroboam I

931-910

Abijam

913-911

Nadab

910-909

Asa

911-869

Baasha

909-886

Jehoshaphat

872-848*

Elah

886-885

Jehoram

854-841*

Zimri

885

Ahaziah

841

Tibni

885-880**

Athaliah

841-835

Omri

885-874

Joash

835-796

Ahab

874-853

Amaziah

796-767

Ahaziah

853-852

Azariah (Uzziah)

790-739*

Joram

852-841

Jotham

750-731*

Jehu

841-814

Ahaz

735-715*

Jehoahaz

814-798*

Hezekiah

729-686

Jehoash

798-782

Manasseh

697-642

Jeroboam II

793-753*

Amon

642-640

Zechariah

753-752

Josiah

640-609

Shallum

752

Jehoahaz

609

Menahem

752-742

Jehoiakim

609-598

Pekahiah

742-740

Jehoiachin

598-597

Pekah

752-732

Zedekiah

597-586

Hoshea

732-722

*Includes years as corregent

**Rival rule

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30. EZRA AND NEHEMIAH - A TEACHER’S GUIDE

THE CENTRAL QUESTION:

What does this book/story say to us about God?

This question may be broken down further as follows:

a.    Why did God do it/allow it?

b.    Why did He record it for our study?

1. Did the reading of Ezra and Nehemiah contribute anything to your picture of God? Would we be just as well off without these two small books? Do you remember any "key texts” from Ezra or Nehemiah?

Ezra, a priest and a descendant of Zadok through Phinehas, was the leader of a group of Jews (about 1,700 men not counting women and children) that returned from Exile leaving Mesopotamia in May, 457 BC and arriving at Jerusalem in August, 457 BC. (Assuming Ezra is using the Jewish calendar in Ezra 7:8) Ezra was well educated and was probably the first of the order of “scribes” or interpreters of the Law mentioned so frequently in the New Testament. When he reached Jerusalem, Ezra instituted a thoroughgoing series of reforms.

Nehemiah (the name means “Yahweh has comforted”) was the wine steward for King Artaxerxes I of Persia. One day the king noticed that he was looking sad and asked what the problem was. He sent a quick prayer to heaven and then explained about the news he had just received from Jerusalem. The King appointed him to be the Governor of Judea and gave him gifts and the necessary authority to rebuild the wall around Jerusalem. He traveled quickly to Jerusalem in the year 444 BC and secretly assessed the situation. Then he put into action a plan that thwarted their enemies and in a short time the wall was rebuilt. Nehemiah instituted significant social reforms forbidding the rich to charge interest for money they lent to their poorer brothers. He remained as Governor of Judea for twelve years before returning to Susa and his work for the King. Later he returned to Jerusalem for a second term and found that the people had once again fallen into very evil practices. He worked with Ezra to enforced the separation of foreign wives from their Jewish husbands and began enforcing the strict observance of the Sabbath by closing the gates of the city and forbidding anyone from doing business on that day.

In ancient Hebrew Bibles Ezra-Nehemiah was a single book named “Ezra.” Later, when the Greek-speaking Jews translated the Bible into Greek producing the LXX (Septuagint), the book of "Ezra” was placed after another book that we now call 1 Esdras (Protestants now consider 1 Esdras to be apocryphal), divided into two books and named 2 Esdras (Ezra) and 3 Esdras. When the Roman Catholic scholar Jerome produced the Latin

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Vulgate, he called these two books Ezra and Nehemiah. They remained as one book in Hebrew Bibles until 1448 AD. Ezra and Nehemiah are a continuation of the Jewish history that was started in 1 and 2 Chronicles and both books were almost certainly written by Ezra. They provided virtually our only historical account of events in Jerusalem after the exile and before the coming of Christ.

Ezra

History had not treated the People of Israel well and they were in decline. A superpower military machine, Babylon, had battered them and then, leaving their city and temple a mound of rubble, hauled them off into exile. Now, 128 years later, a few Jews back in Jerusalem had been trying to put the pieces back together decade after weary decade. But it was not going well at all. They were hanging on by their fingernails. And then Ezra arrived.

This is an extreme case of a familiar story, repeated with variations in most centuries and in most places in the world. Men and women who find their basic identity in God, as God reveals himself in Israel and Messiah, don't find an easy time of it. They never have. They never will. Their identity is under constant challenge and threat-sometimes by hostile assault, at other times by subtle and smiling seductions. Whether by assault or seduction, the People of God have come perilously close to obliteration several times. We are never out of danger. Because of Ezra, Israel made it through. God didn't leave Ezra to do this single-handedly; he gave him substantial and critical help in the rescue operation in the person of Nehemiah, whose work providentially converged with his. (Important details of the Ezra story are in the memoirs of Nehemiah, the book that follows this one.) The People-of-God identity was recovered and preserved. Ezra used Worship and Text to do it. Ezra engaged them in the worship of God, the most all-absorbing, comprehensive act in which men and women can engage. This is how our God-formed identities become most deeply embedded in us. And Ezra led them into an obedient listening to the text of Scripture. Listening and following God's revelation are the primary ways in which we keep attentively obedient to the living presence of God among us. Ezra made his mark: Worship and Text continue to be foundational for recovering and maintaining identity as the People of God. (Intro to Ezra, The Message)

Nehemiah

Separating life into distinct categories of "sacred” and "secular” damages, sometimes irreparably, any attempt to live a whole and satisfying life, a coherent life with meaning and purpose, a life lived to the glory of God. Nevertheless, the practice is widespread. But where did all these people come up with the habit of separating themselves and the world around them into these

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two camps? It surely wasn’t from the Bible. The Holy Scriptures, from beginning to end, strenuously resist such a separation.

The damage to life is most obvious when the separation is applied to daily work. It is common for us to refer to the work of pastors, priests, and missionaries as "sacred,” and that of lawyers, farmers, and engineers as "secular.” It is also wrong. Work, by its very nature, is holy. The biblical story is dominated by people who have jobs in gardening, shepherding, the military, politics, carpentry, tent making, homemaking, fishing, and more.

Nehemiah is one of these. He started out as a government worker in the employ of a foreign king. Then he became-and this is the work he tells us of in these memoirs-a building contractor, called in to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. His coworker Ezra was a scholar and teacher, working with the Scriptures. Nehemiah worked with stones and mortar. The stories of the two men are interwoven in a seamless fabric of vocational holiness. Neither job was more or less important or holy than the other. Nehemiah needed Ezra; Ezra needed Nehemiah. God’s people needed the work of both of them. We still do. (Intro to Nehemiah, The Message)

2. The first conquest of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar took place in 606/605 BC. The return of the first group of exiles under Zerubbabel was in 536/535 BC (70 years later). More than 80 years passed until the times of Ezra (457 BC) and Nehemiah (444 BC). Did the exiles apparently learn anything from their experiences? Was there any significant difference between the behavior of these exiles and the behavior of their ancestors just before the exile? If their behavior hadn’t improved any as a result of the exile, why did God bother bringing them back to Jerusalem? If God knew they would reject and crucify His Son, why did He continue to work with them?

We have no record of what the Jews did about their religious practice during the time they were in captivity. Did they persist in their love of some of these heathen ceremonies? It is quite apparent from reading Ezra 9 & 10[2243] and Nehemiah 5 & 13[2244], that the people who returned to Jerusalem quickly returned to the same heathen practices that had been their downfall before the exile. (Compare Hosea 4:13,14[2245]) But under the watchful eyes of Ezra and Nehemiah they made an amazing change in their practices. They gave up the heathen practices and almost immediately fell into the practice of Phariseeism as we see it in the New Testament. There were never again idols in Jerusalem, or fertility cult religions openly practiced in the surrounding hills. How different might things be if Jesus had come in the days of Isaiah or Jeremiah or even in the early days after the exile? Instead, Ezra and Nehemiah used various methods to lead the people to reform their ways. They became quite strict in how they observed the rituals of the temple and

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very legalistic in their condemnation of those who weren’t following the rules as closely as they thought they should. But incredible as it may seem Jesus apparently states that these people, as wicked as they were in our eyes were more savable than the Pharisaical people of His day! (Who are very much like us!) See Matthew 10:14,15; 11:23,24[2246].

3.    Why do you think the people began almost immediately to intermarry with the surrounding nations? (Ezra 9 & 10[2247]; Nehemiah 13[2248]) Were these heathen nations even supposed to be alive at this time in history? (Exodus 23:20-33; 34:11-16,24[2249]; Leviticus 18:24; 26:6,7[2250]; Deuteronomy 4:38; 7:1-26; 9:1-6; 11:23; 12:29-31; 20:16-18; 31:3; 23:3-6[2251]; Joshua 1:1-9; 10 & 11; 23:4,5[2252]; compare Judges 2:11-23[2253])

Note that these nations giving so much trouble to Nehemiah were the same nations that were supposed to have been driven back or eliminated hundreds of years before his day. If Joshua and his associates had done their job as they were supposed to have done it soon after their exodus from Egypt, these nations would either have been converted by the powerful evangelistic thrust of the children of Israel or they would have been driven out by God’s "hornets” or perhaps even eliminated. But they were so much like the Israelites that their customs were apparently irresistible to them.

The part that is difficult to understand is that suddenly, somehow in Ezra and Nehemiah’s day, when the children of Israel (now know as the Jews and consisting primarily of descendants of Judah, Levi and Benjamin) no longer had their independence, they managed to completely change their culture and religious customs and these enemies that had troubled them for so long faded away! By the times of Jesus they were not a problem for the Jews any longer. What happened to all these nations that we read so much about in the Old Testament?

4.    As a result of the work of Ezra and Nehemiah, the people appeared to change their behavior and as far as we know historically, they never went back to "idolatry” and "fertility cult worship” again. (Did Jesus have to speak out against "golden calves” or images of Dagon, Molech, Baal or Asherah?) Instead they became very strict about keeping the law and eventually the priests and leaders became the Pharisees and Sadducees of the New Testament. What do you think caused this tremendous shift in thinking and behavior for the entire group? Were the Pharisees and the Sadducees much more "religious” than the peoples in the times of Ezra and Nehemiah? Were they more "righteous” in God’s eyes? Were they actually more "savable?” (Matthew 11:20-24[2254]; Luke 10:13-15[2255])

See answers to #2 and #3 just above. It should be very clear that they had not become "saints” from the words that Jesus said about them:

Matthew 10:14-15: 14 "If anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words, shake

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the dust off your feet when you leave that home or town. 15 I tell you the truth, it will be more bearable for Sodom and Gomorrah on the day ofjudgment than for that town.” (NIV)

14 "Any city or home that doesn’t welcome you-shake off the dust of that place from your feet as you leave. 15 Truly, the wicked cities of Sodom and Gomorrah will be better off at Judgment Day than they.” (TLB)

Matthew 11:20-24: 20 Then Jesus began to denounce the cities in which most of his miracles had been performed, because they did not repent. 21 "Woe to you, Korazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! If the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. 22 But I tell you, it will be more bearable for Tyre and Sidon on the day of judgment than for you. 23 And you, Capernaum, will you be lifted up to the skies? No, you will go down to the depths. If the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Sodom, it would have remained to this day. 24 But I tell you that it will be more bearable for Sodom on the day of judgment than for you.” (NIV)

20 Then he began to pour out his denunciations against the cities where he had done most of his miracles, because they hadn’t turned to God. 21 "Woe to you, Chorazin, and woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles I did in your streets had been done in wicked Tyre and Sidon their people would have repented long ago in shame and humility. 22 Truly, Tyre and Sidon will be better off on the Judgment Day than you! 23 And Capernaum, though highly honored, shall go down to hell! For if the marvelous miracles I did in you had been done in Sodom, it would still be here today. 24 Truly, Sodom will be better off at the Judgment Day than you.” (TLB)

Luke 10:12,13: 12 "I tell you, it will be more bearable on that day for Sodom than for that town. 13 "Woe to you, Korazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes.” (NIV)

12    "Even wicked Sodom will be better off than such a city on the Judgment Day.

13    What horrors await you, you cities of Chorazin and Bethsaida! For if the miracles I did for you had been done in the cities of Tyre and Sidon, their people would have sat in deep repentance long ago, clothed in sackcloth and throwing ashes on their heads to show their remorse.” (TLB)

Why is it that these Jews were willing to live in the “gutter” on each side of the

“road” to salvation but they generally were not willing to soften their hearts and truly

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turn to God? They seemed to rush to the hills and shady groves to worship the fertility "gods” and got involved in all the immorality and promiscuity that characterized those services. Later, they were ready to condemn anyone who even dared to touch a Gentile or allow one in his house or who entered a Gentile’s house. It is too bad we don’t have records of what the people were saying about this question in Malachi’s day! They certainly must have known what their recent ancestors had been doing, and suddenly they seemed to be so different.

What did the angels think when they saw this apparently sudden change? Is it possible that Satan suddenly changed his tactics? Did he decide that instead of pressing for idolatry and immorality he would push for legalism and an emphasis on law?

5.    What do you think of the demand by Ezra and Nehemiah that the Jews separate themselves from their foreign wives and the children of these wives? (Ezra 10:1-17[2256]; Nehemiah 13:1-3,23-27[2257]) Should Ezra and Nehemiah have been so hard on these strangers? (Ezra 9:12) Why didn’t they treat them as “new converts?” (Numbers 15:14-16[2258]) Weren’t the Israelites and later the Jews given the responsibility to spread the gospel to all around them? How can one “banish” someone and “convert” them at the same time?

In New Testament times Paul told the Christian women of Corinth not to leave their “pagan” husbands because they might be able to win them. (1 Corinthians 7:12-14[2259])

Why was the message different in the days of Ezra and Nehemiah? There are some clues in the story itself. Notice Nehemiah 13:23,24. Children learn languages very readily. If these children had been around any other Hebrew or Jewish children they would have learned the language. The fact that they did not speak the Hebrew (Aramaic) language suggests that these people were getting almost no exposure to the Hebrew people or their culture, including their religion.

It is also significant to note in Ezra 10 where the separation of the foreign wives is discussed in detail, that considerable time was spent in considering each case. This tells us that this was not just a wholesale dismissal of anyone who came from some other nation, but a careful evaluation of those who had really decided that they wanted to become Jews and those who did not. (See Ezra 10:16,17[2260]) Hopefully, even those who were sent away were treated in a very humane way as suggested by the laws in Deuteronomy 24:1-4[2261]. (See #6 below)

6.    Shouldn’t Ezra and Nehemiah have had a “campmeeting” or an evangelistic series to convert these people who had already decided to “join” the Jews? (Compare 1 Corinthians 7:12-14[2262]) After these women were sent away, what do you think happened to them? Do you think God authorized this apparently harsh treatment of

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these foreign wives and their children? Do you think Jesus would have done it? Could such harsh treatment of sinners only take place in the “old dispensation” (Acts 5:1-11[2263]; compare Revelation 14:10-11[2264])? How do you think the individual cases of the foreign wives were actually handled (Ezra 10:16-17[2265])?

A considerable time was spent in reviewing each case before any action was taken. If we assume that the total population of Judea was at least as large as the number who returned from Babylon under Zerubbabel 80 years earlier, then the percentage that had been involved in this transgression was approximately 0.3 %. It was of more than usual danger, however, because a very disproportionate share of the priests and Levites were involved.

We can assume that the fact that some time was taken in the investigation of each case suggests that this matter was not done casually or with little thought. (See note under #5 above)

7.    Does their treatment of these “foreigners” suggest that in order to maintain the purity of His select group of people, God is willing to treat all others as “disposable”? (compare Jonah) Is it any surprise that the Jews later began to feel so much superior to others?

It is quite possible that they began to feel this way, but it should be noted that similar “ethnic cleansings” are recorded in Rome where Patricians were not allowed even to marry Plebians before the year 445 B.C.! Pericles enforced a similar purging in Athens where the “purged” individuals (some five thousand) were actually sold into slavery because they could not demonstrate that they were “pure” Athenians.

Anyone who carefully reads all of the Old Testament would have a hard time thinking of the children of Israel as being especially "pampered” by God. Unfortunately, all of us tend to prefer people’s good statements about us rather than His condemnations! For this reason, they probably didn’t spend much time dwelling on all of the passages that point out their sins!

We need to note that several books in the Old Testament are written almost exclusively to other nations: Jonah, Nahum, Obadiah.

8.    Didn’t Ezra apparently think that this harsh treatment was necessary and that God was even merciful in His “punishment”? (Ezra 9:13-15[2266])

Ezra and later Nehemiah recognized the evils that had arisen in the past because of such intermarriage. (See Nehemiah 13:23-27) Unfortunately, even after Ezra’s dealing with this issue in the early years of their administration, it appears that it arose again during Nehemiah’s second term as governor which occurred sometime around 430 B.C. or thereafter. Ezra appealed to God to cleanse the city and nation from this evil, but Nehemiah took more forceful steps and pulled hair out of their heads and beards!

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(Nehemiah 13:25) This resulted in public disgrace. It apparently worked-perhaps better than even Nehemiah could have imagined! They never again, as far as we know mixed freely in this way with the surrounding nations. Some have suggested that this is the reason the Jews are still around and all of their neighbors of that time have faded into history, having intermarried and blended into other nations.

9.    Do we have any other Biblical accounts that would suggest that even when God sends foreign wives away, He goes along to care for them and their children? (Genesis 21:9-21[2267])

The obvious case that comes to mind is Haggar and Ishmael. Did God deal with them fairly? It sounds very bad when you just read the story as presented in Scripture, but we need to remember that Ishmael’s descendants became a rich and powerful nation. Thus, although we don’t have any of the details, it is fair to say that God went with them, despite their rebellion against Him, and made them into a great nation.

10.    Is it possible that the Jews were actually so weak and so feeble in their service to God, that they literally could not survive spiritually in the presence of these idolaters? (Nehemiah 13:26[2268])

Unfortunately, history seems to bear out this sad commentary. The idol worship and the fertility cult ceremonies were designed-probably by the Devil himself-to maximize their attractiveness to human passions and weaknesses. The Hebrews never seemed to mature sufficiently to recognize the dangers of this type of involvement.

11.    What do you think the Universe looking on thought of the events of Ezra and Nehemiah?

This is a thought question, but it would seem that once again they were wondering what God could possibly do with these rebellious people. They must have been amazed to see what God did do about four hundred years later! Is there evidence in these two books that anyone, even Ezra or Nehemiah understood the kind of friendship relationship that God really wants with His people?

12.    What would we think today if someone, learning of some terrible thing that had happened, reacted as Ezra did? (Ezra 9:3-5[2269]) Compare Nehemiah’s reaction when he learned of their sins! (Nehemiah 13:25)

This is another example of the fact that we are dealing with a different time and a different culture. Putting on sackcloth and throwing dirt or ashes on one’s head are not considered rational things to do in our day, but they were appropriate because of the meaning they had to the people of that day. (Compare Jonah 3:5-10[2270])

13.    What do you think was the reason for the great revival that took place under Ezra and Nehemiah? (Nehemiah 8; compare 2 Chronicles 34:14-33[2271]) What do you think the Levites who were assisting Ezra were actually doing? (Nehemiah 8:4-12[2272]) Since the

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Bible so far had been written in Hebrew (except for short sections in Daniel and Esther which were in Aramaic) and the common people had stopped speaking Hebrew when they were taken to Babylon, it was necessary to translate the passages into Aramaic so the common people could understand them. Couldn’t we think of this as the first “modern speech translation” of the Bible?

Notice the The Living Bible and the Good News Bible translation of several passages:

Nehemiah 8:1-3: Now, in mid-September, all the people assembled at the plaza in front of the Water Gate and requested Ezra, their religious leader, to read to them the law of God, which he had given to Moses. So Ezra the priest brought out to them the scroll of Moses’ laws. He stood on a wooden stand made especially for the occasion so that everyone could see him as he read. He faced the square in front of the Water Gate and read from early morning until noon. Everyone stood up as he opened the scroll. And all who were old enough to understand paid close attention. (TLB)

8:2,3: "So Ezra brought it to the place where the people had gathered-men, women, and children who were old enough to understand. 3 There in the square by the gate he read the Law to them from dawn until noon, and they all listened attentively.” (GNB)

8:7-9: "As Ezra read from the scroll, Jeshua, Bani, Sherebiah, Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai, Hodiah, Maaseiah, Kelita, Azariah, Jozabad, Hanan, Pelaiah, and the Levites went among the people and explained the meaning of the passage that was being read. 9 All the people began sobbing when they heard the commands of the law...” (TLB)

8:8,9: They gave an oral translation^1 of God’s Law and explained^2 it so that the people could understand it.

9 When the people heard what the Law required, they were so moved that they began to cry...” (GNB)

Footnotes: 1 TRANSLATION: The Law was written in Hebrew, but in Babylonia the Jews had adopted Aramaic as the language for daily life. Because of this a translation was necessary. 2 They gave . .

. explained; or They read God’s Law and then translated it, explaining.

8:12: "So the people went away to eat a festive meal and to send presents; it was a time of great and joyful celebration because they could hear and understand God’s words.” (TLB)

8:12: "So all the people went home and ate and drank joyfully and shared what they had with others, because they understood what had been read to them.” (GNB)

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It seems clear from these passages that the critical point to be made is that the people understood the word of God clearly, maybe for the first time! God seeks to communicate with us in a language that is familiar and comfortable for us. The only obvious reason for this is so we can gain a clear understanding of what is meant and think about Him.

This is not the only time that extraordinary things were done to get people to understand in their own languages. See Acts 2:5-12[2273].

14.    What portions of the “Law” would you have read to the people if you had been in Ezra’s place? (Exodus 23:20-33; 34:10-26[2274]; Leviticus 26:1-13[2275]; Deuteronomy 7-9; 10:12-22; 11:1-8; 12:29-31; 28-30[2276]) When the people first heard the reading of the “Law” they wept, but with encouragement from Ezra and the Levites they turned it into a great celebration, feasting and giving gifts (Nehemiah 8:9-12). Why do you think there was such a response from the people?

It is very likely that Ezra read those portions of the writings of Moses which clearly explain what would be the result of turning away from God and getting mixed up with idolatry, etc. The predictions are so uncannily accurate that it must have shocked them. Some who read the Bible today think that these passages must have been added to the writings of Moses later in order to be so accurate in their descriptions of what happened later. But this is just another proof that the omnipotent, omniscient Yahweh that is our God can clearly see events in the future as if they had already taken place.

When they began to recognize that God was not going to punish them, but instead was giving them an opportunity to change their ways, it was a clear reason for celebration. This was God’s message just for them and they could not fail to recognize the appropriateness of it and the need for it.

15.    Who do you think had been keeping the copies of the “sacred scrolls” since the time that Moses began to write them approximately 1000 years prior to this time?

Up until the time of the destruction of Jerusalem the primary copies of the scrolls were apparently kept in the Temple and its storerooms. (See 2 Chronicles 34:14-21[2277]) Apparently at that time, trusted Levites were given the copies of the scrolls that were still available and these were kept with their personal belongings during their journey to and stay in Babylon. These were brought back by the various groups that returned to Jerusalem.

We owe a great debt of appreciation to Ezra who was probably the first of the “scribes” and the one who collected together the books of the Old Testament as we know it and began copying them as a “Bible.” Prior to Ezra’s time each book or small group of books was on a separate scroll.

16.    Why do you think that the "feast of tabernacles” had been ignored or improperly celebrated for all those years? (Nehemiah 8:13-18[2278])

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It is clear from elsewhere in the Bible that this was not the first time it had been celebrated since the days of Joshua. (See Ezra 3:4; 2 Chronicles 7:8-10; 1 Kings 8:65) In the days of Solomon it was celebrated for a full week. Apparently Ezra felt that this celebration was better or perhaps more in keeping with the intended meaning of the Festival of Shelters than at any time previously. Considering all that the children of Israel had been through in recent years they may have felt that they understood the real meaning of the festival that was intended to remind them of their years as slaves or exiles.

17.    What do you think of Nehemiah’s treatment of Sabbath breakers? (Nehemiah 13:15-22[2279]; compare Numbers 15:32-36[2280]) After such experiences is it any surprise that the Pharisees were so strict about Sabbath-keeping? What about tithe-paying? (Nehemiah 13:10-13[2281])

Once again Nehemiah demonstrated that you can enforce "Sabbath-keeping” as an external observance, but it may not affect your relationship with God at all. Nehemiah locked the gates and threatened people and assured everybody that he would not tolerate the sins that had been so prevalent before the exile. (See Amos 8:4-6[2282]) His tactics worked to prevent open markets and business as usual in Jerusalem, but as we know from reading the New Testament, it just turned them into strict, legalistic enforcers of hundreds of "laws” regarding Sabbath observance.

18.    Ezra and Nehemiah are the last historical books in the Old Testament. Only the prophetic book of Malachi comes a short time later. What do you think God has accomplished through the first 3500 years of history? Why do you think He waited an additional 450 years before Christ came? We are told that He came at the “right time” (Galatians 4:4[2283]). What do you think God is waiting for now-two thousand years after Jesus came and died?

Often churches seek to show their progress by counting the numbers of people that have joined their membership and the total amount of offerings collected. If that were God’s goal we would probably have to say that the Old Testament period was a failure on God’s part. But we must remember that God started history as we know it with a war up in heaven. He could have eliminated His opposition immediately at any moment, but He didn’t. He could have enforced any kind of behavior that He wanted to. But that is not what God did. Freedom is more important to God than perhaps anything else. He refuses to act as a prison guard or policeman. He will only accept into his kingdom those who choose to agree with His way of running the universe and who do so voluntarily because they are convinced that His way is the only enduring way to run a universe.

On this earth, God could also have enforced behavior. But once again His goal is to convince at least a few of us to understand and agree with Him. In order to do that He must

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also demonstrate that there are no other alternative ways to accomplish what He wants to do. He must demonstrate that none of the methods that Satan has suggested down through the years will work.

© Copyright 1996-2009, Kenneth Hart info@theox.org

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31. ESTHER - A TEACHER’S GUIDE

THE CENTRAL QUESTION:

What does this book/story say to us about God?

This question may be broken down further as follows:

a.    Why did God do it/allow it?

b.    Why did He record it for our study?

1. Would you think that God had anything to do with the events of Esther if all you knew was what you can read in the book itself? What is the purpose of having a book in the Bible that never mentions God or religious activity except possibly fasting? Where, when, and by whom, do you think, was this book written? Should we accept the apocryphal additions to Esther where God and prayer are mentioned? Why do you think the Jews preserved this book? Do you find Esther inspiring in any way? Does it help in any way with your picture of God? What is the value of Esther? Would you feel a loss if it were not in the Bible?

The book of Esther, named after its main character, Hadasseh (“myrtle”) a young Hebrew orphan apparently given the Persian name Esther (“star”; Ishtar; Easter) when she entered the beauty contest or the court, was probably written by Mordecai or possibly Ezra. In Hebrew Bibles Ruth, Song of Solomon, Ecclesiastes, Lamentations, and finally Esther, are grouped together and bear the collective name of Megilloth. Numerous historical details in the book (See Esther 1:5,10,14; 2:9,21,23; 3:7,12,13; 4:6,11; 5:4; 8:8,10,15; 9:30; 10:1,2[2284]) have been confirmed by archaeological evidence from Susa (Shushan). Esther became queen in January, 478 BC, (See chart below) after Vashti was removed from that position for refusing her husband, the king’s, request to appear before him and his guests at a drunken celebration as they were preparing to set out on their way to war against Greece. (Spring, 482 BC)

Esther was apparently a remarkably beautiful young woman whose tact and winsomeness won her favor with the king. A crisis arose when Haman, who was apparently a descendant of the Amalekite king Agag (See Exodus 17:8-16[2285]; Numbers 24:7[2286]; 1 Samuel 15:9,20,32,33[2287]; 1 Chronicles 4:42,43[2288]) became enraged by Mordecai’s refusal to bow down whenever he went by and arranged for a decree to kill all the Jews on a date chosen by the casting of “lots” or “Purim”.

The events of the book are closely tied in with a disastrous campaign by Xerxes (Ahasueras) to try to conquer the city-states of Greece. The very precise dating of the events of this book at times when Xerxes was in Susa and not on the campaign against Greece also validates its authenticity. The book is a literary masterpiece rivaling anything that fiction has to offer. The beautiful, young, intelligent, and tactful queen is matched against the hateful, unscrupulous, and egotistical villain, Haman.

Nowhere is the name of God or the act of prayer mentioned in the book, but God’s clear overruling providence is the main theme. Why would God be concerned about these Jews left in Susa who didn’t even have enough conviction and dedication to go back home despite a clear invitation? Were Ezra or Nehemiah in Susa during the times of Esther? Did any of these Jews in Susa ever return to Jerusalem? We don’t know for sure.

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Author: “Although no one knows who wrote the Book of Esther, it was apparently written by a Jew who was familiar with Susa, the royal palace, and Persian customs. The Jewish Talmud attributes Esther to the “men of the Great Synagogue” [Zechariah and Ezra were two of these men], anonymous teachers who lived in the period between the last prophets and the earliest rabbinic scholars. Early Christian Fathers, such as Clement of Alexandria, as well as Jewish authorities like Josephus, ascribed the book to Mordecai.” (Woman’s Study Bible)

“Although the author is unknown, the book bears the marks of an author very close to the events recorded, with access to written records (Esther 2:23; 6:1; 9:20; 10:2[2289]). He was also very familiar with the palace at Susa (Shushan) and with the character of the Persian king. The accuracy of the author’s knowledge of Persian customs (cf. Esther 1:19-22; 3:13-15; 8:5-14; 9:20, 29[2290]) is confirmed not only by Herodotus (a fifth century B.C. Greek historian), but also by materials discovered in Persian archives. The book is sprinkled with Persian names and loanwords. The fact that the author of the Book of Esther is not actually named does not make this book any less authoritative or canonical than those books which identify the author.” (Believer's Study Bible)

“Historical Setting. The events of the book cover a 10-year portion (483-473 B.C.) of the reign of Xerxes I (486-465 B.C.)... The events occurred between those recorded in the sixth and seventh chapters of Ezra...

“Xerxes I (ruled 485-465 B.C.) was a king of Persia and the husband of Esther, the Jewess. Ahasuerus succeeded his father, Darius Hystaspis, in 485 B.C. The Book of Esther portrays the king as (1) ruling a vast empire; (2) being very wealthy; (3) being sensual, continually giving feasts; and (4) being cruel and acutely lacking in foresight (vv. 13-22)... In 465 B.C. a courtier murdered Ahasuerus; his son, Artaxerxes I, Longimanus, succeeded him.” (King James Version Study Bible)

The chronological data supplied by the book of Esther are as follows:

Event

Esther

Year-

Month-

Day

B.C. Date*

The great feast

1:3

3

Between

Apr. 14, 483-Apr. 2, 482

Esther summoned

2:12

[6

10

?]

“

Jan. 2, 479-Jan. 30, 479

Esther made queen

2:16

7

10

“

Dec. 22, 479-Jan. 20, 478

Haman casts lots

3:7

12

1

“

Apr. 5, 474-May 3, 474

Haman’s decree

3:12

12

1

13

Apr. 17, 474

Mordecai’s decree

8:9

12

3

23

June 25, 474

Purim

3:13; 8:12; 9:1, 1719

12

12

13

March 8, 473

There are several main characters in the book of Esther. Biblical scholars are always interested in

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whether or not they can document the existence and work of Biblical characters from extra-Biblical sources. In this story we have the following main characters:

XERXES (zurk'sez) [Old Persian xsayarsan; Elamite ik-se-ir-is-sa; Akkadian hbi-si-'-ar-sa; Hebrew ,ahasweros; Greek Xerxes]. Xerxes I, was the son of Darius the Great and Atossa, the daughter of Cyrus the Great and sister of Cambyses. Xerxes was designated heir-apparent by his father and served as satrap of Babylon from 498 B.C. to his accession in 486. He is portrayed with his father on the reliefs at Persepolis, where Darius sits on his throne in his robe of state and behind him stands the crown prince. The winged Ahura-Mazda [chief god of Zoroaster] floats above the scene. This sculpture confirms Xerxes’s statement that his father “made me the greatest after himself.” (International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - vol. 4, p. 1161)

Xerxes or Ahasuerus (ca. 520-465 BC), as the Persian king of the Achaemenid line who reigned from 486 BC following the death of his father Darius I (Hystaspes) the Great, until 465 BC when he was murdered is well documented from many sources. His grave site has been found cut in the rock high on a hillside. He conducted a disastrous campaign against the Greek city states between the time when Vashti was deposed and the accession of Esther as the next queen. His son Artaxerxes Longimanus succeeded him.

MORDECAI (PERSON) [Hebrew mordekay (ykD|r|mi); mordokay (ykDlr|mi)

1.    “The name Mordecai is almost certainly derived from Marduk, the name of the chief god of Babylon (though R. Lemosfn has recently suggested it was Hurrian or Elamite, meaning ‘the man par excellence’. It was evidently an acceptable Jewish name (cf. the Mordecai mentioned in Ezra 2:2[2291]); it is perhaps a ‘gentile’ name roughly equivalent to some Jewish name (Esther herself has both a Jewish name, Hadassah, and a ‘gentile’ one, Esther).” Anchor Bible Dictionary)

2.    Mordecai was a central figure in the story of Esther. He had something to do with getting the decree against all Jews proclaimed and then by cooperation with Esther, got it countermanded.

3.    He was a descendant of Benjamin, Shimei, Kish, and Jair. (Esther 2:5[2292]) He may or may not have had something to do with Esther being chosen as a candidate for the position of Queen. He was her adoptive father (and her cousin, the nephew of her father Abihail [Esther 2:7,15[2293]]), probably her closest relative after her parents died.

4.    He lived in the city of Susa, the capital of Persia. For reasons which are not apparent, neither he nor his ancestors had returned to Jerusalem with the exiles who returned some 50 years earlier.

5.    He may have been some sort of official in the Persian government (Esther 2:19,21; 3:2; 5:9; 6:10,12[2294]; cf. Esther 2:11[2295]) Somehow he discovered a plot against the King and through Esther the King was notified of the plot and it was duly recorded in the King’s records after the plotters had been hanged. (2:19-23)

6.    For reasons that are not completely clear, Mordecai refused to “bow” to Haman the newly elected vizier (prime minister) of the King. Some of his associates notified Haman of this and

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when he realized who Mordecai was he cast lots (purim) to determine the best day to destroy not only Mordecai but the entire Jewish nation. (Esther 3:2-6[2296])

7.    The animosity between Haman and Mordecai may have been based on the fact that Haman was a descendant of the Amalekite king Agag whose entire nation was supposed to have been destroyed by the Israelite army under King Saul. (See 1 Samuel 15[2297]) The Amalekites had been fighting with the Israelites since the days of Moses. (Exodus 17:8-16[2298]; 1 Samuel 15:1-8; 30:1-20[2299])

8.    After Esther managed to turn the tables on Haman and have him hanged at the king’s command, Mordecai was chosen to take his place.

9.    Esther and Mordecai were successful in getting all the Jews to rise up against their enemies and 75,000 enemies of the Jews were destroyed in one day, including some 500 of the people of Susa itself, besides the sons of Haman. At Esther’s request they were allowed to kill 300 more in Susa the following day.

10.    Apart from Xerxes himself, Mordecai is the only individual mentioned in the book of Esther who may be documented in extra-biblical sources. An individual by the name of Mordecai was mentioned as being present in Borsippa possibly on a mission from Susa. But he is called the “scribe” or “accountant” of Ushtannu who is known to be the satrap (governor) of the province of Babylon and Beyond the River. This would suggest that the Mordecai mentioned in this document lived in Babylon and not Susa although this is only speculation. “During World War

II Prof. A. Ungnad found a cuneiform tablet in the Berlin Museum, in which a certain man by the name of Marduka, the equivalent of Mordecai, is mentioned as one of the state officials in Susa during the reign of Xerxes. His title, sipir, indicates that he was an influential counselor. The discovery of this text has been accepted as welcome proof that Mordecai was a historical figure, which had been doubted by many scholars.

11.    That Mordecai became popular and honored by his people (Est 10:3[2300]) is furthermore indicated by the fact that a number of Jews of the next generation bore his name, as the archives of the ancient business house of “Murashu Sons” at Nippur have revealed. This would normally not be expected since it is a name based on the Babylonian God Marduk, unless, of course, Mordecai had made a name for himself in government and the Jewish people were proud of that fact.

For more comments on the historicity and story of Mordecai see the handout: Mordecai.

VASHTI: [Hebrew wasti (yTiv|w)< Persian, either Avestan vahista—‘the best’ or perhaps a fem pass part

of uas—‘the beloved/desired one’].

1. According to the book of Esther, Vashti was the wife and Queen of King Ahasuerus (Xerxes) from 486-482 BC. After six months of preparation for his campaign against the Greek city-states (482-479 BC), Xerxes celebrated with a great seven-day banquet primarily for the citizens of Susa. As was the common custom in those days the men and women had separate banquets. After drinking fairly heavily for several days, King Xerxes decided to order his wife Vashti to appear in her royal finery before the men at his banquet. At the time Vashti

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was serving as hostess of the women’s banquet. Some commentators believe she was afraid of the gawking of a crowd of drunken officials and commoners. Ancient Jewish commentators suggested her motive for refusing to appear was her desire to avoid some kind of immodest display. Josephus says that her refusal was because of a Persian custom prohibiting married women from associating with strangers. Some suggest she may have been pregnant at the time. Other ancient Jewish writers suggest imaginary or preposterous explanations which probably do not warrant serious consideration. She apparently felt, for her own good, for the good of her husband, and for the good of the country that she should not go. She believed that when he recovered from his wine he would commend her for her actions. But Xerxes’ advisers perceived this as a threat to all the men of the kingdom. They believed it would lead to every wife despising her husband! We do not know whether Vashti was “divorced”, demoted to the status of a concubine (Heb pifeges), or executed. She does not appear again in the story. Some have suggested that the King’s counselors advised that Vashti be completely deposed to make sure that she did not return to power and punish them. The book of Esther is certainly not the only place in the Bible where male-female issues are discussed. (see Ephesians 5:21-29[2301]; James 4:7[2302]) This book does however seem to encourage women to speak out and assert their wills when issues of combating evil and promoting good are involved.

2.    After consulting his advisers, Xerxes decided to depose Queen Vashti. This opened the way for the “beauty contest” that led to the appointment of the Jewish maid Hadasseh (“myrtle”) as Queen Esther.

3.    According to Ctesius and Herodotus (vii.61) Xerxes’ Queen was a woman named Amestris, from one of the aristocratic families of Persia, whom he married before he ascended the throne. “The name Vashti is puzzling because according to Herodotus, the queen’s name was Amestris, daughter of Otanes, who had supported Darius in his bid for the throne in 522 B.C. Possibly Xerxes had other queens, whose names have not come to light, or she had alternative names.

4.    There is no mention of either Vashti or Esther in any non-Jewish extra-biblical sources. (See section below on historical accuracy).

5.    Vashti serves as an interesting contrast to Esther. One was a Jew, the other a Gentile. Esther courageously yet humbly disobeyed the King by appearing unsummoned, while Vashti defiantly disregard his command to appear with no record of apology or explanation. Esther acted at the request of Mordecai in the best interests of her people whose lives were in her hands. Vashti apparently acted in her own interest without counsel or advice from anyone. Yet each of these women was apparently used by God to accomplish His purposes.

HAMAN (PERSON) [Heb haman (Tmjh)]. (the name appears 54 times in the book of Esther)

1. Haman is described as a man of Royal birth, descended from the family of Agag the king of the Amalekites. In the book of Esther he is made vizier or Prime Minister of the country of Persia under king Xerxes.

Esther - A Teacher’s Guide - page 5 of 18

2.    After a royal edict was given that all should bow to him, he became very angry when he discovered that Mordecai, a Jew, refuse to bow. (Esther 3:2-5[2303])

3.    Haman convinced Xerxes to allow him to send out a decree to have all Jews in the Persian empire eliminated and their property confiscated. (Esther 3:12-14[2304])

4.    He cast lots (Purim) to determine which would be the most auspicious day on which to carry out his decree. The day chosen was Adar 13 nearly one year in the future. (Esther 3:7[2305])

5.    Didn’t Haman have any idea that Esther was related to Mordecai? If he was the “prime minister” during this time how could he not have known?

6.    Hoping to eliminate Mordecai before that date he built a gallows on which to hang him. (Esther 5:9-14[2306])

7.    As he approached the king hoping to get permission to hang Mordecai, he was instead given the task of leading a royal horse carrying Mordecai through the streets of Susa while proclaiming him as the one that the king “delights to honor”.

8.    His murderous plans were completely disrupted when Queen Esther turned the king against him at the second of two banquets she prepared for the two men.

9.    Realizing the very serious nature of the situation Haman fell down before Esther’s couch to plead for his life. When Xerxes found him almost touching Esther he thought he was actually trying to assault the Queen.

10.    Haman was hanged on the very gallows he had prepared for Mordecai. (Esther 7:5-10[2307]). Almost a year later on Adar 14 his ten sons were hanged as well.

11.    This story portrays Haman as the adversary par excellence of the Jews.

12.    The Hebrew Old Testament tradition links him with AGAG, the ancient king of the Amalekites, who were enemies of the Hebrews. King Saul had been told to eliminate all of the Amalekites. When he returned from the battle leading king Agag, the prophet Samuel cut Agag up into pieces. (Esth 3:1, 10; 8:3, 5; 9:10, 24[2308]; cf. 1 Samuel 15[2309]; Num 24:7[2310]; Exod 17:8-16[2311]; Deut 25:17-19[2312]).

13.    To make matters worse, Mordecai was apparently a relative of the same king Saul who destroyed most of the nation of Amalek.

14.    This seems to suggest that the animosity between Haman and Mordecai is part of an ancient blood feud.

15.    This interpretation of the person of Haman is continued by Josephus, the Targums (commentaries) of Esther, as well as the Talmud. According to Jewish tradition, Haman was a direct descendant of Agag, king of the Amalekites (see 1 Sam. 15:8), in the 16th generation (Targum Sheni; Josephus Antiquities xi. 6. 5).

16.    The LXX treats the figure of Haman in a similar way. He is never described as an Agagite but rather as either a “Bugaean” (Gk Bougaios; cf. LXX 3:1; 9:10; A:17), perhaps a reference to a famous friend of Alexander the Great, or as a “Macedonian” (Gk ho Makedon; cf. LXX 9:24). Either way Haman would be seen as a hated Greek by later Jewish audiences who still remembered the atrocities of Greek rule.

17.    Some have suggested that Haman was described as an Agagite because he came from a Mesopotamian tribe mentioned in Sargon’s annals known as the Agazi. It is very difficult,

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however, to explain how Agag could be derived from Agazi.

18.    Others have suggested his name might be derived from the Elamite god, Hum(b)an, but this is also a real stretch.

19.    Modern Jews leave little doubt with regard to how they feel about this arch-enemy of Jews. Whenever his name is mentioned on the day of Purim they all hiss!

20.    Haman is not mentioned anywhere in non-Jewish extra-biblical sources.

2. The book of Esther has been called “the secular book of the Bible”. Why would that be? What does that imply? Does the book have a theme?

“In the Hebrew version of Esther, the Persian king is mentioned 190 times in 167 verses; but the God of Israel not once. Nor are there mentioned in the Masoretic Text such distinctive practices and concepts as prayer, kasrut [‘correctness’ as applied mainly to Jewish dietary rules], election, law, Jerusalem, temple, or divine intervention (in fact, fasting is the only religious practice mentioned [Esth 4:16; 9:31[2313]]). These glaring omissions undoubtedly contributed to the difficulties the book had in gaining canonicity among both Jews and Christians. For as late as the 4th century A.D. some Jews were still denying the book canonical status, as were a number of Eastern Church Fathers as late as the 9th century.” (Anchor Bible Dictionary)

“The Book of Esther is a remarkably different biblical book because (1) neither the word for God nor the name Yahweh (Lord) occurs in the Hebrew text; (2) the scene is Shushan (Susa), the winter capital of Persia, not Israel; (3) the book concerns the marriage of its Jewish heroine with a Gentile king; and (4) it solves the problem of an incipient anti-Semitism by a bloody self-defense, which is even repeated on the following day by Esther’s request!

“Even though the name of God is nowhere mentioned in the book, His sovereignty and providence are evident throughout. Vashti’s dismissal, Esther’s regal position, Xerxes’ indebtedness to Mordecai discovered during a sleepless night, and the miraculous deliverance of the Jews all demonstrate God’s control and care for His people (Ps. 121:4[2314]). The book also explains the origin of the Feast of Purim (2 Maccabees 15:36[2315]) on the thirteenth and fourteenth days of Adar (Feb.-Mar.), when Jews celebrate the deliverance from Haman.

“A third theme is evident, that of anti-Semitism. When fully developed, animosity toward Jews results in genocide: the attempt to exterminate a race. This satanic scheme is probably much older than the time of Haman. In Moses’ day, Pharaoh attempted to exterminate the Hebrew slaves.” (King James Version Study Bible)

“Esther is the only book of the Bible that does not mention or even allude to God. In that sense, it is the “secular” book of Scripture. For that reason, the meaning of Esther has been debated for centuries. Some have denied that it should be regarded as God’s Word. Others have defended its inspiration, but then ignored it. Some early Christians allegorized it, and some modern Christians have spiritualized it. Interestingly, many Christians in Iran, the modern-day successor to ancient Persia, where the story took place, take a very literal view.

“Questions about the interpretation of Esther will probably continue, but two lines of thought are worth considering. First, even though God’s name does not appear in the book, God’s purposes do.

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A theological high point occurs in the narrative when Mordecai informs his young cousin Esther about a genocidal plot against the Jews. He warns her that she is mistaken if she thinks that she can escape death simply because she has been named queen.

“Then Mordecai challenges Esther to act. He seems unaffected if she chooses not to: ‘If you remain completely silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place,’ he confidently says (Esth. 4:14[2316]), in what is taken as a quiet display of faith in God’s protection. Then he adds, ‘Yet who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this?’

“Mordecai’s searching question suggests that he was aware that God was working out His purposes. He was raising the hopeful possibility that nothing had happened in Esther’s life merely by accident, chance, or human choice. Something—or Someone—had placed her in the strategic position where she now found herself.

“Apparently Esther concurred, because she asked Mordecai to have all the Jews fast for her for three days—clearly an act of religious devotion.

“However, as significant as these statements are, the book also has a troubling side, which raises a different possibility for thinking about Esther. After Haman’s plot is exposed and he is executed, the tables are turned and the Jews are allowed to destroy their enemies. At first they kill more than 500 men in Susa (Esth. 9:1-10[2317]). Then Esther asks for a second day of vengeance, and they kill 300 more (Esther 9:15-17[2318]). This was in addition to the 75,000 killed in the provinces.

“Curiously, the Bible mentions but does not comment on this massacre. Is it possible that God disapproved of what happened, particularly on the second day? These Jews had not returned to Judah. They were remaining in the land of exile. Was that what the Lord wanted? Was Mordecai’s feast of Purim, established to celebrate this slaughter, a divinely sanctioned feast, like Passover? Scripture does not tell us either way.” (Word-in-Life Study Bible)

3. Few Biblical books have so much historical detail that can be checked and perhaps verified as the book of Esther. As we have already noted, only Xerxes and Mordecai seem to be documented from extra-biblical sources. This, of course, leads critical scholars to question the historical accuracy of the book. Do we just assume it is historically accurate because someone in the past said it is “inspired”? How would we decide this question for ourselves?

“Historical Accuracy • Some critical scholars question the historical accuracy of Esther on various counts. One difficulty is the passage that describes the royal feast (Esther 1:3-5[2319]). The passage appears to indicate that the feast lasted a particularly long time: “one hundred and eighty days in all” (1:4). However, a better interpretation is that this long period of time was the period of preparation for the military campaign in Greece, during which Xerxes displayed his power and wealth to his officials. The feast itself lasted seven days—a lengthy time for a feast, but not an incredible period (1:5).

“Another difficulty is that neither Vashti nor Esther is mentioned outside the Bible. However, historians do note that following his unsuccessful campaign against Greece (482-479 B.C.), Xerxes sought refuge in his harem. This coincides with the elevation of Esther (Esther 2:17[2320]). Furthermore, the word translated queen (Esther 1:9; 2:22[2321]) may refer merely to a principal wife rather than to a woman who ruled beside the king. Thus the obscurity of Esther and Vashti would be understandable. Even so, some

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still balk at the idea that a Persian ruler would marry a Jewish woman rather than choosing someone from the aristocratic Persian families. However, the Book of Esther makes it clear that Esther initially hid her Jewish identity. She used her Persian name Ishtar or Esther instead of her Hebrew name Hadassah. The climax of the story involves her surprising revelation that she was a Jew.

“Importance in the Canon • The Book of Esther has held an important place in the canon due to its strong testimony to God’s providence and protection of His people. However, the book has been challenged by some. One of the main points in the dispute is the remarkable fact that neither the word God nor God’s name Yahweh is found in the book. There are two explanations that may account for this. First, it may be a result of the author’s chosen point of view. The author might have viewed the Jewish people who remained in Persia and did not return to the land of Israel (Ezra 1:1[2322]) as a people cut off from the principal blessings of God. Thus, the absence of God’s name in the book might be a way of expressing God’s distance from the exiles. At the same time, the book clearly reveals God’s surprising protection of them.

“Second, the author may have written the book in the form of a Persian state chronicle in order to explain to the Persians the Jewish celebration of Purim. In accordance with this style, the author emphasizes the king’s name, titles, and lists, but writes about the Jewish people in a detached tone. This could help explain why the Book of Esther is the only book in the Bible that does not directly mention God.” (Nelson Study Bible)

Interpretive Difficulties: “The question of whether the Book of Esther belongs in the canon of Scripture has been raised from an early period by both Jews and Christians, though the book’s commendation of the popular festival of Purim argued strongly in favor of its inclusion in the Jewish canon. Objections voiced by some Christians to Esther’s canonicity included its absence from some of the earliest lists of canonical books, its lack of citation in the New Testament, its lack of overt references to God and to religious practices, its excessive Jewish nationalism, and its spirit of vengeance. Some of these objections were alleviated when the early church adopted an expanded version of the Book of Esther found in the Septuagint (the Greek translation of the Old Testament). This Septuagint text contains over one hundred verses, not found in the Hebrew text, that made the book more religiously acceptable to some. These additions include a dream of Mordecai about the coming destruction of the Jews and prayers of Mordecai and Esther for deliverance. However, when the Protestant churches judged the shorter Hebrew version of Esther to be the authoritative version, objections to the book’s canonicity resurfaced.

“The violence in the Book of Esther is a kind of civil war, which Cicero called the worst of all calamities. The author of Esther shows the relief of the people when justice triumphs, and does not criticize the means employed, such as the hanging of Haman’s sons. But it would be a mistake to consider these events as models for behavior. The extreme situation and threat under which they happened limits what can be concluded from them. The author does not engage in moral reflection about the massive killing and the motives of avengers. The reader struggling with some of the questions that arise needs to go to other places, such as the prophets, Job, or Revelation, where the discussion includes them and answers may be found. Positively, the Book of Esther testifies clearly

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to the invisible hand of Providence, which will not allow the covenant people to be utterly destroyed.” (New Geneva Study Bible)

In antiquity, a number of Jews and Christians contested its canonicity. From the period of the Middle Ages, the pronouncement of Luther (WA 3: 302) stands out:

“I am so hostile to this book [2 Maccabees] and Esther that I could wish that they did not exist at all; for they judaize too greatly and have much pagan impropriety.”

“Twentieth-century scholars have also been quite critical of the book’s moral tone. Paton, who has written the most detailed and comprehensive Esther commentary in English, concluded that ‘There is not one noble character in the book. . . . Morally, Esther falls far below the general level of the OT, and even of the Apocrypha’ (Esther ICC, 96). Other scholars have been almost as severe, claiming that Vashti, the deposed queen, was the only honorable person in the entire story. Scholar and rabbi Sandmel confessed that he ‘should not be grieved if the Book of Esther were somehow dropped out of Scripture’ (1972: 44) while the Israeli Ben-Chorin actually advocated that Jews abandon both the book and its holiday, arguing that ‘Both festival and the book are unworthy of a people which is disposed to bring about its national and moral regeneration under prodigious sacrifice’ (1938: 5). All this and much more has been said about a biblical book which the great Jewish scholar Maimonides (1135-1204) ranked as second only to the Pentateuch itself.” (Anchor Bible Dictionary)

4. Where were most of the Jews in the days of Esther? Why do you think so many of the Jews stayed in Susa or Babylon rather than going back to Jerusalem or Canaan? Is this where God wanted them to be? Why did they get into this predicament? Was it ever God’s plan for them to be in Babylon or Susa? How many opportunities had they had to go back to Canaan? Do you have a harder time understanding and explaining how God treats the righteous or how He treats the wicked? Does Esther give us any help in understanding how God feels about His children even when they don’t care enough to come “home?” What do you think of a God who goes to such great lengths to preserve such a group? Where are Esther’s and Mordecai’s descendants today?

By far the majority of the Jews remained in Mesopotamia, either in Babylonia or over in Persia. We have no evidence that any Jews were ever required to go to Susa in Persia, so it is quite likely that those who went there did so for commercial reasons. One hundred and eighteen years before this story begins Mordecai’s and Esther’s relatives had been carried captive with Jehoiachin and Ezekiel in 598/597 BC. Sixty years before this story Zerubbabel and Joshua the High Priest had led the 50,000 Jews who were willing to go on the journey “home” to rebuild Jerusalem. Another large group of Jews were in Egypt where they fled taking Jeremiah and Baruch with them. (See Jeremiah 43:6[2323]) Only a very small percentage of the Jews were actually in Jerusalem where God apparently wanted them to be!

Sometimes we have suggested to our children that God will not protect them if they go to places where God does not want them to be! Do their guardian angels wait until they leave that place before they take up their protecting role again? What about the parable of the lost sheep? (Luke 15:1-7[2324]; Matthew 18:10-14[2325]) or the prodigal son? (Luke 15:11-32[2326]) The book of Esther should be a clear answer to such ideas. There are still today a large community of Jews living in

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Persia (Iran) although many have left in recent years. No doubt the descendants of the main characters of this book actually became a part of the Persian culture and blended in with that nation.

God never leaves His children alone, especially when they are in particular danger! His children may be ignoring His advice and counsel at the moment and even ignoring the persuasion of the Holy Spirit and His assistants, our guardian angels, but that does not mean that God has abandoned us. Numerous examples could be given from Scriptures to show that God goes out of His way to reach out to help and touch us if there is any possible way that we will respond.

5.    Shouldn’t God have solved the problems in the book of Esther by means of a prophet or prophetess instead of by a beautiful, young woman who ended up “committing adultery” as one of the many “wives” of a heathen king? (Esther 2:1-18[2327]) By our standards, shouldn’t Vashti have been the heroine of the book? (Esther 1:12[2328]) What do you think of the reason given by the counselors for deposing Vashti? (Esther 1:13-22[2329]) Couldn’t God have used some other person or method to solve this problem without breaking so many moral codes, even commandments, by our standards? Would you want your daughter to do what Esther did? Do you think Esther had any choice?

This is primarily a thought question. It shouldn’t be too hard to understand why some have had problems with this book down through the centuries.

“Herodotus names Xerxes’ queen as ‘Amestris,’ and describes her as infamously cruel. Suggestions have been made to identify her with either Vashti or Esther, although philological and historical arguments for either are unlikely. More likely Vashti and Esther were wives of Xerxes/Ahasuerus that Herodotus does not mention. It should be noted that although Herodotus is often called the ‘father of history,’ he wrote primarily from interviews and with the intention to entertain and to glorify the Greeks. His work is far from faultless historically. Therefore, it is improper to pit Herodotus against the Bible, assuming the Bible to be in error where it is inconsistent with Herodotus.” (Believer’s Study Bible)

“Memucan’s appeal was to male self-interest. Note the whimsical way laws were made in a land where so much was made of law and judgment (vv. 8, 13, 15, 19). The king dispatched his edict without so much as a further thought. There was something ludicrous about this decree that a husband was to take charge in his own household, for this was the standing rule in an oriental home. The law was not even enforceable. There is an ironic contrast between King Ahasuerus at the beginning of the chapter, when he is the world’s greatest monarch, rich and powerful, aloof yet generous, and that same king by the end of the chapter, where he attempts to maintain his dignity despite the defiance of his wife. This lawmaker of the Persians and Medes, whose law could not be altered, was prepared to pass an edict framed in a moment of pique, when he was not even sober. Such is the measure of the king who reigned over the world, and had the future of all in his power.” (King James Version Study Bible)

6.    What was the reason Mordecai refused to bow to Haman? Was there a moral or Biblical reason involved or was this just a personal or national rivalry or stubbornness because Haman’s ancestors were old archenemies of the people of Israel? (See Genesis 14:7[2330]; Exodus 17:8-16[2331]; Numbers 14:45;

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24:7[2332]; Deuteronomy 25:17-19[2333]; Judges 3:13; 6:3,33[2334]; 1 Samuel 15:1-3,9,20,32,33; 27:8; 30:1[2335]; 2 Samuel 1:1[2336]; 1 Chronicles 4:42,43[2337])

According to Jewish tradition (Targum Sheni; Josephus Antiquities xi. 6.5) Haman was a direct descendant of Agag, king of the Amalekites in the sixteenth generation. There is no mention made of Mordecai refusing to bow to the king. There are numerous records in Scripture of Jews bowing before kings (See 1 Samuel 24:8[2338]) and others who were regarded as superior to themselves (Genesis 23:7; 27:29; 33:3[2339]; etc). Haman was a Gentile, but Abraham had bowed before Gentiles. (Genesis 23:7[2340]) Mordecai, of course, refused to offer Haman the kind of reverence that is due only to God. (See 5T 450[2341]; PK 600[2342]) Did Mordecai put all the Jewish people at risk by this action? It was clearly a matter of considerable attention because Mordecai’s associates spoke about it to him on a regular basis. (Esther 3:4[2343])

Mordecai’s refusal to bow down was brought to Haman’s attention by Mordecai’s associates and it clearly irritated Haman. It is likely that when he discovered that Mordecai was a Jew he determined to get back at all Jews for what their ancestors had done to his! God knew in advance what was going to happen. Is it possible that He arranged for Esther to become queen just to meet this emergency? From what we know of the story it appears that the whole thing could have been avoided by getting either Haman or Mordecai a different job! It is very likely that the Devil was very much involved in all of this. He knew of the prophecies of the coming Messiah, and he was probably hoping to make a preemptive strike against Jews. If he could eliminate the Jewish people, then the Messiah could not be born and God’s plans would be spoiled. (compare Exodus 1:8-22[2344])

It is impossible for us to know at this point in time whether God somehow was involved in arranging for Esther to be selected for the beauty contest, and to be chosen as the new queen. It is possible that God only used Esther because she was in the right position to accomplish what needed to be done. Was this an attempt on God’s part to raise the status of women, at least among His own people? The Jews have been celebrating the events of this book in the feast of Purim ever since! Once again God demonstrated that His ways are not our ways, and that He has a thousand ways of accomplishing what needs to be done that we know nothing about!

We cannot know for sure what Vashti’s reasons were for refusing to go in before the king. (See comments under “Vashti” above) However, it is clear that most modern Christian parents would prefer to have their daughters follow her example rather than Esther’s. Esther may not have had any choice in the how she was treated.

7. How would you feel if you were Mordecai and you had just learned of the death decree against all of God’s people because of your actions? (Esther 3:1-15[2345]) Why do you think Mordecai refused to bow down? Did he refuse to let others bow to him when he become prime minister?

As we have already mentioned above, it is not clear why Mordecai refused to bow to Haman. He must have felt terrible when he learned of the death decree. He may have felt that there was some special reason why bowing in this case would represent a compromise of his religion. (See comments below) Or it may have been nothing more than stubbornness against a group of ancient rivals who had been enemies of God’s people since the days of Abraham. We have no way of

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knowing if Mordecai required bowing from his subordinates when he rose to the position of Prime Minister.

8.    How many other times in the Bible were death decrees issued? (Exodus 1:15-22[2346]; Matthew 2:16-18[2347]) What was the purpose of these decrees? Who do you think was behind them and why? Would the Jews, as a people, have disappeared if Esther had not done what she did? If you had been given the King’s permission to counteract the first decree of Haman, what would you have written or done? Was Esther partly responsible for the kind treatment of Ezra and Nehemiah?

As suggested above, it is very likely that Satan was hoping on this occasion to eliminate or at least reduce the possibility that the Messiah would be born as had been prophesied. He was determined to do whatever he could to disrupt God’s plans.

Since Ahasueras (Xerxes) reigned until 465 BC and Ezra led the second group of exiles back to Jerusalem in 457 BC it is most likely that Ezra at least knew of Esther. No doubt he was very familiar with her story. How much personal contact a man like Ezra may have had with the queen, who as a member of the king’s harem was reserved just for him is questionable. But it is clear that those in high office may have had opportunity to come in contact with the queen directly as evidenced by the banquets that Esther held to which Haman was invited.

Artaxerxes I Longimanus (465-423 BC) was the third son of Xerxes and his successor to the Persian throne. It is very unlikely that he was the son of Esther, but at least he would know all about her. He was the king who granted the generous gifts and positions to Ezra and Nehemiah to help rebuild Jerusalem.

9.    Why do you think Esther and her friends fasted? (Esther 4:15,16[2348]) Was it to get God’s attention, or what?

It is quite likely that this fast lasted no more than the last part of the first day, all of the second day, and the first part of the third day (compare the time Jesus was in the tomb) and would thus be about 36 hours in length. Even so, it was an attempt to get the moral and spiritual support of the Jews of Susa and God as well. (See Prophets and Kings 601) It was known that the mind is particularly clear after such a fast and Esther may have suggested it so that she would be especially clear-minded as she approached the king. It is also possible that this was a part of a prayer and fasting period to appeal to God for the welfare of His people.

10.    Esther seemed to have been placed by God in a key place and position at the right time. Can you think of any others? How about Joseph, Moses, Daniel, Ezra and Nehemiah? How does God do this without violating people’s freedom?

It is not necessary for God to violate anyone’s freedom to make use of a willing volunteer in a key position. It is not even a violation of anyone’s freedom for God to arrange for someone to be in a key position so he can do what God needs to have done. Those who have served God and their country’s best interests have done so with great dedication and wisdom. Those governments who have the privilege of finding such people are greatly benefitted. Notice that even the kings of Medo-Persian recognized the superior talent of Daniel.

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11.    Did God keep King Ahasuerus from sleeping that night so that he would hear about Mordecai’s saving his life? (Esther 6:1; 2:19-23[2349])

It is hard to know if it was God who kept King Ahasueras (Xerxes) awake or if it might even have been the food that Esther served at the banquet! More likely, it was the amount of food that the king chose to eat!

12.    How do you think Haman felt as he was leading Mordecai through the streets on the king’s horse? (Esther 6:10,11[2350])

This story is full of the most incredible intrigue, irony and reversal of fortunes! Here is Haman just ready to ask for permission to hang Mordecai and now he must lead him seated on the king’s horse in great honor and dignity through the streets of Susa proclaiming the king’s wish to honor him! Haman must have been very angry inside! Do you suppose he was wondering if he was going to be defeated by the Jews as were many of his ancestors? Did he wish that he had never paid any attention to this Jew who refused to bow down to him?

13.    What led Haman’s wife to say that it would be ultimately fatal to oppose Mordecai? (Esther 6:12,13[2351]) Did she know something that we don’t?

Haman’s wife was no doubt reflecting on the known history between these two rival groups, the Jews and the Amalekites. She probably knew how many times the Amalekites had been defeated and large groups of them destroyed by the Jews. She was beginning to fear that history would repeat itself, and she was right. We can hope that she was also learning something about the God of Israel. It is too bad that Haman was not as perceptive as his wife in this case. Once again in this book we see that the women were much wiser and acted more intelligently than the men!

14.    Why was Esther so vengeful, asking for another day of bloodshed, and then requesting the hanging of the ten sons of Haman? (Esther 9:5,6,13-15[2352]) Was Esther’s request for a second day to kill the enemies of the Jews just self-preservation? Is this the first time the Israelites were granted extra time to kill? (see Joshua 10:12-14[2353])

It is very unlikely that Esther made this decision and request on her own. She no doubt acted after consulting Mordecai. He may have felt the necessity for his own preservation from revengeful remnants of those who had been killed to eliminate as many of their survivors as possible. There is some confusion today about the way numbers were written in the ancient Hebrew and Aramaic scripts so it is possible that the number of people killed in the provinces was only “one thousand and seventy-five” rather than “seventy-five thousand.” It is possible that many of those who were trying to kill the Jews were also Amalekites and seeking to settle an old grudge. If so, the Jews may have reasoned that these enemies of theirs were supposed to have all been killed at the command of God long ago anyway!

15.    Did the universe love and worship God more or less after the events of the book of Esther?

What do you think they learned from this book? Does the book have any usefulness for us in our day? How do you fit Esther in with Jesus’ statement in John 5:39,40 which suggests that the Old Testament

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writings were to teach us about Him?

Even though the book of Esther doesn’t mention the name of God, it says a great deal about His loving care for His children. This whole story is about His loving care and protection of a group of people who didn’t apparently care enough to follow His instructions to go back home to Jerusalem. This will be a particularly useful thing for us to remember when we approach our day of trouble at the end of this world’s history.

16.    In the Apocrypha there is a book by the name of Judith that has a story and a theme, even an outcome, quite similar to that of the book of Esther. On what basis would you accept Esther as inspired and say Judith is not?

This is a very large question that we will not be able to deal with in depth in this handout. Judith is a part of the Apocrypha that Roman Catholics accept as a part of their canon but Protestants and Jews do not. In general Apocryphal books are rejected by many scholars, even Jerome-the Roman Catholic scholar who translated the Latin Vulgate-because their origin is in considerable doubt. Many of the Apocryphal books claim to have been written by very early writers but the only copies that we have are from a much later time and even in a different language than the original writer was supposed to have used.

The Apocrypha was an integral part of the original King James Version of 1611 and anyone who tried to leave it out was persecuted. It was finally left out of some Bibles in the nineteenth century by the British and Foreign Bible Society in order to reduce at least a little bit the cost of printing Bibles to distribute around the world.

The book of Esther is very precise in many of its historical details and is clearly written by someone who knew the fine details of Susa and the palace in Esther’s day. On the other hand, the book of Judith starts out by saying, “In the twelfth year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, who ruled over the Assyrians in the great city of Nineveh...” This is clearly mistaken historically! Nebuchad-nezzar reigned over the Babylonians in Babylon. There are numerous other mistakes in the document as we have it today, suggesting to many minds that the story is fictional.

It should be noted that Protestants and Jews also reject the Apocryphal additions to the book of Esther itself. Much of this additional material consists of pious prayers attributed to Esther and Mordecai. It appears to be an addition by someone in an attempt to give the book a more pious overall tone. The original book of Esther was thought to be too secular in nature and lacking in religious material.

17.    How does the book of Esther relate to other books of the Bible?

We have already noted that Esther is not mentioned in the New Testament and is apparently the only book of the Hebrew Old Testament that was not preserved by the Essenes. (See appendix) It is interesting to note its relationship to the book of Daniel who preceded Esther by some 60 years. In his prophecies Daniel seems to speak about the kingdom of Medo-Persia as a combined kingdom. Repeatedly in the book of Esther we see the kingdoms of Media and Persia mentioned together as a single government. (Esther 1:3,14, 18, 19; 10:2[2354])

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18. Considering all of the issues that have been mentioned so far, can we learn anything of significance about God from this book?

Many very significant issues have been raised from the study of the book of Esther. Look at some of the major ones:

1.    What evidence is there that this book is inspired? Some try to compare this book with the book of Judith in the Apocrypha and suggest that neither is really inspired. The plot may be similar but the details in the two stories are completely at odds. As we learn more and more about the background of the book of Esther, we find that the historical background fits exactly with the details as preserved in the book. By contrast, almost all of the historical details in the book of Judith are either in error or cannot be documented. (See Judith - A Teacher’s Guide)

2.    Would God really work with a group of people who are hundreds of miles from where God asked them to be? 1) Is this a book full of incredible chance serendipities? 2) Did God really act repeatedly in behalf of these people who seem to have gotten themselves into a lot of trouble? 3) Or is this just a clever, well-written novel with a “made-for-Hollywood” plot? Most modern “critical” scholars are inclined toward the last choice. On what basis would we disagree with this assessment?

3.    The Bible speaks about a number of prominent Hebrews who found themselves in high-level positions in major world governments in ancient times. Joseph, Moses, Daniel (two different governments), Mordecai, Esther, Nehemiah, and Ezra are major examples. Only two of these individuals have any documentation at all outside of the Biblical record and that documentation is minimal. If these individuals were really in such prominent positions, why didn’t any record of them get preserved elsewhere? When this happens once or twice we can easily assume that it is just chance. But when it happens again and again, does this begin to suggest to us that the Biblical record is not completely reliable? We may have some evidence for Daniel’s burial site in Jerusalem. We may have some evidence of one transaction that involved Mordecai. Shouldn’t there be more? In the earlier parts of Scripture there is very little documentation of anything and this is easier to understand, but when we come to the times of Esther, Mordecai, Ezra and Nehemiah, there is considerable documentation outside of Scripture. Is God testing our “faith” or our “gullibility” here? On what basis do you choose to believe the Biblical records of these heroes rather than rejecting them as fictitious?

© Copyright 1996-2006, Kenneth Hart khart@llu.edu

Ellen White Comments

S.D.A. Bible Commentary, Vol. 3, p. 1139

Contrast of Two Feasts. “We read with pleasure of the feast of queen Vashti. This was not a feast attended by a promiscuous number, but a feast given by the queen for the women of rank in the kingdom, who were entertained with modest courtesy, without wantonness or sensuality.

“It was when the king was not himself, when his reason was dethroned by wine drinking that he sent for the

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queen, that those present at his feast, men besotted by wine, might gaze on her beauty. She acted in harmony with a pure conscience.

“Vashti refused to obey the king's command, thinking that when he came to himself, he would commend her course of action. But the king had unwise advisers. They argued it would be a power given to woman that would be to her injury.” (MS 29, 1911).

Vashti's Refusal Was for the King's Good. [Esther 1:10, 11 quoted.] “Had the king maintained his royal dignity by practicing habits of temperance, he would never have made this command. But his mind was affected by the wine that he had used so freely, and he was not prepared to act wisely.

“When this command came from the king, Vashti did not carry out his orders, because she knew that wine had been freely used, and that Ahasuerus was under the influence of the intoxicating liquor. For her husband's sake as well as her own, she decided not to leave her position at the head of the women of the court.” [Esther 1:12 quoted] (MS 39, 1910)

God Overruled Ahasuerus' Folly for Good. [Esther 1:16-22 quoted.] “There is little doubt that the king, when he afterward considered the matter, felt that Vashti deserved to be honored, rather than to be treated as she was. No law of divorce, drawn up by men who for many days had given themselves up to wine-drinking, men who were unable to control the appetite, could be of any value in the eyes of the King of kings. These men were unable to reason soundly and nobly. They could not discern the real situation.

“However high their office, men are amenable to God. The great power exercised by kings, often leads to extremes in exaltation of self. And the worthless vows made to enact laws which disregard the higher laws of God, lead to great injustice.

“Occasions of indulgence such as are pictured in the first chapter of Esther, do not glorify God. But the Lord accomplishes His will through men who are nevertheless misleading others. If God did not stretch forth His restraining hand, strange presentations would be seen. But God impresses human minds to accomplish His purpose, even though the one used continues to follow wrong practices. And the Lord works out His plans through men who do not acknowledge His lessons of wisdom. In His hand is the heart of every earthly ruler, to turn whithersoever He will, as He turneth the waters of the river.

“Through the experience that brought Esther to the Medo-Persian throne, God was working for the accomplishment of His purposes for His people. That which was done under the influence of much wine worked out for good to Israel” (MS 39, 1910).

S.D.A. Bible Commentary, Vol. 3, p. 1140

“Consecrated Women Can Act Important Part. Through Esther the queen the Lord accomplished a mighty deliverance for His people. At a time when it seemed that no power could save them, Esther and the women associated with her, by fasting and prayer and prompt action, met the issue, and brought salvation to their people.

“A study of women's work in connection with the cause of God in Old Testament times will teach us lessons that will enable us to meet emergencies in the work today. We may not be brought into such a critical and prominent place as were the people of God in the time of Esther; but often converted women can act an important part in more humble positions” (Letter 22, 1911).

Prophets and Kings 600

“Through Haman the Agagite, an unscrupulous man high in authority in Medo-Persia, Satan worked at this time to counterwork the purposes of God. Haman cherished bitter malice against Mordecai, a Jew. Mordecai had done Haman no harm, but had simply refused to show him worshipful reverence. Scorning to <lay hands on

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Mordecai alone,’ Haman plotted <to destroy all the Jews that were throughout the whole kingdom of Ahasuerus, even the people of Mordecai.’ Esther 3:6.”

The Signs of the Times, November 8, 1899

“The decree which is to go forth against the people of God in the near future is in some respects similar to that issued by Ahasuerus against the Jews in the time of Esther. The Persian edict sprang from the malice of Haman against Mordecai. Not that Mordecai had done Haman harm, but he had refused to flatter his vanity by showing him the reverence which is due only to God. The king's decision against the Jews was secured under false pretenses. Satan instigated this scheme in order to rid the earth of those who preserved a knowledge of the true God. But his plots were defeated by a counter-power that reigns among the children of men. Angels who excel in strength were commissioned to protect the people of God, and the plots of their adversaries returned upon their own heads.”

Appendix

“Of the thirty-nine books of the Hebrew Bible—or twenty-four if the Minor Prophets, Ezra-Nehemiah, 1 and 2 Samuel, 1 and 2 Kings, and 1 and 2 Chronicles are each counted as one—only the book of Esther is missing from the collection of manuscripts unearthed in the caves above the banks of the Dead Sea. The absence of Esther from the twenty or so scrolls found among the ruins of Masada and the hideouts used by the rebels of the Bar Kokhba revolt does not raise much of a question, but the absence of Esther from more than 200 biblical scrolls from the caves at Qumran is a bit more curious. To be sure, the books of Nehemiah and 1 Chronicles have not been found either, but they are generally assumed to have been present on the basis of the few crumbs of the scrolls of Ezra and 2 Chronicles respectively.

“That Esther has turned up missing might be attributed to nothing more than chance coupled with the relatively small size of the book. In addition, as noted above, it is true that other books composed in the period following the Babylonian exile are either missing (Nehemiah and 1 Chronicles) or nearly so (Ezra and 2 Chronicles). However, some evidence that has come to light just recently reveals that the absence of Esther was purposeful rather than accidental. The Qumran calendar texts—not generally known before 1991—chart festivals and holy days on the community’s 364-day year. The feast of Purim, which has its beginnings in the story of Esther, is missing. As a result, the real question now becomes: Why was Esther rejected?

“Several answers might be suggested. First, the fact that the festival of Purim was a later addition, not mentioned in the Books of Moses, might have caused the Dead Sea Scrolls community to reject the book. Second, the mere fact that the story concerns the marriage of Esther—a Jew—to a Persian king was likely repugnant to the group’s conservative sensibilities. Third, the book itself makes no mention of God whatsoever. Finally, the emphasis on retaliation evident in the final chapters of Esther (chapters 7—9) is contrary to the teachings of the Dead Sea Scrolls: “To no man shall I return evil for evil; I shall pursue a man only for good; for with God resides the judgment of all the living, and he shall pay each man his recompense” (1QS 10:17—18). Any one of these factors would have provided good reason to reject the book of Esther. (The Dead Sea Scrolls Bible)

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32. Job "If God Didn’t Do It, Who Did?”

What is the main message of the book of Job? It is often suggested that the book of Job is about the question, "Why do the righteous suffer?” Does the book of Job say anything to us about God? (See Job 9:24, GNB: "And if God didn’t do it, who did?”)

Job is not a book about fairness. There was nothing fair about Satan’s accusations against God or Job. There was nothing fair about Satan’s treatment of Job. (Job 1:12-19; 2:3,6-8[2355]; compare GNB or TLB with NIV, RSV, or KJV especially on Job 2:3,6[2356]) There was nothing fair about the accusations of Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar who in effect, reflected and reinforced Satan’s accusations. (See below) There is nothing fair about the whole great controversy. Satan does not care about being fair. Satan is the one who is always claiming God is not fair! Only God is concerned about being fair! Job is no bedtime story for children; it is a serious book for adults.

Discussion:

This book immediately suggests that even in the affairs of this earth, there is much more involved than what we see! Is the case of every Christian or follower of God-like that of Job-discussed in the heavenly council? (See Job 1:6; 2:1[2357]) What do we know about that council? (See Daniel 7:9-13[2358]; Zechariah 3:1-5[2359]; Revelation 12:7-12[2360]; Ephesians 6:12[2361]) Job’s "friends” did not recognize the existence of a great controversy and they did not see how anything happening here on earth had anything to do with God’s sovereignty in heaven, and they seemed to know nothing about the great controversy over God’s character and government. (Job 22:1-3; 35:6,7[2362])

God’s first statement about Job (Job 1:1,8; 2:3[2363]) was that Job was:

myhiljal aryl rvyj mT; vyai Ar,aBi ihmiK; Tyai yKi b/Yai yDib|[Al[' oB|li Tim|c'h| T-fQhAla, hwh^ rm,aYW 8.[rim rs;W

8 kai; eilpen aujtwl ol kuirio" Proseisce" thl dianoiial sou kata; tou paidoi" mou Iwb, o|ti oujk e|stin katt aujto;n twn ejpi; th" gh" a|nqrwpo" a|mempto", ajihqinoi", qeosebhi", ajpecomeno"

ajpo; panto;" ponhrou praigmato"; (Septuagint - LXX) Greek

"perfect and upright” (KJV, Young’s Literal, Darby, ASV, IsaacLeeser, Smith-Godspeed)

"blameless and upright” (Moffatt, NKJV, RSV, NIV, NRSV, NEB, NAB, NASB, Tanakh, New World, Amplified)

"simple and upright” (Douay-Confraternity)

"faithful and good” (GNB)

"a truly good person” (CEV)

"honest and innocent” (NCV)

"He is a man of integrity: He is decent” (God’s Word)

"loyal, blameless and faithful in all that he does. He loves me with all his heart and hates whatever is evil.” (The Clear Word)

"a sound and honest man who fears God and shuns evil” (Jerusalem, NJB)

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"the finest man in all the earth-a good man who fears God and will have nothing to do with evil” (TLB)

"the finest man in all the earth—a man of complete integrity” (NLT)

"a man unblameable, true, pious, abstaining from everything evil” (Septuagint-Charles Thomson)

Satan’s accusations:

At the meeting of the heavenly council, Satan immediately accused God of being unfair and giving Job preferential treatment. (Job 1:9; 2:4[2364]) Satan went further, suggesting that if God would stop giving Job all that special treatment, Job would curse God! (Job 1:11; 2:5[2365]) But that was not the end of Satan’s accusations against God.

Satan was clearly making the claim that God cannot correctly judge the character of either angels or men. God had said that Job was "perfect and upright.” (Job 1:1,8; 2:3[2366]) But the Adversary (Satan) said that if God would stop bribing Job, Job would curse God to His face. (Job 1:9-11; 2:4,5[2367]) Satan believed that God had misjudged Job’s character and implied that God had misjudged Lucifer himself (Satan, the adversary) in the beginning!

What was the source of the accusations made by Job’s "friends”-especially by Eliphaz?

Job 4:15,16:

(Biblica Hebraica) .yric|B| tr'[|c rMisT| 1ljy ynPAl[' jirW^15 .[mv|a, l/qwl hmmD| yny[i dgnil| hnimT| ihair|m' ryKiaAalW dmi[y 16

15 kai; pneuma ejpi; proiswpoin mou ejphlqen, e|frixan dei mou trice" kai; sairke". 16 ajneisthn, kai; oujk ejpeignwn, eildon, kai; oujk hln morfh; pro; ojfqalmwn mou, ajllfl h| au|ran kai; fwnh;n h|kouon

"a spirit...a similitude” (Young’s Literal)

"a spirit...form...an image” (KJV)

"a spirit...aform” (Darby, ASV, NIV, RSV, NRSV, NASB, NKJV)

"a spirit...a form...a figure...” (Leeser-Hebrew)

"a spirit...it...this form...” (Moffatt)

"a spirit...likeness...figure” (NAB)

"a spirit...the spirit...a shape” (NCV)

"a spirit...something...a vague image” (God’s Word)

"a spirit...the spirit’s presence” (TLB)

"A spirit...appearance...no form...” (Rheims)

"a spirit...one whose countenance I knew not...an image...” (Douay-Confraternity)

"a spirit...the spirit...appearance...form...” (Amplified)

"a spirit...wind...shape...form” (NLT)

"a light breeze...something standing there” (GNB)

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"a wind...form” (Tanakh)

"a wind...a form...a shapeless form” (CEV)

"a wind...a figure...an apparition” (NEB)

"a wind...a figure...shape...an apparition...” (REB)

"a breath...appearance...form...” (Smith-Goodspeed)

"a breath...Someone...the form” (Jerusalem, NJB)

"a ghostlike figure...! couldn’t see its features” (The Clear Word)

No doubt, Satan himself, in the form of "an apparition,” appeared to Eliphaz in the middle of the night to suggest some ideas to him in dealing with Job. (Contrast Job 33:15-18[2368])

Satan had destroyed everything "earthly” that Job had. (Job 1:13-19[2369]) Later, Satan destroyed Job’s health. (Job 2:7[2370]) Then Job lost the confidence and respect of even his family (Job 2:9; 19:17[2371]) and his associates. (Job 12:4,5; 19:9; 30:1,9,10[2372]) Then, Satan, becoming desperate because he had failed to get Job to curse God, took another approach-he worked through Job’s "friends.” After hearing Job’s despairing cries in Job 3, Satan believed that with a little further "push,” Job would go "all the way” and give up his trust in God and curse God to His face.

Through Eliphaz, Satan suggested that God cannot even trust his own angels! (Job 4:17-19[2373]; compare Job 15:14-16[2374])

Job 4:17-19:

17"Is mortal man than God more righteous? Than his Maker is a man cleaner?

18Lo, in His servants He putteth no credence, Nor in His messengers setteth praise. 19Also—the inhabitants of houses of clay, (Whose foundation is in the dust, They bruise them before a moth.)” (Young’s Literal)

17"Shall mortal man be more just than God? Shall a man be more pure than his maker? 18Behold, he put no trust in his servants; and his angels he charged with folly: 19How much less in them that dwell in houses of clay, whose foundation is in the dust, which are crushed before the moth?” (KJV)

17    "No humans are innocent

in the eyes of God their Creator.

18    He finds fault with his servants

and even with his angels.

19    Humans are formed from clay

and are fragile as moths,” (CEV)

17    "Can any mortal be righteous to God?

Can any human being be pure to his maker?

18    You see, God doesn’t trust his own servants,

And he accuses his angels of making mistakes.

19    How much more will he accuse those who live in clay houses

that have their foundation in the dust.

Those houses can be crushed quicker than a moth!” (God’s Word)

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"Can anyone be righteous in the sight of God or be pure before his Creator?

God does not trust his heavenly servants;

he finds fault even with his angels.

Do you think he will trust a creature of clay,

a thing of dust that can be crushed like a moth?” (GNB)

"Can mortals be righteous before God?

Can human beings be pure before their Maker?

Even in his servants he puts no trust,

and his angels he charges with error; how much more those who live in houses of clay, whose foundation is in the dust, who are crushed like a moth.” (NRSV)

"Can a mortal be more righteous than God?

Can a man be more pure than his Maker?

If God places no trust in his servants,

if he charges his angels with error, how much more those who live in houses of clay, whose foundations are in the dust,

who are crushed more readily than a moth!” (NIV)

And if God cannot trust even His angels, He could never trust a mere human to remain true no matter what happens! Remember that these "inspired” statements are direct quotes from Satan, the Adversary! (Job 4:19; 25:4-6[2375]; compare Job 22:1-3; 35:6,7[2376])

The accusations of Job’s “friends”:

Throughout the book, Job’s friends made a number of accusations against Job. According to their theology, a good person is always blessed by God; and if one is blessed by God, he will be rich. Thus, if a person is poor, he is obviously not blessed-like Job at that point in his life-and he must be a sinner. Since Job had so suddenly lost all his wealth and his family and only a short time later his health, it was very clear in their minds that Job must have committed a terrible sin! (Job 4:7; 8:20; 11:5,6,13,14; 15:5,6; 22:5-9; 34:34-37; 36:17[2377])

Job’s friends believed that God was supreme and sovereign and that no one had the right even to question anything that He did. (Job 5:7-11; 11:7-12; 37:20-24[2378] GNB) They believed that God was almighty and all powerful. In fact they were afraid even to approach God lest He destroy them! (Job 37:20[2379], GNB) They went so far as to suggest that Job was receiving a "just punishment” for his sins! (Job 8:6; 11:6; 34:11; 36:17[2380]; contrast Job 42:7,8[2381])

Job’s friends also appealed to all the authorities that they could think of to support their views! First, they appealed to their own experience. (Job 5:27[2382]) Then, they appealed to the authority of age and wisdom. (Job 8:8-10; 15:10,18; 20:4,5[2383])

Job’s friends believed that good people are glad and the innocent laugh when they see the wicked punished! (Job 22:19[2384]; compare Psalms 58:10[2385]). In his depression, Job was even inclined to agree. (Job 9:21-23[2386]) But later, Job said clearly that he was never glad when his enemies suffered. (Job 31:29,30[2387])

Job - What Does It Say About God? - page 4 of 8

The Devil even tried to weave the ideas of hell into the accusations against Job through his friends! They believed that the only way to get people to obey was to put the "fear of God” in them! (Job 15:4[2388]) They were sure that God was going to punish sinners. (Job 35:15[2389]; compare Job 31:11[2390]) They warned of the fires that would consume the wicked. (Job 20:26; 22:20[2391]; compare Job 31:12[2392])

Job’s response:

Job did not have any question about God’s sovereignty or His power! (Job 12:16-25[2393]) He admitted that God might have been punishing him. (Job 19:6-9[2394]) However, Job believed that it was only fair for God to punish those who actually committed the sins-not the children of those who sinned. (Job 21:19-20[2395])

Job did not try to hide his faults. At first, he even suggested that maybe his friends were right and that he did something wrong, even inadvertently, although he did not know what it was. (Job 6:24,25; 10:2[2396]) Job never tried to conceal his sins. He admitted that he had made mistakes in the past. (Job 10:6; 14:16,17; 31:33[2397]) But he ardently denied that he had committed the terrible sin(s) that his friends were sure that he was guilty of. (Job 27:5,6; 29:7-17; 31:5-40; 33:8,9; 34:5,6[2398])

Job cried out to God and pleaded with God to speak to Him! (Job 6:8; 13:3,19-28; 23:1-17[2399]) Job recalled what it was like when God was still communicating with him. (Job 29,30[2400])

God spoke to Job:

In His first two speeches, God even seemed to support the views of Job’s friends! He talked about His power that created the world. (Job 38:1-40:2[2401]) Job must have begun to seriously wonder if he had been wrong in his convictions about God! How did Job and his friends know for sure that it was God who was speaking? Job cried out, "I spoke out of ignorance.” (Job 40:3-5; 42:2,3; compare Job 34:35) God went on to speak again about His power, even in controlling the largest of the[2402] wild beasts. (Job 40:3-41:34[2403]) That was too much for Job. Job said, "I guess I was wrong. I repent in dust and ashes.” (Job 42:1-6[2404]) Many modern readers stop reading with those verses and ignore what God said next! In Job 42:4, Job even quoted God (See Job 38:3) as God seemed to suggest that Job was very ignorant! Job concluded by saying, "I guess I didn’t know you as well as I thought, God. Forgive me for speaking so boldly about You as my Friend!”

God’s Final Comment:

Please do not stop reading at the end of Job 42:6! God decided that the time had come for Him to conclude the experiment. God then spoke to Eliphaz and his friends!

Job 42:7,8:

7After the Lord had finished speaking to Job, he said to Eliphaz, "I am angry with you and your two friends, because you did not speak the truth about me, the way my servant Job did. 8 Now take seven bulls and seven rams to Job and offer them as a sacrifice for yourselves. Job will pray for you, and I will answer his prayer and not disgrace you the way you deserve. You did not speak the truth about me as he did.” (GNB) (Contrast Job 34:34-37)

When the whole experience was over, who proved to be right? That must have been an incredible shock to Job’s friends! Even Job was probably surprised by God’s concluding

Job - What Does It Say About God? - page 5 of 8

statement. But, in view of the onlooking universe, Job had vindicated God’s original judgment of his character and that is essential in the controversy over who is telling us the truth and who is lying! God, no doubt, turned to the Devil and said, "You have been proven wrong again, Satan. Job can be trusted and nothing you can do will get him to deny his relationship with Me.” If God had been proven wrong in this case of Job, could we trust Him in the final judgment?

Conclusion:

Job went through a terrible time of trouble, but the worst trouble of all was the bad theology from his "friends”! Could that happen to us at the end of time? Job felt very strongly about his relationship with God. If he had not, he would not have cried out with such feeling! (Compare Psalm 77) That is proof that Job’s relationship with God was very important to Job. No doubt, in their later conversations, God said, "Thank you, Job. Your behavior was a great compliment to Me!” Don’t you think that when God and Job renewed their regular conversations, Job immediately asked God why all that trouble had happened to him? Is it possible that it was at that point that Job was told about Job 1 & 2? Do you think that Job felt like he had been used as a "pawn”? Would you be willing to be used as a "pawn” if God could use you to "checkmate” the Devil? Wouldn’t you be honored? Can you think of any higher honor than to have God say of you someday, "You have said of Me what is right?” The only way to hope for such an honor is to be sure that we are speaking the truth about God every day! Is that what God is waiting for now? Why didn’t the Jews ever seem to "get” the message of Job?

Review and Summary:

1.    God was proud of His friend Job and focused the attention of the entire universe, including the council of heaven, on Job to help answer some of Satan’s accusations against both Job and God. (Job 1:6-8; 2:1-3)

2.    God said that He knew Job well and that His friend Job was a "perfect” and upright man. (Job 1:8; 2:3)

3.    God said that Job would remain true to him no matter what! (Job 1:8; 2:3)

4.    Satan said that the only reason that Job served God was because God continually "bribed” him by treating him so well and giving him such wealth. (Job 1:9-11)

5.    Satan said that if God would just remove the "hedge” from around Job and let Job face "reality” a little bit, Job would turn from God and even curse Him. (Job1:9-11; 2:4,5)

6.    The Devil tried everything he could think of to force Job to curse God. He even appeared as a ghost-like apparition at the bed of Eliphaz to repeat his accusations against God. Later, Elihu claimed that it was God who sent such messages to humans! (Job 4:12-21; 33:15)

7.    Job’s "friends” claimed that God was sovereign and almighty and was too busy running the whole universe to have time to pay any attention to the events affecting humans on this tiny planet. (Job 4:19,20; 5:9; 9:10; 35:6-8[2405])

8.    Satan tried to get Job to believe that no one can be righteous in God’s eyes. (Job 4:12-21; 15:14-16; 25:4-6[2406])

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9.    Job admitted that he had no idea why such terrible things were happening to him, but he was sure that if he could discuss it with God, he could understand it all. (Job 6:8; 10:2; 13:3,22-24[2407])

10.    Job’s friends believed that good people are blessed, and blessed people are rich. So the fact that Job had lost everything was proof that he was a terrible sinner. (Job 4:8-11; 11:13-16[2408])

11.    Job admitted that he was a sinner, but denied that he had committed any serious sin that might be the reason for his being treated as he was. (Job 6:10; 13:22,23; 27:1-6; 29:14-17; 31;29,30; 34:16-18[2409])

12.    Job’s friends were so certain that he had committed some terrible sin that they even began accusing him of very specific sins for which they had no evidence at all! (Job 22:23; 34:34-37[2410])

13.    Job’s friends said Job and his children, no doubt, were being punished as they deserved-even less than they deserved! (Job 11:6; 36:17; 8:4; 34:11; 36:17[2411])

14.    Job begged for God to come and speak with him as He had in the past. (Job 13:22-28; 23:17[2412])

15.    Job’s friends said that they were afraid even to speak to God lest He destroy them! (Job 37:20[2413])

16.    God said that Job’s friends deserved to be "punished” and needed to repent because of their terrible treatment of Job. (Job 42:7,8[2414])

17.    God said that Job was the one who had spoken the truth about Him! (Job 42:7,8)

© Copyright 1995-2008, Kenneth Hart info@theox.org

E. G. White Comments

18.    It is very natural for human beings to think that great calamities are a sure index of great crimes and enormous sins; but men often make a mistake in thus measuring character. We are not living in the time of retributive judgment. Good and evil are mingled, and calamities come upon all. Sometimes men do pass the boundary line beyond God’s protecting care, and then Satan exercises his power upon them, and God does not interpose. Job was sorely afflicted, and his friends sought to make him acknowledge that his suffering was the result of sin, and cause him to feel under condemnation. They represented his case as that of a great sinner; but the Lord rebuked them for their judgment of His faithful servant. (MS 56, 1894); S.D.A. Bible Commentary, Vol. 3, p. 1140

19.    There is wickedness in our world, but all the suffering is not the result of a perverted course of life. Job is brought distinctly before us as a man whom the Lord allowed Satan to afflict. The enemy stripped him of all he possessed; his family ties were broken; his children were taken from him. For a time his body was covered with loathsome sores, and he suffered greatly. His friends came to comfort him, but they tried to make him see that he was responsible, by his sinful course, for his afflictions.

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But he defended himself, and denied the charge, declaring, 'Miserable comforters are ye all’. [Job 16:2] By seeking to make him guilty before God, and deserving of His punishment, they brought a grievous test upon him, and represented God in a false light; but Job did not swerve from his loyalty, and God rewarded His faithful servant. (MS 22, 1898) The Signs of the Times, June 21, 1899; S.D.A. Bible Commentary, Vol. 3, p. 1140

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33. JOB - A TEACHER’S GUIDE

THE CENTRAL QUESTION:

What does this book/story say to us about God?

This question may be broken down further as follows:

a. Why did God do it/allow it?

_b. Why did He record it for our study?_

1. Who do you think wrote the book of Job? Do you think Job ever knew that a book of the Bible was written about him? Did Job ever find out why all those things happened to him? Did he ever read or learn about the information in Job 1 & 2? Where did the information in those two chapters come from? What about the surprise ending in Job 42:7-10[2415]? Would you have trouble understanding the book if you had only the dialogue and the ending (chapter 42) and didn’t know about chapters one and two?

The book of Job does not reveal who wrote it. He was a profound thinker dealing with some of the most troubling questions in human existence from a mature spiritual perspective. He was very eloquent in communicating his message. The book of Job is one of the most beautifully expressed books in the entire Old Testament. The author knew about “wisdom” (hokmah, Heb.) literature, about nature and a lot about foreign cultures.

Two questions must be asked when trying to date the book of Job: 1) when did the events of the book take place? and 2) when was it written down?

It seems very likely that Job lived during the patriarchal period, probably about the time of Abraham (2100-1900 BC). This thinking is based on the following arguments:

•    There is no reference to Israelite history or Biblical law.

•    Job apparently lived for at least 200 years (See Job 42:16[2416]). This is consistent with others who lived in Abraham’s time.

•    Job acted as priest for his own family which was prohibited later by Mosaic Law (Job 1:5[2417]; Numbers 3:5-13[2418]) and there is no mention of priesthood or sanctuary.

•    Job’s wealth was measured in terms of livestock (See Job 1:3; 42:12[2419]). Compare Abraham and Jacob (Genesis 12:16; 13:2; 30:43; 32:5[2420]).

•    The Sabeans and Chaldeans are portrayed as nomadic raiders (Job 1:15,17[2421]). In later years they became settled nations.

•    The Hebrew word for piece of silver (qesita) in Job 42:11[2422] is mentioned elsewhere only in transactions from the patriarchal age (See Genesis 33:19[2423]; Joshua 24:32[2424]). This was no small offering because 100 qesitas purchased a sizable piece of property for Jacob.

•    In the poetic sections of Job there is a very strong preference for the use of El Shaddai instead of Yahweh as the name for God which was given to the children of Israel at the time of the exodus (see Exodus 3:14,15; 6:2[2425]).

Exodus 6:2,3: 2God spoke to Moses and said to him, “I am the Lord. 3I appeared to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob as El Shaddai, but I did not make Myself known to them by My name hwhy [Yahweh].” (Tanakh, the Holy Scriptures)

Scholars disagree on when the book of Job was written down. Conservative Jewish and Christian scholars tend to believe it was written quite early. Others think that it was not written down until the days of Solomon or perhaps even later. Attempts have been made to date the book based on its language and vocabulary. But these have proven inconclusive because of dissimilarities to other examples of classical Hebrew.

“The possible allusion to Job in Qoheleth [Ecclesiastes] 6:10-11[2426] may echo familiarity with the folktale, and the recently discovered Targum (Aramaic translation) of Job from Qumran, dating from

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the 2d or 3d century B.C.E., suggests a considerably earlier date for the book of Job.” (Anchor Bible Dictionary)

Who was Job? “Job was a real person, as Ezekiel 14:14-20[2427] and James 5:11[2428] indicate. He was a native of the land of Uz (Job 1: 1, 19[2429]), which scholars have located either northeast of Palestine, near desert land, probably between the city of Damascus and the Euphrates River, or to the southeast, in the area of Edom. Job probably lived before or around the time of Abraham. (c. 2167-1992 B.C.) Some have suggested that Job was about 70 years old at the time of the events in Job (cf. Job 42:16[2430]). He was very wealthy (Job 1:3, 10[2431]); he and his sons were homeowners in a large city of the region (Job 1:4; 29:7[2432]); he was a respected and popular judge, and benefactor of his fellow citizens (Job 29:7-25[2433]). He was a righteous man in God’s eyes (Job 1:1, 5, 8; 2:3[2434]; Ezek. 14:14-20; James 5:11). The events related in this book were initiated by God (Job 1:6-8[2435]), for God did not allow Job’s trials because of any sin in his life (Job 2:3[2436]).” (King James Version Study Bible)

Where was Uz: “No one knows the exact location of Job’s homeland, the land of Uz (Job 1:1). However, the Bible states or suggests several things about Uz:

•    It was located in the East (1:3). This probably means somewhere east of the Jordan River.

•    Job’s friend Eliphaz came from Teman (Job 2:11), known to be in Edom (see Gen. 36:8[2437]; Jer. 49:20[2438]). Teman was the grandson of Esau (Gen. 36:11[2439]), and the region of Teman probably was named for him. It seems appropriate that Eliphaz was a Temanite, for apparently the Temanites had a reputation for wisdom (Jer. 49:7[2440]). “Temanite” could also refer to Tema in the Arabian Desert; compare Job 6:19[2441].

•    Uz was accessible to Sabean raiders (Job 1:15[2442]). The Sabeans were inhabitants of Sheba, probably located in the mountainous region of southwest Arabia (now Yemen).

•    Uz was also accessible to Chaldean raiders (Job 1:17[2443]). Chaldea was the small territory of southern Babylon bordering the head of the Persian Gulf between the Arabian desert and the Euphrates delta.

•    Jeremiah named Uz in a list of kingdoms and peoples including Judah, Egypt, Philistia, Edom, Moab, Ammon, Tyre, Sidon, and others (Jer. 25:17-26[2444]).

•    The Book of Lamentations seems to indicate that Edom and Uz were nearly the same (Lam. 4:21[2445]). The parallelism of the Hebrew poetry used provides perhaps the strongest indication that Edom and Uz were one and the same, or close to it.” (Word In Life Study Bible)

Ellen White:

“As year after year passed by, and left the servant of God [Moses] still in his humble position, it would have seemed to one of less faith than he, as if God had forgotten him; as if his ability and experience were to be lost to the world. But as he wandered with his silent flocks in solitary places, the abject condition of his people was ever before him. He recounted all God’s dealings with the faithful in ages past, and his promises of future good, and his soul went out toward God in behalf of his brethren in bondage, and his fervent prayers echoed amid the mountain caverns by day and by night. He was never weary of presenting before God the promises made to his people, and pleading with him for their deliverance.

“Those prayers were heard. Could his eyes have been opened, he would have seen the messengers of God, pure, holy angels, bending lovingly over him, shedding their light around him, and preparing to bear his petition to the throne of the Highest. The long years amid desert solitudes were not lost. Not only was Moses gaining a preparation for the great work before him, but during this time, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, he wrote the book of Genesis and also the book of Job, which would be read with the deepest interest by the people of God until the close of time.” (ST Feb. 19, 1880; SDA Bible Commentary, vol. 3, 1140; see also Education 159).

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Traditional Jewish sources also agree that Moses wrote the book of Job. However, it is not necessary that the original material in the book of Job, which may have been an oral tradition passed down from parent to child, to be in written form. Very little was written down in Job’s day. People’s minds were probably better, or at least less overloaded than ours and they remembered better.

It is possible that the original dialogues that form the central part of the book may have been written down before Job 1 & 2 and 42. But in any case, the book of Job now forms a very important complete book that tells us a great deal about God. Why do you suppose God gave us the book of Job? How may people down through the ages do you think were able to read and understand this book?

Considering the relationship that Job had with God as described in Job 29[2446], don’t you think that, after it was over, God hastened to tell Job about why all this had happened to him?

2.    What are we supposed to learn from the book of Job? Is Job unique in any way? What about the conflict that we see in Job 1 & 2? Is it true that God holds councils at which Satan actually comes to accuse us? Who are the “sons of God” or “heavenly beings” referred to in Job 1:6; 2:1[2447]? If Adam had not sinned, would he have been one of these “sons of God?” (see Luke 3:38[2448]) Are there other places in the Bible where we read about similar councils or conflicts? (see Daniel 7:9-13[2449]; Ephesians 6:12[2450]; what about 1 Kings 22:19-23[2451] and 2 Chronicles 18:18-22[2452]?) In such situations, who is always the one accusing us? (see Revelation 12:10[2453]; Zechariah 3:1-5[2454])

Job is the only book in the Bible which clearly talks about the “behind-the-scenes” activities that took place in heaven as well as the events that took place here on planet earth. How frequently does God hold these councils in heaven? Do they often consider events taking place on planet earth?

Many Christians feel that God in His sovereignty determines how things are going to work out and what we do or say has little or no effect on Him. They feel that God is so far above us and that He has so many responsibilities that, other than providing the plan of salvation for us as a human race, God has little time to concern Himself with what happens to us. This idea is called God’s sovereignty.

Job 1 & 2 suggest something quite different from that. In the setting of the great controversy, each of us ultimately makes a choice as to whose side we will be on. God was willing to come and die in order for us to be saved, and now He cares very much about the choices we make. Furthermore, our choices reflect back on God. He chooses to place Himself on trial before the universe to let each of us make up our own minds as to whether or not He can be trusted and whether or not He has won the great controversy. (See Romans 3:4[2455])

3.    If Job confessed with sacrifices just in case his children had done something wrong (Job 1:4,5[2456]), why didn’t he confess and offer a sacrifice for himself? Was he really sure that he had not done anything wrong? Can we be sure?

As you review Job’s early arguments he in effect says that he may have done something wrong and he asks God’s forgiveness. (Job 6:24; 10:2; 13:20-24[2457]) But later, he states clearly and repeatedly that he is not guilty of the really major sins that his enemies believe he has committed. (Job 23:7,12; 27:5[2458]) Job had a good relationship with God and he knew God as his friend. He trusted God to show him any sins that were in his life. These “friends” who accused him of things that he knew he had not committed couldn’t shake his faith. At the end when God initially spoke out and seemed to be supporting what the friends had said, Job was ready to confess. But God finally ended the whole matter by confirming the truth about His friend Job, just as Job had spoken the truth about Him. (Job 42:7,8[2459])

4.    Is it right for “a perfect and upright man” (Job 1 & 2) to make the statements that Job made in his first speech? (Job 3[2460]) Is it true as Eliphaz the Temanite says that “God does not trust his heavenly servants; he finds fault even with his angels?” (Job 4:18[2461], GNB) Who made this statement? Is it true that “mankind heads for sin and misery as predictably as flames shoot upwards from a fire?” (Job 5:7[2462], TLB) Is it true about God that “though he wounds, he binds and heals again?” (Job 5:18[2463], TLB)

Job - A Teacher’s Guide - page 3 of 10

These are typical “poetic” statements that are characteristic of the “wisdom literature” found in the Bible. Job was in terrible distress and so he expresses himself as one who is in such distress. These are not intended to be statements of universal truth under all circumstances but rather correct expressions of Job’s feelings at the time. (Compare Job 9:23,24[2464]; Psalms 2:11,12; 58; 59; 77:10[2465]; See Psalms Teacher’s Guide #6)

For a discussion of Eliphaz’s statement see handout #17 - “What Does It Say To You About God?” pages 2,3. Notice that this statement was repeated several times in the book: Job 4:12-21; 15:14-16; 25:4-6[2466]. Furthermore, Elihu suggests that it is God who speaks in dreams and visions. (Job 33:15[2467]) But God said back in the beginning of the book that Job was an upright and a faithful man. Satan wants us to believe that it is impossible for humans to be good here on this earth. (Job 4:17-21[2468]) He believes that he is the “Lord” of this earth and he controls everything and everyone who lives here.

Worse than that, Satan accuses even God of not being an accurate judge of human character. Satan wants us to believe that God made a mistake when He threw Satan and his angels out of heaven, and he is hoping through this conflict over Job to prove God wrong. As far as Satan is concerned this would in effect win the great controversy for his side.

5.    What was Job’s greatest trial? Was it the loss of his children, his wealth, and his health? (this all happened in a few verses--Job 1:13-19; 2:7[2469]) Or was it the accusations (bad theology) of his friends? These friends spoke with great authority, but they were wrong! (Job 34:34-36[2470], NLT; Job 37:20[2471], GNB; Contrast Job 42:7-9[2472]) In the last days, God’s people will go through the “time of trouble.” (Matthew 24:21-22[2473]) We often suggest that the greatest trial will be the loss of our material possessions, our friends, and the physical suffering we will go through, but if Job is a “type” of these people, could our greatest trial be, like Job’s, the statements of our well-meaning, but misinformed friends?

Often the worst trials come from unexpected sources. Did Job have any idea of the accusations he would face when his “friends” arrived and sat down to mourn his condition for a full seven days? (Job 2:13[2474]) Our friends get the closest to us and thus can wound the greatest. It is harder many times to deal with the errors of those who profess to believe what we believe and who think that we should believe just like they do, than to deal with those whom we know are of different churches or religions. When we expect to be different from someone it is not such a shock when they speak out in opposition to what we believe. But when we expect people to believe like we do and they in turn expect us to believe like they do, it can be a real problem when there is sincere disagreement.

It must have been a real trial for Job to hear his friends suggesting that even his children got what they deserved! (See GNB on Job 8:4[2475]; compare Job 11:6; 34:11; 36:17[2476]; contrast Job 42:8[2477]) Like Job, we must learn to put our trust in God alone.

6.    How do you think a scholar would go about trying to date the book of Job? What evidence from the book might he consider? Conservative scholars have believed that Moses was the author of the book of Job. If so, why isn’t Job mentioned somewhere in the books of Moses (Genesis through Deuteronomy)? Is it easier to understand how Moses could be such a friend of God and speak so well of Him, if he knew about the story of Job? On the other hand, knowing about Job why would Moses write such things as “if you’re good, you’ll be blessed, but if you’re bad, you’ll be cursed?” (Deuteronomy 8:18-20; 27:1-28:68[2478])

Dating is an important matter for books of the Bible. It helps us to understand the context in which the events of a given book took place. It also raises other questions such as the ones posed above! For some of the reasons why it is dated as it is see #1 above. Perhaps Moses didn’t mention Job because he realized how few of those who were following him through the desert would understand the larger issues portrayed in that book. The words of Deuteronomy form a sort of prediction of what would happen to the children of Israel in the next 800 years. It was not so much a threat by God, as a warning. Unfortunately, they didn’t seem to get the message and proceeded to fulfill what had been predicted about them with very little evidence that they had comprehended what God was saying at all.

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As one reads through the entire Bible there are many places where the views of Job’s friends are supported. Why didn’t these Bible writers realize the lesson of Job? Even the Pharisees and Sadducees in Jesus’ day believed that the good were always blessed and the bad were always punished so that if one was rich it was a proof that he/she was good and vice versa. This was their ultimate “proof” for believing that Jesus was a sinner and they were righteous!

7.    In Esther and Job, God seems to end up saying something good about Himself, but what about the people involved? Was Job used just as a pawn? What about Job’s children? (Job 1:4,5,18,19[2479])

Many times it may seem that things that happen, even apparently at God’s hands are not fair. This is one of Satan’s favorites arguments against God. No one expects Satan to be fair, but as he continues to lie, cheat, misrepresent, deceive and confuse he jumps at any opportunity to accuse God of being “unfair”. (See handout #17 - “What Does It Say To You About God?”) Nothing about Satan’s accusations against God or God’s true people are fair.

Despite all of this, God and His true people live and act in whatever way they can to correctly represent the truth. Doing so will eventually cause the truth to come out and it will be seen that Satan is the cause of all the evil and unfairness in this universe. If we can help God in any way to win the cosmic conflict by correctly representing Him here on planet earth and thus help Him to “checkmate” the Devil, we should feel honored even if for the time being it may seem very unfair, even like we are nothing but pawns. (Compare Job 1,2)

8.    Was Job wrong when he said, “The Lord gave, and now the Lord has taken away?” (Job 1:21[2480], GNB; Compare Job 1:12; 2:1-10[2481]; 2 Samuel 24:1[2482] in contrast with 1 Chronicles 21:1[2483]) Isn’t it clear from the earlier verses that Satan was the one who “took away?” Was this a serious error on Job’s part? (Job 1:22[2484]) Or was he speaking as they understood things in those days? Was Naomi (Mara) right that the Lord had dealt very bitterly with her? (Ruth 1:20,21[2485]) When someone has a horrible accident we sometimes say, “It must have been God’s will.” Are death and sickness ever God’s will?

This is an issue that we will face and discuss many times in Scripture. (Compare 1 Chronicles 10:13,14[2486] with 1 Chronicles 10:1-7[2487] and 1 Samuel 31:1-13[2488]) To the Hebrews, Yahweh was the only God (Deuteronomy 6:4[2489]) and they rejected the common idea of those around them that there were “good gods” and “evil gods” and when something bad happened to you it was because you had offended one of the “good gods” or had not appeased one of the “evil gods” adequately. But this left them with the problem of trying to explain the source of all evil. This is discussed considerably in the book of Job and elsewhere.

Ultimately the Jews and even conservative Christians today believe that God is in control and He could prevent all evil if He chose to. Thus in a sense He is responsible. But we must remember that God, more than anything else wants us to be free and that includes the ability to make choices, good choices and bad choices, and to reap the results of those choices. God cannot forcibly overrule the effects of evil without fundamentally altering the nature of the universe that He has created. (See handout #13 on “Love”) So in the broadest sense, God did “give” and God did “take away” but not in some arbitrary way for no reason at all. God realized that Job was someone who could play an important role in helping God Himself clarify for the onlooking universe some of the issues and win the great controversy. God certainly needs all the correct representation He can get here on planet earth! If so many of us hadn’t misrepresented God so seriously God wouldn’t have had to make such an example of Job.

9.    Would it be correct to say that the death of Job’s first children and the loss of all his wealth was God’s will? In what sense? Or was this demonstrating a great truth in the great controversy? Could anything happen if God did not permit it? If I eat lots of candy and get holes in my teeth, would it be correct to say that it is God’s will, because He didn’t stop me? What about smoking and lung cancer, or drunk driving and fatal accidents? If a person neglects to study all year and then fails, is that God’s responsibility? This world is full of diseases, disasters and drunk drivers. Is that God’s fault?

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There are several main reasons why “bad things happen to good people”. Let us review some of the most important of them: 1) Even good people here on earth are continually making mistakes or bad choices and reaping the consequences of those mistakes. In order for sin to be seen as the evil that it is, it must be demonstrated that evil has bad consequences. 2) Just living on planet earth is “hazardous to one’s health”! Often we don’t even know that what we are doing is dangerous until it is too late. 3) Living surrounded by evil often results in the evil deeds of others killing innocent “bystanders”. This is one of the important things that needs to be demonstrated about evil and is part of what makes evil the bad thing it is! 4) Probably very rarely, some good person, like Job suffers something very bad happening to him because God is allowing it as a part of some necessary demonstration for the benefit of the entire onlooking universe in the larger setting of the great controversy. In the hereafter, we will be able to see why each of these things happened. It will turn out to be a wonderful revelation of the love of our heavenly Father.

10.    Why do the righteous suffer, and the wicked prosper? We like to tell stories suggesting that if we faithfully pay our tithe, and obey God, God will protect us. But what about Job? Job trusted God even when all the evidence seemed to be against him, and even Job’s wife said “curse God and die!” (Job 2:9) Which shows greater faith: 1. You have nothing to eat, you pray, and miraculously food is provided (such stories make great stories for kids), or 2. You have nothing to eat, you pray, and no food is provided, but you still trust God (like Job)? The story of Job is for grownups!

This is a thought question. Are we prepared to trust God on the basis of a careful evaluation of the total evidence even when things don’t seem to be going too well? Or are we just “rice Christians”? We need to make our decisions about God based on the long history of the cosmic conflict and not just on what seems to be happening to us at a given moment.

11.    Would you agree that Job was “perfect” and that he had not sinned after reading the speeches recorded in Job 3; 13[2490]? What did God mean when He said Job was “perfect”? Did anyone disagree? Why? Look at Job 22:19[2491] and Psalms 58:10[2492]. Compare Job 31:29[2493]. Which represents God’s attitude?

God is not trying to suggest that Job had never sinned. Every human being has sinned. (See 1 Kings 8:46[2494]; 2 Chronicles 6:36[2495]; Psalms 5:9; 14:1-3; 53:1-3[2496]; Ecclesiastes 7:20[2497]; Isaiah 59:7,8[2498]; Romans 3:23[2499]) Being a righteous person does not stop one from having feelings, or being really upset by what appears to be a terrible injustice. In fact, righteous people may be more aware of injustice since they are often trying their best to promote justice for all. It would be helpful to know more about Job’s background, but that will have to wait until we are in the kingdom. What God was able to say about Job was that he would not be turned away from his loyalty to God by a temporary, although terrible, reversal in his fortunes. Job had a settled trust in God that stood firm through everything and Job was right. Notice that it was God who apparently initiated this whole affair. Satan was desperate to prove God wrong about anything. God knew that something important could be demonstrated in this exchange and He was willing to let it take place. Notice the difference between Job’s attitude on certain matters and that of Job’s friends:

Job 22:19: (Eliphaz) “Good people are glad and the innocent laugh when they see the wicked punished.” (Compare Psalms 58:10[2500]) GNB

Job 9:23,24: (Job-at the bottom of his depression) “When an innocent person suddenly dies, God laughs.24 God gave the world to the wicked. He made all the judges blind. And if God didn’t do it, who did?” GNB

Job 31:29,30: (Job-after thinking things through) “I have never been glad when my enemies suffered, or pleased when they met with disaster; 30 I never sinned by praying for their death.” GNB

God welcomes our questions. Perhaps this is one of the most important things that we can learn from the book of Job. This should be quite clear from the concluding comments in Job 42:7,8. What God wants most is friends who are willing even to suffer to speak the truth about God, whom they regard as their greatest Friend.

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12. What is the central question in Job? Would it be, “Would Job worship you if he got nothing out of it?” (Job 1:9[2501], GNB) or “And if God didn’t do it, who did?” (Job 9:24[2502], GNB)

There are very clearly at least two major themes in the book of Job. Between Job and his friends in their dialogues it would appear that the question was “Why do bad things happen to good people?” Job wanted to ask God why all this was happening to him and his friends were sure that they knew more about Job than even Job appeared to know! They were certain that God punishes only the wicked. The righteous may temporarily suffer setbacks and the wicked may temporarily appear to prosper, but before long it was clear in their minds that each gets what he deserves. (See GNB on Job 8:4[2503]; compare Job 11:6; 34:11; 36:17[2504]; contrast Job 42:8[2505]) They had a “gospel” of “health and wealth” and they wanted everyone to know that they were prosperous and thus on God’s “good” list! By contrast, they had never ever even imagined anyone so suddenly beset by so many terrible tragedies as Job and to their minds this could only mean one thing: Job had committed some terrible sin.

But behind the rhetoric of Job’s friends was the Devil himself! Remember what God had already said about Job. (See handout #17 on Job 1:1,6; 2:1) Satan thought that this was his chance for the first time to prove God wrong. If he could just get Job to sin in some obvious way, it would raise significant questions about God’s ability to judge character. Satan felt that, given his track record with human beings, surely it would be possible for him to catch Job in some kind of sin. So Satan begins his side of the “dialogue” involving Job’s friends by appearing in a dream at night to support the view of God that he had already imposed on Job’s friends and we might add, many other people down through history. Satan wanted them (and us) to believe that it is impossible for a human being to be “perfect and upright”. Satan suggested that God doesn’t even trust the angels (like Satan and his followers), so how could He trust a feeble human being like Job. We are so weak and insignificant in God’s eyes according to Satan that God would crush us in the dust like an insect without even noticing it. Such an insignificant creature could never play a key role in the great controversy between God and Satan!

By contrast, God had clearly stated already what He thought of Job, and His judgment had always been right before. God considered Job a friend and Job felt that God was a friend. You don’t talk about friends as insects to be crushed in the dust! Furthermore, God knew that Job, despite all his problems, was going to prove to be a wonderful example of the kind of person who bases his decisions about life and God on the total amount of evidence that is available (no doubt including many conversations that they had had together in the past) and not just on the fact that he is depressed, terrorized and hurting at this particular moment. Why are we so often ready to throw out everything when something happens to us that we are not happy about? Is it right for Christians to expect that nothing bad could ever happen to them? What do we expect to take place in the time of trouble?

If Satan can get us to give up our faith by inflicting us with some kind of sickness, tragedy or other evil, then in effect we have allowed him to control us and we are not God’s true friends. God’s true friends will remain faithful no matter what happens to them, like Job did.

So the most important question in the book of Job is: “Can God be trusted to judge angels and humans”? Can He be trusted to stick by us through good times and bad times no matter what happens? Do we really believe that God will not allow us to be tempted more than we can bear? (See 1 Corinthians 10:13[2506]) Does God sometimes allow “bad” things to happen to us for our own good?

Satan by contrast wants us to believe that God’s ways are simple to understand. If you are good, God will bless you. And if God blesses you, you will no doubt be wealthy. If you are not good, God cannot bless you and you will clearly be poor. So in this view, you can tell who the good people are and who the bad people are just by looking!

Notice this summary of Satan’s and Job’s friends’ theology:

A Comparison of Satan’s Theology with that of Job’s friends

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Satan

Job’s Friends

IF Job is blessed by God, THEN he will be faithful.

IF Job is faithful, THEN he will be blessed.

IF Job is not blessed by God, THEN he will be unfaithful. (Satan accused God of bribing His followers.)

IF Job is unfaithful, THEN he will be punished.

Is there any real difference between these two views? Job’s friends did an excellent job of representing the Devil’s viewpoints. And the Devil got some very good ambassadors to try to push his views on Job.

In conclusion then, we can say that there are many issues discussed in Job, but the most important one by far is the question of whether or not God’s treatment of people is “fair” in the largest possible context, and whether or not He is a correct Judge of character. In the final judgment we want to be sure that God makes no mistakes, or else the whole great controversy could start all over again! The book of Job shows us that God judges rightly.

13.    On what basis do you think Job was able to say, “though he slay me, yet will I trust in Him” (Job 13:15, KJV)? Or should this be stated as a question, as in some versions, “should I trust Him, though he slay me” (see GNB)?

One possibility, which should be given real consideration is that Job knew God on a personal basis. God came down and talked with Abraham, as well as appearing to him in visions. (See Genesis 17,18[2507]) Is there any reason to believe that He could not have communicated with Job in the same ways? Job’s commentary from the book seems to suggest that he knew God very well (See Job 29[2508]) in a day when there were no churches, no pastors, no Bible study groups, and no Bibles! Not a single one of the books of the Bible had been written yet as far as we can determine.

Under those circumstances how did Job come to know God? They must have had some sort of working relationship. It was probably on the basis of this relationship that Job could speak so confidently about God. What other possibilities can you think of? (See Job 29:1-5[2509])

14.    How do we relate these grand, universe-wide issues in Job with our day-by-day battles with evil? Should we daily ask God to look after us, or should we not bother God, and assume that whatever happens is according to His plan? Is God too busy to pay attention to our little day-by-day needs? See the life of Jesus: feeding Jairus’ daughter (Luke 8:55[2510]); feeding the hungry (Matthew 14:13-21[2511]; Mark 6:30-44[2512]; Luke 9:10-17[2513]; John 6:1-14[2514]); healing the sick and casting out demons (John 5:1-17; 9:1-34[2515], etc.); crying at Lazarus’ funeral (John 11:35[2516]); and blessing the children, etc.! (Matthew 19:13-15[2517]; Luke 18:15-17[2518])

The Bible is full of evidence that God cares for even the tiniest creatures. He notices even when a sparrow falls. (Matthew 10:29[2519]) God apparently has the capacity to concern Himself with all of the grand universe-wide issues and at the same time care for the smallest needs of His tiniest creatures. He doesn’t just provide for us in a broad, general sense but Jesus demonstrated a very personal interest in the lives of all He came in contact with. (See references in the question above)

But each of us is also a part of the greater universe-wide controversy that is going on. The battles in this cosmic conflict are being fought in the minds and hearts of human beings. More than this, God, Himself, chooses to place His reputation and government on trial to be judged by His creatures.

Romans 3:4:

4 mh; genoito: gineisqw de; ol qeo;" ajlhqhi", pa" de; a|nqrwpo" yeuisth", kaqw" gegraptai: opw" an dikaiwqh" ejn toi" logoi" sou

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kai; nikhisei" ejn tW krinesqai se. (Nestle-Aland Greek New Testament)

...“That Thou mayest be declared righteous in Thy words, and mayest overcome in Thy being judged.’ (Young’s Literal)

...“That thou mightest be justified in thy sayings, and mightest overcome when thou art judged.” (KJV)

...“That You may be justified in Your words, And may overcome when You are judged.”

(NKJV)

...“That thou mayest be justified in thy words, and prevail when thou art judged.” (RSV)

...“So that you may be justified in your words, and prevail in your judging.” (NRSV)

...“So that thou shouldest be justified in thy words, and shouldest overcome when thou art in judgment.” (Darby)

...“That Thou mightest be justified in Thy words, And mightest prevail when Thou art judged.”

(NASB)

...“That thou mightest be justified in thy words, And mightest prevail when thou comest into judgment.” (ASV)

... “Your words will be proven true, and in court you will win your case.” (CEV)

...“So you hand down justice when you speak, and you win your case in court.” (God’s Word)

...“You must be shown to be right when you speak; you must win your case when you are being tried.” (GNB)

...“so that you, God, may be proved right in your words and win the verdict when you are put on trial.” (Jewish New Testament)

...“That God’s words will always prove true and right, no matter who questions them.” (TLB)

...“Your words stand fast and true; Rejection doesn’t faze you.” (The Message)

...“That you may be justified in your words, and conquer when you are judged.” (NAB-RC)

...“That You may be justified in Your words, And prevail when You are judged.” (NASB,

1995)

...“So you will be shown to be right when you speak, and you will win your case.” (NCV)

...“So that you may be proved right when you speak and prevail when you judge.” (NIV)

...“That you may show your saving justice when you pass sentence and your victory may appear when you give judgement.” (New Jerusalem-RC)

...“He will be proved right in what he says, and he will win his case in court.” (New Living)

...“That you may be shown to be right in what you say, and win your case when you go into court.” (Goodspeed)

15. Would it be safe to freely pick key texts from the book of Job? In what sense could such a book be “inspired?” If, as God Himself suggests, Job’s three friends had not said what is right about Him (Job 42:7-10), how can we call their speeches “inspired?” Should we consider this book as being only partly “inspired”--that is, chapters one and two, Job’s speeches, and God’s speeches are “inspired”, but the rest is not? What about some of the things that Job says in his depression? (Job 1:21; 6:4,13; 12:16-25; 16:6-14; 17:11-16[2520])

It should be clear from what we have seen so far that much of what the three friends of Job said came from ideas that are not in accordance with God’s ideas. Some of it seems to have come directly from the Devil. In such a situation we must be very careful in using this material, no matter

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how familiar it sounds or how correct it seems, as if it were inspired of God. God, Himself concludes at the end that the three friends needed to repent because they had not spoken the truth about Him as Job had.

“Inspiration” under such circumstances takes on new meanings. We cannot just assume that everything we read in Scripture is directly from the mouth of God! The book of Job is “inspired” in the sense that God helped the story to be recorded correctly and the reporting can be relied upon. That does not mean that every word is truthful and should be regarded as a “thus saith the Lord”! But we should remember that we have run across other examples of such a thing happening in Scripture. Would we quote the words of the serpent in the garden of Eden as if they were the words of God? (See Genesis 3:1-4[2521]) If so, we have God contradicting Himself! The fact that something is in Scripture does not guarantee that it is from God or even that it is the truth!

16.    Who understood God better, Elihu or Job? (Job 34:34-36[2522], NLT; Job 37:20[2523], GNB;Job 42:7,8[2524]) Do you sometimes feel like Elihu did when he said, “I won’t ask to speak with God; why should I give him a chance to destroy me?” (Job 37:20[2525], GNB)

Elihu did not have a friendly relationship with God! He respected God, but he was afraid of Him. Is that what God wants most of all?

Job, on the other hand, asked lots of questions of God, even when God didn’t appear to be listening. Job had come to know God well enough so that he was comfortable asking questions. God’s best friends in the Bible often seem to be the ones that ask questions. God wants understanding friendship, not just grudging servanthood. In order to have willing, understanding friendship, one must seek to know the one with whom one wish to be friends.

17.    If you were asked to summarize the real issues behind the rhetoric in the book of Job, what would you say? Was the real question about Job or about God? (Job 9:24) Was there any real difference of opinion over God’s omnipotence or sovereignty? Do you think Job should have repented at the end? (Job 1:22; 2:10; 42:1-8[2526]) Did Satan agree with God’s judgment of Job? Does he agree with God’s judgment of us?

See the handout #17 “If God Didn’t Do It, Who Did?”

© Copyright 1999-2006, Kenneth Hart info@theox.org

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34. PSALMS - A TEACHER’S GUIDE

THE CENTRAL QUESTION:

What does this book/story say to us about God?

This question may be broken down further as follows:

a. Why did God do it/allow it?

_b. Why did He record it for our study?_

1. How many different people do you think contributed to the Psalms? How long a time span do you think is covered by the Psalms? Do you consider them all inspired? Who wrote the most? Do you consider the hymns in our hymn books as being inspired? Why would the Psalms be different? Do you think there were uninspired "psalms” that may have been used in the temple services? Would it be safe to pick a verse from any portion of the Psalms and use it by itself apart from its context?

"The psalms were originally individual poems. With the passing of time these were collected to form smaller books. The Book of Psalms in its present form comprises five of these smaller books (see below). The earliest known individual psalm is that of Moses (Ps. 90[2527]); the latest is probably Psalm 137[2528], which could not have been written before the sixth century b.c. Though most of the psalms were written and collected during the Davidic era, or shortly thereafter, the final compilation of Psalms was probably not complete until the latter half of the fifth century B.C., during the time of Ezra and Nehemiah (450-425 b.c.)” (Believer’s Study Bible - article on Psalms)

The book of Psalms, sometimes called the Psalter, includes the prayers and the hymns of some of the most important people in the Bible, from Moses to the Exiles in Captivity. The Psalms are grouped into five collections or books as follows:

Book 1    Psalms 1-41

Book 2    Psalms 42-72

Book 3    Psalms 73-89

Book 4    Psalms 90-106

Book 5    Psalms 107-150

"Book I shows an affinity for the divine name Yahweh, while Book II prefers Elohim. The reason for this phenomenon is unknown. Each of the first four books concludes with a brief doxology, while Psalm 150 is a doxology within itself and constitutes an appropriate conclusion to the entire Psalter (some see Ps. 1 and 2 serving as an introduction and 146-150 serving as the conclusion). Jewish tradition explains the five-book arrangement as a conscious echo of the Pentateuch, but it is more probable that this is incidental rather than intentional. Indeed the division between Books IV and V (Ps. 106 and 107) seems arbitrary.” (Believer’s Study Bible)

There are Psalms of praise and worship; prayers for help, protection, and salvation; pleas for forgiveness; songs of thanksgiving for God’s blessings; and prayers for the punishment of enemies. While we do not consider the little notes at the beginning of many chapters ascribing the Psalm to a particular author as being inspired, they are of very ancient origin and seem to have some validity. If they can be trusted we have psalms by David, Solomon, Asaph, Moses, the sons of Korah (who was swallowed up in Numbers 16:30),

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Heman, Ethan and several psalms appear to have been written from Babylonian exile. David wrote the largest number of Psalms, perhaps 73 in all. Solomon apparently wrote many psalms (1005) that are not included in our book of Psalms. (See 1 Kings 4:32[2529]) Were these psalms not included because they were not inspired?

All of the Psalms must be read in light of the context in which they were written-like the rest of Scripture.

The word Psalms comes from "Psalmos" - to sing or to praise - originally from psallein -"to pluck" that is, "Songs to be sung to the accompaniment of instruments". The corresponding Hebrew word mizmor occurs frequently in the psalms and means a vocal or instrumental song. The Hebrew Title: Tehillim means "Praises".

"The psalms of David pass through the whole range of experience, from the depths of conscious guilt and self-condemnation to the loftiest faith and the most exalted communing with God." (Patriarchs and Prophets 754)

"The psalms lead us through the valleys and peaks of human experience, but in the end they guide us to the praise of our loving Creator...The psalms were written in the language of the human spirit, the utterances of the soul. The psalms are not cool, reasoned prose, but deeply emotional works that use wrenching language, dramatic exaggeration, and figurative speech.” (Nelson Study Bible)

"Although Hebrew poetry contains some rhythm, it primarily makes use of repetition and recapitulation. One line of a verse is followed by another that gives a variation of the same idea. Not only do the psalmists use this poetic technique, but the authors of proverbs use it as well (see the Introduction to Proverbs). The second line of a proverb usually reinforces the meaning of the first line (see Prov. 22:1[2530]). This reinforcement of the thought is not mere tautology, but the graceful artistry of a poet. The first line makes a statement that the second line sharpens or heightens.

A psalmist could modify this general pattern in a number of ways. First, the psalmist could use synonymous parallelism to make the two elements similar. For example:

But his delight is in the law of the Lord,

And on His law he meditates day and night. (1:2; compare Psalms 3:1; 24:1[2531])

Second, the psalmist could contrast the two elements. This type of parallelism, called antithetical parallelism, usually contains the word "but.” For example:

For the Lord knows the way of the righteous,

But the way of the ungodly shall perish. (1:6; compare Psalm 90:6[2532])

Third, the psalmist could develop the theme of the first line in the second line. This is called synthetic parallelism. For example:

Blessed is the man

Who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly,

Nor stands in the path of sinners,

Nor sits in the seat of the scornful. (1:1; compare Psalm 19:7[2533])

A fourth improvement on general parallelism is climactic parallelism. In this type of parallelism, the first member of a couplet is incomplete and the second member partially repeats the first member and then completes the thought. For example:

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Give to the Lord, O families of the peoples,

Give to the Lord glory and strength. (96:7)

Finally, the psalmist could use emblematic parallelism. In this type, the first line contains a figure of speech and the following lines explain the figure by expansion or explanation. In the following example, the parallel lines of this verse explain the meaning of the expression "like a tree.”

He shall be like a tree

Planted by the rivers of water,

That brings forth its fruit in its season,

Whose leaf also shall not wither;

And whatever he does shall prosper. (1:3; compare Psalm 42:1[2534])

With poetic parallelism, the Hebrew psalmist powerfully expresses his praise of the Lord. By reading the psalms aloud and emphasizing the parallel elements, one can gain some sense of the harmonious poetic language from which the translation is derived.” (Nelson’s Study Bible)

Fourteen psalms contain historical superscriptions that give some brief mention of the occasion on which the psalm was written (chs. 3, 7, 18, 30, 34, 51, 52, 54, 56, 57, 59, 60, 63, 142)[2535].

Some of the major foci of the Psalms:

Nature    (8, 19, 29, 104)[2536]

Historical and National    (46, 68, 79, 105, 106, 114)[2537]

Didactic    (1, 15, 34, 71)[2538]

Messianic    (2; 8; 16; 22-24; 40; 41; 45; 68; 69; 72; 89; 96-99; 102; 110; 118; 132)[2539]

Deity    (Psalms 45:6; 110:1)[2540]

Sonship    (Psalms 2:7)[2541]

Incarnation    (Psalms 40:6,7)[2542]

Priesthood    (Psalms 110:4)[2543]

Betrayal    (Psalms 41:9)[2544]

Rejection    (Psalms 118:22)[2545]

Resurrection    (Psalms 16:9,10)[2546]

Ascension    (Psalms 68:18)[2547]

(1) “Typological-prophetic psalms—e.g. Psalm 22, where the writer describes his own experience which is transcended by that of Jesus the Messiah; (2) indirectly messianic—e.g. Psalms 2; 45; 72; these were penned for a king of Israel or a royal occasion in general, but their ultimate and climactic fulfillment is realized in Christ; and (3) typical messianic psalms—these are less obvious: the psalmist in some sense is a type of Christ (Psalm 34:20[2548]),but not all aspects of the psalm necessarily apply to the Messiah (see also Psalm 109:8[2549]; cf. Acts 1:20[2550]).” (Believer’s Study Bible)

Penitential (sorrow for sin)    (6, 32, 38, 51, 102, 130, 143)[2551]

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Lament (a plea for deliverance or defense addressed directly to God)--

individual (13, 17, 22, 25, 26, 28, 31, 35, 36, 38, 39, 42, 43, 51, 54, 55, 56, 57, 59, 61, 63, 64, 69, 70, 71, 86, 88, 102, 109, 120, 130, 140, 141, 142, 143)[2552]

national (12, 44, 58, 60, 74, 77, 79, 80, 82, 83, 85, 90, 94, 106, 108, 123, 126, 137)[2553]

Imprecatory (vengeance on one’s enemies) (35, 52, 58, 59, 69, 79, 83, 109, 137, 140)[2554]

Prayer, Praise, & Adoration    (16, 55, 65, 86, 90, 95-100, 103, 104,107, 142, 143, 145-150) [2555]

Pilgrim (songs to be sung on the way to Jerusalem) (120-134)[2556]

Acrostic or Alphabetic--(9-10, 25, 34, 37, 111, 112, 119, 145)[2557] (compare Lamentations)

Responsive reading:--136[2558]

True happiness – (1, 32, 34, 65, 84)[2559]

Suffering--(13, 22, 69, 88, 143)[2560]

Discouragement --(3, 31, 39, 42, 43, 142)[2561]

Trust--(11, 23, 27, 63, 107)[2562]

Confession--(32, 51, 90, 102, 106)[2563]

Anger--(35, 58, 59, 129, 137)[2564]

The King's Glory –(2, 21, 45, 72, 110)[2565]

Despair and Hope-- (10, 42, 55, 73, 74, 77)[2566]

Security-- (91, 16, 18, 31, 112)[2567]

God's Universal Reign (99, 93-98)[2568]

Forgiveness --(6, 38, 103, 123,130)[2569]

God's Sovereignty --(8, 19, 37, 89,139)[2570]

Praise the Lord (Hallel) --(145, 111-118, 146-150)[2571]

Vengeance --(18 (2 Samuel 22), 58, 68, 69)[2572]

History---(78, 105, 106, 136)[2573]

Wedding Song--45[2574], (Compare Song of Solomon)

Doubt (about God's care)--73[2575] (contrast 23)[2576]

Sabbath--(92-100)[2577]

Eschatological--(96-99)[2578]

Yom Kippur--130[2579]

Passover--135[2580]

Different authors:

"No other book of the Bible has as many different authors as does Psalms. Seventy-three psalms are attributed to David in the superscriptions (cf. Psalm 72:20[2581]). Psalm 2 is ascribed to David in Acts 4:25[2582]; Psalm 95 is attributed to him in Hebrews 4:7[2583]. A comparison of )Psalm 105:1-15 with 1 Chronicles 16:8-22)[2584] and (Psalm 96 with 1 Chronicles 16:23-33[2585]) indicates Davidic authorship of these two psalms also. The Septuagint (the Greek translation of the Hebrew Old Testament, 275-150 b.c.) adds David’s name to an additional fifteen psalms not so designated in the Hebrew text. David was truly the "sweet psalmist of Israel” (2 Sam. 23:1[2586]).” (Believer’s Study Bible)

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"The tradition that associates David with singing and psalm composition is so strong that there is little doubt that David wrote the psalms that bear his name (1 Sam. 16:14-23; 2 Sam. 1:17-27; 2 Sam. 22; 2 Sam. 23:1; 1 Chr. 6:31; 15:16; 16:7; Ps. 18; Amos 6:5).” (New Geneva Study Bible)

King David    3-32, 33?, 34-41, 51-65, 68-70, 86, 103,108-110, 122, 124, 131, 133, 138-145 (But how do you explain Psalms 72:20[2587]?)

(By David but not labeled in Hebrew Bibles) 2, 95, 96, 105, and 15 others mentioned in LXX

King Solomon    72, 127

The Sons of Korah    42-49, 84, 85, 87, 88 (This is the Korah who was swallowed up)

Asaph    50, 73-83

Heman the Ezrahite (Grandson of Samuel 1 Chronicles 6:33; 15:17; 16:41,42): 88

Ethan the Ezrahite (1 Kings 4:31)    89

Moses    90

Exile    137

An afflicted man    102

Women, such as Deborah (see Judg. 5) and Hannah (see 1 Sam. 2), wrote psalms as well but we don’t know of any psalms that made it into the book of Psalms that were written by women.

[Some have suggested that some of the "orphan psalms" may have been authored by Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Ezra, or Haggai]

Literary and musical devices:

Musical terms    Selah, Maskil, Sheminith (6), Shiggaion (7), gittith (8, 81, 84),

alamoth (46), mahalath (53), miktam (16, 56-60); Tephillah (17, 89, 90, 102, 142)

"The meaning of “selah,” which occurs 71 times in 39 psalms (also in Hab 3:3, 9, 13) remains unexplained. The Greek, where it occurs 92 times, translates it as diapsalma, which means an instrumental interlude (see Kraus 1988: 27-29).” (Anchor Bible Dictionary) "Some interpret it as meaning "silence” or "pause;” others, "end,” "a louder strain,” "piano,” etc. The LXX. render the word by diapsalma i.e., "a division.” (Easton’s Bible Dictionary)

"A maskil (maschil) is a word for a Hebrew term used in the titles of 13 psalms (Psalm 32, 42, 44, 45, 52, 53, 54, 55, 74, 78, 88, 89, 142; Maskil, NIV, NRSV). Maschil may have been a term referring to a psalm sung at an annual festival, and accompanied by a special kind of music.” (Nelson’s New Illustrated Bible Dictionary)

"Since the Hebrew term comes from the root sakal, "to have insight,” "to have comprehension,” some have conjectured that Maskil indicates poems of a contemplative or

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didactic nature. Others suggest that Maskil may indicate a type of musical performance.” (SDA Bible Dictionary)

"The expression, "according to The Sheminith” (Psalms 6, 12) means literally, "according to/on the eighth,” possibly referring either to the eighth musical pattern or to an eight-string instrument.” (Anchor Bible Dictionary)

For Jeduthun (A Levite chief singer in the Temple) 39, 62, 77 (1 Chronicles 25:1-6; 16:37-42)

Tune names:    A Dove on Distant Oaks (56), Do Not Destroy [Isaiah 65:8] (57, 59, 75), The Lily [ies] of the Covenant (60, 80), Lilies (69), The Suffering of Affliction (88)

As we have seen the Psalms are organized much like our Hymnal. There are Psalms for almost every occasion. Some Psalms were written to or for certain musicians. Many of the Psalms were a type of prayer that was subsequently set to music.

2.    What would happen to the Psalms if our Bibles were organized in a strictly chronological order? (See Psalms 90; 51; 137. Who is credited with writing these Psalms?)

See #1. The Psalms would be scattered from Exodus to Ezekiel. Psalms 90 is believed to be from Moses. Psalms 137 was apparently written by the exiles in Babylonian captivity. Not all the Psalms were written in David’s day.

3.    Do you think some of the Psalms were actually more like prayers? If a psalmist is angry, discouraged or depressed and cries out to God, should we consider his cry, including the words of despair or discouragement as "inspired?” In what sense? Is it all right to express feelings of depression? What about Jesus’ cry at the cross (Matthew 27:46) or in Gethsemane?

Many of the Psalms read like prayers even though they could also have been sung. Often extremes of emotion lead to cries of prayer or even poetry (song). An honest cry to God is a prayer-maybe the best kind. Certainly Jesus’ cries on the cross were not "sins” on His part.

4.    The Psalms were a form of Hebrew poetry. We sometimes speak of "poetic license.” When David spoke of soaking his bed with his tears (Psalms 6:6) don’t you think this was a little exaggerated? Is it okay for someone to use hyperbole under inspiration?

"Every night tears drench my bed;” (Psalms 6:6, NLT)

"Day and night, I have only tears for food,” (Psalms 42:3, NLT)

"You have collected all my tears in your bottle. You have recorded each one in your book.” (Psalms 56:8, NLT)

"You have fed us with sorrow and made us drink tears by the bucketful.” (Psalms 80:5, NLT)

"Rivers of tears gush from my eyes because people disobey your law.” (Psalms 119:136, NLT)

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Poets are notorious for use of "poetic license”. This is not wrong, but it needs to be understood for what it is. David apparently felt like this at the time. It helps us to recognize that in our day, those who are moved by powerful emotions-even depression-can cry out to God in honest prayer about how they feel at the time and God will understand.

5.    Is everything that we sing in our hymns today theologically accurate? What do we mean when we sing "God said it, I believe it, and that settles it for me?” If prayer is "conversation with God as with a friend” how could we "sing while passing through the air, farewell, farewell, sweet hour of prayer?” Is it that we never plan to speak to God again? Do we feel comfortable singing about one of God’s children as "such a worm as I?” Should healthy heterosexual men feel comfortable singing "I come to the garden alone, He walks with me, and talks with me and tells me I am His own?” (Or is God also female?)

Ellen White says that "Prayer is the opening of the heart to God as to a friend.” Steps to Christ 93 (1892) So if many of our hymns are to be regarded as prayers then we must sing them as expressions of the original songwriters. Under some circumstances they may represent our feelings at the time we are singing, but often they will not. That doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t join in the singing.

6.    What should we do with passages in the Psalms which appear to be contrary to our Christian understanding of God? For example:

Psalms 2:11,12 "Serve the Lord with fear...lest he be angry...for his wrath is quickly kindled.” (RSV)

Psalms 77:10 "It is my grief that the right hand of the Most High has changed!” (RSV)

Would it ever be proper to describe the wrath of God as "quickly kindled?” We have many verses that say God is "slow to anger.” (Compare Exodus 34:6,7; Numbers 14:18; Psalms 103:8; 145:8; Proverbs 15:18; 16:32; Joel 2:13; Jonah 4:2; Nahum 1:3; Nehemiah 9:17) What should we do with such conflicts? Should we collect all the verses and "stack them up” or "compare” them somehow? Or count them? Should we look for evidence in the stories to see if God is actually quick to get angry? Or should we just admit that this is a Biblical contradiction? After reading the second Psalm for worship, what would you pray about? How do you suppose Jesus spoke the words, "You are of your father, the devil?” John 8:44 (RSV) What do we do with passages which appear to be shocking, or harsh, or authoritarian? Would it be all right for a mother to cry out as her child is dying? Was David still loyal and totally committed despite all these cries?

Psalms 2:11,12 is a challenge even for translators. There are several verses in this chapter that do not sound like the normal picture of God that we have. (See Psalms 2:4,5,9) Does God ever speak very sternly to His children? What about Sinai? Look at Romans 9:20. We sometimes must discipline our children and they fear us at the time. We hope that doesn’t change the fact that we are normal loving, and kind parents! When people are acting immaturely and not taking God seriously He sometimes finds it necessary to speak using very strong language. The greatest example of this is probably the three angel’s messages (See Revelation 14:6-12). God is willing even to appear harsh and fearsome if that is what it takes to get our attention so we may quietly listen to what He wants to say to us.

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7.    Should we just read the Psalms that we like and which express uplifting thoughts-like Psalms 19 and 23-and try to ignore the others?

While the many beautiful psalms should be read, memorized and appreciated, they are not the total picture God intends for us to learn from this ancient "hymnal”. We often can learn more about God from the "difficult” passages than from the easy ones. Psalms gives us an insight into the intimate thoughts of some of the most important people in the Bible. This is an essential background for understanding the history of these people.

David was a great military leader. Thus we should not find it hard to understand that he would compose psalms both of praise to God for helping him win battles against his enemies and of pleading for help when things are not going so well on the battlefield. We would expect that of a military leader. This shows us that David and his contemporaries were "real people” like us.

8.    What should we do with "inspired prayers” that seem to call down God’s wrath and vengeance on all of Israel’s enemies? For example:

Psalms 18:34-50 "He trains my hands for war,...I pursued my enemies and overtook them; and did not turn back till they were consumed...I thrust them through...they fell under my feet. For thou didst gird me with strength for the battle...those who hated me I destroyed. They cried for help, but there was none to save, They cried to the Lord, but he did not answer them. I beat them fine as dust before the wind; I cast them out like the mire of the streets.” (RSV) [See 2 Samuel 22:35-51[2588]]

Psalms 58:6-9:

6    Break the teeth of these fierce lions, O God.

7    May they disappear like water draining away; may they be crushed like weeds on a path.

8    May they be like snails that dissolve into slime; may they be like a baby born dead that never sees the light.

9    Before they know it, they are cut down like weeds; in his fierce anger God will blow them away while they are still living.

10    The righteous will be glad when they see sinners punished; they will wade through the blood of the wicked.

11    People will say, "The righteous are indeed rewarded; there is indeed a God who judges the world.” (GNB)

Psalms 68:21-23 "But God will shatter the heads of His enemies...” (RSV)

Psalms 69:22-28 "Add to them punishment upon punishment,...Let them be blotted out of the book of the living.” (RSV)

Psalms 137:8,9 "Happy is the man who...takes your babies and smashes them against a rock.” (GNB) Compare Hosea 13:16[2589]; Amos 1:13[2590]; Nahum 3:10[2591].

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Does Psalms 69:22-28 sound like the prayer of an evangelist? (Compare Exodus 32:32; Romans 12:14-21[2592]) What do you think of such language? Is such language OK if you are under the direction of God? In David’s first great battle, (1 Samuel 17[2593]) was David praying for the stone to go straight to the giant’s forehead? How do you think he prayed before and after this experience? Is it easier to see after reading these Psalms and looking in on David’s thoughts, why God never wanted them to fight in the first place (Exodus 23:27,28[2594])?

When David fought battles he had to go out and kill people one-on-one, face-to-face and very personally. You can’t do that while praying for God to protect and deal kindly with your enemies!! After killing Goliath, David cut off his head and carried it around for the rest of the day! (1 Samuel 17:51,54,57[2595]) What would this do to you?

And in those days the battle didn’t end on the battlefield. They had to go into the villages and cities and break down the doors of the houses and search for the women, the elderly, and the children, probably hiding somewhere in each house and kill them also. After doing that all day long, could you go to church and sing praises to God? What would you say? Would it lead you to speak in kind and gentle tones. What if you were suffering from several wounds yourself from the day’s battle? Would you be able to kill babies and pregnant women? (Psalms 137:8,9[2596]; Hosea 13:16[2597]; Amos 1:13[2598]; Nahum 3:10[2599]) That was part of what they did. These psalms reflect what was actually going on at the time.

9.    Have you ever thanked God for helping you to do something and later realized that that was not what God wanted you to do at all? Does God "wince” at some of the methods we use in "evangelism?” When He blesses us anyway, doesn’t He look even more gracious?

We tend to be so self-centered that we have a hard time letting God lead us. We want to be like the Israelites and "do it our way!” This was why they felt that they needed to conquer the land by their own swords, and why they later wanted a king. God wishes that we would have a broader, more open understanding of His will and be more patient in following His plans for our lives. If a few more people would do this, the cause of God might be far ahead of where it is at this point in the earth’s history.

God does not expect us to use methods that are inappropriate for reaching the people that we are trying to talk to. For this reason, we may have to do and say things that are far from God’s ideal. Jesus was forced under the circumstances to tell the Jewish leaders, "You are of your Father, the Devil” (John 8:44[2600]). This was certainly not the way He wanted to talk to them!

10.    Didn’t David have a clear understanding of the place and purpose of sacrifices and offerings? (Psalms 40:6-8; 51:16-19) What God really wants is a willingness to listen-an open ear.

Many of the later prophets reflect this very significant understanding of what God really wants. (See Isaiah 1:10-21[2601]; Amos 5:21-24[2602]; Psalms 51:1-19[2603]; Micah 6:1-8[2604]; Hosea 6:4-6[2605]; Jeremiah 3:15,16; 7:21-26; 29:13; 31:31-34[2606]; Hebrews 9:16- 10:4[2607]; Leviticus Teacher’s Guide #3-5; Micah Teacher’s Guide #9; Isaiah Teacher’s Guide #3) This is a clear indication that at least some of the people understood that God didn’t just want more blood!

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Why did the Jews have such a hard time understanding this? Does it seem to be in conflict with the message of Leviticus?

11.    Why would the Bible say "Wake up Lord!” (Psalms 44:23[2608]; Compare 1 Kings 18:27[2609]-Elijah and the priests of Baal)? How does this fit with Psalms 121:3,4[2610]?

When the "gods” didn’t seem to do what their followers wanted, it was quite customary for the people to cry out to "awaken” their "gods”. Even our omnipotent and omniscient God sometimes doesn’t seem to respond to our prayers and requests as quickly as we would like. Under these circumstances, especially if you think your cause is completely just, it is very human to cry out for relief from whatever is troubling you. In such a situation it is not surprising to hear people praying for God to "wake up”. But we must understand this in the light of other passages that make it very clear that God knows everything (See Psalms 139) and never sleeps. (See Psalms 121[2611])

12.    Which of the Psalms would you say reveals, more than any other, that David was a man after God’s own heart? (1 Samuel 13:14[2612]; Acts 13:22[2613]) Psalm 23[2614]? Psalm 51[2615]? If you had just done what David did to Bathsheba and Uriah how would you pray? David went to God in confidence that he could be forgiven. Think of the picture David had of God. Had David gone too far? Do you think it was David’s attitude that made him a man after God’s own heart? How could David say, "Against thee, thee only, have I sinned?” (Psalms 51:4[2616]) After such an experience shouldn’t the most serious consideration be our attitude toward God? Often when we do wrong we think of what it will do to our reputation or what our fellow men will think of us. How often do we consider what effect our actions as Christians will have on God’s reputation?

See the handout on David: A Man After God’s Own Heart? In Psalms 51 David is recognizing one of the deepest spiritual truths. The real danger of sin is that it separates us from God.

13.    The Holy Spirit through the Psalms helps us to see ourselves as we really are. If I hate Mr. Smith, I am not telling the truth if I kneel at night and say, "Dear Lord, how I love Mr. Smith. Do bless Mr. Smith.” Could we be honest with God when we pray, "Lord, I hate Brother Smith?” Could we then ask for healing and cleansing? (Psalms 51:10; Psalms 19:14; Psalms 139:23,24)[2617]

One of the most important works of the Holy Spirit may be to help us to speak the truth in prayer so healing can take place. From the Psalms we should learn that honesty in our conversations with God is the only reasonable approach. He already knows everything about us anyway, so why should we try to pretend otherwise? There is no reason for us to "inform” God about our situation or our problems! We should discuss them openly with Him alone. This is the first step in accomplishing change. Especially if there is some psychological aspect to the issues that we are facing, only real honesty is going to lead to healing. The book of Psalms should serve as a primer for our prayers and our songs so we can "tell it like it is”.

© Copyright 2000-2006, Kenneth Hart khart@llu.edu

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35. PROVERBS - A TEACHER’S GUIDE

THE CENTRAL QUESTION:

What does this book/story say to us about God?

This question may be broken down further as follows:

a. Why did God do it/allow it?

_b. Why did He record it for our study?_

1. Did Solomon write all of the book of Proverbs? See (Proverbs 22:17; 24:23; 25:1; 30:1 and 31:1)[2618]. Did he think up all of these things himself? Is it possible that some of the Proverbs were “collected” from other sources by Solomon? How many of Solomon’s reported 3,000 proverbs were original with him? (See 1 Kings 4:32[2619]) Is it possible that some of these proverbs were originally taken from “uninspired” sources? Does this book teach us anything about God? Why would God want to put a book full of witty, common-sense maxims about practical everyday concerns in the Bible? Would some of the statements in Job or in the Psalms qualify as “proverbs”? What about statements from the New Testament such as the “golden rule”? (See Matthew 7:12[2620]) Why are a number of the proverbs repeated verbatim or nearly so? (see Proverbs 1:7 and 9:10; 19:13 and 27:15; 21:9 and 25:24; 6:10,11 and 24:33,34; 14:12 and 16:25)[2621] Did Solomon forget that he had used them earlier? Or were they considered especially noteworthy?

“The Hebrew title of this book is mishley shelomoh, translated “the Proverbs of Solomon.” Early Christian writers called the book Sophia (Gk.), meaning “wisdom.” The term “proverb”(masha/, Heb.) is derived from a root meaning primarily “to be like”and is used of comparisons, rules of living, parables, sayings, or discourses on wisdom. Characteristic of the proverbs in this book is a device which is formed by a balanced antithesis, e.g., the wise and the foolish, the good and the wicked, etc. The term masha/ is not confined to wise or pithy sayings, however, but also is used to cover other forms, e.g., the oracle of Balaam (Num. 23:7; 24:15[2622]), songs (Is. 14:4; Hab. 2:6)[2623], and the extended comparisons of allegory (Ezek. 17:2; 20:49; 24:3[2624]). The major categories of proverbs are: (1) the historical proverbs, which use a past event or a colloquial saying to express a general sentiment (Proverbs 6:27, 28[2625]); (2) the metaphorical proverbs, which express a moral truth through a literary figure drawn from the world of nature or the life of man (Proverbs 1:17; 6:6[2626]); (3) the enigmatic proverbs, which hide moral truth under the guise of obscure questions (Proverbs 30:4, 15[2627]); (4) the parabolic proverbs, whichare concise expressions of wisdom (Proverbs 9:1[2628]); and (5) the didactical proverbs, which give precise instruction on religious or moral behavior (Proverbs 1:5, 33; 2:1-5[2629]).

AUTHOR: Solomon and Others: The involvement of King Solomon in producing the Book of Proverbs is clearly indicated in Scripture (Proverbs 1:1; 10:1; 25:1[2630]; see also 1 Kin. 4:29-34; Matt. 12:42[2631]), and there is no reason to doubt it. Nevertheless, since the book did not achieve its final form before the time of Hezekiah (25:1), and there were others who contributed to it (Proverbs 22:17; 24:23; 30:1; 31:1[2632]), 1:1 should be taken as a title and an indication of predominant authorship. Although he was evidently the principal author/collector of the proverbs, he was not the only one. Though the book is a collection, it reveals its unity in the general nature of its contents, i.e., the virtue of wisdom and the vice of folly.

DATE: Edited 729-686 B.C. Since Solomon is given the most significant role in the book, most of the proverbs would have been collected during the tenth century B.C. Hezekiah’s men (Proverbs 25:1[2633]) compiled and edited it from 729-686 B.C.

THEME: Practical Wisdom: The author clearly sets forth his purpose to impart wisdom and understanding to all men, even the young and the simple (Proverbs 1:2-4[2634]). This outpouring of wisdom is

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to guide believers in practical, everyday living, giving instruction concerning duty to God (Prov 1:7; 3:5; 14:9[2635]), duty to oneself (Prov 1:10; 14:30; 16:5, 18, 19[2636]), duty to one’s neighbor (Prov 12:25; 16:24[2637]), duty within the domestic circle (Prov 20:7; 22:6[2638]), and duty to civil authorities (Prov 16:10, 12; 20:28[2639]). Some of the book’s content is intensely theological: (1) the attributes of God are set forth—omniscience (Prov 15:3, 11; 21:2[2640]), omnipotence (Prov 10:27, 29; 12:2[2641]), justice (Prov 15:11; 16:2; 17:3; 20:27[2642]); (2) the concept of the covenant relationship is present (Prov 2:16ff.; 3:5, 7; 22:19; 29:25[2643]); (3) the sovereignty of God is revealed (Prov 16:4, 9; 19:21; 22:2[2644]); and (4) directives for relationships within the home are expounded (Prov 10:1; 17:21, 25; 18:22; 19:14, 26; 20:7; 21:9, 19; 23:24ff.; 27:15ff.; 31:30[2645]). The family holds a pivotal position in the Book of Proverbs just as it does in the Pentateuch (three of the commands of the Decalogue in Ex. 20 are directly related to family relationships—Ex. 20:12, 14, 17[2646]). Husband and wife are admonished to be united joyfully in a clearly monogamous (one man and one woman) union despite the deviate polygamy practiced at that time. Both parents are directed to share in the training of the children and nurturing them in the faith of Yahweh. Sins which attack the divine order of the home are straightforwardly exposed.

SETTING: Typical of proverbs in the ancient Near East, these proverbs seem to have arisen in the context of the home—evidently that of the king or his officials. Although the term “son” can be used in the sense of “pupil,” it is likely that what is implied here is a family setting in which father and mother are instructing their son in the skills of godly living. The term “son” occurs in forty-four verses in the book, “father” in fifteen, and “mother” in eleven (Prov 1:8, 10, 15; 2:1; 3:1, 11, 12; 23:22-25; 29:15; 30:17; 31:1[2647]).” (Believer’s Study Bible - intro to Proverbs)

“Many people think that what’s written in the Bible has mostly to do with getting people into heaven—getting right with God, saving their eternal souls. It does have to do with that, of course, but not mostly. It is equally concerned with living on this earth—living well, living in robust sanity. In our Scriptures, heaven is not the primary concern, to which earth is a tagalong afterthought. “On earth as it is in heaven” is Jesus’ prayer. “Wisdom” is the biblical term for this on-earth-as-it-is-in-heaven everyday living. Wisdom is the art of living skillfully in whatever actual conditions we find ourselves. It has virtually nothing to do with information as such, with knowledge as such. A college degree is no certification of wisdom—nor is it primarily concerned with keeping us out of moral mud puddles, although it does have a profound moral effect upon us. Wisdom has to do with becoming skillful in honoring our parents and raising our children, handling our money and conducting our sexual lives, going to work and exercising leadership, using words well and treating friends kindly, eating and drinking healthily, cultivating emotions within ourselves and attitudes toward others that make for peace. Threaded through all these items is the insistence that the way we think of and respond to God is the most practical thing we do. In matters of everyday practicality, nothing, absolutely nothing, takes precedence over God.

Proverbs concentrates on these concerns more than any other book in the Bible. Attention to the here and now is everywhere present in the stories and legislation, the prayers and the sermons, that are spread over the thousands of pages of the Bible. Proverbs distills it all into riveting images and aphorisms that keep us connected in holy obedience to the ordinary.” (The Message - Introduction to Proverbs)

“We’re living in the “information age,” but we certainly aren’t living in the “age of wisdom.” Many people who are wizards with their computers seem to be amateurs when it comes to making a success out of their lives. Computers can store data and obey signals, but they can’t give us the ability to use that knowledge wisely. What’s needed today is wisdom.

“The Book of Proverbs is about godly wisdom, how to get it and how to use it. It’s about priorities and principles, not get-rich-quick schemes or success formulas. It tells you, not how to make a living, but how to be skillful in the lost art of making a life.” (Be Skillful)

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“The book of Proverbs is a collection of moral and religious teachings in the form of sayings and proverbs. Much of it has to do with practical, everyday concerns. It begins with the reminder that “to have knowledge, you must first have reverence for the Lord,” and goes on to deal with matters not only of religious morality, but also of common sense and good manners. Its many short sayings reveal the insights of ancient Israelite teachers about what a wise person will do in certain situations. Some of these concern family relations, others, business dealings. Some deal with matters of etiquette in social relationships, and others with the need of self-control. Much is said about such qualities as humility, patience, respect for the poor, and loyalty to friends.” (GNB-Introduction to Proverbs)

“The wisdom which the book teaches, covers a wide field of human and divine activity, ranging from matters purely secular to most lofty moral and religious truths, such as God’s omniscience (Pro 5:21; 15:3-1[2648]), power (Pro 19:21; 21:30[2649]), providence (Pro 20:1-4[2650]), goodness (Pro 15:29[2651]), and the joy and strength resulting from abandonment to him (Pro 3:5; 16:20; 18:10[2652]). The teaching of the entire book is placed on a firm religious foundation by the principle that “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge” (Pro 1:7; cf. Pro 9:10[2653]).” (NAB - Introduction to Proverbs)

“The vast majority of the sayings show no particular connection with religion or faith, being purely a matter of deep good sense, but every now and then they reveal a belief that all wisdom comes from Yahweh. They reflect a sharp, competitive, cynical, secular society, where compassion too has its place. To this central core are added various supplements. There are four little collections at the end, appendices which speak for themselves; but the two most important are sections III and I. Section III is founded on the very ancient Egyptian Wisdom of Amenemophis (written down c. 1000 BC but already then ancient), which shows how Israel learnt from the neighbouring cultures. Section I is the latest part of the book, probably post-exilic; it is an invitation to acquire wisdom, acquired by faith in Yahweh, which reaches its climax in Wisdom’s own self-description at Pro8:22[2654].” (New Jerusalem Bible - Introduction to Proverbs)

“The book of Proverbs is a collection of sayings that were used in ancient Israel to teach God’s people how to live right. For the most part, these sayings go back to Solomon, but others are traced back to Agur (Pro 30.1[2655]) and King Lemuel (Pro 31.1[2656]).

“Like the psalms, all the proverbs are written in poetic form. A typical proverb takes the form of a short verse in which the first half states the theme and the second half echoes it. What makes the Bible’proverbs so popular is that they make such powerful statements with very few words. This makes them easy to memorize and apply to daily life.

“One of the main teachings in Proverbs is that all wisdom is a gift from God. This wisdom supplies practical advice for everyday living, in the home, in society, in politics, at school and at work. The book of Proverbs also teaches the importance of fairness, humility, loyalty and concern for the poor and needy.

“Because most proverbs are so brief, and make their point in one verse, many are often not connected to those around them. In some parts of the book, however, a common theme can be found. How not to be a fool is the theme of chapter 26.1-12[2657], for example. In chapters (8 & 9)[2658], Wisdom is pictured as a woman who advises people to turn from their foolish ways and to live wisely.” (Contemporary English Version - Intro)

“The Book of Proverbs is as modern as today. It deals with the problems of life that each of us has to face.

“If any book in the Bible could be said to be beamed especially to young people, this one could.

“When a young man said to Carlyle that there was nothing in the Book of Proverbs, he replied: ‘Make a few proverbs and you will think differently of the book.’

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“Proverbs is the world’s finest collection of sound, sanctified common sense, written so that young people might not have to make some of the dreary mistakes their elders have made.

“The purpose of Proverbs is stated in 1:1-7. In brief, it is to give wisdom and understanding to a young man so that he will find true blessedness in life and escape the snares and pitfalls of sin. The key verse is 9:10, “he fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.’

Arnot calls the book, “Laws from heaven for life on earth.” That describes its contents very concisely.

“A proverb is a pithy statement of wisdom, often worded in a clever way to make it easy to remember. Most of the proverbs consist of two clauses, presenting either similarities or contrasts.” (Believer’s Bible Commentary - Intro to Proverbs)

There is good evidence that Solomon did not write all of the proverbs. But it is also true that many of the proverbs that Solomon wrote were not included in the Proverbs. Does this mean that some were not “inspired”? We have no way of knowing. Solomon may also have “borrowed” or adapted proverbs that he learned from others.

God is interested in everything that we do and that concerns us. These bits of “wisdom” are very useful and have been quoted and modified since the days of Solomon to our own.

The proverbs collected in the Proverbs almost certainly were those that Solomon or his followers considered to be the most important. Some bits of wisdom were appropriate in more than one setting.

2. When Solomon prayed for wisdom (1 Kings 3:9[2659]) what did God do? Did God give him a “wisdom implant”? Did He rewire his brain so it would think better? Did God change him in any way against his will? Would that be a violation of Solomon’s freedom? Was Solomon still free after God gave him this wisdom? How could a truly wise person end up making such a fool of himself? Did God’s “gift” take away any of his freedom? Could we ask God for wisdom? (See James 1:5[2660]) Would it make any difference? If so, shouldn’t all Christians be as wise as Solomon? Would you give up your freedom for a “guaranteed salvation”? With all of the information overload that we have available to us at the present time, shouldn’t we all be wise?

God probably gave Solomon a very discerning mind, and a curiosity that led him to investigate many things (See Ecclesiastes). A lot of Solomon’s “wisdom” may have been learned from experience with all of his projects. But God refuses to limit our freedom and thus Solomon changed from being an example for his people to being a total fool. Fortunately, down near the end of his life, when God told him what the result of all that folly would be, Solomon apparently came to his senses and turned back to God. (See Ecclesiastes) Certainly we don’t need to make the same mistake.

Much of Solomon’s foolishness seems to have come from the fact that he always wanted to be trying something new. How many people today get into trouble because they want to try everything at least once! Think of all the drug addicts who got started by “experimenting” at a party, for example. Do we have to make all of the mistakes before we can decide that they are mistakes? None of us would survive very long if we didn’t learn anything from other people’s mistakes! But we are reminded of the “proverb” that seems all too true: “The only thing we learn from history is that we don’t learn from history!” What is God suggesting when He tells us to ask Him for wisdom? (James 1:5) Might He be suggesting that we try to do things His way before trying any of the other “ways”? What would our lives be like if we always tried to do things God’s way first?

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3.    When Solomon finally tried to come back to God, did God say, “First, you must destroy all of those ghastly heathen temples on the Mount of Olives, then divorce all those extra wives and then we will consider you for church membership”? (See 1 Kings 11:1-9[2661]) How long would Solomon have lasted as a member of a modern Christian church? How could God possibly ask him to write another book of the Bible, or did He? If Solomon was “inspired” to write Song of Solomon and then Proverbs, was everything he wrote and said “inspired” from that point on? What kind of people does God ask to write books of the Bible? (See 2 Peter 1:21[2662])

God is clearly incredibly gracious in His treatment of sinners. We humans would have been very reluctant to be that gracious. There is no way a typical church in our day would have treated Solomon so generously! God realized that Solomon had effectively ruined the nation that he ruled and started it on the path of deterioration that would result finally in the crucifixion of Christ. In spite of all this, God treats Solomon as graciously as He can under the circumstances.

God apparently “inspires” some remarkable people at times! But was Solomon “inspired” in his early years and then “uninspired” for a while and then “inspired” again? It appears that God doesn’t seem too worried about drawing strict lines between “inspired” and “uninspired”. Did He come along later and “inspire” others to decide which of Solomon’s materials were “inspired” and which were not?

4.    What are we supposed to learn from the following passages:

Job 28:28: “And he said to man, ‘The fear of the Lord—that is wisdom, and to shun evil is understanding.’” (NIV)

“God said to human beings, “To be wise, you must have reverence for the Lord. To understand, you must turn from evil.” (GNB)

Psalms 111:10: “10The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: a good understanding have all they that do his commandments..." (KJV)

The way to become wise is to honor the Lord; he gives sound judgement to all who obey his commands...” (GNB)

Proverbs 1:7:7The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction.” (KJV)

“To have knowledge, you must first have reverence for the Lord. Stupid people have no respect for wisdom and refuse to learn.” (GNB)

9:10: “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy is understanding.” (KJV)

“To be wise you must first have reverence for the Lord. If you know the Holy One, you have understanding.” (GNB)

15:33: “The fear of the LORD is the instruction of wisdom; and before honor is humility.” (KJV)

“Reverence for the Lord is an education in itself. You must be humble before you can ever receive honours.” (GNB)

Must we “fear” God to have wisdom? Does God want us to be “frightened” of Him? How does this fit with (Exodus 20:20; 1 John 4:18; Psalms 112:1; 128:1,4 and Proverbs 28:14)[2663]? If God is first and foremost a God of love, (1 John 4:8) Would He ever desire us to be in terror of Him? How can one translation say “fear” and another say “reverence”? Are these words really related? If you had been standing with the children of Israel at the foot of Mt. Sinai, do you think you would have experienced “reverence” or “terror” or both? Was anybody in the New Testament who really knew Jesus afraid of Him? Jesus said “If you have seen me you have seen the Father.” (John 14:9) Proverbs 8:13 says that, “to fear the Lord is to hate evil.” How does that fit in?

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In the Biblical setting the word “fear” is used with two distinct meanings: reverence and terror. What is intended in each passage must be determined by the context. There are very few serious Bible scholars who would want to say that we should always be “scared to death” of God. However we must recognize that some have felt that this was a necessary motivator in some cases to get people to behave themselves. Terror has often been used by church authorities to get people to “line up” and do what their leaders wanted them to do! It is very clear from Scripture that this kind of motivation never lasts more than a short period of time. The children of Israel were “scared to death” at the foot of Mt. Sinai (Exodus 20:18-21[2664]) But that wasn’t enough to prevent them from dancing drunk and naked around the golden calf a mere forty days later. (Deuteronomy 9:9-11[2665])

When God speaks in the strongest possible terms to us in our day (Revelation 14:6-12[2666]) it doesn’t prevent people from doing whatever they feel like! God apparently hasn’t scared us too much!

By contrast, God needs and wants our reverence and respect. It is impossible to learn unless there is respect. This is why we have the references in Job, Psalms, and Proverbs. If we have no respect for God, there is very little chance that we will learn anything from Him despite His best intentions.

5. When trouble comes is God punishing? (Proverbs 3:11,12. See Hebrews 12:5,6)[2667] In Revelation 3:19[2668] doesn’t He say He reproves and chastens those whom He loves? Compare Proverbs 13:24; 22:15[2669]. Is Solomon strongly recommending physical punishment here?

God has had to go to some extraordinary ends to discipline His children and to curb evil. Some examples are the flood (Genesis 6-8[2670]), the destruction of thousands at the foot of Sinai (Exodus 32:25-29[2671]), the destruction of Uzzah (2 Samuel 6:6-8; 1 Chronicles 13:9-14; 15:1-4)[2672], and even calling down fire on Sodom and Gomorrah (Genesis 19[2673]). Destruction however does not discipline the one being destroyed. God on rare occasions seems to destroy some to discipline the larger group. (Uzzah, the idol worshipers at Sinai, and Achan) In most cases God is incredibly patient in disciplining each individual person in hopes that that person will change his mind and follow God.

In the light of what God has done, it should not be surprising that Solomon seems to recommend even physical punishment. This however should never be done in anger. It tends only to make the rebellious child more so!

6. There are many “proverbs” about the problems of bad wives/women including prostitutes and adulteresses (Proverbs 5 & 7)[2674]. How should we put all these ideas together?

19:13; 27:15 “A foolish son is his father’s ruin, and a quarrelsome wife is a constant dripping.” (NIV)

21:9; 25:24 “Better to live on a corner of the roof than share a house with a quarrelsome wife.” (NIV)

21:19    “Better to live in a desert than with a quarrelsome and ill-tempered wife.” (NIV)

The Apocrypha has a wide variety of statements about women as well:

Sirach 25:20: “Like a sandy climb to an old man’s feet, is a talkative wife to a quiet man.” (Goodspeed)

Sirach 22:3    “To have a daughter is a disadvantage.” (Goodspeed)

Where did Solomon get all his ideas about women? (1 Kings 11:1-3[2675]) How did the women feel about Solomon (Song of Solomon 3:10[2676], TLB)? Do you think Solomon (and the rest of the Bible)

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are too hard on women or too generous? Should Christians be using some of these passages either to promote or hinder the “women’s lib” movement? Are there any chapters in the Bible on good husbands?

Song of Songs 3:9,10: 9 For King Solomon made himself a chariot from the wood of Lebanon. 10Its posts are silver, its canopy gold, the seat is purple; and the back is inlaid with these words: ‘With love from the girls of Jerusalem!’” (TLB)

The status of women in the Bible was quite different than it is in our day in the U.S.A. They were not even counted in census taking. (Numbers 1:2,3,18,49; 26:3,4,51; Matthew 14:21; 15:38)[2677] Even the value of a female in fulfillment of a vow was less. (See Leviticus 27:3-7) And so was the value of a female slave. Some will claim that this is because after Eve ate the fruit from the tree, all women were given a subordinate position. (Genesis 3:16) In Solomon’s day, even princesses were used almost as barter to seal agreements! (1 Kings 11:3) By contrast there is not a single case of a woman having more than one husband at the same time in the Bible. Solomon certainly had enough experience with women if he indeed had 700 wives and 300 concubines at the same time. His attitude toward women may be reflected by Ecclesiastes 7:28!

Ecclesiastes 7:28,29: 28I have looked for other answers but have found none. I found one man in a thousand that I could respect, but not one woman. 29This is all that I have learned: God made us plain and simple, but we have made ourselves very complicated.” (GNB)

Even in many modern societies in developing countries the status of women is sometimes very low. They are treated as property to be bought and sold. In many languages you will note that men “marry” but women “are married” in the passive mode.

God very clearly made men and women equal in the beginning and the closer we come to God’s ideal, the more equal men and women will be treated. In most of the societies of history equality for women was not even considered (at least by the men)!

7 . What does Proverbs 16:4 mean? (compare Romans 8:28; 9:14-29[2678]) Do different versions help our understanding?

Proverbs 16:4:

“All things hath Jehovah wrought for Himself, And also the wicked worketh for a day of evil.” (Young’s Literal)

“The LORD hath made all things for himself: yea, even the wicked for the day of evil.” (KJV)

“The Lord made everything for a purpose, Even the wicked for an evil day.” Tanakh “The Lord has a reason for everything he does, and he lets evil people live only to be punished.” (CEV)

“Everything that the LORD has made has its destiny; and the destiny of the wicked is destruction.” (GNB)

“The LORD has made each thing for its own end; he made even the wicked for a day of disaster.” (NEB)

“The LORD works out everything for his own ends-even the wicked for a day of disaster.” (NIV) “The LORD has made everything for his own purposes-Even the wicked, for punishment.” (Living Bible)

“The LORD has made everything for its purpose, Even the wicked for the day of trouble.” (NRSV) “The Eternal has made everything for an end of its own-Yes, and the wicked for their day of doom.” (Moffatt)

“Everything the Lord made has a future, But the future of the wicked is extinction.”    (Clear Word)

“God made everything with a place and purpose;

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even the wicked are included—but for judgment.’’ (The Message)

“The Lord has made everything for his own purpose, even wicked people for the day of trouble.” (God’s Word)

“The Lord has made everything for its own purpose, Even the wicked for the day of evil.” (NASB,1995)

“The Lord makes everything go as he pleases. He has even prepared a day of disaster for evil people.” (NCV)

“The LORD works out everything for his own ends—even the wicked for a day of disaster.” (NIV) “The Lord has made all for Himself, Yes, even the wicked for the day of doom.” (NKJV)

“The Lord has made everything for his own purposes, even the wicked for punishment.” (NLT) “The Lord has made everything for its purpose, even the wicked for the day of trouble.” (RSV, NRSV)

“Everything the Lord made has a future, but the future of the wicked is extinction.” (Clear Word)

This passage seems to suggest that God has made everything, and everything has its intended purpose and end. In the Hebrew mind, since God was fully in control they did not see any distinction between God allowing something and God causing it. So it was clear in their thinking that the wicked, who must ultimately end up being “punished” were being “punished” by God. We would say that God is ultimately in control but our freedom limits God’s control. Theoretically, of course, God could change the way He runs the universe and save everyone, either by turning them into robots so they do only what He tells them to, or by controlling them in some way so they cannot hurt each other. God’s respect for our freedom doesn’t allow Him to do either of those things. If He had any plans to manipulate our freedom then He should have done so back in eternity when sin first began. What possible reason could there be for allowing the whole great controversy to play itself out to this point if God plans to violate our freedom in the end?

8. What should we do with Proverbs 22:6? “Train (or educate) up a child in the way he should go...” Does this mean that any child who apostatizes is a failure on the part of the parents? What about God? Didn’t He lose Lucifer and one third of the angels? If a family loses all their children have they done a bad job? Should we deprive our children of their freedom and try to control them? When they realize their freedom won’t they run? Isn’t it true that the child will remember all his life?

It is most helpful to look at different translations of this passage:

Proverbs 22:6:

“Give instruction to a youth about his way, Even when he is old he turneth not from it.” (Young’s Literal)

“Train up a child in the way he should go: and [even] when he is old, he will not depart from it.” (KJV, NKJV, ASV, RSV, NASB, NASB,1995)

“Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it.” (NIV)

“Train up the child according to the tenor of his way, and when he is old he will not depart from it.” (Darby, 1890)

“Train a child in the way he should go, and even when he is old he will not turn away from it.” God’s Word

“Train a boy in the way he should go; even when he is old, he will not swerve from it.” (NAB) “Train children how to live right, and when they are old, they will not change.” (NCV)

“Train children in the right way, and when old, they will not stray.” (NRSV)

“Teach a child to choose the right path, and when he is older he will remain upon it.” (TLB) “Teach your children to choose the right path, and when they are older, they will remain upon it.” (NLT)

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“Teach children how they should live, and they will remember it all their lives.” (GNB)

“Teach your children right from wrong, and when they are grown they will still do right.” (CEV) “Train a lad in the way he ought to go; He will not swerve from it even in old age.”(Tanakh)

“Start a boy on the right road, and even in old age he will not leave it.” (NEB)

“Train a child for his proper trade, and he will never leave it, even when he is old.” (Moffatt)

“Train a child in the way he ought to live and he’ll remember it even when he’s old.” (Clear Word) “Point your kids in the right direction—when they’re old they won’t be lost.” (Message)

This passage does not imply that parents are responsible for all the mistakes that their children make. God gives each of us the freedom to choose our own way. Lucifer chose to rebel and go his own way right in God’s very presence in the Most Holy Place in the heavenly sanctuary! And it was not because he had bad parents or a lousy environment! Jesus by contrast grew up in Nazareth, proverbial for its wickedness and still lived a sinless life. We must strive to teach our children the art of making correct choices as early as possible. This will prepare them for the day when they will be on their own.

9.    There are many comments in Proverbs about the use of wine (see Proverbs 20:1; 23:29-35; 31:4,5[2679]) Is it safe for us to use these verses and ignore Proverbs 31:6,7[2680]? (Compare 1 Timothy 5:23[2681]) How many people can you think of from the Bible who were specifically told not to use alcohol for some reason? (Leviticus 10:8,9; Judges 13:4,5; Luke 1:15[2682]) Did alcohol have any medicinal uses in Solomon’s day?

At a time when there were no aspirin, antihistamines, or any other pain medications and no antibiotics, alcohol served the purpose in some cases. The use of alcohol clearly is not the ideal but God once again reaches out to us in our predicaments and speaks to us in a language we can understand.

Proverbs 31:6,7:

“Use wine and beer only as sedatives, to kill the pain and dull the ache Of the terminally ill, for whom life is a living death.” (The Message)

10.    Could we use Proverbs 31:6,7 “Give beer to those who are perishing...wine to those who are in anguish” (NIV) as a guide for our addiction medicine ministry? To cover expenses, would we dare put it together with Deuteronomy 14:25,26? (“take the tithe and buy strong drink with it and rejoice before the Lord!”) Does God intend for us to say to those depressed in the inner city, “You’re hopeless, degraded-take some alcohol?” How did Jesus relate to the poor? What would Christ do for a terminally ill cancer patient, if He had our limitations? What is the real issue involved here? Could you give a coherent “temperance talk” on Proverbs 31:4-7? Would you dare to give wine in a bottle? What about in a “pill?”

It is obviously possible to misuse some of these passages! It should be noted first of all that the words used in these passages refer to drinks that were clearly alcoholic. This is not a discussion of grape juice. We would certainly agree that those who are in positions of responsibility need to keep their minds clear by avoiding the use of alcohol. But what about those who are dying? What about those who have severe pain? In a day when none of our modern pain medications were available would it be okay for a person to use some alcohol to get a little bit of relief?

Many of our modern liquid medicines have some alcohol in them. Does this mean that no Christian should use any of these medicines? The small amount of alcohol in these medicines probably has no effect at all on the body and serves only as a solvent to keep the medicine in

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suspension. The wise abstinence from alcohol for those in positions of authority combined with the judicious use of it in medicinal ways where necessary was probably God’s intentional meaning of this passage and we should not find this a real problem.

11.    Why did the wisest man who ever lived spend so much time talking about fools? What do you think is implied by Proverbs 26:4,5? Do Proverbs 17:28 and 18:2 suggest that we should never speak up to ask questions? If we did so we might end up like Proverbs 26:12! Or like the apocryphal proverb, “The man who lectures to a fool lectures to one who is dozing, and at the conclusion he will say, 'What was it?’” (Sirach 22:8, Goodspeed)

Proverbs 26:4,5: 4 If you answer a silly question, you are just as silly as the person who asked it. 5 Give a silly answer to a silly question, and the one who asked it will realize that he’s not as clever as he thinks.” (GNB)

Proverbs 17:28: After all, even a fool may be thought wise and intelligent if he stays quiet and keeps his mouth shut.” (GNB)

Proverbs 18:2: A fool does not care whether he understands a thing or not; all he wants to do is to show how clever he is.” (GNB)

Proverbs 26:12: The most stupid fool is better off than someone who thinks he is wise when he is not.” (GNB)

Perhaps Solomon spoke so many times about fools because so many of the people around him seemed like fools to him! Foolishness is an obvious contrast to wisdom and no doubt is used as a tool in some of the proverbs for contrast. In his later life he may have been able to speak about foolishness from first hand experience!

12.    What about the description of the ideal wife? (Proverbs 31:10-31[2683]) While this woman was working so hard, where was her husband? (Proverbs 31:23[2684]) Where is there any theology in this passage? Does it tell us anything about God? Where did this passage come from? Compare: 18:22 “Find a wife and you find a good thing; it shows that the Lord is good to you.”(GNB)

19:14 “A man can inherit a house and money from his parents, but only the Lord can give him a sensible wife.” (GNB)

If these are the words of a wise mother to her son who was already a King (See Proverbs 31:1), then no doubt she was hoping that he would choose a good wife! Is it possible that these were the words of Bathsheba to Solomon? The passage was certainly not intended to make women feel inadequate! The husband of this wife was not just wasting his time. The city gate was where most of the business had to take place since it was the easiest place to catch people in an age where there were no phones, pagers, or mail system!

This passage describes a very prosperous and energetic wife. Based on the two passages quoted above, such a wife would certainly be considered a gift from the Lord. Marriage was always intended to be one of God’s great gifts to humanity. Any husband who gets a wife that is even half as ambitious as this one is described as being should be very thankful.

© Copyright 2000-2006, Kenneth Hart info@theox.org

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36. ECCLESIASTES - A TEACHER’S GUIDE

THE CENTRAL QUESTION:

What does this book/story say to us about God?

This question may be broken down further as follows:

a. Why did God do it/allow it?

_b. Why did He record it for our study?_

1. Ecclesiastes means “The Preacher.” Why do you think this book would have a name like that? Does this book, as a whole, contribute anything of significance to our understanding of God? If it doesn't help us much, do you think it may have helped the onlooking universe? What would the universe learn? Why would the Holy Spirit inspire the recording of the feelings of this tired old king? Do you think Abraham, Moses, or Daniel would have written a book like this? Wouldn't it take courage and inspiration for Solomon to tell the truth without hiding or glossing it over? How different would Solomon's testimony have been if he had been faithful all his life? Is there any “good news” in Ecclesiastes?

“The title of this book is from the Greek word ekklesia , meaning ‘assembly’ or ‘church,’ and is a transliteration of the Greek ekklesiastes, ‘one who calls an assembly,’ taken from the Septuagint (the Greek translation of the Old Testament). The Hebrew title is qohelet, from the root qahal meaning ‘assembly’ or ‘congregation.’ It occurs with the definite article in 12:8 and so is usually translated ‘the Preacher’ or ‘the Teacher,’ the one who assembles or ministers to a congregation. This is uncertain, however, since the word occurs nowhere else in the Old Testament.

Author and Date: “A strong tradition, generally unquestioned until the seventeenth-century Enlightenment, affirms that Ecclesiastes was written in the tenth century b.c. by King Solomon, son of David. The name Solomon, however, never occurs in the book, the author choosing to describe himself only as ‘the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem’ (1:1; cf. v. 12). This has led many to suggest alternatives to Solomonic authorship. Many hold that the book was written in postexilic times, and that no deception was intended or perceived by the original readers in using Solomon as the central character through whom the author spoke. The message would be, then, that if anyone could find meaning in life through wealth, pleasure, or speculative wisdom, it would have been Solomon.

“The case for non-Solomonic authorship is weak and inconclusive: (1) Although Solomon is not named, it is most likely that ‘the son of David’ (1:1) was understood as David’s immediate successor rather than a later descendant. (2) Autobiographical data, expressed in the first person, certainly fits Solomon (Ecc 1:16; 2:4-9; 7:26-29; 12:9; cf. 1 Kin. 3:12; 4:20-34; 10:23-27)[2685]. (3) The phrase translated ‘was king’ in 1:12 can just as well be translated ‘have been king,’ indicating that Solomon was writing late in his life, as Jewish tradition claims. (4) Martin Luther rejected Solomonic authorship because of ‘impressions’ drawn from allusions to exilic and postexilic conditions. These conditions to which he apparently referred (cf. Ecc. 4:13-16; 6:2, 3; 9:13-18[2686]) probably existed late in the Solomonic era as well. (5) There are no linguistic phenomena which cannot be attributed to Solomon, and the arguments for a later date on this basis are inconclusive. The roots of some of the questioned words have been found in Genesis and other early Hebrew writings. The linguistic differences from other Old Testament books of whatever age are better explained by the fact that Ecclesiastes belongs to a different type of literature. The Aramaic influences upon the Hebrew in Ecclesiastes do not preclude Solomonic authorship, inasmuch as the political and commercial ties of the Syrian areas with Israel during Solomon’s reign were probably closer than at any other period of history. Canaanite/Phoenician influences discovered in the book confirm this. Was there ever a king of Israel more cosmopolitan than Solomon? Was there ever a ruler of Israel who had more opportunity to amass the wisdom of the world than this successor of David? (6) There is remarkable affinity in expressions and phraseology within Proverbs, Song of Solomon, and Ecclesiastes. Any differences can be justified easily by the varied subject matter and by the possible wide span of years during which the writing occurred. Some

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scholars suggest that the former books were written in Solomon’s youth, while this book was penned in his old age (cf. Ecc 2:17[2687]).

“In view of these facts, then, it is best to accept Jewish tradition and assume Solomonic authorship of Ecclesiastes in the interpretation of the book. As one commentator, who does not hold Solomonic authorship, has admitted, ‘Surrendering the traditional opinion, we are, however, at once cast upon an ocean of surmises, which are wholly derived from internal evidence as this strikes different readers.’” (Believer’s Study Bible)

“According to the tradition of the synagogue, the book of Ecclesiastes is attributed to Solomon, son of David. One Rabbinic source declares that he wrote the Song of Songs, with its accent on love, in his youth; Proverbs, with its emphasis on practical problems, in his maturity; and Ecclesiastes with its emphasis on the vanity of life, in old age (Midrash, Shir Hashirim Rabba, 1:1, Sec. 10).” (KJV Bible Commentary)

“Date. If placed within the reign of Solomon, the book would probably fall near the end of his reign just prior to his death in 931 b.c. Among those who reject Solomonic authorship, there is a wide range of suggested dates extending down to the second century b.c. Extremely late dates are highly questionable in light of fragments of Ecclesiastes found at Qumran and dated between 175 and 150

b.c. “ (KJV Study Bible)

“ This book is a search for meaning in life. What can humans do to find satisfaction and happiness? What is worthwhile in life? The search begins with a gloomy outlook—life is boring and as senseless as chasing the wind.

“Ecclesiastes looks at one area of life after another, to see whether meaning and purpose for living can be found. The book decides that humans cannot understand the meaning of life, and that life is too short and unfair. This may seem depressing, but Ecclesiastes also shows that some things in life are better than others. For example, it is better to be wise than to be foolish. And God does intend for people to enjoy his gifts of work, food, drink, friendship, and marriage. And most important of all: Respect and obey God!

This is what life is all about.

God will judge everything we do, even what is done in secret, whether good or bad. (12.13,14)” (Contemporary English Version)

“Within the history of the church there have been two basic views on the theology of the book.

On the one hand, some describe the contents of the book as pessimistic, cynical, skeptical, hedonistic, or agnostic, and picture the author as a man of doubt who has wandered far from God. On the other hand, many interpret the book quite positively: the author is a man of faith, a realist, who sees that man simply cannot put the whole of life together.

The latter view is favored since the author believes God is good (2:24; 3:13); believes God has a wise plan (3:11,14; 7:14; 8:17); believes God is just (3:17; 8:11-13); and always exhorts men to fear God (8:12,13; 12:13,14).

“The thought of the book centers in six key ideas. Three of these are negative and revolve around the problems of life:

(1)    All is vanity.

(2)    Man is limited.

(3)    God is hidden.

The other three are positive and give the solution to life’s crises:

(1)    Fear God and keep His commandments.

(2)    Enjoy life.

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(3) Use wisdom properly.

All six ideas are scattered throughout the book, but taken together they demonstrate that the purpose of the book is to show men that they should lead godly and joyous lives, though they live in a world of divinely condoned mysteries.” (KJV Study Bible)

“As the world enters the twenty-first century, more and more people are struggling to keep their heads above a rising tide of pessimism about prospects for the future. To be sure, a handful of optimists predict a better, brighter tomorrow. Still, the mass of humanity remains less than convinced.

“A hundred years ago, faith in human reason and progress was probably at an all-time high. Today, it is as low as ever. There are growing doubts as to whether the world can ever solve its problems on its own.

“Ecclesiastes speaks to this condition. It well expresses the profound disappointment that people feel when they realize that life should be better, but isn’t.

“It’s about life in a fallen world. Ecclesiastes says we can deny it, fight it, hide from it, even try to make sense of it. But we can’t escape it. The only meaningful response is to live in it one day at a time, fearing God and cherishing as best we can the ‘stuff’ of which life is made— food, family, work. These are gifts from God’s hand.” (Word-in-Life Study Bible)

“The Book of Ecclesiastes has a powerful message for our selfish, materialistic age. It teaches that great accomplishments and earthly possessions alone do not bring lasting happiness. True satisfaction comes from serving God and following His will for our lives.

“But another important truth from Ecclesiastes is that life is to be enjoyed. The Preacher repeats this truth several times so it does not escape our attention: ‘There is nothing better for them than to rejoice, and to do good in their lives, and also that every man should eat and drink and enjoy the good of all his labor—it is the gift of God’ (Ecclesiastes 3:12,13; see also 2:24,25; 5:18; 8:15; 9:7-10)[2688]. Our grateful acceptance of God’s daily blessings can bring a sense of joy and fulfillment to our lives.” (Nelson’s New Illustrated Bible Dictionary)

“In Ecclesiastes Solomon sets forth his philosophy of life on the basis of his own experience. In succession he had sought ultimate happiness through the pursuit of knowledge, in sensory pleasure and luxury, and by magnificent building projects and vast enterprises (Ecclesiastes 1 and 2). As a powerful young ruler blessed with unique wisdom and wealth, he had lacked no facilities in his quest for happiness, yet when he had secured all that human ingenuity could provide along each path of endeavor he found only ‘vanity and vexation of spirit’ and concluded that in none of them was there any ‘profit under the sun’ (Ec. 2:11). What distressed him more than anything else, however, was the fact that at the close of a lifetime of labor the wise and diligent man was no better off than the fool, since both were alike in death, and what he had learned and gathered and produced must be left to men who may prove to be fools (Ec. 2:14-23). Therefore he despaired of his labors and came to hate life itself (Ec. 2:20,17). Instead of happiness he had found only vexation of heart (Ec. 2:22). A cynical attitude darkened his outlook on life and, for practical purposes, he became an agnostic. Losing sight of God, his natural tendencies gained the supremacy over reason, and with his reason increasingly subordinated to inclination, his moral sensibilities were blunted, his conscience seared, and his judgment perverted. Toward the close of life he realized that a lifetime of folly had made him into ‘an old and foolish king’ (Ecclesiastes 4:13). Conscience awakened and he saw folly in its true light. Spurred on by sincere repentance he sought to retrace his wayward steps, as best he might, and chastened in spirit he finally turned, wearied and thirsting, from earth’s broken cisterns to drink once more at the fountain of life.

“Having himself learned the great lesson of life the hard way, Solomon sought to counteract his years of evil influence, and to guide others along the pathway to faith in God. Guided by Inspiration, he recorded the history of his wasted years, with their lessons of warning, setting forth a sound philosophy of life and clarifying the purpose

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of man’s existence and stating in simple terms man’s duty and destiny. In this life men are to be content with the opportunities and privileges God has afforded them (Ecclesiastes 2:24; 3:12,22; 5:18[2689]), making the most of them in cooperation with, and obedience to, their Creator. In fact, ‘the conclusion of the whole matter’ is that ‘the whole duty of man’ can be summed up in the one admonition to ‘fear God, and keep his commandments’ (ch 12:13), in view of the fact that when life is over man must be ready to stand in judgment before God (ch 11:9). In the prologue Solomon dwells upon the futility of life (Ecclesiastes 1:1-11[2690]). Next he relates his own futile experience in quest of happiness (Ecclesiastes 1:12-2:26[2691]). Nevertheless, he affirms that there is a purpose to life, that there is an appropriate time for everything, and that even the seeming injustices of life are not without purpose (Ecclesiastes 3:1-4:8[2692]). He then contrasts the value of companionship, wisdom, reverence, and justice (Ecclesiastes 4:9-5:9[2693]) with the folly of materialism, the incomprehensibility of suffering, and the seeming futility of human effort (Ecclesiastes 5:10-6:12[2694]). Character, an understanding of God’s dealings with men, and a balanced outlook on life are the things worth striving for (Ecclesiastes 7:1-22[2695]). The closing chapters of the book summarize the disappointments and conflicts he has encountered in his search for wisdom (Ecclesiastes 7:23-8:15[2696]). God’s ways are often inscrutable, but one may be content amid the vicissitudes of life in the certain knowledge that every deed will have its due reward (Ecclesiastes 8:16-12:14[2697]).” (SDA Bible Dictionary)

“Having considered the uncertainty of human happiness, the Preacher turns to contemplate the actual misery with which the world is filled. For a world full of distress the ‘wise man’ does not propose any kind of ‘welfare state’ as a solution to social inequalities and injustices. As the Preacher draws his survey to a close, he sets forth a series of practical suggestions. Individually, we should give such help as we can to the poor and to those who suffer. But the most important thing is to give our hearts and our affections to God, to yield obedience to Him, and so be ready for the final judgment. Ecclesiastes thus provides a sound philosophy of life, of the purpose of man’s existence, of duty and destiny. ” SDA BC 3/1058

“He recounts the tyranny in the world, the injustices, the disappointments that might undermine man’s faith in his Creator. But the day of retribution cannot be ignored or postponed indefinitely. Even though inequalities persist for a time, these are often essentially disciplinary measures; therefore man’s duty and final happiness consist in meeting life with the determination to seize its opportunities and to make the most of them. God will take care of the future.”

“But restoration to favor with God did not miraculously restore the wasted physical and mental strength of former years (see MH 169). ‘Through sin the whole human organism is deranged, the mind is perverted, the imagination corrupted’ (MH 451), and Solomon’s repentance ‘did not prevent the fruition of the evil he had sown’ (Ed 49). ‘He could never hope to escape the blasting results of sin’ (PK 78).

“It pictures in vivid terms his pursuit of pleasure, popularity, wealth, and power; but the thread that binds this sad narrative together is Solomon’s own candid analysis of the perverted thought processes by which, in his own mind, he had justified his wayward conduct. Those portions of Ecclesiastes that relate the experience and reasoning of his years of apostasy are not to be taken as representing the mind and will of the Spirit. Nevertheless, they are an inspired record of what he actually thought and did during that time (see PK 79), and that record constitutes a sober warning against the wrong kind of thought and action.” (SDA Bible Commentary - Ecclesiastes)

Ecclesiastes is not a book about theoretical concerns or simply ideas. This is a book about “where” people live. Its emphasis is on what we do and think on a daily basis. The U. S. Bill of Rights suggests that the most important things in our existence are “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” Solomon tried to pursue happiness in all the wrongs places.

How much of our lives do we spend pursuing the most important things in life? Most of us seem to get caught up in the everyday rat-race of our daily existence and we end

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up spending very little of our lives on what we state are the most important matters of life. The book of Ecclesiastes is a summary of Solomon’s attempts to find happiness in worldly pursuits and his ultimate failure. We are able to find real meaning in life only as we are able to step back from the daily grind and ask ourselves what it is we are really accomplishing. Do we believe that we will succeed where Solomon failed? Do we have more resources, more money, more wisdom, more wives or servants to look after our every need? Never! We need to look away from our race to keep up with the Joneses and really evaluate what we want in life. The book of Ecclesiastes can really give us a hard-nosed look at those issues. God wants us to be happy. He cares about our everyday needs. He wants us to be happy with our lifetime partners. Our world seems to be filled with misery. But in partnership with God we can find happiness in reaching out and serving others. We can look beyond ourselves to some ultimate good. These are the things that will count when God tallies up the records.

2.    Are all the statements in Ecclesiastes true? Could something that is not true be “inspired?” Is it true that “The sun still rises, and it still goes down, going wearily back to where it must start all over again”? (Ecclesiastes 1:5) Considering all that people are inventing and discovering now, was Solomon right in saying “there is nothing new under the sun?” (Ecclesiastes 1:9,10; compare 3:15[2698]) Is it true that “God has laid a miserable fate upon us?” (Ecclesiastes 1:13, GNB) Is it true that “all is vanity and a striving after wind?” (Ecclesiastes 1:14) Is it true that “what is crooked cannot be made straight?” (Ecclesiastes 1:15) Is it true that “the more knowledge, the more grief?” (Ecclesiastes 1:18) Is it true that the wise and the foolish end up in the same place-and in days to come we will all be forgotten? (Ecclesiastes 2:14-17[2699]) How could the dead who have already died be happier than those who are still living? (Ecclesiastes 4:2) Is it true that, “Everything that happens was already determined long ago?” (Ecclesiastes 6:10) Would you agree that “A man might have a hundred children and live to be very old. But if he finds no satisfaction in life and in the end does not even get a decent burial, I say he would have been better off born dead?” (Ecclesiastes 6:3)

If these are the dictated words of God, then we have a real problem. But if these represent Solomon’s opinions in his final years of discouragement and depression after he was told by God that he had destroyed the kingdom and much of it would be taken away from his descendants, the words seem quite natural under the circumstances. But are such words “inspired?” God inspires humans to express their ideas in their own words. These are not God’s own words. Some of these statements represent what we would call a limited world view. Others, represent Solomon’s discouragement. Do discouraged, depressed, even mentally ill people whose thinking is not always exactly correct have a right to be called children of God? Would God ever use such a person to write a portion of Scripture?

If we wanted to take these statements very literally to establish our own world view then they would be a problem. If we recognize them for what they are--Solomon’s depressed feelings at the end of a largely wasted life-then they should not cause us a big problem. But why would God ask such a tired old king to add anything to our understanding of God Himself by writing a portion of Scripture. Or do we expect such a book to add anything to our understanding of God? Why was this book written and preserved for us to read?

3.    In Ecclesiastes 2:1-17, he says that he would make a test of certain pleasures and things, but found them all to be vanity. He tried wine, sensual pleasure, great works of architecture, pools and parks. He bought many slaves, great possessions, He gathered silver and gold, He got many concubines. Solomon says, “My wisdom remained with me and I kept my heart from no pleasure. Behold all was vanity!” Was everything that Solomon tried to pursue in this record inherently evil? To really enjoy something, do you have to be the very first human to try it? (Ecclesiastes 2:12) How does one use material like this? In what sense is it inspired? And after it was all over he laments that it was all a useless endeavor because he would have to leave everything to his successor who might even be a fool! (2:18,19)

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Solomon appears to be going through the ultimate “mid-life crisis”. He is struggling with what kind of legacy he is going to leave behind. In your opinion what kind of legacy did he leave? It was not as bad as he seemed to think it would be, but it certainly could have been better. With the kind of advantages he started out with in life, he could have been a marvelous spiritual giant and an example to much of the civilized world of his day. He could have explored ways to disseminate true religion and a correct knowledge of Yahweh throughout the world. He could have pointed out the foolishness of pagan religions. He could have established a group of spiritual leaders to go to all the nations of the world to teach them the truth about life, God, and the future. He could have established a government system that provided very well for all of its citizens so that everyone could live happy, prosperous lives. He could have establish centers for the study of nature, religion, and even how to live longer, healthier lives.

Instead, he ends up consumed with worrying about his own happiness! All he seems to care about is his personal happiness and how he will be remembered! But Solomon is surely not the only one whose life went like this. How many people today feel like Solomon did? Does reading the life of Solomon and considering his final “reflections” help such people to think about what is most important in life? Doesn’t God want to reach out to them as much as to any of the rest of us? There are many issues discussed in this book that are important for each one of us to consider. Wouldn’t it be appropriate for God to challenge us to think about these issues?

4. What is the meaning of Ecclesiastes 7:16,17-“So don't be too good or too wise-why kill you yourself? But don't be too wicked or too foolish, either-why die before you have to?” (GNB) Is it safe to go through the Bible and make selections of what we like or what is “right” and what we think is “not right?” Doesn't this book show us the dangers of plucking texts from here and there?

This passage “does not apply the ‘golden mean’ to morality, nor does it constitute a warning against excessive observance of religious ritual. Rather, it warns against self-righteousness or the idea that one has actually achieved righteousness. Ecclesiastes 7:17 does not mean that moderation in wickedness is acceptable! It is an accommodation to human frailty. Solomon is saying, Avoid the extreme of self-righteousness and, at the same time, hold in check your wicked nature (cf. Eccl. 7:20) so it does not run its natural course to spiritual and moral ruin.” (KJV Study Bible)

“Few verses in Ecclesiastes are more susceptible to incorrect interpretation than these (vv. 16-18). This is not the so-called golden mean that advises: ‘Don’t be too holy and don’t be too wicked; sin to a moderate degree.’ The Preacher was warning instead about pseudo-religiosity and showy forms of worship. The Hebrew verb for ‘be wise’ may be rendered ‘think yourself wise,’ and to ‘be overly righteous’ would mean ‘righteous in your own eyes’ (see Prov. 3:7).” (Nelson Study Bible)

“Both human illusions of perfection in this life and the abandonment of oneself to wickedness have God for an adversary...Pride can masquerade as righteousness, even in small things; on the other hand, there is an impulse to lawlessness that goes beyond everyday standards of life.” (New Geneva Study Bible)

“This verse is probably the language of an ungodly man to which Solomon answers, as in the following verse, “Do not multiply wickedness; do not add direct opposition to godliness, to the rest of your crimes. Why should you provoke God to destroy you before your time?” (The New Treasury of Scripture Knowledge)

“These verses have generally been interpreted as teaching the “golden mean” or a moderate lifestyle, avoiding both overzealous righteousness and overindulgent sinfulness. And righteousness here is generally interpreted as referring to legalistic or Pharisaic selfrighteousness. But this interpretation fails to relate these verses adequately to Solomon’s

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argument against the rigid application of the doctrine of retribution in God’s distributing adversity and prosperity. Moreover, the meaning of the verb tisusuo&mem (from suamem) must be correctly interpreted. Though almost universally interpreted in the sense of ‘to destroy or ruin oneself,’ the verb in this form never means this elsewhere. Instead it means ‘to be appalled or astounded’ (cf. Dan. 8:27, ‘appalled’; Ps. 143:4, ‘dismayed’). This fits in nicely with Solomon’s argument here. He urged his readers not to be overrighteous or overwise ‘lest they be confounded or astonished.’ He meant they should not depend on their righteousness or wisdom to guarantee God’s blessing because they might be confounded, dismayed, or disappointed like the righteous people whom Solomon had seen perishing in spite of their righteousness (Ecclesiastes 7:15).

“Also the fact that God did not punish in some cases (Ec. 7:15b) should not be taken as a license to sin (do not be overwicked, Ec. 7:17); God might judge them and they might die before they had to (die before your time; cf. Ps. 55:23). Solomon closed his argument in this section by noting that it is good to follow both warnings and by recommending that one who fears God (cf. Ecclesiastes 3:14; 5:7; 8:12; 12:13[2700]) should avoid all (or better, ‘both’) extremes (7:18). As in 2:14 and 3:19, the Hebrew word kol can mean either ‘both’ or ‘all.’ The two extremes to avoid are (a) depending on one’s own righteousness and (b) becoming loose in one’s living (being overly wicked).

“It should be noted what Solomon did not say or imply in Ec. 7:16-18. Solomon’s advice should not be taken to imply that he believed in halfhearted obedience to God’s commands or advocated a little wickedness and a little folly. Though he believed that complete righteousness is unattainable (Ec. 7:20) and that some folly is unavoidable, he never advocated folly or wickedness. Instead he advocated living life in the light of God’s judgment (11:9; 12:14). Though he had observed exceptions to the doctrine of retribution (7:15; 8:10-11), he nevertheless believed that God would judge (3:17; 8:12-13). Solomon’s only uncertainty about God’s judgment was its timing; like everything else, it would be in God’s time (3:17; cf. 3:11). So people should avoid folly and wickedness as much as possible and live as wisely and as righteously as possible.” (Bible Knowledge Commentary - article on Ecclesiastes 7:16-18)

“16. Righteous over much. A rebuke to legalism with its reliance on outward forms and expressions. True religion is a personal relation to the holy God [(Lev. 19:2; Eph. 3:14), and the Saviour Jesus Christ (Eph. 3:17-19[2701])].

“Over wise. Solomon has spoken of the value of wisdom; now he warns against an attitude that might bring one to question God’s leadings. The apostle Paul gives the same injunction (Rom. 9:20-23[2702]).

“Destroy. The Hebrew form of the verb is reflexive, thereby emphasizing the fact that conduct decides destiny. The Pharisee in the parable is an example of one who, in self-righteousness and human wisdom, destroys himself (Luke 18:9-14[2703]).

“17. Over much wicked. Do not cast off all restraint; eventually the point is reached where the Holy Spirit is no longer able to bring about sincere repentance. Beware of ignoring or underestimating God (Ps. 10:11; cf. Mal. 1:2, 6; 2:17; 3:8, 13)[2704].

“Foolish. The man who sins deliberately, deceiving himself into the belief that God ignores what he does, may become so obsessed with a certain course of action that, in his spiritual blindness, he comes to think there is no God at all (Ps. 14:1).” (SDA Bible Commentary)

“Extremes are to be avoided (Prov 7:15-22[2705]). A person should not be ‘overrighteous’ or ‘overwise’—or ‘overwicked.’ Solomon was aware that there is ‘not a righteous man on earth who does what is right and never sins’ (v. 20). He supposed that the middle road of avoiding all extremes was the best road to take. To be overwicked would lead to an early death. To be overrighteous to the torments of guilt.” (The Teacher’s Commentary)

5. Would you agree with these conclusions from Solomon?

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Ecclesiastes 2:24-25: 24 The best thing anyone can do is to eat and drink and enjoy what he has earned. And yet, I realized that even this comes from God. 25How else could you have anything to eat or enjoy yourself at all?” (GNB)

3:12-13: 12So I realized that all we can do is to be happy and do the best we can while we are still alive. 13All of us should eat and drink and enjoy what we have worked for. It is God’s gift.” (GNB)

3:22: 22 So I realized then that the best thing we can do is to enjoy what we have worked for. There is nothing else we can do. There is no way for us to know what will happen after we die.” (GNB)

5:18: 18 This is what I have found out: the best thing anyone can do is to eat and drink and enjoy what he has worked for during the short life that God has given him; this is man’s fate.” (GNB)

7:28,29: “28I have looked for other answers but have found none. I found one man in a thousand that I could respect, but not one woman. 29This is all that I have learned: God made us plain and simple, but we have made ourselves very complicated.” (GNB)

8:15: 15 “So I am convinced that a man should enjoy himself, because the only pleasure he has in this life is eating and drinking and enjoying himself. He can at least do this as he labors during the life that God has given him in this world.” (GNB)

9:7: 7 “Go ahead-eat your food and be happy; drink your wine and be cheerful. It's all right with God.” (GNB)

Was Solomon trying to assuage his conscience by rationalizing that what he had done with his life was the right thing to do? Not at all. Solomon here is recognizing that happiness can be found in enjoying the “simple pleasures” of life. God intends for each of us to be happy. But God cannot provide each of us with all the “resources” for happiness that Solomon had! Solomon tells us that “things” can’t buy happiness. Someone once said, “Money can‘t buy love, but it makes shopping for it a lot easier!” Solomon is telling us to find our happiness in the things that we already have and not kill ourselves striving for something that is always just beyond our reach.

This is not advice that we should all be gluttons and alcoholics, but a recognition that we need to find meaning and fulfillment in life with the simple things that can be a part of our everyday lives. This does not mean that we should not strive for some great things in life, but that we need to find happiness in what we have now. Paul said it like this:

Philippians 4:12,13: 12I know what it is to be in need and what it is to have more than enough. I have learnt this secret, so that anywhere, at any time, I am content, whether I am full or hungry, whether I have too much or too little. 13I have the strength to face all conditions by the power that Christ gives me.” (GNB)

6. If we reach old age without being able to show “any worthy action done” will God treat us any differently? In contrast to Solomon-who did not remember God throughout his life-can you think of anyone in the Bible who did?

What if Solomon had lived a life like Enoch, Daniel, Moses, Job, John or even David, his father? What might have been his conclusion to this book? Enoch and Elijah ascended to heaven without tasting death. Moses made some mistakes, but he made it to heaven also. Each of these others, despite their problems had a relationship with God that could not be shaken. When they came to the conclusions of their lives they had some great things to say about God and the value of their relationships. Job “said of God what was right.” (Job 42:7,8[2706]) Enoch walked with God. (Genesis 5:21-24; Hebrews 11:5)[2707] Daniel risked his life rather than interrupt his daily communion with God. (Daniel

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6[2708]) Moses was jealous for God’s reputation on more than one occasion. (Exodus 32:11-14 ; Numbers 14:11-25)[2709] John actually realized that God Himself wants to treat us like friends! (John 15:15; 16:26[2710]) Even David, whenever he recognized his sins immediately turned to God. (Psalms 51[2711])

Solomon, by contrast, seemed to be stuck on the basic level of obedience: he said, “God is watching everything you do, even in secret, so you better behave!” (See Ecclesiastes 12:13,14[2712]) What do we want to leave as a legacy at the end of our lives? We have been given the privilege of living in the most exciting time in earth’s history. God has given us, as the people living in the final period of this earth’s history the information and capacity (with the Holy Spirit) to finish the gospel and see Jesus return at the second coming! So what are we saying about God?

7.    How would you have ended the book? Are we terrified that “God will bring every work into judgment, whether it be good or evil?” (Ecclesiastes 12:14) If God asked you to write a book about your life and its accomplishments, what would you say?

See # 6 above. Even if we are sinners and rebels we have nothing to fear from our gracious God. But what a waste to perish in the presence of such a gracious God. Think about it. What would you tell your friends if you could gather them all for a short time to hear what you had to say about God?

8.    Are we afraid to have our lives come up in review by our gracious God? Are we afraid of a “punishing God?” Is it what we know about ourselves that makes us afraid? Is it what we know about Him that makes us afraid? Even if our final diagnosis is “unsavable,” do we have anything to fear? Compare 1 John 4:17,18[2713], “In this is love perfected . . . that we may have confidence for the day of judgment . . . there is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment and he who fears is not perfected in love.” (RSV)

God will do everything possible to save everyone who is safe to live next door to for eternity. But God is not willing to just let us go without a “fight.” He will do His best to impress upon us that what we are doing is serious. He may even “threaten” to take us to court for a trial! But when it is all over, He always respects our freedom. It may seem embarrassing to admit to God the truth about even the secret things in our lives that we somehow hope will always remain secret, but the Bible makes it very clear that God knows all about us already. So it is much better for us to speak honestly to Him about our foibles.

Hebrews 4:13: “13There is nothing that can be hidden from God; everything in all creation is exposed and lies open before his eyes. And it is to him that we must all give an account of ourselves.” (GNB)

Romans 14:12: “12Every one of us, then, will have to give an account of ourselves to God.” (GNB)

See also (Psalms 139; Pr. 5:21; 15:3,11; Romans 2:16)[2714]

9.    Some are afraid to sin because it will make God angry. Others are afraid to sin because it grieves God. Still others are afraid to sin because of what sin does to the sinner or others around him. Should we be afraid to sin? If so, why?

This is a thought question for each of us to ask ourselves. When we do, I hope we will consider all that we have discussed above and also the following passages:

1 John 1:9: 9But if we confess our sins to God, he will keep his promise and do what is right: he will forgive us our sins and purify us from all our wrongdoing. (GNB)

Exodus 34:6,7: The Lord then passed in front of him and called out, “I, the Lord, am a God who is full of compassion and pity, who is not easily angered and who shows great love and faithfulness. I keep my promise for thousands of generations and forgive evil and sin; but I will not

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fail to punish children and grandchildren to the third and fourth generation for the sins of their parents.”

Romans 8:1: “There is no condemnation now for those who live in union with Christ Jesus.” (GNB)

There is no need to be afraid of God.

“We are not to regard God as waiting to punish the sinner for his sin. The sinner brings the punishment upon himself. His own actions start a train of circumstances that bring the sure result. Every act of transgression reacts upon the sinner, works in him a change of character, and makes it more easy for him to transgress again. By choosing to sin, men separate themselves from God, cut themselves off from the channel of blessing, and the sure result is ruin and death.” Letter 96, 1896; Selected Messages, Book 1, p. 235; FLB 84; 6BC 1085,1110; 1MR 130,131; The EGWhite 1888 Materials, p. 1576

“God does not stand toward the sinner as an executioner of the sentence against transgression; but He leaves the rejectors of His mercy to themselves, to reap that which they have sown.” The Great Controversy 36 (1888); 4SP 36,37 (1884)

“This is not an act of arbitrary power on the part of God. The rejecters of His mercy reap that which they have sown. God is the fountain of life; and when one chooses the service of sin, he separates from God, and thus cuts himself off from life. He is <alienated from the life of God.’ Christ says, <All they that hate Me love death.’ Ephesians 4:18; Proverbs 8:36. God gives them existence for a time that they may develop their character and reveal their principles. This accomplished, they receive the results of their own choice. By a life of rebellion, Satan and all who unite with him place themselves so out of harmony with God that His very presence is to them a consuming fire. The glory of Him who is love will destroy them.” The Desire of Ages 764 (1898)

God does not desire obedience that springs from fear or obligation.

“The man who attempts to keep the commandments of God from a sense of obligation merely-because he is required to do so-will never enter into the joy of obedience. He does not obey. When the requirements of God are accounted a burden because they cut across human inclination, we may know that the life is not a Christian life. True obedience is the outworking of a principle within. It springs from the love of righteousness, the love of the law of God. The essence of all righteousness is loyalty to our Redeemer. This will lead us to do right because it is right-because right doing is pleasing to God.” Christ’s Object Lessons 97,98 (1900)

“A sullen submission to the will of the Father will develop the character of a rebel. By such a one service is looked upon as drudgery. It is not rendered cheerfully, and in the love of God. It is a mere mechanical performance. [If he dared, such a one would disobey. His rebellion is smothered, ready to break out at any time in bitter murmurings and complaints.] Such service brings no peace or quietude to the soul.” MS 20, 1897 (MR # 970); Signs of the Times, July 22, 1897 (3ST 400:2:1) - section in [. . .] omitted in That I May Know Him p. 120; 12MR 236

10. God not only forgave Solomon but honored him by having him write another book of the Bible. Did God not know the details of Solomon's life? God watched Solomon do all the things that he did. But when he came back, a genuinely-repentant but tired old king, God didn't just forgive him, He honored him and treated him like “a holy man of God.” (2 Peter 1:21) Did forgiveness give him back the wasted years? Isn't the story of the life of Solomon a living illustration of the “prodigal son?” What made Solomon finally come back to the true God?

Maybe Solomon’s wisdom actually did him some good in his old age! He may have come to realize how worthless all those other “gods” were. He must have recognized that it was wrong to sacrifice his children! (1 Kings 11:5-8) Maybe he realized how gracious God had been to his father and mother. (See handout # 46: DAVID: A MAN AFTER GOD’S OWN HEART?) But unfortunately Solomon and the nation had to live with the consequences of their actions.

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11.    What does it mean to really “fear God and keep His commandments?” (Ecclesiastes 12:13)

See Handout #56 - Proverbs - A Teacher’s Guide - # 9.

In order for any progress to be made as we learn the real meaning of being Christians, we must have respect and even reverence for God. Without these, little progress is possible. God is simply stating a fact about the way the human mind works. So if we really want to learn something about Him, we must be prepared to respect Him and be willing to at least try to do what He asks us to do. Furthermore, when we come to understand what He is asking us to do, it always makes good sense. In fact, throughout eternity we will want to do what He wants us to do because it is right. Which of the ten commandments would you like to leave out? Do you wish it were okay to murder, steal, lie, dishonor your parents, dishonor God, commit adultery, or be perpetually covetous which is probably what leads people to do all those other sins. Would you want God to allow people who do those things to enter heaven and carry on their activities there? If not, then it only makes sense to do as Solomon suggests and respectfully follow God’s suggestions for our lives.

12.    Would you agree with Solomon's conclusions? Are you happy with them? Who came to better conclusions-Solomon or Job? Did Solomon “say of God what is right?” (Compare Job 42:7,8[2715])

Solomon’s conclusions about God seem to be what we might expect from a relative beginner. See #6 above. With all his wisdom shouldn’t Solomon have taught us great truths about God and His character and government?

Behavioral experts suggest that there are levels of maturity demonstrated by how we respond to issues. The basic level is the level of fear of punishment or hope of reward. This seems to be where Solomon was even at the end of his long life. The next level comes when we choose to do things because they are the accepted pattern of behavior among our peers. We look to the crowd for our morals. But it is possible to go beyond that and come to the level where people think things through and choose to do what is right because it is right. That is the level that God seems to want from us. See #9 above.

13.    What does it say to you about God that He gave all that wisdom to Solomon, but did not take away his freedom even to misuse God's gifts?

Freedom is absolutely essential if we are to experience true love. See handout on “Love". God knew what Solomon would do with his talents even before he was born. But God apparently felt that there were some important lessons that the rest of us could learn from Solomon’s experiences. Thus God used him in the way that we have recorded in Scripture. God wants to use each one of us! God does not limit Himself to using perfect saints. If He did, He wouldn’t get anything done here on planet earth unless He did it Himself or used angels! But God expects us to be able to see through Solomon’s problems and learn the lessons his writings convey.

14.    What are we supposed to learn from Ecclesiastes 3:1-8[2716]? What are we to learn from Solomon’s words: “Everything that happens in this world happens at the time God chooses.” (3:1, GNB)

“1There is a right time for everything:

2A time to be born;

A time to die;

A time to plant;

A time to harvest;

3A time to kill;

A time to heal;

A time to destroy;

A time to rebuild;

4A time to cry;

A time to laugh;

A time to grieve;

A time to dance;

5A time for scattering stones; A time for gathering stones;

A time to hug;

A time not to hug;

6A time to find;

A time to lose;

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A time for keeping; 7A time to tear;

A time for throwing away; A time to repair;

A time to be quiet; 8A time for loving; A time for war;

A time to speak up;

A time for hating;

A time for peace.” (TLB)

Does this suggest that there is supposed to be some balance in our lives? We all want the good times! But we also experience the bad times. Does it help to recognize that there is a right time for both? But is there ever a right time for killing? War? Hating? Dying? None of this was a part of God’s original plan. But now that we have become wicked, these things seem to be an inevitable part of life. Did God give Solomon this message because he needed it? He seemed to spend all of his time searching for happiness. Was God trying to tell him that even for wise and wealthy kings life goes on and has its “times” for everything?

15. Would you agree with Solomon’s conclusions?

“Vanity of vanities, all is vanity.” Ecclesiastes 1:2 “There is nothing new under the sun.” Ecclesiastes 1:9 “God has laid a miserable fate upon us.” Ecclesiastes 1:13 “In much wisdom is much grief.” Ecclesiastes 1:18

“To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven.” Ecclesiastes 3:1 “Eat, drink, and be merry, it is God’s gift.” Ecclesiastes 2:24; 3:13; 8:15 “Someone who is always thinking about happiness is a fool. A wise person thinks about death.” Ec. 7:4 “There is no one on earth who does what is right all the time and never makes a mistake.” Ec. 7:20 “28I have looked for other answers but have found none. I found one man in a thousand that I could respect, but not one woman. 29This is all that I have learned: God made us plain and simple, but we have made ourselves very complicated.” Ecclesiastes 7:28,29 The wife God gives you is your reward for all your earthly Ecclesiastes 9:9 “Remember now your Creator in the days of your youth.” Ecclesiastes 12:1 “Of making many books there is no end.” Ecclesiastes 12:12 “Fear God and keep His commandments.” Ecclesiastes 12:13

© Copyright 2000-2006, Kenneth Hart info@theox.org

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37. THE SONG OF SOLOMON - A TEACHER’S GUIDE

THE CENTRAL QUESTION:

What does this book/story say to us about God?

This question may be broken down further as follows:

a. Why did God do it/allow it?

_b. Why did He record it for our study?_

1. Do you think Solomon wrote this book? Which one of his many wives does this “song” refer to? (1 Kings 11:1-3) What evidence do we have that Solomon wrote it? At what time in Solomon’s life was the book written? There are more variations in the interpretation of Song of Solomon than any other book in the Bible. Why do you suppose that is? Would you have voted to include Song of Solomon in the Bible? Why? Or why not?

“The title of this book means “the most beautiful of songs”; in some translations, it is called “The Song of Solomon” (see 1.1).

“This book is a collection of songs, or poems, in which a woman and a man tell about their love for each other. Sometimes they speak to themselves, sometimes to each other or to friends, and in some of the poems they seem to be remembering earlier times in their relationship.

“The poems have been interpreted in different ways. Some have thought that the man was King Solomon himself. Others read the book as a drama: The woman was taken to the court of Solomon, but she was still in love with a man back in her hometown, and finally the two are reunited. Some interpreters believe that the man and woman stand for God and his people or Christ and the Church.

“But it is also possible to take the book as a collection of poems expressing the deep and powerful love that a woman and a man can have for each other. In fact, they may have been part of marriage celebrations in ancient Israel. As one of the poems says:

“The passion of love bursting into flame is more powerful than death, stronger than the grave. Love cannot be drowned by oceans or floods; it cannot be bought, no matter what is offered.”    (Song of Songs 8.6b, 7) [CEV]

“The Song of Songs, meaning the greatest of songs (Song of Songs 1:1), contains in exquisite poetic form the sublime portrayal and praise of the mutual love of the Lord and his people. The Lord is the Lover and his people are the beloved. Describing this relationship in terms of human love, the author simply follows Israel’s tradition. Isaiah (Isaiah 5:1-7; 54:4-8), Jeremiah (Jeremiah 2:2, 3, 32), and Ezekiel (Ezekiel 16; 23)[2717] all characterize the covenant between the Lord and Israel as a marriage. Hosea the prophet sees the idolatry of Israel in the adultery of Gomer (Hosea 1-3). He also represents the Lord speaking to Israel’s heart (Hosea 2:16) and changing her into a new spiritual people, purified by the Babylonian captivity and betrothed anew to her divine Lover “in justice and uprightness, in love and mercy” (Hosea 2:21)....

“The use of marriage as a symbol, characteristic of the Song, is found extensively also in the New Testament (Matthew 9:15; 25:1-13; John 3:29; 2 Corinthians 11:2; Ephesians 5:23-32; Revelation 19:7-9; 21:9-11)[2718].” (New American Bible) See question #6 below.

“Based on its first verse, this book is known by two titles: ‘Song of Songs’ and ‘Song of Solomon.’ The genitive phrase ‘song of songs’ is the Hebrew way of expressing the superlative, i.e., ‘the greatest, best, or most beautiful of songs.’ In Latin the book is called Canticles, which means ‘songs.’ In the Hebrew Bible it is one of the five megillot or scrolls, which were read to the Jewish

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people on feast days (the others being Ruth, Esther, Ecclesiastes, and Lamentations).

“This book is attributed to King Solomon by its own testimony (1:1), as well as by rabbinic tradition. Though some reject Solomonic authorship and consider the phrase ‘which is Solomon’s’ a dedication rather than an autograph, evangelical scholars are generally in agreement concerning the text’s affirmation of authorship. Historical and linguistic arguments against Solomonic authorship have been shown to be inconclusive. In support of Solomonic authorship are these additional internal evidences: (1) the name of the Hebrew king appears seven times in the book (1:1,5; 3:7,9,11; 8:11,12); (2) these allusions to Solomon are closely tied to references to kingship and royal luxury (1:4,12,13; 3:6,9; 7:5); and (3) geographical references seem to indicate an undivided kingdom, with indiscriminate mention of localities found in both kingdoms as if they were one political realm (6:4).

“Solomonic authorship demands a tenth-century B.C. date. Jewish tradition considers the book a product of Solomon’s early years (cf.Song of Songs 6:8[2719]), before his excessive multiplying of wives and concubines due to political expediency and sensual indulgence (cf. 1 Kings 11:1-8[2720]).

“This poem or song, which is never quoted directly in either the Old or New Testaments, is a unique literary masterpiece which is full of figures of speech and descriptive imagery. In the Hebrew Bible it is located in the third section known as the Writings (kethuvim, Heb.). Its abrupt changes of speaker and setting sometimes make the dialogue and plot difficult to follow. The song is a type of Semitic wisdom literature, and parallels the Book of Proverbs in many ways. As is true of much Hebrew poetry, the book is characterized by parallelism, the stating and restating of an idea in close context. Key images in the book include wine, the garden, the kiss, various spices and fruits, and countryside or pastoral metaphors. Of special note is the fact that the name of God does not appear directly in the book.

“The literary form and original context of the Song have been understood in various ways. The Song has been seen as a drama, a collection of Syrian wedding songs, a collection of pagan fertility cult liturgies, or an anthology of unrelated love songs. Basically all approaches can be seen to utilize generally one of three methods: (1) The allegorical view understands the book as a poem describing the relationship between God and Israel or between Christ and the church. Each detail is interpreted in a symbolic manner. This approach often finds as many interpretations as interpreters, which shows its dubious value. Genuine allegory will usually yield basically the same interpretation to its varied interpreters. (2) The typological view differs from the allegorical by keeping a historical foundation and by finding analogy not in all subordinate details, but only in the main outlines. The proponents of this view acknowledge the mutual love between Solomon and the Shulamite, but go beyond that to consider the divine analogy with its more elevated and spiritual meaning as being the more important. (3) The literal or lyrical view is one which takes the poem at face value, assigning the simplest and most natural interpretation to the text. Some who hold this position maintain that the poem is therefore merely a secular love song expressing human romantic love at its best without spiritual lesson or theological content. They value the Song only as a divine sanction upon marital love and a timely warning against perversions of marriage popular in Solomon’s time. However, there is also the option that the poem is a vital expression in frank but pure language of the divine theology of marriage as expressed in the love between husband and wife in the physical area, setting forth the ideal love relationship in monogamous marriage. Even the most intimate and personal human love is according to divine plan and as such is bestowed by God Himself (cf. Genesis 2:18-25; Matthew 19:4-6)[2721]. The richest and best of human love is only a foretaste of the matchless, greater love of God. In this book, the scarlet thread of redemption is revealed, as man, through seeing and experiencing the purity and holiness of earthly love in marriage, gains a better and clearer understanding of the eternal, heavenly love of Christ for His church.

“The climax of the book, and therefore the key to the Song, is found in Song of Songs 8:6,7[2722], where the incredible power and value of love is described. All events, discourses, and images in the book find their

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importance and worth summarized in these two verses. The Song closes as a beautiful affirmation of God’s pleasure in physical love between a man and a woman. Their relationship is to be unique and cherished. They are to value monogamy, permanence, understanding, and self-giving. Mutual satisfaction is their goal as they cleave to one another. Sexual intimacy is to be an anticipated time of union, joy, and pleasure. It is to be enjoyed often and with God’s blessing. Seeing one’s spouse as beautiful in appearance and character will enhance the marriage and foster its growth into old age. Such a description of marriage certainly provides a beautiful analogy of the relationship which should be nurtured between (1) God and His church, and (2) God and the individual believer.” (Believer’s Study Bible)

“The writer implies that he had 60 queens and 80 concubines (Song 6:8), but the Shulammite maid, whose marriage the Song celebrates, surpasses them all (Song 6:9,13). Solomon’s harem later increased to 700 wives and 300 concubines (1 Kings 11:1,3); therefore, Solomon evidently composed the Song during the early part of his reign. ‘Shulammite’ is probably equivalent to Shunammite, as suggested by the LXX (see 1 Kings 1:3). Shunem was a town in the territory of Issachar (Joshua 19:17,18), some 7 mi., ca. 11 km.) east of Megiddo (cf. 2 Kings 4:8-37[2723]). Several speakers appear in the Song, though where each enters is not always clear, especially in the English translation, which does not give the gender of the speakers as does the Hebrew. In view of the difficulty, even in the Hebrew text, of tracing the logical connection between the different parts of the poem, some have considered the Song to be an anthology of love songs, perhaps by different authors, rather than a single work by one author writing with a unified plan. However, the unity of the book seems indicated by the fact that Solomon’s name is prominent throughout (Song 1:1, 5; 3:7,9, 11; 8:11, 12[2724]), and by the recurrence of similar words, illustrations, and figures throughout (Song 2:16; cf. 6:3; 2:5; cf. 5:8). Furthermore, the bride’s family—her mother and brothers—are consistently mentioned, but never her father (see Song 1:6; 3:4; 8:2).” (SDA Bible Commentary)

“One famous Jewish Rabbi, Akiba, claimed that, “The whole world is not worth the day on which the Song of Songs was given to Israel; for all the Scriptures are holy, but the Song of Songs is the Holy of Holies”. Nearly 1200 years later, Bernard of Clairvaux was in substantial agreement with this verdict since he preached 86 sermons on the first two chapters. No book in the Bible has been subject to more varied assessments as to its worth, or as to how we ought to understand it. For that reason we must pay a little more attention than usual to such issues in this introduction. . .In the third century of the Christian era the great biblical scholar Origen of Alexandria in Egypt found in the Song four characters: the bridegroom who is Christ; the bride who is the Church; the friends of the bridegroom who are either angels or the prophets or the patriarchs of old; and the friends of the bride who stand for the souls of believers. . . “ I advise and counsel everyone who is not yet rid of the vexations of the flesh and blood and has not ceased to feel the passions of this bodily nature, to refrain from reading the book and the things that will be said about it ”. To guard against such misunderstanding, every detail of the book was pressed into service to provide spiritual guidance, and very different guidance could be gleaned from the same detail. Take the reference to “ doves ” in 1:15. Since the dove was a bird noted for its fidelity to its mate, Origen took this to refer to the Church faithful to Christ and mourning for him when he is absent. Bernard of Clairvaux, however, stressed the solitary retiring habits of the dove and used the text to encourage Christians to sit solitary and have nothing to do with the world’s crowds. Even John Calvin, who was not normally given to finding allegorical meaning in Scripture, felt that this was the only way to handle this book.

. . So many marks of a typical allegory are missing from this book that it is hard to believe that it was written as an allegory, and it is always a dangerous game to give an allegorical interpretation to something which was not intended as an allegory. Given the absence of such clues as to how to approach it as an allegory, the book has too easily become a happy hunting ground for those who wish to read into it their own spiritual views, for reasons that have nothing at all to do with the Song of Solomon. . . It has also been argued that the Song of Solomon is to be understood as a cultic

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drama or liturgy, celebrating the union of a god and goddess of fertility; which god and goddess depends upon whether we trace it back to Babylonian or Canaanite sources. The book is thus concerned with the recurring triumph of the forces of life over death, the annual victory of fertility over barrenness, upon which the continuing well-being of an essentially agricultural community depended. Since the king played the role of the god when this liturgical drama was enacted in the Temple, this accounts for the appearance of Solomon in the poems and indeed the traditional linking of the entire book with Solomon. The typical emphasis in such a cultic drama is, however, on the sexual act and the concept of fertility. This is not central to the Song of Solomon. It is not divine love, but human love and its longings and its fulfilment, its fears and its delights, which is described with a wealth of detail and poetic charm in this book. There is moreover no real evidence that a cultic drama of this pagan type was ever part of worship in the Jerusalem Temple, even in its worst days of apostasy. (Daily Study Bible: article on Song of Solomon: Intro)

This book is unique in Scripture. It raises a lot of questions in the minds of those who care about what the Bible says about God. In a world where sex was adulterated and perverted as a part of religion, this book suggests that God’s true plan is for one man and one woman to see and experience something wonderful in each other. That special “someone” is to fulfill a very important position in the mind and heart of the one who loves him or her. God designed even our bodies to contribute to this most important of human relationships. Then He designed us to be attracted to each other in an enduring way to form the basic unit of human civilization. He intended that union to be so close and intimate that the two are to become “one flesh”. That relationship is supposed to be private and personal. We do not usually talk about it to others outside of the relationship. But that relationship has been the inspiration and subject of more great literature and music than any other. How detailed and explicit should we be in talking about it? Different cultures have had very different answers to that question. Solomon was so excited about his lover that he decided to write a love poem about their relationship. Then he chose to make that love poem public. God apparently decided that this was an important enough topic that Solomon’s love poem became a part of Scripture. God no doubt helped Solomon and his lover express their ideas about each other. God then chose to hold up this example for the world to see in contrast to the practices that formed such a basic part of the fertility cult religions of the surrounding nations.

We may have some problems with the explicit language and word pictures used. We may not even understand exactly what each part of the story referred to in the original context. But we can certainly agree that it is closer to God’s ideal than the multitude of perverse variations, using both male and female “prostitutes” that were being practiced in other religions in Solomon’s day.

Solomon certainly wandered far away from God’s ideal for his life. But this brief poem gives us a glimpse into the idealism that was such a part of Solomon’s early life. Thus it rounds out for us the picture that we have of Solomon’s life and times. As such it is an important part of Scripture and it provides us with a lot to think about as we compare our own relationships today.

2.    Why does Song of Solomon, which is apparently a story of youthful human love, come after Ecclesiastes? Isn’t that the same kind of contrast we see in Judges/Ruth? Does it not provide a nice balance after reading Psalms, Proverbs and Ecclesiastes?

It appears that these four books of poetry are arranged in order of length. There does not seem to be any great theological importance to the order we have in our Bibles. In Hebrew Bibles the order is somewhat different. In the section known as “the Writings” the order of the books is: Psalms, Proverbs, Job, The Song of Songs, Ruth, Lamentations, Ecclesiastes, Esther, Daniel, Ezra, Nehemiah, 1 and 2 Chronicles.

3.    Can we truly learn anything about God from a book that never mentions God even by name (compare Esther)?

“If the Bible is the book about God, then one may well ask what a narrative about human

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sexuality has to do with theology. This is an even more potent question when one observes that God is never mentioned in the entire text (except possibly in Song 8:6[2725]) nor are there any references to prayer, worship, or piety. In this respect it bears similarities to the Book of Esther, which also does not mention God. Nevertheless, Esther is a story of the redemption of God’s people and includes episodes of prayer, fasting, and thanksgiving. Such themes are notably absent from Solomon’s poetic story, making it unique among the books of the Bible.

“To resolve this difficulty, it is important to remember that the Bible not only describes who God is and what God does, it also tells us what God desires for His people. The Song of Solomon provides an example of how God created male and female to live in happiness and fulfillment. People are created as sexual beings. It would be wrong to suggest that the full experience of our humanity is impossible apart from sexual union in marriage, since this would disqualify the widowed, divorced, and the celibate—including our Savior who was celibate. At the same time, God ordained marriage from the beginning of creation: man and woman were to become one flesh (Gen. 2:25).

“Because of its emphasis on human love, this book presents an extraordinary variety of expressions for love, perhaps the richest selection in all Hebrew Scripture. But within this celebration of love, the book condemns unchaste relations outside of marriage—and in particular, sexual experimentation before marriage. Indeed, this book may contain the Bible’s strongest argument for chastity before marriage. Ironically because of its explicit language, ancient and modern Jewish sages forbade men to read the book before they were thirty (and presumably kept women from reading it at all). We cannot ignore the sexual content of the book, but we can appreciate the context in which it is placed—a godly marriage. The Song of Solomon is necessary reading not only for the married, but for young people who want to understand God’s design for marriage.” (Nelson’s Study Bible)

This book says a great deal about God. While we may even be embarrassed by some of its explicit language, God isn’t! He invented all of the subject matter! And He wants us to appreciate what He made for us.

4.    There are allusions in the Bible to 20 or more other books that are not preserved in our current Bibles. (See examples in Study Guide for 2 Chronicles) Why did the Jewish fathers who first put together the Hebrew Canon include the Song of Solomon? Why do we keep it today? Does it say something about life in God’s universe, and of the feelings He wishes people to have for each other?

“Its right to a place in the sacred canon was debated as late as New Testament times, and it is of interest to note that the New Testament never quotes from it or alludes to it. The book claims Solomon as its author, and in view of the fact that he is known to have composed 1,005 ‘songs’ (1 Kings 4:32[2726]) there is no reason why he could not have written ‘the song of songs, which is Solomon’s’ (Song 1:1).” (SDA Bible Dictionary)

We know that Martin Luther questioned the canonicity of four New Testament books: Hebrews, James, Jude and Revelation. Why didn’t he challenge this book? Did he find some special meaning or redeeming grace in it?

5.    If Solomon wrote 1005 songs (1 Kings 4:32) and this is the best of them all (this is suggested by the Hebrew name of the book), why don’t we sing it or at least use it more often? Is this the only “song” from Solomon that we have preserved (compare Psalms 72 and 127)[2727]? Why are we even embarrassed to read it out loud? Why did the Jews refuse to let anyone under 30 read it (according to the early church fathers)? Why did ancient Jews read it on the 8th day of Passover? To whom?

The Jews regarded this as a song about God’s love for His people. This is what, they believe, led Him to rescue them from Egyptian bondage. Thus it is read as a celebration of Passover and its memories of the Exodus. Only men over thirty were allowed to read it or probably even listen to it!

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6. Is it true that God’s love for His people is well illustrated by marriage?

“The Song of Solomon reveals three qualities of love between a man and a woman: self-giving, desire, and commitment. In all these ways love reflects the greater love of God our Creator. God delights in us and gives Himself to us. God desires us wholly for Himself. God feels deeply both the pain and pleasure of His relationship with us. Although it is not proper to attribute sexuality to God, there is an analogy between the love we experience in marriage and the love that God has for us. The Old Testament prophets compare the love of God for His people to the love of a bridegroom for the bride (e.g., Jeremiah 2:2 Hosea 2:14—20)[2728]. Christian marriage, according to Paul, should be modeled on the most perfect expression of such love, the self-giving love of Christ for His church and its willing response (Ephesians 5:22,33[2729]). The climax of the Song of Solomon is the praise of vehement and faithful love (Song 8:6,7).” (New Geneva Study Bible)

Look at some of the ways in which the Bible compares God’s love for His people and marital love:

Isaiah 5:1,2:

1    Let me sing a lovesong to my beloved about his vineyard:

My beloved had a vineyard on a fertile hill.

2    He dug it up, removed its stones,

planted it with the choicest vines, built a watchtower in it,

and made a winepress in it.

Then he waited for it to produce good grapes,

but it produced only sour, wild grapes.” (God’s Word)

Isaiah 54:4-8:

“4 Do not be afraid—you will not be disgraced again; you will not be humiliated. You will forget your unfaithfulness as a young wife, and your desperate loneliness as a widow.

5    Your Creator will be like a husband to you— the Lord Almighty is his name. The holy God of Israel will save you— he is the ruler of all the world.

6    Israel, you are like a young wife, deserted by her husband and deeply distressed. But the Lord calls you back to him and says:

7    “For one brief moment I left you; with deep love I will take you back.

8    I turned away angry for only a moment, but I will show you my love for ever.” So says the Lord who saves you.” Good News Bible

Jeremiah 2:2,3,32:

The Lord told me 2 to proclaim this message to everyone in Jerusalem. “I remember how faithful you were when you were young, how you loved me when we were first married; you followed me through the desert, through a land that had not been sown.

3 Israel, you belonged to me alone; you were my sacred possession. I sent suffering and disaster on everyone who hurt you.

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I, the Lord, have spoken.”

32 Does a young woman forget her jewelry, or a bride her wedding dress? But my people have forgotten me for more days than can be counted. (GNB)

Jeremiah 3:20:

20 “But like an unfaithful wife, you have not been faithful to me.I, the Lord, have spoken.” Good News Bible: Today’s English Version

Jeremiah 31:32:

32 It will not be like the old covenant that I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand and led them out of Egypt. Although I was like a husband to them, they did not keep that covenant. (GNB)

Ezekiel 16 and 23

Hosea: Hosea’s whole book is based on this idea.

Matthew 9:15:

15 “Jesus answered, ‘Do you expect the guests at a wedding party to be sad as long as the bridegroom is with them? Of course not! But the day will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast. Good News Bible: Today’s English Version

Matthew 25:1-13: The Parable of the Wedding Feast

John 3:29:

29 “The bridegroom is the one to whom the bride belongs; but the bridegroom’s friend, who stands by and listens, is glad when he hears the bridegroom’s voice. This is how my own happiness is made complete.” Good News Bible

2 Corinthians 11:2:

2 “I am jealous for you, just as God is; you are like a pure virgin whom I have promised in marriage to one man only, Christ himself.” Good News Bible

Ephesians 5:21-33: The love of a husband and wife should be like the love of Christ for the church.

Revelation 21:2:

2 And I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared and ready, like a bride dressed to meet her husband. Good News Bible: Today’s English Version

It should be apparent from all of this that God working through Biblical writers finds many parallels between marriage and His love for His people. This should be an inspiration to both married couples and to the church!

7. After reading this Song through, are you encouraged to use portions of the Song of Solomon as key texts? Is there a special meaning in many of the details? If you allegorize or interpret every detail, what would you do with Song of Solomon 6:8? Who are the “sixty queens and eighty concubines”? Is God asking us to speculate on any number of potential meanings that could be derived from this book? Compare Song of Solomon 3:6-10. What is implied by Song of Solomon 3:10, TLB, “...With love from the girls of Jerusalem!?”

Surely a careful reading of the book would suggest that it should always be taken as a whole and never chopped up into little pieces to be separated and speculated on. It has been suggested that the book forms a giant chiasm. A Chiasm is a poetic device in which a poem is organized so that

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as you read along you are carried deeper and deeper into the heart of the poem. At the center of the poem (in this case Song 4:16-5:1) is the key idea of the poem and then the reader is led back up out of the poem step by step. The steps down are somewhat parallel to the steps back up. (See appendix)

The most obvious meaning is probably exactly what Solomon intended. We sometimes have trouble with that because of our inhibitions. If Adam and Eve were God’s original masterpieces here on planet earth and He put them in the garden—where we all should be still—and He dressed them in beautiful light so they could be naked and unashamed, it should be clear that God doesn’t share our inhibitions!

8.    Do you think it is right that a book about human love should have a place almost in the center of the Bible? How could it be so exalted in the Scriptures? Is it all right to love the beautiful? Did the Holy Spirit inspire Solomon to describe his feelings for this girl that he loved? Is God a highly personal individual Himself? Does He want our relationship to be of this quality?

See question #6 above.

“From a modern Occidental point of view it may be difficult to account for the Song of Songs’ finding a place in the sacred canon. For centuries, apparently, even many Jews were not certain that it deserved a place alongside the other inspired works, though the Jews have generally interpreted it as a spiritual allegory of God’s love for ancient Israel. The allegorical pattern of interpretation was followed by Hippolytus of Rome in the 3d cent. A.D., and Origen, who lived in Palestine and is known as the father of the allegorical method of the interpretation of Scripture. According to Origen, the king represents Christ, and the Shulammite maid His church, or perhaps individuals within the church—a spiritual relationship that recurs frequently in the NT (Eph 5:25-33; Rev 19:7-9; 21:9; etc.). However, careful students of Scripture generally look upon the allegorical method of interpretation with caution, in view of the fact that this method almost inevitably lends itself to the fanciful opinions of the interpreter. A safe approach to the interpretation of the Song of Songs would seem to be to consider it simply as what it purports to be—a poetic narrative commemorating Solomon’s love for a lovely country maid—and to consider that it found a place in the sacred canon by virtue of its exalted idealization of marriage as ordained by the Creator, albeit with a rich Oriental fervor that tends to puzzle the Western reader. It is possible, however, to draw lessons of spiritual value from the book without necessarily considering these lessons as the intent of Inspiration in the composition and canonization of the book.” (SDA Bible Dictionary)

Didn’t God invent sex and marriage? Who made us in such a way that we are attracted to each other? Is that sinful? Is it inherently wrong? God knows that we need every means possible to try to understand His love. Ideal human marital love is probably the closest parallel that we know and so God uses it.

9.    What would happen if you read this book to your family for worship and then asked your teenage son to pray? What do you think he would say? What would God want him to say?

Should we follow the Jewish tradition and not allow anyone under thirty to read this book? There are many parallels between passages in this book and poetry from the ancient fertility cult religions. In their case, it is considered a part of their religion, but to us it seems almost pornographic. How can we get our children to see the sexual relationship as something wonderful and God-ordained and created by Him in an environment where sex is used and abused in every way possible? How did we get from the beautiful relationship created by God for Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden to living in a society where sex is primarily used or perverted and sold for advertising and personal gratification?

No doubt Satan realized the potential benefits that God could bestow on us through the marriage relationship and that is why he has done everything possible to distort, confuse, and pervert our

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ideas on the subject. In the great controversy, any means that God might use to benefit us and to teach us something is going to automatically be a target for Satan to destroy. In our day, it is almost impossible to rediscover God’s original plan if one is continually exposed to the counterfeit Satan version. But God’s original plan has not lost its power and those who have been able to experience even a part of the benefits of it will turn away from the counterfeit immediately.

10. Even if we manage to discover something of significance about marriage, human love and sexuality in this book, what does it say about God’s role in the cosmic conflict? Is Satan involved in this book in any way?

Which came first: marriage, human love and sexuality, or sin? Does Satan understand human sexuality? Since Satan has wanted so much to be like God, especially to be able to create like God, is he (Satan) jealous of our ability to procreate? Does that have anything to do with his efforts to pervert this God-given power? Does Satan understand our feelings for each other, especially our feelings of sexual love in the marital relationship? Does our ability to procreate help God in any way to answer Satan’s accusations in the great controversy? How? Does dealing with our children (like raising teenagers) teach us anything about Satan or about God? About sin and rebellion? About the challenges God faces in trying to reach us and communicate with us?

© Copyright 2000-2006, Kenneth Hart khart@llu.edu

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Appendix: CHIASTIC STRUCTURE OF THE SONG OF SOLOMON

38. LAMENTATIONS - A TEACHER’S GUIDE

THE CENTRAL QUESTION:

What does this book/story say to us about God?

This question may be broken down further as follows:

a. Why did God do it/allow it?

_b. Why did He record it for our study?_

1. If you had been on the committee to pick the books of the Bible would you have included The Lamentations? Did you find Lamentations inspiring? Helpful? Does Lamentations add to our picture of God? Who was the author and when was it written?

“Lamentations, Book of. A series of laments composed by the prophet Jeremiah as an elegy upon the fall and destruction of Jerusalem in 586 B.C. Hebrew Bibles title the book by the first word of the elegy, ’ekah, “how.” According to the Talmud the Jews also knew the book as Qinoth, “Lamentations.” This title the translators of the Septuagint rendered as Threnoi [tears/wailings, or dirges], to which the Latin Vulgate added the explanatory note “That Is the Lamentations of Jeremiah the Prophet.” The English title, “The Lamentations of Jeremiah,” is an abbreviation of the Vulgate title. Prior to the rise of modern critical scholarship Jews and Christians alike uniformly attributed the book to the prophet Jeremiah. Modern critics point out that in the ancient Hebrew canon it stands, not in the prophetic section, as would be expected if its author were a prophet, but in the Hagiographa, or Writings, the 3rd section of the Hebrew canon. However, certain striking parallels of phraseology and subject matter between the books of Lamentations and Jeremiah point to a common authorship (compare Lam 3:14, 48 with Jer 9:1; 20:7; Lam 3:52-56 with Jer 12:9; 37:16; 38:6)[2730]. Repeated references in Lam 3 (see especially Lam 3:14, 48-57, 61-63[2731]) to the personal sufferings of the author correspond with what is known concerning the experiences of Jeremiah.

“The prophet Jeremiah bore God’s message to Israel prior to and during the early years of the Babylonian captivity. Tender of heart, he sensed keenly the evils of which the nation was guilty, and mourned as God revealed to him the retribution soon to overtake his beloved Jerusalem (see Jer 4:19; 10:20; 13:17; 14:17[2732]; etc.). Jeremiah counseled submission to the Babylonian conquerors as a means of avoiding further suffering and disaster (see Jer 27:11-14; 29:4-7[2733]), but kings and people alike refused to heed the message. As a result the “yokes of wood,” representative of the comparatively light suffering occasioned by the 1st and 2nd invasions of Judah by Nebuchadnezzar, were replaced by “yokes of iron”. This perversity of spirit made inevitable the captivity of practically the entire nation, the desolation of Jerusalem and Judea, and the destruction of the Temple. Only a few of the poorest people of the land were left, scattered about the countryside. Little wonder that Jeremiah is known as ‘the weeping prophet’—he had more than enough to weep about. In Lamentations he pours forth the sorrow of his heart.” (SDA Bible Dictionary)

“As was their custom, the Jews used the first word of the book as its title, and it originally became known as ’ekah, “How!” This word was commonly used to mean something like “Alas!” Compare its use in (Lam 2:1; 4:1; and Isaiah 1:21)[2734]. Some also referred to the book as qinot or “lamentations,” however, and this is how we arrived at the English title.” (Spirit Filled Life Study Bible)

“Author: The Book of Lamentations is traditionally attributed to the prophet Jeremiah. This has been true at least since the time of the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Old Testament (c. 250 B.C.), where a note about the prophet’s authorship of the book appears as a heading before the first verse. The idea of Jeremiah as the author may have been encouraged by 2 Chr. 35:25[2735], where we are told that the prophet composed laments for King Josiah. There is no direct evidence in the book

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itself that Jeremiah was its author, although passages in the work distinctly recall his character and language, especially ch. 3 (Lamentations 3:48-51; Jer. 14:17)[2736]. However, since the book consists of five different poems that vary somewhat in style, sometimes seeming to be spoken by an individual (ch. 3) and sometimes by a community (ch. 5), it may be that the poems come from different pens.” (New Geneva Study Bible)

“Historical Setting. Lamentations was composed [during or] after the author personally witnessed Judah’s downfall and the capture of Jerusalem, with the resultant suffering of his people. In its final form, the book cannot be dated much later than Jerusalem’s fall, 586 B.C. The author thus pens his sorrow over the tragedy that befell his country and city, and over the people’s sin that invoked God’s severe judgment. In response to all that has happened, he urges repentance (cf.Lam 5:21[2737]) and leaves his bearers with a note of hope by personally relying on the sure mercies of God (Lam 3:22, 23[2738]).” (King James Version Study Bible)

“Lamentations is one of the five “Megillot” (“scrolls”) read on feast days, and is located after Proverbs in the final division of the Bible, which is called the “Kethuvim” (“Writings”). Today it is read on the “Ninth of Av [or Ab],” a fast day which commemorates the destruction of the temples of Solomon and Herod, as well as other major Jewish catastrophes. According to Jewish tradition, the Messiah would be born on this day (in July-August) and would turn mourning into rejoicing....

“THEME: The Destruction of Jerusalem

“Lamentations is an acrostic poem built upon the twenty-two letters of the Hebrew alphabet. Its acrostic structure not only aided in its memorization, but also it helped to convey in a steady, methodical way the overriding message of sorrow and lamentation. The prophecy poignantly depicts the sorrows which encompassed Jerusalem when its demise came. Jeremiah assesses the reasons for the judgment of God and declares repeatedly that God’s judgment is just. Chapter 3, however, is vibrant with the themes of hope and deliverance. The brief book consists of five poems, comprising our five chapters in English... The book was written as a reminder of the fall of Jerusalem and of the burning of the temple. Lamentations is read annually in the land of Palestine to remind the Jewish people of their hour of deepest humiliation and grief, caused by their sin and guilt, which necessitated God’s judgment. Furthermore, Lamentations enables the people to hope for the future deliverance which God has promised.” (Believer’s Study Bible)

One pattern suggested by the book of Lamentations is as follows: sin---suffering (1:8); sorrow-- repentance (1:20); prayer--hope (3:19-24); faith-- restoration (5:21).

“Lamentations features six major themes, all linked with the concept of suffering:

“1. Their Suffering Was the Result of Their Sin. This strong theme is acknowledged in each chapter (as in 1:5; 2:14; 3:42; 4:13; 5:16[2739]). By the time the poems were written, this was obviously fully accepted. Even the Babylonians acknowledged the fact (Jer. 40:3[2740]). They knew that their suffering had not come upon them by chance. It was due to the wrath of God provoked by their sin (Lam 2:1[2741]). He was dealing with their spiritual condition, and they were supposed to take it personally.

“2. Their Suffering Was Seen as Coming from God Rather Than from Men. The Babylonians were no more than an instrument in His hands. The fact that He was the ultimate cause is brought out throughout the book. No less than forty-four verses refer to this fact—an average of 1 out of every 3.5 verses. A few examples are Lam 1:13, 15; 2:1, 4; 3:1, 37, 38[2742].

“3. Their Suffering Could Direct Them Toward God. The prophet is constantly conscious of God, of His purposes, and of His dealings with His people. There is no indication here of suffering resulting in a total abandonment of God or an eradication of His principles from their minds.

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“4. Suffering, Tears, and Prayer Belong Together. They were encouraged to pour out their hearts to God, to weep before Him, and to tell Him all the details of their pain, grief, and frustration. Each chapter, except chapter 4, ends with a prayer. But then the whole of chapter 5 is a prayer, as though making up for this lack. The prayers are both detailed (Lam 2:20, 21; 5:1-10[2743]) and emotional (Lam 1:20, 21; 3:48-51[2744]). They contain the language of grief and repentance (Lam 1:20; 3:40-42[2745]), and are an indication that it is entirely appropriate to pray like this when the occasion demands it.

“5. Prayer Should Always Look for Some Ray of Hope. It should never be completely given over to sorrow. After the detailed descriptions of suffering and sorrow in the first two and one-half chapters, a new understanding seems to surface in Lam 3:21-24[2746]. Here the poet speaks about hope, and about God’s mercies, compassion, and faithfulness. It was a realization that a manifestation of God’s discipline did not mean that His love had ceased. When the discipline had accomplished His purpose, the circumstances would change (Lam 3:31, 32[2747]). God may have been using Babylon, but that did not mean that they were His elect or that He favored their cruel methods (Lam 3:34-36[2748]). The future held a vindication of Israel over their enemies (Lam 3:58-66[2749]).

“6. Their Responsibility Was to Submit to Their Sufferings Patiently. Their sorrow had to be accepted in patience, with the realization that it would end when God’s will had been accomplished (Lam 3:26-32[2750]).” (Spirit Filled Life Study Bible)

“Theological Significance • Like the Book of Job, the Book of Lamentations addresses human suffering. Unlike Job, Lamentations focuses on national suffering—specifically, the suffering of Judah. Along the way, the book tackles some of the toughest questions faced by God’s people: How can God’s love and justice be reconciled with our pain? If God is in control of history, how could a nation suffer so much so soon after it had been led by such godly leaders as King Josiah and those involved in that revival? Where was God during His people’s unhappiest hour?

“The Book of Lamentations offers some very practical theological reflections on the purposes and results of suffering. Rather than explaining away pain, the book helps us face pain. By avoiding cheery cliches, the Book of Lamentations provides companionship for those who are suffering and plants seeds of hope for rebuilding after the suffering is over.

“In fact, the anger of God is a sign that He cares. The Lord’s anger is never capricious or unreasonable. His discipline is a sign that He has not abandoned us. Even in His display of anger, God is still full of mercy and grace. The beacon light in the midst of disintegration is found in 3:22-24. Come what may, God remains faithful. His faithfulness is the greatest comfort to those who suffer; His compassions are new every morning.” (Nelson Study Bible)

“Lamentations is a concentrated and intense biblical witness to suffering. Suffering is a huge, unavoidable element in the human condition. To be human is to suffer. No one gets an exemption. It comes as no surprise then to find that our Holy Scriptures, immersed as they are in the human condition, provide extensive witness to suffering.

“There are two polar events in the history of the Hebrew people: the Exodus from Egypt and the Exile into Babylon. Exodus is the definitive story of salvation into a free life. God delivered his people from Egyptian slavery (in about 1200 B.C.). It is a story of freedom. It's accompanied by singing and dancing—an exuberant experience. Exile is the definitive story of judgment accompanied by immense suffering. God's people are taken into Babylonian slavery (the fall of Jerusalem in 587 B.C. marks the event). It is a time of devastation and lament. It is a terrible experience. The two events, Exodus and Exile, are bookends holding together the wide-ranging experiences of God's people that fall between the exuberance that accompanies salvation and the suffering associated with judgment.

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“Lamentations, written out of the Exile experience, provides the community of faith with a form and vocabulary for dealing with loss and pain.

“The precipitating event, the fall of Jerusalem, is told in (2 Kings 25 and Jeremiah 52)[2751]. It is impossible to overstate either the intensity or the complexity of the suffering that came to a head in the devastation of Jerusalem and then continued on into the seventy years of exile in Babylon. Loss was total. Carnage was rampant. Cannibalism and sacrilege were twin horrors stalking the streets of destroyed Jerusalem. The desperate slaying of innocent children showed complete loss of respect for human worth, and the angry murder of priests showed absolute loss of respect for divine will.

“The worst that can happen to body and spirit, to person and nation, happened here — a nadir of suffering. And throughout the world the suffering continues, both in large-scale horrors and in personal agonies.

“Neither explaining suffering nor offering a program for the elimination of suffering, Lamentations keeps company with the extensive biblical witness that gives dignity to suffering by insisting that God enters our suffering and is companion to our suffering.” (The Message)

It should be clear that some major issues are covered in this book. It helps to explain what happened to Solomon’s temple, Jerusalem and the people of Judah. The writings of Jeremiah are the major evidence we have about this siege and the final destruction of Jerusalem. Only sources that are thought to be influenced by the Hebrew Scriptures mention this third campaign of Nebuchadnezzar against Jerusalem.

The book of Lamentations helps to answer the question so often asked in times of distress and difficulty: Where is God when things seem to go wrong? Why do the wicked prosper? (See Jeremiah 12:1) This book makes it quite clear that many if not most of the troubles that we face are our own fault. Fortunately, God never abandons us fully, even if we have done terrible things such as were being done in Jerusalem at this time.

2. The Lamentations is in poetic verse form, but of an unusual pattern. Each stanza begins with the next letter in the Hebrew alphabet (There are 22 letters in the Hebrew alphabet). Such a poem is known as an Acrostic. Imagine creating this literary masterpiece with the first stanza beginning with Aleph, the next with Beth, the next one with Gimel and so on, while Jerusalem was under siege by Nebuchadnezzar. Chapter one, two and four are like this. Chapter three is even more complicated. There are 66 verses, and the first three begin with Aleph, the second three with Beth, and the third three with Gimel etc.! Only Chapter five doesn’t exactly follow this pattern. Why do you think Jeremiah did this? Why would he write such a sad message in such a poetically balanced form? Who do you think this was written for? Did they all have copies of the “Bible” available to them? How many people during Jeremiah’s lifetime actually heard or read his writings? Do you think he wrote Lamentations like this so it could be an aid to memorization?

“The clearest evidence for meter in Hebrew poetry is the Book of Lamentations, which seems to use a line of five beats divided three-two. This meter is called qinah, after the Hebrew name for Lamentations. It is most often found in poetry of this sorrowful kind.” (New Geneva Study Bible)

“The book is made up of 5 elegiac poems, corresponding to its 5 chapters. The first 4 are written in the qinah or elegiac meter characteristic of Hebrew poetry, and the 5th, a prayer rather than an elegy, is in the usual Hebrew poetic meter. Lamentations 1, 2, 4, 5 each have 22 verses, corresponding with the 22 distinct letters of the Hebrew alphabet, while chapter 3 has 66 verses. In chapters 1, 2, and 4 the verses are arranged alphabetically, v 1 beginning with the 1st letter of the Hebrew alphabet, v 2 with the 2nd, and so on except for small variations in ch 2. In ch 3 the first 3

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verses begin with the 1st letter of the alphabet, the next 3 with the 2nd letter, and so on to the end. The 5th chapter does not observe an alphabetical arrangement. It is of interest that the letters pe and ‘ayin are presented three times in a reversed order (ch 2:16, 17; 3:46-51; 4:16, 17) in contrast to the usual order ’ayin-pe followed in other Biblical acrostic compositions. That this is no mistake, but simply a variant order, has been proved by the list of alphabetic characters preserved on the ostracon found in 1976 at ’Izbet Sartah, probably Biblical Ebenezer, of 1200 B.C.” (SDA Bible Dictionary)

“Literary Structure • The five chapters of Lamentations are five poems with ch. 3 as the midpoint or climax. Accordingly, the first two chapters build an “ascent,” or crescendo, to the climax, the grand confession in 3:23, 24: “Great is Your faithfulness. The Lord is my portion.” The last two chapters are a “descent,” or decrescendo, from the pinnacle of ch. 3.

“Chapters 1 and 5 provide summaries of the siege and fall of Jerusalem while chs. 2 and 4 offer more detailed and explicit descriptions of the devastation. Chapter 3 moves from a mixture of lament and hope in vv. 1-24 to colorful praise of the compassionate and faithful Lord in vv. 25-39. This is followed by the confession of vv. 40-54 and the accompanying prayer of vv. 55-66. Then ch. 4 relaxes the emotional intensity of the earlier chapters, dispassionately describing how suffering affected all classes of the populace of Jerusalem. The final chapter is a prayer that begins with “Remember, O Lord” (5:1) and ends with “Turn us back to You, O Lord” (5:21). In this way, Jeremiah’s lament moves from mourning to praise and then from praise to a prayer for restoration.” (Nelson Study Bible)

“The five chapters of the book are five poems. These poems take the form of laments, such as appear in other books of the Old Testament, principally the Psalms. Laments (both of the community and the individual) have certain typical characteristics, of which the most common are: (a) complaint about adversity, which the Lord either tolerated or even caused; (b) confession of trust; (c) appeal for deliverance, on the grounds of the Lord’s character and His covenant; and (d) certainty of a hearing, often with an assurance that the enemies and persecutors will in turn experience the wrath of God (Ps. 74). The Book of Lamentations has these typical marks, though it represents a unique set of variations upon them. It is sometimes compared with a particular kind of lament, the funeral lament (Amos 5:1-3[2752]), but it does not quite fit this category, because Jerusalem is not uniformly portrayed as ‘dead.’” (New Geneva Study Bible)

We are not exactly sure where Jeremiah was or what he was doing at the time he wrote Lamentations. Was he in “prison”? In any case it seems certain that during the siege of Jerusalem there was not a great deal for him to do. He could not leave the city to go to his ancestral home in Anathoth. He may have composed these poems to be recited or read at the temple. Since writing material would have been virtually impossible to get at the time, he may have memorized this “poetry” as he composed it. It is also possible that he recited it to others to encourage them to memorize it. We don’t know for sure how it was preserved or who brought it to Ezra who presumably included it with the other portions of his “Bible” during his day.

3. Who seems to be causing all of Jerusalem’s and Jeremiah’s suffering? See Lamentations 1:5,12,15,16; 2:1-12,16[2753]. Is God actively involved in doing these things, or is there another explanation for such wording? Compare Jeremiah 12:1 and Psalms 77:1-10.

Lamentations 1:5: “Her enemies succeeded; they hold her in their power. The Lord has made her suffer for all her many sins; Her children have been captured and taken away.” (GNB)

Lamentations 1:12: “Look at me!” she cries to everyone who passes by. “No one has ever had pain like mine, Pain that the Lord brought on me in the time of his anger.”(GNB)

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Lamentations 1:15,16: 15,,The Lord jeered at all my strongest soldiers; He sent an army to destroy my young men. He crushed my people like grapes in a winepress. 16 That is why my eyes are overflowing with tears. No one can comfort me; no one can give me courage. The enemy has conquered me; my people have nothing left.” (GNB)

Lamentations 2:1-12: 1 The Lord in his anger has covered Zion with darkness. Its heavenly splendor he has turned into ruins. On the day of his anger he abandoned even his Temple.

2    The Lord destroyed without mercy every village in Judah And tore down the forts that defended the land. He brought disgrace on the kingdom and its rulers.

3    In his fury he shattered the strength of Israel; He refused to help us when the enemy came. He raged against us like fire, destroying everything.

4    He aimed his arrows at us like an enemy; He killed all those who were our joy and delight. Here in Jerusalem we felt his burning anger.

5    Like an enemy, the Lord has destroyed Israel; He has left her forts and palaces in ruins. He has brought on the people of Judah unending sorrow.

6    He smashed to pieces the Temple where we worshiped him; He has put an end to holy days and Sabbaths. King and priest alike have felt the force of his anger.

7    The Lord rejected his altar and deserted his holy Temple; He allowed the enemy to tear down its walls. They shouted in victory where once we had worshiped in joy.

8    The Lord was determined that the walls of Zion should fall; He measured them off to make sure of total destruction. The towers and walls now lie in ruins together.

9    The gates lie buried in rubble, their bars smashed to pieces. The king and the noblemen now are in exile. The Law is no longer taught, and the prophets have no visions from the Lord.

10    Jerusalem’s old men sit on the ground in silence, With dust on their heads and sackcloth on their bodies. Young women bow their heads to the ground.

11    My eyes are worn out with weeping; my soul is in anguish.

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I am exhausted with grief at the destruction of my people. Children and babies are fainting in the streets of the city.

12 Hungry and thirsty, they cry to their mothers; They fall in the streets as though they were wounded,

And slowly die in their mothers’ arms.” Good News Bible: Today’s English Version Lamentations 2:16: “All your enemies mock you and glare at you with hate. They curl their lips and sneer, “We have destroyed it! This is the day we have waited for!” (GNB)

Once again we are faced with the question that we have struggled with on numerous other occasions. What is the relationship between the people’ sins, the Lord’s anger, the conquest ambitions of their enemies, and the punishment and destruction that result? It

should be obvious that Jeremiah felt that God was involved and the enemy were involved. He speaks of Nebuchadnezzar as Yahweh’s servant! (See Jeremiah 25:8,9; 27:6; 43:10[2754]) Did God need to use Nebuchadnezzar to punish His own people? We know from previous passages that God could have sent a plague, a famine, or even have struck some of the Israelites dead Himself, if He wanted to or needed to. But for some reason, on this occasion, God chose to use the Babylonians. Or was God involved at all? Did He just sit back and allow the Babylonians to do what they wanted to do anyway? Was God not able to prevent the actions of the Babylonians? He apparently couldn’t prevent the rebellion and idolatry of the Jews! What role could God play without violating anyone’s freedom here?

4. Do you think Jeremiah’s experience was similar to David’s? (Psalms 6:6 and Lamentations 1:16)[2755] Is Jeremiah complaining? Didn’t David do the same thing? Did others have similar experiences?

Many people in the Bible are described as weeping:

Job 2:12: “While they were still a long way off they saw Job, but did not recognize him. When they did, they began to weep and wail, tearing their clothes in grief and throwing dust into the air and on their heads.” (GNB)

Job 16:20: “My friends scorn me; my eyes pour out tears to God.” (GNB)

Psalms 6:6,7: 6 “I am worn out with grief; every night my bed is damp from my weeping; my pillow is soaked with tears.

7 I can hardly see; my eyes are so swollen from the weeping caused by my enemies.” (GNB)

Psalms 31:10: “I am exhausted by sorrow, and weeping has shortened my life. I am weak from all my troubles; even my bones are wasting away.” (GNB)

Psalms 42:3: “Day and night I cry, and tears are my only food; all the time my enemies ask me,

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“Where is your God?” (GNB)

Psalms 80:4-6: 4 “How much longer, Lord God Almighty, will you be angry with your people’s prayers?

5    You have given us sorrow to eat, a large cup of tears to drink.

6    You let the surrounding nations fight over our land; our enemies insult us.” (GNB)

Psalms 119:136: “My tears pour down like a river, because people do not obey your law.” (GNB)

Isaiah 16:9: “Now I weep for Sibmah’s vines as I weep for Jazer. My tears fall for Heshbon and Elealeh, because there is no harvest to make the people glad.” (GNB)

Jeremiah 4:8: “So put on sackcloth, and weep and wail because the fierce anger of the Lord has not turned away from Judah.” (GNB) These were God’s instructions!

Jeremiah 9:1: “I wish my head were a well of water, and my eyes a fountain of tears, so that I could cry day and night for my people who have been killed.” (GNB)

Jeremiah 14:17: 17 The Lord commanded me to tell the people about my sorrow and to say: “May my eyes flow with tears day and night, may I never stop weeping,

for my people are deeply wounded and are badly hurt.” (GNB)

Lamentations 1:16: “That is why my eyes are overflowing with tears. No one can comfort me; no one can give me courage. The enemy has conquered me; my people have nothing left.” (GNB)

Lamentations 2:11: “My eyes are worn out with weeping; my soul is in anguish. I am exhausted with grief at the destruction of my people. Children and babies are fainting in the streets of the city.” (GNB)

Lamentations 2:18: “O Jerusalem, let your very walls cry out to the Lord! Let your tears flow like rivers night and day; Wear yourself out with weeping and grief!” (GNB)

Lamentations 3:48-50: 48 “My eyes flow with rivers of tears at the destruction of my people.

49    “My tears will pour out in a ceaseless stream

50    Until the Lord looks down from heaven and sees us.” (GNB)

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Malachi 2:13 “This is another thing you do. You drown the Lord’s altar with tears, weeping and wailing because he no longer accepts the offerings you bring him. ” (GNB)

As you can see there is a lot of talk about weeping and shedding of tears in the Old Testament. Much of it is clearly poetic hyperbole. But the authors have a clear message for their listeners and for us. Very serious things were taking place. God’s people failed to do what they were supposed to and the consequences in some cases were terrible. How does God feel about this outpouring of human emotion? Why is it included in Biblical history? Who gave us the ability to feel so strongly about things? Shouldn’t the Bible writers have been a little more modest in their statements? Compare (Psalms 22:1 and Matthew 27:46)[2756].

5. Do you think you could become so hungry that you could eat your own child? Did the Jews actually reach such a state? (Lamentations 2:20; 4:10; Leviticus 26:27-29; Deuteronomy 28:53-57; 2 Kings 6:26-29; Jeremiah 19:9; Ezekiel 5:10)[2757]

Leviticus 26:27-29: 27 “If after all this you still continue to defy me and refuse to obey me, 28 then in my anger I will turn on you and again make your punishment seven times worse than before. 29 Your hunger will be so great that you will eat your own children.” (GNB)

Deuteronomy 28:53-57: 53 “When your enemies are besieging your towns, you will become so desperate for food that you will even eat the children that the Lord your God has given you.54-

55 Even the most refined man of noble birth will become so desperate during the siege that he will eat some of his own children because he has no other food. He will not even give any to his brother or to the wife he loves or to any of his children who are left. 56-57 Even the most refined woman of noble birth, so rich that she has never had to walk anywhere, will behave in the same way. When the enemy besieges her town, she will become so desperate for food that she will secretly eat her newborn child and the afterbirth as well. She will not share them with the husband she loves or with any of her children. (GNB)

2 Kings 6:26-29: 26 The king of Israel was walking by on the city wall when a woman cried out, “Help me, Your Majesty!” 27 He replied, “If the Lord won’t help you, what help can I provide? Have I got any wheat or wine? 28 What’s your trouble?” She answered, “The other day this woman here suggested that we eat my child, and then eat her child the next day. 29 So we cooked my son and ate him. The next day I told her that we would eat her son, but she had hidden him!” Good News Bible: Today’s English Version

Isaiah 49:15: “So the Lord answers, “Can a woman forget her own baby and not love the child she bore? Even if a mother should forget her child, I will never forget you.” Good News Bible: Today’s English Version Ezekiel 5:10: “As a result, parents in Jerusalem will eat their children, and children will eat their parents. I will punish you and scatter in every direction any who are left alive.” (GNB)

Jeremiah 19:9: “The enemy will surround the city and try to kill its people. The siege will be so terrible that the people inside the city will eat one another and even their own children.” Good News Bible: Today’s English Version

Lamentations 2:20: “Look, O Lord! Why are you punishing us like this?

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Women are eating the bodies of the children they loved!

Priests and prophets are being killed in the Temple itself!” (GNB)

Lamentations 4:10: “The disaster that came to my people brought horror; loving mothers boiled their own children for food.” Good News Bible: Today’s English Version

Matthew 24:19: “How terrible it will be in those days for women who are pregnant and for mothers with little babies!” Good News Bible: Today’s English Version

This kind of behavior was documented in the sieges of Samaria (capital of the northern kingdom of Israel) by Assyria in 723 B.C., in the siege of Jerusalem by Babylon in 588-586 B.C. and in the siege of Jerusalem by the Romans under Titus in A.D. 70. It is almost unimaginable to us. We regard with horror the cases that reach the news media about young women abandoning their babies in the trash, but this would be so much worse. But it is hard to imagine what one would do under similar circumstances. In the final persecution of the righteous by the Devil himself, do we think he will be “kinder” to us who live in the final days of earth’s history? This will be his final showdown; his last chance to really do anything. It is hard for me to believe that he will not try everything that he has tried in the past and even more. Such are the fruits of sin and rebellion.

6. What picture of God is Jeremiah reflecting in Lamentations 3:7,8? How could he speak of God like this under inspiration? Lamentations 3:44 says, “Thou has wrapped Thyself in a cloud so that no prayer can pass through.” Is there ever a time when God does not hear our prayers? In Isaiah 1:15 (NIV) we are told, “When you spread out your hands in prayer, I will hide my eyes from you...I will not listen.” Compare Jeremiah 7:16; Psalms 77:10. Are these statements true? If they are not true, why would God allow Himself to be pictured like this? Compare Psalms 22:1 and Matthew 27:46, “Why hast thou forsaken Me?”--didn’t Jesus feel like He had been abandoned? Is God offended if we feel moved to cry out like this?

Lamentations 3:7,8: 7 “He has bound me in chains; I am a prisoner with no hope of escape. 8I cry aloud for help, but God refuses to listen;” (GNB)

“On occasion, God had forbidden Jeremiah to pray for the deliverance of Judah (see Jer. 11:14; 14:11).” (Nelson Study Bible: article on Lamentations 3:8)

“The Assyrians had a form of torture in which prisoners were walled into a very small place.” (Spirit Filled Life Study Bible: article on Lamentations 3:7)

Psalms 22:1,2: “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?

1    have cried desperately for help, but still it does not come.

2    During the day I call to you, my God, but you do not answer; I call at night, but get no rest.” (GNB) Compare (Job 19:7,8; 30:20; Habakkuk 1:2.)[2758]

Lamentations 3:43-45: 43 “You pursued us and killed us; your mercy was hidden by your anger,

44    By a cloud of fury too thick for our prayers to get through.

45    You have made us the refuse heap of the world.” (GNB)

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The heathen often feel that they have to do some great thing to get the attention of their “gods”. Look at Elijah’s speech to the prophets of Baal: 1 Kings 18:27-29. But how can Yahweh be described in similar terms? Don’t we have a lot of promises that He is always awake and alert to our every request and need? See Psalms 121. But there are times when God must say something through silence. By behaving at times like the heathen “gods” Yahweh may be able to get His people to realize how crazy they would be to abandon Him for them!

7.    Whose experience is being referred to in Lamentations 3:13-15 and 3:61-63[2759]?

Lamentations 3:13-15: 13 He shot his arrows deep into my body.

14    People laugh at me all day long; I am a joke to them all.

15    Bitter suffering is all he has given me for food and drink. (GNB)

“Lamentations 3:10-13. God’s actions seemed designed to single out Jeremiah for punishment. God was like a bear or lion in hiding beside the path who attacked and mauled Jeremiah. Switching figures, Jeremiah said he felt like a target against which God was taking target practice (cf. Job 6:4; 7:20; 16:12-13). God had chosen him for adversity.” (The Bible Knowledge Commentary)

Lamentations 3:61-63: 61 “You have heard them insult me, O Lord; you know all their plots.

62    All day long they talk about me and make their plans.

63    From morning till night they jeer at me.” Good News Bible: Today’s English Version

Lamentations 3:64-66 “These verses are typical of what are called “taunt songs,” which people used against their enemies in wartime. A taunt song was supposed to be rather vindictive (Ps. 137:8, 9; Hab. 2:6-19[2760]). This one was based on God’s promise ultimately to vindicate them (Jer. 50:9[2761]).” (Spirit Filled Life Study Bible)

“Hunted down like a bird, stoned in a pit, engulfed by water, the prophet thought the end had come (vv. 52-54). He prayed earnestly from the lowest depths, and God answered, telling him not to fear (vv. 55-57). Now he asks the Lord to consider how he has been mistreated—the vengeance, schemes, reproach, insults, gossip, and taunts against him—and to judge his case. Righteousness demands that his enemies be punished, cursed, pursued, and destroyed (vv. 58-66).” (Believer’s Bible Commentary)

“Jeremiah then called on God to vindicate him before his enemies, those in Judah who opposed him. God had seen . . . the wrong done to Jeremiah—their vengeance . . . their plots.

. . . their insults, and their mocking. Jeremiah also asked God to pay them back what they deserve. This was fulfilled historically when Nebuchadnezzar entered Jerusalem. The leaders responsible for rejecting and persecuting Jeremiah were punished by Babylon (cf. Jer. 39:4-7; 52:7,11, 24-27[2762]). The parallel to Jerusalem was obvious. She too was persecuted by her enemies (Lamentations 3:46-47[2763]); but she could be confident that God would vindicate her before her enemies if she would turn to Him.” (The Bible Knowledge Commentary)

It seems clear here that Jeremiah was using his personal experience to parallel the experience of the Jewish people in Jerusalem. The language may seem strong to us, but how else could you respond to the injustices being done? Does God ever take upon Himself the punishment of His people? Was this just discipline?

8.    How can Jeremiah speak the words of the first part of this book and then say what he does in

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(Lamentations 3:21-33 and 3:55-60)[2764]? Doesn’t verse 33 clearly suggest what Jeremiah thinks is happening? Would you feel comfortable saying all these things about your God under similar circumstances?

Lamentations 3:21-33: “21 Yet hope returns when I remember this one thing:

22    The Lord’s unfailing love and mercy still continue,

23    Fresh as the morning, as sure as the sunrise.

24    The Lord is all I have, and so I put my hope in him.

25    The Lord is good to everyone who trusts in him,

26    So it is best for us to wait in patience—to wait for him to save us-

27    And it is best to learn this patience in our youth.

28    When we suffer, we should sit alone in silent patience;

29    We should bow in submission, for there may still be hope.

30    Though beaten and insulted, we should accept it all.

31    The Lord is merciful and will not reject us for ever.

32    He may bring us sorrow, but his love for us is sure and strong.

33    He takes no pleasure in causing us grief or pain.” (GNB)

Lamentations 3:55-60: 55 “From the bottom of the pit, O Lord, I cried out to you,

56    And when I begged you to listen to my cry, you heard.

57    You answered me and told me not to be afraid.

58    “You came to my rescue, Lord, and saved my life.

59    Judge in my favor; you know the wrongs done against me.

60    You know how my enemies hate me and how they plot against me.” (GNB)

These are probably the key passages in the entire book. It is easy for Christians to jump on them and rationalize that this is how the Christian God always acts. But what was the truth in Jeremiah’s day? Did the people’s sins have anything to do with their current problems? If so, what? Did Nebuchadnezzar’s army care about Judah’s sins? Is that why they came from Babylon to conquer this rebellious city? Or did God choose Nebuchadnezzar to carry out His will in this case? Jeremiah on several occasions calls Nebuchadnezzar Yahweh’s servant! (See Jeremiah 25:8,9; 27:6; 43:10[2765]) If God had anything to do with either the abandonment of Jerusalem in her time of peril or the commissioning of Nebuchadnezzar to actually do this work, isn’t He responsible in some way? Would we dare to suggest that God was “punishing” the Jews for their rebellion? Since many of them died in this siege, was God responsible for their deaths? Hundreds of years earlier the Bible suggests that God gave the Canaanites a period of probation and then when the 400 years were over, they were displaced or destroyed. Is this same kind of thing now happening to the Jews? Or was God not involved in either of these occasions? See next question.

9. Is Lamentations 3:37-39[2766] an explanation for the apparent conflicts that precede it? Is it true that both “calamities and good things come” from “the mouth of the Most High?” (Lamentations 3:38, NIV, Compare Isaiah 45:7[2767], especially KJV) What do you think should be our interpretation of these verses? The Jews were anxious to acknowledge the total sovereignty of God. Is it true that nothing could happen without His will, or permission?

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Lamentations 3:37-39: 37 The will of the Lord alone is always carried out.

38    Good and evil alike take place at his command.

39    Why should we ever complain when we are punished for our sin?” (GNB)

Lamentations 1:5: Her enemies succeeded; they hold her in their power. The Lord has made her suffer for all her many sins; Her children have been captured and taken away.” (GNB)

Lamentations 1:12: “‘Look at me!’ she cries to everyone who passes by. ‘No one has ever had pain like mine, Pain that the Lord brought on me in the time of his anger.’” (GNB)

Lamentations 1:15: “The Lord jeered at all my strongest soldiers; He sent an army to destroy my young men. He crushed my people like grapes in a winepress. (GNB)

Lamentations 1:17: “I stretch out my hands, but no one will help me. The Lord has called enemies against me from every side; They treat me like some filthy thing.” Good News Bible: Today’s English Version Lamentations 1:22: “Condemn them [my enemies] for all their wickedness; Punish them as you punished me for my sins.

1    groan in misery, and I am sick at heart.” Good News Bible: Today’s English Version Lamentations 2:1,2: 1"The Lord in his anger has covered Zion with darkness. Its heavenly splendor he has turned into ruins. On the day of his anger he abandoned even his Temple.

2    The Lord destroyed without mercy every village in Judah And tore down the forts that defended the land.

He brought disgrace on the kingdom and its rulers.” Good News Bible See also Lamentations 2:3-8,17,20,21; 3:1-18, 37-39; 4:6,11; 5:20-22[2768];

Contrast Lamentations 2:16; 3:52-60; 5:3[2769]

Who is the cause of all this disaster? Is it Yahweh or Israel’s enemies? Or were they somehow jointly involved? If both were involved do they share responsibility? Would a loving God every be involved in such a thing? How does this help us to understand God’s anger or wrath?

10. In the New English Bible, Lamentations 2:5 says “The Lord played an enemy’s part.” The New International Version says, “The Lord has become like an enemy.” Why would he write like this? Doesn’t a child think his parent has turned against him when he spanks him?

Lamentations 2:5:

.hYhIa|w' hYha[T' hd)llhylAtb'B| brYw' wyrxb|mi tjvi hyt/nm|r|aAlK [LBi lairC [LB i byl/aK | yndia| hyh;

Biblica Hebraica

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5 jEgenhiqh kuirio" wl" ejcqroi" (LXX- Septuagint)

5 The Lord hath been as an enemy, He hath swallowed up Israel, He hath swallowed up all her palaces, He hath destroyed His fortresses, And He multiplieth in the daughter of Judah Mourning and moaning. Young’s Literal Translation

5 The Lord was as an enemy:... (Geneva, KJV)

5 The Lord is become as an enemy:.. (Douay, Darby, ASV)

5 The Lord became like an enemy;... (Leeser)

5 The Lord has become like an enemy...(Smith-Goodspeed, RSV, NASB, 1995 update, NRSV, Clear Word)

5 The Lord has been like an enemy,... (Jerusalem)

5 The Lord has become an enemy,... (NAB)

5 The Lord has become our enemy,... (Moffatt)

5 The Lord is like an enemy;... (NIV)

5 The Lord was like an enemy!... (CEV, NCV, NKJ)

5 The Lord became an enemy. (God’s Word)

5 The Lord behaved like an enemy;... (NJB)

5 The Lord has acted like a foe,... (Tanakh, The Holy Scriptures)

5 Like an enemy, the Lord has destroyed Israel;... (GNB)

5 Yes, the Lord has vanquished Israel like an enemy. (The Living Bible, NLT)

5 Enemies he counts us,... (Knox)

5 The Lord has become like one fighting against her,... (Basic English)

5 The Lord played an enemy’s part... (NEB, REV)

Does Yahweh ever act the part of an enemy? When a parent disciplines a child is that considered playing the part of an enemy? Does the parent think so? Does the child think so? Might it seem so to an observer? Did God play the part of an enemy to the Canaanites? Is He doing that now to the Jews? Does He need to do this? What did He accomplish by doing this? Did the children of Israel learn anything from their time in exile? Only a few of them ever came back home. Was God “thinning” them out? Were the ones who came home better than the ones who stayed in Babylon and Susa? Consider the book of Esther.

11. Does Jeremiah seem to be confused as he swings from his grief at what is happening, to his trust of God and His mercy and love? What are we supposed to learn from this?

Jeremiah had many years of experience working for the Lord. No doubt he felt that he understood Yahweh pretty well. He probably had access to the writings of former prophets and kings who had been through similar troubling experiences. But things seemed to continue to get worse. Jeremiah must have been on the verge of mental collapse from the stress and despair as he watched all that was going on. It seemed like God was helping their enemies! God instructed him to tell His own people to surrender to their enemies! But yet Jeremiah could not abandon his faith in God. There was no one else that he could turn to. So we shouldn’t be surprised at what we read in this book. It probably, in fact, represents the ups and downs of Jeremiah’s emotional roller coaster. Does that make some of the statements false? Not at all! Jeremiah is pouring out his heart

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at the distress that he sees all around him.

We need to realize that here is a perfect example of what it means to be honest in prayer! When we talk to God (like Jeremiah’s prayer in Lamentations 5) there is no reason to cover up the facts. God knows them already. There is no reason to put on a false “happy face”, because God knows exactly how we feel already. The only rational thing to do if we have a correct picture of God is to open our hearts and minds to Him and pour out everything. It will help us emotionally. It will help us to think through the issues. It will help us to be more honest when dealing with others! And when it is appropriate, God will gladly respond to our cries and help us in every way that He can without violating anyone’s freedom or changing the outcome of the great controversy.

12.    How should God have dealt with all of this rampant evil that was taking place in Jerusalem? When a body is being destroyed by cancer, is it morally wrong to cut out the cancer? When an infectious disease is spreading over the land, is it fair to quarantine the infected? See Lamentations 3:37[2770] “the Lord ordained it.”

It should be fairly clear that God had to do something. Should He have sent another flood? A fire? A series of plagues? Disease? Was it wrong for God to work through forces that were already at work in the world of Jeremiah’s day? Should God have avoided even the appearance of cooperation with a pagan king like Nebuchadnezzar? We have already seen clearly that Jeremiah specifically states that Nebuchadnezzar was Yahweh’s servant. (See Jeremiah 25:8,9; 27:6; 43:10[2771]) This doesn’t mean that everything that Nebuchadnezzar did was approved by God! It simply means that when it was time for someone to come and “discipline” God’s people, the Babylonian army was handy and ready to do the job. God did not need to create some massive intrusion into human history as He did at the time of the flood in order to bring about the discipline that was required. What we don’t know is how much “guidance” God gave to the Babylonian army. Apparently, God was pretty significantly involved because Jeremiah says:

Jeremiah 37:6-10: 6 “Then the Lord, the God of Israel, told me 7 to say to Zedekiah, “The Egyptian army is on its way to help you, but it will return home. 8 Then the Babylonians will come back, attack the city, capture it, and burn it down. 9 I, the Lord, warn you not to deceive yourselves into thinking that the Babylonians will not come back, because they will. 10 Even if you defeat the whole Babylonian army, so that only wounded men are left, lying in their tents, those men would still get up and burn this city to the ground.” (GNB)

This sounds like more than human power at work. I don’t think the Babylonian army were that much superior to all others. So if it is true that God actually worked with the Babylonians to help in the conquest of Jerusalem and Judah, we have to believe that God is willing at times to discipline His people. Would He ever actually kill some of His own people? Or should we conclude that all who suffered and especially all who died in Jerusalem were already rejected by God? Will any of those children who were eaten in the siege of Jerusalem be in the kingdom of God? Some of us may find it hard to think of God as acting like this but we have to deal fairly with Scripture. We cannot change the meaning of Scripture just because we don’t like what it seems to say! That’s what some other religious groups have done and we condemn them for doing it!

13.    How could he end with the questions in Lamentations 5:19-22? Can you think of parallel passages elsewhere?

Lamentations 5:19-22: 19 “But you, O Lord, are king for ever, and will rule to the end of time.

20 Why have you abandoned us so long?

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Will you ever remember us again?

21    Bring us back to you, Lord! Bring us back! Restore our ancient glory.

22    Or have you rejected us for ever? Is there no limit to your anger?” Good News Bible: Today’s English Version Why would Jeremiah end his prayer like this?

Almost every book in the Old Testament ends on some positive note. Is this a positive note? How would Jeremiah have defined God’s anger? Shouldn’t we always include the book of Lamentations when we talk about God’s anger? Unless we believe that Jeremiah was deceived or a liar we have to read his words as suggesting that Yahweh was somehow involved with Judah’s and Jerusalem’s downfall.

© Copyright 1998-2006, Kenneth Hart info@theox.org

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39. ISAIAH - A TEACHER’S GUIDE

THE CENTRAL QUESTION:

What does this book/story say to us about God?

This question may be broken down further as follows:

a. Why did God do it/allow it?

_b. Why did He record it for our study?_

1. Who was Isaiah? Whatwas new, outstanding, or especially emphasized in the book of Isaiah? Does reading Isaiah through one more time improve our picture of God? What were the major events of the time that precipitated the prophecies in the book? Why do you think Isaiah is called the "gospel” prophet? Why do some people think that several authors contributed to the book of Isaiah? What are the arguments for both sides? What messages did Isaiah have for the people of his time?

Isaiah lived in a very tumultuous time in Bible history. During his ministry in the Southern Kingdom of Judah, their northern brothers of the Kingdom of Israel were invaded, conquered and scattered by the Assyrians (723/722 BC) never to be heard from again. The Assyrians also invaded Judah (701 BC) and it seemed there was no possibility that the same fate would not overcome Judah, until Hezekiah and Isaiah led the people to turn to God and after the Assyrians blasphemed the name of God (Isaiah 36; 2 Kings 18)[2772] God destroyed 185,000 men of their army without the people of Judah fighting at all. (1 Kings 19:35; Isaiah 37:36)[2773] This completely changed the course of human history as the Assyrians, with their capital at Nineveh, at that point were the most powerful nation in the world.

Isaiah was a member of the royal household and was called as a prophet when still quite young (5T 749, see appendix) somewhere between the years 750 and 739 BC. His period of work extended for 60 years during the reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah. Isaiah was put into a hollow log and sawed in two by King Manasseh very early in Manasseh’s reign (about 686 BC; [2 Kings 21:16; Hebrews 11:37][2774]).

"AUTHOR: Isaiah

“The problem of the unity of Isaiah is inextricably related to the question of the book’s authorship, and has been the focus of more scholarly discussion than any other single question regarding the prophetic books of the Old Testament. Since the denial of Isaianic authorship of chapters 40-66 in 1775, critical scholars have generally considered the book as two separate works; and in 1892, the work was further divided. Chapters 40-55 were designated ‘Deutero-Isaiah,’ written in Babylon in 549-538 B.C., and chapters 56-66 were called ‘Trito-Isaiah,’ written by another unknown author in Palestine in 460-445 b.c. Isaianic authorship was also denied for the following passages: 11:10-16; 12:1-6; 13:1-14:23; 15:1-16:12; 21:1-10; 24:1-27:13; 34:1-35:10; 36:1-39:8; 40:1-66:24—a total of almost two-thirds of the book.

"Although the arguments are impressive to some, each has been persuasively challenged by conservative scholars who maintain the unity of Isaianic authorship for the entire book:

(1) The tradition of one Isaiah appears as early as the apocryphal Ecclesiasticus 49:17-22 ©. 185 B.C.).

Isaiah - A Teacher’s Guide - page 1 of 30

(2)    The superscription in Isaiah 1:1 stands for the entire book.

(3)    All parts (i.e., Isaiah 1-39; 40-55; 56-66) bear marks of Isaiah’s style.

(4)    It is impossible to be satisfied with only three divisions if the stylistic criterion is consistently applied.

(5)    Some of the questioned chapters (i.e., Isaiah 36-39) serve as a bridge between the earlier Assyrian and the later Babylonian periods; hence, to deny Isaianic authorship for these is to leave the two greater parts of the book (i.e., Isaiah 1-35 and 40-66) without a literary and historical transition.

(6)    New Testament references attest to Isaianic authorship for the whole (cf. Matt. 3:3; 8:17; 12:17; Luke 3:4; 4:17; John 1:23; 12:38; Acts 8:28; Rom. 10:16-20)[2775], and Jesus attests that Isaiah wrote 53:4 (Matt. 8:17), 44:1 (Matt. 12:17), 61:1 (Luke 4:17), and 53:1 (John 12:38)[2776].

(7)    The literary unity is attested by the frequency of such words as ‘thornbush,’ ‘delusions,’ ‘dross,’ which occur in both sections. ‘Holy One of Israel’ is used twelve times in Isaiah 1-39 and thirteen times in Isaiah 40-66, but only six times in all the rest of the Old Testament.

(8)    Passages in Zechariah, Jeremiah, Zephaniah, and Nahum reflect upon Isaiah 40-66, indicating that this part was in existence at the time of their prophetic work.

(9)    The author of Isaiah 40-66 is a Palestinian who is not familiar with Babylon, but who speaks familiarly of Jerusalem (Isaiah 41:19; 44:14[2777]). In fact, ‘all you ends of the earth’ and ‘from a far country’ are clearer when spoken from a Palestinian viewpoint than from a Babylonian one (Isaiah 45:22; 46:11[2778]), and the expression ‘from there’ does not suggest a Babylonian origin (Isaiah 52:11[2779]).

"It has been maintained traditionally that Isaiah, the son of Amoz, who prophesied in Jerusalem during the reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, is the author of the book which bears his name. Tradition states that Isaiah, born in 760 B.C., was a brother of Amaziah of Judah. This would make him a cousin of the kings previously named, during whose reign he prophesied. Isaiah (yeshayahu, Heb.), whose name means ‘the Lord saves,’ or ‘salvation of Yahweh,’ was a younger contemporary of both Amos and Hosea. He was married to a woman called ‘the prophetess’ (Isaiah 8:3) who bore him two sons, whose names are object lessons: (1) ‘Shear-Jashub’ (Isaiah 7:3), literally ‘A Remnant Shall Return,’ meaning that out of God’s judgment a remnant would be saved; and (2) ‘Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz’ (Isaiah 8:3), literally ‘Speed the Spoil, Hasten the Booty,’ signifying the removal of Syria and Israel as enemies of Judah by the Assyrians (Isaiah 8:4). His call came in the year that King Uzziah died, c. 740 b.c. (Isaiah 6:1).

"DATE: c. 740-680 B.C.

"It has generally been held that Isaiah began his ministry in the last year of Uzziah’s reign, 792 (767)-740 B.C., and continued at least until shortly after the invasion by Sennacherib in 701 b.c. (Isaiah 36:1). This would mean that his active ministry spanned a period of about forty years. However, in Isaiah 37:38 Isaiah records the death of Sennacherib, which occurred in 681 b.c., indicating that Isaiah outlived Hezekiah, who died in 686 b.c. This is confirmed by 2 Chronicles 32:32, where it is stated that Isaiah wrote the history of Hezekiah (Isaiah 36-39), thus extending his ministry into the reign of Manasseh, the successor of Hezekiah. According to Hebrew tradition, Isaiah suffered martyrdom by being sawn in two during the reign of the

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wicked king Manasseh (cf. Heb. 11:37). The reign of Manasseh is not mentioned in the superscription; hence, Isaiah’s visions were no doubt limited to the period of the kings listed therein, ending with Hezekiah, although his writings would extend to 681 b.c. (Isaiah 37:38). According to this view, the latter chapters of Isaiah (Isaiah 40-66) belong to the reign of Hezekiah after 701 b.c. and perhaps include a part of the reign of Manasseh.

"THEME: Judgment and Redemption

"The preaching of the prophets—especially Amos, with his emphasis upon the judgment of God, and Hosea, with his stress upon the love of God—provided background for and gave balance to the message of Isaiah. His message is presented against the background of Israel’s greatest period of prosperity after the ‘Golden Age of Israel’ under David and Solomon. Prosperity, the promotion of agriculture, the enlargement of the kingdom, the strengthening of the fortifications of Judah, the reorganization of the army, and the commercial activities in Arabia and elsewhere precipitated immorality, excessive drinking, display of wealth, ritualism, idolatry, perversion of justice, oppression of the poor, false prophets, immoral priests, greed, hunger, and a great chasm between rich and poor. Therefore, Isaiah stressed

(1)    salvation by faith (Isaiah 7:9; 28:16; 30:15[2780]),

(2)    the holiness of God and ethical living (Isaiah 6:1-8; 37:23[2781]),

(3)    the offense of man’s sins (Isaiah 1:2-4; 29:13-17[2782]),

(4)    the certainty of judgment (Isaiah 1-35), and

(5)    the assurance of redemption for a repentant remnant (Isaiah 1:9, 19; 10:19-22; 46:3, 4; 65:8-10[2783]).

"Of all the books in the Old Testament, only the Psalms contain a larger number of messianic predictions than Isaiah. Isaiah sets forth every aspect of the glory and ministry of Christ:

(1)    His incarnation (Isaiah 7:14; 9:6[2784]),

(2)    His youth (Isaiah 7:15; 11:1; 53:2[2785]),

(3)    His mild manner (Isaiah 42:2[2786]),

(4)    His obedience (Isaiah 50:5[2787]),

(5)    His message (Isaiah 61:1, 2[2788]),

(6)    His miracles (Isaiah 35:5, 6[2789]),

(7)    His sufferings (Isaiah 50:6[2790]),

(8)    His rejection (Isaiah 53:1-3[2791]),

(9)    His shame (Isaiah 53:4-6[2792]),

(10)    His vicarious death (Isaiah 53:10[2793]), and

(11)    His resurrection and ascension (Isaiah 52:13[2794]).” (Believer’s Study Bible)

"One of the chief arguments of these critics for a composite authorship of Isaiah is that Isaiah 40-66 appear to them to be written, not from the standpoint of an author living at the close of the 8th century b.c., but from that of one who lived near the close of the Babylonian captivity. The mention of Cyrus by name (Isaiah 44:28; 45:1[2795]) is regarded by them as conclusive evidence that these chapters were written during the time of Cyrus, that is, in the second half of the 6th century b.c. This concept, of course, is based on the

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a priori assumption that prophetic foreknowledge is impossible.

"The fact, however, that Isaiah mentions Cyrus is not an argument in favor of a late date for the book, but rather an evidence of the wisdom and foreknowledge of God. Throughout the book there are predictions concerning the future. Among these are prophecies of the fall of the rulers of Israel and Syria (Isaiah 7:7, 8, 16[2796]), of the overthrow of Tyre (Isaiah 23), of the dismay of Assyria (Isaiah 14:25; 31:8; 37:6, 7, 29, 33-35[2797]), of the humiliation of Babylon (Isaiah 14:4-23[2798]), of the folly of trusting in Egypt (Isaiah 30:1-3; 31:1-3[2799]), and of the work of Cyrus (Isaiah 44:28; 45:1-4[2800]). Indeed, Isaiah sets forth God’s foreknowledge as eloquent testimony to His wisdom and power (Isaiah 41:21-23; 42:9; 43:9; 44:7, 8; 45:11, 21; 46:9, 10; 48:3, 5-8[2801]).” (SDA Bible Commentary)

"The messages in this book can be divided into three parts. The first part (Isaiah 1-39) is especially concerned about the Lord’s holiness and his power as king of the whole earth. As a holy king, the Lord was angry about evil in Judah. Government officials were corrupt; violence and injustice were everywhere. The Lord said he was going to have Assyria and Babylonia punish the people of Judah and other nations. But the Lord offered his people hope for the future, if they turned back to him and trusted him to protect their nation.

"In the second part (Isaiah 40-55) the Lord spoke to people who had been punished (Isaiah 40:1-2). They were discouraged, and he offered them hope. But the Lord wanted them to understand that idols have no power, and that he alone is the true God. If the people of Israel turned back to him, then he would rescue them from Babylonia and the other nations where they had been scattered. They would return to their own land, and he would bless them and make them prosperous. The Lord was able to make this tremendous promise to his people because he created and rules the entire earth.

"In the third part (Isaiah 56-66) the Lord promises an especially bright future for those who are faithful to him. And in this section, people from all nations are included, not just the people of Judah. These promises are like windows that allow a glimpse into a future time when the Lord will create a new world full of joy and free from suffering:

I am creating new heavens and a new earth; everything of the past will be forgotten.

Celebrate and be glad forever!

I am creating a Jerusalem, full of happy people.

I will celebrate with Jerusalem and all of its people; there will be no more crying

or sorrow in that city. (Isaiah 65.17-19) (CEV)

The Audience:

"As a prophet, Isaiah spoke to three historical epochs. In Isaiah 1-39, he delivered his message of condemnation to the eighth-century Israelites, pronouncing judgment on their immoral and idolatrous lifestyles. This judgment came quickly, for during Isaiah’s ministry,

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Tiglath-Pileser III (745-727 b.c.) set out to extend Assyria’s rule into the west, and in doing so put pressure on Israel and Judah. In 722 b.c. another Assyrian king, Sargon II, conquered the northern kingdom. Only the nation of Judah was left. But Isaiah predicted that even Judah would fall—as much later it did, in 586 b.c.

"In Isaiah 40-55, Isaiah comforted the future generation of weary exiles—the Jews who thought that God had forgotten them (Isaiah 40:27). In a brilliant series of prophecies, Isaiah presented the case that Israel’s captivity was not due to the superiority of Babylon’s idols, but to the disciplining rod of Israel’s Lord (Isaiah 42:23-25). He predicted the exiles’ return and encouraged them to rouse themselves (Isaiah 52:1-10), to flee Babylon (Isaiah 48:20, 21), and to entrust their future to the Almighty (Isaiah 41:14-20).

"Finally in the third section (Isaiah 56-66), Isaiah exhorted the Jews who had returned to the land. This was the period before the temple was rebuilt (Isaiah 58:12; 61:4; 64:10[2802]) or perhaps while it was being rebuilt (Isaiah 66:1[2803]). Isaiah encouraged these Jews to put away greed (Isaiah 56:9-11[2804]), self-indulgence (Isaiah 56:12[2805]), idolatry (Isaiah 57:3-10[2806]), cynicism (Isaiah 57:11-13[2807]), and hypocritical self-righteousness (Isaiah 58:1-5[2808]). But he also predicted that the community would be split between true and false worshipers (see Isaiah 65; 66[2809]). The complete restoration of Israel was still to come (Isaiah49:8-26[2810]). The promised Messiah would appear in the future (Isaiah 61:1-3[2811]). Then Gentiles would join Israel’s godly remnant to become the ‘servants’ of the Lord (Isaiah 56:3; 65:1,15,16[2812]) in a new nation (Isaiah 65:1; 66:8[2813]). The ultimate triumph of good over evil would have to await the new heaven and the new earth (Isaiah 65:17-19[2814]) ” (Nelson Study Bible)

"In Jotham’s reign there was a war between Judah and the united kingdoms of Israel and Syria (the Syro-Ephraimite crisis of 734-732 b.c.; Isaiah 7-9). In this war Ahaz, the King of Judah, was opposed by a coalition of forces from Pekah, King of Israel, and Rezin, King of Aram or Syria. Ahaz responded with fear and unbelief. He refused God’s sign (Isaiah 7:10[2815]) and tried to find a political solution.

"During the reign of Hezekiah, Judah and several other nations fought against Assyria under Sennacherib (705-681 b.c.). Sennacherib’s response was to devastate the countryside of Judah and lay siege to Jerusalem itself. But unlike Ahaz, Hezekiah trusted in the Lord. He poured out his burden before God in prayer and trusted God’s word through Isaiah (Isaiah 37:14-35[2816]).

"During the second half of the eighth century the prophet railed against the leaders for their hypocrisy (Isaiah 1:10-15), greed (Isaiah 5:8), self-indulgence (Isaiah 5:11), and cynicism (Isaiah 5:19)[2817]. With these sins they were bringing the nation to moral ruin. God raised up Isaiah to announce their fate (Isaiah 6:11-13[2818]). As Isaiah predicted, Israel was exiled in 722 b.c., and Hezekiah barely escaped the Assyrian destruction (Isaiah 36:1-37:37[2819]).

"The exile of Israel in Babylon is the context of Isaiah’s ministry of encouragement to the afflicted. In a brilliant series of wide-ranging, yet specific prophecies, Isaiah predicts the fall of pagan Babylon (Isaiah 46:1-47:15[2820]) and the salvation of Israel’s remnant. He names Cyrus, the Persian, as God’s anointed agent to restore the remnant to the land more than a century before he came to power (Isaiah 44:24-45:13[2821]). He urges the remnant to flee from Babylon (Isaiah 48:20, 21[2822]). He challenges the people to renew their loyalty to the Lord when they return to the land (Isaiah 56:1-8[2823]) and to avoid falling back into

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acts of treachery (Isaiah 57:3-13[2824]).

"Beyond this immediate salvation Isaiah predicted the coming of a Servant and Savior much greater than Cyrus. This anonymous Servant would bring justice to the nations (Isaiah 42:1-4[2825]), establish Israel in a new covenant with the Lord (Isaiah 42:5-7[2826]), become a light to the Gentiles (Isaiah 49:1-7[2827]), and take away the sins of His people (Isaiah 52:13-53:12[2828]). The Servant would suffer willingly to achieve these victories, and God would reward and vindicate Him (Isaiah 50:4-11[2829]). The New Testament identifies the Servant as Jesus Christ, the incarnate Lord.” (New Geneva Study Bible)

"The Book of Isaiah is directly quoted twenty-one times in the New Testament and attributed in each case to the prophet Isaiah. Some scholars who have difficulty with detailed prophetic prediction of future events have denied to Isaiah the authorship of Isaiah 40-66. They term this section Second Isaiah and insist that since these chapters deal with events that took place long after Isaiah’s day, such as the Babylonian captivity of Judah, the return from Exile, and the rise of Cyrus, the Persian ruler who mandated the return from Exile (Isaiah 45:1[2830]), they were written later and attached to Isaiah.

"If divine inspiration of Scripture and the possibility of the supernatural are accepted, however, one should have no difficulty with the unity of authorship of Isaiah. After all, Isaiah and other prophets of his time prophesied events in the life of Jesus that happened seven hundred years later. Furthermore, critics overlook the fact that Isaiah had access to the Book of Deuteronomy, which predicted both a captivity and a return from exile (Deut. 29; 30[2831]). If the mention of Cyrus (Isaiah 44:28; 45:1[2832]) is a stumbling block, what about Bethlehem, Jesus’ birthplace, named and predicted by Micah, a contemporary of Isaiah (Micah 5:2[2833])?

"Other arguments favor single authorship: 1) key words and phrases are equally distributed throughout Isaiah; 2) references to landscape and local coloring are also uniform. The greater beauty in style of Hebrew poetry in the latter chapters of Isaiah can be explained by the change in subject matter from judgment and entreaty to comfort and assurance. In any case, as clearly likely as it is that Isaiah was written via one penman, contending for this position is not intended to impugn the sincerity of any with contrary opinion.” (SpiritFilled Life Study Bible)

"The oldest Christian apocryphal apocalypse of the heavenly journey type is the Ascension of Isaiah. This work is probably a composite made up of two originally independent works, a Martyrdom of Isaiah and a Vision or Ascent of Isaiah. The latter is the apocalypse and is contained in chaps. 6-11 (Yarbro Collins 1979: 84). Isaiah’s journey is through the seven heavens and involves revelation of the different kinds of angels inhabiting each. The climax is a "prophecy” of the descent of "the Beloved” (Christ) through the seven heavens, his mission on earth, and his ascent back into the seventh heaven. In the present time it is the wicked angel Sammael and the angels of the firmament who determine events on earth. The strife on earth reflects the strife among the angels.” (Anchor Bible Dictionary)

2. As we begin to look at the prophets of the Bible, most of them seemed to work mainly for Judah. Doesn’t God seem partial?

God chose Jerusalem as His "capital city” long before David occupied it. Jerusalem was at one of the major crossroads of the world at the time. People from all nations were supposed

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to come there and learn the truth about God. The northern kingdom of Israel left and severed themselves from allegiance to the household of David. It was not the household of David that forced them to leave. But God works with those who are in tune with Him no matter where they live throughout the world. It is true that we seem to have the most extensive records of God’s dealings with the people and kings of Judah, but that appears to be because they were more willing to cooperate. Has God favored the Christian Church in the last two millennia? Has God favored the SDA Church in the last 150 years? If so, why?

3. Why would God say He is disgusted and tired of their religious festivals and sacrifices when He Himself had given them? (Isaiah 1:14-20; Jeremiah 7:21-23; Amos 5:25)[2834] Or did He? They were religious, but what kind of religion was it?

God apparently originally gave our first parents the sacrificial system in its simplest form back at the gates of the Garden of Eden after they had sinned.

"The sacrificial offerings were ordained by God to be to man a perpetual reminder and a penitential acknowledgment of his sin and a confession of his faith in the promised Redeemer. They were intended to impress upon the fallen race the solemn truth that it was sin that caused death. To Adam, the offering of the first sacrifice was a most painful ceremony. His hand must be raised to take life, which only God could give. It was the first time he had ever witnessed death, and he knew that had he been obedient to God, there would have been no death of man or beast. As he slew the innocent victim, he trembled at the thought that his sin must shed the blood of the spotless Lamb of God. This scene gave him a deeper and more vivid sense of the greatness of his transgression, which nothing but the death of God’s dear Son could expiate. And he marveled at the infinite goodness that would give such a ransom to save the guilty. A star of hope illumined the dark and terrible future and relieved it of its utter desolation. Patriarchs and Prophets 68.1; Signs of the Times, November 4, 1908 par. 11

“But the plan of redemption had a yet broader and deeper purpose than the salvation of man. It was not for this alone that Christ came to the earth; it was not merely that the inhabitants of this little world might regard the law of God as it should be regarded; but it was to vindicate the character of God before the universe. To this result of His great sacrifice-its influence upon the intelligences of other worlds, as well as upon man-the Saviour looked forward when just before His crucifixion He said: “Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out. And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all unto Me.” John 12:31, 32[2835]. The act of Christ in dying for the salvation of man would not only make heaven accessible to men, but before all the universe it would justify God and His Son in their dealing with the rebellion of Satan. It would establish the perpetuity of the law of God and would reveal the nature and the results of sin.” PP 68.2; LHU 324.4; AG 15.3

“Because iniquity abounds, the love of many waxes cold. There are many who have outgrown their advent faith. They are living for the world, and while saying in their hearts, as they desire it shall be, “My Lord delayeth His coming,” they are beating their fellow servants. They do this for the same reason that Cain killed Abel. Abel was determined to worship God

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according to the directions God had given. This displeased Cain. He thought that his own plans were best, and that the Lord would come to his terms. Cain in his offering did not acknowledge his dependence upon Christ. He thought that his father Adam had been treated harshly in being expelled from Eden. The idea of keeping that sin ever before the mind, and offering the blood of the slain lamb as a confession of entire dependence upon a power outside of himself, was torture to the high spirit of Cain. Being the eldest, he thought that Abel should follow his example. When Abel’s offering was accepted of God, the holy fire consuming the sacrifice, Cain’s anger was exceedingly great. The Lord condescended to explain matters to him; but he would not be reconciled to God, and he hated Abel because God showed him favor. He became so angry that he slew his brother. Testimonies to Ministers 77.1-78

"To fallen man was revealed the plan of infinite sacrifice through which salvation was to be provided. Nothing but the death of God’s dear Son could expiate man’s sin, and Adam marveled at the goodness of God in providing such a ransom for the sinner. Through the love of God, a star of hope illumined the terrible future that spreads before the transgressor. Through the institution of the typical system of sacrifice and offering, the death of Christ was ever to be kept before guilty man, that he might better comprehend the nature of sin, the results of transgression, and the merit of the divine offering. Had there been no sin, man would never have known death. (See Hebrews 10:1-4) But in the innocent offering slain by his own hand he beheld the fruits of sin-the death of the Son of God in his behalf. He sees the immutable character of the law he has transgressed, and confesses his sin; he relies upon the merits of the Lamb of God. . . . TMK 17.2; Bible Echo, July 15, 1893 par. 6; ST, February 20, 1893 par. 1

Unfortunately, as we very well know from reading Scripture, the true meaning of the sacrifices was soon almost entirely lost sight of. People began to think that sacrifices were some kind of payment for their sins. Thus, if a person was wealthy enough to offer frequent sacrifices it was thought that he must have a great relationship with God. Worse than that, some even came to believe that God was angry about sin. They believed that God must somehow be appeased and the sacrifices were viewed as an "atonement” or a means of appeasing this wrathful God. Over time, pagan religions began to add many other meanings to their sacrifices.

The Jewish people even came to believe that God would not accept them without the shedding of sacrificial blood. Thus the original intention of the sacrificial system was essentially eliminated from their thinking. However, they still believed that it was necessary to offer these sacrifices even if they were not entirely sure of the reason why. To their minds it was "necessary” to shed the sacrificial blood.

"As Jesus came into the temple, He took in the whole scene. He saw the unfair transactions. He saw the distress of the poor, who thought that without shedding of blood there would be no forgiveness for their sins. He saw the outer court of His temple converted into a place of unholy traffic. The sacred enclosure had become one vast exchange.” Desire of Ages 157.2

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As we can see from this passage, the original idea that had impressed Adam so much had been completely lost sight of. So it is correct to say that what God originally had in mind when He gave the "sacrificial system” outside the gates of the garden of Eden was not what they believed He had given them. Yahweh must have been very tired of the corrupt practices that they were using to "worship” Him! This is no doubt why He said what He did in these very important passages in Isaiah, Amos, Micah, Jeremiah, etc.

4. Do "inspired” writers ever indulge in plagiarism?

Compare (Isaiah 2:2-4 with Micah 4:2,3)[2836].

Compare (Isaiah 36:1 with 2 Kings 18:13)[2837].

Compare (Isaiah 37 with 2 Kings 19)[2838].

Ninety percent of Mark is copied in either Matthew or Luke.

Most of Jude is in 2 Peter.

See MICAH - A TEACHER’S GUIDE #5; MARK - A TEACHER’S GUIDE#2; LUKE - A TEACHER’S GUIDE #3; JUDE - A TEACHER’S GUIDE #3.

There are several approaches that have been taken to this question. Some want to dismiss the question by saying that if God is the author of all of Scripture then He can ask any writer to put down anything He wants him to, since it all is God’s thought anyway. Others, recognizing that the laws of plagiarism were not the same in Bible times as they are now, choose to ignore the issue.

It is important to note that none of the Bible writers claims that all of their material is original. They were much more concerned about spreading the truth as far and wide as possible and may have felt that the use of some particularly pertinent portions of another writer’s material was just what they needed to give extra "punch” to what they wanted to say.

It is also quite possible that in some cases what we find in Scripture is that two or more writers quote material that they have gotten from a third source. In some cases it may have been a part of a well-known song or poem that people often quoted. Their audiences may have immediately recognized the original source of the material and thought nothing more about it.

In our day, laws being what they are, it is much more important to give proper credit for material that has been quoted from another author. When we do this it is important also to give ultimate credit to the original source-hopefully, God Himself.

But, honestly, if the material is God-given, and intended for the entire world to teach them about God and the great controversy and how He chooses to run His government, shouldn’t it be spread as far and wide as possible, as fast as possible? If you should happen to get into heaven and then discover that the "truth” that appealed to you and thus led to your salvation was "plagiarized” by one author from another, will you demand that he be "punished” for not giving proper credit or perhaps even be punished for not developing original materials of his own? Would the original author demand that the one who had "plagiarized” his material and all those who benefitted from it be expelled from heaven? Or would all such people be excluded from heaven because the source of their "truth” was not "pure?” How many people have used and modified ideas that they have derived from Bible writers down through the centuries without so much as mentioning where the ideas came from? Are we supposed to assume that anyone who talks about God has somehow developed an original stream of truth

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from which he is drawing? Solomon certainly didn’t see it that way! He claimed that "nothing is new under the sun!” (Ecclesiastes 1:9,10)

5. Isaiah 5:1-7 gives a magnificent description of a vineyard (compare Matthew 21:33-46; Mark 12:1-12; Luke 20:9-19)[2839]. But something went wrong. What was it? Isaiah 5:12,13 says there was a lack of "knowledge.” What knowledge was it they lacked? (Compare Hosea 4:1,2,6) Does Isaiah 1:3 actually suggest that the ox and ass know what they are supposed to know, but "my people do not know”? Later when things are right again in Isaiah 11:9 (compare Habakkuk 2:14) it says "...for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.” Is this the essential knowledge? What is suggested by Isaiah 29:13 as to the kind of worship that God wants? (compare Matthew 15:7-9 and Romans 12:1-2) Does the quality of our worship reveal the kind of Person we believe our God to be? If God is the extremely intelligent Being described in Isaiah 40:10-31, how do you approach a God like that?

Isaiah 5:12,13: 12 And harp, and psaltery, tabret, and pipe, And wine, have been their banquets, And the work of Jehovah they behold not, Yea, the work of His hands they have not seen. 13Therefore my people removed without knowledge, And its honourable ones are famished, And its multitude dried up of thirst. Young’s Literal Translation

12 At your feasts you have harps and tambourines and flutes—and wine. But you don’t understand what the Lord is doing, 13and so you will be carried away as prisoners. Your leaders will starve to death, and the common people will die of thirst. (GNB)

12 At your drinking parties you have the music of stringed instruments, tambourines, and flutes. But you never even think about all the Lord has done, 13 and so his people know nothing about him.” (CEV)

"Jesus (Matthew 15:8,9; Mark 7:6,7) quotes Isaiah 29:13 as the epitome of Pharisaism. The prophet condemns his own people for honoring God with their mouth and lips but not their heart. He further notes that their fear or reverence was merely an intellectual accommodation taught by the precept of men. True worship must begin with a proper reverence for God and His Word.” (Believer’s Study Bible)

"Men had well-nigh lost the knowledge of the true God. Their minds were darkened by idolatry. For the divine statutes, which are ‘holy, and just, and good’ (Romans 7: 12), men were endeavoring to substitute laws in harmony with the purposes of their own cruel, selfish hearts. Yet God in His mercy did not blot them out of existence. He purposed to give them opportunity for becoming acquainted with Him through His church. He designed that the principles revealed through His people should be the means of restoring the moral image of God in man.” Prophets and Kings 15.2

"Had Israel heeded the messages of the prophets, they would have been spared the humiliation that followed. It was because they had persisted in turning aside from His law that God was compelled to let them go into captivity. ‘My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge,’ was His message to them through Hosea. ‘Because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee: . . . seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God.’” (Hosea

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4:6. Prophets and Kings 297.1)

"God’s glory, His character, His merciful kindness and tender love--that which Moses had pleaded in behalf of Israel--were to be revealed to all mankind. And this promise of Jehovah was made doubly sure; it was confirmed by an oath. As surely as God lives and reigns, His glory should be declared ‘among the heathen, His wonders among all people.’ Psalm 96:3.

"It was concerning the future fulfillment of this prophecy that Isaiah had heard the shining seraphim singing before the throne, ‘The whole earth is full of His glory.’ Isaiah 6:3. The prophet, confident of the certainty of these words, himself afterward boldly declared of those who were bowing down to the images of wood and stone, ‘They shall see the glory of the Lord, and the excellency of our God.’” Isaiah 35:2. Prophets and Kings 313.1,2

If we could fully comprehend all that God intends and wants to do in our world today, how much difference would it make? It is only by getting to know God and then being transformed by that relationship that we have a chance to be truly healed and saved. But if we really focus on Him with a desire to know Him better, the transformation will take place even without our realizing it. It is by beholding that we are changed into His likeness.

2 Corinthians 3:18: "All of us, then, reflect the glory of the Lord with uncovered faces; and that same glory, coming from the Lord, who is the Spirit, transforms us into his likeness in an ever greater degree of glory.” Good News Bible: Today’s English Version

"It is a law both of the intellectual and the spiritual nature that by beholding we become changed. The mind gradually adapts itself to the subjects upon which it is allowed to dwell. It becomes assimilated to that which it is accustomed to love and reverence. Man will never rise higher than his standard of purity or goodness or truth. If self is his loftiest ideal, he will never attain to anything more exalted. Rather, he will constantly sink lower and lower. The grace of God alone has power to exalt man. Left to himself, his course must inevitably be downward.” Great Controversy 555.1

6. Isaiah had a tremendous vision of God in His glory and a contrasting vision of Satan and his goals (Isaiah 6:1-8; 14:4-15[2840]). Who else saw this contrast? See Ezekiel 1, 28:1-19[2841]; Zechariah saw Joshua the high priest and Satan accusing him (Zechariah 3:1-5[2842]); Moses, the author of Job, saw something similar (Job 1, 2, 38-42[2843]); John in the Revelation (1, 12-14[2844]). What do these prophets, who saw both God and Satan, teach us about the issues that face us? What was Lucifer’s original position? What has he been primarily trying to accomplish since the very beginning of his rebellion (see Isaiah 14:13-14; Matthew 4:8-9; Revelation 13:5-8)[2845]?

In order to understand many things that happen in our world it is essential to realize that we are in the midst of a great controversy between good and evil, God and the Devil. We must also understand what that controversy is about. Satan wants to destroy God’s reputation so that we will no longer trust Him. Ultimately, Satan would like to take God’s place. God, by contrast, understands that it is impossible to run a universe at peace unless everyone is convinced of the absolute necessity of trust, love, and a humble willingness to listen. Furthermore, God is not willing to use force to get our cooperation. Those who are not willing to do things God’s way because they have not fully recognized its superiority cannot be allowed to be a part of His future kingdom. The Devil uses deceit, force, lies, and every other

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evil device to confuse and mislead people to get them to join his side. God can only use truth and love to win people to His side. People must be willing to take the time and effort necessary to carefully study and weigh the evidence on both sides and then have the courage to do what is right because it is right.

God could take everyone to heaven if He were willing to spend the rest of eternity serving as a universal policeman running here and there stopping all the fights and misunderstandings, or perhaps He could put us all in solitary confinement cells so we could not hurt or annoy each other! But this is not God’s idea of heaven. He wants a universe full of people who do what is right because it is right. There will be no police or jails in the New Jerusalem. God refuses to run that kind of a government.

7. Who is the baby referred to in Isaiah 7:14[2846]? Look at the context of this verse in Isaiah 7:1,10-16; 8:1-3[2847]. But who is the baby referred to in Isaiah 9:6[2848]? Do we have two virgin births in the Bible? How could Matthew explicitly say that Mary’s giving birth was to fulfill Isaiah’s prophecy? Have we lost our best Messianic prophecy? Or could this prophecy have two different fulfillments? There are other places where Isaiah and others begin by describing a local individual and then expanding their prophecy to someone much greater. Does Isaiah 14:4-15[2849] describe the King of Babylon or Lucifer? Does Ezekiel 28:2-19[2850] describe the Prince of Tyre or Lucifer?

“Isaiah 7:14 >Almah (Heb.) is one of two words translated as ‘virgin.’ The other term, betulah (Heb.), is very specific, only meaning ‘virgin,’ whereas >almah is more general and can sometimes mean ‘a young woman of marriageable age.’ The ambiguity of this term is reflected in its being translated ‘virgin’ in some places and ‘maiden’ in others. It has been maintained that the seven uses of this word in the Old Testament (Genesis 24:43; Exodus 2:8; Psalms 68:25; Proverbs 30:19; Song of Solomon1:3; 6:8; Isaiah 7:14[2851]) all have the meaning of ‘virgin.’ This view is supported by the fact that translators of the LXX chose the Greek word parthenos, which means ‘virgin,’ to translate >almah. In view of the importance of this verse to the New Testament doctrine of the virgin birth of Jesus Christ, it is puzzling why Isaiah chose the ambiguous term, >almah, over the more frequent and specific one, betulah. The answer may be related to vv. 16, 22, which suggest a double fulfillment to the prophecy. The prophet may have used >almah instead of betulah because the impending birth which would be a sign to Ahaz would not be a virgin birth, but the future birth of Immanuel would be the Virgin Birth. The virgin birth of Jesus is essential to faith because only through this miracle can Christ (1) be fully God and fully Man simultaneously; (2) be the ‘New Adam’; (3) be sinless and perfectly obedient to the law of God on behalf of sinners; and (4) be the payment for sins as One who is both God and Man. The term ‘Immanuel’ (‘God with us’) was not meant as a proper name but as a description of the Person and work of the Messiah (Isaiah 9:6; 11:1-10[2852]).” (Believer’s Study Bible)

"‘Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel.’ During the Christmas season, this verse becomes a part of our common vocabulary (Isaiah 7:14[2853]): Most Christmas pageants recite the verse, and pastors explain the meaning of Immanuel, ‘God with Us.’ How the prophecy was fulfilled in the birth of Christ is recorded in the Gospel of Matthew (Matt. 1:23[2854]). But there are still questions that surround this prophecy. For

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instance, how could the birth of Jesus be a sign to Ahaz?

"Sometimes unraveling Biblical prophecy can be difficult. This is one of those cases; Christians have interpreted this prophecy in several different ways. Some have thought the anonymous ‘virgin’ may refer to a royal mother—more specifically Ahaz’s wife. Thus the child would be Hezekiah, Ahaz’s successor. Hezekiah would be a sign to Ahaz that God was in control: The Lord was with Ahaz; He would save Judah from the enemies that surrounded Ahaz, enabling his son to inherit the throne (Isaiah 7:1-3[2855]). Yet the reference to the child eating ‘curds and honey’ was a prediction of Assyria’s eventual domination of Judah.

"Others have identified Isaiah’s wife, ‘the prophetess’ of 8:3, as the ‘virgin.’ She was ‘a young woman of marriageable age’, another meaning of the Hebrew word translated virgin. The child in this case would be Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz. According to this view, the child’s two names, Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz meaning ‘Speed the Spoil, Hasten the Booty,’ and Immanuel meaning ‘God with Us,’ symbolize judgment and salvation. In fact, Isaiah himself described his children as ‘signs’ to the nation (see Isaiah 8:18[2856]), and he delivered a similar prophecy for this son (compare Isaiah 7:16 with 8:4[2857]).

"Some cite the parallel between the prophecy that a ‘virgin shall conceive’ and Jesus’ miraculous birth as evidence that this prophecy was fulfilled only in Jesus. Mary was the virgin mother; and the birth of Jesus was the sign of God’s salvation. His name would be Immanuel, ‘God with Us,’ because Jesus was the Son of God and He lived among us (Matt. 1:23[2858]). According to this view, Isaiah’s prophecy had no fulfillment prior to Jesus’ birth (Matt. 1:18-25[2859]).

"It is not uncommon for biblical prophecies to have one level of fulfillment in the immediate future, and a final fulfillment many years later in the person and work of the Savior, Jesus. Thus the pregnancy of Isaiah’s new wife and the birth of her son (8:3) could have been a sign to King Ahaz. However, this would have been a fulfillment, not the fulfillment. The prophecy was completely fulfilled in the coming of God’s only Son to the earth. He is the only Child who can truly be called Wonderful, Counselor, and Prince of Peace (see 9:6).” (Nelson Study Bible)

“Isaiah 7:14 Two Hebrew words can be translated virgin. ‘Almah (Heb.) is the more general term, designating a young woman of marriageable age. Bethulah (Heb.) is a very specific word for ‘virgin,’ though not used exclusively in this way. However, in all its Old Testament usages, the word can be, though does not have to be, translated in this way. Isaiah’s use of ‘almah indicates a double fulfillment of this prophecy. Isaiah’s son Shear-Jashub was a sign to Ahaz (Isaiah 7:3,4[2860]) and the child Immanuel (Heb., lit. ‘God with us’) was a sign to the whole world (Isaiah 7:14-16[2861]). The emphasis fell on the promise of God’s presence in times of crisis. This promise ultimately was fulfilled in Christ (Matt. 1:22, 23[2862]).” (Woman’s Study Bible)

A careful reading of Isaiah 7-9 should make it clear that the original "sign” given to King Ahaz was the birth of Maher-shalal-hash-baz, Isaiah’s second son. But there is no way that this child fulfills the predictions spelled out in Isaiah 9. That Son was none other than the true Messiah-the Eternal Father, the Wonderful Counselor, the Prince of Peace.

8. Is it apparent from this book how God feels about a people who would rather go to diviners and soothsayers, consulting the "dead” on behalf of the living, than come to Him? What does

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God do with such people? (Isaiah 8:11-9:7[2863])

God knew very well what people in Isaiah’s day thought about their “gods”. “Gods” were normally metal or wood objects that were supposed to represent some powerful force above and beyond the idol itself. But the important thing about the “idols” was that men could manipulate the “idols” and take them where they wanted them and even carry them into battle. Man has always longed for the power of a “god” that he could control. But, by contrast, we are almost never comfortable with a God who is above our power to manipulate. We try every means imaginable to “manipulate” our “God”, but God does what is right despite our manipulations! Think of all the modern Christian attempts by people like TV evangelists to get God to listen to their words and perform “miracles.” Others believe that if we get a group together and pray earnestly for some important thing, following the right “formula” in our prayers, God will do just what we want Him to! All such attempts put us back with the people in Isaiah’s day, trying to manipulate our God! Even the “dead” can be manipulated to someone’s advantage! Look at what Satan accomplished through the witch of Endor. (1 Samuel 28:3-25[2864])

Now God, on the other hand, is doing everything He can to reach us! He came down to live among us as a baby boy who was really none other than:

“Wonderful Counselor,

Mighty God,

Everlasting Father,

Prince of Peace.” Isaiah 9:6, God’s Word

He reaches out to help us in our need. He lived among us in very unfavorable circumstances. He continues to dwell among us through His Holy Spirit. He is always ready to help, but He can only do this on His terms. We must come to Him in an attitude of humble willingness to listen. This is so hard for proud humans! (See 2 Chronicles 26:16; 32:25[2865])

9.    Compare (Isaiah 11:6-7 and 65:25 with Isaiah 35:9)[2866]. Will there be any lions in the New Earth or not? How do we explain these apparent “direct contradictions?”

If one were to interpret these verses very literally it would be an obvious contradiction. But look at the context and the evident meaning becomes clear. There will be no carnivorous beasts there! If lions eat straw like an ox, then they are no longer a threat like the “lions” that we know today. Others see this as having at least partially a metaphorical meaning, and remembering 1 Peter 5:8 where the Devil is described as a “roaring lion,” rejoice in the fact that the Devil will not be there. So there will be “lions” there, but they will not be any danger to any of us.

10.    Do you believe “Israel’s sins will be forgiven only when the stones of pagan altars are ground up like chalk, and no more symbols of the goddess Asherah or incense altars are left” (Isaiah 27:9[2867], GNB)?

The purified Israel will be fully reconciled to Yahweh when all the corrupting influences that have proved to be such a terrible curse to the nation have been removed and destroyed. This is not some arbitrary statement on God’s part setting forth some demands that something be done, but rather a simple recognition that things will not be fully healed until all of these pagan influences are gone.

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11.    What is the meaning of Isaiah 28:9-13,16[2868] "here a little and there a little”? Is this intended to be a guide for how to use key texts in the Scripture?

Isaiah 28:9: 9 They complain about me. They say, "Who does that man think he’s teaching? Who needs his message? It’s only good for babies that have just been weaned! 10He is trying to teach us letter by letter, line by line, lesson by lesson.” (GNB)

“Isaiah 28:9-10. The speakers in verse 9 are probably the priests and prophets mentioned in verses 7-8. They were angry that Isaiah was treating them as if they were young children. They felt they were adults who could think for themselves; they had no need for someone to tell them what to do or think. So they mimicked Isaiah as if he were speaking baby talk’ to them (v. 10). Do and do, do and do, rule on rule, rule on rule (cf. v. 13) is a series of sounds in Hebrew (saw lasaw, saw lasaw, qaw laqaw, qaw laqaw). Mocking Isaiah’s messages, the leaders were acting as if he were an adult ‘lecturing’ a little child. A little here, a little there was a method used in teaching children, inculcating a little at a time. In other words they were refusing to take Isaiah’s words seriously. They wanted nothing to do with his message or his ministry.” (The Bible Knowledge Commentary)

"In general, early SDAs followed the method of Scripture interpretation characteristic of conservative Protestantism, which viewed all Scripture as divinely inspired. To find truth, early SDAs believed it was necessary to compare all relevant Scripture passages. They pointed to Isa. 28:10, "line upon line; here a little, and there a little,” as authority for using the proof-text method. They were convinced that when correctly understood, the Bible is consistent throughout.” (SDA Encyclopedia)

For beginners this simple approach is good, but we must get beyond it when we claim to be adults and seek for a deeper understanding of Scripture. Surely we can do better than the mocking jeers of the drunken leaders of Jerusalem in Isaiah’s day! Let’s learn to take a full story or even a whole book at a time to get its larger picture and understand what God is trying to tell us through that author or book. It is much too easy to get confused and even to prove almost anything from Scripture by dividing it up into tiny pieces such as one verse at a time.

12.    What will be the ultimate basis for peace, freedom and security? Isaiah 32:17 (GNB); Isaiah 64:5 (GNB); compare COL 97-98.

Isaiah 32:17: 17 The fruit of righteousness will be peace; the effect of righteousness will be quietness and confidence forever.” (NIV)

"17 And this righteousness will bring peace. Quietness and confidence will fill the land forever.” (New Living Translation)

"17 Because everyone will do what is right, there will be peace and security for ever.”(GNB)

Isaiah 64:5: "5 You come to the help of those who gladly do right, who remember your ways. But when we continued to sin against them, you were angry. How then can we be saved?” (NIV)

5 You welcome those who cheerfully do good, who follow godly ways. But we are not godly.

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We are constant sinners, so your anger is heavy on us. How can people like us be saved?” (NLT)

"5 You welcome those who find joy in doing what is right, those who remember how you want them to live. You were angry with us, but we went on sinning; in spite of your great anger we have continued to do wrong since ancient times.” (GNB)

"The man who attempts to keep the commandments of God from a sense of obligation merely--because he is required to do so--will never enter into the joy of obedience. He does not obey. When the requirements of God are accounted a burden because they cut across human inclination, we may know that the life is not a Christian life. True obedience is the outworking of a principle within. It springs from the love of righteousness, the love of the law of God. The essence of all righteousness is loyalty to our Redeemer. This will lead us to do right because it is right--because right doing is pleasing to God.” Christ’s Object Lessons 97.3-98.0

Isn’t God trying to tell us something of immense importance here? Only those who recognize the basis of His plans for eternity will fit in. God can only admit to His kingdom those who choose to do what is right because it is right. God cannot take any chance that rebellion will arise a second time. But He refuses to remove our freedom of choice. So the only way He can have such a universe is by excluding those who aren’t willing to accept the principles on which it works.

13. Who is going to live in the everlasting fires in the end? What is this fire, anyway? Isaiah 33:1016; Compare Isaiah 6:6,7; Exodus 24:17; Ezekiel 1:26-28; Revelation 14:9-11.

The common belief among Christians-that the wicked will suffer in everlasting hell- seems to have arisen from the idea that the soul, being immortal (Satan’s original lie: Genesis 3:4), continues to live on somewhere and something must be done with those who do not live the kind of lives that God wants here on this earth. Since it is believed that they cannot die, they must be sent somewhere other than heaven to live forever. This place has taken its name from the place of the dead, Sheol in Hebrew, Gehenna in Greek often described as being like the perpetually burning fires of the garbage dump outside Jerusalem.

The very first known discussion of a "Christian hell” is found in the New Testament Apocryphal book know as the Apocalypse (or Revelation) of St. Peter. "And some there were there hanging by their tongues; and these were they that blasphemed the way of righteousness, and under them was laid fire flaming and tormenting them. And there was a great lake full of flaming mire, wherein were certain men that turned away from righteousness; and angels, tormentors, were set over them.” (Verse 22, page 509) In the Hebrew and Greek Scriptures as we know them there is nothing of such a view of hell anywhere.

Scripture teaches that God’s presence is to the wicked a consuming fire.

Deuteronomy 4:24: "because the Lord your God is like a flaming fire; he tolerates no rivals.”(GNB)

"He is a devouring fire, a jealous God.” (Living Bible)

"for the Lord your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.” (Goodspeed,NIV,NKJV)

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Hebrews 12:29. "...our God is a consuming fire.” (Goodspeed,NIV,NKJV,Concordant) "...His presence is a consuming fire.” (Clear Word)

"...our God is an all-consuming fire.” (Schonfield’s Original)

"...our God is a devouring fire.” (NEB)

"...our God is indeed an all-devouring fire.” (Translator’s)

"...our God is a burning fire.” (Phillips)

"...our God is a destroying fire.” (GNB)

"God himself is Fire! (Message)

Daniel 7:9,10. "While I was looking, thrones were put in place. One who had been living

forever sat down on one of the thrones. His clothes were white as snow, and his hair was like pure wool. His throne, mounted on fiery wheels, was blazing with fire, and a stream of fire was pouring out from it. There were many thousands of people there to serve him, and millions of people stood before him. The court began its session, and the books were opened.” (GNB)

Isaiah 33:14-16. "Who among us shall dwell with devouring fire,

Who among us shall dwell with eternal flames?”

He who walks uprightly, and speaks sincerely,

Who scorns the gain that is won by oppression,

Who keeps his hand free from the touch of a bribe,

Who stops his ears against hearing bloodshed,

And closes his eyes against looking on evil--He will dwell on the heights,

His stronghold will be the rocky fastnesses;

His bread will be given to him, his water will be sure.

(Smith/Goodspeed)

vs. 14-16 "The sinful people of Zion are trembling with fright. They say, ‘God’s judgment is like a fire that burns forever. Can any of us survive a fire like that?’ You can survive if you say and do what is right. Don’t use your power to cheat the poor and don’t accept bribes. Don’t join with those who plan to commit murder or to do other evil things. Then you will be safe; you will be as secure as if in a strong fortress. You will have food to eat and water to drink.” (GNB)

vs. 14-16 "Which of us can live with devouring fire?

Which of us can exist with eternal flame?

He who lives honestly and speaks sincerely,

Who scorns to profit by wronging others,

Who waves aside a bribe,

Who lends no ear to murderous plots And contemplates no crime.

Such a man shall live above all harm,

Secure as someone in a rocky stronghold;

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His bread provided, and his water sure.” (Phillips)

2 Thessalonians 2:8. "Then the Wicked One will be revealed, but when the Lord Jesus comes, he will kill him with the breath from his mouth and destroy him with his dazzling presence.” (GNB)

Exodus 24:17. "The dazzling light of the Lord’s presence came down on the mountain. To the Israelites the light looked like a fire burning on top of the mountain.” (GNB)

Deuteronomy 5:23-27. "When the whole mountain was on fire and you heard the voice from the darkness, your leaders and the chiefs of your tribes came to me and said, ‘The Lord our God showed us his greatness and his glory when we heard him speak from the fire! Today we have seen that it is possible for a man to continue to live, even though God has spoken to him. But why should we risk death again? That terrible fire will destroy us. We are sure to die if we hear the Lord our God speak again. Has any human being ever lived after hearing the living God speak from a fire? Go back, Moses, and listen to everything that the Lord our God says. Then return and tell us what he said to you. We will listen and obey.’” (GNB) [Compare Exodus 3]

Exodus 33:20-23. "I will not let you see my face, because no one can see me and stay alive, but here is a place beside me where you can stand on a rock. When the dazzling light of my presence passes by, I will put you in an opening in the rock and cover you with my hand until I have passed by. Then I will take my hand away, and you will see my back but not my face.” (GNB)

Ezekiel 1:27,28. "Then I noticed from the appearance of His loins and upward something like glowing metal that looked like fire all around within it, and from the appearance of His loins and downward I saw something like fire; and there was a radiance around Him. As the appearance of the rainbow in the clouds on a rainy day, so was the appearance of the surrounding radiance. Such was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord. And when I saw it, I fell on my face and heard a voice speaking.” (NASB)

2 Peter 3:10-12. "Yet the day of the Lord will come as unexpectedly as a thief. In that day the heavens will vanish in a tearing blast, the very elements will disintegrate in heat and the earth and all its works will disappear.” (Phillips)

"The Lord is coming in flaming fire to take vengeance on those sinners who know not God and obey not His gospel.” [2 Thessalonians 1:7,8] Manuscript 5, 1876 ("The Days of Noah,” cir. 1876); see Manuscript Releases 843, 963, 816; 10MR 265,367; 12MR 207-209; LDE 240,241.

"Then shall they that obey not the gospel be consumed with the spirit of His mouth and be destroyed with the brightness of His coming.’ 2 Thessalonians 2:8. Like Israel of old the wicked destroy themselves; they fall by their iniquity. By a life of sin, they have placed themselves so out of harmony with God, their natures have become so debased with evil, that the manifestation of His glory is to them a consuming fire.” Great Controversy 35-37 (1888); Spirit of Prophecy vol. 4, p. 36-38 (1884)

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“The glory of His countenance, which to the righteous is life, will be to the wicked a consuming fire. Because of love rejected, grace despised, the sinner will be destroyed.” Desire of Ages 600 (1898); compare 4SP 33; GC 32; DA 590; LDE 279

Isn’t it clear from these passages that God is powerful? His power is at times described as "fire”. It is also called His "glory”. But to the wicked it is an awesome and consuming power. So why is it that a power that gives life to the righteous is to the wicked a consuming fire? This is one of the greatest unanswered questions of Scripture and Ellen White. How does sin change us? Is God’s salvation of the righteous and destruction of the wicked in the end a natural result of some change that takes place in each individual because of their personal choices or some arbitrary act on God’s part?

14.    Why did God feel it was necessary to step in at the time of the Assyrian siege of Jerusalem and slay the 185,000 Assyrians? (Isaiah 37:36; 2 Kings 19:35) Do you think Sennacherib’s insults had anything to do with it? (Isaiah 37:17,23,35) Read the full story in Isaiah 36 & 37 or

2 Kings 18:13-19:37.

Sennacherib didn’t seem to recognize that there was any difference between the mighty Creator Yahweh and all those other useless "gods” that the other nations worshiped. He believed that Yahweh could be overpowered just as easily as the "gods” of any other nation. But Yahweh realized that a distinction had to be made between Him and His power and the fate of His people here on this earth. Yahweh knew what His people had not yet recognized-that He would have to let them go into captivity soon. To the nations looking on this would be taken to mean that Yahweh was no more powerful than the "gods” of the other conquered nations around and certainly no match for the powerful "gods” of Assyria or Babylon their conquerors. But to those who cared to think about it, there could be no comparison between a God who delivered His people from Egypt by the plagues, completely overwhelming the "gods” of Egypt, (Exodus 12:12) opening a path for His people through the Red Sea, and helping them to conquer their enemies in unbelievable ways, and the other "gods” around. To prove that this "God” was no ordinary "god”, He needed to do something dramatic enough to get the attention of all around and something that could not be explained by any other means. Slaying the army of Assyria who had so boastfully despised Him, was just such an opportunity.

15.    Is it our mission, as suggested by Isaiah, to proclaim to the world, "Behold our God” (Isaiah 40:9-11)? What are we actually saying about our God today?

Isaiah 40:9-11: 9 Jerusalem, go up on a high mountain and proclaim the good news!

Call out with a loud voice, Zion; announce the good news!

Speak out and do not be afraid.

Tell the towns of Judah that their God is coming!

10    The Sovereign Lord is coming to rule with power, bringing with him the people he has rescued.

11    He will take care of his flock like a shepherd;

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he will gather the lambs together and carry them in his arms;

he will gently lead their mothers. Good News Bible: Today’s English Version

There is probably nothing more important that we can do than to correctly represent Yahweh to others. The question in the entire great controversy is to see and understand the truth about God and His adversary the Devil. In this connection, we need to find ways every day to point people to the God that can save them and wants to be an intimate part of their lives. But how do we point Him out in a world that hardly believes that He exists? We must ask them to take an unbiased look at the evidence. Faith must be based on evidence and that is the role of the Old and New Testaments of Holy Scripture. We believe that this “Bible” or “Book of Books” is God’s main exhibit area for mankind. Look at it and ask what it says to you about Him. Don’t make the mistake of coming with all sorts of a priori assumptions that discount much of what it says, but simply look at the evidence as it stands. Compare it to the historical evidence that is available. Consider what impact it seems to have on people’s lives. Try it in your own life. See what impact it has on you. Then make a careful evaluation of the truthfulness of this information. That is all that God asks.

16. Look at Isaiah 43:25. “I am He who blots out your transgressions for my own sake, and I will

not remember your sins.” (RSV) (Compare 37:35; 48:11) Is that good news? Will we be comfortable in the hereafter only because God has forgotten? Is the God we worship the kind of Person who could be trusted with the detailed knowledge of all the things we have ever done? When we get to heaven, how will Uriah treat David? Or will he not remember? Could we go to heaven and be trusted not to gossip about the sins of others? (Romans 1:29-31) When you are with influential friends, are you uncomfortable to have your mother near by? Do you think she would say anything to embarrass you? Does God ever embarrass His children? Could He?

Why would God say that He blots out our sins for His own name’s sake?

Isaiah 43:25:

25 “ejgw eijmi ejgwi eijmi ol ejxaleiifwn ta; ajnomiia sou kai; ouj mh; mnhsqhisomai.” Septuagint 25 “I—I am He who is blotting out Thy transgressions for Mine own sake, And thy sins I do not remember.” Young’s Literal Translation

25 “I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins.” The King James Version

25 “But I wipe away your sins because of who I am. And so, I will forget the wrongs you have done.” The Contemporary English Version

25 I alone am the one who is going to wipe away your rebellious actions for my own sake.

I will not remember your sins anymore.” God’s Word

25 And yet, I am the God who forgives your sins, and I do this because of who I am. I will not hold your sins against you.” (GNB)

25 I, yes, I alone am he who blots away your sins for my own sake and will never think of

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them again.” The Living Bible

25 "I—yes, I alone—am the one who blots out your sins for my own sake and will never think of them again.” The New Living Translation

25 "I, I it is who blot out your acts of revolt for my own sake and shall not call your sins to mind.” New Jerusalem Bible

"The method by which God blots out the sins of His people is not clear, but the removal of sins was not at the expense of God’s justice and His honor. The redemption is accomplished by Christ’s death and resurrection, satisfying divine justice in accordance with divine mercy. ‘For My own sake’ underscores the exclusion of human merit as a factor in salvation. Cf. also Jer. 31:34....

"The word translated ‘forgive’ (salah, Heb.) can mean ‘send away’ or ‘let go,’ and is one of several O.T. words for forgiveness (v. 34; 36:3; cf. Is. 55:7). Another term is kaphar (Heb.), basically meaning ‘to cover’ (Prov. 17:9; Is. 1:18) and most often associated with the various aspects of the atonement, which is impossible without God’s forgiveness. A third word is nasa< (Heb.), meaning ‘lift up or away’ (Gen. 50:17; Ex. 10:17). In the N.T. there are four Greek words rendered ‘forgive’: (1) aphiemi, meaning ‘send away’ or ‘let off’ (Mark 3:29; Acts 5:31; 13:38; 26:18; Eph. 1:7; Col. 1:14) and also rendered ‘liberty’ (Luke 4:18) or ‘remission,’ which indicates a permanent removal of deserved punishment and condemnation (Matt. 26:28; Mark 1:4; Luke 1:77; 3:3; 24:47; Acts 2:38; 10:43; Heb. 9:22; 10:18); (2) paresis, meaning ‘remission’ (Rom. 3:25); (3) apoluo, literally ‘to loose away from’ or ‘away from destruction’ (Luke 6:37); and (4) charizomai, meaning literally ‘be gracious to’ (Luke 7:43; 2 Cor. 2:7; Eph. 4:32; Col. 3:13). The latter word is enhanced by its relation to the noun charis, meaning ‘grace.’ Forgiveness is the demonstration of God’s mercy and grace (Ps. 86:5; 103:10, 11), the sovereign act of God which reflects His very nature. Sin breaks the fellowship between God and man just as it breaks the harmony among men. Fellowship is restored only through forgiveness. If God is willing to forgive man, how much more should man forgive man (cf. Matt. 6:12). Those who have been forgiven should then become the forgiving (Luke 7:40-47; 17:3, 4). Divine forgiveness is marked by its unlimited scope (cf. Ps. 78:38; Luke 17:3, 4), its absolute erasure of sins (cf. Ps. 103:12; Mic. 7:19; Heb. 10:17), its abundant and gracious pardon (cf. Is. 55:7), and its automatic forgetting simultaneous with forgiveness (cf. Is. 43:25; 44:22). Though human forgiveness is inferior to divine forgiveness, the pattern is available and worthy of imitation (Eph. 5:1). The fruits of forgiveness include (1) peace (Gal. 5:22), (2) healing (2 Chr. 30:18-20), (3) restoration (2 Cor. 2:7-10), and (4) cleansing (James 5:15, 16). The forgiveness of their sin will assure a personal relationship with Yahweh. Likewise the law will not be relegated to written material only, but also will be known by the indwelling of the living Word in individual believers. In the new covenant it is God Himself that initiates and executes His blessings toward Israel. The people of God have hope in: (1) a coming day of restoration (v. 31); (2) personal fellowship with the living God (vv. 32, 33); and

(3) the forgiveness of their sins (v. 34).” (Believer’s Study Bible)

God is never happy when His children are in trouble. He weeps to see them destroy themselves with sin. But He rejoices when it is possible to forgive, save, or heal them. God loves to treat us in the best possible way, but that doesn’t mean that He has forgotten, or

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perhaps become a little senile in His old age. Not at all. God is omniscient at all times. He never forgets anything. But He chooses to treat us as if we had never sinned (Hebrews 10:17[2869]); if we are willing to come back to Him with the right attitude. In fact, it is much easier for God to forgive us than it is for us to forgive ourselves! But Israel was too busy with their own plans to remember God. Despite all that He had done for them, they were busy offering sacrifices to these other "gods” who had no real existence at all. When all is done and said, God’s name will be greatly magnified and honored because of the wonderful way in which He has dealt with His children. Finally, when all is open before the eyes of the universe, every one of us will bow down and agree that God did everything He could and in the best possible way and time to try to work with each one of us. Then we will realize fully the meaning of "for my own name’s sake!”

"Isaiah 43:25 "for My own sake”: The Lord chooses to save and forgive. This arises out of His own character. For similar phrases, see Isa. 37:35; 42:21; 48:9,11[2870].” (Nelson Study Bible)

God’s forgiveness is a part of His love. By forgiving us He demonstrates once again what a magnificent God He is. But we do not honor Him by continuing to sin so He can continue to forgive us. When we do that we are just destroying the most precious thing in God’s universe-one of His children. So God’s forgiveness is to bring about a reformation in us. (Romans 2:4[2871]) If God can do anything at all to transform our lives then He and all heaven rejoices that another person has been saved. This leads to honor and glory for God’s name. (Matthew 5:16[2872])

In Isaiah’s day Yahweh was being so badly misrepresented by His own people that God found it necessary to step in and do something for His own name’s sake. The whole world was supposed to be learning about Him and being attracted to Him because of what they had learned about Him. But because His chosen people were doing such an irresponsible job of mixing false religion in with the true, people from other nations were coming to think that Yahweh was really no different than one of their "gods!” (Isaiah 36:7,10,13-20; 37:8-13[2873]) They were even claiming that their "gods” had given them victory over Yahweh. In such a situation God needed to defend His name before the entire world and the entire universe. (Isaiah 37:36[2874]) See #14 above.

It is interesting to note that much of what is known as Deutero-Isaiah (40-55) is taken up with a very elaborate explanation of who God is. Why would that be necessary? Because the time had already come for God to allow judgment to fall on the northern kingdom of Israel and it wasn’t going to be a very long time before judgment would come on the southern kingdom Judah, God finds it necessary to "separate” Himself in some ways from the fate of His people. He had to do what He could to prevent people from thinking that since His "children” were going into captivity it must mean that their God has lost His power! So God has to point out what kind of a God He is. He must do some thing, (like wiping out the Assyrian army around Jerusalem) to prove that He is no ordinary "god”. And God realized that some 700 years later He would arrive and have to face the descendants of these same people and turn their system upside down. Ultimately, it would destroy them as a nation. How sad, that God’s own chosen people should come to that!

17. What could possibly lead people to practice the folly of making a "god” out of something that you would normally use to warm your food? (Isaiah 44:9-20; compare 41:21-29; 46:5-7;

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Psalms 115:1-8; Habakkuk 2:18-19)[2875] Contrast this with the true God, what He wants, and what He does. (Isaiah 1:10-31; Isaiah 40)

Isaiah 44:9-20: 9 All those who make idols are worthless, and the gods they prize so highly are useless. Those who worship these gods are blind and ignorant—and they will be disgraced.

10 It’s no good making a metal image to worship as a god!11 Everyone who worships it will be humiliated. The people who make idols are human beings and nothing more. Let them come and stand trial—they will be terrified and will suffer disgrace.

12    The metalworker takes a piece of metal and works with it over a fire. His strong arm swings a hammer to pound the metal into shape. As he works, he gets hungry, thirsty, and tired.

13    The carpenter measures the wood. He outlines a figure with chalk, carves it out with his tools, and makes it in the form of a man, a handsome human figure, to be placed in his house.14 He might cut down cedars to use, or choose oak or cypress wood from the forest. Or he might plant a laurel-tree and wait for the rain to make it grow.15 A person uses part of a tree for fuel and part of it for making an idol. With one part he builds a fire to warm himself and bake bread; with the other part he makes a god and worships it.16 With some of the wood he makes a fire; he roasts meat, eats it, and is satisfied. He warms himself and says, "How nice and warm! What a beautiful fire!”17 The rest of the wood he makes into an idol, and then he bows down and worships it. He prays to it and says, "You are my god—save me!”

18 Such people are too stupid to know what they are doing. They close their eyes and their minds to the truth.19 The maker of idols hasn’t the wit or the sense to say, "Some of the wood I burnt up. I baked some bread on the embers and I roasted meat and ate it. And the rest of the wood I made into an idol. Here I am bowing down to a block of wood!”

20 It makes as much sense as eating ashes. His foolish ideas have so misled him that he is beyond help. He won’t admit to himself that the idol he holds in his hand is not a god at all.” Good News Bible: Today’s English Version

Isaiah 46:5-7: 5 "With whom will you compare me?” says the Lord.

"Is there anyone else like me?

6    People open their purses and pour out gold; they weigh out silver on the scales. They hire a goldsmith to make a god; then they bow down and worship it!

7    They lift it to their shoulders and carry it; they put it in place, and there it stands, unable to move from where it is.

If anyone prays to it, it cannot answer or save him from disaster. Good News Bible: Today’s English Version Psalms 115:1-8: 1 To you alone, O Lord, to you alone, and not to us, must glory be given because of your constant love and faithfulness.

2 Why should the nations ask us, "Where is your God?”

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3    Our God is in heaven; he does whatever he wishes.

4    Their gods are made of silver and gold, formed by human hands.

5    They have mouths, but cannot speak, and eyes, but cannot see.

6    They have ears, but cannot hear, and noses, but cannot smell.

7    They have hands, but cannot feel, and feet, but cannot walk; they cannot make a sound.

8    May all who made them and who trust in them become like the idols they have made. Good News Bible: Today’s English Version Habakkuk 2:18,19: 18 What’s the use of an idol? It is only something that a human being has made, and it tells you nothing but lies. What good does it do for its maker to trust it—a god that can’t even talk!19 You are doomed! You say to a piece of wood, "Wake up!” or to a block of stone, "Get up!” Can an idol reveal anything to you? It may be covered with silver and gold, but there is no life in it. 20 The Lord is in his holy Temple; let everyone on earth be silent in his presence.” Good News Bible: Today’s English Version

This is primarily a thought question. It is clear that "idols” make few demands on their worshipers! But then again, how many things that are very "important” to us are nothing more than "idols”? How much of our time is spent on pursuits that have no more ultimate value than the "idols” in Isaiah’s day. No doubt having a great "idol” in one’s home gave social standing! It demonstrated to others that you were "somebody”. It gave one a sense of some kind of security. It was thought to afford some kind of protection-some would call it "fire insurance”. But if you should become suddenly ill or even die, of what value would it be then? What percentage of our time do we spend striving and working hard for things that have no eternal value. By contrast, how much time do we spend preparing for eternity?

But humans have always seemed to want to control some powerful force that would give them the ability to do what they want to do. We see this still in the "health and wealth” ministries on TV today. And what could be more attractive than a form of worship that appeals to the passions of the human heart? How were the temple and its services supposed to compete with temple prostitutes, wine, and the promiscuous lifestyle that was promoted at the fertility cult sites? If you even had the slightest notion that these fertility cult "gods” had any power at all, their program was almost irresistible. This was prettywell demonstrated by the fact that the captives who returned from Babylonian exile went almost immediately back into the same problems that had led to their ancestors being taken off into captivity! It seems that the only defense against the onslaught of these perverse religions was to recognize that their "gods” had no reality to them at all.

When the worshipers in these fertility cult religions were drunk and busy about their promiscuous practices it didn’t matter too much that the whole thing seemed so ridiculous when considered from a purely rational perspective. The Devil has never encouraged his followers to think carefully about what he is asking them to do! Many, if not most, of these

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worshipers probably never stopped to think about the foolishness of what they were doing.

18. See Isaiah 48:9,11[2876]. Does this seem selfish? Would we have any future if God were not the gracious, trustworthy Person we believe Him to be? In what sense does God do things "for My own name’s sake” (compare Isaiah 37:35; 42:21; 43:25[2877])?

Isaiah 48:9-11: 9 "In order that people will praise my name, I am holding my anger in check; I    am keeping it back and will not destroy you.

10 I have tested you in the fire of suffering, as silver is refined in a furnace. But I have found that you are worthless.

11    What I do is done for my own sake—I will not let my name be dishonoured or let anyone else share the glory that should be mine and mine alone.” Good News Bible: Today’s English Version

2 Kings 19:34; 20:6[2878]; Isaiah 37:35: "I will defend this city and protect it, for the sake of my own honour and because of the promise I made to my servant David.” (GNB)

Isaiah 42:21: The Lord is a God who is eager to save, so he exalted his laws and teachings, and he wanted his people to honour them. (GNB)

Daniel 9:19: "19 Lord, hear! Lord, forgive! Lord, hearken and do! defer not, for thine own sake,

O my God! for thy city and thy people are called by thy name.” Darby

"19Lord, hear us. Lord, forgive us. Lord, listen to us, and act! In order that everyone will know that you are God, do not delay! This city and these people are yours.” (GNB)

See #16 above. If God should lose in the great controversy, we would all lose. If God in any way appears less than the wonderful Person He is, then in a certain sense we all, as His children, lose. God’s plans for us are so much better and higher than any we might make for ourselves that when we come to know Him we realize that our greatest joy and hope is in promoting His cause. Ultimately that is what is best for us as well.

"God never leads His children otherwise than they would choose to be led, if they could see the end from the beginning, and discern the glory of the purpose which they are fulfilling as co-workers with Him. Not Enoch, who was translated to heaven, not Elijah, who ascended in a chariot of fire, was greater or more honored than John the Baptist, who perished alone in the dungeon. "Unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on Him, but also to suffer for His sake.” Phil. 1:29. And of all the gifts that Heaven can bestow upon men, fellowship with Christ in His sufferings is the most weighty trust and the highest honor.” The Desire of Ages 224,225 (1898); CC 278; MH 479; FLB 64; IHP 267; PK 578; TDG 122 (Letter 69, April 23, 1903, to a young man suffering affliction); RH March 7, 1912

Suffering would not be our first choice of things to do! But when it is all over, if we believe inspiration, suffering might be what is best for us. So, for those who trust God, it should always be our first choice to do what best represents Him-because in the perspective of eternity, that

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is what is best for us as well.

19. Is it still true that as we consider the sufferings and death of Christ "we thought his punishment was sent from God” (Isaiah 53:4)? Did God "lay on him the iniquity of us all” (vs. 6)?

Look at the comments from a few well known sources:

Isaiah 53:4-6: "Griefs” is literally "sicknesses.” "Borne” (nasa<, Heb.) is used in connection with the sacrifices of expiation (cf. Lev. 5:1, 17; 16:22[2879])...The word "wounded” (meholal, Heb.) literally means "pierced.” The vicarious and substitutionary nature of His suffering and death, in which Jesus laid down His own life in behalf of every man who would accept His redemption, is set forth (cf. 1 Pet. 2:24, 25[2880])...."All” is a reference not only to the entire nation of Israel, which wandered in the wilderness in sin, but also to the whole race of mankind, who wandered from God’s perfect way (cf. Isa 66:3; Prov. 12:15; 14:12[2881]). God the Father "laid” the burden of redemption upon the Son, who willingly and voluntarily accepted the burden. His redemption was as universal as man’s sin.” (Believer’s Study Bible)

Bible references that are used to sustain this viewpoint are as follows:

Romans 4:25: Because of our sins he was handed over to die, and he was raised to life in order to put us right with God. (GNB)

1    Peter 2:24: Christ himself carried our sins in his body to the cross, so that we might die to sin and live for righteousness. It is by his wounds that you have been healed. (GNB)

2    Corinthians 5:21: Christ was without sin, but for our sake God made him share our sin in order that in union with him we might share the righteousness of God. (GNB)

“Isaiah 53:3-5. To provide a detailed description of His suffering, the prophet uses a series of verbs with an assumed subject (the Servant). Despised (from bazah, "to disdain or scorn”) and rejected [chadal, "abandoned”] of men. He is further described as a man of sorrows (mak<obot, severe pains) and acquainted with grief (chole, "injuries”). Because of His severe personal suffering we hid as it were our faces from him. The description of Christ’s suffering in the New Testament Gospels clearly indicates the severity of His physical suffering: the agony in the garden, His battered face, the severe scourging, and the torture of the crucifixion itself. His substitutionary atonement is clearly taught. He hath borne our griefs (lit., "spiritual sickness”). The New Testament says that He Himself "bare our sins in his own body on the tree” (1 Pet. 2:24). Thus He was stricken, smitten, and afflicted. We (mankind in general) thought He was judged of God. But he was wounded [or "pierced through”] for our transgressions (sins). The verb bruised translates daka<, meaning "to be utterly crushed.” Our iniquities (>awon) means moral "evils.” Chastisement [musar, "correction” or "discipline”] of our peace refers to that which procured our peace with God. With his stripes (or "wounds”) we are healed (rapa<, to mend or cure) refers to our spiritual condition being made whole. In Isaiah the term is always used of spiritual healing and forgiveness. See Isa 19:22; 57:18[2882].

“Isaiah 53:6-7. All we (lit., "all of us”) are compared to sheep ... gone astray to illustrate the desperate condition of mankind, lost, without a Shepherd (Matt. 9:36). All and every are

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used in parallel, emphasizing the totality of sinful humanity. Laid on him is a causative verb meaning "to strike violently.” Thus Christ propitiates the violent wrath of God for us. The fact that He opened not His mouth is illustrated by a lamb being brought to the slaughter. See John 1:29 and Revelation 5:6,12[2883].” (King James Version Study Bible)

We could go on and on. The standard understanding of what happened on the cross is that Christ voluntarily took on Himself "the wrath of God against sin”. Thus He "bore” our sins. Now that Christ has paid the price for our sins, God can accept us once again. This is the view that one is basically left with if one doesn’t understand or hasn’t heard anything about the great controversy.

In our great controversy understanding, Christ needed to take upon Himself the results of "sin” in order to demonstrate how serious sin is. This took place according to the plan that Father, Son and Holy Spirit had agreed to before this world was created. We don’t need to be afraid of God’s wrath! What we need to be afraid of is the results of sin. Now that Christ has demonstrated what those results are, for all to see, we have a choice. We can accept God’s plan for our lives and live for eternity with Him or we can continue in our sins and reap the guaranteed results.

20. Is it possible to keep Isaiah 58:13-14[2884] legalistically? Would a parent dare to say to a child, "You have to eat your broccoli!” "Smile when you eat your broccoli!” "You must enjoy your broccoli!”--What is God saying about the Sabbath, here?

Romans 14:6: "What’s important in all this is that if you keep a holy day, keep it for God’s sake; if you eat meat, eat it to the glory of God and thank God for prime rib; if you’re a vegetarian, eat vegetables to the glory of God and thank God for broccoli. None of us are permitted to insist on our own way in these matters.” (The Message)

God is recognizing here that Sabbath observance is supposed to be a joyous occasion and a celebration. If it is regarded as something other than this, it is not serving its purpose! This is not a command to "enjoy” the Sabbath or anything else.

13If you refrain from trampling the Sabbath,

From pursuing your affairs on My holy day;

If you call the sabbath "delight,”

The Lord’s holy day "honored”;

And if you honor it and go not your ways Nor look to your affairs, nor strike bargains—

14Then you can seek the favor of the Lord.

I will set you astride the heights of the earth,

And let you enjoy the heritage of your father Jacob—

For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.” (Tanakh-The Holy Scriptures)

God has given us the Sabbath as a chance to come to Him for fellowship and rest. It was never intended to be some kind of burden. The Sabbath is a blessing waiting to be taken and experienced. If we do that, then we will enjoy all the benefits that God intended for us. Notice that this blessing is based on the promise of God given in Deuteronomy 32:9,13[2885].

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The Principle of the Sabbath

Name

Reference

Time

Purpose

Prophetic

Significance

Sabbath (Heb. Shabbat)

Ex. 20:8-11; 31:12-17;

Lev. 23:3; Deut. 5:12-15

The evening of the sixth day to the evening of the next day

1.    To rest from work, to honor God, and to reflect on God’s covenant with Israel.

2.    To

commemorate God’s completion of creation (Gen. 2:2, 3).

Jesus is Lord of the Sabbath (Mark 2:23-28).

Sabbath Year

Ex. 23:10, 11;

Lev. 25:1-7, 20-22; Deut. 15:1-18

Every seventh year

1.    To allow the land to rest or lie fallow.

2.    To forgive debts.

3.    To release Hebrews bound to servitude because of debt.

God through Jesus Christ has given rest, forgiven us, and set us free (Matt. 11:28; John 8:36; Eph. 1:7).

Year of Jubilee, (lit. “Year of the Blowing Ram’s Horn”)

Lev. 25:8-55; 27:17-24; Ezek. 46:17

The fiftieth year following seven Sabbath years

1.    To proclaim liberty to those who were slaves because of debt.

2.    To return land to the former owners.

3.    To rejoice and celebrate—with no crops to be planted.

This observance pictures the deliverance from the bondage and slavery of sin that comes in Christ (John 8:36; Gal. 5:1).

Women’s Study Bible

21. Could Isaiah 66:23 be true if the Sabbath were intended as an arbitrary test of our obedience or an arbitrary requirement? What function could it possibly serve after the judgment is over and the righteous are in heaven? Will God actually continue to test our obedience forever?

This should be the end of the idea that the Sabbath is an arbitrary test of our obedience. True Sabbath observance has always been a time of sacred fellowship and renewal and rest. There never was a time when God regarded it as some kind of test. However, this has often been the approach taken by humans. But the arbitrary test idea fits better with the idea that God has got His eyes on us and is constantly watching to see if we are going to get out of line. He is just watching for some excuse to punish us or perhaps discipline us. By contrast, Isaiah is looking forward to a time when everything will be ideal as God planned it and we will be living in harmony in heaven. Under those circumstances Sabbath observance could never be an unpleasant requirement!

It is interesting to note that even the pope, John Paul II wrote a complete document on the proper keeping of the Sabbath. He seems to have all the Biblical ideas pretty well understood, except that instead of applying all those principles to the Sabbath as understood by Jews and

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others who keep the seventh-day, he applies all of them to the keeping of the Sunday which he believes the church had the authority to institute in place of the seventh-day Sabbath. Protestants accept this explanation quite readily! Look at Matthew Henry’s comments on this verse:

"I. How the sabbath is to be sanctified (Isaiah 58:13); and, there remaining still a sabbatism for the people of God, this law of the sabbath is still binding to us on our Lord’s day.” (Matthew Henry’s Commentary on the Bible)

"The work of restoration is to begin with a revival of true Sabbath observance, the essence of which is communion with God and remembrance of His creative power, on the day that He made holy. The fate of Israel as a nation was determined by its attitude toward God’s holy day (see Jer. 17:24-27[2886]). The Sabbath was never intended to be an end in itself, but rather a means by which man might become acquainted with the character and purposes of his Creator (see on Ex. 20:8[2887])...The essence of sin is selfishness—doing what one pleases, irrespective of God or man. The Sabbath day presents man with an opportunity to subdue selfishness and cultivate the habit of doing things that are pleasing to God (1 John 3:22[2888]) and that contribute to the well-being of others. Rightly understood and observed, the Sabbath is the key to man’s happiness both here and in the hereafter. True Sabbath observance will lead to the work of reformation pictured in Isa. 58:5-12[2889]. Those who do not enter into the spirit of the Sabbath as God ordained it, little realize what they are missing. The Sabbath is one of the greatest blessings bestowed upon men by a loving Creator.” (SDA Bible Commentary)

22. Why does Isaiah end with Isaiah 66:24[2890]? Is this a statement about the state of the dead?

It is quite interesting to note what other commentators have said about this verse: “Isaiah 66:24 This verse describes the fate of the transgressors, those who rejected God’s salvation. It is a picture of eternal torment (cf. Mark 9:42-49[2891]).” (Believer’s Study Bible) “Isaiah 66:17-24[2892]. The book ends with a fearful glimpse of final judgment. The prophet foresees a time when those that escape the Tribulation period will be sent unto the nations (Gentiles) to declare God’s glory among them. During the millennial kingdom they will come to Jerusalem to worship Him. All flesh refers to the redeemed of the Lord from all nations who will come to worship Him. The book ends with the awesome statement that the redeemed will go forth, and look upon the carcases of the men that have transgressed against me. Their suffering is described as being in the place where their worm shall not die, neither shall their fire be quenched (cf. Mark 9:44; Rev. 20:14, 15[2893]). The scene described here is that of the redeemed of heaven in their final glorified state and of those who are lost forever in the lake of fire. Thus Isaiah closes his prophecy with a stern reminder that there is a real heaven to be gained and a real hell to be avoided.” (King James Version Study Bible)

“Isaiah 66:24: Corpses refers to the rebels (Isa 5:25; 34:3[2894]). The word for transgressed is related to the word for rebelled in 1:2. Their worm ... is not quenched depicts eternal punishment (Isa 48:22; 57:20[2895]). The imagery derives from the Valley of Hinnom that was Jerusalem’s garbage dump, where unclean corpses decomposed and were burned. This verse is cited by Jesus in Mark 9:44,46,48[2896]. Although the Book of Isaiah depicts God’s coming salvation, it closes with a strong statement of the judgment of the wicked.” (Nelson Study

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Bible)

Isaiah 30:33: 33Long ago a place was prepared where a huge fire will burn the emperor of Assyria. It is deep and wide, and piled high with wood. The Lord will breathe out a stream of flame to set it on fire.” (GNB)

"The worm that died on the dead bodies in Gehenna died, and the fire, which consumed them, was soon extinguished; but in the figurative Gehenna the means of punishment are everlasting. (Mt 25:41,46; Re 20:10[2897])” (The New Treasury of Scripture Knowledge)

It is clear that these commentators believe that the "corpses” or "dead bodies” of Isaiah 66:24[2898] are not really dead. If they were dead they could not suffer any torment. So is this a reference to "hell” or is this using the figure of the Gehenna outside the city gate as a lesson for those who choose to rebel against all that God has said? If God is some day going to torture forever those who do not cooperate with Him, then would it be safe for anyone to live with Him? Because of this doctrine of "hell” millions of people have been turned against God.

"It is beyond the power of the human mind to estimate the evil which has been wrought by the heresy of eternal torment. The religion of the Bible, full of love and goodness, and abounding in compassion, is darkened by superstition and clothed with terror. When we consider in what false colors Satan has painted the character of God, can we wonder that our merciful Creator is feared, dreaded, and even hated? The appalling views of God which have spread over the world from the teachings of the pulpit have made thousands, yes, millions, of skeptics and infidels.

"The theory of eternal torment is one of the false doctrines that constitute the wine of the abomination of Babylon, of which she makes all nations drink. Revelation 14:8; 17:2[2899].” Spirit of Prophecy, vol. 4, pp. 356,357 (1884); GC 536; FLB 176; compare GC 545

Are we willing to study to see what God has actually said in Scripture, or do we choose to believe what we want to believe, ignoring the plainest words?

© Copyright 2000-2006, Kenneth Hart info@theox.org

EGW Quotes:

"It was under circumstances of difficulty and discouragement that Isaiah, while yet a young man, was called to the prophetic mission. Disaster was threatening his country. By their transgression of God’s law the people of Judah had forfeited His protection, and the Assyrian forces were about to come against the kingdom of Judah. But the danger from their enemies was not the greatest trouble. It was the perversity of the people that brought upon the Lord’s servant the deepest depression. By their apostasy and rebellion they were inviting the judgments of God. The youthful prophet had been called to bear to them a message of warning, and he knew that he would meet with obstinate resistance. He trembled as he viewed himself and thought of the stubbornness and unbelief of the people for whom he was to labor. His task seemed to him almost hopeless. Should he in despair relinquish his mission and leave Israel undisturbed to their idolatry? Were the gods of Nineveh to rule the earth in defiance of the God of heaven?” 5T 749.2

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40. JEREMIAH - A TEACHER’S GUIDE

THE CENTRAL QUESTION:

What does this book/story say to us about God?

This question may be broken down further as follows:

a. Why did God do it/allow it?

_b. Why did He record it for our study?_

1. Does Jeremiah contribute significantly to our understanding of God? If not to our understanding, how about the understanding of the universe looking on? In what ways is Jeremiah outstanding, compared to other books we have studied? Are there some things uniquely emphasized in Jeremiah? What were the circumstances under which Jeremiah wrote? What was Jeremiah’s position in society?

Jeremiah, known in Hebrew as Yirmeyahu or Yirmeyah and in Greek as leremias, has a name that probably means “Yahweh establishes” or “Yahweh casts.” Most of his writing was actually done by his “secretary” Baruch (See Jeremiah 36:4,27,28,32[2900]) who has an apocryphal book named after him. Jeremiah 52, like Deuteronomy 34, is a historical summary of events, some of which took place some time after Jeremiah’s death. Jeremiah came from the priestly family of Eli and Abiathar who were deposed from the high priesthood by David and Solomon. (See 1 Kings 1:7; 2:26,27[2901]) Thus he grew up in Anathoth, about 2 % miles (4 Km) northeast of Jerusalem. His ministry began in 628/627 BC. and continued until at least 586 BC when Jerusalem fell the final time to Nebuchadnezzar. If the book were organized chronologically it would look something like this:

During the reign of: Manasseh 696 (695)-642 B.C.: Jeremiah born about 645 B.C.

Amon 642-640 B.C.: Jeremiah still a child

Josiah (640-609 BC): Jeremiah 1-6; 14-16

Jehoahaz (609 BC): reigned only three months.

Jehoiakim (609-598 BC): Jeremiah 17; 7-11; 26; 35; 22:1-19; 25; 18-20; 36:1-4; 45; 36:5-32; 12.

Jehoiachin (598-597 BC): Jeremiah 22:20-30; 13; 23.

Zedekiah (597-586 BC): Jeremiah 24; 29-31; 46-51; 27; 28; 21; 34; 32; 33; 37-39.

After the fall of Jerusalem: Jeremiah 40-44; 52.

Jeremiah dies: sometime around 580 B.C.

See extended chronology of Jeremiah in Appendix.

“Jeremiah’s life and Jeremiah’s book are a single piece. He wrote what he lived, he lived what he wrote. There is no dissonance between his life and his book. Some people write better than they live; others live better than they write. Jeremiah, writing or living, was the same Jeremiah.

“This is important to know because Jeremiah is the prophet of choice for many when we find ourselves having to live through difficult times and want some trustworthy help in knowing what to think, how to pray, how to carry on. We’d like some verification of credentials. This book provides the verification.

“We live in disruptive times. The decades preceding and following the pivotal third millennium are not exactly unprecedented. There have certainly been comparable times of disruption in the past that left everyone reeling, wondering what on earth and in heaven was going on. But whatever their occasion or size, troubles require attention.

“Jeremiah’s troubled life spanned one of the most troublesome periods in Hebrew history, the decades leading up to the fall of Jerusalem in 587 B.C., followed by the Babylonian exile. Everything that could go wrong did go wrong. And Jeremiah was in the middle of all of it, sticking it out, praying and preaching, suffering and striving, writing and believing. He lived through crushing storms of hostility and furies of bitter doubt. Every muscle in his body was stretched to the limit by

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fatigue; every thought in his mind was subjected to questioning; every feeling in his heart was put through fires of ridicule. He experienced it all agonizingly and wrote it all magnificently.

“What happens when everything you believe in and live by is smashed to bits by circumstances? Sometimes the reversals of what we expect from God come to us as individuals, other times as entire communities. When it happens, does catastrophe work to re-form our lives to conform to who God actually is and not the way we imagined or wished him to be? Does it lead to an abandonment of God? Or, worse, does it trigger a stubborn grasping to the old collapsed system of belief, holding on for dear life to an illusion?

“Anyone who lives in disruptive times looks for companions who have been through them earlier, wanting to know how they went through it, how they made it, what it was like. In looking for a companion who has lived through catastrophic disruption and survived with grace, biblical people more often than not come upon Jeremiah and receive him as a true, honest, and God-revealing companion for the worst of times. (The Message)

During the ministry of Jeremiah major world events took place as well. Babylon rose to world dominance by conquering Assyria at Nineveh in 612 BC and later Egypt at Carchemish in 605 BC. Jerusalem was conquered twice and finally was besieged 30 months and completely destroyed in July of 586 BC.

This book is almost a spiritual autobiography of Jeremiah. He seemed to have a very sensitive nature, and was normally shy and retiring. He struggled with great inner conflicts. See Jeremiah 11:18-23; 12:1-5; 15:10-18; 17:14-18; 18:18-23; 20:7-18[2902]; compare Jeremiah 1:4-10; 6:11; 8:21-9:1[2903].

“There is uncertainty among Old Testament scholars concerning the meaning of the name ‘Jeremiah.’ Some suggestions are: ‘Yahweh hurls,’ or “‘Yahweh sets free.’ The most literal translation is ‘Yahweh loosens (the womb).’ The name appears in the Hebrew text of the Old Testament in both a long and a short form...

“The Book of Jeremiah reveals much about the personal feelings of the prophet himself, including his reluctance with regard to the divine call to a prophetic ministry (Jer.1:5-8[2904]), and his lament over his circumstances as a true prophet of Yahweh (Jer.15:10; 20:7-18[2905]). He was a young man at the beginning of his ministry (Jer.1:6[2906]), and evidently, in obedience to the command of God (Jer.16:1-4[2907]) he remained unmarried throughout his life. Judging from his purchase of the field from Hanamel (Jer.32:8-10[2908]), he was a man of means.

“As a faithful and true prophet of Yahweh, Jeremiah often stood alone among the religious leaders of his day and his countrymen (e.g., Jer.26:8,9; 27:16-18[2909]), and even among his family and in the city of his birth (Jer.11:21; 12:6[2910]). His life truly exemplified the statement of Jesus, “A prophet is not without honor except in his own country and in his own house” (Matt. 13:57[2911]).

“THEME: The Coming Judgment

“The Book of Jeremiah provides a record of the sermons, discourses, symbolic actions, and prophetic utterances of the prophet. The book was written to demonstrate the authority and reliability of the prophetic word, and to give divine authentication to the prophetic ministry of Jeremiah. The messianic prophecies contained in Jeremiah find their full and complete realization in the coming of the Messiah, Jesus Christ.

“The book points to the inevitable and inescapable judgment of God upon Israel for her rebellion and disobedience. Because of idolatry and sinful indulgence, God’s wrath will fall upon the Hebrew nation in the form of the coming captivity (586-538 B.C.). Jeremiah continually sought, though in vain, to turn the people back to God.

“CHRONOLOGY: One of the critical problems regarding the interpretation of the Book of Jeremiah is the lack of chronology. Its arrangement is especially bewildering to the logic of the western mind. Adding to the problem is the fact that the Septuagint leaves out one-eighth of the book and places the prophecies against the nations (Jer. 46-51) after Jer.25:13[2912]. No one has been able to give an adequate solution to the problems of chronology. One must remember that the book represents the

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grief and heartaches of the “weeping prophet” (Jer.9:1,10[2913]). The fact that they are not chronological only accentuates the sense of despondency.

“JOSIAH’S REFORM: The Book of the Law was discovered in the temple by Hilkiah the priest in 622 B.C. (2 Kings 22:8-14[2914]). Josiah initiated a reform which had as its motive the reinstitution of Yahweh worship. While the goal of this reform was worthy, it is clear that the results were shallow and outward. Jeremiah may have supported the movement in its early stages, but as it became apparent that it was only superficial he began to call for true repentance (Jer.7:1-20[2915]) and obedience (Jer.11:1-17[2916]). Jeremiah’s break with the superficial reformation came when he preached his temple sermon (Jer.26:1-24[2917]), illustrated with the wooden and iron yokes (Jer.27:1-28:17[2918]). Hananiah’s denouncement of Jeremiah (Jer.28:10-14[2919]) shows the opposition of the establishment to Jeremiah’s call for authentic reform.” (Believer’s Study Bible)

“Jeremiah is rightly considered among the major prophets. His book is longer than Isaiah and is also longer than either Ezekiel or the 12 Minor Prophets combined. Its important subject matter includes timely messages to God’s people in the closing days of Judah, and prophecies concerning the Messiah and the new covenant. The book customarily appears between Isaiah and Ezekiel in the Old Testament Canon.

“Jeremiah’s text has come down in differing forms. In the Greek Old Testament (the Septuagint), it is shorter and shows a different arrangement of the material in chapters 46-51. Both the Hebrew and Greek texts of the book have been found among the Dead Sea Scrolls. No compelling reason exists, however, for abandoning the traditional form of the original Hebrew text reflected in our English translations.” (King James Version Study Bible)

For more detail on the dates of events in Jeremiah see appendix: The Time Line for Jeremiah.

2. When did the children of Israel behave as well as suggested in Jeremiah 2:1-3? (compare Jer. 31:18-20; Ezekiel 20:4-26)[2920] Or is God just being very generous here? Didn’t that whole generation who passed through the wilderness have to die because of their rebellion?

“Jeremiah 2:2 The Hebrew word translated “kindness” is hesed; it usually refers to God’s lovingkindness expressed in His covenant relationship with Israel. God’s hesed denotes persistent and unconditional tenderness, kindness, and mercy, a relationship in which God seeks after man with love and mercy. Man’s hesed is pictured in the loving bride who clings to her beloved bridegroom. This state of betrothal between God and Israel is the period from Israel’s deliverance out of Egypt to the establishment of the covenant at Sinai. Here it refers to Israel’s love for Yahweh, which the nation had expressed in days gone by. In v. 7 the words “a bountiful country” (karmel, Heb.) literally mean “a garden land.” The picture is one of protection and security made possible by God’s presence and goodness.” (Believer’s Study Bible)

“The word translated kindness is often used in contexts dealing with covenant relationships. The word often speaks of that love that God shares with believers as members of His own family. Here the establishment of the family relationship is emphasized by linking God’s redemption of His people from Egypt, and the time that followed, to the loving period of early marriage. As the rest of the chapter unfolds, the imagery of the bride is used to catalog Israel’s sins: she had been seduced into idolatry (vv. 4-8); she had forsaken the refreshing waters of marriage for the broken cisterns of infidelity (vv. 9-13); she had left her divine husband for a wayward life among the surrounding nations (vv. 14-19); and she had stooped to the level of base spiritual harlotry by worshiping false gods and engaging in false religious practices (vv. 20-28). Even veteran harlots would blush at what God’s bride had done (vv. 32, 33). Her prostitution was both flagrant and incurable (vv. 34-37). Accordingly, judgment must come. For further instances of Israel as God’s bride, see (Isaiah 54:4-17; Ezekiel 16; Hosea 1-3)[2921].” (King James Version Study Bible)

“Chapter 2 is presented in the form of a covenant lawsuit, an indictment brought by God against His people (2:1-3:5).” (Nelson Study Bible)

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These first few verses need to be compared to what God said to David’s descendants about him. (See handout # 46 - David - A Man After God’s Own Heart?) God is always incredibly gracious towards His children, even when their record is not very good. How sad that the only period that God could look back on as being a wonderful period of “fellowship” lasted only a brief time from Egypt to Sinai. There were other brief times when things were pretty good: while building the tabernacle at Sinai; maybe during the times of David and Solomon while preparing for and building the Temple. Why were these times so few and so brief?

3.    Jeremiah spends a great deal of time discussing the worship of different “gods” and how the people had left the true God to go after other “gods.” (Jeremiah 2:11; 3:13; 7:16-19[2922]) Can you think of any other nation that changed its “gods?” Was Israel irreligious during this period? When He complained that they had changed “gods” were they aware that they had done this? Or was it that in their minds, they had changed their picture of God? Although they paid tithe, worshiped on the Sabbath, and observed all the ceremonial requirements, did they really know God? What could possibly have been so attractive in those heathen religions? Why does God have such a hard time holding His people and getting them to worship Him? Doesn’t He have the power? Can you produce what God wants most by power and force? How could God have lost one-third of the angels (Revelation 12:4[2923])

Jeremiah 2:11:11 No other nation has ever changed its gods, even though they were not real. But my people have exchanged me, the God who has brought them honour, for gods that can do nothing for them. Good News Bible: Today’s English Version

Jeremiah 3:13:13 Only admit that you are guilty and that you have rebelled against the Lord, your God. Confess that under every green tree you have given your love to foreign gods and that you have not obeyed my commands. I, the Lord, have spoken. Good News Bible

If God could accomplish what He wants most by the use of force or power, the great controversy would have been over as soon as it began! God has never lacked power. But He chooses to limit His power in order to allow us freedom. (See handout #13 - “Love”) “Go where one might, no nation could be found as wicked as Israel who had forsaken the living and true God in exchange for gross idolatry.” (King James Version Study Bible) “The only nation whose god was truly God, was at the same time the only nation that exchanged its God for others.” (Nelson Study Bible) It is important to note that Judah was not irreligious during this time. They believed that they were worshiping their other gods as they went about their immorality, etc. But they also professed to worship Yahweh at the same time. Do you think you could move back and forth between fertility cult worship and the worship of Yahweh?

4.    What does it do to your mind to worship a “glued-together god” (1 Samuel 5:1-5[2924]), or a “piece-of-firewood god?” (Isaiah 44:9-20; Jeremiah 2:27; 3:9; 10:2-16[2925]) What do you think the children of Israel were thinking when they worshiped the Baals and then rushed to the temple? (Jeremiah 7:9-11[2926]) Did they think two “gods” were better than one-like having extra insurance? Did they not recognize the incompatibility of these other religions with their true religion? What difference did they see in their two “gods”? What does it mean to worship a “god”? Can you truly worship two different “gods” at the same time? Do we?

Jeremiah 2:27: 27 You will all be disgraced—you that say that a tree is your father and that a rock is your mother. This will happen because you turned away from me instead of turning to me. But when you are in trouble, you ask me to come and save you. Good News Bible

Jeremiah 3:9:9 and was not at all ashamed. She defiled the land, and she committed adultery by worshiping stones and trees. Good News Bible: Today’s English Version

Jeremiah 10:2-16: 2 He says, “Do not follow the ways of other nations; do not be disturbed by unusual sights in the sky, even though other nations are terrified. 3 The religion of these people is worthless. A tree is cut down in the forest; it is carved by the tools of the woodcarver, 4 and decorated with silver and gold. It is fastened down with nails to keep it from falling over. 5 Such idols

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are like scarecrows in a field of melons; they cannot speak; they have to be carried because they cannot walk. Do not be afraid of them: they can cause you no harm, and they can do you no good.”

6 Lord, there is no one like you; you are mighty, and your name is great and powerful. 7 Who would not honour you, the king of all nations? You deserve to be honored. There is no one like you among all the wise men of the nations or among any of their kings. 8 All of them are stupid and foolish. What can they learn from wooden idols? 9 Their idols are covered with silver from Spain and with gold from Uphaz, all the work of artists; they are dressed in violet and purple cloth woven by skilled weavers. 10 But you, Lord, are the true God, you are the living God and the eternal king. When you are angry, the world trembles; the nations cannot endure your anger. 11 (You people must tell them that the gods who did not make the earth and the sky will be destroyed. They will no longer exist anywhere on earth.) 12 The Lord made the earth by his power; by his wisdom he created the world and stretched out the heavens. 13 At his command the waters above the sky roar; he brings clouds from the ends of the earth. He makes lightning flash in the rain and sends the wind from his storeroom. 14 At the sight of this, people feel stupid and senseless; those who make idols are disillusioned, because the gods they make are false and lifeless. 15 They are worthless and should be despised; they will be destroyed when the Lord comes to deal with them. 16 The God of Jacob is not like them; he is the one who made everything, and he has chosen Israel to be his very own people. The Lord Almighty is his name. (GNB)

How do you suppose the first people who read these passages felt about them? It seems so foolish to us! Is it actually possible to worship two different “gods” at the same time? How does this fit with what Jesus said in Matthew 6:24 and Luke 16:13? Are we “worshiping” another god when we strive to insure our safety, comfort and retirement by accumulating a great deal of this world’s goods? If one comes to trust or rely on something is that similar to “worshiping” it? In our day we don’t believe there is more than one “God” although He may be known to us in various forms as Father, Son and Holy Spirit. If we believe in the Trinity are we polytheists as some Moslems and others claim?

Matthew 6:24: “No one can be a slave of two masters; he will hate one and love the other; he will be loyal to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.” (GNB)

Luke 16:13: “You cannot be the slave of two masters. You will like one more than the other or be more loyal to one than to the other. You cannot serve God and money.” (CEV)

5. Is God angry when we worship other “gods”, or do we just lose by becoming like them? (Jeremiah 2:5,19; 7:19; Hosea 9:10; Romans 1:18-31[2927]) How many different “gods” were they worshiping? (Jeremiah 2:32,33; 3:9,12,13,23,24; 10:14; 11:13; see also Psalms 121)[2928]

Jeremiah 3:6-24: 6 When Josiah was king, the Lord said to me, “Have you seen what Israel, that unfaithful woman, has done? She has turned away from me, and on every high hill and under every green tree she has acted like a prostitute. 7I thought that after she had done all this, she would surely return to me. But she did not return, and her unfaithful sister Judah saw it all. 8 Judah also saw that

I divorced Israel and sent her away because she had turned from me and had become a prostitute. But Judah, Israel’s unfaithful sister, was not afraid. She too became a prostitute 9 and was not at all ashamed. She defiled the land, and she committed adultery by worshiping stones and trees.10 And after all this, Judah, Israel’s unfaithful sister, only pretended to return to me; she was not sincere.

I, the Lord, have spoken.”...

13    Only admit that you are guilty and that you have rebelled against the Lord, your God. Confess that under every green tree you have given your love to foreign gods and that you have not obeyed my commands. I, the Lord, have spoken.

14    “Unfaithful people, come back; you belong to me. I will take one of you from each town and two from each clan, and I will bring you back to Mount Zion. 15 I will give you rulers who obey me, and they will rule you with wisdom and understanding. 16 Then when you have become numerous in that land, people will no longer talk about my Covenant Box. They will no longer think about it or remember it; they will not even need it, nor will they make another one. 17 When that time comes,

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Jerusalem will be called ‘The Throne of the Lord’, and all nations will gather there to worship me. They will no longer do what their stubborn and evil hearts tell them. 18 Israel will join with Judah, and together they will come from exile in the country in the north and will return to the land that I gave your ancestors as a permanent possession.”

19 The Lord says, “Israel, I wanted to accept you as my child and give you a delightful land,

the most beautiful land in all the world. I wanted you to call me father, and never again turn away from me. 20 But like an unfaithful wife, you have not been faithful to me. I, the Lord, have spoken.”

21 A noise is heard on the hilltops: it is the people of Israel crying and pleading, because they have lived sinful lives and have forgotten the Lord their God. 22 Return, all of you who have turned away from the Lord; he will heal you and make you faithful. You say, “Yes, we are coming to the Lord, because he is our God. 23 We were not helped at all by our pagan worship on the hilltops. Help for Israel comes only from the Lord our God. 24 But the worship of Baal, the god of shame, has made us lose flocks and herds, sons and daughters—everything that our ancestors have worked for since ancient times.” (GNB)

Jeremiah 11:13: “The people of Judah have as many gods as they have cities, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem have set up as many altars for sacrifices to that disgusting god Baal as there are streets in the city.” Good News Bible: Today’s English Version

We are so surrounded by sin that we hardly notice that it is going on. Do we even have any true idea of what it is doing to us? One of the biggest gaps in the Bible in my opinion is that there is so little discussion of what sin actually does to people? Adam and Eve could walk comfortably in God’s presence. If we saw God in His glory today it would consume us instantly. (Exodus 33:20) What has changed? If we understood better what sin does to us, maybe we wouldn’t be so comfortable with it!

6.    Does God seem less gracious in Jeremiah than in some other books where all is “good news?” (Jeremiah 3:12,13; 15:1-9; 23:1-8[2929]) Has God become very severe and harsh?

When you love someone very much and you see that they are about to be destroyed, either by their own actions or by some impending doom, do you speak quietly and graciously to them? Or would strong and loud language in such a situation be appropriate even for God? Jeremiah is full of very strong language.

7.    God had appointed Israel to evangelize the world. (Jeremiah 3:17[2930]) How hard did He push them to try to get them to do this? What did he have to do to Jonah? Daniel and his friends? Jonah was certainly no “Missionary Volunteer”-under his “duress” did he deliver a good, clear message about God? Most of the Jews apparently knew so little of the truth about God that even if they had been sent to a place to witness they would have done a terrible job. What about us?

Why were the children of Abraham placed in the land of Palestine at the crossroads of the ancient world? Wasn’t it so they could witness to nations all around them? Did they ever successfully do this? What about in the days of David and Solomon when they actually ruled over most of their neighbors?

Before we become too critical, how well are we doing? There are people all around us that need to learn about the God that we know. Are we finding better and better ways to reach out to them? However, before we rush out to tell the world the “good news” are we sure that we understand it clearly ourselves? We can never fully understand God in this life. But are we sharing what we know? Why is God still waiting in our day? Is He waiting for us to give the world a clear picture of Him? What did Peter mean when he said: 2 Peter 3:12: as you wait for the Day of God and do your best to make it come soon— the Day when the heavens will burn up and be destroyed, and the heavenly bodies will be melted by the heat. Good News Bible: Today’s English Version

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What time period is Jeremiah talking about in Jeremiah 3:17,18[2931]? Was there ever a time when the whole world gathered at Jerusalem to worship? Or is that time still future? See (Isaiah 11:12; Ezekiel 37:16-28; Hosea 1:11; Zech. 2:10-12; 14:16-19.)[2932] These verses seem to suggest that this time is still future.

8. What do you think of a God who would tell you not even to pray for your friends and family who had been taken off into captivity? (Jeremiah 7:16; 11:14; 1 John 5:16)[2933] Does it do any good to pray for someone who is blatantly misbehaving and who has no intention of changing? (Jeremiah 14:19-15:2[2934]) Why would God not want to forgive? Will such a thing ever happen again? (See Revelation 22:11[2935])

Jeremiah 7:16: 16 The Lord said, “Jeremiah, do not pray for these people. Do not cry or pray on their behalf; do not plead with me, for I will not listen to you.” Good News Bible

Jeremiah 11:14: 14 “Jeremiah, don’t pray to me or plead with me on behalf of these people. When they are in trouble and call to me for help, I will not listen to them.” Good News Bible 1 John 5:16: 16 If you see your brother or sister commit a sin that does not lead to death, you should pray to God, who will give them life. This applies to those whose sins do not lead to death. But there is sin which leads to death, and I do not say that you should pray to God about that. (GNB)

Jeremiah 14:19-15:2: 19 Lord, have you completely rejected Judah?

Do you hate the people of Zion?

Why have you hurt us so badly that we cannot be healed?

We looked for peace, but nothing good happened; we hoped for healing, but terror came instead.

20    We have sinned against you, Lord; we confess our own sins and the sins of our ancestors.

21    Remember your promises and do not despise us; do not bring disgrace on Jerusalem, the place of your glorious throne. Do not break the covenant you made with us.

22    None of the idols of the nations can send rain; the sky by itself cannot make showers fall. We have put our hope in you, O Lord our God, because you are the one who does these things.

15:1 Then the Lord said to me, “Even if Moses and Samuel were standing here pleading with me, I would not show these people any mercy. Make them go away; make them get out of my sight. 2 When they ask you where they should go, tell them that I have said: Some are doomed to die by disease— that’s where they will go! Others are doomed to die in war— that’s where they will go! Some are doomed to die of starvation— that’s where they will go! Others are doomed to be taken away as prisoners— that’s where they will go!” Good News Bible: Today’s English Version

Surely we understand from the rest of Scripture that God is forgiveness Personified. He wants to save and heal everyone. But, of course, that is not possible in a universe where all are free. So God does the best thing He can do under the circumstances. God will not sacrifice our freedom. He died to preserve that. In these passages He is telling us that even He cannot save people against their will! So, as He weeps, He allows groups of His own children to go off to disaster in various

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directions because that is what they have chosen for themselves by their rejection of Yahweh as their God.

9. How could God through Jeremiah make a statement like the one found in Jeremiah 7:22-23[2936]? How could God even suggest after what we have read in Exodus 20 through Leviticus 27 that He did not give commands to offer burnt offerings and sacrifices? (Notice that the NIV and The Clear Word change the whole meaning of the verse by adding the word “just”! Compare the reading of The New Century Version.)

Jeremiah 7:22:

(Biblia Hebraica) yayx/h /yB| jytiyixi aljwi kyt/ba^ta, yTir|B'dAalj yK 22

.jbzW: hl/[ yrib|DAl[' yir;x|mi Arami !t/a

22 ofti oujk ejlailhsa pro;" tou" pateira" ulmwn kai; oujk ejneteilaimhn auftoi" ejn hlmeiral, h| ajnhigagon auftou;" ejk gh' Aijguiptou, peri; ollokautwmatwn kai; qusiia",

22 “For I did not speak with your fathers, Nor did I command them in the day of My bringing them out of the land of Egypt, Concerning the matters of burnt-offering and sacrifice,” Young’s Literal Translation

22 “For I spake not unto your fathers, nor commanded them in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, concerning burnt offerings or sacrifices:” KJV; ASV

22 “For I spoke not unto your fathers, nor commanded them concerning burnt-offerings and sacrifices, in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt;” 1890 Darby Bible

22 “I gave your ancestors no commands about burnt offerings or any other kinds of sacrifices when I brought them out of Egypt. 23 But I did command them to obey me, so that I would be their God and they would be my people. And I told them to live the way I had command them, so that things would go well for them.” (GNB)

22 “For when I brought your forefathers out of Egypt and spoke to them, I did not just give them commands about burnt offerings and sacrifices, 23 but I gave them this command: Obey me, and I will be your God and you will be my people. Walk in all the ways I command you, that it may go well with you.” (NIV)

22 “For in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, I did not speak to your fathers or command them concerning burnt offerings and sacrifices.” The Revised Standard Version

22 “For in the day that I brought your ancestors out of the land of Egypt, I did not speak to them or command them concerning burnt offerings and sacrifices.” NRSV

22 “For I did not speak to your fathers, or command them in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, concerning burnt offerings and sacrifices.” The New American Standard Bible and 1995 update

22 “In speaking to your fathers on the day I brought them out of the land of Egypt, I gave them no command concerning holocaust or sacrifice.” The New American Bible

22 “When I brought your ancestors out of Egypt, I did not tell them anything about burnt offerings and sacrifices.” God’s Word

22 “For when I freed your fathers from the land of Egypt, I did not speak with them or command them concerning burnt offerings or sacrifice.” Tanakh, The Holy Scriptures

22 “At the time I brought your ancestors out of Egypt, I didn’t command them to offer sacrifices to me.” The Contemporary English Version

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22 “It wasn’t offerings and sacrifices I wanted from your fathers when I led them out of Egypt. That was not the point of my command.” The Living Bible

22 “When I led your ancestors out of Egypt, it was not burnt offerings and sacrifices I wanted from them.” The New Living Translation

22 “When I brought your ancestors out of Egypt, I did not speak to them and give them commands only about burnt offerings and sacrifices.” The New Century Version

22 “For when I brought your ancestors out of Egypt, I said nothing to them, gave them no orders, about burnt offerings or sacrifices.” The New Jerusalem Bible

22 “When I brought your ancestors out of Egypt I didn’t just tell them about sacrifices and offerings.” The Clear Word

22 When I brought your fathers from the land of Egypt, I said nothing to them, I gave them no orders, about burnt-offerings or sacrifices;” Moffatt

God is trying to say something of great importance here. If you look carefully at the early chapters of Leviticus you will notice statements such as:

Leviticus 1-3: 1:2 ...When you offer an animal sacrifice... 3 If you are offering... 10 If you are offering... 14 If you are offering... 2:1 When any of you present an offering... 3:1 When any of you offer..

Do these words sound like commands? This sounds like God is saying, “You are already doing these things, let Me make some suggestions about how to improve what you are doing.” There is good evidence that other religions were offering sacrifices of all kinds. No doubt the Hebrew people were already familiar with this kind of “worship.”

But God did command them to do certain things:

Exodus 6:6: 6So tell the Israelites that I say to them, ‘I am the Lord; I will rescue you and set you free from your slavery to the Egyptians. I will raise my mighty arm to bring terrible punishment upon them, and I will save you. 7I will make you my own people, and I will be your God. You will know that I am the Lord your God when I set you free from slavery in Egypt. 8I will bring you to the land that

I solemnly promised to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; and I will give it to you as your own possession. I am the Lord.’ “ 9Moses told this to the Israelites, but they would not listen to him, because their spirit had been broken by their cruel slavery. (GNB)

What God really wanted was a working relationship with them in which they would come to know Him better. God made many promises to them. Collectively these were known as the covenant. He promised to bless them in wonderful ways. But they didn’t even believe it when Moses told them! So God had to proceed with the plagues. These plagues were not just to convince the Egyptians to let Israel go, but were also to convince the Hebrews that their YHWH was something more than other “gods”. Finally, they realized that YHWH was doing something on their behalf and they followed Moses and Aaron out into the wilderness. But it wasn’t long before there was complaining and all sorts of troubles.

“This verse is not to be understood as a denial that God commanded the sacrifices to be made. Rather it is an argument against substituting sacrifice for obedience. Sacrifices were not God’s major concern. The people thought they were pleasing God when they offered sacrifices, but they did not obey God in their general way of living. God rejects such sacrifice [(v. 21; cf. 1 Sam. 15:22; Is. 1:11; Hos. 6:6; Mic. 6:6-8[2937])].” (Believer’s Study Bible)

“These verses do not minimize the importance of the Old Testament sacrifices, but call attention to the necessity of the believer living a life of total obedience and devotion to God. The Scriptures consistently teach that religious observances devoid of spiritual reality are worthless[ (cf. 1 Sam. 15:22, 23; Ps. 40:6-8; Is. 1:10-20; Mic. 6:8)][2938].” (King James Version Study Bible)

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“Sacrifices without the inner worship of the heart were of no interest to God; the people might as well eat the sacrifices themselves if they offered them that way. This prophetic condemnation of empty ritual is all the more remarkable because the sacrificial system revealed to Moses was still in force. Jeremiah is not alone in speaking this way; see [1 Sam. 15:23; Is. 1:11-15; Hos. 6:6; Amos 5:21-25; Mic. 6:6-8][2939].” (New Geneva Study Bible)

“God’s command was, Obey My voice.” (Spirit Filled Life Study Bible)

“Faith is not a one-time, sensational event in one’s life, neither is it a state of moral and spiritual perfection to which a handful of super-saints attain. Faith is a dynamic, lifelong journey that each believer is on. At any given moment, we are either moving toward God or turning away from Him.

“The people of Jeremiah’s day stood under God’s judgment because they turned away from Him—they “went backward and not forward” (Jer. 7:24). Rather than cultivate a growing relationship with the Lord based on sustained, faithful obedience, they went their own way and followed the “dictates of their evil hearts” (7:23-24).

“May that not be true of you! The only way to make progress in your journey of faith is to keep moving toward God as best you know how. You may fail and fall at times, but the main thing is to keep turning back toward God, not away from Him. Paul described this dynamic in his own spiritual experience: “Forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 3:13-14).” (Word-In-Life Study Bible)

“This is one of those difficult passages of the Bible in which the literal and superficial meaning seems to contradict the plain statements of other scriptures. Jeremiah appears to deny that at Sinai God gave any instruction regarding sacrificial offerings. It is, however, not necessary to understand his language in that way. That the prophet is not denying the validity of the sacrificial system is clear from other statements from his own mouth (Jeremiah 17:26; 31:14; 33:11, 17-24[2940]). How then is his statement to be understood? Jeremiah is obviously employing a rhetorical device by which in a comparison of two ideas the predominance of the one is shown by the denial of the other. Other examples of this device are: (1) Gen. 45:8[2941]. Here Joseph tells his brethren that it was not they that had sent him to Egypt, but God, though patently his brethren had had a large hand in the affair. (2) Ex. 16:8. Here Moses tells the rebellious multitude that their murmurings were not against him but against God, though their complainings had clearly been directed against Moses. A similar device was employed by Jesus (Luke 14:26[2942]). Taken literally, His words appear to command men to hate the members of their own families. However, He was simply seeking to emphasize that love of God must supersede love to men. By “hate” He meant “love less.”

“The passage emphasizes that obedience to moral law ranks above obedience to a ceremonial system (see 1 Sam. 15:22; Ps. 51:16,17). External observances were designed to aid in preserving sincere obedience (see Deut. 6:1-3), but never to be a substitute for holiness of heart. Of the type of worship rendered to God by Jeremiah’s compatriots, God had never spoken at Sinai.” (SDA Bible Commentary, article on Jeremiah 7:22)

10. Did the darkened minds of the people really comprehend what Jeremiah was saying to them? (Jeremiah 7:27,28[2943]) Did they really understand that they were at the end of their options? (Jeremiah 15:1-9; 23:1-8[2944]) Did they, in retrospect understand the reason for their captivity? (see Daniel 9:1-21[2945]) When God said that they should acknowledge their “rebellion”, what was He talking about specifically? (Jeremiah 3:13[2946])

Jeremiah 7:27,28: 27 “So, Jeremiah, you will speak all these words to my people, but they will not listen to you; you will call them, but they will not answer. 28You will tell them that their nation does not obey me, the Lord their God, or learn from their punishment. Faithfulness is dead. No longer is it even talked about. Good News Bible: Today’s English Version

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These are pretty strong words. But all the evidence seems to back them up. In some ways they were like a child who thinks that he can eat his cake and have it too! They wanted all the privileges of being faithful followers of Yahweh without any of the responsibilities. They wanted to hide away in the temple and worship idols and commit all kinds of terribly sinful practices and yet have God reward them and protect them as if they were a faithful people.

It would seem that after watching their city being surrounded and their armies defeated several times and large groups of people being taken off into captivity they would realize that things were getting serious, but the record suggests that they did not change their practices at all. They may even have gotten worse. Many years later Daniel seemed to understand. But then, all the true prophets of God seemed to understand! Is it possible that they really thought that some of those false prophets were telling them the truth? Could they distinguish in any way between the true and the false? Did they reject the true prophets just because they didn’t like the messages they were getting from them? Did they accept the false prophets just because they liked their message? After living in a city under siege for two-and-a-half years shouldn’t they have realized that things were pretty serious?

11. What were the real messages of Jeremiah? What is God saying about Judah and about Himself in these passages? [Jeremiah 3:11-18 (Compare John 13:34,35)][2947]; [Jeremiah 7:23-28; 9:23-26 (Compare Romans 1:16); Jeremiah 14:7,21; 31:31-34][2948]. Have you ever gloried that you understand and know God? Is the gospel primarily about “God’s plan to save you and me?” or “The truth about God’s character and His government?” What divided the Universe in the beginning? Are we surprised to find such insights about God, in the Old Testament? What was the actual covenant that God wanted to have with His people? Is God asking for something more than a ceremonial religion? What does it mean to “know the Lord” or to “be His people?” (Jeremiah 31:31-34; 32:38-41[2949]) If we really understand what kind of religion God wants, we will realize that the most natural thing of all is to grow up, intellectually and spiritually, and we will begin doing what is right because it is right!

Jeremiah 3:11-18: 11 Then the Lord told me that, even though Israel had turned away from him, she had proved to be better than unfaithful Judah.12 He told me to go and say to Israel, “Unfaithful Israel, come back to me. I am merciful and will not be angry; I will not be angry with you for ever.13 Only admit that you are guilty and that you have rebelled against the Lord, your God. Confess that under every green tree you have given your love to foreign gods and that you have not obeyed my commands. I, the Lord, have spoken.

14 “Unfaithful people, come back; you belong to me. I will take one of you from each town and two from each clan, and I will bring you back to Mount Zion.15 I will give you rulers who obey me, and they will rule you with wisdom and understanding.16 Then when you have become numerous in that land, people will no longer talk about my Covenant Box. They will no longer think about it or remember it; they will not even need it, nor will they make another one.17 When that time comes, Jerusalem will be called ‘The Throne of the Lord’, and all nations will gather there to worship me. They will no longer do what their stubborn and evil hearts tell them.18 Israel will join with Judah, and together they will come from exile in the country in the north and will return to the land that I gave your ancestors as a permanent possession.” Good News Bible: Today’s English Version

Jeremiah 7:23-28: 23 But I did command them to obey me, so that I would be their God and they would be my people. And I told them to live as I had commanded them, so that things would go well for them.24 But they did not obey or pay any attention. Instead, they did whatever their stubborn and evil hearts told them to do, and they became worse instead of better. 25 From the day that your ancestors came out of Egypt until this very day, I have kept on sending my servants, the prophets, to you. 26 Yet no one listened or paid any attention. Instead, you became more stubborn and rebellious than your ancestors.

27 “So, Jeremiah, you will speak all these words to my people, but they will not listen to you; you will call them, but they will not answer. 28 You will tell them that their nation does not obey me, the

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Lord their God, or learn from their punishment. Faithfulness is dead. No longer is it even talked about.” Good News Bible: Today’s English Version

Jeremiah 9:23-26: 23 The Lord says,

“The wise should not boast of their wisdom, nor the strong of their strength, nor the rich of their wealth.

24 If anyone wants to boast,

he should boast that he knows and understands me, because my love is constant, and I do what is just and right.

These are the things that please me.

I, the Lord, have spoken.”

25-26 The Lord says, “The time is coming when I will punish the people of Egypt, Judah, Edom, Ammon, Moab, and the desert people, who have their hair cut short. All these people are circumcised, but have not kept the covenant it symbolizes. None of these people and none of the people of Israel have kept my covenant.” Good News Bible: Today’s English Version

Jeremiah 31:31-34: 31 The Lord says, “The time is coming when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and with the people of Judah.32 It will not be like the old covenant that I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand and led them out of Egypt. Although I was like a husband to them, they did not keep that covenant.33 The new covenant that I will make with the people of Israel will be this: I will put my law within them and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.34 None of them will have to teach his fellow-citizen to know the Lord, because all will know me, from the least to the greatest. I will forgive their sins and I will no longer remember their wrongs. I, the Lord, have spoken.” Good News Bible

These are the passages that describe what God wants. God asks us to obey Him, not just because He wants to exert His control over us to prove who is “boss” but because He is the One who really knows what is best for us! Unfortunately, this is one of the hardest lessons for humans to learn. We also want to believe that we know what is best for ourselves.

God asks of us a very simple thing. He asks us to make Him the number one thing in our lives. He asks us to keep Him constantly in view, in our thoughts, and in our desires. He asks us to study the Bible to learn what kind of a person He is. If we are willing to put aside our selfishness and prejudice and really come to know our heavenly Father we will gradually come to be like Him. This works by the natural laws of the mind. Just as small children grow to be like their parents by observing and copying in every way they can, God asks us to “observe” and “copy” Him. We cannot do this on our own. It is completely beyond our power. But God will do it for us if we simply give Him the opportunity by doing our best to “observe” and “copy”. When this takes place our lives and minds and hearts are transformed into His likeness.

2 Corinthians 3:18: “All of us, then, reflect the glory of the Lord with uncovered faces; and that same glory, coming from the Lord, who is the Spirit, transforms us into his likeness in an ever greater degree of glory.” Good News Bible: Today’s English Version

“It is a law both of the intellectual and the spiritual nature that by beholding we become changed. The mind gradually adapts itself to the subjects upon which it is allowed to dwell. It becomes assimilated to that which it is accustomed to love and reverence. Man will never rise higher than his standard of purity or goodness or truth. If self is his loftiest ideal, he will never attain to anything more exalted. Rather, he will constantly sink lower and lower. The grace of God alone has power to exalt man. Left to himself, his course must inevitably be downward.” Great Controversy 555.1 See Isaiah - A Teacher’s Guide - #5.

12. Jeremiah talks a lot about “knowing the Lord.” (See Jeremiah 2:8; 5:4,5; 8:7; 9:3,6,24; 16:21; 22:16; 24:7; 31:34[2950]) What do you think is implied by this expression? Why do you think the use of reason

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and careful use of the mind have been made fun of in religious circles down through the years? Who do you suppose would lose if everyone would critically examine the reasons for his faith? It is often suggested that religion is a matter of the heart and not of the mind, but the heart is really only good for pumping blood, so what do we mean by these expressions? In Jeremiah’s day, the heart was thought to be the seat of thinking and reason, and the bowels the seat of the emotions. (Jeremiah 4:19; 31:20[2951], KJV)

See #11 above and Ezekiel - A Teacher’s Guide - #5.

Jeremiah 24:7: “I will give them the desire to know that I am the Lord. Then they will be my people, and I will be their God, because they will return to me with all their heart.” Good News Bible: Today’s English Version

There are also many references in the book of Ezekiel to “knowing the LORD”. In fact, properly understood, I believe “knowing the LORD” is the key to salvation. Getting to know God is how we get to be His friends. (See John 15:1-15[2952]) If we can really get to be His friends, all the other “details” can be worked out easily!

Getting to know God is a lifelong experience (it will extend for eternity). It requires effort in the form of Bible study and prayer and meditation. Mainly what we are talking about is spending “time” with God. This is described as the perfect condition of those who will live in the new kingdom of God: [Isaiah 11:9; Habakkuk 2:14][2953]. The essence of being in heaven is “knowing the LORD.”

“In a far greater way, the intimacy of the believer with God makes the realization of God’s relation to His people under the terms of the new covenant to be a full and living experience. Moreover, not just Israelites but all believers (those who know God, v. 34) are now called under the new covenant my people.[ (See 2 Cor. 6:16; Gal. 3:6-9, 15-18, 26-29; Titus 2:14.)][2954] These features of vital inwardness and a universality of the knowledge of God stand out as the two great distinctive elements in the new covenant.” (King James Version Study Bible)

“Jeremiah 31:34: No more shall every man teach: No longer would intermediaries like priests or prophets be needed to show the people how to know the Lord. From youngest to oldest, from peasant farmer to kings and princes, all would know God. Knowledge of God is a major theme of Jeremiah (2:8; 4:22; 5:4; 8:7[2955]) as well as of other prophets (see Hos. 5:4[2956]). This knowledge is an intimate relationship with God evidenced by faith, obedience, and devotion.” (Nelson Study Bible)

“Scripture speaks of “knowing” God as the spiritual person’s ideal: namely, the fullness of a faith relationship that brings salvation and eternal life, generating love, hope, obedience, and joy (Ex. 33:13; Jer. 31:34; 8:8-12; Dan. 11:32; John 17:3; Gal. 4:8, 9; Phil. 3:8-11; 2 Tim. 1:12; Heb. 8:8-12)[2957]. The dimensions of this knowledge are intellectual (knowing the truth about God; [Deut. 7:9; Ps. 100:3][2958]); volitional (trusting, obeying, and worshiping God); and moral (practicing justice and love; [Jer. 22:16; 1 John 4:7-8][2959]). Faith’s knowledge focuses on Jesus Christ, the incarnate God and the mediator between God and man. Faith seeks specifically to know Christ and His power (Phil. 3:8-14[2960]). The knowledge fostered by God’s covenant agreement with us is reciprocal, with affection on both sides: we know God as ours because He knows us as His (John 10:14; Gal. 4:9; 2 Tim. 2:19)[2961].” (New Geneva Study Bible)

“Jeremiah 31:31-34 God would establish a new covenant with His people. Unlike the covenant at Sinai which demanded outward obedience to external laws, this covenant would consist of inward spiritual renewal, which would enable the people to live in a right covenantal relationship with God. The new covenant is internal, universal, and unconditional. All people have the opportunity for intimate personal relationship with the Lord. A primary element of this new covenant is forgiveness (Heb. salach). God would remember their sins no more. NT writers find the fulfillment of this prophecy in Jesus Christ (Heb. 8:7-13[2962]).” (Woman’s Study Bible)

“Knowing God means, in part, having a personal relationship with Him, thanks to Christ’s work on the cross. Yet centuries before Christ came, Scripture was describing what that sense of

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personal intimacy with God would be like. The Lord privileged Jeremiah with a vision of this “new covenant” (Jer. 31:31), or way of relating to people, that Jesus would initiate. God intends that the hope expressed in Jer. 31[2963] would be the experience of every genuine believer. The Lord promised that:

•    God’s children would know Him, not just know about Him (31:34).

•    God Himself would be their teacher (31:34), as He became Jesus’ teacher (John 5:19; 8:28; 12:49; 14:10[2964]).

•    His teaching would go beyond a mere collection of moral precepts, and even beyond an external code of ethics, to the inscription of His Word (His “law”) on the hearts of His children, where it would shape their identity and behavior (Jer. 31:33).

“The New Testament further reveals that the words that God has promised to write on the hearts of His people are written by the Holy Spirit (2 Cor. 3:1-3[2965]), who empowers them to live in a manner that reflects the very character of God. This profound truth of God’s new covenant is so significant that Jer. 31 is quoted three times in the New Testament (John 6:45; Heb. 8:10; 10:16-17[2966]).” (Word-In-Life Study Bible)

13. Have we SDA’s come to the place where we are not much use to God any more? Is He ready to give us up forever? (4ST44:1:2) The church has had so much bad PR lately. Will there ever be a time when we could actually say something good, and specific about our God? Could we ever specifically say, “God is not the kind of Person His enemies have made Him out to be! He is not even the kind of God that some of His so-called friends have made Him out to be!?” What was Israel saying to the nations about their God?

“It was in order that the heavenly universe might see the conditions of the covenant of redemption that Christ bore the penalty in behalf of the human race. The throne of Justice must be eternally and forever made secure, even tho the race be wiped out, and another creation populate the earth. By the sacrifice Christ was about to make, all doubts would be forever settled, and the human race would be saved if they would return to their allegiance. Christ alone could restore honor to God’s government. The cross of Calvary would be looked upon by the unfallen worlds, by the heavenly universe, by Satanic agencies, by the fallen race, and every mouth would be stopped....Who is able to describe the last scenes of Christ’s life on earth, His trial in the judgment hall, His crucifixion? Who witnessed these scenes?-The heavenly universe, God the Father, Satan and his angels.” The Signs of the Times, July 12, 1899 (4ST 44:1:2) [Emphasis supplied]

Romans 3:3,4: “What if some of them have shown a lack of faith? Can their lack of it nullify the faithfulness of God? By no means! God must prove true, though every man be false; as the Scripture says,

‘That you may be shown to be right in what you say, And win your case when you go into court.’” Goodspeed

God has taken His case into the court of the universe and laid it out before His own children/His creatures. Does this sound like the behavior of a Sovereign God? Does God need to win His case in the eyes of His children? Absolutely! Not that He has to, but He chooses to! That is how much our freedom means to Him. He cannot allow any of us to enter heaven unless we are completely and absolutely convinced that He has fully answered all of Satan’s accusations in the great controversy. Otherwise, questions might arise again and even rebellion. There would be no reason to allow this whole sin experiment to proceed this far unless it is to preserve the record so it will never need to happen again.

And God plans for us to have a part in vindicating His name!

Ephesians 1:9,10: “In all his wisdom and insight 9God did what he had purposed, and made known to us the secret plan he had already decided to complete by means of Christ. 10This plan, which God

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will complete when the time is right, is to bring all creation together, everything in heaven and on earth, with Christ as head.” (GNB)

Ephesians 3:9,10: 9 and of making all people see how God’s secret plan is to be put into effect. God, who is the Creator of all things, kept his secret hidden through all the past ages,10 in order that at the present time, by means of the church, the angelic rulers and powers in the heavenly world might learn of his wisdom in all its different forms. Good News Bible

Colossians 1:19,20: 19 For it was by God’s own decision that the Son has in himself the full nature of God. 20 Through the Son, then, God decided to bring the whole universe back to himself. God made peace through his Son’s blood on the cross and so brought back to himself all things, both on earth and in heaven. Good News Bible: Today’s English Version

Please note carefully that God must succeed in this controversy even if every one of us fails! But we will not all fail. God plans to work through us to finish His gospel “by means of the church”. So God is waiting patiently for us to do our part.

How can we correctly represent God to our neighbors and friends? The result will be nothing short of miraculous!

Matthew 5:13,14: 13 “You are like salt for the whole human race. But if salt loses its saltiness, there is no way to make it salty again. It has become worthless, so it is thrown out and people trample on it.

14 “You are like light for the whole world. A city built on a hill cannot be hidden. No one lights a lamp and puts it under a bowl; instead he puts it on the lampstand, where it gives light for everyone in the house. In the same way your light must shine before people, so that they will see the good things you do and praise your Father in heaven.” (GNB)

Have you ever known anyone who is doing this?

14. Now that we have come to where the prophets actually describe God letting His people go off into captivity, how do you think God felt about this? [(Jeremiah 8:18-9:1; 14:19-15:2; 23:1-8; 31:20; Hosea 11:7,8)][2967]

Jeremiah 8:18-9:1: 18 My sorrow cannot be healed; I am sick at heart. 19 Listen! Throughout the land I hear my people crying out,

“Is the Lord no longer in Zion? Is Zion’s king no longer there?”

The Lord, their king, replies, “Why have you made me angry by worshiping your idols and by bowing down to your useless foreign gods?”

20    The people cry out, “The summer is gone, the harvest is over, but we have not been saved.”

21    My heart has been crushed because my people are crushed; I mourn; I am completely dismayed. 22 Is there no medicine in Gilead?

Are there no doctors there? Why, then, have my people not been healed?1 I wish my head were a well of water, and my eyes a fountain of tears, o that I could cry day and night for my people who have been killed. Good News Bible: Today’s English Version

Jeremiah 14:19-15:2: 19“Lord, have you completely rejected Judah? Do you hate the people of Zion? Why have you hurt us so badly that we cannot be healed? We looked for peace, but nothing good happened; we hoped for healing, but terror came instead.

20    We have sinned against you, Lord; we confess our own sins and the sins of our ancestors.

21    Remember your promises and do not despise us; do not bring disgrace on Jerusalem, the place of your glorious throne. Do not break the covenant you made with us.

22    None of the idols of the nations can send rain; the sky by itself cannot make showers fall.

We have put our hope in you, O Lord our God, because you are the one who does these things. 15:1 Then the Lord said to me, “Even if Moses and Samuel were standing here pleading

with me, I would not show these people any mercy. Make them go away; make them get out

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of my sight.2 When they ask you where they should go, tell them that I have said: Some are doomed to die by disease— that’s where they will go!

Others are doomed to die in war— that’s where they will go!

Some are doomed to die of starvation— that’s where they will go!

Others are doomed to be taken away as prisoners— that’s where they will go!” (GNB)

Jeremiah 23:1-8: 1 How terrible will be the Lord’s judgement on those rulers who destroy and scatter his people!2 This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says about the rulers who were supposed to take care of his people: “You have not taken care of my people; you have scattered them and driven them away. Now I am going to punish you for the evil you have done.3 I will gather the rest of my people from the countries where I have scattered them, and I will bring them back to their homeland. They will have many children and increase in number.4 I will appoint rulers to take care of them. My people will no longer be afraid or terrified, and I will not punish them again. I, the Lord, have spoken.”

5 The Lord says, “The time is coming when I will choose as king a righteous descendant of David. That king will rule wisely and do what is right and just throughout the land.6 When he is king, the people of Judah will be safe, and the people of Israel will live in peace. He will be called ‘The Lord Our Salvation’.

7 “The time is coming,” says the Lord, “when people will no longer swear by me as the living God who brought the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt.8 Instead, they will swear by me as the living God who brought the people of Israel out of a northern land and out of all the other countries where I had scattered them. Then they will live in their own land.” Good News Bible: Today’s English Version

Jeremiah 31:20: “Israel, you are my dearest son, the child I love best.

Whenever I mention your name, I think of you with love.

My heart goes out to you; I will be merciful.” Good News Bible: Today’s English Version

What message do you get from these verses? I believe that God is loving and kind and doing His best to reach out to us to get us to realize that He has our best interests at heart. Sometimes this involves some pretty severe discipline such as the exile and captivity, but most of the time God reaches out in mercy and love.

15.    Do you see the picture of God as given by these prophets getting more and more obscure and confused or more and more clear as we approach the end of their kingdom? Doesn’t it seem almost like the darker the background (the general condition of the people), the brighter the picture appears? Jeremiah 9:23,24 suggests that we could even come to the place of boasting about God. What would this mean? Paul knew and understood God very well, and he was proud of this. (Romans 1:16,17[2968]) Does our knowledge of God make us feel different-give us an exhilarating sense of freedom? There is no worse loss of freedom than to feel fear. Does your knowledge of God make you afraid? Are you afraid of what God may do to you in the future?

Was anyone taking the opportunity to boast about Israel’s God in the days of Jeremiah? Or did the entire world feel, along with most of the children of Israel that Yahweh had let them down? Didn’t it seem like the Babylonian “gods” were the more powerful ones in their day? If you had been Yahweh at that point, what would you have done? How could you get the world and the universe (God’s larger watching and listening public) to realize that you are doing everything possible short of tampering with people’s freedom to get them to do what is best?

16.    Is it fair for the good to suffer with the bad? Jeremiah suffered, even though he was good and had done his best to warn the people of what would come if they did not repent. How honored was Jeremiah?

This is always a tough question. Books have been written about it. What would Job have had to say about this question? “When Bad Things Happen to Good People" is a recent and provocative book on the question. But stop and think about the alternatives. If God always blessed the “good”

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people and always cursed the “bad” people would people do what is right just because it is right, or would they do what is right because of the rewards? Would everyone turn into a “rice Christian”? Would all principle go out the door?

This is exactly the problem that we have seen repeatedly in the Old Testament. They really believed that God always blesses the “good” and curses the “bad” and therefore they felt justified in extrapolating that argument to say that the rich people were definitely the good people, otherwise God wouldn’t be blessing them so much. Then when Jesus came along, they knew He was a “bad” person, because He was “poor”! When Jesus was handing out the free food and the free healing the whole world seemed to want to follow Him. But when He started to raise questions about why they were following Him, they all left! (See John 6:25-71[2969]) If we all followed this practice then the great controversy would be won by the highest bidder! Should we do what is right because it is profitable or because it is right? If this is what God wanted He could easily have out-bid the Devil!

This would raise the eternal question of motives. We would always wonder why people were doing what they were doing. Is it really important for us to act on principle? Jeremiah certainly didn’t have it easy. He suffered for what he believed in. It wasn’t easy to speak out about the sins of the people and especially the leaders.

17. What did God say would happen to Babylon? What hope did Jeremiah leave for the captives? (Jeremiah 25:11-14; 29:10-14; see Daniel 9:1-2; compare Jeremiah 30:3; 31:16,17)[2970]

Jeremiah 25:11-14: 11“This whole land will be left in ruins and will be a shocking sight, and the neighboring nations will serve the king of Babylonia for seventy years. 12After that I will punish Babylonia and its king for their sin. I will destroy that country and leave it in ruins for ever. 13I will punish Babylonia with all the disasters that I threatened to bring on the nations when I spoke through Jeremiah—all the disasters recorded in this book. 14I will pay the Babylonians back for what they have done, and many nations and great kings will make slaves of them.” (GNB)

Jeremiah 29:10-14: 10 “The Lord says, ‘When Babylonia’s seventy years are over, I will show my concern for you and keep my promise to bring you back home. 11 I alone know the plans I have for you, plans to bring you prosperity and not disaster, plans to bring about the future you hope for.12 Then you will call to me. You will come and pray to me, and I will answer you.13 You will seek me, and you will find me because you will seek me with all your heart.14 Yes, I say, you will find me, and I will restore you to your land. I will gather you from every country and from every place to which I have scattered you, and I will bring you back to the land from which I had sent you away into exile. I, the Lord, have spoken.’ Good News Bible: Today’s English Version

Jeremiah 30:3: “because the time is coming when I will restore my people, Israel and Judah. I will bring them back to the land that I gave their ancestors, and they will take possession of it again. I, the Lord, have spoken.” Good News Bible: Today’s English Version

Jeremiah 31:16, 17: 16“Stop your crying and wipe away your tears. All that you have done for your children will not go unrewarded; they will return from the enemy’s land.

17 There is hope for your future; your children will come back home. I, the Lord, have spoken. Good News Bible: Today’s English Version

Jeremiah 25:26: “...Every nation on the face of the earth had to drink from it. Last of all, the king of Babylonia will drink from it.” (GNB)

Jeremiah 50:1-3: 1This is the message that the Lord gave me about the city of Babylon and its people: “Tell the news to the nations! Proclaim it!

Give the signal and announce the news! Do not keep it a secret!

Babylon has fallen! Her god Marduk has been shattered!

Babylon’s idols are put to shame, her disgusting images are crushed!

3 “A nation from the north has come to attack Babylonia and will make it a desert. People and animals will run away, and no one will live there.” (GNB)

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Jeremiah 50:8-16: “People of Israel, run away from Babylonia! Leave the country! Be the first to leave! 9 I am going to stir up a group of strong nations in the north and make them attack Babylonia. They will line up in battle against the country and conquer it. They are skillful hunters, shooting arrows that never miss the mark. 10 Babylonia will be looted, and those who loot it will take everything they want. I, the Lord, have spoken.”

“11 The LORD says, “People of Babylonia, you plundered my nation. You are happy and glad, going about like a cow threshing corn or like a neighing horse, but your own great city will be humiliated and disgraced. Babylonia will be the least important nation of all; it will become a dry and waterless desert.

13 Because of my anger no one will live in Babylon; it will be left in ruins, and all who pass by will be shocked and amazed. “Archers, line up for battle against Babylon and surround it. Shoot all your arrows at Babylon, because it has sinned against me, the Lord. Raise the war cry all round the city! Now Babylon has surrendered. Its walls have been broken through and torn down.

I am taking my revenge on the Babylonians. So take your revenge on them, and treat them as they have treated others. 16 Do not let seeds be sown in that country or let a harvest be gathered. Every foreigner living there will be afraid of the attacking army and will go back home.” (GNB)

It is interesting to notice how well Jeremiah predicted the exact history that would take place for Israel as well as Babylon. While God used Nebuchadnezzar and his Babylonian army to punish Judah and many of the surrounding nations, (even calling Nebuchadnezzar His servant for doing this: Jeremiah 25:8,9; 27:6; 43:10) they also would face their day of judgment.

Jeremiah 25:8,9: “So then, because you would not listen to him, the Lord Almighty says, 9‘I am going to send for all the peoples from the north and for my servant, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia. I am going to bring them to fight against Judah and its inhabitants and against all the neighboring nations. I am going to destroy this nation and its neighbors and leave them in ruins for ever, a terrible and shocking sight. I, the Lord, have spoken.” (GNB)

18. After having worked with the children of Israel approximately 800 years before the time of Jeremiah (1400-600 B.C.) Does God seem to be enjoying a great deal of “success”? What is God trying to work toward? Was the problem that God didn’t have enough power?

This is primarily a thought question. Why would God work for so many years with a nation that apparently continued to fail in accomplishing what He wanted them to do? Did God know that this would happen in advance? Should God have worked with some other group instead? Why would God continue to work with the children of Israel and Abraham even after the exile if He knew in advance that they would finally crucify His Son? Is it necessary for any group of humans to fully succeed in following God’s plan before He can succeed in His plan for planet earth? (See Romans 3:4[2971])

Has the Christian church done better than the descendants of Abraham in correctly representing God? What about your church or my church? What about you or me? Does God need to wait for us for any reason before He can finish His work? (See 2 Peter 3:12)

© Copyright 2000-2006, Kenneth Hart info@theox.org

Appendix:

Ellen G White Comments:

“Among the righteous still in Jerusalem, to whom had been made plain the divine purpose, were some who determined to place beyond the reach of ruthless hands the sacred ark containing the tables of stone on which had been traced the precepts of the Decalogue. This they did. With mourning and sadness they secreted the ark in a cave, where it was to be hidden from the

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people of Israel and Judah because of their sins, and was to be no more restored to them. That sacred ark is yet hidden. It has never been disturbed since it was secreted.” {PK 453.2}

Law Preserved in Ark.--“And He [Christ] gave unto Moses, when He had made an end of communicating with him upon Mount Sinai, two tables of testimony, tables of stone, written by the finger of God.” Nothing written on those tables could be blotted out. The precious record of the law was placed in the ark of the testament and is still there, safely hidden from the human family. But in God’s appointed time He will bring forth these tables of stone to be a testimony to all the world against the disregard of His commandments and against the idolatrous worship of a counterfeit Sabbath” (MS 122, 1901). {1BC 1109.2}

“Because of Israel’s transgression of the commandments of God, and their wicked acts, God suffered them to go into captivity, to humble and punish them. Before the temple was destroyed, God made known to a few of his faithful servants the fate of the temple, which was the pride of Israel, and which they regarded with idolatry, while they were sinning against God. He also revealed to them the captivity of Israel. These righteous men, just before the destruction of the temple, removed the sacred ark containing the tables of stone, and, with mourning and sadness, secreted it in a cave where it was to be hid from the people of Israel, because of their sins, and was to be no more restored to them. That sacred ark is yet hid. It has never been disturbed since it was secreted.” 4aSG 114.4; 1SP 414.3; SR 195.1

“When the loud cry, “It is finished,” came from the lips of Christ, the priests were officiating in the Temple. The lamb prefiguring Christ--for to Him all the sacrificial offerings pointed--had been brought to be slain. Clothed in his significant and beautiful dress, the priest stood with lifted knife, as did Abraham when he was about to slay his son. With intense interest the people look on. But the earth trembles and quakes, for the Lord Himself draws near. With a rending noise, the veil of the Temple is torn from top to bottom by an unseen hand, throwing open to the gaze of the multitude a place once filled with the presence of God. In this place the Shekinah once dwelt. Here God had once manifested His glory above the mercy seat. No one but the high priest ever lifted the veil separating this apartment from the rest of the tabernacle. He entered in once a year to make an atonement for the sin of the people. But lo, this veil is rent in twain. No longer is there any secrecy there.” {12MR 416.2}

After the destruction of the temple by Nebuchadnezzar, it was rebuilt about five hundred years before the birth of Christ, by a people who from a life-long captivity had returned to a wasted and almost deserted country. There were then among them aged men who had seen the glory of Solomon’s temple, and who wept at the foundation of the new building, that it must be so inferior to the former. The feeling that prevailed is forcibly described by the prophet: “Who is left among you that saw this house in her first glory? and how do ye see it now? is it not in your eyes in comparison of it as nothing?” [HAG. 2:3.] Then was given the promise that the glory of this latter house should be greater than that of the former. {GC88 23.3}

But the second temple had not equaled the first in magnificence; nor was it hallowed by those visible tokens of the divine presence which pertained to the first temple. There was no manifestation of supernatural power to mark its dedication. No cloud of glory was seen to fill the newly erected sanctuary. No fire from Heaven descended to consume the sacrifice upon its altar. The Shekinah no longer abode between the cherubim in the most holy place; the ark, the mercy-seat, and the tables of the testimony were not to be found therein. No voice sounded from Heaven to make known to the inquiring priest the will of Jehovah. 4SP 24.1; GC 24.1; PK 596.3-597; RH, January 16, 1908 par. 13; The Truth about Angels 145.2

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The Time Line for Jeremiah

Year

Event

Reference

640-609 B. C.

Josiah was king of Judah

2 Kin. 22:1—23:30

628/627 B. C.

Josiah’s reform began with the removal of high places and all vestiges of foreign cults.

2 Chr. 34:1-7

627 B. C.

Ashurbanipal, last of the great Assyrian rulers, died.

627/626 B. C.

Jeremiah was called by God to prophetic office.

Jer. 1:1, 2

626 B. C.

Nabopolassar, gaining independence from Assyria, founded the Neo-Babylonian Empire.

622 B. C.

Josiah repaired the temple; the Book of the Law was found

2 Kin. 23:1-25;

2 Chr. 34:8-35:19

614 B. C.

Medes, led by Cyaxares, captured Asshur, the old Assyrian capital.

612 B. C.

Nineveh, the capital of Assyria, fell to the Media-Babylonian coalition

609-605 B. C.

Egypt ruled Palestine and Syria

609 B. C.

Josiah was killed by the Egyptian army at the Battle of Megiddo.

2 Kin. 23:29;

2 Chr. 35:20-25

609 B. C.

Jehoahaz (Shallum) ruled Judah for three months. His reign marked a turn in the court’s attitude toward Jeremiah

2 Kin. 23:31-34; 2 Chr. 36:1-4; Jer. 22:11, 12

608-597 B. C.

Jehoiakim (Eliakim) was king of Judah.

2 Kin. 23:34—24:7

605 B. C.

Babylon gained supremacy in the Near East by defeating Egypt at the Battle of Carchemish

Jer. 25:1; 46:2

605 B. C.

Deportation in which Daniel was taken

605 B. C.

Jeremiah summarized his work to Baruch

Jer. 45:1-5

604 B. C. Nov. or Dec.

Jeremiah’s scroll was read in the temple and palace and burned during reign of Jehoiakim

Jer. 7:1-15; Jer. 26:1-24; Jer. 36:1-26

602 B. C.

Jehoiakim rebelled against Nebuchadnezzar

2 Kin. 24:1

598/597 B. C.

Nebuchadnezzar retaliated; deportation of Jews to Babylon in which Ezekiel was taken

2 Kin. 24:8-16

598-597 B. C.

Jehoiachin (Jeconiah) ruled Judah for three months before being deported to Babylon

2 Kin. 24:8-16; 2 Chr. 36:9, 10; Jer. 22:24-30

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597-586 B. C.

Zedekiah (Mattaniah) ruled Judah

2 Kin. 24:17—25:7; 2 Chr. 36:11-14; Jer. 52:1-11

593 B. C.

Seraiah visited Babylon in the midst of revolt and unrest

Jer. 51:59

588 B. C. (January 15)

Beginning of Siege against Jerusalem

2 Kings 25:1 2 Chr. 36:13-21; Jeremiah 52:3b-11

587 B. C.

Jeremiah was in a cistern while Jerusalem was under siege

2 Kin. 25:1;

Jer. 32:1, 2; 37:1—38:28; 39:1; 52:4; Ezek. 24:1, 2

587 B. C.

Jeremiah purchased a field at Anathoth

Jer. 32:6-15

586 B. C. (July 18)

The wall of Jerusalem is breached

Jeremiah 52:6,7

586 B. C.

Jerusalem was destroyed; the Jews were deported to Babylon; Jeremiah was released

2 Kin. 25:2-10;

Jer. 39:1—40:7; 52:5-28

586 B. C. (August 14-17)

Nebuzaradan arrives in Jerusalem;

The temple in Jerusalem was destroyed

2 Kings 25:8,9; Jeremiah 52:12,13

587-582 B. C.

The governor Gedaliah was murdered. Some Jews fled to Egypt, taking Jeremiah with them

2 Kin. 25:22-26

581 B. C.

Fourth deportation of Jews to Babylon

Jer. 52:30

561 B. C. (March 31)

Jehoiachin was released from prison

2 Kin. 25:27; Jer. 52:31

adapted from Woman’s Study Bible

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41. “For My Own Name’s Sake”

1. There are several very different ideas about what the basic purpose of the Bible is. In this handout we are going to explore some ideas that may seem strange to some, but are the basis for a completely different "paradigm” or way of looking at the Bible.

a.    The Bible is a book of rules to be obeyed.

To some people, the Bible is primarily a set of "do’s” and "don’t’s” which is sometimes described as a blueprint. There are many verses that say clearly that if we keep all the commandments we will live by them. People who take this approach tend to be very critical of others because they feel that the Bible spells out exactly what needs to be done and often they act as self-appointed police-persons to keep checking on everyone else around to make sure these other people are "measuring up” to the standard they believe in.

b.    The Bible is a description of God’s way of saving you and me-the plan of salvation.

Others, after having tried this approach for some time begin to realize that although the commandments are quite clear, when fully applied, as Jesus suggests in the Sermon on the Mount it is virtually impossible for ordinary people to meet the standard. These people then either become very discouraged and drop out of the church or turn their attention to the many verses in Scripture that focus on God’s forgiveness. It is easy for these people who emphasize the fact that we are saved by "grace” to fall into the trap that says, "I can’t do it anyway, so I will just depend on God’s forgiveness.” They tend then to go on about their somewhat sinful lives and when they sin and their sin is pointed out, they respond as one famous TV evangelist did by saying something like, "I sinned under the blood”. To such people the Bible becomes a book about God’s way of saving you and me. The entire focus is on the plan of salvation.

c.    The Bible is a letter from God to describe His ways of relating to human beings. This has become necessary because God’s enemy the Devil has misrepresented God.

There is another view that is known and understood only by a relative minority of Christians that suggests that the Bible is not primarily about us at all. These people are convinced that the Bible is not primarily about giving us directions for our lives, although it does some of that. They also recognize that it is not primarily about how God saves you and me, although that is also discussed. These people believe that the Bible is primarily a letter from God to us and it is primarily about Him. Now it should be obvious that God is not openly discussed a great deal in the Bible. But what we see in the Bible is a record of how God deals with sinful human beings. It is a record of God’s relationship to humans throughout the course of our existence here on earth.

The best way to test which of these theories or paradigms is correct would be to find some verses where the message of the verse places God’s reputation on the line versus either of the other paradigms. Are there places in the Bible where God actually says things like "I gave you all of the right directions for your life, but you have failed to keep them so now I must do something about my reputation which you are tarnishing since the people who live in the surrounding nations believe that I am losing my power and that is why you are going off into captivity?” Or what about verses that suggest that God finally says, "I have done everything I could to save you from yourselves but now I must let you go and do something for my own

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name’s sake?”

Ezekiel discusses such issues perhaps more than any other single prophet. We will look first at what Ezekiel says and then compare the words of other prophets and other portions of Scripture.

Ezekiel 20:8,9: 8 "But they defied me and refused to listen. They did not throw away their disgusting idols or give up the Egyptian gods. I was ready to let them feel the full force of my anger there in Egypt. 9But I did not, since that would have brought dishonor to my name, for in the presence of the people among whom they were living I had announced to Israel that I was going to lead them out of Egypt.” (GNB)

Ezekiel 20:13-16: 13 "But even in the desert they defied me. They broke my laws and rejected my commands, which bring life to anyone who obeys them. They completely profaned the Sabbath. I was ready to let them feel the force of my anger there in the desert and destroy them. 14But I did not, since that would have brought dishonor to my name among the nations which had seen me lead Israel out of Egypt. So I made a promise in the desert that I would not take them to the land I had given them, a rich and fertile land, the finest land of all. 16I made the promise because they had rejected my commands, broken my laws, and profaned the Sabbath—they preferred to worship their idols. (GNB)

Ezekiel 20:21-24: 21 "But that generation also defied me. They broke my laws and did not keep my commands, which bring life to anyone who obeys them. They profaned the Sabbath.

I was ready to let them feel the force of my anger there in the desert and kill them all. 22But I did not, since that would have brought dishonor to my name among the nations which had seen me bring Israel out of Egypt. So I made another promise in the desert.

I vowed that I would scatter them all over the world. 24I did this because they had rejected my commands, broken my laws, profaned the Sabbath, and worshiped the same idols their ancestors had served.” (GNB)

Ezekiel 20:42-44: 42"When I bring you back to Israel, the land that I promised I would give to your ancestors, then you will know that I am the Lord. 43Then you will remember all the disgraceful things you did and how you defiled yourselves. You will be disgusted with yourselves because of all the evil things you did. 44When I act to protect my honor, you Israelites will know that I am the Lord, because I do not deal with you as your wicked, evil actions deserve.” The Sovereign Lord has spoken. (GNB)

Ezekiel 36:22:

AVilA ai yKi lairC tyBi hc,[i ynIa| !kpl['m'l| alj hWhyl yndiaj rm'a| hK lairC|yAtybil| rmial ^kilj 22

Biblia Hebraica .V !taB|

22 Therefore, say to the house of Israel, Thus said the Lord Jehovah: Not for your sake am I working, O house of Israel, But—for My holy name, That ye have polluted among nations whither ye have gone in. Young’s Literal Translation

22 ...I doe not this for your sakes, O house of Israel, but for mine holy Name’s sake, which ye polluted among the heathen, whither ye went. Geneva 22 ...I do not this for your sakes, O house of Israel, but for mine holy name’s sake,... KJV, NKJV

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22 ...I do not this for your sakes, O house of Israel, but for my holy name,... 1890 Darby Bible, 1901 American Standard Version 22 ...It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am about to act, but for the sake of my holy name,...The Revised Standard Version; NRSV 22 ...It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am about to act, but for My holy name,... The New American Standard Bible; 1995 Update 22 ...It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am going to do these things, but for the sake of my holy name,... The New International Version 22 ...Not for your sake do I this, O house of Israel, but for the sake of my holy name,... Leeser 22 ...I am about to do something, people of Israel. I will not do this for your sake but for the sake of my holy name,... God’s Word 22 ...what I am going to do is not for the sake of you Israelites, but for the sake of my holy name,... Good News Bible: Today’s English Version 22 ...Thus said the Lord God: Not for your sake will I act, O House of Israel, but for My holy name,... Tanakh, The Holy Scriptures 22 ...You have disgraced my holy name among the nations where you now live. So you don’t deserve what I’m going to do for you. I will lead you home to bring honor to my name. The Contemporary English Version 22 ... I am bringing you back again, but not because you deserve it; I am doing it to protect my holy name,... The Living Bible, The New Living Translation 22 ...Thus says the Lord GOD: Not for your sakes do I act, house of Israel, but for the sake of my holy name,... The New American Bible 22 ...‘This is what the Lord God says: Israel, I am going to act, but not for your sake. I will do something to help my holy name,... The New Century Version 22 ..."The Lord Yahweh says this: I am not doing this for your sake, House of Israel, but for the sake of my holy name,... Jerusalem Bible 22 ..."The Lord Yahweh says this: I am acting not for your sake, House of Israel, but for the sake of my holy name,... The New Jerusalem Bible 22 ...It is not for your sake, you Israelites, that I am acting, but for the sake of my holy name,...

New English Bible, Revised English Bible 22 ... I do not do this for your sakes, O house of Israel, but for My holy name’s sake,... The Amplified Bible

22 ...It is not for your sakes, O Israel, that I take action, but for the sake of my own sacred honour which has been lowered by your dispersion among the nations. Smith-Goodspeed

22 ...I will take you out from the nations where you are and bring you back home. I will do this not only for your sake, but also for mine, for the sake of my name that’s being so dishonored. The Clear Word

Ezekiel 36:23: 23 When I demonstrate to the nations the holiness of my great name—the name you disgraced among them—then they will know that I am the Lord.

I, the Sovereign Lord, have spoken. I will use you to show the nations that I am holy.” (GNB)

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Ezekiel 36:31,32: 31You will remember your evil conduct and the wrongs that you committed, and you will be disgusted with yourselves because of your sins and your iniquities. 32Israel, I want you to know that I am not doing all this for your sake. I want you to feel the shame and disgrace of what you are doing. I, the Sovereign Lord, have spoken.” Good News Bible: Today’s English Version

Ezekiel 39:6,7: 6I will start a fire in the land of Magog and along all the coasts where people live undisturbed, and everyone will know that I am the Lord. 7I will make sure that my people Israel know my holy name, and I will not let my name be disgraced any more. Then the nations will know that I, the Lord, am the Holy God of Israel.” (GNB) Ezekiel 39:25-29: 25The Sovereign Lord said, "But now I will be merciful to Jacob’s descendants, the people of Israel, and make them prosperous again. I will protect my holy name. 26When they are once more living in safety in their own land, with no one to threaten them, they will be able to forget how they were disgraced for having betrayed me. 27In order to show the many nations that I am holy, I will bring my people back from all the countries where their enemies live. 28Then my people will know that I am the Lord their God. They will know this, because I sent them into captivity and now gather them and bring them back into their own land, not leaving even one of them behind. 29I will pour out my spirit on the people of Israel and never again turn away from them. I, the Sovereign Lord, have spoken.” (GNB)

Ezekiel 43:5-9: 5 The Lord’s spirit lifted me up and took me into the inner courtyard, where I saw that the Temple was filled with the glory of the Lord. 6The man stood beside me there, and I heard the Lord speak to me out of the Temple: 7"Mortal man, here is my throne. I will live here among the people of Israel and rule over them for ever. Neither the people of Israel nor their kings will ever again disgrace my holy name by worshiping other gods or by burying the corpses of their kings in this place. 8The kings built the thresholds and doorposts of their palace right against the thresholds and doorposts of my Temple, so that there was only a wall between us. They disgraced my holy name by all the disgusting things they did, and so in my anger I destroyed them. 9Now they must stop worshiping other gods and remove the corpses of their kings. If they do, I will live among them for ever.” (GNB)

It should be quite clear by now that God needed to speak out very forcefully about His name and what was happening to His reputation.

Jeremiah seems to be suggesting similar ideas in his book:

Jeremiah 14:7:

7 My people cry out to me,

‘Even though our sins accuse us, help us, Lord, as you have promised.

We have turned away from you many times;

we have sinned against you. Good News Bible: Today’s English Version

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Jeremiah 14:21: Remember your promises and

do not despise us; do not bring disgrace on Jerusalem, the place of your glorious throne.

Do not break the covenant you made with us. Good News Bible Jeremiah 15:15: 15 Then I said, "Lord, you understand. Remember me and help me. Let me have revenge on those who persecute me. Do not be so patient with them that they succeed in killing me. Remember that it is for your sake that I am insulted. Good News Bible: Today’s English Version

Isaiah also speaks about God’s honor:

Isaiah 48:11:

Biblia Hebraica s .^TiaAalj rjia'l| yd/bk|f j Jyai yKi hc,[ia, ynl[|m'l| ynl[|m'l| 11 For My sake, for Mine own sake, I do it, For how is it polluted? And Mine honour to another I give not. Young’s Literal Translation For mine owne sake, for mine owne sake will I doe it; for how should my Name be polluted?

surely I will not give my glory unto another. Geneva For my sake — for mine own sake will I effectually work, for how should it be profaned? And my glory to another will I not give. Rheims For mine own sake, even for mine own sake, will I do it: for how should my name be polluted?

And I will not give my glory unto another. The King James Version For mine own sake, for mine own sake, will I do it; for how should my name be profaned? And I will not give my glory unto another. 1890 Darby Bible For mine own sake, for mine own sake, will I do it; for how should my name be profaned? And my glory will I not give to another. 1901 American Standard Version For My own sake, for My own sake, I will do it; For how should My name be profaned? And I will not give My glory to another. The New King James Version For my own sake, for my own sake, I do it, for how should my name be profaned? My glory I will not give to another. The Revised Standard Version For My own sake, for My own sake, I will act; For how can My name be profaned? And My glory I will not give to another. The New American Standard Bible; 1995 Update For my own sake, for my own sake, I do it, for why should my name be profaned? My glory I will not give to another. The New Revised Standard Version For my own sake, for my own sake, I do this. How can I let myself be defamed? I will not yield my glory to another. The New International Version For my own sake will I do it; for how would (my name) be dishonored? And my glory will I not give unto an other. Leeser I am doing this for myself, only for myself. Why should my name be dishonored? I will not give my glory to anyone else. God’s Word For My sake, My own sake, do I act— Lest [My name] be dishonored! I will not give My glory

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to another. Tanakh, The Holy Scriptures What I do is done for my own sake— I will not let my name be dishonored or let anyone else share the glory that should be mine and mine alone.” Good News Bible: Today’s English Version

I did this because of who I am. I refuse to be dishonored or share my praise with any other god. The Contemporary English Version Yet for my own sake—yes, for my own sake—I will save you from my anger and not destroy you lest the heathen say their gods have conquered me. I will not let them have my glory. The Living Bible I will rescue you for my sake—yes, for my own sake! That way, the pagan nations will not be able to claim that their gods have conquered me. I will not let them have my glory! The New Living Translation For my sake, for my own sake, I do this; why should I suffer profanation? My glory I will not give to another. The New American Bible I do this for myself, for my own sake. I will not let people speak evil against me, and I will not let some god take my glory. The New Century Version For my sake and my sake only have I acted-is my name to be profaned? Never will I yield my glory to another. Jerusalem Bible For my sake and my sake only shall I act, for why should my name be profaned? I will not yield my glory to another. The New Jerusalem Bible For My own sake, for My own sake, I do it [I refrain and do not utterly destroy you], for why should I permit My name to be polluted and profaned [which it would be if the Lord completely destroyed His chosen people]? And I will not give My glory to another [by permitting the worshipers of idols to triumph over you]. The Amplified Bible For my honour, for my own honour I did it; let them disparage my past triumphs if they will: I will not give my glory to any other god. New English Bible For my honour’s sake, for my own honour I did it; I will not let my name be profaned or yield my glory to any other god. Revised English Bible I do this for the sake of my own honour [alas, how sullied it is!] I will not yield my glory to another. Smith-Goodspeed What I have done, I have done for my own sake so no one can say that the God of Israel winks at sin. I will not let myself be misunderstood any more nor will I let my name be dishonored any longer. I will not give my responsibility to another or share my glory with someone else. The Clear Word

Daniel certainly understood what was going on:

Daniel 9:15-19: 15 "O Lord our God, you showed your power by bringing your people out of Egypt, and your power is still remembered. We have sinned; we have done wrong.16 You have defended us in the past, so do not be angry with Jerusalem any longer. It is your city, your sacred hill. All the people in the neighboring countries look down on Jerusalem and on your people because of our sins and the evil our ancestors did. 17 O God, hear my

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prayer and pleading. Restore your Temple, which has been destroyed; restore it so that everyone will know that you are God. 18 Listen to us, O God; look at us, and see the trouble we are in and the suffering of the city that bears your name. We are praying to you because you are merciful, not because we have done right. 19 Lord, hear us. Lord, forgive us. Lord, listen to us, and act! In order that everyone will know that you are God, do not delay! This city and these people are yours.” Good News Bible: Today’s English Version

Isn’t it clear from all of this that God is needing to speak up to say something important about Himself? This is not just to spell out in more detail what God wants from us. It is not for the purpose of explaining what God must do or how He must act to save you and me! These very significant statements tell us that something has to be said about God Himself. So what needs to be said about God? Human beings need to get over our egocentric ideas and recognize that God is on trial here! Lucifer/Satan has accused Him of being a liar (Genesis 3:4) See handouts #7 on The Great Controversy in Scripture and #7b Satan. At the same time Satan suggested that God was in fact arbitrarily withholding something from us that would be for our best good! (Genesis 2:17; 3:4,5) Doesn’t God’s statement in Genesis 2:17 seem at least a little arbitrary, even exacting and unforgiving? Satan has claimed that the only way God can get human beings to join His side is to bribe them! (Job 1:10-11)

But if the whole Bible is primarily a book about God’s answers to Satan’s accusations then we must look at it in quite a different way.

2. Why would it be necessary for God to act to preserve His name? Doesn’t everyone know that there is only one God? (See Isaiah 40-55) Is it possible that God needs to say something about Himself that is more important that even saving you and me?

In ancient times many different "gods” were worshiped as if they had powers and authority over different areas of the earth. But in our day, primarily as a result of the influence of two major religious movements, Christianity and Islam, most of the peoples of the world who believe in God believe there is only one true God. Of course, many others, such as Hindus, worship many "gods” while still others, like communists, believe that God does not even exist. Clearly, Yahweh still has not convinced the world even about His existence! So what should God do in such a situation? He will not violate our freedom. He chooses to place His case in open court before all of His children, not only on this planet but throughout the universe. As we make up our minds about God, we are also placing our vote in the court of the universe as to whether or not we believe that Yahweh can be trusted in all that He has said and done. The Bible is the evidence that we must study to try to determine how to cast our vote. And to understand what the Bible is saying to us we must reconstruct as far as possible the settings in which God has spoken in the past so we can best understand why He would say or do such a thing in such a setting. Finally, we must ask ourselves what was going on behind the scenes that might have led God or Satan to do what they did at that time. It is almost like having a final exam where we have the "answers” but we need to figure out what the questions were!

Romans 3:4: No, indeed! God tells the truth, even if everyone else is a liar. The Scriptures

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say about God, "Your words will be proven true, and in court you will win your case.” (Contemporary English Version)

3:4: By no means! God must prove true, though every man be false; as the Scripture says, "That you may be shown to be right in what you say, And win your case when you when you go into court.” (Goodspeed)

"It was in order that the heavenly universe might see the conditions of the covenant of redemption that Christ bore the penalty in behalf of the human race. The throne of Justice must be eternally and forever made secure, even tho the race be wiped out, and another creation populate the earth. By the sacrifice Christ was about to make, all doubts would be forever settled, and the human race would be saved if they would return to their allegiance. Christ alone could restore honor to God’s government. The cross of Calvary would be looked upon by the unfallen worlds, by the heavenly universe, by Satanic agencies, by the fallen race, and every mouth would be stopped....Who is able to describe the last scenes of Christ’s life on earth, His trial in the judgment hall, His crucifixion? Who witnessed these scenes?-The heavenly universe, God the Father, Satan and his angels.” The Signs of the Times, July 12, 1899 (4ST 44:1:2)

3. What is our role in this great controversy? Are we spectators, participants, or stars? Does our human experience say anything important about God?

1 Corinthians 4:9: For it seems to me that God has given the very last place to us apostles, like people condemned to die in public as a spectacle for the whole world of angels and of humanity. Good News Bible: Today’s English Version

Colossians 1:19.20: 19 For it was by God’s own decision that the Son has in himself the full nature of God. 20 Through the Son, then, God decided to bring the whole universe back to himself. God made peace through his Son’s blood on the cross and so brought back to himself all things, both on earth and in heaven. Good News Bible: Today’s English Version Ephesians 1:8-10: In all his wisdom and insight 9 God did what he had purposed, and made known to us the secret plan he had already decided to complete by means of Christ.10 This plan, which God will complete when the time is right, is to bring all creation together, everything in heaven and on earth, with Christ as head. Good News Bible: Today’s English Version

Ephesians 3:9,10: 7 I was made a servant of the gospel by God’s special gift, which he gave me through the working of his power. 8 I am less than the least of all God’s people; yet God gave me this privilege of taking to the Gentiles the Good News about the infinite riches of Christ, 9 and of making all people see how God’s secret plan is to be put into effect. God, who is the Creator of all things, kept his secret hidden through all the past ages,10 in order that at the present time, by means of the church, the angelic rulers and powers in the heavenly world might learn of his wisdom in all its different forms. Good News Bible: Today’s English Version

Notice that Paul seems to suggest that the entire universe is watching us! This is not to

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suggest that God did not win the great controversy all by Himself. But the universe is watching to see how the news of God’s victory is impacting the human race. Do we act like it really matters to us? Are we telling everyone who will listen? Are we looking for better ways to explain it? Do we really want Christ to come again? Or are we so "comfortable” that we don’t care if He delays His coming? Often it seems like the church is much more concerned about what people think of the church than what they think about God!

For His name’s sake, the Lord forgives our sins (1 John 2:12[2972]), guides us (Pss. 23:3; 31:3[2973]), deals with us (Ps. 109:21[2974]), and revives us (Ps. 143:11[2975]). For His name’s sake, we ought to serve Him (3 John 7; Rev. 2:3)[2976], sacrifice for Him (Matt. 19:29[2977]), and be willing to suffer reproach (Matt. 10:22; 24:9[2978]). All that we do should be for the honor and glory of God’s name (1 Cor. 10:3[2979]1). (With the Word Bible Commentary on Ezekiel 20)

So God has struggled down through the ages to communicate a message that seems like it should be so simple. But it is not the kind of message than humans have tended to take much interest in. So God Himself has found it necessary at times to speak out very forcefully about the importance of our respect and reverence. Considering all that is going on in our world today, is it possible that God needs to speak out on His own behalf once again?

See (Job 1,2; 42:7,8; Romans 3:4; Exodus 32:1-14; Numbers 14:13-19; Deuteronomy 9:7-29; Joshua 7:9)[2980]

© Copyright 2001-2008, Kenneth Hart info@theox.org

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42. EZEKIEL - A TEACHER’S GUIDE

THE CENTRAL QUESTION:

What does this book/story say to us about God?

This question may be broken down further as follows:

a.    Why did God do it/allow it?

b.    Why did He record it for our study?

1. When someone mentions the book of Ezekiel, what comes to your mind? Sometimes its name is used to refer to things which are very mysterious. Did you find it complicated? What was Ezekiel doing and where was he when he wrote this book? What is the main message of the book? What about the “wheels within the wheels?” (Ezekiel 1:15-21; 10:6-13[2981]) Was it inspiring? Did you learn anything new in this book?

“AUTHOR: Ezekiel

“‘Ezekiel’ means “God strengthens.” It is an appropriate name for the man who was to minister as the prophet to the exiles in Babylon. He was a priest (Ez1-3[2982]) from a priestly family. Buzi, his father, was of the Zadokite priesthood (Ez 44:15; 1 Kin. 1:32)[2983]. Ezekiel was preparing for service in the temple at Jerusalem, though he never had the privilege of serving there. Temple priests were consecrated at the age of thirty, but Ezekiel was taken captive along with Jehoiachin at the age of twenty-five in 597 B.C. His prophetic ministry began five years later in 593 B.C. (1:2) and continued for at least twenty-two years (Ez 29:17[2984]). Ezekiel was married and maintained a household, though no children are mentioned. In the midst of his ministry, his wife died (Ez 24:15-27[2985]).

“The Book of Ezekiel is autobiographical throughout, and its arrangement is a continuous, logical one. The uniformity of style and language, including the many characteristic phrases used throughout the book, e.g., “as I live, says the Lord” (Ezekiel 5:11; 14:16, 18, 20; 16:48; 17:16; 18:3; 20:3; 33:11; 34:8; 35:6, 11[2986]), argues for a single author. The Book of Ezekiel is one of many of the biblical books which comprise the genre of “apocalyptic” writings. Other notable books of this genre are Daniel and Revelation. The characteristics of this genre include symbolism, visions, allegories, parables, and symbolic actions. The apocalyptic style in the Bible may be more a matter of telling what happened than the conscious employment of a literary device.” (Believer’s Study Bible)

There were five priest-prophets in the Old Testament. The others were Moses, Jeremiah, Zechariah, and Ezra. Ezekiel emphasized the concerns of a priest: the glory of the Lord, priestly duties, and both the present and future temples.

“DATE: 593-571 B.C.

“This book is the easiest of the Old Testament books to date, because of Ezekiel’s unique orderly sequence of dates. Each section of prophetic oracles begins with the year and day of the month. All but (Ez 26:1 and 32:17[2987]) also include the month (cf. Ez 1:1, 2; 8:1; 20:1; 24:1; 26:1; 29:1, 17; 30:20; 31:1, 17; 33:21; 40:1[2988]). Ezekiel’s ministry began in July, 593 B.C., and continued at least until the last recorded oracle (29:17ff.), which is dated April, 571 B.C. He was a contemporary of both Jeremiah and Daniel, and three of his prophecies seem to be extensions of Jeremiah’s message: (1) the vision of the caldron [(Ezekiel 11:1-12; 24:3-14; cf. Jer. 1:13-15)[2989]], (2) the example of the sour grapes (Ez18:2-32; cf. Jer. 31:29, 30)[2990], and (3) the parable of the two sisters (Ez 23:1-49; cf. Jer. 3:6-11)[2991]. “THEME: God’s Holiness and Glory

“Ezekiel’s purpose is to declare the holy character of God and to extol His glory. Isaiah is the prophet of the Son; Jeremiah, the prophet of the Father; Ezekiel, the prophet of the Spirit. His

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message is much like that of John in the Book of Revelation, full of imagery and symbolism. Ezekiel also declared the position of Israel as a nation (Ez 20:9, 14, 22[2992]), indicating that Yahweh had become the God of Israel historically in order to reveal Himself to the nations. He well understood the Hebrew people’s devotion to the Land of Promise. They believed that to leave the land was to leave the arena of God’s influence. Another prominent theme in Ezekiel is the responsibility of the individual before God, as a balance to the Jewish idea of the corporate responsibility of the covenant community. This concept of corporate responsibility mistakenly led them to conclude that their punishment was the result of the sins of their ancestors (Ez 18:1-32; 33:10-20[2993]). Finally, Ezekiel presented his messianic prophecy describing the kingdom of God in its millennial glory (Ez 40:1-48:35[2994]).” (Believer’s Study Bible)

The book of Ezekiel is named after its author, in Hebrew Yechezque’l, meaning “whom God will strengthen.” Both Jeremiah and Daniel were contemporaries of Ezekiel. Jeremiah began his work much earlier, but remained in Jerusalem to chronicle the final events of that city before it was destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar in 586 BC. Daniel was taken captive with the first group of exiles to leave Jerusalem, but remained active as a prophet until after the rise of the Medo-Persian Empire in 539 BC. Ezekiel’s prophetic work took place between 593 and 571 BC. Ezekiel was among the captives taken from Jerusalem in the second conquest of Jerusalem in 597/596 BC. He received his visions and did his work near the Chebar (Kebar) River in Babylonia, most likely a canal now known as Naru Kabari in the Nippur area, about 50 miles southeast of Babylon near the Euphrates river. Tel Abib (See Ezekiel 3:15) probably comes from the Akkadian language Til Abubi and means “mound of the storm flood.” There are many such mounds in the Nippur area which are believed by some to be left over from Noah’s flood. It is likely that the book begins when Ezekiel was 30 years old (See 1:1), the age at which a Jewish male is considered mature and the age at which priests are allowed to begin their work. It was also the age at which Jesus and John the Baptist began their ministries. (See Matthew 3:1 and Luke 3:23)[2995]

The name of Ezekiel is often associate with complicated mysteries because of the “wheels within the wheels.” (See Ezekiel 1 and 10[2996]) This prophecy seems to be directed primarily at the Jewish exiles in Babylon who had begun to think-as the heathen were suggesting-that Yahweh could no longer care for His people. It was the common belief in those days that the “god” of a “winning” nation had proven himself more powerful than the “god” of the “losing” nation! This made Yahweh, who had now allowed both the northern kingdom of Israel and the southern kingdom of Judah to go into exile, look like a helpless “god.” The time had come as suggested by Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Daniel for God to do something to rescue His reputation! (See Deuteronomy Teacher’s Guide #4; Joshua Teacher’s Guide #11; Job Teacher’s Guide #14; 2 Chronicles Teacher’s Guide #6; Psalms Teacher’s Guide #12; Isaiah Teacher’s Guide #6; Jonah Teacher’s Guide #2 and #16; Daniel Teacher’s Guide #10; Habakkuk Teacher’s Guide #3; [Ezekiel 20:9,14,22,44; 36:22; Jeremiah 14:7,21; 15:15][2997])

2. What do you think was the general conception of the Old Testament God, Yahweh, in Ezekiel’s time? Was the picture different in Jerusalem (where Jeremiah was) than it was beside the Chebar (Kebar) River (in captivity) where Ezekiel was; in Babylon (where Daniel was); throughout the universe? (among the angels) Do you think these visions were calculated to inspire reverence and respect? (especially Ezekiel 1[2998])

Those who really believed that Yahweh was the only true God were wondering why He didn’t do something, while those who weren’t so sure were beginning to believe that Yahweh no longer had any power. Under those circumstances it was necessary for God to give a vision of such power and

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glory just to let Ezekiel, at least, know that He was still in control of the universe and even was able to demonstrate His power here on planet earth.

The heathen felt that the defeats and captivities of Israel and Judah proved that their once-powerful God could no longer do anything for them. In Jerusalem, the leaders apparently had come to the place where they felt that Yahweh wasn’t even aware of what was going on in His own temple! (Ezekiel 8[2999]) And when Habakkuk asked God what was coming, even God said it would be a total surprise! (See Habakkuk 1,2[3000]) The exiles in Babylonia apparently felt that God had abandoned them. God was getting some notice in Babylon because of the faithfulness of Daniel and his friends, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah.

The universe must have been very impatiently waiting for God to do something. [Revelation 6:10; See Ellen White Quotes below: Review and Herald, July 17, 1900; (4RH 201:1:4-201:2:1)]

3.    Why would Ezekiel have to use words like “such was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord?” (Ezekiel 1:28, KJV, RSV, NIV) Is not this the way John spoke in trying to describe his visions in Revelation? Did New Testament writers ever use such words, or was this just a problem for ancient prophets with a limited vocabulary?

If Ezekiel saw even a small portion of the glory of God’s throne, no human language could possibly adequately describe it. Even in our day, language is built up by describing things, scenes, ideas, etc. that people are familiar with. So when describing something like God’s presence or His glory or His throne, human language must surely be inadequate. Many Bible writers seem to describe God’s glory as “fire.” (Exodus 24:17; Deuteronomy 4:24; Isaiah 33:10-17; Daniel 7:9,10; Hebrews 12:29)[3001] It was no doubt the best word that they could think of!

New Testament writers used a language that was a bit richer in vocabulary than the ancient Hebrew, but they still described God’s glory as fire. (Hebrews 12:29[3002]) Even the last writer of the New Testament, John, struggled with language to describe what he apparently saw in vision as portrayed in the book of Revelation. (See Revelation 4:3[3003])

4.    Do you understand every detail in the vision of Ezekiel 1:4-28[3004]? (see also Ez 8:2-4; 10:1-22[3005]) What effect did it have on Ezekiel? Do you think he understood it all? What do you think he actually saw? Would it help us, in this modern age, if the Lord would appear and give us some glimpse of His infinite power and majesty? How would we walk into church and how would we worship if the “appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord” was up at the front of the sanctuary? Were the Jews accustomed to having revelations of God’s power? How could the pillar of fire (the Shekinah) become commonplace to the Jews? (See Exodus 13:21,22[3006]) How could they complain about the manna, and the water while God’s power was so apparent nearby? (Exodus 16:1-36; Numbers 11:4-34; Numbers 21:4-9)[3007] Would you dare to build a golden calf at the foot of the mountain with God’s power still visible at the top? (Exodus 32:1-35; Deuteronomy 9:6-29)[3008] Would not this vision give the prophet a feeling that God was with him, when he had to deliver an often unpopular message? Was this God the Father or God the Son, whom Ezekiel saw? (see Exodus 24:17; 1 Corinthians 10:4)[3009] What of the garden of Eden before the flood? (Patriarchs and Prophets 62.2; 83.2[3010]; AH 539.1; AG 360.2; Mar 354.1) Did seeing it impress the antediluvians?

This vision was apparently given to convince Ezekiel and all who would listen that God was still alive, active, and, in fact, in control of the universe. Human beings seem to be very susceptible to miraculous or supernatural power. It is often suggested that if we could just have more miracles and power, the gospel would be quickly finished. The story of Elijah at Mt. Horeb (Sinai) should make us think twice about such notions. (See 1 Kings 19:9-14[3011])

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But history also shows us that the effect of miracle and power is short-lived. People become accustomed to seeing virtually anything, and after a short period of time they tend to go about their daily lives as if it were nothing! Imagine building a golden calf at the bottom of Mt. Sinai while God’s very presence and glory was clearly visible only a short distance away! (Exodus 32[3012]) Shows of power may help to get people’s attention temporarily, but we should never depend on them to make a lasting change in people’s behavior. Only if we see and learn something that really impacts us after God gets our attention will it ultimately make a difference in our lives.

5. What is Ezekiel (and God) trying to say to us in Ezekiel 20[3013]? What about Ezekiel 36[3014]? Do you have a simple explanation for Ezekiel 20:25,26[3015]; compare Isaiah 45:7[3016]? Or does it require an approach developed by working your way through many such passages? Does reading the rest of the chapter help?

Ezekiel 20 and 36 are very instructive chapters. They should be read carefully and the implications considered. Please note this particular theme:

In Egypt: Read verses Ez 20: 4-7[3017] about how God tried to help Israel in Egypt, then note:

8 “But they defied me and refused to listen. They did not throw away their disgusting idols or give up the Egyptian gods. I was ready to let them feel the full force of my anger there in Egypt. 9 But I did not, since that would have brought dishonor to my name, for in the presence of the people among whom they were living I had announced to Israel that I was going to lead them out of Egypt...

In the wilderness: Read verses Ez 20:10-12[3018], then note:

13 “But even in the desert they defied me. They broke my laws and rejected my commands, which bring life to anyone who obeys them. They completely profaned the Sabbath. I was ready to let them feel the force of my anger there in the desert and to destroy them. 14 But I did not, since that would have brought dishonor to my name among the nations which had seen me lead Israel out of Egypt... (See Exodus 32:7-14[3019])

The second generation in the wilderness: Read verses Ex 20:15-20[3020], then note:

21 “But that generation also defied me. They broke my laws and did not keep my commands, which bring life to anyone who obeys them. They profaned the Sabbath.

I was ready to let them feel the force of my anger there in the desert and to kill them all. 22 But I did not, since that would have brought dishonor to my name among the nations which had seen me bring Israel out of Egypt...

After the Babylonian captivity: Read verses Ez 20:37-42[3021], then note:

43 “Then you will remember all the disgraceful things you did and how you defiled yourselves. You will be disgusted with yourselves because of all the evil things you did. 44 When I act to protect my honor, you Israelites will know that I am the LORD, because I do not deal with you as your wicked, evil actions deserve.’ The Sovereign LORD has spoken.” (GNB)

Right throughout Israelite history God has had to act, not primarily for the “salvation” of His people but for the honor of His own name! The great controversy is not about how God saves you and me but about how God answers Satan’s accusations and human misconceptions about His character and government.

Note especially that the purpose of the Sabbath is to remind us of this particular very important truth. The Sabbath is to be a time when we get to know our God and are reminded of our relationship with Him. (Ezekiel 20:12,20[3022]) We need to understand His character and as much about

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Him as possible and not just the right name to refer to Him by. If the Sabbath is not being used for this purpose, then as far as God is concerned we are profaning it. (Ezekiel 20:13,16,21[3023])

In Ezekiel 36 after all of Israel is in captivity, he explains further:

20 Wherever they went, they brought disgrace on my holy name, because people would say, -These are the people of the LORD, but they had to leave his land.’ 21 That made me concerned for my holy name, since the Israelites brought disgrace on it everywhere they went.

22 Now then, give the Israelites the message that I, the Sovereign LORD, have for them: What I am going to do is not for the sake of you Israelites, but for the sake of my holy name, which you have disgraced in every country where you have gone. 23 When I demonstrate to the nations the holiness of my great name-the name you disgraced among them- then they will know that I am the LORD... (28) You will be my people, and I will be your God... 32 Israel, I want you to know that I am not doing all this for your sake ...36 Then the neighboring nations that have survived will know that I, the LORD, rebuild ruined cities and replant waste fields. I, The LORD, have promised that I would do this-and I will. (GNB)

This is why Ezekiel repeats the phrase “Then they will know that I am the LORD” or “for my name’s sake” or something similar at least 46 times in his book. Isn’t it clear in these passages that God’s reputation is more important than ours? Could every one of us reject Him and God still win the great controversy? (See Romans 3:4) If the absolute trustworthiness of God is not established in this great controversy, then the entire universe is in jeopardy! But that is exactly what was confirmed by the life and death of Jesus.

6. What do you think is implied by the following commonly used expressions in Ezekiel:

a.    Son of man - 93 occurrences

b.    Rebellious house (people) - 21 times (see especially Ezekiel 2,12,20[3024])

c.    Then they will know that I am the Lord - more than 70 times (Ezekiel 20:12,20,44; 36:11,23,36; 39:7,22,28[3025])

d.    For my own name’s sake - Ezekiel 20:9,14,22,44; 36:20-23,31,32,36,38; 39:6,7; 25-29; 43:5-9[3026]; compare Isaiah 48:11[3027]

e.    Wrath and anger - Ezekiel 5, 7, 8, 13, 22, 36[3028]

f.    “The LORD God” - Ezekiel 2:4[3029] - occurs 217 times

“Son of man”

The Hebrew terms for “man” are:

<ish - male or husband; 16

<enosh - man in his frailty, disease and mortality;

<adam - man in a generic sense of “mankind”, “humanity”; geber - man in his youthful vigor.

Ninety three times in this book Ezekiel is addressed as “son of man” reminding him that God was speaking to him as a human being, in our language, humble and inadequate as that may be at times. God chooses to address us through other humans and He asks those humans to spread the “good news”. God doesn’t address us directly with some superhuman form of communication, or even send angels to instruct us. Ezekiel is addressed by his personal name only twice in the entire book: Ezekiel 1:3 and 24:24. Most of the time Ezekiel is addressed as follows:

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Ezekiel 2:1:

(Biblia Hebraica) .tai rBid'aW ylglrAl[l dmi[| IdaA^B, yi;ai rmaYW 1 ...Uile; ajnqrwipou... (LXX, Septuagint)

...and He saith unto me, ‘Son of man, stand on thy feet, and I speak with thee.’ (Young’s Literal Translation)

...Son of man... (Geneva; KJV; NKJV; Darby; ASV; CEV; God’s Word; NASB; NASB-1995; NIV; NJB; NLT; RSV; Amplified; Leeser; New World; Moffatt; Douay-Confraternity; Clear Word; Jerusalem; Knox)

...son of dust... (TLB)

...Man... (NEB; Anchor)

...O man... (REB)

...Human... (NCV)

...Mortal man... (GNB)

...O, Mortal... (NRSV; Tanakh, the Holy Scriptures)

...O Mortal man... (Smith-Goodspeed)

Notice the footnotes from various versions below:

The New Revised Standard Version: Or son of man; Heb ben Adam (and so throughout the book when Ezekiel is addressed).

The New American Bible: Son of man: a formal way of saying simply "man”; God’s habitual way of addressing the prophet throughout this book. Probably the title is used to emphasize the separation of the divine and the human.

The Contemporary English Version: 2:1 Ezekiel, son of man: The Hebrew text has "Son of man,” which is often used in this book when the LORD speaks directly to Ezekiel. It means that Ezekiel is a mere human, yet he is the one the LORD has chosen to be his prophet who speaks for him to the people of Israel.

The Living Bible: 2:1 son of dust, or "son of man,” appears eighty-seven times throughout the book of Ezekiel. The connotation is "mortal man.” In Daniel 7:13, the corresponding Aramaic expression is used for the Messiah as representative of the human race of which he is the head.

The Anchor Bible: 2:1 Man. Hebrew ben ‘adam “son of mankind”; ben + generic noun is a common manner of expressing a male member of a class; e.g., ben baqar “a (male) head of cattle.” ben ‘adam is almost entirely limited to poetic or prophetic literature; Ezekiel is called this in order to single him out from the divine beings that fill this scene. He continues to be addressed thus throughout the book (over eighty times) rather than by name (contrast Amos 7:8; 8:2; Jer 1:11; 24:3), underlining his mortal nature among the divine beings he sees and has contact with (chs. 8-11; 40ff.).

In the New Testament the same expression is used as Jesus’ favorite way to address Himself! He does so thirty times in Matthew; fourteen times in Mark; twenty-five times in Luke;

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and eleven times in John. See (Matthew 12:8; 16:27; Mark 8:31, 38; Luke 22:22; John 3:13,14[3030]); etc.

Why do you think God chose this title for Ezekiel and also for Himself?

“Rebellious house” - the term here is literally "rebellious heathen”. This is what those who were supposed to be a kingdom of priests (Exodus 19:6[3031]) and a royal household had sunk to!

Ezekiel 2:5:

(Bibli3 Hebraica) p ,!k/tb| hyh aybn yKi U[dyj hM;h yrim| tyBi yKi HiDjyflaJ U[mVyAai hM;hJ^5 ...oiko" parapikrainwn... (LXX- Septuagint)

...rebellious house... (Geneva, KJV, Darby, ASV, NAB, NASB, NASB 1995, NIV, NKJV, NRSV, RSV, YLT)

...rebels... (GNB, CEV, TLB, NLT)

...tribe of rebels... (New Jerusalem Bible,

...nation of rebels... (Tanakh)

...rebellious family (Leeser)

...rebellious folk... (Moffatt)

...rebellious people... (God’s Word)

...a people who have turned against me. (NCV)

Ezekiel 2:4-8; 3:9,26,27; 12:1-3,9,25; 17:11; 24:2; 44:6[3032]. Compare (Exodus 32:9; 33:3,5; Deuteronomy 9:13).[3033]

“(Literally: the sons, stiff-faced and hardhearted). Israel’s problem was not one of ignorance, but rather a deliberate and obstinate rebellion to the known will of God.” (KJV Bible Commentary)

“God describes them as a rebellious nation and more specifically impudent and stubborn—literally “stiff-of-face and hard-of-heart children” (see Ez 3:7[3034]). The Hebrew term for rebellious indicates a breaking of the covenant relationship.” (Nelson Study Bible)

“Rather than acknowledging God’s judgment and confessing their sins, the Jewish exiles viewed their time in Babylon as a temporary setback that would be alleviated by their soon return to Jerusalem. They refused to admit their sin or to believe the threat of impending judgment on their disobedient nation.” (The Bible Knowledge Commentary)

“A rebellious nation. Literally, “nations that are rebellious.” The word rendered “nation” is the one frequently translated “heathen.” So low had Israel sunk in her willful departure from God that she, who was to have been the royal nation, the kingdom of priests (see Ex. 19:6[3035]), is now addressed by the derogatory title “heathen,” and that with the additional epithet “rebellious.” The prophet is further reminded that Israel’s defection is of long standing.” (SDA Bible Commentary on Ezekiel 2:3)

“This is a tremendous statement that God makes: ‘I am going to send you to these people—they are “a rebellious nation.”’ The word rebellious occurs again and again in the Book of Ezekiel. They are a people in rebellion against God.

“The word that is translated “nation” is not the word that God generally used for His chosen people. The word in the Hebrew is goi, and it is the word that Israel used to speak of the Gentiles, the pagans, the heathen. What has happened is that Israel has sunk to the level of the heathen people who lived round about them. God says that they are “a rebellious nation”—they’ve rebelled against Him—and they are “impudent children.”

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“My friend, the hardest people to reach with the gospel today are church members—those who are in church and who have rejected the gospel and rejected the Word of God. Although they are in church, they are actually against God. They think that being a Christian means to be nice little boys and girls. They play at church—it’s a nice game for them. They seek to be sweet and to keep their noses clean. They want to live a life on the surface which is very sedate and comfortable. They don’t want anyone coming in and telling them they are lost sinners who need to be saved and to become obedient to God. They are hard people to reach, and my heart goes out to my brethren who are in the ministry today—they are sitting on a hot seat. And I would counsel any young man who is considering the ministry to be sure about his call. If he is not sure of his call, maybe he should sell insurance or something else rather than go into the ministry. To be in the ministry today is not easy if you are going to stand for the Word of God.” (Thru the Bible Commentary)

Ezekiel 6:7: “Then they will know that I am the LORD” - this expression is used to apply to Israel, the surrounding nations, Jerusalem, the exiles, etc. God is constantly trying to reach out and speak to us at whatever level He can reach us. His ultimate goal is always to teach us the truth about Himself, not just through claims, but through demonstration. This is a confirmation of the fact that the ultimate issue in the great controversy is the truth about God and His character and government and not just how He plans to save you and me.

“Ezekiel 6:13 Then you shall know that I am the Lord: As in vv. 7, 10, the Lord states the purpose of the coming destruction of His city and many of its people. The use of God’s personal name further emphasizes the intent to bring His people back to a personal, intimate relationship with Himself.” (Nelson Study Bible)

“Ezekiel 6:9 Will remember Me: The goal of the punishment is corrective and redemptive, that they shall know that I am the LORD (vv. Ez 6:7, 10, 13, 14[3036]). This latter phrase is one of the most characteristic expressions of Ezekiel. It occurs in this form over 50 times, and with expansion another 18 times.” (Spirit Filled Life Study Bible)

“Ezekiel 6:7 Ezekiel was sent to the Hebrew captives in Babylon (Ezek. 2:1-5; 3:14-15[3037]). Despite the fact that the Babylonians had invaded Judah twice, fulfilling the warnings of the prophet Jeremiah, the exiles still did not understand why God had allowed these events to happen, nor why they had been deported to Babylon. They still had not grasped the fact that their nation’s troubles were the result of their idolatry and other sins against the Lord.

“God used Ezekiel to make this truth clear. Time after time, over a period of at least 20 years, the prophet spelled out the people’s sins and warned them of the certainty of God’s wrath. Nevertheless, the people remained willfully blind to their condition.

“This hardness of heart helps to explain why the phrase, “You (or they) shall know that I am the Lord,” is repeated some 60 or 70 times in the book (6:7, 10, 13, 14). Quite often, these declarations can be found in the middle of a promise of God’s wrath: “The slain shall fall” (6:7); “I would bring this calamity” (6:10); “thus will I spend My fury” (6:12); “I will ... make the land desolate” (6:14).

“We will either know the Lord in His grace and mercy, or in His wrath and fury. The choice is ours. But regardless of our response, God makes it clear that “You shall know that I am the Lord.” God is determined to be heard. He is the Lord—and sooner or later, we will know that He is.” (Word-in-Life Study Bible on Ezekiel 6:7)

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Ezekiel 6:7: “and ye shall know. Ver. [Ez. 6:7,10, 13, 14. Ezk 7:4, 9, 27. 11:10, 12. 12:15, 16, 20. 13:9, 14, 21, 23. 14:8. 15:7. m16:62. 17:21, 24. 20:12, 20, 38, 42, 44. 21:5. 22:16, 22. 23:49. 24:24, 27. 25:5, 7, 11, 17. 26:6. 28:22, 23, 24, *26. 29:6, 9, 16, 21. 30:8, 19, 25, 26. 32:15. 33:29. *34:27, 30. 35:4, 9, 12, 15. 36:m11, 23, 36, 38. *37:6, 13, 14, 28. *38:16, 23. 39:6, *7, 22, *23, 28. Ex 7:5. 10:2; 14:4, 18. 1 K 20:28. 2 K 19:19. Ps 83:17, 18. Je 24:7. Da *4:35-37. 6:26, 27. Jl 2:27. *3:17.][3038]” (The New Treasury of Scripture Knowledge on Ezekiel 6:7) [This is a fairly complete list of the passages in Ezekiel that use this expression. Those passages marked with * or m are particularly interesting. Passages marked with hU are quoted from the Pentateuch.]

“Ezekiel 6:7: you shall know that I am YHWH. The name YHWH is properly synonymous with power (to punish and to rescue), sovereignty, holiness, and authorship and control of events. Presently it is not recognized as such either in Israel, who are apostate or faithless, or among the nations, who are idolatrous. But when disaster strikes them or they experience a miraculous deliverance, the God who announced the event through the prophet will be acknowledged as possessing the attributes properly attached to his name. For roughly contemporary variations of this idea, compare Jeremiah 16:21[3039]:

“So now I am going to show them,

Once for all I will show them

My power and my might,

And they shall know that YHWH is my name.

And again Isaiah 52:6:

“Assuredly my people shall know my name;

Assuredly, on that day, that it is I who have spoken,

Here I am!

“In Ezekiel this clause is a characteristic close of oracles or sections within oracles (some sixty occurrences), and it expresses the intended effect of the event predicted in the oracle. Outside Ezekiel it figures in the priestly narrative of the events of the Exodus (e.g., Exod 7:5; 14:4, 18[3040]) and in the story about the anonymous prophets who encouraged Ahab (I Kings 20:13, 28[3041]). Zimmerli has dealt with the expression at great length in Erkenntnis Gottes. . .” Anchor Bible Commentary, Ezekiel 1-20, p. 133

“Ezekiel 6:7. Ye shall know. Instead of acknowledging God and heeding His revelations, the people ‘mocked the messengers of God, and despised his words, and misused his prophets, until the wrath of the Lord arose against his people, till there was no remedy’ (2 Chron. 36:16[3042]). They refused to acknowledge the genuineness of the divine message until rudely awakened by the doom threatened by these despised prophets. The fulfillment of prophecy constituted the divine seal upon the validity of the prophet and his work.

“In their idolatry the Israelites had compared Jehovah with the gods of the heathen and had regarded Him as only one of the many deities to be worshiped. Their choice of gods had been on the basis of who they thought would bring them the greatest prosperity (see 2 Chron. 28:2[3043]3). In combating this demoralizing philosophy the prophets had set forth two main lines of evidence to prove the superiority of the true God over those who were gods only in name: first, Jehovah’s creative power, and second, His prophetic ability (Isa. 45; Jer. 10). This latter evidence is here presented as the one that would eventually force from the lips of the stubborn Israelites the confession that Jehovah was, after all, the true and only God. How the heart of God had hoped that such an acknowledgment would come while there was yet remedy! How loath God was to permit His chosen ones to reap the fruits of their own stubborn unbelief!

“Prophecy and its fulfillment are elsewhere set forth as a reason for belief: ‘And now I have told you before it come to pass, that, when it is come to pass, ye might believe’

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(John 14:29[3044]). This constitutes, perhaps, the most powerful evidence that the Scriptures are divine, and that God is what He has declared Himself to be. Prophecy is the argument against which the skeptic has found no logical rebuttal. In our day there is an accumulation of prophetic evidence. Those who refuse to acknowledge its validity and thus the claims of the God who uttered it, will finally, like Israel of old, be forced to acknowledge the sovereignty of the only true and living God.

“The expression ‘ye shall know’ or its equivalent occurs 88 times in Ezekiel, and is the keynote of the book. It was because Israel did not ‘know’ that they were carried into captivity (Isa. 1:3; 5:13; Hosea 4:6)[3045]. The Captivity was an educational process. Through sore adversity, God’s people were to learn what they had failed to learn during times of prosperity (DA 28; see Vol. IV, p. 31).” (SDA Bible Commentary on Ezekiel 6:7)

Ezekiel 6:10: “And they shall know that I am the Lord, and that I have not said in vain that I would do this evil unto them [Ezek. 6:10].

“And they shall know that I am the Lord”—this is said three times in this chapter, and it is another result of judgment. Again, we do not see this result happening in our own day. Instead of recognizing the hand of God, people are saying that He is not even there. They argue that if He did exist, He would always help them. Oh, my friend, where do we get that idea? God is judging sin. People rebel against this; they do not want a God who judges. You can make a God after your own likeness if you want to, but the holy God is still out there. You might wish He would go away, but He is not going to go away. He will continue to judge.” (Thru the Bible Commentary)

“For my own name’s sake” - this is a similar expression. God must do many things to protect His own reputation. (See end of #1 and #5 above) See handout “For My Own Name’s Sake”.

God’s wrath is again described in Ezekiel repeatedly as God letting us go to reap the natural consequences of our rebellious behavior. (See Ezekiel 5:8-17; 7:12-19; 13:13-15; 16:26; 20:8,13,21,22, 25-26, 33; 21:31; 22:18-31; 24:3-14; 36:5-15; 38:18-23; 39:21-29[3046]) Compare Judges Teacher’s Guide #9.

“The Lord God is a title of God used some 217 times in the book (while used elsewhere in the Old Testament only 103 times). The Hebrew expression is Adonai Yahweh. The first word emphasizes God’s sovereignty; the second emphasizes His eternal existence and character as the God of covenant, history, and ethics.” (King James Version Study Bible)

“GOD told Ezekiel to emphasize the divine origin of his messages by using these words. Like Moses (Ex. 3; 4), Ezekiel would speak in God’s name only what God commanded him. The term Lord God combines a title indicating God’s sovereignty (Adonai) and His personal name (Yahweh, conventionally translated with God or Lord in small capital letters).” (Nelson Study Bible on Ezekiel 2:4)

“Thus saith the Lord God. The charge to Ezekiel is the divine commission to every teacher of the Word, to every expositor of sacred truth. God’s Word is not to be intermixed with human opinions. Private theories are fallible. Concerning divine matters, only those things that God has revealed can be definitely known as facts. All else is human opinion. With every wind of doctrine blowing and every species of interpretation abroad, men need the reassurance of a message backed by a “Thus saith the Lord God.” Such a declaration is the voice of authority. Ezekiel needed such a warrant. Judah’s doom was impending. His message came bearing the credentials from the highest authority.” (SDA Bible Commentary on Ezekiel 2:4)

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Ezekiel 2:4: 4 And the sons are brazen-faced and hard-hearted to whom I am sending thee, and thou hast said unto them: Thus said the Lord Jehovah: (Young’s Literal Translation; Darby; ASV)

... h/ihyl ynda|... (Hebrew)

...kuirio"... (LXX-Septuagint-Greek)

...the Lord GOD... (Geneva; KJV; NKJV; Living Bible; NAB; NASB; NASB 1995; NCV; RSV; NRSV; Tanakh; CEV; Amplified; NEB; Knox)

...the Lord Eternal... (Leeser)

...the Eternal... (Moffatt)

...the Sovereign LORD... (GNB; NIV; NLT;

...Lord Yahweh... (Jerusalem; New Jerusalem Bible;

...the Almighty Lord... (God’s Word)

...I... or ...the Lord.. (Clear Word)

The Anchor Bible 1:28—3:15 THE COMMISSIONING pp. 64,65

With respect to the double appellation of the deity adonay YHWH “(my) Lord YHWH,” it is to be noted that often in the messenger formula the sender’s name is accompanied (preceded in biblical usage) by a qualifier—”your servant,” “your brother”; in this context Bdonay YHWH may well have been interpreted thus, adonay meaning something between “my lord” (its literal, vocative sense) and a divine name (see the perplexed treatment in BDB, p. 11, defs. 3 and 4) but in any case clearly conveying the notion “Lord” (cf. the archaic formula ha’adon YHWH, Exod 23:17; 34:23). The double appellation occurs 217 times in this book, overwhelmingly (208 times) in the opening formulas of oracles (as here) and in their closings (or internal pauses) in the phrase ne’um adonay YHWH “the speech of Lord YHWH”; in these phrases the tetragram alone does not occur. This preference appears to be rhetorical, a verbal signature to the oracle. In our passage the mere message formula, without any specific content to be delivered, is dictated to the prophet. Now, since an alternative wording for the charge to speak to the people was available (see vss. 7; 3:4), this choice of the empty messenger formula must have its own significance. It may be suggested that the meaning of the mere formula, with its double divine appellation, is given by the context of vss. 3—5. Israel’s rebelliousness is emphasized; it is the prophet’s duty to take them to task in the name of their Lord, against whom they have rebelled. The very pairing of YHWH with “Lord” aims to force upon them awareness of their true state—subjection to a Lord whom they refuse to acknowledge. The imprint of this initial experience of a messenger formula with a double appellative (chosen here for its specific contextual value) became normative for the rest of Ezekiel’s experience. He continued to use the double appellative virtually without variation in the openings of all his messages, and in a common closing formula (see at 5:11) as a kind of divine signature. (This suggestion resembles that made earlier with regard to the consistent use of ben ’adam as the prophet’s appellative, from the call narrative onward.) J. Lust has proposed that since only in the prophet’s speech does this double appellation appear, it must be understood personally, “my Lord YHWH” (Lust revocalizes adoni), and is intended to deny the people’s servantship to YHWH in the present, as opposed to the future (in De Mari a Qumran: Hommage a J. Coppens, ed. H. Cazelles [Gembloux: Duculot, 1969], pp. 167—73).

Is it possible that all the passages labeled with this expression in the book of Ezekiel are actually direct quotes from the angel or from God that Ezekiel is just copying down? If so this would make a great deal of the book of Ezekiel the direct words of God. How does this affect our understanding of the “inspiration” of this book?

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7.    Why were some prophets given views of both God and Lucifer/Satan? Is there anything special about these messages and the messengers or the times in which they lived that might explain why? Which prophets actually received such messages? Can you think of examples from Moses? Isaiah? Jeremiah? Daniel? Zechariah? John?

Some prophets clearly saw both God and the Devil in vision or were given messages about both. Where would you look for historical evidence and proof of the existence of the Devil or Satan? Moses: Genesis 3,[3047] Exodus 33,34[3048]; Job 1 and 2[3049], Isaiah: 9 and 14[3050], Ezekiel: 1,10, and 28[3051] Daniel 7:9-14; 10:4-11:2[3052] Zechariah 3:1-5[3053] Revelation 1, 12-14, 20-22[3054]

There are a number of references in the Bible to Satan or the Devil: Job 1:6-2:7[3055]; 1 Chronicles 21:1[3056]; Zechariah 3:1-5[3057]; Matthew 4:1-11; 6:13; 12:22-28; 16:23[3058]; Mark 3:22-26; 4:15; 8:33[3059]; Luke 4:1-13; 10:18; 11:14-20; 13:16; 22:3,31[3060]; John 12:31; 13:27[3061]; Acts 5:3[3062]; Romans 16:20[3063]; 1 Corinthians 7:5[3064]; 2 Corinthians 2:11; 4:4; 11:3,14; 12:7[3065]; Ephesians 2:2; 6:11-17[3066]; 1 Thessalonians 2:18; 3:5[3067]; 1 Timothy 1:20; 2:14; 3:7; 5:15[3068]; 2 Timothy 3:13[3069]; 1 Peter 5:8[3070]; 1 John 2:13,14; 3:8-12[3071]; Jude 1:9[3072]; Revelation 2:9,24; 3:9; 12:9; 12; 13; 20[3073]

For more detail see the handout on Satan.

8.    Does Ezekiel give us any new insights into the meaning of the Sabbath? (Ezekiel 20:12,20[3074]; compare [Hebrews 4:9-11; Isaiah 66:23][3075]) What did Ezekiel say was the purpose of the Sabbath? Is it primarily a reminder of an event(s)? Or of a relationship? What kind of a relationship would you have with God if you knew that He had said “either obey Me, or I will torture you to death” (even forever, as some believe)? Did the Jews get Ezekiel’s message about the Sabbath? In Jesus’ day were they keeping it for all the right reasons?

“Ezekiel 20:12 Sabbaths. The Sabbath (vv. Ez 20:13, 16, 21, 24[3076]) is singled out as a law unique to Israel, one that most clearly distinguished it from the nations. The Sabbath is often cited as an important example that stands for the whole law (Ez 22:8, 26; 23:38[3077]; 44:24; cf. Neh. (13:18; Is. 56:2,4, 6; Jer. 17:19-27)[3078].” (New Geneva Study Bible - on Eze. 20:12)

“Ezekiel 20:12. I gave them my sabbaths. Not that the Sabbath was first instituted at Sinai, for it had existed since creation (Gen. 2:1-3[3079]); but it was there commanded anew. The word “remember” in the fourth commandment implies its earlier existence (see Ex. 16:22-28[3080]; PP 258[3081]). The Decalogue (Ex. 20:8-11[3082]) presents the great facts of the creation history as the basis for the Sabbath. God created “heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is” in six literal days (see on Gen. 1:5[3083]). On the seventh day He rested, and set the day apart as the day of rest for all mankind (Mark 2:27[3084]). The observance of the Sabbath is then a mark, or sign, that he who honors the day acknowledges Jehovah as his God, for only to Him do these facts of creation apply. The observance of the day does not rest upon any natural division of time into weekly cycles, but upon an express command of God, and belief in His revelation. Men may reason that the salutary purposes of the Sabbath could be as readily realized upon another day. However, God has specified a particular day. He has bidden us to keep it holy, free from worldly pursuits and personal pleasures (Isa. 58:13[3085]). This obligation men cannot with impunity escape.

The prophecies of Rev. 12-14[3086] make it clear that the Sabbath will be the point especially controverted in the days preceding the coming of the Son of man (see GC 605[3087]). God’s remnant will

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be distinguished by their observance of the commandments of God (Rev. 12:17; 14:12[3088]), including the Sabbath command. At the same time apostate religious powers will exalt a false sabbath and demand allegiance to it. Men will be called upon to decide between the Sabbath of the Lord and the substitute sabbath, or first day of the week. The keeping of the Sabbath will thus again become a distinctive test and constitute a sign (called a seal, Rev. 7) of true worshipers (see GC 640[3089]).” (SDA Bible Commentary article on Ezekiel 20:12)

Read Ezekiel 20[3090] all the way through in the Good News Bible translation, if possible. In this context Ezekiel 20:12 and 20 have special significance. The Sabbath was obviously intended to be a reminder of what Yahweh was supposed to mean to them and all that He would have done for them. By contrast they defiled the Sabbath (Ezekiel 20:13,16,21,24; 22:8; 23:38,39). They seemed incapable of observing the Sabbath as God intended! They either defiled it by doing all sorts of evil things during the sacred hours, or they promoted Sabbath keeping with such rigor and legalism that it was impossible for anyone to really enjoy it. (See Isaiah 58:13,14[3091]) It appears that they never did get a clear idea of the purpose of the Sabbath.

9.    What is the purpose of the terrible pictures of idolatry and immorality in Ezekiel 16 and 23[3092]? Compare this language with the language of Hosea. Contrast it with the way God felt about them (Ezekiel 18:1-4,8,23,31,32; 33:11[3093]). Compare Jeremiah 31:29-34[3094].

See the handout on Ezekiel 16 and 23.

Why would God picture Himself as married to two prostitutes?! The only possible reason must be that, in actuality, that was the best way to represent what happened! He certainly is not recommending this as an example to us-despite Hosea! God felt so close and tied to the children of His friend Abraham that it was like being married to them. And when they did virtually everything possible to despise Him, and abuse their relationship, He tried to put how He felt into language that would portray as clearly as possible how He felt about it all. The best He could do in human terms was to describe a violated marriage relationship. All the while His heart yearned for them to come back to Him so He could give them new hearts and right spirits.

10.Why    did God cut off the righteous with the wicked? (Ezekiel 21:3,4[3095]) What about this? Did the invading armies of Nebuchadnezzar carefully distinguish between saints and sinners? Is this fair? How was Jeremiah treated? What about Ezekiel and Daniel? (Compare Ezekiel 20:47[3096])

"God said that by a sword He would cut off . . . both the righteous and the wicked. This seems to contradict Ezekiel’s earlier prophecy (18:1-24) that only the wicked would die and the righteous would live. This problem so perplexed the translators of the Septuagint that they changed "righteous” to "unrighteous.” One possible solution is that "the righteous and the wicked” may be viewed from the people’s perspective. As far as the people could tell the judgment was indiscriminate. It affected those who were in open idolatry as well as those who claimed to be followers of God. Yet in God’s eyes only the wicked were being punished since He had promised to deliver those who were truly righteous. Another solution is that the phrase "cut off” may refer to captivity, not physical death. Whatever the exact meaning, Ezekiel was stressing the extent of the coming judgment.” (The Bible Knowledge Commentary on Ezekiel 21:3,4)

One of the most terrible things about evil and sin is that the innocent often suffer with the guilty. When a drunk driver comes across the center divider in a highway and has a head-on collision with a family on their way to church killing all of them, we are reminded that sin has consequences, even for those who are not sinning at the moment. As a result of sin we live in a dangerous world. Our collective sins are responsible for these consequences either directly or indirectly. (See Deuteronomy 29:19[3097], GNB)

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11.Why    is idolatry so bad? Does it represent a definitive decision against God in the great controversy? Why would the adversary love to have us worship anything or anybody, other than our intelligent, gracious God? Why would anybody choose to worship an idol?

Perhaps the best portrayal of the foolishness of idolatry is found in Isaiah by contrasting (Isaiah 40:12-31 with Isaiah 44:9-20)[3098]. It should be obvious that we will never achieve a satisfactory healing relationship with our wonderful God if we turn away from Him for any reason and especially if we substitute some artificial “god” in His place. But idolatry is worse than that. It leads people to turn to the worst passions of humanity and make them a part of their “worship” of these “gods.” In effect, human beings take their own selves and make them “bigger than life” and “create” “gods” that are in their own image. Maybe this is why it is so easy for us to identify with these “gods”.

Yahweh on the other hand is asking us to “come up to a higher level.” He is challenging us to give Him an opportunity to help us become like Him. If we get a real understanding of the different choices being offered in the great controversy and their consequences, then the Devil will lose every time, but many of us are not willing to take the time to carefully study the choices that are open to us.

12.    Are you quite certain that Ezekiel 28[3099] is talking about Lucifer/Satan? What about Isaiah 14[3100]? Would you dare to use these passages when discussing the subject with someone who didn’t believe in Satan? What else could these passages be talking about?

“This lamentation directed toward the king of Tyre defies explanation unless an allusion is being made to that malignant spiritual being called “Satan” or the “devil,” for whom the king of Tyre becomes a type. The king is described as perfect in beauty, living in Eden, the anointed cherub, a created being, and proud and corrupt because of his arrogance and beauty. Those words were true of the king of Tyre, but they also are a perfect description of Satan. The word “satan” is derived from a Hebrew verb meaning “to lie in wait.” From this the word develops the nuance of “adversary” (cf. Num. 22:22[3101]) or “opponent” (cf. Zech. 3:1[3102]). Other prominent names for Satan include “devil” (diabolos, Gk.), which means “accuser”; the “ruler of the power of the air” (Eph. 2:2[3103]); the “prince of this world” (John 12:31[3104]); the “adversary” (antidikos, Gk., in 1 Pet. 5:8); “Beelzebub” (Matt. 12:24[3105]); “the great dragon” (Rev. 12:9[3106]). Based upon information gleaned from a comparison of this passage with (Isa. 14; 2 Pet. 2:4; Jude 6[3107]), and other passages, the following picture of Satan begins to emerge. Satan was created (v. 15) as one of a host of angelic beings. He was exquisitely beautiful and was the anointed cherub, i.e., the captain of the cherubic hosts (v. 14). Sometime prior to the creation of the natural order, Satan became vain about his beauty and position, and his heart became rebellious against God. Apparently, he was able to secure a considerable following among the angels, resulting in the expulsion of himself and his followers from heaven (Luke 10:18; 2 Pet. 2:4; Jude 6; Rev. 12:4)[3108]. Since that day, Satan has devoted himself to opposing the work of God in every way possible (cf. 1 Tim. 3:7; 2 Tim. 2:26[3109]), and has attempted to destroy all of the good that God has created in the natural order (1 Pet. 5:8[3110]). He is allowed to continue this way for a period but will ultimately be confined to hell for eternity (Rev. 20:10[3111]). As a matter of fact, hell was originally prepared for Satan (Matt. 25:41). Too often Satan is viewed only in his role as tempter (1 Cor. 7:5[3112]). Actually, the Scriptures ascribe to him a variety of malignant activities. He is also “the accuser,” discouraging and weakening believers by reminding them of forgiven sin, and accusing unbelievers to the extent that they despair of possible forgiveness. Satan perverts the Scriptures (Gen. 3:4, 5; Matt. 4:6), hinders the gospel (Matt. 13:19; 16:23[3113]), appears as an angel of light (2 Cor. 11:14; cf. Acts 5:3[3114]), performs miracles in order to deceive (Rev. 16:14[3115]), and opposes God’s work (John 8:44; 13:2, 27; 1 Thess. 2:18)[3116]. Despite all of his power, Satan is neither omniscient, omnipresent, nor omnipotent (cf. Eph. 6:11; James 4:7; 1 Pet. 5:9)[3117]. He is limited to the power that God temporarily

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allows him (cf. 1 Cor. 10:13[3118]) and can even be used by God for good (2 Cor. 12:7[3119]). However, he is assisted by a host of other malignant spirits, who add to the effectiveness of his work. Christ came to destroy the works of the devil (1 John 3:8[3120]). In fact, it was the death of Christ that was preeminently the fatal blow to Satan (Gen. 3:15; John 12:31-33; Col. 2:14, 15; Heb. 2:14)[3121]. The work begun at the cross, which is the beginning of the end for Satan, culminates in Satan’s destruction at the close of the millennial age (Rev. 20:10).” (Believer’s Study Bible)

“Ezekiel 28:1-10. The third oracle is directed against the prince of Tyre, who at this time was Ethbaal III (591/90-573/72 B.C.). His sin was his claim to be divine. He said, I am a God; but God said, thou art a man (v. 2). Because of his presumption, the prince would be killed by his enemies, thus proving his mortality (vv. 8, 9).

“Ezekiel 28:11-19. The change of addressee from the prince of Tyre to the king of Tyre in verse 12 has prompted much discussion. However, there seems little doubt that Satan is in view in these verses as the real power behind the wicked society and government of Tyre. This is evident from several considerations: (1) He is called the anointed cherub (v. 14). The word cherub is used in the Old Testament only to refer to angelic creatures. (2) The name of one of the chief gods of Tyre was Melcart, which means “King of the City.” It would have been clear to all of Ezekiel’s listeners that the deity supposed to exist behind the earthly ruler was in mind. (3) The change of addressee from prince of Tyre to king of Tyre indicates that someone other than the earthly ruler is in view. (4) Finally, Paul seems to have this passage in mind when, in listing the qualifications for an elder, he stipulates that the elder “be not a novice, lest being lifted up with pride he fall into the condemnation of the devil” (1 Tim. 3:6). As a descriptive passage on Satan, the content reveals more about his fall than any other. He served near the presence of God (v. 14), was perfect (v. 15), became guilty of the sin of pride (v. 17), began to deal in iniquitous trade (v. 18), and is therefore destined for judgment (vv. 16, 18, 19). The statement Thou wast perfect ... till iniquity was found in thee (v. 15) is the closest that the Bible ever comes to explaining the origin of sin. It began when one of God’s previously perfect creatures rebelled against Him.” (King James Version Study Bible)

Some however take a quite different approach to understanding this passage:

“Ezekiel 28:12 Seal of perfection is more literally “the one sealing a plan” (the same Hebrew word for “plan” or “pattern” appears once more at 43:10). In effect, the king affixed the official seal of his signet ring to the plans that made Tyre one of the leading centers of commerce in that day. wisdom . . . beauty: These descriptions mark out the king of Tyre as an exceptional ruler, displaying the ideals of kingship in the ancient Middle East.

“28:13 in Eden, the garden of God: This is possibly an exaggerated comparison: this king invaded a place like Eden in its beauty. created: The Hebrew verb for created is the same as the one used in Gen. 1:1. Just as in Genesis, the word emphasizes God’s active work in history. It was God’s sovereign plan and purpose to allow this man to become king.

“28:14 The holy mountain of God could be “the holy mountain of gods.” According to Canaanite beliefs, the “seat of the gods” was in the “mountains,” or the “mountains of the north” (see Ps. 48:2[3122]). The focus here seems to be on the king of Tyre’s attempt to enter into the council of the gods. So instead of the verse referring to the king’s presence in Jerusalem, it could refer more logically to a Phoenician ritual, the celebration of their patron god Melqart’s fiery resurrection. This king wanted to imitate Melqart.

“Ezekiel 28:15 The term perfect does not mean sinless, but complete or flawless. The king of Tyre had been in complete control and was unchallenged until he was filled with prideful iniquity.

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“Ezekiel 28:16-19 The king’s pride led to materialism, violence, and sinfulness in business and religion. abundance of your trading: The expression is most easily and appropriately applied to the human king who was the driving force behind the development of Tyre’s commercial empire. The true God—the pronoun I—dethroned the king, derailed his unholy ambitions, and destroyed the source of his pride in order to make his example a deterrent to others. The king’s commercial empire collapsed and his machinations to resemble a god were crushed in the sight of local rulers who would gaze in astonishment.” (Nelson Study Bible - article on Ezekiel 28)

“King of Tyre. Ethbaal ruled Tyre at this time. The prophet describes the way God had favored Ethbaal by portraying the king as a primeval being, a figure like Adam, the crown and epitome of creation, living in the garden paradise that God had made. He remained there until wickedness was found in him (v. 15). Some take the prophet to be comparing the king of Tyre to Satan, a glorious being who fell from grace (1 Tim. 3:6[3123]).

“28:13, 14 garden ... mountain. The prophet joins two images for the dwelling place of God, a garden (Gen. 2; 3) and a mountain (Ez 20:40; Ex. 19:23; Deut. 33:2; Ps. 43:3; 48:1; 87:1; 99:9; Is. 27:13; 56:7; 57:13; 66:20)[3124]. The temple was built on a mountain and was decorated with floral motifs (Ez40:16-37; 41:18-20, 25-27; 1 Kin. 6:29, 32, 35; 7:18, 20, 22, 36, 42; 2 Chr. 3:5)[3125].” (New Geneva Study Bible)

“Ezekiel 28:11 This lamentation is similar to a taunt song (see note on 19:1-14) addressed to the king of Tyre (v. 12). Many see in this passage (and in Is. 14) the fall of Satan, a view held by several of the church fathers in the second half of the fourth century A.D. Such an interpretation is strengthened in light of its extreme descriptions (vv. 16, 17), but does not take full account of the context. The fall of the king of Tyre might equally reflect the fall of Adam, the first king, as well as the fall of any proud man. In this sense one can also see Satan’s fall for the fall of any proud person reflects the fall of Satan, who in himself personifies pride. Like Adam or like Satan prior to his fall, the king of Tyre belongs to God in a unique way and is perfect in creation (the seal of perfection, see Gen. 1:27, 31[3126]). He is destined to carry out God’s plans and is placed in Eden (v. 13) in the presence of God. Unlike Adam, who was naked (Gen. 2:25[3127]), the king of Tyre is covered with every precious stone to denote his beauties and glories (see Ex. 28:17-20[3128] for the stones on the breastplate of the high priest).

“Vv. 14, 15 are the most conclusive evidence that this text likely refers to Satan’s fall. Anointed cherub who covers indicates high office with authority and responsibility to protect and defend (cover) the holy mountain of God, an allusion to God’s throne. The high order and specific placement of Lucifer prior to his fall afforded unique opportunity to bring glory to God. (Some see in v. 13 musical reference that suggests his role included leading heaven’s choirs in the worship of the Most High.) His fall was occasioned by his seeking to have this glory for himself (see Is. 14:12-17[3129]).

“The sin of the king of Tyre is that in the abundance of his trading he became filled with violence within, and God cast him out of the mountain of God (v. 16).” (Spirit Filled Life Study Bible on Ezekiel 28)

“Ezekiel 28:12-19 This lament over the king of Tyre employs imagery drawn from the creation story (Gen. 2) and ancient Near Eastern mythology. The most logical understanding is that these verses were a funeral lament for the king of Tyre. Many interpreters have also seen a description of Satan in the hyperbolic language used by Ezekiel. Parts of the description do point to more than a human creature: “anointed cherub” (v. 14), previous resident “on the holy mountain of God” rather than on the earth (v. 14), and one who “walked ... in the midst of fiery stones” (Ezek. 28:14[3130]). It is also possible that Ezekiel moved his focus from the historical king of Tyre to the figurative character.

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No doubt Ezekiel meant to associate the king of Tyre with an exalted cherub in order to emphasize the gravity of the king’s sin. Ezekiel’s purpose was to describe the judgment of Tyre. Tyre’s sin was that of pride and self-exaltation (v. 17). The lament warns against false pride.” (Woman’s Study Bible)

Many Christians do not recognize the existence of the Devil. They feel that the statements about the Devil in Scripture are a rhetorical device to try to help humans understand why they sin so much and make so many mistakes. While they may have many different explanations for why they believe like this, in many cases the real reason is that they feel that if they believe what the Scripture appears to say about the origin of the Devil and thus of evil, it makes God responsible for evil. Many of these people feel that God is so far above us that His sovereignty cannot be questioned. They believe He has determined what is going to happen before it happens. Thus if evil is to be understood as originating with the Devil, who was in turn created by God, this makes God responsible. Now it is true that God takes ultimate responsibility for everything that happens. He stands behind everything He personally does. He takes responsibility for everything He allows. He understands the full consequences of all of the evil that is in this world.

But God also values freedom more highly than many of us realize. Freedom for His creatures was so important to God that He was willing to die rather than give it up or compromise it in any way. But when God allowed freedom, He recognized what the consequences would be. He didn’t cause the evil to develop in the mind of Lucifer, nor did it catch Him by surprise. Furthermore, there was not some inherent error or mistake in the way Lucifer was made that caused him to decide for the evil. He chose to exercise the freedom that God gave him in this way and the consequences have been disastrous. (See handout #13 on “Love”)

It should be obvious that those who take the position that the Devil doesn’t exist, cannot recognize the existence of a great controversy as we understand it (Revelation 12:7-12[3131]). They do not recognize that Satan has made accusations against God, and they certainly don’t recognize the necessity for God to answer these accusations. They see no need whatsoever for God to “take His case into court” (Romans 3:4), because they don’t believe that God has to answer to anybody! They believe that God is Sovereign! Even if we tried to ask Him some questions He would not bother to answer them. And we have no right, according to these people, to question anything that God does. Such people would not, of course, recognize that Isaiah 14 and Ezekiel 28 refer to the beginning of that controversy or to the Devil who was behind the actions of the “King of Babylon” and the “Prince of Tyre” in these passages.

It is important to recognize that there are other times in Scripture where a similar “logistical device” is used. In Isaiah 7-9 the birth of a baby is prophesied and it is clearly, in the local context, referring to Maher-shalal-hashbaz, the son born to Isaiah and his wife as a sign that the siege by kings Rezin and Pekah would be lifted. But in Isaiah 9:6[3132] another baby is referred to who is clearly not Maher-shalal-hashbaz but “Wonderful Counselor, Almighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” (Isaiah 9:6) This is not the only place where someone is addressed through another person. After Peter’s confession of the Messiahship of Christ, Christ finds it necessary to explain to the disciples that a time is coming soon when He will have to go up to Jerusalem and suffer and die. When Peter takes it upon himself to remonstrate with Jesus for this, Jesus addresses Satan working through Peter to try to discourage Him in His journey to the cross. (Matthew 16:23[3133])

Many of us do things at times that represent not a careful and thoughtful choice on our part, but a clear prompting from the Devil. Under such circumstances it is very appropriate for Christ, who is God Himself, when speaking of that event or action to address the person who is behind the action or statement rather than the one who is the human instrument. But since the human agent is the one who is immediately apparent, the statement may in some ways apply to both.

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13.    Where does the fire come from that finally consumes the Devil? (Ezekiel 28:18[3134], NIV, RSV) Does this suggest that the fire that will consume the wicked at the end will come forth from within them? What kind of fire could this be?

Please note first of all what was said in #12 above. But for those who recognize the existence of the Devil and believe that he will some day come to an end (See Revelation 20:10[3135]), it is interesting to consider how that end will come about. If the wicked are to be stubble (Malachi 4:1[3136]) and if the final fire is to be so hot that “the very elements will melt with fervent heat” (2 Peter 3:10,12[3137]) when the Devil is thrown into the “lake of fire” is it possible that that fire might actually be the nuclear destruction of the very elements that make up whatever type of material that “Satan” is made up of?

It must be recognized that this passage could also be referring to the destruction of the ancient city of Tyre and its prince at that time.

14.    Compare Lucifer/Satan’s statements in (Isaiah 14, Ezekiel 28 and Matthew 4:8,9)[3138], with Christ’s attitude in Philippians 2:5-8[3139]. Who would you rather spend eternity with?

Isaiah 14:12-14: 12 How you have fallen from heaven, 0 morning star, son of the dawn!

You have been cast down to the earth, you who once laid low the nations!

13 You said in your heart, “I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God;

I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly, on the utmost heights of the sacred mountain.

14 I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.” The New International Version

Ezekiel 28:17: Your heart became proud on account of your beauty, and you corrupted your wisdom because of your splendor.

So I threw you to the earth;

I made a spectacle of you before kings. The New International Version

Matthew 4:8,9: 8 Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. 9 “All this I will give you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me.” The New International Version

Philippians 2:5-8: 5 Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:

6    Who, being in very nature God,

did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,

7    but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.

8    And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself

and became obedient to death—

even death on a cross! The New International Version

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The proud, arrogant, and boastful statements made by Satan suggest a personality that would be very difficult to get along with. He would always want complete servitude, even slavery, from his followers. By contrast Christ takes the role of a servant in serving us. Anybody who would choose the Devil’s side after considering this carefully must be a fool. The total freedom and ultimate concern for each other’s well being that is represented by Christ’s attitude here will be the atmosphere of heaven. That is why God can only allow those to enter there who have a similar attitude. God’s requirements for heaven are not arbitrary at all. It is just that considering the kind of Person He is, and what kind of “kingdom” He will run, it would be impossible to allow people with Satan’s attitude to enter there. The whole great controversy would just begin all over again!

Zephaniah 3:9-13: 9 “Then will I purify the lips of the peoples, that all of them may call on the name of the LORD and serve him shoulder to shoulder.

10    From beyond the rivers of Cush my worshipers, my scattered people, will bring me offerings.

11    On that day you will not be put to shame for all the wrongs you have done to me, because I will remove from this city those who rejoice in their pride.

Never again will you be haughty on my holy hill.

12    But I will leave within you the meek and humble,

who trust in the name of the LORD.

13    The remnant of Israel will do no wrong; they will speak no lies,

nor will deceit be found in their mouths.

They will eat and lie down

and no one will make them afraid.” The New International Version

The contrast here between the attitude of Satan/the Devil and Christ is too clear to need further comment! In the Bible Christ’s willingness to come down to live and die for us as a human being is sometimes referred to as “the mystery of godliness”. (1 Timothy 3:16[3140]) By contrast, the incredible arrogance of Satan in trying to rise to equality with God is referred to as the “mystery of iniquity”. (2 Thessalonians 2:7[3141])

15. How does God propose to deal with the sin problem that seems to be afflicting the Jews? (Ezekiel 11:18-20; 18:30-32; 36:24-29[3142]; compare (Jeremiah 31:31-34; Psalms 51:10; Zephaniah 3:7-13)[3143], GNB) Can God do this? How does He go about doing it? Do we have to cooperate?

God’s promises here are certainly generous. But how does He “give us a new heart”? Does God “just do it?” That would violate the freedom that He has paid such a price to preserve. Why does Ezekiel 18:30-32 suggest that we are to get this new mind and heart ourselves when the other passages seem to say that God will give it to us? Does God ever do anything for or to us against our will? There are some remarkable examples in Scripture but they are rare: putting Adam and Eve out of the garden, the flood, Sodom and Gomorrah, etc. But these examples do not seem to be directly related to the process of salvation. Does God ever directly violate our freedom to choose?

If God had a way of “saving” His children against their will, wouldn’t He save all of them? Wouldn’t He have saved Lucifer in the beginning and prevented him from starting the whole rebellion in the first place? Even those whose lives were ended in such catastrophes as the flood will arise

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in the final judgment, either at the second coming or the third, and be judged by the One perfectly fair Judge who sees not only what we did in our short lifetimes but what we might have done if we had continued to live. And the book of Job demonstrates that He doesn’t make any mistakes in His judgment.

On the other hand, God will do everything that He can without violating our freedom to assist us on the "upward way.” If we allow Him to work with us, He can transform our lives! We just need to provide Him the opportunity. The New Covenant as it is described in Jeremiah and repeated here in Ezekiel is what each of us needs to form a lasting relationship with our God.

16.Is there any sense in which God’s people could be considered even worse than the heathen nations around them? (Ezekiel 5:6[3144]) Compare (Isaiah 52:5; Jeremiah 2:33; Ezekiel 36:22; Romans 2:17)[3145].

Unfortunately, this was not the first time God found it necessary to speak like this:

1 Kings 14:22-24: The people of Judah sinned against the LORD and did more to arouse his anger against them than all their ancestors had done. 23 They built places of worship for false gods and put up stone pillars and symbols of Asherah to worship on the hills and under shady trees. 24 Worst of all, there were men and women who served as prostitutes at those pagan places of worship. The people of Judah practiced all the shameful things done by the people whom the LORD had driven out of the land as the Israelites advanced into the country. (GNB)

1 Kings 16:25: But Omri was worse than any of the kings before him; (TLB)

1    King 16:30: But he (Ahab) was even more wicked than his father Omri; he was worse than any other king of Israel! (TLB)

2    Kings 21:11,12: 11 "Because King Manasseh has done these evil things and is even more wicked than the Amorites who were in this land long ago, and because he has led the people of Judah into idolatry 12 I will bring such evil upon Jerusalem and Judah that the ears of those who hear about it will tingle with horror. (TLB)

Jeremiah 7:26: But they wouldn’t listen to them or even try to hear. They are hard and stubborn and rebellious-- worse even than their fathers were. (TLB)

Jeremiah 16:12: and you have been worse than your fathers were! You follow evil to your hearts’ content and refuse to listen to me. (TLB)

Jeremiah 23:14: but the prophets of Jerusalem are even worse! The things they do are horrible; they commit adultery and love dishonesty. They encourage and compliment those who are doing evil instead of turning them back from their sins. These prophets are as thoroughly depraved as the men of Sodom and Gomorrah were.” (TLB)

Ezekiel 5:6: But Jerusalem rebelled against my commands and showed that she was more wicked than the other nations, more disobedient than the countries around her. Jerusalem rejected by commands and refused to keep my laws. (GNB)

Ezekiel 5:6: The Lord God says, "This illustrates what will happen to Jerusalem, for she has turned away from my laws and has been even more wicked than the nations surrounding her.” (TLB)

Matthew 10:15: Truly, the wicked cities of Sodom and Gomorrah will be better off at Judgment Day than they. (The cities of Judah) (TLB)

Matthew 11:23-24: 23 And Capernaum, though highly honored, shall go down to hell! For if the marvelous miracles I did in you had been done in Sodom, it would still be here today. 24 Truly, Sodom will be better off at the Judgment Day than you.” (TLB)

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Luke 10:12-13: 12 Even wicked Sodom will be better off than such a city on the Judgment Day.

13 What horrors await you, you cities of Chorazin and Bethsaida! For if the miracles I did for you had been done in the cities of Tyre and Sidon, their people would have sat in deep repentance long ago, clothed in sackcloth and throwing ashes on their heads to show their remorse. (TLB)

It appears from the above references that Israel and Judah slipped lower and lower into sin. They seemed to excel in almost every kind of sin one can imagine. Didn’t God realize this would happen back when He chose their ancestor Abraham? Of course He did! But this should teach us that God didn’t choose Israel because they would be the most righteous people around as many have assumed. Is it possible that God chose them because they would best illustrate the truth about Him in light of the great controversy and the accusations Satan had made about His character and government? This might include even choosing them because they would illustrate best the terrible consequences of sin! Or perhaps they would best illustrate the consequences of gross immorality and idolatry on the one hand and then later the terrible curse of legalism and pride on the other.

17.Considering    all that God has said about them why does God finally restore Judah? (Ezekiel 36:22-38)

This is a very important passage and represents one of the major lessons that we need to learn from the Scripture: The great controversy is not about us or even about how God saves us. It is clear from looking at us and also from reading Scripture (1 Kings 8:46; 2 Chronicles 6:36; Ecclesiastes 7:20; Romans 3:23) that we are all sinners. There is no argument between God and the Devil about that! If we are honest, we also know that we are all sinners. The real argument is about whether God can be trusted. Satan has claimed that God is an “arbitrary, exacting, vengeful, unforgiving and severe tyrant and liar”. It would be totally foolish to trust such a person if these accusations were true. But how are we to determine if they are true or not? God recognizes that we have no way of “investigating” the truth about Him unless He chooses to reveal Himself to us. That is the purpose of all of Scripture. In fact, the whole universe has heard Satan’s accusations against God, and there can never be peace and harmony in the universe until those accusations have been clearly and unequivocally answered to everyone’s satisfaction. That is why we read in Romans 3:4 that God has “taken His case into court”.

There would be no reason even to discuss whether God can save you and me if these much more important and more basic questions were not answered. Thus it is of paramount importance for God to say something about His name. The whole history of our world is tied up in God’s answering the accusations that Satan has brought against Him in the great controversy. Even the creation of this world was in partial response to Satan’s accusations that God is not willing to share His creative power.

Even in the eyes of His children here on this world God must “be shown to be right” in all of His dealings. (Romans 3:4) When God’s special people-the ones recognized as bearing His name and who were supposed to represent Him to the whole world-misbehaved so seriously that it made even the surrounding nations raise questions about God’s own ability to do anything for them, it was time for Yahweh to do something urgently. (See #5,6,8 above)

18.    Is it true that God took them by stages into captivity in hopes that the remnant might repent and not have to go? Much of the trouble they got into was because of the priests, rulers and even prophets (Jeremiah 23:1-4; 16; 21[3146]). How do you think the people were supposed to distinguish between these false prophets and Jeremiah the true prophet? Compare Jeremiah 23:25-40[3147]. Do we hear such claims today?

It is very significant to notice that the first time Nebuchadnezzar came to Jerusalem he took with him only a few of the very best (including Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah) young people of royal birth and some priests. On the next conquest he took Ezekiel and about ten thousand of the

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most prominent people. Finally, he had become so disgusted with their rebellion that on the third visit he took almost everyone to Babylon.

It seems that Nebuchadnezzar had planned to just take the few that were taken with Daniel in the beginning. If the others had followed the instruction of men like Jeremiah and humbly submitted to the direction of Nebuchadnezzar and the leaders that he appointed, no further damage would have been done to the people or the city. But they were so sure that God was speaking through all these false prophets and priests that they believed that it was just a matter of a short time until Yahweh would return and bless their city and give them their sovereignty back. (See Jeremiah 28)[3148]

19. If God gave an examination over the most important key ideas of the Old Testament, would you pass?

This is primarily a thought question, but in light of what we have seen in this teacher’s guide it should be clear that many very significant ideas that are an essential part of the Scripture are largely ignored by many scholars.

It is particularly apparent in Ezekiel that the issue in God’s dealing with the Jews was much larger than just what might have been good for the Jews themselves. God was “on trial” before the universe in His handling of things here on planet earth. Not that we have any right to force God into court, but God takes Himself into court (Romans 3:4) in order to demonstrate clearly what the most important points in the great controversy are.

© Copyright 1996-2006, Kenneth Hart info@theox.org

Ellen White Quotes

For centuries God looked with patience and forbearance upon the cruel treatment given to his ambassadors, at his holy law prostrate, despised, trampled underfoot.

He swept away the inhabitants of the Noachian world with a flood. But when the earth was again peopled, men drew away from God, and renewed their hostility to him, manifesting bold defiance. Those whom God rescued from Egyptian bondage followed in the footsteps of those who had preceded them. Cause was followed by effect; the earth was being corrupted.

A crisis had arrived in the government of God...All heaven was prepared at the word of God to move to the help of his elect. One word from him, and the bolts of heaven would have fallen upon the earth, filling it with fire and flame. God had but to speak, and there would have been thunderings and lightnings and earthquakes and destruction.

The heavenly intelligences were prepared for a fearful manifestation of Almighty power. Every move was watched with intense anxiety. The exercise of justice was expected. The angels looked for God to punish the inhabitants of the earth...”

“The heavenly universe was amazed at God’s patience and love. To save fallen humanity the Son of God took humanity upon himself.” Review and Herald, July 17, 1900; (4RH 201:1:4-201:2:1) compare DA 37

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43. DANIEL - A TEACHER’S GUIDE

THE CENTRAL QUESTION:

What does this book/story say to us about God?

This question may be broken down further as follows:

a.    Why did God do it/allow it?

b.    Why did He record it for our study?

1. What picture of God do you see in Daniel? Is it not important to get the historical setting for Daniel? Where were God’s people at this time? What do you think the neighboring nations thought of the God of Israel, since He did not (or could not) prevent their being taken captive? God had said again and again that He would have to let His people go. Does it seem that He had let Daniel go?

The book of Daniel has been one of the books most attacked by skeptics and "scholars.” If we are to accept Daniel as historically accurate and correct, we are accepting the fact that Daniel himself wrote it. Daniel was born in Jerusalem around 625 BC. He was taken into Babylonian captivity with a small group of elite prisoners mostly from the royal family (Daniel 1:1-6; 2 Kings 20:17,18[3149]) following the first invasion of Judah by Nebuchadnezzar in 605 BC. Daniel and his three friends, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah were taken to Babylon where they were educated in the best schools in the world. They soon rose to positions near the top of the government. Daniel became well know for his ability to "interpret dreams” with the help of his God.

Many "critical scholars” believe a priori that it is impossible, even for God, to predict the future and thus that the book of Daniel must have been written after the events took place that are "prophesied” in the book. Usually they assign a date for the writing of the book of Daniel around the time of Antiochus IV Epiphanes (175- c.163 BC) for two reasons. First, they believe it must have been written "after the fact.” Secondly, in the early years of "higher criticism,” they believed that Daniel included a number of historical inaccuracies which they explained by the fact that the "real author” lived long after the events which are described.

There are several reasons for believing that Daniel was the actual author of the book bearing his name:

1)    The book claims that it is written by Daniel. (Daniel 8:1-7,13-19,27; 9:2-22; 10:2-5[3150], etc.)

2)    The author was well acquainted with the precise details of Babylonian history.

3)    Jesus recognized Daniel as the author. (See Matthew 24:15[3151])

There are several segments of the book of Daniel found in different caves at Qumran all of which agree essentially with the Daniel that we have, suggesting that the book of Daniel as known in the times of Christ (and even earlier) is the same as the one we have today.

Even though Daniel held a very prominent position in the Babylonian and Medo-Persian Governments we had not yet found a single extra-biblical mention of him as a person until the recent discovery of his grave in Jerusalem in 1995. "Critics” once claimed that there were numerous historical inaccuracies in the book. In more recent times and in the light of

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more extensive archaeological information, we now know that Daniel was completely right on all the historical information that can be verified from extra-biblical materials!

After being taken to Babylon, Daniel and his three friends were immediately thrown into a completely heathen environment and given heathen names honoring the "gods” of Babylon. They were expected to "fit right in” and adopt this new society, culture, and religion. Almost immediately there arose the question of what diet they were going to eat and we find ourselves in the middle of Daniel chapter one.

Background: "In addition to adapting to the provisions associated with the diet and habits of the king himself, the four Hebrews discovered a thoroughness in the Babylonian attempts to erase from their minds all memory of former religious commitment. To this end, their names, all of which in some way incorporated the name of the true God, were replaced with names containing references to the diverse gods of Babylon: Daniel (‘God is my Judge’) to Belteshazzar (‘Lady protect the king’), Hananiah (‘God has been gracious’) to Shadrach (‘I am very fearful [of god]’), Mishael (‘Who is what God is?’) to Meshach (‘I am of little account’), Azariah (‘The Lord has helped’) to Abed-Nego (‘Servant of the shining one’ [i.e. Nebo]).” (Believer’s Study Bible - see Daniel 1:7[3152])

"AUTHOR: Daniel

"A contemporary of Jeremiah and his fellow exile Ezekiel, Daniel (lit. ‘God is my Judge’) is unquestionably the author of the book which bears his name. Ezekiel refers to Daniel (cf. Ezek. 14:14, 20; 28:3; attempts to identify the Daniel referred to in Ezekiel with an Ugaritic ‘Dnil’ have been unconvincing), establishing Daniel’s historicity. Furthermore, Jesus quotes Daniel, calling him a prophet and clearly demonstrating His knowledge that this prophecy came from Daniel (cf. Matt. 24:15). Those who have represented the prophecy as a second-century b.c. forgery have been guided by their own presuppositions rather than by fact. Daniel and his three compatriots, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, were forced into exile in 605 b.c. when Nebuchadnezzar descended for the first time upon Jehoiakim’s kingdom of Judah. Daniel was of the royal seed, and there is some evidence that he, together with his friends, was made a eunuch at the time of his deportation (cf. 2 Kings 20:18). This may be gleaned from the following:

(1)    the mention of the master of the eunuchs (1:3) and the chief of the eunuchs (1:7-11, 18), to whom the four Hebrews were committed for preparation for service in the courts;

(2)    the absence of any mention of family life or offspring for Daniel; and

(3)    the prophecy of Isaiah 39:6, 7[3153] (admitting, however, that the term here translated ‘eunuch,’ saris, Heb., may sometimes mean simply ‘official,’ as in [Gen. 37:36; 39:1; 40:2, 7; 1 Kin. 22:9; 1 Chr. 28:1; Jer. 52:25][3154]). Conceivably Daniel was in his late teens or early twenties when this calamity befell him. The Jewish canon listed Daniel in the Hagiographa (i.e., ‘the holy writings’) rather than among the prophets (although Josephus considered him a prophet). Daniel’s principal role as statesman rather than prophet is thereby acknowledged. This in no way reduces the importance of his prophetic utterances, but it does bear testimony to the mixture in Daniel’s book of biography, history, and prophecy. Since Daniel survived the demise of the Babylonian Empire, his prophecy also

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encompasses segments of the Persian period of dominance. Consequently, the statesman-prophet Daniel must have lived from 90 to 100 years.

"DATE: c. 530 B.C.

"The events which culminated in the fall of Jerusalem and Judah in 586 b.c. were neither sudden nor unannounced. Judah was threatened repeatedly by the Assyrians, and escaped these oppressors only to fall to the burgeoning Babylonian Empire. In 605 b.c. Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, descended upon Jerusalem. Daniel and a few others of noble extraction were taken to Babylon to serve in the king’s court. In 597 b.c., King Jehoiachin, the royal family, and the young priest Ezekiel, together with the treasures of the temple, were deported. Finally, 586 b.c. marked the awesome destruction of the temple and nation. Events contained in Daniel’s prophecy span the time period from 605 b.c. to the third year of the reign of Cyrus, 536 b.c. While portions of the book may have been committed to writing at earlier times, Daniel’s final writing of the treatise was probably done about 530

B.C.

"THEME: The Providence of God and the Last Days

"The book features the providence of God among His faithful people, even in exile. It also contains a series of apocalyptic (prophetic) visions, through which future events are revealed to the statesman-prophet. The theme of God’s providence is shown in Daniel’s rise to prominence in Nebuchadnezzar’s court (cf. ch. 2), in the dramatic intervention of one ‘like the Son of God’ in the fiery-furnace trial (cf. 3:25), in Nebuchadnezzar’s temporary insanity (cf. ch. 4), in Daniel’s role as interpreter during Babylon’s ‘last night of glory’ (cf. ch. 5), and in the marvelous delivery of Daniel from the ravenous lions under Darius (cf. ch. 6). The apocalyptic segment is devoted to a series of visions concerning the four great empires of antiquity (cf. chs. 7; 8), the prophecy of Israel’s Seventy Weeks (cf. ch. 9), more visions concerning world governments (cf. ch. 10), visions depicting the course of events in the kingdoms of the Ptolemies and the Seleucids (cf. ch. 11), and a prophecy of Israel’s ultimate deliverance from tribulations (cf. ch. 12).

"SPECIAL PROBLEMS: Together with Genesis, Daniel has been subject to greater critical attack than any other Old Testament book. Supposed anachronisms, historical inaccuracies, and prophetic impossibilities have been charged against the prophecy. However, subsequent archaeological discoveries have largely vindicated the assertions of Daniel. The critic’s den has been more formidable than the lion’s den in it’s a priori insistence that the Book of Daniel must have a late date (second century), since Daniel could not have predicted the historical events which unfolded later exactly as he described. The incredible discovery of the scrolls in the Qumran caves has demonstrated that the Book of Daniel is much older than many had thought. Although most of Daniel is written in Hebrew, a portion is in Aramaic (2:4b—7:28). Comparative analysis shows that the Aramaic is not the western Aramaic of the later Maccabean period, but the eastern Aramaic of the sixth century b.c. Those portions mainly concerned with Israel were penned in Hebrew, while those mainly concerned with the Gentile empires were written in Aramaic. Together with the Book of

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Revelation, Daniel provides invaluable information for the last days of Israel and the earth.” (Believer’s Study Bible)

“Authorship. The authenticity of few books in the Bible has been more furiously assailed by critics than the Book of Daniel. The primary reasons for this negativism are: (1) The book is said to make several historical blunders. (2) The language of the book includes Aramaic, Persian, and Greek words said to be characteristic of a later period. (3) The position of the book in the third part of the threefold division of the Old Testament Canon (Law, Prophets, and Writings) shows that it was written too late to be placed in the collection of the Prophets.

(4) The book contains many examples of historical events that occurred long after the time of the traditional date for Daniel.

The arguments for the book’s authenticity however are quite convincing and answer well the negative doubts: (1) The charges of historical blunders have proved false in the past (e.g., the mention of Belshazzar, now firmly established by the discovery of the Nabonidus Chronicle, was once thought to be a mistake). Present problematic passages will eventually likewise be solved. (2) Not only do the international contacts of the Neo-Babylonian Empire account for the presence of foreign words but recent linguistic research has rendered obsolete the argument concerning the supposed lateness of Daniel’s language. (3) Daniel was a statesman as well as a prophet, and could thus easily be included in the writings. (4) Since God is the Sovereign of history, He can inspire men to record accurate predictions of events both near and far. (5) Jesus quoted Daniel as a prophet (Matt. 24:15; Mark 13:14)[3155]. (6) Daniel’s contemporaries mention him as a person known for his righteousness and wisdom (Ezek. 14:14, 20; 28:3[3156]). (7) Ancient authorities, both Jewish and Christian, accepted the book’s authenticity. (8) Taken at face value, the book purports to be a document of the sixth century b.c., written by a prophet of God. There is no good reason to reject Daniel’s authorship of the book.” (King James Version Study Bible)

"In 626 b.c., Nabopolassar became king of Babylon and altered the course of ancient history. He quickly overthrew the domination of long-standing rival Assyria, and by the time of his death in 605 b.c. he had eliminated the Assyrian Empire and swallowed it into what became known as the Neo-Babylonian or Chaldean Empire. This course of events had significant implications for Judah, the surviving remnant of the nation of Israel. Judah had been largely under Assyrian domination from about 670 b.c., but now found itself serving a new master. In the same year as Nabopolassar’s death, King Jehoiakim of Judah became a vassal of Nebuchadnezzar, the son of Nabopolassar (see 2 Kings 24:1). Nebuchadnezzar brought his father’s empire to even greater heights, eventually deporting many Jews to Babylon.

"Daniel lived in the midst of all these momentous events. What direct impact he had on the community of exiles cannot be known, but he was a force for good as far as the Babylonians were concerned. Daniel was a close confidant of Nebuchadnezzar throughout the Babylonian king’s reign (605-562 b.c.). Later Daniel served with equal distinction Cyrus, the enlightened Persian ruler who conquered Babylon. One of the first policies Cyrus implemented after subduing Babylon was to allow the Jews to return to their homeland and

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rebuild their way of life. It is more than likely that Daniel had some influence on Cyrus’s decision. The Book of Daniel is a testimony to how God works out His purposes through His servants even in the courts of pagan rulers (see Dan 2:21; 4:18[3157]).

“Purpose: Daniel wrote his book with two purposes in mind. First, he wanted to assert that the God of Israel was sovereign, even over the powerful nations that surrounded His people. God’s chosen nation had been conquered and dispersed by a mighty empire that did not acknowledge God. What would happen now? Would Babylon’s yoke remain forever on Israel’s shoulders? Would God’s people never see their homeland again? Had God forgotten His promises? Daniel’s answer was that Babylon would fall to another empire, which in turn would fall to yet another great kingdom. History would continue in this pattern until God judged all Gentile nations and established His everlasting rule. Daniel’s message was obviously meant to uplift and encourage the weary hearts of the exiled Jews.

“Yet Daniel also looked forward to the day when God would restore and reward Israel. Israel was suffering punishment for its disobedience; but when would the punishment end? Daniel’s message was both discouraging and encouraging. He predicted trouble ahead; Israel would suffer under Gentile powers for many years. But the encouraging news was that the time of trials would also pass away. The time was coming when God would gather His children to Him again. He would establish His messianic kingdom which would last forever. The God who directs the forces of history has not deserted His people. They must continue to trust Him. His promises of preservation and ultimate restoration are sure.” (Nelson Study Bible)

One of the mysteries of the book of Daniel is the identity of “Darius the Mede?” Who was Darius the Mede? Was he a known historical character? We now believe that we have found extra-biblical documentation for the existence of Belshazzar and Daniel, but what about “Darius the Mede?”

“Darius the Mede is not referred to in surviving historical sources outside the Scripture, and there is no interval between Belshazzar and Nabonidus (5:1) and the accession of Cyrus of Persia. Commentators have suggested that ‘Darius the Mede’ could be: a throne name for Cyrus, the founder of the Persian Empire (v. 28); a title; or a designation for Gobryas, a general who had defected from Nebuchadnezzar to Cyrus and later captured Babylon. Cyrus made Gobryas governor over the territories the Persians took from the Babylonians.” (New Geneva Study Bible)

“Reflection on the content of the historical narratives (Daniel 1-6) reveals that they are not a connected historical discourse, but are independent units placed together for a specific purpose. The narratives do not give a history of Israel under Babylonian or Persian rule, nor do they give a biographical history of Daniel or his friends. The common thread is an emphasis on the way the absolute sovereignty of God operates in the affairs of all nations (Dan 2:47; 3:17, 18; 4:28-37; 5:18-31; 6:25-28[3158]). Jerusalem may be destroyed with its temple in ruins, God’s people may be in exile, and wicked rulers may seem triumphant, but God remains supreme. God is greater than all circumstances, and His people should be true to

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Him in whatever situation they find themselves. Depiction of this truth is the controlling principle of Dan. 1-6.” (New Geneva Study Bible)

2.    What do you think of first when you think of the book of Daniel? Do you think of the "stories” (the history), or the prophecies? Do you believe that God has a full knowledge of all our past, present, and future choices? Even our moral choices? If so, is it still possible to have human freedom? On what basis do we assert our belief in the "supernatural” or the "divine” origin of the book of Daniel? Most modern Old Testament scholars reject the idea of God’s foreknowledge on philosophical grounds, and believe, therefore, that "Daniel” was not written by Daniel at all but by someone in the early second century BC claiming to be Daniel. This would make most of the book historical and not "prophetic.” How would you answer such a person? Why would God bother to predict the future when we so often fail to understand it until the prediction has already come to pass? (See John 13:19; 14:29; 16:1-4[3159]) Does it do anything for us to know that God knows the future? Would it have been an encouragement to the Jews to know that God is not caught by surprise in the affairs of men?

There are several prophecies in the book of Daniel, the fulfillments of which extend down to our day and beyond to the end of the world. An example is the statue with feet of iron and of clay suggesting that there would never again be a single world government. It remains a true prophecy until today. (Daniel 2:42-45[3160])

Do you agree with many "scholars” that if even God could predict the future it would eliminate our freedom? The fact that we cannot explain how God knows the future without His predetermining the events of that future is simply an admission that there are things about God that we don’t understand! If we could understand everything about God then He would not be superior to us in any way and would not be God!

The fact that Daniel has been proven correct in every detail that has been verifiable from extra-biblical sources and that at the same time he apparently predicted events far into the future suggests very strongly that there was a supernatural source behind his work! This should be sufficient reason for us to believe the book. Jesus apparently believed the book and that Daniel wrote it. A God who could predict the future thousands of years in advance certainly must understand all that is happening to us and what the consequences will be!

3.    There is a great deal of argument about the interpretation of Daniel, even about the size of the book. Should it include the longer version of chapter three (verses 24-90 in Roman Catholic Bibles) and the three stories of Susanna, Bel, and the Dragon? (chapters 13 and 14) The earliest Hebrew/Aramaic copies of the book of Daniel do not included these passages. Furthermore, these passages are available today only in Greek and not in the original Hebrew or Aramaic in which the rest of the book is written. On what basis would you accept the Protestant/Orthodox Jewish version and reject the Roman Catholic version? If you reject these apocryphal portions of Daniel that the Roman Catholics think are inspired do you regard yourself as a "higher critic” of the Bible?

Conservative Christians have traditionally regarded themselves as being totally opposed to "higher criticism.” But when we reject the books of the Apocrypha while accepting the rest

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of the Bible as "inspired” we are practicing "higher criticism!” We just need to practice our "higher criticism” responsibly, using the best possible scholarship. We reject the portions of Daniel that are not in the Jewish/Protestant Canon (Daniel 3:24-90 and 13-14) because they are not found in the original languages or in the earliest manuscripts of the book. Reading these passages also suggests that they are not of the same kind of "quality” that we find in the rest of the book. (See handout: Additions to Daniel)

4. When were Daniel and his three friends taken into Babylonian captivity? Do we have any hints as to their ages at the time? What kind of background did these young men have? (Daniel 1:3[3161]; See also 2 Kings 20:17,18[3162]) What do you think was the main reason Daniel and his friends did not want to eat the "food and wine from the king’s table?” (Daniel 1:5; compare Daniel 10:2,3; 1 Corinthians 10:25; Romans 14:1-5)[3163] Why do you think Daniel and his friends did so much better than the rest after the three year "university course?” (Daniel 1:17[3164]) Why do you think the King brought these young "prisoners” into his own service? Why were their names changed? (See question #1 above)

When Nebuchadnezzar invaded Judah in 605 BC he took a number of the most promising young men-especially ones from the royal family-to serve in his court. Daniel and his three friends were among these. They were no doubt well educated and very intelligent young men before they went to Babylon. They were also very young, likely in their teens or early twenties. Contrary to popular opinion, it is almost certainly because the meat, the wine, and the rich foods were offered to the king’s idols before it was brought to them that they refused to eat it. This was a way of rejecting the King’s idols. If they had eaten of the king’s food and then done well in school it would have been assumed that Marduk or Bel, the "god” of Babylon was blessing them. (Compare Daniel 1:5 and 10:2,3[3165]) Daniel later apparently ate some of these other foods when they were not offered to the pagan deities.

Much later Paul, in the city of Corinth, suggested that in his day, since true believers recognize that the idols are really nothing at all, it would be a way of rejecting the significant of those idols to go ahead and eat the food offered to them if it did not bother the conscience of some "weaker” saint! (See Acts 15; 1 Corinthians 8 and 10; Romans 14)[3166] The fact that Daniel’s advice was contradicted by Paul because the "situation” was different in Paul’s day is a perfect example of "situation ethics” practiced responsibly. Fortunately for Daniel the healthier food was never apparently preferred by the "idols”!

The fact that Daniel and his three friends avoided many of the rich foods and perhaps especially the fact that they avoided the alcohol that was offered freely, probably explains their success in the examinations. Of course they studied very hard as well! Remember that Yahweh was blessing them in every way He could!

When they first came to Babylon, the king assigned them Babylonian names, hoping that they would be fully assimilated into Babylonian society and worship and serve the Babylonian "gods”. Thus they were given names honoring the Babylonian "gods”. Nebuchadnezzar no doubt felt at the time that his "god” Bel had helped him conquer Yahweh and Yahweh’s followers!

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The king brought these young men into his personal service because he wanted the very best from the whole world to work for him. Would you have the courage to put your life on the line and refuse to eat the King’s food as Daniel did?

5.    Why do you think God worked so directly and repeatedly with Nebuchadnezzar? What kind of person was Nebuchadnezzar? Was he accustomed to being obeyed even when he made apparently unreasonable demands? (Daniel 2:3-12[3167]) After several unusual experiences with Daniel and his companions, Nebuchadnezzar developed considerable respect for their God. What do you think of Nebuchadnezzar’s new approach to worshiping God? (Daniel 3:29[3168]) Had his "picture of God” really changed? Did it ever change? (Daniel 4:34-37[3169]) Do you expect to see Nebuchadnezzar in heaven?

Yahweh apparently worked long and hard to win Nebuchadnezzar. It apparently took considerable effort to bring this proud monarch to his senses. God first revealed and interpreted Nebuchadnezzar’s first dream (Daniel 2[3170]). Then he rescued Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah from the fiery furnace (Daniel 3[3171]). Finally He threw Nebuchadnezzar out of his palace, took away his sanity, and made him behave like an animal for seven years to help him realize who was the real ruler of this world and the universe (Daniel 4[3172]). Was Yahweh using excessive force in this case? Look at the progress that Nebuchadnezzar made in his understanding ofYahweh: Daniel 2:3-12; 3:29; 4:34-37[3173]. Many believe that Nebuchadnezzar will be in heaven. If you meet Nebuchadnezzar in heaven, what would you like to ask him?

6.    How would you like to live in a country where the king demanded that you worship his "god” in the way and at the time he commanded or he would throw you into a burning, fiery furnace? (Daniel 3:5,6[3174]) What would you think of such a king? Has God ever said, "Either obey Me, or I will throw you into an eternally burning hell?” Has God ever said, "Either obey Me, or I will torture and burn you as long as you deserve and then I’ll kill you?”

We think Nebuchadnezzar was a real tyrant for making the demands that he did. He certainly wasn’t promoting freedom of religion! The fact that God performed a miracle to overturn Nebuchadnezzar’s proud and presumptuous demands doesn’t lessen his guilt for commanding people to worship him! (Compare Matthew 4:9,10[3175]) Nebuchadnezzar was apparently trying to prevent the prophecy of Daniel 2 from being fulfilled. He wanted his descendants (the golden kingdom) to rule forever and not to be replaced by Medo-Persia, etc.

While we totally reject the demands of Nebuchadnezzar as completely satanic, many people feel that God, because He is Sovereign, has a perfect right to demand this kind of service. Has God ever demanded this kind of service? When and where? In the Garden of Eden when God said, "You must not eat of the fruit of that tree, if you do, you will die the same day” (Genesis 2:17, GNB) was He saying, "if I catch you taking that fruit I will kill you?” Was He saying, "I can’t really kill you since your soul is immortal, but I will torture you for eternity?” Or was He saying, "Sin is deadly, and if you choose to join the Devil in this rebellion, you are separating yourself from Me, the only source of life and you will die!?”

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7.    When Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were thrown into the fiery furnace, who was the fourth person that appeared there with them? Was it "the Son of God” or "a son of the gods”? (Daniel 3:25[3176], Compare KJVand RSV) Did Nebuchadnezzar have a "photo” of "the Son of God” in his possession? What do you think made him say what he did?

Daniel 3:25:

yDi HWrwi -VhB| ytyaAal; lbj|» ar;lnAa/gB| Tykii|h|m' Ty|r'v| h[;B|r|a' Tyribp hzjj hria|Aah; rm'aW hnl[; 25

Biblia Hebraica .^yhiiaArb^11| hmD; ha;[ybir| "...hi o|rasi tou tetartou olmoiwma ajggeilou qeou.”(Old Greek Version)

"...hi o|rasi tou tetartou olmoiia uiWI qeou.” (Theodotion Version)

"...et species quarti similis filio Dei.” (Biblia Sacra Vulgata)

"...the appearance of the fourth is like to a son of the gods.” (Young’s Literal)

"...the form of the fourth is like the Son of God.” (KJV, NKJ)

"...the fourth looks like a son of God.” [Footnote: an angel] (NAB)

"...the appearance of the fourth is like a son of God.” (Darby)

"...the fourth looks like a god!” (TLB, NEB, CEV)

"... the aspect of the fourth is like a son of the gods.” (ASV)

"...the appearance of the fourth is like a son of the gods.” (RSV, ASV; NASB,

1995 Update; ESV)

"...the fourth looks like a son of the gods.” (NIV)

"...The fourth one looks like a son of the gods.” (God’s Word)

"...The fourth man looks like a son of the gods.” (NCV)

"...And the form of the fourth is like a son of the gods!” (Amplified)

"...has the appearance of a god.” [Footnote: Aramaic a son of the gods] (NRSV)

"...the appearance of the fourth resembles one of the gods.” (Smith-Goodspeed)

"...the fourth one looks like an angel.” [Footnote: or a son of the gods; or a son of God.”] (GNB)

"...the fourth one looks like the Son of God they told me about!” (Clear Word)

"...the fourth one looks like a divine being.” (Anchor Bible)

"...the fourth looks like a divine being!” (NewLiving Translation; Tanakh)

"...the fourth looks like a child of the gods!” (New Jerusalem)

The Aramaic of this passage says literally, "a son of the gods”. Nebuchadnezzar had obviously never seen a "god” but there must have been something about this "Person” that was most unusual. (See Ellen White Quotes below)

8.    What do you think happened to Nebuchadnezzar during those seven years of "exile”? (Daniel 4:29-33[3177]) Doesn’t the punishment seem a little harsh? Why do you think this brought Nebuchadnezzar to his senses? Was God responsible for this experience? Does God do this to people in our day?

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Based on the whole story as we have it in Daniel 4, it seems clear that God used this very "forceful” method to bring Nebuchadnezzar to his senses. This might be compared to what God did to Saul/Paul on the road to Damascus (Acts 9:3-6; 22:6-8; 26:12-15[3178]). Was this a violation of Nebuchadnezzar’s freedom? I don’t think so. God was in this case "getting Nebuchadnezzar’s attention” so He could teach him the most important lesson of his life. The impact on Nebuchadnezzar’s life was impressive. Compare Daniel 2:3-12; 3:29; 4:34-37.[3179] Apparently this was the only kind of language that Nebuchadnezzar was willing to listen to at this point in time! He was accustomed to using this kind of force on others!

9.    Do you think Daniel was foolish to pray so openly to his God during the time of the king’s decree forbidding it? (Daniel 6:10[3180]) Would you tend to use more "discretion?” Was Daniel so "stuck in a rut” that he couldn’t change or was he boldly challenging the king’s decree? Or did he have other reasons for his behavior? Would it bother you to work with someone like Daniel? Why do you think the king was willing to sign such a decree? If you were being tried for being a "Christian”, would the evidence declare you "deserving of capital punishment”, "guilty in the first degree”, "guilty in the second degree”, or "not guilty?”

There is no question about the fact that it can be irritating to work with someone who is "always right” even if they don’t make a display of it. It is our human nature to compare ourselves with others and setting one’s self up against such a standard can be very irritating! Daniel would not allow anything to come between him and his God. As far as possible he complied with the king’s decrees, but when those decrees forbade the true worship of God, Daniel was clear on his duty. He did not vary in the least detail from his usual pattern of prayers. He did not want it even to appear like he was hiding his allegiance to the true God. We don’t know why it was so important to him to have his windows open toward Jerusalem, but God certainly honored His friend. This story involving Daniel should be compared to Daniel 3-the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. (Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah) What would happen in our day if we were a little more concerned with correctly representing God and a little less concerned about people’s opinions about us?

10.    What does Daniel’s prayer tell us about him, his attitude toward God and his understanding of why they were in captivity? (Daniel 9:4-19[3181]) How does Daniel identify his fellow saints? (Daniel 9:4; compare Revelation 12:17 and 14:12)[3182]

Daniel repeatedly identifies himself with the rest of the Jewish people. He recognizes their sins and pleads with God to forgive them. But his real appeal is that God’s own name and reputation are being despised because of what has happened to His people. Daniel appeals repeatedly to God to do something for His own sake! See Daniel 9:15-20[3183]: notice the following expressions:

"Jerusalem...is your city, your sacred hill. All the people in the neighboring countries look down on Jerusalem and on your people because of our sins and the evil our ancestors did...Restore your temple...so everyone will know that you are God. Listen to us, O God; look at us and see the trouble we are in and the suffering of the city that bears your name...In order that everyone will

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know that you are God, do not delay! This city and these people are yours...I went on...pleading with the Lord my God to restore his holy Temple.” (GNB)

"Our sins and the iniquities of our fathers have made Jerusalem and your people an object of scorn to all those around us... For your sake, O Lord, look with favor on your desolate sanctuary...Give ear, O God, and hear; open your eyes and see the desolation of the city that bears your Name. We do not make requests of you because we are righteous, but because of your great mercy...For your sake, O my God, do not delay, because your city and your people bear your Name... While I was speaking and praying, confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel and making my request to the LORD my God for his holy hill...” (NIV)

Daniel was clearly aware that the most important issue of all is God’s reputation. Not that it doesn’t matter what people think of us, but it is a life or death matter what they think of God!! Daniel recognizes that God is "great, and we honor you. You are faithful to your covenant and show constant love to those who love you and do what you command.” (Daniel 9:4, GNB)

11.    What do you understand was happening in the struggle with Cyrus? Who was the "man dressed in linen”? (Daniel 10:4-6[3184]) Was it Gabriel? (see Daniel 8:16 and 9:21; DA 234)[3185] Who was "the prince of Persia”? (Daniel 10:13) Who was "Michael” who came to help him? (Daniel 10:13,21[3186]; [see 1 Thessalonians 4:16 and compare John 5:25][3187]) What does the name Michael mean? Why does the name "Michael” only appear in the scriptures in passages where He is in direct conflict with Satan? Were Gabriel and Michael pressuring Cyrus or were they protecting Cyrus from the Devil’s pressure, so that he could make up his mind without force?

The description of this Person is very much like some others in Scripture: (Revelation 1:13-14; Daniel 7:13)[3188]. Gabriel seems to be identified by name when he appears (Daniel 8:16 and 9:21[3189]). The word translated "prince” in 10:13 never means "king” but is used for all types of other leaders. It is used by Daniel to refer to supernatural beings as well (Daniel 8:11,25; 10:13,21; 12:1[3190]). The being here referred to seems to be trying to prevent prophecy from being fulfilled in the return of the Jews to their homeland. This is something that Satan would be most happy to do. (See PK 571,572[3191]) The name "Michael” means "Who is like God?” or "The One who is like God”. In the New Testament it refers to Christ (See 1 Thessalonians 4:16; John 5:25)[3192]. The name is used to refer to Christ in particular settings where He is in direct opposition to Satan (See Daniel 10:13,20; 12:1; Jude 9; Revelation 12:7)[3193]. In this setting Michael (Christ) was restraining the Devil, i.e. preventing the Devil from "forcing” Cyrus and thus presumably allowing Cyrus to be free to make a choice to fulfill God’s promise to permit those Jews who wanted to, to go back to Jerusalem.

12.    Who are the participants in the judgment scene in Daniel 7:9-14[3194]? (compare Job 1 & 2, Zechariah 3:1-5 and Revelation 12:10)[3195] At what time in history do you think this is taking place? How many are observing all of God’s actions? Is God being judged in all this

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(Romans 3:4[3196]) or just us? If you could hear Satan telling his version of your life and your sins, would you vote for yourself?

It should be clear from verses 11-14 that this is a continuation of the previous vision which talks about the time at the end of that vision. Thus this time must come after all the events connected with the earlier parts of the earlier vision. Furthermore, it ends with Someone, who looks like a human being, reigning forever over the whole earth. This could only refer to Christ at the end of the world. So this “judgment scene” must be at or near the end of time.

The “Ancient of Days” is usually recognized as referring to God the Father here and there is no reason to dispute that. Millions of observers are present and these must represent either the angels or the inhabitants of other worlds. Since the times of Job, Satan has made the claim that God is not a good Judge of character. Now the whole universe appears to be observing as the final judgment scene is taking place. If God were trying to deceive or hide anything this certainly wouldn’t be the setting in which to do it. Some believe that this is the ante-typical “Day of Atonement” that takes place after the end of the 2300 day-year prophecy which apparently ended in 1844.

God always conducts His business in full view of the entire universe (except us) so it will be apparent that His judgments are not only fair but best. When a decision is made to bring one of us “former rebels” back into the society of heaven, God first allows every person in the universe who has any questions to raise them. This is what was happening in the case of Job. (See Job 1 and 2) When it is all over, everyone will declare that God’s ways and His judgments are true and righteous. (Psalms 19:9[3197])

13.    Where do you think we are in the prophecies of the book of Daniel?

In the prophecy of Daniel 2 it should be obvious that we are down in the feet of iron and of clay and we have been there for a long time. In the vision of Daniel 7 we are in the period of God’s judgment (See #12 above). It would appear that everything has passed except the final events directly connected with the coming of Christ. That would put us in “the time of the end” as described in Daniel 12[3198].

14.    One Bible commentator suggests that “When the books of Daniel and Revelation are better understood, believers will have an entirely different religious experience.” (TM 114) What would it take to bring this about, and what kind of religious experience would be the result? How could the study of books like Daniel and Revelation produce a great revival? (TM 113) If we were to work out the time schedule of each prophecy and could identify each symbol or item in detail would this guarantee a great revival? Does the Devil know all these details? Has he been changed?

See handout #91a on “Getting the Message from Daniel and Revelation”.

© Copyright 1998-2006, Kenneth Hart info@theox.org

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Ellen White Quotes

Prophets and Kings 509:

"From his royal seat the king looked on, expecting to see the men who had defied him utterly destroyed. But his feelings of triumph suddenly changed. The nobles standing near saw his face grow pale as he started from the throne and looked intently into the glowing flames. In alarm the king, turning to his lords, asked, "Did not we cast three men bound into the midst of the fire?...Lo, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt; and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God.”

"How did that heathen king know what the Son of God was like? The Hebrew captives filling positions of trust in Babylon had in life and character represented before him the truth. When asked for a reason of their faith, they had given it without hesitation. Plainly and simply they had presented the principles of righteousness, thus teaching those around them of the God whom they worshiped. They had told of Christ, the Redeemer to come; and in the form of the fourth in the midst of the fire the king recognized the Son of God.”

Testimonies to Ministers, pp. 113, 114:

"In the past teachers have declared Daniel and the Revelation to be sealed books, and the people have turned from them. The veil whose apparent mystery has kept many from lifting it, God’s own hand has withdrawn from these portions of His word. The very name "Revelation” contradicts the statement that it is a sealed book. "Revelation” means that something of importance is revealed. The truths of this book are addressed to those living in these last days...When the books of Daniel and Revelation are better understood, believers will have an entirely different religious experience...A wonderful connection is seen between the universe of heaven and this world. The things revealed to Daniel were afterward complemented by the revelation made to John on the Isle of Patmos. These two books should be carefully studied.”

The New Geneva Study Bible:

"Daniel 11:36-12:3: Certain details in 11:36-12:3 cannot be harmonized with the events surrounding the death of Antiochus IV. For this reason some interpreters understand these verses to describe the Antichrist, who like Antiochus IV will persecute God’s people just prior to the Second Advent of Christ (cf. 12:1-3). These verses describe the character of the Antichrist, his activities, and the destiny of God’s people. This understanding requires a time interval between the events depicted in 11:21-35 and those in 11:36-12:3. Consequently, other interpreters have understood vv. 36-39 as a summary of Antiochus’s religious policies; vv. 40-45 as a description of how his ambition leads to his defeat; and 12:1-3 as an anticipation of his defeat. The anticipated invasion of the Holy Land may be presented as a parallel to Nebuchadnezzar’s earlier invasion, using the names of the nations of that time, sparing Israel’s old enemies (v. 41), and climaxing in the anticipated defeat of Egypt itself (vv. 42, 43; cf. Ezek. 29). At his proudest moment Antiochus is destroyed at Mount Zion in the heart of the Holy Land (vv. 44, 45). Antiochus’s defeat in 12:1-3 is described in terms of the absolute end of history. Because the prophecies in 11:40-12:3 have not been fulfilled

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historically, it is difficult to discern how literal or metaphorical they are, and their interpretation must be speculative.” (New Geneva Study Bible)

Believer’s Study Bible:

"The following outline of the Babylonian monarchy can now be established. Nebuchadnezzar died in 562 b.c. and was succeeded by his son, Evil-Merodach (Babylonian Amel-Marduk; cf. 2 Kin. 25:27[3199]), who was then assassinated by Neriglissar, his own brother-in-law. Neriglissar reigned four years, then died in 556 b.c., leaving the throne to his infant son, Labashi-Marduk. After nine months, Labashi-Marduk was deposed by an anti-Marduk priestly revolution, and Nabonidus was made king in 556 b.c. He was a scholar and antiquarian, and a worshiper of the moon-god Sin, rather than of Marduk, the god of Babylon. Most of his time was spent in Tema in northern Arabia trying to placate his god, who he believed had been offended. Although Nabonidus was officially king, he left Babylon and the rule to his son Belshazzar in 550 b.c. Belshazzar promised Daniel a post as "third” ruler in the land (vv. 16, 29). Why not make him second? The answer verifies again the astonishing accuracy ofthe biblical materials. Nabonidus was first, Belshazzar second, and Daniel would have to be third. Therefore, the events of ch. 5 must be dated in 539 b.c. Nabonidus had fled, leaving Belshazzar to rule in Babylon. Believing the city to be impregnable (Herodotus says they regarded the Persian siege "with indifference,” since they had stocked the city well with provisions), on a day memorializing some noteworthy event, Belshazzar ordered a momentous celebration, which quickly degenerated into a drunken orgy. Amid this celebration the king ordered the use of the sacred vessels from the temple in Jerusalem for the drinking of wine and the praising of pagan deities. According to Herodotus, when the city was taken (by secretly diverting the Euphrates River which ran through it) "there was a festival going on, and they continued to dance and enjoy themselves, until they learned the news the hard way.” (Believer’s Study Bible)

“Daniel 5:25-28 The mysterious writing on the wall was unintelligible to the Babylonians, whether because of a strange script that may have been employed, or simply the terseness and ambiguity of the inscription. The language, as Daniel explained, was Aramaic, but there would originally have been no vowels. These were supplied, under the inspiration of God, by Daniel. Without them, the wise men probably read the inscription as "mina, mina, shekel, and half-shekels,” which made no sense to them. The term mene (Aram.) could be the monetary "mina,” or a participle meaning "numbered.” Its repetition produces the sense "thoroughly numbered.” God had set limits on Belshazzar’s kingdom. The term tekel (Aram.) could be a monetary unit corresponding to the Hebrew shekel, or a participle meaning "weighed.” As a verbal form it is unusual and could be a combination of the verbs taqal (Aram.), "weigh,” and qalal (Heb.), "be light.” The final word upharsin (Aram.) could also be a monetary unit, a half-mina or half-shekel, or a plural participle from the verb paras, "divide,” meaning "and divided.” The ambiguity of these terms may explain the wise men’s inability to decipher them. The message of Daniel’s interpretation is that Belshazzar’s kingdom had been numbered for destruction. The king himself is weighed and found wanting. The kingdom was to be taken away and given to the Medes and the Persians. The word for "Persia” had the same consonants as the word for "divide.” (Believer’s Study Bible see Daniel 5:25-28[3200])

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44. HOSEA - A TEACHER’S GUIDE

THE CENTRAL QUESTION:

What does this book/story say to us about God?

This question may be broken down further as follows:

a. Why did God do it/allow it?

_b. Why did He record it for our study?_

1. What picture of God would you have if you had only Hosea? Only the Old Testament so far? What were the circumstances of Hosea’s writing? What relationship is there between the first three chapters and the rest of the book? (Compare Ezekiel 16) How many children did Hosea have? (Hosea 1:3-4[3201]) How many did his wife have? (Hosea 1:3-9[3202]) Why would God go to such lengths to represent himself to the people? What was your general reaction to Hosea? If you had been Hosea’s neighbor, would you try to pretend you didn’t know him? Would you be embarrassed to discuss his story with your children? If you had only the book of Hosea to tell you about God, could you anticipate what God would do with his rebellious people?

"In the English Bible, the last twelve books of the Old Testament are known as the Minor Prophets because of their brevity. In the Hebrew Old Testament these twelve prophetic books are considered one, and the compilation is appropriately designated "The Twelve.”

"The name of the author Hosea’, related to that of Joshua or Jesus, means "salvation.” Aside from his calamitous marriage, little is known of the personal life of the prophet. He is simply identified as "the son of Beeri” (Hosea 1:1). That Hosea was a native of the northern kingdom of Israel rather than the southern kingdom of Judah is supported by the following:

(1)    the localities mentioned in the book are almost without exception in the north;

(2)    Hosea speaks of Israel’s king as "our king” in Hosea 7:5[3203]; and

(3)    Hosea’s cognizance of the internal corruption and external intrigue of the northern kingdom bears the mark of a citizen rather than an alien.

"The period of Hosea’s prophetic activity is dated according to the reigns of four kings in Judah mentioned in Hosea 1:1-Uzziah (792-740 B.C.), Jotham (750-731 B.C.), Ahaz (735-715 B.C.), and Hezekiah (729-686 B.C.)—and the reign of Jeroboam II (793-753 B.C.) in Israel. Also on the throne during Hosea’s ministry were the last six kings of Israel following Jeroboam II—Zechariah, Shallum, Menahem, Pekahiah, Pekah, and Hoshea—although they are not listed in Hosea 1:1. A dating which satisfies all the demands of the historical notation in Hosea 1:1 is 755-725 B.C., the darkest period of Israel’s history.

"Following the death of Jeroboam II, the nation was in a state of political anarchy. Of the last six kings of Israel, four (Zechariah, Shallum, Pekahiah, and Pekah) were assassinated, and the other two (Menahem and Hoshea) ascended the throne via assassinations. Morally speaking, Israel was bankrupt. Blatant immoralities were practiced openly and unashamedly. The religious life of the people was idolatrous and degenerate. Hosea was an eyewitness to the inward deterioration which eventually led to the collapse of the nation in 722 B.C., at which time Samaria, the capital, fell to the Assyrians. Hosea’s ministry overlapped those of Isaiah and Micah in Judah and of Amos in Israel (cf. Isaiah 1:1; Amos 1:1; Micah 1:1)[3204]. These four prophets of the eighth century constituted the high mark of Hebrew prophecy.

"The theme of the Book of Hosea is God’s redeeming love for Israel, which is uniquely expressed by the Hebrew word hesed (Hosea 2:19; Hos. 4:1; Hos. 6:4-6; Hos. 10:12; Hos. 12:6)[3205], meaning loyal love, steadfastness, and faithfulness. When used with respect to God’s

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relationship to Israel, the word denotes a binding "covenant love.” Hosea’s demonstration of faithful love toward Gomer becomes a visible symbol of God’s steadfast love for Israel, in spite of Israel’s unfaithfulness to that love. When Hosea stated that God would cease to love them (Hosea 9:15[3206]), he was speaking of a different Hebrew word for love, <ahav, which conveys the idea of affection, tenderness or even passionate love. When God judges He is not showing <ahav, but He is still faithful in His covenant love toward His people. Perhaps no other Old Testament figure gained as clear a picture of the love of God as did Hosea.

“HOSEA’S MARRIAGE:

"God commands Hosea to take a "wife of harlotry” to illustrate Israel’s unfaithfulness toward God (Hosea 1:2). Four basic points should be made regarding Hosea’s marriage: (1) Hosea’s marriage is to be taken literally; there is nothing in the text to indicate that his experience was a vision, dream, parable, or allegory. (2) Gomer was chaste at the time of marriage; the command in Hosea 1:2 to marry a "wife of harlotry” is to be interpreted proleptically (cf. Hosea 1:2). The text indicates that the first child was Hosea’s (Hos. 1:3); whereas regarding the second (Hos. 1:6) and third (Hos. 1:8), no specification is made. (3) The woman in Hosea 3:1 is to be identified as Gomer; insuperable interpretative difficulties arise if the woman is identified as anyone else. (4) Hosea’s marriage played an important part in his prophetic ministry; through the crucible of his own marital tragedy, Hosea came to understand the steadfast, faithful love of God for Israel.” (Believer’s Study Bible)

In this book God asks Hosea to act as a living parable to say something about God’s relationship to His people Israel. To understand what was going on in Israel (the northern kingdom) in the days of Hosea see 2 Kings 17:7-20[3207]. God portrays himself as the Husband of an unfaithful wife, just like Gomer, the wife of Hosea. (Compare Ezekiel 16; Jeremiah 31:27-34; Ephesians 5:21-33; Revelation 21:1-3)[3208]

Why would God represent himself as married to such an unfaithful wife? Is this perhaps the most graphic way he could find to try to help the people understand how he felt about them and at the same time how serious their condition really was?

God is incredibly gracious with his rebellious people in the book of Hosea. How can people resist a God who weeps and cries out as he watches his rebellious children leave him? Why do we prefer to portray God as an angry Judge to try to force people to do what is right?

Which is a greater motivator in your opinion: 1) The angry, threatening Judge who is ready to pour out his wrath on you? Or 2) the weeping, appealing husband who begs you to come back and even comes searching for you? Which One would you be more likely to love?

Biblical history shows that God has at times used "force” and "power” to get people to do what He asks them to, but this effect never lasts more than a short time. The experience at the foot of Sinai showed this very graphically. (Exodus 20:18-20; 32[3209]) Now God is trying a different approach. But it is clear from the rest of the book of Hosea and the historical facts that it did not lead to a great reformation or revival of godliness. In Hosea 11 God finally describes how He will feel as the people abandon Him finally.

Hosea 11:8,9. "How, oh how, can I give you up , Ephraim!

How, oh how, can I hand you over, Israel!

How can I turn you into a Sodom!

How can I treat you like a Gomorrah!

My heart recoils within me, all my compassion is kindled.

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I will not give vent to my fierce anger--I will not destroy Ephraim again." (Phillips)

God doesn’t seem to hesitate to use very graphic symbols to let us know where we stand with Him. We like to think we are embarrassed as we see some of these things taking place around us, but we need to remember that God sees everything that goes on all the time and thus has terrible and embarrassing things happening before His eyes constantly. When something like this happens is it better to speak plainly about it or try to pretend it didn’t happen?

2.    Do you think that God would ever ask a human being to marry a prostitute? Are we as Christians only allowed to marry perfect saints? Did God ask Hosea to violate the seventh commandment? Was it any worse than God asking Abraham to kill his son? (Genesis 22[3210]) Peter refused to "rise and eat” saying, "I have never eaten anything impure or unclean.” (Acts 10:9-16[3211]) Should Hosea have done the same thing and refused to marry such a woman? Should God have abandoned Israel while they were still slaves in Egypt? Was God wrong in adopting Israel, considering how they were behaving?

Look carefully at the historical context for this book as recorded in (2 Kings 17:7-18 and Hosea 4:11-14)[3212]. It is quite possible that virtually everyone in the city had become involved in these fertility cult practices and that when Hosea began looking for a wife, Gomer was the best he could find! That would fit better with the historical facts regarding Israel as a people as well. There was never a time when they were carefully following all that God instructed them to do, without any involvement with idols. They had hardly gotten out of Egypt when they built that golden calf at the foot of Mt. Sinai. So God chose them at a time when they were "spiritually prostitutes” as well. None of us have the privilege of marrying "perfect saints” because there are none available to marry!

3.    Would God ever ask a human being to participate with Him in a "lived out” parable? (Job; Isaiah 7 & 8; Jeremiah 27 & 32; Ezekiel 5; 24:15-27)[3213] If this was an actual "lived out” parable, was it fair to the children involved? What about Job’s children? Is it fair to talk about God’s relationship with us as comparable to this marriage? This woman took Hosea’s name and "blackened it.” What about us, when we take God’s name, what do we do to it? God takes all the risk here, we don’t take any risk!

God has repeatedly used the lives of his prophets and their families as illustrations for His messages to the children of Abraham. The entire history of the children of Abraham is in effect a "lived-out parable”. Whenever God asks any human being to accept the name of "Christian” he runs the risk that we will misrepresent that name before our fellow humans. There are many examples of "unfair” things that happened to people in Biblical times and in our times. We live in a world full of evil and that affects not just the sinners but all of us. God warned them that this would be true in Deuteronomy 29:19[3214]:

Make sure that there is no one here today who hears these solemn demands and yet convinces himself that all will be well with him, even if he stubbornly goes his own way. That would destroy all of you, good and evil alike. (GNB)

What the devil did to Job’s first family was certainly not fair. The same could be said in our day about children who get cancer etc.

4.    If this had been your story would you have followed through with the experience in Hosea 3? What if you saw your pastor wandering around in the "red light” district, entering bar after bar and brothel after brothel "looking for his wife?” What would you think? What if Hosea’s wife had refused to go home? Do you think Hosea should then have tied her up and dragged her

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home against her will, and locked her in the bedroom? As you understand God’s character, is that what He would do?

Hosea 3 reminds us that times were different in those days! Culturally acceptable activities in our day would probably not include what Hosea did in Hosea 3! And what do we learn about God? We certainly cannot doubt his incredible willingness to go to almost any lengths to reach us and bring us home. (Compare Luke 15) But what if we don’t agree to come home? God does not provide us with a parable to illustrate that, but he does describe how he feels when we don’t respond-Hosea 11. God’s respect for our freedom will not allow him to force us to come home no matter how much he would like us to come back.

5.    Did God ask Hosea to violate everything that he had commanded previously about marriage? Do you think Hosea was a man of God and recognized as such in the community? Did people look up to him? In Christian marriages today, if people followed Hosea’s example, would they be better off or worse off? Was Hosea living a playboy’s life and encouraging other people to follow his example? What about Salmon marrying Rahab? (Joshua 2:1; 1 Chronicles 2:11; Ruth 4:21-22; Matthew 1:4-5; Luke 3:32)[3215]

When God asked Hosea to marry Gomer, He was not asking Hosea to live irresponsibly and commit adultery. It is even possible that Hosea married Gomer because she was the best wife available! Considering what others were doing at the time, Hosea’s activities may have seemed rather commonplace. (See 2 Kings 17:7-18; Hosea 4:13-14)[3216] Do we know how Hosea felt about his wife? There are a number of examples in the Bible of people marrying other people without the best possible records! If we all were as loving and considerate as Hosea apparently was toward his wife, this world would be a better place.

6.    When Hosea’s wife left him, did he say, "now I have church grounds for divorce, let me go and find another wife or let me add to my harem?” What do you think his wife thought when Hosea appeared "downtown” to ask her to come home? Was she "owned” by a pimp and sold to Hosea who then had a right to "demand” that she come home with him? Is this the way that God relates to us?

I hope Gomer was at least embarrassed to see her husband in that place! Perhaps it made her think of what she had become. But dragging her home would not result in the kind of love and affection that God had in mind for the ideal marriage! God would never try to force us to love him. Love cannot be commanded or produced by force or authority. (DA 22[3217]) God only asks us to regard him as our Friend.

7.    Which picture of God do you see in Hosea? (a) Jilted lover? (b) Angry bully? (c) Jealous husband? (d) Determined "dad?” (e) Frustrated father? (f) Disappointed but pleading and forgiving Bridegroom?

It is hard to image any more gracious picture than God crying out in Hosea 11 toward those who are apparently ready to abandon Him permanently. He weeps over those who refuse to come to Him. He is not "jilted”, "angry” or "frustrated” in a human sense at all! He is "jealous” in the best possible sense, and as "determined” as He can be to get us to come back. But His respect for our freedom prevents Him from violating our rights.

8.    Compare Revelation 13 & 14[3218] with the book of Hosea. Had the children of Israel become irreligious at this time? (See 2 Kings 17; 2 Chron. 36:14-16)[3219] Is the whole world going to become irreligious at the end or is it rather a question of what kind of "God” they will worship? Does calling God by the right name guarantee that you are truly worshiping Him?

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It is important to recognize that most of the “evils” that were going on in the days of Hosea were taking place in the name of religion. It will apparently be the same at the end of time. Satan will get world leaders and nations to declare a death sentence on God’s elect because they won’t cooperate in worshiping the Devil. (Revelation 13:15[3220]) Revelation 14[3221] suggests that the contrast at the end will be over what kind of a God we really admire and worship.

9.    Do you think we should read Hosea 4 literally or figuratively? Do you think the references to immorality throughout the book are literal or spiritual?

In the light of 2 Kings 17[3222], it would appear that this chapter is literal. Ezekiel 16 is certainly not much better! It represents a period maybe 100 years later in the southern kingdom, but conditions were much the same as they had been earlier in the north. Putting the whole picture together we might most honestly be inclined to feel that the pictures are both literal and spiritual.

10.    What if God had turned to the universe and said, "Do you see how much evil there is down on planet earth? It is not safe for Me to go down and associate with those people! I’m just going to leave them to the consequences of their own behavior!” Would the universe have understood and agreed with such an action ? (RH, 07-17-1900 par. 4-7; ST, 08-27-1902, par. 3-4; cf. DA 37[3223]) What would be the best illustration God could give to the universe about how he was trying to bring back his erring people?

It is hard for us to know how the angels feel about our marriages since none of them have experienced just what we experience. But they must have very close relationships with fellow angels and perhaps they can understand our situation a bit in that light.

"Before Christ’s first advent, the sin of refusing to conform to God’s law had become widespread. Apparently Satan’s power was growing; his warfare against heaven was becoming more and more determined. A crisis had been reached. With intense interest God’s movements were watched by the heavenly angels. Would He come forth from His place to punish the inhabitants of the world for their iniquity? Would He send fire or flood to destroy them? All heaven waited the bidding of their Commander to pour out the vials of wrath upon a rebellious world. One word from Him, one sign, and the world would have been destroyed. The worlds unfallen would have said,

‘Amen. Thou art righteous, O God, because Thou hast exterminated rebellion.’” The Signs of the Times, August 27, 1902; RC 58; compare The Youth’s Instructor, July 29, 1897; TMK 19[3224]

Isn’t it clear from this passage that angels have a sense of "justice!?”

11.    How do you relate this story to the later story of Ezra and Nehemiah who forcibly separated such marriages and sent the women and their children away? (Ezra 9 & 10; Nehemiah 13:1)[3225]

3) Why were they doing such a thing? Can you imagine the enormous risk that God ran in associating with us-even coming, being born and living as one of us? Could you think of a more dramatic way for God to illustrate how he has related to the entire human race than this story? Haven’t we humans left him, not just once, but many times?

Ezra and Nehemiah recognized the risk of allowing these practices to continue. They brought down the wisest king that ever lived! (Nehemiah 13:26[3226]) We have misrepresented God on so many occasions and God knows how serious this is! (Romans 1:18[3227]) It seems

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to be His number one sin. Jesus however, said that we should be prepared to forgive 490+ times, as he no doubt has done for many a human. Surely this story illustrates very graphically how we have abused God in our relationship with him.

12.    Notice what is missing in the land because they don’t know God very well-(Hosea 4:1 and Hosea 6:6)[3228]. What would the universe say about our world today?

What can God do with people who don’t even "know” him? There could never be love or trust. How much love and trust is there in our world today? Do we have much of a basis for trusting one another in our setting? By contrast, there is every imaginable reason for trusting God.

13.    Do you understand clearly what God’s wrath is? What does God do when He “pours out His wrath and anger?” (Compare Revelation 14:10[3229]) What happens to people on whom it is poured? Where would you look in the Bible to get a clear definition of God’s wrath? As a suggestion read through Romans 1 carefully and try to notice how Paul discusses God’s wrath. What does God’s wrath (Rom. 1:18) have to do with the "Good News” of which Paul is so proud (Rom 1:16[3230])? What does God actually do when "the wrath of God is revealed from heaven”? (Romans 1:18[3231]) What is implied by Romans 1:24-28[3232]? (Compare Hosea 4:16-17; Hos. 11:1-12[3233]) Then you must ask yourself, "Has God ever fully and finally given anyone up?” What would that mean? How would God "do” such a thing? What about the story of Adam and Eve and the original sin? God said, "If you eat of the tree (sin) you will die.” (Genesis 2:17[3234]) Does this suggest that if God gives someone up, they will die? (Compare Romans 6:23[3235]) If God is the source of life, and someone is “separated” from that source what is the result? Is there any verse in the Bible that specifically states what happens when someone is given up by God? Hasn’t God stated what would happen, but in His usual consummate way, hasn’t He also fully demonstrated it? See Romans 4:25[3236]. Compare Matthew 27:46[3237]. How was God involved in the death of His Son? What was the actual cause of Jesus’ death?

Understanding God’s anger or wrath, and how it is very different than human anger/wrath is one of the major lessons we need to learn from Scripture. The key is to understand what God does when He pours out His wrath. (Revelation 14:9-11[3238]) See Judges - A Teacher’s Guide #9. All through Scripture similar sentiments are expressed. Hosea 11:1-8 (Phillips) is particularly exemplary. When God allows us to exercise our freedom, we may even seek to kill Him! Putting together Romans 1, Hosea 11, Romans 4:25 and Matthew 27:46 should make it clear that God is not demanding his pound of flesh! God does not get carried away with his "emotions!” But when, in recognition of our rights and freedom, God finally admits that we have lived rebellious lives for so long that we are "bent” on rebellion and nothing he can do will bring us back, then God weeps as we go our own way.

Some think that if God just gives us up, that can’t be too serious! Jesus was given up on Calvary. Did He think it was serious? When Jesus was "given up” by the Father it was the most incredible thing that ever happened to them. Jesus died a human death. It is what the Bible describes as the death of sinners (Isaiah 53:4-9; 2 Corinthians 5:21)[3239], also known as the second death. (Revelation 2:11; Rev. 20:6,14; Rev. 21:8)[3240] It was the death of separation.

God does not torture or persecute the wicked in the end, He simply leaves them to reap the consequences of their own sins. (Galatians 6:7[3241]) “God’s wrath is best described as His turning away in loving disappointment from those who don’t want Him anyway, thus leaving them to the inevitable and awful consequences of their

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own rebellious choices.” (Graham Maxwell) God never “gives up” on His children until there is literally nothing more that He could do for them. Even at that point, as demonstrated here in Hosea 11, He weeps over them as they leave Him.

14.    Was God’s statement to Adam and Eve (Genesis 2:17[3242]) the equivalent of "either love and obey Me, or I’ll kill you?” Has God ever said such a thing?

Nowhere in the Bible is such a statement made or implied. This idea comes from pagan backgrounds and has worked its way into Christianity through the Greek notion of an immortal soul. If the soul is immortal then sinners must go somewhere if God cannot convince them to live righteous lives. Therefore, it is assumed that people will be "thrown into hell” where they will burn forever (because they are immortal). Then it is suggested that the way to avoid being thrown into hell is to be "forgiven” and "justified”. The implication is that if God will forgive us and "justify” us, then He won’t have to "burn” us. This implies terrible things about our relationship with God and perhaps even worse things about his character.

15.    What about the sad names of the three children of Hosea, how must those children have felt, with names like those? (Hosea 1:3-9[3243])

There are many things in the Bible that are not "fair”. What about the treatment of Job’s first family? (See Job 1[3244]) Isaiah also had sons whose names had prophetic meanings. (See Isaiah 8[3245]) How soon in their lives did the children of Gomer realize the significance of their names?

What we forget at times is that we call ourselves Christians. What are we doing to God’s name as we bear it? Almost everything in life has associations and hidden meanings based on past or future events and we carry around with us our own personal and group identities. Thus in a real sense each of us carries a name or names that might not be the best. Are we always proud to carry the name of our church?

16.    What happens to people who worship idols? What does God do to people who insist on ignoring Him? (]Hosea 7:13-14; Hos. 8:2-3,13; Hos. 9:10; Hos. 4:17][3246]; Compare 2 Chronicles 36:14-16; Ps. 115:1-8; Isaiah 44:9-20)[3247] What does He do with people who are very religious, take God’s name, but never really get to "know Him”? (Matthew 7:22-23[3248])

See #13 above. If we insist on our own ways God will finally allow us to go. We will become like the thing that we worship and admire. It is a natural law of the mind that causes this to happen. (GC 555) Our children become like us in many ways because they watch us and copy what they see. In light of this it should not be surprising that people who worship idols are affected by it in an adverse way. The people in Hosea’s day seemed to think that they could claim to be worshipers of Yahweh and that this would protect them and allow them to reap the benefits of being a true worshiper of Yahweh and at the same time they were spending most of their time with the fertility cult religions that were so popular. As a result they lost the true knowledge of Yahweh and became "as disgusting as the gods they loved”. (Hosea 9:10[3249], GNB)

© Copyright 1996-2006, Kenneth Hart khart@llu.edu

E G White Comments:

“To many these commands seem to be contrary to the spirit of love and mercy enjoined in other portions of the Bible, but they were in truth the dictates of infinite

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wisdom and goodness. God was about to establish Israel in Canaan, to develop among them a nation and government that should be a manifestation of His kingdom upon the earth. They were not only to be inheritors of the true religion, but to disseminate its principles throughout the world. The Canaanites had abandoned themselves to the foulest and most debasing heathenism, and it was necessary that the land should be cleared of what would so surely prevent the fulfillment of God’s gracious purposes.

"The inhabitants of Canaan had been granted ample opportunity for repentance. Forty years before, the opening of the Red Sea and the judgments upon Egypt had testified to the supreme power of the God of Israel. And now the overthrow of the kings of Midian, of Gilead and Bashan, had further shown that Jehovah was above all gods. The holiness of His character and His abhorrence of impurity had been evinced in the judgments visited upon Israel for their participation in the abominable rites of Baalpeor. All these events were known to the inhabitants of Jericho, and there were many who shared Rahab’s conviction, though they refused to obey it, that Jehovah, the God of Israel, "is God in heaven above, and upon the earth beneath.” Like the men before the Flood, the Canaanites lived only to blaspheme Heaven and defile the earth. And both love and justice demanded the prompt execution of these rebels against God and foes to man.” Patriarchs and Prophets p. 492 (1890)

II.    "The Lord does not delight in vengeance, though he executes judgment upon the transgressors of his law. He is forced to do this, to preserve the inhabitants of the earth from utter depravity and ruin. In order to save some, he must cut off those who have become hardened in sin. Says the prophet Isaiah: "The Lord shall rise up as in mount Perazim, he shall be wroth as in the valley of Gibeon, that he may do his work, his strange work, and bring to pass his act, his strange act.” [Isaiah 28:21[3250]] The work of wrath and destruction is indeed a strange, unwelcome work for Him who is infinite in love.” The Signs of the Times August 24, 1882

Summary:

It should be clear from these passages that God granted the peoples of Canaan a period of probation amounting to 430 years. He sent them "missionaries”-His friends Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Lot, Job and Melchizedek-but they continued to grow more and more wicked. At the end of their period of probation, because of their wickedness, God’s plan was to drive them out or to hand them over to the Israelites.

In the same way, God gave the land to the Israelites for a period of about 600-700 years. They turned out to be just as wicked as their predecessors in the land. After 600 years, the northern kingdom of Israel was thus allowed to go into oblivion or death at the hands of the Assyrians. The southern kingdom of Judah remained for about 130 years longer until they were conquered three times in a row by Nebuchadnezzar. Their land was totally destroyed and they were taken off to captivity. Later they came back, but only as a nation in subjection to the ruling powers.

Those who chose to come back were given another 500+ years to try to learn the lessons God wanted them to learn. At that point after rejecting Jesus and crucifying him, their nation was totally destroyed by the Romans. They have never again fully possessed the land.

III.    How does God feel about this? Hosea 11:7,8

Hosea 11:8,9. "How, oh how, can I give you up , Ephraim!

How, oh how, can I hand you over, Israel!

How can I turn you into a Sodom!

How can I treat you like a Gomorrah!

My heart recoils within me, all my compassion is kindled.

I will not give vent to my fierce anger--

I will not destroy Ephraim again." (Phillips)

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45. JOEL - A TEACHER’S GUIDE

THE CENTRAL QUESTION:

What does this book/story say to us about God?

This question may be broken down further as follows: a. Why did God do it/allow it?

_b. Why did He record it for our study?_

1. If Joel were missing from the Bible would it affect your picture of God in any way? What is the main message of Joel? (See Joel 1:4,15; 2:1,2,10,11,13,17,27,28,31; 3:1-2,12,14,17[3251]) When do you think Joel prophesied? To whom?

"The name Joel means ‘Yahweh is God.’ The first syllable is an abbreviation of the name Yahweh, and the second syllable is ‘el, the general Hebrew word for God. Concerning the prophet’s personal life, we know only that which appears in this book. It states that he was the son of Pethuel (1:1). Although the name Joel appears frequently in the Old Testament (cf. 1 Sam. 8:2; 1 Chr. 4:35; 6:33; 11:38; 15:7, 11, 17; Ezra 10:43; Neh. 11:9)[3252], [The author is one of 14 men in the Old Testament who shared this name] no reason appears for linking this prophet with other usages of the name. Joel had intimate knowledge of the service and personnel of the temple, but he does not appear to have been a priest. He was apparently a native of Jerusalem and a man of deep spiritual insight. Because he was inspired, he was able to see what the average man could not see. He could see eternal principles in temporal processes. Thus, Joel saw in the coming of the drought and the devastating locust swarms characteristics of the great and notable day of Yahweh. In the rain upon the parched earth he saw the outpouring of the Spirit, which would satisfy and renew the parched souls of spiritually thirsty men in the coming days (Joe 2:28, 29[3253]).” (Believer’s Study Bible)

"Scholars have offered various dates for the writing of the Book of Joel, from early preexilic times to as late as 350 b.c. Some believe that internal evidence in the Book of Joel indicates that the book was written during the reign of Joash king of Judah (835-796 b.c.), and in the time of the high priest Jehoiada. This view is based on the following considerations: (1) The location of the book between Hosea and Amos in the Hebrew canon suggests a preexilic date of writing. (2) The allusion to the neighboring nations as Judah’s foes rather than Assyria, Babylon, or Persia points to an early date for the book. (3) The book does not mention any reigning king, which may suggest a time when the responsibility for ruling rested upon the priests and elders—as was the case during the early reign of young king Joash (see 2 Kin. 11:4-12:21[3254]).

"Others believe that the Book of Joel is so close in tone and idea to the Book of Zephaniah that it is likely that the two prophets were contemporaries. The primary evidence for this is the fact that both books prominently feature the concept of the impending "day of the Lord” (compare Joel 2:2 with Zeph. 1:14-16)[3255]. Since Zephaniah’s book dates from around 627 b.c., a number of scholars assign a date of about 600 b.c. for the Book of Joel.” (Nelson Study Bible)

"The date of the writing of the Book of Joel and the time of the prophetic activity of the man himself are difficult to determine. The years following 835 b.c. mark the traditional date for the book. This was when Joash was placed upon the throne at the age of seven and

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Jehoiada the priest functioned as the real ruler (2 Kin. 11; 12[3256]). This time period seems to fit Joel, since there is no awareness of the influence of a king or royal government in the book. Furthermore, the influence of the priesthood appears to be strong throughout. Also favoring a ninth-century date are the foreign nations to which he refers. Because Joel mentions the Greeks (Joel 3:6[3257]), some believe the lack of reference to a king points to a postexilic date. It is to be noted that Joel and Amos have similar material (cf. Joel 2:2 and Amos 5:18; Joel 3:16 and Amos 2:2; and Joel 3:18 and Amos 9:13)[3258]. Some believe that Joel borrowed from Amos, but it is more likely that Amos (c. 760 b.c.), under the inspiration of God, either preached from Joel or simply prophesied the same truths in his day that Joel did in his.” (Believer’s Study Bible)

Others feel that "Joel was a contemporary of both Hosea and Amos, though he ministered to the southern kingdom while they ministered to the northern kingdom.” (King James Version Study Bible)

"Joel writes as God’s crisis management expert. Something terrible is in the process of happening to Judah. Her land stands devastated by what the prophet calls ‘locusts.’ Destruction reigns everywhere, and drought threatens. Into this moment of crisis steps Joel with warnings and answers. The prophet tells us what happened. He proclaims what the immediate response of God’s people should be. He explains what Judahites should feel in their hearts. Most importantly, Joel talks about the future and hope. The terrible situation now is not the end. God’s final answer then involves restoration and blessing. Any human facing crisis today can learn from these ancient words of wisdom.” (Joel - The Bible Amplifier Series)

"THEME: Repentance and the Day of the Lord:

"Joel stressed repentance. In Hebrew, as in Greek, to repent is essentially ‘to turn around.’ Joel proclaims that without deep and sincere repentance the children of Israel have no hope of restoration. If they do not alter their course and return to their God, only suffering and the shame of exile appear in their future. Because of who God is, physical disaster accompanies moral disintegration. Joel noted the spiritual implications of contemporary events and saw eschatological harbingers in the plague of locusts. The locusts were precursors of ‘the day of the Lord’ (Joel 2:1[3259]). There have been several days of the Lord in history, all of which serve as God’s warning of the day of the Lord in the end times. The day of the Lord is first and primarily a message of judgment and secondarily, as a result of judgment, a message of future restoration and hope. The message of Joel was initially for his day. He boldly censured the sins of the people and pointed to their dire need to repent. Then, after speaking to the issues and problems of his day, under divine guidance Joel turned his face toward the future. In Joel 2:28[3260]ff. he predicts the day of the coming of the Holy Spirit upon ‘all flesh’ (cf. Acts 2:1-21[3261]). Peter quotes this passage from Joel and applies it to what transpired on the Day of Pentecost (Acts 2:17). Peter’s first words, by way of application and explanation, are ‘But this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel’ (Acts 2:16). ‘This’ denotes the miracle of speaking in foreign languages which Jerusalem had just witnessed. ‘What’ points back to the prediction which Joel had made concerning some of the details and processes of the miracle of Pentecost. Peter does not claim that all of Joel 2:28ff. found fulfillment. He asserts that it was an example of Joel’s prediction that the ‘great and awesome day of the Lord’ may yet be ahead and rapidly drawing near. In dealing with

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judgment Joel uses a destructive locust plague and lengthy dry spell to portray the disasters which would come if the children of Israel did not repent. He further stresses in chapter 1 the urgency of repentance in view of the possible apocalyptic ‘day of the Lord.’ Not all of Joel’s prophecy saw fulfillment on the Day of Pentecost; some of it is yet to come. The great signs and wonders in the heavens and the earth, along with the restoration of the captives of Judah, are events beyond the immediate scope of Pentecost.” (Believer’s Study Bible)

"The Book of Joel has had an important place in the life of the church. The New Testament indicates that Jesus and His followers were familiar with the writings of Joel. The book’s influence is most evident in the New Testament passages that speak of the end times. They use Joel’s vivid images to describe the day of the Lord and the plague of locusts (e.g., Mark 13:24; Luke 21:25; Rev. 6:9; 9:2)[3262]. Also important are the promises in Joel 2:28-32, which Peter quotes at Pentecost, claiming they have reached their fulfillment in the event of Pentecost (Acts 2:16-21[3263]). Paul in Rom. 10:13 also refers to the prophecy; he uses Joel 2:32[3264] to show that ‘there is no distinction between Jew and Greek.’ Salvation is offered to all peoples. As Joel had said: ‘whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved’ (2:32).

"The church has continued to find the teaching in the Book of Joel on the day of the Lord to be an important source of hope and comfort on the one hand, and a word of warning on the other. In times of distress and trouble, Christians have found the promises about the ultimate blessing, protection, and vindication of the Lord’s covenant community to be consoling and inspiring. At the same time, Joel’s graphic depiction of the dreadful aspects of the day of the Lord has served as a reminder of God’s holiness and judgment and as a continuing call to wholehearted repentance and holiness of life.” (NewGeneva Study Bible)

Joel: 1) comes from the southern kingdom of Judah, 2) is a good writer, and 3) is familiar with the temple and its services. He may have been one of the special prophets that were at times apparently directly connected to the work of the temple.

2. What were the locusts mentioned especially in Joel 1:1-6[3265]? Many Bible students believe the plague of locusts to be referring to literal locusts. Others argue that the locusts are only a symbol of a military invasion. Which of these views is correct?

"Interpreters throughout the ages have been faced with the question of whether to interpret the locusts in the Book of Joel literally or figuratively. Historically, the majority of interpreters have understood the locusts as symbols offuture enemies (e.g., one manuscript of the Septuagint [Greek Old Testament] understood the four kinds of locusts to symbolize the Egyptians, Assyrians, Greeks, and Romans). But present-day interpreters see these creatures, at least in ch. 1, as actual locusts. Joel indeed moves quickly from an accurate description of a real devastation by locusts in ch. 1 to a description of the dreadful locustlike army of the Lord that blends the literal and figurative in ch. 2. It seems then that the destruction by locusts that Joel had seen became the vehicle for his prophecy proclaiming the need to repent in view of the coming day of the Lord.” (New Geneva Study Bible)

"As an illustration of a severe locust plague in Palestine, the report of an eyewitness, H. Schneller, director of the Syrian orphanage in Jerusalem, is here presented: ‘We had a famine in the 2d year of the war [1915] such as we had not experienced in 50 years. The sky was darkened by the gigantic swarms of locusts which covered the whole country, and

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neither sun nor moon could be seen. All of Palestine was transformed into a desert within a few days. All trees, from their tops to the ground, including the bark, were eaten up clean; our vegetable gardens, cultivated with so much labor, disappeared as by magic. The following spring there crept forth from hundreds of billions of eggs the new brood, which consumed the little that had been left. The result was a terrific famine’” (Evangelisches Sonntagsblatt fer Bonn, April 26, 1925). (Quoted in SDA Bible Dictionary)

"The specific descriptions of the locusts are quite detailed. Joel knew what locusts really were like. Joel 1:4 uses four different terms for locusts out of nine possible Old Testament words. The exact meanings of these words are not known, and English translations vary in how they translate the words. Some have suggested that the words represent four stages of the locust life cycle (Watts, 16). If this is so, the first stage is the larva, or grub, stage. Following the grub stage would be a nymph stage, where no flying is done, but the locust is a crawling devourer. The third stage is the swarming stage in which the locusts develop wings and prepare to fly to new areas in search of food. The last stage is the mature insect. The process of this development can take as much as three years.

"Even if these different words do not clearly depict the life cycle of locusts, it would seem strange to use so many different technical words for locusts if they were only a general symbol for something else. Even the passage that talks of God’s restoration of Israel from the effects of these locusts uses a number of different specific terms to describe them (2:25).

"We should not leave the subject of locusts without trying to sense how horrible a plague of locusts can be. It is obvious that what happened in this plague greatly impressed Joel. Nothing like this, he believes, has happened in the lifetime of the elders of Israel or in the days of their forefathers (1:2). Israelite children are to be told of it, and they are, in turn, to pass the word on to their children who will tell the next generation. This is big news.

"Nowadays locust outbreaks can be prevented in many cases. Careful monitoring can spot incipient locust swarms, and they can be destroyed by pesticides. In earlier times such things were not available.

"When locusts enter their gregarious swarming stages, they can migrate great distances. They have been observed 1,200 miles out at sea. The total size of the swarm can be huge, containing up to 120 million insects per square mile! In 1889, a swarm across the Red Sea covered 2,000 square miles (McComisky, 256). To prevent an out- break of locusts in Cyprus in 1881, egg cases totaling a net weight of 1,300 tons were dug up by hand.

"Not having experienced such a phenomenon, we can only faintly sense the horror of having a swarming, hopping, sun-darkening, chewing mass descend on your land. In 1915, journalist John D. Whiting stood almost where Joel stood in Jerusalem and recorded the following words: ‘Sudden darkening of the bright sunshine... clouds . . . so dense as to appear quite black. . . in an inconceivably short time every leaf is consumed, leaving bare and barked twigs only. . . . It seemed as if the entire surface of the ground moved, producing a most curious effect upon one’s vision and causing dizziness... . Up and up the city walls and the castle they climbed to their very heights’ (Brodsky, 34). The horror of the actual locust invasion would be repeated by its sober after effects. For agricultural people, locusts

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were disaster. Crops and animal feed were destroyed. Those lacking adequate stores or money to buy food could easily starve. Is it any wonder Joel was concerned? (Bible Amplifier Series - Joel)

3. What is the meaning of "the day of the Lord?” (Joel 1:15; 2:1,11,31; 3:14)[3266] What events are connected with the "great and terrible day of the Lord?” (Joel 2:11,31[3267]) Is the day of the Lord the day of His triumphant return? The day of His judgment? A time when everyone will recognize God as the Lord? How long a time is included in "the day of the Lord?” (Compare 2 Peter 3:8[3268]) Could an individual or a particular nation have their own "day of the Lord” or is there just one final "day of the Lord?” Will the final day of the Lord be a day of terror for everybody or just for the wicked? (Isaiah 25:9; Amos 5:18-20; Obadiah 15; Zephaniah 1:1418; Acts 2:20,21; 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11; Peter 3:10)[3269]

The Day of the Lord

“One of the central themes of the Book of Joel is ‘the day of the Lord’ (Joel 1:15; 2:1[3270]). This language describes a period of time in which God ‘comes down’ in a dramatic way to bring wrath and judgment on the wicked and salvation to the righteous. God is Lord of time. There is no period that is not ‘the day of the Lord’ in a general sense. But at times God enters the space-time arena to assert in bold, dramatic ways that He is in control.

“The day of the Lord is a major theme of Old Testament prophecy. Thirteen of the sixteen prophets address this subject. The concept of the day of the Lord probably originated with the conquest of Canaan—a conquest which was in fact the Lord’s war (see Deut. 1:30; 3:22; Josh. 5:13-15; 6:2)[3271]; that is, a day of judgment for the wicked Canaanites (see Lev. 18:25; Deut. 9:4, 5)[3272].

"The day of the Lord is not an isolated phenomenon or a single event in human history. Periods in Israel’s early history and latter history, the coming of Jesus, and His second advent are all called ‘the day of the Lord’ in Scripture. The predictions of a coming day of the Lord can be fulfilled in a number of different events. The invasion of locusts in the historic events of the life of Joel was the day of the Lord (ch. 2). But the day of wrath and deliverance that soon fell on Judah in the Babylonian invasion was also the day of the Lord.

“While most references speak of future events, five biblical texts describe the day of the Lord in terms of past judgments (see Is. 22:1-14; Jer. 46:2-12; Lam. 1:1-2:22; Ezek. 13:1-9[3273]). These texts reflect circumstances of military defeat, tragedy, and judgment. Such events may have stimulated the development of the prophetic concept of a future ‘day’ or time of judgment for the disobedient of Israel and all of the nations (see Joel 1:15; Is. 13:6, 9; Zeph. 1:14-18)[3274].

“However, the day of the Lord is not just a day of wrath and judgment on the disobedient. In some contexts, it also includes deliverance and restoration for the righteous. The day of the Lord speaks not only of future judgment, but of future hope, prosperity, and blessing (see Is. 4:2-6; Hos. 2:18-23; Amos 9:11-15; Mic. 4:6-8)[3275]. Joel reveals that this day is to be heralded by heavenly phenomena (2:30, 31) which will bring sudden darkness and gloom on the earth (2:2). It will be a day of divine destruction (1:15) on the nations that have persecuted Israel (3:12-14) and on the rebellious and disobedient

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of Israel (Amos 5:18-20[3276]). Yet it will also be a time of deliverance and unprecedented blessing for God’s people (Joel 2:32; 3:16, 18-21; 1 Thess. 5:2-5)[3277].” (Nelson Study Bible)

"Natural disasters —from rising flood waters to violent earthquakes—provoke fear and dread. With all their ingenuity, people still cannot control these powerful and destructive forces. They can only watch in awe. Joel begins his book with a description of such a natural disaster—a plague of ravenous locusts. In the prophet’s hands, the destructiveness of this plague becomes a vivid warning of the power of God’s coming judgment and a clear appeal to run to the Lord for mercy.” (Nelson Study Bible)

It seems quite clear that Joel had at least two "days of the Lord” in mind in his book. One was the immediate time of the coming of the locusts. The other "day of the Lord” comes later, as a time of judgment for the wicked and a reward for the righteous. Compare Zephaniah who also talks a lot about the "day of the Lord”.

"Day of the Lord. [Heb. yom Yahweh; Gr. he hemera tou Kuriou]. Consistently in both the Old and New Testaments this and similar expressions denote the time when God intervenes in human affairs to execute judgment upon evildoers or to deliver His people from the hands of their oppressors, or both. The day of divine visitation upon ancient Egypt (Jeremiah 46:10[3278]) and Babylon (Isaiah 13:6,9[3279]) is spoken of as ‘the day of the Lord’ upon these nations, but it is also a day when God promises to restore Israel (Isaiah 14:1,2; Jer 46:27,28)[3280]. ‘The day of the Lord’ was also to be a day of judgment upon His own people because of their evil ways (Joel 1:15; 2:1[3281]), the Babylonian captivity in particular being thus spoken of (Zep 1:7, 14, 18; 2:2[3282]). The expression also came to refer to the great final day when God would subdue the heathen nations of earth and establish His own people in their rightful dominion (Isaiah 2:2, 12; 34:8; Joel 3:14; Obadiah 15, 17; Zec 14:1; Mal 4:5)[3283]. As a day of judgment upon evildoers it is called a ‘day of darkness’ (Joel 2:1, 2; Amos 5:18-20)[3284], dark because of divine wrath (Eze 7:19[3285]).

"NT writers likewise picture the day of the Lord as a ‘day of wrath’ (Rom 2:5, 6[3286]) and a ‘day of judgment’ (Mt 10:15; 2 Pe 3:7)[3287]. They refer to it as ‘the day of the Lord Jesus’ (2 Cor 1:14[3288]), ‘the day of Jesus Christ’ (Philippians 1:6[3289]), or simply as ‘the day of Christ’ (v 10). In view of the fact that the affairs of earth would all come to a halt at that time—it was to be the last day of this present world—it is variously called ‘the great day’ (Jude 6[3290]), ‘that day’ (Mt 7:22; 1 Th 5:4[3291]), or simply as ‘the day’ (1 Cor 3:13[3292]). ‘The day of the Lord’ is preeminently the day when the Lord Jesus Christ appears to summon the righteous from their graves (Jn 6:39[3293]), to purge the earth with fire (2 Pe 3:7-12[3294]), and to establish His everlasting kingdom of righteousness (Matt 25:31, 34; cf. 2 Peter 3:13, 14)[3295].” (SDA Bible Dictionary)

"‘The day of the Lord (Joel 1:15[3296]) is an important term in Scripture, but many Bible readers find it confusing because different authors seem to use it to refer to different things. In fact, ‘the day of the Lord’ appears to have three different meanings in Joel:

(1)    a coming day of judgment for Israel (1:15; 2:1-11[3297]).

(2)    a coming day of restoration for Israel (2:28-32[3298]).

(3)    a coming day of judgment for the nations (3:1-21[3299]).” (Word in Life Study Bible)

4. What will it be like to come face-to-face with God? He knows everything about the universe and about you. He knows every sin that you have committed. He could destroy you with one word. Could He possibly ever get irritated or upset by something that you do? There is no

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way to hide anything from Him? Do you think you could live at peace with Someone like that for eternity? Is there any way to settle this problem from the Bible? Is it more convincing to look at a statement (a claim) or to look at lots of examples of how God treats his erring children (sinners)? Why do you think angels veil their faces in His presence? (See Isaiah 6:1-3[3300])

Think of all the examples we have in the Bible of how God treats sinners-even those He knows are not going to repent and come back to Him. Think of the stories of Jacob, Joseph’s brothers, Rahab, Samson, Saul, David, Solomon, Manasseh, and how long He was patient with the descendants of Abraham. Look at Mary Magdalene (the woman taken in adultery), the scribes and Pharisees who brought the woman, Simon, the leper, Zacchaeus, the tax collector, Judas, Peter and the other disciples, even Paul who persecuted the church for years! The best saints in the Bible were often also some of the worst sinners! (1 Timothy 1:15) Why do you think that is?

Are we safe in the judgment because Jesus has "covered our sins with His blood” or because of the way God treats all of His children even those who don’t come back to Him? How will God treat His erring children? What or who kills sinners in the end?

Ezekiel 33:11. "Tell them that as surely as I, the Sovereign Lord, am the living God, I do not enjoy seeing a sinner die. I would rather see him stop sinning and live. Israel, stop the evil you are doing. Why do you want to die?” (GNB)

Luke 9:54-55. 54 "When the disciples James and John saw this, they said, ‘Lord, do you want us to call fire down from heaven to destroy them? [Footnote: Some manuscripts add as Elijah did.] 55 Jesus turned and rebuked them. [Some manuscripts add and said, ‘You don’t know what kind of a Spirit you belong to; for the Son of Man did not come to destroy human lives, but to save them.’]” (GNB)

John 3:17. "For God did not send his Son into the world to be its judge, but to be its savior.” (GNB)

Hebrews 2:14. "Since the children, as he calls them, are people of flesh and blood, Jesus himself became like them and shared their human nature. He did this so that through his death he might destroy the Devil, who has the power over death, and in this way set free those who were slaves all their lives because of the fear of death.” (GNB)

1 John 3:8. "Whoever continues to sin belongs to the Devil, because the Devil has sinned from the very beginning. The Son of God appeared for this very reason, to destroy what the Devil had done.” (GNB)

"God destroys no man. Everyone who is destroyed will have destroyed himself. Everyone who stifles the admonitions of conscience is sowing the seeds of unbelief, and these will produce a sure harvest.” Christ’s Object Lessons 84 (1900); compare ST June 5, 1884; RH February 17, 1891; October 24, 1912; YI, November 30, 1893; FLB 155; OHC 26; see also 5T 120; and #70; contrast #52

"Thus the arch-fiend clothes with his own attributes the Creator and Benefactor of mankind. Cruelty is Satanic. God is love; and all that he created was pure, holy, and lovely, until sin was brought in by the first great rebel. Satan himself is the enemy

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who tempts man to sin, and then destroys him if he can; and when he has made sure of his victim, then he exults in the ruin he has wrought. If permitted, he would sweep the entire race into his net. Were it not for the interposition of divine power, not one son or daughter of Adam would escape.” Spirit of Prophecy, vol. 4, 354 (1884); Great Controversy 534 (1888)

“No soul is ever finally deserted of God, given up to his own ways, so long as there is any hope of his salvation. ‘Man turns from God, not God from him.’ Our heavenly Father follows us with appeals and warnings and assurances of compassion, until further opportunities and privileges would be wholly in vain. The responsibility rests with the sinner. By resisting the Spirit of God today, he prepares the way for a second resistance of light when it comes with mightier power. Thus he passes on from one stage of resistance to another, until at last the light will fail to impress, and he will cease to respond in any measure to the Spirit of God.” Mount of Blessing 93 (1896); compare DA 322,323[3301]

"To sin, wherever found, ‘our God is a consuming fire.’ Hebrews 12:29. In all who submit to His power the Spirit of God will consume sin. But if men cling to sin, they become identified with it. Then the glory of God, which destroys sin, must destroy them. Jacob, after his night of wrestling with the Angel, exclaimed, ‘I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved.’ Genesis 32:30. Jacob had been guilty of a great sin in his conduct toward Esau; but he had repented. His transgression had been forgiven, and his sin purged; therefore he could endure the revelation of God’s presence. But wherever men came before God while willfully cherishing evil, they were destroyed. At the second advent of Christ the wicked shall be consumed ‘with the Spirit of His mouth,’ and destroyed ‘with the brightness of His coming.’ 2 Thessalonians 2:8. The light of the glory of God, which imparts life to the righteous, will slay the wicked.” Desire of Ages 107-108 (1898); 3SG 294,295; 1SP 260,261; ST June 10, 1880; May 6, 1886; PP 339; Mar 40; LDE 279; FLB 176

It is not God who destroys the wicked, but sin. God will save everyone who can be admitted safely to the heavenly kingdom. But sin and rebellion must come to an end. So finally God has to allow each of us to reap what we have sown. (See Galatians 6:7[3302]) God will weep as the wicked perish. This doesn’t prevent them from dying because He is not the One killing them. Sin is a deadly poison. If we persist in associating with it and allowing it to rule in our lives, ignoring God’s remedies, He will have to finally give us up. This is what the Bible describes of the ultimate and final "day of the Lord”.

5. In the scriptures what usually happens when someone suddenly gets a revelation of God? What does God immediately do and say? (Ezekiel 1:28-2:2,6; 44:4; Daniel 8:17,18; 10:4-12; Revelation 1:17; 19:10)[3303]; Compare (Exodus 20:20; Deuteronomy 9:7-21; Hebrews 12:21; John 15:15; Daniel 2:46)[3304]. What does this suggest about the kind of relationship He wants to have with us? Could God ever actually be our Friend?

Ezekiel 1:28-2:2: "...This was the dazzling light that shows the presence of the Lord. When I saw this, I fell face downwards on the ground. Then I heard a voice

2:1 saying, "Mortal man, stand up. I want to talk to you.” 2While the voice was speaking, God’s spirit entered me and raised me to my feet, and I heard the voice continue,...” (GNB)

Please note that virtually always when prophets fall at the feet of an angel or God Himself who comes to speak with the prophet, God’s instructions are to stand up because God

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wants to talk to them like a friend. God doesn’t even want us to "grovel” in the dust! What God wants from each of us is a measure of understanding friendship.

"We need to educate and train the mind so that we shall have an intelligent faith, and have an understanding friendship with Jesus. Unless we continually cherish friendship between God and our souls, we shall separate from him, and walk apart from him. We shall make friends of those around us, and place our trust in humanity, and our affections will be diverted from the true object of worship.” Youth’s Instructor, July 19, 1894 par. 5; Sons and Daughters of God, p. 27.4

6. "The day of the Lord” is always described as very near. ([Joel 1:15; 2:1,2; 3:14; Zephaniah 1:14; 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11; 1 John 2:18; Romans 13:11,12; 1 Corinthians 7:29; 1 Thessalonians 4:15,17; Hebrews 10:25; James 5:8,9; 1 Peter 4:7; Revelation 22:6,7][3305] contrast 2 Thessalonians 2:1-6; Revelation 7:1-3)[3306] Do you feel that God has been misleading us by these statements? What does "near” mean to you? To God? What did it mean to the people in Joel’s day?

See # 3 above. "The Bible presents the day of the Lord as an imminent reality. It is not something that we are gradually moving toward; rather, it is ever ready to burst in on us. At any moment, the day that is ‘near’ may become present.” (Nelson Study Bible)

1 John 2:18: Children, this is the last hour. You heard that the enemy of Christ would appear at this time, and many of Christ’s enemies have already appeared. So we know that the last hour is here. The Contemporary English Version

"The repetitions of "near,” arranged so closely together, (Zephaniah 1:14[3307]) stress the nearness of the event. So terrible is this day that even the mighty men (i.e., warriors) shriek in horror. The Christian should be careful not to adopt a complacent or cynical attitude regarding the day of the Lord (2 Pet. 3:3, 4[3308]), but instead should adopt an attitude of expectancy, because the event is sure and ever present on the horizon (2 Pet. 3:12[3309]).” (Believer’s Study Bible)

"The angels of God in their messages to men represent time as very short. [See Romans 13:11,12; 1 Corinthians 7:29; 1 Thessalonians 4:15,17; Hebrews 10:25; James 5:8,9; 1 Peter 4:7; 1 John 2:18; Revelation 22:6,7.][3310] Thus it has always been presented to me. It is true that time has continued longer than we expected in the early days of this message. Our Saviour did not appear as soon as we hoped. But has the Word of the Lord failed? Never! It should be remembered that the promises and the threatenings of God are alike conditional.” Evangelism 695.1; LDE 38.3; Mar 61.1; 1SM 67.8

Since "the day of the Lord” has different means in different contexts there must also be different understandings of what is "near”. Certain disasters were described in Scripture as "near” and they came. Even the end of one’s own life should always be considered "near”. We never know from one day to the next what might happen to us. Since we believe that the dead are "sleeping” and that God will come to "awaken” them at the day of final judgment, for them there is no passage of time. The very next thing they will experience is "the day of the Lord”. So it should be apparent that each one of us is no more than a few heartbeats from "the day of the Lord”.

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7.    Is the day of the Lord going to be a day of brightness for everybody? (Amos 5:18-20; Zephaniah 1:14-18; Matthew 7:22,23; Revelation 6:16)[3311] What was the quality of worship of those who were mistakenly looking forward to the "day of the Lord?” (Amos 5:20-24[3312])

Unfortunately, not everyone who thinks about "the day of the Lord” sees it as a reason to reform their lives. In Amos’ day (and on many other occasions in Scripture) the people in Jerusalem (they were often the ones who got the messages directed at them) felt quite certain that the "evils” of "the day of the Lord” would not affect them. They believed they were God’s chosen people, "God’s remnant church”. But God has not promised any of us that we are exempt from the terrors of "the day of the Lord”. Even the righteous at the end of time will pass through a time of real suffering and persecution. So even the thought of "the day of the Lord” should keep us aware of what is coming. This does not mean that we need to be constantly trying to frighten people with threats about what will happen to them if they don’t "straighten up”.

“The shortness of time is urged as an incentive for us to seek righteousness and to make Christ our friend. This is not the great motive. It savors of selfishness. Is it necessary that the terrors of the day of God be held before us to compel us through fear to right action? This ought not to be.” (Reviewand Herald Aug. 2, 1881) 1RH 273:1:6; That I May Know Him p. 320

8.    What do you think is the connection between the pouring out of God’s Spirit, and the signs in the sun, moon, and stars? (Joel 2:28-32; 3:14-17; Matthew 24:29-31; Mark 13:24-27; Luke 21:25-28; Acts 2:17-21)[3313]

“Joel 2:28 "All flesh” means, among other things, the coming of the Spirit upon God’s people democratically. There is no discrimination. The old, the young, the women, the servant class, and all those in that culture least expected to receive divine favor will be recipients of this blessing. The only condition throughout Joel’s prophecies is true repentance to the Lord, which involves turning from sin on the one hand and trusting by faith (with all one’s heart) on the other. The O.T. emphasizes repentance (turning) and the N.T. emphasizes faith (trusting). They are two sides of the same coin. Repentance and faith are not synonymous but they are inseparable. One cannot be turning without trusting, nor trusting without turning. That is why repentance resulted in turning to the Lord with all one’s heart. True repentance is not just superficial emotionalism.

“Joel 2:30,31: These cosmic disturbances predicted among celestial bodies did not occur at Pentecost (Acts 2). Luke recorded Joel’s prediction chiefly because it laid the groundwork for the speaking in foreign languages, which did reach adequate fulfillment in Acts 2:1-47; 10:46; 19:6[3314]. Pentecost was God’s merciful and evangelistic preparation for "the great and awesome day of the Lord” which is yet to come. It is like an eschaton (Gk., meaning "last”) within the eschaton implied in Heb. 1:1, 2[3315]. The latter days began with the birth of Jesus; no matter how long they may last, there will be one great, terrible, final "day of the Lord.” The precise nature of these cosmic disturbances is not certain. What is evident is that the heavenly bodies which give and reflect light will undergo cataclysmic upheavals associated with the intervention of God in the affairs of men.” (Believer’s Study Bible)

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“Joel 2:28-32 After describing the physical blessings that would come upon his generation if they would repent, Joel describes the spiritual blessings that God would bestow upon His people in the future. This passage was quoted by Peter on the Day of Pentecost (see Acts 2:17-21[3316]) to explain the miracle of speaking in tongues. There are three main viewpoints regarding how Joel’s prophecy was used by Peter in Acts 2:17-21: (1) Some interpreters see a complete fulfillment of Joel’s prophecy in the experience of the first believers on the Day of Pentecost. The outpouring of the Spirit ushered in the kingdom age. The wonders in the skies were fulfilled at the crucifixion, when darkness covered the land.

(2) Some interpreters believe that Peter was simply using Joel’s prophecy as an illustration of what was happening. In effect, Peter was saying, "This is that same Holy Spirit which was spoken of by Joel.” According to this view, the prophecy will be fulfilled in the future when the remnant of Israel believes. (3) Some suggest that Joel’s prophecy was partially fulfilled on the Day of Pentecost. The gift of the Holy Spirit was given, but the signs mentioned in vv. 30-32 will be fulfilled later in connection with the return of Christ in great glory.” (Nelson Study Bible)

"Joel 2:28,29: After judgment, God’s Spirit would be poured out on all His people, regardless of age, sex, or social class. Twice Joel stated that the outpouring of the Spirit would include women. Paul reinforced this principle of equality in Christ (Gal. 3:28[3317]). This outpouring differed from the OT pattern, in which God poured out His Spirit on an individual for a particular task. This prophecy declared that God’s Spirit would be given to all believers. Peter quoted this passage at Pentecost (Acts 2:17-21) to explain the manifestation of the Holy Spirit upon believers. Jesus anticipated this same outpouring of the Spirit upon His followers (John 14:15-17; 16:7-15)[3318].

"Cosmic cataclysm announced the "day of the LORD.” The progression is from the locusts (whether in Egypt or in Joel’s time) to the invading army, to any time of judgment, to the final judgment. Every calamity is a reminder of the great and final judgment.” (Woman’s Study Bible)

God has great plans for His children. But He understands that there must be a testing time first. People from every class of society will participate in these final events. These events will mark primarily the end of the great controversy. This will necessitate the removal of the influence of the Devil. But God will not bring this great day upon us without giving some warning. And what kind of warning will God give? It must be some warning that is not misunderstood to be the act of some human group. God wants all peoples to recognize that He is acting. Thus, before God proceeds with the final outpouring of the Holy Spirit, which is necessary for our preparation for what is coming, He warns us with signs in the sun, moon, and stars which are definitely beyond human and probably Satanic influence and thus cannot be counterfeited.

9. What is the "valley of decision?” What is taking place there? (Joel 3:2,14)

"Joel 3:14 The ‘multitudes in the valley of decision’ are sometimes seen as the innumerable host deciding whether to cast their lot with the God of Israel and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, or with Satan and the enemies of Israel. Joel does repeat the plural ‘multitudes’ here and thereby emphasizes the number as exceedingly large. Also conveyed by the term is a murmuring and tumultuous assembly like the gathering of Israel’s enemies

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(as in Is. 17:12). Thus the Valley of Jehoshaphat (‘Yahweh judges’) receives one more symbolic name: ‘the valley of decision’ (or of ‘verdict’). So this is a day of judgment and sentence. These ‘multitudes’ are awaiting their condemnation, whether or not they realize it.” (Believer’s Study Bible)

"The valley of decision (v. 14) is synonymous with the valley of Jehoshaphat (v. 2). The scene is not one where the multitudes are in the midst of making a decision in favor of the Lord and repenting of their sin. Rather, the decision is made by God, a decision to judge the multitudes for their treatment of Judah and Jerusalem! This judgment will be meted out against them in the day of the Lord that takes place in the Great Tribulation.” (King James Version Study Bible)

"The valley of decision (which may be the same as the Valley of Jehoshaphat) refers to the verdict of the Lord as He carried out His divine judgment on the nations. The time for decisions by individuals is past—now God would judge and decree punishment. One of the saddest features in these verses is the reference to ‘multitudes,’ suggesting innumerable people. The certainty of final judgment must prompt believers to commit themselves to God and to call unbelievers to repentance.” (Woman’s Study Bible)

"The Gentiles are told to ‘Prepare for war!’, for the Lord will fight with them in the valley of decision. In the Valley of Jehoshaphat the Lord will sit to judge all the surrounding nations. The sovereign God is currently testing all men and nations, as unfashionable as that concept may be to today’s worldly thinkers. Stevenson remarks:

“‘Men dismiss the Biblical teaching concerning judgment to come, for individuals and nations, as a now-outmoded concept. But the people of God have held fast through all the generations to the assurance that, in the ‘day of the Lord,’ the Judge of all the earth will do right. That is our confidence, based upon the rock of Holy Scripture.’” Herbert F. Stevenson, Three Prophetic Voices. Studies in Joel, Amos and Hosea, p. 40.” (Believer’s Bible Commentary)

There are several things to note about this passage. First of all, this is not a passage about humans making up their minds about God. It is a passage about God passing His final judgment about humans. To the typical person of the twentieth century or later in the western world, such an idea was done away with by the Scope’s trial and the theory of evolution. Our world does not think they need God any more and they are certainly not planning for any time when He will come to judge them! Our world now believes that they have explained the origin or our universe and they are working on what will happen to it in the "end”. But that "end” certainly does not include anything that might disrupt their current plans. It is thought that the sun might burn out some billions of years from now. But God states unequivocally that He will return, and He will bring an end to sin and rebellion.

10. What does it mean when it says that "the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night?” (1 Thessalonians 5:2) Who is being referred to as "you, brothers” in 1 Thessalonians 5:4[3319]? Is the day of the Lord supposed to be a surprise?

Jesus suggests that people will be busy about all of their normal activities when they will be completely surprised by the events leading up to the second coming.

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Matthew 24:36: 36"No one knows, however, when that day and hour will come—neither the angels in heaven nor the Son; the Father alone knows. The coming of the Son of Man will be like what happened in the time of Noah. 38In the days before the flood people ate and drank, men and women married, up to the very day Noah went into the boat; yet they did not realize what was happening until the flood came and swept them all away. That is how it will be when the Son of Man comes. 40At that time two men will be working in a field: one will be taken away, the other will be left behind. 41Two women will be at a mill grinding meal: one will be taken away, the other will be left behind. 42 "Be on your guard, then, because you do not know what day your Lord will come.” (GNB)

But those who have been studying Scripture shouldn’t be surprised by these events. God has been predicting them for millennia.

1 Thessalonians 5:4: 4 But you, brothers and sisters, are not in the darkness, and the Day should not take you by surprise like a thief. 5All of you are people who belong to the light, who belong to the day. We do not belong to the night or to the darkness. 6So then, we should not be sleeping like the others; we should be awake and sober.” (GNB)

God has spelled out for us the conditions that will prevail before the final judgment day. (See 2 Timothy 3:1-5) And we have been told so many times that we are to be prepared at all times. That is one of the main messages of Joel, Zephaniah, and other prophets as we have seen. If "the day of the Lord” takes us by surprise it is certainly not God’s fault!

© Copyright 2000-2006, Kenneth Hart khart@llu.edu

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46. AMOS - A TEACHER’S GUIDE

THE CENTRAL QUESTION:

What does this book/story say to us about God?

This question may be broken down further as follows:

a. Why did God do it/allow it?

_b. Why did He record it for our study?_

1. What picture of God would you have if you had only Amos? What does this book teach us about civil rights and social justice? Human cruelty? Of what God wants from us? How were the people of Israel to decide if Amos’s message was from God? Are there any important "key texts” in Amos? Where does Amos come from and to whom does he address his messages? What was Amos’ profession? (Amos 1:1; Amos 7:14[3320]) When did he live and prophecy? Who were his best known contemporaries? (Hosea 1:1; Isaiah 1:1; Is. 6:1; Micah 1:1)[3321] What other book(s) are similar to Amos in content and purpose?

"Amos was the first prophet in the Bible whose message was recorded at length. Although he came from a town in Judah, he preached to the people of the northern kingdom of Israel, about the middle of the eighth century B.C. [760-750 BC] It was a time of great prosperity, notable religious piety, and apparent security. But Amos saw that prosperity was limited to the wealthy, and that it fed on injustice and on oppression of the poor. Religious observance was insincere, and security more apparent than real. With passion and courage, he preached that God would punish the nation. He called for justice to "flow like a stream,” and said, "Perhaps the Lord will be merciful to the people of this nation who are still left alive” (Amos 5:15). (GNB)

"The author’s name, given in Amos 1:1, means ‘burdened.’ Amos’s heart was heavily burdened for the cause of Yahweh and the plight of the people.

"Clearly Amos was not a ‘professional’ prophet (Amos 7:14) like the more numerous institutional or cultic prophets of his day. From his rustic background in the southern kingdom at Tekoa, six miles south of Bethlehem, Amos insisted that he was a common man, called of God to go to the northern kingdom to be His spokesman (Amos 7:15). The genuineness of the divine call of Amos is clear. The judgment he pronounced upon the wife of Amaziah and his prediction concerning the sons and daughters of Amaziah (Amos 7:14-17) were undoubtedly fulfilled.

“DATE: c.760 B.C.

"Reference in 1:1 to the reigns of Uzziah (of Judah) and Jeroboam II (of Israel), who reigned concurrently from 792 to 753 b.c., gives a general time period. The prophecy in Amos 7:9[3322] concerning the imminence of doom suggests a date ca.760 b.c., toward the end of Jeroboam’s reign. The prosperity of Jeroboam predicted by Jonah (2 Kin. 14:25[3323]) had ended by that time, making it a reasonable date for Amos’s work. The exact time of the earthquake is not known, but it was significant enough to become a point of reference for Amos.

“THEME: The Certainty of Judgment

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"Amos, a forerunner of three other outstanding eighth-century prophets—Hosea, Micah, and Isaiah—vigorously spoke messages resounding in the certainty of judgment. Each message of judgment was not only a warning, but also a call to repentance. Amos had a talent for prophetic and tactful oratory. He began by pronouncing judgment on the nations that surrounded Israel geographically. With staggering literary effect, he then focused upon Israel, predicting and interpreting the judgments of Yahweh which were soon to fall upon her. Although the theme of judgment rings throughout the nine chapters like a recurring refrain, Amos does have brief passages of hope and predictions of restoration. The last two verses clearly predict a return of Israel to the Promised Land, after which there will be no more exile (Amos 9:11-15[3324]). The fulfillment of this phenomenal prophecy may have begun already in the twentieth century.” (Believer’s Study Bible)

“Amos - The Man

"Amos came from Tekoa, which was a Judahite village located about ten miles south of Jerusalem and six miles south of Bethlehem (Amos 1:1[3325]). We can better understand Amos’s preaching about the northern kingdom if we remember that the border of the northern kingdom and the sanctuary at Bethel were only about fifteen miles from Amos’s farm home in Tekoa. Samaria, the northern capital, was only a day’s journey away using the transportation methods of that day. Amos’s profession, according to Amos 1:1, was a shepherd. This title can refer to a keeper of sheep and/or goats. In a later passage, Amos 7:14, Amos calls himself one who ‘took care of sycamore-fig trees.’ Probably a more accurate translation would be one who ‘slits’ or ‘pinches’ figs (Stuart, 377). The sycamore fig tree was a large tree, but the figs were generally of an inferior type. Their quality was greatly enhanced if each fig was pinched or slit on the upper part of the fruit before it matured. The resulting fruit became sweeter and softer.

"The climate of Tekoa was not conducive to sycamore figs, so Amos most likely performed this part of his work in another part of the region. His book does not tell us whether he owned his own flocks and fig orchards or whether he labored as a hired hand for others. Whatever the case, he was itinerant. Both his shepherding and fig-slitting took him to different places. Undoubtedly, the observations he made as he traveled informed and fueled his comments on Israel’s situation before God.” (The Abundant Life Bible Amplifier -Amos)

"The word used for "shepherds” in 1:1 is not the usual Hebrew word ro‘eh, but the rare word noqe, suggesting instead ”sheep breeders." The only other Old Testament occurrence of noqe is in 2 Kings 3:4 where Mesha, king of Moab, is said to have engaged in sheep-breeding on such a scale that he was able to supply the king of Israel with 100,000 lambs and the wool of 100,000 rams. Amos evidently managed or owned large herds of sheep and goats, and was in charge of other shepherds.” (The Bible Knowledge Commentary)

"Because of marginal and uncertain yearly rainfall, this area (Tekoa) was suited more for raising sheep and goats than for cultivating crops. Amos specifically calls himself a sheep breeder (Amos 1:1; Amos 7:14-15). The Hebrew term used indicates that Amos was not a hired shepherd, but the owner of one or more flocks of sheep.

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"Amos also describes himself as a ‘tender of sycamore fruit’ (Amos 7:14). The sycamore fig tree bears thousands of figs very much like the common fig, but smaller and not as good. Before this fruit could ripen properly, a small hole had to be pierced in the bottom of its skin. This piercing was done by hand and was a tedious and time-consuming task. Why was Amos obliged to tend the sycamore? Western Judah, the oasis of Jericho, and lower Galilee were the regions where sycamore figs grew most abundantly. The shepherds needed to bring their flocks to one of these regions in late summer, after the desert pastures had dried up. Since this was the time for piercing the sycamore fruit, landowners would exchange grazing rights for labor. A shepherd could watch his flock while sitting on the broad limbs of the sycamore, piercing its fruit. Thus Amos was not a wealthy man. Wealthy sheepbreeders hired shepherds to tend their flocks. Amos followed his flock himself (7:15), and when that meant piercing sycamore fruit, he pierced sycamore fruit....

"The main theme of the Book of Amos is God’s passionate concern for justice. Justice is not an abstract issue with God. Instead, justice is relational; it promotes good relations between people and between groups of people. Injustice breaks down good relationships and breeds anger, hostility, and violence. God created the human race to enjoy good relations with Him and with each other; therefore, injustice that breeds alienation in all of its varieties breaks God’s heart.

"The renewed prosperity of Israel based on the successes of Jeroboam II brought new wealth to the upper classes. They used that wealth to enlarge their landholdings and to build great houses for themselves. They violated the rights of the poor and the landed peasants, throwing many off their ancestral lands. Through God’s provisions in the Mosaic covenant, the landed peasant class had been the foundation of Israel’s society. But under Jeroboam’s rule, this class virtually disappeared. As the rich became richer, the poor became poorer and more numerous; many were sold into slavery. Israel’s social structure became thoroughly unstable.” (Nelson Study Bible)

"The rich, in total disregard for God’s Law and for their fellow Jews, dispossessed farmers from their hereditary plots of land to build great personal estates. The poor were further oppressed by merchants who used unjust weights when buying and selling grain, and who mixed husks with the barley kernels. More and more people were forced to sell themselves and their children into slavery. Justice was for sale to the highest bidder. The wives of the rich demanded more and more luxuries. And no one gave a thought to the anguish of those who were defrauded to satisfy their desires.” (The Bible Reader’s Companion)

Amos came from the town of Tekoa in the southern kingdom of Judah and traveled north to prophesy in the northern kingdom of Israel. He speaks out against the evils being practiced in all the nations around. He also suggests that God is responsible for what happens in each of those nations. However, he pictures Israel and Judah as the most guilty because they have had the most light.

Amos was a contemporary of Hosea in the northern kingdom and Isaiah and Micah in the southern kingdom. All of them began their prophesying a short time before the northern kingdom of Israel was completely destroyed by Assyria in 723/722 BC. Their messages

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served as a final warning to the northern kingdom. Amos was a simple shepherd and fruit-slitter. He made no special claims to fame. But he knew when the Lord spoke to him and he could not keep quiet about it.

Amos is famous for his statements about prophets. (See Amos 3:7; Amos 7:14[3326]) He also spells out clearly the uselessness of insincere worship (Amos 5:18-24; Amos 8:5-6[3327]). He clarifies some of the issues that apparently will prevail at the end of time (Compare Daniel 12:3 and Amos 8:11-12)[3328].

2.    Amos 3:2 suggests that God has "known” only the children of Abraham. After making the other statements he makes about the surrounding nations, how can He make such a statement?

"Only you I have known of all families of the land,..” Young’s Literal Translation "You only have I known of all the families of the earth:... (KJV, NKJV, Darby, ASV, RSV; NRSV)

"Of all the nations on earth, you are the only one I have known and cared for.... (GNB) "Out of all the families on earth, I have known no one else but you...” (God’s Word)

"You only have I chosen among all the families of the earth;...” (NASB; NASB, 1995)

"Of all nations on earth, you are the only one I have chosen...” (CEV)

"You only have I chosen of all the families of the earth;...” The New International Version "Of all the peoples of the earth, I have chosen you alone...” The Living Bible "I have chosen only you out of all the families of the earth,...” The New Century Version "From among all the families on the earth, I chose you alone. New Living Translation "You alone have I singled out Of all the families of the earth”... Tanakh, The Holy Scriptures

"You alone have I favored, more than all the families of the earth;...”(NAB)

"You alone have I intimately known of all the families of earth, New Jerusalem Bible "you only have I known [chosen, sympathized with and loved] of all the families... Amplified

"Only you have I acknowledged,..” Rheims

"You only of all the families of the earth have I taken care of...” Basic English

This is the use of the word "know” in that special Biblical sense of knowing with intimacy (by experience) (Genesis 4:1; 1 Kings 1:4; compare Matthew 7:22-23[3329]) and real friendship. (See John 15:15[3330]) It is clear that God makes a direct connection between how we treat our fellow men and how God will treat us. The people of the northern kingdom were abusing the poor and cheating their customers in almost every way they could. (Amos 8:5-6[3331]) God had promised a special relationship to them through their ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. But God is a God of fairness and He cannot continue to bless those who are abusing others.

3.    Do you think Amos won any popularity contests by starting out his book condemning the sins of everyone around him? (Amos 1 & 2[3332]; Compare Matthew 5-7[3333]) Is it ever a good idea to approach someone and immediately begin pointing out their sins? How do people usually

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react? How did the people of Israel react? (Amos 7:10-13[3334]) Have you ever met anyone who wants to preach the "straight testimony” by pointing out the sins of all around him?

No doubt the Israelites rejoiced to hear him condemn their enemies! But they were not so happy to hear his words about themselves. Amos had a very serious message to bring and he probably felt that he didn’t need to win any popularity contests! Many people in our day feel called to point out the sins of all around them. How do we know they are not sent by God? Should we speak up when we see sins in the church and the community? In order to really represent God correctly we must tell the truth, but we must do it in love. This generates a feeling of trust (faith). Those who feel called to point out other’s sins are often very obnoxious and even self-righteous. Did they think Amos was like this? Can we speak the truth in love in such a way as to convict hearts but not offend?

4.    Is it true that "the Sovereign Lord does nothing without revealing his plan to his servants the prophets?” (Amos 3:7[3335], NIV; Compare Deuteronomy 29:29; 2 Chronicles 20:20)[3336]

Do you think this is a promise from God or an observation made by Amos from his understanding of Scripture? Surely we have enough evidence that God will let us know what we need to know. Many prophecies have been given even covering events down to our day. This is not so we can predict in advance what will be in tomorrow’s newspapers but so that when we see these events take place we will have even more reason to trust Him. (John 13:19; 14:29[3337]) God knows in advance everything that is going to happen in the entire universe. We call this characteristic of God’s knowledge His omniscience.( See Psalms 139; Daniel 2, 7-9; Jeremiah 23:23-24; Zechariah 4:10; Isaiah 53; Isaiah 40:13-14,25-28; Matthew 24; Mark 13; Luke 21; Revelation 12-22)[3338].

God obviously cannot and should not tell us everything. (See John 21:25[3339]) We would not be able to handle that much information, nor would we use it in the best possible way. But it is good for us to know that God is not surprised by events that take place. He knows what is coming. This does not mean that everything is already fixed by predestination, or that God arbitrarily controls everything, but as God He has the ability to step outside of our four dimensions of time and space and apparently look forward and backward. We cannot understand how He does this, but there are many other things that God does that we cannot understand! If we could understand everything He does and all about Him, we might consider ourselves to be somehow on His level and somehow equal to Him.

5.    What do you think of Amos’ description of the sins of God’s people? Had they become irreligious? (Amos 4:4-5; Amos 5:21-24[3340]) Can you think of any later groups who might fit these descriptions? What about us? Do we ever boast that we give generous offerings and pay a faithful tithe? (Amos 4:5) Does God cringe as we sing our hymns? (Amos 5:23)

While they were cheating the poor and being dishonest in their business dealings, they were "faithfully” worshiping their "gods” including Yahweh! They were doing almost everything that they could to give the appearance that they were correctly serving Yahweh. But It did not seem to have any effect on their day-to-day lives! They gave extra offerings and attended all the religious ceremonies just as the Pharisees did many years later. (Matthew 23:1-36; Mark 12:38-44; Luke 20:45-21:4)[3341]

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What is it that really constitutes true worship? Is it the expensive church? Is it the professional musicians or the great choirs or perhaps charismatic preachers? Real worship consists of a humble willingness to learn on the part of God’s children who honestly and sincerely are seeking to "know” Him better. (Compare Amos 3:7; Hosea 6:6[3342]) God has gone to incredible lengths to make Himself known to all who take His name, but often they have completely misrepresented Him in return. Are we doing that in our day?

6.    Why do you think the people of the northern tribes to whom Amos spoke were longing for the day of the Lord? (Amos 5:18) Doesn’t even our name (Adventist) suggest that we are longing for the day of the Lord? Notice God’s attitude to the people who were religious for the wrong reason. (Amos 5:21-24)

Amos 5:18-20:

18    Alas for those who long for the day of the Lord!

Why long for such a day?

The day of the Lord will be a day of darkness, not a day of light.

19    It will be like a man running from a lion,

Only to find himself clutched by a bear.

Like a man who runs into his own home,

And as he leans his hand against the wall Is bitten by a snake.

20    Is it not true that the day of the Lord Will be darkness and not light,

Pitch-darkness with no brightening gleam? (Phillips)

For a discussion of what the "day of the LORD” might include, see Joel - A Teacher’s Guide #’s 2, 6, and 7. The citizens of Israel were no doubt looking forward to the day when they believed that their enemies would get what the Israelites felt was coming to them! The Israelis thought that this would result in a glorious day for them when the size of their kingdom would expand and they would become the proud rulers of the "civilized” world. But God cannot bless us if we are not doing His will, and it has never been His primary goal to give His people worldly wealth and power. The only purpose for God putting the children of Israel where they were in the land of Palestine was so they could be witnesses to the world. This was a task and responsibility they never took seriously and may never have accepted! They wanted to conquer their neighbors not win them!

In our day, we proudly proclaim through our very name that we are looking forward to the coming of our LORD. Do all those around us long to get to know our God because of the wonderful examples that we show them in our daily lives? Are we "faithful” Christians because we believe that some day we will be rewarded for our efforts, or so we can better help those around us? Are we ever guilty of dishonest business practices? What are we saying to the world by the way we worship? Do our religious services attract the people of our community?

7.    What is the meaning of Amos 5:21-25? (Compare Jeremiah 7:22-23; Isaiah 43:23; Exodus 6:6-9; Acts 7:42-43; Galatians 3:19-25)[3343] After reading all the commands and laws in Exodus through Deuteronomy, can you believe this verse? Is this a contradiction in the Bible?

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See Jeremiah Teacher’s Guide #9. In Leviticus, God seems to delight in the smell of offerings that are brought to him. This statement is repeated a number of times:

Leviticus 1:9,13,17; Lev. 3:5; etc:

"...-qusiia, ojsmh; eujwdiia" tW kuriwl.” Septuagint 9 "...a fire-offering of sweet fragrance to Jehovah.” Young’s Literal 9 "...an altar-flame of a satisfying odour unto Yahweh.” Rheims 9 "...an offering made by fire, of a sweet savour unto the LORD.” The King James Version 9 "...an offering made by fire, a sweet aroma to the Lord.” The New King James Version

9 "...an offering made by fire, of a sweet savor unto Jehovah.” 1901 ASV 9 "...a fire-offering of soothing savor for Yhwh.” The Five Books of Moses 9 "...an offering by fire to Jehovah of a sweet odour.” 1890 Darby Bible 9 "...an offering by fire, a pleasing odor to the Lord.” The Revised Standard Version

9 "...an offering by fire of pleasing odor to the Lord.” (NRSV; Tanakh, The Holy Scriptures) 9 "...an offering made by fire, an aroma pleasing to the LORD.” (NIV)

9 "...offering by fire, a soothing aroma to the Lord.” God’s Word 9 "...an offering by fire of a soothing aroma to the Lord.” (NASB, NASB 1995)

9 "...in smoke with a smell that pleases me.” The Contemporary English Version 9 "...The smell of this food offering is pleasing to the Lord.” (GNB)

9 "...an acceptable burnt offering with which the Lord is pleased.” The Living Bible 9 ". . .sweet-smelling oblation to the LORD.” The New American Bible 9 "...an offering made by fire, and its smell is pleasing to the Lord.” (NCV)

9 "...food burnt as a smell pleasing to Yahweh.” The New Jerusalem Bible 9 "...a whole burnt offering made by fire, very pleasing to the Lord.” (NLT)

9 " ...a food-offering of soothing odour to the LORD.” Revised English Bible

9 "...and the fragrance of it will appease Yahweh.” Jerusalem-RC

9 " ...This offering is called the whole burnt offering because it is a sign of a man’s total dedication to me. The offering of the animals’s head, fat, legs and internal organs are a sign of his giving his whole heart, soul, mind and strength to me. This kind of dedication pleases me.” Clear Word

But after making these statements in Leviticus, we find what appears to be quite a different sentiment in the prophets:

Amos 5:21-27: 21 The Lord says, "I hate your religious festivals; I cannot stand them! 22 When you bring me burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them; I will not accept the animals you have fattened to bring me as offerings. 23Stop your noisy songs; I do not want to listen to your harps. 24Instead, let justice flow like a stream, and righteousness like a river that never goes dry.

25 "People of Israel, I did not demand sacrifices and offerings during those forty years that I led you through the desert. 26 But now, because you have worshiped images of Sakkuth, your king god, and of Kaiwan, your star god, you will have to carry those

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images 27 when I take you into exile in a land beyond Damascus,” says the Lord, whose name is Almighty God. (GNB)

21    I loathe and despise your festivals;

Your meetings for sacrifice give me no pleasure.

22    You may bring me your burnt-offerings, your meal-offerings,

Or your thank-offerings of fat cattle,

And I shall not so much as look at them.

23    Let me have no more of your noisy hymns;

My ears are closed to the music of your harps.

24    Instead, let justice roll on like a mighty river,

And integrity flow like a never-failing stream!

25    Was it sacrifices and gifts that you brought me all those forty years in the desert, you house of Israel? 26But now you must bear the burden of Sakkuth your king, and Kaiwan your star-god-idols which you have made for yourselves. 27And I will send you away into exile far beyond Damascus. The Lord, whose name is the God of hosts, has spoken. (Phillips)

Acts 7:42-43 (quoting Amos 5:25-27 from the LXX translation): 42 "So God turned away from them and gave them over to worship the stars of heaven, as it is written in the book of the prophets:

‘People of Israel! It was not to me

that you slaughtered and sacrificed animals

for forty years in the desert.

43 It was the tent of the god Molech that you carried, and the image of Rephan, your star god; they were idols that you had made to worship.

And so I will send you into exile beyond Babylon.’” (GNB) [quoted from LXX of Amos 5:25-27]

Jeremiah 7:22-23: 22 "I gave your ancestors no commands about burnt offerings or any other kinds of sacrifices, when I brought them out of Egypt. 23 But I did command them to obey me, so that I would be their God and they would be my people. And I told them to live as I had commanded them, so that things would go well for them.” (GNB)

Isaiah 1:12-15: 12 Who asked you to bring me all this when you come to worship me? Who asked you to do all this tramping about in my Temple? 13 It’s useless to bring your offerings. I am disgusted with the smell of the incense you burn. I cannot stand your New Moon Festivals, your Sabbaths, and your religious gatherings; they are all corrupted by your sins.

14    I hate your New Moon Festivals and holy days; they are a burden that I am tired of bearing.

15    "When you lift your hands in prayer, I will not look at you. No matter how much you pray,

I will not listen, for your hands are covered with blood. (GNB)

Isaiah 43:23: 23 "You did not bring me your burnt offerings of sheep; you did not honour me with your sacrifices.

I did not burden you by demanding offerings

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or wear you out by asking for incense.” (GNB)

Exodus 6:6-9: 6 "So tell the Israelites that I say to them, ‘I am the Lord; I will rescue you and set you free from your slavery to the Egyptians. I will raise my mighty arm to bring terrible punishment upon them, and I will save you. 7 I will make you my own people, and I will be your God. You will know that I am the Lord your God when I set you free from slavery in Egypt. 8 I will bring you to the land that I solemnly promised to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; and I will give it to you as your own possession. I am the Lord.’” 9 Moses told this to the Israelites, but they would not listen to him, because their spirit had been broken by their cruel slavery.” (GNB)

Galatians 3:19-25:

19 What, then, was the purpose of the Law? It was added in order to show what wrongdoing is, and it was meant to last until the coming of Abraham’s descendant, to whom the promise was made. The Law was handed down by angels, with a man acting as a go-between. 20 But a go-between is not needed when only one person is involved; and God is one.

21 Does this mean that the Law is against God’s promises? No, not at all! For if human beings had received a law that could bring life, then everyone could be put right with God by obeying it. 22 But the scripture says that the whole world is under the power of sin; and so the gift which is promised on the basis of faith in Jesus Christ is given to those who believe.

23 But before the time for faith came, the Law kept us all locked up as prisoners until this coming faith should be revealed. 24 And so the Law was in charge of us until Christ came, in order that we might then be put right with God through faith. 25 Now that the time for faith is here, the Law is no longer in charge of us. (GNB)

It seems that the burning of offerings was never God’s ideal or even His original plan. What God wants is for us to come to Him with an honest desire to get to know Him and thence love Him. He apparently accepted the burnt offerings because the people had come to regard this as the proper way to approach God.

At the gate of Eden, God apparently gave the sacrificial system to teach us about the seriousness of sin. But by the time of Moses, that original goal had been lost sight of and the offering of sacrifices had become a sort of ritual to appease an offended God. This was never God’s plan. Even in His original appeal to Moses, God made it clear what He wanted. (See Exodus 6:6-9 above) When the plan had lost its original meaning it was of no further value in God’s eyes. He certainly was not looking for a system to appease His "wrath”!

8. How could Amos say, "I am neither a prophet nor the son of a prophet?” (Amos 7:14, Phillips) What did he mean? Why did Ellen White make a similar statement? (1 Selected Messages 32) When Paul says, "I am the least of the apostles,” (1 Corinthians 15:9; Ephesians 3:8) was he right? Was he "the worst of all sinners?” (1 Timothy 1:15)

"Early in my youth I was asked several times, Are you a prophet? I have ever responded,

I am the Lord's messenger. I know that many have called me a prophet, but I have made no claim to this title. My Saviour declared me to be His messenger.” (1 Selected Messages p. 32)

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1 Corinthians 15:9: "For I am the least of all the apostles—I do not even deserve to be called an apostle, because I persecuted God’s church.” Good News Bible: Today’s English Version

Ephesians 3:8: "I am less than the least of all God’s people; yet God gave me this privilege of taking to the Gentiles the Good News about the infinite riches of Christ,..” (GNB)

In this passage Amos is simply stating the fact that he was not a trained "prophet” and had not had the privilege of attending one of the "schools of the prophets.” He was also making it clear that he was noton the king’s payroll as a paid "prophet.” (See 1 Kings 18:19; 1 Kin. 22:6; 2 Chronicles 18:5)[3344] Paul felt that he should be considered the lowest of the apostles because he had persecuted the church in his younger days. We know however that he was probably the greatest champion of the truth since Jesus died. Ellen White describes herself as a messenger. These humble statements made by God’s friends should not be taken very literally or cause us to look down on them!

9.    Weren’t the people in Amos’ day faithfully keeping the Sabbath? (Amos 8:5) Did it do them any good? (Amos 5:21-24; Amos 8:5-6)[3345] Is it possible for a certain kind of Sabbath keeping to turn us against God?

It should be painfully clear from the experience of the Pharisees in New Testament times that even a very faithful "observance of the Sabbath” doesn’t make one into a saint. It is only when we understand why we are worshiping God and observing the Sabbath that it can be of value to us. The Pharisees developed more than fifteen hundred separate rules for Sabbath-keeping and thus for many minds turned the Sabbath into perhaps the greatest symbol of legalism. After killing the One who gave them the Sabbath they rushed home to keep another Sabbath/Passover to prove that they were God’s true people! Such worship is useless.

In Amos’ day it was quite clear from his writings that the Sabbath-keepers did not let their religion get in the way of their business practices! If we follow their example, and then observe the Sabbath as a way of proving that we are God’s true people we are no better than they were.

10.    In Amos 8:11-12 there is a prediction of a famine of the Word. What kind of a famine would this be? "They shall 'run to and fro’ to seek the word of the Lord.” (Other occurrences of this Hebrew word are found in (Job 1:7; Job 2:2; Daniel 12:4; and Zechariah 4:10)[3346]. Compare DA 234,5; GC 356)[3347] Could this "famine” be still future? Is there anywhere in the world today where, if a person wants the Word, he cannot find it? Aren’t Bibles available almost everywhere in the world? Or is this referring to a "blindness” that prevents people from knowing the Word?

The ultimate famine—the loss of God’s Word

11 See, the days are coming, says the Lord God,

when I will send a famine on the land.

It will not be a famine of bread or waters

But of hearing the words of the Lord.

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12    Men shall wander from sea to sea,

They shall run to and fro,

From the north to the east,

Seeking the Word of the Lord,

But they shall not find it. (Phillips)

There have been many times in history when God’s word was very difficult to obtain and in some cases the only ones who were allowed to read it and interpret it to the masses were the priests. There have been other times when the Scriptures have been quite readily available and yet their teachings were largely ignored. Which of these types of "famines of the Word” would be most likely in our times? Daniel 12:4 suggests that this "famine” will be at the end of time.

How many of the peoples of the world, even of the Christian world, have a correct understanding of God’s word and a correct picture of God’s character? The millions of people who feel that God must be appeased, and those who believe that God will throw His enemies into an eternally-burning hell, do they have a correct understanding of His character? What kind of understand of God’s character do those have who believe that God must be continually pled with to forgive us?

It seems most likely that the "famine of the word” that will take place at the end of time will not be a time when copies of the Bible are not available, but rather a time when copies of the Bible are most readily available but few people take the time to read and understand them correctly.

11. Notice the last words of Amos in 9:11-15[3348]. So often God warns His children and then adds words of hope. Israel seemed to think that because they were "children of Abraham” disaster could not touch them. Was God’s final promise to Israel in these verses ever fulfilled? Is it possibly still future? Do you think what is happening in Israel in our day fulfills these words?

Amos 9:11-15: 11 The Lord says, "A day is coming when I will restore the kingdom of David, which is like a house fallen into ruins. I will repair its walls and restore it. I will rebuild it and make it as it was long ago.12 And so the people of Israel will conquer what is left of the land of Edom and all the nations that were once mine,” says the Lord, who will cause this to happen.

13    "The days are coming,” says the Lord,

"When corn will grow faster than it can be harvested, and grapes will grow faster than the wine can be made.

The mountains will drip with sweet wine, and the hills will flow with it.

14    I will bring my people back to their land.

They will rebuild their ruined cities and live there; they will plant vineyards and drink the wine; they will plant gardens and eat what they grow.

15    I will plant my people on the land I gave them, and they will not be pulled up again.”

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The Lord your God has spoken. Good News Bible: Today’s English Version

No doubt the faithful of Israel are reading and claiming promises like this one in Amos. And some may indeed be reaping a portion of the blessings that God intended for them. But for the most part, this prophecy was not fulfilled, and certainly not in the way many in Amos’s day must have hoped. It is very encouraging however to note that God almost always ends even books where severe warnings are given and where prophets speak very plainly about the sins of the people with words of hope and comfort describing what could happen if the people would follow God’s complete will for them. What kind of prophecy might God send to us today? Would it be something like the book of Amos?

12.    How does God feel about other nations? Amos 9:7-8:

The Lord sees all nations—

7    Are you not the same to me, says the Lord,

As the Ethiopians, you men of Israel?

Was it not I who brought up Israel

Out of the land of Egypt;

And did I not bring the Philistines from Caphtor,

And the Assyrians from Kir?

8    See, the eyes of the Lord God

Are watching the sinful kingdom,

And I will wipe it off the face of the earth.

Nevertheless, I will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob.

It is the Lord who declares this. (Phillips)

“Ethiopia refers to the region near the southern horizon of Israel’s geographical knowledge, south of Egypt. God’s rhetorical question told Israel that they were not the only recipients of God’s attention and care. God loves all peoples, even the Philistines and Syrians. Caphtor refers to Crete, a large island in the Mediterranean Sea.” (Nelson Study Bible)

“Egypt ... Caphtor ... Kir. By making Israel’s Exodus from Egypt poetically parallel (and hence implicitly equal) to His dealings with other nations, God tells Israel that she has become no better than the pagans.” (New Geneva Study Bible)

So much of Scripture seems to talk about Israel and Judah as "God’s special people”, or "My own people” etc. Here is a passage that seems to suggest that God takes special care of all nations. This passage even mentions by name some of Israel’s worst enemies.

13.    Could you pick out one word that describes the "God” of the book of Amos? Would it be A) loving? B) consistent? C) Judgmental? D) Angry? E) Some other word?

This is an opinion question. What do you think?

© Copyright 2000-2006, Kenneth Hart khart@llu.edu

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47. OBADIAH - A TEACHER’S GUIDE

THE CENTRAL QUESTION:

What does this book/story say to us about God?

This question may be broken down further as follows:

a. Why did God do it/allow it?

_b. Why did He record it for our study?_

1. What is the message in this short book? Does it add anything of consequence to our understanding of God? Would it say much about God, that He’d use some precious space in Scripture to give us this one page of correction for those who gloat over their enemies misfortunes? Does that say anything to us in our day? What kind of a person gloats over the discipline of another? Do we have many key texts out of Obadiah?

AUTHOR: Obadiah

"The name ‘Obadiah’ means ‘Servant of the Lord.’ The Old Testament gives the name ‘Obadiah’ to at least thirteen men (1 Kin. 18:3ff.; 1 Chr. 7:3; 8:38; 9:16, 44; 12:9; 27:19; 2 Chr. 17:7; 34:12; Ezra 8:9; Neh. 10:5; 12:25[3349]), but none of these can be identified with certainty as the author of this book. No details are known of the life of this prophet.” (Believer’s Study Bible)

Obadiahs of the Bible:

1.    The author of the book of Obadiah.

2.    The manager of Ahab’s household and a devoted follower of Yahweh during the reign of Ahab, king of Israel (1 Kgs 18:1-16).

3.    A postexilic descendant of David (1 Chr 3:21).

4.    A descendant of Issachar and son of Izrahiah (1 Chr 7:3). According to the Chronicler, Obadiah would have been roughly contemporary with Moses.

5.    A son of Azel and a member of the family of Saul (1 Chr 8:38; 9:44).

6.    One of the first exiles to return to Judah (1 Chr 9:16).

7.    A member of the tribe of Gad who joined David during his stay in Ziklag (1 Chr 12:9).

8.    A member of the tribe of Zebulun and father of Ishmaiah (1 Chr 27:19).

9.    A prince of Judah who was among a group commissioned by Jehoshaphat to teach "the book of the law of Yahweh” to the people of Judah (2 Chr 17:7).

10.    A Levite who served as an overseer in the repairing of the temple during the reform of Josiah (2 Chr 34:12). He is noted as a Levite of the lineage of Merari.

11.    A priest who accompanied Ezra to Jerusalem (Ezra 8:9 = 1 Esdr 8:35).

12.    A gatekeeper during the priesthood of Joiakim (Neh 10:5; 12:25). His task was to guard the storehouses of the gates. (It is possible that the two mentions of Obadiah in Nehemiah were two different people.)

"Nothing is known about Obadiah except his name, which means ‘Servant of Yahweh’ or ‘Worshiper of Yahweh.’ He evidently preferred to be remembered in his prophetic role rather than as an individual, because he chose to relate no details of his personal life or history. Twelve other men in the Old Testament are known by this name.” (King James Version Study Bible)

DATE: 586-539 B.C.

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"There are many views about the date of the book. Edom’s cooperation with ‘foreigners’ in sacking Jerusalem (vv. 10-14), which is the historical background to the prophecy, could refer to any one of several incidents. It may have occurred c. 850 b.c. in the reign of Jehoram (2 Chr. 21:8-10, 16, 17[3350]), although no attack on Jerusalem is mentioned; in the reign of Amaziah, c. 790 b.c. (2 Chr. 25:14-24[3351]), although no foreigners are mentioned; in the reign of Ahaz, c. 735 b.c. (2 Chr. 28:17), although again no attack on Jerusalem is mentioned; or at the end of the reign of Zedekiah, c. 586 b.c. (2 Chr. 36:11-21; Ps. 137:7; Lam. 4:21, 22; Ezek. 25:12-14; 35:5; 12-15)[3352]. Though conservative scholars formerly favored the reign of Jehoram, many of them now take the reference as being to the Babylonian capture of Jerusalem in 586 b.c. While the book may have been written as early as 845 b.c., it appears that Obadiah quotes from Jeremiah 49 (cf. vv. 1-4 with Jer. 49:14-16, vv. 5, 6 with Jer. 49:9, 10, v. 8 with Jer. 49:7, and v. 16 with Jer. 49:12), which is dated c. 605 b.c. A date between the fall of Jerusalem in 586 b.c. and the fall of Babylon to Cyrus in 539 b.c., therefore, is likely.” (Believer’s Study Bible)

"The similarity of several verses in Obadiah to verses in Jeremiah 49 suggest that Obadiah quoted from Jeremiah or vice versa.

Obadiah

Jeremiah

v.1

49:14

v.2

49:15

vv.3-4

49:16

v.5

49:9

v.6

49:10

v.8

49:7

v.9

49:22b

v.16

49:12

"Although the striking similarities between vv. 1-9 of this prophecy and Jer. 49:7-22 must be more than an impressive coincidence, they do not resolve the problem of dating Obadiah. We know that Jeremiah prophesied from about 626 b.c. until after 586; but whether one prophet quotes the other, or whether both prophets used an earlier source, is uncertain.” (New Geneva Study Bible)

"In 586 b.c. Nebuchadnezzar’s army crushed Judah and destroyed Jerusalem and Solomon’s temple, ending Judah’s existence as an independent nation. Edom, as a closely related nation, should have helped Judah’s refugees. But instead of offering sympathy and help, Edom handed Judeans over to the conquering Babylonians. The Edomites even murdered some of the refugees. Such treachery to a related nation could not be overlooked. God gave Obadiah a stern message for Edom, a warning of God’s judgment on them for their callous treatment of the fleeing Judeans.

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"The Edomites’ pride and presumed self-sufficiency became their downfall. Their fortress capital of Sela, which they considered impregnable, became their tomb. TheirArab neighbors turned on them, taking over their land and their livelihood. The Edomites were pushed into what had been southern Judah. In the second century b.c., the resurgent Jewish kingdom under the Maccabees conquered the Edomites and forcibly converted them to Judaism. At that time they were called Idumeans.” (Nelson Study Bible)

"Since the book offers no specific date, internal evidence, coupled with information given in other Old Testament references, are considerations in dating Obadiah. The prophet refers to an attack on Jerusalem (Obad. 11-14[3353]). Assaults on Jerusalem recorded in the Old Testament include those by Shishak, king of Egypt (925 B.C.; 1 Kin. 14:25,26; 2 Chr. 12:2-9)[3354]; by the Philistines and Arabs during the reign of Jehoram (around 850 b.c.; 2 Chr. 21:8-10, 16, 17[3355]); by Jehoash, king of Israel (around 790 b.c.; 2 Chr. 25[3356]); and by Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon (586 b.c.; 2 Kin. 25:1, 2)[3357].” (Woman’s Study Bible)

"The fact that the message concerns Edom, a land to the south of Judah, together with specific references to Judah and Jerusalem (Ob 11, 12, 17, 20, 21[3358]), implies that the prophet bore his message to the southern kingdom of Judah. Unlike most of the other prophets, Obadiah does not date his message, and various dates have been suggested, ranging from the 8th to the 6th cent. b.c. The record of the revolt of Edom in the days of King Joram (2 Kings 8:20-22[3359]) makes no reference to an Edomite occupation of Jerusalem. However, the similarity of Obadiah’s denunciation of Edom (Ob 10-14) to the denunciations of Jeremiah (Jer 49:7-22[3360]) and Ezekiel (Eze 25:12-14; 35[3361]) seems singularly appropriate to the events of 586

b.c., when Nebuchadnezzar destroyed Jerusalem. According to Ps 137:7[3362] the Edomites approved the destruction of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar and rejoiced over the calamities that overtook Judah.” (SDA Bible Dictionary)

THEME: The Judgment of Edom

Obadiah is the shortest book in the Old Testament. Its prophecy concerns the judgment of Edom for its treatment of Jerusalem. Edom, the nation descended from Esau, had its capital at Sela (Petra). It fell into Arab hands in the fourth century, fulfilling Obadiah’s prophecy. Obadiah highlights the inevitability of God’s just judgment upon all who fight against Him and His people, as well as the certainty of the ultimate establishment of God’s kingdom. God is a God of moral justice; and He is in control, though events sometimes appear to indicate the opposite. Though God’s people may be in trouble, they eventually will be the recipients of God’s blessings.” (Believer’s Study Bible)

"The literary style of Obadiah is classic and vigorous. His theme is the destruction of Edom because of its violence against the Jews (Ob 10-14[3363]). There had been long and bitter warfare between the 2 peoples (2 Samuel 8:13, 14; 1 Kings 11:14-22; 2 Chr 20:22; 21:8-10; 25:11, 12; 28:17)[3364]. At the day of the Lord tables will be reversed, and the people of Edom—blood relatives of the Jews—will be treated as they have treated others (Ob 15). Their cruelties toward Judah during a time of national crisis will meet a just reward. Then deliverance will come to the house of Jacob, and the kingdom will be restored to its rightful state (vs 17-21).

"Obadiah’s brief message logically falls into 2 parts: (1) the prediction of doom upon Edom (Ob 1-16) and (2) the triumph and restoration of Israel (vs 17-21). Obadiah first summons the heathen nations to attack Edom (vs 1, 2) because of her pride (vs 3, 4). Edom is to be plundered and her people exterminated (vs 5-9). Her crime has been violence against her

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brother Jacob, ‘in the day that the strangers carried away captive his forces, and foreigners entered into his gates, and cast lots upon Jerusalem’ (vs 10, 11). Instead of showing mercy the Edomites had laid wait for the Jews as they fled, cutting some of them down and taking others captive (vs 12-14). But the day of the Lord is at hand when the people of Edom will receive their just deserts and ‘be as though they had not been’ (vs 15, 16). That day will bring ‘deliverance’ to ‘mount Zion,’ and ‘the house of Jacob’ will inherit the land of Edom (vs 17-20), and the kingdom will then be the Lord’s (v 21).” (SDA Bible Dictionary)

"Obadiah’s prophecy is written in Hebrew poetry, and the reader needs to be mindful of parallelism in interpreting it. The structure of the Hebrew parallelism portrays the intense emotion with which the prophecy was delivered.” (King James Version Study Bible)

"While Obadiah’s short prophetic oracle was addressed to Edom, it is doubtful that Edomite leaders ever heard or read it. One purpose of the oracle was to comfort and encourage the surviving Judeans with the message that God had not abandoned them. Judah would be restored to its own land after the judgment of the Exile had been accomplished, and their enemies would be punished.

"In the grand scheme of the biblical message of God’s redemption of fallen humanity, the Book of Obadiah may seem to be of little importance. But its portion of that message is tremendously vital. God is sovereign over all nations, whether they acknowledge His sovereignty or not. God desires that we show mercy and favor to our neighbors in their time of distress. Treachery against a relative is never justified and will be judged by the God of justice.” (Nelson Study Bible)

"Personal Application. Obadiah forcefully addresses the matter of relationships. How easy it is for those we know best to become the objects of our most bitter resentment. Logically, Edom should have sided with Judah against Babylonia, but years of hatred caused emotions to override good sense. Such fractured relationships almost inevitably result from personal pride, pride that prevents our seeing the error of our own ways, pride that builds barriers to block the way to reconciliation. The Book of Obadiah calls us to confront the incredible cost of pride, and to realize that the importance of preserving our pride fades into oblivion when we must stand face-to-face with an angry God and try to justify our arrogance. The book calls us to repent of our pride, to seek reconciliation in broken relationships, and to model a lifestyle of forgiveness and acceptance. See Matthew 5:21-26[3365].

"The prevailing theme of Obadiah is well stated by Paul in Galatians 6:7: ‘Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap.’ Or, in the words of Obadiah himself, ‘As you have done, it shall be done to you’ (v. 15). Retribution is a reality. God is just, and He will punish injustices perpetrated against other people, both individuals and nations. The Lord takes very seriously the covenant promises He makes. In Genesis 12:1-3 He had promised to bless those who bless His people and curse those who curse them. The Lord so closely identifies Himself with His people, that to curse His people is to curse Him, to reject them is to reject Him. Edom’s end then foreshadows the fate of all who abuse the people of God. The Lord is determined to keep faith with His people, even when His people are faithless and disobedient.

"And He will keep faith—in spite of appearances. The desecration of Jerusalem and the people of Judah sent a message to the world of Obadiah’s day: The God of Israel had been defeated by the gods of Babylon, Edom, and the other oppressing nations. But that was a

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false message, because appearances can be deceiving. In His sovereignty God uses circumstances to accomplish His purposes, to purify and protect His people. As Lord of all the Earth He was already masterminding Edom’s doom, announcing victory in the face of smoldering defeat, and controlling the course of the future in order to accomplish His plan. The Lord who did all that for Israel is the Lord who still works for His people today.” (Spirit Filled Life Study Bible)

2.    Was this message primarily for the Edomites or do you think that this might have been written to encourage the Jews? Do we have any evidence that the message ever got to the Edomites? How is it that the Jews were being disciplined, and these descendants of Esau were not? The Jews at least had made a profession of being God’s people. What about these Edomites?

"The prophecy is ‘concerning Edom’ (v. 1) and is repeatedly addressed to that nation, but it was given to the covenant community as holy Scripture. The purpose, therefore, more than to warn Edom of imminent judgment, is to reassure God’s people of His triumphant justice at work for them. Edom prospered, Judah lay defeated, and the moral order of the world appeared to have been overthrown by lawless forces. But the prophet Obadiah was raised up with a message of God’s sovereign justice in order to strengthen His people’s weakened faith. It is the righteous purpose of God, not the evil will of men, that determines history.

"When the church suffers at the hands of God’s enemies, she needs to return to the prophecy of Obadiah and renew her faith in the just God revealed there. He cares for His persecuted people, and behind their present circumstances He is always at work for them.” (New Geneva Study Bible)

Obadiah apparently writes as someone who was among the Jewish people during the siege and final destruction of Jerusalem. But the events described in this book, unless God chose to give them as a prophecy and reveal them to Obadiah before they actually happened, took place after Jerusalem was already destroyed. This occurred about one month after the wall was breached and Nebuchadnezzar conquered Jerusalem. So if Obadiah was writing from the perspective of someone who saw these things take place, was he among the exiles headed for Babylon, or was he among those very few who were allowed to remain in Judah? In either case, how would he have delivered the document to Edom? Would anyone there have paid any attention if such a document arrived from Obadiah? Or was this supposed to be primarily a reassurance to the Jewish people?

3.    What do you think of this "golden rule” in reverse--"As you have done, it shall be done to you?” (Obadiah 15; compare Matthew 7:12)[3366] Isn’t this the way many people act in our world? How is this different than "an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth”? (Exodus 21:24; Leviticus 24:20; Deuteronomy 19:21; See Matthew 5:38-42[3367])

Obadiah 15:

15 dioti ejggu; hlmeira kuriiou ejpi; painta ta; e|qnh, o|n troipon ejpoiihsa, ou|tw ejstai soi, to;

ajntapoidomai sou ajntapodoqhisetai eij kefalhin sou, LXX-Septuagint

15 For near is the day of Jehovah, on all the nations, As thou hast done, it is done to thee, Thy deed doth turn back on thine own head. Young’s Literal Translation

15 For the day of the Lord is neere, upon all the heathen: as thou hast done, it shall be done to thee: thy reward shall returne upon thine head. Geneva

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15 For the day of the LORD is near upon all the heathen: as thou hast done, it shall be done unto thee: thy reward shall return upon thine own head. The King James Version

15 "For the day of the Lord upon all the nations is near; As you have done, it shall be done to you; Your reprisal shall return upon your own head. The New King James Version

15 For the day of Jehovah is near upon all the nations: as thou hast done, it shall be done unto thee: thy recompence [dealing] shall return upon thine own head. 1890 Darby Bible; ASV

15 For the day of the Lord is near upon [against] all the nations. As you have done, it shall be done to you, your deeds shall return on your own head. The Revised Standard Version; NRSV

15 The day of the LORD is near for all nations. As you have done, it will be done to you; your deeds will return upon your own head. The New International Version

15 The day of the Lord is near for all nations. Edom, you will be treated as you have treated others. You will get back what you have given. God’s Word

15 The day is near when I, the Lord, will judge all nations. Edom, what you have done will be done to you. You will get back what you have given. Good News Bible

15 As you did, so shall it be done to you; Your conduct shall be requited. Yea, against all nations The day of the Lord is at hand. Tanakh, The Holy Scriptures

15 The day is coming when I, the Lord, will judge the nations. And, Edom, you will pay in full for what you have done. The Contemporary English Version

15 The Lord’s vengeance will soon fall upon all Gentile nations. As you have done to Israel, so will it be done to you. Your acts will boomerang upon your heads. The Living Bible

15 For near is the day of the LORD for all the nations! As you have done, so shall it be done to you, your deed shall come back upon your own head; The New American Bible

15 For the day of the Lord draws near on all the nations. As you have done, it will be done to

you. Your dealings will return on your own head. The New American Standard Bible, 1995 Update

15 The Lord’s day of judging is coming soon to all the nations. The same evil things you did to other people will happen to you; they will come back upon your own head. (NCV)

15 For the Day of Yahweh is near for all the nations. As you have done, so will it be done to you: your deeds will recoil on your own head. The New Jerusalem Bible

15 The day is near when I, the Lord, will judge the godless nations! As you have done to Israel, so it will be done to you. All your evil deeds will fall back on your own heads. NLT

15 For soon the day of the Lord will come on all the nations: you shall be treated as you have treated others, and your deeds will recoil on your own head. New English Bible

15 The day of the Lord is at hand for all the nations. You will be treated as you have treated others: your deeds will recoil on your own head. Revised English Bible

15 For the day of the Lord is near upon all the nations. As you have done, it shall be done to you, your dealing will return upon your own head. Amplified

15 As you did then, so it is done to you: your deeds recoil on your own head. Yes, the day of the Eternal is at hand, with doom for all the nations. Moffatt

15 The day of the Lord is near for you. As you have done, so will it be done to you. Your cruelty and mercilessness will return on your own head. You will get back what you have given. Clear Word

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“As you have done: The nature of God’s judgment always reflects the nature of the sin being judged.” (Nelson Study Bible, article: Obadiah 15)

“day of the Lord upon all the nations. For the day of the Lord, see Is. 2:11, 12[3368]. Now the prophet sets the judgment of Edom against the larger backdrop of God’s moral reckoning with all nations. This episode with Edom is only a small preview of God’s judgment; He will not stop until He has cleansed His world of all His enemies. The connection between Edom and the rest of the nations is their shared rebellion against God.” (New Geneva Study Bible)

"The word day occurs 11 times in vv. 8-14. Now it becomes the day of the LORD, a season of judgment and divine justice upon all the nations around Israel. The OT looked ever forward to this time.

"‘The Day of the Lord’ is used by the OT prophets to signify a time in the history of mankind when God directly intervenes to bring salvation to His people and punishment to the rebellious. By it God restores His righteous order in the Earth. As noted, the terms ‘that Day,’ or simply ‘the Day,’ are sometimes used as synonyms for the fuller expression ‘The Day of the Lord.’

"The fulfillment of the Day must be seen, however, in four different stages: 1) In the times of the prophets, it was revealed by such events as the invasion of Israel by foreign powers (Amos), the awesome plagues of locusts (Joel), and the return of Israelite exiles from captivity (Ezra-Nehemiah). 2) In that prophetic insight has the quality of merging periods of eschatology so that even the prophets themselves could not always distinguish the various times of the fulfillment of their prophecies, that Day developed into a broad biblical concept. Prophetic fulfillments closest to the prophets’ own day were mingled with those reaching as far as the culmination of all things. Hence, the first coming of Christ and the church age began another phase of the Day of the Lord. As participants in this aspect of the Day of the Lord, the church can call on the risen Christ to cast down spiritual forces that hinder God’s work in this present world and to bring about innumerable blessings. This is made clear by comparing Is. 61:1, 2[3369] with (Luke 4:18, 19, and Joel 2:25-32)[3370] with Acts 2:16-21.[3371] 3) The Second Coming of Christ will inaugurate the third aspect of the Day of the Lord, during which Christ’s personal, righteous, and universal rule will restore God’s order to the Earth (Is. 11:6-9; Amos 9:13[3372]). 4) The ultimate fulfillment of the Day of the Lord awaits the full arrival of the world to come, with its new heaven and new earth. (Compare Ezek. 47:1-12 with Rev. 22:1-5)[3373].” (Spirit Filled Life Study Bible)

In general, we are comfortable with the idea of "results” or "consequences” being fair. But what is the difference between result, consequence, justice, retribution, and revenge? Which one is Obadiah talking about? If the consequence is "bad” but "natural” is that okay? What if the consequence is "bad” but "imposed” by someone? Does this disturb us? Does it then automatically become justice, retribution or revenge? Does this imply that it is not "fair?”

4. Did not the Edomites know a lot about God’s purposes? Do we have any evidence that the Edomites had been long term rivals and enemies of the Jews? Psalm 137:7,8[3374]. What was the general feeling between the Jews and the Edomites throughout the Old Testament? )See Obadiah 1-14; Ezekiel 25:12-14; 35; Joel 3:19; Amos 1:11,12; Malachi 1:2-4)[3375]

There was a rivalry going between Esau (the father of the Edomites) and Jacob even before they got out of the womb! See Genesis 25:19-26[3376]. Many OT prophets spoke about judgments coming on the Edomites even as early as Balaam (Numbers 24:18[3377]). They refused even to let Israel pass through their territory on the way to Canaan (Numbers 20:14-21[3378])!

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A sample of the prophecies against Edom includes:

Psalms 60:8,9: 8 "But I will use Moab as my washbasin and I will throw my sandals on Edom,

as a sign that I own it. Did the Philistines think they would shout in triumph over me?” 9 Who, O God, will take me into the fortified city? Who will lead me to Edom? Compare Psalms 108:9,10

Psalms 137:7,8: 7 Remember, Lord, what the Edomites did the day Jerusalem was captured. Remember how they kept saying, "Tear it down to the ground!”

8 Babylon, you will be destroyed. Happy are those who pay you back for what you have done to us- 9 who take your babies and smash them against a rock. Good News Bible Isaiah 11:14: 14 Together they will attack the Philistines on the west and plunder the people who live to the east. They will conquer the people of Edom and Moab, and the people of Ammon will obey them. Good News Bible: Today’s English Version

See also (Isaiah 34:5-17; Jeremiah 9:25,26; 49:7-22; Obadiah 1-14; Ezekiel 25:12-14; 35; Joel 3:19; Amos 1:11,12; Malachi 1:2-4)[3379]

Jeremiah 25:19: 19 Here is the list of all the others who had to drink from the cup: the king of Egypt, his officials and leaders; all the Egyptians 20and all the foreigners in Egypt; all the kings of the land of Uz;

all the kings of the Philistine cities of Ashkelon, Gaza, Ekron, and what remains of Ashdod;

21    all the people of Edom, Moab, and Ammon;

22    all the kings of Tyre and Sidon;

all the kings of the Mediterranean lands;

23    the cities of Dedan, Tema, and Buz; all the people who cut their hair short;

24    all the kings of Arabia;

all the kings of the desert tribes;

25    all the kings of Zimri, Elam, and Media;

26    all the kings of the north, far and near, one after another.

Every nation on the face of the earth had to drink from it. Last of all, the king of Babylonia will drink from it. (GNB) [Is Jeremiah using the same language here as in Obadiah 16? Look at the next question.]

5. What is implied about the state of the dead by Obadiah 16, "They shall be as though they had not been?” Is that our key text for everything coming completely to an end, so there is no such thing as an eternally-burning hell? Or is that a poetic way of saying they will simply be eliminated? What’s your strongest evidence for believing that in the end the wicked will be totally destroyed, and be as though they had never been? How do you fit this with "their worm shall not die, their fire shall not be quenched?” (Isaiah 66:24, NRSV) See also Isaiah 43:17; Malachi 4:1; Revelation 14:9-11; 20:7-10)[3380]. Do we have any demonstration of what happens to the wicked in the end anywhere in the Bible? (See Malachi 4:1-3; Exodus 15:7; Isaiah 5:24; 40:24; 41:2; 47:14; Joel 2:5; Nahum 1:8-10; 2 Peter 2:6) Was Jesus "made to be sin, though He knew no sin?” (2 Corinthians 5:21) Did He die to demonstrate that death is indeed the result of sin? Is He still burning in the fires of hell?

Obadiah 16:

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16 dioti o|n troipon e|pie~ ejpi; to; o|ro to; agioin mou, piontai painta ta; e|qnh oilnon, piiontai kai; katabhisontai kai; e|sontai kaqw oujc ulpairconte. LXX-Septuagint

16 For—as ye have drunk on My holy mount, Drink do all the nations continually, And they have drunk and have swallowed, And they have been as they have not been. Young’s Literal Translation

16 For as yee have drunke upon mine holy Mountaine, so shall all the heathen drinke continually: yea, they shall drinke and swallow up, and they shall be as though they had not bene. Geneva

16 For as ye have drunk upon my holy mountain, so shall all the heathen [nations] drink continually, yea, they shall drink, and they shall swallow down, and they shall be as though they had not been. KJV; 1890 Darby Bible; 1901 American Standard Version

16 For as you drank on my holy mountain, So shall all the nations drink continually; Yes, they shall drink, and swallow, And they shall be as though they had never been. The New King James Version

16 For as you have drunk upon my holy mountain, all the nations round about [around you] shall drink; they shall drink, and stagger, and shall be as though they had not been [never been]. (RSV; NSRV)

16 ...and be as if they had never been. The New International Version

16 ...And become as if they had never existed. The NewAmerican Standard Bible; 1995 Update

16 As you, Israel, drank on my holy mountain, so all nations will drink in turn. They will drink and guzzle down everything in it. They will be like those who have never existed. God’s Word

16 You on my sacred hill have drunk the cup, and so shall every nation drink it at my hand, drink it and stagger and vanish. Moffatt

16 My people have drunk a bitter cup of punishment on my sacred hill. But all the surrounding nations will drink a still more bitter cup of punishment; they will drink it all and vanish away. Good News Bible: Today’s English Version

16 I forced the people of Judah to drink the wine of my anger on my sacred mountain. Soon the neighboring nations must drink their fill—then vanish without a trace. (CEV)

16 That same cup that you drank on My Holy Mount Shall all nations drink evermore, Drink till

their speech grows thick, And they become as though they had never been. Tanakh, The Holy Scriptures

16 You drank my cup of punishment upon my holy mountain, and the nations round about will drink it too; yes, they will drink and stagger back and disappear from history, no longer nations anymore. The Living Bible

16 Just as you swallowed up my people on my holy mountain, so you and the surrounding nations will swallow the punishment I pour out on you. Yes, you nations will drink and stagger and disappear from history, as though you had never even existed. The New Living Translation

16 As you have drunk upon my holy mountain, so shall all the nations drink continually. Yes, they shall drink and swallow, and shall become as though they had not been. (NAB)

16 Because you drank in my Temple, all the nations will drink on and on. They will drink and drink until they disappear. The New Century Version

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16 Just as you have drunk on my holy mountain, so will all the nations drink continually, they will drink, will drink greedily, but they will be as though they had never been! (NJB)

16 For as you, [Edom,] have drunk upon the mountain of My holiness [desecrating it in the wild revelry of the destroyers], so shall all the nations drink continually [in turn, of My wrath]; yes, they shall drink, talk foolishly and swallow down [the full measure of punishment], and they shall be [destroyed] as though they had not been. [Rev. 16:14-16.] Amplified

16 The draught that you have drunk on my holy mountain all the nations shall drink continually;

they shall drink and gulp down and shall be as though they had never been; (NEB)

16 The draught you, my people, have drunk on my holy mountain all the nations will drink in turn; they will drink and gulp it down and be as though they had never been. Revised English

16 For as ye have drunk upon my holy mount, so shall all the nations drink continually; yea, they shall drink, and they shall reel about, and they shall be as though they had not been. Leeser-Jewish

16 The way you have treated my people on my holy mountain, that’s the way you will be treated. In the end, all nations who turned against my people will drink the same bitter cup. All men and women whose sense of right is gone will be as if they had never been. Clear Word

It is clear that the context here suggests that the subject of this expression "as though they had not been” is the "nations” that surrounded Judah. However, some translators try to get a different message from this verse. Does this apply to their existence as a nation or their existence as individuals? Some clearly favor the "nation” idea. If this were the intention of Obadiah, then it has nothing to do with the final destruction of sinners. But nations do not commit sins as nations. They are a collection of individuals.

Notice how Ellen White uses Obadiah 16:

"Then the end will come. God will vindicate His law and deliver His people. Satan and all who have joined him in rebellion will be cut off. Sin and sinners will perish, root and branch, (Mal. 4:1),--Satan the root, and his followers the branches. The word will be fulfilled to the prince of evil, ‘Because thou hast set thine heart as the heart of God; . . . I will destroy thee, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire. . . . Thou shalt be a terror, and never shalt thou be any more.’ Then ‘the wicked shall not be: yea, thou shalt diligently consider his place, and it shall not be;’ ‘they shall be as though they had not been.’” (Ezek. 28:6-19; Ps. 37:10; Obadiah 16)[3381]. DA 763.4[3382]; compare GC 544,545[3383]; PP 541.2; 3SG 57; SR 59.3

Psalms 37:10:

10 Before you know it, the wicked will have had it;

you’ll stare at his once famous place and—nothing! The Message

10 Sinners will soon disappear, never to be found, The Contemporary English Version

It seems from these two passages that the final end of sinners is annihilation. That, of course, is quite a contrast from the eternally burning hell that many believe awaits the wicked. Where did such an idea come from?

6. We sometimes jokingly talk about "hell” as if it were next to the New Jerusalem so people from inside the city could go out and take a look once in a while-perhaps while having a picnic lunch! Is this what is suggested by Isaiah 66:24? Do we need this kind of reminder to keep us

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in line for eternity? But what about some of these verses that talk about God apparently getting back at the nations around Judah. Don’t you think that God’s whole attitude toward vengeance is involved here in the Book of Obadiah? At the end, assuming that we will be saved, and we watch as the glory of God is unveiled, how do you expect to feel? Does Hosea help us to understand how God feels when His children are destroyed? Hosea has God crying, "How can I give you up? How can I let you go?” (Hosea 11:7,8, Phillips) Are bad people His children, just as much as good people? Is God losing His own children? Will He ever see them again?

Ezekiel is perhaps the clearest in his description of how God feels about the destruction of the wicked:

Ezekiel 18:23: 23 "Do you think I enjoy seeing an evil person die?” asks the Sovereign Lord. "No, I would rather see him repent and live.” Good News Bible: Today’s English Version

Ezekiel 18:32: 32 "I do not want anyone to die,” says the Sovereign Lord. "Turn away from your sins and live.” Good News Bible: Today’s English Version But Hosea certainly uses the most compelling language:

Hosea 11:1-9:

“The Lord tells of his love for Israel

1    "When Israel was young I came to love him,

And I called him out of Egypt to be my son.

2    But the more I called them The further they went from me.

They made sacrifices to the Baals And burnt incense to idols.

3    Yet it was I who taught Ephraim to walk,

Picking them up in my arms.

Yet they never knew that it was I who healed their bruises.

4    I led them with gentle encouragement,

Their harness was a harness of love.

I treated them like the man

Who eases the yoke to free the jaws—

Yes, I bent down to them and gave them food.

But Israel will not turn to him

5    They must return to the land of Egypt Or Assyria must be their king,

Because they have refused to turn to Me.

6    The sword shall whirl around in their cities,

Break the defense of their gates,

And destroy them within their fortresses.

7    My people are bent on turning away from Me;

The yoke is all they are fit for—

I can love them no more.

The Lord reveals his heart

8    How, oh how, can I give you up, Ephraim!

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How, oh how, can I hand you over, Israel!

How can I turn you into a Sodom!

How can I treat you like a Gomorrah!

My heart recoils within me,

All my compassion is kindled.

9 I will not give vent to my fierce anger-

I will not destroy Ephraim again.

For I am God and not man,

I am the Holy One in your very midst,

And I have not come to destroy.”

Hosea 11 :1-9 (Phillips)

The final annihilation of sin and sinners is a very large subject. So many different beliefs have developed over the centuries and millennia that it is sometimes hard to get people to look at the Biblical evidence. For a great deal more information see: The Final End of Sin and Sinners; Joel - A Teacher’s Guide #4; Luke - A Teacher’s Guide #12,13; Isaiah - A Teacher’s Guide #13; Hosea - A Teacher’s Guide # 13

7.    Was Obadiah written partly to encourage Israel, in the right sense, with the promise, "‘Vengeance is Mine. I will repay,’ says the Lord?” (Deuteronomy 32:35,41,43; Romans 12:19; Hebrews 10:30)[3384]

All of Scripture is supposed to be of value to all of us (2 Timothy 3:16[3385])! We have no evidence that Obadiah’s writings ever got to the Edomites. There certainly is no evidence that it changed their behavior at all. In either case, God stated quite clearly how He felt about it and what He intended to do about it. History confirms that Obadiah’s prophecy was correct. Once again it is seen that we reap just what we have planted.

8.    What do you think of God sending a message of warning to the Edomites at all? Does God bless people outside of the main line? We have several books dealing with this, don’t we? Job, Obadiah, Jonah, Nahum. Have there been messages to others in the past that were not of the Jewish line? Aren’t all those warnings for the purpose of winning and correcting people, even Edomites?

It is interesting to note that Jonah, Nahum, and Obadiah were written to some of Israel’s and Judah’s worst enemies! But all of them are God’s children. It also serves a secondary purpose of showing those who read Scripture that God not only cares about those outside the "covenant people” but also that He keeps His word with regard to all groups. In Obadiah’s day, the Jews were suffering, but the day was coming when the Edomites, who had done their worst to take advantage of the Jews misfortune would get their turn and their "reward.”

9.    The Edomites thought their nation was impregnable because they lived among the rocky crags and mountains east and south of the Dead Sea. Their capital city was literally carved out of rock. Do we feel that we have "rock-like security” in our lives? Our 401 (k)? Our bank account? The family inheritance? The "remnant” church? Could God ever shake this "security blanket?”

This is a thought question. Could the tragedies that overtook Judah ever come to us?

© Copyright 1998-2006, Kenneth Hart info@theox.org

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48. JONAH - A TEACHER’S GUIDE

THE CENTRAL QUESTION:

What does this book/story say to us about God?

This question may be broken down further as follows:

a.    Why did God do it/allow it?

b.    Why did He record it for our study?

1. Do you remember hearing the story of Jonah as a kid? What did you think of it? Did you want to try it? Is it just another miracle story? Is it possible to believe that this story actually happened as it says? Would you feel more comfortable among modern scientific friends if the book of Jonah were not in the Bible? Does the story seem a little "unrealistic?” Did Jesus believe it? (Matthew 12:38-41[3386]) Is Jonah mentioned as a historical character elsewhere in the Bible? (2 Kings 14:25[3387])

"The credibility of Jonah’s experience with the great fish has often been maligned. Similar incidents, however, are not lacking in recorded literature. The issues are really the greatness of God and the authority of God’s Word. The great fish was provided by God, not primarily for Jonah’s punishment, but for four other reasons: (1) salvation from drowning (2:2-6), (2) transportation to Nineveh (2:10), (3) education from God (2:10), and (4) recommission from God (3:1, 2). Jonah’s punishment and apparent end were accomplished on the deck of the ship. God’s provision for a return journey was the fish. The "fish” may or may not have been a whale. It may have even been the enormous whale shark, a frequent visitor to the Mediterranean waters. The phrase "three days and three nights” does not necessarily denote a 72-hour period. In Hebrew thought, a part can constitute the whole in time reckoning. Thus Jonah was in the belly of the great fish at least part of three separate days. Jonah’s importance rises significantly due to his experience being found on the lips of the Lord Jesus Christ. Both Matthew and Luke record the Lord’s drawing of an analogy between Himself and Jonah (Matt. 12:39ff. and Luke 11:29ff.[3388]). Interestingly, the appropriation made by Matthew apparently differs from that of Luke. Matthew seems to emphasize the time preceding deliverance, while Luke focuses on the actual event of deliverance from death.” (Believer’s Study Bible)

"The Book of Jonah has been described as a parable, an allegory, and a satire. The famous story of the ‘great fish’ (often erroneously thought of as a whale) has led many to dismiss the book as merely a biblical ‘fish story.’

"It is a mistake (based in part on the difficulty some readers have in coming to terms with the miraculous character of the story line) to assume that the events and actions of the book are not historical in nature. While the story line is unusual, it is presented as normal history. Further, Jesus used the story of Jonah as an analogy of His own impending death and resurrection (see Matt. 12:39-41[3389]). Jesus’ analogy depends on the recognition of two historical realities: (1) the historical experience of Jonah in the belly of the great fish, and (2) the historical experience of the repentance of the people of Nineveh based on the preaching

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of Jonah (see also Luke 11:29-32[3390]). Indeed, the phrase ‘the sign of the prophet Jonah’ must have been a recurring phrase in the teaching of Christ, as it is found on more than one occasion in Matthew’s account of Christ’s ministry (see Matt. 16:4). Thus any view of the Book of Jonah that does not assume it describes historical events is obliged to explain away the clear words of Jesus to the contrary.” (Nelson’s Study Bible)

"The great fish simply did what it was told. This is an obvious miracle, the precise details of which are not stated. We do not know if the fish was a specially created one or a modified whale; nor do we know how Jonah breathed for 72 hours. God likely chose that Jonah stay inside the fish for three days and three nights because that was the time ancients thought someone needed to come back from Sheol. Hence, Jonah’s return from the fish would represent a miraculous rescue from death and destruction.” (Spirit-Filled Life Study Bible)

"The book of Jonah is different from the other prophetic books, because it gives only one sentence ofwhat the prophet Jonah preached. Instead, this book tells how Jonah disobeyed the Lord and refused to warn Nineveh that it was going to be destroyed. Jonah even wanted the city to be destroyed, because it was the capital city of Assyria, a hated enemy of Israel. But the Lord corrected Jonah; then Jonah went to Nineveh and preached the Lord’s message.

"When many people think about the book of Jonah, they think only of Jonah being swallowed by a huge fish. However, the message of this book is that the Lord wants to have mercy on everyone; as Jonah says to him:

“You are a kind and merciful God, and you are very patient. You always show love, and you don’t like to punish anyone, not even foreigners.” (4.2b) (CEV)

"The book portrays God’s absolute sovereignty over his creation. But above all it portrays God as a God of love and mercy, who would rather forgive and save even the enemies of his people, rather than punish and destroy them.” (GNB)

"This book has no stated author, though tradition ascribes it to Jonah, the main character of the book. No other suggestion commends itself, and logic dictates that Jonah had every reason to record both his harrowing encounters with ocean, fish, plant, and worm, and also the marvelous Ninevite revival. This man, whose name means "dove” (cf. Hos. 7:11; 11:11[3391]), was a prophet, son of Amittai [meaning "Truthful.”] (1:1), a native of Gath Hepher (2 Kin. 14:25[3392]) in Zebulun, a town about two miles north of Nazareth. Thus Jonah is described in terms that would point to his being a real person, and his experiences actual and historical.

"The historical events recorded, as well as the writing of the narrative (perhaps the earliest prophetic book) apparently occurred during the reign of Jeroboam II (793-753 b.c.) in Israel (the northern kingdom). Uzziah was king in Judah, and the Assyrian king was either Adad-nirari III (810-753 b.c.) or Asshur-dan III (771-754 b.c.). This was a time of relative weakness in Assyria, while for Israel it was a time of border expansion (something prophesied by Jonah, cf. 2 Kings 14:25) and prosperity. Israel’s consequent arrogance and pride displeased the Lord, and God raised up Amos and Hosea to proclaim to His people

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Israel that she would be judged (Amos 7:8; 8:2[3393]) and be sent into exile "beyond Damascus” (Amos 5:27[3394]), i.e., in Assyria (Hosea 9:3; 10:6; 11:5[3395]). Isaiah and Micah are also Jonah’s contemporaries, and it was in this political and spiritual climate (800-750 b.c.) that the Lord commissioned Jonah to go to Nineveh and warn its inhabitants of the danger of imminent divine judgment. The general period of the prophet’s ministry and the writing of the book was the eighth century. Similarities of the book to the Elijah-Elisha narratives reinforce the eighth century position. Arguments for a postexilic date, or at least a date after the destruction of Nineveh in 612 b.c., are not persuasive.

"Four different views have been suggested as to how the book should be interpreted: (1) Myth —This view claims that the book has no historical basis; its purpose was only to entertain and to teach moral truth. Those holding this position usually date the book in the sixth-fifth century b.c. It is unlikely, however, that prophetic Hebrew literature ever makes use of this particular literary type. (2) Allegory—This view was quite attractive at the height of the era dominated by older liberal theology. It sees the book as a challenge to extreme Jewish nationalism during the fifth century as the Jews returned to Judea and Jerusalem under the ministries of Ezra and Nehemiah after the Babylonian captivity. The book’s characters are understood symbolically: Jonah represents the Hebrew people; the sea, possibly Gentile nations; the great fish, the Babylonian Empire; the three days/nights in the great fish, the seventy years of captivity; and Nineveh represents the Gentiles needing a Hebrew witness. This view is inadequate, however, for it fails to account sufficiently for all the characters and it is contrary to a natural reading of the text. (3) Parable—This popular position presents the book as a narrative discourse which communicates spiritual truths to be applied by the reader. The book as a whole is not viewed as historical, though historical realities may undergird the book. In this view, problematic issues need not be broached. The book may be dated anywhere between the eighth and fourth centuries b.c. Against this view is the fact that the book does not fit the mold of parabolic literature. (4) History/biography—This is the traditional approach to the book and one which was almost universally accepted until the Enlightenment and the advent of modern historical criticism. This view sees the book as a straightforward historical account of the actual experiences of the eighth-century prophet Jonah. It should be noted that Jesus affirmed the historical nature of the book (cf. Matt. 12:38-41; 16:4; Luke 11:29, 30, 32)[3396]. The Book of Jonah, then, depicts the actual historical events in the life and ministry of the eighth-century prophet.

“The pervading theme of Jonah is God’s gracious extension of His mercy to Gentile nations through the preaching of repentance. Nevertheless, the book is unique in the number of theological truths expounded in one brief volume (forty-eight verses). These additional themes are worthy of note: (1) the universal appeal of Israel’s God (cf. the mariners, 1:16; the Ninevites, 3:5); (2) the sovereignty of God over life, elements, and circumstances (cf. the storm, 1:4; the fish, 1:17; the plant, 4:6; and the worm, 4:7; in this connection one should observe that the preoccupation of antagonists and defenders with the great fish has detracted from the theological truths resident in the book);

(3) a contrast between the ineffectiveness of the gods of the mariners (1:5) and the

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Ninevites, and the saving competency of Yahweh as witnessed by the mariners (1:16), by Jonah (2:10), and by the people of Nineveh (3:5-10); (4) a further contrast concerning the nationalistic pride of Israel and the failure of the nation to comprehend the nature of her missionary task and the purpose of God to bestow His loving-kindness upon all peoples—this whole issue is made lucid in the life of the prophet himself (cf. 4:1, 2); (5) finally, the story of Jonah’s encounter with the fish as a typology prefiguring the Lord’s three-day sojourn in the tomb and His subsequent resurrection (cf. Matt. 12:38-41[3397]). It is probably correct to state that the main character of the book is really God. No less than thirty-nine times is He directly referred to as Yahweh or Elohim. In comparison, Jonah is mentioned eighteen times. The sovereign, covenant God of glorious attributes is the hero of this short prophecy.” (Believer’s Study Bible)

"This large city [Nineveh] was the capital of Assyria, a violent pagan nation despised by the Israelites. Yet the Ninevites repented when they heard of God’s impending judgment, whereas the Israelites kept ignoring similar messages sent to them. Thus the book was a challenge to the self-righteous and ethnocentric attitudes of the Israelites.

Nineveh:

•    A prominent Assyrian city on the east bank of the Tigris River about 280 miles north of Babylon.

•    Founded by Nimrod, along with Rehoboth Ir, Calah, and Resen (Gen. 10:11-12[3398]), forming a massive urban quadrangle 60 miles across.

•    Rivaled Babylon for beauty and splendor with its royal palaces, temples, broad streets, public gardens, and impressive library containing more than 26,000 clay tablets—one of the largest in the ancient world.

•    Defended by an outer wall and an inner wall 100 feet high and 50 feet wide.

•    Irrigated by the Khasr River, whose flow was controlled by a dam built by Sennacherib ©. 705-681 a.d.), and also by a large aqueduct that carried water from a second dam thirty miles away.

•    Target of prophecies by Zephaniah (Zeph. 2:13-15[3399]) and Nahum (Nah. 1:1; 3:1[3400]), who warned of the city’s ultimate destruction.

•    Destroyed in 612 a.d. by a siege of Babylonians, Scythians, and Medes, who penetrated its defenses when sudden floods eroded the walls (compare Nah. 2:6-8[3401]).

•    Quickly became a mound of ruins that was ignored until just a century ago.” (Word in Life Study Bible)

"Assyria, a nation which had achieved a near-legendary reputation for cruelty, was in mild decline during these years, but it remained a threat. The repentance of Nineveh probably occurred in the reign of Ashurdan III (773-755 b.c.). Two plagues (765 and 759 b.c.) and a solar eclipse (763 b.c.) may have prepared the people for Jonah’s message of judgment.” (Nelson’s Complete Book of Bible Maps and Charts)

"The royal inscriptions of Assyria afford the best commentary on the burning denunciation of ‘the bloody city.’ In the wake of their conquests, mounds of heads, impaled

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bodies, enslaved citizens, and avaricious looters testified to the ruthlessness of the Assyrians. Little wonder that Judah joined in the general outburst of joy over the destruction of Nineveh!” (New American Bible)

"Ashurnasirpal II (883-859 a.d.) boasted of dyeing the peaks of mountains red with the blood of his slaughtered enemies. He was known to flay his captives (possibly while they were still alive), and spread their skins on the walls of conquered cities.

"Another atrocity cited by Ashurnasirpal, as well as by his successor, Shalmaneser II (859-824 a.d.), was to have the heads of slain enemy warriors cut off and stacked into a pillar in front of a defeated city. Then the conquerors threw boys and girls from the city into bonfires.

"Sennacherib (705-681 ad.), who sent a force against Judah and Jerusalem in the time of Hezekiah (2 Kin. 18:13-19:36), described cutting the throats of his enemies like lambs, and cutting off their lives as one cuts a string. Apparently he took grim pleasure in eviscerating his captives...

"Nineveh had a double wall, the inner portion of which was 100 feet high and 50 feet wide.” (Word In Life Study Bible)

"Jonah was one of four Old Testament prophets whose ministries were referred to by Christ (cf. Matt. 12:41; Luke 11:32)[3402]. The others were Elijah (Matt. 17:11-12[3403]), Elisha (Luke 4:27[3404]), and Isaiah (Matt. 15:7[3405])...."Shalmaneser III (859-824 b.c.) made the city of Nineveh a base for military operations. During his reign Israel came into contact with Nineveh. He wrote that he fought a coalition of kings of Aram and others including "Ahab the Israelite” (in 853 b.c.). Later he wrote that he received tribute from "Jehu, son of Omri,” who is pictured in the Black Obelisk of Shalmaneser. Neither of these events is mentioned in the Bible. Azariah, king of Judah (790-739), paid tribute to Tiglath-Pileser III (745-727). Menahem, king of Israel (752-742), did the same (2 Kings 15:14-23). In the reign of Ashur-dan III (772-754) Jonah preached to the Ninevites (see the Introduction to Jonah).” (The Bible Knowledge Commentary)

"The kings in Assyria during the reign of Jeroboam II, according to the chronology employed in this commentary, were Adad-nirari III (810-782), Shalmaneser IV (782-772), Ashur-dan III (772-754), and Ashur-nirari V (754-746). There is evidence that possibly indicates that during the reign of Adad-nirari III a religious revolution occurred. Nabu (Nebo), the god of Borsippa, appears to have been proclaimed sole, or at least principal, god. Some see a possible connection between this monotheistic revolution and the mission of Jonah to Nineveh (see Vol. II, p. 60)....

"Some have estimated the population of the walled city at 160,000. How many people may have lived outside the city is not known. Some writers have interpreted the reference in Jonah 4:11 to the 120,000 persons who could not discern between their right hand and their left, as applying to small children only. They have accordingly estimated the total population of Nineveh to have been from 600,000 to 2,000,000. Since such a large population could not have lived inside Nineveh, they have included in Jonah’s Nineveh

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"Sargon’s city,” now called Khorsabad, 12 mi. (19.2 km.) north of Nineveh, and Calah, now Nimrud, south of Nineveh at the confluence of the Greater Zab and Tigris rivers. However, those cities, although belonging to Assyria, were separate units with their own protective walls and administrations, and are never included in Nineveh in the ancient historical records.” (SDA Bible Commentary)

Chronology:

792 b.c. Jeroboam II begins to reign in Israel

c. 770 b.c. Approximate time of Jonah

c. 745 b.c. Assyrian Empire pushes westward under Tiglath-Pileser

722 b.c. Israel is taken captive by Assyria

612 b.c. Nineveh falls to the Medes and Babylonians

Jonah prophesied between 793 and 753 BC during the days of Jeroboam II of Israel. See Dr. Gerhard Hassel’s book on Jonah: Messenger of the Eleventh Hour. He believes that Jonah’s story was true and mentions stories of other people who have been swallowed by sea creatures and survived. The story of Jonah has led to the telling of many jokes, some of them actually happened!:

A former drug addict, now turned preacher told of many disturbing statistics about drug abuse. He then pounded his Bible and said it was the only answer. Afterwards, a drug addict asked him if he really believed all those stories in the Bible. He said yes. Then he was asked if he believed in the story of Noah and even Jonah. Again he said yes. Then the questioner asked what he thought Jonah was thinking while in the belly of that big fish. After thinking for a moment he replied that he would just have to ask Jonah when he got to heaven. "What if Jonah doesn’t go to heaven?” asked the questioner. ‘Then you can ask him’, replied the preacher!”

"A little girl was observed by her pastor standing outside the pre-school Sunday School classroom between Sunday School and worship, waiting for her parents to come and pick her up for "big church.”

The pastor noticed that she clutched a big storybook with the title, "Jonah and the Whale” under her arms.

He knelt down beside the little girl and began a conversation. "What’s that you have in your hand?” he asked.

"This is my storybook about Jonah and the Whale,” she answered.

"Tell me something, little girl,” he continued, "do you believe that story about Jonah and that whale to be the truth?”

The little girl nodded, "Why of course I believe this story to be the truth!”

He inquired further, "You really believe that a man can be swallowed up by a big whale, stay inside him all that time, and come out of there still alive and OK? You really believe all that can be true?”

She declared, "Absolutely, this story is in the Bible and we studied about it in Sunday School today!”

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Then the pastor asked, "Well, little girl, can you prove to me that this story is the truth?”

She thought for a moment and then said, "Well, when I get to Heaven, I’ll ask Jonah.”

The pastor then asked, "Well, what if Jonah’s not in Heaven?”

She then put her hands on her little hips and sternly declared, "Then YOU can ask him!”

A teacher in Idaho asked a group of children what they learned from the story of Jonah. One child responded: "even the fish learned that you can’t keep a good man down!”

The book of Jonah is actually one of the most historically supported minor prophets. He is mentioned in 2 Kings 14:25[3406] and Jesus talks about him in the (Matthew 12:38-41; 16:4; and Luke 11:29-32)[3407]. Jesus spoke of the story on several occasions as being a historical fact. Do we want to doubt the truthfulness of Jesus?

2.    What picture of God did Jonah have? Was he happy and proud of how God treated him? Was he proud of how God treated the Ninevites? Does Jonah contribute anything of importance to your picture of God?

Jonah had a great picture of God, but he was embarrassed and angered by God’s behavior! (Jonah 4:1-3[3408]) Compare Jeremiah and Paul. (Jeremiah 9:23,24; Romans 1:16,17)[3409] Why was Jonah embarrassed about his picture of God? Or was he?

In contrast, Joshua, like Moses before him, recognized that God’s reputation was an even more important issue than the fate of Israel! (Compare Genesis 18:25; Exodus 32:7-14; Deuteronomy 9:6-13,26-29; 32:26,27; Numbers 14:11-16; Job 42:7,8; Ezekiel 36:22,23; Daniel 9:14- 19; John 15:15; Romans 1:18; 2:17-24)[3410] God’s friends are jealous for His reputation. Real friends are always like that!

3.    How did Jonah know that throwing him into the sea would stop the storm? (Jonah 1:9-12[3411]) On what basis could he make such a statement? Well, wasn’t he a prophet? Did God actually send the storm against the ship that Jonah was in? (Jonah 1:4[3412]) Or is this just a general understanding that whatever happens, God is behind it? When Jonah said he was a worshiper of Yahweh, "the God of heaven, who made land and sea”, did the sailors think of the evil "god” of the sea, Mot, who always seemed to be angry?

While we certainly would agree with the statement that God is over all and has the power to allow or prevent anything He chooses, in general He allows people to exercise their freedom and thus to learn, even if what they learn is the dire consequences of evil. God probably sent the storm in this story in the same sense as He killed Saul. (See 1 Chronicles 10:3-14[3413]) We have no way of knowing for sure if Jonah had some specific revelation about the cause of the storm. The sailors were certainly terrified enough (Jonah 1:10[3414]) when they learned the truth.

4.    Where did Jonah think he had gone when he was swallowed by that big "fish?” He says he went down into Sheol (sometimes translated hell). It is interesting to note how different translators deal with Jonah’s comments. Did Jonah make some "foxhole” promises?

Jonah 2:2:

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"...He doth answer me, From the belly of sheol I have cried, Thou hast heard my voice.” (YLT)

"...out of the belly of hell cryed I, and thou heardest my voyce.” (Geneva)

"...out of the belly of hell cried I, and thou heardest my voice.” King James Version "...out of the belly of hades called I, Thou didst hear my voice.” Rheims "...I cried out of the belly of hell, and thou hast heard my voice.” Confraternity "...Out of the belly of Sheol cried I: thou heardest my voice.” 1890 Darby Bible "...Out of the belly of Sheol cried I, (And) thou heardest my voice.” American Standard Version

"...Out of the belly of Sheol cried I, and You heard my voice.” The Amplified Bible "...Out of the belly of Sheol I cried, and You heard my voice.” New King James "...Out of the belly of Sheol I cried for help. You heard my voice.” New World Translation "...out of the belly of Sheol I cried for help, and thou hast heard my cry.” NewEnglish Bible "...from deep within Sheol I cried for help, and you heard my voice.” Revised English Bible

"...out of the belly of Sheol I cried, and thou didst hear my voice.” RSV "...out of the belly of Sheol I cried, and you heard my voice. The New Revised Standard Version

"...From the belly of Sheol I cried out, And You heard my voice.” Tanakh, The Holy Scriptures

"...from the belly of Sheol I cried, And you have heard my voice.” The Jerusalem Bible "...from the belly of Sheol I cried out; you heard my voice!” The New Jerusalem Bible "...I cried for help from the depth of Sheol; Thou didst hear my voice.” NASB "...I cried for help from the depth of Sheol; You heard my voice.” NASB, 1995 Update "...from the innermost part of Sheol I cried for help.” (Berkeley)

"From the heart of Sheol I called for help; thou didst hear my voice. Smith-Goodspeed "From Sheol’s belly I plead; you hear my voice.” The Anchor Bible "...Out of the womb of Hades did I exclaim, And thou didst harken unto my voice.” (Helen Spurrell)

"...out of the depth of the grave have I cried, and thou hast heard my voice.” Leeser "...From the depths of the grave I called for help, and you listened to my cry.” (NIV) "...from the belly of Death I cried, and thou didst hear my voice.” Moffatt, 1935 "...from the depths of death I called, and Lord, you heard me!” The Living Bible "...From the midst of the nether world I cried for help, and you heard my voice.” NAB) "...From the tomb of the dead, I called for help and you heard me.” (Clear Word)

"...From deep in the world of the dead I cried for help, and you heard me.” (GNB) "...From the depths of my watery grave I cried for help, and you heard my cry.” God’s Word

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"...I was about to die, so I cried to you, and you heard my voice.” TheNewCentury Version "...I called to you from the world of the dead, and Lord, you heard me!” New Living Translation

Notice that Sheol, Hell, Hades, my watery grave, the womb of Hades, Death, the world of the dead, the nether world, and the tomb of the dead are all translated from the same Hebrew words. This is because there is no distinction in the Hebrew. To the Hebrew mind everyone goes to the same place until the resurrection occurs. From Jonah’s perspective he had already arrived there! He had no idea that he would every return to the solid earth!

It is interesting to note that numerous stories from both ancient and modern times attest to the fact that large "fish” or "whales” have swallowed humans and then spit them up again alive. One of the most modern examples was reported in the "Weekly World News ” of June

16, 1987 where the headlines read: "Shark swallows fisherman—then spits him out alive!” The lucky man was named Mikado Nakamura and he gave an interview to the Newspaper from his hospital bed in Kanazawa, Japan. (See The Anchor Bible, “Jonah” p. 151)

"For anatomical reasons it seems most unlikely that ‘fish’ is correct, but several toothed whales are recorded from the E Mediterranean, including some that are capable of swallowing a man. In the early part of this century there were one or two reasonably authenticated cases of men surviving after being swallowed (PTR 25, 1927, pp. 636ff.).” (The New Bible Dictionary)

"In the first place, it is necessary to observe that the Greek word cetos, used by St. Matthew, is not restricted in its meaning to ‘a whale,’ or any Cetacean; like the Latin cete or cetus, it may denote any sea-monster, either ‘a whale,’ or ‘a shark,’ or ‘a seal,’ or ‘a tunny of enormous size.’ Although two or three species of whale are found in the Mediterranean Sea, yet the ‘great fish’ that swallowed the prophet cannot properly be identified with any Cetacean, for, although the sperm whale has a gullet sufficiently large to admit the body of a man, yet it can hardly be the fish intended, as the natural food of Cetaceans consists of small animals, such as medusa and crustacea. The only fish, then, capable of swallowing a man would be a large specimen of the white shark (Carcharias vulgaris), that dreaded enemy of sailors, and the most voracious of the family of SqualidThis shark, which sometimes attains the length of thirty feet, is quite able to swallow a man whole. The whole body of a man in armor has been found in the stomach of a white shark; and Captain King, in his survey of Australia, says he had caught one which could have swallowed a man with the greatest ease. Blumenbach mentions that a whole horse has been found in a shark, and Captain Basil Hall reports the taking of one in which, besides other things, he found the whole skin of a buffalo which a short time before had been thrown overboard from his ship. The white shark is not uncommon in the Mediterranean.” (Smith’s Bible Dictionary)

5. "Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the whale.” (Jonah 1:17[3415]) How long would that be? If Jesus was dead three days and three nights as we reckon time, He would need to be crucified on Wednesday in order to rise on Sunday morning? How long was Jonah inside this creature?

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To the ancient Jews any part of a day counted as one day. Furthermore, when they said "days and nights” it referred to whole days. Thus "three days and three nights” could mean just a little over 24 hours if you pick the right 24 hours. Notice, by comparison that Jesus was in the grave a small part of Friday, all of Saturday, and about half of Sunday by Jewish reckoning. Their understanding and concern about the minutia of time was nothing like ours.

6.    What about the sailor’s use of an "magical” practice, like casting lots to find out who it was on the boat that was causing this storm? Does God see through these kinds of needs among people who believe in such things? If our church officers were chosen today by "casting lots” could you then be certain that they were the right choices? Surely the two men they chose as candidates to take Judas’ place (Acts 1:12-26[3416]) were very carefully selected. They prayed over both of them. And if the lot had fallen on the other one, would it have been a mistake? Should we use this method for selecting church officers today? Think how much time we could save!

We do not even know exactly how the casting of lots was done. It appears that it was done by choosing the odd straw or stick or perhaps by choosing an odd colored stone out of a jar or jug. In any case it is clear that the method was intended to represent a chance selection of items. (See 1 Samuel Teacher’s Guide #14; Numbers Teacher’s Guide #16; Joshua Teacher’s Guide #12)

7.    What do you think of the appeal made by the king of Nineveh (Jonah 3:6-9[3417])? What kind of picture of God did he have? Who do you think had the biggest effect on the people-the King or Jonah?

It is quite clear that the King was used to authoritarian methods! I wonder how he could order animals to wear sackcloth! Unfortunately, the picture he had of God was not much above His own arbitrary rule! In any case the combined effect of the King’s edict and Jonah’s preaching apparently "converted” most of the city! What an incredible result! It is too bad we can’t attribute this wonderful result to a better picture of God, but people are not often moved by just that!

8.    What gave Jonah such authority? Was it his recounting of the "whale” story? Have you ever heard of an evangelist that won a whole city?

See #6 above for a note on Jonah’s effectiveness. Did he keep any "souvenirs” of his travels!? In the early years the surrounding nations did respect Yahweh, perhaps because they remembered David and Solomon! What did Jonah say to the people of Jerusalem when he came home? Do you think the peoples of Nineveh and Jerusalem believed his story? The story is certainly told in such a way in the ancient Hebrew that one is expected to believe that it is a part of an historical episode.

9.    How do we go to the world with a serious message about what’s going to happen at the end of the world, and at the same time, tell them that God is infinitely gracious, patient, loving, and compassionate? Is there any way we can phrase that so it won’t confuse people? Didn’t God’s graciousness make Jonah want to die? Was he hoping to go home with the message

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that with God’s help he had managed to singlehandedly wipe out the Ninevites?! If on the other hand Jonah comes home and explains that he has evangelized the Ninevites so they didn’t have to be destroyed as God had said they would be, would his neighbors want to stone him?

This is a very serious question raised by the book of Jonah! It seems to suggest that there is a time in people’s lives when a little "thunder” may be appropriate. Certainly children need "emergency measures” from time to time! But ultimately we need to educate people as to the full and incredible freedoms that God has actually offered us. We need to spell out the terrible consequences of choosing evil. But then we need to show that these consequences are not imposed as a punishment by God Himself. This is probably best illustrated by the death of Christ. He died as a direct result of sin (Isaiah 53:4-10; 2 Corinthians 5:21)[3418] but we are not to think it was a punishment sent from God (Isaiah 53:4) But the misunderstanding of this issue is so serious that people who thought that they were the greatest and most obedience servants of the true God, actually took Him out and crucified Him in God’s name!

Jonah may have quietly returned back home hoping that not too many people would ask where he had been or what he had been doing! We can hope that eventually he developed a better attitude about his success in Nineveh than appears in the book. It would have been good if he could have been as successful in “converting” the people back in Jerusalem or Samaria! Why wasn’t Jonah as successful with the Hebrews as he apparently was with the Ninevites?

10.    What is the real message of Jonah? Why is Jonah upset by God’s kindness toward the Ninevites? Look at Jonah 4. Doesn’t this imply that there was a rather extended conversation between Jonah and God earlier? Can you imagine what was said during that conversation?

There seem to be several major messages in the book of Jonah.

1)    God takes a very personal interest in all peoples of all nations. He is not just interested

only in "His own people” unless you remember that in reality we are all His children.

2)    Jonah somehow learned that God was incredibly gracious, loving and kind. But Jonah

seemed to hope that that kindness did not extend to the Assyrians!

3)    God is apparently prepared to do almost anything that will result in people learning the

truth about Him.

11.    Look at Jonah 3:9,10. What do we mean when we say, "God repented of evil”? God seems to change His mind about destroying Nineveh.

Jonah 3:10:

And God seeth their works, that they have turned back from their evil way, and God

repenteth of the evil that He spake of doing to them, and he hath not done it.

Young’s Literal Translation

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And God saw their works, that they had turned from their evil way: and God bethought himself of the evil, which he had spoken that he would do unto them, and he did it not. Leeser

And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God repented of the evil, that he had said that he would do unto them; and he did it not. (KJV; Darby, ASV)

When God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil way, God repented of the evil which he had said he would do to them; and he did not do it. (RSV)

When God saw by their actions how they turned from their evil way, he repented of the evil that he had threatened to do to them; he did not carry it out. The New American Bible

When God saw by their actions how they turned from their evil way, he repented of the evil that he had threatened to do to them; he did not carry it out. (NAB)

God saw what they did, and how they abandoned their wicked ways, and he repented and did not bring upon them the disaster he had threatened. (NEB)

Then God saw their actions, that they had turned from their wicked way. So God relented of the evil which he had said he would do unto them, and he did it not. Smith-Goodspeed

When God saw what they were doing, and how they turned from their evil life, God did relent; he decided not to inflict the punishment he had said he would inflict upon them. Moffatt

...God relented of the punishment which He had said He would inflict on them. And He did not do it. (Berkeley)

Then God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God relented from the disaster that He had said He would bring upon them, and He did not do it. (NKJ)

God saw their efforts to renounce their evil ways. And God relented about the disaster which he had threatened to bring on them, and did not bring it. (NJB)

When God saw their deeds, that they turned from their wicked way, then God relented concerning the calamity which He had declared He would bring upon them. And He did not do it. The New American Standard Bible, 1995 Update

...God changed his mind about the calamity that he had said he would bring upon them; and he did not do it. (NRSV)

God saw what they did; he saw that they had given up their wicked behavior. So he changed his mind and did not punish them as he had said he would. (GNB)

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When God saw what the people did, that they stopped doing evil, he changed his mind and did not do what he had warned. He did not punish them. (NCV)

When God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil ways, God changed his mind about the calamity that he had said he would bring upon them; and he did not do it. NRSV

...he spared them, in his mercy, their threatened punishment. (Knox)

When God saw what they did and how they turned from their evil ways, he had compassion and did not bring upon them the destruction he had threatened. (NIV)

And when God saw that they had put a stop to their evil ways, he abandoned his plan to destroy them and didn’t carry it through. (TLB)

When God saw that they had put a stop to their evil ways, he had mercy on them and didn’t carry out the destruction he had threatened. The NewLiving Translation

When God saw what the people had done and how determined they were to turn from their wicked ways, He had compassion on them. He decided not to destroy the city as He had originally planned. (Clear Word)

God saw what they did. He saw that they turned from their wicked ways. So God reconsidered his threat to destroy them, and he didn’t do it. God’s Word

God saw what they did, how they were turning back from their evil ways. And God renounced the punishment He had planned to bring upon them, and did not carry it out. Tanakh, The Holy Scriptures

When God saw that the people had stopped doing evil things, he had pity and did not destroy them as he had planned. The Contemporary English Version

See 1 Samuel Teacher’s Guide #17. See also (Genesis 6:5-7; Exodus 32:14; 1 Samuel 15:11,35; 2 Samuel 24:16; 1 Chronicles 21:15; Jeremiah 26:13,19; Ezekiel 24:14; Joel 2:13,14; Amos 7:3,6; Jonah 4:2; compare Psalms 2:12; Contrast 1 Samuel 15:29; Numbers 23:19; Malachi 3:6)[3419]

12. What about Jonah’s complaint? (Jonah 4:1-3[3420]) Is it fair for God to send one of His prophets off so far to give such a message and then just make him look like a false prophet?

God seems to be delighted when even the most cruel of peoples are prepared to learn something about Him. God has even put people to death in order to say something to other people! (See story of Uzzah - Proverbs Teacher’s Guide #11; Leviticus Teacher’s Guide #13; 2 Samuel Teacher’s Guide #5) God is not nearly so concerned about the details or the length of our lives on this earth as He is about what happens to us in eternity. The few events of this very brief life are only a preparation time for eternity. God knows that He will resurrect us when He is ready, and He knows what the results will be at that time. So those results are not nearly so worrisome to Him as they seem to be to us! Our only

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important concern is to be sure that our relationship with Him is okay so He can do for us what He so much wants to do!

13.    Is this just a message about Jonah being disobedient by not at first doing what God had asked him to do, or is there a really significant theological matter involved here regarding Jonah’s attitude toward God?

Jonah’s understanding of God’s character and government are most exemplary. But Jonah is not prepared to be as considerate of his enemies as he is afraid that God will be with those enemies! How do we feel about our enemies!? The greatest truths about a person’s character are demonstrated, not by how he treats his friends-or even who those friends are-but by how that person treats his enemies! Thus the way God deals with the Ninevites is a most significant theological matter. We need to compare the book of Nahum and Zephaniah as well when we ask this question.

14.    In light of Jonah’s comments about God, do you think he did his preaching with real conviction? Or all the while did he have in the back of his mind that God would probably not go through with this threatened punishment?

It is too bad we don’t know more about the life of Jonah and how he came to know God so well! If we knew the answer to that question, we might better be able to know how he felt about this knowledge and understanding of God. It is likely in view of his comments in Jonah 4:1-3 that he had considered this possibility! He nevertheless apparently preached with enough conviction so the King and the entire city came to regard his predictions as serious and they decided to take the God of Israel seriously.

15.    What do you think of Jonah’s attitude about God? What about God’s attitude toward these number one enemies of Israel? If Jonah understood that God is the kind of God that is implied in Jonah 4:2, why wouldn’t he be proud of it and want to share that message?

God, as usual is very gracious even to the worst of sinners. These Assyrians were very cruel to those who were uncooperative or rebellious against their plans. It was their custom to take such people out and flay them with sticks until their entire skin was black and blue and them skin them alive!!! How could God love such people? How could Jonah even come near them? It would take quite a bit of convincing to get almost anyone to go to such a group of people! Jonah must have felt that God was able to care for him no matter what happened, and the experience with the "fish” convinced him that God was serious about this assignment!

Even if you thought that God was incredibly gracious, it would not be natural for any human to want to preach a fearsome message to people who would apparently just as readily skin you alive as look at you! In light of all this, one might wonder whether Jonah’s reluctance was primarily because of his understanding of God’s graciousness, or because of his understanding of the Assyrian’s treatment of their enemies! If we knew more about what Jonah said to his fellow Jews about God, it would be easier to know how he really felt about Him! Jonah’s statement in Jonah 4:1-3 suggests however that at least part of his reluctance was because he suspected that God would forgive these terrible people instead

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of carrying out His threatened punishment! Imagine having such a great picture of God and being reluctant to take action because you were afraid God was too kind and too generous and He might not actually carry out their destruction as promised!

16.    What was Jonah really afraid of? It seems that he was most of all concerned about his own reputation! (Jonah 4:1-3) Is it not apparent that Jonah didn’t really care much about God’s reputation nor about the heathen inhabitants of Nineveh?

Jonah’s biggest fear seems to be that his own reputation had been destroyed. Deuteronomy 18:21,22:

21 And if you say in your heart, 'How may we know the word which the LORD has not spoken?’-- 22 when a prophet speaks in the name of the LORD, if the word does not come to pass or come true, that is a word which the LORD has not spoken; the prophet has spoken it presumptuously, you need not be afraid of him. (RSV)

21 You may wonder how you can tell when a prophet’s message does not come from the LORD. 22 If a prophet speaks in the name of the LORD and what he says does not come true, then it is not the LORD’s message. That prophet has spoken on his own authority, and you are not to fear him. (GNB)

21 If you wonder, 'How shall we know whether the prophecy is from the Lord or not?’ 22 this is the way to know: If the thing he prophesies doesn’t happen, it is not the Lord who has given him the message; he has made it up himself. You have nothing to fear from him. (TLB)

Didn’t Jonah have good reason to be apprehensive in the light of this passage?

17.    By comparison, what about us? How long has it been since you have heard a sermon about the "signs of the end” with all the dates being given and a real conviction that these signs are proof of the nearness of the end? Could we even today preach with conviction about the nearness of the end? What explanation should we give of the reasons for the delay? Would a study of this matter-the reason for the delay in the second coming-help us to reorient our thinking toward a more correct picture of God? How many years of warning were given to the people before the flood?

In the early years of the SDA Church we pointed to certain events known in history as proofs that the time of the end was near. These included the Lisbon earthquake (1755); the dark day (May 19, 1780) when the sun turned dark and the moon looked like blood; the falling of the stars (November 13, 1833); and the end of the 1260 year period (1798) when the pope was taken captive by Napoleon’s forces. But at the beginning of the 21st century these signs seem to be getting old! Are we embarrassed that God is still waiting? Should we be embarrassed? What if we are part of the reason for the delay?

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What has God always said about the nearness of the end? (See 1 John 2:18; Compare Joel 1:15; 2:1,2; 3:14; contrast 2 Thessalonians 2:1-6; Revelation 7:1-3)[3421] Why would God want each generation to think that the coming of the day of the LORD was near? Isn’t is so we will always be ready? If God cries "wolf too many times, do people get tired of hearing it?

18.    Compare the response of the Ninevites to Jonah’s message and the final comment about Israel and Judah themselves given much later at the end of 2 Chronicles 36:15,16. Who seems the most "Christian” or saveable?

How can we explain the much more favorable response from the heathen Assyrians than from the "faithful” Jews? Even the Old Testament Jews responded to the discovery and reading of God’s word on several occasions. (Nehemiah 8; 2 Kings 22)[3422] But how did the Jews in Jesus’ day respond to appeals from the "Word”? They wanted to kill Him! They thought they knew the Bible inside out. It had no more conversion appeal for them. This would suggest that such "appeals” will work for a while but not indefinitely.

19.    Do you expect to see Jonah in the kingdom? If so, what do you think he will have to say about this whole experience? Don’t you think he will look back and be able to say, "The picture of God that I was ashamed of then, I am proud of now?” Are we Adventists proud or distressed that God has waited 160 years? Are we being true friends of God and correctly representing Him?

While this is primarily a thought question, it is a very serious one. Jonah is mentioned by Jesus in the New Testament as we noted, but he is not found in Hebrews 11. Jesus makes no statement that would give a clear indication that Jonah will be in heaven. Personally, I am convinced that Jonah will be there. Do we know of any Bible writers that clearly will not be in heaven? Many aspects of Jonah’s experience are very parallel to our experience today. We can learn many lessons from his story. May our picture of God be as good as his!

20.    What did the angels learn from the stories and books of Jonah and Nahum?

It seems that God has an interest in all the peoples of planet earth and not just Hebrews. The entire book of Jonah was written for the benefit of the Assyrians and actually the peoples of Israel and Judah and the prophet Jonah look pretty bad by comparison!

"Jonah is a unique book. Not only is Jonah different from the other prophets we study in this volume, but his book is also different from any other Old Testament book. Because of these differences, Jonah is, in my estimation, the most miraculous book in the Bible. Let me explain—first the uniqueness and then the miraculousness of Jonah’s book.

"All the other prophetic books we are studying consist mainly of oracles— that is, messages from God delivered by the prophet. These messages are usually couched in poetic language. In contrast, Jonah is a story. All the other prophets appear in a good light. They may not always be popular with the people, but they are seen as righteous people who speak for God. Jonah is a villain. He, the prophet, is portrayed in a bad light. He runs away from God and tries to avoid God’s call.

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"Among the twelve minor prophets’, Jonah is the only one whom God sends to minister in a foreign land. Obadiah may prophesy about Edom, but he does not ‘work’ there. The other prophets clearly minister to Israel or Judah. Outside of a few isolated cases, we know little about the success or failure of other prophets. Jonah’s preaching is successful almost beyond belief yet he is disturbed by that success! Jonah is different—even from evangelists today!

"All of this makes it miraculous to me that the book not only has been preserved by the Jews, but that it even has found a place in their (and our) inspired set of books! The book of Jonah makes God’s prophet and His people look bad and Israel’s worst enemy, Assyria, look good. Would Adventists, or any group, want to preserve and canonize a book that portrayed them in a bad light and pictured one of their worst enemies (atheists?) in a good light? Israel, under the prompting of God’s Spirit, did just that when she put the book of Jonah in the Bible!

“All of this was meant to jar Israel out of her self-centeredness and lead her to begin to reach out to other nations and be missionary minded. Israel was meant to be just like God with His great missionary heart. So are we, and that is the great lasting message of Jonah.” Bible Amplifier - Jonah, p. 157,158

The angels must have marveled that God had any interest in this very cruel nation known as Assyria. Why did God send a prophet to them? Why not to Moab, Edom, Syria, Egypt, Tyre and Sidon and Babylon? Is it possible that God saw something in Nineveh that He didn’t in these other places? Do we believe that God is fair? Why did He keep working with Israel and Judah? For a few more years at least? Are we to conclude that Jonah was sent to Nineveh because God saw something there that He recognized as being responsive to His appeals that He didn’t find even in Israel and Judah? Did the angels learn something about God’s missionary Spirit and His willingness to reach out to other peoples, even those who didn’t appear to be very ready for the gospel?

© Copyright 2000-2006, Kenneth Hart khart@llu.edu

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49. MICAH - A TEACHER’S GUIDE

THE CENTRAL QUESTION:

What does this book/story say to us about God?

This question may be broken down further as follows:

a. Why did God do it/allow it?

_b. Why did He record it for our study?_

1. Does the book of Micah add anything significant to your picture of God? Would the message about God be just as clear without this small book? Amos, Isaiah and Hosea were contemporaries of Micah. Do you see any similarities in their writings?

Micah (short for Mikayah, the name means “Who is like Yahweh?”) prophesied between 739 -686 BC - under kings Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah. (See Micah 1:1) He probably began shortly after Hosea and Isaiah with whom he was contemporary. Amos was a few years earlier. Micah wrote to both kingdoms-Judah and Israel. He was a country person, and a champion of the poor. Nothing is known about Micah except what we have in the book itself, and possibly the statement in Jeremiah 26:18,19[3423].

“‘Who is like the Lord?’ is the meaning of the name ‘Micah,’ which is a shorter form of ‘Micaiah.’ He was one of the eighth-century prophets, together with Hosea, Amos, Isaiah, and Jonah, and is mentioned in Jeremiah 26:18. Micah’s home was Moresheth Gath (Micah 1:14[3424]) in the lowlands of Judea, about 20 miles southwest of Jerusalem. He was a man of the countryside who was concerned for other countrymen.” (Believer’s Study Bible)

“Micah, like Amos, is a countryman. But unlike Amos he does not come from a bare desert; his home at Moresheth is green and fertile, with abundant cattle-grazing, cornfields and olive-groves. He has the sturdy independence of the man who lives on the land, and, being close to scenes of battle, he is contemptuous of those who ‘sit at ease in Zion’ and do not see the dangers.” (The Four Prophets - Micah, J. B. Phillips)

“Micah is certainly one of the lesser known prophets. Even prophetic books of similar size, such as Amos, Joel, and Jonah, seem to be more famous. Part of the reason is that these three divine spokesmen have interesting personal stories in their books, which add human interest. Micah lacks such tales. In particular Micah seems to live in the large shadow of his famous contemporary, Isaiah. I believe this obscurity is unjustified. Micah has an important message that deserves to be heard and that will richly reward the believer who takes the time to listen carefully to what he says.

“Micah’s book is unique in the way it is structured. The typical prophetic book follows a certain overall pattern made up of two major parts. Part one is doom or judgment. Often the doom is divided into two sections-a specific doom on God’s people and a general judgment or doom on surrounding nations. The second major part of the pattern is hope-hope that God will restore what has been lost in judgment. Typically, the doom section is longer than the hope section. Micah deviates from this usual pattern in that while most prophetic books go through only one doom-to-hope cycle, Micah repeats the cycle three times in his book. These three cycles are found in (Micah 1:2-2:13; 3:1-5:15; and 6:1- 7:20)[3425]. Each of the three sections begin with the word hear or listen (Micah 1:2; 3:1; 6:1[3426]), and each of their hope sections contain the motif of shepherding (Micah 2:12; 4:8; 5:4 (NIV); 7:14[3427]) (see Alexander et al., 145). This pattern ties the book together in a unity that may not be apparent at first....

“Micah’s introduction (1:1) tells us that he prophesied under three Judahite kings-Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah. Although the prophet does comment on the northern kingdom of Israel, this statement shows that Micah clearly sees himself as a Judahite. His book demonstrates a deeply sensitive understanding of the social ills of his day, particularly as they relate to the southern kingdom. Jotham (750-735 B.C.), Ahaz (735-715), and Hezekiah (715-686), although of the same dynasty, had very

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different characteristics. Jotham, according to (2 Kings 15:34, 35[3428]), did what was right in the sight of the Lord, even though his people still sacrificed and burned incense in the high places. Ahaz, his son and successor, was one of the most evil of Judahite kings. He even sacrificed his own children in the fire (2 Chron. 28:3[3429]) and did not shrink from putting an idol into the temple precincts itself (2 Kings 16:10-12, 14-17[3430]). Hezekiah, son of Ahaz, did all he could to reverse the religious evil endorsed by his father. He earned the praise of the writer of 2 Kings (18:5[3431]), ‘There was no one like him among all the kings of Judah, either before him or after him.’ The bulk of the material in Micah seems to relate to the period of the first two of these three kings.

“The dominant foreign power during the period of Micah was Assyria. Both Judah and Israel, as well as their neighbors, were heavily influenced by what Assyria did. Most nations at that time had conscripted citizen armies, but Assyria had a large full-time professional army, which none could match. As conquests were made, mercenaries were hired on as soldiers as well. Supported by heavy tributes exacted from subjugated territories, this professional army was free to enforce Assyrian rule and make new conquests.

“Three significant events took place during the era of Micah that were related to Assyria (see Barker, 1370):

“1. In 734-732 B.C. Tiglath Pileser III led a campaign against parts of Israel and Judah, as well as Syria and the land of the Philistines. Assyria won a resounding victory. All the nations had to pay tribute, but the northern kingdom of Israel suffered the most and lost most of its territory (2 Kings 15:29[3432]).

“2. In 722-721 B.C. Shalmaneser V of Assyria besieged the northern kingdom’s capital of Samaria (2 Kings 17:5, 6[3433]). The city eventually fell to Sargon II, and large numbers of its inhabitants were deported.

“3. During the reign of Hezekiah in 701 B.C., Judah unwisely joined a revolt against Assyria. King Sennacherib overran much of the country, but Jerusalem was spared in the end.

“Micah’s book must be read in the light of these events. The prophet was obviously a keen observer of current events, and God’s message to him speaks to his contemporary situation.” (Bible Amplifier Series - Micah, Jon Dybdahl)

“Micah received his messages from the Lord in the reigns of Jotham, 750 (beginning his sole reign in 740) -731 B.C., Ahaz, 735(731)-715 B.C., and Hezekiah, 729(715)-686 B.C., kings of Judah (1:1). The historical background is relevant. Under Uzziah (Azariah), 792(767)-740 B.C., the southern kingdom of Judah, together with the northern kingdom of Israel under Jeroboam II, had prospered and gained territory while Assyria was weak. Assyria revived under Tiglath-Pileser III (745-727 B.C.), who made both Damascus and Israel his vassals by 739 B.C. These vassals tried to enlist Ahaz of Judah to join in rebellion against the Assyrians, but Ahaz told the Assyrians of their plan. As a result Ahaz became dependent upon the Assyrians and introduced Assyrian worship to Jerusalem. Damascus fell to the Assyrians (732 B.C.), as did Samaria, capital of Israel, in 722 B.C. The Assyrians, who had started deporting the people of Israel ten years before, vigorously continued the work of deportation. Hezekiah of Judah tried to secede from the Assyrian Empire, and as a result his country was overrun in 701 B.C., though Jerusalem was not taken (cf. 2 Kin. 19:34-37).

“In an age in which men’s religion was making no difference to their lives, Micah insisted that the God of Israel and Judah expects His people ‘to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with their God’ (6:8). The result of living in defiance of God’s covenant had always been clear (cf. Deut. 28:15-68). Disobedience brings judgment. Nevertheless, Micah sees beyond the fall of Israel and the Exile of Judah to the incarnation of Christ and to the blessings of the millennial kingdom. As the prophecy ends, he marvels at the grace of the God who forgives.” (Believer’s Study Bible)

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“Much of Micah’s prophecy is very severe in tone, though it does contain much poetic beauty similar to that of Isaiah. In many ways the Book of Micah is a ‘sister-book’ to Isaiah. It has been called ‘Isaiah in shorthand’....

“The theme of the prophecy is sin, judgment, and restoration. This can be seen by the fact that the book consists of three discourses, each of which sets forth (1) the people’s sin, (2) God’s judgment, and (3) God’s ultimate restoration of His sinning people.” (King James Version Study Bible)

“The Book of Micah has numerous points of similarity with the much longer Book of Isaiah. In fact, virtually the same passage is found in both books (compare Micah 4:1-3 with Isa. 2:2-4)[3434]. Some attribute this unusual phenomenon to one prophet borrowing from the other, but it is difficult to argue for the priority of either Micah or Isaiah from the texts. More likely both prophets made use of the same source, perhaps a psalm of confidence.

“It is often asserted that the Book of Micah was written by his disciples and followers many years after his ministry. However, the tone of Micah’s prophecies against Jerusalem indicates that they had not yet come to pass. It appears that Micah prophesied that the Assyrians would destroy Jerusalem in the same way they had already destroyed the city of Samaria (compare Micah 1:6 with 3:12[3435]). While the Assyrians under Sennacherib did lay siege against Jerusalem in the campaign of 701 B.C., they did not finally destroy the city. Jerusalem was not destroyed until over a century later by the Babylonians (586 B.C.). It is almost inconceivable that disciples of Micah would collect, record, and promote his prophecies long after the fact if those prophecies had not come to pass as anticipated. It is far more likely that the prophecies of Micah were compiled by the prophet as an anthology of his own lengthy preaching career.” (Nelson Study Bible)

“Within Israel and Judah during this time, a shocking contrast between the extremely rich and the oppressed poor developed due to the exploitation of Israel’s middle class (Micah 2:8, 9[3436]) by greedy landholders (Micah 2:1-5[3437]). The oppressors were supported by Israel’s corrupt political and religious leaders (Micah 3[3438]). Because of this failed leadership, the whole nation became morally corrupt and ripe for judgment (Micah 6:9-16; 7:1-7[3439]).

“God raised up Assyria as His wrathful rod against His sinful people (Isaiah 10:5-11[3440]). As Micah predicted (Micah 1:2-7), Samaria did fall to the invading Assyrians. Judah felt the force of divine judgment when Sennacherib marched through the Shephelah (Judah’s western foothills) and up to the gate of Jerusalem, as Micah had also foretold (Micah 1:8-16[3441]).” (New Geneva Study Bible)

“‘Micah of Moresheth prophesied in the days of Hezekiah.’ These words of Jeremiah (26:18), confirmed by elements in the book of Micah itself, contain practically all that we know of the life of the prophet Micah. Moresheth (probably the same as Moresheth-Gath of 1:14) was a small town in SW Judah, not yet positively identified by archaeologists. Micah was active in Judah from before the fall of Samaria (1:2-7) in 722 B.C.E.; he lived under Ahaz (735-715) and Hezekiah (715-687) and was thus a contemporary of Isaiah, and he experienced (apparently) the devastation brought on by Sennacherib’s invasion of Judah in 701 b.c.e. The heading of the book (1:1) adds the name of King Jotham (742-735) in dating the prophet’s ministry, but nothing in the book confirms so early an appearance.

“Micah is grouped with other relatively brief prophetic books in the collection called the Twelve or the Minor Prophets. Among this group, Micah is sixth in the Hebrew canon and third in the Greek ordering (after Hosea and Amos). Both of these orderings were apparently intended to place Micah with contemporary books.” (Anchor Bible Dictionary)

“Style. Micah’s introductory statement (1:1) is in prose form, but the entire compilation of prophecies after that is poetry. The advantage of poetry to his contemporaries was that the

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rhythmic message would be easier to remember. The disadvantage to us is that poetry is more difficult to translate into another language without loss. Micah depends on shortened units of thought (with the nonessential words implied), plentiful parallelisms and nameplays (since name meanings were important to Hebrews), and poetic prepositions. He also uses an abundance of word pictures. For instance, instead of abstractly saying the Lord will conceal or otherwise make invisible our sins, he declares: ‘You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea’ (7:19). He cannot avoid the abstract word ‘sins,’ but he concretely depicts for us their burial like weights into the ocean depths, never to be recoverable again.” (Spirit Filled Life Study Bible)

“A Taunt or Lament over Judah (Micah 1:10-16[3442])—of extraordinary obscurity—describes the destruction of the lesser towns of Judah, either as already suffered or as to come, evidently in the invasion of Judah by Sennacherib (701 B.C.E.). In most cases the lines of the poem are constructed on the principle that the name of the town is predictive, through punning, of its fate. The puns cannot, of course, be reproduced in translation; the effect is as though one said: ‘Ashdod shall be ashes.’” (Anchor Bible Dictionary)

“The major theme of Micah’s prophecies is that the people of Judah had become as spiritually and ethically corrupt as the apostate northern kingdom of Israel. The heirs to David’s throne were practicing the same abominations as the illegitimate kings of the northern kingdom (see Mic. 1:5; 2 Kin. 16:1-10)[3443]. A time of prosperity had hardened the rich, who were oppressing the poor to the extent of denying them justice in the courts (Mic. 2:1, 2; 6:9-12; 7:2,3[3444]). The priests and prophets were performing the religious rituals as prescribed by Yahweh, but for a fee. Micah cried out against the ethical and social corruption of his society. He announced impending disaster from the Lord and called for more than external repentance. He called God’s people to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with their God (Mic. 6:8[3445]).” (Woman’s Study Bible)

“It has been noticed as remarkable that this book commences with the last words of another prophet, ‘Micaiah the son of Imlah’ (1 Kings 22:28[3446]): ‘Hearken, O people, every one of you.’” (Easton’s Bible Dictionary)

“Prophets use words to remake the world. The world—heaven and earth, men and women, animals and birds—was made in the first place by God’s Word. Prophets, arriving on the scene and finding that world in ruins, finding a world of moral rubble and spiritual disorder, take up the work of words again to rebuild what human disobedience and mistrust demolished. These prophets learn their speech from God. Their words are God-grounded, God-energized, God-passionate. As their words enter the language of our communities, men and women find themselves in the presence of God, who enters the mess of human sin to rebuke and renew.

“Left to ourselves we turn God into an object, something we can deal with, some thing we can use to our benefit, whether that thing is a feeling or an idea or an image. Prophets scorn all such stuff. They train us to respond to God’s presence and voice.

“Micah, the final member of that powerful quartet of writing prophets who burst on the world scene in the eighth century B.C. (Isaiah, Hosea, and Amos were the others), like virtually all his fellow prophets—those charged with keeping people alive to God and alert to listening to the voice of God—was a master of metaphor. This means that he used words not simply to define or identify what can be seen, touched, smelled, heard, or tasted, but to plunge us into a world of presence. To experience presence is to enter that far larger world of reality that our sensory experiences point to but cannot describe—the realities of love and compassion, justice and faithfulness, sin and evil . .

. and God. Mostly God. The realities that are Word-evoked are where most of the world’s action takes place. There are no ‘mere words.’” (the Message - intro to Micah)

2. What kind of society lies awake at night planning evil? Micah 2:1,2. Look at God’s response.

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Micah 2:1: “Woe to those who imagine wicked schemes,

Who work out evil plots while still in bed;

When daylight dawns they act-For the power lies in their hands.

2 They covet fields and seize them.

They covet houses and take them for themselves.

They break a man and his household;

Yes, they crush him and all his rightful inheritance.” (Phillips)

This sounds vaguely like what we hear on the morning news every morning! The suggestion here is that things have become very corrupt. Anybody who has influence or authority is taking advantage of all those who have none. God doesn’t seem to hesitate in telling what He thinks of such a situation and He makes it clear that He intends to bring it to an end!

3.    What do you think of the description of preaching in Micah 2:11[3447]? Can you imagine anyone preferring this type of preaching? How many congregations today are getting that kind of message?

Micah 2:11: 11 “The sort of prophet this people wants is a windbag and a liar, Prophesying a future of ‘wines and spirits’!” (Phillips)

11 “These people want the kind of prophet who goes about full of lies and deceit and says, ‘I prophesy that wine and liquor will flow for you.’” (GNB)

11 “Liars and frauds may go around and say,

‘We will preach to you about wine and liquor.’

They would be just the type of preacher you want.” God’s Word

11 “If a man were to go about uttering Windy, baseless falsehoods:

‘I’ll preach to you in favor of wine and liquor’—

He would be a preacher [acceptable] to that people.” Tanakh, The Holy Scriptures

11 “If a prophet came along and deceived you by telling you that there will be plenty of wine and leisure living, he would be just the prophet you would like to hear.” Clear Word

Is this passage essentially different than 2 Timothy 4:3,4[3448]? How many preachers today just preach what their congregations want to hear? If you were a pastor and your salary depended on the good will of your congregation, what would you preach? The real question that arises is, Do the people know that the preacher is preaching lies? Would they actually prefer lies (known lies) to the truth if the truth is not pleasant? Compare (Jeremiah 14:13-15; 23:25-27; 28:1-17; Ezekiel 13:1-7[3449]).

2 Timothy 4:3,4: 3 “The time will come when people will not listen to sound doctrine, but will follow their own desires and will collect for themselves more and more teachers who will tell them what they are itching to hear. 4They will turn away from listening to the truth and give their attention to legends.” Good News Bible: Today’s English Version

4.    How could it be that false prophets, dishonest judges, and mercenary priests had become the norm for the land: Micah 3:5-11[3450]?

5    “As for the prophets that lead my people astray-Those who cry, Peace, so long as their mouths are full But declare war against them who will not feed them-The Lord says this:

6    It shall be night for you, night without vision.

You shall know darkness in which you can divine nothing!

The sun shall set upon the prophets,

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7    And their day shall end in darkness.

The seers shall be disgraced,

And the diviners openly shamed.

All of them will hold their hands over their mouths,

For no answer comes from God.

8    But as for me, I am filled with power Through the Spirit of the Lord!

I can see what is just and right,

And I have the strength to declare it,

To tell Jacob plainly of his transgression,

And Israel of his sin.

9    Listen to this, you leaders of Jacob,

And rulers of the house of Israel,

You who hate what is right and twist what is straight;

10    Who build Zion with bloodshed, and Jerusalem with crime.

11    Her leaders dispense justice-at a price,

Her priests teach-what they are paid to teach,

And her prophets see visions-according to the fees they receive.

Yet they rest happily upon the Lord and say,

Is not the Lord in our midst?

No disaster could ever strike us.” Phillips

Once again as in the question above, if the normal means of supporting the clergy falls apart, then there may be a terrible temptation to do what this verse suggests. Each person tries to find ways to make a living from his “profession!” If people stop behaving from principle and begin operating simply on a selfish basis, then anything can happen. Such practices had been specifically prohibited: Exodus 23:8; Deuteronomy 16:18-20.

5. Compare (Micah 4:2,3 with Isaiah 2:2-4)[3451]. Who do you think borrowed from whom? Does this example of “plagiarism” destroy your confidence in either of these prophets? Why does the message of these two passages seem to conflict with Joel 3:10[3452]?

Micah 4:2,3: 2 and their people will say,

“Let us go up the hill of the Lord, to the Temple of Israel’s God.

He will teach us what he wants us to do; we will walk in the paths he has chosen.

For the Lord’s teaching comes from Jerusalem; from Zion he speaks to his people.”

3 He will settle disputes among the nations, among the great powers near and far.

They will hammer their swords into ploughs and their spears into pruning knives.

Nations will never again go to war,

never prepare for battle again. Good News Bible: Today’s English Version

Isaiah 2:3,4:

3 and their people will say,

“Let us go up the hill of the Lord, to the Temple of Israel’s God.

He will teach us what he wants us to do; we will walk in the paths he has chosen.

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For the Lord’s teaching comes from Jerusalem; from Zion he speaks to his people.”

4 He will settle disputes among great nations.

They will hammer their swords into ploughs and their spears into pruning knives.

Nations will never again go to war,

never prepare for battle again. Good News Bible: Today’s English Version

Isaiah says that these words were given to him by God. (Isaiah 2:1) Can we be sure that Micah borrowed them from Isaiah? Much of (Jude is in 2 Peter 2)[3453]. Almost ninety percent of Mark is in either Matthew or Luke. (Isaiah 37 is essentially verbatim the same as 2 Kings 19)[3454]. (2 Samuel 22 is identical to Psalms 18)[3455]. Are these cases of plagiarism? Some will claim that there were no plagiarism laws in those days. That is probably true, but does there have to be a law to make it wrong? If it is wrong to borrow other people’s original work, then it is wrong whether or not there is a law saying so!

Does the Bible contradict itself? What do we do with Joel 3:10[3456], after reading the passages from Isaiah and Micah?

Joel 3:10: “Hammer the points of your ploughs into swords and your pruning knives into spears. Even the weak must fight.” Good News Bible: Today’s English Version

6.    What is implied by Micah 4:11,12[3457]? What experiences do you think are being referred to? What did the heathen nations looking on think when it was necessary for God to discipline His people?

Micah 4:11,12: 11 “Many nations have gathered to attack you. They say, ‘Jerusalem must be destroyed! We will see this city in ruins!’ 12 But these nations do not know what is in the Lord’s mind. They do not realize that they have been gathered together to be punished in the same way that corn is brought in to be threshed.” Good News Bible: Today’s English Version

11    “Now, great nations are gathered against you and they say,

Let her be defiled that we may feast our eyes upon Zion.

12    But they do not know the thoughts of the Lord,

Nor do they understand his plan.

For he will collect them up

Like sheaves for the threshing floor.” Phillips

It is clear that the heathen nations misunderstood God’s act of discipline for His people. Since in ancient times it was the custom to judge the power of a “god” by the current status of his people, when Yahweh needed to discipline His people, it appeared that their God was powerless to protect them. We might ask why God would use other heathen nations to discipline His own people, but that is what He chose to do. If God had moved in and done the disciplining Himself, conditions might have become even worse!

7.    Did the Jews regard Micah 4:13-5:1[3458] as their key text?

4:13: The Lord says, “People of Jerusalem, go and punish your enemies! I will make you as strong as a bull with iron horns and bronze hoofs. You will crush many nations, and the wealth they got by violence you will present to me, the Lord of the whole world.

5:1: “People of Jerusalem, gather your forces! We are besieged! They are attacking the leader of Israel!” Good News Bible: Today’s English Version

13    Get up and thresh, people of Zion.

I will make your horns as hard as iron and your hoofs as hard as bronze.

You will smash many nations into small pieces.

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You will claim their loot for the Lord,

their wealth for the Lord of the whole earth. God’s Word

Doesn’t this sound like a key text that the Pharisees would want to quote when thinking of the Romans? What did God intend for these verses to mean?

“4:13 Believe that God will eventually funnel the world’s wealth to those who will serve His kingdom’s concerns and interests.” (Spirit Filled Life Study Bible)

Notice that even modern Christians are looking forward to God’s bringing to them the wealth of the world! The “health and wealth gospel” has always been popular!

8.    What do you understand is the context of the famous Messianic prophecy in Micah 5:2? Why would God give such a message of promise or warning to people who were acting as the people were acting at this time?

2 “The Lord says, “Bethlehem Ephrathah, you are one of the smallest towns in Judah, but out of you I will bring a ruler for Israel, whose family line goes back to ancient times.” (GNB)

At a time when disaster is being prophesied for Judah, similar to what had recently taken place in Israel, it was important for God to point out that He had plans for these people and this place for hundreds of years to come. At times it seemed that the Davidic line of kings had disappeared and all the promises that had been given to David would fail. But then the Messiah was born, just as Micah had predicted in the region of Ephrathah, in the town of Bethlehem, and all that changed. The eternal King was a descendant of King David and will represent his line forever. So the prophecy served as a reminder for those who cared enough to read it and believe in Yahweh that He still had plans for the children of His friends Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob or Israel.

9.    Is it clear what God really wants of us as described in Micah 6 & 7[3459]? What does God want us to bring when we come to Him? According to Micah, is the solution to the whole ceremonial system to be sure that you bring the “correct blood” so as to satisfy the legal requirements of the law? Or does Micah suggest that we should do what is implied by believing in the real meaning of the death (the blood) of the Son or Messiah? How do you fit these verses with (Exodus 6:2-9; Leviticus 1:1-3,10,14; 2:1; 3:1; 5:11; Deuteronomy 10:12-22; 1 Samuel 15:22,23; Psalms 51:16-19; Isaiah 1:10-20; 29:13; Jeremiah 3:7-18; 7:16-26; 29:10-14; 31:31-34; Hosea 6:4-6; Amos 5:21-24; Matthew 9:13; 12:7; Romans 2:17-29; and Hebrews 9:16-10:4)[3460]? Has God made it clear in Scripture what He really wants from us?

It has always proven to be easier for humans to offer “sacrifices” than to really change their behavior. Micah helps us to realize that “sacrifices” will never take the place of doing what is right. Many prophets reflect that same idea. From the beginning God has asked, as His most basic request, that we come back to Him, get to know Him, and become more like Him. Offerings and sacrifices have never been more than a simple “stop-gap” substitute for what God really wants. God wants us to learn that sin leads to death. Sometimes it leads to the death of innocent victims. These ideas were supposed to be suggested by the offering of animal sacrifices. But they came to mean something very different. People came to believe that if they were willing to offer a sacrifice it almost paid for their sin!

10.    It is absolutely essential to understand the meaning here because we know historically that the ceremonial system can be turned into a terrible curse, just as the Sabbath can be turned into a curse. On the other hand the ceremonial system and the Sabbath, properly understood, can be a tremendous blessing. What would make the difference between the Sabbath or the law being a blessing or a curse even in our day?

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It is almost guaranteed that if you don’t understand fully why you are doing something it will be turned into something very different than what was intended before long. Virtually every religious practice has been perverted in one way or another. But if our religion is understood as a joyous opportunity to get to know our Father and God better, it is much less likely that we will lose its meaning. Why was this apparently so hard to understand? Do you see any evidence that the people in Micah’s and Isaiah’s day were delighted about their growing relationship with Yahweh? Think of all that Jesus and Paul said about how the Jewish system had been corrupted in their day. How can we prevent this from happening in our day? Has it already begun to happen?

11.    If David, Hosea, Jeremiah, or Micah, after living their lives and writing what they did, could have lived until the time of Christ, would they have understood and gotten the message of the cross?

This is supposed to be a thought or discussion question. Certainly these men seemed to get the picture at times in their writings. But even if they had been present and had gotten the message, would it have made any difference for the millions of others who didn’t get the message? If Christ couldn’t manage to get the message across, do we think that someone else could have done a better job?

12.    Does your religion ever seem like one of the following:

Micah 6:3:

“...wherein have I wearied thee?” (KJV, Darby, ASV)

“...How have I wearied you?” (New American Bible, NASB, NASB 1995; NKJV)

“...In what have I wearied you?” (RSV, NRSV)

“...have I wronged you in any way at all?” Contemporary English Version “...How have I tried your patience?” God’s Word “...Tell me why your patience is exhausted!” The Living Bible, NLT “...How did I make you tired of me?” (NCV)

“...how have I made you tired of me?” New Jerusalem Bible “...How have I been a burden to you?” (GNB, NIV)

“...In what way have I been a burden to you?” Clear Word “...How have I injured you?” Moffatt

Does God intend for us to enjoy our relationship with Him? Does He want it to be just a routine ceremony? How do you think He would change your church to make it more fun?

13.    Does God pour out anger and retribution on nations who disobey Him? How do you explain this kind of language in scripture? (Micah 2:7; Isaiah 9:19; 10:6; 13:13; Jeremiah 10:10; 32:37; Ezekiel 7:19; Romans 1:18,24,26,28; 4:25; include Revelation 14:10,11) How do you fit these with Romans 2:4; John 15:15; 1 John 4:18 etc.? If you substitute righteousness for “justice” in these passages (as you should) it doesn’t make any sense! Does God have to punish the wicked in order not to be considered weak?

Was God ever tempted to give up on the descendants of Abraham? What did He ultimately accomplish through them? If we understand the correct meaning of God’s wrath as discussed repeatedly in Scripture, then it should be apparent that when nations turn from God, He is forced finally to turn from them. It is very serious to be abandoned by God. Look at what happened to Jesus on the cross! (See Matthew 27:46)

For a more complete discussion of God’s wrath look at Judges - A Teacher’s Guide #9; Hosea - A Teacher’s Guide #13; Major Study Questions for Judges #2; Psalms - a Teacher’s Guide - #6; Nahum - A Teacher’s Guide - #2,3; 2 Samuel - A Teacher’s Guide #5)

14.    After reading this book is it clearer what God wants of us? Does Micah 6 & 7 help? What do you think of a God who chooses as His highest aim to walk humbly with His children?

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It certainly should be clear that God is looking for love, kindness, mercy, righteousness, justice, and care for our fellow humans. If we can’t get this part right, then all of the rest of whatever we call our “religion” is pretty worthless.

© Copyright 2000-2006, Kenneth Hart info@theox.org

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50. NAHUM - A TEACHER’S GUIDE

THE CENTRAL QUESTION:

What does this book/story say to us about God?

This question may be broken down further as follows:

a. Why did God do it/allow it?

_b. Why did He record it for our study?_

1. What would be missing from your picture of God if Nahum were left out of the Bible? Does it seem to you that these few books are especially full of violence? Could it be that the Jews who put them in the canon cherished these books as promises that God would wipe out their enemies?

We know almost nothing of Nahum (whose name means "comforted”) except that he is described as coming from the city of Elkosh. Unfortunately, we do not know where Elkosh was, either. There are two places that have been suggested as possible sites for Elkosh. One is located north of Nineveh about 50 miles and if this is the site, it would suggest that Nahum’s family were from the northern 10 tribes and at this point in time they were in Assyria as captives. Some have suggested that Nahum came from somewhere around the Sea of Galilee because the Aramaic name, Capernaum, where Jesus carried out much of his ministry means "village of Nahum”. The only other Nahum mentioned in the Bible is among the ancestors of Jesus. (Luke 3:25) The name does appear on an ancient Hebrew seal on a jar handle, and in some manuscripts from Phoenicia.

Nahum probably prophesied about 640 BC because in Nahum 3:5-7[3461] it clearly discusses the future downfall of Nineveh while in Nahum 3:8-10 it speaks of the downfall of Thebes as past. Thebes fell in 663 BC and Nineveh was conquered by the Medes and the Babylonians in 612 BC. Nineveh was in its heyday during the reign of Ashurbanipal who reigned from 669

627 BC. During those years Assyria either ruled or received tribute from most of the nations in the fertile crescent from Egypt to Babylon and further south.

Nineveh had repented 150 years earlier (790 BC?) following the preaching of Jonah, but had later swept down on the northern kingdom of Israel and destroyed it. (722/723 BC; See 2 Kings 17[3462]) Sennacherib scattered the people of Samaria (the capital) and the northern ten tribes of Israel who disappeared from history. Nahum’s family may have been among those taken back to Assyria (See above). A short time later however, as the Assyrians under Sennacherib were besieging Jerusalem during the days of Hezekiah, 185,000 of their troops were struck dead by the angel of the Lord (2 Kings 19:35; Isaiah 37:36; 2 Chronicles 32:21[3463], 701 BC). Sennacherib returned to Nineveh in shame and was killed by his own sons in 681 BC.

Assyria was known for its cruelty in dealing with its enemies or those who tried to rebel from among its captives. They sometimes would beat such a person until he was black and blue and then skin him alive! (See Micah 3:3 where the rulers of Israel were even doing it!) It is clear even from the speech of Sennacherib (Isaiah 36:5-20) that they were a very proud people who thought their "god” Ashur was the special "god” of the king. Ashur was pictured as a sun with wings and a tail and sometimes as a tree representing fertility. As the principle "god” of the Assyrians, however, he was regarded as a special "god” of war. War became a part of their national religion and participation in warfare was regarded as an act of worship of Ashur. Fortunately, when Assyria was conquered the worship of Ashur disappeared but the idea that one might die in battle as an act of religious devotion is still prevalent in that part of

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the world. They also worshiped many of the Babylonian "gods” including Shamash, the "sun-god”, Sin the "moon-god”, Ea the "god of rivers” and Ishtar the "great goddess of fertility”.

It is interesting that two books of the Bible are written exclusively to the Assyrians-Jonah and Nahum. Considering all that we know about the Assyrians, it seems that very strong language was all they could understand! It is quite possible that the Jews were very happy for the strong language against their enemies!

"AUTHOR: The name ‘Nahum’ means ‘comfort,’ ‘consolation,’ or ‘relief.’ The prophet came from Elkosh (1:1). Though the location of Elkosh is unknown, suggestions include Capernaum (lit., ‘village of Nahum’), a site in Assyria, or a site near Lachish. Nothing more is known of him. "DATE: 663-612 B.C.

"In Nahum 3:8-10[3464] the destruction of No Amon, i.e., the Egyptian city of Thebes, is treated as a past event. Nahum, therefore, must have been written after Assyria captured Thebes in 663 b.c. Furthermore, Nahum prophesies the fall of Nineveh, which took place in 612 b.c. It is not possible to be certain about a precise date within the period 663-612 b.c., though 1:15 could indicate that Josiah’s reformation of 621 b.c. (2 Kings 22-23[3465]) was fresh in the minds of the people.

"THEME: The Doom of Nineveh

"Nahum single-mindedly proclaims the doom of the Assyrian capital Nineveh. Among the reasons for the condemnation of the city are the inhumanities of the Assyrian army (Nahum 2:12[3466]) and the vices of the city (Nahum 3:4[3467]). The nature of God, specifically His wrath, His holiness, His justice, and His power, makes it inevitable that His enemies will perish (Nahum 1:2-10[3468]); this lesson is of permanent significance.” (Believer’s Study Bible)

"Nahum was a native of the city of Elkosh, the location of which is not known for certain. It may be identified with Capernaum (Kaphar Nahum, lit., ‘Village of Nahum’), which was renamed in honor of its most famous citizen. Probably, then, Nahum was born in Galilee, but during Israel’s defection moved to Judah and in Jerusalem took up his ministry in behalf of Judah against Nineveh.

"The purpose of Nahum’s prophecy is twofold: (1) to deliver a message of judgment and destruction against Nineveh; and (2) to give comfort to Judah, so recently ravaged by Assyria. Since Assyria is doomed, it will constitute a threat no longer...

"The prophecy of Nahum is dominated by a single idea, the doom of Nineveh. In describing this doom, Nahum writes lyric poetry of the highest quality. It has been called the most poetical of all the prophetic writings, and certainly is the most severe in tone of any of the Minor Prophets.” (King James Version Study Bible)

"This often neglected and disparaged book provides us with an important key for understanding past, present, and future history. Events do not occur as mere happenstance, but every particular of history is determined by the will, purpose, and power of God. In the opening hymn (Nahum 1:2-8[3469]) and especially in Nahum 1:2,3[3470] (the ‘text’ of Nahum’s sermon), we learn that the Lord’s government of history is in accordance with His character as the covenant God. He demands undivided submission everywhere and from everyone. Rejection of Him and of His law leads not only to the necessary consequences of chaos in society and in nature, but inevitably evokes His personal displeasure, resulting in just retribution.” (New Geneva Study Bible)

“Theology: How does the mood of the Book of Nahum accord with the sentiment of the Sermon on the Mount? Although the Lord Jesus certainly spoke of loving one’s enemies (see

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Matt. 5:43-48[3471]), He strongly warned of the inevitability of judgment (see Matt. 5:21,29,30; 7:13,23[3472]). He said that ‘all who take the sword will perish by the sword’ (see Matt. 26:52[3473]). If ever the words of Jesus concerning the sure destruction of those who live by violence had a direct application, it was to Nineveh. In the conquest of the ancient world, the Assyrians were merciless and cruel. Their atrocities included everything from burning children to death to chopping off hands. In many ways, the Book of Nahum is a theology of the maxim of the sword. Nineveh had an international reputation for bloodthirsty acts of repression, destruction, and wantonness. God could not be good if He failed to call such an evil nation to account. The theology of the Book of Nahum is a theology of the goodness of God in bringing about the final destruction of those who oppose His will and abuse His people.

"Nineveh was not only a city in the ancient world that received the promised judgment of God, it is also a prototype for the coming judgment of God on all workers of wickedness. Those who know that the Lord is good may rejoice in the fact that He avenges aggressive acts against His people (Nahum 1:7, 8[3474]).

"The seriousness of coming judgment is never a call for complacency among God’s people. Implicit in any announcement of doom is a call for holy living on the part of God’s people and an urgent call for them to bring the message of salvation to those who, apart from salvation, will experience the wrath of God. Judgment is God’s ‘unusual act’ (see Isaiah 28:21[3475]), but it ultimately arises out of the goodness and justice of God.” (Nelson Study Bible)

2.    Does God sometimes punish His children by just allowing them to reap the consequences of their own behavior, while at other times He has to actually bring on the punishment?

Considering all that has been said in the Scripture about God’s wrath and what He does when He gets "furious” it is most likely that God in most cases just allows people to reap the natural consequences of their own behavior. When they are worshiping all sorts of idols and false "gods” the true God has to step back and let them suffer the consequences. This has been demonstrated repeatedly in the past. (See Deuteronomy Teacher’s Guide #8 and Deuteronomy 8:15[3476]; Judges Teacher’s Guide#9 and Deuteronomy 31:16-18; Joshua 7:1-12; 23:16; Judges 2:12-14, 19-23; Judges 3:7-9; Judges 10:6-12)[3477] There are times when God has acted to preserve some connection with mankind such as at the flood when almost nobody seemed to be listening to Him any more. He has repeatedly used crisis interventions to get our attention so He can have a chance to say something important about Himself or about our relationship with Him.

3.    When children go astray from their Christian roots, is it their fault, or their parents’ fault, or both? (John 9:1-3[3478]) Would it be fair to say of a human parent who had come to his wits end in trying to deal with his child, when he allows that child to reap the consequences that he is showing his wrath? Would wrath be the best word to use? How do you describe God’s so-called "emotional reaction” to sin? (Nahum 1:1-6,8-10[3479]) Should we call that "divine displeasure?” Is it "wrath?” Why would the Bible call it "wrath?” Can you think of a better word? How do you think God should react to sin? How should He portray Himself as reacting to sin? Is it possible that God sometimes uses this type of language to startle us or to wake us up to realize the seriousness of what is going on? Does God always do as He did in Nahum and almost immediately describe His love and His fairness? (Nahum 1:7[3480])

Look at # 2 above. God’s wrath or anger can be summarized as follows:

God’s wrath is nothing more than His letting go and handing over, in

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loving disappointment, those who are “bent on leaving” Him anyway, thus allowing them to reap or experience the tragic and awful consequences of their own destructive and rebellious behavior.

There are many illustrations of this in Scripture: Hosea 11:7,8[3481]; and Romans 1:18,24,26,28[3482] just to mention two of the most descriptive. God as our Divine Parent is never responsible for our going wrong. He was not responsible for the evil that developed in Lucifer’s mind. God did however create all of us with freedom and the possibility of sin.

The use of the word "wrath” or "anger” in the Bible is another example of God speaking in our language so we can understand. God does not exhibit anger or wrath in the common human form, but He wanted us to take it seriously when He spoke certain words or discussed certain consequences and so He described them as His "wrath” or "anger”. If He did not speak in strong language we would be inclined to disregard what He says. This is especially the case when He speaks in the third angel’s message (Revelation 14:9-11) where God is giving His final warning to the human race.

4.    Is it not likely that if Nahum had spoken in kind, gentle words to the people of Nineveh who were so cruel, that they would have despised the Hebrew prophet and the Hebrew God? Considering the story of Jonah, which took place about 150 years earlier, is it possible that the Ninevites now thought, "We don’t have to take this God too seriously. After all, He didn’t do anything the last time He threatened us?” Don’t we have other references about people taking advantage of God’s kindness? (See Romans 2:4[3483]) Did the Ninevites recognize that Yahweh, the God of Israel and Judah, was the One who destroyed their army?

People who were as cruel as the Assyrians needed to be spoken to in very strong language before they would pay much attention. Jonah also spoke in very strong language. And the Ninevites listened to Jonah. This is evidence enough that God’s use of strong language is sometimes effective. The fact that God was gracious and did not destroy them when they repented may have been given by some of them as an excuse for not changing, but this shows an incredible misunderstanding of God and His character.

5.    Is it possible that God cared enough about the Assyrians that He hoped that His captive children might bear a witness to them? Is God just working on, century after century, to win a few people from each generation-a few Canaanites, a few Jews, a few Egyptians, a few Assyrians, a few Babylonians, a few Romans, a few Europeans, a few Americans-and after He’s won enough, then He’ll say the work is done?

We have already seen that two entire books of the Bible, Jonah and Nahum, and their complete recorded messages were for the benefit of the Assyrians. There are many other passages and even some other books in the Bible primarily written for the benefit of other peoples: Obadiah; Daniel; parts of Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, etc. It is true that the Scriptures were given primarily to the Jews, but they were to spread that message to the world. They, of course, failed to do as they were instructed, but God did His best to get the word out to the whole world.

6.    How can God inspire serious reverence and respect without causing fear? If people come to understand how loving and kind God really is and how He feels about them, how is He supposed to maintain reverence? [Compare Jonah - a Teacher’s Guide #8]

Throughout the Old Testament God is continually going back and forth between speaking very harshly and getting a fear response, and then acting more loving and kind and losing the respect of the people. (See Romans 2:4)To maintain reverence without fear is one of God’s

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most challenging tasks. How would you do that? Think of times when God inspired "fear” and temporarily got peoples’ attention like Sinai (Exodus 20:18-20[3484]); the she-bears (2 Kings 2:24[3485]); Nadab and Abihu (Leviticus 10:1-11[3486]); Korah, Dathan and Abiram (Numbers 16:1-35[3487]); Uzzah (2 Samuel 6:1-8[3488]); etc. This is certainly not God’s ideal way of handling things! God wants us to do what is right because it is right. He wants to treat us as friends.

7.    How often do we feel that everything that happens is a result of something that we are doing? If suddenly we realized that a great revival was taking place in the world, would we stop to ask if maybe God had finally had to give up on us and do something for His own name’s sake or would we immediately assume that the revival was a result of our own efforts?

God’s plans will succeed whether or not we are involved. God is not dependent on us to accomplish what He needs to do. God must be shown to be right even if every single human proves a failure. (See Romans 3:3,4) So the question we need to be asking is: Are we promoting or hindering the progress of the gospel? Are we on God’s side or not? God has been waiting for us for almost 2000 years now. He did His part in the life and death of Jesus. All the questions raised in the minds of the beings of the universe were answered by the life and death of Jesus. God is waiting for us, we are not waiting for Him to do something.

8.    Is it true that the closer God’s children come to the point where He can no longer help them, the louder He raises His voice, the more seriously He speaks? (See Revelation 14:6-12[3489]) Can you imagine Jesus speaking in the words of books like Jonah and Nahum? Or was it the Father? Or the Holy Spirit?

I think this is clearly demonstrated in the whole pattern of Scripture. Just before the northern Kingdom of Israel went into exile there were multiple warnings. Then before the southern Kingdom of Judah went into captivity, there were more warnings. What would you expect a loving parent to do as He sees His children approaching a disaster? As a child unknowingly wanders closer to the edge of some perilous danger what does the parent watching from a distance do? Does he quietly suggest that it would be better to step back? Would he dare to shout at the top of his lungs? God at times is doing just that as He watches His children destroying themselves.

9.    If the children of Israel had done what God wanted them to do in the first place, would there ever have been the need of messages and messengers like Jonah and Nahum? What did the angels learn from Jonah and Nahum?

It should be clear that the descendants of Abraham were chosen to give a message to the world. Because they failed in doing so, God had to choose these much inferior methods to try to reach certain groups in certain situations where He knew that they might be responsive to His pleadings. Surely the angels were aware of the extraordinary lengths to which God was willing to go to get His message out to at least a few other people besides those who had failed to appreciate it and spread it.

10.    What is Nahum 2:4 referring to?

Some have suggested that this verse might refer to a modern day freeway with lights on the automobiles and trucks etc. Some have even suggested that it might have been a vision of tanks with flamethrowers! It is much more likely that Nahum saw something similar to what he was familiar with in his day. He probably saw chariots with lanterns for some kind of nighttime vision as used by the attackers of Nineveh.

© Copyright 1996-2006, Kenneth Hart info@theox.org

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Ellen White’s Comments

“Divine love has been stirred to its unfathomable depths for the sake of men, and

angels marvel to behold in the recipients of so great love a mere surface gratitude. Angels marvel at man’s shallow appreciation of the love of God. Heaven stands indignant at the neglect shown to the souls of men. Would we know how Christ regards it? How would a father and mother feel, did they know that their child, lost in the cold and the snow, had been passed by, and left to perish, by those who might have saved it? Would they not be terribly grieved, wildly indignant? Would they not denounce those murderers with wrath hot as their tears, intense as their love? The sufferings of every man are the sufferings of God’s child, and those who reach out no helping hand to their perishing fellow beings provoke His righteous anger. This is the wrath of the Lamb. To those who claim fellowship with Christ, yet have been indifferent to the needs of their fellow men, He will declare in the great Judgment day, “I know you not whence ye are; depart from Me, all ye workers of iniquity.” Luke 13:27. The Desire of Ages, p. 825 (1898); Christian Service 92; Bible Echo and Signs of the Times, May 30, 1898.

Other references:

Jonah Teacher’s Guide #13; Psalms Teacher’s Guide #6,8.

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51. HABAKKUK - A TEACHER’S GUIDE

THE CENTRAL QUESTION:

What does this book/story say to us about God?

This question may be broken down further as follows:

a. Why did God do it/allow it?

_b. Why did He record it for our study?_

1. Habakkuk is unique among prophets in that his entire book seems to be a dialogue between Habakkuk and God. Who do you think initiated this dialogue and why? What does such a book say to us about God?

“AUTHOR: Habakkuk

“The author of this book is Habakkuk, about whom little is known apart from his name, which is derived from the Hebrew word meaning ‘embrace’ or ‘embracer,’ and the fact that he is called a ‘prophet’ (Hab. 1:1; 3:1[3490]), which suggests that he was a prophet by profession. Another hypothesis derives from the musical allusion in Hab. 3:19[3491], which may suggest that Habakkuk is a Levite engaged in the temple service, possibly in the temple choir. Sufficient internal evidence assuredly points to a man called ‘embracer,’ denoting his genuine and overpowering concern as one who sternly rebukes, but nonetheless intensely comforts, God’s chosen people. Furthermore, Habakkuk embraces or firmly clings to the Lord.

Historical Background:

612 b.c. Nineveh falls to the Medes and Babylonians 609 b.c. Death of Josiah king of Judah

605 b.c. Babylon defeats Egypt at Carchemish - Nebuchadnezzar’s reign begins 605 b.c. Daniel and friends are among the first Judeans taken captive to Babylon 598 b.c. Second conquest of Jerusalem - Ezekiel taken captive with many others 586 b.c. Jerusalem falls to the Babylonians - Jerusalem destroyed

“Carchemish by the (upper) Euphrates was an extremely strategic and important city at that time. It was located about 50 miles due west of Haran. Sargon II (722-705 b.c.) captured Carchemish for Assyria in 717 b.c. During the declining years of the Assyrian Empire, following the fall of Nineveh (612 b.c.) to the combined forces of the Neo-Babylonian and Median Empires, Ashur-uballit II (612-609 b.c.) of Assyria and Necho II (609-594 b.c.) of Egypt joined in an attempt to reconquer Haran, which had been abandoned in 610 b.c. Although Necho’s expedition to rescue Haran was unsuccessful, he was able to conquer all of Syria and Palestine and to hold the important city of Carchemish on the Euphrates. During this campaign, Josiah’s attempt to intercept the forces at Megiddo led to his death. Four years later, in May or June of 605 b.c., the epoch-making second battle of Carchemish resulted in Nebuchadnezzar’s (605-562 b.c.) defeat of the combined armies of Assyria and Egypt (cf. Jer. 46:1-12[3492]). Necho had removed Jehoahaz, Josiah’s son, from the throne and placed his brother Eliakim (Jehoiakim) on the throne of Judah when he took Jehoahaz captive into Egypt. In this period, Jehoiakim shifted his alliance from Necho II of Egypt to Nebuchadnezzar of

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Babylon. Following a fierce battle at the Egyptian border in which the Babylonians suffered a temporary defeat (601 b.c.), Jehoiakim made a strategic blunder when he rebelled against Babylon during the last years of his reign over Judah (609-597 b.c.). In March of 597 b.c., Jerusalem made its first capitulation to Nebuchadnezzar, when Jehoiachin was taken captive and some of the temple treasures were removed to Babylon (cf. 2 Chronicles 36:6,7; 2 Kings 24:1-4; Jer. 22:13-19; 25:1-9; Dan. 1:1; Hab. 1:6)[3493]. In July, 586 B.C., Jerusalem fell to the Neo-Babylonian Empire (2 Chr. 36:15-21[3494]).” (Believer’s Study Bible)

“Historical Setting. The date of Habakkuk is difficult to ascertain, since he does not mention the king or kings during whose reigns he prophesied. The best key that Habakkuk offers for dating his prophecy is his description of the Chaldeans in Hab. 1:5-11[3495]. Some commentators, noting that God says He is in the process of raising up the Chaldeans (Hab. 1:6), would date the prophecy as early as the reign of Manasseh. Habakkuk’s message, therefore, would be that just as God raised up the Assyrians to judge Israel, so He is raising up the Chaldeans (Babylonians) to judge Judah. This interpretation would date the prophecy before the destruction of Nineveh, which resulted in the exaltation of the Chaldeans to world prominence.

"Most commentators, however, date Habakkuk’s prophecy during the reign of King Jehoiakim. The fall of Nineveh occurred about 612 b.c. in fulfillment of Nahum’s prophecy. It may have been after this fulfillment that Habakkuk received his vision setting forth the overthrow of the Babylonian kingdom. If so, when Habakkuk prophesied, the southern kingdom was wallowing in its sin and tottering politically in view of the impending threat from Babylon, the current world power. Nebuchadnezzar may have already carried Daniel and many of Jerusalem’s nobles into captivity (606/605 b.c.), with the second deportation soon to follow (597 b.c.). The final destruction of the city was yet to occur in 586 b.c. Habakkuk’s description of the Chaldeans and their feats may even allude to all three of these events. Putting the above considerations together, the date of Habakkuk’s prophecy is somewhere between 655 b.c. and 598 b.c. Advocates of the former view would select 655 b.c. as the date of writing, while advocates of the latter view commonly select 606 b.c.” (King James Version Study Bible)

"DATE: 609-605 b.c.

"Although the prophecy is not dated according to the reign of a king, internal evidence presupposes a date between the death of King Josiah (609 b.c.) and the beginning of the Babylonian captivity (605 b.c.). The deplorable conditions of the people (Hab. 1:2-4) imply a date after the untimely death of Josiah at the Battle of Megiddo (609 b.c.) and during the wicked reign of King Jehoiakim (609-597 b.c.; cf. Jer. 22:13-23[3496]). Along with Zephaniah and Jeremiah, Habakkuk warned of God’s approaching judgment through the Chaldeans, i.e., the Babylonians. Nineveh, the capital of the once-mighty Assyrian Empire, fell to the Babylonians in 612 b.c. Seven years later (605 b.c.) Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon defeated Pharaoh Necho of Egypt at Carchemish (on the Euphrates), then pursued the Egyptians back through Palestine. In so doing, Nebuchadnezzar besieged Jerusalem and took hostages, including Daniel (Dan. 1:1[3497]). Doubtless he would have conquered the city, if word of the death of his father, Nabopolassar, had not reached him, causing him to return immediately to Babylon to

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ascend the throne. Nevertheless, the first phase of the Babylonian captivity, of which Habakkuk prophesied, became a reality.

"THEME: Triumphant Faith

"Realizing Israel’s iniquity and need for punishment, Habakkuk is perplexed with the moral dilemma of how a holy God could employ the more deplorably wicked Chaldeans to chastise His children. God responds by asserting His sovereign prerogative as to the choice and the timing of His retribution. Though it may appear unreasonable, His way is best. Thus the prophet learns that to believe what God says and to heed His warning is to be numbered among the righteous who shall live by faith (2:4). Consequently, Habakkuk’s theme is faith triumphant over apparent difficulties.” (Believer’s Study Bible)

The name Habakkuk is found nowhere else in the Bible. We know very little about him. There is an interesting commentary on the first two chapters of Habakkuk found among the Dead Sea Scrolls. Since it quotes the original text that it is commenting on, it gives us a manuscript of the first two chapters that was copied about 100 BC-one of the earliest Old Testament manuscripts available. There are very few differences between that ancient manuscript and the Masoretic Text that we have used for all these years, once again demonstrating how careful the copyists were.

It is possible that Habakkuk worked as a temple singer since the third chapter is dedicated to the "chiefsinger (or choirmaster) on my stringed instruments”. Dating Habakkuk is possible based on the following information: The temple was still standing (Habakkuk 2:20[3498]); The rise of the Babylonians and their invasion of Israel seemed still to be quite a surprise to Habakkuk (Habakkuk 1:5-7[3499]); the spiritual condition of people in Judah was pretty bad. Thus it is possible that it was written during the evil times of Manasseh, Amon or the early years of Josiah. It was probably written before Nabopolassar began to rule Babylon and set out on his conquest of the world. (626/625 BC) This would suggest a date of about 630 BC or soon after Nahum.

Habakkuk focuses his attention on the nations of Judah and Babylon and predicted disaster coming on each of them. Job gave us some ideas about why the righteous suffer and Habakkuk by contrast helps to explain why the wicked prosper. But this raised an immediate question in Habakkuk’s mind: How can God use a nation as wicked as the Babylonians to punish His own people Judah? God proceeds to show that He is fully aware of Babylon’s ways and wickedness and He is still in control. Habakkuk chooses to trust God and ends with a statement of immense faith.

From reading the book itself, it might appear that Habakkuk was struggling with what he saw going on around him. He no doubt was praying to God to help him to understand it all. Perhaps God recognized the sincere prayers of Habakkuk and carried on this "conversation” with His prophet Habakkuk.

"The name Habakkuk may come from a Hebrew word that means ‘to embrace.’ In his book, he comes to grips with some serious problems and lays hold of God by faith when everything in his life seems to be falling apart.

"Habakkuk saw the impending Babylonian invasion, and he wondered that God would use a wicked nation to punish His chosen people. His book describes three stages in Habakkuk’s

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experience—perplexity: faith wavers (chap. 1); perspective: faith watches (chap. 2); and perseverance: faith worships (chap. 3).

“The key text is 2:4, ‘But the just shall live by his faith.’ It is quoted in (Romans 1:17, Galatians 3:11, and Hebrews 10:38)[3500]. The theme of Romans is ‘the just’ and how to be justified before God. Galatians tells us how the just ‘shall live,’ and the emphasis in Hebrews is on living ‘by faith.’ It takes three New Testament epistles to explain one Old Testament text!” (With the Word Bible Commentary)

"Living by faith is a bewildering venture. We rarely know what’s coming next, and not many things turn out the way we anticipate. It is natural to assume that since I am God’s chosen and beloved, I will get favorable treatment from the God who favors me so extravagantly. It is not unreasonable to expect that from the time that I become his follower, I will be exempt from dead ends, muddy detours, and cruel treatment from the travelers I meet daily who are walking the other direction. That God- followers don’t get preferential treatment in life always comes as a surprise. But it’s also a surprise to find that there are a few men and women within the Bible who show up alongside us at such moments.

"The prophet Habakkuk is one of them, and a most welcome companion he is. Most prophets, most of the time, speak God’s Word to us. "They are preachers calling us to listen to God’s words of judgment and salvation, confrontation and comfort. They face us with God as he is, not as we imagine him to be. Most prophets are in-your-face assertive, not given to tact, not diplomatic, as they insist that we pay attention to God. But Habakkuk speaks our word to God. He gives voice to our bewilderment, articulates our puzzled attempts to make sense of things, faces God with our disappointment with God. He insists that God pay attention to us, and he insists with a prophet’s characteristic no-nonsense bluntness.

"The circumstance that aroused Habakkuk took place in the seventh century B.C. The prophet realized that God was going to use the godless military machine of Babylon to bring God’s judgment on God’s own people—using a godless nation to punish a godly nation! It didn’t make sense, and Habakkuk was quick and bold to say so. He dared to voice his feelings that God didn’t know his own God business. Not a day has passed since then that one of us hasn’t picked up and repeated Habakkuk’s bafflement: "God, you don’t seem to make sense!”

"But this prophet companion who stands at our side does something even more important: He waits and he listens. It is in his waiting and listening—which then turns into his praying—that he found himself inhabiting the large world of God’s sovereignty. Only there did he eventually realize that the believing-in-God life, the steady trusting-in-God life, is the full life, the only real life. Habakkuk started out exactly where we start out with our puzzled complaints and God-accusations, but he didn’t stay there. He ended up in a world, along with us, where every detail in our lives of love for God is worked into something good.” (the Message - Intro to Habakkuk)

2. What do you think the beings in the rest of the universe thought as they watched generation after generation going by and things getting progressively worse and worse? Wouldn’t it be

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natural for them to say to God, "Why are you wasting Your time with these people? Why don’t You just let them go?” (Hosea 4:17; 4ST 258:2:4- see EG White comments)

They must have asked this type of question repeatedly! But God had a plan that He was working on that needed a little more time for conditions to become right for His Son to come and live here on planet Earth. (See Galatians 4:4[3501]) It would be interesting to know what He told the angels and the beings from other parts of the universe during the times of Habakkuk. They also were willing to wait and trust God to see how He would work things out. (See Habakkuk 2:4[3502])

3.    Is it true that if God really told us what He is doing, we wouldn’t believe it? (Habakkuk 1:5[3503]) Could such a thing be true in our day? How does this fit with Daniel 9:19-"For your sake, O my God, do not delay, because your city and your people bear your Name?” (Compare 2 Kings 19:34; 20:6; Psalms 25:11; Isaiah 37:35; 48:9-11; Jeremiah 14:7,21; Ezekiel 20:9)[3504]

I’m sure this was not the first time people were surprised at God’s actions. What did they think when He sent the flood? It is natural for us to take an egocentric approach to such questions. We want to know how it is going to affect us! But in the larger picture, it is God’s name and reputation that need to be preserved in all of this. The questions in the great controversy are not about us-everyone knows that we are sinners-they are about God. So if we could forget about ourselves for a while and think about what all of this is saying about God we would probably get a clearer understanding of why things work out the way they do.

4.    What is the meaning of the last phrase of Habakkuk 2:4-"the just shall live by faith?” (Romans 1:17; Galatians 3:11; Hebrews 10:38) What does it mean in context here? What do you think Paul was thinking when he used it? What did it mean to Martin Luther when he started a reformation with it? If we understand what faith really is, doesn’t this imply that even in our time, as we see things going from bad to worse, to even worse, that those who are truly righteous people will look back to the evidence they already have about God’s trustworthiness and live by trust (faith) in God?

This verse has come to be a centerpiece of some of the most important theological passages in the entire Scripture. It is essential that we understand what it implies. There are at least three major ways this phrase has been understood down through the years.

1. Martin Luther said he remembered this phrase as he was climbing "Pilate’s Staircase” on his knees in Rome. According to the story, as he thought of the implications of this phrase he stood up and walked down the stairs. Some claim that this was the beginning of the Protestant Reformation. To Martin Luther the phrase apparently meant, "those who are legally forgiven because of their faith will live”. Since he was terrified of what God would do to him if he were lost, it was most important that his standing with God be "justified” or "declared righteous”. He reasoned that if God had fully forgiven him, then God would not need to punish him either in hell or purgatory.

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2.    Another way the verse has been understood is as follows: If you are "justified” or "declared righteous” then you will be able to live eternally because of your faith”. Is it that faith makes us righteous (the real meaning of the word "just”) or is it that "just” people are able to live because of their "faith”?

3.    A third way to look at this phrase is to look back at the original context and consider what is the most natural meaning in that context. God is saying to Habakkuk that things look really bad but if Habakkuk is a friend of God’s he will be willing to trust Him and wait. God asks us to allow Him to work with us to transform our lives. But we must be willing to trust Him enough to be willing to do it in the way and at the time that He sees is best. Thus the original Greek expression "righteousness” or "salvation” by "faith” could be translated "God can and will save and heal all who trust Him”. Habakkuk 2:4 understood in this way means “those who are God’s friends because they have been healed and saved by trusting Him are willing to continue trusting Him and wait”.

5.    When do you think the fulfillment of Habakkuk 2:14 (Compare Isaiah 11:9) will take place-"For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea?” (NIV) When do you think Habakkuk expected it to be fulfilled?

This is obviously a passage describing how things will be in the New Jerusalem after sin is completely eliminated. This is the way it should have been all along. Habakkuk probably had read this expression from Isaiah and realized that it was describing a time when "The Son of David”-the Messiah-would rule the world from Jerusalem. It certainly has not happened yet! In Habakkuk’s mind, this would find its initial fulfillment with the overthrow of the Babylonians. Isaiah repeatedly talks about the Jewish people being destroyed for "lack of knowledge” (Isaiah 1:3; 5:12,13; Hosea 4:6[3505]) and it is clear here and in Isaiah 11:9 that the essential knowledge is the "knowledge of God”. Certainly, Habakkuk was hoping that this time would come as soon as possible, but he must have recognized that it wasn’t happening in his day.

6.    Did the prophets have a clear understanding of the impotence of idols? (see Psalms 115:1-8; Isaiah 44:9-20; 1 Kings 18:25-29)[3506] If it is folly to worship anything created (Romans 1:20-23), what kind of folly is it to worship something you have created yourself? (Habakkuk 2:18,19[3507])

The logic of the arguments in these passages is compelling! But unfortunately those who worship idols aren’t inclined to spend a lot of time thinking through the implications of what they are doing! This is an example of a type of behavior which is all too common even in our day. When someone wants to believe something they are very inclined to believe it even if essentially all the evidence is against it. Why do people smoke? Why do people ignore the many clear commands in the Scriptures to keep the Sabbath holy?

In this case, it is likely that the attractiveness of the promiscuous sexual orgies that were regarded as a part of the "worship” of these idols drew people to them even when it was clear that they were not "gods” at all. (See Isaiah Teacher’s Guide #17)

7.    Does the book of Habakkuk suggest that God may in some way be losing control? Is it possible that He might not be able to actually carry out what He has said? Notice Habakkuk

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2:20-The way we worship says a lot about the kind of God we worship! "Be patient, wait, God is still in control!” What kind of God would give us such a message? Did Baal talk like this? Molech? Dagon? Did these "gods” demand quiet reverence and careful evaluation of what it meant to worship them? (See 1 Kings 18:25-29[3508])

The message of Habakkuk seems to be that God is still in control. Even when things look really bad, God can be trusted. Isaiah says that our bread and water will be sure (Isaiah 33:16[3509]) but Habakkuk seems to suggest that he would rejoice in the Lord even when everything is gone! (See Habakkuk 3:17-19[3510]) If God is extremely intelligent (See Isaiah 40:10-31[3511]) and all powerful (Isaiah 40-48[3512]) then His people can rely on Him. Idols have none of these properties!

8.    When God finally felt it was necessary to allow His children to be punished, why did He allow what appeared to be the most wicked nations of the times (Assyria and Babylon) to come and do the punishing?

This was certainly Habakkuk’s question and it is a fair one. There are some obvious answers such as these nations were in the process of conquering other nations anyway, so it was easy for them to step in to do what God wanted them to do. God, in other words, didn’t have to create and prepare a whole nation who otherwise wouldn’t be even in existence to discipline His children. But unfortunately, when God uses a nation such as the Assyrians and allows them to conquer several other nations it is quite natural for them to get the impression that they are doing this on their own! Isaiah describes just exactly that as he discusses the Assyrians in Isaiah 10:5-27[3513]. God apparently had in mind that the Assyrians do something for Him but they wanted to go far beyond that and they believed that they were acting on their own behalf and they didn’t think Israel’s God had anything to do with it!

9.    Could you comfortably agree with Habakkuk’s conclusion in Habakkuk 3:16-19[3514]?

In response to God’s request in Habakkuk 2:4, the prophet seems ready at the end of the book to leave everything in God’s hands. For someone living in a subsistence agricultural society, the conditions described here by Habakkuk are just about as bad as it can get! But Habakkuk has decided that he will trust God no matter what happens! This requires real trust. And this is exactly what God had in mind when He asked Habakkuk to trust Him in Habakkuk 2:4! Since trust (faith) is the only requirement for salvation as suggested by Paul (Acts 16:31[3515]) Habakkuk has apparently succeeding in developing that essential relationship with God that He would like to see in each one of us.

© Copyright 2000-2006, Kenneth Hart info@theox.org

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EG White Comments

“For centuries God looked with patience and forbearance upon the cruel treatment given to his ambassadors, at his holy law prostrate, despised, trampled underfoot. He swept away the inhabitants of the Noachian world with a flood. But when the earth was again peopled, men drew away from God, and renewed their hostility to him, manifesting bold defiance. Those whom God rescued from Egyptian bondage followed in the footsteps of those who had preceded them. Cause was followed by effect; the earth was being corrupted.

“A crisis had arrived in the government of God...All heaven was prepared at the word of God to move to the help of his elect. One word from him, and the bolts of heaven would have fallen upon the earth, filling it with fire and flame. God had but to speak, and there would have been thunderings and lightnings and earthquakes and destruction.

“The heavenly intelligences were prepared for a fearful manifestation of Almighty power. Every move was watched with intense anxiety. The exercise of justice was expected. The angels looked for God to punish the inhabitants of the earth...”

“The heavenly universe was amazed at God’s patience and love. To save fallen humanity the Son of God took humanity upon himself.” Review and Herald, July 17, 1900; (4RH 201:1:4-201:2:1) compare Desire of Ages 37

“For centuries God bore with the inhabitants of the old world. But at last guilt reached its limit...He came out of His place to punish the inhabitants of the earth, and by a flood cleansed the earth of its iniquity.

“Notwithstanding this terrible lesson, men had no sooner begun to multiply once more, than rebellion and vice became widespread. Satan seemed to have taken control of the world. The time came that a change must be made, or the image of God would be wholly obliterated from the hearts of the beings He had created. All heaven watched the movements of God with intense interest. Would He once more manifest His wrath? Would He destroy the world by fire? The angels thought that the time had come to strike the blow of justice, whom, lo, to their wondering vision was unveiled the plan of salvation.” MS 22, January 10, 1890; The Ellen G. White 1888 Materials 569,570

“Before Christ’s first advent, the sin of refusing to conform to God’s law had become widespread. Apparently Satan’s power was growing; his warfare against heaven was becoming more and more determined. A crisis had been reached. With intense interest God’s movements were watched by the heavenly angels. Would He come forth from His place to punish the inhabitants of the world for their iniquity? Would He send fire or flood to destroy them? All heaven waited the bidding of their Commander to pour out the vials of wrath upon a rebellious world. One word from Him, one sign, and the world would have been destroyed. The worlds unfallen would have said, ‘Amen. Thou art righteous, O God, because Thou hast exterminated rebellion.’” The Signs of the Times, August 27, 1902; Reflecting Christ 58; compare The Youth’s Instructor, July 29, 1897; That I May Know Him 19

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52. ZEPHANIAH - A TEACHER’S GUIDE

THE CENTRAL QUESTION:

What does this book/story say to us about God?

This question may be broken down further as follows:

a. Why did God do it/allow it?

_b. Why did He record it for our study?_

1. What would be missing from your picture of God if Zephaniah were dropped from the Bible? Why do you think the Jews included it? Was it because it was written by a prince, a great grandson of Hezekiah? Is there anything that really distinguishes Zephaniah from his contemporary writers-Nahum and Habakkuk?

The name Zephaniah means ‘Yahweh has hidden’ or ‘Yahweh has treasured’. We know nothing about him except what is in this book. Zephaniah 1:1[3516] suggests that he came from among the royal family of Judah. He states that he prophesied in the days of Josiah who was king from 640-609 BC and since he predicts the downfall of Nineveh (Zephaniah 2:13)[3517] he must have written his book before that event which occurred in 612 BC. Furthermore, he speaks of the great wickedness of Jerusalem suggesting that his messages came before the reforms of Josiah which are dated around 626/625 BC. His main theme seems to be "the day of the Lord” which is coming for Jerusalem and its enemies. He ends, as do many of these prophets with a poetic promise of restoration if the right conditions are met. Zephaniah was a contemporary of Habakkuk, Nahum, Huldah, Jeremiah, and perhaps Daniel and Ezekiel. What would it be like to have so many prophets alive at one time, most of them living near Jerusalem?

"AUTHOR: Zephaniah

"Beyond the information given in the opening verse of the book, nothing more is known of the prophet’s life. The name Zephaniah literally means ‘Yahweh has treasured or hidden.’ This name is used of only three other individuals in the Bible (cf. 1 Chr. 6:36; Jer. 21:1; Zech. 6:10, 14)[3518]. Perhaps the name may have been given to him providentially to reflect that aspect of his prophetic ministry which called on all to seek the Lord in order to be ‘hidden’ or ‘protected’ on the day of the Lord (2:3). Normally the genealogy of a prophet is carried no higher than his father; however, Zephaniah traces his ancestry back four generations in order to demonstrate his royal lineage as the great-great-grandson of King Hezekiah. Thus, he is a distant relative of King Josiah and of the princes to whom he addresses his prophecy. Apparently Zephaniah lived in the city of Jerusalem because he refers to the city as ‘this place’ (1:4), and he also describes the topography with intimate familiarity (e.g., Fish Gate, Second Quarter, and Maktesh; see 1:10, 11).

"DATE: c.625 B.C.

"Zephaniah prophesied during the reign of King Josiah (640-609 b.c.). It is certain that he wrote the prophecy before 612 b.c., for he predicted the fall of Assyria which took place at that time (cf.Zep 2:13-15[3519]). Nevertheless, the question remains whether Zephaniah’s prophecy belongs to the early or latter part of Josiah’s reign. Most biblical commentators attempt to date the book in accordance with Josiah’s sweeping moral and religious reform, which he instituted with the discovery of the Book of the Law in 621 b.c. (2 Kin. 22:8ff.). No such reform is evident in the prophecy; therefore, it is maintained that the book should be dated before 621 b.c.

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Apparently there were two reforms attempted by Josiah (2 Chr. 24:2-13[3520]). The initial reform (c.

628 b.c.) probably lacked the zeal that accompanied the second reform, thus creating the possibility that Zephaniah’s prophecy may have fallen somewhere in between the two reforms. Based on the preceding considerations, the prophecy may be tentatively dated c. 625 b.c., making the prophet’s ministry contemporaneous with that of Jeremiah.

“HISTORICAL BACKGROUND: Josiah’s Reform and the Babylonian Threat

"The moral state of the southern kingdom deteriorated rapidly after the reign of King Hezekiah (729-686 b.c.). The religious reforms he instituted were soon eradicated by the evil influence of Manasseh (696-642 b.c.) and Amon (642-640 B.C.; cf. 2 Kin. 21; 2 Chr. 33)[3521].

“Into this scene of moral and religious degeneracy came the boy-king Josiah. Upon the discovery of the ‘Book of the Law’ (2 Kin. 22:8ff[3522].), in the eighteenth year of his reign (621 b.c.; 2 Kin. 22:3[3523]), Josiah launched a sweeping reform of the national order. His regime was backed by the prophetic ministries of Jeremiah and Zephaniah, but the prophets’ call for repentance fell upon deaf ears. Wickedness remained unabated, and Judah was ripe for judgment. Through a quick succession of events, God’s providence brought the dark and foreboding clouds of war and destruction over Judah’s horizon. Assyria was being replaced by Babylon as the power beyond the Euphrates. In a futile attempt to delay Babylon’s rise, Egypt under Pharaoh Necho advanced north for war; but as a means of courting Babylon’s favor, Judah’s forces under Josiah stood in Egypt’s way. At Megiddo, Egypt trampled upon Judah, killed King Josiah, and made the nation its vassal (609 b.c.). The alliance and protection Egypt afforded were short-lived, because in 605 b.c. Babylon extinguished Egypt’s aspirations at Carchemish—a catastrophe which served to pave the way for the Chaldean conquest of Judah. Nebuchadnezzar, God’s instrument of the judgment about whom Zephaniah had prophesied only two decades before, was suddenly knocking at the portals.

“THEME: The theme of the book is the necessity of seeking the Lord in view of the coming ‘day of the Lord’ (Zep 1:7; 2:1-3[3524])—the time of God’s dire judgment upon the whole earth. The ‘day of the Lord’ is an important concept in Scripture and is fundamental to a proper understanding of biblical eschatology. Zephaniah uses the expression more often than any other prophet of the Bible. In the Old Testament the expression ‘the day of the Lord’ refers to occasions when the Lord manifested Himself providentially in the affairs of Israel as well as in those of heathen Gentile nations (cf. Is. 13:6ff.; Jer. 46:10; Ezek. 30:3; Joel 1:15[3525]). The New Testament expands the concept to include a future day when the Lord will ultimately return to bring universal judgment upon His foes and triumphant deliverance for His faithful remnant (1 Cor. 5:5; 2 Cor. 1:14; 1 Thess. 4:13-5:11)[3526].” (Believer’s Study Bible)

“We humans keep looking for a religion that will give us access to God without having to bother with people. We want to go to God for comfort and inspiration when we’re fed up with the men and women and children around us. We want God to give us an edge in the dog-eat-dog competition of daily life.

“This determination to get ourselves a religion that gives us an inside track with God but leaves us free to deal with people however we like is age-old. It is the sort of religion that has been promoted and marketed with both zeal and skill throughout human history. Business is always booming.

“It is also the sort of religion that the biblical prophets are determined to root out. They are dead set against it.

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"Because the root of the solid spiritual life is embedded in a relationship between people and God, it is easy to develop the misunderstanding that my spiritual life is something personal between God and me—a private thing to be nurtured by prayers and singing, spiritual readings that comfort and inspire, and worship with like-minded friends. If we think this way for very long, we will assume that the way we treat the people we don’t like or who don’t like us has nothing to do with God.

"That’s when the prophets step in and interrupt us, insisting, "Everything you do or think or feel has to do with God. Every person you meet has to do with God.” We live in a vast world of interconnectedness, and the connections have consequences, either in things or in people—and all the consequences come together in God. The biblical phrase for the coming together of the consequences is Judgment Day.

"We can’t be reminded too often or too forcefully of this reckoning. Zephaniah’s voice in the choir of prophets sustains the intensity, the urgency.” The Message

"Zephaniah is a book of contrasts; for no other prophet paints a darker picture of God’s judgment, and no prophet paints a brighter picture of Israel’s future glory. Historically, the Book of Zephaniah was used in the providence of God to prepare Judah for the reforms and revival under King Josiah. Through the prophecy the nation of the prophet’s day was faced with its sin, reminded of coming judgment, and instructed concerning the ultimate glory that will come to Israel....Zephaniah goes farther than any other of the minor prophets in emphasizing the future conversion of the Gentiles to the worship of the true God....Zephaniah has been called ‘the orator’ because of the oratorical style evident throughout the prophecy. Zephaniah has some literary affinities with Isaiah, but more with Jeremiah and Joel. Both he and Joel paint very dark pictures of the day of the Lord, but in both books beautiful rays of light penetrate the darkness. Two recurring expressions are important: (1) ‘remnant’ (Zephaniah 1:4; 2:7,9; 3:13[3527]), and (2) the ‘day of the Lord’ (Zephaniah 1:7-10, 14-16,18; 2:2,3; 3:8,11,16[3528]).

"The purpose of Zephaniah’s prophecy is to set forth what the day of the Lord will mean to ungodly Judah, to the world powers (Zephaniah 1:2-3:7[3529]), and to the godly remnant (Zeph. 3:8-20[3530]). His theme is the day of the Lord, which destroys the false remnant of Baal (Zeph. 1), destroys the God-rejecting nations (ch. 2), and purifies the true remnant (Zeph. 3:8-20).” (King James Version Study Bible)

Some trivia: The Massoretes say that Zephaniah 3:8 is the only verse in the Old Testament that has all 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet in it!

2.    How do you think the Israelis today feel about Zephaniah 2:9? Is this a good enough reason for them to think that eventually much of the Middle East will belong to the Jews? Zephaniah 2:9: As surely as I am the living Lord, the God of Israel, I swear that Moab and Ammon are going to be destroyed like Sodom and Gomorrah. They will become a place of salt pits and everlasting ruin, overgrown with weeds. Those of my people who survive will plunder them and take their land.” (GNB)

This verse could be understood to suggest that eventually the Jews will control all of the Middle East. But do notice that only a few of the Jews will survive to carry out this conquest!

3.    How could the children of Israel say, after all that the Lord had done for their ancestors down through the years, "The Lord will do nothing, either good or bad?” (Zephaniah 1:12; Jeremiah

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5:12; Compare 2 Peter 3:3,4)[3531] Was this wishful thinking on their part? Were they aware of their evil condition and hoping God would just leave them alone, or did they really think God was powerless?

Those who are disobeying God and aren’t ready to do anything about it are always ready to hope that God will not disturb them just now! This is often the attitude of teenagers. But the children of Israel certainly had plenty of evidence that God had the power to do anything He wanted to. It is always difficult to admit that some evil that befalls one might be one’s own fault! On the other hand, it did seem that other nations were winning all the battles and on that basis the ancient peoples often thought that was proof that their "gods” were more powerful than the "gods” of the losing nations.

4.    What do you think Zephaniah had in mind when he repeatedly referred to "the day of the Lord?” (Zephaniah 1:2-18; 2:1-4; 3:16-20[3532]; Compare Joel 1:15; 2:1,2,11,31; 3:14[3533]) Was his strong language appropriate?

Zephaniah was a good "adventist”! Do we sound like Zephaniah when we talk about the three angels’ messages? (See Revelation 14:6-12[3534]) Should we use Zephaniah 1:18-2:3[3535] as a key text for God’s anger and destruction?

Zephaniah 1:17-2:3: 17 The Lord says, "I will bring such disasters on mankind that everyone will grope about like someone blind. They have sinned against me, and now their blood will be poured out like water, and their dead bodies will lie rotting on the ground.”

18 On the day when the Lord shows his fury, not even all their silver and gold will save them. The whole earth will be destroyed by the fire of his anger. He will put an end—a sudden end—to everyone who lives on earth.

2:1 Shameless nation, come to your senses 2 before you are driven away like chaff blown by the wind, before the burning anger of the Lord comes upon you, before the day when he shows his fury. 3 Turn to the Lord, all you humble people of the land, who obey his commands. Do what is right, and humble yourselves before the Lord. Perhaps you will escape punishment on the day when the Lord shows his anger. (GNB)

The strong language in Zephaniah is very similar to words found in several other minor prophets that we have read. He has strong words against surrounding nations like other prophets as well. His condemnation of other nations was probably gratifying to them. But his very strong language against Jerusalem and the leaders of the people must have disturbed some of them. Zephaniah is one of the few books in the Bible where it is suggested that God’s fury or anger seems to lead to His directly "destroying” people. (See Zephaniah 1:2-9,14-16; 1:18-2:3; 3:6-8[3536])

When were/are these passages to be fulfilled? There are a number of passages like this one in the prophecies of the Old Testament. See the handout Interpreting Old Testament Prophecy.

5.    When the Ninevites repented, God waited over 150 years to bring destruction on them, but finally He had to do something. What could God do at such a point? Think of all the prophets God sent through the years-even His own Son-and think of the parables that Jesus gave and how they mocked and scoffed, and how they treated Him. Imagine God’s people claiming that His Son’s picture of God was Satanic! (John 8:48) How much further could God’s people go

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in rejecting Him? At such a point what else could God do but let them go? Is this the same message that needs to be given to our generation?

The Bible repeatedly describes God’s wrath/anger/fury as nothing more than His letting go and handing over, in loving disappointment, those who are "bent on leaving” Him anyway, thus allowing them to experience the tragic and awful consequences of their own destructive and rebellious behavior. God does not do this until there is nothing else that He can do that will help. (2 Chronicles 36:15,16[3537]) What would you do with the people described in 2 Kings 17[3538] or the ones described in 2 Chronicles 36[3539]?

6.    Aren’t Seventh-day Adventists Christians who have also accepted the "third angel’s message?” (Revelation 14:9-11[3540]) Can we give this message in such a way as to be useful and meaningful to the world at this point in time? How many people in our world are worried about what is described in the third angel’s message? Do you see people being very concerned about this message? Or are we like the people in Zephaniah 1:12[3541]?

We may feel that the language of Zephaniah seems a little harsh, but what about the third angel’s message? (Revelation 14:9-11) Doesn’t that sound like the strongest language in the entire Bible? And that message seems to be for people who live at the end of this world’s history! If Zephaniah were standing on one corner preaching his message, and you were standing on an opposite corner preaching the third angel’s message, would there be an obvious contrast between the two of you? Is the whole world sitting up and taking notice as we preach to them the third angel’s message?

7.    What does God ultimately want here? Isn’t it that He be able to speak to us very plainly, yet quietly, without a great display of "human emotion”, and yet have us take what He says very respectfully and reverently? How can God accomplish this balance? [See Jonah Teacher’s Guide #8]

As noted earlier this has been one of God’s greatest challenges in dealing with us humans. How does God get reverence and respect without causing fear and terror? Without respect and reverence very little learning will take place (See Proverbs 1:7; 9:10[3542]; Proverbs Teacher’s Guide #8).

8.    Were you sorry when you had to raise your voice to your children? How much nicer would the Bible read, if all the way through, people had been eager to listen quietly, respectfully and reverently to what God had said? Even if He had to give some very serious messages, He could do so quietly and plainly and people would realize the import of those messages. Could God have made the gospel as clear to such a group of people long ago as we understand it now? Could they have come to know God as we describe Him today?

It should be obvious that if we had followed God’s guidance from the beginning we would still be living in the garden of Eden! Repeatedly, as we have wandered farther and farther away from God it seems He has had to go to greater and greater lengths through the use even of "crisis interventions” to maintain some kind of meaningful relationship with the human race. This is certainly not God’s ideal. But at any point when God has had a few people who are seriously listening to Him, He has revealed Himself to them in a way appropriate to their circumstances. Are we taking God seriously in our time?

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9.    Amidst all the woes declared on different peoples notice that God still asks His people to turn and seek Him (Zephaniah 2:3[3543]). Isn’t this what God has always wanted?

God has used almost every means imaginable to bring us back to Him. God’s ideal has been spelled out in many places in Scripture: See (Micah 6:6-8; Jeremiah 31:31-34)[3544].

10.    Zephaniah was probably the last book written before the Babylonians attacked Jerusalem the first time. Were circumstances serious enough to warrant this language? God originally called Abram out of Mesopotamia and promised him that he and his descendants would be a blessing to all nations. In the light of the messages of these minor prophets and 2 Chronicles 33:9[3545] does God seem to be doing well with His plan? Is it ever possible to speak of God not succeeding in what He sets out to do? Could God even "fail” to accomplish His goals with the human race?

2 Chronicles 33:9, speaking of a time a few years before the days of Zephaniah, Habakkuk and Nahum, says, "Manasseh led the people of Judah to commit even greater sins than those committed by the nations whom the LORD had driven out of the land as his people advanced.” (GNB)

Does this sound like Abraham’s descendants were proving to be a great blessing to other nations or even themselves? God will soon allow them to be taken off into Babylonian captivity. Only a relative few of them will ever return and even those who did went back almost immediately to committing the same sins that had apparently led to their ancestor’s going into captivity. Then under Ezra and Nehemiah they apparently experience a great reformation and revival. They never apparently went back to idols of gold and silver or to the "fertility cult” religions of those around them. But despite becoming exemplary blueprinting "adventists” they crucified Jesus Christ when He came to them! Was this what God intended? Did He have to wait so many years for a group who would kill His Son? What is He still waiting for in the days of Zephaniah? In our day?

© Copyright 2000-2006, Kenneth Hart info@theox.org

Ellen White Comments

"The shortness of time is urged as an incentive for us to seek righteousness and to make Christ our friend. This is not the great motive. It savors of selfishness. Is it necessary that the terrors of the day of God be held before us to compel us through fear to right action? This ought not to be.” (Review and Herald Aug. 2, 1881) 1RH 273:1:6; That I May Know Him p. 320

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53. HAGGAI - A TEACHER’S GUIDE

THE CENTRAL QUESTION:

What does this book/story say to us about God?

This question may be broken down further as follows:

a. Why did God do it/allow it?

_b. Why did He record it for our study?_

1. If the 38 verses of Haggai were left out of the Bible would it make any difference to your understanding of God’s character, His government, or what He is doing to try to save men? What other Biblical books were written about the same time as Haggai? How long did it take for the people to respond to Haggai’s appeals? (Haggai 1:1,14,15; 2:1,10,20) Was Haggai working alone in this project? Haggai is called the "messenger of the Lord” (Haggai 1:13) To whom else do we refer as the "messenger of the Lord?”

“DATE: Haggai is quite specific as to the year, month and day of his messages:

August 29, 520 B.C. (1:1);

September 15, 520 B.C. (1:15);

October 17, 520 B.C. (2:1); and

December 18, 520 B.C. (2:10 and 2:20).

March 12, 515 B.C. (Ezra 6:15) - Temple finished.

"All four oracles of Haggai are precisely dated in the year 520 b.c., the second year of the reign of Darius I (521-486 b.c.), king of Persia. The first oracle was delivered on the first day of Elul (August-September), the second on the twenty-first day of Tishri (September-October), and the last two on the twenty-fourth day of Kislev (November-December). Later the messages were compiled into what is now known as the Book of Haggai. For the historical background of the book, see Ezra 1-7[3546].” (Believer’s Study Bible) [Compare The Anchor Bible, Haggai, Zechariah 1-8, p. xlvi]

"Haggai dates his prophecy according to the year of the reigning Persian monarch ‘Darius the king’ (Darius I, son of Hystaspis, who was also known as Darius the Great, cf. 1:1). Darius began his reign in 521 b.c. During his first two years as king, Darius I defeated nine kings in 19 different battles. He became interested in law and permitted the Jews to rebuild Solomon’s temple, which had been destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar in 586 b.c.” (King James Version Study Bible)

"Haggai and Zechariah share a common historical background, both having begun their ministries in ‘the second year of King Darius’ (520 b.c.). The Jews had returned to Palestine under the edict of the Persian king Cyrus in 538 b.c. and had begun to rebuild the temple. Opposition from the outside and discouragement from within caused them to abandon the project for about sixteen or seventeen years (Ezra 4:1-4). When Haggai and Zechariah began their work in 520 b.c., further opposition came from Tattenai, the Persian governor

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of Trans-Euphrates, which included Palestine (Ezra 5). But Darius I (Hystaspes), who ruled Persia from 522 to 486 b.c., reissued Cyrus’ edict so that the temple was rebuilt within four years (Ezra 6:13-15). The second temple was dedicated on March 12, 516 [or 515] b.c.” (New Geneva Study Bible)

The only book in the Old Testament that is shorter than Haggai is Obadiah. Haggai is the only book in the Bible to contain just two chapters.

ygj, or Haggai, which in Hebrew transliteration is spelled Chaggai, means "festal” or "festive.” He was probably given this name because he was born on a feast day of some sort. He is the first of the three minor prophets of the Old Testament who lived and worked after the Babylonian Captivity. All we know about Haggai is what is written in this book and mention of his name in (Ezra 5:1 and 6:14[3547]) where it is stated that, together with Zechariah, he inspired the people to rebuild the temple.

Because of what is written in Haggai 2:3[3548], some think he was old enough to remember the first temple. If that is the case, he would have had to be at least eighty years old at the time of writing this book. After Cyrus the Great of Medo-Persia conquered Babylon he soon began to implement a national policy of allowing conquered nations to continue worshiping their own "gods.” As a result, a small group of Jews, under Zerubbabel (also referred to as Sheshbazzar: Ezra 1:8,11; 5:14,16[3549]) a descendant of David, returned to their homeland and shortly thereafter, actually laid a foundation for the new temple at Jerusalem. (Ezra 2:64; 3:1-10[3550]) But Israel’s enemies did everything they could to frustrate and delay the work during the reigns of Cyrus and his successor Cambyses.

God, however, helped His people (see Daniel 10:12,13[3551]), and allowed the work to go forward slowly. But because of intense opposition the work finally stopped. (Ezra 4:1-5[3552]) Ten to twelve years passed, during which time the Jews primarily built their own houses and developed their own properties. Finally in 522 BC, false Smerdis, who came after Cambyses, issued a decree to stop the work at Jerusalem. Shortly thereafter, false Smerdis was killed by Darius the Great, who took control of the Empire and destroyed the decrees of Smerdis.

Haggai and Zechariah were then called by God to get the people to arise and finish the work of building the temple. In the second year of Darius (See Haggai 1:14,15[3553]) the people, encouraged and exhorted by the prophets, took up the work once again. The drought and the defeat of all their plans which had taken place when they stopped building disappeared. Furthermore, Darius issued a decree similar to that of Cyrus instructing them to finish their work. (See Ezra 5:3-6:13[3554]) With the help of Zerubbabel and Joshua the High Priest (See Ezra 5:1,2; 6:14[3555]) the people moved forward with energy and zeal and completed the work on the temple in the sixth year of Darius. (See Ezra 6:15[3556])

Apparently, Haggai and Zechariah were two of the most immediately successful of the prophets of Old Testament times. Note that the book of Haggai consists of four messages:

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(Haggai 1:1-15; 2:1-9; 2:10-19 and 2:20-23)[3557]. Only Jonah and Nehemiah rivaled the success of these two!

Haggai prophesied during the last half of 520 BC. Within three months the people arose and began their work and within four years had completed the temple. While Haggai refers to himself as the "messenger of the Lord,” we need to understand that the word "prophet” means "ambassador” or "someone who speaks on behalf of someone else” and thus each prophet should be considered as "a messenger of the Lord.”

"Jewish tradition maintains that Haggai spent the majority of his life in Babylon. Since Haggai is not mentioned among the leaders who returned with Sheshbazzar and Zerubbabel (Ezra 2:2[3558]) in 537 b.c., he probably came to Jerusalem at a later time. Nevertheless, in 520 b.c. Haggai was in Jerusalem, preaching with zeal and enthusiasm the urgency of rebuilding the temple. That his preaching (reinforced by his younger contemporary Zechariah) was effective is evidenced by the fact that work on the temple was immediately renewed, ultimately resulting in the completion and dedication of Zerubbabel’s temple in 516 b.c.” (Believer’s Study Bible)

"According to ancient Jewish tradition, Haggai saw Solomon’s temple before the Exile (Hag. 2:3) and so was quite old as he returned to the Land. Ancient Christian tradition holds that Haggai was born in exile and was young when he returned to Jerusalem. Others believe that Haggai never went into exile but instead stayed in the Land. In any case, Haggai was well acquainted with the situation of his day and spoke with such effectiveness that the people were moved to action. Haggai was a contemporary of Zechariah (Ezra 5:1; 6:14[3559]), although neither prophet mentioned the other.” (Woman’s Study Bible)

“Content. The Book of Haggai addresses three problems common to all people of all times, and gives three inspired solutions to those problems. The first problem is disinterest (Hag 1:1-15[3560]). The people had returned from exile for the stated purpose of rebuilding the temple in Jerusalem (Ezra 1:2-4[3561]) and had made a start on their assigned task; but opposition had appeared and the work had stopped. The people had become more concerned with building beautiful houses for themselves, perhaps in an attempt to blot out the memory of their exile in a strange land (1:4). To wake them from their apathetic attitude, God speaks twice to the people. They first need to realize that they are fruitless (1:5, 6) because they have turned from God’s house to their own houses (1:7-9). All their efforts at building their own kingdom can never produce lasting results. After seeing their problem, the people then need to understand that God will accept what they do, that He will be glorified if they will only yield to Him what they have (1:8).

"The second problem is discouragement (Hag 2:1-9[3562]). Some of the older people in the band of returned exiles had seen Solomon’s temple when they were children, so that no building, however beautiful, could compare with the glory of that former temple (2:3). The discouragement of the older people had quickly influenced the younger ones until, less than a month after the rebuilding began, work on the temple had ceased. But again Haggai

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brings a message designed to deal decisively with discouragement. The solution has two parts: one to deal with the immediate problem, the other to bring a long-range resolution. For the present it is enough for the people to ‘be strong ... be strong ... be strong ... and work’ (2:4). The other key to overcoming discouragement is for the builders to know that they are building for the day when God will so fill this house with glory that it will surpass the glory of Solomon’s temple (2:9).

"The final issue that Haggai has to face is the problem of dissatisfaction (Hag 2:10-23[3563]). Now that the people are working, they expect an immediate reversal of all their years of inactivity. So the prophet comes with a question for the priests (2:12, 13) about clean and unclean things and their influence on one another. The response of the priests is that uncleanness is infectious while holiness is not. The application is obvious: Do not expect the work of three months to undo the neglect of sixteen years. The Lord’s next word to the people is a surprise: ‘But from this day I will bless you’ (2:19). The people needed to understand that God’s blessings cannot be earned, but come as gracious gifts from a giving God. God has chosen Zerubbabel to be a sign (2:23), that is, to represent the servant nature to be fulfilled ultimately in Zerubbabel’s greatest Son, Jesus. Note Zerubbabel’s name in both the genealogical lists in the Gospels (Matt. 1; Luke 3), indicating that God’s final, highest blessing is a Person, His Son Jesus Christ.” (Spirit-Filled Life Study Bible - article on Haggai; See also Hayford’s Bible Handbook)

2. Why do you think God sent Haggai, Zechariah, Zerubbabel, and Joshua the high priest, and then later Ezra and Nehemiah, to urge the people to get on with the building of the temple, the rebuilding of the walls, and inspire this great revival and reformation, if He knew that not too many years in the future, when His Son came, they would reject Him? What do you understand God to be trying to accomplish during this whole period? And what would this say about God?

Galatians 4:4 suggests that Jesus arrived "when the fullness of time had come” (KJV, NKJV); or "when the appointed time arrived” (Jewish NewTestament), or "when the right time came” (TLB, The Living Translation); or "when the time had fully come.” (RSV, NIV) or "when the time was right” (CEV), or "when the time arrived that was set by God the Father” (The Message). This suggests that God was looking for something in particular. Was it that people were more sinful? Then why not come before the flood? (Genesis 6:5) They had given up fertility cult worship, gross idolatry, intermarriage with the heathen, and they had successfully rebuilt the temple once again into a wonderful structure with the help of Herod and Caesar’s money.

God understood all that was coming before it happened. He knew that they would leave all their gross external immorality and become the most strict "law-abiding” group that ever lived on planet earth! They had to ritually clean themselves after coming from the market in case they had somehow come in contact with a Gentile and ritually contaminated themselves! (Mark 7:1-5) Is it possible that they were just as difficult for God to reach and influence as their idolatrous ancestors? When their ancestors had the Scriptures read to

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them, they experienced a great revival and reformation. In Jesus’ day, they read and memorized the Scriptures daily. But when He appeared, they accused Him of being possessed with a demon! (John 8:48[3564])

This might suggest that those who are very "religious” and "saintly” are actually at times farther from God than the more flagrant sinners! Is God trying to show us that the ditch is just as deep on each side of the road? This is very hard for modern Christians to accept because we immediately recognize that we are much more like the Pharisees than we are like the idolatrous and immoral Jews in the Old Testament. It is always much easier to point fingers at those who are quite different than we are, than it is to recognize that there might be some terrible sinners that look just like us! The question that must be faced in such situations is: Are we any better? We don’t even like to think about it! We like to think that we are much better than "those sinners” in the Old Testament!

God is doing His best to warn us of all the possible hazards. He would like to keep us from the gross sinfulness of the ancient peoples, but He would also like to prevent us from being caught up in the much subtler and more dangerous sins of pride, self-righteousness, and spiritual superiority that characterized the New Testament Jews.

3. What were God’s objectives in rebuilding the temple if He knew what was coming? If an angel had stopped to ask, "God what are You planning to accomplish through this rebuilding of the temple?” How will you "succeed?” How do you think God would have answered? What would be success in the eyes of an angel at this point in history? What was God waiting for? What is He waiting for now?

This is really an expansion on the previous question. God is seeking to bring this whole “sin experiment” that we call the great controversy to a conclusion in such a way that no one will ever want to try any of the avenues of sin ever again. In order to do this, God must allow sin in all its forms to play itself out in this “theater of the universe” (1 Corinthians 4:9) until it has been adequately demonstrated that sin in every form has terrible and deadly consequences. If this is not thoroughly demonstrated before the entire universe and recorded in a form that can be reviewed and understood by all, there is the possibility that someone may again some day get the idea that sin is not so bad or that there is sufficient reason for challenging the way God runs His universe. If such a thing should ever occur again, then the demonstration has been inadequate. So God waits to allow sin to work its deadly results on all who refuse to come back to Him. It is the only way He can secure the universe against apostasy and rebellion for all time to come. It was necessary for Him to go through all that He has gone through to accomplish this. It is hard to imagine God doing many of the things that He has done unless there was a very good reason for doing so. We have no way of knowing how early the angels began to understand all of this, but some of it was not clear until Calvary. (See Ezekiel Teacher’s Guide #2)

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It is God’s plan to establish a new heaven and a new earth where righteousness dwells. He will not have any jails, any police force, CIA, KGB, or any such group. He refuses to be constantly checking in people’s refrigerators, bedrooms, and libraries to make sure that they are not doing something that they are not supposed to do! Nor will He run the risk of having the whole great controversy start all over again! So He will only be able to admit into His kingdom people who are so convinced of the truth and the advantages of doing what is right simply because it is right that they will never be tempted to go back to sin in any form forever. Then God’s kingdom will be safe and secure for eternity.

4.    Is God saying here, "If you don’t worship Me, and Me first, I can’t bless you?” (Haggai 1:2-11[3565]) If so, would that suggest that God is selfish? Who stands to gain the most if we put God first? Why are people blessed when they put God first? Is it because God doesn’t like it when they don’t put Him first and therefore He withholds His blessings? Or, by putting God first, do we open up ways for God to bless us that would not otherwise be open?

Repeatedly we have seen the contrast made between the extremely intelligent and powerful Yahweh-God (Isaiah 40:9-26[3566]) and the useless, powerless chunks of wood, stone or metal that the heathen called their "gods.” (Isaiah 44:6-20; 1 Kings 18:20-40[3567]) We have noted the consequences of worshiping these false deities. (2 Kings 17:15; Hosea 9:10 [compare Numbers 25:1-5]; Psalms 115:8; Jeremiah 2:5,17,18; 7:6; 2 Corinthians 3:18)[3568] When we worship and admire something or Someone, we become like that person or thing. This is the way the mind works. You will become like what you fill your mind with. So it is self-destructive for us to admire or worship anything short of our wonderful God. God will not punish us for doing it. We will just lose! As God has dealt with His erring children, there have been times when He has sent floods, plagues, droughts, etc. to try to get people to realize what they are doing and turn back to Him.

When we finally realize the tremendous blessings of worshiping the true God, and we realize what He wants to make of us, we show that we are complete fools if we refuse to follow His suggestions. He weeps as He watches us destroy ourselves!

5.    In what sense could this latter temple be more "glorious” than the former? (Haggai 2:9; compare Ezra 3:10-13)[3569] Which is more impressive to you—the power, glory, fire, and cloud that were manifested in the first temple (2 Chronicles 5:11-14[3570]) or the friendship and humble humanity manifested in the second temple? (John 8:2; Matthew 26:55)[3571] Which would God prefer to use? Which should stir us more—the infinite power and majesty, or the fact that God seems to want to talk to us through the still, small voice? Are you moved more by the meekness and humility of Jesus as He allowed Himself to be accused and crucified or by the tremendous show of power at the dedication of Solomon’s temple? (1 Kings 8:10; 2 Chronicles 5:11-14 and 7:1-10)[3572]

When the first temple (Sometimes know as Solomon’s Temple) was dedicated there was every possible earthly manifestation of glory. (See 1 Kings 8; 1 Chronicles 28-2 Chronicles 7)[3573] Millions of people were gathered. The king was leading out in the ceremonies. The priests had prepared everything in the most perfect and holy way that they knew. The

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people and the king offered so many offerings they couldn’t be counted. There were more than twice as many offerings at the first dedication of the temple than there were Jews at the second!! The first temple was probably the most beautiful building ever built on planet earth. The white marble and gold shown beautifully amidst the royal purple curtains etc. God’s glory graced the occasion. When God’s glory filled the temple not even the priests dared to go inside. (1 Kings 8:10,11; 2 Chronicles 5:11-14; 7:1-10[3574]) The king’s prayer was one of the longest and best in the entire Bible. The nation was at its zenith of power. Its king was world-renowned as the wisest man ever to live. The king had brought so much silver and gold into Jerusalem that it was as common as the stones on the street. (1 Kings 10:27[3575])

At the dedication of the first temple, the golden ark of the covenant filled with the tables of stone on which God Himself had written the ten commandments were placed in the most holy place. The golden furniture from the original tabernacle was placed in the temple. The plans, given by God had been followed to the letter. The ceremonies were attended by foreign dignitaries and Israel’s many allies. Other nations cooperated in its construction. Some have suggested that there was more gold built into this temple than is now possessed by the entire human race!

The second temple (Later known as Herod’s Temple because of its massive rebuilding and enlargement by Herod the Great with money given from Rome) was delayed in its construction for about fifteen years because there was so much opposition from the surrounding nations and so much apathy among the Jews themselves! There was nothing but a bare rock in the most holy place. God’s glory never appeared at the dedication. The older people who saw it being built and knew how inferior it was to Solomon’s Temple wept when they saw even the foundations of this tiny temple. (Ezra 3:10-13; Haggai 2:3[3576]) The crowd that gathered was probably less than fifty thousand and represented only a very small percentage of the world’s Jewish population. Most of the Jews were busy with business in Egypt or Mesopotamia and didn’t come for the ceremonies! Even the Jews in Jerusalem were servants of the Medo-Persian Empire and not real owners of their own land. Construction was interrupted repeatedly by letters from the Persian capital in response to accusations from the Jews’ enemies. The second temple was built in a Jerusalem which didn’t even have a wall of protection around it to keep their enemies out.

The Jews themselves had selfishly withheld their offerings from rebuilding the second temple until God actually sent drought on them to get their attention once again. They had to depend on monies from the King of Persia to build this temple. The Jews had become almost destitute because they ignored God’s directions to put His tithes and offerings first before their own needs and desires.

But there is one way in which this second temple stands out in marked distinction from the first temple: The Son of Man, the Messiah of prophecy, The Almighty Father, Wonderful Counselor, Prince of Peace (see Isaiah 9:6[3577]) came to this temple and sat quietly in its porches to teach the people. There was no big display. He looked like a common, dusty, travel-worn Galilean, and He had no official training for the job He was doing, but the world

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has never seen a greater Teacher. He began to impact this temple at the age of twelve! He was already asking questions that the Pharisees and Sadducees couldn’t answer!

In God’s eyes, real glory does not consist in the silver and gold and wealth. All these things already belong to Him. (Haggai 2:8) Real glory does not consist in pomp and ceremony. Real glory consists in the truth being quietly spoken in love to willing, listening ears. When Jesus came to the temple that was always His first goal. We remember the times when He drove out the money changers and livestock merchants. We remember the arguments He had with the authorities. But these were not the most important moments in His eyes. His important moments were the quiet ones with face-to-face eager questioners learning the truths of God’s kingdom. This is what made the second temple so much more glorious than the former one!

6.    If the Holy Spirit did not come until Pentecost, what is the meaning of (Haggai 2:5 and Zechariah 7:12)[3578]? (Compare Genesis 1:2; Psalms 51:11)[3579] Why did Jesus in His time feel it was necessary to say that He must go away so the Holy Spirit could come? (John 14:16,17,26; 15:26; 16:7[3580])

The Holy Spirit was clearly working throughout the Scripture. He is the One who inspired the writing of the Old Testament! In Old Testament times, as in our day, He works quietly behind the scenes to influence the lives of people for God. He was there moving on the face of the waters at creation and helping David to confess his sins in Psalms 51.

In New Testament times the disciples didn’t feel they needed the influence and work of the Holy Spirit so long as Jesus was with them. They simply ran to Him with any questions or problems. But Jesus wanted them to scatter out and carry the gospel to the whole world. They couldn’t continue to stay physically close to Him and do that. He needed to go away so they would begin to recognize the work of the Holy Spirit and then be ready to travel everywhere spreading the good news.

7.    In Haggai’s day, God had been working with the descendants of Abraham for about twelve hundred years, and yet He still did not seem to have accomplished what He really wanted. Why not? What about in our day? What is delaying His coming today? (Revelation 7:1-3[3581])

The real key to answering this question and others like it is to realize what God is really trying to accomplish as discussed in #3 above. God has managed to demonstrate many things already in the lives of these children of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel. But the most important questions still remained to be answered by the Son when He came to live and die here on planet earth. God is gradually working toward an environment and a set of circumstances which He will later call the "fullness of time.” (See Galatians 4:4[3582]) Things need to be just right so Jesus can demonstrate what He has come to demonstrate.

God needs to have a group of people who are so determined to keep the law down to the minutest detail that they will be ready to reject the original Lawgiver because they think He is a lawbreaker! We need to learn the dangers not only of the grosser sins of the Old Testament days but also the dangers of doing even what is right if it is for the wrong reason! We need to see the consequences of having sin cloaked in a priest’s robe and sitting in the front row in church. The popular New Testament sins of pride, selfishness, and covetousness are much worse than the immorality and vice of the Old Testament! We need

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to recognize how much these New Testament sins describe us! So God allows a demonstration of the "ditches” on both sides of the road.

8. Is God continually working toward some sort of long-term goal? If so, what would that be? What is implied when Jesus, after His life here on earth says, "It is finished?” (John 19:30[3583]) What would "finished” mean to an eternal God who is omniscient and omnipresent? Is success for God measured in terms of numbers of loyal followers? In Haggai’s day, would the universe be inclined to think that God had lost His influence?

A correct understanding of this question requires a new perspective, even a new paradigm in our thinking. We first must recognize that God’s goals are quite different than what we have been accustomed to thinking they are. (See #3 above) Then we must reevaluate every Biblical story in the light of this new way of thinking. We need to recognize that Jesus came primarily to answer questions about God and His character and government, and not just to offer a sacrifice of ransom to save you and me. If the questions about God are not adequately answered, then the seeds of rebellion are alive and well in the universe and God has not won the great controversy.

In this light, Jesus was most correct in saying, "It is finished!” (John 19:30) He had answered the accusations of Satan against Himself, the Father and the Holy Spirit, and so no matter if any of us should get the picture, God had succeeded in winning the great controversy. (See Romans 3:4) And God has left us a mountain of evidence sufficient to teach us the truth as well. This is why we need to read all of Scripture until we see the truth about God.

© Copyright 1996-2006, Kenneth Hart info@theox.org

Ellen White Quotes

The Great Controversy 23,24

A thousand years before, the psalmist had magnified God’s favor to Israel in making her holy house His dwelling place: "In Salem also is His tabernacle, and His dwelling place in Zion.” He "chose the tribe of Judah, the Mount Zion which He loved. And He built His sanctuary like high palaces.” Psalms 76:2; 78:68, 69. The first temple had been erected during the most prosperous period of Israel’s history. Vast stores of treasure for this purpose had been collected by King David, and the plans for its construction were made by divine inspiration. 1 Chronicles 28:12, 19. Solomon, the wisest of Israel’s monarchs, had completed the work. This temple was the most magnificent building which the world ever saw. Yet the Lord had declared by the prophet Haggai, concerning the second temple: "The glory of this latter house shall be greater than of the former.” "I will shake all nations, and the Desire of all nations shall come: and I will fill this house with glory, saith the Lord of hosts.” Haggai 2:9, 7...

But the second temple had not equaled the first in magnificence; nor was it hallowed by those visible tokens of the divine presence which pertained to the first temple. There was no manifestation of supernatural power to mark its dedication. No cloud of glory was seen to fill the newly erected sanctuary. No fire from heaven descended to consume the sacrifice upon its altar. The Shekinah no longer abode between the cherubim in the most holy place; the ark, the mercy

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seat, and the tables of the testimony were not to be found therein. No voice sounded from heaven to make known to the inquiring priest the will of Jehovah.

For centuries the Jews had vainly endeavored to show wherein the promise of God given by Haggai had been fulfilled; yet pride and unbelief blinded their minds to the true meaning of the prophet’s words. The second temple was not honored with the cloud of Jehovah’s glory, but with the living presence of One in whom dwelt the fullness of the Godhead bodily-who was God Himself manifest in the flesh. The "Desire of all nations” had indeed come to His temple when the Man of Nazareth taught and healed in the sacred courts. In the presence of Christ, and in this only, did the second temple exceed the first in glory. But Israel had put from her the proffered Gift of heaven. With the humble Teacher who had that day passed out from its golden gate, the glory had forever departed from the temple. Already were the Saviour’s words fulfilled: "Your house is left unto you desolate.” Matthew 23:38.

Prophets and Kings 597

And yet this was the building concerning which the Lord had declared by the prophet Haggai: "The glory of this latter house shall be greater than of the former.” "I will shake all nations, and the Desire of all nations shall come: and I will fill this house with glory, saith the Lord of hosts.” Haggai 2:9,7. For centuries learned men have endeavored to show wherein the promise of God, given to Haggai, has been fulfilled; yet in the advent of Jesus of Nazareth, the Desire of all nations, who by His personal presence hallowed the precincts of the temple, many have steadfastly refused to see any special significance. Pride and unbelief have blinded their minds to the true meaning of the prophet’s words.

See Prophets and Kings, pp. 567-581; "The Prophets of God Helping Them”; The Great Controversy, pp. 21-24; "The Destruction of Jerusalem”.

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54. ZECHARIAH - A TEACHER’S GUIDE

THE CENTRAL QUESTION:

What does this book/story say to us about God?

This question may be broken down further as follows:

a.    Why did God do it/allow it?

b.    Why did He record it for our study?

1. Is there anything special about the book of Zechariah? Why was it included in the Bible? Would you have voted for it? Who was Zechariah and what was his background? Who was he speaking to in this book?

Zechariah is the “Revelation” of the Old Testament. His name in Hebrew is Zekaryah [Heb zekarya (hyr|kZ), zekaryahu (Hhyr|kZ)]. Var. ZECHER.] which means “the LORD (Yahweh)

remembers” or “Yahweh has remembered.” He was probably a Levite, (See Zechariah 1:1; Nehemiah 12:16) and was almost certainly born in Babylonia. He is described as “the son of Berechiah [“Yahweh Blesses”] (Zechariah 1:1) and also as “the son of Iddo” [“The Appointed Time”] (See Ezra 5:1; 6:14[3584]) which is used loosely to mean son or grandson or at times even a more distant relative. Berechiah, Zechariah’s father, may well have died young, since Zechariah (rather than his father Berechiah) seems to have been the one to follow Iddo as head of his priestly family (Neh. 12:12-16[3585]). Zechariah’s ministry as a priest and prophet apparently began about two months after his older contemporary Haggai’s did. (Zechariah 1:1; Haggai 1:1[3586]) Zechariah 2:4 suggests he was a young man when he began. He worked alongside Haggai from 520/519 BC to 518 BC and probably continued to work to rebuild the temple until 515 BC when the temple was completed although neither of them mention the actual completion. The two prophet’s work was complementary. Haggai reproved the people for their failure to rebuild the temple, while Zechariah encouraged the people by presenting to them the coming glory of the Lord. Zechariah’s ministry probably continued until about 480 B.C.

“He is not to be confused with the Zechariah mentioned in Matthew 23:35, ‘Zechariah son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar.’ That Zechariah lived much earlier (c. 825 B.C.), and his death is recorded in 2 Chronicles 24:20-22[3587]. [This point is important and helping us to determine how early the Bible was canonized.] Nor should Zechariah the prophet be confused with any of the 28 other men in the Old Testament who bore this name. ...The Talmud indicates that he was a member of the Great Synagogue along with Nehemiah and Ezra...” (King James Version Study Bible)

“Cyrus (see 2 Chr. 36:22, 23; Ezra 1:1-4)[3588] provided the opportunity for the Jews to return from exile and rebuild their temple. The foundations were laid in 537 B.C., but Samaritan opposition blocked all significant progress for nearly sixteen years. In 520 B.C., God raised up two prophets, Haggai and Zechariah, to encourage the completion of the work. The internal indications of date, translated to our modern calendars, are as follows: October-November, 520 B.C. (1:1); January-February, 519 B.C. (1:7); November-December, 518 B.C. (7:1). The two final ‘burdens’ (chs. 9-11; 12-14) are undated but seem to have been delivered in Zechariah’s later life, perhaps after 480

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B.C., when the Persians were defeated by the Greeks at Thermopylae and Salamis, since Greece is mentioned in 9:13. Manuscript evidence is unanimously in favor of the unity of the book, and conservative scholars have shown a significant internal unity both in theological and stylistic terms. Zechariah’s messianic prophecies are among the greatest and most comprehensive of all the Minor Prophets...

“In his youth Zechariah was greatly concerned with the rebuilding of the temple. The Lord gave him a message to show the people that the long-term result of their work was bound up with God’s purpose to establish the messianic kingdom. Like John the Baptist {Matt. 3:1, 2[3589]), Zechariah was called first to preach repentance {1:1-6) and then to proclaim that the kingdom of God was at hand. All eight of the special revelatory visions (1:7-6:8) should be interpreted together as an organized unit of prophecy concerning God’s chosen people. Each vision spoke significantly to the immediate needs of the feeble, post-exilic nation, but the ultimate fulfillment of the prophecy awaits the return of the Messiah.” {Believer’s Study Bible)

Zechariah is noteworthy for his prophecies that seem to apply to Jesus. {See Zechariah 9:9; 11:12[3590]) and prophecies that may apply to the end of time. {See Zechariah 14:4,5[3591]) There are a number of other fairly specific prophecies that were apparently conditional since we still are not able to place their fulfillment at any known time in history.

Zechariah is also well known for two prophecies that have almost universal application: Zechariah 3:1-5 and 4:6.

2. What is implied by the statement made about the conquerors of Israel, “I was only a little angry, but they added to the calamity?” {Zechariah 1:15; compare 2:8; Micah 4:11-13; compare Isaiah 47:6)[3592] How could God talk about Israel as He does in Zechariah 2:8[3593] considering how they were behaving at the time? What about us?

Zechariah 1:15:

Wrgiisqhn ojliiga, auftoi; de; sunepeqento eij" kakai. {LXX - Septuagint)

15 et ira magna ego irascor super gentes opulentas quia ego iratus sum parum ipsi vero adiuverunt in malum. {Latin Vulgate)

15 And with great wrath I am wroth against the nations who are at ease, For I was a little wroth, and they assisted—for evil. {YLT)

15 and I am wroth exceedingly with the nations that are at ease; for I was but a little wroth, and they helped forward the affliction. {DARBY)

15 And I am very sore displeased with the nations [heathen] that are at ease; for I was but a little displeased, and they helped forward the affliction. {KJV, ASV)

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15 For a while I was angry at the nations, but now I am furious, because they have made things worse for Jerusalem and are not the least bit concerned. (CEV)

15 And I am [very; extremely] exceedingly angry with the nations that are at ease; for while I was angry but a little, they furthered the disaster. (RSV, NRSV, ESV, NASB, NASB95)

15 but I am very angry with the nations that feel secure. I was only a little angry, but they added to the calamity.’’ (NIV)

15 and I’m very angry with the nations who think they are at ease. I was only a little angry, but they made things worse. (God’s Word)

15 I am very angry with the heathen nations sitting around at ease, for I was only a little displeased with my people, but the nations afflicted them far beyond my intentions. (The Living Bible)

15 and I am exceedingly angry with the complacent nations; whereas I was but a little angry, they added to the harm. (NAB)

15 And I am very angry with the nations that feel so safe. I was only a little angry at them, but they made things worse.’’ (NCV)

15 but I am deeply angry with the nations now at ease; before, I was only mildly angry, but they contributed to the disaster. (NJB)

15 I am exceedingly angry with the nations at ease; For I was a little angry, And they helped—but with evil intent. (NKJV)

15 But I am very angry with the other nations that enjoy peace and security. I was only a little angry with my people, but the nations punished them far beyond my intentions. (NLT)

15 and I am very angry with those nations that are at ease; for I was only angry a little, but they overdid the punishment. (Tanakh)

15 and I am very angry with the nations that enjoy quiet and peace. For while I was holding back my anger against my people, those nations made the sufferings of my people worse. (GNB)

15And I feel great wrath against the nations which rest securely with whom I felt but little wrath although they fostered evil. (Anchor)

This verse (be sure to look at the context) seems to suggest that God’s anger was to be expressed against His own people in some form of punishment. So He used these other nations to carry out at least a portion of that punishment, even calling them His servants (Jeremiah 43:10[3594]). But when the punishment was being administered these other nations went beyond God’s plan and carried out their own vengeful goals. Does this suggest that God is not really fully in control? Did Nebuchadnezzar think that he was doing Yahweh’s will went he went down to Jerusalem and conquered it three times? Or did he believe that he was being empowered by his own gods? If that is the case, what is the relationship between God’s anger and man’s ambitions?

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Zechariah 2:8[3595] is an interesting verse with considerable variation in translation: (Compare Deuteronomy 32:10; Psalms 17:8)[3596]

,Hk/tB| hmhibf da; brimi Ilk/fry bviTi t/zrP| rmiali zLh' r[lfhAla, rBiD An wl|ai rm,aYw

dioti ol alptoimeno" ulmwn W" alptoimeno" th" koirh" tou ofqalmou auftou, (LXX-Septuagint)

quia haec dicit Dominus exercituum post gloriam misit me ad gentes quae spoliaverunt vos qui enim tetigerit vos tangit pupillam oculi eius (Biblia Sacra Vulgata)

For he who is coming against you, Is coming against the daughter of His eye. (Young’s Literal)

For thus says the LORD of hosts: “He sent Me after glory, to the nations which plunder you; for he who touches you touches the apple of His eye.” (Geneva, KJV, Darby, ASV, NKJ, RSV)

“...for whoever touches you touches the apple of his eye-“ (Leeser, NIV, NAB, NEB)

“...he who touches you touches the apple or pupil of His eye.” (Amplified)

“...whoever touches my people touches the apple of my eye.” (Clear Word)

“...(for whoever touches you touches the apple of my eye):” (Jerusalem)

“...for he who harms you sticks his finger in Jehovah's eye!” (TLB)

“...Anyone who harms you, harms my most precious possession.” (The Living Translation)

“...Anyone who strikes you strikes what is most precious to me.” (GNB)

“...Whoever strikes you also strikes at my open eye.” (The Anchor Bible)

God clearly is trying to portray a very special relationship between Himself and “His people”. As we have seen, the time came when God had to allow them to go into captivity as a way of disciplining them, but their enemies didn’t see it that way at all. The enemies felt that they had conquered Jerusalem and Judah by their own might and power and they brought more trouble and heartache on the Jews than God apparently felt was necessary. (Zechariah 1:15[3597]) Judah’s enemies no doubt felt that their “gods” were more powerful than Judah’s since they had managed to conquer His people. Will God ever find it necessary to discipline His people-or those who think they are His people-in our day?

3. In the judgment scene depicted in Zechariah 3:1-5[3598], who are the main actors in this drama? Who is accusing? (compare Revelation 12:9,10[3599]) Who is defending? (1 John 2:1; Romans 8:26,27; Job 1:6; 2:1)[3600] What role is God the Father playing? (John 5:27[3601]) Who is the “angel of the Lord?” If you could be present as your case is presented in the courts of heaven, with the Father, Son and Holy Spirit present, your guardian angel present, and the devil and his angels present, and after all had been said and your case was put to a vote, could you honestly vote for yourself?

This is one of the clearest places in Scripture where the judgment scene is portrayed. Notice that it is Satan, “the Accuser of the Brethren,” who is accusing Joshua, and “the LORD” is

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defending him. The angels are observing and helping. For those who do not recognize the “great controversy” or even the existence of an actual being know as “Satan” this vision presents some problems.

There are many references in Scripture to the “judgment.” But there are very different ideas about when and where it takes place. It must take place before the “rewards” are given out and in most people’s eyes that means eternal life. If you believe that people go immediately to their eternal reward at the time of death, and that the “soul” is immortal, then the judgment, whatever that means must happen for each individual at or before the point of death. If, on the other hand, you believe that the “soul” or “person” is mortal, and that they sleep in the grave as suggested by Jesus (See John 11), then the judgment can take place any time before the final rewards are given out at the second or third coming of Christ.

Note some of the verses in Scripture that talk of the final judgment:

Deuteronomy 1:17 “Do not show partiality in judging; hear both small and great alike. Do not be afraid of any man, for judgment belongs to God. Bring me any case too hard for you, and

I will hear it.” (NIV)

Psalms 1:5 “Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.” (NIV)

Psalms 9:7 “The LORD reigns forever; he has established his throne for judgment.” (NIV)

Ecclesiastes 3:17 “I thought in my heart, <God will bring to judgment both the righteous and the wicked, for there will be a time for every activity, a time for every deed.’” (NIV)

Ecclesiastes 11:9 “Be happy, young man, while you are young, and let your heart give you joy in the days of your youth. Follow the ways of your heart and whatever your eyes see, but know that for all these things God will bring you to judgment.” (NIV)

Ecclesiastes 12:14 “For God will bring every deed into judgment, including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil.” (NIV)

Isaiah 66:16 “For with fire and with his sword the LORD will execute judgment upon all men, and many will be those slain by the LORD.” (NIV)

Jeremiah 25:31 “<“The tumult will resound to the ends of the earth, for the LORD will bring charges against the nations; he will bring judgment on all mankind and put the wicked to the sword,”’ declares the LORD.” (NIV)

Daniel 7:22 “until the Ancient of Days came and pronounced judgment in favor of the saints of the Most High, and the time came when they possessed the kingdom.” (NIV)

Matthew 10:15 “I tell you the truth, it will be more bearable for Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgment than for that town.” (NIV)

Matthew 11:22 “But I tell you, it will be more bearable for Tyre and Sidon on the day of judgment than for you.” (NIV)

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Matthew 11:24 “But I tell you that it will be more bearable for Sodom on the day of judgment than for you.” (NIV)

Matthew 12:36 “But I tell you that men will have to give account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken.” (NIV)

Matthew 12:41 “The men of Nineveh will stand up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and now one greater than Jonah is here.” (NIV)

Matthew 12:42 “The Queen of the South will rise at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for she came from the ends of the earth to listen to Solomon's wisdom, and now one greater than Solomon is here.” (NIV)

Luke 10:14 “But it will be more bearable for Tyre and Sidon at the judgment than for you.” (NIV)

Luke 11:31 “The Queen of the South will rise at the judgment with the men of this generation and condemn them; for she came from the ends of the earth to listen to Solomon's wisdom, and now one greater than Solomon is here.” (NIV)

Luke 11:32 “The men of Nineveh will stand up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and now one greater than Jonah is here.” (NIV)

John 5:22 “Moreover, the Father judges no one, but has entrusted all judgment to the Son, “ (NIV)

John 5:28-30: 28 “Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice 29 and come out—those who have done good will rise to live, and those who have done evil will rise to be condemned. 30 “By myself I can do nothing; I judge only as I hear, and my judgment is just, for I seek not to please myself but him who sent me.” (NIV)

John 8:15 “You judge by human standards; I pass judgment on no one.” (NIV)

John 8:26 “I have much to say in judgment of you. But he who sent me is reliable, and what I have heard from him I tell the world.” (NIV)

John 9:39 “Jesus said, “For judgment I have come into this world, so that the blind will see and those who see will become blind.” (NIV)

John 12:31 “Now is the time for judgment on this world; now the prince of this world will be driven out.” (NIV)

John 16:8 “When he comes, he will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment:” (NIV)

John 16:11 “and in regard to judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned.” (NIV)

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Acts 24:25 “As Paul discoursed on righteousness, self-control and the judgment to come, Felix was afraid and said, <That's enough for now! You may leave. When I find it convenient, I will send for you.’” (NIV)

Romans 2:2 “Now we know that God's judgment against those who do such things is based on truth.” (NIV)

Romans 2:3 “So when you, a mere man, pass judgment on them and yet do the same things, do you think you will escape God's judgment?” (NIV)

Romans 2:5 “But because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of God's wrath, when his righteous judgment will be revealed.” (NIV)

Romans 5:16 “Again, the gift of God is not like the result of the one man's sin: The judgment followed one sin and brought condemnation, but the gift followed many trespasses and brought justification.” (NIV)

Romans 14:10 “You, then, why do you judge your brother? Or why do you look down on your brother? For we will all stand before God's judgment seat.” (NIV)

1 Corinthians 11:29 “For anyone who eats and drinks without recognizing the body of the Lord eats and drinks judgment on himself.” (NIV)

1    Corinthians 11:31 “But if we judged ourselves, we would not come under judgment.” (NIV)

2    Corinthians 5:10 “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may

receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.” (NIV)

2 Thessalonians 1:5 “All this is evidence that God's judgment is right, and as a result you will be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you are suffering.” (NIV)

1 Timothy 3:6 “He must not be a recent convert, or he may become conceited and fall under the same judgment as the devil.” (NIV)

1 Timothy 5:12 “Thus they bring judgment on themselves, because they have broken their first pledge.” (NIV)

1 Timothy 5:24 “The sins of some men are obvious, reaching the place of judgment ahead of them; the sins of others trail behind them.” (NIV)

Hebrews 6:2 “Instruction about baptisms, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment.” (NIV)

Hebrews 9:27 “Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment,” (NIV)

Hebrews 10:27 “but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God.” (NIV)

James 2:13 “because judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment!” (NIV)

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1    Peter 4:17 “For it is time for judgment to begin with the family of God; and if it begins with us,

what will the outcome be for those who do not obey the gospel of God?” (NIV)

2    Peter 2:4 “For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but sent them to hell, putting them

into gloomy dungeons to be held for judgment;” (NIV)

2 Peter 2:9 “If this is so, then the Lord knows how to rescue godly men from trials and to hold the unrighteous for the day of judgment, while continuing their punishment.” (NIV)

2 Peter 3:7 “By the same word the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.” (NIV)

I John 4:17 “In this way, love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment, because in this world we are like him.” (NIV)

Jude 1:6 “And the angels who did not keep their positions of authority but abandoned their own home-these he has kept in darkness, bound with everlasting chains for judgment on the great Day.” (NIV)

Revelation 14:7 “He said in a loud voice, 'Fear God and give him glory, because the hour of his judgment has come. Worship him who made the heavens, the earth, the sea and the springs of water.’” (NIV)

From all of the above verses it should be clear that:

1)    All of us will be judged by God some day. (Eccl. 3:17; 11:9; 12:13,14; Isaiah 66:16; Jeremiah 25:31; John 5:28,29; Romans 14:10: 2 Corinthians 5:10)[3602]

2)    God’s judgment against the wicked is carried out with fire and sword. (Isaiah 66:16; Jeremiah 25:31; Hebrews 10:27)[3603]

3)    When the righteous are judged they will inherit the kingdom of God. (Daniel 7:22[3604])

4)    The dead will rise from their graves to be judged. (John 5:28-30; Hebrews 9:27)[3605]

5)    When the judgment is complete the devil (the prince of this world) will be condemned and driven out. (John 12:31; 16:11[3606])

6)    The judgment is spoken of as still future. (Eccl. 12:13,14; 2 Peter 2:4,9; 3:7; Jude 1:6[3607])

7)    Sodom, Tyre, Sidon, the men of Nineveh, and the Queen of the South had apparently not been judged yet in the days of Jesus. (Matt. 12:42; Luke 11:31[3608])

8)    Satan is the one who accuses us. (Zechariah 3:2; Revelation 12:10-12)[3609]

9)    The dead are in waiting to be judged. If this is true, they surely cannot be already in heaven or hell which would suggest that they have already been judged. (1 Peter 4:17; 2 Peter 2:4,9; 3:7; John 11:11-15)[3610] 2 Peter 2:9[3611] is an interesting passage. It could mean the wicked are being kept for the day of judgment for punishment, or kept in punishment while waiting for the day of judgment. How it is interpreted by different translators seems to be influenced by their personal views of hell!

10)    The angels who sinned are awaiting their judgment. (2 Peter 2:4[3612])

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It is especially important to note that it is not the One sometimes pictured as the harsh “Judge-Father” that is accusing!

4.    Why does God seem to conduct the business of His government in the open like this, apparently before the entire universe? Who are the only ones who do not seem to be aware of what is going on? Do we have similar scenes elsewhere in the Bible? {See Job 1 & 2; Revelation 12; Daniel 7:9,10)[3613] In order to accuse God as he did back in the beginning, Satan had to be a deceiver and a liar, but in order to accuse us does he have to be a deceiver? If we were to continually keep these matters in mind, would we live the sinful lives that we are currently living?

The primary purpose of the great controversy is to answer the questions and accusations that Satan has raised against God. And these answers must be given so decisively and convincingly that sin will never rise again. God did not just eliminate His opposition as He easily could have, nor does He try to solve the problem by exercising His sovereignty as an authoritarian dictator might in secret rooms and then demand that we accept His decision. God wants us to be convinced of the correctness of the answers. In order to accomplish this He must make all the evidence as public as possible. The whole universe is currently involved in reviewing all of this evidence, including God’s plans to bring some of us former rebels back into His kingdom! But as God reviews our cases the whole universe can actually see our behavior and evaluate God’s judgment of us. The whole book of Job is focused on the question of whether God is able to correctly judge human character. God said that Job was a “perfect and upright” man and that Job could be trusted not to let God down no matter what the Devil did to him. The Devil was sure that he could break Job down, and at times it seemed that he was succeeding. But in the end, God was able to say-to the amazement of Job’s friends-“Job has said of me what is right!” {See Job 42:7,8[3614])

But now look at our cases. The Bible makes it very clear that we are all sinners. {1 Kings 8:46; 2 Chronicles 6:36; Ecclesiastes 7:20; Romans 3:23)[3615] We shouldn’t have any trouble believing that! But if a criminal is in court and being tried for his life, should he slip out of the courtroom and continue publicly committing the crimes for which he is on trial!? Fortunately, God doesn’t judge us on our record! God does His judging based on our willingness to learn and change. He is looking for a “new heart and a right spirit.” {Psalms 51:10; Jeremiah 31:33,34; John 3:3-8)[3616] He recognizes that hereditary and cultivated tendencies to evil may make change very difficult for us, but He is able to judge by reading the true intents and secret thoughts of our minds whether or not we are rebels. If we are so bound to our sins that we cannot or are not willing to give them up then He must turn away from us in loving disappointment! What a sad thing to have happen!

5.    What makes a person savable? On what basis does God finally admit some to the kingdom and reject others? What is the ultimately crucial information about us that the universe {even our guardian angels) must see in order to feel it would be safe to live next door to us forever without keeping their golden doors locked all the time? If Jesus were to arise and say, “It’s true! This person is just exactly as Satan has described him, and he hasn’t really changed, but I have decided to forgive him,” would that be enough to satisfy the angels and our future neighbors? Or do the angels want to know that we have new hearts and right spirits? {compare Psalms 51:10; John 3:3-8)[3617]

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Ultimately, the only thing that really matters is whether we are safe to live next door to for eternity. For that to be true, we need to be willing to listen and learn and change. We need to be absolutely convinced that the only safe path is to do what is right because it is right. We need to understand that every form of sin and evil has deadly consequences because it puts us out of harmony with the loving universe that God has created. He refuses (aren’t you glad He does) to fill heaven full of unchanged cheats, liars, and murderers, etc. Furthermore, He refuses to operate jails or to have a huge police force to keep a constant eye on everyone! If you would like to live in a place that doesn’t need all those things, you must agree to be an eternally safe neighbor.

It should be obvious that just pardoning or forgiving a cheat, liar or murderer doesn’t make him safe to live next door to!

6.    In light of the fact that the Investigative (or Pre-Advent) Judgment is going on at the present time is there any reason that you can think of that really makes sense for committing sin? Is there any sin that makes things better or more pleasant for a person, even here on this earth?

This is a thought question! Shouldn’t we be absolutely convinced that the answer is a resounding no! So why do we keep on sinning?

7.    Why should we be worried about the heavenly records? When choosing a neighbor to live next door to for eternity, would it be more important to know the complete details of his past life, or that he had a “new heart and a right spirit” and was humbly willing to listen and learn? The only ones who are emphasizing the records are Satan and legalists! How could we be comfortable living forever with God and our guardian angels, realizing that they know everything that we have ever done? Even if we are going to be lost, do we have any reason to be afraid of God? How did Jesus treat Judas up to the very end? (John 13:1-30[3618]) Isn’t it easier in light of this to understand why Romans 1:29[3619] includes “gossips” with the worst of sinners-people who are unsavable? Would God ever make someone uncomfortable by discussing some of his former sins in public?

Only legalists are worried about the records in heaven. God assures us that if we work with Him and allow Him to give us “new hearts and right spirits” then He will ignore the record books. It is not that He doesn’t know, or that He forgets, or that Someone hides our sins by “covering them with His righteousness.” The truth is that when a child comes home, no matter what he has done, if the parent really loves that child, all he wants to know is that he is home to stay and that he has chosen to be a new person. Fortunately for those of us who want to live with Him forever, God is fully able to understand the secret motives and thoughts of the mind (heart) and He knows who is being completely honest in their statements and who is not.

Repeatedly the Bible suggests that God will treat our sins as if they had never happened:

Jeremiah 31:34: “I will forgive their sins and I will no longer remember their wrongs.” (GNB)

(See also Hebrews 10:17)

God would never embarrass one of His children by discussing their sins before the others! Their sins simply do not matter any more. The question is not what they did in the past, but what kind of lives they are living now and will live in the future.

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8.    Do we really need an intercessor? (John 16:25-27[3620]) Do we need an intercessor to plead with the Father for us? Do we need an intercessor to protect us from the accusations of the Adversary? Was there any type of intercessor between God and the disciples for those three and a half years? How did this whole system get started? (Exodus 20:18,19) Was it necessary for anyone to stand between God and His friend Moses on Mt. Sinai? Do you think God the Father is jealous when people, even small children act as if they are more comfortable with the Son? Or is He willing to wait?

Yes! We do need an Intercessor-Mediator-Intervener! But it is certainly not for the purpose of convincing the Father to accept us! Never! God loves us Himself. All Members of the Godhead are on our side. (See John 3:16, 16:25-27; Romans 8:14-17,26-39)[3621] Jesus lived with the disciples for those three and one-half years and they never needed someone to speak to Him on their behalf. (Even though James and John thought that maybe if they asked their mother to intercede for them it might give them some advantage in the kingdom they thought was coming! See Matthew 19:20-23; Mark 10:35-40)[3622] None of the great prophets of the Old Testament needed anyone to stand between them and their God.

God the Father is more than willing to wait while we grow up enough to understand the truth. He knows that those who are really determined to be on His side will come to understand that there is absolutely nothing to be afraid of, even if they were to be lost.

9.    Who is able to read the human heart? Can angels? Or only God?

Only God can understand and read the secrets of our minds and hearts. Nothing is hidden from Him. (See Romans 8:27; 1 Corinthians 4:5; Hebrews 4:13[3623]) We call this God’s omniscience.

10.    What is God trying to say to us in Zechariah 4:6-“‘Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,’ says the Lord Almighty?” How does the Spirit work? Could God win the great controversy with might and power? Does He finally win because He has more power than Satan? Doesn’t Satan admit God has more power? (James 2:19[3624]) If this was all that needed to be demonstrated, what has God been waiting for? Was God’s might and power able to keep the loyalty of God’s number one creature-Lucifer? How many were won by God’s show of might and power at the time of the flood? At Sodom and Gomorrah? At Sinai? What were His “friends” doing a few days after “the Sinai experience”? (Exodus 32[3625]) When Jesus was here on this earth did He demonstrate a lot of “might and power?” Jesus sometimes worked miracles and fed the crowds but as soon as He perceived that they were following Him for this reason, what did He do? (John 6:25-69[3626])

The work of the Holy Spirit is almost always done quietly behind the scenes. He has worked with humans since the creation of this earth to: 1) keep them alive by sustaining their very physiology; 2) influence them for God in the great controversy (this is called “wooing”); 3) convince them to do what is right and publically acknowledge their commitment to God; 4) give them special gifts to be used for ministry within and outside the church to attract others.

God is all-powerful or omnipotent as we say. If He could accomplish what He wants to accomplish by the use of power, it is a cruel trick He is playing on us not to do so. If that were the

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case then all the suffering and misery in this world could be directly attributed to God because He hasn’t stepped in to do what He is able to do!

It has been demonstrated repeatedly in Scripture that when God uses His power to get people’s attention, this is what happens: 1) Nobody is ever really convinced of the truth about God by these demonstrations of power; 2) The attention lasts only a very short period of time; 3) Usually during that time the humans that are involved are scared to death! This is not what God wants! If all God had to do was scare us into being good, He could do that almost instantly. But if He were to use this method, He would have to keep doing it repeatedly throughout eternity, and the history of events in the Bible have shown very clearly that the response is very short-lived.

So God chooses to work quietly behind the scenes, trying to convince as many of us as possible that we should “do what is right because it is right.” Then God doesn’t have to do anything to keep us in line! The main work of the Holy Spirit down through the ages has been the inspiring of some of our fellow humans to produce the Bible. The evidence is spread out before our eyes if we can read it and are willing to study it. Then the Holy Spirit works with our spirits to lead us in the direction that we should go.

So many groups have suggested that if they could just have a little more “power” or “miracle” or some “supernatural manifestation” they would be able to influence many more people. One TV evangelist claims that he has seen a number of resurrections from the dead. He further claims that when He is able to capture one of these on TV he will win the world! If God could really convince people that easily He would have done so long ago!

11.    What does Zechariah 6:15 imply about the nature of all these prophecies?

“...This will all happen if you fully obey the commands of the LORD your God.” (GNB)

“...But none of this will happen unless you carefully obey the commandments of the Lord your God. The Living Bible

Many of the prophecies in Zechariah may seem impossible of fulfillment now. What about Zechariah 8:11-13,23; 12:6,9[3627]? These prophecies must be among those that we consider conditional. If they had fulfilled their side of the bargain God would have done His.

12.    How could Jerusalem be called “the faithful city” RSV, GNB) or “the city of truth” (NIV) in Zechariah 8:3,8[3628]? When did (will) this happen?

These two verses seem to be a part of a prophecy that was conditional. The only other explanation that seems plausible is that this applies to the New Jerusalem that is yet to come. Zechariah 8:1-8[3629] describe the ideal condition that God (Yahweh) wishes He could have with these descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel. Once again the whole scene describes God’s plans if they will follow His will. We know however that they were on the brink of returning fully to the sins of their ancestors.

13.    Who are the people and what is the time period being referred to in Zechariah 8:4-”men and women of ripe old age...each with cane in hand because of his age” and “boys and girls playing in the streets?” If this refers to heaven as we often suggest, why are these people getting old? How can anyone get old in the New Jerusalem? Will some remain children forever? If this

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prophecy was not fulfilled in ancient times, does that mean it will never be fulfilled? Compare this to the statements in Isaiah 11:6-9; 35:1-10, and 65:17-25[3630]?

This verse needs to be contrasted with the terrible destruction described in Lamentations 2:21[3631]. The picture in Lamentations is that of complete destruction of the society. By contrast, God now promises the complete re-population of the society if they will obey Him. It was God’s intention to do all of this for them in ancient times, if they would just follow His guidance. Instead, they have continued to have strife and bloodshed in Jerusalem until today.

This is not a direct prediction of things to be in the New Jerusalem. Only in the sense that family units will be complete once again, and everybody will be happily engaged in their favorite activities is this prophecy fulfilled in the New Jerusalem. There will never be anyone getting old, or any others who fail to grow up. This is pictured in terms that were familiar and very pleasant to the Jewish mind. The elderly would not need to worry about war and premature death. It would be forever safe even for small children to play in the streets. This is what should have been the condition of things in the former Jerusalem if the people had followed God’s plan for them.

Wherever Yahweh is completely in charge and everyone lives in harmony there is perfect peace. This is the ultimate goal for God’s universe. The blessings of long life and many children were and are considered by many in the Near East to be the ultimate blessings. There will not be “retirement centers” and no dangerous vehicles on the roads. Everyone of whatever age will live comfortably and happily together. None would suffer the punishment of an early death for their “sins”.

Some believe that these verses predict of time in the future when Christ will reign on this earth known as the millennial age. Notice this interesting comment from The Believer’s Study Bible:

“Verses 4 through 8 clearly depict millennial blessings. This is a classic pivotal text regarding the whole question of the millennial era. There has never been a day when the Jews were regathered from the whole earth and restored in righteousness and truth. Either Zechariah was mistaken, an untenable proposition, or else these blessings are yet future and revolve around the reign of the Messiah in His earthly kingdom at the conclusion of the age.” (Believer’s Study Bible)

14.    At what time in history do you think the prophecy of Zechariah 8:20-23[3632] (compare Zech.14:16-20; Isaiah 2:1-4; Micah 4:1-3; Malachi 1:5)[3633] was fulfilled or will be fulfilled? What time period is being referred to in Zechariah 14:4[3634]?

See #11 above. Zechariah 8:20-23[3635] has clearly not taken place in any recorded history that we are aware of. Many people have suggested that this is a prophecy of future events and this may be correlated with Romans 11:25-27[3636]. Certainly it would be an ideal situation. Has our church had people come to any of us and say that they have heard that God is with us and blessing us? This would be particularly wonderful if it resulted from our speaking the truth about God! Is your church known for what is says about God?

Zechariah 14:4 is recognized by many as a prophecy that could perhaps have taken place in the past if the people of Jerusalem had proved faithful to the Lord, but it now will apply at least in part to the descent of the New Jerusalem at the third coming of Christ.

15.    Is Zechariah 9:9 clearly a Messianic prophecy?

This is the kind of prophecy all of the Jews were hoping to be a part of. They were delighted when Jesus agreed to ride on the donkey’s colt into the city of Jerusalem and many of them no doubt felt that the time of blessing for the Jews had finally come! Little did they realize that a few

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days later their “King” would be dead, hanging on a cross. Both (Matthew 21:4-7, and John 12:14,15)[3637] recognize this as a prophecy that was fulfilled in the triumphal entry of Jesus Christ.

16.    What is implied about the responsibility of leadership in Zechariah 10:2-5[3638]?

There is a clear contrast between the useless and dangerous leadership of the heathen rulers and God’s leadership. Under God’s guidance the Jews were to be victorious in every battle.

17.    Why are most of these messianic prophecies so mixed up with other equally impressive prophecies which apparently were never fulfilled? Do you think you could have written a paper back in Zechariah’s day and clearly picked out the prophecies that would refer to the Messiah to come? Why did the Jews seem to fail to put most of these verses together before they actually were fulfilled? How does this fit with John’s statements in John 13:19; 14:29[3639]?

It is not God’s purpose in giving us prophecy to make it possible for us to write the newspaper in advance! The purpose of prophecy is stated quite clearly in John 13:19 and 14:29[3640]. It is so that when the prophecies come to pass we will recognize that God was not caught by surprise! The purpose of the prophecies in other words is to build trust in God’s ability to foresee the future and thus to care for us no matter what may come. To the people who were carefully studying their Bibles with an open mind like Simeon and Anna (see Luke 2:25-38[3641]) the prophecies were fulfilled in a recognizable way. To the many others in the temple on the day when Jesus was dedicated He was just another child.

There are many prophecies in the Old Testament that have never apparently been fulfilled. Many of these were no doubt conditional prophecies and the conditions were not met. There are others that may have been fulfilled in ancient times in a way and under conditions that we do not recognize today. There are some prophecies given even in the Old Testament that seem clearly in our day to apply to events that are still future. (See Zechariah 14:4,5[3642])

One of the things that we should learn from taking this approach to Scripture is that we will never have a complete answer for ever question that could be raised. But we have more than enough evidence for the trustworthiness of God and so we can be comfortable even with some questions still hanging without clear answers.

© Copyright 1996-2006, Kenneth Hart info@theox.org

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55. MALACHI - A TEACHER’S GUIDE

THE CENTRAL QUESTION:

What does this book/story say to us about God?

This question may be broken down further as follows:

a.    Why did God do it/allow it?

b.    Why did He record it for our study?

1. Are you encouraged or discouraged after reading the book of Malachi? How much difference do you see in these people of Malachi’s time and the people four hundred years later in the time of Christ? Does Malachi add anything important to your understanding of God?

The name Malachi (Mal’aki) means “my messenger.” However, the name may be a contraction of the Mal’akiyah meaning “messenger of Yahweh.” This name is not found anywhere else in the Old Testament, so some feel that it is a title and not a name.

“Malachi has been called the Socrates of the prophets because he uses that style specialists in rhetoric call dialectic, “investigation through discussion and reasoning.” The dialectic form used in the prophecy became a popular teaching style in later Judaism. The prophecy is a testimony to the graciousness of God in condescending to answer man’s foolish and childish statements.” (King James Version Study Bible)

“The Book of Malachi is about the error of forgetting the love of God. When people forget God’s love, it affects their attitudes, home, and worship. With God’s love and loyalty in doubt, sacred commitments no longer remain sacred. God sent Malachi to rouse the people from their spiritual stupor and to exhort them to return to the living God. But the Book of Malachi reveals a people who question the reality of their sin and the faithfulness of God, a people hardened through and through. Thus the book ends on a poignant note, a confrontation between a disappointed God and a disappointed people. In a sense, the Book of Malachi shows that the Old Testament comes to a chasm, with the bickering voices of the people on one side and the stern warnings of God on the other. Only the Lord Himself could provide a way out of this impasse. Malachi looks forward to this deliverance, for he speaks of the one who would prepare the way for the Messiah. The promised Messiah was the only One who could bridge that widening chasm between the people and their God.” (Nelson Study Bible)

“Historical Setting. Malachi is later than Haggai and Zechariah. In those books the rebuilding of the temple is the central concern. We know from Mal 1:7 and 3:10[3643] that not only had the temple been finished in Malachi’s day, but it had been in use for some time, and sin was corrupting the worship that took place in it. Further, the Book of Malachi must have been written after Nehemiah’s first arrival in Jerusalem in the thirty-second year of Artaxerxes Longimanus, in 444 B.C., probably after the walls had been rebuilt around the city, for Malachi addresses the same sins noted in Nehemiah: the divorcing of Jewish wives and marrying heathen women (cf. Mal 2:11 with Neh. 13:23-31[3644]) and the failure of the people to bring their gifts to the temple (cf. Mal 3:8-10 with Neh. 13:10-14[3645]). Nehemiah was recalled to the Persian court in 433 B.C., and another governor, who seems to have been a Persian governor, was placed over Palestine (cf. Neh. 13:6[3646]). Most likely, Malachi was written just before Nehemiah’s second return to Jerusalem or during his presence there. Malachi ministered in support of Nehemiah’s ministry, just as Haggai and Zechariah had ministered in support of Joshua and Zerubbabel nearly a hundred years earlier. The prophecy was probably written sometime between 433 and 425 B.C.” (King James Version Study Bible)

It is not possible to date the book of Malachi precisely because no dates or date-identifiable events are mentioned. However, it is quite clear that the captivity in Babylon is not a major consideration in the people’s minds. The Temple has been restored and its worship had been going on for some time. The problems that Malachi faced are very similar to those that Nehemiah faced

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later in his ministry. (Some time after 432 BC) For this reason, the book is usually dated around 425 BC, soon after Nehemiah’s time. It is possible that Malachi even worked during Nehemiah’s time, possibly between Nehemiah’s first 12 years in Jerusalem and his later term of office there or during his second term of office.

It was very clear by Malachi’s time that the people were not fulfilling God’s purpose for them after the captivity. Priests even despised the temple services. (See Malachi 1:6,13[3647]) God was weary of their unfaithfulness and found their worship of Him almost entirely unacceptable. (See Malachi 1:10,13; 2:13,17[3648]) Since they had obviously not fulfilled their side of their agreement with God why didn’t He just forget about them at this point?

Eight times in this book God addresses the people and their leaders and points specifically to their transgressions. (See Malachi 1:2,6,7; 2:13,14,17; 3:7,8,13,14[3649]) The theme of the book ends up being a series of questions asked by God to remind them of their past and present wrongdoing coupled with progressively more vehement denials of any mistake on their part.

Malachi 1:2: God: 2 The Lord says to his people, “I have always loved you.”

People: But they reply, “How have you shown your love for us?”

The Lord answers, “Esau and Jacob were brothers, but I have loved Jacob and his descendants, and have hated Esau and his descendants. I have devastated Esau’s hill country and abandoned the land to jackals.”

4    If Esau’s descendants, the Edomites, say, “Our towns have been destroyed, but we will rebuild them,” then the Lord will reply, “Let them rebuild—I will tear them down again. People will call them ‘The evil country’ and ‘The nation with whom the Lord is angry for ever.’ ”

5    The people of Israel are going to see this with their own eyes, and they will say, “The Lord is mighty even outside the land of Israel!” (GNB)

Malachi 1:6: God: “A son honors his father, and a servant his master. If I am a father, where is the honor due me? If I am a master, where is the respect due me?” says the LORD Almighty. “It is you,

0    priests, who show contempt for my name.”

People: “But you ask, <How have we shown contempt for your name?” (RSV)

Malachi 1:7-8: God: “By offering polluted food upon my altar.

People: “And you say, -How have we polluted it?’ By thinking that the LORD’s table may be despised. 8 When you offer blind animals in sacrifice, is that no evil?

And when you offer those that are lame or sick, is that no evil? Present that to your governor; will he be pleased with you or show you favor? Says the LORD of hosts.”

(RSV)

Malachi 1:10-13: God: 10 “Oh, that there were one among you who would shut the doors, that you might not kindle fire upon my altar in vain! I have no pleasure in you, says the LORD of hosts, and

1    will not accept an offering from your hand. 11 For from the rising of the sun to its setting my name is great among the nations, and in every place incense is offered to my name, and a pure offering; for my name is great among the nations, says the LORD of hosts. 12 But you profane it when you say that the LORD’s table is polluted, and the food for it may be despised.

People: 13 -What a weariness this is,’ you say, and you sniff at me, says the LORD of hosts. You bring what has been taken by violence or is lame or sick, and this you bring as your offering! Shall I accept that from your hand? Says the LORD. 14 Cursed be the cheat who has a male in his flock, and vows it, and yet sacrifices to the Lord what is blemished; for I am a great King, says the LORD of hosts, and my name is feared among the nations.”

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Malachi 2:13-14: God: 13 “And this again you do. You cover the LORD’s altar with tears, with weeping and groaning because he no longer regards the offering or accepts it with favor at your hand.

People: 14 You ask, “Why does he not?” Because the LORD was witness to the covenant between you and the wife of your youth, to whom you have been faithless, though she is your companion and your wife by covenant.”

Malachi 2:17: God: You have wearied the LORD with your words.

People: Yet you say, “How have we wearied him?” By saying, “Every one who does evil is good in the sight of the LORD, and he delights in them.” Or by asking, “Where is the God of justice?”

Malachi 3:6-7: God: 6 “For I the LORD do not change; therefore you, O sons of Jacob, are not consumed. 7 From the days of your fathers you have turned aside from my statutes and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you, says the LORD of hosts.

People: But you say, <How shall we return?’” (RSV)

Malachi 3:8-9: God: 8 “Will man rob God? Yet you are robbing me.

People: But you say, <How are we robbing thee?’ In your tithes and offerings. 9 You are cursed with a curse, for you are robbing me; the whole nation of you.” (RSV)

Malachi 3:13-14: God: 13 “Your words have been stout against me, says the LORD.

People: Yet you say, <How have we spoken against thee?’ 14 You have said, <It is vain to serve God. What is the good of our keeping his charge or of walking as in mourning before the LORD of hosts? (RSV)

The message of Malachi is somewhat similar to the Laodicean message (Revelation 3:14-22[3650]) and thus is most appropriate for the church today. The people seem to think that they are fulfilling all the requirements of the law, even at some considerable effort on their part and God is not blessing them the way He should be!

“The history of the Jewish people is a story of a recurring pattern of captivity, exodus, and restoration into which Malachi also falls. There are two captivities in the Old Testament story, and two accounts of an exodus of the Jewish people from captivity. The first captivity and the great Exodus is Israel’s experience with Egypt at the beginning of Israel’s history; the second is Israel’s experience with Babylon.

“In the account of the first Exodus, Moses and Aaron occupy themselves to a significant degree with the issue of the proper worship of the living God, which was centered in the tabernacle. A significant portion of the Book of Exodus, the whole of Leviticus, and parts of Numbers and Deuteronomy provide guidance for worship at the tabernacle. The point of the Exodus was the creation of the people of God as a worshiping community (see Ex. 5:1[3651]).

“Similarly, two of the books of the second exodus, the return of God’s people from Babylon, concern themselves with the proper worship of God. These two books, Haggai and Malachi, focus on worship centered on the rebuilt temple. Haggai exhorted the people to rebuild the temple in Jerusalem in 520 B.C. Thus this book parallels the Book of Exodus in which God gave instructions for the construction of the tabernacle. Similarly, Malachi parallels the Book of Leviticus in that both are concerned with how the people and the priests should act in the temple. Yet there are significant differences. Leviticus emphasizes what the people should do, what offerings they should bring, and what calendar they should keep in their worship of God. Malachi’s emphasis is on the attitude of those who bring their worship to God. In Leviticus one reads about how to worship God; in Malachi the focus is on the heart of those who worship.” (Nelson Study Bible)

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“Malachi spoke to a disillusioned, discouraged, and doubting people whose experience did not harmonize with their understanding of the glorious promises found in the earlier prophets. Their vision of the coming messianic age did not materialize. Instead they experienced poverty, drought, and economic adversity, and they became disillusioned with God and their faith.

Malachi’s word confronts a people skeptical of the promises and therefore indifferent in their commitment to live in the light of those promises and to worship and serve the Lord with all their hearts.” (New Geneva Study Bible)

“After Malachi the prophetic voice was silent for some 400 (so-called silent) years. This fact makes it necessary for even the most destructive critic to admit that the hundreds of prophecies concerning the coming of our Lord are what they claim to be—prophecy—and not the deceitful writing of history in prophetical form.” (KJVBible Commentary)

2. How could a God of love say, “I have loved Jacob but I have hated Esau?” (See Malachi 1:2,3[3652])

Sometimes people read this verse and think immediately of the prophecy that was made before the birth of these twins. But that prophecy said:

Genesis 25:23: The LORD said to her, “Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples from within you will be separated; one people will be stronger than the other, and the older will serve the younger.” (NIV)

Malachi 1:2,3 is derived from many comments about the descendants of Esau (The Edomites): (Genesis 36:1-9; Isaiah 34:5-17; 63:1-6; Jeremiah 49:7-22; Ezekiel 25:12-14; 35:1-15; Amos 1:11,12; Obadiah 1-14)[3653], etc.

Isaiah 34:5: “My sword. . . descends in judgment on Edom, the people I have totally destroyed.” (RSV)

Jeremiah 49:17,18: 17 “The LORD said, <The destruction that will come on Edom will be so terrible that everyone who passes by will be shocked and terrified. 18 The same thing will happen to Edom that happened to Sodom and Gomorrah, when they and the nearby towns were destroyed. No one will ever live there again. I, The LORD, have spoken.” (GNB)

Ezekiel 25:12-14 12 “This is what the Sovereign LORD says: <Because Edom took revenge on the house of Judah and became very guilty by doing so, 13 therefore this is what the Sovereign LORD says: I will stretch out my hand against Edom and kill its men and their animals. I will lay it waste, and from Teman to Dedan they will fall by the sword. 14 I will take vengeance on Edom by the hand of my people Israel, and they will deal with Edom in accordance with my anger and my wrath; they will know my vengeance, declares the Sovereign LORD.’” (RSV)

Ezekiel 35:3-9: 3 “and say: <This is what the Sovereign LORD says: I am against you, Mount Seir, and I will stretch out my hand against you and make you a desolate waste. 4 I will turn your towns into ruins and you will be desolate. Then you will know that I am the LORD. 5 “<Because you harbored an ancient hostility and delivered the Israelites over to the sword at the time of their calamity, the time their punishment reached its climax, 6 therefore as surely as I live, declares the Sovereign LORD, I will give you over to bloodshed and it will pursue you. Since you did not hate bloodshed, bloodshed will pursue you. 7 I will make Mount Seir a desolate waste and cut off from it all who come and go. 8 I will fill your mountains with the slain; those killed by the sword will fall on your hills and in your valleys and in all your ravines. 9 I will make you desolate forever; your towns will not be inhabited. Then you will know that I am the LORD.” (RSV)

The descendants of Esau did whatever they could to bring trouble on the descendants of Jacob. Finally their time came to reap the results of their behavior and they disappeared as a people from the earth. God’s “anger” was upon them for what they did. He left them to reap their reward.

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When God says he hates Esau, we must consider the rest of Scripture to understand what He is saying. In Exodus 20:12 we are told to honor and respect our parents. But we also read in the New Testament:

Matthew 10:37: “Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.” (NIV)

Luke 14:26: “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters-yes, even his own life—he cannot be my disciple.” (NIV)

These passages should make it clear that what God means when He says “hate” is “love less.”

3.    Do you see the people in Malachi’s time (about 425 B.C.) acting like God’s friends or do you find them complaining about everything that God says or wants to do? (Malachi 1:6) When God suggests that they get back together how do they respond? (Malachi 3:7)

There is essentially nothing in the dialogues we see above that sounds friendly. Why were they persisting in this attitude? They never complained about their other “gods” in this way! They even felt in Jeremiah’s time that the “queen of heaven” treated them better than the “God of heaven”! (See Jeremiah 44:15-30) They don’t even seem to recognize a need to come back to God.

4.    Why does God say, “cursed be the cheat?” (Malachi 1:14) Can even a physician here on this earth heal a “cheating patient” who refuses to do anything the doctor tells him to do? Does God have to actively curse the “cheat” or is his curse the natural effect of his behavior?

God is here stating a universal truth. Cheats only destroy themselves by their behavior. They may temporarily “get away with” their cheating but sooner or later the results will show. God does not have to place a curse on the one who is cheating, he simple reaps the results of his cheating.

A patient who refuses to cooperate with a good physician simply doesn’t receive the needed help. The doctor may agonize with the patient, but it is the patient who ultimately suffers if the doctor really knows what he is doing.

On a deeper level, God is going through this terrible controversy and war here on planet earth in order to show us how important it is to learn to trust Him. It is only by really trusting Him, based on the more than adequate evidence that is available to us that we come to know Him as He is and develop real faith. If we are cheating, we are destroying within ourselves even the capacity to trust. This makes all of God’s efforts on our behalf a waste!

5.    How does God feel about divorce? (Malachi 2:16[3654]) If this is how God really feels about divorce why did He give the divorce laws? (Deuteronomy 24:1-4; compare Matthew 5:31,32; 19:1-12; Mark 10:11,12; Luke 16:18)[3655]

True Christian marriage is one of the ways in which God intends for us to learn about Him. (Genesis 1:27,28; 2:21-25; 5:1,2[3656]) Apparently, God divided His characteristics up between the sexes and intended that we learn from each other how to be more like Him. Thus two human beings actually become “whole” through marriage.

For example, men tend to have more of the characteristics of strength, determination, setting of high standards, and when necessary an aggressive approach to problems. Women tend to be more caring, loving, and accepting of others. All of these characteristics belong to God. We human beings tend to grow naturally bent toward certain characteristics that are more comfortable for us. In this situation, under ideal circumstances, God steps in and provides a spouse for us who balances our weakness with his/her strengths. Thus, when they act and behave as a unit, the couple tends to be more balanced than either one alone would be.

In light of this ideal, God weeps when we are torn apart by divorce. Nobody wins when the trauma of a divorce takes place. It may be necessary as Jesus said because of extenuating circumstances, but everyone gets hurt. God hates to see His children get hurt. Unfortunately,

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divorce often takes place because of the selfish demands of one or both partners. When this is the case, God watches as the marriage union which is supposed to teach us about Him, actually enhances our selfishness.

6.    How could God say “I am the LORD, and I do not change” when He has said repeatedly things like, “I will wipe out these people I have created, and also the animals and the birds, because I am sorry that I made any of them.” (Genesis 6:7, GNB)?

See 1 Samuel Teacher’s Guide #17.

7.    What is the meaning and purpose of “tithe” and why would God say that those who don’t “pay up” are cheating Him? (Malachi 3:8-12[3657])

The English word “tithe” is derived from the old English word teothe or teogotha which mean one tenth. The word is used to translate the Hebrew word maaser which means one-tenth. It usually is used to refer to the tenth portion of one’s income whether from crops or salary or any other source that is returned to God as an acknowledgment that all we have and are belong to Him. Abraham paid a “tenth” to the King/Priest Mechizedek after God helped him rescue Lot and his associates. (See Genesis 14:20[3658]) Jacob promised to return one-tenth of his income if God would continue to bless him. (See Genesis 28:22[3659])

Later, God instructed Moses and the children of Israel to set aside the tenth (tithe) as support for the tabernacle/temple and the descendants of Levi. (See Leviticus 27:30-33[3660]) Many religious organizations still suggest that a tenth should be set aside as support for the clergy.

In Malachi, God goes beyond just asking us to set aside the tithe. He doesn’t even just command us to do it. God in this passage actually suggest that we enter into a partnership with Him. He challenges us to test Him out. Shouldn’t anyone who is thinking clearly want God as a partner?

Some people feel that they don’t need to pay tithe or even make offerings to the church because, as they see it, some person or group in the church is not using the money correctly. This argument falls flat on its face in the light of the story told about Jesus in (Mark 12:41-44 and Luke 21:1-4)[3661]. In the corrupt system of those days, all the money that was collected went to some of the richest people around. It was used to buy permission to continue as “high priest” year by year. These people were so wealthy that they gave “bags” of gold at offering time. They had no use for the poor widow’s small copper coins. But Jesus commends the women for her self-sacrificing gift, not because of what was going to be done with the money but because of the loving and generous heart that gave it. We need to give to the church as if we are giving to God. If there are problems in the church that need correcting, then we should become involved in helping to solve the churches problems, but not by withholding our money. That just separates us from God and the church.

8.    Whom do you think is being referred to in Malachi 3:16[3662]? What scroll is this? Is this referring to a part of God’s records in heaven or is this scroll here on this earth?

We do not have extensive references in Scripture to such records, but (Ex. 32:32; Ps. 56:8; 69:28; Daniel 7:10; Ecclesiastes 12:13,14; Revelation 20:12)[3663] and other similar references suggest that a complete record is being kept by God as a reminder of the consequences of sin. This record apparently contains the intimate details of each of our lives. God is not in any way threatening us with this record, He just wants us to realize that it will all be public information some time in the future and is already public information to all the universe looking on. It is not His intention to embarrass His children. He would love to have a record that would show that He could be proud of every one of us, but that is not likely. God must however, allow the record of sin to play itself out in full detail so that no will want to repeat this terrible sin experiment ever again.

On the other hand, for those who “fear the LORD” and are faithful to Him, He is delighted to brag about them. (See Job 1 and 2) Sometimes this results in their lives being made worse!

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9.    What does it mean to be one of God’s “jewels” or His “peculiar people?” (Malachi 3:17[3664]) Does this mean that we are to be “strange?”

God’s peculiar people are those who are “especially set apart” for Him. This is not to suggest that they are “peculiar” or “strange” in any bad way at all. It just means that they are His special possessions. That is why He refers to them as His “jewels!”

10.    How will it be possible to “see the distinction between the righteous and the wicked, between those who serve God and those who do not?” (Malachi 3:18[3665]) The verse suggests that this has been possible some time in the past. If you were asked to set up the criteria to distinguish between the two groups in our day, what would you suggest?

Those who are righteous are God’s friends according to John 15:15[3666]. When we all come to the day of final judgment, everything will be open before the eyes of the universe. (See Hebrews 4:12,13[3667]) At that time every knee will bow (Isaiah 45:23; Romans 14:10-12; Philippians 2:10.11)[3668] and recognize God’s fairness. There will be no question about whether God has made a mistake in His judgments. God’s judgment is based on a simple criteria: will this person make a safe person to admit to the kingdom and to live next door to for eternity? The entire universe will be given the opportunity to evaluate on the basis of the evidence that will be plain to all, whether or not each person has been judged correctly. But the system is foolproof. Even at the second coming, those who are God’s friends will look upon and rejoice at His coming (Isaiah 25:9) while the wicked will call for the rocks and hills to fall on them. (See Revelation 6:16,17) So each person will in effect pronounce his own judgment.

11.    What does Malachi 4:1,3[3669] suggest is the final end of sin and sinners? Do these verses suggest an ever-burning hell? Does the expression “they will be ashes under the soles of your feet” suggest a conscious suffering? (Compare Exodus 15:7; Isaiah 5:24; 40:24; 41:2; 47:14; 66:24; Joel 2:5; Obadiah 1:18; Nahum 1:10; 2 Peter 2:6)[3670]

For a complete reference set on The Final End of Sin and Sinners see the handout by the same name. It should be clear from the references noted above that the wicked will be as if they had never been. There is no support in Scripture for a never ending burning called “hell.” The idea of “hell” derives from the perpetual burning of the city dump outside Jerusalem. That dump came to be known as gehenna a contraction for “the valley of the sons of Hinnom.” (See 2 Chronicles 33:6[3671]) There is a long and colorful history behind this valley going all the way back to the descendants of Lot who escaped the fires of Sodom! To a Jew, the worst thing that could happen to one was to be so despised or without family or friends so that at your death your body would be thrown out onto the rubbish heap in the valley of gehenna. It thus came to symbolize the total eradication of relationships and utter abandonment of the final destruction of sinners.

12.    Is there to be an “Elijah message” (Malachi 4:5,6[3672]) for our day? If so, what is the message and who is to bear it?

It seems clear from the prophecy itself that it was intended for the time just before “the great and terrible day of the LORD.” In Jesus’ day he suggested that John the Baptist was a forerunner of His and a type of the “Elijah” who was to come. (Matthew 11:14[3673]) But we do not regard the first coming of Christ as being the “great and terrible day of the LORD!” Was Jesus mistaken in identifying John as a type of Elijah to come? Not at all! Just as Isaiah’s son Maher-shalal-hashbaz was a type of the Christ child (See Isaiah 7:14-9:6[3674]) John is the type of a person or group of people who are to warn the world of the return of Jesus.

Those who are telling the world the truth about God and His character and thus really preparing people for the second coming of Christ are known by the generic term “adventist.” Revelation 19:10[3675] can be read to suggest that just such a group will arise who are “inspired like the prophets” to give the final message to the world. (See Revelation 19:10[3676], NEB)

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13.    Knowing what you know of the Old Testament (which the people of Malachi’s day had available) do you think you would be able to get the picture of God that Jesus came up with?

This is primarily a thought question. The picture we often think of when we think of Jesus is a picture largely determined by such passages as Matthew 5-7[3677], the Sermon on the Mount. The ideals seem so high, and the logic of the arguments so clear and so different from what we read in the Old Testament. There are very few “sermons” in the Old Testament. No one seemed to feel it was necessary to explain the meaning of Scripture. Perhaps this was because those who went to the schools of the day spent almost all of their time studying Scripture and they were quite certain that they fully understood it and needed no help in making it clear. They even went to great lengths adding additional explanations on each of God’s requirements. These came to be known as the Mishnah.

But if you look carefully at the Old Testament it becomes clear that much of what Jesus said had already been said in the Old Testament! Some of Jesus’ most profound statements had actually been spoken by Moses! (See Deuteronomy 6:5 and Leviticus 19:18)[3678] Did Jesus get these insights from his parents or from his own study? He didn’t attend the schools of the Pharisees! (John 7:15[3679])

14.    Would it be easier for God to save the “wicked” people of the Old Testament who secretly went off to the pagan fertility cult ceremonies and got drunk and naked with the pagan temple prostitutes or the spiritually proud Pharisees who had memorized Scripture but didn’t want to accept the idea that they might be misinterpreting it, or the Laodiceans of our day who are described as feeling “rich and increased with goods (spiritually), and have need of nothing?” (See Revelation 3:17,18[3680])

In the days of Josiah (2 Kings 22:3-20; 2 Chronicles 34:8-28)[3681], and Ezra (Nehemiah 8[3682]) as well as at other times, there was a great revival and reformation among the people of Jerusalem and Judah when the Bible was “rediscovered” and read to them. There were other times of course when they felt that they were better off worshiping the “queen of heaven” than Jehovah.

15.    What do the people’s repeated questions imply about their relationship with God? (See Malachi 1:2,6,7; 2:17; 3:7,8,13[3683])

Doesn’t it seem clear that whatever God said to them, they disagreed? Is that a good relationship? These people were wearily “working” their way to the kingdom as they understood it. But it seems quite clear that their “religion” had little effect on their daily lives. Could that situation every be true for people in our day? Could it be true for us? What part of our religion is most important to God? 1) the profession that we make during the church service? Or, 2) the religion that is actually manifest in our daily lives in our associations with others?

© Copyright 1996-2001, Kenneth Hart info@theox.org

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1-Ps. 90:2 Before you created the hills or brought the world into being, you were eternally God, and will be God forever.

2-Jn 1:1 In the beginning the Word already existed; the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 From the very beginning the Word was with God. 3 Through him God made all things; not one thing in all creation was made without him.

3-Jn 17:24 "Father! You have given them to me, and I want them to be with me where I am, so that they may see my glory, the glory you gave me; for you loved me before the world was made.

4-Heb1:8 About the Son, however, God said: "Your kingdom, O God, will last forever and ever! You rule over your people with justice. 9 You love what is right and hate what is wrong. That is why God, your God, has chosen you and has given you the joy of an honor far greater than he gave to your companions." 10 He also said, "You, Lord, in the beginning created the earth, and with your own hands you made the heavens.

5-1 Pet 1:20 He had been chosen by God before the creation of the world and was revealed in these last days for your sake.

6-Eph 1:4 Even before the world was made, God had already chosen us to be his through our union with Christ, so that we would be holy and without fault before him. Because of his love 5 God had already decided that through Jesus Christ he would make us his children - this was his pleasure and purpose.

7-Col. 1:15 Christ is the visible likeness of the invisible God. He is the first-born Son, superior to all created things. 16 For through him God created everything in heaven and on earth, the seen and the unseen things, including spiritual powers, lords, rulers, and authorities. God created the whole universe through him and for him. 17 Christ existed before all things, and in union with him all things have their proper place.

8-Psalms 91:15 Christ is the visible likeness of the invisible God. He is the first-born Son, superior to all created things. 16 For through him God created everything in heaven and on earth, the seen and the unseen things, including spiritual powers, lords, rulers, and authorities. God created the whole universe through him and for him. 17 Christ existed before all things, and in union with him all things have their proper place.

9-Hebrews 1:4 The Son was made greater than the angels, just as the name that God gave him is greater than theirs. 5 For God never said to any of his angels, "You are my Son; today I have become your Father." Nor did God say about any angel, "I will be his Father, and he will be my Son." 6 But when God was about to send his first-born Son into the world, he said, "All of God's angels must worship him." 7 But about the angels God said, "God makes his angels winds, and his servants flames of fire." 8 About the Son, however, God said: "Your kingdom, O God, will last forever and ever! You rule over your people with justice. 9 You love what is right and hate what is wrong. That is why God, your God, has chosen you and has given you the joy of an honor far greater than he gave to your companions." 10 He also said, "You, Lord, in the beginning created the earth, and with your own hands you made the heavens. 11 They will disappear, but you will remain; they will all wear out like clothes. 12 You will fold them up like a coat, and they will be changed like clothes. But you are always the same, and your life never ends." 13 God never said to any of his angels: "Sit here at my right side until I put your enemies as a footstool under your feet." 14 What are the angels, then? They are spirits who serve God and are sent by him to help those who are to receive salvation.

Hebrews 2:1 That is why we must hold on all the more firmly to the truths we have heard, so that we will not be carried away. 2 The message given to our ancestors by the angels was shown to be true, and those who did not follow it or obey it received the punishment they deserved.

10-Exodus 23:23 My angel will go ahead of you and take you into the land of the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Canaanites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, and I will destroy them.

11-1 Chronicles 21:16 David saw the angel standing in midair, holding his sword in his hand, ready to destroy Jerusalem. Then David and the leaders of the people - all of whom were wearing sackcloth - bowed low, with their faces touching the ground.

12-2 Samuel 24:16 When the Lord's angel was about to destroy Jerusalem, the Lord changed his mind about punishing the people and said to the angel who was killing them, "Stop! That's enough!" The angel was by the threshing place of Araunah, a Jebusite. 17 David saw the angel who was killing the people, and said to the Lord, "I am the guilty one. I am the one who did wrong. What have these poor people done? You should punish me and my family."

13-Ezekiel 28:13 You lived in Eden, the garden of God, and wore gems of every kind: rubies and diamonds; topaz, beryl, carnelian, and jasper; sapphires, emeralds, and garnets. You had ornaments of gold. They were made for you on the day you were created.

14-Revelation 12:7 Then war broke out in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, who fought back with his angels; 8 but the dragon was defeated, and he and his angels were not allowed to stay in heaven any longer. 9 The huge dragon was thrown out - that ancient serpent, named the Devil, or Satan, that deceived the whole world. He was thrown down to earth, and all his angels with him. 10 Then I heard a loud voice in heaven saying, "Now God's salvation has come! Now God has shown his power as King! Now his Messiah has shown his authority! For the one who stood before our God and accused believers day and night has been thrown out of heaven. 11 They won the victory over him by the blood of the Lamb and by the truth which they proclaimed; and they were willing to give up their lives and die. 12 And so be glad, you heavens, and all you that live there! But how terrible for the earth and the sea! For the Devil has come down to you, and he is filled with rage, because he knows that he has only a little time left."

15-Genesis 3:1 Now the snake was the most cunning animal that the Lord God had made. The snake asked the woman, "Did God really tell you not to eat fruit from any tree in the garden?" 2 "We may eat the fruit of any tree in the garden," the woman answered, 3 "except the tree in the middle of it. God told us not to eat the fruit of that tree or even touch it; if we do, we will die." 4 The snake replied, "That's not true; you will not die.

16-Job 1:6 When the day came for the heavenly beings to appear before the Lord, Satan was there among them.

17-Job 2:1 When the day came for the heavenly beings to appear before the Lord again, Satan was there among them.

18-Job 38:4 Were you there when I made the world? If you know so much, tell me about it. 5 Who decided how large it would be? Who stretched the measuring line over it? Do you know all the answers? 6 What holds up the pillars that support the earth? Who laid the cornerstone of the world? 7 In the dawn of that day the stars sang together, and the heavenly beings shouted for joy.

19-Daniel 9:21 While I was praying, Gabriel, whom I had seen in the earlier vision, came flying down to where I was. It was the time for the evening sacrifice to be offered.

20-Acts 12:7 Suddenly an angel of the Lord stood there, and a light shone in the cell. The angel shook Peter by the shoulder, woke him up, and said, "Hurry! Get up!" At once the chains fell off Peter's hands.

21-Hebrews 13:2 Remember to welcome strangers in your homes. There were some who did that and welcomed angels without knowing it.

22-Revelation 22:16 "I, Jesus, have sent my angel to announce these things to you in the churches. I am descended from the family of David; I am the bright morning star."

23-2 Peter 1:19 So we are even more confident of the message proclaimed by the prophets. You will do well to pay attention to it, because it is like a lamp shining in a dark place until the Day dawns and the light of the morning star shines in your hearts.

24-1 Corinthians 4:9 For it seems to me that God has given the very last place to us apostles, like people condemned to die in public as a spectacle for the whole world of angels and of human beings.

25-Ephesians 1:9 God did what he had purposed, and made known to us the secret plan he had already decided to complete by means of Christ. 10 This plan, which God will complete when the time is right, is to bring all creation together, everything in heaven and on earth, with Christ as head.

Ephesians 3:9 and of making all people see how God's secret plan is to be put into effect. God, who is the Creator of all things, kept his secret hidden through all the past ages, 10 in order that at the present time, by means of the church, the angelic rulers and powers in the heavenly world might learn of his wisdom in all its different forms.

26-Colossians 1:19 For it was by God's own decision that the Son has in himself the full nature of God. 20 Through the Son, then, God decided to bring the whole universe back to himself. God made peace through his Son's blood on the cross and so brought back to himself all things, both on earth and in heaven.

27-Isaiah 14:12 King of Babylon, bright morning star, you have fallen from heaven! In the past you conquered nations, but now you have been thrown to the ground. 13 You were determined to climb up to heaven and to place your throne above the highest stars. You thought you would sit like a king on that mountain in the north where the gods assemble. 14 You said you would climb to the tops of the clouds and be like the Almighty.

28-Ezekiel 28:11 The Lord spoke to me again. 12 "Mortal man," he said, "grieve for the fate that is waiting for the king of Tyre. Tell him what I, the Sovereign Lord, am saying: You were once an example of perfection. How wise and handsome you were! 13 You lived in Eden, the garden of God, and wore gems of every kind: rubies and diamonds; topaz, beryl, carnelian, and jasper; sapphires, emeralds, and garnets. You had ornaments of gold. They were made for you on the day you were created. 14 I put a terrifying angel there to guard you. You lived on my holy mountain and walked among sparkling gems. 15 Your conduct was perfect from the day you were created until you began to do evil.

29-Matthew 4:8 Then the Devil took Jesus to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in all their greatness. 9 "All this I will give you," the Devil said, "if you kneel down and worship me."

30-Genesis 2:17 except the tree that gives knowledge of what is good and what is bad. You must not eat the fruit of that tree; if you do, you will die the same day."

31-Romans 6:23 For sin pays its wage - death; but God's free gift is eternal life in union with Christ Jesus our Lord.

32-Genesis 3:woman, "Did God really tell you not to eat fruit from any tree in the garden?" 2 "We may eat the fruit of any tree in the garden," the woman answered, 3 "except the tree in the middle of it. God told us not to eat the fruit of that tree or even touch it; if we do, we will die." 4 The snake replied, "That's not true; you will not die. 5 God said that because he knows that when you eat it, you will be like God and know what is good and what is bad."

33-Job 1:6 When the day came for the heavenly beings to appear before the Lord, Satan was there among them. 7 The Lord asked him, "What have you been doing?" Satan answered, "I have been walking here and there, roaming around the earth." 8 "Did you notice my servant Job?" the Lord asked. "There is no one on earth as faithful and good as he is. He worships me and is careful not to do anything evil." 9 Satan replied, "Would Job worship you if he got nothing out of it? 10 You have always protected him and his family and everything he owns. You bless everything he does, and you have given him enough cattle to fill the whole country. 11 But now suppose you take away everything he has - he will curse you to your face!" 12 "All right," the Lord said to Satan, "everything he has is in your power, but you must not hurt Job himself." So Satan left.

34-Job 2:1 When the day came for the heavenly beings to appear before the Lord again, Satan was there among them. 2 The Lord asked him, "Where have you been?" Satan answered, "I have been walking here and there, roaming around the earth." 3 "Did you notice my servant Job?" the Lord asked. "There is no one on earth as faithful and good as he is. He worships me and is careful not to do anything evil. You persuaded me to let you attack him for no reason at all, but Job is still as faithful as ever." 4 Satan replied, "A person will give up everything in order to stay alive. 5 But now suppose you hurt his body - he will curse you to your face!" 6 So the Lord said to Satan, "All right, he is in your power, but you are not to kill him."

35-Revelation 12:1 Then a great and mysterious sight appeared in the sky. There was a woman, whose dress was the sun and who had the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head. 2 She was soon to give birth, and the pains and suffering of childbirth made her cry out. 3 Another mysterious sight appeared in the sky. There was a huge red dragon with seven heads and ten horns and a crown on each of his heads. 4 With his tail he dragged a third of the stars out of the sky and threw them down to the earth. He stood in front of the woman, in order to eat her child as soon as it was born. 5 Then she gave birth to a son, who will rule over all nations with an iron rod. But the child was snatched away and taken to God and his throne. 6 The woman fled to the desert, to a place God had prepared for her, where she will be taken care of for 1,260 days. 7 Then war broke out in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, who fought back with his angels; 8 but the dragon was defeated, and he and his angels were not allowed to stay in heaven any longer. 9 The huge dragon was thrown out - that ancient serpent, named the Devil, or Satan, that deceived the whole world. He was thrown down to earth, and all his angels with him. 10 Then I heard a loud voice in heaven saying, "Now God's salvation has come! Now God has shown his power as King! Now his Messiah has shown his authority! For the one who stood before our God and accused believers day and night has been thrown out of heaven. 11 They won the victory over him by the blood of the Lamb and by the truth which they proclaimed; and they were willing to give up their lives and die. 12 And so be glad, you heavens, and all you that live there! But how terrible for the earth and the sea! For the Devil has come down to you, and he is filled with rage, because he knows that he has only a little time left."

36-Ezekiel 28:12 "Mortal man," he said, "grieve for the fate that is waiting for the king of Tyre. Tell him what I, the Sovereign Lord, am saying: You were once an example of perfection. How wise and handsome you were! 13 You lived in Eden, the garden of God, and wore gems of every kind: rubies and diamonds; topaz, beryl, carnelian, and jasper; sapphires, emeralds, and garnets. You had ornaments of gold. They were made for you on the day you were created. 14 I put a terrifying angel there to guard you. You lived on my holy mountain and walked among sparkling gems. 15 Your conduct was perfect from the day you were created until you began to do evil. 16 You were busy buying and selling, and this led you to violence and sin. So I forced you to leave my holy mountain, and the angel who guarded you drove you away from the sparkling gems.

37-Luke 10:18 Jesus answered them, "I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.

38-John 8:18 Jesus answered them, "I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.

39-John 12:31 Now is the time for this world to be judged; now the ruler of this world will be overthrown.

40-Col. 2:15 And on that cross Christ freed himself from the power of the spiritual rulers and authorities; he made a public spectacle of them by leading them as captives in his victory procession.

41-Revelation 12:7 Then war broke out in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, who fought back with his angels; 8 but the dragon was defeated, and he and his angels were not allowed to stay in heaven any longer. 9 The huge dragon was thrown out - that ancient serpent, named the Devil, or Satan, that deceived the whole world. He was thrown down to earth, and all his angels with him. 10 Then I heard a loud voice in heaven saying, "Now God's salvation has come! Now God has shown his power as King! Now his Messiah has shown his authority! For the one who stood before our God and accused believers day and night has been thrown out of heaven.

42-Genesis 3:1 Now the snake was the most cunning animal that the Lord God had made. The snake asked the woman, "Did God really tell you not to eat fruit from any tree in the garden?" 2 "We may eat the fruit of any tree in the garden," the woman answered, 3 "except the tree in the middle of it. God told us not to eat the fruit of that tree or even touch it; if we do, we will die." 4 The snake replied, "That's not true; you will not die.

43-Ezekiel 28:12 "Mortal man," he said, "grieve for the fate that is waiting for the king of Tyre. Tell him what I, the Sovereign Lord, am saying: You were once an example of perfection. How wise and handsome you were! 13 You lived in Eden, the garden of God, and wore gems of every kind: rubies and diamonds; topaz, beryl, carnelian, and jasper; sapphires, emeralds, and garnets. You had ornaments of gold. They were made for you on the day you were created. 14 I put a terrifying angel there to guard you. You lived on my holy mountain and walked among sparkling gems. 15 Your conduct was perfect from the day you were created until you began to do evil. 16 You were busy buying and selling, and this led you to violence and sin. So I forced you to leave my holy mountain, and the angel who guarded you drove you away from the sparkling gems.

44-Job 1:1 There was a man named Job, living in the land of Uz, who worshiped God and was faithful to him. He was a good man, careful not to do anything evil. 2 He had seven sons and three daughters, 3 and owned seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, one thousand head of cattle, and five hundred donkeys. He also had a large number of servants and was the richest man in the East. 4 Job's sons used to take turns giving a feast, to which all the others would come, and they always invited their three sisters to join them. 5 The morning after each feast, Job would get up early and offer sacrifices for each of his children in order to purify them. He always did this because he thought that one of them might have sinned by insulting God unintentionally. 6 When the day came for the heavenly beings to appear before the Lord, Satan was there among them. 7 The Lord asked him, "What have you been doing?" Satan answered, "I have been walking here and there, roaming around the earth." 8 "Did you notice my servant Job?" the Lord asked. "There is no one on earth as faithful and good as he is. He worships me and is careful not to do anything evil." 9 Satan replied, "Would Job worship you if he got nothing out of it? 10 You have always protected him and his family and everything he owns. You bless everything he does, and you have given him enough cattle to fill the whole country. 11 But now suppose you take away everything he has - he will curse you to your face!" 12 "All right," the Lord said to Satan, "everything he has is in your power, but you must not hurt Job himself." So Satan left. 13 One day when Job's children were having a feast at the home of their oldest brother, 14 a messenger came running to Job. "We were plowing the fields with the oxen," he said, "and the donkeys were in a nearby pasture. 15 Suddenly the Sabeans attacked and stole them all. They killed every one of your servants except me. I am the only one who escaped to tell you." 16 Before he had finished speaking, another servant came and said, "Lightning struck the sheep and the shepherds and killed them all. I am the only one who escaped to tell you." 17 Before he had finished speaking, another servant came and said, "Three bands of Chaldean raiders attacked us, took away the camels, and killed all your servants except me. I am the only one who escaped to tell you." 18 Before he had finished speaking, another servant came and said, "Your children were having a feast at the home of your oldest son, 19 when a storm swept in from the desert. It blew the house down and killed them all. I am the only one who escaped to tell you." 20 Then Job got up and tore his clothes in grief. He shaved his head and threw himself face downward on the ground. 21 He said, "I was born with nothing, and I will die with nothing. The Lord gave, and now he has taken away. May his name be praised!" 22 In spite of everything that had happened, Job did not sin by blaming God.

Job 2:1 When the day came for the heavenly beings to appear before the Lord again, Satan was there among them. 2 The Lord asked him, "Where have you been?" Satan answered, "I have been walking here and there, roaming around the earth." 3 "Did you notice my servant Job?" the Lord asked. "There is no one on earth as faithful and good as he is. He worships me and is careful not to do anything evil. You persuaded me to let you attack him for no reason at all, but Job is still as faithful as ever." 4 Satan replied, "A person will give up everything in order to stay alive. 5 But now suppose you hurt his body - he will curse you to your face!" 6 So the Lord said to Satan, "All right, he is in your power, but you are not to kill him." 7 Then Satan left the Lord's presence and made sores break out all over Job's body. 8 Job went and sat by the garbage dump and took a piece of broken pottery to scrape his sores. 9 His wife said to him, "You are still as faithful as ever, aren't you? Why don't you curse God and die?" 10 Job answered, "You are talking nonsense! When God sends us something good, we welcome it. How can we complain when he sends us trouble?" Even in all this suffering Job said nothing against God. 11 Three of Job's friends were Eliphaz, from the city of Teman, Bildad, from the land of Shuah, and Zophar, from the land of Naamah. When they heard how much Job had been suffering, they decided to go and comfort him. 12 While they were still a long way off they saw Job, but did not recognize him. When they did, they began to weep and wail, tearing their clothes in grief and throwing dust into the air and on their heads. 13 Then they sat there on the ground with him for seven days and nights without saying a word, because they saw how much he was suffering.

45-Matthew 4:8 Then the Devil took Jesus to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in all their greatness. 9 "All this I will give you," the Devil said, "if you kneel down and worship me."

46-1 Kings 22:1 There was peace between Israel and Syria for the next two years, 2 but in the third year King Jehoshaphat of Judah went to see King Ahab of Israel. 3 Ahab asked his officials, "Why is it that we have not done anything to get back Ramoth in Gilead from the king of Syria? It belongs to us!" 4 And Ahab asked Jehoshaphat, "Will you go with me to attack Ramoth?" "I am ready when you are," Jehoshaphat answered, "and so are my soldiers and my cavalry. 5 But first let's consult the Lord." 6 So Ahab called in the prophets, about four hundred of them, and asked them, "Should I go and attack Ramoth, or not?" "Attack it," they answered. "The Lord will give you victory." 7 But Jehoshaphat asked, "Isn't there another prophet through whom we can consult the Lord?" 8 Ahab answered, "There is one more, Micaiah son of Imlah. But I hate him because he never prophesies anything good for me; it's always something bad." "You shouldn't say that!" Jehoshaphat replied. 9 Then Ahab called in a court official and told him to go and get Micaiah at once. 10 The two kings, dressed in their royal robes, were sitting on their thrones at the threshing place just outside the gate of Samaria, and all the prophets were prophesying in front of them. 11 One of them, Zedekiah son of Chenaanah, made iron horns and said to Ahab, "This is what the Lord says: "With these you will fight the Syrians and totally defeat them.' " 12 All the other prophets said the same thing. "March against Ramoth and you will win," they said. "The Lord will give you victory." 13 Meanwhile, the official who had gone to get Micaiah said to him, "All the other prophets have prophesied success for the king, and you had better do the same." 14 But Micaiah answered, "By the living Lord I promise that I will say what he tells me to!" 15 When he appeared before King Ahab, the king asked him, "Micaiah, should King Jehoshaphat and I go and attack Ramoth, or not?" "Attack!" Micaiah answered. "Of course you'll win. The Lord will give you victory." 16 But Ahab replied, "When you speak to me in the name of the Lord, tell the truth! How many times do I have to tell you that?" 17 Micaiah answered, "I can see the army of Israel scattered over the hills like sheep without a shepherd. And the Lord said, "These men have no leader; let them go home in peace.' " 18 Ahab said to Jehoshaphat, "Didn't I tell you that he never prophesies anything good for me? It's always something bad!" 19 Micaiah went on: "Now listen to what the Lord says! I saw the Lord sitting on his throne in heaven, with all his angels standing beside him. 20 The Lord asked, "Who will deceive Ahab so that he will go and be killed at Ramoth?' Some of the angels said one thing, and others said something else, 21 until a spirit stepped forward, approached the Lord, and said, "I will deceive him.' 22 "How?' the Lord asked. The spirit replied, "I will go and make all of Ahab's prophets tell lies.' The Lord said, "Go and deceive him. You will succeed.' " 23 And Micaiah concluded: "This is what has happened. The Lord has made these prophets of yours lie to you. But he himself has decreed that you will meet with disaster!" 24 Then the prophet Zedekiah went up to Micaiah, slapped his face, and asked, "Since when did the Lord's spirit leave me and speak to you?" 25 "You will find out when you go into some back room to hide," Micaiah replied. 26 Then King Ahab ordered one of his officers, "Arrest Micaiah and take him to Amon, the governor of the city, and to Prince Joash. 27 Tell them to throw him in prison and to put him on bread and water until I return safely." 28 "If you return safely," Micaiah exclaimed, "then the Lord has not spoken through me!" And he added, "Listen, everyone, to what I have said!" 29 Then King Ahab of Israel and King Jehoshaphat of Judah went to attack the city of Ramoth in Gilead. 30 Ahab said to Jehoshaphat, "As we go into battle, I will disguise myself, but you wear your royal garments." So the king of Israel went into battle in disguise. 31 The king of Syria had ordered his thirty-two chariot commanders to attack no one else except the king of Israel. 32 So when they saw King Jehoshaphat, they all thought that he was the king of Israel, and they turned to attack him. But when he cried out, 33 they realized that he was not the king of Israel, and they stopped their attack. 34 By chance, however, a Syrian soldier shot an arrow which struck King Ahab between the joints of his armor. "I'm wounded!" he cried out to his chariot driver. "Turn around and pull out of the battle!" 35 While the battle raged on, King Ahab remained propped up in his chariot, facing the Syrians. The blood from his wound ran down and covered the bottom of the chariot, and at evening he died. 36 Near sunset the order went out through the Israelite ranks: "Each of you go back to your own country and city!" 37 So died King Ahab. His body was taken to Samaria and buried. 38 His chariot was cleaned up at the pool of Samaria, where dogs licked up his blood and prostitutes washed themselves, as the Lord had said would happen. 39 Everything else that King Ahab did, including an account of his palace decorated with ivory and of all the cities he built, is recorded in [The History of the Kings of Israel.] 40 At his death his son Ahaziah succeeded him as king. 41 In the fourth year of the reign of King Ahab of Israel, Jehoshaphat son of Asa became king of Judah 42 at the age of thirty-five, and he ruled in Jerusalem for twenty-five years. His mother was Azubah, the daughter of Shilhi. 43 Like his father Asa before him, he did what was right in the sight of the Lord; but the places of worship were not destroyed, and the people continued to offer sacrifices and burn incense there. 44 Jehoshaphat made peace with the king of Israel. 45 Everything else that Jehoshaphat did, all his bravery and his battles, are recorded in [The History of the Kings of Judah.] 46 He got rid of all the male and female prostitutes serving at the pagan altars who were still left from the days of his father Asa. 47 The land of Edom had no king; it was ruled by a deputy appointed by the king of Judah. 48 King Jehoshaphat had ocean-going ships built to sail to the land of Ophir for gold; but they were wrecked at Eziongeber and never sailed. 49 Then King Ahaziah of Israel offered to let his men sail with Jehoshaphat's men, but Jehoshaphat refused the offer. 50 Jehoshaphat died and was buried in the royal tombs in David's City, and his son Jehoram succeeded him as king. 51 In the seventeenth year of the reign of King Jehoshaphat of Judah, Ahaziah son of Ahab became king of Israel, and he ruled in Samaria for two years. 52 He sinned against the Lord, following the wicked example of his father Ahab, his mother Jezebel, and King Jeroboam, who had led Israel into sin. 53 He worshiped and served Baal, and like his father before him, he aroused the anger of the Lord, the God of Israel.

47-2 Chronicles 18:1 When King Jehoshaphat of Judah became rich and famous, he arranged a marriage between a member of his family and the family of King Ahab of Israel. 2 A number of years later Jehoshaphat went to the city of Samaria to visit Ahab. To honor Jehoshaphat and those with him, Ahab had a large number of sheep and cattle slaughtered for a feast. He tried to persuade Jehoshaphat to join him in attacking the city of Ramoth in Gilead. 3 He asked, "Will you go with me to attack Ramoth?" Jehoshaphat replied, "I am ready when you are, and so is my army. We will join you." 4 Then he added, "But first let's consult the Lord." 5 So Ahab called in the prophets, about four hundred of them, and asked them, "Should I go and attack Ramoth, or not?" "Attack it," they answered. "God will give you victory." 6 But Jehoshaphat asked, "Isn't there another prophet through whom we can consult the Lord?" 7 Ahab answered, "There is one more, Micaiah son of Imlah. But I hate him because he never prophesies anything good for me; it's always something bad." "You shouldn't say that!" Jehoshaphat replied. 8 So King Ahab called in a court official and told him to go and get Micaiah at once. 9 The two kings, dressed in their royal robes, were sitting on their thrones at the threshing place just outside the gate of Samaria, and all the prophets were prophesying in front of them. 10 One of them, Zedekiah son of Chenaanah, made iron horns and said to Ahab, "This is what the Lord says, "With these you will fight the Syrians and totally defeat them.' " 11 All the other prophets said the same thing. "March against Ramoth and you will win," they said. "The Lord will give you victory." 12 Meanwhile, the official who had gone to get Micaiah said to him, "All the other prophets have prophesied success for the king, and you had better do the same." 13 But Micaiah answered, "By the living Lord I will say what my God tells me to!" 14 When he appeared before King Ahab, the king asked him, "Micaiah, should King Jehoshaphat and I go and attack Ramoth, or not?" "Attack!" Micaiah answered. "Of course you'll win. The Lord will give you victory." 15 But Ahab replied, "When you speak to me in the name of the Lord, tell the truth! How many times do I have to tell you that?" 16 Micaiah answered, "I can see the army of Israel scattered over the hills like sheep without a shepherd. And the Lord said, "These men have no leader; let them go home in peace.' " 17 Ahab said to Jehoshaphat, "I told you that he never prophesies anything good for me; it's always something bad!" 18 Micaiah went on: "Now listen to what the Lord says! I saw the Lord sitting on his throne in heaven, with all his angels standing beside him. 19 The Lord asked, "Who will deceive Ahab so that he will go and get killed at Ramoth?' Some of the angels said one thing, and others said something else, 20 until a spirit stepped forward, approached the Lord, and said, "I will deceive him.' "How?' the Lord asked. 21 The spirit replied, "I will go and make all of Ahab's prophets tell lies.' The Lord said, "Go and deceive him. You will succeed.' " 22 And Micaiah concluded: "This is what has happened. The Lord has made these prophets of yours lie to you. But he himself has decreed that you will meet with disaster!" 23 Then the prophet Zedekiah went up to Micaiah, slapped his face, and asked, "Since when did the Lord's spirit leave me and speak to you?" 24 "You will find out when you go into some back room to hide," Micaiah replied. 25 Then King Ahab ordered one of his officers, "Arrest Micaiah and take him to Amon, the governor of the city, and to Prince Joash. 26 Tell them to throw him in prison and to put him on bread and water until I return safely." 27 "If you return safely," Micaiah exclaimed, "then the Lord has not spoken through me!" And he added, "Listen, everyone, to what I have said!" 28 Then King Ahab of Israel and King Jehoshaphat of Judah went to attack the city of Ramoth in Gilead. 29 Ahab said to Jehoshaphat, "As we go into battle, I will disguise myself, but you wear your royal garments." So the king of Israel went into battle in disguise. 30 The king of Syria had ordered his chariot commanders to attack no one else except the king of Israel. 31 So when they saw King Jehoshaphat, they all thought that he was the king of Israel, and they turned to attack him. But Jehoshaphat gave a shout, and the Lord God rescued him and turned the attack away from him. 32 The chariot commanders saw that he was not the king of Israel, so they stopped pursuing him. 33 By chance, however, a Syrian soldier shot an arrow which struck King Ahab between the joints of his armor. "I'm wounded!" he cried out to his chariot driver. "Turn around and pull out of the battle!" 34 While the battle raged on, King Ahab remained propped up in his chariot, facing the Syrians. At sunset he died.

48-John 12:31 Now is the time for this world to be judged; now the ruler of this world will be overthrown.

49-John 14:30 I cannot talk with you much longer, because the ruler of this world is coming. He has no power over me,

50-John 16:11 and they are wrong about judgment, because the ruler of this world has already been judged.

51-2 Cor.4:4 They do not believe, because their minds have been kept in the dark by the evil god of this world. He keeps them from seeing the light shining on them, the light that comes from the Good News about the glory of Christ, who is the exact likeness of God.

52-Eph. 2:1 In the past you were spiritually dead because of your disobedience and sins. 2 At that time you followed the world's evil way; you obeyed the ruler of the spiritual powers in space, the spirit who now controls the people who disobey God.

53-Eph. 6:16 At all times carry faith as a shield; for with it you will be able to put out all the burning arrows shot by the Evil One.

54-1 John 5:19 We know that we belong to God even though the whole world is under the rule of the Evil One.

55-Zechariah 3:1 In another vision the Lord showed me the High Priest Joshua standing before the angel of the Lord. And there beside Joshua stood Satan, ready to bring an accusation against him. 2 The angel of the Lord said to Satan, "May the Lord condemn you, Satan! May the Lord, who loves Jerusalem, condemn you. This man is like a stick snatched from the fire." 3 Joshua was standing there, wearing filthy clothes. 4 The angel said to his heavenly attendants, "Take away the filthy clothes this man is wearing." Then he said to Joshua, "I have taken away your sin and will give you new clothes to wear." 5 He commanded the attendants to put a clean turban on Joshua's head. They did so, and then they put the new clothes on him while the angel of the Lord stood there.

56-Jude 9 Not even the chief angel Michael did this. In his quarrel with the Devil, when they argued about who would have the body of Moses, Michael did not dare condemn the Devil with insulting words, but said, "The Lord rebuke you!"

57-Genesis 2:17 except the tree that gives knowledge of what is good and what is bad. You must not eat the fruit of that tree; if you do, you will die the same day."

58-Genesis 3:15 I will make you and the woman hate each other; her offspring and yours will always be enemies. Her offspring will crush your head, and you will bite her offspring's heel."

59-Romans 3:1 Do the Jews then have any advantage over the Gentiles? Or is there any value in being circumcised? 2 Much, indeed, in every way! In the first place, God trusted his message to the Jews. 3 But what if some of them were not faithful? Does this mean that God will not be faithful? 4 Certainly not! God must be true, even though all human beings are liars. As the scripture says, "You must be shown to be right when you speak; you must win your case when you are being tried."

60-Romans 3:25 God offered him, so that by his blood he should become the means by which people's sins are forgiven through their faith in him. God did this in order to demonstrate that he is righteous. In the past he was patient and overlooked people's sins; but in the present time he deals with their sins, in order to demonstrate his righteousness. In this way God shows that he himself is righteous and that he puts right everyone who believes in Jesus. 27 What, then, can we boast about? Nothing! And what is the reason for this? Is it that we obey the Law? No, but that we believe.

61-1 Corinthians 4:9 For it seems to me that God has given the very last place to us apostles, like people condemned to die in public as a spectacle for the whole world of angels and of human beings.

62-Ephesians 1:7 For by the blood of Christ we are set free, that is, our sins are forgiven. How great is the grace of God, 8 which he gave to us in such large measure! In all his wisdom and insight 9 God did what he had purposed, and made known to us the secret plan he had already decided to complete by means of Christ. 10 This plan, which God will complete when the time is right, is to bring all creation together, everything in heaven and on earth, with Christ as head.

63-Eph. 3:9 and of making all people see how God's secret plan is to be put into effect. God, who is the Creator of all things, kept his secret hidden through all the past ages, 10 in order that at the present time, by means of the church, the angelic rulers and powers in the heavenly world might learn of his wisdom in all its different forms.

64-Colossians 1:19 For it was by God's own decision that the Son has in himself the full nature of God. 20 Through the Son, then, God decided to bring the whole universe back to himself. God made peace through his Son's blood on the cross and so brought back to himself all things, both on earth and in heaven.

65-Romans 8:3 What the Law could not do, because human nature was weak, God did. He condemned sin in human nature by sending his own Son, who came with a nature like our sinful nature, to do away with sin.

66-Romans 3:4 Certainly not! God must be true, even though all human beings are liars. As the scripture says, "You must be shown to be right when you speak; you must win your case when you are being tried."

67-Ephesians 1:7 For by the blood of Christ we are set free, that is, our sins are forgiven. How great is the grace of God, 8 which he gave to us in such large measure! In all his wisdom and insight 9 God did what he had purposed, and made known to us the secret plan he had already decided to complete by means of Christ. 10 This plan, which God will complete when the time is right, is to bring all creation together, everything in heaven and on earth, with Christ as head.

68-Eph. 3:7 I was made a servant of the gospel by God's special gift, which he gave me through the working of his power. 8 I am less than the least of all God's people; yet God gave me this privilege of taking to the Gentiles the Good News about the infinite riches of Christ, 9 and of making all people see how God's secret plan is to be put into effect. God, who is the Creator of all things, kept his secret hidden through all the past ages, 10 in order that at the present time, by means of the church, the angelic rulers and powers in the heavenly world might learn of his wisdom in all its different forms.

69-Colossians 1:19 For it was by God's own decision that the Son has in himself the full nature of God. 20 Through the Son, then, God decided to bring the whole universe back to himself. God made peace through his Son's blood on the cross and so brought back to himself all things, both on earth and in heaven.

70-John 12:32 When I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw everyone to me.

71-Ezekiel 20:1 It was the tenth day of the fifth month of the seventh year of our exile. Some of the leaders of the Israelite community came to consult me about the Lord's will, and they sat down in front of me. 2 Then the Lord spoke to me. 3 "Mortal man," he said, "speak to these leaders and tell them that the Sovereign Lord is saying: You have come to ask my will, have you? As surely as I am the living God, I will not let you ask me anything. I, the Sovereign Lord, have spoken. 4 "Are you ready to pass sentence on them, mortal man? Then do so. Remind them of the disgusting things their ancestors did. 5 Tell them what I am saying. When I chose Israel, I made them a promise. I revealed myself to them in Egypt and told them: I am the Lord your God. 6 It was then that I promised to take them out of Egypt and lead them to a land I had chosen for them, a rich and fertile land, the finest land of all. 7 I told them to throw away the disgusting idols they loved and not to make themselves unclean with the false gods of Egypt, because I am the Lord their God. 8 But they defied me and refused to listen. They did not throw away their disgusting idols or give up the Egyptian gods. I was ready to let them feel the full force of my anger there in Egypt. 9 But I did not, since that would have brought dishonor to my name, for in the presence of the people among whom they were living I had announced to Israel that I was going to lead them out of Egypt. 10 "And so I led them out of Egypt into the desert. 11 I gave them my commands and taught them my laws, which bring life to anyone who obeys them. 12 I made the keeping of the Sabbath a sign of the agreement between us, to remind them that I, the Lord, make them holy. 13 But even in the desert they defied me. They broke my laws and rejected my commands, which bring life to anyone who obeys them. They completely profaned the Sabbath. I was ready to let them feel the force of my anger there in the desert and to destroy them. 14 But I did not, since that would have brought dishonor to my name among the nations which had seen me lead Israel out of Egypt. 15 So I made a vow in the desert that I would not take them to the land I had given them, a rich and fertile land, the finest land of all. 16 I made the vow because they had rejected my commands, broken my laws, and profaned the Sabbath - they preferred to worship their idols. 17 "But then I took pity on them. I decided not to kill them there in the desert. 18 Instead, I warned the young people among them: Do not keep the laws your ancestors made; do not follow their customs or defile yourselves with their idols. 19 I am the Lord your God. Obey my laws and my commands. 20 Make the Sabbath a holy day, so that it will be a sign of the covenant we made, and will remind you that I am the Lord your God. 21 "But that generation also defied me. They broke my laws and did not keep my commands, which bring life to anyone who obeys them. They profaned the Sabbath. I was ready to let them feel the force of my anger there in the desert and to kill them all. 22 But I did not, since that would have brought dishonor to my name among the nations which had seen me bring Israel out of Egypt. 23 So I made another vow in the desert. I vowed that I would scatter them all over the world. 24 I did this because they had rejected my commands, broken my laws, profaned the Sabbath, and worshiped the same idols their ancestors had served. 25 "Then I gave them laws that are not good and commands that do not bring life. 26 I let them defile themselves with their own offerings, and I let them sacrifice their first-born sons. This was to punish them and show them that I am the Lord. 27 "Now then, mortal man, tell the Israelites what I, the Sovereign Lord, am saying to them. This is another way their ancestors insulted me by their unfaithfulness. 28 I brought them to the land I had promised to give them. When they saw the high hills and green trees, they offered sacrifices at all of them. They made me angry by the sacrifices they burned and by the wine they brought as offerings. 29 I asked them: What are these high places where you go? So they have been called "High Places' ever since. 30 Now tell the Israelites what I am saying: Why must you commit the same sins your ancestors did and go running after their idols? 31 Even today you offer the same gifts and defile yourselves with the same idols by sacrificing your children to them in the fire. And then you Israelites still come to ask what my will is! As surely as I, the Sovereign Lord, am the living God, I will not let you ask me anything. 32 You have made up your minds that you want to be like the other nations, like the people who live in other countries and worship trees and rocks. But that will never be. 33 "As surely as I, the Sovereign Lord, am the living God, I warn you that in my anger I will rule over you with a strong hand, with all my power. 34 I will show you my power and my anger when I gather you together and bring you back from all the countries where you have been scattered. 35 I will bring you into the "Desert of the Nations,' and there I will condemn you to your face. 36 I will now condemn you just as I condemned your ancestors in the Sinai Desert," says the Sovereign Lord. 37 "I will take firm control of you and make you obey my covenant. 38 I will take away from among you those who are rebellious and sinful. I will take them out of the lands where they are living now, but I will not let them return to the land of Israel. Then you will know that I am the Lord." 39 The Sovereign Lord says, "And now, all you Israelites, suit yourselves! Go on and serve your idols! But I warn you that after this you will have to obey me and stop dishonoring my holy name by offering gifts to your idols. 40 There in the land, on my holy mountain, the high mountain of Israel, all you people of Israel will worship me. I will be pleased with you and will expect you to bring me your sacrifices, your best offerings, and your holy gifts. 41 After I bring you out of the countries where you have been scattered and gather you together, I will accept the sacrifices that you burn, and the nations will see that I am holy. 42 When I bring you back to Israel, the land that I promised I would give to your ancestors, then you will know that I am the Lord. 43 Then you will remember all the disgraceful things you did and how you defiled yourselves. You will be disgusted with yourselves because of all the evil things you did. 44 When I act to protect my honor, you Israelites will know that I am the Lord, because I do not deal with you as your wicked, evil actions deserve." The Sovereign Lord has spoken. 45 The Lord spoke to me. 46 "Mortal man," he said, "look toward the south. Speak against the south and prophesy against the forest of the south. 47 Tell the southern forest to hear what the Sovereign Lord is saying: Look! I am starting a fire, and it will burn up every tree in you, whether green or dry. Nothing will be able to put it out. It will spread from south to north, and everyone will feel the heat of the flames. 48 They will all see that I, the Lord, set it on fire and that no one can put it out." 49 But I protested, "Sovereign Lord, don't make me do it! Everyone is already complaining that I always speak in riddles."

Ezekiel 36:1 The Lord said, "Mortal man, speak to the mountains of Israel and tell them to listen to the message which I, 2 the Sovereign Lord, have for them: Israel's enemies gloated and said, "Now those ancient hills are ours!' 3 "Prophesy, then, and announce what I, the Sovereign Lord, am saying. When the neighboring nations captured and plundered the mountains of Israel, everyone made fun of Israel. 4 So now listen to what I, the Sovereign Lord, say to you mountains and hills, to you brooks and valleys, to you places that were left in ruins, and to you deserted cities which were plundered and mocked by all the surrounding nations. 5 "I, the Sovereign Lord, have spoken out in the heat of my anger against the surrounding nations, and especially against Edom. With glee and contempt they captured my land and took possession of its pastures. 6 "So prophesy to the land of Israel; tell the mountains, hills, brooks, and valleys what I, the Sovereign Lord, am saying in jealous anger because of the way the nations have insulted and humiliated them. 7 I, the Sovereign Lord, solemnly promise that the surrounding nations will be humiliated. 8 But on the mountains of Israel the trees will again grow leaves and bear fruit for you, my people Israel. You are going to come home soon. 9 I am on your side, and I will make sure that your land is plowed again and crops are planted on it. 10 I will make your population grow. You will live in the cities and rebuild everything that was left in ruins. 11 I will make people and cattle increase in number. There will be more of you than ever before, and you will have many children. I will let you live there as you used to live, and I will make you more prosperous than ever. Then you will know that I am the Lord. 12 I will bring you, my people Israel, back to live again in the land. It will be your own land, and it will never again let your children starve. 13 "I, the Sovereign Lord, say: It is true that people say that the land eats people and that it robs the nation of its children. 14 But from now on it will no longer eat people and rob you of your children. I, the Sovereign Lord, have spoken. 15 The land will no longer have to listen to the nations making fun of it or see the peoples sneer at it. The land will no longer rob the nation of its children. I, the Sovereign Lord, have spoken." 16 The Lord spoke to me. 17 "Mortal man," he said, "when the Israelites were living in their land, they defiled it by the way they lived and acted. I regarded their behavior as being as ritually unclean as a woman is during her monthly period. 18 I let them feel the force of my anger because of the murders they had committed in the land and because of the idols by which they had defiled it. 19 I condemned them for the way they lived and acted, and I scattered them through foreign countries. 20 Wherever they went, they brought disgrace on my holy name, because people would say, "These are the people of the Lord, but they had to leave his land.' 21 That made me concerned for my holy name, since the Israelites brought disgrace on it everywhere they went. 22 "Now then, give the Israelites the message that I, the Sovereign Lord, have for them: What I am going to do is not for the sake of you Israelites, but for the sake of my holy name, which you have disgraced in every country where you have gone. 23 When I demonstrate to the nations the holiness of my great name - the name you disgraced among them - then they will know that I am the Lord. I, the Sovereign Lord, have spoken. I will use you to show the nations that I am holy. 24 I will take you from every nation and country and bring you back to your own land. 25 I will sprinkle clean water on you and make you clean from all your idols and everything else that has defiled you. 26 I will give you a new heart and a new mind. I will take away your stubborn heart of stone and give you an obedient heart. 27 I will put my spirit in you and will see to it that you follow my laws and keep all the commands I have given you. 28 Then you will live in the land I gave your ancestors. You will be my people, and I will be your God. 29 I will save you from everything that defiles you. I will command the grain to be plentiful, so that you will not have any more famines. 30 I will increase the yield of your fruit trees and your fields, so that there will be no more famines to disgrace you among the nations. 31 You will remember your evil conduct and the wrongs that you committed, and you will be disgusted with yourselves because of your sins and your iniquities. 32 Israel, I want you to know that I am not doing all this for your sake. I want you to feel the shame and disgrace of what you are doing. I, the Sovereign Lord, have spoken." 33 The Sovereign Lord says, "When I make you clean from all your sins, I will let you live in your cities again and let you rebuild the ruins. 34 Everyone who used to walk by your fields saw how overgrown and wild they were, but I will let you farm them again. 35 Everyone will talk about how this land, which was once a wilderness, has become like the Garden of Eden, and how the cities which were torn down, looted, and left in ruins, are now inhabited and fortified. 36 Then the neighboring nations that have survived will know that I, the Lord, rebuild ruined cities and replant waste fields. I, the Lord, have promised that I would do this - and I will." 37 The Sovereign Lord says, "I will once again let the Israelites ask me for help, and I will let them increase in numbers like a flock of sheep. 38 The cities that are now in ruins will then be as full of people as Jerusalem was once full of the sheep which were offered as sacrifices at a festival. Then they will know that I am the Lord."

72-Ezekiel 20:4 "Are you ready to pass sentence on them, mortal man? Then do so. Remind them of the disgusting things their ancestors did. 5 Tell them what I am saying. When I chose Israel, I made them a promise. I revealed myself to them in Egypt and told them: I am the Lord your God. 6 It was then that I promised to take them out of Egypt and lead them to a land I had chosen for them, a rich and fertile land, the finest land of all. 7 I told them to throw away the disgusting idols they loved and not to make themselves unclean with the false gods of Egypt, because I am the Lord their God.

73-Eze 20:10 "And so I led them out of Egypt into the desert. 11 I gave them my commands and taught them my laws, which bring life to anyone who obeys them. 12 I made the keeping of the Sabbath a sign of the agreement between us, to remind them that I, the Lord, make them holy.

74-Exodus 32:7 The Lord said to Moses, "Hurry and go back down, because your people, whom you led out of Egypt, have sinned and rejected me. 8 They have already left the way that I commanded them to follow; they have made a bull-calf out of melted gold and have worshiped it and offered sacrifices to it. They are saying that this is their god, who led them out of Egypt. 9 I know how stubborn these people are. 10 Now, don't try to stop me. I am angry with them, and I am going to destroy them. Then I will make you and your descendants into a great nation." 11 But Moses pleaded with the Lord his God and said, "Lord, why should you be so angry with your people, whom you rescued from Egypt with great might and power? 12 Why should the Egyptians be able to say that you led your people out of Egypt, planning to kill them in the mountains and destroy them completely? Stop being angry; change your mind and do not bring this disaster on your people. 13 Remember your servants Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Remember the solemn promise you made to them to give them as many descendants as there are stars in the sky and to give their descendants all that land you promised would be their possession forever." 14 So the Lord changed his mind and did not bring on his people the disaster he had threatened.

75-Eze. 20:15 So I made a vow in the desert that I would not take them to the land I had given them, a rich and fertile land, the finest land of all. 16 I made the vow because they had rejected my commands, broken my laws, and profaned the Sabbath - they preferred to worship their idols. 17 "But then I took pity on them. I decided not to kill them there in the desert. 18 Instead, I warned the young people among them: Do not keep the laws your ancestors made; do not follow their customs or defile yourselves with their idols. 19 I am the Lord your God. Obey my laws and my commands. 20 Make the Sabbath a holy day, so that it will be a sign of the covenant we made, and will remind you that I am the Lord your God.

76-Eze. 20:37 "I will take firm control of you and make you obey my covenant. 38 I will take away from among you those who are rebellious and sinful. I will take them out of the lands where they are living now, but I will not let them return to the land of Israel. Then you will know that I am the Lord." 39 The Sovereign Lord says, "And now, all you Israelites, suit yourselves! Go on and serve your idols! But I warn you that after this you will have to obey me and stop dishonoring my holy name by offering gifts to your idols. 40 There in the land, on my holy mountain, the high mountain of Israel, all you people of Israel will worship me. I will be pleased with you and will expect you to bring me your sacrifices, your best offerings, and your holy gifts. 41 After I bring you out of the countries where you have been scattered and gather you together, I will accept the sacrifices that you burn, and the nations will see that I am holy. 42 When I bring you back to Israel, the land that I promised I would give to your ancestors, then you will know that I am the Lord.

77-Ezekiel 20:12 I made the keeping of the Sabbath a sign of the agreement between us, to remind them that I, the Lord, make them holy.

78-Eze. 20:20 Make the Sabbath a holy day, so that it will be a sign of the covenant we made, and will remind you that I am the Lord your God.

79-Ezekiel 20:13 But even in the desert they defied me. They broke my laws and rejected my commands, which bring life to anyone who obeys them. They completely profaned the Sabbath. I was ready to let them feel the force of my anger there in the desert and to destroy them. 14 But I did not, since that would have brought dishonor to my name among the nations which had seen me lead Israel out of Egypt. 15 So I made a vow in the desert that I would not take them to the land I had given them, a rich and fertile land, the finest land of all. 16 I made the vow because they had rejected my commands, broken my laws, and profaned the Sabbath - they preferred to worship their idols. 17 "But then I took pity on them. I decided not to kill them there in the desert. 18 Instead, I warned the young people among them: Do not keep the laws your ancestors made; do not follow their customs or defile yourselves with their idols. 19 I am the Lord your God. Obey my laws and my commands. 20 Make the Sabbath a holy day, so that it will be a sign of the covenant we made, and will remind you that I am the Lord your God. 21 "But that generation also defied me. They broke my laws and did not keep my commands, which bring life to anyone who obeys them. They profaned the Sabbath. I was ready to let them feel the force of my anger there in the desert and to kill them all.

80-Revelation 12:13 But even in the desert they defied me. They broke my laws and rejected my commands, which bring life to anyone who obeys them. They completely profaned the Sabbath. I was ready to let them feel the force of my anger there in the desert and to destroy them. 14 But I did not, since that would have brought dishonor to my name among the nations which had seen me lead Israel out of Egypt. 15 So I made a vow in the desert that I would not take them to the land I had given them, a rich and fertile land, the finest land of all. 16 I made the vow because they had rejected my commands, broken my laws, and profaned the Sabbath - they preferred to worship their idols. 17 "But then I took pity on them. I decided not to kill them there in the desert. 18 Instead, I warned the young people among them: Do not keep the laws your ancestors made; do not follow their customs or defile yourselves with their idols. 19 I am the Lord your God. Obey my laws and my commands. 20 Make the Sabbath a holy day, so that it will be a sign of the covenant we made, and will remind you that I am the Lord your God. 21 "But that generation also defied me. They broke my laws and did not keep my commands, which bring life to anyone who obeys them. They profaned the Sabbath. I was ready to let them feel the force of my anger there in the desert and to kill them all.

81-Genesis 3:1 Now the snake was the most cunning animal that the Lord God had made. The snake asked the woman, "Did God really tell you not to eat fruit from any tree in the garden?" 2 "We may eat the fruit of any tree in the garden," the woman answered, 3 "except the tree in the middle of it. God told us not to eat the fruit of that tree or even touch it; if we do, we will die." 4 The snake replied, "That's not true; you will not die. 5 God said that because he knows that when you eat it, you will be like God and know what is good and what is bad." 6 The woman saw how beautiful the tree was and how good its fruit would be to eat, and she thought how wonderful it would be to become wise. So she took some of the fruit and ate it. Then she gave some to her husband, and he also ate it. 7 As soon as they had eaten it, they were given understanding and realized that they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and covered themselves. 8 That evening they heard the Lord God walking in the garden, and they hid from him among the trees. 9 But the Lord God called out to the man, "Where are you?" 10 He answered, "I heard you in the garden; I was afraid and hid from you, because I was naked." 11 "Who told you that you were naked?" God asked. "Did you eat the fruit that I told you not to eat?" 12 The man answered, "The woman you put here with me gave me the fruit, and I ate it." 13 The Lord God asked the woman, "Why did you do this?" She replied, "The snake tricked me into eating it." 14 Then the Lord God said to the snake, "You will be punished for this; you alone of all the animals must bear this curse: From now on you will crawl on your belly, and you will have to eat dust as long as you live. 15 I will make you and the woman hate each other; her offspring and yours will always be enemies. Her offspring will crush your head, and you will bite her offspring's heel." 16 And he said to the woman, "I will increase your trouble in pregnancy and your pain in giving birth. In spite of this, you will still have desire for your husband, yet you will be subject to him." 17 And he said to the man, "You listened to your wife and ate the fruit which I told you not to eat. Because of what you have done, the ground will be under a curse. You will have to work hard all your life to make it produce enough food for you. 18 It will produce weeds and thorns, and you will have to eat wild plants. 19 You will have to work hard and sweat to make the soil produce anything, until you go back to the soil from which you were formed. You were made from soil, and you will become soil again."

82-Matthew 25:5 The bridegroom was late in coming, so they began to nod and fall asleep.

83-2 Thessalonians 2:1 Concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered together to be with him: I beg you, my friends, 2 not to be so easily confused in your thinking or upset by the claim that the Day of the Lord has come. Perhaps it is thought that we said this while prophesying or preaching, or that we wrote it in a letter. 3 Do not let anyone deceive you in any way. For the Day will not come until the final Rebellion takes place and the Wicked One appears, who is destined to hell. 4 He will oppose every so-called god or object of worship and will put himself above them all. He will even go in and sit down in God's Temple and claim to be God. 5 Don't you remember? I told you all this while I was with you. 6 Yet there is something that keeps this from happening now, and you know what it is. At the proper time, then, the Wicked One will appear. 7 The Mysterious Wickedness is already at work, but what is going to happen will not happen until the one who holds it back is taken out of the way. 8 Then the Wicked One will be revealed, but when the Lord Jesus comes, he will kill him with the breath from his mouth and destroy him with his dazzling presence. 9 The Wicked One will come with the power of Satan and perform all kinds of false miracles and wonders, 10 and use every kind of wicked deceit on those who will perish. They will perish because they did not welcome and love the truth so as to be saved.

84-Hebrews 10:37 For, as the scripture says, "Just a little while longer, and he who is coming will come; he will not delay.

85-Revelation 10:6 and took a vow in the name of God, who lives forever and ever, who created heaven, earth, and the sea, and everything in them. The angel said, "There will be no more delay!

86-2 Thessalonians 2:1 Concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered together to be with him: I beg you, my friends, 2 not to be so easily confused in your thinking or upset by the claim that the Day of the Lord has come. Perhaps it is thought that we said this while prophesying or preaching, or that we wrote it in a letter. 3 Do not let anyone deceive you in any way. For the Day will not come until the final Rebellion takes place and the Wicked One appears, who is destined to hell. 4 He will oppose every so-called god or object of worship and will put himself above them all. He will even go in and sit down in God's Temple and claim to be God. 5 Don't you remember? I told you all this while I was with you. 6 Yet there is something that keeps this from happening now, and you know what it is. At the proper time, then, the Wicked One will appear. 7 The Mysterious Wickedness is already at work, but what is going to happen will not happen until the one who holds it back is taken out of the way. 8 Then the Wicked One will be revealed, but when the Lord Jesus comes, he will kill him with the breath from his mouth and destroy him with his dazzling presence. 9 The Wicked One will come with the power of Satan and perform all kinds of false miracles and wonders, 10 and use every kind of wicked deceit on those who will perish. They will perish because they did not welcome and love the truth so as to be saved.

87-Revelation 7:1 After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds so that no wind should blow on the earth or the sea or against any tree. 2 And I saw another angel coming up from the east with the seal of the living God. He called out in a loud voice to the four angels to whom God had given the power to damage the earth and the sea. 3 The angel said, "Do not harm the earth, the sea, or the trees, until we mark the servants of our God with a seal on their foreheads."

88-1 Corinthians 10:13 Every test that you have experienced is the kind that normally comes to people. But God keeps his promise, and he will not allow you to be tested beyond your power to remain firm; at the time you are put to the test, he will give you the strength to endure it, and so provide you with a way out.

89-2 Peter 3:9 The Lord is not slow to do what he has promised, as some think. Instead, he is patient with you, because he does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants all to turn away from their sins. 10 But the Day of the Lord will come like a thief. On that Day the heavens will disappear with a shrill noise, the heavenly bodies will burn up and be destroyed, and the earth with everything in it will vanish. 11 Since all these things will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people should you be? Your lives should be holy and dedicated to God, 12 as you wait for the Day of God and do your best to make it come soon - the Day when the heavens will burn up and be destroyed, and the heavenly bodies will be melted by the heat.

90-2 Peter 3:12 as you wait for the Day of God and do your best to make it come soon - the Day when the heavens will burn up and be destroyed, and the heavenly bodies will be melted by the heat.

91-1 Thessalonians 4:15 What we are teaching you now is the Lord's teaching: we who are alive on the day the Lord comes will not go ahead of those who have died. 16 There will be the shout of command, the archangel's voice, the sound of God's trumpet, and the Lord himself will come down from heaven. Those who have died believing in Christ will rise to life first; 17 then we who are living at that time will be gathered up along with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will always be with the Lord.

92-Revelation 13:1 Then I saw a beast coming up out of the sea. It had ten horns and seven heads; on each of its horns there was a crown, and on each of its heads there was a name that was insulting to God. 2 The beast looked like a leopard, with feet like a bear's feet and a mouth like a lion's mouth. The dragon gave the beast his own power, his throne, and his vast authority. 3 One of the heads of the beast seemed to have been fatally wounded, but the wound had healed. The whole earth was amazed and followed the beast. 4 Everyone worshiped the dragon because he had given his authority to the beast. They worshiped the beast also, saying, "Who is like the beast? Who can fight against it?" 5 The beast was allowed to make proud claims which were insulting to God, and it was permitted to have authority for forty-two months. 6 It began to curse God, his name, the place where he lives, and all those who live in heaven. 7 It was allowed to fight against God's people and to defeat them, and it was given authority over every tribe, nation, language, and race. 8 All people living on earth will worship it, except those whose names were written before the creation of the world in the book of the living which belongs to the Lamb that was killed.

93-Revelation 12:4 With his tail he dragged a third of the stars out of the sky and threw them down to the earth. He stood in front of the woman, in order to eat her child as soon as it was born.

94-Ephesians 4:14 Then we will no longer be like children, forever changing our minds about what we believe because someone has told us something different or because someone has cleverly lied to us and made the lie sound like the truth.

95-Hebrews 5:14 Solid food is for those who are mature, who have trained themselves to recognize the difference between right and wrong and then do what is right.

96-Galatians 1:8 But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel that is different from the one we preached to you, may he be condemned to hell! 9 We have said it before, and now I say it again: if anyone preaches to you a gospel that is different from the one you accepted, may he be condemned to hell!

97-Revelation 7:1 After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds so that no wind should blow on the earth or the sea or against any tree. 2 And I saw another angel coming up from the east with the seal of the living God. He called out in a loud voice to the four angels to whom God had given the power to damage the earth and the sea. 3 The angel said, "Do not harm the earth, the sea, or the trees, until we mark the servants of our God with a seal on their foreheads."

98-2 Peter 3:8 But do not forget one thing, my dear friends! There is no difference in the Lord's sight between one day and a thousand years; to him the two are the same. 9 The Lord is not slow to do what he has promised, as some think. Instead, he is patient with you, because he does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants all to turn away from their sins. 10 But the Day of the Lord will come like a thief. On that Day the heavens will disappear with a shrill noise, the heavenly bodies will burn up and be destroyed, and the earth with everything in it will vanish. 11 Since all these things will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people should you be? Your lives should be holy and dedicated to God, 12 as you wait for the Day of God and do your best to make it come soon - the Day when the heavens will burn up and be destroyed, and the heavenly bodies will be melted by the heat.

99-Revelation 9:4 They were told not to harm the grass or the trees or any other plant; they could harm only the people who did not have the mark of God's seal on their foreheads.

Revelation 13:16 The beast forced all the people, small and great, rich and poor, slave and free, to have a mark placed on their right hands or on their foreheads. 17 No one could buy or sell without this mark, that is, the beast's name or the number that stands for the name. 18 This calls for wisdom. Whoever is intelligent can figure out the meaning of the number of the beast, because the number stands for the name of someone. Its number is 666.

Revelation 14:9 A third angel followed the first two, saying in a loud voice, "Those who worship the beast and its image and receive the mark on their forehead or on their hand 10 will themselves drink God's wine, the wine of his fury, which he has poured at full strength into the cup of his anger! All who do this will be tormented in fire and sulfur before the holy angels and the Lamb. 11 The smoke of the fire that torments them goes up forever and ever. There is no relief day or night for those who worship the beast and its image, for anyone who has the mark of its name."

Revelation 15:2 Then I saw what looked like a sea of glass mixed with fire. I also saw those who had won the victory over the beast and its image and over the one whose name is represented by a number. They were standing by the sea of glass, holding harps that God had given them.

Revelation 16:2 The first angel went and poured out his bowl on the earth. Terrible and painful sores appeared on those who had the mark of the beast and on those who had worshiped its image.

Revelation 20:3 The angel threw him into the abyss, locked it, and sealed it, so that he could not deceive the nations any more until the thousand years were over. After that he must be set loose for a little while. 4 Then I saw thrones, and those who sat on them were given the power to judge. I also saw the souls of those who had been executed because they had proclaimed the truth that Jesus revealed and the word of God. They had not worshiped the beast or its image, nor had they received the mark of the beast on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and ruled as kings with Christ for a thousand years.

100-Ezekiel 9:1 Then I heard God shout, "Come here, you men who are going to punish the city. Bring your weapons with you." 2 At once six men came from the outer north gate of the Temple, each one carrying a weapon. With them was a man dressed in linen clothes, carrying something to write with. They all came and stood by the bronze altar. 3 Then the dazzling light of the presence of the God of Israel rose up from the winged creatures where it had been, and moved to the entrance of the Temple. The Lord called to the man dressed in linen, 4 "Go through the whole city of Jerusalem and put a mark on the forehead of everyone who is distressed and troubled because of all the disgusting things being done in the city." 5 And I heard God say to the other men, "Follow him through the city and kill. Spare no one; have mercy on no one. 6 Kill the old men, young men, young women, mothers, and children. But don't touch anyone who has the mark on his forehead. Start here at my Temple." So they began with the leaders who were standing there at the Temple. 7 God said to them, "Defile the Temple. Fill its courtyards with corpses. Get to work!" So they began to kill the people in the city. 8 While the killing was going on, I was there alone. I threw myself face downward on the ground and shouted, "Sovereign Lord, are you so angry with Jerusalem that you are going to kill everyone left in Israel?" 9 God answered, "The people of Israel and Judah are guilty of terrible sins. They have committed murder all over the land and have filled Jerusalem with crime. They say that I, the Lord, have abandoned their country and that I don't see them. 10 But I will not have pity on them; I will do to them what they have done to others." 11 Then the man wearing linen clothes returned and reported to the Lord, "I have carried out your orders."

101-Ephesians 4:30 And do not make God's Holy Spirit sad; for the Spirit is God's mark of ownership on you, a guarantee that the Day will come when God will set you free.

Ephesians 1:13 And you also became God's people when you heard the true message, the Good News that brought you salvation. You believed in Christ, and God put his stamp of ownership on you by giving you the Holy Spirit he had promised.

102-Exodus 17:14 Then the Lord said to Moses, "Write an account of this victory, so that it will be remembered. Tell Joshua that I will completely destroy the Amalekites."

Exodus 24:4 Moses wrote down all the Lord's commands. Early the next morning he built an altar at the foot of the mountain and set up twelve stones, one for each of the twelve tribes of Israel. 5 Then he sent young men, and they burned sacrifices to the Lord and sacrificed some cattle as fellowship offerings. 6 Moses took half of the blood of the animals and put it in bowls; and the other half he threw against the altar. 7 Then he took the book of the covenant, in which the Lord's commands were written, and read it aloud to the people. They said, "We will obey the Lord and do everything that he has commanded." 8 Then Moses took the blood in the bowls and threw it on the people. He said, "This is the blood that seals the covenant which the Lord made with you when he gave all these commands."

Exodus 34:27 The Lord said to Moses, "Write these words down, because it is on the basis of these words that I am making a covenant with you and with Israel."

103-Numbers 33:1 The following account gives the names of the places where the Israelites set up camp after they left Egypt in their tribes under the leadership of Moses and Aaron. 2 At the command of the Lord, Moses wrote down the name of the place each time they set up camp.

104-Deuteronomy 31:9 So Moses wrote down God's Law and gave it to the Levitical priests, who were in charge of the Lord's Covenant Box, and to the leaders of Israel.

Deuteronomy 31:22 That same day Moses wrote down the song and taught it to the people of Israel.

105-Joshua 8:34 Joshua then read aloud the whole Law, including the blessings and the curses, just as they are written in the book of the Law.

106-2 Chronicles 14:4 He commanded the people of Judah to do the will of the Lord, the God of their ancestors, and to obey his teachings and commands.

2 Chronicles 31:21 He was successful, because everything he did for the Temple or in observance of the Law, he did in a spirit of complete loyalty and devotion to his God.

2 Chronicles 33:8 And if the people of Israel will obey all my commands and keep the whole Law that my servant Moses gave them, then I will not allow them to be driven out of the land that I gave to their ancestors."

107-Ezra 10:3 Now we must make a solemn promise to our God that we will send these women and their children away. We will do what you and the others who honor God's commands advise us to do. We will do what God's Law demands.

108-Nehemiah 8:2 So Ezra brought it to the place where the people had gathered - men, women, and the children who were old enough to understand.

Nehmiah 8:7 Then they rose and stood in their places, and the following Levites explained the Law to them: Jeshua, Bani, Sherebiah, Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai, Hodiah, Maaseiah, Kelita, Azariah, Jozabad, Hanan, and Pelaiah.

Nehmiah 8:14 They discovered that the Law, which the Lord gave through Moses, ordered the people of Israel to live in temporary shelters during the Festival of Shelters.

Nehemiah 10:34 We, the people, priests, and Levites, will draw lots each year to determine which clans are to provide wood to burn the sacrifices offered to the Lord our God, according to the requirements of the Law.

Nehemiah 10:36 The first son born to each of us we will take to the priests in the Temple and there, as required by the Law, dedicate him to God. We will also dedicate the first calf born to each of our cows, and the first lamb or kid born to each of our sheep or goats.

Nehemiah 12:44 At that time men were put in charge of the storerooms where contributions for the Temple were kept, including the tithes and the first grain and fruit that ripened each year. These men were responsible for collecting from the farms near the various cities the contributions for the priests and the Levites which the Law required. All the people of Judah were pleased with the priests and the Levites,

Nehemiah 13:3 When the people of Israel heard this law read, they excluded all foreigners from the community.

109-Joshua 1:8 Be sure that the book of the Law is always read in your worship. Study it day and night, and make sure that you obey everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.

Joshua 8:34 Joshua then read aloud the whole Law, including the blessings and the curses, just as they are written in the book of the Law.

110-2 Kings 22:8 Shaphan delivered the king's order to Hilkiah, and Hilkiah told him that he had found the book of the Law in the Temple. Hilkiah gave him the book, and Shaphan read it.

111-Nehemiah 8:3 There in the square by the gate he read the Law to them from dawn until noon, and they all listened attentively.

112-Joshua 8:31 He made it according to the instructions that Moses, the Lord's servant, had given the Israelites, as it says in the Law of Moses: "an altar made of stones which have not been cut with iron tools." On it they offered burnt sacrifices to the Lord, and they also presented their fellowship offerings.

Joshua 23:6 So be careful to obey and do everything that is written in the book of the Law of Moses. Do not neglect any part of it,

113-2 Kings 14:6 However, he did not kill their children but followed what the Lord had commanded in the Law of Moses: "Parents are not to be put to death for crimes committed by their children, and children are not to be put to death for crimes committed by their parents; people are to be put to death only for a crime they themselves have committed."

114-Nehemiah 8:1 By the seventh month the people of Israel were all settled in their towns. On the first day of that month they all assembled in Jerusalem, in the square just inside the Water Gate. They asked Ezra, the priest and scholar of the Law which the Lord had given Israel through Moses, to get the book of the Law.

115-Daniel 11:13 "The king of Syria will go back and gather a larger army than he had before. When the proper time comes, he will return with a large, well-equipped army.

116-2 Chronicles 25:4 He did not, however, execute their children, but followed what the Lord had commanded in the Law of Moses: "Parents are not to be put to death for crimes committed by their children, and children are not to be put to death for crimes committed by their parents; people are to be put to death only for crimes they themselves have committed."

2 Chronicles 35:12 Then they divided among the people, by family groups, the animals for burnt offerings, so that they could offer them according to the instructions in the Law of Moses.

117-Ezra 6:18 They also organized the priests and the Levites for the Temple services in Jerusalem, according to the instructions contained in the book of Moses.

118-Nehemiah 13:1 When the Law of Moses was being read aloud to the people, they came to the passage that said that no Ammonite or Moabite was ever to be permitted to join God's people.

119-1 Chronicles 16:40 Every morning and evening they were to burn sacrifices whole on the altar in accordance with what was written in the Law which the Lord gave to Israel.

120-2 Chronicles 31:3 From his own flocks and herds he provided animals for the burnt offerings each morning and evening, and for those offered on the Sabbath, at the New Moon Festival, and at the other festivals which are required by the Law of the Lord.

2 Chronicles 35:26 Everything that Josiah did - his devotion to the Lord, his obedience to the Law,

121-Ezra 7:10 Ezra had devoted his life to studying the Law of the Lord, to practicing it, and to teaching all its laws and regulations to the people of Israel.

122-Nehemiah 10:28 We, the people of Israel, the priests, the Levites, the Temple guards, the Temple musicians, the Temple workers, and all others who in obedience to God's Law have separated themselves from the foreigners living in our land, we, together with our wives and all our children old enough to understand,

123-Joshua 24:26 Joshua wrote these commands in the book of the Law of God. Then he took a large stone and set it up under the oak tree in the Lord's sanctuary.

124-Nehemiah 8:18 From the first day of the festival to the last they read a part of God's Law every day. They celebrated for seven days, and on the eighth day there was a closing ceremony, as required in the Law.

125-2 Chronicles 17:9 They took the book of the Law of the Lord and went through all the towns of Judah, teaching it to the people.

2 Chronicles 34:14 While the money was being taken out of the storeroom, Hilkiah found the book of the Law of the Lord, the Law that God had given to Moses.

126-Nehemiah 9:3 For about three hours the Law of the Lord their God was read to them, and for the next three hours they confessed their sins and worshiped the Lord their God.

127-Daniel 9:1 Darius the Mede, who was the son of Xerxes, ruled over the kingdom of Babylonia.

128-Malachi 4:4 "Remember the teachings of my servant Moses, the laws and commands which I gave him at Mount Sinai for all the people of Israel to obey.

129-Galatians 3:10 Those who depend on obeying the Law live under a curse. For the scripture says, "Whoever does not always obey everything that is written in the book of the Law is under God's curse!"

130-Mark 12:26 Now, as for the dead being raised: haven't you ever read in the Book of Moses the passage about the burning bush? There it is written that God said to Moses, "I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.'

131-Matthew 12:5 Or have you not read in the Law of Moses that every Sabbath the priests in the Temple actually break the Sabbath law, yet they are not guilty?

132-Luke 16:16 "The Law of Moses and the writings of the prophets were in effect up to the time of John the Baptist; since then the Good News about the Kingdom of God is being told, and everyone forces their way in.

133-John 7:19 Moses gave you the Law, didn't he? But not one of you obeys the Law. Why are you trying to kill me?"

134-Luke 2:22 The time came for Joseph and Mary to perform the ceremony of purification, as the Law of Moses commanded. So they took the child to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord,

135-John 7:23 If a boy is circumcised on the Sabbath so that Moses' Law is not broken, why are you angry with me because I made a man completely well on the Sabbath?

136-Luke 2:23 as it is written in the law of the Lord: "Every first-born male is to be dedicated to the Lord." 24 They also went to offer a sacrifice of a pair of doves or two young pigeons, as required by the law of the Lord.

137-Micah 5:2 The Lord says, "Bethlehem Ephrathah, you are one of the smallest towns in Judah, but out of you I will bring a ruler for Israel, whose family line goes back to ancient times."

138-Colossians 1:16 For through him God created everything in heaven and on earth, the seen and the unseen things, including spiritual powers, lords, rulers, and authorities. God created the whole universe through him and for him.

139-1 Timothy 6:16 He alone is immortal; he lives in the light that no one can approach. No one has ever seen him; no one can ever see him. To him be honor and eternal power! Amen.

140-Hebrews 1:14 What are the angels, then? They are spirits who serve God and are sent by him to help those who are to receive salvation.

141-Revelation 12:7 Then war broke out in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, who fought back with his angels; 8 but the dragon was defeated, and he and his angels were not allowed to stay in heaven any longer. 9 The huge dragon was thrown out - that ancient serpent, named the Devil, or Satan, that deceived the whole world. He was thrown down to earth, and all his angels with him.

142-Job 1:1 There was a man named Job, living in the land of Uz, who worshiped God and was faithful to him. He was a good man, careful not to do anything evil. 2 He had seven sons and three daughters, 3 and owned seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, one thousand head of cattle, and five hundred donkeys. He also had a large number of servants and was the richest man in the East. 4 Job's sons used to take turns giving a feast, to which all the others would come, and they always invited their three sisters to join them. 5 The morning after each feast, Job would get up early and offer sacrifices for each of his children in order to purify them. He always did this because he thought that one of them might have sinned by insulting God unintentionally. 6 When the day came for the heavenly beings to appear before the Lord, Satan was there among them. 7 The Lord asked him, "What have you been doing?" Satan answered, "I have been walking here and there, roaming around the earth." 8 "Did you notice my servant Job?" the Lord asked. "There is no one on earth as faithful and good as he is. He worships me and is careful not to do anything evil." 9 Satan replied, "Would Job worship you if he got nothing out of it? 10 You have always protected him and his family and everything he owns. You bless everything he does, and you have given him enough cattle to fill the whole country. 11 But now suppose you take away everything he has - he will curse you to your face!" 12 "All right," the Lord said to Satan, "everything he has is in your power, but you must not hurt Job himself." So Satan left. 13 One day when Job's children were having a feast at the home of their oldest brother, 14 a messenger came running to Job. "We were plowing the fields with the oxen," he said, "and the donkeys were in a nearby pasture. 15 Suddenly the Sabeans attacked and stole them all. They killed every one of your servants except me. I am the only one who escaped to tell you." 16 Before he had finished speaking, another servant came and said, "Lightning struck the sheep and the shepherds and killed them all. I am the only one who escaped to tell you." 17 Before he had finished speaking, another servant came and said, "Three bands of Chaldean raiders attacked us, took away the camels, and killed all your servants except me. I am the only one who escaped to tell you." 18 Before he had finished speaking, another servant came and said, "Your children were having a feast at the home of your oldest son, 19 when a storm swept in from the desert. It blew the house down and killed them all. I am the only one who escaped to tell you." 20 Then Job got up and tore his clothes in grief. He shaved his head and threw himself face downward on the ground. 21 He said, "I was born with nothing, and I will die with nothing. The Lord gave, and now he has taken away. May his name be praised!" 22 In spite of everything that had happened, Job did not sin by blaming God.

Job 2:1 When the day came for the heavenly beings to appear before the Lord again, Satan was there among them. 2 The Lord asked him, "Where have you been?" Satan answered, "I have been walking here and there, roaming around the earth." 3 "Did you notice my servant Job?" the Lord asked. "There is no one on earth as faithful and good as he is. He worships me and is careful not to do anything evil. You persuaded me to let you attack him for no reason at all, but Job is still as faithful as ever." 4 Satan replied, "A person will give up everything in order to stay alive. 5 But now suppose you hurt his body - he will curse you to your face!" 6 So the Lord said to Satan, "All right, he is in your power, but you are not to kill him." 7 Then Satan left the Lord's presence and made sores break out all over Job's body. 8 Job went and sat by the garbage dump and took a piece of broken pottery to scrape his sores. 9 His wife said to him, "You are still as faithful as ever, aren't you? Why don't you curse God and die?" 10 Job answered, "You are talking nonsense! When God sends us something good, we welcome it. How can we complain when he sends us trouble?" Even in all this suffering Job said nothing against God. 11 Three of Job's friends were Eliphaz, from the city of Teman, Bildad, from the land of Shuah, and Zophar, from the land of Naamah. When they heard how much Job had been suffering, they decided to go and comfort him. 12 While they were still a long way off they saw Job, but did not recognize him. When they did, they began to weep and wail, tearing their clothes in grief and throwing dust into the air and on their heads. 13 Then they sat there on the ground with him for seven days and nights without saying a word, because they saw how much he was suffering.

143-Job 38:4 Were you there when I made the world? If you know so much, tell me about it. 5 Who decided how large it would be? Who stretched the measuring line over it? Do you know all the answers? 6 What holds up the pillars that support the earth? Who laid the cornerstone of the world? 7 In the dawn of that day the stars sang together, and the heavenly beings shouted for joy.

144-Isaiah 14:12 King of Babylon, bright morning star, you have fallen from heaven! In the past you conquered nations, but now you have been thrown to the ground. 13 You were determined to climb up to heaven and to place your throne above the highest stars. You thought you would sit like a king on that mountain in the north where the gods assemble. 14 You said you would climb to the tops of the clouds and be like the Almighty. 15 But instead, you have been brought down to the deepest part of the world of the dead.

145-Ezekiel 28:12 "Mortal man," he said, "grieve for the fate that is waiting for the king of Tyre. Tell him what I, the Sovereign Lord, am saying: You were once an example of perfection. How wise and handsome you were! 13 You lived in Eden, the garden of God, and wore gems of every kind: rubies and diamonds; topaz, beryl, carnelian, and jasper; sapphires, emeralds, and garnets. You had ornaments of gold. They were made for you on the day you were created. 14 I put a terrifying angel there to guard you. You lived on my holy mountain and walked among sparkling gems. 15 Your conduct was perfect from the day you were created until you began to do evil. 16 You were busy buying and selling, and this led you to violence and sin. So I forced you to leave my holy mountain, and the angel who guarded you drove you away from the sparkling gems. 17 You were proud of being handsome, and your fame made you act like a fool. Because of this I hurled you to the ground and left you as a warning to other kings.

146-Revelation 12:7 Then war broke out in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, who fought back with his angels; 8 but the dragon was defeated, and he and his angels were not allowed to stay in heaven any longer. 9 The huge dragon was thrown out - that ancient serpent, named the Devil, or Satan, that deceived the whole world. He was thrown down to earth, and all his angels with him.

147-Revelation 12:4 With his tail he dragged a third of the stars out of the sky and threw them down to the earth. He stood in front of the woman, in order to eat her child as soon as it was born.

148-Isaiah 14:12 King of Babylon, bright morning star, you have fallen from heaven! In the past you conquered nations, but now you have been thrown to the ground.

149-Ezekiel 28:12 "Mortal man," he said, "grieve for the fate that is waiting for the king of Tyre. Tell him what I, the Sovereign Lord, am saying: You were once an example of perfection. How wise and handsome you were! 13 You lived in Eden, the garden of God, and wore gems of every kind: rubies and diamonds; topaz, beryl, carnelian, and jasper; sapphires, emeralds, and garnets. You had ornaments of gold. They were made for you on the day you were created. 14 I put a terrifying angel there to guard you. You lived on my holy mountain and walked among sparkling gems. 15 Your conduct was perfect from the day you were created until you began to do evil. 16 You were busy buying and selling, and this led you to violence and sin. So I forced you to leave my holy mountain, and the angel who guarded you drove you away from the sparkling gems. 17 You were proud of being handsome, and your fame made you act like a fool. Because of this I hurled you to the ground and left you as a warning to other kings. 18 You did such evil in buying and selling that your places of worship were corrupted. So I set fire to the city and burned it to the ground. All who look at you now see you reduced to ashes. 19 You are gone, gone forever, and all the nations that had come to know you are terrified, afraid that they will share your fate."

150-Matthew 4:9 "All this I will give you," the Devil said, "if you kneel down and worship me."

151-Ezekiel 28:15 Your conduct was perfect from the day you were created until you began to do evil.

152-Revelation 12:4 With his tail he dragged a third of the stars out of the sky and threw them down to the earth. He stood in front of the woman, in order to eat her child as soon as it was born.

153-Revelation 12:7 Then war broke out in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, who fought back with his angels; 8 but the dragon was defeated, and he and his angels were not allowed to stay in heaven any longer. 9 The huge dragon was thrown out - that ancient serpent, named the Devil, or Satan, that deceived the whole world. He was thrown down to earth, and all his angels with him.

154-Revelation 12:10 Then I heard a loud voice in heaven saying, "Now God's salvation has come! Now God has shown his power as King! Now his Messiah has shown his authority! For the one who stood before our God and accused believers day and night has been thrown out of heaven.

155-Zechariah 3:1 In another vision the Lord showed me the High Priest Joshua standing before the angel of the Lord. And there beside Joshua stood Satan, ready to bring an accusation against him. 2 The angel of the Lord said to Satan, "May the Lord condemn you, Satan! May the Lord, who loves Jerusalem, condemn you. This man is like a stick snatched from the fire." 3 Joshua was standing there, wearing filthy clothes. 4 The angel said to his heavenly attendants, "Take away the filthy clothes this man is wearing." Then he said to Joshua, "I have taken away your sin and will give you new clothes to wear." 5 He commanded the attendants to put a clean turban on Joshua's head. They did so, and then they put the new clothes on him while the angel of the Lord stood there.

156-Job 1:6 When the day came for the heavenly beings to appear before the Lord, Satan was there among them.

Job 2:1 When the day came for the heavenly beings to appear before the Lord again, Satan was there among them.

157-Matthew 4:8 Then the Devil took Jesus to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in all their greatness.

158-Revelation 13:3 One of the heads of the beast seemed to have been fatally wounded, but the wound had healed. The whole earth was amazed and followed the beast. 4 Everyone worshiped the dragon because he had given his authority to the beast. They worshiped the beast also, saying, "Who is like the beast? Who can fight against it?"

159-Deuteronomy 13:1 "Prophets or interpreters of dreams may promise a miracle or a wonder, 2 in order to lead you to worship and serve gods that you have not worshiped before. Even if what they promise comes true, 3 do not pay any attention to them. The Lord your God is using them to test you, to see if you love the Lord with all your heart. 4 Follow the Lord and honor him; obey him and keep his commands; worship him and be faithful to him. 5 But put to death any interpreters of dreams or prophets that tell you to rebel against the Lord, who rescued you from Egypt, where you were slaves. Such people are evil and are trying to lead you away from the life that the Lord has commanded you to live. They must be put to death, in order to rid yourselves of this evil.

160-1 Kings 13:1 At the Lord's command a prophet from Judah went to Bethel and arrived there as Jeroboam stood at the altar to offer the sacrifice. 2 Following the Lord's command, the prophet denounced the altar: "O altar, altar, this is what the Lord says: A child, whose name will be Josiah, will be born to the family of David. He will slaughter on you the priests serving at the pagan altars who offer sacrifices on you, and he will burn human bones on you." 3 And the prophet went on to say, "This altar will fall apart, and the ashes on it will be scattered. Then you will know that the Lord has spoken through me." 4 When King Jeroboam heard this, he pointed at him and ordered, "Seize that man!" At once the king's arm became paralyzed so that he couldn't pull it back. 5 The altar suddenly fell apart and the ashes spilled to the ground, as the prophet had predicted in the name of the Lord. 6 King Jeroboam said to the prophet, "Please pray for me to the Lord your God, and ask him to heal my arm!" The prophet prayed to the Lord, and the king's arm was healed. 7 Then the king said to the prophet, "Come home with me and have something to eat. I will reward you for what you have done." 8 The prophet answered, "Even if you gave me half of your wealth, I would not go with you or eat or drink anything with you. 9 The Lord has commanded me not to eat or drink a thing, and not to return home the same way I came." 10 So he did not go back the same way he had come, but by another road. 11 At that time there was an old prophet living in Bethel. His sons came and told him what the prophet from Judah had done in Bethel that day and what he had said to King Jeroboam. 12 "Which way did he go when he left?" the old prophet asked them. They showed him the road 13 and he told them to saddle his donkey for him. They did so, and he rode off 14 down the road after the prophet from Judah and found him sitting under an oak tree. "Are you the prophet from Judah?" he asked. "I am," the man answered. 15 "Come home and have a meal with me," he said. 16 But the prophet from Judah answered, "I can't go home with you or accept your hospitality. And I won't eat or drink anything with you here, 17 because the Lord has commanded me not to eat or drink a thing, and not to return home the same way I came." 18 Then the old prophet from Bethel said to him, "I, too, am a prophet just like you, and at the Lord's command an angel told me to take you home with me and offer you my hospitality." But the old prophet was lying. 19 So the prophet from Judah went home with the old prophet and had a meal with him. 20 As they were sitting at the table, the word of the Lord came to the old prophet, 21 and he cried out to the prophet from Judah, "The Lord says that you disobeyed him and did not do what he commanded. 22 Instead, you returned and ate a meal in a place he had ordered you not to eat in. Because of this you will be killed, and your body will not be buried in your family grave." 23 After they had finished eating, the old prophet saddled the donkey for the prophet from Judah, 24 who rode off. On the way a lion met him and killed him. His body lay on the road, and the donkey and the lion stood beside it. 25 Some men passed by and saw the body on the road, with the lion standing near by. They went on into Bethel and reported what they had seen. 26 When the old prophet heard about it, he said, "That is the prophet who disobeyed the Lord's command! And so the Lord sent the lion to attack and kill him, just as the Lord said he would." 27 Then he said to his sons, "Saddle my donkey for me." They did so, 28 and he rode off and found the prophet's body lying on the road, with the donkey and the lion still standing by it. The lion had not eaten the body or attacked the donkey. 29 The old prophet picked up the body, put it on the donkey, and brought it back to Bethel to mourn over it and bury it. 30 He buried it in his own family grave, and he and his sons mourned over it, saying, "Oh my brother, my brother!" 31 After the burial the prophet said to his sons, "When I die, bury me in this grave and lay my body next to his. 32 The words that he spoke at the Lord's command against the altar in Bethel and against all the places of worship in the towns of Samaria will surely come true." 33 King Jeroboam of Israel still did not turn from his evil ways but continued to choose priests from ordinary families to serve at the altars he had built. He ordained as priest anyone who wanted to be one. 34 This sin on his part brought about the ruin and total destruction of his dynasty.

161-Job 1:1 There was a man named Job, living in the land of Uz, who worshiped God and was faithful to him. He was a good man, careful not to do anything evil. 2 He had seven sons and three daughters, 3 and owned seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, one thousand head of cattle, and five hundred donkeys. He also had a large number of servants and was the richest man in the East. 4 Job's sons used to take turns giving a feast, to which all the others would come, and they always invited their three sisters to join them. 5 The morning after each feast, Job would get up early and offer sacrifices for each of his children in order to purify them. He always did this because he thought that one of them might have sinned by insulting God unintentionally. 6 When the day came for the heavenly beings to appear before the Lord, Satan was there among them. 7 The Lord asked him, "What have you been doing?" Satan answered, "I have been walking here and there, roaming around the earth." 8 "Did you notice my servant Job?" the Lord asked. "There is no one on earth as faithful and good as he is. He worships me and is careful not to do anything evil." 9 Satan replied, "Would Job worship you if he got nothing out of it? 10 You have always protected him and his family and everything he owns. You bless everything he does, and you have given him enough cattle to fill the whole country. 11 But now suppose you take away everything he has - he will curse you to your face!" 12 "All right," the Lord said to Satan, "everything he has is in your power, but you must not hurt Job himself." So Satan left. 13 One day when Job's children were having a feast at the home of their oldest brother, 14 a messenger came running to Job. "We were plowing the fields with the oxen," he said, "and the donkeys were in a nearby pasture. 15 Suddenly the Sabeans attacked and stole them all. They killed every one of your servants except me. I am the only one who escaped to tell you." 16 Before he had finished speaking, another servant came and said, "Lightning struck the sheep and the shepherds and killed them all. I am the only one who escaped to tell you." 17 Before he had finished speaking, another servant came and said, "Three bands of Chaldean raiders attacked us, took away the camels, and killed all your servants except me. I am the only one who escaped to tell you." 18 Before he had finished speaking, another servant came and said, "Your children were having a feast at the home of your oldest son, 19 when a storm swept in from the desert. It blew the house down and killed them all. I am the only one who escaped to tell you." 20 Then Job got up and tore his clothes in grief. He shaved his head and threw himself face downward on the ground. 21 He said, "I was born with nothing, and I will die with nothing. The Lord gave, and now he has taken away. May his name be praised!" 22 In spite of everything that had happened, Job did not sin by blaming God.

Job 2:1 When the day came for the heavenly beings to appear before the Lord again, Satan was there among them. 2 The Lord asked him, "Where have you been?" Satan answered, "I have been walking here and there, roaming around the earth." 3 "Did you notice my servant Job?" the Lord asked. "There is no one on earth as faithful and good as he is. He worships me and is careful not to do anything evil. You persuaded me to let you attack him for no reason at all, but Job is still as faithful as ever." 4 Satan replied, "A person will give up everything in order to stay alive. 5 But now suppose you hurt his body - he will curse you to your face!" 6 So the Lord said to Satan, "All right, he is in your power, but you are not to kill him." 7 Then Satan left the Lord's presence and made sores break out all over Job's body. 8 Job went and sat by the garbage dump and took a piece of broken pottery to scrape his sores. 9 His wife said to him, "You are still as faithful as ever, aren't you? Why don't you curse God and die?" 10 Job answered, "You are talking nonsense! When God sends us something good, we welcome it. How can we complain when he sends us trouble?" Even in all this suffering Job said nothing against God. 11 Three of Job's friends were Eliphaz, from the city of Teman, Bildad, from the land of Shuah, and Zophar, from the land of Naamah. When they heard how much Job had been suffering, they decided to go and comfort him. 12 While they were still a long way off they saw Job, but did not recognize him. When they did, they began to weep and wail, tearing their clothes in grief and throwing dust into the air and on their heads. 13 Then they sat there on the ground with him for seven days and nights without saying a word, because they saw how much he was suffering.

162-Ephesians 1:3 Let us give thanks to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! For in our union with Christ he has blessed us by giving us every spiritual blessing in the heavenly world.

163-Ephesians 3:9 and of making all people see how God's secret plan is to be put into effect. God, who is the Creator of all things, kept his secret hidden through all the past ages, 10 in order that at the present time, by means of the church, the angelic rulers and powers in the heavenly world might learn of his wisdom in all its different forms.

164-Colossians 1:19 For it was by God's own decision that the Son has in himself the full nature of God. 20 Through the Son, then, God decided to bring the whole universe back to himself. God made peace through his Son's blood on the cross and so brought back to himself all things, both on earth and in heaven.

165-Acts 16:31 They answered, "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved - you and your family."

166-Romans 14:23 But if they have doubts about what they eat, God condemns them when they eat it, because their action is not based on faith. And anything that is not based on faith is sin.

167-Matthew 22:29 Jesus answered them, "How wrong you are! It is because you don't know the Scriptures or God's power. 30 For when the dead rise to life, they will be like the angels in heaven and will not marry.

168-Matthew 24:23 "Then, if anyone says to you, "Look, here is the Messiah!' or "There he is!' - do not believe it. 24 For false Messiahs and false prophets will appear; they will perform great miracles and wonders in order to deceive even God's chosen people, if possible.

169-Genesis 3:4 The snake replied, "That's not true; you will not die.

170-Mark 2:27 And Jesus concluded, "The Sabbath was made for the good of human beings; they were not made for the Sabbath. 28 So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath."

171-Gen. 3:4 The snake replied, "That's not true; you will not die.

172-Luke 15:11 Jesus went on to say, "There was once a man who had two sons. 12 The younger one said to him, "Father, give me my share of the property now.' So the man divided his property between his two sons. 13 After a few days the younger son sold his part of the property and left home with the money. He went to a country far away, where he wasted his money in reckless living. 14 He spent everything he had. Then a severe famine spread over that country, and he was left without a thing. 15 So he went to work for one of the citizens of that country, who sent him out to his farm to take care of the pigs. 16 He wished he could fill himself with the bean pods the pigs ate, but no one gave him anything to eat. 17 At last he came to his senses and said, "All my father's hired workers have more than they can eat, and here I am about to starve! 18 I will get up and go to my father and say, "Father, I have sinned against God and against you. 19 I am no longer fit to be called your son; treat me as one of your hired workers." ' 20 So he got up and started back to his father. "He was still a long way from home when his father saw him; his heart was filled with pity, and he ran, threw his arms around his son, and kissed him. 21 "Father,' the son said, "I have sinned against God and against you. I am no longer fit to be called your son.' 22 But the father called to his servants. "Hurry!' he said. "Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and shoes on his feet. 23 Then go and get the prize calf and kill it, and let us celebrate with a feast! 24 For this son of mine was dead, but now he is alive; he was lost, but now he has been found.' And so the feasting began. 25 "In the meantime the older son was out in the field. On his way back, when he came close to the house, he heard the music and dancing. 26 So he called one of the servants and asked him, "What's going on?' 27 "Your brother has come back home,' the servant answered, "and your father has killed the prize calf, because he got him back safe and sound.' 28 The older brother was so angry that he would not go into the house; so his father came out and begged him to come in. 29 But he spoke back to his father, "Look, all these years I have worked for you like a slave, and I have never disobeyed your orders. What have you given me? Not even a goat for me to have a feast with my friends! 30 But this son of yours wasted all your property on prostitutes, and when he comes back home, you kill the prize calf for him!' 31 "My son,' the father answered, "you are always here with me, and everything I have is yours.

173-John 11:11 Jesus said this and then added, "Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I will go and wake him up." 12 The disciples answered, "If he is asleep, Lord, he will get well." 13 Jesus meant that Lazarus had died, but they thought he meant natural sleep. 14 So Jesus told them plainly, "Lazarus is dead, 15 but for your sake I am glad that I was not with him, so that you will believe. Let us go to him."

174-1 Corinthians 15:51 Listen to this secret truth: we shall not all die, but when the last trumpet sounds, we shall all be changed in an instant, as quickly as the blinking of an eye. For when the trumpet sounds, the dead will be raised, never to die again, and we shall all be changed.

175-Revelation 20:6 Happy and greatly blessed are those who are included in this first raising of the dead. The second death has no power over them; they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and they will rule with him for a thousand years.

176-Colossians 1:19 For it was by God's own decision that the Son has in himself the full nature of God. 20 Through the Son, then, God decided to bring the whole universe back to himself. God made peace through his Son's blood on the cross and so brought back to himself all things, both on earth and in heaven.

177-Ephesians 1:9 God did what he had purposed, and made known to us the secret plan he had already decided to complete by means of Christ. 10 This plan, which God will complete when the time is right, is to bring all creation together, everything in heaven and on earth, with Christ as head.

Ephesians 3:9 and of making all people see how God's secret plan is to be put into effect. God, who is the Creator of all things, kept his secret hidden through all the past ages, 10 in order that at the present time, by means of the church, the angelic rulers and powers in the heavenly world might learn of his wisdom in all its different forms.

178-Genesis 3:15 I will make you and the woman hate each other; her offspring and yours will always be enemies. Her offspring will crush your head, and you will bite her offspring's heel."

179-Colossians 1:20 Through the Son, then, God decided to bring the whole universe back to himself. God made peace through his Son's blood on the cross and so brought back to himself all things, both on earth and in heaven.

180-Romans 3:24 But by the free gift of God's grace all are put right with him through Christ Jesus, who sets them free. 25 God offered him, so that by his blood he should become the means by which people's sins are forgiven through their faith in him. God did this in order to demonstrate that he is righteous. In the past he was patient and overlooked people's sins; but in the present time he deals with their sins, in order to demonstrate his righteousness. In this way God shows that he himself is righteous and that he puts right everyone who believes in Jesus. 27 What, then, can we boast about? Nothing! And what is the reason for this? Is it that we obey the Law? No, but that we believe. 28 For we conclude that a person is put right with God only through faith, and not by doing what the Law commands. 29 Or is God the God of the Jews only? Is he not the God of the Gentiles also? Of course he is. 30 God is one, and he will put the Jews right with himself on the basis of their faith, and will put the Gentiles right through their faith. 31 Does this mean that by this faith we do away with the Law? No, not at all; instead, we uphold the Law.

181-Romans 4:25 Because of our sins he was given over to die, and he was raised to life in order to put us right with God.

182-Romans 1:18, 24, 26, 2818 God's anger is revealed from heaven against all the sin and evil of the people whose evil ways prevent the truth from being known.

24 And so God has given those people over to do the filthy things their hearts desire, and they do shameful things with each other.

26 Because they do this, God has given them over to shameful passions. Even the women pervert the natural use of their sex by unnatural acts.

28 Because those people refuse to keep in mind the true knowledge about God, he has given them over to corrupted minds, so that they do the things that they should not do.

183-Genesis 6:11 When people had spread all over the world, and daughters were being born, 2 some of the heavenly beings saw that these young women were beautiful, so they took the ones they liked. 3 Then the Lord said, "I will not allow people to live forever; they are mortal. From now on they will live no longer than 120 years." 4 In those days, and even later, there were giants on the earth who were descendants of human women and the heavenly beings. They were the great heroes and famous men of long ago. 5 When the Lord saw how wicked everyone on earth was and how evil their thoughts were all the time, 6 he was sorry that he had ever made them and put them on the earth. He was so filled with regret 7 that he said, "I will wipe out these people I have created, and also the animals and the birds, because I am sorry that I made any of them." 8 But the Lord was pleased with Noah. 9 This is the story of Noah. He had three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth. Noah had no faults and was the only good man of his time. He lived in fellowship with God, 10 11 but everyone else was evil in God's sight, and violence had spread everywhere. 12 God looked at the world and saw that it was evil, for the people were all living evil lives. 13 God said to Noah, "I have decided to put an end to all people. I will destroy them completely, because the world is full of their violent deeds. 14 Build a boat for yourself out of good timber; make rooms in it and cover it with tar inside and out. 15 Make it 450 feet long, 75 feet wide, and 45 feet high. 16 Make a roof for the boat and leave a space of 18 inches between the roof and the sides. Build it with three decks and put a door in the side. 17 I am going to send a flood on the earth to destroy every living being. Everything on the earth will die, 18 but I will make a covenant with you. Go into the boat with your wife, your sons, and their wives. 19 Take into the boat with you a male and a female of every kind of animal and of every kind of bird, in order to keep them alive. 20 21 Take along all kinds of food for you and for them." 22 Noah did everything that God commanded.

Genesis 7:1 The Lord said to Noah, "Go into the boat with your whole family; I have found that you are the only one in all the world who does what is right. 2 Take with you seven pairs of each kind of ritually clean animal, but only one pair of each kind of unclean animal. 3 Take also seven pairs of each kind of bird. Do this so that every kind of animal and bird will be kept alive to reproduce again on the earth. 4 Seven days from now I am going to send rain that will fall for forty days and nights, in order to destroy all the living beings that I have made." 5 And Noah did everything that the Lord commanded. 6 Noah was six hundred years old when the flood came on the earth. 7 He and his wife, and his sons and their wives, went into the boat to escape the flood. 8 A male and a female of every kind of animal and bird, whether ritually clean or unclean, 9 went into the boat with Noah, as God had commanded. 10 Seven days later the flood came. 11 When Noah was six hundred years old, on the seventeenth day of the second month all the outlets of the vast body of water beneath the earth burst open, all the floodgates of the sky were opened, 12 and rain fell on the earth for forty days and nights. 13 On that same day Noah and his wife went into the boat with their three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth, and their wives. 14 With them went every kind of animal, domestic and wild, large and small, and every kind of bird. 15 A male and a female of each kind of living being went into the boat with Noah, 16 as God had commanded. Then the Lord shut the door behind Noah. 17 The flood continued for forty days, and the water became deep enough for the boat to float. 18 The water became deeper, and the boat drifted on the surface. 19 It became so deep that it covered the highest mountains; 20 it went on rising until it was about twenty-five feet above the tops of the mountains. 21 Every living being on the earth died - every bird, every animal, and every person. 22 Everything on earth that breathed died. 23 The Lord destroyed all living beings on the earth - human beings, animals, and birds. The only ones left were Noah and those who were with him in the boat. 24 The water did not start going down for a hundred and fifty days.

Genesis 8:1 God had not forgotten Noah and all the animals with him in the boat; he caused a wind to blow, and the water started going down. 2 The outlets of the water beneath the earth and the floodgates of the sky were closed. The rain stopped, 3 and the water gradually went down for 150 days. 4 On the seventeenth day of the seventh month the boat came to rest on a mountain in the Ararat range. 5 The water kept going down, and on the first day of the tenth month the tops of the mountains appeared. 6 After forty days Noah opened a window 7 and sent out a raven. It did not come back, but kept flying around until the water was completely gone. 8 Meanwhile, Noah sent out a dove to see if the water had gone down, 9 but since the water still covered all the land, the dove did not find a place to light. It flew back to the boat, and Noah reached out and took it in. 10 He waited another seven days and sent out the dove again. 11 It returned to him in the evening with a fresh olive leaf in its beak. So Noah knew that the water had gone down. 12 Then he waited another seven days and sent out the dove once more; this time it did not come back. 13 When Noah was 601 years old, on the first day of the first month, the water was gone. Noah removed the covering of the boat, looked around, and saw that the ground was getting dry. 14 By the twenty-seventh day of the second month the earth was completely dry. 15 God said to Noah, 16 "Go out of the boat with your wife, your sons, and their wives. 17 Take all the birds and animals out with you, so that they may reproduce and spread over all the earth." 18 So Noah went out of the boat with his wife, his sons, and their wives. 19 All the animals and birds went out of the boat in groups of their own kind. 20 Noah built an altar to the Lord; he took one of each kind of ritually clean animal and bird, and burned them whole as a sacrifice on the altar. 21 The odor of the sacrifice pleased the Lord, and he said to himself, "Never again will I put the earth under a curse because of what people do; I know that from the time they are young their thoughts are evil. Never again will I destroy all living beings, as I have done this time. 22 As long as the world exists, there will be a time for planting and a time for harvest. There will always be cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night."

Genesis 9:1 God blessed Noah and his sons and said, "Have many children, so that your descendants will live all over the earth. 2 All the animals, birds, and fish will live in fear of you. They are all placed under your power. 3 Now you can eat them, as well as green plants; I give them all to you for food. 4 The one thing you must not eat is meat with blood still in it; I forbid this because the life is in the blood. 5 If anyone takes human life, he will be punished. I will punish with death any animal that takes a human life. 6 Human beings were made like God, so whoever murders one of them will be killed by someone else. 7 "You must have many children, so that your descendants will live all over the earth." 8 God said to Noah and his sons, 9 "I am now making my covenant with you and with your descendants, 10 and with all living beings - all birds and all animals - everything that came out of the boat with you. 11 With these words I make my covenant with you: I promise that never again will all living beings be destroyed by a flood; never again will a flood destroy the earth. 12 As a sign of this everlasting covenant which I am making with you and with all living beings, 13 I am putting my bow in the clouds. It will be the sign of my covenant with the world. 14 Whenever I cover the sky with clouds and the rainbow appears, 15 I will remember my promise to you and to all the animals that a flood will never again destroy all living beings. 16 When the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between me and all living beings on earth. 17 That is the sign of the promise which I am making to all living beings." 18 The sons of Noah who went out of the boat were Shem, Ham, and Japheth. (Ham was the father of Canaan.) 19 These three sons of Noah were the ancestors of all the people on earth. 20 Noah, who was a farmer, was the first man to plant a vineyard. 21 After he drank some of the wine, he became drunk, took off his clothes, and lay naked in his tent. 22 When Ham, the father of Canaan, saw that his father was naked, he went out and told his two brothers. 23 Then Shem and Japheth took a robe and held it behind them on their shoulders. They walked backward into the tent and covered their father, keeping their faces turned away so as not to see him naked. 24 When Noah sobered up and learned what his youngest son had done to him, 25 he said, "A curse on Canaan! He will be a slave to his brothers. 26 Give praise to the Lord, the God of Shem! Canaan will be the slave of Shem. 27 May God cause Japheth to increase! May his descendants live with the people of Shem! Canaan will be the slave of Japheth." 28 After the flood Noah lived 350 years 29 and died at the age of 950.

Genesis 10:1 These are the descendants of Noah's sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth. These three had sons after the flood. 2 The sons of Japheth - Gomer, Magog, Madai, Javan, Tubal, Meshech, and Tiras - were the ancestors of the peoples who bear their names. 3 The descendants of Gomer were the people of Ashkenaz, Riphath, and Togarmah. 4 The descendants of Javan were the people of Elishah, Spain, Cyprus, and Rhodes; 5 they were the ancestors of the people who live along the coast and on the islands. These are the descendants of Japheth, living in their different tribes and countries, each group speaking its own language. 6 The sons of Ham - Cush, Egypt, Libya, and Canaan - were the ancestors of the peoples who bear their names. 7 The descendants of Cush were the people of Seba, Havilah, Sabtah, Raamah, and Sabteca. The descendants of Raamah were the people of Sheba and Dedan. 8 Cush had a son named Nimrod, who became the world's first great conqueror. 9 By the Lord's help he was a great hunter, and that is why people say, "May the Lord make you as great a hunter as Nimrod!" 10 At first his kingdom included Babylon, Erech, and Accad, all three of them in Babylonia. 11 From that land he went to Assyria and built the cities of Nineveh, Rehoboth Ir, Calah, 12 and Resen, which is between Nineveh and the great city of Calah. 13 The descendants of Egypt were the people of Lydia, Anam, Lehab, Naphtuh, 14 Pathrus, Casluh, and of Crete, from whom the Philistines are descended. 15 Canaan's sons - Sidon, the oldest, and Heth - were the ancestors of the peoples who bear their names. 16 Canaan was also the ancestor of the Jebusites, the Amorites, the Girgashites, 17 the Hivites, the Arkites, the Sinites, 18 the Arvadites, the Zemarites, and the Hamathites. The different tribes of the Canaanites spread out, 19 until the Canaanite borders reached from Sidon southward to Gerar near Gaza, and eastward to Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboiim near Lasha. 20 These are the descendants of Ham, living in their different tribes and countries, each group speaking its own language. 21 Shem, the older brother of Japheth, was the ancestor of all the Hebrews. 22 Shem's sons - Elam, Asshur, Arpachshad, Lud, and Aram - were the ancestors of the peoples who bear their names. 23 The descendants of Aram were the people of Uz, Hul, Gether, and Meshek. 24 Arpachshad was the father of Shelah, who was the father of Eber. 25 Eber had two sons: one was named Peleg, because during his time the people of the world were divided; and the other was named Joktan. 26 The descendants of Joktan were the people of Almodad, Sheleph, Hazarmaveth, Jerah, 27 Hadoram, Uzal, Diklah, 28 Obal, Abimael, Sheba, 29 Ophir, Havilah, and Jobab. All of them were descended from Joktan. 30 The land in which they lived extended from Mesha to Sephar in the eastern hill country. 31 These are the descendants of Shem, living in their different tribes and countries, each group speaking its own language. 32 All these peoples are the descendants of Noah, nation by nation, according to their different lines of descent. After the flood all the nations of the earth were descended from the sons of Noah.

Genesis 11:1 At first, the people of the whole world had only one language and used the same words. 2 As they wandered about in the East, they came to a plain in Babylonia and settled there. 3 They said to one another, "Come on! Let's make bricks and bake them hard." So they had bricks to build with and tar to hold them together. 4 They said, "Now let's build a city with a tower that reaches the sky, so that we can make a name for ourselves and not be scattered all over the earth." 5 Then the Lord came down to see the city and the tower which they had built, 6 and he said, "Now then, these are all one people and they speak one language; this is just the beginning of what they are going to do. Soon they will be able to do anything they want! 7 Let us go down and mix up their language so that they will not understand each other." 8 So the Lord scattered them all over the earth, and they stopped building the city. 9 The city was called Babylon, because there the Lord mixed up the language of all the people, and from there he scattered them all over the earth. 10 These are the descendants of Shem. Two years after the flood, when Shem was 100 years old, he had a son, Arpachshad. 11 After that, he lived another 500 years and had other children. 12 When Arpachshad was 35 years old, he had a son, Shelah; 13 after that, he lived another 403 years and had other children. 14 When Shelah was 30 years old, he had a son, Eber; 15 after that, he lived another 403 years and had other children. 16 When Eber was 34 years old, he had a son, Peleg; 17 after that, he lived another 430 years and had other children. 18 When Peleg was 30 years old, he had a son, Reu; 19 after that, he lived another 209 years and had other children. 20 When Reu was 32 years old, he had a son, Serug; 21 after that, he lived another 207 years and had other children. 22 When Serug was 30 years old, he had a son, Nahor; 23 after that, he lived another 200 years and had other children. 24 When Nahor was 29 years old, he had a son, Terah; 25 after that, he lived another 119 years and had other children. 26 After Terah was 70 years old, he became the father of Abram, Nahor, and Haran. 27 These are the descendants of Terah, who was the father of Abram, Nahor, and Haran. Haran was the father of Lot, 28 and Haran died in his hometown of Ur in Babylonia, while his father was still living. 29 Abram married Sarai, and Nahor married Milcah, the daughter of Haran, who was also the father of Iscah. 30 Sarai was not able to have children. 31 Terah took his son Abram, his grandson Lot, who was the son of Haran, and his daughter-in-law Sarai, Abram's wife, and with them he left the city of Ur in Babylonia to go to the land of Canaan. They went as far as Haran and settled there. 32 Terah died there at the age of 205.

184-Exodus 19:1 The people of Israel left Rephidim, and on the first day of the third month after they had left Egypt they came to the desert of Sinai. There they set up camp at the foot of Mount Sinai, 3 and Moses went up the mountain to meet with God. The Lord called to him from the mountain and told him to say to the Israelites, Jacob's descendants: 4 "You saw what I, the Lord, did to the Egyptians and how I carried you as an eagle carries her young on her wings, and brought you here to me. 5 Now, if you will obey me and keep my covenant, you will be my own people. The whole earth is mine, but you will be my chosen people, 6 a people dedicated to me alone, and you will serve me as priests." 7 So Moses went down and called the leaders of the people together and told them everything that the Lord had commanded him. 8 Then all the people answered together, "We will do everything that the Lord has said," and Moses reported this to the Lord. 9 The Lord said to Moses, "I will come to you in a thick cloud, so that the people will hear me speaking with you and will believe you from now on." Moses told the Lord what the people had answered, 10 and the Lord said to him, "Go to the people and tell them to spend today and tomorrow purifying themselves for worship. They must wash their clothes 11 and be ready the day after tomorrow. On that day I will come down on Mount Sinai, where all the people can see me. 12 Mark a boundary around the mountain that the people must not cross, and tell them not to go up the mountain or even get near it. If any of you set foot on it, you are to be put to death; 13 you must either be stoned or shot with arrows, without anyone touching you. This applies to both people and animals; they must be put to death. But when the trumpet is blown, then the people are to go up to the mountain." 14 Then Moses came down the mountain and told the people to get ready for worship. So they washed their clothes, 15 and Moses told them, "Be ready by the day after tomorrow and don't have sexual intercourse in the meantime." 16 On the morning of the third day there was thunder and lightning, a thick cloud appeared on the mountain, and a very loud trumpet blast was heard. All the people in the camp trembled with fear. 17 Moses led them out of the camp to meet God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain. 18 All of Mount Sinai was covered with smoke, because the Lord had come down on it in fire. The smoke went up like the smoke of a furnace, and all the people trembled violently. 19 The sound of the trumpet became louder and louder. Moses spoke, and God answered him with thunder. 20 The Lord came down on the top of Mount Sinai and called Moses to the top of the mountain. Moses went up 21 and the Lord said to him, "Go down and warn the people not to cross the boundary to come and look at me; if they do, many of them will die. 22 Even the priests who come near me must purify themselves, or I will punish them." 23 Moses said to the Lord, "The people cannot come up, because you commanded us to consider the mountain sacred and to mark a boundary around it." 24 The Lord replied, "Go down and bring Aaron back with you. But the priests and the people must not cross the boundary to come up to me, or I will punish them." 25 Moses then went down to the people and told them what the Lord had said.

Exodus 20:1 God spoke, and these were his words: 2 "I am the Lord your God who brought you out of Egypt, where you were slaves. 3 "Worship no god but me. 4 "Do not make for yourselves images of anything in heaven or on earth or in the water under the earth. 5 Do not bow down to any idol or worship it, because I am the Lord your God and I tolerate no rivals. I bring punishment on those who hate me and on their descendants down to the third and fourth generation. 6 But I show my love to thousands of generations of those who love me and obey my laws. 7 "Do not use my name for evil purposes, for I, the Lord your God, will punish anyone who misuses my name. 8 "Observe the Sabbath and keep it holy. 9 You have six days in which to do your work, 10 but the seventh day is a day of rest dedicated to me. On that day no one is to work - neither you, your children, your slaves, your animals, nor the foreigners who live in your country. 11 In six days I, the Lord, made the earth, the sky, the seas, and everything in them, but on the seventh day I rested. That is why I, the Lord, blessed the Sabbath and made it holy. 12 "Respect your father and your mother, so that you may live a long time in the land that I am giving you. 13 "Do not commit murder. 14 "Do not commit adultery. 15 "Do not steal. 16 "Do not accuse anyone falsely. 17 "Do not desire another man's house; do not desire his wife, his slaves, his cattle, his donkeys, or anything else that he owns." 18 When the people heard the thunder and the trumpet blast and saw the lightning and the smoking mountain, they trembled with fear and stood a long way off. 19 They said to Moses, "If you speak to us, we will listen; but we are afraid that if God speaks to us, we will die." 20 Moses replied, "Don't be afraid; God has only come to test you and make you keep on obeying him, so that you will not sin." 21 But the people continued to stand a long way off, and only Moses went near the dark cloud where God was. 22 The Lord commanded Moses to tell the Israelites: "You have seen how I, the Lord, have spoken to you from heaven. 23 Do not make for yourselves gods of silver or gold to be worshiped in addition to me. 24 Make an altar of earth for me, and on it sacrifice your sheep and your cattle as offerings to be completely burned and as fellowship offerings. In every place that I set aside for you to worship me, I will come to you and bless you. 25 If you make an altar of stone for me, do not build it out of cut stones, because when you use a chisel on stones, you make them unfit for my use. 26 Do not build an altar for me with steps leading up to it; if you do, you will expose yourselves as you go up the steps.

185-Genesis 11:1 At first, the people of the whole world had only one language and used the same words. 2 As they wandered about in the East, they came to a plain in Babylonia and settled there. 3 They said to one another, "Come on! Let's make bricks and bake them hard." So they had bricks to build with and tar to hold them together. 4 They said, "Now let's build a city with a tower that reaches the sky, so that we can make a name for ourselves and not be scattered all over the earth." 5 Then the Lord came down to see the city and the tower which they had built, 6 and he said, "Now then, these are all one people and they speak one language; this is just the beginning of what they are going to do. Soon they will be able to do anything they want! 7 Let us go down and mix up their language so that they will not understand each other." 8 So the Lord scattered them all over the earth, and they stopped building the city. 9 The city was called Babylon, because there the Lord mixed up the language of all the people, and from there he scattered them all over the earth.

186-Exodus 32:1 When the people saw that Moses had not come down from the mountain but was staying there a long time, they gathered around Aaron and said to him, "We do not know what has happened to this man Moses, who led us out of Egypt; so make us a god to lead us." 2 Aaron said to them, "Take off the gold earrings which your wives, your sons, and your daughters are wearing, and bring them to me." 3 So all the people took off their gold earrings and brought them to Aaron. 4 He took the earrings, melted them, poured the gold into a mold, and made a gold bull-calf. The people said, "Israel, this is our god, who led us out of Egypt!" 5 Then Aaron built an altar in front of the gold bull-calf and announced, "Tomorrow there will be a festival to honor the Lord." 6 Early the next morning they brought some animals to burn as sacrifices and others to eat as fellowship offerings. The people sat down to a feast, which turned into an orgy of drinking and sex. 7 The Lord said to Moses, "Hurry and go back down, because your people, whom you led out of Egypt, have sinned and rejected me. 8 They have already left the way that I commanded them to follow; they have made a bull-calf out of melted gold and have worshiped it and offered sacrifices to it. They are saying that this is their god, who led them out of Egypt. 9 I know how stubborn these people are. 10 Now, don't try to stop me. I am angry with them, and I am going to destroy them. Then I will make you and your descendants into a great nation." 11 But Moses pleaded with the Lord his God and said, "Lord, why should you be so angry with your people, whom you rescued from Egypt with great might and power? 12 Why should the Egyptians be able to say that you led your people out of Egypt, planning to kill them in the mountains and destroy them completely? Stop being angry; change your mind and do not bring this disaster on your people. 13 Remember your servants Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Remember the solemn promise you made to them to give them as many descendants as there are stars in the sky and to give their descendants all that land you promised would be their possession forever." 14 So the Lord changed his mind and did not bring on his people the disaster he had threatened. 15 Moses went back down the mountain, carrying the two stone tablets with the commandments written on both sides. 16 God himself had made the tablets and had engraved the commandments on them. 17 Joshua heard the people shouting and said to Moses, "I hear the sound of battle in the camp." 18 Moses said, "That doesn't sound like a shout of victory or a cry of defeat; it's the sound of singing." 19 When Moses came close enough to the camp to see the bull-calf and to see the people dancing, he became furious. There at the foot of the mountain, he threw down the tablets he was carrying and broke them. 20 He took the bull-calf which they had made, melted it, ground it into fine powder, and mixed it with water. Then he made the people of Israel drink it. 21 He said to Aaron, "What did these people do to you, that you have made them commit such a terrible sin?" 22 Aaron answered, "Don't be angry with me; you know how determined these people are to do evil. 23 They said to me, "We don't know what has happened to this man Moses, who brought us out of Egypt; so make us a god to lead us.' 24 I asked them to bring me their gold ornaments, and those who had any took them off and gave them to me. I threw the ornaments into the fire and out came this bull-calf!" 25 Moses saw that Aaron had let the people get out of control and make fools of themselves in front of their enemies. 26 So he stood at the gate of the camp and shouted, "Everyone who is on the Lord's side come over here!" So all the Levites gathered around him, 27 and he said to them, "The Lord God of Israel commands every one of you to put on your sword and go through the camp from this gate to the other and kill your brothers, your friends, and your neighbors." 28 The Levites obeyed, and killed about three thousand men that day. 29 Moses said to the Levites, "Today you have consecrated yourselves as priests in the service of the Lord by killing your sons and brothers, so the Lord has given you his blessing." 30 The next day Moses said to the people, "You have committed a terrible sin. But now I will again go up the mountain to the Lord; perhaps I can obtain forgiveness for your sin." 31 Moses then returned to the Lord and said, "These people have committed a terrible sin. They have made a god out of gold and worshiped it. 32 Please forgive their sin; but if you won't, then remove my name from the book in which you have written the names of your people." 33 The Lord answered, "It is those who have sinned against me whose names I will remove from my book. 34 Now go, lead the people to the place I told you about. Remember that my angel will guide you, but the time is coming when I will punish these people for their sin." 35 So the Lord sent a disease on the people, because they had caused Aaron to make the gold bull-calf.

187-James 2:19 Do you believe that there is only one God? Good! The demons also believe - and tremble with fear.

188-Hebrews 11:17 It was faith that made Abraham offer his son Isaac as a sacrifice when God put Abraham to the test. Abraham was the one to whom God had made the promise, yet he was ready to offer his only son as a sacrifice. 18 God had said to him, "It is through Isaac that you will have the descendants I promised." 19 Abraham reckoned that God was able to raise Isaac from death - and, so to speak, Abraham did receive Isaac back from death.

189-Patriarchs and Prophets, pp. 154 Through type and promise God “preached before the gospel unto Abraham.” Galatians 3:8. And the patriarch’s faith was fixed upon the Redeemer to come. Said Christ to the Jews. “Your father Abraham rejoiced that he should see My day; and he saw it, and was glad.” John 8:56, R.V., margin. The ram offered in the place of Isaac represented the Son of God, who was to be sacrificed in our stead. When man was doomed to death by transgression of the law of God, the Father, looking upon His Son, said to the sinner, “Live: I have found a ransom.” {PP 154.1}

It was to impress Abraham’s mind with the reality of the gospel, as well as to test his faith, that God commanded him to slay his son. The agony which he endured during the dark days of that fearful trial was permitted that he might understand from his own experience something of the greatness of the sacrifice made by the infinite God for man’s redemption. No other test could have caused Abraham such torture of soul as did the offering of his son. God gave His Son to a death of agony and shame. The angels who witnessed the humiliation and soul anguish of the Son of God were not permitted to interpose, as in the case of Isaac. There was no voice to cry, “It is enough.” To save the fallen race, the King of glory yielded up His life. What stronger proof can be given of the infinite compassion and love of God? “He that spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?” Romans 8:32. {PP 154.2}

The sacrifice required of Abraham was not alone for his own good, nor solely for the benefit of succeeding generations; but it was also for the instruction of the sinless intelligences of heaven and of other worlds. The field of the controversy between Christ and Satan—the field on which the plan of redemption is wrought out—is the lesson book of the universe. Because Abraham had shown a lack of faith in God’s promises, Satan had accused him before the angels and before God of having failed to comply with the conditions of the covenant, and as unworthy of its blessings. God desired to prove the loyalty of His servant before all heaven, to demonstrate that nothing less than perfect obedience can be accepted, and to open more fully before them the plan of salvation. {PP 154.3}

Heavenly beings were witnesses of the scene as the faith of Abraham and the submission of Isaac were tested. The trial was far more severe than that which had been brought upon Adam. Compliance with the prohibition laid upon our first parents involved no suffering, but the command to Abraham demanded the most agonizing sacrifice. All heaven beheld with wonder and admiration Abraham’s unfaltering obedience. All heaven applauded his fidelity. Satan’s accusations were shown to be false. God declared to His servant, “Now I know that thou fearest God [notwithstanding Satan’s charges], seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from Me.” God’s covenant, confirmed to Abraham by an oath before the intelligences of other worlds, testified that obedience will be rewarded. {PP 155.1}

It had been difficult even for the angels to grasp the mystery of redemption—to comprehend that the Commander of heaven, the Son of God, must die for guilty man. When the command was given to Abraham to offer up his son, the interest of all heavenly beings was enlisted. With intense earnestness they watched each step in the fulfillment of this command. When to Isaac’s question, “Where is the lamb for a burnt offering?” Abraham made answer, “God will provide Himself a lamb;” and when the father’s hand was stayed as he was about to slay his son, and the ram which God had provided was offered in the place of Isaac—then light was shed upon the mystery of redemption, and even the angels understood more clearly the wonderful provision that God had made for man’s salvation. 1 Peter 1:12. {PP 155.2}

190-Genesis 3:9 But the Lord God called out to the man, "Where are you?"

Genesis 11:5 Then the Lord came down to see the city and the tower which they had built,

Genesis 18:20 Then the Lord said to Abraham, "There are terrible accusations against Sodom and Gomorrah, and their sin is very great.

191-Psalms 139:1 Lord, you have examined me and you know me. 2 You know everything I do; from far away you understand all my thoughts. 3 You see me, whether I am working or resting; you know all my actions. 4 Even before I speak, you already know what I will say. 5 You are all around me on every side; you protect me with your power. 6 Your knowledge of me is too deep; it is beyond my understanding. 7 Where could I go to escape from you? Where could I get away from your presence? 8 If I went up to heaven, you would be there; if I lay down in the world of the dead, you would be there. 9 If I flew away beyond the east or lived in the farthest place in the west, 10 you would be there to lead me, you would be there to help me. 11 I could ask the darkness to hide me or the light around me to turn into night, 12 but even darkness is not dark for you, and the night is as bright as the day. Darkness and light are the same to you. 13 You created every part of me; you put me together in my mother's womb. 14 I praise you because you are to be feared; all you do is strange and wonderful. I know it with all my heart. 15 When my bones were being formed, carefully put together in my mother's womb, when I was growing there in secret, you knew that I was there - 16 you saw me before I was born. The days allotted to me had all been recorded in your book, before any of them ever began. 17 O God, how difficult I find your thoughts; how many of them there are! 18 If I counted them, they would be more than the grains of sand. When I awake, I am still with you.

192-Job 37:1 Lord, you have examined me and you know me. 2 You know everything I do; from far away you understand all my thoughts. 3 You see me, whether I am working or resting; you know all my actions. 4 Even before I speak, you already know what I will say. 5 You are all around me on every side; you protect me with your power. 6 Your knowledge of me is too deep; it is beyond my understanding. 7 Where could I go to escape from you? Where could I get away from your presence? 8 If I went up to heaven, you would be there; if I lay down in the world of the dead, you would be there. 9 If I flew away beyond the east or lived in the farthest place in the west, 10 you would be there to lead me, you would be there to help me. 11 I could ask the darkness to hide me or the light around me to turn into night, 12 but even darkness is not dark for you, and the night is as bright as the day. Darkness and light are the same to you. 13 You created every part of me; you put me together in my mother's womb. 14 I praise you because you are to be feared; all you do is strange and wonderful. I know it with all my heart. 15 When my bones were being formed, carefully put together in my mother's womb, when I was growing there in secret, you knew that I was there - 16 you saw me before I was born. The days allotted to me had all been recorded in your book, before any of them ever began. 17 O God, how difficult I find your thoughts; how many of them there are! 18 If I counted them, they would be more than the grains of sand. When I awake, I am still with you.

193-1 John 3:20 If our conscience condemns us, we know that God is greater than our conscience and that he knows everything.

194-Psalms 139:7 Where could I go to escape from you? Where could I get away from your presence? 8 If I went up to heaven, you would be there; if I lay down in the world of the dead, you would be there. 9 If I flew away beyond the east or lived in the farthest place in the west, 10 you would be there to lead me, you would be there to help me. 11 I could ask the darkness to hide me or the light around me to turn into night, 12 but even darkness is not dark for you, and the night is as bright as the day. Darkness and light are the same to you.

195-Hebrews 4:13 There is nothing that can be hid from God; everything in all creation is exposed and lies open before his eyes. And it is to him that we must all give an account of ourselves.

196-1 Corinthians 10:4 and drank the same spiritual drink. They drank from the spiritual rock that went with them; and that rock was Christ himself.

197-Genesis 18:22 Then the two men left and went on toward Sodom, but the Lord remained with Abraham. 23 Abraham approached the Lord and asked, "Are you really going to destroy the innocent with the guilty? 24 If there are fifty innocent people in the city, will you destroy the whole city? Won't you spare it in order to save the fifty? 25 Surely you won't kill the innocent with the guilty. That's impossible! You can't do that. If you did, the innocent would be punished along with the guilty. That is impossible. The judge of all the earth has to act justly." 26 The Lord answered, "If I find fifty innocent people in Sodom, I will spare the whole city for their sake." 27 Abraham spoke again: "Please forgive my boldness in continuing to speak to you, Lord. I am only a man and have no right to say anything. 28 But perhaps there will be only forty-five innocent people instead of fifty. Will you destroy the whole city because there are five too few?" The Lord answered, "I will not destroy the city if I find forty-five innocent people." 29 Abraham spoke again: "Perhaps there will be only forty." He replied, "I will not destroy it if there are forty." 30 Abraham said, "Please don't be angry, Lord, but I must speak again. What if there are only thirty?" He said, "I will not do it if I find thirty." 31 Abraham said, "Please forgive my boldness in continuing to speak to you, Lord. Suppose that only twenty are found?" He said, "I will not destroy the city if I find twenty." 32 Abraham said, "Please don't be angry, Lord, and I will speak only once more. What if only ten are found?" He said, "I will not destroy it if there are ten." 33 After he had finished speaking with Abraham, the Lord went away, and Abraham returned home.

198-Genesis 18:25 Surely you won't kill the innocent with the guilty. That's impossible! You can't do that. If you did, the innocent would be punished along with the guilty. That is impossible. The judge of all the earth has to act justly."

Genesis 15:6 Abram put his trust in the Lord, and because of this the Lord was pleased with him and accepted him.

199-2 Chronicles 20:7 You are our God. When your people Israel moved into this land, you drove out the people who were living here and gave the land to the descendants of Abraham, your friend, to be theirs forever.

200-Isaiah 41:8 "But you, Israel my servant, you are the people that I have chosen, the descendants of Abraham, my friend.

201-James 2:23 And the scripture came true that said, "Abraham believed God, and because of his faith God accepted him as righteous." And so Abraham was called God's friend.

202-Exodus 32:7 The Lord said to Moses, "Hurry and go back down, because your people, whom you led out of Egypt, have sinned and rejected me. 8 They have already left the way that I commanded them to follow; they have made a bull-calf out of melted gold and have worshiped it and offered sacrifices to it. They are saying that this is their god, who led them out of Egypt. 9 I know how stubborn these people are. 10 Now, don't try to stop me. I am angry with them, and I am going to destroy them. Then I will make you and your descendants into a great nation." 11 But Moses pleaded with the Lord his God and said, "Lord, why should you be so angry with your people, whom you rescued from Egypt with great might and power? 12 Why should the Egyptians be able to say that you led your people out of Egypt, planning to kill them in the mountains and destroy them completely? Stop being angry; change your mind and do not bring this disaster on your people. 13 Remember your servants Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Remember the solemn promise you made to them to give them as many descendants as there are stars in the sky and to give their descendants all that land you promised would be their possession forever." 14 So the Lord changed his mind and did not bring on his people the disaster he had threatened.

203-Acts 10:9 The next day, as they were on their way and coming near Joppa, Peter went up on the roof of the house about noon in order to pray. 10 He became hungry and wanted something to eat; while the food was being prepared, he had a vision. 11 He saw heaven opened and something coming down that looked like a large sheet being lowered by its four corners to the earth. 12 In it were all kinds of animals, reptiles, and wild birds. 13 A voice said to him, "Get up, Peter; kill and eat!" 14 But Peter said, "Certainly not, Lord! I have never eaten anything ritually unclean or defiled." 15 The voice spoke to him again, "Do not consider anything unclean that God has declared clean." 16 This happened three times, and then the thing was taken back up into heaven.

204-Genesis 17:17; 18:11-1517 Abraham bowed down with his face touching the ground, but he began to laugh when he thought, "Can a man have a child when he is a hundred years old? Can Sarah have a child at ninety?"

11 Abraham and Sarah were very old, and Sarah had stopped having her monthly periods. 12 So Sarah laughed to herself and said, "Now that I am old and worn out, can I still enjoy sex? And besides, my husband is old too." 13 Then the Lord asked Abraham, "Why did Sarah laugh and say, "Can I really have a child when I am so old?' 14 Is anything too hard for the Lord? As I said, nine months from now I will return, and Sarah will have a son." 15 Because Sarah was afraid, she denied it. "I didn't laugh," she said. "Yes, you did," he replied. "You laughed."

205-Genesis 12:10 But there was a famine in Canaan, and it was so bad that Abram went farther south to Egypt, to live there for a while. 11 When he was about to cross the border into Egypt, he said to his wife Sarai, "You are a beautiful woman. 12 When the Egyptians see you, they will assume that you are my wife, and so they will kill me and let you live. 13 Tell them that you are my sister; then because of you they will let me live and treat me well." 14 When he crossed the border into Egypt, the Egyptians did see that his wife was beautiful. 15 Some of the court officials saw her and told the king how beautiful she was; so she was taken to his palace. 16 Because of her the king treated Abram well and gave him flocks of sheep and goats, cattle, donkeys, slaves, and camels. 17 But because the king had taken Sarai, the Lord sent terrible diseases on him and on the people of his palace. 18 Then the king sent for Abram and asked him, "What have you done to me? Why didn't you tell me that she was your wife? 19 Why did you say that she was your sister, and let me take her as my wife? Here is your wife; take her and get out!" 20 The king gave orders to his men, so they took Abram and put him out of the country, together with his wife and everything he owned.

Genesis 20:1 Abraham moved from Mamre to the southern part of Canaan and lived between Kadesh and Shur. Later, while he was living in Gerar, 2 he said that his wife Sarah was his sister. So King Abimelech of Gerar had Sarah brought to him. 3 One night God appeared to him in a dream and said, "You are going to die, because you have taken this woman; she is already married." 4 But Abimelech had not come near her, and he said, "Lord, I am innocent! Would you destroy me and my people? 5 Abraham himself said that she was his sister, and she said the same thing. I did this with a clear conscience, and I have done no wrong." 6 God replied in the dream, "Yes, I know that you did it with a clear conscience; so I kept you from sinning against me and did not let you touch her. 7 But now, give the woman back to her husband. He is a prophet, and he will pray for you, so that you will not die. But if you do not give her back, I warn you that you are going to die, you and all your people." 8 Early the next morning Abimelech called all his officials and told them what had happened, and they were terrified. 9 Then Abimelech called Abraham and asked, "What have you done to us? What wrong have I done to you to make you bring this disaster on me and my kingdom? No one should ever do what you have done to me. 10 Why did you do it?" 11 Abraham answered, "I thought that there would be no one here who has reverence for God and that they would kill me to get my wife. 12 She really is my sister. She is the daughter of my father, but not of my mother, and I married her. 13 So when God sent me from my father's house into foreign lands, I said to her, "You can show how loyal you are to me by telling everyone that I am your brother.' "

206-Genesis 26:1 There was another famine in the land besides the earlier one during the time of Abraham. Isaac went to Abimelech, king of the Philistines, at Gerar. 2 The Lord had appeared to Isaac and had said, "Do not go to Egypt; stay in this land, where I tell you to stay. 3 Live here, and I will be with you and bless you. I am going to give all this territory to you and to your descendants. I will keep the promise I made to your father Abraham. 4 I will give you as many descendants as there are stars in the sky, and I will give them all this territory. All the nations will ask me to bless them as I have blessed your descendants. 5 I will bless you, because Abraham obeyed me and kept all my laws and commands." 6 So Isaac lived at Gerar. 7 When the men there asked about his wife, he said that she was his sister. He would not admit that she was his wife, because he was afraid that the men there would kill him to get Rebecca, who was very beautiful. 8 When Isaac had been there for some time, King Abimelech looked down from his window and saw Isaac and Rebecca making love. 9 Abimelech sent for Isaac and said, "So she is your wife! Why did you say she was your sister?" He answered, "I thought I would be killed if I said she was my wife." 10 "What have you done to us?" Abimelech said. "One of my men might easily have slept with your wife, and you would have been responsible for our guilt." 11 Abimelech warned all the people: "Anyone who mistreats this man or his wife will be put to death."

207-Genesis 22:1 Some time later God tested Abraham; he called to him, "Abraham!" And Abraham answered, "Yes, here I am!" 2 "Take your son," God said, "your only son, Isaac, whom you love so much, and go to the land of Moriah. There on a mountain that I will show you, offer him as a sacrifice to me." 3 Early the next morning Abraham cut some wood for the sacrifice, loaded his donkey, and took Isaac and two servants with him. They started out for the place that God had told him about. 4 On the third day Abraham saw the place in the distance. 5 Then he said to the servants, "Stay here with the donkey. The boy and I will go over there and worship, and then we will come back to you." 6 Abraham made Isaac carry the wood for the sacrifice, and he himself carried a knife and live coals for starting the fire. As they walked along together, 7 Isaac spoke up, "Father!" He answered, "Yes, my son?" Isaac asked, "I see that you have the coals and the wood, but where is the lamb for the sacrifice?" 8 Abraham answered, "God himself will provide one." And the two of them walked on together. 9 When they came to the place which God had told him about, Abraham built an altar and arranged the wood on it. He tied up his son and placed him on the altar, on top of the wood. 10 Then he picked up the knife to kill him. 11 But the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven, "Abraham, Abraham!" He answered, "Yes, here I am." 12 "Don't hurt the boy or do anything to him," he said. "Now I know that you honor and obey God, because you have not kept back your only son from him." 13 Abraham looked around and saw a ram caught in a bush by its horns. He went and got it and offered it as a burnt offering instead of his son. 14 Abraham named that place "The Lord Provides." And even today people say, "On the Lord's mountain he provides."

208-Hebrews 11:19 Abraham reckoned that God was able to raise Isaac from death - and, so to speak, Abraham did receive Isaac back from death.

209-Genesis 17:11 From now on you must circumcise every baby boy when he is eight days old, including slaves born in your homes and slaves bought from foreigners. This will show that there is a covenant between you and me.

210-Genesis 19:7 He said to them, "Friends, I beg you, don't do such a wicked thing!

211-Mal. 4:1 The Lord Almighty says, "The day is coming when all proud and evil people will burn like straw. On that day they will burn up, and there will be nothing left of them.

212-Ezekiel 28:6 "Now then, this is what I, the Sovereign Lord, am saying: Because you think you are as wise as a god, 7 I will bring ruthless enemies to attack you. They will destroy all the beautiful things you have acquired by skill and wisdom. 8 They will kill you and send you to a watery grave. 9 When they come to kill you, will you still claim that you are a god? When you face your murderers, you will be mortal and not at all divine. 10 You will die like a dog at the hand of godless foreigners. I, the Sovereign Lord, have given the command." 11 The Lord spoke to me again. 12 "Mortal man," he said, "grieve for the fate that is waiting for the king of Tyre. Tell him what I, the Sovereign Lord, am saying: You were once an example of perfection. How wise and handsome you were! 13 You lived in Eden, the garden of God, and wore gems of every kind: rubies and diamonds; topaz, beryl, carnelian, and jasper; sapphires, emeralds, and garnets. You had ornaments of gold. They were made for you on the day you were created. 14 I put a terrifying angel there to guard you. You lived on my holy mountain and walked among sparkling gems. 15 Your conduct was perfect from the day you were created until you began to do evil. 16 You were busy buying and selling, and this led you to violence and sin. So I forced you to leave my holy mountain, and the angel who guarded you drove you away from the sparkling gems. 17 You were proud of being handsome, and your fame made you act like a fool. Because of this I hurled you to the ground and left you as a warning to other kings. 18 You did such evil in buying and selling that your places of worship were corrupted. So I set fire to the city and burned it to the ground. All who look at you now see you reduced to ashes. 19 You are gone, gone forever, and all the nations that had come to know you are terrified, afraid that they will share your fate."

213-Psalms 37:10 Soon the wicked will disappear; you may look for them, but you won't find them;

214-Obadiah 16 My people have drunk a bitter cup of punishment on my sacred hill. But all the surrounding nations will drink a still more bitter cup of punishment; they will drink it all and vanish away.

215-Ephesians 4:18 and whose minds are in the dark. They have no part in the life that God gives, for they are completely ignorant and stubborn.

216-Prov. 8:36 Those who do not find me hurt themselves; anyone who hates me loves death."

217-Genesis 2:9 He made all kinds of beautiful trees grow there and produce good fruit. In the middle of the garden stood the tree that gives life and the tree that gives knowledge of what is good and what is bad.

Genesis 3:3 "except the tree in the middle of it. God told us not to eat the fruit of that tree or even touch it; if we do, we will die."

218-1 Corinthians 10:13 Every test that you have experienced is the kind that normally comes to people. But God keeps his promise, and he will not allow you to be tested beyond your power to remain firm; at the time you are put to the test, he will give you the strength to endure it, and so provide you with a way out.

219-Genesis 2:17 except the tree that gives knowledge of what is good and what is bad. You must not eat the fruit of that tree; if you do, you will die the same day."

220-Genesis 3:4 The snake replied, "That's not true; you will not die.

221-1 Timothy 2:14 And it was not Adam who was deceived; it was the woman who was deceived and broke God's law.

222-1BC 11068-11 (Genesis 2:9, 16, 17; Exodus 16:29). Sabbath, a Test of Loyalty—Every man has been placed on trial, as were Adam and Eve in Eden. As the tree of knowledge was placed in the midst of the garden of Eden, so the Sabbath command is placed in the midst of the decalogue. In regard to the fruit of the tree of knowledge, the restriction was made, “Ye shall not eat of it, ... lest ye die” [Genesis 3:3]. Of the Sabbath, God said, Ye shall not defile it, but keep it holy.... As the tree of knowledge was the test of Adam’s obedience, so the fourth command is the test that God has given to prove the loyalty of all His people. The experience of Adam is to be a warning to us so long as time shall last. It warns us not to receive any assurance from the mouth of men or of angels that will detract one jot or tittle from the sacred law of Jehovah (The Review and Herald, August 30, 1898). {1BC 1106.2}

223-OHC 343 I am the Lord your God; walk in my statutes, and keep my judgments, and do them; and hallow my sabbaths; and they shall be a sign between me and you, that ye may know that I am the Lord your God. Ezekiel 20:19, 20. {OHC 343.1}

The Sabbath was given to all mankind to commemorate the work of Creation. The great Jehovah, when He had laid the foundations of the earth, when he had dressed the whole world in its garb of beauty, and created all the wonders of the land and the sea, instituted the Sabbath day and made it holy. When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy, the Sabbath was set apart as God’s memorial. God sanctified and blessed the day in which he had rested from all His wondrous work.... {OHC 343.2}

As the tree of knowledge was placed in the midst of the Garden of Eden, so the Sabbath command is placed in the midst of the Decalogue. In regard to the fruit of the tree of knowledge, the restriction was made, “Ye shall not eat of it, ... lest ye die.” Genesis 3:3. Of the Sabbath God said, Ye shall not defile it, but keep it holy. “Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.” Exodus 20:8. As the tree of knowledge was the test of Adam’s obedience, so the fourth command is the test that God has given to prove the loyalty of all His people. {OHC 343.3}

The Sabbath is a token between God and His people. It is a holy day, given by the Creator to man as a day upon which to rest, and reflect upon sacred things. God designed it to be observed through every age as a perpetual covenant. It was to be regarded as a peculiar treasure, a trust to be carefully cherished. {OHC 343.4}

As we observe the Sabbath let us remember that it is the sign which heaven has given to man that he is accepted in the Beloved; that if he is obedient, he may enter the city of God, and partake of the fruit of the tree of life. As we refrain from labor on the seventh day, we testify to the world that we are on God’s side, and are striving to live in perfect conformity to His commandments. Thus we recognize as our sovereign the God who made the world in six days and rested on the seventh. {OHC 343.5}

The Sabbath is the clasp which unites God and His people. {OHC 343.6}

224-Genesis 2:9 He made all kinds of beautiful trees grow there and produce good fruit. In the middle of the garden stood the tree that gives life and the tree that gives knowledge of what is good and what is bad.

225-Genesis 2:17 except the tree that gives knowledge of what is good and what is bad. You must not eat the fruit of that tree; if you do, you will die the same day."

226-Romans 6:23 For sin pays its wage - death; but God's free gift is eternal life in union with Christ Jesus our Lord.

227-Genesis 3:4 The snake replied, "That's not true; you will not die.

228-Genesis 2:9 He made all kinds of beautiful trees grow there and produce good fruit. In the middle of the garden stood the tree that gives life and the tree that gives knowledge of what is good and what is bad.

229-Job 38:2 Who are you to question my wisdom with your ignorant, empty words? 3 Now stand up straight and answer the questions I ask you. 4 Were you there when I made the world? If you know so much, tell me about it. 5 Who decided how large it would be? Who stretched the measuring line over it? Do you know all the answers? 6 What holds up the pillars that support the earth? Who laid the cornerstone of the world? 7 In the dawn of that day the stars sang together, and the heavenly beings shouted for joy.

230-1 Corinthians 10:13 Every test that you have experienced is the kind that normally comes to people. But God keeps his promise, and he will not allow you to be tested beyond your power to remain firm; at the time you are put to the test, he will give you the strength to endure it, and so provide you with a way out.

231-Revelation 12:7 Then war broke out in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, who fought back with his angels;

232-Genesis 2:17 except the tree that gives knowledge of what is good and what is bad. You must not eat the fruit of that tree; if you do, you will die the same day."

233-Romans 6:21 What did you gain from doing the things that you are now ashamed of? The result of those things is death!

Romans 6:23 For sin pays its wage - death; but God's free gift is eternal life in union with Christ Jesus our Lord.

234-Genesis 2:9 He made all kinds of beautiful trees grow there and produce good fruit. In the middle of the garden stood the tree that gives life and the tree that gives knowledge of what is good and what is bad.

Genesis 2:17 except the tree that gives knowledge of what is good and what is bad. You must not eat the fruit of that tree; if you do, you will die the same day."

Genesis 3:1 Now the snake was the most cunning animal that the Lord God had made. The snake asked the woman, "Did God really tell you not to eat fruit from any tree in the garden?" 2 "We may eat the fruit of any tree in the garden," the woman answered, 3 "except the tree in the middle of it. God told us not to eat the fruit of that tree or even touch it; if we do, we will die." 4 The snake replied, "That's not true; you will not die. 5 God said that because he knows that when you eat it, you will be like God and know what is good and what is bad."

235-Romans 6:20 When you were the slaves of sin, you were free from righteousness.

Romans 6:23 For sin pays its wage - death; but God's free gift is eternal life in union with Christ Jesus our Lord.

236-1 Corinthians 10:13 Every test that you have experienced is the kind that normally comes to people. But God keeps his promise, and he will not allow you to be tested beyond your power to remain firm; at the time you are put to the test, he will give you the strength to endure it, and so provide you with a way out.

237-1 Timothy 4:14 Do not neglect the spiritual gift that is in you, which was given to you when the prophets spoke and the elders laid their hands on you.

238-1 John 4:18 There is no fear in love; perfect love drives out all fear. So then, love has not been made perfect in anyone who is afraid, because fear has to do with punishment.

239-Genesis 18:1 The Lord appeared to Abraham at the sacred trees of Mamre. As Abraham was sitting at the entrance of his tent during the hottest part of the day, 2 he looked up and saw three men standing there. As soon as he saw them, he ran out to meet them. Bowing down with his face touching the ground, 3 he said, "Sirs, please do not pass by my home without stopping; I am here to serve you. 4 Let me bring some water for you to wash your feet; you can rest here beneath this tree. 5 I will also bring a bit of food; it will give you strength to continue your journey. You have honored me by coming to my home, so let me serve you." They replied, "Thank you; we accept." 6 Abraham hurried into the tent and said to Sarah, "Quick, take a sack of your best flour, and bake some bread." 7 Then he ran to the herd and picked out a calf that was tender and fat, and gave it to a servant, who hurried to get it ready. 8 He took some cream, some milk, and the meat, and set the food before the men. There under the tree he served them himself, and they ate. 9 Then they asked him, "Where is your wife Sarah?" "She is there in the tent," he answered. 10 One of them said, "Nine months from now I will come back, and your wife Sarah will have a son." Sarah was behind him, at the door of the tent, listening. 11 Abraham and Sarah were very old, and Sarah had stopped having her monthly periods. 12 So Sarah laughed to herself and said, "Now that I am old and worn out, can I still enjoy sex? And besides, my husband is old too." 13 Then the Lord asked Abraham, "Why did Sarah laugh and say, "Can I really have a child when I am so old?' 14 Is anything too hard for the Lord? As I said, nine months from now I will return, and Sarah will have a son." 15 Because Sarah was afraid, she denied it. "I didn't laugh," she said. "Yes, you did," he replied. "You laughed." 16 Then the men left and went to a place where they could look down at Sodom, and Abraham went with them to send them on their way. 17 And the Lord said to himself, "I will not hide from Abraham what I am going to do. 18 His descendants will become a great and mighty nation, and through him I will bless all the nations. 19 I have chosen him in order that he may command his sons and his descendants to obey me and to do what is right and just. If they do, I will do everything for him that I have promised." 20 Then the Lord said to Abraham, "There are terrible accusations against Sodom and Gomorrah, and their sin is very great. 21 I must go down to find out whether or not the accusations which I have heard are true." 22 Then the two men left and went on toward Sodom, but the Lord remained with Abraham. 23 Abraham approached the Lord and asked, "Are you really going to destroy the innocent with the guilty? 24 If there are fifty innocent people in the city, will you destroy the whole city? Won't you spare it in order to save the fifty? 25 Surely you won't kill the innocent with the guilty. That's impossible! You can't do that. If you did, the innocent would be punished along with the guilty. That is impossible. The judge of all the earth has to act justly." 26 The Lord answered, "If I find fifty innocent people in Sodom, I will spare the whole city for their sake." 27 Abraham spoke again: "Please forgive my boldness in continuing to speak to you, Lord. I am only a man and have no right to say anything. 28 But perhaps there will be only forty-five innocent people instead of fifty. Will you destroy the whole city because there are five too few?" The Lord answered, "I will not destroy the city if I find forty-five innocent people." 29 Abraham spoke again: "Perhaps there will be only forty." He replied, "I will not destroy it if there are forty." 30 Abraham said, "Please don't be angry, Lord, but I must speak again. What if there are only thirty?" He said, "I will not do it if I find thirty." 31 Abraham said, "Please forgive my boldness in continuing to speak to you, Lord. Suppose that only twenty are found?" He said, "I will not destroy the city if I find twenty." 32 Abraham said, "Please don't be angry, Lord, and I will speak only once more. What if only ten are found?" He said, "I will not destroy it if there are ten." 33 After he had finished speaking with Abraham, the Lord went away, and Abraham returned home.

240-Genesis 17:17 Abraham bowed down with his face touching the ground, but he began to laugh when he thought, "Can a man have a child when he is a hundred years old? Can Sarah have a child at ninety?"

Genesis 18:10 One of them said, "Nine months from now I will come back, and your wife Sarah will have a son." Sarah was behind him, at the door of the tent, listening. 11 Abraham and Sarah were very old, and Sarah had stopped having her monthly periods. 12 So Sarah laughed to herself and said, "Now that I am old and worn out, can I still enjoy sex? And besides, my husband is old too." 13 Then the Lord asked Abraham, "Why did Sarah laugh and say, "Can I really have a child when I am so old?' 14 Is anything too hard for the Lord? As I said, nine months from now I will return, and Sarah will have a son." 15 Because Sarah was afraid, she denied it. "I didn't laugh," she said. "Yes, you did," he replied. "You laughed."

241-1 Kings 3:5 That night the Lord appeared to him in a dream and asked him, "What would you like me to give you?" 6 Solomon answered, "You always showed great love for my father David, your servant, and he was good, loyal, and honest in his relation with you. And you have continued to show him your great and constant love by giving him a son who today rules in his place. 7 O Lord God, you have let me succeed my father as king, even though I am very young and don't know how to rule. 8 Here I am among the people you have chosen to be your own, a people who are so many that they cannot be counted. 9 So give me the wisdom I need to rule your people with justice and to know the difference between good and evil. Otherwise, how would I ever be able to rule this great people of yours?"

242-2 Chronicles 1:7 That night God appeared to Solomon and asked, "What would you like me to give you?" 8 Solomon answered, "You always showed great love for my father David, and now you have let me succeed him as king. 9 O Lord God, fulfill the promise you made to my father. You have made me king over a people who are so many that they cannot be counted, 10 so give me the wisdom and knowledge I need to rule over them. Otherwise, how would I ever be able to rule this great people of yours?" 11 God replied to Solomon, "You have made the right choice. Instead of asking for wealth or treasure or fame or the death of your enemies or even for long life for yourself, you have asked for wisdom and knowledge so that you can rule my people, over whom I have made you king. 12 I will give you wisdom and knowledge. And in addition, I will give you more wealth, treasure, and fame than any king has ever had before or will ever have again."

243-Matthew 12:42 On the Judgment Day the Queen of Sheba will stand up and accuse you, because she traveled all the way from her country to listen to King Solomon's wise teaching; and I assure you that there is something here greater than Solomon!

244-Judges 13:25 And the Lord's power began to strengthen him while he was between Zorah and Eshtaol in the Camp of Dan.

Judges 16:28 Then Samson prayed, "Sovereign Lord, please remember me; please, God, give me my strength just this one time more, so that with this one blow I can get even with the Philistines for putting out my two eyes."

245-Genesis 3:1 Now the snake was the most cunning animal that the Lord God had made. The snake asked the woman, "Did God really tell you not to eat fruit from any tree in the garden?" 2 "We may eat the fruit of any tree in the garden," the woman answered, 3 "except the tree in the middle of it. God told us not to eat the fruit of that tree or even touch it; if we do, we will die." 4 The snake replied, "That's not true; you will not die. 5 God said that because he knows that when you eat it, you will be like God and know what is good and what is bad."

246-Job 1:1 There was a man named Job, living in the land of Uz, who worshiped God and was faithful to him. He was a good man, careful not to do anything evil. 2 He had seven sons and three daughters, 3 and owned seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, one thousand head of cattle, and five hundred donkeys. He also had a large number of servants and was the richest man in the East. 4 Job's sons used to take turns giving a feast, to which all the others would come, and they always invited their three sisters to join them. 5 The morning after each feast, Job would get up early and offer sacrifices for each of his children in order to purify them. He always did this because he thought that one of them might have sinned by insulting God unintentionally. 6 When the day came for the heavenly beings to appear before the Lord, Satan was there among them. 7 The Lord asked him, "What have you been doing?" Satan answered, "I have been walking here and there, roaming around the earth." 8 "Did you notice my servant Job?" the Lord asked. "There is no one on earth as faithful and good as he is. He worships me and is careful not to do anything evil." 9 Satan replied, "Would Job worship you if he got nothing out of it? 10 You have always protected him and his family and everything he owns. You bless everything he does, and you have given him enough cattle to fill the whole country. 11 But now suppose you take away everything he has - he will curse you to your face!" 12 "All right," the Lord said to Satan, "everything he has is in your power, but you must not hurt Job himself." So Satan left. 13 One day when Job's children were having a feast at the home of their oldest brother, 14 a messenger came running to Job. "We were plowing the fields with the oxen," he said, "and the donkeys were in a nearby pasture. 15 Suddenly the Sabeans attacked and stole them all. They killed every one of your servants except me. I am the only one who escaped to tell you." 16 Before he had finished speaking, another servant came and said, "Lightning struck the sheep and the shepherds and killed them all. I am the only one who escaped to tell you." 17 Before he had finished speaking, another servant came and said, "Three bands of Chaldean raiders attacked us, took away the camels, and killed all your servants except me. I am the only one who escaped to tell you." 18 Before he had finished speaking, another servant came and said, "Your children were having a feast at the home of your oldest son, 19 when a storm swept in from the desert. It blew the house down and killed them all. I am the only one who escaped to tell you." 20 Then Job got up and tore his clothes in grief. He shaved his head and threw himself face downward on the ground. 21 He said, "I was born with nothing, and I will die with nothing. The Lord gave, and now he has taken away. May his name be praised!" 22 In spite of everything that had happened, Job did not sin by blaming God.

Job 2:1 When the day came for the heavenly beings to appear before the Lord again, Satan was there among them. 2 The Lord asked him, "Where have you been?" Satan answered, "I have been walking here and there, roaming around the earth." 3 "Did you notice my servant Job?" the Lord asked. "There is no one on earth as faithful and good as he is. He worships me and is careful not to do anything evil. You persuaded me to let you attack him for no reason at all, but Job is still as faithful as ever." 4 Satan replied, "A person will give up everything in order to stay alive. 5 But now suppose you hurt his body - he will curse you to your face!" 6 So the Lord said to Satan, "All right, he is in your power, but you are not to kill him." 7 Then Satan left the Lord's presence and made sores break out all over Job's body. 8 Job went and sat by the garbage dump and took a piece of broken pottery to scrape his sores. 9 His wife said to him, "You are still as faithful as ever, aren't you? Why don't you curse God and die?" 10 Job answered, "You are talking nonsense! When God sends us something good, we welcome it. How can we complain when he sends us trouble?" Even in all this suffering Job said nothing against God. 11 Three of Job's friends were Eliphaz, from the city of Teman, Bildad, from the land of Shuah, and Zophar, from the land of Naamah. When they heard how much Job had been suffering, they decided to go and comfort him. 12 While they were still a long way off they saw Job, but did not recognize him. When they did, they began to weep and wail, tearing their clothes in grief and throwing dust into the air and on their heads. 13 Then they sat there on the ground with him for seven days and nights without saying a word, because they saw how much he was suffering.

247-Revelation 12:7 Then war broke out in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, who fought back with his angels; 8 but the dragon was defeated, and he and his angels were not allowed to stay in heaven any longer. 9 The huge dragon was thrown out - that ancient serpent, named the Devil, or Satan, that deceived the whole world. He was thrown down to earth, and all his angels with him. 10 Then I heard a loud voice in heaven saying, "Now God's salvation has come! Now God has shown his power as King! Now his Messiah has shown his authority! For the one who stood before our God and accused believers day and night has been thrown out of heaven. 11 They won the victory over him by the blood of the Lamb and by the truth which they proclaimed; and they were willing to give up their lives and die. 12 And so be glad, you heavens, and all you that live there! But how terrible for the earth and the sea! For the Devil has come down to you, and he is filled with rage, because he knows that he has only a little time left."

248-Isaiah 14:12 King of Babylon, bright morning star, you have fallen from heaven! In the past you conquered nations, but now you have been thrown to the ground. 13 You were determined to climb up to heaven and to place your throne above the highest stars. You thought you would sit like a king on that mountain in the north where the gods assemble. 14 You said you would climb to the tops of the clouds and be like the Almighty. 15 But instead, you have been brought down to the deepest part of the world of the dead.

249-Ezekiel 28:1 The Lord spoke to me. 2 "Mortal man," he said, "tell the ruler of Tyre what I, the Sovereign Lord, am saying to him: Puffed up with pride, you claim to be a god. You say that like a god you sit on a throne, surrounded by the seas. You may pretend to be a god, but, no, you are mortal, not divine. 3 You think you are wiser than Daniel, that no secret can be kept from you. 4 Your wisdom and skill made you rich with treasures of gold and silver. 5 You made clever business deals and kept on making profits. How proud you are of your wealth! 6 "Now then, this is what I, the Sovereign Lord, am saying: Because you think you are as wise as a god,

Ezekiel 28:12 "Mortal man," he said, "grieve for the fate that is waiting for the king of Tyre. Tell him what I, the Sovereign Lord, am saying: You were once an example of perfection. How wise and handsome you were! 13 You lived in Eden, the garden of God, and wore gems of every kind: rubies and diamonds; topaz, beryl, carnelian, and jasper; sapphires, emeralds, and garnets. You had ornaments of gold. They were made for you on the day you were created. 14 I put a terrifying angel there to guard you. You lived on my holy mountain and walked among sparkling gems. 15 Your conduct was perfect from the day you were created until you began to do evil.

250-1 Corinthians 4:9 For it seems to me that God has given the very last place to us apostles, like people condemned to die in public as a spectacle for the whole world of angels and of human beings.

251-Revelation 12:7 Then war broke out in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, who fought back with his angels; 8 but the dragon was defeated, and he and his angels were not allowed to stay in heaven any longer. 9 The huge dragon was thrown out - that ancient serpent, named the Devil, or Satan, that deceived the whole world. He was thrown down to earth, and all his angels with him. 10 Then I heard a loud voice in heaven saying, "Now God's salvation has come! Now God has shown his power as King! Now his Messiah has shown his authority! For the one who stood before our God and accused believers day and night has been thrown out of heaven. 11 They won the victory over him by the blood of the Lamb and by the truth which they proclaimed; and they were willing to give up their lives and die. 12 And so be glad, you heavens, and all you that live there! But how terrible for the earth and the sea! For the Devil has come down to you, and he is filled with rage, because he knows that he has only a little time left."

252-1BC 108127. Man, a New and Distinct Order—All heaven took a deep and joyful interest in the creation of the world and of man. Human beings were a new and distinct order. They were made “in the image of God,” and it was the Creator’s design that they should populate the earth (The Review and Herald, February 11, 1902). {1BC 1081.3}

253-Romans 4:3 The scripture says, "Abraham believed God, and because of his faith God accepted him as righteous."

254-Genesis 1:1 In the beginning, when God created the universe, 2 the earth was formless and desolate. The raging ocean that covered everything was engulfed in total darkness, and the Spirit of God was moving over the water. 3 Then God commanded, "Let there be light" - and light appeared. 4 God was pleased with what he saw. Then he separated the light from the darkness, 5 and he named the light "Day" and the darkness "Night." Evening passed and morning came - that was the first day. 6 Then God commanded, "Let there be a dome to divide the water and to keep it in two separate places" - and it was done. So God made a dome, and it separated the water under it from the water above it. 7 8 He named the dome "Sky." Evening passed and morning came - that was the second day. 9 Then God commanded, "Let the water below the sky come together in one place, so that the land will appear" - and it was done. 10 He named the land "Earth," and the water which had come together he named "Sea." And God was pleased with what he saw. 11 Then he commanded, "Let the earth produce all kinds of plants, those that bear grain and those that bear fruit" - and it was done. 12 So the earth produced all kinds of plants, and God was pleased with what he saw. 13 Evening passed and morning came - that was the third day. 14 Then God commanded, "Let lights appear in the sky to separate day from night and to show the time when days, years, and religious festivals begin; 15 they will shine in the sky to give light to the earth" - and it was done. 16 So God made the two larger lights, the sun to rule over the day and the moon to rule over the night; he also made the stars. 17 He placed the lights in the sky to shine on the earth, 18 to rule over the day and the night, and to separate light from darkness. And God was pleased with what he saw. 19 Evening passed and morning came - that was the fourth day. 20 Then God commanded, "Let the water be filled with many kinds of living beings, and let the air be filled with birds." 21 So God created the great sea monsters, all kinds of creatures that live in the water, and all kinds of birds. And God was pleased with what he saw. 22 He blessed them all and told the creatures that live in the water to reproduce and to fill the sea, and he told the birds to increase in number. 23 Evening passed and morning came - that was the fifth day. 24 Then God commanded, "Let the earth produce all kinds of animal life: domestic and wild, large and small" - and it was done. 25 So God made them all, and he was pleased with what he saw. 26 Then God said, "And now we will make human beings; they will be like us and resemble us. They will have power over the fish, the birds, and all animals, domestic and wild, large and small." 27 So God created human beings, making them to be like himself. He created them male and female, 28 blessed them, and said, "Have many children, so that your descendants will live all over the earth and bring it under their control. I am putting you in charge of the fish, the birds, and all the wild animals. 29 I have provided all kinds of grain and all kinds of fruit for you to eat; 30 but for all the wild animals and for all the birds I have provided grass and leafy plants for food" - and it was done. 31 God looked at everything he had made, and he was very pleased. Evening passed and morning came - that was the sixth day.

Genesis 2:1 And so the whole universe was completed. 2 By the seventh day God finished what he had been doing and stopped working. 3 He blessed the seventh day and set it apart as a special day, because by that day he had completed his creation and stopped working. 4 And that is how the universe was created. When the Lord God made the universe, 5 there were no plants on the earth and no seeds had sprouted, because he had not sent any rain, and there was no one to cultivate the land; 6 but water would come up from beneath the surface and water the ground. 7 Then the Lord God took some soil from the ground and formed a man out of it; he breathed life-giving breath into his nostrils and the man began to live. 8 Then the Lord God planted a garden in Eden, in the East, and there he put the man he had formed. 9 He made all kinds of beautiful trees grow there and produce good fruit. In the middle of the garden stood the tree that gives life and the tree that gives knowledge of what is good and what is bad. 10 A stream flowed in Eden and watered the garden; beyond Eden it divided into four rivers. 11 The first river is the Pishon; it flows around the country of Havilah 12 (Pure gold is found there and also rare perfume and precious stones.) 13 The second river is the Gihon; it flows around the country of Cush. 14 The third river is the Tigris, which flows east of Assyria, and the fourth river is the Euphrates. 15 Then the Lord God placed the man in the Garden of Eden to cultivate it and guard it. 16 He told him, "You may eat the fruit of any tree in the garden, 17 except the tree that gives knowledge of what is good and what is bad. You must not eat the fruit of that tree; if you do, you will die the same day." 18 Then the Lord God said, "It is not good for the man to live alone. I will make a suitable companion to help him." 19 So he took some soil from the ground and formed all the animals and all the birds. Then he brought them to the man to see what he would name them; and that is how they all got their names. 20 So the man named all the birds and all the animals; but not one of them was a suitable companion to help him. 21 Then the Lord God made the man fall into a deep sleep, and while he was sleeping, he took out one of the man's ribs and closed up the flesh. 22 He formed a woman out of the rib and brought her to him. 23 Then the man said, "At last, here is one of my own kind - Bone taken from my bone, and flesh from my flesh. "Woman' is her name because she was taken out of man." 24 That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united with his wife, and they become one. 25 The man and the woman were both naked, but they were not embarrassed.

255-Genesis 2:9 He made all kinds of beautiful trees grow there and produce good fruit. In the middle of the garden stood the tree that gives life and the tree that gives knowledge of what is good and what is bad.

Genesis 3:3 "except the tree in the middle of it. God told us not to eat the fruit of that tree or even touch it; if we do, we will die."

256-Genesis 2:17 except the tree that gives knowledge of what is good and what is bad. You must not eat the fruit of that tree; if you do, you will die the same day."

257-Revelation 12:7 Then war broke out in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, who fought back with his angels; 8 but the dragon was defeated, and he and his angels were not allowed to stay in heaven any longer. 9 The huge dragon was thrown out - that ancient serpent, named the Devil, or Satan, that deceived the whole world. He was thrown down to earth, and all his angels with him. 10 Then I heard a loud voice in heaven saying, "Now God's salvation has come! Now God has shown his power as King! Now his Messiah has shown his authority! For the one who stood before our God and accused believers day and night has been thrown out of heaven. 11 They won the victory over him by the blood of the Lamb and by the truth which they proclaimed; and they were willing to give up their lives and die. 12 And so be glad, you heavens, and all you that live there! But how terrible for the earth and the sea! For the Devil has come down to you, and he is filled with rage, because he knows that he has only a little time left."

258-1 Timothy 2:14 And it was not Adam who was deceived; it was the woman who was deceived and broke God's law.

259-Genesis 2:17 except the tree that gives knowledge of what is good and what is bad. You must not eat the fruit of that tree; if you do, you will die the same day."

260-Romans 3:25 God offered him, so that by his blood he should become the means by which people's sins are forgiven through their faith in him. God did this in order to demonstrate that he is righteous. In the past he was patient and overlooked people's sins; but in the present time he deals with their sins, in order to demonstrate his righteousness. In this way God shows that he himself is righteous and that he puts right everyone who believes in Jesus. 27 What, then, can we boast about? Nothing! And what is the reason for this? Is it that we obey the Law? No, but that we believe.

261-Genesis 2:17 except the tree that gives knowledge of what is good and what is bad. You must not eat the fruit of that tree; if you do, you will die the same day."

262-Matthew 18:21 Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, "Lord, if my brother keeps on sinning against me, how many times do I have to forgive him? Seven times?" 22 "No, not seven times," answered Jesus, "but seventy times seven, 23 because the Kingdom of heaven is like this. Once there was a king who decided to check on his servants' accounts. 24 He had just begun to do so when one of them was brought in who owed him millions of dollars. 25 The servant did not have enough to pay his debt, so the king ordered him to be sold as a slave, with his wife and his children and all that he had, in order to pay the debt. 26 The servant fell on his knees before the king. "Be patient with me,' he begged, "and I will pay you everything!' 27 The king felt sorry for him, so he forgave him the debt and let him go. 28 "Then the man went out and met one of his fellow servants who owed him a few dollars. He grabbed him and started choking him. "Pay back what you owe me!' he said. 29 His fellow servant fell down and begged him, "Be patient with me, and I will pay you back!' 30 But he refused; instead, he had him thrown into jail until he should pay the debt. 31 When the other servants saw what had happened, they were very upset and went to the king and told him everything. 32 So he called the servant in. "You worthless slave!' he said. "I forgave you the whole amount you owed me, just because you asked me to. 33 You should have had mercy on your fellow servant, just as I had mercy on you.' 34 The king was very angry, and he sent the servant to jail to be punished until he should pay back the whole amount." 35 And Jesus concluded, "That is how my Father in heaven will treat every one of you unless you forgive your brother from your heart."

263-Genesis 3:9 But the Lord God called out to the man, "Where are you?"

264-Genesis 11:5 Then the Lord came down to see the city and the tower which they had built,

265-Genesis 18:20 Then the Lord said to Abraham, "There are terrible accusations against Sodom and Gomorrah, and their sin is very great.

266-John 5:28 Do not be surprised at this; the time is coming when all the dead will hear his voice 29 and come out of their graves: those who have done good will rise and live, and those who have done evil will rise and be condemned.

267-1 Corinthians 10:4 and drank the same spiritual drink. They drank from the spiritual rock that went with them; and that rock was Christ himself.

268-Genesis 8:21 The odor of the sacrifice pleased the Lord, and he said to himself, "Never again will I put the earth under a curse because of what people do; I know that from the time they are young their thoughts are evil. Never again will I destroy all living beings, as I have done this time.

269-Genesis 11:1 At first, the people of the whole world had only one language and used the same words. 2 As they wandered about in the East, they came to a plain in Babylonia and settled there. 3 They said to one another, "Come on! Let's make bricks and bake them hard." So they had bricks to build with and tar to hold them together. 4 They said, "Now let's build a city with a tower that reaches the sky, so that we can make a name for ourselves and not be scattered all over the earth." 5 Then the Lord came down to see the city and the tower which they had built, 6 and he said, "Now then, these are all one people and they speak one language; this is just the beginning of what they are going to do. Soon they will be able to do anything they want! 7 Let us go down and mix up their language so that they will not understand each other." 8 So the Lord scattered them all over the earth, and they stopped building the city. 9 The city was called Babylon, because there the Lord mixed up the language of all the people, and from there he scattered them all over the earth.

270-2 Peter 3:8 But do not forget one thing, my dear friends! There is no difference in the Lord's sight between one day and a thousand years; to him the two are the same. 9 The Lord is not slow to do what he has promised, as some think. Instead, he is patient with you, because he does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants all to turn away from their sins.

271-1 Corinthians 10:4 and drank the same spiritual drink. They drank from the spiritual rock that went with them; and that rock was Christ himself.

272-Genesis 9:23 Then Shem and Japheth took a robe and held it behind them on their shoulders. They walked backward into the tent and covered their father, keeping their faces turned away so as not to see him naked.

273-Exodus 204 "Do not make for yourselves images of anything in heaven or on earth or in the water under the earth. 5 Do not bow down to any idol or worship it, because I am the Lord your God and I tolerate no rivals. I bring punishment on those who hate me and on their descendants down to the third and fourth generation. 6 But I show my love to thousands of generations of those who love me and obey my laws.

Exodus 34:6 The Lord then passed in front of him and called out, "I, the Lord, am a God who is full of compassion and pity, who is not easily angered and who shows great love and faithfulness. 7 I keep my promise for thousands of generations and forgive evil and sin; but I will not fail to punish children and grandchildren to the third and fourth generation for the sins of their parents."

274-Numbers 14:18 "I, the Lord, am not easily angered, and I show great love and faithfulness and forgive sin and rebellion. Yet I will not fail to punish children and grandchildren to the third and fourth generation for the sins of their parents.'

275-Deuteronomy 2:33 but the Lord our God put him in our power, and we killed him, his sons, and all his men. 34 At the same time we captured and destroyed every town, and put everyone to death, men, women, and children. We left no survivors.

Deuteronomy 5:9 Do not bow down to any idol or worship it, for I am the Lord your God and I tolerate no rivals. I bring punishment on those who hate me and on their descendants down to the third and fourth generation. 10 But I show my love to thousands of generations of those who love me and obey my laws.

Deuteronomy 7:9 Remember that the Lord your God is the only God and that he is faithful. He will keep his covenant and show his constant love to a thousand generations of those who love him and obey his commands, 10 but he will not hesitate to punish those who hate him.

Deuteronomy 20:16 "But when you capture cities in the land that the Lord your God is giving you, kill everyone. 17 Completely destroy all the people: the Hittites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, as the Lord ordered you to do. 18 Kill them, so that they will not make you sin against the Lord by teaching you to do all the disgusting things that they do in the worship of their gods. 19 "When you are trying to capture a city, do not cut down its fruit trees, even though the siege lasts a long time. Eat the fruit, but do not destroy the trees; the trees are not your enemies. 20 You may cut down the other trees and use them in the siege mounds until the city is captured.

276-Joshua 10:40 Joshua conquered the whole land. He defeated the kings of the hill country, the eastern slopes, and the western foothills, as well as those of the dry country in the south. He spared no one; everyone was put to death. This was what the Lord God of Israel had commanded.

277-Ezekiel 18:20 It is the one who sins who will die. A son is not to suffer because of his father's sins, nor a father because of the sins of his son. Good people will be rewarded for doing good, and evil people will suffer for the evil they do.

278-Genesis 14:14 When Abram heard that his nephew had been captured, he called together all the fighting men in his camp, 318 in all, and pursued the four kings all the way to Dan.

279-Numbers 25:1 When the Israelites were camped at Acacia Valley, the men began to have sexual intercourse with the Moabite women who were there. 2 These women invited them to sacrificial feasts, where the god of Moab was worshiped. The Israelites ate the food and worshiped the god 3 Baal of Peor. So the Lord was angry with them 4 and said to Moses, "Take all the leaders of Israel and, in obedience to me, execute them in broad daylight, and then I will no longer be angry with the people." 5 Moses said to the officials, "Each of you is to kill every man in your tribe who has become a worshiper of Baal of Peor." 6 One of the Israelites took a Midianite woman into his tent in the sight of Moses and the whole community, while they were mourning at the entrance of the Tent of the Lord's presence. 7 When Phinehas, the son of Eleazar and grandson of Aaron the priest, saw this, he got up and left the assembly. He took a spear, 8 followed the man and the woman into the tent, and drove the spear through both of them. In this way the epidemic that was destroying Israel was stopped, 9 but it had already killed twenty-four thousand people. 10 The Lord said to Moses, 11 "Because of what Phinehas has done, I am no longer angry with the people of Israel. He refused to tolerate the worship of any god but me, and that is why I did not destroy them in my anger. 12 So tell him that I am making a covenant with him that is valid for all time to come. 13 He and his descendants are permanently established as priests, because he did not tolerate any rivals to me and brought about forgiveness for the people's sin." 14 The name of the Israelite who was killed with the Midianite woman was Zimri son of Salu, the head of a family in the tribe of Simeon. 15 The woman's name was Cozbi. Zur, her father, was chief of a group of Midianite clans. 16 The Lord commanded Moses, 17 "Attack the Midianites and destroy them, 18 because of the evil they did to you when they deceived you at Peor, and because of Cozbi, who was killed at the time of the epidemic at Peor."

280-Genesis 18:8 He took some cream, some milk, and the meat, and set the food before the men. There under the tree he served them himself, and they ate.

281-Genesis 15:17 When the sun had set and it was dark, a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch suddenly appeared and passed between the pieces of the animals.

282-Genesis 18:25 Surely you won't kill the innocent with the guilty. That's impossible! You can't do that. If you did, the innocent would be punished along with the guilty. That is impossible. The judge of all the earth has to act justly."

283-Exodus 32:9 I know how stubborn these people are. 10 Now, don't try to stop me. I am angry with them, and I am going to destroy them. Then I will make you and your descendants into a great nation." 11 But Moses pleaded with the Lord his God and said, "Lord, why should you be so angry with your people, whom you rescued from Egypt with great might and power? 12 Why should the Egyptians be able to say that you led your people out of Egypt, planning to kill them in the mountains and destroy them completely? Stop being angry; change your mind and do not bring this disaster on your people. 13 Remember your servants Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Remember the solemn promise you made to them to give them as many descendants as there are stars in the sky and to give their descendants all that land you promised would be their possession forever." 14 So the Lord changed his mind and did not bring on his people the disaster he had threatened.

284-Acts 10:13 A voice said to him, "Get up, Peter; kill and eat!" 14 But Peter said, "Certainly not, Lord! I have never eaten anything ritually unclean or defiled." 15 The voice spoke to him again, "Do not consider anything unclean that God has declared clean." 16 This happened three times, and then the thing was taken back up into heaven. 17 While Peter was wondering about the meaning of this vision, the men sent by Cornelius had learned where Simon's house was, and they were now standing in front of the gate.

285-Psalms 51:1 Be merciful to me, O God, because of your constant love. Because of your great mercy wipe away my sins! 2 Wash away all my evil and make me clean from my sin! 3 I recognize my faults; I am always conscious of my sins. 4 I have sinned against you - only against you - and done what you consider evil. So you are right in judging me; you are justified in condemning me. 5 I have been evil from the day I was born; from the time I was conceived, I have been sinful. 6 Sincerity and truth are what you require; fill my mind with your wisdom. 7 Remove my sin, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. 8 Let me hear the sounds of joy and gladness; and though you have crushed me and broken me, I will be happy once again. 9 Close your eyes to my sins and wipe out all my evil. 10 Create a pure heart in me, O God, and put a new and loyal spirit in me. 11 Do not banish me from your presence; do not take your holy spirit away from me. 12 Give me again the joy that comes from your salvation, and make me willing to obey you. 13 Then I will teach sinners your commands, and they will turn back to you. 14 Spare my life, O God, and save me, and I will gladly proclaim your righteousness. 15 Help me to speak, Lord, and I will praise you. 16 You do not want sacrifices, or I would offer them; you are not pleased with burnt offerings. 17 My sacrifice is a humble spirit, O God; you will not reject a humble and repentant heart. 18 O God, be kind to Zion and help her; rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. 19 Then you will be pleased with proper sacrifices and with our burnt offerings; and bulls will be sacrificed on your altar.

286-Genesis 18:20 Then the Lord said to Abraham, "There are terrible accusations against Sodom and Gomorrah, and their sin is very great. 21 I must go down to find out whether or not the accusations which I have heard are true."

287-Genesis 3:9 But the Lord God called out to the man, "Where are you?"

288-Genesis 11:5 Then the Lord came down to see the city and the tower which they had built, 6 and he said, "Now then, these are all one people and they speak one language; this is just the beginning of what they are going to do. Soon they will be able to do anything they want! 7 Let us go down and mix up their language so that they will not understand each other."

289-Genesis 18:22 Then the two men left and went on toward Sodom, but the Lord remained with Abraham. 23 Abraham approached the Lord and asked, "Are you really going to destroy the innocent with the guilty? 24 If there are fifty innocent people in the city, will you destroy the whole city? Won't you spare it in order to save the fifty? 25 Surely you won't kill the innocent with the guilty. That's impossible! You can't do that. If you did, the innocent would be punished along with the guilty. That is impossible. The judge of all the earth has to act justly." 26 The Lord answered, "If I find fifty innocent people in Sodom, I will spare the whole city for their sake." 27 Abraham spoke again: "Please forgive my boldness in continuing to speak to you, Lord. I am only a man and have no right to say anything. 28 But perhaps there will be only forty-five innocent people instead of fifty. Will you destroy the whole city because there are five too few?" The Lord answered, "I will not destroy the city if I find forty-five innocent people." 29 Abraham spoke again: "Perhaps there will be only forty." He replied, "I will not destroy it if there are forty." 30 Abraham said, "Please don't be angry, Lord, but I must speak again. What if there are only thirty?" He said, "I will not do it if I find thirty." 31 Abraham said, "Please forgive my boldness in continuing to speak to you, Lord. Suppose that only twenty are found?" He said, "I will not destroy the city if I find twenty." 32 Abraham said, "Please don't be angry, Lord, and I will speak only once more. What if only ten are found?" He said, "I will not destroy it if there are ten." 33 After he had finished speaking with Abraham, the Lord went away, and Abraham returned home.

290-Genesis 18:25 Surely you won't kill the innocent with the guilty. That's impossible! You can't do that. If you did, the innocent would be punished along with the guilty. That is impossible. The judge of all the earth has to act justly."

Genesis 15:6 Abram put his trust in the Lord, and because of this the Lord was pleased with him and accepted him.

291-2 Chronicles 20:7 You are our God. When your people Israel moved into this land, you drove out the people who were living here and gave the land to the descendants of Abraham, your friend, to be theirs forever.

292-Isaiah 41:8 "But you, Israel my servant, you are the people that I have chosen, the descendants of Abraham, my friend.

293-James 2:23 And the scripture came true that said, "Abraham believed God, and because of his faith God accepted him as righteous." And so Abraham was called God's friend.

294-Exodus 32:7 The Lord said to Moses, "Hurry and go back down, because your people, whom you led out of Egypt, have sinned and rejected me. 8 They have already left the way that I commanded them to follow; they have made a bull-calf out of melted gold and have worshiped it and offered sacrifices to it. They are saying that this is their god, who led them out of Egypt. 9 I know how stubborn these people are. 10 Now, don't try to stop me. I am angry with them, and I am going to destroy them. Then I will make you and your descendants into a great nation." 11 But Moses pleaded with the Lord his God and said, "Lord, why should you be so angry with your people, whom you rescued from Egypt with great might and power? 12 Why should the Egyptians be able to say that you led your people out of Egypt, planning to kill them in the mountains and destroy them completely? Stop being angry; change your mind and do not bring this disaster on your people. 13 Remember your servants Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Remember the solemn promise you made to them to give them as many descendants as there are stars in the sky and to give their descendants all that land you promised would be their possession forever." 14 So the Lord changed his mind and did not bring on his people the disaster he had threatened.

295-Acts 10:9 The next day, as they were on their way and coming near Joppa, Peter went up on the roof of the house about noon in order to pray. 10 He became hungry and wanted something to eat; while the food was being prepared, he had a vision. 11 He saw heaven opened and something coming down that looked like a large sheet being lowered by its four corners to the earth. 12 In it were all kinds of animals, reptiles, and wild birds. 13 A voice said to him, "Get up, Peter; kill and eat!" 14 But Peter said, "Certainly not, Lord! I have never eaten anything ritually unclean or defiled." 15 The voice spoke to him again, "Do not consider anything unclean that God has declared clean." 16 This happened three times, and then the thing was taken back up into heaven.

296-Psalms 139:1 Lord, you have examined me and you know me. 2 You know everything I do; from far away you understand all my thoughts. 3 You see me, whether I am working or resting; you know all my actions. 4 Even before I speak, you already know what I will say. 5 You are all around me on every side; you protect me with your power. 6 Your knowledge of me is too deep; it is beyond my understanding. 7 Where could I go to escape from you? Where could I get away from your presence? 8 If I went up to heaven, you would be there; if I lay down in the world of the dead, you would be there. 9 If I flew away beyond the east or lived in the farthest place in the west, 10 you would be there to lead me, you would be there to help me. 11 I could ask the darkness to hide me or the light around me to turn into night, 12 but even darkness is not dark for you, and the night is as bright as the day. Darkness and light are the same to you. 13 You created every part of me; you put me together in my mother's womb. 14 I praise you because you are to be feared; all you do is strange and wonderful. I know it with all my heart. 15 When my bones were being formed, carefully put together in my mother's womb, when I was growing there in secret, you knew that I was there - 16 you saw me before I was born. The days allotted to me had all been recorded in your book, before any of them ever began. 17 O God, how difficult I find your thoughts; how many of them there are! 18 If I counted them, they would be more than the grains of sand. When I awake, I am still with you. 19 O God, how I wish you would kill the wicked! How I wish violent people would leave me alone! 20 They say wicked things about you; they speak evil things against your name. 21 O Lord, how I hate those who hate you! How I despise those who rebel against you! 22 I hate them with a total hatred; I regard them as my enemies. 23 Examine me, O God, and know my mind; test me, and discover my thoughts. 24 Find out if there is any evil in me and guide me in the everlasting way.

297-Psalms 139:1 Lord, you have examined me and you know me. 2 You know everything I do; from far away you understand all my thoughts. 3 You see me, whether I am working or resting; you know all my actions. 4 Even before I speak, you already know what I will say. 5 You are all around me on every side; you protect me with your power. 6 Your knowledge of me is too deep; it is beyond my understanding. 7 Where could I go to escape from you? Where could I get away from your presence? 8 If I went up to heaven, you would be there; if I lay down in the world of the dead, you would be there. 9 If I flew away beyond the east or lived in the farthest place in the west, 10 you would be there to lead me, you would be there to help me. 11 I could ask the darkness to hide me or the light around me to turn into night, 12 but even darkness is not dark for you, and the night is as bright as the day. Darkness and light are the same to you. 13 You created every part of me; you put me together in my mother's womb. 14 I praise you because you are to be feared; all you do is strange and wonderful. I know it with all my heart. 15 When my bones were being formed, carefully put together in my mother's womb, when I was growing there in secret, you knew that I was there - 16 you saw me before I was born. The days allotted to me had all been recorded in your book, before any of them ever began. 17 O God, how difficult I find your thoughts; how many of them there are! 18 If I counted them, they would be more than the grains of sand. When I awake, I am still with you. 19 O God, how I wish you would kill the wicked! How I wish violent people would leave me alone! 20 They say wicked things about you; they speak evil things against your name. 21 O Lord, how I hate those who hate you! How I despise those who rebel against you! 22 I hate them with a total hatred; I regard them as my enemies. 23 Examine me, O God, and know my mind; test me, and discover my thoughts. 24 Find out if there is any evil in me and guide me in the everlasting way.

Psalms 147:1 Praise the Lord! It is good to sing praise to our God; it is pleasant and right to praise him. 2 The Lord is restoring Jerusalem; he is bringing back the exiles. 3 He heals the broken-hearted and bandages their wounds. 4 He has decided the number of the stars and calls each one by name. 5 Great and mighty is our Lord; his wisdom cannot be measured. 6 He raises the humble, but crushes the wicked to the ground. 7 Sing hymns of praise to the Lord; play music on the harp to our God. 8 He spreads clouds over the sky; he provides rain for the earth and makes grass grow on the hills. 9 He gives animals their food and feeds the young ravens when they call. 10 His pleasure is not in strong horses, nor his delight in brave soldiers; 11 but he takes pleasure in those who honor him, in those who trust in his constant love. 12 Praise the Lord, O Jerusalem! Praise your God, O Zion! 13 He keeps your gates strong; he blesses your people. 14 He keeps your borders safe and satisfies you with the finest wheat. 15 He gives a command to the earth, and what he says is quickly done. 16 He spreads snow like a blanket and scatters frost like dust. 17 He sends hail like gravel; no one can endure the cold he sends! 18 Then he gives a command, and the ice melts; he sends the wind, and the water flows. 19 He gives his message to his people, his instructions and laws to Israel. 20 He has not done this for other nations; they do not know his laws. Praise the Lord!

298-Jeremiah 23:23 "I am a God who is everywhere and not in one place only. 24 No one can hide where I cannot see them. Do you not know that I am everywhere in heaven and on earth?

299-Zechariah 4:10 a) They are disappointed because so little progress is being made. But they will see Zerubbabel continuing to build the Temple, and they will be glad." b) The angel said to me, "The seven lamps are the seven eyes of the Lord, which see all over the earth."

300-Isaiah 40:13 Can anyone tell the Lord what to do? Who can teach him or give him advice? 14 With whom does God consult in order to know and understand and to learn how things should be done?

Isaiah 40:25 To whom can the holy God be compared? Is there anyone else like him? 26 Look up at the sky! Who created the stars you see? The one who leads them out like an army, he knows how many there are and calls each one by name! His power is so great - not one of them is ever missing! 27 Israel, why then do you complain that the Lord doesn't know your troubles or care if you suffer injustice? 28 Don't you know? Haven't you heard? The Lord is the everlasting God; he created all the world. He never grows tired or weary. No one understands his thoughts.

301-Daniel 2:1 In the second year that Nebuchadnezzar was king, he had a dream. It worried him so much that he couldn't sleep, 2 so he sent for his fortunetellers, magicians, sorcerers, and wizards to come and explain the dream to him. When they came and stood before the king, 3 he said to them, "I'm worried about a dream I've had. I want to know what it means." 4 They answered the king in Aramaic, "May Your Majesty live forever! Tell us your dream, and we will explain it to you." 5 The king said to them, "I have made up my mind that you must tell me the dream and then tell me what it means. If you can't, I'll have you torn limb from limb and make your houses a pile of ruins. 6 But if you can tell me both the dream and its meaning, I will reward you with gifts and great honor. Now then, tell me what the dream was and what it means." 7 They answered the king again, "If Your Majesty will only tell us what the dream was, we will explain it." 8 At that, the king exclaimed, "Just as I thought! You are trying to gain time, because you see that I have made up my mind 9 to give all of you the same punishment if you don't tell me the dream. You have agreed among yourselves to go on telling me lies because you hope that in time things will change. Tell me what the dream was, and then I will know that you can also tell me what it means." 10 The advisers replied, "There is no one on the face of the earth who can tell Your Majesty what you want to know. No king, not even the greatest and most powerful, has ever made such a demand of his fortunetellers, magicians, and wizards. 11 What Your Majesty is asking for is so difficult that no one can do it for you except the gods, and they do not live among human beings." 12 At that, the king flew into a rage and ordered the execution of all the royal advisers in Babylon. 13 So the order was issued for all of them to be killed, including Daniel and his friends. 14 Then Daniel went to Arioch, commander of the king's bodyguard, who had been ordered to carry out the execution. Choosing his words carefully, 15 he asked Arioch why the king had issued such a harsh order. So Arioch told Daniel what had happened. 16 Daniel went at once and obtained royal permission for more time, so that he could tell the king what the dream meant. 17 Then Daniel went home and told his friends Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah what had happened. 18 He told them to pray to the God of heaven for mercy and to ask him to explain the mystery to them so that they would not be killed along with the other advisers in Babylon. 19 Then that same night the mystery was revealed to Daniel in a vision, and he praised the God of heaven: 20 "God is wise and powerful! Praise him forever and ever. 21 He controls the times and the seasons; he makes and unmakes kings; it is he who gives wisdom and understanding. 22 He reveals things that are deep and secret; he knows what is hidden in darkness, and he himself is surrounded by light. 23 I praise you and honor you, God of my ancestors. You have given me wisdom and strength; you have answered my prayer and shown us what to tell the king." 24 So Daniel went to Arioch, whom the king had commanded to execute the royal advisers. He said to him, "Don't put them to death. Take me to the king, and I will tell him what his dream means." 25 At once Arioch took Daniel into King Nebuchadnezzar's presence and told the king, "I have found one of the Jewish exiles who can tell Your Majesty the meaning of your dream." 26 The king said to Daniel (who was also called Belteshazzar), "Can you tell me what I dreamed and what it means?" 27 Daniel replied, "Your Majesty, there is no wizard, magician, fortuneteller, or astrologer who can tell you that. 28 But there is a God in heaven, who reveals mysteries. He has informed Your Majesty what will happen in the future. Now I will tell you the dream, the vision you had while you were asleep. 29 "While Your Majesty was sleeping, you dreamed about the future; and God, who reveals mysteries, showed you what is going to happen. 30 Now, this mystery was revealed to me, not because I am wiser than anyone else, but so that Your Majesty may learn the meaning of your dream and understand the thoughts that have come to you. 31 "Your Majesty, in your vision you saw standing before you a giant statue, bright and shining, and terrifying to look at. 32 Its head was made of the finest gold; its chest and arms were made of silver; its waist and hips of bronze, 33 its legs of iron, and its feet partly of iron and partly of clay. 34 While you were looking at it, a great stone broke loose from a cliff without anyone touching it, struck the iron and clay feet of the statue, and shattered them. 35 At once the iron, clay, bronze, silver, and gold crumbled and became like the dust on a threshing place in summer. The wind carried it all away, leaving not a trace. But the stone grew to be a mountain that covered the whole earth. 36 "This was the dream. Now I will tell Your Majesty what it means. 37 Your Majesty, you are the greatest of all kings. The God of heaven has made you emperor and given you power, might, and honor. 38 He has made you ruler of all the inhabited earth and ruler over all the animals and birds. You are the head of gold. 39 After you there will be another empire, not as great as yours, and after that a third, an empire of bronze, which will rule the whole earth. 40 And then there will be a fourth empire, as strong as iron, which shatters and breaks everything. And just as iron shatters everything, it will shatter and crush all the earlier empires. 41 You also saw that the feet and the toes were partly clay and partly iron. This means that it will be a divided empire. It will have something of the strength of iron, because there was iron mixed with the clay. 42 The toes - partly iron and partly clay - mean that part of the empire will be strong and part of it weak. 43 You also saw that the iron was mixed with the clay. This means that the rulers of that empire will try to unite their families by intermarriage, but they will not be able to, any more than iron can mix with clay. 44 At the time of those rulers the God of heaven will establish a kingdom that will never end. It will never be conquered, but will completely destroy all those empires and then last forever. 45 You saw how a stone broke loose from a cliff without anyone touching it and how it struck the statue made of iron, bronze, clay, silver, and gold. The great God is telling Your Majesty what will happen in the future. I have told you exactly what you dreamed, and have given you its true meaning." 46 Then King Nebuchadnezzar bowed to the ground and gave orders for sacrifices and offerings to be made to Daniel. 47 The king said, "Your God is the greatest of all gods, the Lord over kings, and the one who reveals mysteries. I know this because you have been able to explain this mystery." 48 Then he gave Daniel a high position, presented him with many splendid gifts, put him in charge of the province of Babylon, and made him the head of all the royal advisers. 49 At Daniel's request the king put Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in charge of the affairs of the province of Babylon; Daniel, however, remained at the royal court.

Daniel 7:1 In the first year that Belshazzar was king of Babylonia, I had a dream and saw a vision in the night. I wrote the dream down, and this is the record 2 of what I saw that night: Winds were blowing from all directions and lashing the surface of the ocean. 3 Four huge beasts came up out of the ocean, each one different from the others. 4 The first one looked like a lion, but had wings like an eagle. While I was watching, the wings were torn off. The beast was lifted up and made to stand up straight. And then a human mind was given to it. 5 The second beast looked like a bear standing on its hind legs. It was holding three ribs between its teeth, and a voice said to it, "Go on, eat as much meat as you can!" 6 While I was watching, another beast appeared. It looked like a leopard, but on its back there were four wings, like the wings of a bird, and it had four heads. It had a look of authority about it. 7 As I was watching, a fourth beast appeared. It was powerful, horrible, terrifying. With its huge iron teeth it crushed its victims, and then it trampled on them. Unlike the other beasts, it had ten horns. 8 While I was staring at the horns, I saw a little horn coming up among the others. It tore out three of the horns that were already there. This horn had human eyes and a mouth that was boasting proudly. 9 While I was looking, thrones were put in place. One who had been living forever sat down on one of the thrones. His clothes were white as snow, and his hair was like pure wool. His throne, mounted on fiery wheels, was blazing with fire, 10 and a stream of fire was pouring out from it. There were many thousands of people there to serve him, and millions of people stood before him. The court began its session, and the books were opened. 11 While I was looking, I could still hear the little horn bragging and boasting. As I watched, the fourth beast was killed, and its body was thrown into the flames and destroyed. 12 The other beasts had their power taken away, but they were permitted to go on living for a limited time. 13 During this vision in the night, I saw what looked like a human being. He was approaching me, surrounded by clouds, and he went to the one who had been living forever and was presented to him. 14 He was given authority, honor, and royal power, so that the people of all nations, races, and languages would serve him. His authority would last forever, and his kingdom would never end. 15 The visions I saw alarmed me, and I was deeply disturbed. 16 I went up to one of those standing there and asked him to explain it all. So he told me the meaning. 17 He said, "These four huge beasts are four empires which will arise on earth. 18 And the people of the Supreme God will receive royal power and keep it forever and ever." 19 Then I wanted to know more about the fourth beast, which was not like any of the others - the terrifying beast which crushed its victims with its bronze claws and iron teeth and then trampled on them. 20 And I wanted to know about the ten horns on its head and the horn that had come up afterward and had made three of the horns fall. It had eyes and a mouth and was boasting proudly. It was more terrifying than any of the others. 21 While I was looking, that horn made war on God's people and conquered them. 22 Then the one who had been living forever came and pronounced judgment in favor of the people of the Supreme God. The time had arrived for God's people to receive royal power. 23 This is the explanation I was given: "The fourth beast is a fourth empire that will be on the earth and will be different from all other empires. It will crush the whole earth and trample it down. 24 The ten horns are ten kings who will rule that empire. Then another king will appear; he will be very different from the earlier ones and will overthrow three kings. 25 He will speak against the Supreme God and oppress God's people. He will try to change their religious laws and festivals, and God's people will be under his power for three and a half years. 26 Then the heavenly court will sit in judgment, take away his power, and destroy him completely. 27 The power and greatness of all the kingdoms on earth will be given to the people of the Supreme God. Their royal power will never end, and all rulers on earth will serve and obey them." 28 This is the end of the account. I was so frightened that I turned pale, and I kept everything to myself.

Daniel 8:1 In the third year that Belshazzar was king, I saw a second vision. 2 In the vision I suddenly found myself in the walled city of Susa in the province of Elam. I was standing by the Ulai River, 3 and there beside the river I saw a ram that had two long horns, one of which was longer and newer than the other. 4 I watched the ram butting with his horns to the west, the north, and the south. No animal could stop him or escape his power. He did as he pleased and grew arrogant. 5 While I was wondering what this meant, a goat came rushing out of the west, moving so fast that his feet didn't touch the ground. He had one prominent horn between his eyes. 6 He came toward the ram, which I had seen standing beside the river, and rushed at him with all his force. 7 I watched him attack the ram. He was so angry that he smashed into him and broke the two horns. The ram had no strength to resist. He was thrown to the ground and trampled on, and there was no one who could save him. 8 The goat grew more and more arrogant, but at the height of his power his horn was broken. In its place four prominent horns came up, each pointing in a different direction. 9 Out of one of these four horns grew a little horn, whose power extended toward the south and the east and toward the Promised Land. 10 It grew strong enough to attack the army of heaven, the stars themselves, and it threw some of them to the ground and trampled on them. 11 It even defied the Prince of the heavenly army, stopped the daily sacrifices offered to him, and ruined the Temple. 12 People sinned there instead of offering the proper daily sacrifices, and true religion was thrown to the ground. The horn was successful in everything it did. 13 Then I heard one angel ask another, "How long will these things that were seen in the vision continue? How long will an awful sin replace the daily sacrifices? How long will the army of heaven and the Temple be trampled on?" 14 I heard the other angel answer, "It will continue for 2,300 evenings and mornings, during which sacrifices will not be offered. Then the Temple will be restored." 15 I was trying to understand what the vision meant, when suddenly someone was standing in front of me. 16 I heard a voice call out over the Ulai River, "Gabriel, explain to him the meaning of what he saw." 17 Gabriel came and stood beside me, and I was so terrified that I fell to the ground. He said to me, "Mortal man, understand the meaning. The vision has to do with the end of the world." 18 While he was talking, I fell to the ground unconscious. But he took hold of me, raised me to my feet, 19 and said, "I am showing you what the result of God's anger will be. The vision refers to the time of the end. 20 "The ram you saw that had two horns represents the kingdoms of Media and Persia. 21 The goat represents the kingdom of Greece, and the prominent horn between his eyes is the first king. 22 The four horns that came up when the first horn was broken represent the four kingdoms into which that nation will be divided and which will not be as strong as the first kingdom. 23 "When the end of those kingdoms is near and they have become so wicked that they must be punished, there will be a stubborn, vicious, and deceitful king. 24 He will grow strong - but not by his own power. He will cause terrible destruction and be successful in everything he does. He will bring destruction on powerful men and on God's own people. 25 Because he is cunning, he will succeed in his deceitful ways. He will be proud of himself and destroy many people without warning. He will even defy the greatest King of all, but he will be destroyed without the use of any human power. 26 This vision about the evening and morning sacrifices which has been explained to you will come true. But keep it secret now, because it will be a long time before it does come true." 27 I was depressed and ill for several days. Then I got up and went back to the work that the king had assigned to me, but I was puzzled by the vision and could not understand it.

Daniel 9:1 Darius the Mede, who was the son of Xerxes, ruled over the kingdom of Babylonia. 2 In the first year of his reign I was studying the sacred books and thinking about the seventy years that Jerusalem would be in ruins, according to what the Lord had told the prophet Jeremiah. 3 And I prayed earnestly to the Lord God, pleading with him, fasting, wearing sackcloth, and sitting in ashes. 4 I prayed to the Lord my God and confessed the sins of my people. I said, "Lord God, you are great, and we honor you. You are faithful to your covenant and show constant love to those who love you and do what you command. 5 "We have sinned, we have been evil, we have done wrong. We have rejected what you commanded us to do and have turned away from what you showed us was right. 6 We have not listened to your servants the prophets, who spoke in your name to our kings, our rulers, our ancestors, and our whole nation. 7 You, Lord, always do what is right, but we have always brought disgrace on ourselves. This is true of all of us who live in Judea and in Jerusalem and of all the Israelites whom you scattered in countries near and far because they were unfaithful to you. 8 Our kings, our rulers, and our ancestors have acted shamefully and sinned against you, Lord. 9 You are merciful and forgiving, although we have rebelled against you. 10 We did not listen to you, O Lord our God, when you told us to live according to the laws which you gave us through your servants the prophets. 11 All Israel broke your laws and refused to listen to what you said. We sinned against you, and so you brought on us the curses that are written in the Law of Moses, your servant. 12 You did what you said you would do to us and our rulers. You punished Jerusalem more severely than any other city on earth, 13 giving us all the punishment described in the Law of Moses. But even now, O Lord our God, we have not tried to please you by turning from our sins or by following your truth. 14 You, O Lord our God, were prepared to punish us, and you did, because you always do what is right, and we did not listen to you. 15 "O Lord our God, you showed your power by bringing your people out of Egypt, and your power is still remembered. We have sinned; we have done wrong. 16 You have defended us in the past, so do not be angry with Jerusalem any longer. It is your city, your sacred hill. All the people in the neighboring countries look down on Jerusalem and on your people because of our sins and the evil our ancestors did. 17 O God, hear my prayer and pleading. Restore your Temple, which has been destroyed; restore it so that everyone will know that you are God. 18 Listen to us, O God; look at us and see the trouble we are in and the suffering of the city that bears your name. We are praying to you because you are merciful, not because we have done right. 19 Lord, hear us. Lord, forgive us. Lord, listen to us, and act! In order that everyone will know that you are God, do not delay! This city and these people are yours." 20 I went on praying, confessing my sins and the sins of my people Israel and pleading with the Lord my God to restore his holy Temple. 21 While I was praying, Gabriel, whom I had seen in the earlier vision, came flying down to where I was. It was the time for the evening sacrifice to be offered. 22 He explained, "Daniel, I have come here to help you understand the prophecy. 23 When you began to plead with God, he answered you. He loves you, and so I have come to tell you the answer. Now pay attention while I explain the vision. 24 "Seven times seventy years is the length of time God has set for freeing your people and your holy city from sin and evil. Sin will be forgiven and eternal justice established, so that the vision and the prophecy will come true, and the holy Temple will be rededicated. 25 Note this and understand it: From the time the command is given to rebuild Jerusalem until God's chosen leader comes, seven times seven years will pass. Jerusalem will be rebuilt with streets and strong defenses, and will stand for seven times sixty-two years, but this will be a time of troubles. 26 And at the end of that time God's chosen leader will be killed unjustly. The city and the Temple will be destroyed by the invading army of a powerful ruler. The end will come like a flood, bringing the war and destruction which God has prepared. 27 That ruler will have a firm agreement with many people for seven years, and when half this time is past, he will put an end to sacrifices and offerings. The Awful Horror will be placed on the highest point of the Temple and will remain there until the one who put it there meets the end which God has prepared for him."

302-Isaiah 7:14 Well then, the Lord himself will give you a sign: a young woman who is pregnant will have a son and will name him "Immanuel.' 15 By the time he is old enough to make his own decisions, people will be drinking milk and eating honey. 16 Even before that time comes, the lands of those two kings who terrify you will be deserted. 17 "The Lord is going to bring on you, on your people, and on the whole royal family, days of trouble worse than any that have come since the kingdom of Israel separated from Judah - he is going to bring the king of Assyria. 18 "When that time comes, the Lord will whistle as a signal for the Egyptians to come like flies from the farthest branches of the Nile, and for the Assyrians to come from their land like bees. 19 They will swarm in the rugged valleys and in the caves in the rocks, and they will cover every thorn bush and every pasture. 20 "When that time comes, the Lord will hire a barber from across the Euphrates - the emperor of Assyria! - and he will shave off your beards and the hair on your heads and your bodies. 21 "When that time comes, even if a farmer has been able to save only one young cow and two goats, 22 they will give so much milk that he will have all he needs. Yes, the few survivors left in the land will have milk and honey to eat. 23 "When that time comes, the fine vineyards, each with a thousand vines and each worth a thousand pieces of silver, will be overgrown with thorn bushes and briers. 24 People will go hunting there with bows and arrows. Yes, the whole country will be full of briers and thorn bushes. 25 All the hills where crops were once planted will be so overgrown with thorns that no one will go there. It will be a place where cattle and sheep graze."

Isaiah 8:1 The Lord said to me, "Take a large piece of writing material and write on it in large letters: "Quick Loot, Fast Plunder.' 2 Get two reliable men, the priest Uriah and Zechariah son of Jeberechiah, to serve as witnesses." 3 Some time later my wife became pregnant. When our son was born, the Lord said to me, "Name him "Quick-Loot-Fast-Plunder.' 4 Before the boy is old enough to say "Mamma' and "Daddy,' all the wealth of Damascus and all the loot of Samaria will be carried off by the king of Assyria." 5 The Lord spoke to me again. 6 He said, "Because these people have rejected the quiet waters of Shiloah Brook and tremble before King Rezin and King Pekah, 7 I, the Lord, will bring the emperor of Assyria and all his forces to attack Judah. They will advance like the flood waters of the Euphrates River, overflowing all its banks. 8 They will sweep through Judah in a flood, rising shoulder high and covering everything." God is with us! His outspread wings protect the land. 9 Gather together in fear, you nations! Listen, you distant parts of the earth. Get ready to fight, but be afraid! Yes, get ready, but be afraid! 10 Make your plans! But they will never succeed. Talk all you want to! But it is all useless, because God is with us. 11 With his great power the Lord warned me not to follow the road which the people were following. He said, 12 "Do not join in the schemes of the people and do not be afraid of the things that they fear. 13 Remember that I, the Lord Almighty, am holy; I am the one you must fear. 14 Because of my awesome holiness I am like a stone that people stumble over; I am like a trap that will catch the people of the kingdoms of Judah and Israel and the people of Jerusalem. 15 Many will stumble; they will fall and be crushed. They will be caught in a trap." 16 You, my disciples, are to guard and preserve the messages that God has given me. 17 The Lord has hidden himself from his people, but I trust him and place my hope in him. 18 Here I am with the children the Lord has given me. The Lord Almighty, whose throne is on Mount Zion, has sent us as living messages to the people of Israel. 19 But people will tell you to ask for messages from fortunetellers and mediums, who chirp and mutter. They will say, "After all, people should ask for messages from the spirits and consult the dead on behalf of the living." 20 You are to answer them, "Listen to what the Lord is teaching you! Don't listen to mediums - what they tell you cannot keep trouble away." 21 The people will wander through the land, discouraged and hungry. In their hunger and their anger they will curse their king and their God. They may look up to the sky 22 or stare at the ground, but they will see nothing but trouble and darkness, terrifying darkness into which they are being driven.

Isaiah 9:1 There will be no way for them to escape from this time of trouble. The land of the tribes of Zebulun and Naphtali was once disgraced, but the future will bring honor to this region, from the Mediterranean eastward to the land on the other side of the Jordan, and even to Galilee itself, where the foreigners live. 2 The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light. They lived in a land of shadows, but now light is shining on them. 3 You have given them great joy, Lord; you have made them happy. They rejoice in what you have done, as people rejoice when they harvest grain or when they divide captured wealth. 4 For you have broken the yoke that burdened them and the rod that beat their shoulders. You have defeated the nation that oppressed and exploited your people, just as you defeated the army of Midian long ago. 5 The boots of the invading army and all their bloodstained clothing will be destroyed by fire. 6 A child is born to us! A son is given to us! And he will be our ruler. He will be called, "Wonderful Counselor," "Mighty God," "Eternal Father," "Prince of Peace."

303-Matthew 24:1 Jesus left and was going away from the Temple when his disciples came to him to call his attention to its buildings. 2 "Yes," he said, "you may well look at all these. I tell you this: not a single stone here will be left in its place; every one of them will be thrown down." 3 As Jesus sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him in private. "Tell us when all this will be," they asked, "and what will happen to show that it is the time for your coming and the end of the age." 4 Jesus answered, "Watch out, and do not let anyone fool you. 5 Many men, claiming to speak for me, will come and say, "I am the Messiah!' and they will fool many people. 6 You are going to hear the noise of battles close by and the news of battles far away; but do not be troubled. Such things must happen, but they do not mean that the end has come. 7 Countries will fight each other; kingdoms will attack one another. There will be famines and earthquakes everywhere. 8 All these things are like the first pains of childbirth. 9 "Then you will be arrested and handed over to be punished and be put to death. Everyone will hate you because of me. 10 Many will give up their faith at that time; they will betray one another and hate one another. 11 Then many false prophets will appear and fool many people. 12 Such will be the spread of evil that many people's love will grow cold. 13 But whoever holds out to the end will be saved. 14 And this Good News about the Kingdom will be preached through all the world for a witness to all people; and then the end will come. 15 "You will see "The Awful Horror' of which the prophet Daniel spoke. It will be standing in the holy place." (Note to the reader: understand what this means!) 16 "Then those who are in Judea must run away to the hills. 17 Someone who is on the roof of a house must not take the time to go down and get any belongings from the house. 18 Someone who is in the field must not go back to get a cloak. 19 How terrible it will be in those days for women who are pregnant and for mothers with little babies! 20 Pray to God that you will not have to run away during the winter or on a Sabbath! 21 For the trouble at that time will be far more terrible than any there has ever been, from the beginning of the world to this very day. Nor will there ever be anything like it again. 22 But God has already reduced the number of days; had he not done so, nobody would survive. For the sake of his chosen people, however, God will reduce the days. 23 "Then, if anyone says to you, "Look, here is the Messiah!' or "There he is!' - do not believe it. 24 For false Messiahs and false prophets will appear; they will perform great miracles and wonders in order to deceive even God's chosen people, if possible. 25 Listen! I have told you this ahead of time. 26 "Or, if people should tell you, "Look, he is out in the desert!' - don't go there; or if they say, "Look, he is hiding here!' - don't believe it. 27 For the Son of Man will come like the lightning which flashes across the whole sky from the east to the west. 28 "Wherever there is a dead body, the vultures will gather. 29 "Soon after the trouble of those days, the sun will grow dark, the moon will no longer shine, the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers in space will be driven from their courses. 30 Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky; and all the peoples of earth will weep as they see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. 31 The great trumpet will sound, and he will send out his angels to the four corners of the earth, and they will gather his chosen people from one end of the world to the other. 32 "Let the fig tree teach you a lesson. When its branches become green and tender and it starts putting out leaves, you know that summer is near. 33 In the same way, when you see all these things, you will know that the time is near, ready to begin. 34 Remember that all these things will happen before the people now living have all died. 35 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away. 36 "No one knows, however, when that day and hour will come - neither the angels in heaven nor the Son; the Father alone knows. 37 The coming of the Son of Man will be like what happened in the time of Noah. 38 In the days before the flood people ate and drank, men and women married, up to the very day Noah went into the boat; 39 yet they did not realize what was happening until the flood came and swept them all away. That is how it will be when the Son of Man comes. 40 At that time two men will be working in a field: one will be taken away, the other will be left behind. 41 Two women will be at a mill grinding meal: one will be taken away, the other will be left behind. 42 Watch out, then, because you do not know what day your Lord will come. 43 If the owner of a house knew the time when the thief would come, you can be sure that he would stay awake and not let the thief break into his house. 44 So then, you also must always be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you are not expecting him. 45 "Who, then, is a faithful and wise servant? It is the one that his master has placed in charge of the other servants to give them their food at the proper time. 46 How happy that servant is if his master finds him doing this when he comes home! 47 Indeed, I tell you, the master will put that servant in charge of all his property. 48 But if he is a bad servant, he will tell himself that his master will not come back for a long time, 49 and he will begin to beat his fellow servants and to eat and drink with drunkards. 50 Then that servant's master will come back one day when the servant does not expect him and at a time he does not know. 51 The master will cut him in pieces and make him share the fate of the hypocrites. There he will cry and gnash his teeth.

304-Genesis 17:17 Abraham bowed down with his face touching the ground, but he began to laugh when he thought, "Can a man have a child when he is a hundred years old? Can Sarah have a child at ninety?"

Genesis 18:11 Abraham and Sarah were very old, and Sarah had stopped having her monthly periods. 12 So Sarah laughed to herself and said, "Now that I am old and worn out, can I still enjoy sex? And besides, my husband is old too." 13 Then the Lord asked Abraham, "Why did Sarah laugh and say, "Can I really have a child when I am so old?' 14 Is anything too hard for the Lord? As I said, nine months from now I will return, and Sarah will have a son." 15 Because Sarah was afraid, she denied it. "I didn't laugh," she said. "Yes, you did," he replied. "You laughed."

305-Hebrews 11:19 Abraham reckoned that God was able to raise Isaac from death - and, so to speak, Abraham did receive Isaac back from death.

306-PP 148-155 In the obedience of faith, Abraham had forsaken his native country—had turned away from the graves of his fathers and the home of his kindred. He had wandered as a stranger in the land of his inheritance. He had waited long for the birth of the promised heir. At the command of God he had sent away his son Ishmael. And now, when the child so long desired was entering upon manhood, and the patriarch seemed able to discern the fruition of his hopes, a trial greater than all others was before him. {PP 148.1}

The command was expressed in words that must have wrung with anguish that father’s heart: “Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, ... and offer him there for a burnt offering.” Isaac was the light of his home, the solace of his old age, above all else the inheritor of the promised blessing. The loss of such a son by accident or disease would have been heart rending to the fond father; it would have bowed down his whitened head with grief; but he was commanded to shed the blood of that son with his own hand. It seemed to him a fearful impossibility. {PP 148.2}

Satan was at hand to suggest that he must be deceived, for the divine law commands, “Thou shalt not kill,” and God would not require what He had once forbidden. Going outside his tent, Abraham looked up to the calm brightness of the unclouded heavens, and recalled the promise made nearly fifty years before, that his seed should be innumerable as the stars. If this promise was to be fulfilled through Isaac, how could he be put to death? Abraham was tempted to believe that he might be under a delusion. In his doubt and anguish he bowed upon the earth, and prayed, as he had never prayed before, for some confirmation of the command if he must perform this terrible duty. He remembered the angels sent to reveal to him God’s purpose to destroy Sodom, and who bore to him the promise of this same son Isaac, and he went to the place where he had several times met the heavenly messengers, hoping to meet them again, and receive some further direction; but none came to his relief. Darkness seemed to shut him in; but the command of God was sounding in his ears, “Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest.” That command must be obeyed, and he dared not delay. Day was approaching, and he must be on his journey. {PP 148.3}

Returning to his tent, he went to the place where Isaac lay sleeping the deep, untroubled sleep of youth and innocence. For a moment the father looked upon the dear face of his son, then turned tremblingly away. He went to the side of Sarah, who was also sleeping. Should he awaken her, that she might once more embrace her child? Should he tell her of God’s requirement? He longed to unburden his heart to her, and share with her this terrible responsibility; but he was restrained by the fear that she might hinder him. Isaac was her joy and pride; her life was bound up in him, and the mother’s love might refuse the sacrifice. {PP 148.4}

Abraham at last summoned his son, telling him of the command to offer sacrifice upon a distant mountain. Isaac had often gone with his father to worship at some one of the various altars that marked his wanderings, and this summons excited no surprise. The preparations for the journey were quickly completed. The wood was made ready and put upon the ass, and with two menservants they set forth. {PP 151.1}

Side by side the father and the son journeyed in silence. The patriarch, pondering his heavy secret, had no heart for words. His thoughts were of the proud, fond mother, and the day when he should return to her alone. Well he knew that the knife would pierce her heart when it took the life of her son. {PP 151.2}

That day—the longest that Abraham had ever experienced—dragged slowly to its close. While his son and the young men were sleeping, he spent the night in prayer, still hoping that some heavenly messenger might come to say that the trial was enough, that the youth might return unharmed to his mother. But no relief came to his tortured soul. Another long day, another night of humiliation and prayer, while ever the command that was to leave him childless was ringing in his ears. Satan was near to whisper doubts and unbelief, but Abraham resisted his suggestions. As they were about to begin the journey of the third day, the patriarch, looking northward, saw the promised sign, a cloud of glory hovering over Mount Moriah, and he knew that the voice which had spoken to him was from heaven. {PP 151.3}

Even now he did not murmur against God, but strengthened his soul by dwelling upon the evidences of the Lord’s goodness and faithfulness. This son had been unexpectedly given; and had not He who bestowed the precious gift a right to recall His own? Then faith repeated the promise, “In Isaac shall thy seed be called”—a seed numberless as the grains of sand upon the shore. Isaac was the child of a miracle, and could not the power that gave him life restore it? Looking beyond that which was seen, Abraham grasped the divine word, “accounting that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead.” Hebrews 11:19. {PP 151.4}

Yet none but God could understand how great was the father’s sacrifice in yielding up his son to death; Abraham desired that none but God should witness the parting scene. He bade his servants remain behind, saying, “I and the lad will go yonder and worship, and come again to you.” The wood was laid upon Isaac, the one to be offered, the father took the knife and the fire, and together they ascended toward the mountain summit, the young man silently wondering whence, so far from folds and flocks, the offering was to come. At last he spoke, “My father,” “behold the fire and the wood: but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?” Oh, what a test was this! How the endearing words, “my father,” pierced Abraham’s heart! Not yet—he could not tell him now. “My son,” he said, “God will provide Himself a lamb for a burnt offering.” {PP 152.1}

At the appointed place they built the altar and laid the wood upon it. Then, with trembling voice, Abraham unfolded to his son the divine message. It was with terror and amazement that Isaac learned his fate, but he offered no resistance. He could have escaped his doom, had he chosen to do so; the grief-stricken old man, exhausted with the struggle of those three terrible days, could not have opposed the will of the vigorous youth. But Isaac had been trained from childhood to ready, trusting obedience, and as the purpose of God was opened before him, he yielded a willing submission. He was a sharer in Abraham’s faith, and he felt that he was honored in being called to give his life as an offering to God. He tenderly seeks to lighten the father’s grief, and encourages his nerveless hands to bind the cords that confine him to the altar. {PP 152.2}

And now the last words of love are spoken, the last tears are shed, the last embrace is given. The father lifts the knife to slay his son, when suddenly his arm is stayed. An angel of God calls to the patriarch out of heaven, “Abraham, Abraham!” He quickly answers, “Here am I,” And again the voice is heard, “Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son, from Me.” {PP 152.3}

Then Abraham saw “a ram caught in a thicket,” and quickly bringing the new victim, he offered it “in the stead of his son.” In his joy and gratitude Abraham gave a new name to the sacred spot—“Jehovah-jireh,” “the Lord will provide.” {PP 153.1}

On Mount Moriah, God again renewed His covenant, confirming with a solemn oath the blessing to Abraham and to his seed through all coming generations: “By myself have I sworn, saith Jehovah, for because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son, that in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the seashore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies; and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed My voice.” {PP 153.2}

Abraham’s great act of faith stands like a pillar of light, illuminating the pathway of God’s servants in all succeeding ages. Abraham did not seek to excuse himself from doing the will of God. During that three days’ journey he had sufficient time to reason, and to doubt God, if he was disposed to doubt. He might have reasoned that the slaying of his son would cause him to be looked upon as a murderer, a second Cain; that it would cause his teaching to be rejected and despised; and thus destroy his power to do good to his fellow men. He might have pleaded that age should excuse him from obedience. But the patriarch did not take refuge in any of these excuses. Abraham was human; his passions and attachments were like ours; but he did not stop to question how the promise could be fulfilled if Isaac should be slain. He did not stay to reason with his aching heart. He knew that God is just and righteous in all His requirements, and he obeyed the command to the very letter. {PP 153.3}

“Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the friend of God.” James 2:23. And Paul says, “They which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham.” Galatians 3:7. But Abraham’s faith was made manifest by his works. “Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar? Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect?” James 2:21, 22. There are many who fail to understand the relation of faith and works. They say, “Only believe in Christ, and you are safe. You have nothing to do with keeping the law.” But genuine faith will be manifest in obedience. Said Christ to the unbelieving Jews, “If ye were Abraham’s children, ye would do the works of Abraham.” John 8:39. And concerning the father of the faithful the Lord declares, “Abraham obeyed My voice, and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes, and My laws.” Genesis 26:5. Says the apostle James, “Faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.” James 2:17. And John, who dwells so fully upon love, tells us, “This is the love of God, that we keep His commandments.” 1 John 5:3. {PP 153.4}

Through type and promise God “preached before the gospel unto Abraham.” Galatians 3:8. And the patriarch’s faith was fixed upon the Redeemer to come. Said Christ to the Jews. “Your father Abraham rejoiced that he should see My day; and he saw it, and was glad.” John 8:56, R.V., margin. The ram offered in the place of Isaac represented the Son of God, who was to be sacrificed in our stead. When man was doomed to death by transgression of the law of God, the Father, looking upon His Son, said to the sinner, “Live: I have found a ransom.” {PP 154.1}

It was to impress Abraham’s mind with the reality of the gospel, as well as to test his faith, that God commanded him to slay his son. The agony which he endured during the dark days of that fearful trial was permitted that he might understand from his own experience something of the greatness of the sacrifice made by the infinite God for man’s redemption. No other test could have caused Abraham such torture of soul as did the offering of his son. God gave His Son to a death of agony and shame. The angels who witnessed the humiliation and soul anguish of the Son of God were not permitted to interpose, as in the case of Isaac. There was no voice to cry, “It is enough.” To save the fallen race, the King of glory yielded up His life. What stronger proof can be given of the infinite compassion and love of God? “He that spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?” Romans 8:32. {PP 154.2}

The sacrifice required of Abraham was not alone for his own good, nor solely for the benefit of succeeding generations; but it was also for the instruction of the sinless intelligences of heaven and of other worlds. The field of the controversy between Christ and Satan—the field on which the plan of redemption is wrought out—is the lesson book of the universe. Because Abraham had shown a lack of faith in God’s promises, Satan had accused him before the angels and before God of having failed to comply with the conditions of the covenant, and as unworthy of its blessings. God desired to prove the loyalty of His servant before all heaven, to demonstrate that nothing less than perfect obedience can be accepted, and to open more fully before them the plan of salvation. {PP 154.3}

Heavenly beings were witnesses of the scene as the faith of Abraham and the submission of Isaac were tested. The trial was far more severe than that which had been brought upon Adam. Compliance with the prohibition laid upon our first parents involved no suffering, but the command to Abraham demanded the most agonizing sacrifice. All heaven beheld with wonder and admiration Abraham’s unfaltering obedience. All heaven applauded his fidelity. Satan’s accusations were shown to be false. God declared to His servant, “Now I know that thou fearest God [notwithstanding Satan’s charges], seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from Me.” God’s covenant, confirmed to Abraham by an oath before the intelligences of other worlds, testified that obedience will be rewarded. {PP 155.1}

It had been difficult even for the angels to grasp the mystery of redemption—to comprehend that the Commander of heaven, the Son of God, must die for guilty man. When the command was given to Abraham to offer up his son, the interest of all heavenly beings was enlisted. With intense earnestness they watched each step in the fulfillment of this command. When to Isaac’s question, “Where is the lamb for a burnt offering?” Abraham made answer, “God will provide Himself a lamb;” and when the father’s hand was stayed as he was about to slay his son, and the ram which God had provided was offered in the place of Isaac—then light was shed upon the mystery of redemption, and even the angels understood more clearly the wonderful provision that God had made for man’s salvation. 1 Peter 1:12. {PP 155.2}

307-1 Peter 1:12 God revealed to these prophets that their work was not for their own benefit, but for yours, as they spoke about those things which you have now heard from the messengers who announced the Good News by the power of the Holy Spirit sent from heaven. These are things which even the angels would like to understand.

308-Genesis 15:6 Abram put his trust in the Lord, and because of this the Lord was pleased with him and accepted him.

309-Genesis 12:10 But there was a famine in Canaan, and it was so bad that Abram went farther south to Egypt, to live there for a while. 11 When he was about to cross the border into Egypt, he said to his wife Sarai, "You are a beautiful woman. 12 When the Egyptians see you, they will assume that you are my wife, and so they will kill me and let you live. 13 Tell them that you are my sister; then because of you they will let me live and treat me well." 14 When he crossed the border into Egypt, the Egyptians did see that his wife was beautiful. 15 Some of the court officials saw her and told the king how beautiful she was; so she was taken to his palace. 16 Because of her the king treated Abram well and gave him flocks of sheep and goats, cattle, donkeys, slaves, and camels. 17 But because the king had taken Sarai, the Lord sent terrible diseases on him and on the people of his palace. 18 Then the king sent for Abram and asked him, "What have you done to me? Why didn't you tell me that she was your wife? 19 Why did you say that she was your sister, and let me take her as my wife? Here is your wife; take her and get out!" 20 The king gave orders to his men, so they took Abram and put him out of the country, together with his wife and everything he owned.

Genesis 20:1 Abraham moved from Mamre to the southern part of Canaan and lived between Kadesh and Shur. Later, while he was living in Gerar, 2 he said that his wife Sarah was his sister. So King Abimelech of Gerar had Sarah brought to him. 3 One night God appeared to him in a dream and said, "You are going to die, because you have taken this woman; she is already married." 4 But Abimelech had not come near her, and he said, "Lord, I am innocent! Would you destroy me and my people? 5 Abraham himself said that she was his sister, and she said the same thing. I did this with a clear conscience, and I have done no wrong." 6 God replied in the dream, "Yes, I know that you did it with a clear conscience; so I kept you from sinning against me and did not let you touch her. 7 But now, give the woman back to her husband. He is a prophet, and he will pray for you, so that you will not die. But if you do not give her back, I warn you that you are going to die, you and all your people." 8 Early the next morning Abimelech called all his officials and told them what had happened, and they were terrified. 9 Then Abimelech called Abraham and asked, "What have you done to us? What wrong have I done to you to make you bring this disaster on me and my kingdom? No one should ever do what you have done to me. 10 Why did you do it?" 11 Abraham answered, "I thought that there would be no one here who has reverence for God and that they would kill me to get my wife. 12 She really is my sister. She is the daughter of my father, but not of my mother, and I married her. 13 So when God sent me from my father's house into foreign lands, I said to her, "You can show how loyal you are to me by telling everyone that I am your brother.' "

310-Genesis 26:1 There was another famine in the land besides the earlier one during the time of Abraham. Isaac went to Abimelech, king of the Philistines, at Gerar. 2 The Lord had appeared to Isaac and had said, "Do not go to Egypt; stay in this land, where I tell you to stay. 3 Live here, and I will be with you and bless you. I am going to give all this territory to you and to your descendants. I will keep the promise I made to your father Abraham. 4 I will give you as many descendants as there are stars in the sky, and I will give them all this territory. All the nations will ask me to bless them as I have blessed your descendants. 5 I will bless you, because Abraham obeyed me and kept all my laws and commands." 6 So Isaac lived at Gerar. 7 When the men there asked about his wife, he said that she was his sister. He would not admit that she was his wife, because he was afraid that the men there would kill him to get Rebecca, who was very beautiful. 8 When Isaac had been there for some time, King Abimelech looked down from his window and saw Isaac and Rebecca making love. 9 Abimelech sent for Isaac and said, "So she is your wife! Why did you say she was your sister?" He answered, "I thought I would be killed if I said she was my wife." 10 "What have you done to us?" Abimelech said. "One of my men might easily have slept with your wife, and you would have been responsible for our guilt." 11 Abimelech warned all the people: "Anyone who mistreats this man or his wife will be put to death."

311-2 Chronicles 20:7 You are our God. When your people Israel moved into this land, you drove out the people who were living here and gave the land to the descendants of Abraham, your friend, to be theirs forever.

312-Isaiah 41:8 "But you, Israel my servant, you are the people that I have chosen, the descendants of Abraham, my friend.

313-James 2:23 And the scripture came true that said, "Abraham believed God, and because of his faith God accepted him as righteous." And so Abraham was called God's friend.

314-Genesis 17:11 From now on you must circumcise every baby boy when he is eight days old, including slaves born in your homes and slaves bought from foreigners. This will show that there is a covenant between you and me. 13 Each one must be circumcised, and this will be a physical sign to show that my covenant with you is everlasting. 14 Any male who has not been circumcised will no longer be considered one of my people, because he has not kept the covenant with me." 15 God said to Abraham, "You must no longer call your wife Sarai; from now on her name is Sarah. 16 I will bless her, and I will give you a son by her. I will bless her, and she will become the mother of nations, and there will be kings among her descendants." 17 Abraham bowed down with his face touching the ground, but he began to laugh when he thought, "Can a man have a child when he is a hundred years old? Can Sarah have a child at ninety?" 18 He asked God, "Why not let Ishmael be my heir?" 19 But God said, "No. Your wife Sarah will bear you a son and you will name him Isaac. I will keep my covenant with him and with his descendants forever. It is an everlasting covenant. 20 I have heard your request about Ishmael, so I will bless him and give him many children and many descendants. He will be the father of twelve princes, and I will make a great nation of his descendants. 21 But I will keep my covenant with your son Isaac, who will be born to Sarah about this time next year." 22 When God finished speaking to Abraham, he left him. 23 On that same day Abraham obeyed God and circumcised his son Ishmael and all the other males in his household, including the slaves born in his home and those he had bought. 24 Abraham was ninety-nine years old when he was circumcised, 25 and his son Ishmael was thirteen. 26 They were both circumcised on the same day, 27 together with all of Abraham's slaves.

315-PP 364 He did not even then trust His precepts to the memory of a people who were prone to forget His requirements, but wrote them upon tables of stone. He would remove from Israel all possibility of mingling heathen traditions with His holy precepts, or of confounding His requirements with human ordinances or customs. But He did not stop with giving them the precepts of the Decalogue. The people had shown themselves so easily led astray that He would leave no door of temptation unguarded. Moses was commanded to write, as God should bid him, judgments and laws giving minute instruction as to what was required. These directions relating to the duty of the people to God, to one another, and to the stranger were only the principles of the Ten Commandments amplified and given in a specific manner, that none need err. They were designed to guard the sacredness of the ten precepts engraved on the tables of stone. {PP 364.1}

If man had kept the law of God, as given to Adam after his fall, preserved by Noah, and observed by Abraham, there would have been no necessity for the ordinance of circumcision. And if the descendants of Abraham had kept the covenant, of which circumcision was a sign, they would never have been seduced into idolatry, nor would it have been necessary for them to suffer a life of bondage in Egypt; they would have kept God’s law in mind, and there would have been no necessity for it to be proclaimed from Sinai or engraved upon the tables of stone. And had the people practiced the principles of the Ten Commandments, there would have been no need of the additional directions given to Moses. {PP 364.2}

The sacrificial system, committed to Adam, was also perverted by his descendants. Superstition, idolatry, cruelty, and licentiousness corrupted the simple and significant service that God had appointed. Through long intercourse with idolaters the people of Israel had mingled many heathen customs with their worship; therefore the Lord gave them at Sinai definite instruction concerning the sacrificial service. After the completion of the tabernacle He communicated with Moses from the cloud of glory above the mercy seat, and gave him full directions concerning the system of offerings and the forms of worship to be maintained in the sanctuary. The ceremonial law was thus given to Moses, and by him written in a book. But the law of Ten Commandments spoken from Sinai had been written by God Himself on the tables of stone, and was sacredly preserved in the ark. {PP 364.3}

316-Genesis 19:26 But Lot's wife looked back and was turned into a pillar of salt.

317-Genesis 19:7 He said to them, "Friends, I beg you, don't do such a wicked thing!

318-2 Peter 2:8 That good man lived among them, and day after day he suffered agony as he saw and heard their evil actions. 9 And so the Lord knows how to rescue godly people from their trials and how to keep the wicked under punishment for the Day of Judgment,

319-Genesis 19:30 Because Lot was afraid to stay in Zoar, he and his two daughters moved up into the hills and lived in a cave. 31 The older daughter said to her sister, "Our father is getting old, and there are no men in the whole world to marry us so that we can have children. 32 Come on, let's get our father drunk, so that we can sleep with him and have children by him." 33 That night they gave him wine to drink, and the older daughter had intercourse with him. But he was so drunk that he didn't know it. 34 The next day the older daughter said to her sister, "I slept with him last night; now let's get him drunk again tonight, and you sleep with him. Then each of us will have a child by our father." 35 So that night they got him drunk, and the younger daughter had intercourse with him. Again he was so drunk that he didn't know it. 36 In this way both of Lot's daughters became pregnant by their own father. 37 The older daughter had a son, whom she named Moab. He was the ancestor of the present-day Moabites. 38 The younger daughter also had a son, whom she named Benammi. He was the ancestor of the present-day Ammonites.

320-Genesis 24:22 When she had finished, the man took an expensive gold ring and put it in her nose and put two large gold bracelets on her arms.

321-1 Peter 3:3 You should not use outward aids to make yourselves beautiful, such as the way you fix your hair, or the jewelry you put on, or the dresses you wear.

322-1 Timothy 2:9 I also want the women to be modest and sensible about their clothes and to dress properly; not with fancy hair styles or with gold ornaments or pearls or expensive dresses,

323-Ezekiel 16:11 I put jewels on you - bracelets and necklaces. 12 I gave you a nose ring and earrings and a beautiful crown to wear. 13 You had ornaments of gold and silver, and you always wore clothes of embroidered linen and silk. You ate bread made from the best flour, and had honey and olive oil to eat. Your beauty was dazzling, and you became a queen.

324-Genesis 31:19 Laban had gone to shear his sheep, and during his absence Rachel stole the household gods that belonged to her father. 20 Jacob deceived Laban by not letting him know that he was leaving. 21 He took everything he owned and left in a hurry. He crossed the Euphrates River and started for the hill country of Gilead.

325-Genesis 38:1 About that time Judah left his brothers and went to stay with a man named Hirah, who was from the town of Adullam. 2 There Judah met a young Canaanite woman whose father was named Shua. He married her, 3 and she bore him a son, whom he named Er. 4 She became pregnant again and bore another son and named him Onan. 5 Again she had a son and named him Shelah. Judah was at Achzib when the boy was born. 6 For his first son Er, Judah got a wife whose name was Tamar. 7 Er's conduct was evil, and it displeased the Lord, so the Lord killed him. 8 Then Judah said to Er's brother Onan, "Go and sleep with your brother's widow. Fulfill your obligation to her as her husband's brother, so that your brother may have descendants." 9 But Onan knew that the children would not belong to him, so when he had intercourse with his brother's widow, he let the semen spill on the ground, so that there would be no children for his brother. 10 What he did displeased the Lord, and the Lord killed him also. 11 Then Judah said to his daughter-in-law Tamar, "Return to your father's house and remain a widow until my son Shelah grows up." He said this because he was afraid that Shelah would be killed, as his brothers had been. So Tamar went back home. 12 After some time Judah's wife died. When he had finished the time of mourning, he and his friend Hirah of Adullam went to Timnah, where his sheep were being sheared. 13 Someone told Tamar that her father-in-law was going to Timnah to shear his sheep. 14 So she changed from the widow's clothes she had been wearing, covered her face with a veil, and sat down at the entrance to Enaim, a town on the road to Timnah. As she well knew, Judah's youngest son Shelah was now grown up, and yet she had not been given to him in marriage. 15 When Judah saw her, he thought that she was a prostitute, because she had her face covered. 16 He went over to her at the side of the road and said, "All right, how much do you charge?" (He did not know that she was his daughter-in-law.) She said, "What will you give me?" 17 He answered, "I will send you a young goat from my flock." She said, "All right, if you will give me something to keep as a pledge until you send the goat." 18 "What shall I give you as a pledge?" he asked. She answered, "Your seal with its cord and the walking stick you are carrying." He gave them to her. Then they had intercourse, and she became pregnant. 19 Tamar went home, took off her veil, and put her widow's clothes back on. 20 Judah sent his friend Hirah to take the goat and get back from the woman the articles he had pledged, but Hirah could not find her. 21 He asked some men at Enaim, "Where is the prostitute who was here by the road?" "There has never been a prostitute here," they answered. 22 He returned to Judah and said, "I couldn't find her. The men of the place said that there had never been a prostitute there." 23 Judah said, "Let her keep the things. We don't want people to laugh at us. I did try to pay her, but you couldn't find her." 24 About three months later someone told Judah, "Your daughter-in-law Tamar has been acting like a whore, and now she is pregnant." Judah ordered, "Take her out and burn her to death." 25 As she was being taken out, she sent word to her father-in-law: "I am pregnant by the man who owns these things. Look at them and see whose they are - this seal with its cord and this walking stick." 26 Judah recognized them and said, "She is in the right. I have failed in my obligation to her - I should have given her to my son Shelah in marriage." And Judah never had intercourse with her again. 27 When the time came for her to give birth, it was discovered that she was going to have twins. 28 While she was in labor, one of them put out an arm; the midwife caught it, tied a red thread around it, and said, "This one was born first." 29 But he pulled his arm back, and his brother was born first. Then the midwife said, "So this is how you break your way out!" So he was named Perez. 30 Then his brother was born with the red thread on his arm, and he was named Zerah.

326-Joshua 2:1 Then Joshua sent two spies from the camp at Acacia with orders to go and secretly explore the land of Canaan, especially the city of Jericho. When they came to the city, they went to spend the night in the house of a prostitute named Rahab. 2 The king of Jericho heard that some Israelites had come that night to spy out the country, 3 so he sent word to Rahab: "The men in your house have come to spy out the whole country! Bring them out!" 4 "Some men did come to my house," she answered, "but I don't know where they were from. They left at sundown before the city gate was closed. I didn't find out where they were going, but if you start after them quickly, you can catch them." (Now Rahab had taken the two spies up on the roof and hidden them under some stalks of flax that she had put there.) 7 The king's men left the city, and then the gate was shut. They went looking for the Israelite spies as far as the place where the road crosses the Jordan. 8 Before the spies settled down for the night, Rahab went up on the roof 9 and said to them, "I know that the Lord has given you this land. Everyone in the country is terrified of you. 10 We have heard how the Lord dried up the Red Sea in front of you when you were leaving Egypt. We have also heard how you killed Sihon and Og, the two Amorite kings east of the Jordan. 11 We were afraid as soon as we heard about it; we have all lost our courage because of you. The Lord your God is God in heaven above and here on earth. 12 Now swear by him that you will treat my family as kindly as I have treated you, and give me some sign that I can trust you. 13 Promise me that you will save my father and mother, my brothers and sisters, and all their families! Don't let us be killed!" 14 The men said to her, "May God take our lives if we don't do as we say! If you do not tell anyone what we have been doing, we promise you that when the Lord gives us this land, we will treat you well." 15 Rahab lived in a house built into the city wall, so she let the men down from the window by a rope. 16 "Go into the hill country," she said, "or the king's men will find you. Hide there for three days until they come back. After that, you can go on your way." 17 The men said to her, "We will keep the promise that you have made us give. 18 This is what you must do. When we invade your land, tie this red cord to the window you let us down from. Get your father and mother, your brothers, and all your father's family together in your house. 19 If anyone goes out of the house, his death will be his own fault, and we will not be responsible; but if anyone in the house with you is harmed, then we will be responsible. 20 However, if you tell anyone what we have been doing, then we will not have to keep our promise which you have made us give you." 21 She agreed and sent them away. When they had gone, she tied the red cord to the window. 22 The spies went into the hills and hid. The king's men looked for them all over the countryside for three days, but they did not find them, so they returned to Jericho. 23 Then the two spies came down from the hills, crossed the river, and went back to Joshua. They told him everything that had happened, 24 and then said, "We are sure that the Lord has given us the whole country. All the people there are terrified of us."

327-Ruth 4:1 Boaz went to the meeting place at the town gate and sat down there. Then Elimelech's nearest relative, the man whom Boaz had mentioned, came by, and Boaz called to him, "Come over here, my friend, and sit down." So he went over and sat down. 2 Then Boaz got ten of the leaders of the town and asked them to sit down there too. When they were seated, 3 he said to his relative, "Now that Naomi has come back from Moab, she wants to sell the field that belonged to our relative Elimelech, 4 and I think you ought to know about it. Now then, if you want it, buy it in the presence of these men sitting here. But if you don't want it, say so, because the right to buy it belongs first to you and then to me." The man said, "I will buy it." 5 Boaz said, "Very well, if you buy the field from Naomi, then you are also buying Ruth, the Moabite widow, so that the field will stay in the dead man's family." 6 The man answered, "In that case I will give up my right to buy the field, because it would mean that my own children would not inherit it. You buy it; I would rather not." 7 Now in those days, to settle a sale or an exchange of property, it was the custom for the seller to take off his sandal and give it to the buyer. In this way the Israelites showed that the matter was settled. 8 So when the man said to Boaz, "You buy it," he took off his sandal and gave it to Boaz. 9 Then Boaz said to the leaders and all the others there, "You are all witnesses today that I have bought from Naomi everything that belonged to Elimelech and to his sons Chilion and Mahlon. 10 In addition, Ruth the Moabite, Mahlon's widow, becomes my wife. This will keep the property in the dead man's family, and his family line will continue among his people and in his hometown. You are witnesses to this today." 11 The leaders and the others said, "Yes, we are witnesses. May the Lord make your wife become like Rachel and Leah, who bore many children to Jacob. May you become rich in the clan of Ephrath and famous in Bethlehem. 12 May the children that the Lord will give you by this young woman make your family like the family of Perez, the son of Judah and Tamar." 13 So Boaz took Ruth home as his wife. The Lord blessed her, and she became pregnant and had a son. 14 The women said to Naomi, "Praise the Lord! He has given you a grandson today to take care of you. May the boy become famous in Israel! 15 Your daughter-in-law loves you, and has done more for you than seven sons. And now she has given you a grandson, who will bring new life to you and give you security in your old age." 16 Naomi took the child, held him close, and took care of him. 17 The women of the neighborhood named the boy Obed. They told everyone, "A son has been born to Naomi!" Obed became the father of Jesse, who was the father of David. 18 This is the family line from Perez to David: Perez, Hezron, Ram, Amminadab, Nahshon, Salmon, Boaz, Obed, Jesse, David.

328-Matthew 1:3 and Judah the father of Perez and Zerah by Tamar, and Perez the father of Hezron, and Hezron the father of Ram,

329-1 Timothy 1:4 Tell them to give up those legends and those long lists of ancestors, which only produce arguments; they do not serve God's plan, which is known by faith.

330-Titus 3:9 But avoid stupid arguments, long lists of ancestors, quarrels, and fights about the Law. They are useless and worthless.

331-Genesis 1:26 Then God said, "And now we will make human beings; they will be like us and resemble us. They will have power over the fish, the birds, and all animals, domestic and wild, large and small."

Genesis 2:18 Then the Lord God said, "It is not good for the man to live alone. I will make a suitable companion to help him." 19 So he took some soil from the ground and formed all the animals and all the birds. Then he brought them to the man to see what he would name them; and that is how they all got their names. 20 So the man named all the birds and all the animals; but not one of them was a suitable companion to help him. 21 Then the Lord God made the man fall into a deep sleep, and while he was sleeping, he took out one of the man's ribs and closed up the flesh. 22 He formed a woman out of the rib and brought her to him. 23 Then the man said, "At last, here is one of my own kind - Bone taken from my bone, and flesh from my flesh. "Woman' is her name because she was taken out of man." 24 That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united with his wife, and they become one. 25 The man and the woman were both naked, but they were not embarrassed.

332-Joshua 15:18 On the wedding day Othniel urged her to ask her father for a field. She got down from her donkey, and Caleb asked her what she wanted.

Joshua 18:16 It then went down to the foot of the mountain that overlooks Hinnom Valley, at the north end of Rephaim Valley. It then went south through Hinnom Valley, south of the Jebusite ridge, toward Enrogel.

333-2 Chronicles 28:3 burned incense in Hinnom Valley, and even sacrificed his own sons as burnt offerings to idols, imitating the disgusting practice of the people whom the Lord had driven out of the land as the Israelites advanced.

2 Chronicles 33:6 He sacrificed his sons in Hinnom Valley as burnt offerings. He practiced divination and magic and consulted fortunetellers and mediums. He sinned greatly against the Lord and stirred up his anger.

334-Jeremiah 7:30 "The people of Judah have done an evil thing. They have placed their idols, which I hate, in my Temple and have defiled it. 31 In Hinnom Valley they have built an altar called Topheth, so that they can sacrifice their sons and daughters in the fire. I did not command them to do this - it did not even enter my mind. 32 And so, the time will come when it will no longer be called Topheth or Hinnom Valley, but Slaughter Valley. They will bury people there because there will be nowhere else to bury them.

Jeremiah 19:1 The Lord told me to go and buy a clay jar. He also told me to take some of the elders of the people and some of the older priests, 2 and to go through Potsherd Gate out to Hinnom Valley. There I was to proclaim the message that he would give me. 3 The Lord told me to say, "Kings of Judah and people of Jerusalem, listen to what I, the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, have to say. I am going to bring such a disaster on this place that everyone who hears about it will be stunned. 4 I am going to do this because the people have abandoned me and defiled this place by offering sacrifices here to other gods - gods that neither they nor their ancestors nor the kings of Judah have known anything about. They have filled this place with the blood of innocent people, 5 and they have built altars for Baal in order to burn their children in the fire as sacrifices. I never commanded them to do this; it never even entered my mind. 6 So then, the time will come when this place will no longer be called Topheth or Hinnom Valley. Instead, it will be known as Slaughter Valley. 7 In this place I will frustrate all the plans of the people of Judah and Jerusalem. I will let their enemies triumph over them and kill them in battle. I will give their corpses to the birds and the wild animals as food. 8 I will bring such terrible destruction on this city that everyone who passes by will be shocked and amazed. 9 The enemy will surround the city and try to kill its people. The siege will be so terrible that the people inside the city will eat one another and even their own children." 10 Then the Lord told me to break the jar in front of those who had gone with me

Jeremiah 32:35 They have built altars to Baal in Hinnom Valley, to sacrifice their sons and daughters to the god Molech. I did not command them to do this, and it did not even enter my mind that they would do such a thing and make the people of Judah sin."

335-Lev. 18:21 Do not hand over any of your children to be used in the worship of the god Molech, because that would bring disgrace on the name of God, the Lord.

336-Deut. 12:31 Do not worship the Lord your God in the way they worship their gods, for in the worship of their gods they do all the disgusting things that the Lord hates. They even sacrifice their children in the fires on their altars.

Deuteronomy 18:10 Don't sacrifice your children in the fires on your altars; and don't let your people practice divination or look for omens or use spells

337-2 Kings 16:3 and followed the example of the kings of Israel. He even sacrificed his own son as a burnt offering to idols, imitating the disgusting practice of the people whom the Lord had driven out of the land as the Israelites advanced.

2 Kings 17:17 They sacrificed their sons and daughters as burnt offerings to pagan gods; they consulted mediums and fortunetellers, and they devoted themselves completely to doing what is wrong in the Lord's sight, and so aroused his anger.

2 Kings 21:6 He sacrificed his son as a burnt offering. He practiced divination and magic and consulted fortunetellers and mediums. He sinned greatly against the Lord and stirred up his anger.

2 Kings 23:10 King Josiah also desecrated Topheth, the pagan place of worship in Hinnom Valley, so that no one could sacrifice his son or daughter as a burnt offering to the god Molech.

338-Ps. 106:37 They offered their own sons and daughters as sacrifices to the idols of Canaan. 38 They killed those innocent children, and the land was defiled by those murders.

339-Isaiah 57:5 You worship the fertility gods by having sex under those sacred trees of yours. You offer your children as sacrifices in the rocky caves near stream beds.

340-Ezek. 16:20 "Then you took the sons and the daughters you had borne me and offered them as sacrifices to idols. Wasn't it bad enough to be unfaithful to me, 21 without taking my children and sacrificing them to idols?

341-Mic. 6:7 Will the Lord be pleased if I bring him thousands of sheep or endless streams of olive oil? Shall I offer him my first-born child to pay for my sins?

342-2 King 23:10 King Josiah also desecrated Topheth, the pagan place of worship in Hinnom Valley, so that no one could sacrifice his son or daughter as a burnt offering to the god Molech.

343-Jeremiah 19: Jeremiah 19:10-13

344-Jude 7 Remember Sodom and Gomorrah, and the nearby towns, whose people acted as those angels did and indulged in sexual immorality and perversion: they suffer the punishment of eternal fire as a plain warning to all.

345-Exodus 4:24 At a camping place on the way to Egypt, the Lord met Moses and tried to kill him. 25 Then Zipporah, his wife, took a sharp stone, cut off the foreskin of her son, and touched Moses' feet with it. Because of the rite of circumcision she said to Moses, "You are a husband of blood to me." And so the Lord spared Moses' life. 27 Meanwhile the Lord had said to Aaron, "Go into the desert to meet Moses." So he went to meet him at the holy mountain; and when he met him, he kissed him. 28 Then Moses told Aaron everything that the Lord had said when he told him to return to Egypt; he also told him about the miracles which the Lord had ordered him to perform. 29 So Moses and Aaron went to Egypt and gathered all the Israelite leaders together. 30 Aaron told them everything that the Lord had said to Moses, and then Moses performed all the miracles in front of the people. 31 They believed, and when they heard that the Lord had come to them and had seen how they were being treated cruelly, they bowed down and worshiped.

346-The Desire of Ages 456,457 He now gave a test by which the true teacher might be distinguished from the deceiver: “He that speaketh from himself seeketh his own glory: but he that seeketh the glory of Him that sent him, the same is true, and no unrighteousness is in him.” John 7:18, R. V. He that seeketh his own glory is speaking only from himself. The spirit of self-seeking betrays its origin. But Christ was seeking the glory of God. He spoke the words of God. This was the evidence of His authority as a teacher of the truth. {DA 456.1}

Jesus gave the rabbis an evidence of His divinity by showing that He read their hearts. Ever since the healing at Bethesda they had been plotting His death. Thus they were themselves breaking the law which they professed to be defending. “Did not Moses give you the law,” He said, “and yet none of you keepeth the law? Why go ye about to kill Me?” {DA 456.2}

Like a swift flash of light these words revealed to the rabbis the pit of ruin into which they were about to plunge. For an instant they were filled with terror. They saw that they were in conflict with Infinite Power. But they would not be warned. In order to maintain their influence with the people, their murderous designs must be concealed. Evading the question of Jesus, they exclaimed, “Thou hast a devil: who goeth about to kill Thee?” They insinuated that the wonderful works of Jesus were instigated by an evil spirit. {DA 456.3}

To this insinuation Christ gave no heed. He went on to show that His work of healing at Bethesda was in harmony with the Sabbath law, and that it was justified by the interpretation which the Jews themselves put upon the law. He said, “Moses therefore gave unto you circumcision; ... and ye on the Sabbath day circumcise a man.” According to the law, every child must be circumcised on the eighth day. Should the appointed time fall upon the Sabbath, the rite must then be performed. How much more must it be in harmony with the spirit of the law to make a man “every whit whole on the Sabbath day.” And He warned them to “judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment.” {DA 456.4}

The rulers were silenced; and many of the people exclaimed, “Is not this He, whom they seek to kill? But, lo, He speaketh boldly, and they say nothing unto Him. Do the rulers know indeed that this is the very Christ?” {DA 457.1}

Many among Christ’s hearers who were dwellers at Jerusalem, and who were not ignorant of the plots of the rulers against Him, felt themselves drawn to Him by an irresistible power. The conviction pressed upon them that He was the Son of God. But Satan was ready to suggest doubt; and for this the way was prepared by their own erroneous ideas of the Messiah and His coming. It was generally believed that Christ would be born at Bethlehem, but that after a time He would disappear, and at His second appearance none would know whence He came. There were not a few who held that the Messiah would have no natural relationship to humanity. And because the popular conception of the glory of the Messiah was not met by Jesus of Nazareth, many gave heed to the suggestion, “Howbeit we know this Man whence He is: but when Christ cometh, no man knoweth whence He is.” {DA 457.2}

While they were thus wavering between doubt and faith, Jesus took up their thoughts and answered them: “Ye both know Me, and ye know whence I am: and I am not come of Myself, but He that sent Me is true, whom ye know not.” They claimed a knowledge of what the origin of Christ should be, but they were in utter ignorance of it. If they had lived in accordance with the will of God, they would have known His Son when He was manifested to them. {DA 457.3}

The hearers could not but understand Christ’s words. Clearly they were a repetition of the claim He had made in the presence of the Sanhedrin many months before, when He declared Himself the Son of God. As the rulers then tried to compass His death, so now they sought to take Him; but they were prevented by an unseen power, which put a limit to their rage, saying to them, Thus far shalt thou go, and no farther. {DA 457.4}

Among the people many believed on Him, and they said, “When Christ cometh, will He do more miracles than these which this Man hath done?” The leaders of the Pharisees, who were anxiously watching the course of events, caught the expressions of sympathy among the throng. Hurrying away to the chief priests, they laid their plans to arrest Him. They arranged, however, to take Him when He was alone; for they dared not seize Him in the presence of the people. Again Jesus made it manifest that He read their purpose. “Yet a little while am I with you,” He said, “and then I go unto Him that sent Me. Ye shall seek Me, and shall not find Me: and where I am, thither ye cannot come.” Soon He would find a refuge beyond the reach of their scorn and hate. He would ascend to the Father, to be again the Adored of the angels; and thither His murderers could never come. {DA 457.5}

347-Exodus 2:21 So Moses decided to live there, and Jethro gave him his daughter Zipporah in marriage, 22 who bore him a son. Moses said to himself, "I am a foreigner in this land, and so I name him Gershom."

Exodus 4:20 So Moses took his wife and his sons, put them on a donkey, and set out with them for Egypt, carrying the walking stick that God had told him to take.

348-Spiritual Gifts, vol. 3, p. 195,196 The Lord directed Moses to say unto Pharaoh, “Thus saith the Lord, Israel is my son, even my first-born. And I say unto thee, Let my son go, that he may serve me. And if thou refuse to let him go, behold, I will slay thy son, even thy first-born.” The Lord called Israel his first-born, because he had singled them out from all people to be the depositaries of his law, the obedience of which would preserve them pure amidst idolatrous nations. He conferred upon them special privileges, such as were generally conferred upon the first-born son. {3SG 195.1}

As Moses journeyed to Egypt, the angel of the Lord met him and assumed a threatening posture, as though he would slay him. He was fearful of his life. He had yielded to the refusal of his wife to have their son circumcised, and, in compliance with her wishes, had neglected to obey God. His wife, fearful that her husband might be slain, overcame her feelings of undue affection for her son, and performed the act herself. After this, the angel let Moses go. In his mission to Pharaoh, he was to be placed in a perilous position, where his life would be exposed to the will of the king, if God did not by his power, through the presence of his angels, preserve him. While Moses was living in neglect of one of God’s positive commands, his life would not be secure, for God’s angels could not protect him while in disobedience. Therefore, the angel met him in the way and threatened his life. He did not explain to Moses why he assumed that threatening aspect. Moses knew that there was a cause. He was going to Egypt according to God’s express command, therefore the journey was right. He at once remembered that he had not obeyed God in performing the ordinance of circumcision upon his youngest son, and had yielded to his wife’s entreaties to postpone the ceremony. After he had obeyed the command of God he was free to go before Pharaoh, and there was nothing in the way to hinder the ministration of angels in connection with his work. {3SG 195.2}

In the time of trouble, just previous to the coming of Christ, the lives of the righteous will be preserved through the ministration of holy angels. Those who come up to that trying time, neglecting to obey God’s commands, will have no security of their lives. Angels cannot protect them from the wrath of their enemies while they are living in neglect of any known duty, or express command of Jehovah. {3SG 196.1}

The Lord had informed Moses that Aaron, his brother, three years older than himself, would come forth to meet him, and when he should see him, would be glad. They had been separated for many years. Angels of God had instructed Moses in regard to the work he should perform. Angels also were sent to teach Aaron to go forth and meet Moses, for the Lord had chosen him to be with Moses, and when he should meet his brother to listen to his words, for God had given Moses words to speak to him in regard to the part he should act in connection with the deliverance of Israel. “And the Lord said to Aaron, Go into the wilderness to meet Moses. And he went, and met him in the mount of God, and kissed him. And Moses told Aaron all the words of the Lord who had sent him, and all the signs which he had commanded him. And Moses and Aaron went and gathered together all the elders of the children of Israel. And Aaron spake all the words which the Lord had spoken unto Moses, and did the signs in the sight of the people. And the people believed. And when they heard that the Lord had visited the children of Israel, and that he had looked upon their affliction, then they bowed their heads and worshiped.” {3SG 196.2}

349-The Spirit of Prophecy, vol. 1, p. 175,176 The Lord directed Moses to say unto Pharaoh, “Thus saith the Lord, Israel is my son, even my first-born. And I say unto thee, Let my son go, that he may serve me. And if thou refuse to let him go, behold, I will slay thy son, even thy first-born.” The Lord called Israel his first-born because he had singled them out from all the people to be the depositaries of his law, the obedience of which would preserve them pure amidst idolatrous nations. He conferred upon them special privileges, such as were generally conferred upon the first-born son. {1SP 175.1}

As Moses journeyed to Egypt, the angel of the Lord met him, and assumed a threatening posture, as though he would slay him. He was fearful of his life. He had yielded to the refusal of his wife to have their son circumcised, and, in compliance with her wishes, had neglected to obey God. His wife, fearful that her husband might be slain, overcame her feelings of undue affection for her son, and performed the act herself. After this, the angel let Moses go. In his mission to Pharaoh, he was to be placed in a perilous position, where his life would be exposed to the will of the king, if God did not by his power, through the presence of his angels, preserve him. While Moses was living in neglect of one of God’s positive commands, his life would not be secure; for God’s angels could not protect him while in disobedience. Therefore the angel met him in the way, and threatened his life. He did not explain to Moses why he assumed that threatening aspect. Moses knew that there was a cause. He was going to Egypt according to God’s express command, therefore the journey was right. He at once remembered that he had not obeyed God in performing the ordinance of circumcision upon his youngest son, and had yielded to his wife’s entreaties to postpone the ceremony. After he had obeyed the command of God, he was free to go before Pharaoh, and there was nothing in the way to hinder the ministration of angels in connection with his work. {1SP 175.2}

In the time of trouble, just previous to the coming of Christ, the lives of the righteous will be preserved through the ministration of holy angels. Those who come up to that trying time neglecting to obey God’s commands, will have no security of their lives. Angels cannot protect them from the wrath of their enemies while they are living in neglect of any known duty, or express command of Jehovah. {1SP 176.1}

The Lord had informed Moses that Aaron, his brother three years older than himself, would come forth to meet him, and when he should see him, would be glad. They had been separated for many years. Angels of God had instructed Moses in regard to the work he should perform. Angels were also sent to teach Aaron to go forth and meet Moses, for the Lord had chosen him to be with Moses; and when he should meet his brother, to listen to his words; for God had given Moses words to speak to him in regard to the part he should act in connection with the deliverance of Israel. “And the Lord said to Aaron, Go into the wilderness to meet Moses. And he went, and met him in the mount of God, and kissed him. And Moses told Aaron all the words of the Lord who had sent him, and all the signs which he had commanded him. And Moses and Aaron went and gathered together all the elders of the children of Israel. And Aaron spake all the words which the Lord had spoken unto Moses, and did the signs in the sight of the people. And the people believed. And when they heard that the Lord had visited the children of Israel, and that he had looked upon their affliction, then they bowed their heads and worshiped.” {1SP 176.2}

350-Signs of the Times, February 26, 1880 To the oppressed and suffering Hebrews the day of their deliverance seemed to be long deferred; but in his own appointed time God designed to work for them in mighty power. Moses was not to stand, as he at first anticipated, at the head of armies, with waving banners and glittering armor. That people, so long abused and oppressed, were not to gain the victory for themselves, by rising up and asserting their rights. God’s purpose was to be accomplished in a way to pour contempt on human pride and glory. The deliverer was to go forth as a humble shepherd, with only a rod in his hand; but God would make that rod powerful in delivering his people from oppression, and in preserving them when pursued by their enemies. {ST February 26, 1880, Art. A, par. 1}

Before Moses went forth, he received his high commission, his ordination to his great work, in a way that filled him with awe, and gave him a deep sense of his own weakness and unworthiness. While engaged in his round of duties he saw a bush, branches, foliage, and trunk, all burning, yet not consumed. He drew near to view the wonderful sight, when a voice addressed him from out of the flame. It was the voice of God. It was He who, as the angel of the covenant, had revealed himself to the fathers in ages past. The frame of Moses quivered, he was thrilled with terror, as the Lord called him by name. With trembling lips he answered, “Here am I.” He was warned not to approach his Creator with undue familiarity: “Put off thy shoes from off thy feet; for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground.” “And Moses hid his face; for he was afraid to look upon God.” {ST February 26, 1880, Art. A, par. 2}

Finite man may learn a lesson that should never be forgotten,—to approach God with reverence. We may come boldly into his presence, presenting the name of Jesus, our righteousness and substitute, but never with the boldness of presumption, as though he were on a level with ourselves. We have heard some address the great and all-powerful and holy God, who dwelleth in light unapproachable, as they would not address an equal, or even an inferior. We have seen some behave themselves in the presence of God as they would not dare to do in the presence of an earthly friend. These show that they have not a proper view of God’s character and the greatness of his power. They should remember that God’s eye is upon them; he reads the thoughts of their hearts concerning him. He will not be mocked. God is greatly to be reverenced; wherever his presence is clearly realized, sinful man will bow in the most humble attitude, and from the depths of the soul cry out, “How dreadful is this place!” {ST February 26, 1880, Art. A, par. 3}

As Moses waited in reverent awe before God, the words continued: “I have surely seen the affliction of my people which are in Egypt, and have heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters; for I know their sorrows; and I am come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land unto a good land and a large, unto a land flowing with milk and honey.” “Come now, therefore, and I will send thee unto Pharaoh, that thou mayest bring forth my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.” {ST February 26, 1880, Art. A, par. 4}

Amazed and frightened at the command, Moses drew back, saying, “Who am I, that I should go unto Pharaoh, and that I should bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt?” The reply was, {ST February 26, 1880, Art. A, par. 5}

“Certainly I will be with thee; and this shall be a token unto thee, that I have sent thee. When thou hast brought forth the people out of Egypt, ye shall serve God upon this mountain. Moses thought of the difficulties to be encountered, the blindness, ignorance, and unbelief of his people, who were almost destitute of all knowledge of God. {ST February 26, 1880, Art. A, par. 6}

“Behold,” he said, “when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you, and they shall say to me, What is his name? what shall I say to them?” The answer was, {ST February 26, 1880, Art. A, par. 7}

“I am that I am. Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.” Moses was commanded first to assemble the elders of Israel, the most noble and righteous among them, who had long grieved because of their bondage, and to declare to them a message from God, with a promise of deliverance. Then he was to take the elders before the king, and say to him, {ST February 26, 1880, Art. A, par. 8}

“The Lord God of the Hebrews hath met with us, and now let us go, we beseech thee, three day’s journey into the wilderness, that we may sacrifice to the Lord our God.” {ST February 26, 1880, Art. A, par. 9}

The Pharaoh before whom Moses was to appear was not the one who had decreed that he should be put to death. That monarch was dead, and another had taken the reins of government. The name Pharaoh was a title borne by nearly all the Egyptian kings. {ST February 26, 1880, Art. A, par. 10}

Moses was forewarned that Pharaoh would resist the appeal to let Israel go. Yet the courage of God’s servant must not fail; for the Lord would make this the occasion to manifest his power before the Egyptians and before his people. “And I will stretch out my hand, and smite Egypt with all my wonders which I will do in the midst thereof; and after that, he will let you go.” {ST February 26, 1880, Art. A, par. 11}

The mighty miracles wrought for the deliverance of the Hebrews, would give them favor in the sight of the Egyptians; and when they should leave Egypt they were not to go empty-handed. They were to ask or seek from their Egyptian neighbors valuable articles, such as jewels of silver and gold, which could be easily transported. The Egyptians had been enriched by the labor unjustly exacted from the Israelites; and now, as the latter were to start on their long journey to a new home, it was right that they should receive a portion of the wealth which they had fairly earned. This would be a small recompense for their many years of unpaid servitude. {ST February 26, 1880, Art. A, par. 12}

Moses saw before him difficulties which seemed unsurmountable. What proof could he give his people that God had indeed sent him? “Behold,” he said, “they will not believe me, nor hearken to my voice; for they will say, ‘The Lord hath not appeared unto thee.’” Evidence which appealed to his own senses was now given. He was told to cast the rod in his hand upon the ground. He did so; it became a serpent, and he fled before it. He was recalled and commanded to seize it. As he obeyed, it became again a rod. He was bidden to put his hand into his bosom. He did so, and on taking it out, saw it all covered with the white scabs of leprosy. On being told, he put it again into his bosom, and on withdrawing it saw that it had become like the other. By these signs the Lord assured Moses that his own people as well as Pharaoh should be convinced that one mightier than the king of Egypt was manifest among them. {ST February 26, 1880, Art. A, par. 13}

But the servant of God was still overwhelmed by the thought of the strange and wonderful work before him. In his distress and terror he now pleaded as an excuse a lack of ready speech: “O my Lord, I am not eloquent, neither heretofore nor since thou hast spoken to thy servant; but I am slow of speech and of a slow tongue.” He had been so long from the Egyptians that he had not so clear knowledge and ready use of their language as when he was among them. This hesitancy on the part of Moses would seem to imply a fear that God was unable to qualify him for the great work to which he had called him, or that he had made a mistake in his selection of the man. The Lord said to him, “Who hath made man’s mouth? or who maketh the dumb, or deaf, or the seeing, or the blind? Have not I, the Lord?” What an appeal! What a rebuke to the distrustful! {ST February 26, 1880, Art. A, par. 14}

To this was added another assurance of divine aid: “Now, therefore, go, and I will be with thy mouth, and will teach thee what thou shalt say.” But Moses still entreated the Lord to select a more competent person. These excuses at first proceeded from humility and self-diffidence. But after the Lord had promised to remove all his difficulties, and to give him final success, then any further shrinking back and complaining of his unfitness showed unbelief and distrust of God himself. {ST February 26, 1880, Art. A, par. 15}

Moses was now directed to Aaron, his elder brother, who was eloquent, and who, having been in daily use of the language of the Egyptians, understood and could speak it perfectly. He was told that Aaron was coming to meet him, and when he came would rejoice at the meeting. The Lord then commanded Moses, {ST February 26, 1880, Art. A, par. 16}

“Thou shalt speak unto him, and put words in his mouth; and I will be with thy mouth, and with his mouth, and will teach you what ye shall do. And he shall be thy spokesman unto the people; and he shall be, even he shall be to thee instead of a mouth, and thou shalt be to him instead of God. And thou shalt take this rod in thine hand, wherewith thou shalt do signs.” {ST February 26, 1880, Art. A, par. 17}

Moses could make no further resistance, for all ground for excuses was removed. He returned to his father-in-law’s tent, and asked permission to visit his brethren in Egypt. Jethro gave it, with his blessing, “Go in peace.” So, taking his wife and children, Moses set out on his journey. He had not dared to make known the object of his mission, lest they should not be allowed to accompany him. Before reaching Egypt, however, he himself deemed it best, for their own safety, to send them back to her father’s tent. {ST February 26, 1880, Art. A, par. 18}

The Lord said unto Moses, “When thou goest to return unto Egypt, see that thou do all those wonders before Pharaoh, which I have put in thine hand; but I will harden his heart, that he will not let the people go.” That is, the display of almighty power before Pharaoh, being rejected by him, would make him harder and more firm in his rebellion. But the Lord would overrule the course of this haughty monarch, so that his obstinacy and perverseness would cause the name of God to be magnified before the Egyptians, and before his people also. {ST February 26, 1880, Art. A, par. 19}

Moses was directed to say unto Pharaoh, “Thus saith the Lord, Israel is my son, even my first-born. And I say unto thee, Let my son go, that he may serve me. And if thou refuse to let him go, behold, I will slay thy son, even thy first-born.” The Lord called Israel his first-born because he had singled out that people to be the depositaries of his law, obedience to which would preserve them pure amidst idolatrous nations. He conferred upon them special privileges, such as were generally granted to the first-born son. {ST February 26, 1880, Art. A, par. 20}

As Moses journeyed to Egypt, the angel of the Lord met him, and assumed a threatening posture, as though he would slay him. He did not explain the reason for his appearance in this manner, but Moses knew that there was a cause. He was going to Egypt in obedience to the express command of God; therefore the journey must be right. He at once remembered that his youngest son had not been circumcised. In compliance with the wishes of Zipporah, he had postponed the ceremony, contrary to the divine requirement. Now the wife, fearful that her husband might be slain, overcame her feelings of undue affection for her son, and performed the rite herself. After this, the angel let Moses go. In his mission to Pharaoh, he was to be placed in a perilous position, where his life would be exposed to the will of the king, if God did not by his power, through the presence of angels, preserve him. While Moses was living in neglect of one of God’s positive commands, his life would not be secure; for angels could not protect him in disobedience. {ST February 26, 1880, Art. A, par. 21}

In the time of trouble, just previous to the coming of Christ, the lives of the righteous will be preserved through the ministration of holy angels. But there will be no security for the transgressor. Angels cannot then protect those who are living in neglect of a known duty or an express command of Jehovah. {ST February 26, 1880, Art. A, par. 22}

351-Exodus 9:34 When the king saw what had happened, he sinned again. He and his officials remained as stubborn as ever 35 and, just as the Lord had foretold through Moses, the king would not let the Israelites go.

Exodus 10:1 Then the Lord said to Moses, "Go and see the king. I have made him and his officials stubborn, in order that I may perform these miracles among them

352-Exodus 9:14 or this time I will send the full force of my plagues against you and against your officials and your people, so you may know that there is no one like me in all the earth. 15 For by now I could have stretched out my hand and struck you and your people with a plague that would have wiped you off the earth. 16 But I have raised you up for this very purpose, that I might show you my power and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth. 17 You still set yourself against my people and will not let them go.

353-Exodus 12:12 "On that same night I will pass through Egypt and strike down every firstborn--both men and animals--and I will bring judgment on all the gods of Egypt. I am the LORD. NIV

354-Exodus 18:11 11 Now I know that the LORD is greater than all other gods, for he did this to those who had treated Israel arrogantly." NIV

355-2 Samuel 7:23 23 And who is like your people Israel--the one nation on earth that God went out to redeem as a people for himself, and to make a name for himself, and to perform great and awesome wonders by driving out nations and their gods from before your people, whom you redeemed from Egypt? NIV

356-Numbers 33:3 The Israelites set out from Rameses on the fifteenth day of the first month, the day after the Passover. They marched out boldly in full view of all the Egyptians, 4 who were burying all their firstborn, whom the LORD had struck down among them; for the LORD had brought judgment on their gods.

357-Exodus 1:8 Then, a new king, who knew nothing about Joseph, came to power in Egypt.

358-Exodus 5:6 That same day the king commanded the Egyptian slave drivers and the Israelite foremen: 7 "Stop giving the people straw for making bricks. Make them go and find it for themselves. 8 But still require them to make the same number of bricks as before, not one brick less. They don't have enough work to do, and that is why they keep asking me to let them go and offer sacrifices to their God! 9 Make them work harder and keep them busy, so that they won't have time to listen to a pack of lies."

359-Exodus 4:21 Again the Lord said to Moses, "Now that you are going back to Egypt, be sure to perform before the king all the miracles which I have given you the power to do. But I will make the king stubborn, and he will not let the people go.

Exodus 7:3 But I will make the king stubborn, and he will not listen to you, no matter how many terrifying things I do in Egypt. Then I will bring severe punishment on Egypt and lead the tribes of my people out of the land.

Exodus 9:12 But the Lord made the king stubborn and, just as the Lord had said, the king would not listen to Moses and Aaron.

Exodus 10:1 Then the Lord said to Moses, "Go and see the king. I have made him and his officials stubborn, in order that I may perform these miracles among them

Exodus 10:20 But the Lord made the king stubborn, and he did not let the Israelites go.

Exodus 10:27 The Lord made the king stubborn, and he would not let them go

Exodus 11:10 Moses and Aaron performed all these miracles before the king, but the Lord made him stubborn, and he would not let the Israelites leave his country.

Exodus 14:4 I will make him stubborn, and he will pursue you, and my victory over the king and his army will bring me honor. Then the Egyptians will know that I am the Lord." The Israelites did as they were told.

Exodus 14:8 The Lord made the king stubborn, and he pursued the Israelites, who were leaving triumphantly

Exodus 14:17 I will make the Egyptians so stubborn that they will go in after them, and I will gain honor by my victory over the king, his army, his chariots, and his drivers.

360-Exodus 7:13 The king, however, remained stubborn and, just as the Lord had said, the king would not listen to Moses and Aaron. 14 Then the Lord said to Moses, "The king is very stubborn and refuses to let the people go.

Exodus 7:22 Then the king's magicians did the same thing by means of their magic, and the king was as stubborn as ever. Just as the Lord had said, the king refused to listen to Moses and Aaron

Exodus 8:19 and the magicians said to the king, "God has done this!" But the king was stubborn and, just as the Lord had said, the king would not listen to Moses and Aaron.

Exodus 9:7 The king asked what had happened and was told that none of the animals of the Israelites had died. But he was stubborn and would not let the people go.

Exodus 9:35 and, just as the Lord had foretold through Moses, the king would not let the Israelites go.

361-Exodus 8:15 When the king saw that the frogs were dead, he became stubborn again and, just as the Lord had said, the king would not listen to Moses and Aaron.

Exodus 8:32 But even this time the king became stubborn, and again he would not let the people go.

Exodus 9:34 When the king saw what had happened, he sinned again. He and his officials remained as stubborn as ever

362-Genesis 12:7 The Lord appeared to Abram and said to him, "This is the country that I am going to give to your descendants." Then Abram built an altar there to the Lord, who had appeared to him.

Genesis 13:14 After Lot had left, the Lord said to Abram, "From where you are, look carefully in all directions. 15 I am going to give you and your descendants all the land that you see, and it will be yours forever. 16 I am going to give you so many descendants that no one will be able to count them all; it would be as easy to count all the specks of dust on earth! 17 Now, go and look over the whole land, because I am going to give it all to you."

Genesis 15:5 The Lord took him outside and said, "Look at the sky and try to count the stars; you will have as many descendants as that."

Genesis 15:13 The Lord said to him, "Your descendants will be strangers in a foreign land; they will be slaves there and will be treated cruelly for four hundred years. 14 But I will punish the nation that enslaves them, and when they leave that foreign land, they will take great wealth with them. 15 You yourself will live to a ripe old age, die in peace, and be buried. 16 It will be four generations before your descendants come back here, because I will not drive out the Amorites until they become so wicked that they must be punished." 17 When the sun had set and it was dark, a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch suddenly appeared and passed between the pieces of the animals. 18 Then and there the Lord made a covenant with Abram. He said, "I promise to give your descendants all this land from the border of Egypt to the Euphrates River, 19 including the lands of the Kenites, the Kenizzites, the Kadmonites, 20 the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim, 21 the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites, and the Jebusites."

Genesis 17:3 Abram bowed down with his face touching the ground, and God said, 4 "I make this covenant with you: I promise that you will be the ancestor of many nations. 5 Your name will no longer be Abram, but Abraham, because I am making you the ancestor of many nations. 6 I will give you many descendants, and some of them will be kings. You will have so many descendants that they will become nations. 7 "I will keep my promise to you and to your descendants in future generations as an everlasting covenant. I will be your God and the God of your descendants. 8 I will give to you and to your descendants this land in which you are now a foreigner. The whole land of Canaan will belong to your descendants forever, and I will be their God." 9 God said to Abraham, "You also must agree to keep the covenant with me, both you and your descendants in future generations. 10 You and your descendants must all agree to circumcise every male among you. 11 From now on you must circumcise every baby boy when he is eight days old, including slaves born in your homes and slaves bought from foreigners. This will show that there is a covenant between you and me. 13 Each one must be circumcised, and this will be a physical sign to show that my covenant with you is everlasting. 14 Any male who has not been circumcised will no longer be considered one of my people, because he has not kept the covenant with me."

Genesis 22:15 The angel of the Lord called to Abraham from heaven a second time, 16 "I make a vow by my own name - the Lord is speaking - that I will richly bless you. Because you did this and did not keep back your only son from me, 17 I promise that I will give you as many descendants as there are stars in the sky or grains of sand along the seashore. Your descendants will conquer their enemies. 18 All the nations will ask me to bless them as I have blessed your descendants - all because you obeyed my command."

Genesis 26:2 The Lord had appeared to Isaac and had said, "Do not go to Egypt; stay in this land, where I tell you to stay. 3 Live here, and I will be with you and bless you. I am going to give all this territory to you and to your descendants. I will keep the promise I made to your father Abraham. 4 I will give you as many descendants as there are stars in the sky, and I will give them all this territory. All the nations will ask me to bless them as I have blessed your descendants. 5 I will bless you, because Abraham obeyed me and kept all my laws and commands."

Genesis 26:24 That night the Lord appeared to him and said, "I am the God of your father Abraham. Do not be afraid; I am with you. I will bless you and give you many descendants because of my promise to my servant Abraham."

Genesis 28:4 May he bless you and your descendants as he blessed Abraham, and may you take possession of this land, in which you have lived and which God gave to Abraham!"

Genesis 28:10 Jacob left Beersheba and started toward Haran. 11 At sunset he came to a holy place and camped there. He lay down to sleep, resting his head on a stone. 12 He dreamed that he saw a stairway reaching from earth to heaven, with angels going up and coming down on it. 13 And there was the Lord standing beside him. "I am the Lord, the God of Abraham and Isaac," he said. "I will give to you and to your descendants this land on which you are lying. 14 They will be as numerous as the specks of dust on the earth. They will extend their territory in all directions, and through you and your descendants I will bless all the nations. 15 Remember, I will be with you and protect you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done all that I have promised you." 16 Jacob woke up and said, "The Lord is here! He is in this place, and I didn't know it!"

Genesis 35:9 When Jacob returned from Mesopotamia, God appeared to him again and blessed him. 10 God said to him, "Your name is Jacob, but from now on it will be Israel." So God named him Israel. 11 And God said to him, "I am Almighty God. Have many children. Nations will be descended from you, and you will be the ancestor of kings. 12 I will give you the land which I gave to Abraham and to Isaac, and I will also give it to your descendants after you."

Genesis 48:4 He said to me, "I will give you many children, so that your descendants will become many nations; I will give this land to your descendants as their possession forever.' "

363-Genesis 12:3 I will bless those who bless you, But I will curse those who curse you. And through you I will bless all the nations."

Genesis 22:18 All the nations will ask me to bless them as I have blessed your descendants - all because you obeyed my command."

Genesis 26:4 I will give you as many descendants as there are stars in the sky, and I will give them all this territory. All the nations will ask me to bless them as I have blessed your descendants.

Genesis 28:14 They will be as numerous as the specks of dust on the earth. They will extend their territory in all directions, and through you and your descendants I will bless all the nations.

364-Galatians 3:8 The scripture predicted that God would put the Gentiles right with himself through faith. And so the scripture announced the Good News to Abraham: "Through you God will bless all people."

365-Exodus 23:20 "I will send an angel ahead of you to protect you as you travel and to bring you to the place which I have prepared. 21 Pay attention to him and obey him. Do not rebel against him, for I have sent him, and he will not pardon such rebellion. 22 But if you obey him and do everything I command, I will fight against all your enemies. 23 My angel will go ahead of you and take you into the land of the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Canaanites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, and I will destroy them. 24 Do not bow down to their gods or worship them, and do not adopt their religious practices. Destroy their gods and break down their sacred stone pillars. 25 If you worship me, the Lord your God, I will bless you with food and water and take away all your sicknesses. 26 In your land no woman will have a miscarriage or be without children. I will give you long lives. 27 "I will make the people who oppose you afraid of me; I will bring confusion among the people against whom you fight, and I will make all your enemies turn and run from you. 28 I will throw your enemies into panic; I will drive out the Hivites, the Canaanites, and the Hittites as you advance. 29 I will not drive them out within a year's time; if I did, the land would become deserted, and the wild animals would be too many for you. 30 Instead, I will drive them out little by little, until there are enough of you to take possession of the land. 31 I will make the borders of your land extend from the Gulf of Aqaba to the Mediterranean Sea and from the desert to the Euphrates River. I will give you power over the inhabitants of the land, and you will drive them out as you advance. 32 Do not make any agreement with them or with their gods. 33 Do not let those people live in your country; if you do, they will make you sin against me. If you worship their gods, it will be a fatal trap for you."

366-Exodus 23:20 "I will send an angel ahead of you to protect you as you travel and to bring you to the place which I have prepared. 21 Pay attention to him and obey him. Do not rebel against him, for I have sent him, and he will not pardon such rebellion. 22 But if you obey him and do everything I command, I will fight against all your enemies. 23 My angel will go ahead of you and take you into the land of the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Canaanites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, and I will destroy them. 24 Do not bow down to their gods or worship them, and do not adopt their religious practices. Destroy their gods and break down their sacred stone pillars. 25 If you worship me, the Lord your God, I will bless you with food and water and take away all your sicknesses. 26 In your land no woman will have a miscarriage or be without children. I will give you long lives. 27 "I will make the people who oppose you afraid of me; I will bring confusion among the people against whom you fight, and I will make all your enemies turn and run from you. 28 I will throw your enemies into panic; I will drive out the Hivites, the Canaanites, and the Hittites as you advance. 29 I will not drive them out within a year's time; if I did, the land would become deserted, and the wild animals would be too many for you. 30 Instead, I will drive them out little by little, until there are enough of you to take possession of the land. 31 I will make the borders of your land extend from the Gulf of Aqaba to the Mediterranean Sea and from the desert to the Euphrates River. I will give you power over the inhabitants of the land, and you will drive them out as you advance. 32 Do not make any agreement with them or with their gods. 33 Do not let those people live in your country; if you do, they will make you sin against me. If you worship their gods, it will be a fatal trap for you."

Exodus 33:1 The Lord said to Moses, "Leave this place, you and the people you brought out of Egypt, and go to the land that I promised to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and to their descendants. 2 I will send an angel to guide you, and I will drive out the Canaanites, the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites.

Exodus 34:10 The Lord said to Moses, "I now make a covenant with the people of Israel. In their presence I will do great things such as have never been done anywhere on earth among any of the nations. All the people will see what great things I, the Lord, can do, because I am going to do an awesome thing for you. 11 Obey the laws that I am giving you today. I will drive out the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, as you advance. 12 Do not make any treaties with the people of the country into which you are going, because this could be a fatal trap for you. 13 Instead, tear down their altars, destroy their sacred pillars, and cut down their symbols of the goddess Asherah. 14 "Do not worship any other god, because I, the Lord, tolerate no rivals. 15 Do not make any treaties with the people of the country, because when they worship their pagan gods and sacrifice to them, they will invite you to join them, and you will be tempted to eat the food they offer to their gods. 16 Your sons might marry those foreign women, who would lead them to be unfaithful to me and to worship their pagan gods.

367-Leviticus 18:24 Do not make yourselves unclean by any of these acts, for that is how the pagans made themselves unclean, those pagans who lived in the land before you and whom the Lord is driving out so that you can go in. 25 Their actions made the land unclean, and so the Lord is punishing the land and making it reject the people who lived there. 26 They did all these disgusting things and made the land unclean, but you must not do them. All of you, whether Israelites or foreigners living with you, must keep the Lord's laws and commands, 28 and then the land will not reject you, as it rejected the pagans who lived there before you.

Leviticus 20:24 But I have promised you this rich and fertile land as your possession, and I will give it to you. I am the Lord your God, and I have set you apart from the other nations. 25 So then, you must make a clear distinction between animals and birds that are ritually clean and those that are not. Do not eat unclean animals or birds. I have declared them unclean, and eating them would make you unclean. 26 You shall be holy and belong only to me, because I am the Lord and I am holy. I have set you apart from the other nations so that you would belong to me alone. 27 "Any man or woman who consults the spirits of the dead shall be stoned to death; any of you that do this are responsible for your own death."

Leviticus 26:14 The Lord said, "If you will not obey my commands, you will be punished. 15 If you refuse to obey my laws and commands and break the covenant I have made with you, 16 I will punish you. I will bring disaster on you - incurable diseases and fevers that will make you blind and cause your life to waste away. You will plant your crops, but it will do you no good, because your enemies will conquer you and eat what you have grown. 17 I will turn against you, so that you will be defeated, and those who hate you will rule over you; you will be so terrified that you will run when no one is chasing you. 18 "If even after all of this you still do not obey me, I will increase your punishment seven times. 19 I will break your stubborn pride; there will be no rain, and your land will be dry and as hard as iron. 20 All your hard work will do you no good, because your land will not produce crops and the trees will not bear fruit. 21 "If you still continue to resist me and refuse to obey me, I will again increase your punishment seven times. 22 I will send dangerous animals among you, and they will kill your children, destroy your livestock, and leave so few of you that your roads will be deserted. 23 "If after all of this punishment you still do not listen to me, but continue to defy me, 24 then I will turn on you and punish you seven times harder than before. 25 I will bring war on you to punish you for breaking our covenant, and if you gather in your cities for safety, I will send incurable diseases among you, and you will be forced to surrender to your enemies. 26 I will cut off your food supply, so that ten women will need only one oven to bake all the bread they have. They will ration it out, and when you have eaten it all, you will still be hungry. 27 "If after all of this you still continue to defy me and refuse to obey me, 28 then in my anger I will turn on you and again make your punishment seven times worse than before. 29 Your hunger will be so great that you will eat your own children. 30 I will destroy your places of worship on the hills, tear down your incense altars, and throw your dead bodies on your fallen idols. In utter disgust 31 I will turn your cities into ruins, destroy your places of worship, and refuse to accept your sacrifices. 32 I will destroy your land so completely that the enemies who occupy it will be shocked at the destruction. 33 I will bring war on you and scatter you in foreign lands. Your land will be deserted, and your cities left in ruins. 34 Then the land will enjoy the years of complete rest that you would not give it; it will lie abandoned and get its rest while you are in exile in the land of your enemies. 36 "I will make those of you who are in exile so terrified that the sound of a leaf blowing in the wind will make you run. You will run as if you were being pursued in battle, and you will fall when there is no enemy near you. 37 You will stumble over one another when no one is chasing you, and you will be unable to fight against any enemy. 38 You will die in exile, swallowed up by the land of your enemies. 39 The few of you who survive in the land of your enemies will waste away because of your own sin and the sin of your ancestors. 40 "But your descendants will confess their sins and the sins of their ancestors, who resisted me and rebelled against me, 41 and caused me to turn against them and send them into exile in the land of their enemies. At last, when your descendants are humbled and they have paid the penalty for their sin and rebellion, 42 I will remember my covenant with Jacob and with Isaac and with Abraham, and I will renew my promise to give my people the land. 43 First, however, the land must be rid of its people, so that it can enjoy its complete rest, and they must pay the full penalty for having rejected my laws and my commands. 44 But even then, when they are still in the land of their enemies, I will not completely abandon them or destroy them. That would put an end to my covenant with them, and I am the Lord their God. 45 I will renew the covenant that I made with their ancestors when I showed all the nations my power by bringing my people out of Egypt, in order that I, the Lord, might be their God."

368-Numbers 33:50 There in the plains of Moab across the Jordan from Jericho the Lord gave Moses 51 the following instructions for Israel: "When you cross the Jordan into the land of Canaan, 52 you must drive out all the inhabitants of the land. Destroy all their stone and metal idols and all their places of worship. 53 Occupy the land and settle in it, because I am giving it to you. 54 Divide the land among the various tribes and clans by drawing lots, giving a large piece of property to a large clan and a small one to a small clan. 55 But if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land, those that are left will be as troublesome as splinters in your eyes and thorns in your sides, and they will fight against you. 56 If you do not drive them out, I will destroy you, as I planned to destroy them."

369-Deuteronomy 4:5 "I have taught you all the laws, as the Lord my God told me to do. Obey them in the land that you are about to invade and occupy. 6 Obey them faithfully, and this will show the people of other nations how wise you are. When they hear of all these laws, they will say, "What wisdom and understanding this great nation has!'

Deuteronomy 4:15 "When the Lord spoke to you from the fire on Mount Sinai, you did not see any form. For your own good, then, make certain 16 that you do not sin by making for yourselves an idol in any form at all - whether man or woman, 17 animal or bird, 18 reptile or fish. 19 Do not be tempted to worship and serve what you see in the sky - the sun, the moon, and the stars. The Lord your God has given these to all other peoples for them to worship. 20 But you are the people he rescued from Egypt, that blazing furnace. He brought you out to make you his own people, as you are today. 21 Because of you the Lord your God was angry with me and solemnly declared that I would not cross the Jordan River to enter the fertile land which he is giving you. 22 I will die in this land and never cross the river, but you are about to go across and occupy that fertile land. 23 Be certain that you do not forget the covenant that the Lord your God made with you. Obey his command not to make yourselves any kind of idol, 24 because the Lord your God is like a flaming fire; he tolerates no rivals. 25 "Even when you have been in the land a long time and have children and grandchildren, do not sin by making for yourselves an idol in any form at all. This is evil in the Lord's sight, and it will make him angry. 26 I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you today that, if you disobey me, you will soon disappear from the land. You will not live very long in the land across the Jordan that you are about to occupy. You will be completely destroyed. 27 The Lord will scatter you among other nations, where only a few of you will survive. 28 There you will serve gods made by human hands, gods of wood and stone, gods that cannot see or hear, eat or smell. 29 There you will look for the Lord your God, and if you search for him with all your heart, you will find him. 30 When you are in trouble and all those things happen to you, then you will finally turn to the Lord and obey him. 31 He is a merciful God. He will not abandon you or destroy you, and he will not forget the covenant that he himself made with your ancestors. 32 "Search the past, the time before you were born, all the way back to the time when God created human beings on the earth. Search the entire earth. Has anything as great as this ever happened before? Has anyone ever heard of anything like this? 33 Have any people ever lived after hearing a god speak to them from a fire, as you have? 34 Has any god ever dared to go and take a people from another nation and make them his own, as the Lord your God did for you in Egypt? Before your very eyes he used his great power and strength; he brought plagues and war, worked miracles and wonders, and caused terrifying things to happen. 35 The Lord has shown you this, to prove to you that he alone is God and that there is no other. 36 He let you hear his voice from heaven so that he could instruct you; and here on earth he let you see his holy fire, and he spoke to you from it. 37 Because he loved your ancestors, he chose you, and by his great power he himself brought you out of Egypt. 38 As you advanced, he drove out nations greater and more powerful than you, so that he might bring you in and give you their land, the land which still belongs to you. 39 So remember today and never forget: the Lord is God in heaven and on earth. There is no other god. 40 Obey all his laws that I have given you today, and all will go well with you and your descendants. You will continue to live in the land that the Lord your God is giving you to be yours forever."

Deuteronomy 7:1 "The Lord your God will bring you into the land that you are going to occupy, and he will drive many nations out of it. As you advance, he will drive out seven nations larger and more powerful than you: the Hittites, the Girgashites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. 2 When the Lord your God places these people in your power and you defeat them, you must put them all to death. Do not make an alliance with them or show them any mercy. 3 Do not marry any of them, and do not let your children marry any of them, 4 because then they would lead your children away from the Lord to worship other gods. If that happens, the Lord will be angry with you and destroy you at once. 5 So then, tear down their altars, break their sacred stone pillars in pieces, cut down their symbols of the goddess Asherah, and burn their idols. 6 Do this because you belong to the Lord your God. From all the peoples on earth he chose you to be his own special people. 7 "The Lord did not love you and choose you because you outnumbered other peoples; you were the smallest nation on earth. 8 But the Lord loved you and wanted to keep the promise that he made to your ancestors. That is why he saved you by his great might and set you free from slavery to the king of Egypt. 9 Remember that the Lord your God is the only God and that he is faithful. He will keep his covenant and show his constant love to a thousand generations of those who love him and obey his commands, 10 but he will not hesitate to punish those who hate him. 11 Now then, obey what you have been taught; obey all the laws that I have given you today.

Deuteronomy 7:16 Destroy every nation that the Lord your God places in your power, and do not show them any mercy. Do not worship their gods, for that would be fatal. 17 "Do not tell yourselves that these peoples outnumber you and that you cannot drive them out. 18 Do not be afraid of them; remember what the Lord your God did to the king of Egypt and to all his people. 19 Remember the terrible plagues that you saw with your own eyes, the miracles and wonders, and the great power and strength by which the Lord your God set you free. In the same way that he destroyed the Egyptians, he will destroy all these people that you now fear. 20 He will even cause panic among them and will destroy those who escape and go into hiding. 21 So do not be afraid of these people. The Lord your God is with you; he is a great God and one to be feared. 22 Little by little he will drive out these nations as you advance. You will not be able to destroy them all at once, for, if you did, the number of wild animals would increase and be a threat to you. 23 The Lord will put your enemies in your power and make them panic until they are destroyed. 24 He will put their kings in your power. You will kill them, and they will be forgotten. No one will be able to stop you; you will destroy everyone. 25 Burn their idols. Do not desire the silver or gold that is on them, and do not take it for yourselves. If you do, that will be fatal, because the Lord hates idolatry. 26 Do not bring any of these idols into your homes, or the same curse will be on you that is on them. You must hate and despise these idols, because they are under the Lord's curse.

Deuteronomy 8:20 If you do not obey the Lord, then you will be destroyed just like those nations that he is going to destroy as you advance.

Deuteronomy 9:1 "Listen, people of Israel! Today you are about to cross the Jordan River and occupy the land belonging to nations greater and more powerful than you. Their cities are large, with walls that reach the sky. 2 The people themselves are tall and strong; they are giants, and you have heard it said that no one can stand against them. 3 But now you will see for yourselves that the Lord your God will go ahead of you like a raging fire. He will defeat them as you advance, so that you will drive them out and destroy them quickly, as he promised. 4 "After the Lord your God has driven them out for you, do not say to yourselves that he brought you in to possess this land because you deserved it. No, the Lord is going to drive these people out for you because they are wicked. 5 It is not because you are good and do what is right that the Lord is letting you take their land. He will drive them out because they are wicked and because he intends to keep the promise that he made to your ancestors, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. 6 You can be sure that the Lord is not giving you this fertile land because you deserve it. No, you are a stubborn people.

Deuteronomy 20:10 "When you go to attack a city, first give its people a chance to surrender. 11 If they open the gates and surrender, they are all to become your slaves and do forced labor for you. 12 But if the people of that city will not surrender, but choose to fight, surround it with your army. 13 Then, when the Lord your God lets you capture the city, kill every man in it. 14 You may, however, take for yourselves the women, the children, the livestock, and everything else in the city. You may use everything that belongs to your enemies. The Lord has given it to you. 15 That is how you are to deal with those cities that are far away from the land you will settle in. 16 "But when you capture cities in the land that the Lord your God is giving you, kill everyone. 17 Completely destroy all the people: the Hittites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, as the Lord ordered you to do. 18 Kill them, so that they will not make you sin against the Lord by teaching you to do all the disgusting things that they do in the worship of their gods.

370-Genesis 15:16 It will be four generations before your descendants come back here, because I will not drive out the Amorites until they become so wicked that they must be punished." 17 When the sun had set and it was dark, a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch suddenly appeared and passed between the pieces of the animals. 18 Then and there the Lord made a covenant with Abram. He said, "I promise to give your descendants all this land from the border of Egypt to the Euphrates River, 19 including the lands of the Kenites, the Kenizzites, the Kadmonites, 20 the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim, 21 the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites, and the Jebusites."

371-Acts 7:2 Stephen answered, "Brothers and fathers, listen to me! Before our ancestor Abraham had gone to live in Haran, the God of glory appeared to him in Mesopotamia 3 and said to him, "Leave your family and country and go to the land that I will show you.' 4 And so he left his country and went to live in Haran. After Abraham's father died, God made him move to this land where you now live. 5 God did not then give Abraham any part of it as his own, not even a square foot of ground, but God promised to give it to him, and that it would belong to him and to his descendants. At the time God made this promise, Abraham had no children. 6 This is what God said to him: "Your descendants will live in a foreign country, where they will be slaves and will be badly treated for four hundred years. 7 But I will pass judgment on the people that they will serve, and afterward your descendants will come out of that country and will worship me in this place.' 8 Then God gave to Abraham the ceremony of circumcision as a sign of the covenant. So Abraham circumcised Isaac a week after he was born; Isaac circumcised his son Jacob, and Jacob circumcised his twelve sons, the famous ancestors of our race.

372-Genesis 15:1 The Lord said to him, "Your descendants will be strangers in a foreign land; they will be slaves there and will be treated cruelly for four hundred years.

Genesis 15:16 It will be four generations before your descendants come back here, because I will not drive out the Amorites until they become so wicked that they must be punished."

373-Exodus 12:40 The Israelites had lived in Egypt for 430 years. 41 On the day the 430 years ended, all the tribes of the Lord's people left Egypt.

374-Acts 7:6 This is what God said to him: "Your descendants will live in a foreign country, where they will be slaves and will be badly treated for four hundred years.

375-Galatians 3:17 What I mean is that God made a covenant with Abraham and promised to keep it. The Law, which was given four hundred and thirty years later, cannot break that covenant and cancel God's promise.

376-Matthew 10:28 Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather be afraid of God, who can destroy both body and soul in hell.

377-Luke 12:5 I will show you whom to fear: fear God, who, after killing, has the authority to throw into hell. Believe me, he is the one you must fear!

378-Gen. 9:6 Human beings were made like God, so whoever murders one of them will be killed by someone else.

Genesis 14:13 But a man escaped and reported all this to Abram, the Hebrew, who was living near the sacred trees belonging to Mamre the Amorite. Mamre and his brothers Eshcol and Aner were Abram's allies. 14 When Abram heard that his nephew had been captured, he called together all the fighting men in his camp, 318 in all, and pursued the four kings all the way to Dan. 15 There he divided his men into groups, attacked the enemy by night, and defeated them. He chased them as far as Hobah, north of Damascus, 16 and got back all the loot that had been taken. He also brought back his nephew Lot and his possessions, together with the women and the other prisoners.

379-Ex. 22:2 He must pay for what he stole. If he owns nothing, he shall be sold as a slave to pay for what he has stolen. If the stolen animal, whether a cow, a donkey, or a sheep, is found alive in his possession, he shall pay two for one. "If a thief is caught breaking into a house at night and is killed, the one who killed him is not guilty of murder. But if it happens during the day, he is guilty of murder.

380-Rom. 13:1 Everyone must obey state authorities, because no authority exists without God's permission, and the existing authorities have been put there by God. 2 Whoever opposes the existing authority opposes what God has ordered; and anyone who does so will bring judgment on himself. 3 For rulers are not to be feared by those who do good, but by those who do evil. Would you like to be unafraid of those in authority? Then do what is good, and they will praise you, 4 because they are God's servants working for your own good. But if you do evil, then be afraid of them, because their power to punish is real. They are God's servants and carry out God's punishment on those who do evil.

381-Ex. 20:13 "Do not commit murder.

Exodus 21:12 "Whoever hits someone and kills him is to be put to death.

382-Gen. 9:25 he said, "A curse on Canaan! He will be a slave to his brothers.

383-Lev. 18:25 Their actions made the land unclean, and so the Lord is punishing the land and making it reject the people who lived there.

384-Deut. 12:29 "The Lord your God will destroy the nations as you invade their land, and you will occupy it and settle there. 30 After the Lord destroys those nations, make sure that you don't follow their religious practices, because that would be fatal. Don't try to find out how they worship their gods, so that you can worship in the same way. 31 Do not worship the Lord your God in the way they worship their gods, for in the worship of their gods they do all the disgusting things that the Lord hates. They even sacrifice their children in the fires on their altars.

385-Gen. 15:16 It will be four generations before your descendants come back here, because I will not drive out the Amorites until they become so wicked that they must be punished."

386-Lev. 18:24 Do not make yourselves unclean by any of these acts, for that is how the pagans made themselves unclean, those pagans who lived in the land before you and whom the Lord is driving out so that you can go in.

Leviticus 20:1 The Lord told Moses 2 to say to the people of Israel, "Any of you or any foreigner living among you who gives any children to be used in the worship of the god Molech shall be stoned to death by the whole community. 3 If any of you give one of your children to Molech and make my sacred Tent unclean and disgrace my holy name, I will turn against you and will no longer consider you my people. 4 But if the community ignores what you have done and does not put you to death, 5 I myself will turn against you and your whole family and against all who join you in being unfaithful to me and worshiping Molech. I will no longer consider any of you my people.

387-Deut. 20:17 Completely destroy all the people: the Hittites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, as the Lord ordered you to do. 18 Kill them, so that they will not make you sin against the Lord by teaching you to do all the disgusting things that they do in the worship of their gods.

388-2 Pet. 3:9 The Lord is not slow to do what he has promised, as some think. Instead, he is patient with you, because he does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants all to turn away from their sins.

389-Gen. 12:8 After that, he moved on south to the hill country east of the city of Bethel and set up his camp between Bethel on the west and Ai on the east. There also he built an altar and worshiped the Lord.

390-Josh. 2:9 and said to them, "I know that the Lord has given you this land. Everyone in the country is terrified of you. 10 We have heard how the Lord dried up the Red Sea in front of you when you were leaving Egypt. We have also heard how you killed Sihon and Og, the two Amorite kings east of the Jordan. 11 We were afraid as soon as we heard about it; we have all lost our courage because of you. The Lord your God is God in heaven above and here on earth. 12 Now swear by him that you will treat my family as kindly as I have treated you, and give me some sign that I can trust you. 13 Promise me that you will save my father and mother, my brothers and sisters, and all their families! Don't let us be killed!"

Joshua 9:2424 They answered, "We did it, sir, because we learned that it was really true that the Lord your God had commanded his servant Moses to give you the whole land and to kill the people living in it as you advanced. We did it because we were terrified of you; we were in fear of our lives.

391-Deut. 9:4 "After the Lord your God has driven them out for you, do not say to yourselves that he brought you in to possess this land because you deserved it. No, the Lord is going to drive these people out for you because they are wicked. 5 It is not because you are good and do what is right that the Lord is letting you take their land. He will drive them out because they are wicked and because he intends to keep the promise that he made to your ancestors, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

392-Gen. 15:18 Then and there the Lord made a covenant with Abram. He said, "I promise to give your descendants all this land from the border of Egypt to the Euphrates River, 19 including the lands of the Kenites, the Kenizzites, the Kadmonites, 20 the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim, 21 the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites, and the Jebusites."

393-Ex. 23:27 "I will make the people who oppose you afraid of me; I will bring confusion among the people against whom you fight, and I will make all your enemies turn and run from you. 28 I will throw your enemies into panic; I will drive out the Hivites, the Canaanites, and the Hittites as you advance. 29 I will not drive them out within a year's time; if I did, the land would become deserted, and the wild animals would be too many for you. 30 Instead, I will drive them out little by little, until there are enough of you to take possession of the land.

394-Deut. 7:3 Do not marry any of them, and do not let your children marry any of them, 4 because then they would lead your children away from the Lord to worship other gods. If that happens, the Lord will be angry with you and destroy you at once. 5 So then, tear down their altars, break their sacred stone pillars in pieces, cut down their symbols of the goddess Asherah, and burn their idols. 6 Do this because you belong to the Lord your God. From all the peoples on earth he chose you to be his own special people.

395-Josh. 8:24 The Israelites killed every one of the enemy in the barren country where they had chased them. Then they went back to Ai and killed everyone there. 25 Joshua kept his spear pointed at Ai and did not put it down until every person there had been killed. The whole population of Ai was killed that day - twelve thousand men and women. 27 The Israelites kept for themselves the livestock and goods captured in the city, as the Lord had told Joshua. 28 Joshua burned Ai and left it in ruins. It is still like that today. 29 He hanged the king of Ai from a tree and left his body there until evening. At sundown Joshua gave orders for the body to be removed, and it was thrown down at the entrance to the city gate. They covered it with a huge pile of stones, which is still there today. 30 Then Joshua built on Mount Ebal an altar to the Lord, the God of Israel. 31 He made it according to the instructions that Moses, the Lord's servant, had given the Israelites, as it says in the Law of Moses: "an altar made of stones which have not been cut with iron tools." On it they offered burnt sacrifices to the Lord, and they also presented their fellowship offerings. 32 There, with the Israelites looking on, Joshua made on the stones a copy of the Law which Moses had written. 33 The Israelites, with their leaders, officers, and judges, as well as the foreigners among them, stood on two sides of the Lord's Covenant Box, facing the levitical priests who carried it. Half of the people stood with their backs to Mount Gerizim and the other half with their backs to Mount Ebal. The Lord's servant Moses had commanded them to do this when the time came for them to receive the blessing. 34 Joshua then read aloud the whole Law, including the blessings and the curses, just as they are written in the book of the Law. 35 Every one of the commandments of Moses was read by Joshua to the whole gathering, which included women and children, as well as the foreigners living among them.

396-Deut. 9:4 "After the Lord your God has driven them out for you, do not say to yourselves that he brought you in to possess this land because you deserved it. No, the Lord is going to drive these people out for you because they are wicked. 5 It is not because you are good and do what is right that the Lord is letting you take their land. He will drive them out because they are wicked and because he intends to keep the promise that he made to your ancestors, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

397-Mal. 4:5 "But before the great and terrible day of the Lord comes, I will send you the prophet Elijah.

398-Ac 13:17 The God of the people of Israel chose our ancestors and made the people a great nation during the time they lived as foreigners in Egypt. God brought them out of Egypt by his great power,

399-Heb 11:9 By faith he lived as a foreigner in the country that God had promised him. He lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who received the same promise from God.

400-Ge 12:1 The Lord said to Abram, "Leave your country, your relatives, and your father's home, and go to a land that I am going to show you. 2 I will give you many descendants, and they will become a great nation. I will bless you and make your name famous, so that you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, But I will curse those who curse you. And through you I will bless all the nations."

Genesis 15:13 The Lord said to him, "Your descendants will be strangers in a foreign land; they will be slaves there and will be treated cruelly for four hundred years.

401-Ac 7:6 This is what God said to him: "Your descendants will live in a foreign country, where they will be slaves and will be badly treated for four hundred years.

402-Ga 3:16 Now, God made his promises to Abraham and to his descendant. The scripture does not use the plural "descendants," meaning many people, but the singular "descendant," meaning one person only, namely, Christ. 17 What I mean is that God made a covenant with Abraham and promised to keep it. The Law, which was given four hundred and thirty years later, cannot break that covenant and cancel God's promise.

403-Gen. 15:13 The Lord said to him, "Your descendants will be strangers in a foreign land; they will be slaves there and will be treated cruelly for four hundred years.

404-Gal. 3:17 What I mean is that God made a covenant with Abraham and promised to keep it. The Law, which was given four hundred and thirty years later, cannot break that covenant and cancel God's promise.

405-Gen. 15:16 It will be four generations before your descendants come back here, because I will not drive out the Amorites until they become so wicked that they must be punished."

406-Exodus 23:20 "I will send an angel ahead of you to protect you as you travel and to bring you to the place which I have prepared. 21 Pay attention to him and obey him. Do not rebel against him, for I have sent him, and he will not pardon such rebellion. 22 But if you obey him and do everything I command, I will fight against all your enemies. 23 My angel will go ahead of you and take you into the land of the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Canaanites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, and I will destroy them. 24 Do not bow down to their gods or worship them, and do not adopt their religious practices. Destroy their gods and break down their sacred stone pillars. 25 If you worship me, the Lord your God, I will bless you with food and water and take away all your sicknesses. 26 In your land no woman will have a miscarriage or be without children. I will give you long lives. 27 "I will make the people who oppose you afraid of me; I will bring confusion among the people against whom you fight, and I will make all your enemies turn and run from you. 28 I will throw your enemies into panic; I will drive out the Hivites, the Canaanites, and the Hittites as you advance. 29 I will not drive them out within a year's time; if I did, the land would become deserted, and the wild animals would be too many for you. 30 Instead, I will drive them out little by little, until there are enough of you to take possession of the land. 31 I will make the borders of your land extend from the Gulf of Aqaba to the Mediterranean Sea and from the desert to the Euphrates River. I will give you power over the inhabitants of the land, and you will drive them out as you advance. 32 Do not make any agreement with them or with their gods. 33 Do not let those people live in your country; if you do, they will make you sin against me. If you worship their gods, it will be a fatal trap for you."

407-Genesis 15:16 It will be four generations before your descendants come back here, because I will not drive out the Amorites until they become so wicked that they must be punished." 17 When the sun had set and it was dark, a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch suddenly appeared and passed between the pieces of the animals. 18 Then and there the Lord made a covenant with Abram. He said, "I promise to give your descendants all this land from the border of Egypt to the Euphrates River, 19 including the lands of the Kenites, the Kenizzites, the Kadmonites, 20 the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim, 21 the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites, and the Jebusites."

408-Acts 7:2 Stephen answered, "Brothers and fathers, listen to me! Before our ancestor Abraham had gone to live in Haran, the God of glory appeared to him in Mesopotamia 3 and said to him, "Leave your family and country and go to the land that I will show you.' 4 And so he left his country and went to live in Haran. After Abraham's father died, God made him move to this land where you now live. 5 God did not then give Abraham any part of it as his own, not even a square foot of ground, but God promised to give it to him, and that it would belong to him and to his descendants. At the time God made this promise, Abraham had no children. 6 This is what God said to him: "Your descendants will live in a foreign country, where they will be slaves and will be badly treated for four hundred years. 7 But I will pass judgment on the people that they will serve, and afterward your descendants will come out of that country and will worship me in this place.' 8 Then God gave to Abraham the ceremony of circumcision as a sign of the covenant. So Abraham circumcised Isaac a week after he was born; Isaac circumcised his son Jacob, and Jacob circumcised his twelve sons, the famous ancestors of our race.

409-Genesis 46:33 When the king calls for you and asks what your occupation is,

410-Exodus 3:7 Then the Lord said, "I have seen how cruelly my people are being treated in Egypt; I have heard them cry out to be rescued from their slave drivers. I know all about their sufferings, 8 and so I have come down to rescue them from the Egyptians and to bring them out of Egypt to a spacious land, one which is rich and fertile and in which the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites now live. 9 I have indeed heard the cry of my people, and I see how the Egyptians are oppressing them. 10 Now I am sending you to the king of Egypt so that you can lead my people out of his country."

411-Exodus 12:12 "On that night I will go through the land of Egypt, killing every first-born male, both human and animal, and punishing all the gods of Egypt. I am the Lord.

412-Numbers 33:4 who were burying the first-born sons that the Lord had killed. By doing this, the Lord showed that he was more powerful than the gods of Egypt.

413-Exodus 7:1 The Lord said, "I am going to make you like God to the king, and your brother Aaron will speak to him as your prophet. 2 Tell Aaron everything I command you, and he will tell the king to let the Israelites leave his country. 3 But I will make the king stubborn, and he will not listen to you, no matter how many terrifying things I do in Egypt. Then I will bring severe punishment on Egypt and lead the tribes of my people out of the land. 5 The Egyptians will then know that I am the Lord, when I raise my hand against them and bring the Israelites out of their country." 6 Moses and Aaron did what the Lord commanded. 7 At the time when they spoke to the king, Moses was eighty years old, and Aaron was eighty-three. 8 The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, 9 "If the king demands that you prove yourselves by performing a miracle, tell Aaron to take his walking stick and throw it down in front of the king, and it will turn into a snake." 10 So Moses and Aaron went to the king and did as the Lord had commanded. Aaron threw his walking stick down in front of the king and his officers, and it turned into a snake. 11 Then the king called for his wise men and magicians, and by their magic they did the same thing. 12 They threw down their walking sticks, and the sticks turned into snakes. But Aaron's stick swallowed theirs. 13 The king, however, remained stubborn and, just as the Lord had said, the king would not listen to Moses and Aaron. 14 Then the Lord said to Moses, "The king is very stubborn and refuses to let the people go. 15 So go and meet him in the morning when he goes down to the Nile. Take with you the walking stick that was turned into a snake, and wait for him on the riverbank. 16 Then say to the king, "The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, sent me to tell you to let his people go, so that they can worship him in the desert. But until now you have not listened. 17 Now, Your Majesty, the Lord says that you will find out who he is by what he is going to do. Look, I am going to strike the surface of the river with this stick, and the water will be turned into blood. 18 The fish will die, and the river will stink so much that the Egyptians will not be able to drink from it.' " 19 The Lord said to Moses, "Tell Aaron to take his stick and hold it out over all the rivers, canals, and pools in Egypt. The water will become blood, and all over the land there will be blood, even in the wooden tubs and stone jars." 20 Then Moses and Aaron did as the Lord commanded. In the presence of the king and his officers, Aaron raised his stick and struck the surface of the river, and all the water in it was turned into blood. 21 The fish in the river died, and it smelled so bad that the Egyptians could not drink from it. There was blood everywhere in Egypt. 22 Then the king's magicians did the same thing by means of their magic, and the king was as stubborn as ever. Just as the Lord had said, the king refused to listen to Moses and Aaron. 23 Instead, he turned and went back to his palace without paying any attention even to this. 24 All the Egyptians dug along the bank of the river for drinking water, because they were not able to drink water from the river. 25 Seven days passed after the Lord struck the river.

Exodus 8:1 Then the Lord said to Moses, "Go to the king and tell him that the Lord says, "Let my people go, so that they can worship me. 2 If you refuse, I will punish your country by covering it with frogs. 3 The Nile will be so full of frogs that they will leave it and go into your palace, your bedroom, your bed, the houses of your officials and your people, and even into your ovens and baking pans. 4 They will jump up on you, your people, and all your officials.' " 5 The Lord said to Moses, "Tell Aaron to hold out his walking stick over the rivers, the canals, and the pools, and make frogs come up and cover the land of Egypt." 6 So Aaron held it out over all the water, and the frogs came out and covered the land. 7 But the magicians used magic, and they also made frogs come up on the land. 8 The king called for Moses and Aaron and said, "Pray to the Lord to take away these frogs, and I will let your people go, so that they can offer sacrifices to the Lord." 9 Moses replied, "I will be glad to pray for you. Just set the time when I am to pray for you, your officers, and your people. Then you will be rid of the frogs, and there will be none left except in the Nile." 10 The king answered, "Pray for me tomorrow." Moses said, "I will do as you ask, and then you will know that there is no other god like the Lord, our God. 11 You, your officials, and your people will be rid of the frogs, and there will be none left except in the Nile." 12 Then Moses and Aaron left the king, and Moses prayed to the Lord to take away the frogs which he had brought on the king. 13 The Lord did as Moses asked, and the frogs in the houses, the courtyards, and the fields died. 14 The Egyptians piled them up in great heaps, until the land stank with them. 15 When the king saw that the frogs were dead, he became stubborn again and, just as the Lord had said, the king would not listen to Moses and Aaron. 16 The Lord said to Moses, "Tell Aaron to strike the ground with his stick, and all over the land of Egypt the dust will change into gnats." 17 So Aaron struck the ground with his stick, and all the dust in Egypt was turned into gnats, which covered the people and the animals. 18 The magicians tried to use their magic to make gnats appear, but they failed. There were gnats everywhere, 19 and the magicians said to the king, "God has done this!" But the king was stubborn and, just as the Lord had said, the king would not listen to Moses and Aaron. 20 The Lord said to Moses, "Early tomorrow morning go and meet the king as he goes to the river, and tell him that the Lord says, "Let my people go, so that they can worship me. 21 I warn you that if you refuse, I will punish you by sending flies on you, your officials, and your people. The houses of the Egyptians will be full of flies, and the ground will be covered with them. 22 But I will spare the region of Goshen, where my people live, so that there will be no flies there. I will do this so that you will know that I, the Lord, am at work in this land. 23 I will make a distinction between my people and your people. This miracle will take place tomorrow.' " 24 The Lord sent great swarms of flies into the king's palace and the houses of his officials. The whole land of Egypt was brought to ruin by the flies. 25 Then the king called for Moses and Aaron and said, "Go and offer sacrifices to your God here in this country." 26 "It would not be right to do that," Moses answered, "because the Egyptians would be offended by our sacrificing the animals that we offer to the Lord our God. If we use these animals and offend the Egyptians by sacrificing them where they can see us, they will stone us to death. 27 We must travel three days into the desert to offer sacrifices to the Lord our God, just as he commanded us." 28 The king said, "I will let you go to sacrifice to the Lord, your God, in the desert, if you do not go very far. Pray for me." 29 Moses answered, "As soon as I leave, I will pray to the Lord that tomorrow the flies will leave you, your officials, and your people. But you must not deceive us again and prevent the people from going to sacrifice to the Lord." 30 Moses left the king and prayed to the Lord, 31 and the Lord did as Moses asked. The flies left the king, his officials, and his people; not one fly remained. 32 But even this time the king became stubborn, and again he would not let the people go.

Exodus 9:1 The Lord said to Moses, "Go to the king and tell him that the Lord, the God of the Hebrews, says, "Let my people go, so that they may worship me. 2 If you again refuse to let them go, 3 I will punish you by sending a terrible disease on all your animals - your horses, donkeys, camels, cattle, sheep, and goats. 4 I will make a distinction between the animals of the Israelites and those of the Egyptians, and no animal that belongs to the Israelites will die. 5 I, the Lord, have set tomorrow as the time when I will do this.' " 6 The next day the Lord did as he had said, and all the animals of the Egyptians died, but not one of the animals of the Israelites died. 7 The king asked what had happened and was told that none of the animals of the Israelites had died. But he was stubborn and would not let the people go. 8 Then the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, "Take a few handfuls of ashes from a furnace; Moses is to throw them into the air in front of the king. 9 They will spread out like fine dust over all the land of Egypt, and everywhere they will produce boils that become open sores on the people and the animals." 10 So they got some ashes and stood before the king; Moses threw them into the air, and they produced boils that became open sores on the people and the animals. 11 The magicians were not able to appear before Moses, because they were covered with boils, like all the other Egyptians. 12 But the Lord made the king stubborn and, just as the Lord had said, the king would not listen to Moses and Aaron. 13 The Lord then said to Moses, "Early tomorrow morning meet with the king and tell him that the Lord, the God of the Hebrews, says, "Let my people go, so that they may worship me. 14 This time I will punish not only your officials and your people, but I will punish you as well, so that you may know that there is no one like me in all the world. 15 If I had raised my hand to strike you and your people with disease, you would have been completely destroyed. 16 But to show you my power I have let you live so that my fame might spread over the whole world. 17 Yet you are still arrogant and refuse to let my people go. 18 This time tomorrow I will cause a heavy hailstorm, such as Egypt has never known in all its history. 19 Now give orders for your livestock and everything else you have in the open to be put under shelter. Hail will fall on the people and animals left outside unprotected, and they will all die.' " 20 Some of the king's officials were afraid because of what the Lord had said, and they brought their slaves and animals indoors for shelter. 21 Others, however, paid no attention to the Lord's warning and left their slaves and animals out in the open. 22 Then the Lord said to Moses, "Raise your hand toward the sky, and hail will fall over the whole land of Egypt - on the people, the animals, and all the plants in the fields." 23 So Moses raised his stick toward the sky, and the Lord sent thunder and hail, and lightning struck the ground. The Lord sent 24 a heavy hailstorm, with lightning flashing back and forth. It was the worst storm that Egypt had ever known in all its history. 25 All over Egypt the hail struck down everything in the open, including all the people and all the animals. It beat down all the plants in the fields and broke all the trees. 26 The region of Goshen, where the Israelites lived, was the only place where there was no hail. 27 The king sent for Moses and Aaron and said, "This time I have sinned; the Lord is in the right, and my people and I are in the wrong. 28 Pray to the Lord! We have had enough of this thunder and hail! I promise to let you go; you don't have to stay here any longer." 29 Moses said to him, "As soon as I go out of the city, I will lift up my hands in prayer to the Lord. The thunder will stop, and there will be no more hail, so that you may know that the earth belongs to the Lord. 30 But I know that you and your officials do not yet fear the Lord God." 31 The flax and the barley were ruined, because the barley was ripe, and the flax was budding. 32 But none of the wheat was ruined, because it ripens later. 33 Moses left the king, went out of the city, and lifted up his hands in prayer to the Lord. The thunder, the hail, and the rain all stopped. 34 When the king saw what had happened, he sinned again. He and his officials remained as stubborn as ever 35 and, just as the Lord had foretold through Moses, the king would not let the Israelites go.

Exodus 10:1 Then the Lord said to Moses, "Go and see the king. I have made him and his officials stubborn, in order that I may perform these miracles among them 2 and in order that you may be able to tell your children and grandchildren how I made fools of the Egyptians when I performed the miracles. All of you will know that I am the Lord." 3 So Moses and Aaron went to the king and said to him, "The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, says, "How much longer will you refuse to submit to me? Let my people go, so that they may worship me. 4 If you keep on refusing, then I will bring locusts into your country tomorrow. 5 There will be so many that they will completely cover the ground. They will eat everything that the hail did not destroy, even the trees that are left. 6 They will fill your palaces and the houses of all your officials and all your people. They will be worse than anything your ancestors ever saw.' " Then Moses turned and left. 7 The king's officials said to him, "How long is this man going to give us trouble? Let the Israelite men go, so that they can worship the Lord their God. Don't you realize that Egypt is ruined?" 8 So Moses and Aaron were brought back to the king, and he said to them, "You may go and worship the Lord your God. But exactly who will go?" 9 Moses answered, "We will all go, including our children and our old people. We will take our sons and daughters, our sheep and goats, and our cattle, because we must hold a festival to honor the Lord." 10 The king said, "I swear by the Lord that I will never let you take your women and children! It is clear that you are plotting to revolt. 11 No! Only the men may go and worship the Lord if that is what you want." With that, Moses and Aaron were driven out of the king's presence. 12 Then the Lord said to Moses, "Raise your hand over the land of Egypt to bring the locusts. They will come and eat everything that grows, everything that has survived the hail." 13 So Moses raised his stick, and the Lord caused a wind from the east to blow on the land all that day and all that night. By morning it had brought the locusts. 14 They came in swarms and settled over the whole country. It was the largest swarm of locusts that had ever been seen or that ever would be seen again. 15 They covered the ground until it was black with them; they ate everything that the hail had left, including all the fruit on the trees. Not a green thing was left on any tree or plant in all the land of Egypt. 16 Then the king hurriedly called Moses and Aaron and said, "I have sinned against the Lord your God and against you. 17 Now forgive my sin this one time and pray to the Lord your God to take away this fatal punishment from me." 18 Moses left the king and prayed to the Lord. 19 And the Lord changed the east wind into a very strong west wind, which picked up the locusts and blew them into the Gulf of Suez. Not one locust was left in all of Egypt. 20 But the Lord made the king stubborn, and he did not let the Israelites go. 21 The Lord then said to Moses, "Raise your hand toward the sky, and a darkness thick enough to be felt will cover the land of Egypt." 22 Moses raised his hand toward the sky, and there was total darkness throughout Egypt for three days. 23 The Egyptians could not see each other, and no one left his house during that time. But the Israelites had light where they were living. 24 The king called Moses and said, "You may go and worship the Lord; even your women and children may go with you. But your sheep, goats, and cattle must stay here." 25 Moses answered, "Then you would have to provide us with animals for sacrifices and burnt offerings to offer to the Lord our God. 26 No, we will take our animals with us; not one will be left behind. We ourselves must select the animals with which to worship the Lord our God. And until we get there, we will not know what animals to sacrifice to him." 27 The Lord made the king stubborn, and he would not let them go. 28 He said to Moses, "Get out of my sight! Don't let me ever see you again! On the day I do, you will die!" 29 "You are right," Moses answered. "You will never see me again."

Exodus 11:1 Then the Lord said to Moses, "I will send only one more punishment on the king of Egypt and his people. After that he will let you leave. In fact, he will drive all of you out of here. 2 Now speak to the people of Israel and tell all of them to ask their neighbors for gold and silver jewelry." 3 The Lord made the Egyptians respect the Israelites. Indeed, the officials and all the people considered Moses to be a very great man. 4 Moses then said to the king, "The Lord says, "At about midnight I will go through Egypt, 5 and every first-born son in Egypt will die, from the king's son, who is heir to the throne, to the son of the slave woman who grinds grain. The first-born of all the cattle will die also. 6 There will be loud crying all over Egypt, such as there has never been before or ever will be again. 7 But not even a dog will bark at the Israelites or their animals. Then you will know that I, the Lord, make a distinction between the Egyptians and the Israelites.' " 8 Moses concluded by saying, "All your officials will come to me and bow down before me, and they will beg me to take all my people and go away. After that, I will leave." Then in great anger Moses left the king. 9 The Lord had said to Moses, "The king will continue to refuse to listen to you, in order that I may do more of my miracles in Egypt." 10 Moses and Aaron performed all these miracles before the king, but the Lord made him stubborn, and he would not let the Israelites leave his country.

Exodus 12:1 The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron in Egypt: 2 "This month is to be the first month of the year for you. 3 Give these instructions to the whole community of Israel: On the tenth day of this month each man must choose either a lamb or a young goat for his household. 4 If his family is too small to eat a whole animal, he and his next-door neighbor may share an animal, in proportion to the number of people and the amount that each person can eat. 5 You may choose either a sheep or a goat, but it must be a one-year-old male without any defects. 6 Then, on the evening of the fourteenth day of the month, the whole community of Israel will kill the animals. 7 The people are to take some of the blood and put it on the doorposts and above the doors of the houses in which the animals are to be eaten. 8 That night the meat is to be roasted, and eaten with bitter herbs and with bread made without yeast. 9 Do not eat any of it raw or boiled, but eat it roasted whole, including the head, the legs, and the internal organs. 10 You must not leave any of it until morning; if any is left over, it must be burned. 11 You are to eat it quickly, for you are to be dressed for travel, with your sandals on your feet and your walking stick in your hand. It is the Passover Festival to honor me, the Lord. 12 "On that night I will go through the land of Egypt, killing every first-born male, both human and animal, and punishing all the gods of Egypt. I am the Lord. 13 The blood on the doorposts will be a sign to mark the houses in which you live. When I see the blood, I will pass over you and will not harm you when I punish the Egyptians. 14 You must celebrate this day as a religious festival to remind you of what I, the Lord, have done. Celebrate it for all time to come." 15 The Lord said, "For seven days you must not eat any bread made with yeast - eat only unleavened bread. On the first day you are to get rid of all the yeast in your houses, for if anyone during those seven days eats bread made with yeast, he shall no longer be considered one of my people. 16 On the first day and again on the seventh day you are to meet for worship. No work is to be done on those days, but you may prepare food. 17 Keep this festival, because it was on this day that I brought your tribes out of Egypt. For all time to come you must celebrate this day as a festival. 18 From the evening of the fourteenth day of the first month to the evening of the twenty-first day, you must not eat any bread made with yeast. 19 For seven days no yeast must be found in your houses, for if anyone, native-born or foreign, eats bread made with yeast, he shall no longer be considered one of my people." 21 Moses called for all the leaders of Israel and said to them, "Each of you is to choose a lamb or a young goat and kill it, so that your families can celebrate Passover. 22 Take a sprig of hyssop, dip it in the bowl containing the animal's blood, and wipe the blood on the doorposts and the beam above the door of your house. Not one of you is to leave the house until morning. 23 When the Lord goes through Egypt to kill the Egyptians, he will see the blood on the beams and the doorposts and will not let the Angel of Death enter your houses and kill you. 24 You and your children must obey these rules forever. 25 When you enter the land that the Lord has promised to give you, you must perform this ritual. 26 When your children ask you, "What does this ritual mean?' 27 you will answer, "It is the sacrifice of Passover to honor the Lord, because he passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt. He killed the Egyptians, but spared us.' " The Israelites knelt down and worshiped. 28 Then they went and did what the Lord had commanded Moses and Aaron. 29 At midnight the Lord killed all the first-born sons in Egypt, from the king's son, who was heir to the throne, to the son of the prisoner in the dungeon; all the first-born of the animals were also killed. 30 That night, the king, his officials, and all the other Egyptians were awakened. There was loud crying throughout Egypt, because there was not one home in which there was not a dead son. 31 That same night the king sent for Moses and Aaron and said, "Get out, you and your Israelites! Leave my country; go and worship the Lord, as you asked. 32 Take your sheep, goats, and cattle, and leave. Also pray for a blessing on me." 33 The Egyptians urged the people to hurry and leave the country; they said, "We will all be dead if you don't leave." 34 So the people filled their baking pans with unleavened dough, wrapped them in clothing, and carried them on their shoulders. 35 The Israelites had done as Moses had said, and had asked the Egyptians for gold and silver jewelry and for clothes. 36 The Lord made the Egyptians respect the people and give them what they asked for. In this way the Israelites carried away the wealth of the Egyptians. 37 The Israelites set out on foot from Rameses for Sukkoth. There were about 600,000 men, not counting women and children. 38 A large number of other people and many sheep, goats, and cattle also went with them. 39 They baked unleavened bread from the dough that they had brought out of Egypt, for they had been driven out of Egypt so suddenly that they did not have time to get their food ready or to prepare leavened dough. 40 The Israelites had lived in Egypt for 430 years. 41 On the day the 430 years ended, all the tribes of the Lord's people left Egypt. 42 It was a night when the Lord kept watch to bring them out of Egypt; this same night is dedicated to the Lord for all time to come as a night when the Israelites must keep watch. 43 The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, "These are the Passover regulations: No foreigner shall eat the Passover meal, 44 but any slave that you have bought may eat it if you circumcise him first. 45 No temporary resident or hired worker may eat it. 46 The whole meal must be eaten in the house in which it was prepared; it must not be taken outside. And do not break any of the animal's bones. 47 The whole community of Israel must celebrate this festival, 48 but no uncircumcised man may eat it. If a foreigner has settled among you and wants to celebrate Passover to honor the Lord, you must first circumcise all the males of his household. He is then to be treated like a native-born Israelite and may join in the festival. 49 The same regulations apply to native-born Israelites and to foreigners who settle among you." 50 All the Israelites obeyed and did what the Lord had commanded Moses and Aaron. 51 On that day the Lord brought the Israelite tribes out of Egypt.

414-Exodus 23:20 "I will send an angel ahead of you to protect you as you travel and to bring you to the place which I have prepared. 21 Pay attention to him and obey him. Do not rebel against him, for I have sent him, and he will not pardon such rebellion. 22 But if you obey him and do everything I command, I will fight against all your enemies. 23 My angel will go ahead of you and take you into the land of the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Canaanites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, and I will destroy them. 24 Do not bow down to their gods or worship them, and do not adopt their religious practices. Destroy their gods and break down their sacred stone pillars. 25 If you worship me, the Lord your God, I will bless you with food and water and take away all your sicknesses. 26 In your land no woman will have a miscarriage or be without children. I will give you long lives. 27 "I will make the people who oppose you afraid of me; I will bring confusion among the people against whom you fight, and I will make all your enemies turn and run from you. 28 I will throw your enemies into panic; I will drive out the Hivites, the Canaanites, and the Hittites as you advance. 29 I will not drive them out within a year's time; if I did, the land would become deserted, and the wild animals would be too many for you. 30 Instead, I will drive them out little by little, until there are enough of you to take possession of the land. 31 I will make the borders of your land extend from the Gulf of Aqaba to the Mediterranean Sea and from the desert to the Euphrates River. I will give you power over the inhabitants of the land, and you will drive them out as you advance. 32 Do not make any agreement with them or with their gods. 33 Do not let those people live in your country; if you do, they will make you sin against me. If you worship their gods, it will be a fatal trap for you."

Exodus 33:1 The Lord said to Moses, "Leave this place, you and the people you brought out of Egypt, and go to the land that I promised to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and to their descendants. 2 I will send an angel to guide you, and I will drive out the Canaanites, the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites.

Exodus 34:10 The Lord said to Moses, "I now make a covenant with the people of Israel. In their presence I will do great things such as have never been done anywhere on earth among any of the nations. All the people will see what great things I, the Lord, can do, because I am going to do an awesome thing for you. 11 Obey the laws that I am giving you today. I will drive out the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, as you advance. 12 Do not make any treaties with the people of the country into which you are going, because this could be a fatal trap for you. 13 Instead, tear down their altars, destroy their sacred pillars, and cut down their symbols of the goddess Asherah. 14 "Do not worship any other god, because I, the Lord, tolerate no rivals. 15 Do not make any treaties with the people of the country, because when they worship their pagan gods and sacrifice to them, they will invite you to join them, and you will be tempted to eat the food they offer to their gods. 16 Your sons might marry those foreign women, who would lead them to be unfaithful to me and to worship their pagan gods.

415-Leviticus 18:24-30; 20:24-28; 26:14-4624 Do not make yourselves unclean by any of these acts, for that is how the pagans made themselves unclean, those pagans who lived in the land before you and whom the Lord is driving out so that you can go in. 25 Their actions made the land unclean, and so the Lord is punishing the land and making it reject the people who lived there. 26 They did all these disgusting things and made the land unclean, but you must not do them. All of you, whether Israelites or foreigners living with you, must keep the Lord's laws and commands, 28 and then the land will not reject you, as it rejected the pagans who lived there before you.

24 But I have promised you this rich and fertile land as your possession, and I will give it to you. I am the Lord your God, and I have set you apart from the other nations. 25 So then, you must make a clear distinction between animals and birds that are ritually clean and those that are not. Do not eat unclean animals or birds. I have declared them unclean, and eating them would make you unclean. 26 You shall be holy and belong only to me, because I am the Lord and I am holy. I have set you apart from the other nations so that you would belong to me alone. 27 "Any man or woman who consults the spirits of the dead shall be stoned to death; any of you that do this are responsible for your own death."

Leviticus 18:24 Do not make yourselves unclean by any of these acts, for that is how the pagans made themselves unclean, those pagans who lived in the land before you and whom the Lord is driving out so that you can go in. 25 Their actions made the land unclean, and so the Lord is punishing the land and making it reject the people who lived there. 26 They did all these disgusting things and made the land unclean, but you must not do them. All of you, whether Israelites or foreigners living with you, must keep the Lord's laws and commands, 28 and then the land will not reject you, as it rejected the pagans who lived there before you.

Leviticus 20:24 But I have promised you this rich and fertile land as your possession, and I will give it to you. I am the Lord your God, and I have set you apart from the other nations. 25 So then, you must make a clear distinction between animals and birds that are ritually clean and those that are not. Do not eat unclean animals or birds. I have declared them unclean, and eating them would make you unclean. 26 You shall be holy and belong only to me, because I am the Lord and I am holy. I have set you apart from the other nations so that you would belong to me alone. 27 "Any man or woman who consults the spirits of the dead shall be stoned to death; any of you that do this are responsible for your own death."

Leviticus 26:14 The Lord said, "If you will not obey my commands, you will be punished. 15 If you refuse to obey my laws and commands and break the covenant I have made with you, 16 I will punish you. I will bring disaster on you - incurable diseases and fevers that will make you blind and cause your life to waste away. You will plant your crops, but it will do you no good, because your enemies will conquer you and eat what you have grown. 17 I will turn against you, so that you will be defeated, and those who hate you will rule over you; you will be so terrified that you will run when no one is chasing you. 18 "If even after all of this you still do not obey me, I will increase your punishment seven times. 19 I will break your stubborn pride; there will be no rain, and your land will be dry and as hard as iron. 20 All your hard work will do you no good, because your land will not produce crops and the trees will not bear fruit. 21 "If you still continue to resist me and refuse to obey me, I will again increase your punishment seven times. 22 I will send dangerous animals among you, and they will kill your children, destroy your livestock, and leave so few of you that your roads will be deserted. 23 "If after all of this punishment you still do not listen to me, but continue to defy me, 24 then I will turn on you and punish you seven times harder than before. 25 I will bring war on you to punish you for breaking our covenant, and if you gather in your cities for safety, I will send incurable diseases among you, and you will be forced to surrender to your enemies. 26 I will cut off your food supply, so that ten women will need only one oven to bake all the bread they have. They will ration it out, and when you have eaten it all, you will still be hungry. 27 "If after all of this you still continue to defy me and refuse to obey me, 28 then in my anger I will turn on you and again make your punishment seven times worse than before. 29 Your hunger will be so great that you will eat your own children. 30 I will destroy your places of worship on the hills, tear down your incense altars, and throw your dead bodies on your fallen idols. In utter disgust 31 I will turn your cities into ruins, destroy your places of worship, and refuse to accept your sacrifices. 32 I will destroy your land so completely that the enemies who occupy it will be shocked at the destruction. 33 I will bring war on you and scatter you in foreign lands. Your land will be deserted, and your cities left in ruins. 34 Then the land will enjoy the years of complete rest that you would not give it; it will lie abandoned and get its rest while you are in exile in the land of your enemies. 36 "I will make those of you who are in exile so terrified that the sound of a leaf blowing in the wind will make you run. You will run as if you were being pursued in battle, and you will fall when there is no enemy near you. 37 You will stumble over one another when no one is chasing you, and you will be unable to fight against any enemy. 38 You will die in exile, swallowed up by the land of your enemies. 39 The few of you who survive in the land of your enemies will waste away because of your own sin and the sin of your ancestors. 40 "But your descendants will confess their sins and the sins of their ancestors, who resisted me and rebelled against me, 41 and caused me to turn against them and send them into exile in the land of their enemies. At last, when your descendants are humbled and they have paid the penalty for their sin and rebellion, 42 I will remember my covenant with Jacob and with Isaac and with Abraham, and I will renew my promise to give my people the land. 43 First, however, the land must be rid of its people, so that it can enjoy its complete rest, and they must pay the full penalty for having rejected my laws and my commands. 44 But even then, when they are still in the land of their enemies, I will not completely abandon them or destroy them. That would put an end to my covenant with them, and I am the Lord their God. 45 I will renew the covenant that I made with their ancestors when I showed all the nations my power by bringing my people out of Egypt, in order that I, the Lord, might be their God."

416-Numbers 33:50 There in the plains of Moab across the Jordan from Jericho the Lord gave Moses 51 the following instructions for Israel: "When you cross the Jordan into the land of Canaan, 52 you must drive out all the inhabitants of the land. Destroy all their stone and metal idols and all their places of worship. 53 Occupy the land and settle in it, because I am giving it to you. 54 Divide the land among the various tribes and clans by drawing lots, giving a large piece of property to a large clan and a small one to a small clan. 55 But if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land, those that are left will be as troublesome as splinters in your eyes and thorns in your sides, and they will fight against you. 56 If you do not drive them out, I will destroy you, as I planned to destroy them."

417-Deuteronomy 4:5 "I have taught you all the laws, as the Lord my God told me to do. Obey them in the land that you are about to invade and occupy. 6 Obey them faithfully, and this will show the people of other nations how wise you are. When they hear of all these laws, they will say, "What wisdom and understanding this great nation has!'

Deuteronomy 4:15 "When the Lord spoke to you from the fire on Mount Sinai, you did not see any form. For your own good, then, make certain 16 that you do not sin by making for yourselves an idol in any form at all - whether man or woman, 17 animal or bird, 18 reptile or fish. 19 Do not be tempted to worship and serve what you see in the sky - the sun, the moon, and the stars. The Lord your God has given these to all other peoples for them to worship. 20 But you are the people he rescued from Egypt, that blazing furnace. He brought you out to make you his own people, as you are today. 21 Because of you the Lord your God was angry with me and solemnly declared that I would not cross the Jordan River to enter the fertile land which he is giving you. 22 I will die in this land and never cross the river, but you are about to go across and occupy that fertile land. 23 Be certain that you do not forget the covenant that the Lord your God made with you. Obey his command not to make yourselves any kind of idol, 24 because the Lord your God is like a flaming fire; he tolerates no rivals. 25 "Even when you have been in the land a long time and have children and grandchildren, do not sin by making for yourselves an idol in any form at all. This is evil in the Lord's sight, and it will make him angry. 26 I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you today that, if you disobey me, you will soon disappear from the land. You will not live very long in the land across the Jordan that you are about to occupy. You will be completely destroyed. 27 The Lord will scatter you among other nations, where only a few of you will survive. 28 There you will serve gods made by human hands, gods of wood and stone, gods that cannot see or hear, eat or smell. 29 There you will look for the Lord your God, and if you search for him with all your heart, you will find him. 30 When you are in trouble and all those things happen to you, then you will finally turn to the Lord and obey him. 31 He is a merciful God. He will not abandon you or destroy you, and he will not forget the covenant that he himself made with your ancestors. 32 "Search the past, the time before you were born, all the way back to the time when God created human beings on the earth. Search the entire earth. Has anything as great as this ever happened before? Has anyone ever heard of anything like this? 33 Have any people ever lived after hearing a god speak to them from a fire, as you have? 34 Has any god ever dared to go and take a people from another nation and make them his own, as the Lord your God did for you in Egypt? Before your very eyes he used his great power and strength; he brought plagues and war, worked miracles and wonders, and caused terrifying things to happen. 35 The Lord has shown you this, to prove to you that he alone is God and that there is no other. 36 He let you hear his voice from heaven so that he could instruct you; and here on earth he let you see his holy fire, and he spoke to you from it. 37 Because he loved your ancestors, he chose you, and by his great power he himself brought you out of Egypt. 38 As you advanced, he drove out nations greater and more powerful than you, so that he might bring you in and give you their land, the land which still belongs to you. 39 So remember today and never forget: the Lord is God in heaven and on earth. There is no other god. 40 Obey all his laws that I have given you today, and all will go well with you and your descendants. You will continue to live in the land that the Lord your God is giving you to be yours forever."

Deuteronomy 7:1 "The Lord your God will bring you into the land that you are going to occupy, and he will drive many nations out of it. As you advance, he will drive out seven nations larger and more powerful than you: the Hittites, the Girgashites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. 2 When the Lord your God places these people in your power and you defeat them, you must put them all to death. Do not make an alliance with them or show them any mercy. 3 Do not marry any of them, and do not let your children marry any of them, 4 because then they would lead your children away from the Lord to worship other gods. If that happens, the Lord will be angry with you and destroy you at once. 5 So then, tear down their altars, break their sacred stone pillars in pieces, cut down their symbols of the goddess Asherah, and burn their idols. 6 Do this because you belong to the Lord your God. From all the peoples on earth he chose you to be his own special people. 7 "The Lord did not love you and choose you because you outnumbered other peoples; you were the smallest nation on earth. 8 But the Lord loved you and wanted to keep the promise that he made to your ancestors. That is why he saved you by his great might and set you free from slavery to the king of Egypt. 9 Remember that the Lord your God is the only God and that he is faithful. He will keep his covenant and show his constant love to a thousand generations of those who love him and obey his commands, 10 but he will not hesitate to punish those who hate him. 11 Now then, obey what you have been taught; obey all the laws that I have given you today.

Deuteronomy 7:16 Destroy every nation that the Lord your God places in your power, and do not show them any mercy. Do not worship their gods, for that would be fatal. 17 "Do not tell yourselves that these peoples outnumber you and that you cannot drive them out. 18 Do not be afraid of them; remember what the Lord your God did to the king of Egypt and to all his people. 19 Remember the terrible plagues that you saw with your own eyes, the miracles and wonders, and the great power and strength by which the Lord your God set you free. In the same way that he destroyed the Egyptians, he will destroy all these people that you now fear. 20 He will even cause panic among them and will destroy those who escape and go into hiding. 21 So do not be afraid of these people. The Lord your God is with you; he is a great God and one to be feared. 22 Little by little he will drive out these nations as you advance. You will not be able to destroy them all at once, for, if you did, the number of wild animals would increase and be a threat to you. 23 The Lord will put your enemies in your power and make them panic until they are destroyed. 24 He will put their kings in your power. You will kill them, and they will be forgotten. No one will be able to stop you; you will destroy everyone. 25 Burn their idols. Do not desire the silver or gold that is on them, and do not take it for yourselves. If you do, that will be fatal, because the Lord hates idolatry. 26 Do not bring any of these idols into your homes, or the same curse will be on you that is on them. You must hate and despise these idols, because they are under the Lord's curse.

20 If you do not obey the Lord, then you will be destroyed just like those nations that he is going to destroy as you advance.

Deuteronomy 8:1 "Listen, people of Israel! Today you are about to cross the Jordan River and occupy the land belonging to nations greater and more powerful than you. Their cities are large, with walls that reach the sky. 2 The people themselves are tall and strong; they are giants, and you have heard it said that no one can stand against them. 3 But now you will see for yourselves that the Lord your God will go ahead of you like a raging fire. He will defeat them as you advance, so that you will drive them out and destroy them quickly, as he promised. 4 "After the Lord your God has driven them out for you, do not say to yourselves that he brought you in to possess this land because you deserved it. No, the Lord is going to drive these people out for you because they are wicked. 5 It is not because you are good and do what is right that the Lord is letting you take their land. He will drive them out because they are wicked and because he intends to keep the promise that he made to your ancestors, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. 6 You can be sure that the Lord is not giving you this fertile land because you deserve it. No, you are a stubborn people.

Deuteronomy 20:10 "When you go to attack a city, first give its people a chance to surrender. 11 If they open the gates and surrender, they are all to become your slaves and do forced labor for you. 12 But if the people of that city will not surrender, but choose to fight, surround it with your army. 13 Then, when the Lord your God lets you capture the city, kill every man in it. 14 You may, however, take for yourselves the women, the children, the livestock, and everything else in the city. You may use everything that belongs to your enemies. The Lord has given it to you. 15 That is how you are to deal with those cities that are far away from the land you will settle in. 16 "But when you capture cities in the land that the Lord your God is giving you, kill everyone. 17 Completely destroy all the people: the Hittites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, as the Lord ordered you to do. 18 Kill them, so that they will not make you sin against the Lord by teaching you to do all the disgusting things that they do in the worship of their gods.

418-PP 436,437 Confident of success, the king came forth with an immense army upon the open plain, while shouts of defiance were heard from the tableland above, where might be seen the spears of thousands, eager for the fray. When the Hebrews looked upon the lofty form of that giant of giants towering above the soldiers of his army; when they saw the hosts that surrounded him, and beheld the seemingly impregnable fortress, behind which unseen thousands were entrenched, the hearts of many in Israel quaked with fear. But Moses was calm and firm; the Lord had said concerning the king of Bashan, “Fear him not: for I will deliver him, and all his people, and his land, into thy hand; and thou shalt do unto him as thou didst unto Sihon king of the Amorites, which dwelt at Heshbon.” {PP 436.1}

The calm faith of their leader inspired the people with confidence in God. They trusted all to His omnipotent arm, and He did not fail them. Not mighty giants nor walled cities, armed hosts nor rocky fortresses, could stand before the Captain of the Lord’s host. The Lord led the army; the Lord discomfited the enemy; the Lord conquered in behalf of Israel. The giant king and his army were destroyed, and the Israelites soon took possession of the whole country. Thus was blotted from the earth that strange people who had given themselves up to iniquity and abominable idolatry. {PP 436.2}

In the conquest of Gilead and Bashan there were many who recalled the events which nearly forty years before had, in Kadesh, doomed Israel to the long desert wandering. They saw that the report of the spies concerning the Promised Land was in many respects correct. The cities were walled and very great, and were inhabited by giants, in comparison with whom the Hebrews were mere pygmies. But they could now see that the fatal mistake of their fathers had been in distrusting the power of God. This alone had prevented them from at once entering the goodly land. {PP 436.3}

When they were at the first preparing to enter Canaan, the undertaking was attended with far less difficulty than now. God had promised His people that if they would obey His voice He would go before them and fight for them; and He would also send hornets to drive out the inhabitants of the land. The fears of the nations had not been generally aroused, and little preparation had been made to oppose their progress. But when the Lord now bade Israel go forward, they must advance against alert and powerful foes, and must contend with large and well-trained armies that had been preparing to resist their approach. {PP 436.4}

In their contest with Og and Sihon the people were brought to the same test beneath which their fathers had so signally failed. But the trial was now far more severe than when God had commanded Israel to go forward. The difficulties in their way had greatly increased since they refused to advance when bidden to do so in the name of the Lord. It is thus that God still tests His people. And if they fail to endure the trial, He brings them again to the same point, and the second time the trial will come closer, and be more severe than the preceding. This is continued until they bear the test, or, if they are still rebellious, God withdraws His light from them and leaves them in darkness. {PP 437.1}

The Hebrews now remembered how once before, when their forces had gone to battle, they had been routed, and thousands slain. But they had then gone in direct opposition to the command of God. They had gone out without Moses, God’s appointed leader, without the cloudy pillar, the symbol of the divine presence, and without the ark. But now Moses was with them, strengthening their hearts with words of hope and faith; the Son of God, enshrined in the cloudy pillar, led the way; and the sacred ark accompanied the host. This experience has a lesson for us. The mighty God of Israel is our God. In Him we may trust, and if we obey His requirements He will work for us in as signal a manner as He did for His ancient people. Everyone who seeks to follow the path of duty will at times be assailed by doubt and unbelief. The way will sometimes be so barred by obstacles, apparently insurmountable, as to dishearten those who will yield to discouragement; but God is saying to such, Go forward. Do your duty at any cost. The difficulties that seem so formidable, that fill your soul with dread, will vanish as you move forward in the path of obedience, humbly trusting in God. {PP 437.2}

PP 543 This chapter is based on Judges 6 to 8; 10.

After the settlement in Canaan the tribes made no vigorous effort to complete the conquest of the land. Satisfied with the territory already gained, their zeal soon flagged, and the war was discontinued. “When Israel was strong, ... they put the Canaanites to tribute, and did not utterly drive them out.” Judges 1:28. {PP 543.1}

The Lord had faithfully fulfilled, on His part, the promises made to Israel; Joshua had broken the power of the Canaanites, and had distributed the land to the tribes. It only remained for them, trusting in the assurance of divine aid, to complete the work of dispossessing the inhabitants of the land. But this they failed to do. By entering into league with the Canaanites they directly transgressed the command of God, and thus failed to fulfill the condition on which He had promised to place them in possession of Canaan. {PP 543.2}

From the very first communication of God with them at Sinai, they had been warned against idolatry. Immediately after the proclamation of the law the message was sent them by Moses concerning the nations of Canaan: “Thou shalt not bow down to their gods, nor serve them, nor do after their works: but thou shalt utterly overthrow them, and quite break down their images. And ye shall serve the Lord your God, and He shall bless thy bread, and thy water; and I will take sickness away from the midst of thee.” Exodus 23:24, 25. The assurance was given that so long as they remained obedient, God would subdue their enemies before them: “I will send My fear before thee, and will destroy all the people to whom thou shalt come; and I will make all thine enemies turn their backs unto thee. And I will send hornets before thee, which shall drive out the Hivite, the Canaanite, and the Hittite, from before thee. I will not drive them out from before thee in one year; lest the land become desolate, and the beast of the field multiply against thee. By little and little I will drive them out from before thee, until thou be increased, and inherit the land.... I will deliver the inhabitants of the land into your hand; and thou shalt drive them out before thee. Thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor with their gods. They shall not dwell in thy land, lest they make thee sin against Me: for if thou serve their gods, it will surely be a snare unto thee.” Exodus 23:27-33. These directions were reiterated in the most solemn manner by Moses before his death, and they were repeated by Joshua. {PP 543.3}

419-Deuteronomy 20:16 "But when you capture cities in the land that the Lord your God is giving you, kill everyone. 17 Completely destroy all the people: the Hittites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, as the Lord ordered you to do. 18 Kill them, so that they will not make you sin against the Lord by teaching you to do all the disgusting things that they do in the worship of their gods.

420-Exodus 12:39 They baked unleavened bread from the dough that they had brought out of Egypt, for they had been driven out of Egypt so suddenly that they did not have time to get their food ready or to prepare leavened dough.

Exodus 23:28 I will throw your enemies into panic; I will drive out the Hivites, the Canaanites, and the Hittites as you advance. 29 I will not drive them out within a year's time; if I did, the land would become deserted, and the wild animals would be too many for you. 30 Instead, I will drive them out little by little, until there are enough of you to take possession of the land. 31 I will make the borders of your land extend from the Gulf of Aqaba to the Mediterranean Sea and from the desert to the Euphrates River. I will give you power over the inhabitants of the land, and you will drive them out as you advance.

Exodus 33:2 I will send an angel to guide you, and I will drive out the Canaanites, the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites.

Exodus 34:11 Obey the laws that I am giving you today. I will drive out the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, as you advance.

421-Leviticus 21:7 A priest shall not marry a woman who has been a prostitute or a woman who is not a virgin or who is divorced; he is holy.

Leviticus 21:14 not a widow or a divorced woman or a woman who has been a prostitute. He shall marry only a virgin from his own clan.

422-Numbers 22:6 They outnumber us, so please come and put a curse on them for me. Then perhaps we will be able to defeat them and drive them out of the land. I know that when you pronounce a blessing, people are blessed, and when you pronounce a curse, they are placed under a curse."

Numbers 22:11 that a people who came from Egypt has spread out over the whole land. He wants me to curse them for him, so that he can fight them and drive them out."

Numbers 30:9 A widow or a divorced woman must keep every vow she makes and every promise to abstain from something.

423-Deuteronomy 33:27 God has always been your defense; his eternal arms are your support. He drove out your enemies as you advanced, and told you to destroy them all.

424-Joshua 24:12 As you advanced, I threw them into panic in order to drive out the two Amorite kings. Your swords and bows had nothing to do with it.

Joshua 24:18 As we advanced into this land, the Lord drove out all the Amorites who lived here. So we also will serve the Lord; he is our God."

425-Judges 2:3 So I tell you now that I will not drive these people out as you advance. They will be your enemies, and you will be trapped by the worship of their gods."

Judges 6:9 I rescued you from the Egyptians and from the people who fought you here in this land. I drove them out as you advanced, and I gave you their land.

Judges 9:41 Abimelech lived in Arumah, and Zebul drove Gaal and his brothers out of Shechem, so that they could no longer live there.

Judges 11:2 had other sons by his wife, and when they grew up, they forced Jephthah to leave home. They told him, "You will not inherit anything from our father; you are the son of another woman."

426-1 Samuel 26:19 Your Majesty, listen to what I have to say. If it is the Lord who has turned you against me, an offering to him will make him change his mind; but if some people have done it, may the Lord's curse fall on them. For they have driven me out from the Lord's land to a country where I can only worship foreign gods.

427-1 Kings 2:27 Then Solomon dismissed Abiathar from serving as a priest of the Lord, and so made come true what the Lord had said in Shiloh about the priest Eli and his descendants.

428-1 Chronicles 17:21 There is no other nation on earth like Israel, whom you rescued from slavery to make them your own people. The great and wonderful things you did for them spread your fame throughout the world. You rescued your people from Egypt and drove out other nations as your people advanced.

429-Genesis 47:18 The following year they came to him and said, "We will not hide the fact from you, sir, that our money is all gone and our livestock belongs to you. There is nothing left to give you except our bodies and our lands.

430-Exodus 9:15 If I had raised my hand to strike you and your people with disease, you would have been completely destroyed.

Exodus 23:23 My angel will go ahead of you and take you into the land of the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Canaanites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, and I will destroy them.

431-Joshua 7:19 Joshua said to him, "My son, tell the truth here before the Lord, the God of Israel, and confess. Tell me now what you have done. Don't try to hide it from me."

432-1 Samuel 3:19 And Joshua said unto Achan, My son, give , I pray thee, glory to the LORD God of Israel, and make confession unto him; and tell me now what thou hast done ; hide it not from me.

433-Exodus 22:20 He that sacrificeth unto any god, save unto the LORD only, he shall be utterly destroyed .

434-Leviticus 21:18 For whatsoever man he be that hath a blemish, he shall not approach : a blind man, or a lame, or he that hath a flat nose , or any thing superfluous ,

Leviticus 27:28 Notwithstanding no devoted thing, that a man shall devote unto the LORD of all that he hath, both of man and beast, and of the field of his possession, shall be sold or redeemed : every devoted thing is most holy unto the LORD. 29 None devoted, which shall be devoted of men, shall be redeemed ; but shall surely be put to death .

435-Numbers 21:2 And Israel vowed a vow unto the LORD, and said , If thou wilt indeed deliver this people into my hand, then I will utterly destroy their cities. 3 And the LORD hearkened to the voice of Israel, and delivered up the Canaanites; and they utterly destroyed them and their cities: and he called the name of the place Hormah.

436-Deuteronomy 2:34 And we took all his cities at that time, and utterly destroyed the men, and the women, and the little ones, of every city, we left none to remain:

6 And we utterly destroyed them, as we did unto Sihon king of Heshbon, utterly destroying the men, women, and children, of every city.

Deuteronomy 7:1 When the LORD thy God shall bring thee into the land whither thou goest to possess it, and hath cast out many nations before thee, the Hittites, and the Girgashites, and the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites, seven nations greater and mightier than thou;

Deuteronomy 13:15 Thou shalt surely smite the inhabitants of that city with the edge of the sword, destroying it utterly , and all that is therein, and the cattle thereof, with the edge of the sword.

Deuteronomy 20:17 But thou shalt utterly destroy them; namely, the Hittites, and the Amorites, the Canaanites, and the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites; as the LORD thy God hath commanded thee:

437-Joshua 2:10 For we have heard how the LORD dried up the water of the Red sea for you, when ye came out of Egypt; and what ye did unto the two kings of the Amorites, that were on the other side Jordan, Sihon and Og, whom ye utterly destroyed .

Joshua 6:18 And ye, in any wise keep yourselves from the accursed thing, lest ye make yourselves accursed , when ye take of the accursed thing, and make the camp of Israel a curse, and trouble it.

Joshua 6:21 And they utterly destroyed all that was in the city, both man and woman, young and old, and ox, and sheep, and ass, with the edge of the sword.

Joshua 8:26 For Joshua drew not his hand back , wherewith he stretched out the spear, until he had utterly destroyed all the inhabitants of Ai.

Joshua 10:1 Now it came to pass, when Adonizedek king of Jerusalem had heard how Joshua had taken Ai, and had utterly destroyed it; as he had done to Jericho and her king, so he had done to Ai and her king; and how the inhabitants of Gibeon had made peace with Israel, and were among them;

Joshua 10:28 And that day Joshua took Makkedah, and smote it with the edge of the sword, and the king thereof he utterly destroyed , them, and all the souls that were therein; he let none remain: and he did to the king of Makkedah as he did unto the king of Jericho.

438-Judges 1:17 And Judah went with Simeon his brother, and they slew the Canaanites that inhabited Zephath, and utterly destroyed it. And the name of the city was called Hormah.

Judges 21:11 And this is the thing that ye shall do , Ye shall utterly destroy every male, and every woman that hath lain by man .

439-1 Samuel 15:3 Now go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not; but slay both man and woman, infant and suckling , ox and sheep, camel and ass.

1 Samuel 7:1 And the men of Kirjathjearim came , and fetched up the ark of the LORD, and brought it into the house of Abinadab in the hill, and sanctified Eleazar his son to keep the ark of the LORD. 2 And it came to pass, while the ark abode in Kirjathjearim, that the time was long ; for it was twenty years: and all the house of Israel lamented after the LORD. 3 And Samuel spake unto all the house of Israel, saying , If ye do return unto the LORD with all your hearts, then put away the strange gods and Ashtaroth from among you, and prepare your hearts unto the LORD, and serve him only: and he will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines. 4 Then the children of Israel did put away Baalim and Ashtaroth, and served the LORD only. 5 And Samuel said , Gather all Israel to Mizpeh, and I will pray for you unto the LORD. 6 And they gathered together to Mizpeh, and drew water, and poured it out before the LORD, and fasted on that day, and said there, We have sinned against the LORD. And Samuel judged the children of Israel in Mizpeh. 7 And when the Philistines heard that the children of Israel were gathered together to Mizpeh, the lords of the Philistines went up against Israel. And when the children of Israel heard it, they were afraid of the Philistines. 8 And the children of Israel said to Samuel, Cease not to cry unto the LORD our God for us, that he will save us out of the hand of the Philistines. 9 And Samuel took a sucking lamb, and offered it for a burnt offering wholly unto the LORD: and Samuel cried unto the LORD for Israel; and the LORD heard him. 10 And as Samuel was offering up the burnt offering, the Philistines drew near to battle against Israel: but the LORD thundered with a great thunder on that day upon the Philistines, and discomfited them; and they were smitten before Israel. 11 And the men of Israel went out of Mizpeh, and pursued the Philistines, and smote them, until they came under Bethcar. 12 Then Samuel took a stone, and set it between Mizpeh and Shen, and called the name of it Ebenezer, saying , Hitherto hath the LORD helped us. 13 So the Philistines were subdued , and they came no more into the coast of Israel: and the hand of the LORD was against the Philistines all the days of Samuel. 14 And the cities which the Philistines had taken from Israel were restored to Israel, from Ekron even unto Gath; and the coasts thereof did Israel deliver out of the hands of the Philistines. And there was peace between Israel and the Amorites. 15 And Samuel judged Israel all the days of his life. 16 And he went from year to year in circuit to Bethel, and Gilgal, and Mizpeh, and judged Israel in all those places. 17 And his return was to Ramah; for there was his house; and there he judged Israel; and there he built an altar unto the LORD.

1 Samuel 8:1 And it came to pass, when Samuel was old , that he made his sons judges over Israel. 2 Now the name of his firstborn was Joel; and the name of his second, Abiah: they were judges in Beersheba. 3 And his sons walked not in his ways, but turned aside after lucre, and took bribes, and perverted judgment. 4 Then all the elders of Israel gathered themselves together , and came to Samuel unto Ramah, 5 And said unto him, Behold, thou art old , and thy sons walk not in thy ways: now make us a king to judge us like all the nations. 6 But the thing displeased Samuel, when they said , Give us a king to judge us. And Samuel prayed unto the LORD. 7 And the LORD said unto Samuel, Hearken unto the voice of the people in all that they say unto thee: for they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me, that I should not reign over them. 8 According to all the works which they have done since the day that I brought them up out of Egypt even unto this day, wherewith they have forsaken me, and served other gods, so do they also unto thee. 9 Now therefore hearken unto their voice: howbeit yet protest solemnly unto them, and shew them the manner of the king that shall reign over them. 10 And Samuel told all the words of the LORD unto the people that asked of him a king. 11 And he said , This will be the manner of the king that shall reign over you: He will take your sons, and appoint them for himself, for his chariots, and to be his horsemen; and some shall run before his chariots. 12 And he will appoint him captains over thousands, and captains over fifties; and will set them to ear his ground, and to reap his harvest, and to make his instruments of war, and instruments of his chariots. 13 And he will take your daughters to be confectionaries, and to be cooks, and to be bakers . 14 And he will take your fields, and your vineyards, and your oliveyards, even the best of them, and give them to his servants. 15 And he will take the tenth of your seed, and of your vineyards, and give to his officers, and to his servants. 16 And he will take your menservants, and your maidservants, and your goodliest young men, and your asses, and put them to his work. 17 He will take the tenth of your sheep: and ye shall be his servants. 18 And ye shall cry out in that day because of your king which ye shall have chosen you; and the LORD will not hear you in that day. 19 Nevertheless the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel; and they said , Nay; but we will have a king over us; 20 That we also may be like all the nations; and that our king may judge us, and go out before us, and fight our battles. 21 And Samuel heard all the words of the people, and he rehearsed them in the ears of the LORD. 22 And the LORD said to Samuel, Hearken unto their voice, and make them a king. And Samuel said unto the men of Israel, Go ye every man unto his city.

1 Samuel 9:1 Now there was a man of Benjamin, whose name was Kish, the son of Abiel, the son of Zeror, the son of Bechorath, the son of Aphiah, a Benjamite, a mighty man of power. 2 And he had a son, whose name was Saul, a choice young man, and a goodly: and there was not among the children of Israel a goodlier person than he: from his shoulders and upward he was higher than any of the people. 3 And the asses of Kish Saul's father were lost . And Kish said to Saul his son, Take now one of the servants with thee, and arise , go seek the asses. 4 And he passed through mount Ephraim, and passed through the land of Shalisha, but they found them not: then they passed through the land of Shalim, and there they were not: and he passed through the land of the Benjamites, but they found them not. 5 And when they were come to the land of Zuph, Saul said to his servant that was with him, Come , and let us return ; lest my father leave caring for the asses, and take thought for us. 6 And he said unto him, Behold now, there is in this city a man of God, and he is an honourable man; all that he saith cometh surely to pass : now let us go thither; peradventure he can shew us our way that we should go . 7 Then said Saul to his servant, But, behold, if we go , what shall we bring the man? for the bread is spent in our vessels, and there is not a present to bring to the man of God: what have we? 8 And the servant answered Saul again , and said , Behold, I have here at hand the fourth part of a shekel of silver: that will I give to the man of God, to tell us our way. 9 (Beforetime in Israel, when a man went to enquire of God, thus he spake , Come , and let us go to the seer : for he that is now called a Prophet was beforetime called a Seer .) 10 Then said Saul to his servant, Well said ; come , let us go . So they went unto the city where the man of God was. 11 And as they went up the hill to the city, they found young maidens going out to draw water, and said unto them, Is the seer here? 12 And they answered them, and said , He is; behold, he is before you: make haste now, for he came to day to the city; for there is a sacrifice of the people to day in the high place: 13 As soon as ye be come into the city, ye shall straightway find him, before he go up to the high place to eat : for the people will not eat until he come , because he doth bless the sacrifice; and afterwards they eat that be bidden . Now therefore get you up ; for about this time ye shall find him. 14 And they went up into the city: and when they were come into the city, behold, Samuel came out against them, for to go up to the high place. 15 Now the LORD had told Samuel in his ear a day before Saul came , saying , 16 To morrow about this time I will send thee a man out of the land of Benjamin, and thou shalt anoint him to be captain over my people Israel, that he may save my people out of the hand of the Philistines: for I have looked upon my people, because their cry is come unto me. 17 And when Samuel saw Saul, the LORD said unto him, Behold the man whom I spake to thee of! this same shall reign over my people. 18 Then Saul drew near to Samuel in the gate, and said , Tell me, I pray thee, where the seer's house is. 19 And Samuel answered Saul, and said , I am the seer : go up before me unto the high place; for ye shall eat with me to day, and to morrow I will let thee go , and will tell thee all that is in thine heart. 20 And as for thine asses that were lost three days ago, set not thy mind on them; for they are found . And on whom is all the desire of Israel? Is it not on thee, and on all thy father's house? 21 And Saul answered and said , Am not I a Benjamite, of the smallest of the tribes of Israel? and my family the least of all the families of the tribe of Benjamin? wherefore then speakest thou so to me? 22 And Samuel took Saul and his servant, and brought them into the parlour, and made them sit in the chiefest place among them that were bidden , which were about thirty persons. 23 And Samuel said unto the cook, Bring the portion which I gave thee, of which I said unto thee, Set it by thee. 24 And the cook took up the shoulder, and that which was upon it, and set it before Saul. And Samuel said , Behold that which is left ! set it before thee, and eat : for unto this time hath it been kept for thee since I said , I have invited the people. So Saul did eat with Samuel that day. 25 And when they were come down from the high place into the city, Samuel communed with Saul upon the top of the house. 26 And they arose early : and it came to pass about the spring of the day, that Samuel called Saul to the top of the house, saying , Up , that I may send thee away . And Saul arose , and they went out both of them, he and Samuel, abroad. 27 And as they were going down to the end of the city, Samuel said to Saul, Bid the servant pass on before us, (and he passed on ,) but stand thou still a while, that I may shew thee the word of God.

1 Samuel 15:1 Samuel also said unto Saul, The LORD sent me to anoint thee to be king over his people, over Israel: now therefore hearken thou unto the voice of the words of the LORD. 2 Thus saith the LORD of hosts, I remember that which Amalek did to Israel, how he laid wait for him in the way, when he came up from Egypt. 3 Now go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not; but slay both man and woman, infant and suckling , ox and sheep, camel and ass. 4 And Saul gathered the people together , and numbered them in Telaim, two hundred thousand footmen, and ten thousand men of Judah. 5 And Saul came to a city of Amalek, and laid wait in the valley. 6 And Saul said unto the Kenites, Go , depart , get you down from among the Amalekites, lest I destroy you with them: for ye shewed kindness to all the children of Israel, when they came up out of Egypt. So the Kenites departed from among the Amalekites. 7 And Saul smote the Amalekites from Havilah until thou comest to Shur, that is over against Egypt. 8 And he took Agag the king of the Amalekites alive, and utterly destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword. 9 But Saul and the people spared Agag, and the best of the sheep, and of the oxen, and of the fatlings, and the lambs, and all that was good, and would not utterly destroy them: but every thing that was vile and refuse , that they destroyed utterly . 10 Then came the word of the LORD unto Samuel, saying , 11 It repenteth me that I have set up Saul to be king: for he is turned back from following me, and hath not performed my commandments. And it grieved Samuel; and he cried unto the LORD all night. 12 And when Samuel rose early to meet Saul in the morning, it was told Samuel, saying , Saul came to Carmel, and, behold, he set him up a place, and is gone about , and passed on , and gone down to Gilgal. 13 And Samuel came to Saul: and Saul said unto him, Blessed be thou of the LORD: I have performed the commandment of the LORD. 14 And Samuel said , What meaneth then this bleating of the sheep in mine ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I hear ? 15 And Saul said , They have brought them from the Amalekites: for the people spared the best of the sheep and of the oxen, to sacrifice unto the LORD thy God; and the rest we have utterly destroyed . 16 Then Samuel said unto Saul, Stay , and I will tell thee what the LORD hath said to me this night. And he said unto him, Say on . 17 And Samuel said , When thou wast little in thine own sight, wast thou not made the head of the tribes of Israel, and the LORD anointed thee king over Israel? 18 And the LORD sent thee on a journey, and said , Go and utterly destroy the sinners the Amalekites, and fight against them until they be consumed . 19 Wherefore then didst thou not obey the voice of the LORD, but didst fly upon the spoil, and didst evil in the sight of the LORD? 20 And Saul said unto Samuel, Yea, I have obeyed the voice of the LORD, and have gone the way which the LORD sent me, and have brought Agag the king of Amalek, and have utterly destroyed the Amalekites. 21 But the people took of the spoil, sheep and oxen, the chief of the things which should have been utterly destroyed, to sacrifice unto the LORD thy God in Gilgal. 22 And Samuel said , Hath the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams. 23 For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the LORD, he hath also rejected thee from being king. 24 And Saul said unto Samuel, I have sinned : for I have transgressed the commandment of the LORD, and thy words: because I feared the people, and obeyed their voice. 25 Now therefore, I pray thee, pardon my sin, and turn again with me, that I may worship the LORD. 26 And Samuel said unto Saul, I will not return with thee: for thou hast rejected the word of the LORD, and the LORD hath rejected thee from being king over Israel. 27 And as Samuel turned about to go away , he laid hold upon the skirt of his mantle, and it rent . 28 And Samuel said unto him, The LORD hath rent the kingdom of Israel from thee this day, and hath given it to a neighbour of thine, that is better than thou. 29 And also the Strength of Israel will not lie nor repent : for he is not a man, that he should repent . 30 Then he said , I have sinned : yet honour me now, I pray thee, before the elders of my people, and before Israel, and turn again with me, that I may worship the LORD thy God. 31 So Samuel turned again after Saul; and Saul worshipped the LORD. 32 Then said Samuel, Bring ye hither to me Agag the king of the Amalekites. And Agag came unto him delicately. And Agag said , Surely the bitterness of death is past . 33 And Samuel said , As thy sword hath made women childless , so shall thy mother be childless among women. And Samuel hewed Agag in pieces before the LORD in Gilgal. 34 Then Samuel went to Ramah; and Saul went up to his house to Gibeah of Saul. 35 And Samuel came no more to see Saul until the day of his death: nevertheless Samuel mourned for Saul: and the LORD repented that he had made Saul king over Israel.

1 Samuel 18:1 And it came to pass, when he had made an end of speaking unto Saul, that the soul of Jonathan was knit with the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul. 2 And Saul took him that day, and would let him go no more home to his father's house. 3 Then Jonathan and David made a covenant, because he loved him as his own soul. 4 And Jonathan stripped himself of the robe that was upon him, and gave it to David, and his garments, even to his sword, and to his bow, and to his girdle. 5 And David went out whithersoever Saul sent him, and behaved himself wisely : and Saul set him over the men of war, and he was accepted in the sight of all the people, and also in the sight of Saul's servants. 6 And it came to pass as they came , when David was returned from the slaughter of the Philistine, that the women came out of all cities of Israel, singing and dancing, to meet king Saul, with tabrets, with joy, and with instruments of musick. 7 And the women answered one another as they played , and said , Saul hath slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands. 8 And Saul was very wroth , and the saying displeased him; and he said , They have ascribed unto David ten thousands, and to me they have ascribed but thousands: and what can he have more but the kingdom? 9 And Saul eyed David from that day and forward. 10 And it came to pass on the morrow, that the evil spirit from God came upon Saul, and he prophesied in the midst of the house: and David played with his hand, as at other times: and there was a javelin in Saul's hand. 11 And Saul cast the javelin; for he said , I will smite David even to the wall with it. And David avoided out of his presence twice. 12 And Saul was afraid of David, because the LORD was with him, and was departed from Saul. 13 Therefore Saul removed him from him, and made him his captain over a thousand; and he went out and came in before the people. 14 And David behaved himself wisely in all his ways; and the LORD was with him. 15 Wherefore when Saul saw that he behaved himself very wisely , he was afraid of him. 16 But all Israel and Judah loved David, because he went out and came in before them. 17 And Saul said to David, Behold my elder daughter Merab, her will I give thee to wife: only be thou valiant for me, and fight the LORD'S battles. For Saul said , Let not mine hand be upon him, but let the hand of the Philistines be upon him. 18 And David said unto Saul, Who am I? and what is my life, or my father's family in Israel, that I should be son in law to the king? 19 But it came to pass at the time when Merab Saul's daughter should have been given to David, that she was given unto Adriel the Meholathite to wife. 20 And Michal Saul's daughter loved David: and they told Saul, and the thing pleased him. 21 And Saul said , I will give him her, that she may be a snare to him, and that the hand of the Philistines may be against him. Wherefore Saul said to David, Thou shalt this day be my son in law in the one of the twain. 22 And Saul commanded his servants, saying, Commune with David secretly, and say , Behold, the king hath delight in thee, and all his servants love thee: now therefore be the king's son in law . 23 And Saul's servants spake those words in the ears of David. And David said , Seemeth it to you a light thing to be a king's son in law , seeing that I am a poor man, and lightly esteemed ? 24 And the servants of Saul told him, saying , On this manner spake David. 25 And Saul said , Thus shall ye say to David, The king desireth not any dowry, but an hundred foreskins of the Philistines, to be avenged of the king's enemies . But Saul thought to make David fall by the hand of the Philistines. 26 And when his servants told David these words, it pleased David well to be the king's son in law : and the days were not expired . 27 Wherefore David arose and went , he and his men, and slew of the Philistines two hundred men; and David brought their foreskins, and they gave them in full tale to the king, that he might be the king's son in law . And Saul gave him Michal his daughter to wife. 28 And Saul saw and knew that the LORD was with David, and that Michal Saul's daughter loved him. 29 And Saul was yet the more afraid of David; and Saul became David's enemy continually. 30 Then the princes of the Philistines went forth : and it came to pass, after they went forth , that David behaved himself more wisely than all the servants of Saul; so that his name was much set by .

440-1 Kings 9:21 Their children that were left after them in the land, whom the children of Israel also were not able utterly to destroy , upon those did Solomon levy a tribute of bondservice unto this day.

441-Exodus 15:7 And in the greatness of thine excellency thou hast overthrown them that rose up against thee: thou sentest forth thy wrath, which consumed them as stubble.

Exodus 19:21 And the LORD said unto Moses, Go down , charge the people, lest they break through unto the LORD to gaze , and many of them perish .

Exodus 23:24 And the LORD said unto him, Away , get thee down , and thou shalt come up , thou, and Aaron with thee: but let not the priests and the people break through to come up unto the LORD, lest he break forth upon them.

442-Judges 6:25 And it came to pass the same night, that the LORD said unto him, Take thy father's young bullock, even the second bullock of seven years old, and throw down the altar of Baal that thy father hath, and cut down the grove that is by it:

443-2 Samuel 11:25 Then David said unto the messenger, Thus shalt thou say unto Joab, Let not this thing displease thee, for the sword devoureth one as well as another: make thy battle more strong against the city, and overthrow it: and encourage thou him.

444-1 Kings 18:30; 19:10,1430 And Elijah said unto all the people, Come near unto me. And all the people came near unto him. And he repaired the altar of the LORD that was broken down .

10 And he said , I have been very jealous for the LORD God of hosts: for the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thine altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword; and I, even I only, am left ; and they seek my life, to take it away .

14 And he said , I have been very jealous for the LORD God of hosts: because the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thine altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword; and I, even I only, am left ; and they seek my life, to take it away .

445-Genesis 4:15 And the LORD said unto him, Therefore whosoever slayeth Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold. And the LORD set a mark upon Cain, lest any finding him should kill him.

Genesis 8:21 And the LORD smelled a sweet savour; and the LORD said in his heart, I will not again curse the ground any more for man's sake; for the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth; neither will I again smite any more every thing living, as I have done .

Genesis 14:5 And in the fourteenth year came Chedorlaomer, and the kings that were with him, and smote the Rephaims in Ashteroth Karnaim, and the Zuzims in Ham, and the Emims in Shaveh Kiriathaim,

Genesis 14:7 And they returned , and came to Enmishpat, which is Kadesh, and smote all the country of the Amalekites, and also the Amorites, that dwelt in Hazezontamar.

Genesis 14:15 And he divided himself against them, he and his servants, by night, and smote them, and pursued them unto Hobah, which is on the left hand of Damascus.

Genesis 14:17 And the king of Sodom went out to meet him after his return from the slaughter of Chedorlaomer, and of the kings that were with him, at the valley of Shaveh, which is the king's dale.

Genesis 19:11 And they smote the men that were at the door of the house with blindness, both small and great: so that they wearied themselves to find the door.

Genesis 32:8 And said , If Esau come to the one company, and smite it , then the other company which is left shall escape.

Genesis 32:11 Deliver me , I pray thee, from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau: for I fear him, lest he will come and smite me , and the mother with the children.

Genesis 34:30 And Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, Ye have troubled me to make me to stink among the inhabitants of the land, among the Canaanites and the Perizzites: and I being few in number, they shall gather themselves together against me, and slay me ; and I shall be destroyed , I and my house.

Genesis 36:35 And Husham died , and Hadad the son of Bedad, who smote Midian in the field of Moab, reigned in his stead: and the name of his city was Avith.

Genesis 37:21 And Reuben heard it, and he delivered him out of their hands; and said , Let us not kill him.

446-Exodus 2:11 And it came to pass in those days, when Moses was grown , that he went out unto his brethren, and looked on their burdens: and he spied an Egyptian smiting an Hebrew, one of his brethren. 12 And he looked this way and that way, and when he saw that there was no man, he slew the Egyptian, and hid him in the sand. 13 And when he went out the second day, behold, two men of the Hebrews strove together: and he said to him that did the wrong, Wherefore smitest thou thy fellow?

Exodus 3:19 And I am sure that the king of Egypt will not let you go , no, not by a mighty hand.

Exodus 5:14 And the officers of the children of Israel, which Pharaoh's taskmasters had set over them, were beaten , and demanded , Wherefore have ye not fulfilled your task in making brick both yesterday and to day, as heretofore ?

Exodus 7:17 Thus saith the LORD, In this thou shalt know that I am the LORD: behold, I will smite with the rod that is in mine hand upon the waters which are in the river, and they shall be turned to blood.

Exodus 7:20 And Moses and Aaron did so, as the LORD commanded ; and he lifted up the rod, and smote the waters that were in the river, in the sight of Pharaoh, and in the sight of his servants; and all the waters that were in the river were turned to blood.

Exodus 7:24 And all the Egyptians digged round about the river for water to drink ; for they could not drink of the water of the river.

Exodus 8:16 And the LORD said unto Moses, Say unto Aaron, Stretch out thy rod, and smite the dust of the land, that it may become lice throughout all the land of Egypt. 17 And they did so; for Aaron stretched out his hand with his rod, and smote the dust of the earth, and it became lice in man, and in beast; all the dust of the land became lice throughout all the land of Egypt.

Exodus 9:15 For now I will stretch out my hand, that I may smite thee and thy people with pestilence; and thou shalt be cut off from the earth.

Exodus 9:25 And the hail smote throughout all the land of Egypt all that was in the field, both man and beast; and the hail smote every herb of the field, and brake every tree of the field.

Exodus 9:31 And the flax and the barley was smitten : for the barley was in the ear, and the flax was bolled. 32 But the wheat and the rie were not smitten : for they were not grown up.

Exodus 12:12 For I will pass through the land of Egypt this night, and will smite all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the LORD. 13 And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where ye are: and when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt.

Exodus 12:29 And it came to pass, that at midnight the LORD smote all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh that sat on his throne unto the firstborn of the captive that was in the dungeon ; and all the firstborn of cattle.

Exodus 17:5 And the LORD said unto Moses, Go on before the people, and take with thee of the elders of Israel; and thy rod, wherewith thou smotest the river, take in thine hand, and go . 6 Behold, I will stand before thee there upon the rock in Horeb; and thou shalt smite the rock, and there shall come water out of it, that the people may drink . And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel.

Exodus 21:12 He that smiteth a man, so that he die , shall be surely put to death .

Exodus 21:15 And he that smiteth his father, or his mother, shall be surely put to death .

Exodus 21:18 And if men strive together, and one smite another with a stone, or with his fist, and he die not, but keepeth his bed: 19 If he rise again , and walk abroad upon his staff, then shall he that smote him be quit : only he shall pay for the loss of his time, and shall cause him to be thoroughly healed . 20 And if a man smite his servant, or his maid, with a rod, and he die under his hand; he shall be surely punished .

Exodus 21:26 And if a man smite the eye of his servant, or the eye of his maid, that it perish ; he shall let him go free for his eye's sake.

Exodus 22:2 If a thief be found breaking up, and be smitten that he die , there shall no blood be shed for him.

447-Leviticus 24:17 And he that killeth any man shall surely be put to death . 18 And he that killeth a beast shall make it good ; beast for beast.

Leviticus 24:21 And he that killeth a beast, he shall restore it: and he that killeth a man, he shall be put to death .

Leviticus 26:24 Then will I also walk contrary unto you, and will punish you yet seven times for your sins.

448-Numbers 3:13 Because all the firstborn are mine; for on the day that I smote all the firstborn in the land of Egypt I hallowed unto me all the firstborn in Israel, both man and beast: mine shall they be: I am the LORD.

Numbert 8:17 For all the firstborn of the children of Israel are mine, both man and beast: on the day that I smote every firstborn in the land of Egypt I sanctified them for myself.

Numbers 11:33 And while the flesh was yet between their teeth, ere it was chewed , the wrath of the LORD was kindled against the people, and the LORD smote the people with a very great plague.

Numbers 14:12 I will smite them with the pestilence, and disinherit them, and will make of thee a greater nation and mightier than they.

Numbers 14:45 Then the Amalekites came down , and the Canaanites which dwelt in that hill, and smote them, and discomfited them, even unto Hormah.

Numbers 20:11 And Moses lifted up his hand, and with his rod he smote the rock twice: and the water came out abundantly, and the congregation drank , and their beasts also.

Numbers 21:24 And Israel smote him with the edge of the sword, and possessed his land from Arnon unto Jabbok, even unto the children of Ammon: for the border of the children of Ammon was strong. 25 And Israel took all these cities: and Israel dwelt in all the cities of the Amorites, in Heshbon, and in all the villages thereof.

Numbers 22:6 Come now therefore, I pray thee, curse me this people; for they are too mighty for me: peradventure I shall prevail , that we may smite them, and that I may drive them out of the land: for I wot that he whom thou blessest is blessed , and he whom thou cursest is cursed .

Numbers 22:23 And the ass saw the angel of the LORD standing in the way, and his sword drawn in his hand: and the ass turned aside out of the way, and went into the field: and Balaam smote the ass, to turn her into the way.

Numbers 22:25 And when the ass saw the angel of the LORD, she thrust herself unto the wall, and crushed Balaam's foot against the wall: and he smote her again .

Numbers 27:27 And when the ass saw the angel of the LORD, she fell down under Balaam: and Balaam's anger was kindled , and he smote the ass with a staff. 28 And the LORD opened the mouth of the ass, and she said unto Balaam, What have I done unto thee, that thou hast smitten me these three times?

Numbers 22:32 And the angel of the LORD said unto him, Wherefore hast thou smitten thine ass these three times? behold, I went out to withstand thee, because thy way is perverse before me:

Numbers 25:14 Now the name of the Israelite that was slain , even that was slain with the Midianitish woman, was Zimri, the son of Salu, a prince of a chief house among the Simeonites. 15 And the name of the Midianitish woman that was slain was Cozbi, the daughter of Zur; he was head over a people, and of a chief house in Midian.

Numbers 25:17 Vex the Midianites, and smite them: 18 For they vex you with their wiles, wherewith they have beguiled you in the matter of Peor, and in the matter of Cozbi, the daughter of a prince of Midian, their sister, which was slain in the day of the plague for Peor's sake.

Numbers 32:4 Even the country which the LORD smote before the congregation of Israel, is a land for cattle, and thy servants have cattle:

Numbers 33:4 For the Egyptians buried all their firstborn, which the LORD had smitten among them: upon their gods also the LORD executed judgments.

Numbers 35:11 Then ye shall appoint you cities to be cities of refuge for you; that the slayer may flee thither, which killeth any person at unawares.

Numbers 35:21 Or in enmity smite him with his hand, that he die : he that smote him shall surely be put to death ; for he is a murderer : the revenger of blood shall slay the murderer , when he meeteth him.

Numbers 35:24 Then the congregation shall judge between the slayer and the revenger of blood according to these judgments:

Numbers 35:30 Whoso killeth any person, the murderer shall be put to death by the mouth of witnesses: but one witness shall not testify against any person to cause him to die .

449-Deuteronomy 1:4 After he had slain Sihon the king of the Amorites, which dwelt in Heshbon, and Og the king of Bashan, which dwelt at Astaroth in Edrei:

Deuteronomy 2:33 And the LORD our God delivered him before us; and we smote him, and his sons, and all his people.

Deuteronomy 3:3 So the LORD our God delivered into our hands Og also, the king of Bashan, and all his people: and we smote him until none was left to him remaining.

Deuteronomy 4:46 On this side Jordan, in the valley over against Bethpeor, in the land of Sihon king of the Amorites, who dwelt at Heshbon, whom Moses and the children of Israel smote , after they were come forth out of Egypt:

Deuteronomy 7:2 And when the LORD thy God shall deliver them before thee; thou shalt smite them, and utterly destroy them; thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor shew mercy unto them:

Deuteronomy 13:5 And that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams, shall be put to death ; because he hath spoken to turn you away from the LORD your God, which brought you out of the land of Egypt, and redeemed you out of the house of bondage, to thrust thee out of the way which the LORD thy God commanded thee to walk in . So shalt thou put the evil away from the midst of thee.

Deuteronomy 19:4 And this is the case of the slayer , which shall flee thither, that he may live : Whoso killeth his neighbour ignorantly , whom he hated not in time past;

Deuteronomy 19:11 But if any man hate his neighbour, and lie in wait for him, and rise up against him, and smite him mortally that he die , and fleeth into one of these cities:

Deuteronomy 20:13 And when the LORD thy God hath delivered it into thine hands, thou shalt smite every male thereof with the edge of the sword:

Deuteronomy 20:1 When thou goest out to battle against thine enemies , and seest horses, and chariots, and a people more than thou, be not afraid of them: for the LORD thy God is with thee, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.

Deuteronomy 25:2 And it shall be, if the wicked man be worthy to be beaten , that the judge shall cause him to lie down , and to be beaten before his face, according to his fault, by a certain number. 3 Forty stripes he may give him, and not exceed : lest, if he should exceed , and beat him above these with many stripes, then thy brother should seem vile unto thee.

Deuteronomy 25:11 When men strive together one with another , and the wife of the one draweth near for to deliver her husband out of the hand of him that smiteth him, and putteth forth her hand, and taketh him by the secrets:

Deuteronomy 27:24 Cursed be he that smiteth his neighbour secretly. And all the people shall say , Amen. 25 Cursed be he that taketh reward to slay an innocent person . And all the people shall say , Amen.

Deuteronomy 28:22 The LORD shall smite thee with a consumption, and with a fever, and with an inflammation, and with an extreme burning, and with the sword, and with blasting, and with mildew; and they shall pursue thee until thou perish .

Deuteronomy 28:27 The LORD will smite thee with the botch of Egypt, and with the emerods , and with the scab, and with the itch, whereof thou canst not be healed . 28 The LORD shall smite thee with madness, and blindness, and astonishment of heart:

Deuteronomy 28:35 The LORD shall smite thee in the knees, and in the legs, with a sore botch that cannot be healed , from the sole of thy foot unto the top of thy head.

Deuteronomy 29:7 And when ye came unto this place, Sihon the king of Heshbon, and Og the king of Bashan, came out against us unto battle, and we smote them:

450-Joshua 7:3,5; 8:21,22,24; 9:18, 10:4,10,20,26,28,30,32,33,35,37,39,40; 8:10-12,14,17; 12:1,6,7; 13:12,21; 15:16; 19:47; 20:3,5,93 And they returned to Joshua, and said unto him, Let not all the people go up ; but let about two or three thousand men go up and smite Ai; and make not all the people to labour thither; for they are but few.

Joshua 7:5 And the men of Ai smote of them about thirty and six men: for they chased them from before the gate even unto Shebarim, and smote them in the going down: wherefore the hearts of the people melted , and became as water.

Joshua 8:21 And when Joshua and all Israel saw that the ambush had taken the city, and that the smoke of the city ascended , then they turned again , and slew the men of Ai. 22 And the other issued out of the city against them; so they were in the midst of Israel, some on this side, and some on that side: and they smote them, so that they let none of them remain or escape.

Joshua 8:24 And it came to pass, when Israel had made an end of slaying all the inhabitants of Ai in the field, in the wilderness wherein they chased them, and when they were all fallen on the edge of the sword, until they were consumed , that all the Israelites returned unto Ai, and smote it with the edge of the sword.

Joshua 9:18 And the children of Israel smote them not, because the princes of the congregation had sworn unto them by the LORD God of Israel. And all the congregation murmured against the princes.

Joshau 9:10 And all that he did to the two kings of the Amorites, that were beyond Jordan, to Sihon king of Heshbon, and to Og king of Bashan, which was at Ashtaroth.

Joshua 9:4 They did work wilily, and went and made as if they had been ambassadors , and took old sacks upon their asses, and wine bottles, old, and rent , and bound up ;

Joshua 20:20 This we will do to them; we will even let them live , lest wrath be upon us, because of the oath which we sware unto them.

Joshua 9:26 And so did he unto them, and delivered them out of the hand of the children of Israel, that they slew them not.

Joshua 8:10 And Joshua rose up early in the morning, and numbered the people, and went up , he and the elders of Israel, before the people to Ai. 11 And all the people, even the people of war that were with him, went up , and drew nigh , and came before the city, and pitched on the north side of Ai: now there was a valley between them and Ai. 12 And he took about five thousand men, and set them to lie in ambush between Bethel and Ai, on the west side of the city .

Joshua 8:14 And it came to pass, when the king of Ai saw it, that they hasted and rose up early , and the men of the city went out against Israel to battle, he and all his people, at a time appointed, before the plain; but he wist not that there were liers in ambush against him behind the city.

Joshua 8:17 And there was not a man left in Ai or Bethel, that went not out after Israel: and they left the city open , and pursued after Israel.

Joshua 12:1 Now these are the kings of the land, which the children of Israel smote , and possessed their land on the other side Jordan toward the rising of the sun, from the river Arnon unto mount Hermon, and all the plain on the east:

Joshua 12:6 Them did Moses the servant of the LORD and the children of Israel smite : and Moses the servant of the LORD gave it for a possession unto the Reubenites, and the Gadites, and the half tribe of Manasseh. 7 And these are the kings of the country which Joshua and the children of Israel smote on this side Jordan on the west, from Baalgad in the valley of Lebanon even unto the mount Halak, that goeth up to Seir; which Joshua gave unto the tribes of Israel for a possession according to their divisions;

Joshua 13:12 All the kingdom of Og in Bashan, which reigned in Ashtaroth and in Edrei, who remained of the remnant of the giants: for these did Moses smite , and cast them out .

Joshua 13:21 And all the cities of the plain, and all the kingdom of Sihon king of the Amorites, which reigned in Heshbon, whom Moses smote with the princes of Midian, Evi, and Rekem, and Zur, and Hur, and Reba, which were dukes of Sihon, dwelling in the country.

Joshua 15:16 And Caleb said , He that smiteth Kirjathsepher, and taketh it, to him will I give Achsah my daughter to wife.

Joshau 19:47 And the coast of the children of Dan went out too little for them: therefore the children of Dan went up to fight against Leshem, and took it, and smote it with the edge of the sword, and possessed it, and dwelt therein, and called Leshem, Dan, after the name of Dan their father.

Joshua 20:3 That the slayer that killeth any person unawares and unwittingly may flee thither: and they shall be your refuge from the avenger of blood.

Joshua 20:5 And if the avenger of blood pursue after him, then they shall not deliver the slayer up into his hand; because he smote his neighbour unwittingly , and hated him not beforetime

Joshua 20:9 These were the cities appointed for all the children of Israel, and for the stranger that sojourneth among them, that whosoever killeth any person at unawares might flee thither, and not die by the hand of the avenger of blood, until he stood before the congregation.

451-Judges 1:4 And Judah went up ; and the LORD delivered the Canaanites and the Perizzites into their hand: and they slew of them in Bezek ten thousand men. 5 And they found Adonibezek in Bezek: and they fought against him, and they slew the Canaanites and the Perizzites.

Judges 1:8 Now the children of Judah had fought against Jerusalem, and had taken it, and smitten it with the edge of the sword, and set the city on fire.

Judges 1:10 And Judah went against the Canaanites that dwelt in Hebron: (now the name of Hebron before was Kirjatharba:) and they slew Sheshai, and Ahiman, and Talmai.

Judges 1:12 And Caleb said , He that smiteth Kirjathsepher, and taketh it, to him will I give Achsah my daughter to wife.

Judges 1:17 And Judah went with Simeon his brother, and they slew the Canaanites that inhabited Zephath, and utterly destroyed it. And the name of the city was called Hormah.

Judges 1:25 And when he shewed them the entrance into the city, they smote the city with the edge of the sword; but they let go the man and all his family.

452-Genesis 15:3,4,7,8; 21:10; 22:17; 24:60; 28:4; 45:113 And Abram said , Behold, to me thou hast given no seed: and, lo, one born in my house is mine heir . 4 And, behold, the word of the LORD came unto him, saying , This shall not be thine heir ; but he that shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir .

Genesis 15:7 And he said unto him, I am the LORD that brought thee out of Ur of the Chaldees, to give thee this land to inherit it. 8 And he said , Lord GOD, whereby shall I know that I shall inherit it ?

Genesis 21:10 Wherefore she said unto Abraham, Cast out this bondwoman and her son: for the son of this bondwoman shall not be heir with my son, even with Isaac.

Genesis 22:17 That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies ;

Genesis 24:60 And they blessed Rebekah, and said unto her, Thou art our sister, be thou the mother of thousands of millions, and let thy seed possess the gate of those which hate them.

Genesis 28:4 And give thee the blessing of Abraham, to thee, and to thy seed with thee; that thou mayest inherit the land wherein thou art a stranger, which God gave unto Abraham.

Genesis 45:11 And there will I nourish thee; for yet there are five years of famine; lest thou, and thy household, and all that thou hast, come to poverty .

453-Exodus 15:9 The enemy said , I will pursue , I will overtake , I will divide the spoil; my lust shall be satisfied upon them; I will draw my sword, my hand shall destroy them.

Exodus 34:24 For I will cast out the nations before thee, and enlarge thy borders: neither shall any man desire thy land, when thou shalt go up to appear before the LORD thy God thrice in the year.

454-Leviticus 20:24 But I have said unto you, Ye shall inherit their land, and I will give it unto you to possess it, a land that floweth with milk and honey: I am the LORD your God, which have separated you from other people.

Leviticus 25:46 And ye shall take them as an inheritance for your children after you, to inherit them for a possession; they shall be your bondmen for ever: but over your brethren the children of Israel, ye shall not rule one over another with rigour.

455-Numbers 13:30 And Caleb stilled the people before Moses, and said , Let us go up at once , and possess it; for we are well able to overcome it.

Numbers 14:12 I will smite them with the pestilence, and disinherit them, and will make of thee a greater nation and mightier than they.

Numbers 14:24 But my servant Caleb, because he had another spirit with him, and hath followed me fully , him will I bring into the land whereinto he went ; and his seed shall possess it.

Numbers 21:32 And Moses sent to spy out Jaazer, and they took the villages thereof, and drove out the Amorites that were there.

Numbers 21:35 So they smote him, and his sons, and all his people, until there was none left him alive: and they possessed his land.

Numbers 27:11 And if his father have no brethren, then ye shall give his inheritance unto his kinsman that is next to him of his family, and he shall possess it: and it shall be unto the children of Israel a statute of judgment, as the LORD commanded Moses.

Numbers 32:21 And will go all of you armed over Jordan before the LORD, until he hath driven out his enemies from before him,

Numbers 32:39 And the children of Machir the son of Manasseh went to Gilead, and took it, and dispossessed the Amorite which was in it.

Numbers 33:52 Then ye shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before you, and destroy all their pictures, and destroy all their molten images, and quite pluck down all their high places: 53 And ye shall dispossess the inhabitants of the land, and dwell therein: for I have given you the land to possess it.

Numbers 33:55 But if ye will not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you; then it shall come to pass, that those which ye let remain of them shall be pricks in your eyes, and thorns in your sides, and shall vex you in the land wherein ye dwell .

Numbers 36:8 And every daughter, that possesseth an inheritance in any tribe of the children of Israel, shall be wife unto one of the family of the tribe of her father, that the children of Israel may enjoy every man the inheritance of his fathers.

456-Deuteronomy 1:8 Behold , I have set the land before you: go in and possess the land which the LORD sware unto your fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give unto them and to their seed after them

Deuteronomy 1:21 Behold , the LORD thy God hath set the land before thee: go up and possess it, as the LORD God of thy fathers hath said unto thee; fear not, neither be discouraged .

Deuteronomy 1:39 Moreover your little ones, which ye said should be a prey, and your children, which in that day had no knowledge between good and evil, they shall go in thither, and unto them will I give it, and they shall possess it.

Deuteronomy 2:12 The Horims also dwelt in Seir beforetime; but the children of Esau succeeded them, when they had destroyed them from before them, and dwelt in their stead; as Israel did unto the land of his possession, which the LORD gave unto them.

Deuteronomy 2:21 A people great, and many, and tall , as the Anakims; but the LORD destroyed them before them; and they succeeded them, and dwelt in their stead: 22 As he did to the children of Esau, which dwelt in Seir, when he destroyed the Horims from before them; and they succeeded them, and dwelt in their stead even unto this day:

Deuteronomy 2:24 Rise ye up , take your journey , and pass over the river Arnon: behold , I have given into thine hand Sihon the Amorite, king of Heshbon, and his land: begin to possess it, and contend with him in battle.

Deuteronomy 2:31 And the LORD said unto me, Behold , I have begun to give Sihon and his land before thee: begin to possess , that thou mayest inherit his land.

Deuteronomy 3:12 And this land, which we possessed at that time, from Aroer, which is by the river Arnon, and half mount Gilead, and the cities thereof, gave I unto the Reubenites and to the Gadites.

Deuteronomy 3:18 And I commanded you at that time, saying , The LORD your God hath given you this land to possess it: ye shall pass over armed before your brethren the children of Israel, all that are meet for the war.

Deuteronomy 3:20 Until the LORD have given rest unto your brethren, as well as unto you, and until they also possess the land which the LORD your God hath given them beyond Jordan: and then shall ye return every man unto his possession, which I have given you.

Deuteronomy 4:1 Now therefore hearken , O Israel, unto the statutes and unto the judgments, which I teach you, for to do them, that ye may live , and go in and possess the land which the LORD God of your fathers giveth you.

Deuteronomy 4:5 Behold , I have taught you statutes and judgments, even as the LORD my God commanded me, that ye should do so in the land whither ye go to possess it.

Deuteronomy 4:14 And the LORD commanded me at that time to teach you statutes and judgments, that ye might do them in the land whither ye go over to possess it.

Deuteronomy 4:22 But I must die in this land, I must not go over Jordan: but ye shall go over , and possess that good land.

Deuteronomy 4:26 I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day, that ye shall soon utterly perish from off the land whereunto ye go over Jordan to possess it; ye shall not prolong your days upon it, but shall utterly be destroyed .

Deuteronomy 4:38 To drive out nations from before thee greater and mightier than thou art, to bring thee in, to give thee their land for an inheritance, as it is this day.

Deuteronomy 4:47 And they possessed his land, and the land of Og king of Bashan, two kings of the Amorites, which were on this side Jordan toward the sunrising ;

Deuteronomy 5:31 But as for thee, stand thou here by me, and I will speak unto thee all the commandments, and the statutes, and the judgments, which thou shalt teach them, that they may do them in the land which I give them to possess it.

Deuteronomy 5:33 Ye shall walk in all the ways which the LORD your God hath commanded you, that ye may live , and that it may be well with you, and that ye may prolong your days in the land which ye shall possess .

Deuteronomy 6:1 Now these are the commandments, the statutes, and the judgments, which the LORD your God commanded to teach you, that ye might do them in the land whither ye go to possess it:

Deuteronomy 6:18 And thou shalt do that which is right and good in the sight of the LORD: that it may be well with thee, and that thou mayest go in and possess the good land which the LORD sware unto thy fathers,

Deuteronomy 7:1 When the LORD thy God shall bring thee into the land whither thou goest to possess it, and hath cast out many nations before thee, the Hittites, and the Girgashites, and the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites, seven nations greater and mightier than thou;

Deuteronomy 7:17 If thou shalt say in thine heart, These nations are more than I; how can I dispossess them?

Deuteronomy 8:1 All the commandments which I command thee this day shall ye observe to do , that ye may live , and multiply , and go in and possess the land which the LORD sware unto your fathers.

Deuteronomy 9:1 Hear , O Israel: Thou art to pass over Jordan this day, to go in to possess nations greater and mightier than thyself, cities great and fenced up to heaven,

Deuteronomy 9:3 Understand therefore this day, that the LORD thy God is he which goeth over before thee; as a consuming fire he shall destroy them, and he shall bring them down before thy face: so shalt thou drive them out , and destroy them quickly, as the LORD hath said unto thee. 4 Speak not thou in thine heart, after that the LORD thy God hath cast them out from before thee, saying , For my righteousness the LORD hath brought me in to possess this land: but for the wickedness of these nations the LORD doth drive them out from before thee. 5 Not for thy righteousness, or for the uprightness of thine heart, dost thou go to possess their land: but for the wickedness of these nations the LORD thy God doth drive them out from before thee, and that he may perform the word which the LORD sware unto thy fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. 6 Understand therefore, that the LORD thy God giveth thee not this good land to possess it for thy righteousness; for thou art a stiffnecked people.

Deuteronomy 9:23 Likewise when the LORD sent you from Kadeshbarnea, saying , Go up and possess the land which I have given you; then ye rebelled against the commandment of the LORD your God, and ye believed him not, nor hearkened to his voice.

Deuteronomy 10:11 And the LORD said unto me, Arise , take thy journey before the people, that they may go in and possess the land, which I sware unto their fathers to give unto them.

Deuteronomy 11:8 Therefore shall ye keep all the commandments which I command you this day, that ye may be strong , and go in and possess the land, whither ye go to possess it;

Deuteronomy 11:10 For the land, whither thou goest in to possess it, is not as the land of Egypt, from whence ye came out , where thou sowedst thy seed, and wateredst it with thy foot, as a garden of herbs: 11 But the land, whither ye go to possess it, is a land of hills and valleys, and drinketh water of the rain of heaven:

Deuteronomy 11:23 Then will the LORD drive out all these nations from before you, and ye shall possess greater nations and mightier than yourselves.

Deuteronomy 11:29 And it shall come to pass, when the LORD thy God hath brought thee in unto the land whither thou goest to possess it, that thou shalt put the blessing upon mount Gerizim, and the curse upon mount Ebal.

Deuteronomy 11:31 For ye shall pass over Jordan to go in to possess the land which the LORD your God giveth you, and ye shall possess it, and dwell therein.

Deuteronomy 12:1 These are the statutes and judgments, which ye shall observe to do in the land, which the LORD God of thy fathers giveth thee to possess it, all the days that ye live upon the earth. 2 Ye shall utterly destroy all the places, wherein the nations which ye shall possess served their gods, upon the high mountains, and upon the hills, and under every green tree:

Deuteronomy 12:29 When the LORD thy God shall cut off the nations from before thee, whither thou goest to possess them, and thou succeedest them, and dwellest in their land;

Deuteronomy 15:4 Save when there shall be no poor among you; for the LORD shall greatly bless thee in the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee for an inheritance to possess it:

Deuteronomy 16:20 That which is altogether just shalt thou follow , that thou mayest live , and inherit the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.

Deuteronomy 17:14 When thou art come unto the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee, and shalt possess it, and shalt dwell therein, and shalt say , I will set a king over me, like as all the nations that are about me;

Deuteronomy 18:12 For all that do these things are an abomination unto the LORD: and because of these abominations the LORD thy God doth drive them out from before thee.

Deuteronomy 18:14 For these nations, which thou shalt possess , hearkened unto observers of times , and unto diviners : but as for thee, the LORD thy God hath not suffered thee so to do.

Deuteronomy 19:1 When the LORD thy God hath cut off the nations, whose land the LORD thy God giveth thee, and thou succeedest them, and dwellest in their cities, and in their houses; 2 Thou shalt separate three cities for thee in the midst of thy land, which the LORD thy God giveth thee to possess it.

Deuteronomy 19:14 Thou shalt not remove thy neighbour's landmark, which they of old time have set in thine inheritance, which thou shalt inherit in the land that the LORD thy God giveth thee to possess it.

Deuteronomy 21:1 If one be found slain in the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee to possess it, lying in the field, and it be not known who hath slain him:

Deuteronomy 23:20 Unto a stranger thou mayest lend upon usury ; but unto thy brother thou shalt not lend upon usury : that the LORD thy God may bless thee in all that thou settest thine hand to in the land whither thou goest to possess it.

Deuteronomy 25:19 Therefore it shall be, when the LORD thy God hath given thee rest from all thine enemies round about, in the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee for an inheritance to possess it, that thou shalt blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven; thou shalt not forget it.

Deuteronomy26:1 And it shall be, when thou art come in unto the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee for an inheritance, and possessest it, and dwellest therein;

Deuteronomy 28:21 The LORD shall make the pestilence cleave unto thee, until he have consumed thee from off the land, whither thou goest to possess it.

Deuteronomy 28:42 All thy trees and fruit of thy land shall the locust consume .

Deuteronomy 28:63 And it shall come to pass, that as the LORD rejoiced over you to do you good , and to multiply you; so the LORD will rejoice over you to destroy you, and to bring you to nought ; and ye shall be plucked from off the land whither thou goest to possess it.

Deuteronomy 30:5 And the LORD thy God will bring thee into the land which thy fathers possessed , and thou shalt possess it; and he will do thee good , and multiply thee above thy fathers.

Deuteronomy 30:16 In that I command thee this day to love the LORD thy God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commandments and his statutes and his judgments, that thou mayest live and multiply : and the LORD thy God shall bless thee in the land whither thou goest to possess it.

Deuteronomy 30:18 I denounce unto you this day, that ye shall surely perish , and that ye shall not prolong your days upon the land, whither thou passest over Jordan to go to possess it.

Deuteronomy 31:3 The LORD thy God, he will go over before thee, and he will destroy these nations from before thee, and thou shalt possess them: and Joshua, he shall go over before thee, as the LORD hath said .

Deuteronomy 31:13 And that their children, which have not known any thing, may hear , and learn to fear the LORD your God, as long as ye live in the land whither ye go over Jordan to possess it.

Deuteronomy 32:47 For it is not a vain thing for you; because it is your life: and through this thing ye shall prolong your days in the land, whither ye go over Jordan to possess it.

Deuteronomy 33:23 And of Naphtali he said , O Naphtali, satisfied with favour, and full with the blessing of the LORD: possess thou the west and the south.

457-Joshua 1:11,15; 3:10; 8:7; 12:1; 13:1,6,12,13; 14:12; 15:14; 15:63; 16:10; 17:1211 Pass through the host, and command the people, saying , Prepare you victuals; for within three days ye shall pass over this Jordan, to go in to possess the land, which the LORD your God giveth you to possess it.

Joshua 1:15 Until the LORD have given your brethren rest , as he hath given you, and they also have possessed the land which the LORD your God giveth them: then ye shall return unto the land of your possession, and enjoy it, which Moses the LORD'S servant gave you on this side Jordan toward the sunrising .

Joshua 3:10 And Joshua said , Hereby ye shall know that the living God is among you, and that he will without fail drive out from before you the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Hivites, and the Perizzites, and the Girgashites, and the Amorites, and the Jebusites.

Joshua 8:7 Then ye shall rise up from the ambush , and seize upon the city: for the LORD your God will deliver it into your hand.

Joshua 12:1 Now these are the kings of the land, which the children of Israel smote , and possessed their land on the other side Jordan toward the rising of the sun, from the river Arnon unto mount Hermon, and all the plain on the east:

Joshua 13:1 Now Joshua was old and stricken in years; and the LORD said unto him, Thou art old and stricken in years, and there remaineth yet very much land to be possessed .

Joshua 13:6 All the inhabitants of the hill country from Lebanon unto Misrephothmaim, and all the Sidonians, them will I drive out from before the children of Israel: only divide thou it by lot unto the Israelites for an inheritance, as I have commanded thee.

Joshua 13:12 All the kingdom of Og in Bashan, which reigned in Ashtaroth and in Edrei, who remained of the remnant of the giants: for these did Moses smite , and cast them out . 13 Nevertheless the children of Israel expelled not the Geshurites, nor the Maachathites: but the Geshurites and the Maachathites dwell among the Israelites until this day.

Joshua 14:12 Now therefore give me this mountain, whereof the LORD spake in that day; for thou heardest in that day how the Anakims were there, and that the cities were great and fenced : if so be the LORD will be with me, then I shall be able to drive them out , as the LORD said .

Joshuan 15:14 And Caleb drove thence the three sons of Anak, Sheshai, and Ahiman, and Talmai, the children of Anak.

Joshua 15:63 As for the Jebusites the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the children of Judah could not drive them out : but the Jebusites dwell with the children of Judah at Jerusalem unto this day.

Joshua 16:10 And they drave not out the Canaanites that dwelt in Gezer: but the Canaanites dwell among the Ephraimites unto this day, and serve under tribute.

Joshua 17:12 Yet the children of Manasseh could not drive out the inhabitants of those cities; but the Canaanites would dwell in that land.

458-Exodus 10:7 And Pharaoh's servants said unto him, How long shall this man be a snare unto us? let the men go , that they may serve the LORD their God: knowest thou not yet that Egypt is destroyed ?

459-Leviticus 23:30 And whatsoever soul it be that doeth any work in that same day, the same soul will I destroy from among his people.

Leviticus 26:38 And ye shall perish among the heathen, and the land of your enemies shall eat you up .

460-Numbers 16:33 They, and all that appertained to them, went down alive into the pit, and the earth closed upon them: and they perished from among the congregation.

Numbers 17:12 And the children of Israel spake unto Moses, saying , Behold, we die , we perish , we all perish

Numbers 21:29 Woe to thee, Moab! thou art undone , O people of Chemosh: he hath given his sons that escaped, and his daughters, into captivity unto Sihon king of the Amorites. 30 We have shot at them; Heshbon is perished even unto Dibon, and we have laid them waste even unto Nophah, which reacheth unto Medeba.

Numbers 24:19 Out of Jacob shall come he that shall have dominion , and shall destroy him that remaineth of the city.

Numbers 33:52 Then ye shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before you, and destroy all their pictures, and destroy all their molten images, and quite pluck down all their high places:

461-Deuteronomy 4:26; 7:10; 20:24; 8:19,20; 9:3; 11:4,17; 12:2,3; 22:3; 26:5; 28:20,22,51,63; 30:18; 32:2826 I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day, that ye shall soon utterly perish from off the land whereunto ye go over Jordan to possess it; ye shall not prolong your days upon it, but shall utterly be destroyed .

Deuteronomy 7:10 And repayeth them that hate him to their face, to destroy them: he will not be slack to him that hateth him, he will repay him to his face.

Deuteronomy 8:19 And it shall be, if thou do at all forget the LORD thy God, and walk after other gods, and serve them, and worship them, I testify against you this day that ye shall surely perish . 20 As the nations which the LORD destroyeth before your face, so shall ye perish ; because ye would not be obedient unto the voice of the LORD your God.

Deuteronomy 9:3 Understand therefore this day, that the LORD thy God is he which goeth over before thee; as a consuming fire he shall destroy them, and he shall bring them down before thy face: so shalt thou drive them out , and destroy them quickly, as the LORD hath said unto thee.

Deuteronomy 11:4 And what he did unto the army of Egypt, unto their horses, and to their chariots; how he made the water of the Red sea to overflow them as they pursued after you, and how the LORD hath destroyed them unto this day;

Deuteronomy 12:2 Ye shall utterly destroy all the places, wherein the nations which ye shall possess served their gods, upon the high mountains, and upon the hills, and under every green tree: 3 And ye shall overthrow their altars, and break their pillars, and burn their groves with fire; and ye shall hew down the graven images of their gods, and destroy the names of them out of that place.

Deuteronomy 22:3 In like manner shalt thou do with his ass; and so shalt thou do with his raiment; and with all lost thing of thy brother's, which he hath lost , and thou hast found , shalt thou do likewise: thou mayest not hide thyself.

Deuteronomy 26:5 And thou shalt speak and say before the LORD thy God, A Syrian ready to perish was my father, and he went down into Egypt, and sojourned there with a few, and became there a nation, great, mighty, and populous:

Deuteronomy 28:20 The LORD shall send upon thee cursing, vexation, and rebuke, in all that thou settest thine hand unto for to do , until thou be destroyed , and until thou perish quickly; because of the wickedness of thy doings, whereby thou hast forsaken me.

Deuteronomy 28:22 The LORD shall smite thee with a consumption, and with a fever, and with an inflammation, and with an extreme burning, and with the sword, and with blasting, and with mildew; and they shall pursue thee until thou perish .

Deuteronomy 28:51 And he shall eat the fruit of thy cattle, and the fruit of thy land, until thou be destroyed : which also shall not leave thee either corn, wine, or oil, or the increase of thy kine, or flocks of thy sheep, until he have destroyed thee.

Deuteronomy 28:63 And it shall come to pass, that as the LORD rejoiced over you to do you good , and to multiply you; so the LORD will rejoice over you to destroy you, and to bring you to nought ; and ye shall be plucked from off the land whither thou goest to possess it.

Deuteronomy 30:18 I denounce unto you this day, that ye shall surely perish , and that ye shall not prolong your days upon the land, whither thou passest over Jordan to go to possess it.

Deuteronomy 32:28 For they are a nation void of counsel, neither is there any understanding in them.

462-Joshua 7:7; 23:13,167 And Joshua said , Alas, O Lord GOD, wherefore hast thou at all brought this people over Jordan, to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites, to destroy us? would to God we had been content , and dwelt on the other side Jordan!

Joshua 23:13 Know for a certainty that the LORD your God will no more drive out any of these nations from before you; but they shall be snares and traps unto you, and scourges in your sides, and thorns in your eyes, until ye perish from off this good land which the LORD your God hath given you.

Joshua 23:16 When ye have transgressed the covenant of the LORD your God, which he commanded you, and have gone and served other gods, and bowed yourselves to them; then shall the anger of the LORD be kindled against you, and ye shall perish quickly from off the good land which he hath given unto you.

463-Judges 5:31 So let all thine enemies perish , O LORD: but let them that love him be as the sun when he goeth forth in his might. And the land had rest forty years.

464-1 Samuel 9:3 And the asses of Kish Saul's father were lost . And Kish said to Saul his son, Take now one of the servants with thee, and arise , go seek the asses.

465-Genesis 12:7 The Lord appeared to Abram and said to him, "This is the country that I am going to give to your descendants." Then Abram built an altar there to the Lord, who had appeared to him.

Genesis 13:14 After Lot had left, the Lord said to Abram, "From where you are, look carefully in all directions. 15 I am going to give you and your descendants all the land that you see, and it will be yours forever. 16 I am going to give you so many descendants that no one will be able to count them all; it would be as easy to count all the specks of dust on earth! 17 Now, go and look over the whole land, because I am going to give it all to you."

Genesis 15:5 And he brought him forth abroad, and said , Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be.

Genesis 15:13 And he said unto Abram, Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years; 14 And also that nation, whom they shall serve , will I judge : and afterward shall they come out with great substance. 15 And thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace; thou shalt be buried in a good old age. 16 But in the fourth generation they shall come hither again : for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full. 17 And it came to pass, that, when the sun went down , and it was dark, behold a smoking furnace, and a burning lamp that passed between those pieces. 18 In the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying , Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates: 19 The Kenites, and the Kenizzites, and the Kadmonites, 20 And the Hittites, and the Perizzites, and the Rephaims, 21 And the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Girgashites, and the Jebusites.

Genesis 17:3 And Abram fell on his face: and God talked with him, saying , 4 As for me, behold, my covenant is with thee, and thou shalt be a father of many nations. 5 Neither shall thy name any more be called Abram, but thy name shall be Abraham; for a father of many nations have I made thee . 6 And I will make thee exceeding fruitful , and I will make nations of thee, and kings shall come out of thee. 7 And I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee. 8 And I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God. 9 And God said unto Abraham, Thou shalt keep my covenant therefore, thou, and thy seed after thee in their generations. 10 This is my covenant, which ye shall keep , between me and you and thy seed after thee; Every man child among you shall be circumcised . 11 And ye shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin; and it shall be a token of the covenant betwixt me and you. 12 And he that is eight days old shall be circumcised among you, every man child in your generations, he that is born in the house, or bought with money of any stranger , which is not of thy seed. 13 He that is born in thy house, and he that is bought with thy money, must needs be circumcised : and my covenant shall be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant. 14 And the uncircumcised man child whose flesh of his foreskin is not circumcised , that soul shall be cut off from his people; he hath broken my covenant.

Genesis 22:15 And the angel of the LORD called unto Abraham out of heaven the second time, 16 And said , By myself have I sworn , saith the LORD, for because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son: 17 That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies ; 18 And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed ; because thou hast obeyed my voice.

Genesis 26:2 And the LORD appeared unto him, and said , Go not down into Egypt; dwell in the land which I shall tell thee of: 3 Sojourn in this land, and I will be with thee, and will bless thee; for unto thee, and unto thy seed, I will give all these countries, and I will perform the oath which I sware unto Abraham thy father; 4 And I will make thy seed to multiply as the stars of heaven, and will give unto thy seed all these countries; and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed ; 5 Because that Abraham obeyed my voice, and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws.

Genesis 26:24 And the LORD appeared unto him the same night, and said , I am the God of Abraham thy father: fear not, for I am with thee, and will bless thee, and multiply thy seed for my servant Abraham's sake.

Genesis 28:4 And give thee the blessing of Abraham, to thee, and to thy seed with thee; that thou mayest inherit the land wherein thou art a stranger, which God gave unto Abraham.

Genesis 28:10 Jacob left Beersheba and started toward Haran. 11 At sunset he came to a holy place and camped there. He lay down to sleep, resting his head on a stone. 12 He dreamed that he saw a stairway reaching from earth to heaven, with angels going up and coming down on it. 13 And there was the Lord standing beside him. "I am the Lord, the God of Abraham and Isaac," he said. "I will give to you and to your descendants this land on which you are lying. 14 They will be as numerous as the specks of dust on the earth. They will extend their territory in all directions, and through you and your descendants I will bless all the nations. 15 Remember, I will be with you and protect you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done all that I have promised you." 16 Jacob woke up and said, "The Lord is here! He is in this place, and I didn't know it!"

Genesis 35:9 When Jacob returned from Mesopotamia, God appeared to him again and blessed him. 10 God said to him, "Your name is Jacob, but from now on it will be Israel." So God named him Israel. 11 And God said to him, "I am Almighty God. Have many children. Nations will be descended from you, and you will be the ancestor of kings. 12 I will give you the land which I gave to Abraham and to Isaac, and I will also give it to your descendants after you."

Genesis 48:4 He said to me, "I will give you many children, so that your descendants will become many nations; I will give this land to your descendants as their possession forever.' "

466-Genesis 12:3; 22:18; 26:4; 28:143 I will bless those who bless you, But I will curse those who curse you. And through you I will bless all the nations."

Genesis 22:18 All the nations will ask me to bless them as I have blessed your descendants - all because you obeyed my command."

Genesis 26:4 I will give you as many descendants as there are stars in the sky, and I will give them all this territory. All the nations will ask me to bless them as I have blessed your descendants.

Genesis 28:14 They will be as numerous as the specks of dust on the earth. They will extend their territory in all directions, and through you and your descendants I will bless all the nations.

467-Galatians 3:8 The scripture predicted that God would put the Gentiles right with himself through faith. And so the scripture announced the Good News to Abraham: "Through you God will bless all people."

468-Exodus 23:20 "I will send an angel ahead of you to protect you as you travel and to bring you to the place which I have prepared. 21 Pay attention to him and obey him. Do not rebel against him, for I have sent him, and he will not pardon such rebellion. 22 But if you obey him and do everything I command, I will fight against all your enemies. 23 My angel will go ahead of you and take you into the land of the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Canaanites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, and I will destroy them. 24 Do not bow down to their gods or worship them, and do not adopt their religious practices. Destroy their gods and break down their sacred stone pillars. 25 If you worship me, the Lord your God, I will bless you with food and water and take away all your sicknesses. 26 In your land no woman will have a miscarriage or be without children. I will give you long lives. 27 "I will make the people who oppose you afraid of me; I will bring confusion among the people against whom you fight, and I will make all your enemies turn and run from you. 28 I will throw your enemies into panic; I will drive out the Hivites, the Canaanites, and the Hittites as you advance. 29 I will not drive them out within a year's time; if I did, the land would become deserted, and the wild animals would be too many for you. 30 Instead, I will drive them out little by little, until there are enough of you to take possession of the land. 31 I will make the borders of your land extend from the Gulf of Aqaba to the Mediterranean Sea and from the desert to the Euphrates River. I will give you power over the inhabitants of the land, and you will drive them out as you advance. 32 Do not make any agreement with them or with their gods. 33 Do not let those people live in your country; if you do, they will make you sin against me. If you worship their gods, it will be a fatal trap for you."

469-Genesis 15:16-21; Acts 7:2-816 It will be four generations before your descendants come back here, because I will not drive out the Amorites until they become so wicked that they must be punished." 17 When the sun had set and it was dark, a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch suddenly appeared and passed between the pieces of the animals. 18 Then and there the Lord made a covenant with Abram. He said, "I promise to give your descendants all this land from the border of Egypt to the Euphrates River, 19 including the lands of the Kenites, the Kenizzites, the Kadmonites, 20 the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim, 21 the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites, and the Jebusites."

Acts 7:2 Stephen answered, "Brothers and fathers, listen to me! Before our ancestor Abraham had gone to live in Haran, the God of glory appeared to him in Mesopotamia 3 and said to him, "Leave your family and country and go to the land that I will show you.' 4 And so he left his country and went to live in Haran. After Abraham's father died, God made him move to this land where you now live. 5 God did not then give Abraham any part of it as his own, not even a square foot of ground, but God promised to give it to him, and that it would belong to him and to his descendants. At the time God made this promise, Abraham had no children. 6 This is what God said to him: "Your descendants will live in a foreign country, where they will be slaves and will be badly treated for four hundred years. 7 But I will pass judgment on the people that they will serve, and afterward your descendants will come out of that country and will worship me in this place.' 8 Then God gave to Abraham the ceremony of circumcision as a sign of the covenant. So Abraham circumcised Isaac a week after he was born; Isaac circumcised his son Jacob, and Jacob circumcised his twelve sons, the famous ancestors of our race.

470-Genesis 46:33 When the king calls for you and asks what your occupation is, 34 be sure to tell him that you have taken care of livestock all your lives, just as your ancestors did. In this way he will let you live in the region of Goshen." Joseph said this because Egyptians will have nothing to do with shepherds.

471-Exodus 3:7 Then the Lord said, "I have seen how cruelly my people are being treated in Egypt; I have heard them cry out to be rescued from their slave drivers. I know all about their sufferings, 8 and so I have come down to rescue them from the Egyptians and to bring them out of Egypt to a spacious land, one which is rich and fertile and in which the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites now live. 9 I have indeed heard the cry of my people, and I see how the Egyptians are oppressing them. 10 Now I am sending you to the king of Egypt so that you can lead my people out of his country."

472-Exodus 1:16 "When you help the Hebrew women give birth," he said to them, "kill the baby if it is a boy; but if it is a girl, let it live."

Exodus 1:22 Finally the king issued a command to all his people: "Take every newborn Hebrew boy and throw him into the Nile, but let all the girls live."

473-Exodus 1:15 Then the king of Egypt spoke to Shiphrah and Puah, the two midwives who helped the Hebrew women. 16 "When you help the Hebrew women give birth," he said to them, "kill the baby if it is a boy; but if it is a girl, let it live." 17 But the midwives were God-fearing and so did not obey the king; instead, they let the boys live. 18 So the king sent for the midwives and asked them, "Why are you doing this? Why are you letting the boys live?" 19 They answered, "The Hebrew women are not like Egyptian women; they give birth easily, and their babies are born before either of us gets there." 20 Because the midwives were God-fearing, God was good to them and gave them families of their own. And the Israelites continued to increase and become strong. 22 Finally the king issued a command to all his people: "Take every newborn Hebrew boy and throw him into the Nile, but let all the girls live."

474-Numbers 26:33; 27:1-10; 36:1-1333 Zelophehad son of Hepher had no sons, but only daughters; their names were Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah.

Numbers 27:1 Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah were the daughters of Zelophehad son of Hepher, son of Gilead, son of Machir, son of Manasseh, son of Joseph. 2 They went and stood before Moses, Eleazar the priest, the leaders, and the whole community at the entrance of the Tent of the Lord's presence and said, 3 "Our father died in the wilderness without leaving any sons. He was not among the followers of Korah, who rebelled against the Lord; he died because of his own sin. 4 Just because he had no sons, why should our father's name disappear from Israel? Give us property among our father's relatives." 5 Moses presented their case to the Lord, 6 and the Lord said to him, 7 "What the daughters of Zelophehad request is right; give them property among their father's relatives. Let his inheritance pass on to them. 8 Tell the people of Israel that whenever a man dies without leaving a son, his daughter is to inherit his property. 9 If he has no daughter, his brothers are to inherit it. 10 If he has no brothers, his father's brothers are to inherit it.

Numbers 36:1 The heads of the families in the clan of Gilead, the son of Machir and grandson of Manasseh son of Joseph, went to Moses and the other leaders. 2 They said, "The Lord commanded you to distribute the land to the people of Israel by drawing lots. He also commanded you to give the property of our relative Zelophehad to his daughters. 3 But remember, if they marry men of another tribe, their property will then belong to that tribe, and the total allotted to us will be reduced. 4 In the Year of Restoration, when all property that has been sold is restored to its original owners, the property of Zelophehad's daughters will be permanently added to the tribe into which they marry and will be lost to our tribe." 5 So Moses gave the people of Israel the following command from the Lord. He said, "What the tribe of Manasseh says is right, 6 and so the Lord says that the daughters of Zelophehad are free to marry anyone they wish but only within their own tribe. 7 The property of every Israelite will remain attached to his tribe. 8 Every woman who inherits property in an Israelite tribe must marry a man belonging to that tribe. In this way all Israelites will inherit the property of their ancestors, 9 and the property will not pass from one tribe to another. Each tribe will continue to possess its own property." 10 So Mahlah, Tirzah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Noah, the daughters of Zelophehad, did as the Lord had commanded Moses, and they married their cousins. 12 They married within the clans of the tribe of Manasseh son of Joseph, and their property remained in their father's tribe.

475-Joshua 17:3 Zelophehad, son of Hepher, son of Gilead, son of Machir, son of Manasseh, did not have any sons, but only daughters. Their names were Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah. 4 They went to Eleazar the priest and to Joshua son of Nun and to the leaders, and said, "The Lord commanded Moses to give us, as well as our male relatives, a part of the land to possess." So, as the Lord had commanded, they were given land along with their male relatives. 5 This is why Manasseh received ten shares in addition to Gilead and Bashan on the east side of the Jordan, 6 since his female descendants as well as his male descendants were assigned land. The land of Gilead was assigned to the rest of the descendants of Manasseh.

476-Exodus 3:5 God said, "Do not come any closer. Take off your sandals, because you are standing on holy ground.

477-Exodus 3:13 But Moses replied, "When I go to the Israelites and say to them, "The God of your ancestors sent me to you,' they will ask me, "What is his name?' So what can I tell them?" 14 God said, "I am who I am. You must tell them: "The one who is called I AM has sent me to you.'

478-Exodus 3:1 One day while Moses was taking care of the sheep and goats of his father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian, he led the flock across the desert and came to Sinai, the holy mountain.

479-Joshua 5:13 While Joshua was near Jericho, he suddenly saw a man standing in front of him, holding a sword. Joshua went up to him and asked, "Are you one of our soldiers, or an enemy?" 14 "Neither," the man answered. "I am here as the commander of the Lord's army." Joshua threw himself on the ground in worship and said, "I am your servant, sir. What do you want me to do?" 15 And the commander of the Lord's army told him, "Take your sandals off; you are standing on holy ground." And Joshua did as he was told.

480-Ezekiel 24:15 The Lord spoke to me. 16 "Mortal man," he said, "with one blow I am going to take away the person you love most. You are not to complain or cry or shed any tears. 17 Don't let your sobbing be heard. Do not go bareheaded or barefoot as a sign of mourning. Don't cover your face or eat the food that mourners eat." 18 Early in the day I was talking with the people. That evening my wife died, and the next day I did as I had been told. 19 The people asked me, "Why are you acting like this?" 20 So I said to them, "The Lord spoke to me and told me 21 to give you Israelites this message: You are proud of the strength of the Temple. You like to look at it and to visit it, but the Lord is going to profane it. And the younger members of your families who are left in Jerusalem will be killed in war. 22 Then you will do what I have done. You will not cover your faces or eat the food that mourners eat. 23 You will not go bareheaded or barefoot or mourn or cry. You will waste away because of your sins, and you will groan to one another. 24 Then I will be a sign to you; you will do everything I have done. The Lord says that when this happens, you will know that he is the Sovereign Lord."

481-Exodus 3:6 I am the God of your ancestors, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob." So Moses covered his face, because he was afraid to look at God.

482-Exodus 4:118 Then Moses went back to Jethro, his father-in-law, and said to him, "Please let me go back to my relatives in Egypt to see if they are still alive." Jethro agreed and told him good-bye.

483-Exodus 5:3 Moses and Aaron replied, "The God of the Hebrews has revealed himself to us. Allow us to travel three days into the desert to offer sacrifices to the Lord our God. If we don't do so, he will kill us with disease or by war."

484-Exodus 4:14 At this the Lord became angry with Moses and said, "What about your brother Aaron, the Levite? I know that he can speak well. In fact, he is now coming to meet you and will be glad to see you. 15 You can speak to him and tell him what to say. I will help both of you to speak, and I will tell you both what to do. 16 He will be your spokesman and speak to the people for you. Then you will be like God, telling him what to say.

485-Exodus 4:24 At a camping place on the way to Egypt, the Lord met Moses and tried to kill him. 25 Then Zipporah, his wife, took a sharp stone, cut off the foreskin of her son, and touched Moses' feet with it. Because of the rite of circumcision she said to Moses, "You are a husband of blood to me." And so the Lord spared Moses' life. 27 Meanwhile the Lord had said to Aaron, "Go into the desert to meet Moses." So he went to meet him at the holy mountain; and when he met him, he kissed him. 28 Then Moses told Aaron everything that the Lord had said when he told him to return to Egypt; he also told him about the miracles which the Lord had ordered him to perform. 29 So Moses and Aaron went to Egypt and gathered all the Israelite leaders together. 30 Aaron told them everything that the Lord had said to Moses, and then Moses performed all the miracles in front of the people. 31 They believed, and when they heard that the Lord had come to them and had seen how they were being treated cruelly, they bowed down and worshiped.

486-Exodus 4:14 At this the Lord became angry with Moses and said, "What about your brother Aaron, the Levite? I know that he can speak well. In fact, he is now coming to meet you and will be glad to see you.

487-Exodus 4:1 Then Moses answered the Lord, "But suppose the Israelites do not believe me and will not listen to what I say. What shall I do if they say that you did not appear to me?" 2 So the Lord asked him, "What are you holding?" "A walking stick," he answered. 3 The Lord said, "Throw it on the ground." When Moses threw it down, it turned into a snake, and he ran away from it. 4 Then the Lord said to Moses, "Reach down and pick it up by the tail." So Moses reached down and caught it, and it became a walking stick again. 5 The Lord said, "Do this to prove to the Israelites that the Lord, the God of their ancestors, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, has appeared to you." 6 The Lord spoke to Moses again, "Put your hand inside your robe." Moses obeyed; and when he took his hand out, it was diseased, covered with white spots, like snow. 7 Then the Lord said, "Put your hand inside your robe again." He did so, and when he took it out this time, it was healthy, just like the rest of his body. 8 The Lord said, "If they will not believe you or be convinced by the first miracle, then this one will convince them. 9 If in spite of these two miracles they still will not believe you, and if they refuse to listen to what you say, take some water from the Nile and pour it on the ground. The water will turn into blood."

488-Exodus 7:8 The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, 9 "If the king demands that you prove yourselves by performing a miracle, tell Aaron to take his walking stick and throw it down in front of the king, and it will turn into a snake." 10 So Moses and Aaron went to the king and did as the Lord had commanded. Aaron threw his walking stick down in front of the king and his officers, and it turned into a snake. 11 Then the king called for his wise men and magicians, and by their magic they did the same thing. 12 They threw down their walking sticks, and the sticks turned into snakes. But Aaron's stick swallowed theirs. 13 The king, however, remained stubborn and, just as the Lord had said, the king would not listen to Moses and Aaron

489-2 Corinthians 11:14 Well, no wonder! Even Satan can disguise himself to look like an angel of light! 15 So it is no great thing if his servants disguise themselves to look like servants of righteousness. In the end they will get exactly what their actions deserve.

490-Matthew 24:4 Jesus answered, "Watch out, and do not let anyone fool you. 5 Many men, claiming to speak for me, will come and say, "I am the Messiah!' and they will fool many people.

Matthew 24:23 "Then, if anyone says to you, "Look, here is the Messiah!' or "There he is!' - do not believe it. 24 For false Messiahs and false prophets will appear; they will perform great miracles and wonders in order to deceive even God's chosen people, if possible. 25 Listen! I have told you this ahead of time. 26 "Or, if people should tell you, "Look, he is out in the desert!' - don't go there; or if they say, "Look, he is hiding here!' - don't believe it. 27 For the Son of Man will come like the lightning which flashes across the whole sky from the east to the west.

491-Zechariah 4:6 The angel told me to give Zerubbabel this message from the Lord: "You will succeed, not by military might or by your own strength, but by my spirit.

492-1 Chronicles 10:3 The fighting was heavy around Saul, and he was hit by enemy arrows and badly wounded. 4 He said to the young man carrying his weapons, "Draw your sword and kill me, to keep these godless Philistines from gloating over me." But the young man was too terrified to do it. So Saul took his own sword and threw himself on it.

1 Chronicles 10:13 Saul died because he was unfaithful to the Lord. He disobeyed the Lord's commands; he tried to find guidance by consulting the spirits of the dead 14 instead of consulting the Lord. So the Lord killed him and gave control of the kingdom to David son of Jesse.

493-Exodus 9:34 When the king saw what had happened, he sinned again. He and his officials remained as stubborn as ever 35 and, just as the Lord had foretold through Moses, the king would not let the Israelites go.

Exodus 10:1 Then the Lord said to Moses, "Go and see the king. I have made him and his officials stubborn, in order that I may perform these miracles among them

494-Exodus 17:11 As long as Moses held up his arms, the Israelites won, but when he put his arms down, the Amalekites started winning.

495-Deuteronomy 1:34 "The Lord heard your complaints and became angry, and so he solemnly declared, 35 "Not one of you from this evil generation will enter the fertile land that I promised to give your ancestors. 36 Only Caleb son of Jephunneh will enter it. He has remained faithful to me, and I will give him and his descendants the land that he has explored.' 37 Because of you the Lord also became angry with me and said, "Not even you, Moses, will enter the land. 38 But strengthen the determination of your helper, Joshua son of Nun. He will lead Israel to occupy the land.' 39 "Then the Lord said to all of us, "Your children, who are still too young to know right from wrong, will enter the land - the children you said would be seized by your enemies. I will give the land to them, and they will occupy it. 40 But as for you people, turn around and go back into the desert on the road to the Gulf of Aqaba.' 41 "You replied, "Moses, we have sinned against the Lord. But now we will attack, just as the Lord our God commanded us.' Then each one of you got ready to fight, thinking it would be easy to invade the hill country. 42 "But the Lord said to me, "Warn them not to attack, for I will not be with them, and their enemies will defeat them.' 43 I told you what the Lord had said, but you paid no attention. You rebelled against him, and in your pride you marched into the hill country. 44 Then the Amorites who lived in those hills came out against you like a swarm of bees. They chased you as far as Hormah and defeated you there in the hill country of Edom. 45 So you cried out to the Lord for help, but he would not listen to you or pay any attention to you.

496-Exodus 16:1 The whole Israelite community set out from Elim, and on the fifteenth day of the second month after they had left Egypt, they came to the desert of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai. 2 There in the desert they all complained to Moses and Aaron 3 and said to them, "We wish that the Lord had killed us in Egypt. There we could at least sit down and eat meat and as much other food as we wanted. But you have brought us out into this desert to starve us all to death." 4 The Lord said to Moses, "Now I am going to cause food to rain down from the sky for all of you. The people must go out every day and gather enough for that day. In this way I can test them to find out if they will follow my instructions. 5 On the sixth day they are to bring in twice as much as usual and prepare it." 6 So Moses and Aaron said to all the Israelites, "This evening you will know that it was the Lord who brought you out of Egypt. 7 In the morning you will see the dazzling light of the Lord's presence. He has heard your complaints against him - yes, against him, because we are only carrying out his instructions." 8 Then Moses said, "It is the Lord who will give you meat to eat in the evening and as much bread as you want in the morning, because he has heard how much you have complained against him. When you complain against us, you are really complaining against the Lord." 9 Moses said to Aaron, "Tell the whole community to come and stand before the Lord, because he has heard their complaints." 10 As Aaron spoke to the whole community, they turned toward the desert, and suddenly the dazzling light of the Lord appeared in a cloud. 11 The Lord said to Moses, 12 "I have heard the complaints of the Israelites. Tell them that at twilight they will have meat to eat, and in the morning they will have all the bread they want. Then they will know that I, the Lord, am their God." 13 In the evening a large flock of quails flew in, enough to cover the camp, and in the morning there was dew all around the camp. 14 When the dew evaporated, there was something thin and flaky on the surface of the desert. It was as delicate as frost. 15 When the Israelites saw it, they didn't know what it was and asked each other, "What is it?" Moses said to them, "This is the food that the Lord has given you to eat.

497-Numbers 11:4 There were foreigners traveling with the Israelites. They had a strong craving for meat, and even the Israelites themselves began to complain: "If only we could have some meat! 5 In Egypt we used to eat all the fish we wanted, and it cost us nothing. Remember the cucumbers, the watermelons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic we had? 6 But now our strength is gone. There is nothing at all to eat - nothing but this manna day after day!" 7 (Manna was like small seeds, whitish yellow in color. 8 It fell on the camp at night along with the dew. The next morning the people would go around and gather it, grind it or pound it into flour, and then boil it and make it into flat cakes. It tasted like bread baked with olive oil.) 10 Moses heard all the people complaining as they stood around in groups at the entrances of their tents. He was distressed because the Lord had become angry with them, 11 and he said to the Lord, "Why have you treated me so badly? Why are you displeased with me? Why have you given me the responsibility for all these people? 12 I didn't create them or bring them to birth! Why should you ask me to act like a nurse and carry them in my arms like babies all the way to the land you promised to their ancestors? 13 Where could I get enough meat for all these people? They keep whining and asking for meat. 14 I can't be responsible for all these people by myself; it's too much for me! 15 If you are going to treat me like this, have pity on me and kill me, so that I won't have to endure your cruelty any longer." 16 The Lord said to Moses, "Assemble seventy respected men who are recognized as leaders of the people, bring them to me at the Tent of my presence, and tell them to stand there beside you. 17 I will come down and speak with you there, and I will take some of the spirit I have given you and give it to them. Then they can help you bear the responsibility for these people, and you will not have to bear it alone. 18 Now tell the people, "Purify yourselves for tomorrow; you will have meat to eat. The Lord has heard you whining and saying that you wished you had some meat and that you were better off in Egypt. Now the Lord will give you meat, and you will have to eat it. 19 You will have to eat it not just for one or two days, or five, or ten, or even twenty days, 20 but for a whole month, until it comes out of your ears, until you are sick of it. This will happen because you have rejected the Lord who is here among you and have complained to him that you should never have left Egypt.' " 21 Moses said to the Lord, "Here I am leading 600,000 people, and you say that you will give them enough meat for a month? 22 Could enough cattle and sheep be killed to satisfy them? Are all the fish in the sea enough for them?" 23 "Is there a limit to my power?" the Lord answered. "You will soon see whether what I have said will happen or not!" 24 So Moses went out and told the people what the Lord had said. He assembled seventy of the leaders and placed them around the Tent. 25 Then the Lord came down in the cloud and spoke to him. He took some of the spirit he had given to Moses and gave it to the seventy leaders. When the spirit came on them, they began to shout like prophets, but not for long. 26 Two of the seventy leaders, Eldad and Medad, had stayed in the camp and had not gone out to the Tent. There in the camp the spirit came on them, and they too began to shout like prophets. 27 A young man ran out to tell Moses what Eldad and Medad were doing. 28 Then Joshua son of Nun, who had been Moses' helper since he was a young man, spoke up and said to Moses, "Stop them, sir!" 29 Moses answered, "Are you concerned about my interests? I wish that the Lord would give his spirit to all his people and make all of them shout like prophets!" 30 Then Moses and the seventy leaders of Israel went back to camp. 31 Suddenly the Lord sent a wind that brought quails from the sea, flying three feet above the ground. They settled on the camp and all around it for miles and miles in every direction. 32 So all that day, all night, and all the next day, the people worked catching quails; no one gathered less than fifty bushels. They spread them out to dry all around the camp. 33 While there was still plenty of meat for them to eat, the Lord became angry with the people and caused an epidemic to break out among them. 34 That place was named Kibroth Hattaavah (which means "Graves of Craving"), because there they buried the people who had craved meat.

Numbers 21:4 The Israelites left Mount Hor by the road that leads to the Gulf of Aqaba, in order to go around the territory of Edom. But on the way the people lost their patience 5 and spoke against God and Moses. They complained, "Why did you bring us out of Egypt to die in this desert, where there is no food or water? We can't stand any more of this miserable food!" 6 Then the Lord sent poisonous snakes among the people, and many Israelites were bitten and died. 7 The people came to Moses and said, "We sinned when we spoke against the Lord and against you. Now pray to the Lord to take these snakes away." So Moses prayed for the people. 8 Then the Lord told Moses to make a metal snake and put it on a pole, so that anyone who was bitten could look at it and be healed. 9 So Moses made a bronze snake and put it on a pole. Anyone who had been bitten would look at the bronze snake and be healed.

498-Numbers 11:4 There were foreigners traveling with the Israelites. They had a strong craving for meat, and even the Israelites themselves began to complain: "If only we could have some meat!

499-Exodus 16:1 The whole Israelite community set out from Elim, and on the fifteenth day of the second month after they had left Egypt, they came to the desert of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai. 2 There in the desert they all complained to Moses and Aaron 3 and said to them, "We wish that the Lord had killed us in Egypt. There we could at least sit down and eat meat and as much other food as we wanted. But you have brought us out into this desert to starve us all to death." 4 The Lord said to Moses, "Now I am going to cause food to rain down from the sky for all of you. The people must go out every day and gather enough for that day. In this way I can test them to find out if they will follow my instructions. 5 On the sixth day they are to bring in twice as much as usual and prepare it." 6 So Moses and Aaron said to all the Israelites, "This evening you will know that it was the Lord who brought you out of Egypt. 7 In the morning you will see the dazzling light of the Lord's presence. He has heard your complaints against him - yes, against him, because we are only carrying out his instructions." 8 Then Moses said, "It is the Lord who will give you meat to eat in the evening and as much bread as you want in the morning, because he has heard how much you have complained against him. When you complain against us, you are really complaining against the Lord." 9 Moses said to Aaron, "Tell the whole community to come and stand before the Lord, because he has heard their complaints." 10 As Aaron spoke to the whole community, they turned toward the desert, and suddenly the dazzling light of the Lord appeared in a cloud. 11 The Lord said to Moses, 12 "I have heard the complaints of the Israelites. Tell them that at twilight they will have meat to eat, and in the morning they will have all the bread they want. Then they will know that I, the Lord, am their God." 13 In the evening a large flock of quails flew in, enough to cover the camp, and in the morning there was dew all around the camp. 14 When the dew evaporated, there was something thin and flaky on the surface of the desert. It was as delicate as frost. 15 When the Israelites saw it, they didn't know what it was and asked each other, "What is it?" Moses said to them, "This is the food that the Lord has given you to eat. 16 The Lord has commanded that each of you is to gather as much of it as he needs, two quarts for each member of his household." 17 The Israelites did this, some gathering more, others less. 18 When they measured it, those who gathered much did not have too much, and those who gathered less did not have too little. Each had gathered just what he needed. 19 Moses said to them, "No one is to keep any of it for tomorrow." 20 But some of them did not listen to Moses and saved part of it. The next morning it was full of worms and smelled rotten, and Moses was angry with them. 21 Every morning each one gathered as much as he needed; and when the sun grew hot, what was left on the ground melted. 22 On the sixth day they gathered twice as much food, four quarts for each person. All the leaders of the community came and told Moses about it, 23 and he said to them, "The Lord has commanded that tomorrow is a holy day of rest, dedicated to him. Bake today what you want to bake and boil what you want to boil. Whatever is left should be put aside and kept for tomorrow." 24 As Moses had commanded, they kept what was left until the next day; it did not spoil or get worms in it. 25 Moses said, "Eat this today, because today is the Sabbath, a day of rest dedicated to the Lord, and you will not find any food outside the camp. 26 You must gather food for six days, but on the seventh day, the day of rest, there will be none." 27 On the seventh day some of the people went out to gather food, but they did not find any. 28 Then the Lord said to Moses, "How much longer will you people refuse to obey my commands? 29 Remember that I, the Lord, have given you a day of rest, and that is why on the sixth day I will always give you enough food for two days. Everyone is to stay where he is on the seventh day and not leave his home." 30 So the people did no work on the seventh day. 31 The people of Israel called the food manna. It was like a small white seed, and tasted like thin cakes made with honey. 32 Moses said, "The Lord has commanded us to save some manna, to be kept for our descendants, so that they can see the food which he gave us to eat in the desert when he brought us out of Egypt." 33 Moses said to Aaron, "Take a jar, put two quarts of manna in it, and place it in the Lord's presence to be kept for our descendants." 34 As the Lord had commanded Moses, Aaron put it in front of the Covenant Box, so that it could be kept. 35 The Israelites ate manna for the next forty years, until they reached the land of Canaan, where they settled. 36 (The standard dry measure then in use equaled twenty quarts.)

500-Numbers 11:4 There were foreigners traveling with the Israelites. They had a strong craving for meat, and even the Israelites themselves began to complain: "If only we could have some meat! 5 In Egypt we used to eat all the fish we wanted, and it cost us nothing. Remember the cucumbers, the watermelons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic we had? 6 But now our strength is gone. There is nothing at all to eat - nothing but this manna day after day!" 7 (Manna was like small seeds, whitish yellow in color. 8 It fell on the camp at night along with the dew. The next morning the people would go around and gather it, grind it or pound it into flour, and then boil it and make it into flat cakes. It tasted like bread baked with olive oil.) 10 Moses heard all the people complaining as they stood around in groups at the entrances of their tents. He was distressed because the Lord had become angry with them, 11 and he said to the Lord, "Why have you treated me so badly? Why are you displeased with me? Why have you given me the responsibility for all these people? 12 I didn't create them or bring them to birth! Why should you ask me to act like a nurse and carry them in my arms like babies all the way to the land you promised to their ancestors? 13 Where could I get enough meat for all these people? They keep whining and asking for meat. 14 I can't be responsible for all these people by myself; it's too much for me! 15 If you are going to treat me like this, have pity on me and kill me, so that I won't have to endure your cruelty any longer." 16 The Lord said to Moses, "Assemble seventy respected men who are recognized as leaders of the people, bring them to me at the Tent of my presence, and tell them to stand there beside you. 17 I will come down and speak with you there, and I will take some of the spirit I have given you and give it to them. Then they can help you bear the responsibility for these people, and you will not have to bear it alone. 18 Now tell the people, "Purify yourselves for tomorrow; you will have meat to eat. The Lord has heard you whining and saying that you wished you had some meat and that you were better off in Egypt. Now the Lord will give you meat, and you will have to eat it. 19 You will have to eat it not just for one or two days, or five, or ten, or even twenty days, 20 but for a whole month, until it comes out of your ears, until you are sick of it. This will happen because you have rejected the Lord who is here among you and have complained to him that you should never have left Egypt.' " 21 Moses said to the Lord, "Here I am leading 600,000 people, and you say that you will give them enough meat for a month? 22 Could enough cattle and sheep be killed to satisfy them? Are all the fish in the sea enough for them?" 23 "Is there a limit to my power?" the Lord answered. "You will soon see whether what I have said will happen or not!" 24 So Moses went out and told the people what the Lord had said. He assembled seventy of the leaders and placed them around the Tent. 25 Then the Lord came down in the cloud and spoke to him. He took some of the spirit he had given to Moses and gave it to the seventy leaders. When the spirit came on them, they began to shout like prophets, but not for long. 26 Two of the seventy leaders, Eldad and Medad, had stayed in the camp and had not gone out to the Tent. There in the camp the spirit came on them, and they too began to shout like prophets. 27 A young man ran out to tell Moses what Eldad and Medad were doing. 28 Then Joshua son of Nun, who had been Moses' helper since he was a young man, spoke up and said to Moses, "Stop them, sir!" 29 Moses answered, "Are you concerned about my interests? I wish that the Lord would give his spirit to all his people and make all of them shout like prophets!" 30 Then Moses and the seventy leaders of Israel went back to camp. 31 Suddenly the Lord sent a wind that brought quails from the sea, flying three feet above the ground. They settled on the camp and all around it for miles and miles in every direction. 32 So all that day, all night, and all the next day, the people worked catching quails; no one gathered less than fifty bushels. They spread them out to dry all around the camp. 33 While there was still plenty of meat for them to eat, the Lord became angry with the people and caused an epidemic to break out among them. 34 That place was named Kibroth Hattaavah (which means "Graves of Craving"), because there they buried the people who had craved meat.

501-Numbers 11:18 Now tell the people, "Purify yourselves for tomorrow; you will have meat to eat. The Lord has heard you whining and saying that you wished you had some meat and that you were better off in Egypt. Now the Lord will give you meat, and you will have to eat it. 19 You will have to eat it not just for one or two days, or five, or ten, or even twenty days, 20 but for a whole month, until it comes out of your ears, until you are sick of it. This will happen because you have rejected the Lord who is here among you and have complained to him that you should never have left Egypt.' "

502-Numbers 21:4 The Israelites left Mount Hor by the road that leads to the Gulf of Aqaba, in order to go around the territory of Edom. But on the way the people lost their patience 5 and spoke against God and Moses. They complained, "Why did you bring us out of Egypt to die in this desert, where there is no food or water? We can't stand any more of this miserable food!" 6 Then the Lord sent poisonous snakes among the people, and many Israelites were bitten and died. 7 The people came to Moses and said, "We sinned when we spoke against the Lord and against you. Now pray to the Lord to take these snakes away." So Moses prayed for the people. 8 Then the Lord told Moses to make a metal snake and put it on a pole, so that anyone who was bitten could look at it and be healed. 9 So Moses made a bronze snake and put it on a pole. Anyone who had been bitten would look at the bronze snake and be healed.

503-Deuteronomy 8:15 He led you through that vast and terrifying desert where there were poisonous snakes and scorpions. In that dry and waterless land he made water flow out of solid rock for you.

504-Exodus 19:1 The people of Israel left Rephidim, and on the first day of the third month after they had left Egypt they came to the desert of Sinai. There they set up camp at the foot of Mount Sinai, 3 and Moses went up the mountain to meet with God. The Lord called to him from the mountain and told him to say to the Israelites, Jacob's descendants: 4 "You saw what I, the Lord, did to the Egyptians and how I carried you as an eagle carries her young on her wings, and brought you here to me. 5 Now, if you will obey me and keep my covenant, you will be my own people. The whole earth is mine, but you will be my chosen people, 6 a people dedicated to me alone, and you will serve me as priests." 7 So Moses went down and called the leaders of the people together and told them everything that the Lord had commanded him. 8 Then all the people answered together, "We will do everything that the Lord has said," and Moses reported this to the Lord. 9 The Lord said to Moses, "I will come to you in a thick cloud, so that the people will hear me speaking with you and will believe you from now on." Moses told the Lord what the people had answered, 10 and the Lord said to him, "Go to the people and tell them to spend today and tomorrow purifying themselves for worship. They must wash their clothes 11 and be ready the day after tomorrow. On that day I will come down on Mount Sinai, where all the people can see me. 12 Mark a boundary around the mountain that the people must not cross, and tell them not to go up the mountain or even get near it. If any of you set foot on it, you are to be put to death; 13 you must either be stoned or shot with arrows, without anyone touching you. This applies to both people and animals; they must be put to death. But when the trumpet is blown, then the people are to go up to the mountain." 14 Then Moses came down the mountain and told the people to get ready for worship. So they washed their clothes, 15 and Moses told them, "Be ready by the day after tomorrow and don't have sexual intercourse in the meantime." 16 On the morning of the third day there was thunder and lightning, a thick cloud appeared on the mountain, and a very loud trumpet blast was heard. All the people in the camp trembled with fear. 17 Moses led them out of the camp to meet God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain. 18 All of Mount Sinai was covered with smoke, because the Lord had come down on it in fire. The smoke went up like the smoke of a furnace, and all the people trembled violently. 19 The sound of the trumpet became louder and louder. Moses spoke, and God answered him with thunder. 20 The Lord came down on the top of Mount Sinai and called Moses to the top of the mountain. Moses went up 21 and the Lord said to him, "Go down and warn the people not to cross the boundary to come and look at me; if they do, many of them will die. 22 Even the priests who come near me must purify themselves, or I will punish them." 23 Moses said to the Lord, "The people cannot come up, because you commanded us to consider the mountain sacred and to mark a boundary around it." 24 The Lord replied, "Go down and bring Aaron back with you. But the priests and the people must not cross the boundary to come up to me, or I will punish them." 25 Moses then went down to the people and told them what the Lord had said.

Exodus 20:1 God spoke, and these were his words: 2 "I am the Lord your God who brought you out of Egypt, where you were slaves. 3 "Worship no god but me. 4 "Do not make for yourselves images of anything in heaven or on earth or in the water under the earth. 5 Do not bow down to any idol or worship it, because I am the Lord your God and I tolerate no rivals. I bring punishment on those who hate me and on their descendants down to the third and fourth generation. 6 But I show my love to thousands of generations of those who love me and obey my laws. 7 "Do not use my name for evil purposes, for I, the Lord your God, will punish anyone who misuses my name. 8 "Observe the Sabbath and keep it holy. 9 You have six days in which to do your work, 10 but the seventh day is a day of rest dedicated to me. On that day no one is to work - neither you, your children, your slaves, your animals, nor the foreigners who live in your country. 11 In six days I, the Lord, made the earth, the sky, the seas, and everything in them, but on the seventh day I rested. That is why I, the Lord, blessed the Sabbath and made it holy. 12 "Respect your father and your mother, so that you may live a long time in the land that I am giving you. 13 "Do not commit murder. 14 "Do not commit adultery. 15 "Do not steal. 16 "Do not accuse anyone falsely. 17 "Do not desire another man's house; do not desire his wife, his slaves, his cattle, his donkeys, or anything else that he owns." 18 When the people heard the thunder and the trumpet blast and saw the lightning and the smoking mountain, they trembled with fear and stood a long way off. 19 They said to Moses, "If you speak to us, we will listen; but we are afraid that if God speaks to us, we will die." 20 Moses replied, "Don't be afraid; God has only come to test you and make you keep on obeying him, so that you will not sin." 21 But the people continued to stand a long way off, and only Moses went near the dark cloud where God was. 22 The Lord commanded Moses to tell the Israelites: "You have seen how I, the Lord, have spoken to you from heaven. 23 Do not make for yourselves gods of silver or gold to be worshiped in addition to me. 24 Make an altar of earth for me, and on it sacrifice your sheep and your cattle as offerings to be completely burned and as fellowship offerings. In every place that I set aside for you to worship me, I will come to you and bless you. 25 If you make an altar of stone for me, do not build it out of cut stones, because when you use a chisel on stones, you make them unfit for my use. 26 Do not build an altar for me with steps leading up to it; if you do, you will expose yourselves as you go up the steps.

505-1 Corinthians 10:1 I want you to remember, my friends, what happened to our ancestors who followed Moses. They were all under the protection of the cloud, and all passed safely through the Red Sea. 2 In the cloud and in the sea they were all baptized as followers of Moses. 3 All ate the same spiritual bread 4 and drank the same spiritual drink. They drank from the spiritual rock that went with them; and that rock was Christ himself.

506-John 5:39 You study the Scriptures, because you think that in them you will find eternal life. And these very Scriptures speak about me!

507-Luke 24:44 Then he said to them, "These are the very things I told you about while I was still with you: everything written about me in the Law of Moses, the writings of the prophets, and the Psalms had to come true."

508-Matthew 23:37 "Jerusalem, Jerusalem! You kill the prophets and stone the messengers God has sent you! How many times I wanted to put my arms around all your people, just as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you would not let me! 38 And so your Temple will be abandoned and empty. 39 From now on, I tell you, you will never see me again until you say, "God bless him who comes in the name of the Lord.' "

509-1 Corinthians 10:1 I want you to remember, my friends, what happened to our ancestors who followed Moses. They were all under the protection of the cloud, and all passed safely through the Red Sea. 2 In the cloud and in the sea they were all baptized as followers of Moses. 3 All ate the same spiritual bread 4 and drank the same spiritual drink. They drank from the spiritual rock that went with them; and that rock was Christ himself.

510-John 14:9 Jesus answered, "For a long time I have been with you all; yet you do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. Why, then, do you say, "Show us the Father'?

511-John 14:16 I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, who will stay with you forever.

John 16:7 But I am telling you the truth: it is better for you that I go away, because if I do not go, the Helper will not come to you. But if I do go away, then I will send him to you.

512-Exodus 20:20 Moses replied, "Don't be afraid; God has only come to test you and make you keep on obeying him, so that you will not sin."

513-Exodus 20:19 They said to Moses, "If you speak to us, we will listen; but we are afraid that if God speaks to us, we will die." 20 Moses replied, "Don't be afraid; God has only come to test you and make you keep on obeying him, so that you will not sin."

514-Hebrews 12:18 You have not come, as the people of Israel came, to what you can feel, to Mount Sinai with its blazing fire, the darkness and the gloom, the storm, 19 the blast of a trumpet, and the sound of a voice. When the people heard the voice, they begged not to hear another word, 20 because they could not bear the order which said, "If even an animal touches the mountain, it must be stoned to death." 21 The sight was so terrifying that Moses said, "I am trembling and afraid!"

515-Genesis 11:1 At first, the people of the whole world had only one language and used the same words. 2 As they wandered about in the East, they came to a plain in Babylonia and settled there. 3 They said to one another, "Come on! Let's make bricks and bake them hard." So they had bricks to build with and tar to hold them together. 4 They said, "Now let's build a city with a tower that reaches the sky, so that we can make a name for ourselves and not be scattered all over the earth." 5 Then the Lord came down to see the city and the tower which they had built, 6 and he said, "Now then, these are all one people and they speak one language; this is just the beginning of what they are going to do. Soon they will be able to do anything they want! 7 Let us go down and mix up their language so that they will not understand each other." 8 So the Lord scattered them all over the earth, and they stopped building the city. 9 The city was called Babylon, because there the Lord mixed up the language of all the people, and from there he scattered them all over the earth.

516-Exodus 14:5 When the king of Egypt was told that the people had escaped, he and his officials changed their minds and said, "What have we done? We have let the Israelites escape, and we have lost them as our slaves!" 6 The king got his war chariot and his army ready. 7 He set out with all his chariots, including the six hundred finest, commanded by their officers. 8 The Lord made the king stubborn, and he pursued the Israelites, who were leaving triumphantly. 9 The Egyptian army, with all the horses, chariots, and drivers, pursued them and caught up with them where they were camped by the Red Sea near Pi Hahiroth and Baal Zephon. 10 When the Israelites saw the king and his army marching against them, they were terrified and cried out to the Lord for help. 11 They said to Moses, "Weren't there any graves in Egypt? Did you have to bring us out here in the desert to die? Look what you have done by bringing us out of Egypt! 12 Didn't we tell you before we left that this would happen? We told you to leave us alone and let us go on being slaves of the Egyptians. It would be better to be slaves there than to die here in the desert." 13 Moses answered, "Don't be afraid! Stand your ground, and you will see what the Lord will do to save you today; you will never see these Egyptians again. 14 The Lord will fight for you, and all you have to do is keep still." 15 The Lord said to Moses, "Why are you crying out for help? Tell the people to move forward. 16 Lift up your walking stick and hold it out over the sea. The water will divide, and the Israelites will be able to walk through the sea on dry ground. 17 I will make the Egyptians so stubborn that they will go in after them, and I will gain honor by my victory over the king, his army, his chariots, and his drivers. 18 When I defeat them, the Egyptians will know that I am the Lord." 19 The angel of God, who had been in front of the army of Israel, moved and went to the rear. The pillar of cloud also moved until it was 20 between the Egyptians and the Israelites. The cloud made it dark for the Egyptians, but gave light to the people of Israel, and so the armies could not come near each other all night. 21 Moses held out his hand over the sea, and the Lord drove the sea back with a strong east wind. It blew all night and turned the sea into dry land. The water was divided, 22 and the Israelites went through the sea on dry ground, with walls of water on both sides. 23 The Egyptians pursued them and went after them into the sea with all their horses, chariots, and drivers. 24 Just before dawn the Lord looked down from the pillar of fire and cloud at the Egyptian army and threw them into a panic. 25 He made the wheels of their chariots get stuck, so that they moved with great difficulty. The Egyptians said, "The Lord is fighting for the Israelites against us. Let's get out of here!" 26 The Lord said to Moses, "Hold out your hand over the sea, and the water will come back over the Egyptians and their chariots and drivers." 27 So Moses held out his hand over the sea, and at daybreak the water returned to its normal level. The Egyptians tried to escape from the water, but the Lord threw them into the sea. 28 The water returned and covered the chariots, the drivers, and all the Egyptian army that had followed the Israelites into the sea; not one of them was left. 29 But the Israelites walked through the sea on dry ground, with walls of water on both sides. 30 On that day the Lord saved the people of Israel from the Egyptians, and the Israelites saw them lying dead on the seashore. 31 When the Israelites saw the great power with which the Lord had defeated the Egyptians, they stood in awe of the Lord; and they had faith in the Lord and in his servant Moses.

517-1 Kings 18:1 After some time, in the third year of the drought, the Lord said to Elijah, "Go and present yourself to King Ahab, and I will send rain." 2 So Elijah started out. The famine in Samaria was at its worst, 3 so Ahab called in Obadiah, who was in charge of the palace. (Obadiah was a devout worshiper of the Lord, 4 and when Jezebel was killing the Lord's prophets, Obadiah took a hundred of them, hid them in caves in two groups of fifty, and provided them with food and water.) 5 Ahab said to Obadiah, "Let us go and look at every spring and every stream bed in the land to see if we can find enough grass to keep the horses and mules alive. Maybe we won't have to kill any of our animals." 6 They agreed on which part of the land each one would explore, and set off in different directions. 7 As Obadiah was on his way, he suddenly met Elijah. He recognized him, bowed low before him, and asked, "Is it really you, sir?" 8 "Yes, I'm Elijah," he answered. "Go and tell your master the king that I am here." 9 Obadiah answered, "What have I done that you want to put me in danger of being killed by King Ahab? 10 By the living Lord, your God, I swear that the king has made a search for you in every country in the world. Whenever the ruler of a country reported that you were not in his country, Ahab would require that ruler to swear that you could not be found. 11 And now you want me to go and tell him that you are here? 12 What if the spirit of the Lord carries you off to some unknown place as soon as I leave? Then, when I tell Ahab that you are here and he can't find you, he will put me to death. Remember that I have been a devout worshiper of the Lord ever since I was a boy. 13 Haven't you heard that when Jezebel was killing the prophets of the Lord I hid a hundred of them in caves, in two groups of fifty, and supplied them with food and water? 14 So how can you order me to go and tell the king that you are here? He will kill me!" 15 Elijah answered, "By the living Lord Almighty, whom I serve, I promise that I will present myself to the king today." 16 So Obadiah went to King Ahab and told him, and Ahab set off to meet Elijah. 17 When Ahab saw him, he said, "So there you are - the worst troublemaker in Israel!" 18 "I'm not the troublemaker," Elijah answered. "You are - you and your father. You are disobeying the Lord's commands and worshiping the idols of Baal. 19 Now order all the people of Israel to meet me at Mount Carmel. Bring along the 450 prophets of Baal and the 400 prophets of the goddess Asherah who are supported by Queen Jezebel." 20 So Ahab summoned all the Israelites and the prophets of Baal to meet at Mount Carmel. 21 Elijah went up to the people and said, "How much longer will it take you to make up your minds? If the Lord is God, worship him; but if Baal is God, worship him!" But the people didn't say a word. 22 Then Elijah said, "I am the only prophet of the Lord still left, but there are 450 prophets of Baal. 23 Bring two bulls; let the prophets of Baal take one, kill it, cut it in pieces, and put it on the wood - but don't light the fire. I will do the same with the other bull. 24 Then let the prophets of Baal pray to their god, and I will pray to the Lord, and the one who answers by sending fire - he is God." The people shouted their approval. 25 Then Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, "Since there are so many of you, you take a bull and prepare it first. Pray to your god, but don't set fire to the wood." 26 They took the bull that was brought to them, prepared it, and prayed to Baal until noon. They shouted, "Answer us, Baal!" and kept dancing around the altar they had built. But no answer came. 27 At noon Elijah started making fun of them: "Pray louder! He is a god! Maybe he is day-dreaming or relieving himself, or perhaps he's gone off on a trip! Or maybe he's sleeping, and you've got to wake him up!" 28 So the prophets prayed louder and cut themselves with knives and daggers, according to their ritual, until blood flowed. 29 They kept on ranting and raving until the middle of the afternoon; but no answer came, not a sound was heard. 30 Then Elijah said to the people, "Come closer to me," and they all gathered around him. He set about repairing the altar of the Lord which had been torn down. 31 He took twelve stones, one for each of the twelve tribes named for the sons of Jacob, the man to whom the Lord had given the name Israel. 32 With these stones he rebuilt the altar for the worship of the Lord. He dug a trench around it, large enough to hold about four gallons of water. 33 Then he placed the wood on the altar, cut the bull in pieces, and laid it on the wood. He said, "Fill four jars with water and pour it on the offering and the wood." They did so, 34 and he said, "Do it again" - and they did. "Do it once more," he said - and they did. 35 The water ran down around the altar and filled the trench. 36 At the hour of the afternoon sacrifice the prophet Elijah approached the altar and prayed, "O Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, prove now that you are the God of Israel and that I am your servant and have done all this at your command. 37 Answer me, Lord, answer me, so that this people will know that you, the Lord, are God and that you are bringing them back to yourself." 38 The Lord sent fire down, and it burned up the sacrifice, the wood, and the stones, scorched the earth and dried up the water in the trench. 39 When the people saw this, they threw themselves on the ground and exclaimed, "The Lord is God; the Lord alone is God!" 40 Elijah ordered, "Seize the prophets of Baal; don't let any of them get away!" The people seized them all, and Elijah led them down to Kishon Brook and killed them. 41 Then Elijah said to King Ahab, "Now, go and eat. I hear the roar of rain approaching." 42 While Ahab went to eat, Elijah climbed to the top of Mount Carmel, where he bowed down to the ground, with his head between his knees. 43 He said to his servant, "Go and look toward the sea." The servant went and returned, saying, "I didn't see a thing." Seven times in all Elijah told him to go and look. 44 The seventh time he returned and said, "I saw a little cloud no bigger than a man's hand, coming up from the sea." Elijah ordered his servant, "Go to King Ahab and tell him to get in his chariot and go back home before the rain stops him." 45 In a little while the sky was covered with dark clouds, the wind began to blow, and a heavy rain began to fall. Ahab got in his chariot and started back to Jezreel. 46 The power of the Lord came on Elijah; he fastened his clothes tight around his waist and ran ahead of Ahab all the way to Jezreel.

1 Kings 19:1 King Ahab told his wife Jezebel everything that Elijah had done and how he had put all the prophets of Baal to death. 2 She sent a message to Elijah: "May the gods strike me dead if by this time tomorrow I don't do the same thing to you that you did to the prophets." 3 Elijah was afraid and fled for his life; he took his servant and went to Beersheba in Judah. Leaving the servant there, 4 Elijah walked a whole day into the wilderness. He stopped and sat down in the shade of a tree and wished he would die. "It's too much, Lord," he prayed. "Take away my life; I might as well be dead!" 5 He lay down under the tree and fell asleep. Suddenly an angel touched him and said, "Wake up and eat." 6 He looked around and saw a loaf of bread and a jar of water near his head. He ate and drank, and lay down again. 7 The Lord's angel returned and woke him up a second time, saying, "Get up and eat, or the trip will be too much for you." 8 Elijah got up, ate and drank, and the food gave him enough strength to walk forty days to Sinai, the holy mountain. 9 There he went into a cave to spend the night. Suddenly the Lord spoke to him, "Elijah, what are you doing here?" 10 He answered, "Lord God Almighty, I have always served you - you alone. But the people of Israel have broken their covenant with you, torn down your altars, and killed all your prophets. I am the only one left - and they are trying to kill me!" 11 "Go out and stand before me on top of the mountain," the Lord said to him. Then the Lord passed by and sent a furious wind that split the hills and shattered the rocks - but the Lord was not in the wind. The wind stopped blowing, and then there was an earthquake - but the Lord was not in the earthquake. 12 After the earthquake there was a fire - but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire there was the soft whisper of a voice. 13 When Elijah heard it, he covered his face with his cloak and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. A voice said to him, "Elijah, what are you doing here?" 14 He answered, "Lord God Almighty, I have always served you - you alone. But the people of Israel have broken their covenant with you, torn down your altars, and killed all your prophets. I am the only one left - and they are trying to kill me." 15 The Lord said, "Return to the wilderness near Damascus, then enter the city and anoint Hazael as king of Syria; 16 anoint Jehu son of Nimshi as king of Israel, and anoint Elisha son of Shaphat from Abel Meholah to succeed you as prophet. 17 Anyone who escapes being put to death by Hazael will be killed by Jehu, and anyone who escapes Jehu will be killed by Elisha. 18 Yet I will leave seven thousand people alive in Israel - all those who are loyal to me and have not bowed to Baal or kissed his idol." 19 Elijah left and found Elisha plowing with a team of oxen; there were eleven teams ahead of him, and he was plowing with the last one. Elijah took off his cloak and put it on Elisha. 20 Elisha then left his oxen, ran after Elijah, and said, "Let me kiss my father and mother good-bye, and then I will go with you." Elijah answered, "All right, go back. I'm not stopping you!" 21 Then Elisha went to his team of oxen, killed them, and cooked the meat, using the yoke as fuel for the fire. He gave the meat to the people, and they ate it. Then he went and followed Elijah as his helper.

518-Exodus 20:5 Do not bow down to any idol or worship it, because I am the Lord your God and I tolerate no rivals. I bring punishment on those who hate me and on their descendants down to the third and fourth generation.

519-Job 21:19 You claim God punishes a child for the sins of his father. No! Let God punish the sinners themselves; let him show that he does it because of [their ]sins. 20 Let sinners bear their own punishment; let them feel the wrath of Almighty God.

520-Ezekiel 18:1 The Lord spoke to me 2 and said, "What is this proverb people keep repeating in the land of Israel? "The parents ate the sour grapes, But the children got the sour taste.' 3 "As surely as I am the living God," says the Sovereign Lord, "you will not repeat this proverb in Israel any more. 4 The life of every person belongs to me, the life of the parent as well as that of the child. The person who sins is the one who will die. 5 "Suppose there is a truly good man, righteous and honest. 6 He doesn't worship the idols of the Israelites or eat the sacrifices offered at forbidden shrines. He doesn't seduce another man's wife or have intercourse with a woman during her period. 7 He doesn't cheat or rob anyone. He returns what a borrower gives him as security; he feeds the hungry and gives clothing to the naked. 8 He doesn't lend money for profit. He refuses to do evil and gives an honest decision in any dispute. 9 Such a man obeys my commands and carefully keeps my laws. He is righteous, and he will live," says the Sovereign Lord. 10 "Then suppose this man has a son who robs and kills, who does any of these things 11 that the father never did. He eats sacrifices offered at forbidden shrines and seduces other men's wives. 12 He cheats the poor, he robs, he keeps what a borrower gives him as security. He goes to pagan shrines, worships disgusting idols, 13 and lends money for profit. Will he live? No, he will not. He has done all these disgusting things, and so he will die. He will be to blame for his own death. 14 "Now suppose this second man has a son. He sees all the sins his father practiced, but does not follow his example. 15 He doesn't worship the idols of the Israelites or eat the sacrifices offered at forbidden shrines. He doesn't seduce another man's wife 16 or oppress anyone or rob anyone. He returns what a borrower gives him as security. He feeds the hungry and gives clothing to the naked. 17 He refuses to do evil and doesn't lend money for profit. He keeps my laws and obeys my commands. He will not die because of his father's sins, but he will certainly live. 18 His father, on the other hand, cheated and robbed and always did evil to everyone. And so he died because of the sins he himself had committed. 19 "But you ask, "Why shouldn't the son suffer because of his father's sins?' The answer is that the son did what was right and good. He kept my laws and followed them carefully, and so he will certainly live. 20 It is the one who sins who will die. A son is not to suffer because of his father's sins, nor a father because of the sins of his son. Good people will be rewarded for doing good, and evil people will suffer for the evil they do. 21 "If someone evil stops sinning and keeps my laws, if he does what is right and good, he will not die; he will certainly live. 22 All his sins will be forgiven, and he will live, because he did what is right. 23 Do you think I enjoy seeing evil people die?" asks the Sovereign Lord. "No, I would rather see them repent and live. 24 "But if a righteous person stops doing good and starts doing all the evil, disgusting things that evil people do, will he go on living? No! None of the good he did will be remembered. He will die because of his unfaithfulness and his sins. 25 "But you say, "What the Lord does isn't right.' Listen to me, you Israelites. Do you think my way of doing things isn't right? It is your way that isn't right. 26 When a righteous person stops doing good and starts doing evil and then dies, he dies because of the evil he has done. 27 When someone evil stops sinning and does what is right and good, he saves his life. 28 He realizes what he is doing and stops sinning, so he will certainly not die, but go on living. 29 And you Israelites say, "What the Lord does isn't right.' You think my way isn't right, do you? It is your way that isn't right. 30 "Now I, the Sovereign Lord, am telling you Israelites that I will judge each of you by what you have done. Turn away from all the evil you are doing, and don't let your sin destroy you. 31 Give up all the evil you have been doing, and get yourselves new minds and hearts. Why do you Israelites want to die? 32 I do not want anyone to die," says the Sovereign Lord. "Turn away from your sins and live."

521-Deuteronomy 24:16 "Parents are not to be put to death for crimes committed by their children, and children are not to be put to death for crimes committed by their parents; people are to be put to death only for a crime they themselves have committed.

522-Ezekiel 18:1 The Lord spoke to me 2 and said, "What is this proverb people keep repeating in the land of Israel? "The parents ate the sour grapes, But the children got the sour taste.' 3 "As surely as I am the living God," says the Sovereign Lord, "you will not repeat this proverb in Israel any more. 4 The life of every person belongs to me, the life of the parent as well as that of the child. The person who sins is the one who will die. 5 "Suppose there is a truly good man, righteous and honest. 6 He doesn't worship the idols of the Israelites or eat the sacrifices offered at forbidden shrines. He doesn't seduce another man's wife or have intercourse with a woman during her period. 7 He doesn't cheat or rob anyone. He returns what a borrower gives him as security; he feeds the hungry and gives clothing to the naked. 8 He doesn't lend money for profit. He refuses to do evil and gives an honest decision in any dispute. 9 Such a man obeys my commands and carefully keeps my laws. He is righteous, and he will live," says the Sovereign Lord. 10 "Then suppose this man has a son who robs and kills, who does any of these things 11 that the father never did. He eats sacrifices offered at forbidden shrines and seduces other men's wives. 12 He cheats the poor, he robs, he keeps what a borrower gives him as security. He goes to pagan shrines, worships disgusting idols, 13 and lends money for profit. Will he live? No, he will not. He has done all these disgusting things, and so he will die. He will be to blame for his own death. 14 "Now suppose this second man has a son. He sees all the sins his father practiced, but does not follow his example. 15 He doesn't worship the idols of the Israelites or eat the sacrifices offered at forbidden shrines. He doesn't seduce another man's wife 16 or oppress anyone or rob anyone. He returns what a borrower gives him as security. He feeds the hungry and gives clothing to the naked. 17 He refuses to do evil and doesn't lend money for profit. He keeps my laws and obeys my commands. He will not die because of his father's sins, but he will certainly live. 18 His father, on the other hand, cheated and robbed and always did evil to everyone. And so he died because of the sins he himself had committed. 19 "But you ask, "Why shouldn't the son suffer because of his father's sins?' The answer is that the son did what was right and good. He kept my laws and followed them carefully, and so he will certainly live. 20 It is the one who sins who will die. A son is not to suffer because of his father's sins, nor a father because of the sins of his son. Good people will be rewarded for doing good, and evil people will suffer for the evil they do. 21 "If someone evil stops sinning and keeps my laws, if he does what is right and good, he will not die; he will certainly live. 22 All his sins will be forgiven, and he will live, because he did what is right. 23 Do you think I enjoy seeing evil people die?" asks the Sovereign Lord. "No, I would rather see them repent and live. 24 "But if a righteous person stops doing good and starts doing all the evil, disgusting things that evil people do, will he go on living? No! None of the good he did will be remembered. He will die because of his unfaithfulness and his sins. 25 "But you say, "What the Lord does isn't right.' Listen to me, you Israelites. Do you think my way of doing things isn't right? It is your way that isn't right. 26 When a righteous person stops doing good and starts doing evil and then dies, he dies because of the evil he has done. 27 When someone evil stops sinning and does what is right and good, he saves his life. 28 He realizes what he is doing and stops sinning, so he will certainly not die, but go on living. 29 And you Israelites say, "What the Lord does isn't right.' You think my way isn't right, do you? It is your way that isn't right. 30 "Now I, the Sovereign Lord, am telling you Israelites that I will judge each of you by what you have done. Turn away from all the evil you are doing, and don't let your sin destroy you. 31 Give up all the evil you have been doing, and get yourselves new minds and hearts. Why do you Israelites want to die? 32 I do not want anyone to die," says the Sovereign Lord. "Turn away from your sins and live."

523-Deuteronomy 29:19 Make sure that there is no one here today who hears these solemn demands and yet convinces himself that all will be well with him, even if he stubbornly goes his own way. That would destroy all of you, good and evil alike. 20 The Lord will not forgive such a man. Instead, the Lord's burning anger will flame up against him, and all the disasters written in this book will fall on him until the Lord has destroyed him completely. 21 The Lord will make an example of him before all the tribes of Israel and will bring disaster on him in accordance with all the curses listed in the covenant that is written in this book of the Lord's teachings.

524-Exodus 21:6 then his master shall take him to the place of worship. There he is to make him stand against the door or the doorpost and put a hole through his ear. Then he will be his slave for life.

525-Revelation 21:4 He will wipe away all tears from their eyes. There will be no more death, no more grief or crying or pain. The old things have disappeared."

526-Revelation 20:14 Then death and the world of the dead were thrown into the lake of fire. (This lake of fire is the second death.)

527-Exodus 20:18 When the people heard the thunder and the trumpet blast and saw the lightning and the smoking mountain, they trembled with fear and stood a long way off. 19 They said to Moses, "If you speak to us, we will listen; but we are afraid that if God speaks to us, we will die."

528-Romans 5:8 But God has shown us how much he loves us - it was while we were still sinners that Christ died for us!

529-2 Corinthians 5:18 All this is done by God, who through Christ changed us from enemies into his friends and gave us the task of making others his friends also. 19 Our message is that God was making all human beings his friends through Christ. God did not keep an account of their sins, and he has given us the message which tells how he makes them his friends.

530-Exodus 33:11 The Lord would speak with Moses face-to-face, just as someone speaks with a friend. Then Moses would return to the camp. But the young man who was his helper, Joshua son of Nun, stayed in the Tent. 12 Moses said to the Lord, "It is true that you have told me to lead these people to that land, but you did not tell me whom you would send with me. You have said that you know me well and are pleased with me. 13 Now if you are, tell me your plans, so that I may serve you and continue to please you. Remember also that you have chosen this nation to be your own."

Exodus 33:17 The Lord said to Moses, "I will do just as you have asked, because I know you very well and I am pleased with you."

Exodus 34:8 Moses quickly bowed down to the ground and worshiped. 9 He said, "Lord, if you really are pleased with me, I ask you to go with us. These people are stubborn, but forgive our evil and our sin, and accept us as your own people."

531-Numbers 12:6 and the Lord said, "Now hear what I have to say! When there are prophets among you, I reveal myself to them in visions and speak to them in dreams. 7 It is different when I speak with my servant Moses; I have put him in charge of all my people Israel. 8 So I speak to him face-to-face, clearly and not in riddles; he has even seen my form! How dare you speak against my servant Moses?"

532-Genesis 15:6 Abram put his trust in the Lord, and because of this the Lord was pleased with him and accepted him.

Genesis 15:18 Then and there the Lord made a covenant with Abram. He said, "I promise to give your descendants all this land from the border of Egypt to the Euphrates River,

533-2 Chronicles 20:7 You are our God. When your people Israel moved into this land, you drove out the people who were living here and gave the land to the descendants of Abraham, your friend, to be theirs forever.

534-Isaiah 41:8 "But you, Israel my servant, you are the people that I have chosen, the descendants of Abraham, my friend.

535-Romans 4:3 The scripture says, "Abraham believed God, and because of his faith God accepted him as righteous."

536-Galatians 3:6 Consider the experience of Abraham; as the scripture says, "He believed God, and because of his faith God accepted him as righteous."

537-James 2:23 And the scripture came true that said, "Abraham believed God, and because of his faith God accepted him as righteous." And so Abraham was called God's friend.

538-Exodus 33:11-13,17; 34:8,911 The Lord would speak with Moses face-to-face, just as someone speaks with a friend. Then Moses would return to the camp. But the young man who was his helper, Joshua son of Nun, stayed in the Tent. 12 Moses said to the Lord, "It is true that you have told me to lead these people to that land, but you did not tell me whom you would send with me. You have said that you know me well and are pleased with me. 13 Now if you are, tell me your plans, so that I may serve you and continue to please you. Remember also that you have chosen this nation to be your own."

Exodus 33:17 The Lord said to Moses, "I will do just as you have asked, because I know you very well and I am pleased with you."

Exodus 34:8 Moses quickly bowed down to the ground and worshiped. 9 He said, "Lord, if you really are pleased with me, I ask you to go with us. These people are stubborn, but forgive our evil and our sin, and accept us as your own people."

539-Numbers 12:6 and the Lord said, "Now hear what I have to say! When there are prophets among you, I reveal myself to them in visions and speak to them in dreams. 7 It is different when I speak with my servant Moses; I have put him in charge of all my people Israel. 8 So I speak to him face-to-face, clearly and not in riddles; he has even seen my form! How dare you speak against my servant Moses?"

540-Deuteronomy 5:4; 34:104 There on the mountain the Lord spoke to you face-to-face from the fire.

Deuteronomy 34:10 There has never been a prophet in Israel like Moses; the Lord spoke with him face-to-face.

541-Job 1:8 "Did you notice my servant Job?" the Lord asked. "There is no one on earth as faithful and good as he is. He worships me and is careful not to do anything evil."

Job 2:3 "Did you notice my servant Job?" the Lord asked. "There is no one on earth as faithful and good as he is. He worships me and is careful not to do anything evil. You persuaded me to let you attack him for no reason at all, but Job is still as faithful as ever."

Job 42:7 After the Lord had finished speaking to Job, he said to Eliphaz, "I am angry with you and your two friends, because you did not speak the truth about me, the way my servant Job did. 8 Now take seven bulls and seven rams to Job and offer them as a sacrifice for yourselves. Job will pray for you, and I will answer his prayer and not disgrace you the way you deserve. You did not speak the truth about me as he did."

542-John 13:23; 19:26; 21:7; 21:2023 One of the disciples, the one whom Jesus loved, was sitting next to Jesus.

John 19:26 Jesus saw his mother and the disciple he loved standing there; so he said to his mother, "He is your son."

John 21:7 The disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, "It is the Lord!" When Peter heard that it was the Lord, he wrapped his outer garment around him (for he had taken his clothes off) and jumped into the water.

John 21:20 Peter turned around and saw behind him that other disciple, whom Jesus loved - the one who had leaned close to Jesus at the meal and had asked, "Lord, who is going to betray you?"

543-John 15:15 I do not call you servants any longer, because servants do not know what their master is doing. Instead, I call you friends, because I have told you everything I heard from my Father.

544-1 John 4:18 There is no fear in love; perfect love drives out all fear. So then, love has not been made perfect in anyone who is afraid, because fear has to do with punishment.

545-Exodus 22:20 "Condemn to death anyone who offers sacrifices to any god except to me, the Lord. 21 "Do not mistreat or oppress a foreigner; remember that you were foreigners in Egypt.

546-Exodus 12:19 For seven days no yeast must be found in your houses, for if anyone, native-born or foreign, eats bread made with yeast, he shall no longer be considered one of my people."

Exodus 12:48 but no uncircumcised man may eat it. If a foreigner has settled among you and wants to celebrate Passover to honor the Lord, you must first circumcise all the males of his household. He is then to be treated like a native-born Israelite and may join in the festival. 49 The same regulations apply to native-born Israelites and to foreigners who settle among you."

Exodus 22:21 "Do not mistreat or oppress a foreigner; remember that you were foreigners in Egypt.

547-Leviticus 18:26; 19:33,34; 23:22; 25:626 They did all these disgusting things and made the land unclean, but you must not do them. All of you, whether Israelites or foreigners living with you, must keep the Lord's laws and commands,

Leviticus 19:33 "Do not mistreat foreigners who are living in your land. 34 Treat them as you would an Israelite, and love them as you love yourselves. Remember that you were once foreigners in the land of Egypt. I am the Lord your God.

Leviticus 23:22 When you harvest your fields, do not cut the grain at the edges of the fields, and do not go back to cut the heads of grain that were left; leave them for poor people and foreigners. The Lord is your God.

Leviticus 25:6 Although the land has not been cultivated during that year, it will provide food for you, your slaves, your hired men, the foreigners living with you,

548-Deuteronomy 1:16; 10:18; 14:28,29; 16:11,14; 31:1216 "At that time I instructed them, "Listen to the disputes that come up among your people. Judge every dispute fairly, whether it concerns only your own people or involves foreigners who live among you.

Deuteronomy 10:18 He makes sure that orphans and widows are treated fairly; he loves the foreigners who live with our people, and gives them food and clothes.

Deuteronomy 14:28 At the end of every third year bring the tithe of all your crops and store it in your towns. 29 This food is for the Levites, since they own no property, and for the foreigners, orphans, and widows who live in your towns. They are to come and get all they need. Do this, and the Lord your God will bless you in everything you do.

Deuteronomy 16:11 Be joyful in the Lord's presence, together with your children, your servants, and the Levites, foreigners, orphans, and widows who live in your towns. Do this at the one place of worship

Deuteronomy 16:14 Enjoy it with your children, your servants, and the Levites, foreigners, orphans, and widows who live in your towns.

Deuteronomy 31:12 Call together all the men, women, and children, and the foreigners who live in your towns, so that everyone may hear it and learn to honor the Lord your God and to obey his teachings faithfully.

549-Exodus 23:19 "Each year bring to the house of the Lord your God the first grain that you harvest. "Do not cook a young sheep or goat in its mother's milk.

550-Exodus 34:26 "Each year bring to the house of the Lord the first grain that you harvest. "Do not cook a young sheep or goat in its mother's milk."

551-Deuteronomy 14:21 "Do not eat any animal that dies a natural death. You may let the foreigners who live among you eat it, or you may sell it to other foreigners. But you belong to the Lord your God; you are his people. "Do not cook a young sheep or goat in its mother's milk.

552-Exodus 23:17 Every year at these three festivals all your men must come to worship me, the Lord your God.

553-Matthew 14:21 The number of men who ate was about five thousand, not counting the women and children.

Matthew 15:37 They all ate and had enough. Then the disciples took up seven baskets full of pieces left over.

554-John 6:10 "Make the people sit down," Jesus told them. (There was a lot of grass there.) So all the people sat down; there were about five thousand men.

555-1 Samuel 1:1 There was a man named Elkanah, from the tribe of Ephraim, who lived in the town of Ramah in the hill country of Ephraim. He was the son of Jeroham and grandson of Elihu, and belonged to the family of Tohu, a part of the clan of Zuph. 2 Elkanah had two wives, Hannah and Peninnah. Peninnah had children, but Hannah did not. 3 Every year Elkanah went from Ramah to worship and offer sacrifices to the Lord Almighty at Shiloh, where Hophni and Phinehas, the two sons of Eli, were priests of the Lord. 4 Each time Elkanah offered his sacrifice, he would give one share of the meat to Peninnah and one share to each of her children. 5 And even though he loved Hannah very much he would give her only one share, because the Lord had kept her from having children. 6 Peninnah, her rival, would torment and humiliate her, because the Lord had kept her childless. 7 This went on year after year; whenever they went to the house of the Lord, Peninnah would upset Hannah so much that she would cry and refuse to eat anything. 8 Her husband Elkanah would ask her, "Hannah, why are you crying? Why won't you eat? Why are you always so sad? Don't I mean more to you than ten sons?" 9 One time, after they had finished their meal in the house of the Lord at Shiloh, Hannah got up. She was deeply distressed, and she cried bitterly as she prayed to the Lord. Meanwhile, Eli the priest was sitting in his place by the door. 11 Hannah made a solemn promise: "Lord Almighty, look at me, your servant! See my trouble and remember me! Don't forget me! If you give me a son, I promise that I will dedicate him to you for his whole life and that he will never have his hair cut." 12 Hannah continued to pray to the Lord for a long time, and Eli watched her lips. 13 She was praying silently; her lips were moving, but she made no sound. So Eli thought that she was drunk, 14 and he said to her, "Stop making a drunken show of yourself! Stop your drinking and sober up!" 15 "No, I'm not drunk, sir," she answered. "I haven't been drinking! I am desperate, and I have been praying, pouring out my troubles to the Lord. 16 Don't think I am a worthless woman. I have been praying like this because I'm so miserable." 17 "Go in peace," Eli said, "and may the God of Israel give you what you have asked him for." 18 "May you always think kindly of me," she replied. Then she went away, ate some food, and was no longer sad. 19 The next morning Elkanah and his family got up early, and after worshiping the Lord, they went back home to Ramah. Elkanah had intercourse with his wife Hannah, and the Lord answered her prayer. 20 So it was that she became pregnant and gave birth to a son. She named him Samuel, and explained, "I asked the Lord for him." 21 The time came again for Elkanah and his family to go to Shiloh and offer to the Lord the yearly sacrifice and the special sacrifice he had promised. 22 But this time Hannah did not go. She told her husband, "As soon as the child is weaned, I will take him to the house of the Lord, where he will stay all his life." 23 Elkanah answered, "All right, do whatever you think best; stay at home until you have weaned him. And may the Lord make your promise come true." So Hannah stayed at home and nursed her child.

556-Luke 2:41 Every year the parents of Jesus went to Jerusalem for the Passover Festival. 42 When Jesus was twelve years old, they went to the festival as usual. 43 When the festival was over, they started back home, but the boy Jesus stayed in Jerusalem. His parents did not know this; 44 they thought that he was with the group, so they traveled a whole day and then started looking for him among their relatives and friends. 45 They did not find him, so they went back to Jerusalem looking for him.

557-Exodus 23:21; 32:11-14;32:34,35; 33:1-621 Pay attention to him and obey him. Do not rebel against him, for I have sent him, and he will not pardon such rebellion.

Exodus 32:11 But Moses pleaded with the Lord his God and said, "Lord, why should you be so angry with your people, whom you rescued from Egypt with great might and power? 12 Why should the Egyptians be able to say that you led your people out of Egypt, planning to kill them in the mountains and destroy them completely? Stop being angry; change your mind and do not bring this disaster on your people. 13 Remember your servants Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Remember the solemn promise you made to them to give them as many descendants as there are stars in the sky and to give their descendants all that land you promised would be their possession forever." 14 So the Lord changed his mind and did not bring on his people the disaster he had threatened.

Exodus 32:34 Now go, lead the people to the place I told you about. Remember that my angel will guide you, but the time is coming when I will punish these people for their sin." 35 So the Lord sent a disease on the people, because they had caused Aaron to make the gold bull-calf.

Exodus 33:1 The Lord said to Moses, "Leave this place, you and the people you brought out of Egypt, and go to the land that I promised to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and to their descendants. 2 I will send an angel to guide you, and I will drive out the Canaanites, the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. 3 You are going to a rich and fertile land. But I will not go with you myself, because you are a stubborn people, and I might destroy you on the way." 4 When the people heard this, they began to mourn and did not wear jewelry any more. 5 For the Lord had commanded Moses to tell them, "You are a stubborn people. If I were to go with you even for a moment, I would completely destroy you. Now take off your jewelry, and I will decide what to do with you." 6 So after they left Mount Sinai, the people of Israel no longer wore jewelry.

558-Joshua 1:16 They answered Joshua, "We will do everything you have told us and will go anywhere you send us. 17 We will obey you, just as we always obeyed Moses, and may the Lord your God be with you as he was with Moses! 18 Whoever questions your authority or disobeys any of your orders will be put to death. Be determined and confident!"

559-Exodus 21:23 But if the woman herself is injured, the punishment shall be life for life, 24 eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, 25 burn for burn, wound for wound, bruise for bruise

560-Leviticus 24:19 "If any of you injure another person, whatever you have done shall be done to you. 20 If you break a bone, one of your bones shall be broken; if you put out an eye, one of your eyes shall be put out; if you knock out a tooth, one of your teeth shall be knocked out. Whatever injury you cause another person shall be done to you in return.

561-Deuteronomy 19:16 If any of you try to harm another by false accusations, 17 both of you are to go to the one place of worship and be judged by the priests and judges who are then in office. 18 The judges will investigate the case thoroughly; and if you have made a false accusation, 19 you are to receive the punishment the accused would have received. In this way your nation will get rid of this evil. 20 Then everyone else will hear what happened; they will be afraid, and no one will ever again do such an evil thing. 21 In such cases show no mercy; the punishment is to be a life for a life, an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, a hand for a hand, and a foot for a foot.

562-Matthew 5:38 "You have heard that it was said, "An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth.' 39 But now I tell you: do not take revenge on someone who wrongs you. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, let him slap your left cheek too. 40 And if someone takes you to court to sue you for your shirt, let him have your coat as well. 41 And if one of the occupation troops forces you to carry his pack one mile, carry it two miles. 42 When someone asks you for something, give it to him; when someone wants to borrow something, lend it to him.

563-Genesis 26:5 I will bless you, because Abraham obeyed me and kept all my laws and commands."

564-Exodus 34:29 When Moses went down from Mount Sinai carrying the Ten Commandments, his face was shining because he had been speaking with the Lord; but he did not know it. 30 Aaron and all the people looked at Moses and saw that his face was shining, and they were afraid to go near him. 31 But Moses called them, and Aaron and all the leaders of the community went to him, and Moses spoke with them. 32 After that, all the people of Israel gathered around him, and Moses gave them all the laws that the Lord had given him on Mount Sinai. 33 When Moses had finished speaking with them, he covered his face with a veil. 34 Whenever Moses went into the Tent of the Lord's presence to speak to the Lord, he would take the veil off. When he came out, he would tell the people of Israel everything that he had been commanded to say, 35 and they would see that his face was shining. Then he would put the veil back on until the next time he went to speak with the Lord.

565-Exodus 33:23 Then I will take my hand away, and you will see my back but not my face."

566-Exodus 33:20 I will not let you see my face, because no one can see me and stay alive,

567-Exodus 33:18 Then Moses requested, "Please, let me see the dazzling light of your presence."

568-Exodus 23:27 "I will make the people who oppose you afraid of me; I will bring confusion among the people against whom you fight, and I will make all your enemies turn and run from you. 28 I will throw your enemies into panic; I will drive out the Hivites, the Canaanites, and the Hittites as you advance.

569-Genesis 17:7,8; 26:3,4; 28:13,147 "I will keep my promise to you and to your descendants in future generations as an everlasting covenant. I will be your God and the God of your descendants. 8 I will give to you and to your descendants this land in which you are now a foreigner. The whole land of Canaan will belong to your descendants forever, and I will be their God."

Genesis 26:3 Live here, and I will be with you and bless you. I am going to give all this territory to you and to your descendants. I will keep the promise I made to your father Abraham. 4 I will give you as many descendants as there are stars in the sky, and I will give them all this territory. All the nations will ask me to bless them as I have blessed your descendants.

Genesis 28:13 And there was the Lord standing beside him. "I am the Lord, the God of Abraham and Isaac," he said. "I will give to you and to your descendants this land on which you are lying. 14 They will be as numerous as the specks of dust on the earth. They will extend their territory in all directions, and through you and your descendants I will bless all the nations.

570-Leviticus 26:14 The Lord said, "If you will not obey my commands, you will be punished. 15 If you refuse to obey my laws and commands and break the covenant I have made with you, 16 I will punish you. I will bring disaster on you - incurable diseases and fevers that will make you blind and cause your life to waste away. You will plant your crops, but it will do you no good, because your enemies will conquer you and eat what you have grown. 17 I will turn against you, so that you will be defeated, and those who hate you will rule over you; you will be so terrified that you will run when no one is chasing you. 18 "If even after all of this you still do not obey me, I will increase your punishment seven times. 19 I will break your stubborn pride; there will be no rain, and your land will be dry and as hard as iron. 20 All your hard work will do you no good, because your land will not produce crops and the trees will not bear fruit. 21 "If you still continue to resist me and refuse to obey me, I will again increase your punishment seven times. 22 I will send dangerous animals among you, and they will kill your children, destroy your livestock, and leave so few of you that your roads will be deserted. 23 "If after all of this punishment you still do not listen to me, but continue to defy me, 24 then I will turn on you and punish you seven times harder than before. 25 I will bring war on you to punish you for breaking our covenant, and if you gather in your cities for safety, I will send incurable diseases among you, and you will be forced to surrender to your enemies. 26 I will cut off your food supply, so that ten women will need only one oven to bake all the bread they have. They will ration it out, and when you have eaten it all, you will still be hungry. 27 "If after all of this you still continue to defy me and refuse to obey me, 28 then in my anger I will turn on you and again make your punishment seven times worse than before. 29 Your hunger will be so great that you will eat your own children. 30 I will destroy your places of worship on the hills, tear down your incense altars, and throw your dead bodies on your fallen idols. In utter disgust 31 I will turn your cities into ruins, destroy your places of worship, and refuse to accept your sacrifices. 32 I will destroy your land so completely that the enemies who occupy it will be shocked at the destruction. 33 I will bring war on you and scatter you in foreign lands. Your land will be deserted, and your cities left in ruins. 34 Then the land will enjoy the years of complete rest that you would not give it; it will lie abandoned and get its rest while you are in exile in the land of your enemies. 36 "I will make those of you who are in exile so terrified that the sound of a leaf blowing in the wind will make you run. You will run as if you were being pursued in battle, and you will fall when there is no enemy near you. 37 You will stumble over one another when no one is chasing you, and you will be unable to fight against any enemy. 38 You will die in exile, swallowed up by the land of your enemies. 39 The few of you who survive in the land of your enemies will waste away because of your own sin and the sin of your ancestors. 40 "But your descendants will confess their sins and the sins of their ancestors, who resisted me and rebelled against me, 41 and caused me to turn against them and send them into exile in the land of their enemies. At last, when your descendants are humbled and they have paid the penalty for their sin and rebellion, 42 I will remember my covenant with Jacob and with Isaac and with Abraham, and I will renew my promise to give my people the land. 43 First, however, the land must be rid of its people, so that it can enjoy its complete rest, and they must pay the full penalty for having rejected my laws and my commands. 44 But even then, when they are still in the land of their enemies, I will not completely abandon them or destroy them. That would put an end to my covenant with them, and I am the Lord their God. 45 I will renew the covenant that I made with their ancestors when I showed all the nations my power by bringing my people out of Egypt, in order that I, the Lord, might be their God." 46 All these are the laws and commands that the Lord gave to Moses on Mount Sinai for the people of Israel.

571-Deuteronomy 7:17-26; 8:18-20; 11:17; 29:24-2817 "Do not tell yourselves that these peoples outnumber you and that you cannot drive them out. 18 Do not be afraid of them; remember what the Lord your God did to the king of Egypt and to all his people. 19 Remember the terrible plagues that you saw with your own eyes, the miracles and wonders, and the great power and strength by which the Lord your God set you free. In the same way that he destroyed the Egyptians, he will destroy all these people that you now fear. 20 He will even cause panic among them and will destroy those who escape and go into hiding. 21 So do not be afraid of these people. The Lord your God is with you; he is a great God and one to be feared. 22 Little by little he will drive out these nations as you advance. You will not be able to destroy them all at once, for, if you did, the number of wild animals would increase and be a threat to you. 23 The Lord will put your enemies in your power and make them panic until they are destroyed. 24 He will put their kings in your power. You will kill them, and they will be forgotten. No one will be able to stop you; you will destroy everyone. 25 Burn their idols. Do not desire the silver or gold that is on them, and do not take it for yourselves. If you do, that will be fatal, because the Lord hates idolatry. 26 Do not bring any of these idols into your homes, or the same curse will be on you that is on them. You must hate and despise these idols, because they are under the Lord's curse.

Deuteronomy 8:18 Remember that it is the Lord your God who gives you the power to become rich. He does this because he is still faithful today to the covenant that he made with your ancestors. 19 Never forget the Lord your God or turn to other gods to worship and serve them. If you do, then I warn you today that you will certainly be destroyed. 20 If you do not obey the Lord, then you will be destroyed just like those nations that he is going to destroy as you advance.

Deuteronomy 11:17 If you do, the Lord will become angry with you. He will hold back the rain, and your ground will become too dry for crops to grow. Then you will soon die there, even though it is a good land that he is giving you.

Deuteronomy 29:24 Then the whole world will ask, "Why did the Lord do this to their land? What was the reason for his fierce anger?' 25 And the answer will be, "It is because the Lord's people broke the covenant they had made with him, the God of their ancestors, when he brought them out of Egypt. 26 They served other gods that they had never worshiped before, gods that the Lord had forbidden them to worship. 27 And so the Lord became angry with his people and brought on their land all the disasters written in this book. 28 The Lord became furiously angry, and in his great anger he uprooted them from their land and threw them into a foreign land, and there they are today.'

572-Exodus 20:4 "Do not make for yourselves images of anything in heaven or on earth or in the water under the earth.

573-Exodus 25:10 "Make a Box out of acacia wood, 45 inches long, 27 inches wide, and 27 inches high. 11 Cover it with pure gold inside and out and put a gold border all around it. 12 Make four carrying rings of gold for it and attach them to its four legs, with two rings on each side. 13 Make carrying poles of acacia wood and cover them with gold 14 and put them through the rings on each side of the Box. 15 The poles are to be left in the rings and must not be taken out. 16 Then put in the Box the two stone tablets that I will give you, on which the commandments are written. 17 "Make a lid of pure gold, 45 inches long and 27 inches wide. 18 Make two winged creatures of hammered gold, 19 one for each end of the lid. Make them so that they form one piece with the lid. 20 The winged creatures are to face each other across the lid, and their outspread wings are to cover it. 21 Put the two stone tablets inside the Box and put the lid on top of it. 22 I will meet you there, and from above the lid between the two winged creatures I will give you all my laws for the people of Israel.

574-Exodus 20:3 "Worship no god but me.

575-Joel 2:27 Then, Israel, you will know that I am among you and that I, the Lord, am your God and there is no other. My people will never be despised again.

576-Leviticus 20:2 to say to the people of Israel, "Any of you or any foreigner living among you who gives any children to be used in the worship of the god Molech shall be stoned to death by the whole community.

577-Leviticus 24:10 There was a man whose father was an Egyptian and whose mother was an Israelite named Shelomith, the daughter of Dibri from the tribe of Dan. There in the camp this man quarreled with an Israelite. During the quarrel he cursed the Lord, so they took him to Moses, 12 put him under guard, and waited for the Lord to tell them what to do with him. 13 The Lord said to Moses, 14 "Take that man out of the camp. Everyone who heard him curse shall put his hands on the man's head to testify that he is guilty, and then the whole community shall stone him to death. 15 Then tell the people of Israel that anyone who curses God must suffer the consequences 16 and be put to death. Any Israelite or any foreigner living in Israel who curses the Lord shall be stoned to death by the whole community. 17 "Any who commit murder shall be put to death, 18 and any who kill an animal belonging to someone else must replace it. The principle is a life for a life.

578-Numbers 35:16 "If, however, any of you use a weapon of iron or stone or wood to kill someone, you are guilty of murder and are to be put to death. 19 The dead person's nearest relative has the responsibility for putting the murderer to death. When he finds you, he is to kill you. 20 "If you hate someone and kill him by pushing him down or by throwing something at him 21 or by striking him with your fist, you are guilty of murder and are to be put to death. The dead person's nearest relative has the responsibility for putting the murderer to death. When he finds you, he is to kill you. 22 "But suppose you accidentally kill someone you do not hate, whether by pushing him down or by throwing something at him. 23 Or suppose that, without looking, you throw a stone that kills someone whom you did not intend to hurt and who was not your enemy. 24 In such cases the community shall judge in your favor and not in favor of the dead person's relative who is seeking revenge.

579-Deuteronomy 13:1 "Prophets or interpreters of dreams may promise a miracle or a wonder, 2 in order to lead you to worship and serve gods that you have not worshiped before. Even if what they promise comes true, 3 do not pay any attention to them. The Lord your God is using them to test you, to see if you love the Lord with all your heart. 4 Follow the Lord and honor him; obey him and keep his commands; worship him and be faithful to him. 5 But put to death any interpreters of dreams or prophets that tell you to rebel against the Lord, who rescued you from Egypt, where you were slaves. Such people are evil and are trying to lead you away from the life that the Lord has commanded you to live. They must be put to death, in order to rid yourselves of this evil.

580-Deuteronomy 13:656 "Even your brother or your son or your daughter or the wife you love or your closest friend may secretly encourage you to worship other gods, gods that you and your ancestors have never worshiped. 7 Some of them may encourage you to worship the gods of the people who live near you or the gods of those who live far away. 8 But do not let any of them persuade you; do not even listen to them. Show them no mercy or pity, and do not protect them. 9 Kill them! Be the first to stone them, and then let everyone else stone them too. 10 Stone them to death! They tried to lead you away from the Lord your God, who rescued you from Egypt, where you were slaves. 11 Then all the people of Israel will hear what happened; they will be afraid, and no one will ever again do such an evil thing. 12 "When you are living in the towns that the Lord your God gives you, you may hear 13 that some worthless people of your nation have misled the people of their town to worship gods that you have never worshiped before. 14 If you hear such a rumor, investigate it thoroughly; and if it is true that this evil thing did happen, 15 then kill all the people in that town and all their livestock too. Destroy that town completely. 16 Bring together all the possessions of the people who live there and pile them up in the town square. Then burn the town and everything in it as an offering to the Lord your God. It must be left in ruins forever and never again be rebuilt. 17 Do not keep for yourselves anything that was condemned to destruction, and then the Lord will turn from his fierce anger and show you mercy. He will be merciful to you and make you a numerous people, as he promised your ancestors, 18 if you obey all his commands that I have given you today, and do what he requires.

Deuteronomy 17:2 "Suppose you hear that in one of your towns some men or women have sinned against the Lord and broken his covenant 3 by worshiping and serving other gods or the sun or the moon or the stars, contrary to the Lord's command. 4 If you hear such a report, then investigate it thoroughly. If it is true that this evil thing has happened in Israel, 5 then take them outside the town and stone them to death.

581-Deuteronomy 21:18 "Suppose someone has a son who is stubborn and rebellious, a son who will not obey his parents, even though they punish him. 19 His parents are to take him before the leaders of the town where he lives and make him stand trial. 20 They are to say to them, "Our son is stubborn and rebellious and refuses to obey us; he wastes money and is a drunkard.' 21 Then the men of the city are to stone him to death, and so you will get rid of this evil. Everyone in Israel will hear what has happened and be afraid.

582-Deuteronomy 22:20 "But if the charge is true and there is no proof that she was a virgin, 21 then they are to take her out to the entrance of her father's house, where the men of her city are to stone her to death. She has done a shameful thing among our people by having intercourse before she was married, while she was still living in her father's house. In this way you will get rid of this evil. 22 "If a man is caught having intercourse with another man's wife, both of them are to be put to death. In this way you will get rid of this evil. 23 "Suppose a man is caught in a town having intercourse with a young woman who is engaged to someone else. 24 You are to take them outside the town and stone them to death. She is to die because she did not cry out for help, although she was in a town, where she could have been heard. And the man is to die because he had intercourse with someone who was engaged. In this way you will get rid of this evil. 25 "Suppose a man out in the countryside rapes a young woman who is engaged to someone else. Then only the man is to be put to death; 26 nothing is to be done to the woman, because she has not committed a sin worthy of death. This case is the same as when one man attacks another man and murders him. 27 The man raped the engaged woman in the countryside, and although she cried for help, there was no one to help her.

583-Joshua 7:1 The Lord's command to Israel not to take from Jericho anything that was to be destroyed was not obeyed. A man named Achan disobeyed that order, and so the Lord was furious with the Israelites. (Achan was the son of Carmi and grandson of Zabdi, and belonged to the clan of Zerah, a part of the tribe of Judah.) 2 Joshua sent some men from Jericho to Ai, a city east of Bethel, near Bethaven, with orders to go and explore the land. When they had done so, 3 they reported back to Joshua: "There is no need for everyone to attack Ai. Send only about two or three thousand men. Don't send the whole army up there to fight; it is not a large city." 4 So about three thousand Israelites made the attack, but they were forced to retreat. 5 The men of Ai chased them from the city gate as far as some quarries and killed about thirty-six of them on the way down the hill. Then the Israelites lost their courage and were afraid. 6 Joshua and the leaders of Israel tore their clothes in grief, threw themselves to the ground before the Lord's Covenant Box, and lay there till evening, with dust on their heads to show their sorrow. 7 And Joshua said, "Sovereign Lord! Why did you bring us across the Jordan at all? To turn us over to the Amorites? To destroy us? Why didn't we just stay on the other side of the Jordan? 8 What can I say, O Lord, now that Israel has retreated from the enemy? 9 The Canaanites and everyone else in the country will hear about it. They will surround us and kill every one of us! And then what will you do to protect your honor?" 10 The Lord said to Joshua, "Get up! Why are you lying on the ground like this? 11 Israel has sinned! They have broken the agreement with me that I ordered them to keep. They have taken some of the things condemned to destruction. They stole them, lied about it, and put them with their own things. 12 This is why the Israelites cannot stand against their enemies. They retreat from them because they themselves have now been condemned to destruction! I will not stay with you any longer unless you destroy the things you were ordered not to take! 13 Get up! Purify the people and get them ready to come before me. Tell them to be ready tomorrow, because I, the Lord God of Israel, have this to say: "Israel, you have in your possession some things that I ordered you to destroy! You cannot stand against your enemies until you get rid of these things!' 14 So tell them that in the morning they will be brought forward, tribe by tribe. The tribe that I pick out will then come forward, clan by clan. The clan that I pick out will come forward, family by family. The family that I pick out will come forward, one by one. 15 The one who is then picked out and found with the condemned goods will be burned, along with his family and everything he owns, for he has brought terrible shame on Israel and has broken my covenant." 16 Early the next morning Joshua brought Israel forward, tribe by tribe, and the tribe of Judah was picked out. 17 He brought the tribe of Judah forward, clan by clan, and the clan of Zerah was picked out. Then he brought the clan of Zerah forward, family by family, and the family of Zabdi was picked out. 18 He then brought Zabdi's family forward, one by one, and Achan, the son of Carmi and grandson of Zabdi, was picked out. 19 Joshua said to him, "My son, tell the truth here before the Lord, the God of Israel, and confess. Tell me now what you have done. Don't try to hide it from me." 20 "It's true," Achan answered. "I have sinned against the Lord, Israel's God, and this is what I did. 21 Among the things we seized I saw a beautiful Babylonian cloak, about five pounds of silver, and a bar of gold weighing over one pound. I wanted them so much that I took them. You will find them buried inside my tent, with the silver at the bottom." 22 So Joshua sent some men, who ran to the tent and found that the condemned things really were buried there, with the silver at the bottom. 23 They brought them out of the tent, took them to Joshua and all the Israelites, and laid them down in the presence of the Lord. 24 Joshua, along with all the people of Israel, seized Achan, the silver, the cloak, the bar of gold, together with Achan's sons and daughters, his cattle, donkeys, and sheep, his tent, and everything else he owned; and they took them to Trouble Valley. 25 And Joshua said, "Why have you brought such trouble on us? The Lord will now bring trouble on you!" All the people then stoned Achan to death; they also stoned and burned his family and possessions. 26 They put a huge pile of stones over him, which is there to this day. That is why that place is still called Trouble Valley. Then the Lord was no longer furious.

584-ST, September 2, 1880 The Twelve Spies

(Concluded.)

The proposition to send men to search the land was first made by the people. But as it pleased Moses, he presented the matter before the Lord and obtained his consent for them to go. The result was, disaster and destruction. Had they waited for the Lord to say “Go forward,” and followed the divine Leader, they would have seen the majesty and glory of God as verily as they saw it forty years afterward. The Lord often permits men to have their own way, to teach them that the way he marks out is the only safe path for them to follow. {ST September 2, 1880, par. 1}

All Israel were suffering under the frown of God. He could not work for them while their hearts were filled with bitter murmurings, for they were in no fit state to appreciate anything that he would do for them. The manifestation of his power in their behalf against their enemies would only fill them with pride and self-importance. They would not sanctify the Lord in their hearts, and give him the glory. Therefore he mercifully turned their course backward. They were to be enclosed in the wilderness, and to see neither city nor town for forty years, until those who were continually murmuring should die. {ST September 2, 1880, par. 2}

When Moses made known to the people the divine decision, their recent madness and insane rage turned to the most bitter regrets and lamentations. They knew that this punishment was merited. The ten unfaithful spies had perished before their eyes, their doom signifying the destruction of all in their ranks above twenty years of age. Their unbelief and rebellion had cost them all. {ST September 2, 1880, par. 3}

At this time even, had they shown true and sincere repentance, God might have given them another trial, as he did the ancient Ninevites; but instead of this they sank down in utter despondency. They knew that God was in earnest with them. They passed a sleepless night, but with the morning came a hope. They determined to redeem their cowardice. They would not look toward the wilderness, or the Red Sea, but they would equip themselves for war, and would seize the land and possess it by their might, peradventure their works might be accepted of God. They confessed saying, “We have sinned against the Lord, we will go up and fight, according to all that the Lord our God commanded us.” Here again their transgressions had turned their light into darkness. The Lord had never told them “to go up and fight.” He did not design that they should gain the land of promise by warfare, but through submission and unqualified obedience to his commands. {ST September 2, 1880, par. 4}

Those who so recently were complaining at the purposes of God because they thought that they were to run some risks in warfare, were now fully determined to carry out their own will at all hazards. Thus it is with human nature. There is nothing rash or inconsistent that a person will not be tempted to do when his heart is raging in rebellion against the will of God, as though weak and feeble man could overthrow the purposes of Jehovah. {ST September 2, 1880, par. 5}

These strong-minded men were prepared for the conflict in their own estimation, but they were sadly deficient in the sight of God and his sorrowful servants. When God directed them to go up and take Jericho, he promised to go with them. The ark containing his law was to be a symbol of himself. Moses and Aaron, his appointed leaders, were to conduct the expedition under his watchful direction. With such supervision, no harm could have come to them. But now, contrary to the command of God, and the solemn prohibition of their leaders, without the ark of God and without Moses, they march out to meet the armies of the enemy, a tumultuous, disorganized company. While Aaron sounds the trumpet of alarm, Moses hastens after them, and says: “Wherefore now do you transgress the commandment of the Lord? but it shall not prosper. Go not up, for the Lord is not among you, that ye be not smitten before your enemies; for the Amalekites and Canaanites are there before you, and ye shall fall by the sword.” {ST September 2, 1880, par. 6}

During the time consumed by the Israelites in their wicked insubordination, the inhabitants of the land had become alarmed, and had prepared for battle. Having heard so much in regard to the wonderful works of God for his people Israel, they made most thorough preparations to defend their cities. {ST September 2, 1880, par. 7}

As Israel presumed to disregard the voice of God and man, they had no leader, but rushed impetuously away from the warning voice of Moses. On they pushed in confusion. No prayer was offered now that God would give them the victory, for he had expressly forbidden them to go up. Their numbers were immense, and they determined to make a fierce attack upon the very men whom they had refused to meet, with Moses as leader, and God as their defense. Hatred against the Lord and his pronounced judgments burned in the hearts of these men of war. {ST September 2, 1880, par. 8}

But their might of numbers was of no advantage, for their foe was reached only through rocky passages. The Israelites were wearied with their furious march, while their enemies were fresh, and had chosen high ground from which they hurled rocks down upon the supposed invaders. In their desperation they made many efforts, but could accomplish nothing, and after many of them were slain, the remainder turned and fled. Moses thus describes their defeat: “And the Amorites which dwelt in that mountain, came out against you and chased you, as bees do, and destroyed you in Seir, even unto Hormah, and ye returned and wept before the Lord; but the Lord would not hearken to your voice, nor give ear unto you.” This last defiant act had sealed their fate. This shows us that there is danger of our presuming upon the mercy of God until mercy is turned to retributive justice. There is a limit to the mercy and long-forbearance of God. If the professed people of God in this age refuse to heed his express commands and warnings, they will be in no more favored position than was ancient Israel, when God, their salvation and defense, departed from them. {ST September 2, 1880, par. 9}

585-PP 392The decree that Israel was not to enter Canaan for forty years was a bitter disappointment to Moses and Aaron, Caleb and Joshua; yet without a murmur they accepted the divine decision. But those who had been complaining of God’s dealings with them, and declaring that they would return to Egypt, wept and mourned greatly when the blessings which they had despised were taken from them. They had complained at nothing, and now God gave them cause to weep. Had they mourned for their sin when it was faithfully laid before them, this sentence would not have been pronounced; but they mourned for the judgment; their sorrow was not repentance, and could not secure a reversing of their sentence. {PP 392.1}

The night was spent in lamentation, but with the morning came a hope. They resolved to redeem their cowardice. When God had bidden them go up and take the land, they had refused; and now when He directed them to retreat they were equally rebellious. They determined to seize upon the land and possess it; it might be that God would accept their work and change His purpose toward them. {PP 392.2}

God had made it their privilege and their duty to enter the land at the time of His appointment, but through their willful neglect that permission had been withdrawn. Satan had gained his object in preventing them from entering Canaan; and now he urged them on to do the very thing, in the face of the divine prohibition, which they had refused to do when God required it. Thus the great deceiver gained the victory by leading them to rebellion the second time. They had distrusted the power of God to work with their efforts in gaining possession of Canaan; yet now they presumed upon their own strength to accomplish the work independent of divine aid. “We have sinned against the Lord,” they cried; “we will go up and fight, according to all that the Lord our God commanded us.” Deuteronomy 1:41. So terribly blinded had they become by transgression. The Lord had never commanded them to “go up and fight.” It was not His purpose that they should gain the land by warfare, but by strict obedience to His commands. {PP 392.3}

586-RH, November 5, 1903The Workers Needed Now

God chooses as his workmen men of different gifts and varied abilities. It is his purpose that these workers shall unite with one another in their labor. All selfishness is to be cast out of their hearts. If it is allowed to developed, it will spring up in a root of bitterness, whereby many shall be defiled. {RH November 5, 1903, Art. A, par. 1}

When a crisis comes, there is need of men of deep experience in the things of God, men who can carry the work forward with tact and forethought and skill. Those who allow themselves to be leavened by influences that endanger their spirituality are unfitting themselves to be used by God as men of opportunity. God calls for men who are prepared to meet emergencies, men who in a crisis will not be found standing on the wrong side, warring against God, full of wrath and bitterness. Great weakness is brought to his cause by men who, at the very time when they should be quick to discern the specious devising of Satan, are helping him to carry on his work by giving up to the power of his delusions, closing their eyes to light and truth. {RH November 5, 1903, Art. A, par. 2}

We are not to conceal the truth for this time. It is to stand forth in its power and purity. The trumpet is to give a certain sound; for there are those who, though they have long known the truth, need to be awakened. They have closed their eyes to the result of walking contrary to the light that God has given. {RH November 5, 1903, Art. A, par. 3}

We are living in the last days of this earth’s history, and God calls upon those who have an understanding of the truth for this time to pray, to believe, to stand fast in the faith, proclaiming the message of mercy to be given to the world. My brethren, I pray most earnestly “that ye might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; that ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God; strengthened with all might, according to his glorious power, unto all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness.” {RH November 5, 1903, Art. A, par. 4}

There are those who today are standing in perilous places, giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils. From this time on, Satan will bring in deceptive influences of every kind. True, stanch, whole-hearted believers are needed; men who are not fashioned after a worldly mold, but who see and realize that it is at this time that Satan’s power will be exercised through believers who have not kept the beginning of their confidence firm unto the end. {RH November 5, 1903, Art. A, par. 5}

Workers are needed who understand that the warnings given in the Word of God are appropriate for this time. Shall we not pray and watch unto prayer, and see that we need to be re-converted? God’s purpose for us is that we shall be constantly “increasing in the knowledge of God; strengthened with all might, according to his glorious power, unto all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness.” {RH November 5, 1903, Art. A, par. 6}

At this time we need men who are as true as steel to principle. We need the help of every one who has had an experience in the giving of the first and second angels’ messages. {RH November 5, 1903, Art. A, par. 7}

There are those who have so linked themselves with the world that they have lost the knowledge of God, and are departing from the faith. How glad we should be to say to all such ones,” And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled in the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight: if ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard.” {RH November 5, 1903, Art. A, par. 8}

Paul wrote these words to the Colossians, and he continues: {RH November 5, 1903, Art. A, par. 9}

“Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body’s sake, which is the church: whereof I am made a minister, according to the dispensation of God which is given to me for you, to fulfil the word of God; even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints: to whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory: whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus: whereunto I also labor, striving according to his working, which worketh in me mightily.” {RH November 5, 1903, Art. A, par. 10}

There is now need of unity; and there will be unity. Those who have greatly hindered the cause of God, and have caused heavy burdens to rest upon their fellow laborers, because they have lost their bearings, will either humble their proud hearts, and be converted, or they will be moved out of the way! The warning comes: {RH November 5, 1903, Art. A, par. 11}

“As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him: rooted and built up in him, and established in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving. Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ. For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily. And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power.” {RH November 5, 1903, Art. A, par. 12}

Amid the temptations that abound in these last days, some will depart from the faith. Those who have been trying to quench their thirst at broken cisterns, which can hold no water, will have a misleading message to proclaim. They will speak smooth things. It is now, just now, that genuine gospel medical missionary work is to be done by men who acknowledge Christ as their Master; who realize, as did Elijah and Jeremiah, that they hold their commission from God, and that they are accountable to God for the use made of the talents entrusted to them. God’s workers are to acknowledge no earthly master. One higher than men, even he who is the way, the truth, and the life, is their Master. {RH November 5, 1903, Art. A, par. 13}

Men are needed who can speak intelligently of the sacredness and the importance of the truth; men who can point their fellow men to the needs of the present hour; men who have an inspiring message to bear against perverted principle; who watch for souls as they that must give an account, pointing souls to God’s standard of righteousness. {RH November 5, 1903, Art. A, par. 14}

Many who have known the truth, but who have not cherished its principles in their hearts, will become leavened with evil. This evil they do not discern. In word and act they say, “Speak unto us smooth things, prophesy deceits.” We are now to call things by their right names. No longer are we to look upon unrighteousness as righteousness. Let every one now be prepared to lift up the standard of truth. We are to have no fellowship with the worldly practises that have perverted the faith of some who have enjoyed great privileges, and who should now be standing on vantage-ground. {RH November 5, 1903, Art. A, par. 15}

We are to respond to God’s call to take a decided stand for truth and righteousness. No longer are we to bind up with worldly elements. The leaders in God’s work are not to be men who do not know God, who have no experimental knowledge of God. They are to be men who love and fear God and Christ; otherwise, they must be relieved of their responsibilities. {RH November 5, 1903, Art. A, par. 16}

587-Exodus 40:1 The Lord said to Moses,

Exodus 17:17 So on the first day of the first month of the second year after they left Egypt, the Tent of the Lord's presence was set up.

588-Leviticus 17:11 The life of every living thing is in the blood, and that is why the Lord has commanded that all blood be poured out on the altar to take away the people's sins. Blood, which is life, takes away sins.

589-Heb. 10:4 For the blood of bulls and goats can never take away sins.

590-Leviticus 16:3 He may enter the Most Holy Place only after he has brought a young bull for a sin offering and a ram for a burnt offering."

591-Rom. 3:25 God offered him, so that by his blood he should become the means by which people's sins are forgiven through their faith in him. God did this in order to demonstrate that he is righteous. In the past he was patient and overlooked people's sins; but in the present time he deals with their sins, in order to demonstrate his righteousness. In this way God shows that he himself is righteous and that he puts right everyone who believes in Jesus.

592-Heb. 9:15 For this reason Christ is the one who arranges a new covenant, so that those who have been called by God may receive the eternal blessings that God has promised. This can be done because there has been a death which sets people free from the wrongs they did while the first covenant was in effect.

593-John 5:39 You study the Scriptures, because you think that in them you will find eternal life. And these very Scriptures speak about me! 40 Yet you are not willing to come to me in order to have life

594-Luke 24:44 Then he said to them, "These are the very things I told you about while I was still with you: everything written about me in the Law of Moses, the writings of the prophets, and the Psalms had to come true."

595-2 Timothy 3:16 All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching the truth, rebuking error, correcting faults, and giving instruction for right living, 17 so that the person who serves God may be fully qualified and equipped to do every kind of good deed.

596-1 Corinthians 10:1 I want you to remember, my friends, what happened to our ancestors who followed Moses. They were all under the protection of the cloud, and all passed safely through the Red Sea. 2 In the cloud and in the sea they were all baptized as followers of Moses. 3 All ate the same spiritual bread 4 and drank the same spiritual drink. They drank from the spiritual rock that went with them; and that rock was Christ himself.

597-Numbers 26:59 who was married to Levi's daughter Jochebed, who was born in Egypt. She bore Amram two sons, Aaron and Moses, and a daughter, Miriam.

598-Leviticus 18:6,8,9,11,18; 20:11,176 The Lord gave the following regulations. Do not have sexual intercourse with any of your relatives.

Leviticus 18:8 Do not disgrace your father by having intercourse with any of his other wives. 9 Do not have intercourse with your sister or your stepsister, whether or not she was brought up in the same house with you.

Leviticus 18:11 Do not have intercourse with a half sister; she, too, is your sister.

Leviticus 18:18 Do not take your wife's sister as one of your wives, as long as your wife is living.

Leviticus 20:11 A man who has intercourse with one of his father's wives disgraces his father, and both he and the woman shall be put to death. They are responsible for their own death.

Leviticus 20:17 If a man marries his sister or half sister, they shall be publicly disgraced and driven out of the community. He has had intercourse with his sister and must suffer the consequences.

599-Numbers 36:11 for Mahlah, Tirzah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Noah, the daughters of Zeloph'ehad, were married to sons of their father's brothers.

600-Hebrews 9:16 In the case of a will it is necessary to prove that the person who made it has died, 17 for a will means nothing while the person who made it is alive; it goes into effect only after his death. 18 That is why even the first covenant went into effect only with the use of blood. 19 First, Moses proclaimed to the people all the commandments as set forth in the Law. Then he took the blood of bulls and goats, mixed it with water, and sprinkled it on the book of the Law and all the people, using a sprig of hyssop and some red wool. 20 He said, "This is the blood which seals the covenant that God has commanded you to obey." 21 In the same way Moses also sprinkled the blood on the Sacred Tent and over all the things used in worship. 22 Indeed, according to the Law almost everything is purified by blood, and sins are forgiven only if blood is poured out. 23 Those things, which are copies of the heavenly originals, had to be purified in that way. But the heavenly things themselves require much better sacrifices. 24 For Christ did not go into a Holy Place made by human hands, which was a copy of the real one. He went into heaven itself, where he now appears on our behalf in the presence of God. 25 The Jewish high priest goes into the Most Holy Place every year with the blood of an animal. But Christ did not go in to offer himself many times, 26 for then he would have had to suffer many times ever since the creation of the world. Instead, now when all ages of time are nearing the end, he has appeared once and for all, to remove sin through the sacrifice of himself. 27 Everyone must die once, and after that be judged by God. 28 In the same manner Christ also was offered in sacrifice once to take away the sins of many. He will appear a second time, not to deal with sin, but to save those who are waiting for him.

Hebrews 10:1 The Jewish Law is not a full and faithful model of the real things; it is only a faint outline of the good things to come. The same sacrifices are offered forever, year after year. How can the Law, then, by means of these sacrifices make perfect the people who come to God? 2 If the people worshiping God had really been purified from their sins, they would not feel guilty of sin any more, and all sacrifices would stop. 3 As it is, however, the sacrifices serve year after year to remind people of their sins. 4 For the blood of bulls and goats can never take away sins.

601-John 2:13 It was almost time for the Passover Festival, so Jesus went to Jerusalem. 14 There in the Temple he found people selling cattle, sheep, and pigeons, and also the moneychangers sitting at their tables. 15 So he made a whip from cords and drove all the animals out of the Temple, both the sheep and the cattle; he overturned the tables of the moneychangers and scattered their coins; 16 and he ordered those who sold the pigeons, "Take them out of here! Stop making my Father's house a marketplace!" 17 His disciples remembered that the scripture says, "My devotion to your house, O God, burns in me like a fire." 18 The Jewish authorities came back at him with a question, "What miracle can you perform to show us that you have the right to do this?" 19 Jesus answered, "Tear down this Temple, and in three days I will build it again." 20 "Are you going to build it again in three days?" they asked him. "It has taken forty-six years to build this Temple!" 21 But the temple Jesus was speaking about was his body. 22 So when he was raised from death, his disciples remembered that he had said this, and they believed the scripture and what Jesus had said.

602-Malachi 2:4 Then you will know that I have given you this command, so that my covenant with the priests, the descendants of Levi, will not be broken. 5 "In my covenant I promised them life and well-being, and this is what I gave them, so that they might respect me. In those days they did respect and fear me. 6 They taught what was right, not what was wrong. They lived in harmony with me; they not only did what was right themselves, but they also helped many others to stop doing evil. 7 It is the duty of priests to teach the true knowledge of God. People should go to them to learn my will, because they are the messengers of the Lord Almighty.

603-Colossians 2:14 he canceled the unfavorable record of our debts with its binding rules and did away with it completely by nailing it to the cross.

604-2 Timothy 3:16 All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching the truth, rebuking error, correcting faults, and giving instruction for right living,

605-Genesis 3:1 Now the snake was the most cunning animal that the Lord God had made. The snake asked the woman, "Did God really tell you not to eat fruit from any tree in the garden?" 2 "We may eat the fruit of any tree in the garden," the woman answered, 3 "except the tree in the middle of it. God told us not to eat the fruit of that tree or even touch it; if we do, we will die." 4 The snake replied, "That's not true; you will not die.

606-Hebrews 10:1 The Jewish Law is not a full and faithful model of the real things; it is only a faint outline of the good things to come. The same sacrifices are offered forever, year after year. How can the Law, then, by means of these sacrifices make perfect the people who come to God? 2 If the people worshiping God had really been purified from their sins, they would not feel guilty of sin any more, and all sacrifices would stop. 3 As it is, however, the sacrifices serve year after year to remind people of their sins. 4 For the blood of bulls and goats can never take away sins.

607-Isaiah 1:10 Jerusalem, your rulers and your people are like those of Sodom and Gomorrah. Listen to what the Lord is saying to you. Pay attention to what our God is teaching you. 11 He says, "Do you think I want all these sacrifices you keep offering to me? I have had more than enough of the sheep you burn as sacrifices and of the fat of your fine animals. I am tired of the blood of bulls and sheep and goats. 12 Who asked you to bring me all this when you come to worship me? Who asked you to do all this tramping around in my Temple? 13 It's useless to bring your offerings. I am disgusted with the smell of the incense you burn. I cannot stand your New Moon Festivals, your Sabbaths, and your religious gatherings; they are all corrupted by your sins. 14 I hate your New Moon Festivals and holy days; they are a burden that I am tired of bearing. 15 "When you lift your hands in prayer, I will not look at you. No matter how much you pray, I will not listen, for your hands are covered with blood. 16 Wash yourselves clean. Stop all this evil that I see you doing. Yes, stop doing evil 17 and learn to do right. See that justice is done - help those who are oppressed, give orphans their rights, and defend widows." 18 The Lord says, "Now, let's settle the matter. You are stained red with sin, but I will wash you as clean as snow. Although your stains are deep red, you will be as white as wool. 19 If you will only obey me, you will eat the good things the land produces. 20 But if you defy me, you are doomed to die. I, the Lord, have spoken." 21 The city that once was faithful is behaving like a whore! At one time it was filled with righteous people, but now only murderers remain.

608-Amos 5:21 The Lord says, "I hate your religious festivals; I cannot stand them! 22 When you bring me burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them; I will not accept the animals you have fattened to bring me as offerings. 23 Stop your noisy songs; I do not want to listen to your harps. 24 Instead, let justice flow like a stream, and righteousness like a river that never goes dry.

609-Psalms 51:1 Be merciful to me, O God, because of your constant love. Because of your great mercy wipe away my sins! 2 Wash away all my evil and make me clean from my sin! 3 I recognize my faults; I am always conscious of my sins. 4 I have sinned against you - only against you - and done what you consider evil. So you are right in judging me; you are justified in condemning me. 5 I have been evil from the day I was born; from the time I was conceived, I have been sinful. 6 Sincerity and truth are what you require; fill my mind with your wisdom. 7 Remove my sin, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. 8 Let me hear the sounds of joy and gladness; and though you have crushed me and broken me, I will be happy once again. 9 Close your eyes to my sins and wipe out all my evil. 10 Create a pure heart in me, O God, and put a new and loyal spirit in me. 11 Do not banish me from your presence; do not take your holy spirit away from me. 12 Give me again the joy that comes from your salvation, and make me willing to obey you. 13 Then I will teach sinners your commands, and they will turn back to you. 14 Spare my life, O God, and save me, and I will gladly proclaim your righteousness. 15 Help me to speak, Lord, and I will praise you. 16 You do not want sacrifices, or I would offer them; you are not pleased with burnt offerings. 17 My sacrifice is a humble spirit, O God; you will not reject a humble and repentant heart. 18 O God, be kind to Zion and help her; rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. 19 Then you will be pleased with proper sacrifices and with our burnt offerings; and bulls will be sacrificed on your altar.

610-Micah 6:1 Listen to the Lord's case against Israel. Arise, O Lord, and present your case; let the mountains and the hills hear what you say. 2 You mountains, you everlasting foundations of the earth, listen to the Lord's case! The Lord has a case against his people. He is going to bring an accusation against Israel. 3 The Lord says, "My people, what have I done to you? How have I been a burden to you? Answer me. 4 I brought you out of Egypt; I rescued you from slavery; I sent Moses, Aaron, and Miriam to lead you. 5 My people, remember what King Balak of Moab planned to do to you and how Balaam son of Beor answered him. Remember the things that happened on the way from the camp at Acacia to Gilgal. Remember these things and you will realize what I did in order to save you." 6 What shall I bring to the Lord, the God of heaven, when I come to worship him? Shall I bring the best calves to burn as offerings to him? 7 Will the Lord be pleased if I bring him thousands of sheep or endless streams of olive oil? Shall I offer him my first-born child to pay for my sins? 8 No, the Lord has told us what is good. What he requires of us is this: to do what is just, to show constant love, and to live in humble fellowship with our God.

611-Hosea 6:4 But the Lord says, "Israel and Judah, what am I going to do with you? Your love for me disappears as quickly as morning mist; it is like dew, that vanishes early in the day. 5 That is why I have sent my prophets to you with my message of judgment and destruction. What I want from you is plain and clear: 6 I want your constant love, not your animal sacrifices. I would rather have my people know me than burn offerings to me.

612-Jeremiah 3:15,16; 7:2126; 31:31-3415 I will give you rulers who obey me, and they will rule you with wisdom and understanding. 16 Then when you have become numerous in that land, people will no longer talk about my Covenant Box. They will no longer think about it or remember it; they will not even need it, nor will they make another one.

Jeremiah 7:21 "My people, some sacrifices you burn completely on the altar, and some you are permitted to eat. But what I, the Lord, say is that you might as well eat them all. 22 I gave your ancestors no commands about burnt offerings or any other kinds of sacrifices when I brought them out of Egypt. 23 But I did command them to obey me, so that I would be their God and they would be my people. And I told them to live the way I had commanded them, so that things would go well for them. 24 But they did not obey or pay any attention. Instead, they did whatever their stubborn and evil hearts told them to do, and they became worse instead of better. 25 From the day that your ancestors came out of Egypt until this very day I have kept on sending to you my servants, the prophets. 26 Yet no one listened or paid any attention. Instead, you became more stubborn and rebellious than your ancestors

Jeremiah 31:31 The Lord says, "The time is coming when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and with the people of Judah. 32 It will not be like the old covenant that I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand and led them out of Egypt. Although I was like a husband to them, they did not keep that covenant. 33 The new covenant that I will make with the people of Israel will be this: I will put my law within them and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. 34 None of them will have to teach a neighbor to know the Lord, because all will know me, from the least to the greatest. I will forgive their sins and I will no longer remember their wrongs. I, the Lord, have spoken."

613-Hebrews 9:22 Indeed, according to the Law almost everything is purified by blood, and sins are forgiven only if blood is poured out.

614-Hebrews 9:16-10:416 In the case of a will it is necessary to prove that the person who made it has died, 17 for a will means nothing while the person who made it is alive; it goes into effect only after his death. 18 That is why even the first covenant went into effect only with the use of blood. 19 First, Moses proclaimed to the people all the commandments as set forth in the Law. Then he took the blood of bulls and goats, mixed it with water, and sprinkled it on the book of the Law and all the people, using a sprig of hyssop and some red wool. 20 He said, "This is the blood which seals the covenant that God has commanded you to obey." 21 In the same way Moses also sprinkled the blood on the Sacred Tent and over all the things used in worship. 22 Indeed, according to the Law almost everything is purified by blood, and sins are forgiven only if blood is poured out. 23 Those things, which are copies of the heavenly originals, had to be purified in that way. But the heavenly things themselves require much better sacrifices. 24 For Christ did not go into a Holy Place made by human hands, which was a copy of the real one. He went into heaven itself, where he now appears on our behalf in the presence of God. 25 The Jewish high priest goes into the Most Holy Place every year with the blood of an animal. But Christ did not go in to offer himself many times, 26 for then he would have had to suffer many times ever since the creation of the world. Instead, now when all ages of time are nearing the end, he has appeared once and for all, to remove sin through the sacrifice of himself. 27 Everyone must die once, and after that be judged by God. 28 In the same manner Christ also was offered in sacrifice once to take away the sins of many. He will appear a second time, not to deal with sin, but to save those who are waiting for him.

Hebrews 10:1 The Jewish Law is not a full and faithful model of the real things; it is only a faint outline of the good things to come. The same sacrifices are offered forever, year after year. How can the Law, then, by means of these sacrifices make perfect the people who come to God? 2 If the people worshiping God had really been purified from their sins, they would not feel guilty of sin any more, and all sacrifices would stop. 3 As it is, however, the sacrifices serve year after year to remind people of their sins. 4 For the blood of bulls and goats can never take away sins.

615-Psalms 51:10 Create a pure heart in me, O God, and put a new and loyal spirit in me. 11 Do not banish me from your presence; do not take your holy spirit away from me. 12 Give me again the joy that comes from your salvation, and make me willing to obey you. 13 Then I will teach sinners your commands, and they will turn back to you. 14 Spare my life, O God, and save me, and I will gladly proclaim your righteousness. 15 Help me to speak, Lord, and I will praise you. 16 You do not want sacrifices, or I would offer them; you are not pleased with burnt offerings. 17 My sacrifice is a humble spirit, O God; you will not reject a humble and repentant heart. 18 O God, be kind to Zion and help her; rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. 19 Then you will be pleased with proper sacrifices and with our burnt offerings; and bulls will be sacrificed on your altar.

616-Isaiah 1:11 He says, "Do you think I want all these sacrifices you keep offering to me? I have had more than enough of the sheep you burn as sacrifices and of the fat of your fine animals. I am tired of the blood of bulls and sheep and goats. 12 Who asked you to bring me all this when you come to worship me? Who asked you to do all this tramping around in my Temple? 13 It's useless to bring your offerings. I am disgusted with the smell of the incense you burn. I cannot stand your New Moon Festivals, your Sabbaths, and your religious gatherings; they are all corrupted by your sins. 14 I hate your New Moon Festivals and holy days; they are a burden that I am tired of bearing. 15 "When you lift your hands in prayer, I will not look at you. No matter how much you pray, I will not listen, for your hands are covered with blood. 16 Wash yourselves clean. Stop all this evil that I see you doing. Yes, stop doing evil 17 and learn to do right. See that justice is done - help those who are oppressed, give orphans their rights, and defend widows." 18 The Lord says, "Now, let's settle the matter. You are stained red with sin, but I will wash you as clean as snow. Although your stains are deep red, you will be as white as wool.

617-Jeremiah 7:21-26; 3:14-16; 31:31-3421 "My people, some sacrifices you burn completely on the altar, and some you are permitted to eat. But what I, the Lord, say is that you might as well eat them all. 22 I gave your ancestors no commands about burnt offerings or any other kinds of sacrifices when I brought them out of Egypt. 23 But I did command them to obey me, so that I would be their God and they would be my people. And I told them to live the way I had commanded them, so that things would go well for them. 24 But they did not obey or pay any attention. Instead, they did whatever their stubborn and evil hearts told them to do, and they became worse instead of better. 25 From the day that your ancestors came out of Egypt until this very day I have kept on sending to you my servants, the prophets. 26 Yet no one listened or paid any attention. Instead, you became more stubborn and rebellious than your ancestors.

Jeremiah 3:14 "Unfaithful people, come back; you belong to me. I will take one of you from each town and two from each clan, and I will bring you back to Mount Zion. 15 I will give you rulers who obey me, and they will rule you with wisdom and understanding. 16 Then when you have become numerous in that land, people will no longer talk about my Covenant Box. They will no longer think about it or remember it; they will not even need it, nor will they make another one.

Jeremiah 31:31 The Lord says, "The time is coming when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and with the people of Judah. 32 It will not be like the old covenant that I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand and led them out of Egypt. Although I was like a husband to them, they did not keep that covenant. 33 The new covenant that I will make with the people of Israel will be this: I will put my law within them and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. 34 None of them will have to teach a neighbor to know the Lord, because all will know me, from the least to the greatest. I will forgive their sins and I will no longer remember their wrongs. I, the Lord, have spoken."

618-Amos 5:21 The Lord says, "I hate your religious festivals; I cannot stand them! 22 When you bring me burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them; I will not accept the animals you have fattened to bring me as offerings. 23 Stop your noisy songs; I do not want to listen to your harps. 24 Instead, let justice flow like a stream, and righteousness like a river that never goes dry.

619-Micah 6:1 Listen to the Lord's case against Israel. Arise, O Lord, and present your case; let the mountains and the hills hear what you say. 2 You mountains, you everlasting foundations of the earth, listen to the Lord's case! The Lord has a case against his people. He is going to bring an accusation against Israel. 3 The Lord says, "My people, what have I done to you? How have I been a burden to you? Answer me. 4 I brought you out of Egypt; I rescued you from slavery; I sent Moses, Aaron, and Miriam to lead you. 5 My people, remember what King Balak of Moab planned to do to you and how Balaam son of Beor answered him. Remember the things that happened on the way from the camp at Acacia to Gilgal. Remember these things and you will realize what I did in order to save you." 6 What shall I bring to the Lord, the God of heaven, when I come to worship him? Shall I bring the best calves to burn as offerings to him? 7 Will the Lord be pleased if I bring him thousands of sheep or endless streams of olive oil? Shall I offer him my first-born child to pay for my sins? 8 No, the Lord has told us what is good. What he requires of us is this: to do what is just, to show constant love, and to live in humble fellowship with our God.

620-Hosea 6:4 But the Lord says, "Israel and Judah, what am I going to do with you? Your love for me disappears as quickly as morning mist; it is like dew, that vanishes early in the day. 5 That is why I have sent my prophets to you with my message of judgment and destruction. What I want from you is plain and clear: 6 I want your constant love, not your animal sacrifices. I would rather have my people know me than burn offerings to me.

621-Hebrews 10:1 The Jewish Law is not a full and faithful model of the real things; it is only a faint outline of the good things to come. The same sacrifices are offered forever, year after year. How can the Law, then, by means of these sacrifices make perfect the people who come to God? 2 If the people worshiping God had really been purified from their sins, they would not feel guilty of sin any more, and all sacrifices would stop. 3 As it is, however, the sacrifices serve year after year to remind people of their sins. 4 For the blood of bulls and goats can never take away sins.

622-Leviticus 19:18 Do not take revenge on others or continue to hate them, but love your neighbors as you love yourself. I am the Lord.

623-Deuteronomy 6:4;10:12-224 "Israel, remember this! The Lord - and the Lord alone - is our God

Deuteronomy 10:12 "Now, people of Israel, listen to what the Lord your God demands of you: Worship the Lord and do all that he commands. Love him, serve him with all your heart, 13 and obey all his laws. I am giving them to you today for your benefit. 14 To the Lord belong even the highest heavens; the earth is his also, and everything on it. 15 But the Lord's love for your ancestors was so strong that he chose you instead of any other people, and you are still his chosen people. 16 So then, from now on be obedient to the Lord and stop being stubborn. 17 The Lord your God is supreme over all gods and over all powers. He is great and mighty, and he is to be obeyed. He does not show partiality, and he does not accept bribes. 18 He makes sure that orphans and widows are treated fairly; he loves the foreigners who live with our people, and gives them food and clothes. 19 So then, show love for those foreigners, because you were once foreigners in Egypt. 20 Have reverence for the Lord your God and worship only him. Be faithful to him and make your promises in his name alone. 21 Praise him - he is your God, and you have seen with your own eyes the great and astounding things that he has done for you. 22 When your ancestors went to Egypt, there were only seventy of them. But now the Lord your God has made you as numerous as the stars in the sky.

624-Revelation 13:8 All people living on earth will worship it, except those whose names were written before the creation of the world in the book of the living which belongs to the Lamb that was killed.

625-Revelation 5:6 Then I saw a Lamb standing in the center of the throne, surrounded by the four living creatures and the elders. The Lamb appeared to have been killed. It had seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God that have been sent through the whole earth.

Revelation 5:12 and sang in a loud voice: "The Lamb who was killed is worthy to receive power, wealth, wisdom, and strength, honor, glory, and praise!"

626-John 1:29,3629 The next day John saw Jesus coming to him, and said, "There is the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!

John 1:36 when he saw Jesus walking by. "There is the Lamb of God!" he said.

627-Joshua 1:16 They answered Joshua, "We will do everything you have told us and will go anywhere you send us. 17 We will obey you, just as we always obeyed Moses, and may the Lord your God be with you as he was with Moses! 18 Whoever questions your authority or disobeys any of your orders will be put to death. Be determined and confident!"

628-Leviticus 24:10 There was a man whose father was an Egyptian and whose mother was an Israelite named Shelomith, the daughter of Dibri from the tribe of Dan. There in the camp this man quarreled with an Israelite. During the quarrel he cursed the Lord, so they took him to Moses, 12 put him under guard, and waited for the Lord to tell them what to do with him. 13 The Lord said to Moses, 14 "Take that man out of the camp. Everyone who heard him curse shall put his hands on the man's head to testify that he is guilty, and then the whole community shall stone him to death. 15 Then tell the people of Israel that anyone who curses God must suffer the consequences 16 and be put to death. Any Israelite or any foreigner living in Israel who curses the Lord shall be stoned to death by the whole community. 17 "Any who commit murder shall be put to death, 18 and any who kill an animal belonging to someone else must replace it. The principle is a life for a life. 19 "If any of you injure another person, whatever you have done shall be done to you. 20 If you break a bone, one of your bones shall be broken; if you put out an eye, one of your eyes shall be put out; if you knock out a tooth, one of your teeth shall be knocked out. Whatever injury you cause another person shall be done to you in return. 21 Whoever kills an animal shall replace it, but whoever kills a human being shall be put to death. 22 This law applies to all of you, to Israelites and to foreigners living among you, because I am the Lord your God." 23 When Moses had said this to the people of Israel, they took the man outside the camp and stoned him to death. In this way the people of Israel did what the Lord had commanded Moses.

629-Numbers 15:30 But any who sin deliberately, whether they are natives or foreigners, are guilty of treating the Lord with contempt, and they shall be put to death, 31 because they have rejected what the Lord said and have deliberately broken one of his commands. They are responsible for their own death. 32 Once, while the Israelites were still in the wilderness, a man was found gathering firewood on the Sabbath. 33 He was taken to Moses, Aaron, and the whole community, 34 and was put under guard, because it was not clear what should be done with him. 35 Then the Lord said to Moses, "The man must be put to death; the whole community is to stone him to death outside the camp." 36 So the whole community took him outside the camp and stoned him to death, as the Lord had commanded.

630-Exodus 21:12-17; 22:19,20; 31:14,15; 35:212 "Whoever hits someone and kills him is to be put to death. 13 But if it was an accident and he did not mean to kill him, he can escape to a place which I will choose for you, and there he will be safe. 14 But when someone gets angry and deliberately kills someone else, he is to be put to death, even if he has run to my altar for safety. 15 "Whoever hits his father or his mother is to be put to death. 16 "Whoever kidnaps someone, either to sell him or to keep him as a slave, is to be put to death. 17 "Whoever curses his father or his mother is to be put to death.

Exodus 22:19 "Put to death any man who has sexual relations with an animal. 20 "Condemn to death anyone who offers sacrifices to any god except to me, the Lord.

Exodus 31:14 You must keep the day of rest, because it is sacred. Whoever does not keep it, but works on that day, is to be put to death. 15 You have six days in which to do your work, but the seventh day is a solemn day of rest dedicated to me. Whoever does any work on that day is to be put to death

Exodus 35:2 You have six days in which to do your work, but the seventh day is to be sacred, a solemn day of rest dedicated to me, the Lord. Anyone who does any work on that day is to be put to death.

631-Leviticus 20:2 to say to the people of Israel, "Any of you or any foreigner living among you who gives any children to be used in the worship of the god Molech shall be stoned to death by the whole community. 3 If any of you give one of your children to Molech and make my sacred Tent unclean and disgrace my holy name, I will turn against you and will no longer consider you my people. 4 But if the community ignores what you have done and does not put you to death, 5 I myself will turn against you and your whole family and against all who join you in being unfaithful to me and worshiping Molech. I will no longer consider any of you my people.

Leviticus 20:9 The Lord gave the following regulations. Any of you that curse your father or mother shall be put to death; you are responsible for your own death. 10 If a man commits adultery with the wife of an Israelite, both he and the woman shall be put to death. 11 A man who has intercourse with one of his father's wives disgraces his father, and both he and the woman shall be put to death. They are responsible for their own death. 12 If a man has intercourse with his daughter-in-law, they shall both be put to death. They have committed incest and are responsible for their own death. 13 If a man has sexual relations with another man, they have done a disgusting thing, and both shall be put to death. They are responsible for their own death. 14 If a man marries a woman and her mother, all three shall be burned to death because of the disgraceful thing they have done; such a thing must not be permitted among you. 15 If a man has sexual relations with an animal, he and the animal shall be put to death. 16 If a woman tries to have sexual relations with an animal, she and the animal shall be put to death. They are responsible for their own death.

Leviticus 20:27 "Any man or woman who consults the spirits of the dead shall be stoned to death; any of you that do this are responsible for your own death."

632-Numbers 1:51 Whenever you move your camp, the Levites shall take the Tent down and set it up again at each new campsite. Anyone else who comes near the Tent shall be put to death.

Numbers 3:10 You shall appoint Aaron and his sons to carry out the duties of the priesthood; anyone else who tries to do so shall be put to death."

Numbers 3:38 Moses and Aaron and his sons were to camp in front of the Tent on the east. They were responsible for carrying out the services performed in the Holy Place for the people of Israel. Anyone else who tried to do so was to be put to death.

Numbers 18:7 But you and your sons alone shall fulfill all the responsibilities of the priesthood that concern the altar and what is in the Most Holy Place. These things are your responsibility, because I have given you the gift of the priesthood. Any unqualified person who comes near the sacred objects shall be put to death."

Numbers 25:5 Moses said to the officials, "Each of you is to kill every man in your tribe who has become a worshiper of Baal of Peor."

Numbers 35:16 "If, however, any of you use a weapon of iron or stone or wood to kill someone, you are guilty of murder and are to be put to death. 19 The dead person's nearest relative has the responsibility for putting the murderer to death. When he finds you, he is to kill you. 20 "If you hate someone and kill him by pushing him down or by throwing something at him 21 or by striking him with your fist, you are guilty of murder and are to be put to death. The dead person's nearest relative has the responsibility for putting the murderer to death. When he finds you, he is to kill you.

633-Deuteronomy 13:5 But put to death any interpreters of dreams or prophets that tell you to rebel against the Lord, who rescued you from Egypt, where you were slaves. Such people are evil and are trying to lead you away from the life that the Lord has commanded you to live. They must be put to death, in order to rid yourselves of this evil. 6 "Even your brother or your son or your daughter or the wife you love or your closest friend may secretly encourage you to worship other gods, gods that you and your ancestors have never worshiped. 7 Some of them may encourage you to worship the gods of the people who live near you or the gods of those who live far away. 8 But do not let any of them persuade you; do not even listen to them. Show them no mercy or pity, and do not protect them. 9 Kill them! Be the first to stone them, and then let everyone else stone them too. 10 Stone them to death! They tried to lead you away from the Lord your God, who rescued you from Egypt, where you were slaves. 11 Then all the people of Israel will hear what happened; they will be afraid, and no one will ever again do such an evil thing. 12 "When you are living in the towns that the Lord your God gives you, you may hear 13 that some worthless people of your nation have misled the people of their town to worship gods that you have never worshiped before. 14 If you hear such a rumor, investigate it thoroughly; and if it is true that this evil thing did happen, 15 then kill all the people in that town and all their livestock too. Destroy that town completely. 16 Bring together all the possessions of the people who live there and pile them up in the town square. Then burn the town and everything in it as an offering to the Lord your God. It must be left in ruins forever and never again be rebuilt. 17 Do not keep for yourselves anything that was condemned to destruction, and then the Lord will turn from his fierce anger and show you mercy. He will be merciful to you and make you a numerous people, as he promised your ancestors, 18 if you obey all his commands that I have given you today, and do what he requires.

Deuteronomy 17:12 Anyone who dares to disobey either the judge or the priest on duty is to be put to death; in this way you will remove this evil from Israel.

Deuteronomy 18:20 But if any prophet dares to speak a message in my name when I did not command him to do so, he must die for it, and so must any prophet who speaks in the name of other gods.'

Deuteronomy 21:18 "Suppose someone has a son who is stubborn and rebellious, a son who will not obey his parents, even though they punish him. 19 His parents are to take him before the leaders of the town where he lives and make him stand trial. 20 They are to say to them, "Our son is stubborn and rebellious and refuses to obey us; he wastes money and is a drunkard.' 21 Then the men of the city are to stone him to death, and so you will get rid of this evil. Everyone in Israel will hear what has happened and be afraid

Deuteronomy 22:20 "But if the charge is true and there is no proof that she was a virgin, 21 then they are to take her out to the entrance of her father's house, where the men of her city are to stone her to death. She has done a shameful thing among our people by having intercourse before she was married, while she was still living in her father's house. In this way you will get rid of this evil. 22 "If a man is caught having intercourse with another man's wife, both of them are to be put to death. In this way you will get rid of this evil. 23 "Suppose a man is caught in a town having intercourse with a young woman who is engaged to someone else. 24 You are to take them outside the town and stone them to death. She is to die because she did not cry out for help, although she was in a town, where she could have been heard. And the man is to die because he had intercourse with someone who was engaged. In this way you will get rid of this evil. 25 "Suppose a man out in the countryside rapes a young woman who is engaged to someone else. Then only the man is to be put to death;

634-Numbers 15:30 But any who sin deliberately, whether they are natives or foreigners, are guilty of treating the Lord with contempt, and they shall be put to death, 31 because they have rejected what the Lord said and have deliberately broken one of his commands. They are responsible for their own death.

635-Exodus 21:16 "Whoever kidnaps someone, either to sell him or to keep him as a slave, is to be put to death

636-Numbers 3:10, 3810 You shall appoint Aaron and his sons to carry out the duties of the priesthood; anyone else who tries to do so shall be put to death."

Numbers 3:38 Moses and Aaron and his sons were to camp in front of the Tent on the east. They were responsible for carrying out the services performed in the Holy Place for the people of Israel. Anyone else who tried to do so was to be put to death.

637-Numbers 18:7 But you and your sons alone shall fulfill all the responsibilities of the priesthood that concern the altar and what is in the Most Holy Place. These things are your responsibility, because I have given you the gift of the priesthood. Any unqualified person who comes near the sacred objects shall be put to death."

638-18 "Put to death any woman who practices magic.

639-Leviticus 20:6,276 "If any of you go for advice to people who consult the spirits of the dead, I will turn against you and will no longer consider you one of my people.

Leviticus 20:27 "Any man or woman who consults the spirits of the dead shall be stoned to death; any of you that do this are responsible for your own death."

640-Deuteronomy 17:12 Anyone who dares to disobey either the judge or the priest on duty is to be put to death; in this way you will remove this evil from Israel.

641-Deuteronomy 18:20 But if any prophet dares to speak a message in my name when I did not command him to do so, he must die for it, and so must any prophet who speaks in the name of other gods.'

642-Leviticus 10:8 The Lord said to Aaron, 9 "You and your sons are not to enter the Tent of my presence after drinking wine or beer; if you do, you will die. This is a law to be kept by all your descendants.

643-Leviticus 20:13 If a man has sexual relations with another man, they have done a disgusting thing, and both shall be put to death. They are responsible for their own death

Leviticus 20:15 If a man has sexual relations with an animal, he and the animal shall be put to death. 16 If a woman tries to have sexual relations with an animal, she and the animal shall be put to death. They are responsible for their own death.

644-Exodus 22:19 "Put to death any man who has sexual relations with an animal.

645-Deuteronomy 27:21 " "God's curse on anyone who has sexual relations with an animal.' "And all the people will answer, "Amen!'

646-Numbers 9:13 But if any of you are ritually clean and not away on a journey and do not observe the Passover, you shall no longer be considered my people, because you did not present the offering to me at the appointed time. You must suffer the consequences of your sin.

647-Leviticus 19:13 "Do not rob or take advantage of anyone. Do not hold back the wages of someone you have hired, not even for one night.

648-(Luke 22:7 The day came during the Festival of Unleavened Bread when the lambs for the Passover meal were to be killed. 8 Jesus sent Peter and John with these instructions: "Go and get the Passover meal ready for us to eat." 9 "Where do you want us to get it ready?" they asked him. 10 He answered, "As you go into the city, a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him into the house that he enters, 11 and say to the owner of the house: "The Teacher says to you, Where is the room where my disciples and I will eat the Passover meal?' 12 He will show you a large furnished room upstairs, where you will get everything ready." 13 They went off and found everything just as Jesus had told them, and they prepared the Passover meal. 14 When the hour came, Jesus took his place at the table with the apostles. 15 He said to them, "I have wanted so much to eat this Passover meal with you before I suffer! 16 For I tell you, I will never eat it until it is given its full meaning in the Kingdom of God." 17 Then Jesus took a cup, gave thanks to God, and said, "Take this and share it among yourselves. 18 I tell you that from now on I will not drink this wine until the Kingdom of God comes."

649-Exodus 20:18 When the people heard the thunder and the trumpet blast and saw the lightning and the smoking mountain, they trembled with fear and stood a long way off. 19 They said to Moses, "If you speak to us, we will listen; but we are afraid that if God speaks to us, we will die." 20 Moses replied, "Don't be afraid; God has only come to test you and make you keep on obeying him, so that you will not sin."

650-Daniel 9:11 All Israel broke your laws and refused to listen to what you said. We sinned against you, and so you brought on us the curses that are written in the Law of Moses, your servant.

651-Malachi 4:4 "Remember the teachings of my servant Moses, the laws and commands which I gave him at Mount Sinai for all the people of Israel to obey.

652-Matthew 19:7 The Pharisees asked him, "Why, then, did Moses give the law for a man to hand his wife a divorce notice and send her away?"

Matthew 19:22 When the young man heard this, he went away sad, because he was very rich.

Matthew 19:24 I repeat: it is much harder for a rich person to enter the Kingdom of God than for a camel to go through the eye of a needle."

653-Mark 7:10 For Moses commanded, "Respect your father and your mother,' and, "If you curse your father or your mother, you are to be put to death.'

654-John 1:17 God gave the Law through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.

655-Leviticus 26:46; 27:3446 All these are the laws and commands that the Lord gave to Moses on Mount Sinai for the people of Israel.

Leviticus 27:34 These are the commands that the Lord gave Moses on Mount Sinai for the people of Israel.

656-1 Corinthians 10:4 and drank the same spiritual drink. They drank from the spiritual rock that went with them; and that rock was Christ himself.

657-Matthew 5:1 Jesus saw the crowds and went up a hill, where he sat down. His disciples gathered around him, 2 and he began to teach them: 3 "Happy are those who know they are spiritually poor; the Kingdom of heaven belongs to them! 4 "Happy are those who mourn; God will comfort them! 5 "Happy are those who are humble; they will receive what God has promised! 6 "Happy are those whose greatest desire is to do what God requires; God will satisfy them fully! 7 "Happy are those who are merciful to others; God will be merciful to them! 8 "Happy are the pure in heart; they will see God! 9 "Happy are those who work for peace; God will call them his children! 10 "Happy are those who are persecuted because they do what God requires; the Kingdom of heaven belongs to them! 11 "Happy are you when people insult you and persecute you and tell all kinds of evil lies against you because you are my followers. 12 Be happy and glad, for a great reward is kept for you in heaven. This is how the prophets who lived before you were persecuted. 13 "You are like salt for the whole human race. But if salt loses its saltiness, there is no way to make it salty again. It has become worthless, so it is thrown out and people trample on it. 14 "You are like light for the whole world. A city built on a hill cannot be hid. 15 No one lights a lamp and puts it under a bowl; instead it is put on the lampstand, where it gives light for everyone in the house. 16 In the same way your light must shine before people, so that they will see the good things you do and praise your Father in heaven. 17 "Do not think that I have come to do away with the Law of Moses and the teachings of the prophets. I have not come to do away with them, but to make their teachings come true. 18 Remember that as long as heaven and earth last, not the least point nor the smallest detail of the Law will be done away with - not until the end of all things. 19 So then, whoever disobeys even the least important of the commandments and teaches others to do the same, will be least in the Kingdom of heaven. On the other hand, whoever obeys the Law and teaches others to do the same, will be great in the Kingdom of heaven. 20 I tell you, then, that you will be able to enter the Kingdom of heaven only if you are more faithful than the teachers of the Law and the Pharisees in doing what God requires. 21 "You have heard that people were told in the past, "Do not commit murder; anyone who does will be brought to trial.' 22 But now I tell you: if you are angry with your brother you will be brought to trial, if you call your brother "You good-for-nothing!' you will be brought before the Council, and if you call your brother a worthless fool you will be in danger of going to the fire of hell. 23 So if you are about to offer your gift to God at the altar and there you remember that your brother has something against you, 24 leave your gift there in front of the altar, go at once and make peace with your brother, and then come back and offer your gift to God. 25 "If someone brings a lawsuit against you and takes you to court, settle the dispute while there is time, before you get to court. Once you are there, you will be turned over to the judge, who will hand you over to the police, and you will be put in jail. 26 There you will stay, I tell you, until you pay the last penny of your fine. 27 "You have heard that it was said, "Do not commit adultery.' 28 But now I tell you: anyone who looks at a woman and wants to possess her is guilty of committing adultery with her in his heart. 29 So if your right eye causes you to sin, take it out and throw it away! It is much better for you to lose a part of your body than to have your whole body thrown into hell. 30 If your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away! It is much better for you to lose one of your limbs than to have your whole body go off to hell. 31 "It was also said, "Anyone who divorces his wife must give her a written notice of divorce.' 32 But now I tell you: if a man divorces his wife for any cause other than her unfaithfulness, then he is guilty of making her commit adultery if she marries again; and the man who marries her commits adultery also. 33 "You have also heard that people were told in the past, "Do not break your promise, but do what you have vowed to the Lord to do.' 34 But now I tell you: do not use any vow when you make a promise. Do not swear by heaven, for it is God's throne; 35 nor by earth, for it is the resting place for his feet; nor by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. 36 Do not even swear by your head, because you cannot make a single hair white or black. 37 Just say "Yes' or "No' - anything else you say comes from the Evil One. 38 "You have heard that it was said, "An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth.' 39 But now I tell you: do not take revenge on someone who wrongs you. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, let him slap your left cheek too. 40 And if someone takes you to court to sue you for your shirt, let him have your coat as well. 41 And if one of the occupation troops forces you to carry his pack one mile, carry it two miles. 42 When someone asks you for something, give it to him; when someone wants to borrow something, lend it to him. 43 "You have heard that it was said, "Love your friends, hate your enemies.' 44 But now I tell you: love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 so that you may become the children of your Father in heaven. For he makes his sun to shine on bad and good people alike, and gives rain to those who do good and to those who do evil. 46 Why should God reward you if you love only the people who love you? Even the tax collectors do that! 47 And if you speak only to your friends, have you done anything out of the ordinary? Even the pagans do that! 48 You must be perfect - just as your Father in heaven is perfect.

Matthew 6:1 "Make certain you do not perform your religious duties in public so that people will see what you do. If you do these things publicly, you will not have any reward from your Father in heaven. 2 "So when you give something to a needy person, do not make a big show of it, as the hypocrites do in the houses of worship and on the streets. They do it so that people will praise them. I assure you, they have already been paid in full. 3 But when you help a needy person, do it in such a way that even your closest friend will not know about it. 4 Then it will be a private matter. And your Father, who sees what you do in private, will reward you. 5 "When you pray, do not be like the hypocrites! They love to stand up and pray in the houses of worship and on the street corners, so that everyone will see them. I assure you, they have already been paid in full. 6 But when you pray, go to your room, close the door, and pray to your Father, who is unseen. And your Father, who sees what you do in private, will reward you. 7 "When you pray, do not use a lot of meaningless words, as the pagans do, who think that their gods will hear them because their prayers are long. 8 Do not be like them. Your Father already knows what you need before you ask him. 9 This, then, is how you should pray: "Our Father in heaven: May your holy name be honored; 10 may your Kingdom come; may your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. 11 Give us today the food we need. 12 Forgive us the wrongs we have done, as we forgive the wrongs that others have done to us. 13 Do not bring us to hard testing, but keep us safe from the Evil One.' 14 "If you forgive others the wrongs they have done to you, your Father in heaven will also forgive you. 15 But if you do not forgive others, then your Father will not forgive the wrongs you have done. 16 "And when you fast, do not put on a sad face as the hypocrites do. They neglect their appearance so that everyone will see that they are fasting. I assure you, they have already been paid in full. 17 When you go without food, wash your face and comb your hair, 18 so that others cannot know that you are fasting - only your Father, who is unseen, will know. And your Father, who sees what you do in private, will reward you. 19 "Do not store up riches for yourselves here on earth, where moths and rust destroy, and robbers break in and steal. 20 Instead, store up riches for yourselves in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy, and robbers cannot break in and steal. 21 For your heart will always be where your riches are. 22 "The eyes are like a lamp for the body. If your eyes are sound, your whole body will be full of light; 23 but if your eyes are no good, your body will be in darkness. So if the light in you is darkness, how terribly dark it will be! 24 "You cannot be a slave of two masters; you will hate one and love the other; you will be loyal to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money. 25 "This is why I tell you: do not be worried about the food and drink you need in order to stay alive, or about clothes for your body. After all, isn't life worth more than food? And isn't the body worth more than clothes? 26 Look at the birds: they do not plant seeds, gather a harvest and put it in barns; yet your Father in heaven takes care of them! Aren't you worth much more than birds? 27 Can any of you live a bit longer by worrying about it? 28 "And why worry about clothes? Look how the wild flowers grow: they do not work or make clothes for themselves. 29 But I tell you that not even King Solomon with all his wealth had clothes as beautiful as one of these flowers. 30 It is God who clothes the wild grass - grass that is here today and gone tomorrow, burned up in the oven. Won't he be all the more sure to clothe you? What little faith you have! 31 "So do not start worrying: "Where will my food come from? or my drink? or my clothes?' 32 (These are the things the pagans are always concerned about.) Your Father in heaven knows that you need all these things. 33 Instead, be concerned above everything else with the Kingdom of God and with what he requires of you, and he will provide you with all these other things. 34 So do not worry about tomorrow; it will have enough worries of its own. There is no need to add to the troubles each day brings.

Matthew 7:1 "Do not judge others, so that God will not judge you, 2 for God will judge you in the same way you judge others, and he will apply to you the same rules you apply to others. 3 Why, then, do you look at the speck in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the log in your own eye? 4 How dare you say to your brother, "Please, let me take that speck out of your eye,' when you have a log in your own eye? 5 You hypocrite! First take the log out of your own eye, and then you will be able to see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye. 6 "Do not give what is holy to dogs - they will only turn and attack you. Do not throw your pearls in front of pigs - they will only trample them underfoot. 7 "Ask, and you will receive; seek, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks will receive, and anyone who seeks will find, and the door will be opened to those who knock. 9 Would any of you who are fathers give your son a stone when he asks for bread? 10 Or would you give him a snake when he asks for a fish? 11 As bad as you are, you know how to give good things to your children. How much more, then, will your Father in heaven give good things to those who ask him! 12 "Do for others what you want them to do for you: this is the meaning of the Law of Moses and of the teachings of the prophets. 13 "Go in through the narrow gate, because the gate to hell is wide and the road that leads to it is easy, and there are many who travel it. 14 But the gate to life is narrow and the way that leads to it is hard, and there are few people who find it. 15 "Be on your guard against false prophets; they come to you looking like sheep on the outside, but on the inside they are really like wild wolves. 16 You will know them by what they do. Thorn bushes do not bear grapes, and briers do not bear figs. 17 A healthy tree bears good fruit, but a poor tree bears bad fruit. 18 A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a poor tree cannot bear good fruit. 19 And any tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown in the fire. 20 So then, you will know the false prophets by what they do. 21 "Not everyone who calls me "Lord, Lord' will enter the Kingdom of heaven, but only those who do what my Father in heaven wants them to do. 22 When the Judgment Day comes, many will say to me, "Lord, Lord! In your name we spoke God's message, by your name we drove out many demons and performed many miracles!' 23 Then I will say to them, "I never knew you. Get away from me, you wicked people!' 24 "So then, anyone who hears these words of mine and obeys them is like a wise man who built his house on rock. 25 The rain poured down, the rivers flooded over, and the wind blew hard against that house. But it did not fall, because it was built on rock. 26 "But anyone who hears these words of mine and does not obey them is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. 27 The rain poured down, the rivers flooded over, the wind blew hard against that house, and it fell. And what a terrible fall that was!" 28 When Jesus finished saying these things, the crowd was amazed at the way he taught. 29 He wasn't like the teachers of the Law; instead, he taught with authority.

658-Exodus 33:11 The Lord would speak with Moses face-to-face, just as someone speaks with a friend. Then Moses would return to the camp. But the young man who was his helper, Joshua son of Nun, stayed in the Tent.

659-Numbers 12:6 and the Lord said, "Now hear what I have to say! When there are prophets among you, I reveal myself to them in visions and speak to them in dreams. 7 It is different when I speak with my servant Moses; I have put him in charge of all my people Israel. 8 So I speak to him face-to-face, clearly and not in riddles; he has even seen my form! How dare you speak against my servant Moses?"

660-Exodus 21:12 "Whoever hits someone and kills him is to be put to death.

661-Leviticus 24:17 "Any who commit murder shall be put to death,

Leviticus 24:21 Whoever kills an animal shall replace it, but whoever kills a human being shall be put to death.

662-Exodus 21:16 "Whoever kidnaps someone, either to sell him or to keep him as a slave, is to be put to death.

663-Leviticus 18:1 The Lord told Moses 2 to say to the people of Israel, "I am the Lord your God. 3 Do not follow the practices of the people of Egypt, where you once lived, or of the people in the land of Canaan, where I am now taking you. 4 Obey my laws and do what I command. I am the Lord your God. 5 Follow the practices and the laws that I give you; you will save your life by doing so. I am the Lord." 6 The Lord gave the following regulations. Do not have sexual intercourse with any of your relatives. 7 Do not disgrace your father by having intercourse with your mother. You must not disgrace your own mother. 8 Do not disgrace your father by having intercourse with any of his other wives. 9 Do not have intercourse with your sister or your stepsister, whether or not she was brought up in the same house with you. 10 Do not have intercourse with your granddaughter; that would be a disgrace to you. 11 Do not have intercourse with a half sister; she, too, is your sister. 12 Do not have intercourse with an aunt, whether she is your father's sister or your mother's sister. 14 Do not have intercourse with your uncle's wife; she, too, is your aunt. 15 Do not have intercourse with your daughter-in-law 16 or with your brother's wife. 17 Do not have intercourse with the daughter or granddaughter of a woman with whom you have had intercourse; they may be related to you, and that would be incest. 18 Do not take your wife's sister as one of your wives, as long as your wife is living. 19 Do not have intercourse with a woman during her monthly period, because she is ritually unclean. 20 Do not have intercourse with another man's wife; that would make you ritually unclean. 21 Do not hand over any of your children to be used in the worship of the god Molech, because that would bring disgrace on the name of God, the Lord. 22 No man is to have sexual relations with another man; God hates that. 23 No man or woman is to have sexual relations with an animal; that perversion makes you ritually unclean. 24 Do not make yourselves unclean by any of these acts, for that is how the pagans made themselves unclean, those pagans who lived in the land before you and whom the Lord is driving out so that you can go in. 25 Their actions made the land unclean, and so the Lord is punishing the land and making it reject the people who lived there. 26 They did all these disgusting things and made the land unclean, but you must not do them. All of you, whether Israelites or foreigners living with you, must keep the Lord's laws and commands, 28 and then the land will not reject you, as it rejected the pagans who lived there before you. 29 You know that whoever does any of these disgusting things will no longer be considered one of God's people. 30 And the Lord said, "Obey the commands I give and do not follow the practices of the people who lived in the land before you, and do not make yourselves unclean by doing any of these things. I am the Lord your God."

Leviticus 19:1 The Lord told Moses 2 to say to the community of Israel, "Be holy, because I, the Lord your God, am holy. 3 Each of you must respect your mother and your father, and must keep the Sabbath, as I have commanded. I am the Lord your God. 4 "Do not abandon me and worship idols; do not make gods of metal and worship them. I am the Lord your God. 5 "When you kill an animal for a fellowship offering, keep the regulations that I have given you, and I will accept the offering. 6 The meat must be eaten on the day the animal is killed or on the next day. Any meat left on the third day must be burned, 7 because it is ritually unclean, and if anyone eats it, I will not accept the offering. 8 Any who eat it will be guilty of treating as ordinary what is dedicated to me, and they will no longer be considered my people. 9 "When you harvest your fields, do not cut the grain at the edges of the fields, and do not go back to cut the heads of grain that were left. 10 Do not go back through your vineyard to gather the grapes that were missed or to pick up the grapes that have fallen; leave them for poor people and foreigners. I am the Lord your God. 11 "Do not steal or cheat or lie. 12 Do not make a promise in my name if you do not intend to keep it; that brings disgrace on my name. I am the Lord your God. 13 "Do not rob or take advantage of anyone. Do not hold back the wages of someone you have hired, not even for one night. 14 Do not curse the deaf or put something in front of the blind so as to make them stumble over it. Obey me; I am the Lord your God. 15 "Be honest and just when you make decisions in legal cases; do not show favoritism to the poor or fear the rich. 16 Do not spread lies about anyone, and when someone is on trial for his life, speak out if your testimony can help him. I am the Lord. 17 "Do not bear a grudge against others, but settle your differences with them, so that you will not commit a sin because of them. 18 Do not take revenge on others or continue to hate them, but love your neighbors as you love yourself. I am the Lord. 19 "Obey my commands. Do not crossbreed domestic animals. Do not plant two kinds of seed in the same field. Do not wear clothes made of two kinds of material. 20 "If a slave woman is the recognized concubine of a man and she has not been paid for and freed, then if another man has sexual relations with her, they will be punished, but not put to death, since she is a slave. 21 The man shall bring a ram to the entrance of the Tent of my presence as his repayment offering, 22 and with it the priest shall perform the ritual of purification to remove the man's sin, and God will forgive him. 23 "When you come into the land of Canaan and plant any kind of fruit tree, consider the fruit ritually unclean for the first three years. During that time you must not eat it. 24 In the fourth year all the fruit shall be dedicated as an offering to show your gratitude to me, the Lord. 25 But in the fifth year you may eat the fruit. If you do all this, your trees will bear more fruit. I am the Lord your God. 26 "Do not eat any meat with blood still in it. Do not practice any kind of magic. 27 Do not cut the hair on the sides of your head or trim your beard 28 or tattoo yourselves or cut gashes in your body to mourn for the dead. I am the Lord. 29 "Do not disgrace your daughters by making them temple prostitutes; if you do, you will turn to other gods and the land will be full of immorality. 30 Keep the Sabbath, and honor the place where I am worshiped. I am the Lord. 31 "Do not go for advice to people who consult the spirits of the dead. If you do, you will be ritually unclean. I am the Lord your God. 32 "Show respect for old people and honor them. Reverently obey me; I am the Lord. 33 "Do not mistreat foreigners who are living in your land. 34 Treat them as you would an Israelite, and love them as you love yourselves. Remember that you were once foreigners in the land of Egypt. I am the Lord your God. 35 "Do not cheat anyone by using false measures of length, weight, or quantity. 36 Use honest scales, honest weights, and honest measures. I am the Lord your God, and I brought you out of Egypt. 37 Obey all my laws and commands. I am the Lord."

Leviticus 20:1 The Lord told Moses 2 to say to the people of Israel, "Any of you or any foreigner living among you who gives any children to be used in the worship of the god Molech shall be stoned to death by the whole community. 3 If any of you give one of your children to Molech and make my sacred Tent unclean and disgrace my holy name, I will turn against you and will no longer consider you my people. 4 But if the community ignores what you have done and does not put you to death, 5 I myself will turn against you and your whole family and against all who join you in being unfaithful to me and worshiping Molech. I will no longer consider any of you my people. 6 "If any of you go for advice to people who consult the spirits of the dead, I will turn against you and will no longer consider you one of my people. 7 Keep yourselves holy, because I am the Lord your God. 8 Obey my laws, because I am the Lord and I make you holy." 9 The Lord gave the following regulations. Any of you that curse your father or mother shall be put to death; you are responsible for your own death. 10 If a man commits adultery with the wife of an Israelite, both he and the woman shall be put to death. 11 A man who has intercourse with one of his father's wives disgraces his father, and both he and the woman shall be put to death. They are responsible for their own death. 12 If a man has intercourse with his daughter-in-law, they shall both be put to death. They have committed incest and are responsible for their own death. 13 If a man has sexual relations with another man, they have done a disgusting thing, and both shall be put to death. They are responsible for their own death. 14 If a man marries a woman and her mother, all three shall be burned to death because of the disgraceful thing they have done; such a thing must not be permitted among you. 15 If a man has sexual relations with an animal, he and the animal shall be put to death. 16 If a woman tries to have sexual relations with an animal, she and the animal shall be put to death. They are responsible for their own death. 17 If a man marries his sister or half sister, they shall be publicly disgraced and driven out of the community. He has had intercourse with his sister and must suffer the consequences. 18 If a man has intercourse with a woman during her monthly period, both of them are to be driven out of the community, because they have broken the regulations about ritual uncleanness. 19 If a man has intercourse with his aunt, both of them must suffer the consequences for incest. 20 If a man has intercourse with his uncle's wife, he disgraces his uncle, and he and the woman will pay the penalty; neither one will have children. 21 If a man takes his brother's wife, they will die childless. He has done a ritually unclean thing and has disgraced his brother. 22 The Lord said, "Keep all my laws and commands, so that you will not be rejected by the land of Canaan, into which I am bringing you. 23 Do not adopt the customs of the people who live there; I am driving out those pagans so that you can enter the land. They have disgusted me with all their evil practices. 24 But I have promised you this rich and fertile land as your possession, and I will give it to you. I am the Lord your God, and I have set you apart from the other nations. 25 So then, you must make a clear distinction between animals and birds that are ritually clean and those that are not. Do not eat unclean animals or birds. I have declared them unclean, and eating them would make you unclean. 26 You shall be holy and belong only to me, because I am the Lord and I am holy. I have set you apart from the other nations so that you would belong to me alone. 27 "Any man or woman who consults the spirits of the dead shall be stoned to death; any of you that do this are responsible for your own death."

664-Leviticus 24:16 and be put to death. Any Israelite or any foreigner living in Israel who curses the Lord shall be stoned to death by the whole community.

665-Exodus 21:15 "Whoever hits his father or his mother is to be put to death.

Exodus 21:17 "Whoever curses his father or his mother is to be put to death.

666-Leviticus 20:9 The Lord gave the following regulations. Any of you that curse your father or mother shall be put to death; you are responsible for your own death.

667-Exodus 31:14,15; 35:214 You must keep the day of rest, because it is sacred. Whoever does not keep it, but works on that day, is to be put to death. 15 You have six days in which to do your work, but the seventh day is a solemn day of rest dedicated to me. Whoever does any work on that day is to be put to death.

Exodus 35:2 You have six days in which to do your work, but the seventh day is to be sacred, a solemn day of rest dedicated to me, the Lord. Anyone who does any work on that day is to be put to death

668-Numbers 15:32 Once, while the Israelites were still in the wilderness, a man was found gathering firewood on the Sabbath. 33 He was taken to Moses, Aaron, and the whole community, 34 and was put under guard, because it was not clear what should be done with him. 35 Then the Lord said to Moses, "The man must be put to death; the whole community is to stone him to death outside the camp." 36 So the whole community took him outside the camp and stoned him to death, as the Lord had commanded.

669-Leviticus 19:2 to say to the community of Israel, "Be holy, because I, the Lord your God, am holy. 3 Each of you must respect your mother and your father, and must keep the Sabbath, as I have commanded. I am the Lord your God. 4 "Do not abandon me and worship idols; do not make gods of metal and worship them. I am the Lord your God. 5 "When you kill an animal for a fellowship offering, keep the regulations that I have given you, and I will accept the offering.

670-Deuteronomy 17:2 "Suppose you hear that in one of your towns some men or women have sinned against the Lord and broken his covenant 3 by worshiping and serving other gods or the sun or the moon or the stars, contrary to the Lord's command. 4 If you hear such a report, then investigate it thoroughly. If it is true that this evil thing has happened in Israel, 5 then take them outside the town and stone them to death. 6 However, they may be put to death only if two or more witnesses testify against them; they are not to be put to death if there is only one witness.

671-Deuteronomy 13:5 But put to death any interpreters of dreams or prophets that tell you to rebel against the Lord, who rescued you from Egypt, where you were slaves. Such people are evil and are trying to lead you away from the life that the Lord has commanded you to live. They must be put to death, in order to rid yourselves of this evil.

672-Exodus 21:29 But if the bull had been in the habit of attacking people and its owner had been warned, but did not keep it penned up - then if it gores someone to death, it is to be stoned, and its owner is to be put to death also.

673-Exodus 22:16 "If a man seduces a virgin who is not engaged, he must pay the bride price for her and marry her.

674-Leviticus 20:15 If a man has sexual relations with an animal, he and the animal shall be put to death.

675-Leviticus 20:13 If a man has sexual relations with another man, they have done a disgusting thing, and both shall be put to death. They are responsible for their own death.

676-Joshua 1:18 Whoever questions your authority or disobeys any of your orders will be put to death. Be determined and confident!"

677-Joshua 1:18 Whoever questions your authority or disobeys any of your orders will be put to death. Be determined and confident!"

678-2 Timothy 3:16 All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching the truth, rebuking error, correcting faults, and giving instruction for right living, 17 so that the person who serves God may be fully qualified and equipped to do every kind of good deed.

679-Exodus 21:24 eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, 25 burn for burn, wound for wound, bruise for bruise.

680-Leviticus 24:20 If you break a bone, one of your bones shall be broken; if you put out an eye, one of your eyes shall be put out; if you knock out a tooth, one of your teeth shall be knocked out. Whatever injury you cause another person shall be done to you in return.

681-Deuteronomy 19:21 In such cases show no mercy; the punishment is to be a life for a life, an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, a hand for a hand, and a foot for a foot.

682-Matthew 5:38 "You have heard that it was said, "An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth.' 39 But now I tell you: do not take revenge on someone who wrongs you. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, let him slap your left cheek too. 40 And if someone takes you to court to sue you for your shirt, let him have your coat as well. 41 And if one of the occupation troops forces you to carry his pack one mile, carry it two miles. 42 When someone asks you for something, give it to him; when someone wants to borrow something, lend it to him.

683-Leviticus 10:1 Aaron's sons, Nadab and Abihu, each took his fire pan, put live coals in it, added incense, and presented it to the Lord. But this fire was not holy, because the Lord had not commanded them to present it. 2 Suddenly the Lord sent fire, and it burned them to death there in the presence of the Lord. 3 Then Moses said to Aaron, "This is what the Lord was speaking about when he said, "All who serve me must respect my holiness; I will reveal my glory to my people.' " But Aaron remained silent. 4 Moses called Mishael and Elzaphan, the sons of Uzziel, Aaron's uncle, and said to them, "Come here and carry your cousins' bodies away from the sacred Tent and put them outside the camp." 5 So they came and took hold of the clothing on the corpses and carried them outside the camp, just as Moses had commanded. 6 Then Moses said to Aaron and to his sons Eleazar and Ithamar, "Do not leave your hair uncombed or tear your clothes to show that you are in mourning. If you do, you will die, and the Lord will be angry with the whole community. But all other Israelites are allowed to mourn this death caused by the fire which the Lord sent. 7 Do not leave the entrance of the Tent or you will die, because you have been consecrated by the anointing oil of the Lord." So they did as Moses said. 8 The Lord said to Aaron, 9 "You and your sons are not to enter the Tent of my presence after drinking wine or beer; if you do, you will die. This is a law to be kept by all your descendants. 10 You must distinguish between what belongs to God and what is for general use, between what is ritually clean and what is unclean. 11 You must teach the people of Israel all the laws which I have given to you through Moses."

684-Numbers 3:4 but Nadab and Abihu were killed when they offered unholy fire to the Lord in the Sinai Desert. They had no children, so Eleazar and Ithamar served as priests during Aaron's lifetime.

685-1 Corinthians 10:4 and drank the same spiritual drink. They drank from the spiritual rock that went with them; and that rock was Christ himself.

686-Genesis 6-1 When people had spread all over the world, and daughters were being born, 2 some of the heavenly beings saw that these young women were beautiful, so they took the ones they liked. 3 Then the Lord said, "I will not allow people to live forever; they are mortal. From now on they will live no longer than 120 years." 4 In those days, and even later, there were giants on the earth who were descendants of human women and the heavenly beings. They were the great heroes and famous men of long ago. 5 When the Lord saw how wicked everyone on earth was and how evil their thoughts were all the time, 6 he was sorry that he had ever made them and put them on the earth. He was so filled with regret 7 that he said, "I will wipe out these people I have created, and also the animals and the birds, because I am sorry that I made any of them." 8 But the Lord was pleased with Noah. 9 This is the story of Noah. He had three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth. Noah had no faults and was the only good man of his time. He lived in fellowship with God, 10 11 but everyone else was evil in God's sight, and violence had spread everywhere. 12 God looked at the world and saw that it was evil, for the people were all living evil lives. 13 God said to Noah, "I have decided to put an end to all people. I will destroy them completely, because the world is full of their violent deeds. 14 Build a boat for yourself out of good timber; make rooms in it and cover it with tar inside and out. 15 Make it 450 feet long, 75 feet wide, and 45 feet high. 16 Make a roof for the boat and leave a space of 18 inches between the roof and the sides. Build it with three decks and put a door in the side. 17 I am going to send a flood on the earth to destroy every living being. Everything on the earth will die, 18 but I will make a covenant with you. Go into the boat with your wife, your sons, and their wives. 19 Take into the boat with you a male and a female of every kind of animal and of every kind of bird, in order to keep them alive. 20 21 Take along all kinds of food for you and for them." 22 Noah did everything that God commanded.

Genesis 7:1 The Lord said to Noah, "Go into the boat with your whole family; I have found that you are the only one in all the world who does what is right. 2 Take with you seven pairs of each kind of ritually clean animal, but only one pair of each kind of unclean animal. 3 Take also seven pairs of each kind of bird. Do this so that every kind of animal and bird will be kept alive to reproduce again on the earth. 4 Seven days from now I am going to send rain that will fall for forty days and nights, in order to destroy all the living beings that I have made." 5 And Noah did everything that the Lord commanded. 6 Noah was six hundred years old when the flood came on the earth. 7 He and his wife, and his sons and their wives, went into the boat to escape the flood. 8 A male and a female of every kind of animal and bird, whether ritually clean or unclean, 9 went into the boat with Noah, as God had commanded. 10 Seven days later the flood came. 11 When Noah was six hundred years old, on the seventeenth day of the second month all the outlets of the vast body of water beneath the earth burst open, all the floodgates of the sky were opened, 12 and rain fell on the earth for forty days and nights. 13 On that same day Noah and his wife went into the boat with their three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth, and their wives. 14 With them went every kind of animal, domestic and wild, large and small, and every kind of bird. 15 A male and a female of each kind of living being went into the boat with Noah, 16 as God had commanded. Then the Lord shut the door behind Noah. 17 The flood continued for forty days, and the water became deep enough for the boat to float. 18 The water became deeper, and the boat drifted on the surface. 19 It became so deep that it covered the highest mountains; 20 it went on rising until it was about twenty-five feet above the tops of the mountains. 21 Every living being on the earth died - every bird, every animal, and every person. 22 Everything on earth that breathed died. 23 The Lord destroyed all living beings on the earth - human beings, animals, and birds. The only ones left were Noah and those who were with him in the boat. 24 The water did not start going down for a hundred and fifty days.

Genesis 8:1 God had not forgotten Noah and all the animals with him in the boat; he caused a wind to blow, and the water started going down. 2 The outlets of the water beneath the earth and the floodgates of the sky were closed. The rain stopped, 3 and the water gradually went down for 150 days. 4 On the seventeenth day of the seventh month the boat came to rest on a mountain in the Ararat range. 5 The water kept going down, and on the first day of the tenth month the tops of the mountains appeared. 6 After forty days Noah opened a window 7 and sent out a raven. It did not come back, but kept flying around until the water was completely gone. 8 Meanwhile, Noah sent out a dove to see if the water had gone down, 9 but since the water still covered all the land, the dove did not find a place to light. It flew back to the boat, and Noah reached out and took it in. 10 He waited another seven days and sent out the dove again. 11 It returned to him in the evening with a fresh olive leaf in its beak. So Noah knew that the water had gone down. 12 Then he waited another seven days and sent out the dove once more; this time it did not come back. 13 When Noah was 601 years old, on the first day of the first month, the water was gone. Noah removed the covering of the boat, looked around, and saw that the ground was getting dry. 14 By the twenty-seventh day of the second month the earth was completely dry. 15 God said to Noah, 16 "Go out of the boat with your wife, your sons, and their wives. 17 Take all the birds and animals out with you, so that they may reproduce and spread over all the earth." 18 So Noah went out of the boat with his wife, his sons, and their wives. 19 All the animals and birds went out of the boat in groups of their own kind. 20 Noah built an altar to the Lord; he took one of each kind of ritually clean animal and bird, and burned them whole as a sacrifice on the altar. 21 The odor of the sacrifice pleased the Lord, and he said to himself, "Never again will I put the earth under a curse because of what people do; I know that from the time they are young their thoughts are evil. Never again will I destroy all living beings, as I have done this time. 22 As long as the world exists, there will be a time for planting and a time for harvest. There will always be cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night."

687-Genesis 19:23 The sun was rising when Lot reached Zoar. 24 Suddenly the Lord rained burning sulfur on the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah 25 and destroyed them and the whole valley, along with all the people there and everything that grew on the land.

688-Genesis 19:26 But Lot's wife looked back and was turned into a pillar of salt.

689-Genesis 38:6 For his first son Er, Judah got a wife whose name was Tamar. 7 Er's conduct was evil, and it displeased the Lord, so the Lord killed him. 8 Then Judah said to Er's brother Onan, "Go and sleep with your brother's widow. Fulfill your obligation to her as her husband's brother, so that your brother may have descendants." 9 But Onan knew that the children would not belong to him, so when he had intercourse with his brother's widow, he let the semen spill on the ground, so that there would be no children for his brother. 10 What he did displeased the Lord, and the Lord killed him also.

690-Exodus 12:29 At midnight the Lord killed all the first-born sons in Egypt, from the king's son, who was heir to the throne, to the son of the prisoner in the dungeon; all the first-born of the animals were also killed. 30 That night, the king, his officials, and all the other Egyptians were awakened. There was loud crying throughout Egypt, because there was not one home in which there was not a dead son.

691-Exodus 32:25 Moses saw that Aaron had let the people get out of control and make fools of themselves in front of their enemies. 26 So he stood at the gate of the camp and shouted, "Everyone who is on the Lord's side come over here!" So all the Levites gathered around him, 27 and he said to them, "The Lord God of Israel commands every one of you to put on your sword and go through the camp from this gate to the other and kill your brothers, your friends, and your neighbors." 28 The Levites obeyed, and killed about three thousand men that day. 29 Moses said to the Levites, "Today you have consecrated yourselves as priests in the service of the Lord by killing your sons and brothers, so the Lord has given you his blessing."

692-Joshua 7:1 The Lord's command to Israel not to take from Jericho anything that was to be destroyed was not obeyed. A man named Achan disobeyed that order, and so the Lord was furious with the Israelites. (Achan was the son of Carmi and grandson of Zabdi, and belonged to the clan of Zerah, a part of the tribe of Judah.) 2 Joshua sent some men from Jericho to Ai, a city east of Bethel, near Bethaven, with orders to go and explore the land. When they had done so, 3 they reported back to Joshua: "There is no need for everyone to attack Ai. Send only about two or three thousand men. Don't send the whole army up there to fight; it is not a large city." 4 So about three thousand Israelites made the attack, but they were forced to retreat. 5 The men of Ai chased them from the city gate as far as some quarries and killed about thirty-six of them on the way down the hill. Then the Israelites lost their courage and were afraid. 6 Joshua and the leaders of Israel tore their clothes in grief, threw themselves to the ground before the Lord's Covenant Box, and lay there till evening, with dust on their heads to show their sorrow. 7 And Joshua said, "Sovereign Lord! Why did you bring us across the Jordan at all? To turn us over to the Amorites? To destroy us? Why didn't we just stay on the other side of the Jordan? 8 What can I say, O Lord, now that Israel has retreated from the enemy? 9 The Canaanites and everyone else in the country will hear about it. They will surround us and kill every one of us! And then what will you do to protect your honor?" 10 The Lord said to Joshua, "Get up! Why are you lying on the ground like this? 11 Israel has sinned! They have broken the agreement with me that I ordered them to keep. They have taken some of the things condemned to destruction. They stole them, lied about it, and put them with their own things. 12 This is why the Israelites cannot stand against their enemies. They retreat from them because they themselves have now been condemned to destruction! I will not stay with you any longer unless you destroy the things you were ordered not to take! 13 Get up! Purify the people and get them ready to come before me. Tell them to be ready tomorrow, because I, the Lord God of Israel, have this to say: "Israel, you have in your possession some things that I ordered you to destroy! You cannot stand against your enemies until you get rid of these things!' 14 So tell them that in the morning they will be brought forward, tribe by tribe. The tribe that I pick out will then come forward, clan by clan. The clan that I pick out will come forward, family by family. The family that I pick out will come forward, one by one. 15 The one who is then picked out and found with the condemned goods will be burned, along with his family and everything he owns, for he has brought terrible shame on Israel and has broken my covenant." 16 Early the next morning Joshua brought Israel forward, tribe by tribe, and the tribe of Judah was picked out. 17 He brought the tribe of Judah forward, clan by clan, and the clan of Zerah was picked out. Then he brought the clan of Zerah forward, family by family, and the family of Zabdi was picked out. 18 He then brought Zabdi's family forward, one by one, and Achan, the son of Carmi and grandson of Zabdi, was picked out. 19 Joshua said to him, "My son, tell the truth here before the Lord, the God of Israel, and confess. Tell me now what you have done. Don't try to hide it from me." 20 "It's true," Achan answered. "I have sinned against the Lord, Israel's God, and this is what I did. 21 Among the things we seized I saw a beautiful Babylonian cloak, about five pounds of silver, and a bar of gold weighing over one pound. I wanted them so much that I took them. You will find them buried inside my tent, with the silver at the bottom." 22 So Joshua sent some men, who ran to the tent and found that the condemned things really were buried there, with the silver at the bottom. 23 They brought them out of the tent, took them to Joshua and all the Israelites, and laid them down in the presence of the Lord. 24 Joshua, along with all the people of Israel, seized Achan, the silver, the cloak, the bar of gold, together with Achan's sons and daughters, his cattle, donkeys, and sheep, his tent, and everything else he owned; and they took them to Trouble Valley. 25 And Joshua said, "Why have you brought such trouble on us? The Lord will now bring trouble on you!" All the people then stoned Achan to death; they also stoned and burned his family and possessions. 26 They put a huge pile of stones over him, which is there to this day. That is why that place is still called Trouble Valley. Then the Lord was no longer furious.

693-19 The Lord killed seventy of the men of Beth Shemesh because they looked inside the Covenant Box. And the people mourned because the Lord had caused such a great slaughter among them.

694-2 Samuel 24:15 So the Lord sent an epidemic on Israel, which lasted from that morning until the time that he had chosen. From one end of the country to the other seventy thousand Israelites died.

695-2 Kings 2:23 Elisha left Jericho to go to Bethel, and on the way some boys came out of a town and made fun of him. "Get out of here, baldy!" they shouted. 24 Elisha turned around, glared at them, and cursed them in the name of the Lord. Then two she-bears came out of the woods and tore forty-two of the boys to pieces. 25 Elisha went on to Mount Carmel and later returned to Samaria.

696-Numbers 16:23 Elisha left Jericho to go to Bethel, and on the way some boys came out of a town and made fun of him. "Get out of here, baldy!" they shouted. 24 Elisha turned around, glared at them, and cursed them in the name of the Lord. Then two she-bears came out of the woods and tore forty-two of the boys to pieces. 25 Elisha went on to Mount Carmel and later returned to Samaria.

697-2 Samuel 6:6 As they came to the threshing place of Nacon, the oxen stumbled, and Uzzah reached out and took hold of the Covenant Box.

698-1 Chronicles 13:9-14; 26:4,59 As they came to the threshing place of Chidon, the oxen stumbled, and Uzzah reached out and took hold of the Covenant Box. 10 At once the Lord became angry with Uzzah and killed him for touching the Box. He died there in God's presence, 11 and so that place has been called Perez Uzzah ever since. David was furious because the Lord had punished Uzzah in anger. 12 Then David was afraid of God and said, "How can I take the Covenant Box with me now?" 13 So David did not take it with him to Jerusalem. Instead, he left it at the house of a man named Obed Edom, a native of the city of Gath. 14 It stayed there three months, and the Lord blessed Obed Edom's family and everything that belonged to him.

1 Chronicles 26:4 There was also Obed Edom, whom God blessed by giving him eight sons, listed in order of age: Shemaiah, Jehozabad, Joah, Sachar, Nethanel, 5 Ammiel, Issachar, and Peullethai.

699-1 Kings 18:1 After some time, in the third year of the drought, the Lord said to Elijah, "Go and present yourself to King Ahab, and I will send rain." 2 So Elijah started out. The famine in Samaria was at its worst, 3 so Ahab called in Obadiah, who was in charge of the palace. (Obadiah was a devout worshiper of the Lord, 4 and when Jezebel was killing the Lord's prophets, Obadiah took a hundred of them, hid them in caves in two groups of fifty, and provided them with food and water.) 5 Ahab said to Obadiah, "Let us go and look at every spring and every stream bed in the land to see if we can find enough grass to keep the horses and mules alive. Maybe we won't have to kill any of our animals." 6 They agreed on which part of the land each one would explore, and set off in different directions. 7 As Obadiah was on his way, he suddenly met Elijah. He recognized him, bowed low before him, and asked, "Is it really you, sir?" 8 "Yes, I'm Elijah," he answered. "Go and tell your master the king that I am here." 9 Obadiah answered, "What have I done that you want to put me in danger of being killed by King Ahab? 10 By the living Lord, your God, I swear that the king has made a search for you in every country in the world. Whenever the ruler of a country reported that you were not in his country, Ahab would require that ruler to swear that you could not be found. 11 And now you want me to go and tell him that you are here? 12 What if the spirit of the Lord carries you off to some unknown place as soon as I leave? Then, when I tell Ahab that you are here and he can't find you, he will put me to death. Remember that I have been a devout worshiper of the Lord ever since I was a boy. 13 Haven't you heard that when Jezebel was killing the prophets of the Lord I hid a hundred of them in caves, in two groups of fifty, and supplied them with food and water? 14 So how can you order me to go and tell the king that you are here? He will kill me!" 15 Elijah answered, "By the living Lord Almighty, whom I serve, I promise that I will present myself to the king today." 16 So Obadiah went to King Ahab and told him, and Ahab set off to meet Elijah. 17 When Ahab saw him, he said, "So there you are - the worst troublemaker in Israel!" 18 "I'm not the troublemaker," Elijah answered. "You are - you and your father. You are disobeying the Lord's commands and worshiping the idols of Baal. 19 Now order all the people of Israel to meet me at Mount Carmel. Bring along the 450 prophets of Baal and the 400 prophets of the goddess Asherah who are supported by Queen Jezebel." 20 So Ahab summoned all the Israelites and the prophets of Baal to meet at Mount Carmel. 21 Elijah went up to the people and said, "How much longer will it take you to make up your minds? If the Lord is God, worship him; but if Baal is God, worship him!" But the people didn't say a word. 22 Then Elijah said, "I am the only prophet of the Lord still left, but there are 450 prophets of Baal. 23 Bring two bulls; let the prophets of Baal take one, kill it, cut it in pieces, and put it on the wood - but don't light the fire. I will do the same with the other bull. 24 Then let the prophets of Baal pray to their god, and I will pray to the Lord, and the one who answers by sending fire - he is God." The people shouted their approval. 25 Then Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, "Since there are so many of you, you take a bull and prepare it first. Pray to your god, but don't set fire to the wood." 26 They took the bull that was brought to them, prepared it, and prayed to Baal until noon. They shouted, "Answer us, Baal!" and kept dancing around the altar they had built. But no answer came. 27 At noon Elijah started making fun of them: "Pray louder! He is a god! Maybe he is day-dreaming or relieving himself, or perhaps he's gone off on a trip! Or maybe he's sleeping, and you've got to wake him up!" 28 So the prophets prayed louder and cut themselves with knives and daggers, according to their ritual, until blood flowed. 29 They kept on ranting and raving until the middle of the afternoon; but no answer came, not a sound was heard. 30 Then Elijah said to the people, "Come closer to me," and they all gathered around him. He set about repairing the altar of the Lord which had been torn down. 31 He took twelve stones, one for each of the twelve tribes named for the sons of Jacob, the man to whom the Lord had given the name Israel. 32 With these stones he rebuilt the altar for the worship of the Lord. He dug a trench around it, large enough to hold about four gallons of water. 33 Then he placed the wood on the altar, cut the bull in pieces, and laid it on the wood. He said, "Fill four jars with water and pour it on the offering and the wood." They did so, 34 and he said, "Do it again" - and they did. "Do it once more," he said - and they did. 35 The water ran down around the altar and filled the trench. 36 At the hour of the afternoon sacrifice the prophet Elijah approached the altar and prayed, "O Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, prove now that you are the God of Israel and that I am your servant and have done all this at your command. 37 Answer me, Lord, answer me, so that this people will know that you, the Lord, are God and that you are bringing them back to yourself." 38 The Lord sent fire down, and it burned up the sacrifice, the wood, and the stones, scorched the earth and dried up the water in the trench. 39 When the people saw this, they threw themselves on the ground and exclaimed, "The Lord is God; the Lord alone is God!" 40 Elijah ordered, "Seize the prophets of Baal; don't let any of them get away!" The people seized them all, and Elijah led them down to Kishon Brook and killed them. 41 Then Elijah said to King Ahab, "Now, go and eat. I hear the roar of rain approaching." 42 While Ahab went to eat, Elijah climbed to the top of Mount Carmel, where he bowed down to the ground, with his head between his knees. 43 He said to his servant, "Go and look toward the sea." The servant went and returned, saying, "I didn't see a thing." Seven times in all Elijah told him to go and look. 44 The seventh time he returned and said, "I saw a little cloud no bigger than a man's hand, coming up from the sea." Elijah ordered his servant, "Go to King Ahab and tell him to get in his chariot and go back home before the rain stops him." 45 In a little while the sky was covered with dark clouds, the wind began to blow, and a heavy rain began to fall. Ahab got in his chariot and started back to Jezreel. 46 The power of the Lord came on Elijah; he fastened his clothes tight around his waist and ran ahead of Ahab all the way to Jezreel.

700-2 Kings 19:35 That night an angel of the Lord went to the Assyrian camp and killed 185,000 soldiers. At dawn the next day there they lay, all dead!

701-Acts 5:1 But there was a man named Ananias, who with his wife Sapphira sold some property that belonged to them. 2 But with his wife's agreement he kept part of the money for himself and turned the rest over to the apostles. 3 Peter said to him, "Ananias, why did you let Satan take control of you and make you lie to the Holy Spirit by keeping part of the money you received for the property? 4 Before you sold the property, it belonged to you; and after you sold it, the money was yours. Why, then, did you decide to do such a thing? You have not lied to people - you have lied to God!" 5 As soon as Ananias heard this, he fell down dead; and all who heard about it were terrified. 6 The young men came in, wrapped up his body, carried him out, and buried him. 7 About three hours later his wife, not knowing what had happened, came in. 8 Peter asked her, "Tell me, was this the full amount you and your husband received for your property?" "Yes," she answered, "the full amount." 9 So Peter said to her, "Why did you and your husband decide to put the Lord's Spirit to the test? The men who buried your husband are at the door right now, and they will carry you out too!" 10 At once she fell down at his feet and died. The young men came in and saw that she was dead, so they carried her out and buried her beside her husband. 11 The whole church and all the others who heard of this were terrified.

702-Revelation 14:9 A third angel followed the first two, saying in a loud voice, "Those who worship the beast and its image and receive the mark on their forehead or on their hand 10 will themselves drink God's wine, the wine of his fury, which he has poured at full strength into the cup of his anger! All who do this will be tormented in fire and sulfur before the holy angels and the Lamb. 11 The smoke of the fire that torments them goes up forever and ever. There is no relief day or night for those who worship the beast and its image, for anyone who has the mark of its name."

703-Leviticus 10:3 Then Moses said to Aaron, "This is what the Lord was speaking about when he said, "All who serve me must respect my holiness; I will reveal my glory to my people.' " But Aaron remained silent.

704-Job 28:28 God said to us humans, "To be wise, you must have reverence for the Lord. To understand, you must turn from evil."

705-Proverbs 1:7; 9:107 To have knowledge, you must first have reverence for the Lord. Stupid people have no respect for wisdom and refuse to learn.

Proverbs 9:10 To be wise you must first have reverence for the Lord. If you know the Holy One, you have understanding.

706-Exodus 33:11 The Lord would speak with Moses face-to-face, just as someone speaks with a friend. Then Moses would return to the camp. But the young man who was his helper, Joshua son of Nun, stayed in the Tent.

707-Numbers 12:6 and the Lord said, "Now hear what I have to say! When there are prophets among you, I reveal myself to them in visions and speak to them in dreams. 7 It is different when I speak with my servant Moses; I have put him in charge of all my people Israel. 8 So I speak to him face-to-face, clearly and not in riddles; he has even seen my form! How dare you speak against my servant Moses?"

708-1 Samuel 5:1 After the Philistines captured the Covenant Box, they carried it from Ebenezer to their city of Ashdod, 2 took it into the temple of their god Dagon, and set it up beside his statue. 3 Early the next morning the people of Ashdod saw that the statue of Dagon had fallen face downward on the ground in front of the Lord's Covenant Box. So they lifted it up and put it back in its place. 4 Early the following morning they saw that the statue had again fallen down in front of the Covenant Box. This time its head and both its arms were broken off and were lying in the doorway; only the body was left. 5 (That is why even today the priests of Dagon and all his worshipers in Ashdod step over that place and do not walk on it.) 6 The Lord punished the people of Ashdod severely and terrified them. He punished them and the people in the surrounding territory by causing them to have tumors. 7 When they saw what was happening, they said, "The God of Israel is punishing us and our god Dagon. We can't let the Covenant Box stay here any longer." 8 So they sent messengers and called together all five of the Philistine kings and asked them, "What shall we do with the Covenant Box of the God of Israel?" "Take it over to Gath," they answered; so they took it to Gath, another Philistine city. 9 But after it arrived there, the Lord punished that city too and caused a great panic. He punished them with tumors which developed in all the people of the city, young and old alike. 10 So they sent the Covenant Box to Ekron, another Philistine city; but when it arrived there, the people cried out, "They have brought the Covenant Box of the God of Israel here, in order to kill us all!" 11 So again they sent for all the Philistine kings and said, "Send the Covenant Box of Israel back to its own place, so that it won't kill us and our families." There was panic throughout the city because God was punishing them so severely. 12 Even those who did not die developed tumors and the people cried out to their gods for help.

1 Samuel 6:1 After the Lord's Covenant Box had been in Philistia for seven months, 2 the people called the priests and the magicians and asked, "What shall we do with the Covenant Box of the Lord? If we send it back where it belongs, what shall we send with it?" 3 They answered, "If you return the Covenant Box of the God of Israel, you must, of course, send with it a gift to him to pay for your sin. The Covenant Box must not go back without a gift. In this way you will be healed, and you will find out why he has kept on punishing you." 4 "What gift shall we send him?" the people asked. They answered, "Five gold models of tumors and five gold mice, one of each for each Philistine king. The same plague was sent on all of you and on the five kings. 5 You must make these models of the tumors and of the mice that are ravaging your country, and you must give honor to the God of Israel. Perhaps he will stop punishing you, your gods, and your land. 6 Why should you be stubborn, as the king of Egypt and the Egyptians were? Don't forget how God made fools of them until they let the Israelites leave Egypt. 7 So prepare a new wagon and two cows that have never been yoked; hitch them to the wagon and drive their calves back to the barn. 8 Take the Lord's Covenant Box, put it on the wagon, and place in a box beside it the gold models that you are sending to him as a gift to pay for your sins. Start the wagon on its way and let it go by itself. 9 Then watch it go; if it goes toward the town of Beth Shemesh, this means that it is the God of the Israelites who has sent this terrible disaster on us. But if it doesn't, then we will know that he did not send the plague; it was only a matter of chance." 10 They did what they were told: they took two cows and hitched them to the wagon, and shut the calves in the barn. 11 They put the Covenant Box in the wagon, together with the box containing the gold models of the mice and of the tumors. 12 The cows started off on the road to Beth Shemesh and headed straight toward it, without turning off the road. They were mooing as they went. The five Philistine kings followed them as far as the border of Beth Shemesh. 13 The people of Beth Shemesh were reaping wheat in the valley, when suddenly they looked up and saw the Covenant Box. They were overjoyed at the sight. 14 The wagon came to a field belonging to a man named Joshua, who lived in Beth Shemesh, and it stopped there near a large rock. The people chopped up the wooden wagon and killed the cows and burned them as a burnt sacrifice to the Lord. 15 The Levites lifted off the Covenant Box of the Lord and the box with the gold models in it, and placed them on the large rock. Then the people of Beth Shemesh offered burnt sacrifices and other sacrifices to the Lord. 16 The five Philistine kings watched them do this and then went back to Ekron that same day. 17 The Philistines sent the five gold tumors to the Lord as a gift to pay for their sins, one each for the cities of Ashdod, Gaza, Ashkelon, Gath, and Ekron. 18 They also sent gold mice, one for each of the cities ruled by the five Philistine kings, both the fortified towns and the villages without walls. The large rock in the field of Joshua of Beth Shemesh, on which they placed the Lord's Covenant Box, is still there as a witness to what happened. 19 The Lord killed seventy of the men of Beth Shemesh because they looked inside the Covenant Box. And the people mourned because the Lord had caused such a great slaughter among them. 20 So the men of Beth Shemesh said, "Who can stand before the Lord, this holy God? Where can we send him to get him away from us?" 21 They sent messengers to the people of Kiriath Jearim to say, "The Philistines have returned the Lord's Covenant Box. Come down and get it."

709-Leviticus 10:8 The Lord said to Aaron,

710-Leviticus 10:2 Suddenly the Lord sent fire, and it burned them to death there in the presence of the Lord.

711-Leviticus 18:1 The Lord told Moses 2 to say to the people of Israel, "I am the Lord your God. 3 Do not follow the practices of the people of Egypt, where you once lived, or of the people in the land of Canaan, where I am now taking you. 4 Obey my laws and do what I command. I am the Lord your God. 5 Follow the practices and the laws that I give you; you will save your life by doing so. I am the Lord." 6 The Lord gave the following regulations. Do not have sexual intercourse with any of your relatives. 7 Do not disgrace your father by having intercourse with your mother. You must not disgrace your own mother. 8 Do not disgrace your father by having intercourse with any of his other wives. 9 Do not have intercourse with your sister or your stepsister, whether or not she was brought up in the same house with you. 10 Do not have intercourse with your granddaughter; that would be a disgrace to you. 11 Do not have intercourse with a half sister; she, too, is your sister. 12 Do not have intercourse with an aunt, whether she is your father's sister or your mother's sister. 14 Do not have intercourse with your uncle's wife; she, too, is your aunt. 15 Do not have intercourse with your daughter-in-law 16 or with your brother's wife. 17 Do not have intercourse with the daughter or granddaughter of a woman with whom you have had intercourse; they may be related to you, and that would be incest. 18 Do not take your wife's sister as one of your wives, as long as your wife is living. 19 Do not have intercourse with a woman during her monthly period, because she is ritually unclean. 20 Do not have intercourse with another man's wife; that would make you ritually unclean. 21 Do not hand over any of your children to be used in the worship of the god Molech, because that would bring disgrace on the name of God, the Lord. 22 No man is to have sexual relations with another man; God hates that. 23 No man or woman is to have sexual relations with an animal; that perversion makes you ritually unclean. 24 Do not make yourselves unclean by any of these acts, for that is how the pagans made themselves unclean, those pagans who lived in the land before you and whom the Lord is driving out so that you can go in. 25 Their actions made the land unclean, and so the Lord is punishing the land and making it reject the people who lived there. 26 They did all these disgusting things and made the land unclean, but you must not do them. All of you, whether Israelites or foreigners living with you, must keep the Lord's laws and commands, 28 and then the land will not reject you, as it rejected the pagans who lived there before you. 29 You know that whoever does any of these disgusting things will no longer be considered one of God's people. 30 And the Lord said, "Obey the commands I give and do not follow the practices of the people who lived in the land before you, and do not make yourselves unclean by doing any of these things. I am the Lord your God."

Leviticus 20:1 The Lord told Moses 2 to say to the people of Israel, "Any of you or any foreigner living among you who gives any children to be used in the worship of the god Molech shall be stoned to death by the whole community. 3 If any of you give one of your children to Molech and make my sacred Tent unclean and disgrace my holy name, I will turn against you and will no longer consider you my people. 4 But if the community ignores what you have done and does not put you to death, 5 I myself will turn against you and your whole family and against all who join you in being unfaithful to me and worshiping Molech. I will no longer consider any of you my people. 6 "If any of you go for advice to people who consult the spirits of the dead, I will turn against you and will no longer consider you one of my people. 7 Keep yourselves holy, because I am the Lord your God. 8 Obey my laws, because I am the Lord and I make you holy." 9 The Lord gave the following regulations. Any of you that curse your father or mother shall be put to death; you are responsible for your own death. 10 If a man commits adultery with the wife of an Israelite, both he and the woman shall be put to death. 11 A man who has intercourse with one of his father's wives disgraces his father, and both he and the woman shall be put to death. They are responsible for their own death. 12 If a man has intercourse with his daughter-in-law, they shall both be put to death. They have committed incest and are responsible for their own death. 13 If a man has sexual relations with another man, they have done a disgusting thing, and both shall be put to death. They are responsible for their own death. 14 If a man marries a woman and her mother, all three shall be burned to death because of the disgraceful thing they have done; such a thing must not be permitted among you. 15 If a man has sexual relations with an animal, he and the animal shall be put to death. 16 If a woman tries to have sexual relations with an animal, she and the animal shall be put to death. They are responsible for their own death. 17 If a man marries his sister or half sister, they shall be publicly disgraced and driven out of the community. He has had intercourse with his sister and must suffer the consequences. 18 If a man has intercourse with a woman during her monthly period, both of them are to be driven out of the community, because they have broken the regulations about ritual uncleanness. 19 If a man has intercourse with his aunt, both of them must suffer the consequences for incest. 20 If a man has intercourse with his uncle's wife, he disgraces his uncle, and he and the woman will pay the penalty; neither one will have children. 21 If a man takes his brother's wife, they will die childless. He has done a ritually unclean thing and has disgraced his brother. 22 The Lord said, "Keep all my laws and commands, so that you will not be rejected by the land of Canaan, into which I am bringing you. 23 Do not adopt the customs of the people who live there; I am driving out those pagans so that you can enter the land. They have disgusted me with all their evil practices. 24 But I have promised you this rich and fertile land as your possession, and I will give it to you. I am the Lord your God, and I have set you apart from the other nations. 25 So then, you must make a clear distinction between animals and birds that are ritually clean and those that are not. Do not eat unclean animals or birds. I have declared them unclean, and eating them would make you unclean. 26 You shall be holy and belong only to me, because I am the Lord and I am holy. I have set you apart from the other nations so that you would belong to me alone. 27 "Any man or woman who consults the spirits of the dead shall be stoned to death; any of you that do this are responsible for your own death."

712-Exodus 20:26 Do not build an altar for me with steps leading up to it; if you do, you will expose yourselves as you go up the steps.

Exodus 28:42 Make linen shorts for them, reaching from the waist to the thighs, so that they will not expose themselves.

713-John 5:28 Do not be surprised at this; the time is coming when all the dead will hear his voice 29 and come out of their graves: those who have done good will rise and live, and those who have done evil will rise and be condemned.

714-1 Corinthians 15:22 For just as all people die because of their union with Adam, in the same way all will be raised to life because of their union with Christ.

715-Exodus 4:23; 11:5; 12:12,29; 13:523 I told you to let my son go, so that he might worship me, but you refused. Now I am going to kill your first-born son.' "

Exodus 11:5 and every first-born son in Egypt will die, from the king's son, who is heir to the throne, to the son of the slave woman who grinds grain. The first-born of all the cattle will die also.

Exodus 12:12 "On that night I will go through the land of Egypt, killing every first-born male, both human and animal, and punishing all the gods of Egypt. I am the Lord.

Exodus 12:29 At midnight the Lord killed all the first-born sons in Egypt, from the king's son, who was heir to the throne, to the son of the prisoner in the dungeon; all the first-born of the animals were also killed.

Exodus 13:5 The Lord solemnly promised your ancestors to give you the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. When he brings you into that rich and fertile land, you must celebrate this festival in the first month of every year.

716-Leviticus 11:1 The Lord gave Moses and Aaron the following regulations 2 for the people of Israel. You may eat any land animal 3 that has divided hoofs and that also chews the cud, 4 but you must not eat camels, rock badgers, or rabbits. These must be considered unclean; they chew the cud, but do not have divided hoofs. 7 Do not eat pigs. They must be considered unclean; they have divided hoofs, but do not chew the cud. 8 Do not eat these animals or even touch their dead bodies; they are unclean. 9 You may eat any kind of fish that has fins and scales, 10 but anything living in the water that does not have fins and scales must not be eaten. 11 Such creatures must be considered unclean. You must not eat them or even touch their dead bodies. 12 You must not eat anything that lives in the water and does not have fins and scales. 13 You must not eat any of the following birds: eagles, owls, hawks, falcons; buzzards, vultures, crows; ostriches; seagulls, storks, herons, pelicans, cormorants; hoopoes; or bats. 20 All winged insects are unclean, 21 except those that hop. 22 You may eat locusts, crickets, or grasshoppers. 23 But all other small things that have wings and also crawl must be considered unclean. 24 If you touch the dead bodies of the following animals, you will be unclean until evening: all animals with hoofs, unless their hoofs are divided and they chew the cud, and all four-footed animals with paws. If you carry their dead bodies, you must wash your clothes, but you will still be unclean until evening. 29 Moles, rats, mice, and lizards must be considered unclean. 31 Whoever touches them or their dead bodies will be unclean until evening. 32 And if their dead bodies fall on anything, it will be unclean. This applies to any article of wood, cloth, leather, or sacking, no matter what it is used for. It shall be dipped in water, but it will remain unclean until evening. 33 And if their bodies fall into a clay pot, everything that is in it shall be unclean, and you must break the pot. 34 Any food which could normally be eaten, but on which water from such a pot has been poured, will be unclean, and anything drinkable in such a pot is unclean. 35 Anything on which the dead bodies fall is unclean; a clay stove or oven shall be broken, 36 but a spring or a cistern remains clean, although anything else that touches their dead bodies is unclean. 37 If one of them falls on seed that is going to be planted, the seed remains clean. 38 But if the seed is soaking in water and one of them falls on it, the seed is unclean. 39 If any animal that may be eaten dies, anyone who touches it will be unclean until evening. 40 And if any of you eat any part of the animal, you must wash your clothes, but you will still be unclean until evening; any of you who carry the dead body must wash your clothes, but you will still be unclean until evening. 41 You must not eat any of the small animals that move on the ground, 42 whether they crawl, or walk on four legs, or have many legs. 43 Do not make yourselves unclean by eating any of these. 44 I am the Lord your God, and you must keep yourselves holy, because I am holy. 45 I am the Lord who brought you out of Egypt so that I could be your God. You must be holy, because I am holy. 46 This, then, is the law about animals and birds, about everything that lives in the water, and everything that moves on the ground. 47 You must be careful to distinguish between what is ritually clean and unclean, between animals that may be eaten and those that may not.

717-Deuteronomy 14:1 "You are the people of the Lord your God. So when you mourn for the dead, don't gash yourselves or shave the front of your head, as other people do. 2 You belong to the Lord your God; he has chosen you to be his own people from among all the peoples who live on earth. 3 "Do not eat anything that the Lord has declared unclean. 4 You may eat these animals: cattle, sheep, goats, 5 deer, wild sheep, wild goats, or antelopes - 6 any animals that have divided hoofs and that also chew the cud. 7 But no animals may be eaten unless they have divided hoofs and also chew the cud. You may not eat camels, rabbits, or rock badgers. They must be considered unclean; they chew the cud but do not have divided hoofs. 8 Do not eat pigs. They must be considered unclean; they have divided hoofs but do not chew the cud. Do not eat any of these animals or even touch their dead bodies. 9 "You may eat any kind of fish that has fins and scales, 10 but anything living in the water that does not have fins and scales may not be eaten; it must be considered unclean. 11 "You may eat any clean bird. 12 But these are the kinds of birds you are not to eat: eagles, owls, hawks, falcons; buzzards, vultures, crows; ostriches; seagulls, storks, herons, pelicans, cormorants; hoopoes; and bats. 19 "All winged insects are unclean; do not eat them. 20 You may eat any clean insect. 21 "Do not eat any animal that dies a natural death. You may let the foreigners who live among you eat it, or you may sell it to other foreigners. But you belong to the Lord your God; you are his people. "Do not cook a young sheep or goat in its mother's milk. 22 "Set aside a tithe - a tenth of all that your fields produce each year. 23 Then go to the one place where the Lord your God has chosen to be worshiped; and there in his presence eat the tithes of your grain, wine, and olive oil, and the first-born of your cattle and sheep. Do this so that you may learn to honor the Lord your God always. 24 If the place of worship is too far from your home for you to carry there the tithe of the produce that the Lord has blessed you with, then do this: 25 Sell your produce and take the money with you to the one place of worship. 26 Spend it on whatever you want - beef, lamb, wine, beer - and there, in the presence of the Lord your God, you and your families are to eat and enjoy yourselves. 27 "Do not neglect the Levites who live in your towns; they have no property of their own. 28 At the end of every third year bring the tithe of all your crops and store it in your towns. 29 This food is for the Levites, since they own no property, and for the foreigners, orphans, and widows who live in your towns. They are to come and get all they need. Do this, and the Lord your God will bless you in everything you do.

718-Genesis 1:29 I have provided all kinds of grain and all kinds of fruit for you to eat;

719-Genesis 3:18 It will produce weeds and thorns, and you will have to eat wild plants.

720-Leviticus 5:2,3; 7:19-21; 10:10; 11; 13:1-15:332 If you unintentionally touch anything ritually unclean, such as a dead animal, you are unclean and guilty as soon as you realize what you have done. 3 If you unintentionally touch anything of human origin that is unclean, whatever it may be, you are guilty as soon as you realize what you have done.

Leviticus 7:19 If the meat comes into contact with anything ritually unclean, it must not be eaten, but must be burned. Any of you that are ritually clean may eat the meat, 20 but if any of you who are not clean eat it, you shall no longer be considered one of God's people. 21 Also, if you eat the meat of this offering after you have touched anything ritually unclean, whether from a person or an animal, you shall no longer be considered one of God's people.

Leviticus 10:10 You must distinguish between what belongs to God and what is for general use, between what is ritually clean and what is unclean.

Leviticus 11:1 The Lord gave Moses and Aaron the following regulations 2 for the people of Israel. You may eat any land animal 3 that has divided hoofs and that also chews the cud, 4 but you must not eat camels, rock badgers, or rabbits. These must be considered unclean; they chew the cud, but do not have divided hoofs. 7 Do not eat pigs. They must be considered unclean; they have divided hoofs, but do not chew the cud. 8 Do not eat these animals or even touch their dead bodies; they are unclean. 9 You may eat any kind of fish that has fins and scales, 10 but anything living in the water that does not have fins and scales must not be eaten. 11 Such creatures must be considered unclean. You must not eat them or even touch their dead bodies. 12 You must not eat anything that lives in the water and does not have fins and scales. 13 You must not eat any of the following birds: eagles, owls, hawks, falcons; buzzards, vultures, crows; ostriches; seagulls, storks, herons, pelicans, cormorants; hoopoes; or bats. 20 All winged insects are unclean, 21 except those that hop. 22 You may eat locusts, crickets, or grasshoppers. 23 But all other small things that have wings and also crawl must be considered unclean. 24 If you touch the dead bodies of the following animals, you will be unclean until evening: all animals with hoofs, unless their hoofs are divided and they chew the cud, and all four-footed animals with paws. If you carry their dead bodies, you must wash your clothes, but you will still be unclean until evening. 29 Moles, rats, mice, and lizards must be considered unclean. 31 Whoever touches them or their dead bodies will be unclean until evening. 32 And if their dead bodies fall on anything, it will be unclean. This applies to any article of wood, cloth, leather, or sacking, no matter what it is used for. It shall be dipped in water, but it will remain unclean until evening. 33 And if their bodies fall into a clay pot, everything that is in it shall be unclean, and you must break the pot. 34 Any food which could normally be eaten, but on which water from such a pot has been poured, will be unclean, and anything drinkable in such a pot is unclean. 35 Anything on which the dead bodies fall is unclean; a clay stove or oven shall be broken, 36 but a spring or a cistern remains clean, although anything else that touches their dead bodies is unclean. 37 If one of them falls on seed that is going to be planted, the seed remains clean. 38 But if the seed is soaking in water and one of them falls on it, the seed is unclean. 39 If any animal that may be eaten dies, anyone who touches it will be unclean until evening. 40 And if any of you eat any part of the animal, you must wash your clothes, but you will still be unclean until evening; any of you who carry the dead body must wash your clothes, but you will still be unclean until evening. 41 You must not eat any of the small animals that move on the ground, 42 whether they crawl, or walk on four legs, or have many legs. 43 Do not make yourselves unclean by eating any of these. 44 I am the Lord your God, and you must keep yourselves holy, because I am holy. 45 I am the Lord who brought you out of Egypt so that I could be your God. You must be holy, because I am holy. 46 This, then, is the law about animals and birds, about everything that lives in the water, and everything that moves on the ground. 47 You must be careful to distinguish between what is ritually clean and unclean, between animals that may be eaten and those that may not.

Leviticus 13:1 The Lord gave Moses and Aaron these regulations. 2 If any of you have a sore on your skin or a boil or an inflammation which could develop into a dreaded skin disease, you shall be brought to the Aaronite priest. 3 The priest shall examine the sore, and if the hairs in it have turned white and the sore appears to be deeper than the surrounding skin, it is a dreaded skin disease, and the priest shall pronounce you unclean. 4 But if the sore is white and does not appear to be deeper than the skin around it and the hairs have not turned white, the priest shall isolate you for seven days. 5 The priest shall examine you again on the seventh day, and if in his opinion the sore looks the same and has not spread, he shall isolate you for another seven days. 6 The priest shall examine you again on the seventh day, and if the sore has faded and has not spread, he shall pronounce you ritually clean; it is only a sore. You shall wash your clothes and be ritually clean. 7 But if the sore spreads after the priest has examined you and pronounced you clean, you must appear before the priest again. 8 The priest will examine you again, and if it has spread, he shall pronounce you unclean; it is a dreaded skin disease. 9 If any of you have a dreaded skin disease, you shall be brought to the priest, 10 who will examine you. If there is a white sore on your skin which turns the hairs white and is full of pus, 11 it is a chronic skin disease. The priest shall pronounce you unclean; there is no need to isolate you, because you are obviously unclean. 12 If the skin disease spreads and covers you from head to foot, 13 the priest shall examine you again. If he finds that it actually has covered the whole body, he shall pronounce you ritually clean. If your whole skin has turned white, you are ritually clean. 14 But from the moment an open sore appears, you are unclean. 15 The priest shall examine you again, and if he sees an open sore, he shall pronounce you unclean. An open sore means a dreaded skin disease, and you are unclean. 16 But when the sore heals and becomes white again, you shall go to the priest, 17 who will examine you again. If the sore has turned white, you are ritually clean, and the priest shall pronounce you clean. 18 If any of you have a boil that has healed 19 and if afterward a white swelling or a reddish-white spot appears where the boil was, you shall go to the priest. 20 The priest shall examine you, and if the spot seems to be deeper than the surrounding skin and the hairs in it have turned white, he shall pronounce you unclean. It is a dreaded skin disease that has started in the boil. 21 But if the priest examines it and finds that the hairs in it have not turned white and that it is not deeper than the surrounding skin, but is light in color, the priest shall isolate you for seven days. 22 If the spot spreads, the priest shall pronounce you unclean; you are diseased. 23 But if it remains unchanged and does not spread, it is only the scar left from the boil, and the priest shall pronounce you ritually clean. 24 In case any of you have been burned, if the raw flesh becomes white or reddish-white, 25 the priest shall examine you. If the hairs in the spot have turned white and it appears deeper than the surrounding skin, it is a dreaded skin disease that has started in the burn, and the priest shall pronounce you unclean. 26 But if the hairs in it have not turned white and it is not deeper than the surrounding skin, but is light in color, the priest shall isolate you for seven days. 27 The priest shall examine you again on the seventh day, and if it is spreading, it is a dreaded skin disease, and the priest shall pronounce you unclean. 28 But if the spot remains unchanged and does not spread and is light in color, it is not a dreaded skin disease. The priest shall pronounce you ritually clean, because it is only a scar from the burn. 29 When any of you, male or female, have a sore on your head or chin, 30 the priest shall examine it. If it seems to be deeper than the surrounding skin and the hairs in it are yellowish and thin, it is a dreaded skin disease, and he shall pronounce you unclean. 31 If, when the priest examines you, the sore does not appear to be deeper than the surrounding skin, but there are still no healthy hairs in it, he shall isolate you for seven days. 32 The priest shall examine the sore again on the seventh day, and if it has not spread and there are no yellowish hairs in it and it does not seem to be deeper than the surrounding skin, 33 you shall shave the head except the area around the sore. The priest shall then isolate you for another seven days. 34 On the seventh day the priest shall again examine the sore, and if it has not spread and does not seem to be deeper than the surrounding skin, he shall pronounce you ritually clean. You shall wash your clothes, and you will be clean. 35 But if the sore spreads after you have been pronounced clean, 36 the priest shall examine you again. If the sore has spread, he need not look for yellowish hairs; you are obviously unclean. 37 But if in the priest's opinion the sore has not spread and healthy hairs are growing in it, the sore has healed, and the priest shall pronounce you ritually clean. 38 When any of you, male or female, have white spots on the skin, 39 the priest shall examine you. If the spots are dull white, it is only a blemish that has broken out on the skin; you are ritually clean. 40 If you lose your hair at the back or the front of your head, this does not make you unclean. 42 But if a reddish-white sore appears on the bald spot, it is a dreaded skin disease. 43 The priest shall examine you, and if there is a reddish-white sore, 44 the priest shall pronounce you unclean, because of the dreaded skin disease on your head. 45 If you have a dreaded skin disease, you must wear torn clothes, leave your hair uncombed, cover the lower part of your face, and call out, "Unclean, unclean!" 46 You remain unclean as long as you have the disease, and you must live outside the camp, away from others. 47 When there is mildew on clothing, whether wool or linen, 48 or on any piece of linen or wool cloth or on leather or anything made of leather, 49 if it is greenish or reddish, it is a spreading mildew and must be shown to the priest. 50 The priest shall examine it and put the object away for seven days. 51 He shall examine it again on the seventh day, and if the mildew has spread, the object is unclean. 52 The priest shall burn it, because it is a spreading mildew which must be destroyed by fire. 53 But if, when he examines it, the priest finds that the mildew has not spread on the object, 54 he shall order that it be washed and put away for another seven days. 55 Then he shall examine it, and if the mildew has not changed color, even though it has not spread, it is still unclean; you must burn the object, whether the rot is on the front or the back. 56 But if, when the priest examines it again, the mildew has faded, he shall tear it out of the clothing or leather. 57 Then, if the mildew reappears, it is spreading again, and the owner shall burn the object. 58 If he washes the object and the spot disappears, he shall wash it again, and it will be ritually clean.

Leviticus 14:1 The Lord gave Moses 2 the following regulations about the ritual purification of those of you cured of a dreaded skin disease. On the day you are to be pronounced clean, you shall be brought to the priest, 3 and the priest shall take you outside the camp and examine you. If the disease is healed, 4 the priest shall order that two ritually clean birds be brought, along with a piece of cedar wood, a red cord, and a sprig of hyssop. 5 Then the priest shall order that one of the birds be killed over a clay bowl containing fresh spring water. 6 He shall take the other bird and dip it, together with the cedar wood, the red cord, and the hyssop, in the blood of the bird that was killed. 7 He shall sprinkle the blood seven times on the one of you who is to be purified from your skin disease, and then he shall pronounce you clean. He shall let the live bird fly away over the open fields. 8 You shall wash your clothes, shave off all your hair, and take a bath; you will then be ritually clean. You may enter the camp, but you must live outside your tent for seven days. 9 On the seventh day you shall again shave your head, your beard, your eyebrows, and all the rest of the hair on your body; you shall wash your clothes and take a bath, and then you will be ritually clean. 10 On the eighth day you shall bring two male lambs and one female lamb a year old that are without any defects, five pounds of flour mixed with olive oil, and half a pint of olive oil. 11 The priest shall take you and these offerings to the entrance of the Tent of the Lord's presence. 12 Then the priest shall take one of the male lambs and together with the half pint of oil he shall offer it as a repayment offering. He shall present them as a special gift to the Lord for the priest. 13 He shall kill the lamb in the holy place where the animals for the sin offerings and the burnt offerings are killed. He must do this because the repayment offering, like the sin offering, belongs to the priest and is very holy. 14 The priest shall take some of the blood of the lamb and put it on the lobe of the right ear, on the thumb of the right hand, and on the big toe of the right foot of the one of you to be declared ritually clean. 15 The priest shall take some of the olive oil and pour it in the palm of his own left hand, 16 dip a finger of his right hand in it, and sprinkle some of it seven times there in the Lord's presence. 17 He shall take some of the oil that is in the palm of his hand and some of the blood of the lamb and put them on the lobe of the right ear, on the thumb of the right hand, and on the big toe of the right foot of the one of you to be declared ritually clean. 18 He shall put the rest of the oil that is in the palm of his hand on your head. In this way he shall perform the ritual of purification. 19 Then the priest shall offer the sin offering and perform the ritual of purification. After that, he shall kill the animal for the burnt offering 20 and offer it with the grain offering on the altar. In this way the priest shall perform the ritual of purification, and you will be ritually clean. 21 If you are poor and cannot afford any more, you shall bring for your purification only one male lamb as your repayment offering, a special gift to the Lord for the priest. You shall bring only two pounds of flour mixed with olive oil for a grain offering and half a pint of olive oil. 22 You shall also bring two doves or two pigeons, one for the sin offering and one for the burnt offering. 23 On the eighth day of your purification you shall bring them to the priest at the entrance of the Tent. 24 The priest shall take the lamb and the olive oil and present them as a special gift to the Lord for the priest. 25 He shall kill the lamb and take some of the blood and put it on the lobe of your right ear, on the thumb of your right hand, and on the big toe of your right foot. 26 The priest shall pour some of the oil into the palm of his own left hand 27 and with a finger of his right hand sprinkle some of it seven times there in the Lord's presence. 28 He shall put some of the oil on the same places he put the blood: on the lobe of your right ear, on the thumb of your right hand, and on the big toe of your right foot. 29 The rest of the oil that is in his palm he shall put on your head and in this way perform the ritual of purification. 30 Then he shall offer one of the doves or pigeons 31 as the sin offering and the other as the burnt offering with the grain offering. In this way the priest shall perform the ritual of purification. 32 This is the law for those who have a dreaded skin disease but who cannot afford the normal offerings required for his purification. 33 The Lord gave Moses and Aaron 34 the following regulations about houses affected by spreading mildew. (These were to apply after the people of Israel entered the land of Canaan, which the Lord was going to give them as their possession.) If any of you find that the Lord has sent mildew on your house, then you must go and tell the priest about it. 36 The priest shall order everything to be moved out of the house before he goes to examine the mildew; otherwise everything in the house will be declared unclean. Then he shall go to the house 37 and examine the mildew. If there are greenish or reddish spots that appear to be eating into the wall, 38 he shall leave the house and lock it up for seven days. 39 On the seventh day he shall return and examine it again. If the mildew has spread, 40 he shall order that the stones on which the mildew is found be removed and thrown into some unclean place outside the city. 41 After that he must have all the interior walls scraped and the plaster dumped in an unclean place outside the city. 42 Then other stones are to be used to replace the stones that were removed, and new plaster will be used to cover the walls. 43 If the mildew breaks out again in the house after the stones have been removed and the house has been scraped and plastered, 44 the priest shall go and look. If it has spread, the house is unclean. 45 It must be torn down, and its stones, its wood, and all its plaster must be carried out of the city to an unclean place. 46 Any who enter the house while it is locked up will be unclean until evening. 47 Any who lie down or eat in the house must wash their clothes. 48 If, when the priest comes to look, the mildew has not reappeared after the house has been replastered, he shall pronounce the house ritually clean, because the mildew has been completely removed. 49 To purify the house, he shall take two birds, some cedar wood, a red cord, and a sprig of hyssop. 50 He shall kill one of the birds over a clay bowl containing fresh spring water. 51 Then he shall take the cedar wood, the hyssop, the red cord, and the live bird and shall dip them in the blood of the bird that was killed and in the fresh water. And he shall sprinkle the house seven times. 52 In this way he shall purify the house with the bird's blood, the fresh water, the live bird, the cedar wood, the hyssop, and the red cord. 53 Then he shall let the live bird fly away outside the city over the open fields. In this way he shall perform the ritual of purification for the house, and it will be ritually clean. 54 These are the laws about dreaded skin diseases; 55 sores, boils, or inflammations; and about mildew in clothes or houses.

Leviticus 15:1 The Lord gave Moses and Aaron the following regulations 2 for the people of Israel. When any man has a discharge from his penis, the discharge is unclean, 3 whether the penis runs with it or is stopped up by it. 4 Any bed on which he sits or lies is unclean. 5 Anyone who touches his bed 6 or sits on anything the man has sat on must wash his clothes and take a bath, and he remains unclean until evening. 7 Anyone who touches the man with the discharge must wash his clothes and take a bath, and he remains unclean until evening. 8 If the man with the discharge spits on anyone who is ritually clean, that person must wash his clothes and take a bath, and he remains unclean until evening. 9 Any saddle or seat on which the man with the discharge sits is unclean. 10 Anyone who touches anything on which the man sat is unclean until evening. Anyone who carries anything on which the man sat must wash his clothes and take a bath, and he remains unclean until evening. 11 If a man who has a discharge touches one of you without first having washed his hands, you must wash your clothes and take a bath, and you remain unclean until evening. 12 Any clay pot that the man touches must be broken, and any wooden bowl that he touches must be washed. 13 After the man is cured of his discharge, he must wait seven days and then wash his clothes and take a bath in fresh spring water, and he will be ritually clean. 14 On the eighth day he shall take two doves or two pigeons to the entrance of the Tent of the Lord's presence and give them to the priest. 15 The priest shall offer one of them as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering. In this way he will perform the ritual of purification for the man. 16 When a man has an emission of semen, he must bathe his whole body, and he remains unclean until evening. 17 Anything made of cloth or leather on which the semen falls must be washed, and it remains unclean until evening. 18 After sexual intercourse both the man and the woman must take a bath, and they remain unclean until evening. 19 When a woman has her monthly period, she remains unclean for seven days. Anyone who touches her is unclean until evening. 20 Anything on which she sits or lies during her monthly period is unclean. 21 Any who touch her bed or anything on which she has sat must wash their clothes and take a bath, and they remain unclean until evening. 24 If a man has sexual intercourse with her during her period, he is contaminated by her impurity and remains unclean for seven days, and any bed on which he lies is unclean. 25 If a woman has a flow of blood for several days outside her monthly period or if her flow continues beyond her regular period, she remains unclean as long as the flow continues, just as she is during her monthly period. 26 Any bed on which she lies and anything on which she sits during this time is unclean. 27 Any who touch them are unclean and must wash their clothes and take a bath; they remain unclean until evening. 28 After her flow stops, she must wait seven days, and then she will be ritually clean. 29 On the eighth day she shall take two doves or two pigeons to the priest at the entrance of the Tent of the Lord's presence. 30 The priest shall offer one of them as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering, and in this way he will perform the ritual of purification for her. 31 The Lord told Moses to warn the people of Israel about their uncleanness, so that they would not defile the Tent of his presence, which was in the middle of the camp. If they did, they would be killed.

721-Leviticus 11:1 The Lord gave Moses and Aaron the following regulations 2 for the people of Israel. You may eat any land animal 3 that has divided hoofs and that also chews the cud, 4 but you must not eat camels, rock badgers, or rabbits. These must be considered unclean; they chew the cud, but do not have divided hoofs. 7 Do not eat pigs. They must be considered unclean; they have divided hoofs, but do not chew the cud. 8 Do not eat these animals or even touch their dead bodies; they are unclean. 9 You may eat any kind of fish that has fins and scales, 10 but anything living in the water that does not have fins and scales must not be eaten. 11 Such creatures must be considered unclean. You must not eat them or even touch their dead bodies. 12 You must not eat anything that lives in the water and does not have fins and scales. 13 You must not eat any of the following birds: eagles, owls, hawks, falcons; buzzards, vultures, crows; ostriches; seagulls, storks, herons, pelicans, cormorants; hoopoes; or bats. 20 All winged insects are unclean, 21 except those that hop. 22 You may eat locusts, crickets, or grasshoppers. 23 But all other small things that have wings and also crawl must be considered unclean. 24 If you touch the dead bodies of the following animals, you will be unclean until evening: all animals with hoofs, unless their hoofs are divided and they chew the cud, and all four-footed animals with paws. If you carry their dead bodies, you must wash your clothes, but you will still be unclean until evening. 29 Moles, rats, mice, and lizards must be considered unclean. 31 Whoever touches them or their dead bodies will be unclean until evening. 32 And if their dead bodies fall on anything, it will be unclean. This applies to any article of wood, cloth, leather, or sacking, no matter what it is used for. It shall be dipped in water, but it will remain unclean until evening. 33 And if their bodies fall into a clay pot, everything that is in it shall be unclean, and you must break the pot. 34 Any food which could normally be eaten, but on which water from such a pot has been poured, will be unclean, and anything drinkable in such a pot is unclean. 35 Anything on which the dead bodies fall is unclean; a clay stove or oven shall be broken, 36 but a spring or a cistern remains clean, although anything else that touches their dead bodies is unclean. 37 If one of them falls on seed that is going to be planted, the seed remains clean. 38 But if the seed is soaking in water and one of them falls on it, the seed is unclean. 39 If any animal that may be eaten dies, anyone who touches it will be unclean until evening. 40 And if any of you eat any part of the animal, you must wash your clothes, but you will still be unclean until evening; any of you who carry the dead body must wash your clothes, but you will still be unclean until evening. 41 You must not eat any of the small animals that move on the ground, 42 whether they crawl, or walk on four legs, or have many legs. 43 Do not make yourselves unclean by eating any of these. 44 I am the Lord your God, and you must keep yourselves holy, because I am holy. 45 I am the Lord who brought you out of Egypt so that I could be your God. You must be holy, because I am holy. 46 This, then, is the law about animals and birds, about everything that lives in the water, and everything that moves on the ground. 47 You must be careful to distinguish between what is ritually clean and unclean, between animals that may be eaten and those that may not.

722-Deuteronomy 14:1 "You are the people of the Lord your God. So when you mourn for the dead, don't gash yourselves or shave the front of your head, as other people do. 2 You belong to the Lord your God; he has chosen you to be his own people from among all the peoples who live on earth. 3 "Do not eat anything that the Lord has declared unclean. 4 You may eat these animals: cattle, sheep, goats, 5 deer, wild sheep, wild goats, or antelopes - 6 any animals that have divided hoofs and that also chew the cud. 7 But no animals may be eaten unless they have divided hoofs and also chew the cud. You may not eat camels, rabbits, or rock badgers. They must be considered unclean; they chew the cud but do not have divided hoofs. 8 Do not eat pigs. They must be considered unclean; they have divided hoofs but do not chew the cud. Do not eat any of these animals or even touch their dead bodies. 9 "You may eat any kind of fish that has fins and scales, 10 but anything living in the water that does not have fins and scales may not be eaten; it must be considered unclean. 11 "You may eat any clean bird. 12 But these are the kinds of birds you are not to eat: eagles, owls, hawks, falcons; buzzards, vultures, crows; ostriches; seagulls, storks, herons, pelicans, cormorants; hoopoes; and bats. 19 "All winged insects are unclean; do not eat them. 20 You may eat any clean insect. 21 "Do not eat any animal that dies a natural death. You may let the foreigners who live among you eat it, or you may sell it to other foreigners. But you belong to the Lord your God; you are his people. "Do not cook a young sheep or goat in its mother's milk. 22 "Set aside a tithe - a tenth of all that your fields produce each year. 23 Then go to the one place where the Lord your God has chosen to be worshiped; and there in his presence eat the tithes of your grain, wine, and olive oil, and the first-born of your cattle and sheep. Do this so that you may learn to honor the Lord your God always. 24 If the place of worship is too far from your home for you to carry there the tithe of the produce that the Lord has blessed you with, then do this: 25 Sell your produce and take the money with you to the one place of worship. 26 Spend it on whatever you want - beef, lamb, wine, beer - and there, in the presence of the Lord your God, you and your families are to eat and enjoy yourselves. 27 "Do not neglect the Levites who live in your towns; they have no property of their own. 28 At the end of every third year bring the tithe of all your crops and store it in your towns. 29 This food is for the Levites, since they own no property, and for the foreigners, orphans, and widows who live in your towns. They are to come and get all they need. Do this, and the Lord your God will bless you in everything you do.

723-Numbers 11:1 The people began to complain to the Lord about their troubles. When the Lord heard them, he became angry and sent fire on the people. It burned among them and destroyed one end of the camp. 2 The people cried out to Moses for help; he prayed to the Lord, and the fire died down. 3 So the place was named Taberah, because there the fire of the Lord burned among them. 4 There were foreigners traveling with the Israelites. They had a strong craving for meat, and even the Israelites themselves began to complain: "If only we could have some meat! 5 In Egypt we used to eat all the fish we wanted, and it cost us nothing. Remember the cucumbers, the watermelons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic we had? 6 But now our strength is gone. There is nothing at all to eat - nothing but this manna day after day!" 7 (Manna was like small seeds, whitish yellow in color. 8 It fell on the camp at night along with the dew. The next morning the people would go around and gather it, grind it or pound it into flour, and then boil it and make it into flat cakes. It tasted like bread baked with olive oil.) 10 Moses heard all the people complaining as they stood around in groups at the entrances of their tents. He was distressed because the Lord had become angry with them, 11 and he said to the Lord, "Why have you treated me so badly? Why are you displeased with me? Why have you given me the responsibility for all these people? 12 I didn't create them or bring them to birth! Why should you ask me to act like a nurse and carry them in my arms like babies all the way to the land you promised to their ancestors? 13 Where could I get enough meat for all these people? They keep whining and asking for meat. 14 I can't be responsible for all these people by myself; it's too much for me! 15 If you are going to treat me like this, have pity on me and kill me, so that I won't have to endure your cruelty any longer." 16 The Lord said to Moses, "Assemble seventy respected men who are recognized as leaders of the people, bring them to me at the Tent of my presence, and tell them to stand there beside you. 17 I will come down and speak with you there, and I will take some of the spirit I have given you and give it to them. Then they can help you bear the responsibility for these people, and you will not have to bear it alone. 18 Now tell the people, "Purify yourselves for tomorrow; you will have meat to eat. The Lord has heard you whining and saying that you wished you had some meat and that you were better off in Egypt. Now the Lord will give you meat, and you will have to eat it. 19 You will have to eat it not just for one or two days, or five, or ten, or even twenty days, 20 but for a whole month, until it comes out of your ears, until you are sick of it. This will happen because you have rejected the Lord who is here among you and have complained to him that you should never have left Egypt.' " 21 Moses said to the Lord, "Here I am leading 600,000 people, and you say that you will give them enough meat for a month? 22 Could enough cattle and sheep be killed to satisfy them? Are all the fish in the sea enough for them?" 23 "Is there a limit to my power?" the Lord answered. "You will soon see whether what I have said will happen or not!" 24 So Moses went out and told the people what the Lord had said. He assembled seventy of the leaders and placed them around the Tent. 25 Then the Lord came down in the cloud and spoke to him. He took some of the spirit he had given to Moses and gave it to the seventy leaders. When the spirit came on them, they began to shout like prophets, but not for long. 26 Two of the seventy leaders, Eldad and Medad, had stayed in the camp and had not gone out to the Tent. There in the camp the spirit came on them, and they too began to shout like prophets. 27 A young man ran out to tell Moses what Eldad and Medad were doing. 28 Then Joshua son of Nun, who had been Moses' helper since he was a young man, spoke up and said to Moses, "Stop them, sir!" 29 Moses answered, "Are you concerned about my interests? I wish that the Lord would give his spirit to all his people and make all of them shout like prophets!" 30 Then Moses and the seventy leaders of Israel went back to camp. 31 Suddenly the Lord sent a wind that brought quails from the sea, flying three feet above the ground. They settled on the camp and all around it for miles and miles in every direction. 32 So all that day, all night, and all the next day, the people worked catching quails; no one gathered less than fifty bushels. They spread them out to dry all around the camp. 33 While there was still plenty of meat for them to eat, the Lord became angry with the people and caused an epidemic to break out among them. 34 That place was named Kibroth Hattaavah (which means "Graves of Craving"), because there they buried the people who had craved meat. 35 From there the people moved to Hazeroth, where they made camp.

Numbers 21:4 The Israelites left Mount Hor by the road that leads to the Gulf of Aqaba, in order to go around the territory of Edom. But on the way the people lost their patience 5 and spoke against God and Moses. They complained, "Why did you bring us out of Egypt to die in this desert, where there is no food or water? We can't stand any more of this miserable food!" 6 Then the Lord sent poisonous snakes among the people, and many Israelites were bitten and died. 7 The people came to Moses and said, "We sinned when we spoke against the Lord and against you. Now pray to the Lord to take these snakes away." So Moses prayed for the people. 8 Then the Lord told Moses to make a metal snake and put it on a pole, so that anyone who was bitten could look at it and be healed. 9 So Moses made a bronze snake and put it on a pole. Anyone who had been bitten would look at the bronze snake and be healed.

724-Proverbs 23:7 "Come on and have some more," he says, but he doesn't mean it. What he thinks is what he really is.

725-Genesis 9:4 The one thing you must not eat is meat with blood still in it; I forbid this because the life is in the blood.

726-Leviticus 3:17 No Israelite may eat any fat or any blood; this is a rule to be kept forever by all Israelites wherever they live.

Leviticus 7:22 The Lord gave Moses the following regulations 23 for the people of Israel. No fat of cattle, sheep, or goats shall be eaten. 24 The fat of an animal that has died a natural death or has been killed by a wild animal must not be eaten, but it may be used for any other purpose. 25 Anyone who eats the fat of an animal that may be offered as a food offering to the Lord will no longer be considered one of God's people. 26 No matter where the Israelites live, they must never use the blood of birds or animals for food. 27 Anyone who breaks this law will no longer be considered one of God's people.

Leviticus 17:10 If any Israelites or any foreigners living in the community eat meat with blood still in it, the Lord will turn against them and no longer consider them his people. 11 The life of every living thing is in the blood, and that is why the Lord has commanded that all blood be poured out on the altar to take away the people's sins. Blood, which is life, takes away sins. 12 That is why the Lord has told the people of Israel that neither they nor any foreigner living among them shall eat any meat with blood still in it. 13 If any Israelites or any foreigners living in the community catch an animal or a bird which is ritually clean, they must pour its blood out on the ground and cover it with dirt. 14 The life of every living thing is in the blood, and that is why the Lord has told the people of Israel that they shall not eat any meat with blood still in it and that anyone who does so will no longer be considered one of his people. 15 Any people, Israelites or foreigners, who eat meat from an animal that has died a natural death or has been killed by wild animals must wash their clothes, take a bath, and wait until evening before they are ritually clean.

Leviticus 19:26 "Do not eat any meat with blood still in it. Do not practice any kind of magic.

727-Deuteronomy 12:16,23-25; 15:2316 But you must not eat their blood; you must pour it out on the ground like water.

Deuteronomy 12:23 Only do not eat meat with blood still in it, for the life is in the blood, and you must not eat the life with the meat. 24 Do not use the blood for food; instead, pour it out on the ground like water. 25 If you obey this command, the Lord will be pleased, and all will go well for you and your descendants.

Deuteronomy 15:23 But do not use their blood for food; instead, you must pour it out on the ground like water.

728-1 Samuel 14:31 That day the Israelites defeated the Philistines, fighting all the way from Michmash to Aijalon. By this time the Israelites were very weak from hunger, 32 and so they rushed over to what they had captured from the enemy, took sheep and cattle, slaughtered them on the spot, and ate the meat with the blood still in it. 33 Saul was told, "Look, the people are sinning against the Lord by eating meat with the blood in it." "You are traitors!" Saul cried out. "Roll a big stone over here to me." 34 Then he gave another order: "Go among the people and tell them all to bring their cattle and sheep here. They are to slaughter them and eat them here; they must not sin against the Lord by eating meat with blood in it." So that night they all brought their cattle and slaughtered them there. 35 Saul built an altar to the Lord, the first one that he built.

729-Acts 15:20,29; 21:2520 Instead, we should write a letter telling them not to eat any food that is ritually unclean because it has been offered to idols; to keep themselves from sexual immorality; and not to eat any animal that has been strangled, or any blood.

Acts 15:29 eat no food that has been offered to idols; eat no blood; eat no animal that has been strangled; and keep yourselves from sexual immorality. You will do well if you take care not to do these things. With our best wishes."

Acts 21:25 But as for the Gentiles who have become believers, we have sent them a letter telling them we decided that they must not eat any food that has been offered to idols, or any blood, or any animal that has been strangled, and that they must keep themselves from sexual immorality."

730-Ezekiel 33:25 "Tell them what I, the Sovereign Lord, am saying: You eat meat with the blood still in it. You worship idols. You commit murder. What makes you think that the land belongs to you?

731-Zechariah 9:7 They will no longer eat meat with blood in it, or other forbidden food. All the survivors will become part of my people and be like a clan in the tribe of Judah. Ekron will become part of my people, as the Jebusites did.

732-Genesis 9:1-4; 11:10-261 God blessed Noah and his sons and said, "Have many children, so that your descendants will live all over the earth. 2 All the animals, birds, and fish will live in fear of you. They are all placed under your power. 3 Now you can eat them, as well as green plants; I give them all to you for food. 4 The one thing you must not eat is meat with blood still in it; I forbid this because the life is in the blood.

Genesis 11:10 These are the descendants of Shem. Two years after the flood, when Shem was 100 years old, he had a son, Arpachshad. 11 After that, he lived another 500 years and had other children. 12 When Arpachshad was 35 years old, he had a son, Shelah; 13 after that, he lived another 403 years and had other children. 14 When Shelah was 30 years old, he had a son, Eber; 15 after that, he lived another 403 years and had other children. 16 When Eber was 34 years old, he had a son, Peleg; 17 after that, he lived another 430 years and had other children. 18 When Peleg was 30 years old, he had a son, Reu; 19 after that, he lived another 209 years and had other children. 20 When Reu was 32 years old, he had a son, Serug; 21 after that, he lived another 207 years and had other children. 22 When Serug was 30 years old, he had a son, Nahor; 23 after that, he lived another 200 years and had other children. 24 When Nahor was 29 years old, he had a son, Terah; 25 after that, he lived another 119 years and had other children. 26 After Terah was 70 years old, he became the father of Abram, Nahor, and Haran.

733-Genesis 5:1 This is the list of the descendants of Adam. (When God created human beings, he made them like himself. 2 He created them male and female, blessed them, and named them "Human Beings.") 3 When Adam was 130 years old, he had a son who was like him, and he named him Seth. 4 After that, Adam lived another 800 years. He had other children 5 and died at the age of 930. 6 When Seth was 105, he had a son, Enosh, 7 and then lived another 807 years. He had other children 8 and died at the age of 912. 9 When Enosh was 90, he had a son, Kenan, 10 and then lived another 815 years. He had other children 11 and died at the age of 905. 12 When Kenan was 70, he had a son, Mahalalel, 13 and then lived another 840 years. He had other children 14 and died at the age of 910. 15 When Mahalalel was 65, he had a son, Jared, 16 and then lived another 830 years. He had other children 17 and died at the age of 895. 18 When Jared was 162, he had a son, Enoch, 19 and then lived another 800 years. He had other children 20 and died at the age of 962. 21 When Enoch was 65, he had a son, Methuselah. 22 After that, Enoch lived in fellowship with God for 300 years and had other children. 23 He lived to be 365 years old. 24 He spent his life in fellowship with God, and then he disappeared, because God took him away. 25 When Methuselah was 187, he had a son, Lamech, 26 and then lived another 782 years. He had other children 27 and died at the age of 969. 28 When Lamech was 182, he had a son 29 and said, "From the very ground on which the Lord put a curse, this child will bring us relief from all our hard work"; so he named him Noah. 30 Lamech lived another 595 years. He had other children 31 and died at the age of 777. 32 After Noah was 500 years old, he had three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

734-Hebrews 10:1-4,11,17,181 The Jewish Law is not a full and faithful model of the real things; it is only a faint outline of the good things to come. The same sacrifices are offered forever, year after year. How can the Law, then, by means of these sacrifices make perfect the people who come to God? 2 If the people worshiping God had really been purified from their sins, they would not feel guilty of sin any more, and all sacrifices would stop. 3 As it is, however, the sacrifices serve year after year to remind people of their sins. 4 For the blood of bulls and goats can never take away sins.

Hebrews 10:11 Every Jewish priest performs his services every day and offers the same sacrifices many times; but these sacrifices can never take away sins.

Hebrews 10:17 And then he says, "I will not remember their sins and evil deeds any longer." 18 So when these have been forgiven, an offering to take away sins is no longer needed.

735-Exodus 29:38 "Every day for all time to come, sacrifice on the altar two one-year-old lambs.

736-Jeremiah 31:34 None of them will have to teach a neighbor to know the Lord, because all will know me, from the least to the greatest. I will forgive their sins and I will no longer remember their wrongs. I, the Lord, have spoken."

737-Hebrews 9:1 The first covenant had rules for worship and a place made for worship as well. 2 A tent was put up, the outer one, which was called the Holy Place. In it were the lampstand and the table with the bread offered to God. 3 Behind the second curtain was the tent called the Most Holy Place. 4 In it were the gold altar for the burning of incense and the Covenant Box all covered with gold and containing the gold jar with the manna in it, Aaron's stick that had sprouted leaves, and the two stone tablets with the commandments written on them. 5 Above the Box were the winged creatures representing God's presence, with their wings spread over the place where sins were forgiven. But now is not the time to explain everything in detail. 6 This is how those things have been arranged. The priests go into the outer tent every day to perform their duties, 7 but only the high priest goes into the inner tent, and he does so only once a year. He takes with him blood which he offers to God on behalf of himself and for the sins which the people have committed without knowing they were sinning. 8 The Holy Spirit clearly teaches from all these arrangements that the way into the Most Holy Place has not yet been opened as long as the outer tent still stands. 9 This is a symbol which points to the present time. It means that the offerings and animal sacrifices presented to God cannot make the worshiper's heart perfect, 10 since they have to do only with food, drink, and various purification ceremonies. These are all outward rules, which apply only until the time when God will establish the new order. 11 But Christ has already come as the High Priest of the good things that are already here. The tent in which he serves is greater and more perfect; it is not a tent made by human hands, that is, it is not a part of this created world. 12 When Christ went through the tent and entered once and for all into the Most Holy Place, he did not take the blood of goats and bulls to offer as a sacrifice; rather, he took his own blood and obtained eternal salvation for us. 13 The blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a burnt calf are sprinkled on the people who are ritually unclean, and this purifies them by taking away their ritual impurity. 14 Since this is true, how much more is accomplished by the blood of Christ! Through the eternal Spirit he offered himself as a perfect sacrifice to God. His blood will purify our consciences from useless rituals, so that we may serve the living God. 15 For this reason Christ is the one who arranges a new covenant, so that those who have been called by God may receive the eternal blessings that God has promised. This can be done because there has been a death which sets people free from the wrongs they did while the first covenant was in effect. 16 In the case of a will it is necessary to prove that the person who made it has died, 17 for a will means nothing while the person who made it is alive; it goes into effect only after his death. 18 That is why even the first covenant went into effect only with the use of blood. 19 First, Moses proclaimed to the people all the commandments as set forth in the Law. Then he took the blood of bulls and goats, mixed it with water, and sprinkled it on the book of the Law and all the people, using a sprig of hyssop and some red wool. 20 He said, "This is the blood which seals the covenant that God has commanded you to obey." 21 In the same way Moses also sprinkled the blood on the Sacred Tent and over all the things used in worship. 22 Indeed, according to the Law almost everything is purified by blood, and sins are forgiven only if blood is poured out. 23 Those things, which are copies of the heavenly originals, had to be purified in that way. But the heavenly things themselves require much better sacrifices. 24 For Christ did not go into a Holy Place made by human hands, which was a copy of the real one. He went into heaven itself, where he now appears on our behalf in the presence of God. 25 The Jewish high priest goes into the Most Holy Place every year with the blood of an animal. But Christ did not go in to offer himself many times, 26 for then he would have had to suffer many times ever since the creation of the world. Instead, now when all ages of time are nearing the end, he has appeared once and for all, to remove sin through the sacrifice of himself. 27 Everyone must die once, and after that be judged by God. 28 In the same manner Christ also was offered in sacrifice once to take away the sins of many. He will appear a second time, not to deal with sin, but to save those who are waiting for him.

Hebrews 10:1 The Jewish Law is not a full and faithful model of the real things; it is only a faint outline of the good things to come. The same sacrifices are offered forever, year after year. How can the Law, then, by means of these sacrifices make perfect the people who come to God? 2 If the people worshiping God had really been purified from their sins, they would not feel guilty of sin any more, and all sacrifices would stop. 3 As it is, however, the sacrifices serve year after year to remind people of their sins. 4 For the blood of bulls and goats can never take away sins. 5 For this reason, when Christ was about to come into the world, he said to God: "You do not want sacrifices and offerings, but you have prepared a body for me. 6 You are not pleased with animals burned whole on the altar or with sacrifices to take away sins. 7 Then I said, "Here I am, to do your will, O God, just as it is written of me in the book of the Law.' " 8 First he said, "You neither want nor are you pleased with sacrifices and offerings or with animals burned on the altar and the sacrifices to take away sins." He said this even though all these sacrifices are offered according to the Law. 9 Then he said, "Here I am, O God, to do your will." So God does away with all the old sacrifices and puts the sacrifice of Christ in their place. 10 Because Jesus Christ did what God wanted him to do, we are all purified from sin by the offering that he made of his own body once and for all. 11 Every Jewish priest performs his services every day and offers the same sacrifices many times; but these sacrifices can never take away sins. 12 Christ, however, offered one sacrifice for sins, an offering that is effective forever, and then he sat down at the right side of God. 13 There he now waits until God puts his enemies as a footstool under his feet. 14 With one sacrifice, then, he has made perfect forever those who are purified from sin. 15 And the Holy Spirit also gives us his witness. First he says, 16 "This is the covenant that I will make with them in the days to come, says the Lord: I will put my laws in their hearts and write them on their minds." 17 And then he says, "I will not remember their sins and evil deeds any longer." 18 So when these have been forgiven, an offering to take away sins is no longer needed. 19 We have, then, my friends, complete freedom to go into the Most Holy Place by means of the death of Jesus. 20 He opened for us a new way, a living way, through the curtain - that is, through his own body. 21 We have a great priest in charge of the house of God. 22 So let us come near to God with a sincere heart and a sure faith, with hearts that have been purified from a guilty conscience and with bodies washed with clean water. 23 Let us hold on firmly to the hope we profess, because we can trust God to keep his promise. 24 Let us be concerned for one another, to help one another to show love and to do good. 25 Let us not give up the habit of meeting together, as some are doing. Instead, let us encourage one another all the more, since you see that the Day of the Lord is coming nearer. 26 For there is no longer any sacrifice that will take away sins if we purposely go on sinning after the truth has been made known to us. 27 Instead, all that is left is to wait in fear for the coming Judgment and the fierce fire which will destroy those who oppose God! 28 Anyone who disobeys the Law of Moses is put to death without any mercy when judged guilty from the evidence of two or more witnesses. 29 What, then, of those who despise the Son of God? who treat as a cheap thing the blood of God's covenant which purified them from sin? who insult the Spirit of grace? Just think how much worse is the punishment they will deserve! 30 For we know who said, "I will take revenge, I will repay"; and who also said, "The Lord will judge his people." 31 It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God! 32 Remember how it was with you in the past. In those days, after God's light had shone on you, you suffered many things, yet were not defeated by the struggle. 33 You were at times publicly insulted and mistreated, and at other times you were ready to join those who were being treated in this way. 34 You shared the sufferings of prisoners, and when all your belongings were seized, you endured your loss gladly, because you knew that you still possessed something much better, which would last forever. 35 Do not lose your courage, then, because it brings with it a great reward. 36 You need to be patient, in order to do the will of God and receive what he promises. 37 For, as the scripture says, "Just a little while longer, and he who is coming will come; he will not delay. 38 My righteous people, however, will believe and live; but if any of them turns back, I will not be pleased with them." 39 We are not people who turn back and are lost. Instead, we have faith and are saved.

738-Ecclesiastes 12:13 After all this, there is only one thing to say: Have reverence for God, and obey his commands, because this is all that we were created for. 14 God is going to judge everything we do, whether good or bad, even things done in secret.

739-Ezekiel 18:1 The Lord spoke to me 2 and said, "What is this proverb people keep repeating in the land of Israel? "The parents ate the sour grapes, But the children got the sour taste.' 3 "As surely as I am the living God," says the Sovereign Lord, "you will not repeat this proverb in Israel any more. 4 The life of every person belongs to me, the life of the parent as well as that of the child. The person who sins is the one who will die. 5 "Suppose there is a truly good man, righteous and honest. 6 He doesn't worship the idols of the Israelites or eat the sacrifices offered at forbidden shrines. He doesn't seduce another man's wife or have intercourse with a woman during her period. 7 He doesn't cheat or rob anyone. He returns what a borrower gives him as security; he feeds the hungry and gives clothing to the naked. 8 He doesn't lend money for profit. He refuses to do evil and gives an honest decision in any dispute. 9 Such a man obeys my commands and carefully keeps my laws. He is righteous, and he will live," says the Sovereign Lord. 10 "Then suppose this man has a son who robs and kills, who does any of these things 11 that the father never did. He eats sacrifices offered at forbidden shrines and seduces other men's wives. 12 He cheats the poor, he robs, he keeps what a borrower gives him as security. He goes to pagan shrines, worships disgusting idols, 13 and lends money for profit. Will he live? No, he will not. He has done all these disgusting things, and so he will die. He will be to blame for his own death. 14 "Now suppose this second man has a son. He sees all the sins his father practiced, but does not follow his example. 15 He doesn't worship the idols of the Israelites or eat the sacrifices offered at forbidden shrines. He doesn't seduce another man's wife 16 or oppress anyone or rob anyone. He returns what a borrower gives him as security. He feeds the hungry and gives clothing to the naked. 17 He refuses to do evil and doesn't lend money for profit. He keeps my laws and obeys my commands. He will not die because of his father's sins, but he will certainly live. 18 His father, on the other hand, cheated and robbed and always did evil to everyone. And so he died because of the sins he himself had committed. 19 "But you ask, "Why shouldn't the son suffer because of his father's sins?' The answer is that the son did what was right and good. He kept my laws and followed them carefully, and so he will certainly live. 20 It is the one who sins who will die. A son is not to suffer because of his father's sins, nor a father because of the sins of his son. Good people will be rewarded for doing good, and evil people will suffer for the evil they do. 21 "If someone evil stops sinning and keeps my laws, if he does what is right and good, he will not die; he will certainly live. 22 All his sins will be forgiven, and he will live, because he did what is right. 23 Do you think I enjoy seeing evil people die?" asks the Sovereign Lord. "No, I would rather see them repent and live. 24 "But if a righteous person stops doing good and starts doing all the evil, disgusting things that evil people do, will he go on living? No! None of the good he did will be remembered. He will die because of his unfaithfulness and his sins. 25 "But you say, "What the Lord does isn't right.' Listen to me, you Israelites. Do you think my way of doing things isn't right? It is your way that isn't right. 26 When a righteous person stops doing good and starts doing evil and then dies, he dies because of the evil he has done. 27 When someone evil stops sinning and does what is right and good, he saves his life. 28 He realizes what he is doing and stops sinning, so he will certainly not die, but go on living. 29 And you Israelites say, "What the Lord does isn't right.' You think my way isn't right, do you? It is your way that isn't right. 30 "Now I, the Sovereign Lord, am telling you Israelites that I will judge each of you by what you have done. Turn away from all the evil you are doing, and don't let your sin destroy you. 31 Give up all the evil you have been doing, and get yourselves new minds and hearts. Why do you Israelites want to die? 32 I do not want anyone to die," says the Sovereign Lord. "Turn away from your sins and live."

Ezekiel 33:10 The Lord spoke to me. "Mortal man," he said, "repeat to the Israelites what they are saying: "We are burdened with our sins and the wrongs we have done. We are wasting away. How can we live?' 11 Tell them that as surely as I, the Sovereign Lord, am the living God, I do not enjoy seeing sinners die. I would rather see them stop sinning and live. Israel, stop the evil you are doing. Why do you want to die? 12 "Now, mortal man, tell the Israelites that when someone good sins, the good he has done will not save him. If an evil person stops doing evil, he won't be punished, and if a good man starts sinning, his life will not be spared. 13 I may promise life to someone good, but if he starts thinking that his past goodness is enough and begins to sin, I will not remember any of the good he did. He will die because of his sins. 14 I may warn someone evil that he is going to die, but if he stops sinning and does what is right and good - 15 for example, if he returns the security he took for a loan or gives back what he stole - if he stops sinning and follows the laws that give life, he will not die, but live. 16 I will forgive the sins he has committed, and he will live because he has done what is right and good. 17 "And your people say that what I do isn't right! No, it's their way that isn't right. 18 When someone righteous stops doing good and starts doing evil, he will die for it. 19 When someone evil quits sinning and does what is right and good, he has saved his life. 20 But Israel, you say that what I do isn't right. I am going to judge you by what you do."

740-Jeremiah 31:34 None of them will have to teach a neighbor to know the Lord, because all will know me, from the least to the greatest. I will forgive their sins and I will no longer remember their wrongs. I, the Lord, have spoken."

741-Hebrews 10:17 And then he says, "I will not remember their sins and evil deeds any longer."

742-John 3:3 Jesus answered, "I am telling you the truth: no one can see the Kingdom of God without being born again." 4 "How can a grown man be born again?" Nicodemus asked. "He certainly cannot enter his mother's womb and be born a second time!" 5 "I am telling you the truth," replied Jesus, "that no one can enter the Kingdom of God without being born of water and the Spirit. 6 A person is born physically of human parents, but is born spiritually of the Spirit. 7 Do not be surprised because I tell you that you must all be born again. 8 The wind blows wherever it wishes; you hear the sound it makes, but you do not know where it comes from or where it is going. It is like that with everyone who is born of the Spirit."

743-Exodus 19:8 Then all the people answered together, "We will do everything that the Lord has said," and Moses reported this to the Lord.

Exodus 24:3 Moses went and told the people all the Lord's commands and all the ordinances, and all the people answered together, "We will do everything that the Lord has said."

Exodus 24:7 Then he took the book of the covenant, in which the Lord's commands were written, and read it aloud to the people. They said, "We will obey the Lord and do everything that he has commanded."

744-Leviticus 1:9,13,17; 2:2,9,129 You must wash the internal organs and the hind legs, and the officiating priest will burn the whole sacrifice on the altar. The odor of this food offering is pleasing to the Lord.

Leviticus 1:13 You must wash the internal organs and the hind legs, and the priest will present the sacrifice to the Lord and burn all of it on the altar. The odor of this food offering is pleasing to the Lord

Leviticus 1:17 He shall take hold of its wings and tear its body open, without tearing the wings off, and then burn it whole on the altar. The odor of this food offering is pleasing to the Lord.

Leviticus 2:2 and bring it to the Aaronite priests. The officiating priest shall take a handful of the flour and oil and all of the incense and burn it on the altar as a token that it has all been offered to the Lord. The odor of this food offering is pleasing to the Lord.

Leviticus 2:9 The priest will take part of it as a token that it has all been offered to the Lord, and he will burn it on the altar. The odor of this food offering is pleasing to the Lord.

Leviticus 2:12 An offering of the first grain that you harvest each year shall be brought to the Lord, but it is not to be burned on the altar.

745-Leviticus 2:12 An offering of the first grain that you harvest each year shall be brought to the Lord, but it is not to be burned on the altar.

746-Leviticus 3:17 No Israelite may eat any fat or any blood; this is a rule to be kept forever by all Israelites wherever they live.

747-Deuteronomy 4:28 There you will serve gods made by human hands, gods of wood and stone, gods that cannot see or hear, eat or smell.

748-Psalms 115:6 They have ears, but cannot hear, and noses, but cannot smell.

749-Isaiah 1:13 It's useless to bring your offerings. I am disgusted with the smell of the incense you burn. I cannot stand your New Moon Festivals, your Sabbaths, and your religious gatherings; they are all corrupted by your sins.

750-Leviticus 26:31 I will turn your cities into ruins, destroy your places of worship, and refuse to accept your sacrifices.

751-Romans 12:1 So then, my friends, because of God's great mercy to us I appeal to you: Offer yourselves as a living sacrifice to God, dedicated to his service and pleasing to him. This is the true worship that you should offer. 2 Do not conform yourselves to the standards of this world, but let God transform you inwardly by a complete change of your mind. Then you will be able to know the will of God - what is good and is pleasing to him and is perfect.

752-Our High Calling 197 Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again. Luke 6:38. {OHC 197.1}

Let us not complain because we are often asked to give for the upbuilding of the cause. What is it that makes these frequent calls a necessity? Is it not the rapid increase of missionary enterprises? Shall we, by refusing to give, retard the growth of these enterprises? ... {OHC 197.2}

All who possess the Spirit of Christ will have a tender, sympathetic heart, and an open, generous hand.... To us has been entrusted the work of proclaiming the last message of mercy to be given to our world—the message that is to prepare a people to stand in the day of God. Do we realize our accountability? Are we acting our part in the proclamation of the message? The present time is burdened with eternal interests. We are to unfurl the standard of truth before a world perishing in error. {OHC 197.3}

The more we bring to God’s treasure house, the more we shall have to bring; for He will open ways before us, increasing our substance. I have found this to be true in my own experience. As God multiplies His gifts to us, we must not grow selfish, and withhold from Him our tithes and offerings. We each have a part to act in the work of salvation. {OHC 197.4}

Gifts and offerings will not purchase salvation for any of us. The religion of the Bible is that development of our moral natures in which the soul holds converse with God, loves that which God loves, and hates that which God hates. God will not accept your offerings if you withhold yourself. He asks not only for that which is His own in the means entrusted to you, but for His own property in your body, soul, and spirit, purchased at the infinite price of the blood of the Son of God. {OHC 197.5}

It is the humble, grateful, reverential heart that makes the offering as a sweet-smelling savor, acceptable to God. {OHC 197.6}

753-Exodus 12:15,19; 13:7; 34:2515 The Lord said, "For seven days you must not eat any bread made with yeast - eat only unleavened bread. On the first day you are to get rid of all the yeast in your houses, for if anyone during those seven days eats bread made with yeast, he shall no longer be considered one of my people.

Exodus 12:19 For seven days no yeast must be found in your houses, for if anyone, native-born or foreign, eats bread made with yeast, he shall no longer be considered one of my people."

Exodus 13:7 For seven days you must not eat any bread made with yeast; there must be no yeast or leavened bread anywhere in your land.

754-Leviticus 2:11; 6:17; 23:1711 "No cereal offering which you bring to the LORD shall be made with leaven; for you shall burn no leaven nor any honey as an offering by fire to the LORD.

Leviticus 6:17 It shall not be baked with leaven. I have given it as their portion of my offerings by fire; it is a thing most holy, like the sin offering and the guilt offering.

Leviticus 23:17 You shall bring from your dwellings two loaves of bread to be waved, made of two tenths of an ephah; they shall be of fine flour, they shall be baked with leaven, as first fruits to the LORD.

755-Deuteronomy 16:4 No leaven shall be seen with you in all your territory for seven days; nor shall any of the flesh which you sacrifice on the evening of the first day remain all night until morning.

756-Genesis 9:4 Only you shall not eat flesh with its life, that is, its blood.

757-Leviticus 3:17; 17:10-16; 19:2617 It shall be a perpetual statute throughout your generations, in all your dwelling places, that you eat neither fat nor blood."

Leviticus 17:10 "If any man of the house of Israel or of the strangers that sojourn among them eats any blood, I will set my face against that person who eats blood, and will cut him off from among his people. 11 For the life of the flesh is in the blood; and I have given it for you upon the altar to make atonement for your souls; for it is the blood that makes atonement, by reason of the life. 12 Therefore I have said to the people of Israel, No person among you shall eat blood, neither shall any stranger who sojourns among you eat blood. 13 Any man also of the people of Israel, or of the strangers that sojourn among them, who takes in hunting any beast or bird that may be eaten shall pour out its blood and cover it with dust. 14 "For the life of every creature is the blood of it; therefore I have said to the people of Israel, You shall not eat the blood of any creature, for the life of every creature is its blood; whoever eats it shall be cut off. 15 And every person that eats what dies of itself or what is torn by beasts, whether he is a native or a sojourner, shall wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the evening; then he shall be clean. 16 But if he does not wash them or bathe his flesh, he shall bear his iniquity."

Leviticus 19:26 "You shall not eat any flesh with the blood in it. You shall not practice augury or witchcraft.

758-Deuteronomy 12:23 Only do not eat meat with blood still in it, for the life is in the blood, and you must not eat the life with the meat. 24 Do not use the blood for food; instead, pour it out on the ground like water. 25 If you obey this command, the Lord will be pleased, and all will go well for you and your descendants.

759-1 Samuel 14:31 That day the Israelites defeated the Philistines, fighting all the way from Michmash to Aijalon. By this time the Israelites were very weak from hunger, 32 and so they rushed over to what they had captured from the enemy, took sheep and cattle, slaughtered them on the spot, and ate the meat with the blood still in it. 33 Saul was told, "Look, the people are sinning against the Lord by eating meat with the blood in it." "You are traitors!" Saul cried out. "Roll a big stone over here to me." 34 Then he gave another order: "Go among the people and tell them all to bring their cattle and sheep here. They are to slaughter them and eat them here; they must not sin against the Lord by eating meat with blood in it." So that night they all brought their cattle and slaughtered them there. 35 Saul built an altar to the Lord, the first one that he built.

760-Leviticus 4:14,23,28; 5:1,3,4,1714 then as soon as the sin becomes known, the community shall bring a young bull as a sin offering. They shall bring it to the Tent of the Lord's presence

Leviticus 4:23 then as soon as the sin is called to his attention, he shall bring as his offering a male goat without any defects.

Leviticus 4:28 then as soon as the sin is called to your attention, you shall bring as your offering a female goat without any defects.

Leviticus 5:1 Sin offerings are required in the following cases. If you are officially summoned to give evidence in court and do not give information about something you have seen or heard, you must suffer the consequences.

Leviticus 5:3 If you unintentionally touch anything of human origin that is unclean, whatever it may be, you are guilty as soon as you realize what you have done. 4 If you make a careless vow, no matter what it is about, you are guilty as soon as you realize what you have done.

Leviticus 5:17 If any of you sin unintentionally by breaking any of the Lord's commands, you are guilty and must pay the penalty.

761-Numbers 15:27 If any of you sin unintentionally, you are to offer a one-year-old female goat as a sin offering. 28 At the altar the priest shall perform the ritual of purification to purify you from your sin, and you will be forgiven. 29 The same regulation applies to all who unintentionally commit a sin, whether they are native Israelites or resident foreigners. 30 But any who sin deliberately, whether they are natives or foreigners, are guilty of treating the Lord with contempt, and they shall be put to death, 31 because they have rejected what the Lord said and have deliberately broken one of his commands. They are responsible for their own death.

762-Deuteronomy 17:12 Anyone who dares to disobey either the judge or the priest on duty is to be put to death; in this way you will remove this evil from Israel.

763-Psalms 19:13 Keep me safe, also, from willful sins; don't let them rule over me. Then I shall be perfect and free from the evil of sin.

764-Deuteronomy 1:27 You grumbled to one another: "The Lord hates us. He brought us out of Egypt just to hand us over to these Amorites, so that they could kill us.

Deuteronomy 3:23 "At that time I earnestly prayed, 24 "Sovereign Lord, I know that you have shown me only the beginning of the great and wonderful things you are going to do. There is no god in heaven or on earth who can do the mighty things that you have done! 25 Let me cross the Jordan River, Lord, and see the fertile land on the other side, the beautiful hill country and the Lebanon Mountains.' 26 "But because of you people the Lord was angry with me and would not listen. Instead, he said, "That's enough! Don't mention this again! 27 Go to the peak of Mount Pisgah and look to the north and to the south, to the east and to the west. Look carefully at what you see, because you will never go across the Jordan. 28 Give Joshua his instructions. Strengthen his determination, because he will lead the people across to occupy the land that you see.'

765-Jude 9 Not even the chief angel Michael did this. In his quarrel with the Devil, when they argued about who would have the body of Moses, Michael did not dare condemn the Devil with insulting words, but said, "The Lord rebuke you!"

766-Matthew 17:1 Six days later Jesus took with him Peter and the brothers James and John and led them up a high mountain where they were alone. 2 As they looked on, a change came over Jesus: his face was shining like the sun, and his clothes were dazzling white. 3 Then the three disciples saw Moses and Elijah talking with Jesus. 4 So Peter spoke up and said to Jesus, "Lord, how good it is that we are here! If you wish, I will make three tents here, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah." 5 While he was talking, a shining cloud came over them, and a voice from the cloud said, "This is my own dear Son, with whom I am pleased - listen to him!" 6 When the disciples heard the voice, they were so terrified that they threw themselves face downward on the ground. 7 Jesus came to them and touched them. "Get up," he said. "Don't be afraid!" 8 So they looked up and saw no one there but Jesus.

767-Mark 9:2 Six days later Jesus took with him Peter, James, and John, and led them up a high mountain, where they were alone. As they looked on, a change came over Jesus, 3 and his clothes became shining white - whiter than anyone in the world could wash them. 4 Then the three disciples saw Elijah and Moses talking with Jesus. 5 Peter spoke up and said to Jesus, "Teacher, how good it is that we are here! We will make three tents, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah." 6 He and the others were so frightened that he did not know what to say. 7 Then a cloud appeared and covered them with its shadow, and a voice came from the cloud, "This is my own dear Son - listen to him!" 8 They took a quick look around but did not see anyone else; only Jesus was with them. 9 As they came down the mountain, Jesus ordered them, "Don't tell anyone what you have seen, until the Son of Man has risen from death."

768-Luke 9:28 About a week after he had said these things, Jesus took Peter, John, and James with him and went up a hill to pray. 29 While he was praying, his face changed its appearance, and his clothes became dazzling white. 30 Suddenly two men were there talking with him. They were Moses and Elijah, 31 who appeared in heavenly glory and talked with Jesus about the way in which he would soon fulfill God's purpose by dying in Jerusalem. 32 Peter and his companions were sound asleep, but they woke up and saw Jesus' glory and the two men who were standing with him. 33 As the men were leaving Jesus, Peter said to him, "Master, how good it is that we are here! We will make three tents, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah." (He did not really know what he was saying.) 34 While he was still speaking, a cloud appeared and covered them with its shadow; and the disciples were afraid as the cloud came over them. 35 A voice said from the cloud, "This is my Son, whom I have chosen - listen to him!" 36 When the voice stopped, there was Jesus all alone. The disciples kept quiet about all this and told no one at that time anything they had seen.

769-Exodus 32:7 The Lord said to Moses, "Hurry and go back down, because your people, whom you led out of Egypt, have sinned and rejected me. 8 They have already left the way that I commanded them to follow; they have made a bull-calf out of melted gold and have worshiped it and offered sacrifices to it. They are saying that this is their god, who led them out of Egypt. 9 I know how stubborn these people are. 10 Now, don't try to stop me. I am angry with them, and I am going to destroy them. Then I will make you and your descendants into a great nation." 11 But Moses pleaded with the Lord his God and said, "Lord, why should you be so angry with your people, whom you rescued from Egypt with great might and power? 12 Why should the Egyptians be able to say that you led your people out of Egypt, planning to kill them in the mountains and destroy them completely? Stop being angry; change your mind and do not bring this disaster on your people. 13 Remember your servants Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Remember the solemn promise you made to them to give them as many descendants as there are stars in the sky and to give their descendants all that land you promised would be their possession forever." 14 So the Lord changed his mind and did not bring on his people the disaster he had threatened.

770-Deuteronomy 9:6-13; 26-296 You can be sure that the Lord is not giving you this fertile land because you deserve it. No, you are a stubborn people. 7 "Never forget how you made the Lord your God angry in the desert. From the day that you left Egypt until the day you arrived here, you have rebelled against him. 8 Even at Mount Sinai you made the Lord angry - angry enough to destroy you. 9 I went up the mountain to receive the stone tablets on which was written the covenant that the Lord had made with you. I stayed there forty days and nights and did not eat or drink anything. 10 Then the Lord gave me the two stone tablets on which he had written with his own hand what he had said to you from the fire on the day that you were gathered there at the mountain. 11 Yes, after those forty days and nights the Lord gave me the two stone tablets on which he had written the covenant. 12 "Then the Lord said to me, "Go down the mountain at once, because your people, whom you led out of Egypt, have become corrupt and have done evil. They have already turned away from what I commanded them to do, and they have made an idol for themselves.' 13 "The Lord also said to me, "I know how stubborn these people are.

Deuteronomy 26:1 "After you have occupied the land that the Lord your God is giving you and have settled there, 2 each of you must place in a basket the first part of each crop that you harvest and you must take it with you to the one place of worship. 3 Go to the priest in charge at that time and say to him, "I now acknowledge to the Lord my God that I have entered the land that he promised our ancestors to give us.' 4 "The priest will take the basket from you and place it before the altar of the Lord your God. 5 Then, in the Lord's presence you will recite these words: "My ancestor was a wandering Aramean, who took his family to Egypt to live. They were few in number when they went there, but they became a large and powerful nation. 6 The Egyptians treated us harshly and forced us to work as slaves. 7 Then we cried out for help to the Lord, the God of our ancestors. He heard us and saw our suffering, hardship, and misery. 8 By his great power and strength he rescued us from Egypt. He worked miracles and wonders, and caused terrifying things to happen. 9 He brought us here and gave us this rich and fertile land. 10 So now I bring to the Lord the first part of the harvest that he has given me.' "Then set the basket down in the Lord's presence and worship there. 11 Be grateful for the good things that the Lord your God has given you and your family; and let the Levites and the foreigners who live among you join in the celebration. 12 "Every third year give the tithe - a tenth of your crops - to the Levites, the foreigners, the orphans, and the widows, so that in every community they will have all they need to eat. When you have done this, 13 say to the Lord, "None of the sacred tithe is left in my house; I have given it to the Levites, the foreigners, the orphans, and the widows, as you commanded me to do. I have not disobeyed or forgotten any of your commands concerning the tithe. 14 I have not eaten any of it when I was mourning; I have not taken any of it out of my house when I was ritually unclean; and I have not given any of it as an offering for the dead. I have obeyed you, O Lord; I have done everything you commanded concerning the tithe. 15 Look down from your holy place in heaven and bless your people Israel; bless also the rich and fertile land that you have given us, as you promised our ancestors.' 16 "Today the Lord your God commands you to obey all his laws; so obey them faithfully with all your heart. 17 Today you have acknowledged the Lord as your God; you have promised to obey him, to keep all his laws, and to do all that he commands. 18 Today the Lord has accepted you as his own people, as he promised you; and he commands you to obey all his laws. 19 He will make you greater than any other nation that he has created, and you will bring praise and honor to his name. You will be his own people, as he promised."

Deuteronomy 27:1 Then Moses, together with the leaders of Israel, said to the people, "Obey all the instructions that I am giving you today. 2 On the day you cross the Jordan River and enter the land that the Lord your God is giving you, you are to set up some large stones, cover them with plaster, 3 and write on them all these laws and teachings. When you have entered the rich and fertile land that the Lord, the God of your ancestors, promised you, 4 and you are on the other side of the Jordan, set up these stones on Mount Ebal, as I am instructing you today, and cover them with plaster. 5 Build an altar there made of stones that have had no iron tools used on them, 6 because any altar you build for the Lord your God must be made of uncut stones. There you are to offer the sacrifices that are to be burned, 7 and there you are to sacrifice and eat your fellowship offerings and be grateful in the presence of the Lord your God. 8 On the stones covered with plaster write clearly every word of God's laws." 9 Then Moses, together with the levitical priests, said to all the people of Israel, "Give me your attention, people of Israel, and listen to me. Today you have become the people of the Lord your God; 10 so obey him and keep all his laws that I am giving you today." 11 Then Moses said to the people of Israel, 12 "After you have crossed the Jordan, the following tribes are to stand on Mount Gerizim when the blessings are pronounced on the people: Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Joseph, and Benjamin. 13 And the following tribes will stand on Mount Ebal when the curses are pronounced: Reuben, Gad, Asher, Zebulun, Dan, and Naphtali. 14 The Levites will speak these words in a loud voice: 15 " "God's curse on anyone who makes an idol of stone, wood, or metal and secretly worships it; the Lord hates idolatry.' "And all the people will answer, "Amen!' 16 " "God's curse on anyone who dishonors his father or mother.' "And all the people will answer, "Amen!' 17 " "God's curse on anyone who moves a neighbor's property line.' "And all the people will answer, "Amen!' 18 " "God's curse on anyone who leads a blind person in the wrong direction.' "And all the people will answer, "Amen!' 19 " "God's curse on anyone who deprives foreigners, orphans, and widows of their rights.' "And all the people will answer, "Amen!' 20 " "God's curse on anyone who disgraces his father by having intercourse with any of his father's wives.' "And all the people will answer, "Amen!' 21 " "God's curse on anyone who has sexual relations with an animal.' "And all the people will answer, "Amen!' 22 " "God's curse on anyone who has intercourse with his sister or half sister.' "And all the people will answer, "Amen!' 23 " "God's curse on anyone who has intercourse with his mother-in-law.' "And all the people will answer, "Amen!' 24 " "God's curse on anyone who secretly commits murder.' "And all the people will answer, "Amen!' 25 " "God's curse on anyone who accepts money to murder an innocent person.' "And all the people will answer, "Amen!' 26 " "God's curse on anyone who does not obey all of God's laws and teachings.' "And all the people will answer, "Amen!'

Deuteronomy 28:1 "If you obey the Lord your God and faithfully keep all his commands that I am giving you today, he will make you greater than any other nation on earth. 2 Obey the Lord your God and all these blessings will be yours: 3 "The Lord will bless your towns and your fields. 4 "The Lord will bless you with many children, with abundant crops, and with many cattle and sheep. 5 "The Lord will bless your grain crops and the food you prepare from them. 6 "The Lord will bless everything you do. 7 "The Lord will defeat your enemies when they attack you. They will attack from one direction, but they will run from you in all directions. 8 "The Lord your God will bless your work and fill your barns with grain. He will bless you in the land that he is giving you. 9 "If you obey the Lord your God and do everything he commands, he will make you his own people, as he has promised. 10 Then all the peoples on earth will see that the Lord has chosen you to be his own people, and they will be afraid of you. 11 The Lord will give you many children, many cattle, and abundant crops in the land that he promised your ancestors to give you. 12 He will send rain in season from his rich storehouse in the sky and bless all your work, so that you will lend to many nations, but you will not have to borrow from any. 13 The Lord your God will make you the leader among the nations and not a follower; you will always prosper and never fail if you obey faithfully all his commands that I am giving you today. 14 But you must never disobey them in any way, or worship and serve other gods. 15 "But if you disobey the Lord your God and do not faithfully keep all his commands and laws that I am giving you today, all these evil things will happen to you: 16 "The Lord will curse your towns and your fields. 17 "The Lord will curse your grain crops and the food you prepare from them. 18 "The Lord will curse you by giving you only a few children, poor crops, and few cattle and sheep. 19 "The Lord will curse everything you do. 20 "If you do evil and reject the Lord, he will bring on you disaster, confusion, and trouble in everything you do, until you are quickly and completely destroyed. 21 He will send disease after disease on you until there is not one of you left in the land that you are about to occupy. 22 The Lord will strike you with infectious diseases, with swelling and fever; he will send drought and scorching winds to destroy your crops. These disasters will be with you until you die. 23 No rain will fall, and your ground will become as hard as iron. 24 Instead of rain, the Lord will send down duststorms and sandstorms until you are destroyed. 25 "The Lord will give your enemies victory over you. You will attack them from one direction, but you will run from them in all directions, and all the people on earth will be terrified when they see what happens to you. 26 When you die, birds and wild animals will come and eat your bodies, and there will be no one to scare them off. 27 The Lord will send boils on you, as he did on the Egyptians. He will make your bodies break out with sores. You will be covered with scabs, and you will itch, but there will be no cure. 28 The Lord will make you lose your mind; he will strike you with blindness and confusion. 29 You will grope about in broad daylight like someone blind, and you will not be able to find your way. You will not prosper in anything you do. You will be constantly oppressed and robbed, and there will be no one to help you. 30 "You will be engaged to a young woman - but someone else will marry her. You will build a house - but never live in it. You will plant a vineyard - but never eat its grapes. 31 Your cattle will be butchered before your very eyes, but you will not eat any of the meat. Your donkeys will be dragged away while you look on, and they will not be given back to you. Your sheep will be given to your enemies, and there will be no one to help you. 32 Your sons and daughters will be given as slaves to foreigners while you look on. Every day you will strain your eyes, looking in vain for your children to return. 33 A foreign nation will take all the crops that you have worked so hard to grow, while you receive nothing but constant oppression and harsh treatment. 34 Your sufferings will make you lose your mind. 35 The Lord will cover your legs with incurable, painful sores; boils will cover you from head to foot. 36 "The Lord will take you and your king away to a foreign land, where neither you nor your ancestors ever lived before; there you will serve gods made of wood and stone. 37 In the countries to which the Lord will scatter you, the people will be shocked at what has happened to you; they will make fun of you and ridicule you. 38 "You will plant plenty of seed, but reap only a small harvest, because the locusts will eat your crops. 39 You will plant vineyards and take care of them, but you will not gather their grapes or drink wine from them, because worms will eat the vines. 40 Olive trees will grow everywhere in your land, but you will not have any olive oil, because the olives will drop off. 41 You will have sons and daughters, but you will lose them, because they will be taken away as prisoners of war. 42 All your trees and crops will be devoured by insects. 43 "Foreigners who live in your land will gain more and more power, while you gradually lose yours. 44 They will have money to lend you, but you will have none to lend them. In the end they will be your rulers. 45 "All these disasters will come on you, and they will be with you until you are destroyed, because you did not obey the Lord your God and keep all the laws that he gave you. 46 They will be the evidence of God's judgment on you and your descendants forever. 47 The Lord blessed you in every way, but you would not serve him with glad and joyful hearts. 48 So then, you will serve the enemies that the Lord is going to send against you. You will be hungry, thirsty, and naked - in need of everything. The Lord will oppress you harshly until you are destroyed. 49 The Lord will bring against you a nation from the ends of the earth, a nation whose language you do not know. They will swoop down on you like an eagle. 50 They will be ruthless and show no mercy to anyone, young or old. 51 They will eat your livestock and your crops, and you will starve to death. They will not leave you any grain, wine, olive oil, cattle, or sheep; and you will die. 52 They will attack every town in the land that the Lord your God is giving you, and the high, fortified walls in which you trust will fall. 53 "When your enemies are besieging your towns, you will become so desperate for food that you will even eat the children that the Lord your God has given you. 54 Even the most refined man of noble birth will become so desperate during the siege that he will eat some of his own children because he has no other food. He will not even give any to his brother or to the wife he loves or to any of his children who are left. 56 Even the most refined woman of noble birth, so rich that she has never had to walk anywhere, will behave in the same way. When the enemy besieges her town, she will become so desperate for food that she will secretly eat her newborn child and the afterbirth as well. She will not share them with the husband she loves or with any of her children. 58 "If you do not obey faithfully all of God's teachings that are written in this book and if you do not honor the wonderful and awesome name of the Lord your God, 59 he will send on you and on your descendants incurable diseases and horrible epidemics that can never be stopped. 60 He will bring on you once again all the dreadful diseases you experienced in Egypt, and you will never recover. 61 He will also send all kinds of diseases and epidemics that are not mentioned in this book of God's laws and teachings, and you will be destroyed. 62 Although you become as numerous as the stars in the sky, only a few of you will survive, because you did not obey the Lord your God. 63 Just as the Lord took delight in making you prosper and in making you increase in number, so he will take delight in destroying you and in bringing ruin on you. You will be uprooted from the land that you are about to occupy. 64 "The Lord will scatter you among all the nations, from one end of the earth to the other, and there you will serve gods made of wood and stone, gods that neither you nor your ancestors have ever worshiped before. 65 You will find no peace anywhere, no place to call your own; the Lord will overwhelm you with anxiety, hopelessness, and despair. 66 Your life will always be in danger. Day and night you will be filled with terror, and you will live in constant fear of death. 67 Your hearts will pound with fear at everything you see. Every morning you will wish for evening; every evening you will wish for morning. 68 The Lord will send you back to Egypt in ships, even though he said that you would never have to go there again. There you will try to sell yourselves to your enemies as slaves, but no one will want to buy you."

Deuteronomy 29:1 These are the terms of the covenant that the Lord commanded Moses to make with the people of Israel in the land of Moab; all this was in addition to the covenant which the Lord had made with them at Mount Sinai. 2 Moses called together all the people of Israel and said to them, "You saw for yourselves what the Lord did to the king of Egypt, to his officials, and to his entire country. 3 You saw the terrible plagues, the miracles, and the great wonders that the Lord performed. 4 But to this very day he has not let you understand what you have experienced. 5 For forty years the Lord led you through the desert, and your clothes and sandals never wore out. 6 You did not have bread to eat or wine or beer to drink, but the Lord provided for your needs in order to teach you that he is your God. 7 And when we came to this place, King Sihon of Heshbon and King Og of Bashan came out to fight against us. But we defeated them, 8 took their land, and divided it among the tribes of Reuben and Gad, and half the tribe of Manasseh. 9 Obey faithfully all the terms of this covenant, so that you will be successful in everything you do. 10 "Today you are standing in the presence of the Lord your God, all of you - your leaders and officials, your men, 11 women, and children, and the foreigners who live among you and cut wood and carry water for you. 12 You are here today to enter into this covenant that the Lord your God is making with you and to accept its obligations, 13 so that the Lord may now confirm you as his people and be your God, as he promised you and your ancestors, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. 14 You are not the only ones with whom the Lord is making this covenant with its obligations. 15 He is making it with all of us who stand here in his presence today and also with our descendants who are not yet born. 16 "You remember what life was like in Egypt and what it was like to travel through the territory of other nations. 17 You saw their disgusting idols made of wood, stone, silver, and gold. 18 Make sure that no man, woman, family, or tribe standing here today turns from the Lord our God to worship the gods of other nations. This would be like a root that grows to be a bitter and poisonous plant. 19 Make sure that there is no one here today who hears these solemn demands and yet convinces himself that all will be well with him, even if he stubbornly goes his own way. That would destroy all of you, good and evil alike. 20 The Lord will not forgive such a man. Instead, the Lord's burning anger will flame up against him, and all the disasters written in this book will fall on him until the Lord has destroyed him completely. 21 The Lord will make an example of him before all the tribes of Israel and will bring disaster on him in accordance with all the curses listed in the covenant that is written in this book of the Lord's teachings. 22 "In future generations your descendants and foreigners from distant lands will see the disasters and sufferings that the Lord has brought on your land. 23 The fields will be a barren waste, covered with sulfur and salt; nothing will be planted, and not even weeds will grow there. Your land will be like the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, of Admah and Zeboiim, which the Lord destroyed when he was furiously angry. 24 Then the whole world will ask, "Why did the Lord do this to their land? What was the reason for his fierce anger?' 25 And the answer will be, "It is because the Lord's people broke the covenant they had made with him, the God of their ancestors, when he brought them out of Egypt. 26 They served other gods that they had never worshiped before, gods that the Lord had forbidden them to worship. 27 And so the Lord became angry with his people and brought on their land all the disasters written in this book. 28 The Lord became furiously angry, and in his great anger he uprooted them from their land and threw them into a foreign land, and there they are today.' 29 "There are some things that the Lord our God has kept secret; but he has revealed his Law, and we and our descendants are to obey it forever.

771-Deuteronomy 29:1 These are the terms of the covenant that the Lord commanded Moses to make with the people of Israel in the land of Moab; all this was in addition to the covenant which the Lord had made with them at Mount Sinai. 2 Moses called together all the people of Israel and said to them, "You saw for yourselves what the Lord did to the king of Egypt, to his officials, and to his entire country. 3 You saw the terrible plagues, the miracles, and the great wonders that the Lord performed. 4 But to this very day he has not let you understand what you have experienced. 5 For forty years the Lord led you through the desert, and your clothes and sandals never wore out. 6 You did not have bread to eat or wine or beer to drink, but the Lord provided for your needs in order to teach you that he is your God. 7 And when we came to this place, King Sihon of Heshbon and King Og of Bashan came out to fight against us. But we defeated them, 8 took their land, and divided it among the tribes of Reuben and Gad, and half the tribe of Manasseh. 9 Obey faithfully all the terms of this covenant, so that you will be successful in everything you do. 10 "Today you are standing in the presence of the Lord your God, all of you - your leaders and officials, your men, 11 women, and children, and the foreigners who live among you and cut wood and carry water for you. 12 You are here today to enter into this covenant that the Lord your God is making with you and to accept its obligations, 13 so that the Lord may now confirm you as his people and be your God, as he promised you and your ancestors, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. 14 You are not the only ones with whom the Lord is making this covenant with its obligations. 15 He is making it with all of us who stand here in his presence today and also with our descendants who are not yet born. 16 "You remember what life was like in Egypt and what it was like to travel through the territory of other nations. 17 You saw their disgusting idols made of wood, stone, silver, and gold. 18 Make sure that no man, woman, family, or tribe standing here today turns from the Lord our God to worship the gods of other nations. This would be like a root that grows to be a bitter and poisonous plant. 19 Make sure that there is no one here today who hears these solemn demands and yet convinces himself that all will be well with him, even if he stubbornly goes his own way. That would destroy all of you, good and evil alike. 20 The Lord will not forgive such a man. Instead, the Lord's burning anger will flame up against him, and all the disasters written in this book will fall on him until the Lord has destroyed him completely. 21 The Lord will make an example of him before all the tribes of Israel and will bring disaster on him in accordance with all the curses listed in the covenant that is written in this book of the Lord's teachings. 22 "In future generations your descendants and foreigners from distant lands will see the disasters and sufferings that the Lord has brought on your land. 23 The fields will be a barren waste, covered with sulfur and salt; nothing will be planted, and not even weeds will grow there. Your land will be like the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, of Admah and Zeboiim, which the Lord destroyed when he was furiously angry. 24 Then the whole world will ask, "Why did the Lord do this to their land? What was the reason for his fierce anger?' 25 And the answer will be, "It is because the Lord's people broke the covenant they had made with him, the God of their ancestors, when he brought them out of Egypt. 26 They served other gods that they had never worshiped before, gods that the Lord had forbidden them to worship. 27 And so the Lord became angry with his people and brought on their land all the disasters written in this book. 28 The Lord became furiously angry, and in his great anger he uprooted them from their land and threw them into a foreign land, and there they are today.' 29 "There are some things that the Lord our God has kept secret; but he has revealed his Law, and we and our descendants are to obey it forever.

772-Exodus 33:11 The Lord would speak with Moses face-to-face, just as someone speaks with a friend. Then Moses would return to the camp. But the young man who was his helper, Joshua son of Nun, stayed in the Tent.

773-Numbers 12:1 Moses had married a Cushite woman, and Miriam and Aaron criticized him for it. 2 They said, "Has the Lord spoken only through Moses? Hasn't he also spoken through us?" The Lord heard what they said 3 (Moses was a humble man, more humble than anyone else on earth.) 4 Suddenly the Lord said to Moses, Aaron, and Miriam, "I want the three of you to come out to the Tent of my presence." They went, 5 and the Lord came down in a pillar of cloud, stood at the entrance of the Tent, and called out, "Aaron! Miriam!" The two of them stepped forward, 6 and the Lord said, "Now hear what I have to say! When there are prophets among you, I reveal myself to them in visions and speak to them in dreams. 7 It is different when I speak with my servant Moses; I have put him in charge of all my people Israel. 8 So I speak to him face-to-face, clearly and not in riddles; he has even seen my form! How dare you speak against my servant Moses?"

774-Deuteronomy 34:1 Moses went up from the plains of Moab to Mount Nebo, to the top of Mount Pisgah east of Jericho, and there the Lord showed him the whole land: the territory of Gilead as far north as the town of Dan; 2 the entire territory of Naphtali; the territories of Ephraim and Manasseh; the territory of Judah as far west as the Mediterranean Sea; 3 the southern part of Judah; and the plain that reaches from Zoar to Jericho, the city of palm trees. 4 Then the Lord said to Moses, "This is the land that I promised Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob I would give to their descendants. I have let you see it, but I will not let you go there." 5 So Moses, the Lord's servant, died there in the land of Moab, as the Lord had said he would. 6 The Lord buried him in a valley in Moab, opposite the town of Bethpeor, but to this day no one knows the exact place of his burial. 7 Moses was a hundred and twenty years old when he died; he was as strong as ever, and his eyesight was still good. 8 The people of Israel mourned for him for thirty days in the plains of Moab. 9 Joshua son of Nun was filled with wisdom, because Moses had appointed him to be his successor. The people of Israel obeyed Joshua and kept the commands that the Lord had given them through Moses. 10 There has never been a prophet in Israel like Moses; the Lord spoke with him face-to-face. 11 No other prophet has ever done miracles and wonders like those that the Lord sent Moses to perform against the king of Egypt, his officials, and the entire country. 12 No other prophet has been able to do the great and terrifying things that Moses did in the sight of all Israel.

775-Numbers 20:1 In the first month the whole community of Israel came to the wilderness of Zin and camped at Kadesh. There Miriam died and was buried. 2 There was no water where they camped, so the people gathered around Moses and Aaron 3 and complained: "It would have been better if we had died in front of the Lord's Tent along with the other Israelites. 4 Why have you brought us out into this wilderness? Just so that we can die here with our animals? 5 Why did you bring us out of Egypt into this miserable place where nothing will grow? There's no grain, no figs, no grapes, no pomegranates. There is not even any water to drink!" 6 Moses and Aaron moved away from the people and stood at the entrance of the Tent. They bowed down with their faces to the ground, and the dazzling light of the Lord's presence appeared to them. 7 The Lord said to Moses, 8 "Take the stick that is in front of the Covenant Box, and then you and Aaron assemble the whole community. There in front of them all speak to that rock over there, and water will gush out of it. In this way you will bring water out of the rock for the people, for them and their animals to drink." 9 Moses went and got the stick, as the Lord had commanded. 10 He and Aaron assembled the whole community in front of the rock, and Moses said, "Listen, you rebels! Do we have to get water out of this rock for you?" 11 Then Moses raised the stick and struck the rock twice with it, and a great stream of water gushed out, and all the people and animals drank. 12 But the Lord reprimanded Moses and Aaron. He said, "Because you did not have enough faith to acknowledge my holy power before the people of Israel, you will not lead them into the land that I promised to give them." 13 This happened at Meribah, where the people of Israel complained against the Lord and where he showed them that he is holy.

776-Exodus 17:1 The whole Israelite community left the desert of Sin, moving from one place to another at the command of the Lord. They camped at Rephidim, but there was no water there to drink. 2 They complained to Moses and said, "Give us water to drink." Moses answered, "Why are you complaining? Why are you putting the Lord to the test?" 3 But the people were very thirsty and continued to complain to Moses. They said, "Why did you bring us out of Egypt? To kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst?" 4 Moses prayed earnestly to the Lord and said, "What can I do with these people? They are almost ready to stone me." 5 The Lord said to Moses, "Take some of the leaders of Israel with you, and go on ahead of the people. Take along the stick with which you struck the Nile. 6 I will stand before you on a rock at Mount Sinai. Strike the rock, and water will come out of it for the people to drink." Moses did so in the presence of the leaders of Israel. 7 The place was named Massah and Meribah, because the Israelites complained and put the Lord to the test when they asked, "Is the Lord with us or not?"

777-Deuteronomy 1:37; 3:23-28; 34:1-837 Because of you the Lord also became angry with me and said, "Not even you, Moses, will enter the land.

Deuteronomy 3:23 "At that time I earnestly prayed, 24 "Sovereign Lord, I know that you have shown me only the beginning of the great and wonderful things you are going to do. There is no god in heaven or on earth who can do the mighty things that you have done! 25 Let me cross the Jordan River, Lord, and see the fertile land on the other side, the beautiful hill country and the Lebanon Mountains.' 26 "But because of you people the Lord was angry with me and would not listen. Instead, he said, "That's enough! Don't mention this again! 27 Go to the peak of Mount Pisgah and look to the north and to the south, to the east and to the west. Look carefully at what you see, because you will never go across the Jordan. 28 Give Joshua his instructions. Strengthen his determination, because he will lead the people across to occupy the land that you see.'

Deuteronomy 34:1 Moses went up from the plains of Moab to Mount Nebo, to the top of Mount Pisgah east of Jericho, and there the Lord showed him the whole land: the territory of Gilead as far north as the town of Dan; 2 the entire territory of Naphtali; the territories of Ephraim and Manasseh; the territory of Judah as far west as the Mediterranean Sea; 3 the southern part of Judah; and the plain that reaches from Zoar to Jericho, the city of palm trees. 4 Then the Lord said to Moses, "This is the land that I promised Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob I would give to their descendants. I have let you see it, but I will not let you go there." 5 So Moses, the Lord's servant, died there in the land of Moab, as the Lord had said he would. 6 The Lord buried him in a valley in Moab, opposite the town of Bethpeor, but to this day no one knows the exact place of his burial. 7 Moses was a hundred and twenty years old when he died; he was as strong as ever, and his eyesight was still good. 8 The people of Israel mourned for him for thirty days in the plains of Moab.

778-Jude 9 Not even the chief angel Michael did this. In his quarrel with the Devil, when they argued about who would have the body of Moses, Michael did not dare condemn the Devil with insulting words, but said, "The Lord rebuke you!"

779-Matthew 17:1 Six days later Jesus took with him Peter and the brothers James and John and led them up a high mountain where they were alone. 2 As they looked on, a change came over Jesus: his face was shining like the sun, and his clothes were dazzling white. 3 Then the three disciples saw Moses and Elijah talking with Jesus. 4 So Peter spoke up and said to Jesus, "Lord, how good it is that we are here! If you wish, I will make three tents here, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah." 5 While he was talking, a shining cloud came over them, and a voice from the cloud said, "This is my own dear Son, with whom I am pleased - listen to him!" 6 When the disciples heard the voice, they were so terrified that they threw themselves face downward on the ground. 7 Jesus came to them and touched them. "Get up," he said. "Don't be afraid!" 8 So they looked up and saw no one there but Jesus.

780-Mark 9:2 Six days later Jesus took with him Peter, James, and John, and led them up a high mountain, where they were alone. As they looked on, a change came over Jesus, 3 and his clothes became shining white - whiter than anyone in the world could wash them. 4 Then the three disciples saw Elijah and Moses talking with Jesus. 5 Peter spoke up and said to Jesus, "Teacher, how good it is that we are here! We will make three tents, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah." 6 He and the others were so frightened that he did not know what to say. 7 Then a cloud appeared and covered them with its shadow, and a voice came from the cloud, "This is my own dear Son - listen to him!" 8 They took a quick look around but did not see anyone else; only Jesus was with them. 9 As they came down the mountain, Jesus ordered them, "Don't tell anyone what you have seen, until the Son of Man has risen from death."

781-Luke 9:28 About a week after he had said these things, Jesus took Peter, John, and James with him and went up a hill to pray. 29 While he was praying, his face changed its appearance, and his clothes became dazzling white. 30 Suddenly two men were there talking with him. They were Moses and Elijah, 31 who appeared in heavenly glory and talked with Jesus about the way in which he would soon fulfill God's purpose by dying in Jerusalem. 32 Peter and his companions were sound asleep, but they woke up and saw Jesus' glory and the two men who were standing with him. 33 As the men were leaving Jesus, Peter said to him, "Master, how good it is that we are here! We will make three tents, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah." (He did not really know what he was saying.) 34 While he was still speaking, a cloud appeared and covered them with its shadow; and the disciples were afraid as the cloud came over them. 35 A voice said from the cloud, "This is my Son, whom I have chosen - listen to him!" 36 When the voice stopped, there was Jesus all alone. The disciples kept quiet about all this and told no one at that time anything they had seen

782-Ezra 10:2 Then Shecaniah son of Jehiel, of the clan of Elam, said to Ezra, "We have broken faith with God by marrying foreign women, but even so there is still hope for Israel.

783-Romans 1:18 God's anger is revealed from heaven against all the sin and evil of the people whose evil ways prevent the truth from being known.

Romans 14:23 But if they have doubts about what they eat, God condemns them when they eat it, because their action is not based on faith. And anything that is not based on faith is sin.

784-Patriarchs and Prophets 471-490For the last time Moses stood in the assembly of his people. Again the Spirit of God rested upon him, and in the most sublime and touching language he pronounced a blessing upon each of the tribes, closing with a benediction upon them all: {PP 471.1}

“There is none like unto God, O Jeshurun,

Who rideth upon the heaven for thy help,

And in His excellency on the skies.

The eternal God is thy dwelling place,

And underneath are the everlasting arms:

And He thrust out the enemy from before thee,

And said, Destroy.

And Israel dwelleth in safety,

The fountain of Jacob alone,

In a land of corn and wine;

Yea, His heavens drop down dew.

Happy art thou, O Israel:

Who is like unto thee, a people saved by Jehovah,

The shield of thy help.” {PP 471.2}

Deuteronomy 33:26-29, R.V.

Moses turned from the congregation, and in silence and alone made his way up the mountainside. He went to “the mountain of Nebo, to the top of Pisgah.” Upon that lonely height he stood, and gazed with undimmed eye upon the scene spread out before him. Far away to the west lay the blue waters of the Great Sea; in the north, Mount Hermon stood out against the sky; to the east was the tableland of Moab, and beyond lay Bashan, the scene of Israel’s triumph; and away to the south stretched the desert of their long wanderings. {PP 471.3}

In solitude Moses reviewed his life of vicissitudes and hardships since he turned from courtly honors and from a prospective kingdom in Egypt, to cast in his lot with God’s chosen people. He called to mind those long years in the desert with the flocks of Jethro, the appearance of the Angel in the burning bush, and his own call to deliver Israel. Again he beheld the mighty miracles of God’s power displayed in behalf of the chosen people, and His long-suffering mercy during the years of their wandering and rebellion. Notwithstanding all that God had wrought for them, notwithstanding his own prayers and labors, only two of all the adults in the vast army that left Egypt had been found so faithful that they could enter the Promised Land. As Moses reviewed the result of his labors, his life of trial and sacrifice seemed to have been almost in vain. {PP 471.4}

Yet he did not regret the burdens he had borne. He knew that his mission and work were of God’s own appointing. When first called to become the leader of Israel from bondage, he shrank from the responsibility; but since he had taken up the work he had not cast aside the burden. Even when the Lord had proposed to release him, and destroy rebellious Israel, Moses could not consent. Though his trials had been great, he had enjoyed special tokens of God’s favor; he had obtained a rich experience during the sojourn in the wilderness, in witnessing the manifestations of God’s power and glory, and in the communion of His love; he felt that he had made a wise decision in choosing to suffer affliction with the people of God, rather than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season. {PP 472.1}

As he looked back upon his experience as a leader of God’s people, one wrong act marred the record. If that transgression could be blotted out, he felt that he would not shrink from death. He was assured that repentance, and faith in the promised Sacrifice, were all that God required, and again Moses confessed his sin and implored pardon in the name of Jesus. {PP 472.2}

And now a panoramic view of the Land of Promise was presented to him. Every part of the country was spread out before him, not faint and uncertain in the dim distance, but standing out clear, distinct, and beautiful to his delighted vision. In this scene it was presented, not as it then appeared, but as it would become, with God’s blessing upon it, in the possession of Israel. He seemed to be looking upon a second Eden. There were mountains clothed with cedars of Lebanon, hills gray with olives and fragrant with the odor of the vine, wide green plains bright with flowers and rich in fruitfulness, here the palm trees of the tropics, there waving fields of wheat and barley, sunny valleys musical with the ripple of brooks and the song of birds, goodly cities and fair gardens, lakes rich in “the abundance of the seas,” grazing flocks upon the hillsides, and even amid the rocks the wild bee’s hoarded treasures. It was indeed such a land as Moses, inspired by the Spirit of God, had described to Israel: “Blessed of the Lord ... for the precious things of heaven, for the dew, and for the deep that coucheth beneath, and for the precious fruits brought forth by the sun, ... and for the chief things of the ancient mountains, ... and for the precious things of the earth and fullness thereof.” {PP 472.3}

Moses saw the chosen people established in Canaan, each of the tribes in its own possession. He had a view of their history after the settlement of the Promised Land; the long, sad story of their apostasy and its punishment was spread out before him. He saw them, because of their sins, dispersed among the heathen, the glory departed from Israel, her beautiful city in ruins, and her people captives in strange lands. He saw them restored to the land of their fathers, and at last brought under the dominion of Rome. {PP 475.1}

He was permitted to look down the stream of time and behold the first advent of our Saviour. He saw Jesus as a babe in Bethlehem. He heard the voices of the angelic host break forth in the glad song of praise to God and peace on earth. He beheld in the heavens the star guiding the Wise Men of the East to Jesus, and a great light flooded his mind as he called those prophetic words, “There shall come a Star out of Jacob, and a Scepter shall rise out of Israel.” Numbers 24:17. He beheld Christ’s humble life in Nazareth, His ministry of love and sympathy and healing, His rejection by a proud, unbelieving nation. Amazed he listened to their boastful exaltation of the law of God, while they despised and rejected Him by whom the law was given. He saw Jesus upon Olivet as with weeping He bade farewell to the city of His love. As Moses beheld the final rejection of that people so highly blessed of Heaven—that people for whom he had toiled and prayed and sacrificed, for whom he had been willing that his own name should be blotted from the book of life; as he listened to those fearful words, “Behold your house is left unto you desolate” (Matthew 23:38), his heart was wrung with anguish, and bitter tears fell from his eyes, in sympathy with the sorrow of the Son of God. {PP 475.2}

He followed the Saviour to Gethsemane, and beheld the agony in the garden, the betrayal, the mockery and scourging—the crucifixion. Moses saw that as he had lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so the Son of God must be lifted up, that whosoever would believe on Him “should not perish, but have eternal life.” John 3:15. Grief, indignation, and horror filled the heart of Moses as he viewed the hypocrisy and satanic hatred manifested by the Jewish nation against their Redeemer, the mighty Angel who had gone before their fathers. He heard Christ’s agonizing cry, “My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?” Mark 15:34. He saw Him lying in Joseph’s new tomb. The darkness of hopeless despair seemed to enshroud the world. But he looked again, and beheld Him coming forth a conqueror, and ascending to heaven escorted by adoring angels and leading a multitude of captives. He saw the shining gates open to receive Him, and the host of heaven with songs of triumph welcoming their Commander. And it was there revealed to him that he himself would be one who should attend the Saviour, and open to Him the everlasting gates. As he looked upon the scene, his countenance shone with a holy radiance. How small appeared the trials and sacrifices of his life when compared with those of the Son of God! how light in contrast with the “far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory”! 2 Corinthians 4:17. He rejoiced that he had been permitted, even in a small measure, to be a partaker in the sufferings of Christ. {PP 475.3}

Moses beheld the disciples of Jesus as they went forth to carry His gospel to the world. He saw that though the people of Israel “according to the flesh” had failed of the high destiny to which God had called them, in their unbelief had failed to become the light of the world, though they had despised God’s mercy and forfeited their blessings as His chosen people—yet God had not cast off the seed of Abraham; the glorious purposes which He had undertaken to accomplish through Israel were to be fulfilled. All who through Christ should become the children of faith were to be counted as Abraham’s seed; they were inheritors of the covenant promises; like Abraham, they were called to guard and to make known to the world the law of God and the gospel of His Son. Moses saw the light of the gospel shining out through the disciples of Jesus to them “which sat in darkness” (Matthew 4:16), and thousands from the lands of the Gentiles flocking to the brightness of its rising. And beholding, he rejoiced in the increase and prosperity of Israel. {PP 476.1}

And now another scene passed before him. He had been shown the work of Satan in leading the Jews to reject Christ, while they professed to honor His Father’s law. He now saw the Christian world under a similar deception in professing to accept Christ while they rejected God’s law. He had heard from the priests and elders the frenzied cry, “Away with Him!” “Crucify Him, crucify Him!” and now he heard from professedly Christian teachers the cry, “Away with the law!” He saw the Sabbath trodden under foot, and a spurious institution established in its place. Again Moses was filled with astonishment and horror. How could those who believed in Christ reject the law spoken by His own voice upon the sacred mount? How could any that feared God set aside the law which is the foundation of His government in heaven and earth? With joy Moses saw the law of God still honored and exalted by a faithful few. He saw the last great struggle of earthly powers to destroy those who keep God’s law. He looked forward to the time when God shall arise to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity, and those who have feared His name shall be covered and hid in the day of His anger. He heard God’s covenant of peace with those who have kept His law, as He utters His voice from His holy habitation and the heavens and the earth do shake. He saw the second coming of Christ in glory, the righteous dead raised to immortal life, and the living saints translated without seeing death, and together ascending with songs of gladness to the City of God. {PP 476.2}

Still another scene opens to his view—the earth freed from the curse, lovelier than the fair Land of Promise so lately spread out before him. There is no sin, and death cannot enter. There the nations of the saved find their eternal home. With joy unutterable Moses looks upon the scene—the fulfillment of a more glorious deliverance than his brightest hopes have ever pictured. Their earthly wanderings forever past, the Israel of God have at last entered the goodly land. {PP 477.1}

Again the vision faded, and his eyes rested upon the land of Canaan as it spread out in the distance. Then, like a tired warrior, he lay down to rest. “So Moses the servant of the Lord died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of the Lord. And He buried him in a valley in the land of Moab, over against Beth-peor: but no man knoweth of his sepulcher.” Many who had been unwilling to heed the counsels of Moses while he was with them would have been in danger of committing idolatry over his dead body had they known the place of his burial. For this reason it was concealed from men. But angels of God buried the body of His faithful servant and watched over the lonely grave. {PP 477.2}

“There arose not a prophet since in Israel like unto Moses, whom Jehovah knew face to face, in all the signs and the wonders which Jehovah sent him to do ... and in all that mighty hand, and in all the great terror which Moses showed in the sight of all Israel.” {PP 478.1}

Had not the life of Moses been marred with that one sin, in failing to give God the glory of bringing water from the rock at Kadesh, he would have entered the Promised Land, and would have been translated to heaven without seeing death. But he was not long to remain in the tomb. Christ Himself, with the angels who had buried Moses, came down from heaven to call forth the sleeping saint. Satan had exulted at his success in causing Moses to sin against God, and thus come under the dominion of death. The great adversary declared that the divine sentence—“Dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return” (Genesis 3:19)—gave him possession of the dead. The power of the grave had never been broken, and all who were in the tomb he claimed as his captives, never to be released from his dark prison house. {PP 478.2}

For the first time Christ was about to give life to the dead. As the Prince of life and the shining ones approached the grave, Satan was alarmed for his supremacy. With his evil angels he stood to dispute an invasion of the territory that he claimed as his own. He boasted that the servant of God had become his prisoner. He declared that even Moses was not able to keep the law of God; that he had taken to himself the glory due to Jehovah—the very sin which had caused Satan’s banishment from heaven—and by transgression had come under the dominion of Satan. The archtraitor reiterated the original charges that he had made against the divine government, and repeated his complaints of God’s injustice toward him. {PP 478.3}

Christ did not stoop to enter into controversy with Satan. He might have brought against him the cruel work which his deceptions had wrought in heaven, causing the ruin of a vast number of its inhabitants. He might have pointed to the falsehoods told in Eden, that had led to Adam’s sin and brought death upon the human race. He might have reminded Satan that it was his own work in tempting Israel to murmuring and rebellion, which had wearied the long-suffering patience of their leader, and in an unguarded moment had surprised him into the sin for which he had fallen under the power of death. But Christ referred all to His Father, saying, “The Lord rebuke thee.” Jude 9. The Saviour entered into no dispute with His adversary, but He then and there began His work of breaking the power of the fallen foe, and bringing the dead to life. Here was an evidence that Satan could not controvert, of the supremacy of the Son of God. The resurrection was forever made certain. Satan was despoiled of his prey; the righteous dead would live again. {PP 478.4}

In consequence of sin Moses had come under the power of Satan. In his own merits he was death’s lawful captive; but he was raised to immortal life, holding his title in the name of the Redeemer. Moses came forth from the tomb glorified, and ascended with his Deliverer to the City of God. {PP 479.1}

Never, till exemplified in the sacrifice of Christ, were the justice and the love of God more strikingly displayed than in His dealings with Moses. God shut Moses out of Canaan, to teach a lesson which should never be forgotten—that He requires exact obedience, and that men are to beware of taking to themselves the glory which is due to their Maker. He could not grant the prayer of Moses that he might share the inheritance of Israel, but He did not forget or forsake His servant. The God of heaven understood the suffering that Moses had endured; He had noted every act of faithful service through those long years of conflict and trial. On the top of Pisgah, God called Moses to an inheritance infinitely more glorious than the earthly Canaan. {PP 479.2}

Upon the mount of transfiguration Moses was present with Elijah, who had been translated. They were sent as bearers of light and glory from the Father to His Son. And thus the prayer of Moses, uttered so many centuries before, was at last fulfilled. He stood upon the “goodly mountain,” within the heritage of his people, bearing witness to Him in whom all the promises to Israel centered. Such is the last scene revealed to mortal vision in the history of that man so highly honored of Heaven. {PP 479.3}

Moses was a type of Christ. He himself had declared to Israel, “The Lord thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto Him ye shall hearken.” Deuteronomy 18:15. God saw fit to discipline Moses in the school of affliction and poverty before he could be prepared to lead the hosts of Israel to the earthly Canaan. The Israel of God, journeying to the heavenly Canaan, have a Captain who needed no human teaching to prepare Him for His mission as a divine leader; yet He was made perfect through sufferings; and “in that He Himself hath suffered being tempted, He is able to succor them that are tempted.” Hebrews 2:10, 18. Our Redeemer manifested no human weakness or imperfection; yet He died to obtain for us an entrance into the Promised Land. {PP 480.1}

“And Moses verily was faithful in all his house as a servant, for a testimony of those things which were to be spoken after; but Christ as a son over His own house; whose house are we, if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end.” Hebrews 3:5, 6. {PP 480.2}

Chapter 44—Crossing the Jordan

This chapter is based on Joshua 1 to 5:12.

The Israelites deeply mourned for their departed leader, and thirty days were devoted to special services in honor of his memory. Never till he was taken from them had they so fully realized the value of his wise counsels, his parental tenderness, and his unswerving faith. With a new and deeper appreciation they recalled the precious lessons he had given while still with them. {PP 481.1}

Moses was dead, but his influence did not die with him. It was to live on, reproducing itself in the hearts of his people. The memory of that holy, unselfish life would long be cherished, with silent, persuasive power molding the lives even of those who had neglected his living words. As the glow of the descending sun lights up the mountain peaks long after the sun itself has sunk behind the hills, so the works of the pure, the holy, and the good shed light upon the world long after the actors themselves have passed away. Their works, their words, their example, will forever live. “The righteous shall be in everlasting remembrance.” Psalm 112:6. {PP 481.2}

While they were filled with grief at their great loss, the people knew that they were not left alone. The pillar of cloud rested over the tabernacle by day, and the pillar of fire by night, an assurance that God would still be their guide and helper if they would walk in the way of His commandments. {PP 481.3}

Joshua was now the acknowledged leader of Israel. He had been known chiefly as a warrior, and his gifts and virtues were especially valuable at this stage in the history of his people. Courageous, resolute, and persevering, prompt, incorruptible, unmindful of selfish interests in his care for those committed to his charge, and, above all, inspired by a living faith in God—such was the character of the man divinely chosen to conduct the armies of Israel in their entrance upon the Promised Land. During the sojourn in the wilderness he had acted as prime minister to Moses, and by his quiet, unpretending fidelity, his steadfastness when others wavered, his firmness to maintain the truth in the midst of danger, he had given evidence of his fitness to succeed Moses, even before he was called to the position by the voice of God. {PP 481.4}

It was with great anxiety and self-distrust that Joshua had looked forward to the work before him; but his fears were removed by the assurance of God, “As I was with Moses, so I will be with thee: I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.... Unto this people shalt thou divide for an inheritance the land, which I sware unto their fathers to give them.” “Every place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon, that have I given unto you, as I said unto Moses.” To the heights of Lebanon in the far distance, to the shores of the Great Sea, and away to the banks of the Euphrates in the east—all was to be theirs. {PP 482.1}

To this promise was added the injunction, “Only be thou strong and very courageous, that thou mayest observe to do according to all the law, which Moses My servant commanded.” The Lord’s direction was, “This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night;” “turn not from it to the right hand or to the left;” “for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.” {PP 482.2}

The Israelites were still encamped on the east side of Jordan, which presented the first barrier to the occupation of Canaan. “Arise,” had been the first message of God to Joshua, “go over this Jordan, thou, and all this people, unto the land which I do give to them.” No instruction was given as to the way in which they were to make the passage. Joshua knew, however, that whatever God should command, He would make a way for His people to perform, and in this faith the intrepid leader at once began his arrangements for an advance. {PP 482.3}

A few miles beyond the river, just opposite the place where the Israelites were encamped, was the large and strongly fortified city of Jericho. This city was virtually the key to the whole country, and it would present a formidable obstacle to the success of Israel. Joshua therefore sent two young men as spies to visit this city and ascertain something as to its population, its resources, and the strength of its fortifications. The inhabitants of the city, terrified and suspicious, were constantly on the alert, and the messengers were in great danger. They were, however, preserved by Rahab, a woman of Jericho, at the peril of her own life. In return for her kindness they gave her a promise of protection when the city should be taken. {PP 482.4}

The spies returned in safety with the tidings, “Truly the Lord hath delivered into our hands all the land; for even all the inhabitants of the country do faint because of us.” It had been declared to them in Jericho, “We have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea for you, when ye came out of Egypt; and what ye did unto the two kings of the Amorites, that were on the other side Jordan, Sihon and Og, whom ye utterly destroyed. And as soon as we had heard these things, our hearts did melt, neither did there remain any more courage in any man, because of you: for the Lord your God, He is God in heaven above, and in earth beneath.” {PP 483.1}

Orders were now issued to make ready for an advance. The people were to prepare a three days’ supply of food, and the army was to be put in readiness for battle. All heartily acquiesced in the plans of their leader and assured him of their confidence and support: “All that thou commandest us we will do, and whithersoever thou sendest us, we will go. According as we hearkened unto Moses in all things, so will we hearken unto thee: only the Lord thy God be with thee, as He was with Moses.” {PP 483.2}

Leaving their encampment in the acacia groves of Shittim, the host descended to the border of the Jordan. All knew, however, that without divine aid they could not hope to make the passage. At this time of the year—in the spring season—the melting snows of the mountains had so raised the Jordan that the river overflowed its banks, making it impossible to cross at the usual fording places. God willed that the passage of Israel over Jordan should be miraculous. Joshua, by divine direction, commanded the people to sanctify themselves; they must put away their sins and free themselves from all outward impurity; “for tomorrow,” he said, “the Lord will do wonders among you.” The “ark of the covenant” was to lead the way before the host. When they should see the token of Jehovah’s presence, borne by the priests, remove from its place in the center of the camp, and advance toward the river, then they were to remove from their place, “and go after it.” The circumstances of the passage were minutely foretold; and said Joshua, “Hereby ye shall know that the living God is among you, and that He will without fail drive out from before you the Canaanites.... Behold, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth passeth over before you into Jordan.” {PP 483.3}

At the appointed time began the onward movement, the ark, borne upon the shoulders of the priests, leading the van. The people had been directed to fall back, so that there was a vacant space of more than half a mile about the ark. All watched with deep interest as the priests advanced down the bank of the Jordan. They saw them with the sacred ark move steadily forward toward the angry, surging stream, till the feet of the bearers were dipped into the waters. Then suddenly the tide above was swept back, while the current below flowed on, and the bed of the river was laid bare. {PP 484.1}

At the divine command the priests advanced to the middle of the channel and stood there while the entire host descended and crossed to the farther side. Thus was impressed upon the minds of all Israel the fact that the power that stayed the waters of Jordan was the same that had opened the Red Sea to their fathers forty years before. When the people had all passed over, the ark itself was borne to the western shore. No sooner had it reached a place of security, and “the soles of the priests’ feet were lifted up unto the dry land,” than the imprisoned waters, being set free, rushed down, a resistless flood, in the natural channel of the stream. {PP 484.2}

Coming generations were not to be without a witness to this great miracle. While the priests bearing the ark were still in the midst of Jordan, twelve men previously chosen, one from each tribe, took up each a stone from the river bed where the priests were standing, and carried it over to the western side. These stones were to be set up as a monument in the first camping place beyond the river. The people were bidden to repeat to their children and children’s children the story of the deliverance that God had wrought for them, as Joshua said, “That all the people of the earth might know the hand of the Lord, that it is mighty: that ye might fear the Lord your God forever.” {PP 484.3}

The influence of this miracle, both upon the Hebrews and upon their enemies, was of great importance. It was an assurance to Israel of God’s continued presence and protection—an evidence that He would work for them through Joshua as He had wrought through Moses. Such an assurance was needed to strengthen their hearts as they entered upon the conquest of the land—the stupendous task that had staggered the faith of their fathers forty years before. The Lord had declared to Joshua before the crossing, “This day will I begin to magnify thee in the sight of all Israel, that they may know that, as I was with Moses, so I will be with thee.” And the result fulfilled the promise. “On that day the Lord magnified Joshua in the sight of all Israel; and they feared him, as they feared Moses, all the days of his life.” {PP 484.4}

This exercise of divine power in behalf of Israel was designed also to increase the fear with which they were regarded by the surrounding nations, and thus prepare the way for their easier and complete triumph. When the tidings that God had stayed the waters of Jordan before the children of Israel, reached the kings of the Amorites and of the Canaanites, their hearts melted with fear. The Hebrews had already slain the five kings of Midian, the powerful Sihon, king of the Amorites, and Og of Bashan, and now the passage over the swollen and impetuous Jordan filled all the surrounding nations with terror. To the Canaanites, to all Israel, and to Joshua himself, unmistakable evidence had been given that the living God, the King of heaven and earth, was among His people, and that He would not fail them nor forsake them. {PP 485.1}

A short distance from Jordan the Hebrews made their first encampment in Canaan. Here Joshua “circumcised the children of Israel;” “and the children of Israel encamped in Gilgal, and kept the Passover.” The suspension of the rite of circumcision since the rebellion at Kadesh had been a constant witness to Israel that their covenant with God, of which it was the appointed symbol, had been broken. And the discontinuance of the Passover, the memorial of their deliverance from Egypt, had been an evidence of the Lord’s displeasure at their desire to return to the land of bondage. Now, however, the years of rejection were ended. Once more God acknowledged Israel as His people, and the sign of the covenant was restored. The rite of circumcision was performed upon all the people who had been born in the wilderness. And the Lord declared to Joshua, “This day have I rolled away the reproach of Egypt from off you,” and in allusion to this the place of their encampment was called Gilgal, “a rolling away,” or “rolling off.” {PP 485.2}

Heathen nations had reproached the Lord and His people because the Hebrews had failed to take possession of Canaan, as they expected, soon after leaving Egypt. Their enemies had triumphed because Israel had wandered so long in the wilderness, and they had mockingly declared that the God of the Hebrews was not able to bring them into the Promised Land. The Lord had now signally manifested His power and favor in opening the Jordan before His people, and their enemies could no longer reproach them. {PP 486.1}

“On the fourteenth day of the month at even,” the Passover was celebrated on the plains of Jericho. “And they did eat of the old corn of the land on the morrow after the Passover, unleavened cakes, and parched corn in the selfsame day. And the manna ceased on the morrow after they had eaten of the old corn of the land; neither had the children of Israel manna any more; but they did eat of the fruit of the land of Canaan.” The long years of their desert wanderings were ended. The feet of Israel were at last treading the Promised Land. {PP 486.2}

Chapter 45—The Fall of Jericho

This chapter is based on Joshua 5:13-15; 6; 7.

The Hebrews had entered Canaan, but they had not subdued it; and to human appearance the struggle to gain possession of the land must be long and difficult. It was inhabited by a powerful race, who stood ready to oppose the invasion of their territory. The various tribes were bound together by the fear of a common danger. Their horses and iron battle chariots, their knowledge of the country, and their training in war, would give them great advantage. Furthermore, the country was guarded by fortresses—“cities great and fenced up to heaven.” Deuteronomy 9:1. Only in the assurance of a strength not their own could the Israelites hope for success in the impending conflict. {PP 487.1}

One of the strongest fortresses in the land—the large and wealthy city of Jericho—lay just before them, but a little distance from their camp at Gilgal. On the border of a fertile plain abounding with the rich and varied productions of the tropics, its palaces and temples the abode of luxury and vice, this proud city, behind its massive battlements, offered defiance to the God of Israel. Jericho was one of the principal seats of idol worship, being especially devoted to Ashtaroth, the goddess of the moon. Here centered all that was vilest and most degrading in the religion of the Canaanites. The people of Israel, in whose minds were fresh the fearful results of their sin at Beth-peor, could look upon this heathen city only with disgust and horror. {PP 487.2}

To reduce Jericho was seen by Joshua to be the first step in the conquest of Canaan. But first of all he sought an assurance of divine guidance, and it was granted him. Withdrawing from the encampment to meditate and to pray that the God of Israel would go before His people, he beheld an armed warrior, of lofty stature and commanding presence, “with his sword drawn in his hand.” To Joshua’s challenge, “Art thou for us, or for our adversaries?” the answer was given, “As Captain of the host of the Lord am I now come.” The same command given to Moses in Horeb, “Loose thy shoe from off thy foot; for the place whereon thou standest is holy,” revealed the true character of the mysterious stranger. It was Christ, the Exalted One, who stood before the leader of Israel. Awe-stricken, Joshua fell upon his face and worshiped, and heard the assurance, “I have given into thine hand Jericho, and the king thereof, and the mighty men of valor,” and he received instruction for the capture of the city. {PP 487.3}

In obedience to the divine command Joshua marshaled the armies of Israel. No assault was to be made. They were simply to make the circuit of the city, bearing the ark of God and blowing upon trumpets. First came the warriors, a body of chosen men, not now to conquer by their own skill and prowess, but by obedience to the directions given them from God. Seven priests with trumpets followed. Then the ark of God, surrounded by a halo of divine glory, was borne by priests clad in the dress denoting their sacred office. The army of Israel followed, each tribe under its standard. Such was the procession that compassed the doomed city. No sound was heard but the tread of that mighty host and the solemn peal of the trumpets, echoing among the hills and resounding through the streets of Jericho. The circuit completed, the army returned in silence to their tents, and the ark was restored to its place in the tabernacle. {PP 488.1}

With wonder and alarm the watchmen of the city marked every move, and reported to those in authority. They knew not the meaning of all this display; but when they beheld that mighty host marching around their city once each day, with the sacred ark and the attendant priests, the mystery of the scene struck terror to the hearts of priest and people. Again they would inspect their strong defenses, feeling certain they could successfully resist the most powerful attack. Many ridiculed the thought that any harm could come to them through these singular demonstrations. Others were awed as they beheld the procession that each day wound about the city. They remembered that the Red Sea had once parted before this people, and that a passage had just been opened for them through the river Jordan. They knew not what further wonders God might work for them. {PP 488.2}

For six days the host of Israel made the circuit of the city. The seventh day came, and with the first dawn of light, Joshua marshaled the armies of the Lord. Now they were directed to march seven times around Jericho, and at a mighty peal from the trumpets to shout with a loud voice, for God had given them the city. {PP 488.3}

The vast army marched solemnly around the devoted walls. All was silent, save the measured tread of many feet, and the occasional sound of the trumpet, breaking the stillness of the early morning. The massive walls of solid stone seemed to defy the siege of men. The watchers on the walls looked on with rising fear, as, the first circuit ended, there followed a second, then a third, a fourth, a fifth, a sixth. What could be the object of these mysterious movements? What mighty event was impending? They had not long to wait. As the seventh circuit was completed, the long procession paused, The trumpets, which for an interval had been silent, now broke forth in a blast that shook the very earth. The walls of solid stone, with their massive towers and battlements, tottered and heaved from their foundations, and with a crash fell in ruin to the earth. The inhabitants of Jericho were paralyzed with terror, and the hosts of Israel marched in and took possession of the city. {PP 491.1}

785-Numbers 36:13 These are the rules and regulations that the Lord gave the Israelites through Moses in the plains of Moab across the Jordan River from Jericho.

786-Numbers 1:1 On the first day of the second month in the second year after the people of Israel left Egypt, the Lord spoke to Moses there in the Tent of his presence in the Sinai Desert. He said, 2 "You and Aaron are to take a census of the people of Israel by clans and families. List the names of all the men 3 twenty years old or older who are fit for military service. 4 Ask one clan chief from each tribe to help you." 5 These are the men, leaders within their tribes, who were chosen from the community for this work: 17 With the help of these twelve men Moses and Aaron 18 called together the whole community on the first day of the second month and registered all the people by clans and families. The names of all the men twenty years old or older were recorded and counted, 19 as the Lord had commanded. In the Sinai Desert, Moses registered the people. 20 The men twenty years old or older who were fit for military service were registered by name according to clan and family, beginning with the tribe of Reuben, Jacob's oldest son. The totals were as follows: 47 The Levites were not registered with the other tribes, 48 because the Lord had said to Moses, 49 "When you take a census of the men fit for military service, do not include the tribe of Levi. 50 Instead, put the Levites in charge of the Tent of my presence and all its equipment. They shall carry it and its equipment, serve in it, and set up their camp around it. 51 Whenever you move your camp, the Levites shall take the Tent down and set it up again at each new campsite. Anyone else who comes near the Tent shall be put to death. 52 The rest of the Israelites shall set up camp, company by company, each man with his own group and under his own banner. 53 But the Levites shall camp around the Tent to guard it, so that no one may come near and cause my anger to strike the community of Israel." 54 So the people of Israel did everything that the Lord had commanded Moses.

Numbers 26:1 After the epidemic the Lord said to Moses and Eleazar son of Aaron, 2 "Take a census by families of the whole community of Israel, of all men twenty years old or older who are fit for military service." 3 Moses and Eleazar obeyed and called together all the men of that age group. They assembled in the plains of Moab across the Jordan River from Jericho. These were the Israelites who came out of Egypt: 5 The tribe of Reuben (Reuben was the oldest son of Jacob): the clans of Hanoch, Pallu, 6 Hezron, and Carmi. 7 These clans numbered 43,730 men. 8 The descendants of Pallu were Eliab 9 and his sons Nemuel, Dathan, and Abiram. (These are the Dathan and Abiram who were chosen by the community. They defied Moses and Aaron and joined the followers of Korah when they rebelled against the Lord. 10 The ground opened and swallowed them, and they died with Korah and his followers when fire destroyed 250 men; they became a warning to the people. 11 But the sons of Korah were not killed.) 12 The tribe of Simeon: the clans of Nemuel, Jamin, Jachin, 13 Zerah, and Shaul. 14 These clans numbered 22,200 men. 15 The tribe of Gad: the clans of Zephon, Haggi, Shuni, 16 Ozni, Eri, 17 Arod, and Areli. 18 These clans numbered 40,500 men. 19 The tribe of Judah: the clans of Shelah, Perez, Zerah, Hezron, and Hamul. (Two of Judah's sons, Er and Onan, had died in the land of Canaan.) 22 These clans numbered 76,500 men. 23 The tribe of Issachar: the clans of Tola, Puah, 24 Jashub, and Shimron. 25 These clans numbered 64,300 men. 26 The tribe of Zebulun: the clans of Sered, Elon, and Jahleel. 27 These clans numbered 60,500 men. 28 The tribes of Joseph, who was the father of two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim. 29 The tribe of Manasseh. Machir son of Manasseh was the father of Gilead, and the following clans traced their ancestry to Gilead: 30 the clans of Iezer, Helek, 31 Asriel, Shechem, 32 Shemida, and Hepher. 33 Zelophehad son of Hepher had no sons, but only daughters; their names were Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah. 34 These clans numbered 52,700 men. 35 The tribe of Ephraim: the clans of Shuthelah, Becher, and Tahan. 36 The clan of Eran traced its descent from Shuthelah. 37 These clans numbered 32,500 men. These are the clans descended from Joseph. 38 The tribe of Benjamin: the clans of Bela, Ashbel, Ahiram, 39 Shephupham, and Hupham. 40 The clans of Ard and Naaman traced their descent from Bela. 41 These clans numbered 45,600 men. 42 The tribe of Dan: the clan of Shuham, 43 which numbered 64,400 men. 44 The tribe of Asher: the clans of Imnah, Ishvi, and Beriah. 45 The clans of Heber and Malchiel traced their descent from Beriah. 46 Asher had a daughter named Serah. 47 These clans numbered 53,400 men. 48 The tribe of Naphtali: the clans of Jahzeel, Guni, 49 Jezer, and Shillem. 50 These clans numbered 45,400 men. 51 The total number of the Israelite men was 601,730. 52 The Lord said to Moses, 53 "Divide the land among the tribes, according to their size. 54 Divide the land by drawing lots, and give a large share to a large tribe and a small one to a small tribe." 57 The tribe of Levi consisted of the clans of Gershon, Kohath, and Merari. 58 Their descendants included the subclans of Libni, Hebron, Mahli, Mushi, and Korah. Kohath was the father of Amram, 59 who was married to Levi's daughter Jochebed, who was born in Egypt. She bore Amram two sons, Aaron and Moses, and a daughter, Miriam. 60 Aaron had four sons, Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar. 61 Nadab and Abihu died when they offered unholy fire to the Lord. 62 The male Levites who were one month old or older numbered 23,000. They were listed separately from the rest of the Israelites, because they were not given any property in Israel. 63 All these clans were listed by Moses and Eleazar when they took a census of the Israelites in the plains of Moab across the Jordan River from Jericho. 64 There was not even one man left among those whom Moses and Aaron had listed in the first census in the Sinai Desert. 65 The Lord had said that all of them would die in the wilderness, and except for Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun they all did.

787-Numbers 11:4 There were foreigners traveling with the Israelites. They had a strong craving for meat, and even the Israelites themselves began to complain: "If only we could have some meat! 5 In Egypt we used to eat all the fish we wanted, and it cost us nothing. Remember the cucumbers, the watermelons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic we had? 6 But now our strength is gone. There is nothing at all to eat - nothing but this manna day after day!"

Numbers 21:5 And the people spoke against God and against Moses, "Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and we loathe this worthless food."

788-Numbers 12:1 Moses had married a Cushite woman, and Miriam and Aaron criticized him for it. 2 They said, "Has the Lord spoken only through Moses? Hasn't he also spoken through us?" The Lord heard what they said 3 (Moses was a humble man, more humble than anyone else on earth.)

789-Numbers 11:10 Moses heard all the people complaining as they stood around in groups at the entrances of their tents. He was distressed because the Lord had become angry with them, 11 and he said to the Lord, "Why have you treated me so badly? Why are you displeased with me? Why have you given me the responsibility for all these people? 12 I didn't create them or bring them to birth! Why should you ask me to act like a nurse and carry them in my arms like babies all the way to the land you promised to their ancestors? 13 Where could I get enough meat for all these people? They keep whining and asking for meat. 14 I can't be responsible for all these people by myself; it's too much for me! 15 If you are going to treat me like this, have pity on me and kill me, so that I won't have to endure your cruelty any longer."

790-Numbers 14:1 All night long the people cried out in distress. 2 They complained against Moses and Aaron, and said, "It would have been better to die in Egypt or even here in the wilderness! 3 Why is the Lord taking us into that land? We will be killed in battle, and our wives and children will be captured. Wouldn't it be better to go back to Egypt?" 4 So they said to one another, "Let's choose a leader and go back to Egypt!" 5 Then Moses and Aaron bowed to the ground in front of all the people. 6 And Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh, two of the spies, tore their clothes in sorrow 7 and said to the people, "The land we explored is an excellent land. 8 If the Lord is pleased with us, he will take us there and give us that rich and fertile land. 9 Do not rebel against the Lord and don't be afraid of the people who live there. We will conquer them easily. The Lord is with us and has defeated the gods who protected them; so don't be afraid." 10 The whole community was threatening to stone them to death, but suddenly the people saw the dazzling light of the Lord's presence appear over the Tent. 11 The Lord said to Moses, "How much longer will these people reject me? How much longer will they refuse to trust in me, even though I have performed so many miracles among them? 12 I will send an epidemic and destroy them, but I will make you the father of a nation that is larger and more powerful than they are!" 13 But Moses said to the Lord, "You brought these people out of Egypt by your power. When the Egyptians hear what you have done to your people, 14 they will tell it to the people who live in this land. These people have already heard that you, Lord, are with us, that you appear in plain sight when your cloud stops over us, and that you go before us in a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. 15 Now if you kill all your people, the nations who have heard of your fame will say 16 that you killed your people in the wilderness because you were not able to bring them into the land you promised to give them. 17 So now, Lord, I pray, show us your power and do what you promised when you said, 18 "I, the Lord, am not easily angered, and I show great love and faithfulness and forgive sin and rebellion. Yet I will not fail to punish children and grandchildren to the third and fourth generation for the sins of their parents.' 19 And now, Lord, according to the greatness of your unchanging love, forgive, I pray, the sin of these people, just as you have forgiven them ever since they left Egypt." 20 The Lord answered, "I will forgive them, as you have asked. 21 But I promise that as surely as I live and as surely as my presence fills the earth, 22 none of these people will live to enter that land. They have seen the dazzling light of my presence and the miracles that I performed in Egypt and in the wilderness, but they have tried my patience over and over again and have refused to obey me. 23 They will never enter the land which I promised to their ancestors. None of those who have rejected me will ever enter it. 24 But because my servant Caleb has a different attitude and has remained loyal to me, I will bring him into the land which he explored, and his descendants will possess the land 25 in whose valleys the Amalekites and the Canaanites now live. Turn back tomorrow and go into the wilderness in the direction of the Gulf of Aqaba." 26 The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, 27 "How much longer are these wicked people going to complain against me? I have heard enough of these complaints! 28 Now give them this answer: "I swear that as surely as I live, I will do to you just what you have asked. I, the Lord, have spoken. 29 You will die and your corpses will be scattered across this wilderness. Because you have complained against me, none of you over twenty years of age will enter that land. 30 I promised to let you live there, but not one of you will, except Caleb and Joshua. 31 You said that your children would be captured, but I will bring them into the land that you rejected, and it will be their home. 32 You will die here in this wilderness. 33 Your children will wander in the wilderness for forty years, suffering for your unfaithfulness, until the last one of you dies. 34 You will suffer the consequences of your sin for forty years, one year for each of the forty days you spent exploring the land. You will know what it means to have me against you! 35 I swear that I will do this to you wicked people who have gathered together against me. Here in the wilderness every one of you will die. I, the Lord, have spoken.' " 36 The men Moses had sent to explore the land brought back a false report which caused the people to complain against the Lord. And so the Lord struck them with a disease, and they died. 38 Of the twelve spies only Joshua and Caleb survived. 39 When Moses told the Israelites what the Lord had said, they mourned bitterly. 40 Early the next morning they started out to invade the hill country, saying, "Now we are ready to go to the place which the Lord told us about. We admit that we have sinned." 41 But Moses said, "Then why are you disobeying the Lord now? You will not succeed! 42 Don't go. The Lord is not with you, and your enemies will defeat you. 43 When you face the Amalekites and the Canaanites, you will die in battle; the Lord will not be with you, because you have refused to follow him." 44 Yet they still dared to go up into the hill country, even though neither the Lord's Covenant Box nor Moses left the camp. 45 Then the Amalekites and the Canaanites who lived there attacked and defeated them, and pursued them as far as Hormah.

791-Numbers 16:1 Korah son of Izhar, from the Levite clan of Kohath, rebelled against the leadership of Moses. He was joined by three members of the tribe of Reuben - Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, and On son of Peleth - and by 250 other Israelites, well-known leaders chosen by the community. 3 They assembled before Moses and Aaron and said to them, "You have gone too far! All the members of the community belong to the Lord, and the Lord is with all of us. Why, then, Moses, do you set yourself above the Lord's community?"

Numbers 16:11 When you complain against Aaron, it is really against the Lord that you and your followers are rebelling."

Numbers 16:41 The next day the whole community complained against Moses and Aaron and said, "You have killed some of the Lord's people."

792-Numbers 17:10 The Lord said to Moses, "Put Aaron's stick back in front of the Covenant Box. It is to be kept as a warning to the rebel Israelites that they will die unless their complaining stops." 11 Moses did as the Lord commanded. 12 The people of Israel said to Moses, "Then that's the end of us! 13 If anyone who even comes near the Tent must die, then we are all as good as dead!"

793-Hebrews 1:1 In the past God spoke to our ancestors many times and in many ways through the prophets,

794-Hebrews 4:5 This same matter is spoken of again: "They will never enter that land where I would have given them rest." 6 Those who first heard the Good News did not receive that rest, because they did not believe. There are, then, others who are allowed to receive it. 7 This is shown by the fact that God sets another day, which is called "Today." Many years later he spoke of it through David in the scripture already quoted: "If you hear God's voice today, do not be stubborn." 8 If Joshua had given the people the rest that God had promised, God would not have spoken later about another day. 9 As it is, however, there still remains for God's people a rest like God's resting on the seventh day. 10 For those who receive that rest which God promised will rest from their own work, just as God rested from his. 11 Let us, then, do our best to receive that rest, so that no one of us will fail as they did because of their lack of faith.

795-Exodus 25:9 Make it and all its furnishings according to the plan that I will show you.

Exodus 25:40 Take care to make them according to the plan that I showed you on the mountain.

Exodus 26:30 Set up the Tent according to the plan that I showed you on the mountain.

Exodus 27:8 Make the altar out of boards and leave it hollow, according to the plan that I showed you on the mountain.

796-Hebrews 9:23 Those things, which are copies of the heavenly originals, had to be purified in that way. But the heavenly things themselves require much better sacrifices. 24 For Christ did not go into a Holy Place made by human hands, which was a copy of the real one. He went into heaven itself, where he now appears on our behalf in the presence of God.

797-Numbers 26:64 There was not even one man left among those whom Moses and Aaron had listed in the first census in the Sinai Desert. 65 The Lord had said that all of them would die in the wilderness, and except for Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun they all did.

798-Numbers 8:24 "From the age of twenty-five each Levite shall perform his duties in the Tent of my presence, 25 and at the age of fifty he shall retire.

799-Numbers 1:51; 3:10,38; 4:15-20; 17:12,13; 18:2,3,7,2251 Whenever you move your camp, the Levites shall take the Tent down and set it up again at each new campsite. Anyone else who comes near the Tent shall be put to death.

Numbers 3:10 You shall appoint Aaron and his sons to carry out the duties of the priesthood; anyone else who tries to do so shall be put to death."

Numbers 3:38 Moses and Aaron and his sons were to camp in front of the Tent on the east. They were responsible for carrying out the services performed in the Holy Place for the people of Israel. Anyone else who tried to do so was to be put to death.

Numbers 4:15 When it is time to break camp, the clan of Kohath shall come to carry the sacred objects only after Aaron and his sons have finished covering them and all their equipment. The Kohath clan must not touch the sacred objects, or they will die. These are the responsibilities of the Kohath clan whenever the Tent is moved. 16 Eleazar son of Aaron the priest shall be responsible for the whole Tent and for the oil for the lamps, the incense, the grain offerings, the anointing oil, and everything else in the Tent that has been consecrated to the Lord. 17 The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, 18 "Do not let the clan of Kohath 19 be killed by coming near these most sacred objects. To prevent this from happening, Aaron and his sons shall go in and assign each man his task and tell him what to carry. 20 But if the Kohathites enter the Tent and see the priests preparing the sacred objects for moving, they will die."

Numbers 17:12 The people of Israel said to Moses, "Then that's the end of us! 13 If anyone who even comes near the Tent must die, then we are all as good as dead!"

Numbers 18:2 Bring in your relatives, the tribe of Levi, to work with you and help you while you and your sons are serving at the Tent. 3 They are to fulfill their duties to you and their responsibilities for the Tent, but they must not have any contact with sacred objects in the Holy Place or with the altar. If they do, both they and you will be put to death.

Numbers 18:22 The other Israelites must no longer approach the Tent and in this way bring on themselves the penalty of death.

800-Deuteronomy 25:5 "If two brothers live on the same property and one of them dies, leaving no son, then his widow is not to be married to someone outside the family; it is the duty of the dead man's brother to marry her.

801-Hosea 5:7 They have been unfaithful to the Lord; their children do not belong to him. So now they and their lands will soon be destroyed.

802-Exodus 29:33 They shall eat what was used in the ritual of forgiveness at their ordination. Only priests may eat this food, because it is sacred.

803-Leviticus 1:1 The Lord called to Moses from the Tent of the Lord's presence and gave him the following rules 2 for the Israelites to observe when they offer their sacrifices. When you offer an animal sacrifice, it may be one of your cattle or one of your sheep or goats. 3 If you are offering one of your cattle as a burnt offering, you must bring a bull without any defects. You must present it at the entrance of the Tent of the Lord's presence so that the Lord will accept you. 4 You shall put your hand on its head, and it will be accepted as a sacrifice to take away your sins. 5 You shall kill the bull there, and the Aaronite priests shall present the blood to the Lord and then throw it against all four sides of the altar located at the entrance of the Tent.

804-Exodus 33:7 Whenever the people of Israel set up camp, Moses would take the sacred Tent and put it up some distance outside the camp. It was called the Tent of the Lord's presence, and anyone who wanted to consult the Lord would go out to it. 8 Whenever Moses went out there, the people would stand at the door of their tents and watch Moses until he entered it. 9 After Moses had gone in, the pillar of cloud would come down and stay at the door of the Tent, and the Lord would speak to Moses from the cloud. 10 As soon as the people saw the pillar of cloud at the door of the Tent, they would bow down. 11 The Lord would speak with Moses face-to-face, just as someone speaks with a friend. Then Moses would return to the camp. But the young man who was his helper, Joshua son of Nun, stayed in the Tent.

805-Numbers 16:40 This was a warning to the Israelites that no one who was not a descendant of Aaron should come to the altar to burn incense for the Lord. Otherwise he would be destroyed like Korah and his men. All this was done as the Lord had commanded Eleazar through Moses.

806-Numbers 4:15 When it is time to break camp, the clan of Kohath shall come to carry the sacred objects only after Aaron and his sons have finished covering them and all their equipment. The Kohath clan must not touch the sacred objects, or they will die. These are the responsibilities of the Kohath clan whenever the Tent is moved.

Numbers 4:20 But if the Kohathites enter the Tent and see the priests preparing the sacred objects for moving, they will die."

Numbers 18:1 The Lord said to Aaron, "You, your sons, and the Levites must suffer the consequences of any guilt connected with serving in the Tent of my presence; but only you and your sons will suffer the consequences of service in the priesthood. 2 Bring in your relatives, the tribe of Levi, to work with you and help you while you and your sons are serving at the Tent. 3 They are to fulfill their duties to you and their responsibilities for the Tent, but they must not have any contact with sacred objects in the Holy Place or with the altar. If they do, both they and you will be put to death.

Numbers 18:7 But you and your sons alone shall fulfill all the responsibilities of the priesthood that concern the altar and what is in the Most Holy Place. These things are your responsibility, because I have given you the gift of the priesthood. Any unqualified person who comes near the sacred objects shall be put to death."

807-Numbers 4:34 Following the Lord's command, Moses, Aaron, and the leaders of the community took a census of the three Levite clans, Kohath, Gershon, and Merari. They did this by subclans and families and registered all the men between the ages of thirty and fifty who were qualified to work in the Tent of the Lord's presence, as follows: 49 Each man was registered as the Lord had commanded Moses; and at the command of the Lord given through Moses, each man was assigned responsibility for his task of serving or carrying.

808-Numbers 4: 34 Following the Lord's command, Moses, Aaron, and the leaders of the community took a census of the three Levite clans, Kohath, Gershon, and Merari. They did this by subclans and families and registered all the men between the ages of thirty and fifty who were qualified to work in the Tent of the Lord's presence, as follows: 49 Each man was registered as the Lord had commanded Moses; and at the command of the Lord given through Moses, each man was assigned responsibility for his task of serving or carrying.

809-Numbers 5:11 The Lord commanded Moses 12 to give the Israelites the following instructions. It may happen that a man becomes suspicious that his wife is unfaithful to him and has defiled herself by having intercourse with another man. But the husband may not be certain, for his wife may have kept it secret - there was no witness, and she was not caught in the act. Or it may happen that a husband becomes suspicious of his wife, even though she has not been unfaithful. 15 In either case the man shall take his wife to the priest. He shall also take the required offering of two pounds of barley flour, but he shall not pour any olive oil on it or put any incense on it, because it is an offering from a suspicious husband, made to bring the truth to light. 16 The priest shall bring the woman forward and have her stand in front of the altar. 17 He shall pour some holy water into a clay bowl and take some of the earth that is on the floor of the Tent of the Lord's presence and put it in the water to make it bitter. 18 Then he shall loosen the woman's hair and put the offering of flour in her hands. In his hands the priest shall hold the bowl containing the bitter water that brings a curse. 19 Then the priest shall make the woman agree to this oath spoken by the priest: "If you have not committed adultery, you will not be harmed by the curse that this water brings. 20 But if you have committed adultery, 21 may the Lord make your name a curse among your people. May he cause your genital organs to shrink and your stomach to swell up. 22 May this water enter your stomach and cause it to swell up and your genital organs to shrink." The woman shall respond, "I agree; may the Lord do so." 23 Then the priest shall write this curse down and wash the writing off into the bowl of bitter water. 24 Before he makes the woman drink the water, which may then cause her bitter pain, 25 the priest shall take the offering of flour out of the woman's hands, hold it out in dedication to the Lord, and present it on the altar. 26 Then he shall take a handful of it as a token offering and burn it on the altar. Finally, he shall make the woman drink the water. 27 If she has committed adultery, the water will cause bitter pain; her stomach will swell up and her genital organs will shrink. Her name will become a curse among her people. 28 But if she is innocent, she will not be harmed and will be able to bear children. 29 This is the law in cases where a man is jealous and becomes suspicious that his wife has committed adultery. The woman shall be made to stand in front of the altar, and the priest shall perform this ritual. 31 The husband shall be free of guilt, but the woman, if guilty, must suffer the consequences.

810-Numbers 26:33 Zelophehad son of Hepher had no sons, but only daughters; their names were Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah.

Numbers 27:1 Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah were the daughters of Zelophehad son of Hepher, son of Gilead, son of Machir, son of Manasseh, son of Joseph. 2 They went and stood before Moses, Eleazar the priest, the leaders, and the whole community at the entrance of the Tent of the Lord's presence and said, 3 "Our father died in the wilderness without leaving any sons. He was not among the followers of Korah, who rebelled against the Lord; he died because of his own sin. 4 Just because he had no sons, why should our father's name disappear from Israel? Give us property among our father's relatives." 5 Moses presented their case to the Lord, 6 and the Lord said to him, 7 "What the daughters of Zelophehad request is right; give them property among their father's relatives. Let his inheritance pass on to them. 8 Tell the people of Israel that whenever a man dies without leaving a son, his daughter is to inherit his property. 9 If he has no daughter, his brothers are to inherit it. 10 If he has no brothers, his father's brothers are to inherit it. 11 If he has no brothers or uncles, then his nearest relative is to inherit it and hold it as his own property. The people of Israel are to observe this as a legal requirement, just as I, the Lord, have commanded you."

Numbers 6:1 The Lord commanded Moses 2 to give the following instructions to the people of Israel. Any of you, male or female, who make a special vow to become a nazirite and dedicate yourself to the Lord 3 shall abstain from wine and beer. You shall not drink any kind of drink made from grapes or eat any grapes or raisins. 4 As long as you are a nazirite, you shall not eat anything that comes from a grapevine, not even the seeds or skins of grapes. 5 As long as you are under the nazirite vow, you must not cut your hair or shave. You are bound by the vow for the full time that you are dedicated to the Lord, and you shall let your hair grow. 6 Your hair is the sign of your dedication to God, and so you must not defile yourself by going near a corpse, not even that of your father, mother, brother, or sister. 8 As long as you are a nazirite, you are consecrated to the Lord. 9 If your consecrated hair is defiled because you are right beside someone who suddenly dies, you must wait seven days and then shave your head; and so you become ritually clean. 10 On the eighth day you shall bring two doves or two pigeons to the priest at the entrance of the Tent of the Lord's presence. 11 The priest shall offer one as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering, to perform the ritual of purification for you because of your contact with a corpse. On the same day you shall reconsecrate your hair 12 and rededicate to the Lord your time as a nazirite. The previous period of time doesn't count, because your consecrated hair was defiled. As a repayment offering you shall bring a one-year-old lamb.

811-Joshua 17:3 Zelophehad, son of Hepher, son of Gilead, son of Machir, son of Manasseh, did not have any sons, but only daughters. Their names were Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah. 4 They went to Eleazar the priest and to Joshua son of Nun and to the leaders, and said, "The Lord commanded Moses to give us, as well as our male relatives, a part of the land to possess." So, as the Lord had commanded, they were given land along with their male relatives. 5 This is why Manasseh received ten shares in addition to Gilead and Bashan on the east side of the Jordan, 6 since his female descendants as well as his male descendants were assigned land. The land of Gilead was assigned to the rest of the descendants of Manasseh.

812-1 Chronicles 7:15 Machir found a wife for Huppim and one for Shuppim. His sister's name was Maacah. Machir's second son was Zelophehad, and he had only daughters.

813-Matthew 5:27 "You have heard that it was said, "Do not commit adultery.' 28 But now I tell you: anyone who looks at a woman and wants to possess her is guilty of committing adultery with her in his heart. 29 So if your right eye causes you to sin, take it out and throw it away! It is much better for you to lose a part of your body than to have your whole body thrown into hell. 30 If your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away! It is much better for you to lose one of your limbs than to have your whole body go off to hell.

814-Numbers 5:21,22,2721 may the Lord make your name a curse among your people. May he cause your genital organs to shrink and your stomach to swell up. 22 May this water enter your stomach and cause it to swell up and your genital organs to shrink." The woman shall respond, "I agree; may the Lord do so."

Numbers 5:27 If she has committed adultery, the water will cause bitter pain; her stomach will swell up and her genital organs will shrink. Her name will become a curse among her people.

815-Numbers 6:1 The Lord commanded Moses 2 to give the following instructions to the people of Israel. Any of you, male or female, who make a special vow to become a nazirite and dedicate yourself to the Lord 3 shall abstain from wine and beer. You shall not drink any kind of drink made from grapes or eat any grapes or raisins. 4 As long as you are a nazirite, you shall not eat anything that comes from a grapevine, not even the seeds or skins of grapes. 5 As long as you are under the nazirite vow, you must not cut your hair or shave. You are bound by the vow for the full time that you are dedicated to the Lord, and you shall let your hair grow. 6 Your hair is the sign of your dedication to God, and so you must not defile yourself by going near a corpse, not even that of your father, mother, brother, or sister. 8 As long as you are a nazirite, you are consecrated to the Lord. 9 If your consecrated hair is defiled because you are right beside someone who suddenly dies, you must wait seven days and then shave your head; and so you become ritually clean. 10 On the eighth day you shall bring two doves or two pigeons to the priest at the entrance of the Tent of the Lord's presence. 11 The priest shall offer one as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering, to perform the ritual of purification for you because of your contact with a corpse. On the same day you shall reconsecrate your hair 12 and rededicate to the Lord your time as a nazirite. The previous period of time doesn't count, because your consecrated hair was defiled. As a repayment offering you shall bring a one-year-old lamb. 13 When you complete your nazirite vow, you shall perform this ritual. You shall go to the entrance of the Tent 14 and present to the Lord three animals without any defects: a one-year-old male lamb for a burnt offering, a one-year-old ewe lamb for a sin offering, and a ram for a fellowship offering. 15 You shall also offer a basket of bread made without yeast: thick loaves made of flour mixed with olive oil and thin cakes brushed with olive oil, and in addition the required offerings of grain and wine. 16 The priest shall present all these to the Lord and offer the sin offering and the burnt offering. 17 He shall sacrifice the ram to the Lord as a fellowship offering, and offer it with the basket of bread; he shall also present the offerings of grain and wine. 18 At the entrance of the Tent you nazirites shall shave off your hair and put it on the fire on which the fellowship offering is being burned. 19 Then, when the shoulder of the ram is boiled, the priest shall take it and put it, together with one thick loaf of bread and one thin cake from the basket, into the hands of the nazirite. 20 Next, the priest shall present them as a special gift to the Lord; they are a sacred offering for the priest, in addition to the breast and the leg of the ram which by law belong to the priest. After that, the nazirite may drink wine. 21 These are the regulations for you nazirites; but if you promise an offering beyond what your vow requires you to give, you must fulfill exactly the promise you made.

816-Leviticus 11:31 Whoever touches them or their dead bodies will be unclean until evening. 32 And if their dead bodies fall on anything, it will be unclean. This applies to any article of wood, cloth, leather, or sacking, no matter what it is used for. It shall be dipped in water, but it will remain unclean until evening.

817-Numbers 5:2; 6:11; 19:11-182 "Command the people of Israel to expel from the camp everyone with a dreaded skin disease or a bodily discharge and everyone who is unclean by contact with a corpse.

Numbers 6:11 The priest shall offer one as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering, to perform the ritual of purification for you because of your contact with a corpse. On the same day you shall reconsecrate your hair

Numbers 19:11 Those who touch a corpse are ritually unclean for seven days. 12 They must purify themselves with the water for purification on the third day and on the seventh day, and then they will be clean. But if they do not purify themselves on both the third and the seventh day, they will not be clean. 13 Those who touch a corpse and do not purify themselves remain unclean, because the water for purification has not been thrown over them. They defile the Lord's Tent, and they will no longer be considered God's people. 14 In the case of a person who dies in a tent, anyone who is in the tent at the time of death or who enters it becomes ritually unclean for seven days. 15 Every jar and pot in the tent that has no lid on it also becomes unclean. 16 If any touch a person who has been killed or has died a natural death outdoors or if any touch a human bone or a grave, they become unclean for seven days. 17 To remove the uncleanness, some ashes from the red cow which was burned to remove sin shall be taken and put in a pot, and fresh water added. 18 In the first case, someone who is ritually clean is to take a sprig of hyssop, dip it in the water, and sprinkle the tent, everything in it, and the people who were there. In the second case, someone who is ritually clean is to sprinkle the water on those who had touched the human bone or the dead body or the grave.

818-Judges 13:5 and after your son is born, you must never cut his hair, because from the day of his birth he will be dedicated to God as a nazirite. He will begin the work of rescuing Israel from the Philistines."

Judges 12:7 But he did tell me that I would become pregnant and have a son. He told me not to drink any wine or beer, or eat any forbidden food, because the boy is to be dedicated to God as a nazirite as long as he lives."

Judges 13:17 Manoah replied, "Tell us your name, so that we can honor you when your words come true."

819-Amos 2:11 I chose some of your sons to be prophets and some of your young men to be nazirites. Isn't this true, people of Israel? I, the Lord, have spoken. 12 But you made the nazirites drink wine, and ordered the prophets not to speak my message.

820-Zechariah 7:3 and to ask the priests and the prophets this question: "Should we continue to mourn because of the destruction of the Temple, by fasting in the fifth month as we have done for so many years now?"

821-Numbers 8:19 and I assign the Levites to Aaron and his sons, as a gift from the Israelites, to work in the Tent for the people of Israel and to protect the Israelites from the disaster that would strike them if they came too near the Holy Place."

822-Numbers 16:41 The next day the whole community complained against Moses and Aaron and said, "You have killed some of the Lord's people."

823-1 Samuel 7:5 Then Samuel called for all the Israelites to meet at Mizpah, telling them, "I will pray to the Lord for you there." 6 So they all gathered at Mizpah. They drew some water and poured it out as an offering to the Lord and fasted that whole day. They said, "We have sinned against the Lord." (It was at Mizpah where Samuel settled disputes among the Israelites.) 7 When the Philistines heard that the Israelites had gathered at Mizpah, the five Philistine kings started out with their men to attack them. The Israelites heard about it and were afraid, 8 and said to Samuel, "Keep praying to the Lord our God to save us from the Philistines." 9 Samuel killed a young lamb and burned it whole as a sacrifice to the Lord. Then he prayed to the Lord to help Israel, and the Lord answered his prayer. 10 While Samuel was offering the sacrifice, the Philistines moved forward to attack; but just then the Lord thundered from heaven against them. They became completely confused and fled in panic. 11 The Israelites marched out from Mizpah and pursued the Philistines almost as far as Bethcar, killing them along the way. 12 Then Samuel took a stone, set it up between Mizpah and Shen, and said, "The Lord has helped us all the way" - and he named it "Stone of Help." 13 So the Philistines were defeated, and the Lord prevented them from invading Israel's territory as long as Samuel lived. 14 All the cities which the Philistines had captured between Ekron and Gath were returned to Israel, and so Israel got back all its territory. And there was peace also between the Israelites and the Canaanites.

824-2 Chronicles 26:16 But when King Uzziah became strong, he grew arrogant, and that led to his downfall. He defied the Lord his God by going into the Temple to burn incense on the altar of incense. 17 Azariah the priest, accompanied by eighty strong and courageous priests, followed the king 18 to resist him. They said, "Uzziah! You have no right to burn incense to the Lord. Only the priests who are descended from Aaron have been consecrated to do this. Leave this holy place. You have offended the Lord God, and you no longer have his blessing." 19 Uzziah was standing there in the Temple beside the incense altar and was holding an incense burner. He became angry with the priests, and immediately a dreaded skin disease broke out on his forehead. 20 Azariah and the other priests stared at the king's forehead in horror and then forced him to leave the Temple. He hurried to get out, because the Lord had punished him. 21 For the rest of his life King Uzziah was ritually unclean because of his disease. Unable to enter the Temple again, he lived in his own house, relieved of all duties, while his son Jotham governed the country.

825-Numbers 11:4 There were foreigners traveling with the Israelites. They had a strong craving for meat, and even the Israelites themselves began to complain: "If only we could have some meat!

826-Exodus 16:1 The whole Israelite community set out from Elim, and on the fifteenth day of the second month after they had left Egypt, they came to the desert of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai. 2 There in the desert they all complained to Moses and Aaron 3 and said to them, "We wish that the Lord had killed us in Egypt. There we could at least sit down and eat meat and as much other food as we wanted. But you have brought us out into this desert to starve us all to death." 4 The Lord said to Moses, "Now I am going to cause food to rain down from the sky for all of you. The people must go out every day and gather enough for that day. In this way I can test them to find out if they will follow my instructions. 5 On the sixth day they are to bring in twice as much as usual and prepare it." 6 So Moses and Aaron said to all the Israelites, "This evening you will know that it was the Lord who brought you out of Egypt. 7 In the morning you will see the dazzling light of the Lord's presence. He has heard your complaints against him - yes, against him, because we are only carrying out his instructions." 8 Then Moses said, "It is the Lord who will give you meat to eat in the evening and as much bread as you want in the morning, because he has heard how much you have complained against him. When you complain against us, you are really complaining against the Lord." 9 Moses said to Aaron, "Tell the whole community to come and stand before the Lord, because he has heard their complaints." 10 As Aaron spoke to the whole community, they turned toward the desert, and suddenly the dazzling light of the Lord appeared in a cloud. 11 The Lord said to Moses, 12 "I have heard the complaints of the Israelites. Tell them that at twilight they will have meat to eat, and in the morning they will have all the bread they want. Then they will know that I, the Lord, am their God." 13 In the evening a large flock of quails flew in, enough to cover the camp, and in the morning there was dew all around the camp. 14 When the dew evaporated, there was something thin and flaky on the surface of the desert. It was as delicate as frost. 15 When the Israelites saw it, they didn't know what it was and asked each other, "What is it?" Moses said to them, "This is the food that the Lord has given you to eat. 16 The Lord has commanded that each of you is to gather as much of it as he needs, two quarts for each member of his household." 17 The Israelites did this, some gathering more, others less. 18 When they measured it, those who gathered much did not have too much, and those who gathered less did not have too little. Each had gathered just what he needed. 19 Moses said to them, "No one is to keep any of it for tomorrow." 20 But some of them did not listen to Moses and saved part of it. The next morning it was full of worms and smelled rotten, and Moses was angry with them. 21 Every morning each one gathered as much as he needed; and when the sun grew hot, what was left on the ground melted. 22 On the sixth day they gathered twice as much food, four quarts for each person. All the leaders of the community came and told Moses about it, 23 and he said to them, "The Lord has commanded that tomorrow is a holy day of rest, dedicated to him. Bake today what you want to bake and boil what you want to boil. Whatever is left should be put aside and kept for tomorrow." 24 As Moses had commanded, they kept what was left until the next day; it did not spoil or get worms in it. 25 Moses said, "Eat this today, because today is the Sabbath, a day of rest dedicated to the Lord, and you will not find any food outside the camp. 26 You must gather food for six days, but on the seventh day, the day of rest, there will be none." 27 On the seventh day some of the people went out to gather food, but they did not find any. 28 Then the Lord said to Moses, "How much longer will you people refuse to obey my commands? 29 Remember that I, the Lord, have given you a day of rest, and that is why on the sixth day I will always give you enough food for two days. Everyone is to stay where he is on the seventh day and not leave his home." 30 So the people did no work on the seventh day. 31 The people of Israel called the food manna. It was like a small white seed, and tasted like thin cakes made with honey. 32 Moses said, "The Lord has commanded us to save some manna, to be kept for our descendants, so that they can see the food which he gave us to eat in the desert when he brought us out of Egypt." 33 Moses said to Aaron, "Take a jar, put two quarts of manna in it, and place it in the Lord's presence to be kept for our descendants." 34 As the Lord had commanded Moses, Aaron put it in front of the Covenant Box, so that it could be kept. 35 The Israelites ate manna for the next forty years, until they reached the land of Canaan, where they settled. 36 (The standard dry measure then in use equaled twenty quarts.)

827-Numbers 11:4 There were foreigners traveling with the Israelites. They had a strong craving for meat, and even the Israelites themselves began to complain: "If only we could have some meat! 5 In Egypt we used to eat all the fish we wanted, and it cost us nothing. Remember the cucumbers, the watermelons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic we had? 6 But now our strength is gone. There is nothing at all to eat - nothing but this manna day after day!" 7 (Manna was like small seeds, whitish yellow in color. 8 It fell on the camp at night along with the dew. The next morning the people would go around and gather it, grind it or pound it into flour, and then boil it and make it into flat cakes. It tasted like bread baked with olive oil.) 10 Moses heard all the people complaining as they stood around in groups at the entrances of their tents. He was distressed because the Lord had become angry with them, 11 and he said to the Lord, "Why have you treated me so badly? Why are you displeased with me? Why have you given me the responsibility for all these people? 12 I didn't create them or bring them to birth! Why should you ask me to act like a nurse and carry them in my arms like babies all the way to the land you promised to their ancestors? 13 Where could I get enough meat for all these people? They keep whining and asking for meat. 14 I can't be responsible for all these people by myself; it's too much for me! 15 If you are going to treat me like this, have pity on me and kill me, so that I won't have to endure your cruelty any longer." 16 The Lord said to Moses, "Assemble seventy respected men who are recognized as leaders of the people, bring them to me at the Tent of my presence, and tell them to stand there beside you. 17 I will come down and speak with you there, and I will take some of the spirit I have given you and give it to them. Then they can help you bear the responsibility for these people, and you will not have to bear it alone. 18 Now tell the people, "Purify yourselves for tomorrow; you will have meat to eat. The Lord has heard you whining and saying that you wished you had some meat and that you were better off in Egypt. Now the Lord will give you meat, and you will have to eat it. 19 You will have to eat it not just for one or two days, or five, or ten, or even twenty days, 20 but for a whole month, until it comes out of your ears, until you are sick of it. This will happen because you have rejected the Lord who is here among you and have complained to him that you should never have left Egypt.' " 21 Moses said to the Lord, "Here I am leading 600,000 people, and you say that you will give them enough meat for a month? 22 Could enough cattle and sheep be killed to satisfy them? Are all the fish in the sea enough for them?" 23 "Is there a limit to my power?" the Lord answered. "You will soon see whether what I have said will happen or not!" 24 So Moses went out and told the people what the Lord had said. He assembled seventy of the leaders and placed them around the Tent. 25 Then the Lord came down in the cloud and spoke to him. He took some of the spirit he had given to Moses and gave it to the seventy leaders. When the spirit came on them, they began to shout like prophets, but not for long. 26 Two of the seventy leaders, Eldad and Medad, had stayed in the camp and had not gone out to the Tent. There in the camp the spirit came on them, and they too began to shout like prophets. 27 A young man ran out to tell Moses what Eldad and Medad were doing. 28 Then Joshua son of Nun, who had been Moses' helper since he was a young man, spoke up and said to Moses, "Stop them, sir!" 29 Moses answered, "Are you concerned about my interests? I wish that the Lord would give his spirit to all his people and make all of them shout like prophets!" 30 Then Moses and the seventy leaders of Israel went back to camp. 31 Suddenly the Lord sent a wind that brought quails from the sea, flying three feet above the ground. They settled on the camp and all around it for miles and miles in every direction. 32 So all that day, all night, and all the next day, the people worked catching quails; no one gathered less than fifty bushels. They spread them out to dry all around the camp. 33 While there was still plenty of meat for them to eat, the Lord became angry with the people and caused an epidemic to break out among them. 34 That place was named Kibroth Hattaavah (which means "Graves of Craving"), because there they buried the people who had craved meat.

828-Numbers 11:18 Now tell the people, "Purify yourselves for tomorrow; you will have meat to eat. The Lord has heard you whining and saying that you wished you had some meat and that you were better off in Egypt. Now the Lord will give you meat, and you will have to eat it. 19 You will have to eat it not just for one or two days, or five, or ten, or even twenty days, 20 but for a whole month, until it comes out of your ears, until you are sick of it. This will happen because you have rejected the Lord who is here among you and have complained to him that you should never have left Egypt.' "

829-Numbers 21:4 The Israelites left Mount Hor by the road that leads to the Gulf of Aqaba, in order to go around the territory of Edom. But on the way the people lost their patience 5 and spoke against God and Moses. They complained, "Why did you bring us out of Egypt to die in this desert, where there is no food or water? We can't stand any more of this miserable food!" 6 Then the Lord sent poisonous snakes among the people, and many Israelites were bitten and died. 7 The people came to Moses and said, "We sinned when we spoke against the Lord and against you. Now pray to the Lord to take these snakes away." So Moses prayed for the people. 8 Then the Lord told Moses to make a metal snake and put it on a pole, so that anyone who was bitten could look at it and be healed. 9 So Moses made a bronze snake and put it on a pole. Anyone who had been bitten would look at the bronze snake and be healed.

830-Numbers 11:4 There were foreigners traveling with the Israelites. They had a strong craving for meat, and even the Israelites themselves began to complain: "If only we could have some meat!

831-Deuteronomy 8:15 He led you through that vast and terrifying desert where there were poisonous snakes and scorpions. In that dry and waterless land he made water flow out of solid rock for you.

832-Numbers 11:10 Moses heard all the people complaining as they stood around in groups at the entrances of their tents. He was distressed because the Lord had become angry with them, 11 and he said to the Lord, "Why have you treated me so badly? Why are you displeased with me? Why have you given me the responsibility for all these people? 12 I didn't create them or bring them to birth! Why should you ask me to act like a nurse and carry them in my arms like babies all the way to the land you promised to their ancestors? 13 Where could I get enough meat for all these people? They keep whining and asking for meat. 14 I can't be responsible for all these people by myself; it's too much for me! 15 If you are going to treat me like this, have pity on me and kill me, so that I won't have to endure your cruelty any longer."

833-Exodus 32:7-14; 34:107 The Lord said to Moses, "Hurry and go back down, because your people, whom you led out of Egypt, have sinned and rejected me. 8 They have already left the way that I commanded them to follow; they have made a bull-calf out of melted gold and have worshiped it and offered sacrifices to it. They are saying that this is their god, who led them out of Egypt. 9 I know how stubborn these people are. 10 Now, don't try to stop me. I am angry with them, and I am going to destroy them. Then I will make you and your descendants into a great nation." 11 But Moses pleaded with the Lord his God and said, "Lord, why should you be so angry with your people, whom you rescued from Egypt with great might and power? 12 Why should the Egyptians be able to say that you led your people out of Egypt, planning to kill them in the mountains and destroy them completely? Stop being angry; change your mind and do not bring this disaster on your people. 13 Remember your servants Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Remember the solemn promise you made to them to give them as many descendants as there are stars in the sky and to give their descendants all that land you promised would be their possession forever." 14 So the Lord changed his mind and did not bring on his people the disaster he had threatened.

Exodus 34:10 The Lord said to Moses, "I now make a covenant with the people of Israel. In their presence I will do great things such as have never been done anywhere on earth among any of the nations. All the people will see what great things I, the Lord, can do, because I am going to do an awesome thing for you.

834-Deuteronomy 9:12 "Then the Lord said to me, "Go down the mountain at once, because your people, whom you led out of Egypt, have become corrupt and have done evil. They have already turned away from what I commanded them to do, and they have made an idol for themselves.'

835-Exodus 33:11 The Lord would speak with Moses face-to-face, just as someone speaks with a friend. Then Moses would return to the camp. But the young man who was his helper, Joshua son of Nun, stayed in the Tent.

836-Numbers 12:6 and the Lord said, "Now hear what I have to say! When there are prophets among you, I reveal myself to them in visions and speak to them in dreams. 7 It is different when I speak with my servant Moses; I have put him in charge of all my people Israel. 8 So I speak to him face-to-face, clearly and not in riddles; he has even seen my form! How dare you speak against my servant Moses?"

837-Deuteronomy 34:10 There has never been a prophet in Israel like Moses; the Lord spoke with him face-to-face

838-Numbers 14:14 they will tell it to the people who live in this land. These people have already heard that you, Lord, are with us, that you appear in plain sight when your cloud stops over us, and that you go before us in a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night.

839-Deuteronomy 5:4 There on the mountain the Lord spoke to you face-to-face from the fire.

840-Exodus 33:11 The Lord would speak with Moses face-to-face, just as someone speaks with a friend. Then Moses would return to the camp. But the young man who was his helper, Joshua son of Nun, stayed in the Tent.

841-Numbers 12:6 and the Lord said, "Now hear what I have to say! When there are prophets among you, I reveal myself to them in visions and speak to them in dreams. 7 It is different when I speak with my servant Moses; I have put him in charge of all my people Israel. 8 So I speak to him face-to-face, clearly and not in riddles; he has even seen my form! How dare you speak against my servant Moses?"

842-Deuteronomy 34:10 There has never been a prophet in Israel like Moses; the Lord spoke with him face-to-face.

843-Numbers 14:14 they will tell it to the people who live in this land. These people have already heard that you, Lord, are with us, that you appear in plain sight when your cloud stops over us, and that you go before us in a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night.

844-Deuteronomy 5:4 There on the mountain the Lord spoke to you face-to-face from the fire.

845-1 Kings 19:12 After the earthquake there was a fire - but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire there was the soft whisper of a voice.

846-Exodus 33:20 I will not let you see my face, because no one can see me and stay alive,

847-Deuteronomy 4:24 because the Lord your God is like a flaming fire; he tolerates no rivals.

848-Hebrews 12:29 because our God is indeed a destroying fire.

849-Exodus 20:5 Do not bow down to any idol or worship it, because I am the Lord your God and I tolerate no rivals. I bring punishment on those who hate me and on their descendants down to the third and fourth generation.

850-Numbers 14:18 "I, the Lord, am not easily angered, and I show great love and faithfulness and forgive sin and rebellion. Yet I will not fail to punish children and grandchildren to the third and fourth generation for the sins of their parents.'

851-Exodus 34:17 "Do not make gods of metal and worship them.

852-Deuteronomy 24:16 "Parents are not to be put to death for crimes committed by their children, and children are not to be put to death for crimes committed by their parents; people are to be put to death only for a crime they themselves have committed.

853-Ezekiel 18:1 The Lord spoke to me 2 and said, "What is this proverb people keep repeating in the land of Israel? "The parents ate the sour grapes, But the children got the sour taste.' 3 "As surely as I am the living God," says the Sovereign Lord, "you will not repeat this proverb in Israel any more. 4 The life of every person belongs to me, the life of the parent as well as that of the child. The person who sins is the one who will die. 5 "Suppose there is a truly good man, righteous and honest. 6 He doesn't worship the idols of the Israelites or eat the sacrifices offered at forbidden shrines. He doesn't seduce another man's wife or have intercourse with a woman during her period. 7 He doesn't cheat or rob anyone. He returns what a borrower gives him as security; he feeds the hungry and gives clothing to the naked. 8 He doesn't lend money for profit. He refuses to do evil and gives an honest decision in any dispute. 9 Such a man obeys my commands and carefully keeps my laws. He is righteous, and he will live," says the Sovereign Lord. 10 "Then suppose this man has a son who robs and kills, who does any of these things 11 that the father never did. He eats sacrifices offered at forbidden shrines and seduces other men's wives. 12 He cheats the poor, he robs, he keeps what a borrower gives him as security. He goes to pagan shrines, worships disgusting idols, 13 and lends money for profit. Will he live? No, he will not. He has done all these disgusting things, and so he will die. He will be to blame for his own death. 14 "Now suppose this second man has a son. He sees all the sins his father practiced, but does not follow his example. 15 He doesn't worship the idols of the Israelites or eat the sacrifices offered at forbidden shrines. He doesn't seduce another man's wife 16 or oppress anyone or rob anyone. He returns what a borrower gives him as security. He feeds the hungry and gives clothing to the naked. 17 He refuses to do evil and doesn't lend money for profit. He keeps my laws and obeys my commands. He will not die because of his father's sins, but he will certainly live. 18 His father, on the other hand, cheated and robbed and always did evil to everyone. And so he died because of the sins he himself had committed. 19 "But you ask, "Why shouldn't the son suffer because of his father's sins?' The answer is that the son did what was right and good. He kept my laws and followed them carefully, and so he will certainly live. 20 It is the one who sins who will die. A son is not to suffer because of his father's sins, nor a father because of the sins of his son. Good people will be rewarded for doing good, and evil people will suffer for the evil they do. 21 "If someone evil stops sinning and keeps my laws, if he does what is right and good, he will not die; he will certainly live. 22 All his sins will be forgiven, and he will live, because he did what is right. 23 Do you think I enjoy seeing evil people die?" asks the Sovereign Lord. "No, I would rather see them repent and live. 24 "But if a righteous person stops doing good and starts doing all the evil, disgusting things that evil people do, will he go on living? No! None of the good he did will be remembered. He will die because of his unfaithfulness and his sins. 25 "But you say, "What the Lord does isn't right.' Listen to me, you Israelites. Do you think my way of doing things isn't right? It is your way that isn't right. 26 When a righteous person stops doing good and starts doing evil and then dies, he dies because of the evil he has done. 27 When someone evil stops sinning and does what is right and good, he saves his life. 28 He realizes what he is doing and stops sinning, so he will certainly not die, but go on living. 29 And you Israelites say, "What the Lord does isn't right.' You think my way isn't right, do you? It is your way that isn't right. 30 "Now I, the Sovereign Lord, am telling you Israelites that I will judge each of you by what you have done. Turn away from all the evil you are doing, and don't let your sin destroy you. 31 Give up all the evil you have been doing, and get yourselves new minds and hearts. Why do you Israelites want to die? 32 I do not want anyone to die," says the Sovereign Lord. "Turn away from your sins and live."

Ezediel 33:10 The Lord spoke to me. "Mortal man," he said, "repeat to the Israelites what they are saying: "We are burdened with our sins and the wrongs we have done. We are wasting away. How can we live?' 11 Tell them that as surely as I, the Sovereign Lord, am the living God, I do not enjoy seeing sinners die. I would rather see them stop sinning and live. Israel, stop the evil you are doing. Why do you want to die? 12 "Now, mortal man, tell the Israelites that when someone good sins, the good he has done will not save him. If an evil person stops doing evil, he won't be punished, and if a good man starts sinning, his life will not be spared. 13 I may promise life to someone good, but if he starts thinking that his past goodness is enough and begins to sin, I will not remember any of the good he did. He will die because of his sins. 14 I may warn someone evil that he is going to die, but if he stops sinning and does what is right and good - 15 for example, if he returns the security he took for a loan or gives back what he stole - if he stops sinning and follows the laws that give life, he will not die, but live. 16 I will forgive the sins he has committed, and he will live because he has done what is right and good. 17 "And your people say that what I do isn't right! No, it's their way that isn't right. 18 When someone righteous stops doing good and starts doing evil, he will die for it. 19 When someone evil quits sinning and does what is right and good, he has saved his life. 20 But Israel, you say that what I do isn't right. I am going to judge you by what you do."

854-2 Corinthians 3:18 All of us, then, reflect the glory of the Lord with uncovered faces; and that same glory, coming from the Lord, who is the Spirit, transforms us into his likeness in an ever greater degree of glory.

855-GC 555 It is a law both of the intellectual and the spiritual nature that by beholding we become changed. The mind gradually adapts itself to the subjects upon which it is allowed to dwell. It becomes assimilated to that which it is accustomed to love and reverence. Man will never rise higher than his standard of purity or goodness or truth. If self is his loftiest ideal, he will never attain to anything more exalted. Rather, he will constantly sink lower and lower. The grace of God alone has power to exalt man. Left to himself, his course must inevitably be downward. {GC 555.1}

To the self-indulgent, the pleasure-loving, the sensual, spiritualism presents itself under a less subtle disguise than to the more refined and intellectual; in its grosser forms they find that which is in harmony with their inclinations. Satan studies every indication of the frailty of human nature, he marks the sins which each individual is inclined to commit, and then he takes care that opportunities shall not be wanting to gratify the tendency to evil. He tempts men to excess in that which is in itself lawful, causing them, through intemperance, to weaken physical, mental, and moral power. He has destroyed and is destroying thousands through the indulgence of the passions, thus brutalizing the entire nature of man. And to complete his work, he declares, through the spirits that “true knowledge places man above all law;” that “whatever is, is right;” that “God doth not condemn;” and that “all sins which are committed are innocent.” When the people are thus led to believe that desire is the highest law, that liberty is license, and that man is accountable only to himself, who can wonder that corruption and depravity teem on every hand? Multitudes eagerly accept teachings that leave them at liberty to obey the promptings of the carnal heart. The reins of self-control are laid upon the neck of lust, the powers of mind and soul are made subject to the animal propensities, and Satan exultingly sweeps into his net thousands who profess to be followers of Christ. {GC 555.2}

856-Exodus 12:49 The same regulations apply to native-born Israelites and to foreigners who settle among you."

Exodus 22:21 "Do not mistreat or oppress a foreigner; remember that you were foreigners in Egypt.

Exodus 23:9 "Do not mistreat a foreigner; you know how it feels to be a foreigner, because you were foreigners in Egypt.

857-Leviticus 19:34 Treat them as you would an Israelite, and love them as you love yourselves. Remember that you were once foreigners in the land of Egypt. I am the Lord your God.

858-Numbers 15:14 And if at any time foreigners living among you, whether on a temporary or a permanent basis, make a food offering, an odor that pleases the Lord, they are to observe the same regulations. 15 For all time to come, the same rules are binding on you and on the foreigners who live among you. You and they are alike in the Lord's sight; 16 the same laws and regulations apply to you and to them.

859-Nehemiah 13:1 When the Law of Moses was being read aloud to the people, they came to the passage that said that no Ammonite or Moabite was ever to be permitted to join God's people. 2 This was because the people of Ammon and Moab did not give food and water to the Israelites on their way out of Egypt. Instead, they paid money to Balaam to curse Israel, but our God turned the curse into a blessing. 3 When the people of Israel heard this law read, they excluded all foreigners from the community. 4 The priest Eliashib, who was in charge of the Temple storerooms, had for a long time been on good terms with Tobiah. 5 He allowed Tobiah to use a large room that was intended only for storing offerings of grain and incense, the equipment used in the Temple, the offerings for the priests, and the tithes of grain, wine, and olive oil given to the Levites, to the Temple musicians, and to the Temple guards. 6 While this was going on, I was not in Jerusalem, because in the thirty-second year that Artaxerxes was king of Babylon I had gone back to report to him. After some time I received his permission 7 and returned to Jerusalem. There I was shocked to find that Eliashib had allowed Tobiah to use a room in the Temple. 8 I was furious and threw out all of Tobiah's belongings. 9 I gave orders for the rooms to be ritually purified and for the Temple equipment, grain offerings, and incense to be put back. 10 I also learned that the Temple musicians and other Levites had left Jerusalem and gone back to their farms, because the people had not been giving them enough to live on. 11 I reprimanded the officials for letting the Temple be neglected. And I brought the Levites and musicians back to the Temple and put them to work again. 12 Then all the people of Israel again started bringing to the Temple storerooms their tithes of grain, wine, and olive oil. 13 I put the following men in charge of the storerooms: Shelemiah, a priest; Zadok, a scholar of the Law; and Pedaiah, a Levite. Hanan, the son of Zaccur and grandson of Mattaniah, was to be their assistant. I knew I could trust these men to be honest in distributing the supplies to the other workers. 14 Remember, my God, all these things that I have done for your Temple and its worship. 15 At that time I saw people in Judah pressing juice from grapes on the Sabbath. Others were loading grain, wine, grapes, figs, and other things on their donkeys and taking them into Jerusalem; I warned them not to sell anything on the Sabbath. 16 Some people from the city of Tyre were living in Jerusalem, and they brought fish and all kinds of goods into the city to sell to our people on the Sabbath. 17 I reprimanded the Jewish leaders and told them, "Look at the evil you're doing! You're making the Sabbath unholy. 18 This is exactly why God punished your ancestors when he brought destruction on this city. And yet you insist on bringing more of God's anger down on Israel by profaning the Sabbath." 19 So I gave orders for the city gates to be shut at the beginning of every Sabbath, as soon as evening began to fall, and not to be opened again until the Sabbath was over. I stationed some of my men at the gates to make sure that nothing was brought into the city on the Sabbath. 20 Once or twice merchants who sold all kinds of goods spent Friday night outside the city walls. 21 I warned them, "It's no use waiting out there for morning to come. If you try this again, I'll use force on you." From then on they did not come back on the Sabbath. 22 I ordered the Levites to purify themselves and to go and guard the gates to make sure that the Sabbath was kept holy. Remember me, O God, for this also, and spare me because of your great love. 23 At that time I also discovered that many of the Jewish men had married women from Ashdod, Ammon, and Moab. 24 Half of their children spoke the language of Ashdod or some other language and didn't know how to speak our language. 25 I reprimanded the men, called down curses on them, beat them, and pulled out their hair. Then I made them take an oath in God's name that never again would they or their children intermarry with foreigners. 26 I told them, "It was foreign women that made King Solomon sin. Here was a man who was greater than any of the kings of other nations. God loved him and made him king over all of Israel, and yet he fell into this sin. 27 Are we then to follow your example and disobey our God by marrying foreign women?" 28 Joiada was the son of Eliashib the High Priest, but one of Joiada's sons married the daughter of Sanballat, from the town of Beth Horon, so I made Joiada leave Jerusalem. 29 Remember, God, how those people defiled both the office of priest and the covenant you made with the priests and the Levites. 30 I purified the people from everything foreign; I prepared regulations for the priests and the Levites so that all of them would know their duties; 31 I arranged for the wood used for burning the offerings to be brought at the proper times, and for the people to bring their offerings of the first grain and the first fruits that ripened. Remember all this, O God, and give me credit for it.

860-Ezra 10:1 While Ezra was bowing in prayer in front of the Temple, weeping and confessing these sins, a large group of Israelites - men, women, and children - gathered around him, weeping bitterly. 2 Then Shecaniah son of Jehiel, of the clan of Elam, said to Ezra, "We have broken faith with God by marrying foreign women, but even so there is still hope for Israel. 3 Now we must make a solemn promise to our God that we will send these women and their children away. We will do what you and the others who honor God's commands advise us to do. We will do what God's Law demands. 4 It is your responsibility to act. We are behind you, so go ahead and get it done." 5 So Ezra began by making the leaders of the priests, of the Levites, and of the rest of the people take an oath that they would do what Shecaniah had proposed. 6 Then he went from in front of the Temple into the living quarters of Jehohanan son of Eliashib, and spent the night there grieving over the unfaithfulness of the exiles. He did not eat or drink anything. 7 A message was sent throughout Jerusalem and Judah that all those who had returned from exile were to meet in Jerusalem 8 by order of the leaders of the people. If any failed to come within three days, all their property would be confiscated, and they would lose their right to be members of the community. 9 Within the three days, on the twentieth day of the ninth month, all the men living in the territory of Judah and Benjamin came to Jerusalem and assembled in the Temple square. It was raining hard, and because of the weather and the importance of the meeting everyone was trembling. 10 Ezra the priest stood up and spoke to them. He said, "You have been faithless and have brought guilt on Israel by marrying foreign women. 11 Now then, confess your sins to the Lord, the God of your ancestors, and do what pleases him. Separate yourselves from the foreigners living in our land and get rid of your foreign wives." 12 The people shouted in answer, "We will do whatever you say." 13 But they added, "The crowd is too big, and it's raining hard. We can't stand here in the open like this. This isn't something that can be done in one or two days, because so many of us are involved in this sin. 14 Let our officials stay in Jerusalem and take charge of the matter. Then let anyone who has a foreign wife come at a set time, together with the leaders and the judges of his city. In this way God's anger over this situation will be turned away." 15 No one was opposed to the plan except Jonathan son of Asahel and Jahzeiah son of Tikvah, who had the support of Meshullam and of Shabbethai, a Levite. 16 The returned exiles accepted the plan, so Ezra the priest appointed men from among the heads of the clans and recorded their names. On the first day of the tenth month they began their investigation, 17 and within the next three months they investigated all the cases of men with foreign wives. 18 This is the list of the men who had foreign wives: [Priests, ]listed by clans: Clan of Joshua and his brothers, sons of Jehozadak: Maaseiah, Eliezer, Jarib, and Gedaliah. 19 They promised to divorce their wives, and they offered a ram as a sacrifice for their sins. 20 Clan of Immer: Hanani and Zebadiah 21 Clan of Harim: Maaseiah, Elijah, Shemaiah, Jehiel, and Uzziah 22 Clan of Pashhur: Elioenai, Maaseiah, Ishmael, Nethanel, Jozabad, and Elasah 23 [Levites:] Jozabad, Shimei, Kelaiah (also called Kelita), Pethahiah, Judah, and Eliezer 24 [Musicians:] Eliashib [Temple guards:] Shallum, Telem, and Uri 25 [Others:] Clan of Parosh: Ramiah, Izziah, Malchijah, Mijamin, Eleazar, Malchijah, and Benaiah 26 Clan of Elam: Mattaniah, Zechariah, Jehiel, Abdi, Jeremoth, and Elijah 27 Clan of Zattu: Elioenai, Eliashib, Mattaniah, Jeremoth, Zabad, and Aziza 28 Clan of Bebai: Jehohanan, Hananiah, Zabbai, and Athlai 29 Clan of Bani: Meshullam, Malluch, Adaiah, Jashub, Sheal, and Jeremoth 30 Clan of Pahath Moab: Adna, Chelal, Benaiah, Maaseiah, Mattaniah, Bezalel, Binnui, and Manasseh 31 Clan of Harim: Eliezer, Isshijah, Malchijah, Shemaiah, Shimeon, Benjamin, Malluch, and Shemariah 33 Clan of Hashum: Mattenai, Mattattah, Zabad, Eliphelet, Jeremai, Manasseh, and Shimei 34 Clan of Bani: Maadai, Amram, Uel, Benaiah, Bedeiah, Cheluhi, Vaniah, Meremoth, Eliashib, Mattaniah, Mattenai, and Jaasu 38 Clan of Binnui: Shimei, Shelemiah, Nathan, Adaiah, Machnadebai, Shashai, Sharai, Azarel, Shelemiah, Shemariah, Shallum, Amariah, and Joseph 43 Clan of Nebo: Jeiel, Mattithiah, Zabad, Zebina, Jaddai, Joel, and Benaiah 44 All these men had foreign wives. They divorced them and sent them and their children away.

861-Numbers 15:32 Once, while the Israelites were still in the wilderness, a man was found gathering firewood on the Sabbath. 33 He was taken to Moses, Aaron, and the whole community, 34 and was put under guard, because it was not clear what should be done with him. 35 Then the Lord said to Moses, "The man must be put to death; the whole community is to stone him to death outside the camp." 36 So the whole community took him outside the camp and stoned him to death, as the Lord had commanded.

862-Leviticus 10:1 Aaron's sons, Nadab and Abihu, each took his fire pan, put live coals in it, added incense, and presented it to the Lord. But this fire was not holy, because the Lord had not commanded them to present it. 2 Suddenly the Lord sent fire, and it burned them to death there in the presence of the Lord. 3 Then Moses said to Aaron, "This is what the Lord was speaking about when he said, "All who serve me must respect my holiness; I will reveal my glory to my people.' " But Aaron remained silent. 4 Moses called Mishael and Elzaphan, the sons of Uzziel, Aaron's uncle, and said to them, "Come here and carry your cousins' bodies away from the sacred Tent and put them outside the camp." 5 So they came and took hold of the clothing on the corpses and carried them outside the camp, just as Moses had commanded. 6 Then Moses said to Aaron and to his sons Eleazar and Ithamar, "Do not leave your hair uncombed or tear your clothes to show that you are in mourning. If you do, you will die, and the Lord will be angry with the whole community. But all other Israelites are allowed to mourn this death caused by the fire which the Lord sent. 7 Do not leave the entrance of the Tent or you will die, because you have been consecrated by the anointing oil of the Lord." So they did as Moses said. 8 The Lord said to Aaron, 9 "You and your sons are not to enter the Tent of my presence after drinking wine or beer; if you do, you will die. This is a law to be kept by all your descendants. 10 You must distinguish between what belongs to God and what is for general use, between what is ritually clean and what is unclean. 11 You must teach the people of Israel all the laws which I have given to you through Moses."

863-Numbers 16:30 But if the Lord does something unheard of, and the earth opens up and swallows them with all they own, so that they go down alive to the world of the dead, you will know that these men have rejected the Lord." 31 As soon as he had finished speaking, the ground under Dathan and Abiram split open 32 and swallowed them and their families, together with all of Korah's followers and their possessions. 33 So they went down alive to the world of the dead, with their possessions. The earth closed over them, and they vanished. 34 All the people of Israel who were there fled when they heard their cry. They shouted, "Run! The earth might swallow us too!" 35 Then the Lord sent a fire that blazed out and burned up the 250 men who had presented the incense.

864-Judges 7:1 One day Gideon and all his men got up early and camped beside Harod Spring. The Midianite camp was in the valley to the north of them by Moreh Hill. 2 The Lord said to Gideon, "The men you have are too many for me to give them victory over the Midianites. They might think that they had won by themselves, and so give me no credit. 3 Announce to the people, "Anyone who is afraid should go back home, and we will stay here at Mount Gilead.' " So twenty-two thousand went back, but ten thousand stayed. 4 Then the Lord said to Gideon, "You still have too many men. Take them down to the water, and I will separate them for you there. If I tell you a man should go with you, he will go. If I tell you a man should not go with you, he will not go." 5 Gideon took the men down to the water, and the Lord told him, "Separate everyone who laps up the water with his tongue like a dog, from everyone who gets down on his knees to drink." 6 There were three hundred men who scooped up water in their hands and lapped it; all the others got down on their knees to drink. 7 The Lord said to Gideon, "I will rescue you and give you victory over the Midianites with the three hundred men who lapped the water. Tell everyone else to go home." 8 So Gideon sent all the Israelites home, except the three hundred, who kept all the supplies and trumpets. The Midianite camp was below them in the valley. 9 That night the Lord commanded Gideon, "Get up and attack the camp; I am giving you victory over it. 10 But if you are afraid to attack, go down to the camp with your servant Purah. 11 You will hear what they are saying, and then you will have the courage to attack." So Gideon and his servant Purah went down to the edge of the enemy camp. 12 The Midianites, the Amalekites, and the desert tribesmen were spread out in the valley like a swarm of locusts, and they had as many camels as there are grains of sand on the seashore. 13 When Gideon arrived, he heard a man telling a friend about a dream. He was saying, "I dreamed that a loaf of barley bread rolled into our camp and hit a tent. The tent collapsed and lay flat on the ground." 14 His friend replied, "It's the sword of the Israelite, Gideon son of Joash! It can't mean anything else! God has given him victory over Midian and our whole army!" 15 When Gideon heard about the man's dream and what it meant, he fell to his knees and worshiped the Lord. Then he went back to the Israelite camp and said, "Get up! The Lord is giving you victory over the Midianite army!" 16 He divided his three hundred men into three groups and gave each man a trumpet and a jar with a torch inside it. 17 He told them, "When I get to the edge of the camp, watch me, and do what I do. 18 When my group and I blow our trumpets, then you blow yours all around the camp and shout, "For the Lord and for Gideon!' " 19 Gideon and his one hundred men came to the edge of the camp a while before midnight, just after the guard had been changed. Then they blew the trumpets and broke the jars they were holding, 20 and the other two groups did the same. They all held the torches in their left hands, the trumpets in their right, and shouted, "A sword for the Lord and for Gideon!" 21 Every man stood in his place around the camp, and the whole enemy army ran away yelling. 22 While Gideon's men were blowing their trumpets, the Lord made the enemy troops attack each other with their swords. They ran toward Zarethan as far as Beth Shittah, as far as the town of Abel Meholah near Tabbath. 23 Then men from the tribes of Naphtali, Asher, and both parts of Manasseh were called out, and they pursued the Midianites. 24 Gideon sent messengers through all the hill country of Ephraim to say, "Come down and fight the Midianites. Hold the Jordan River and the streams as far as Bethbarah, to keep the Midianites from crossing them." The men of Ephraim were called together, and they held the Jordan River and the streams as far as Bethbarah. 25 They captured the two Midianite chiefs, Oreb and Zeeb; they killed Oreb at Oreb Rock, and Zeeb at the Winepress of Zeeb. They continued to pursue the Midianites and brought the heads of Oreb and Zeeb to Gideon, who was now east of the Jordan.

865-Matthew 5:1 Jesus saw the crowds and went up a hill, where he sat down. His disciples gathered around him, 2 and he began to teach them: 3 "Happy are those who know they are spiritually poor; the Kingdom of heaven belongs to them! 4 "Happy are those who mourn; God will comfort them! 5 "Happy are those who are humble; they will receive what God has promised! 6 "Happy are those whose greatest desire is to do what God requires; God will satisfy them fully! 7 "Happy are those who are merciful to others; God will be merciful to them! 8 "Happy are the pure in heart; they will see God! 9 "Happy are those who work for peace; God will call them his children! 10 "Happy are those who are persecuted because they do what God requires; the Kingdom of heaven belongs to them! 11 "Happy are you when people insult you and persecute you and tell all kinds of evil lies against you because you are my followers. 12 Be happy and glad, for a great reward is kept for you in heaven. This is how the prophets who lived before you were persecuted. 13 "You are like salt for the whole human race. But if salt loses its saltiness, there is no way to make it salty again. It has become worthless, so it is thrown out and people trample on it. 14 "You are like light for the whole world. A city built on a hill cannot be hid. 15 No one lights a lamp and puts it under a bowl; instead it is put on the lampstand, where it gives light for everyone in the house. 16 In the same way your light must shine before people, so that they will see the good things you do and praise your Father in heaven. 17 "Do not think that I have come to do away with the Law of Moses and the teachings of the prophets. I have not come to do away with them, but to make their teachings come true. 18 Remember that as long as heaven and earth last, not the least point nor the smallest detail of the Law will be done away with - not until the end of all things. 19 So then, whoever disobeys even the least important of the commandments and teaches others to do the same, will be least in the Kingdom of heaven. On the other hand, whoever obeys the Law and teaches others to do the same, will be great in the Kingdom of heaven. 20 I tell you, then, that you will be able to enter the Kingdom of heaven only if you are more faithful than the teachers of the Law and the Pharisees in doing what God requires. 21 "You have heard that people were told in the past, "Do not commit murder; anyone who does will be brought to trial.' 22 But now I tell you: if you are angry with your brother you will be brought to trial, if you call your brother "You good-for-nothing!' you will be brought before the Council, and if you call your brother a worthless fool you will be in danger of going to the fire of hell. 23 So if you are about to offer your gift to God at the altar and there you remember that your brother has something against you, 24 leave your gift there in front of the altar, go at once and make peace with your brother, and then come back and offer your gift to God. 25 "If someone brings a lawsuit against you and takes you to court, settle the dispute while there is time, before you get to court. Once you are there, you will be turned over to the judge, who will hand you over to the police, and you will be put in jail. 26 There you will stay, I tell you, until you pay the last penny of your fine. 27 "You have heard that it was said, "Do not commit adultery.' 28 But now I tell you: anyone who looks at a woman and wants to possess her is guilty of committing adultery with her in his heart. 29 So if your right eye causes you to sin, take it out and throw it away! It is much better for you to lose a part of your body than to have your whole body thrown into hell. 30 If your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away! It is much better for you to lose one of your limbs than to have your whole body go off to hell. 31 "It was also said, "Anyone who divorces his wife must give her a written notice of divorce.' 32 But now I tell you: if a man divorces his wife for any cause other than her unfaithfulness, then he is guilty of making her commit adultery if she marries again; and the man who marries her commits adultery also. 33 "You have also heard that people were told in the past, "Do not break your promise, but do what you have vowed to the Lord to do.' 34 But now I tell you: do not use any vow when you make a promise. Do not swear by heaven, for it is God's throne; 35 nor by earth, for it is the resting place for his feet; nor by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. 36 Do not even swear by your head, because you cannot make a single hair white or black. 37 Just say "Yes' or "No' - anything else you say comes from the Evil One. 38 "You have heard that it was said, "An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth.' 39 But now I tell you: do not take revenge on someone who wrongs you. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, let him slap your left cheek too. 40 And if someone takes you to court to sue you for your shirt, let him have your coat as well. 41 And if one of the occupation troops forces you to carry his pack one mile, carry it two miles. 42 When someone asks you for something, give it to him; when someone wants to borrow something, lend it to him. 43 "You have heard that it was said, "Love your friends, hate your enemies.' 44 But now I tell you: love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 so that you may become the children of your Father in heaven. For he makes his sun to shine on bad and good people alike, and gives rain to those who do good and to those who do evil. 46 Why should God reward you if you love only the people who love you? Even the tax collectors do that! 47 And if you speak only to your friends, have you done anything out of the ordinary? Even the pagans do that! 48 You must be perfect - just as your Father in heaven is perfect.

Matthew 6:1 "Make certain you do not perform your religious duties in public so that people will see what you do. If you do these things publicly, you will not have any reward from your Father in heaven. 2 "So when you give something to a needy person, do not make a big show of it, as the hypocrites do in the houses of worship and on the streets. They do it so that people will praise them. I assure you, they have already been paid in full. 3 But when you help a needy person, do it in such a way that even your closest friend will not know about it. 4 Then it will be a private matter. And your Father, who sees what you do in private, will reward you. 5 "When you pray, do not be like the hypocrites! They love to stand up and pray in the houses of worship and on the street corners, so that everyone will see them. I assure you, they have already been paid in full. 6 But when you pray, go to your room, close the door, and pray to your Father, who is unseen. And your Father, who sees what you do in private, will reward you. 7 "When you pray, do not use a lot of meaningless words, as the pagans do, who think that their gods will hear them because their prayers are long. 8 Do not be like them. Your Father already knows what you need before you ask him. 9 This, then, is how you should pray: "Our Father in heaven: May your holy name be honored; 10 may your Kingdom come; may your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. 11 Give us today the food we need. 12 Forgive us the wrongs we have done, as we forgive the wrongs that others have done to us. 13 Do not bring us to hard testing, but keep us safe from the Evil One.' 14 "If you forgive others the wrongs they have done to you, your Father in heaven will also forgive you. 15 But if you do not forgive others, then your Father will not forgive the wrongs you have done. 16 "And when you fast, do not put on a sad face as the hypocrites do. They neglect their appearance so that everyone will see that they are fasting. I assure you, they have already been paid in full. 17 When you go without food, wash your face and comb your hair, 18 so that others cannot know that you are fasting - only your Father, who is unseen, will know. And your Father, who sees what you do in private, will reward you. 19 "Do not store up riches for yourselves here on earth, where moths and rust destroy, and robbers break in and steal. 20 Instead, store up riches for yourselves in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy, and robbers cannot break in and steal. 21 For your heart will always be where your riches are. 22 "The eyes are like a lamp for the body. If your eyes are sound, your whole body will be full of light; 23 but if your eyes are no good, your body will be in darkness. So if the light in you is darkness, how terribly dark it will be! 24 "You cannot be a slave of two masters; you will hate one and love the other; you will be loyal to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money. 25 "This is why I tell you: do not be worried about the food and drink you need in order to stay alive, or about clothes for your body. After all, isn't life worth more than food? And isn't the body worth more than clothes? 26 Look at the birds: they do not plant seeds, gather a harvest and put it in barns; yet your Father in heaven takes care of them! Aren't you worth much more than birds? 27 Can any of you live a bit longer by worrying about it? 28 "And why worry about clothes? Look how the wild flowers grow: they do not work or make clothes for themselves. 29 But I tell you that not even King Solomon with all his wealth had clothes as beautiful as one of these flowers. 30 It is God who clothes the wild grass - grass that is here today and gone tomorrow, burned up in the oven. Won't he be all the more sure to clothe you? What little faith you have! 31 "So do not start worrying: "Where will my food come from? or my drink? or my clothes?' 32 (These are the things the pagans are always concerned about.) Your Father in heaven knows that you need all these things. 33 Instead, be concerned above everything else with the Kingdom of God and with what he requires of you, and he will provide you with all these other things. 34 So do not worry about tomorrow; it will have enough worries of its own. There is no need to add to the troubles each day brings.

Matthew 7:1 "Do not judge others, so that God will not judge you, 2 for God will judge you in the same way you judge others, and he will apply to you the same rules you apply to others. 3 Why, then, do you look at the speck in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the log in your own eye? 4 How dare you say to your brother, "Please, let me take that speck out of your eye,' when you have a log in your own eye? 5 You hypocrite! First take the log out of your own eye, and then you will be able to see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye. 6 "Do not give what is holy to dogs - they will only turn and attack you. Do not throw your pearls in front of pigs - they will only trample them underfoot. 7 "Ask, and you will receive; seek, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks will receive, and anyone who seeks will find, and the door will be opened to those who knock. 9 Would any of you who are fathers give your son a stone when he asks for bread? 10 Or would you give him a snake when he asks for a fish? 11 As bad as you are, you know how to give good things to your children. How much more, then, will your Father in heaven give good things to those who ask him! 12 "Do for others what you want them to do for you: this is the meaning of the Law of Moses and of the teachings of the prophets. 13 "Go in through the narrow gate, because the gate to hell is wide and the road that leads to it is easy, and there are many who travel it. 14 But the gate to life is narrow and the way that leads to it is hard, and there are few people who find it. 15 "Be on your guard against false prophets; they come to you looking like sheep on the outside, but on the inside they are really like wild wolves. 16 You will know them by what they do. Thorn bushes do not bear grapes, and briers do not bear figs. 17 A healthy tree bears good fruit, but a poor tree bears bad fruit. 18 A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a poor tree cannot bear good fruit. 19 And any tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown in the fire. 20 So then, you will know the false prophets by what they do. 21 "Not everyone who calls me "Lord, Lord' will enter the Kingdom of heaven, but only those who do what my Father in heaven wants them to do. 22 When the Judgment Day comes, many will say to me, "Lord, Lord! In your name we spoke God's message, by your name we drove out many demons and performed many miracles!' 23 Then I will say to them, "I never knew you. Get away from me, you wicked people!' 24 "So then, anyone who hears these words of mine and obeys them is like a wise man who built his house on rock. 25 The rain poured down, the rivers flooded over, and the wind blew hard against that house. But it did not fall, because it was built on rock. 26 "But anyone who hears these words of mine and does not obey them is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. 27 The rain poured down, the rivers flooded over, the wind blew hard against that house, and it fell. And what a terrible fall that was!" 28 When Jesus finished saying these things, the crowd was amazed at the way he taught. 29 He wasn't like the teachers of the Law; instead, he taught with authority.

866-Numbers 15:30 But any who sin deliberately, whether they are natives or foreigners, are guilty of treating the Lord with contempt, and they shall be put to death, 31 because they have rejected what the Lord said and have deliberately broken one of his commands. They are responsible for their own death.

867-1 John 3:4 Whoever sins is guilty of breaking God's law, because sin is a breaking of the law.

868-Romans 6:23 For sin pays its wage - death; but God's free gift is eternal life in union with Christ Jesus our Lord.

869-Numbers 16:16 Moses said to Korah, "Tomorrow you and your 250 followers must come to the Tent of the Lord's presence; Aaron will also be there. 17 Each of you will take his fire pan, put incense on it, and then present it at the altar." 18 So they each took their fire pans, put live coals and incense on them, and stood at the entrance of the Tent with Moses and Aaron. 19 Then Korah gathered the whole community, and they stood facing Moses and Aaron at the entrance of the Tent. Suddenly the dazzling light of the Lord's presence appeared to the whole community, 20 and the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, 21 "Move back from these people, and I will destroy them immediately." 22 But Moses and Aaron bowed down with their faces to the ground and said, "O God, you are the source of all life. When one of us sins, do you become angry with the whole community?" 23 The Lord said to Moses, 24 "Tell the people to move away from the tents of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram." 25 Then Moses, accompanied by the leaders of Israel, went to Dathan and Abiram. 26 He said to the people, "Get away from the tents of these wicked men and don't touch anything that belongs to them. Otherwise, you will be wiped out with them for all their sins." 27 So they moved away from the tents of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram. Dathan and Abiram had come out and were standing at the entrance of their tents, with their wives and children. 28 Moses said to the people, "This is how you will know that the Lord has sent me to do all these things and that it is not by my own choice that I have done them. 29 If these men die a natural death without some punishment from God, then the Lord did not send me. 30 But if the Lord does something unheard of, and the earth opens up and swallows them with all they own, so that they go down alive to the world of the dead, you will know that these men have rejected the Lord." 31 As soon as he had finished speaking, the ground under Dathan and Abiram split open 32 and swallowed them and their families, together with all of Korah's followers and their possessions. 33 So they went down alive to the world of the dead, with their possessions. The earth closed over them, and they vanished. 34 All the people of Israel who were there fled when they heard their cry. They shouted, "Run! The earth might swallow us too!" 35 Then the Lord sent a fire that blazed out and burned up the 250 men who had presented the incense.

870-Joshua 7:16-19; 14:2; 18:1-10;16 Early the next morning Joshua brought Israel forward, tribe by tribe, and the tribe of Judah was picked out. 17 He brought the tribe of Judah forward, clan by clan, and the clan of Zerah was picked out. Then he brought the clan of Zerah forward, family by family, and the family of Zabdi was picked out. 18 He then brought Zabdi's family forward, one by one, and Achan, the son of Carmi and grandson of Zabdi, was picked out. 19 Joshua said to him, "My son, tell the truth here before the Lord, the God of Israel, and confess. Tell me now what you have done. Don't try to hide it from me."

Joshua 14:2 As the Lord had commanded Moses, the territories of the nine and one-half tribes west of the Jordan were determined by drawing lots.

Joshua 18:1 After they had conquered the land, the entire community of Israel assembled at Shiloh and set up the Tent of the Lord's presence. 2 There were still seven tribes of the people of Israel who had not yet been assigned their share of the land. 3 So Joshua said to the people of Israel, "How long are you going to wait before you go in and take the land that the Lord, the God of your ancestors, has given you? 4 Let me have three men from each tribe. I will send them out over the whole country to map out the territory that they would like to have as their possession. Then they are to come back to me. 5 The land will be divided among them in seven parts; Judah will stay in its territory in the south, and Joseph in its territory in the north. 6 Write down a description of these seven divisions and bring it to me. Then I will draw lots to consult the Lord our God for you. 7 The Levites, however, will not receive a share of the land with the rest of you, because their share is to serve as the Lord's priests. And of course, the tribes of Gad, Reuben, and East Manasseh have already received their land east of the Jordan, which Moses, the Lord's servant, gave to them." 8 The men went on their way to map out the land after Joshua had given them these instructions: "Go all over the land and map it out, and come back to me. And then here in Shiloh I will consult the Lord for you by drawing lots." 9 So the men went all over the land and set down in writing how they divided it into seven parts, making a list of the towns. Then they went back to Joshua in the camp at Shiloh. 10 Joshua drew lots to consult the Lord for them, and assigned each of the remaining tribes of Israel a certain part of the land.

871-1 Samuel 14:42 Then Saul said, "Decide between my son Jonathan and me." And Jonathan was indicated.

872-1 Chronicles 24:31 The head of each family and one of his younger brothers drew lots for their assignments, just as their relatives, the priests descended from Aaron, had done. King David, Zadok, Ahimelech, and the heads of families of the priests and of the Levites were witnesses.

1 Chronicles 25:8 To determine the assignment of duties they all drew lots, whether they were young or old, experts or beginners.

1 Chronicles 26:13 Each family, regardless of size, drew lots to see which gate it would be responsible for. 14 Shelemiah drew the east gate, and his son Zechariah, a man who always gave good advice, drew the north gate.

873-Nehemiah 10:34; 11:134 We, the people, priests, and Levites, will draw lots each year to determine which clans are to provide wood to burn the sacrifices offered to the Lord our God, according to the requirements of the Law.

Nehemiah 11:1 The leaders settled in Jerusalem, and the rest of the people drew lots to choose one family out of every ten to go and live in the holy city of Jerusalem, while the rest were to live in the other cities and towns.

874-Psalms 22:18 They gamble for my clothes and divide them among themselves.

875-Joel 3:3 They threw dice to decide who would get the captives. They sold boys and girls into slavery to pay for prostitutes and wine.

876-Obadiah 11 You stood aside on that day when enemies broke down their gates. You were as bad as those strangers who carried off Jerusalem's wealth and divided it among themselves.

877-Jonah 1:7 The sailors said to each other, "Let's draw lots and find out who is to blame for getting us into this danger." They did so, and Jonah's name was drawn.

878-Nahum 3:10 Yet the people of Thebes were carried off into exile. At every street corner their children were beaten to death. Their leading men were carried off in chains and divided among their captors.

879-Matthew 27:35 They crucified him and then divided his clothes among them by throwing dice.

880-Mark 15:34 At three o'clock Jesus cried out with a loud shout, ["Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?"] which means, "My God, my God, why did you abandon me?"

881-Luke 23:34 Jesus said, "Forgive them, Father! They don't know what they are doing." They divided his clothes among themselves by throwing dice.

882-John 19:24 The soldiers said to one another, "Let's not tear it; let's throw dice to see who will get it." This happened in order to make the scripture come true: "They divided my clothes among themselves and gambled for my robe." And this is what the soldiers did.

883-Acts 1:26 Then they drew lots to choose between the two men, and the one chosen was Matthias, who was added to the group of eleven apostles.

884-Numbers 18:8 The Lord said to Aaron, "Remember that I am giving you all the special contributions made to me that are not burned as sacrifices. I am giving them to you and to your descendants as the part assigned to you forever. 9 Of the most sacred offerings not burned on the altar, the following belong to you: the grain offerings, the sin offerings, and the repayment offerings. Everything that is presented to me as a sacred offering belongs to you and your sons. 10 You must eat these things in a holy place, and only males may eat them; consider them holy.

885-Leviticus 2:3,10; 6:17,18,29; 7:63 The rest of the grain offering belongs to the priests; it is very holy, since it is taken from the food offered to the Lord.

Leviticus 2:10 The rest of the offering belongs to the priests; it is very holy, since it is taken from the food offered to the Lord.

Leviticus 6:18 For all time to come any of the male descendants of Aaron may eat it as their continuing share of the food offered to the Lord. Anyone else who touches a food offering will be harmed by the power of its holiness.

Leviticus 6:29 Any male of the priestly families may eat this offering; it is very holy.

Leviticus 7:6 Any male of the priestly families may eat it, but it must be eaten in a holy place, because it is very holy.

886-Numbers 20:2 There was no water where they camped, so the people gathered around Moses and Aaron 3 and complained: "It would have been better if we had died in front of the Lord's Tent along with the other Israelites. 4 Why have you brought us out into this wilderness? Just so that we can die here with our animals? 5 Why did you bring us out of Egypt into this miserable place where nothing will grow? There's no grain, no figs, no grapes, no pomegranates. There is not even any water to drink!" 6 Moses and Aaron moved away from the people and stood at the entrance of the Tent. They bowed down with their faces to the ground, and the dazzling light of the Lord's presence appeared to them. 7 The Lord said to Moses, 8 "Take the stick that is in front of the Covenant Box, and then you and Aaron assemble the whole community. There in front of them all speak to that rock over there, and water will gush out of it. In this way you will bring water out of the rock for the people, for them and their animals to drink." 9 Moses went and got the stick, as the Lord had commanded. 10 He and Aaron assembled the whole community in front of the rock, and Moses said, "Listen, you rebels! Do we have to get water out of this rock for you?" 11 Then Moses raised the stick and struck the rock twice with it, and a great stream of water gushed out, and all the people and animals drank. 12 But the Lord reprimanded Moses and Aaron. He said, "Because you did not have enough faith to acknowledge my holy power before the people of Israel, you will not lead them into the land that I promised to give them." 13 This happened at Meribah, where the people of Israel complained against the Lord and where he showed them that he is holy.

887-Deuteronomy 3:23 "At that time I earnestly prayed, 24 "Sovereign Lord, I know that you have shown me only the beginning of the great and wonderful things you are going to do. There is no god in heaven or on earth who can do the mighty things that you have done! 25 Let me cross the Jordan River, Lord, and see the fertile land on the other side, the beautiful hill country and the Lebanon Mountains.' 26 "But because of you people the Lord was angry with me and would not listen. Instead, he said, "That's enough! Don't mention this again! 27 Go to the peak of Mount Pisgah and look to the north and to the south, to the east and to the west. Look carefully at what you see, because you will never go across the Jordan. 28 Give Joshua his instructions. Strengthen his determination, because he will lead the people across to occupy the land that you see.'

888-Numbers 22-25;311 The Israelites moved on and set up camp in the plains of Moab east of the Jordan and opposite Jericho. 2 When the king of Moab, Balak son of Zippor, heard what the Israelites had done to the Amorites and how many Israelites there were, 3 he and all his people became terrified. 4 The Moabites said to the leaders of the Midianites, "This horde will soon destroy everything around us, like a bull eating the grass in a pasture." So King Balak 5 sent messengers to summon Balaam son of Beor, who was at Pethor near the Euphrates River in the land of Amaw. They brought him this message from Balak: "I want you to know that a whole nation has come from Egypt; its people are spreading out everywhere and threatening to take over our land. 6 They outnumber us, so please come and put a curse on them for me. Then perhaps we will be able to defeat them and drive them out of the land. I know that when you pronounce a blessing, people are blessed, and when you pronounce a curse, they are placed under a curse." 7 So the Moabite and Midianite leaders took with them the payment for the curse, went to Balaam, and gave him Balak's message. 8 Balaam said to them, "Spend the night here, and tomorrow I will report to you whatever the Lord tells me." So the Moabite leaders stayed with Balaam. 9 God came to Balaam and asked, "Who are these people that are staying with you?" 10 He answered, "King Balak of Moab has sent them to tell me 11 that a people who came from Egypt has spread out over the whole land. He wants me to curse them for him, so that he can fight them and drive them out." 12 God said to Balaam, "Do not go with them, and do not put a curse on the people of Israel, because they have my blessing." 13 The next morning Balaam went to Balak's messengers and said, "Go back home; the Lord has refused to let me go with you." 14 So they returned to Balak and told him that Balaam had refused to come with them. 15 Then Balak sent a larger number of leaders, who were more important than the first. 16 They went to Balaam and gave him this message from Balak: "Please don't let anything prevent you from coming to me! 17 I will reward you richly and do anything you say. Please come and curse these people for me." 18 But Balaam answered, "Even if Balak gave me all the silver and gold in his palace, I could not disobey the command of the Lord my God in even the smallest matter. 19 But please spend the night, as the others did, so that I may learn whether or not the Lord has something else to tell me." 20 That night God came to Balaam and said, "If these men have come to ask you to go with them, get ready and go, but do only what I tell you." 21 So the next morning Balaam saddled his donkey and went with the Moabite leaders. 22 God was angry that Balaam was going, and as Balaam was riding along on his donkey, accompanied by his two servants, the angel of the Lord stood in the road to bar his way. 23 When the donkey saw the angel standing there holding a sword, it left the road and turned into the fields. Balaam beat the donkey and brought it back onto the road. 24 Then the angel stood where the road narrowed between two vineyards and had a stone wall on each side. 25 When the donkey saw the angel, it moved over against the wall and crushed Balaam's foot against it. Again Balaam beat the donkey. 26 Once more the angel moved ahead; he stood in a narrow place where there was no room at all to pass on either side. 27 This time, when the donkey saw the angel, it lay down. Balaam lost his temper and began to beat the donkey with his stick. 28 Then the Lord gave the donkey the power of speech, and it said to Balaam, "What have I done to you? Why have you beaten me these three times?" 29 Balaam answered, "Because you have made a fool of me! If I had a sword, I would kill you." 30 The donkey replied, "Am I not the same donkey on which you have ridden all your life? Have I ever treated you like this before?" "No," he answered. 31 Then the Lord let Balaam see the angel standing there with his sword; and Balaam threw himself face downward on the ground. 32 The angel demanded, "Why have you beaten your donkey three times like this? I have come to bar your way, because you should not be making this journey. 33 But your donkey saw me and turned aside three times. If it hadn't, I would have killed you and spared the donkey." 34 Balaam replied, "I have sinned. I did not know that you were standing in the road to oppose me; but now if you think it is wrong for me to go on, I will return home." 35 But the angel said, "Go on with these men, but say only what I tell you to say." So Balaam went on with them. 36 When Balak heard that Balaam was coming, he went to meet him at Ar, a city on the Arnon River at the border of Moab. 37 Balak said to him, "Why didn't you come when I sent for you the first time? Did you think I wasn't able to reward you enough?" 38 Balaam answered, "I came, didn't I? But now, what power do I have? I can say only what God tells me to say." 39 So Balaam went with Balak to the town of Huzoth, 40 where Balak slaughtered cattle and sheep and gave some of the meat to Balaam and the leaders who were with him. 41 The next morning Balak took Balaam up to Bamoth Baal, from where Balaam could see a part of the people of Israel.

Numbers 23:1 He said to Balak, "Build seven altars here for me, and bring me seven bulls and seven rams." 2 Balak did as he was told, and he and Balaam offered a bull and a ram on each altar. 3 Then Balaam said to Balak, "Stand here by your burnt offering, while I go to see whether or not the Lord will meet me. I will tell you whatever he reveals to me." So he went alone to the top of a hill, 4 and God met him. Balaam said to him, "I have built the seven altars and offered a bull and a ram on each." 5 The Lord told Balaam what to say and sent him back to Balak to give him his message. 6 So he went back and found Balak still standing by his burnt offering with all the leaders of Moab. 7 Balaam uttered this prophecy: "Balak king of Moab has brought me From Syria, from the eastern mountains. "Come speak for me,' he said. "Put a curse on the people of Israel.' 8 How can I curse what God has not cursed, Or speak of doom when the Lord has not? 9 From the high rocks I can see them; I can watch them from the hills. They are a nation that lives alone; They know they are blessed more than other nations. 10 The descendants of Israel are like the dust - There are too many of them to be counted. Let me end my days like one of God's people; Let me die in peace like the righteous." 11 Then Balak said to Balaam, "What have you done to me? I brought you here to curse my enemies, but all you have done is bless them." 12 He answered, "I can say only what the Lord tells me to say." 13 Then Balak said to Balaam, "Come with me to another place from which you can see only some of the Israelites. Curse them for me from there." 14 He took him to the field of Zophim on the top of Mount Pisgah. There also he built seven altars and offered a bull and a ram on each of them. 15 Balaam said to Balak, "Stand here by your burnt offering, and I will meet God over there." 16 The Lord met Balaam, told him what to say, and sent him back to Balak to give him his message. 17 So he went back and found Balak still standing by his burnt offering, with the leaders of Moab. Balak asked what the Lord had said, 18 and Balaam uttered this prophecy: "Come, Balak son of Zippor, And listen to what I have to say. 19 God is not like people, who lie; He is not a human who changes his mind. Whatever he promises, he does; He speaks, and it is done. 20 I have been instructed to bless, And when God blesses, I cannot call it back. 21 I foresee that Israel's future Will bring her no misfortune or trouble. The Lord their God is with them; They proclaim that he is their king. 22 God has brought them out of Egypt; He fights for them like a wild ox. 23 There is no magic charm, no witchcraft, That can be used against the nation of Israel. Now people will say about Israel, "Look what God has done!' 24 The nation of Israel is like a mighty lion: It doesn't rest until it has torn and devoured, Until it has drunk the blood of those it has killed." 25 Then Balak said to Balaam, "You refuse to curse the people of Israel, but at least don't bless them!" 26 Balaam answered, "Didn't I tell you that I had to do everything that the Lord told me?" 27 Balak said, "Come with me, and I will take you to another place. Perhaps God will be willing to let you curse them for me from there." 28 So he took Balaam to the top of Mount Peor overlooking the desert. 29 Balaam said to him, "Build seven altars for me here and bring me seven bulls and seven rams." 30 Balak did as he was told, and offered a bull and a ram on each altar.

Numbers 24:1 By now Balaam knew that the Lord wanted him to bless the people of Israel, so he did not go to look for omens, as he had done before. He turned toward the desert 2 and saw the people of Israel camped tribe by tribe. The spirit of God took control of him, 3 and he uttered this prophecy: "The message of Balaam son of Beor, The words of the man who can see clearly, 4 Who can hear what God is saying. With staring eyes I see in a trance A vision from Almighty God. 5 The tents of Israel are beautiful, 6 Like long rows of palms Or gardens beside a river, Like aloes planted by the Lord Or cedars beside the water. 7 They will have abundant rainfall And plant their seed in well-watered fields. Their king shall be greater than Agag, And his rule shall be extended far and wide. 8 God brought them out of Egypt; He fights for them like a wild ox. They devour their enemies, Crush their bones, smash their arrows. 9 The nation is like a mighty lion; When it is sleeping, no one dares wake it. Whoever blesses Israel will be blessed, And whoever curses Israel will be cursed." 10 Balak clenched his fists in anger and said to Balaam, "I called you to curse my enemies, but three times now you have blessed them instead. 11 Now get on home! I promised to reward you, but the Lord has kept you from getting the reward." 12 Balaam answered, "I told the messengers you sent to me that 13 even if you gave me all the silver and gold in your palace, I could not disobey the command of the Lord by doing anything of myself. I will say only what the Lord tells me to say." 14 Balaam said to Balak, "Now I am going back to my own people, but before I go, I am warning you what the people of Israel will do to your people in the future." 15 Then he uttered this prophecy: "The message of Balaam son of Beor, The words of the man who can see clearly, 16 Who can hear what God is saying And receive the knowledge that comes from the Most High. With staring eyes I see in a trance A vision from Almighty God. 17 I look into the future, And I see the nation of Israel. A king, like a bright star, will arise in that nation. Like a comet he will come from Israel. He will strike the leaders of Moab And beat down all the people of Seth. 18 He will conquer his enemies in Edom And make their land his property, While Israel continues victorious. 19 The nation of Israel will trample them down And wipe out the last survivors." 20 Then in his vision Balaam saw the Amalekites and uttered this prophecy: "Amalek was the most powerful nation of all, But at the end it will perish forever." 21 In his vision he saw the Kenites, and uttered this prophecy: "The place where you live is secure, Safe as a nest set high on a cliff, 22 But you Kenites will be destroyed When Assyria takes you captive." 23 Balaam uttered this prophecy: "Who are these people gathering in the north? 24 Invaders will sail from Cyprus; They will conquer Assyria and Eber, But they, in turn, will perish forever." 25 Then Balaam got ready and went back home, and Balak went on his way.

Numbers 25:1 When the Israelites were camped at Acacia Valley, the men began to have sexual intercourse with the Moabite women who were there. 2 These women invited them to sacrificial feasts, where the god of Moab was worshiped. The Israelites ate the food and worshiped the god 3 Baal of Peor. So the Lord was angry with them 4 and said to Moses, "Take all the leaders of Israel and, in obedience to me, execute them in broad daylight, and then I will no longer be angry with the people." 5 Moses said to the officials, "Each of you is to kill every man in your tribe who has become a worshiper of Baal of Peor." 6 One of the Israelites took a Midianite woman into his tent in the sight of Moses and the whole community, while they were mourning at the entrance of the Tent of the Lord's presence. 7 When Phinehas, the son of Eleazar and grandson of Aaron the priest, saw this, he got up and left the assembly. He took a spear, 8 followed the man and the woman into the tent, and drove the spear through both of them. In this way the epidemic that was destroying Israel was stopped, 9 but it had already killed twenty-four thousand people. 10 The Lord said to Moses, 11 "Because of what Phinehas has done, I am no longer angry with the people of Israel. He refused to tolerate the worship of any god but me, and that is why I did not destroy them in my anger. 12 So tell him that I am making a covenant with him that is valid for all time to come. 13 He and his descendants are permanently established as priests, because he did not tolerate any rivals to me and brought about forgiveness for the people's sin." 14 The name of the Israelite who was killed with the Midianite woman was Zimri son of Salu, the head of a family in the tribe of Simeon. 15 The woman's name was Cozbi. Zur, her father, was chief of a group of Midianite clans. 16 The Lord commanded Moses, 17 "Attack the Midianites and destroy them, 18 because of the evil they did to you when they deceived you at Peor, and because of Cozbi, who was killed at the time of the epidemic at Peor."

Numbers 31:1 The Lord said to Moses, 2 "Punish the Midianites for what they did to the people of Israel. After you have done that, you will die." 3 So Moses said to the people, "Get ready for war, so that you can attack Midian and punish them for what they did to the Lord. 4 From each tribe of Israel send a thousand men to war." 5 So a thousand men were chosen from each tribe, a total of twelve thousand men ready for battle. 6 Moses sent them to war under the command of Phinehas son of Eleazar the priest, who took charge of the sacred objects and the trumpets for giving signals. 7 They attacked Midian, as the Lord had commanded Moses, and killed all the men, 8 including the five kings of Midian: Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur, and Reba. They also killed Balaam son of Beor. 9 The people of Israel captured the Midianite women and children, took their cattle and their flocks, plundered all their wealth, 10 and burned all their cities and camps. 11 They took all the loot that they had captured, including the prisoners and the animals, 12 and brought them to Moses and Eleazar and to the community of the people of Israel, who were at the camp on the plains of Moab across the Jordan from Jericho. 13 Moses, Eleazar, and all the other leaders of the community went out of the camp to meet the army. 14 Moses became angry with the officers, the commanders of battalions and companies, who had returned from the war. 15 He asked them, "Why have you kept all the women alive? 16 Remember that it was the women who followed Balaam's instructions and at Peor led the people to be unfaithful to the Lord. That was what brought the epidemic on the Lord's people. 17 So now kill every boy and kill every woman who has had sexual intercourse, 18 but keep alive for yourselves all the girls and all the women who are virgins. 19 Now all of you who have killed anyone or have touched a corpse must stay outside the camp for seven days. On the third day and on the seventh day purify yourselves and the women you have captured. 20 You must also purify every piece of clothing and everything made of leather, goats' hair, or wood." 21 Eleazar the priest said to the men who had returned from battle, "These are the regulations that the Lord has given to Moses. 22 Everything that will not burn, such as gold, silver, bronze, iron, tin, or lead, is to be purified by passing it through fire. Everything else is to be purified by the water for purification. 24 On the seventh day you must wash your clothes; then you will be ritually clean and will be permitted to enter the camp." 25 The Lord said to Moses, 26 "You and Eleazar, together with the other leaders of the community, are to count everything that has been captured, including the prisoners and the animals. 27 Divide what was taken into two equal parts, one part for the soldiers and the other part for the rest of the community. 28 From the part that belongs to the soldiers, withhold as a tax for the Lord one out of every five hundred prisoners and the same proportion of the cattle, donkeys, sheep, and goats. 29 Give them to Eleazar the priest as a special contribution to the Lord. 30 From the part given to the rest of the people, take one out of every fifty prisoners and the same proportion of the cattle, donkeys, sheep, and goats. Give them to the Levites who are in charge of the Lord's Tent." 31 Moses and Eleazar did what the Lord commanded. 32 The following is a list of what was captured by the soldiers, in addition to what they kept for themselves: 675,000 sheep and goats, 72,000 cattle, 61,000 donkeys, and 32,000 virgins. 36 The half share of the soldiers was 337,500 sheep and goats, of which 675 were the tax for the Lord; 36,000 cattle for the soldiers, of which 72 were the tax for the Lord; 30,500 donkeys for the soldiers, of which 61 were the tax for the Lord; and 16,000 virgins for the soldiers, of which 32 were the tax for the Lord. 41 So Moses gave Eleazar the tax as a special contribution to the Lord, as the Lord had commanded. 42 The share of the community was the same as that for the soldiers: 337,500 sheep and goats, 36,000 cattle, 30,500 donkeys, and 16,000 virgins. 47 From this share Moses took one out of every fifty prisoners and animals, and as the Lord had commanded, gave them to the Levites who were in charge of the Lord's Tent. 48 Then the officers who had commanded the army went to Moses 49 and reported, "Sir, we have counted the soldiers under our command and not one of them is missing. 50 So we are bringing the gold ornaments, armlets, bracelets, rings, earrings, and necklaces that each of us has taken. We offer them to the Lord as a payment for our lives, so that he will protect us." 51 Moses and Eleazar received the gold, all of which was in the form of ornaments. 52 The total contribution of the officers weighed over four hundred pounds. 53 Those who were not officers kept the loot they had taken. 54 So Moses and Eleazar took the gold to the Tent, so that the Lord would protect the people of Israel.

889-Numbers 31:8 including the five kings of Midian: Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur, and Reba. They also killed Balaam son of Beor

890-Numbers 31:8 including the five kings of Midian: Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur, and Reba. They also killed Balaam son of Beor.

Numbers 31:16 Remember that it was the women who followed Balaam's instructions and at Peor led the people to be unfaithful to the Lord. That was what brought the epidemic on the Lord's people.

891-Deuteronomy 23:4 They refused to provide you with food and water when you were on your way out of Egypt, and they hired Balaam son of Beor, from the city of Pethor in Mesopotamia, to curse you. 5 But the Lord your God would not listen to Balaam; instead he turned the curse into a blessing, because he loved you.

892-Joshua 13:22; 24:9,1022 Among those whom the people of Israel killed was the fortune teller Balaam son of Beor.

Joshua 24:9 Then the king of Moab, Balak son of Zippor, fought against you. He sent word to Balaam son of Beor and asked him to put a curse on you. 10 But I would not listen to Balaam, so he blessed you, and in this way I rescued you from Balak.

893-Nehemiah 13:2 This was because the people of Ammon and Moab did not give food and water to the Israelites on their way out of Egypt. Instead, they paid money to Balaam to curse Israel, but our God turned the curse into a blessing.

894-Micah 6:5 My people, remember what King Balak of Moab planned to do to you and how Balaam son of Beor answered him. Remember the things that happened on the way from the camp at Acacia to Gilgal. Remember these things and you will realize what I did in order to save you."

Micah 2:1 How terrible it will be for those who lie awake and plan evil! When morning comes, as soon as they have the chance, they do the evil they planned. 2 When they want fields, they seize them; when they want houses, they take them. No one's family or property is safe. 3 And so the Lord says, "I am planning to bring disaster on you, and you will not be able to escape it. You are going to find yourselves in trouble, and then you will not walk so proudly any more. 4 When that time comes, people will use the story about you as an example of disaster, and they will sing this song of despair about your experience: We are completely ruined! The Lord has taken our land away And given it to those who took us captive." 5 So then, when the time comes for the land to be given back to the Lord's people, there will be no share for any of you. 6 The people preach at me and say, "Don't preach at us. Don't preach about all that. God is not going to disgrace us. 7 Do you think the people of Israel are under a curse? Has the Lord lost his patience? Would he really do such things? Doesn't he speak kindly to those who do right?" 8 The Lord replies, "You attack my people like enemies. Men return from battle, thinking they are safe at home, but there you are, waiting to steal the coats off their backs. 9 You drive the women of my people out of the homes they love, and you have robbed their children of my blessings forever. 10 Get up and go; there is no safety here any more. Your sins have doomed this place to destruction. 11 "These people want the kind of prophet who goes around full of lies and deceit and says, "I prophesy that wine and liquor will flow for you.' 12 "But I will gather you together, all you people of Israel that are left. I will bring you together like sheep returning to the fold. Like a pasture full of sheep, your land will once again be filled with many people." 13 God will open the way for them and lead them out of exile. They will break out of the city gates and go free. Their king, the Lord himself, will lead them out

895-Peter 2:15 For God wants you to silence the ignorant talk of foolish people by the good things you do. 16 Live as free people; do not, however, use your freedom to cover up any evil, but live as God's slaves.

896-Revelation 2:14 But there are a few things I have against you: there are some among you who follow the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak how to lead the people of Israel into sin by persuading them to eat food that had been offered to idols and to practice sexual immorality.

897-Numbers 31:7,17,187 They attacked Midian, as the Lord had commanded Moses, and killed all the men,

Numbers 31:17 So now kill every boy and kill every woman who has had sexual intercourse, 18 but keep alive for yourselves all the girls and all the women who are virgins.

898-Deuteronomy 2:16 "After they had all died, 17 the Lord said to us, 18 "Today you are to pass through the territory of Moab by way of Ar.

899-1 Samuel 15:1 Samuel said to Saul, "I am the one whom the Lord sent to anoint you king of his people Israel. Now listen to what the Lord Almighty says. 2 He is going to punish the people of Amalek because their ancestors opposed the Israelites when they were coming from Egypt. 3 Go and attack the Amalekites and completely destroy everything they have. Don't leave a thing; kill all the men, women, children, and babies; the cattle, sheep, camels, and donkeys."

900-Numbers 25:1 When the Israelites were camped at Acacia Valley, the men began to have sexual intercourse with the Moabite women who were there. 2 These women invited them to sacrificial feasts, where the god of Moab was worshiped. The Israelites ate the food and worshiped the god 3 Baal of Peor. So the Lord was angry with them 4 and said to Moses, "Take all the leaders of Israel and, in obedience to me, execute them in broad daylight, and then I will no longer be angry with the people." 5 Moses said to the officials, "Each of you is to kill every man in your tribe who has become a worshiper of Baal of Peor." 6 One of the Israelites took a Midianite woman into his tent in the sight of Moses and the whole community, while they were mourning at the entrance of the Tent of the Lord's presence. 7 When Phinehas, the son of Eleazar and grandson of Aaron the priest, saw this, he got up and left the assembly. He took a spear, 8 followed the man and the woman into the tent, and drove the spear through both of them. In this way the epidemic that was destroying Israel was stopped, 9 but it had already killed twenty-four thousand people.

Numbers 31:16 Remember that it was the women who followed Balaam's instructions and at Peor led the people to be unfaithful to the Lord. That was what brought the epidemic on the Lord's people.

901-Numbers 31:36 The half share of the soldiers was 337,500 sheep and goats, of which 675 were the tax for the Lord; 36,000 cattle for the soldiers, of which 72 were the tax for the Lord; 30,500 donkeys for the soldiers, of which 61 were the tax for the Lord; and 16,000 virgins for the soldiers, of which 32 were the tax for the Lord. 41 So Moses gave Eleazar the tax as a special contribution to the Lord, as the Lord had commanded. 42 The share of the community was the same as that for the soldiers: 337,500 sheep and goats, 36,000 cattle, 30,500 donkeys, and 16,000 virgins.

902-Numbers 21:21 Then the people of Israel sent messengers to the Amorite king Sihon to say: 22 "Let us pass through your land. We and our cattle will not leave the road and go into your fields or vineyards, and we will not drink water from your wells; we will stay on the main road until we are out of your territory." 23 But Sihon would not permit the people of Israel to pass through his territory. He gathered his army and went out to Jahaz in the wilderness and attacked the Israelites. 24 But the Israelites killed many of the enemy in battle and occupied their land from the Arnon River north to the Jabbok, that is, to the Ammonites, because the Ammonite border was strongly defended. 25 So the people of Israel captured all the Amorite cities, including Heshbon and all the surrounding towns, and settled in them. 26 Heshbon was the capital city of the Amorite king Sihon, who had fought against the former king of Moab and had captured all his land as far as the Arnon River. 27 That is why the poets sing, "Come to Heshbon, to King Sihon's city! We want to see it rebuilt and restored. 28 Once from this city of Heshbon Sihon's army went forth like a fire; It destroyed the city of Ar in Moab And devoured the hills of the upper Arnon. 29 How terrible for you, people of Moab! You worshipers of Chemosh are brought to ruin! Your god let the men become refugees, And the women became captives of the Amorite king. 30 But now their descendants are destroyed, All the way from Heshbon to Dibon, From Nashim to Nophah, near Medeba." 31 So the people of Israel settled in the territory of the Amorites, 32 and Moses sent men to find the best way to attack the city of Jazer. The Israelites captured it and its surrounding towns and drove out the Amorites living there. 33 Then the Israelites turned and took the road to Bashan, and King Og of Bashan marched out with his army to attack them at Edrei. 34 The Lord said to Moses, "Do not be afraid of him. I will give you victory over him, all his people, and his land. Do to him what you did to Sihon, the Amorite king who ruled at Heshbon." 35 So the Israelites killed Og, his sons, and all his people, leaving no survivors, and then they occupied his land.

903-Numbers 21:34 The Lord said to Moses, "Do not be afraid of him. I will give you victory over him, all his people, and his land. Do to him what you did to Sihon, the Amorite king who ruled at Heshbon." 35 So the Israelites killed Og, his sons, and all his people, leaving no survivors, and then they occupied his land.

904-Genesis 25:1 Abraham married another woman, whose name was Keturah.

905-Numbers 13:1 The Lord said to Moses, 2 "Choose one of the leaders from each of the twelve tribes and send them as spies to explore the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the Israelites."

906-Deuteronomy 1:19 "We did what the Lord our God commanded us. We left Mount Sinai and went through that vast and fearful desert on the way to the hill country of the Amorites. When we reached Kadesh Barnea, 20 I told you, "You have now come to the hill country of the Amorites, which the Lord our God, the God of our ancestors, is giving us. Look, there it is. Go and occupy it as he commanded. Do not hesitate or be afraid.' 22 "But you came to me and said, "Let's send men ahead of us to spy out the land, so that they can tell us the best route to take and what kind of cities are there.' 23 "That seemed like a good thing to do, so I selected twelve men, one from each tribe. 24 They went into the hill country as far as Eshcol Valley and explored it. 25 They brought us back some fruit they found there, and reported that the land which the Lord our God was giving us was very fertile. 26 "But you rebelled against the command of the Lord your God, and you would not enter the land. 27 You grumbled to one another: "The Lord hates us. He brought us out of Egypt just to hand us over to these Amorites, so that they could kill us. 28 Why should we go there? We are afraid. The men we sent tell us that the people there are stronger and taller than we are, and that they live in cities with walls that reach the sky. They saw giants there!' 29 "But I told you, "Don't be afraid of those people. 30 The Lord your God will lead you, and he will fight for you, just as you saw him do in Egypt 31 and in the desert. You saw how he brought you safely all the way to this place, just as a father would carry his son.' 32 But in spite of what I said, you still would not trust the Lord,

907-1 The Israelites moved on and set up camp in the plains of Moab east of the Jordan and opposite Jericho. 2 When the king of Moab, Balak son of Zippor, heard what the Israelites had done to the Amorites and how many Israelites there were, 3 he and all his people became terrified. 4 The Moabites said to the leaders of the Midianites, "This horde will soon destroy everything around us, like a bull eating the grass in a pasture." So King Balak 5 sent messengers to summon Balaam son of Beor, who was at Pethor near the Euphrates River in the land of Amaw. They brought him this message from Balak: "I want you to know that a whole nation has come from Egypt; its people are spreading out everywhere and threatening to take over our land. 6 They outnumber us, so please come and put a curse on them for me. Then perhaps we will be able to defeat them and drive them out of the land. I know that when you pronounce a blessing, people are blessed, and when you pronounce a curse, they are placed under a curse." 7 So the Moabite and Midianite leaders took with them the payment for the curse, went to Balaam, and gave him Balak's message. 8 Balaam said to them, "Spend the night here, and tomorrow I will report to you whatever the Lord tells me." So the Moabite leaders stayed with Balaam. 9 God came to Balaam and asked, "Who are these people that are staying with you?" 10 He answered, "King Balak of Moab has sent them to tell me 11 that a people who came from Egypt has spread out over the whole land. He wants me to curse them for him, so that he can fight them and drive them out." 12 God said to Balaam, "Do not go with them, and do not put a curse on the people of Israel, because they have my blessing." 13 The next morning Balaam went to Balak's messengers and said, "Go back home; the Lord has refused to let me go with you." 14 So they returned to Balak and told him that Balaam had refused to come with them. 15 Then Balak sent a larger number of leaders, who were more important than the first. 16 They went to Balaam and gave him this message from Balak: "Please don't let anything prevent you from coming to me! 17 I will reward you richly and do anything you say. Please come and curse these people for me." 18 But Balaam answered, "Even if Balak gave me all the silver and gold in his palace, I could not disobey the command of the Lord my God in even the smallest matter. 19 But please spend the night, as the others did, so that I may learn whether or not the Lord has something else to tell me." 20 That night God came to Balaam and said, "If these men have come to ask you to go with them, get ready and go, but do only what I tell you." 21 So the next morning Balaam saddled his donkey and went with the Moabite leaders. 22 God was angry that Balaam was going, and as Balaam was riding along on his donkey, accompanied by his two servants, the angel of the Lord stood in the road to bar his way. 23 When the donkey saw the angel standing there holding a sword, it left the road and turned into the fields. Balaam beat the donkey and brought it back onto the road. 24 Then the angel stood where the road narrowed between two vineyards and had a stone wall on each side. 25 When the donkey saw the angel, it moved over against the wall and crushed Balaam's foot against it. Again Balaam beat the donkey. 26 Once more the angel moved ahead; he stood in a narrow place where there was no room at all to pass on either side. 27 This time, when the donkey saw the angel, it lay down. Balaam lost his temper and began to beat the donkey with his stick. 28 Then the Lord gave the donkey the power of speech, and it said to Balaam, "What have I done to you? Why have you beaten me these three times?" 29 Balaam answered, "Because you have made a fool of me! If I had a sword, I would kill you." 30 The donkey replied, "Am I not the same donkey on which you have ridden all your life? Have I ever treated you like this before?" "No," he answered. 31 Then the Lord let Balaam see the angel standing there with his sword; and Balaam threw himself face downward on the ground. 32 The angel demanded, "Why have you beaten your donkey three times like this? I have come to bar your way, because you should not be making this journey. 33 But your donkey saw me and turned aside three times. If it hadn't, I would have killed you and spared the donkey." 34 Balaam replied, "I have sinned. I did not know that you were standing in the road to oppose me; but now if you think it is wrong for me to go on, I will return home." 35 But the angel said, "Go on with these men, but say only what I tell you to say." So Balaam went on with them. 36 When Balak heard that Balaam was coming, he went to meet him at Ar, a city on the Arnon River at the border of Moab. 37 Balak said to him, "Why didn't you come when I sent for you the first time? Did you think I wasn't able to reward you enough?" 38 Balaam answered, "I came, didn't I? But now, what power do I have? I can say only what God tells me to say." 39 So Balaam went with Balak to the town of Huzoth, 40 where Balak slaughtered cattle and sheep and gave some of the meat to Balaam and the leaders who were with him. 41 The next morning Balak took Balaam up to Bamoth Baal, from where Balaam could see a part of the people of Israel.

908-Deuteronomy 1:1 In this book are the words that Moses spoke to the people of Israel when they were in the wilderness east of the Jordan River. They were in the Jordan Valley near Suph, between the town of Paran on one side and the towns of Tophel, Laban, Hazeroth, and Dizahab on the other

909-Deuteronomy 32:1 "Earth and sky, hear my words, listen closely to what I say. 2 My teaching will fall like drops of rain and form on the earth like dew. My words will fall like showers on young plants, like gentle rain on tender grass. 3 I will praise the name of the Lord, and his people will tell of his greatness. 4 "The Lord is your mighty defender, perfect and just in all his ways; Your God is faithful and true; he does what is right and fair. 5 But you are unfaithful, unworthy to be his people, a sinful and deceitful nation. 6 Is this the way you should treat the Lord, you foolish, senseless people? He is your father, your Creator, he made you into a nation. 7 "Think of the past, of the time long ago; ask your parents to tell you what happened, ask the old people to tell of the past. 8 The Most High assigned nations their lands; he determined where peoples should live. He assigned to each nation a heavenly being, 9 but Jacob's descendants he chose for himself. 10 "He found them wandering through the desert, a desolate, wind-swept wilderness. He protected them and cared for them, as he would protect himself. 11 Like an eagle teaching its young to fly, catching them safely on its spreading wings, the Lord kept Israel from falling. 12 The Lord alone led his people without the help of a foreign god. 13 "He let them rule the highlands, and they ate what grew in the fields. They found wild honey among the rocks; their olive trees flourished in stony ground. 14 Their cows and goats gave plenty of milk; they had the best sheep, goats, and cattle, the finest wheat, and the choicest wine. 15 "The Lord's people grew rich, but rebellious; they were fat and stuffed with food. They abandoned God their Creator and rejected their mighty savior. 16 Their idolatry made the Lord jealous; the evil they did made him angry. 17 They sacrificed to gods that are not real, new gods their ancestors had never known, gods that Israel had never obeyed. 18 They forgot their God, their mighty savior, the one who had given them life. 19 "When the Lord saw this, he was angry and rejected his sons and daughters. 20 "I will no longer help them,' he said; "then I will see what happens to them, those stubborn, unfaithful people. 21 With their idols they have made me angry, jealous with their so-called gods, gods that are really not gods. So I will use a so-called nation to make them angry; I will make them jealous with a nation of fools. 22 My anger will flame up like fire and burn everything on earth. It will reach to the world below and consume the roots of the mountains. 23 " "I will bring on them endless disasters and use all my arrows against them. 24 They will die from hunger and fever; they will die from terrible diseases. I will send wild animals to attack them, and poisonous snakes to bite them. 25 War will bring death in the streets; terrors will strike in the homes. Young men and young women will die; neither babies nor old people will be spared. 26 I would have destroyed them completely, so that no one would remember them. 27 But I could not let their enemies boast that they had defeated my people, when it was I myself who had crushed them.' 28 "Israel is a nation without sense; they have no wisdom at all. 29 They fail to see why they were defeated; they cannot understand what happened. 30 Why were a thousand defeated by one, and ten thousand by only two? The Lord, their God, had abandoned them; their mighty God had given them up. 31 Their enemies know that their own gods are weak, not mighty like Israel's God. 32 Their enemies, corrupt as Sodom and Gomorrah, are like vines that bear bitter and poisonous grapes, 33 like wine made from the venom of snakes. 34 "The Lord remembers what their enemies have done; he waits for the right time to punish them. 35 The Lord will take revenge and punish them; the time will come when they will fall; the day of their doom is near. 36 The Lord will rescue his people when he sees that their strength is gone. He will have mercy on those who serve him, when he sees how helpless they are. 37 Then the Lord will ask his people, "Where are those mighty gods you trusted? 38 You fed them the fat of your sacrifices and offered them wine to drink. Let them come and help you now; let them run to your rescue. 39 " "I, and I alone, am God; no other god is real. I kill and I give life, I wound and I heal, and no one can oppose what I do. 40 As surely as I am the living God, I raise my hand and I vow 41 that I will sharpen my flashing sword and see that justice is done. I will take revenge on my enemies and punish those who hate me. 42 My arrows will drip with their blood, and my sword will kill all who oppose me. I will spare no one who fights against me; even the wounded and prisoners will die.' 43 "Nations, you must praise the Lord's people - he punishes all who kill them. He takes revenge on his enemies and forgives the sins of his people." 44 Moses and Joshua son of Nun recited this song, so that the people of Israel could hear it. 45 When Moses had finished giving God's teachings to the people, 46 he said, "Be sure to obey all these commands that I have given you today. Repeat them to your children, so that they may faithfully obey all of God's teachings. 47 These teachings are not empty words; they are your very life. Obey them and you will live long in that land across the Jordan that you are about to occupy."

910-Deuteronomy 33:1 These are the blessings that Moses, the man of God, pronounced on the people of Israel before he died. 2 The Lord came from Mount Sinai; he rose like the sun over Edom and shone on his people from Mount Paran. Ten thousand angels were with him, a flaming fire at his right hand. 3 The Lord loves his people and protects those who belong to him. So we bow at his feet and obey his commands. 4 We obey the Law that Moses gave us, our nation's most treasured possession. 5 The Lord became king of his people Israel when their tribes and leaders were gathered together. 6 Moses said about the tribe of Reuben: "May Reuben never die out, Although their people are few." 7 About the tribe of Judah he said: "Lord, listen to their cry for help; Unite them again with the other tribes. Fight for them, Lord, And help them against their enemies." 8 About the tribe of Levi he said: "You, Lord, reveal your will by the Urim and Thummim Through your faithful servants, the Levites; You put them to the test at Massah And proved them true at the waters of Meribah. 9 They showed greater loyalty to you Than to parents, brothers, or children. They obeyed your commands And were faithful to your covenant. 10 They will teach your people to obey your Law; They will offer sacrifices on your altar. 11 Lord, help their tribe to grow strong; Be pleased with what they do. Crush all their enemies; Let them never rise again." 12 About the tribe of Benjamin he said: "This is the tribe the Lord loves and protects; He guards them all the day long, And he dwells in their midst." 13 About the tribe of Joseph he said: "May the Lord bless their land with rain And with water from under the earth. 14 May their land be blessed with sun-ripened fruit, Rich with the best fruits of each season. 15 May their ancient hills be covered with choice fruit. 16 May their land be filled with all that is good, Blessed by the goodness of the Lord, Who spoke from the burning bush. May these blessings come to the tribe of Joseph, Because he was the leader among his brothers. 17 Joseph has the strength of a bull, The horns of a wild ox. His horns are Manasseh's thousands And Ephraim's ten thousands. With them he gores the nations And pushes them to the ends of the earth." 18 About the tribes of Zebulun and Issachar he said: "May Zebulun be prosperous in their trade on the sea, And may Issachar's wealth increase at home. 19 They invite foreigners to their mountain And offer the right sacrifices there. They get their wealth from the sea And from the sand along the shore." 20 About the tribe of Gad he said: "Praise God, who made their territory large. Gad waits like a lion To tear off an arm or a scalp. 21 They took the best of the land for themselves; A leader's share was assigned to them. They obeyed the Lord's commands and laws When the leaders of Israel were gathered together." 22 About the tribe of Dan he said: "Dan is a young lion; He leaps out from Bashan." 23 About the tribe of Naphtali he said: "Naphtali is richly blessed by the Lord's good favor; Their land reaches to the south from Lake Galilee." 24 About the tribe of Asher he said: "Asher is blessed more than the other tribes. May he be the favorite of his brothers, And may his land be rich with olive trees. 25 May his towns be protected with iron gates, And may he always live secure." 26 People of Israel, no god is like your God, riding in splendor across the sky, riding through the clouds to come to your aid. 27 God has always been your defense; his eternal arms are your support. He drove out your enemies as you advanced, and told you to destroy them all. 28 So Jacob's descendants live in peace, secure in a land full of grain and wine, where dew from the sky waters the ground. 29 Israel, how happy you are! There is no one like you, a nation saved by the Lord. The Lord himself is your shield and your sword, to defend you and give you victory. Your enemies will come begging for mercy, and you will trample them down.

911-Deuteronomy 32:48 That same day the Lord said to Moses, 49 "Go to the Abarim Mountains in the land of Moab opposite the city of Jericho; climb Mount Nebo and look at the land of Canaan that I am about to give the people of Israel. 50 You will die on that mountain as your brother Aaron died on Mount Hor, 51 because both of you were unfaithful to me in the presence of the people of Israel. When you were at the waters of Meribah, near the town of Kadesh in the wilderness of Zin, you dishonored me in the presence of the people. 52 You will look at the land from a distance, but you will not enter the land that I am giving the people of Israel."

912-Deuteronomy 34:1 Moses went up from the plains of Moab to Mount Nebo, to the top of Mount Pisgah east of Jericho, and there the Lord showed him the whole land: the territory of Gilead as far north as the town of Dan; 2 the entire territory of Naphtali; the territories of Ephraim and Manasseh; the territory of Judah as far west as the Mediterranean Sea; 3 the southern part of Judah; and the plain that reaches from Zoar to Jericho, the city of palm trees. 4 Then the Lord said to Moses, "This is the land that I promised Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob I would give to their descendants. I have let you see it, but I will not let you go there." 5 So Moses, the Lord's servant, died there in the land of Moab, as the Lord had said he would. 6 The Lord buried him in a valley in Moab, opposite the town of Bethpeor, but to this day no one knows the exact place of his burial. 7 Moses was a hundred and twenty years old when he died; he was as strong as ever, and his eyesight was still good. 8 The people of Israel mourned for him for thirty days in the plains of Moab. 9 Joshua son of Nun was filled with wisdom, because Moses had appointed him to be his successor. The people of Israel obeyed Joshua and kept the commands that the Lord had given them through Moses. 10 There has never been a prophet in Israel like Moses; the Lord spoke with him face-to-face. 11 No other prophet has ever done miracles and wonders like those that the Lord sent Moses to perform against the king of Egypt, his officials, and the entire country. 12 No other prophet has been able to do the great and terrifying things that Moses did in the sight of all Israel.

913-Deuteronomy 1:1; 29:1; 31:1, 9-111 In this book are the words that Moses spoke to the people of Israel when they were in the wilderness east of the Jordan River. They were in the Jordan Valley near Suph, between the town of Paran on one side and the towns of Tophel, Laban, Hazeroth, and Dizahab on the other

Deuteronomy 29:1 These are the terms of the covenant that the Lord commanded Moses to make with the people of Israel in the land of Moab; all this was in addition to the covenant which the Lord had made with them at Mount Sinai.

Deuteronomy 31:1 Moses continued speaking to the people of Israel,

Deuteronomy 31:9 So Moses wrote down God's Law and gave it to the levitical priests, who were in charge of the Lord's Covenant Box, and to the leaders of Israel. 10 He commanded them, "At the end of every seven years, when the year that debts are canceled comes around, read this aloud at the Festival of Shelters. 11 Read it to the people of Israel when they come to worship the Lord your God at the one place of worship.

914-Matt. 19:7 The Pharisees asked him, "Why, then, did Moses give the law for a man to hand his wife a divorce notice and send her away?" 8 Jesus answered, "Moses gave you permission to divorce your wives because you are so hard to teach. But it was not like that at the time of creation.

915-Mark 10:3 Jesus answered with a question, "What law did Moses give you?" 4 Their answer was, "Moses gave permission for a man to write a divorce notice and send his wife away."

916-John 5:46 If you had really believed Moses, you would have believed me, because he wrote about me. 47 But since you do not believe what he wrote, how can you believe what I say?"

917-Acts 3:22 For Moses said, "The Lord your God will send you a prophet, just as he sent me, and he will be one of your own people. You are to obey everything that he tells you to do.

Acts 7:37 Moses is the one who said to the people of Israel, "God will send you a prophet, just as he sent me, and he will be one of your own people.'

918-Rom. 10:19 Again I ask: Did the people of Israel not understand? Moses himself is the first one to answer: "I will use a so-called nation to make my people jealous; and by means of a nation of fools I will make my people angry."

919-Joshua 8:31 He made it according to the instructions that Moses, the Lord's servant, had given the Israelites, as it says in the Law of Moses: "an altar made of stones which have not been cut with iron tools." On it they offered burnt sacrifices to the Lord, and they also presented their fellowship offerings.

920-1 Kings 2:9 But you must not let him go unpunished. You know what to do, and you must see to it that he is put to death."

921-2 Kings 14:6 However, he did not kill their children but followed what the Lord had commanded in the Law of Moses: "Parents are not to be put to death for crimes committed by their children, and children are not to be put to death for crimes committed by their parents; people are to be put to death only for a crime they themselves have committed."

922-2 Chronicles 23:18 Jehoiada put the priests and Levites in charge of the work of the Temple. They were to carry out the duties assigned to them by King David and to burn the sacrifices offered to the Lord in accordance with the Law of Moses. They were also in charge of the music and the celebrations

2 Chronicles 25:4 He did not, however, execute their children, but followed what the Lord had commanded in the Law of Moses: "Parents are not to be put to death for crimes committed by their children, and children are not to be put to death for crimes committed by their parents; people are to be put to death only for crimes they themselves have committed."

2 Chronicles 34:14 While the money was being taken out of the storeroom, Hilkiah found the book of the Law of the Lord, the Law that God had given to Moses.

923-Deuteronomy 5:12 " "Observe the Sabbath and keep it holy, as I, the Lord your God, have commanded you. 13 You have six days in which to do your work, 14 but the seventh day is a day of rest dedicated to me. On that day no one is to work - neither you, your children, your slaves, your animals, nor the foreigners who live in your country. Your slaves must rest just as you do. 15 Remember that you were slaves in Egypt, and that I, the Lord your God, rescued you by my great power and strength. That is why I command you to observe the Sabbath.

924-Exodus 20:8 "Observe the Sabbath and keep it holy. 9 You have six days in which to do your work, 10 but the seventh day is a day of rest dedicated to me. On that day no one is to work - neither you, your children, your slaves, your animals, nor the foreigners who live in your country. 11 In six days I, the Lord, made the earth, the sky, the seas, and everything in them, but on the seventh day I rested. That is why I, the Lord, blessed the Sabbath and made it holy.

925-Deuteronomy 5:22 "These are the commandments the Lord gave to all of you when you were gathered at the mountain. When he spoke with a mighty voice from the fire and from the thick clouds, he gave these commandments and no others. Then he wrote them on two stone tablets and gave them to me.

926-Exodus 20:2 "I am the Lord your God who brought you out of Egypt, where you were slaves.

927-Exodus 31:12 The Lord commanded Moses 13 to tell the people of Israel, "Keep the Sabbath, my day of rest, because it is a sign between you and me for all time to come, to show that I, the Lord, have made you my own people. 14 You must keep the day of rest, because it is sacred. Whoever does not keep it, but works on that day, is to be put to death. 15 You have six days in which to do your work, but the seventh day is a solemn day of rest dedicated to me. Whoever does any work on that day is to be put to death. 16 The people of Israel are to keep this day as a sign of the covenant. 17 It is a permanent sign between the people of Israel and me, because I, the Lord, made heaven and earth in six days, and on the seventh day I stopped working and rested."

928-Isaiah 66:23 On every New Moon Festival and every Sabbath people of every nation will come to worship me here in Jerusalem," says the Lord.

929-Ezekiel 20:12 I made the keeping of the Sabbath a sign of the agreement between us, to remind them that I, the Lord, make them holy.

Exekiel 20:20 Make the Sabbath a holy day, so that it will be a sign of the covenant we made, and will remind you that I am the Lord your God.

930-Mark 2:27 And Jesus concluded, "The Sabbath was made for the good of human beings; they were not made for the Sabbath. 28 So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath."

931-Deuteronomy 8:18-20; 11:26-29; 27:11-28:68; 30:1-2018 Remember that it is the Lord your God who gives you the power to become rich. He does this because he is still faithful today to the covenant that he made with your ancestors. 19 Never forget the Lord your God or turn to other gods to worship and serve them. If you do, then I warn you today that you will certainly be destroyed. 20 If you do not obey the Lord, then you will be destroyed just like those nations that he is going to destroy as you advance.

Deuteronomy 11:26 "Today I am giving you the choice between a blessing and a curse - 27 a blessing, if you obey the commands of the Lord your God that I am giving you today; 28 but a curse, if you disobey these commands and turn away to worship other gods that you have never worshiped before. 29 When the Lord brings you into the land that you are going to occupy, you are to proclaim the blessing from Mount Gerizim and the curse from Mount Ebal.

Deuteronomy 27:11 Then Moses said to the people of Israel, 12 "After you have crossed the Jordan, the following tribes are to stand on Mount Gerizim when the blessings are pronounced on the people: Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Joseph, and Benjamin. 13 And the following tribes will stand on Mount Ebal when the curses are pronounced: Reuben, Gad, Asher, Zebulun, Dan, and Naphtali. 14 The Levites will speak these words in a loud voice: 15 " "God's curse on anyone who makes an idol of stone, wood, or metal and secretly worships it; the Lord hates idolatry.' "And all the people will answer, "Amen!' 16 " "God's curse on anyone who dishonors his father or mother.' "And all the people will answer, "Amen!' 17 " "God's curse on anyone who moves a neighbor's property line.' "And all the people will answer, "Amen!' 18 " "God's curse on anyone who leads a blind person in the wrong direction.' "And all the people will answer, "Amen!' 19 " "God's curse on anyone who deprives foreigners, orphans, and widows of their rights.' "And all the people will answer, "Amen!' 20 " "God's curse on anyone who disgraces his father by having intercourse with any of his father's wives.' "And all the people will answer, "Amen!' 21 " "God's curse on anyone who has sexual relations with an animal.' "And all the people will answer, "Amen!' 22 " "God's curse on anyone who has intercourse with his sister or half sister.' "And all the people will answer, "Amen!' 23 " "God's curse on anyone who has intercourse with his mother-in-law.' "And all the people will answer, "Amen!' 24 " "God's curse on anyone who secretly commits murder.' "And all the people will answer, "Amen!' 25 " "God's curse on anyone who accepts money to murder an innocent person.' "And all the people will answer, "Amen!' 26 " "God's curse on anyone who does not obey all of God's laws and teachings.' "And all the people will answer, "Amen!'

Deuteronomy 28:1 "If you obey the Lord your God and faithfully keep all his commands that I am giving you today, he will make you greater than any other nation on earth. 2 Obey the Lord your God and all these blessings will be yours: 3 "The Lord will bless your towns and your fields. 4 "The Lord will bless you with many children, with abundant crops, and with many cattle and sheep. 5 "The Lord will bless your grain crops and the food you prepare from them. 6 "The Lord will bless everything you do. 7 "The Lord will defeat your enemies when they attack you. They will attack from one direction, but they will run from you in all directions. 8 "The Lord your God will bless your work and fill your barns with grain. He will bless you in the land that he is giving you. 9 "If you obey the Lord your God and do everything he commands, he will make you his own people, as he has promised. 10 Then all the peoples on earth will see that the Lord has chosen you to be his own people, and they will be afraid of you. 11 The Lord will give you many children, many cattle, and abundant crops in the land that he promised your ancestors to give you. 12 He will send rain in season from his rich storehouse in the sky and bless all your work, so that you will lend to many nations, but you will not have to borrow from any. 13 The Lord your God will make you the leader among the nations and not a follower; you will always prosper and never fail if you obey faithfully all his commands that I am giving you today. 14 But you must never disobey them in any way, or worship and serve other gods. 15 "But if you disobey the Lord your God and do not faithfully keep all his commands and laws that I am giving you today, all these evil things will happen to you: 16 "The Lord will curse your towns and your fields. 17 "The Lord will curse your grain crops and the food you prepare from them. 18 "The Lord will curse you by giving you only a few children, poor crops, and few cattle and sheep. 19 "The Lord will curse everything you do. 20 "If you do evil and reject the Lord, he will bring on you disaster, confusion, and trouble in everything you do, until you are quickly and completely destroyed. 21 He will send disease after disease on you until there is not one of you left in the land that you are about to occupy. 22 The Lord will strike you with infectious diseases, with swelling and fever; he will send drought and scorching winds to destroy your crops. These disasters will be with you until you die. 23 No rain will fall, and your ground will become as hard as iron. 24 Instead of rain, the Lord will send down duststorms and sandstorms until you are destroyed. 25 "The Lord will give your enemies victory over you. You will attack them from one direction, but you will run from them in all directions, and all the people on earth will be terrified when they see what happens to you. 26 When you die, birds and wild animals will come and eat your bodies, and there will be no one to scare them off. 27 The Lord will send boils on you, as he did on the Egyptians. He will make your bodies break out with sores. You will be covered with scabs, and you will itch, but there will be no cure. 28 The Lord will make you lose your mind; he will strike you with blindness and confusion. 29 You will grope about in broad daylight like someone blind, and you will not be able to find your way. You will not prosper in anything you do. You will be constantly oppressed and robbed, and there will be no one to help you. 30 "You will be engaged to a young woman - but someone else will marry her. You will build a house - but never live in it. You will plant a vineyard - but never eat its grapes. 31 Your cattle will be butchered before your very eyes, but you will not eat any of the meat. Your donkeys will be dragged away while you look on, and they will not be given back to you. Your sheep will be given to your enemies, and there will be no one to help you. 32 Your sons and daughters will be given as slaves to foreigners while you look on. Every day you will strain your eyes, looking in vain for your children to return. 33 A foreign nation will take all the crops that you have worked so hard to grow, while you receive nothing but constant oppression and harsh treatment. 34 Your sufferings will make you lose your mind. 35 The Lord will cover your legs with incurable, painful sores; boils will cover you from head to foot. 36 "The Lord will take you and your king away to a foreign land, where neither you nor your ancestors ever lived before; there you will serve gods made of wood and stone. 37 In the countries to which the Lord will scatter you, the people will be shocked at what has happened to you; they will make fun of you and ridicule you. 38 "You will plant plenty of seed, but reap only a small harvest, because the locusts will eat your crops. 39 You will plant vineyards and take care of them, but you will not gather their grapes or drink wine from them, because worms will eat the vines. 40 Olive trees will grow everywhere in your land, but you will not have any olive oil, because the olives will drop off. 41 You will have sons and daughters, but you will lose them, because they will be taken away as prisoners of war. 42 All your trees and crops will be devoured by insects. 43 "Foreigners who live in your land will gain more and more power, while you gradually lose yours. 44 They will have money to lend you, but you will have none to lend them. In the end they will be your rulers. 45 "All these disasters will come on you, and they will be with you until you are destroyed, because you did not obey the Lord your God and keep all the laws that he gave you. 46 They will be the evidence of God's judgment on you and your descendants forever. 47 The Lord blessed you in every way, but you would not serve him with glad and joyful hearts. 48 So then, you will serve the enemies that the Lord is going to send against you. You will be hungry, thirsty, and naked - in need of everything. The Lord will oppress you harshly until you are destroyed. 49 The Lord will bring against you a nation from the ends of the earth, a nation whose language you do not know. They will swoop down on you like an eagle. 50 They will be ruthless and show no mercy to anyone, young or old. 51 They will eat your livestock and your crops, and you will starve to death. They will not leave you any grain, wine, olive oil, cattle, or sheep; and you will die. 52 They will attack every town in the land that the Lord your God is giving you, and the high, fortified walls in which you trust will fall. 53 "When your enemies are besieging your towns, you will become so desperate for food that you will even eat the children that the Lord your God has given you. 54 Even the most refined man of noble birth will become so desperate during the siege that he will eat some of his own children because he has no other food. He will not even give any to his brother or to the wife he loves or to any of his children who are left. 56 Even the most refined woman of noble birth, so rich that she has never had to walk anywhere, will behave in the same way. When the enemy besieges her town, she will become so desperate for food that she will secretly eat her newborn child and the afterbirth as well. She will not share them with the husband she loves or with any of her children. 58 "If you do not obey faithfully all of God's teachings that are written in this book and if you do not honor the wonderful and awesome name of the Lord your God, 59 he will send on you and on your descendants incurable diseases and horrible epidemics that can never be stopped. 60 He will bring on you once again all the dreadful diseases you experienced in Egypt, and you will never recover. 61 He will also send all kinds of diseases and epidemics that are not mentioned in this book of God's laws and teachings, and you will be destroyed. 62 Although you become as numerous as the stars in the sky, only a few of you will survive, because you did not obey the Lord your God. 63 Just as the Lord took delight in making you prosper and in making you increase in number, so he will take delight in destroying you and in bringing ruin on you. You will be uprooted from the land that you are about to occupy. 64 "The Lord will scatter you among all the nations, from one end of the earth to the other, and there you will serve gods made of wood and stone, gods that neither you nor your ancestors have ever worshiped before. 65 You will find no peace anywhere, no place to call your own; the Lord will overwhelm you with anxiety, hopelessness, and despair. 66 Your life will always be in danger. Day and night you will be filled with terror, and you will live in constant fear of death.

Deuteronomy 30:1 "I have now given you a choice between a blessing and a curse. When all these things have happened to you, and you are living among the nations where the Lord your God has scattered you, you will remember the choice I gave you. 2 If you and your descendants will turn back to the Lord and with all your heart obey his commands that I am giving you today, 3 then the Lord your God will have mercy on you. He will bring you back from the nations where he has scattered you, and he will make you prosperous again. 4 Even if you are scattered to the farthest corners of the earth, the Lord your God will gather you together and bring you back, 5 so that you may again take possession of the land where your ancestors once lived. And he will make you more prosperous and more numerous than your ancestors ever were. 6 The Lord your God will give you and your descendants obedient hearts, so that you will love him with all your heart, and you will continue to live in that land. 7 He will turn all these curses against your enemies, who hated you and oppressed you, 8 and you will again obey him and keep all his commands that I am giving you today. 9 The Lord will make you prosperous in all that you do; you will have many children and a lot of livestock, and your fields will produce abundant crops. He will be as glad to make you prosperous as he was to make your ancestors prosperous, 10 but you will have to obey him and keep all his laws that are written in this book of his teachings. You will have to turn to him with all your heart. 11 "The command that I am giving you today is not too difficult or beyond your reach. 12 It is not up in the sky. You do not have to ask, "Who will go up and bring it down for us, so that we can hear it and obey it?' 13 Nor is it on the other side of the ocean. You do not have to ask, "Who will go across the ocean and bring it to us, so that we may hear it and obey it?' 14 No, it is here with you. You know it and can quote it, so now obey it. 15 "Today I am giving you a choice between good and evil, between life and death. 16 If you obey the commands of the Lord your God, which I give you today, if you love him, obey him, and keep all his laws, then you will prosper and become a nation of many people. The Lord your God will bless you in the land that you are about to occupy. 17 But if you disobey and refuse to listen, and are led away to worship other gods, 18 you will be destroyed - I warn you here and now. You will not live long in that land across the Jordan that you are about to occupy. 19 I am now giving you the choice between life and death, between God's blessing and God's curse, and I call heaven and earth to witness the choice you make. Choose life. 20 Love the Lord your God, obey him and be faithful to him, and then you and your descendants will live long in the land that he promised to give your ancestors, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob."

932-Deuteronomy 9:1 "Listen, people of Israel! Today you are about to cross the Jordan River and occupy the land belonging to nations greater and more powerful than you. Their cities are large, with walls that reach the sky. 2 The people themselves are tall and strong; they are giants, and you have heard it said that no one can stand against them. 3 But now you will see for yourselves that the Lord your God will go ahead of you like a raging fire. He will defeat them as you advance, so that you will drive them out and destroy them quickly, as he promised. 4 "After the Lord your God has driven them out for you, do not say to yourselves that he brought you in to possess this land because you deserved it. No, the Lord is going to drive these people out for you because they are wicked. 5 It is not because you are good and do what is right that the Lord is letting you take their land. He will drive them out because they are wicked and because he intends to keep the promise that he made to your ancestors, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. 6 You can be sure that the Lord is not giving you this fertile land because you deserve it. No, you are a stubborn people.

933-Deuteronomy 9:27 Remember your servants, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and do not pay any attention to the stubbornness, wickedness, and sin of this people. 28 Otherwise, the Egyptians will say that you were unable to take your people into the land that you had promised them. They will say that you took your people out into the desert to kill them, because you hated them. 29 After all, these are the people whom you chose to be your own and whom you brought out of Egypt by your great power and might.'

934-Exodus 23:27-31; 34:10-1727 "I will make the people who oppose you afraid of me; I will bring confusion among the people against whom you fight, and I will make all your enemies turn and run from you. 28 I will throw your enemies into panic; I will drive out the Hivites, the Canaanites, and the Hittites as you advance. 29 I will not drive them out within a year's time; if I did, the land would become deserted, and the wild animals would be too many for you. 30 Instead, I will drive them out little by little, until there are enough of you to take possession of the land. 31 I will make the borders of your land extend from the Gulf of Aqaba to the Mediterranean Sea and from the desert to the Euphrates River. I will give you power over the inhabitants of the land, and you will drive them out as you advance.

Exodus 34:10 The Lord said to Moses, "I now make a covenant with the people of Israel. In their presence I will do great things such as have never been done anywhere on earth among any of the nations. All the people will see what great things I, the Lord, can do, because I am going to do an awesome thing for you. 11 Obey the laws that I am giving you today. I will drive out the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, as you advance. 12 Do not make any treaties with the people of the country into which you are going, because this could be a fatal trap for you. 13 Instead, tear down their altars, destroy their sacred pillars, and cut down their symbols of the goddess Asherah. 14 "Do not worship any other god, because I, the Lord, tolerate no rivals. 15 Do not make any treaties with the people of the country, because when they worship their pagan gods and sacrifice to them, they will invite you to join them, and you will be tempted to eat the food they offer to their gods. 16 Your sons might marry those foreign women, who would lead them to be unfaithful to me and to worship their pagan gods. 17 "Do not make gods of metal and worship them.

935-Leviticus 18:1 The Lord told Moses 2 to say to the people of Israel, "I am the Lord your God. 3 Do not follow the practices of the people of Egypt, where you once lived, or of the people in the land of Canaan, where I am now taking you. 4 Obey my laws and do what I command. I am the Lord your God. 5 Follow the practices and the laws that I give you; you will save your life by doing so. I am the Lord." 6 The Lord gave the following regulations. Do not have sexual intercourse with any of your relatives. 7 Do not disgrace your father by having intercourse with your mother. You must not disgrace your own mother. 8 Do not disgrace your father by having intercourse with any of his other wives. 9 Do not have intercourse with your sister or your stepsister, whether or not she was brought up in the same house with you. 10 Do not have intercourse with your granddaughter; that would be a disgrace to you. 11 Do not have intercourse with a half sister; she, too, is your sister. 12 Do not have intercourse with an aunt, whether she is your father's sister or your mother's sister. 14 Do not have intercourse with your uncle's wife; she, too, is your aunt. 15 Do not have intercourse with your daughter-in-law 16 or with your brother's wife. 17 Do not have intercourse with the daughter or granddaughter of a woman with whom you have had intercourse; they may be related to you, and that would be incest. 18 Do not take your wife's sister as one of your wives, as long as your wife is living. 19 Do not have intercourse with a woman during her monthly period, because she is ritually unclean. 20 Do not have intercourse with another man's wife; that would make you ritually unclean. 21 Do not hand over any of your children to be used in the worship of the god Molech, because that would bring disgrace on the name of God, the Lord. 22 No man is to have sexual relations with another man; God hates that. 23 No man or woman is to have sexual relations with an animal; that perversion makes you ritually unclean. 24 Do not make yourselves unclean by any of these acts, for that is how the pagans made themselves unclean, those pagans who lived in the land before you and whom the Lord is driving out so that you can go in. 25 Their actions made the land unclean, and so the Lord is punishing the land and making it reject the people who lived there. 26 They did all these disgusting things and made the land unclean, but you must not do them. All of you, whether Israelites or foreigners living with you, must keep the Lord's laws and commands, 28 and then the land will not reject you, as it rejected the pagans who lived there before you. 29 You know that whoever does any of these disgusting things will no longer be considered one of God's people. 30 And the Lord said, "Obey the commands I give and do not follow the practices of the people who lived in the land before you, and do not make yourselves unclean by doing any of these things. I am the Lord your God."

936-Numbers 14:13 But Moses said to the Lord, "You brought these people out of Egypt by your power. When the Egyptians hear what you have done to your people, 14 they will tell it to the people who live in this land. These people have already heard that you, Lord, are with us, that you appear in plain sight when your cloud stops over us, and that you go before us in a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. 15 Now if you kill all your people, the nations who have heard of your fame will say 16 that you killed your people in the wilderness because you were not able to bring them into the land you promised to give them. 17 So now, Lord, I pray, show us your power and do what you promised when you said, 18 "I, the Lord, am not easily angered, and I show great love and faithfulness and forgive sin and rebellion. Yet I will not fail to punish children and grandchildren to the third and fourth generation for the sins of their parents.' 19 And now, Lord, according to the greatness of your unchanging love, forgive, I pray, the sin of these people, just as you have forgiven them ever since they left Egypt."

Numbers 33:50 There in the plains of Moab across the Jordan from Jericho the Lord gave Moses 51 the following instructions for Israel: "When you cross the Jordan into the land of Canaan, 52 you must drive out all the inhabitants of the land. Destroy all their stone and metal idols and all their places of worship. 53 Occupy the land and settle in it, because I am giving it to you. 54 Divide the land among the various tribes and clans by drawing lots, giving a large piece of property to a large clan and a small one to a small clan. 55 But if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land, those that are left will be as troublesome as splinters in your eyes and thorns in your sides, and they will fight against you. 56 If you do not drive them out, I will destroy you, as I planned to destroy them."

937-Deuteronomy 12:29 "The Lord your God will destroy the nations as you invade their land, and you will occupy it and settle there. 30 After the Lord destroys those nations, make sure that you don't follow their religious practices, because that would be fatal. Don't try to find out how they worship their gods, so that you can worship in the same way. 31 Do not worship the Lord your God in the way they worship their gods, for in the worship of their gods they do all the disgusting things that the Lord hates. They even sacrifice their children in the fires on their altars.

Deuteronomy 13:12 "When you are living in the towns that the Lord your God gives you, you may hear 13 that some worthless people of your nation have misled the people of their town to worship gods that you have never worshiped before. 14 If you hear such a rumor, investigate it thoroughly; and if it is true that this evil thing did happen, 15 then kill all the people in that town and all their livestock too. Destroy that town completely. 16 Bring together all the possessions of the people who live there and pile them up in the town square. Then burn the town and everything in it as an offering to the Lord your God. It must be left in ruins forever and never again be rebuilt.

938-Deuteronomy 17:2 "Suppose you hear that in one of your towns some men or women have sinned against the Lord and broken his covenant 3 by worshiping and serving other gods or the sun or the moon or the stars, contrary to the Lord's command. 4 If you hear such a report, then investigate it thoroughly. If it is true that this evil thing has happened in Israel, 5 then take them outside the town and stone them to death. 6 However, they may be put to death only if two or more witnesses testify against them; they are not to be put to death if there is only one witness. 7 The witnesses are to throw the first stones, and then the rest of the people are to stone them; in this way you will get rid of this evil.

939-Leviticus 18:24 Do not make yourselves unclean by any of these acts, for that is how the pagans made themselves unclean, those pagans who lived in the land before you and whom the Lord is driving out so that you can go in. 25 Their actions made the land unclean, and so the Lord is punishing the land and making it reject the people who lived there.

940-Numbers 33:55 But if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land, those that are left will be as troublesome as splinters in your eyes and thorns in your sides, and they will fight against you. 56 If you do not drive them out, I will destroy you, as I planned to destroy them."

941-Deuteronomy 9:4 "After the Lord your God has driven them out for you, do not say to yourselves that he brought you in to possess this land because you deserved it. No, the Lord is going to drive these people out for you because they are wicked. 5 It is not because you are good and do what is right that the Lord is letting you take their land. He will drive them out because they are wicked and because he intends to keep the promise that he made to your ancestors, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

942-Exodus 32:13 Remember your servants Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Remember the solemn promise you made to them to give them as many descendants as there are stars in the sky and to give their descendants all that land you promised would be their possession forever."

943-Deuteronomy 9:5 It is not because you are good and do what is right that the Lord is letting you take their land. He will drive them out because they are wicked and because he intends to keep the promise that he made to your ancestors, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

Deuteronomy 10:15 But the Lord's love for your ancestors was so strong that he chose you instead of any other people, and you are still his chosen people.

Deuteronomy 11:9 And you will live a long time in the rich and fertile land that the Lord promised to give your ancestors and their descendants.

944-Exodus 32:11 But Moses pleaded with the Lord his God and said, "Lord, why should you be so angry with your people, whom you rescued from Egypt with great might and power? 12 Why should the Egyptians be able to say that you led your people out of Egypt, planning to kill them in the mountains and destroy them completely? Stop being angry; change your mind and do not bring this disaster on your people.

945-Numbers 14:13 But Moses said to the Lord, "You brought these people out of Egypt by your power. When the Egyptians hear what you have done to your people, 14 they will tell it to the people who live in this land. These people have already heard that you, Lord, are with us, that you appear in plain sight when your cloud stops over us, and that you go before us in a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. 15 Now if you kill all your people, the nations who have heard of your fame will say 16 that you killed your people in the wilderness because you were not able to bring them into the land you promised to give them. 17 So now, Lord, I pray, show us your power and do what you promised when you said, 18 "I, the Lord, am not easily angered, and I show great love and faithfulness and forgive sin and rebellion. Yet I will not fail to punish children and grandchildren to the third and fourth generation for the sins of their parents.' 19 And now, Lord, according to the greatness of your unchanging love, forgive, I pray, the sin of these people, just as you have forgiven them ever since they left Egypt."

946-Deuteronomy 9:28 Otherwise, the Egyptians will say that you were unable to take your people into the land that you had promised them. They will say that you took your people out into the desert to kill them, because you hated them. 29 After all, these are the people whom you chose to be your own and whom you brought out of Egypt by your great power and might.'

947-Exodus 23:33 Do not let those people live in your country; if you do, they will make you sin against me. If you worship their gods, it will be a fatal trap for you."

Exodus 34:12 Do not make any treaties with the people of the country into which you are going, because this could be a fatal trap for you. 13 Instead, tear down their altars, destroy their sacred pillars, and cut down their symbols of the goddess Asherah. 14 "Do not worship any other god, because I, the Lord, tolerate no rivals. 15 Do not make any treaties with the people of the country, because when they worship their pagan gods and sacrifice to them, they will invite you to join them, and you will be tempted to eat the food they offer to their gods. 16 Your sons might marry those foreign women, who would lead them to be unfaithful to me and to worship their pagan gods. 17 "Do not make gods of metal and worship them.

948-Leviticus 18:211 Do not hand over any of your children to be used in the worship of the god Molech, because that would bring disgrace on the name of God, the Lord.

Leviticus 18:24 Do not make yourselves unclean by any of these acts, for that is how the pagans made themselves unclean, those pagans who lived in the land before you and whom the Lord is driving out so that you can go in. 25 Their actions made the land unclean, and so the Lord is punishing the land and making it reject the people who lived there.

949-Deuteronomy 12:27-29; 17:2-7; 13:5-18; 29:17-2827 Offer there the sacrifices which are to be completely burned on the Lord's altar. Also offer those sacrifices in which you eat the meat and pour the blood out on the altar. 28 Obey faithfully everything that I have commanded you, and all will go well for you and your descendants forever, because you will be doing what is right and what pleases the Lord your God. 29 "The Lord your God will destroy the nations as you invade their land, and you will occupy it and settle there.

Deuteronomy 17:2 "Suppose you hear that in one of your towns some men or women have sinned against the Lord and broken his covenant 3 by worshiping and serving other gods or the sun or the moon or the stars, contrary to the Lord's command. 4 If you hear such a report, then investigate it thoroughly. If it is true that this evil thing has happened in Israel, 5 then take them outside the town and stone them to death. 6 However, they may be put to death only if two or more witnesses testify against them; they are not to be put to death if there is only one witness. 7 The witnesses are to throw the first stones, and then the rest of the people are to stone them; in this way you will get rid of this evil.

Deuteronomy 13:5 But put to death any interpreters of dreams or prophets that tell you to rebel against the Lord, who rescued you from Egypt, where you were slaves. Such people are evil and are trying to lead you away from the life that the Lord has commanded you to live. They must be put to death, in order to rid yourselves of this evil. 6 "Even your brother or your son or your daughter or the wife you love or your closest friend may secretly encourage you to worship other gods, gods that you and your ancestors have never worshiped. 7 Some of them may encourage you to worship the gods of the people who live near you or the gods of those who live far away. 8 But do not let any of them persuade you; do not even listen to them. Show them no mercy or pity, and do not protect them. 9 Kill them! Be the first to stone them, and then let everyone else stone them too. 10 Stone them to death! They tried to lead you away from the Lord your God, who rescued you from Egypt, where you were slaves. 11 Then all the people of Israel will hear what happened; they will be afraid, and no one will ever again do such an evil thing. 12 "When you are living in the towns that the Lord your God gives you, you may hear 13 that some worthless people of your nation have misled the people of their town to worship gods that you have never worshiped before. 14 If you hear such a rumor, investigate it thoroughly; and if it is true that this evil thing did happen, 15 then kill all the people in that town and all their livestock too. Destroy that town completely. 16 Bring together all the possessions of the people who live there and pile them up in the town square. Then burn the town and everything in it as an offering to the Lord your God. It must be left in ruins forever and never again be rebuilt. 17 Do not keep for yourselves anything that was condemned to destruction, and then the Lord will turn from his fierce anger and show you mercy. He will be merciful to you and make you a numerous people, as he promised your ancestors, 18 if you obey all his commands that I have given you today, and do what he requires.

Deuteronomy 29:17 You saw their disgusting idols made of wood, stone, silver, and gold. 18 Make sure that no man, woman, family, or tribe standing here today turns from the Lord our God to worship the gods of other nations. This would be like a root that grows to be a bitter and poisonous plant. 19 Make sure that there is no one here today who hears these solemn demands and yet convinces himself that all will be well with him, even if he stubbornly goes his own way. That would destroy all of you, good and evil alike. 20 The Lord will not forgive such a man. Instead, the Lord's burning anger will flame up against him, and all the disasters written in this book will fall on him until the Lord has destroyed him completely. 21 The Lord will make an example of him before all the tribes of Israel and will bring disaster on him in accordance with all the curses listed in the covenant that is written in this book of the Lord's teachings. 22 "In future generations your descendants and foreigners from distant lands will see the disasters and sufferings that the Lord has brought on your land. 23 The fields will be a barren waste, covered with sulfur and salt; nothing will be planted, and not even weeds will grow there. Your land will be like the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, of Admah and Zeboiim, which the Lord destroyed when he was furiously angry. 24 Then the whole world will ask, "Why did the Lord do this to their land? What was the reason for his fierce anger?' 25 And the answer will be, "It is because the Lord's people broke the covenant they had made with him, the God of their ancestors, when he brought them out of Egypt. 26 They served other gods that they had never worshiped before, gods that the Lord had forbidden them to worship. 27 And so the Lord became angry with his people and brought on their land all the disasters written in this book. 28 The Lord became furiously angry, and in his great anger he uprooted them from their land and threw them into a foreign land, and there they are today.'

950-Exodus 34:10 The Lord said to Moses, "I now make a covenant with the people of Israel. In their presence I will do great things such as have never been done anywhere on earth among any of the nations. All the people will see what great things I, the Lord, can do, because I am going to do an awesome thing for you. 11 Obey the laws that I am giving you today. I will drive out the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, as you advance. 12 Do not make any treaties with the people of the country into which you are going, because this could be a fatal trap for you. 13 Instead, tear down their altars, destroy their sacred pillars, and cut down their symbols of the goddess Asherah. 14 "Do not worship any other god, because I, the Lord, tolerate no rivals. 15 Do not make any treaties with the people of the country, because when they worship their pagan gods and sacrifice to them, they will invite you to join them, and you will be tempted to eat the food they offer to their gods. 16 Your sons might marry those foreign women, who would lead them to be unfaithful to me and to worship their pagan gods.

951-Deuteronomy 10:17 The Lord your God is supreme over all gods and over all powers. He is great and mighty, and he is to be obeyed. He does not show partiality, and he does not accept bribes.

952-Leviticus 18:2 to say to the people of Israel, "I am the Lord your God. 3 Do not follow the practices of the people of Egypt, where you once lived, or of the people in the land of Canaan, where I am now taking you. 4 Obey my laws and do what I command. I am the Lord your God. 5 Follow the practices and the laws that I give you; you will save your life by doing so. I am the Lord." 6 The Lord gave the following regulations. Do not have sexual intercourse with any of your relatives. 7 Do not disgrace your father by having intercourse with your mother. You must not disgrace your own mother. 8 Do not disgrace your father by having intercourse with any of his other wives. 9 Do not have intercourse with your sister or your stepsister, whether or not she was brought up in the same house with you. 10 Do not have intercourse with your granddaughter; that would be a disgrace to you. 11 Do not have intercourse with a half sister; she, too, is your sister. 12 Do not have intercourse with an aunt, whether she is your father's sister or your mother's sister. 14 Do not have intercourse with your uncle's wife; she, too, is your aunt. 15 Do not have intercourse with your daughter-in-law 16 or with your brother's wife. 17 Do not have intercourse with the daughter or granddaughter of a woman with whom you have had intercourse; they may be related to you, and that would be incest. 18 Do not take your wife's sister as one of your wives, as long as your wife is living. 19 Do not have intercourse with a woman during her monthly period, because she is ritually unclean. 20 Do not have intercourse with another man's wife; that would make you ritually unclean. 21 Do not hand over any of your children to be used in the worship of the god Molech, because that would bring disgrace on the name of God, the Lord. 22 No man is to have sexual relations with another man; God hates that. 23 No man or woman is to have sexual relations with an animal; that perversion makes you ritually unclean. 24 Do not make yourselves unclean by any of these acts, for that is how the pagans made themselves unclean, those pagans who lived in the land before you and whom the Lord is driving out so that you can go in. 25 Their actions made the land unclean, and so the Lord is punishing the land and making it reject the people who lived there. 26 They did all these disgusting things and made the land unclean, but you must not do them. All of you, whether Israelites or foreigners living with you, must keep the Lord's laws and commands, 28 and then the land will not reject you, as it rejected the pagans who lived there before you. 29 You know that whoever does any of these disgusting things will no longer be considered one of God's people. 30 And the Lord said, "Obey the commands I give and do not follow the practices of the people who lived in the land before you, and do not make yourselves unclean by doing any of these things. I am the Lord your God."

953-Numbers 33:55 But if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land, those that are left will be as troublesome as splinters in your eyes and thorns in your sides, and they will fight against you. 56 If you do not drive them out, I will destroy you, as I planned to destroy them."

954-Deuteronomy 11:8-25; 13:3,48 "Obey everything that I have commanded you today. Then you will be able to cross the river and occupy the land that you are about to enter. 9 And you will live a long time in the rich and fertile land that the Lord promised to give your ancestors and their descendants. 10 The land that you are about to occupy is not like the land of Egypt, where you lived before. There, when you planted grain, you had to work hard to irrigate the fields; 11 but the land that you are about to enter is a land of mountains and valleys, a land watered by rain. 12 The Lord your God takes care of this land and watches over it throughout the year. 13 "So then, obey the commands that I have given you today; love the Lord your God and serve him with all your heart. 14 If you do, he will send rain on your land when it is needed, in the autumn and in the spring, so that there will be grain, wine, and olive oil for you, 15 and grass for your livestock. You will have all the food you want. 16 Do not let yourselves be led away from the Lord to worship and serve other gods. 17 If you do, the Lord will become angry with you. He will hold back the rain, and your ground will become too dry for crops to grow. Then you will soon die there, even though it is a good land that he is giving you. 18 "Remember these commands and cherish them. Tie them on your arms and wear them on your foreheads as a reminder. 19 Teach them to your children. Talk about them when you are at home and when you are away, when you are resting and when you are working. 20 Write them on the doorposts of your houses and on your gates. 21 Then you and your children will live a long time in the land that the Lord your God promised to give to your ancestors. You will live there as long as there is a sky above the earth. 22 "Obey faithfully everything that I have commanded you: Love the Lord your God, do everything he commands, and be faithful to him. 23 Then he will drive out all those nations as you advance, and you will occupy the land belonging to nations greater and more powerful than you. 24 All the ground that you march over will be yours. Your territory will extend from the desert in the south to the Lebanon Mountains in the north, and from the Euphrates River in the east to the Mediterranean Sea in the west. 25 Wherever you go in that land, the Lord your God will make the people fear you, as he has promised, and no one will be able to stop you.

Deuteronomy 13:3 do not pay any attention to them. The Lord your God is using them to test you, to see if you love the Lord with all your heart. 4 Follow the Lord and honor him; obey him and keep his commands; worship him and be faithful to him.

955-Deuteronomy 10:18 He makes sure that orphans and widows are treated fairly; he loves the foreigners who live with our people, and gives them food and clothes. 19 So then, show love for those foreigners, because you were once foreigners in Egypt.

956-Exodus 22:18 "Put to death any woman who practices magic.

Exodus 23:9 "Do not mistreat a foreigner; you know how it feels to be a foreigner, because you were foreigners in Egypt.

957-Leviticus 19:34 Treat them as you would an Israelite, and love them as you love yourselves. Remember that you were once foreigners in the land of Egypt. I am the Lord your God.

958-Exodus 32:7 The Lord said to Moses, "Hurry and go back down, because your people, whom you led out of Egypt, have sinned and rejected me. 8 They have already left the way that I commanded them to follow; they have made a bull-calf out of melted gold and have worshiped it and offered sacrifices to it. They are saying that this is their god, who led them out of Egypt. 9 I know how stubborn these people are. 10 Now, don't try to stop me. I am angry with them, and I am going to destroy them. Then I will make you and your descendants into a great nation."

959-Numbers 14:11 The Lord said to Moses, "How much longer will these people reject me? How much longer will they refuse to trust in me, even though I have performed so many miracles among them? 12 I will send an epidemic and destroy them, but I will make you the father of a nation that is larger and more powerful than they are!"

960-Deuteronomy 9:12 "Then the Lord said to me, "Go down the mountain at once, because your people, whom you led out of Egypt, have become corrupt and have done evil. They have already turned away from what I commanded them to do, and they have made an idol for themselves.' 13 "The Lord also said to me, "I know how stubborn these people are. 14 Don't try to stop me. I intend to destroy them so that no one will remember them any longer. Then I will make you the father of a nation larger and more powerful than they are.'

961-Deuteronomy 10:10 Now I had stayed on the mountain forty days and nights, as I did the first time, and the LORD listened to me at this time also. It was not his will to destroy you.

962-Deuteronomy 10:12 "Now, people of Israel, listen to what the Lord your God demands of you: Worship the Lord and do all that he commands. Love him, serve him with all your heart, 13 and obey all his laws. I am giving them to you today for your benefit. 14 To the Lord belong even the highest heavens; the earth is his also, and everything on it. 15 But the Lord's love for your ancestors was so strong that he chose you instead of any other people, and you are still his chosen people. 16 So then, from now on be obedient to the Lord and stop being stubborn. 17 The Lord your God is supreme over all gods and over all powers. He is great and mighty, and he is to be obeyed. He does not show partiality, and he does not accept bribes. 18 He makes sure that orphans and widows are treated fairly; he loves the foreigners who live with our people, and gives them food and clothes. 19 So then, show love for those foreigners, because you were once foreigners in Egypt. 20 Have reverence for the Lord your God and worship only him. Be faithful to him and make your promises in his name alone. 21 Praise him - he is your God, and you have seen with your own eyes the great and astounding things that he has done for you. 22 When your ancestors went to Egypt, there were only seventy of them. But now the Lord your God has made you as numerous as the stars in the sky.

963-Deuteronomy 6:4 "Israel, remember this! The Lord - and the Lord alone - is our God. 5 Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. 6 Never forget these commands that I am giving you today.

964-Deuteronomy 6:4 "Israel, remember this! The Lord - and the Lord alone - is our God. 5 Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. 6 Never forget these commands that I am giving you today.

965-Leviticus 19:18 Do not take revenge on others or continue to hate them, but love your neighbors as you love yourself. I am the Lord.

966-Deuteronomy 10:12-22; 11:13,22; 24:5-2212 "Now, people of Israel, listen to what the Lord your God demands of you: Worship the Lord and do all that he commands. Love him, serve him with all your heart, 13 and obey all his laws. I am giving them to you today for your benefit. 14 To the Lord belong even the highest heavens; the earth is his also, and everything on it. 15 But the Lord's love for your ancestors was so strong that he chose you instead of any other people, and you are still his chosen people. 16 So then, from now on be obedient to the Lord and stop being stubborn. 17 The Lord your God is supreme over all gods and over all powers. He is great and mighty, and he is to be obeyed. He does not show partiality, and he does not accept bribes. 18 He makes sure that orphans and widows are treated fairly; he loves the foreigners who live with our people, and gives them food and clothes. 19 So then, show love for those foreigners, because you were once foreigners in Egypt. 20 Have reverence for the Lord your God and worship only him. Be faithful to him and make your promises in his name alone. 21 Praise him - he is your God, and you have seen with your own eyes the great and astounding things that he has done for you. 22 When your ancestors went to Egypt, there were only seventy of them. But now the Lord your God has made you as numerous as the stars in the sky.

Deuteronomy 11:13 "So then, obey the commands that I have given you today; love the Lord your God and serve him with all your heart.

Deuteronomy11:22 "Obey faithfully everything that I have commanded you: Love the Lord your God, do everything he commands, and be faithful to him.

Deuteronomy 24:5 "When a man is newly married, he is not to be drafted into military service or any other public duty; he is to be excused from duty for one year, so that he can stay at home and make his wife happy. 6 "When you lend someone something, you are not to take as security his millstones used for grinding his grain. This would take away the family's means of preparing food to stay alive. 7 "If any of you kidnap Israelites and make them your slaves or sell them into slavery, you are to be put to death. In this way your nation will get rid of this evil. 8 "When you are suffering from a dreaded skin disease, be sure to do exactly what the levitical priests tell you; follow the instructions that I have given them. 9 Remember what the Lord your God did to Miriam as you were coming from Egypt. 10 "When you lend someone something, do not go into his house to get the garment he is going to give you as security; 11 wait outside and let him bring it to you himself. 12 If he is poor, do not keep it overnight; 13 return it to him each evening, so that he can have it to sleep in. Then he will be grateful, and the Lord your God will be pleased with you. 14 "Do not cheat poor and needy hired servants, whether they are Israelites or foreigners living in one of your towns. 15 Each day before sunset pay them for that day's work; they need the money and have counted on getting it. If you do not pay them, they will cry out against you to the Lord, and you will be guilty of sin. 16 "Parents are not to be put to death for crimes committed by their children, and children are not to be put to death for crimes committed by their parents; people are to be put to death only for a crime they themselves have committed. 17 "Do not deprive foreigners and orphans of their rights; and do not take a widow's garment as security for a loan. 18 Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and that the Lord your God set you free; that is why I have given you this command. 19 "When you gather your crops and fail to bring in some of the grain that you have cut, do not go back for it; it is to be left for the foreigners, orphans, and widows, so that the Lord your God will bless you in everything you do. 20 When you have picked your olives once, do not go back and get those that are left; they are for the foreigners, orphans, and widows. 21 When you have gathered your grapes once, do not go back over the vines a second time; the grapes that are left are for the foreigners, orphans, and widows. 22 Never forget that you were slaves in Egypt; that is why I have given you this command.

967-Leviticus 19:1 The Lord told Moses 2 to say to the community of Israel, "Be holy, because I, the Lord your God, am holy. 3 Each of you must respect your mother and your father, and must keep the Sabbath, as I have commanded. I am the Lord your God. 4 "Do not abandon me and worship idols; do not make gods of metal and worship them. I am the Lord your God. 5 "When you kill an animal for a fellowship offering, keep the regulations that I have given you, and I will accept the offering. 6 The meat must be eaten on the day the animal is killed or on the next day. Any meat left on the third day must be burned, 7 because it is ritually unclean, and if anyone eats it, I will not accept the offering. 8 Any who eat it will be guilty of treating as ordinary what is dedicated to me, and they will no longer be considered my people. 9 "When you harvest your fields, do not cut the grain at the edges of the fields, and do not go back to cut the heads of grain that were left. 10 Do not go back through your vineyard to gather the grapes that were missed or to pick up the grapes that have fallen; leave them for poor people and foreigners. I am the Lord your God. 11 "Do not steal or cheat or lie. 12 Do not make a promise in my name if you do not intend to keep it; that brings disgrace on my name. I am the Lord your God. 13 "Do not rob or take advantage of anyone. Do not hold back the wages of someone you have hired, not even for one night. 14 Do not curse the deaf or put something in front of the blind so as to make them stumble over it. Obey me; I am the Lord your God. 15 "Be honest and just when you make decisions in legal cases; do not show favoritism to the poor or fear the rich. 16 Do not spread lies about anyone, and when someone is on trial for his life, speak out if your testimony can help him. I am the Lord. 17 "Do not bear a grudge against others, but settle your differences with them, so that you will not commit a sin because of them. 18 Do not take revenge on others or continue to hate them, but love your neighbors as you love yourself. I am the Lord. 19 "Obey my commands. Do not crossbreed domestic animals. Do not plant two kinds of seed in the same field. Do not wear clothes made of two kinds of material. 20 "If a slave woman is the recognized concubine of a man and she has not been paid for and freed, then if another man has sexual relations with her, they will be punished, but not put to death, since she is a slave. 21 The man shall bring a ram to the entrance of the Tent of my presence as his repayment offering, 22 and with it the priest shall perform the ritual of purification to remove the man's sin, and God will forgive him. 23 "When you come into the land of Canaan and plant any kind of fruit tree, consider the fruit ritually unclean for the first three years. During that time you must not eat it. 24 In the fourth year all the fruit shall be dedicated as an offering to show your gratitude to me, the Lord. 25 But in the fifth year you may eat the fruit. If you do all this, your trees will bear more fruit. I am the Lord your God. 26 "Do not eat any meat with blood still in it. Do not practice any kind of magic. 27 Do not cut the hair on the sides of your head or trim your beard 28 or tattoo yourselves or cut gashes in your body to mourn for the dead. I am the Lord. 29 "Do not disgrace your daughters by making them temple prostitutes; if you do, you will turn to other gods and the land will be full of immorality. 30 Keep the Sabbath, and honor the place where I am worshiped. I am the Lord. 31 "Do not go for advice to people who consult the spirits of the dead. If you do, you will be ritually unclean. I am the Lord your God. 32 "Show respect for old people and honor them. Reverently obey me; I am the Lord. 33 "Do not mistreat foreigners who are living in your land. 34 Treat them as you would an Israelite, and love them as you love yourselves. Remember that you were once foreigners in the land of Egypt. I am the Lord your God. 35 "Do not cheat anyone by using false measures of length, weight, or quantity. 36 Use honest scales, honest weights, and honest measures. I am the Lord your God, and I brought you out of Egypt. 37 Obey all my laws and commands. I am the Lord."

968-Exodus 21:23 But if the woman herself is injured, the punishment shall be life for life, 24 eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, 25 burn for burn, wound for wound, bruise for bruise.

969-Leviticus 24:19 "If any of you injure another person, whatever you have done shall be done to you. 20 If you break a bone, one of your bones shall be broken; if you put out an eye, one of your eyes shall be put out; if you knock out a tooth, one of your teeth shall be knocked out. Whatever injury you cause another person shall be done to you in return.

970-Deuteronomy 19:16 If any of you try to harm another by false accusations, 17 both of you are to go to the one place of worship and be judged by the priests and judges who are then in office. 18 The judges will investigate the case thoroughly; and if you have made a false accusation, 19 you are to receive the punishment the accused would have received. In this way your nation will get rid of this evil. 20 Then everyone else will hear what happened; they will be afraid, and no one will ever again do such an evil thing. 21 In such cases show no mercy; the punishment is to be a life for a life, an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, a hand for a hand, and a foot for a foot.

971-Matthew 5:38 "You have heard that it was said, "An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth.' 39 But now I tell you: do not take revenge on someone who wrongs you. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, let him slap your left cheek too. 40 And if someone takes you to court to sue you for your shirt, let him have your coat as well. 41 And if one of the occupation troops forces you to carry his pack one mile, carry it two miles. 42 When someone asks you for something, give it to him; when someone wants to borrow something, lend it to him.

972-Deuteronomy 11:18 "Remember these commands and cherish them. Tie them on your arms and wear them on your foreheads as a reminder.

973-Matthew 23:5 They do everything so that people will see them. Look at the straps with scripture verses on them which they wear on their foreheads and arms, and notice how large they are! Notice also how long are the tassels on their cloaks!

974-Deuteronomy 12:8 "When that time comes, you must not do as you have been doing. Until now you have all been worshiping as you please,

975-Judges 17:6 There was no king in Israel at that time; everyone did whatever they wanted.

Judges 21:25 There was no king in Israel at that time. Everyone did whatever they pleased.

976-Deuteronomy 13:1 "Prophets or interpreters of dreams may promise a miracle or a wonder, 2 in order to lead you to worship and serve gods that you have not worshiped before. Even if what they promise comes true, 3 do not pay any attention to them. The Lord your God is using them to test you, to see if you love the Lord with all your heart.

977-Matthew 24:4 Jesus answered, "Watch out, and do not let anyone fool you.

Matthew 24:24 For false Messiahs and false prophets will appear; they will perform great miracles and wonders in order to deceive even God's chosen people, if possible.

978-2 Corinthians 11:14 Well, no wonder! Even Satan can disguise himself to look like an angel of light!

979-Revelation 13:14 And it deceived all the people living on earth by means of the miracles which it was allowed to perform in the presence of the first beast. The beast told them to build an image in honor of the beast that had been wounded by the sword and yet lived.

980-Genesis 9:4 The one thing you must not eat is meat with blood still in it; I forbid this because the life is in the blood.

981-Leviticus 3:17; 7:25-27; 17:1-16; 19:2617 No Israelite may eat any fat or any blood; this is a rule to be kept forever by all Israelites wherever they live.

Leviticus 7:25 Anyone who eats the fat of an animal that may be offered as a food offering to the Lord will no longer be considered one of God's people. 26 No matter where the Israelites live, they must never use the blood of birds or animals for food. 27 Anyone who breaks this law will no longer be considered one of God's people.

Leviticus 17:1 The Lord commanded Moses 2 to give Aaron and his sons and all the people of Israel the following regulations. 3 Any Israelites who kill a cow or a sheep or a goat as an offering to the Lord anywhere except at the entrance of the Tent of the Lord's presence have broken the Law. They have shed blood and shall no longer be considered God's people. 5 The meaning of this command is that the people of Israel shall now bring to the Lord the animals which they used to kill in the open country. They shall now bring them to the priest at the entrance of the Tent and kill them as fellowship offerings. 6 The priest shall throw the blood against the sides of the altar at the entrance of the Tent and burn the fat to produce an odor that is pleasing to the Lord. 7 The people of Israel must no longer be unfaithful to the Lord by killing their animals in the fields as sacrifices to the goat demons. The people of Israel must keep this regulation for all time to come. 8 Any Israelites or any foreigners living in the community who offer a burnt offering or any other sacrifice 9 as an offering to the Lord anywhere except at the entrance of the Tent shall no longer be considered God's people. 10 If any Israelites or any foreigners living in the community eat meat with blood still in it, the Lord will turn against them and no longer consider them his people. 11 The life of every living thing is in the blood, and that is why the Lord has commanded that all blood be poured out on the altar to take away the people's sins. Blood, which is life, takes away sins. 12 That is why the Lord has told the people of Israel that neither they nor any foreigner living among them shall eat any meat with blood still in it. 13 If any Israelites or any foreigners living in the community catch an animal or a bird which is ritually clean, they must pour its blood out on the ground and cover it with dirt. 14 The life of every living thing is in the blood, and that is why the Lord has told the people of Israel that they shall not eat any meat with blood still in it and that anyone who does so will no longer be considered one of his people. 15 Any people, Israelites or foreigners, who eat meat from an animal that has died a natural death or has been killed by wild animals must wash their clothes, take a bath, and wait until evening before they are ritually clean.

982-Deuteronomy 12:16 But you must not eat their blood; you must pour it out on the ground like water.

Deuteronomy 12:23 Only do not eat meat with blood still in it, for the life is in the blood, and you must not eat the life with the meat. 24 Do not use the blood for food; instead, pour it out on the ground like water. 25 If you obey this command, the Lord will be pleased, and all will go well for you and your descendants.

Deuteronomy 15:23 But do not use their blood for food; instead, you must pour it out on the ground like water.

983-Acts 15:28 The Holy Spirit and we have agreed not to put any other burden on you besides these necessary rules: 29 eat no food that has been offered to idols; eat no blood; eat no animal that has been strangled; and keep yourselves from sexual immorality. You will do well if you take care not to do these things. With our best wishes."

984-Deuteronomy 12:14 you must offer them only in the one place that the Lord will choose in the territory of one of your tribes. Only there are you to offer your sacrifices that are to be burned and do all the other things that I have commanded you.

985-Deuteronomy 12:20 "When the Lord your God enlarges your territory, as he has promised, you may eat meat whenever you want to. 21 If the one place of worship is too far away, then, whenever you wish, you may kill any of the cattle or sheep that the Lord has given you, and you may eat the meat at home, as I have told you.

986-Genesis 9:4 The one thing you must not eat is meat with blood still in it; I forbid this because the life is in the blood.

987-Leviticus 3:17; 7:23-27; 17:1-16; 19:2617 No Israelite may eat any fat or any blood; this is a rule to be kept forever by all Israelites wherever they live.

Leviticus 7:23 for the people of Israel. No fat of cattle, sheep, or goats shall be eaten. 24 The fat of an animal that has died a natural death or has been killed by a wild animal must not be eaten, but it may be used for any other purpose. 25 Anyone who eats the fat of an animal that may be offered as a food offering to the Lord will no longer be considered one of God's people. 26 No matter where the Israelites live, they must never use the blood of birds or animals for food. 27 Anyone who breaks this law will no longer be considered one of God's people.

Leviticus 17:1 The Lord commanded Moses 2 to give Aaron and his sons and all the people of Israel the following regulations. 3 Any Israelites who kill a cow or a sheep or a goat as an offering to the Lord anywhere except at the entrance of the Tent of the Lord's presence have broken the Law. They have shed blood and shall no longer be considered God's people. 5 The meaning of this command is that the people of Israel shall now bring to the Lord the animals which they used to kill in the open country. They shall now bring them to the priest at the entrance of the Tent and kill them as fellowship offerings. 6 The priest shall throw the blood against the sides of the altar at the entrance of the Tent and burn the fat to produce an odor that is pleasing to the Lord. 7 The people of Israel must no longer be unfaithful to the Lord by killing their animals in the fields as sacrifices to the goat demons. The people of Israel must keep this regulation for all time to come. 8 Any Israelites or any foreigners living in the community who offer a burnt offering or any other sacrifice 9 as an offering to the Lord anywhere except at the entrance of the Tent shall no longer be considered God's people. 10 If any Israelites or any foreigners living in the community eat meat with blood still in it, the Lord will turn against them and no longer consider them his people. 11 The life of every living thing is in the blood, and that is why the Lord has commanded that all blood be poured out on the altar to take away the people's sins. Blood, which is life, takes away sins. 12 That is why the Lord has told the people of Israel that neither they nor any foreigner living among them shall eat any meat with blood still in it. 13 If any Israelites or any foreigners living in the community catch an animal or a bird which is ritually clean, they must pour its blood out on the ground and cover it with dirt. 14 The life of every living thing is in the blood, and that is why the Lord has told the people of Israel that they shall not eat any meat with blood still in it and that anyone who does so will no longer be considered one of his people. 15 Any people, Israelites or foreigners, who eat meat from an animal that has died a natural death or has been killed by wild animals must wash their clothes, take a bath, and wait until evening before they are ritually clean.

Leviticus 19:26 "Do not eat any meat with blood still in it. Do not practice any kind of magic.

988-Deuteronomy 12:16 But you must not eat their blood; you must pour it out on the ground like water.

Deuteronomy 12:23 Only do not eat meat with blood still in it, for the life is in the blood, and you must not eat the life with the meat. 24 Do not use the blood for food; instead, pour it out on the ground like water. 25 If you obey this command, the Lord will be pleased, and all will go well for you and your descendants.

Deuteronomy 15:23 But do not use their blood for food; instead, you must pour it out on the ground like water.

989-Acts 15:28 The Holy Spirit and we have agreed not to put any other burden on you besides these necessary rules: 29 eat no food that has been offered to idols; eat no blood; eat no animal that has been strangled; and keep yourselves from sexual immorality. You will do well if you take care not to do these things. With our best wishes."

990-Leviticus 3:17 No Israelite may eat any fat or any blood; this is a rule to be kept forever by all Israelites wherever they live.

Leviticus 7:23 for the people of Israel. No fat of cattle, sheep, or goats shall be eaten. 24 The fat of an animal that has died a natural death or has been killed by a wild animal must not be eaten, but it may be used for any other purpose. 25 Anyone who eats the fat of an animal that may be offered as a food offering to the Lord will no longer be considered one of God's people.

991-Acts 15:28 The Holy Spirit and we have agreed not to put any other burden on you besides these necessary rules: 29 eat no food that has been offered to idols; eat no blood; eat no animal that has been strangled; and keep yourselves from sexual immorality. You will do well if you take care not to do these things. With our best wishes."

992-Deuteronomy 14:1 "You are the people of the Lord your God. So when you mourn for the dead, don't gash yourselves or shave the front of your head, as other people do.

993-Exodus 23:19 "Each year bring to the house of the Lord your God the first grain that you harvest. "Do not cook a young sheep or goat in its mother's milk.

Exodus 34:26 "Each year bring to the house of the Lord the first grain that you harvest. "Do not cook a young sheep or goat in its mother's milk."

994-Deuteronomy 14:21 "Do not eat any animal that dies a natural death. You may let the foreigners who live among you eat it, or you may sell it to other foreigners. But you belong to the Lord your God; you are his people. "Do not cook a young sheep or goat in its mother's milk.

995-Leviticus 22:28 Do not sacrifice a cow and its calf or a sheep and its lamb or a goat and its kid on the same day.

996-Deuteronomy 22:6 "If you happen to find a bird's nest in a tree or on the ground with the mother bird sitting either on the eggs or with her young, you are not to take the mother bird.

997-1 Kings 18:28 So the prophets prayed louder and cut themselves with knives and daggers, according to their ritual, until blood flowed.

998-Jeremiah 16:6; 41:5; 47:56 The rich and the poor will die in this land, but no one will bury them or mourn for them. Not one of you will gash yourself or shave your head to show your grief.

Jeremiah 41:5 eighty men arrived from Shechem, Shiloh, and Samaria. They had shaved off their beards, torn their clothes, and gashed themselves. They were taking grain and incense to offer in the Temple

Jeremiah 47:5 Great sorrow has come to the people of Gaza, and Ashkelon's people are silent. How long will the rest of Philistia mourn?

999-Leviticus 21:5 "No priest shall shave any part of his head or trim his beard or cut gashes on his body to show that he is in mourning.

1000-Ezekiel 7:18 They will put on sackcloth and they will tremble all over. Their heads will be shaved, and they will all be disgraced.

1001-Micah 1:16 People of Judah, cut off your hair in mourning for the children you love. Make yourselves as bald as vultures, because your children will be taken away from you into exile.

1002-Exodus 23:19 "Each year bring to the house of the Lord your God the first grain that you harvest. "Do not cook a young sheep or goat in its mother's milk

1003-Deuteronomy 14:22 "Set aside a tithe - a tenth of all that your fields produce each year. 23 Then go to the one place where the Lord your God has chosen to be worshiped; and there in his presence eat the tithes of your grain, wine, and olive oil, and the first-born of your cattle and sheep. Do this so that you may learn to honor the Lord your God always. 24 If the place of worship is too far from your home for you to carry there the tithe of the produce that the Lord has blessed you with, then do this: 25 Sell your produce and take the money with you to the one place of worship. 26 Spend it on whatever you want - beef, lamb, wine, beer - and there, in the presence of the Lord your God, you and your families are to eat and enjoy yourselves. 27 "Do not neglect the Levites who live in your towns; they have no property of their own.

1004-Deuteronomy 22:19,29; 24:1-419 They are also to fine him a hundred pieces of silver and give the money to the young woman's father, because the man has brought disgrace on an Israelite woman. Moreover, she will continue to be his wife, and he can never divorce her as long as he lives.

Deuteronomy 22:29 He is to pay her father the bride price of fifty pieces of silver, and she is to become his wife, because he forced her to have intercourse with him. He can never divorce her as long as he lives.

Deuteronomy 24:1 "Suppose a man marries a woman and later decides that he doesn't want her, because he finds something about her that he doesn't like. So he writes out divorce papers, gives them to her, and sends her away from his home. 2 Then suppose she marries another man, 3 and he also decides that he doesn't want her, so he also writes out divorce papers, gives them to her, and sends her away from his home. Or suppose her second husband dies. 4 In either case, her first husband is not to marry her again; he is to consider her defiled. If he married her again, it would be offensive to the Lord. You are not to commit such a terrible sin in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.

1005-Matthew 19:4 Jesus answered, "Haven't you read the scripture that says that in the beginning the Creator made people male and female? 5 And God said, "For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and unite with his wife, and the two will become one.' 6 So they are no longer two, but one. No human being must separate, then, what God has joined together." 7 The Pharisees asked him, "Why, then, did Moses give the law for a man to hand his wife a divorce notice and send her away?" 8 Jesus answered, "Moses gave you permission to divorce your wives because you are so hard to teach. But it was not like that at the time of creation.

1006-Exodus 21:7 "If a man sells his daughter as a slave, she is not to be set free, as male slaves are. 8 If she is sold to someone who intends to make her his wife, but he doesn't like her, then she is to be sold back to her father; her master cannot sell her to foreigners, because he has treated her unfairly. 9 If a man buys a female slave to give to his son, he is to treat her like a daughter. 10 If a man takes a second wife, he must continue to give his first wife the same amount of food and clothing and the same rights that she had before. 11 If he does not fulfill these duties to her, he must set her free and not receive any payment.

1007-Deuteronomy 21:10 "When the Lord your God gives you victory in battle and you take prisoners, 11 you may see among them a beautiful woman that you like and want to marry. 12 Take her to your home, where she will shave her head, cut her fingernails, 13 and change her clothes. She is to stay in your home and mourn for her parents for a month; after that, you may marry her. 14 Later, if you no longer want her, you are to let her go free. Since you forced her to have intercourse with you, you cannot treat her as a slave and sell her. 15 "Suppose a man has two wives and they both bear him sons, but the first son is not the child of his favorite wife. 16 When the man decides how he is going to divide his property among his children, he is not to show partiality to the son of his favorite wife by giving him the share that belongs to the first-born son. 17 He is to give a double share of his possessions to his first son, even though he is not the son of his favorite wife. A man must acknowledge his first son and give him the share he is legally entitled to.

1008-Leviticus 18:18 Do not take your wife's sister as one of your wives, as long as your wife is living.

1009-Deuteronomy 17:17 The king is not to have many wives, because this would make him turn away from the Lord; and he is not to make himself rich with silver and gold.

1010-Exodus 21:16 "Whoever kidnaps someone, either to sell him or to keep him as a slave, is to be put to death.

Exodus 21:20 "If a slave owner takes a stick and beats his slave, whether male or female, and the slave dies on the spot, the owner is to be punished.

1011-Ephesians 6:9 Masters, behave in the same way toward your slaves and stop using threats. Remember that you and your slaves belong to the same Master in heaven, who judges everyone by the same standard.

1012-Colossians 4:1 Masters, be fair and just in the way you treat your slaves. Remember that you too have a Master in heaven.

1013-Leviticus 10:9 "You and your sons are not to enter the Tent of my presence after drinking wine or beer; if you do, you will die. This is a law to be kept by all your descendants.

1014-Proverbs 31:4-7; 20:1; 23:29-334 Listen, Lemuel. Kings should not drink wine or have a craving for alcohol. 5 When they drink, they forget the laws and ignore the rights of people in need. 6 Alcohol is for people who are dying, for those who are in misery. 7 Let them drink and forget their poverty and unhappiness.

Proverbs 20:1 Drinking too much makes you loud and foolish. It's stupid to get drunk.

Proverbs 23:29 Show me people who drink too much, who have to try out fancy drinks, and I will show you people who are miserable and sorry for themselves, always causing trouble and always complaining. Their eyes are bloodshot, and they have bruises that could have been avoided. 31 Don't let wine tempt you, even though it is rich red, and it sparkles in the cup, and it goes down smoothly. 32 The next morning you will feel as if you had been bitten by a poisonous snake. 33 Weird sights will appear before your eyes, and you will not be able to think or speak clearly.

1015-Habakkuk 2:15 You are doomed! In your fury you humiliated and disgraced your neighbors; you made them stagger as though they were drunk.

1016-1 Corinthians 10:31; 3:16,17; 6:19,20; 9:2731 Well, whatever you do, whether you eat or drink, do it all for God's glory.

1 Corinthians 3:16 Surely you know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit lives in you! 17 God will destroy anyone who destroys God's temple. For God's temple is holy, and you yourselves are his temple.

1 Corinthians 6:19 Don't you know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and who was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourselves but to God; 20 he bought you for a price. So use your bodies for God's glory.

1 Corinthians 9:27 I harden my body with blows and bring it under complete control, to keep myself from being disqualified after having called others to the contest.

1017-1 Corinthians 6:10 or who steal or are greedy or are drunkards or who slander others or are thieves - none of these will possess God's Kingdom.

1018-Genesis 3:4 The snake replied, "That's not true; you will not die. 5 God said that because he knows that when you eat it, you will be like God and know what is good and what is bad."

1019-1 Kings 13:18 Then the old prophet from Bethel said to him, "I, too, am a prophet just like you, and at the Lord's command an angel told me to take you home with me and offer you my hospitality." But the old prophet was lying.

1020-Deuteronomy 27:1 Then Moses, together with the leaders of Israel, said to the people, "Obey all the instructions that I am giving you today. 2 On the day you cross the Jordan River and enter the land that the Lord your God is giving you, you are to set up some large stones, cover them with plaster, 3 and write on them all these laws and teachings. When you have entered the rich and fertile land that the Lord, the God of your ancestors, promised you, 4 and you are on the other side of the Jordan, set up these stones on Mount Ebal, as I am instructing you today, and cover them with plaster. 5 Build an altar there made of stones that have had no iron tools used on them, 6 because any altar you build for the Lord your God must be made of uncut stones. There you are to offer the sacrifices that are to be burned, 7 and there you are to sacrifice and eat your fellowship offerings and be grateful in the presence of the Lord your God. 8 On the stones covered with plaster write clearly every word of God's laws." 9 Then Moses, together with the levitical priests, said to all the people of Israel, "Give me your attention, people of Israel, and listen to me. Today you have become the people of the Lord your God; 10 so obey him and keep all his laws that I am giving you today." 11 Then Moses said to the people of Israel, 12 "After you have crossed the Jordan, the following tribes are to stand on Mount Gerizim when the blessings are pronounced on the people: Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Joseph, and Benjamin. 13 And the following tribes will stand on Mount Ebal when the curses are pronounced: Reuben, Gad, Asher, Zebulun, Dan, and Naphtali. 14 The Levites will speak these words in a loud voice: 15 " "God's curse on anyone who makes an idol of stone, wood, or metal and secretly worships it; the Lord hates idolatry.' "And all the people will answer, "Amen!' 16 " "God's curse on anyone who dishonors his father or mother.' "And all the people will answer, "Amen!' 17 " "God's curse on anyone who moves a neighbor's property line.' "And all the people will answer, "Amen!' 18 " "God's curse on anyone who leads a blind person in the wrong direction.' "And all the people will answer, "Amen!' 19 " "God's curse on anyone who deprives foreigners, orphans, and widows of their rights.' "And all the people will answer, "Amen!' 20 " "God's curse on anyone who disgraces his father by having intercourse with any of his father's wives.' "And all the people will answer, "Amen!' 21 " "God's curse on anyone who has sexual relations with an animal.' "And all the people will answer, "Amen!' 22 " "God's curse on anyone who has intercourse with his sister or half sister.' "And all the people will answer, "Amen!' 23 " "God's curse on anyone who has intercourse with his mother-in-law.' "And all the people will answer, "Amen!' 24 " "God's curse on anyone who secretly commits murder.' "And all the people will answer, "Amen!' 25 " "God's curse on anyone who accepts money to murder an innocent person.' "And all the people will answer, "Amen!' 26 " "God's curse on anyone who does not obey all of God's laws and teachings.' "And all the people will answer, "Amen!'

Deuteronomy 28:1 "If you obey the Lord your God and faithfully keep all his commands that I am giving you today, he will make you greater than any other nation on earth. 2 Obey the Lord your God and all these blessings will be yours: 3 "The Lord will bless your towns and your fields. 4 "The Lord will bless you with many children, with abundant crops, and with many cattle and sheep. 5 "The Lord will bless your grain crops and the food you prepare from them. 6 "The Lord will bless everything you do. 7 "The Lord will defeat your enemies when they attack you. They will attack from one direction, but they will run from you in all directions. 8 "The Lord your God will bless your work and fill your barns with grain. He will bless you in the land that he is giving you. 9 "If you obey the Lord your God and do everything he commands, he will make you his own people, as he has promised. 10 Then all the peoples on earth will see that the Lord has chosen you to be his own people, and they will be afraid of you. 11 The Lord will give you many children, many cattle, and abundant crops in the land that he promised your ancestors to give you. 12 He will send rain in season from his rich storehouse in the sky and bless all your work, so that you will lend to many nations, but you will not have to borrow from any. 13 The Lord your God will make you the leader among the nations and not a follower; you will always prosper and never fail if you obey faithfully all his commands that I am giving you today. 14 But you must never disobey them in any way, or worship and serve other gods. 15 "But if you disobey the Lord your God and do not faithfully keep all his commands and laws that I am giving you today, all these evil things will happen to you: 16 "The Lord will curse your towns and your fields. 17 "The Lord will curse your grain crops and the food you prepare from them. 18 "The Lord will curse you by giving you only a few children, poor crops, and few cattle and sheep. 19 "The Lord will curse everything you do. 20 "If you do evil and reject the Lord, he will bring on you disaster, confusion, and trouble in everything you do, until you are quickly and completely destroyed. 21 He will send disease after disease on you until there is not one of you left in the land that you are about to occupy. 22 The Lord will strike you with infectious diseases, with swelling and fever; he will send drought and scorching winds to destroy your crops. These disasters will be with you until you die. 23 No rain will fall, and your ground will become as hard as iron. 24 Instead of rain, the Lord will send down duststorms and sandstorms until you are destroyed. 25 "The Lord will give your enemies victory over you. You will attack them from one direction, but you will run from them in all directions, and all the people on earth will be terrified when they see what happens to you. 26 When you die, birds and wild animals will come and eat your bodies, and there will be no one to scare them off. 27 The Lord will send boils on you, as he did on the Egyptians. He will make your bodies break out with sores. You will be covered with scabs, and you will itch, but there will be no cure. 28 The Lord will make you lose your mind; he will strike you with blindness and confusion. 29 You will grope about in broad daylight like someone blind, and you will not be able to find your way. You will not prosper in anything you do. You will be constantly oppressed and robbed, and there will be no one to help you. 30 "You will be engaged to a young woman - but someone else will marry her. You will build a house - but never live in it. You will plant a vineyard - but never eat its grapes. 31 Your cattle will be butchered before your very eyes, but you will not eat any of the meat. Your donkeys will be dragged away while you look on, and they will not be given back to you. Your sheep will be given to your enemies, and there will be no one to help you. 32 Your sons and daughters will be given as slaves to foreigners while you look on. Every day you will strain your eyes, looking in vain for your children to return. 33 A foreign nation will take all the crops that you have worked so hard to grow, while you receive nothing but constant oppression and harsh treatment. 34 Your sufferings will make you lose your mind. 35 The Lord will cover your legs with incurable, painful sores; boils will cover you from head to foot. 36 "The Lord will take you and your king away to a foreign land, where neither you nor your ancestors ever lived before; there you will serve gods made of wood and stone. 37 In the countries to which the Lord will scatter you, the people will be shocked at what has happened to you; they will make fun of you and ridicule you. 38 "You will plant plenty of seed, but reap only a small harvest, because the locusts will eat your crops. 39 You will plant vineyards and take care of them, but you will not gather their grapes or drink wine from them, because worms will eat the vines. 40 Olive trees will grow everywhere in your land, but you will not have any olive oil, because the olives will drop off. 41 You will have sons and daughters, but you will lose them, because they will be taken away as prisoners of war. 42 All your trees and crops will be devoured by insects. 43 "Foreigners who live in your land will gain more and more power, while you gradually lose yours. 44 They will have money to lend you, but you will have none to lend them. In the end they will be your rulers. 45 "All these disasters will come on you, and they will be with you until you are destroyed, because you did not obey the Lord your God and keep all the laws that he gave you. 46 They will be the evidence of God's judgment on you and your descendants forever. 47 The Lord blessed you in every way, but you would not serve him with glad and joyful hearts. 48 So then, you will serve the enemies that the Lord is going to send against you. You will be hungry, thirsty, and naked - in need of everything. The Lord will oppress you harshly until you are destroyed. 49 The Lord will bring against you a nation from the ends of the earth, a nation whose language you do not know. They will swoop down on you like an eagle. 50 They will be ruthless and show no mercy to anyone, young or old. 51 They will eat your livestock and your crops, and you will starve to death. They will not leave you any grain, wine, olive oil, cattle, or sheep; and you will die. 52 They will attack every town in the land that the Lord your God is giving you, and the high, fortified walls in which you trust will fall. 53 "When your enemies are besieging your towns, you will become so desperate for food that you will even eat the children that the Lord your God has given you. 54 Even the most refined man of noble birth will become so desperate during the siege that he will eat some of his own children because he has no other food. He will not even give any to his brother or to the wife he loves or to any of his children who are left. 56 Even the most refined woman of noble birth, so rich that she has never had to walk anywhere, will behave in the same way. When the enemy besieges her town, she will become so desperate for food that she will secretly eat her newborn child and the afterbirth as well. She will not share them with the husband she loves or with any of her children. 58 "If you do not obey faithfully all of God's teachings that are written in this book and if you do not honor the wonderful and awesome name of the Lord your God, 59 he will send on you and on your descendants incurable diseases and horrible epidemics that can never be stopped. 60 He will bring on you once again all the dreadful diseases you experienced in Egypt, and you will never recover. 61 He will also send all kinds of diseases and epidemics that are not mentioned in this book of God's laws and teachings, and you will be destroyed. 62 Although you become as numerous as the stars in the sky, only a few of you will survive, because you did not obey the Lord your God. 63 Just as the Lord took delight in making you prosper and in making you increase in number, so he will take delight in destroying you and in bringing ruin on you. You will be uprooted from the land that you are about to occupy. 64 "The Lord will scatter you among all the nations, from one end of the earth to the other, and there you will serve gods made of wood and stone, gods that neither you nor your ancestors have ever worshiped before. 65 You will find no peace anywhere, no place to call your own; the Lord will overwhelm you with anxiety, hopelessness, and despair. 66 Your life will always be in danger. Day and night you will be filled with terror, and you will live in constant fear of death.

Deuteronomy 29:1 These are the terms of the covenant that the Lord commanded Moses to make with the people of Israel in the land of Moab; all this was in addition to the covenant which the Lord had made with them at Mount Sinai. 2 Moses called together all the people of Israel and said to them, "You saw for yourselves what the Lord did to the king of Egypt, to his officials, and to his entire country. 3 You saw the terrible plagues, the miracles, and the great wonders that the Lord performed. 4 But to this very day he has not let you understand what you have experienced. 5 For forty years the Lord led you through the desert, and your clothes and sandals never wore out. 6 You did not have bread to eat or wine or beer to drink, but the Lord provided for your needs in order to teach you that he is your God. 7 And when we came to this place, King Sihon of Heshbon and King Og of Bashan came out to fight against us. But we defeated them, 8 took their land, and divided it among the tribes of Reuben and Gad, and half the tribe of Manasseh. 9 Obey faithfully all the terms of this covenant, so that you will be successful in everything you do. 10 "Today you are standing in the presence of the Lord your God, all of you - your leaders and officials, your men, 11 women, and children, and the foreigners who live among you and cut wood and carry water for you. 12 You are here today to enter into this covenant that the Lord your God is making with you and to accept its obligations, 13 so that the Lord may now confirm you as his people and be your God, as he promised you and your ancestors, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. 14 You are not the only ones with whom the Lord is making this covenant with its obligations. 15 He is making it with all of us who stand here in his presence today and also with our descendants who are not yet born. 16 "You remember what life was like in Egypt and what it was like to travel through the territory of other nations. 17 You saw their disgusting idols made of wood, stone, silver, and gold. 18 Make sure that no man, woman, family, or tribe standing here today turns from the Lord our God to worship the gods of other nations. This would be like a root that grows to be a bitter and poisonous plant. 19 Make sure that there is no one here today who hears these solemn demands and yet convinces himself that all will be well with him, even if he stubbornly goes his own way. That would destroy all of you, good and evil alike. 20 The Lord will not forgive such a man. Instead, the Lord's burning anger will flame up against him, and all the disasters written in this book will fall on him until the Lord has destroyed him completely. 21 The Lord will make an example of him before all the tribes of Israel and will bring disaster on him in accordance with all the curses listed in the covenant that is written in this book of the Lord's teachings. 22 "In future generations your descendants and foreigners from distant lands will see the disasters and sufferings that the Lord has brought on your land. 23 The fields will be a barren waste, covered with sulfur and salt; nothing will be planted, and not even weeds will grow there. Your land will be like the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, of Admah and Zeboiim, which the Lord destroyed when he was furiously angry. 24 Then the whole world will ask, "Why did the Lord do this to their land? What was the reason for his fierce anger?' 25 And the answer will be, "It is because the Lord's people broke the covenant they had made with him, the God of their ancestors, when he brought them out of Egypt. 26 They served other gods that they had never worshiped before, gods that the Lord had forbidden them to worship. 27 And so the Lord became angry with his people and brought on their land all the disasters written in this book. 28 The Lord became furiously angry, and in his great anger he uprooted them from their land and threw them into a foreign land, and there they are today.' 29 "There are some things that the Lord our God has kept secret; but he has revealed his Law, and we and our descendants are to obey it forever.

Deuteronomy 30:1 "I have now given you a choice between a blessing and a curse. When all these things have happened to you, and you are living among the nations where the Lord your God has scattered you, you will remember the choice I gave you. 2 If you and your descendants will turn back to the Lord and with all your heart obey his commands that I am giving you today, 3 then the Lord your God will have mercy on you. He will bring you back from the nations where he has scattered you, and he will make you prosperous again. 4 Even if you are scattered to the farthest corners of the earth, the Lord your God will gather you together and bring you back, 5 so that you may again take possession of the land where your ancestors once lived. And he will make you more prosperous and more numerous than your ancestors ever were. 6 The Lord your God will give you and your descendants obedient hearts, so that you will love him with all your heart, and you will continue to live in that land. 7 He will turn all these curses against your enemies, who hated you and oppressed you, 8 and you will again obey him and keep all his commands that I am giving you today. 9 The Lord will make you prosperous in all that you do; you will have many children and a lot of livestock, and your fields will produce abundant crops. He will be as glad to make you prosperous as he was to make your ancestors prosperous, 10 but you will have to obey him and keep all his laws that are written in this book of his teachings. You will have to turn to him with all your heart. 11 "The command that I am giving you today is not too difficult or beyond your reach. 12 It is not up in the sky. You do not have to ask, "Who will go up and bring it down for us, so that we can hear it and obey it?' 13 Nor is it on the other side of the ocean. You do not have to ask, "Who will go across the ocean and bring it to us, so that we may hear it and obey it?' 14 No, it is here with you. You know it and can quote it, so now obey it. 15 "Today I am giving you a choice between good and evil, between life and death. 16 If you obey the commands of the Lord your God, which I give you today, if you love him, obey him, and keep all his laws, then you will prosper and become a nation of many people. The Lord your God will bless you in the land that you are about to occupy. 17 But if you disobey and refuse to listen, and are led away to worship other gods, 18 you will be destroyed - I warn you here and now. You will not live long in that land across the Jordan that you are about to occupy. 19 I am now giving you the choice between life and death, between God's blessing and God's curse, and I call heaven and earth to witness the choice you make. Choose life. 20 Love the Lord your God, obey him and be faithful to him, and then you and your descendants will live long in the land that he promised to give your ancestors, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob."

Deuteronomy 31:1 Moses continued speaking to the people of Israel, 2 and said, "I am now a hundred and twenty years old and am no longer able to be your leader. And besides this, the Lord has told me that I will not cross the Jordan. 3 The Lord your God himself will go before you and destroy the nations living there, so that you can occupy their land; and Joshua will be your leader, as the Lord has said. 4 The Lord will destroy those people, just as he defeated Sihon and Og, kings of the Amorites, and destroyed their country. 5 The Lord will give you victory over them, and you are to treat them exactly as I have told you. 6 Be determined and confident. Do not be afraid of them. Your God, the Lord himself, will be with you. He will not fail you or abandon you." 7 Then Moses called Joshua and said to him in the presence of all the people of Israel, "Be determined and confident; you are the one who will lead these people to occupy the land that the Lord promised to their ancestors. 8 The Lord himself will lead you and be with you. He will not fail you or abandon you, so do not lose courage or be afraid." 9 So Moses wrote down God's Law and gave it to the levitical priests, who were in charge of the Lord's Covenant Box, and to the leaders of Israel. 10 He commanded them, "At the end of every seven years, when the year that debts are canceled comes around, read this aloud at the Festival of Shelters. 11 Read it to the people of Israel when they come to worship the Lord your God at the one place of worship. 12 Call together all the men, women, and children, and the foreigners who live in your towns, so that everyone may hear it and learn to honor the Lord your God and to obey his teachings faithfully. 13 In this way your descendants who have never heard the Law of the Lord your God will hear it. And so they will learn to obey him as long as they live in the land that you are about to occupy across the Jordan." 14 Then the Lord said to Moses, "You do not have much longer to live. Call Joshua and bring him to the Tent, so that I may give him his instructions." Moses and Joshua went to the Tent, 15 and the Lord appeared to them there in a pillar of cloud that stood by the door of the Tent. 16 The Lord said to Moses, "You will soon die, and after your death the people will become unfaithful to me and break the covenant that I made with them. They will abandon me and worship the pagan gods of the land they are about to enter. 17 When that happens, I will become angry with them; I will abandon them, and they will be destroyed. Many terrible disasters will come upon them, and then they will realize that these things are happening to them because I, their God, am no longer with them. 18 And I will refuse to help them then, because they have done evil and worshiped other gods. 19 "Now, write down this song. Teach it to the people of Israel, so that it will stand as evidence against them. 20 I will take them into this rich and fertile land, as I promised their ancestors. There they will have all the food they want, and they will live comfortably. But they will turn away and worship other gods. They will reject me and break my covenant, 21 and many terrible disasters will come on them. But this song will still be sung, and it will stand as evidence against them. Even now, before I take them into the land that I promised to give them, I know what they are thinking." 22 That same day Moses wrote down the song and taught it to the people of Israel. 23 Then the Lord spoke to Joshua son of Nun and told him, "Be confident and determined. You will lead the people of Israel into the land that I promised them, and I will be with you." 24 Moses wrote God's Law in a book, taking care not to leave out anything. 25 When he finished, he said to the levitical priests, who were in charge of the Lord's Covenant Box, 26 "Take this book of God's Law and place it beside the Covenant Box of the Lord your God, so that it will remain there as a witness against his people. 27 I know how stubborn and rebellious they are. They have rebelled against the Lord during my lifetime, and they will rebel even more after I am dead. 28 Assemble all your tribal leaders and officials before me, so that I can tell them these things; I will call heaven and earth to be my witnesses against them. 29 I know that after my death the people will become wicked and reject what I have taught them. And in time to come they will meet with disaster, because they will have made the Lord angry by doing what he has forbidden." 30 Then Moses recited the entire song while all the people of Israel listened.

Deuteronomy 32:1 "Earth and sky, hear my words, listen closely to what I say. 2 My teaching will fall like drops of rain and form on the earth like dew. My words will fall like showers on young plants, like gentle rain on tender grass. 3 I will praise the name of the Lord, and his people will tell of his greatness. 4 "The Lord is your mighty defender, perfect and just in all his ways; Your God is faithful and true; he does what is right and fair. 5 But you are unfaithful, unworthy to be his people, a sinful and deceitful nation. 6 Is this the way you should treat the Lord, you foolish, senseless people? He is your father, your Creator, he made you into a nation. 7 "Think of the past, of the time long ago; ask your parents to tell you what happened, ask the old people to tell of the past. 8 The Most High assigned nations their lands; he determined where peoples should live. He assigned to each nation a heavenly being, 9 but Jacob's descendants he chose for himself. 10 "He found them wandering through the desert, a desolate, wind-swept wilderness. He protected them and cared for them, as he would protect himself. 11 Like an eagle teaching its young to fly, catching them safely on its spreading wings, the Lord kept Israel from falling. 12 The Lord alone led his people without the help of a foreign god. 13 "He let them rule the highlands, and they ate what grew in the fields. They found wild honey among the rocks; their olive trees flourished in stony ground. 14 Their cows and goats gave plenty of milk; they had the best sheep, goats, and cattle, the finest wheat, and the choicest wine. 15 "The Lord's people grew rich, but rebellious; they were fat and stuffed with food. They abandoned God their Creator and rejected their mighty savior. 16 Their idolatry made the Lord jealous; the evil they did made him angry. 17 They sacrificed to gods that are not real, new gods their ancestors had never known, gods that Israel had never obeyed. 18 They forgot their God, their mighty savior, the one who had given them life. 19 "When the Lord saw this, he was angry and rejected his sons and daughters. 20 "I will no longer help them,' he said; "then I will see what happens to them, those stubborn, unfaithful people. 21 With their idols they have made me angry, jealous with their so-called gods, gods that are really not gods. So I will use a so-called nation to make them angry; I will make them jealous with a nation of fools. 22 My anger will flame up like fire and burn everything on earth. It will reach to the world below and consume the roots of the mountains. 23 " "I will bring on them endless disasters and use all my arrows against them. 24 They will die from hunger and fever; they will die from terrible diseases. I will send wild animals to attack them, and poisonous snakes to bite them. 25 War will bring death in the streets; terrors will strike in the homes. Young men and young women will die; neither babies nor old people will be spared. 26 I would have destroyed them completely, so that no one would remember them. 27 But I could not let their enemies boast that they had defeated my people, when it was I myself who had crushed them.' 28 "Israel is a nation without sense; they have no wisdom at all. 29 They fail to see why they were defeated; they cannot understand what happened. 30 Why were a thousand defeated by one, and ten thousand by only two? The Lord, their God, had abandoned them; their mighty God had given them up. 31 Their enemies know that their own gods are weak, not mighty like Israel's God. 32 Their enemies, corrupt as Sodom and Gomorrah, are like vines that bear bitter and poisonous grapes, 33 like wine made from the venom of snakes. 34 "The Lord remembers what their enemies have done; he waits for the right time to punish them. 35 The Lord will take revenge and punish them; the time will come when they will fall; the day of their doom is near. 36 The Lord will rescue his people when he sees that their strength is gone. He will have mercy on those who serve him, when he sees how helpless they are. 37 Then the Lord will ask his people, "Where are those mighty gods you trusted? 38 You fed them the fat of your sacrifices and offered them wine to drink. Let them come and help you now; let them run to your rescue. 39 " "I, and I alone, am God; no other god is real. I kill and I give life, I wound and I heal, and no one can oppose what I do. 40 As surely as I am the living God, I raise my hand and I vow 41 that I will sharpen my flashing sword and see that justice is done. I will take revenge on my enemies and punish those who hate me. 42 My arrows will drip with their blood, and my sword will kill all who oppose me. I will spare no one who fights against me; even the wounded and prisoners will die.' 43 "Nations, you must praise the Lord's people - he punishes all who kill them. He takes revenge on his enemies and forgives the sins of his people." 44 Moses and Joshua son of Nun recited this song, so that the people of Israel could hear it. 45 When Moses had finished giving God's teachings to the people, 46 he said, "Be sure to obey all these commands that I have given you today. Repeat them to your children, so that they may faithfully obey all of God's teachings. 47 These teachings are not empty words; they are your very life. Obey them and you will live long in that land across the Jordan that you are about to occupy." 48 That same day the Lord said to Moses, 49 "Go to the Abarim Mountains in the land of Moab opposite the city of Jericho; climb Mount Nebo and look at the land of Canaan that I am about to give the people of Israel. 50 You will die on that mountain as your brother Aaron died on Mount Hor, 51 because both of you were unfaithful to me in the presence of the people of Israel. When you were at the waters of Meribah, near the town of Kadesh in the wilderness of Zin, you dishonored me in the presence of the people. 52 You will look at the land from a distance, but you will not enter the land that I am giving the people of Israel."

Deuteronomy 33:1 These are the blessings that Moses, the man of God, pronounced on the people of Israel before he died. 2 The Lord came from Mount Sinai; he rose like the sun over Edom and shone on his people from Mount Paran. Ten thousand angels were with him, a flaming fire at his right hand. 3 The Lord loves his people and protects those who belong to him. So we bow at his feet and obey his commands. 4 We obey the Law that Moses gave us, our nation's most treasured possession. 5 The Lord became king of his people Israel when their tribes and leaders were gathered together. 6 Moses said about the tribe of Reuben: "May Reuben never die out, Although their people are few." 7 About the tribe of Judah he said: "Lord, listen to their cry for help; Unite them again with the other tribes. Fight for them, Lord, And help them against their enemies." 8 About the tribe of Levi he said: "You, Lord, reveal your will by the Urim and Thummim Through your faithful servants, the Levites; You put them to the test at Massah And proved them true at the waters of Meribah. 9 They showed greater loyalty to you Than to parents, brothers, or children. They obeyed your commands And were faithful to your covenant. 10 They will teach your people to obey your Law; They will offer sacrifices on your altar. 11 Lord, help their tribe to grow strong; Be pleased with what they do. Crush all their enemies; Let them never rise again." 12 About the tribe of Benjamin he said: "This is the tribe the Lord loves and protects; He guards them all the day long, And he dwells in their midst." 13 About the tribe of Joseph he said: "May the Lord bless their land with rain And with water from under the earth. 14 May their land be blessed with sun-ripened fruit, Rich with the best fruits of each season. 15 May their ancient hills be covered with choice fruit. 16 May their land be filled with all that is good, Blessed by the goodness of the Lord, Who spoke from the burning bush. May these blessings come to the tribe of Joseph, Because he was the leader among his brothers. 17 Joseph has the strength of a bull, The horns of a wild ox. His horns are Manasseh's thousands And Ephraim's ten thousands. With them he gores the nations And pushes them to the ends of the earth." 18 About the tribes of Zebulun and Issachar he said: "May Zebulun be prosperous in their trade on the sea, And may Issachar's wealth increase at home. 19 They invite foreigners to their mountain And offer the right sacrifices there. They get their wealth from the sea And from the sand along the shore." 20 About the tribe of Gad he said: "Praise God, who made their territory large. Gad waits like a lion To tear off an arm or a scalp. 21 They took the best of the land for themselves; A leader's share was assigned to them. They obeyed the Lord's commands and laws When the leaders of Israel were gathered together." 22 About the tribe of Dan he said: "Dan is a young lion; He leaps out from Bashan." 23 About the tribe of Naphtali he said: "Naphtali is richly blessed by the Lord's good favor; Their land reaches to the south from Lake Galilee." 24 About the tribe of Asher he said: "Asher is blessed more than the other tribes. May he be the favorite of his brothers, And may his land be rich with olive trees. 25 May his towns be protected with iron gates, And may he always live secure." 26 People of Israel, no god is like your God, riding in splendor across the sky, riding through the clouds to come to your aid. 27 God has always been your defense; his eternal arms are your support. He drove out your enemies as you advanced, and told you to destroy them all. 28 So Jacob's descendants live in peace, secure in a land full of grain and wine, where dew from the sky waters the ground. 29 Israel, how happy you are! There is no one like you, a nation saved by the Lord. The Lord himself is your shield and your sword, to defend you and give you victory. Your enemies will come begging for mercy, and you will trample them down.

1021-Deuteronomy 15:17 Then take him to the door of your house and there pierce his ear; he will then be your slave for life. Treat your female slave in the same way.

1022-Exodus 21:6 then his master shall take him to the place of worship. There he is to make him stand against the door or the doorpost and put a hole through his ear. Then he will be his slave for life.

1023-Revelation 14:6 then his master shall take him to the place of worship. There he is to make him stand against the door or the doorpost and put a hole through his ear. Then he will be his slave for life.

1024-Revelation 21:4 He will wipe away all tears from their eyes. There will be no more death, no more grief or crying or pain. The old things have disappeared."

Revelation 20:Then death and the world of the dead were thrown into the lake of fire. (This lake of fire is the second death.)

1025-Deuteronomy 7:3-6; 11:16-17; 28:15-683 Do not marry any of them, and do not let your children marry any of them, 4 because then they would lead your children away from the Lord to worship other gods. If that happens, the Lord will be angry with you and destroy you at once. 5 So then, tear down their altars, break their sacred stone pillars in pieces, cut down their symbols of the goddess Asherah, and burn their idols. 6 Do this because you belong to the Lord your God. From all the peoples on earth he chose you to be his own special people.

Deuteronomy 11:16 Do not let yourselves be led away from the Lord to worship and serve other gods. 17 If you do, the Lord will become angry with you. He will hold back the rain, and your ground will become too dry for crops to grow. Then you will soon die there, even though it is a good land that he is giving you.

Deuteronomy 28:15 "But if you disobey the Lord your God and do not faithfully keep all his commands and laws that I am giving you today, all these evil things will happen to you: 16 "The Lord will curse your towns and your fields. 17 "The Lord will curse your grain crops and the food you prepare from them. 18 "The Lord will curse you by giving you only a few children, poor crops, and few cattle and sheep. 19 "The Lord will curse everything you do. 20 "If you do evil and reject the Lord, he will bring on you disaster, confusion, and trouble in everything you do, until you are quickly and completely destroyed. 21 He will send disease after disease on you until there is not one of you left in the land that you are about to occupy. 22 The Lord will strike you with infectious diseases, with swelling and fever; he will send drought and scorching winds to destroy your crops. These disasters will be with you until you die. 23 No rain will fall, and your ground will become as hard as iron. 24 Instead of rain, the Lord will send down duststorms and sandstorms until you are destroyed. 25 "The Lord will give your enemies victory over you. You will attack them from one direction, but you will run from them in all directions, and all the people on earth will be terrified when they see what happens to you. 26 When you die, birds and wild animals will come and eat your bodies, and there will be no one to scare them off. 27 The Lord will send boils on you, as he did on the Egyptians. He will make your bodies break out with sores. You will be covered with scabs, and you will itch, but there will be no cure. 28 The Lord will make you lose your mind; he will strike you with blindness and confusion. 29 You will grope about in broad daylight like someone blind, and you will not be able to find your way. You will not prosper in anything you do. You will be constantly oppressed and robbed, and there will be no one to help you. 30 "You will be engaged to a young woman - but someone else will marry her. You will build a house - but never live in it. You will plant a vineyard - but never eat its grapes. 31 Your cattle will be butchered before your very eyes, but you will not eat any of the meat. Your donkeys will be dragged away while you look on, and they will not be given back to you. Your sheep will be given to your enemies, and there will be no one to help you. 32 Your sons and daughters will be given as slaves to foreigners while you look on. Every day you will strain your eyes, looking in vain for your children to return. 33 A foreign nation will take all the crops that you have worked so hard to grow, while you receive nothing but constant oppression and harsh treatment. 34 Your sufferings will make you lose your mind. 35 The Lord will cover your legs with incurable, painful sores; boils will cover you from head to foot. 36 "The Lord will take you and your king away to a foreign land, where neither you nor your ancestors ever lived before; there you will serve gods made of wood and stone. 37 In the countries to which the Lord will scatter you, the people will be shocked at what has happened to you; they will make fun of you and ridicule you. 38 "You will plant plenty of seed, but reap only a small harvest, because the locusts will eat your crops. 39 You will plant vineyards and take care of them, but you will not gather their grapes or drink wine from them, because worms will eat the vines. 40 Olive trees will grow everywhere in your land, but you will not have any olive oil, because the olives will drop off. 41 You will have sons and daughters, but you will lose them, because they will be taken away as prisoners of war. 42 All your trees and crops will be devoured by insects. 43 "Foreigners who live in your land will gain more and more power, while you gradually lose yours. 44 They will have money to lend you, but you will have none to lend them. In the end they will be your rulers. 45 "All these disasters will come on you, and they will be with you until you are destroyed, because you did not obey the Lord your God and keep all the laws that he gave you. 46 They will be the evidence of God's judgment on you and your descendants forever. 47 The Lord blessed you in every way, but you would not serve him with glad and joyful hearts. 48 So then, you will serve the enemies that the Lord is going to send against you. You will be hungry, thirsty, and naked - in need of everything. The Lord will oppress you harshly until you are destroyed. 49 The Lord will bring against you a nation from the ends of the earth, a nation whose language you do not know. They will swoop down on you like an eagle. 50 They will be ruthless and show no mercy to anyone, young or old. 51 They will eat your livestock and your crops, and you will starve to death. They will not leave you any grain, wine, olive oil, cattle, or sheep; and you will die. 52 They will attack every town in the land that the Lord your God is giving you, and the high, fortified walls in which you trust will fall. 53 "When your enemies are besieging your towns, you will become so desperate for food that you will even eat the children that the Lord your God has given you. 54 Even the most refined man of noble birth will become so desperate during the siege that he will eat some of his own children because he has no other food. He will not even give any to his brother or to the wife he loves or to any of his children who are left. 56 Even the most refined woman of noble birth, so rich that she has never had to walk anywhere, will behave in the same way. When the enemy besieges her town, she will become so desperate for food that she will secretly eat her newborn child and the afterbirth as well. She will not share them with the husband she loves or with any of her children. 58 "If you do not obey faithfully all of God's teachings that are written in this book and if you do not honor the wonderful and awesome name of the Lord your God, 59 he will send on you and on your descendants incurable diseases and horrible epidemics that can never be stopped. 60 He will bring on you once again all the dreadful diseases you experienced in Egypt, and you will never recover. 61 He will also send all kinds of diseases and epidemics that are not mentioned in this book of God's laws and teachings, and you will be destroyed. 62 Although you become as numerous as the stars in the sky, only a few of you will survive, because you did not obey the Lord your God. 63 Just as the Lord took delight in making you prosper and in making you increase in number, so he will take delight in destroying you and in bringing ruin on you. You will be uprooted from the land that you are about to occupy. 64 "The Lord will scatter you among all the nations, from one end of the earth to the other, and there you will serve gods made of wood and stone, gods that neither you nor your ancestors have ever worshiped before. 65 You will find no peace anywhere, no place to call your own; the Lord will overwhelm you with anxiety, hopelessness, and despair. 66 Your life will always be in danger. Day and night you will be filled with terror, and you will live in constant fear of death.

1026-Deuteronomy 20:1 "When you go out to fight against your enemies and you see chariots and horses and an army that outnumbers yours, do not be afraid of them. The Lord your God, who rescued you from Egypt, will be with you. 2 Before you start fighting, a priest is to come forward and say to the army, 3 "Men of Israel, listen! Today you are going into battle. Do not be afraid of your enemies or lose courage or panic. 4 The Lord your God is going with you, and he will give you victory.' 5 "Then the officers will address the men and say, "Is there any man here who has just built a house, but has not yet dedicated it? If so, he is to go home. Otherwise, if he is killed in battle, someone else will dedicate his house. 6 Is there any man here who has just planted a vineyard, but has not yet had the chance to harvest its grapes? If so, he is to go home. Otherwise, if he is killed in battle, someone else will enjoy the wine. 7 Is there anyone here who is engaged to be married? If so, he is to go home. Otherwise, if he is killed in battle, someone else will marry the woman he is engaged to.' 8 "The officers will also say to the men, "Is there any man here who has lost his nerve and is afraid? If so, he is to go home. Otherwise, he will destroy the morale of the others.' 9 When the officers have finished speaking to the army, leaders are to be chosen for each unit. 10 "When you go to attack a city, first give its people a chance to surrender. 11 If they open the gates and surrender, they are all to become your slaves and do forced labor for you. 12 But if the people of that city will not surrender, but choose to fight, surround it with your army. 13 Then, when the Lord your God lets you capture the city, kill every man in it. 14 You may, however, take for yourselves the women, the children, the livestock, and everything else in the city. You may use everything that belongs to your enemies. The Lord has given it to you. 15 That is how you are to deal with those cities that are far away from the land you will settle in. 16 "But when you capture cities in the land that the Lord your God is giving you, kill everyone. 17 Completely destroy all the people: the Hittites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, as the Lord ordered you to do. 18 Kill them, so that they will not make you sin against the Lord by teaching you to do all the disgusting things that they do in the worship of their gods. 19 "When you are trying to capture a city, do not cut down its fruit trees, even though the siege lasts a long time. Eat the fruit, but do not destroy the trees; the trees are not your enemies. 20 You may cut down the other trees and use them in the siege mounds until the city is captured.

1027-Deuteronomy 20:10 "When you go to attack a city, first give its people a chance to surrender. 11 If they open the gates and surrender, they are all to become your slaves and do forced labor for you. 12 But if the people of that city will not surrender, but choose to fight, surround it with your army.

1028-Deuteronomy 1:41 "You replied, "Moses, we have sinned against the Lord. But now we will attack, just as the Lord our God commanded us.' Then each one of you got ready to fight, thinking it would be easy to invade the hill country.

1029-Deuteronomy 24:1 "Suppose a man marries a woman and later decides that he doesn't want her, because he finds something about her that he doesn't like. So he writes out divorce papers, gives them to her, and sends her away from his home. 2 Then suppose she marries another man, 3 and he also decides that he doesn't want her, so he also writes out divorce papers, gives them to her, and sends her away from his home. Or suppose her second husband dies. 4 In either case, her first husband is not to marry her again; he is to consider her defiled. If he married her again, it would be offensive to the Lord. You are not to commit such a terrible sin in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.

1030-Matthew 5:31 "It was also said, "Anyone who divorces his wife must give her a written notice of divorce.' 32 But now I tell you: if a man divorces his wife for any cause other than her unfaithfulness, then he is guilty of making her commit adultery if she marries again; and the man who marries her commits adultery also.

Matthew 19:3 Some Pharisees came to him and tried to trap him by asking, "Does our Law allow a man to divorce his wife for whatever reason he wishes?" 4 Jesus answered, "Haven't you read the scripture that says that in the beginning the Creator made people male and female? 5 And God said, "For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and unite with his wife, and the two will become one.' 6 So they are no longer two, but one. No human being must separate, then, what God has joined together." 7 The Pharisees asked him, "Why, then, did Moses give the law for a man to hand his wife a divorce notice and send her away?" 8 Jesus answered, "Moses gave you permission to divorce your wives because you are so hard to teach. But it was not like that at the time of creation. 9 I tell you, then, that any man who divorces his wife for any cause other than her unfaithfulness, commits adultery if he marries some other woman." 10 His disciples said to him, "If this is how it is between a man and his wife, it is better not to marry."

1031-Mark 10:2 Some Pharisees came to him and tried to trap him. "Tell us," they asked, "does our Law allow a man to divorce his wife?" 3 Jesus answered with a question, "What law did Moses give you?" 4 Their answer was, "Moses gave permission for a man to write a divorce notice and send his wife away." 5 Jesus said to them, "Moses wrote this law for you because you are so hard to teach. 6 But in the beginning, at the time of creation, "God made them male and female,' as the scripture says. 7 "And for this reason a man will leave his father and mother and unite with his wife, 8 and the two will become one.' So they are no longer two, but one. 9 No human being must separate, then, what God has joined together." 10 When they went back into the house, the disciples asked Jesus about this matter. 11 He said to them, "A man who divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery against his wife. 12 In the same way, a woman who divorces her husband and marries another man commits adultery."

1032-Luke 16:18 "Any man who divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery; and the man who marries a divorced woman commits adultery.

1033-Malachi 2:16 "I hate divorce," says the Lord God of Israel. "I hate it when one of you does such a cruel thing to his wife. Make sure that you do not break your promise to be faithful to your wife."

1034-Genesis 2:24 That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united with his wife, and they become one.

1035-1 Corinthians 6:16 Or perhaps you don't know that the man who joins his body to a prostitute becomes physically one with her? The scripture says quite plainly, "The two will become one body."

1036-Ephesians 5:31 As the scripture says, "For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and unite with his wife, and the two will become one."

1037-Deuteronomy 23:2 "No one born out of wedlock or any descendant of such a person, even in the tenth generation, may be included among the Lord's people.

1038-Deuteronomy 23:1 "No man who has been castrated or whose penis has been cut off may be included among the Lord's people.

1039-Deuteronomy 23:17 "No Israelite, man or woman, is to become a temple prostitute. 18 Also, no money earned in this way may be brought into the house of the Lord your God in fulfillment of a vow. The Lord hates temple prostitutes.

1040-Deuteronomy 23:17 "No Israelite, man or woman, is to become a temple prostitute. 18 Also, no money earned in this way may be brought into the house of the Lord your God in fulfillment of a vow. The Lord hates temple prostitutes.

1041-Nehemiah 13:1 When the Law of Moses was being read aloud to the people, they came to the passage that said that no Ammonite or Moabite was ever to be permitted to join God's people.

Nehemiah 13:7 and returned to Jerusalem. There I was shocked to find that Eliashib had allowed Tobiah to use a room in the Temple.

1042-Lamentations 1:10 The enemies robbed her of all her treasures. She saw them enter the Temple itself, Where the Lord had forbidden Gentiles to go.

1043-Isaiah 56:3 A foreigner who has joined the Lord's people should not say, "The Lord will not let me worship with his people." A man who has been castrated should never think that because he cannot have children, he can never be part of God's people.

Isaiah 56:5 then your name will be remembered in my Temple and among my people longer than if you had sons and daughters. You will never be forgotten."

1044-Leviticus 21:20 no one who is a hunchback or a dwarf; no one with any eye or skin disease; and no eunuch.

1045-Daniel 1:3 The king ordered Ashpenaz, his chief official, to select from among the Israelite exiles some young men of the royal family and of the noble families.

1046-Acts 8:27 So Philip got ready and went. Now an Ethiopian eunuch, who was an important official in charge of the treasury of the queen of Ethiopia, was on his way home. He had been to Jerusalem to worship God and was going back home in his carriage. As he rode along, he was reading from the book of the prophet Isaiah.

Acts 8:40 Philip found himself in Azotus; he went on to Caesarea, and on the way he preached the Good News in every town.

1047-2 Kings 9:32 Jehu looked up and shouted, "Who is on my side?" Two or three palace officials looked down at him from a window,

1048-Jeremiah 29:2 I wrote it after King Jehoiachin, his mother, the palace officials, the leaders of Judah and of Jerusalem, the engravers, and the skilled workers had been taken into exile.

1049-1 Kings 14:23 They built places of worship for false gods and put up stone pillars and symbols of Asherah to worship on the hills and under shady trees. 24 Worst of all, there were men and women who served as prostitutes at those pagan places of worship. The people of Judah practiced all the shameful things done by the people whom the Lord had driven out of the land as the Israelites advanced into the country.

1 Kings 15:12 He expelled from the country all the male and female prostitutes serving at the pagan places of worship, and he removed all the idols his predecessors had made.

1050-2 Kings 23:7 He destroyed the living quarters in the Temple occupied by the temple prostitutes. (It was there that women wove robes used in the worship of Asherah.)

1051-Jeremiah 3:2 Look up at the hilltops. Is there any place where you have not acted like a prostitute? You waited for lovers along the roadside, as an Arab waits for victims in the desert. You have defiled the land with your prostitution.

1052-Deuteronomy 23:3 "No Ammonite or Moabite - or any of their descendants, even in the tenth generation - may be included among the Lord's people. 4 They refused to provide you with food and water when you were on your way out of Egypt, and they hired Balaam son of Beor, from the city of Pethor in Mesopotamia, to curse you. 5 But the Lord your God would not listen to Balaam; instead he turned the curse into a blessing, because he loved you. 6 As long as you are a nation, never do anything to help these nations or to make them prosperous.

1053-Matthew 1:6 b-11 From David to the time when the people of Israel were taken into exile in Babylon, the following ancestors are listed: David, Solomon (his mother was the woman who had been Uriah's wife), Rehoboam, Abijah, Asa, Jehoshaphat, Jehoram, Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, Hezekiah, Manasseh, Amon, Josiah, and Jehoiachin and his brothers.

1054-Ruth 4:13 So Boaz took Ruth home as his wife. The Lord blessed her, and she became pregnant and had a son. 14 The women said to Naomi, "Praise the Lord! He has given you a grandson today to take care of you. May the boy become famous in Israel! 15 Your daughter-in-law loves you, and has done more for you than seven sons. And now she has given you a grandson, who will bring new life to you and give you security in your old age." 16 Naomi took the child, held him close, and took care of him. 17 The women of the neighborhood named the boy Obed. They told everyone, "A son has been born to Naomi!" Obed became the father of Jesse, who was the father of David. 18 This is the family line from Perez to David: Perez, Hezron, Ram, Amminadab, Nahshon, Salmon, Boaz, Obed, Jesse, David.

1055-Genesis 38:1 About that time Judah left his brothers and went to stay with a man named Hirah, who was from the town of Adullam. 2 There Judah met a young Canaanite woman whose father was named Shua. He married her, 3 and she bore him a son, whom he named Er. 4 She became pregnant again and bore another son and named him Onan. 5 Again she had a son and named him Shelah. Judah was at Achzib when the boy was born. 6 For his first son Er, Judah got a wife whose name was Tamar. 7 Er's conduct was evil, and it displeased the Lord, so the Lord killed him. 8 Then Judah said to Er's brother Onan, "Go and sleep with your brother's widow. Fulfill your obligation to her as her husband's brother, so that your brother may have descendants." 9 But Onan knew that the children would not belong to him, so when he had intercourse with his brother's widow, he let the semen spill on the ground, so that there would be no children for his brother. 10 What he did displeased the Lord, and the Lord killed him also. 11 Then Judah said to his daughter-in-law Tamar, "Return to your father's house and remain a widow until my son Shelah grows up." He said this because he was afraid that Shelah would be killed, as his brothers had been. So Tamar went back home. 12 After some time Judah's wife died. When he had finished the time of mourning, he and his friend Hirah of Adullam went to Timnah, where his sheep were being sheared. 13 Someone told Tamar that her father-in-law was going to Timnah to shear his sheep. 14 So she changed from the widow's clothes she had been wearing, covered her face with a veil, and sat down at the entrance to Enaim, a town on the road to Timnah. As she well knew, Judah's youngest son Shelah was now grown up, and yet she had not been given to him in marriage. 15 When Judah saw her, he thought that she was a prostitute, because she had her face covered. 16 He went over to her at the side of the road and said, "All right, how much do you charge?" (He did not know that she was his daughter-in-law.) She said, "What will you give me?" 17 He answered, "I will send you a young goat from my flock." She said, "All right, if you will give me something to keep as a pledge until you send the goat." 18 "What shall I give you as a pledge?" he asked. She answered, "Your seal with its cord and the walking stick you are carrying." He gave them to her. Then they had intercourse, and she became pregnant. 19 Tamar went home, took off her veil, and put her widow's clothes back on. 20 Judah sent his friend Hirah to take the goat and get back from the woman the articles he had pledged, but Hirah could not find her. 21 He asked some men at Enaim, "Where is the prostitute who was here by the road?" "There has never been a prostitute here," they answered. 22 He returned to Judah and said, "I couldn't find her. The men of the place said that there had never been a prostitute there." 23 Judah said, "Let her keep the things. We don't want people to laugh at us. I did try to pay her, but you couldn't find her." 24 About three months later someone told Judah, "Your daughter-in-law Tamar has been acting like a whore, and now she is pregnant." Judah ordered, "Take her out and burn her to death." 25 As she was being taken out, she sent word to her father-in-law: "I am pregnant by the man who owns these things. Look at them and see whose they are - this seal with its cord and this walking stick." 26 Judah recognized them and said, "She is in the right. I have failed in my obligation to her - I should have given her to my son Shelah in marriage." And Judah never had intercourse with her again. 27 When the time came for her to give birth, it was discovered that she was going to have twins. 28 While she was in labor, one of them put out an arm; the midwife caught it, tied a red thread around it, and said, "This one was born first." 29 But he pulled his arm back, and his brother was born first. Then the midwife said, "So this is how you break your way out!" So he was named Perez. 30 Then his brother was born with the red thread on his arm, and he was named Zerah.

1056-Joshua 2:1 Then Joshua sent two spies from the camp at Acacia with orders to go and secretly explore the land of Canaan, especially the city of Jericho. When they came to the city, they went to spend the night in the house of a prostitute named Rahab. 2 The king of Jericho heard that some Israelites had come that night to spy out the country, 3 so he sent word to Rahab: "The men in your house have come to spy out the whole country! Bring them out!" 4 "Some men did come to my house," she answered, "but I don't know where they were from. They left at sundown before the city gate was closed. I didn't find out where they were going, but if you start after them quickly, you can catch them." (Now Rahab had taken the two spies up on the roof and hidden them under some stalks of flax that she had put there.) 7 The king's men left the city, and then the gate was shut. They went looking for the Israelite spies as far as the place where the road crosses the Jordan. 8 Before the spies settled down for the night, Rahab went up on the roof 9 and said to them, "I know that the Lord has given you this land. Everyone in the country is terrified of you. 10 We have heard how the Lord dried up the Red Sea in front of you when you were leaving Egypt. We have also heard how you killed Sihon and Og, the two Amorite kings east of the Jordan. 11 We were afraid as soon as we heard about it; we have all lost our courage because of you. The Lord your God is God in heaven above and here on earth. 12 Now swear by him that you will treat my family as kindly as I have treated you, and give me some sign that I can trust you. 13 Promise me that you will save my father and mother, my brothers and sisters, and all their families! Don't let us be killed!" 14 The men said to her, "May God take our lives if we don't do as we say! If you do not tell anyone what we have been doing, we promise you that when the Lord gives us this land, we will treat you well." 15 Rahab lived in a house built into the city wall, so she let the men down from the window by a rope. 16 "Go into the hill country," she said, "or the king's men will find you. Hide there for three days until they come back. After that, you can go on your way." 17 The men said to her, "We will keep the promise that you have made us give. 18 This is what you must do. When we invade your land, tie this red cord to the window you let us down from. Get your father and mother, your brothers, and all your father's family together in your house. 19 If anyone goes out of the house, his death will be his own fault, and we will not be responsible; but if anyone in the house with you is harmed, then we will be responsible. 20 However, if you tell anyone what we have been doing, then we will not have to keep our promise which you have made us give you." 21 She agreed and sent them away. When they had gone, she tied the red cord to the window. 22 The spies went into the hills and hid. The king's men looked for them all over the countryside for three days, but they did not find them, so they returned to Jericho. 23 Then the two spies came down from the hills, crossed the river, and went back to Joshua. They told him everything that had happened, 24 and then said, "We are sure that the Lord has given us the whole country. All the people there are terrified of us."

1057-John 5: 28 Do not be surprised at this; the time is coming when all the dead will hear his voice 29 and come out of their graves: those who have done good will rise and live, and those who have done evil will rise and be condemned.

1058-Deuteronomy 25:5 "If two brothers live on the same property and one of them dies, leaving no son, then his widow is not to be married to someone outside the family; it is the duty of the dead man's brother to marry her. 6 The first son that they have will be considered the son of the dead man, so that his family line will continue in Israel. 7 But if the dead man's brother does not want to marry her, she is to go before the town leaders and say, "My husband's brother will not do his duty; he refuses to give his brother a descendant among the people of Israel.' 8 Then the town leaders are to summon him and speak to him. If he still refuses to marry her, 9 his brother's widow is to go up to him in the presence of the town leaders, take off one of his sandals, spit in his face, and say, "This is what happens to the man who refuses to give his brother a descendant.' 10 His family will be known in Israel as "the family of the man who had his sandal pulled off.'

1059-Deuteronomy 29:17 You saw their disgusting idols made of wood, stone, silver, and gold. 18 Make sure that no man, woman, family, or tribe standing here today turns from the Lord our God to worship the gods of other nations. This would be like a root that grows to be a bitter and poisonous plant. 19 Make sure that there is no one here today who hears these solemn demands and yet convinces himself that all will be well with him, even if he stubbornly goes his own way. That would destroy all of you, good and evil alike. 20 The Lord will not forgive such a man. Instead, the Lord's burning anger will flame up against him, and all the disasters written in this book will fall on him until the Lord has destroyed him completely. 21 The Lord will make an example of him before all the tribes of Israel and will bring disaster on him in accordance with all the curses listed in the covenant that is written in this book of the Lord's teachings. 22 "In future generations your descendants and foreigners from distant lands will see the disasters and sufferings that the Lord has brought on your land. 23 The fields will be a barren waste, covered with sulfur and salt; nothing will be planted, and not even weeds will grow there. Your land will be like the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, of Admah and Zeboiim, which the Lord destroyed when he was furiously angry. 24 Then the whole world will ask, "Why did the Lord do this to their land? What was the reason for his fierce anger?' 25 And the answer will be, "It is because the Lord's people broke the covenant they had made with him, the God of their ancestors, when he brought them out of Egypt. 26 They served other gods that they had never worshiped before, gods that the Lord had forbidden them to worship. 27 And so the Lord became angry with his people and brought on their land all the disasters written in this book. 28 The Lord became furiously angry, and in his great anger he uprooted them from their land and threw them into a foreign land, and there they are today.'

1060-Joshua 6:17,22-2517 The city and everything in it must be totally destroyed as an offering to the Lord. Only the prostitute Rahab and her household will be spared, because she hid our spies.

Joshua 6:22 Joshua then told the two men who had served as spies, "Go into the prostitute's house, and bring her and her family out, as you promised her." 23 So they went and brought Rahab out, along with her father and mother, her brothers, and the rest of her family. They took them all, family and slaves, to safety near the Israelite camp. 24 Then they set fire to the city and burned it to the ground, along with everything in it, except the things made of gold, silver, bronze, and iron, which they took and put in the Lord's treasury. 25 But Joshua spared the lives of the prostitute Rahab and all her relatives, because she had hidden the two spies that he had sent to Jericho. (Her descendants have lived in Israel to this day.)

1061-Ruth 4:18 This is the family line from Perez to David: Perez, Hezron, Ram, Amminadab, Nahshon, Salmon, Boaz, Obed, Jesse, David.

1062-1 Chronicles 2:9 Hezron had three sons: Jerahmeel, Ram, and Caleb. 10 The family line from Ram to Jesse is as follows: Ram, Amminadab, Nahshon (a prominent man of the tribe of Judah), 11 Salmon, Boaz, 12 Obed, and Jesse. 13 Jesse had seven sons. In order of age they were: Eliab, Abinadab, Shammah, 14 Nethanel, Raddai, 15 Ozem, and David.

1063-Matthew 1:4 and Ram the father of Ammin'adab, and Ammin'adab the father of Nahshon, and Nahshon the father of Salmon, 5 and Salmon the father of Bo'az by Rahab, and Bo'az the father of Obed by Ruth, and Obed the father of Jesse,

1064-Luke 3:32 the son of Jesse, the son of Obed, the son of Boaz, the son of Salmon, the son of Nahshon,

1065-Hebrews 11:31 It was faith that kept the prostitute Rahab from being killed with those who disobeyed God, for she gave the Israelite spies a friendly welcome.

1066-James 2:25 It was the same with the prostitute Rahab. She was put right with God through her actions, by welcoming the Israelite spies and helping them to escape by a different road.

1067-Hebrews 11:31 It was faith that kept the prostitute Rahab from being killed with those who disobeyed God, for she gave the Israelite spies a friendly welcome.

1068-Genesis 12:13 Tell them that you are my sister; then because of you they will let me live and treat me well."

Genesis 20:2 he said that his wife Sarah was his sister. So King Abimelech of Gerar had Sarah brought to him

1069-Genesis 18:9 Then they asked him, "Where is your wife Sarah?" "She is there in the tent," he answered. 10 One of them said, "Nine months from now I will come back, and your wife Sarah will have a son." Sarah was behind him, at the door of the tent, listening. 11 Abraham and Sarah were very old, and Sarah had stopped having her monthly periods. 12 So Sarah laughed to herself and said, "Now that I am old and worn out, can I still enjoy sex? And besides, my husband is old too." 13 Then the Lord asked Abraham, "Why did Sarah laugh and say, "Can I really have a child when I am so old?' 14 Is anything too hard for the Lord? As I said, nine months from now I will return, and Sarah will have a son." 15 Because Sarah was afraid, she denied it. "I didn't laugh," she said. "Yes, you did," he replied. "You laughed."

1070-Genesis 26:6 So Isaac lived at Gerar.

1071-Genesis 27:18 Then Jacob went to his father and said, "Father!" "Yes," he answered. "Which of my sons are you?" 19 Jacob answered, "I am your older son Esau; I have done as you told me. Please sit up and eat some of the meat that I have brought you, so that you can give me your blessing." 20 Isaac said, "How did you find it so quickly, son?" Jacob answered, "The Lord your God helped me find it." 21 Isaac said to Jacob, "Please come closer so that I can touch you. Are you really Esau?" 22 Jacob moved closer to his father, who felt him and said, "Your voice sounds like Jacob's voice, but your arms feel like Esau's arms." 23 He did not recognize Jacob, because his arms were hairy like Esau's. He was about to give him his blessing, 24 but asked again, "Are you really Esau?" "I am," he answered. 25 Isaac said, "Bring me some of the meat. After I eat it, I will give you my blessing." Jacob brought it to him, and he also brought him some wine to drink. 26 Then his father said to him, "Come closer and kiss me, son." 27 As he came up to kiss him, Isaac smelled his clothes - so he gave him his blessing. He said, "The pleasant smell of my son is like the smell of a field which the Lord has blessed. 28 May God give you dew from heaven and make your fields fertile! May he give you plenty of grain and wine! 29 May nations be your servants, and may peoples bow down before you. May you rule over all your relatives, and may your mother's descendants bow down before you. May those who curse you be cursed, and may those who bless you be blessed."

1072-Exodus 4:18 Then Moses went back to Jethro, his father-in-law, and said to him, "Please let me go back to my relatives in Egypt to see if they are still alive." Jethro agreed and told him good-bye.

1073-Joshua 2:4 "Some men did come to my house," she answered, "but I don't know where they were from. They left at sundown before the city gate was closed. I didn't find out where they were going, but if you start after them quickly, you can catch them." (Now Rahab had taken the two spies up on the roof and hidden them under some stalks of flax that she had put there.)

1074-Hebrews 11:1 To have faith is to be sure of the things we hope for, to be certain of the things we cannot see. 2 It was by their faith that people of ancient times won God's approval. 3 It is by faith that we understand that the universe was created by God's word, so that what can be seen was made out of what cannot be seen. 4 It was faith that made Abel offer to God a better sacrifice than Cain's. Through his faith he won God's approval as a righteous man, because God himself approved of his gifts. By means of his faith Abel still speaks, even though he is dead. 5 It was faith that kept Enoch from dying. Instead, he was taken up to God, and nobody could find him, because God had taken him up. The scripture says that before Enoch was taken up, he had pleased God. 6 No one can please God without faith, for whoever comes to God must have faith that God exists and rewards those who seek him. 7 It was faith that made Noah hear God's warnings about things in the future that he could not see. He obeyed God and built a boat in which he and his family were saved. As a result, the world was condemned, and Noah received from God the righteousness that comes by faith. 8 It was faith that made Abraham obey when God called him to go out to a country which God had promised to give him. He left his own country without knowing where he was going. 9 By faith he lived as a foreigner in the country that God had promised him. He lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who received the same promise from God. 10 For Abraham was waiting for the city which God has designed and built, the city with permanent foundations. 11 It was faith that made Abraham able to become a father, even though he was too old and Sarah herself could not have children. He trusted God to keep his promise. 12 Though Abraham was practically dead, from this one man came as many descendants as there are stars in the sky, as many as the numberless grains of sand on the seashore. 13 It was in faith that all these persons died. They did not receive the things God had promised, but from a long way off they saw them and welcomed them, and admitted openly that they were foreigners and refugees on earth. 14 Those who say such things make it clear that they are looking for a country of their own. 15 They did not keep thinking about the country they had left; if they had, they would have had the chance to return. 16 Instead, it was a better country they longed for, the heavenly country. And so God is not ashamed for them to call him their God, because he has prepared a city for them. 17 It was faith that made Abraham offer his son Isaac as a sacrifice when God put Abraham to the test. Abraham was the one to whom God had made the promise, yet he was ready to offer his only son as a sacrifice. 18 God had said to him, "It is through Isaac that you will have the descendants I promised." 19 Abraham reckoned that God was able to raise Isaac from death - and, so to speak, Abraham did receive Isaac back from death. 20 It was faith that made Isaac promise blessings for the future to Jacob and Esau. 21 It was faith that made Jacob bless each of the sons of Joseph just before he died. He leaned on the top of his walking stick and worshiped God. 22 It was faith that made Joseph, when he was about to die, speak of the departure of the Israelites from Egypt, and leave instructions about what should be done with his body. 23 It was faith that made the parents of Moses hide him for three months after he was born. They saw that he was a beautiful child, and they were not afraid to disobey the king's order. 24 It was faith that made Moses, when he had grown up, refuse to be called the son of the king's daughter. 25 He preferred to suffer with God's people rather than to enjoy sin for a little while. 26 He reckoned that to suffer scorn for the Messiah was worth far more than all the treasures of Egypt, for he kept his eyes on the future reward. 27 It was faith that made Moses leave Egypt without being afraid of the king's anger. As though he saw the invisible God, he refused to turn back. 28 It was faith that made him establish the Passover and order the blood to be sprinkled on the doors, so that the Angel of Death would not kill the first-born sons of the Israelites. 29 It was faith that made the Israelites able to cross the Red Sea as if on dry land; when the Egyptians tried to do it, the water swallowed them up. 30 It was faith that made the walls of Jericho fall down after the Israelites had marched around them for seven days. 31 It was faith that kept the prostitute Rahab from being killed with those who disobeyed God, for she gave the Israelite spies a friendly welcome. 32 Should I go on? There isn't enough time for me to speak of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, and the prophets. 33 Through faith they fought whole countries and won. They did what was right and received what God had promised. They shut the mouths of lions, 34 put out fierce fires, escaped being killed by the sword. They were weak, but became strong; they were mighty in battle and defeated the armies of foreigners. 35 Through faith women received their dead relatives raised back to life. Others, refusing to accept freedom, died under torture in order to be raised to a better life. 36 Some were mocked and whipped, and others were put in chains and taken off to prison. 37 They were stoned, they were sawed in two, they were killed by the sword. They went around clothed in skins of sheep or goats - poor, persecuted, and mistreated. 38 The world was not good enough for them! They wandered like refugees in the deserts and hills, living in caves and holes in the ground. 39 What a record all of these have won by their faith! Yet they did not receive what God had promised, 40 because God had decided on an even better plan for us. His purpose was that only in company with us would they be made perfect.

1075-James 2:25 It was the same with the prostitute Rahab. She was put right with God through her actions, by welcoming the Israelite spies and helping them to escape by a different road.

1076-Matthew 1:5 and Salmon the father of Bo'az by Rahab, and Bo'az the father of Obed by Ruth, and Obed the father of Jesse,

1077-Genesis 19:4 But before they lay down, the men of the city, the men of Sodom, both young and old, all the people to the last man, surrounded the house; 5 and they called to Lot, "Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us, that we may know them." 6 Lot went out of the door to the men, shut the door after him, 7 and said, "I beg you, my brothers, do not act so wickedly. 8 Behold, I have two daughters who have not known man; let me bring them out to you, and do to them as you please; only do nothing to these men, for they have come under the shelter of my roof." 9 But they said, "Stand back!" And they said, "This fellow came to sojourn, and he would play the judge! Now we will deal worse with you than with them." Then they pressed hard against the man Lot, and drew near to break the door. 10 But the men put forth their hands and brought Lot into the house to them, and shut the door. 11 And they struck with blindness the men who were at the door of the house, both small and great, so that they wearied themselves groping for the door.

1078-Hebrews 11:31 By faith Rahab the harlot did not perish with those who were disobedient, because she had given friendly welcome to the spies.

1079-James 2:25 It was the same with the prostitute Rahab. She was put right with God through her actions, by welcoming the Israelite spies and helping them to escape by a different road.

1080-Ruth 2:4 Some time later Boaz himself arrived from Bethlehem and greeted the workers. "The Lord be with you!" he said. "The Lord bless you!" they answered.

1081-Joshua 2:1 Then Joshua sent two spies from the camp at Acacia with orders to go and secretly explore the land of Canaan, especially the city of Jericho. When they came to the city, they went to spend the night in the house of a prostitute named Rahab. 2 The king of Jericho heard that some Israelites had come that night to spy out the country, 3 so he sent word to Rahab: "The men in your house have come to spy out the whole country! Bring them out!" 4 "Some men did come to my house," she answered, "but I don't know where they were from. They left at sundown before the city gate was closed. I didn't find out where they were going, but if you start after them quickly, you can catch them." (Now Rahab had taken the two spies up on the roof and hidden them under some stalks of flax that she had put there.) 7 The king's men left the city, and then the gate was shut. They went looking for the Israelite spies as far as the place where the road crosses the Jordan. 8 Before the spies settled down for the night, Rahab went up on the roof 9 and said to them, "I know that the Lord has given you this land. Everyone in the country is terrified of you. 10 We have heard how the Lord dried up the Red Sea in front of you when you were leaving Egypt. We have also heard how you killed Sihon and Og, the two Amorite kings east of the Jordan. 11 We were afraid as soon as we heard about it; we have all lost our courage because of you. The Lord your God is God in heaven above and here on earth. 12 Now swear by him that you will treat my family as kindly as I have treated you, and give me some sign that I can trust you. 13 Promise me that you will save my father and mother, my brothers and sisters, and all their families! Don't let us be killed!" 14 The men said to her, "May God take our lives if we don't do as we say! If you do not tell anyone what we have been doing, we promise you that when the Lord gives us this land, we will treat you well." 15 Rahab lived in a house built into the city wall, so she let the men down from the window by a rope. 16 "Go into the hill country," she said, "or the king's men will find you. Hide there for three days until they come back. After that, you can go on your way." 17 The men said to her, "We will keep the promise that you have made us give. 18 This is what you must do. When we invade your land, tie this red cord to the window you let us down from. Get your father and mother, your brothers, and all your father's family together in your house. 19 If anyone goes out of the house, his death will be his own fault, and we will not be responsible; but if anyone in the house with you is harmed, then we will be responsible. 20 However, if you tell anyone what we have been doing, then we will not have to keep our promise which you have made us give you." 21 She agreed and sent them away. When they had gone, she tied the red cord to the window. 22 The spies went into the hills and hid. The king's men looked for them all over the countryside for three days, but they did not find them, so they returned to Jericho.

Joshua 6:17 The city and everything in it must be totally destroyed as an offering to the Lord. Only the prostitute Rahab and her household will be spared, because she hid our spies.

Joshua 6:25 But Joshua spared the lives of the prostitute Rahab and all her relatives, because she had hidden the two spies that he had sent to Jericho. (Her descendants have lived in Israel to this day.)

1082-Genesis 19:1 When the two angels came to Sodom that evening, Lot was sitting at the city gate. As soon as he saw them, he got up and went to meet them. He bowed down before them 2 and said, "Sirs, I am here to serve you. Please come to my house. You can wash your feet and spend the night. In the morning you can get up early and go on your way." But they answered, "No, we will spend the night here in the city square." 3 He kept on urging them, and finally they went with him to his house. Lot ordered his servants to bake some bread and prepare a fine meal for the guests. When it was ready, they ate it.

1083-Judges 19:10 But the man did not want to spend another night there, so he and his concubine started on their way, with their servant and two donkeys with pack saddles. It was late in the day when they came near Jebus (that is, Jerusalem), so the servant said to his master, "Why don't we stop and spend the night here in this Jebusite city?" 12 But his master said, "We're not going to stop in a city where the people are not Israelites. We'll pass on by and go a little farther and spend the night at Gibeah or Ramah." 14 So they passed by Jebus and continued on their way. It was sunset when they came to Gibeah in the territory of the tribe of Benjamin. 15 They turned off the road to go and spend the night there. They went into town and sat down in the city square, but no one offered to take them home for the night. 16 While they were there, an old man came by at the end of a day's work on the farm. He was originally from the hill country of Ephraim, but he was now living in Gibeah. (The other people there were from the tribe of Benjamin.) 17 The old man noticed the traveler in the city square and asked him, "Where do you come from? Where are you going?" 18 The Levite answered, "We have been in Bethlehem in Judah, and now we are on our way home deep in the hill country of Ephraim. No one will put us up for the night, 19 even though we have fodder and straw for our donkeys, as well as bread and wine for my concubine and me and for my servant. We have everything we need." 20 The old man said, "You are welcome in my home! I'll take care of you; you don't have to spend the night in the square." 21 So he took them home with him and fed their donkeys. His guests washed their feet and had a meal.

1084-Galatians 2:11 But when Peter came to Antioch, I opposed him in public, because he was clearly wrong. 12 Before some men who had been sent by James arrived there, Peter had been eating with the Gentile believers. But after these men arrived, he drew back and would not eat with the Gentiles, because he was afraid of those who were in favor of circumcising them. 13 The other Jewish believers also started acting like cowards along with Peter; and even Barnabas was swept along by their cowardly action. 14 When I saw that they were not walking a straight path in line with the truth of the gospel, I said to Peter in front of them all, "You are a Jew, yet you have been living like a Gentile, not like a Jew. How, then, can you try to force Gentiles to live like Jews?"

1085-2 Peter 3:15 Look on our Lord's patience as the opportunity he is giving you to be saved, just as our dear friend Paul wrote to you, using the wisdom that God gave him. 16 This is what he says in all his letters when he writes on the subject. There are some difficult things in his letters which ignorant and unstable people explain falsely, as they do with other passages of the Scriptures. So they bring on their own destruction.

1086-1 Corinthians 10:6 Now, all of this is an example for us, to warn us not to desire evil things, as they did,

1 Corinthians 10:11 All these things happened to them as examples for others, and they were written down as a warning for us. For we live at a time when the end is about to come.

1087-Luke 15:11 Jesus went on to say, "There was once a man who had two sons. 12 The younger one said to him, "Father, give me my share of the property now.' So the man divided his property between his two sons. 13 After a few days the younger son sold his part of the property and left home with the money. He went to a country far away, where he wasted his money in reckless living. 14 He spent everything he had. Then a severe famine spread over that country, and he was left without a thing. 15 So he went to work for one of the citizens of that country, who sent him out to his farm to take care of the pigs. 16 He wished he could fill himself with the bean pods the pigs ate, but no one gave him anything to eat. 17 At last he came to his senses and said, "All my father's hired workers have more than they can eat, and here I am about to starve! 18 I will get up and go to my father and say, "Father, I have sinned against God and against you. 19 I am no longer fit to be called your son; treat me as one of your hired workers." ' 20 So he got up and started back to his father. "He was still a long way from home when his father saw him; his heart was filled with pity, and he ran, threw his arms around his son, and kissed him. 21 "Father,' the son said, "I have sinned against God and against you. I am no longer fit to be called your son.' 22 But the father called to his servants. "Hurry!' he said. "Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and shoes on his feet. 23 Then go and get the prize calf and kill it, and let us celebrate with a feast! 24 For this son of mine was dead, but now he is alive; he was lost, but now he has been found.' And so the feasting began. 25 "In the meantime the older son was out in the field. On his way back, when he came close to the house, he heard the music and dancing. 26 So he called one of the servants and asked him, "What's going on?' 27 "Your brother has come back home,' the servant answered, "and your father has killed the prize calf, because he got him back safe and sound.' 28 The older brother was so angry that he would not go into the house; so his father came out and begged him to come in. 29 But he spoke back to his father, "Look, all these years I have worked for you like a slave, and I have never disobeyed your orders. What have you given me? Not even a goat for me to have a feast with my friends! 30 But this son of yours wasted all your property on prostitutes, and when he comes back home, you kill the prize calf for him!' 31 "My son,' the father answered, "you are always here with me, and everything I have is yours. 32 But we had to celebrate and be happy, because your brother was dead, but now he is alive; he was lost, but now he has been found.' "

1088-1 Chr 23:17 Eliezer had only one son, Rehabiah, but Rehabiah had many descendants.

1 Chronicles 24:21 Isshiah, a descendant of Rehabiah;

1089-Joshua 2:1 Then Joshua sent two spies from the camp at Acacia with orders to go and secretly explore the land of Canaan, especially the city of Jericho. When they came to the city, they went to spend the night in the house of a prostitute named Rahab. 2 The king of Jericho heard that some Israelites had come that night to spy out the country, 3 so he sent word to Rahab: "The men in your house have come to spy out the whole country! Bring them out!" 4 "Some men did come to my house," she answered, "but I don't know where they were from. They left at sundown before the city gate was closed. I didn't find out where they were going, but if you start after them quickly, you can catch them." (Now Rahab had taken the two spies up on the roof and hidden them under some stalks of flax that she had put there.) 7 The king's men left the city, and then the gate was shut. They went looking for the Israelite spies as far as the place where the road crosses the Jordan. 8 Before the spies settled down for the night, Rahab went up on the roof 9 and said to them, "I know that the Lord has given you this land. Everyone in the country is terrified of you. 10 We have heard how the Lord dried up the Red Sea in front of you when you were leaving Egypt. We have also heard how you killed Sihon and Og, the two Amorite kings east of the Jordan. 11 We were afraid as soon as we heard about it; we have all lost our courage because of you. The Lord your God is God in heaven above and here on earth. 12 Now swear by him that you will treat my family as kindly as I have treated you, and give me some sign that I can trust you. 13 Promise me that you will save my father and mother, my brothers and sisters, and all their families! Don't let us be killed!" 14 The men said to her, "May God take our lives if we don't do as we say! If you do not tell anyone what we have been doing, we promise you that when the Lord gives us this land, we will treat you well." 15 Rahab lived in a house built into the city wall, so she let the men down from the window by a rope. 16 "Go into the hill country," she said, "or the king's men will find you. Hide there for three days until they come back. After that, you can go on your way." 17 The men said to her, "We will keep the promise that you have made us give. 18 This is what you must do. When we invade your land, tie this red cord to the window you let us down from. Get your father and mother, your brothers, and all your father's family together in your house. 19 If anyone goes out of the house, his death will be his own fault, and we will not be responsible; but if anyone in the house with you is harmed, then we will be responsible. 20 However, if you tell anyone what we have been doing, then we will not have to keep our promise which you have made us give you." 21 She agreed and sent them away. When they had gone, she tied the red cord to the window.

Joshua 6:17 The city and everything in it must be totally destroyed as an offering to the Lord. Only the prostitute Rahab and her household will be spared, because she hid our spies. 18 But you are not to take anything that is to be destroyed; if you do, you will bring trouble and destruction on the Israelite camp. 19 Everything made of silver, gold, bronze, or iron is set apart for the Lord. It is to be put in the Lord's treasury." 20 So the priests blew the trumpets. As soon as the people heard it, they gave a loud shout, and the walls collapsed. Then all the army went straight up the hill into the city and captured it. 21 With their swords they killed everyone in the city, men and women, young and old. They also killed the cattle, sheep, and donkeys. 22 Joshua then told the two men who had served as spies, "Go into the prostitute's house, and bring her and her family out, as you promised her." 23 So they went and brought Rahab out, along with her father and mother, her brothers, and the rest of her family. They took them all, family and slaves, to safety near the Israelite camp. 24 Then they set fire to the city and burned it to the ground, along with everything in it, except the things made of gold, silver, bronze, and iron, which they took and put in the Lord's treasury. 25 But Joshua spared the lives of the prostitute Rahab and all her relatives, because she had hidden the two spies that he had sent to Jericho. (Her descendants have lived in Israel to this day.)

1090-Matthew 1:5 and Salmon the father of Bo'az by Rahab, and Bo'az the father of Obed by Ruth, and Obed the father of Jesse,

1091-Joshua 2:6 But she had brought them up to the roof, and hid them with the stalks of flax which she had laid in order on the roof.

1092-Joshua 2:15 Then she let them down by a rope through the window, for her house was built into the city wall, so that she dwelt in the wall.

1093-Ruth 4:20 Ammin'adab of Nahshon, Nahshon of Salmon, 21 Salmon of Bo'az, Bo'az of Obed,

1094-Matthew 1:4 and Ram the father of Ammin'adab, and Ammin'adab the father of Nahshon, and Nahshon the father of Salmon, 5 and Salmon the father of Bo'az by Rahab, and Bo'az the father of Obed by Ruth, and Obed the father of Jesse,

1095-Luke 3:32 the son of Jesse, the son of Obed, the son of Bo'az, the son of Sala, the son of Nahshon,

1096-1 Chronicles 2:11 Nahshon was the father of Salma, Salma of Bo'az,

1097-Matthew 1:5 and Salmon the father of Bo'az by Rahab, and Bo'az the father of Obed by Ruth, and Obed the father of Jesse,

1098-Joshua 24:29 After that, the Lord's servant Joshua son of Nun died at the age of a hundred and ten. 30 They buried him on his own land at Timnath Serah in the hill country of Ephraim north of Mount Gaash. 31 As long as Joshua lived, the people of Israel served the Lord, and after his death they continued to do so as long as those leaders were alive who had seen for themselves everything that the Lord had done for Israel. 32 The body of Joseph, which the people of Israel had brought from Egypt, was buried at Shechem, in the piece of land that Jacob had bought from the sons of Hamor, the father of Shechem, for a hundred pieces of silver. This land was inherited by Joseph's descendants. 33 Eleazar son of Aaron died and was buried at Gibeah, the town in the hill country of Ephraim which had been given to his son Phinehas.

1099-Luke 24:44 Then he said to them, "These are the very things I told you about while I was still with you: everything written about me in the Law of Moses, the writings of the prophets, and the Psalms had to come true."

1100-Joshua 24:33 Eleazar son of Aaron died and was buried at Gibeah, the town in the hill country of Ephraim which had been given to his son Phinehas.

1101-Numbers 13:16 These are the spies Moses sent to explore the land. He changed the name of Hoshea son of Nun to Joshua.

1102-Hebrews 4:8 For if Jesus had given them rest , then would he not afterward have spoken of another day.

1103-Deuteronomy 32:8 If Joshua had given the people the rest that God had promised, God would not have spoken later about another day.

1104-Numbers 13:16 These are the spies Moses sent to explore the land. He changed the name of Hoshea son of Nun to Joshua.

1105-Acts 7:45 Later on, our ancestors who received the tent from their fathers carried it with them when they went with Joshua and took over the land from the nations that God drove out as they advanced. And it stayed there until the time of David.

1106-Hebrews 4:8 8 For if Jesus had given them rest , then would he not afterward have spoken of another day. KJV

1107-Joshua 1:5 Joshua, no one will be able to defeat you as long as you live. I will be with you as I was with Moses. I will always be with you; I will never abandon you. 6 Be determined and confident, for you will be the leader of these people as they occupy this land which I promised their ancestors. 7 Just be determined, be confident; and make sure that you obey the whole Law that my servant Moses gave you. Do not neglect any part of it and you will succeed wherever you go. 8 Be sure that the book of the Law is always read in your worship. Study it day and night, and make sure that you obey everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. 9 Remember that I have commanded you to be determined and confident! Do not be afraid or discouraged, for I, the Lord your God, am with you wherever you go."

Joshua 23:9 The Lord has driven great and powerful nations out as you advanced, and no one has ever been able to stand against you. 10 Any one of you can make a thousand men run away, because the Lord your God is fighting for you, just as he promised.

1108-Leviticus 26:6 "I will give you peace in your land, and you can sleep without being afraid of anyone. I will get rid of the dangerous animals in the land, and there will be no more war there. 7 You will be victorious over your enemies; 8 five of you will be able to defeat a hundred, and a hundred will be able to defeat ten thousand. 9 I will bless you and give you many children; I will keep my part of the covenant that I made with you. 10 Your harvests will be so plentiful that they will last for a year, and even then you will have to throw away what is left of the old harvest to make room for the new. 11 I will live among you in my sacred Tent, and I will never turn away from you. 12 I will be with you; I will be your God, and you will be my people. 13 I, the Lord your God, brought you out of Egypt so that you would no longer be slaves. I broke the power that held you down and I let you walk with your head held high."

1109-Deuteronomy 7:24; 11:25; 31:6-8; 32:3024 He will put their kings in your power. You will kill them, and they will be forgotten. No one will be able to stop you; you will destroy everyone.

Deuteronomy 11:25 Wherever you go in that land, the Lord your God will make the people fear you, as he has promised, and no one will be able to stop you.

Deuteronomy 31:6 Be determined and confident. Do not be afraid of them. Your God, the Lord himself, will be with you. He will not fail you or abandon you." 7 Then Moses called Joshua and said to him in the presence of all the people of Israel, "Be determined and confident; you are the one who will lead these people to occupy the land that the Lord promised to their ancestors. 8 The Lord himself will lead you and be with you. He will not fail you or abandon you, so do not lose courage or be afraid."

Deuteronomy 32:30 Why were a thousand defeated by one, and ten thousand by only two? The Lord, their God, had abandoned them; their mighty God had given them up.

1110-Exodus 23:20 "I will send an angel ahead of you to protect you as you travel and to bring you to the place which I have prepared. 21 Pay attention to him and obey him. Do not rebel against him, for I have sent him, and he will not pardon such rebellion. 22 But if you obey him and do everything I command, I will fight against all your enemies. 23 My angel will go ahead of you and take you into the land of the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Canaanites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, and I will destroy them. 24 Do not bow down to their gods or worship them, and do not adopt their religious practices. Destroy their gods and break down their sacred stone pillars. 25 If you worship me, the Lord your God, I will bless you with food and water and take away all your sicknesses. 26 In your land no woman will have a miscarriage or be without children. I will give you long lives. 27 "I will make the people who oppose you afraid of me; I will bring confusion among the people against whom you fight, and I will make all your enemies turn and run from you. 28 I will throw your enemies into panic; I will drive out the Hivites, the Canaanites, and the Hittites as you advance. 29 I will not drive them out within a year's time; if I did, the land would become deserted, and the wild animals would be too many for you. 30 Instead, I will drive them out little by little, until there are enough of you to take possession of the land. 31 I will make the borders of your land extend from the Gulf of Aqaba to the Mediterranean Sea and from the desert to the Euphrates River. I will give you power over the inhabitants of the land, and you will drive them out as you advance. 32 Do not make any agreement with them or with their gods. 33 Do not let those people live in your country; if you do, they will make you sin against me. If you worship their gods, it will be a fatal trap for you."

1111-Deuteronomy 20:16 "But when you capture cities in the land that the Lord your God is giving you, kill everyone. 17 Completely destroy all the people: the Hittites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, as the Lord ordered you to do. 18 Kill them, so that they will not make you sin against the Lord by teaching you to do all the disgusting things that they do in the worship of their gods.

1112-Genesis 12:1 The Lord said to Abram, "Leave your country, your relatives, and your father's home, and go to a land that I am going to show you. 2 I will give you many descendants, and they will become a great nation. I will bless you and make your name famous, so that you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, But I will curse those who curse you. And through you I will bless all the nations."

1113-1 Corinthians 4:9 For it seems to me that God has given the very last place to us apostles, like people condemned to die in public as a spectacle for the whole world of angels and of human beings.

1114-Joshua 1:16 They answered Joshua, "We will do everything you have told us and will go anywhere you send us. 17 We will obey you, just as we always obeyed Moses, and may the Lord your God be with you as he was with Moses!

1115-Joshua 23:8 Instead, be faithful to the Lord, as you have been till now.

1116-Numbers 15:32 Once, while the Israelites were still in the wilderness, a man was found gathering firewood on the Sabbath. 33 He was taken to Moses, Aaron, and the whole community, 34 and was put under guard, because it was not clear what should be done with him. 35 Then the Lord said to Moses, "The man must be put to death; the whole community is to stone him to death outside the camp." 36 So the whole community took him outside the camp and stoned him to death, as the Lord had commanded.

1117-Leviticus 24:10 There was a man whose father was an Egyptian and whose mother was an Israelite named Shelomith, the daughter of Dibri from the tribe of Dan. There in the camp this man quarreled with an Israelite. During the quarrel he cursed the Lord, so they took him to Moses, 12 put him under guard, and waited for the Lord to tell them what to do with him. 13 The Lord said to Moses, 14 "Take that man out of the camp. Everyone who heard him curse shall put his hands on the man's head to testify that he is guilty, and then the whole community shall stone him to death. 15 Then tell the people of Israel that anyone who curses God must suffer the consequences 16 and be put to death. Any Israelite or any foreigner living in Israel who curses the Lord shall be stoned to death by the whole community. 17 "Any who commit murder shall be put to death, 18 and any who kill an animal belonging to someone else must replace it. The principle is a life for a life. 19 "If any of you injure another person, whatever you have done shall be done to you. 20 If you break a bone, one of your bones shall be broken; if you put out an eye, one of your eyes shall be put out; if you knock out a tooth, one of your teeth shall be knocked out. Whatever injury you cause another person shall be done to you in return. 21 Whoever kills an animal shall replace it, but whoever kills a human being shall be put to death. 22 This law applies to all of you, to Israelites and to foreigners living among you, because I am the Lord your God." 23 When Moses had said this to the people of Israel, they took the man outside the camp and stoned him to death. In this way the people of Israel did what the Lord had commanded Moses.

1118-Numbers 15:30 But any who sin deliberately, whether they are natives or foreigners, are guilty of treating the Lord with contempt, and they shall be put to death, 31 because they have rejected what the Lord said and have deliberately broken one of his commands. They are responsible for their own death. 32 Once, while the Israelites were still in the wilderness, a man was found gathering firewood on the Sabbath. 33 He was taken to Moses, Aaron, and the whole community, 34 and was put under guard, because it was not clear what should be done with him. 35 Then the Lord said to Moses, "The man must be put to death; the whole community is to stone him to death outside the camp." 36 So the whole community took him outside the camp and stoned him to death, as the Lord had commanded.

1119-Exodus 21:12 "Whoever hits someone and kills him is to be put to death. 13 But if it was an accident and he did not mean to kill him, he can escape to a place which I will choose for you, and there he will be safe. 14 But when someone gets angry and deliberately kills someone else, he is to be put to death, even if he has run to my altar for safety. 15 "Whoever hits his father or his mother is to be put to death. 16 "Whoever kidnaps someone, either to sell him or to keep him as a slave, is to be put to death. 17 "Whoever curses his father or his mother is to be put to death.

Exodus 22:19 "Put to death any man who has sexual relations with an animal.

Exodus 31:14 You must keep the day of rest, because it is sacred. Whoever does not keep it, but works on that day, is to be put to death. 15 You have six days in which to do your work, but the seventh day is a solemn day of rest dedicated to me. Whoever does any work on that day is to be put to death.

Exodus 14:2 You have six days in which to do your work, but the seventh day is to be sacred, a solemn day of rest dedicated to me, the Lord. Anyone who does any work on that day is to be put to death.

1120-Leviticus 20:2 to say to the people of Israel, "Any of you or any foreigner living among you who gives any children to be used in the worship of the god Molech shall be stoned to death by the whole community. 3 If any of you give one of your children to Molech and make my sacred Tent unclean and disgrace my holy name, I will turn against you and will no longer consider you my people. 4 But if the community ignores what you have done and does not put you to death, 5 I myself will turn against you and your whole family and against all who join you in being unfaithful to me and worshiping Molech. I will no longer consider any of you my people.

Leviticus 20:9 The Lord gave the following regulations. Any of you that curse your father or mother shall be put to death; you are responsible for your own death. 10 If a man commits adultery with the wife of an Israelite, both he and the woman shall be put to death. 11 A man who has intercourse with one of his father's wives disgraces his father, and both he and the woman shall be put to death. They are responsible for their own death. 12 If a man has intercourse with his daughter-in-law, they shall both be put to death. They have committed incest and are responsible for their own death. 13 If a man has sexual relations with another man, they have done a disgusting thing, and both shall be put to death. They are responsible for their own death. 14 If a man marries a woman and her mother, all three shall be burned to death because of the disgraceful thing they have done; such a thing must not be permitted among you. 15 If a man has sexual relations with an animal, he and the animal shall be put to death. 16 If a woman tries to have sexual relations with an animal, she and the animal shall be put to death. They are responsible for their own death.

Leviticus 20:27 "Any man or woman who consults the spirits of the dead shall be stoned to death; any of you that do this are responsible for your own death."

1121-Numbers 1:51; 3:10,38; 18:7; 25:5; 35:16-2151 Whenever you move your camp, the Levites shall take the Tent down and set it up again at each new campsite. Anyone else who comes near the Tent shall be put to death.

Numbers 3:10 You shall appoint Aaron and his sons to carry out the duties of the priesthood; anyone else who tries to do so shall be put to death."

Numbers 3:38 Moses and Aaron and his sons were to camp in front of the Tent on the east. They were responsible for carrying out the services performed in the Holy Place for the people of Israel. Anyone else who tried to do so was to be put to death.

1122-Deuteronomy 13:5-10; 17:25,12; 18:20; 21:18-21; 22:20-255 But put to death any interpreters of dreams or prophets that tell you to rebel against the Lord, who rescued you from Egypt, where you were slaves. Such people are evil and are trying to lead you away from the life that the Lord has commanded you to live. They must be put to death, in order to rid yourselves of this evil. 6 "Even your brother or your son or your daughter or the wife you love or your closest friend may secretly encourage you to worship other gods, gods that you and your ancestors have never worshiped. 7 Some of them may encourage you to worship the gods of the people who live near you or the gods of those who live far away. 8 But do not let any of them persuade you; do not even listen to them. Show them no mercy or pity, and do not protect them. 9 Kill them! Be the first to stone them, and then let everyone else stone them too. 10 Stone them to death! They tried to lead you away from the Lord your God, who rescued you from Egypt, where you were slaves.

Deuteronomy 17:12 Anyone who dares to disobey either the judge or the priest on duty is to be put to death; in this way you will remove this evil from Israel.

Deuteronomy 18:20 But if any prophet dares to speak a message in my name when I did not command him to do so, he must die for it, and so must any prophet who speaks in the name of other gods.'

Deuteronomy 21:18 "Suppose someone has a son who is stubborn and rebellious, a son who will not obey his parents, even though they punish him. 19 His parents are to take him before the leaders of the town where he lives and make him stand trial. 20 They are to say to them, "Our son is stubborn and rebellious and refuses to obey us; he wastes money and is a drunkard.' 21 Then the men of the city are to stone him to death, and so you will get rid of this evil. Everyone in Israel will hear what has happened and be afraid.

Deuteronomy 22:20 "But if the charge is true and there is no proof that she was a virgin, 21 then they are to take her out to the entrance of her father's house, where the men of her city are to stone her to death. She has done a shameful thing among our people by having intercourse before she was married, while she was still living in her father's house. In this way you will get rid of this evil. 22 "If a man is caught having intercourse with another man's wife, both of them are to be put to death. In this way you will get rid of this evil. 23 "Suppose a man is caught in a town having intercourse with a young woman who is engaged to someone else. 24 You are to take them outside the town and stone them to death. She is to die because she did not cry out for help, although she was in a town, where she could have been heard. And the man is to die because he had intercourse with someone who was engaged. In this way you will get rid of this evil. 25 "Suppose a man out in the countryside rapes a young woman who is engaged to someone else. Then only the man is to be put to death;

1123-John 5:28 Do not be surprised at this; the time is coming when all the dead will hear his voice 29 and come out of their graves: those who have done good will rise and live, and those who have done evil will rise and be condemned.

1124-Matthew 10:28 Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather be afraid of God, who can destroy both body and soul in hell.

1125-Luke 12:4 "I tell you, my friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot afterward do anything worse. 5 I will show you whom to fear: fear God, who, after killing, has the authority to throw into hell. Believe me, he is the one you must fear!

1126-Joshua 2:1 Then Joshua sent two spies from the camp at Acacia with orders to go and secretly explore the land of Canaan, especially the city of Jericho. When they came to the city, they went to spend the night in the house of a prostitute named Rahab.

1127-Joshua 2:1 Then Joshua sent two spies from the camp at Acacia with orders to go and secretly explore the land of Canaan, especially the city of Jericho. When they came to the city, they went to spend the night in the house of a prostitute named Rahab. 2 The king of Jericho heard that some Israelites had come that night to spy out the country, 3 so he sent word to Rahab: "The men in your house have come to spy out the whole country! Bring them out!" 4 "Some men did come to my house," she answered, "but I don't know where they were from. They left at sundown before the city gate was closed. I didn't find out where they were going, but if you start after them quickly, you can catch them." (Now Rahab had taken the two spies up on the roof and hidden them under some stalks of flax that she had put there.) 7 The king's men left the city, and then the gate was shut. They went looking for the Israelite spies as far as the place where the road crosses the Jordan. 8 Before the spies settled down for the night, Rahab went up on the roof 9 and said to them, "I know that the Lord has given you this land. Everyone in the country is terrified of you. 10 We have heard how the Lord dried up the Red Sea in front of you when you were leaving Egypt. We have also heard how you killed Sihon and Og, the two Amorite kings east of the Jordan. 11 We were afraid as soon as we heard about it; we have all lost our courage because of you. The Lord your God is God in heaven above and here on earth. 12 Now swear by him that you will treat my family as kindly as I have treated you, and give me some sign that I can trust you. 13 Promise me that you will save my father and mother, my brothers and sisters, and all their families! Don't let us be killed!" 14 The men said to her, "May God take our lives if we don't do as we say! If you do not tell anyone what we have been doing, we promise you that when the Lord gives us this land, we will treat you well." 15 Rahab lived in a house built into the city wall, so she let the men down from the window by a rope. 16 "Go into the hill country," she said, "or the king's men will find you. Hide there for three days until they come back. After that, you can go on your way."

Joshua 6:22 Joshua then told the two men who had served as spies, "Go into the prostitute's house, and bring her and her family out, as you promised her." 23 So they went and brought Rahab out, along with her father and mother, her brothers, and the rest of her family. They took them all, family and slaves, to safety near the Israelite camp.

1128-Hebrews 11:30 It was faith that made the walls of Jericho fall down after the Israelites had marched around them for seven days. 31 It was faith that kept the prostitute Rahab from being killed with those who disobeyed God, for she gave the Israelite spies a friendly welcome.

1129-James 2:25 It was the same with the prostitute Rahab. She was put right with God through her actions, by welcoming the Israelite spies and helping them to escape by a different road.

1130-Matthew 1:5 and Salmon the father of Bo'az by Rahab, and Bo'az the father of Obed by Ruth, and Obed the father of Jesse,

1131-Joshua 6:22 And Joshua said to the two men who had spied out the land, "Go into the harlot's house, and bring out from it the woman, and all who belong to her, as you swore to her." 23 So the young men who had been spies went in, and brought out Rahab, and her father and mother and brothers and all who belonged to her; and they brought all her kindred, and set them outside the camp of Israel. 24 And they burned the city with fire, and all within it; only the silver and gold, and the vessels of bronze and of iron, they put into the treasury of the house of the LORD. 25 But Rahab the harlot, and her father's household, and all who belonged to her, Joshua saved alive; and she dwelt in Israel to this day, because she hid the messengers whom Joshua sent to spy out Jericho.

1132-Joshua 2:14 And the men said to her, "Our life for yours! If you do not tell this business of ours, then we will deal kindly and faithfully with you when the LORD gives us the land."

1133-Joshua 5:13 While Joshua was near Jericho, he suddenly saw a man standing in front of him, holding a sword. Joshua went up to him and asked, "Are you one of our soldiers, or an enemy?" 14 "Neither," the man answered. "I am here as the commander of the Lord's army." Joshua threw himself on the ground in worship and said, "I am your servant, sir. What do you want me to do?" 15 And the commander of the Lord's army told him, "Take your sandals off; you are standing on holy ground." And Joshua did as he was told.

1134-1 Chronicles 21:13 While Joshua was near Jericho, he suddenly saw a man standing in front of him, holding a sword. Joshua went up to him and asked, "Are you one of our soldiers, or an enemy?" 14 "Neither," the man answered. "I am here as the commander of the Lord's army." Joshua threw himself on the ground in worship and said, "I am your servant, sir. What do you want me to do?" 15 And the commander of the Lord's army told him, "Take your sandals off; you are standing on holy ground." And Joshua did as he was told.

1135-Numbers 22:23 When the donkey saw the angel standing there holding a sword, it left the road and turned into the fields. Balaam beat the donkey and brought it back onto the road.

Numbers 22:31 Then the Lord let Balaam see the angel standing there with his sword; and Balaam threw himself face downward on the ground.

1136-Joshua 5:15 And the commander of the Lord's army told him, "Take your sandals off; you are standing on holy ground." And Joshua did as he was told.

1137-Exodus 3:5 God said, "Do not come any closer. Take off your sandals, because you are standing on holy ground.

1138-Exodus 3:55 God said, "Do not come any closer. Take off your sandals, because you are standing on holy ground.

1139-Revelation 19:10 I fell down at his feet to worship him, but he said to me, "Don't do it! I am a servant together with you and with other believers, all those who hold to the truth that Jesus revealed. Worship God!" For the truth that Jesus revealed is what inspires the prophets.

1140-Patriarchs and Prophets 488 In obedience to the divine command Joshua marshaled the armies of Israel. No assault was to be made. They were simply to make the circuit of the city, bearing the ark of God and blowing upon trumpets. First came the warriors, a body of chosen men, not now to conquer by their own skill and prowess, but by obedience to the directions given them from God. Seven priests with trumpets followed. Then the ark of God, surrounded by a halo of divine glory, was borne by priests clad in the dress denoting their sacred office. The army of Israel followed, each tribe under its standard. Such was the procession that compassed the doomed city. No sound was heard but the tread of that mighty host and the solemn peal of the trumpets, echoing among the hills and resounding through the streets of Jericho. The circuit completed, the army returned in silence to their tents, and the ark was restored to its place in the tabernacle. {PP 488.1}

With wonder and alarm the watchmen of the city marked every move, and reported to those in authority. They knew not the meaning of all this display; but when they beheld that mighty host marching around their city once each day, with the sacred ark and the attendant priests, the mystery of the scene struck terror to the hearts of priest and people. Again they would inspect their strong defenses, feeling certain they could successfully resist the most powerful attack. Many ridiculed the thought that any harm could come to them through these singular demonstrations. Others were awed as they beheld the procession that each day wound about the city. They remembered that the Red Sea had once parted before this people, and that a passage had just been opened for them through the river Jordan. They knew not what further wonders God might work for them. {PP 488.2}

For six days the host of Israel made the circuit of the city. The seventh day came, and with the first dawn of light, Joshua marshaled the armies of the Lord. Now they were directed to march seven times around Jericho, and at a mighty peal from the trumpets to shout with a loud voice, for God had given them the city. {PP 488.3}

1141-Joshua 6:1 The gates of Jericho were kept shut and guarded to keep the Israelites out. No one could enter or leave the city. 2 The Lord said to Joshua, "I am putting into your hands Jericho, with its king and all its brave soldiers.

1142-Patriarchs and Prophets 493 “By faith the walls of Jericho fell down.” Hebrews 11:30. The Captain of the Lord’s host communicated only with Joshua; He did not reveal Himself to all the congregation, and it rested with them to believe or doubt the words of Joshua, to obey the commands given by him in the name of the Lord, or to deny his authority. They could not see the host of angels who attended them under the leadership of the Son of God. They might have reasoned: “What unmeaning movements are these, and how ridiculous the performance of marching daily around the walls of the city, blowing trumpets of rams’ horns. This can have no effect upon those towering fortifications.” But the very plan of continuing this ceremony through so long a time prior to the final overthrow of the walls afforded opportunity for the development of faith among the Israelites. It was to be impressed upon their minds that their strength was not in the wisdom of man, nor in his might, but only in the God of their salvation. They were thus to become accustomed to relying wholly upon their divine Leader. {PP 493.1}

God will do great things for those who trust in Him. The reason why His professed people have no greater strength is that they trust so much to their own wisdom, and do not give the Lord an opportunity to reveal His power in their behalf. He will help His believing children in every emergency if they will place their entire confidence in Him and faithfully obey Him. {PP 493.2}

Soon after the fall of Jericho, Joshua determined to attack Ai, a small town among the ravines a few miles to the west of the Jordan Valley. Spies sent to this place brought back the report that the inhabitants were but few, and that only a small force would be needed to overthrow it. {PP 493.3}

The great victory that God had gained for them had made the Israelites self-confident. Because He had promised them the land of Canaan they felt secure, and failed to realize that divine help alone could give them success. Even Joshua laid his plans for the conquest of Ai without seeking counsel from God. {PP 493.4}

The Israelites had begun to exalt their own strength and to look with contempt upon their foes. An easy victory was expected, and three thousand men were thought sufficient to take the place. These rushed to the attack without the assurance that God would be with them. They advanced nearly to the gate of the city, only to encounter the most determined resistance. Panic-stricken at the numbers and thorough preparation of their enemies, they fled in confusion down the steep descent. The Canaanites were in hot pursuit; “they chased them from before the gate, ... and smote them in the going down.” Though the loss was small as to numbers—but thirty-six men being slain—the defeat was disheartening to the whole congregation. “The hearts of the people melted, and became as water.” This was the first time they had met the Canaanites in actual battle, and if put to flight before the defenders of this little town, what would be the result in the greater conflicts before them? Joshua looked upon their ill success as an expression of God’s displeasure, and in distress and apprehension he “rent his clothes, and fell to the earth upon his face before the ark of the Lord until the eventide, he and the elders of Israel, and put dust upon their heads.” {PP 493.5}

1143-Joshua 7:1515 The one who is then picked out and found with the condemned goods will be burned, along with his family and everything he owns, for he has brought terrible shame on Israel and has broken my covenant."

1144-Joshua 7:15 The one who is then picked out and found with the condemned goods will be burned, along with his family and everything he owns, for he has brought terrible shame on Israel and has broken my covenant."

1145-Numbers 16:32 and swallowed them and their families, together with all of Korah's followers and their possessions.

1146-Ezekiel 18:20 It is the one who sins who will die. A son is not to suffer because of his father's sins, nor a father because of the sins of his son. Good people will be rewarded for doing good, and evil people will suffer for the evil they do.

1147-John 5:28 Do not be surprised at this; the time is coming when all the dead will hear his voice 29 and come out of their graves: those who have done good will rise and live, and those who have done evil will rise and be condemned.

1148-Leviticus 10:6 Then Moses said to Aaron and to his sons Eleazar and Ithamar, "Do not leave your hair uncombed or tear your clothes to show that you are in mourning. If you do, you will die, and the Lord will be angry with the whole community. But all other Israelites are allowed to mourn this death caused by the fire which the Lord sent.

1149-Deuteronomy 29:19 Make sure that there is no one here today who hears these solemn demands and yet convinces himself that all will be well with him, even if he stubbornly goes his own way. That would destroy all of you, good and evil alike.

1150-1 Corinthians 10:4 and drank the same spiritual drink. They drank from the spiritual rock that went with them; and that rock was Christ himself.

1151-Joshua 1:18 Whoever questions your authority or disobeys any of your orders will be put to death. Be determined and confident!"

1152-Deuteronomy 7:1 "The Lord your God will bring you into the land that you are going to occupy, and he will drive many nations out of it. As you advance, he will drive out seven nations larger and more powerful than you: the Hittites, the Girgashites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. 2 When the Lord your God places these people in your power and you defeat them, you must put them all to death. Do not make an alliance with them or show them any mercy. 3 Do not marry any of them, and do not let your children marry any of them, 4 because then they would lead your children away from the Lord to worship other gods. If that happens, the Lord will be angry with you and destroy you at once. 5 So then, tear down their altars, break their sacred stone pillars in pieces, cut down their symbols of the goddess Asherah, and burn their idols. 6 Do this because you belong to the Lord your God. From all the peoples on earth he chose you to be his own special people.

1153-Leviticus 20:1 "The Lord your God will bring you into the land that you are going to occupy, and he will drive many nations out of it. As you advance, he will drive out seven nations larger and more powerful than you: the Hittites, the Girgashites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. 2 When the Lord your God places these people in your power and you defeat them, you must put them all to death. Do not make an alliance with them or show them any mercy. 3 Do not marry any of them, and do not let your children marry any of them, 4 because then they would lead your children away from the Lord to worship other gods. If that happens, the Lord will be angry with you and destroy you at once. 5 So then, tear down their altars, break their sacred stone pillars in pieces, cut down their symbols of the goddess Asherah, and burn their idols. 6 Do this because you belong to the Lord your God. From all the peoples on earth he chose you to be his own special people.

1154-Deuteronomy 22:22 "If a man is caught having intercourse with another man's wife, both of them are to be put to death. In this way you will get rid of this evil. 23 "Suppose a man is caught in a town having intercourse with a young woman who is engaged to someone else. 24 You are to take them outside the town and stone them to death. She is to die because she did not cry out for help, although she was in a town, where she could have been heard. And the man is to die because he had intercourse with someone who was engaged. In this way you will get rid of this evil. 25 "Suppose a man out in the countryside rapes a young woman who is engaged to someone else. Then only the man is to be put to death;

1155-John 8:1 [Then everyone went home, but Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. 2 Early the next morning he went back to the Temple. All the people gathered around him, and he sat down and began to teach them. 3 The teachers of the Law and the Pharisees brought in a woman who had been caught committing adultery, and they made her stand before them all. 4 "Teacher," they said to Jesus, "this woman was caught in the very act of committing adultery. 5 In our Law Moses commanded that such a woman must be stoned to death. Now, what do you say?" 6 They said this to trap Jesus, so that they could accuse him. But he bent over and wrote on the ground with his finger. 7 As they stood there asking him questions, he straightened up and said to them, "Whichever one of you has committed no sin may throw the first stone at her." 8 Then he bent over again and wrote on the ground. 9 When they heard this, they all left, one by one, the older ones first. Jesus was left alone, with the woman still standing there. 10 He straightened up and said to her, "Where are they? Is there no one left to condemn you?" 11 "No one, sir," she answered. "Well, then," Jesus said, "I do not condemn you either. Go, but do not sin again."]

1156-Joshua 7:7 And Joshua said, "Sovereign Lord! Why did you bring us across the Jordan at all? To turn us over to the Amorites? To destroy us? Why didn't we just stay on the other side of the Jordan? 8 What can I say, O Lord, now that Israel has retreated from the enemy? 9 The Canaanites and everyone else in the country will hear about it. They will surround us and kill every one of us! And then what will you do to protect your honor?"

1157-Genesis 18:25 Surely you won't kill the innocent with the guilty. That's impossible! You can't do that. If you did, the innocent would be punished along with the guilty. That is impossible. The judge of all the earth has to act justly."

1158-Exodus 32:7 The Lord said to Moses, "Hurry and go back down, because your people, whom you led out of Egypt, have sinned and rejected me. 8 They have already left the way that I commanded them to follow; they have made a bull-calf out of melted gold and have worshiped it and offered sacrifices to it. They are saying that this is their god, who led them out of Egypt. 9 I know how stubborn these people are. 10 Now, don't try to stop me. I am angry with them, and I am going to destroy them. Then I will make you and your descendants into a great nation." 11 But Moses pleaded with the Lord his God and said, "Lord, why should you be so angry with your people, whom you rescued from Egypt with great might and power? 12 Why should the Egyptians be able to say that you led your people out of Egypt, planning to kill them in the mountains and destroy them completely? Stop being angry; change your mind and do not bring this disaster on your people. 13 Remember your servants Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Remember the solemn promise you made to them to give them as many descendants as there are stars in the sky and to give their descendants all that land you promised would be their possession forever." 14 So the Lord changed his mind and did not bring on his people the disaster he had threatened.

1159-Deuteronomy 9:6 You can be sure that the Lord is not giving you this fertile land because you deserve it. No, you are a stubborn people. 7 "Never forget how you made the Lord your God angry in the desert. From the day that you left Egypt until the day you arrived here, you have rebelled against him. 8 Even at Mount Sinai you made the Lord angry - angry enough to destroy you. 9 I went up the mountain to receive the stone tablets on which was written the covenant that the Lord had made with you. I stayed there forty days and nights and did not eat or drink anything. 10 Then the Lord gave me the two stone tablets on which he had written with his own hand what he had said to you from the fire on the day that you were gathered there at the mountain. 11 Yes, after those forty days and nights the Lord gave me the two stone tablets on which he had written the covenant. 12 "Then the Lord said to me, "Go down the mountain at once, because your people, whom you led out of Egypt, have become corrupt and have done evil. They have already turned away from what I commanded them to do, and they have made an idol for themselves.' 13 "The Lord also said to me, "I know how stubborn these people are.

Deuteronomy 9:26 And I prayed, "Sovereign Lord, don't destroy your own people, the people you rescued and brought out of Egypt by your great strength and power. 27 Remember your servants, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and do not pay any attention to the stubbornness, wickedness, and sin of this people. 28 Otherwise, the Egyptians will say that you were unable to take your people into the land that you had promised them. They will say that you took your people out into the desert to kill them, because you hated them. 29 After all, these are the people whom you chose to be your own and whom you brought out of Egypt by your great power and might.'

Deuteronomy 32:26 I would have destroyed them completely, so that no one would remember them. 27 But I could not let their enemies boast that they had defeated my people, when it was I myself who had crushed them.'

1160-Numbers 14:6 You can be sure that the Lord is not giving you this fertile land because you deserve it. No, you are a stubborn people. 7 "Never forget how you made the Lord your God angry in the desert. From the day that you left Egypt until the day you arrived here, you have rebelled against him. 8 Even at Mount Sinai you made the Lord angry - angry enough to destroy you. 9 I went up the mountain to receive the stone tablets on which was written the covenant that the Lord had made with you. I stayed there forty days and nights and did not eat or drink anything. 10 Then the Lord gave me the two stone tablets on which he had written with his own hand what he had said to you from the fire on the day that you were gathered there at the mountain. 11 Yes, after those forty days and nights the Lord gave me the two stone tablets on which he had written the covenant. 12 "Then the Lord said to me, "Go down the mountain at once, because your people, whom you led out of Egypt, have become corrupt and have done evil. They have already turned away from what I commanded them to do, and they have made an idol for themselves.' 13 "The Lord also said to me, "I know how stubborn these people are.

Deuteronomy 9:26 And I prayed, "Sovereign Lord, don't destroy your own people, the people you rescued and brought out of Egypt by your great strength and power. 27 Remember your servants, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and do not pay any attention to the stubbornness, wickedness, and sin of this people. 28 Otherwise, the Egyptians will say that you were unable to take your people into the land that you had promised them. They will say that you took your people out into the desert to kill them, because you hated them. 29 After all, these are the people whom you chose to be your own and whom you brought out of Egypt by your great power and might.'

Deuteronomy 32:26 I would have destroyed them completely, so that no one would remember them. 27 But I could not let their enemies boast that they had defeated my people, when it was I myself who had crushed them.'

1161-Job 42:7 After the Lord had finished speaking to Job, he said to Eliphaz, "I am angry with you and your two friends, because you did not speak the truth about me, the way my servant Job did. 8 Now take seven bulls and seven rams to Job and offer them as a sacrifice for yourselves. Job will pray for you, and I will answer his prayer and not disgrace you the way you deserve. You did not speak the truth about me as he did."

1162-Ezekiel 36:22 "Now then, give the Israelites the message that I, the Sovereign Lord, have for them: What I am going to do is not for the sake of you Israelites, but for the sake of my holy name, which you have disgraced in every country where you have gone. 23 When I demonstrate to the nations the holiness of my great name - the name you disgraced among them - then they will know that I am the Lord. I, the Sovereign Lord, have spoken. I will use you to show the nations that I am holy.

1163-Daniel 9:14 You, O Lord our God, were prepared to punish us, and you did, because you always do what is right, and we did not listen to you. 15 "O Lord our God, you showed your power by bringing your people out of Egypt, and your power is still remembered. We have sinned; we have done wrong. 16 You have defended us in the past, so do not be angry with Jerusalem any longer. It is your city, your sacred hill. All the people in the neighboring countries look down on Jerusalem and on your people because of our sins and the evil our ancestors did. 17 O God, hear my prayer and pleading. Restore your Temple, which has been destroyed; restore it so that everyone will know that you are God. 18 Listen to us, O God; look at us and see the trouble we are in and the suffering of the city that bears your name. We are praying to you because you are merciful, not because we have done right. 19 Lord, hear us. Lord, forgive us. Lord, listen to us, and act! In order that everyone will know that you are God, do not delay! This city and these people are yours."

1164-John 15:15 I do not call you servants any longer, because servants do not know what their master is doing. Instead, I call you friends, because I have told you everything I heard from my Father.

1165-Romans 1:18 God's anger is revealed from heaven against all the sin and evil of the people whose evil ways prevent the truth from being known.

Romans 2:17 What about you? You call yourself a Jew; you depend on the Law and boast about God; 18 you know what God wants you to do, and you have learned from the Law to choose what is right; 19 you are sure that you are a guide for the blind, a light for those who are in darkness, 20 an instructor for the foolish, and a teacher for the ignorant. You are certain that in the Law you have the full content of knowledge and of truth. 21 You teach others - why don't you teach yourself? You preach, "Do not steal" - but do you yourself steal? 22 You say, "Do not commit adultery" - but do you commit adultery? You detest idols - but do you rob temples? 23 You boast about having God's law - but do you bring shame on God by breaking his law? 24 The scripture says, "Because of you Jews, the Gentiles speak evil of God."

1166-Acts 1:23 So they proposed two men: Joseph, who was called Barsabbas (also known as Justus), and Matthias. 24 Then they prayed, "Lord, you know the thoughts of everyone, so show us which of these two you have chosen 25 to serve as an apostle in the place of Judas, who left to go to the place where he belongs." 26 Then they drew lots to choose between the two men, and the one chosen was Matthias, who was added to the group of eleven apostles.

1167-Joshua 7:13 Get up! Purify the people and get them ready to come before me. Tell them to be ready tomorrow, because I, the Lord God of Israel, have this to say: "Israel, you have in your possession some things that I ordered you to destroy! You cannot stand against your enemies until you get rid of these things!' 14 So tell them that in the morning they will be brought forward, tribe by tribe. The tribe that I pick out will then come forward, clan by clan. The clan that I pick out will come forward, family by family. The family that I pick out will come forward, one by one. 15 The one who is then picked out and found with the condemned goods will be burned, along with his family and everything he owns, for he has brought terrible shame on Israel and has broken my covenant." 16 Early the next morning Joshua brought Israel forward, tribe by tribe, and the tribe of Judah was picked out. 17 He brought the tribe of Judah forward, clan by clan, and the clan of Zerah was picked out. Then he brought the clan of Zerah forward, family by family, and the family of Zabdi was picked out. 18 He then brought Zabdi's family forward, one by one, and Achan, the son of Carmi and grandson of Zabdi, was picked out. 19 Joshua said to him, "My son, tell the truth here before the Lord, the God of Israel, and confess. Tell me now what you have done. Don't try to hide it from me." 20 "It's true," Achan answered. "I have sinned against the Lord, Israel's God, and this is what I did. 21 Among the things we seized I saw a beautiful Babylonian cloak, about five pounds of silver, and a bar of gold weighing over one pound. I wanted them so much that I took them. You will find them buried inside my tent, with the silver at the bottom." 22 So Joshua sent some men, who ran to the tent and found that the condemned things really were buried there, with the silver at the bottom. 23 They brought them out of the tent, took them to Joshua and all the Israelites, and laid them down in the presence of the Lord. 24 Joshua, along with all the people of Israel, seized Achan, the silver, the cloak, the bar of gold, together with Achan's sons and daughters, his cattle, donkeys, and sheep, his tent, and everything else he owned; and they took them to Trouble Valley. 25 And Joshua said, "Why have you brought such trouble on us? The Lord will now bring trouble on you!" All the people then stoned Achan to death; they also stoned and burned his family and possessions. 26 They put a huge pile of stones over him, which is there to this day. That is why that place is still called Trouble Valley. Then the Lord was no longer furious.

Joshua 14:2 As the Lord had commanded Moses, the territories of the nine and one-half tribes west of the Jordan were determined by drawing lots.

1168-Judges 20:9 This is what we will do: we will draw lots and choose some men to attack Gibeah.

1169-1 Samuel 10:20 Then Samuel had each tribe come forward, and the Lord picked the tribe of Benjamin.

1170-1 Chronicles 6:5 This is the territory assigned to the descendants of Aaron of the clan of Kohath. They received the first share of the land assigned to the Levites.

1 Chronicles 6:61 Ten towns in the territory of West Manasseh were assigned by lot to the rest of the clan of Kohath, family by family.

1171-1; Jonah 1:7 The sailors said to each other, "Let's draw lots and find out who is to blame for getting us into this danger." They did so, and Jonah's name was drawn.

1172-Matthew 27:35 They crucified him and then divided his clothes among them by throwing dice.

1173-Acts 1:26 Then they drew lots to choose between the two men, and the one chosen was Matthias, who was added to the group of eleven apostles.

1174-Joshua 9:1 The victories of Israel became known to all the kings west of the Jordan - in the hills, in the foothills, and all along the coastal plain of the Mediterranean Sea as far north as Lebanon; these were the kings of the Hittites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. 2 They all came together and joined forces to fight against Joshua and the Israelites. 3 But the people of Gibeon, who were Hivites, heard what Joshua had done to Jericho and Ai, 4 and they decided to deceive him. They went and got some food and loaded their donkeys with worn-out sacks and patched-up wineskins. 5 They put on ragged clothes and worn-out sandals that had been mended. The bread they took with them was dry and moldy. 6 Then they went to the camp at Gilgal and said to Joshua and the Israelites, "We have come from a distant land. We want you to make a treaty with us." 7 But the Israelites said, "Why should we make a treaty with you? Maybe you live nearby." 8 They said to Joshua, "We are at your service." Joshua asked them, "Who are you? Where do you come from?" 9 Then they told him this story: "We have come from a very distant land, sir, because we have heard of the Lord your God. We have heard about everything that he did in Egypt 10 and what he did to the two Amorite kings east of the Jordan: King Sihon of Heshbon and King Og of Bashan, who lived in Ashtaroth. 11 Our leaders and all the people that live in our land told us to get some food ready for a trip and to go and meet you. We were told to put ourselves at your service and ask you to make a treaty with us. 12 Look at our bread. When we left home with it and started out to meet you, it was still warm. But look! Now it is dry and moldy. 13 When we filled these wineskins, they were new, but look! They are torn. Our clothes and sandals are worn out from the long trip." 14 The Israelites accepted some food from them, but did not consult the Lord about it. 15 Joshua made a treaty of friendship with the people of Gibeon and allowed them to live. The leaders of the community of Israel gave their solemn promise to keep the treaty. 16 Three days after the treaty had been made, the Israelites learned that these people did indeed live nearby. 17 So the people of Israel started out and three days later arrived at the cities where these people lived: Gibeon, Chephirah, Beeroth, and Kiriath Jearim. 18 But the Israelites could not kill them, because their leaders had made a solemn promise to them in the name of the Lord, Israel's God. All the people complained to the leaders about this, 19 but they answered, "We have made our solemn promise to them in the name of the Lord God of Israel. Now we cannot harm them. 20 We must let them live because of our promise; if we don't, God will punish us. 21 Let them live, but they will have to cut wood and carry water for us." This was what the leaders suggested. 22 Joshua ordered the people of Gibeon to be brought to him, and he asked them, "Why did you deceive us and tell us that you were from far away, when you live right here? 23 Because you did this, God has condemned you. Your people will always be slaves, cutting wood and carrying water for the sanctuary of my God." 24 They answered, "We did it, sir, because we learned that it was really true that the Lord your God had commanded his servant Moses to give you the whole land and to kill the people living in it as you advanced. We did it because we were terrified of you; we were in fear of our lives. 25 Now we are in your power; do with us what you think is right." 26 So this is what Joshua did: he protected them and did not allow the people of Israel to kill them. 27 But at the same time he made them slaves, to cut wood and carry water for the people of Israel and for the Lord's altar. To this day they have continued to do this work in the place where the Lord has chosen to be worshiped.

1175-Joshua 11:19 The only city that made peace with the people of Israel was Gibeon, where some of the Hivites lived. All the others were conquered in battle.

1176-Exodus 23:20 "I will send an angel ahead of you to protect you as you travel and to bring you to the place which I have prepared. 21 Pay attention to him and obey him. Do not rebel against him, for I have sent him, and he will not pardon such rebellion. 22 But if you obey him and do everything I command, I will fight against all your enemies. 23 My angel will go ahead of you and take you into the land of the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Canaanites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, and I will destroy them. 24 Do not bow down to their gods or worship them, and do not adopt their religious practices. Destroy their gods and break down their sacred stone pillars. 25 If you worship me, the Lord your God, I will bless you with food and water and take away all your sicknesses. 26 In your land no woman will have a miscarriage or be without children. I will give you long lives. 27 "I will make the people who oppose you afraid of me; I will bring confusion among the people against whom you fight, and I will make all your enemies turn and run from you. 28 I will throw your enemies into panic; I will drive out the Hivites, the Canaanites, and the Hittites as you advance. 29 I will not drive them out within a year's time; if I did, the land would become deserted, and the wild animals would be too many for you. 30 Instead, I will drive them out little by little, until there are enough of you to take possession of the land. 31 I will make the borders of your land extend from the Gulf of Aqaba to the Mediterranean Sea and from the desert to the Euphrates River. I will give you power over the inhabitants of the land, and you will drive them out as you advance.

1177-Deuteronomy 20:16 "But when you capture cities in the land that the Lord your God is giving you, kill everyone. 17 Completely destroy all the people: the Hittites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, as the Lord ordered you to do. 18 Kill them, so that they will not make you sin against the Lord by teaching you to do all the disgusting things that they do in the worship of their gods.

1178-Patriarchs and Prophets p. 505-507 This chapter is based on Joshua 9 and 10.

From Shechem the Israelites returned to their encampment at Gilgal. Here they were soon after visited by a strange deputation, who desired to enter into treaty with them. The ambassadors represented that they had come from a distant country, and this seemed to be confirmed by their appearance. Their clothing was old and worn, their sandals were patched, their provisions moldy, and the skins that served them for wine bottles were rent and bound up, as if hastily repaired on the journey. {PP 505.1}

In their far-off home—professedly beyond the limits of Palestine—their fellow countrymen, they said, had heard of the wonders which God had wrought for His people, and had sent them to make a league with Israel. The Hebrews had been specially warned against entering into any league with the idolaters of Canaan, and a doubt as to the truth of the strangers’ words arose in the minds of the leaders. “Peradventure ye dwell among us,” they said. To this the ambassadors only replied, “We are thy servants.” But when Joshua directly demanded of them, “Who are ye? and from whence come ye?” they reiterated their former statement, and added, in proof of their sincerity, “This our bread we took hot for our provision out of our houses on the day we came forth to go unto you; but now, behold, it is dry, and it is moldy: and these bottles of wine, which we filled, were new; and, behold, they be rent: and these our garments and our shoes are become old by reason of the very long journey.” {PP 505.2}

These representations prevailed. The Hebrews “asked not counsel at the mouth of the Lord. And Joshua made peace with them, and made a league with them, to let them live: and the princes of the congregation sware unto them.” Thus the treaty was entered into. Three days afterward the truth was discovered. “They heard that they were their neighbors, and that they dwelt among them.” Knowing that it was impossible to resist the Hebrews, the Gibeonites had resorted to stratagem to preserve their lives. {PP 505.3}

Great was the indignation of the Israelites as they learned the deception that had been practiced upon them. And this was heightened when, after three days’ journey, they reached the cities of the Gibeonites, near the center of the land. “All the congregation murmured against the princes;” but the latter refused to break the treaty, though secured by fraud, because they had “sworn unto them by the Lord God of Israel.” “And the children of Israel smote them not.” The Gibeonites had pledged themselves to renounce idolatry, and accept the worship of Jehovah; and the preservation of their lives was not a violation of God’s command to destroy the idolatrous Canaanites. Hence the Hebrews had not by their oath pledged themselves to commit sin. And though the oath had been secured by deception, it was not to be disregarded. The obligation to which one’s word is pledged—if it do not bind him to perform a wrong act—should be held sacred. No consideration of gain, of revenge, or of self-interest can in any way affect the inviolability of an oath or pledge. “Lying lips are abomination to the Lord.” Proverbs 12:22. He that “shall ascend into the hill of the Lord,” and “stand in His holy place,” is “he that sweareth to his own hurt, and changeth not.” Psalm 24:3; 15:4. {PP 506.1}

The Gibeonites were permitted to live, but were attached as bondmen to the sanctuary, to perform all menial services. “Joshua made them that day hewers of wood and drawers of water for the congregation, and for the altar of the Lord.” These conditions they gratefully accepted, conscious that they had been at fault, and glad to purchase life on any terms. “Behold, we are in thine hand,” they said to Joshua; “as it seemeth good and right unto thee to do unto us, do.” For centuries their descendants were connected with the service of the sanctuary. {PP 506.2}

The territory of the Gibeonites comprised four cities. The people were not under the rule of a king, but were governed by elders, or senators. Gibeon, the most important of their towns, “was a great city, as one of the royal cities,” “and all the men thereof were mighty.” It is a striking evidence of the terror with which the Israelites had inspired the inhabitants of Canaan, that the people of such a city should have resorted to so humiliating an expedient to save their lives. {PP 506.3}

But it would have fared better with the Gibeonites had they dealt honestly with Israel. While their submission to Jehovah secured the preservation of their lives, their deception brought them only disgrace and servitude. God had made provision that all who would renounce heathenism, and connect themselves with Israel, should share the blessings of the covenant. They were included under the term, “the stranger that sojourneth among you,” and with few exceptions this class were to enjoy equal favors and privileges with Israel. The Lord’s direction was— {PP 507.1}

“If a stranger sojourn with thee in your land, ye shall not vex him. But the stranger that dwelleth with you shall be unto you as one born among you, and thou shalt love him as thyself.” Leviticus 19:33, 34. Concerning the Passover and the offering of sacrifices it was commanded, “One ordinance shall be both for you of the congregation, and also for the stranger that sojourneth with you: ... as ye are, so shall the stranger be before the Lord.” Numbers 15:15. {PP 507.2}

Such was the footing on which the Gibeonites might have been received, but for the deception to which they had resorted. It was no light humiliation to those citizens of a “royal city,” “all the men whereof were mighty,” to be made hewers of wood and drawers of water throughout their generations. But they had adopted the garb of poverty for the purpose of deception, and it was fastened upon them as a badge of perpetual servitude. Thus through all their generations their servile condition would testify to God’s hatred of falsehood. {PP 507.3}

The submission of Gibeon to the Israelites filled the kings of Canaan with dismay. Steps were at once taken for revenge upon those who had made peace with the invaders. Under the leadership of Adonizedek, king of Jerusalem, five of the Canaanite kings entered into a confederacy against Gibeon. Their movements were rapid. The Gibeonites were unprepared for defense, and they sent a message to Joshua at Gilgal: “Slack not thy hand from thy servants; come up to us quickly, and save us, and help us: for all the kings of the Amorites that dwell in the mountains are gathered together against us.” The danger threatened not the people of Gibeon alone, but also Israel. This city commanded the passes to central and southern Palestine, and it must be held if the country was to be conquered. {PP 507.4}

Joshua prepared to go at once to the relief of Gibeon. The inhabitants of the besieged city had feared that he would reject their appeal, because of the fraud which they had practiced; but since they had submitted to the control of Israel, and had accepted the worship of God, he felt himself under obligation to protect them. He did not this time move without divine counsel, and the Lord encouraged him in the undertaking. “Fear them not,” was the divine message; “for I have delivered them into thine hand; there shall not a man of them stand before thee.” “So Joshua ascended from Gilgal, he, and all the people of war with him, and all the mighty men of valor.” {PP 507.5}

1179-Joshua 10:1 Adonizedek, the king of Jerusalem, heard that Joshua had captured and totally destroyed Ai and had killed its king, just as he had done to Jericho and its king. He also heard that the people of Gibeon had made peace with the Israelites and were living among them. 2 The people of Jerusalem were greatly alarmed at this because Gibeon was as large as any of the cities that had a king; it was larger than Ai, and its men were good fighters. 3 So Adonizedek sent the following message to King Hoham of Hebron, King Piram of Jarmuth, King Japhia of Lachish, and to King Debir of Eglon: 4 "Come and help me attack Gibeon, because its people have made peace with Joshua and the Israelites." 5 These five Amorite kings, the kings of Jerusalem, Hebron, Jarmuth, Lachish, and Eglon, joined forces, surrounded Gibeon, and attacked it. 6 The men of Gibeon sent word to Joshua at the camp in Gilgal: "Do not abandon us, sir! Come at once and help us! Save us! All the Amorite kings in the hill country have joined forces and have attacked us!" 7 So Joshua and his whole army, including the best troops, started out from Gilgal. 8 The Lord said to Joshua, "Do not be afraid of them. I have already given you the victory. Not one of them will be able to stand against you." 9 All night Joshua and his army marched from Gilgal to Gibeon, and they made a surprise attack on the Amorites. 10 The Lord made the Amorites panic at the sight of Israel's army. The Israelites slaughtered them at Gibeon and pursued them down the mountain pass at Beth Horon, keeping up the attack as far south as Azekah and Makkedah. 11 While the Amorites were running down the pass from the Israelite army, the Lord made large hailstones fall down on them all the way to Azekah. More were killed by the hailstones than by the Israelites. 12 On the day that the Lord gave the men of Israel victory over the Amorites, Joshua spoke to the Lord. In the presence of the Israelites he said, "Sun, stand still over Gibeon; Moon, stop over Aijalon Valley." 13 The sun stood still and the moon did not move until the nation had conquered its enemies. This is written in The Book of Jashar. The sun stood still in the middle of the sky and did not go down for a whole day. 14 Never before, and never since, has there been a day like it, when the Lord obeyed a human being. The Lord fought on Israel's side! 15 After this, Joshua and his army went back to the camp at Gilgal.

1180-Exodus 23:28 I will throw your enemies into panic; I will drive out the Hivites, the Canaanites, and the Hittites as you advance.

1181-Deuteronomy 7:20 He will even cause panic among them and will destroy those who escape and go into hiding.

1182-1 Samuel 5:9 But after it arrived there, the Lord punished that city too and caused a great panic. He punished them with tumors which developed in all the people of the city, young and old alike.

1 Samuel 14:15 All the Philistines in the countryside were terrified; the raiders and the soldiers in the camp trembled with fear; the earth shook, and there was great panic.

1183-Joshua 24:12 As you advanced, I threw them into panic in order to drive out the two Amorite kings. Your swords and bows had nothing to do with it.

1184-Joshua 11:9 Joshua did to them what the Lord had commanded: he crippled their horses and burned their chariots.

1185-Joshua 6:21 With their swords they killed everyone in the city, men and women, young and old. They also killed the cattle, sheep, and donkeys.

Joshua 8:25 Joshua kept his spear pointed at Ai and did not put it down until every person there had been killed. The whole population of Ai was killed that day - twelve thousand men and women.

Joshua 10:25 Joshua kept his spear pointed at Ai and did not put it down until every person there had been killed. The whole population of Ai was killed that day - twelve thousand men and women.

Joshua 10:7 So Joshua and his whole army, including the best troops, started out from Gilgal. 8 The Lord said to Joshua, "Do not be afraid of them. I have already given you the victory. Not one of them will be able to stand against you." 9 All night Joshua and his army marched from Gilgal to Gibeon, and they made a surprise attack on the Amorites. 10 The Lord made the Amorites panic at the sight of Israel's army. The Israelites slaughtered them at Gibeon and pursued them down the mountain pass at Beth Horon, keeping up the attack as far south as Azekah and Makkedah. 11 While the Amorites were running down the pass from the Israelite army, the Lord made large hailstones fall down on them all the way to Azekah. More were killed by the hailstones than by the Israelites. 12 On the day that the Lord gave the men of Israel victory over the Amorites, Joshua spoke to the Lord. In the presence of the Israelites he said, "Sun, stand still over Gibeon; Moon, stop over Aijalon Valley." 13 The sun stood still and the moon did not move until the nation had conquered its enemies. This is written in The Book of Jashar. The sun stood still in the middle of the sky and did not go down for a whole day. 14 Never before, and never since, has there been a day like it, when the Lord obeyed a human being. The Lord fought on Israel's side! 15 After this, Joshua and his army went back to the camp at Gilgal.

Joshua 10:28 Joshua attacked and captured Makkedah and its king that day. He put everyone in the city to death; no one was left alive. He did to the king of Makkedah what he had done to the king of Jericho. 29 After this, Joshua and his army went on from Makkedah to Libnah and attacked it. 30 The Lord also gave the Israelites victory over this city and its king. They spared no one, but killed every person in it. They did to the king what they had done to the king of Jericho. 31 After this, Joshua and his army went on from Libnah to Lachish, surrounded it and attacked it. 32 The Lord gave the Israelites victory over Lachish on the second day of the battle. Just as they had done at Libnah, they spared no one, but killed every person in the city. 33 King Horam of Gezer came to the aid of Lachish, but Joshua defeated him and his army and left none of them alive. 34 Next, Joshua and his army went on from Lachish to Eglon, surrounded it and attacked it. 35 They captured it the same day and put everyone there to death, just as they had done at Lachish. 36 After this, Joshua and his army went from Eglon up into the hills to Hebron, attacked it 37 and captured it. They killed the king and everyone else in the city as well as in the nearby towns. Joshua condemned the city to total destruction, just as he had done to Eglon. No one in it was left alive. 38 Then Joshua and his army turned back to Debir and attacked it. 39 He captured it, with its king and all the nearby towns. They put everyone there to death. Joshua did to Debir and its king what he had done to Hebron and to Libnah and its king. 40 Joshua conquered the whole land. He defeated the kings of the hill country, the eastern slopes, and the western foothills, as well as those of the dry country in the south. He spared no one; everyone was put to death. This was what the Lord God of Israel had commanded. 41 Joshua's campaign took him from Kadesh Barnea in the south to Gaza near the coast, including all the area of Goshen, and as far north as Gibeon.

Joshua 11:8 The Lord gave the Israelites victory over them; the Israelites attacked and pursued them as far north as Misrephoth Maim and Sidon, and as far east as the valley of Mizpah. The fight continued until none of the enemy was left alive.

Joshua 11:20 The Lord had made them determined to fight the Israelites, so that they would be condemned to total destruction and all be killed without mercy. This was what the Lord had commanded Moses.

1186-Deuteronomy 20:16 "But when you capture cities in the land that the Lord your God is giving you, kill everyone. 17 Completely destroy all the people: the Hittites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, as the Lord ordered you to do. 18 Kill them, so that they will not make you sin against the Lord by teaching you to do all the disgusting things that they do in the worship of their gods.

1187-Numbers 31:13 Moses, Eleazar, and all the other leaders of the community went out of the camp to meet the army. 14 Moses became angry with the officers, the commanders of battalions and companies, who had returned from the war. 15 He asked them, "Why have you kept all the women alive? 16 Remember that it was the women who followed Balaam's instructions and at Peor led the people to be unfaithful to the Lord. That was what brought the epidemic on the Lord's people. 17 So now kill every boy and kill every woman who has had sexual intercourse, 18 but keep alive for yourselves all the girls and all the women who are virgins.

1188-Deuteronomy 20:10 "When you go to attack a city, first give its people a chance to surrender. 11 If they open the gates and surrender, they are all to become your slaves and do forced labor for you. 12 But if the people of that city will not surrender, but choose to fight, surround it with your army. 13 Then, when the Lord your God lets you capture the city, kill every man in it. 14 You may, however, take for yourselves the women, the children, the livestock, and everything else in the city. You may use everything that belongs to your enemies. The Lord has given it to you. 15 That is how you are to deal with those cities that are far away from the land you will settle in. 16 "But when you capture cities in the land that the Lord your God is giving you, kill everyone. 17 Completely destroy all the people: the Hittites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, as the Lord ordered you to do. 18 Kill them, so that they will not make you sin against the Lord by teaching you to do all the disgusting things that they do in the worship of their gods.

1189-Joshua 11:20 The Lord had made them determined to fight the Israelites, so that they would be condemned to total destruction and all be killed without mercy. This was what the Lord had commanded Moses.

1190-Joshua 13:2 all the territory of Philistia and Geshur, 3 as well as all the territory of the Avvim to the south. (The land from the stream Shihor, at the Egyptian border, as far north as the border of Ekron was considered Canaanite; the kings of the Philistines lived at Gaza, Ashdod, Ashkelon, Gath, and Ekron.)

1191-Joshua 13:13 However, the Israelites did not drive out the people of Geshur and Maacah; they still live in Israel.

Joshua 15:63 But the people of Judah were not able to drive out the Jebusites, who lived in Jerusalem. The Jebusites still live there with the people of Judah.

Joshua 16:10 But they did not drive out the Canaanites who lived in Gezer, so the Canaanites have lived among the Ephraimites to this day, but they have been forced to work as slaves.

Joshua 17:13 Even when the Israelites became stronger, they did not drive out all the Canaanites, but they did force them to work for them.

Joshua 17:18 The hill country will be yours. Even though it is a forest, you will clear it and take possession of it from one end to the other. As for the Canaanites, you will drive them out, even though they do have iron chariots and are a strong people."

1192-Joshua 23:13 you may be sure that the Lord your God will no longer drive these nations out as you advance. Rather, they will be as dangerous for you as a trap or a pit and as painful as a whip on your back or thorns in your eyes. And this will last until none of you are left in this good land which the Lord your God has given you.

1193-Joshua 10:1 Adonizedek, the king of Jerusalem, heard that Joshua had captured and totally destroyed Ai and had killed its king, just as he had done to Jericho and its king. He also heard that the people of Gibeon had made peace with the Israelites and were living among them. 2 The people of Jerusalem were greatly alarmed at this because Gibeon was as large as any of the cities that had a king; it was larger than Ai, and its men were good fighters. 3 So Adonizedek sent the following message to King Hoham of Hebron, King Piram of Jarmuth, King Japhia of Lachish, and to King Debir of Eglon: 4 "Come and help me attack Gibeon, because its people have made peace with Joshua and the Israelites." 5 These five Amorite kings, the kings of Jerusalem, Hebron, Jarmuth, Lachish, and Eglon, joined forces, surrounded Gibeon, and attacked it.

Joshua 10:23 So the cave was opened, and the kings of Jerusalem, Hebron, Jarmuth, Lachish, and Eglon were brought out

Joshua 12:10 Jerusalem, Hebron,

Joshua 15:63 But the people of Judah were not able to drive out the Jebusites, who lived in Jerusalem. The Jebusites still live there with the people of Judah.

Joshua 18:28 Zela, Haeleph, Jebus (or Jerusalem), Gibeah, and Kiriath Jearim: fourteen cities, along with the towns around them. This is the land which the families of the tribe of Benjamin received as their possession.

1194-Nehemiah 13:24 Half of their children spoke the language of Ashdod or some other language and didn't know how to speak our language.

1195-Joshua 21:43 So the Lord gave to Israel all the land that he had solemnly promised their ancestors he would give them. When they had taken possession of it, they settled down there.

Joshua 23:14 "Now my time has come to die. Every one of you knows in his heart and soul that the Lord your God has given you all the good things that he promised. Every promise he made has been kept; not one has failed. 15 But just as he kept every promise that he made to you, so he will carry out every threat.

1196-Joshua 21:44 The Lord gave them peace throughout the land, just as he had promised their ancestors. Not one of all their enemies had been able to stand against them, because the Lord gave the Israelites the victory over all their enemies.

Joshua 22:4 Now, as he promised, the Lord your God has given the other Israelites peace. So go back home to the land which you claimed for your own, the land on the east side of the Jordan, that Moses, the Lord's servant, gave you.

1197-Joshua 21:44 The Lord gave them peace throughout the land, just as he had promised their ancestors. Not one of all their enemies had been able to stand against them, because the Lord gave the Israelites the victory over all their enemies.

Joshua 23:9 The Lord has driven great and powerful nations out as you advanced, and no one has ever been able to stand against you.

1198-Joshua 23:1 Much later the Lord gave Israel security from their enemies around them. By that time Joshua was very old,

1199-Joshua 23:6 So be careful to obey and do everything that is written in the book of the Law of Moses. Do not neglect any part of it, 7 and then you will not associate with these peoples left among you or speak the names of their gods or use those names in taking vows or worship those gods or bow down to them.

1200-Joshua 23:10 Any one of you can make a thousand men run away, because the Lord your God is fighting for you, just as he promised.

1201-Joshua 23:12 If you are disloyal and join with the nations that are still left among you and intermarry with them, 13 you may be sure that the Lord your God will no longer drive these nations out as you advance. Rather, they will be as dangerous for you as a trap or a pit and as painful as a whip on your back or thorns in your eyes. And this will last until none of you are left in this good land which the Lord your God has given you.

1202-Joshua 23:15 But just as he kept every promise that he made to you, so he will carry out every threat. 16 If you do not keep the covenant which the Lord your God commanded you to keep and if you serve and worship other gods, then in his anger he will punish you, and soon none of you will be left in this good land that he has given you."

1203-Joshua 24:14 "Now then," Joshua continued, "honor the Lord and serve him sincerely and faithfully. Get rid of the gods which your ancestors used to worship in Mesopotamia and in Egypt, and serve only the Lord.

Joshua 24:23 "Then get rid of those foreign gods that you have," he demanded, "and pledge your loyalty to the Lord, the God of Israel."

1204-Joshua 24:18 As we advanced into this land, the Lord drove out all the Amorites who lived here. So we also will serve the Lord; he is our God." 19 Joshua said to the people, "But you may not be able to serve the Lord. He is a holy God and will not forgive your sins. He will tolerate no rivals,

1205-Joshua 24:31 As long as Joshua lived, the people of Israel served the Lord, and after his death they continued to do so as long as those leaders were alive who had seen for themselves everything that the Lord had done for Israel.

1206-Joshua 24:14 "Now then," Joshua continued, "honor the Lord and serve him sincerely and faithfully. Get rid of the gods which your ancestors used to worship in Mesopotamia and in Egypt, and serve only the Lord.

Joshua 24:23 "Then get rid of those foreign gods that you have," he demanded, "and pledge your loyalty to the Lord, the God of Israel."

1207-Judges 3:15 Then the Israelites cried out to the Lord, and he sent someone to free them. This was Ehud, a left-handed man, who was the son of Gera, from the tribe of Benjamin. The people of Israel sent Ehud to King Eglon of Moab with gifts for him.

Judges 4:6 One day she sent for Barak son of Abinoam from the city of Kedesh in Naphtali and said to him, "The Lord, the God of Israel, has given you this command: "Take ten thousand men from the tribes of Naphtali and Zebulun and lead them to Mount Tabor.

Judges 6:12 The Lord's angel appeared to him there and said, "The Lord is with you, brave and mighty man!"

1208-Judges 17:6; 18:1; 19:1; 21:256 There was no king in Israel at that time; everyone did whatever they wanted.

Judges 18:1 There was no king in Israel at that time. In those days the tribe of Dan was looking for territory to claim and settle in because they had not yet received any land of their own among the tribes of Israel.

Judges 19:1 In those days before Israel had a king, there was a Levite living far back in the hill country of Ephraim. He took a young woman from Bethlehem in Judah to be his concubine.

Judges 21:25 There was no king in Israel at that time. Everyone did whatever they pleased.

1209-2 Samuel 5:6 The time came when King David and his men set out to attack Jerusalem. The Jebusites, who lived there, thought that David would not be able to conquer the city, and so they said to him, "You will never get in here; even the blind and the crippled could keep you out." 7 (But David did capture their fortress of Zion, and it became known as "David's City.") 8 That day David said to his men, "Does anybody here hate the Jebusites as much as I do? Enough to kill them? Then go up through the water tunnel and attack those poor blind cripples." (That is why it is said, "The blind and the crippled cannot enter the Lord's house.") 9 After capturing the fortress, David lived in it and named it "David's City." He built the city around it, starting at the place where land was filled in on the east side of the hill.

1210-Judges 1:2 But the people of the tribe of Benjamin did not drive out the Jebusites living in Jerusalem, and the Jebusites have continued to live there with the people of Benjamin ever since.

Judges 19:10 But the man did not want to spend another night there, so he and his concubine started on their way, with their servant and two donkeys with pack saddles. It was late in the day when they came near Jebus (that is, Jerusalem), so the servant said to his master, "Why don't we stop and spend the night here in this Jebusite city?"

1211-Judges 2:3 So I tell you now that I will not drive these people out as you advance. They will be your enemies, and you will be trapped by the worship of their gods."

1212-Joshua 7:16 Early the next morning Joshua brought Israel forward, tribe by tribe, and the tribe of Judah was picked out.

Joshua 7:23 They brought them out of the tent, took them to Joshua and all the Israelites, and laid them down in the presence of the Lord.

1213-Joshua 11:23 Joshua captured the whole land, as the Lord had commanded Moses. Joshua gave it to the Israelites as their own and divided it into portions, one for each tribe. So the people rested from war.

1214-Joshua 13:1 Joshua was now very old. The Lord said to him, "You are very old, but there is still much land to be taken:

1215-Ruth 1:1 Long ago, in the days before Israel had a king, there was a famine in the land. So a man named Elimelech, who belonged to the clan of Ephrath and who lived in Bethlehem in Judah, went with his wife Naomi and their two sons Mahlon and Chilion to live for a while in the country of Moab. While they were living there,

1216-2 Samuel 7:11 from the time that I appointed judges over my people Israel; and I will give you rest from all your enemies. Moreover the LORD declares to you that the LORD will make you a house.

1217-2 Kings 23:22 For no such passover had been kept since the days of the judges who judged Israel, or during all the days of the kings of Israel or of the kings of Judah;

1218-Joshua 24:31 As long as Joshua lived, the people of Israel served the Lord, and after his death they continued to do so as long as those leaders were alive who had seen for themselves everything that the Lord had done for Israel.

1219-Judges 2:7-7 As long as Joshua lived, the people of Israel served the Lord, and even after his death they continued to do so as long as the leaders were alive who had seen for themselves all the great things that the Lord had done for Israel. 8 The Lord's servant Joshua son of Nun died at the age of a hundred and ten. 9 He was buried in his own part of the land at Timnath Serah in the hill country of Ephraim north of Mount Gaash. 10 That whole generation also died, and the next generation forgot the Lord and what he had done for Israel.

1220-Judges 1:6 He ran away, but they chased him, caught him, and cut off his thumbs and big toes. 7 Adonibezek said, "Seventy kings with their thumbs and big toes cut off have picked up scraps under my table. God has now done to me what I did to them." He was taken to Jerusalem, where he died.

1221-Matthew 5:43 "You have heard that it was said, "Love your friends, hate your enemies.' 44 But now I tell you: love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,

1222-Joshua 13:13 However, the Israelites did not drive out the people of Geshur and Maacah; they still live in Israel.

Joshua 15:63 But the people of Judah were not able to drive out the Jebusites, who lived in Jerusalem. The Jebusites still live there with the people of Judah.

Joshau 16:10 But they did not drive out the Canaanites who lived in Gezer, so the Canaanites have lived among the Ephraimites to this day, but they have been forced to work as slaves.

1223-Joshua 21:43 So the Lord gave to Israel all the land that he had solemnly promised their ancestors he would give them. When they had taken possession of it, they settled down there. 44 The Lord gave them peace throughout the land, just as he had promised their ancestors. Not one of all their enemies had been able to stand against them, because the Lord gave the Israelites the victory over all their enemies.

Joshua 23:10 Any one of you can make a thousand men run away, because the Lord your God is fighting for you, just as he promised. 11 Be careful, then, to love the Lord your God. 12 If you are disloyal and join with the nations that are still left among you and intermarry with them, 13 you may be sure that the Lord your God will no longer drive these nations out as you advance. Rather, they will be as dangerous for you as a trap or a pit and as painful as a whip on your back or thorns in your eyes. And this will last until none of you are left in this good land which the Lord your God has given you. 14 "Now my time has come to die. Every one of you knows in his heart and soul that the Lord your God has given you all the good things that he promised. Every promise he made has been kept; not one has failed. 15 But just as he kept every promise that he made to you, so he will carry out every threat. 16 If you do not keep the covenant which the Lord your God commanded you to keep and if you serve and worship other gods, then in his anger he will punish you, and soon none of you will be left in this good land that he has given you."

1224-Joshua 10:1 Adonizedek, the king of Jerusalem, heard that Joshua had captured and totally destroyed Ai and had killed its king, just as he had done to Jericho and its king. He also heard that the people of Gibeon had made peace with the Israelites and were living among them. 2 The people of Jerusalem were greatly alarmed at this because Gibeon was as large as any of the cities that had a king; it was larger than Ai, and its men were good fighters. 3 So Adonizedek sent the following message to King Hoham of Hebron, King Piram of Jarmuth, King Japhia of Lachish, and to King Debir of Eglon: 4 "Come and help me attack Gibeon, because its people have made peace with Joshua and the Israelites." 5 These five Amorite kings, the kings of Jerusalem, Hebron, Jarmuth, Lachish, and Eglon, joined forces, surrounded Gibeon, and attacked it.

Joshua 10:23 So the cave was opened, and the kings of Jerusalem, Hebron, Jarmuth, Lachish, and Eglon were brought out

Joshua 10:10 Jerusalem, Hebron,

Joshau 15:63 But the people of Judah were not able to drive out the Jebusites, who lived in Jerusalem. The Jebusites still live there with the people of Judah.

Joshua 18:28 Zela, Haeleph, Jebus (or Jerusalem), Gibeah, and Kiriath Jearim: fourteen cities, along with the towns around them. This is the land which the families of the tribe of Benjamin received as their possession.

1225-Judges 1:27 The tribe of Manasseh did not drive out the people living in the cities of Beth Shan, Taanach, Dor, Ibleam, Megiddo, and the nearby towns; the Canaanites continued to live there. 28 When the Israelites became stronger, they forced the Canaanites to work for them, but still they did not drive them all out. 29 The tribe of Ephraim did not drive out the Canaanites living in the city of Gezer, and so the Canaanites continued to live there with them. 30 The tribe of Zebulun did not drive out the people living in the cities of Kitron and Nahalal, and so the Canaanites continued to live there with them and were forced to work for them. 31 The tribe of Asher did not drive out the people living in the cities of Acco, Sidon, Ahlab, Achzib, Helbah, Aphek, and Rehob. 32 The people of Asher lived with the local Canaanites, since they had not been driven out. 33 The tribe of Naphtali did not drive out the people living in the cities of Beth Shemesh and Bethanath. The people of Naphtali lived with the local Canaanites, but forced them to work for them. 34 The Amorites forced the people of the tribe of Dan into the hill country and did not let them come down to the plain.

1226-Judges 1:8 The people of Judah attacked Jerusalem and captured it. They killed its people and set fire to the city.

Judges 1:21 But the people of the tribe of Benjamin did not drive out the Jebusites living in Jerusalem, and the Jebusites have continued to live there with the people of Benjamin ever since.

1227-Joshua 15:63 But the people of Judah were not able to drive out the Jebusites, who lived in Jerusalem. The Jebusites still live there with the people of Judah.

1228-Judges 1:18 The Lord helped the people of Judah, and they took possession of the hill country. But they did not capture Gaza, Ashkelon, or Ekron, with their surrounding territories. These people living along the coast had iron chariots, and so the people of Judah were not able to drive them out.

1229-Joshua 17:18 The hill country will be yours. Even though it is a forest, you will clear it and take possession of it from one end to the other. As for the Canaanites, you will drive them out, even though they do have iron chariots and are a strong people."

1230-Exodus 23:20 "I will send an angel ahead of you to protect you as you travel and to bring you to the place which I have prepared. 21 Pay attention to him and obey him. Do not rebel against him, for I have sent him, and he will not pardon such rebellion. 22 But if you obey him and do everything I command, I will fight against all your enemies. 23 My angel will go ahead of you and take you into the land of the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Canaanites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, and I will destroy them. 24 Do not bow down to their gods or worship them, and do not adopt their religious practices. Destroy their gods and break down their sacred stone pillars. 25 If you worship me, the Lord your God, I will bless you with food and water and take away all your sicknesses. 26 In your land no woman will have a miscarriage or be without children. I will give you long lives. 27 "I will make the people who oppose you afraid of me; I will bring confusion among the people against whom you fight, and I will make all your enemies turn and run from you. 28 I will throw your enemies into panic; I will drive out the Hivites, the Canaanites, and the Hittites as you advance. 29 I will not drive them out within a year's time; if I did, the land would become deserted, and the wild animals would be too many for you. 30 Instead, I will drive them out little by little, until there are enough of you to take possession of the land. 31 I will make the borders of your land extend from the Gulf of Aqaba to the Mediterranean Sea and from the desert to the Euphrates River. I will give you power over the inhabitants of the land, and you will drive them out as you advance. 32 Do not make any agreement with them or with their gods. 33 Do not let those people live in your country; if you do, they will make you sin against me. If you worship their gods, it will be a fatal trap for you."

1231-Deuteronomy 32:30 Why were a thousand defeated by one, and ten thousand by only two? The Lord, their God, had abandoned them; their mighty God had given them up.

1232-Judges 1:22 The tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh went to attack the city of Bethel, at that time called Luz. The Lord helped them. They sent spies to the city, 24 who saw a man leaving and said to him, "Show us how to get into the city, and we won't hurt you." 25 So he showed them, and the people of Ephraim and Manasseh killed everyone in the city, except this man and his family. 26 He later went to the land of the Hittites, built a city there, and named it Luz, which is still its name.

1233-Joshua 2:1 Then Joshua sent two spies from the camp at Acacia with orders to go and secretly explore the land of Canaan, especially the city of Jericho. When they came to the city, they went to spend the night in the house of a prostitute named Rahab. 2 The king of Jericho heard that some Israelites had come that night to spy out the country, 3 so he sent word to Rahab: "The men in your house have come to spy out the whole country! Bring them out!" 4 "Some men did come to my house," she answered, "but I don't know where they were from. They left at sundown before the city gate was closed. I didn't find out where they were going, but if you start after them quickly, you can catch them." (Now Rahab had taken the two spies up on the roof and hidden them under some stalks of flax that she had put there.) 7 The king's men left the city, and then the gate was shut. They went looking for the Israelite spies as far as the place where the road crosses the Jordan. 8 Before the spies settled down for the night, Rahab went up on the roof 9 and said to them, "I know that the Lord has given you this land. Everyone in the country is terrified of you. 10 We have heard how the Lord dried up the Red Sea in front of you when you were leaving Egypt. We have also heard how you killed Sihon and Og, the two Amorite kings east of the Jordan. 11 We were afraid as soon as we heard about it; we have all lost our courage because of you. The Lord your God is God in heaven above and here on earth. 12 Now swear by him that you will treat my family as kindly as I have treated you, and give me some sign that I can trust you. 13 Promise me that you will save my father and mother, my brothers and sisters, and all their families! Don't let us be killed!" 14 The men said to her, "May God take our lives if we don't do as we say! If you do not tell anyone what we have been doing, we promise you that when the Lord gives us this land, we will treat you well." 15 Rahab lived in a house built into the city wall, so she let the men down from the window by a rope. 16 "Go into the hill country," she said, "or the king's men will find you. Hide there for three days until they come back. After that, you can go on your way." 17 The men said to her, "We will keep the promise that you have made us give. 18 This is what you must do. When we invade your land, tie this red cord to the window you let us down from. Get your father and mother, your brothers, and all your father's family together in your house. 19 If anyone goes out of the house, his death will be his own fault, and we will not be responsible; but if anyone in the house with you is harmed, then we will be responsible. 20 However, if you tell anyone what we have been doing, then we will not have to keep our promise which you have made us give you." 21 She agreed and sent them away. When they had gone, she tied the red cord to the window. 22 The spies went into the hills and hid. The king's men looked for them all over the countryside for three days, but they did not find them, so they returned to Jericho. 23 Then the two spies came down from the hills, crossed the river, and went back to Joshua. They told him everything that had happened, 24 and then said, "We are sure that the Lord has given us the whole country. All the people there are terrified of us."

1234-Judges 2:1 The angel of the Lord went from Gilgal to Bochim and said to the Israelites, "I took you out of Egypt and brought you to the land that I promised to your ancestors. I said, "I will never break my covenant with you. 2 You must not make any covenant with the people who live in this land. You must tear down their altars.' But you have not done what I told you. You have done just the opposite! 3 So I tell you now that I will not drive these people out as you advance. They will be your enemies, and you will be trapped by the worship of their gods." 4 When the angel had said this, all the people of Israel began to cry, 5 and that is why the place is called Bochim. There they offered sacrifices to the Lord.

1235-Exodus 23:32 Do not make any agreement with them or with their gods. 33 Do not let those people live in your country; if you do, they will make you sin against me. If you worship their gods, it will be a fatal trap for you."

1236-Deuteronomy 7:6 Do this because you belong to the Lord your God. From all the peoples on earth he chose you to be his own special people.

Deuteronomy 7:25 Burn their idols. Do not desire the silver or gold that is on them, and do not take it for yourselves. If you do, that will be fatal, because the Lord hates idolatry.

Deuteronomy 12:30 After the Lord destroys those nations, make sure that you don't follow their religious practices, because that would be fatal. Don't try to find out how they worship their gods, so that you can worship in the same way.

Deuteronomy 29:19 Make sure that there is no one here today who hears these solemn demands and yet convinces himself that all will be well with him, even if he stubbornly goes his own way. That would destroy all of you, good and evil alike.

1237-Joshua 23:11 Be careful, then, to love the Lord your God. 12 If you are disloyal and join with the nations that are still left among you and intermarry with them, 13 you may be sure that the Lord your God will no longer drive these nations out as you advance. Rather, they will be as dangerous for you as a trap or a pit and as painful as a whip on your back or thorns in your eyes. And this will last until none of you are left in this good land which the Lord your God has given you. 14 "Now my time has come to die. Every one of you knows in his heart and soul that the Lord your God has given you all the good things that he promised. Every promise he made has been kept; not one has failed. 15 But just as he kept every promise that he made to you, so he will carry out every threat. 16 If you do not keep the covenant which the Lord your God commanded you to keep and if you serve and worship other gods, then in his anger he will punish you, and soon none of you will be left in this good land that he has given you."

1238-Judges 2:10 That whole generation also died, and the next generation forgot the Lord and what he had done for Israel.

1239-Judges 3:1 So then, the Lord left some nations in the land to test the Israelites who had not been through the wars in Canaan. 2 He did this only in order to teach each generation of Israelites about war, especially those who had never been in battle before. 3 Those left in the land were the five Philistine cities, all the Canaanites, the Sidonians, and the Hivites who lived in the Lebanon Mountains from Mount Baal Hermon as far as Hamath Pass. 4 They were to be a test for Israel, to find out whether or not the Israelites would obey the commands that the Lord had given their ancestors through Moses. 5 And so the people of Israel settled down among the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. 6 They intermarried with them and worshiped their gods. 7 The people of Israel forgot the Lord their God; they sinned against him and worshiped the idols of Baal and Asherah.

1240-Judges 3:7 The people of Israel forgot the Lord their God; they sinned against him and worshiped the idols of Baal and Asherah. 8 So the Lord became angry with Israel and let King Cushan Rishathaim of Mesopotamia conquer them. They were subject to him for eight years.

Judges 3:12 The people of Israel sinned against the Lord again. Because of this the Lord made King Eglon of Moab stronger than Israel.

Judges 3:15 Then the Israelites cried out to the Lord, and he sent someone to free them. This was Ehud, a left-handed man, who was the son of Gera, from the tribe of Benjamin. The people of Israel sent Ehud to King Eglon of Moab with gifts for him.

Judges 4:1 After Ehud died, the people of Israel sinned against the Lord again. 2 So the Lord let them be conquered by Jabin, a Canaanite king who ruled in the city of Hazor. The commander of his army was Sisera, who lived at Harosheth-of-the-Gentiles. 3 Jabin had nine hundred iron chariots, and he ruled the people of Israel with cruelty and violence for twenty years. Then the people of Israel cried out to the Lord for help.

Judges 6:1 Once again the people of Israel sinned against the Lord, so he let the people of Midian rule them for seven years. 2 The Midianites were stronger than Israel, and the people of Israel hid from them in caves and other safe places in the hills. 3 Whenever the Israelites would plant their crops, the Midianites would come with the Amalekites and the desert tribes and attack them. 4 They would camp on the land and destroy the crops as far south as the area around Gaza. They would take all the sheep, cattle, and donkeys, and leave nothing for the Israelites to live on. 5 They would come with their livestock and tents, as thick as locusts. They and their camels were too many to count. They came and devastated the land, 6 and Israel was helpless against them. 7 Then the people of Israel cried out to the Lord for help against the Midianites, 8 and he sent them a prophet who brought them this message from the Lord, the God of Israel: "I brought you out of slavery in Egypt.

Judges 10:6 Once again the Israelites sinned against the Lord by worshiping the Baals and the Astartes, as well as the gods of Syria, of Sidon, of Moab, of Ammon, and of Philistia. They abandoned the Lord and stopped worshiping him. 7 So the Lord became angry with the Israelites, and let the Philistines and the Ammonites conquer them. 8 For eighteen years they oppressed and persecuted all the Israelites who lived in Amorite country east of the Jordan River in Gilead. 9 The Ammonites even crossed the Jordan to fight the tribes of Judah, Benjamin, and Ephraim. Israel was in great distress. 10 Then the Israelites cried out to the Lord and said, "We have sinned against you, for we left you, our God, and worshiped the Baals." 11 The Lord gave them this answer: "The Egyptians, the Amorites, the Ammonites, the Philistines, 12 the Sidonians, the Amalekites, and the Maonites oppressed you in the past, and you cried out to me. Did I not save you from them? 13 But you still left me and worshiped other gods, so I am not going to rescue you again. 14 Go and cry out to the gods you have chosen. Let them rescue you when you get in trouble." 15 But the people of Israel said to the Lord, "We have sinned. Do whatever you like, but please, save us today." 16 So they got rid of their foreign gods and worshiped the Lord; and he became troubled over Israel's distress.

Judges 13:1 The Israelites sinned against the Lord again, and he let the Philistines rule them for forty years.

1241-Revelation 14:9 A third angel followed the first two, saying in a loud voice, "Those who worship the beast and its image and receive the mark on their forehead or on their hand 10 will themselves drink God's wine, the wine of his fury, which he has poured at full strength into the cup of his anger! All who do this will be tormented in fire and sulfur before the holy angels and the Lamb. 11 The smoke of the fire that torments them goes up forever and ever. There is no relief day or night for those who worship the beast and its image, for anyone who has the mark of its name."

1242-Judges 6:25 That night the Lord told Gideon, "Take your father's bull and another bull seven years old, tear down your father's altar to Baal, and cut down the symbol of the goddess Asherah, which is beside it.

1243-Judges 6:36 Then Gideon said to God, "You say that you have decided to use me to rescue Israel. 37 Well, I am putting some wool on the ground where we thresh the wheat. If in the morning there is dew only on the wool but not on the ground, then I will know that you are going to use me to rescue Israel." 38 That is exactly what happened. When Gideon got up early the next morning, he squeezed the wool and wrung enough dew out of it to fill a bowl with water. 39 Then Gideon said to God, "Don't be angry with me; let me speak just once more. Please let me make one more test with the wool. This time let the wool be dry, and the ground be wet." 40 That night God did that very thing. The next morning the wool was dry, but the ground was wet with dew.

1244-Judges 8:27 Gideon made an idol from the gold and put it in his hometown, Ophrah. All the Israelites abandoned God and went there to worship the idol. It was a trap for Gideon and his family. 28 So Midian was defeated by the Israelites and was no longer a threat. The land was at peace for forty years, until Gideon died. 29 Gideon went back to his own home and lived there. 30 He had seventy sons, because he had many wives. 31 He also had a concubine in Shechem; she bore him a son, and he named him Abimelech.

1245-Judges 8:5 When they arrived at Sukkoth, he said to the men of the town, "Please give my men some loaves of bread. They are exhausted, and I am chasing Zebah and Zalmunna, the Midianite kings." 6 But the leaders of Sukkoth said, "Why should we give your army any food? You haven't captured Zebah and Zalmunna yet." 7 So Gideon said, "All right! When the Lord has handed Zebah and Zalmunna over to me, I will beat you with thorns and briers from the desert!" 8 Gideon went on to Penuel and made the same request of the people there, but the men of Penuel gave the same answer as the men of Sukkoth. 9 So he said to them, "I am going to come back safe and sound, and when I do, I will tear this tower down!" 10 Zebah and Zalmunna were at Karkor with their army. Of the whole army of desert tribesmen, only about 15,000 were left; 120,000 soldiers had been killed. 11 Gideon went on the road along the edge of the desert, east of Nobah and Jogbehah, and attacked the army by surprise. 12 The two Midianite kings, Zebah and Zalmunna, ran away, but he pursued them and captured them, and caused their whole army to panic. 13 When Gideon was returning from the battle by way of Heres Pass, 14 he captured a young man from Sukkoth and questioned him. The young man wrote down for Gideon the names of the seventy-seven leading men of Sukkoth. 15 Then Gideon went to the men of Sukkoth and said, "Remember when you refused to help me? You said that you couldn't give any food to my exhausted army because I hadn't captured Zebah and Zalmunna yet. Well, here they are!" 16 He then took thorns and briers from the desert and used them to punish the leaders of Sukkoth. 17 He also tore down the tower at Penuel and killed the men of that city.

1246-Judges 6:11 Then the Lord's angel came to the village of Ophrah and sat under the oak tree that belonged to Joash, a man of the clan of Abiezer. His son Gideon was threshing some wheat secretly in a wine press, so that the Midianites would not see him. 12 The Lord's angel appeared to him there and said, "The Lord is with you, brave and mighty man!" 13 Gideon said to him, "If I may ask, sir, why has all this happened to us if the Lord is with us? What happened to all the wonderful things that our fathers told us the Lord used to do - how he brought them out of Egypt? The Lord has abandoned us and left us to the mercy of the Midianites." 14 Then the Lord ordered him, "Go with all your great strength and rescue Israel from the Midianites. I myself am sending you." 15 Gideon replied, "But Lord, how can I rescue Israel? My clan is the weakest in the tribe of Manasseh, and I am the least important member of my family." 16 The Lord answered, "You can do it because I will help you. You will crush the Midianites as easily as if they were only one man." 17 Gideon replied, "If you are pleased with me, give me some proof that you are really the Lord. 18 Please do not leave until I bring you an offering of food." He said, "I will stay until you come back." 19 So Gideon went into his house and cooked a young goat and used a bushel of flour to make bread without any yeast. He put the meat in a basket and the broth in a pot, brought them to the Lord's angel under the oak tree, and gave them to him. 20 The angel told him, "Put the meat and the bread on this rock, and pour the broth over them." Gideon did so. 21 Then the Lord's angel reached out and touched the meat and the bread with the end of the stick he was holding. Fire came out of the rock and burned up the meat and the bread. Then the angel disappeared.

Judges 6:36 Then Gideon said to God, "You say that you have decided to use me to rescue Israel. 37 Well, I am putting some wool on the ground where we thresh the wheat. If in the morning there is dew only on the wool but not on the ground, then I will know that you are going to use me to rescue Israel." 38 That is exactly what happened. When Gideon got up early the next morning, he squeezed the wool and wrung enough dew out of it to fill a bowl with water. 39 Then Gideon said to God, "Don't be angry with me; let me speak just once more. Please let me make one more test with the wool. This time let the wool be dry, and the ground be wet." 40 That night God did that very thing. The next morning the wool was dry, but the ground was wet with dew.

Judges 7:9 That night the Lord commanded Gideon, "Get up and attack the camp; I am giving you victory over it. 10 But if you are afraid to attack, go down to the camp with your servant Purah. 11 You will hear what they are saying, and then you will have the courage to attack." So Gideon and his servant Purah went down to the edge of the enemy camp. 12 The Midianites, the Amalekites, and the desert tribesmen were spread out in the valley like a swarm of locusts, and they had as many camels as there are grains of sand on the seashore. 13 When Gideon arrived, he heard a man telling a friend about a dream. He was saying, "I dreamed that a loaf of barley bread rolled into our camp and hit a tent. The tent collapsed and lay flat on the ground." 14 His friend replied, "It's the sword of the Israelite, Gideon son of Joash! It can't mean anything else! God has given him victory over Midian and our whole army!" 15 When Gideon heard about the man's dream and what it meant, he fell to his knees and worshiped the Lord. Then he went back to the Israelite camp and said, "Get up! The Lord is giving you victory over the Midianite army!"

1247-Judges 9:1 Gideon's son Abimelech went to the town of Shechem, where all his mother's relatives lived, and told them 2 to ask the men of Shechem, "Which would you prefer? To have all seventy of Gideon's sons govern you or to have just one man? Remember that Abimelech is your own flesh and blood." 3 His mother's relatives talked to the men of Shechem about this for him, and the men of Shechem decided to follow Abimelech because he was their relative. 4 They gave him seventy pieces of silver from the temple of Baal-of-the-Covenant, and with this money he hired a bunch of worthless scoundrels to join him. 5 He went to his father's house at Ophrah, and there on top of a single stone he killed his seventy brothers, Gideon's sons. But Jotham, Gideon's youngest son, hid and was not killed. 6 Then all the men of Shechem and Bethmillo got together and went to the sacred oak tree at Shechem, where they made Abimelech king. 7 When Jotham heard about this, he went and stood on top of Mount Gerizim and shouted out to them, "Listen to me, you men of Shechem, and God may listen to you! 8 Once upon a time the trees went out to choose a king for themselves. They said to the olive tree, "Be our king.' 9 The olive tree answered, "In order to govern you, I would have to stop producing my oil, which is used to honor gods and human beings.' 10 Then the trees said to the fig tree, "You come and be our king.' 11 But the fig tree answered, "In order to govern you, I would have to stop producing my good sweet fruit.' 12 So the trees then said to the grapevine, "You come and be our king.' 13 But the vine answered, "In order to govern you, I would have to stop producing my wine, that makes gods and human beings happy.' 14 So then all the trees said to the thorn bush, "You come and be our king.' 15 The thorn bush answered, "If you really want to make me your king, then come and take shelter in my shade. If you don't, fire will blaze out of my thorny branches and burn up the cedars of Lebanon.' 16 "Now then," Jotham continued, "were you really honest and sincere when you made Abimelech king? Did you respect Gideon's memory and treat his family properly, as his actions deserved? 17 Remember that my father fought for you. He risked his life to save you from the Midianites. 18 But today you turned against my father's family. You killed his sons - seventy men on a single stone - and just because Abimelech, his son by his servant woman, is your relative, you have made him king of Shechem. 19 Now then, if what you did today to Gideon and his family was sincere and honest, then be happy with Abimelech and let him be happy with you. 20 But if not, may fire blaze out from Abimelech and burn up the men of Shechem and Bethmillo. May fire blaze out from the men of Shechem and Bethmillo and burn Abimelech up." 21 Then because he was afraid of his brother Abimelech, Jotham ran away and went to live at Beer. 22 Abimelech ruled Israel for three years. 23 Then God made Abimelech and the men of Shechem hostile to each other, and they rebelled against Abimelech. 24 This happened so that Abimelech and the men of Shechem, who encouraged him to murder Gideon's seventy sons, would pay for their crime. 25 The men of Shechem put men in ambush against Abimelech on the mountaintops, and they robbed everyone who passed their way. Abimelech was told about this. 26 Then Gaal son of Ebed came to Shechem with his brothers, and the men of Shechem put their confidence in him. 27 They all went out into their vineyards and picked the grapes, made wine from them, and held a festival. They went into the temple of their god, where they ate and drank and made fun of Abimelech. 28 Gaal said, "What kind of men are we in Shechem? Why are we serving Abimelech? Who is he, anyway? The son of Gideon! And Zebul takes orders from him, but why should we serve him? Be loyal to your ancestor Hamor, who founded your clan! 29 I wish I were leading this people! I would get rid of Abimelech! I would tell him, "Reinforce your army, come on out and fight!' " 30 Zebul, the ruler of the city, became angry when he heard what Gaal had said. 31 He sent messengers to Abimelech at Arumah to say, "Gaal son of Ebed and his brothers have come to Shechem, and they are not going to let you into the city. 32 Now then, you and your men should move by night and hide in the fields. 33 Get up tomorrow morning at sunrise and make a sudden attack on the city. Then when Gaal and his men come out against you, hit them with all you've got!" 34 So Abimelech and all his men made their move at night and hid outside Shechem in four groups. 35 When Abimelech and his men saw Gaal come out and stand at the city gate, they got up from their hiding places. 36 Gaal saw them and said to Zebul, "Look! There are men coming down from the mountaintops!" "Those are not men," Zebul answered. "They are just shadows on the mountains." 37 Gaal said again, "Look! There are men coming down the crest of the mountain and one group is coming along the road from the oak tree of the fortunetellers!" 38 Then Zebul said to him, "Where is all your big talk now? You were the one who asked why we should serve this man Abimelech. These are the men you were making fun of. Go on out now and fight them." 39 Gaal led the men of Shechem out and fought Abimelech. 40 Abimelech started after Gaal, and Gaal ran. Many were wounded, even at the city gate. 41 Abimelech lived in Arumah, and Zebul drove Gaal and his brothers out of Shechem, so that they could no longer live there. 42 The next day Abimelech found out that the people of Shechem were planning to go out into the fields, 43 so he took his men, divided them into three groups, and hid in the fields, waiting. When he saw the people coming out of the city, he came out of hiding to kill them. 44 While Abimelech and his group hurried forward to guard the city gate, the other two companies attacked the people in the fields and killed them all. 45 The fighting continued all day long. Abimelech captured the city, killed its people, tore it down, and covered the ground with salt. 46 When all the leading men in the fort at Shechem heard about this, they sought safety in the stronghold of the temple of Baal-of-the-Covenant. 47 Abimelech was told that they had gathered there, 48 so he went up to Mount Zalmon with his men. There he took an ax, cut a limb off a tree, and put it on his shoulder. He told his men to hurry and do the same thing. 49 So everyone cut off a tree limb; then they followed Abimelech and piled the wood up against the stronghold. They set it on fire, with the people inside, and all the people of the fort died - about a thousand men and women. 50 Then Abimelech went to Thebez, surrounded that city, and captured it. 51 There was a strong tower there, and every man and woman in the city, including the leaders, ran to it. They locked themselves in and went up to the roof. 52 When Abimelech came to attack the tower, he went up to the door to set the tower on fire. 53 But a woman threw a millstone down on his head and fractured his skull. 54 Then he quickly called the young man who was carrying his weapons and told him, "Draw your sword and kill me. I don't want it said that a woman killed me." So the young man ran him through, and he died. 55 When the Israelites saw that Abimelech was dead, they all went home. 56 And so it was that God paid Abimelech back for the crime that he committed against his father in killing his seventy brothers. 57 God also made the men of Shechem suffer for their wickedness, just as Jotham, Gideon's son, said they would when he cursed them.

1248-Judges 11:31 I will burn as an offering the first person that comes out of my house to meet me, when I come back from the victory. I will offer that person to you as a sacrifice."

Judges 11:34 When Jephthah went back home to Mizpah, there was his daughter coming out to meet him, dancing and playing the tambourine. She was his only child. 35 When he saw her, he tore his clothes in sorrow and said, "Oh, my daughter! You are breaking my heart! Why must it be you that causes me pain? I have made a solemn promise to the Lord, and I cannot take it back!" 36 She told him, "If you have made a promise to the Lord, do what you said you would do to me, since the Lord has given you revenge on your enemies, the Ammonites." 37 But she asked her father, "Do this one thing for me. Leave me alone for two months, so that I can go with my friends to wander in the mountains and grieve that I must die a virgin." 38 He told her to go and sent her away for two months. She and her friends went up into the mountains and grieved because she was going to die unmarried and childless. 39 After two months she came back to her father. He did what he had promised the Lord, and she died still a virgin. This was the origin of the custom in Israel 40 that the Israelite women would go out for four days every year to grieve for the daughter of Jephthah of Gilead.

1249-Leviticus 27:28 None of you may sell or buy back what you have unconditionally dedicated to the Lord, whether it is a human being, an animal, or land. It belongs permanently to the Lord. 29 Not even human beings who have been unconditionally dedicated may be bought back; they must be put to death.

1250-Judges 13:17 Manoah replied, "Tell us your name, so that we can honor you when your words come true." 18 The angel asked, "Why do you want to know my name? It is a name of wonder."

1251-Judges 14:3 But his father and mother asked him, "Why do you have to go to those heathen Philistines to get a wife? Can't you find someone in our own clan, among all our people?" But Samson told his father, "She is the one I want you to get for me. I like her." 4 His parents did not know that it was the Lord who was leading Samson to do this, for the Lord was looking for a chance to fight the Philistines. At this time the Philistines were ruling Israel.

1252-Judges 15:15 Then he found a jawbone of a donkey that had recently died. He reached down and picked it up, and killed a thousand men with it.

1253-Exodus 3:13 But Moses replied, "When I go to the Israelites and say to them, "The God of your ancestors sent me to you,' they will ask me, "What is his name?' So what can I tell them?"

1254-Judges 6:17 Gideon replied, "If you are pleased with me, give me some proof that you are really the Lord.

1255-James 1:12 Happy are those who remain faithful under trials, because when they succeed in passing such a test, they will receive as their reward the life which God has promised to those who love him. 13 If we are tempted by such trials, we must not say, "This temptation comes from God." For God cannot be tempted by evil, and he himself tempts no one. 14 But we are tempted when we are drawn away and trapped by our own evil desires. 15 Then our evil desires conceive and give birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.

1256-Galatians 5:22 But the Spirit produces love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 humility, and self-control. There is no law against such things as these.

1257-Judges 20:1-3,18,21,1 All the people of Israel from Dan in the north to Beersheba in the south, as well as from the land of Gilead in the east, answered the call. They gathered in one body in the Lord's presence at Mizpah. 2 The leaders of all the tribes of Israel were present at this gathering of God's people, and there were 400,000 foot soldiers. 3 Meanwhile the people of Benjamin heard that all the other Israelites had gathered at Mizpah. The Israelites asked, "Tell us, how was this crime committed?"

Judges 20:18 The Israelites went to the place of worship at Bethel, and there they asked God, "Which tribe should attack the Benjaminites first?" The Lord answered, "The tribe of Judah."

1258-Judges 19:1 In those days before Israel had a king, there was a Levite living far back in the hill country of Ephraim. He took a young woman from Bethlehem in Judah to be his concubine. 2 But she became angry with him, went back to her father's house in Bethlehem, and stayed there four months. 3 Then the man decided to go after her and try to persuade her to return to him. He took his servant and two donkeys with him. The woman showed the Levite into the house, and when her father saw him, he gave him a hearty greeting. 4 The father insisted that he stay, and so he stayed for three days. The couple had their meals and spent the nights there. 5 On the morning of the fourth day they woke up early and got ready to go. But the woman's father said to the Levite, "Have something to eat first. You'll feel better. You can go later." 6 So the two men sat down and ate and drank together. Then the woman's father told him, "Please spend the night and enjoy yourself." 7 The Levite got up to go, but the father urged him to stay, so he spent another night there. 8 Early in the morning of the fifth day he started to leave, but the woman's father said, "Eat something, please. Wait until later in the day." So the two men ate together. 9 When the man, his concubine, and the servant once more started to leave, the father said, "Look, it's almost evening now; you might as well stay all night. It will be dark soon; stay here and have a good time. Tomorrow you can get up early for the trip and go home." 10 But the man did not want to spend another night there, so he and his concubine started on their way, with their servant and two donkeys with pack saddles. It was late in the day when they came near Jebus (that is, Jerusalem), so the servant said to his master, "Why don't we stop and spend the night here in this Jebusite city?" 12 But his master said, "We're not going to stop in a city where the people are not Israelites. We'll pass on by and go a little farther and spend the night at Gibeah or Ramah." 14 So they passed by Jebus and continued on their way. It was sunset when they came to Gibeah in the territory of the tribe of Benjamin. 15 They turned off the road to go and spend the night there. They went into town and sat down in the city square, but no one offered to take them home for the night. 16 While they were there, an old man came by at the end of a day's work on the farm. He was originally from the hill country of Ephraim, but he was now living in Gibeah. (The other people there were from the tribe of Benjamin.) 17 The old man noticed the traveler in the city square and asked him, "Where do you come from? Where are you going?" 18 The Levite answered, "We have been in Bethlehem in Judah, and now we are on our way home deep in the hill country of Ephraim. No one will put us up for the night, 19 even though we have fodder and straw for our donkeys, as well as bread and wine for my concubine and me and for my servant. We have everything we need." 20 The old man said, "You are welcome in my home! I'll take care of you; you don't have to spend the night in the square." 21 So he took them home with him and fed their donkeys. His guests washed their feet and had a meal. 22 They were enjoying themselves when all of a sudden some sexual perverts from the town surrounded the house and started beating on the door. They said to the old man, "Bring out that man that came home with you! We want to have sex with him!" 23 But the old man went outside and said to them, "No, my friends! Please! Don't do such an evil, immoral thing! This man is my guest. 24 Look! Here is his concubine and my own virgin daughter. I'll bring them out now, and you can have them. Do whatever you want to with them. But don't do such an awful thing to this man!" 25 But the men would not listen to him. So the Levite took his concubine and put her outside with them. They raped her and abused her all night long and didn't stop until morning. 26 At dawn the woman came and fell down at the door of the old man's house, where her husband was. She was still there when daylight came. 27 Her husband got up that morning, and when he opened the door to go on his way, he found his concubine lying in front of the house with her hands reaching for the door. 28 He said, "Get up. Let's go." But there was no answer. So he put her body across the donkey and started on his way home. 29 When he arrived, he went in the house and got a knife. He took his concubine's body, cut it into twelve pieces, and sent one piece to each of the twelve tribes of Israel. 30 Everyone who saw it said, "We have never heard of such a thing! Nothing like this has ever happened since the Israelites left Egypt! We have to do something about this! What will it be?"

Judges 20:1 All the people of Israel from Dan in the north to Beersheba in the south, as well as from the land of Gilead in the east, answered the call. They gathered in one body in the Lord's presence at Mizpah. 2 The leaders of all the tribes of Israel were present at this gathering of God's people, and there were 400,000 foot soldiers. 3 Meanwhile the people of Benjamin heard that all the other Israelites had gathered at Mizpah. The Israelites asked, "Tell us, how was this crime committed?" 4 The Levite whose concubine had been murdered answered, "My concubine and I went to Gibeah in the territory of Benjamin to spend the night. 5 The men of Gibeah came to get me and surrounded the house at night. They intended to kill me; instead they raped my concubine, and she died. 6 I took her body, cut it in pieces, and sent one piece to each of the twelve tribes of Israel. These people have committed an evil and immoral act among us. 7 All of you here are Israelites. What are we going to do about this?" 8 All the people stood up together and said, "None of us, whether he lives in a tent or in a house, will go home. 9 This is what we will do: we will draw lots and choose some men to attack Gibeah. 10 One tenth of the men in Israel will provide food for the army, and the others will go and punish Gibeah for this immoral act that they have committed in Israel." 11 So all the men in Israel assembled with one purpose - to attack the town. 12 The Israelite tribes sent messengers all through the territory of the tribe of Benjamin to say, "What is this crime that you have committed? 13 Now hand over those perverts in Gibeah, so that we can kill them and remove this evil from Israel." But the people of Benjamin paid no attention to the other Israelites. 14 From all the cities of Benjamin they came to Gibeah to fight the other people of Israel. 15 They called out twenty-six thousand soldiers from their cities that day. Besides these, the citizens of Gibeah gathered seven hundred specially chosen men who were left-handed. Every one of them could sling a stone at a strand of hair and never miss. 17 Not counting the tribe of Benjamin, the Israelites gathered 400,000 trained soldiers. 18 The Israelites went to the place of worship at Bethel, and there they asked God, "Which tribe should attack the Benjaminites first?" The Lord answered, "The tribe of Judah." 19 So the Israelites started out the next morning and camped near the city of Gibeah. 20 They went to attack the army of Benjamin, and placed the soldiers in position facing the city. 21 The army of Benjamin came out of the city, and before the day was over they had killed twenty-two thousand Israelite soldiers. 22 Then the Israelites went to the place of worship and mourned in the presence of the Lord until evening. They asked him, "Should we go again into battle against our brothers the Benjaminites?" The Lord answered, "Yes." So the Israelite army was encouraged, and they placed their soldiers in position again, where they had been the day before. 24 They marched against the army of Benjamin a second time. 25 And for the second time the Benjaminites came out of Gibeah, and this time they killed eighteen thousand trained Israelite soldiers. 26 Then all the people of Israel went up to Bethel and mourned. They sat there in the Lord's presence and did not eat until evening. They offered fellowship sacrifices and burned some sacrifices whole - all in the presence of the Lord. 27 God's Covenant Box was there at Bethel in those days, and Phinehas, the son of Eleazar and grandson of Aaron, was in charge of it. The people asked the Lord, "Should we go out to fight our brothers the Benjaminites again, or should we give up?" The Lord answered, "Fight. Tomorrow I will give you victory over them." 29 So the Israelites put some soldiers in hiding around Gibeah. 30 Then for the third straight day they marched against the army of Benjamin and placed their soldiers in battle position facing Gibeah, as they had done before. 31 The Benjaminites came out to fight and were led away from the city. As they had before, they began killing some Israelites in the open country, on the road to Bethel and on the road to Gibeah. They killed about thirty Israelites. 32 The Benjaminites said, "We've beaten them just as before." But the Israelites had planned to retreat and lead them away from the city onto the roads. 33 So when the main army of the Israelites pulled back and regrouped at Baaltamar, the men surrounding Gibeah suddenly rushed out of their hiding places in the rocky country around the city. 34 Ten thousand men, specially chosen out of all Israel, attacked Gibeah, and the fighting was hard. The Benjaminites had not realized that they were about to be destroyed. 35 The Lord gave Israel victory over the army of Benjamin. The Israelites killed 25,100 of the enemy that day, 36 and the Benjaminites realized they were defeated. The main body of the Israelite army had retreated from the Benjaminites because they were relying on the men that they had put in hiding around Gibeah. 37 These men ran quickly toward Gibeah; they spread out in the city and killed everyone there. 38 The main Israelite army and the men in hiding had arranged a signal. When they saw a big cloud of smoke going up from the town, 39 the Israelites out on the battlefield were to turn around. By this time the Benjaminites had already killed the thirty Israelites. They told themselves, "Yes, we've beaten them just as before." 40 Then the signal appeared; a cloud of smoke began to go up from the town. The Benjaminites looked behind them and were amazed to see the whole city going up in flames. 41 Then the Israelites turned around, and the Benjaminites were thrown into panic because they realized that they were about to be destroyed. 42 They retreated from the Israelites and ran toward the open country, but they could not escape. They were caught between the main army and the men who were now coming out of the city, and they were destroyed. 43 The Israelites had the enemy trapped, and without stopping they pursued them as far as a point east of Gibeah, killing them as they went. 44 Eighteen thousand of the best Benjaminite soldiers were killed. 45 The others turned and ran toward the open country to Rimmon Rock. Five thousand of them were killed on the roads. The Israelites continued to pursue the rest to Gidom, killing two thousand. 46 In all, twenty-five thousand Benjaminites were killed that day - all of them brave soldiers. 47 But six hundred men were able to escape to the open country to Rimmon Rock, and they stayed there four months. 48 The Israelites turned back against the rest of the Benjaminites and killed them all - men, women, and children, and animals as well. They burned every town in the area.

Judges 21:1 When the Israelites had gathered at Mizpah, they had made a solemn promise to the Lord: "None of us will allow a Benjaminite to marry a daughter of ours." 2 So now the people of Israel went to Bethel and sat there in the presence of God until evening. Loudly and bitterly they mourned: 3 "Lord God of Israel, why has this happened? Why is the tribe of Benjamin about to disappear from Israel?" 4 Early the next morning the people got up and built an altar there. They offered fellowship sacrifices and burned some sacrifices whole. 5 They asked, "Is there any group out of all the tribes of Israel that did not go to the gathering in the Lord's presence at Mizpah?" (They had taken a solemn oath that anyone who had not gone to Mizpah would be put to death.) 6 The people of Israel felt sorry for their brothers the Benjaminites and said, "Today Israel has lost one of its tribes. 7 What shall we do to provide wives for the men of Benjamin who are left? We have made a solemn promise to the Lord that we will not give them any of our daughters." 8 When they asked if there was some group out of the tribes of Israel that had not gone to the gathering at Mizpah, they found out that no one from Jabesh in Gilead had been there; 9 at the roll call of the army no one from Jabesh had responded. 10 So the assembly sent twelve thousand of their bravest men with the orders, "Go and kill everyone in Jabesh, including women and children. 11 Kill all the males, and also every woman who is not a virgin." 12 They found four hundred young virgins among the people in Jabesh, so they brought them to the camp at Shiloh, which is in the land of Canaan. 13 Then the whole assembly sent word to the Benjaminites who were at Rimmon Rock and offered to end the war. 14 The Benjaminites came back, and the other Israelites gave them the young women from Jabesh whom they had not killed. But there were not enough of them. 15 The people felt sorry for the Benjaminites because the Lord had broken the unity of the tribes of Israel. 16 So the leaders of the gathering said, "There are no more women in the tribe of Benjamin. What shall we do to provide wives for the men who are left? 17 Israel must not lose one of its twelve tribes. We must find a way for the tribe of Benjamin to survive, 18 but we cannot allow them to marry our daughters, because we have put a curse on anyone who allows a Benjaminite to marry one of our daughters." 19 Then they thought, "The yearly festival of the Lord at Shiloh is coming soon." (Shiloh is north of Bethel, south of Lebonah, and east of the road between Bethel and Shechem.) 20 They told the Benjaminites, "Go and hide in the vineyards 21 and watch. When the young women of Shiloh come out to dance during the festival, you come out of the vineyards. Each of you take a wife by force from among them and take her back to the territory of Benjamin with you. 22 If their fathers or brothers come to you and protest, you can tell them, "Please let us keep them, because we did not take them from you in battle to be our wives. And since you did not give them to us, you are not guilty of breaking your promise.' " 23 The Benjaminites did this; each of them chose a wife from the young women who were dancing at Shiloh and carried her away. Then they went back to their own territory, rebuilt their towns, and lived there. 24 At the same time the rest of the Israelites left, and every man went back to his own tribe and family and to his own property. 25 There was no king in Israel at that time. Everyone did whatever they pleased.

1259-Judges 17:6 There was no king in Israel at that time; everyone did whatever they wanted.

Judges 21:25 There was no king in Israel at that time. Everyone did whatever they pleased.

1260-Judges 17:1 There was once a man named Micah, who lived in the hill country of Ephraim. 2 He told his mother, "When someone stole those eleven hundred pieces of silver from you, you put a curse on the robber. I heard you do it. Look, I have the money. I am the one who took it." His mother said, "May the Lord bless you, my son!" 3 He gave the money back to his mother, and she said, "To keep the curse from falling on my son, I myself am solemnly dedicating the silver to the Lord. It will be used to make a wooden idol covered with silver. So now I will give the pieces of silver back to you." 4 Then he gave them back to his mother. She took two hundred of the pieces of silver and gave them to a metalworker, who made an idol, carving it from wood and covering it with the silver. It was placed in Micah's house. 5 This man Micah had his own place of worship. He made some idols and an ephod, and appointed one of his sons as his priest. 6 There was no king in Israel at that time; everyone did whatever they wanted. 7 At that same time there was a young Levite who had been living in the town of Bethlehem in Judah. 8 He left Bethlehem to find another place to live. While he was traveling, he came to Micah's house in the hill country of Ephraim. 9 Micah asked him, "Where do you come from?" He answered, "I am a Levite from Bethlehem in Judah. I am looking for a place to live." 10 Micah said, "Stay with me. Be my adviser and priest, and I will give you ten pieces of silver a year, some clothes, and your food." 11 The young Levite agreed to stay with Micah and became like a son to him. 12 Micah appointed him as his priest, and he lived in Micah's home. 13 Micah said, "Now that I have a Levite as my priest, I know that the Lord will make things go well for me."

Judges 18:1 There was no king in Israel at that time. In those days the tribe of Dan was looking for territory to claim and settle in because they had not yet received any land of their own among the tribes of Israel. 2 So the people of Dan chose five qualified men out of all the families in the tribe and sent them from the towns of Zorah and Eshtaol with instructions to explore the land and spy on it. When they arrived in the hill country of Ephraim, they stayed at Micah's house. 3 While they were there, they recognized the accent of the young Levite, so they went up to him and asked, "What are you doing here? Who brought you here?" 4 He answered, "I have an arrangement with Micah, who pays me to serve as his priest." 5 They said to him, "Please ask God if we are going to be successful on our trip." 6 The priest answered, "You have nothing to worry about. The Lord is taking care of you on this trip." 7 So the five men left and went to the town of Laish. They saw how the people there lived in security like the Sidonians. They were a peaceful, quiet people, with no argument with anyone; they had all they needed. They lived far away from the Sidonians and had no dealings with any other people. 8 When the five men returned to Zorah and Eshtaol, the people asked them what they had found out. 9 "Come on," they replied. "Let's attack Laish. We saw the land, and it's very good. Don't stay here doing nothing; hurry! Go on in and take it over! 10 When you get there, you will find that the people don't suspect a thing. It is a big country; it has everything a person could want, and God has given it to you." 11 So six hundred men from the tribe of Dan left Zorah and Eshtaol, ready for battle. 12 They went up and camped west of Kiriath Jearim in Judah. That is why the place is still called Camp of Dan. 13 They went on from there and came to Micah's house in the hill country of Ephraim. 14 Then the five men who had gone to spy on the country around Laish said to their companions, "Did you know that here in one of these houses there is a wooden idol covered with silver? There are also other idols and an ephod. What do you think we should do?" 15 So they went into Micah's house, where the young Levite lived, and asked the Levite how he was getting along. 16 Meanwhile the six hundred Danite soldiers, ready for battle, were standing at the gate. 17 The five spies went straight on into the house and took the wooden idol covered with silver, the other idols, and the ephod, while the priest stayed at the gate with the six hundred armed men. 18 When the men went into Micah's house and took the sacred objects, the priest asked them, "What are you doing?" 19 They told him, "Keep quiet. Don't say a word. Come with us and be our priest and adviser. Wouldn't you rather be a priest for a whole Israelite tribe than for the family of one man?" 20 This made the priest very happy, so he took the sacred objects and went along with them. 21 They turned around and started off, with their children, their livestock, and their belongings going ahead. 22 They had traveled a good distance from the house when Micah called his neighbors out for battle. They caught up with the Danites 23 and shouted at them. The Danites turned around and asked Micah, "What's the matter? Why all this mob?" 24 Micah answered, "What do you mean, "What's the matter?' You take my priest and the gods that I made, and walk off! What have I got left?" 25 The Danites told him, "You had better not say anything else unless you want these men to get angry and attack you. You and your whole family would die." 26 Then the Danites went on. Micah saw that they were too strong for him, so he turned and went back home. 27 After the Danites had taken the priest and the things that Micah had made, they went and attacked Laish, that town of peaceful, quiet people which was in the same valley as Bethrehob. They killed the inhabitants and burned the town. There was no one to save them, because Laish was a long way from Sidon, and they had no dealings with any other people. The Danites rebuilt the town and settled down there. 29 They changed its name from Laish to Dan, after their ancestor Dan, the son of Jacob. 30 The Danites set up the idol to be worshiped, and Jonathan, the son of Gershom and grandson of Moses, served as a priest for the Danites, and his descendants served as their priests until the people were taken away into exile. 31 Micah's idol remained there as long as the Tent where God was worshiped remained at Shiloh.

1261-Habakkuk 1:1 This is the message that the Lord revealed to the prophet Habakkuk. 2 O Lord, how long must I call for help before you listen, before you save us from violence? 3 Why do you make me see such trouble? How can you stand to look on such wrongdoing? Destruction and violence are all around me, and there is fighting and quarreling everywhere. 4 The law is weak and useless, and justice is never done. Evil people get the better of the righteous, and so justice is perverted. 5 Then the Lord said to his people, "Keep watching the nations around you, and you will be astonished at what you see. I am going to do something that you will not believe when you hear about it. 6 I am bringing the Babylonians to power, those fierce, restless people. They are marching out across the world to conquer other lands. 7 They spread fear and terror, and in their pride they are a law to themselves. 8 "Their horses are faster than leopards, fiercer than hungry wolves. Their cavalry troops come riding from distant lands; their horses paw the ground. They come swooping down like eagles attacking their prey. 9 "Their armies advance in violent conquest, and everyone is terrified as they approach. Their captives are as numerous as grains of sand. 10 They treat kings with contempt and laugh at high officials. No fortress can stop them - they pile up earth against it and capture it. 11 Then they sweep on like the wind and are gone, these men whose power is their god." 12 Lord, from the very beginning you are God. You are my God, holy and eternal. Lord, my God and protector, you have chosen the Babylonians and made them strong so that they can punish us. 13 But how can you stand these treacherous, evil men? Your eyes are too holy to look at evil, and you cannot stand the sight of people doing wrong. So why are you silent while they destroy people who are more righteous than they are? 14 How can you treat people like fish or like a swarm of insects that have no ruler to direct them? 15 The Babylonians catch people with hooks, as though they were fish. They drag them off in nets and shout for joy over their catch! 16 They even worship their nets and offer sacrifices to them, because their nets provide them with the best of everything. 17 Are they going to use their swords forever and keep on destroying nations without mercy?

Habakkuk 2:1 I will climb my watchtower and wait to see what the Lord will tell me to say and what answer he will give to my complaint. 2 The Lord gave me this answer: "Write down clearly on tablets what I reveal to you, so that it can be read at a glance. 3 Put it in writing, because it is not yet time for it to come true. But the time is coming quickly, and what I show you will come true. It may seem slow in coming, but wait for it; it will certainly take place, and it will not be delayed. 4 And this is the message: "Those who are evil will not survive, but those who are righteous will live because they are faithful to God.' " 5 Wealth is deceitful. Greedy people are proud and restless - like death itself they are never satisfied. That is why they conquer nation after nation for themselves. 6 The conquered people will taunt their conquerors and show their scorn for them. They will say, "You take what isn't yours, but you are doomed! How long will you go on getting rich by forcing your debtors to pay up?" 7 But before you know it, you that have conquered others will be in debt yourselves and be forced to pay interest. Enemies will come and make you tremble. They will plunder you! 8 You have plundered the people of many nations, but now those who have survived will plunder you because of the murders you have committed and because of your violence against the people of the world and its cities. 9 You are doomed! You have made your family rich with what you took by violence, and have tried to make your own home safe from harm and danger! 10 But your schemes have brought shame on your family; by destroying many nations you have only brought ruin on yourself. 11 Even the stones of the walls cry out against you, and the rafters echo the cry. 12 You are doomed! You founded a city on crime and built it up by murder. 13 The nations you conquered wore themselves out in useless labor, and all they have built goes up in flames. The Lord Almighty has done this. 14 But the earth will be as full of the knowledge of the Lord's glory as the seas are full of water. 15 You are doomed! In your fury you humiliated and disgraced your neighbors; you made them stagger as though they were drunk. 16 You in turn will be covered with shame instead of honor. You yourself will drink and stagger. The Lord will make you drink your own cup of punishment, and your honor will be turned to disgrace. 17 You have cut down the forests of Lebanon; now you will be cut down. You killed its animals; now animals will terrify you. This will happen because of the murders you have committed and because of your violence against the people of the world and its cities. 18 What's the use of an idol? It is only something that a human being has made, and it tells you nothing but lies. What good does it do for its maker to trust it - a god that can't even talk! 19 You are doomed! You say to a piece of wood, "Wake up!" or to a block of stone, "Get up!" Can an idol reveal anything to you? It may be covered with silver and gold, but there is no life in it. 20 The Lord is in his holy Temple; let everyone on earth be silent in his presence.

1262-Micah 4:12 But these nations do not know what is in the Lord's mind. They do not realize that they have been gathered together to be punished in the same way that grain is brought in to be threshed.

1263-Hebrews 11:32 Should I go on? There isn't enough time for me to speak of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, and the prophets.

1264-Hebrews 11:1 To have faith is to be sure of the things we hope for, to be certain of the things we cannot see. 2 It was by their faith that people of ancient times won God's approval. 3 It is by faith that we understand that the universe was created by God's word, so that what can be seen was made out of what cannot be seen. 4 It was faith that made Abel offer to God a better sacrifice than Cain's. Through his faith he won God's approval as a righteous man, because God himself approved of his gifts. By means of his faith Abel still speaks, even though he is dead. 5 It was faith that kept Enoch from dying. Instead, he was taken up to God, and nobody could find him, because God had taken him up. The scripture says that before Enoch was taken up, he had pleased God. 6 No one can please God without faith, for whoever comes to God must have faith that God exists and rewards those who seek him. 7 It was faith that made Noah hear God's warnings about things in the future that he could not see. He obeyed God and built a boat in which he and his family were saved. As a result, the world was condemned, and Noah received from God the righteousness that comes by faith. 8 It was faith that made Abraham obey when God called him to go out to a country which God had promised to give him. He left his own country without knowing where he was going. 9 By faith he lived as a foreigner in the country that God had promised him. He lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who received the same promise from God. 10 For Abraham was waiting for the city which God has designed and built, the city with permanent foundations. 11 It was faith that made Abraham able to become a father, even though he was too old and Sarah herself could not have children. He trusted God to keep his promise. 12 Though Abraham was practically dead, from this one man came as many descendants as there are stars in the sky, as many as the numberless grains of sand on the seashore. 13 It was in faith that all these persons died. They did not receive the things God had promised, but from a long way off they saw them and welcomed them, and admitted openly that they were foreigners and refugees on earth. 14 Those who say such things make it clear that they are looking for a country of their own. 15 They did not keep thinking about the country they had left; if they had, they would have had the chance to return. 16 Instead, it was a better country they longed for, the heavenly country. And so God is not ashamed for them to call him their God, because he has prepared a city for them. 17 It was faith that made Abraham offer his son Isaac as a sacrifice when God put Abraham to the test. Abraham was the one to whom God had made the promise, yet he was ready to offer his only son as a sacrifice. 18 God had said to him, "It is through Isaac that you will have the descendants I promised." 19 Abraham reckoned that God was able to raise Isaac from death - and, so to speak, Abraham did receive Isaac back from death. 20 It was faith that made Isaac promise blessings for the future to Jacob and Esau. 21 It was faith that made Jacob bless each of the sons of Joseph just before he died. He leaned on the top of his walking stick and worshiped God. 22 It was faith that made Joseph, when he was about to die, speak of the departure of the Israelites from Egypt, and leave instructions about what should be done with his body. 23 It was faith that made the parents of Moses hide him for three months after he was born. They saw that he was a beautiful child, and they were not afraid to disobey the king's order. 24 It was faith that made Moses, when he had grown up, refuse to be called the son of the king's daughter. 25 He preferred to suffer with God's people rather than to enjoy sin for a little while. 26 He reckoned that to suffer scorn for the Messiah was worth far more than all the treasures of Egypt, for he kept his eyes on the future reward. 27 It was faith that made Moses leave Egypt without being afraid of the king's anger. As though he saw the invisible God, he refused to turn back. 28 It was faith that made him establish the Passover and order the blood to be sprinkled on the doors, so that the Angel of Death would not kill the first-born sons of the Israelites. 29 It was faith that made the Israelites able to cross the Red Sea as if on dry land; when the Egyptians tried to do it, the water swallowed them up. 30 It was faith that made the walls of Jericho fall down after the Israelites had marched around them for seven days. 31 It was faith that kept the prostitute Rahab from being killed with those who disobeyed God, for she gave the Israelite spies a friendly welcome. 32 Should I go on? There isn't enough time for me to speak of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, and the prophets. 33 Through faith they fought whole countries and won. They did what was right and received what God had promised. They shut the mouths of lions, 34 put out fierce fires, escaped being killed by the sword. They were weak, but became strong; they were mighty in battle and defeated the armies of foreigners. 35 Through faith women received their dead relatives raised back to life. Others, refusing to accept freedom, died under torture in order to be raised to a better life. 36 Some were mocked and whipped, and others were put in chains and taken off to prison. 37 They were stoned, they were sawed in two, they were killed by the sword. They went around clothed in skins of sheep or goats - poor, persecuted, and mistreated. 38 The world was not good enough for them! They wandered like refugees in the deserts and hills, living in caves and holes in the ground. 39 What a record all of these have won by their faith! Yet they did not receive what God had promised, 40 because God had decided on an even better plan for us. His purpose was that only in company with us would they be made perfect.

1265-Joshua 21:43 So the Lord gave to Israel all the land that he had solemnly promised their ancestors he would give them. When they had taken possession of it, they settled down there. 44 The Lord gave them peace throughout the land, just as he had promised their ancestors. Not one of all their enemies had been able to stand against them, because the Lord gave the Israelites the victory over all their enemies. 45 The Lord kept every one of the promises that he had made to the people of Israel.

1266-Judges 4:18 Jael went out to meet Sisera and said to him, "Come in, sir; come into my tent. Don't be afraid." So he went in, and she hid him behind a curtain. 19 He said to her, "Please give me a drink of water; I'm thirsty." She opened a leather bag of milk, gave him a drink, and hid him again. 20 Then he told her, "Stand at the door of the tent, and if anyone comes and asks you if anyone is here, say no." 21 Sisera was so tired that he fell sound asleep. Then Jael took a hammer and a tent peg, quietly went up to him, and killed him by driving the peg right through the side of his head and into the ground. 22 When Barak came looking for Sisera, Jael went out to meet him and said to him, "Come here! I'll show you the man you're looking for." So he went in with her, and there was Sisera on the ground, dead, with the tent peg through his head.

1267-Judges 17:1 There was once a man named Micah, who lived in the hill country of Ephraim.

1268-Ruth 1:8 she said to them, "Go back home and stay with your mothers. May the Lord be as good to you as you have been to me and to those who have died.

Ruth 2:20 "May the Lord bless Boaz!" Naomi exclaimed. "The Lord always keeps his promises to the living and the dead." And she went on, "That man is a close relative of ours, one of those responsible for taking care of us."

Ruth 3:10 "The Lord bless you," he said. "You are showing even greater family loyalty in what you are doing now than in what you did for your mother-in-law. You might have gone looking for a young man, either rich or poor, but you haven't.

1269-Judges 21:25 There was no king in Israel at that time. Everyone did whatever they pleased.

1270-Ruth 4:22 Obed of Jesse, and Jesse of David.

1271-Prov. 31:10 How hard it is to find a capable wife! She is worth far more than jewels! 11 Her husband puts his confidence in her, and he will never be poor. 12 As long as she lives, she does him good and never harm. 13 She keeps herself busy making wool and linen cloth. 14 She brings home food from out-of-the-way places, as merchant ships do. 15 She gets up before daylight to prepare food for her family and to tell her servant women what to do. 16 She looks at land and buys it, and with money she has earned she plants a vineyard. 17 She is a hard worker, strong and industrious. 18 She knows the value of everything she makes, and works late into the night. 19 She spins her own thread and weaves her own cloth. 20 She is generous to the poor and needy. 21 She doesn't worry when it snows, because her family has warm clothing. 22 She makes bedspreads and wears clothes of fine purple linen. 23 Her husband is well known, one of the leading citizens. 24 She makes clothes and belts, and sells them to merchants. 25 She is strong and respected and not afraid of the future. 26 She speaks with a gentle wisdom. 27 She is always busy and looks after her family's needs. 28 Her children show their appreciation, and her husband praises her. 29 He says, "Many women are good wives, but you are the best of them all." 30 Charm is deceptive and beauty disappears, but a woman who honors the Lord should be praised. 31 Give her credit for all she does. She deserves the respect of everyone.

1272-Deuteronomy 32:16 Their idolatry made the Lord jealous; the evil they did made him angry.

1273-Ruth 4:12 May the children that the Lord will give you by this young woman make your family like the family of Perez, the son of Judah and Tamar."

Ruth 4:18 This is the family line from Perez to David: Perez, Hezron, Ram, Amminadab, Nahshon, Salmon, Boaz, Obed, Jesse, David.

1274-Gen. 38:26 Judah recognized them and said, "She is in the right. I have failed in my obligation to her - I should have given her to my son Shelah in marriage." And Judah never had intercourse with her again.

1275-Ruth 4:18 Now these are the descendants of Perez: Perez was the father of Hezron, 19 Hezron of Ram, Ram of Ammin'adab, 20 Ammin'adab of Nahshon, Nahshon of Salmon, 21 Salmon of Bo'az, Bo'az of Obed, 22 Obed of Jesse, and Jesse of David.

1276-Genesis 38:1 About that time Judah left his brothers and went to stay with a man named Hirah, who was from the town of Adullam. 2 There Judah met a young Canaanite woman whose father was named Shua. He married her, 3 and she bore him a son, whom he named Er. 4 She became pregnant again and bore another son and named him Onan. 5 Again she had a son and named him Shelah. Judah was at Achzib when the boy was born. 6 For his first son Er, Judah got a wife whose name was Tamar. 7 Er's conduct was evil, and it displeased the Lord, so the Lord killed him. 8 Then Judah said to Er's brother Onan, "Go and sleep with your brother's widow. Fulfill your obligation to her as her husband's brother, so that your brother may have descendants." 9 But Onan knew that the children would not belong to him, so when he had intercourse with his brother's widow, he let the semen spill on the ground, so that there would be no children for his brother. 10 What he did displeased the Lord, and the Lord killed him also. 11 Then Judah said to his daughter-in-law Tamar, "Return to your father's house and remain a widow until my son Shelah grows up." He said this because he was afraid that Shelah would be killed, as his brothers had been. So Tamar went back home. 12 After some time Judah's wife died. When he had finished the time of mourning, he and his friend Hirah of Adullam went to Timnah, where his sheep were being sheared. 13 Someone told Tamar that her father-in-law was going to Timnah to shear his sheep. 14 So she changed from the widow's clothes she had been wearing, covered her face with a veil, and sat down at the entrance to Enaim, a town on the road to Timnah. As she well knew, Judah's youngest son Shelah was now grown up, and yet she had not been given to him in marriage. 15 When Judah saw her, he thought that she was a prostitute, because she had her face covered. 16 He went over to her at the side of the road and said, "All right, how much do you charge?" (He did not know that she was his daughter-in-law.) She said, "What will you give me?" 17 He answered, "I will send you a young goat from my flock." She said, "All right, if you will give me something to keep as a pledge until you send the goat." 18 "What shall I give you as a pledge?" he asked. She answered, "Your seal with its cord and the walking stick you are carrying." He gave them to her. Then they had intercourse, and she became pregnant. 19 Tamar went home, took off her veil, and put her widow's clothes back on. 20 Judah sent his friend Hirah to take the goat and get back from the woman the articles he had pledged, but Hirah could not find her. 21 He asked some men at Enaim, "Where is the prostitute who was here by the road?" "There has never been a prostitute here," they answered. 22 He returned to Judah and said, "I couldn't find her. The men of the place said that there had never been a prostitute there." 23 Judah said, "Let her keep the things. We don't want people to laugh at us. I did try to pay her, but you couldn't find her." 24 About three months later someone told Judah, "Your daughter-in-law Tamar has been acting like a whore, and now she is pregnant." Judah ordered, "Take her out and burn her to death." 25 As she was being taken out, she sent word to her father-in-law: "I am pregnant by the man who owns these things. Look at them and see whose they are - this seal with its cord and this walking stick." 26 Judah recognized them and said, "She is in the right. I have failed in my obligation to her - I should have given her to my son Shelah in marriage." And Judah never had intercourse with her again. 27 When the time came for her to give birth, it was discovered that she was going to have twins. 28 While she was in labor, one of them put out an arm; the midwife caught it, tied a red thread around it, and said, "This one was born first." 29 But he pulled his arm back, and his brother was born first. Then the midwife said, "So this is how you break your way out!" So he was named Perez. 30 Then his brother was born with the red thread on his arm, and he was named Zerah.

1277-Joshua 2:1 Then Joshua sent two spies from the camp at Acacia with orders to go and secretly explore the land of Canaan, especially the city of Jericho. When they came to the city, they went to spend the night in the house of a prostitute named Rahab. 2 The king of Jericho heard that some Israelites had come that night to spy out the country, 3 so he sent word to Rahab: "The men in your house have come to spy out the whole country! Bring them out!" 4 "Some men did come to my house," she answered, "but I don't know where they were from. They left at sundown before the city gate was closed. I didn't find out where they were going, but if you start after them quickly, you can catch them." (Now Rahab had taken the two spies up on the roof and hidden them under some stalks of flax that she had put there.) 7 The king's men left the city, and then the gate was shut. They went looking for the Israelite spies as far as the place where the road crosses the Jordan. 8 Before the spies settled down for the night, Rahab went up on the roof 9 and said to them, "I know that the Lord has given you this land. Everyone in the country is terrified of you. 10 We have heard how the Lord dried up the Red Sea in front of you when you were leaving Egypt. We have also heard how you killed Sihon and Og, the two Amorite kings east of the Jordan. 11 We were afraid as soon as we heard about it; we have all lost our courage because of you. The Lord your God is God in heaven above and here on earth. 12 Now swear by him that you will treat my family as kindly as I have treated you, and give me some sign that I can trust you. 13 Promise me that you will save my father and mother, my brothers and sisters, and all their families! Don't let us be killed!" 14 The men said to her, "May God take our lives if we don't do as we say! If you do not tell anyone what we have been doing, we promise you that when the Lord gives us this land, we will treat you well." 15 Rahab lived in a house built into the city wall, so she let the men down from the window by a rope. 16 "Go into the hill country," she said, "or the king's men will find you. Hide there for three days until they come back. After that, you can go on your way." 17 The men said to her, "We will keep the promise that you have made us give. 18 This is what you must do. When we invade your land, tie this red cord to the window you let us down from. Get your father and mother, your brothers, and all your father's family together in your house. 19 If anyone goes out of the house, his death will be his own fault, and we will not be responsible; but if anyone in the house with you is harmed, then we will be responsible. 20 However, if you tell anyone what we have been doing, then we will not have to keep our promise which you have made us give you." 21 She agreed and sent them away. When they had gone, she tied the red cord to the window. 22 The spies went into the hills and hid. The king's men looked for them all over the countryside for three days, but they did not find them, so they returned to Jericho. 23 Then the two spies came down from the hills, crossed the river, and went back to Joshua. They told him everything that had happened, 24 and then said, "We are sure that the Lord has given us the whole country. All the people there are terrified of us."

1278-2 Samuel 11:1 The following spring, at the time of the year when kings usually go to war, David sent out Joab with his officers and the Israelite army; they defeated the Ammonites and besieged the city of Rabbah. But David himself stayed in Jerusalem. 2 One day, late in the afternoon, David got up from his nap and went to the palace roof. As he walked around up there, he saw a woman taking a bath in her house. She was very beautiful. 3 So he sent a messenger to find out who she was, and learned that she was Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam and the wife of Uriah the Hittite. 4 David sent messengers to get her; they brought her to him and he made love to her. (She had just finished her monthly ritual of purification.) Then she went back home. 5 Afterward she discovered that she was pregnant and sent a message to David to tell him. 6 David then sent a message to Joab: "Send me Uriah the Hittite." So Joab sent him to David. 7 When Uriah arrived, David asked him if Joab and the troops were well, and how the fighting was going. 8 Then he said to Uriah, "Go on home and rest a while." Uriah left, and David had a present sent to his home. 9 But Uriah did not go home; instead he slept at the palace gate with the king's guards. 10 When David heard that Uriah had not gone home, he asked him, "You have just returned after a long absence; why didn't you go home?" 11 Uriah answered, "The men of Israel and Judah are away in battle, and the Covenant Box is with them; my commander Joab and his officers are camping out in the open. How could I go home, eat and drink, and sleep with my wife? By all that's sacred, I swear that I could never do such a thing!" 12 So David said, "Then stay here the rest of the day, and tomorrow I'll send you back." So Uriah stayed in Jerusalem that day and the next. 13 David invited him to supper and got him drunk. But again that night Uriah did not go home; instead he slept on his blanket in the palace guardroom. 14 The next morning David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it by Uriah. 15 He wrote: "Put Uriah in the front line, where the fighting is heaviest, then retreat and let him be killed." 16 So while Joab was besieging the city, he sent Uriah to a place where he knew the enemy was strong. 17 The enemy troops came out of the city and fought Joab's forces; some of David's officers were killed, and so was Uriah. 18 Then Joab sent a report to David telling him about the battle, 19 and he instructed the messenger, "After you have told the king all about the battle, 20 he may get angry and ask you, "Why did you go so near the city to fight them? Didn't you realize that they would shoot arrows from the walls? 21 Don't you remember how Abimelech son of Gideon was killed? It was at Thebez, where a woman threw a millstone down from the wall and killed him. Why, then, did you go so near the wall?' If the king asks you this, tell him, "Your officer Uriah was also killed.' " 22 So the messenger went to David and told him what Joab had commanded him to say. 23 He said, "Our enemies were stronger than we were and came out of the city to fight us in the open, but we drove them back to the city gate. 24 Then they shot arrows at us from the wall, and some of Your Majesty's officers were killed; your officer Uriah was also killed." 25 David said to the messenger, "Encourage Joab and tell him not to be upset, since you never can tell who will die in battle. Tell him to launch a stronger attack on the city and capture it." 26 When Bathsheba heard that her husband had been killed, she mourned for him. 27 When the time of mourning was over, David had her brought to the palace; she became his wife and bore him a son. But the Lord was not pleased with what David had done.

2 Samuel 12:1 The Lord sent the prophet Nathan to David. Nathan went to him and said, "There were two men who lived in the same town; one was rich and the other poor. 2 The rich man had many cattle and sheep, 3 while the poor man had only one lamb, which he had bought. He took care of it, and it grew up in his home with his children. He would feed it some of his own food, let it drink from his cup, and hold it in his lap. The lamb was like a daughter to him. 4 One day a visitor arrived at the rich man's home. The rich man didn't want to kill one of his own animals to fix a meal for him; instead, he took the poor man's lamb and prepared a meal for his guest." 5 David became very angry at the rich man and said, "I swear by the living Lord that the man who did this ought to die! 6 For having done such a cruel thing, he must pay back four times as much as he took." 7 "You are that man," Nathan said to David. "And this is what the Lord God of Israel says: "I made you king of Israel and rescued you from Saul. 8 I gave you his kingdom and his wives; I made you king over Israel and Judah. If this had not been enough, I would have given you twice as much. 9 Why, then, have you disobeyed my commands? Why did you do this evil thing? You had Uriah killed in battle; you let the Ammonites kill him, and then you took his wife! 10 Now, in every generation some of your descendants will die a violent death because you have disobeyed me and have taken Uriah's wife. 11 I swear to you that I will cause someone from your own family to bring trouble on you. You will see it when I take your wives from you and give them to another man; and he will have intercourse with them in broad daylight. 12 You sinned in secret, but I will make this happen in broad daylight for all Israel to see.' " 13 "I have sinned against the Lord," David said. Nathan replied, "The Lord forgives you; you will not die. 14 But because you have shown such contempt for the Lord in doing this, your child will die." 15 Then Nathan went home. The Lord caused the child that Uriah's wife had borne to David to become very sick. 16 David prayed to God that the child would get well. He refused to eat anything, and every night he went into his room and spent the night lying on the floor. 17 His court officials went to him and tried to make him get up, but he refused and would not eat anything with them. 18 A week later the child died, and David's officials were afraid to tell him the news. They said, "While the child was living, David wouldn't answer us when we spoke to him. How can we tell him that his child is dead? He might do himself some harm!" 19 When David noticed them whispering to each other, he realized that the child had died. So he asked them, "Is the child dead?" "Yes, he is," they answered. 20 David got up from the floor, took a bath, combed his hair, and changed his clothes. Then he went and worshiped in the house of the Lord. When he returned to the palace, he asked for food and ate it as soon as it was served. 21 "We don't understand this," his officials said to him. "While the child was alive, you wept for him and would not eat; but as soon as he died, you got up and ate!" 22 "Yes," David answered, "I did fast and weep while he was still alive. I thought that the Lord might be merciful to me and not let the child die. 23 But now that he is dead, why should I fast? Could I bring the child back to life? I will some day go to where he is, but he can never come back to me." 24 Then David comforted his wife Bathsheba. He had intercourse with her, and she bore a son, whom David named Solomon. The Lord loved the boy 25 and commanded the prophet Nathan to name the boy Jedidiah, because the Lord loved him. 26 Meanwhile Joab continued his campaign against Rabbah, the capital city of Ammon, and was about to capture it. 27 He sent messengers to David to report: "I have attacked Rabbah and have captured its water supply. 28 Now gather the rest of your forces, attack the city and take it yourself. I don't want to get the credit for capturing it." 29 So David gathered his forces, went to Rabbah, attacked it, and conquered it. 30 From the head of the idol of the Ammonite god Molech David took a gold crown which weighed about seventy-five pounds and had a jewel in it. David took the jewel and put it in his own crown. He also took a large amount of loot from the city 31 and put its people to work with saws, iron hoes, and iron axes, and forced them to work at making bricks. He did the same to the people of all the other towns of Ammon. Then he and his men returned to Jerusalem.

1279-Genesis 19:30 Because Lot was afraid to stay in Zoar, he and his two daughters moved up into the hills and lived in a cave. 31 The older daughter said to her sister, "Our father is getting old, and there are no men in the whole world to marry us so that we can have children. 32 Come on, let's get our father drunk, so that we can sleep with him and have children by him." 33 That night they gave him wine to drink, and the older daughter had intercourse with him. But he was so drunk that he didn't know it. 34 The next day the older daughter said to her sister, "I slept with him last night; now let's get him drunk again tonight, and you sleep with him. Then each of us will have a child by our father." 35 So that night they got him drunk, and the younger daughter had intercourse with him. Again he was so drunk that he didn't know it. 36 In this way both of Lot's daughters became pregnant by their own father. 37 The older daughter had a son, whom she named Moab. He was the ancestor of the present-day Moabites. 38 The younger daughter also had a son, whom she named Benammi. He was the ancestor of the present-day Ammonites.

1280-Deuteronomy 23:3 "No Ammonite or Moabite - or any of their descendants, even in the tenth generation - may be included among the Lord's people. 4 They refused to provide you with food and water when you were on your way out of Egypt, and they hired Balaam son of Beor, from the city of Pethor in Mesopotamia, to curse you. 5 But the Lord your God would not listen to Balaam; instead he turned the curse into a blessing, because he loved you. 6 As long as you are a nation, never do anything to help these nations or to make them prosperous.

1281-Nehemiah 13:1 When the Law of Moses was being read aloud to the people, they came to the passage that said that no Ammonite or Moabite was ever to be permitted to join God's people. 2 This was because the people of Ammon and Moab did not give food and water to the Israelites on their way out of Egypt. Instead, they paid money to Balaam to curse Israel, but our God turned the curse into a blessing.

1282-Numbers 22:1 The Israelites moved on and set up camp in the plains of Moab east of the Jordan and opposite Jericho. 2 When the king of Moab, Balak son of Zippor, heard what the Israelites had done to the Amorites and how many Israelites there were, 3 he and all his people became terrified. 4 The Moabites said to the leaders of the Midianites, "This horde will soon destroy everything around us, like a bull eating the grass in a pasture." So King Balak 5 sent messengers to summon Balaam son of Beor, who was at Pethor near the Euphrates River in the land of Amaw. They brought him this message from Balak: "I want you to know that a whole nation has come from Egypt; its people are spreading out everywhere and threatening to take over our land. 6 They outnumber us, so please come and put a curse on them for me. Then perhaps we will be able to defeat them and drive them out of the land. I know that when you pronounce a blessing, people are blessed, and when you pronounce a curse, they are placed under a curse." 7 So the Moabite and Midianite leaders took with them the payment for the curse, went to Balaam, and gave him Balak's message. 8 Balaam said to them, "Spend the night here, and tomorrow I will report to you whatever the Lord tells me." So the Moabite leaders stayed with Balaam. 9 God came to Balaam and asked, "Who are these people that are staying with you?" 10 He answered, "King Balak of Moab has sent them to tell me 11 that a people who came from Egypt has spread out over the whole land. He wants me to curse them for him, so that he can fight them and drive them out." 12 God said to Balaam, "Do not go with them, and do not put a curse on the people of Israel, because they have my blessing." 13 The next morning Balaam went to Balak's messengers and said, "Go back home; the Lord has refused to let me go with you." 14 So they returned to Balak and told him that Balaam had refused to come with them. 15 Then Balak sent a larger number of leaders, who were more important than the first. 16 They went to Balaam and gave him this message from Balak: "Please don't let anything prevent you from coming to me! 17 I will reward you richly and do anything you say. Please come and curse these people for me." 18 But Balaam answered, "Even if Balak gave me all the silver and gold in his palace, I could not disobey the command of the Lord my God in even the smallest matter. 19 But please spend the night, as the others did, so that I may learn whether or not the Lord has something else to tell me." 20 That night God came to Balaam and said, "If these men have come to ask you to go with them, get ready and go, but do only what I tell you." 21 So the next morning Balaam saddled his donkey and went with the Moabite leaders. 22 God was angry that Balaam was going, and as Balaam was riding along on his donkey, accompanied by his two servants, the angel of the Lord stood in the road to bar his way. 23 When the donkey saw the angel standing there holding a sword, it left the road and turned into the fields. Balaam beat the donkey and brought it back onto the road. 24 Then the angel stood where the road narrowed between two vineyards and had a stone wall on each side. 25 When the donkey saw the angel, it moved over against the wall and crushed Balaam's foot against it. Again Balaam beat the donkey. 26 Once more the angel moved ahead; he stood in a narrow place where there was no room at all to pass on either side. 27 This time, when the donkey saw the angel, it lay down. Balaam lost his temper and began to beat the donkey with his stick. 28 Then the Lord gave the donkey the power of speech, and it said to Balaam, "What have I done to you? Why have you beaten me these three times?" 29 Balaam answered, "Because you have made a fool of me! If I had a sword, I would kill you." 30 The donkey replied, "Am I not the same donkey on which you have ridden all your life? Have I ever treated you like this before?" "No," he answered. 31 Then the Lord let Balaam see the angel standing there with his sword; and Balaam threw himself face downward on the ground. 32 The angel demanded, "Why have you beaten your donkey three times like this? I have come to bar your way, because you should not be making this journey. 33 But your donkey saw me and turned aside three times. If it hadn't, I would have killed you and spared the donkey." 34 Balaam replied, "I have sinned. I did not know that you were standing in the road to oppose me; but now if you think it is wrong for me to go on, I will return home." 35 But the angel said, "Go on with these men, but say only what I tell you to say." So Balaam went on with them. 36 When Balak heard that Balaam was coming, he went to meet him at Ar, a city on the Arnon River at the border of Moab. 37 Balak said to him, "Why didn't you come when I sent for you the first time? Did you think I wasn't able to reward you enough?" 38 Balaam answered, "I came, didn't I? But now, what power do I have? I can say only what God tells me to say." 39 So Balaam went with Balak to the town of Huzoth, 40 where Balak slaughtered cattle and sheep and gave some of the meat to Balaam and the leaders who were with him. 41 The next morning Balak took Balaam up to Bamoth Baal, from where Balaam could see a part of the people of Israel.

Numbers 22:1 He said to Balak, "Build seven altars here for me, and bring me seven bulls and seven rams." 2 Balak did as he was told, and he and Balaam offered a bull and a ram on each altar. 3 Then Balaam said to Balak, "Stand here by your burnt offering, while I go to see whether or not the Lord will meet me. I will tell you whatever he reveals to me." So he went alone to the top of a hill, 4 and God met him. Balaam said to him, "I have built the seven altars and offered a bull and a ram on each." 5 The Lord told Balaam what to say and sent him back to Balak to give him his message. 6 So he went back and found Balak still standing by his burnt offering with all the leaders of Moab. 7 Balaam uttered this prophecy: "Balak king of Moab has brought me From Syria, from the eastern mountains. "Come speak for me,' he said. "Put a curse on the people of Israel.' 8 How can I curse what God has not cursed, Or speak of doom when the Lord has not? 9 From the high rocks I can see them; I can watch them from the hills. They are a nation that lives alone; They know they are blessed more than other nations. 10 The descendants of Israel are like the dust - There are too many of them to be counted. Let me end my days like one of God's people; Let me die in peace like the righteous." 11 Then Balak said to Balaam, "What have you done to me? I brought you here to curse my enemies, but all you have done is bless them." 12 He answered, "I can say only what the Lord tells me to say." 13 Then Balak said to Balaam, "Come with me to another place from which you can see only some of the Israelites. Curse them for me from there." 14 He took him to the field of Zophim on the top of Mount Pisgah. There also he built seven altars and offered a bull and a ram on each of them. 15 Balaam said to Balak, "Stand here by your burnt offering, and I will meet God over there." 16 The Lord met Balaam, told him what to say, and sent him back to Balak to give him his message. 17 So he went back and found Balak still standing by his burnt offering, with the leaders of Moab. Balak asked what the Lord had said, 18 and Balaam uttered this prophecy: "Come, Balak son of Zippor, And listen to what I have to say. 19 God is not like people, who lie; He is not a human who changes his mind. Whatever he promises, he does; He speaks, and it is done. 20 I have been instructed to bless, And when God blesses, I cannot call it back. 21 I foresee that Israel's future Will bring her no misfortune or trouble. The Lord their God is with them; They proclaim that he is their king. 22 God has brought them out of Egypt; He fights for them like a wild ox. 23 There is no magic charm, no witchcraft, That can be used against the nation of Israel. Now people will say about Israel, "Look what God has done!' 24 The nation of Israel is like a mighty lion: It doesn't rest until it has torn and devoured, Until it has drunk the blood of those it has killed." 25 Then Balak said to Balaam, "You refuse to curse the people of Israel, but at least don't bless them!" 26 Balaam answered, "Didn't I tell you that I had to do everything that the Lord told me?" 27 Balak said, "Come with me, and I will take you to another place. Perhaps God will be willing to let you curse them for me from there." 28 So he took Balaam to the top of Mount Peor overlooking the desert. 29 Balaam said to him, "Build seven altars for me here and bring me seven bulls and seven rams." 30 Balak did as he was told, and offered a bull and a ram on each altar.

Numbers 24:1 By now Balaam knew that the Lord wanted him to bless the people of Israel, so he did not go to look for omens, as he had done before. He turned toward the desert 2 and saw the people of Israel camped tribe by tribe. The spirit of God took control of him, 3 and he uttered this prophecy: "The message of Balaam son of Beor, The words of the man who can see clearly, 4 Who can hear what God is saying. With staring eyes I see in a trance A vision from Almighty God. 5 The tents of Israel are beautiful, 6 Like long rows of palms Or gardens beside a river, Like aloes planted by the Lord Or cedars beside the water. 7 They will have abundant rainfall And plant their seed in well-watered fields. Their king shall be greater than Agag, And his rule shall be extended far and wide. 8 God brought them out of Egypt; He fights for them like a wild ox. They devour their enemies, Crush their bones, smash their arrows. 9 The nation is like a mighty lion; When it is sleeping, no one dares wake it. Whoever blesses Israel will be blessed, And whoever curses Israel will be cursed." 10 Balak clenched his fists in anger and said to Balaam, "I called you to curse my enemies, but three times now you have blessed them instead. 11 Now get on home! I promised to reward you, but the Lord has kept you from getting the reward." 12 Balaam answered, "I told the messengers you sent to me that 13 even if you gave me all the silver and gold in your palace, I could not disobey the command of the Lord by doing anything of myself. I will say only what the Lord tells me to say." 14 Balaam said to Balak, "Now I am going back to my own people, but before I go, I am warning you what the people of Israel will do to your people in the future." 15 Then he uttered this prophecy: "The message of Balaam son of Beor, The words of the man who can see clearly, 16 Who can hear what God is saying And receive the knowledge that comes from the Most High. With staring eyes I see in a trance A vision from Almighty God. 17 I look into the future, And I see the nation of Israel. A king, like a bright star, will arise in that nation. Like a comet he will come from Israel. He will strike the leaders of Moab And beat down all the people of Seth. 18 He will conquer his enemies in Edom And make their land his property, While Israel continues victorious. 19 The nation of Israel will trample them down And wipe out the last survivors." 20 Then in his vision Balaam saw the Amalekites and uttered this prophecy: "Amalek was the most powerful nation of all, But at the end it will perish forever." 21 In his vision he saw the Kenites, and uttered this prophecy: "The place where you live is secure, Safe as a nest set high on a cliff, 22 But you Kenites will be destroyed When Assyria takes you captive." 23 Balaam uttered this prophecy: "Who are these people gathering in the north? 24 Invaders will sail from Cyprus; They will conquer Assyria and Eber, But they, in turn, will perish forever." 25 Then Balaam got ready and went back home, and Balak went on his way.

Numbers 25:1 When the Israelites were camped at Acacia Valley, the men began to have sexual intercourse with the Moabite women who were there. 2 These women invited them to sacrificial feasts, where the god of Moab was worshiped. The Israelites ate the food and worshiped the god 3 Baal of Peor. So the Lord was angry with them 4 and said to Moses, "Take all the leaders of Israel and, in obedience to me, execute them in broad daylight, and then I will no longer be angry with the people." 5 Moses said to the officials, "Each of you is to kill every man in your tribe who has become a worshiper of Baal of Peor." 6 One of the Israelites took a Midianite woman into his tent in the sight of Moses and the whole community, while they were mourning at the entrance of the Tent of the Lord's presence. 7 When Phinehas, the son of Eleazar and grandson of Aaron the priest, saw this, he got up and left the assembly. He took a spear, 8 followed the man and the woman into the tent, and drove the spear through both of them. In this way the epidemic that was destroying Israel was stopped, 9 but it had already killed twenty-four thousand people. 10 The Lord said to Moses, 11 "Because of what Phinehas has done, I am no longer angry with the people of Israel. He refused to tolerate the worship of any god but me, and that is why I did not destroy them in my anger. 12 So tell him that I am making a covenant with him that is valid for all time to come. 13 He and his descendants are permanently established as priests, because he did not tolerate any rivals to me and brought about forgiveness for the people's sin." 14 The name of the Israelite who was killed with the Midianite woman was Zimri son of Salu, the head of a family in the tribe of Simeon. 15 The woman's name was Cozbi. Zur, her father, was chief of a group of Midianite clans. 16 The Lord commanded Moses, 17 "Attack the Midianites and destroy them, 18 because of the evil they did to you when they deceived you at Peor, and because of Cozbi, who was killed at the time of the epidemic at Peor."

1283-Judges 3:12 The people of Israel sinned against the Lord again. Because of this the Lord made King Eglon of Moab stronger than Israel. 13 Eglon joined the Ammonites and the Amalekites; they defeated Israel and captured Jericho, the city of palm trees. 14 The Israelites were subject to Eglon for eighteen years. 15 Then the Israelites cried out to the Lord, and he sent someone to free them. This was Ehud, a left-handed man, who was the son of Gera, from the tribe of Benjamin. The people of Israel sent Ehud to King Eglon of Moab with gifts for him. 16 Ehud had made himself a double-edged sword about a foot and a half long. He had it fastened on his right side under his clothes. 17 Then he took the gifts to Eglon, who was a very fat man. 18 When Ehud had given him the gifts, he told the men who had carried them to go back home. 19 But Ehud himself turned back at the carved stones near Gilgal, went back to Eglon, and said, "Your Majesty, I have a secret message for you." So the king ordered his servants, "Leave us alone!" And they all went out. 20 Then, as the king was sitting there alone in his cool room on the roof, Ehud went over to him and said, "I have a message from God for you." The king stood up. 21 With his left hand Ehud took the sword from his right side and plunged it into the king's belly. 22 The whole sword went in, handle and all, and the fat covered it up. Ehud did not pull it out of the king's belly, and it stuck out behind, between his legs. 23 Then Ehud went outside, closed the doors behind him, locked them, 24 and left. The servants came and saw that the doors were locked, but they only thought that the king was inside, relieving himself. 25 They waited as long as they thought they should, but when he still did not open the door, they took the key and opened it. And there was their master, lying dead on the floor. 26 Ehud got away while they were waiting. He went past the carved stones and escaped to Seirah. 27 When he arrived there in the hill country of Ephraim, he blew a trumpet to call the people of Israel to battle; then he led them down from the hills. 28 He told them, "Follow me! The Lord has given you victory over your enemies, the Moabites." So they followed Ehud down and captured the place where the Moabites were to cross the Jordan; they did not allow anyone to cross. 29 That day they killed about ten thousand of the best Moabite soldiers; none of them escaped. 30 That day the Israelites defeated Moab, and there was peace in the land for eighty years.

1284-2 Samuel 8:2 Then he defeated the Moabites. He made the prisoners lie down on the ground and put two out of every three of them to death. So the Moabites became his subjects and paid taxes to him.

2 Samuel 8:11 King David dedicated them for use in worship, along with the silver and gold he took from the nations he had conquered - 12 Edom, Moab, Ammon, Philistia, and Amalek - as well as part of the loot he had taken from Hadadezer.

1285-1 Chronicles 18:2 He also defeated the Moabites, who became his subjects and paid taxes to him.

1 Chronicles 18:11 King David dedicated them for use in worship, along with the silver and gold he took from the nations he conquered - Edom, Moab, Ammon, Philistia, and Amalek.

1286-2 Kings 1:1 After the death of King Ahab of Israel the country of Moab rebelled against Israel.

2 Kings 3:4 King Mesha of Moab raised sheep, and every year he gave as tribute to the king of Israel 100,000 lambs and the wool from 100,000 sheep. 5 But when King Ahab of Israel died, Mesha rebelled against Israel. 6 At once King Joram left Samaria and gathered all his troops. 7 He sent word to King Jehoshaphat of Judah: "The king of Moab has rebelled against me; will you join me in war against him?" "I will," King Jehoshaphat replied. "I am at your disposal, and so are my men and my horses. 8 What route shall we take for the attack?" "We will go the long way through the wilderness of Edom," Joram answered. 9 So King Joram and the kings of Judah and Edom set out. After marching seven days, they ran out of water, and there was none left for the men or the pack animals. 10 "We're done for!" King Joram exclaimed. "The Lord has put the three of us at the mercy of the king of Moab!" 11 King Jehoshaphat asked, "Is there a prophet here through whom we can consult the Lord?" An officer of King Joram's forces answered, "Elisha son of Shaphat is here. He was Elijah's assistant." 12 "He is a true prophet," King Jehoshaphat said. So the three kings went to Elisha. 13 "Why should I help you?" Elisha said to the king of Israel. "Go and consult those prophets that your father and mother consulted." "No!" Joram replied. "It is the Lord who has put us three kings at the mercy of the king of Moab." 14 Elisha answered, "By the living Lord, whom I serve, I swear that I would have nothing to do with you if I didn't respect your ally, King Jehoshaphat of Judah. 15 Now get me a musician." As the musician played his harp, the power of the Lord came on Elisha, 16 and he said, "This is what the Lord says: "Dig ditches all over this dry stream bed. 17 Even though you will not see any rain or wind, this stream bed will be filled with water, and you, your livestock, and your pack animals will have plenty to drink.' " 18 And Elisha continued, "But this is an easy thing for the Lord to do; he will also give you victory over the Moabites. 19 You will conquer all their beautiful fortified cities; you will cut down all their fruit trees, stop all their springs, and ruin all their fertile fields by covering them with stones." 20 The next morning, at the time of the regular morning sacrifice, water came flowing from the direction of Edom and covered the ground. 21 When the Moabites heard that the three kings had come to attack them, all the men who could bear arms, from the oldest to the youngest, were called out and stationed at the border. 22 When they got up the following morning, the sun was shining on the water, making it look as red as blood. 23 "It's blood!" they exclaimed. "The three enemy armies must have fought and killed each other! Let's go and loot their camp!" 24 But when they reached the camp, the Israelites attacked them and drove them back. The Israelites kept up the pursuit, slaughtering the Moabites 25 and destroying their cities. As they passed by a fertile field, every Israelite would throw a stone on it until finally all the fields were covered; they also stopped up the springs and cut down the fruit trees. At last only the capital city of Kir Heres was left, and the slingers surrounded it and attacked it. 26 When the king of Moab realized that he was losing the battle, he took seven hundred swordsmen with him and tried to force his way through the enemy lines and escape to the king of Syria, but he failed. 27 So he took his oldest son, who was to succeed him as king, and offered him on the city wall as a sacrifice to the god of Moab. The Israelites were terrified and so they drew back from the city and returned to their own country.

1287-Isaiah 15:1 This is a message about Moab. The cities of Ar and Kir are destroyed in a single night, and silence covers the land of Moab. 2 The people of Dibon climb the hill to weep at the shrine. The people of Moab wail in grief over the cities of Nebo and Medeba; they have shaved their heads and their beards in grief. 3 The people in the streets are dressed in sackcloth; in the city squares and on the rooftops people mourn and cry. 4 The people of Heshbon and Elealeh cry out, and their cry can be heard as far away as Jahaz. Even the soldiers tremble; their courage is gone. 5 My heart cries out for Moab! The people have fled to the town of Zoar, and to Eglath Shelishiyah. Some climb the road to Luhith, weeping as they go; some escape to Horonaim, grieving loudly. 6 Nimrim Brook is dry, the grass beside it has withered, and nothing green is left. 7 The people go across the Valley of Willows, trying to escape with all their possessions. 8 Everywhere at Moab's borders the sound of crying is heard. It is heard at the towns of Eglaim and Beerelim. 9 At the town of Dibon the river is red with blood, and God has something even worse in store for the people there. Yes, there will be a bloody slaughter of everyone left in Moab.

Isaiah 16:1 From the city of Sela in the desert the people of Moab send a lamb as a present to the one who rules in Jerusalem. 2 They wait on the banks of the Arnon River and move aimlessly back and forth, like birds driven from their nest. 3 They say to the people of Judah, "Tell us what to do. Protect us like a tree that casts a cool shadow in the heat of noon, and let us rest in your shade. We are refugees; hide us where no one can find us. 4 Let us stay in your land. Protect us from those who want to destroy us." (Oppression and destruction will end, and those who are devastating the country will be gone. 5 Then one of David's descendants will be king, and he will rule the people with faithfulness and love. He will be quick to do what is right, and he will see that justice is done.) 6 The people of Judah say, "We have heard how proud the people of Moab are. We know that they are arrogant and conceited, but their boasts are empty." 7 The people of Moab will weep because of the troubles they suffer. They will all weep when they remember the fine food they used to eat in the city of Kir Heres. They will be driven to despair. 8 The farms near Heshbon and the vineyards of Sibmah are destroyed - those vineyards whose wine used to make the rulers of the nations drunk. At one time the vines spread as far as the city of Jazer, and eastward into the desert, and westward to the other side of the Dead Sea. 9 Now I weep for Sibmah's vines as I weep for Jazer. My tears fall for Heshbon and Elealeh, because there is no harvest to make the people glad. 10 No one is happy now in the fertile fields. No one shouts or sings in the vineyards. No one tramples grapes to make wine; the shouts of joy are ended. 11 I groan with sadness for Moab, with grief for Kir Heres. 12 The people of Moab wear themselves out going to their mountain shrines and to their temples to pray, but it will do them no good. 13 That is the message the Lord gave earlier about Moab. 14 And now the Lord says, "In exactly three years Moab's great wealth will disappear. Of its many people, only a few will survive, and they will be weak."

Isaiah 25:10 The Lord will protect Mount Zion, but the people of Moab will be trampled down the way straw is trampled in manure.

1288-Jeremiah 9:25 The Lord says, "The time is coming when I will punish the people of Egypt, Judah, Edom, Ammon, Moab, and the desert people, who have their hair cut short. All these people are circumcised, but have not kept the covenant it symbolizes. None of these people and none of the people of Israel have kept my covenant."

Jeremiah 25:17 So I took the cup from the Lord's hand, gave it to all the nations to whom the Lord had sent me, and made them drink from it.

Jeremiah 48:1 This is what the Lord Almighty said about Moab: "Pity the people of Nebo - their town is destroyed! Kiriathaim is captured, its mighty fortress torn down, and its people put to shame; 2 the splendor of Moab is gone. The enemy have captured Heshbon and plot to destroy the nation of Moab. The town of Madmen will be silenced; armies will march against it. 3 The people of Horonaim cry out, "Violence! Destruction!' 4 "Moab has been destroyed; listen to the children crying. 5 Hear the sound of their sobs along the road up to Luhith, the cries of distress on the way down to Horonaim. 6 "Quick, run for your lives!' they say. "Run like a wild desert donkey!' 7 "Moab, you trusted in your strength and your wealth, but now even you will be conquered; your god Chemosh will go into exile, along with his princes and priests. 8 Not a town will escape the destruction; both valley and plain will be ruined. I, the Lord, have spoken. 9 Set up a tombstone for Moab; it will soon be destroyed. Its towns will be left in ruins, and no one will live there again." 10 (Curse those who do not do the Lord's work with all their heart! Curse those who do not slash and kill!) 11 The Lord said, "Moab has always lived secure and has never been taken into exile. Moab is like wine left to settle undisturbed and never poured from jar to jar. Its flavor has never been ruined, and it tastes as good as ever. 12 "So now, the time is coming when I will send people to pour Moab out like wine. They will empty its wine jars and break them in pieces. 13 Then the Moabites will be disillusioned with their god Chemosh, just as the Israelites were disillusioned with Bethel, a god in whom they trusted. 14 "Men of Moab, why do you claim to be heroes, brave soldiers tested in war? 15 Moab and its cities are destroyed; its finest young men have been slaughtered. I am the king, the Lord Almighty, and I have spoken. 16 Moab's doom approaches; its ruin is coming soon. 17 "Mourn for that nation, you that live nearby, all of you that know its fame. Say, "Its powerful rule has been broken; its glory and might are no more.' 18 You that live in Dibon, come down from your place of honor and sit on the ground in the dust; Moab's destroyer is here and has left its forts in ruins. 19 You that live in Aroer, stand by the road and wait; ask those who are running away, find out from them what has happened. 20 "Moab has fallen,' they will answer, "weep for it; it is disgraced. Announce along the Arnon River that Moab is destroyed!' 21 "Judgment has come on the cities of the plateau: on Holon, Jahzah, Mephaath, 22 Dibon, Nebo, Beth Diblathaim, 23 Kiriathaim, Bethgamul, Bethmeon, 24 Kerioth, and Bozrah. Judgment has come on all the cities of Moab, far and near. 25 Moab's might has been crushed; its power has been destroyed. I, the Lord, have spoken." 26 The Lord said, "Make Moab drunk, because it has rebelled against me. Moab will roll in its own vomit, and people will laugh. 27 Moab, remember how you made fun of the people of Israel? You treated them as though they had been caught with a gang of robbers. 28 "You people who live in Moab, leave your towns! Go and live on the cliffs! Be like the dove that makes its nest in the sides of a ravine. 29 Moab is very proud! I have heard how proud, arrogant, and conceited the people are, how much they think of themselves. 30 I, the Lord, know of their arrogance. Their boasts amount to nothing, and the things they do will not last. 31 And so I will weep for everyone in Moab and for the people of Kir Heres. 32 I will cry for the people of Sibmah, even more than for the people of Jazer. City of Sibmah, you are like a vine whose branches reach across the Dead Sea and go as far as Jazer. But now your summer fruits and your grapes have been destroyed. 33 Happiness and joy have been taken away from the fertile land of Moab. I have made the wine stop flowing from the wine presses; there is no one to make the wine and shout for joy. 34 "The people of Heshbon and Elealeh cry out, and their cry can be heard as far as Jahaz; it can be heard by the people in Zoar, and it is heard as far as Horonaim and Eglath Shelishiyah. Even Nimrim Brook has dried up. 35 I will stop the people of Moab from making burnt offerings at their places of worship and from offering sacrifices to their gods. I, the Lord, have spoken. 36 "So my heart mourns for Moab and for the people of Kir Heres, like someone playing a funeral song on a flute, because everything they owned is gone. 37 All of them have shaved their heads and cut off their beards. They have all made gashes on their hands, and everyone is wearing sackcloth. 38 On all the housetops of Moab and in all its public squares there is nothing but mourning, because I have broken Moab like a jar that no one wants. 39 Moab has been shattered! Cry out! Moab has been disgraced. It is in ruins, and all the surrounding nations make fun of it. I, the Lord, have spoken." 40 The Lord has promised that a nation will swoop down on Moab like an eagle with its outspread wings, 41 and the towns and fortresses will be captured. On that day Moab's soldiers will be as frightened as a woman in labor. 42 Moab will be destroyed and will no longer be a nation, because it rebelled against me. 43 Terror, pits, and traps are waiting for the people of Moab. The Lord has spoken. 44 Whoever tries to escape the terror will fall into the pits, and whoever climbs out of the pits will be caught in the traps, because the Lord has set the time for Moab's destruction. 45 Helpless refugees try to find protection in Heshbon, the city that King Sihon once ruled, but it is in flames. Fire has burned up the frontiers and the mountain heights of the war-loving people of Moab. 46 Pity the people of Moab! The people who worshiped Chemosh have been destroyed, and their sons and daughters have been taken away as prisoners.

1289-Deuteronomy 23:3 "No Ammonite or Moabite - or any of their descendants, even in the tenth generation - may be included among the Lord's people. 4 They refused to provide you with food and water when you were on your way out of Egypt, and they hired Balaam son of Beor, from the city of Pethor in Mesopotamia, to curse you. 5 But the Lord your God would not listen to Balaam; instead he turned the curse into a blessing, because he loved you. 6 As long as you are a nation, never do anything to help these nations or to make them prosperous.

1290-Ruth 4:17 The women of the neighborhood named the boy Obed. They told everyone, "A son has been born to Naomi!" Obed became the father of Jesse, who was the father of David. 18 This is the family line from Perez to David: Perez, Hezron, Ram, Amminadab, Nahshon, Salmon, Boaz, Obed, Jesse, David.

1291-Ruth 1:1 Long ago, in the days before Israel had a king, there was a famine in the land. So a man named Elimelech, who belonged to the clan of Ephrath and who lived in Bethlehem in Judah, went with his wife Naomi and their two sons Mahlon and Chilion to live for a while in the country of Moab. While they were living there, 3 Elimelech died, and Naomi was left alone with her two sons, 4 who married Moabite women, Orpah and Ruth. About ten years later 5 Mahlon and Chilion also died, and Naomi was left all alone, without husband or sons. 6 Some time later Naomi heard that the Lord had blessed his people by giving them good crops; so she got ready to leave Moab with her daughters-in-law. 7 They started out together to go back to Judah, but on the way 8 she said to them, "Go back home and stay with your mothers. May the Lord be as good to you as you have been to me and to those who have died. 9 And may the Lord make it possible for each of you to marry again and have a home." So Naomi kissed them good-bye. But they started crying 10 and said to her, "No! We will go with you to your people." 11 "You must go back, my daughters," Naomi answered. "Why do you want to come with me? Do you think I could have sons again for you to marry? 12 Go back home, for I am too old to get married again. Even if I thought there was still hope, and so got married tonight and had sons, 13 would you wait until they had grown up? Would this keep you from marrying someone else? No, my daughters, you know that's impossible. The Lord has turned against me, and I feel very sorry for you." 14 Again they started crying. Then Orpah kissed her mother-in-law good-bye and went back home, but Ruth held on to her. 15 So Naomi said to her, "Ruth, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and to her god. Go back home with her." 16 But Ruth answered, "Don't ask me to leave you! Let me go with you. Wherever you go, I will go; wherever you live, I will live. Your people will be my people, and your God will be my God. 17 Wherever you die, I will die, and that is where I will be buried. May the Lord's worst punishment come upon me if I let anything but death separate me from you!" 18 When Naomi saw that Ruth was determined to go with her, she said nothing more. 19 They went on until they came to Bethlehem. When they arrived, the whole town became excited, and the women there exclaimed, "Is this really Naomi?" 20 "Don't call me Naomi," she answered; "call me Marah, because Almighty God has made my life bitter. 21 When I left here, I had plenty, but the Lord has brought me back without a thing. Why call me Naomi when the Lord Almighty has condemned me and sent me trouble?" 22 This, then, was how Naomi came back from Moab with Ruth, her Moabite daughter-in-law. When they arrived in Bethlehem, the barley harvest was just beginning

1292-Ruth 1:2 The name of the man was Elim'elech and the name of his wife Na'omi, and the names of his two sons were Mahlon and Chil'ion; they were Eph'rathites from Bethlehem in Judah. They went into the country of Moab and remained there.

1293-Deuteronomy 11:17 If you do, the Lord will become angry with you. He will hold back the rain, and your ground will become too dry for crops to grow. Then you will soon die there, even though it is a good land that he is giving you.

Deuteronomy 28:15 "But if you disobey the Lord your God and do not faithfully keep all his commands and laws that I am giving you today, all these evil things will happen to you: 16 "The Lord will curse your towns and your fields. 17 "The Lord will curse your grain crops and the food you prepare from them. 18 "The Lord will curse you by giving you only a few children, poor crops, and few cattle and sheep. 19 "The Lord will curse everything you do. 20 "If you do evil and reject the Lord, he will bring on you disaster, confusion, and trouble in everything you do, until you are quickly and completely destroyed. 21 He will send disease after disease on you until there is not one of you left in the land that you are about to occupy. 22 The Lord will strike you with infectious diseases, with swelling and fever; he will send drought and scorching winds to destroy your crops. These disasters will be with you until you die. 23 No rain will fall, and your ground will become as hard as iron. 24 Instead of rain, the Lord will send down duststorms and sandstorms until you are destroyed.

1294-Ruth 1:20 "Don't call me Naomi," she answered; "call me Marah, because Almighty God has made my life bitter. 21 When I left here, I had plenty, but the Lord has brought me back without a thing. Why call me Naomi when the Lord Almighty has condemned me and sent me trouble?"

1295-Job 1:21 He said, "I was born with nothing, and I will die with nothing. The Lord gave, and now he has taken away. May his name be praised!"

1296-2 Samuel 24:1 On another occasion the Lord was angry with Israel, and he made David bring trouble on them. The Lord said to him, "Go and count the people of Israel and Judah."

1297-1 Chronicles 21:1 Satan wanted to bring trouble on the people of Israel, so he made David decide to take a census.

1298-Job 1:22 In spite of everything that had happened, Job did not sin by blaming God.

1299-Deuteronomy 6:4 "Israel, remember this! The Lord - and the Lord alone - is our God.

1300-Ruth 1:6 Some time later Naomi heard that the Lord had blessed his people by giving them good crops; so she got ready to leave Moab with her daughters-in-law. 7 They started out together to go back to Judah, but on the way 8 she said to them, "Go back home and stay with your mothers. May the Lord be as good to you as you have been to me and to those who have died. 9 And may the Lord make it possible for each of you to marry again and have a home." So Naomi kissed them good-bye. But they started crying 10 and said to her, "No! We will go with you to your people." 11 "You must go back, my daughters," Naomi answered. "Why do you want to come with me? Do you think I could have sons again for you to marry? 12 Go back home, for I am too old to get married again. Even if I thought there was still hope, and so got married tonight and had sons, 13 would you wait until they had grown up? Would this keep you from marrying someone else? No, my daughters, you know that's impossible. The Lord has turned against me, and I feel very sorry for you." 14 Again they started crying. Then Orpah kissed her mother-in-law good-bye and went back home, but Ruth held on to her. 15 So Naomi said to her, "Ruth, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and to her god. Go back home with her." 16 But Ruth answered, "Don't ask me to leave you! Let me go with you. Wherever you go, I will go; wherever you live, I will live. Your people will be my people, and your God will be my God. 17 Wherever you die, I will die, and that is where I will be buried. May the Lord's worst punishment come upon me if I let anything but death separate me from you!" 18 When Naomi saw that Ruth was determined to go with her, she said nothing more.

1301-Ruth 1:16 But Ruth answered, "Don't ask me to leave you! Let me go with you. Wherever you go, I will go; wherever you live, I will live. Your people will be my people, and your God will be my God. 17 Wherever you die, I will die, and that is where I will be buried. May the Lord's worst punishment come upon me if I let anything but death separate me from you!"

1302-Ruth 2:8 Then Boaz said to Ruth, "Let me give you some advice. Don't gather grain anywhere except in this field. Work with the women here; 9 watch them to see where they are reaping and stay with them. I have ordered my men not to molest you. And whenever you are thirsty, go and drink from the water jars that they have filled."

1303-Ruth 2:22 Naomi said to Ruth, "Yes, daughter, it will be better for you to work with the women in Boaz' field. You might be molested if you went to someone else's field."

1304-Judges 19:1 In those days before Israel had a king, there was a Levite living far back in the hill country of Ephraim. He took a young woman from Bethlehem in Judah to be his concubine. 2 But she became angry with him, went back to her father's house in Bethlehem, and stayed there four months. 3 Then the man decided to go after her and try to persuade her to return to him. He took his servant and two donkeys with him. The woman showed the Levite into the house, and when her father saw him, he gave him a hearty greeting. 4 The father insisted that he stay, and so he stayed for three days. The couple had their meals and spent the nights there. 5 On the morning of the fourth day they woke up early and got ready to go. But the woman's father said to the Levite, "Have something to eat first. You'll feel better. You can go later." 6 So the two men sat down and ate and drank together. Then the woman's father told him, "Please spend the night and enjoy yourself." 7 The Levite got up to go, but the father urged him to stay, so he spent another night there. 8 Early in the morning of the fifth day he started to leave, but the woman's father said, "Eat something, please. Wait until later in the day." So the two men ate together. 9 When the man, his concubine, and the servant once more started to leave, the father said, "Look, it's almost evening now; you might as well stay all night. It will be dark soon; stay here and have a good time. Tomorrow you can get up early for the trip and go home." 10 But the man did not want to spend another night there, so he and his concubine started on their way, with their servant and two donkeys with pack saddles. It was late in the day when they came near Jebus (that is, Jerusalem), so the servant said to his master, "Why don't we stop and spend the night here in this Jebusite city?" 12 But his master said, "We're not going to stop in a city where the people are not Israelites. We'll pass on by and go a little farther and spend the night at Gibeah or Ramah." 14 So they passed by Jebus and continued on their way. It was sunset when they came to Gibeah in the territory of the tribe of Benjamin. 15 They turned off the road to go and spend the night there. They went into town and sat down in the city square, but no one offered to take them home for the night. 16 While they were there, an old man came by at the end of a day's work on the farm. He was originally from the hill country of Ephraim, but he was now living in Gibeah. (The other people there were from the tribe of Benjamin.) 17 The old man noticed the traveler in the city square and asked him, "Where do you come from? Where are you going?" 18 The Levite answered, "We have been in Bethlehem in Judah, and now we are on our way home deep in the hill country of Ephraim. No one will put us up for the night, 19 even though we have fodder and straw for our donkeys, as well as bread and wine for my concubine and me and for my servant. We have everything we need." 20 The old man said, "You are welcome in my home! I'll take care of you; you don't have to spend the night in the square." 21 So he took them home with him and fed their donkeys. His guests washed their feet and had a meal. 22 They were enjoying themselves when all of a sudden some sexual perverts from the town surrounded the house and started beating on the door. They said to the old man, "Bring out that man that came home with you! We want to have sex with him!" 23 But the old man went outside and said to them, "No, my friends! Please! Don't do such an evil, immoral thing! This man is my guest. 24 Look! Here is his concubine and my own virgin daughter. I'll bring them out now, and you can have them. Do whatever you want to with them. But don't do such an awful thing to this man!" 25 But the men would not listen to him. So the Levite took his concubine and put her outside with them. They raped her and abused her all night long and didn't stop until morning. 26 At dawn the woman came and fell down at the door of the old man's house, where her husband was. She was still there when daylight came. 27 Her husband got up that morning, and when he opened the door to go on his way, he found his concubine lying in front of the house with her hands reaching for the door. 28 He said, "Get up. Let's go." But there was no answer. So he put her body across the donkey and started on his way home. 29 When he arrived, he went in the house and got a knife. He took his concubine's body, cut it into twelve pieces, and sent one piece to each of the twelve tribes of Israel. 30 Everyone who saw it said, "We have never heard of such a thing! Nothing like this has ever happened since the Israelites left Egypt! We have to do something about this! What will it be?"

1305-Ruth 2:4 Some time later Boaz himself arrived from Bethlehem and greeted the workers. "The Lord be with you!" he said. "The Lord bless you!" they answered. 5 Boaz asked the man in charge, "Who is that young woman?" 6 The man answered, "She is the foreigner who came back from Moab with Naomi. 7 She asked me to let her follow the workers and gather grain. She has been working since early morning and has just now stopped to rest for a while under the shelter."

Ruth 2:10 Ruth bowed down with her face touching the ground, and said to Boaz, "Why should you be so concerned about me? Why should you be so kind to a foreigner?" 11 Boaz answered, "I have heard about everything that you have done for your mother-in-law since your husband died. I know how you left your father and mother and your own country and how you came to live among a people you had never known before. 12 May the Lord reward you for what you have done. May you have a full reward from the Lord God of Israel, to whom you have come for protection!" 13 Ruth answered, "You are very kind to me, sir. You have made me feel better by speaking gently to me, even though I am not the equal of one of your servants." 14 At mealtime Boaz said to Ruth, "Come and have a piece of bread, and dip it in the sauce." So she sat with the workers, and Boaz passed some roasted grain to her. She ate until she was satisfied, and she still had some food left over. 15 After she had left to go and gather grain, Boaz ordered the workers, "Let her gather grain even where the bundles are lying, and don't say anything to stop her. Besides that, pull out some heads of grain from the bundles and leave them for her to pick up." 17 So Ruth gathered grain in the field until evening, and when she had beaten it out, she found she had nearly twenty-five pounds. 18 She took the grain back into town and showed her mother-in-law how much she had gathered. She also gave her the food left over from the meal. 19 Naomi asked her, "Where did you gather all this grain today? Whose field have you been working in? May God bless the man who took an interest in you!" So Ruth told Naomi that she had been working in a field belonging to a man named Boaz. 20 "May the Lord bless Boaz!" Naomi exclaimed. "The Lord always keeps his promises to the living and the dead." And she went on, "That man is a close relative of ours, one of those responsible for taking care of us." 21 Then Ruth said, "Best of all, he told me to keep gathering grain with his workers until they finish the harvest." 22 Naomi said to Ruth, "Yes, daughter, it will be better for you to work with the women in Boaz' field. You might be molested if you went to someone else's field."

1306-Ruth 4:12 May the children that the Lord will give you by this young woman make your family like the family of Perez, the son of Judah and Tamar."

1307-Deuteronomy 25:5 "If two brothers live on the same property and one of them dies, leaving no son, then his widow is not to be married to someone outside the family; it is the duty of the dead man's brother to marry her. 6 The first son that they have will be considered the son of the dead man, so that his family line will continue in Israel. 7 But if the dead man's brother does not want to marry her, she is to go before the town leaders and say, "My husband's brother will not do his duty; he refuses to give his brother a descendant among the people of Israel.' 8 Then the town leaders are to summon him and speak to him. If he still refuses to marry her, 9 his brother's widow is to go up to him in the presence of the town leaders, take off one of his sandals, spit in his face, and say, "This is what happens to the man who refuses to give his brother a descendant.' 10 His family will be known in Israel as "the family of the man who had his sandal pulled off.'

1308-Matthew 22:23 That same day some Sadducees came to Jesus and claimed that people will not rise from death. 24 "Teacher," they said, "Moses said that if a man who has no children dies, his brother must marry the widow so that they can have children who will be considered the dead man's children. 25 Now, there were seven brothers who used to live here. The oldest got married and died without having children, so he left his widow to his brother. 26 The same thing happened to the second brother, to the third, and finally to all seven. 27 Last of all, the woman died. 28 Now, on the day when the dead rise to life, whose wife will she be? All of them had married her."

1309-Leviticus 18:16 or with your brother's wife.

Leviticus 20:21 If a man takes his brother's wife, they will die childless. He has done a ritually unclean thing and has disgraced his brother.

1310-1 Samuel 2:25 If anyone sins against someone else, God can defend the one who is wrong; but who can defend someone who sins against the Lord?" But they would not listen to their father, for the Lord had decided to kill them.

1311-1 Samuel 2:31 Listen, the time is coming when I will kill all the young men in your family and your clan, so that no man in your family will live to be old.

1312-Exodus 4:21; 7:3; 9:1221 Again the Lord said to Moses, "Now that you are going back to Egypt, be sure to perform before the king all the miracles which I have given you the power to do. But I will make the king stubborn, and he will not let the people go.

Exodus 7:3 But I will make the king stubborn, and he will not listen to you, no matter how many terrifying things I do in Egypt. Then I will bring severe punishment on Egypt and lead the tribes of my people out of the land.

Exodus 9:12 But the Lord made the king stubborn and, just as the Lord had said, the king would not listen to Moses and Aaron.

1313-Joshua 11:20 The Lord had made them determined to fight the Israelites, so that they would be condemned to total destruction and all be killed without mercy. This was what the Lord had commanded Moses.

1314-Isaiah 6:9 So he told me to go and give the people this message: "No matter how much you listen, you will not understand. No matter how much you look, you will not know what is happening." 10 Then he said to me, "Make the minds of these people dull, their ears deaf, and their eyes blind, so that they cannot see or hear or understand. If they did, they might turn to me and be healed."

1315-1 Samuel 2:12 The sons of Eli were scoundrels. They paid no attention to the Lord 13 or to the regulations concerning what the priests could demand from the people. Instead, when someone was offering a sacrifice, the priest's servant would come with a three-pronged fork. While the meat was still cooking, 14 he would stick the fork into the cooking pot, and whatever the fork brought out belonged to the priest. All the Israelites who came to Shiloh to offer sacrifices were treated like this. 15 In addition, even before the fat was taken off and burned, the priest's servant would come and say to the one offering the sacrifice, "Give me some meat for the priest to roast; he won't accept boiled meat from you, only raw meat." 16 If the person answered, "Let us do what is right and burn the fat first; then take what you want," the priest's servant would say, "No! Give it to me now! If you don't, I will have to take it by force!" 17 This sin of the sons of Eli was extremely serious in the Lord's sight, because they treated the offerings to the Lord with such disrespect.

1 Samuel 22:1 David fled from the city of Gath and went to a cave near the town of Adullam. When his brothers and the rest of the family heard that he was there, they joined him. 2 People who were oppressed or in debt or dissatisfied went to him, about four hundred men in all, and he became their leader. 3 David went on from there to Mizpah in Moab and said to the king of Moab, "Please let my father and mother come and stay with you until I find out what God is going to do for me." 4 So David left his parents with the king of Moab, and they stayed there as long as David was hiding out in the cave. 5 Then the prophet Gad came to David and said, "Don't stay here; go at once to the land of Judah." So David left and went to the forest of Hereth. 6 One day Saul was in Gibeah, sitting under a tamarisk tree on a hill, with his spear in his hand, and all his officers were standing around him. He was told that David and his men had been located, 7 and he said to his officers, "Listen, men of Benjamin! Do you think that David will give fields and vineyards to all of you, and make you officers in his army? 8 Is that why you are plotting against me? Not one of you told me that my own son had made an alliance with David. No one is concerned about me or tells me that David, one of my own men, is right now looking for a chance to kill me, and that my son has encouraged him!" 9 Doeg was standing there with Saul's officers, and he said, "I saw David when he went to Ahimelech son of Ahitub in Nob. 10 Ahimelech asked the Lord what David should do, and then he gave David some food and the sword of Goliath the Philistine." 11 So King Saul sent for the priest Ahimelech and all his relatives, who were also priests in Nob, and they came to him. 12 Saul said to Ahimelech, "Listen, Ahimelech!" "At your service, sir," he answered. 13 Saul asked him, "Why are you and David plotting against me? Why did you give him some food and a sword, and consult God for him? Now he has turned against me and is waiting for a chance to kill me!" 14 Ahimelech answered, "David is the most faithful officer you have! He is your own son-in-law, captain of your bodyguard, and highly respected by everyone in the royal court. 15 Yes, I consulted God for him, and it wasn't the first time. As for plotting against you, Your Majesty must not accuse me or anyone else in my family. I don't know anything about this matter!" 16 The king said, "Ahimelech, you and all your relatives must die." 17 Then he said to the guards standing near him, "Kill the Lord's priests! They conspired with David and did not tell me that he had run away, even though they knew it all along." But the guards refused to lift a hand to kill the Lord's priests. 18 So Saul said to Doeg, "You kill them!" - and Doeg killed them all. On that day he killed eighty-five priests who were qualified to carry the ephod. 19 Saul also had all the other inhabitants of Nob, the city of priests, put to death: men and women, children and babies, cattle, donkeys, and sheep - they were all killed. 20 But Abiathar, one of Ahimelech's sons, escaped, and went and joined David. 21 He told him how Saul had slaughtered the priests of the Lord. 22 David said to him, "When I saw Doeg there that day, I knew that he would be sure to tell Saul. So I am responsible for the death of all your relatives. 23 Stay with me and don't be afraid. Saul wants to kill both you and me, but you will be safe with me."

1 Samuel 23:1 David heard that the Philistines were attacking the town of Keilah and were stealing the newly harvested grain. 2 So he asked the Lord, "Shall I go and attack the Philistines?" "Yes," the Lord answered. "Attack them and save Keilah." 3 But David's men said to him, "We have enough to be afraid of here in Judah; it will be much worse if we go to Keilah and attack the Philistine forces!" 4 So David consulted the Lord again, and the Lord said to him, "Go and attack Keilah, because I will give you victory over the Philistines." 5 So David and his men went to Keilah and attacked the Philistines; they killed many of them and took their livestock. And so it was that David saved the town. 6 When Abiathar son of Ahimelech escaped and joined David in Keilah, he took the ephod with him. 7 Saul was told that David had gone to Keilah, and he said, "God has put him in my power. David has trapped himself by going into a walled town with fortified gates." 8 So Saul called his troops to war, to march against Keilah and besiege David and his men. 9 When David heard that Saul was planning to attack him, he said to the priest Abiathar, "Bring the ephod here." 10 Then David said, "Lord, God of Israel, I have heard that Saul is planning to come to Keilah and destroy it on account of me, your servant. 11 Will the citizens of Keilah hand me over to Saul? Will Saul really come, as I have heard? Lord, God of Israel, I beg you to answer me!" The Lord answered, "Saul will come." 12 "And will the citizens of Keilah hand my men and me over to Saul?" David asked again. "They will," the Lord answered. 13 So David and his men - about six hundred in all - left Keilah at once and kept on the move. When Saul heard that David had escaped from Keilah, he gave up his plan. 14 David stayed in hiding in the hill country, in the wilderness near Ziph. Saul was always trying to find him, but God did not turn David over to him. 15 David saw that Saul was out to kill him. David was at Horesh, in the wilderness near Ziph. 16 Jonathan went to him there and encouraged him with assurances of God's protection, 17 saying to him, "Don't be afraid. My father Saul won't be able to harm you. He knows very well that you are the one who will be the king of Israel and that I will be next in rank to you." 18 The two of them made a sacred promise of friendship to each other. David stayed at Horesh, and Jonathan went home. 19 Some people from Ziph went to Saul at Gibeah and said, "David is hiding out in our territory at Horesh on Mount Hachilah, in the southern part of the Judean wilderness. 20 We know, Your Majesty, how much you want to capture him; so come to our territory, and we will make sure that you catch him." 21 Saul answered, "May the Lord bless you for being so kind to me! 22 Go and make sure once more; find out for certain where he is and who has seen him there. I hear that he is very cunning. 23 Find out exactly the places where he hides, and be sure to bring back a report to me right away. Then I will go with you, and if he is still in the region, I will hunt him down, even if I have to search the whole land of Judah." 24 So they left and returned to Ziph ahead of Saul. David and his men were in the wilderness of Maon, in a desolate valley in the southern part of the Judean wilderness. 25 Saul and his men set out to look for David, but he heard about it and went to a rocky hill in the wilderness of Maon and stayed there. When Saul heard about this, he went after David. 26 Saul and his men were on one side of the hill, separated from David and his men, who were on the other side. They were hurrying to get away from Saul and his men, who were closing in on them and were about to capture them. 27 Just then a messenger arrived and said to Saul, "Come back at once! The Philistines are invading the country!" 28 So Saul stopped pursuing David and went to fight the Philistines. That is why that place is called Separation Hill. 29 David left and went to the region of Engedi, where he stayed in hiding.

1 Samuel 24:1 When Saul came back from fighting the Philistines, he was told that David was in the wilderness near Engedi. 2 Saul took three thousand of the best soldiers in Israel and went looking for David and his men east of Wild Goat Rocks. 3 He came to a cave close to some sheep pens by the road and went in to relieve himself. It happened to be the very cave in which David and his men were hiding far back in the cave. 4 They said to him, "This is your chance! The Lord has told you that he would put your enemy in your power and you could do to him whatever you wanted to." David crept over and cut off a piece of Saul's robe without Saul's knowing it. 5 But then David's conscience began to hurt, 6 and he said to his men, "May the Lord keep me from doing any harm to my master, whom the Lord chose as king! I must not harm him in the least, because he is the king chosen by the Lord!" 7 So David convinced his men that they should not attack Saul. Saul got up, left the cave, and started away. 8 Then David went out after him and called to him, "Your Majesty!" Saul turned around, and David bowed down to the ground in respect 9 and said, "Why do you listen to people who say that I am trying to harm you? 10 You can see for yourself that just now in the cave the Lord put you in my power. Some of my men told me to kill you, but I felt sorry for you and said that I would not harm you in the least, because you are the one whom the Lord chose to be king. 11 Look, my father, look at the piece of your robe I am holding! I could have killed you, but instead I only cut this off. This should convince you that I have no thought of rebelling against you or of harming you. You are hunting me down to kill me, even though I have not done you any wrong. 12 May the Lord judge which one of us is wrong! May he punish you for your action against me, for I will not harm you in the least. 13 You know the old saying, "Evil is done only by evil people.' And so I will not harm you. 14 Look at what the king of Israel is trying to kill! Look at what he is chasing! A dead dog, a flea! 15 The Lord will judge, and he will decide which one of us is wrong. May he look into the matter, defend me, and save me from you." 16 When David had finished speaking, Saul said, "Is that really you, David my son?" And he started crying. 17 Then he said to David, "You are right, and I am wrong. You have been so good to me, while I have done such wrong to you! 18 Today you have shown how good you are to me, because you did not kill me, even though the Lord put me in your power. 19 How often does someone catch an enemy and then let him get away unharmed? The Lord bless you for what you have done to me today! 20 Now I am sure that you will be king of Israel and that the kingdom will continue under your rule. 21 But promise me in the Lord's name that you will spare my descendants, so that my name and my family's name will not be completely forgotten." 22 David promised that he would. Then Saul went back home, and David and his men went back to their hiding place.

1 Samuel 25:1 Samuel died, and all the Israelites came together and mourned for him. Then they buried him at his home in Ramah. After this, David went to the wilderness of Paran. 2 There was a man of the clan of Caleb named Nabal, who was from the town of Maon, and who owned land near the town of Carmel. He was a very rich man, the owner of three thousand sheep and one thousand goats. His wife Abigail was beautiful and intelligent, but he was a mean, bad-tempered man. Nabal was shearing his sheep in Carmel, 4 and David, who was in the wilderness, heard about it, 5 so he sent ten young men with orders to go to Carmel, find Nabal, and give him his greetings. 6 He instructed them to say to Nabal: "David sends you greetings, my friend, with his best wishes for you, your family, and all that is yours. 7 He heard that you were shearing your sheep, and he wants you to know that your shepherds have been with us and we did not harm them. Nothing that belonged to them was stolen all the time they were at Carmel. 8 Just ask them, and they will tell you. We have come on a feast day, and David asks you to receive us kindly. Please give what you can to us your servants and to your dear friend David." 9 David's men delivered this message to Nabal in David's name. Then they waited there, 10 and Nabal finally answered, "David? Who is he? I've never heard of him! The country is full of runaway slaves nowadays! 11 I'm not going to take my bread and water, and the animals I have butchered for my sheepshearers, and give them to people who come from I don't know where!" 12 David's men went back to him and told him what Nabal had said. 13 "Buckle on your swords!" he ordered, and they all did. David also buckled on his sword and left with about four hundred of his men, leaving two hundred behind with the supplies. 14 One of Nabal's servants said to Nabal's wife Abigail, "Have you heard? David sent some messengers from the wilderness with greetings for our master, but he insulted them. 15 Yet they were very good to us; they never bothered us, and all the time we were with them in the fields, nothing that belonged to us was stolen. 16 They protected us day and night the whole time we were with them looking after our flocks. 17 Please think this over and decide what to do. This could be disastrous for our master and all his family. He is so mean that he won't listen to anybody!" 18 Abigail quickly gathered two hundred loaves of bread, two leather bags full of wine, five roasted sheep, two bushels of roasted grain, a hundred bunches of raisins, and two hundred cakes of dried figs, and loaded them on donkeys. 19 Then she said to the servants, "You go on ahead and I will follow you." But she said nothing to her husband. 20 She was riding her donkey around a bend on a hillside when suddenly she met David and his men coming toward her. 21 David had been thinking, "Why did I ever protect that fellow's property out here in the wilderness? Not a thing that belonged to him was stolen, and this is how he pays me back for the help I gave him! 22 May God strike me dead if I don't kill every last one of those men before morning!" 23 When Abigail saw David, she quickly dismounted and threw herself on the ground 24 at David's feet, and said to him, "Please, sir, listen to me! Let me take the blame. 25 Please, don't pay any attention to Nabal, that good-for-nothing! He is exactly what his name means - a fool! I wasn't there when your servants arrived, sir. 26 It is the Lord who has kept you from taking revenge and killing your enemies. And now I swear to you by the living Lord that your enemies and all who want to harm you will be punished like Nabal. 27 Please, sir, accept this present I have brought you, and give it to your men. 28 Please forgive me, sir, for any wrong I have done. The Lord will make you king, and your descendants also, because you are fighting his battles; and you will not do anything evil as long as you live. 29 If anyone should attack you and try to kill you, the Lord your God will keep you safe, as someone guards a precious treasure. As for your enemies, however, he will throw them away, as someone hurls stones with a sling. 30 And when the Lord has done all the good things he has promised you and has made you king of Israel, 31 then you will not have to feel regret or remorse, sir, for having killed without cause or for having taken your own revenge. And when the Lord has blessed you, sir, please do not forget me." 32 David said to her, "Praise the Lord, the God of Israel, who sent you today to meet me! 33 Thank God for your good sense and for what you have done today in keeping me from the crime of murder and from taking my own revenge. 34 The Lord has kept me from harming you. But I swear by the living God of Israel that if you had not hurried to meet me, all of Nabal's men would have been dead by morning!" 35 Then David accepted what she had brought him and said to her, "Go back home and don't worry. I will do what you want." 36 Abigail went back to Nabal, who was at home having a feast fit for a king. He was drunk and in a good mood, so she did not tell him anything until the next morning. 37 Then, after he had sobered up, she told him everything. He suffered a stroke and was completely paralyzed. 38 Some ten days later the Lord struck Nabal and he died. 39 When David heard that Nabal had died, he said, "Praise the Lord! He has taken revenge on Nabal for insulting me and has kept me his servant from doing wrong. The Lord has punished Nabal for his evil." Then David sent a proposal of marriage to Abigail. 40 His servants went to her at Carmel and said to her, "David sent us to take you to him to be his wife." 41 Abigail bowed down to the ground and said, "I am his servant, ready to wash the feet of his servants." 42 She rose quickly and mounted her donkey. Accompanied by her five maids, she went with David's servants and became his wife. 43 David had married Ahinoam from Jezreel, and now Abigail also became his wife. 44 Meanwhile, Saul had given his daughter Michal, who had been David's wife, to Palti son of Laish, who was from the town of Gallim.

1 Samuel 27:1 David said to himself, "One of these days Saul will kill me. The best thing for me to do is to escape to Philistia. Then Saul will give up looking for me in Israel, and I will be safe." 2 So David and his six hundred men went over at once to Achish son of Maoch, king of Gath. 3 David and his men settled there in Gath with their families. David had his two wives with him, Ahinoam from Jezreel, and Abigail, Nabal's widow, from Carmel. 4 When Saul heard that David had fled to Gath, he gave up trying to find him. 5 David said to Achish, "If you are my friend, let me have a small town to live in. There is no need, sir, for me to live with you in the capital city." 6 So Achish gave him the town of Ziklag, and for this reason Ziklag has belonged to the kings of Judah ever since. 7 David lived in Philistia for sixteen months. 8 During that time David and his men would attack the people of Geshur, Girzi, and Amalek, who had been living in the region a very long time. He would raid their land as far as Shur, all the way down to Egypt, 9 killing all the men and women and taking the sheep, cattle, donkeys, camels, and even the clothes. Then he would come back to Achish, 10 who would ask him, "Where did you go on a raid this time?" and David would tell him that he had gone to the southern part of Judah or to the territory of the clan of Jerahmeel or to the territory where the Kenites lived. 11 David would kill everyone, men and women, so that no one could go back to Gath and report what he and his men had really done. This is what David did the whole time he lived in Philistia. 12 But Achish trusted David and said to himself, "He is hated so much by his own people the Israelites that he will have to serve me all his life."

1 Samuel 28:1 Some time later the Philistines gathered their troops to fight Israel, and Achish said to David, "Of course you understand that you and your men are to fight on my side." 2 "Of course," David answered. "I am your servant, and you will see for yourself what I can do." Achish said, "Good! I will make you my permanent bodyguard." 3 Now Samuel had died, and all the Israelites had mourned for him and had buried him in his hometown of Ramah. Saul had forced all the fortunetellers and mediums to leave Israel. 4 The Philistine troops assembled and camped near the town of Shunem; Saul gathered the Israelites and camped at Mount Gilboa. 5 When Saul saw the Philistine army, he was terrified, 6 and so he asked the Lord what to do. But the Lord did not answer him at all, either by dreams or by the use of Urim and Thummim or by prophets. 7 Then Saul ordered his officials, "Find me a woman who is a medium, and I will go and consult her." "There is one in Endor," they answered. 8 So Saul disguised himself; he put on different clothes, and after dark he went with two of his men to see the woman. "Consult the spirits for me and tell me what is going to happen," he said to her. "Call up the spirit of the man I name." 9 The woman answered, "Surely you know what King Saul has done, how he forced the fortunetellers and mediums to leave Israel. Why, then, are you trying to trap me and get me killed?" 10 Then Saul made a sacred vow. "By the living Lord I promise that you will not be punished for doing this," he told her. 11 "Whom shall I call up for you?" the woman asked. "Samuel," he answered. 12 When the woman saw Samuel, she screamed and said to Saul, "Why have you tricked me? You are King Saul!" 13 "Don't be afraid!" the king said to her. "What do you see?" "I see a spirit coming up from the earth," she answered. 14 "What does it look like?" he asked. "It's an old man coming up," she answered. "He is wearing a cloak." Then Saul knew that it was Samuel, and he bowed to the ground in respect. 15 Samuel said to Saul, "Why have you disturbed me? Why did you make me come back?" Saul answered, "I am in great trouble! The Philistines are at war with me, and God has abandoned me. He doesn't answer me any more, either by prophets or by dreams. And so I have called you, for you to tell me what I must do." 16 Samuel said, "Why do you call me when the Lord has abandoned you and become your enemy? 17 The Lord has done to you what he told you through me: he has taken the kingdom away from you and given it to David instead. 18 You disobeyed the Lord's command and did not completely destroy the Amalekites and all they had. That is why the Lord is doing this to you now. 19 He will give you and Israel over to the Philistines. Tomorrow you and your sons will join me, and the Lord will also give the army of Israel over to the Philistines." 20 At once Saul fell down and lay stretched out on the ground, terrified by what Samuel had said. He was weak, because he had not eaten anything all day and all night. 21 The woman went over to him and saw that he was terrified, so she said to him, "Please, sir, I risked my life by doing what you asked. 22 Now please do what I ask. Let me fix you some food. You must eat so that you will be strong enough to travel." 23 Saul refused and said he would not eat anything. But his officers also urged him to eat. He finally gave in, got up from the ground, and sat on the bed. 24 The woman quickly killed a calf which she had been fattening. Then she took some flour, prepared it, and baked some bread without yeast. 25 She set the food before Saul and his officers, and they ate it. And they left that same night.

1 Samuel 29:1 The Philistines brought all their troops together at Aphek, while the Israelites camped at the spring in Jezreel Valley. 2 The five Philistine kings marched out with their units of a hundred and of a thousand men; David and his men marched in the rear with King Achish. 3 The Philistine commanders saw them and asked, "What are these Hebrews doing here?" Achish answered, "This is David, an official of King Saul of Israel. He has been with me for quite some time now. He has done nothing I can find fault with since the day he came over to me." 4 But the Philistine commanders were angry with Achish and said to him, "Send that fellow back to the town you gave him. Don't let him go into battle with us; he might turn against us during the fighting. What better way is there for him to win back his master's favor than by the death of our men? 5 After all, this is David, the one about whom the women sang, as they danced, "Saul has killed thousands, but David has killed tens of thousands.' " 6 Achish called David and said to him, "I swear by the living God of Israel that you have been loyal to me; and I would be pleased to have you go with me and fight in this battle. I have not found any fault in you from the day you came over to me. But the other kings don't approve of you. 7 So go back home in peace, and don't do anything that would displease them." 8 David answered, "What have I done wrong, sir? If, as you say, you haven't found any fault in me since the day I started serving you, why shouldn't I go with you, my master and king, and fight your enemies?" 9 "I agree," Achish replied. "I consider you as loyal as an angel of God. But the other kings have said that you can't go with us into battle. 10 So then, David, tomorrow morning all of you who left Saul and came over to me will have to get up early and leave as soon as it's light." 11 So David and his men started out early the following morning to go back to Philistia, and the Philistines went on to Jezreel.

1 Samuel 30:1 Two days later David and his men arrived back at Ziklag. The Amalekites had raided southern Judah and attacked Ziklag. They had burned down the town 2 and captured all the women; they had not killed anyone, but had taken everyone with them when they left. 3 When David and his men arrived, they found that the town had been burned down and that their wives, sons, and daughters had been carried away. 4 David and his men started crying and did not stop until they were completely exhausted. 5 Even David's two wives, Ahinoam and Abigail, had been taken away. 6 David was now in great trouble, because his men were all very bitter about losing their children, and they were threatening to stone him; but the Lord his God gave him courage. 7 David said to the priest Abiathar son of Ahimelech, "Bring me the ephod," and Abiathar brought it to him. 8 David asked the Lord, "Shall I go after those raiders? And will I catch them?" He answered, "Go after them; you will catch them and rescue the captives." 9 So David and his six hundred men started out, and when they arrived at Besor Brook, some of them stayed there. 10 David continued on his way with four hundred men; the other two hundred men were too tired to cross the brook and so stayed behind. 11 The men with David found a young Egyptian out in the country and brought him to David. They gave him some food and water, 12 some dried figs, and two bunches of raisins. After he had eaten, his strength returned; he had not had anything to eat or drink for three full days. 13 David asked him, "Who is your master, and where are you from?" "I am an Egyptian, the slave of an Amalekite," he answered. "My master left me behind three days ago because I got sick. 14 We had raided the territory of the Cherethites in the southern part of Judah and the territory of the clan of Caleb, and we burned down Ziklag." 15 "Will you lead me to those raiders?" David asked him. He answered, "I will if you promise me in God's name that you will not kill me or hand me over to my master." 16 And he led David to them. The raiders were scattered all over the place, eating, drinking, and celebrating because of the enormous amount of loot they had captured from Philistia and Judah. 17 At dawn the next day David attacked them and fought until evening. Except for four hundred young men who mounted camels and got away, none of them escaped. 18 David rescued everyone and everything the Amalekites had taken, including his two wives; 19 nothing at all was missing. David got back all his men's sons and daughters, and all the loot the Amalekites had taken. 20 He also recovered all the flocks and herds; his men drove all the livestock in front of them and said, "This belongs to David!" 21 Then David went back to the two hundred men who had been too weak to go with him and had stayed behind at Besor Brook. They came forward to meet David and his men, and David went up to them and greeted them warmly. 22 But some mean and worthless men who had gone with David said, "They didn't go with us, and so we won't give them any of the loot. They can take their wives and children and go away." 23 But David answered, "My brothers, you can't do this with what the Lord has given us! He kept us safe and gave us victory over the raiders. 24 No one can agree with what you say! All must share alike: whoever stays behind with the supplies gets the same share as the one who goes into battle." 25 David made this a rule, and it has been followed in Israel ever since. 26 When David returned to Ziklag, he sent part of the loot to his friends, the leaders of Judah, with the message, "Here is a present for you from the loot we took from the Lord's enemies." 27 He sent it to the people in Bethel, to the people in Ramah in the southern part of Judah, and to the people in the towns of Jattir, 28 Aroer, Siphmoth, Eshtemoa, 29 and Racal; to the clan of Jerahmeel, to the Kenites, 30 and to the people in the towns of Hormah, Borashan, Athach, 31 and Hebron. He sent it to all the places where he and his men had roamed.

1 Samuel 31:1 The Philistines fought a battle against the Israelites on Mount Gilboa. Many Israelites were killed there, and the rest of them, including King Saul and his sons, fled. 2 But the Philistines caught up with them and killed three of Saul's sons, Jonathan, Abinadab, and Malchishua. 3 The fighting was heavy around Saul, and he himself was hit by enemy arrows and badly wounded. 4 He said to the young man carrying his weapons, "Draw your sword and kill me, so that these godless Philistines won't gloat over me and kill me." But the young man was too terrified to do it. So Saul took his own sword and threw himself on it. 5 The young man saw that Saul was dead, so he too threw himself on his own sword and died with Saul. 6 And that is how Saul, his three sons, and the young man died; all of Saul's men died that day. 7 When the Israelites on the other side of Jezreel Valley and east of the Jordan River heard that the Israelite army had fled and that Saul and his sons had been killed, they abandoned their towns and fled. Then the Philistines came and occupied the towns. 8 The day after the battle the Philistines went to plunder the corpses, and they found the bodies of Saul and his three sons lying on Mount Gilboa. 9 They cut off Saul's head, stripped off his armor, and sent messengers with them throughout Philistia to tell the good news to their idols and to their people. 10 Then they put his weapons in the temple of the goddess Astarte, and they nailed his body to the wall of the city of Beth Shan. 11 When the people of Jabesh in Gilead heard what the Philistines had done to Saul, 12 the bravest men started out and marched all night to Beth Shan. They took down the bodies of Saul and his sons from the wall, brought them back to Jabesh, and burned them there. 13 Then they took the bones and buried them under the tamarisk tree in town, and fasted for seven days.

1316-1 Samuel 2:25 If anyone sins against someone else, God can defend the one who is wrong; but who can defend someone who sins against the Lord?" But they would not listen to their father, for the Lord had decided to kill them.

1317-1 Samuel 4:11 God's Covenant Box was captured, and Eli's sons, Hophni and Phinehas, were both killed.

1318-1 Chronicles 10:13 Saul died because he was unfaithful to the Lord. He disobeyed the Lord's commands; he tried to find guidance by consulting the spirits of the dead 14 instead of consulting the Lord. So the Lord killed him and gave control of the kingdom to David son of Jesse.

1319-1 Samuel 25:36 Abigail went back to Nabal, who was at home having a feast fit for a king. He was drunk and in a good mood, so she did not tell him anything until the next morning. 37 Then, after he had sobered up, she told him everything. He suffered a stroke and was completely paralyzed. 38 Some ten days later the Lord struck Nabal and he died. 39 When David heard that Nabal had died, he said, "Praise the Lord! He has taken revenge on Nabal for insulting me and has kept me his servant from doing wrong. The Lord has punished Nabal for his evil." Then David sent a proposal of marriage to Abigail.

1320-Genesis 38:7 Er's conduct was evil, and it displeased the Lord, so the Lord killed him.

Genesis 38:10 What he did displeased the Lord, and the Lord killed him also.

1321-Genesis 6:1 When people had spread all over the world, and daughters were being born, 2 some of the heavenly beings saw that these young women were beautiful, so they took the ones they liked. 3 Then the Lord said, "I will not allow people to live forever; they are mortal. From now on they will live no longer than 120 years." 4 In those days, and even later, there were giants on the earth who were descendants of human women and the heavenly beings. They were the great heroes and famous men of long ago. 5 When the Lord saw how wicked everyone on earth was and how evil their thoughts were all the time, 6 he was sorry that he had ever made them and put them on the earth. He was so filled with regret 7 that he said, "I will wipe out these people I have created, and also the animals and the birds, because I am sorry that I made any of them." 8 But the Lord was pleased with Noah. 9 This is the story of Noah. He had three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth. Noah had no faults and was the only good man of his time. He lived in fellowship with God, 10 11 but everyone else was evil in God's sight, and violence had spread everywhere. 12 God looked at the world and saw that it was evil, for the people were all living evil lives. 13 God said to Noah, "I have decided to put an end to all people. I will destroy them completely, because the world is full of their violent deeds. 14 Build a boat for yourself out of good timber; make rooms in it and cover it with tar inside and out. 15 Make it 450 feet long, 75 feet wide, and 45 feet high. 16 Make a roof for the boat and leave a space of 18 inches between the roof and the sides. Build it with three decks and put a door in the side. 17 I am going to send a flood on the earth to destroy every living being. Everything on the earth will die, 18 but I will make a covenant with you. Go into the boat with your wife, your sons, and their wives. 19 Take into the boat with you a male and a female of every kind of animal and of every kind of bird, in order to keep them alive. 20 21 Take along all kinds of food for you and for them." 22 Noah did everything that God commanded.

1322-Exodus 12:26 When your children ask you, "What does this ritual mean?' 27 you will answer, "It is the sacrifice of Passover to honor the Lord, because he passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt. He killed the Egyptians, but spared us.' " The Israelites knelt down and worshiped. 28 Then they went and did what the Lord had commanded Moses and Aaron. 29 At midnight the Lord killed all the first-born sons in Egypt, from the king's son, who was heir to the throne, to the son of the prisoner in the dungeon; all the first-born of the animals were also killed.

Exodus 13:15 When the king of Egypt was stubborn and refused to let us go, the Lord killed every first-born male in the land of Egypt, both human and animal. That is why we sacrifice every first-born male animal to the Lord, but buy back our first-born sons.

1323-Numbers 3:11 The Lord said to Moses, 12 "The Levites are now to be mine. When I killed all the first-born of the Egyptians, I consecrated as my own the oldest son of each Israelite family and the first-born of every animal. Now, instead of having the first-born sons of Israel as my own, I have the Levites; they will belong to me. I am the Lord." 14 In the Sinai Desert the Lord commanded Moses 15 to register the Levites by clans and families, enrolling every male a month old or older, 16 and Moses did so. 17 Levi had three sons: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari, who were the ancestors of the clans that bear their names. Gershon had two sons: Libni and Shimei; Kohath had four sons: Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel; and Merari had two sons: Mahli and Mushi. They were the ancestors of the families that bear their names. 21 The clan of Gershon was composed of the families of Libni and Shimei. 22 The total number of males one month old or older that were enrolled was 7,500. 23 This clan was to camp on the west behind the Tent, 24 with Eliasaph son of Lael as chief of the clan. 25 They were responsible for the Tent, its inner cover, its outer cover, the curtain for the entrance, 26 the curtains for the court which is around the Tent and the altar, and the curtain for the entrance of the court. They were responsible for all the service connected with these items. 27 The clan of Kohath was composed of the families of Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel. 28 The total number of males one month old or older that were enrolled was 8,600. 29 This clan was to camp on the south side of the Tent, 30 with Elizaphan son of Uzziel as chief of the clan. 31 They were responsible for the Covenant Box, the table, the lampstand, the altars, the utensils the priests use in the Holy Place, and the curtain at the entrance to the Most Holy Place. They were responsible for all the service connected with these items. 32 The chief of the Levites was Eleazar son of Aaron the priest. He was in charge of those who carried out the duties in the Holy Place. 33 The clan of Merari was composed of the families of Mahli and Mushi. 34 The total number of males one month old or older that were enrolled was 6,200. 35 This clan was to camp on the north side of the Tent, with Zuriel son of Abihail as chief of the clan. 36 They were assigned responsibility for the frames for the Tent, its bars, posts, bases, and all its fittings. They were responsible for all the service connected with these items. 37 They were also responsible for the posts, bases, pegs, and ropes for the outer court. 38 Moses and Aaron and his sons were to camp in front of the Tent on the east. They were responsible for carrying out the services performed in the Holy Place for the people of Israel. Anyone else who tried to do so was to be put to death. 39 The total number of all the Levite males one month old or older that Moses enrolled by clans at the command of the Lord, was 22,000. 40 The Lord said to Moses, "All of Israel's first-born sons belong to me. So register by name every first-born male Israelite, one month old or older. But in place of them I claim all the Levites as mine! I am the Lord! I also claim the livestock of the Levites in place of all the first-born of the livestock." 42 Moses obeyed, and registered all the first-born males 43 one month old or older; the total was 22,273. 44 The Lord said to Moses, 45 "Now dedicate the Levites as mine in place of all the first-born Israelite sons, and dedicate the livestock of the Levites in place of the first-born of the Israelites' livestock. 46 Since the first-born Israelite sons outnumber the Levites by 273, you must buy back the extra sons.

Numbers 33:4 who were burying the first-born sons that the Lord had killed. By doing this, the Lord showed that he was more powerful than the gods of Egypt.

1324-Leviticus 10:2 Suddenly the Lord sent fire, and it burned them to death there in the presence of the Lord.

Leviticus 16:1 The Lord spoke to Moses after the death of the two sons of Aaron who were killed when they offered unholy fire to the Lord.

1325-Numbers 3:4 but Nadab and Abihu were killed when they offered unholy fire to the Lord in the Sinai Desert. They had no children, so Eleazar and Ithamar served as priests during Aaron's lifetime.

1326-Joshua 11:6 The Lord said to Joshua, "Do not be afraid of them. By this time tomorrow I will have killed all of them for Israel. You are to cripple their horses and burn their chariots."

1327-Judges 14:19 Suddenly the power of the Lord made him strong, and he went down to Ashkelon, where he killed thirty men, stripped them, and gave their fine clothes to the men who had solved the riddle. After that, he went back home, furious about what had happened,

1328-1 Samuel 6:19 The Lord killed seventy of the men of Beth Shemesh because they looked inside the Covenant Box. And the people mourned because the Lord had caused such a great slaughter among them.

1329-1 Samuel 10:1 Then Samuel took a jar of olive oil and poured it on Saul's head, kissed him, and said, "The Lord anoints you as ruler of his people Israel. You will rule his people and protect them from all their enemies. And this is the proof to you that the Lord has chosen you to be the ruler of his people: 2 When you leave me today, you will meet two men near Rachel's tomb at Zelzah in the territory of Benjamin. They will tell you that the donkeys you were looking for have been found, so that your father isn't worried any more about them but about you, and he keeps asking, "What shall I do about my son?' 3 You will go on from there until you come to the sacred tree at Tabor, where you will meet three men on their way to offer a sacrifice to God at Bethel. One of them will be leading three young goats, another one will be carrying three loaves of bread, and the third one will have a leather bag full of wine. 4 They will greet you and offer you two of the loaves, which you are to accept. 5 Then you will go to the Hill of God in Gibeah, where there is a Philistine camp. At the entrance to the town you will meet a group of prophets coming down from the altar on the hill, playing harps, drums, flutes, and lyres. They will be dancing and shouting. 6 Suddenly the spirit of the Lord will take control of you, and you will join in their religious dancing and shouting and will become a different person. 7 When these things happen, do whatever God leads you to do. 8 You will go ahead of me to Gilgal, where I will meet you and offer burnt sacrifices and fellowship sacrifices. Wait there seven days until I come and tell you what to do." 9 When Saul turned to leave Samuel, God gave Saul a new nature. And everything Samuel had told him happened that day.

1 Samuel 10:22 they asked the Lord, "Is there still someone else?" The Lord answered, "Saul is over there, hiding behind the supplies."

1 Samuel 10:22 they asked the Lord, "Is there still someone else?" The Lord answered, "Saul is over there, hiding behind the supplies."

1 Samuel 23:9 When David heard that Saul was planning to attack him, he said to the priest Abiathar, "Bring the ephod here." 10 Then David said, "Lord, God of Israel, I have heard that Saul is planning to come to Keilah and destroy it on account of me, your servant. 11 Will the citizens of Keilah hand me over to Saul? Will Saul really come, as I have heard? Lord, God of Israel, I beg you to answer me!" The Lord answered, "Saul will come." 12 "And will the citizens of Keilah hand my men and me over to Saul?" David asked again. "They will," the Lord answered. 13 So David and his men - about six hundred in all - left Keilah at once and kept on the move. When Saul heard that David had escaped from Keilah, he gave up his plan.

1330-2 Samuel 2:1 After this, David asked the Lord, "Shall I go and take control of one of the towns of Judah?" "Yes," the Lord answered. "Which one?" David asked. "Hebron," the Lord said. 2 So David went to Hebron, taking with him his two wives: Ahinoam, who was from Jezreel, and Abigail, Nabal's widow, who was from Carmel. 3 He also took his men and their families, and they settled in the towns around Hebron. 4 Then the men of Judah came to Hebron and anointed David as king of Judah. When David heard that the people of Jabesh in Gilead had buried Saul, 5 he sent some men there with the message: "May the Lord bless you for showing your loyalty to your king by burying him. 6 And now may the Lord be kind and faithful to you. I too will treat you well because of what you have done. 7 Be strong and brave! Saul your king is dead, and the people of Judah have anointed me as their king."

1331-1 Samuel 2:30; 15:10,11,29,35; 26:1930 I, the Lord God of Israel, promised in the past that your family and your clan would serve me as priests for all time. But now I say that I won't have it any longer! Instead, I will honor those who honor me, and I will treat with contempt those who despise me.

1 Samuel 15:10 The Lord said to Samuel, 11 "I am sorry that I made Saul king; he has turned away from me and disobeyed my commands." Samuel was angry, and all night long he pleaded with the Lord.

1 Samuel 15:29 Israel's majestic God does not lie or change his mind. He is not a human being - he does not change his mind."

1 Samuel 15:35 As long as Samuel lived, he never again saw the king; but he grieved over him. The Lord was sorry that he had made Saul king of Israel.

1 Samuel 26:19 Your Majesty, listen to what I have to say. If it is the Lord who has turned you against me, an offering to him will make him change his mind; but if some people have done it, may the Lord's curse fall on them. For they have driven me out from the Lord's land to a country where I can only worship foreign gods.

1332-Genesis 6:6 he was sorry that he had ever made them and put them on the earth. He was so filled with regret 7 that he said, "I will wipe out these people I have created, and also the animals and the birds, because I am sorry that I made any of them."

1333-Exodus 32:14 So the Lord changed his mind and did not bring on his people the disaster he had threatened.

1334-Numbers 23:19 God is not like people, who lie; He is not a human who changes his mind. Whatever he promises, he does; He speaks, and it is done. 20 I have been instructed to bless, And when God blesses, I cannot call it back.

1335-Judges 2:18 Whenever the Lord gave Israel a leader, the Lord would help that leader and would save the people from their enemies as long as that leader lived. The Lord would have mercy on them because they groaned under their suffering and oppression.

1336-2 Samuel 24:16 When the Lord's angel was about to destroy Jerusalem, the Lord changed his mind about punishing the people and said to the angel who was killing them, "Stop! That's enough!" The angel was by the threshing place of Araunah, a Jebusite.

1337-1 Chronicles 21:14 So the Lord sent an epidemic on the people of Israel, and seventy thousand of them died.

1338-Jeremiah 26:19 King Hezekiah and the people of Judah did not put Micah to death. Instead, Hezekiah honored the Lord and tried to win his favor. And the Lord changed his mind about the disaster that he said he would bring on them. Now we are about to bring a terrible disaster on ourselves."

1339-Amos 7:3 The Lord changed his mind and said, "What you saw will not take place."

Amos 7:6 The Lord changed his mind again and said, "This will not take place either."

1340-Jonah 3:10 God saw what they did; he saw that they had given up their wicked behavior. So he changed his mind and did not punish them as he had said he would.

1341-Deuteronomy 10:17 The Lord your God is supreme over all gods and over all powers. He is great and mighty, and he is to be obeyed. He does not show partiality, and he does not accept bribes.

1342-1Samuel 15:29 Israel's majestic God does not lie or change his mind. He is not a human being - he does not change his mind."

1343-Isaiah 40:8 Yes, grass withers and flowers fade, but the word of our God endures forever."

1344-Jeremiah 4:28 The earth will mourn; the sky will grow dark. The Lord has spoken and will not change his mind. He has made his decision and will not turn back.

1345-Zechariah 8:14 The Lord Almighty says, "When your ancestors made me angry, I planned disaster for them and did not change my mind, but carried out my plans.

1346-Malachi 3:6 "I am the Lord, and I do not change. And so you, the descendants of Jacob, are not yet completely lost.

1347-Romans 11:29 For God does not change his mind about whom he chooses and blesses.

1348-Exodus 9:34 When the king saw what had happened, he sinned again. He and his officials remained as stubborn as ever 35 and, just as the Lord had foretold through Moses, the king would not let the Israelites go.

Exodus 10:1 Then the Lord said to Moses, "Go and see the king. I have made him and his officials stubborn, in order that I may perform these miracles among them 2 and in order that you may be able to tell your children and grandchildren how I made fools of the Egyptians when I performed the miracles. All of you will know that I am the Lord." 3 So Moses and Aaron went to the king and said to him, "The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, says, "How much longer will you refuse to submit to me? Let my people go, so that they may worship me. 4 If you keep on refusing, then I will bring locusts into your country tomorrow.

1349-Genesis 6:6 he was sorry that he had ever made them and put them on the earth. He was so filled with regret 7 that he said, "I will wipe out these people I have created, and also the animals and the birds, because I am sorry that I made any of them."

1350-1 Samuel 4:5 When the Covenant Box arrived, the Israelites gave such a loud shout of joy that the earth shook. 6 The Philistines heard the shouting and said, "Listen to all that shouting in the Hebrew camp! What does it mean?" When they found out that the Lord's Covenant Box had arrived in the Hebrew camp, 7 they were afraid, and said, "A god has come into their camp! We're lost! Nothing like this has ever happened to us before! 8 Who can save us from those powerful gods? They are the gods who slaughtered the Egyptians in the desert! 9 Be brave, Philistines! Fight like men, or we will become slaves to the Hebrews, just as they were our slaves. So fight like men!"

1 Samuel 5:7 When they saw what was happening, they said, "The God of Israel is punishing us and our god Dagon. We can't let the Covenant Box stay here any longer."

1351-1 Samuel 6:19 The Lord killed seventy of the men of Beth Shemesh because they looked inside the Covenant Box. And the people mourned because the Lord had caused such a great slaughter among them.

1352-Exodus 19:21 and the Lord said to him, "Go down and warn the people not to cross the boundary to come and look at me; if they do, many of them will die.

1353-Numbers 4:5 The Lord gave Moses the following instructions. When it is time to break camp, Aaron and his sons shall enter the Tent, take down the curtain in front of the Covenant Box, and cover the Box with it.

Numbers 4:15 When it is time to break camp, the clan of Kohath shall come to carry the sacred objects only after Aaron and his sons have finished covering them and all their equipment. The Kohath clan must not touch the sacred objects, or they will die. These are the responsibilities of the Kohath clan whenever the Tent is moved.

Numbers 4:20 But if the Kohathites enter the Tent and see the priests preparing the sacred objects for moving, they will die."

1354-2 Samuel 6:7 At once the Lord God became angry with Uzzah and killed him because of his irreverence. Uzzah died there beside the Covenant Box,

1355-2 Samuel 6:6 As they came to the threshing place of Nacon, the oxen stumbled, and Uzzah reached out and took hold of the Covenant Box. 7 At once the Lord God became angry with Uzzah and killed him because of his irreverence. Uzzah died there beside the Covenant Box, 8 and so that place has been called Perez Uzzah ever since. David was furious because the Lord had punished Uzzah in anger.

1356-Exodus 3:1 One day while Moses was taking care of the sheep and goats of his father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian, he led the flock across the desert and came to Sinai, the holy mountain. 2 There the angel of the Lord appeared to him as a flame coming from the middle of a bush. Moses saw that the bush was on fire but that it was not burning up. 3 "This is strange," he thought. "Why isn't the bush burning up? I will go closer and see." 4 When the Lord saw that Moses was coming closer, he called to him from the middle of the bush and said, "Moses! Moses!" He answered, "Yes, here I am." 5 God said, "Do not come any closer. Take off your sandals, because you are standing on holy ground.

1357-Joshua 5:13 While Joshua was near Jericho, he suddenly saw a man standing in front of him, holding a sword. Joshua went up to him and asked, "Are you one of our soldiers, or an enemy?" 14 "Neither," the man answered. "I am here as the commander of the Lord's army." Joshua threw himself on the ground in worship and said, "I am your servant, sir. What do you want me to do?" 15 And the commander of the Lord's army told him, "Take your sandals off; you are standing on holy ground." And Joshua did as he was told.

1358-1 Samuel 13:1 Saul was...years old when he began to reign; and he reigned...and two years over Israel.

1359-2 Sam 5:4 David was thirty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned forty years.

1360-Acts 13:21 Then they asked for a king; and God gave them Saul the son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, for forty years.

1361-II Sam 2:10 Ish-bo'sheth, Saul's son, was forty years old when he began to reign over Israel, and he reigned two years. But the house of Judah followed David.

2 Samuel 5:4 David was thirty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned forty years.

1362-I Kings 14:21 Solomon's son Rehoboam was forty-one years old when he became king of Judah, and he ruled seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city which the Lord had chosen from all the territory of Israel as the place where he was to be worshiped. Rehoboam's mother was Naamah from Ammon.

1 Kings 22:42 at the age of thirty-five, and he ruled in Jerusalem for twenty-five years. His mother was Azubah, the daughter of Shilhi.

1363-Acts 13:21 And when they asked for a king, God gave them Saul son of Kish from the tribe of Benjamin, to be their king for forty years.

1364-1 Samuel 13:1 Saul was...years old when he began to reign; and he reigned...and two years over Israel.

1365-Acts 13:21 And when they asked for a king, God gave them Saul son of Kish from the tribe of Benjamin, to be their king for forty years.

1366-1 Samuel 10:5, 9-12; 19:18-24; 28:6,15 Then you will go to the Hill of God in Gibeah, where there is a Philistine camp. At the entrance to the town you will meet a group of prophets coming down from the altar on the hill, playing harps, drums, flutes, and lyres. They will be dancing and shouting.

1 Samuel 10:9 When Saul turned to leave Samuel, God gave Saul a new nature. And everything Samuel had told him happened that day. 10 When Saul and his servant arrived at Gibeah, a group of prophets met him. Suddenly the spirit of God took control of him, and he joined in their ecstatic dancing and shouting. 11 People who had known him before saw him doing this and asked one another, "What has happened to the son of Kish? Has Saul become a prophet?" 12 A man who lived there asked, "How about these other prophets - who do you think their fathers are?" This is how the saying originated, "Has even Saul become a prophet?"

1 Samuel 19:18 David escaped and went to Samuel in Ramah and told him everything that Saul had done to him. Then he and Samuel went to Naioth and stayed there. 19 Saul was told that David was in Naioth in Ramah, 20 so he sent some men to arrest him. They saw the group of prophets dancing and shouting, with Samuel as their leader. Then the spirit of God took control of Saul's men, and they also began to dance and shout. 21 When Saul heard of this, he sent more messengers, and they also began to dance and shout. He sent messengers the third time, and the same thing happened to them. 22 Then he himself started out to Ramah. When he came to the large well in Secu, he asked where Samuel and David were and was told that they were at Naioth. 23 As he was going there, the spirit of God took control of him also, and he danced and shouted all the way to Naioth. 24 He took off his clothes and danced and shouted in Samuel's presence, and lay naked all that day and all that night. (This is how the saying originated, "Has even Saul become a prophet?")

1 Samuel 28:6 and so he asked the Lord what to do. But the Lord did not answer him at all, either by dreams or by the use of Urim and Thummim or by prophets.

1 Samuel 28:15 Samuel said to Saul, "Why have you disturbed me? Why did you make me come back?" Saul answered, "I am in great trouble! The Philistines are at war with me, and God has abandoned me. He doesn't answer me any more, either by prophets or by dreams. And so I have called you, for you to tell me what I must do."

1367-1 Kings 18:4 and when Jezebel was killing the Lord's prophets, Obadiah took a hundred of them, hid them in caves in two groups of fifty, and provided them with food and water.)

1 Kings 18:13 Haven't you heard that when Jezebel was killing the prophets of the Lord I hid a hundred of them in caves, in two groups of fifty, and supplied them with food and water?

1 Kings 19:10 He answered, "Lord God Almighty, I have always served you - you alone. But the people of Israel have broken their covenant with you, torn down your altars, and killed all your prophets. I am the only one left - and they are trying to kill me!"

1368-1 Samuel 25:1; 28:31 Samuel died, and all the Israelites came together and mourned for him. Then they buried him at his home in Ramah. After this, David went to the wilderness of Paran.

1 Samuel 28:3 Now Samuel had died, and all the Israelites had mourned for him and had buried him in his hometown of Ramah. Saul had forced all the fortunetellers and mediums to leave Israel.

1369-Education 46 To meet this growing evil, God provided other agencies as an aid to parents in the work of education. From the earliest times, prophets had been recognized as teachers divinely appointed. In the highest sense the prophet was one who spoke by direct inspiration, communicating to the people the messages he had received from God. But the name was given also to those who, though not so directly inspired, were divinely called to instruct the people in the works and ways of God. For the training of such a class of teachers, Samuel, by the Lord’s direction, established the schools of the prophets. {Ed 46.1}

These schools were intended to serve as a barrier against the wide-spreading corruption, to provide for the mental and spiritual welfare of the youth, and to promote the prosperity of the nation by furnishing it with men qualified to act in the fear of God as leaders and counselors. To this end, Samuel gathered companies of young men who were pious, intelligent, and studious. These were called the sons of the prophets. As they studied the word and the works of God, His life-giving power quickened the energies of mind and soul, and the students received wisdom from above. The instructors were not only versed in divine truth, but had themselves enjoyed communion with God, and had received the special endowment of His Spirit. They had the respect and confidence of the people, both for learning and for piety. In Samuel’s day there were two of these schools—one at Ramah, the home of the prophet, and the other at Kirjath-jearim. In later times others were established. {Ed 46.2}

1370-1 Samuel 10:25 Samuel explained to the people the rights and duties of a king, and then wrote them in a book, which he deposited in a holy place. Then he sent everyone home.

1371-1 Chronicles 29:29 The history of King David from beginning to end is recorded in the records of the three prophets, Samuel, Nathan, and Gad.

1372-1 Samuel 25:1 Samuel died, and all the Israelites came together and mourned for him. Then they buried him at his home in Ramah. After this, David went to the wilderness of Paran.

1373-1 Samuel 1:5 And even though he loved Hannah very much he would give her only one share, because the Lord had kept her from having children.

1374-1 Samuel 2:5 And even though he loved Hannah very much he would give her only one share, because the Lord had kept her from having children.

1375-Leviticus 27:28 None of you may sell or buy back what you have unconditionally dedicated to the Lord, whether it is a human being, an animal, or land. It belongs permanently to the Lord. 29 Not even human beings who have been unconditionally dedicated may be bought back; they must be put to death.

1376-1 Samuel 2:12 The sons of Eli were scoundrels. They paid no attention to the Lord 13 or to the regulations concerning what the priests could demand from the people. Instead, when someone was offering a sacrifice, the priest's servant would come with a three-pronged fork. While the meat was still cooking, 14 he would stick the fork into the cooking pot, and whatever the fork brought out belonged to the priest. All the Israelites who came to Shiloh to offer sacrifices were treated like this. 15 In addition, even before the fat was taken off and burned, the priest's servant would come and say to the one offering the sacrifice, "Give me some meat for the priest to roast; he won't accept boiled meat from you, only raw meat." 16 If the person answered, "Let us do what is right and burn the fat first; then take what you want," the priest's servant would say, "No! Give it to me now! If you don't, I will have to take it by force!" 17 This sin of the sons of Eli was extremely serious in the Lord's sight, because they treated the offerings to the Lord with such disrespect.

1 Samuel 2:22 Eli was now very old. He kept hearing about everything his sons were doing to the Israelites and that they were even sleeping with the women who worked at the entrance to the Tent of the Lord's presence.

1377-1 Samuel 2:25 If anyone sins against someone else, God can defend the one who is wrong; but who can defend someone who sins against the Lord?" But they would not listen to their father, for the Lord had decided to kill them.

1378-1 Samuel 2:27 A prophet came to Eli with this message from the Lord: "When your ancestor Aaron and his family were slaves of the king of Egypt, I revealed myself to Aaron.

1379-1 Samuel 2:35 I will choose a priest who will be faithful to me and do everything I want him to. I will give him descendants, who will always serve in the presence of my chosen king.

1380-1 Kings 13:1 At the Lord's command a prophet from Judah went to Bethel and arrived there as Jeroboam stood at the altar to offer the sacrifice. 2 Following the Lord's command, the prophet denounced the altar: "O altar, altar, this is what the Lord says: A child, whose name will be Josiah, will be born to the family of David. He will slaughter on you the priests serving at the pagan altars who offer sacrifices on you, and he will burn human bones on you." 3 And the prophet went on to say, "This altar will fall apart, and the ashes on it will be scattered. Then you will know that the Lord has spoken through me." 4 When King Jeroboam heard this, he pointed at him and ordered, "Seize that man!" At once the king's arm became paralyzed so that he couldn't pull it back. 5 The altar suddenly fell apart and the ashes spilled to the ground, as the prophet had predicted in the name of the Lord. 6 King Jeroboam said to the prophet, "Please pray for me to the Lord your God, and ask him to heal my arm!" The prophet prayed to the Lord, and the king's arm was healed. 7 Then the king said to the prophet, "Come home with me and have something to eat. I will reward you for what you have done." 8 The prophet answered, "Even if you gave me half of your wealth, I would not go with you or eat or drink anything with you. 9 The Lord has commanded me not to eat or drink a thing, and not to return home the same way I came." 10 So he did not go back the same way he had come, but by another road. 11 At that time there was an old prophet living in Bethel. His sons came and told him what the prophet from Judah had done in Bethel that day and what he had said to King Jeroboam. 12 "Which way did he go when he left?" the old prophet asked them. They showed him the road 13 and he told them to saddle his donkey for him. They did so, and he rode off 14 down the road after the prophet from Judah and found him sitting under an oak tree. "Are you the prophet from Judah?" he asked. "I am," the man answered. 15 "Come home and have a meal with me," he said. 16 But the prophet from Judah answered, "I can't go home with you or accept your hospitality. And I won't eat or drink anything with you here, 17 because the Lord has commanded me not to eat or drink a thing, and not to return home the same way I came." 18 Then the old prophet from Bethel said to him, "I, too, am a prophet just like you, and at the Lord's command an angel told me to take you home with me and offer you my hospitality." But the old prophet was lying. 19 So the prophet from Judah went home with the old prophet and had a meal with him. 20 As they were sitting at the table, the word of the Lord came to the old prophet, 21 and he cried out to the prophet from Judah, "The Lord says that you disobeyed him and did not do what he commanded. 22 Instead, you returned and ate a meal in a place he had ordered you not to eat in. Because of this you will be killed, and your body will not be buried in your family grave." 23 After they had finished eating, the old prophet saddled the donkey for the prophet from Judah, 24 who rode off. On the way a lion met him and killed him. His body lay on the road, and the donkey and the lion stood beside it. 25 Some men passed by and saw the body on the road, with the lion standing near by. They went on into Bethel and reported what they had seen. 26 When the old prophet heard about it, he said, "That is the prophet who disobeyed the Lord's command! And so the Lord sent the lion to attack and kill him, just as the Lord said he would." 27 Then he said to his sons, "Saddle my donkey for me." They did so, 28 and he rode off and found the prophet's body lying on the road, with the donkey and the lion still standing by it. The lion had not eaten the body or attacked the donkey. 29 The old prophet picked up the body, put it on the donkey, and brought it back to Bethel to mourn over it and bury it. 30 He buried it in his own family grave, and he and his sons mourned over it, saying, "Oh my brother, my brother!" 31 After the burial the prophet said to his sons, "When I die, bury me in this grave and lay my body next to his. 32 The words that he spoke at the Lord's command against the altar in Bethel and against all the places of worship in the towns of Samaria will surely come true." 33 King Jeroboam of Israel still did not turn from his evil ways but continued to choose priests from ordinary families to serve at the altars he had built. He ordained as priest anyone who wanted to be one. 34 This sin on his part brought about the ruin and total destruction of his dynasty.

1 Kings 18:1 After some time, in the third year of the drought, the Lord said to Elijah, "Go and present yourself to King Ahab, and I will send rain." 2 So Elijah started out. The famine in Samaria was at its worst, 3 so Ahab called in Obadiah, who was in charge of the palace. (Obadiah was a devout worshiper of the Lord, 4 and when Jezebel was killing the Lord's prophets, Obadiah took a hundred of them, hid them in caves in two groups of fifty, and provided them with food and water.) 5 Ahab said to Obadiah, "Let us go and look at every spring and every stream bed in the land to see if we can find enough grass to keep the horses and mules alive. Maybe we won't have to kill any of our animals." 6 They agreed on which part of the land each one would explore, and set off in different directions. 7 As Obadiah was on his way, he suddenly met Elijah. He recognized him, bowed low before him, and asked, "Is it really you, sir?" 8 "Yes, I'm Elijah," he answered. "Go and tell your master the king that I am here." 9 Obadiah answered, "What have I done that you want to put me in danger of being killed by King Ahab? 10 By the living Lord, your God, I swear that the king has made a search for you in every country in the world. Whenever the ruler of a country reported that you were not in his country, Ahab would require that ruler to swear that you could not be found. 11 And now you want me to go and tell him that you are here? 12 What if the spirit of the Lord carries you off to some unknown place as soon as I leave? Then, when I tell Ahab that you are here and he can't find you, he will put me to death. Remember that I have been a devout worshiper of the Lord ever since I was a boy. 13 Haven't you heard that when Jezebel was killing the prophets of the Lord I hid a hundred of them in caves, in two groups of fifty, and supplied them with food and water? 14 So how can you order me to go and tell the king that you are here? He will kill me!" 15 Elijah answered, "By the living Lord Almighty, whom I serve, I promise that I will present myself to the king today." 16 So Obadiah went to King Ahab and told him, and Ahab set off to meet Elijah. 17 When Ahab saw him, he said, "So there you are - the worst troublemaker in Israel!" 18 "I'm not the troublemaker," Elijah answered. "You are - you and your father. You are disobeying the Lord's commands and worshiping the idols of Baal. 19 Now order all the people of Israel to meet me at Mount Carmel. Bring along the 450 prophets of Baal and the 400 prophets of the goddess Asherah who are supported by Queen Jezebel." 20 So Ahab summoned all the Israelites and the prophets of Baal to meet at Mount Carmel. 21 Elijah went up to the people and said, "How much longer will it take you to make up your minds? If the Lord is God, worship him; but if Baal is God, worship him!" But the people didn't say a word. 22 Then Elijah said, "I am the only prophet of the Lord still left, but there are 450 prophets of Baal. 23 Bring two bulls; let the prophets of Baal take one, kill it, cut it in pieces, and put it on the wood - but don't light the fire. I will do the same with the other bull. 24 Then let the prophets of Baal pray to their god, and I will pray to the Lord, and the one who answers by sending fire - he is God." The people shouted their approval. 25 Then Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, "Since there are so many of you, you take a bull and prepare it first. Pray to your god, but don't set fire to the wood." 26 They took the bull that was brought to them, prepared it, and prayed to Baal until noon. They shouted, "Answer us, Baal!" and kept dancing around the altar they had built. But no answer came. 27 At noon Elijah started making fun of them: "Pray louder! He is a god! Maybe he is day-dreaming or relieving himself, or perhaps he's gone off on a trip! Or maybe he's sleeping, and you've got to wake him up!" 28 So the prophets prayed louder and cut themselves with knives and daggers, according to their ritual, until blood flowed. 29 They kept on ranting and raving until the middle of the afternoon; but no answer came, not a sound was heard. 30 Then Elijah said to the people, "Come closer to me," and they all gathered around him. He set about repairing the altar of the Lord which had been torn down. 31 He took twelve stones, one for each of the twelve tribes named for the sons of Jacob, the man to whom the Lord had given the name Israel. 32 With these stones he rebuilt the altar for the worship of the Lord. He dug a trench around it, large enough to hold about four gallons of water. 33 Then he placed the wood on the altar, cut the bull in pieces, and laid it on the wood. He said, "Fill four jars with water and pour it on the offering and the wood." They did so, 34 and he said, "Do it again" - and they did. "Do it once more," he said - and they did. 35 The water ran down around the altar and filled the trench. 36 At the hour of the afternoon sacrifice the prophet Elijah approached the altar and prayed, "O Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, prove now that you are the God of Israel and that I am your servant and have done all this at your command. 37 Answer me, Lord, answer me, so that this people will know that you, the Lord, are God and that you are bringing them back to yourself." 38 The Lord sent fire down, and it burned up the sacrifice, the wood, and the stones, scorched the earth and dried up the water in the trench. 39 When the people saw this, they threw themselves on the ground and exclaimed, "The Lord is God; the Lord alone is God!" 40 Elijah ordered, "Seize the prophets of Baal; don't let any of them get away!" The people seized them all, and Elijah led them down to Kishon Brook and killed them. 41 Then Elijah said to King Ahab, "Now, go and eat. I hear the roar of rain approaching." 42 While Ahab went to eat, Elijah climbed to the top of Mount Carmel, where he bowed down to the ground, with his head between his knees. 43 He said to his servant, "Go and look toward the sea." The servant went and returned, saying, "I didn't see a thing." Seven times in all Elijah told him to go and look. 44 The seventh time he returned and said, "I saw a little cloud no bigger than a man's hand, coming up from the sea." Elijah ordered his servant, "Go to King Ahab and tell him to get in his chariot and go back home before the rain stops him." 45 In a little while the sky was covered with dark clouds, the wind began to blow, and a heavy rain began to fall. Ahab got in his chariot and started back to Jezreel. 46 The power of the Lord came on Elijah; he fastened his clothes tight around his waist and ran ahead of Ahab all the way to Jezreel.

1381-1 Kings 2:27 Then Solomon dismissed Abiathar from serving as a priest of the Lord, and so made come true what the Lord had said in Shiloh about the priest Eli and his descendants.

1 Kings 2:35 The king made Benaiah commander of the army in Joab's place and put Zadok the priest in Abiathar's place.

1382-1 Samuel 4:3 When the survivors came back to camp, the leaders of Israel said, "Why did the Lord let the Philistines defeat us today? Let's go and bring the Lord's Covenant Box from Shiloh, so that he will go with us and save us from our enemies."

1383-Numbers 10:33 When the people left Sinai, the holy mountain, they traveled three days. The Lord's Covenant Box always went ahead of them to find a place for them to camp. 34 As they moved on from each camp, the cloud of the Lord was over them by day. 35 Whenever the Covenant Box started out, Moses would say, "Arise, Lord; scatter your enemies and put to flight those who hate you!" 36 And whenever it stopped, he would say, "Return, Lord, to the thousands of families of Israel."

1384-1 Samuel 14:3 (The priest carrying the ephod was Ahijah, the son of Ichabod's brother Ahitub, who was the son of Phinehas and grandson of Eli, the priest of the Lord in Shiloh.) The men did not know that Jonathan had left.

1 Samuel 14:18 "Bring the ephod here," Saul said to Ahijah the priest. (On that day Ahijah was carrying it in front of the people of Israel.)

1385-1 Samuel 5:1 After the Philistines captured the Covenant Box, they carried it from Ebenezer to their city of Ashdod, 2 took it into the temple of their god Dagon, and set it up beside his statue. 3 Early the next morning the people of Ashdod saw that the statue of Dagon had fallen face downward on the ground in front of the Lord's Covenant Box. So they lifted it up and put it back in its place. 4 Early the following morning they saw that the statue had again fallen down in front of the Covenant Box. This time its head and both its arms were broken off and were lying in the doorway; only the body was left. 5 (That is why even today the priests of Dagon and all his worshipers in Ashdod step over that place and do not walk on it.)

1386-1 Samuel 6:6 Why should you be stubborn, as the king of Egypt and the Egyptians were? Don't forget how God made fools of them until they let the Israelites leave Egypt.

1387-1 Samuel 6:19 The Lord killed seventy of the men of Beth Shemesh because they looked inside the Covenant Box. And the people mourned because the Lord had caused such a great slaughter among them.

1388-1 Samuel 5:9 But after it arrived there, the Lord punished that city too and caused a great panic. He punished them with tumors which developed in all the people of the city, young and old alike

1389-Deuteronomy 7:20 He will even cause panic among them and will destroy those who escape and go into hiding.

Deuteronomy 7:22 Little by little he will drive out these nations as you advance. You will not be able to destroy them all at once, for, if you did, the number of wild animals would increase and be a threat to you.

1390-Joshua 10:10 The Lord made the Amorites panic at the sight of Israel's army. The Israelites slaughtered them at Gibeon and pursued them down the mountain pass at Beth Horon, keeping up the attack as far south as Azekah and Makkedah.

Joshua 24:12 As you advanced, I threw them into panic in order to drive out the two Amorite kings. Your swords and bows had nothing to do with it.

1391-Judges 4:15 When Barak attacked with his army, the Lord threw Sisera into confusion together with all his chariots and men. Sisera got down from his chariot and fled on foot.

Judges 8:12 The two Midianite kings, Zebah and Zalmunna, ran away, but he pursued them and captured them, and caused their whole army to panic.

Judges 20:41 Then the Israelites turned around, and the Benjaminites were thrown into panic because they realized that they were about to be destroyed.

1392-1 Samuel 5:9 But after it arrived there, the Lord punished that city too and caused a great panic. He punished them with tumors which developed in all the people of the city, young and old alike.

1 Samuel 5:11 So again they sent for all the Philistine kings and said, "Send the Covenant Box of Israel back to its own place, so that it won't kill us and our families." There was panic throughout the city because God was punishing them so severely.

1 Samuel 7:10 While Samuel was offering the sacrifice, the Philistines moved forward to attack; but just then the Lord thundered from heaven against them. They became completely confused and fled in panic.

1393-2 Chronicles 20:22 When they began to sing, the Lord threw the invading armies into a panic.

1394-Exodus 23:27 "I will make the people who oppose you afraid of me; I will bring confusion among the people against whom you fight, and I will make all your enemies turn and run from you. 28 I will throw your enemies into panic; I will drive out the Hivites, the Canaanites, and the Hittites as you advance.

1395-Judges 19:1 In those days before Israel had a king, there was a Levite living far back in the hill country of Ephraim. He took a young woman from Bethlehem in Judah to be his concubine. 2 But she became angry with him, went back to her father's house in Bethlehem, and stayed there four months. 3 Then the man decided to go after her and try to persuade her to return to him. He took his servant and two donkeys with him. The woman showed the Levite into the house, and when her father saw him, he gave him a hearty greeting. 4 The father insisted that he stay, and so he stayed for three days. The couple had their meals and spent the nights there. 5 On the morning of the fourth day they woke up early and got ready to go. But the woman's father said to the Levite, "Have something to eat first. You'll feel better. You can go later." 6 So the two men sat down and ate and drank together. Then the woman's father told him, "Please spend the night and enjoy yourself." 7 The Levite got up to go, but the father urged him to stay, so he spent another night there. 8 Early in the morning of the fifth day he started to leave, but the woman's father said, "Eat something, please. Wait until later in the day." So the two men ate together. 9 When the man, his concubine, and the servant once more started to leave, the father said, "Look, it's almost evening now; you might as well stay all night. It will be dark soon; stay here and have a good time. Tomorrow you can get up early for the trip and go home." 10 But the man did not want to spend another night there, so he and his concubine started on their way, with their servant and two donkeys with pack saddles. It was late in the day when they came near Jebus (that is, Jerusalem), so the servant said to his master, "Why don't we stop and spend the night here in this Jebusite city?" 12 But his master said, "We're not going to stop in a city where the people are not Israelites. We'll pass on by and go a little farther and spend the night at Gibeah or Ramah." 14 So they passed by Jebus and continued on their way. It was sunset when they came to Gibeah in the territory of the tribe of Benjamin. 15 They turned off the road to go and spend the night there. They went into town and sat down in the city square, but no one offered to take them home for the night. 16 While they were there, an old man came by at the end of a day's work on the farm. He was originally from the hill country of Ephraim, but he was now living in Gibeah. (The other people there were from the tribe of Benjamin.) 17 The old man noticed the traveler in the city square and asked him, "Where do you come from? Where are you going?" 18 The Levite answered, "We have been in Bethlehem in Judah, and now we are on our way home deep in the hill country of Ephraim. No one will put us up for the night, 19 even though we have fodder and straw for our donkeys, as well as bread and wine for my concubine and me and for my servant. We have everything we need." 20 The old man said, "You are welcome in my home! I'll take care of you; you don't have to spend the night in the square." 21 So he took them home with him and fed their donkeys. His guests washed their feet and had a meal. 22 They were enjoying themselves when all of a sudden some sexual perverts from the town surrounded the house and started beating on the door. They said to the old man, "Bring out that man that came home with you! We want to have sex with him!" 23 But the old man went outside and said to them, "No, my friends! Please! Don't do such an evil, immoral thing! This man is my guest. 24 Look! Here is his concubine and my own virgin daughter. I'll bring them out now, and you can have them. Do whatever you want to with them. But don't do such an awful thing to this man!" 25 But the men would not listen to him. So the Levite took his concubine and put her outside with them. They raped her and abused her all night long and didn't stop until morning. 26 At dawn the woman came and fell down at the door of the old man's house, where her husband was. She was still there when daylight came. 27 Her husband got up that morning, and when he opened the door to go on his way, he found his concubine lying in front of the house with her hands reaching for the door. 28 He said, "Get up. Let's go." But there was no answer. So he put her body across the donkey and started on his way home. 29 When he arrived, he went in the house and got a knife. He took his concubine's body, cut it into twelve pieces, and sent one piece to each of the twelve tribes of Israel. 30 Everyone who saw it said, "We have never heard of such a thing! Nothing like this has ever happened since the Israelites left Egypt! We have to do something about this! What will it be?"

Judges 20:1 All the people of Israel from Dan in the north to Beersheba in the south, as well as from the land of Gilead in the east, answered the call. They gathered in one body in the Lord's presence at Mizpah. 2 The leaders of all the tribes of Israel were present at this gathering of God's people, and there were 400,000 foot soldiers. 3 Meanwhile the people of Benjamin heard that all the other Israelites had gathered at Mizpah. The Israelites asked, "Tell us, how was this crime committed?" 4 The Levite whose concubine had been murdered answered, "My concubine and I went to Gibeah in the territory of Benjamin to spend the night. 5 The men of Gibeah came to get me and surrounded the house at night. They intended to kill me; instead they raped my concubine, and she died. 6 I took her body, cut it in pieces, and sent one piece to each of the twelve tribes of Israel. These people have committed an evil and immoral act among us. 7 All of you here are Israelites. What are we going to do about this?" 8 All the people stood up together and said, "None of us, whether he lives in a tent or in a house, will go home. 9 This is what we will do: we will draw lots and choose some men to attack Gibeah. 10 One tenth of the men in Israel will provide food for the army, and the others will go and punish Gibeah for this immoral act that they have committed in Israel." 11 So all the men in Israel assembled with one purpose - to attack the town. 12 The Israelite tribes sent messengers all through the territory of the tribe of Benjamin to say, "What is this crime that you have committed? 13 Now hand over those perverts in Gibeah, so that we can kill them and remove this evil from Israel." But the people of Benjamin paid no attention to the other Israelites. 14 From all the cities of Benjamin they came to Gibeah to fight the other people of Israel. 15 They called out twenty-six thousand soldiers from their cities that day. Besides these, the citizens of Gibeah gathered seven hundred specially chosen men who were left-handed. Every one of them could sling a stone at a strand of hair and never miss. 17 Not counting the tribe of Benjamin, the Israelites gathered 400,000 trained soldiers. 18 The Israelites went to the place of worship at Bethel, and there they asked God, "Which tribe should attack the Benjaminites first?" The Lord answered, "The tribe of Judah." 19 So the Israelites started out the next morning and camped near the city of Gibeah. 20 They went to attack the army of Benjamin, and placed the soldiers in position facing the city. 21 The army of Benjamin came out of the city, and before the day was over they had killed twenty-two thousand Israelite soldiers. 22 Then the Israelites went to the place of worship and mourned in the presence of the Lord until evening. They asked him, "Should we go again into battle against our brothers the Benjaminites?" The Lord answered, "Yes." So the Israelite army was encouraged, and they placed their soldiers in position again, where they had been the day before. 24 They marched against the army of Benjamin a second time. 25 And for the second time the Benjaminites came out of Gibeah, and this time they killed eighteen thousand trained Israelite soldiers. 26 Then all the people of Israel went up to Bethel and mourned. They sat there in the Lord's presence and did not eat until evening. They offered fellowship sacrifices and burned some sacrifices whole - all in the presence of the Lord. 27 God's Covenant Box was there at Bethel in those days, and Phinehas, the son of Eleazar and grandson of Aaron, was in charge of it. The people asked the Lord, "Should we go out to fight our brothers the Benjaminites again, or should we give up?" The Lord answered, "Fight. Tomorrow I will give you victory over them." 29 So the Israelites put some soldiers in hiding around Gibeah. 30 Then for the third straight day they marched against the army of Benjamin and placed their soldiers in battle position facing Gibeah, as they had done before. 31 The Benjaminites came out to fight and were led away from the city. As they had before, they began killing some Israelites in the open country, on the road to Bethel and on the road to Gibeah. They killed about thirty Israelites. 32 The Benjaminites said, "We've beaten them just as before." But the Israelites had planned to retreat and lead them away from the city onto the roads. 33 So when the main army of the Israelites pulled back and regrouped at Baaltamar, the men surrounding Gibeah suddenly rushed out of their hiding places in the rocky country around the city. 34 Ten thousand men, specially chosen out of all Israel, attacked Gibeah, and the fighting was hard. The Benjaminites had not realized that they were about to be destroyed. 35 The Lord gave Israel victory over the army of Benjamin. The Israelites killed 25,100 of the enemy that day, 36 and the Benjaminites realized they were defeated. The main body of the Israelite army had retreated from the Benjaminites because they were relying on the men that they had put in hiding around Gibeah. 37 These men ran quickly toward Gibeah; they spread out in the city and killed everyone there. 38 The main Israelite army and the men in hiding had arranged a signal. When they saw a big cloud of smoke going up from the town, 39 the Israelites out on the battlefield were to turn around. By this time the Benjaminites had already killed the thirty Israelites. They told themselves, "Yes, we've beaten them just as before." 40 Then the signal appeared; a cloud of smoke began to go up from the town. The Benjaminites looked behind them and were amazed to see the whole city going up in flames. 41 Then the Israelites turned around, and the Benjaminites were thrown into panic because they realized that they were about to be destroyed. 42 They retreated from the Israelites and ran toward the open country, but they could not escape. They were caught between the main army and the men who were now coming out of the city, and they were destroyed. 43 The Israelites had the enemy trapped, and without stopping they pursued them as far as a point east of Gibeah, killing them as they went. 44 Eighteen thousand of the best Benjaminite soldiers were killed. 45 The others turned and ran toward the open country to Rimmon Rock. Five thousand of them were killed on the roads. The Israelites continued to pursue the rest to Gidom, killing two thousand. 46 In all, twenty-five thousand Benjaminites were killed that day - all of them brave soldiers. 47 But six hundred men were able to escape to the open country to Rimmon Rock, and they stayed there four months. 48 The Israelites turned back against the rest of the Benjaminites and killed them all - men, women, and children, and animals as well. They burned every town in the area.

Judges 21:1 When the Israelites had gathered at Mizpah, they had made a solemn promise to the Lord: "None of us will allow a Benjaminite to marry a daughter of ours." 2 So now the people of Israel went to Bethel and sat there in the presence of God until evening. Loudly and bitterly they mourned: 3 "Lord God of Israel, why has this happened? Why is the tribe of Benjamin about to disappear from Israel?" 4 Early the next morning the people got up and built an altar there. They offered fellowship sacrifices and burned some sacrifices whole. 5 They asked, "Is there any group out of all the tribes of Israel that did not go to the gathering in the Lord's presence at Mizpah?" (They had taken a solemn oath that anyone who had not gone to Mizpah would be put to death.) 6 The people of Israel felt sorry for their brothers the Benjaminites and said, "Today Israel has lost one of its tribes. 7 What shall we do to provide wives for the men of Benjamin who are left? We have made a solemn promise to the Lord that we will not give them any of our daughters." 8 When they asked if there was some group out of the tribes of Israel that had not gone to the gathering at Mizpah, they found out that no one from Jabesh in Gilead had been there; 9 at the roll call of the army no one from Jabesh had responded. 10 So the assembly sent twelve thousand of their bravest men with the orders, "Go and kill everyone in Jabesh, including women and children. 11 Kill all the males, and also every woman who is not a virgin." 12 They found four hundred young virgins among the people in Jabesh, so they brought them to the camp at Shiloh, which is in the land of Canaan. 13 Then the whole assembly sent word to the Benjaminites who were at Rimmon Rock and offered to end the war. 14 The Benjaminites came back, and the other Israelites gave them the young women from Jabesh whom they had not killed. But there were not enough of them. 15 The people felt sorry for the Benjaminites because the Lord had broken the unity of the tribes of Israel. 16 So the leaders of the gathering said, "There are no more women in the tribe of Benjamin. What shall we do to provide wives for the men who are left? 17 Israel must not lose one of its twelve tribes. We must find a way for the tribe of Benjamin to survive, 18 but we cannot allow them to marry our daughters, because we have put a curse on anyone who allows a Benjaminite to marry one of our daughters." 19 Then they thought, "The yearly festival of the Lord at Shiloh is coming soon." (Shiloh is north of Bethel, south of Lebonah, and east of the road between Bethel and Shechem.) 20 They told the Benjaminites, "Go and hide in the vineyards 21 and watch. When the young women of Shiloh come out to dance during the festival, you come out of the vineyards. Each of you take a wife by force from among them and take her back to the territory of Benjamin with you. 22 If their fathers or brothers come to you and protest, you can tell them, "Please let us keep them, because we did not take them from you in battle to be our wives. And since you did not give them to us, you are not guilty of breaking your promise.' " 23 The Benjaminites did this; each of them chose a wife from the young women who were dancing at Shiloh and carried her away. Then they went back to their own territory, rebuilt their towns, and lived there. 24 At the same time the rest of the Israelites left, and every man went back to his own tribe and family and to his own property. 25 There was no king in Israel at that time. Everyone did whatever they pleased.

1396-1 Samuel 8:1 When Samuel grew old, he made his sons judges in Israel. 2 The older son was named Joel and the younger one Abijah; they were judges in Beersheba. 3 But they did not follow their father's example; they were interested only in making money, so they accepted bribes and did not decide cases honestly. 4 Then all the leaders of Israel met together, went to Samuel in Ramah, 5 and said to him, "Look, you are getting old and your sons don't follow your example. So then, appoint a king to rule over us, so that we will have a king, as other countries have." 6 Samuel was displeased with their request for a king; so he prayed to the Lord, 7 and the Lord said, "Listen to everything the people say to you. You are not the one they have rejected; I am the one they have rejected as their king. 8 Ever since I brought them out of Egypt, they have turned away from me and worshiped other gods; and now they are doing to you what they have always done to me. 9 So then, listen to them, but give them strict warnings and explain how their kings will treat them." 10 Samuel told the people who were asking him for a king everything that the Lord had said to him. 11 "This is how your king will treat you," Samuel explained. "He will make soldiers of your sons; some of them will serve in his war chariots, others in his cavalry, and others will run before his chariots. 12 He will make some of them officers in charge of a thousand men, and others in charge of fifty men. Your sons will have to plow his fields, harvest his crops, and make his weapons and the equipment for his chariots. 13 Your daughters will have to make perfumes for him and work as his cooks and his bakers. 14 He will take your best fields, vineyards, and olive groves, and give them to his officials. 15 He will take a tenth of your grain and of your grapes for his court officers and other officials. 16 He will take your servants and your best cattle and donkeys, and make them work for him. 17 He will take a tenth of your flocks. And you yourselves will become his slaves. 18 When that time comes, you will complain bitterly because of your king, whom you yourselves chose, but the Lord will not listen to your complaints." 19 The people paid no attention to Samuel, but said, "No! We want a king, 20 so that we will be like other nations, with our own king to rule us and to lead us out to war and to fight our battles." 21 Samuel listened to everything they said and then went and told it to the Lord. 22 The Lord answered, "Do what they want and give them a king." Then Samuel told all the men of Israel to go back home.

1 Samuel 9:1 There was a wealthy and influential man named Kish, from the tribe of Benjamin; he was the son of Abiel and grandson of Zeror, and belonged to the family of Becorath, a part of the clan of Aphiah.

1397-Deuteronomy 17:14 "After you have taken possession of the land that the Lord your God is going to give you and have settled there, then you will decide you need a king like all the nations around you. 15 Be sure that the man you choose to be king is the one whom the Lord has chosen. He must be one of your own people; do not make a foreigner your king. 16 The king is not to have a large number of horses for his army, and he is not to send people to Egypt to buy horses, because the Lord has said that his people are never to return there. 17 The king is not to have many wives, because this would make him turn away from the Lord; and he is not to make himself rich with silver and gold. 18 When he becomes king, he is to have a copy of the book of God's laws and teachings made from the original copy kept by the levitical priests. 19 He is to keep this book near him and read from it all his life, so that he will learn to honor the Lord and to obey faithfully everything that is commanded in it. 20 This will keep him from thinking that he is better than other Israelites and from disobeying the Lord's commands in any way. Then he will reign for many years, and his descendants will rule Israel for many generations.

1398-1 Samuel 10:25 Samuel explained to the people the rights and duties of a king, and then wrote them in a book, which he deposited in a holy place. Then he sent everyone home. 26 Saul also went back home to Gibeah. Some powerful men, whose hearts God had touched, went with him. 27 But some worthless people said, "How can this fellow do us any good?" They despised Saul and did not bring him any gifts.

1399-1 Samuel 8:4 Then all the leaders of Israel met together, went to Samuel in Ramah, 5 and said to him, "Look, you are getting old and your sons don't follow your example. So then, appoint a king to rule over us, so that we will have a king, as other countries have." 6 Samuel was displeased with their request for a king; so he prayed to the Lord, 7 and the Lord said, "Listen to everything the people say to you. You are not the one they have rejected; I am the one they have rejected as their king. 8 Ever since I brought them out of Egypt, they have turned away from me and worshiped other gods; and now they are doing to you what they have always done to me. 9 So then, listen to them, but give them strict warnings and explain how their kings will treat them." 10 Samuel told the people who were asking him for a king everything that the Lord had said to him. 11 "This is how your king will treat you," Samuel explained. "He will make soldiers of your sons; some of them will serve in his war chariots, others in his cavalry, and others will run before his chariots. 12 He will make some of them officers in charge of a thousand men, and others in charge of fifty men. Your sons will have to plow his fields, harvest his crops, and make his weapons and the equipment for his chariots. 13 Your daughters will have to make perfumes for him and work as his cooks and his bakers. 14 He will take your best fields, vineyards, and olive groves, and give them to his officials. 15 He will take a tenth of your grain and of your grapes for his court officers and other officials. 16 He will take your servants and your best cattle and donkeys, and make them work for him. 17 He will take a tenth of your flocks. And you yourselves will become his slaves. 18 When that time comes, you will complain bitterly because of your king, whom you yourselves chose, but the Lord will not listen to your complaints." 19 The people paid no attention to Samuel, but said, "No! We want a king, 20 so that we will be like other nations, with our own king to rule us and to lead us out to war and to fight our battles." 21 Samuel listened to everything they said and then went and told it to the Lord. 22 The Lord answered, "Do what they want and give them a king." Then Samuel told all the men of Israel to go back home.

1400-1 Samuel 9:1 There was a wealthy and influential man named Kish, from the tribe of Benjamin; he was the son of Abiel and grandson of Zeror, and belonged to the family of Becorath, a part of the clan of Aphiah. 2 He had a son named Saul, a handsome man in the prime of life. Saul was a foot taller than anyone else in Israel and more handsome as well.

1 Samuel 10:23 So they ran and brought Saul out to the people, and they could see that he was a foot taller than anyone else.

1401-1 Samuel 9:21 Saul answered, "I belong to the tribe of Benjamin, the smallest tribe in Israel, and my family is the least important one in the tribe. Why, then, do you talk like this to me?"

1 Samuel 16:7 But the Lord said to him, "Pay no attention to how tall and handsome he is. I have rejected him, because I do not judge as people judge. They look at the outward appearance, but I look at the heart."

1402-1 Samuel 9:14 So Saul and his servant went on to the town, and as they were going in, they saw Samuel coming out toward them on his way to the place of worship. 15 Now on the previous day the Lord had told Samuel, 16 "Tomorrow about this time I will send you a man from the tribe of Benjamin; anoint him as ruler of my people Israel, and he will rescue them from the Philistines. I have seen the suffering of my people and have heard their cries for help." 17 When Samuel caught sight of Saul, the Lord said to him, "This is the man I told you about. He will rule my people." 18 Then Saul went over to Samuel, who was near the gate, and asked, "Tell me, where does the seer live?" 19 Samuel answered, "I am the seer. Go on ahead of me to the place of worship. Both of you are to eat with me today. Tomorrow morning I will answer all your questions and send you on your way.

1403-1 Samuel 7:16 Every year he would go around to Bethel, Gilgal, and Mizpah, and in these places he would settle disputes. 17 Then he would go back to his home in Ramah, where also he would serve as judge. In Ramah he built an altar to the Lord.

1404-1 Samuel 10:9 When Saul turned to leave Samuel, God gave Saul a new nature. And everything Samuel had told him happened that day.

1405-1 Samuel 10:2 When you leave me today, you will meet two men near Rachel's tomb at Zelzah in the territory of Benjamin. They will tell you that the donkeys you were looking for have been found, so that your father isn't worried any more about them but about you, and he keeps asking, "What shall I do about my son?' 3 You will go on from there until you come to the sacred tree at Tabor, where you will meet three men on their way to offer a sacrifice to God at Bethel. One of them will be leading three young goats, another one will be carrying three loaves of bread, and the third one will have a leather bag full of wine. 4 They will greet you and offer you two of the loaves, which you are to accept. 5 Then you will go to the Hill of God in Gibeah, where there is a Philistine camp. At the entrance to the town you will meet a group of prophets coming down from the altar on the hill, playing harps, drums, flutes, and lyres. They will be dancing and shouting. 6 Suddenly the spirit of the Lord will take control of you, and you will join in their religious dancing and shouting and will become a different person. 7 When these things happen, do whatever God leads you to do. 8 You will go ahead of me to Gilgal, where I will meet you and offer burnt sacrifices and fellowship sacrifices. Wait there seven days until I come and tell you what to do." 9 When Saul turned to leave Samuel, God gave Saul a new nature. And everything Samuel had told him happened that day. 10 When Saul and his servant arrived at Gibeah, a group of prophets met him. Suddenly the spirit of God took control of him, and he joined in their ecstatic dancing and shouting. 11 People who had known him before saw him doing this and asked one another, "What has happened to the son of Kish? Has Saul become a prophet?" 12 A man who lived there asked, "How about these other prophets - who do you think their fathers are?" This is how the saying originated, "Has even Saul become a prophet?" 13 When Saul finished his ecstatic dancing and shouting, he went to the altar on the hill. 14 Saul's uncle saw him and the servant, and he asked them, "Where have you been?" "Looking for the donkeys," Saul answered. "When we couldn't find them, we went to see Samuel." 15 "And what did he tell you?" Saul's uncle asked. 16 "He told us that the animals had been found," Saul answered - but he did not tell his uncle what Samuel had said about his becoming king.

1406-1 Samuel 10:1 Then Samuel took a jar of olive oil and poured it on Saul's head, kissed him, and said, "The Lord anoints you as ruler of his people Israel. You will rule his people and protect them from all their enemies. And this is the proof to you that the Lord has chosen you to be the ruler of his people: 2 When you leave me today, you will meet two men near Rachel's tomb at Zelzah in the territory of Benjamin. They will tell you that the donkeys you were looking for have been found, so that your father isn't worried any more about them but about you, and he keeps asking, "What shall I do about my son?' 3 You will go on from there until you come to the sacred tree at Tabor, where you will meet three men on their way to offer a sacrifice to God at Bethel. One of them will be leading three young goats, another one will be carrying three loaves of bread, and the third one will have a leather bag full of wine. 4 They will greet you and offer you two of the loaves, which you are to accept. 5 Then you will go to the Hill of God in Gibeah, where there is a Philistine camp. At the entrance to the town you will meet a group of prophets coming down from the altar on the hill, playing harps, drums, flutes, and lyres. They will be dancing and shouting. 6 Suddenly the spirit of the Lord will take control of you, and you will join in their religious dancing and shouting and will become a different person. 7 When these things happen, do whatever God leads you to do. 8 You will go ahead of me to Gilgal, where I will meet you and offer burnt sacrifices and fellowship sacrifices. Wait there seven days until I come and tell you what to do." 9 When Saul turned to leave Samuel, God gave Saul a new nature. And everything Samuel had told him happened that day. 10 When Saul and his servant arrived at Gibeah, a group of prophets met him. Suddenly the spirit of God took control of him, and he joined in their ecstatic dancing and shouting. 11 People who had known him before saw him doing this and asked one another, "What has happened to the son of Kish? Has Saul become a prophet?" 12 A man who lived there asked, "How about these other prophets - who do you think their fathers are?" This is how the saying originated, "Has even Saul become a prophet?" 13 When Saul finished his ecstatic dancing and shouting, he went to the altar on the hill.

1407-1 Samuel 14:6 Jonathan said to the young man, "Let's cross over to the camp of those heathen Philistines. Maybe the Lord will help us; if he does, nothing can keep him from giving us the victory, no matter how few of us there are." 7 The young man answered, "Whatever you want to do, I'm with you." 8 "All right," Jonathan said. "We will go across and let the Philistines see us. 9 If they tell us to wait for them to come to us, then we will stay where we are. 10 But if they tell us to go to them, then we will, because that will be the sign that the Lord has given us victory over them." 11 So they let the Philistines see them, and the Philistines said, "Look! Some Hebrews are coming out of the holes they have been hiding in!" 12 Then they called out to Jonathan and the young man, "Come on up here! We have something to tell you!" Jonathan said to the young man, "Follow me. The Lord has given Israel victory over them." 13 Jonathan climbed up out of the pass on his hands and knees, and the young man followed him. Jonathan attacked the Philistines and knocked them down, and the young man killed them. 14 In that first slaughter Jonathan and the young man killed about twenty men in an area of about half an acre. 15 All the Philistines in the countryside were terrified; the raiders and the soldiers in the camp trembled with fear; the earth shook, and there was great panic.

1408-1 Samuel 19:18 David escaped and went to Samuel in Ramah and told him everything that Saul had done to him. Then he and Samuel went to Naioth and stayed there. 19 Saul was told that David was in Naioth in Ramah, 20 so he sent some men to arrest him. They saw the group of prophets dancing and shouting, with Samuel as their leader. Then the spirit of God took control of Saul's men, and they also began to dance and shout. 21 When Saul heard of this, he sent more messengers, and they also began to dance and shout. He sent messengers the third time, and the same thing happened to them. 22 Then he himself started out to Ramah. When he came to the large well in Secu, he asked where Samuel and David were and was told that they were at Naioth. 23 As he was going there, the spirit of God took control of him also, and he danced and shouted all the way to Naioth. 24 He took off his clothes and danced and shouted in Samuel's presence, and lay naked all that day and all that night. (This is how the saying originated, "Has even Saul become a prophet?")

1409-1 Samuel 10:6 Jonathan said to the young man, "Let's cross over to the camp of those heathen Philistines. Maybe the Lord will help us; if he does, nothing can keep him from giving us the victory, no matter how few of us there are." 7 The young man answered, "Whatever you want to do, I'm with you." 8 "All right," Jonathan said. "We will go across and let the Philistines see us. 9 If they tell us to wait for them to come to us, then we will stay where we are. 10 But if they tell us to go to them, then we will, because that will be the sign that the Lord has given us victory over them." 11 So they let the Philistines see them, and the Philistines said, "Look! Some Hebrews are coming out of the holes they have been hiding in!" 12 Then they called out to Jonathan and the young man, "Come on up here! We have something to tell you!" Jonathan said to the young man, "Follow me. The Lord has given Israel victory over them." 13 Jonathan climbed up out of the pass on his hands and knees, and the young man followed him. Jonathan attacked the Philistines and knocked them down, and the young man killed them. 14 In that first slaughter Jonathan and the young man killed about twenty men in an area of about half an acre. 15 All the Philistines in the countryside were terrified; the raiders and the soldiers in the camp trembled with fear; the earth shook, and there was great panic.

1410-1 Samuel 12:1 Then Samuel said to the people of Israel, "I have done what you asked me to do. I have given you a king to rule you, 2 and now you have him to lead you. As for me, I am old and gray, and my sons are with you. I have been your leader from my youth until now. 3 Here I am. If I have done anything wrong, accuse me now in the presence of the Lord and the king he has chosen. Have I taken anybody's cow or anybody's donkey? Have I cheated or oppressed anyone? Have I accepted a bribe from anyone? If I have done any of these things, I will pay back what I have taken." 4 The people answered, "No, you have not cheated us or oppressed us; you have not taken anything from anyone." 5 Samuel replied, "The Lord and the king he has chosen are witnesses today that you have found me to be completely innocent." "Yes, the Lord is our witness," they answered.

1411-1 Samuel 8:1 When Samuel grew old, he made his sons judges in Israel. 2 The older son was named Joel and the younger one Abijah; they were judges in Beersheba.

1412-1 Samuel 12:1 Then Samuel said to the people of Israel, "I have done what you asked me to do. I have given you a king to rule you, 2 and now you have him to lead you. As for me, I am old and gray, and my sons are with you. I have been your leader from my youth until now. 3 Here I am. If I have done anything wrong, accuse me now in the presence of the Lord and the king he has chosen. Have I taken anybody's cow or anybody's donkey? Have I cheated or oppressed anyone? Have I accepted a bribe from anyone? If I have done any of these things, I will pay back what I have taken." 4 The people answered, "No, you have not cheated us or oppressed us; you have not taken anything from anyone." 5 Samuel replied, "The Lord and the king he has chosen are witnesses today that you have found me to be completely innocent." "Yes, the Lord is our witness," they answered. 6 Samuel continued, "The Lord is the one who chose Moses and Aaron and who brought your ancestors out of Egypt. 7 Now stand where you are, and I will accuse you before the Lord by reminding you of all the mighty actions the Lord did to save you and your ancestors. 8 When Jacob and his family went to Egypt and the Egyptians oppressed them, your ancestors cried to the Lord for help, and he sent Moses and Aaron, who brought them out of Egypt and settled them in this land. 9 But the people forgot the Lord their God, and so he let the Philistines and the king of Moab and Sisera, commander of the army of the city of Hazor, fight against your ancestors and conquer them. 10 Then they cried to the Lord for help and said, "We have sinned, because we turned away from you, Lord, and worshiped the idols of Baal and Astarte. Rescue us from our enemies, and we will worship you!' 11 And the Lord sent Gideon, Barak, Jephthah, and finally me. Each of us rescued you from your enemies, and you lived in safety. 12 But when you saw that King Nahash of Ammon was about to attack you, you rejected the Lord as your king and said to me, "We want a king to rule us.' 13 "Now here is the king you chose; you asked for him, and now the Lord has given him to you. 14 All will go well with you if you honor the Lord your God, serve him, listen to him, and obey his commands, and if you and your king follow him. 15 But if you do not listen to the Lord but disobey his commands, he will be against you and your king. 16 So then, stand where you are, and you will see the great thing which the Lord is going to do. 17 It's the dry season, isn't it? But I will pray, and the Lord will send thunder and rain. When this happens, you will realize that you committed a great sin against the Lord when you asked him for a king." 18 So Samuel prayed, and on that same day the Lord sent thunder and rain. Then all the people became afraid of the Lord and of Samuel, 19 and they said to Samuel, "Please, sir, pray to the Lord your God for us, so that we won't die. We now realize that, besides all our other sins, we have sinned by asking for a king." 20 "Don't be afraid," Samuel answered. "Even though you have done such an evil thing, do not turn away from the Lord, but serve him with all your heart. 21 Don't go after false gods; they cannot help you or save you, for they are not real. 22 The Lord has made a solemn promise, and he will not abandon you, for he has decided to make you his own people. 23 As for me, the Lord forbid that I should sin against him by no longer praying for you. Instead, I will teach you what is good and right for you to do. 24 Obey the Lord and serve him faithfully with all your heart. Remember the great things he has done for you. 25 But if you continue to sin, you and your king will be destroyed."

1413-1 Samuel 13:8 He waited seven days for Samuel, as Samuel had instructed him to do, but Samuel still had not come to Gilgal. The people began to desert Saul,

1414-1 Samuel 14:28 But one of the men told him, "We are all weak from hunger, but your father threatened us and said, "A curse be on anyone who eats any food today.' "

1415-1 Samuel 14:31 That day the Israelites defeated the Philistines, fighting all the way from Michmash to Aijalon. By this time the Israelites were very weak from hunger, 32 and so they rushed over to what they had captured from the enemy, took sheep and cattle, slaughtered them on the spot, and ate the meat with the blood still in it. 33 Saul was told, "Look, the people are sinning against the Lord by eating meat with the blood in it." "You are traitors!" Saul cried out. "Roll a big stone over here to me."

1416-1 Samuel 14:37 So Saul asked God, "Shall I attack the Philistines? Will you give us victory?" But God did not answer that day. 38 Then Saul said to the leaders of the people, "Come here and find out what sin was committed today. 39 I promise by the living Lord, who gives Israel victory, that the guilty one will be put to death, even if he is my son Jonathan." But no one said anything. 40 Then Saul said to them, "All of you stand over there, and Jonathan and I will stand over here." "Do whatever you think best," they answered. 41 Saul said to the Lord, the God of Israel, "Lord, why have you not answered me today? Lord, God of Israel, answer me by the sacred stones. If the guilt is Jonathan's or mine, answer by the Urim; but if it belongs to your people Israel, answer by the Thummim." The answer indicated Jonathan and Saul; and the people were cleared. 42 Then Saul said, "Decide between my son Jonathan and me." And Jonathan was indicated. 43 Then Saul asked Jonathan, "What have you done?" Jonathan answered, "I ate a little honey with the stick I was holding. Here I am - I am ready to die."

1417-1 Samuel 14:45 But the people said to Saul, "Will Jonathan, who won this great victory for Israel, be put to death? No! We promise by the living Lord that he will not lose even a hair from his head. What he did today was done with God's help." So the people saved Jonathan from being put to death.

1418-Judges 11:29 Then the spirit of the Lord came upon Jephthah. He went through Gilead and Manasseh and returned to Mizpah in Gilead and went on to Ammon.

Judges 11:40 that the Israelite women would go out for four days every year to grieve for the daughter of Jephthah of Gilead.

1419-Matthew 14:6 On Herod's birthday the daughter of Herodias danced in front of the whole group. Herod was so pleased 7 that he promised her, "I swear that I will give you anything you ask for!" 8 At her mother's suggestion she asked him, "Give me here and now the head of John the Baptist on a plate!" 9 The king was sad, but because of the promise he had made in front of all his guests he gave orders that her wish be granted. 10 So he had John beheaded in prison. 11 The head was brought in on a plate and given to the girl, who took it to her mother. 12 John's disciples came, carried away his body, and buried it; then they went and told Jesus.

1420-Numbers 26:52 The Lord said to Moses, 53 "Divide the land among the tribes, according to their size. 54 Divide the land by drawing lots, and give a large share to a large tribe and a small one to a small tribe." 57 The tribe of Levi consisted of the clans of Gershon, Kohath, and Merari. 58 Their descendants included the subclans of Libni, Hebron, Mahli, Mushi, and Korah. Kohath was the father of Amram, 59 who was married to Levi's daughter Jochebed, who was born in Egypt. She bore Amram two sons, Aaron and Moses, and a daughter, Miriam. 60 Aaron had four sons, Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar. 61 Nadab and Abihu died when they offered unholy fire to the Lord. 62 The male Levites who were one month old or older numbered 23,000. They were listed separately from the rest of the Israelites, because they were not given any property in Israel. 63 All these clans were listed by Moses and Eleazar when they took a census of the Israelites in the plains of Moab across the Jordan River from Jericho. 64 There was not even one man left among those whom Moses and Aaron had listed in the first census in the Sinai Desert. 65 The Lord had said that all of them would die in the wilderness, and except for Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun they all did.

1421-1 Samuel 8:11 "This is how your king will treat you," Samuel explained. "He will make soldiers of your sons; some of them will serve in his war chariots, others in his cavalry, and others will run before his chariots. 12 He will make some of them officers in charge of a thousand men, and others in charge of fifty men. Your sons will have to plow his fields, harvest his crops, and make his weapons and the equipment for his chariots. 13 Your daughters will have to make perfumes for him and work as his cooks and his bakers. 14 He will take your best fields, vineyards, and olive groves, and give them to his officials. 15 He will take a tenth of your grain and of your grapes for his court officers and other officials. 16 He will take your servants and your best cattle and donkeys, and make them work for him. 17 He will take a tenth of your flocks. And you yourselves will become his slaves. 18 When that time comes, you will complain bitterly because of your king, whom you yourselves chose, but the Lord will not listen to your complaints."

1422-1 Samuel 14:52 As long as he lived, Saul had to fight fiercely against the Philistines. So whenever he found a man who was strong or brave, he would enlist him in his army.

1423-1 Samuel 15:10 The Lord said to Samuel, 11 "I am sorry that I made Saul king; he has turned away from me and disobeyed my commands." Samuel was angry, and all night long he pleaded with the Lord. 12 Early the following morning he went off to find Saul. He heard that Saul had gone to the town of Carmel, where he had built a monument to himself, and then had gone on to Gilgal. 13 Samuel went up to Saul, who greeted him, saying, "The Lord bless you, Samuel! I have obeyed the Lord's command." 14 Samuel asked, "Why, then, do I hear cattle mooing and sheep bleating?" 15 Saul answered, "My men took them from the Amalekites. They kept the best sheep and cattle to offer as a sacrifice to the Lord your God, and the rest we have destroyed completely." 16 "Stop," Samuel ordered, "and I will tell you what the Lord said to me last night." "Tell me," Saul said. 17 Samuel answered, "Even though you consider yourself of no importance, you are the leader of the tribes of Israel. The Lord anointed you king of Israel, 18 and he sent you out with orders to destroy those wicked people of Amalek. He told you to fight until you had killed them all. 19 Why, then, did you not obey him? Why did you rush to grab the loot, and so do what displeases the Lord?" 20 "I did obey the Lord," Saul replied. "I went out as he told me to, brought back King Agag, and killed all the Amalekites. 21 But my men did not kill the best sheep and cattle that they captured; instead, they brought them here to Gilgal to offer as a sacrifice to the Lord your God." 22 Samuel said, "Which does the Lord prefer: obedience or offerings and sacrifices? It is better to obey him than to sacrifice the best sheep to him. 23 Rebellion against him is as bad as witchcraft, and arrogance is as sinful as idolatry. Because you rejected the Lord's command, he has rejected you as king." 24 "Yes, I have sinned," Saul replied. "I disobeyed the Lord's command and your instructions. I was afraid of my men and did what they wanted. 25 But now I beg you, forgive my sin and go back with me, so that I can worship the Lord." 26 "I will not go back with you," Samuel answered. "You rejected the Lord's command, and he has rejected you as king of Israel." 27 Then Samuel turned to leave, but Saul caught hold of his cloak, and it tore. 28 Samuel said to him, "The Lord has torn the kingdom of Israel away from you today and given it to someone who is a better man than you. 29 Israel's majestic God does not lie or change his mind. He is not a human being - he does not change his mind." 30 "I have sinned," Saul replied. "But at least show me respect in front of the leaders of my people and all of Israel. Go back with me so that I can worship the Lord your God." 31 So Samuel went back with him, and Saul worshiped the Lord. 32 "Bring King Agag here to me," Samuel ordered. Agag came to him, trembling with fear, thinking to himself, "What a bitter thing it is to die!" 33 Samuel said, "As your sword has made many mothers childless, so now your mother will become childless." And he cut Agag to pieces in front of the altar in Gilgal. 34 Then Samuel went to Ramah, and King Saul went home to Gibeah. 35 As long as Samuel lived, he never again saw the king; but he grieved over him. The Lord was sorry that he had made Saul king of Israel.

1424-Deuteronomy 17:14 "After you have taken possession of the land that the Lord your God is going to give you and have settled there, then you will decide you need a king like all the nations around you. 15 Be sure that the man you choose to be king is the one whom the Lord has chosen. He must be one of your own people; do not make a foreigner your king. 16 The king is not to have a large number of horses for his army, and he is not to send people to Egypt to buy horses, because the Lord has said that his people are never to return there. 17 The king is not to have many wives, because this would make him turn away from the Lord; and he is not to make himself rich with silver and gold. 18 When he becomes king, he is to have a copy of the book of God's laws and teachings made from the original copy kept by the levitical priests. 19 He is to keep this book near him and read from it all his life, so that he will learn to honor the Lord and to obey faithfully everything that is commanded in it. 20 This will keep him from thinking that he is better than other Israelites and from disobeying the Lord's commands in any way. Then he will reign for many years, and his descendants will rule Israel for many generations.

Deuteronomy 33:5 The Lord became king of his people Israel when their tribes and leaders were gathered together.

1425-Judges 8:2 But he told them, "What I was able to do is nothing compared with what you have done. Even the little that you people of Ephraim did is worth more than what my whole clan has done.

Judges 8:23 Gideon answered, "I will not be your ruler, nor will my son. The Lord will be your ruler."

1426-1 Samuel8:5 and said to him, "Look, you are getting old and your sons don't follow your example. So then, appoint a king to rule over us, so that we will have a king, as other countries have." 6 Samuel was displeased with their request for a king; so he prayed to the Lord, 7 and the Lord said, "Listen to everything the people say to you. You are not the one they have rejected; I am the one they have rejected as their king. 8 Ever since I brought them out of Egypt, they have turned away from me and worshiped other gods; and now they are doing to you what they have always done to me. 9 So then, listen to them, but give them strict warnings and explain how their kings will treat them." 10 Samuel told the people who were asking him for a king everything that the Lord had said to him. 11 "This is how your king will treat you," Samuel explained. "He will make soldiers of your sons; some of them will serve in his war chariots, others in his cavalry, and others will run before his chariots. 12 He will make some of them officers in charge of a thousand men, and others in charge of fifty men. Your sons will have to plow his fields, harvest his crops, and make his weapons and the equipment for his chariots. 13 Your daughters will have to make perfumes for him and work as his cooks and his bakers. 14 He will take your best fields, vineyards, and olive groves, and give them to his officials. 15 He will take a tenth of your grain and of your grapes for his court officers and other officials. 16 He will take your servants and your best cattle and donkeys, and make them work for him. 17 He will take a tenth of your flocks. And you yourselves will become his slaves. 18 When that time comes, you will complain bitterly because of your king, whom you yourselves chose, but the Lord will not listen to your complaints." 19 The people paid no attention to Samuel, but said, "No! We want a king, 20 so that we will be like other nations, with our own king to rule us and to lead us out to war and to fight our battles." 21 Samuel listened to everything they said and then went and told it to the Lord. 22 The Lord answered, "Do what they want and give them a king." Then Samuel told all the men of Israel to go back home.

1427-1 Samuel 13:14 But now your rule will not continue. Because you have disobeyed him, the Lord will find the kind of man he wants and make him ruler of his people."

1428-1 Samuel 15:29 Israel's majestic God does not lie or change his mind. He is not a human being - he does not change his mind."

1429-Numbers 23:19 God is not like people, who lie; He is not a human who changes his mind. Whatever he promises, he does; He speaks, and it is done.

1430-Malachi 3:6 "I am the Lord, and I do not change. And so you, the descendants of Jacob, are not yet completely lost.

1431-1 Samuel 15:10 The Lord said to Samuel,

1 Samuel 15:35 As long as Samuel lived, he never again saw the king; but he grieved over him. The Lord was sorry that he had made Saul king of Israel.

1432-2 Samuel 24:16 When the Lord's angel was about to destroy Jerusalem, the Lord changed his mind about punishing the people and said to the angel who was killing them, "Stop! That's enough!" The angel was by the threshing place of Araunah, a Jebusite.

2 Samuel 24:25 Then he built an altar to the Lord and offered burnt offerings and fellowship offerings. The Lord answered his prayer, and the epidemic in Israel was stopped.

1433-Genesis 6:6 he was sorry that he had ever made them and put them on the earth. He was so filled with regret

1434-Exodus 32:14 So the Lord changed his mind and did not bring on his people the disaster he had threatened.

1435-Judges 2:18 Whenever the Lord gave Israel a leader, the Lord would help that leader and would save the people from their enemies as long as that leader lived. The Lord would have mercy on them because they groaned under their suffering and oppression.

Judges 10:16 So they got rid of their foreign gods and worshiped the Lord; and he became troubled over Israel's distress.

1436-1 Samuel 15:11 "I am sorry that I made Saul king; he has turned away from me and disobeyed my commands." Samuel was angry, and all night long he pleaded with the Lord.

1437-2 Samuel 24:16 When the Lord's angel was about to destroy Jerusalem, the Lord changed his mind about punishing the people and said to the angel who was killing them, "Stop! That's enough!" The angel was by the threshing place of Araunah, a Jebusite.

1438-1 Chronicles 21:15 Then he sent an angel to destroy Jerusalem, but he changed his mind and said to the angel, "Stop! That's enough!" The angel was standing by the threshing place of Araunah, a Jebusite.

1439-Jeremiah 26:13 You must change the way you are living and the things you are doing, and must obey the Lord your God. If you do, he will change his mind about the destruction that he said he would bring on you.

Jeremiah 26:19 King Hezekiah and the people of Judah did not put Micah to death. Instead, Hezekiah honored the Lord and tried to win his favor. And the Lord changed his mind about the disaster that he said he would bring on them. Now we are about to bring a terrible disaster on ourselves."

1440-Ezekiel 24:14 I, the Lord, have spoken. The time has come for me to act. I will not ignore your sins or show pity or be merciful. You will be punished for what you have done." The Sovereign Lord has spoken.

1441-Joel 2:13 Let your broken heart show your sorrow; tearing your clothes is not enough." Come back to the Lord your God. He is kind and full of mercy; he is patient and keeps his promise; he is always ready to forgive and not punish. 14 Perhaps the Lord your God will change his mind and bless you with abundant crops. Then you can offer him grain and wine.

1442-Amos 7:3 The Lord changed his mind and said, "What you saw will not take place."

Amos 7:6 The Lord changed his mind again and said, "This will not take place either."

1443-Jonah 3:9 Perhaps God will change his mind; perhaps he will stop being angry, and we will not die!" 10 God saw what they did; he saw that they had given up their wicked behavior. So he changed his mind and did not punish them as he had said he would.

Jonah 4:2 So he prayed, "Lord, didn't I say before I left home that this is just what you would do? That's why I did my best to run away to Spain! I knew that you are a loving and merciful God, always patient, always kind, and always ready to change your mind and not punish.

1444-Psalms 2:12 and bow down to him; or else his anger will be quickly aroused, and you will suddenly die. Happy are all who go to him for protection.

1445-1 Samuel 15:1 Samuel said to Saul, "I am the one whom the Lord sent to anoint you king of his people Israel. Now listen to what the Lord Almighty says. 2 He is going to punish the people of Amalek because their ancestors opposed the Israelites when they were coming from Egypt. 3 Go and attack the Amalekites and completely destroy everything they have. Don't leave a thing; kill all the men, women, children, and babies; the cattle, sheep, camels, and donkeys." 4 Saul called his forces together and inspected them at Telem: there were 200,000 soldiers from Israel and 10,000 from Judah. 5 Then he and his men went to the city of Amalek and waited in ambush in a dry riverbed. 6 He sent a warning to the Kenites, a people whose ancestors had been kind to the Israelites when they came from Egypt: "Go away and leave the Amalekites, so that I won't kill you along with them." So the Kenites left. 7 Saul defeated the Amalekites, fighting all the way from Havilah to Shur, east of Egypt; 8 he captured King Agag of Amalek alive and killed all the people. 9 But Saul and his men spared Agag's life and did not kill the best sheep and cattle, the best calves and lambs, or anything else that was good; they destroyed only what was useless or worthless. 10 The Lord said to Samuel, 11 "I am sorry that I made Saul king; he has turned away from me and disobeyed my commands." Samuel was angry, and all night long he pleaded with the Lord. 12 Early the following morning he went off to find Saul. He heard that Saul had gone to the town of Carmel, where he had built a monument to himself, and then had gone on to Gilgal. 13 Samuel went up to Saul, who greeted him, saying, "The Lord bless you, Samuel! I have obeyed the Lord's command." 14 Samuel asked, "Why, then, do I hear cattle mooing and sheep bleating?" 15 Saul answered, "My men took them from the Amalekites. They kept the best sheep and cattle to offer as a sacrifice to the Lord your God, and the rest we have destroyed completely." 16 "Stop," Samuel ordered, "and I will tell you what the Lord said to me last night." "Tell me," Saul said. 17 Samuel answered, "Even though you consider yourself of no importance, you are the leader of the tribes of Israel. The Lord anointed you king of Israel, 18 and he sent you out with orders to destroy those wicked people of Amalek. He told you to fight until you had killed them all. 19 Why, then, did you not obey him? Why did you rush to grab the loot, and so do what displeases the Lord?" 20 "I did obey the Lord," Saul replied. "I went out as he told me to, brought back King Agag, and killed all the Amalekites. 21 But my men did not kill the best sheep and cattle that they captured; instead, they brought them here to Gilgal to offer as a sacrifice to the Lord your God." 22 Samuel said, "Which does the Lord prefer: obedience or offerings and sacrifices? It is better to obey him than to sacrifice the best sheep to him. 23 Rebellion against him is as bad as witchcraft, and arrogance is as sinful as idolatry. Because you rejected the Lord's command, he has rejected you as king." 24 "Yes, I have sinned," Saul replied. "I disobeyed the Lord's command and your instructions. I was afraid of my men and did what they wanted. 25 But now I beg you, forgive my sin and go back with me, so that I can worship the Lord." 26 "I will not go back with you," Samuel answered. "You rejected the Lord's command, and he has rejected you as king of Israel." 27 Then Samuel turned to leave, but Saul caught hold of his cloak, and it tore. 28 Samuel said to him, "The Lord has torn the kingdom of Israel away from you today and given it to someone who is a better man than you. 29 Israel's majestic God does not lie or change his mind. He is not a human being - he does not change his mind." 30 "I have sinned," Saul replied. "But at least show me respect in front of the leaders of my people and all of Israel. Go back with me so that I can worship the Lord your God." 31 So Samuel went back with him, and Saul worshiped the Lord. 32 "Bring King Agag here to me," Samuel ordered. Agag came to him, trembling with fear, thinking to himself, "What a bitter thing it is to die!" 33 Samuel said, "As your sword has made many mothers childless, so now your mother will become childless." And he cut Agag to pieces in front of the altar in Gilgal. 34 Then Samuel went to Ramah, and King Saul went home to Gibeah. 35 As long as Samuel lived, he never again saw the king; but he grieved over him. The Lord was sorry that he had made Saul king of Israel.

1446-Genesis 6:6 he was sorry that he had ever made them and put them on the earth. He was so filled with regret 7 that he said, "I will wipe out these people I have created, and also the animals and the birds, because I am sorry that I made any of them."

1447-Exodus 32:14 So the Lord changed his mind and did not bring on his people the disaster he had threatened

1448-Deuteronomy 32:36 The Lord will rescue his people when he sees that their strength is gone. He will have mercy on those who serve him, when he sees how helpless they are.

1449-Judges 2:18 Whenever the Lord gave Israel a leader, the Lord would help that leader and would save the people from their enemies as long as that leader lived. The Lord would have mercy on them because they groaned under their suffering and oppression.

1450-2 Samuel 24:16 When the Lord's angel was about to destroy Jerusalem, the Lord changed his mind about punishing the people and said to the angel who was killing them, "Stop! That's enough!" The angel was by the threshing place of Araunah, a Jebusite.

1451-1 Chronicles 21:15 Then he sent an angel to destroy Jerusalem, but he changed his mind and said to the angel, "Stop! That's enough!" The angel was standing by the threshing place of Araunah, a Jebusite.

1452-Psalms 106:45 For their sake he remembered his covenant, and because of his great love he relented.

1453-Jeremiah 26:3 Perhaps the people will listen and give up their evil ways. If they do, then I will change my mind about the destruction I plan to bring on them for all their wicked deeds."

Jeremiah 26:13 You must change the way you are living and the things you are doing, and must obey the Lord your God. If you do, he will change his mind about the destruction that he said he would bring on you.

Jeremiah 26:19 King Hezekiah and the people of Judah did not put Micah to death. Instead, Hezekiah honored the Lord and tried to win his favor. And the Lord changed his mind about the disaster that he said he would bring on them. Now we are about to bring a terrible disaster on ourselves."

Jeremiah 31:19 We turned away from you, but soon we wanted to return. After you had punished us, we hung our heads in grief. We were ashamed and disgraced because we sinned when we were young.'

Jeremiah 42:10 "If you are willing to go on living in this land, then I will build you up and not tear you down; I will plant you and not pull you up. The destruction I brought on you has caused me great sorrow.

1454-Hosea 11:8 "How can I give you up, Israel? How can I abandon you? Could I ever destroy you as I did Admah, or treat you as I did Zeboiim? My heart will not let me do it! My love for you is too strong.

1455-Joel 2:13 Let your broken heart show your sorrow; tearing your clothes is not enough." Come back to the Lord your God. He is kind and full of mercy; he is patient and keeps his promise; he is always ready to forgive and not punish. 14 Perhaps the Lord your God will change his mind and bless you with abundant crops. Then you can offer him grain and wine.

1456-Amos 7:3 The Lord changed his mind and said, "What you saw will not take place."

Amos 7:6 The Lord changed his mind again and said, "This will not take place either."

1457-Jonah 3:9 Perhaps God will change his mind; perhaps he will stop being angry, and we will not die!" 10 God saw what they did; he saw that they had given up their wicked behavior. So he changed his mind and did not punish them as he had said he would.

Jonah 4:2 So he prayed, "Lord, didn't I say before I left home that this is just what you would do? That's why I did my best to run away to Spain! I knew that you are a loving and merciful God, always patient, always kind, and always ready to change your mind and not punish.

1458-Numbers 23:19 God is not like people, who lie; He is not a human who changes his mind. Whatever he promises, he does; He speaks, and it is done.

1459-Psalms 110:4 The Lord made a solemn promise and will not take it back: "You will be a priest forever in the priestly order of Melchizedek."

1460-Jeremiah 4:28 The earth will mourn; the sky will grow dark. The Lord has spoken and will not change his mind. He has made his decision and will not turn back.

Jeremiah 15:6 You people have rejected me; you have turned your backs on me. So I reached out and crushed you because I was tired of controlling my anger.

Jeremiah 18:8 but then that nation turns from its evil, I will not do what I said I would.

1461-Ezekiel 24:14 I, the Lord, have spoken. The time has come for me to act. I will not ignore your sins or show pity or be merciful. You will be punished for what you have done." The Sovereign Lord has spoken.

1462-Amos 7:8 He asked me, "Amos, what do you see?" "A plumb line," I answered. Then he said, "I am using it to show that my people are like a wall that is out of line. I will not change my mind again about punishing them.

1463-Zechariah 8:14 The Lord Almighty says, "When your ancestors made me angry, I planned disaster for them and did not change my mind, but carried out my plans.

1464-1 Samuel 16:4 Samuel did what the Lord told him to do and went to Bethlehem, where the city leaders came trembling to meet him and asked, "Is this a peaceful visit, seer?"

1465-Exodus 20:18 When the people heard the thunder and the trumpet blast and saw the lightning and the smoking mountain, they trembled with fear and stood a long way off. 19 They said to Moses, "If you speak to us, we will listen; but we are afraid that if God speaks to us, we will die." 20 Moses replied, "Don't be afraid; God has only come to test you and make you keep on obeying him, so that you will not sin."

1466-1 Samuel 16:7 But the Lord said to him, "Pay no attention to how tall and handsome he is. I have rejected him, because I do not judge as people judge. They look at the outward appearance, but I look at the heart."

1467-1 Samuel 9:24 So the cook brought the choice piece of the leg and placed it before Saul. Samuel said, "Look, here is the piece that was kept for you. Eat it. I saved it for you to eat at this time with the people I invited." So Saul ate with Samuel that day.

1 Samuel 10:1 Then Samuel took a jar of olive oil and poured it on Saul's head, kissed him, and said, "The Lord anoints you as ruler of his people Israel. You will rule his people and protect them from all their enemies. And this is the proof to you that the Lord has chosen you to be the ruler of his people:

1468-1 Samuel 16:14 The Lord's spirit left Saul, and an evil spirit sent by the Lord tormented him. 15 His servants said to him, "We know that an evil spirit sent by God is tormenting you. 16 So give us the order, sir, and we will look for a man who knows how to play the harp. Then when the evil spirit comes on you, the man can play his harp, and you will be all right again."

1 Samuel 16:23 From then on, whenever the evil spirit sent by God came on Saul, David would get his harp and play it. The evil spirit would leave, and Saul would feel better and be all right again.

1 Samuel 18:10 The next day an evil spirit from God suddenly took control of Saul, and he raved in his house like a madman. David was playing the harp, as he did every day, and Saul was holding a spear.

1 Samuel 19:9 One day an evil spirit from the Lord took control of Saul. He was sitting in his house with his spear in his hand, and David was there, playing his harp.

1 Samuel 20:33 At that, Saul threw his spear at Jonathan to kill him, and Jonathan realized that his father was really determined to kill David.

1469-1 Samuel 10:9 When Saul turned to leave Samuel, God gave Saul a new nature. And everything Samuel had told him happened that day. 10 When Saul and his servant arrived at Gibeah, a group of prophets met him. Suddenly the spirit of God took control of him, and he joined in their ecstatic dancing and shouting. 11 People who had known him before saw him doing this and asked one another, "What has happened to the son of Kish? Has Saul become a prophet?"

1 Samuel 11:6 When Saul heard this, the spirit of God took control of him, and he became furious.

1 Samuel 16:14 The Lord's spirit left Saul, and an evil spirit sent by the Lord tormented him.

1 Samuel 20:20 so he sent some men to arrest him. They saw the group of prophets dancing and shouting, with Samuel as their leader. Then the spirit of God took control of Saul's men, and they also began to dance and shout. 21 When Saul heard of this, he sent more messengers, and they also began to dance and shout. He sent messengers the third time, and the same thing happened to them. 22 Then he himself started out to Ramah. When he came to the large well in Secu, he asked where Samuel and David were and was told that they were at Naioth. 23 As he was going there, the spirit of God took control of him also, and he danced and shouted all the way to Naioth. 24 He took off his clothes and danced and shouted in Samuel's presence, and lay naked all that day and all that night. (This is how the saying originated, "Has even Saul become a prophet?")

1470-Deuteronomy 6:5 Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.

1471-1 Samuel 17:16 Goliath challenged the Israelites every morning and evening for forty days.

1472-1 Samuel 17:45 David answered, "You are coming against me with sword, spear, and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty, the God of the Israelite armies, which you have defied.

1473-1 Samuel 18:7 In their celebration the women sang, "Saul has killed thousands, but David tens of thousands."

1 Samuel 21:11 The king's officials said to Achish, "Isn't this David, the king of his country? This is the man about whom the women sang, as they danced, "Saul has killed thousands, but David has killed tens of thousands.' "

1474-1 Samuel 18:25 and Saul ordered them to tell David: "All the king wants from you as payment for the bride are the foreskins of a hundred dead Philistines, as revenge on his enemies." (This was how Saul planned to have David killed by the Philistines.) 26 Saul's officials reported to David what Saul had said, and David was delighted with the thought of becoming the king's son-in-law. Before the day set for the wedding, 27 David and his men went and killed two hundred Philistines. He took their foreskins to the king and counted them all out to him, so that he might become his son-in-law. So Saul had to give his daughter Michal in marriage to David.

1475-1 Samuel 19:9 One day an evil spirit from the Lord took control of Saul. He was sitting in his house with his spear in his hand, and David was there, playing his harp. 10 Saul tried to pin David to the wall with his spear, but David dodged, and the spear stuck in the wall. David ran away and escaped. 11 That same night Saul sent some men to watch David's house and kill him the next morning. Michal, David's wife, warned him, "If you don't get away tonight, tomorrow you will be dead." 12 She let him down from a window, and he ran away and escaped. 13 Then she took the household idol, laid it on the bed, put a pillow made of goats' hair at its head, and put a cover over it. 14 When Saul's men came to get David, Michal told them that he was sick. 15 But Saul sent them back to see David for themselves. He ordered them, "Carry him here in his bed, and I will kill him." 16 They went inside and found the household idol in the bed and the goats' hair pillow at its head. 17 Saul asked Michal, "Why have you tricked me like this and let my enemy escape?" She answered, "He said he would kill me if I didn't help him escape."

1476-1 Samuel 19:17 Saul asked Michal, "Why have you tricked me like this and let my enemy escape?" She answered, "He said he would kill me if I didn't help him escape."

1477-1 Samuel 21:1 David went to the priest Ahimelech in Nob. Ahimelech came out trembling to meet him and asked, "Why did you come here all by yourself?" 2 "I am here on the king's business," David answered. "He told me not to let anyone know what he sent me to do. As for my men, I have told them to meet me at a certain place.

1478-1 Samuel 27:8 During that time David and his men would attack the people of Geshur, Girzi, and Amalek, who had been living in the region a very long time. He would raid their land as far as Shur, all the way down to Egypt, 9 killing all the men and women and taking the sheep, cattle, donkeys, camels, and even the clothes. Then he would come back to Achish, 10 who would ask him, "Where did you go on a raid this time?" and David would tell him that he had gone to the southern part of Judah or to the territory of the clan of Jerahmeel or to the territory where the Kenites lived. 11 David would kill everyone, men and women, so that no one could go back to Gath and report what he and his men had really done. This is what David did the whole time he lived in Philistia. 12 But Achish trusted David and said to himself, "He is hated so much by his own people the Israelites that he will have to serve me all his life."

1479-Gen. 31:19 Laban had gone to shear his sheep, and during his absence Rachel stole the household gods that belonged to her father.

Genesis 31:30 I know that you left because you were so anxious to get back home, but why did you steal my household gods?" 31 Jacob answered, "I was afraid, because I thought that you might take your daughters away from me. 32 But if you find that anyone here has your gods, he will be put to death. Here, with our men as witnesses, look for anything that belongs to you and take what is yours." Jacob did not know that Rachel had stolen Laban's gods. 33 Laban went and searched Jacob's tent; then he went into Leah's tent, and the tent of the two slave women, but he did not find his gods. Then he went into Rachel's tent. 34 Rachel had taken the household gods and put them in a camel's saddlebag and was sitting on them. Laban searched through the whole tent, but did not find them. 35 Rachel said to her father, "Do not be angry with me, sir, but I am not able to stand up in your presence; I am having my monthly period." Laban searched but did not find his household gods.

1480-Judg. 18:17 The five spies went straight on into the house and took the wooden idol covered with silver, the other idols, and the ephod, while the priest stayed at the gate with the six hundred armed men. 18 When the men went into Micah's house and took the sacred objects, the priest asked them, "What are you doing?" 19 They told him, "Keep quiet. Don't say a word. Come with us and be our priest and adviser. Wouldn't you rather be a priest for a whole Israelite tribe than for the family of one man?" 20 This made the priest very happy, so he took the sacred objects and went along with them. 21 They turned around and started off, with their children, their livestock, and their belongings going ahead. 22 They had traveled a good distance from the house when Micah called his neighbors out for battle. They caught up with the Danites 23 and shouted at them. The Danites turned around and asked Micah, "What's the matter? Why all this mob?" 24 Micah answered, "What do you mean, "What's the matter?' You take my priest and the gods that I made, and walk off! What have I got left?" 25 The Danites told him, "You had better not say anything else unless you want these men to get angry and attack you. You and your whole family would die." 26 Then the Danites went on. Micah saw that they were too strong for him, so he turned and went back home.

1481-2 Kin. 23:24 In order to enforce the laws written in the book that the High Priest Hilkiah had found in the Temple, King Josiah removed from Jerusalem and the rest of Judah all the mediums and fortunetellers, and all the household gods, idols, and all other pagan objects of worship.

1482-Ezek. 21:21 The king of Babylonia stands by the signpost at the fork of the road. To discover which way to go, he shakes the arrows; he consults his idols; he examines the liver of a sacrificed animal.

1483-Zech. 10:2 People consult idols and fortunetellers, but the answers they get are lies and nonsense. Some interpret dreams, but only mislead you; the comfort they give is useless. So the people wander about like lost sheep. They are in trouble because they have no leader.

1484-1 Samuel 19:13 Then she took the household idol, laid it on the bed, put a pillow made of goats' hair at its head, and put a cover over it.

1485-Gen. 31:19 Laban had gone to shear his sheep, and during his absence Rachel stole the household gods that belonged to her father.

Genesis 31:34 Rachel had taken the household gods and put them in a camel's saddlebag and was sitting on them. Laban searched through the whole tent, but did not find them. 35 Rachel said to her father, "Do not be angry with me, sir, but I am not able to stand up in your presence; I am having my monthly period." Laban searched but did not find his household gods.

1486-Judg. 18:14 Then the five men who had gone to spy on the country around Laish said to their companions, "Did you know that here in one of these houses there is a wooden idol covered with silver? There are also other idols and an ephod. What do you think we should do?"

1487-Gen. 31:19 Laban had gone to shear his sheep, and during his absence Rachel stole the household gods that belonged to her father.

1488-Lev. 19:31 "Do not go for advice to people who consult the spirits of the dead. If you do, you will be ritually unclean. I am the Lord your God.

1489-1 Samuel 21:1 David went to the priest Ahimelech in Nob. Ahimelech came out trembling to meet him and asked, "Why did you come here all by yourself?" 2 "I am here on the king's business," David answered. "He told me not to let anyone know what he sent me to do. As for my men, I have told them to meet me at a certain place. 3 Now, then, what supplies do you have? Give me five loaves of bread or anything else you have." 4 The priest said, "I don't have any ordinary bread, only sacred bread; you can have it if your men haven't had sexual relations recently." 5 "Of course they haven't," answered David. "My men always keep themselves ritually pure even when we go out on an ordinary mission; how much more this time when we are on a special mission!" 6 So the priest gave David the sacred bread, because the only bread he had was the loaves offered to God, which had been removed from the sacred table and replaced by fresh bread.

1490-Matthew 12:3 Jesus answered, "Have you never read what David did that time when he and his men were hungry? 4 He went into the house of God, and he and his men ate the bread offered to God, even though it was against the Law for them to eat it - only the priests were allowed to eat that bread.

1491-Mark 2:25 Jesus answered, "Have you never read what David did that time when he needed something to eat? He and his men were hungry, 26 so he went into the house of God and ate the bread offered to God. This happened when Abiathar was the High Priest. According to our Law only the priests may eat this bread - but David ate it and even gave it to his men."

1492-Luke 6:3 Jesus answered them, "Haven't you read what David did when he and his men were hungry?

1493-1 Samuel 21:10 So David left, fleeing from Saul, and went to King Achish of Gath. 11 The king's officials said to Achish, "Isn't this David, the king of his country? This is the man about whom the women sang, as they danced, "Saul has killed thousands, but David has killed tens of thousands.' " 12 Their words made a deep impression on David, and he became very much afraid of King Achish. 13 So whenever David was around them, he pretended to be insane and acted like a madman when they tried to restrain him; he would scribble on the city gates and let spit drool down his beard. 14 So Achish said to his officials, "Look! The man is crazy! Why did you bring him to me? 15 Don't I have enough madmen already? Why bring another one to bother me with his crazy actions right here in my own house?"

1494-1 Samuel 28:6 and so he asked the Lord what to do. But the Lord did not answer him at all, either by dreams or by the use of Urim and Thummim or by prophets. 7 Then Saul ordered his officials, "Find me a woman who is a medium, and I will go and consult her." "There is one in Endor," they answered. 8 So Saul disguised himself; he put on different clothes, and after dark he went with two of his men to see the woman. "Consult the spirits for me and tell me what is going to happen," he said to her. "Call up the spirit of the man I name." 9 The woman answered, "Surely you know what King Saul has done, how he forced the fortunetellers and mediums to leave Israel. Why, then, are you trying to trap me and get me killed?" 10 Then Saul made a sacred vow. "By the living Lord I promise that you will not be punished for doing this," he told her. 11 "Whom shall I call up for you?" the woman asked. "Samuel," he answered. 12 When the woman saw Samuel, she screamed and said to Saul, "Why have you tricked me? You are King Saul!" 13 "Don't be afraid!" the king said to her. "What do you see?" "I see a spirit coming up from the earth," she answered. 14 "What does it look like?" he asked. "It's an old man coming up," she answered. "He is wearing a cloak." Then Saul knew that it was Samuel, and he bowed to the ground in respect. 15 Samuel said to Saul, "Why have you disturbed me? Why did you make me come back?" Saul answered, "I am in great trouble! The Philistines are at war with me, and God has abandoned me. He doesn't answer me any more, either by prophets or by dreams. And so I have called you, for you to tell me what I must do." 16 Samuel said, "Why do you call me when the Lord has abandoned you and become your enemy?

1495-1 Chronicles 10:13 Saul died because he was unfaithful to the Lord. He disobeyed the Lord's commands; he tried to find guidance by consulting the spirits of the dead

1496-1 Samuel 13:14 But now your rule will not continue. Because you have disobeyed him, the Lord will find the kind of man he wants and make him ruler of his people."

1497-Acts 13:22 After removing him, God made David their king. This is what God said about him: "I have found that David son of Jesse is the kind of man I like, a man who will do all I want him to do.'

1498-1 Samuel 16:6 When they arrived, Samuel saw Jesse's son Eliab and said to himself, "This man standing here in the Lord's presence is surely the one he has chosen." 7 But the Lord said to him, "Pay no attention to how tall and handsome he is. I have rejected him, because I do not judge as people judge. They look at the outward appearance, but I look at the heart."

1499-1 Samuel 17:54 David got Goliath's head and took it to Jerusalem, but he kept Goliath's weapons in his own tent.

1 Samuel 17:57 So when David returned to camp after killing Goliath, Abner took him to Saul. David was still carrying Goliath's head.

1500-1 Samuel 18:25 and Saul ordered them to tell David: "All the king wants from you as payment for the bride are the foreskins of a hundred dead Philistines, as revenge on his enemies." (This was how Saul planned to have David killed by the Philistines.) 26 Saul's officials reported to David what Saul had said, and David was delighted with the thought of becoming the king's son-in-law. Before the day set for the wedding, 27 David and his men went and killed two hundred Philistines. He took their foreskins to the king and counted them all out to him, so that he might become his son-in-law. So Saul had to give his daughter Michal in marriage to David.

1501-1 Samuel 19:13 Then she took the household idol, laid it on the bed, put a pillow made of goats' hair at its head, and put a cover over it.

1502-1 Samuel 21:1 David went to the priest Ahimelech in Nob. Ahimelech came out trembling to meet him and asked, "Why did you come here all by yourself?" 2 "I am here on the king's business," David answered. "He told me not to let anyone know what he sent me to do. As for my men, I have told them to meet me at a certain place. 3 Now, then, what supplies do you have? Give me five loaves of bread or anything else you have." 4 The priest said, "I don't have any ordinary bread, only sacred bread; you can have it if your men haven't had sexual relations recently." 5 "Of course they haven't," answered David. "My men always keep themselves ritually pure even when we go out on an ordinary mission; how much more this time when we are on a special mission!" 6 So the priest gave David the sacred bread, because the only bread he had was the loaves offered to God, which had been removed from the sacred table and replaced by fresh bread. 7 (Saul's chief herdsman, Doeg, who was from Edom, happened to be there that day, because he had to fulfill a religious obligation.) 8 David said to Ahimelech, "Do you have a spear or a sword you can give me? The king's orders made me leave in such a hurry that I didn't have time to get my sword or any other weapon." 9 Ahimelech answered, "I have the sword of Goliath the Philistine, whom you killed in Elah Valley; it is behind the ephod, wrapped in a cloth. If you want it, take it - it's the only weapon here." "Give it to me," David said. "There is not a better sword anywhere!" 10 So David left, fleeing from Saul, and went to King Achish of Gath. 11 The king's officials said to Achish, "Isn't this David, the king of his country? This is the man about whom the women sang, as they danced, "Saul has killed thousands, but David has killed tens of thousands.' " 12 Their words made a deep impression on David, and he became very much afraid of King Achish. 13 So whenever David was around them, he pretended to be insane and acted like a madman when they tried to restrain him; he would scribble on the city gates and let spit drool down his beard. 14 So Achish said to his officials, "Look! The man is crazy! Why did you bring him to me? 15 Don't I have enough madmen already? Why bring another one to bother me with his crazy actions right here in my own house?"

1 Samuel 22:1 David fled from the city of Gath and went to a cave near the town of Adullam. When his brothers and the rest of the family heard that he was there, they joined him. 2 People who were oppressed or in debt or dissatisfied went to him, about four hundred men in all, and he became their leader. 3 David went on from there to Mizpah in Moab and said to the king of Moab, "Please let my father and mother come and stay with you until I find out what God is going to do for me." 4 So David left his parents with the king of Moab, and they stayed there as long as David was hiding out in the cave. 5 Then the prophet Gad came to David and said, "Don't stay here; go at once to the land of Judah." So David left and went to the forest of Hereth. 6 One day Saul was in Gibeah, sitting under a tamarisk tree on a hill, with his spear in his hand, and all his officers were standing around him. He was told that David and his men had been located, 7 and he said to his officers, "Listen, men of Benjamin! Do you think that David will give fields and vineyards to all of you, and make you officers in his army? 8 Is that why you are plotting against me? Not one of you told me that my own son had made an alliance with David. No one is concerned about me or tells me that David, one of my own men, is right now looking for a chance to kill me, and that my son has encouraged him!" 9 Doeg was standing there with Saul's officers, and he said, "I saw David when he went to Ahimelech son of Ahitub in Nob. 10 Ahimelech asked the Lord what David should do, and then he gave David some food and the sword of Goliath the Philistine." 11 So King Saul sent for the priest Ahimelech and all his relatives, who were also priests in Nob, and they came to him. 12 Saul said to Ahimelech, "Listen, Ahimelech!" "At your service, sir," he answered. 13 Saul asked him, "Why are you and David plotting against me? Why did you give him some food and a sword, and consult God for him? Now he has turned against me and is waiting for a chance to kill me!" 14 Ahimelech answered, "David is the most faithful officer you have! He is your own son-in-law, captain of your bodyguard, and highly respected by everyone in the royal court. 15 Yes, I consulted God for him, and it wasn't the first time. As for plotting against you, Your Majesty must not accuse me or anyone else in my family. I don't know anything about this matter!" 16 The king said, "Ahimelech, you and all your relatives must die." 17 Then he said to the guards standing near him, "Kill the Lord's priests! They conspired with David and did not tell me that he had run away, even though they knew it all along." But the guards refused to lift a hand to kill the Lord's priests. 18 So Saul said to Doeg, "You kill them!" - and Doeg killed them all. On that day he killed eighty-five priests who were qualified to carry the ephod. 19 Saul also had all the other inhabitants of Nob, the city of priests, put to death: men and women, children and babies, cattle, donkeys, and sheep - they were all killed. 20 But Abiathar, one of Ahimelech's sons, escaped, and went and joined David. 21 He told him how Saul had slaughtered the priests of the Lord. 22 David said to him, "When I saw Doeg there that day, I knew that he would be sure to tell Saul. So I am responsible for the death of all your relatives. 23 Stay with me and don't be afraid. Saul wants to kill both you and me, but you will be safe with me."

1503-1 Samuel 30:22 But some mean and worthless men who had gone with David said, "They didn't go with us, and so we won't give them any of the loot. They can take their wives and children and go away."

1504-1 Samuel 27:1 David said to himself, "One of these days Saul will kill me. The best thing for me to do is to escape to Philistia. Then Saul will give up looking for me in Israel, and I will be safe." 2 So David and his six hundred men went over at once to Achish son of Maoch, king of Gath. 3 David and his men settled there in Gath with their families. David had his two wives with him, Ahinoam from Jezreel, and Abigail, Nabal's widow, from Carmel. 4 When Saul heard that David had fled to Gath, he gave up trying to find him. 5 David said to Achish, "If you are my friend, let me have a small town to live in. There is no need, sir, for me to live with you in the capital city." 6 So Achish gave him the town of Ziklag, and for this reason Ziklag has belonged to the kings of Judah ever since. 7 David lived in Philistia for sixteen months. 8 During that time David and his men would attack the people of Geshur, Girzi, and Amalek, who had been living in the region a very long time. He would raid their land as far as Shur, all the way down to Egypt, 9 killing all the men and women and taking the sheep, cattle, donkeys, camels, and even the clothes. Then he would come back to Achish, 10 who would ask him, "Where did you go on a raid this time?" and David would tell him that he had gone to the southern part of Judah or to the territory of the clan of Jerahmeel or to the territory where the Kenites lived. 11 David would kill everyone, men and women, so that no one could go back to Gath and report what he and his men had really done. This is what David did the whole time he lived in Philistia. 12 But Achish trusted David and said to himself, "He is hated so much by his own people the Israelites that he will have to serve me all his life."

1505-1 Samuel 25:43 David had married Ahinoam from Jezreel, and now Abigail also became his wife. 44 Meanwhile, Saul had given his daughter Michal, who had been David's wife, to Palti son of Laish, who was from the town of Gallim.

1506-2 Samuel 2:1 After this, David asked the Lord, "Shall I go and take control of one of the towns of Judah?" "Yes," the Lord answered. "Which one?" David asked. "Hebron," the Lord said. 2 So David went to Hebron, taking with him his two wives: Ahinoam, who was from Jezreel, and Abigail, Nabal's widow, who was from Carmel.

2 Samuel 3:2 The following six sons, in order of their birth, were born to David at Hebron: Amnon, whose mother was Ahinoam, from Jezreel; 3 Chileab, whose mother was Abigail, Nabal's widow, from Carmel; Absalom, whose mother was Maacah, the daughter of King Talmai of Geshur; 4 Adonijah, whose mother was Haggith; Shephatiah, whose mother was Abital;

2 Samuel 5:13 After moving from Hebron to Jerusalem, David took more concubines and wives, and had more sons and daughters.

2 Samuel 12:8 I gave you his kingdom and his wives; I made you king over Israel and Judah. If this had not been enough, I would have given you twice as much.

2 Samuel 15:16 So the king left, accompanied by all his family and officials, except for ten concubines, whom he left behind to take care of the palace.

1507-2 Samuel 11:1 The following spring, at the time of the year when kings usually go to war, David sent out Joab with his officers and the Israelite army; they defeated the Ammonites and besieged the city of Rabbah. But David himself stayed in Jerusalem. 2 One day, late in the afternoon, David got up from his nap and went to the palace roof. As he walked around up there, he saw a woman taking a bath in her house. She was very beautiful. 3 So he sent a messenger to find out who she was, and learned that she was Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam and the wife of Uriah the Hittite. 4 David sent messengers to get her; they brought her to him and he made love to her. (She had just finished her monthly ritual of purification.) Then she went back home. 5 Afterward she discovered that she was pregnant and sent a message to David to tell him. 6 David then sent a message to Joab: "Send me Uriah the Hittite." So Joab sent him to David. 7 When Uriah arrived, David asked him if Joab and the troops were well, and how the fighting was going. 8 Then he said to Uriah, "Go on home and rest a while." Uriah left, and David had a present sent to his home. 9 But Uriah did not go home; instead he slept at the palace gate with the king's guards. 10 When David heard that Uriah had not gone home, he asked him, "You have just returned after a long absence; why didn't you go home?" 11 Uriah answered, "The men of Israel and Judah are away in battle, and the Covenant Box is with them; my commander Joab and his officers are camping out in the open. How could I go home, eat and drink, and sleep with my wife? By all that's sacred, I swear that I could never do such a thing!" 12 So David said, "Then stay here the rest of the day, and tomorrow I'll send you back." So Uriah stayed in Jerusalem that day and the next. 13 David invited him to supper and got him drunk. But again that night Uriah did not go home; instead he slept on his blanket in the palace guardroom. 14 The next morning David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it by Uriah. 15 He wrote: "Put Uriah in the front line, where the fighting is heaviest, then retreat and let him be killed." 16 So while Joab was besieging the city, he sent Uriah to a place where he knew the enemy was strong. 17 The enemy troops came out of the city and fought Joab's forces; some of David's officers were killed, and so was Uriah. 18 Then Joab sent a report to David telling him about the battle, 19 and he instructed the messenger, "After you have told the king all about the battle, 20 he may get angry and ask you, "Why did you go so near the city to fight them? Didn't you realize that they would shoot arrows from the walls? 21 Don't you remember how Abimelech son of Gideon was killed? It was at Thebez, where a woman threw a millstone down from the wall and killed him. Why, then, did you go so near the wall?' If the king asks you this, tell him, "Your officer Uriah was also killed.' " 22 So the messenger went to David and told him what Joab had commanded him to say. 23 He said, "Our enemies were stronger than we were and came out of the city to fight us in the open, but we drove them back to the city gate. 24 Then they shot arrows at us from the wall, and some of Your Majesty's officers were killed; your officer Uriah was also killed." 25 David said to the messenger, "Encourage Joab and tell him not to be upset, since you never can tell who will die in battle. Tell him to launch a stronger attack on the city and capture it." 26 When Bathsheba heard that her husband had been killed, she mourned for him. 27 When the time of mourning was over, David had her brought to the palace; she became his wife and bore him a son. But the Lord was not pleased with what David had done.

2 Samuel 12:1 The Lord sent the prophet Nathan to David. Nathan went to him and said, "There were two men who lived in the same town; one was rich and the other poor. 2 The rich man had many cattle and sheep, 3 while the poor man had only one lamb, which he had bought. He took care of it, and it grew up in his home with his children. He would feed it some of his own food, let it drink from his cup, and hold it in his lap. The lamb was like a daughter to him. 4 One day a visitor arrived at the rich man's home. The rich man didn't want to kill one of his own animals to fix a meal for him; instead, he took the poor man's lamb and prepared a meal for his guest." 5 David became very angry at the rich man and said, "I swear by the living Lord that the man who did this ought to die! 6 For having done such a cruel thing, he must pay back four times as much as he took." 7 "You are that man," Nathan said to David. "And this is what the Lord God of Israel says: "I made you king of Israel and rescued you from Saul. 8 I gave you his kingdom and his wives; I made you king over Israel and Judah. If this had not been enough, I would have given you twice as much. 9 Why, then, have you disobeyed my commands? Why did you do this evil thing? You had Uriah killed in battle; you let the Ammonites kill him, and then you took his wife! 10 Now, in every generation some of your descendants will die a violent death because you have disobeyed me and have taken Uriah's wife. 11 I swear to you that I will cause someone from your own family to bring trouble on you. You will see it when I take your wives from you and give them to another man; and he will have intercourse with them in broad daylight. 12 You sinned in secret, but I will make this happen in broad daylight for all Israel to see.' " 13 "I have sinned against the Lord," David said. Nathan replied, "The Lord forgives you; you will not die. 14 But because you have shown such contempt for the Lord in doing this, your child will die." 15 Then Nathan went home. The Lord caused the child that Uriah's wife had borne to David to become very sick. 16 David prayed to God that the child would get well. He refused to eat anything, and every night he went into his room and spent the night lying on the floor. 17 His court officials went to him and tried to make him get up, but he refused and would not eat anything with them. 18 A week later the child died, and David's officials were afraid to tell him the news. They said, "While the child was living, David wouldn't answer us when we spoke to him. How can we tell him that his child is dead? He might do himself some harm!" 19 When David noticed them whispering to each other, he realized that the child had died. So he asked them, "Is the child dead?" "Yes, he is," they answered. 20 David got up from the floor, took a bath, combed his hair, and changed his clothes. Then he went and worshiped in the house of the Lord. When he returned to the palace, he asked for food and ate it as soon as it was served. 21 "We don't understand this," his officials said to him. "While the child was alive, you wept for him and would not eat; but as soon as he died, you got up and ate!" 22 "Yes," David answered, "I did fast and weep while he was still alive. I thought that the Lord might be merciful to me and not let the child die. 23 But now that he is dead, why should I fast? Could I bring the child back to life? I will some day go to where he is, but he can never come back to me." 24 Then David comforted his wife Bathsheba. He had intercourse with her, and she bore a son, whom David named Solomon. The Lord loved the boy 25 and commanded the prophet Nathan to name the boy Jedidiah, because the Lord loved him. 26 Meanwhile Joab continued his campaign against Rabbah, the capital city of Ammon, and was about to capture it. 27 He sent messengers to David to report: "I have attacked Rabbah and have captured its water supply. 28 Now gather the rest of your forces, attack the city and take it yourself. I don't want to get the credit for capturing it." 29 So David gathered his forces, went to Rabbah, attacked it, and conquered it. 30 From the head of the idol of the Ammonite god Molech David took a gold crown which weighed about seventy-five pounds and had a jewel in it. David took the jewel and put it in his own crown. He also took a large amount of loot from the city 31 and put its people to work with saws, iron hoes, and iron axes, and forced them to work at making bricks. He did the same to the people of all the other towns of Ammon. Then he and his men returned to Jerusalem.

1508-2 Samuel 8:2 Then he defeated the Moabites. He made the prisoners lie down on the ground and put two out of every three of them to death. So the Moabites became his subjects and paid taxes to him.

1509-2 Samuel 21:1 During David's reign there was a severe famine which lasted for three full years. So David consulted the Lord about it, and the Lord said, "Saul and his family are guilty of murder; he put the people of Gibeon to death. 2 (The people of Gibeon were not Israelites; they were a small group of Amorites whom the Israelites had promised to protect, but Saul had tried to destroy them because of his zeal for the people of Israel and Judah.) 3 So David summoned the people of Gibeon and said to them, "What can I do for you? I want to make up for the wrong that was done to you, so that you will bless the Lord's people." 4 They answered, "Our quarrel with Saul and his family can't be settled with silver or gold, nor do we want to kill any Israelite." "What, then, do you think I should do for you?" David asked. 5 They answered, "Saul wanted to destroy us and leave none of us alive anywhere in Israel. 6 So hand over seven of his male descendants, and we will hang them before the Lord at Gibeah, the hometown of Saul, the Lord's chosen king." "I will hand them over," the king answered. 7 But because of the sacred promise that he and Jonathan had made to each other, David spared Jonathan's son Mephibosheth, the grandson of Saul. 8 However, he took Armoni and Mephibosheth, the two sons that Rizpah the daughter of Aiah had borne to Saul; he also took the five sons of Saul's daughter Merab, whom she had borne to Adriel son of Barzillai, who was from Meholah. 9 David handed them over to the people of Gibeon, who hanged them on the mountain before the Lord - and all seven of them died together. It was late in the spring, at the beginning of the barley harvest, when they were put to death. 10 Then Saul's concubine Rizpah, the daughter of Aiah, used sackcloth to make a shelter for herself on the rock where the corpses were, and she stayed there from the beginning of harvest until the autumn rains came. During the day she would keep the birds away from the corpses, and at night she would protect them from wild animals. 11 When David heard what Rizpah had done, 12 he went and got the bones of Saul and of his son Jonathan from the people of Jabesh in Gilead. (They had stolen them from the public square in Beth Shan, where the Philistines had hanged the bodies on the day they killed Saul on Mount Gilboa.) 13 David took the bones of Saul and Jonathan and also gathered up the bones of the seven men who had been hanged. 14 Then they buried the bones of Saul and Jonathan in the grave of Saul's father Kish, in Zela in the territory of Benjamin, doing all that the king had commanded. And after that, God answered their prayers for the country. 15 There was another war between the Philistines and Israel, and David and his men went and fought the Philistines. During one of the battles David grew tired. 16 A giant named Ishbibenob, who was carrying a bronze spear that weighed about seven and a half pounds and who was wearing a new sword, thought he could kill David. 17 But Abishai son of Zeruiah came to David's help, attacked the giant, and killed him. Then David's men made David promise that he would never again go out with them to battle. "You are the hope of Israel, and we don't want to lose you," they said. 18 After this there was a battle with the Philistines at Gob, during which Sibbecai from Hushah killed a giant named Saph. 19 There was another battle with the Philistines at Gob, and Elhanan son of Jair from Bethlehem killed Goliath from Gath, whose spear had a shaft as thick as the bar on a weaver's loom. 20 Then there was another battle at Gath, where there was a giant who loved to fight. He had six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot. 21 He defied the Israelites, and Jonathan, the son of David's brother Shammah, killed him. 22 These four were descendants of the giants of Gath, and they were killed by David and his men.

1510-2 Samuel 11:1 The following spring, at the time of the year when kings usually go to war, David sent out Joab with his officers and the Israelite army; they defeated the Ammonites and besieged the city of Rabbah. But David himself stayed in Jerusalem. 2 One day, late in the afternoon, David got up from his nap and went to the palace roof. As he walked around up there, he saw a woman taking a bath in her house. She was very beautiful. 3 So he sent a messenger to find out who she was, and learned that she was Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam and the wife of Uriah the Hittite. 4 David sent messengers to get her; they brought her to him and he made love to her. (She had just finished her monthly ritual of purification.) Then she went back home. 5 Afterward she discovered that she was pregnant and sent a message to David to tell him. 6 David then sent a message to Joab: "Send me Uriah the Hittite." So Joab sent him to David. 7 When Uriah arrived, David asked him if Joab and the troops were well, and how the fighting was going. 8 Then he said to Uriah, "Go on home and rest a while." Uriah left, and David had a present sent to his home. 9 But Uriah did not go home; instead he slept at the palace gate with the king's guards. 10 When David heard that Uriah had not gone home, he asked him, "You have just returned after a long absence; why didn't you go home?" 11 Uriah answered, "The men of Israel and Judah are away in battle, and the Covenant Box is with them; my commander Joab and his officers are camping out in the open. How could I go home, eat and drink, and sleep with my wife? By all that's sacred, I swear that I could never do such a thing!" 12 So David said, "Then stay here the rest of the day, and tomorrow I'll send you back." So Uriah stayed in Jerusalem that day and the next. 13 David invited him to supper and got him drunk. But again that night Uriah did not go home; instead he slept on his blanket in the palace guardroom. 14 The next morning David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it by Uriah. 15 He wrote: "Put Uriah in the front line, where the fighting is heaviest, then retreat and let him be killed." 16 So while Joab was besieging the city, he sent Uriah to a place where he knew the enemy was strong. 17 The enemy troops came out of the city and fought Joab's forces; some of David's officers were killed, and so was Uriah. 18 Then Joab sent a report to David telling him about the battle, 19 and he instructed the messenger, "After you have told the king all about the battle, 20 he may get angry and ask you, "Why did you go so near the city to fight them? Didn't you realize that they would shoot arrows from the walls? 21 Don't you remember how Abimelech son of Gideon was killed? It was at Thebez, where a woman threw a millstone down from the wall and killed him. Why, then, did you go so near the wall?' If the king asks you this, tell him, "Your officer Uriah was also killed.' " 22 So the messenger went to David and told him what Joab had commanded him to say. 23 He said, "Our enemies were stronger than we were and came out of the city to fight us in the open, but we drove them back to the city gate. 24 Then they shot arrows at us from the wall, and some of Your Majesty's officers were killed; your officer Uriah was also killed." 25 David said to the messenger, "Encourage Joab and tell him not to be upset, since you never can tell who will die in battle. Tell him to launch a stronger attack on the city and capture it." 26 When Bathsheba heard that her husband had been killed, she mourned for him. 27 When the time of mourning was over, David had her brought to the palace; she became his wife and bore him a son. But the Lord was not pleased with what David had done.

1511-1 Chronicles 20:1 The following spring, at the time of the year when kings usually go to war, Joab led out the army and invaded the land of Ammon; King David, however, stayed in Jerusalem. They besieged the city of Rabbah, attacked it, and destroyed it. 2 The Ammonite idol Molech had a gold crown which weighed about seventy-five pounds. In it there was a jewel, which David took and put in his own crown. He also took a large amount of loot from the city. 3 He took the people of the city and put them to work with saws, iron hoes, and axes. He did the same to the people of all the other towns of Ammon. Then he and his men returned to Jerusalem. 4 Later on, war broke out again with the Philistines at Gezer. This was when Sibbecai from Hushah killed a giant named Sippai, and the Philistines were defeated. 5 There was another battle with the Philistines, and Elhanan son of Jair killed Lahmi, the brother of Goliath from Gath, whose spear had a shaft as thick as the bar on a weaver's loom. 6 Another battle took place at Gath, where there was a giant with six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot. He was a descendant of the ancient giants. 7 He defied the Israelites, and Jonathan, the son of David's brother Shammah, killed him. 8 These three, who were killed by David and his men, were descendants of the giants at Gath.

1512-2 Samuel 24:1 On another occasion the Lord was angry with Israel, and he made David bring trouble on them. The Lord said to him, "Go and count the people of Israel and Judah." 2 So David gave orders to Joab, the commander of his army: "Go with your officers through all the tribes of Israel from one end of the country to the other, and count the people. I want to know how many there are." 3 But Joab answered the king, "Your Majesty, may the Lord your God make the people of Israel a hundred times more numerous than they are now, and may you live to see him do it. But why does Your Majesty want to do this?" 4 But the king made Joab and his officers obey his order; they left his presence and went out to count the people of Israel. 5 They crossed the Jordan and camped south of Aroer, the city in the middle of the valley, in the territory of Gad. From there they went north to Jazer, 6 and on to Gilead and to Kadesh, in Hittite territory. Then they went to Dan, and from Dan they went west to Sidon. 7 Then they went south to the fortified city of Tyre, on to all the cities of the Hivites and the Canaanites, and finally to Beersheba, in the southern part of Judah. 8 So after nine months and twenty days they returned to Jerusalem, having traveled through the whole country. 9 They reported to the king the total number of men capable of military service: 800,000 in Israel and 500,000 in Judah. 10 But after David had taken the census, his conscience began to hurt, and he said to the Lord, "I have committed a terrible sin in doing this! Please forgive me. I have acted foolishly." 11 The Lord said to Gad, David's prophet, "Go and tell David that I am giving him three choices. I will do whichever he chooses." The next morning, after David had gotten up, 13 Gad went to him, told him what the Lord had said, and asked, "Which is it to be? Three years of famine in your land or three months of running away from your enemies or three days of an epidemic in your land? Now think it over, and tell me what answer to take back to the Lord." 14 David answered, "I am in a desperate situation! But I don't want to be punished by people. Let the Lord himself be the one to punish us, for he is merciful." 15 So the Lord sent an epidemic on Israel, which lasted from that morning until the time that he had chosen. From one end of the country to the other seventy thousand Israelites died. 16 When the Lord's angel was about to destroy Jerusalem, the Lord changed his mind about punishing the people and said to the angel who was killing them, "Stop! That's enough!" The angel was by the threshing place of Araunah, a Jebusite. 17 David saw the angel who was killing the people, and said to the Lord, "I am the guilty one. I am the one who did wrong. What have these poor people done? You should punish me and my family." 18 That same day Gad went to David and said to him, "Go up to Araunah's threshing place and build an altar to the Lord." 19 David obeyed the Lord's command and went as Gad had told him to. 20 Araunah looked down and saw the king and his officials coming up to him. He threw himself on the ground in front of David 21 and asked, "Your Majesty, why are you here?" David answered, "To buy your threshing place and build an altar for the Lord, in order to stop the epidemic." 22 "Take it, Your Majesty," Araunah said, "and offer to the Lord whatever you wish. Here are these oxen to burn as an offering on the altar; here are their yokes and the threshing boards to use as fuel." 23 Araunah gave it all to the king and said to him, "May the Lord your God accept your offering." 24 But the king answered, "No, I will pay you for it. I will not offer to the Lord my God sacrifices that have cost me nothing." And he bought the threshing place and the oxen for fifty pieces of silver. 25 Then he built an altar to the Lord and offered burnt offerings and fellowship offerings. The Lord answered his prayer, and the epidemic in Israel was stopped.

1513-1 Chronicles 21:1 Satan wanted to bring trouble on the people of Israel, so he made David decide to take a census. 2 David gave orders to Joab and the other officers, "Go through Israel, from one end of the country to the other, and count the people. I want to know how many there are." 3 Joab answered, "May the Lord make the people of Israel a hundred times more numerous than they are now! Your Majesty, they are all your servants. Why do you want to do this and make the whole nation guilty?" 4 But the king made Joab obey the order. Joab went out, traveled through the whole country of Israel, and then returned to Jerusalem. 5 He reported to King David the total number of men capable of military service: 1,100,000 in Israel and 470,000 in Judah. 6 Because Joab disapproved of the king's command, he did not take any census of the tribes of Levi and Benjamin. 7 God was displeased with what had been done, so he punished Israel. 8 David said to God, "I have committed a terrible sin in doing this! Please forgive me. I have acted foolishly." 9 Then the Lord said to Gad, David's prophet, 10 "Go and tell David that I am giving him three choices. I will do whichever he chooses." 11 Gad went to David, told him what the Lord had said, and asked, "Which is it to be? 12 Three years of famine? Or three months of running away from the armies of your enemies? Or three days during which the Lord attacks you with his sword and sends an epidemic on your land, using his angel to bring death throughout Israel? What answer shall I give the Lord?" 13 David replied to Gad, "I am in a desperate situation! But I don't want to be punished by people. Let the Lord himself be the one to punish me, because he is merciful." 14 So the Lord sent an epidemic on the people of Israel, and seventy thousand of them died. 15 Then he sent an angel to destroy Jerusalem, but he changed his mind and said to the angel, "Stop! That's enough!" The angel was standing by the threshing place of Araunah, a Jebusite. 16 David saw the angel standing in midair, holding his sword in his hand, ready to destroy Jerusalem. Then David and the leaders of the people - all of whom were wearing sackcloth - bowed low, with their faces touching the ground. 17 David prayed, "O God, I am the one who did wrong. I am the one who ordered the census. What have these poor people done? Lord, my God, punish me and my family, and spare your people." 18 The angel of the Lord told Gad to command David to go and build an altar to the Lord at Araunah's threshing place. 19 David obeyed the Lord's command and went, as Gad had told him to. 20 There at the threshing place Araunah and his four sons were threshing wheat, and when they saw the angel, the sons ran and hid. 21 As soon as Araunah saw King David approaching, he left the threshing place and bowed low, with his face touching the ground. 22 David said to him, "Sell me your threshing place, so that I can build an altar to the Lord, to stop the epidemic. I'll give you the full price." 23 "Take it, Your Majesty," Araunah said, "and do whatever you wish. Here are these oxen to burn as an offering on the altar, and here are the threshing boards to use as fuel, and wheat to give as an offering. I give it all to you." 24 But the king answered, "No, I will pay you the full price. I will not give as an offering to the Lord something that belongs to you, something that costs me nothing." 25 And he paid Araunah six hundred gold coins for the threshing place. 26 He built an altar to the Lord there and offered burnt offerings and fellowship offerings. He prayed, and the Lord answered him by sending fire from heaven to burn the sacrifices on the altar. 27 The Lord told the angel to put his sword away, and the angel obeyed. 28 David saw by this that the Lord had answered his prayer, so he offered sacrifices on the altar at Araunah's threshing place. 29 The Tent of the Lord's presence which Moses had made in the wilderness, and the altar on which sacrifices were burned were still at the place of worship at Gibeon at this time; 30 but David was not able to go there to worship God, because he was afraid of the sword of the Lord's angel.

1514-1 Chronicles 28:3 but he has forbidden me to do it, because I am a soldier and have shed too much blood.

1515-2 Samuel 16:15 Absalom and all the Israelites with him entered Jerusalem, and Ahithophel was with them. 16 When Hushai, David's trusted friend, met Absalom, he shouted, "Long live the king! Long live the king!" 17 "What has happened to your loyalty to your friend David?" Absalom asked him. "Why didn't you go with him?" 18 Hushai answered, "How could I? I am for the one chosen by the Lord, by these people, and by all the Israelites. I will stay with you. 19 After all, whom should I serve, if not my master's son? As I served your father, so now I will serve you." 20 Then Absalom turned to Ahithophel and said, "Now that we are here, what do you advise us to do?" 21 Ahithophel answered, "Go and have intercourse with your father's concubines whom he left behind to take care of the palace. Then everyone in Israel will know that your father regards you as his enemy, and your followers will be greatly encouraged." 22 So they set up a tent for Absalom on the palace roof, and in the sight of everyone Absalom went in and had intercourse with his father's concubines. 23 Any advice that Ahithophel gave in those days was accepted as though it were the very word of God; both David and Absalom followed it.

2 Samuel 20:3 When David arrived at his palace in Jerusalem, he took the ten concubines he had left to take care of the palace, and put them under guard. He provided for their needs, but did not have intercourse with them. They were kept confined for the rest of their lives, living like widows.

1516-2 Samuel 13:1 David's son Absalom had a beautiful unmarried sister named Tamar. Amnon, another of David's sons, fell in love with her. 2 He was so much in love with her that he became sick, because it seemed impossible for him to have her; as a virgin, she was kept from meeting men. 3 But he had a friend, a very shrewd man named Jonadab, the son of David's brother Shammah. 4 Jonadab said to Amnon, "You are the king's son, yet day after day I see you looking sad. What's the matter?" "I'm in love with Tamar, the sister of my half brother Absalom," he answered. 5 Jonadab said to him, "Pretend that you are sick and go to bed. When your father comes to see you, say to him, "Please ask my sister Tamar to come and feed me. I want her to fix the food here where I can see her, and then serve it to me herself.' " 6 So Amnon pretended that he was sick and went to bed. King David went to see him, and Amnon said to him, "Please let Tamar come and make a few cakes here where I can see her, and then serve them to me herself." 7 So David sent word to Tamar in the palace: "Go to Amnon's house and fix him some food." 8 She went there and found him in bed. She took some dough, prepared it, and made some cakes there where he could see her. Then she baked the cakes 9 and emptied them out of the pan for him to eat, but he wouldn't. He said, "Send everyone away" - and they all left. 10 Then he said to her, "Bring the cakes here to my bed and serve them to me yourself." She took the cakes and went over to him. 11 As she offered them to him, he grabbed her and said, "Come to bed with me!" 12 "No," she said. "Don't force me to do such a degrading thing! That's awful! 13 How could I ever hold up my head in public again? And you - you would be completely disgraced in Israel. Please, speak to the king, and I'm sure that he will give me to you." 14 But he would not listen to her; and since he was stronger than she was, he overpowered her and raped her. 15 Then Amnon was filled with a deep hatred for her; he hated her now even more than he had loved her before. He said to her, "Get out!" 16 "No," she answered. "To send me away like this is a greater crime than what you just did!" But Amnon would not listen to her; 17 he called in his personal servant and said, "Get this woman out of my sight! Throw her out and lock the door!" 18 The servant put her out and locked the door. Tamar was wearing a long robe with full sleeves, the usual clothing for an unmarried princess in those days. 19 She sprinkled ashes on her head, tore her robe, and with her face buried in her hands went away crying. 20 When her brother Absalom saw her, he asked, "Has Amnon molested you? Please, sister, don't let it upset you so much. He is your half brother, so don't tell anyone about it." So Tamar lived in Absalom's house, sad and lonely. 21 When King David heard what had happened, he was furious. 22 And Absalom hated Amnon so much for having raped his sister Tamar that he would no longer even speak to him.

1517-1 Kings 1:1 King David was now a very old man, and although his servants covered him with blankets, he could not keep warm. 2 So his officials said to him, "Your Majesty, let us find a young woman to stay with you and take care of you. She will lie close to you and keep you warm." 3 A search was made all over Israel for a beautiful young woman, and in Shunem they found such a woman named Abishag, and brought her to the king. 4 She was very beautiful, and waited on the king and took care of him, but he did not have intercourse with her.

1518-2 Kings 2:13 Then he picked up Elijah's cloak that had fallen from him, and went back and stood on the bank of the Jordan. 14 He struck the water with Elijah's cloak and said, "Where is the Lord, the God of Elijah?" Then he struck the water again, and it divided, and he walked over to the other side. 15 The fifty prophets from Jericho saw him and said, "The power of Elijah is on Elisha!" They went to meet him, bowed down before him, 16 and said, "There are fifty of us here, all strong men. Let us go and look for your master. Maybe the spirit of the Lord has carried him away and left him on some mountain or in some valley." "No, you must not go," Elisha answered. 17 But they insisted until he gave in and let them go. The fifty of them went and looked high and low for Elijah for three days, but didn't find him. 18 Then they returned to Elisha, who had waited at Jericho, and he said to them, "Didn't I tell you not to go?" 19 Some men from Jericho went to Elisha and said, "As you know, sir, this is a fine city, but the water is bad and causes miscarriages." 20 "Put some salt in a new bowl and bring it to me," he ordered. They brought it to him, 21 and he went to the spring, threw the salt in the water, and said, "This is what the Lord says: "I make this water pure, and it will not cause any more deaths or miscarriages.' " 22 And that water has been pure ever since, just as Elisha said it would be. 23 Elisha left Jericho to go to Bethel, and on the way some boys came out of a town and made fun of him. "Get out of here, baldy!" they shouted. 24 Elisha turned around, glared at them, and cursed them in the name of the Lord. Then two she-bears came out of the woods and tore forty-two of the boys to pieces. 25 Elisha went on to Mount Carmel and later returned to Samaria.

1519-2 Samuel 13:1 David's son Absalom had a beautiful unmarried sister named Tamar. Amnon, another of David's sons, fell in love with her. 2 He was so much in love with her that he became sick, because it seemed impossible for him to have her; as a virgin, she was kept from meeting men. 3 But he had a friend, a very shrewd man named Jonadab, the son of David's brother Shammah. 4 Jonadab said to Amnon, "You are the king's son, yet day after day I see you looking sad. What's the matter?" "I'm in love with Tamar, the sister of my half brother Absalom," he answered. 5 Jonadab said to him, "Pretend that you are sick and go to bed. When your father comes to see you, say to him, "Please ask my sister Tamar to come and feed me. I want her to fix the food here where I can see her, and then serve it to me herself.' " 6 So Amnon pretended that he was sick and went to bed. King David went to see him, and Amnon said to him, "Please let Tamar come and make a few cakes here where I can see her, and then serve them to me herself." 7 So David sent word to Tamar in the palace: "Go to Amnon's house and fix him some food." 8 She went there and found him in bed. She took some dough, prepared it, and made some cakes there where he could see her. Then she baked the cakes 9 and emptied them out of the pan for him to eat, but he wouldn't. He said, "Send everyone away" - and they all left. 10 Then he said to her, "Bring the cakes here to my bed and serve them to me yourself." She took the cakes and went over to him. 11 As she offered them to him, he grabbed her and said, "Come to bed with me!" 12 "No," she said. "Don't force me to do such a degrading thing! That's awful! 13 How could I ever hold up my head in public again? And you - you would be completely disgraced in Israel. Please, speak to the king, and I'm sure that he will give me to you." 14 But he would not listen to her; and since he was stronger than she was, he overpowered her and raped her. 15 Then Amnon was filled with a deep hatred for her; he hated her now even more than he had loved her before. He said to her, "Get out!" 16 "No," she answered. "To send me away like this is a greater crime than what you just did!" But Amnon would not listen to her; 17 he called in his personal servant and said, "Get this woman out of my sight! Throw her out and lock the door!" 18 The servant put her out and locked the door. Tamar was wearing a long robe with full sleeves, the usual clothing for an unmarried princess in those days. 19 She sprinkled ashes on her head, tore her robe, and with her face buried in her hands went away crying. 20 When her brother Absalom saw her, he asked, "Has Amnon molested you? Please, sister, don't let it upset you so much. He is your half brother, so don't tell anyone about it." So Tamar lived in Absalom's house, sad and lonely. 21 When King David heard what had happened, he was furious. 22 And Absalom hated Amnon so much for having raped his sister Tamar that he would no longer even speak to him.

1520-1 Kings 1:5 Now that Absalom was dead, Adonijah, the son of David and Haggith, was the oldest surviving son. He was a very handsome man. David had never reprimanded him about anything, and he was ambitious to be king. He provided for himself chariots, horses, and an escort of fifty men.

1521-2 Samuel 6:1 Once more David called together the best soldiers in Israel, a total of thirty thousand men, 2 and led them to Baalah in Judah, in order to bring from there God's Covenant Box, bearing the name of the Lord Almighty, whose throne is above the winged creatures. 3 They took it from Abinadab's home on the hill and placed it on a new cart. Uzzah and Ahio, sons of Abinadab, were guiding the cart, 4 with Ahio walking in front. 5 David and all the Israelites were dancing and singing with all their might to honor the Lord. They were playing harps, lyres, drums, rattles, and cymbals. 6 As they came to the threshing place of Nacon, the oxen stumbled, and Uzzah reached out and took hold of the Covenant Box. 7 At once the Lord God became angry with Uzzah and killed him because of his irreverence. Uzzah died there beside the Covenant Box, 8 and so that place has been called Perez Uzzah ever since. David was furious because the Lord had punished Uzzah in anger. 9 Then David was afraid of the Lord and said, "How can I take the Covenant Box with me now?" 10 So he decided not to take it with him to Jerusalem; instead, he turned off the road and took it to the house of Obed Edom, a native of the city of Gath. 11 It stayed there three months, and the Lord blessed Obed Edom and his family. 12 King David heard that because of the Covenant Box the Lord had blessed Obed Edom's family and all that he had; so he got the Covenant Box from Obed's house to take it to Jerusalem with a great celebration. 13 After the men carrying the Covenant Box had gone six steps, David had them stop while he offered the Lord a sacrifice of a bull and a fattened calf. 14 David, wearing only a linen cloth around his waist, danced with all his might to honor the Lord. 15 And so he and all the Israelites took the Covenant Box up to Jerusalem with shouts of joy and the sound of trumpets. 16 As the Box was being brought into the city, Michal, Saul's daughter, looked out of the window and saw King David dancing and jumping around in the sacred dance, and she was disgusted with him. 17 They brought the Box and put it in its place in the Tent that David had set up for it. Then he offered sacrifices and fellowship offerings to the Lord. 18 When he had finished offering the sacrifices, he blessed the people in the name of the Lord Almighty 19 and distributed food to them all. He gave each man and woman in Israel a loaf of bread, a piece of roasted meat, and some raisins. Then everyone went home. 20 Afterward, when David went home to greet his family, Michal came out to meet him. "The king of Israel made a big name for himself today!" she said. "He exposed himself like a fool in the sight of the servant women of his officials!" 21 David answered, "I was dancing to honor the Lord, who chose me instead of your father and his family to make me the leader of his people Israel. And I will go on dancing to honor the Lord, 22 and will disgrace myself even more. You may think I am nothing, but those women will think highly of me!" 23 Michal, Saul's daughter, never had any children.

1522-1 Chronicles 13:1 King David consulted with all the officers in command of units of a thousand men and units of a hundred men. 2 Then he announced to all the people of Israel, "If you give your approval and if it is the will of the Lord our God, let us send messengers to the rest of our people and to the priests and Levites in their towns, and tell them to assemble here with us. 3 Then we will go and get God's Covenant Box, which was ignored while Saul was king." 4 The people were pleased with the suggestion and agreed to it. 5 So David assembled the people of Israel from all over the country, from the Egyptian border in the south to Hamath Pass in the north, in order to bring the Covenant Box from Kiriath Jearim to Jerusalem. 6 David and the people went to the city of Baalah, that is, to Kiriath Jearim, in the territory of Judah, to get the Covenant Box of God, which bears the name of the Lord enthroned above the winged creatures. 7 At Abinadab's house they brought out the Covenant Box and put it on a new cart. Uzzah and Ahio guided the cart, 8 while David and all the people danced with all their might to honor God. They sang and played musical instruments - harps, drums, cymbals, and trumpets. 9 As they came to the threshing place of Chidon, the oxen stumbled, and Uzzah reached out and took hold of the Covenant Box. 10 At once the Lord became angry with Uzzah and killed him for touching the Box. He died there in God's presence, 11 and so that place has been called Perez Uzzah ever since. David was furious because the Lord had punished Uzzah in anger. 12 Then David was afraid of God and said, "How can I take the Covenant Box with me now?" 13 So David did not take it with him to Jerusalem. Instead, he left it at the house of a man named Obed Edom, a native of the city of Gath. 14 It stayed there three months, and the Lord blessed Obed Edom's family and everything that belonged to him.

1 Chronicles 15:25 So King David, the leaders of Israel, and the military commanders went to the house of Obed Edom to get the Covenant Box, and they had a great celebration. 26 They sacrificed seven bulls and seven sheep, to make sure that God would help the Levites who were carrying the Covenant Box.

1 Chronicles 16:1 They took the Covenant Box to the tent which David had prepared for it and put it inside. Then they offered sacrifices and fellowship offerings to God. 2 After David had finished offering the sacrifices, he blessed the people in the name of the Lord 3 and distributed food to them all. He gave each man and woman in Israel a loaf of bread, a piece of roasted meat, and some raisins. 4 David appointed some of the Levites to lead the worship of the Lord, the God of Israel, in front of the Covenant Box, by singing and praising him. 5 Asaph was appointed leader, with Zechariah as his assistant. Jeiel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Mattithiah, Eliab, Benaiah, Obed Edom, and Jeiel were to play harps. Asaph was to sound the cymbals, 6 and two priests, Benaiah and Jahaziel, were to blow trumpets regularly in front of the Covenant Box.

1 Chronicles 16:43 Then everyone went home, and David went home to spend some time with his family.

1523-2 Samuel 22:1 When the Lord saved David from Saul and his other enemies, David sang this song to the Lord: 2 The Lord is my protector; he is my strong fortress. 3 My God is my protection, and with him I am safe. He protects me like a shield; he defends me and keeps me safe. He is my savior; he protects me and saves me from violence. 4 I call to the Lord, and he saves me from my enemies. Praise the Lord! 5 The waves of death were all around me; the waves of destruction rolled over me. 6 The danger of death was around me, and the grave set its trap for me. 7 In my trouble I called to the Lord; I called to my God for help. In his temple he heard my voice; he listened to my cry for help. 8 Then the earth trembled and shook; the foundations of the sky rocked and quivered because God was angry! 9 Smoke poured out of his nostrils, a consuming flame and burning coals from his mouth. 10 He tore the sky open and came down, with a dark cloud under his feet. 11 He flew swiftly on his winged creature; he traveled on the wings of the wind. 12 He covered himself with darkness; thick clouds, full of water, surrounded him; 13 burning coals flamed up from the lightning before him. 14 Then the Lord thundered from the sky, and the voice of Almighty God was heard. 15 He shot his arrows and scattered his enemies; with flashes of lightning he sent them running. 16 The floor of the ocean was laid bare, and the foundations of the earth were uncovered when the Lord rebuked his enemies and roared at them in anger. 17 The Lord reached down from above and took hold of me; he pulled me out of the deep waters. 18 He rescued me from my powerful enemies and from all those who hate me - they were too strong for me. 19 When I was in trouble, they attacked me, but the Lord protected me. 20 He helped me out of danger; he saved me because he was pleased with me. 21 The Lord rewards me because I do what is right; he blesses me because I am innocent. 22 I have obeyed the law of the Lord; I have not turned away from my God. 23 I have observed all his laws; I have not disobeyed his commands. 24 He knows that I am faultless, that I have kept myself from doing wrong. 25 And so he rewards me because I do what is right, because he knows that I am innocent. 26 O Lord, you are faithful to those who are faithful to you, and completely good to those who are perfect. 27 You are pure to those who are pure, but hostile to those who are wicked. 28 You save those who are humble, but you humble those who are proud. 29 You, Lord, are my light; you dispel my darkness. 30 You give me strength to attack my enemies and power to overcome their defenses. 31 This God - how perfect are his deeds, how dependable his words! He is like a shield for all who seek his protection. 32 The Lord alone is God; God alone is our defense. 33 This God is my strong refuge; he makes my pathway safe. 34 He makes me sure-footed as a deer; he keeps me safe on the mountains. 35 He trains me for battle, so that I can use the strongest bow. 36 O Lord, you protect me and save me; your help has made me great. 37 You have kept me from being captured, and I have never fallen. 38 I pursue my enemies and defeat them; I do not stop until I destroy them. 39 I strike them down, and they cannot rise; they lie defeated before me. 40 You give me strength for the battle and victory over my enemies. 41 You make my enemies run from me; I destroy those who hate me. 42 They look for help, but no one saves them; they call to the Lord, but he does not answer. 43 I crush them, and they become like dust; I trample on them like mud in the streets. 44 You saved me from my rebellious people and maintained my rule over the nations; people I did not know have now become my subjects. 45 Foreigners bow before me; when they hear me, they obey. 46 They lose their courage and come trembling from their fortresses. 47 The Lord lives! Praise my defender! Proclaim the greatness of the strong God who saves me! 48 He gives me victory over my enemies; he subdues the nations under me 49 and saves me from my foes. O Lord, you give me victory over my enemies and protect me from violent men. 50 And so I praise you among the nations; I sing praises to you. 51 God gives great victories to his king; he shows constant love to the one he has chosen, to David and his descendants forever.

2 Samuel 23:1 David son of Jesse was the man whom God made great, whom the God of Jacob chose to be king, and who was the composer of beautiful songs for Israel. These are David's last words: 2 The spirit of the Lord speaks through me; his message is on my lips. 3 The God of Israel has spoken; the protector of Israel said to me: "The king who rules with justice, who rules in obedience to God, 4 is like the sun shining on a cloudless dawn, the sun that makes the grass sparkle after rain." 5 And that is how God will bless my descendants, because he has made an eternal covenant with me, an agreement that will not be broken, a promise that will not be changed. That is all I desire; that will be my victory, and God will surely bring it about. 6 But godless people are like thorns that are thrown away; no one can touch them barehanded. 7 You must use an iron tool or a spear; they will be burned completely.

1524-2 Samuel 22:2 The Lord is my protector; he is my strong fortress. 3 My God is my protection, and with him I am safe. He protects me like a shield; he defends me and keeps me safe. He is my savior; he protects me and saves me from violence. 4 I call to the Lord, and he saves me from my enemies. Praise the Lord!

2 Samuel 22:21 The Lord rewards me because I do what is right; he blesses me because I am innocent. 22 I have obeyed the law of the Lord; I have not turned away from my God. 23 I have observed all his laws; I have not disobeyed his commands. 24 He knows that I am faultless, that I have kept myself from doing wrong. 25 And so he rewards me because I do what is right, because he knows that I am innocent. 26 O Lord, you are faithful to those who are faithful to you, and completely good to those who are perfect. 27 You are pure to those who are pure, but hostile to those who are wicked. 28 You save those who are humble, but you humble those who are proud.

2 Samuel 22:26 O Lord, you are faithful to those who are faithful to you, and completely good to those who are perfect. 27 You are pure to those who are pure, but hostile to those who are wicked. 28 You save those who are humble, but you humble those who are proud. 29 You, Lord, are my light; you dispel my darkness. 30 You give me strength to attack my enemies and power to overcome their defenses. 31 This God - how perfect are his deeds, how dependable his words! He is like a shield for all who seek his protection. 32 The Lord alone is God; God alone is our defense. 33 This God is my strong refuge; he makes my pathway safe. 34 He makes me sure-footed as a deer; he keeps me safe on the mountains. 35 He trains me for battle, so that I can use the strongest bow. 36 O Lord, you protect me and save me; your help has made me great. 37 You have kept me from being captured, and I have never fallen. 38 I pursue my enemies and defeat them; I do not stop until I destroy them. 39 I strike them down, and they cannot rise; they lie defeated before me. 40 You give me strength for the battle and victory over my enemies. 41 You make my enemies run from me; I destroy those who hate me. 42 They look for help, but no one saves them; they call to the Lord, but he does not answer. 43 I crush them, and they become like dust; I trample on them like mud in the streets.

1525-Psalms 18:1 How I love you, Lord! You are my defender. 2 The Lord is my protector; he is my strong fortress. My God is my protection, and with him I am safe. He protects me like a shield; he defends me and keeps me safe. 3 I call to the Lord, and he saves me from my enemies. Praise the Lord! 4 The danger of death was all around me; the waves of destruction rolled over me. 5 The danger of death was around me, and the grave set its trap for me. 6 In my trouble I called to the Lord; I called to my God for help. In his temple he heard my voice; he listened to my cry for help. 7 Then the earth trembled and shook; the foundations of the mountains rocked and quivered, because God was angry. 8 Smoke poured out of his nostrils, a consuming flame and burning coals from his mouth. 9 He tore the sky open and came down with a dark cloud under his feet. 10 He flew swiftly on his winged creature; he traveled on the wings of the wind. 11 He covered himself with darkness; thick clouds, full of water, surrounded him. 12 Hailstones and flashes of fire came from the lightning before him and broke through the dark clouds. 13 Then the Lord thundered from the sky; and the voice of the Most High was heard. 14 He shot his arrows and scattered his enemies; with flashes of lightning he sent them running. 15 The floor of the ocean was laid bare, and the foundations of the earth were uncovered, when you rebuked your enemies, Lord, and roared at them in anger. 16 The Lord reached down from above and took hold of me; he pulled me out of the deep waters. 17 He rescued me from my powerful enemies and from all those who hate me - they were too strong for me. 18 When I was in trouble, they attacked me, but the Lord protected me. 19 He helped me out of danger; he saved me because he was pleased with me. 20 The Lord rewards me because I do what is right; he blesses me because I am innocent. 21 I have obeyed the law of the Lord; I have not turned away from my God. 22 I have observed all his laws; I have not disobeyed his commands. 23 He knows that I am faultless, that I have kept myself from doing wrong. 24 And so he rewards me because I do what is right, because he knows that I am innocent. 25 O Lord, you are faithful to those who are faithful to you; completely good to those who are perfect. 26 You are pure to those who are pure, but hostile to those who are wicked. 27 You save those who are humble, but you humble those who are proud. 28 O Lord, you give me light; you dispel my darkness. 29 You give me strength to attack my enemies and power to overcome their defenses. 30 This God - how perfect are his deeds! How dependable his words! He is like a shield for all who seek his protection. 31 The Lord alone is God; God alone is our defense. 32 He is the God who makes me strong, who makes my pathway safe. 33 He makes me sure-footed as a deer; he keeps me safe on the mountains. 34 He trains me for battle, so that I can use the strongest bow. 35 O Lord, you protect me and save me; your care has made me great, and your power has kept me safe. 36 You have kept me from being captured, and I have never fallen. 37 I pursue my enemies and catch them; I do not stop until I destroy them. 38 I strike them down, and they cannot rise; they lie defeated before me. 39 You give me strength for the battle and victory over my enemies. 40 You make my enemies run from me; I destroy those who hate me. 41 They cry for help, but no one saves them; they call to the Lord, but he does not answer. 42 I crush them, so that they become like dust which the wind blows away. I trample on them like mud in the streets. 43 You saved me from a rebellious people and made me ruler over the nations; people I did not know have now become my subjects. 44 Foreigners bow before me; when they hear me, they obey. 45 They lose their courage and come trembling from their fortresses. 46 The Lord lives! Praise my defender! Proclaim the greatness of the God who saves me. 47 He gives me victory over my enemies; he subdues the nations under me 48 and saves me from my foes. O Lord, you give me victory over my enemies and protect me from violent people. 49 And so I praise you among the nations; I sing praises to you. 50 God gives great victories to his king; he shows constant love to the one he has chosen, to David and his descendants forever.

1526-1 Kings 2:5 "There is something else. You remember what Joab did to me by killing the two commanders of Israel's armies, Abner son of Ner and Amasa son of Jether. You remember how he murdered them in time of peace as revenge for deaths they had caused in time of war. He killed innocent men, and now I bear the responsibility for what he did, and I suffer the consequences. 6 You know what to do; you must not let him die a natural death. 7 "But show kindness to the sons of Barzillai from Gilead and take care of them, because they were kind to me when I was fleeing from your brother Absalom. 8 "There is also Shimei son of Gera, from the town of Bahurim in Benjamin. He cursed me bitterly the day I went to Mahanaim, but when he met me at the Jordan River, I gave him my solemn promise in the name of the Lord that I would not have him killed. 9 But you must not let him go unpunished. You know what to do, and you must see to it that he is put to death."

1527-Psalms 51:1 Be merciful to me, O God, because of your constant love. Because of your great mercy wipe away my sins! 2 Wash away all my evil and make me clean from my sin! 3 I recognize my faults; I am always conscious of my sins. 4 I have sinned against you - only against you - and done what you consider evil. So you are right in judging me; you are justified in condemning me. 5 I have been evil from the day I was born; from the time I was conceived, I have been sinful. 6 Sincerity and truth are what you require; fill my mind with your wisdom. 7 Remove my sin, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. 8 Let me hear the sounds of joy and gladness; and though you have crushed me and broken me, I will be happy once again. 9 Close your eyes to my sins and wipe out all my evil. 10 Create a pure heart in me, O God, and put a new and loyal spirit in me. 11 Do not banish me from your presence; do not take your holy spirit away from me. 12 Give me again the joy that comes from your salvation, and make me willing to obey you. 13 Then I will teach sinners your commands, and they will turn back to you. 14 Spare my life, O God, and save me, and I will gladly proclaim your righteousness. 15 Help me to speak, Lord, and I will praise you. 16 You do not want sacrifices, or I would offer them; you are not pleased with burnt offerings. 17 My sacrifice is a humble spirit, O God; you will not reject a humble and repentant heart. 18 O God, be kind to Zion and help her; rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. 19 Then you will be pleased with proper sacrifices and with our burnt offerings; and bulls will be sacrificed on your altar.

1528-1 Samuel 15:22 Samuel said, "Which does the Lord prefer: obedience or offerings and sacrifices? It is better to obey him than to sacrifice the best sheep to him. 23 Rebellion against him is as bad as witchcraft, and arrogance is as sinful as idolatry. Because you rejected the Lord's command, he has rejected you as king."

1529-1 Chronicles 13:1 King David consulted with all the officers in command of units of a thousand men and units of a hundred men. 2 Then he announced to all the people of Israel, "If you give your approval and if it is the will of the Lord our God, let us send messengers to the rest of our people and to the priests and Levites in their towns, and tell them to assemble here with us. 3 Then we will go and get God's Covenant Box, which was ignored while Saul was king." 4 The people were pleased with the suggestion and agreed to it. 5 So David assembled the people of Israel from all over the country, from the Egyptian border in the south to Hamath Pass in the north, in order to bring the Covenant Box from Kiriath Jearim to Jerusalem. 6 David and the people went to the city of Baalah, that is, to Kiriath Jearim, in the territory of Judah, to get the Covenant Box of God, which bears the name of the Lord enthroned above the winged creatures. 7 At Abinadab's house they brought out the Covenant Box and put it on a new cart. Uzzah and Ahio guided the cart, 8 while David and all the people danced with all their might to honor God. They sang and played musical instruments - harps, drums, cymbals, and trumpets. 9 As they came to the threshing place of Chidon, the oxen stumbled, and Uzzah reached out and took hold of the Covenant Box. 10 At once the Lord became angry with Uzzah and killed him for touching the Box. He died there in God's presence, 11 and so that place has been called Perez Uzzah ever since. David was furious because the Lord had punished Uzzah in anger. 12 Then David was afraid of God and said, "How can I take the Covenant Box with me now?" 13 So David did not take it with him to Jerusalem. Instead, he left it at the house of a man named Obed Edom, a native of the city of Gath. 14 It stayed there three months, and the Lord blessed Obed Edom's family and everything that belonged to him.

1 Chronicles 15:25 So King David, the leaders of Israel, and the military commanders went to the house of Obed Edom to get the Covenant Box, and they had a great celebration. 26 They sacrificed seven bulls and seven sheep, to make sure that God would help the Levites who were carrying the Covenant Box.

1 Chronicles 16:1 They took the Covenant Box to the tent which David had prepared for it and put it inside. Then they offered sacrifices and fellowship offerings to God. 2 After David had finished offering the sacrifices, he blessed the people in the name of the Lord 3 and distributed food to them all. He gave each man and woman in Israel a loaf of bread, a piece of roasted meat, and some raisins. 4 David appointed some of the Levites to lead the worship of the Lord, the God of Israel, in front of the Covenant Box, by singing and praising him. 5 Asaph was appointed leader, with Zechariah as his assistant. Jeiel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Mattithiah, Eliab, Benaiah, Obed Edom, and Jeiel were to play harps. Asaph was to sound the cymbals, 6 and two priests, Benaiah and Jahaziel, were to blow trumpets regularly in front of the Covenant Box.

1 Chronicles 16:43 Then everyone went home, and David went home to spend some time with his family.

1530-Psalms 51:1 Be merciful to me, O God, because of your constant love. Because of your great mercy wipe away my sins! 2 Wash away all my evil and make me clean from my sin! 3 I recognize my faults; I am always conscious of my sins. 4 I have sinned against you - only against you - and done what you consider evil. So you are right in judging me; you are justified in condemning me. 5 I have been evil from the day I was born; from the time I was conceived, I have been sinful. 6 Sincerity and truth are what you require; fill my mind with your wisdom. 7 Remove my sin, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. 8 Let me hear the sounds of joy and gladness; and though you have crushed me and broken me, I will be happy once again. 9 Close your eyes to my sins and wipe out all my evil. 10 Create a pure heart in me, O God, and put a new and loyal spirit in me. 11 Do not banish me from your presence; do not take your holy spirit away from me. 12 Give me again the joy that comes from your salvation, and make me willing to obey you. 13 Then I will teach sinners your commands, and they will turn back to you. 14 Spare my life, O God, and save me, and I will gladly proclaim your righteousness. 15 Help me to speak, Lord, and I will praise you. 16 You do not want sacrifices, or I would offer them; you are not pleased with burnt offerings. 17 My sacrifice is a humble spirit, O God; you will not reject a humble and repentant heart. 18 O God, be kind to Zion and help her; rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. 19 Then you will be pleased with proper sacrifices and with our burnt offerings; and bulls will be sacrificed on your altar.

1531-I Samuel 13:14 But now your rule will not continue. Because you have disobeyed him, the Lord will find the kind of man he wants and make him ruler of his people."

1532-2 Chronicles 20:7 You are our God. When your people Israel moved into this land, you drove out the people who were living here and gave the land to the descendants of Abraham, your friend, to be theirs forever.

1533-James 2:23 And the scripture came true that said, "Abraham believed God, and because of his faith God accepted him as righteous." And so Abraham was called God's friend.

1534-Exodus 33:11 The Lord would speak with Moses face-to-face, just as someone speaks with a friend. Then Moses would return to the camp. But the young man who was his helper, Joshua son of Nun, stayed in the Tent.

1535-Numbers 12:8 So I speak to him face-to-face, clearly and not in riddles; he has even seen my form! How dare you speak against my servant Moses?"

1536-Deuteronomy 34:10 There has never been a prophet in Israel like Moses; the Lord spoke with him face-to-face.

1537-2 Samuel 22:1 When the Lord saved David from Saul and his other enemies, David sang this song to the Lord: 2 The Lord is my protector; he is my strong fortress. 3 My God is my protection, and with him I am safe. He protects me like a shield; he defends me and keeps me safe. He is my savior; he protects me and saves me from violence. 4 I call to the Lord, and he saves me from my enemies. Praise the Lord! 5 The waves of death were all around me; the waves of destruction rolled over me. 6 The danger of death was around me, and the grave set its trap for me. 7 In my trouble I called to the Lord; I called to my God for help. In his temple he heard my voice; he listened to my cry for help. 8 Then the earth trembled and shook; the foundations of the sky rocked and quivered because God was angry! 9 Smoke poured out of his nostrils, a consuming flame and burning coals from his mouth. 10 He tore the sky open and came down, with a dark cloud under his feet. 11 He flew swiftly on his winged creature; he traveled on the wings of the wind. 12 He covered himself with darkness; thick clouds, full of water, surrounded him; 13 burning coals flamed up from the lightning before him. 14 Then the Lord thundered from the sky, and the voice of Almighty God was heard. 15 He shot his arrows and scattered his enemies; with flashes of lightning he sent them running. 16 The floor of the ocean was laid bare, and the foundations of the earth were uncovered when the Lord rebuked his enemies and roared at them in anger. 17 The Lord reached down from above and took hold of me; he pulled me out of the deep waters. 18 He rescued me from my powerful enemies and from all those who hate me - they were too strong for me. 19 When I was in trouble, they attacked me, but the Lord protected me. 20 He helped me out of danger; he saved me because he was pleased with me. 21 The Lord rewards me because I do what is right; he blesses me because I am innocent. 22 I have obeyed the law of the Lord; I have not turned away from my God. 23 I have observed all his laws; I have not disobeyed his commands. 24 He knows that I am faultless, that I have kept myself from doing wrong. 25 And so he rewards me because I do what is right, because he knows that I am innocent. 26 O Lord, you are faithful to those who are faithful to you, and completely good to those who are perfect. 27 You are pure to those who are pure, but hostile to those who are wicked. 28 You save those who are humble, but you humble those who are proud. 29 You, Lord, are my light; you dispel my darkness. 30 You give me strength to attack my enemies and power to overcome their defenses. 31 This God - how perfect are his deeds, how dependable his words! He is like a shield for all who seek his protection. 32 The Lord alone is God; God alone is our defense. 33 This God is my strong refuge; he makes my pathway safe. 34 He makes me sure-footed as a deer; he keeps me safe on the mountains. 35 He trains me for battle, so that I can use the strongest bow. 36 O Lord, you protect me and save me; your help has made me great. 37 You have kept me from being captured, and I have never fallen. 38 I pursue my enemies and defeat them; I do not stop until I destroy them. 39 I strike them down, and they cannot rise; they lie defeated before me. 40 You give me strength for the battle and victory over my enemies. 41 You make my enemies run from me; I destroy those who hate me. 42 They look for help, but no one saves them; they call to the Lord, but he does not answer. 43 I crush them, and they become like dust; I trample on them like mud in the streets. 44 You saved me from my rebellious people and maintained my rule over the nations; people I did not know have now become my subjects. 45 Foreigners bow before me; when they hear me, they obey. 46 They lose their courage and come trembling from their fortresses. 47 The Lord lives! Praise my defender! Proclaim the greatness of the strong God who saves me! 48 He gives me victory over my enemies; he subdues the nations under me 49 and saves me from my foes. O Lord, you give me victory over my enemies and protect me from violent men. 50 And so I praise you among the nations; I sing praises to you. 51 God gives great victories to his king; he shows constant love to the one he has chosen, to David and his descendants forever.

1538-Psalms 18:1 How I love you, Lord! You are my defender. 2 The Lord is my protector; he is my strong fortress. My God is my protection, and with him I am safe. He protects me like a shield; he defends me and keeps me safe. 3 I call to the Lord, and he saves me from my enemies. Praise the Lord! 4 The danger of death was all around me; the waves of destruction rolled over me. 5 The danger of death was around me, and the grave set its trap for me. 6 In my trouble I called to the Lord; I called to my God for help. In his temple he heard my voice; he listened to my cry for help. 7 Then the earth trembled and shook; the foundations of the mountains rocked and quivered, because God was angry. 8 Smoke poured out of his nostrils, a consuming flame and burning coals from his mouth. 9 He tore the sky open and came down with a dark cloud under his feet. 10 He flew swiftly on his winged creature; he traveled on the wings of the wind. 11 He covered himself with darkness; thick clouds, full of water, surrounded him. 12 Hailstones and flashes of fire came from the lightning before him and broke through the dark clouds. 13 Then the Lord thundered from the sky; and the voice of the Most High was heard. 14 He shot his arrows and scattered his enemies; with flashes of lightning he sent them running. 15 The floor of the ocean was laid bare, and the foundations of the earth were uncovered, when you rebuked your enemies, Lord, and roared at them in anger. 16 The Lord reached down from above and took hold of me; he pulled me out of the deep waters. 17 He rescued me from my powerful enemies and from all those who hate me - they were too strong for me. 18 When I was in trouble, they attacked me, but the Lord protected me. 19 He helped me out of danger; he saved me because he was pleased with me. 20 The Lord rewards me because I do what is right; he blesses me because I am innocent. 21 I have obeyed the law of the Lord; I have not turned away from my God. 22 I have observed all his laws; I have not disobeyed his commands. 23 He knows that I am faultless, that I have kept myself from doing wrong. 24 And so he rewards me because I do what is right, because he knows that I am innocent. 25 O Lord, you are faithful to those who are faithful to you; completely good to those who are perfect. 26 You are pure to those who are pure, but hostile to those who are wicked. 27 You save those who are humble, but you humble those who are proud. 28 O Lord, you give me light; you dispel my darkness. 29 You give me strength to attack my enemies and power to overcome their defenses. 30 This God - how perfect are his deeds! How dependable his words! He is like a shield for all who seek his protection. 31 The Lord alone is God; God alone is our defense. 32 He is the God who makes me strong, who makes my pathway safe. 33 He makes me sure-footed as a deer; he keeps me safe on the mountains. 34 He trains me for battle, so that I can use the strongest bow. 35 O Lord, you protect me and save me; your care has made me great, and your power has kept me safe. 36 You have kept me from being captured, and I have never fallen. 37 I pursue my enemies and catch them; I do not stop until I destroy them. 38 I strike them down, and they cannot rise; they lie defeated before me. 39 You give me strength for the battle and victory over my enemies. 40 You make my enemies run from me; I destroy those who hate me. 41 They cry for help, but no one saves them; they call to the Lord, but he does not answer. 42 I crush them, so that they become like dust which the wind blows away. I trample on them like mud in the streets. 43 You saved me from a rebellious people and made me ruler over the nations; people I did not know have now become my subjects. 44 Foreigners bow before me; when they hear me, they obey. 45 They lose their courage and come trembling from their fortresses. 46 The Lord lives! Praise my defender! Proclaim the greatness of the God who saves me. 47 He gives me victory over my enemies; he subdues the nations under me 48 and saves me from my foes. O Lord, you give me victory over my enemies and protect me from violent people. 49 And so I praise you among the nations; I sing praises to you. 50 God gives great victories to his king; he shows constant love to the one he has chosen, to David and his descendants forever.

1539-2 Samuel 7:1 King David was settled in his palace, and the Lord kept him safe from all his enemies. 2 Then the king said to the prophet Nathan, "Here I am living in a house built of cedar, but God's Covenant Box is kept in a tent!" 3 Nathan answered, "Do whatever you have in mind, because the Lord is with you." 4 But that night the Lord said to Nathan, 5 "Go and tell my servant David that I say to him, "You are not the one to build a temple for me to live in. 6 From the time I rescued the people of Israel from Egypt until now, I have never lived in a temple; I have traveled around living in a tent. 7 In all my traveling with the people of Israel I never asked any of the leaders that I appointed why they had not built me a temple made of cedar.' 8 "So tell my servant David that I, the Lord Almighty, say to him, "I took you from looking after sheep in the fields and made you the ruler of my people Israel. 9 I have been with you wherever you have gone, and I have defeated all your enemies as you advanced. I will make you as famous as the greatest leaders in the world. 10 I have chosen a place for my people Israel and have settled them there, where they will live without being oppressed any more. Ever since they entered this land, they have been attacked by violent people, but this will not happen again. I promise to keep you safe from all your enemies and to give you descendants. 12 When you die and are buried with your ancestors, I will make one of your sons king and will keep his kingdom strong. 13 He will be the one to build a temple for me, and I will make sure that his dynasty continues forever. 14 I will be his father, and he will be my son. When he does wrong, I will punish him as a father punishes his son. 15 But I will not withdraw my support from him as I did from Saul, whom I removed so that you could be king. 16 You will always have descendants, and I will make your kingdom last forever. Your dynasty will never end.' " 17 Nathan told David everything that God had revealed to him. 18 Then King David went into the Tent of the Lord's presence, sat down and prayed, "Sovereign Lord, I am not worthy of what you have already done for me, nor is my family. 19 Yet now you are doing even more, Sovereign Lord; you have made promises about my descendants in the years to come. And you let a man see this, Sovereign Lord! 20 What more can I say to you! You know me, your servant. 21 It was your will and purpose to do this; you have done all these great things in order to instruct me. 22 How great you are, Sovereign Lord! There is none like you; we have always known that you alone are God. 23 There is no other nation on earth like Israel, whom you rescued from slavery to make them your own people. The great and wonderful things you did for them have spread your fame throughout the world. You drove out other nations and their gods as your people advanced, the people whom you set free from Egypt to be your own. 24 You have made Israel your own people forever, and you, Lord, have become their God. 25 "And now, Lord God, fulfill for all time the promise you made about me and my descendants, and do what you said you would. 26 Your fame will be great, and people will forever say, "The Lord Almighty is God over Israel.' And you will preserve my dynasty for all time. 27 Lord Almighty, God of Israel! I have the courage to pray this prayer to you, because you have revealed all this to me, your servant, and have told me that you will make my descendants kings. 28 "And now, Sovereign Lord, you are God; you always keep your promises, and you have made this wonderful promise to me. 29 I ask you to bless my descendants so that they will continue to enjoy your favor. You, Sovereign Lord, have promised this, and your blessing will rest on my descendants forever."

1540-1 Chronicles 28:3 but he has forbidden me to do it, because I am a soldier and have shed too much blood.

1541-2 Samuel 7:16 You will always have descendants, and I will make your kingdom last forever. Your dynasty will never end.' "

1542-1 Chronicles 29:29 The history of King David from beginning to end is recorded in the records of the three prophets, Samuel, Nathan, and Gad.

1543-1 Samuel 22:10 Ahimelech asked the Lord what David should do, and then he gave David some food and the sword of Goliath the Philistine."

1 Samuel 23:1 David heard that the Philistines were attacking the town of Keilah and were stealing the newly harvested grain. 2 So he asked the Lord, "Shall I go and attack the Philistines?" "Yes," the Lord answered. "Attack them and save Keilah." 3 But David's men said to him, "We have enough to be afraid of here in Judah; it will be much worse if we go to Keilah and attack the Philistine forces!" 4 So David consulted the Lord again, and the Lord said to him, "Go and attack Keilah, because I will give you victory over the Philistines."

1 Sameul 23:9 When David heard that Saul was planning to attack him, he said to the priest Abiathar, "Bring the ephod here." 10 Then David said, "Lord, God of Israel, I have heard that Saul is planning to come to Keilah and destroy it on account of me, your servant. 11 Will the citizens of Keilah hand me over to Saul? Will Saul really come, as I have heard? Lord, God of Israel, I beg you to answer me!" The Lord answered, "Saul will come." 12 "And will the citizens of Keilah hand my men and me over to Saul?" David asked again. "They will," the Lord answered. 13 So David and his men - about six hundred in all - left Keilah at once and kept on the move. When Saul heard that David had escaped from Keilah, he gave up his plan.

1 Samuel 30:6 David was now in great trouble, because his men were all very bitter about losing their children, and they were threatening to stone him; but the Lord his God gave him courage. 7 David said to the priest Abiathar son of Ahimelech, "Bring me the ephod," and Abiathar brought it to him. 8 David asked the Lord, "Shall I go after those raiders? And will I catch them?" He answered, "Go after them; you will catch them and rescue the captives."

1544-2 Samuel 2:1 After this, David asked the Lord, "Shall I go and take control of one of the towns of Judah?" "Yes," the Lord answered. "Which one?" David asked. "Hebron," the Lord said. 2 So David went to Hebron, taking with him his two wives: Ahinoam, who was from Jezreel, and Abigail, Nabal's widow, who was from Carmel.

2 Samuel 5:17 The Philistines were told that David had been made king of Israel, so their army set out to capture him. When David heard of it, he went down to a fortified place. 18 The Philistines arrived at Rephaim Valley and occupied it. 19 David asked the Lord, "Shall I attack the Philistines? Will you give me the victory?" "Yes, attack!" the Lord answered. "I will give you the victory!" 20 So David went to Baal Perazim and there he defeated the Philistines. He said, "The Lord has broken through my enemies like a flood." And so that place is called Baal Perazim. 21 When the Philistines fled, they left their idols behind, and David and his men carried them away. 22 Then the Philistines went back to Rephaim Valley and occupied it again. 23 Once more David consulted the Lord, who answered, "Don't attack them from here, but go around and get ready to attack them from the other side, near the balsam trees. 24 When you hear the sound of marching in the treetops, then attack because I will be marching ahead of you to defeat the Philistine army." 25 David did what the Lord had commanded, and was able to drive the Philistines back from Geba all the way to Gezer.

2 Samuel 7:1 King David was settled in his palace, and the Lord kept him safe from all his enemies. 2 Then the king said to the prophet Nathan, "Here I am living in a house built of cedar, but God's Covenant Box is kept in a tent!" 3 Nathan answered, "Do whatever you have in mind, because the Lord is with you." 4 But that night the Lord said to Nathan, 5 "Go and tell my servant David that I say to him, "You are not the one to build a temple for me to live in. 6 From the time I rescued the people of Israel from Egypt until now, I have never lived in a temple; I have traveled around living in a tent. 7 In all my traveling with the people of Israel I never asked any of the leaders that I appointed why they had not built me a temple made of cedar.' 8 "So tell my servant David that I, the Lord Almighty, say to him, "I took you from looking after sheep in the fields and made you the ruler of my people Israel. 9 I have been with you wherever you have gone, and I have defeated all your enemies as you advanced. I will make you as famous as the greatest leaders in the world. 10 I have chosen a place for my people Israel and have settled them there, where they will live without being oppressed any more. Ever since they entered this land, they have been attacked by violent people, but this will not happen again. I promise to keep you safe from all your enemies and to give you descendants. 12 When you die and are buried with your ancestors, I will make one of your sons king and will keep his kingdom strong. 13 He will be the one to build a temple for me, and I will make sure that his dynasty continues forever. 14 I will be his father, and he will be my son. When he does wrong, I will punish him as a father punishes his son. 15 But I will not withdraw my support from him as I did from Saul, whom I removed so that you could be king. 16 You will always have descendants, and I will make your kingdom last forever. Your dynasty will never end.' " 17 Nathan told David everything that God had revealed to him.

2 Samuel 12:1 The Lord sent the prophet Nathan to David. Nathan went to him and said, "There were two men who lived in the same town; one was rich and the other poor. 2 The rich man had many cattle and sheep, 3 while the poor man had only one lamb, which he had bought. He took care of it, and it grew up in his home with his children. He would feed it some of his own food, let it drink from his cup, and hold it in his lap. The lamb was like a daughter to him. 4 One day a visitor arrived at the rich man's home. The rich man didn't want to kill one of his own animals to fix a meal for him; instead, he took the poor man's lamb and prepared a meal for his guest." 5 David became very angry at the rich man and said, "I swear by the living Lord that the man who did this ought to die! 6 For having done such a cruel thing, he must pay back four times as much as he took." 7 "You are that man," Nathan said to David. "And this is what the Lord God of Israel says: "I made you king of Israel and rescued you from Saul. 8 I gave you his kingdom and his wives; I made you king over Israel and Judah. If this had not been enough, I would have given you twice as much. 9 Why, then, have you disobeyed my commands? Why did you do this evil thing? You had Uriah killed in battle; you let the Ammonites kill him, and then you took his wife! 10 Now, in every generation some of your descendants will die a violent death because you have disobeyed me and have taken Uriah's wife. 11 I swear to you that I will cause someone from your own family to bring trouble on you. You will see it when I take your wives from you and give them to another man; and he will have intercourse with them in broad daylight. 12 You sinned in secret, but I will make this happen in broad daylight for all Israel to see.' " 13 "I have sinned against the Lord," David said. Nathan replied, "The Lord forgives you; you will not die. 14 But because you have shown such contempt for the Lord in doing this, your child will die." 15 Then Nathan went home. The Lord caused the child that Uriah's wife had borne to David to become very sick.

2 Samuel 12:24 Then David comforted his wife Bathsheba. He had intercourse with her, and she bore a son, whom David named Solomon. The Lord loved the boy 25 and commanded the prophet Nathan to name the boy Jedidiah, because the Lord loved him.

2 Samuel 21:1 During David's reign there was a severe famine which lasted for three full years. So David consulted the Lord about it, and the Lord said, "Saul and his family are guilty of murder; he put the people of Gibeon to death.

2 Samuel 24:10 But after David had taken the census, his conscience began to hurt, and he said to the Lord, "I have committed a terrible sin in doing this! Please forgive me. I have acted foolishly." 11 The Lord said to Gad, David's prophet, "Go and tell David that I am giving him three choices. I will do whichever he chooses." The next morning, after David had gotten up, 13 Gad went to him, told him what the Lord had said, and asked, "Which is it to be? Three years of famine in your land or three months of running away from your enemies or three days of an epidemic in your land? Now think it over, and tell me what answer to take back to the Lord." 14 David answered, "I am in a desperate situation! But I don't want to be punished by people. Let the Lord himself be the one to punish us, for he is merciful." 15 So the Lord sent an epidemic on Israel, which lasted from that morning until the time that he had chosen. From one end of the country to the other seventy thousand Israelites died. 16 When the Lord's angel was about to destroy Jerusalem, the Lord changed his mind about punishing the people and said to the angel who was killing them, "Stop! That's enough!" The angel was by the threshing place of Araunah, a Jebusite. 17 David saw the angel who was killing the people, and said to the Lord, "I am the guilty one. I am the one who did wrong. What have these poor people done? You should punish me and my family." 18 That same day Gad went to David and said to him, "Go up to Araunah's threshing place and build an altar to the Lord."

1545-2 Samuel 7:1 King David was settled in his palace, and the Lord kept him safe from all his enemies. 2 Then the king said to the prophet Nathan, "Here I am living in a house built of cedar, but God's Covenant Box is kept in a tent!" 3 Nathan answered, "Do whatever you have in mind, because the Lord is with you." 4 But that night the Lord said to Nathan, 5 "Go and tell my servant David that I say to him, "You are not the one to build a temple for me to live in. 6 From the time I rescued the people of Israel from Egypt until now, I have never lived in a temple; I have traveled around living in a tent. 7 In all my traveling with the people of Israel I never asked any of the leaders that I appointed why they had not built me a temple made of cedar.' 8 "So tell my servant David that I, the Lord Almighty, say to him, "I took you from looking after sheep in the fields and made you the ruler of my people Israel. 9 I have been with you wherever you have gone, and I have defeated all your enemies as you advanced. I will make you as famous as the greatest leaders in the world. 10 I have chosen a place for my people Israel and have settled them there, where they will live without being oppressed any more. Ever since they entered this land, they have been attacked by violent people, but this will not happen again. I promise to keep you safe from all your enemies and to give you descendants. 12 When you die and are buried with your ancestors, I will make one of your sons king and will keep his kingdom strong. 13 He will be the one to build a temple for me, and I will make sure that his dynasty continues forever. 14 I will be his father, and he will be my son. When he does wrong, I will punish him as a father punishes his son. 15 But I will not withdraw my support from him as I did from Saul, whom I removed so that you could be king. 16 You will always have descendants, and I will make your kingdom last forever. Your dynasty will never end.' " 17 Nathan told David everything that God had revealed to him.

2 Samuel 12:1 The Lord sent the prophet Nathan to David. Nathan went to him and said, "There were two men who lived in the same town; one was rich and the other poor. 2 The rich man had many cattle and sheep, 3 while the poor man had only one lamb, which he had bought. He took care of it, and it grew up in his home with his children. He would feed it some of his own food, let it drink from his cup, and hold it in his lap. The lamb was like a daughter to him. 4 One day a visitor arrived at the rich man's home. The rich man didn't want to kill one of his own animals to fix a meal for him; instead, he took the poor man's lamb and prepared a meal for his guest." 5 David became very angry at the rich man and said, "I swear by the living Lord that the man who did this ought to die! 6 For having done such a cruel thing, he must pay back four times as much as he took." 7 "You are that man," Nathan said to David. "And this is what the Lord God of Israel says: "I made you king of Israel and rescued you from Saul. 8 I gave you his kingdom and his wives; I made you king over Israel and Judah. If this had not been enough, I would have given you twice as much. 9 Why, then, have you disobeyed my commands? Why did you do this evil thing? You had Uriah killed in battle; you let the Ammonites kill him, and then you took his wife! 10 Now, in every generation some of your descendants will die a violent death because you have disobeyed me and have taken Uriah's wife. 11 I swear to you that I will cause someone from your own family to bring trouble on you. You will see it when I take your wives from you and give them to another man; and he will have intercourse with them in broad daylight. 12 You sinned in secret, but I will make this happen in broad daylight for all Israel to see.' " 13 "I have sinned against the Lord," David said. Nathan replied, "The Lord forgives you; you will not die. 14 But because you have shown such contempt for the Lord in doing this, your child will die." 15 Then Nathan went home. The Lord caused the child that Uriah's wife had borne to David to become very sick.

1546-2 Samuel 24:11 The Lord said to Gad, David's prophet, "Go and tell David that I am giving him three choices. I will do whichever he chooses." The next morning, after David had gotten up, 13 Gad went to him, told him what the Lord had said, and asked, "Which is it to be? Three years of famine in your land or three months of running away from your enemies or three days of an epidemic in your land? Now think it over, and tell me what answer to take back to the Lord."

1547-1 Samuel 25:1 Samuel died, and all the Israelites came together and mourned for him. Then they buried him at his home in Ramah. After this, David went to the wilderness of Paran.

1548-2 Samuel 23:1 David son of Jesse was the man whom God made great, whom the God of Jacob chose to be king, and who was the composer of beautiful songs for Israel. These are David's last words:

1549-2 Samuel 5:4 David was thirty years old when he became king, and he ruled for forty years.

1550-2 Kings 21:1 Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king of Judah, and he ruled in Jerusalem for fifty-five years. His mother was Hephzibah.

2 Kings 24:8 Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he became king of Judah, and he ruled in Jerusalem for three months. His mother was Nehushta, the daughter of Elnathan from Jerusalem.

2 Kings 24:18 Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king of Judah, and he ruled in Jerusalem for eleven years. His mother was Hamutal, the daughter of Jeremiah from the city of Libnah.

1551-1 Samuel 13:14 But now your rule will not continue. Because you have disobeyed him, the Lord will find the kind of man he wants and make him ruler of his people."

1552-Acts 13:22 After removing him, God made David their king. This is what God said about him: "I have found that David son of Jesse is the kind of man I like, a man who will do all I want him to do.'

1553-Psalms 32:1 Happy are those whose sins are forgiven, whose wrongs are pardoned. 2 Happy is the one whom the Lord does not accuse of doing wrong and who is free from all deceit. 3 When I did not confess my sins, I was worn out from crying all day long. 4 Day and night you punished me, Lord; my strength was completely drained, as moisture is dried up by the summer heat. 5 Then I confessed my sins to you; I did not conceal my wrongdoings. I decided to confess them to you, and you forgave all my sins. 6 So all your loyal people should pray to you in times of need; when a great flood of trouble comes rushing in, it will not reach them. 7 You are my hiding place; you will save me from trouble. I sing aloud of your salvation, because you protect me. 8 The Lord says, "I will teach you the way you should go; I will instruct you and advise you. 9 Don't be stupid like a horse or a mule, which must be controlled with a bit and bridle to make it submit." 10 The wicked will have to suffer, but those who trust in the Lord are protected by his constant love. 11 You that are righteous, be glad and rejoice because of what the Lord has done. You that obey him, shout for joy!

1554-Psalms 51:1 Be merciful to me, O God, because of your constant love. Because of your great mercy wipe away my sins! 2 Wash away all my evil and make me clean from my sin! 3 I recognize my faults; I am always conscious of my sins. 4 I have sinned against you - only against you - and done what you consider evil. So you are right in judging me; you are justified in condemning me. 5 I have been evil from the day I was born; from the time I was conceived, I have been sinful. 6 Sincerity and truth are what you require; fill my mind with your wisdom. 7 Remove my sin, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. 8 Let me hear the sounds of joy and gladness; and though you have crushed me and broken me, I will be happy once again. 9 Close your eyes to my sins and wipe out all my evil. 10 Create a pure heart in me, O God, and put a new and loyal spirit in me. 11 Do not banish me from your presence; do not take your holy spirit away from me. 12 Give me again the joy that comes from your salvation, and make me willing to obey you. 13 Then I will teach sinners your commands, and they will turn back to you. 14 Spare my life, O God, and save me, and I will gladly proclaim your righteousness. 15 Help me to speak, Lord, and I will praise you. 16 You do not want sacrifices, or I would offer them; you are not pleased with burnt offerings. 17 My sacrifice is a humble spirit, O God; you will not reject a humble and repentant heart. 18 O God, be kind to Zion and help her; rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. 19 Then you will be pleased with proper sacrifices and with our burnt offerings; and bulls will be sacrificed on your altar.

1555-1 Kings 15:5 because David did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, and did not turn aside from anything that he commanded him all the days of his life, except in the matter of Uri'ah the Hittite.

1556-1 Kings 11:38 And if you will hearken to all that I command you, and will walk in my ways, and do what is right in my eyes by keeping my statutes and my commandments, as David my servant did, I will be with you, and will build you a sure house, as I built for David, and I will give Israel to you. 39 And I will for this afflict the descendants of David, but not for ever.'"

1557-2 Chronicles 7:17 And as for you, if you walk before me, as David your father walked, doing according to all that I have commanded you and keeping my statutes and my ordinances, 18 then I will establish your royal throne, as I covenanted with David your father, saying, 'There shall not fail you a man to rule Israel.'

1558-2 Samuel 6:17 If you serve me faithfully as your father David did, obeying my laws and doing everything I have commanded you, 18 I will keep the promise I made to your father David when I told him that Israel would always be ruled by his descendants.

1559-1 Chronicles 13:9-14; 15; 26:4,59 As they came to the threshing place of Chidon, the oxen stumbled, and Uzzah reached out and took hold of the Covenant Box. 10 At once the Lord became angry with Uzzah and killed him for touching the Box. He died there in God's presence, 11 and so that place has been called Perez Uzzah ever since. David was furious because the Lord had punished Uzzah in anger. 12 Then David was afraid of God and said, "How can I take the Covenant Box with me now?" 13 So David did not take it with him to Jerusalem. Instead, he left it at the house of a man named Obed Edom, a native of the city of Gath. 14 It stayed there three months, and the Lord blessed Obed Edom's family and everything that belonged to him.

1Chronicles 15:1 For his own use, David built houses in David's City. He also prepared a place for God's Covenant Box and put up a tent for it. 2 Then he said, "Only Levites should carry the Covenant Box, because they are the ones the Lord chose to carry it and to serve him forever." 3 So David summoned all the people of Israel to Jerusalem in order to bring the Covenant Box to the place he had prepared for it. 4 Next he sent for the descendants of Aaron and for the Levites. 5 From the Levite clan of Kohath came Uriel, in charge of 120 members of his clan; 6 from the clan of Merari came Asaiah, in charge of 220; 7 from the clan of Gershon, Joel, in charge of 130; 8 from the clan of Elizaphan, Shemaiah, in charge of 200; 9 from the clan of Hebron, Eliel, in charge of 80; 10 and from the clan of Uzziel, Amminadab, in charge of 112. 11 David called in the priests Zadok and Abiathar and the six Levites, Uriel, Asaiah, Joel, Shemaiah, Eliel, and Amminadab. 12 He said to the Levites, "You are the leaders of the Levite clans. Purify yourselves and your fellow Levites, so that you can bring the Covenant Box of the Lord God of Israel to the place I have prepared for it. 13 Because you were not there to carry it the first time, the Lord our God punished us for not worshiping him as we should have done." 14 Then the priests and the Levites purified themselves in order to move the Covenant Box of the Lord God of Israel. 15 The Levites carried it on poles on their shoulders, as the Lord had commanded through Moses. 16 David commanded the leaders of the Levites to assign various Levites to sing and to play joyful music on harps and cymbals. 17 From the clans of singers they chose the following men to play the brass cymbals: Heman son of Joel, his relative Asaph son of Berechiah, and Ethan son of Kushaiah, of the clan of Merari. To assist them they chose the following Levites to play the high-pitched harps: Zechariah, Jaaziel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Unni, Eliab, Maaseiah, and Benaiah. To play the low-pitched harps they chose the following Levites: Mattithiah, Eliphelehu, Mikneiah, Azaziah, and the Temple guards, Obed Edom and Jeiel. 22 Because of his skill in music Chenaniah was chosen to be in charge of the levitical musicians. 23 Berechiah and Elkanah, along with Obed Edom and Jehiah, were chosen as guards for the Covenant Box. The priests Shebaniah, Joshaphat, Nethanel, Amasai, Zechariah, Benaiah, and Eliezer were chosen to blow trumpets in front of the Covenant Box. 25 So King David, the leaders of Israel, and the military commanders went to the house of Obed Edom to get the Covenant Box, and they had a great celebration. 26 They sacrificed seven bulls and seven sheep, to make sure that God would help the Levites who were carrying the Covenant Box. 27 David was wearing a robe made of the finest linen, and so were the musicians, Chenaniah their leader, and the Levites who carried the Box. David also wore a linen ephod. 28 So all the Israelites accompanied the Covenant Box up to Jerusalem with shouts of joy, the sound of trumpets, horns, and cymbals, and the music of harps. 29 As the Box was being brought into the city, Michal, Saul's daughter, looked out of the window and saw King David dancing and leaping for joy, and she was disgusted with him.

1 Chronicles 26:4 There was also Obed Edom, whom God blessed by giving him eight sons, listed in order of age: Shemaiah, Jehozabad, Joah, Sachar, Nethanel, 5 Ammiel, Issachar, and Peullethai.

1560-2 Samuel 6:8 and so that place has been called Perez Uzzah ever since. David was furious because the Lord had punished Uzzah in anger.

1561-2 Kings 2:24 Elisha turned around, glared at them, and cursed them in the name of the Lord. Then two she-bears came out of the woods and tore forty-two of the boys to pieces.

1562-Leviticus 10:1 Aaron's sons, Nadab and Abihu, each took his fire pan, put live coals in it, added incense, and presented it to the Lord. But this fire was not holy, because the Lord had not commanded them to present it. 2 Suddenly the Lord sent fire, and it burned them to death there in the presence of the Lord. 3 Then Moses said to Aaron, "This is what the Lord was speaking about when he said, "All who serve me must respect my holiness; I will reveal my glory to my people.' " But Aaron remained silent. 4 Moses called Mishael and Elzaphan, the sons of Uzziel, Aaron's uncle, and said to them, "Come here and carry your cousins' bodies away from the sacred Tent and put them outside the camp." 5 So they came and took hold of the clothing on the corpses and carried them outside the camp, just as Moses had commanded. 6 Then Moses said to Aaron and to his sons Eleazar and Ithamar, "Do not leave your hair uncombed or tear your clothes to show that you are in mourning. If you do, you will die, and the Lord will be angry with the whole community. But all other Israelites are allowed to mourn this death caused by the fire which the Lord sent. 7 Do not leave the entrance of the Tent or you will die, because you have been consecrated by the anointing oil of the Lord." So they did as Moses said. 8 The Lord said to Aaron, 9 "You and your sons are not to enter the Tent of my presence after drinking wine or beer; if you do, you will die. This is a law to be kept by all your descendants. 10 You must distinguish between what belongs to God and what is for general use, between what is ritually clean and what is unclean. 11 You must teach the people of Israel all the laws which I have given to you through Moses."

1563-1 Samuel 21:1 David went to the priest Ahimelech in Nob. Ahimelech came out trembling to meet him and asked, "Why did you come here all by yourself?" 2 "I am here on the king's business," David answered. "He told me not to let anyone know what he sent me to do. As for my men, I have told them to meet me at a certain place. 3 Now, then, what supplies do you have? Give me five loaves of bread or anything else you have." 4 The priest said, "I don't have any ordinary bread, only sacred bread; you can have it if your men haven't had sexual relations recently." 5 "Of course they haven't," answered David. "My men always keep themselves ritually pure even when we go out on an ordinary mission; how much more this time when we are on a special mission!" 6 So the priest gave David the sacred bread, because the only bread he had was the loaves offered to God, which had been removed from the sacred table and replaced by fresh bread.

1564-1 Kings 1:50 Adonijah, in great fear of Solomon, went to the Tent of the Lord's presence and took hold of the corners of the altar. 51 King Solomon was told that Adonijah was afraid of him and that he was holding on to the corners of the altar and had said, "First, I want King Solomon to swear to me that he will not have me put to death."

1565-2 Samuel 6:1 Once more David called together the best soldiers in Israel, a total of thirty thousand men, 2 and led them to Baalah in Judah, in order to bring from there God's Covenant Box, bearing the name of the Lord Almighty, whose throne is above the winged creatures. 3 They took it from Abinadab's home on the hill and placed it on a new cart. Uzzah and Ahio, sons of Abinadab, were guiding the cart, 4 with Ahio walking in front. 5 David and all the Israelites were dancing and singing with all their might to honor the Lord. They were playing harps, lyres, drums, rattles, and cymbals. 6 As they came to the threshing place of Nacon, the oxen stumbled, and Uzzah reached out and took hold of the Covenant Box. 7 At once the Lord God became angry with Uzzah and killed him because of his irreverence. Uzzah died there beside the Covenant Box, 8 and so that place has been called Perez Uzzah ever since. David was furious because the Lord had punished Uzzah in anger.

1566-1 Chronicles 13:1 King David consulted with all the officers in command of units of a thousand men and units of a hundred men. 2 Then he announced to all the people of Israel, "If you give your approval and if it is the will of the Lord our God, let us send messengers to the rest of our people and to the priests and Levites in their towns, and tell them to assemble here with us. 3 Then we will go and get God's Covenant Box, which was ignored while Saul was king." 4 The people were pleased with the suggestion and agreed to it. 5 So David assembled the people of Israel from all over the country, from the Egyptian border in the south to Hamath Pass in the north, in order to bring the Covenant Box from Kiriath Jearim to Jerusalem. 6 David and the people went to the city of Baalah, that is, to Kiriath Jearim, in the territory of Judah, to get the Covenant Box of God, which bears the name of the Lord enthroned above the winged creatures. 7 At Abinadab's house they brought out the Covenant Box and put it on a new cart. Uzzah and Ahio guided the cart, 8 while David and all the people danced with all their might to honor God. They sang and played musical instruments - harps, drums, cymbals, and trumpets. 9 As they came to the threshing place of Chidon, the oxen stumbled, and Uzzah reached out and took hold of the Covenant Box. 10 At once the Lord became angry with Uzzah and killed him for touching the Box. He died there in God's presence, 11 and so that place has been called Perez Uzzah ever since. David was furious because the Lord had punished Uzzah in anger. 12 Then David was afraid of God and said, "How can I take the Covenant Box with me now?" 13 So David did not take it with him to Jerusalem. Instead, he left it at the house of a man named Obed Edom, a native of the city of Gath. 14 It stayed there three months, and the Lord blessed Obed Edom's family and everything that belonged to him.

1567-Numbers 3:27 The clan of Kohath was composed of the families of Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel. 28 The total number of males one month old or older that were enrolled was 8,600. 29 This clan was to camp on the south side of the Tent, 30 with Elizaphan son of Uzziel as chief of the clan. 31 They were responsible for the Covenant Box, the table, the lampstand, the altars, the utensils the priests use in the Holy Place, and the curtain at the entrance to the Most Holy Place. They were responsible for all the service connected with these items. 32 The chief of the Levites was Eleazar son of Aaron the priest. He was in charge of those who carried out the duties in the Holy Place.

Numbers 4:1 The Lord told Moses 2 to take a census of the Levite clan of Kohath by subclans and families, 3 and to register all the men between the ages of thirty and fifty who were qualified to work in the Tent of the Lord's presence. 4 Their service involves the most holy things. 5 The Lord gave Moses the following instructions. When it is time to break camp, Aaron and his sons shall enter the Tent, take down the curtain in front of the Covenant Box, and cover the Box with it. 6 They shall put a fine leather cover over it, spread a cloth of solid blue on top, and then insert the carrying poles. 7 They shall spread a blue cloth over the table for the bread offered to the Lord and put on it the dishes, the incense bowls, the offering bowls, and the jars for the wine offering. There shall always be bread on the table. 8 They shall spread a red cloth over all of this, put a fine leather cover over it, and then insert the carrying poles. 9 They shall take a blue cloth and cover the lampstand, with its lamps, tongs, trays, and all the olive oil containers. 10 They shall wrap it and all its equipment in a fine leather cover and place it on a carrying frame. 11 Next they shall spread a blue cloth over the gold altar, put a fine leather cover over it, and then insert the carrying poles. 12 They shall take all the utensils used in the Holy Place, wrap them in a blue cloth, put a fine leather cover over them, and place them on a carrying frame. 13 They shall remove the greasy ashes from the altar and spread a purple cloth over it. 14 They shall put on it all the equipment used in the service at the altar: fire pans, hooks, shovels, and basins. Then they shall put a fine leather cover over it and insert the carrying poles. 15 When it is time to break camp, the clan of Kohath shall come to carry the sacred objects only after Aaron and his sons have finished covering them and all their equipment. The Kohath clan must not touch the sacred objects, or they will die. These are the responsibilities of the Kohath clan whenever the Tent is moved. 16 Eleazar son of Aaron the priest shall be responsible for the whole Tent and for the oil for the lamps, the incense, the grain offerings, the anointing oil, and everything else in the Tent that has been consecrated to the Lord. 17 The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, 18 "Do not let the clan of Kohath 19 be killed by coming near these most sacred objects. To prevent this from happening, Aaron and his sons shall go in and assign each man his task and tell him what to carry. 20 But if the Kohathites enter the Tent and see the priests preparing the sacred objects for moving, they will die."

Numbers 7:9 But Moses gave no wagons or oxen to the Kohathites, because the sacred objects they took care of had to be carried on their shoulders.

1568-Deuteronomy 10:8 At the mountain the Lord appointed the men of the tribe of Levi to be in charge of the Covenant Box, to serve him as priests, and to pronounce blessings in his name. And these are still their duties.

1569-1 Chronicles 15:1 For his own use, David built houses in David's City. He also prepared a place for God's Covenant Box and put up a tent for it. 2 Then he said, "Only Levites should carry the Covenant Box, because they are the ones the Lord chose to carry it and to serve him forever." 3 So David summoned all the people of Israel to Jerusalem in order to bring the Covenant Box to the place he had prepared for it. 4 Next he sent for the descendants of Aaron and for the Levites. 5 From the Levite clan of Kohath came Uriel, in charge of 120 members of his clan; 6 from the clan of Merari came Asaiah, in charge of 220; 7 from the clan of Gershon, Joel, in charge of 130; 8 from the clan of Elizaphan, Shemaiah, in charge of 200; 9 from the clan of Hebron, Eliel, in charge of 80; 10 and from the clan of Uzziel, Amminadab, in charge of 112. 11 David called in the priests Zadok and Abiathar and the six Levites, Uriel, Asaiah, Joel, Shemaiah, Eliel, and Amminadab. 12 He said to the Levites, "You are the leaders of the Levite clans. Purify yourselves and your fellow Levites, so that you can bring the Covenant Box of the Lord God of Israel to the place I have prepared for it. 13 Because you were not there to carry it the first time, the Lord our God punished us for not worshiping him as we should have done." 14 Then the priests and the Levites purified themselves in order to move the Covenant Box of the Lord God of Israel. 15 The Levites carried it on poles on their shoulders, as the Lord had commanded through Moses. 16 David commanded the leaders of the Levites to assign various Levites to sing and to play joyful music on harps and cymbals. 17 From the clans of singers they chose the following men to play the brass cymbals: Heman son of Joel, his relative Asaph son of Berechiah, and Ethan son of Kushaiah, of the clan of Merari. To assist them they chose the following Levites to play the high-pitched harps: Zechariah, Jaaziel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Unni, Eliab, Maaseiah, and Benaiah. To play the low-pitched harps they chose the following Levites: Mattithiah, Eliphelehu, Mikneiah, Azaziah, and the Temple guards, Obed Edom and Jeiel. 22 Because of his skill in music Chenaniah was chosen to be in charge of the levitical musicians. 23 Berechiah and Elkanah, along with Obed Edom and Jehiah, were chosen as guards for the Covenant Box. The priests Shebaniah, Joshaphat, Nethanel, Amasai, Zechariah, Benaiah, and Eliezer were chosen to blow trumpets in front of the Covenant Box. 25 So King David, the leaders of Israel, and the military commanders went to the house of Obed Edom to get the Covenant Box, and they had a great celebration. 26 They sacrificed seven bulls and seven sheep, to make sure that God would help the Levites who were carrying the Covenant Box. 27 David was wearing a robe made of the finest linen, and so were the musicians, Chenaniah their leader, and the Levites who carried the Box. David also wore a linen ephod. 28 So all the Israelites accompanied the Covenant Box up to Jerusalem with shouts of joy, the sound of trumpets, horns, and cymbals, and the music of harps. 29 As the Box was being brought into the city, Michal, Saul's daughter, looked out of the window and saw King David dancing and leaping for joy, and she was disgusted with him.

1570-2 Samuel 7:1 King David was settled in his palace, and the Lord kept him safe from all his enemies. 2 Then the king said to the prophet Nathan, "Here I am living in a house built of cedar, but God's Covenant Box is kept in a tent!" 3 Nathan answered, "Do whatever you have in mind, because the Lord is with you." 4 But that night the Lord said to Nathan, 5 "Go and tell my servant David that I say to him, "You are not the one to build a temple for me to live in. 6 From the time I rescued the people of Israel from Egypt until now, I have never lived in a temple; I have traveled around living in a tent. 7 In all my traveling with the people of Israel I never asked any of the leaders that I appointed why they had not built me a temple made of cedar.' 8 "So tell my servant David that I, the Lord Almighty, say to him, "I took you from looking after sheep in the fields and made you the ruler of my people Israel. 9 I have been with you wherever you have gone, and I have defeated all your enemies as you advanced. I will make you as famous as the greatest leaders in the world. 10 I have chosen a place for my people Israel and have settled them there, where they will live without being oppressed any more. Ever since they entered this land, they have been attacked by violent people, but this will not happen again. I promise to keep you safe from all your enemies and to give you descendants. 12 When you die and are buried with your ancestors, I will make one of your sons king and will keep his kingdom strong. 13 He will be the one to build a temple for me, and I will make sure that his dynasty continues forever. 14 I will be his father, and he will be my son. When he does wrong, I will punish him as a father punishes his son. 15 But I will not withdraw my support from him as I did from Saul, whom I removed so that you could be king. 16 You will always have descendants, and I will make your kingdom last forever. Your dynasty will never end.' " 17 Nathan told David everything that God had revealed to him.

1571-1 Chronicles 28:3 but he has forbidden me to do it, because I am a soldier and have shed too much blood.

1572-2 Samuel 3:13 "Good!" David answered. "I will make an agreement with you on one condition: you must bring Saul's daughter Michal to me when you come to see me." 14 And David also sent messengers to Ishbosheth to say, "Give me back my wife Michal. I paid a hundred Philistine foreskins in order to marry her." 15 So Ishbosheth had her taken from her husband Paltiel son of Laish. 16 Paltiel followed her all the way to the town of Bahurim, crying as he went. But when Abner said, "Go back home," he did.

1573-2 Samuel 6:14 David, wearing only a linen cloth around his waist, danced with all his might to honor the Lord.

2 Samuel 6:16 As the Box was being brought into the city, Michal, Saul's daughter, looked out of the window and saw King David dancing and jumping around in the sacred dance, and she was disgusted with him.

2 Samuel 6:20 Afterward, when David went home to greet his family, Michal came out to meet him. "The king of Israel made a big name for himself today!" she said. "He exposed himself like a fool in the sight of the servant women of his officials!" 21 David answered, "I was dancing to honor the Lord, who chose me instead of your father and his family to make me the leader of his people Israel. And I will go on dancing to honor the Lord, 22 and will disgrace myself even more. You may think I am nothing, but those women will think highly of me!" 23 Michal, Saul's daughter, never had any children.

1574-2 Samuel 8:2 Then he defeated the Moabites. He made the prisoners lie down on the ground and put two out of every three of them to death. So the Moabites became his subjects and paid taxes to him.

1575-Ruth 4:17 The women of the neighborhood named the boy Obed. They told everyone, "A son has been born to Naomi!" Obed became the father of Jesse, who was the father of David. 18 This is the family line from Perez to David: Perez, Hezron, Ram, Amminadab, Nahshon, Salmon, Boaz, Obed, Jesse, David.

1576-1 Samuel 22:3 David went on from there to Mizpah in Moab and said to the king of Moab, "Please let my father and mother come and stay with you until I find out what God is going to do for me." 4 So David left his parents with the king of Moab, and they stayed there as long as David was hiding out in the cave.

1577-2 Samuel 11:1 The following spring, at the time of the year when kings usually go to war, David sent out Joab with his officers and the Israelite army; they defeated the Ammonites and besieged the city of Rabbah. But David himself stayed in Jerusalem.

1578-1 Samuel 25:43 David had married Ahinoam from Jezreel, and now Abigail also became his wife. 44 Meanwhile, Saul had given his daughter Michal, who had been David's wife, to Palti son of Laish, who was from the town of Gallim.

1579-2 Samuel 2:1 After this, David asked the Lord, "Shall I go and take control of one of the towns of Judah?" "Yes," the Lord answered. "Which one?" David asked. "Hebron," the Lord said. 2 So David went to Hebron, taking with him his two wives: Ahinoam, who was from Jezreel, and Abigail, Nabal's widow, who was from Carmel.

2 Samuel 3:2 The following six sons, in order of their birth, were born to David at Hebron: Amnon, whose mother was Ahinoam, from Jezreel;

2 Samuel 5:13 After moving from Hebron to Jerusalem, David took more concubines and wives, and had more sons and daughters.

2 Samuel 12:8 I gave you his kingdom and his wives; I made you king over Israel and Judah. If this had not been enough, I would have given you twice as much.

2 Samuel 15:16 So the king left, accompanied by all his family and officials, except for ten concubines, whom he left behind to take care of the palace.

1580-1 Chronicles 3:1 The following, in order of age, are David's sons who were born while he was in Hebron: Amnon, whose mother was Ahinoam from Jezreel Daniel, whose mother was Abigail from Carmel Absalom, whose mother was Maacah, daughter of King Talmai of Geshur Adonijah, whose mother was Haggith Shephatiah, whose mother was Abital Ithream, whose mother was Eglah 4 All six were born in Hebron during the seven and a half years that David ruled there. In Jerusalem he ruled as king for thirty-three years, 5 and many sons were born to him there. His wife Bathsheba, daughter of Ammiel, bore him four sons: Shimea, Shobab, Nathan, and Solomon. 6 He had nine other sons: Ibhar, Elishua, Elpelet, 7 Nogah, Nepheg, Japhia, 8 Elishama, Eliada, and Eliphelet. 9 In addition to all these sons, David had sons by his concubines. He also had a daughter, Tamar.

1 Chronicles 14:3 There in Jerusalem, David married more wives and had more sons and daughters. 4 The following children were born to him in Jerusalem: Shammua, Shobab, Nathan, Solomon, 5 Ibhar, Elishua, Elpelet, 6 Nogah, Nepheg, Japhia, 7 Elishama, Beeliada, and Eliphelet.

1581-1 Kings 3:1 Solomon made an alliance with the king of Egypt by marrying his daughter. He brought her to live in David's City until he had finished building his palace, the Temple, and the wall around Jerusalem.

1582-1 Kings 11:1 Solomon loved many foreign women. Besides the daughter of the king of Egypt he married Hittite women and women from Moab, Ammon, Edom, and Sidon. 2 He married them even though the Lord had commanded the Israelites not to intermarry with these people, because they would cause the Israelites to give their loyalty to other gods. 3 Solomon married seven hundred princesses and also had three hundred concubines. They made him turn away from God,

1583-2 Samuel 12:1 The Lord sent the prophet Nathan to David. Nathan went to him and said, "There were two men who lived in the same town; one was rich and the other poor. 2 The rich man had many cattle and sheep, 3 while the poor man had only one lamb, which he had bought. He took care of it, and it grew up in his home with his children. He would feed it some of his own food, let it drink from his cup, and hold it in his lap. The lamb was like a daughter to him. 4 One day a visitor arrived at the rich man's home. The rich man didn't want to kill one of his own animals to fix a meal for him; instead, he took the poor man's lamb and prepared a meal for his guest." 5 David became very angry at the rich man and said, "I swear by the living Lord that the man who did this ought to die! 6 For having done such a cruel thing, he must pay back four times as much as he took." 7 "You are that man," Nathan said to David. "And this is what the Lord God of Israel says: "I made you king of Israel and rescued you from Saul. 8 I gave you his kingdom and his wives; I made you king over Israel and Judah. If this had not been enough, I would have given you twice as much. 9 Why, then, have you disobeyed my commands? Why did you do this evil thing? You had Uriah killed in battle; you let the Ammonites kill him, and then you took his wife! 10 Now, in every generation some of your descendants will die a violent death because you have disobeyed me and have taken Uriah's wife. 11 I swear to you that I will cause someone from your own family to bring trouble on you. You will see it when I take your wives from you and give them to another man; and he will have intercourse with them in broad daylight. 12 You sinned in secret, but I will make this happen in broad daylight for all Israel to see.' " 13 "I have sinned against the Lord," David said. Nathan replied, "The Lord forgives you; you will not die. 14 But because you have shown such contempt for the Lord in doing this, your child will die." 15 Then Nathan went home. The Lord caused the child that Uriah's wife had borne to David to become very sick.

1584-2 Samuel 11:1 The following spring, at the time of the year when kings usually go to war, David sent out Joab with his officers and the Israelite army; they defeated the Ammonites and besieged the city of Rabbah. But David himself stayed in Jerusalem. 2 One day, late in the afternoon, David got up from his nap and went to the palace roof. As he walked around up there, he saw a woman taking a bath in her house. She was very beautiful. 3 So he sent a messenger to find out who she was, and learned that she was Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam and the wife of Uriah the Hittite. 4 David sent messengers to get her; they brought her to him and he made love to her. (She had just finished her monthly ritual of purification.) Then she went back home. 5 Afterward she discovered that she was pregnant and sent a message to David to tell him. 6 David then sent a message to Joab: "Send me Uriah the Hittite." So Joab sent him to David. 7 When Uriah arrived, David asked him if Joab and the troops were well, and how the fighting was going. 8 Then he said to Uriah, "Go on home and rest a while." Uriah left, and David had a present sent to his home. 9 But Uriah did not go home; instead he slept at the palace gate with the king's guards. 10 When David heard that Uriah had not gone home, he asked him, "You have just returned after a long absence; why didn't you go home?" 11 Uriah answered, "The men of Israel and Judah are away in battle, and the Covenant Box is with them; my commander Joab and his officers are camping out in the open. How could I go home, eat and drink, and sleep with my wife? By all that's sacred, I swear that I could never do such a thing!" 12 So David said, "Then stay here the rest of the day, and tomorrow I'll send you back." So Uriah stayed in Jerusalem that day and the next. 13 David invited him to supper and got him drunk. But again that night Uriah did not go home; instead he slept on his blanket in the palace guardroom. 14 The next morning David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it by Uriah. 15 He wrote: "Put Uriah in the front line, where the fighting is heaviest, then retreat and let him be killed." 16 So while Joab was besieging the city, he sent Uriah to a place where he knew the enemy was strong. 17 The enemy troops came out of the city and fought Joab's forces; some of David's officers were killed, and so was Uriah. 18 Then Joab sent a report to David telling him about the battle, 19 and he instructed the messenger, "After you have told the king all about the battle, 20 he may get angry and ask you, "Why did you go so near the city to fight them? Didn't you realize that they would shoot arrows from the walls? 21 Don't you remember how Abimelech son of Gideon was killed? It was at Thebez, where a woman threw a millstone down from the wall and killed him. Why, then, did you go so near the wall?' If the king asks you this, tell him, "Your officer Uriah was also killed.' " 22 So the messenger went to David and told him what Joab had commanded him to say. 23 He said, "Our enemies were stronger than we were and came out of the city to fight us in the open, but we drove them back to the city gate. 24 Then they shot arrows at us from the wall, and some of Your Majesty's officers were killed; your officer Uriah was also killed." 25 David said to the messenger, "Encourage Joab and tell him not to be upset, since you never can tell who will die in battle. Tell him to launch a stronger attack on the city and capture it." 26 When Bathsheba heard that her husband had been killed, she mourned for him. 27 When the time of mourning was over, David had her brought to the palace; she became his wife and bore him a son. But the Lord was not pleased with what David had done.

2 Samuel 12:1 The Lord sent the prophet Nathan to David. Nathan went to him and said, "There were two men who lived in the same town; one was rich and the other poor. 2 The rich man had many cattle and sheep, 3 while the poor man had only one lamb, which he had bought. He took care of it, and it grew up in his home with his children. He would feed it some of his own food, let it drink from his cup, and hold it in his lap. The lamb was like a daughter to him. 4 One day a visitor arrived at the rich man's home. The rich man didn't want to kill one of his own animals to fix a meal for him; instead, he took the poor man's lamb and prepared a meal for his guest." 5 David became very angry at the rich man and said, "I swear by the living Lord that the man who did this ought to die! 6 For having done such a cruel thing, he must pay back four times as much as he took." 7 "You are that man," Nathan said to David. "And this is what the Lord God of Israel says: "I made you king of Israel and rescued you from Saul. 8 I gave you his kingdom and his wives; I made you king over Israel and Judah. If this had not been enough, I would have given you twice as much. 9 Why, then, have you disobeyed my commands? Why did you do this evil thing? You had Uriah killed in battle; you let the Ammonites kill him, and then you took his wife! 10 Now, in every generation some of your descendants will die a violent death because you have disobeyed me and have taken Uriah's wife. 11 I swear to you that I will cause someone from your own family to bring trouble on you. You will see it when I take your wives from you and give them to another man; and he will have intercourse with them in broad daylight. 12 You sinned in secret, but I will make this happen in broad daylight for all Israel to see.' " 13 "I have sinned against the Lord," David said. Nathan replied, "The Lord forgives you; you will not die. 14 But because you have shown such contempt for the Lord in doing this, your child will die." 15 Then Nathan went home. The Lord caused the child that Uriah's wife had borne to David to become very sick. 16 David prayed to God that the child would get well. He refused to eat anything, and every night he went into his room and spent the night lying on the floor. 17 His court officials went to him and tried to make him get up, but he refused and would not eat anything with them. 18 A week later the child died, and David's officials were afraid to tell him the news. They said, "While the child was living, David wouldn't answer us when we spoke to him. How can we tell him that his child is dead? He might do himself some harm!" 19 When David noticed them whispering to each other, he realized that the child had died. So he asked them, "Is the child dead?" "Yes, he is," they answered. 20 David got up from the floor, took a bath, combed his hair, and changed his clothes. Then he went and worshiped in the house of the Lord. When he returned to the palace, he asked for food and ate it as soon as it was served. 21 "We don't understand this," his officials said to him. "While the child was alive, you wept for him and would not eat; but as soon as he died, you got up and ate!" 22 "Yes," David answered, "I did fast and weep while he was still alive. I thought that the Lord might be merciful to me and not let the child die. 23 But now that he is dead, why should I fast? Could I bring the child back to life? I will some day go to where he is, but he can never come back to me." 24 Then David comforted his wife Bathsheba. He had intercourse with her, and she bore a son, whom David named Solomon. The Lord loved the boy 25 and commanded the prophet Nathan to name the boy Jedidiah, because the Lord loved him. 26 Meanwhile Joab continued his campaign against Rabbah, the capital city of Ammon, and was about to capture it. 27 He sent messengers to David to report: "I have attacked Rabbah and have captured its water supply. 28 Now gather the rest of your forces, attack the city and take it yourself. I don't want to get the credit for capturing it." 29 So David gathered his forces, went to Rabbah, attacked it, and conquered it. 30 From the head of the idol of the Ammonite god Molech David took a gold crown which weighed about seventy-five pounds and had a jewel in it. David took the jewel and put it in his own crown. He also took a large amount of loot from the city 31 and put its people to work with saws, iron hoes, and iron axes, and forced them to work at making bricks. He did the same to the people of all the other towns of Ammon. Then he and his men returned to Jerusalem.

2 Samuel 13:1 David's son Absalom had a beautiful unmarried sister named Tamar. Amnon, another of David's sons, fell in love with her. 2 He was so much in love with her that he became sick, because it seemed impossible for him to have her; as a virgin, she was kept from meeting men. 3 But he had a friend, a very shrewd man named Jonadab, the son of David's brother Shammah. 4 Jonadab said to Amnon, "You are the king's son, yet day after day I see you looking sad. What's the matter?" "I'm in love with Tamar, the sister of my half brother Absalom," he answered. 5 Jonadab said to him, "Pretend that you are sick and go to bed. When your father comes to see you, say to him, "Please ask my sister Tamar to come and feed me. I want her to fix the food here where I can see her, and then serve it to me herself.' " 6 So Amnon pretended that he was sick and went to bed. King David went to see him, and Amnon said to him, "Please let Tamar come and make a few cakes here where I can see her, and then serve them to me herself." 7 So David sent word to Tamar in the palace: "Go to Amnon's house and fix him some food." 8 She went there and found him in bed. She took some dough, prepared it, and made some cakes there where he could see her. Then she baked the cakes 9 and emptied them out of the pan for him to eat, but he wouldn't. He said, "Send everyone away" - and they all left. 10 Then he said to her, "Bring the cakes here to my bed and serve them to me yourself." She took the cakes and went over to him. 11 As she offered them to him, he grabbed her and said, "Come to bed with me!" 12 "No," she said. "Don't force me to do such a degrading thing! That's awful! 13 How could I ever hold up my head in public again? And you - you would be completely disgraced in Israel. Please, speak to the king, and I'm sure that he will give me to you." 14 But he would not listen to her; and since he was stronger than she was, he overpowered her and raped her. 15 Then Amnon was filled with a deep hatred for her; he hated her now even more than he had loved her before. He said to her, "Get out!" 16 "No," she answered. "To send me away like this is a greater crime than what you just did!" But Amnon would not listen to her; 17 he called in his personal servant and said, "Get this woman out of my sight! Throw her out and lock the door!" 18 The servant put her out and locked the door. Tamar was wearing a long robe with full sleeves, the usual clothing for an unmarried princess in those days. 19 She sprinkled ashes on her head, tore her robe, and with her face buried in her hands went away crying. 20 When her brother Absalom saw her, he asked, "Has Amnon molested you? Please, sister, don't let it upset you so much. He is your half brother, so don't tell anyone about it." So Tamar lived in Absalom's house, sad and lonely. 21 When King David heard what had happened, he was furious. 22 And Absalom hated Amnon so much for having raped his sister Tamar that he would no longer even speak to him. 23 Two years later Absalom was having his sheep sheared at Baal Hazor, near the town of Ephraim, and he invited all the king's sons to be there. 24 He went to King David and said, "Your Majesty, I am having my sheep sheared. Will you and your officials come and take part in the festivities?" 25 "No, my son," the king answered. "It would be too much trouble for you if we all went." Absalom insisted, but the king would not give in, and he asked Absalom to leave. 26 But Absalom said, "Well, then, will you at least let my brother Amnon come?" "Why should he?" the king asked. 27 But Absalom kept on insisting until David finally let Amnon and all his other sons go with Absalom. Absalom prepared a banquet fit for a king 28 and instructed his servants: "Notice when Amnon has had too much to drink, and then when I give the order, kill him. Don't be afraid. I will take the responsibility myself. Be brave and don't hesitate!" 29 So the servants followed Absalom's instructions and killed Amnon. All the rest of David's sons mounted their mules and fled. 30 While they were on their way home, David was told: "Absalom has killed all your sons - not one of them is left!" 31 The king stood up, tore his clothes in sorrow, and threw himself to the ground. The servants who were there with him tore their clothes also. 32 But Jonadab, the son of David's brother Shammah, said, "Your Majesty, they haven't killed all your sons. Only Amnon is dead. You could tell by looking at Absalom that he had made up his mind to do this from the time that Amnon raped his sister Tamar. 33 So don't believe the news that all your sons are dead; only Amnon was killed." 34 In the meantime Absalom had fled. Just then the soldier on sentry duty saw a large crowd coming down the hill on the road from Horonaim. He went to the king and reported what he had seen. 35 Jonadab said to David, "Those are your sons coming, just as I said they would." 36 As soon as he finished saying this, David's sons came in; they started crying, and David and his officials also cried bitterly. 37 Absalom fled and went to the king of Geshur, Talmai son of Ammihud, and stayed there three years. David mourned a long time for his son Amnon; 39 but when he got over Amnon's death, he was filled with longing for his son Absalom.

2 Samuel 14:1 Joab knew that King David missed Absalom very much, 2 so he sent for a clever woman who lived in Tekoa. When she arrived, he said to her, "Pretend that you are in mourning; put on your mourning clothes, and don't comb your hair. Act like a woman who has been in mourning for a long time. 3 Then go to the king and say to him what I tell you to say." Then Joab told her what to say. 4 The woman went to the king, bowed down to the ground in respect, and said, "Help me, Your Majesty!" 5 "What do you want?" he asked her. "I am a poor widow, sir," she answered. "My husband is dead. 6 Sir, I had two sons, and one day they got into a quarrel out in the fields, where there was no one to separate them, and one of them killed the other. 7 And now, sir, all my relatives have turned against me and are demanding that I hand my son over to them, so that they can kill him for murdering his brother. If they do this, I will be left without a son. They will destroy my last hope and leave my husband without a son to keep his name alive." 8 "Go back home," the king answered, "and I will take care of the matter." 9 "Your Majesty," she said, "whatever you do, my family and I will take the blame; you and the royal family are innocent." 10 The king replied, "If anyone threatens you, bring him to me, and he will never bother you again." 11 She said, "Your Majesty, please pray to the Lord your God, so that my relative who is responsible for avenging the death of my son will not commit a greater crime by killing my other son." "I promise by the living Lord," David replied, "that your son will not be harmed in the least." 12 "Please, Your Majesty, let me say just one more thing," the woman said. "All right," he answered. 13 She said to him, "Why have you done such a wrong to God's people? You have not allowed your own son to return from exile, and so you have condemned yourself by what you have just said. 14 We will all die; we are like water spilled on the ground, which can't be gathered again. Even God does not bring the dead back to life, but the king can at least find a way to bring a man back from exile. 15 Now, Your Majesty, the reason I have come to speak to you is that the people threatened me, and so I said to myself that I would speak to you in the hope that you would do what I ask. 16 I thought you would listen to me and save me from the one who is trying to kill my son and me and so remove us from the land God gave his people. 17 I said to myself that your promise, sir, would make me safe, because the king is like God's angel and can distinguish good from evil. May the Lord your God be with you!" 18 The king answered, "I'm going to ask you a question, and you must tell me the whole truth." "Ask me anything, Your Majesty," she answered. 19 "Did Joab put you up to this?" he asked her. She answered, "I swear by all that is sacred, Your Majesty, that there is no way to avoid answering your question. It was indeed your officer Joab who told me what to do and what to say. 20 But he did it in order to straighten out this whole matter. Your Majesty is as wise as the angel of God and knows everything that happens." 21 Later on the king said to Joab, "I have decided to do what you want. Go and get the young man Absalom and bring him back here." 22 Joab threw himself to the ground in front of David in respect, and said, "God bless you, Your Majesty! Now I know that you are pleased with me, because you have granted my request." 23 Then he got up and went to Geshur and brought Absalom back to Jerusalem. 24 The king, however, gave orders that Absalom should not live in the palace. "I don't want to see him," the king said. So Absalom lived in his own house and did not appear before the king. 25 There was no one in Israel as famous for his good looks as Absalom; he had no defect from head to toe. 26 His hair was very thick, and he had to cut it once a year, when it grew too long and heavy. It would weigh about five pounds according to the royal standard of weights. 27 Absalom had three sons and one daughter named Tamar, a very beautiful woman. 28 Absalom lived two years in Jerusalem without seeing the king. 29 Then he sent for Joab, to ask him to go to the king for him; but Joab would not come. Again Absalom sent for him, and again Joab refused to come. 30 So Absalom said to his servants, "Look, Joab's field is next to mine, and it has barley growing in it. Go and set fire to it." So they went and set the field on fire. 31 Joab went to Absalom's house and demanded, "Why did your servants set fire to my field?" 32 Absalom answered, "Because you wouldn't come when I sent for you. I wanted you to go to the king and ask for me: "Why did I leave Geshur and come here? It would have been better for me to have stayed there.' " And Absalom went on, "I want you to arrange for me to see the king, and if I'm guilty, then let him put me to death." 33 So Joab went to King David and told him what Absalom had said. The king sent for Absalom, who went to him and bowed down to the ground in front of him. The king welcomed him with a kiss.

2 Samuel 15:1 After this, Absalom provided a chariot and horses for himself, and an escort of fifty men. 2 He would get up early and go and stand by the road at the city gate. Whenever someone came there with a dispute that he wanted the king to settle, Absalom would call him over and ask him where he was from. And after the man had told him what tribe he was from, 3 Absalom would say, "Look, the law is on your side, but there is no representative of the king to hear your case." 4 And he would add, "How I wish I were a judge! Then anyone who had a dispute or a claim could come to me, and I would give him justice." 5 When the man would approach Absalom to bow down before him, Absalom would reach out, take hold of him, and kiss him. 6 Absalom did this with every Israelite who came to the king for judgment, and so he won their loyalty. 7 After four years Absalom said to King David, "Sir, let me go to Hebron and keep a promise I made to the Lord. 8 While I was living in Geshur in Syria, I promised the Lord that if he would take me back to Jerusalem, I would worship him in Hebron." 9 "Go in peace," the king said. So Absalom went to Hebron. 10 But he sent messengers to all the tribes of Israel to say, "When you hear the sound of trumpets, shout, "Absalom has become king at Hebron!' " 11 There were two hundred men who at Absalom's invitation had gone from Jerusalem with him; they knew nothing of the plot and went in all good faith. 12 And while he was offering sacrifices, Absalom also sent to the town of Gilo for Ahithophel, who was one of King David's advisers. The plot against the king gained strength, and Absalom's followers grew in number. 13 A messenger reported to David, "The Israelites are pledging their loyalty to Absalom." 14 So David said to all his officials who were with him in Jerusalem, "We must get away at once if we want to escape from Absalom! Hurry! Or else he will soon be here and defeat us and kill everyone in the city!" 15 "Yes, Your Majesty," they answered. "We are ready to do whatever you say." 16 So the king left, accompanied by all his family and officials, except for ten concubines, whom he left behind to take care of the palace. 17 As the king and all his men were leaving the city, they stopped at the last house. 18 All his officials stood next to him as the royal bodyguards passed by in front of him. The six hundred soldiers who had followed him from Gath also passed by, 19 and the king said to Ittai, their leader, "Why are you going with us? Go back and stay with the new king. You are a foreigner, a refugee away from your own country. 20 You have lived here only a short time, so why should I make you wander around with me? I don't even know where I'm going. Go back and take all your people with you - and may the Lord be kind and faithful to you." 21 But Ittai answered, "Your Majesty, I swear to you in the Lord's name that I will always go with you wherever you go, even if it means death." 22 "Fine!" David answered. "March on!" So Ittai went on with all his men and their dependents. 23 The people cried loudly as David's followers left. The king crossed Kidron Brook, followed by his men, and together they went out toward the wilderness. 24 Zadok the priest was there, and with him were the Levites, carrying the sacred Covenant Box. They set it down and didn't pick it up again until all the people had left the city. The priest Abiathar was there too. 25 Then the king said to Zadok, "Take the Covenant Box back to the city. If the Lord is pleased with me, some day he will let me come back to see it and the place where it stays. 26 But if he isn't pleased with me - well, then, let him do to me what he wishes." 27 And he went on to say to Zadok, "Look, take your son Ahimaaz and Abiathar's son Jonathan and go back to the city in peace. 28 Meanwhile, I will wait at the river crossings in the wilderness until I receive news from you." 29 So Zadok and Abiathar took the Covenant Box back into Jerusalem and stayed there. 30 David went on up the Mount of Olives crying; he was barefoot and had his head covered as a sign of grief. All who followed him covered their heads and cried also. 31 When David was told that Ahithophel had joined Absalom's rebellion, he prayed, "Please, Lord, turn Ahithophel's advice into nonsense!" 32 When David reached the top of the hill, where there was a place of worship, his trusted friend Hushai the Archite met him with his clothes torn and with dirt on his head. 33 David said to him, "You will be of no help to me if you come with me, 34 but you can help me by returning to the city and telling Absalom that you will now serve him as faithfully as you served his father. And do all you can to oppose any advice that Ahithophel gives. 35 The priests Zadok and Abiathar will be there; tell them everything you hear in the king's palace. 36 They have their sons Ahimaaz and Jonathan with them, and you can send them to me with all the information you gather." 37 So Hushai, David's friend, returned to the city just as Absalom was arriving.

2 Samuel 16:1 When David had gone a little beyond the top of the hill, he was suddenly met by Ziba, the servant of Mephibosheth, who had with him a couple of donkeys loaded with two hundred loaves of bread, a hundred bunches of raisins, a hundred bunches of fresh fruit, and a leather bag full of wine. 2 King David asked him, "What are you going to do with all that?" Ziba answered, "The donkeys are for Your Majesty's family to ride, the bread and the fruit are for the men to eat, and the wine is for them to drink when they get tired in the wilderness." 3 "Where is Mephibosheth, the grandson of your master Saul?" the king asked him. "He is staying in Jerusalem," Ziba answered, "because he is convinced that the Israelites will now restore to him the kingdom of his grandfather Saul." 4 The king said to Ziba, "Everything that belonged to Mephibosheth is yours." "I am your servant," Ziba replied. "May I always please Your Majesty!" 5 When King David arrived at Bahurim, one of Saul's relatives, Shimei son of Gera, came out to meet him, cursing him as he came. 6 Shimei started throwing stones at David and his officials, even though David was surrounded by his men and his bodyguards. 7 Shimei cursed him and said, "Get out! Get out! Murderer! Criminal! 8 You took Saul's kingdom, and now the Lord is punishing you for murdering so many of Saul's family. The Lord has given the kingdom to your son Absalom, and you are ruined, you murderer!" 9 Abishai, whose mother was Zeruiah, said to the king, "Your Majesty, why do you let this dog curse you? Let me go over there and cut off his head!" 10 "This is none of your business," the king said to Abishai and his brother Joab. "If he curses me because the Lord told him to, who has the right to ask why he does it?" 11 And David said to Abishai and to all his officials, "My own son is trying to kill me; so why should you be surprised at this Benjaminite? The Lord told him to curse; so leave him alone and let him do it. 12 Perhaps the Lord will notice my misery and give me some blessings to take the place of his curse." 13 So David and his men continued along the road. Shimei kept up with them, walking on the hillside; he was cursing and throwing stones and dirt at them as he went. 14 The king and all his men were worn out when they reached the Jordan, and there they rested. 15 Absalom and all the Israelites with him entered Jerusalem, and Ahithophel was with them. 16 When Hushai, David's trusted friend, met Absalom, he shouted, "Long live the king! Long live the king!" 17 "What has happened to your loyalty to your friend David?" Absalom asked him. "Why didn't you go with him?" 18 Hushai answered, "How could I? I am for the one chosen by the Lord, by these people, and by all the Israelites. I will stay with you. 19 After all, whom should I serve, if not my master's son? As I served your father, so now I will serve you." 20 Then Absalom turned to Ahithophel and said, "Now that we are here, what do you advise us to do?" 21 Ahithophel answered, "Go and have intercourse with your father's concubines whom he left behind to take care of the palace. Then everyone in Israel will know that your father regards you as his enemy, and your followers will be greatly encouraged." 22 So they set up a tent for Absalom on the palace roof, and in the sight of everyone Absalom went in and had intercourse with his father's concubines. 23 Any advice that Ahithophel gave in those days was accepted as though it were the very word of God; both David and Absalom followed it.

2 Samuel 17:1 Not long after that, Ahithophel said to Absalom, "Let me choose twelve thousand men, and tonight I will set out after David. 2 I will attack him while he is tired and discouraged. He will be frightened, and all his men will run away. I will kill only the king 3 and then bring back all his men to you, like a bride returning to her husband. You want to kill only one man; the rest of the people will be safe." 4 This seemed like good advice to Absalom and all the Israelite leaders. 5 Absalom said, "Now call Hushai, and let us hear what he has to say." 6 When Hushai arrived, Absalom said to him, "This is the advice that Ahithophel has given us; shall we follow it? If not, you tell us what to do." 7 Hushai answered, "The advice Ahithophel gave you this time is no good. 8 You know that your father David and his men are hard fighters and that they are as fierce as a mother bear robbed of her cubs. Your father is an experienced soldier and does not stay with his men at night. 9 Right now he is probably hiding in a cave or some other place. As soon as David attacks your men, whoever hears about it will say that your men have been defeated. 10 Then even the bravest men, as fearless as lions, will be afraid because everyone in Israel knows that your father is a great soldier and that his men are hard fighters. 11 My advice is that you bring all the Israelites together from one end of the country to the other, as many as the grains of sand on the seashore, and that you lead them personally in battle. 12 We will find David wherever he is, and attack him before he knows what's happening. Neither he nor any of his men will survive. 13 If he retreats into a city, our people will all bring ropes and just pull the city into the valley below. Not a single stone will be left there on top of the hill." 14 Absalom and all the Israelites said, "Hushai's advice is better than Ahithophel's." The Lord had decided that Ahithophel's good advice would not be followed, so that disaster would come on Absalom. 15 Then Hushai told the priests Zadok and Abiathar what advice he had given to Absalom and the Israelite leaders and what advice Ahithophel had given. 16 Hushai added, "Quick, now! Send a message to David not to spend the night at the river crossings in the wilderness, but to cross the Jordan at once, so that he and his men won't all be caught and killed." 17 Abiathar's son Jonathan and Zadok's son Ahimaaz were waiting at the spring of Enrogel, on the outskirts of Jerusalem, because they did not dare be seen entering the city. A servant woman would regularly go and tell them what was happening, and then they would go and tell King David. 18 But one day a boy happened to see them, and he told Absalom; so they hurried off to hide in the house of a certain man in Bahurim. He had a well near his house, and they got down in it. 19 The man's wife took a covering, spread it over the opening of the well and scattered grain over it, so that no one would notice anything. 20 Absalom's officials came to the house and asked the woman, "Where are Ahimaaz and Jonathan?" "They crossed the river," she answered. The men looked for them but could not find them, and so they returned to Jerusalem. 21 After they left, Ahimaaz and Jonathan came up out of the well and went and reported to King David. They told him what Ahithophel had planned against him and said, "Hurry up and cross the river." 22 So David and his men started crossing the Jordan, and by daybreak they had all gone across. 23 When Ahithophel saw that his advice had not been followed, he saddled his donkey and went back to his hometown. After putting his affairs in order, he hanged himself. He was buried in the family grave. 24 David had reached the town of Mahanaim by the time Absalom and the Israelites had crossed the Jordan 25 (Absalom had put Amasa in command of the army in the place of Joab. Amasa was the son of Jether the Ishmaelite; his mother was Abigail, the daughter of Nahash and the sister of Joab's mother Zeruiah.) 26 Absalom and his men camped in the land of Gilead. 27 When David arrived at Mahanaim, he was met by Shobi son of Nahash, from the city of Rabbah in Ammon, and by Machir son of Ammiel, from Lodebar, and by Barzillai, from Rogelim in Gilead. 28 They brought bowls, clay pots, and bedding, and also food for David and his men: wheat, barley, meal, roasted grain, beans, peas, honey, cheese, cream, and some sheep. They knew that David and his men would get hungry, thirsty, and tired in the wilderness.

2 Samuel 18:1 King David brought all his men together, divided them into units of a thousand and of a hundred, and placed officers in command of them. 2 Then he sent them out in three groups, with Joab and Joab's brother Abishai and Ittai from Gath, each in command of a group. And the king said to his men, "I will go with you myself." 3 "You mustn't go with us," they answered. "It won't make any difference to the enemy if the rest of us turn and run, or even if half of us are killed; but you are worth ten thousand of us. It will be better if you stay here in the city and send us help." 4 "I will do whatever you think best," the king answered. Then he stood by the side of the gate as his men marched out in units of a thousand and of a hundred. 5 He gave orders to Joab, Abishai, and Ittai: "For my sake don't harm the young man Absalom." And all the troops heard David give this command to his officers. 6 David's army went out into the countryside and fought the Israelites in Ephraim Forest. 7 The Israelites were defeated by David's men; it was a terrible defeat, with twenty thousand men killed that day. 8 The fighting spread over the countryside, and more men died in the forest than were killed in battle. 9 Suddenly Absalom met some of David's men. Absalom was riding a mule, and as it went under a large oak tree, Absalom's head got caught in the branches. The mule ran on and Absalom was left hanging in midair. 10 One of David's men saw him and reported to Joab, "Sir, I saw Absalom hanging in an oak tree!" 11 Joab answered, "If you saw him, why didn't you kill him on the spot? I myself would have given you ten pieces of silver and a belt." 12 But the man answered, "Even if you gave me a thousand pieces of silver, I wouldn't lift a finger against the king's son. We all heard the king command you and Abishai and Ittai, "For my sake don't harm the young man Absalom.' 13 But if I had disobeyed the king and killed Absalom, the king would have heard about it - he hears about everything - and you would not have defended me." 14 "I'm not going to waste any more time with you," Joab said. He took three spears and plunged them into Absalom's chest while he was still alive, hanging in the oak tree. 15 Then ten of Joab's soldiers closed in on Absalom and finished killing him. 16 Joab had the trumpet blown to stop the fighting, and his troops came back from pursuing the Israelites. 17 They took Absalom's body, threw it into a deep pit in the forest, and covered it with a huge pile of stones. All the Israelites fled to their own hometowns. 18 During his lifetime Absalom had built a monument for himself in King's Valley, because he had no son to keep his name alive. So he named it after himself, and to this day it is known as Absalom's Monument. 19 Then Ahimaaz son of Zadok said to Joab, "Let me run to the king with the good news that the Lord has saved him from his enemies." 20 "No," Joab said, "today you will not take any good news. Some other day you may do so, but not today, for the king's son is dead." 21 Then he said to his Ethiopian slave, "Go and tell the king what you have seen." The slave bowed and ran off. 22 Ahimaaz insisted, "I don't care what happens; please let me take the news also." "Why do you want to do it, my son?" Joab asked. "You will get no reward for it." 23 "Whatever happens," Ahimaaz said again, "I want to go." "Then go," Joab said. So Ahimaaz ran off down the road through the Jordan Valley, and soon he passed the slave. 24 David was sitting in the space between the inner and outer gates of the city. The lookout went up to the top of the wall and stood on the roof of the gateway; he looked out and saw a man running alone. 25 He called down and told the king, and the king said, "If he is alone, he is bringing good news." The runner kept coming closer. 26 Then the lookout saw another man running alone, and he called down to the gatekeeper, "Look! There's another man running!" The king answered, "This one also is bringing good news." 27 The lookout said, "I can see that the first man runs like Ahimaaz." "He's a good man," the king said, "and he is bringing good news." 28 Ahimaaz called out a greeting to the king, threw himself down to the ground before him, and said, "Praise the Lord your God, who has given you victory over the men who rebelled against Your Majesty!" 29 "Is the young man Absalom all right?" the king asked. Ahimaaz answered, "Sir, when your officer Joab sent me, I saw a great commotion, but I couldn't tell what it was." 30 "Stand over there," the king told him; and he went over and stood there. 31 Then the Ethiopian slave arrived and said to the king, "I have good news for Your Majesty! Today the Lord has given you victory over all who rebelled against you!" 32 "Is the young man Absalom all right?" the king asked. The slave answered, "I wish that what has happened to him would happen to all your enemies, sir, and to all who rebel against you." 33 The king was overcome with grief. He went up to the room over the gateway and wept. As he went, he cried, "O my son! My son Absalom! Absalom, my son! If only I had died in your place, my son! Absalom, my son!"

1585-1 Kings 1:5 Now that Absalom was dead, Adonijah, the son of David and Haggith, was the oldest surviving son. He was a very handsome man. David had never reprimanded him about anything, and he was ambitious to be king. He provided for himself chariots, horses, and an escort of fifty men. 7 He talked with Joab (whose mother was Zeruiah) and with Abiathar the priest, and they agreed to support his cause. 8 But Zadok the priest, Benaiah son of Jehoiada, Nathan the prophet, Shimei, Rei, and David's bodyguards were not on Adonijah's side. 9 One day Adonijah offered a sacrifice of sheep, bulls, and fattened calves at Snake Rock, near the spring of Enrogel. He invited the other sons of King David and the king's officials who were from Judah to come to this sacrificial feast, 10 but he did not invite his half brother Solomon or Nathan the prophet or Benaiah or the king's bodyguards.

1 Kings 2:13 Then Adonijah, whose mother was Haggith, went to Bathsheba, who was Solomon's mother. "Is this a friendly visit?" she asked. "It is," he answered, 14 and then he added, "I have something to ask of you." "What is it?" she asked. 15 He answered, "You know that I should have become king and that everyone in Israel expected it. But it happened differently, and my brother became king because it was the Lord's will. 16 And now I have one request to make; please do not refuse me." "What is it?" Bathsheba asked. 17 He answered, "Please ask King Solomon - I know he won't refuse you - to let me have Abishag, the young woman from Shunem, as my wife." 18 "Very well," she answered. "I will speak to the king for you." 19 So Bathsheba went to the king to speak to him on behalf of Adonijah. The king stood up to greet his mother and bowed to her. Then he sat on his throne and had another one brought in on which she sat at his right. 20 She said, "I have a small favor to ask of you; please do not refuse me." "What is it, mother?" he asked. "I will not refuse you." 21 She answered, "Let your brother Adonijah have Abishag as his wife." 22 "Why do you ask me to give Abishag to him?" the king asked. "You might as well ask me to give him the throne too. After all, he is my older brother, and Abiathar the priest and Joab are on his side!" 23 Then Solomon made a solemn promise in the Lord's name, "May God strike me dead if I don't make Adonijah pay with his life for asking this! 24 The Lord has firmly established me on the throne of my father David; he has kept his promise and given the kingdom to me and my descendants. I swear by the living Lord that Adonijah will die this very day!" 25 So King Solomon gave orders to Benaiah, who went out and killed Adonijah.

1586-2 Samuel 23:3 The God of Israel has spoken; the protector of Israel said to me: "The king who rules with justice, who rules in obedience to God, 4 is like the sun shining on a cloudless dawn, the sun that makes the grass sparkle after rain." 5 And that is how God will bless my descendants, because he has made an eternal covenant with me, an agreement that will not be broken, a promise that will not be changed. That is all I desire; that will be my victory, and God will surely bring it about. 6 But godless people are like thorns that are thrown away; no one can touch them barehanded. 7 You must use an iron tool or a spear; they will be burned completely. 8 These are the names of David's famous soldiers: the first was Josheb Basshebeth from Tachemon, who was the leader of "The Three"; he fought with his spear against eight hundred men and killed them all in one battle. 9 The second of the famous three was Eleazar son of Dodo, of the clan of Ahoh. One day he and David challenged the Philistines who had gathered for battle. The Israelites fell back,

1587-1 Chronicles 11:41

1588-1 Kings 1:6 His father had never at any time displeased him by asking, "Why have you done thus and so?" He was also a very handsome man; and he was born next after Ab'salom.

1589-2 Samuel 16:20 Then Absalom turned to Ahithophel and said, "Now that we are here, what do you advise us to do?" 21 Ahithophel answered, "Go and have intercourse with your father's concubines whom he left behind to take care of the palace. Then everyone in Israel will know that your father regards you as his enemy, and your followers will be greatly encouraged." 22 So they set up a tent for Absalom on the palace roof, and in the sight of everyone Absalom went in and had intercourse with his father's concubines. 23 Any advice that Ahithophel gave in those days was accepted as though it were the very word of God; both David and Absalom followed it.

1590-2 Samuel 12:8 I gave you his kingdom and his wives; I made you king over Israel and Judah. If this had not been enough, I would have given you twice as much

1591-1 Kings 2:13 Then Adonijah, whose mother was Haggith, went to Bathsheba, who was Solomon's mother. "Is this a friendly visit?" she asked. "It is," he answered, 14 and then he added, "I have something to ask of you." "What is it?" she asked. 15 He answered, "You know that I should have become king and that everyone in Israel expected it. But it happened differently, and my brother became king because it was the Lord's will. 16 And now I have one request to make; please do not refuse me." "What is it?" Bathsheba asked. 17 He answered, "Please ask King Solomon - I know he won't refuse you - to let me have Abishag, the young woman from Shunem, as my wife." 18 "Very well," she answered. "I will speak to the king for you." 19 So Bathsheba went to the king to speak to him on behalf of Adonijah. The king stood up to greet his mother and bowed to her. Then he sat on his throne and had another one brought in on which she sat at his right. 20 She said, "I have a small favor to ask of you; please do not refuse me." "What is it, mother?" he asked. "I will not refuse you." 21 She answered, "Let your brother Adonijah have Abishag as his wife." 22 "Why do you ask me to give Abishag to him?" the king asked. "You might as well ask me to give him the throne too. After all, he is my older brother, and Abiathar the priest and Joab are on his side!" 23 Then Solomon made a solemn promise in the Lord's name, "May God strike me dead if I don't make Adonijah pay with his life for asking this!

1592-2 Samuel 17:1 Not long after that, Ahithophel said to Absalom, "Let me choose twelve thousand men, and tonight I will set out after David. 2 I will attack him while he is tired and discouraged. He will be frightened, and all his men will run away. I will kill only the king 3 and then bring back all his men to you, like a bride returning to her husband. You want to kill only one man; the rest of the people will be safe." 4 This seemed like good advice to Absalom and all the Israelite leaders. 5 Absalom said, "Now call Hushai, and let us hear what he has to say." 6 When Hushai arrived, Absalom said to him, "This is the advice that Ahithophel has given us; shall we follow it? If not, you tell us what to do." 7 Hushai answered, "The advice Ahithophel gave you this time is no good. 8 You know that your father David and his men are hard fighters and that they are as fierce as a mother bear robbed of her cubs. Your father is an experienced soldier and does not stay with his men at night. 9 Right now he is probably hiding in a cave or some other place. As soon as David attacks your men, whoever hears about it will say that your men have been defeated. 10 Then even the bravest men, as fearless as lions, will be afraid because everyone in Israel knows that your father is a great soldier and that his men are hard fighters. 11 My advice is that you bring all the Israelites together from one end of the country to the other, as many as the grains of sand on the seashore, and that you lead them personally in battle. 12 We will find David wherever he is, and attack him before he knows what's happening. Neither he nor any of his men will survive. 13 If he retreats into a city, our people will all bring ropes and just pull the city into the valley below. Not a single stone will be left there on top of the hill." 14 Absalom and all the Israelites said, "Hushai's advice is better than Ahithophel's." The Lord had decided that Ahithophel's good advice would not be followed, so that disaster would come on Absalom.

1593-2 Samuel 12:8 I gave you his kingdom and his wives; I made you king over Israel and Judah. If this had not been enough, I would have given you twice as much.

1594-1 Kings 2:22 "Why do you ask me to give Abishag to him?" the king asked. "You might as well ask me to give him the throne too. After all, he is my older brother, and Abiathar the priest and Joab are on his side!" 23 Then Solomon made a solemn promise in the Lord's name, "May God strike me dead if I don't make Adonijah pay with his life for asking this! 24 The Lord has firmly established me on the throne of my father David; he has kept his promise and given the kingdom to me and my descendants. I swear by the living Lord that Adonijah will die this very day!" 25 So King Solomon gave orders to Benaiah, who went out and killed Adonijah.

1595-2 Samuel 11:3 So he sent a messenger to find out who she was, and learned that she was Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam and the wife of Uriah the Hittite.

1596-2 Samuel 23:34 Eliph'elet the son of Ahas'bai of Ma'acah, Eli'am the son of Ahith'ophel of Gilo,

1597-2 Samuel 18:8 The battle spread over the face of all the country; and the forest devoured more people that day than the sword.

1598-2 Samuel 22:1 And David spoke to the LORD the words of this song on the day when the LORD delivered him from the hand of all his enemies, and from the hand of Saul. 2 He said, "The LORD is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer, 3 my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold and my refuge, my savior; thou savest me from violence. 4 I call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised, and I am saved from my enemies. 5 "For the waves of death encompassed me, the torrents of perdition assailed me; 6 the cords of Sheol entangled me, the snares of death confronted me. 7 "In my distress I called upon the LORD; to my God I called. From his temple he heard my voice, and my cry came to his ears. 8 "Then the earth reeled and rocked; the foundations of the heavens trembled and quaked, because he was angry. 9 Smoke went up from his nostrils, and devouring fire from his mouth; glowing coals flamed forth from him. 10 He bowed the heavens, and came down; thick darkness was under his feet. 11 He rode on a cherub, and flew; he was seen upon the wings of the wind. 12 He made darkness around him his canopy, thick clouds, a gathering of water. 13 Out of the brightness before him coals of fire flamed forth. 14 The LORD thundered from heaven, and the Most High uttered his voice. 15 And he sent out arrows, and scattered them; lightning, and routed them. 16 Then the channels of the sea were seen, the foundations of the world were laid bare, at the rebuke of the LORD, at the blast of the breath of his nostrils. 17 "He reached from on high, he took me, he drew me out of many waters. 18 He delivered me from my strong enemy, from those who hated me; for they were too mighty for me. 19 They came upon me in the day of my calamity; but the LORD was my stay. 20 He brought me forth into a broad place; he delivered me, because he delighted in me. 21 "The LORD rewarded me according to my righteousness; according to the cleanness of my hands he recompensed me. 22 For I have kept the ways of the LORD, and have not wickedly departed from my God. 23 For all his ordinances were before me, and from his statutes I did not turn aside. 24 I was blameless before him, and I kept myself from guilt. 25 Therefore the LORD has recompensed me according to my righteousness, according to my cleanness in his sight. 26 "With the loyal thou dost show thyself loyal; with the blameless man thou dost show thyself blameless; 27 with the pure thou dost show thyself pure, and with the crooked thou dost show thyself perverse. 28 Thou dost deliver a humble people, but thy eyes are upon the haughty to bring them down. 29 Yea, thou art my lamp, O LORD, and my God lightens my darkness. 30 Yea, by thee I can crush a troop, and by my God I can leap over a wall. 31 This God--his way is perfect; the promise of the LORD proves true; he is a shield for all those who take refuge in him. 32 "For who is God, but the LORD? And who is a rock, except our God? 33 This God is my strong refuge, and has made my way safe. 34 He made my feet like hinds' feet, and set me secure on the heights. 35 He trains my hands for war, so that my arms can bend a bow of bronze. 36 Thou hast given me the shield of thy salvation, and thy help made me great. 37 Thou didst give a wide place for my steps under me, and my feet did not slip; 38 I pursued my enemies and destroyed them, and did not turn back until they were consumed. 39 I consumed them; I thrust them through, so that they did not rise; they fell under my feet. 40 For thou didst gird me with strength for the battle; thou didst make my assailants sink under me. 41 Thou didst make my enemies turn their backs to me, those who hated me, and I destroyed them. 42 They looked, but there was none to save; they cried to the LORD, but he did not answer them. 43 I beat them fine as the dust of the earth, I crushed them and stamped them down like the mire of the streets. 44 "Thou didst deliver me from strife with the peoples; thou didst keep me as the head of the nations; people whom I had not known served me. 45 Foreigners came cringing to me; as soon as they heard of me, they obeyed me. 46 Foreigners lost heart, and came trembling out of their fastnesses. 47 "The LORD lives; and blessed be my rock, and exalted be my God, the rock of my salvation, 48 the God who gave me vengeance and brought down peoples under me, 49 who brought me out from my enemies; thou didst exalt me above my adversaries, thou didst deliver me from men of violence. 50 "For this I will extol thee, O LORD, among the nations, and sing praises to thy name. 51 Great triumphs he gives to his king, and shows steadfast love to his anointed, to David, and his descendants for ever."

1599-Psalms 18:1 To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David the servant of the LORD, who addressed the words of this song to the LORD on the day when the LORD delivered him from the hand of all his enemies, and from the hand of Saul. He said: I love thee, O LORD, my strength. 2 The LORD is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer, my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. 3 I call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised, and I am saved from my enemies. 4 The cords of death encompassed me, the torrents of perdition assailed me; 5 the cords of Sheol entangled me, the snares of death confronted me. 6 In my distress I called upon the LORD; to my God I cried for help. From his temple he heard my voice, and my cry to him reached his ears. 7 Then the earth reeled and rocked; the foundations also of the mountains trembled and quaked, because he was angry. 8 Smoke went up from his nostrils, and devouring fire from his mouth; glowing coals flamed forth from him. 9 He bowed the heavens, and came down; thick darkness was under his feet. 10 He rode on a cherub, and flew; he came swiftly upon the wings of the wind. 11 He made darkness his covering around him, his canopy thick clouds dark with water. 12 Out of the brightness before him there broke through his clouds hailstones and coals of fire. 13 The LORD also thundered in the heavens, and the Most High uttered his voice, hailstones and coals of fire. 14 And he sent out his arrows, and scattered them; he flashed forth lightnings, and routed them. 15 Then the channels of the sea were seen, and the foundations of the world were laid bare, at thy rebuke, O LORD, at the blast of the breath of thy nostrils. 16 He reached from on high, he took me, he drew me out of many waters. 17 He delivered me from my strong enemy, and from those who hated me; for they were too mighty for me. 18 They came upon me in the day of my calamity; but the LORD was my stay. 19 He brought me forth into a broad place; he delivered me, because he delighted in me. 20 The LORD rewarded me according to my righteousness; according to the cleanness of my hands he recompensed me. 21 For I have kept the ways of the LORD, and have not wickedly departed from my God. 22 For all his ordinances were before me, and his statutes I did not put away from me. 23 I was blameless before him, and I kept myself from guilt. 24 Therefore the LORD has recompensed me according to my righteousness, according to the cleanness of my hands in his sight. 25 With the loyal thou dost show thyself loyal; with the blameless man thou dost show thyself blameless; 26 with the pure thou dost show thyself pure; and with the crooked thou dost show thyself perverse. 27 For thou dost deliver a humble people; but the haughty eyes thou dost bring down. 28 Yea, thou dost light my lamp; the LORD my God lightens my darkness. 29 Yea, by thee I can crush a troop; and by my God I can leap over a wall. 30 This God--his way is perfect; the promise of the LORD proves true; he is a shield for all those who take refuge in him. 31 For who is God, but the LORD? And who is a rock, except our God? -- 32 the God who girded me with strength, and made my way safe. 33 He made my feet like hinds' feet, and set me secure on the heights. 34 He trains my hands for war, so that my arms can bend a bow of bronze. 35 Thou hast given me the shield of thy salvation, and thy right hand supported me, and thy help made me great. 36 Thou didst give a wide place for my steps under me, and my feet did not slip. 37 I pursued my enemies and overtook them; and did not turn back till they were consumed. 38 I thrust them through, so that they were not able to rise; they fell under my feet. 39 For thou didst gird me with strength for the battle; thou didst make my assailants sink under me. 40 Thou didst make my enemies turn their backs to me, and those who hated me I destroyed. 41 They cried for help, but there was none to save, they cried to the LORD, but he did not answer them. 42 I beat them fine as dust before the wind; I cast them out like the mire of the streets. 43 Thou didst deliver me from strife with the peoples; thou didst make me the head of the nations; people whom I had not known served me. 44 As soon as they heard of me they obeyed me; foreigners came cringing to me. 45 Foreigners lost heart, and came trembling out of their fastnesses. 46 The LORD lives; and blessed be my rock, and exalted be the God of my salvation, 47 the God who gave me vengeance and subdued peoples under me; 48 who delivered me from my enemies; yea, thou didst exalt me above my adversaries; thou didst deliver me from men of violence. 49 For this I will extol thee, O LORD, among the nations, and sing praises to thy name. 50 Great triumphs he gives to his king, and shows steadfast love to his anointed, to David and his descendants for ever.

1600-2 Samuel 22:2 He said, "The LORD is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer, 3 my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold and my refuge, my savior; thou savest me from violence. 4 I call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised, and I am saved from my enemies. 5 "For the waves of death encompassed me, the torrents of perdition assailed me; 6 the cords of Sheol entangled me, the snares of death confronted me. 7 "In my distress I called upon the LORD; to my God I called. From his temple he heard my voice, and my cry came to his ears. 8 "Then the earth reeled and rocked; the foundations of the heavens trembled and quaked, because he was angry. 9 Smoke went up from his nostrils, and devouring fire from his mouth; glowing coals flamed forth from him. 10 He bowed the heavens, and came down; thick darkness was under his feet. 11 He rode on a cherub, and flew; he was seen upon the wings of the wind. 12 He made darkness around him his canopy, thick clouds, a gathering of water. 13 Out of the brightness before him coals of fire flamed forth.

1601-2-Samuel 22:21 The Lord rewards me because I do what is right; he blesses me because I am innocent. 22 I have obeyed the law of the Lord; I have not turned away from my God. 23 I have observed all his laws; I have not disobeyed his commands. 24 He knows that I am faultless, that I have kept myself from doing wrong. 25 And so he rewards me because I do what is right, because he knows that I am innocent.

1602-2 Samuel 22:41 You make my enemies run from me; I destroy those who hate me. 42 They look for help, but no one saves them; they call to the Lord, but he does not answer. 43 I crush them, and they become like dust; I trample on them like mud in the streets.

1603-2 Samuel 22:2 The Lord is my protector; he is my strong fortress. 3 My God is my protection, and with him I am safe. He protects me like a shield; he defends me and keeps me safe. He is my savior; he protects me and saves me from violence. 4 I call to the Lord, and he saves me from my enemies. Praise the Lord!

1604-2 Samuel 23:8 These are the names of David's famous soldiers: the first was Josheb Basshebeth from Tachemon, who was the leader of "The Three"; he fought with his spear against eight hundred men and killed them all in one battle.

1605-Judges 15:15 Then he found a jawbone of a donkey that had recently died. He reached down and picked it up, and killed a thousand men with it. 16 So Samson sang, "With the jawbone of a donkey I killed a thousand men; With the jawbone of a donkey I piled them up in piles."

1606-Judges 3:31 The next leader was Shamgar son of Anath. He too rescued Israel, and did so by killing six hundred Philistines with an oxgoad.

1607-1 Kings 18:19 Now order all the people of Israel to meet me at Mount Carmel. Bring along the 450 prophets of Baal and the 400 prophets of the goddess Asherah who are supported by Queen Jezebel."

1 Kings 18:40 Elijah ordered, "Seize the prophets of Baal; don't let any of them get away!" The people seized them all, and Elijah led them down to Kishon Brook and killed them.

1608-2 Samuel 24:1 On another occasion the Lord was angry with Israel, and he made David bring trouble on them. The Lord said to him, "Go and count the people of Israel and Judah."

1609-1 Chronicles 21:1 Satan wanted to bring trouble on the people of Israel, so he made David decide to take a census.

1610-2 Samuel 24:10 But after David had taken the census, his conscience began to hurt, and he said to the Lord, "I have committed a terrible sin in doing this! Please forgive me. I have acted foolishly."

2 Samuel 24:17 David saw the angel who was killing the people, and said to the Lord, "I am the guilty one. I am the one who did wrong. What have these poor people done? You should punish me and my family."

1611-Judges 7:15 When Gideon heard about the man's dream and what it meant, he fell to his knees and worshiped the Lord. Then he went back to the Israelite camp and said, "Get up! The Lord is giving you victory over the Midianite army!" 16 He divided his three hundred men into three groups and gave each man a trumpet and a jar with a torch inside it. 17 He told them, "When I get to the edge of the camp, watch me, and do what I do. 18 When my group and I blow our trumpets, then you blow yours all around the camp and shout, "For the Lord and for Gideon!' " 19 Gideon and his one hundred men came to the edge of the camp a while before midnight, just after the guard had been changed. Then they blew the trumpets and broke the jars they were holding, 20 and the other two groups did the same. They all held the torches in their left hands, the trumpets in their right, and shouted, "A sword for the Lord and for Gideon!" 21 Every man stood in his place around the camp, and the whole enemy army ran away yelling. 22 While Gideon's men were blowing their trumpets, the Lord made the enemy troops attack each other with their swords. They ran toward Zarethan as far as Beth Shittah, as far as the town of Abel Meholah near Tabbath. 23 Then men from the tribes of Naphtali, Asher, and both parts of Manasseh were called out, and they pursued the Midianites. 24 Gideon sent messengers through all the hill country of Ephraim to say, "Come down and fight the Midianites. Hold the Jordan River and the streams as far as Bethbarah, to keep the Midianites from crossing them." The men of Ephraim were called together, and they held the Jordan River and the streams as far as Bethbarah. 25 They captured the two Midianite chiefs, Oreb and Zeeb; they killed Oreb at Oreb Rock, and Zeeb at the Winepress of Zeeb. They continued to pursue the Midianites and brought the heads of Oreb and Zeeb to Gideon, who was now east of the Jordan.

1612-2 Kings 19:35 That night an angel of the Lord went to the Assyrian camp and killed 185,000 soldiers. At dawn the next day there they lay, all dead!

1613-Isaiah 37:36 An angel of the Lord went to the Assyrian camp and killed 185,000 soldiers. At dawn the next day there they lay, all dead!

1614-Job 1:1 There was a man named Job, living in the land of Uz, who worshiped God and was faithful to him. He was a good man, careful not to do anything evil. 2 He had seven sons and three daughters, 3 and owned seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, one thousand head of cattle, and five hundred donkeys. He also had a large number of servants and was the richest man in the East. 4 Job's sons used to take turns giving a feast, to which all the others would come, and they always invited their three sisters to join them. 5 The morning after each feast, Job would get up early and offer sacrifices for each of his children in order to purify them. He always did this because he thought that one of them might have sinned by insulting God unintentionally. 6 When the day came for the heavenly beings to appear before the Lord, Satan was there among them. 7 The Lord asked him, "What have you been doing?" Satan answered, "I have been walking here and there, roaming around the earth." 8 "Did you notice my servant Job?" the Lord asked. "There is no one on earth as faithful and good as he is. He worships me and is careful not to do anything evil." 9 Satan replied, "Would Job worship you if he got nothing out of it? 10 You have always protected him and his family and everything he owns. You bless everything he does, and you have given him enough cattle to fill the whole country. 11 But now suppose you take away everything he has - he will curse you to your face!" 12 "All right," the Lord said to Satan, "everything he has is in your power, but you must not hurt Job himself." So Satan left. 13 One day when Job's children were having a feast at the home of their oldest brother, 14 a messenger came running to Job. "We were plowing the fields with the oxen," he said, "and the donkeys were in a nearby pasture. 15 Suddenly the Sabeans attacked and stole them all. They killed every one of your servants except me. I am the only one who escaped to tell you." 16 Before he had finished speaking, another servant came and said, "Lightning struck the sheep and the shepherds and killed them all. I am the only one who escaped to tell you." 17 Before he had finished speaking, another servant came and said, "Three bands of Chaldean raiders attacked us, took away the camels, and killed all your servants except me. I am the only one who escaped to tell you." 18 Before he had finished speaking, another servant came and said, "Your children were having a feast at the home of your oldest son, 19 when a storm swept in from the desert. It blew the house down and killed them all. I am the only one who escaped to tell you." 20 Then Job got up and tore his clothes in grief. He shaved his head and threw himself face downward on the ground. 21 He said, "I was born with nothing, and I will die with nothing. The Lord gave, and now he has taken away. May his name be praised!" 22 In spite of everything that had happened, Job did not sin by blaming God.

Job 2:1 When the day came for the heavenly beings to appear before the Lord again, Satan was there among them. 2 The Lord asked him, "Where have you been?" Satan answered, "I have been walking here and there, roaming around the earth." 3 "Did you notice my servant Job?" the Lord asked. "There is no one on earth as faithful and good as he is. He worships me and is careful not to do anything evil. You persuaded me to let you attack him for no reason at all, but Job is still as faithful as ever." 4 Satan replied, "A person will give up everything in order to stay alive. 5 But now suppose you hurt his body - he will curse you to your face!" 6 So the Lord said to Satan, "All right, he is in your power, but you are not to kill him." 7 Then Satan left the Lord's presence and made sores break out all over Job's body. 8 Job went and sat by the garbage dump and took a piece of broken pottery to scrape his sores. 9 His wife said to him, "You are still as faithful as ever, aren't you? Why don't you curse God and die?" 10 Job answered, "You are talking nonsense! When God sends us something good, we welcome it. How can we complain when he sends us trouble?" Even in all this suffering Job said nothing against God. 11 Three of Job's friends were Eliphaz, from the city of Teman, Bildad, from the land of Shuah, and Zophar, from the land of Naamah. When they heard how much Job had been suffering, they decided to go and comfort him. 12 While they were still a long way off they saw Job, but did not recognize him. When they did, they began to weep and wail, tearing their clothes in grief and throwing dust into the air and on their heads. 13 Then they sat there on the ground with him for seven days and nights without saying a word, because they saw how much he was suffering.

1615-Job 28:28 God said to us humans, "To be wise, you must have reverence for the Lord. To understand, you must turn from evil."

1616-Proverbs 1:7 To have knowledge, you must first have reverence for the Lord. Stupid people have no respect for wisdom and refuse to learn.

Proverbs 9:10 To be wise you must first have reverence for the Lord. If you know the Holy One, you have understanding.

1617-Psalm 46:10 "Stop fighting," he says, "and know that I am God, supreme among the nations, supreme over the world."

Psalm 111:10 The way to become wise is to honor the Lord; he gives sound judgment to all who obey his commands. He is to be praised forever.

1618-2 Samuel 6:13 After the men carrying the Covenant Box had gone six steps, David had them stop while he offered the Lord a sacrifice of a bull and a fattened calf.

1619-1 Kings 8:5 King Solomon and all the people of Israel assembled in front of the Covenant Box and sacrificed a large number of sheep and cattle - too many to count.

1 Kings 8:62 Then King Solomon and all the people there offered sacrifices to the Lord. 63 He sacrificed 22,000 head of cattle and 120,000 sheep as fellowship offerings. And so the king and all the people dedicated the Temple. 64 That same day he also consecrated the central part of the courtyard, the area in front of the Temple, and then he offered there the sacrifices burned whole, the grain offerings, and the fat of the animals for the fellowship offerings. He did this because the bronze altar was too small for all these offerings.

1620-Amos 5:21 The Lord says, "I hate your religious festivals; I cannot stand them! 22 When you bring me burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them; I will not accept the animals you have fattened to bring me as offerings. 23 Stop your noisy songs; I do not want to listen to your harps. 24 Instead, let justice flow like a stream, and righteousness like a river that never goes dry. 25 "People of Israel, I did not demand sacrifices and offerings during those forty years that I led you through the desert.

1621-Isaiah 1:10 Jerusalem, your rulers and your people are like those of Sodom and Gomorrah. Listen to what the Lord is saying to you. Pay attention to what our God is teaching you. 11 He says, "Do you think I want all these sacrifices you keep offering to me? I have had more than enough of the sheep you burn as sacrifices and of the fat of your fine animals. I am tired of the blood of bulls and sheep and goats. 12 Who asked you to bring me all this when you come to worship me? Who asked you to do all this tramping around in my Temple? 13 It's useless to bring your offerings. I am disgusted with the smell of the incense you burn. I cannot stand your New Moon Festivals, your Sabbaths, and your religious gatherings; they are all corrupted by your sins. 14 I hate your New Moon Festivals and holy days; they are a burden that I am tired of bearing. 15 "When you lift your hands in prayer, I will not look at you. No matter how much you pray, I will not listen, for your hands are covered with blood. 16 Wash yourselves clean. Stop all this evil that I see you doing. Yes, stop doing evil 17 and learn to do right. See that justice is done - help those who are oppressed, give orphans their rights, and defend widows."

1622-Hosea 6:6 I want your constant love, not your animal sacrifices. I would rather have my people know me than burn offerings to me.

1623-Micah 6:6 What shall I bring to the Lord, the God of heaven, when I come to worship him? Shall I bring the best calves to burn as offerings to him? 7 Will the Lord be pleased if I bring him thousands of sheep or endless streams of olive oil? Shall I offer him my first-born child to pay for my sins? 8 No, the Lord has told us what is good. What he requires of us is this: to do what is just, to show constant love, and to live in humble fellowship with our God.

1624-1 Samuel 15:22 Samuel said, "Which does the Lord prefer: obedience or offerings and sacrifices? It is better to obey him than to sacrifice the best sheep to him.

1625-Psalms 51:1 Be merciful to me, O God, because of your constant love. Because of your great mercy wipe away my sins! 2 Wash away all my evil and make me clean from my sin! 3 I recognize my faults; I am always conscious of my sins. 4 I have sinned against you - only against you - and done what you consider evil. So you are right in judging me; you are justified in condemning me. 5 I have been evil from the day I was born; from the time I was conceived, I have been sinful. 6 Sincerity and truth are what you require; fill my mind with your wisdom. 7 Remove my sin, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. 8 Let me hear the sounds of joy and gladness; and though you have crushed me and broken me, I will be happy once again. 9 Close your eyes to my sins and wipe out all my evil. 10 Create a pure heart in me, O God, and put a new and loyal spirit in me. 11 Do not banish me from your presence; do not take your holy spirit away from me. 12 Give me again the joy that comes from your salvation, and make me willing to obey you. 13 Then I will teach sinners your commands, and they will turn back to you. 14 Spare my life, O God, and save me, and I will gladly proclaim your righteousness. 15 Help me to speak, Lord, and I will praise you. 16 You do not want sacrifices, or I would offer them; you are not pleased with burnt offerings. 17 My sacrifice is a humble spirit, O God; you will not reject a humble and repentant heart. 18 O God, be kind to Zion and help her; rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. 19 Then you will be pleased with proper sacrifices and with our burnt offerings; and bulls will be sacrificed on your altar.

1626-PP 324,325 Though God had granted the prayer of Moses in sparing Israel from destruction, their apostasy was to be signally punished. The lawlessness and insubordination into which Aaron had permitted them to fall, if not speedily crushed, would run riot in wickedness, and would involve the nation in irretrievable ruin. By terrible severity the evil must be put away. Standing in the gate of the camp, Moses called to the people, “Who is on the Lord’s side? let him come unto me.” Those who had not joined in the apostasy were to take their position at the right of Moses; those who were guilty but repentant, at the left. The command was obeyed. It was found that the tribe of Levi had taken no part in the idolatrous worship. From among other tribes there were great numbers who, although they had sinned, now signified their repentance. But a large company, mostly of the mixed multitude that instigated the making of the calf, stubbornly persisted in their rebellion. In the name of “the Lord God of Israel,” Moses now commanded those upon his right hand, who had kept themselves clear of idolatry, to gird on their swords and slay all who persisted in rebellion. “And there fell of the people that day about three thousand men.” Without regard to position, kindred, or friendship, the ringleaders in wickedness were cut off; but all who repented and humbled themselves were spared. {PP 324.1}

Those who performed this terrible work of judgment were acting by divine authority, executing the sentence of the King of heaven. Men are to beware how they, in their human blindness, judge and condemn their fellow men; but when God commands them to execute His sentence upon iniquity, He is to be obeyed. Those who performed this painful act, thus manifested their abhorrence of rebellion and idolatry, and consecrated themselves more fully to the service of the true God. The Lord honored their faithfulness by bestowing special distinction upon the tribe of Levi. {PP 324.2}

The Israelites had been guilty of treason, and that against a King who had loaded them with benefits and whose authority they had voluntarily pledged themselves to obey. That the divine government might be maintained justice must be visited upon the traitors. Yet even here God’s mercy was displayed. While He maintained His law, He granted freedom of choice and opportunity for repentance to all. Only those were cut off who persisted in rebellion. {PP 324.3}

It was necessary that this sin should be punished, as a testimony to surrounding nations of God’s displeasure against idolatry. By executing justice upon the guilty, Moses, as God’s instrument, must leave on record a solemn and public protest against their crime. As the Israelites should hereafter condemn the idolatry of the neighboring tribes, their enemies would throw back upon them the charge that the people who claimed Jehovah as their God had made a calf and worshiped it in Horeb. Then though compelled to acknowledge the disgraceful truth, Israel could point to the terrible fate of the transgressors, as evidence that their sin had not been sanctioned or excused. {PP 325.1}

Love no less than justice demanded that for this sin judgment should be inflicted. God is the guardian as well as the sovereign of His people. He cuts off those who are determined upon rebellion, that they may not lead others to ruin. In sparing the life of Cain, God had demonstrated to the universe what would be the result of permitting sin to go unpunished. The influence exerted upon his descendants by his life and teaching led to the state of corruption that demanded the destruction of the whole world by a flood. The history of the antediluvians testifies that long life is not a blessing to the sinner; God’s great forbearance did not repress their wickedness. The longer men lived, the more corrupt they became. {PP 325.2}

So with the apostasy at Sinai. Unless punishment had been speedily visited upon transgression, the same results would again have been seen. The earth would have become as corrupt as in the days of Noah. Had these transgressors been spared, evils would have followed, greater than resulted from sparing the life of Cain. It was the mercy of God that thousands should suffer, to prevent the necessity of visiting judgments upon millions. In order to save the many, He must punish the few. Furthermore, as the people had cast off their allegiance to God, they had forfeited the divine protection, and, deprived of their defense, the whole nation was exposed to the power of their enemies. Had not the evil been promptly put away, they would soon have fallen a prey to their numerous and powerful foes. It was necessary for the good of Israel, and also as a lesson to all succeeding generations, that crime should be promptly punished. And it was no less a mercy to the sinners themselves that they should be cut short in their evil course. Had their life been spared, the same spirit that led them to rebel against God would have been manifested in hatred and strife among themselves, and they would eventually have destroyed one another. It was in love to the world, in love to Israel, and even to the transgressors, that crime was punished with swift and terrible severity. {PP 325.3}

1627-CC 176 2 Samuel 6:1-11

Uzzah put forth his hand to the ark of God, and took hold of it; for the oxen shook it. And the anger of the Lord was kindled against Uzzah, and God smote him there for his error. 2 Samuel 6:6, 7. {CC 176.1}

The fate of Uzzah was a divine judgment upon the violation of a most explicit command. Through Moses the Lord had given special instruction concerning the transportation of the ark. None but the priests, the descendants of Aaron, were to touch it, or even to look upon it uncovered.... {CC 176.2}

The priests were to cover the ark, and then the Kohathites must lift it by the staves, which were placed in rings upon each side of the ark and were never removed. To the Gershonites and Merarites, who had in charge the curtains and boards and pillars of the tabernacle, Moses gave carts and oxen for the transportation of that which was committed to them. “But unto the sons of Kohath he gave none: because the service of the sanctuary belonging unto them was that they should bear upon their shoulders” (Numbers 7:9). Thus in the bringing of the ark from Kirjathjearim there had been a direct and inexcusable disregard of the Lord’s directions.... {CC 176.3}

The Philistines, who had not a knowledge of God’s law, had placed the ark upon a cart when they returned it to Israel, and the Lord accepted the effort which they made. But the Israelites had in their hands a plain statement of the will of God in all these matters, and their neglect of these instructions was dishonoring to God. Upon Uzzah rested the greater guilt of presumption. Transgression of God’s law had lessened his sense of its sacredness, and with unconfessed sins upon him he had, in face of the divine prohibition, presumed to touch the symbol of God’s presence. God can accept no partial obedience, no lax way of treating His commandments. By the judgment upon Uzzah He designed to impress upon all Israel the importance of giving strict heed to His requirements. Thus the death of that one man, by leading the people to repentance, might prevent the necessity of inflicting judgments upon thousands.35 {CC 176.4}

1628-2 Kings 25:27 In the year that Evilmerodach became king of Babylonia, he showed kindness to King Jehoiachin of Judah by releasing him from prison. This happened on the twenty-seventh day of the twelfth month of the thirty-seventh year after Jehoiachin had been taken away as prisoner. 28 Evilmerodach treated him kindly and gave him a position of greater honor than he gave the other kings who were exiles with him in Babylonia. 29 So Jehoiachin was permitted to change from his prison clothes and to dine at the king's table for the rest of his life. 30 Each day, for as long as he lived, he was given a regular allowance for his needs.

1629-1 Kings 2:4 If you obey him, the Lord will keep the promise he made when he told me that my descendants would rule Israel as long as they were careful to obey his commands faithfully with all their heart and soul.

1 Kings 11:11 and said to him, "Because you have deliberately broken your covenant with me and disobeyed my commands, I promise that I will take the kingdom away from you and give it to one of your officials. 12 However, for the sake of your father David I will not do this in your lifetime, but during the reign of your son. 13 And I will not take the whole kingdom away from him; instead, I will leave him one tribe for the sake of my servant David and for the sake of Jerusalem, the city I have made my own."

1 Kings 15:4 But for David's sake the Lord his God gave Abijah a son to rule after him in Jerusalem and to keep Jerusalem secure.

1630-2 Kings 8:19 but the Lord was not willing to destroy Judah, because he had promised his servant David that his descendants would always continue to rule.

2 Kings 19:34 I will defend this city and protect it, for the sake of my own honor and because of the promise I made to my servant David.' "

1631-1 Kings 13:1 At the Lord's command a prophet from Judah went to Bethel and arrived there as Jeroboam stood at the altar to offer the sacrifice. 2 Following the Lord's command, the prophet denounced the altar: "O altar, altar, this is what the Lord says: A child, whose name will be Josiah, will be born to the family of David. He will slaughter on you the priests serving at the pagan altars who offer sacrifices on you, and he will burn human bones on you." 3 And the prophet went on to say, "This altar will fall apart, and the ashes on it will be scattered. Then you will know that the Lord has spoken through me." 4 When King Jeroboam heard this, he pointed at him and ordered, "Seize that man!" At once the king's arm became paralyzed so that he couldn't pull it back. 5 The altar suddenly fell apart and the ashes spilled to the ground, as the prophet had predicted in the name of the Lord. 6 King Jeroboam said to the prophet, "Please pray for me to the Lord your God, and ask him to heal my arm!" The prophet prayed to the Lord, and the king's arm was healed. 7 Then the king said to the prophet, "Come home with me and have something to eat. I will reward you for what you have done." 8 The prophet answered, "Even if you gave me half of your wealth, I would not go with you or eat or drink anything with you. 9 The Lord has commanded me not to eat or drink a thing, and not to return home the same way I came." 10 So he did not go back the same way he had come, but by another road. 11 At that time there was an old prophet living in Bethel. His sons came and told him what the prophet from Judah had done in Bethel that day and what he had said to King Jeroboam. 12 "Which way did he go when he left?" the old prophet asked them. They showed him the road 13 and he told them to saddle his donkey for him. They did so, and he rode off 14 down the road after the prophet from Judah and found him sitting under an oak tree. "Are you the prophet from Judah?" he asked. "I am," the man answered. 15 "Come home and have a meal with me," he said. 16 But the prophet from Judah answered, "I can't go home with you or accept your hospitality. And I won't eat or drink anything with you here, 17 because the Lord has commanded me not to eat or drink a thing, and not to return home the same way I came." 18 Then the old prophet from Bethel said to him, "I, too, am a prophet just like you, and at the Lord's command an angel told me to take you home with me and offer you my hospitality." But the old prophet was lying. 19 So the prophet from Judah went home with the old prophet and had a meal with him. 20 As they were sitting at the table, the word of the Lord came to the old prophet, 21 and he cried out to the prophet from Judah, "The Lord says that you disobeyed him and did not do what he commanded. 22 Instead, you returned and ate a meal in a place he had ordered you not to eat in. Because of this you will be killed, and your body will not be buried in your family grave." 23 After they had finished eating, the old prophet saddled the donkey for the prophet from Judah, 24 who rode off. On the way a lion met him and killed him. His body lay on the road, and the donkey and the lion stood beside it. 25 Some men passed by and saw the body on the road, with the lion standing near by. They went on into Bethel and reported what they had seen. 26 When the old prophet heard about it, he said, "That is the prophet who disobeyed the Lord's command! And so the Lord sent the lion to attack and kill him, just as the Lord said he would." 27 Then he said to his sons, "Saddle my donkey for me." They did so, 28 and he rode off and found the prophet's body lying on the road, with the donkey and the lion still standing by it. The lion had not eaten the body or attacked the donkey. 29 The old prophet picked up the body, put it on the donkey, and brought it back to Bethel to mourn over it and bury it. 30 He buried it in his own family grave, and he and his sons mourned over it, saying, "Oh my brother, my brother!" 31 After the burial the prophet said to his sons, "When I die, bury me in this grave and lay my body next to his. 32 The words that he spoke at the Lord's command against the altar in Bethel and against all the places of worship in the towns of Samaria will surely come true." 33 King Jeroboam of Israel still did not turn from his evil ways but continued to choose priests from ordinary families to serve at the altars he had built. He ordained as priest anyone who wanted to be one. 34 This sin on his part brought about the ruin and total destruction of his dynasty.

1632-1 Kings 18:1 After some time, in the third year of the drought, the Lord said to Elijah, "Go and present yourself to King Ahab, and I will send rain." 2 So Elijah started out. The famine in Samaria was at its worst, 3 so Ahab called in Obadiah, who was in charge of the palace. (Obadiah was a devout worshiper of the Lord, 4 and when Jezebel was killing the Lord's prophets, Obadiah took a hundred of them, hid them in caves in two groups of fifty, and provided them with food and water.) 5 Ahab said to Obadiah, "Let us go and look at every spring and every stream bed in the land to see if we can find enough grass to keep the horses and mules alive. Maybe we won't have to kill any of our animals." 6 They agreed on which part of the land each one would explore, and set off in different directions. 7 As Obadiah was on his way, he suddenly met Elijah. He recognized him, bowed low before him, and asked, "Is it really you, sir?" 8 "Yes, I'm Elijah," he answered. "Go and tell your master the king that I am here." 9 Obadiah answered, "What have I done that you want to put me in danger of being killed by King Ahab? 10 By the living Lord, your God, I swear that the king has made a search for you in every country in the world. Whenever the ruler of a country reported that you were not in his country, Ahab would require that ruler to swear that you could not be found. 11 And now you want me to go and tell him that you are here? 12 What if the spirit of the Lord carries you off to some unknown place as soon as I leave? Then, when I tell Ahab that you are here and he can't find you, he will put me to death. Remember that I have been a devout worshiper of the Lord ever since I was a boy. 13 Haven't you heard that when Jezebel was killing the prophets of the Lord I hid a hundred of them in caves, in two groups of fifty, and supplied them with food and water? 14 So how can you order me to go and tell the king that you are here? He will kill me!" 15 Elijah answered, "By the living Lord Almighty, whom I serve, I promise that I will present myself to the king today." 16 So Obadiah went to King Ahab and told him, and Ahab set off to meet Elijah. 17 When Ahab saw him, he said, "So there you are - the worst troublemaker in Israel!" 18 "I'm not the troublemaker," Elijah answered. "You are - you and your father. You are disobeying the Lord's commands and worshiping the idols of Baal. 19 Now order all the people of Israel to meet me at Mount Carmel. Bring along the 450 prophets of Baal and the 400 prophets of the goddess Asherah who are supported by Queen Jezebel." 20 So Ahab summoned all the Israelites and the prophets of Baal to meet at Mount Carmel. 21 Elijah went up to the people and said, "How much longer will it take you to make up your minds? If the Lord is God, worship him; but if Baal is God, worship him!" But the people didn't say a word. 22 Then Elijah said, "I am the only prophet of the Lord still left, but there are 450 prophets of Baal. 23 Bring two bulls; let the prophets of Baal take one, kill it, cut it in pieces, and put it on the wood - but don't light the fire. I will do the same with the other bull. 24 Then let the prophets of Baal pray to their god, and I will pray to the Lord, and the one who answers by sending fire - he is God." The people shouted their approval. 25 Then Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, "Since there are so many of you, you take a bull and prepare it first. Pray to your god, but don't set fire to the wood." 26 They took the bull that was brought to them, prepared it, and prayed to Baal until noon. They shouted, "Answer us, Baal!" and kept dancing around the altar they had built. But no answer came. 27 At noon Elijah started making fun of them: "Pray louder! He is a god! Maybe he is day-dreaming or relieving himself, or perhaps he's gone off on a trip! Or maybe he's sleeping, and you've got to wake him up!" 28 So the prophets prayed louder and cut themselves with knives and daggers, according to their ritual, until blood flowed. 29 They kept on ranting and raving until the middle of the afternoon; but no answer came, not a sound was heard. 30 Then Elijah said to the people, "Come closer to me," and they all gathered around him. He set about repairing the altar of the Lord which had been torn down. 31 He took twelve stones, one for each of the twelve tribes named for the sons of Jacob, the man to whom the Lord had given the name Israel. 32 With these stones he rebuilt the altar for the worship of the Lord. He dug a trench around it, large enough to hold about four gallons of water. 33 Then he placed the wood on the altar, cut the bull in pieces, and laid it on the wood. He said, "Fill four jars with water and pour it on the offering and the wood." They did so, 34 and he said, "Do it again" - and they did. "Do it once more," he said - and they did. 35 The water ran down around the altar and filled the trench. 36 At the hour of the afternoon sacrifice the prophet Elijah approached the altar and prayed, "O Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, prove now that you are the God of Israel and that I am your servant and have done all this at your command. 37 Answer me, Lord, answer me, so that this people will know that you, the Lord, are God and that you are bringing them back to yourself." 38 The Lord sent fire down, and it burned up the sacrifice, the wood, and the stones, scorched the earth and dried up the water in the trench. 39 When the people saw this, they threw themselves on the ground and exclaimed, "The Lord is God; the Lord alone is God!" 40 Elijah ordered, "Seize the prophets of Baal; don't let any of them get away!" The people seized them all, and Elijah led them down to Kishon Brook and killed them. 41 Then Elijah said to King Ahab, "Now, go and eat. I hear the roar of rain approaching." 42 While Ahab went to eat, Elijah climbed to the top of Mount Carmel, where he bowed down to the ground, with his head between his knees. 43 He said to his servant, "Go and look toward the sea." The servant went and returned, saying, "I didn't see a thing." Seven times in all Elijah told him to go and look. 44 The seventh time he returned and said, "I saw a little cloud no bigger than a man's hand, coming up from the sea." Elijah ordered his servant, "Go to King Ahab and tell him to get in his chariot and go back home before the rain stops him." 45 In a little while the sky was covered with dark clouds, the wind began to blow, and a heavy rain began to fall. Ahab got in his chariot and started back to Jezreel. 46 The power of the Lord came on Elijah; he fastened his clothes tight around his waist and ran ahead of Ahab all the way to Jezreel.

1 Kings 19:1 King Ahab told his wife Jezebel everything that Elijah had done and how he had put all the prophets of Baal to death. 2 She sent a message to Elijah: "May the gods strike me dead if by this time tomorrow I don't do the same thing to you that you did to the prophets." 3 Elijah was afraid and fled for his life; he took his servant and went to Beersheba in Judah. Leaving the servant there, 4 Elijah walked a whole day into the wilderness. He stopped and sat down in the shade of a tree and wished he would die. "It's too much, Lord," he prayed. "Take away my life; I might as well be dead!" 5 He lay down under the tree and fell asleep. Suddenly an angel touched him and said, "Wake up and eat." 6 He looked around and saw a loaf of bread and a jar of water near his head. He ate and drank, and lay down again. 7 The Lord's angel returned and woke him up a second time, saying, "Get up and eat, or the trip will be too much for you." 8 Elijah got up, ate and drank, and the food gave him enough strength to walk forty days to Sinai, the holy mountain. 9 There he went into a cave to spend the night. Suddenly the Lord spoke to him, "Elijah, what are you doing here?" 10 He answered, "Lord God Almighty, I have always served you - you alone. But the people of Israel have broken their covenant with you, torn down your altars, and killed all your prophets. I am the only one left - and they are trying to kill me!" 11 "Go out and stand before me on top of the mountain," the Lord said to him. Then the Lord passed by and sent a furious wind that split the hills and shattered the rocks - but the Lord was not in the wind. The wind stopped blowing, and then there was an earthquake - but the Lord was not in the earthquake. 12 After the earthquake there was a fire - but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire there was the soft whisper of a voice. 13 When Elijah heard it, he covered his face with his cloak and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. A voice said to him, "Elijah, what are you doing here?" 14 He answered, "Lord God Almighty, I have always served you - you alone. But the people of Israel have broken their covenant with you, torn down your altars, and killed all your prophets. I am the only one left - and they are trying to kill me." 15 The Lord said, "Return to the wilderness near Damascus, then enter the city and anoint Hazael as king of Syria; 16 anoint Jehu son of Nimshi as king of Israel, and anoint Elisha son of Shaphat from Abel Meholah to succeed you as prophet. 17 Anyone who escapes being put to death by Hazael will be killed by Jehu, and anyone who escapes Jehu will be killed by Elisha. 18 Yet I will leave seven thousand people alive in Israel - all those who are loyal to me and have not bowed to Baal or kissed his idol." 19 Elijah left and found Elisha plowing with a team of oxen; there were eleven teams ahead of him, and he was plowing with the last one. Elijah took off his cloak and put it on Elisha. 20 Elisha then left his oxen, ran after Elijah, and said, "Let me kiss my father and mother good-bye, and then I will go with you." Elijah answered, "All right, go back. I'm not stopping you!" 21 Then Elisha went to his team of oxen, killed them, and cooked the meat, using the yoke as fuel for the fire. He gave the meat to the people, and they ate it. Then he went and followed Elijah as his helper.

1633-1 Kings 11:41 Everything else that Solomon did, his career, and his wisdom, are all recorded in [The History of Solomon.]

1 Kings 14:19 Everything else that King Jeroboam did, the wars he fought and how he ruled, are all recorded in [The History of the Kings of Israel.]

1 Kings 14:29 Everything else that King Rehoboam did is recorded in [The History of the Kings of Judah.]

1634-2 Kings 20:20 Everything else that King Hezekiah did, his brave deeds, and an account of how he built a reservoir and dug a tunnel to bring water into the city, are all recorded in [The History of the Kings of Judah.]

1635-2 Kings 20:1 About this time King Hezekiah became sick and almost died. The prophet Isaiah son of Amoz went to see him and said to him, "The Lord tells you that you are to put everything in order, because you will not recover. Get ready to die."

1636-1 Kings 17:1 A prophet named Elijah, from Tishbe in Gilead, said to King Ahab, "In the name of the Lord, the living God of Israel, whom I serve, I tell you that there will be no dew or rain for the next two or three years until I say so." 2 Then the Lord said to Elijah, 3 "Leave this place and go east and hide yourself near Cherith Brook, east of the Jordan. 4 The brook will supply you with water to drink, and I have commanded ravens to bring you food there." 5 Elijah obeyed the Lord's command, and went and stayed by Cherith Brook. 6 He drank water from the brook, and ravens brought him bread and meat every morning and every evening. 7 After a while the brook dried up because of the lack of rain. 8 Then the Lord said to Elijah, 9 "Now go to the town of Zarephath, near Sidon, and stay there. I have commanded a widow who lives there to feed you." 10 So Elijah went to Zarephath, and as he came to the town gate, he saw a widow gathering firewood. "Please bring me a drink of water," he said to her. 11 And as she was going to get it, he called out, "And please bring me some bread, too." 12 She answered, "By the living Lord your God I swear that I don't have any bread. All I have is a handful of flour in a bowl and a bit of olive oil in a jar. I came here to gather some firewood to take back home and prepare what little I have for my son and me. That will be our last meal, and then we will starve to death." 13 "Don't worry," Elijah said to her. "Go on and prepare your meal. But first make a small loaf from what you have and bring it to me, and then prepare the rest for you and your son. 14 For this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: "The bowl will not run out of flour or the jar run out of oil before the day that I, the Lord, send rain.' " 15 The widow went and did as Elijah had told her, and all of them had enough food for many days. 16 As the Lord had promised through Elijah, the bowl did not run out of flour nor did the jar run out of oil. 17 Some time later the widow's son got sick; he got worse and worse, and finally he died. 18 She said to Elijah, "Man of God, why did you do this to me? Did you come here to remind God of my sins and so cause my son's death?" 19 "Give the boy to me," Elijah said. He took the boy from her arms, carried him upstairs to the room where he was staying, and laid him on the bed. 20 Then he prayed aloud, "O Lord my God, why have you done such a terrible thing to this widow? She has been kind enough to take care of me, and now you kill her son!" 21 Then Elijah stretched himself out on the boy three times and prayed, "O Lord my God, restore this child to life!" 22 The Lord answered Elijah's prayer; the child started breathing again and revived. 23 Elijah took the boy back downstairs to his mother and said to her, "Look, your son is alive!" 24 She answered, "Now I know that you are a man of God and that the Lord really speaks through you!"

1 Kings 18:1 After some time, in the third year of the drought, the Lord said to Elijah, "Go and present yourself to King Ahab, and I will send rain." 2 So Elijah started out. The famine in Samaria was at its worst, 3 so Ahab called in Obadiah, who was in charge of the palace. (Obadiah was a devout worshiper of the Lord, 4 and when Jezebel was killing the Lord's prophets, Obadiah took a hundred of them, hid them in caves in two groups of fifty, and provided them with food and water.) 5 Ahab said to Obadiah, "Let us go and look at every spring and every stream bed in the land to see if we can find enough grass to keep the horses and mules alive. Maybe we won't have to kill any of our animals." 6 They agreed on which part of the land each one would explore, and set off in different directions. 7 As Obadiah was on his way, he suddenly met Elijah. He recognized him, bowed low before him, and asked, "Is it really you, sir?" 8 "Yes, I'm Elijah," he answered. "Go and tell your master the king that I am here." 9 Obadiah answered, "What have I done that you want to put me in danger of being killed by King Ahab? 10 By the living Lord, your God, I swear that the king has made a search for you in every country in the world. Whenever the ruler of a country reported that you were not in his country, Ahab would require that ruler to swear that you could not be found. 11 And now you want me to go and tell him that you are here? 12 What if the spirit of the Lord carries you off to some unknown place as soon as I leave? Then, when I tell Ahab that you are here and he can't find you, he will put me to death. Remember that I have been a devout worshiper of the Lord ever since I was a boy. 13 Haven't you heard that when Jezebel was killing the prophets of the Lord I hid a hundred of them in caves, in two groups of fifty, and supplied them with food and water? 14 So how can you order me to go and tell the king that you are here? He will kill me!" 15 Elijah answered, "By the living Lord Almighty, whom I serve, I promise that I will present myself to the king today." 16 So Obadiah went to King Ahab and told him, and Ahab set off to meet Elijah. 17 When Ahab saw him, he said, "So there you are - the worst troublemaker in Israel!" 18 "I'm not the troublemaker," Elijah answered. "You are - you and your father. You are disobeying the Lord's commands and worshiping the idols of Baal. 19 Now order all the people of Israel to meet me at Mount Carmel. Bring along the 450 prophets of Baal and the 400 prophets of the goddess Asherah who are supported by Queen Jezebel." 20 So Ahab summoned all the Israelites and the prophets of Baal to meet at Mount Carmel. 21 Elijah went up to the people and said, "How much longer will it take you to make up your minds? If the Lord is God, worship him; but if Baal is God, worship him!" But the people didn't say a word. 22 Then Elijah said, "I am the only prophet of the Lord still left, but there are 450 prophets of Baal. 23 Bring two bulls; let the prophets of Baal take one, kill it, cut it in pieces, and put it on the wood - but don't light the fire. I will do the same with the other bull. 24 Then let the prophets of Baal pray to their god, and I will pray to the Lord, and the one who answers by sending fire - he is God." The people shouted their approval. 25 Then Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, "Since there are so many of you, you take a bull and prepare it first. Pray to your god, but don't set fire to the wood." 26 They took the bull that was brought to them, prepared it, and prayed to Baal until noon. They shouted, "Answer us, Baal!" and kept dancing around the altar they had built. But no answer came. 27 At noon Elijah started making fun of them: "Pray louder! He is a god! Maybe he is day-dreaming or relieving himself, or perhaps he's gone off on a trip! Or maybe he's sleeping, and you've got to wake him up!" 28 So the prophets prayed louder and cut themselves with knives and daggers, according to their ritual, until blood flowed. 29 They kept on ranting and raving until the middle of the afternoon; but no answer came, not a sound was heard. 30 Then Elijah said to the people, "Come closer to me," and they all gathered around him. He set about repairing the altar of the Lord which had been torn down. 31 He took twelve stones, one for each of the twelve tribes named for the sons of Jacob, the man to whom the Lord had given the name Israel. 32 With these stones he rebuilt the altar for the worship of the Lord. He dug a trench around it, large enough to hold about four gallons of water. 33 Then he placed the wood on the altar, cut the bull in pieces, and laid it on the wood. He said, "Fill four jars with water and pour it on the offering and the wood." They did so, 34 and he said, "Do it again" - and they did. "Do it once more," he said - and they did. 35 The water ran down around the altar and filled the trench. 36 At the hour of the afternoon sacrifice the prophet Elijah approached the altar and prayed, "O Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, prove now that you are the God of Israel and that I am your servant and have done all this at your command. 37 Answer me, Lord, answer me, so that this people will know that you, the Lord, are God and that you are bringing them back to yourself." 38 The Lord sent fire down, and it burned up the sacrifice, the wood, and the stones, scorched the earth and dried up the water in the trench. 39 When the people saw this, they threw themselves on the ground and exclaimed, "The Lord is God; the Lord alone is God!" 40 Elijah ordered, "Seize the prophets of Baal; don't let any of them get away!" The people seized them all, and Elijah led them down to Kishon Brook and killed them. 41 Then Elijah said to King Ahab, "Now, go and eat. I hear the roar of rain approaching." 42 While Ahab went to eat, Elijah climbed to the top of Mount Carmel, where he bowed down to the ground, with his head between his knees. 43 He said to his servant, "Go and look toward the sea." The servant went and returned, saying, "I didn't see a thing." Seven times in all Elijah told him to go and look. 44 The seventh time he returned and said, "I saw a little cloud no bigger than a man's hand, coming up from the sea." Elijah ordered his servant, "Go to King Ahab and tell him to get in his chariot and go back home before the rain stops him." 45 In a little while the sky was covered with dark clouds, the wind began to blow, and a heavy rain began to fall. Ahab got in his chariot and started back to Jezreel. 46 The power of the Lord came on Elijah; he fastened his clothes tight around his waist and ran ahead of Ahab all the way to Jezreel.

1 Kings 19:1 King Ahab told his wife Jezebel everything that Elijah had done and how he had put all the prophets of Baal to death. 2 She sent a message to Elijah: "May the gods strike me dead if by this time tomorrow I don't do the same thing to you that you did to the prophets." 3 Elijah was afraid and fled for his life; he took his servant and went to Beersheba in Judah. Leaving the servant there, 4 Elijah walked a whole day into the wilderness. He stopped and sat down in the shade of a tree and wished he would die. "It's too much, Lord," he prayed. "Take away my life; I might as well be dead!" 5 He lay down under the tree and fell asleep. Suddenly an angel touched him and said, "Wake up and eat." 6 He looked around and saw a loaf of bread and a jar of water near his head. He ate and drank, and lay down again. 7 The Lord's angel returned and woke him up a second time, saying, "Get up and eat, or the trip will be too much for you." 8 Elijah got up, ate and drank, and the food gave him enough strength to walk forty days to Sinai, the holy mountain. 9 There he went into a cave to spend the night. Suddenly the Lord spoke to him, "Elijah, what are you doing here?" 10 He answered, "Lord God Almighty, I have always served you - you alone. But the people of Israel have broken their covenant with you, torn down your altars, and killed all your prophets. I am the only one left - and they are trying to kill me!" 11 "Go out and stand before me on top of the mountain," the Lord said to him. Then the Lord passed by and sent a furious wind that split the hills and shattered the rocks - but the Lord was not in the wind. The wind stopped blowing, and then there was an earthquake - but the Lord was not in the earthquake. 12 After the earthquake there was a fire - but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire there was the soft whisper of a voice. 13 When Elijah heard it, he covered his face with his cloak and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. A voice said to him, "Elijah, what are you doing here?" 14 He answered, "Lord God Almighty, I have always served you - you alone. But the people of Israel have broken their covenant with you, torn down your altars, and killed all your prophets. I am the only one left - and they are trying to kill me." 15 The Lord said, "Return to the wilderness near Damascus, then enter the city and anoint Hazael as king of Syria; 16 anoint Jehu son of Nimshi as king of Israel, and anoint Elisha son of Shaphat from Abel Meholah to succeed you as prophet. 17 Anyone who escapes being put to death by Hazael will be killed by Jehu, and anyone who escapes Jehu will be killed by Elisha. 18 Yet I will leave seven thousand people alive in Israel - all those who are loyal to me and have not bowed to Baal or kissed his idol." 19 Elijah left and found Elisha plowing with a team of oxen; there were eleven teams ahead of him, and he was plowing with the last one. Elijah took off his cloak and put it on Elisha. 20 Elisha then left his oxen, ran after Elijah, and said, "Let me kiss my father and mother good-bye, and then I will go with you." Elijah answered, "All right, go back. I'm not stopping you!" 21 Then Elisha went to his team of oxen, killed them, and cooked the meat, using the yoke as fuel for the fire. He gave the meat to the people, and they ate it. Then he went and followed Elijah as his helper.

1637-1 Kings 1:1 King David was now a very old man, and although his servants covered him with blankets, he could not keep warm. 2 So his officials said to him, "Your Majesty, let us find a young woman to stay with you and take care of you. She will lie close to you and keep you warm." 3 A search was made all over Israel for a beautiful young woman, and in Shunem they found such a woman named Abishag, and brought her to the king. 4 She was very beautiful, and waited on the king and took care of him, but he did not have intercourse with her.

1638-1 Kings 2:13 Then Adonijah, whose mother was Haggith, went to Bathsheba, who was Solomon's mother. "Is this a friendly visit?" she asked. "It is," he answered, 14 and then he added, "I have something to ask of you." "What is it?" she asked. 15 He answered, "You know that I should have become king and that everyone in Israel expected it. But it happened differently, and my brother became king because it was the Lord's will. 16 And now I have one request to make; please do not refuse me." "What is it?" Bathsheba asked. 17 He answered, "Please ask King Solomon - I know he won't refuse you - to let me have Abishag, the young woman from Shunem, as my wife." 18 "Very well," she answered. "I will speak to the king for you." 19 So Bathsheba went to the king to speak to him on behalf of Adonijah. The king stood up to greet his mother and bowed to her. Then he sat on his throne and had another one brought in on which she sat at his right. 20 She said, "I have a small favor to ask of you; please do not refuse me." "What is it, mother?" he asked. "I will not refuse you." 21 She answered, "Let your brother Adonijah have Abishag as his wife." 22 "Why do you ask me to give Abishag to him?" the king asked. "You might as well ask me to give him the throne too. After all, he is my older brother, and Abiathar the priest and Joab are on his side!" 23 Then Solomon made a solemn promise in the Lord's name, "May God strike me dead if I don't make Adonijah pay with his life for asking this!

1639-Matthew 7:23 Then I will say to them, "I never knew you. Get away from me, you wicked people!'

1640-2 Samuel 12:8 I gave you his kingdom and his wives; I made you king over Israel and Judah. If this had not been enough, I would have given you twice as much.

1641-2 Samuel 16:20 Then Absalom turned to Ahithophel and said, "Now that we are here, what do you advise us to do?" 21 Ahithophel answered, "Go and have intercourse with your father's concubines whom he left behind to take care of the palace. Then everyone in Israel will know that your father regards you as his enemy, and your followers will be greatly encouraged." 22 So they set up a tent for Absalom on the palace roof, and in the sight of everyone Absalom went in and had intercourse with his father's concubines.

1642-1 Kings 3:1 Solomon made an alliance with the king of Egypt by marrying his daughter. He brought her to live in David's City until he had finished building his palace, the Temple, and the wall around Jerusalem. 2 A temple had not yet been built for the Lord, and so the people were still offering sacrifices at many different altars. 3 Solomon loved the Lord and followed the instructions of his father David, but he also slaughtered animals and offered them as sacrifices on various altars. 4 On one occasion he went to Gibeon to offer sacrifices because that was where the most famous altar was. He had offered hundreds of burnt offerings there in the past. 5 That night the Lord appeared to him in a dream and asked him, "What would you like me to give you?" 6 Solomon answered, "You always showed great love for my father David, your servant, and he was good, loyal, and honest in his relation with you. And you have continued to show him your great and constant love by giving him a son who today rules in his place. 7 O Lord God, you have let me succeed my father as king, even though I am very young and don't know how to rule. 8 Here I am among the people you have chosen to be your own, a people who are so many that they cannot be counted. 9 So give me the wisdom I need to rule your people with justice and to know the difference between good and evil. Otherwise, how would I ever be able to rule this great people of yours?" 10 The Lord was pleased that Solomon had asked for this, 11 and so he said to him, "Because you have asked for the wisdom to rule justly, instead of long life for yourself or riches or the death of your enemies, 12 I will do what you have asked. I will give you more wisdom and understanding than anyone has ever had before or will ever have again. 13 I will also give you what you have not asked for: all your life you will have wealth and honor, more than that of any other king. 14 And if you obey me and keep my laws and commands, as your father David did, I will give you a long life." 15 Solomon woke up and realized that God had spoken to him in the dream. Then he went to Jerusalem and stood in front of the Lord's Covenant Box and offered burnt offerings and fellowship offerings to the Lord. After that he gave a feast for all his officials.

1643-2 Chronicles 1:3 commanding them to go with him to the place of worship at Gibeon. They went there because that was where the Tent of the Lord's presence was located, which Moses, the Lord's servant, had made in the wilderness 4 (The Covenant Box, however, was in Jerusalem, kept in a tent which King David had set up when he brought the Box from Kiriath Jearim.) 5 The bronze altar which had been made by Bezalel, the son of Uri and grandson of Hur, was also in Gibeon in front of the Tent of the Lord's presence. King Solomon and all the people worshiped the Lord there. 6 In front of the Tent the king worshiped the Lord by offering sacrifices on the bronze altar; he had a thousand animals killed and burned whole on it. 7 That night God appeared to Solomon and asked, "What would you like me to give you?" 8 Solomon answered, "You always showed great love for my father David, and now you have let me succeed him as king. 9 O Lord God, fulfill the promise you made to my father. You have made me king over a people who are so many that they cannot be counted, 10 so give me the wisdom and knowledge I need to rule over them. Otherwise, how would I ever be able to rule this great people of yours?" 11 God replied to Solomon, "You have made the right choice. Instead of asking for wealth or treasure or fame or the death of your enemies or even for long life for yourself, you have asked for wisdom and knowledge so that you can rule my people, over whom I have made you king. 12 I will give you wisdom and knowledge. And in addition, I will give you more wealth, treasure, and fame than any king has ever had before or will ever have again."

1644-1 Kings 3:5 That night the Lord appeared to him in a dream and asked him, "What would you like me to give you?"

1645-1 Kings 3:10 The Lord was pleased that Solomon had asked for this, 11 and so he said to him, "Because you have asked for the wisdom to rule justly, instead of long life for yourself or riches or the death of your enemies, 12 I will do what you have asked. I will give you more wisdom and understanding than anyone has ever had before or will ever have again. 13 I will also give you what you have not asked for: all your life you will have wealth and honor, more than that of any other king. 14 And if you obey me and keep my laws and commands, as your father David did, I will give you a long life." 15 Solomon woke up and realized that God had spoken to him in the dream. Then he went to Jerusalem and stood in front of the Lord's Covenant Box and offered burnt offerings and fellowship offerings to the Lord. After that he gave a feast for all his officials.

1646-1 Kings 9:1 After King Solomon had finished building the Temple and the palace and everything else he wanted to build, 2 the Lord appeared to him again, as he had in Gibeon. 3 The Lord said to him, "I have heard your prayer. I consecrate this Temple which you have built as the place where I shall be worshiped forever. I will watch over it and protect it for all time. 4 If you will serve me in honesty and integrity, as your father David did, and if you obey my laws and do everything I have commanded you, 5 I will keep the promise I made to your father David when I told him that Israel would always be ruled by his descendants. 6 But if you or your descendants stop following me, disobey the laws and commands I have given you, and worship other gods, 7 then I will remove my people Israel from the land that I have given them. I will also abandon this Temple which I have consecrated as the place where I am to be worshiped. People everywhere will ridicule Israel and treat her with contempt. 8 This Temple will become a pile of ruins, and everyone who passes by will be shocked and amazed. "Why did the Lord do this to this land and this Temple?' they will ask. 9 People will answer, "It is because they abandoned the Lord their God, who brought their ancestors out of Egypt. They gave their allegiance to other gods and worshiped them. That is why the Lord has brought this disaster on them.' "

1647-1 Kings 3:1 Solomon made an alliance with the king of Egypt by marrying his daughter. He brought her to live in David's City until he had finished building his palace, the Temple, and the wall around Jerusalem.

1 Kings 11:1 Solomon loved many foreign women. Besides the daughter of the king of Egypt he married Hittite women and women from Moab, Ammon, Edom, and Sidon. 2 He married them even though the Lord had commanded the Israelites not to intermarry with these people, because they would cause the Israelites to give their loyalty to other gods. 3 Solomon married seven hundred princesses and also had three hundred concubines. They made him turn away from God,

1648-1 Kings 3:3; 11:1-6,33,343 Solomon loved the Lord and followed the instructions of his father David, but he also slaughtered animals and offered them as sacrifices on various altars.

1 Kings 11:1 Solomon loved many foreign women. Besides the daughter of the king of Egypt he married Hittite women and women from Moab, Ammon, Edom, and Sidon. 2 He married them even though the Lord had commanded the Israelites not to intermarry with these people, because they would cause the Israelites to give their loyalty to other gods. 3 Solomon married seven hundred princesses and also had three hundred concubines. They made him turn away from God, 4 and by the time he was old they had led him into the worship of foreign gods. He was not faithful to the Lord his God, as his father David had been. 5 He worshiped Astarte, the goddess of Sidon, and Molech, the disgusting god of Ammon. 6 He sinned against the Lord and was not true to him as his father David had been.

1 Kings 11:33 I am going to do this because Solomon has rejected me and has worshiped foreign gods: Astarte, the goddess of Sidon; Chemosh, the god of Moab; and Molech, the god of Ammon. Solomon has disobeyed me; he has done wrong and has not kept my laws and commands as his father David did. 34 But I will not take the whole kingdom away from Solomon, and I will keep him in power as long as he lives. This I will do for the sake of my servant David, whom I chose and who obeyed my laws and commands.

1649-1 Kings 3:14 And if you obey me and keep my laws and commands, as your father David did, I will give you a long life."

1 Kings 9:4 If you will serve me in honesty and integrity, as your father David did, and if you obey my laws and do everything I have commanded you,

1 Kings 15:5 The Lord did this because David had done what pleased him and had never disobeyed any of his commands, except in the case of Uriah the Hittite.

1650-1 Kings 3:6 Solomon answered, "You always showed great love for my father David, your servant, and he was good, loyal, and honest in his relation with you. And you have continued to show him your great and constant love by giving him a son who today rules in his place.

1651-Nehemiah 13:23 At that time I also discovered that many of the Jewish men had married women from Ashdod, Ammon, and Moab. 24 Half of their children spoke the language of Ashdod or some other language and didn't know how to speak our language. 25 I reprimanded the men, called down curses on them, beat them, and pulled out their hair. Then I made them take an oath in God's name that never again would they or their children intermarry with foreigners. 26 I told them, "It was foreign women that made King Solomon sin. Here was a man who was greater than any of the kings of other nations. God loved him and made him king over all of Israel, and yet he fell into this sin. 27 Are we then to follow your example and disobey our God by marrying foreign women?"

1652-1 Kings 4:29 God gave Solomon unusual wisdom and insight, and knowledge too great to be measured. 30 Solomon was wiser than the wise men of the East or the wise men of Egypt. 31 He was the wisest of all men: wiser than Ethan the Ezrahite, and Heman, Calcol, and Darda, the sons of Mahol, and his fame spread throughout all the neighboring countries. 32 He composed three thousand proverbs and more than a thousand songs. 33 He spoke of trees and plants, from the Lebanon cedars to the hyssop that grows on walls; he talked about animals, birds, reptiles, and fish. 34 Kings all over the world heard of his wisdom and sent people to listen to him.

1653-1 Kings 12:1 Rehoboam went to Shechem, where all the people of northern Israel had gathered to make him king. 2 When Jeroboam son of Nebat, who had gone to Egypt to escape from King Solomon, heard this news, he returned from Egypt. 3 The people of the northern tribes sent for him, and then they all went together to Rehoboam and said to him, 4 "Your father Solomon treated us harshly and placed heavy burdens on us. If you make these burdens lighter and make life easier for us, we will be your loyal subjects." 5 "Come back in three days and I will give you my answer," he replied. So they left. 6 King Rehoboam consulted the older men who had served as his father Solomon's advisers. "What answer do you advise me to give these people?" he asked. 7 They replied, "If you want to serve this people well, give a favorable answer to their request, and they will always serve you loyally." 8 But he ignored the advice of the older men and went instead to the young men who had grown up with him and who were now his advisers. 9 "What do you advise me to do?" he asked. "What shall I say to the people who are asking me to make their burdens lighter?" 10 They replied, "This is what you should tell them: "My little finger is thicker than my father's waist!' 11 Tell them, "My father placed heavy burdens on you; I will make them even heavier. He beat you with whips; I'll flog you with bullwhips!' " 12 Three days later Jeroboam and all the people returned to King Rehoboam, as he had instructed them. 13 The king ignored the advice of the older men and spoke harshly to the people, 14 as the younger men had advised. He said, "My father placed heavy burdens on you; I will make them even heavier. He beat you with whips; I'll flog you with bullwhips!" 15 It was the will of the Lord to bring about what he had spoken to Jeroboam son of Nebat through the prophet Ahijah from Shiloh. This is why the king did not pay any attention to the people. 16 When the people saw that the king would not listen to them, they shouted, "Down with David and his family! What have they ever done for us? People of Israel, let's go home! Let Rehoboam look out for himself!" So the people of Israel rebelled, 17 leaving Rehoboam as king only of the people who lived in the territory of Judah. 18 Then King Rehoboam sent Adoniram, who was in charge of the forced labor, to go to the Israelites, but they stoned him to death. At this, Rehoboam hurriedly got in his chariot and escaped to Jerusalem. 19 Ever since that time the people of the northern kingdom of Israel have been in rebellion against the dynasty of David. 20 When the people of Israel heard that Jeroboam had returned from Egypt, they invited him to a meeting of the people and made him king of Israel. Only the tribe of Judah remained loyal to David's descendants.

1654-2 Chronicles 10:1 Rehoboam went to Shechem, where all the people of northern Israel had gathered to make him king. 2 When Jeroboam son of Nebat, who had gone to Egypt to escape from King Solomon, heard this news, he returned home. 3 The people of the northern tribes sent for him, and they all went together to Rehoboam and said to him, 4 "Your father placed heavy burdens on us. If you make these burdens lighter and make life easier for us, we will be your loyal subjects." 5 Rehoboam replied, "Give me three days to consider the matter. Then come back." So the people left. 6 King Rehoboam consulted the older men who had served as his father Solomon's advisers. "What answer do you advise me to give these people?" he asked. 7 They replied, "If you are kind to these people and try to please them by giving a considerate answer, they will always serve you loyally." 8 But he ignored the advice of the older men and went instead to the young men who had grown up with him and who were now his advisers. 9 "What do you advise me to do?" he asked. "What shall I say to the people who are asking me to make their burdens lighter?" 10 They replied, "This is what you should tell them: "My little finger is thicker than my father's waist.' 11 Tell them, "My father placed heavy burdens on you; I will make them even heavier. He beat you with whips; I'll flog you with bullwhips!' " 12 Three days later Jeroboam and all the people returned to King Rehoboam, as he had instructed them. 13 The king ignored the advice of the older men and spoke harshly to the people, 14 as the younger men had advised. He said, "My father placed heavy burdens on you; I will make them even heavier. He beat you with whips; I'll flog you with bullwhips!" 15 It was the will of the Lord God to bring about what he had spoken to Jeroboam son of Nebat through the prophet Ahijah from Shiloh. This is why the king did not pay any attention to the people. 16 When the people saw that the king would not listen to them, they shouted, "Down with David and his family! What have they ever done for us? People of Israel, let's go home! Let Rehoboam look out for himself!" So the people of Israel rebelled, 17 leaving Rehoboam as king only of the people who lived in the territory of Judah. 18 Then King Rehoboam sent Adoniram, who was in charge of the forced labor, to go to the Israelites, but they stoned him to death. At this, Rehoboam hurriedly got in his chariot and escaped to Jerusalem. 19 Ever since that time the people of the northern kingdom of Israel have been in rebellion against the dynasty of David.

1655-Ecclesiastes 2:20 So I turned in despair from hard work. It was not the answer to my search for satisfaction in this life. 21 For though I do my work with wisdom, knowledge, and skill, I must leave everything I gain to people who haven't worked to earn it. This is not only foolish but highly unfair.

1656-1 Kings 5:6 Now please command that cedars from Lebanon be cut for me. Let my men work alongside yours, and I will pay your men whatever wages you ask. As you know, there is no one among us who can cut timber like you Sidonians!"

1657-Prophets and Kings 51-74 Chapter 3—Pride of Prosperity

While Solomon exalted the law of heaven, God was with him, and wisdom was given him to rule over Israel with impartiality and mercy. At first, as wealth and worldly honor came to him, he remained humble, and great was the extent of his influence. “Solomon reigned over all kingdoms from the river [Euphrates] unto the land of the Philistines, and unto the border of Egypt.” “He ... had peace on all sides round about him. And Judah and Israel dwelt safely, every man under his vine and under his fig tree, ... all the days of Solomon.” 1 Kings 4:21, 24, 25. {PK 51.1}

But after a morning of great promise his life was darkened by apostasy. History records the melancholy fact that he who had been called Jedidiah,—“Beloved of the Lord” (2 Samuel 12:25, margin),—he who had been honored by God with tokens of divine favor so remarkable that his wisdom and uprightness gained for him world-wide fame, he who had led others to ascribe honor to the God of Israel, turned from the worship of Jehovah to bow before the idols of the heathen. {PK 51.2}

Hundreds of years before Solomon came to the throne, the Lord, foreseeing the perils that would beset those who might be chosen as rulers of Israel, gave Moses instruction for their guidance. Directions were given that he who should sit on the throne of Israel should “write him a copy” of the statutes of Jehovah “in a book out of that which is before the priests the Levites.” “It shall be with him,” the Lord said, “and he shall read therein all the days of his life: that he may learn to fear the Lord his God, to keep all the words of this law and these statutes, to do them: that his heart be not lifted up above his brethren, and that he turn not aside from the commandment, to the right hand, or to the left: to the end that he may prolong his days in his kingdom, he, and his children, in the midst of Israel.” Deuteronomy 17:18-20. {PK 52.1}

In connection with this instruction the Lord particularly cautioned the one who might be anointed king not to “multiply wives to himself, that his heart turn not away: neither shall he greatly multiply to himself silver and gold.” Verse 17. {PK 52.2}

With these warnings Solomon was familiar, and for a time he heeded them. His greatest desire was to live and rule in accordance with the statutes given at Sinai. His manner of conducting the affairs of the kingdom was in striking contrast with the customs of the nations of his time—nations who feared not God and whose rulers trampled underfoot His holy law. {PK 52.3}

In seeking to strengthen his relations with the powerful kingdom lying to the southward of Israel, Solomon ventured upon forbidden ground. Satan knew the results that would attend obedience; and during the earlier years of Solomon’s reign—years glorious because of the wisdom, the beneficence, and the uprightness of the king—he sought to bring in influences that would insidiously undermine Solomon’s loyalty to principle and cause him to separate from God. That the enemy was successful in this effort, we know from the record: “Solomon made affinity with Pharaoh king of Egypt, and took Pharaoh’s daughter, and brought her into the City of David.” 1 Kings 3:1. {PK 53.1}

From a human point of view, this marriage, though contrary to the teachings of God’s law, seemed to prove a blessing; for Solomon’s heathen wife was converted and united with him in the worship of the true God. Furthermore, Pharaoh rendered signal service to Israel by taking Gezer, slaying “the Canaanites that dwelt in the city,” and giving it “for a present unto his daughter, Solomon’s wife.” 1 Kings 9:16. This city Solomon rebuilt and thus apparently greatly strengthened his kingdom along the Mediterranean seacoast. But in forming an alliance with a heathen nation, and sealing the compact by marriage with an idolatrous princess, Solomon rashly disregarded the wise provision that God had made for maintaining the purity of His people. The hope that his Egyptian wife might be converted was but a feeble excuse for the sin. {PK 53.2}

For a time God in His compassionate mercy overruled this terrible mistake; and the king, by a wise course, could have checked at least in a large measure the evil forces that his imprudence had set in operation. But Solomon had begun to lose sight of the Source of his power and glory. As inclination gained the ascendancy over reason, self-confidence increased, and he sought to carry out the Lord’s purpose in his own way. He reasoned that political and commercial alliances with the surrounding nations would bring these nations to a knowledge of the true God; and he entered into unholy alliance with nation after nation. Often these alliances were sealed by marriages with heathen princesses. The commands of Jehovah were set aside for the customs of surrounding peoples. {PK 53.3}

Solomon flattered himself that his wisdom and the power of his example would lead his wives from idolatry to the worship of the true God, and also that the alliances thus formed would draw the nations round about into close touch with Israel. Vain hope! Solomon’s mistake in regarding himself as strong enough to resist the influence of heathen associates was fatal. And fatal, too, the deception that led him to hope that notwithstanding a disregard of God’s law on his part, others might be led to revere and obey its sacred precepts. {PK 54.1}

The king’s alliances and commercial relations with heathen nations brought him renown, honor, and the riches of this world. He was enabled to bring gold from Ophir and silver from Tarshish in great abundance. “The king made silver and gold at Jerusalem as plenteous as stones, and cedar trees made he as the sycamore trees that are in the vale for abundance.” 2 Chronicles 1:15. Wealth, with all its attendant temptations, came in Solomon’s day to an increasingly large number of people; but the fine gold of character was dimmed and marred. {PK 54.2}

So gradual was Solomon’s apostasy that before he was aware of it; he had wandered far from God. Almost imperceptibly he began to trust less and less in divine guidance and blessing, and to put confidence in his own strength. Little by little he withheld from God that unswerving obedience which was to make Israel a peculiar people, and he conformed more and more closely to the customs of the surrounding nations. Yielding to the temptations incident to his success and his honored position, he forgot the Source of his prosperity. An ambition to excel all other nations in power and grandeur led him to pervert for selfish purposes the heavenly gifts hitherto employed for the glory of God. The money which should have been held in sacred trust for the benefit of the worthy poor and for the extension of principles of holy living throughout the world, was selfishly absorbed in ambitious projects. {PK 55.1}

Engrossed in an overmastering desire to surpass other nations in outward display, the king overlooked the need of acquiring beauty and perfection of character. In seeking to glorify himself before the world, he sold his honor and integrity. The enormous revenues acquired through commerce with many lands were supplemented by heavy taxes. Thus pride, ambition, prodigality, and indulgence bore fruit in cruelty and exaction. The conscientious, considerate spirit that had marked his dealings with the people during the early part of his reign, was now changed. From the wisest and most merciful of rulers, he degenerated into a tyrant. Once the compassionate, God-fearing guardian of the people, he became oppressive and despotic. Tax after tax was levied upon the people, that means might be forthcoming to support the luxurious court. {PK 55.2}

The people began to complain. The respect and admiration they had once cherished for their king was changed into disaffection and abhorrence. {PK 56.1}

As a safeguard against dependence on the arm of flesh, the Lord had warned those who should rule over Israel not to multiply horses to themselves. But in utter disregard of this command, “Solomon had horses brought out of Egypt.” “And they brought unto Solomon horses out of Egypt, and out of all lands.” “Solomon gathered together chariots and horsemen: and he had a thousand and four hundred chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen, whom he bestowed in the cities for chariots, and with the king at Jerusalem.” 2 Chronicles 1:16; 9:28; 1 Kings 10:26. {PK 56.2}

More and more the king came to regard luxury, self-indulgence, and the favor of the world as indications of greatness. Beautiful and attractive women were brought from Egypt, Phoenicia, Edom, and Moab, and from many other places. These women were numbered by hundreds. Their religion was idol worship, and they had been taught to practice cruel and degrading rites. Infatuated with their beauty, the king neglected his duties to God and to his kingdom. {PK 56.3}

His wives exerted a strong influence over him and gradually prevailed on him to unite with them in their worship. Solomon had disregarded the instruction that God had given to serve as a barrier against apostasy, and now he gave himself up to the worship of the false gods. “It came to pass, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned away his heart after other gods: and his heart was not perfect with the Lord his God, as was the heart of David his father. For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Zidonians, and after Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites.” 1 Kings 11:4, 5. {PK 56.4}

On the southern eminence of the Mount of Olives, opposite Mount Moriah, where stood the beautiful temple of Jehovah, Solomon erected an imposing pile of buildings to be used as idolatrous shrines. To please his wives, he placed huge idols, unshapely images of wood and stone, amidst the groves of myrtle and olive. There, before the altars of heathen deities, “Chemosh, the abomination of Moab,” and “Molech, the abomination of the children of Ammon,” were practiced the most degrading rites of heathenism. Verse 7. {PK 57.1}

Solomon’s course brought its sure penalty. His separation from God through communication with idolaters was his ruin. As he cast off his allegiance to God, he lost the mastery of himself. His moral efficiency was gone. His fine sensibilities became blunted, his conscience seared. He who in his early reign had displayed so much wisdom and sympathy in restoring a helpless babe to its unfortunate mother (see 1 Kings 3:16-28), fell so low as to consent to the erection of an idol to whom living children were offered as sacrifices. He who in his youth was endowed with discretion and understanding, and who in his strong manhood had been inspired to write, “There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death” (Proverbs 14:12), in later years departed so far from purity as to countenance licentious, revolting rites connected with the worship of Chemosh and Ashtoreth. He who at the dedication of the temple had said to his people, “Let your heart therefore be perfect with the Lord our God” (1 Kings 8:61), became himself an offender, in heart and life denying his own words. He mistook license for liberty. He tried—but at what cost!—to unite light with darkness, good with evil, purity with impurity, Christ with Belial. {PK 57.2}

From being one of the greatest kings that ever wielded a scepter, Solomon became a profligate, the tool and slave of others. His character, once noble and manly, became enervated and effeminate. His faith in the living God was supplanted by atheistic doubts. Unbelief marred his happiness, weakened his principles, and degraded his life. The justice and magnanimity of his early reign were changed to despotism and tyranny. Poor, frail human nature! God can do little for men who lose their sense of dependence upon Him. {PK 58.1}

During these years of apostasy, the spiritual decline of Israel progressed steadily. How could it be otherwise when their king had united his interests with satanic agencies? Through these agencies the enemy worked to confuse the minds of the Israelites in regard to true and false worship, and they became an easy prey. Commerce with other nations brought them into intimate contact with those who had no love for God, and their own love for Him was greatly lessened. Their keen sense of the high, holy character of God was deadened. Refusing to follow in the path of obedience, they transferred their allegiance to the enemy of righteousness. It came to be a common practice to intermarry with idolaters, and the Israelites rapidly lost their abhorrence of idol worship. Polygamy was countenanced. Idolatrous mothers brought their children up to observe heathen rites. In the lives of some, the pure religious service instituted by God was replaced by idolatry of the darkest hue. {PK 58.2}

Christians are to keep themselves distinct and separate from the world, its spirit, and its influences. God is fully able to keep us in the world, but we are not to be of the world. His love is not uncertain and fluctuating. Ever He watches over His children with a care that is measureless. But He requires undivided allegiance. “No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.” Matthew 6:24. {PK 59.1}

Solomon was endued with wonderful wisdom, but the world drew him away from God. Men today are no stronger than he; they are as prone to yield to the influences that caused his downfall. As God warned Solomon of his danger, so today He warns His children not to imperil their souls by affinity with the world. “Come out from among them,” He pleads, “and be ye separate, ... and touch not the unclean thing, and I will receive you, and will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be My sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.” 2 Corinthians 6:17, 18. {PK 59.2}

In the midst of prosperity lurks danger. Throughout the ages, riches and honor have ever been attended with peril to humility and spirituality. It is not the empty cup that we have difficulty in carrying; it is the cup full to the brim that must be carefully balanced. Affliction and adversity may cause sorrow, but it is prosperity that is most dangerous to spiritual life. Unless the human subject is in constant submission to the will of God, unless he is sanctified by the truth, prosperity will surely arouse the natural inclination to presumption. {PK 59.3}

In the valley of humiliation, where men depend on God to teach them and to guide their every step, there is comparative safety. But the men who stand, as it were, on a lofty pinnacle, and who, because of their position, are supposed to possess great wisdom—these are in gravest peril. Unless such men make God their dependence, they will surely fall. {PK 60.1}

Whenever pride and ambition are indulged, the life is marred, for pride, feeling no need, closes the heart against the infinite blessings of Heaven. He who makes self-glorification his aim will find himself destitute of the grace of God, through whose efficiency the truest riches and the most satisfying joys are won. But he who gives all and does all for Christ will know the fulfillment of the promise, “The blessing of the Lord, it maketh rich, and He addeth no sorrow with it.” Proverbs 10:22. With the gentle touch of grace the Saviour banishes from the soul unrest and unholy ambition, changing enmity to love and unbelief to confidence. When He speaks to the soul, saying, “Follow Me,” the spell of the world’s enchantment is broken. At the sound of His voice the spirit of greed and ambition flees from the heart, and men arise, emancipated, to follow Him. {PK 60.2}

Chapter 4—Results of Transgression

Prominent among the primary causes that led Solomon into extravagance and oppression was his failure to maintain and foster the spirit of self-sacrifice. {PK 61.1}

When, at the foot of Sinai, Moses told the people of the divine command, “Let them make Me a sanctuary; that I may dwell among them,” the response of the Israelites was accompanied by the appropriate gifts. “They came, everyone whose heart stirred him up, and everyone whom his spirit made willing,” and brought offerings. Exodus 25:8; 35:21. For the building of the sanctuary, great and extensive preparations were necessary; a large amount of the most precious and costly material was required, but the Lord accepted only freewill offerings. “Of every man that giveth it willingly with his heart ye shall take My offering,” was the command repeated by Moses to the congregation. Exodus 25:2. Devotion to God and a spirit of sacrifice were the first requisites in preparing a dwelling place for the Most High. {PK 61.2}

A similar call to self-sacrifice was made when David turned over to Solomon the responsibility of building the temple. Of the assembled multitude David asked, “Who then is willing to consecrate his service this day unto the Lord?” 1 Chronicles 29:5. This call to consecration and willing service should ever have been kept in mind by those who had to do with the erection of the temple. {PK 62.1}

For the construction of the wilderness tabernacle, chosen men were endowed by God with special skill and wisdom. “Moses said unto the children of Israel, See, the Lord hath called by name Bezaleel, ... of the tribe of Judah; and He hath filled him with the Spirit of God, in wisdom, in understanding, and in knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship.... And He hath put in his heart that he may teach, both he, and Aholiab, ... of the tribe of Dan. Them hath He filled with wisdom of heart, to work all manner of work, of the engraver, and of the cunning workman, and of the embroiderer, ... and of the weaver, even of them that do any work.... Then wrought Bezaleel and Aholiab, and every wisehearted man, in whom the Lord put wisdom and understanding.” Exodus 35:30-35; 36:1. Heavenly intelligences co-operated with the workmen whom God Himself had chosen. {PK 62.2}

The descendants of these workmen inherited to a large degree the talents conferred on their forefathers. For a time these men of Judah and Dan remained humble and unselfish; but gradually, almost imperceptibly, they lost their hold upon God and their desire to serve Him unselfishly. They asked higher wages for their services, because of their superior skill as workmen in the finer arts. In some instances their request was granted, but more often they found employment in the surrounding nations. In place of the noble spirit of self-sacrifice that had filled the hearts of their illustrious ancestors, they indulged a spirit of covetousness, of grasping for more and more. That their selfish desires might be gratified, they used their God-given skill in the service of heathen kings, and lent their talent to the perfecting of works which were a dishonor to their Maker. {PK 62.3}

It was among these men that Solomon looked for a master workman to superintend the construction of the temple on Mount Moriah. Minute specifications, in writing, regarding every portion of the sacred structure, had been entrusted to the king; and he could have looked to God in faith for consecrated helpers, to whom would have been granted special skill for doing with exactness the work required. But Solomon lost sight of this opportunity to exercise faith in God. He sent to the king of Tyre for a man, “cunning to work in gold, and in silver, and in brass, and in iron, and in purple, and crimson, and blue, and that can skill to grave with the cunning men ... in Judah and in Jerusalem.” 2 Chronicles 2:7. {PK 63.1}

The Phoenician king responded by sending Huram, “the son of a woman of the daughters of Dan, and his father was a man of Tyre.” Verse 14. Huram was a descendant, on his mother’s side, of Aholiab, to whom, hundreds of years before, God had given special wisdom for the construction of the tabernacle. {PK 63.2}

Thus at the head of Solomon’s company of workmen there was placed a man whose efforts were not prompted by an unselfish desire to render service to God. He served the god of this world, mammon. The very fibers of his being were inwrought with the principles of selfishness. {PK 63.3}

Because of his unusual skill, Huram demanded large wages. Gradually the wrong principles that he cherished came to be accepted by his associates. As they labored with him day after day, they yielded to the inclination to compare his wages with their own, and they began to lose sight of the holy character of their work. The spirit of self-denial left them, and in its place came the spirit of covetousness. The result was a demand for higher wages, which was granted. {PK 64.1}

The baleful influences thus set in operation permeated all branches of the Lord’s service, and extended throughout the kingdom. The high wages demanded and received gave to many an opportunity to indulge in luxury and extravagance. The poor were oppressed by the rich; the spirit of self-sacrifice was well-nigh lost. In the far-reaching effects of these influences may be traced one of the principal causes of the terrible apostasy of him who once was numbered among the wisest of mortals. {PK 64.2}

The sharp contrast between the spirit and motives of the people building the wilderness tabernacle, and of those engaged in erecting Solomon’s temple, has a lesson of deep significance. The self-seeking that characterized the workers on the temple finds its counterpart today in the selfishness that rules in the world. The spirit of covetousness, of seeking for the highest position and the highest wage, is rife. The willing service and joyous self-denial of the tabernacle workers is seldom met with. But this is the only spirit that should actuate the followers of Jesus. Our divine Master has given an example of how His disciples are to work. To those whom He bade, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men” (Matthew 4:19), He offered no stated sum as a reward for their services. They were to share with Him in self-denial and sacrifice. {PK 64.3}

Not for the wages we receive are we to labor. The motive that prompts us to work for God should have in it nothing akin to self-serving. Unselfish devotion and a spirit of sacrifice have always been and always will be the first requisite of acceptable service. Our Lord and Master designs that not one thread of selfishness shall be woven into His work. Into our efforts we are to bring the tact and skill, the exactitude and wisdom, that the God of perfection required of the builders of the earthly tabernacle; yet in all our labors we are to remember that the greatest talents or the most splendid services are acceptable only when self is laid upon the altar, a living, consuming sacrifice. {PK 65.1}

Another of the deviations from right principles that finally led to the downfall of Israel’s king was his yielding to the temptation to take to himself the glory that belongs to God alone. {PK 65.2}

From the day that Solomon was entrusted with the work of building the temple, to the time of its completion, his avowed purpose was “to build an house for the name of the Lord God of Israel.” 2 Chronicles 6:7. This purpose was fully recognized before the assembled hosts of Israel at the time of the dedication of the temple. In his prayer the king acknowledged that Jehovah had said, “My name shall be there.” 1 Kings 8:29. {PK 65.3}

One of the most touching portions of Solomon’s dedicatory prayer was his plea to God for the strangers that should come from countries afar to learn more of Him whose fame had been spread abroad among the nations. “They shall hear,” the king pleaded, “of Thy great name, and of Thy strong hand, and of Thy stretched-out arm.” In behalf of every one of these stranger worshipers Solomon had petitioned: “Hear Thou, ... and do according to all that the stranger calleth to Thee for: that all people of the earth may know Thy name, to fear Thee, as do Thy people Israel; and that they may know that this house, which I have builded, is called by Thy name.” Verses 42, 43. {PK 66.1}

At the close of the service, Solomon had exhorted Israel to be faithful and true to God, in order that “all the people of the earth may know,” he said, “that the Lord is God, and that there is none else.” Verse 60. {PK 66.2}

A Greater than Solomon was the designer of the temple; the wisdom and glory of God stood there revealed. Those who were unacquainted with this fact naturally admired and praised Solomon as the architect and builder; but the king disclaimed any honor for its conception or erection. {PK 66.3}

Thus it was when the Queen of Sheba came to visit Solomon. Hearing of his wisdom and of the magnificent temple he had built, she determined “to prove him with hard questions” and to see for herself his famous works. Attended by a retinue of servants, and with camels bearing “spices, and gold in abundance, and precious stones,” she made the long journey to Jerusalem. “And when she was come to Solomon, she communed with him of all that was in her heart.” She talked with him of the mysteries of nature; and Solomon taught her of the God of nature, the great Creator, who dwells in the highest heaven and rules over all. “Solomon told her all her questions: there was not anything hid from the king, which he told her not.” 1 Kings 10:1-3; 2 Chronicles 9:1, 2. {PK 66.4}

“When the Queen of Sheba had seen all Solomon’s wisdom, and the house that he had built, ... there was no more spirit in her.” “It was a true report,” she acknowledged, “which I heard in mine own land of thine acts, and of thy wisdom: howbeit I believed not their words, until I came, and mine eyes had seen it:” “and, behold, the half was not told me: thy wisdom and prosperity exceedeth the fame which I heard. Happy are thy men, happy are these thy servants, which stand continually before thee, and that hear thy wisdom.” 1 Kings 10:4-8; 2 Chronicles 9:3-7. {PK 67.1}

By the time of the close of her visit the queen had been so fully taught by Solomon as to the source of his wisdom and prosperity that she was constrained, not to extol the human agent, but to exclaim, “Blessed be the Lord thy God, which delighted in thee, to set thee on the throne of Israel: because the Lord loved Israel forever, therefore made He thee king, to do judgment and justice.” 1 Kings 10:9. This is the impression that God designed should be made upon all peoples. And when “all the kings of the earth sought the presence of Solomon, to hear his wisdom, that God had put in his heart” (2 Chronicles 9:23), Solomon for a time honored God by reverently pointing them to the Creator of the heavens and the earth, the Ruler of the universe, the All-wise. {PK 67.2}

Had Solomon continued in humility of mind to turn the attention of men from himself to the One who had given him wisdom and riches and honor, what a history might have been his! But while the pen of inspiration records his virtues, it also bears faithful witness to his downfall. Raised to a pinnacle of greatness and surrounded with the gifts of fortune, Solomon became dizzy, lost his balance, and fell. Constantly extolled by men of the world, he was at length unable to withstand the flattery offered him. The wisdom entrusted to him that he might glorify the Giver, filled him with pride. He finally permitted men to speak of him as the one most worthy of praise for the matchless splendor of the building planned and erected for the honor of “the name of the Lord God of Israel.” {PK 68.1}

Thus it was that the temple of Jehovah came to be known throughout the nations as “Solomon’s temple.” The human agent had taken to himself the glory that belonged to the One “higher than the highest.” Ecclesiastes 5:8. Even to this day the temple of which Solomon declared, “This house which I have built is called by Thy name” (2 Chronicles 6:33), is oftenest spoken of, not as the temple of Jehovah, but as “Solomon’s temple.” {PK 68.2}

Man cannot show greater weakness than by allowing men to ascribe to him the honor for gifts that are Heaven-bestowed. The true Christian will make God first and last and best in everything. No ambitious motives will chill his love for God; steadily, perseveringly, will he cause honor to redound to his heavenly Father. It is when we are faithful in exalting the name of God that our impulses are under divine supervision, and we are enabled to develop spiritual and intellectual power. {PK 68.3}

Jesus, the divine Master, ever exalted the name of His heavenly Father. He taught His disciples to pray, “Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name.” Matthew 6:9, A.R.V. And they were not to forget to acknowledge, “Thine is ... the glory.” Verse 13. So careful was the great Healer to direct attention from Himself to the Source of His power, that the wondering multitude, “when they saw the dumb to speak, the maimed to be whole, the lame to walk, and the blind to see,” did not glorify Him, but “glorified the God of Israel.” Matthew 15:31. In the wonderful prayer that Christ offered just before His crucifixion, He declared, “I have glorified Thee on the earth.” “Glorify Thy Son,” He pleaded, “that Thy Son also may glorify Thee.” “O righteous Father, the world hath not known Thee: but I have known Thee, and these have known that Thou hast sent Me. And I have declared unto them Thy name, and will declare it: that the love wherewith Thou hast loved Me may be in them, and I in them.” John 17:4, 1, 25, 26. {PK 69.1}

“Thus saith the Lord, Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches: but let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth Me, that I am the Lord which exercise loving-kindness, judgment, and righteousness, in the earth: for in these things I delight, saith the Lord.” Jeremiah 9:23, 24. {PK 69.2}

“I will praise the name of God, ...

And will magnify Him with thanksgiving.” {PK 70.1}

“Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor

and power.” {PK 70.2}

“I will praise Thee, O Lord my God, with all my heart:

And I will glorify Thy name forevermore.” {PK 70.3}

“O magnify the Lord with me,

And let us exalt His name together.” {PK 70.4}

Psalm 69:30; Revelation 4:11; Psalm 86:12; 34:3.

The introduction of principles leading away from a spirit of sacrifice and tending toward self-glorification, was accompanied by yet another gross perversion of the divine plan for Israel. God had designed that His people should be the light of the world. From them was to shine forth the glory of His law as revealed in the life practice. For the carrying out of this design, He had caused the chosen nation to occupy a strategic position among the nations of earth. {PK 70.5}

In the days of Solomon the kingdom of Israel extended from Hamath on the north to Egypt on the south, and from the Mediterranean Sea to the river Euphrates. Through this territory ran many natural highways of the world’s commerce, and caravans from distant lands were constantly passing to and fro. Thus there was given to Solomon and his people opportunity to reveal to men of all nations the character of the King of kings, and to teach them to reverence and obey Him. To all the world this knowledge was to be given. Through the teaching of the sacrificial offerings, Christ was to be uplifted before the nations, that all who would might live. {PK 70.6}

Placed at the head of a nation that had been set as a beacon light to the surrounding nations, Solomon should have used his God-given wisdom and power of influence in organizing and directing a great movement for the enlightenment of those who were ignorant of God and His truth. Thus multitudes would have been won to allegiance to the divine precepts, Israel would have been shielded from the evils practiced by the heathen, and the Lord of glory would have been greatly honored. But Solomon lost sight of this high purpose. He failed of improving his splendid opportunities for enlightening those who were continually passing through his territory or tarrying at the principal cities. {PK 71.1}

The missionary spirit that God had implanted in the heart of Solomon and in the hearts of all true Israelites was supplanted by a spirit of commercialism. The opportunities afforded by contact with many nations were used for personal aggrandizement. Solomon sought to strengthen his position politically by building fortified cities at the gateways of commerce. He rebuilt Gezer, near Joppa, lying along the road between Egypt and Syria; Beth-horon, to the westward of Jerusalem, commanding the passes of the highway leading from the heart of Judea to Gezer and the seacoast; Megiddo, situated on the caravan road from Damascus to Egypt, and from Jerusalem to the northward; and “Tadmor in the wilderness” (2 Chronicles 8:4), along the route of caravans from the east. All these cities were strongly fortified. The commercial advantages of an outlet at the head of the Red Sea were developed by the construction of “a navy of ships in Ezion-geber, ... on the shore of the Red Sea, in the land of Edom.” Trained sailors from Tyre, “with the servants of Solomon,” manned these vessels on voyages “to Ophir, and fetched from thence gold,” and “great plenty of almug trees, and precious stones.” Verse 18; 1 Kings 9:26, 28; 10:11. {PK 71.2}

The revenue of the king and of many of his subjects was greatly increased, but at what a cost! Through the cupidity and shortsightedness of those to whom had been entrusted the oracles of God, the countless multitudes who thronged the highways of travel were allowed to remain in ignorance of Jehovah. {PK 72.1}

In striking contrast to the course pursued by Solomon was the course followed by Christ when He was on this earth. The Saviour, though possessing “all power,” never used this power for self-aggrandizement. No dream of earthly conquest, of worldly greatness, marred the perfection of His service for mankind. “Foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests,” He said, “but the Son of man hath not where to lay His head.” Matthew 8:20. Those who, in response to the call of the hour, have entered the service of the Master Worker, may well study His methods. He took advantage of the opportunities to be found along the great thoroughfares of travel. {PK 73.1}

In the intervals of His journeys to and fro, Jesus dwelt at Capernaum, which came to be known as “His own city.” Matthew 9:1. Situated on the highway from Damascus to Jerusalem and Egypt and to the Mediterranean Sea, it was well adapted to be the center of the Saviour’s work. People from many lands passed through the city or tarried for rest. There Jesus met with those of all nations and all ranks, and thus His lessons were carried to other countries and into many households. By this means interest was aroused in the prophecies pointing forward to the Messiah, attention was directed to the Saviour, and His mission was brought before the world. {PK 73.2}

In this our day the opportunities for coming into contact with men and women of all classes and many nationalities are much greater than in the days of Israel. The thoroughfares of travel have multiplied a thousandfold. {PK 73.3}

Like Christ, the messengers of the Most High today should take their position in these great thoroughfares, where they can meet the passing multitudes from all parts of the world. Like Him, hiding self in God, they are to sow the gospel seed, presenting before others the precious truths of Holy Scripture that will take deep root in mind and heart, and spring up unto life eternal. {PK 74.1}

Solemn are the lessons of Israel’s failure during the years when ruler and people turned from the high purpose they had been called to fulfill. Wherein they were weak, even to the point of failure, the Israel of God today, the representatives of heaven that make up the true church of Christ, must be strong; for upon them devolves the task of finishing the work that has been committed to man, and of ushering in the day of final awards. Yet the same influences that prevailed against Israel in the time when Solomon reigned are to be met with still. The forces of the enemy of all righteousness are strongly entrenched; only by the power of God can the victory be gained. The conflict before us calls for the exercise of a spirit of self-denial, for distrust of self and for dependence on God alone, for the wise use of every opportunity for the saving of souls. The Lord’s blessing will attend His church as they advance unitedly, revealing to a world lying in the darkness of error the beauty of holiness as manifested in a Christlike spirit of self-sacrifice, in an exaltation of the divine rather than the human, and in loving and untiring service for those so much in need of the blessings of the gospel. {PK 74.2}

1658-1 Kings 6:1 Four hundred and eighty years after the people of Israel left Egypt, during the fourth year of Solomon's reign over Israel, in the second month, the month of Ziv, Solomon began work on the Temple. 2 Inside it was 90 feet long, 30 feet wide, and 45 feet high. 3 The entrance room was 15 feet deep and 30 feet wide, as wide as the sanctuary itself. 4 The walls of the Temple had openings in them, narrower on the outside than on the inside. 5 Against the outside walls, on the sides and the back of the Temple, a three-storied annex was built, each story 7 1/2 feet high. 6 Each room in the lowest story was 7 1/2 feet wide, in the middle story 9 feet wide, and in the top story 10 1/2 feet wide. The Temple wall on each floor was thinner than on the floor below, so that the rooms could rest on the wall without having their beams built into it. 7 The stones with which the Temple was built had been prepared at the quarry, so that there was no noise made by hammers, axes, or any other iron tools as the Temple was being built. 8 The entrance to the lowest story of the annex was on the south side of the Temple, with stairs leading up to the second and third stories. 9 So King Solomon finished building the Temple. He put in a ceiling made of beams and boards of cedar. 10 The three-storied annex, each story 7 1/2 feet high, was built against the outside walls of the Temple, and was joined to them by cedar beams. 11 The Lord said to Solomon, 12 "If you obey all my laws and commands, I will do for you what I promised your father David. 13 I will live among my people Israel in this Temple that you are building, and I will never abandon them." 14 So Solomon finished building the Temple. 15 The inside walls were covered with cedar panels from the floor to the ceiling, and the floor was made of pine. 16 An inner room, called the Most Holy Place, was built in the rear of the Temple. It was 30 feet long and was partitioned off by cedar boards reaching from the floor to the ceiling. 17 The room in front of the Most Holy Place was 60 feet long. 18 The cedar panels were decorated with carvings of gourds and flowers; the whole interior was covered with cedar, so that the stones of the walls could not be seen. 19 In the rear of the Temple an inner room was built, where the Lord's Covenant Box was to be placed. 20 This inner room was 30 feet long, 30 feet wide, and 30 feet high, all covered with pure gold. The altar was covered with cedar panels. 21 The inside of the Temple was covered with gold, and gold chains were placed across the entrance of the inner room, which was also covered with gold. 22 The whole interior of the Temple was covered with gold, as well as the altar in the Most Holy Place. 23 Two winged creatures were made of olive wood and placed in the Most Holy Place, each one 15 feet tall. 24 Both were of the same size and shape. Each had two wings, each wing 7 1/2 feet long, so that the distance from one wing tip to the other was 15 feet. 27 They were placed side by side in the Most Holy Place, so that two of their outstretched wings touched each other in the middle of the room, and the other two wings touched the walls. 28 The two winged creatures were covered with gold. 29 The walls of the main room and of the inner room were all decorated with carved figures of winged creatures, palm trees, and flowers. 30 Even the floor was covered with gold. 31 A double door made of olive wood was set in place at the entrance of the Most Holy Place; the top of the doorway was a pointed arch. 32 The doors were decorated with carved figures of winged creatures, palm trees, and flowers. The doors, the winged creatures, and the palm trees were covered with gold. 33 For the entrance to the main room a rectangular doorframe of olive wood was made. 34 There were two folding doors made of pine 35 and decorated with carved figures of winged creatures, palm trees, and flowers, which were evenly covered with gold. 36 An inner court was built in front of the Temple, enclosed with walls which had one layer of cedar beams for every three layers of stone. 37 The foundation of the Temple was laid in the second month, the month of Ziv, in the fourth year of Solomon's reign. 38 In the eighth month, the month of Bul, in the eleventh year of Solomon's reign, the Temple was completely finished exactly as it had been planned. It had taken Solomon seven years to build it.

1 Kings 7:1 Solomon also built a palace for himself, and it took him thirteen years. 2 The Hall of the Forest of Lebanon was 150 feet long, 75 feet wide, and 45 feet high. It had three rows of cedar pillars, 15 in each row, with cedar beams resting on them. The ceiling was of cedar, extending over storerooms, which were supported by the pillars. 4 On each of the two side walls there were three rows of windows. 5 The doorways and the windows had rectangular frames, and the three rows of windows in each wall faced the opposite rows. 6 The Hall of Columns was 75 feet long and 45 feet wide. It had a covered porch, supported by columns. 7 The Throne Room, also called the Hall of Judgment, where Solomon decided cases, had cedar panels from the floor to the rafters. 8 Solomon's own quarters, in another court behind the Hall of Judgment, were made like the other buildings. He also built the same kind of house for his wife, the daughter of the king of Egypt. 9 All these buildings and the great court were made of fine stones from the foundations to the eaves. The stones were prepared at the quarry and cut to measure, with their inner and outer sides trimmed with saws. 10 The foundations were made of large stones prepared at the quarry, some of them twelve feet long and others fifteen feet long. 11 On top of them were other stones, cut to measure, and cedar beams. 12 The palace court, the inner court of the Temple, and the entrance room of the Temple had walls with one layer of cedar beams for every three layers of cut stones. 13 King Solomon sent for a man named Huram, a craftsman living in the city of Tyre, who was skilled in bronze work. 14 His father, who was no longer living, was from Tyre, and had also been a skilled bronze craftsman; his mother was from the tribe of Naphtali. Huram was an intelligent and experienced craftsman. He accepted King Solomon's invitation to be in charge of all the bronze work. 15 Huram cast two bronze columns, each one 27 feet tall and 18 feet in circumference, and placed them at the entrance of the Temple. 16 He also made two bronze capitals, each one 7 1/2 feet tall, to be placed on top of the columns. 17 The top of each column was decorated with a design of interwoven chains 18 and two rows of bronze pomegranates. 19 The capitals were shaped like lilies, 6 feet tall, 20 and were placed on a rounded section which was above the chain design. There were 200 pomegranates in two rows around each capital. 21 Huram placed these two bronze columns in front of the entrance of the Temple: the one on the south side was named Jachin and the one on the north was named Boaz. 22 The lily-shaped bronze capitals were on top of the columns. And so the work on the columns was completed. 23 Huram made a round tank of bronze, 7 1/2 feet deep, 15 feet in diameter, and 45 feet in circumference. 24 All around the outer edge of the rim of the tank were two rows of bronze gourds, which had been cast all in one piece with the rest of the tank. 25 The tank rested on the backs of twelve bronze bulls that faced outward, three facing in each direction. 26 The sides of the tank were 3 inches thick. Its rim was like the rim of a cup, curving outward like the petals of a lily. The tank held about 10,000 gallons. 27 Huram also made ten bronze carts; each was 6 feet long, 6 feet wide, and 4 1/2 feet high. 28 They were made of square panels which were set in frames, 29 with the figures of lions, bulls, and winged creatures on the panels; and on the frames, above and underneath the lions and bulls, there were spiral figures in relief. 30 Each cart had four bronze wheels with bronze axles. At the four corners were bronze supports for a basin; the supports were decorated with spiral figures in relief. 31 There was a circular frame on top for the basin. It projected upward 18 inches from the top of the cart and 7 inches down into it. It had carvings around it. 32 The wheels were 25 inches high; they were under the panels, and the axles were of one piece with the carts. 33 The wheels were like chariot wheels; their axles, rims, spokes, and hubs were all of bronze. 34 There were four supports at the bottom corners of each cart, which were of one piece with the cart. 35 There was a 9-inch band around the top of each cart; its supports and the panels were of one piece with the cart. 36 The supports and panels were decorated with figures of winged creatures, lions, and palm trees, wherever there was space for them, with spiral figures all around. 37 This, then, is how the carts were made; they were all alike, having the same size and shape. 38 Huram also made ten basins, one for each cart. Each basin was 6 feet in diameter and held 200 gallons. 39 He placed five of the carts on the south side of the Temple, and the other five on the north side; the tank he placed at the southeast corner. 40 Huram also made pots, shovels, and bowls. He completed all his work for King Solomon for the Lord's Temple. This is what he made: The two columns The two bowl-shaped capitals on top of the columns The design of interwoven chains on each capital The 400 bronze pomegranates, in two rows of 100 each around the design on each capital The ten carts The ten basins The tank The twelve bulls supporting the tank The pots, shovels, and bowls All this equipment for the Temple, which Huram made for King Solomon, was of polished bronze. 46 The king had it all made in the foundry between Sukkoth and Zarethan, in the Jordan Valley. 47 Solomon did not have these bronze objects weighed, because there were too many of them, and so their weight was never determined. 48 Solomon also had gold furnishings made for the Temple: the altar, the table for the bread offered to God, 49 the ten lampstands that stood in front of the Most Holy Place, five on the south side and five on the north; the flowers, lamps, and tongs; 50 the cups, lamp snuffers, bowls, dishes for incense, and the pans used for carrying live coals; and the hinges for the doors of the Most Holy Place and of the outer doors of the Temple. All these furnishings were made of gold. 51 When King Solomon finished all the work on the Temple, he placed in the Temple storerooms all the things that his father David had dedicated to the Lord - the silver, gold, and other articles.

1659-1 Kings 8:5 King Solomon and all the people of Israel assembled in front of the Covenant Box and sacrificed a large number of sheep and cattle - too many to count.

1 Kings 8:62 Then King Solomon and all the people there offered sacrifices to the Lord. 63 He sacrificed 22,000 head of cattle and 120,000 sheep as fellowship offerings. And so the king and all the people dedicated the Temple. 64 That same day he also consecrated the central part of the courtyard, the area in front of the Temple, and then he offered there the sacrifices burned whole, the grain offerings, and the fat of the animals for the fellowship offerings. He did this because the bronze altar was too small for all these offerings

1660-Genesis 8:21 The odor of the sacrifice pleased the Lord, and he said to himself, "Never again will I put the earth under a curse because of what people do; I know that from the time they are young their thoughts are evil. Never again will I destroy all living beings, as I have done this time.

1661-Exodus 29:18 Burn the whole ram on the altar as a food offering. The odor of this offering pleases me.

Exodus 29: 25 Then take it from them and burn it on the altar, on top of the burnt offering, as a food offering to me. The odor of this offering pleases me.

Exodus 29:41 Sacrifice the second lamb in the evening, and offer with it the same amounts of flour, olive oil, and wine as in the morning. This is a food offering to me, the Lord, and its odor pleases me.

1662-Leviticus 1:9 You must wash the internal organs and the hind legs, and the officiating priest will burn the whole sacrifice on the altar. The odor of this food offering is pleasing to the Lord.

Leviticus 1:13 You must wash the internal organs and the hind legs, and the priest will present the sacrifice to the Lord and burn all of it on the altar. The odor of this food offering is pleasing to the Lord.

Leviticus 1:17 He shall take hold of its wings and tear its body open, without tearing the wings off, and then burn it whole on the altar. The odor of this food offering is pleasing to the Lord.

Leviticus 2:2 and bring it to the Aaronite priests. The officiating priest shall take a handful of the flour and oil and all of the incense and burn it on the altar as a token that it has all been offered to the Lord. The odor of this food offering is pleasing to the Lord.

Leviticus 2:9 The priest will take part of it as a token that it has all been offered to the Lord, and he will burn it on the altar. The odor of this food offering is pleasing to the Lord.

1663-Numbers 15:3 A bull, a ram, a sheep, or a goat may be presented to the Lord as a burnt offering or as a sacrifice in fulfillment of a vow or as a freewill offering or as an offering at your regular religious festivals; the odor of these food offerings is pleasing to the Lord.

Numbers 15:7 together with 3 pints of wine. The odor of these sacrifices is pleasing to the Lord.

Numbers 15:10 together with 4 pints of wine. The odor of this sacrifice is pleasing to the Lord.

1664-Amos 5:21 The Lord says, "I hate your religious festivals; I cannot stand them! 22 When you bring me burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them; I will not accept the animals you have fattened to bring me as offerings. 23 Stop your noisy songs; I do not want to listen to your harps. 24 Instead, let justice flow like a stream, and righteousness like a river that never goes dry.

1665-Isaiah 1:10 Jerusalem, your rulers and your people are like those of Sodom and Gomorrah. Listen to what the Lord is saying to you. Pay attention to what our God is teaching you. 11 He says, "Do you think I want all these sacrifices you keep offering to me? I have had more than enough of the sheep you burn as sacrifices and of the fat of your fine animals. I am tired of the blood of bulls and sheep and goats. 12 Who asked you to bring me all this when you come to worship me? Who asked you to do all this tramping around in my Temple? 13 It's useless to bring your offerings. I am disgusted with the smell of the incense you burn. I cannot stand your New Moon Festivals, your Sabbaths, and your religious gatherings; they are all corrupted by your sins. 14 I hate your New Moon Festivals and holy days; they are a burden that I am tired of bearing. 15 "When you lift your hands in prayer, I will not look at you. No matter how much you pray, I will not listen, for your hands are covered with blood. 16 Wash yourselves clean. Stop all this evil that I see you doing. Yes, stop doing evil 17 and learn to do right. See that justice is done - help those who are oppressed, give orphans their rights, and defend widows."

1666-Hosea 6:6 I want your constant love, not your animal sacrifices. I would rather have my people know me than burn offerings to me.

1667-Micah 6:6 What shall I bring to the Lord, the God of heaven, when I come to worship him? Shall I bring the best calves to burn as offerings to him? 7 Will the Lord be pleased if I bring him thousands of sheep or endless streams of olive oil? Shall I offer him my first-born child to pay for my sins? 8 No, the Lord has told us what is good. What he requires of us is this: to do what is just, to show constant love, and to live in humble fellowship with our God.

1668-Matthew 9:13 Go and find out what is meant by the scripture that says: "It is kindness that I want, not animal sacrifices.' I have not come to call respectable people, but outcasts."

Matthew 12:7 The scripture says, "It is kindness that I want, not animal sacrifices.' If you really knew what this means, you would not condemn people who are not guilty;

1669-1 Kings 8:22 Then in the presence of the people Solomon went and stood in front of the altar, where he raised his arms 23 and prayed, "Lord God of Israel, there is no god like you in heaven above or on earth below! You keep your covenant with your people and show them your love when they live in wholehearted obedience to you. 24 You have kept the promise you made to my father David; today every word has been fulfilled. 25 And now, Lord God of Israel, I pray that you will also keep the other promise you made to my father when you told him that there would always be one of his descendants ruling as king of Israel, provided they obeyed you as carefully as he did. 26 So now, O God of Israel, let everything come true that you promised to my father David, your servant. 27 "But can you, O God, really live on earth? Not even all of heaven is large enough to hold you, so how can this Temple that I have built be large enough? 28 Lord my God, I am your servant. Listen to my prayer, and grant the requests I make to you today. 29 Watch over this Temple day and night, this place where you have chosen to be worshiped. Hear me when I face this Temple and pray. 30 Hear my prayers and the prayers of your people when they face this place and pray. In your home in heaven hear us and forgive us. 31 "When a person is accused of wronging another and is brought to your altar in this Temple to take an oath that he is innocent, 32 O Lord, listen in heaven and judge your servants. Punish the guilty one as he deserves, and acquit the one who is innocent. 33 "When your people Israel are defeated by their enemies because they have sinned against you, and then when they turn to you and come to this Temple, humbly praying to you for forgiveness, 34 listen to them in heaven. Forgive the sins of your people and bring them back to the land which you gave to their ancestors. 35 "When you hold back the rain because your people have sinned against you, and then when they repent and face this Temple, humbly praying to you, 36 listen to them in heaven. Forgive the sins of the king and of the people of Israel, and teach them to do what is right. Then, O Lord, send rain on this land of yours, which you gave to your people as a permanent possession. 37 "When there is famine in the land or an epidemic or the crops are destroyed by scorching winds or swarms of locusts, or when your people are attacked by their enemies, or when there is disease or sickness among them, 38 listen to their prayers. If any of your people Israel, out of heartfelt sorrow, stretch out their hands in prayer toward this Temple, 39 hear their prayer. Listen to them in your home in heaven, forgive them, and help them. You alone know the thoughts of the human heart. Deal with each person as he deserves, 40 so that your people may obey you all the time they live in the land which you gave to our ancestors. 41 "When a foreigner who lives in a distant land hears of your fame and of the great things you have done for your people and comes to worship you and to pray at this Temple, 43 listen to his prayer. In heaven, where you live, hear him and do what he asks you to do, so that all the peoples of the world may know you and obey you, as your people Israel do. Then they will know that this Temple I have built is the place where you are to be worshiped. 44 "When you command your people to go into battle against their enemies and they pray to you, wherever they are, facing this city which you have chosen and this Temple which I have built for you, 45 listen to their prayers. Hear them in heaven and give them victory. 46 "When your people sin against you - and there is no one who does not sin - and in your anger you let their enemies defeat them and take them as prisoners to some other land, even if that land is far away, 47 listen to your people's prayers. If there in that land they repent and pray to you, confessing how sinful and wicked they have been, hear their prayers, O Lord. 48 If in that land they truly and sincerely repent and pray to you as they face toward this land which you gave to our ancestors, this city which you have chosen, and this Temple which I have built for you, 49 then listen to their prayers. In your home in heaven hear them and be merciful to them. 50 Forgive all their sins and their rebellion against you, and make their enemies treat them with kindness. 51 They are your own people, whom you brought out of Egypt, that blazing furnace. 52 "Sovereign Lord, may you always look with favor on your people Israel and their king, and hear their prayer whenever they call to you for help. 53 You chose them from all the peoples to be your own people, as you told them through your servant Moses when you brought our ancestors out of Egypt." 54 After Solomon had finished praying to the Lord, he stood up in front of the altar, where he had been kneeling with uplifted hands. 55 In a loud voice he asked God's blessings on all the people assembled there. He said, 56 "Praise the Lord who has given his people peace, as he promised he would. He has kept all the generous promises he made through his servant Moses. 57 May the Lord our God be with us as he was with our ancestors; may he never leave us or abandon us; 58 may he make us obedient to him, so that we will always live as he wants us to live, keeping all the laws and commands he gave our ancestors. 59 May the Lord our God remember at all times this prayer and these petitions I have made to him. May he always be merciful to the people of Israel and to their king, according to their daily needs. 60 And so all the nations of the world will know that the Lord alone is God - there is no other. 61 May you, his people, always be faithful to the Lord our God, obeying all his laws and commands as you do today."

1670-1 Kings 8:10 As the priests were leaving the Temple, it was suddenly filled with a cloud

1671-Psalms 51:1 Be merciful to me, O God, because of your constant love. Because of your great mercy wipe away my sins! 2 Wash away all my evil and make me clean from my sin! 3 I recognize my faults; I am always conscious of my sins. 4 I have sinned against you - only against you - and done what you consider evil. So you are right in judging me; you are justified in condemning me. 5 I have been evil from the day I was born; from the time I was conceived, I have been sinful. 6 Sincerity and truth are what you require; fill my mind with your wisdom. 7 Remove my sin, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. 8 Let me hear the sounds of joy and gladness; and though you have crushed me and broken me, I will be happy once again. 9 Close your eyes to my sins and wipe out all my evil. 10 Create a pure heart in me, O God, and put a new and loyal spirit in me. 11 Do not banish me from your presence; do not take your holy spirit away from me. 12 Give me again the joy that comes from your salvation, and make me willing to obey you. 13 Then I will teach sinners your commands, and they will turn back to you. 14 Spare my life, O God, and save me, and I will gladly proclaim your righteousness. 15 Help me to speak, Lord, and I will praise you. 16 You do not want sacrifices, or I would offer them; you are not pleased with burnt offerings. 17 My sacrifice is a humble spirit, O God; you will not reject a humble and repentant heart. 18 O God, be kind to Zion and help her; rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. 19 Then you will be pleased with proper sacrifices and with our burnt offerings; and bulls will be sacrificed on your altar.

1672-1 Kings 8:23 and prayed, "Lord God of Israel, there is no god like you in heaven above or on earth below! You keep your covenant with your people and show them your love when they live in wholehearted obedience to you. 24 You have kept the promise you made to my father David; today every word has been fulfilled. 25 And now, Lord God of Israel, I pray that you will also keep the other promise you made to my father when you told him that there would always be one of his descendants ruling as king of Israel, provided they obeyed you as carefully as he did. 26 So now, O God of Israel, let everything come true that you promised to my father David, your servant. 27 "But can you, O God, really live on earth? Not even all of heaven is large enough to hold you, so how can this Temple that I have built be large enough? 28 Lord my God, I am your servant. Listen to my prayer, and grant the requests I make to you today. 29 Watch over this Temple day and night, this place where you have chosen to be worshiped. Hear me when I face this Temple and pray. 30 Hear my prayers and the prayers of your people when they face this place and pray. In your home in heaven hear us and forgive us. 31 "When a person is accused of wronging another and is brought to your altar in this Temple to take an oath that he is innocent, 32 O Lord, listen in heaven and judge your servants. Punish the guilty one as he deserves, and acquit the one who is innocent. 33 "When your people Israel are defeated by their enemies because they have sinned against you, and then when they turn to you and come to this Temple, humbly praying to you for forgiveness, 34 listen to them in heaven. Forgive the sins of your people and bring them back to the land which you gave to their ancestors. 35 "When you hold back the rain because your people have sinned against you, and then when they repent and face this Temple, humbly praying to you, 36 listen to them in heaven. Forgive the sins of the king and of the people of Israel, and teach them to do what is right. Then, O Lord, send rain on this land of yours, which you gave to your people as a permanent possession. 37 "When there is famine in the land or an epidemic or the crops are destroyed by scorching winds or swarms of locusts, or when your people are attacked by their enemies, or when there is disease or sickness among them, 38 listen to their prayers. If any of your people Israel, out of heartfelt sorrow, stretch out their hands in prayer toward this Temple, 39 hear their prayer. Listen to them in your home in heaven, forgive them, and help them. You alone know the thoughts of the human heart. Deal with each person as he deserves, 40 so that your people may obey you all the time they live in the land which you gave to our ancestors. 41 "When a foreigner who lives in a distant land hears of your fame and of the great things you have done for your people and comes to worship you and to pray at this Temple, 43 listen to his prayer. In heaven, where you live, hear him and do what he asks you to do, so that all the peoples of the world may know you and obey you, as your people Israel do. Then they will know that this Temple I have built is the place where you are to be worshiped. 44 "When you command your people to go into battle against their enemies and they pray to you, wherever they are, facing this city which you have chosen and this Temple which I have built for you, 45 listen to their prayers. Hear them in heaven and give them victory. 46 "When your people sin against you - and there is no one who does not sin - and in your anger you let their enemies defeat them and take them as prisoners to some other land, even if that land is far away, 47 listen to your people's prayers. If there in that land they repent and pray to you, confessing how sinful and wicked they have been, hear their prayers, O Lord. 48 If in that land they truly and sincerely repent and pray to you as they face toward this land which you gave to our ancestors, this city which you have chosen, and this Temple which I have built for you, 49 then listen to their prayers. In your home in heaven hear them and be merciful to them. 50 Forgive all their sins and their rebellion against you, and make their enemies treat them with kindness. 51 They are your own people, whom you brought out of Egypt, that blazing furnace. 52 "Sovereign Lord, may you always look with favor on your people Israel and their king, and hear their prayer whenever they call to you for help. 53 You chose them from all the peoples to be your own people, as you told them through your servant Moses when you brought our ancestors out of Egypt."

1673-1 Kings 8:46 "When your people sin against you - and there is no one who does not sin - and in your anger you let their enemies defeat them and take them as prisoners to some other land, even if that land is far away, 47 listen to your people's prayers. If there in that land they repent and pray to you, confessing how sinful and wicked they have been, hear their prayers, O Lord. 48 If in that land they truly and sincerely repent and pray to you as they face toward this land which you gave to our ancestors, this city which you have chosen, and this Temple which I have built for you, 49 then listen to their prayers. In your home in heaven hear them and be merciful to them. 50 Forgive all their sins and their rebellion against you, and make their enemies treat them with kindness. 51 They are your own people, whom you brought out of Egypt, that blazing furnace.

1674-1 Kings 11:1 Solomon loved many foreign women. Besides the daughter of the king of Egypt he married Hittite women and women from Moab, Ammon, Edom, and Sidon. 2 He married them even though the Lord had commanded the Israelites not to intermarry with these people, because they would cause the Israelites to give their loyalty to other gods. 3 Solomon married seven hundred princesses and also had three hundred concubines. They made him turn away from God, 4 and by the time he was old they had led him into the worship of foreign gods. He was not faithful to the Lord his God, as his father David had been. 5 He worshiped Astarte, the goddess of Sidon, and Molech, the disgusting god of Ammon. 6 He sinned against the Lord and was not true to him as his father David had been. 7 On the mountain east of Jerusalem he built a place to worship Chemosh, the disgusting god of Moab, and a place to worship Molech, the disgusting god of Ammon. 8 He also built places of worship where all his foreign wives could burn incense and offer sacrifices to their own gods. 9 Even though the Lord, the God of Israel, had appeared to Solomon twice and had commanded him not to worship foreign gods, Solomon did not obey the Lord but turned away from him. So the Lord was angry with Solomon 11 and said to him, "Because you have deliberately broken your covenant with me and disobeyed my commands, I promise that I will take the kingdom away from you and give it to one of your officials. 12 However, for the sake of your father David I will not do this in your lifetime, but during the reign of your son. 13 And I will not take the whole kingdom away from him; instead, I will leave him one tribe for the sake of my servant David and for the sake of Jerusalem, the city I have made my own."

1675-Deuteronomy 17:14 "After you have taken possession of the land that the Lord your God is going to give you and have settled there, then you will decide you need a king like all the nations around you. 15 Be sure that the man you choose to be king is the one whom the Lord has chosen. He must be one of your own people; do not make a foreigner your king. 16 The king is not to have a large number of horses for his army, and he is not to send people to Egypt to buy horses, because the Lord has said that his people are never to return there. 17 The king is not to have many wives, because this would make him turn away from the Lord; and he is not to make himself rich with silver and gold. 18 When he becomes king, he is to have a copy of the book of God's laws and teachings made from the original copy kept by the levitical priests. 19 He is to keep this book near him and read from it all his life, so that he will learn to honor the Lord and to obey faithfully everything that is commanded in it. 20 This will keep him from thinking that he is better than other Israelites and from disobeying the Lord's commands in any way. Then he will reign for many years, and his descendants will rule Israel for many generations.

Deuteronomy 27:11 Then Moses said to the people of Israel, 12 "After you have crossed the Jordan, the following tribes are to stand on Mount Gerizim when the blessings are pronounced on the people: Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Joseph, and Benjamin. 13 And the following tribes will stand on Mount Ebal when the curses are pronounced: Reuben, Gad, Asher, Zebulun, Dan, and Naphtali. 14 The Levites will speak these words in a loud voice: 15 " "God's curse on anyone who makes an idol of stone, wood, or metal and secretly worships it; the Lord hates idolatry.' "And all the people will answer, "Amen!' 16 " "God's curse on anyone who dishonors his father or mother.' "And all the people will answer, "Amen!' 17 " "God's curse on anyone who moves a neighbor's property line.' "And all the people will answer, "Amen!' 18 " "God's curse on anyone who leads a blind person in the wrong direction.' "And all the people will answer, "Amen!' 19 " "God's curse on anyone who deprives foreigners, orphans, and widows of their rights.' "And all the people will answer, "Amen!' 20 " "God's curse on anyone who disgraces his father by having intercourse with any of his father's wives.' "And all the people will answer, "Amen!' 21 " "God's curse on anyone who has sexual relations with an animal.' "And all the people will answer, "Amen!' 22 " "God's curse on anyone who has intercourse with his sister or half sister.' "And all the people will answer, "Amen!' 23 " "God's curse on anyone who has intercourse with his mother-in-law.' "And all the people will answer, "Amen!' 24 " "God's curse on anyone who secretly commits murder.' "And all the people will answer, "Amen!' 25 " "God's curse on anyone who accepts money to murder an innocent person.' "And all the people will answer, "Amen!' 26 " "God's curse on anyone who does not obey all of God's laws and teachings.' "And all the people will answer, "Amen!'

Deuteronomy 28:1 "If you obey the Lord your God and faithfully keep all his commands that I am giving you today, he will make you greater than any other nation on earth. 2 Obey the Lord your God and all these blessings will be yours: 3 "The Lord will bless your towns and your fields. 4 "The Lord will bless you with many children, with abundant crops, and with many cattle and sheep. 5 "The Lord will bless your grain crops and the food you prepare from them. 6 "The Lord will bless everything you do. 7 "The Lord will defeat your enemies when they attack you. They will attack from one direction, but they will run from you in all directions. 8 "The Lord your God will bless your work and fill your barns with grain. He will bless you in the land that he is giving you. 9 "If you obey the Lord your God and do everything he commands, he will make you his own people, as he has promised. 10 Then all the peoples on earth will see that the Lord has chosen you to be his own people, and they will be afraid of you. 11 The Lord will give you many children, many cattle, and abundant crops in the land that he promised your ancestors to give you. 12 He will send rain in season from his rich storehouse in the sky and bless all your work, so that you will lend to many nations, but you will not have to borrow from any. 13 The Lord your God will make you the leader among the nations and not a follower; you will always prosper and never fail if you obey faithfully all his commands that I am giving you today. 14 But you must never disobey them in any way, or worship and serve other gods. 15 "But if you disobey the Lord your God and do not faithfully keep all his commands and laws that I am giving you today, all these evil things will happen to you: 16 "The Lord will curse your towns and your fields. 17 "The Lord will curse your grain crops and the food you prepare from them. 18 "The Lord will curse you by giving you only a few children, poor crops, and few cattle and sheep. 19 "The Lord will curse everything you do. 20 "If you do evil and reject the Lord, he will bring on you disaster, confusion, and trouble in everything you do, until you are quickly and completely destroyed. 21 He will send disease after disease on you until there is not one of you left in the land that you are about to occupy. 22 The Lord will strike you with infectious diseases, with swelling and fever; he will send drought and scorching winds to destroy your crops. These disasters will be with you until you die. 23 No rain will fall, and your ground will become as hard as iron. 24 Instead of rain, the Lord will send down duststorms and sandstorms until you are destroyed. 25 "The Lord will give your enemies victory over you. You will attack them from one direction, but you will run from them in all directions, and all the people on earth will be terrified when they see what happens to you. 26 When you die, birds and wild animals will come and eat your bodies, and there will be no one to scare them off. 27 The Lord will send boils on you, as he did on the Egyptians. He will make your bodies break out with sores. You will be covered with scabs, and you will itch, but there will be no cure. 28 The Lord will make you lose your mind; he will strike you with blindness and confusion. 29 You will grope about in broad daylight like someone blind, and you will not be able to find your way. You will not prosper in anything you do. You will be constantly oppressed and robbed, and there will be no one to help you. 30 "You will be engaged to a young woman - but someone else will marry her. You will build a house - but never live in it. You will plant a vineyard - but never eat its grapes. 31 Your cattle will be butchered before your very eyes, but you will not eat any of the meat. Your donkeys will be dragged away while you look on, and they will not be given back to you. Your sheep will be given to your enemies, and there will be no one to help you. 32 Your sons and daughters will be given as slaves to foreigners while you look on. Every day you will strain your eyes, looking in vain for your children to return. 33 A foreign nation will take all the crops that you have worked so hard to grow, while you receive nothing but constant oppression and harsh treatment. 34 Your sufferings will make you lose your mind. 35 The Lord will cover your legs with incurable, painful sores; boils will cover you from head to foot. 36 "The Lord will take you and your king away to a foreign land, where neither you nor your ancestors ever lived before; there you will serve gods made of wood and stone. 37 In the countries to which the Lord will scatter you, the people will be shocked at what has happened to you; they will make fun of you and ridicule you. 38 "You will plant plenty of seed, but reap only a small harvest, because the locusts will eat your crops. 39 You will plant vineyards and take care of them, but you will not gather their grapes or drink wine from them, because worms will eat the vines. 40 Olive trees will grow everywhere in your land, but you will not have any olive oil, because the olives will drop off. 41 You will have sons and daughters, but you will lose them, because they will be taken away as prisoners of war. 42 All your trees and crops will be devoured by insects. 43 "Foreigners who live in your land will gain more and more power, while you gradually lose yours. 44 They will have money to lend you, but you will have none to lend them. In the end they will be your rulers. 45 "All these disasters will come on you, and they will be with you until you are destroyed, because you did not obey the Lord your God and keep all the laws that he gave you. 46 They will be the evidence of God's judgment on you and your descendants forever. 47 The Lord blessed you in every way, but you would not serve him with glad and joyful hearts. 48 So then, you will serve the enemies that the Lord is going to send against you. You will be hungry, thirsty, and naked - in need of everything. The Lord will oppress you harshly until you are destroyed. 49 The Lord will bring against you a nation from the ends of the earth, a nation whose language you do not know. They will swoop down on you like an eagle. 50 They will be ruthless and show no mercy to anyone, young or old. 51 They will eat your livestock and your crops, and you will starve to death. They will not leave you any grain, wine, olive oil, cattle, or sheep; and you will die. 52 They will attack every town in the land that the Lord your God is giving you, and the high, fortified walls in which you trust will fall. 53 "When your enemies are besieging your towns, you will become so desperate for food that you will even eat the children that the Lord your God has given you. 54 Even the most refined man of noble birth will become so desperate during the siege that he will eat some of his own children because he has no other food. He will not even give any to his brother or to the wife he loves or to any of his children who are left. 56 Even the most refined woman of noble birth, so rich that she has never had to walk anywhere, will behave in the same way. When the enemy besieges her town, she will become so desperate for food that she will secretly eat her newborn child and the afterbirth as well. She will not share them with the husband she loves or with any of her children. 58 "If you do not obey faithfully all of God's teachings that are written in this book and if you do not honor the wonderful and awesome name of the Lord your God, 59 he will send on you and on your descendants incurable diseases and horrible epidemics that can never be stopped. 60 He will bring on you once again all the dreadful diseases you experienced in Egypt, and you will never recover. 61 He will also send all kinds of diseases and epidemics that are not mentioned in this book of God's laws and teachings, and you will be destroyed. 62 Although you become as numerous as the stars in the sky, only a few of you will survive, because you did not obey the Lord your God. 63 Just as the Lord took delight in making you prosper and in making you increase in number, so he will take delight in destroying you and in bringing ruin on you. You will be uprooted from the land that you are about to occupy. 64 "The Lord will scatter you among all the nations, from one end of the earth to the other, and there you will serve gods made of wood and stone, gods that neither you nor your ancestors have ever worshiped before. 65 You will find no peace anywhere, no place to call your own; the Lord will overwhelm you with anxiety, hopelessness, and despair. 66 Your life will always be in danger. Day and night you will be filled with terror, and you will live in constant fear of death.

Deuteronomy 29:1 These are the terms of the covenant that the Lord commanded Moses to make with the people of Israel in the land of Moab; all this was in addition to the covenant which the Lord had made with them at Mount Sinai. 2 Moses called together all the people of Israel and said to them, "You saw for yourselves what the Lord did to the king of Egypt, to his officials, and to his entire country. 3 You saw the terrible plagues, the miracles, and the great wonders that the Lord performed. 4 But to this very day he has not let you understand what you have experienced. 5 For forty years the Lord led you through the desert, and your clothes and sandals never wore out. 6 You did not have bread to eat or wine or beer to drink, but the Lord provided for your needs in order to teach you that he is your God. 7 And when we came to this place, King Sihon of Heshbon and King Og of Bashan came out to fight against us. But we defeated them, 8 took their land, and divided it among the tribes of Reuben and Gad, and half the tribe of Manasseh. 9 Obey faithfully all the terms of this covenant, so that you will be successful in everything you do. 10 "Today you are standing in the presence of the Lord your God, all of you - your leaders and officials, your men, 11 women, and children, and the foreigners who live among you and cut wood and carry water for you. 12 You are here today to enter into this covenant that the Lord your God is making with you and to accept its obligations, 13 so that the Lord may now confirm you as his people and be your God, as he promised you and your ancestors, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. 14 You are not the only ones with whom the Lord is making this covenant with its obligations. 15 He is making it with all of us who stand here in his presence today and also with our descendants who are not yet born. 16 "You remember what life was like in Egypt and what it was like to travel through the territory of other nations. 17 You saw their disgusting idols made of wood, stone, silver, and gold. 18 Make sure that no man, woman, family, or tribe standing here today turns from the Lord our God to worship the gods of other nations. This would be like a root that grows to be a bitter and poisonous plant. 19 Make sure that there is no one here today who hears these solemn demands and yet convinces himself that all will be well with him, even if he stubbornly goes his own way. That would destroy all of you, good and evil alike. 20 The Lord will not forgive such a man. Instead, the Lord's burning anger will flame up against him, and all the disasters written in this book will fall on him until the Lord has destroyed him completely. 21 The Lord will make an example of him before all the tribes of Israel and will bring disaster on him in accordance with all the curses listed in the covenant that is written in this book of the Lord's teachings. 22 "In future generations your descendants and foreigners from distant lands will see the disasters and sufferings that the Lord has brought on your land. 23 The fields will be a barren waste, covered with sulfur and salt; nothing will be planted, and not even weeds will grow there. Your land will be like the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, of Admah and Zeboiim, which the Lord destroyed when he was furiously angry. 24 Then the whole world will ask, "Why did the Lord do this to their land? What was the reason for his fierce anger?' 25 And the answer will be, "It is because the Lord's people broke the covenant they had made with him, the God of their ancestors, when he brought them out of Egypt. 26 They served other gods that they had never worshiped before, gods that the Lord had forbidden them to worship. 27 And so the Lord became angry with his people and brought on their land all the disasters written in this book. 28 The Lord became furiously angry, and in his great anger he uprooted them from their land and threw them into a foreign land, and there they are today.' 29 "There are some things that the Lord our God has kept secret; but he has revealed his Law, and we and our descendants are to obey it forever.

Deuteronomy 31:17 When that happens, I will become angry with them; I will abandon them, and they will be destroyed. Many terrible disasters will come upon them, and then they will realize that these things are happening to them because I, their God, am no longer with them. 18 And I will refuse to help them then, because they have done evil and worshiped other gods

1676-1 Kings 8:35 "When you hold back the rain because your people have sinned against you, and then when they repent and face this Temple, humbly praying to you,

1677-Matthew 5:45 so that you may become the children of your Father in heaven. For he makes his sun to shine on bad and good people alike, and gives rain to those who do good and to those who do evil.

1678-1 Kings 8:41 "When a foreigner who lives in a distant land hears of your fame and of the great things you have done for your people and comes to worship you and to pray at this Temple, 43 listen to his prayer. In heaven, where you live, hear him and do what he asks you to do, so that all the peoples of the world may know you and obey you, as your people Israel do. Then they will know that this Temple I have built is the place where you are to be worshiped.

1679-Leviticus 24:22 This law applies to all of you, to Israelites and to foreigners living among you, because I am the Lord your God."

1680-Numbers 9:14; 15:15,30; 35:1514 "If foreigners living among you want to keep the Passover, they must observe it according to all the rules and regulations. The same law applies to everyone, whether native or foreigner."

Numbers 15:15 For all time to come, the same rules are binding on you and on the foreigners who live among you. You and they are alike in the Lord's sight;

Numbers 15:30 But any who sin deliberately, whether they are natives or foreigners, are guilty of treating the Lord with contempt, and they shall be put to death,

Numbers 35:15 These will serve as cities of refuge for Israelites and for foreigners who are temporary or permanent residents. Anyone who kills someone accidentally can escape to one of them.

1681-Deuteronomy 10:17 The Lord your God is supreme over all gods and over all powers. He is great and mighty, and he is to be obeyed. He does not show partiality, and he does not accept bribes. 18 He makes sure that orphans and widows are treated fairly; he loves the foreigners who live with our people, and gives them food and clothes. 19 So then, show love for those foreigners, because you were once foreigners in Egypt.

Deuteronomy 14:29 This food is for the Levites, since they own no property, and for the foreigners, orphans, and widows who live in your towns. They are to come and get all they need. Do this, and the Lord your God will bless you in everything you do.

Deuteronomy 16:11 Be joyful in the Lord's presence, together with your children, your servants, and the Levites, foreigners, orphans, and widows who live in your towns. Do this at the one place of worship.

Deuteronomy 16:14 Enjoy it with your children, your servants, and the Levites, foreigners, orphans, and widows who live in your towns.

Deuteronomy 23:7 "Do not despise the Edomites; they are your relatives. And do not despise the Egyptians; you once lived in their land. 8 From the third generation onward their descendants may be included among the Lord's people.

Deuteronomy 24:17 "Do not deprive foreigners and orphans of their rights; and do not take a widow's garment as security for a loan. 18 Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and that the Lord your God set you free; that is why I have given you this command. 19 "When you gather your crops and fail to bring in some of the grain that you have cut, do not go back for it; it is to be left for the foreigners, orphans, and widows, so that the Lord your God will bless you in everything you do. 20 When you have picked your olives once, do not go back and get those that are left; they are for the foreigners, orphans, and widows. 21 When you have gathered your grapes once, do not go back over the vines a second time; the grapes that are left are for the foreigners, orphans, and widows. 22 Never forget that you were slaves in Egypt; that is why I have given you this command.

Deuteronomy 26:11 Be grateful for the good things that the Lord your God has given you and your family; and let the Levites and the foreigners who live among you join in the celebration. 12 "Every third year give the tithe - a tenth of your crops - to the Levites, the foreigners, the orphans, and the widows, so that in every community they will have all they need to eat. When you have done this, 13 say to the Lord, "None of the sacred tithe is left in my house; I have given it to the Levites, the foreigners, the orphans, and the widows, as you commanded me to do. I have not disobeyed or forgotten any of your commands concerning the tithe.

Deuteronomy 27:19 " "God's curse on anyone who deprives foreigners, orphans, and widows of their rights.' "And all the people will answer, "Amen!'

Deuteronomy 29:11 women, and children, and the foreigners who live among you and cut wood and carry water for you.

Deuteronomy 31:12 Call together all the men, women, and children, and the foreigners who live in your towns, so that everyone may hear it and learn to honor the Lord your God and to obey his teachings faithfully.

1682-1 Kings 11:9 Even though the Lord, the God of Israel, had appeared to Solomon twice and had commanded him not to worship foreign gods, Solomon did not obey the Lord but turned away from him. So the Lord was angry with Solomon

1683-Deuteronomy 31:16 The Lord said to Moses, "You will soon die, and after your death the people will become unfaithful to me and break the covenant that I made with them. They will abandon me and worship the pagan gods of the land they are about to enter. 17 When that happens, I will become angry with them; I will abandon them, and they will be destroyed. Many terrible disasters will come upon them, and then they will realize that these things are happening to them because I, their God, am no longer with them. 18 And I will refuse to help them then, because they have done evil and worshiped other gods.

1684-1 Kings 11:31 and said to Jeroboam, "Take ten pieces for yourself, because the Lord, the God of Israel, says to you, "I am going to take the kingdom away from Solomon, and I will give you ten tribes.

1685-1 Kings 11:38 If you obey me completely, live by my laws, and win my approval by doing what I command, as my servant David did, I will always be with you. I will make you king of Israel and will make sure that your descendants rule after you, just as I have done for David.

1686-1 Kings 13:1 At the Lord's command a prophet from Judah went to Bethel and arrived there as Jeroboam stood at the altar to offer the sacrifice. 2 Following the Lord's command, the prophet denounced the altar: "O altar, altar, this is what the Lord says: A child, whose name will be Josiah, will be born to the family of David. He will slaughter on you the priests serving at the pagan altars who offer sacrifices on you, and he will burn human bones on you." 3 And the prophet went on to say, "This altar will fall apart, and the ashes on it will be scattered. Then you will know that the Lord has spoken through me." 4 When King Jeroboam heard this, he pointed at him and ordered, "Seize that man!" At once the king's arm became paralyzed so that he couldn't pull it back. 5 The altar suddenly fell apart and the ashes spilled to the ground, as the prophet had predicted in the name of the Lord. 6 King Jeroboam said to the prophet, "Please pray for me to the Lord your God, and ask him to heal my arm!" The prophet prayed to the Lord, and the king's arm was healed. 7 Then the king said to the prophet, "Come home with me and have something to eat. I will reward you for what you have done." 8 The prophet answered, "Even if you gave me half of your wealth, I would not go with you or eat or drink anything with you. 9 The Lord has commanded me not to eat or drink a thing, and not to return home the same way I came." 10 So he did not go back the same way he had come, but by another road. 11 At that time there was an old prophet living in Bethel. His sons came and told him what the prophet from Judah had done in Bethel that day and what he had said to King Jeroboam. 12 "Which way did he go when he left?" the old prophet asked them. They showed him the road 13 and he told them to saddle his donkey for him. They did so, and he rode off 14 down the road after the prophet from Judah and found him sitting under an oak tree. "Are you the prophet from Judah?" he asked. "I am," the man answered. 15 "Come home and have a meal with me," he said. 16 But the prophet from Judah answered, "I can't go home with you or accept your hospitality. And I won't eat or drink anything with you here, 17 because the Lord has commanded me not to eat or drink a thing, and not to return home the same way I came." 18 Then the old prophet from Bethel said to him, "I, too, am a prophet just like you, and at the Lord's command an angel told me to take you home with me and offer you my hospitality." But the old prophet was lying. 19 So the prophet from Judah went home with the old prophet and had a meal with him. 20 As they were sitting at the table, the word of the Lord came to the old prophet, 21 and he cried out to the prophet from Judah, "The Lord says that you disobeyed him and did not do what he commanded. 22 Instead, you returned and ate a meal in a place he had ordered you not to eat in. Because of this you will be killed, and your body will not be buried in your family grave." 23 After they had finished eating, the old prophet saddled the donkey for the prophet from Judah, 24 who rode off. On the way a lion met him and killed him. His body lay on the road, and the donkey and the lion stood beside it. 25 Some men passed by and saw the body on the road, with the lion standing near by. They went on into Bethel and reported what they had seen. 26 When the old prophet heard about it, he said, "That is the prophet who disobeyed the Lord's command! And so the Lord sent the lion to attack and kill him, just as the Lord said he would." 27 Then he said to his sons, "Saddle my donkey for me." They did so, 28 and he rode off and found the prophet's body lying on the road, with the donkey and the lion still standing by it. The lion had not eaten the body or attacked the donkey. 29 The old prophet picked up the body, put it on the donkey, and brought it back to Bethel to mourn over it and bury it. 30 He buried it in his own family grave, and he and his sons mourned over it, saying, "Oh my brother, my brother!" 31 After the burial the prophet said to his sons, "When I die, bury me in this grave and lay my body next to his. 32 The words that he spoke at the Lord's command against the altar in Bethel and against all the places of worship in the towns of Samaria will surely come true." 33 King Jeroboam of Israel still did not turn from his evil ways but continued to choose priests from ordinary families to serve at the altars he had built. He ordained as priest anyone who wanted to be one. 34 This sin on his part brought about the ruin and total destruction of his dynasty.

1687-1 Kings 13:20 As they were sitting at the table, the word of the Lord came to the old prophet, 21 and he cried out to the prophet from Judah, "The Lord says that you disobeyed him and did not do what he commanded. 22 Instead, you returned and ate a meal in a place he had ordered you not to eat in. Because of this you will be killed, and your body will not be buried in your family grave."

1688-1 Kings 13:8 The prophet answered, "Even if you gave me half of your wealth, I would not go with you or eat or drink anything with you. 9 The Lord has commanded me not to eat or drink a thing, and not to return home the same way I came."

1 Kings 13:16 But the prophet from Judah answered, "I can't go home with you or accept your hospitality. And I won't eat or drink anything with you here, 17 because the Lord has commanded me not to eat or drink a thing, and not to return home the same way I came."

1689-1 Kings 13:33 King Jeroboam of Israel still did not turn from his evil ways but continued to choose priests from ordinary families to serve at the altars he had built. He ordained as priest anyone who wanted to be one.

1690-Genesis 12:8 After that, he moved on south to the hill country east of the city of Bethel and set up his camp between Bethel on the west and Ai on the east. There also he built an altar and worshiped the Lord.

Genesis 13:3 Then he left there and moved from place to place, going toward Bethel. He reached the place between Bethel and Ai where he had camped before

1691-Genesis 28:10 Jacob left Beersheba and started toward Haran. 11 At sunset he came to a holy place and camped there. He lay down to sleep, resting his head on a stone. 12 He dreamed that he saw a stairway reaching from earth to heaven, with angels going up and coming down on it. 13 And there was the Lord standing beside him. "I am the Lord, the God of Abraham and Isaac," he said. "I will give to you and to your descendants this land on which you are lying. 14 They will be as numerous as the specks of dust on the earth. They will extend their territory in all directions, and through you and your descendants I will bless all the nations. 15 Remember, I will be with you and protect you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done all that I have promised you." 16 Jacob woke up and said, "The Lord is here! He is in this place, and I didn't know it!" 17 He was afraid and said, "What a terrifying place this is! It must be the house of God; it must be the gate that opens into heaven." 18 Jacob got up early next morning, took the stone that was under his head, and set it up as a memorial. Then he poured olive oil on it to dedicate it to God. 19 He named the place Bethel. (The town there was once known as Luz.) 20 Then Jacob made a vow to the Lord: "If you will be with me and protect me on the journey I am making and give me food and clothing, 21 and if I return safely to my father's home, then you will be my God. 22 This memorial stone which I have set up will be the place where you are worshiped, and I will give you a tenth of everything you give me."

1692-Hosea 4:15 "Even though you people of Israel are unfaithful to me, may Judah not be guilty of the same thing. Don't worship at Gilgal or Bethaven, or make promises there in the name of the living Lord.

Hosea 5:8 Blow the war trumpets in Gibeah! Sound the alarm in Ramah! Raise the war cry at Bethaven! Into battle, men of Benjamin!

Hosea 10:5 The people who live in the city of Samaria will be afraid and will mourn the loss of the gold bull at Bethaven. They and the priests who serve the idol will weep over it. They will wail when it is stripped of its golden splendor.

1693-1 Kings 20:35 At the Lord's command a member of a group of prophets ordered a fellow prophet to hit him. But he refused,

1694-1 Samuel 10:5 Then you will go to the Hill of God in Gibeah, where there is a Philistine camp. At the entrance to the town you will meet a group of prophets coming down from the altar on the hill, playing harps, drums, flutes, and lyres. They will be dancing and shouting. 6 Suddenly the spirit of the Lord will take control of you, and you will join in their religious dancing and shouting and will become a different person. 7 When these things happen, do whatever God leads you to do. 8 You will go ahead of me to Gilgal, where I will meet you and offer burnt sacrifices and fellowship sacrifices. Wait there seven days until I come and tell you what to do." 9 When Saul turned to leave Samuel, God gave Saul a new nature. And everything Samuel had told him happened that day. 10 When Saul and his servant arrived at Gibeah, a group of prophets met him. Suddenly the spirit of God took control of him, and he joined in their ecstatic dancing and shouting. 11 People who had known him before saw him doing this and asked one another, "What has happened to the son of Kish? Has Saul become a prophet?" 12 A man who lived there asked, "How about these other prophets - who do you think their fathers are?" This is how the saying originated, "Has even Saul become a prophet?" 13 When Saul finished his ecstatic dancing and shouting, he went to the altar on the hill.

1695-1 Samuel 19:20 so he sent some men to arrest him. They saw the group of prophets dancing and shouting, with Samuel as their leader. Then the spirit of God took control of Saul's men, and they also began to dance and shout.

1 Samuel 19:24 He took off his clothes and danced and shouted in Samuel's presence, and lay naked all that day and all that night. (This is how the saying originated, "Has even Saul become a prophet?")

1696-1 Kings 20:35 At the Lord's command a member of a group of prophets ordered a fellow prophet to hit him. But he refused,

1697-1 Kings 20:3 you surrender to him your silver and gold, your women and the strongest of your children."

1 Kings 20:5 Later the messengers came back to Ahab with another demand from Benhadad: "I sent you word that you were to hand over to me your silver and gold, your women and your children.

1 Kings 20:7 King Ahab called in all the leaders of the country and said, "You see that this man wants to ruin us. He sent me a message demanding my wives and children, my silver and gold, and I agreed."

1 Kings 20:15 So the king called out the young soldiers who were under the district commanders, 232 in all. Then he called out the Israelite army, a total of seven thousand men.

1 Kings 4:1 Solomon was king of all Israel,

1 Kings 6:1 Four hundred and eighty years after the people of Israel left Egypt, during the fourth year of Solomon's reign over Israel, in the second month, the month of Ziv, Solomon began work on the Temple.

1 Kings 9:1 After King Solomon had finished building the Temple and the palace and everything else he wanted to build,

1698-1 Kings 22:22 "How?' the Lord asked. The spirit replied, "I will go and make all of Ahab's prophets tell lies.' The Lord said, "Go and deceive him. You will succeed.' " 23 And Micaiah concluded: "This is what has happened. The Lord has made these prophets of yours lie to you. But he himself has decreed that you will meet with disaster!" 24 Then the prophet Zedekiah went up to Micaiah, slapped his face, and asked, "Since when did the Lord's spirit leave me and speak to you?" 25 "You will find out when you go into some back room to hide," Micaiah replied.

1699-2 Chronicles 18:21 The spirit replied, "I will go and make all of Ahab's prophets tell lies.' The Lord said, "Go and deceive him. You will succeed.' " 22 And Micaiah concluded: "This is what has happened. The Lord has made these prophets of yours lie to you. But he himself has decreed that you will meet with disaster!" 23 Then the prophet Zedekiah went up to Micaiah, slapped his face, and asked, "Since when did the Lord's spirit leave me and speak to you?" 24 "You will find out when you go into some back room to hide," Micaiah replied.

1700-Jeremiah 14:14 But the Lord replied, "The prophets are telling lies in my name; I did not send them, nor did I give them any orders or speak one word to them. The visions they talk about have not come from me; their predictions are worthless things that they have imagined. 15 I, the Lord, tell you what I am going to do to those prophets whom I did not send but who speak in my name and say war and starvation will not strike this land - I will kill them in war and by starvation. 16 The people to whom they have said these things will be killed in the same way. Their bodies will be thrown out into the streets of Jerusalem, and there will be no one to bury them. This will happen to all of them - including their wives, their sons, and their daughters. I will make them pay for their wickedness."

Jeremiah 23:11 The Lord says, "The prophets and the priests are godless; I have caught them doing evil in the Temple itself. 12 The paths they follow will be slippery and dark; I will make them stumble and fall. I am going to bring disaster on them; the time of their punishment is coming. I, the Lord, have spoken. 13 I have seen the sin of Samaria's prophets: they have spoken in the name of Baal and have led my people astray. 14 But I have seen the prophets in Jerusalem do even worse: they commit adultery and tell lies; they help people to do wrong, so that no one stops doing what is evil. To me they are all as bad as the people of Sodom and Gomorrah. 15 "So then, this is what I, the Lord Almighty, say about the prophets of Jerusalem: I will give them bitter plants to eat and poison to drink, because they have spread ungodliness throughout the land." 16 The Lord Almighty said to the people of Jerusalem, "Do not listen to what the prophets say; they are filling you with false hopes. They tell you what they have imagined and not what I have said. 17 To the people who refuse to listen to what I have said, they keep saying that all will go well with them. And they tell everyone who is stubborn that disaster will never touch them." 18 I said, "None of these prophets has ever known the Lord's secret thoughts. None of them has ever heard or understood his message, or ever listened or paid attention to what he said. 19 His anger is a storm, a furious wind that will rage over the heads of the wicked, 20 and it will not end until he has done everything he intends to do. In days to come his people will understand this clearly." 21 The Lord said, "I did not send these prophets, but even so they went. I did not give them any message, but still they spoke in my name. 22 If they had known my secret thoughts, then they could have proclaimed my message to my people and could have made them give up the evil lives they live and the wicked things they do. 23 "I am a God who is everywhere and not in one place only. 24 No one can hide where I cannot see them. Do you not know that I am everywhere in heaven and on earth? 25 I know what those prophets have said who speak lies in my name and claim that I have given them my messages in their dreams. 26 How much longer will those prophets mislead my people with the lies they have invented? 27 They think that the dreams they tell will make my people forget me, just as their ancestors forgot me and turned to Baal. 28 The prophet who has had a dream should say it is only a dream, but the prophet who has heard my message should proclaim that message faithfully. What good is straw compared with wheat? 29 My message is like a fire and like a hammer that breaks rocks in pieces. 30 I am against those prophets who take each other's words and proclaim them as my message. 31 I am also against those prophets who speak their own words and claim they came from me. 32 Listen to what I, the Lord, say! I am against the prophets who tell their dreams that are full of lies. They tell these dreams and lead my people astray with their lies and their boasting. I did not send them or order them to go, and they are of no help at all to the people. I, the Lord, have spoken."

14 Do not listen to the prophets who tell you not to surrender to him. They are deceiving you.

Jeremiah 27:16 Then I told the priests and the people that the Lord had said: "Do not listen to the prophets who say that the Temple treasures will soon be brought back from Babylonia. They are lying to you.

Jeremiah 28:1 In that same year, at the beginning of the reign of Zedeki'ah king of Judah, in the fifth month of the fourth year, Hanani'ah the son of Azzur, the prophet from Gibeon, spoke to me in the house of the LORD, in the presence of the priests and all the people, saying, 2 "Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: I have broken the yoke of the king of Babylon. 3 Within two years I will bring back to this place all the vessels of the LORD's house, which Nebuchadnez'zar king of Babylon took away from this place and carried to Babylon. 4 I will also bring back to this place Jeconi'ah the son of Jehoi'akim, king of Judah, and all the exiles from Judah who went to Babylon, says the LORD, for I will break the yoke of the king of Babylon." 5 Then the prophet Jeremiah spoke to Hanani'ah the prophet in the presence of the priests and all the people who were standing in the house of the LORD; 6 and the prophet Jeremiah said, "Amen! May the LORD do so; may the LORD make the words which you have prophesied come true, and bring back to this place from Babylon the vessels of the house of the LORD, and all the exiles. 7 Yet hear now this word which I speak in your hearing and in the hearing of all the people. 8 The prophets who preceded you and me from ancient times prophesied war, famine, and pestilence against many countries and great kingdoms. 9 As for the prophet who prophesies peace, when the word of that prophet comes to pass, then it will be known that the LORD has truly sent the prophet." 10 Then the prophet Hanani'ah took the yoke-bars from the neck of Jeremiah the prophet, and broke them. 11 And Hanani'ah spoke in the presence of all the people, saying, "Thus says the LORD: Even so will I break the yoke of Nebuchadnez'zar king of Babylon from the neck of all the nations within two years." But Jeremiah the prophet went his way. 12 Sometime after the prophet Hanani'ah had broken the yoke-bars from off the neck of Jeremiah the prophet, the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah: 13 "Go, tell Hanani'ah, 'Thus says the LORD: You have broken wooden bars, but I will make in their place bars of iron. 14 For thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: I have put upon the neck of all these nations an iron yoke of servitude to Nebuchadnez'zar king of Babylon, and they shall serve him, for I have given to him even the beasts of the field.'" 15 And Jeremiah the prophet said to the prophet Hanani'ah, "Listen, Hanani'ah, the LORD has not sent you, and you have made this people trust in a lie. 16 Therefore thus says the LORD: 'Behold, I will remove you from the face of the earth. This very year you shall die, because you have uttered rebellion against the LORD.'" 17 In that same year, in the seventh month, the prophet Hanani'ah died.

1701-Ezekiel 13:1 The word of the LORD came to me: 2 "Son of man, prophesy against the prophets of Israel, prophesy and say to those who prophesy out of their own minds: 'Hear the word of the LORD!' 3 Thus says the Lord GOD, Woe to the foolish prophets who follow their own spirit, and have seen nothing! 4 Your prophets have been like foxes among ruins, O Israel. 5 You have not gone up into the breaches, or built up a wall for the house of Israel, that it might stand in battle in the day of the LORD. 6 They have spoken falsehood and divined a lie; they say, 'Says the LORD,' when the LORD has not sent them, and yet they expect him to fulfil their word. 7 Have you not seen a delusive vision, and uttered a lying divination, whenever you have said, 'Says the LORD,' although I have not spoken?" 8 Therefore thus says the Lord God: "Because you have uttered delusions and seen lies, therefore behold, I am against you, says the Lord GOD. 9 My hand will be against the prophets who see delusive visions and who give lying divinations; they shall not be in the council of my people, nor be enrolled in the register of the house of Israel, nor shall they enter the land of Israel; and you shall know that I am the Lord GOD. 10 Because, yea, because they have misled my people, saying, 'Peace,' when there is no peace; and because, when the people build a wall, these prophets daub it with whitewash; 11 say to those who daub it with whitewash that it shall fall! There will be a deluge of rain, great hailstones will fall, and a stormy wind break out; 12 and when the wall falls, will it not be said to you, 'Where is the daubing with which you daubed it?' 13 Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: I will make a stormy wind break out in my wrath; and there shall be a deluge of rain in my anger, and great hailstones in wrath to destroy it. 14 And I will break down the wall that you have daubed with whitewash, and bring it down to the ground, so that its foundation will be laid bare; when it falls, you shall perish in the midst of it; and you shall know that I am the LORD. 15 Thus will I spend my wrath upon the wall, and upon those who have daubed it with whitewash; and I will say to you, The wall is no more, nor those who daubed it, 16 the prophets of Israel who prophesied concerning Jerusalem and saw visions of peace for her, when there was no peace, says the Lord GOD. 17 "And you, son of man, set your face against the daughters of your people, who prophesy out of their own minds; prophesy against them 18 and say, Thus says the Lord GOD: Woe to the women who sew magic bands upon all wrists, and make veils for the heads of persons of every stature, in the hunt for souls! Will you hunt down souls belonging to my people, and keep other souls alive for your profit? 19 You have profaned me among my people for handfuls of barley and for pieces of bread, putting to death persons who should not die and keeping alive persons who should not live, by your lies to my people, who listen to lies. 20 "Wherefore thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I am against your magic bands with which you hunt the souls, and I will tear them from your arms; and I will let the souls that you hunt go free like birds. 21 Your veils also I will tear off, and deliver my people out of your hand, and they shall be no more in your hand as prey; and you shall know that I am the LORD. 22 Because you have disheartened the righteous falsely, although I have not disheartened him, and you have encouraged the wicked, that he should not turn from his wicked way to save his life; 23 therefore you shall no more see delusive visions nor practice divination; I will deliver my people out of your hand. Then you will know that I am the LORD."

1702-Micah 3:11 Its heads give judgment for a bribe, its priests teach for hire, its prophets divine for money; yet they lean upon the LORD and say, "Is not the LORD in the midst of us? No evil shall come upon us."

1703-Jeremiah 14:14 And the LORD said to me: "The prophets are prophesying lies in my name; I did not send them, nor did I command them or speak to them. They are prophesying to you a lying vision, worthless divination, and the deceit of their own minds. 15 Therefore thus says the LORD concerning the prophets who prophesy in my name although I did not send them, and who say, 'Sword and famine shall not come on this land': By sword and famine those prophets shall be consumed. 16 And the people to whom they prophesy shall be cast out in the streets of Jerusalem, victims of famine and sword, with none to bury them--them, their wives, their sons, and their daughters. For I will pour out their wickedness upon them.

Jeremiah 27:14 Do not listen to the words of the prophets who are saying to you, 'You shall not serve the king of Babylon,' for it is a lie which they are prophesying to you.

Jeremiah 27:16 Then I spoke to the priests and to all this people, saying, "Thus says the LORD: Do not listen to the words of your prophets who are prophesying to you, saying, 'Behold, the vessels of the LORD's house will now shortly be brought back from Babylon,' for it is a lie which they are prophesying to you.

Jeremiah 28:15 And Jeremiah the prophet said to the prophet Hanani'ah, "Listen, Hanani'ah, the LORD has not sent you, and you have made this people trust in a lie. 16 Therefore thus says the LORD: 'Behold, I will remove you from the face of the earth. This very year you shall die, because you have uttered rebellion against the LORD.'" 17 In that same year, in the seventh month, the prophet Hanani'ah died.

1704-1 Kings 22:22 And the LORD said to him, 'By what means?' And he said, 'I will go forth, and will be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets.' And he said, 'You are to entice him, and you shall succeed; go forth and do so.' 23 Now therefore behold, the LORD has put a lying spirit in the mouth of all these your prophets; the LORD has spoken evil concerning you." 24 Then Zedeki'ah the son of Chena'anah came near and struck Micai'ah on the cheek, and said, "How did the Spirit of the LORD go from me to speak to you?" 25 And Micai'ah said, "Behold, you shall see on that day when you go into an inner chamber to hide yourself."

1705-2 Chronicles 18:21 And he said, 'I will go forth, and will be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets.' And he said, 'You are to entice him, and you shall succeed; go forth and do so.' 22 Now therefore behold, the LORD has put a lying spirit in the mouth of these your prophets; the LORD has spoken evil concerning you." 23 Then Zedeki'ah the son of Chena'anah came near and struck Micai'ah on the cheek, and said, "Which way did the Spirit of the LORD go from me to speak to you?" 24 And Micai'ah said, "Behold, you shall see on that day when you go into an inner chamber to hide yourself."

1706-Ezekiel 13:9 My hand will be against the prophets who see delusive visions and who give lying divinations; they shall not be in the council of my people, nor be enrolled in the register of the house of Israel, nor shall they enter the land of Israel; and you shall know that I am the Lord GOD.

1707-1 Kings 18:19 Now therefore send and gather all Israel to me at Mount Carmel, and the four hundred and fifty prophets of Ba'al and the four hundred prophets of Ashe'rah, who eat at Jez'ebel's table."

1708-Deuteronomy 13:1 "If a prophet arises among you, or a dreamer of dreams, and gives you a sign or a wonder, 2 and the sign or wonder which he tells you comes to pass, and if he says, 'Let us go after other gods,' which you have not known, 'and let us serve them,' 3 you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or to that dreamer of dreams; for the LORD your God is testing you, to know whether you love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul.

1709-Matthew 24:5 For many will come in my name, saying, 'I am the Christ,' and they will lead many astray.

Matthew 24:23 Then if any one says to you, 'Lo, here is the Christ!' or 'There he is!' do not believe it. 24 For false Christs and false prophets will arise and show great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect. 25 Lo, I have told you beforehand. 26 So, if they say to you, 'Lo, he is in the wilderness,' do not go out; if they say, 'Lo, he is in the inner rooms,' do not believe it.

1710-Mark 13:6 Many will come in my name, saying, 'I am he!' and they will lead many astray.

Mark 13:21 And then if any one says to you, 'Look, here is the Christ!' or'Look, there he is!' do not believe it. 22 False Christs and false prophets will arise and show signs and wonders, to lead astray, if possible, the elect. 23 But take heed; I have told you all things beforehand.

1711-Luke 21:8 And he said, "Take heed that you are not led astray; for many will come in my name, saying, 'I am he!' and, 'The time is at hand!' Do not go after them.

1712-Revelation 13:11 Then I saw another beast which rose out of the earth; it had two horns like a lamb and it spoke like a dragon. 12 It exercises all the authority of the first beast in its presence, and makes the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast, whose mortal wound was healed. 13 It works great signs, even making fire come down from heaven to earth in the sight of men; 14 and by the signs which it is allowed to work in the presence of the beast, it deceives those who dwell on earth, bidding them make an image for the beast which was wounded by the sword and yet lived; 15 and it was allowed to give breath to the image of the beast so that the image of the beast should even speak, and to cause those who would not worship the image of the beast to be slain. 16 Also it causes all, both small and great, both rich and poor, both free and slave, to be marked on the right hand or the forehead, 17 so that no one can buy or sell unless he has the mark, that is, the name of the beast or the number of its name.

1713-2 Corinthians 11:14 And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light.

1714-1 Kings 20:35 And a certain man of the sons of the prophets said to his fellow at the command of the LORD, "Strike me, I pray." But the man refused to strike him. 36 Then he said to him, "Because you have not obeyed the voice of the LORD, behold, as soon as you have gone from me, a lion shall kill you." And as soon as he had departed from him, a lion met him and killed him. 37 Then he found another man, and said, "Strike me, I pray." And the man struck him, smiting and wounding him. 38 So the prophet departed, and waited for the king by the way, disguising himself with a bandage over his eyes. 39 And as the king passed, he cried to the king and said, "Your servant went out into the midst of the battle; and behold, a soldier turned and brought a man to me, and said, 'Keep this man; if by any means he be missing, your life shall be for his life, or else you shall pay a talent of silver.' 40 And as your servant was busy here and there, he was gone." The king of Israel said to him, "So shall your judgment be; you yourself have decided it." 41 Then he made haste to take the bandage away from his eyes; and the king of Israel recognized him as one of the prophets. 42 And he said to him, "Thus says the LORD, 'Because you have let go out of your hand the man whom I had devoted to destruction, therefore your life shall go for his life, and your people for his people.'" 43 And the king of Israel went to his house resentful and sullen, and came to Sama'ria.

1715-Genesis 3:1 Now the serpent was more subtle than any other wild creature that the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, "Did God say, 'You shall not eat of any tree of the garden'?" 2 And the woman said to the serpent, "We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden; 3 but God said, 'You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.'" 4 But the serpent said to the woman, "You will not die. 5 For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." 6 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate; and she also gave some to her husband, and he ate. 7 Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves aprons. 8 And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden. 9 But the LORD God called to the man, and said to him, "Where are you?" 10 And he said, "I heard the sound of thee in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself." 11 He said, "Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?" 12 The man said, "The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate." 13 Then the LORD God said to the woman, "What is this that you have done?" The woman said, "The serpent beguiled me, and I ate."

1716-Hebrews 5:11 About this we have much to say which is hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing. 12 For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need some one to teach you again the first principles of God's word. You need milk, not solid food; 13 for every one who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is a child. 14 But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their faculties trained by practice to distinguish good from evil.

Hebrews 6:1 Therefore let us leave the elementary doctrine of Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, 2 with instruction about ablutions, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. 3 And this we will do if God permits.

1717-Ephesians 4:13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ; 14 so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the cunning of men, by their craftiness in deceitful wiles. 15 Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ,

1718-1 John 4:1 Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are of God; for many false prophets have gone out into the world.

1719-1 Kings 13:1 And behold, a man of God came out of Judah by the word of the LORD to Bethel. Jerobo'am was standing by the altar to burn incense. 2 And the man cried against the altar by the word of the LORD, and said, "O altar, altar, thus says the LORD: 'Behold, a son shall be born to the house of David, Josi'ah by name; and he shall sacrifice upon you the priests of the high places who burn incense upon you, and men's bones shall be burned upon you.'" 3 And he gave a sign the same day, saying, "This is the sign that the LORD has spoken: 'Behold, the altar shall be torn down, and the ashes that are upon it shall be poured out.'" 4 And when the king heard the saying of the man of God, which he cried against the altar at Bethel, Jerobo'am stretched out his hand from the altar, saying, "Lay hold of him." And his hand, which he stretched out against him, dried up, so that he could not draw it back to himself. 5 The altar also was torn down, and the ashes poured out from the altar, according to the sign which the man of God had given by the word of the LORD. 6 And the king said to the man of God, "Entreat now the favor of the LORD your God, and pray for me, that my hand may be restored to me." And the man of God entreated the LORD; and the king's hand was restored to him, and became as it was before. 7 And the king said to the man of God, "Come home with me, and refresh yourself, and I will give you a reward." 8 And the man of God said to the king, "If you give me half your house, I will not go in with you. And I will not eat bread or drink water in this place; 9 for so was it commanded me by the word of the LORD, saying, 'You shall neither eat bread, nor drink water, nor return by the way that you came.'" 10 So he went another way, and did not return by the way that he came to Bethel. 11 Now there dwelt an old prophet in Bethel. And his sons came and told him all that the man of God had done that day in Bethel; the words also which he had spoken to the king, they told to their father. 12 And their father said to them, "Which way did he go?" And his sons showed him the way which the man of God who came from Judah had gone. 13 And he said to his sons, "Saddle the ass for me." So they saddled the ass for him and he mounted it. 14 And he went after the man of God, and found him sitting under an oak; and he said to him, "Are you the man of God who came from Judah?" And he said, "I am." 15 Then he said to him, "Come home with me and eat bread." 16 And he said, "I may not return with you, or go in with you; neither will I eat bread nor drink water with you in this place; 17 for it was said to me by the word of the LORD, 'You shall neither eat bread nor drink water there, nor return by the way that you came.'" 18 And he said to him, "I also am a prophet as you are, and an angel spoke to me by the word of the LORD, saying, 'Bring him back with you into your house that he may eat bread and drink water.'" But he lied to him. 19 So he went back with him, and ate bread in his house, and drank water. 20 And as they sat at the table, the word of the LORD came to the prophet who had brought him back; 21 and he cried to the man of God who came from Judah, "Thus says the LORD, 'Because you have disobeyed the word of the LORD, and have not kept the commandment which the LORD your God commanded you, 22 but have come back, and have eaten bread and drunk water in the place of which he said to you, "Eat no bread, and drink no water"; your body shall not come to the tomb of your fathers.'" 23 And after he had eaten bread and drunk, he saddled the ass for the prophet whom he had brought back. 24 And as he went away a lion met him on the road and killed him. And his body was thrown in the road, and the ass stood beside it; the lion also stood beside the body. 25 And behold, men passed by, and saw the body thrown in the road, and the lion standing by the body. And they came and told it in the city where the old prophet dwelt. 26 And when the prophet who had brought him back from the way heard of it, he said, "It is the man of God, who disobeyed the word of the LORD; therefore the LORD has given him to the lion, which has torn him and slain him, according to the word which the LORD spoke to him." 27 And he said to his sons, "Saddle the ass for me." And they saddled it. 28 And he went and found his body thrown in the road, and the ass and the lion standing beside the body. The lion had not eaten the body or torn the ass. 29 And the prophet took up the body of the man of God and laid it upon the ass, and brought it back to the city, to mourn and to bury him. 30 And he laid the body in his own grave; and they mourned over him, saying, "Alas, my brother!" 31 And after he had buried him, he said to his sons, "When I die, bury me in the grave in which the man of God is buried; lay my bones beside his bones. 32 For the saying which he cried by the word of the LORD against the altar in Bethel, and against all the houses of the high places which are in the cities of Sama'ria, shall surely come to pass." 33 After this thing Jerobo'am did not turn from his evil way, but made priests for the high places again from among all the people; any who would, he consecrated to be priests of the high places. 34 And this thing became sin to the house of Jerobo'am, so as to cut it off and to destroy it from the face of the earth.

1720-1 Kings 14:10 therefore behold, I will bring evil upon the house of Jerobo'am, and will cut off from Jerobo'am every male, both bond and free in Israel, and will utterly consume the house of Jerobo'am, as a man burns up dung until it is all gone. 11 Any one belonging to Jerobo'am who dies in the city the dogs shall eat; and any one who dies in the open country the birds of the air shall eat; for the LORD has spoken it."' 12 Arise therefore, go to your house. When your feet enter the city, the child shall die. 13 And all Israel shall mourn for him, and bury him; for he only of Jerobo'am shall come to the grave, because in him there is found something pleasing to the LORD, the God of Israel, in the house of Jerobo'am. 14 Moreover the LORD will raise up for himself a king over Israel, who shall cut off the house of Jerobo'am today. And henceforth 15 the LORD will smite Israel, as a reed is shaken in the water, and root up Israel out of this good land which he gave to their fathers, and scatter them beyond the Euphra'tes, because they have made their Ashe'rim, provoking the LORD to anger. 16 And he will give Israel up because of the sins of Jerobo'am, which he sinned and which he made Israel to sin."

1721-Deuteronomy 24:16 "The fathers shall not be put to death for the children, nor shall the children be put to death for the fathers; every man shall be put to death for his own sin.

1722-Ezekiel 18:1 The Lord spoke to me 2 and said, "What is this proverb people keep repeating in the land of Israel? "The parents ate the sour grapes, But the children got the sour taste.' 3 "As surely as I am the living God," says the Sovereign Lord, "you will not repeat this proverb in Israel any more. 4 The life of every person belongs to me, the life of the parent as well as that of the child. The person who sins is the one who will die. 5 "Suppose there is a truly good man, righteous and honest. 6 He doesn't worship the idols of the Israelites or eat the sacrifices offered at forbidden shrines. He doesn't seduce another man's wife or have intercourse with a woman during her period. 7 He doesn't cheat or rob anyone. He returns what a borrower gives him as security; he feeds the hungry and gives clothing to the naked. 8 He doesn't lend money for profit. He refuses to do evil and gives an honest decision in any dispute. 9 Such a man obeys my commands and carefully keeps my laws. He is righteous, and he will live," says the Sovereign Lord. 10 "Then suppose this man has a son who robs and kills, who does any of these things 11 that the father never did. He eats sacrifices offered at forbidden shrines and seduces other men's wives. 12 He cheats the poor, he robs, he keeps what a borrower gives him as security. He goes to pagan shrines, worships disgusting idols, 13 and lends money for profit. Will he live? No, he will not. He has done all these disgusting things, and so he will die. He will be to blame for his own death. 14 "Now suppose this second man has a son. He sees all the sins his father practiced, but does not follow his example. 15 He doesn't worship the idols of the Israelites or eat the sacrifices offered at forbidden shrines. He doesn't seduce another man's wife 16 or oppress anyone or rob anyone. He returns what a borrower gives him as security. He feeds the hungry and gives clothing to the naked. 17 He refuses to do evil and doesn't lend money for profit. He keeps my laws and obeys my commands. He will not die because of his father's sins, but he will certainly live. 18 His father, on the other hand, cheated and robbed and always did evil to everyone. And so he died because of the sins he himself had committed. 19 "But you ask, "Why shouldn't the son suffer because of his father's sins?' The answer is that the son did what was right and good. He kept my laws and followed them carefully, and so he will certainly live. 20 It is the one who sins who will die. A son is not to suffer because of his father's sins, nor a father because of the sins of his son. Good people will be rewarded for doing good, and evil people will suffer for the evil they do. 21 "If someone evil stops sinning and keeps my laws, if he does what is right and good, he will not die; he will certainly live. 22 All his sins will be forgiven, and he will live, because he did what is right. 23 Do you think I enjoy seeing evil people die?" asks the Sovereign Lord. "No, I would rather see them repent and live. 24 "But if a righteous person stops doing good and starts doing all the evil, disgusting things that evil people do, will he go on living? No! None of the good he did will be remembered. He will die because of his unfaithfulness and his sins. 25 "But you say, "What the Lord does isn't right.' Listen to me, you Israelites. Do you think my way of doing things isn't right? It is your way that isn't right. 26 When a righteous person stops doing good and starts doing evil and then dies, he dies because of the evil he has done. 27 When someone evil stops sinning and does what is right and good, he saves his life. 28 He realizes what he is doing and stops sinning, so he will certainly not die, but go on living. 29 And you Israelites say, "What the Lord does isn't right.' You think my way isn't right, do you? It is your way that isn't right. 30 "Now I, the Sovereign Lord, am telling you Israelites that I will judge each of you by what you have done. Turn away from all the evil you are doing, and don't let your sin destroy you. 31 Give up all the evil you have been doing, and get yourselves new minds and hearts. Why do you Israelites want to die? 32 I do not want anyone to die," says the Sovereign Lord. "Turn away from your sins and live."

1723-Ezekiel 18:19 "But you ask, "Why shouldn't the son suffer because of his father's sins?' The answer is that the son did what was right and good. He kept my laws and followed them carefully, and so he will certainly live. 20 It is the one who sins who will die. A son is not to suffer because of his father's sins, nor a father because of the sins of his son. Good people will be rewarded for doing good, and evil people will suffer for the evil they do.

1724-1 Kings 11:7 On the mountain east of Jerusalem he built a place to worship Chemosh, the disgusting god of Moab, and a place to worship Molech, the disgusting god of Ammon. 8 He also built places of worship where all his foreign wives could burn incense and offer sacrifices to their own gods.

1 Kings 12:31 Jeroboam also built places of worship on hilltops, and he chose priests from families who were not of the tribe of Levi. 32 Jeroboam also instituted a religious festival on the fifteenth day of the eighth month, like the festival in Judah. On the altar in Bethel he offered sacrifices to the gold bull-calves he had made, and he placed there in Bethel the priests serving at the places of worship he had built.

1 Kings 13:32 The words that he spoke at the Lord's command against the altar in Bethel and against all the places of worship in the towns of Samaria will surely come true." 33 King Jeroboam of Israel still did not turn from his evil ways but continued to choose priests from ordinary families to serve at the altars he had built. He ordained as priest anyone who wanted to be one.

1 Kings 14:23 They built places of worship for false gods and put up stone pillars and symbols of Asherah to worship on the hills and under shady trees.

1 Kings 22:43 Like his father Asa before him, he did what was right in the sight of the Lord; but the places of worship were not destroyed, and the people continued to offer sacrifices and burn incense there.

1725-1 Kings 15:13 He removed his grandmother Maacah from her position as queen mother, because she had made an obscene idol of the fertility goddess Asherah. Asa cut down the idol and burned it in Kidron Valley.

1 Kings 16:33 He also put up an image of the goddess Asherah. He did more to arouse the anger of the Lord, the God of Israel, than all the kings of Israel before him.

1 Kings 18:19 Now order all the people of Israel to meet me at Mount Carmel. Bring along the 450 prophets of Baal and the 400 prophets of the goddess Asherah who are supported by Queen Jezebel."

1726-2 Kings 13:6 But they still did not give up the sins into which King Jeroboam had led Israel, but kept on committing them; and the image of the goddess Asherah remained in Samaria.

2 Kings 21:3 He rebuilt the pagan places of worship that his father Hezekiah had destroyed; he built altars for the worship of Baal and made an image of the goddess Asherah, as King Ahab of Israel had done. Manasseh also worshiped the stars. 4 He built pagan altars in the Temple, the place that the Lord had said was where he should be worshiped.

2 Kings 21:7 He placed the symbol of the goddess Asherah in the Temple, the place about which the Lord had said to David and his son Solomon: "Here in Jerusalem, in this Temple, is the place that I have chosen out of all the territory of the twelve tribes of Israel as the place where I am to be worshiped.

2 Kings 21:23 Amon's officials plotted against him and assassinated him in the palace.

1727-Judges 3:7 The people of Israel forgot the Lord their God; they sinned against him and worshiped the idols of Baal and Asherah.

1728-2 Chronicles 19:3 But even so, there is some good in you. You have removed all the symbols of the goddess Asherah which people worshiped, and you have tried to follow God's will."

2 Chronicles 24:18 And so the people stopped worshiping in the Temple of the Lord, the God of their ancestors, and began to worship idols and the images of the goddess Asherah. Their guilt for these sins brought the Lord's anger on Judah and Jerusalem.

2 Chronicles 33:3 He rebuilt the pagan places of worship that his father Hezekiah had destroyed. He built altars for the worship of Baal, made images of the goddess Asherah, and worshiped the stars.

1729-1 Kings 18:19 Now order all the people of Israel to meet me at Mount Carmel. Bring along the 450 prophets of Baal and the 400 prophets of the goddess Asherah who are supported by Queen Jezebel."

1730-1 Kings 16:1 The Lord spoke to the prophet Jehu son of Hanani and gave him this message for Baasha: 2 "You were a nobody, but I made you the leader of my people Israel. And now you have sinned like Jeroboam and have led my people into sin. Their sins have aroused my anger, 3 and so I will do away with you and your family, just as I did with Jeroboam. 4 Any members of your family who die in the city will be eaten by dogs, and any who die in the open country will be eaten by vultures." 5 Everything else that Baasha did and all his brave deeds are recorded in [The History of the Kings of Israel.] 6 Baasha died and was buried in Tirzah, and his son Elah succeeded him as king. 7 That message from the Lord against Baasha and his family was given by the prophet Jehu because of the sins that Baasha committed against the Lord. He aroused the Lord's anger not only because of the evil he did, just as King Jeroboam had done before him, but also because he killed all of Jeroboam's family. 8 In the twenty-sixth year of the reign of King Asa of Judah, Elah son of Baasha became king of Israel, and he ruled in Tirzah for two years. 9 Zimri, one of his officers who was in charge of half of the king's chariots, plotted against him. One day in Tirzah, Elah was getting drunk in the home of Arza, who was in charge of the palace. 10 Zimri entered the house, assassinated Elah, and succeeded him as king. This happened in the twenty-seventh year of the reign of King Asa of Judah. 11 As soon as Zimri became king he killed off all the members of Baasha's family. Every male relative and friend was put to death. 12 And so, in accordance with what the Lord had said against Baasha through the prophet Jehu, Zimri killed all the family of Baasha. 13 Because of their idolatry and because they led Israel into sin, Baasha and his son Elah had aroused the anger of the Lord, the God of Israel. 14 Everything else that Elah did is recorded in [The History of the Kings of Israel.] 15 In the twenty-seventh year of the reign of King Asa of Judah, Zimri ruled in Tirzah over Israel for seven days. The Israelite troops were besieging the city of Gibbethon in Philistia, 16 and when they heard that Zimri had plotted against the king and assassinated him, then and there they all proclaimed their commander Omri king of Israel. 17 Omri and his troops left Gibbethon and went and besieged Tirzah. 18 When Zimri saw that the city had fallen, he went into the palace's inner fortress, set the palace on fire, and died in the flames. 19 This happened because of his sins against the Lord. Like his predecessor Jeroboam, he displeased the Lord by his own sins and by leading Israel into sin. 20 Everything else that Zimri did, including the account of his conspiracy, is recorded in [The History of the Kings of Israel.] 21 The people of Israel were divided: some of them wanted to make Tibni son of Ginath king, and the others were in favor of Omri. 22 In the end, those in favor of Omri won out; Tibni died and Omri became king. 23 So in the thirty-first year of the reign of King Asa of Judah, Omri became king of Israel, and he ruled for twelve years. The first six years he ruled in Tirzah, 24 and then he bought the hill of Samaria for six thousand pieces of silver from a man named Shemer. Omri fortified the hill, built a town there, and named it Samaria, after Shemer, the former owner of the hill. 25 Omri sinned against the Lord more than any of his predecessors. 26 Like Jeroboam before him, he aroused the anger of the Lord, the God of Israel, by his sins and by leading the people into sin and idolatry. 27 Everything else that Omri did and all his accomplishments are recorded in [The History of the Kings of Israel.] 28 Omri died and was buried in Samaria, and his son Ahab succeeded him as king. 29 In the thirty-eighth year of the reign of King Asa of Judah, Ahab son of Omri became king of Israel, and he ruled in Samaria for twenty-two years. 30 He sinned against the Lord more than any of his predecessors. 31 It was not enough for him to sin like King Jeroboam; he went further and married Jezebel, the daughter of King Ethbaal of Sidon, and worshiped Baal. 32 He built a temple to Baal in Samaria, made an altar for him, and put it in the temple. 33 He also put up an image of the goddess Asherah. He did more to arouse the anger of the Lord, the God of Israel, than all the kings of Israel before him. 34 During his reign Hiel from Bethel rebuilt Jericho. As the Lord had foretold through Joshua son of Nun, Hiel lost his oldest son Abiram when he laid the foundation of Jericho, and his youngest son Segub when he built the gates.

1731-1 Kings 17:8 Then the Lord said to Elijah, 9 "Now go to the town of Zarephath, near Sidon, and stay there. I have commanded a widow who lives there to feed you." 10 So Elijah went to Zarephath, and as he came to the town gate, he saw a widow gathering firewood. "Please bring me a drink of water," he said to her. 11 And as she was going to get it, he called out, "And please bring me some bread, too." 12 She answered, "By the living Lord your God I swear that I don't have any bread. All I have is a handful of flour in a bowl and a bit of olive oil in a jar. I came here to gather some firewood to take back home and prepare what little I have for my son and me. That will be our last meal, and then we will starve to death." 13 "Don't worry," Elijah said to her. "Go on and prepare your meal. But first make a small loaf from what you have and bring it to me, and then prepare the rest for you and your son. 14 For this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: "The bowl will not run out of flour or the jar run out of oil before the day that I, the Lord, send rain.' " 15 The widow went and did as Elijah had told her, and all of them had enough food for many days. 16 As the Lord had promised through Elijah, the bowl did not run out of flour nor did the jar run out of oil.

1732-Luke 4:26 Yet Elijah was not sent to anyone in Israel, but only to a widow living in Zarephath in the territory of Sidon.

1733-1 Kings 17:17 Some time later the widow's son got sick; he got worse and worse, and finally he died. 18 She said to Elijah, "Man of God, why did you do this to me? Did you come here to remind God of my sins and so cause my son's death?" 19 "Give the boy to me," Elijah said. He took the boy from her arms, carried him upstairs to the room where he was staying, and laid him on the bed. 20 Then he prayed aloud, "O Lord my God, why have you done such a terrible thing to this widow? She has been kind enough to take care of me, and now you kill her son!" 21 Then Elijah stretched himself out on the boy three times and prayed, "O Lord my God, restore this child to life!" 22 The Lord answered Elijah's prayer; the child started breathing again and revived. 23 Elijah took the boy back downstairs to his mother and said to her, "Look, your son is alive!" 24 She answered, "Now I know that you are a man of God and that the Lord really speaks through you!"

1734-1 Kings 17:1 A prophet named Elijah, from Tishbe in Gilead, said to King Ahab, "In the name of the Lord, the living God of Israel, whom I serve, I tell you that there will be no dew or rain for the next two or three years until I say so."

1735-1 Kings 18:1 After some time, in the third year of the drought, the Lord said to Elijah, "Go and present yourself to King Ahab, and I will send rain." 2 So Elijah started out. The famine in Samaria was at its worst, 3 so Ahab called in Obadiah, who was in charge of the palace. (Obadiah was a devout worshiper of the Lord, 4 and when Jezebel was killing the Lord's prophets, Obadiah took a hundred of them, hid them in caves in two groups of fifty, and provided them with food and water.) 5 Ahab said to Obadiah, "Let us go and look at every spring and every stream bed in the land to see if we can find enough grass to keep the horses and mules alive. Maybe we won't have to kill any of our animals." 6 They agreed on which part of the land each one would explore, and set off in different directions. 7 As Obadiah was on his way, he suddenly met Elijah. He recognized him, bowed low before him, and asked, "Is it really you, sir?" 8 "Yes, I'm Elijah," he answered. "Go and tell your master the king that I am here." 9 Obadiah answered, "What have I done that you want to put me in danger of being killed by King Ahab? 10 By the living Lord, your God, I swear that the king has made a search for you in every country in the world. Whenever the ruler of a country reported that you were not in his country, Ahab would require that ruler to swear that you could not be found. 11 And now you want me to go and tell him that you are here? 12 What if the spirit of the Lord carries you off to some unknown place as soon as I leave? Then, when I tell Ahab that you are here and he can't find you, he will put me to death. Remember that I have been a devout worshiper of the Lord ever since I was a boy. 13 Haven't you heard that when Jezebel was killing the prophets of the Lord I hid a hundred of them in caves, in two groups of fifty, and supplied them with food and water? 14 So how can you order me to go and tell the king that you are here? He will kill me!" 15 Elijah answered, "By the living Lord Almighty, whom I serve, I promise that I will present myself to the king today." 16 So Obadiah went to King Ahab and told him, and Ahab set off to meet Elijah. 17 When Ahab saw him, he said, "So there you are - the worst troublemaker in Israel!" 18 "I'm not the troublemaker," Elijah answered. "You are - you and your father. You are disobeying the Lord's commands and worshiping the idols of Baal. 19 Now order all the people of Israel to meet me at Mount Carmel. Bring along the 450 prophets of Baal and the 400 prophets of the goddess Asherah who are supported by Queen Jezebel." 20 So Ahab summoned all the Israelites and the prophets of Baal to meet at Mount Carmel. 21 Elijah went up to the people and said, "How much longer will it take you to make up your minds? If the Lord is God, worship him; but if Baal is God, worship him!" But the people didn't say a word. 22 Then Elijah said, "I am the only prophet of the Lord still left, but there are 450 prophets of Baal. 23 Bring two bulls; let the prophets of Baal take one, kill it, cut it in pieces, and put it on the wood - but don't light the fire. I will do the same with the other bull. 24 Then let the prophets of Baal pray to their god, and I will pray to the Lord, and the one who answers by sending fire - he is God." The people shouted their approval. 25 Then Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, "Since there are so many of you, you take a bull and prepare it first. Pray to your god, but don't set fire to the wood." 26 They took the bull that was brought to them, prepared it, and prayed to Baal until noon. They shouted, "Answer us, Baal!" and kept dancing around the altar they had built. But no answer came. 27 At noon Elijah started making fun of them: "Pray louder! He is a god! Maybe he is day-dreaming or relieving himself, or perhaps he's gone off on a trip! Or maybe he's sleeping, and you've got to wake him up!" 28 So the prophets prayed louder and cut themselves with knives and daggers, according to their ritual, until blood flowed. 29 They kept on ranting and raving until the middle of the afternoon; but no answer came, not a sound was heard. 30 Then Elijah said to the people, "Come closer to me," and they all gathered around him. He set about repairing the altar of the Lord which had been torn down. 31 He took twelve stones, one for each of the twelve tribes named for the sons of Jacob, the man to whom the Lord had given the name Israel. 32 With these stones he rebuilt the altar for the worship of the Lord. He dug a trench around it, large enough to hold about four gallons of water. 33 Then he placed the wood on the altar, cut the bull in pieces, and laid it on the wood. He said, "Fill four jars with water and pour it on the offering and the wood." They did so, 34 and he said, "Do it again" - and they did. "Do it once more," he said - and they did. 35 The water ran down around the altar and filled the trench. 36 At the hour of the afternoon sacrifice the prophet Elijah approached the altar and prayed, "O Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, prove now that you are the God of Israel and that I am your servant and have done all this at your command. 37 Answer me, Lord, answer me, so that this people will know that you, the Lord, are God and that you are bringing them back to yourself." 38 The Lord sent fire down, and it burned up the sacrifice, the wood, and the stones, scorched the earth and dried up the water in the trench. 39 When the people saw this, they threw themselves on the ground and exclaimed, "The Lord is God; the Lord alone is God!" 40 Elijah ordered, "Seize the prophets of Baal; don't let any of them get away!" The people seized them all, and Elijah led them down to Kishon Brook and killed them.

1736-1 Kin. 16:31 It was not enough for him to sin like King Jeroboam; he went further and married Jezebel, the daughter of King Ethbaal of Sidon, and worshiped Baal.

1737-1 Kin. 18:23 Bring two bulls; let the prophets of Baal take one, kill it, cut it in pieces, and put it on the wood - but don't light the fire. I will do the same with the other bull. 24 Then let the prophets of Baal pray to their god, and I will pray to the Lord, and the one who answers by sending fire - he is God." The people shouted their approval. 25 Then Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, "Since there are so many of you, you take a bull and prepare it first. Pray to your god, but don't set fire to the wood." 26 They took the bull that was brought to them, prepared it, and prayed to Baal until noon. They shouted, "Answer us, Baal!" and kept dancing around the altar they had built. But no answer came. 27 At noon Elijah started making fun of them: "Pray louder! He is a god! Maybe he is day-dreaming or relieving himself, or perhaps he's gone off on a trip! Or maybe he's sleeping, and you've got to wake him up!" 28 So the prophets prayed louder and cut themselves with knives and daggers, according to their ritual, until blood flowed. 29 They kept on ranting and raving until the middle of the afternoon; but no answer came, not a sound was heard. 30 Then Elijah said to the people, "Come closer to me," and they all gathered around him. He set about repairing the altar of the Lord which had been torn down. 31 He took twelve stones, one for each of the twelve tribes named for the sons of Jacob, the man to whom the Lord had given the name Israel. 32 With these stones he rebuilt the altar for the worship of the Lord. He dug a trench around it, large enough to hold about four gallons of water. 33 Then he placed the wood on the altar, cut the bull in pieces, and laid it on the wood. He said, "Fill four jars with water and pour it on the offering and the wood." They did so, 34 and he said, "Do it again" - and they did. "Do it once more," he said - and they did. 35 The water ran down around the altar and filled the trench. 36 At the hour of the afternoon sacrifice the prophet Elijah approached the altar and prayed, "O Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, prove now that you are the God of Israel and that I am your servant and have done all this at your command. 37 Answer me, Lord, answer me, so that this people will know that you, the Lord, are God and that you are bringing them back to yourself." 38 The Lord sent fire down, and it burned up the sacrifice, the wood, and the stones, scorched the earth and dried up the water in the trench.

1738-1 Kin. 21:15 As soon as Jezebel received the message, she said to Ahab, "Naboth is dead. Now go and take possession of the vineyard which he refused to sell to you."

1739-2 Kin. 9:10 Jezebel will not be buried; her body will be eaten by dogs in the territory of Jezreel.' " After saying this, the young prophet left the room and fled.

1740-Gal 6:7 Do not deceive yourselves; no one makes a fool of God. You will reap exactly what you plant.

1741-1 Kin. 16:31 It was not enough for him to sin like King Jeroboam; he went further and married Jezebel, the daughter of King Ethbaal of Sidon, and worshiped Baal.

1 Kings 19:1 King Ahab told his wife Jezebel everything that Elijah had done and how he had put all the prophets of Baal to death. 2 She sent a message to Elijah: "May the gods strike me dead if by this time tomorrow I don't do the same thing to you that you did to the prophets."

1 Kings 21:5 His wife Jezebel went to him and asked, "Why are you so depressed? Why won't you eat?" 6 He answered, "Because of what Naboth said to me. I offered to buy his vineyard or, if he preferred, to give him another one for it, but he told me that I couldn't have it!" 7 "Well, are you the king or aren't you?" Jezebel replied. "Get out of bed, cheer up, and eat. I will get you Naboth's vineyard!" 8 Then she wrote some letters, signed Ahab's name to them, sealed them with his seal, and sent them to the officials and leading citizens of Jezreel. 9 The letters said: "Proclaim a day of fasting, call the people together, and give Naboth the place of honor. 10 Get a couple of scoundrels to accuse him to his face of cursing God and the king. Then take him out of the city and stone him to death." 11 The officials and leading citizens of Jezreel did what Jezebel had commanded. 12 They proclaimed a day of fasting, called the people together, and gave Naboth the place of honor. 13 The two scoundrels publicly accused him of cursing God and the king, and so he was taken outside the city and stoned to death. 14 The message was sent to Jezebel: "Naboth has been put to death." 15 As soon as Jezebel received the message, she said to Ahab, "Naboth is dead. Now go and take possession of the vineyard which he refused to sell to you." 16 At once Ahab went to the vineyard to take possession of it.

1742-2 Kin. 9:10 Jezebel will not be buried; her body will be eaten by dogs in the territory of Jezreel.' " After saying this, the young prophet left the room and fled.

2 Kings 9:22 "Are you coming in peace?" Joram asked him. "How can there be peace," Jehu answered, "when we still have all the witchcraft and idolatry that your mother Jezebel started?"

2 Kings 9:30 Jehu arrived in Jezreel. Jezebel, having heard what had happened, put on eye shadow, arranged her hair, and stood looking down at the street from a window in the palace. 31 As Jehu came through the gate, she called out, "You Zimri! You assassin! Why are you here?" 32 Jehu looked up and shouted, "Who is on my side?" Two or three palace officials looked down at him from a window, 33 and Jehu said to them, "Throw her down!" They threw her down, and her blood spattered on the wall and on the horses. Jehu drove his horses and chariot over her body, 34 entered the palace, and had a meal. Only then did he say, "Take that cursed woman and bury her; after all, she is a king's daughter." 35 But the men who went out to bury her found nothing except her skull and the bones of her hands and feet. 36 When they reported this to Jehu, he said, "This is what the Lord said would happen, when he spoke through his servant Elijah: "Dogs will eat Jezebel's body in the territory of Jezreel.

1743-Is. 42:1 The Lord says, "Here is my servant, whom I strengthen - the one I have chosen, with whom I am pleased. I have filled him with my Spirit, and he will bring justice to every nation. 2 He will not shout or raise his voice or make loud speeches in the streets. 3 He will not break off a bent reed nor put out a flickering lamp. He will bring lasting justice to all. 4 He will not lose hope or courage; he will establish justice on the earth. Distant lands eagerly wait for his teaching." 5 God created the heavens and stretched them out; he fashioned the earth and all that lives there; he gave life and breath to all its people. And now the Lord God says to his servant, 6 "I, the Lord, have called you and given you power to see that justice is done on earth. Through you I will make a covenant with all peoples; through you I will bring light to the nations. 7 You will open the eyes of the blind and set free those who sit in dark prisons. 8 "I alone am the Lord your God. No other god may share my glory; I will not let idols share my praise. 9 The things I predicted have now come true. Now I will tell you of new things even before they begin to happen." 10 Sing a new song to the Lord; sing his praise, all the world! Praise him, you that sail the sea; praise him, all creatures of the sea! Sing, distant lands and all who live there! 11 Let the desert and its towns praise God; let the people of Kedar praise him! Let those who live in the city of Sela shout for joy from the tops of the mountains! 12 Let those who live in distant lands give praise and glory to the Lord! 13 The Lord goes out to fight like a warrior; he is ready and eager for battle. He gives a war cry, a battle shout; he shows his power against his enemies. 14 God says, "For a long time I kept silent; I did not answer my people. But now the time to act has come; I cry out like a woman in labor. 15 I will destroy the hills and mountains and dry up the grass and trees. I will turn the river valleys into deserts and dry up the pools of water. 16 "I will lead my blind people by roads they have never traveled. I will turn their darkness into light and make rough country smooth before them. These are my promises, and I will keep them without fail. 17 All who trust in idols, who call images their gods, will be humiliated and disgraced." 18 The Lord says, "Listen, you deaf people! Look closely, you that are blind! 19 Is anyone more blind than my servant, more deaf than the messenger I send? 20 Israel, you have seen so much, but what has it meant to you? You have ears to hear with, but what have you really heard?" 21 The Lord is a God who is eager to save, so he exalted his laws and teachings, and he wanted his people to honor them. 22 But now his people have been plundered; they are locked up in dungeons and hidden away in prisons. They were robbed and plundered, with no one to come to their rescue. 23 Will any of you listen to this? From now on will you listen with care? 24 Who gave Israel up to the looters? It was the Lord himself, against whom we sinned! We would not live as he wanted us to live or obey the teachings he gave us. 25 So he made us feel the force of his anger and suffer the violence of war. Like fire his anger burned throughout Israel, but we never knew what was happening; we learned nothing at all from it.

1744-Esth. 4:1 When Mordecai learned of all that had been done, he tore his clothes in anguish. Then he dressed in sackcloth, covered his head with ashes, and walked through the city, wailing loudly and bitterly, 2 until he came to the entrance of the palace. He did not go in because no one wearing sackcloth was allowed inside. 3 Throughout all the provinces, wherever the king's proclamation was made known, there was loud mourning among the Jews. They fasted, wept, wailed, and most of them put on sackcloth and lay in ashes. 4 When Esther's servant women and eunuchs told her what Mordecai was doing, she was deeply disturbed. She sent Mordecai some clothes to put on instead of the sackcloth, but he would not accept them. 5 Then she called Hathach, one of the palace eunuchs appointed as her servant by the king, and told him to go to Mordecai and find out what was happening and why. 6 Hathach went to Mordecai in the city square at the entrance of the palace. 7 Mordecai told him everything that had happened to him and just how much money Haman had promised to put into the royal treasury if all the Jews were killed. 8 He gave Hathach a copy of the proclamation that had been issued in Susa, ordering the destruction of the Jews. Mordecai asked him to take it to Esther, explain the situation to her, and have her go and plead with the king and beg him to have mercy on her people. 9 Hathach did this, 10 and Esther gave him this message to take back to Mordecai: 11 "If anyone, man or woman, goes to the inner courtyard and sees the king without being summoned, that person must die. That is the law; everyone, from the king's advisers to the people in the provinces, knows that. There is only one way to get around this law: if the king holds out his gold scepter to someone, then that person's life is spared. But it has been a month since the king sent for me." 12 When Mordecai received Esther's message, 13 he sent her this warning: "Don't imagine that you are safer than any other Jew just because you are in the royal palace. 14 If you keep quiet at a time like this, help will come from heaven to the Jews, and they will be saved, but you will die and your father's family will come to an end. Yet who knows - maybe it was for a time like this that you were made queen!" 15 Esther sent Mordecai this reply: 16 "Go and get all the Jews in Susa together; hold a fast and pray for me. Don't eat or drink anything for three days and nights. My servant women and I will be doing the same. After that, I will go to the king, even though it is against the law. If I must die for doing it, I will die." 17 Mordecai then left and did everything that Esther had told him to do.

1745-Prov. 31:1 These are the solemn words which King Lemuel's mother said to him: 2 "You are my own dear son, the answer to my prayers. What shall I tell you? 3 Don't spend all your energy on sex and all your money on women; they have destroyed kings. 4 Listen, Lemuel. Kings should not drink wine or have a craving for alcohol. 5 When they drink, they forget the laws and ignore the rights of people in need. 6 Alcohol is for people who are dying, for those who are in misery. 7 Let them drink and forget their poverty and unhappiness. 8 "Speak up for people who cannot speak for themselves. Protect the rights of all who are helpless. 9 Speak for them and be a righteous judge. Protect the rights of the poor and needy." 10 How hard it is to find a capable wife! She is worth far more than jewels! 11 Her husband puts his confidence in her, and he will never be poor. 12 As long as she lives, she does him good and never harm. 13 She keeps herself busy making wool and linen cloth. 14 She brings home food from out-of-the-way places, as merchant ships do. 15 She gets up before daylight to prepare food for her family and to tell her servant women what to do. 16 She looks at land and buys it, and with money she has earned she plants a vineyard. 17 She is a hard worker, strong and industrious. 18 She knows the value of everything she makes, and works late into the night. 19 She spins her own thread and weaves her own cloth. 20 She is generous to the poor and needy. 21 She doesn't worry when it snows, because her family has warm clothing. 22 She makes bedspreads and wears clothes of fine purple linen. 23 Her husband is well known, one of the leading citizens. 24 She makes clothes and belts, and sells them to merchants. 25 She is strong and respected and not afraid of the future. 26 She speaks with a gentle wisdom. 27 She is always busy and looks after her family's needs. 28 Her children show their appreciation, and her husband praises her. 29 He says, "Many women are good wives, but you are the best of them all." 30 Charm is deceptive and beauty disappears, but a woman who honors the Lord should be praised. 31 Give her credit for all she does. She deserves the respect of everyone.

1746-1 Kings 18:1 After some time, in the third year of the drought, the Lord said to Elijah, "Go and present yourself to King Ahab, and I will send rain." 2 So Elijah started out. The famine in Samaria was at its worst, 3 so Ahab called in Obadiah, who was in charge of the palace. (Obadiah was a devout worshiper of the Lord, 4 and when Jezebel was killing the Lord's prophets, Obadiah took a hundred of them, hid them in caves in two groups of fifty, and provided them with food and water.)

1747-1 Sam. 10:5 Then you will go to the Hill of God in Gibeah, where there is a Philistine camp. At the entrance to the town you will meet a group of prophets coming down from the altar on the hill, playing harps, drums, flutes, and lyres. They will be dancing and shouting. 6 Suddenly the spirit of the Lord will take control of you, and you will join in their religious dancing and shouting and will become a different person. 7 When these things happen, do whatever God leads you to do. 8 You will go ahead of me to Gilgal, where I will meet you and offer burnt sacrifices and fellowship sacrifices. Wait there seven days until I come and tell you what to do." 9 When Saul turned to leave Samuel, God gave Saul a new nature. And everything Samuel had told him happened that day. 10 When Saul and his servant arrived at Gibeah, a group of prophets met him. Suddenly the spirit of God took control of him, and he joined in their ecstatic dancing and shouting. 11 People who had known him before saw him doing this and asked one another, "What has happened to the son of Kish? Has Saul become a prophet?" 12 A man who lived there asked, "How about these other prophets - who do you think their fathers are?" This is how the saying originated, "Has even Saul become a prophet?" 13 When Saul finished his ecstatic dancing and shouting, he went to the altar on the hill. 14 Saul's uncle saw him and the servant, and he asked them, "Where have you been?" "Looking for the donkeys," Saul answered. "When we couldn't find them, we went to see Samuel." 15 "And what did he tell you?" Saul's uncle asked. 16 "He told us that the animals had been found," Saul answered - but he did not tell his uncle what Samuel had said about his becoming king. 17 Samuel called the people together for a religious gathering at Mizpah 18 and said to them, "The Lord, the God of Israel, says, "I brought you out of Egypt and rescued you from the Egyptians and all the other peoples who were oppressing you.

1748-1 Sam. 19:20 so he sent some men to arrest him. They saw the group of prophets dancing and shouting, with Samuel as their leader. Then the spirit of God took control of Saul's men, and they also began to dance and shout.

1 Samuel 19:24 He took off his clothes and danced and shouted in Samuel's presence, and lay naked all that day and all that night. (This is how the saying originated, "Has even Saul become a prophet?")

1749-2 Kin. 2:3 A group of prophets who lived there went to Elisha and asked him, "Do you know that the Lord is going to take your master away from you today?" "Yes, I know," Elisha answered. "But let's not talk about it." 4 Then Elijah said to Elisha, "Now stay here; the Lord has ordered me to go to Jericho." But Elisha answered, "I swear by my loyalty to the living Lord and to you that I will not leave you." So they went on to Jericho. 5 A group of prophets who lived there went to Elisha and asked him, "Do you know that the Lord is going to take your master away from you today?" "Yes, I know," Elisha answered. "But let's not talk about it." 6 Then Elijah said to Elisha, "Now stay here; the Lord has ordered me to go to the Jordan River." But Elisha answered, "I swear by my loyalty to the living Lord and to you that I will not leave you." So they went on, 7 and fifty of the prophets followed them to the Jordan. Elijah and Elisha stopped by the river, and the fifty prophets stood a short distance away.

2 Kings 2:15 The fifty prophets from Jericho saw him and said, "The power of Elijah is on Elisha!" They went to meet him, bowed down before him,

2 Kings 4:1 The widow of a member of a group of prophets went to Elisha and said, "Sir, my husband has died! As you know, he was a God-fearing man, but now a man he owed money to has come to take away my two sons as slaves in payment for my husband's debt."

2 Kings 4:38 Once, when there was a famine throughout the land, Elisha returned to Gilgal. While he was teaching a group of prophets, he told his servant to put a big pot on the fire and make some stew for them.

2 Kings 6:1 One day the group of prophets that Elisha was in charge of complained to him, "The place where we live is too small!

2 Kings 9:1 Meanwhile the prophet Elisha called one of the young prophets and said to him, "Get ready and go to Ramoth in Gilead. Take this jar of olive oil with you,

1750-1 Kings 19:10 He answered, "Lord God Almighty, I have always served you - you alone. But the people of Israel have broken their covenant with you, torn down your altars, and killed all your prophets. I am the only one left - and they are trying to kill me!"

1 Kings 19:14 He answered, "Lord God Almighty, I have always served you - you alone. But the people of Israel have broken their covenant with you, torn down your altars, and killed all your prophets. I am the only one left - and they are trying to kill me."

1751-1 Kings 19:11 "Go out and stand before me on top of the mountain," the Lord said to him. Then the Lord passed by and sent a furious wind that split the hills and shattered the rocks - but the Lord was not in the wind. The wind stopped blowing, and then there was an earthquake - but the Lord was not in the earthquake. 12 After the earthquake there was a fire - but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire there was the soft whisper of a voice.

1752-1 Kings 19:15 The Lord said, "Return to the wilderness near Damascus, then enter the city and anoint Hazael as king of Syria;

1753-1 Kings 19:17 Anyone who escapes being put to death by Hazael will be killed by Jehu, and anyone who escapes Jehu will be killed by Elisha. 18 Yet I will leave seven thousand people alive in Israel - all those who are loyal to me and have not bowed to Baal or kissed his idol."

1754-1 Kings 20:23 King Benhadad's officials said to him, "The gods of Israel are mountain gods, and that is why the Israelites defeated us. But we will certainly defeat them if we fight them in the plains.

1755-1 Kings 20:26 The following spring he called up his men and marched with them to the city of Aphek to attack the Israelites. 27 The Israelites were called up and equipped; they marched out and camped in two groups facing the Syrians. The Israelites looked like two small flocks of goats compared to the Syrians, who spread out over the countryside. 28 A prophet went to King Ahab and said, "This is what the Lord says: "Because the Syrians say that I am a god of the hills and not of the plains, I will give you victory over their huge army, and you and your people will know that I am the Lord.' " 29 For seven days the Syrians and the Israelites stayed in their camps, facing each other. On the seventh day they started fighting, and the Israelites killed a hundred thousand Syrians. 30 The survivors fled into the city of Aphek, where the city walls fell on twenty-seven thousand of them. Benhadad also escaped into the city and took refuge in the back room of a house.

1756-1 Kings 20:13 Meanwhile, a prophet went to King Ahab and said, "The Lord says, "Don't be afraid of that huge army! I will give you victory over it today, and you will know that I am the Lord.' " 14 "Who will lead the attack?" Ahab asked. The prophet answered, "The Lord says that the young soldiers under the command of the district governors are to do it." "Who will command the main force?" the king asked. "You," the prophet answered. 15 So the king called out the young soldiers who were under the district commanders, 232 in all. Then he called out the Israelite army, a total of seven thousand men. 16 The attack began at noon, as Benhadad and his thirty-two allies were getting drunk in their tents. 17 The young soldiers advanced first. Scouts sent out by Benhadad reported to him that a group of soldiers was coming out of Samaria. 18 He ordered, "Take them alive, no matter whether they are coming to fight or to ask for peace." 19 The young soldiers led the attack, followed by the Israelite army, 20 and each one killed the man he fought. The Syrians fled, with the Israelites in hot pursuit, but Benhadad escaped on horseback, accompanied by some of the cavalry. 21 King Ahab took to the field, captured the horses and chariots, and inflicted a severe defeat on the Syrians.

1757-2 Kings 19:35 That night an angel of the Lord went to the Assyrian camp and killed 185,000 soldiers. At dawn the next day there they lay, all dead!

1758-2 Chronicles 32:1 After these events, in which King Hezekiah served the Lord faithfully, Sennacherib, the emperor of Assyria, invaded Judah. He besieged the fortified cities and gave orders for his army to break their way through the walls. 2 When Hezekiah saw that Sennacherib intended to attack Jerusalem also, 3 he and his officials decided to cut off the supply of water outside the city in order to keep the Assyrians from having any water when they got near Jerusalem. The officials led a large number of people out and stopped up all the springs, so that no more water flowed out of them. 5 The king strengthened the city's defenses by repairing the wall, building towers on it, and building an outer wall. In addition, he repaired the defenses built on the land that was filled in on the east side of the old part of Jerusalem. He also had a large number of spears and shields made. 6 He placed all the men in the city under the command of army officers and had them assemble in the open square at the city gate. He said to them, 7 "Be determined and confident, and don't be afraid of the Assyrian emperor or of the army he is leading. We have more power on our side than he has on his. 8 He has human power, but we have the Lord our God to help us and to fight our battles." The people were encouraged by these words of their king. 9 Some time later, while Sennacherib and his army were still at Lachish, he sent the following message to Hezekiah and the people of Judah who were with him in Jerusalem: 10 "I, Sennacherib, Emperor of Assyria, ask what gives you people the confidence to remain in Jerusalem under siege. 11 Hezekiah tells you that the Lord your God will save you from our power, but Hezekiah is deceiving you and will let you die of hunger and thirst. 12 He is the one who destroyed the Lord's shrines and altars and then told the people of Judah and Jerusalem to worship and burn incense at one altar only. 13 Don't you know what my ancestors and I have done to the people of other nations? Did the gods of any other nation save their people from the emperor of Assyria? 14 When did any of the gods of all those countries ever save their country from us? Then what makes you think that your god can save you? 15 Now don't let Hezekiah deceive you or mislead you like that. Don't believe him! No god of any nation has ever been able to save his people from any Assyrian emperor. So certainly this god of yours can't save you!" 16 The Assyrian officials said even worse things about the Lord God and Hezekiah, the Lord's servant. 17 The letter that the emperor wrote defied the Lord, the God of Israel. It said, "The gods of the nations have not saved their people from my power, and neither will Hezekiah's god save his people from me." 18 The officials shouted this in Hebrew in order to frighten and discourage the people of Jerusalem who were on the city wall, so that it would be easier to capture the city. 19 They talked about the God of Jerusalem in the same way that they talked about the gods of the other peoples, idols made by human hands. 20 Then King Hezekiah and the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz prayed to God and cried out to him for help. 21 The Lord sent an angel that killed the soldiers and officers of the Assyrian army. So the emperor went back to Assyria disgraced. One day when he was in the temple of his god, some of his sons killed him with their swords. 22 In this way the Lord rescued King Hezekiah and the people of Jerusalem from the power of Sennacherib, the emperor of Assyria, and also from their other enemies. He let the people live in peace with all the neighboring countries. 23 Many people came to Jerusalem, bringing offerings to the Lord and gifts to Hezekiah, so that from then on all the nations held Hezekiah in honor.

1759-Isaiah 37:36 An angel of the Lord went to the Assyrian camp and killed 185,000 soldiers. At dawn the next day there they lay, all dead!

1760-Judges 7:1 One day Gideon and all his men got up early and camped beside Harod Spring. The Midianite camp was in the valley to the north of them by Moreh Hill. 2 The Lord said to Gideon, "The men you have are too many for me to give them victory over the Midianites. They might think that they had won by themselves, and so give me no credit. 3 Announce to the people, "Anyone who is afraid should go back home, and we will stay here at Mount Gilead.' " So twenty-two thousand went back, but ten thousand stayed. 4 Then the Lord said to Gideon, "You still have too many men. Take them down to the water, and I will separate them for you there. If I tell you a man should go with you, he will go. If I tell you a man should not go with you, he will not go." 5 Gideon took the men down to the water, and the Lord told him, "Separate everyone who laps up the water with his tongue like a dog, from everyone who gets down on his knees to drink." 6 There were three hundred men who scooped up water in their hands and lapped it; all the others got down on their knees to drink. 7 The Lord said to Gideon, "I will rescue you and give you victory over the Midianites with the three hundred men who lapped the water. Tell everyone else to go home." 8 So Gideon sent all the Israelites home, except the three hundred, who kept all the supplies and trumpets. The Midianite camp was below them in the valley. 9 That night the Lord commanded Gideon, "Get up and attack the camp; I am giving you victory over it. 10 But if you are afraid to attack, go down to the camp with your servant Purah. 11 You will hear what they are saying, and then you will have the courage to attack." So Gideon and his servant Purah went down to the edge of the enemy camp. 12 The Midianites, the Amalekites, and the desert tribesmen were spread out in the valley like a swarm of locusts, and they had as many camels as there are grains of sand on the seashore. 13 When Gideon arrived, he heard a man telling a friend about a dream. He was saying, "I dreamed that a loaf of barley bread rolled into our camp and hit a tent. The tent collapsed and lay flat on the ground." 14 His friend replied, "It's the sword of the Israelite, Gideon son of Joash! It can't mean anything else! God has given him victory over Midian and our whole army!" 15 When Gideon heard about the man's dream and what it meant, he fell to his knees and worshiped the Lord. Then he went back to the Israelite camp and said, "Get up! The Lord is giving you victory over the Midianite army!" 16 He divided his three hundred men into three groups and gave each man a trumpet and a jar with a torch inside it. 17 He told them, "When I get to the edge of the camp, watch me, and do what I do. 18 When my group and I blow our trumpets, then you blow yours all around the camp and shout, "For the Lord and for Gideon!' " 19 Gideon and his one hundred men came to the edge of the camp a while before midnight, just after the guard had been changed. Then they blew the trumpets and broke the jars they were holding, 20 and the other two groups did the same. They all held the torches in their left hands, the trumpets in their right, and shouted, "A sword for the Lord and for Gideon!" 21 Every man stood in his place around the camp, and the whole enemy army ran away yelling. 22 While Gideon's men were blowing their trumpets, the Lord made the enemy troops attack each other with their swords. They ran toward Zarethan as far as Beth Shittah, as far as the town of Abel Meholah near Tabbath. 23 Then men from the tribes of Naphtali, Asher, and both parts of Manasseh were called out, and they pursued the Midianites. 24 Gideon sent messengers through all the hill country of Ephraim to say, "Come down and fight the Midianites. Hold the Jordan River and the streams as far as Bethbarah, to keep the Midianites from crossing them." The men of Ephraim were called together, and they held the Jordan River and the streams as far as Bethbarah. 25 They captured the two Midianite chiefs, Oreb and Zeeb; they killed Oreb at Oreb Rock, and Zeeb at the Winepress of Zeeb. They continued to pursue the Midianites and brought the heads of Oreb and Zeeb to Gideon, who was now east of the Jordan.

Judges 8:1 Then the people of Ephraim said to Gideon, "Why didn't you call us when you went to fight the Midianites? Why did you treat us like this?" They complained bitterly about it. 2 But he told them, "What I was able to do is nothing compared with what you have done. Even the little that you people of Ephraim did is worth more than what my whole clan has done. 3 After all, through the power of God you killed the two Midianite chiefs, Oreb and Zeeb. What have I done to compare with that?" When he said this, they were no longer so angry. 4 By this time Gideon and his three hundred men had come to the Jordan River and had crossed it. They were exhausted, but were still pursuing the enemy. 5 When they arrived at Sukkoth, he said to the men of the town, "Please give my men some loaves of bread. They are exhausted, and I am chasing Zebah and Zalmunna, the Midianite kings." 6 But the leaders of Sukkoth said, "Why should we give your army any food? You haven't captured Zebah and Zalmunna yet." 7 So Gideon said, "All right! When the Lord has handed Zebah and Zalmunna over to me, I will beat you with thorns and briers from the desert!" 8 Gideon went on to Penuel and made the same request of the people there, but the men of Penuel gave the same answer as the men of Sukkoth. 9 So he said to them, "I am going to come back safe and sound, and when I do, I will tear this tower down!" 10 Zebah and Zalmunna were at Karkor with their army. Of the whole army of desert tribesmen, only about 15,000 were left; 120,000 soldiers had been killed. 11 Gideon went on the road along the edge of the desert, east of Nobah and Jogbehah, and attacked the army by surprise. 12 The two Midianite kings, Zebah and Zalmunna, ran away, but he pursued them and captured them, and caused their whole army to panic. 13 When Gideon was returning from the battle by way of Heres Pass, 14 he captured a young man from Sukkoth and questioned him. The young man wrote down for Gideon the names of the seventy-seven leading men of Sukkoth. 15 Then Gideon went to the men of Sukkoth and said, "Remember when you refused to help me? You said that you couldn't give any food to my exhausted army because I hadn't captured Zebah and Zalmunna yet. Well, here they are!" 16 He then took thorns and briers from the desert and used them to punish the leaders of Sukkoth. 17 He also tore down the tower at Penuel and killed the men of that city. 18 Then Gideon asked Zebah and Zalmunna, "What about the men you killed at Tabor?" They answered, "They looked like you - every one of them like the son of a king." 19 Gideon said, "They were my brothers, my own mother's sons. I solemnly swear that if you had not killed them, I would not kill you." 20 Then he said to Jether, his oldest son, "Go ahead, kill them!" But the boy did not draw his sword. He hesitated, because he was still only a boy. 21 Then Zebah and Zalmunna said to Gideon, "Come on, kill us yourself. It takes a man to do a man's job." So Gideon killed them and took the ornaments that were on the necks of their camels. 22 After that, the Israelites said to Gideon, "Be our ruler - you and your descendants after you. You have saved us from the Midianites." 23 Gideon answered, "I will not be your ruler, nor will my son. The Lord will be your ruler." 24 But he went on to say, "Let me ask one thing of you. Every one of you give me the earrings you took." (The Midianites, like other desert people, wore gold earrings.) 25 The people answered, "We'll be glad to give them to you." They spread out a cloth, and everyone put on it the earrings that he had taken. 26 The gold earrings that Gideon got weighed over forty pounds, and this did not include the ornaments, necklaces, and purple clothes that the kings of Midian wore, nor the collars that were around the necks of their camels. 27 Gideon made an idol from the gold and put it in his hometown, Ophrah. All the Israelites abandoned God and went there to worship the idol. It was a trap for Gideon and his family. 28 So Midian was defeated by the Israelites and was no longer a threat. The land was at peace for forty years, until Gideon died.

1761-1 Kings 22:1 There was peace between Israel and Syria for the next two years, 2 but in the third year King Jehoshaphat of Judah went to see King Ahab of Israel. 3 Ahab asked his officials, "Why is it that we have not done anything to get back Ramoth in Gilead from the king of Syria? It belongs to us!" 4 And Ahab asked Jehoshaphat, "Will you go with me to attack Ramoth?" "I am ready when you are," Jehoshaphat answered, "and so are my soldiers and my cavalry. 5 But first let's consult the Lord." 6 So Ahab called in the prophets, about four hundred of them, and asked them, "Should I go and attack Ramoth, or not?" "Attack it," they answered. "The Lord will give you victory." 7 But Jehoshaphat asked, "Isn't there another prophet through whom we can consult the Lord?" 8 Ahab answered, "There is one more, Micaiah son of Imlah. But I hate him because he never prophesies anything good for me; it's always something bad." "You shouldn't say that!" Jehoshaphat replied. 9 Then Ahab called in a court official and told him to go and get Micaiah at once. 10 The two kings, dressed in their royal robes, were sitting on their thrones at the threshing place just outside the gate of Samaria, and all the prophets were prophesying in front of them. 11 One of them, Zedekiah son of Chenaanah, made iron horns and said to Ahab, "This is what the Lord says: "With these you will fight the Syrians and totally defeat them.' " 12 All the other prophets said the same thing. "March against Ramoth and you will win," they said. "The Lord will give you victory." 13 Meanwhile, the official who had gone to get Micaiah said to him, "All the other prophets have prophesied success for the king, and you had better do the same." 14 But Micaiah answered, "By the living Lord I promise that I will say what he tells me to!" 15 When he appeared before King Ahab, the king asked him, "Micaiah, should King Jehoshaphat and I go and attack Ramoth, or not?" "Attack!" Micaiah answered. "Of course you'll win. The Lord will give you victory." 16 But Ahab replied, "When you speak to me in the name of the Lord, tell the truth! How many times do I have to tell you that?" 17 Micaiah answered, "I can see the army of Israel scattered over the hills like sheep without a shepherd. And the Lord said, "These men have no leader; let them go home in peace.' " 18 Ahab said to Jehoshaphat, "Didn't I tell you that he never prophesies anything good for me? It's always something bad!" 19 Micaiah went on: "Now listen to what the Lord says! I saw the Lord sitting on his throne in heaven, with all his angels standing beside him. 20 The Lord asked, "Who will deceive Ahab so that he will go and be killed at Ramoth?' Some of the angels said one thing, and others said something else, 21 until a spirit stepped forward, approached the Lord, and said, "I will deceive him.' 22 "How?' the Lord asked. The spirit replied, "I will go and make all of Ahab's prophets tell lies.' The Lord said, "Go and deceive him. You will succeed.' " 23 And Micaiah concluded: "This is what has happened. The Lord has made these prophets of yours lie to you. But he himself has decreed that you will meet with disaster!" 24 Then the prophet Zedekiah went up to Micaiah, slapped his face, and asked, "Since when did the Lord's spirit leave me and speak to you?" 25 "You will find out when you go into some back room to hide," Micaiah replied. 26 Then King Ahab ordered one of his officers, "Arrest Micaiah and take him to Amon, the governor of the city, and to Prince Joash. 27 Tell them to throw him in prison and to put him on bread and water until I return safely." 28 "If you return safely," Micaiah exclaimed, "then the Lord has not spoken through me!" And he added, "Listen, everyone, to what I have said!"

1762-2 Chronicles 18:2 A number of years later Jehoshaphat went to the city of Samaria to visit Ahab. To honor Jehoshaphat and those with him, Ahab had a large number of sheep and cattle slaughtered for a feast. He tried to persuade Jehoshaphat to join him in attacking the city of Ramoth in Gilead. 3 He asked, "Will you go with me to attack Ramoth?" Jehoshaphat replied, "I am ready when you are, and so is my army. We will join you." 4 Then he added, "But first let's consult the Lord." 5 So Ahab called in the prophets, about four hundred of them, and asked them, "Should I go and attack Ramoth, or not?" "Attack it," they answered. "God will give you victory." 6 But Jehoshaphat asked, "Isn't there another prophet through whom we can consult the Lord?" 7 Ahab answered, "There is one more, Micaiah son of Imlah. But I hate him because he never prophesies anything good for me; it's always something bad." "You shouldn't say that!" Jehoshaphat replied. 8 So King Ahab called in a court official and told him to go and get Micaiah at once. 9 The two kings, dressed in their royal robes, were sitting on their thrones at the threshing place just outside the gate of Samaria, and all the prophets were prophesying in front of them. 10 One of them, Zedekiah son of Chenaanah, made iron horns and said to Ahab, "This is what the Lord says, "With these you will fight the Syrians and totally defeat them.' " 11 All the other prophets said the same thing. "March against Ramoth and you will win," they said. "The Lord will give you victory." 12 Meanwhile, the official who had gone to get Micaiah said to him, "All the other prophets have prophesied success for the king, and you had better do the same." 13 But Micaiah answered, "By the living Lord I will say what my God tells me to!" 14 When he appeared before King Ahab, the king asked him, "Micaiah, should King Jehoshaphat and I go and attack Ramoth, or not?" "Attack!" Micaiah answered. "Of course you'll win. The Lord will give you victory." 15 But Ahab replied, "When you speak to me in the name of the Lord, tell the truth! How many times do I have to tell you that?" 16 Micaiah answered, "I can see the army of Israel scattered over the hills like sheep without a shepherd. And the Lord said, "These men have no leader; let them go home in peace.' " 17 Ahab said to Jehoshaphat, "I told you that he never prophesies anything good for me; it's always something bad!" 18 Micaiah went on: "Now listen to what the Lord says! I saw the Lord sitting on his throne in heaven, with all his angels standing beside him. 19 The Lord asked, "Who will deceive Ahab so that he will go and get killed at Ramoth?' Some of the angels said one thing, and others said something else, 20 until a spirit stepped forward, approached the Lord, and said, "I will deceive him.' "How?' the Lord asked. 21 The spirit replied, "I will go and make all of Ahab's prophets tell lies.' The Lord said, "Go and deceive him. You will succeed.' " 22 And Micaiah concluded: "This is what has happened. The Lord has made these prophets of yours lie to you. But he himself has decreed that you will meet with disaster!" 23 Then the prophet Zedekiah went up to Micaiah, slapped his face, and asked, "Since when did the Lord's spirit leave me and speak to you?" 24 "You will find out when you go into some back room to hide," Micaiah replied. 25 Then King Ahab ordered one of his officers, "Arrest Micaiah and take him to Amon, the governor of the city, and to Prince Joash. 26 Tell them to throw him in prison and to put him on bread and water until I return safely." 27 "If you return safely," Micaiah exclaimed, "then the Lord has not spoken through me!" And he added, "Listen, everyone, to what I have said!" 28 Then King Ahab of Israel and King Jehoshaphat of Judah went to attack the city of Ramoth in Gilead. 29 Ahab said to Jehoshaphat, "As we go into battle, I will disguise myself, but you wear your royal garments." So the king of Israel went into battle in disguise. 30 The king of Syria had ordered his chariot commanders to attack no one else except the king of Israel. 31 So when they saw King Jehoshaphat, they all thought that he was the king of Israel, and they turned to attack him. But Jehoshaphat gave a shout, and the Lord God rescued him and turned the attack away from him. 32 The chariot commanders saw that he was not the king of Israel, so they stopped pursuing him. 33 By chance, however, a Syrian soldier shot an arrow which struck King Ahab between the joints of his armor. "I'm wounded!" he cried out to his chariot driver. "Turn around and pull out of the battle!" 34 While the battle raged on, King Ahab remained propped up in his chariot, facing the Syrians. At sunset he died.

1763-1 Kings 22:19 Micaiah went on: "Now listen to what the Lord says! I saw the Lord sitting on his throne in heaven, with all his angels standing beside him. 20 The Lord asked, "Who will deceive Ahab so that he will go and be killed at Ramoth?' Some of the angels said one thing, and others said something else, 21 until a spirit stepped forward, approached the Lord, and said, "I will deceive him.' 22 "How?' the Lord asked. The spirit replied, "I will go and make all of Ahab's prophets tell lies.' The Lord said, "Go and deceive him. You will succeed.' " 23 And Micaiah concluded: "This is what has happened. The Lord has made these prophets of yours lie to you. But he himself has decreed that you will meet with disaster!" 24 Then the prophet Zedekiah went up to Micaiah, slapped his face, and asked, "Since when did the Lord's spirit leave me and speak to you?" 25 "You will find out when you go into some back room to hide," Micaiah replied. 26 Then King Ahab ordered one of his officers, "Arrest Micaiah and take him to Amon, the governor of the city, and to Prince Joash. 27 Tell them to throw him in prison and to put him on bread and water until I return safely." 28 "If you return safely," Micaiah exclaimed, "then the Lord has not spoken through me!" And he added, "Listen, everyone, to what I have said!"

1764-Micah 3:5 My people are deceived by prophets who promise peace to those who pay them, but threaten war for those who don't. To these prophets the Lord says,

Micah 3:11 The city's rulers govern for bribes, the priests interpret the Law for pay, the prophets give their revelations for money - and they all claim that the Lord is with them. "No harm will come to us," they say. "The Lord is with us."

1765-2 Samuel 24:1 On another occasion the Lord was angry with Israel, and he made David bring trouble on them. The Lord said to him, "Go and count the people of Israel and Judah."

1766-1 Chronicles 21:1 Satan wanted to bring trouble on the people of Israel, so he made David decide to take a census.

1767-2 Kings 22:19 and you repented and humbled yourself before me, tearing your clothes and weeping, when you heard how I threatened to punish Jerusalem and its people. I will make it a terrifying sight, a place whose name people will use as a curse. But I have heard your prayer,

1768-Isaiah 6:1 In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord. He was sitting on his throne, high and exalted, and his robe filled the whole Temple.

1769-Job 1:6 When the day came for the heavenly beings to appear before the Lord, Satan was there among them.

1770-Ezekiel 14:9 "If any prophets are deceived into giving a false answer, it is because I, the Lord, have deceived them. I will remove them from the people of Israel.

Ezekiel 20:25 "Then I gave them laws that are not good and commands that do not bring life. 26 I let them defile themselves with their own offerings, and I let them sacrifice their first-born sons. This was to punish them and show them that I am the Lord.

1771-Job 1:6 When the day came for the heavenly beings to appear before the Lord, Satan was there among them. 7 The Lord asked him, "What have you been doing?" Satan answered, "I have been walking here and there, roaming around the earth." 8 "Did you notice my servant Job?" the Lord asked. "There is no one on earth as faithful and good as he is. He worships me and is careful not to do anything evil." 9 Satan replied, "Would Job worship you if he got nothing out of it? 10 You have always protected him and his family and everything he owns. You bless everything he does, and you have given him enough cattle to fill the whole country. 11 But now suppose you take away everything he has - he will curse you to your face!" 12 "All right," the Lord said to Satan, "everything he has is in your power, but you must not hurt Job himself." So Satan left.

Job 2:1 When the day came for the heavenly beings to appear before the Lord again, Satan was there among them. 2 The Lord asked him, "Where have you been?" Satan answered, "I have been walking here and there, roaming around the earth." 3 "Did you notice my servant Job?" the Lord asked. "There is no one on earth as faithful and good as he is. He worships me and is careful not to do anything evil. You persuaded me to let you attack him for no reason at all, but Job is still as faithful as ever." 4 Satan replied, "A person will give up everything in order to stay alive. 5 But now suppose you hurt his body - he will curse you to your face!" 6 So the Lord said to Satan, "All right, he is in your power, but you are not to kill him." 7 Then Satan left the Lord's presence and made sores break out all over Job's body.

1772-Jeremiah 14:14 But the Lord replied, "The prophets are telling lies in my name; I did not send them, nor did I give them any orders or speak one word to them. The visions they talk about have not come from me; their predictions are worthless things that they have imagined. 15 I, the Lord, tell you what I am going to do to those prophets whom I did not send but who speak in my name and say war and starvation will not strike this land - I will kill them in war and by starvation. 16 The people to whom they have said these things will be killed in the same way. Their bodies will be thrown out into the streets of Jerusalem, and there will be no one to bury them. This will happen to all of them - including their wives, their sons, and their daughters. I will make them pay for their wickedness."

Jeremiah 23:11 The Lord says, "The prophets and the priests are godless; I have caught them doing evil in the Temple itself. 12 The paths they follow will be slippery and dark; I will make them stumble and fall. I am going to bring disaster on them; the time of their punishment is coming. I, the Lord, have spoken. 13 I have seen the sin of Samaria's prophets: they have spoken in the name of Baal and have led my people astray. 14 But I have seen the prophets in Jerusalem do even worse: they commit adultery and tell lies; they help people to do wrong, so that no one stops doing what is evil. To me they are all as bad as the people of Sodom and Gomorrah. 15 "So then, this is what I, the Lord Almighty, say about the prophets of Jerusalem: I will give them bitter plants to eat and poison to drink, because they have spread ungodliness throughout the land." 16 The Lord Almighty said to the people of Jerusalem, "Do not listen to what the prophets say; they are filling you with false hopes. They tell you what they have imagined and not what I have said. 17 To the people who refuse to listen to what I have said, they keep saying that all will go well with them. And they tell everyone who is stubborn that disaster will never touch them." 18 I said, "None of these prophets has ever known the Lord's secret thoughts. None of them has ever heard or understood his message, or ever listened or paid attention to what he said. 19 His anger is a storm, a furious wind that will rage over the heads of the wicked, 20 and it will not end until he has done everything he intends to do. In days to come his people will understand this clearly." 21 The Lord said, "I did not send these prophets, but even so they went. I did not give them any message, but still they spoke in my name. 22 If they had known my secret thoughts, then they could have proclaimed my message to my people and could have made them give up the evil lives they live and the wicked things they do. 23 "I am a God who is everywhere and not in one place only. 24 No one can hide where I cannot see them. Do you not know that I am everywhere in heaven and on earth? 25 I know what those prophets have said who speak lies in my name and claim that I have given them my messages in their dreams. 26 How much longer will those prophets mislead my people with the lies they have invented? 27 They think that the dreams they tell will make my people forget me, just as their ancestors forgot me and turned to Baal. 28 The prophet who has had a dream should say it is only a dream, but the prophet who has heard my message should proclaim that message faithfully. What good is straw compared with wheat? 29 My message is like a fire and like a hammer that breaks rocks in pieces. 30 I am against those prophets who take each other's words and proclaim them as my message. 31 I am also against those prophets who speak their own words and claim they came from me. 32 Listen to what I, the Lord, say! I am against the prophets who tell their dreams that are full of lies. They tell these dreams and lead my people astray with their lies and their boasting. I did not send them or order them to go, and they are of no help at all to the people. I, the Lord, have spoken."

Jeremiah 27:14 Do not listen to the prophets who tell you not to surrender to him. They are deceiving you.

Jeremiah 27:16 Then I told the priests and the people that the Lord had said: "Do not listen to the prophets who say that the Temple treasures will soon be brought back from Babylonia. They are lying to you.

Jeremiah 28:1 That same year, in the fifth month of the fourth year that Zedekiah was king, Hananiah son of Azzur, a prophet from the town of Gibeon, spoke to me in the Temple. In the presence of the priests and of the people he told me 2 that the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, had said: "I have broken the power of the king of Babylonia. 3 Within two years I will bring back to this place all the Temple treasures that King Nebuchadnezzar took to Babylonia. 4 I will also bring back the king of Judah, Jehoiachin son of Jehoiakim, along with all of the people of Judah who went into exile in Babylonia. Yes, I will break the power of the king of Babylonia. I, the Lord, have spoken." 5 Then in the presence of the priests and of all the people who were standing in the Temple, I said to Hananiah, 6 "Wonderful! I hope the Lord will do this! I certainly hope he will make your prophecy come true and will bring back from Babylonia all the Temple treasures and all the people who were taken away as prisoners. 7 But listen to what I say to you and to the people. 8 The prophets who spoke long ago, before my time and yours, predicted that war, starvation, and disease would come to many nations and powerful kingdoms. 9 But a prophet who predicts peace can only be recognized as a prophet whom the Lord has truly sent when that prophet's predictions come true." 10 Then Hananiah took the yoke off my neck, broke it in pieces, 11 and said in the presence of all the people, "The Lord has said that this is how he will break the yoke that King Nebuchadnezzar has put on the neck of all the nations; and he will do this within two years." Then I left. 12 Some time after this the Lord told me 13 to go and tell Hananiah: "The Lord has said that you may be able to break a wooden yoke, but he will replace it with an iron yoke. 14 The Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, has said that he will put an iron yoke on all these nations and that they will serve King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia. The Lord has said that he will make even the wild animals serve Nebuchadnezzar." 15 Then I told Hananiah this, and added, "Listen, Hananiah! The Lord did not send you, and you are making these people believe a lie. 16 And so the Lord himself says that he is going to get rid of you. Before this year is over you will die because you have told the people to rebel against the Lord." 17 And Hananiah died in the seventh month of that same year.

1773-1 Kings 22:22 "How?' the Lord asked. The spirit replied, "I will go and make all of Ahab's prophets tell lies.' The Lord said, "Go and deceive him. You will succeed.' " 23 And Micaiah concluded: "This is what has happened. The Lord has made these prophets of yours lie to you. But he himself has decreed that you will meet with disaster!" 24 Then the prophet Zedekiah went up to Micaiah, slapped his face, and asked, "Since when did the Lord's spirit leave me and speak to you?" 25 "You will find out when you go into some back room to hide," Micaiah replied.

1774-2 Chronicles 18:21 The spirit replied, "I will go and make all of Ahab's prophets tell lies.' The Lord said, "Go and deceive him. You will succeed.' " 22 And Micaiah concluded: "This is what has happened. The Lord has made these prophets of yours lie to you. But he himself has decreed that you will meet with disaster!" 23 Then the prophet Zedekiah went up to Micaiah, slapped his face, and asked, "Since when did the Lord's spirit leave me and speak to you?" 24 "You will find out when you go into some back room to hide," Micaiah replied.

1775-Deuteronomy 13:1 "Prophets or interpreters of dreams may promise a miracle or a wonder, 2 in order to lead you to worship and serve gods that you have not worshiped before. Even if what they promise comes true, 3 do not pay any attention to them. The Lord your God is using them to test you, to see if you love the Lord with all your heart.

1776-Ezekiel 13:1 The Lord spoke to me. 2 "Mortal man," he said, "denounce the prophets of Israel who make up their own prophecies. Tell them to listen to the word of the Lord." 3 This is what the Sovereign Lord says: "These foolish prophets are doomed! They provide their own inspiration and invent their own visions. 4 People of Israel, your prophets are as useless as foxes living among the ruins of a city. 5 They don't guard the places where the walls have crumbled, nor do they rebuild the walls, and so Israel cannot be defended when war comes on the day of the Lord. 6 Their visions are false, and their predictions are lies. They claim that they are speaking my message, but I have not sent them. Yet they expect their words to come true! 7 I tell them: Those visions you see are false, and the predictions you make are lies. You say that they are my words, but I haven't spoken to you!" 8 So the Sovereign Lord says to them, "Your words are false, and your visions are lies. I am against you. 9 I am about to punish you prophets who have false visions and make misleading predictions. You will not be there when my people gather to make decisions; your names will not be included in the list of the citizens of Israel; you will never return to your land. Then you will know that I am the Sovereign Lord. 10 "The prophets mislead my people by saying that all is well. All is certainly not well! My people have put up a wall of loose stones, and then the prophets have come and covered it with whitewash. 11 Tell the prophets that their wall is going to fall down. I will send a pouring rain. Hailstones will fall on it, and a strong wind will blow against it. 12 The wall will collapse, and everyone will ask you what good the whitewash did." 13 Now this is what the Sovereign Lord says: "In my anger I will send a strong wind, pouring rain, and hailstones to destroy the wall. 14 I intend to break down the wall they whitewashed, to shatter it, and to leave the foundation stones bare. It will collapse and kill you all. Then everyone will know that I am the Lord. 15 "The wall and those who covered it with whitewash will feel the force of my anger. Then I will tell you that the wall is gone and so are those who whitewashed it - 16 those prophets who assured Jerusalem that all was well, when all was not well!" The Sovereign Lord has spoken.

1777-Ezekiel 13:17 The Lord said, "Now, mortal man, look at the women among your people who make up predictions. Denounce them 18 and tell them what the Sovereign Lord is saying to them: "You women are doomed! You sew magic wristbands for everyone and make magic scarves for everyone to wear on their heads, so that they can have power over other people's lives. You want to possess the power of life and death over my people and to use it for your own benefit. 19 You dishonor me in front of my people in order to get a few handfuls of barley and a few pieces of bread. You kill people who don't deserve to die, and you keep people alive who don't deserve to live. So you tell lies to my people, and they believe you." 20 Now this is what the Sovereign Lord says: "I hate the wristbands that you use in your attempt to control life and death. I will rip them off your arms and set free the people that you were controlling. 21 I will rip off your scarves and let my people escape from your power once and for all. Then you will know that I am the Lord. 22 "By your lies you discourage good people, whom I do not wish to hurt. You prevent evil people from giving up evil and saving their lives. 23 So now your false visions and misleading predictions are over. I am rescuing my people from your power, so that you will know that I am the Lord."

1778-Deuteronomy 18:21 "You may wonder how you can tell when a prophet's message does not come from the Lord. 22 If a prophet speaks in the name of the Lord and what he says does not come true, then it is not the Lord's message. That prophet has spoken on his own authority, and you are not to fear him.

1779-Jeremiah 28:9 But a prophet who predicts peace can only be recognized as a prophet whom the Lord has truly sent when that prophet's predictions come true."

1780-Ezekiel 33:30 The Lord said, "Mortal man, your people are talking about you when they meet by the city walls or in the doorways of their houses. They say to one another, "Let's go and hear what word has come from the Lord now.' 31 So my people crowd in to hear what you have to say, but they don't do what you tell them to do. Loving words are on their lips, but they continue their greedy ways. 32 To them you are nothing more than an entertainer singing love songs or playing a harp. They listen to all your words and don't obey a single one of them. 33 But when all your words come true - and they will come true - then they will know that a prophet has been among them."

1781-Ezekiel 14:9 "If any prophets are deceived into giving a false answer, it is because I, the Lord, have deceived them. I will remove them from the people of Israel.

1782-Ezekiel 20:25 "Then I gave them laws that are not good and commands that do not bring life. 26 I let them defile themselves with their own offerings, and I let them sacrifice their first-born sons. This was to punish them and show them that I am the Lord.

1783-Ezekiel 22:28 The prophets have hidden these sins like workers covering a wall with whitewash. They see false visions and make false predictions. They claim to speak the word of the Sovereign Lord, but I, the Lord, have not spoken to them.

1784-Micah 3:11 The city's rulers govern for bribes, the priests interpret the Law for pay, the prophets give their revelations for money - and they all claim that the Lord is with them. "No harm will come to us," they say. "The Lord is with us."

1785-Job 1:6 When the day came for the heavenly beings to appear before the Lord, Satan was there among them. 7 The Lord asked him, "What have you been doing?" Satan answered, "I have been walking here and there, roaming around the earth." 8 "Did you notice my servant Job?" the Lord asked. "There is no one on earth as faithful and good as he is. He worships me and is careful not to do anything evil." 9 Satan replied, "Would Job worship you if he got nothing out of it? 10 You have always protected him and his family and everything he owns. You bless everything he does, and you have given him enough cattle to fill the whole country. 11 But now suppose you take away everything he has - he will curse you to your face!" 12 "All right," the Lord said to Satan, "everything he has is in your power, but you must not hurt Job himself." So Satan left.

Job 2:1 When the day came for the heavenly beings to appear before the Lord again, Satan was there among them. 2 The Lord asked him, "Where have you been?" Satan answered, "I have been walking here and there, roaming around the earth." 3 "Did you notice my servant Job?" the Lord asked. "There is no one on earth as faithful and good as he is. He worships me and is careful not to do anything evil. You persuaded me to let you attack him for no reason at all, but Job is still as faithful as ever." 4 Satan replied, "A person will give up everything in order to stay alive. 5 But now suppose you hurt his body - he will curse you to your face!" 6 So the Lord said to Satan, "All right, he is in your power, but you are not to kill him." 7 Then Satan left the Lord's presence and made sores break out all over Job's body.

1786-Daniel 7:9 While I was looking, thrones were put in place. One who had been living forever sat down on one of the thrones. His clothes were white as snow, and his hair was like pure wool. His throne, mounted on fiery wheels, was blazing with fire, 10 and a stream of fire was pouring out from it. There were many thousands of people there to serve him, and millions of people stood before him. The court began its session, and the books were opened.

1787-2 Samuel 24:1 On another occasion the Lord was angry with Israel, and he made David bring trouble on them. The Lord said to him, "Go and count the people of Israel and Judah."

1788-1 Chronicles 21:1 Satan wanted to bring trouble on the people of Israel, so he made David decide to take a census.

1789-1 Samuel 31:1 The Philistines fought a battle against the Israelites on Mount Gilboa. Many Israelites were killed there, and the rest of them, including King Saul and his sons, fled. 2 But the Philistines caught up with them and killed three of Saul's sons, Jonathan, Abinadab, and Malchishua. 3 The fighting was heavy around Saul, and he himself was hit by enemy arrows and badly wounded. 4 He said to the young man carrying his weapons, "Draw your sword and kill me, so that these godless Philistines won't gloat over me and kill me." But the young man was too terrified to do it. So Saul took his own sword and threw himself on it.

1790-1 Chronicles 10:1 The Philistines fought a battle against the Israelites on Mount Gilboa. Many Israelites were killed there, and the rest of them, including King Saul and his sons, fled. 2 But the Philistines caught up with them and killed three of Saul's sons, Jonathan, Abinadab, and Malchishua. 3 The fighting was heavy around Saul, and he was hit by enemy arrows and badly wounded. 4 He said to the young man carrying his weapons, "Draw your sword and kill me, to keep these godless Philistines from gloating over me." But the young man was too terrified to do it. So Saul took his own sword and threw himself on it.

1 Chronicles 10:13 Saul died because he was unfaithful to the Lord. He disobeyed the Lord's commands; he tried to find guidance by consulting the spirits of the dead 14 instead of consulting the Lord. So the Lord killed him and gave control of the kingdom to David son of Jesse.

1791-Isaiah 45:7 I create both light and darkness; I bring both blessing and disaster. I, the Lord, do all these things.

1792-Lamentations 3:38 Good and evil alike take place at his command.

1793-Amos 3:6 Does the war trumpet sound in a city without making the people afraid? Does disaster strike a city unless the Lord sends it?

1794-James 1:13 If we are tempted by such trials, we must not say, "This temptation comes from God." For God cannot be tempted by evil, and he himself tempts no one. 14 But we are tempted when we are drawn away and trapped by our own evil desires. 15 Then our evil desires conceive and give birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.

1795-1 Kings 20:41 The prophet tore the cloth from his face, and at once the king recognized him as one of the prophets. 42 The prophet then said to the king, "This is the word of the Lord: "Because you allowed the man to escape whom I had ordered to be killed, you will pay for it with your life, and your army will be destroyed for letting his army escape.' " 43 The king went back home to Samaria, worried and depressed.

1796-1 Kings 20:15 So the king called out the young soldiers who were under the district commanders, 232 in all. Then he called out the Israelite army, a total of seven thousand men.

1 Kings 20:27 The Israelites were called up and equipped; they marched out and camped in two groups facing the Syrians. The Israelites looked like two small flocks of goats compared to the Syrians, who spread out over the countryside.

1 Kings 20:29 For seven days the Syrians and the Israelites stayed in their camps, facing each other. On the seventh day they started fighting, and the Israelites killed a hundred thousand Syrians. 30 The survivors fled into the city of Aphek, where the city walls fell on twenty-seven thousand of them. Benhadad also escaped into the city and took refuge in the back room of a house.

1797-1 Kings 20:13 Meanwhile, a prophet went to King Ahab and said, "The Lord says, "Don't be afraid of that huge army! I will give you victory over it today, and you will know that I am the Lord.' "

1 Kings 20:28 A prophet went to King Ahab and said, "This is what the Lord says: "Because the Syrians say that I am a god of the hills and not of the plains, I will give you victory over their huge army, and you and your people will know that I am the Lord.' "

1798-1 Samuel 28:3 Now Samuel had died, and all the Israelites had mourned for him and had buried him in his hometown of Ramah. Saul had forced all the fortunetellers and mediums to leave Israel. 4 The Philistine troops assembled and camped near the town of Shunem; Saul gathered the Israelites and camped at Mount Gilboa. 5 When Saul saw the Philistine army, he was terrified, 6 and so he asked the Lord what to do. But the Lord did not answer him at all, either by dreams or by the use of Urim and Thummim or by prophets. 7 Then Saul ordered his officials, "Find me a woman who is a medium, and I will go and consult her." "There is one in Endor," they answered. 8 So Saul disguised himself; he put on different clothes, and after dark he went with two of his men to see the woman. "Consult the spirits for me and tell me what is going to happen," he said to her. "Call up the spirit of the man I name." 9 The woman answered, "Surely you know what King Saul has done, how he forced the fortunetellers and mediums to leave Israel. Why, then, are you trying to trap me and get me killed?" 10 Then Saul made a sacred vow. "By the living Lord I promise that you will not be punished for doing this," he told her. 11 "Whom shall I call up for you?" the woman asked. "Samuel," he answered. 12 When the woman saw Samuel, she screamed and said to Saul, "Why have you tricked me? You are King Saul!" 13 "Don't be afraid!" the king said to her. "What do you see?" "I see a spirit coming up from the earth," she answered. 14 "What does it look like?" he asked. "It's an old man coming up," she answered. "He is wearing a cloak." Then Saul knew that it was Samuel, and he bowed to the ground in respect. 15 Samuel said to Saul, "Why have you disturbed me? Why did you make me come back?" Saul answered, "I am in great trouble! The Philistines are at war with me, and God has abandoned me. He doesn't answer me any more, either by prophets or by dreams. And so I have called you, for you to tell me what I must do." 16 Samuel said, "Why do you call me when the Lord has abandoned you and become your enemy? 17 The Lord has done to you what he told you through me: he has taken the kingdom away from you and given it to David instead. 18 You disobeyed the Lord's command and did not completely destroy the Amalekites and all they had. That is why the Lord is doing this to you now. 19 He will give you and Israel over to the Philistines. Tomorrow you and your sons will join me, and the Lord will also give the army of Israel over to the Philistines." 20 At once Saul fell down and lay stretched out on the ground, terrified by what Samuel had said. He was weak, because he had not eaten anything all day and all night. 21 The woman went over to him and saw that he was terrified, so she said to him, "Please, sir, I risked my life by doing what you asked. 22 Now please do what I ask. Let me fix you some food. You must eat so that you will be strong enough to travel." 23 Saul refused and said he would not eat anything. But his officers also urged him to eat. He finally gave in, got up from the ground, and sat on the bed. 24 The woman quickly killed a calf which she had been fattening. Then she took some flour, prepared it, and baked some bread without yeast. 25 She set the food before Saul and his officers, and they ate it. And they left that same night.

1799-Luke 16:16 "The Law of Moses and the writings of the prophets were in effect up to the time of John the Baptist; since then the Good News about the Kingdom of God is being told, and everyone forces their way in.

Luke 16:19 "There was once a rich man who dressed in the most expensive clothes and lived in great luxury every day. 20 There was also a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, who used to be brought to the rich man's door, 21 hoping to eat the bits of food that fell from the rich man's table. Even the dogs would come and lick his sores. 22 The poor man died and was carried by the angels to sit beside Abraham at the feast in heaven. The rich man died and was buried, 23 and in Hades, where he was in great pain, he looked up and saw Abraham, far away, with Lazarus at his side. 24 So he called out, "Father Abraham! Take pity on me, and send Lazarus to dip his finger in some water and cool off my tongue, because I am in great pain in this fire!' 25 But Abraham said, "Remember, my son, that in your lifetime you were given all the good things, while Lazarus got all the bad things. But now he is enjoying himself here, while you are in pain. 26 Besides all that, there is a deep pit lying between us, so that those who want to cross over from here to you cannot do so, nor can anyone cross over to us from where you are.' 27 The rich man said, "Then I beg you, father Abraham, send Lazarus to my father's house, 28 where I have five brothers. Let him go and warn them so that they, at least, will not come to this place of pain.' 29 Abraham said, "Your brothers have Moses and the prophets to warn them; your brothers should listen to what they say.' 30 The rich man answered, "That is not enough, father Abraham! But if someone were to rise from death and go to them, then they would turn from their sins.' 31 But Abraham said, "If they will not listen to Moses and the prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone were to rise from death.' "

1800-Proverbs 31:6 Alcohol is for people who are dying, for those who are in misery. 7 Let them drink and forget their poverty and unhappiness.

1801-Deuteronomy 14:22 "Set aside a tithe - a tenth of all that your fields produce each year. 23 Then go to the one place where the Lord your God has chosen to be worshiped; and there in his presence eat the tithes of your grain, wine, and olive oil, and the first-born of your cattle and sheep. Do this so that you may learn to honor the Lord your God always. 24 If the place of worship is too far from your home for you to carry there the tithe of the produce that the Lord has blessed you with, then do this: 25 Sell your produce and take the money with you to the one place of worship. 26 Spend it on whatever you want - beef, lamb, wine, beer - and there, in the presence of the Lord your God, you and your families are to eat and enjoy yourselves. 27 "Do not neglect the Levites who live in your towns; they have no property of their own. 28 At the end of every third year bring the tithe of all your crops and store it in your towns. 29 This food is for the Levites, since they own no property, and for the foreigners, orphans, and widows who live in your towns. They are to come and get all they need. Do this, and the Lord your God will bless you in everything you do.

1802-2 Timothy 3:16 All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching the truth, rebuking error, correcting faults, and giving instruction for right living,

1803-2 Kin. 18:1 In the third year of the reign of Hoshea son of Elah as king of Israel, Hezekiah son of Ahaz became king of Judah 2 at the age of twenty-five, and he ruled in Jerusalem for twenty-nine years. His mother was Abijah, the daughter of Zechariah. 3 Following the example of his ancestor King David, he did what was pleasing to the Lord. 4 He destroyed the pagan places of worship, broke the stone pillars, and cut down the images of the goddess Asherah. He also broke in pieces the bronze snake that Moses had made, which was called Nehushtan. Up to that time the people of Israel had burned incense in its honor. 5 Hezekiah trusted in the Lord, the God of Israel; Judah never had another king like him, either before or after his time. 6 He was faithful to the Lord and never disobeyed him, but carefully kept all the commands that the Lord had given Moses. 7 So the Lord was with him, and he was successful in everything he did. He rebelled against the emperor of Assyria and refused to submit to him. 8 He defeated the Philistines and raided their settlements, from the smallest village to the largest city, including Gaza and its surrounding territory. 9 In the fourth year of Hezekiah's reign - which was the seventh year of King Hoshea's reign over Israel - Emperor Shalmaneser of Assyria invaded Israel and besieged Samaria. 10 In the third year of the siege Samaria fell; this was the sixth year of Hezekiah's reign and the ninth year of Hoshea's reign. 11 The Assyrian emperor took the Israelites to Assyria as prisoners and settled some of them in the city of Halah, some near the Habor River in the district of Gozan, and some in the cities of Media. 12 Samaria fell because the Israelites did not obey the Lord their God, but broke the covenant he had made with them and disobeyed all the laws given by Moses, the servant of the Lord. They would not listen and they would not obey. 13 In the fourteenth year of the reign of King Hezekiah, Sennacherib, the emperor of Assyria, attacked the fortified cities of Judah and conquered them. 14 Hezekiah sent a message to Sennacherib, who was in Lachish: "I have done wrong; please stop your attack, and I will pay whatever you demand." The emperor's answer was that Hezekiah should send him ten tons of silver and one ton of gold. 15 Hezekiah sent him all the silver in the Temple and in the palace treasury; 16 he also stripped the gold from the temple doors and the gold with which he himself had covered the doorposts, and he sent it all to Sennacherib. 17 The Assyrian emperor sent a large army from Lachish to attack Hezekiah at Jerusalem; it was commanded by his three highest officials. When they arrived at Jerusalem, they occupied the road where the cloth makers work by the ditch that brings water from the upper pool. 18 Then they sent for King Hezekiah, and three of his officials went out to meet them: Eliakim son of Hilkiah, who was in charge of the palace; Shebna, the court secretary; and Joah son of Asaph, who was in charge of the records. 19 One of the Assyrian officials told them that the emperor wanted to know what made King Hezekiah so confident. 20 He demanded, "Do you think that words can take the place of military skill and might? Who do you think will help you rebel against Assyria? 21 You are expecting Egypt to help you, but that would be like using a reed as a walking stick - it would break and jab your hand. That is what the king of Egypt is like when anyone relies on him." 22 The Assyrian official went on, "Or will you tell me that you are relying on the Lord your God? It was the Lord's shrines and altars that Hezekiah destroyed, when he told the people of Judah and Jerusalem to worship only at the altar in Jerusalem. 23 I will make a bargain with you in the name of the emperor. I will give you two thousand horses if you can find that many men to ride them! 24 You are no match for even the lowest ranking Assyrian official, and yet you expect the Egyptians to send you chariots and cavalry! 25 Do you think I have attacked your country and destroyed it without the Lord's help? The Lord himself told me to attack it and destroy it." 26 Then Eliakim, Shebna, and Joah told the official, "Speak Aramaic to us, sir. We understand it. Don't speak Hebrew; all the people on the wall are listening." 27 He replied, "Do you think you and the king are the only ones the emperor sent me to say all these things to? No, I am also talking to the people who are sitting on the wall, who will have to eat their excrement and drink their urine, just as you will." 28 Then the official stood up and shouted in Hebrew, "Listen to what the emperor of Assyria is telling you! 29 He warns you not to let Hezekiah deceive you. Hezekiah can't save you. 30 And don't let him persuade you to rely on the Lord. Don't think that the Lord will save you and that he will stop our Assyrian army from capturing your city. 31 Don't listen to Hezekiah. The emperor of Assyria commands you to come out of the city and surrender. You will all be allowed to eat grapes from your own vines and figs from your own trees, and to drink water from your own wells - 32 until the emperor resettles you in a country much like your own, where there are vineyards to give wine and there is grain for making bread; it is a land of olives, olive oil, and honey. If you do what he commands, you will not die, but live. Don't let Hezekiah fool you into thinking that the Lord will rescue you. 33 Did the gods of any other nations save their countries from the emperor of Assyria? 34 Where are they now, the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivvah? Did anyone save Samaria? 35 When did any of the gods of all these countries ever save their country from our emperor? Then what makes you think the Lord can save Jerusalem?" 36 The people kept quiet, just as King Hezekiah had told them to; they did not say a word. 37 Then Eliakim, Shebna, and Joah tore their clothes in grief, and went and reported to the king what the Assyrian official had said.

2 Kings 19:1 As soon as King Hezekiah heard their report, he tore his clothes in grief, put on sackcloth, and went to the Temple of the Lord. 2 He sent Eliakim, the official in charge of the palace, Shebna, the court secretary, and the senior priests to the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz. They also were wearing sackcloth. 3 This is the message which he told them to give Isaiah: "Today is a day of suffering; we are being punished and are in disgrace. We are like a woman who is ready to give birth, but is too weak to do it. 4 The Assyrian emperor has sent his chief official to insult the living God. May the Lord your God hear these insults and punish those who spoke them. So pray to God for those of our people who survive." 5 When Isaiah received King Hezekiah's message, 6 he sent back this answer: "The Lord tells you not to let the Assyrians frighten you with their claims that he cannot save you. 7 The Lord will cause the emperor to hear a rumor that will make him go back to his own country, and the Lord will have him killed there." 8 The Assyrian official learned that the emperor had left Lachish and was fighting against the nearby city of Libnah; so he went there to consult him. 9 Word reached the Assyrians that the Egyptian army, led by King Tirhakah of Ethiopia, was coming to attack them. When the emperor heard this, he sent a letter to King Hezekiah of Judah 10 to tell him, "The god you are trusting in has told you that you will not fall into my hands, but don't let that deceive you. 11 You have heard what an Assyrian emperor does to any country he decides to destroy. Do you think that you can escape? 12 My ancestors destroyed the cities of Gozan, Haran, and Rezeph, and killed the people of Betheden who lived in Telassar, and none of their gods could save them. 13 Where are the kings of the cities of Hamath, Arpad, Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivvah?" 14 King Hezekiah took the letter from the messengers and read it. Then he went to the Temple, placed the letter there in the presence of the Lord, 15 and prayed, "O Lord, the God of Israel, seated on your throne above the winged creatures, you alone are God, ruling all the kingdoms of the world. You created the earth and the sky. 16 Now, Lord, look at what is happening to us. Listen to all the things that Sennacherib is saying to insult you, the living God. 17 We all know, Lord, that the emperors of Assyria have destroyed many nations, made their lands desolate, 18 and burned up their gods - which were no gods at all, only images of wood and stone made by human hands. 19 Now, Lord our God, rescue us from the Assyrians, so that all the nations of the world will know that only you, O Lord, are God." 20 Then Isaiah sent a message telling King Hezekiah that in answer to the king's prayer 21 the Lord had said, "The city of Jerusalem laughs at you, Sennacherib, and makes fun of you. 22 Whom do you think you have been insulting and ridiculing? You have been disrespectful to me, the holy God of Israel. 23 You sent your messengers to boast to me that with all your chariots you had conquered the highest mountains of Lebanon. You boasted that there you cut down the tallest cedars and the finest cypress trees and that you reached the deepest parts of the forests. 24 You boasted that you dug wells and drank water in foreign lands and that the feet of your soldiers tramped the Nile River dry. 25 "Have you never heard that I planned all this long ago? And now I have carried it out. I gave you the power to turn fortified cities into piles of rubble. 26 The people who lived there were powerless; they were frightened and stunned. They were like grass in a field or weeds growing on a roof when the hot east wind blasts them. 27 "But I know everything about you, what you do and where you go. I know how you rage against me. 28 I have received the report of that rage and that pride of yours, and now I will put a hook through your nose and a bit in your mouth, and take you back by the same road you came." 29 Then Isaiah said to King Hezekiah, "Here is a sign of what will happen. This year and next you will have only wild grain to eat, but the following year you will be able to plant your grain and harvest it, and plant vines and eat grapes. 30 Those in Judah who survive will flourish like plants that send roots deep into the ground and produce fruit. 31 There will be people in Jerusalem and on Mount Zion who will survive, because the Lord is determined to make this happen. 32 "And this is what the Lord has said about the Assyrian emperor: "He will not enter this city or shoot a single arrow against it. No soldiers with shields will come near the city, and no siege mounds will be built around it. 33 He will go back by the same road he came, without entering this city. I, the Lord, have spoken. 34 I will defend this city and protect it, for the sake of my own honor and because of the promise I made to my servant David.' " 35 That night an angel of the Lord went to the Assyrian camp and killed 185,000 soldiers. At dawn the next day there they lay, all dead! 36 Then the Assyrian emperor Sennacherib withdrew and returned to Nineveh. 37 One day, when he was worshiping in the temple of his god Nisroch, two of his sons, Adrammelech and Sharezer, killed him with their swords and then escaped to the land of Ararat. Another of his sons, Esarhaddon, succeeded him as emperor.

2 Kings 20:1 About this time King Hezekiah became sick and almost died. The prophet Isaiah son of Amoz went to see him and said to him, "The Lord tells you that you are to put everything in order, because you will not recover. Get ready to die." 2 Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed: 3 "Remember, Lord, that I have served you faithfully and loyally and that I have always tried to do what you wanted me to." And he began to cry bitterly. 4 Isaiah left the king, but before he had passed through the central courtyard of the palace the Lord told him 5 to go back to Hezekiah, ruler of the Lord's people, and say to him, "I, the Lord, the God of your ancestor David, have heard your prayer and seen your tears. I will heal you, and in three days you will go to the Temple. 6 I will let you live fifteen years longer. I will rescue you and this city Jerusalem from the emperor of Assyria. I will defend this city, for the sake of my own honor and because of the promise I made to my servant David." 7 Then Isaiah told the king's attendants to put on his boil a paste made of figs, and he would get well. 8 King Hezekiah asked, "What is the sign to prove that the Lord will heal me and that three days later I will be able to go to the Temple?" 9 Isaiah replied, "The Lord will give you a sign to prove that he will keep his promise. Now, would you prefer to have the shadow on the stairway go forward ten steps or go back ten steps?" 10 Hezekiah answered, "It's easy to have the shadow go forward ten steps! Have it go back ten steps." 11 Isaiah prayed to the Lord, and the Lord made the shadow go back ten steps on the stairway set up by King Ahaz. 12 About that same time the king of Babylonia, Merodach Baladan, the son of Baladan, heard that King Hezekiah had been sick, so he sent him a letter and a present. 13 Hezekiah welcomed the messengers and showed them his wealth - his silver and gold, his spices and perfumes, and all his military equipment. There was nothing in his storerooms or anywhere in his kingdom that he did not show them. 14 Then the prophet Isaiah went to King Hezekiah and asked, "Where did these men come from and what did they say to you?" Hezekiah answered, "They came from a very distant country, from Babylonia." 15 "What did they see in the palace?" "They saw everything. There is nothing in the storerooms that I didn't show them." 16 Isaiah then told the king, "The Lord Almighty says that 17 a time is coming when everything in your palace, everything that your ancestors have stored up to this day, will be carried off to Babylonia. Nothing will be left. 18 Some of your own direct descendants will be taken away and made eunuchs to serve in the palace of the king of Babylonia." 19 King Hezekiah understood this to mean that there would be peace and security during his lifetime, so he replied, "The message you have given me from the Lord is good." 20 Everything else that King Hezekiah did, his brave deeds, and an account of how he built a reservoir and dug a tunnel to bring water into the city, are all recorded in [The History of the Kings of Judah.] 21 Hezekiah died, and his son Manasseh succeeded him as king.

2 Kings 21:1 Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king of Judah, and he ruled in Jerusalem for fifty-five years. His mother was Hephzibah. 2 Following the disgusting practices of the nations whom the Lord had driven out of the land as his people advanced, Manasseh sinned against the Lord. 3 He rebuilt the pagan places of worship that his father Hezekiah had destroyed; he built altars for the worship of Baal and made an image of the goddess Asherah, as King Ahab of Israel had done. Manasseh also worshiped the stars. 4 He built pagan altars in the Temple, the place that the Lord had said was where he should be worshiped. 5 In the two courtyards of the Temple he built altars for the worship of the stars. 6 He sacrificed his son as a burnt offering. He practiced divination and magic and consulted fortunetellers and mediums. He sinned greatly against the Lord and stirred up his anger. 7 He placed the symbol of the goddess Asherah in the Temple, the place about which the Lord had said to David and his son Solomon: "Here in Jerusalem, in this Temple, is the place that I have chosen out of all the territory of the twelve tribes of Israel as the place where I am to be worshiped. 8 And if the people of Israel will obey all my commands and keep the whole Law that my servant Moses gave them, then I will not allow them to be driven out of the land that I gave to their ancestors." 9 But the people of Judah did not obey the Lord, and Manasseh led them to commit even greater sins than those committed by the nations whom the Lord had driven out of the land as his people advanced. 10 Through his servants the prophets the Lord said, 11 "King Manasseh has done these disgusting things, things far worse than what the Canaanites did; and with his idols he has led the people of Judah into sin. 12 So I, the Lord God of Israel, will bring such a disaster on Jerusalem and Judah that everyone who hears about it will be stunned. 13 I will punish Jerusalem as I did Samaria, as I did King Ahab of Israel and his descendants. I will wipe Jerusalem clean of its people, as clean as a plate that has been wiped and turned upside down. 14 I will abandon the people who survive, and will hand them over to their enemies, who will conquer them and plunder their land. 15 I will do this to my people because they have sinned against me and have stirred up my anger from the time their ancestors came out of Egypt to this day." 16 Manasseh killed so many innocent people that the streets of Jerusalem were flowing with blood; he did this in addition to leading the people of Judah into idolatry, causing them to sin against the Lord. 17 Everything else that Manasseh did, including the sins he committed, is recorded in [The History of the Kings of Judah.] 18 Manasseh died and was buried in the palace garden, the garden of Uzza, and his son Amon succeeded him as king. 19 Amon was twenty-two years old when he became king of Judah, and he ruled in Jerusalem for two years. His mother was Meshullemeth, the daughter of Haruz from the town of Jotbah. 20 Like his father Manasseh, he sinned against the Lord; 21 he imitated his father's actions, and he worshiped the idols that his father had worshiped. 22 He rejected the Lord, the God of his ancestors, and disobeyed the Lord's commands. 23 Amon's officials plotted against him and assassinated him in the palace. 24 The people of Judah killed Amon's assassins and made his son Josiah king. 25 Everything else that Amon did is recorded in [The History of the Kings of Judah.] 26 Amon was buried in the tomb in the garden of Uzza, and his son Josiah succeeded him as king.

2 Kings 22:1 Josiah was eight years old when he became king of Judah, and he ruled in Jerusalem for thirty-one years. His mother was Jedidah, the daughter of Adaiah from the town of Bozkath. 2 Josiah did what was pleasing to the Lord; he followed the example of his ancestor King David, strictly obeying all the laws of God. 3 In the eighteenth year of his reign, King Josiah sent the court secretary Shaphan, the son of Azaliah and grandson of Meshullam, to the Temple with the order: 4 "Go to the High Priest Hilkiah and get a report on the amount of money that the priests on duty at the entrance to the Temple have collected from the people. 5 Tell him to give the money to the men who are in charge of the repairs in the Temple. They are to pay 6 the carpenters, the builders, and the masons, and buy the timber and the stones used in the repairs. 7 The men in charge of the work are thoroughly honest, so there is no need to require them to account for the funds." 8 Shaphan delivered the king's order to Hilkiah, and Hilkiah told him that he had found the book of the Law in the Temple. Hilkiah gave him the book, and Shaphan read it. 9 Then he went back to the king and reported: "Your servants have taken the money that was in the Temple and have handed it over to the men in charge of the repairs." 10 And then he said, "I have here a book that Hilkiah gave me." And he read it aloud to the king. 11 When the king heard the book being read, he tore his clothes in dismay, 12 and gave the following order to Hilkiah the priest, to Ahikam son of Shaphan, to Achbor son of Micaiah, to Shaphan, the court secretary, and to Asaiah, the king's attendant: 13 "Go and consult the Lord for me and for all the people of Judah about the teachings of this book. The Lord is angry with us because our ancestors have not done what this book says must be done." 14 Hilkiah, Ahikam, Achbor, Shaphan, and Asaiah went to consult a woman named Huldah, a prophet who lived in the newer part of Jerusalem. (Her husband Shallum, the son of Tikvah and grandson of Harhas, was in charge of the Temple robes.) They described to her what had happened, 15 and she told them to go back to the king and give him 16 the following message from the Lord: "I am going to punish Jerusalem and all its people, as written in the book that the king has read. 17 They have rejected me and have offered sacrifices to other gods, and so have stirred up my anger by all they have done. My anger is aroused against Jerusalem, and it will not die down. 18 As for the king himself, this is what I, the Lord God of Israel, say: You listened to what is written in the book, 19 and you repented and humbled yourself before me, tearing your clothes and weeping, when you heard how I threatened to punish Jerusalem and its people. I will make it a terrifying sight, a place whose name people will use as a curse. But I have heard your prayer, 20 and the punishment which I am going to bring on Jerusalem will not come until after your death. I will let you die in peace." The men returned to King Josiah with this message.

2 Kings 23:1 King Josiah summoned all the leaders of Judah and Jerusalem, 2 and together they went to the Temple, accompanied by the priests and the prophets and all the rest of the people, rich and poor alike. Before them all the king read aloud the whole book of the covenant which had been found in the Temple. 3 He stood by the royal column and made a covenant with the Lord to obey him, to keep his laws and commands with all his heart and soul, and to put into practice the demands attached to the covenant, as written in the book. And all the people promised to keep the covenant. 4 Then Josiah ordered the High Priest Hilkiah, his assistant priests, and the guards on duty at the entrance to the Temple to bring out of the Temple all the objects used in the worship of Baal, of the goddess Asherah, and of the stars. The king burned all these objects outside the city near Kidron Valley and then had the ashes taken to Bethel. 5 He removed from office the priests that the kings of Judah had ordained to offer sacrifices on the pagan altars in the cities of Judah and in places near Jerusalem - all the priests who offered sacrifices to Baal, to the sun, the moon, the planets, and the stars. 6 He removed from the Temple the symbol of the goddess Asherah, took it out of the city to Kidron Valley, burned it, pounded its ashes to dust, and scattered it over the public burying ground. 7 He destroyed the living quarters in the Temple occupied by the temple prostitutes. (It was there that women wove robes used in the worship of Asherah.) 8 He brought to Jerusalem the priests who were in the cities of Judah, and throughout the whole country he desecrated the altars where they had offered sacrifices. He also tore down the altars dedicated to the goat demons near the gate built by Joshua, the city governor, which was to the left of the main gate as one enters the city. 9 Those priests were not allowed to serve in the Temple, but they could eat the unleavened bread provided for their fellow priests. 10 King Josiah also desecrated Topheth, the pagan place of worship in Hinnom Valley, so that no one could sacrifice his son or daughter as a burnt offering to the god Molech. 11 He also removed the horses that the kings of Judah had dedicated to the worship of the sun, and he burned the chariots used in this worship. (These were kept in the temple courtyard, near the gate and not far from the living quarters of Nathan Melech, a high official.) 12 The altars which the kings of Judah had built on the palace roof above King Ahaz' quarters, King Josiah tore down, along with the altars put up by King Manasseh in the two courtyards of the Temple; he smashed the altars to bits and threw them into Kidron Valley. 13 Josiah desecrated the altars that King Solomon had built east of Jerusalem, south of the Mount of Olives, for the worship of disgusting idols - Astarte the goddess of Sidon, Chemosh the god of Moab, and Molech the god of Ammon. 14 King Josiah broke the stone pillars to pieces, cut down the symbols of the goddess Asherah, and the ground where they had stood he covered with human bones. 15 Josiah also tore down the place of worship in Bethel, which had been built by King Jeroboam son of Nebat, who led Israel into sin. Josiah pulled down the altar, broke its stones into pieces, and pounded them to dust; he also burned the image of Asherah. 16 Then Josiah looked around and saw some tombs there on the hill; he had the bones taken out of them and burned on the altar. In this way he desecrated the altar, doing what the prophet had predicted long before during the festival as King Jeroboam was standing by the altar. King Josiah looked around and saw the tomb of the prophet who had made this prediction. 17 "Whose tomb is that?" he asked. The people of Bethel answered, "It is the tomb of the prophet who came from Judah and predicted these things that you have done to this altar." 18 "Leave it as it is," Josiah ordered. "His bones are not to be moved." So his bones were not moved, neither were those of the prophet who had come from Samaria. 19 In every city of Israel King Josiah tore down all the pagan places of worship which had been built by the kings of Israel, who thereby aroused the Lord's anger. He did to all those altars what he had done in Bethel. 20 He killed all the pagan priests on the altars where they served, and he burned human bones on every altar. Then he returned to Jerusalem. 21 King Josiah ordered the people to celebrate the Passover in honor of the Lord their God, as written in the book of the covenant. 22 No Passover like this one had ever been celebrated by any of the kings of Israel or of Judah, since the time when judges ruled the nation. 23 Now at last, in the eighteenth year of the reign of Josiah, the Passover was celebrated in Jerusalem. 24 In order to enforce the laws written in the book that the High Priest Hilkiah had found in the Temple, King Josiah removed from Jerusalem and the rest of Judah all the mediums and fortunetellers, and all the household gods, idols, and all other pagan objects of worship. 25 There had never been a king like him before, who served the Lord with all his heart, mind, and strength, obeying all the Law of Moses; nor has there been a king like him since. 26 But the Lord's fierce anger had been aroused against Judah by what King Manasseh had done, and even now it did not die down. 27 The Lord said, "I will do to Judah what I have done to Israel: I will banish the people of Judah from my sight, and I will reject Jerusalem, the city I chose, and the Temple, the place I said was where I should be worshiped." 28 Everything else that King Josiah did is recorded in [The History of the Kings of Judah.] 29 While Josiah was king, King Neco of Egypt led an army to the Euphrates River to help the emperor of Assyria. King Josiah tried to stop the Egyptian army at Megiddo and was killed in battle. 30 His officials placed his body in a chariot and took it back to Jerusalem, where he was buried in the royal tombs. The people of Judah chose Josiah's son Joahaz and anointed him king. 31 Joahaz was twenty-three years old when he became king of Judah, and he ruled in Jerusalem for three months. His mother was Hamutal, the daughter of Jeremiah from the city of Libnah. 32 Following the example of his ancestors, he sinned against the Lord. 33 His reign ended when King Neco of Egypt took him prisoner in Riblah, in the land of Hamath, and made Judah pay 7,500 pounds of silver and 75 pounds of gold as tribute. 34 King Neco made Josiah's son Eliakim king of Judah as successor to Josiah, and changed his name to Jehoiakim. Joahaz was taken to Egypt by King Neco, and there he died. 35 King Jehoiakim collected a tax from the people in proportion to their wealth, in order to raise the amount needed to pay the tribute demanded by the king of Egypt. 36 Jehoiakim was twenty-five years old when he became king of Judah, and he ruled in Jerusalem for eleven years. His mother was Zebidah, the daughter of Pedaiah from the town of Rumah. 37 Following the example of his ancestors, Jehoiakim sinned against the Lord.

2 Kings 24:1 While Jehoiakim was king, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia invaded Judah, and for three years Jehoiakim was forced to submit to his rule; then he rebelled. 2 The Lord sent armed bands of Babylonians, Syrians, Moabites, and Ammonites against Jehoiakim to destroy Judah, as the Lord had said through his servants the prophets that he would do. 3 This happened at the Lord's command, in order to banish the people of Judah from his sight because of all the sins that King Manasseh had committed, 4 and especially because of all the innocent people he had killed. The Lord could not forgive Manasseh for that. 5 Everything that Jehoiakim did is recorded in [The History of the Kings of Judah.] 6 Jehoiakim died, and his son Jehoiachin succeeded him as king. 7 The king of Egypt and his army never marched out of Egypt again, because the king of Babylonia now controlled all the territory that had belonged to Egypt, from the Euphrates River to the northern border of Egypt. 8 Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he became king of Judah, and he ruled in Jerusalem for three months. His mother was Nehushta, the daughter of Elnathan from Jerusalem. 9 Following the example of his father, Jehoiachin sinned against the Lord. 10 It was during his reign that the Babylonian army, commanded by King Nebuchadnezzar's officers, marched against Jerusalem and besieged it. 11 During the siege Nebuchadnezzar himself came to Jerusalem, 12 and King Jehoiachin, along with his mother, his sons, his officers, and the palace officials, surrendered to the Babylonians. In the eighth year of Nebuchadnezzar's reign he took Jehoiachin prisoner 13 and carried off to Babylon all the treasures in the Temple and the palace. As the Lord had foretold, Nebuchadnezzar broke up all the gold utensils which King Solomon had made for use in the Temple. 14 Nebuchadnezzar carried away as prisoners the people of Jerusalem, all the royal princes, and all the leading men, ten thousand in all. He also deported all the skilled workers, including the blacksmiths, leaving only the poorest of the people behind in Judah. 15 Nebuchadnezzar took Jehoiachin to Babylon as a prisoner, together with Jehoiachin's mother, his wives, his officials, and the leading men of Judah. 16 Nebuchadnezzar deported all the important men to Babylonia, seven thousand in all, and one thousand skilled workers, including the blacksmiths, all of them able-bodied men fit for military duty. 17 Nebuchadnezzar made Jehoiachin's uncle Mattaniah king of Judah and changed his name to Zedekiah. 18 Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king of Judah, and he ruled in Jerusalem for eleven years. His mother was Hamutal, the daughter of Jeremiah from the city of Libnah. 19 King Zedekiah sinned against the Lord, just as King Jehoiakim had done. 20 The Lord became so angry with the people of Jerusalem and Judah that he banished them from his sight.

2 Kings 25:1 Zedekiah rebelled against King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia, and so Nebuchadnezzar came with all his army and attacked Jerusalem on the tenth day of the tenth month of the ninth year of Zedekiah's reign. They set up camp outside the city, built siege walls around it, 2 and kept it under siege until Zedekiah's eleventh year. 3 On the ninth day of the fourth month of that same year, when the famine was so bad that the people had nothing left to eat, 4 the city walls were broken through. Although the Babylonians were surrounding the city, all the soldiers escaped during the night. They left by way of the royal garden, went through the gateway connecting the two walls, and fled in the direction of the Jordan Valley. 5 But the Babylonian army pursued King Zedekiah, captured him in the plains near Jericho, and all his soldiers deserted him. 6 Zedekiah was taken to King Nebuchadnezzar, who was in the city of Riblah, and there Nebuchadnezzar passed sentence on him. 7 While Zedekiah was looking on, his sons were put to death; then Nebuchadnezzar had Zedekiah's eyes put out, placed him in chains, and took him to Babylon. 8 On the seventh day of the fifth month of the nineteenth year of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia, Nebuzaradan, adviser to the king and commander of his army, entered Jerusalem. 9 He burned down the Temple, the palace, and the houses of all the important people in Jerusalem, 10 and his soldiers tore down the city walls. 11 Then Nebuzaradan took away to Babylonia the people who were left in the city, the remaining skilled workers, and those who had deserted to the Babylonians. 12 But he left in Judah some of the poorest people, who owned no property, and put them to work in the vineyards and fields. 13 The Babylonians broke in pieces the bronze columns and the carts that were in the Temple, together with the large bronze tank, and they took all the bronze to Babylon. 14 They also took away the shovels and the ash containers used in cleaning the altar, the tools used in tending the lamps, the bowls used for catching the blood from the sacrifices, the bowls used for burning incense, and all the other bronze articles used in the Temple service. 15 They took away everything that was made of gold or silver, including the small bowls and the pans used for carrying live coals. 16 The bronze objects that King Solomon had made for the Temple - the two columns, the carts, and the large tank - were too heavy to weigh. 17 The two columns were identical: each one was 27 feet high, with a bronze capital on top, 4 1/2 feet high. All around each capital was a bronze grillwork decorated with pomegranates made of bronze. 18 In addition, Nebuzaradan, the commanding officer, took away as prisoners Seraiah the High Priest, Zephaniah the priest next in rank, and the three other important Temple officials. 19 From the city he took the officer who had been in command of the troops, five of the king's personal advisers who were still in the city, the commander's assistant, who was in charge of military records, and sixty other important men. 20 Nebuzaradan took them to the king of Babylonia, who was in the city of Riblah 21 in the territory of Hamath. There the king had them beaten and put to death. So the people of Judah were carried away from their land into exile. 22 King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia made Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam and grandson of Shaphan, governor of Judah, and placed him in charge of all those who had not been taken away to Babylonia. 23 When the Judean officers and soldiers who had not surrendered heard about this, they joined Gedaliah at Mizpah. These officers were Ishmael son of Nethaniah, Johanan son of Kareah, Seraiah son of Tanhumeth from the town of Netophah, and Jezaniah from Maacah. 24 Gedaliah said to them, "I give you my word that there is no need for you to be afraid of the Babylonian officials. Settle in this land, serve the king of Babylonia, and all will go well with you." 25 But in the seventh month of that year, Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah and grandson of Elishama, a member of the royal family, went to Mizpah with ten men, attacked Gedaliah, and killed him. He also killed the Israelites and Babylonians who were there with him. 26 Then all the Israelites, rich and poor alike, together with the army officers, left and went to Egypt, because they were afraid of the Babylonians.

1804-2 Kin. 25:27 In the year that Evilmerodach became king of Babylonia, he showed kindness to King Jehoiachin of Judah by releasing him from prison. This happened on the twenty-seventh day of the twelfth month of the thirty-seventh year after Jehoiachin had been taken away as prisoner. 28 Evilmerodach treated him kindly and gave him a position of greater honor than he gave the other kings who were exiles with him in Babylonia. 29 So Jehoiachin was permitted to change from his prison clothes and to dine at the king's table for the rest of his life. 30 Each day, for as long as he lived, he was given a regular allowance for his needs.

1805-2 Kings 1:1 After the death of King Ahab of Israel the country of Moab rebelled against Israel. 2 King Ahaziah of Israel fell off the balcony on the roof of his palace in Samaria and was seriously injured. So he sent some messengers to consult Baalzebub, the god of the Philistine city of Ekron, in order to find out whether or not he would recover. 3 But an angel of the Lord commanded Elijah, the prophet from Tishbe, to go and meet the messengers of King Ahaziah and ask them, "Why are you going to consult Baalzebub, the god of Ekron? Is it because you think there is no god in Israel? 4 Tell the king that the Lord says, "You will not recover from your injuries; you will die!' " Elijah did as the Lord commanded, 5 and the messengers returned to the king. "Why have you come back?" he asked. 6 They answered, "We were met by a man who told us to come back and tell you that the Lord says to you, "Why are you sending messengers to consult Baalzebub, the god of Ekron? Is it because you think there is no god in Israel? You will not recover from your injuries; you will die!' " 7 "What did the man look like?" the king asked. 8 "He was wearing a cloak made of animal skins, tied with a leather belt," they answered. "It's Elijah!" the king exclaimed. 9 Then he sent an officer with fifty men to get Elijah. The officer found him sitting on a hill and said to him, "Man of God, the king orders you to come down." 10 "If I am a man of God," Elijah answered, "may fire come down from heaven and kill you and your men!" At once fire came down and killed the officer and his men. 11 The king sent another officer with fifty men, who went up and said to Elijah, "Man of God, the king orders you to come down at once!" 12 "If I am a man of God," Elijah answered, "may fire come down from heaven and kill you and your men!" At once the fire of God came down and killed the officer and his men. 13 Once more the king sent an officer with fifty men. He went up the hill, fell on his knees in front of Elijah, and pleaded, "Man of God, be merciful to me and my men. Spare our lives! 14 The two other officers and their men were killed by fire from heaven; but please be merciful to me!" 15 The angel of the Lord said to Elijah, "Go down with him, and don't be afraid." So Elijah went with the officer to the king 16 and said to him, "This is what the Lord says: "Because you sent messengers to consult Baalzebub, the god of Ekron - as if there were no god in Israel to consult - you will not get well; you will die!' " 17 Ahaziah died, as the Lord had said through Elijah. Ahaziah had no sons, so his brother Joram succeeded him as king in the second year of the reign of Jehoram son of Jehoshaphat, king of Judah. 18 Everything else that King Ahaziah did is recorded in [The History of the Kings of Israel.]

2 Kings 2:1 The time came for the Lord to take Elijah up to heaven in a whirlwind. Elijah and Elisha set out from Gilgal, 2 and on the way Elijah said to Elisha, "Now stay here; the Lord has ordered me to go to Bethel." But Elisha answered, "I swear by my loyalty to the living Lord and to you that I will not leave you." So they went on to Bethel. 3 A group of prophets who lived there went to Elisha and asked him, "Do you know that the Lord is going to take your master away from you today?" "Yes, I know," Elisha answered. "But let's not talk about it." 4 Then Elijah said to Elisha, "Now stay here; the Lord has ordered me to go to Jericho." But Elisha answered, "I swear by my loyalty to the living Lord and to you that I will not leave you." So they went on to Jericho. 5 A group of prophets who lived there went to Elisha and asked him, "Do you know that the Lord is going to take your master away from you today?" "Yes, I know," Elisha answered. "But let's not talk about it." 6 Then Elijah said to Elisha, "Now stay here; the Lord has ordered me to go to the Jordan River." But Elisha answered, "I swear by my loyalty to the living Lord and to you that I will not leave you." So they went on, 7 and fifty of the prophets followed them to the Jordan. Elijah and Elisha stopped by the river, and the fifty prophets stood a short distance away. 8 Then Elijah took off his cloak, rolled it up, and struck the water with it; the water divided, and he and Elisha crossed to the other side on dry ground. 9 There, Elijah said to Elisha, "Tell me what you want me to do for you before I am taken away." "Let me receive the share of your power that will make me your successor," Elisha answered. 10 "That is a difficult request to grant," Elijah replied. "But you will receive it if you see me as I am being taken away from you; if you don't see me, you won't receive it." 11 They kept talking as they walked on; then suddenly a chariot of fire pulled by horses of fire came between them, and Elijah was taken up to heaven by a whirlwind.

1806-Is. 36-39:1 In the fourteenth year that Hezekiah was king of Judah, Sennacherib, the emperor of Assyria, attacked the fortified cities of Judah and captured them. 2 Then he ordered his chief official to go from Lachish to Jerusalem with a large military force to demand that King Hezekiah surrender. The official occupied the road where the cloth makers work, by the ditch that brings water from the upper pool. 3 Three Judeans came out to meet him: the official in charge of the palace, Eliakim son of Hilkiah; the court secretary, Shebna; and the official in charge of the records, Joah son of Asaph. 4 The Assyrian official told them that the emperor wanted to know what made King Hezekiah so confident. 5 He demanded, "Do you think that words can take the place of military skill and might? Who do you think will help you rebel against Assyria? 6 You are expecting Egypt to help you, but that would be like using a reed as a walking stick - it would break and would jab your hand. That is what the king of Egypt is like when anyone relies on him." 7 The Assyrian official went on, "Or will you tell me that you are relying on the Lord your God? It was the Lord's shrines and altars that Hezekiah destroyed when he told the people of Judah and Jerusalem to worship at one altar only. 8 I will make a bargain with you in the name of the emperor. I will give you two thousand horses if you can find that many riders. 9 You are no match for even the lowest ranking Assyrian official, and yet you expect the Egyptians to send you chariots and horsemen. 10 Do you think I have attacked your country and destroyed it without the Lord's help? The Lord himself told me to attack it and destroy it." 11 Then Eliakim, Shebna, and Joah told the official, "Speak Aramaic to us. We understand it. Don't speak Hebrew; all the people on the wall are listening." 12 He replied, "Do you think you and the king are the only ones the emperor sent me to say all these things to? No, I am also talking to the people who are sitting on the wall, who will have to eat their excrement and drink their urine, just as you will." 13 Then the official stood up and shouted in Hebrew, "Listen to what the emperor of Assyria is telling you. 14 He warns you not to let Hezekiah deceive you. Hezekiah can't save you. 15 And don't let him persuade you to rely on the Lord. Don't think that the Lord will save you and that he will stop our Assyrian army from capturing your city. 16 Don't listen to Hezekiah! The emperor of Assyria commands you to come out of the city and surrender. You will all be allowed to eat grapes from your own vines and figs from your own trees, and to drink water from your own wells - 17 until the emperor resettles you in a country much like your own, where there are vineyards to give wine and there is grain for making bread. 18 Don't let Hezekiah fool you into thinking that the Lord will rescue you. Did the gods of any other nations save their countries from the emperor of Assyria? 19 Where are they now, the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim? Did anyone save Samaria? 20 When did any of the gods of all these countries ever save their country from our emperor? Then what makes you think the Lord can save Jerusalem?" 21 The people kept quiet, just as King Hezekiah had told them to; they did not say a word. 22 Then Eliakim, Shebna, and Joah tore their clothes in grief and went and reported to the king what the Assyrian official had said.

Isaiah 37:1 As soon as King Hezekiah heard their report, he tore his clothes in grief, put on sackcloth, and went to the Temple of the Lord. 2 He sent Eliakim, the official in charge of the palace, Shebna, the court secretary, and the senior priests to the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz. They also were wearing sackcloth. 3 This is the message which he told them to give to Isaiah: "Today is a day of suffering; we are being punished and are in disgrace. We are like a woman who is ready to give birth, but is too weak to do it. 4 The Assyrian emperor has sent his chief official to insult the living God. May the Lord your God hear these insults and punish those who spoke them. So pray to God for those of our people who survive." 5 When Isaiah received King Hezekiah's message, 6 he sent back this answer: "The Lord tells you not to let the Assyrians frighten you by their claims that he cannot save you. 7 The Lord will cause the emperor to hear a rumor that will make him go back to his own country, and the Lord will have him killed there." 8 The Assyrian official learned that the emperor had left Lachish and was fighting against the nearby city of Libnah; so he went there to consult him. 9 Word reached the Assyrians that the Egyptian army, led by King Tirhakah of Ethiopia, was coming to attack them. When the emperor heard this, he sent a letter to King Hezekiah 10 of Judah to tell him: "The god you are trusting in has told you that you will not fall into my hands, but don't let that deceive you. 11 You have heard what an Assyrian emperor does to any country he decides to destroy. Do you think that you can escape? 12 My ancestors destroyed the cities of Gozan, Haran, and Rezeph, and killed the people of Betheden who lived in Telassar, and none of their gods could save them. 13 Where are the kings of the cities of Hamath, Arpad, Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivvah?" 14 King Hezekiah took the letter from the messengers and read it. Then he went to the Temple, placed the letter there in the presence of the Lord, 15 and prayed, 16 "Almighty Lord, God of Israel, seated above the winged creatures, you alone are God, ruling all the kingdoms of the world. You created the earth and the sky. 17 Now, Lord, hear us and look at what is happening to us. Listen to all the things that Sennacherib is saying to insult you, the living God. 18 We all know, Lord, that the emperors of Assyria have destroyed many nations, made their lands desolate, 19 and burned up their gods - which were no gods at all, only images of wood and stone made by human hands. 20 Now, Lord our God, rescue us from the Assyrians, so that all the nations of the world will know that you alone are God." 21 Then Isaiah sent a message telling King Hezekiah that in answer to the king's prayer 22 the Lord had said, "The city of Jerusalem laughs at you, Sennacherib, and makes fun of you. 23 Whom do you think you have been insulting and ridiculing? You have been disrespectful to me, the holy God of Israel. 24 You sent your servants to boast to me that with all your chariots you had conquered the highest mountains of Lebanon. You boasted that there you cut down the tallest cedars and the finest cypress trees, and that you reached the deepest parts of the forests. 25 You boasted that you dug wells and drank water in foreign lands, and that the feet of your soldiers tramped the Nile River dry. 26 "Have you never heard that I planned all this long ago? And now I have carried it out. I gave you the power to turn fortified cities into piles of rubble. 27 The people who lived there were powerless; they were frightened and stunned. They were like grass in a field or weeds growing on a roof when the hot east wind blasts them. 28 "But I know everything about you, what you do and where you go. I know how you rage against me. 29 I have received the report of that rage and that pride of yours, and now I will put a hook through your nose and a bit in your mouth and will take you back by the same road you came." 30 Then Isaiah said to King Hezekiah, "Here is a sign of what will happen. This year and next you will have only wild grain to eat, but the following year you will be able to plant grain and harvest it, and plant vines and eat grapes. 31 Those in Judah who survive will flourish like plants that send roots deep into the ground and produce fruit. 32 There will be people in Jerusalem and on Mount Zion who will survive, because the Lord Almighty is determined to make this happen. 33 "And this is what the Lord has said about the Assyrian emperor: "He will not enter this city or shoot a single arrow against it. No soldiers with shields will come near the city, and no siege mounds will be built around it. 34 He will go back by the same road he came, without entering this city. I, the Lord, have spoken. 35 I will defend this city and protect it, for the sake of my own honor and because of the promise I made to my servant David.' " 36 An angel of the Lord went to the Assyrian camp and killed 185,000 soldiers. At dawn the next day there they lay, all dead! 37 Then the Assyrian emperor Sennacherib withdrew and returned to Nineveh. 38 One day when he was worshiping in the temple of his god Nisroch, two of his sons, Adrammelech and Sharezer, killed him with their swords and then escaped to the land of Ararat. Another of his sons, Esarhaddon, succeeded him as emperor.

Isaiah 38:1 About this time King Hezekiah became sick and almost died. The prophet Isaiah son of Amoz went to see him and said to him, "The Lord tells you that you are to put everything in order because you will not recover. Get ready to die." 2 Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed: 3 "Remember, Lord, that I have served you faithfully and loyally, and that I have always tried to do what you wanted me to." And he began to cry bitterly. 4 Then the Lord commanded Isaiah 5 to go back to Hezekiah and say to him, "I, the Lord, the God of your ancestor David, have heard your prayer and seen your tears; I will let you live fifteen years longer. 6 I will rescue you and this city of Jerusalem from the emperor of Assyria, and I will continue to protect the city." 7 Isaiah replied, "The Lord will give you a sign to prove that he will keep his promise. 8 On the stairway built by King Ahaz, the Lord will make the shadow go back ten steps." And the shadow moved back ten steps. 9 After Hezekiah recovered from his illness, he wrote this song of praise: 10 I thought that in the prime of life I was going to the world of the dead, Never to live out my life. 11 I thought that in this world of the living I would never again see the Lord Or any living person. 12 My life was cut off and ended, Like a tent that is taken down, Like cloth that is cut from a loom. I thought that God was ending my life. 13 All night I cried out with pain, As if a lion were breaking my bones. I thought that God was ending my life. 14 My voice was thin and weak, And I moaned like a dove. My eyes grew tired from looking to heaven. Lord, rescue me from all this trouble. 15 What can I say? The Lord has done this. My heart is bitter, and I cannot sleep. 16 Lord, I will live for you, for you alone; Heal me and let me live. 17 My bitterness will turn into peace. You save my life from all danger; You forgive all my sins. 18 No one in the world of the dead can praise you; The dead cannot trust in your faithfulness. 19 It is the living who praise you, As I praise you now. Parents tell their children how faithful you are. 20 Lord, you have healed me. We will play harps and sing your praise, Sing praise in your Temple as long as we live. 21 Isaiah told the king to put a paste made of figs on his boil, and he would get well. 22 Then King Hezekiah asked, "What is the sign to prove that I will be able to go to the Temple?"

Isaiah 39:1 About that same time the king of Babylonia, Merodach Baladan, son of Baladan, heard that King Hezekiah had been sick, so he sent him a letter and a present. 2 Hezekiah welcomed the messengers and showed them his wealth - his silver and gold, his spices and perfumes, and all his military equipment. There was nothing in his storerooms or anywhere in his kingdom that he did not show them. 3 Then the prophet Isaiah went to King Hezekiah and asked, "Where did these messengers come from and what did they say to you?" Hezekiah answered, "They came from a very distant country, from Babylonia." 4 "What did they see in the palace?" "They saw everything. There is nothing in the storerooms that I didn't show them." 5 Isaiah then told the king, "The Lord Almighty says that 6 a time is coming when everything in your palace, everything that your ancestors have stored up to this day, will be carried off to Babylonia. Nothing will be left. 7 Some of your own direct descendants will be taken away and made eunuchs to serve in the palace of the king of Babylonia." 8 King Hezekiah understood this to mean that there would be peace and security during his lifetime, so he replied, "The message you have given me from the Lord is good."

1807-2 Kin. 18:13 In the fourteenth year of the reign of King Hezekiah, Sennacherib, the emperor of Assyria, attacked the fortified cities of Judah and conquered them. 14 Hezekiah sent a message to Sennacherib, who was in Lachish: "I have done wrong; please stop your attack, and I will pay whatever you demand." The emperor's answer was that Hezekiah should send him ten tons of silver and one ton of gold. 15 Hezekiah sent him all the silver in the Temple and in the palace treasury; 16 he also stripped the gold from the temple doors and the gold with which he himself had covered the doorposts, and he sent it all to Sennacherib. 17 The Assyrian emperor sent a large army from Lachish to attack Hezekiah at Jerusalem; it was commanded by his three highest officials. When they arrived at Jerusalem, they occupied the road where the cloth makers work by the ditch that brings water from the upper pool. 18 Then they sent for King Hezekiah, and three of his officials went out to meet them: Eliakim son of Hilkiah, who was in charge of the palace; Shebna, the court secretary; and Joah son of Asaph, who was in charge of the records. 19 One of the Assyrian officials told them that the emperor wanted to know what made King Hezekiah so confident. 20 He demanded, "Do you think that words can take the place of military skill and might? Who do you think will help you rebel against Assyria? 21 You are expecting Egypt to help you, but that would be like using a reed as a walking stick - it would break and jab your hand. That is what the king of Egypt is like when anyone relies on him." 22 The Assyrian official went on, "Or will you tell me that you are relying on the Lord your God? It was the Lord's shrines and altars that Hezekiah destroyed, when he told the people of Judah and Jerusalem to worship only at the altar in Jerusalem. 23 I will make a bargain with you in the name of the emperor. I will give you two thousand horses if you can find that many men to ride them! 24 You are no match for even the lowest ranking Assyrian official, and yet you expect the Egyptians to send you chariots and cavalry! 25 Do you think I have attacked your country and destroyed it without the Lord's help? The Lord himself told me to attack it and destroy it." 26 Then Eliakim, Shebna, and Joah told the official, "Speak Aramaic to us, sir. We understand it. Don't speak Hebrew; all the people on the wall are listening." 27 He replied, "Do you think you and the king are the only ones the emperor sent me to say all these things to? No, I am also talking to the people who are sitting on the wall, who will have to eat their excrement and drink their urine, just as you will." 28 Then the official stood up and shouted in Hebrew, "Listen to what the emperor of Assyria is telling you! 29 He warns you not to let Hezekiah deceive you. Hezekiah can't save you. 30 And don't let him persuade you to rely on the Lord. Don't think that the Lord will save you and that he will stop our Assyrian army from capturing your city. 31 Don't listen to Hezekiah. The emperor of Assyria commands you to come out of the city and surrender. You will all be allowed to eat grapes from your own vines and figs from your own trees, and to drink water from your own wells - 32 until the emperor resettles you in a country much like your own, where there are vineyards to give wine and there is grain for making bread; it is a land of olives, olive oil, and honey. If you do what he commands, you will not die, but live. Don't let Hezekiah fool you into thinking that the Lord will rescue you. 33 Did the gods of any other nations save their countries from the emperor of Assyria? 34 Where are they now, the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivvah? Did anyone save Samaria? 35 When did any of the gods of all these countries ever save their country from our emperor? Then what makes you think the Lord can save Jerusalem?" 36 The people kept quiet, just as King Hezekiah had told them to; they did not say a word. 37 Then Eliakim, Shebna, and Joah tore their clothes in grief, and went and reported to the king what the Assyrian official had said.

2 Kings 19:1 As soon as King Hezekiah heard their report, he tore his clothes in grief, put on sackcloth, and went to the Temple of the Lord. 2 He sent Eliakim, the official in charge of the palace, Shebna, the court secretary, and the senior priests to the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz. They also were wearing sackcloth. 3 This is the message which he told them to give Isaiah: "Today is a day of suffering; we are being punished and are in disgrace. We are like a woman who is ready to give birth, but is too weak to do it. 4 The Assyrian emperor has sent his chief official to insult the living God. May the Lord your God hear these insults and punish those who spoke them. So pray to God for those of our people who survive." 5 When Isaiah received King Hezekiah's message, 6 he sent back this answer: "The Lord tells you not to let the Assyrians frighten you with their claims that he cannot save you. 7 The Lord will cause the emperor to hear a rumor that will make him go back to his own country, and the Lord will have him killed there." 8 The Assyrian official learned that the emperor had left Lachish and was fighting against the nearby city of Libnah; so he went there to consult him. 9 Word reached the Assyrians that the Egyptian army, led by King Tirhakah of Ethiopia, was coming to attack them. When the emperor heard this, he sent a letter to King Hezekiah of Judah 10 to tell him, "The god you are trusting in has told you that you will not fall into my hands, but don't let that deceive you. 11 You have heard what an Assyrian emperor does to any country he decides to destroy. Do you think that you can escape? 12 My ancestors destroyed the cities of Gozan, Haran, and Rezeph, and killed the people of Betheden who lived in Telassar, and none of their gods could save them. 13 Where are the kings of the cities of Hamath, Arpad, Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivvah?" 14 King Hezekiah took the letter from the messengers and read it. Then he went to the Temple, placed the letter there in the presence of the Lord, 15 and prayed, "O Lord, the God of Israel, seated on your throne above the winged creatures, you alone are God, ruling all the kingdoms of the world. You created the earth and the sky. 16 Now, Lord, look at what is happening to us. Listen to all the things that Sennacherib is saying to insult you, the living God. 17 We all know, Lord, that the emperors of Assyria have destroyed many nations, made their lands desolate, 18 and burned up their gods - which were no gods at all, only images of wood and stone made by human hands. 19 Now, Lord our God, rescue us from the Assyrians, so that all the nations of the world will know that only you, O Lord, are God." 20 Then Isaiah sent a message telling King Hezekiah that in answer to the king's prayer 21 the Lord had said, "The city of Jerusalem laughs at you, Sennacherib, and makes fun of you. 22 Whom do you think you have been insulting and ridiculing? You have been disrespectful to me, the holy God of Israel. 23 You sent your messengers to boast to me that with all your chariots you had conquered the highest mountains of Lebanon. You boasted that there you cut down the tallest cedars and the finest cypress trees and that you reached the deepest parts of the forests. 24 You boasted that you dug wells and drank water in foreign lands and that the feet of your soldiers tramped the Nile River dry. 25 "Have you never heard that I planned all this long ago? And now I have carried it out. I gave you the power to turn fortified cities into piles of rubble. 26 The people who lived there were powerless; they were frightened and stunned. They were like grass in a field or weeds growing on a roof when the hot east wind blasts them. 27 "But I know everything about you, what you do and where you go. I know how you rage against me. 28 I have received the report of that rage and that pride of yours, and now I will put a hook through your nose and a bit in your mouth, and take you back by the same road you came." 29 Then Isaiah said to King Hezekiah, "Here is a sign of what will happen. This year and next you will have only wild grain to eat, but the following year you will be able to plant your grain and harvest it, and plant vines and eat grapes. 30 Those in Judah who survive will flourish like plants that send roots deep into the ground and produce fruit. 31 There will be people in Jerusalem and on Mount Zion who will survive, because the Lord is determined to make this happen. 32 "And this is what the Lord has said about the Assyrian emperor: "He will not enter this city or shoot a single arrow against it. No soldiers with shields will come near the city, and no siege mounds will be built around it. 33 He will go back by the same road he came, without entering this city. I, the Lord, have spoken. 34 I will defend this city and protect it, for the sake of my own honor and because of the promise I made to my servant David.' " 35 That night an angel of the Lord went to the Assyrian camp and killed 185,000 soldiers. At dawn the next day there they lay, all dead! 36 Then the Assyrian emperor Sennacherib withdrew and returned to Nineveh. 37 One day, when he was worshiping in the temple of his god Nisroch, two of his sons, Adrammelech and Sharezer, killed him with their swords and then escaped to the land of Ararat. Another of his sons, Esarhaddon, succeeded him as emperor.

2 Kings 20:1 About this time King Hezekiah became sick and almost died. The prophet Isaiah son of Amoz went to see him and said to him, "The Lord tells you that you are to put everything in order, because you will not recover. Get ready to die." 2 Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed: 3 "Remember, Lord, that I have served you faithfully and loyally and that I have always tried to do what you wanted me to." And he began to cry bitterly. 4 Isaiah left the king, but before he had passed through the central courtyard of the palace the Lord told him 5 to go back to Hezekiah, ruler of the Lord's people, and say to him, "I, the Lord, the God of your ancestor David, have heard your prayer and seen your tears. I will heal you, and in three days you will go to the Temple. 6 I will let you live fifteen years longer. I will rescue you and this city Jerusalem from the emperor of Assyria. I will defend this city, for the sake of my own honor and because of the promise I made to my servant David." 7 Then Isaiah told the king's attendants to put on his boil a paste made of figs, and he would get well. 8 King Hezekiah asked, "What is the sign to prove that the Lord will heal me and that three days later I will be able to go to the Temple?" 9 Isaiah replied, "The Lord will give you a sign to prove that he will keep his promise. Now, would you prefer to have the shadow on the stairway go forward ten steps or go back ten steps?" 10 Hezekiah answered, "It's easy to have the shadow go forward ten steps! Have it go back ten steps." 11 Isaiah prayed to the Lord, and the Lord made the shadow go back ten steps on the stairway set up by King Ahaz. 12 About that same time the king of Babylonia, Merodach Baladan, the son of Baladan, heard that King Hezekiah had been sick, so he sent him a letter and a present. 13 Hezekiah welcomed the messengers and showed them his wealth - his silver and gold, his spices and perfumes, and all his military equipment. There was nothing in his storerooms or anywhere in his kingdom that he did not show them. 14 Then the prophet Isaiah went to King Hezekiah and asked, "Where did these men come from and what did they say to you?" Hezekiah answered, "They came from a very distant country, from Babylonia." 15 "What did they see in the palace?" "They saw everything. There is nothing in the storerooms that I didn't show them." 16 Isaiah then told the king, "The Lord Almighty says that 17 a time is coming when everything in your palace, everything that your ancestors have stored up to this day, will be carried off to Babylonia. Nothing will be left. 18 Some of your own direct descendants will be taken away and made eunuchs to serve in the palace of the king of Babylonia." 19 King Hezekiah understood this to mean that there would be peace and security during his lifetime, so he replied, "The message you have given me from the Lord is good."

1808-2 Kin. 17:7 Samaria fell because the Israelites sinned against the Lord their God, who had rescued them from the king of Egypt and had led them out of Egypt. They worshiped other gods, 8 followed the customs of the people whom the Lord had driven out as his people advanced, and adopted customs introduced by the kings of Israel. 9 The Israelites did things that the Lord their God disapproved of. They built pagan places of worship in all their towns, from the smallest village to the largest city. 10 On all the hills and under every shady tree they put up stone pillars and images of the goddess Asherah, 11 and they burned incense on all the pagan altars, following the practice of the people whom the Lord had driven out of the land. They aroused the Lord's anger with all their wicked deeds 12 and disobeyed the Lord's command not to worship idols. 13 The Lord had sent his messengers and prophets to warn Israel and Judah: "Abandon your evil ways and obey my commands, which are contained in the Law I gave to your ancestors and which I handed on to you through my servants the prophets." 14 But they would not obey; they were stubborn like their ancestors, who had not trusted in the Lord their God. 15 They refused to obey his instructions, they did not keep the covenant he had made with their ancestors, and they disregarded his warnings. They worshiped worthless idols and became worthless themselves, and they followed the customs of the surrounding nations, disobeying the Lord's command not to imitate them. 16 They broke all the laws of the Lord their God and made two metal bull-calves to worship; they also made an image of the goddess Asherah, worshiped the stars, and served the god Baal. 17 They sacrificed their sons and daughters as burnt offerings to pagan gods; they consulted mediums and fortunetellers, and they devoted themselves completely to doing what is wrong in the Lord's sight, and so aroused his anger. 18 The Lord was angry with the Israelites and banished them from his sight, leaving only the kingdom of Judah. 19 But even the people of Judah did not obey the laws of the Lord their God; they imitated the customs adopted by the people of Israel. 20 The Lord rejected all the Israelites, punishing them and handing them over to cruel enemies until at last he had banished them from his sight. 21 After the Lord had separated Israel from Judah, the Israelites made Jeroboam son of Nebat their king. Jeroboam caused them to abandon the Lord and led them into terrible sins. 22 They followed Jeroboam and continued to practice all the sins he had committed, 23 until at last the Lord banished them from his sight, as he had warned through his servants the prophets that he would do. So the people of Israel were taken into exile to Assyria, where they still live.

2 Kings 24:18 Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king of Judah, and he ruled in Jerusalem for eleven years. His mother was Hamutal, the daughter of Jeremiah from the city of Libnah. 19 King Zedekiah sinned against the Lord, just as King Jehoiakim had done. 20 The Lord became so angry with the people of Jerusalem and Judah that he banished them from his sight.

1809-1 Kin. 17-19; 211 A prophet named Elijah, from Tishbe in Gilead, said to King Ahab, "In the name of the Lord, the living God of Israel, whom I serve, I tell you that there will be no dew or rain for the next two or three years until I say so." 2 Then the Lord said to Elijah, 3 "Leave this place and go east and hide yourself near Cherith Brook, east of the Jordan. 4 The brook will supply you with water to drink, and I have commanded ravens to bring you food there." 5 Elijah obeyed the Lord's command, and went and stayed by Cherith Brook. 6 He drank water from the brook, and ravens brought him bread and meat every morning and every evening. 7 After a while the brook dried up because of the lack of rain. 8 Then the Lord said to Elijah, 9 "Now go to the town of Zarephath, near Sidon, and stay there. I have commanded a widow who lives there to feed you." 10 So Elijah went to Zarephath, and as he came to the town gate, he saw a widow gathering firewood. "Please bring me a drink of water," he said to her. 11 And as she was going to get it, he called out, "And please bring me some bread, too." 12 She answered, "By the living Lord your God I swear that I don't have any bread. All I have is a handful of flour in a bowl and a bit of olive oil in a jar. I came here to gather some firewood to take back home and prepare what little I have for my son and me. That will be our last meal, and then we will starve to death." 13 "Don't worry," Elijah said to her. "Go on and prepare your meal. But first make a small loaf from what you have and bring it to me, and then prepare the rest for you and your son. 14 For this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: "The bowl will not run out of flour or the jar run out of oil before the day that I, the Lord, send rain.' " 15 The widow went and did as Elijah had told her, and all of them had enough food for many days. 16 As the Lord had promised through Elijah, the bowl did not run out of flour nor did the jar run out of oil. 17 Some time later the widow's son got sick; he got worse and worse, and finally he died. 18 She said to Elijah, "Man of God, why did you do this to me? Did you come here to remind God of my sins and so cause my son's death?" 19 "Give the boy to me," Elijah said. He took the boy from her arms, carried him upstairs to the room where he was staying, and laid him on the bed. 20 Then he prayed aloud, "O Lord my God, why have you done such a terrible thing to this widow? She has been kind enough to take care of me, and now you kill her son!" 21 Then Elijah stretched himself out on the boy three times and prayed, "O Lord my God, restore this child to life!" 22 The Lord answered Elijah's prayer; the child started breathing again and revived. 23 Elijah took the boy back downstairs to his mother and said to her, "Look, your son is alive!" 24 She answered, "Now I know that you are a man of God and that the Lord really speaks through you!"

1 Kings 18:1 After some time, in the third year of the drought, the Lord said to Elijah, "Go and present yourself to King Ahab, and I will send rain." 2 So Elijah started out. The famine in Samaria was at its worst, 3 so Ahab called in Obadiah, who was in charge of the palace. (Obadiah was a devout worshiper of the Lord, 4 and when Jezebel was killing the Lord's prophets, Obadiah took a hundred of them, hid them in caves in two groups of fifty, and provided them with food and water.) 5 Ahab said to Obadiah, "Let us go and look at every spring and every stream bed in the land to see if we can find enough grass to keep the horses and mules alive. Maybe we won't have to kill any of our animals." 6 They agreed on which part of the land each one would explore, and set off in different directions. 7 As Obadiah was on his way, he suddenly met Elijah. He recognized him, bowed low before him, and asked, "Is it really you, sir?" 8 "Yes, I'm Elijah," he answered. "Go and tell your master the king that I am here." 9 Obadiah answered, "What have I done that you want to put me in danger of being killed by King Ahab? 10 By the living Lord, your God, I swear that the king has made a search for you in every country in the world. Whenever the ruler of a country reported that you were not in his country, Ahab would require that ruler to swear that you could not be found. 11 And now you want me to go and tell him that you are here? 12 What if the spirit of the Lord carries you off to some unknown place as soon as I leave? Then, when I tell Ahab that you are here and he can't find you, he will put me to death. Remember that I have been a devout worshiper of the Lord ever since I was a boy. 13 Haven't you heard that when Jezebel was killing the prophets of the Lord I hid a hundred of them in caves, in two groups of fifty, and supplied them with food and water? 14 So how can you order me to go and tell the king that you are here? He will kill me!" 15 Elijah answered, "By the living Lord Almighty, whom I serve, I promise that I will present myself to the king today." 16 So Obadiah went to King Ahab and told him, and Ahab set off to meet Elijah. 17 When Ahab saw him, he said, "So there you are - the worst troublemaker in Israel!" 18 "I'm not the troublemaker," Elijah answered. "You are - you and your father. You are disobeying the Lord's commands and worshiping the idols of Baal. 19 Now order all the people of Israel to meet me at Mount Carmel. Bring along the 450 prophets of Baal and the 400 prophets of the goddess Asherah who are supported by Queen Jezebel." 20 So Ahab summoned all the Israelites and the prophets of Baal to meet at Mount Carmel. 21 Elijah went up to the people and said, "How much longer will it take you to make up your minds? If the Lord is God, worship him; but if Baal is God, worship him!" But the people didn't say a word. 22 Then Elijah said, "I am the only prophet of the Lord still left, but there are 450 prophets of Baal. 23 Bring two bulls; let the prophets of Baal take one, kill it, cut it in pieces, and put it on the wood - but don't light the fire. I will do the same with the other bull. 24 Then let the prophets of Baal pray to their god, and I will pray to the Lord, and the one who answers by sending fire - he is God." The people shouted their approval. 25 Then Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, "Since there are so many of you, you take a bull and prepare it first. Pray to your god, but don't set fire to the wood." 26 They took the bull that was brought to them, prepared it, and prayed to Baal until noon. They shouted, "Answer us, Baal!" and kept dancing around the altar they had built. But no answer came. 27 At noon Elijah started making fun of them: "Pray louder! He is a god! Maybe he is day-dreaming or relieving himself, or perhaps he's gone off on a trip! Or maybe he's sleeping, and you've got to wake him up!" 28 So the prophets prayed louder and cut themselves with knives and daggers, according to their ritual, until blood flowed. 29 They kept on ranting and raving until the middle of the afternoon; but no answer came, not a sound was heard. 30 Then Elijah said to the people, "Come closer to me," and they all gathered around him. He set about repairing the altar of the Lord which had been torn down. 31 He took twelve stones, one for each of the twelve tribes named for the sons of Jacob, the man to whom the Lord had given the name Israel. 32 With these stones he rebuilt the altar for the worship of the Lord. He dug a trench around it, large enough to hold about four gallons of water. 33 Then he placed the wood on the altar, cut the bull in pieces, and laid it on the wood. He said, "Fill four jars with water and pour it on the offering and the wood." They did so, 34 and he said, "Do it again" - and they did. "Do it once more," he said - and they did. 35 The water ran down around the altar and filled the trench. 36 At the hour of the afternoon sacrifice the prophet Elijah approached the altar and prayed, "O Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, prove now that you are the God of Israel and that I am your servant and have done all this at your command. 37 Answer me, Lord, answer me, so that this people will know that you, the Lord, are God and that you are bringing them back to yourself." 38 The Lord sent fire down, and it burned up the sacrifice, the wood, and the stones, scorched the earth and dried up the water in the trench. 39 When the people saw this, they threw themselves on the ground and exclaimed, "The Lord is God; the Lord alone is God!" 40 Elijah ordered, "Seize the prophets of Baal; don't let any of them get away!" The people seized them all, and Elijah led them down to Kishon Brook and killed them. 41 Then Elijah said to King Ahab, "Now, go and eat. I hear the roar of rain approaching." 42 While Ahab went to eat, Elijah climbed to the top of Mount Carmel, where he bowed down to the ground, with his head between his knees. 43 He said to his servant, "Go and look toward the sea." The servant went and returned, saying, "I didn't see a thing." Seven times in all Elijah told him to go and look. 44 The seventh time he returned and said, "I saw a little cloud no bigger than a man's hand, coming up from the sea." Elijah ordered his servant, "Go to King Ahab and tell him to get in his chariot and go back home before the rain stops him." 45 In a little while the sky was covered with dark clouds, the wind began to blow, and a heavy rain began to fall. Ahab got in his chariot and started back to Jezreel. 46 The power of the Lord came on Elijah; he fastened his clothes tight around his waist and ran ahead of Ahab all the way to Jezreel.

1 Kings 19:1 King Ahab told his wife Jezebel everything that Elijah had done and how he had put all the prophets of Baal to death. 2 She sent a message to Elijah: "May the gods strike me dead if by this time tomorrow I don't do the same thing to you that you did to the prophets." 3 Elijah was afraid and fled for his life; he took his servant and went to Beersheba in Judah. Leaving the servant there, 4 Elijah walked a whole day into the wilderness. He stopped and sat down in the shade of a tree and wished he would die. "It's too much, Lord," he prayed. "Take away my life; I might as well be dead!" 5 He lay down under the tree and fell asleep. Suddenly an angel touched him and said, "Wake up and eat." 6 He looked around and saw a loaf of bread and a jar of water near his head. He ate and drank, and lay down again. 7 The Lord's angel returned and woke him up a second time, saying, "Get up and eat, or the trip will be too much for you." 8 Elijah got up, ate and drank, and the food gave him enough strength to walk forty days to Sinai, the holy mountain. 9 There he went into a cave to spend the night. Suddenly the Lord spoke to him, "Elijah, what are you doing here?" 10 He answered, "Lord God Almighty, I have always served you - you alone. But the people of Israel have broken their covenant with you, torn down your altars, and killed all your prophets. I am the only one left - and they are trying to kill me!" 11 "Go out and stand before me on top of the mountain," the Lord said to him. Then the Lord passed by and sent a furious wind that split the hills and shattered the rocks - but the Lord was not in the wind. The wind stopped blowing, and then there was an earthquake - but the Lord was not in the earthquake. 12 After the earthquake there was a fire - but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire there was the soft whisper of a voice. 13 When Elijah heard it, he covered his face with his cloak and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. A voice said to him, "Elijah, what are you doing here?" 14 He answered, "Lord God Almighty, I have always served you - you alone. But the people of Israel have broken their covenant with you, torn down your altars, and killed all your prophets. I am the only one left - and they are trying to kill me." 15 The Lord said, "Return to the wilderness near Damascus, then enter the city and anoint Hazael as king of Syria; 16 anoint Jehu son of Nimshi as king of Israel, and anoint Elisha son of Shaphat from Abel Meholah to succeed you as prophet. 17 Anyone who escapes being put to death by Hazael will be killed by Jehu, and anyone who escapes Jehu will be killed by Elisha. 18 Yet I will leave seven thousand people alive in Israel - all those who are loyal to me and have not bowed to Baal or kissed his idol." 19 Elijah left and found Elisha plowing with a team of oxen; there were eleven teams ahead of him, and he was plowing with the last one. Elijah took off his cloak and put it on Elisha. 20 Elisha then left his oxen, ran after Elijah, and said, "Let me kiss my father and mother good-bye, and then I will go with you." Elijah answered, "All right, go back. I'm not stopping you!" 21 Then Elisha went to his team of oxen, killed them, and cooked the meat, using the yoke as fuel for the fire. He gave the meat to the people, and they ate it. Then he went and followed Elijah as his helper.

1 Kings 21:1 Near King Ahab's palace in Jezreel there was a vineyard owned by a man named Naboth. 2 One day Ahab said to Naboth, "Let me have your vineyard; it is close to my palace, and I want to use the land for a vegetable garden. I will give you a better vineyard for it or, if you prefer, I will pay you a fair price." 3 "I inherited this vineyard from my ancestors," Naboth replied. "The Lord forbid that I should let you have it!" 4 Ahab went home, depressed and angry over what Naboth had said to him. He lay down on his bed, facing the wall, and would not eat. 5 His wife Jezebel went to him and asked, "Why are you so depressed? Why won't you eat?" 6 He answered, "Because of what Naboth said to me. I offered to buy his vineyard or, if he preferred, to give him another one for it, but he told me that I couldn't have it!" 7 "Well, are you the king or aren't you?" Jezebel replied. "Get out of bed, cheer up, and eat. I will get you Naboth's vineyard!" 8 Then she wrote some letters, signed Ahab's name to them, sealed them with his seal, and sent them to the officials and leading citizens of Jezreel. 9 The letters said: "Proclaim a day of fasting, call the people together, and give Naboth the place of honor. 10 Get a couple of scoundrels to accuse him to his face of cursing God and the king. Then take him out of the city and stone him to death." 11 The officials and leading citizens of Jezreel did what Jezebel had commanded. 12 They proclaimed a day of fasting, called the people together, and gave Naboth the place of honor. 13 The two scoundrels publicly accused him of cursing God and the king, and so he was taken outside the city and stoned to death. 14 The message was sent to Jezebel: "Naboth has been put to death." 15 As soon as Jezebel received the message, she said to Ahab, "Naboth is dead. Now go and take possession of the vineyard which he refused to sell to you." 16 At once Ahab went to the vineyard to take possession of it. 17 Then the Lord said to Elijah, the prophet from Tishbe, 18 "Go to King Ahab of Samaria. You will find him in Naboth's vineyard, about to take possession of it. 19 Tell him that I, the Lord, say to him, "After murdering the man, are you taking over his property as well?' Tell him that this is what I say: "In the very place that the dogs licked up Naboth's blood they will lick up your blood!' " 20 When Ahab saw Elijah, he said, "Have you caught up with me, my enemy?" "Yes, I have," Elijah answered. "You have devoted yourself completely to doing what is wrong in the Lord's sight. 21 So the Lord says to you, "I will bring disaster on you. I will do away with you and get rid of every male in your family, young and old alike. 22 Your family will become like the family of King Jeroboam son of Nebat and like the family of King Baasha son of Ahijah, because you have stirred up my anger by leading Israel into sin.' 23 And concerning Jezebel, the Lord says that dogs will eat her body in the city of Jezreel. 24 Any of your relatives who die in the city will be eaten by dogs, and any who die in the open country will be eaten by vultures." 25 (There was no one else who had devoted himself so completely to doing wrong in the Lord's sight as Ahab - all at the urging of his wife Jezebel. 26 He committed the most shameful sins by worshiping idols, as the Amorites had done, whom the Lord had driven out of the land as the people of Israel advanced.) 27 When Elijah finished speaking, Ahab tore his clothes, took them off, and put on sackcloth. He refused food, slept in the sackcloth, and went about gloomy and depressed. 28 The Lord said to the prophet Elijah, 29 "Have you noticed how Ahab has humbled himself before me? Since he has done this, I will not bring disaster on him during his lifetime; it will be during his son's lifetime that I will bring disaster on Ahab's family."

1810-2 Kin. 2:1 The time came for the Lord to take Elijah up to heaven in a whirlwind. Elijah and Elisha set out from Gilgal, 2 and on the way Elijah said to Elisha, "Now stay here; the Lord has ordered me to go to Bethel." But Elisha answered, "I swear by my loyalty to the living Lord and to you that I will not leave you." So they went on to Bethel. 3 A group of prophets who lived there went to Elisha and asked him, "Do you know that the Lord is going to take your master away from you today?" "Yes, I know," Elisha answered. "But let's not talk about it." 4 Then Elijah said to Elisha, "Now stay here; the Lord has ordered me to go to Jericho." But Elisha answered, "I swear by my loyalty to the living Lord and to you that I will not leave you." So they went on to Jericho. 5 A group of prophets who lived there went to Elisha and asked him, "Do you know that the Lord is going to take your master away from you today?" "Yes, I know," Elisha answered. "But let's not talk about it." 6 Then Elijah said to Elisha, "Now stay here; the Lord has ordered me to go to the Jordan River." But Elisha answered, "I swear by my loyalty to the living Lord and to you that I will not leave you." So they went on, 7 and fifty of the prophets followed them to the Jordan. Elijah and Elisha stopped by the river, and the fifty prophets stood a short distance away. 8 Then Elijah took off his cloak, rolled it up, and struck the water with it; the water divided, and he and Elisha crossed to the other side on dry ground. 9 There, Elijah said to Elisha, "Tell me what you want me to do for you before I am taken away." "Let me receive the share of your power that will make me your successor," Elisha answered. 10 "That is a difficult request to grant," Elijah replied. "But you will receive it if you see me as I am being taken away from you; if you don't see me, you won't receive it." 11 They kept talking as they walked on; then suddenly a chariot of fire pulled by horses of fire came between them, and Elijah was taken up to heaven by a whirlwind.

1811-2 Kin. 2:12 Elisha saw it and cried out to Elijah, "My father, my father! Mighty defender of Israel! You are gone!" And he never saw Elijah again. In grief Elisha tore his cloak in two. 13 Then he picked up Elijah's cloak that had fallen from him, and went back and stood on the bank of the Jordan. 14 He struck the water with Elijah's cloak and said, "Where is the Lord, the God of Elijah?" Then he struck the water again, and it divided, and he walked over to the other side. 15 The fifty prophets from Jericho saw him and said, "The power of Elijah is on Elisha!" They went to meet him, bowed down before him, 16 and said, "There are fifty of us here, all strong men. Let us go and look for your master. Maybe the spirit of the Lord has carried him away and left him on some mountain or in some valley." "No, you must not go," Elisha answered. 17 But they insisted until he gave in and let them go. The fifty of them went and looked high and low for Elijah for three days, but didn't find him. 18 Then they returned to Elisha, who had waited at Jericho, and he said to them, "Didn't I tell you not to go?" 19 Some men from Jericho went to Elisha and said, "As you know, sir, this is a fine city, but the water is bad and causes miscarriages." 20 "Put some salt in a new bowl and bring it to me," he ordered. They brought it to him, 21 and he went to the spring, threw the salt in the water, and said, "This is what the Lord says: "I make this water pure, and it will not cause any more deaths or miscarriages.' " 22 And that water has been pure ever since, just as Elisha said it would be. 23 Elisha left Jericho to go to Bethel, and on the way some boys came out of a town and made fun of him. "Get out of here, baldy!" they shouted. 24 Elisha turned around, glared at them, and cursed them in the name of the Lord. Then two she-bears came out of the woods and tore forty-two of the boys to pieces. 25 Elisha went on to Mount Carmel and later returned to Samaria

2 Kings 3:1 In the eighteenth year of the reign of King Jehoshaphat of Judah, Joram son of Ahab became king of Israel, and he ruled in Samaria for twelve years. 2 He sinned against the Lord, but he was not as bad as his father or his mother Jezebel; he pulled down the image his father had made for the worship of Baal. 3 Yet, like King Jeroboam son of Nebat before him, he led Israel into sin and would not stop. 4 King Mesha of Moab raised sheep, and every year he gave as tribute to the king of Israel 100,000 lambs and the wool from 100,000 sheep. 5 But when King Ahab of Israel died, Mesha rebelled against Israel. 6 At once King Joram left Samaria and gathered all his troops. 7 He sent word to King Jehoshaphat of Judah: "The king of Moab has rebelled against me; will you join me in war against him?" "I will," King Jehoshaphat replied. "I am at your disposal, and so are my men and my horses. 8 What route shall we take for the attack?" "We will go the long way through the wilderness of Edom," Joram answered. 9 So King Joram and the kings of Judah and Edom set out. After marching seven days, they ran out of water, and there was none left for the men or the pack animals. 10 "We're done for!" King Joram exclaimed. "The Lord has put the three of us at the mercy of the king of Moab!" 11 King Jehoshaphat asked, "Is there a prophet here through whom we can consult the Lord?" An officer of King Joram's forces answered, "Elisha son of Shaphat is here. He was Elijah's assistant." 12 "He is a true prophet," King Jehoshaphat said. So the three kings went to Elisha. 13 "Why should I help you?" Elisha said to the king of Israel. "Go and consult those prophets that your father and mother consulted." "No!" Joram replied. "It is the Lord who has put us three kings at the mercy of the king of Moab." 14 Elisha answered, "By the living Lord, whom I serve, I swear that I would have nothing to do with you if I didn't respect your ally, King Jehoshaphat of Judah. 15 Now get me a musician." As the musician played his harp, the power of the Lord came on Elisha, 16 and he said, "This is what the Lord says: "Dig ditches all over this dry stream bed. 17 Even though you will not see any rain or wind, this stream bed will be filled with water, and you, your livestock, and your pack animals will have plenty to drink.' " 18 And Elisha continued, "But this is an easy thing for the Lord to do; he will also give you victory over the Moabites. 19 You will conquer all their beautiful fortified cities; you will cut down all their fruit trees, stop all their springs, and ruin all their fertile fields by covering them with stones." 20 The next morning, at the time of the regular morning sacrifice, water came flowing from the direction of Edom and covered the ground. 21 When the Moabites heard that the three kings had come to attack them, all the men who could bear arms, from the oldest to the youngest, were called out and stationed at the border. 22 When they got up the following morning, the sun was shining on the water, making it look as red as blood. 23 "It's blood!" they exclaimed. "The three enemy armies must have fought and killed each other! Let's go and loot their camp!" 24 But when they reached the camp, the Israelites attacked them and drove them back. The Israelites kept up the pursuit, slaughtering the Moabites 25 and destroying their cities. As they passed by a fertile field, every Israelite would throw a stone on it until finally all the fields were covered; they also stopped up the springs and cut down the fruit trees. At last only the capital city of Kir Heres was left, and the slingers surrounded it and attacked it. 26 When the king of Moab realized that he was losing the battle, he took seven hundred swordsmen with him and tried to force his way through the enemy lines and escape to the king of Syria, but he failed. 27 So he took his oldest son, who was to succeed him as king, and offered him on the city wall as a sacrifice to the god of Moab. The Israelites were terrified and so they drew back from the city and returned to their own country.

2 Kings 4:1 The widow of a member of a group of prophets went to Elisha and said, "Sir, my husband has died! As you know, he was a God-fearing man, but now a man he owed money to has come to take away my two sons as slaves in payment for my husband's debt." 2 "What shall I do for you?" he asked. "Tell me, what do you have at home?" "Nothing at all, except a small jar of olive oil," she answered. 3 "Go to your neighbors and borrow as many empty jars as you can," Elisha told her. 4 "Then you and your sons go into the house, close the door, and start pouring oil into the jars. Set each one aside as soon as it is full." 5 So the woman went into her house with her sons, closed the door, took the small jar of olive oil, and poured oil into the jars as her sons brought them to her. 6 When they had filled all the jars, she asked if there were any more. "That was the last one," one of her sons answered. And the olive oil stopped flowing. 7 She went back to Elisha, the prophet, who said to her, "Sell the olive oil and pay all your debts, and there will be enough money left over for you and your sons to live on." 8 One day Elisha went to Shunem, where a rich woman lived. She invited him to a meal, and from then on every time he went to Shunem he would have his meals at her house. 9 She said to her husband, "I am sure that this man who comes here so often is a holy man. 10 Let's build a small room on the roof, put a bed, a table, a chair, and a lamp in it, and he can stay there whenever he visits us." 11 One day Elisha returned to Shunem and went up to his room to rest. 12 He told his servant Gehazi to go and call the woman. When she came, 13 he said to Gehazi, "Ask her what I can do for her in return for all the trouble she has had in providing for our needs. Maybe she would like me to go to the king or the army commander and put in a good word for her." "I have all I need here among my own people," she answered. 14 Elisha asked Gehazi, "What can I do for her then?" He answered, "Well, she has no son, and her husband is an old man." 15 "Tell her to come here," Elisha ordered. She came and stood in the doorway, 16 and Elisha said to her, "By this time next year you will be holding a son in your arms." "Oh!" she exclaimed. "Please, sir, don't lie to me. You are a man of God!" 17 But, as Elisha had said, at about that time the following year she gave birth to a son. 18 Some years later, at harvest time, the boy went out one morning to join his father, who was in the field with the harvest workers. 19 Suddenly he cried out to his father, "My head hurts! My head hurts!" "Carry the boy to his mother," the father said to a servant. 20 The servant carried the boy back to his mother, who held him in her lap until noon, at which time he died. 21 She carried him up to Elisha's room, put him on the bed and left, closing the door behind her. 22 Then she called her husband and said to him, "Send a servant here with a donkey. I need to go to the prophet Elisha. I'll be back as soon as I can." 23 "Why do you have to go today?" her husband asked. "It's neither a Sabbath nor a New Moon Festival." "Never mind," she answered. 24 Then she had the donkey saddled, and ordered the servant, "Make the donkey go as fast as it can, and don't slow down unless I tell you to." 25 So she set out and went to Mount Carmel, where Elisha was. Elisha saw her coming while she was still some distance away, and he said to his servant Gehazi, "Look, there comes the woman from Shunem! 26 Hurry to her and find out if everything is all right with her, her husband, and her son." She told Gehazi that everything was all right, 27 but when she came to Elisha, she bowed down before him and took hold of his feet. Gehazi was about to push her away, but Elisha said, "Leave her alone. Can't you see she's deeply distressed? And the Lord has not told me a thing about it." 28 The woman said to him, "Sir, did I ask you for a son? Didn't I tell you not to get my hopes up?" 29 Elisha turned to Gehazi and said, "Hurry! Take my walking stick and go. Don't stop to greet anyone you meet, and if anyone greets you, don't take time to answer. Go straight to the house and hold my stick over the boy." 30 The woman said to Elisha, "I swear by my loyalty to the living Lord and to you that I will not leave you!" So the two of them started back together. 31 Gehazi went on ahead and held Elisha's stick over the child, but there was no sound or any other sign of life. So he went back to meet Elisha and said, "The boy didn't wake up." 32 When Elisha arrived, he went alone into the room and saw the boy lying dead on the bed. 33 He closed the door and prayed to the Lord. 34 Then he lay down on the boy, placing his mouth, eyes, and hands on the boy's mouth, eyes, and hands. As he lay stretched out over the boy, the boy's body started to get warm. 35 Elisha got up, walked around the room, and then went back and again stretched himself over the boy. The boy sneezed seven times and then opened his eyes. 36 Elisha called Gehazi and told him to call the boy's mother. When she came in, he said to her, "Here's your son." 37 She fell at Elisha's feet, with her face touching the ground; then she took her son and left. 38 Once, when there was a famine throughout the land, Elisha returned to Gilgal. While he was teaching a group of prophets, he told his servant to put a big pot on the fire and make some stew for them. 39 One of them went out in the fields to get some herbs. He found a wild vine and picked as many gourds as he could carry. He brought them back and sliced them up into the stew, not knowing what they were. 40 The stew was poured out for the men to eat, but as soon as they tasted it they exclaimed to Elisha, "It's poisoned!" - and wouldn't eat it. 41 Elisha asked for some meal, threw it into the pot, and said, "Pour out some more stew for them." And then there was nothing wrong with it. 42 Another time, a man came from Baal Shalishah, bringing Elisha twenty loaves of bread made from the first barley harvested that year, and some freshly-cut heads of grain. Elisha told his servant to feed the group of prophets with this, 43 but he answered, "Do you think this is enough for a hundred men?" Elisha replied, "Give it to them to eat, because the Lord says that they will eat and still have some left over." 44 So the servant set the food before them, and as the Lord had said, they all ate, and there was still some left over.

2 Kings 5:1 Naaman, the commander of the Syrian army, was highly respected and esteemed by the king of Syria, because through Naaman the Lord had given victory to the Syrian forces. He was a great soldier, but he suffered from a dreaded skin disease. 2 In one of their raids against Israel, the Syrians had carried off a little Israelite girl, who became a servant of Naaman's wife. 3 One day she said to her mistress, "I wish that my master could go to the prophet who lives in Samaria! He would cure him of his disease." 4 When Naaman heard of this, he went to the king and told him what the girl had said. 5 The king said, "Go to the king of Israel and take this letter to him." So Naaman set out, taking thirty thousand pieces of silver, six thousand pieces of gold, and ten changes of fine clothes. 6 The letter that he took read: "This letter will introduce my officer Naaman. I want you to cure him of his disease." 7 When the king of Israel read the letter, he tore his clothes in dismay and exclaimed, "How can the king of Syria expect me to cure this man? Does he think that I am God, with the power of life and death? It's plain that he is trying to start a quarrel with me!" 8 When the prophet Elisha heard what had happened, he sent word to the king: "Why are you so upset? Send the man to me, and I'll show him that there is a prophet in Israel!" 9 So Naaman went with his horses and chariot and stopped at the entrance to Elisha's house. 10 Elisha sent a servant out to tell him to go and wash himself seven times in the Jordan River, and he would be completely cured of his disease. 11 But Naaman left in a rage, saying, "I thought that he would at least come out to me, pray to the Lord his God, wave his hand over the diseased spot, and cure me! 12 Besides, aren't the rivers Abana and Pharpar, back in Damascus, better than any river in Israel? I could have washed in them and been cured!" 13 His servants went up to him and said, "Sir, if the prophet had told you to do something difficult, you would have done it. Now why can't you just wash yourself, as he said, and be cured?" 14 So Naaman went down to the Jordan, dipped himself in it seven times, as Elisha had instructed, and he was completely cured. His flesh became firm and healthy like that of a child. 15 He returned to Elisha with all his men and said, "Now I know that there is no god but the God of Israel; so please, sir, accept a gift from me." 16 Elisha answered, "By the living Lord, whom I serve, I swear that I will not accept a gift." Naaman insisted that he accept it, but he would not. 17 So Naaman said, "If you won't accept my gift, then let me have two mule-loads of earth to take home with me, because from now on I will not offer sacrifices or burnt offerings to any god except the Lord. 18 So I hope that the Lord will forgive me when I accompany my king to the temple of Rimmon, the god of Syria, and worship him. Surely the Lord will forgive me!" 19 "Go in peace," Elisha said. And Naaman left. He had gone only a short distance, 20 when Elisha's servant Gehazi said to himself, "My master has let Naaman get away without paying a thing! He should have accepted what that Syrian offered him. By the living Lord I will run after him and get something from him." 21 So he set off after Naaman. When Naaman saw a man running after him, he got down from his chariot to meet him, and asked, "Is something wrong?" 22 "No," Gehazi answered. "But my master sent me to tell you that just now two members of the group of prophets in the hill country of Ephraim arrived, and he would like you to give them three thousand pieces of silver and two changes of fine clothes." 23 "Please take six thousand pieces of silver," Naaman replied. He insisted on it, tied up the silver in two bags, gave them and two changes of fine clothes to two of his servants, and sent them on ahead of Gehazi. 24 When they reached the hill where Elisha lived, Gehazi took the two bags and carried them into the house. Then he sent Naaman's servants back. 25 He went back into the house, and Elisha asked him, "Where have you been?" "Oh, nowhere, sir," he answered. 26 But Elisha said, "Wasn't I there in spirit when the man got out of his chariot to meet you? This is no time to accept money and clothes, olive groves and vineyards, sheep and cattle, or servants! 27 And now Naaman's disease will come upon you, and you and your descendants will have it forever!" When Gehazi left, he had the disease - his skin was as white as snow.

Kings 6:1 One day the group of prophets that Elisha was in charge of complained to him, "The place where we live is too small! 2 Give us permission to go to the Jordan and cut down some trees, so that we can build a place to live." "All right," Elisha answered. 3 One of them urged him to go with them; he agreed, 4 and they set out together. When they arrived at the Jordan, they began to work. 5 As one of them was cutting down a tree, suddenly his iron ax head fell in the water. "What shall I do, sir?" he exclaimed to Elisha. "It was a borrowed ax!" 6 "Where did it fall?" Elisha asked. The man showed him the place, and Elisha cut off a stick, threw it in the water, and made the ax head float. 7 "Take it out," he ordered, and the man reached down and picked it up. 8 The king of Syria was at war with Israel. He consulted his officers and chose a place to set up his camp. 9 But Elisha sent word to the king of Israel, warning him not to go near that place, because the Syrians were waiting in ambush there. 10 So the king of Israel warned the people who lived in that place, and they were on guard. This happened several times. 11 The Syrian king became greatly upset over this; he called in his officers and asked them, "Which one of you is on the side of the king of Israel?" 12 One of them answered, "No one is, Your Majesty. The prophet Elisha tells the king of Israel what you say even in the privacy of your own room." 13 "Find out where he is," the king ordered, "and I will capture him." When he was told that Elisha was in Dothan, 14 he sent a large force there with horses and chariots. They reached the town at night and surrounded it. 15 Early the next morning Elisha's servant got up, went out of the house, and saw the Syrian troops with their horses and chariots surrounding the town. He went back to Elisha and exclaimed, "We are doomed, sir! What shall we do?" 16 "Don't be afraid," Elisha answered. "We have more on our side than they have on theirs." 17 Then he prayed, "O Lord, open his eyes and let him see!" The Lord answered his prayer, and Elisha's servant looked up and saw the hillside covered with horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha. 18 When the Syrians attacked, Elisha prayed, "O Lord, strike these men blind!" The Lord answered his prayer and struck them blind. 19 Then Elisha went to them and said, "You are on the wrong road; this is not the town you are looking for. Follow me, and I will lead you to the man you are after." And he led them to Samaria. 20 As soon as they had entered the city, Elisha prayed, "Open their eyes, Lord, and let them see." The Lord answered his prayer; he restored their sight, and they saw that they were inside Samaria. 21 When the king of Israel saw the Syrians, he asked Elisha, "Shall I kill them, sir? Shall I kill them?" 22 "No," he answered. "Not even soldiers you had captured in combat would you put to death. Give them something to eat and drink, and let them return to their king." 23 So the king of Israel provided a great feast for them; and after they had eaten and drunk, he sent them back to the king of Syria. From then on the Syrians stopped raiding the land of Israel. 24 Some time later King Benhadad of Syria led his entire army against Israel and laid siege to the city of Samaria. 25 As a result of the siege the food shortage in the city was so severe that a donkey's head cost eighty pieces of silver, and half a pound of dove's dung cost five pieces of silver. 26 The king of Israel was walking by on the city wall when a woman cried out, "Help me, Your Majesty!" 27 He replied, "If the Lord won't help you, what help can I provide? Do I have any wheat or wine? 28 What's your trouble?" She answered, "The other day this woman here suggested that we eat my child, and then eat her child the next day. 29 So we cooked my son and ate him. The next day I told her that we would eat her son, but she had hidden him!" 30 Hearing this, the king tore his clothes in dismay, and the people who were close to the wall could see that he was wearing sackcloth under his clothes. 31 He exclaimed, "May God strike me dead if Elisha is not beheaded before the day is over!" 32 And he sent a messenger to get Elisha. Meanwhile Elisha was at home with some elders who were visiting him. Before the king's messenger arrived, Elisha said to the elders, "That murderer is sending someone to kill me! Now, when he gets here, shut the door and don't let him come in. The king himself will be right behind him." 33 He had hardly finished saying this, when the king arrived and said, "It's the Lord who has brought this trouble on us! Why should I wait any longer for him to do something?"

2 Kings 7:1 Elisha answered, "Listen to what the Lord says! By this time tomorrow you will be able to buy in Samaria ten pounds of the best wheat or twenty pounds of barley for one piece of silver." 2 The personal attendant of the king said to Elisha, "That can't happen - not even if the Lord himself were to send grain at once!" "You will see it happen, but you won't get to eat any of the food," Elisha replied. 3 Four men who were suffering from a dreaded skin disease were outside the gates of Samaria, and they said to each other, "Why should we wait here until we die? 4 It's no use going into the city, because we would starve to death in there; but if we stay here, we'll die also. So let's go to the Syrian camp; the worst they can do is kill us, but maybe they will spare our lives." 5 So, as it began to get dark, they went to the Syrian camp, but when they reached it, no one was there. 6 The Lord had made the Syrians hear what sounded like the advance of a large army with horses and chariots, and the Syrians thought that the king of Israel had hired Hittite and Egyptian kings and their armies to attack them. 7 So that evening the Syrians had fled for their lives, abandoning their tents, horses, and donkeys, and leaving the camp just as it was. 8 When the four men reached the edge of the camp, they went into a tent, ate and drank what was there, grabbed the silver, gold, and clothing they found, and went off and hid them; then they returned, entered another tent, and did the same thing. 9 But then they said to each other, "We shouldn't be doing this! We have good news, and we shouldn't keep it to ourselves. If we wait until morning to tell it, we are sure to be punished. Let's go right now and tell the king's officers!" 10 So they left the Syrian camp, went back to Samaria, and called out to the guards at the gates: "We went to the Syrian camp and didn't see or hear anybody; the horses and donkeys have not been untied, and the tents are just as the Syrians left them." 11 The guards announced the news, and it was reported in the palace. 12 It was still night, but the king got out of bed and said to his officials, "I'll tell you what the Syrians are planning! They know about the famine here, so they have left their camp to go and hide in the countryside. They think that we will leave the city to find food, and then they will take us alive and capture the city." 13 One of his officials said, "The people here in the city are doomed anyway, like those that have already died. So let's send some men with five of the horses that are left, so that we can find out what has happened." 14 They chose some men, and the king sent them in two chariots with instructions to go and find out what had happened to the Syrian army. 15 The men went as far as the Jordan, and all along the road they saw the clothes and equipment that the Syrians had abandoned as they fled. Then they returned and reported to the king. 16 The people of Samaria rushed out and looted the Syrian camp. And as the Lord had said, ten pounds of the best wheat or twenty pounds of barley were sold for one piece of silver. 17 It so happened that the king of Israel had put the city gate under the command of the officer who was his personal attendant. The officer was trampled to death there by the people and died, as Elisha had predicted when the king went to see him. 18 Elisha had told the king that by that time the following day ten pounds of the best wheat or twenty pounds of barley would be sold in Samaria for one piece of silver, 19 to which the officer had answered, "That can't happen - not even if the Lord himself were to send grain at once!" And Elisha had replied, "You will see it happen, but you won't get to eat any of the food." 20 And that is just what happened to him - he died, trampled to death by the people at the city gate.

2 Kings 8:1 Now Elisha had told the woman who lived in Shunem, whose son he had brought back to life, that the Lord was sending a famine on the land, which would last for seven years, and that she should leave with her family and go and live somewhere else. 2 She had followed his instructions and had gone with her family to live in Philistia for the seven years. 3 At the end of the seven years she returned to Israel and went to the king to ask that her house and her land be restored to her. 4 She found the king talking with Gehazi, Elisha's servant; the king wanted to know about Elisha's miracles. 5 While Gehazi was telling the king how Elisha had brought a dead person back to life, the woman made her appeal to the king. Gehazi said to him, "Your Majesty, here is the woman and here is her son whom Elisha brought back to life!" 6 In answer to the king's question, she confirmed Gehazi's story, and so the king called an official and told him to give back to her everything that was hers, including the value of all the crops that her fields had produced during the seven years she had been away. 7 Elisha went to Damascus at a time when King Benhadad of Syria was sick. When the king was told that Elisha was there, 8 he said to Hazael, one of his officials, "Take a gift to the prophet and ask him to consult the Lord to find out whether or not I am going to get well." 9 So Hazael loaded forty camels with all kinds of the finest products of Damascus and went to Elisha. When Hazael met him, he said, "Your servant King Benhadad has sent me to ask you whether or not he will recover from his sickness." 10 Elisha answered, "The Lord has revealed to me that he will die; but go to him and tell him that he will recover." 11 Then Elisha stared at him with a horrified look on his face until Hazael became ill at ease. Suddenly Elisha burst into tears. 12 "Why are you crying, sir?" Hazael asked. "Because I know the horrible things you will do against the people of Israel," Elisha answered. "You will set their fortresses on fire, slaughter their finest young men, batter their children to death, and rip open their pregnant women." 13 "How could I ever be that powerful?" Hazael asked. "I'm a nobody!" "The Lord has shown me that you will be king of Syria," Elisha replied. 14 Hazael went back to Benhadad, who asked him, "What did Elisha say?" "He told me that you would certainly get well," Hazael answered. 15 But on the following day Hazael took a blanket, soaked it in water, and smothered the king. And Hazael succeeded Benhadad as king of Syria.

1812-1 Kin. 17;1 A prophet named Elijah, from Tishbe in Gilead, said to King Ahab, "In the name of the Lord, the living God of Israel, whom I serve, I tell you that there will be no dew or rain for the next two or three years until I say so." 2 Then the Lord said to Elijah, 3 "Leave this place and go east and hide yourself near Cherith Brook, east of the Jordan. 4 The brook will supply you with water to drink, and I have commanded ravens to bring you food there." 5 Elijah obeyed the Lord's command, and went and stayed by Cherith Brook. 6 He drank water from the brook, and ravens brought him bread and meat every morning and every evening. 7 After a while the brook dried up because of the lack of rain. 8 Then the Lord said to Elijah, 9 "Now go to the town of Zarephath, near Sidon, and stay there. I have commanded a widow who lives there to feed you." 10 So Elijah went to Zarephath, and as he came to the town gate, he saw a widow gathering firewood. "Please bring me a drink of water," he said to her. 11 And as she was going to get it, he called out, "And please bring me some bread, too." 12 She answered, "By the living Lord your God I swear that I don't have any bread. All I have is a handful of flour in a bowl and a bit of olive oil in a jar. I came here to gather some firewood to take back home and prepare what little I have for my son and me. That will be our last meal, and then we will starve to death." 13 "Don't worry," Elijah said to her. "Go on and prepare your meal. But first make a small loaf from what you have and bring it to me, and then prepare the rest for you and your son. 14 For this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: "The bowl will not run out of flour or the jar run out of oil before the day that I, the Lord, send rain.' " 15 The widow went and did as Elijah had told her, and all of them had enough food for many days. 16 As the Lord had promised through Elijah, the bowl did not run out of flour nor did the jar run out of oil. 17 Some time later the widow's son got sick; he got worse and worse, and finally he died. 18 She said to Elijah, "Man of God, why did you do this to me? Did you come here to remind God of my sins and so cause my son's death?" 19 "Give the boy to me," Elijah said. He took the boy from her arms, carried him upstairs to the room where he was staying, and laid him on the bed. 20 Then he prayed aloud, "O Lord my God, why have you done such a terrible thing to this widow? She has been kind enough to take care of me, and now you kill her son!" 21 Then Elijah stretched himself out on the boy three times and prayed, "O Lord my God, restore this child to life!" 22 The Lord answered Elijah's prayer; the child started breathing again and revived. 23 Elijah took the boy back downstairs to his mother and said to her, "Look, your son is alive!" 24 She answered, "Now I know that you are a man of God and that the Lord really speaks through you!"

1 Kings 18:1 After some time, in the third year of the drought, the Lord said to Elijah, "Go and present yourself to King Ahab, and I will send rain." 2 So Elijah started out. The famine in Samaria was at its worst, 3 so Ahab called in Obadiah, who was in charge of the palace. (Obadiah was a devout worshiper of the Lord, 4 and when Jezebel was killing the Lord's prophets, Obadiah took a hundred of them, hid them in caves in two groups of fifty, and provided them with food and water.) 5 Ahab said to Obadiah, "Let us go and look at every spring and every stream bed in the land to see if we can find enough grass to keep the horses and mules alive. Maybe we won't have to kill any of our animals." 6 They agreed on which part of the land each one would explore, and set off in different directions. 7 As Obadiah was on his way, he suddenly met Elijah. He recognized him, bowed low before him, and asked, "Is it really you, sir?" 8 "Yes, I'm Elijah," he answered. "Go and tell your master the king that I am here." 9 Obadiah answered, "What have I done that you want to put me in danger of being killed by King Ahab? 10 By the living Lord, your God, I swear that the king has made a search for you in every country in the world. Whenever the ruler of a country reported that you were not in his country, Ahab would require that ruler to swear that you could not be found. 11 And now you want me to go and tell him that you are here? 12 What if the spirit of the Lord carries you off to some unknown place as soon as I leave? Then, when I tell Ahab that you are here and he can't find you, he will put me to death. Remember that I have been a devout worshiper of the Lord ever since I was a boy. 13 Haven't you heard that when Jezebel was killing the prophets of the Lord I hid a hundred of them in caves, in two groups of fifty, and supplied them with food and water? 14 So how can you order me to go and tell the king that you are here? He will kill me!" 15 Elijah answered, "By the living Lord Almighty, whom I serve, I promise that I will present myself to the king today." 16 So Obadiah went to King Ahab and told him, and Ahab set off to meet Elijah. 17 When Ahab saw him, he said, "So there you are - the worst troublemaker in Israel!" 18 "I'm not the troublemaker," Elijah answered. "You are - you and your father. You are disobeying the Lord's commands and worshiping the idols of Baal. 19 Now order all the people of Israel to meet me at Mount Carmel. Bring along the 450 prophets of Baal and the 400 prophets of the goddess Asherah who are supported by Queen Jezebel." 20 So Ahab summoned all the Israelites and the prophets of Baal to meet at Mount Carmel. 21 Elijah went up to the people and said, "How much longer will it take you to make up your minds? If the Lord is God, worship him; but if Baal is God, worship him!" But the people didn't say a word. 22 Then Elijah said, "I am the only prophet of the Lord still left, but there are 450 prophets of Baal. 23 Bring two bulls; let the prophets of Baal take one, kill it, cut it in pieces, and put it on the wood - but don't light the fire. I will do the same with the other bull. 24 Then let the prophets of Baal pray to their god, and I will pray to the Lord, and the one who answers by sending fire - he is God." The people shouted their approval. 25 Then Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, "Since there are so many of you, you take a bull and prepare it first. Pray to your god, but don't set fire to the wood." 26 They took the bull that was brought to them, prepared it, and prayed to Baal until noon. They shouted, "Answer us, Baal!" and kept dancing around the altar they had built. But no answer came. 27 At noon Elijah started making fun of them: "Pray louder! He is a god! Maybe he is day-dreaming or relieving himself, or perhaps he's gone off on a trip! Or maybe he's sleeping, and you've got to wake him up!" 28 So the prophets prayed louder and cut themselves with knives and daggers, according to their ritual, until blood flowed. 29 They kept on ranting and raving until the middle of the afternoon; but no answer came, not a sound was heard. 30 Then Elijah said to the people, "Come closer to me," and they all gathered around him. He set about repairing the altar of the Lord which had been torn down. 31 He took twelve stones, one for each of the twelve tribes named for the sons of Jacob, the man to whom the Lord had given the name Israel. 32 With these stones he rebuilt the altar for the worship of the Lord. He dug a trench around it, large enough to hold about four gallons of water. 33 Then he placed the wood on the altar, cut the bull in pieces, and laid it on the wood. He said, "Fill four jars with water and pour it on the offering and the wood." They did so, 34 and he said, "Do it again" - and they did. "Do it once more," he said - and they did. 35 The water ran down around the altar and filled the trench. 36 At the hour of the afternoon sacrifice the prophet Elijah approached the altar and prayed, "O Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, prove now that you are the God of Israel and that I am your servant and have done all this at your command. 37 Answer me, Lord, answer me, so that this people will know that you, the Lord, are God and that you are bringing them back to yourself." 38 The Lord sent fire down, and it burned up the sacrifice, the wood, and the stones, scorched the earth and dried up the water in the trench. 39 When the people saw this, they threw themselves on the ground and exclaimed, "The Lord is God; the Lord alone is God!" 40 Elijah ordered, "Seize the prophets of Baal; don't let any of them get away!" The people seized them all, and Elijah led them down to Kishon Brook and killed them. 41 Then Elijah said to King Ahab, "Now, go and eat. I hear the roar of rain approaching." 42 While Ahab went to eat, Elijah climbed to the top of Mount Carmel, where he bowed down to the ground, with his head between his knees. 43 He said to his servant, "Go and look toward the sea." The servant went and returned, saying, "I didn't see a thing." Seven times in all Elijah told him to go and look. 44 The seventh time he returned and said, "I saw a little cloud no bigger than a man's hand, coming up from the sea." Elijah ordered his servant, "Go to King Ahab and tell him to get in his chariot and go back home before the rain stops him." 45 In a little while the sky was covered with dark clouds, the wind began to blow, and a heavy rain began to fall. Ahab got in his chariot and started back to Jezreel. 46 The power of the Lord came on Elijah; he fastened his clothes tight around his waist and ran ahead of Ahab all the way to Jezreel.

1813-1 Kin. 8:20 "And now the Lord has kept his promise. I have succeeded my father as king of Israel, and I have built the Temple for the worship of the Lord God of Israel.

1 Kings 8:23 and prayed, "Lord God of Israel, there is no god like you in heaven above or on earth below! You keep your covenant with your people and show them your love when they live in wholehearted obedience to you. 24 You have kept the promise you made to my father David; today every word has been fulfilled. 25 And now, Lord God of Israel, I pray that you will also keep the other promise you made to my father when you told him that there would always be one of his descendants ruling as king of Israel, provided they obeyed you as carefully as he did. 26 So now, O God of Israel, let everything come true that you promised to my father David, your servant.

1814-1 Kin. 2:4 If you obey him, the Lord will keep the promise he made when he told me that my descendants would rule Israel as long as they were careful to obey his commands faithfully with all their heart and soul. 5 "There is something else. You remember what Joab did to me by killing the two commanders of Israel's armies, Abner son of Ner and Amasa son of Jether. You remember how he murdered them in time of peace as revenge for deaths they had caused in time of war. He killed innocent men, and now I bear the responsibility for what he did, and I suffer the consequences.

1 Kings 2:45 But he will bless me, and he will make David's kingdom secure forever."

1 Kings 3:6 Solomon answered, "You always showed great love for my father David, your servant, and he was good, loyal, and honest in his relation with you. And you have continued to show him your great and constant love by giving him a son who today rules in his place.

1 Kings 3:14 And if you obey me and keep my laws and commands, as your father David did, I will give you a long life."

1 Kings 6:12 "If you obey all my laws and commands, I will do for you what I promised your father David. 13 I will live among my people Israel in this Temple that you are building, and I will never abandon them."

1815-2 Kin. 8:19 but the Lord was not willing to destroy Judah, because he had promised his servant David that his descendants would always continue to rule.

1816-1 Kin. 2:2 "My time to die has come. Be confident and determined, 3 and do what the Lord your God orders you to do. Obey all his laws and commands, as written in the Law of Moses, so that wherever you go you may prosper in everything you do. 4 If you obey him, the Lord will keep the promise he made when he told me that my descendants would rule Israel as long as they were careful to obey his commands faithfully with all their heart and soul.

1817-2 Kin. 23:25 There had never been a king like him before, who served the Lord with all his heart, mind, and strength, obeying all the Law of Moses; nor has there been a king like him since.

1818-2 Kin. 23:26 But the Lord's fierce anger had been aroused against Judah by what King Manasseh had done, and even now it did not die down. 27 The Lord said, "I will do to Judah what I have done to Israel: I will banish the people of Judah from my sight, and I will reject Jerusalem, the city I chose, and the Temple, the place I said was where I should be worshiped."

1819-1 Kin. 5:1 King Hiram of Tyre had always been a friend of David's, and when he heard that Solomon had succeeded his father David as king, he sent ambassadors to him. 2 Solomon sent back this message to Hiram: 3 "You know that because of the constant wars my father David had to fight against the enemy countries all around him, he could not build a temple for the worship of the Lord his God until the Lord had given him victory over all his enemies. 4 But now the Lord my God has given me peace on all my borders. I have no enemies, and there is no danger of attack. 5 The Lord promised my father David, "Your son, whom I will make king after you, will build a temple for me.' And I have now decided to build that temple for the worship of the Lord my God. 6 So send your men to Lebanon to cut down cedars for me. My men will work with them, and I will pay your men whatever you decide. As you well know, my men don't know how to cut down trees as well as yours do." 7 Hiram was extremely pleased when he received Solomon's message, and he said, "Praise the Lord today for giving David such a wise son to succeed him as king of that great nation!" 8 Then Hiram sent Solomon the following message: "I have received your message, and I am ready to do what you ask. I will provide the cedars and the pine trees. 9 My men will bring the logs down from Lebanon to the sea and will tie them together in rafts to float them down the coast to the place you choose. There my men will untie them, and your men will take charge of them. On your part, I would like you to supply the food for my men." 10 So Hiram supplied Solomon with all the cedar and pine logs that he wanted, 11 and Solomon provided Hiram with 100,000 bushels of wheat and 110,000 gallons of pure olive oil every year to feed his men. 12 The Lord kept his promise and gave Solomon wisdom. There was peace between Hiram and Solomon, and they made a treaty with each other. 13 King Solomon drafted 30,000 men as forced labor from all over Israel, 14 and put Adoniram in charge of them. He divided them into three groups of 10,000 men, and each group spent one month in Lebanon and two months back home. 15 Solomon also had 80,000 stone cutters in the hill country, with 70,000 men to carry the stones, 16 and he placed 3,300 foremen in charge of them to supervise their work. 17 At King Solomon's command they cut fine large stones for the foundation of the Temple. 18 Solomon's and Hiram's workers and men from the city of Byblos prepared the stones and the timber to build the Temple.

1820-1 Kin. 6:1 Four hundred and eighty years after the people of Israel left Egypt, during the fourth year of Solomon's reign over Israel, in the second month, the month of Ziv, Solomon began work on the Temple. 2 Inside it was 90 feet long, 30 feet wide, and 45 feet high. 3 The entrance room was 15 feet deep and 30 feet wide, as wide as the sanctuary itself. 4 The walls of the Temple had openings in them, narrower on the outside than on the inside. 5 Against the outside walls, on the sides and the back of the Temple, a three-storied annex was built, each story 7 1/2 feet high. 6 Each room in the lowest story was 7 1/2 feet wide, in the middle story 9 feet wide, and in the top story 10 1/2 feet wide. The Temple wall on each floor was thinner than on the floor below, so that the rooms could rest on the wall without having their beams built into it. 7 The stones with which the Temple was built had been prepared at the quarry, so that there was no noise made by hammers, axes, or any other iron tools as the Temple was being built. 8 The entrance to the lowest story of the annex was on the south side of the Temple, with stairs leading up to the second and third stories. 9 So King Solomon finished building the Temple. He put in a ceiling made of beams and boards of cedar. 10 The three-storied annex, each story 7 1/2 feet high, was built against the outside walls of the Temple, and was joined to them by cedar beams. 11 The Lord said to Solomon, 12 "If you obey all my laws and commands, I will do for you what I promised your father David. 13 I will live among my people Israel in this Temple that you are building, and I will never abandon them." 14 So Solomon finished building the Temple. 15 The inside walls were covered with cedar panels from the floor to the ceiling, and the floor was made of pine. 16 An inner room, called the Most Holy Place, was built in the rear of the Temple. It was 30 feet long and was partitioned off by cedar boards reaching from the floor to the ceiling. 17 The room in front of the Most Holy Place was 60 feet long. 18 The cedar panels were decorated with carvings of gourds and flowers; the whole interior was covered with cedar, so that the stones of the walls could not be seen. 19 In the rear of the Temple an inner room was built, where the Lord's Covenant Box was to be placed. 20 This inner room was 30 feet long, 30 feet wide, and 30 feet high, all covered with pure gold. The altar was covered with cedar panels. 21 The inside of the Temple was covered with gold, and gold chains were placed across the entrance of the inner room, which was also covered with gold. 22 The whole interior of the Temple was covered with gold, as well as the altar in the Most Holy Place. 23 Two winged creatures were made of olive wood and placed in the Most Holy Place, each one 15 feet tall. 24 Both were of the same size and shape. Each had two wings, each wing 7 1/2 feet long, so that the distance from one wing tip to the other was 15 feet. 27 They were placed side by side in the Most Holy Place, so that two of their outstretched wings touched each other in the middle of the room, and the other two wings touched the walls. 28 The two winged creatures were covered with gold. 29 The walls of the main room and of the inner room were all decorated with carved figures of winged creatures, palm trees, and flowers. 30 Even the floor was covered with gold. 31 A double door made of olive wood was set in place at the entrance of the Most Holy Place; the top of the doorway was a pointed arch. 32 The doors were decorated with carved figures of winged creatures, palm trees, and flowers. The doors, the winged creatures, and the palm trees were covered with gold. 33 For the entrance to the main room a rectangular doorframe of olive wood was made. 34 There were two folding doors made of pine 35 and decorated with carved figures of winged creatures, palm trees, and flowers, which were evenly covered with gold. 36 An inner court was built in front of the Temple, enclosed with walls which had one layer of cedar beams for every three layers of stone. 37 The foundation of the Temple was laid in the second month, the month of Ziv, in the fourth year of Solomon's reign. 38 In the eighth month, the month of Bul, in the eleventh year of Solomon's reign, the Temple was completely finished exactly as it had been planned. It had taken Solomon seven years to build it.

1821-1 Kin. 12:1 Rehoboam went to Shechem, where all the people of northern Israel had gathered to make him king. 2 When Jeroboam son of Nebat, who had gone to Egypt to escape from King Solomon, heard this news, he returned from Egypt. 3 The people of the northern tribes sent for him, and then they all went together to Rehoboam and said to him, 4 "Your father Solomon treated us harshly and placed heavy burdens on us. If you make these burdens lighter and make life easier for us, we will be your loyal subjects." 5 "Come back in three days and I will give you my answer," he replied. So they left. 6 King Rehoboam consulted the older men who had served as his father Solomon's advisers. "What answer do you advise me to give these people?" he asked. 7 They replied, "If you want to serve this people well, give a favorable answer to their request, and they will always serve you loyally." 8 But he ignored the advice of the older men and went instead to the young men who had grown up with him and who were now his advisers. 9 "What do you advise me to do?" he asked. "What shall I say to the people who are asking me to make their burdens lighter?" 10 They replied, "This is what you should tell them: "My little finger is thicker than my father's waist!' 11 Tell them, "My father placed heavy burdens on you; I will make them even heavier. He beat you with whips; I'll flog you with bullwhips!' " 12 Three days later Jeroboam and all the people returned to King Rehoboam, as he had instructed them. 13 The king ignored the advice of the older men and spoke harshly to the people, 14 as the younger men had advised. He said, "My father placed heavy burdens on you; I will make them even heavier. He beat you with whips; I'll flog you with bullwhips!" 15 It was the will of the Lord to bring about what he had spoken to Jeroboam son of Nebat through the prophet Ahijah from Shiloh. This is why the king did not pay any attention to the people. 16 When the people saw that the king would not listen to them, they shouted, "Down with David and his family! What have they ever done for us? People of Israel, let's go home! Let Rehoboam look out for himself!" So the people of Israel rebelled, 17 leaving Rehoboam as king only of the people who lived in the territory of Judah. 18 Then King Rehoboam sent Adoniram, who was in charge of the forced labor, to go to the Israelites, but they stoned him to death. At this, Rehoboam hurriedly got in his chariot and escaped to Jerusalem. 19 Ever since that time the people of the northern kingdom of Israel have been in rebellion against the dynasty of David. 20 When the people of Israel heard that Jeroboam had returned from Egypt, they invited him to a meeting of the people and made him king of Israel. Only the tribe of Judah remained loyal to David's descendants. 21 When Rehoboam arrived in Jerusalem, he called together 180,000 of the best soldiers from the tribes of Judah and Benjamin. He intended to go to war and restore his control over the northern tribes of Israel. 22 But God told the prophet Shemaiah 23 to give this message to Rehoboam and to all the people of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin: 24 "Do not attack your own relatives, the people of Israel. Go home, all of you. What has happened is my will." They all obeyed the Lord's command and went back home.

1822-2 Kin. 17:1 In the twelfth year of the reign of King Ahaz of Judah, Hoshea son of Elah became king of Israel, and he ruled in Samaria for nine years. 2 He sinned against the Lord, but not as much as the kings who had ruled Israel before him. 3 Emperor Shalmaneser of Assyria made war against him; Hoshea surrendered to Shalmaneser and paid him tribute every year. 4 But one year Hoshea sent messengers to So, king of Egypt, asking for his help, and stopped paying the annual tribute to Assyria. When Shalmaneser learned of this, he had Hoshea arrested and put in prison. 5 Then Shalmaneser invaded Israel and besieged Samaria. In the third year of the siege, 6 which was the ninth year of the reign of Hoshea, the Assyrian emperor captured Samaria, took the Israelites to Assyria as prisoners, and settled some of them in the city of Halah, some near the Habor River in the district of Gozan and some in the cities of Media. 7 Samaria fell because the Israelites sinned against the Lord their God, who had rescued them from the king of Egypt and had led them out of Egypt. They worshiped other gods, 8 followed the customs of the people whom the Lord had driven out as his people advanced, and adopted customs introduced by the kings of Israel. 9 The Israelites did things that the Lord their God disapproved of. They built pagan places of worship in all their towns, from the smallest village to the largest city. 10 On all the hills and under every shady tree they put up stone pillars and images of the goddess Asherah, 11 and they burned incense on all the pagan altars, following the practice of the people whom the Lord had driven out of the land. They aroused the Lord's anger with all their wicked deeds 12 and disobeyed the Lord's command not to worship idols. 13 The Lord had sent his messengers and prophets to warn Israel and Judah: "Abandon your evil ways and obey my commands, which are contained in the Law I gave to your ancestors and which I handed on to you through my servants the prophets." 14 But they would not obey; they were stubborn like their ancestors, who had not trusted in the Lord their God. 15 They refused to obey his instructions, they did not keep the covenant he had made with their ancestors, and they disregarded his warnings. They worshiped worthless idols and became worthless themselves, and they followed the customs of the surrounding nations, disobeying the Lord's command not to imitate them. 16 They broke all the laws of the Lord their God and made two metal bull-calves to worship; they also made an image of the goddess Asherah, worshiped the stars, and served the god Baal. 17 They sacrificed their sons and daughters as burnt offerings to pagan gods; they consulted mediums and fortunetellers, and they devoted themselves completely to doing what is wrong in the Lord's sight, and so aroused his anger. 18 The Lord was angry with the Israelites and banished them from his sight, leaving only the kingdom of Judah. 19 But even the people of Judah did not obey the laws of the Lord their God; they imitated the customs adopted by the people of Israel. 20 The Lord rejected all the Israelites, punishing them and handing them over to cruel enemies until at last he had banished them from his sight. 21 After the Lord had separated Israel from Judah, the Israelites made Jeroboam son of Nebat their king. Jeroboam caused them to abandon the Lord and led them into terrible sins. 22 They followed Jeroboam and continued to practice all the sins he had committed, 23 until at last the Lord banished them from his sight, as he had warned through his servants the prophets that he would do. So the people of Israel were taken into exile to Assyria, where they still live. 24 The emperor of Assyria took people from the cities of Babylon, Cuth, Ivvah, Hamath, and Sepharvaim, and settled them in the cities of Samaria in place of the exiled Israelites. They took possession of these cities and lived there. 25 When they first settled there, they did not worship the Lord, and so he sent lions, which killed some of them. 26 The emperor of Assyria was told that the people he had settled in the cities of Samaria did not know the law of the god of that land, and so the god had sent lions, which were killing them. 27 So the emperor commanded: "Send back one of the priests we brought as prisoners; have him go back and live there, in order to teach the people the law of the god of that land." 28 So an Israelite priest who had been deported from Samaria went and lived in Bethel, where he taught the people how to worship the Lord. 29 But the people who settled in Samaria continued to make their own idols, and they placed them in the shrines that the Israelites had built. Each different group made idols in the cities they were living in: 30 the people of Babylon made idols of the god Succoth Benoth; the people of Cuth, idols of Nergal; the people of Hamath, idols of Ashima; 31 the people of Ivvah, idols of Nibhaz and Tartak; and the people of Sepharvaim sacrificed their children as burnt offerings to their gods Adrammelech and Anammelech. 32 These people also worshiped the Lord and chose from among their own number all sorts of people to serve as priests at the pagan places of worship and to offer sacrifices for them there. 33 So they worshiped the Lord, but they also worshiped their own gods according to the customs of the countries from which they had come. 34 They still carry on their old customs to this day. They do not worship the Lord nor do they obey the laws and commands which he gave to the descendants of Jacob, whom he named Israel. 35 The Lord had made a covenant with them and had ordered them: "Do not worship other gods; do not bow down to them or serve them or offer sacrifices to them. 36 You shall obey me, the Lord, who brought you out of Egypt with great power and strength; you are to bow down to me and offer sacrifices to me. 37 You shall always obey the laws and commands that I wrote for you. You shall not obey other gods, 38 and you shall not forget the covenant I made with you. 39 You shall obey me, the Lord your God, and I will rescue you from your enemies." 40 But those people would not listen, and they continued to follow their old customs. 41 So those people worshiped the Lord, but they also worshiped their idols; and to this day their descendants continue to do the same.

1823-2 Kin. 17:7 Samaria fell because the Israelites sinned against the Lord their God, who had rescued them from the king of Egypt and had led them out of Egypt. They worshiped other gods, 8 followed the customs of the people whom the Lord had driven out as his people advanced, and adopted customs introduced by the kings of Israel. 9 The Israelites did things that the Lord their God disapproved of. They built pagan places of worship in all their towns, from the smallest village to the largest city. 10 On all the hills and under every shady tree they put up stone pillars and images of the goddess Asherah, 11 and they burned incense on all the pagan altars, following the practice of the people whom the Lord had driven out of the land. They aroused the Lord's anger with all their wicked deeds 12 and disobeyed the Lord's command not to worship idols. 13 The Lord had sent his messengers and prophets to warn Israel and Judah: "Abandon your evil ways and obey my commands, which are contained in the Law I gave to your ancestors and which I handed on to you through my servants the prophets." 14 But they would not obey; they were stubborn like their ancestors, who had not trusted in the Lord their God. 15 They refused to obey his instructions, they did not keep the covenant he had made with their ancestors, and they disregarded his warnings. They worshiped worthless idols and became worthless themselves, and they followed the customs of the surrounding nations, disobeying the Lord's command not to imitate them. 16 They broke all the laws of the Lord their God and made two metal bull-calves to worship; they also made an image of the goddess Asherah, worshiped the stars, and served the god Baal. 17 They sacrificed their sons and daughters as burnt offerings to pagan gods; they consulted mediums and fortunetellers, and they devoted themselves completely to doing what is wrong in the Lord's sight, and so aroused his anger. 18 The Lord was angry with the Israelites and banished them from his sight, leaving only the kingdom of Judah. 19 But even the people of Judah did not obey the laws of the Lord their God; they imitated the customs adopted by the people of Israel. 20 The Lord rejected all the Israelites, punishing them and handing them over to cruel enemies until at last he had banished them from his sight. 21 After the Lord had separated Israel from Judah, the Israelites made Jeroboam son of Nebat their king. Jeroboam caused them to abandon the Lord and led them into terrible sins. 22 They followed Jeroboam and continued to practice all the sins he had committed, 23 until at last the Lord banished them from his sight, as he had warned through his servants the prophets that he would do. So the people of Israel were taken into exile to Assyria, where they still live. 24 The emperor of Assyria took people from the cities of Babylon, Cuth, Ivvah, Hamath, and Sepharvaim, and settled them in the cities of Samaria in place of the exiled Israelites. They took possession of these cities and lived there. 25 When they first settled there, they did not worship the Lord, and so he sent lions, which killed some of them. 26 The emperor of Assyria was told that the people he had settled in the cities of Samaria did not know the law of the god of that land, and so the god had sent lions, which were killing them. 27 So the emperor commanded: "Send back one of the priests we brought as prisoners; have him go back and live there, in order to teach the people the law of the god of that land." 28 So an Israelite priest who had been deported from Samaria went and lived in Bethel, where he taught the people how to worship the Lord. 29 But the people who settled in Samaria continued to make their own idols, and they placed them in the shrines that the Israelites had built. Each different group made idols in the cities they were living in: 30 the people of Babylon made idols of the god Succoth Benoth; the people of Cuth, idols of Nergal; the people of Hamath, idols of Ashima; 31 the people of Ivvah, idols of Nibhaz and Tartak; and the people of Sepharvaim sacrificed their children as burnt offerings to their gods Adrammelech and Anammelech. 32 These people also worshiped the Lord and chose from among their own number all sorts of people to serve as priests at the pagan places of worship and to offer sacrifices for them there. 33 So they worshiped the Lord, but they also worshiped their own gods according to the customs of the countries from which they had come. 34 They still carry on their old customs to this day. They do not worship the Lord nor do they obey the laws and commands which he gave to the descendants of Jacob, whom he named Israel.

1824-II Sam 8:16 Joab, whose mother was Zeruiah, was the commander of the army; Jehoshaphat son of Ahilud was in charge of the records;

1825-I Kings 4:3 The court secretaries: Elihoreph and Ahijah, sons of Shisha In charge of the records: Jehoshaphat son of Ahilud

1826-II Kings 18:1 In the third year of the reign of Hoshea son of Elah as king of Israel, Hezekiah son of Ahaz became king of Judah 2 at the age of twenty-five, and he ruled in Jerusalem for twenty-nine years. His mother was Abijah, the daughter of Zechariah. 3 Following the example of his ancestor King David, he did what was pleasing to the Lord. 4 He destroyed the pagan places of worship, broke the stone pillars, and cut down the images of the goddess Asherah. He also broke in pieces the bronze snake that Moses had made, which was called Nehushtan. Up to that time the people of Israel had burned incense in its honor. 5 Hezekiah trusted in the Lord, the God of Israel; Judah never had another king like him, either before or after his time. 6 He was faithful to the Lord and never disobeyed him, but carefully kept all the commands that the Lord had given Moses. 7 So the Lord was with him, and he was successful in everything he did. He rebelled against the emperor of Assyria and refused to submit to him. 8 He defeated the Philistines and raided their settlements, from the smallest village to the largest city, including Gaza and its surrounding territory. 9 In the fourth year of Hezekiah's reign - which was the seventh year of King Hoshea's reign over Israel - Emperor Shalmaneser of Assyria invaded Israel and besieged Samaria. 10 In the third year of the siege Samaria fell; this was the sixth year of Hezekiah's reign and the ninth year of Hoshea's reign. 11 The Assyrian emperor took the Israelites to Assyria as prisoners and settled some of them in the city of Halah, some near the Habor River in the district of Gozan, and some in the cities of Media. 12 Samaria fell because the Israelites did not obey the Lord their God, but broke the covenant he had made with them and disobeyed all the laws given by Moses, the servant of the Lord. They would not listen and they would not obey. 13 In the fourteenth year of the reign of King Hezekiah, Sennacherib, the emperor of Assyria, attacked the fortified cities of Judah and conquered them. 14 Hezekiah sent a message to Sennacherib, who was in Lachish: "I have done wrong; please stop your attack, and I will pay whatever you demand." The emperor's answer was that Hezekiah should send him ten tons of silver and one ton of gold. 15 Hezekiah sent him all the silver in the Temple and in the palace treasury; 16 he also stripped the gold from the temple doors and the gold with which he himself had covered the doorposts, and he sent it all to Sennacherib. 17 The Assyrian emperor sent a large army from Lachish to attack Hezekiah at Jerusalem; it was commanded by his three highest officials. When they arrived at Jerusalem, they occupied the road where the cloth makers work by the ditch that brings water from the upper pool. 18 Then they sent for King Hezekiah, and three of his officials went out to meet them: Eliakim son of Hilkiah, who was in charge of the palace; Shebna, the court secretary; and Joah son of Asaph, who was in charge of the records. 19 One of the Assyrian officials told them that the emperor wanted to know what made King Hezekiah so confident. 20 He demanded, "Do you think that words can take the place of military skill and might? Who do you think will help you rebel against Assyria? 21 You are expecting Egypt to help you, but that would be like using a reed as a walking stick - it would break and jab your hand. That is what the king of Egypt is like when anyone relies on him." 22 The Assyrian official went on, "Or will you tell me that you are relying on the Lord your God? It was the Lord's shrines and altars that Hezekiah destroyed, when he told the people of Judah and Jerusalem to worship only at the altar in Jerusalem. 23 I will make a bargain with you in the name of the emperor. I will give you two thousand horses if you can find that many men to ride them! 24 You are no match for even the lowest ranking Assyrian official, and yet you expect the Egyptians to send you chariots and cavalry! 25 Do you think I have attacked your country and destroyed it without the Lord's help? The Lord himself told me to attack it and destroy it." 26 Then Eliakim, Shebna, and Joah told the official, "Speak Aramaic to us, sir. We understand it. Don't speak Hebrew; all the people on the wall are listening." 27 He replied, "Do you think you and the king are the only ones the emperor sent me to say all these things to? No, I am also talking to the people who are sitting on the wall, who will have to eat their excrement and drink their urine, just as you will." 28 Then the official stood up and shouted in Hebrew, "Listen to what the emperor of Assyria is telling you! 29 He warns you not to let Hezekiah deceive you. Hezekiah can't save you. 30 And don't let him persuade you to rely on the Lord. Don't think that the Lord will save you and that he will stop our Assyrian army from capturing your city. 31 Don't listen to Hezekiah. The emperor of Assyria commands you to come out of the city and surrender. You will all be allowed to eat grapes from your own vines and figs from your own trees, and to drink water from your own wells - 32 until the emperor resettles you in a country much like your own, where there are vineyards to give wine and there is grain for making bread; it is a land of olives, olive oil, and honey. If you do what he commands, you will not die, but live. Don't let Hezekiah fool you into thinking that the Lord will rescue you. 33 Did the gods of any other nations save their countries from the emperor of Assyria? 34 Where are they now, the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivvah? Did anyone save Samaria? 35 When did any of the gods of all these countries ever save their country from our emperor? Then what makes you think the Lord can save Jerusalem?" 36 The people kept quiet, just as King Hezekiah had told them to; they did not say a word. 37 Then Eliakim, Shebna, and Joah tore their clothes in grief, and went and reported to the king what the Assyrian official had said.

1827-II Chr 34:8 In the eighteenth year of his reign, after he had purified the land and the Temple by ending pagan worship, King Josiah sent three men to repair the Temple of the Lord God: Shaphan son of Azaliah, Maaseiah, the governor of Jerusalem, and Joah son of Joahaz, a high official.

1828-I Kings 11:41 Everything else that Solomon did, his career, and his wisdom, are all recorded in [The History of Solomon.]

1829-II Chr 9:29 The rest of the history of Solomon from beginning to end is recorded in [The History of Nathan the Prophet,] in [The Prophecy of Ahijah of Shiloh,] and in [The Visions of Iddo the Prophet,] which also deal with the reign of King Jeroboam of Israel.

1830-II Chr 12:5 Shemaiah the prophet went to King Rehoboam and the Judean leaders who had gathered in Jerusalem to escape Shishak. He said to them, "This is the Lord's message to you: "You have abandoned me, so now I have abandoned you to Shishak.' "

1831-II Chr 26:22 The prophet Isaiah son of Amoz recorded all the other things that King Uzziah did during his reign.

2 Chronicles 32:32 Everything else that King Hezekiah did and his devotion to the Lord are recorded in [The Vision of the Prophet Isaiah Son of Amoz] and in [The History of the Kings of Judah and Israel.]

1832-II Chr 19:2 A prophet, Jehu son of Hanani, went to meet the king and said to him, "Do you think it is right to help those who are wicked and to take the side of those who hate the Lord? What you have done has brought the Lord's anger on you.

2 Chronicles 20:34 Everything else that Jehoshaphat did, from the beginning of his reign to its end, is recorded in [The History of Jehu Son of Hanani,] which is a part of [The History of the Kings of Israel.]

1833-2 Kin. 25:27 In the year that Evilmerodach became king of Babylonia, he showed kindness to King Jehoiachin of Judah by releasing him from prison. This happened on the twenty-seventh day of the twelfth month of the thirty-seventh year after Jehoiachin had been taken away as prisoner. 28 Evilmerodach treated him kindly and gave him a position of greater honor than he gave the other kings who were exiles with him in Babylonia. 29 So Jehoiachin was permitted to change from his prison clothes and to dine at the king's table for the rest of his life. 30 Each day, for as long as he lived, he was given a regular allowance for his needs.

1834-2 Kings 1:9 Then he sent an officer with fifty men to get Elijah. The officer found him sitting on a hill and said to him, "Man of God, the king orders you to come down." 10 "If I am a man of God," Elijah answered, "may fire come down from heaven and kill you and your men!" At once fire came down and killed the officer and his men. 11 The king sent another officer with fifty men, who went up and said to Elijah, "Man of God, the king orders you to come down at once!" 12 "If I am a man of God," Elijah answered, "may fire come down from heaven and kill you and your men!" At once the fire of God came down and killed the officer and his men. 13 Once more the king sent an officer with fifty men. He went up the hill, fell on his knees in front of Elijah, and pleaded, "Man of God, be merciful to me and my men. Spare our lives! 14 The two other officers and their men were killed by fire from heaven; but please be merciful to me!" 15 The angel of the Lord said to Elijah, "Go down with him, and don't be afraid." So Elijah went with the officer to the king 16 and said to him, "This is what the Lord says: "Because you sent messengers to consult Baalzebub, the god of Ekron - as if there were no god in Israel to consult - you will not get well; you will die!' " 17 Ahaziah died, as the Lord had said through Elijah. Ahaziah had no sons, so his brother Joram succeeded him as king in the second year of the reign of Jehoram son of Jehoshaphat, king of Judah.

1835-Luke 9:51 As the time drew near when Jesus would be taken up to heaven, he made up his mind and set out on his way to Jerusalem. 52 He sent messengers ahead of him, who went into a village in Samaria to get everything ready for him. 53 But the people there would not receive him, because it was clear that he was on his way to Jerusalem. 54 When the disciples James and John saw this, they said, "Lord, do you want us to call fire down from heaven to destroy them?" 55 Jesus turned and rebuked them.

1836-Luke 1:17 He will go ahead of the Lord, strong and mighty like the prophet Elijah. He will bring fathers and children together again; he will turn disobedient people back to the way of thinking of the righteous; he will get the Lord's people ready for him."

1837-Malachi 4:5 "But before the great and terrible day of the Lord comes, I will send you the prophet Elijah.

1838-Matthew 17:10 Then the disciples asked Jesus, "Why do the teachers of the Law say that Elijah has to come first?" 11 "Elijah is indeed coming first," answered Jesus, "and he will get everything ready. 12 But I tell you that Elijah has already come and people did not recognize him, but treated him just as they pleased. In the same way they will also mistreat the Son of Man." 13 Then the disciples understood that he was talking to them about John the Baptist.

1839-Malachi 4:5 "But before the great and terrible day of the Lord comes, I will send you the prophet Elijah

1840-Matthew 17:10 Then the disciples asked Jesus, "Why do the teachers of the Law say that Elijah has to come first?" 11 "Elijah is indeed coming first," answered Jesus, "and he will get everything ready. 12 But I tell you that Elijah has already come and people did not recognize him, but treated him just as they pleased. In the same way they will also mistreat the Son of Man." 13 Then the disciples understood that he was talking to them about John the Baptist.

1841-John 1:21 "Who are you, then?" they asked. "Are you Elijah?" "No, I am not," John answered. "Are you the Prophet?" they asked. "No," he replied.

1842-Luke 1:17 He will go ahead of the Lord, strong and mighty like the prophet Elijah. He will bring fathers and children together again; he will turn disobedient people back to the way of thinking of the righteous; he will get the Lord's people ready for him."

1843-Matt. 17:12 But I tell you that Elijah has already come and people did not recognize him, but treated him just as they pleased. In the same way they will also mistreat the Son of Man." 13 Then the disciples understood that he was talking to them about John the Baptist.

1844-Luke 1:16 and he will bring back many of the people of Israel to the Lord their God. 17 He will go ahead of the Lord, strong and mighty like the prophet Elijah. He will bring fathers and children together again; he will turn disobedient people back to the way of thinking of the righteous; he will get the Lord's people ready for him."

1845-Mal. 3:1 The Lord Almighty answers, "I will send my messenger to prepare the way for me. Then the Lord you are looking for will suddenly come to his Temple. The messenger you long to see will come and proclaim my covenant."

1846-Malachi 4:5 "But before the great and terrible day of the Lord comes, I will send you the prophet Elijah.

1847-Luke 1:17 He will go ahead of the Lord, strong and mighty like the prophet Elijah. He will bring fathers and children together again; he will turn disobedient people back to the way of thinking of the righteous; he will get the Lord's people ready for him."

1848-2 Kings 2:1 The time came for the Lord to take Elijah up to heaven in a whirlwind. Elijah and Elisha set out from Gilgal, 2 and on the way Elijah said to Elisha, "Now stay here; the Lord has ordered me to go to Bethel." But Elisha answered, "I swear by my loyalty to the living Lord and to you that I will not leave you." So they went on to Bethel. 3 A group of prophets who lived there went to Elisha and asked him, "Do you know that the Lord is going to take your master away from you today?" "Yes, I know," Elisha answered. "But let's not talk about it." 4 Then Elijah said to Elisha, "Now stay here; the Lord has ordered me to go to Jericho." But Elisha answered, "I swear by my loyalty to the living Lord and to you that I will not leave you." So they went on to Jericho. 5 A group of prophets who lived there went to Elisha and asked him, "Do you know that the Lord is going to take your master away from you today?" "Yes, I know," Elisha answered. "But let's not talk about it." 6 Then Elijah said to Elisha, "Now stay here; the Lord has ordered me to go to the Jordan River." But Elisha answered, "I swear by my loyalty to the living Lord and to you that I will not leave you." So they went on, 7 and fifty of the prophets followed them to the Jordan. Elijah and Elisha stopped by the river, and the fifty prophets stood a short distance away. 8 Then Elijah took off his cloak, rolled it up, and struck the water with it; the water divided, and he and Elisha crossed to the other side on dry ground. 9 There, Elijah said to Elisha, "Tell me what you want me to do for you before I am taken away." "Let me receive the share of your power that will make me your successor," Elisha answered. 10 "That is a difficult request to grant," Elijah replied. "But you will receive it if you see me as I am being taken away from you; if you don't see me, you won't receive it." 11 They kept talking as they walked on; then suddenly a chariot of fire pulled by horses of fire came between them, and Elijah was taken up to heaven by a whirlwind. 12 Elisha saw it and cried out to Elijah, "My father, my father! Mighty defender of Israel! You are gone!" And he never saw Elijah again. In grief Elisha tore his cloak in two.

1849-2 Kings 13:14 The prophet Elisha was sick with a fatal disease, and as he lay dying, King Jehoash of Israel went to visit him. "My father, my father!" he exclaimed as he wept. "You have been the mighty defender of Israel!" 15 "Get a bow and some arrows," Elisha ordered him. Jehoash got them, 16 and Elisha told him to get ready to shoot. The king did so, and Elisha placed his hands on the king's hands. 17 Then, following the prophet's instructions, the king opened the window that faced toward Syria. "Shoot the arrow!" Elisha ordered. As soon as the king shot the arrow, the prophet exclaimed, "You are the Lord's arrow, with which he will win victory over Syria. You will fight the Syrians in Aphek until you defeat them." 18 Then Elisha told the king to take the other arrows and strike the ground with them. The king struck the ground three times, and then stopped. 19 This made Elisha angry, and he said to the king, "You should have struck five or six times, and then you would have won complete victory over the Syrians; but now you will defeat them only three times." 20 Elisha died and was buried. Every year bands of Moabites used to invade the land of Israel. 21 One time during a funeral, one of those bands was seen, and the people threw the corpse into Elisha's tomb and ran off. As soon as the body came into contact with Elisha's bones, the man came back to life and stood up.

1850-Matthew 17:1 Six days later Jesus took with him Peter and the brothers James and John and led them up a high mountain where they were alone. 2 As they looked on, a change came over Jesus: his face was shining like the sun, and his clothes were dazzling white. 3 Then the three disciples saw Moses and Elijah talking with Jesus. 4 So Peter spoke up and said to Jesus, "Lord, how good it is that we are here! If you wish, I will make three tents here, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah." 5 While he was talking, a shining cloud came over them, and a voice from the cloud said, "This is my own dear Son, with whom I am pleased - listen to him!" 6 When the disciples heard the voice, they were so terrified that they threw themselves face downward on the ground. 7 Jesus came to them and touched them. "Get up," he said. "Don't be afraid!" 8 So they looked up and saw no one there but Jesus. 9 As they came down the mountain, Jesus ordered them, "Don't tell anyone about this vision you have seen until the Son of Man has been raised from death."

1851-Mark 9:2 Six days later Jesus took with him Peter, James, and John, and led them up a high mountain, where they were alone. As they looked on, a change came over Jesus, 3 and his clothes became shining white - whiter than anyone in the world could wash them. 4 Then the three disciples saw Elijah and Moses talking with Jesus. 5 Peter spoke up and said to Jesus, "Teacher, how good it is that we are here! We will make three tents, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah." 6 He and the others were so frightened that he did not know what to say. 7 Then a cloud appeared and covered them with its shadow, and a voice came from the cloud, "This is my own dear Son - listen to him!" 8 They took a quick look around but did not see anyone else; only Jesus was with them. 9 As they came down the mountain, Jesus ordered them, "Don't tell anyone what you have seen, until the Son of Man has risen from death." 10 They obeyed his order, but among themselves they started discussing the matter, "What does this "rising from death' mean?" 11 And they asked Jesus, "Why do the teachers of the Law say that Elijah has to come first?" 12 His answer was, "Elijah is indeed coming first in order to get everything ready. Yet why do the Scriptures say that the Son of Man will suffer much and be rejected? 13 I tell you, however, that Elijah has already come and that people treated him just as they pleased, as the Scriptures say about him."

1852-Luke 9:28 About a week after he had said these things, Jesus took Peter, John, and James with him and went up a hill to pray. 29 While he was praying, his face changed its appearance, and his clothes became dazzling white. 30 Suddenly two men were there talking with him. They were Moses and Elijah, 31 who appeared in heavenly glory and talked with Jesus about the way in which he would soon fulfill God's purpose by dying in Jerusalem. 32 Peter and his companions were sound asleep, but they woke up and saw Jesus' glory and the two men who were standing with him. 33 As the men were leaving Jesus, Peter said to him, "Master, how good it is that we are here! We will make three tents, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah." (He did not really know what he was saying.) 34 While he was still speaking, a cloud appeared and covered them with its shadow; and the disciples were afraid as the cloud came over them. 35 A voice said from the cloud, "This is my Son, whom I have chosen - listen to him!" 36 When the voice stopped, there was Jesus all alone. The disciples kept quiet about all this and told no one at that time anything they had seen.

1853-Luke 9:30 Suddenly two men were there talking with him. They were Moses and Elijah, 31 who appeared in heavenly glory and talked with Jesus about the way in which he would soon fulfill God's purpose by dying in Jerusalem.

1854-Ex. 32:32 Please forgive their sin; but if you won't, then remove my name from the book in which you have written the names of your people."

1855-2 Kings 2:8 Then Elijah took off his cloak, rolled it up, and struck the water with it; the water divided, and he and Elisha crossed to the other side on dry ground.

2 Kings 2:14 He struck the water with Elijah's cloak and said, "Where is the Lord, the God of Elijah?" Then he struck the water again, and it divided, and he walked over to the other side.

1856-2 Kings 2:23 Elisha left Jericho to go to Bethel, and on the way some boys came out of a town and made fun of him. "Get out of here, baldy!" they shouted. 24 Elisha turned around, glared at them, and cursed them in the name of the Lord. Then two she-bears came out of the woods and tore forty-two of the boys to pieces. 25 Elisha went on to Mount Carmel and later returned to Samaria

1857-2 Kings 2:15 The fifty prophets from Jericho saw him and said, "The power of Elijah is on Elisha!" They went to meet him, bowed down before him, 16 and said, "There are fifty of us here, all strong men. Let us go and look for your master. Maybe the spirit of the Lord has carried him away and left him on some mountain or in some valley." "No, you must not go," Elisha answered. 17 But they insisted until he gave in and let them go. The fifty of them went and looked high and low for Elijah for three days, but didn't find him. 18 Then they returned to Elisha, who had waited at Jericho, and he said to them, "Didn't I tell you not to go?"

1858-2 Kings 2:23 Elisha left Jericho to go to Bethel, and on the way some boys came out of a town and made fun of him. "Get out of here, baldy!" they shouted. 24 Elisha turned around, glared at them, and cursed them in the name of the Lord. Then two she-bears came out of the woods and tore forty-two of the boys to pieces. 25 Elisha went on to Mount Carmel and later returned to Samaria

1859-2 Kings 1:2 King Ahaziah of Israel fell off the balcony on the roof of his palace in Samaria and was seriously injured. So he sent some messengers to consult Baalzebub, the god of the Philistine city of Ekron, in order to find out whether or not he would recover. 3 But an angel of the Lord commanded Elijah, the prophet from Tishbe, to go and meet the messengers of King Ahaziah and ask them, "Why are you going to consult Baalzebub, the god of Ekron? Is it because you think there is no god in Israel? 4 Tell the king that the Lord says, "You will not recover from your injuries; you will die!' " Elijah did as the Lord commanded, 5 and the messengers returned to the king. "Why have you come back?" he asked. 6 They answered, "We were met by a man who told us to come back and tell you that the Lord says to you, "Why are you sending messengers to consult Baalzebub, the god of Ekron? Is it because you think there is no god in Israel? You will not recover from your injuries; you will die!' "

1860-Hebrews 11:25 He preferred to suffer with God's people rather than to enjoy sin for a little while.

1861-Galatians 4:4 But when the right time finally came, God sent his own Son. He came as the son of a human mother and lived under the Jewish Law, 5 to redeem those who were under the Law, so that we might become God's children.

1862-2 Chr 34:8 In the eighteenth year of his reign, after he had purified the land and the Temple by ending pagan worship, King Josiah sent three men to repair the Temple of the Lord God: Shaphan son of Azaliah, Maaseiah, the governor of Jerusalem, and Joah son of Joahaz, a high official. 9 The money that the Levite guards had collected in the Temple was turned over to Hilkiah the High Priest. (It had been collected from the people of Ephraim and Manasseh and the rest of the Northern Kingdom, and from the people of Judah, Benjamin, and Jerusalem.) 10 This money was then handed over to the three men in charge of the Temple repairs, and they gave it to 11 the carpenters and the builders to buy the stones and the timber used to repair the buildings that the kings of Judah had allowed to decay. 12 The men who did the work were thoroughly honest. They were supervised by four Levites: Jahath and Obadiah of the clan of Merari, and Zechariah and Meshullam of the clan of Kohath. (The Levites were all skillful musicians.) 13 Other Levites were in charge of transporting materials and supervising the workers on various jobs, and others kept records or served as guards. 14 While the money was being taken out of the storeroom, Hilkiah found the book of the Law of the Lord, the Law that God had given to Moses. 15 He said to Shaphan, "I have found the book of the Law here in the Temple." He gave Shaphan the book, 16 and Shaphan took it to the king. He reported, "We have done everything that you commanded. 17 We have taken the money that was kept in the Temple and handed it over to the workers and their supervisors." 18 Then he added, "I have here a book that Hilkiah gave me." And he read it aloud to the king. 19 When the king heard the book being read, he tore his clothes in dismay 20 and gave the following order to Hilkiah, to Ahikam son of Shaphan, to Abdon son of Micaiah, to Shaphan, the court secretary, and to Asaiah, the king's attendant: 21 "Go and consult the Lord for me and for the people who still remain in Israel and Judah. Find out about the teachings of this book. The Lord is angry with us because our ancestors have not obeyed the word of the Lord and have not done what this book says must be done." 22 At the king's command, Hilkiah and the others went to consult a woman named Huldah, a prophet who lived in the newer part of Jerusalem. (Her husband Shallum, the son of Tikvah and grandson of Harhas, was in charge of the Temple robes.) They described to her what had happened, 23 and she told them to go back to the king and give him 24 the following message from the Lord: "I am going to punish Jerusalem and all its people with the curses written in the book that was read to the king. 25 They have rejected me and have offered sacrifices to other gods, and so have stirred up my anger by all they have done. My anger is aroused against Jerusalem, and it will not die down. 26 As for the king himself, this is what I, the Lord God of Israel, say: You listened to what is written in the book, 27 and you repented and humbled yourself before me, tearing your clothes and weeping, when you heard how I threatened to punish Jerusalem and its people. I have heard your prayer, 28 and the punishment which I am going to bring on Jerusalem will not come until after your death. I will let you die in peace." The men returned to King Josiah with this message.

1863-2 Kgs 22.3 In the eighteenth year of his reign, King Josiah sent the court secretary Shaphan, the son of Azaliah and grandson of Meshullam, to the Temple with the order: 4 "Go to the High Priest Hilkiah and get a report on the amount of money that the priests on duty at the entrance to the Temple have collected from the people. 5 Tell him to give the money to the men who are in charge of the repairs in the Temple. They are to pay 6 the carpenters, the builders, and the masons, and buy the timber and the stones used in the repairs. 7 The men in charge of the work are thoroughly honest, so there is no need to require them to account for the funds." 8 Shaphan delivered the king's order to Hilkiah, and Hilkiah told him that he had found the book of the Law in the Temple. Hilkiah gave him the book, and Shaphan read it. 9 Then he went back to the king and reported: "Your servants have taken the money that was in the Temple and have handed it over to the men in charge of the repairs." 10 And then he said, "I have here a book that Hilkiah gave me." And he read it aloud to the king. 11 When the king heard the book being read, he tore his clothes in dismay, 12 and gave the following order to Hilkiah the priest, to Ahikam son of Shaphan, to Achbor son of Micaiah, to Shaphan, the court secretary, and to Asaiah, the king's attendant: 13 "Go and consult the Lord for me and for all the people of Judah about the teachings of this book. The Lord is angry with us because our ancestors have not done what this book says must be done." 14 Hilkiah, Ahikam, Achbor, Shaphan, and Asaiah went to consult a woman named Huldah, a prophet who lived in the newer part of Jerusalem. (Her husband Shallum, the son of Tikvah and grandson of Harhas, was in charge of the Temple robes.) They described to her what had happened, 15 and she told them to go back to the king and give him 16 the following message from the Lord: "I am going to punish Jerusalem and all its people, as written in the book that the king has read. 17 They have rejected me and have offered sacrifices to other gods, and so have stirred up my anger by all they have done. My anger is aroused against Jerusalem, and it will not die down. 18 As for the king himself, this is what I, the Lord God of Israel, say: You listened to what is written in the book, 19 and you repented and humbled yourself before me, tearing your clothes and weeping, when you heard how I threatened to punish Jerusalem and its people. I will make it a terrifying sight, a place whose name people will use as a curse. But I have heard your prayer, 20 and the punishment which I am going to bring on Jerusalem will not come until after your death. I will let you die in peace." The men returned to King Josiah with this message.

1864-Nehemiah 8:1 By the seventh month the people of Israel were all settled in their towns. On the first day of that month they all assembled in Jerusalem, in the square just inside the Water Gate. They asked Ezra, the priest and scholar of the Law which the Lord had given Israel through Moses, to get the book of the Law. 2 So Ezra brought it to the place where the people had gathered - men, women, and the children who were old enough to understand. 3 There in the square by the gate he read the Law to them from dawn until noon, and they all listened attentively. 4 Ezra was standing on a wooden platform that had been built for the occasion. The following men stood at his right: Mattithiah, Shema, Anaiah, Uriah, Hilkiah, and Maaseiah; and the following stood at his left: Pedaiah, Mishael, Malchijah, Hashum, Hashbaddanah, Zechariah, and Meshullam. 5 As Ezra stood there on the platform high above the people, they all kept their eyes fixed on him. As soon as he opened the book, they all stood up. 6 Ezra said, "Praise the Lord, the great God!" All the people raised their arms in the air and answered, "Amen! Amen!" They knelt in worship, with their faces to the ground. 7 Then they rose and stood in their places, and the following Levites explained the Law to them: Jeshua, Bani, Sherebiah, Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai, Hodiah, Maaseiah, Kelita, Azariah, Jozabad, Hanan, and Pelaiah. 8 They gave an oral translation of God's Law and explained it so that the people could understand it. 9 When the people heard what the Law required, they were so moved that they began to cry. So Nehemiah, who was the governor, Ezra, the priest and scholar of the Law, and the Levites who were explaining the Law told all the people, "This day is holy to the Lord your God, so you are not to mourn or cry. 10 Now go home and have a feast. Share your food and wine with those who don't have enough. Today is holy to our Lord, so don't be sad. The joy that the Lord gives you will make you strong." 11 The Levites went around calming the people and telling them not to be sad on such a holy day. 12 So all the people went home and ate and drank joyfully and shared what they had with others, because they understood what had been read to them.

1865-1 Kings 15:26 Like his father before him, he sinned against the Lord and led Israel into sin.

1 Kings 15:34 Like King Jeroboam before him, he sinned against the Lord and led Israel into sin.

1 Kings 16:13 Because of their idolatry and because they led Israel into sin, Baasha and his son Elah had aroused the anger of the Lord, the God of Israel.

1 Kings 22:52 He sinned against the Lord, following the wicked example of his father Ahab, his mother Jezebel, and King Jeroboam, who had led Israel into sin.

1866-2 Kings 3:3 Yet, like King Jeroboam son of Nebat before him, he led Israel into sin and would not stop.

2 Kings 10:31 But Jehu did not obey with all his heart the Law of the Lord, the God of Israel; instead, he followed the example of Jeroboam, who led Israel into sin.

2 Kings 13:2 Like King Jeroboam before him, he sinned against the Lord and led Israel into sin; he never gave up his evil ways.

2 Kings 13:11 He too sinned against the Lord and followed the evil example of King Jeroboam, who had led Israel into sin.

2 Kings 14:24 He sinned against the Lord, following the wicked example of his predecessor King Jeroboam son of Nebat, who led Israel into sin.

2 Kings 15:9 He, like his predecessors, sinned against the Lord. He followed the wicked example of King Jeroboam son of Nebat, who led Israel into sin.

2 Kings 15:18 He sinned against the Lord, for until the day of his death he followed the wicked example of King Jeroboam son of Nebat, who led Israel into sin.

2 Kings 15:24 He sinned against the Lord, following the wicked example of King Jeroboam son of Nebat, who led Israel into sin.

2 Kings 15:28 He sinned against the Lord, following the wicked example of King Jeroboam son of Nebat, who led Israel into sin.

2 Kings 23:15 Josiah also tore down the place of worship in Bethel, which had been built by King Jeroboam son of Nebat, who led Israel into sin. Josiah pulled down the altar, broke its stones into pieces, and pounded them to dust; he also burned the image of Asherah.

1867-1 Kings 13:34 This sin on his part brought about the ruin and total destruction of his dynasty.

1 Kings 14:16 The Lord will abandon Israel because Jeroboam sinned and led the people of Israel into sin."

1 Kings 15:26 Like his father before him, he sinned against the Lord and led Israel into sin.

1 Kings 15:30 This happened because Jeroboam aroused the anger of the Lord, the God of Israel, by the sins that he committed and that he caused Israel to commit.

1 Kings 16:2 "You were a nobody, but I made you the leader of my people Israel. And now you have sinned like Jeroboam and have led my people into sin. Their sins have aroused my anger,

1868-2 Kin. 3:3 Yet, like King Jeroboam son of Nebat before him, he led Israel into sin and would not stop.

2 Kings 10:29 But he imitated the sin of King Jeroboam, who led Israel into the sin of worshiping the gold bull-calves he set up in Bethel and in Dan.

2 Kings 13:2 Like King Jeroboam before him, he sinned against the Lord and led Israel into sin; he never gave up his evil ways.

2 Kings 17:22 They followed Jeroboam and continued to practice all the sins he had committed,

1869-2 Kin. 17:22 They followed Jeroboam and continued to practice all the sins he had committed, 23 until at last the Lord banished them from his sight, as he had warned through his servants the prophets that he would do. So the people of Israel were taken into exile to Assyria, where they still live.

1870-Ex. 32:1 When the people saw that Moses had not come down from the mountain but was staying there a long time, they gathered around Aaron and said to him, "We do not know what has happened to this man Moses, who led us out of Egypt; so make us a god to lead us." 2 Aaron said to them, "Take off the gold earrings which your wives, your sons, and your daughters are wearing, and bring them to me." 3 So all the people took off their gold earrings and brought them to Aaron. 4 He took the earrings, melted them, poured the gold into a mold, and made a gold bull-calf. The people said, "Israel, this is our god, who led us out of Egypt!" 5 Then Aaron built an altar in front of the gold bull-calf and announced, "Tomorrow there will be a festival to honor the Lord." 6 Early the next morning they brought some animals to burn as sacrifices and others to eat as fellowship offerings. The people sat down to a feast, which turned into an orgy of drinking and sex. 7 The Lord said to Moses, "Hurry and go back down, because your people, whom you led out of Egypt, have sinned and rejected me. 8 They have already left the way that I commanded them to follow; they have made a bull-calf out of melted gold and have worshiped it and offered sacrifices to it. They are saying that this is their god, who led them out of Egypt. 9 I know how stubborn these people are. 10 Now, don't try to stop me. I am angry with them, and I am going to destroy them. Then I will make you and your descendants into a great nation." 11 But Moses pleaded with the Lord his God and said, "Lord, why should you be so angry with your people, whom you rescued from Egypt with great might and power? 12 Why should the Egyptians be able to say that you led your people out of Egypt, planning to kill them in the mountains and destroy them completely? Stop being angry; change your mind and do not bring this disaster on your people. 13 Remember your servants Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Remember the solemn promise you made to them to give them as many descendants as there are stars in the sky and to give their descendants all that land you promised would be their possession forever." 14 So the Lord changed his mind and did not bring on his people the disaster he had threatened. 15 Moses went back down the mountain, carrying the two stone tablets with the commandments written on both sides. 16 God himself had made the tablets and had engraved the commandments on them. 17 Joshua heard the people shouting and said to Moses, "I hear the sound of battle in the camp." 18 Moses said, "That doesn't sound like a shout of victory or a cry of defeat; it's the sound of singing." 19 When Moses came close enough to the camp to see the bull-calf and to see the people dancing, he became furious. There at the foot of the mountain, he threw down the tablets he was carrying and broke them. 20 He took the bull-calf which they had made, melted it, ground it into fine powder, and mixed it with water. Then he made the people of Israel drink it. 21 He said to Aaron, "What did these people do to you, that you have made them commit such a terrible sin?" 22 Aaron answered, "Don't be angry with me; you know how determined these people are to do evil. 23 They said to me, "We don't know what has happened to this man Moses, who brought us out of Egypt; so make us a god to lead us.' 24 I asked them to bring me their gold ornaments, and those who had any took them off and gave them to me. I threw the ornaments into the fire and out came this bull-calf!" 25 Moses saw that Aaron had let the people get out of control and make fools of themselves in front of their enemies. 26 So he stood at the gate of the camp and shouted, "Everyone who is on the Lord's side come over here!" So all the Levites gathered around him, 27 and he said to them, "The Lord God of Israel commands every one of you to put on your sword and go through the camp from this gate to the other and kill your brothers, your friends, and your neighbors." 28 The Levites obeyed, and killed about three thousand men that day. 29 Moses said to the Levites, "Today you have consecrated yourselves as priests in the service of the Lord by killing your sons and brothers, so the Lord has given you his blessing." 30 The next day Moses said to the people, "You have committed a terrible sin. But now I will again go up the mountain to the Lord; perhaps I can obtain forgiveness for your sin." 31 Moses then returned to the Lord and said, "These people have committed a terrible sin. They have made a god out of gold and worshiped it. 32 Please forgive their sin; but if you won't, then remove my name from the book in which you have written the names of your people." 33 The Lord answered, "It is those who have sinned against me whose names I will remove from my book. 34 Now go, lead the people to the place I told you about. Remember that my angel will guide you, but the time is coming when I will punish these people for their sin." 35 So the Lord sent a disease on the people, because they had caused Aaron to make the gold bull-calf.

1871-Numbers 16:1 Korah son of Izhar, from the Levite clan of Kohath, rebelled against the leadership of Moses. He was joined by three members of the tribe of Reuben - Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, and On son of Peleth - and by 250 other Israelites, well-known leaders chosen by the community. 3 They assembled before Moses and Aaron and said to them, "You have gone too far! All the members of the community belong to the Lord, and the Lord is with all of us. Why, then, Moses, do you set yourself above the Lord's community?" 4 When Moses heard this, he threw himself on the ground and prayed. 5 Then he said to Korah and his followers, "Tomorrow morning the Lord will show us who belongs to him; he will let the one who belongs to him, that is, the one he has chosen, approach him at the altar. 6 Tomorrow morning you and your followers take fire pans, put live coals and incense on them, and take them to the altar. Then we will see which of us the Lord has chosen. You Levites are the ones who have gone too far!" 8 Moses continued to speak to Korah. "Listen, you Levites! 9 Do you consider it a small matter that the God of Israel has set you apart from the rest of the community, so that you can approach him, perform your service in the Lord's Tent, and minister to the community and serve them? 10 He has let you and all the other Levites have this honor - and now you are trying to get the priesthood too! 11 When you complain against Aaron, it is really against the Lord that you and your followers are rebelling." 12 Then Moses sent for Dathan and Abiram, but they said, "We will not come! 13 Isn't it enough that you have brought us out of the fertile land of Egypt to kill us here in the wilderness? Do you also have to lord it over us? 14 You certainly have not brought us into a fertile land or given us fields and vineyards as our possession, and now you are trying to deceive us. We will not come!" 15 Moses became angry and said to the Lord, "Do not accept any offerings these men bring. I have not wronged any of them; I have not even taken one of their donkeys." 16 Moses said to Korah, "Tomorrow you and your 250 followers must come to the Tent of the Lord's presence; Aaron will also be there. 17 Each of you will take his fire pan, put incense on it, and then present it at the altar." 18 So they each took their fire pans, put live coals and incense on them, and stood at the entrance of the Tent with Moses and Aaron. 19 Then Korah gathered the whole community, and they stood facing Moses and Aaron at the entrance of the Tent. Suddenly the dazzling light of the Lord's presence appeared to the whole community, 20 and the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, 21 "Move back from these people, and I will destroy them immediately." 22 But Moses and Aaron bowed down with their faces to the ground and said, "O God, you are the source of all life. When one of us sins, do you become angry with the whole community?" 23 The Lord said to Moses, 24 "Tell the people to move away from the tents of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram." 25 Then Moses, accompanied by the leaders of Israel, went to Dathan and Abiram. 26 He said to the people, "Get away from the tents of these wicked men and don't touch anything that belongs to them. Otherwise, you will be wiped out with them for all their sins." 27 So they moved away from the tents of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram. Dathan and Abiram had come out and were standing at the entrance of their tents, with their wives and children. 28 Moses said to the people, "This is how you will know that the Lord has sent me to do all these things and that it is not by my own choice that I have done them. 29 If these men die a natural death without some punishment from God, then the Lord did not send me. 30 But if the Lord does something unheard of, and the earth opens up and swallows them with all they own, so that they go down alive to the world of the dead, you will know that these men have rejected the Lord." 31 As soon as he had finished speaking, the ground under Dathan and Abiram split open 32 and swallowed them and their families, together with all of Korah's followers and their possessions. 33 So they went down alive to the world of the dead, with their possessions. The earth closed over them, and they vanished. 34 All the people of Israel who were there fled when they heard their cry. They shouted, "Run! The earth might swallow us too!" 35 Then the Lord sent a fire that blazed out and burned up the 250 men who had presented the incense. 36 Then the Lord said to Moses, 37 "Tell Eleazar son of Aaron the priest to remove the bronze fire pans from the remains of those who have been burned, and scatter the coals from the fire pans somewhere else, because the fire pans are holy. 38 They became holy when they were presented at the Lord's altar. So take the fire pans of these who were put to death for their sin, beat them into thin plates, and make a covering for the altar. It will be a warning to the people of Israel." 39 So Eleazar the priest took the fire pans and had them beaten into thin plates to make a covering for the altar. 40 This was a warning to the Israelites that no one who was not a descendant of Aaron should come to the altar to burn incense for the Lord. Otherwise he would be destroyed like Korah and his men. All this was done as the Lord had commanded Eleazar through Moses. 41 The next day the whole community complained against Moses and Aaron and said, "You have killed some of the Lord's people." 42 After they had all gathered to protest to Moses and Aaron, they turned toward the Tent and saw that the cloud was covering it and that the dazzling light of the Lord's presence had appeared. 43 Moses and Aaron went and stood in front of the Tent, 44 and the Lord said to Moses, 45 "Move back from these people, and I will destroy them on the spot!" The two of them bowed down with their faces to the ground, 46 and Moses said to Aaron, "Take your fire pan, put live coals from the altar in it, and put some incense on the coals. Then hurry with it to the people and perform the ritual of purification for them. Hurry! The Lord's anger has already broken out and an epidemic has already begun." 47 Aaron obeyed, took his fire pan and ran into the middle of the assembled people. When he saw that the plague had already begun, he put the incense on the coals and performed the ritual of purification for the people. 48 This stopped the plague, and he was left standing between the living and the dead. 49 The number of people who died was 14,700, not counting those who died in Korah's rebellion. 50 When the plague had stopped, Aaron returned to Moses at the entrance of the Tent.

1872-2 Chron. 11:14 The Levites abandoned their pastures and other land and moved to Judah and Jerusalem, because King Jeroboam of Israel and his successors would not let them serve as priests of the Lord. 15 Jeroboam appointed priests of his own to serve at the pagan places of worship and to worship demons and the idols he made in the form of bull-calves. 16 From all the tribes of Israel people who sincerely wanted to worship the Lord, the God of Israel, followed the Levites to Jerusalem, so that they could offer sacrifices to the Lord, the God of their ancestors.

1873-2 Thess. 2:8 Then the Wicked One will be revealed, but when the Lord Jesus comes, he will kill him with the breath from his mouth and destroy him with his dazzling presence. 9 The Wicked One will come with the power of Satan and perform all kinds of false miracles and wonders, 10 and use every kind of wicked deceit on those who will perish. They will perish because they did not welcome and love the truth so as to be saved. 11 And so God sends the power of error to work in them so that they believe what is false. 12 The result is that all who have not believed the truth, but have taken pleasure in sin, will be condemned.

1874-Luke 23:8 Herod was very pleased when he saw Jesus, because he had heard about him and had been wanting to see him for a long time. He was hoping to see Jesus perform some miracle.

1875-John 2:11 Jesus performed this first miracle in Cana in Galilee; there he revealed his glory, and his disciples believed in him.

1876-Matt. 24:24 For false Messiahs and false prophets will appear; they will perform great miracles and wonders in order to deceive even God's chosen people, if possible.

1877-Acts 2:22 "Listen to these words, fellow Israelites! Jesus of Nazareth was a man whose divine authority was clearly proven to you by all the miracles and wonders which God performed through him. You yourselves know this, for it happened here among you.

1878-2 Kings 13:20 Elisha died and was buried. Every year bands of Moabites used to invade the land of Israel. 21 One time during a funeral, one of those bands was seen, and the people threw the corpse into Elisha's tomb and ran off. As soon as the body came into contact with Elisha's bones, the man came back to life and stood up.

1879-John 5:1 After this, Jesus went to Jerusalem for a religious festival. 2 Near the Sheep Gate in Jerusalem there is a pool with five porches; in Hebrew it is called Bethzatha. 3 A large crowd of sick people were lying on the porches - the blind, the lame, and the paralyzed. 5 A man was there who had been sick for thirty-eight years. 6 Jesus saw him lying there, and he knew that the man had been sick for such a long time; so he asked him, "Do you want to get well?" 7 The sick man answered, "Sir, I don't have anyone here to put me in the pool when the water is stirred up; while I am trying to get in, somebody else gets there first." 8 Jesus said to him, "Get up, pick up your mat, and walk." 9 Immediately the man got well; he picked up his mat and started walking. The day this happened was a Sabbath, 10 so the Jewish authorities told the man who had been healed, "This is a Sabbath, and it is against our Law for you to carry your mat." 11 He answered, "The man who made me well told me to pick up my mat and walk." 12 They asked him, "Who is the man who told you to do this?" 13 But the man who had been healed did not know who Jesus was, for there was a crowd in that place, and Jesus had slipped away. 14 Afterward, Jesus found him in the Temple and said, "Listen, you are well now; so stop sinning or something worse may happen to you." 15 Then the man left and told the Jewish authorities that it was Jesus who had healed him. 16 So they began to persecute Jesus, because he had done this healing on a Sabbath. 17 Jesus answered them, "My Father is always working, and I too must work." 18 This saying made the Jewish authorities all the more determined to kill him; not only had he broken the Sabbath law, but he had said that God was his own Father and in this way had made himself equal with God.

1880-Deut. 34:5 So Moses, the Lord's servant, died there in the land of Moab, as the Lord had said he would. 6 The Lord buried him in a valley in Moab, opposite the town of Bethpeor, but to this day no one knows the exact place of his burial.

1881-2 Kin. 2:11 They kept talking as they walked on; then suddenly a chariot of fire pulled by horses of fire came between them, and Elijah was taken up to heaven by a whirlwind.

1882-2 Kin. 13:21 One time during a funeral, one of those bands was seen, and the people threw the corpse into Elisha's tomb and ran off. As soon as the body came into contact with Elisha's bones, the man came back to life and stood up.

1883-Luke 24:30 He sat down to eat with them, took the bread, and said the blessing; then he broke the bread and gave it to them. 31 Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him, but he disappeared from their sight.

1884-2 Kings 3:26 When the king of Moab realized that he was losing the battle, he took seven hundred swordsmen with him and tried to force his way through the enemy lines and escape to the king of Syria, but he failed. 27 So he took his oldest son, who was to succeed him as king, and offered him on the city wall as a sacrifice to the god of Moab. The Israelites were terrified and so they drew back from the city and returned to their own country.

1885-Deuteronomy 18:10 Don't sacrifice your children in the fires on your altars; and don't let your people practice divination or look for omens or use spells

1886-1 Kings 11:5 He worshiped Astarte, the goddess of Sidon, and Molech, the disgusting god of Ammon. 6 He sinned against the Lord and was not true to him as his father David had been. 7 On the mountain east of Jerusalem he built a place to worship Chemosh, the disgusting god of Moab, and a place to worship Molech, the disgusting god of Ammon. 8 He also built places of worship where all his foreign wives could burn incense and offer sacrifices to their own gods.

1887-2 Kings 16:3 and followed the example of the kings of Israel. He even sacrificed his own son as a burnt offering to idols, imitating the disgusting practice of the people whom the Lord had driven out of the land as the Israelites advanced.

2 Kings 17:17 They sacrificed their sons and daughters as burnt offerings to pagan gods; they consulted mediums and fortunetellers, and they devoted themselves completely to doing what is wrong in the Lord's sight, and so aroused his anger.

2 Kings 17:31 the people of Ivvah, idols of Nibhaz and Tartak; and the people of Sepharvaim sacrificed their children as burnt offerings to their gods Adrammelech and Anammelech.

2 Kings 23:10 King Josiah also desecrated Topheth, the pagan place of worship in Hinnom Valley, so that no one could sacrifice his son or daughter as a burnt offering to the god Molech.

1888-2 Chronicles 28:1 Ahaz became king at the age of twenty, and he ruled in Jerusalem for sixteen years. He did not follow the good example of his ancestor King David; instead, he did what was not pleasing to the Lord 2 and followed the example of the kings of Israel. He had metal images of Baal made, 3 burned incense in Hinnom Valley, and even sacrificed his own sons as burnt offerings to idols, imitating the disgusting practice of the people whom the Lord had driven out of the land as the Israelites advanced.

2 Chronicles 33:1 Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king of Judah, and he ruled in Jerusalem for fifty-five years.

2 Chronicles 33:6 He sacrificed his sons in Hinnom Valley as burnt offerings. He practiced divination and magic and consulted fortunetellers and mediums. He sinned greatly against the Lord and stirred up his anger.

1889-Jeremiah 7:31 In Hinnom Valley they have built an altar called Topheth, so that they can sacrifice their sons and daughters in the fire. I did not command them to do this - it did not even enter my mind.

Jeremiah 19:4 I am going to do this because the people have abandoned me and defiled this place by offering sacrifices here to other gods - gods that neither they nor their ancestors nor the kings of Judah have known anything about. They have filled this place with the blood of innocent people, 5 and they have built altars for Baal in order to burn their children in the fire as sacrifices. I never commanded them to do this; it never even entered my mind. 6 So then, the time will come when this place will no longer be called Topheth or Hinnom Valley. Instead, it will be known as Slaughter Valley.

Jeremiah 32:35 They have built altars to Baal in Hinnom Valley, to sacrifice their sons and daughters to the god Molech. I did not command them to do this, and it did not even enter my mind that they would do such a thing and make the people of Judah sin."

1890-Ezekiel 16:20 "Then you took the sons and the daughters you had borne me and offered them as sacrifices to idols. Wasn't it bad enough to be unfaithful to me, 21 without taking my children and sacrificing them to idols?

Ezekiel 16:36 This is what the Sovereign Lord says: "You stripped off your clothes, and like a prostitute, you gave yourself to your lovers and to all your disgusting idols, and you killed your children as sacrifices to idols.

Ezekiel 23:37 They have committed adultery and murder - adultery with idols and murder of the children they bore me. They sacrificed my children to their idols.

Ezekiel 23:39 The very day that they killed my children as sacrifices to idols, they came to my Temple and profaned it!

1891-Acts 7:42 So God turned away from them and gave them over to worship the stars of heaven, as it is written in the book of the prophets: "People of Israel! It was not to me that you slaughtered and sacrificed animals for forty years in the desert. 43 It was the tent of the god Molech that you carried, and the image of Rephan, your star god; they were idols that you had made to worship. And so I will send you into exile beyond Babylon.'

1892-Ex. 34:20 but you are to buy back every first-born donkey by offering a lamb in its place. If you do not buy it back, break its neck. Buy back every first-born son. "No one is to appear before me without an offering.

1893-Deut. 18:10 Don't sacrifice your children in the fires on your altars; and don't let your people practice divination or look for omens or use spells

1894-2 Kings 16:3 and followed the example of the kings of Israel. He even sacrificed his own son as a burnt offering to idols, imitating the disgusting practice of the people whom the Lord had driven out of the land as the Israelites advanced.

2 Kings 21:6 He sacrificed his son as a burnt offering. He practiced divination and magic and consulted fortunetellers and mediums. He sinned greatly against the Lord and stirred up his anger.

1895-Ge 22:2 "Take your son," God said, "your only son, Isaac, whom you love so much, and go to the land of Moriah. There on a mountain that I will show you, offer him as a sacrifice to me."

1896-Dt 12:31 Do not worship the Lord your God in the way they worship their gods, for in the worship of their gods they do all the disgusting things that the Lord hates. They even sacrifice their children in the fires on their altars.

1897-Jg 11:31 I will burn as an offering the first person that comes out of my house to meet me, when I come back from the victory. I will offer that person to you as a sacrifice."

Jg 11:39 After two months she came back to her father. He did what he had promised the Lord, and she died still a virgin. This was the origin of the custom in Israel

1898-Ps 106:37 They offered their own sons and daughters as sacrifices to the idols of Canaan. 38 They killed those innocent children, and the land was defiled by those murders.

1899-Ezk 16:20 "Then you took the sons and the daughters you had borne me and offered them as sacrifices to idols. Wasn't it bad enough to be unfaithful to me,

1900-Micah 6:7 Will the Lord be pleased if I bring him thousands of sheep or endless streams of olive oil? Shall I offer him my first-born child to pay for my sins?

1901-1 Kings 11:7 On the mountain east of Jerusalem he built a place to worship Chemosh, the disgusting god of Moab, and a place to worship Molech, the disgusting god of Ammon.

1 Kings 11:33 I am going to do this because Solomon has rejected me and has worshiped foreign gods: Astarte, the goddess of Sidon; Chemosh, the god of Moab; and Molech, the god of Ammon. Solomon has disobeyed me; he has done wrong and has not kept my laws and commands as his father David did.

1902-2 Kings 23:13 Josiah desecrated the altars that King Solomon had built east of Jerusalem, south of the Mount of Olives, for the worship of disgusting idols - Astarte the goddess of Sidon, Chemosh the god of Moab, and Molech the god of Ammon.

1903-2 Kings 17:7 Samaria fell because the Israelites sinned against the Lord their God, who had rescued them from the king of Egypt and had led them out of Egypt. They worshiped other gods, 8 followed the customs of the people whom the Lord had driven out as his people advanced, and adopted customs introduced by the kings of Israel. 9 The Israelites did things that the Lord their God disapproved of. They built pagan places of worship in all their towns, from the smallest village to the largest city. 10 On all the hills and under every shady tree they put up stone pillars and images of the goddess Asherah, 11 and they burned incense on all the pagan altars, following the practice of the people whom the Lord had driven out of the land. They aroused the Lord's anger with all their wicked deeds 12 and disobeyed the Lord's command not to worship idols. 13 The Lord had sent his messengers and prophets to warn Israel and Judah: "Abandon your evil ways and obey my commands, which are contained in the Law I gave to your ancestors and which I handed on to you through my servants the prophets." 14 But they would not obey; they were stubborn like their ancestors, who had not trusted in the Lord their God. 15 They refused to obey his instructions, they did not keep the covenant he had made with their ancestors, and they disregarded his warnings. They worshiped worthless idols and became worthless themselves, and they followed the customs of the surrounding nations, disobeying the Lord's command not to imitate them. 16 They broke all the laws of the Lord their God and made two metal bull-calves to worship; they also made an image of the goddess Asherah, worshiped the stars, and served the god Baal. 17 They sacrificed their sons and daughters as burnt offerings to pagan gods; they consulted mediums and fortunetellers, and they devoted themselves completely to doing what is wrong in the Lord's sight, and so aroused his anger. 18 The Lord was angry with the Israelites and banished them from his sight, leaving only the kingdom of Judah. 19 But even the people of Judah did not obey the laws of the Lord their God; they imitated the customs adopted by the people of Israel. 20 The Lord rejected all the Israelites, punishing them and handing them over to cruel enemies until at last he had banished them from his sight. 21 After the Lord had separated Israel from Judah, the Israelites made Jeroboam son of Nebat their king. Jeroboam caused them to abandon the Lord and led them into terrible sins. 22 They followed Jeroboam and continued to practice all the sins he had committed, 23 until at last the Lord banished them from his sight, as he had warned through his servants the prophets that he would do. So the people of Israel were taken into exile to Assyria, where they still live.

1904-Psalms 115:1 To you alone, O Lord, to you alone, and not to us, must glory be given because of your constant love and faithfulness. 2 Why should the nations ask us, "Where is your God?" 3 Our God is in heaven; he does whatever he wishes. 4 Their gods are made of silver and gold, formed by human hands. 5 They have mouths, but cannot speak, and eyes, but cannot see. 6 They have ears, but cannot hear, and noses, but cannot smell. 7 They have hands, but cannot feel, and feet, but cannot walk; they cannot make a sound. 8 May all who made them and who trust in them become like the idols they have made.

1905-Hosea 9:10 The Lord says, "When I first found Israel, it was like finding grapes growing in the desert. When I first saw your ancestors, it was like seeing the first ripe figs of the season. But when they came to Mount Peor, they began to worship Baal and soon became as disgusting as the gods they loved.

1906-Jeremiah 2:5 The Lord says: "What accusation did your ancestors bring against me? What made them turn away from me? They worshiped worthless idols and became worthless themselves.

Jeremiah 2:17 Israel, you brought this on yourself! You deserted me, the Lord your God, while I was leading you along the way.

Jeremiah 2:19 Your own evil will punish you, and your turning from me will condemn you. You will learn how bitter and wrong it is to abandon me, the Lord your God, and no longer to remain faithful to me. I, the Sovereign Lord Almighty, have spoken."

1907-Ezekiel 5;1 The Lord said, "Mortal man, take a sharp sword and use it to shave off your beard and all your hair. Then weigh the hair on scales and divide it into three parts. 2 Burn up a third of it in the city when the siege is over. Take another third and chop it up with your sword as you move around outside the city. Scatter the remaining third to the winds, and I will pursue it with my sword. 3 Keep back a few hairs and wrap them in the hem of your clothes. 4 Then take a few of them out again, throw them in the fire, and let them burn up. From them fire will spread to the whole nation of Israel." 5 The Sovereign Lord said, "Look at Jerusalem. I put her at the center of the world, with other countries all around her. 6 But Jerusalem rebelled against my commands and showed that she was more wicked than the other nations, more disobedient than the countries around her. Jerusalem rejected my commands and refused to keep my laws. 7 Now listen, Jerusalem, to what I, the Sovereign Lord, am saying. By not obeying my laws or keeping my commands, you have caused more trouble than the nations around you. You have followed the customs of other nations. 8 And so I, the Sovereign Lord, am telling you that I am your enemy. I will pass judgment on you where all the nations can see it. 9 Because of all the things you do that I hate, I will punish Jerusalem as I have never done before and will never do again. 10 As a result, parents in Jerusalem will eat their children, and children will eat their parents. I will punish you and scatter in every direction any who are left alive. 11 "Therefore, as I am the living God - this is the word of the Sovereign Lord - because you defiled my Temple with all the evil, disgusting things you did, I will cut you down without mercy. 12 A third of your people will die from sickness and hunger in the city; a third will be cut down by swords outside the city; and I will scatter the last third to the winds and pursue them with a sword. 13 "You will feel all the force of my anger and rage until I am satisfied. When all this happens, you will be convinced that I, the Lord, have spoken to you because I am outraged at your unfaithfulness. 14 Everyone from the nations around you who passes by will sneer at you and keep their distance. 15 "When I am angry and furious with you and punish you, all the nations around you will be terrified. They will look at you with disgust and make fun of you. 16 I will cut off your supply of food and let you starve. You will feel the pains of hunger like sharp arrows sent to destroy you. 17 I will send hunger and wild animals to kill your children, and will send sickness, violence, and war to kill you. I, the Lord, have spoken."

Ezekiel 16:1 The Lord spoke to me again. 2 "Mortal man," he said, "point out to Jerusalem what disgusting things she has done. 3 Tell Jerusalem what the Sovereign Lord is saying to her: "You were born in the land of Canaan. Your father was an Amorite, and your mother was a Hittite. 4 When you were born, no one cut your umbilical cord or washed you or rubbed you with salt or wrapped you in cloths. 5 No one took enough pity on you to do any of these things for you. When you were born, no one loved you. You were thrown out in an open field. 6 "Then I passed by and saw you squirming in your own blood. You were covered with blood, but I wouldn't let you die. 7 I made you grow like a healthy plant. You grew strong and tall and became a young woman. Your breasts were well-formed, and your hair had grown, but you were naked. 8 "As I passed by again, I saw that the time had come for you to fall in love. I covered your naked body with my coat and promised to love you. Yes, I made a marriage covenant with you, and you became mine." This is what the Sovereign Lord says. 9 "Then I took water and washed the blood off you. I rubbed olive oil on your skin. 10 I dressed you in embroidered gowns and gave you shoes of the best leather, a linen headband, and a silk cloak. 11 I put jewels on you - bracelets and necklaces. 12 I gave you a nose ring and earrings and a beautiful crown to wear. 13 You had ornaments of gold and silver, and you always wore clothes of embroidered linen and silk. You ate bread made from the best flour, and had honey and olive oil to eat. Your beauty was dazzling, and you became a queen. 14 You became famous in every nation for your perfect beauty, because I was the one who made you so lovely." This is what the Sovereign Lord says. 15 "But you took advantage of your beauty and fame to sleep with everyone who came along. 16 You used some of your clothes to decorate your places of worship, and just like a prostitute, you gave yourself to everyone. 17 You took the silver and gold jewelry that I had given you, used it to make male images, and committed adultery with them. 18 You took the embroidered clothes I gave you and put them on the images, and you offered to the images the olive oil and incense I had given you. 19 I gave you food - the best flour, olive oil, and honey - but you offered it as a sacrifice to win the favor of idols." This is what the Sovereign Lord says. 20 "Then you took the sons and the daughters you had borne me and offered them as sacrifices to idols. Wasn't it bad enough to be unfaithful to me, 21 without taking my children and sacrificing them to idols? 22 During your disgusting life as a prostitute you never once remembered your childhood - when you were naked, squirming in your own blood." 23 The Sovereign Lord said, "You are doomed! Doomed! You did all that evil, and then 24 by the side of every road you built places to worship idols and practice prostitution. 25 You dragged your beauty through the mud. You offered yourself to everyone who came by, and you were more of a prostitute every day. 26 You let your lustful neighbors, the Egyptians, go to bed with you, and you used your prostitution to make me angry. 27 "Now I have raised my hand to punish you and to take away your share of my blessing. I have handed you over to the Philistines, who hate you and are disgusted with your immoral actions. 28 "Because you were not satisfied by the others, you went running after the Assyrians. You were their prostitute, but they didn't satisfy you either. 29 You were also a prostitute for the Babylonians, that nation of merchants, but they didn't satisfy you either." 30 This is what the Sovereign Lord is saying: "You have done all this like a shameless prostitute. 31 On every street you built places to worship idols and practice prostitution. But you are not out for money like a common prostitute. 32 You are like a woman who commits adultery with strangers instead of loving her husband. 33 A prostitute is paid, but you gave presents to all your lovers and bribed them to come from everywhere to sleep with you. 34 You are a special kind of prostitute. No one forced you to become one. You didn't get paid; you paid them! Yes, you are different." 35 Now then, Jerusalem, you whore! Hear what the Lord is saying. 36 This is what the Sovereign Lord says: "You stripped off your clothes, and like a prostitute, you gave yourself to your lovers and to all your disgusting idols, and you killed your children as sacrifices to idols. 37 Because of this I will bring all your former lovers together - the ones you liked and the ones you hated. I will bring them around you in a circle, and then I will strip off your clothes and let them see you naked. 38 I will condemn you for adultery and murder, and in my anger and fury I will punish you with death. 39 I will put you in their power, and they will tear down the places where you engage in prostitution and worship idols. They will take away your clothes and jewels and leave you completely naked. 40 "They will stir up a crowd to stone you, and they will cut you to pieces with their swords. 41 They will burn your houses down and let crowds of women see your punishment. I will make you stop being a prostitute and make you stop giving gifts to your lovers. 42 Then my anger will be over, and I will be calm. I will not be angry or jealous any more. 43 You have forgotten how I treated you when you were young, and you have made me angry by all the things you did. That is why I have made you pay for them all. Why did you add sexual immorality to all the other disgusting things you did?" The Sovereign Lord has spoken. 44 The Lord said, "People will use this proverb about you, Jerusalem: "Like mother, like daughter.' 45 You really are your mother's daughter. She detested her husband and her children. You are like your sisters, who hated their husbands and their children. You and your sister cities had a Hittite mother and an Amorite father. 46 "Your older sister, with her villages, is Samaria, in the north. Your younger sister, with her villages, is Sodom, in the south. 47 Were you satisfied to follow in their footsteps and copy their disgusting actions? No, in only a little while you were acting worse than they were in everything you did. 48 "As surely as I am the living God," the Sovereign Lord says, "your sister Sodom and her villages never did the evil that you and your villages have done. 49 She and her daughters were proud because they had plenty to eat and lived in peace and quiet, but they did not take care of the poor and the underprivileged. 50 They were proud and stubborn and did the things that I hate, so I destroyed them, as you well know. 51 "Samaria did not sin half as much as you have. You have acted more disgustingly than she ever did. Your corruption makes your sisters look innocent by comparison. 52 And now you will have to endure your disgrace. Your sins are so much worse than those of your sisters that they look innocent beside you. Now blush and bear your shame, because you make your sisters look pure." 53 The Lord said to Jerusalem, "I will make them prosperous again - Sodom and her villages and Samaria and her villages. Yes, I will make you prosperous too. 54 You will be ashamed of yourself, and your disgrace will show your sisters how well-off they are. 55 They will become prosperous again, and you and your villages will also be restored. 56 Didn't you joke about Sodom in those days when you were proud 57 and before the evil you did had been exposed? Now you are just like her - a joke to the Edomites, the Philistines, and your other neighbors who hate you. 58 You must suffer for the obscene, disgusting things you have done." The Lord has spoken. 59 The Sovereign Lord says, "I will treat you the way you deserve, because you ignored your promises and broke the covenant. 60 But I will honor the covenant I made with you when you were young, and I will make a covenant with you that will last forever. 61 You will remember how you have acted, and be ashamed of it when you get your older sister and your younger sister back. I will let them be like daughters to you, even though this was not part of my covenant with you. 62 I will renew my covenant with you, and you will know that I am the Lord. 63 I will forgive all the wrongs you have done, but you will remember them and be too ashamed to open your mouth." The Sovereign Lord has spoken.

Ezekiel 20:1 It was the tenth day of the fifth month of the seventh year of our exile. Some of the leaders of the Israelite community came to consult me about the Lord's will, and they sat down in front of me. 2 Then the Lord spoke to me. 3 "Mortal man," he said, "speak to these leaders and tell them that the Sovereign Lord is saying: You have come to ask my will, have you? As surely as I am the living God, I will not let you ask me anything. I, the Sovereign Lord, have spoken. 4 "Are you ready to pass sentence on them, mortal man? Then do so. Remind them of the disgusting things their ancestors did. 5 Tell them what I am saying. When I chose Israel, I made them a promise. I revealed myself to them in Egypt and told them: I am the Lord your God. 6 It was then that I promised to take them out of Egypt and lead them to a land I had chosen for them, a rich and fertile land, the finest land of all. 7 I told them to throw away the disgusting idols they loved and not to make themselves unclean with the false gods of Egypt, because I am the Lord their God. 8 But they defied me and refused to listen. They did not throw away their disgusting idols or give up the Egyptian gods. I was ready to let them feel the full force of my anger there in Egypt. 9 But I did not, since that would have brought dishonor to my name, for in the presence of the people among whom they were living I had announced to Israel that I was going to lead them out of Egypt. 10 "And so I led them out of Egypt into the desert. 11 I gave them my commands and taught them my laws, which bring life to anyone who obeys them. 12 I made the keeping of the Sabbath a sign of the agreement between us, to remind them that I, the Lord, make them holy. 13 But even in the desert they defied me. They broke my laws and rejected my commands, which bring life to anyone who obeys them. They completely profaned the Sabbath. I was ready to let them feel the force of my anger there in the desert and to destroy them. 14 But I did not, since that would have brought dishonor to my name among the nations which had seen me lead Israel out of Egypt. 15 So I made a vow in the desert that I would not take them to the land I had given them, a rich and fertile land, the finest land of all. 16 I made the vow because they had rejected my commands, broken my laws, and profaned the Sabbath - they preferred to worship their idols. 17 "But then I took pity on them. I decided not to kill them there in the desert. 18 Instead, I warned the young people among them: Do not keep the laws your ancestors made; do not follow their customs or defile yourselves with their idols. 19 I am the Lord your God. Obey my laws and my commands. 20 Make the Sabbath a holy day, so that it will be a sign of the covenant we made, and will remind you that I am the Lord your God. 21 "But that generation also defied me. They broke my laws and did not keep my commands, which bring life to anyone who obeys them. They profaned the Sabbath. I was ready to let them feel the force of my anger there in the desert and to kill them all. 22 But I did not, since that would have brought dishonor to my name among the nations which had seen me bring Israel out of Egypt. 23 So I made another vow in the desert. I vowed that I would scatter them all over the world. 24 I did this because they had rejected my commands, broken my laws, profaned the Sabbath, and worshiped the same idols their ancestors had served. 25 "Then I gave them laws that are not good and commands that do not bring life. 26 I let them defile themselves with their own offerings, and I let them sacrifice their first-born sons. This was to punish them and show them that I am the Lord. 27 "Now then, mortal man, tell the Israelites what I, the Sovereign Lord, am saying to them. This is another way their ancestors insulted me by their unfaithfulness. 28 I brought them to the land I had promised to give them. When they saw the high hills and green trees, they offered sacrifices at all of them. They made me angry by the sacrifices they burned and by the wine they brought as offerings. 29 I asked them: What are these high places where you go? So they have been called "High Places' ever since. 30 Now tell the Israelites what I am saying: Why must you commit the same sins your ancestors did and go running after their idols? 31 Even today you offer the same gifts and defile yourselves with the same idols by sacrificing your children to them in the fire. And then you Israelites still come to ask what my will is! As surely as I, the Sovereign Lord, am the living God, I will not let you ask me anything. 32 You have made up your minds that you want to be like the other nations, like the people who live in other countries and worship trees and rocks. But that will never be. 33 "As surely as I, the Sovereign Lord, am the living God, I warn you that in my anger I will rule over you with a strong hand, with all my power. 34 I will show you my power and my anger when I gather you together and bring you back from all the countries where you have been scattered. 35 I will bring you into the "Desert of the Nations,' and there I will condemn you to your face. 36 I will now condemn you just as I condemned your ancestors in the Sinai Desert," says the Sovereign Lord. 37 "I will take firm control of you and make you obey my covenant. 38 I will take away from among you those who are rebellious and sinful. I will take them out of the lands where they are living now, but I will not let them return to the land of Israel. Then you will know that I am the Lord." 39 The Sovereign Lord says, "And now, all you Israelites, suit yourselves! Go on and serve your idols! But I warn you that after this you will have to obey me and stop dishonoring my holy name by offering gifts to your idols. 40 There in the land, on my holy mountain, the high mountain of Israel, all you people of Israel will worship me. I will be pleased with you and will expect you to bring me your sacrifices, your best offerings, and your holy gifts. 41 After I bring you out of the countries where you have been scattered and gather you together, I will accept the sacrifices that you burn, and the nations will see that I am holy. 42 When I bring you back to Israel, the land that I promised I would give to your ancestors, then you will know that I am the Lord. 43 Then you will remember all the disgraceful things you did and how you defiled yourselves. You will be disgusted with yourselves because of all the evil things you did. 44 When I act to protect my honor, you Israelites will know that I am the Lord, because I do not deal with you as your wicked, evil actions deserve." The Sovereign Lord has spoken. 45 The Lord spoke to me. 46 "Mortal man," he said, "look toward the south. Speak against the south and prophesy against the forest of the south. 47 Tell the southern forest to hear what the Sovereign Lord is saying: Look! I am starting a fire, and it will burn up every tree in you, whether green or dry. Nothing will be able to put it out. It will spread from south to north, and everyone will feel the heat of the flames. 48 They will all see that I, the Lord, set it on fire and that no one can put it out." 49 But I protested, "Sovereign Lord, don't make me do it! Everyone is already complaining that I always speak in riddles."

1908-2 Chronicles 36:15 The Lord, the God of their ancestors, had continued to send prophets to warn his people, because he wanted to spare them and the Temple. 16 But they made fun of God's messengers, ignoring his words and laughing at his prophets, until at last the Lord's anger against his people was so great that there was no escape.

1909-2 Kings 17:24 The emperor of Assyria took people from the cities of Babylon, Cuth, Ivvah, Hamath, and Sepharvaim, and settled them in the cities of Samaria in place of the exiled Israelites. They took possession of these cities and lived there. 25 When they first settled there, they did not worship the Lord, and so he sent lions, which killed some of them. 26 The emperor of Assyria was told that the people he had settled in the cities of Samaria did not know the law of the god of that land, and so the god had sent lions, which were killing them. 27 So the emperor commanded: "Send back one of the priests we brought as prisoners; have him go back and live there, in order to teach the people the law of the god of that land." 28 So an Israelite priest who had been deported from Samaria went and lived in Bethel, where he taught the people how to worship the Lord. 29 But the people who settled in Samaria continued to make their own idols, and they placed them in the shrines that the Israelites had built. Each different group made idols in the cities they were living in: 30 the people of Babylon made idols of the god Succoth Benoth; the people of Cuth, idols of Nergal; the people of Hamath, idols of Ashima; 31 the people of Ivvah, idols of Nibhaz and Tartak; and the people of Sepharvaim sacrificed their children as burnt offerings to their gods Adrammelech and Anammelech. 32 These people also worshiped the Lord and chose from among their own number all sorts of people to serve as priests at the pagan places of worship and to offer sacrifices for them there. 33 So they worshiped the Lord, but they also worshiped their own gods according to the customs of the countries from which they had come. 34 They still carry on their old customs to this day. They do not worship the Lord nor do they obey the laws and commands which he gave to the descendants of Jacob, whom he named Israel. 35 The Lord had made a covenant with them and had ordered them: "Do not worship other gods; do not bow down to them or serve them or offer sacrifices to them. 36 You shall obey me, the Lord, who brought you out of Egypt with great power and strength; you are to bow down to me and offer sacrifices to me. 37 You shall always obey the laws and commands that I wrote for you. You shall not obey other gods, 38 and you shall not forget the covenant I made with you. 39 You shall obey me, the Lord your God, and I will rescue you from your enemies." 40 But those people would not listen, and they continued to follow their old customs. 41 So those people worshiped the Lord, but they also worshiped their idols; and to this day their descendants continue to do the same.

1910-Gen 22:15 The angel of the Lord called to Abraham from heaven a second time, 16 "I make a vow by my own name - the Lord is speaking - that I will richly bless you. Because you did this and did not keep back your only son from me,

1911-Num 22:22 God was angry that Balaam was going, and as Balaam was riding along on his donkey, accompanied by his two servants, the angel of the Lord stood in the road to bar his way. 23 When the donkey saw the angel standing there holding a sword, it left the road and turned into the fields. Balaam beat the donkey and brought it back onto the road. 24 Then the angel stood where the road narrowed between two vineyards and had a stone wall on each side. 25 When the donkey saw the angel, it moved over against the wall and crushed Balaam's foot against it. Again Balaam beat the donkey. 26 Once more the angel moved ahead; he stood in a narrow place where there was no room at all to pass on either side. 27 This time, when the donkey saw the angel, it lay down. Balaam lost his temper and began to beat the donkey with his stick. 28 Then the Lord gave the donkey the power of speech, and it said to Balaam, "What have I done to you? Why have you beaten me these three times?" 29 Balaam answered, "Because you have made a fool of me! If I had a sword, I would kill you." 30 The donkey replied, "Am I not the same donkey on which you have ridden all your life? Have I ever treated you like this before?" "No," he answered. 31 Then the Lord let Balaam see the angel standing there with his sword; and Balaam threw himself face downward on the ground. 32 The angel demanded, "Why have you beaten your donkey three times like this? I have come to bar your way, because you should not be making this journey. 33 But your donkey saw me and turned aside three times. If it hadn't, I would have killed you and spared the donkey." 34 Balaam replied, "I have sinned. I did not know that you were standing in the road to oppose me; but now if you think it is wrong for me to go on, I will return home." 35 But the angel said, "Go on with these men, but say only what I tell you to say." So Balaam went on with them.

1912-Judges 2:1 The angel of the Lord went from Gilgal to Bochim and said to the Israelites, "I took you out of Egypt and brought you to the land that I promised to your ancestors. I said, "I will never break my covenant with you. 2 You must not make any covenant with the people who live in this land. You must tear down their altars.' But you have not done what I told you. You have done just the opposite! 3 So I tell you now that I will not drive these people out as you advance. They will be your enemies, and you will be trapped by the worship of their gods." 4 When the angel had said this, all the people of Israel began to cry, 5 and that is why the place is called Bochim. There they offered sacrifices to the Lord.

Judges 6:21 Then the Lord's angel reached out and touched the meat and the bread with the end of the stick he was holding. Fire came out of the rock and burned up the meat and the bread. Then the angel disappeared. 22 Gideon then realized that it was the Lord's angel he had seen, and he said in terror, "Sovereign Lord! I have seen your angel face-to-face!" 23 But the Lord told him, "Peace. Don't be afraid. You will not die."

1913-James 5:14 Are any among you sick? They should send for the church elders, who will pray for them and rub olive oil on them in the name of the Lord. 15 This prayer made in faith will heal the sick; the Lord will restore them to health, and the sins they have committed will be forgiven. 16 So then, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, so that you will be healed. The prayer of a good person has a powerful effect.

1914-2 Kings 21:1 Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king of Judah, and he ruled in Jerusalem for fifty-five years. His mother was Hephzibah.

1915-2 Kings 19:34 I will defend this city and protect it, for the sake of my own honor and because of the promise I made to my servant David.' "

1916-2 Kings 20:13 Hezekiah welcomed the messengers and showed them his wealth - his silver and gold, his spices and perfumes, and all his military equipment. There was nothing in his storerooms or anywhere in his kingdom that he did not show them. 14 Then the prophet Isaiah went to King Hezekiah and asked, "Where did these men come from and what did they say to you?" Hezekiah answered, "They came from a very distant country, from Babylonia." 15 "What did they see in the palace?" "They saw everything. There is nothing in the storerooms that I didn't show them."

1917-2 Chronicles 32:31 and even when the Babylonian ambassadors came to inquire about the unusual event that had happened in the land, God let Hezekiah go his own way only in order to test his character.

1918-2 Kings 21:1 Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king of Judah, and he ruled in Jerusalem for fifty-five years. His mother was Hephzibah. 2 Following the disgusting practices of the nations whom the Lord had driven out of the land as his people advanced, Manasseh sinned against the Lord. 3 He rebuilt the pagan places of worship that his father Hezekiah had destroyed; he built altars for the worship of Baal and made an image of the goddess Asherah, as King Ahab of Israel had done. Manasseh also worshiped the stars. 4 He built pagan altars in the Temple, the place that the Lord had said was where he should be worshiped. 5 In the two courtyards of the Temple he built altars for the worship of the stars. 6 He sacrificed his son as a burnt offering. He practiced divination and magic and consulted fortunetellers and mediums. He sinned greatly against the Lord and stirred up his anger. 7 He placed the symbol of the goddess Asherah in the Temple, the place about which the Lord had said to David and his son Solomon: "Here in Jerusalem, in this Temple, is the place that I have chosen out of all the territory of the twelve tribes of Israel as the place where I am to be worshiped. 8 And if the people of Israel will obey all my commands and keep the whole Law that my servant Moses gave them, then I will not allow them to be driven out of the land that I gave to their ancestors." 9 But the people of Judah did not obey the Lord, and Manasseh led them to commit even greater sins than those committed by the nations whom the Lord had driven out of the land as his people advanced. 10 Through his servants the prophets the Lord said, 11 "King Manasseh has done these disgusting things, things far worse than what the Canaanites did; and with his idols he has led the people of Judah into sin. 12 So I, the Lord God of Israel, will bring such a disaster on Jerusalem and Judah that everyone who hears about it will be stunned. 13 I will punish Jerusalem as I did Samaria, as I did King Ahab of Israel and his descendants. I will wipe Jerusalem clean of its people, as clean as a plate that has been wiped and turned upside down. 14 I will abandon the people who survive, and will hand them over to their enemies, who will conquer them and plunder their land. 15 I will do this to my people because they have sinned against me and have stirred up my anger from the time their ancestors came out of Egypt to this day." 16 Manasseh killed so many innocent people that the streets of Jerusalem were flowing with blood; he did this in addition to leading the people of Judah into idolatry, causing them to sin against the Lord. 17 Everything else that Manasseh did, including the sins he committed, is recorded in [The History of the Kings of Judah.] 18 Manasseh died and was buried in the palace garden, the garden of Uzza, and his son Amon succeeded him as king.

1919-2 Chronicles 33:1 Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king of Judah, and he ruled in Jerusalem for fifty-five years. 2 Following the disgusting practices of the nations whom the Lord had driven out of the land as his people advanced, Manasseh sinned against the Lord. 3 He rebuilt the pagan places of worship that his father Hezekiah had destroyed. He built altars for the worship of Baal, made images of the goddess Asherah, and worshiped the stars. 4 He built pagan altars in the Temple, the place that the Lord had said was where he should be worshiped forever. 5 In the two courtyards of the Temple he built altars for the worship of the stars. 6 He sacrificed his sons in Hinnom Valley as burnt offerings. He practiced divination and magic and consulted fortunetellers and mediums. He sinned greatly against the Lord and stirred up his anger. 7 He placed an image in the Temple, the place about which God had said to David and his son Solomon: "Here in Jerusalem, in this Temple, is the place that I have chosen out of all the territory of the twelve tribes of Israel as the place where I am to be worshiped. 8 And if the people of Israel will obey all my commands and keep the whole Law that my servant Moses gave them, then I will not allow them to be driven out of the land that I gave to their ancestors." 9 Manasseh led the people of Judah to commit even greater sins than those committed by the nations whom the Lord had driven out of the land as his people advanced. 10 Although the Lord warned Manasseh and his people, they refused to listen. 11 So the Lord let the commanders of the Assyrian army invade Judah. They captured Manasseh, stuck hooks in him, put him in chains, and took him to Babylon. 12 In his suffering he became humble, turned to the Lord his God, and begged him for help. 13 God accepted Manasseh's prayer and answered it by letting him go back to Jerusalem and rule again. This convinced Manasseh that the Lord was God. 14 After this, Manasseh increased the height of the outer wall on the east side of David's City, from a point in the valley near Gihon Spring north to the Fish Gate and the area of the city called Ophel. He also stationed an army officer in command of a unit of troops in each of the fortified cities of Judah. 15 He removed from the Temple the foreign gods and the image that he had placed there, and the pagan altars that were on the hill where the Temple stood and in other places in Jerusalem; he took all these things outside the city and threw them away. 16 He also repaired the altar where the Lord was worshiped, and he sacrificed fellowship offerings and thanksgiving offerings on it. He commanded all the people of Judah to worship the Lord, the God of Israel. 17 Although the people continued to offer sacrifices at other places of worship, they offered them only to the Lord. 18 Everything else that Manasseh did, the prayer he made to his God, and the messages of the prophets who spoke to him in the name of the Lord, the God of Israel, are all recorded in [The History of the Kings of Israel.] 19 The king's prayer and God's answer to it, and an account of the sins he committed before he repented - the evil he did, the pagan places of worship and the symbols of the goddess Asherah that he made and the idols that he worshiped - are all recorded in [The History of the Prophets.] 20 Manasseh died and was buried at the palace, and his son Amon succeeded him as king.

1920-Hebrews 11:37 They were stoned, they were sawed in two, they were killed by the sword. They went around clothed in skins of sheep or goats - poor, persecuted, and mistreated.

1921-Patriarchs and Prophets 381,382 “The people, among whom I am,” exclaimed Moses, “are six hundred thousand footmen; and Thou has said, I will give them flesh, that they may eat a whole month. Shall the flocks and the herds be slain for them, to suffice them? or shall all the fish of the sea be gathered together for them?” {PP 381.1}

He was reproved for his distrust: “Is the Lord’s hand waxed short? thou shalt see now whether My word shall come to pass unto thee or not.” {PP 381.2}

Moses repeated to the congregation the words of the Lord, and announced the appointment of the seventy elders. The great leader’s charge to these chosen men might well serve as a model of judicial integrity for the judges and legislators of modern times: “Hear the causes between your brethren, and judge righteously between every man and his brother, and the stranger that is with him. Ye shall not respect persons in judgment; but ye shall hear the small as well as the great; ye shall not be afraid of the face of man; for the judgment is God’s.” Deuteronomy 1:16, 17. {PP 381.3}

Moses now summoned the seventy to the tabernacle. “And the Lord came down in a cloud, and spake unto him, and took of the spirit that was upon him, and gave it unto the seventy elders: and it came to pass, that, when the spirit rested upon them, they prophesied, and did not cease.” Like the disciples on the Day of Pentecost, they were endued with “power from on high.” It pleased the Lord thus to prepare them for their work, and to honor them in the presence of the congregation, that confidence might be established in them as men divinely chosen to unite with Moses in the government of Israel. {PP 381.4}

Again evidence was given of the lofty, unselfish spirit of the great leader. Two of the seventy, humbly counting themselves unworthy of so responsible a position, had not joined their brethren at the tabernacle; but the Spirit of God came upon them where they were, and they, too, exercised the prophetic gift. On being informed of this, Joshua desired to check such irregularity, fearing that it might tend to division. Jealous for the honor of his master, “My lord Moses,” he said, “forbid them.” The answer was, “Enviest thou for my sake? would God that all the Lord’s people were prophets, and that the Lord would put His Spirit upon them.” {PP 381.5}

A strong wind blowing from the sea now brought flocks of quails, “about a day’s journey on this side, and a day’s journey on the other side, round about the camp, and about two cubits above the face of the earth.” Numbers 11:31, R.V. All that day and night, and the following day, the people labored in gathering the food miraculously provided. Immense quantities were secured. “He that gathered least gathered ten homers.” All that was not needed for present use was preserved by drying, so that the supply, as promised, was sufficient for a whole month. {PP 382.1}

God gave the people that which was not for their highest good, because they persisted in desiring it; they would not be satisfied with those things that would prove a benefit to them. Their rebellious desires were gratified, but they were left to suffer the result. They feasted without restraint, and their excesses were speedily punished. “The Lord smote the people with a very great plague.” Large numbers were cut down by burning fevers, while the most guilty among them were smitten as soon as they tasted the food for which they had lusted. {PP 382.2}

At Hazeroth, the next encampment after leaving Taberah, a still more bitter trial awaited Moses. Aaron and Miriam had occupied a position of high honor and leadership in Israel. Both were endowed with the prophetic gift, and both had been divinely associated with Moses in the deliverance of the Hebrews. “I sent before thee Moses, Aaron, and Miriam” (Micah 6:4), are the words of the Lord by the prophet Micah. Miriam’s force of character had been early displayed when as a child she watched beside the Nile the little basket in which was hidden the infant Moses. Her self-control and tact God had made instrumental in preserving the deliverer of His people. Richly endowed with the gifts of poetry and music, Miriam had led the women of Israel in song and dance on the shore of the Red Sea. In the affections of the people and the honor of Heaven she stood second only to Moses and Aaron. But the same evil that first brought discord in heaven sprang up in the heart of this woman of Israel, and she did not fail to find a sympathizer in her dissatisfaction. {PP 382.3}

In the appointment of the seventy elders Miriam and Aaron had not been consulted, and their jealousy was excited against Moses. At the time of Jethro’s visit, while the Israelites were on the way to Sinai, the ready acceptance by Moses of the counsel of his father-in-law had aroused in Aaron and Miriam a fear that his influence with the great leader exceeded theirs. In the organization of the council of elders they felt that their position and authority had been ignored. Miriam and Aaron had never known the weight of care and responsibility which had rested upon Moses; yet because they had been chosen to aid him they regarded themselves as sharing equally with him the burden of leadership, and they regarded the appointment of further assistants as uncalled for. {PP 382.4}

1922-2 Chronicles 33:10 Although the Lord warned Manasseh and his people, they refused to listen. 11 So the Lord let the commanders of the Assyrian army invade Judah. They captured Manasseh, stuck hooks in him, put him in chains, and took him to Babylon. 12 In his suffering he became humble, turned to the Lord his God, and begged him for help. 13 God accepted Manasseh's prayer and answered it by letting him go back to Jerusalem and rule again. This convinced Manasseh that the Lord was God. 14 After this, Manasseh increased the height of the outer wall on the east side of David's City, from a point in the valley near Gihon Spring north to the Fish Gate and the area of the city called Ophel. He also stationed an army officer in command of a unit of troops in each of the fortified cities of Judah. 15 He removed from the Temple the foreign gods and the image that he had placed there, and the pagan altars that were on the hill where the Temple stood and in other places in Jerusalem; he took all these things outside the city and threw them away. 16 He also repaired the altar where the Lord was worshiped, and he sacrificed fellowship offerings and thanksgiving offerings on it. He commanded all the people of Judah to worship the Lord, the God of Israel. 17 Although the people continued to offer sacrifices at other places of worship, they offered them only to the Lord. 18 Everything else that Manasseh did, the prayer he made to his God, and the messages of the prophets who spoke to him in the name of the Lord, the God of Israel, are all recorded in [The History of the Kings of Israel.] 19 The king's prayer and God's answer to it, and an account of the sins he committed before he repented - the evil he did, the pagan places of worship and the symbols of the goddess Asherah that he made and the idols that he worshiped - are all recorded in [The History of the Prophets.] 20 Manasseh died and was buried at the palace, and his son Amon succeeded him as king. 21 Amon was twenty-two years old when he became king of Judah, and he ruled in Jerusalem for two years. 22 Like his father Manasseh, he sinned against the Lord, and he worshiped the idols that his father had worshiped. 23 But unlike his father, he did not become humble and turn to the Lord; he was even more sinful than his father had been. 24 Amon's officials plotted against him and assassinated him in the palace. 25 The people of Judah killed Amon's assassins and made his son Josiah king.

1923-1 Chronicles 29:29 The history of King David from beginning to end is recorded in the records of the three prophets, Samuel, Nathan, and Gad.

1924-2 Chronicles 32:32 Everything else that King Hezekiah did and his devotion to the Lord are recorded in [The Vision of the Prophet Isaiah Son of Amoz] and in [The History of the Kings of Judah and Israel.]

2 Chronicles 33:18 Everything else that Manasseh did, the prayer he made to his God, and the messages of the prophets who spoke to him in the name of the Lord, the God of Israel, are all recorded in [The History of the Kings of Israel.] 19 The king's prayer and God's answer to it, and an account of the sins he committed before he repented - the evil he did, the pagan places of worship and the symbols of the goddess Asherah that he made and the idols that he worshiped - are all recorded in [The History of the Prophets.] 20 Manasseh died and was buried at the palace, and his son Amon succeeded him as king.

1925-Luke 1:1 Dear Theophilus: Many people have done their best to write a report of the things that have taken place among us. 2 They wrote what we have been told by those who saw these things from the beginning and who proclaimed the message. 3 And so, Your Excellency, because I have carefully studied all these matters from their beginning, I thought it would be good to write an orderly account for you. 4 I do this so that you will know the full truth about everything which you have been taught.

1926-1 Chronicles 27:24 Joab, whose mother was Zeruiah, began to take a census, but he did not complete it. God punished Israel because of this census, so the final figures were never recorded in King David's official records.

1927-2 Chronicles 36:22 In the first year that Cyrus of Persia was emperor, the Lord made what he had said through the prophet Jeremiah come true. He prompted Cyrus to issue the following command and send it out in writing to be read aloud everywhere in his empire: 23 "This is the command of Cyrus, Emperor of Persia. The Lord, the God of Heaven, has made me ruler over the whole world and has given me the responsibility of building a temple for him in Jerusalem in Judah. Now, all of you who are God's people, go there, and may the Lord your God be with you."

1928-Ezra 1:1 In the first year that Cyrus of Persia was emperor, the Lord made what he had said through the prophet Jeremiah come true. He prompted Cyrus to issue the following command and send it out in writing to be read aloud everywhere in his empire: 2 "This is the command of Cyrus, Emperor of Persia. The Lord, the God of Heaven, has made me ruler over the whole world and has given me the responsibility of building a temple for him in Jerusalem in Judah. 3 May God be with all of you who are his people. You are to go to Jerusalem and rebuild the Temple of the Lord, the God of Israel, the God who is worshiped in Jerusalem.

1929-1 Chronicles 3:17 These are the descendants of King Jehoiachin, who was taken prisoner by the Babylonians. Jehoiachin had seven sons: Shealtiel, 18 Malchiram, Pedaiah, Shenazzar, Jekamiah, Hoshama, and Nedabiah. 19 Pedaiah had two sons, Zerubbabel and Shimei. Zerubbabel was the father of two sons, Meshullam and Hananiah, and one daughter, Shelomith. 20 He had five other sons: Hashubah, Ohel, Berechiah, Hasadiah, and Jushab Hesed. 21 Hananiah had two sons, Pelatiah and Jeshaiah. Jeshaiah was the father of Rephaiah, who was the father of Arnan, the father of Obadiah, the father of Shecaniah.

1930-1 Chronicles 29:7 the following for the work on the Temple: 190 tons of gold, 380 tons of silver, 675 tons of bronze, and 3,750 tons of iron.

1931-Luke 24:44 Then he said to them, "These are the very things I told you about while I was still with you: everything written about me in the Law of Moses, the writings of the prophets, and the Psalms had to come true."

1932-2 Chronicles 36:22 In the first year that Cyrus of Persia was emperor, the Lord made what he had said through the prophet Jeremiah come true. He prompted Cyrus to issue the following command and send it out in writing to be read aloud everywhere in his empire: 23 "This is the command of Cyrus, Emperor of Persia. The Lord, the God of Heaven, has made me ruler over the whole world and has given me the responsibility of building a temple for him in Jerusalem in Judah. Now, all of you who are God's people, go there, and may the Lord your God be with you."

1933-Ezra 1:1 In the first year that Cyrus of Persia was emperor, the Lord made what he had said through the prophet Jeremiah come true. He prompted Cyrus to issue the following command and send it out in writing to be read aloud everywhere in his empire: 2 "This is the command of Cyrus, Emperor of Persia. The Lord, the God of Heaven, has made me ruler over the whole world and has given me the responsibility of building a temple for him in Jerusalem in Judah. 3 May God be with all of you who are his people. You are to go to Jerusalem and rebuild the Temple of the Lord, the God of Israel, the God who is worshiped in Jerusalem.

1934-Luke 1:14 How glad and happy you will be, and how happy many others will be when he is born!

1935-1 Chronicles 1:19 Eber had two sons; one was named Peleg, because during his time the people of the world were divided, and the other was named Joktan.

1936-Genesis 11:1 At first, the people of the whole world had only one language and used the same words. 2 As they wandered about in the East, they came to a plain in Babylonia and settled there. 3 They said to one another, "Come on! Let's make bricks and bake them hard." So they had bricks to build with and tar to hold them together. 4 They said, "Now let's build a city with a tower that reaches the sky, so that we can make a name for ourselves and not be scattered all over the earth." 5 Then the Lord came down to see the city and the tower which they had built, 6 and he said, "Now then, these are all one people and they speak one language; this is just the beginning of what they are going to do. Soon they will be able to do anything they want! 7 Let us go down and mix up their language so that they will not understand each other." 8 So the Lord scattered them all over the earth, and they stopped building the city. 9 The city was called Babylon, because there the Lord mixed up the language of all the people, and from there he scattered them all over the earth.

1937-Genesis 11:16 When Eber was 34 years old, he had a son, Peleg; 17 after that, he lived another 430 years and had other children. 18 When Peleg was 30 years old, he had a son, Reu; 19 after that, he lived another 209 years and had other children.

1938-Genesis 11:1 At first, the people of the whole world had only one language and used the same words. 2 As they wandered about in the East, they came to a plain in Babylonia and settled there. 3 They said to one another, "Come on! Let's make bricks and bake them hard." So they had bricks to build with and tar to hold them together. 4 They said, "Now let's build a city with a tower that reaches the sky, so that we can make a name for ourselves and not be scattered all over the earth." 5 Then the Lord came down to see the city and the tower which they had built, 6 and he said, "Now then, these are all one people and they speak one language; this is just the beginning of what they are going to do. Soon they will be able to do anything they want! 7 Let us go down and mix up their language so that they will not understand each other." 8 So the Lord scattered them all over the earth, and they stopped building the city. 9 The city was called Babylon, because there the Lord mixed up the language of all the people, and from there he scattered them all over the earth.

1939-1 Samuel 31:3 The fighting was heavy around Saul, and he himself was hit by enemy arrows and badly wounded. 4 He said to the young man carrying his weapons, "Draw your sword and kill me, so that these godless Philistines won't gloat over me and kill me." But the young man was too terrified to do it. So Saul took his own sword and threw himself on it.

1940-1 Chronicles 10:3 The fighting was heavy around Saul, and he was hit by enemy arrows and badly wounded. 4 He said to the young man carrying his weapons, "Draw your sword and kill me, to keep these godless Philistines from gloating over me." But the young man was too terrified to do it. So Saul took his own sword and threw himself on it.

1941-Genesis 38:6 For his first son Er, Judah got a wife whose name was Tamar. 7 Er's conduct was evil, and it displeased the Lord, so the Lord killed him. 8 Then Judah said to Er's brother Onan, "Go and sleep with your brother's widow. Fulfill your obligation to her as her husband's brother, so that your brother may have descendants." 9 But Onan knew that the children would not belong to him, so when he had intercourse with his brother's widow, he let the semen spill on the ground, so that there would be no children for his brother. 10 What he did displeased the Lord, and the Lord killed him also.

1942-1 Chronicles 2:3 Judah had five sons in all. By his wife Bathshua, a Canaanite, he had three sons: Er, Onan, and Shelah. His oldest son, Er, was so evil that the Lord killed him.

1943-Leviticus 10:1 Aaron's sons, Nadab and Abihu, each took his fire pan, put live coals in it, added incense, and presented it to the Lord. But this fire was not holy, because the Lord had not commanded them to present it. 2 Suddenly the Lord sent fire, and it burned them to death there in the presence of the Lord. 3 Then Moses said to Aaron, "This is what the Lord was speaking about when he said, "All who serve me must respect my holiness; I will reveal my glory to my people.' " But Aaron remained silent. 4 Moses called Mishael and Elzaphan, the sons of Uzziel, Aaron's uncle, and said to them, "Come here and carry your cousins' bodies away from the sacred Tent and put them outside the camp." 5 So they came and took hold of the clothing on the corpses and carried them outside the camp, just as Moses had commanded. 6 Then Moses said to Aaron and to his sons Eleazar and Ithamar, "Do not leave your hair uncombed or tear your clothes to show that you are in mourning. If you do, you will die, and the Lord will be angry with the whole community. But all other Israelites are allowed to mourn this death caused by the fire which the Lord sent. 7 Do not leave the entrance of the Tent or you will die, because you have been consecrated by the anointing oil of the Lord." So they did as Moses said. 8 The Lord said to Aaron, 9 "You and your sons are not to enter the Tent of my presence after drinking wine or beer; if you do, you will die. This is a law to be kept by all your descendants. 10 You must distinguish between what belongs to God and what is for general use, between what is ritually clean and what is unclean. 11 You must teach the people of Israel all the laws which I have given to you through Moses."

1944-Numbers 16:23 The Lord said to Moses, 24 "Tell the people to move away from the tents of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram." 25 Then Moses, accompanied by the leaders of Israel, went to Dathan and Abiram. 26 He said to the people, "Get away from the tents of these wicked men and don't touch anything that belongs to them. Otherwise, you will be wiped out with them for all their sins." 27 So they moved away from the tents of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram. Dathan and Abiram had come out and were standing at the entrance of their tents, with their wives and children. 28 Moses said to the people, "This is how you will know that the Lord has sent me to do all these things and that it is not by my own choice that I have done them. 29 If these men die a natural death without some punishment from God, then the Lord did not send me. 30 But if the Lord does something unheard of, and the earth opens up and swallows them with all they own, so that they go down alive to the world of the dead, you will know that these men have rejected the Lord." 31 As soon as he had finished speaking, the ground under Dathan and Abiram split open 32 and swallowed them and their families, together with all of Korah's followers and their possessions. 33 So they went down alive to the world of the dead, with their possessions. The earth closed over them, and they vanished. 34 All the people of Israel who were there fled when they heard their cry. They shouted, "Run! The earth might swallow us too!" 35 Then the Lord sent a fire that blazed out and burned up the 250 men who had presented the incense.

1945-1 Chronicles 11:9 David grew stronger and stronger, because the Lord Almighty was with him. 10 This is the list of David's famous soldiers. Together with the rest of the people of Israel, they helped him become king, as the Lord had promised, and they kept his kingdom strong.

1946-1 Chronicles 11:41 Uri'ah the Hittite, Zabad the son of Ahlai,

1947-2 Samuel 23:39 Uri'ah the Hittite: thirty-seven in all.

1948-2 Chronicles 7:17 If you serve me faithfully as your father David did, obeying my laws and doing everything I have commanded you, 18 I will keep the promise I made to your father David when I told him that Israel would always be ruled by his descendants.

1949-2-chronicles 7:17 If you serve me faithfully as your father David did, obeying my laws and doing everything I have commanded you, 18 I will keep the promise I made to your father David when I told him that Israel would always be ruled by his descendants.

1950-John 16:25 "I have used figures of speech to tell you these things. But the time will come when I will not use figures of speech, but will speak to you plainly about the Father. 26 When that day comes, you will ask him in my name; and I do not say that I will ask him on your behalf, 27 for the Father himself loves you. He loves you because you love me and have believed that I came from God.

1951-1 Chronicles 12:38 All these soldiers, ready for battle, went to Hebron, determined to make David king over all Israel. All the rest of the people of Israel were united in the same purpose. 39 They spent three days there with David, feasting on the food and drink which their relatives had prepared for them. 40 From as far away as the northern tribes of Issachar, Zebulun, and Naphtali, people came bringing donkeys, camels, mules, and oxen loaded with food - flour, figs, raisins, wine, and olive oil. They also brought cattle and sheep to kill and eat. All this was an expression of the joy that was felt throughout the whole country.

1952-1 Samuel 18:7 In their celebration the women sang, "Saul has killed thousands, but David tens of thousands." 8 Saul did not like this, and he became very angry. He said, "For David they claim tens of thousands, but only thousands for me. They will be making him king next!"

1 Samuel 21:11 The king's officials said to Achish, "Isn't this David, the king of his country? This is the man about whom the women sang, as they danced, "Saul has killed thousands, but David has killed tens of thousands.' "

1 Samuel 29:5 After all, this is David, the one about whom the women sang, as they danced, "Saul has killed thousands, but David has killed tens of thousands.' "

1953-1 Chronicles 13:10 At once the Lord became angry with Uzzah and killed him for touching the Box. He died there in God's presence, 11 and so that place has been called Perez Uzzah ever since. David was furious because the Lord had punished Uzzah in anger. 12 Then David was afraid of God and said, "How can I take the Covenant Box with me now?"

1954-1 Chronicles 15:2 Then he said, "Only Levites should carry the Covenant Box, because they are the ones the Lord chose to carry it and to serve him forever."

1955-2 Samuel 6:1 Once more David called together the best soldiers in Israel, a total of thirty thousand men, 2 and led them to Baalah in Judah, in order to bring from there God's Covenant Box, bearing the name of the Lord Almighty, whose throne is above the winged creatures. 3 They took it from Abinadab's home on the hill and placed it on a new cart. Uzzah and Ahio, sons of Abinadab, were guiding the cart, 4 with Ahio walking in front. 5 David and all the Israelites were dancing and singing with all their might to honor the Lord. They were playing harps, lyres, drums, rattles, and cymbals. 6 As they came to the threshing place of Nacon, the oxen stumbled, and Uzzah reached out and took hold of the Covenant Box. 7 At once the Lord God became angry with Uzzah and killed him because of his irreverence. Uzzah died there beside the Covenant Box, 8 and so that place has been called Perez Uzzah ever since. David was furious because the Lord had punished Uzzah in anger. 9 Then David was afraid of the Lord and said, "How can I take the Covenant Box with me now?" 10 So he decided not to take it with him to Jerusalem; instead, he turned off the road and took it to the house of Obed Edom, a native of the city of Gath. 11 It stayed there three months, and the Lord blessed Obed Edom and his family. 12 King David heard that because of the Covenant Box the Lord had blessed Obed Edom's family and all that he had; so he got the Covenant Box from Obed's house to take it to Jerusalem with a great celebration. 13 After the men carrying the Covenant Box had gone six steps, David had them stop while he offered the Lord a sacrifice of a bull and a fattened calf. 14 David, wearing only a linen cloth around his waist, danced with all his might to honor the Lord. 15 And so he and all the Israelites took the Covenant Box up to Jerusalem with shouts of joy and the sound of trumpets. 16 As the Box was being brought into the city, Michal, Saul's daughter, looked out of the window and saw King David dancing and jumping around in the sacred dance, and she was disgusted with him. 17 They brought the Box and put it in its place in the Tent that David had set up for it. Then he offered sacrifices and fellowship offerings to the Lord. 18 When he had finished offering the sacrifices, he blessed the people in the name of the Lord Almighty 19 and distributed food to them all. He gave each man and woman in Israel a loaf of bread, a piece of roasted meat, and some raisins. Then everyone went home. 20 Afterward, when David went home to greet his family, Michal came out to meet him. "The king of Israel made a big name for himself today!" she said. "He exposed himself like a fool in the sight of the servant women of his officials!" 21 David answered, "I was dancing to honor the Lord, who chose me instead of your father and his family to make me the leader of his people Israel. And I will go on dancing to honor the Lord, 22 and will disgrace myself even more. You may think I am nothing, but those women will think highly of me!" 23 Michal, Saul's daughter, never had any children.

1956-1 Chronicles 13:1 King David consulted with all the officers in command of units of a thousand men and units of a hundred men. 2 Then he announced to all the people of Israel, "If you give your approval and if it is the will of the Lord our God, let us send messengers to the rest of our people and to the priests and Levites in their towns, and tell them to assemble here with us. 3 Then we will go and get God's Covenant Box, which was ignored while Saul was king." 4 The people were pleased with the suggestion and agreed to it. 5 So David assembled the people of Israel from all over the country, from the Egyptian border in the south to Hamath Pass in the north, in order to bring the Covenant Box from Kiriath Jearim to Jerusalem. 6 David and the people went to the city of Baalah, that is, to Kiriath Jearim, in the territory of Judah, to get the Covenant Box of God, which bears the name of the Lord enthroned above the winged creatures. 7 At Abinadab's house they brought out the Covenant Box and put it on a new cart. Uzzah and Ahio guided the cart, 8 while David and all the people danced with all their might to honor God. They sang and played musical instruments - harps, drums, cymbals, and trumpets. 9 As they came to the threshing place of Chidon, the oxen stumbled, and Uzzah reached out and took hold of the Covenant Box. 10 At once the Lord became angry with Uzzah and killed him for touching the Box. He died there in God's presence, 11 and so that place has been called Perez Uzzah ever since. David was furious because the Lord had punished Uzzah in anger. 12 Then David was afraid of God and said, "How can I take the Covenant Box with me now?" 13 So David did not take it with him to Jerusalem. Instead, he left it at the house of a man named Obed Edom, a native of the city of Gath. 14 It stayed there three months, and the Lord blessed Obed Edom's family and everything that belonged to him.

1 Chronicles 15:1 For his own use, David built houses in David's City. He also prepared a place for God's Covenant Box and put up a tent for it. 2 Then he said, "Only Levites should carry the Covenant Box, because they are the ones the Lord chose to carry it and to serve him forever." 3 So David summoned all the people of Israel to Jerusalem in order to bring the Covenant Box to the place he had prepared for it. 4 Next he sent for the descendants of Aaron and for the Levites. 5 From the Levite clan of Kohath came Uriel, in charge of 120 members of his clan; 6 from the clan of Merari came Asaiah, in charge of 220; 7 from the clan of Gershon, Joel, in charge of 130; 8 from the clan of Elizaphan, Shemaiah, in charge of 200; 9 from the clan of Hebron, Eliel, in charge of 80; 10 and from the clan of Uzziel, Amminadab, in charge of 112. 11 David called in the priests Zadok and Abiathar and the six Levites, Uriel, Asaiah, Joel, Shemaiah, Eliel, and Amminadab. 12 He said to the Levites, "You are the leaders of the Levite clans. Purify yourselves and your fellow Levites, so that you can bring the Covenant Box of the Lord God of Israel to the place I have prepared for it. 13 Because you were not there to carry it the first time, the Lord our God punished us for not worshiping him as we should have done." 14 Then the priests and the Levites purified themselves in order to move the Covenant Box of the Lord God of Israel. 15 The Levites carried it on poles on their shoulders, as the Lord had commanded through Moses. 16 David commanded the leaders of the Levites to assign various Levites to sing and to play joyful music on harps and cymbals. 17 From the clans of singers they chose the following men to play the brass cymbals: Heman son of Joel, his relative Asaph son of Berechiah, and Ethan son of Kushaiah, of the clan of Merari. To assist them they chose the following Levites to play the high-pitched harps: Zechariah, Jaaziel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Unni, Eliab, Maaseiah, and Benaiah. To play the low-pitched harps they chose the following Levites: Mattithiah, Eliphelehu, Mikneiah, Azaziah, and the Temple guards, Obed Edom and Jeiel. 22 Because of his skill in music Chenaniah was chosen to be in charge of the levitical musicians. 23 Berechiah and Elkanah, along with Obed Edom and Jehiah, were chosen as guards for the Covenant Box. The priests Shebaniah, Joshaphat, Nethanel, Amasai, Zechariah, Benaiah, and Eliezer were chosen to blow trumpets in front of the Covenant Box. 25 So King David, the leaders of Israel, and the military commanders went to the house of Obed Edom to get the Covenant Box, and they had a great celebration. 26 They sacrificed seven bulls and seven sheep, to make sure that God would help the Levites who were carrying the Covenant Box. 27 David was wearing a robe made of the finest linen, and so were the musicians, Chenaniah their leader, and the Levites who carried the Box. David also wore a linen ephod. 28 So all the Israelites accompanied the Covenant Box up to Jerusalem with shouts of joy, the sound of trumpets, horns, and cymbals, and the music of harps. 29 As the Box was being brought into the city, Michal, Saul's daughter, looked out of the window and saw King David dancing and leaping for joy, and she was disgusted with him.

1 Chronicles 16:1 They took the Covenant Box to the tent which David had prepared for it and put it inside. Then they offered sacrifices and fellowship offerings to God. 2 After David had finished offering the sacrifices, he blessed the people in the name of the Lord 3 and distributed food to them all. He gave each man and woman in Israel a loaf of bread, a piece of roasted meat, and some raisins. 4 David appointed some of the Levites to lead the worship of the Lord, the God of Israel, in front of the Covenant Box, by singing and praising him. 5 Asaph was appointed leader, with Zechariah as his assistant. Jeiel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Mattithiah, Eliab, Benaiah, Obed Edom, and Jeiel were to play harps. Asaph was to sound the cymbals, 6 and two priests, Benaiah and Jahaziel, were to blow trumpets regularly in front of the Covenant Box. 7 It was then that David first gave Asaph and the other Levites the responsibility for singing praises to the Lord.

1957-Numbers 3:27-32; 4:1-20; 7:927 The clan of Kohath was composed of the families of Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel. 28 The total number of males one month old or older that were enrolled was 8,600. 29 This clan was to camp on the south side of the Tent, 30 with Elizaphan son of Uzziel as chief of the clan. 31 They were responsible for the Covenant Box, the table, the lampstand, the altars, the utensils the priests use in the Holy Place, and the curtain at the entrance to the Most Holy Place. They were responsible for all the service connected with these items. 32 The chief of the Levites was Eleazar son of Aaron the priest. He was in charge of those who carried out the duties in the Holy Place.

Numbers 4:1 The Lord told Moses 2 to take a census of the Levite clan of Kohath by subclans and families, 3 and to register all the men between the ages of thirty and fifty who were qualified to work in the Tent of the Lord's presence. 4 Their service involves the most holy things. 5 The Lord gave Moses the following instructions. When it is time to break camp, Aaron and his sons shall enter the Tent, take down the curtain in front of the Covenant Box, and cover the Box with it. 6 They shall put a fine leather cover over it, spread a cloth of solid blue on top, and then insert the carrying poles. 7 They shall spread a blue cloth over the table for the bread offered to the Lord and put on it the dishes, the incense bowls, the offering bowls, and the jars for the wine offering. There shall always be bread on the table. 8 They shall spread a red cloth over all of this, put a fine leather cover over it, and then insert the carrying poles. 9 They shall take a blue cloth and cover the lampstand, with its lamps, tongs, trays, and all the olive oil containers. 10 They shall wrap it and all its equipment in a fine leather cover and place it on a carrying frame. 11 Next they shall spread a blue cloth over the gold altar, put a fine leather cover over it, and then insert the carrying poles. 12 They shall take all the utensils used in the Holy Place, wrap them in a blue cloth, put a fine leather cover over them, and place them on a carrying frame. 13 They shall remove the greasy ashes from the altar and spread a purple cloth over it. 14 They shall put on it all the equipment used in the service at the altar: fire pans, hooks, shovels, and basins. Then they shall put a fine leather cover over it and insert the carrying poles. 15 When it is time to break camp, the clan of Kohath shall come to carry the sacred objects only after Aaron and his sons have finished covering them and all their equipment. The Kohath clan must not touch the sacred objects, or they will die. These are the responsibilities of the Kohath clan whenever the Tent is moved. 16 Eleazar son of Aaron the priest shall be responsible for the whole Tent and for the oil for the lamps, the incense, the grain offerings, the anointing oil, and everything else in the Tent that has been consecrated to the Lord. 17 The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, 18 "Do not let the clan of Kohath 19 be killed by coming near these most sacred objects. To prevent this from happening, Aaron and his sons shall go in and assign each man his task and tell him what to carry. 20 But if the Kohathites enter the Tent and see the priests preparing the sacred objects for moving, they will die."

Numbers 7:9 But Moses gave no wagons or oxen to the Kohathites, because the sacred objects they took care of had to be carried on their shoulders.

1958-Deuteronomy 10:8 At the mountain the Lord appointed the men of the tribe of Levi to be in charge of the Covenant Box, to serve him as priests, and to pronounce blessings in his name. And these are still their duties.

Deuteronomy 10:4 Then the Lord wrote on those tablets the same words that he had written the first time, the Ten Commandments that he gave you when he spoke from the fire on the day you were gathered at the mountain. The Lord gave me the tablets,

1959-Exodus 32:27 and he said to them, "The Lord God of Israel commands every one of you to put on your sword and go through the camp from this gate to the other and kill your brothers, your friends, and your neighbors." 28 The Levites obeyed, and killed about three thousand men that day.

1960-1 Chronicles 14:8 When the Philistines heard that David had now been made king over the whole country of Israel, their army went out to capture him. So David marched out to meet them. 9 The Philistines arrived at Rephaim Valley and began plundering. 10 David asked God, "Shall I attack the Philistines? Will you give me the victory?" The Lord answered, "Yes, attack! I will give you the victory!" 11 So David attacked them at Baal Perazim and defeated them. He said, "God has used me to break through the enemy army like a flood." So that place is called Baal Perazim. 12 When the Philistines fled, they left their idols behind, and David gave orders for them to be burned.

1961-2 Chronicles 13:8 Now you propose to fight against the royal authority that the Lord gave to David's descendants. You have a huge army and have with you the gold bull-calves that Jeroboam made to be your gods.

1962-1 Samuel 4:1 At that time the Philistines gathered to go to war against Israel, so the Israelites set out to fight them. The Israelites set up their camp at Ebenezer and the Philistines at Aphek. 2 The Philistines attacked, and after fierce fighting they defeated the Israelites and killed about four thousand men on the battlefield. 3 When the survivors came back to camp, the leaders of Israel said, "Why did the Lord let the Philistines defeat us today? Let's go and bring the Lord's Covenant Box from Shiloh, so that he will go with us and save us from our enemies." 4 So they sent messengers to Shiloh and got the Covenant Box of the Lord Almighty, who is enthroned above the winged creatures. And Eli's two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, came along with the Covenant Box. 5 When the Covenant Box arrived, the Israelites gave such a loud shout of joy that the earth shook. 6 The Philistines heard the shouting and said, "Listen to all that shouting in the Hebrew camp! What does it mean?" When they found out that the Lord's Covenant Box had arrived in the Hebrew camp, 7 they were afraid, and said, "A god has come into their camp! We're lost! Nothing like this has ever happened to us before! 8 Who can save us from those powerful gods? They are the gods who slaughtered the Egyptians in the desert! 9 Be brave, Philistines! Fight like men, or we will become slaves to the Hebrews, just as they were our slaves. So fight like men!" 10 The Philistines fought hard and defeated the Israelites, who went running to their homes. There was a great slaughter: thirty thousand Israelite soldiers were killed. 11 God's Covenant Box was captured, and Eli's sons, Hophni and Phinehas, were both killed.

1963-2 Chronicles 28:22 When his troubles were at their worst, that man Ahaz sinned against the Lord more than ever. 23 He offered sacrifices to the gods of the Syrians, who had defeated him. He said, "The Syrian gods helped the kings of Syria, so if I sacrifice to them, they may help me too." This brought disaster on him and on his nation.

1964-Exodus 9:14 or this time I will send the full force of my plagues against you and against your officials and your people, so you may know that there is no one like me in all the earth. 15 For by now I could have stretched out my hand and struck you and your people with a plague that would have wiped you off the earth. 16 But I have raised you up for this very purpose, that I might show you my power and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth. 17 You still set yourself against my people and will not let them go. NIV

Exodus 9:14 If you don't, I will send a plague that will really speak to you and your officials and all the Egyptian people. I will prove to you that there is no other God like me in all the earth. 15 I could have killed you all by now. I could have attacked you with a plague that would have wiped you from the face of the earth. 16 But I have let you live for this reason -- that you might see my power and that my fame might spread throughout the earth. 17 But you are still lording it over my people, and you refuse to let them go. NLT

1965-Exodus 12:12 "On that same night I will pass through Egypt and strike down every firstborn--both men and animals--and I will bring judgment on all the gods of Egypt. I am the LORD. NIV

Exodus 12:12 On that night I will pass through the land of Egypt and kill all the firstborn sons and firstborn male animals in the land of Egypt. I will execute judgment against all the gods of Egypt, for I am the LORD! NLT

1966-1 Samuel 4:1 At that time the Philistines gathered to go to war against Israel, so the Israelites set out to fight them. The Israelites set up their camp at Ebenezer and the Philistines at Aphek. 2 The Philistines attacked, and after fierce fighting they defeated the Israelites and killed about four thousand men on the battlefield. 3 When the survivors came back to camp, the leaders of Israel said, "Why did the Lord let the Philistines defeat us today? Let's go and bring the Lord's Covenant Box from Shiloh, so that he will go with us and save us from our enemies." 4 So they sent messengers to Shiloh and got the Covenant Box of the Lord Almighty, who is enthroned above the winged creatures. And Eli's two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, came along with the Covenant Box. 5 When the Covenant Box arrived, the Israelites gave such a loud shout of joy that the earth shook. 6 The Philistines heard the shouting and said, "Listen to all that shouting in the Hebrew camp! What does it mean?" When they found out that the Lord's Covenant Box had arrived in the Hebrew camp, 7 they were afraid, and said, "A god has come into their camp! We're lost! Nothing like this has ever happened to us before! 8 Who can save us from those powerful gods? They are the gods who slaughtered the Egyptians in the desert! 9 Be brave, Philistines! Fight like men, or we will become slaves to the Hebrews, just as they were our slaves. So fight like men!" 10 The Philistines fought hard and defeated the Israelites, who went running to their homes. There was a great slaughter: thirty thousand Israelite soldiers were killed. 11 God's Covenant Box was captured, and Eli's sons, Hophni and Phinehas, were both killed.

1967-1 Chronicles 17:1 And Samuel's word came to all Israel. Now the Israelites went out to fight against the Philistines. The Israelites camped at Ebenezer, and the Philistines at Aphek. 2 The Philistines deployed their forces to meet Israel, and as the battle spread, Israel was defeated by the Philistines, who killed about four thousand of them on the battlefield. 3 When the soldiers returned to camp, the elders of Israel asked, "Why did the LORD bring defeat upon us today before the Philistines? Let us bring the ark of the LORD's covenant from Shiloh, so that it may go with us and save us from the hand of our enemies." 4 So the people sent men to Shiloh, and they brought back the ark of the covenant of the LORD Almighty, who is enthroned between the cherubim. And Eli's two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, were there with the ark of the covenant of God. 5 When the ark of the LORD's covenant came into the camp, all Israel raised such a great shout that the ground shook. 6 Hearing the uproar, the Philistines asked, "What's all this shouting in the Hebrew camp?" When they learned that the ark of the LORD had come into the camp, 7 the Philistines were afraid. "A god has come into the camp," they said. "We're in trouble! Nothing like this has happened before. 8 Woe to us! Who will deliver us from the hand of these mighty gods? They are the gods who struck the Egyptians with all kinds of plagues in the desert. 9 Be strong, Philistines! Be men, or you will be subject to the Hebrews, as they have been to you. Be men, and fight!" 10 So the Philistines fought, and the Israelites were defeated and every man fled to his tent. The slaughter was very great; Israel lost thirty thousand foot soldiers. 11 The ark of God was captured, and Eli's two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, died.

1968-2 Thessalonians 2:1 At that time the Philistines gathered to go to war against Israel, so the Israelites set out to fight them. The Israelites set up their camp at Ebenezer and the Philistines at Aphek. 2 The Philistines attacked, and after fierce fighting they defeated the Israelites and killed about four thousand men on the battlefield. 3 When the survivors came back to camp, the leaders of Israel said, "Why did the Lord let the Philistines defeat us today? Let's go and bring the Lord's Covenant Box from Shiloh, so that he will go with us and save us from our enemies." 4 So they sent messengers to Shiloh and got the Covenant Box of the Lord Almighty, who is enthroned above the winged creatures. And Eli's two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, came along with the Covenant Box. 5 When the Covenant Box arrived, the Israelites gave such a loud shout of joy that the earth shook. 6 The Philistines heard the shouting and said, "Listen to all that shouting in the Hebrew camp! What does it mean?" When they found out that the Lord's Covenant Box had arrived in the Hebrew camp, 7 they were afraid, and said, "A god has come into their camp! We're lost! Nothing like this has ever happened to us before! 8 Who can save us from those powerful gods? They are the gods who slaughtered the Egyptians in the desert! 9 Be brave, Philistines! Fight like men, or we will become slaves to the Hebrews, just as they were our slaves. So fight like men!" 10 The Philistines fought hard and defeated the Israelites, who went running to their homes. There was a great slaughter: thirty thousand Israelite soldiers were killed. 11 God's Covenant Box was captured, and Eli's sons, Hophni and Phinehas, were both killed.

1969-Romans 1:18 God's anger is revealed from heaven against all the sin and evil of the people whose evil ways prevent the truth from being known. 19 God punishes them, because what can be known about God is plain to them, for God himself made it plain. 20 Ever since God created the world, his invisible qualities, both his eternal power and his divine nature, have been clearly seen; they are perceived in the things that God has made. So those people have no excuse at all! 21 They know God, but they do not give him the honor that belongs to him, nor do they thank him. Instead, their thoughts have become complete nonsense, and their empty minds are filled with darkness. 22 They say they are wise, but they are fools; 23 instead of worshiping the immortal God, they worship images made to look like mortals or birds or animals or reptiles. 24 And so God has given those people over to do the filthy things their hearts desire, and they do shameful things with each other. 25 They exchange the truth about God for a lie; they worship and serve what God has created instead of the Creator himself, who is to be praised forever! Amen. 26 Because they do this, God has given them over to shameful passions. Even the women pervert the natural use of their sex by unnatural acts. 27 In the same way the men give up natural sexual relations with women and burn with passion for each other. Men do shameful things with each other, and as a result they bring upon themselves the punishment they deserve for their wrongdoing. 28 Because those people refuse to keep in mind the true knowledge about God, he has given them over to corrupted minds, so that they do the things that they should not do. 29 They are filled with all kinds of wickedness, evil, greed, and vice; they are full of jealousy, murder, fighting, deceit, and malice. They gossip 30 and speak evil of one another; they are hateful to God, insolent, proud, and boastful; they think of more ways to do evil; they disobey their parents; 31 they have no conscience; they do not keep their promises, and they show no kindness or pity for others. 32 They know that God's law says that people who live in this way deserve death. Yet, not only do they continue to do these very things, but they even approve of others who do them.

1970-Malachi 1:2 The Lord says to his people, "I have always loved you." But they reply, "How have you shown your love for us?" The Lord answers, "Esau and Jacob were brothers, but I have loved Jacob and his descendants, 3 and have hated Esau and his descendants. I have devastated Esau's hill country and abandoned the land to jackals."

1971-Hosea 11:1 The Lord says, "When Israel was a child, I loved him and called him out of Egypt as my son. 2 But the more I called to him, the more he turned away from me. My people sacrificed to Baal; they burned incense to idols. 3 Yet I was the one who taught Israel to walk. I took my people up in my arms, but they did not acknowledge that I took care of them. 4 I drew them to me with affection and love. I picked them up and held them to my cheek; I bent down to them and fed them. 5 "They refuse to return to me, and so they must return to Egypt, and Assyria will rule them. 6 War will sweep through their cities and break down the city gates. It will destroy my people because they do what they themselves think best. 7 They insist on turning away from me. They will cry out because of the yoke that is on them, but no one will lift it from them. 8 "How can I give you up, Israel? How can I abandon you? Could I ever destroy you as I did Admah, or treat you as I did Zeboiim? My heart will not let me do it! My love for you is too strong.

1972-John 13:23 One of the disciples, the one whom Jesus loved, was sitting next to Jesus.

John 20:2 She went running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, whom Jesus loved, and told them, "They have taken the Lord from the tomb, and we don't know where they have put him!"

John 21:7 The disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, "It is the Lord!" When Peter heard that it was the Lord, he wrapped his outer garment around him (for he had taken his clothes off) and jumped into the water.

John 21:20 Peter turned around and saw behind him that other disciple, whom Jesus loved - the one who had leaned close to Jesus at the meal and had asked, "Lord, who is going to betray you?"

1973-Genesis 12:7 The Lord appeared to Abram and said to him, "This is the country that I am going to give to your descendants." Then Abram built an altar there to the Lord, who had appeared to him.

Genesis 13:14 After Lot had left, the Lord said to Abram, "From where you are, look carefully in all directions. 15 I am going to give you and your descendants all the land that you see, and it will be yours forever. 16 I am going to give you so many descendants that no one will be able to count them all; it would be as easy to count all the specks of dust on earth! 17 Now, go and look over the whole land, because I am going to give it all to you."

Genesis 15:5 The Lord took him outside and said, "Look at the sky and try to count the stars; you will have as many descendants as that."

Genesis 15:13 The Lord said to him, "Your descendants will be strangers in a foreign land; they will be slaves there and will be treated cruelly for four hundred years. 14 But I will punish the nation that enslaves them, and when they leave that foreign land, they will take great wealth with them. 15 You yourself will live to a ripe old age, die in peace, and be buried. 16 It will be four generations before your descendants come back here, because I will not drive out the Amorites until they become so wicked that they must be punished." 17 When the sun had set and it was dark, a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch suddenly appeared and passed between the pieces of the animals. 18 Then and there the Lord made a covenant with Abram. He said, "I promise to give your descendants all this land from the border of Egypt to the Euphrates River, 19 including the lands of the Kenites, the Kenizzites, the Kadmonites, 20 the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim, 21 the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites, and the Jebusites."

Genesis 17:3 Abram bowed down with his face touching the ground, and God said, 4 "I make this covenant with you: I promise that you will be the ancestor of many nations. 5 Your name will no longer be Abram, but Abraham, because I am making you the ancestor of many nations. 6 I will give you many descendants, and some of them will be kings. You will have so many descendants that they will become nations. 7 "I will keep my promise to you and to your descendants in future generations as an everlasting covenant. I will be your God and the God of your descendants. 8 I will give to you and to your descendants this land in which you are now a foreigner. The whole land of Canaan will belong to your descendants forever, and I will be their God." 9 God said to Abraham, "You also must agree to keep the covenant with me, both you and your descendants in future generations. 10 You and your descendants must all agree to circumcise every male among you. 11 From now on you must circumcise every baby boy when he is eight days old, including slaves born in your homes and slaves bought from foreigners. This will show that there is a covenant between you and me. 13 Each one must be circumcised, and this will be a physical sign to show that my covenant with you is everlasting. 14 Any male who has not been circumcised will no longer be considered one of my people, because he has not kept the covenant with me."

Genesis 22:15 The angel of the Lord called to Abraham from heaven a second time, 16 "I make a vow by my own name - the Lord is speaking - that I will richly bless you. Because you did this and did not keep back your only son from me, 17 I promise that I will give you as many descendants as there are stars in the sky or grains of sand along the seashore. Your descendants will conquer their enemies. 18 All the nations will ask me to bless them as I have blessed your descendants - all because you obeyed my command."

Genesis 26:2 The Lord had appeared to Isaac and had said, "Do not go to Egypt; stay in this land, where I tell you to stay. 3 Live here, and I will be with you and bless you. I am going to give all this territory to you and to your descendants. I will keep the promise I made to your father Abraham. 4 I will give you as many descendants as there are stars in the sky, and I will give them all this territory. All the nations will ask me to bless them as I have blessed your descendants. 5 I will bless you, because Abraham obeyed me and kept all my laws and commands."

Genesis 26:24 That night the Lord appeared to him and said, "I am the God of your father Abraham. Do not be afraid; I am with you. I will bless you and give you many descendants because of my promise to my servant Abraham."

Genesis 28:4 May he bless you and your descendants as he blessed Abraham, and may you take possession of this land, in which you have lived and which God gave to Abraham!"

Genesis 28:10 Jacob left Beersheba and started toward Haran. 11 At sunset he came to a holy place and camped there. He lay down to sleep, resting his head on a stone. 12 He dreamed that he saw a stairway reaching from earth to heaven, with angels going up and coming down on it. 13 And there was the Lord standing beside him. "I am the Lord, the God of Abraham and Isaac," he said. "I will give to you and to your descendants this land on which you are lying. 14 They will be as numerous as the specks of dust on the earth. They will extend their territory in all directions, and through you and your descendants I will bless all the nations. 15 Remember, I will be with you and protect you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done all that I have promised you." 16 Jacob woke up and said, "The Lord is here! He is in this place, and I didn't know it!"

Genesis 35:9 When Jacob returned from Mesopotamia, God appeared to him again and blessed him. 10 God said to him, "Your name is Jacob, but from now on it will be Israel." So God named him Israel. 11 And God said to him, "I am Almighty God. Have many children. Nations will be descended from you, and you will be the ancestor of kings. 12 I will give you the land which I gave to Abraham and to Isaac, and I will also give it to your descendants after you."

Genesis 48:4 He said to me, "I will give you many children, so that your descendants will become many nations; I will give this land to your descendants as their possession forever.' "

1974-Psalms 89:1 O Lord, I will always sing of your constant love; I will proclaim your faithfulness forever. 2 I know that your love will last for all time, that your faithfulness is as permanent as the sky. 3 You said, "I have made a covenant with the man I chose; I have promised my servant David, 4 "A descendant of yours will always be king; I will preserve your dynasty forever.' " 5 The heavens sing of the wonderful things you do; the holy ones sing of your faithfulness, Lord. 6 No one in heaven is like you, Lord; none of the heavenly beings is your equal. 7 You are feared in the council of the holy ones; they all stand in awe of you. 8 Lord God Almighty, none is as mighty as you; in all things you are faithful, O Lord. 9 You rule over the powerful sea; you calm its angry waves. 10 You crushed the monster Rahab and killed it; with your mighty strength you defeated your enemies. 11 Heaven is yours, the earth also; you made the world and everything in it. 12 You created the north and the south; Mount Tabor and Mount Hermon sing to you for joy. 13 How powerful you are! How great is your strength! 14 Your kingdom is founded on righteousness and justice; love and faithfulness are shown in all you do. 15 How happy are the people who worship you with songs, who live in the light of your kindness! 16 Because of you they rejoice all day long, and they praise you for your goodness. 17 You give us great victories; in your love you make us triumphant. 18 You, O Lord, chose our protector; you, the Holy God of Israel, gave us our king. 19 In a vision long ago you said to your faithful servants, "I have given help to a famous soldier; I have given the throne to one I chose from the people. 20 I have made my servant David king by anointing him with holy oil. 21 My strength will always be with him, my power will make him strong. 22 His enemies will never succeed against him; the wicked will not defeat him. 23 I will crush his foes and kill everyone who hates him. 24 I will love him and be loyal to him; I will make him always victorious. 25 I will extend his kingdom from the Mediterranean to the Euphrates River. 26 He will say to me, "You are my father and my God; you are my protector and savior.' 27 I will make him my first-born son, the greatest of all kings. 28 I will always keep my promise to him, and my covenant with him will last forever. 29 His dynasty will be as permanent as the sky; a descendant of his will always be king. 30 "But if his descendants disobey my law and do not live according to my commands, 31 if they disregard my instructions and do not keep my commandments, 32 then I will punish them for their sins; I will make them suffer for their wrongs. 33 But I will not stop loving David or fail to keep my promise to him. 34 I will not break my covenant with him or take back even one promise I made him. 35 "Once and for all I have promised by my holy name: I will never lie to David. 36 He will always have descendants, and I will watch over his kingdom as long as the sun shines. 37 It will be as permanent as the moon, that faithful witness in the sky." 38 But you are angry with your chosen king; you have deserted and rejected him. 39 You have broken your covenant with your servant and thrown his crown in the dirt. 40 You have torn down the walls of his city and left his forts in ruins. 41 All who pass by steal his belongings; all his neighbors laugh at him. 42 You have given the victory to his enemies; you have made them all happy. 43 You have made his weapons useless and let him be defeated in battle. 44 You have taken away his royal scepter and knocked his throne to the ground. 45 You have made him old before his time and covered him with disgrace. 46 Lord, will you hide yourself forever? How long will your anger burn like fire? 47 Remember how short my life is; remember that you created all of us mortal! 48 Who can live and never die? How can we humans keep ourselves from the grave? 49 Lord, where are the former proofs of your love? Where are the promises you made to David? 50 Don't forget how I, your servant, am insulted, how I endure all the curses of the heathen. 51 Your enemies insult your chosen king, O Lord! They insult him wherever he goes. 52 Praise the Lord forever! Amen! Amen!

1975-Psalms 132:1 Lord, do not forget David and all the hardships he endured. 2 Remember, Lord, what he promised, the vow he made to you, the Mighty God of Jacob: 3 "I will not go home or go to bed; 4 I will not rest or sleep, 5 until I provide a place for the Lord, a home for the Mighty God of Jacob." 6 In Bethlehem we heard about the Covenant Box, and we found it in the fields of Jearim. 7 We said, "Let us go to the Lord's house; let us worship before his throne." 8 Come to the Temple, Lord, with the Covenant Box, the symbol of your power, and stay here forever. 9 May your priests do always what is right; may your people shout for joy! 10 You made a promise to your servant David; do not reject your chosen king, Lord. 11 You made a solemn promise to David - a promise you will not take back: "I will make one of your sons king, and he will rule after you. 12 If your sons are true to my covenant and to the commands I give them, their sons, also, will succeed you for all time as kings." 13 The Lord has chosen Zion; he wants to make it his home: 14 "This is where I will live forever; this is where I want to rule. 15 I will richly provide Zion with all she needs; I will satisfy her poor with food. 16 I will bless her priests in all they do, and her people will sing and shout for joy. 17 Here I will make one of David's descendants a great king; here I will preserve the rule of my chosen king. 18 I will cover his enemies with shame, but his kingdom will prosper and flourish."

1976-2 Samuel 7:14 I will be his father, and he will be my son. When he does wrong, I will punish him as a father punishes his son.

1977-Psalms 89:30 "But if his descendants disobey my law and do not live according to my commands, 31 if they disregard my instructions and do not keep my commandments, 32 then I will punish them for their sins; I will make them suffer for their wrongs.

1978-2 Samuel 7:15 But I will not withdraw my support from him as I did from Saul, whom I removed so that you could be king. 16 You will always have descendants, and I will make your kingdom last forever. Your dynasty will never end.' "

1979-2 Chronicles 6:16 Now, Lord God of Israel, keep the other promise you made to my father when you told him that there would always be one of his descendants ruling as king of Israel, provided that they carefully obeyed your Law just as he did.

1980-Psalms 89:33 But I will not stop loving David or fail to keep my promise to him. 34 I will not break my covenant with him or take back even one promise I made him. 35 "Once and for all I have promised by my holy name: I will never lie to David. 36 He will always have descendants, and I will watch over his kingdom as long as the sun shines. 37 It will be as permanent as the moon, that faithful witness in the sky."

Psalm 132:11 You made a solemn promise to David - a promise you will not take back: "I will make one of your sons king, and he will rule after you. 12 If your sons are true to my covenant and to the commands I give them, their sons, also, will succeed you for all time as kings."

1981-Hebrews 4:15 Our High Priest is not one who cannot feel sympathy for our weaknesses. On the contrary, we have a High Priest who was tempted in every way that we are, but did not sin.

1982-Acts 2:25 For David said about him, "I saw the Lord before me at all times; he is near me, and I will not be troubled. 26 And so I am filled with gladness, and my words are full of joy. And I, mortal though I am, will rest assured in hope, 27 because you will not abandon me in the world of the dead; you will not allow your faithful servant to rot in the grave. 28 You have shown me the paths that lead to life, and your presence will fill me with joy.' 29 "My friends, I must speak to you plainly about our famous ancestor King David. He died and was buried, and his grave is here with us to this very day. 30 He was a prophet, and he knew what God had promised him: God had made a vow that he would make one of David's descendants a king, just as David was. 31 David saw what God was going to do in the future, and so he spoke about the resurrection of the Messiah when he said, "He was not abandoned in the world of the dead; his body did not rot in the grave.' 32 God has raised this very Jesus from death, and we are all witnesses to this fact. 33 He has been raised to the right side of God, his Father, and has received from him the Holy Spirit, as he had promised. What you now see and hear is his gift that he has poured out on us. 34 For it was not David who went up into heaven; rather he said, "The Lord said to my Lord: Sit here at my right side 35 until I put your enemies as a footstool under your feet.' 36 "All the people of Israel, then, are to know for sure that this Jesus, whom you crucified, is the one that God has made Lord and Messiah!"

1983-Hebrews 9:15 For this reason Christ is the one who arranges a new covenant, so that those who have been called by God may receive the eternal blessings that God has promised. This can be done because there has been a death which sets people free from the wrongs they did while the first covenant was in effect.

1984-Matthew 24:29 "Soon after the trouble of those days, the sun will grow dark, the moon will no longer shine, the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers in space will be driven from their courses. 30 Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky; and all the peoples of earth will weep as they see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. 31 The great trumpet will sound, and he will send out his angels to the four corners of the earth, and they will gather his chosen people from one end of the world to the other.

1985-Mark 13:24 "In the days after that time of trouble the sun will grow dark, the moon will no longer shine, 25 the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers in space will be driven from their courses. 26 Then the Son of Man will appear, coming in the clouds with great power and glory. 27 He will send the angels out to the four corners of the earth to gather God's chosen people from one end of the world to the other.

1986-Luke 21:25 "There will be strange things happening to the sun, the moon, and the stars. On earth whole countries will be in despair, afraid of the roar of the sea and the raging tides. 26 People will faint from fear as they wait for what is coming over the whole earth, for the powers in space will be driven from their courses. 27 Then the Son of Man will appear, coming in a cloud with great power and glory. 28 When these things begin to happen, stand up and raise your heads, because your salvation is near."

1987-Matthew 4:1 Then the Spirit led Jesus into the desert to be tempted by the Devil.

1988-Mark 1:12 At once the Spirit made him go into the desert, 13 where he stayed forty days, being tempted by Satan. Wild animals were there also, but angels came and helped him.

1989-Luke 4:1 Jesus returned from the Jordan full of the Holy Spirit and was led by the Spirit into the desert, 2 where he was tempted by the Devil for forty days. In all that time he ate nothing, so that he was hungry when it was over.

1990-2 Samuel 24:1 On another occasion the Lord was angry with Israel, and he made David bring trouble on them. The Lord said to him, "Go and count the people of Israel and Judah."

1991-1 Chronicles 21:1 Satan wanted to bring trouble on the people of Israel, so he made David decide to take a census.

1992-Exodus 9:34 When the king saw what had happened, he sinned again. He and his officials remained as stubborn as ever 35 and, just as the Lord had foretold through Moses, the king would not let the Israelites go.

Exodus 10:1 Then the Lord said to Moses, "Go and see the king. I have made him and his officials stubborn, in order that I may perform these miracles among them

1993-James 1:13 If we are tempted by such trials, we must not say, "This temptation comes from God." For God cannot be tempted by evil, and he himself tempts no one. 14 But we are tempted when we are drawn away and trapped by our own evil desires. 15 Then our evil desires conceive and give birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death

1994-Ruth 1:20 "Don't call me Naomi," she answered; "call me Marah, because Almighty God has made my life bitter.

1995-Job 1:21 He said, "I was born with nothing, and I will die with nothing. The Lord gave, and now he has taken away. May his name be praised!"

1996-Job 1:1 There was a man named Job, living in the land of Uz, who worshiped God and was faithful to him. He was a good man, careful not to do anything evil. 2 He had seven sons and three daughters, 3 and owned seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, one thousand head of cattle, and five hundred donkeys. He also had a large number of servants and was the richest man in the East. 4 Job's sons used to take turns giving a feast, to which all the others would come, and they always invited their three sisters to join them. 5 The morning after each feast, Job would get up early and offer sacrifices for each of his children in order to purify them. He always did this because he thought that one of them might have sinned by insulting God unintentionally. 6 When the day came for the heavenly beings to appear before the Lord, Satan was there among them. 7 The Lord asked him, "What have you been doing?" Satan answered, "I have been walking here and there, roaming around the earth." 8 "Did you notice my servant Job?" the Lord asked. "There is no one on earth as faithful and good as he is. He worships me and is careful not to do anything evil." 9 Satan replied, "Would Job worship you if he got nothing out of it? 10 You have always protected him and his family and everything he owns. You bless everything he does, and you have given him enough cattle to fill the whole country. 11 But now suppose you take away everything he has - he will curse you to your face!" 12 "All right," the Lord said to Satan, "everything he has is in your power, but you must not hurt Job himself." So Satan left. 13 One day when Job's children were having a feast at the home of their oldest brother, 14 a messenger came running to Job. "We were plowing the fields with the oxen," he said, "and the donkeys were in a nearby pasture. 15 Suddenly the Sabeans attacked and stole them all. They killed every one of your servants except me. I am the only one who escaped to tell you." 16 Before he had finished speaking, another servant came and said, "Lightning struck the sheep and the shepherds and killed them all. I am the only one who escaped to tell you." 17 Before he had finished speaking, another servant came and said, "Three bands of Chaldean raiders attacked us, took away the camels, and killed all your servants except me. I am the only one who escaped to tell you." 18 Before he had finished speaking, another servant came and said, "Your children were having a feast at the home of your oldest son, 19 when a storm swept in from the desert. It blew the house down and killed them all. I am the only one who escaped to tell you." 20 Then Job got up and tore his clothes in grief. He shaved his head and threw himself face downward on the ground. 21 He said, "I was born with nothing, and I will die with nothing. The Lord gave, and now he has taken away. May his name be praised!" 22 In spite of everything that had happened, Job did not sin by blaming God.

Job 2:1 When the day came for the heavenly beings to appear before the Lord again, Satan was there among them. 2 The Lord asked him, "Where have you been?" Satan answered, "I have been walking here and there, roaming around the earth." 3 "Did you notice my servant Job?" the Lord asked. "There is no one on earth as faithful and good as he is. He worships me and is careful not to do anything evil. You persuaded me to let you attack him for no reason at all, but Job is still as faithful as ever." 4 Satan replied, "A person will give up everything in order to stay alive. 5 But now suppose you hurt his body - he will curse you to your face!" 6 So the Lord said to Satan, "All right, he is in your power, but you are not to kill him." 7 Then Satan left the Lord's presence and made sores break out all over Job's body. 8 Job went and sat by the garbage dump and took a piece of broken pottery to scrape his sores. 9 His wife said to him, "You are still as faithful as ever, aren't you? Why don't you curse God and die?" 10 Job answered, "You are talking nonsense! When God sends us something good, we welcome it. How can we complain when he sends us trouble?" Even in all this suffering Job said nothing against God. 11 Three of Job's friends were Eliphaz, from the city of Teman, Bildad, from the land of Shuah, and Zophar, from the land of Naamah. When they heard how much Job had been suffering, they decided to go and comfort him. 12 While they were still a long way off they saw Job, but did not recognize him. When they did, they began to weep and wail, tearing their clothes in grief and throwing dust into the air and on their heads. 13 Then they sat there on the ground with him for seven days and nights without saying a word, because they saw how much he was suffering.

1997-Job 1:22 In spite of everything that had happened, Job did not sin by blaming God.

1998-1 Chronicles 21:1 Satan wanted to bring trouble on the people of Israel, so he made David decide to take a census.

1999-2 Samuel 24:1 On another occasion the Lord was angry with Israel, and he made David bring trouble on them. The Lord said to him, "Go and count the people of Israel and Judah."

2000-Job 1:2 He had seven sons and three daughters,

2001-1 Chronicles 21:8 David said to God, "I have committed a terrible sin in doing this! Please forgive me. I have acted foolishly."

1 Chronicles 21:17 David prayed, "O God, I am the one who did wrong. I am the one who ordered the census. What have these poor people done? Lord, my God, punish me and my family, and spare your people."

2002-Exodus 4:21 Again the Lord said to Moses, "Now that you are going back to Egypt, be sure to perform before the king all the miracles which I have given you the power to do. But I will make the king stubborn, and he will not let the people go.

2003-Lamentations 3:28 When we suffer, we should sit alone in silent patience;

2004-Romans 8:28 We know that in all things God works for good with those who love him, those whom he has called according to his purpose.

2005-James 1:2 My friends, consider yourselves fortunate when all kinds of trials come your way,

James 1:12 Happy are those who remain faithful under trials, because when they succeed in passing such a test, they will receive as their reward the life which God has promised to those who love him. 13 If we are tempted by such trials, we must not say, "This temptation comes from God." For God cannot be tempted by evil, and he himself tempts no one.

2006-Numbers 1:2 "You and Aaron are to take a census of the people of Israel by clans and families. List the names of all the men 3 twenty years old or older who are fit for military service.

Numbers 26:2 "Take a census by families of the whole community of Israel, of all men twenty years old or older who are fit for military service."

2007-1 Chronicles 21:1 Satan wanted to bring trouble on the people of Israel, so he made David decide to take a census.

2008-1 Chronicles 21:2 David gave orders to Joab and the other officers, "Go through Israel, from one end of the country to the other, and count the people. I want to know how many there are." 3 Joab answered, "May the Lord make the people of Israel a hundred times more numerous than they are now! Your Majesty, they are all your servants. Why do you want to do this and make the whole nation guilty?"

2009-Daniel 4:30 he said, "Look how great Babylon is! I built it as my capital city to display my power and might, my glory and majesty."

2010-1 Chronicles 21:10 "Go and tell David that I am giving him three choices. I will do whichever he chooses."

2011-1 Kings 22:19 Micaiah went on: "Now listen to what the Lord says! I saw the Lord sitting on his throne in heaven, with all his angels standing beside him. 20 The Lord asked, "Who will deceive Ahab so that he will go and be killed at Ramoth?' Some of the angels said one thing, and others said something else, 21 until a spirit stepped forward, approached the Lord, and said, "I will deceive him.' 22 "How?' the Lord asked. The spirit replied, "I will go and make all of Ahab's prophets tell lies.' The Lord said, "Go and deceive him. You will succeed.' " 23 And Micaiah concluded: "This is what has happened. The Lord has made these prophets of yours lie to you. But he himself has decreed that you will meet with disaster!"

2012-2 Samuel 24:1 On another occasion the Lord was angry with Israel, and he made David bring trouble on them. The Lord said to him, "Go and count the people of Israel and Judah."

2013-1 Samuel 26:19 Your Majesty, listen to what I have to say. If it is the Lord who has turned you against me, an offering to him will make him change his mind; but if some people have done it, may the Lord's curse fall on them. For they have driven me out from the Lord's land to a country where I can only worship foreign gods.

2014-1 Chronicles 21:1 Satan wanted to bring trouble on the people of Israel, so he made David decide to take a census.

2015-James 1:13 If we are tempted by such trials, we must not say, "This temptation comes from God." For God cannot be tempted by evil, and he himself tempts no one. 14 But we are tempted when we are drawn away and trapped by our own evil desires. 15 Then our evil desires conceive and give birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death

2016-Exodus 4:21 Again the Lord said to Moses, "Now that you are going back to Egypt, be sure to perform before the king all the miracles which I have given you the power to do. But I will make the king stubborn, and he will not let the people go.

2017-1 Samuel 2:25 If anyone sins against someone else, God can defend the one who is wrong; but who can defend someone who sins against the Lord?" But they would not listen to their father, for the Lord had decided to kill them.

2018-1 Kin. 22:20 The Lord asked, "Who will deceive Ahab so that he will go and be killed at Ramoth?' Some of the angels said one thing, and others said something else, 21 until a spirit stepped forward, approached the Lord, and said, "I will deceive him.' 22 "How?' the Lord asked. The spirit replied, "I will go and make all of Ahab's prophets tell lies.' The Lord said, "Go and deceive him. You will succeed.' " 23 And Micaiah concluded: "This is what has happened. The Lord has made these prophets of yours lie to you. But he himself has decreed that you will meet with disaster!"

2019-Job 1:12 "All right," the Lord said to Satan, "everything he has is in your power, but you must not hurt Job himself." So Satan left.

2020-Ezekiel 14:9 "If any prophets are deceived into giving a false answer, it is because I, the Lord, have deceived them. I will remove them from the people of Israel.

2021-Acts 4:27 For indeed Herod and Pontius Pilate met together in this city with the Gentiles and the people of Israel against Jesus, your holy Servant, whom you made Messiah. 28 They gathered to do everything that you by your power and will had already decided would happen.

2022-James 1:13 If we are tempted by such trials, we must not say, "This temptation comes from God." For God cannot be tempted by evil, and he himself tempts no one.

2023-Numbers 1:2 "You and Aaron are to take a census of the people of Israel by clans and families. List the names of all the men 3 twenty years old or older who are fit for military service.

Numbers 26:2 "Take a census by families of the whole community of Israel, of all men twenty years old or older who are fit for military service." 3 Moses and Eleazar obeyed and called together all the men of that age group. They assembled in the plains of Moab across the Jordan River from Jericho. These were the Israelites who came out of Egypt: 5 The tribe of Reuben (Reuben was the oldest son of Jacob): the clans of Hanoch, Pallu, 6 Hezron, and Carmi. 7 These clans numbered 43,730 men. 8 The descendants of Pallu were Eliab 9 and his sons Nemuel, Dathan, and Abiram. (These are the Dathan and Abiram who were chosen by the community. They defied Moses and Aaron and joined the followers of Korah when they rebelled against the Lord. 10 The ground opened and swallowed them, and they died with Korah and his followers when fire destroyed 250 men; they became a warning to the people. 11 But the sons of Korah were not killed.) 12 The tribe of Simeon: the clans of Nemuel, Jamin, Jachin, 13 Zerah, and Shaul. 14 These clans numbered 22,200 men. 15 The tribe of Gad: the clans of Zephon, Haggi, Shuni, 16 Ozni, Eri, 17 Arod, and Areli. 18 These clans numbered 40,500 men. 19 The tribe of Judah: the clans of Shelah, Perez, Zerah, Hezron, and Hamul. (Two of Judah's sons, Er and Onan, had died in the land of Canaan.) 22 These clans numbered 76,500 men. 23 The tribe of Issachar: the clans of Tola, Puah, 24 Jashub, and Shimron. 25 These clans numbered 64,300 men. 26 The tribe of Zebulun: the clans of Sered, Elon, and Jahleel. 27 These clans numbered 60,500 men. 28 The tribes of Joseph, who was the father of two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim. 29 The tribe of Manasseh. Machir son of Manasseh was the father of Gilead, and the following clans traced their ancestry to Gilead: 30 the clans of Iezer, Helek, 31 Asriel, Shechem, 32 Shemida, and Hepher. 33 Zelophehad son of Hepher had no sons, but only daughters; their names were Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah. 34 These clans numbered 52,700 men. 35 The tribe of Ephraim: the clans of Shuthelah, Becher, and Tahan. 36 The clan of Eran traced its descent from Shuthelah. 37 These clans numbered 32,500 men. These are the clans descended from Joseph. 38 The tribe of Benjamin: the clans of Bela, Ashbel, Ahiram, 39 Shephupham, and Hupham. 40 The clans of Ard and Naaman traced their descent from Bela. 41 These clans numbered 45,600 men. 42 The tribe of Dan: the clan of Shuham, 43 which numbered 64,400 men. 44 The tribe of Asher: the clans of Imnah, Ishvi, and Beriah. 45 The clans of Heber and Malchiel traced their descent from Beriah. 46 Asher had a daughter named Serah. 47 These clans numbered 53,400 men. 48 The tribe of Naphtali: the clans of Jahzeel, Guni, 49 Jezer, and Shillem. 50 These clans numbered 45,400 men. 51 The total number of the Israelite men was 601,730. 52 The Lord said to Moses, 53 "Divide the land among the tribes, according to their size. 54 Divide the land by drawing lots, and give a large share to a large tribe and a small one to a small tribe." 57 The tribe of Levi consisted of the clans of Gershon, Kohath, and Merari. 58 Their descendants included the subclans of Libni, Hebron, Mahli, Mushi, and Korah. Kohath was the father of Amram, 59 who was married to Levi's daughter Jochebed, who was born in Egypt. She bore Amram two sons, Aaron and Moses, and a daughter, Miriam. 60 Aaron had four sons, Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar.

2024-2 Samuel 24:1 On another occasion the Lord was angry with Israel, and he made David bring trouble on them. The Lord said to him, "Go and count the people of Israel and Judah."

2025-1 Chronicles 21:1 Satan wanted to bring trouble on the people of Israel, so he made David decide to take a census.

2026-1 Chronicles 21:14 So the Lord sent an epidemic on the people of Israel, and seventy thousand of them died.

2027-James 1:14 But we are tempted when we are drawn away and trapped by our own evil desires. 15 Then our evil desires conceive and give birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.

2028-Job 1:12 "All right," the Lord said to Satan, "everything he has is in your power, but you must not hurt Job himself." So Satan left.

Job 2:6 So the Lord said to Satan, "All right, he is in your power, but you are not to kill him."

2029-1 Samuel 16:14 The Lord's spirit left Saul, and an evil spirit sent by the Lord tormented him.

2030-Job 1:2 He had seven sons and three daughters,

2031-Zechariah 3:1 In another vision the Lord showed me the High Priest Joshua standing before the angel of the Lord. And there beside Joshua stood Satan, ready to bring an accusation against him.

2032-Psalms 20:7 Some trust in their war chariots and others in their horses, but we trust in the power of the Lord our God.

2033-Exodus 30:11 The Lord said to Moses, 12 "When you take a census of the people of Israel, each man is to pay me a price for his life, so that no disaster will come on him while the census is being taken. 13 Everyone included in the census must pay the required amount of money, weighed according to the official standard. Everyone must pay this as an offering to me. 14 Everyone being counted in the census, that is, every man twenty years old or older, is to pay me this amount. 15 The rich man is not to pay more, nor the poor man less, when they pay this amount for their lives. 16 Collect this money from the people of Israel and spend it for the upkeep of the Tent of my presence. This tax will be the payment for their lives, and I will remember to protect them."

2034-2 Samuel 24:9 They reported to the king the total number of men capable of military service: 800,000 in Israel and 500,000 in Judah.

2035-1 Chronicles 21:5 He reported to King David the total number of men capable of military service: 1,100,000 in Israel and 470,000 in Judah.

2036-2 Chronicles 2:2 He put 70,000 men to work transporting materials, and 80,000 to work cutting stone in the hill country. There were 3,600 others responsible for supervising the work.

2 Chronicles 2:18 He assigned 70,000 of them to transport materials and 80,000 to cut stones in the mountains, and appointed 3,600 supervisors to make sure the work was done.

2037-1 Chronicles 19:18 and the Israelites drove the Syrian army back. David and his men killed seven thousand Syrian chariot drivers and forty thousand foot soldiers. They also killed the Syrian commander, Shobach.

2038-1 Chronicles 21:5 He reported to King David the total number of men capable of military service: 1,100,000 in Israel and 470,000 in Judah.

1 Chronicles 21:25 And he paid Araunah six hundred gold coins for the threshing place.

2039-2 Chronicles 2:2 He put 70,000 men to work transporting materials, and 80,000 to work cutting stone in the hill country. There were 3,600 others responsible for supervising the work

2 Chronicles 2:18 He assigned 70,000 of them to transport materials and 80,000 to cut stones in the mountains, and appointed 3,600 supervisors to make sure the work was done.

2 Chronicles 2:10 As provisions for your lumbermen, I will send you 100,000 bushels of wheat, 100,000 bushels of barley, 110,000 gallons of wine, and 110,000 gallons of olive oil."

2 Chronicles 8:10 There were 250 officials in charge of the forced labor working on the various building projects.

2040-1 Chronicles 21:5 He reported to King David the total number of men capable of military service: 1,100,000 in Israel and 470,000 in Judah.

2041-2 Chronicles 9:16 and three hundred smaller shields, each covered with about eight pounds of beaten gold. He had them all placed in the Hall of the Forest of Lebanon.

2042-1 Chronicles 11:11 First was Jashobeam of the clan of Hachmon, the leader of "The Three." He fought with his spear against three hundred men and killed them all in one battle.

2043-2 Chronicles 3:15 The king had two columns made, each one 52 feet tall, and placed them in front of the Temple. Each one had a capital 7 1/2 feet tall.

2 Chronicles 4:5 The sides of the tank were 3 inches thick. Its rim was like the rim of a cup, curving outward like the petals of a flower. The tank held about 15,000 gallons.

2 Chronicles 22:2 Ahaziah became king at the age of twenty-two, and he ruled in Jerusalem for one year. Ahaziah also followed the example of King Ahab's family, since his mother Athaliah - the daughter of King Ahab and granddaughter of King Omri of Israel - gave him advice that led him into evil.

2 Chronicles 36:9 Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he became king of Judah, and he ruled in Jerusalem for three months and ten days. He too sinned against the Lord.

2044-2 Chronicles 8:18 King Hiram sent him ships under the command of his own officers and with experienced sailors. They sailed with Solomon's officers to the land of Ophir and brought back to Solomon about sixteen tons of gold.

2045-1 Chronicles 21:14 So the Lord sent an epidemic on the people of Israel, and seventy thousand of them died. 15 Then he sent an angel to destroy Jerusalem, but he changed his mind and said to the angel, "Stop! That's enough!" The angel was standing by the threshing place of Araunah, a Jebusite.

2046-1 Chronicles 21:30 but David was not able to go there to worship God, because he was afraid of the sword of the Lord's angel.

2047-1 Chronicles 23:2 King David brought together all the Israelite leaders and all the priests and Levites. 3 He took a census of all the male Levites aged thirty or older. The total was thirty-eight thousand. 4 The king assigned twenty-four thousand to administer the work of the Temple, six thousand to keep records and decide disputes, 5 four thousand to do guard duty, and four thousand to praise the Lord, using the musical instruments provided by the king for this purpose.

2048-1 Chronicles 25:1 King David and the leaders of the Levites chose the following Levite clans to lead the worship services: Asaph, Heman, and Jeduthun. They were to proclaim God's messages, accompanied by the music of harps and cymbals. This is the list of persons chosen to lead the worship, with the type of service that each group performed: 2 The four sons of Asaph: Zaccur, Joseph, Nethaniah, and Asharelah. They were under the direction of Asaph, who proclaimed God's messages whenever the king commanded. 3 The six sons of Jeduthun: Gedaliah, Zeri, Jeshaiah, Shimei, Hashabiah, and Mattithiah. Under the direction of their father they proclaimed God's message, accompanied by the music of harps, and sang praise and thanks to the Lord. 4 The fourteen sons of Heman: Bukkiah, Mattaniah, Uzziel, Shebuel, Jerimoth, Hananiah, Hanani, Eliathah, Giddalti, Romamti Ezer, Joshbekashah, Mallothi, Hothir, and Mahazioth. 5 God gave to Heman, the king's prophet, these fourteen sons and also three daughters, as he had promised, in order to give power to Heman. 6 All of his sons played cymbals and harps under their father's direction, to accompany the Temple worship. And Asaph, Jeduthun, and Heman were under orders from the king. 7 All these twenty-four men were experts; and their fellow Levites were trained musicians. There were 288 men in all. 8 To determine the assignment of duties they all drew lots, whether they were young or old, experts or beginners. 9 These 288 men were divided according to families into twenty-four groups of twelve, with a leader in charge of each group. This is the order in which they were on duty: 1) Joseph of the family of Asaph; 2) Gedaliah; 3) Zaccur; 4) Zeri; 5) Nethaniah; 6) Bukkiah; 7) Asharelah; 8) Jeshaiah; 9) Mattaniah; 10) Shimei; 11) Uzziel; 12) Hashabiah; 13) Shebuel; 14) Mattithiah; 15) Jerimoth; 16) Hananiah; 17) Joshbekashah; 18) Hanani; 19) Mallothi; 20) Eliathah; 21) Hothir; 22) Giddalti; 23) Mahazioth; 24) Romamti Ezer.

2049-1 Chronicles 25:1 King David and the leaders of the Levites chose the following Levite clans to lead the worship services: Asaph, Heman, and Jeduthun. They were to proclaim God's messages, accompanied by the music of harps and cymbals. This is the list of persons chosen to lead the worship, with the type of service that each group performed:

2050-2 Chron. 29:30 The king and the leaders of the nation told the Levites to sing to the Lord the songs of praise that were written by David and by Asaph the prophet. So everyone sang with great joy as they knelt and worshiped God.

2051-1 Samuel 9:9 Saul replied, "A good idea! Let's go." So they went to the town where the holy man lived. As they were going up the hill to the town, they met some young women who were coming out to draw water. They asked these women, "Is the seer in town?" (At that time a prophet was called a seer, and so whenever someone wanted to ask God a question, he would say, "Let's go to the seer.")

2052-Luke 11:2 Jesus said to them, "When you pray, say this: "Father: May your holy name be honored; may your Kingdom come. 3 Give us day by day the food we need. 4 Forgive us our sins, for we forgive everyone who does us wrong. And do not bring us to hard testing.' "

2053-Matthew 6:9 This, then, is how you should pray: "Our Father in heaven: May your holy name be honored; 10 may your Kingdom come; may your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. 11 Give us today the food we need. 12 Forgive us the wrongs we have done, as we forgive the wrongs that others have done to us. 13 Do not bring us to hard testing, but keep us safe from the Evil One.'

2054-Luke 11:2 Jesus said to them, "When you pray, say this: "Father: May your holy name be honored; may your Kingdom come. 3 Give us day by day the food we need. 4 Forgive us our sins, for we forgive everyone who does us wrong. And do not bring us to hard testing.' "

2055-1 Chronicles 29:9 The people had given willingly to the Lord, and they were happy that so much had been given. King David also was extremely happy.

1 Chronicles 29:17 I know that you test everyone's heart and are pleased with people of integrity. In honesty and sincerity I have willingly given all this to you, and I have seen how your people who are gathered here have been happy to bring offerings to you. 18 Lord God of our ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, keep such devotion forever strong in your people's hearts and keep them always faithful to you. 19 Give my son Solomon a wholehearted desire to obey everything that you command and to build the Temple for which I have made these preparations."

2056-Psalms 51:10 Create a pure heart in me, O God, and put a new and loyal spirit in me.

2057-1 Chronicles 22:8 But the Lord told me that I had killed too many people and fought too many wars. And so, because of all the bloodshed I have caused, he would not let me build a temple for him.

1 Chronicles 28:3 but he has forbidden me to do it, because I am a soldier and have shed too much blood.

2058-1 Chronicles 29:29 The history of King David from beginning to end is recorded in the records of the three prophets, Samuel, Nathan, and Gad.

2059-2 Chronicles 32:32 Everything else that King Hezekiah did and his devotion to the Lord are recorded in [The Vision of the Prophet Isaiah Son of Amoz] and in [The History of the Kings of Judah and Israel.]

2 Chronicles 33:18 Everything else that Manasseh did, the prayer he made to his God, and the messages of the prophets who spoke to him in the name of the Lord, the God of Israel, are all recorded in [The History of the Kings of Israel.] 19 The king's prayer and God's answer to it, and an account of the sins he committed before he repented - the evil he did, the pagan places of worship and the symbols of the goddess Asherah that he made and the idols that he worshiped - are all recorded in [The History of the Prophets.] 20 Manasseh died and was buried at the palace, and his son Amon succeeded him as king.

2060-2 Chr. 36:22 In the first year that Cyrus of Persia was emperor, the Lord made what he had said through the prophet Jeremiah come true. He prompted Cyrus to issue the following command and send it out in writing to be read aloud everywhere in his empire: 23 "This is the command of Cyrus, Emperor of Persia. The Lord, the God of Heaven, has made me ruler over the whole world and has given me the responsibility of building a temple for him in Jerusalem in Judah. Now, all of you who are God's people, go there, and may the Lord your God be with you."

2061-Ezra 1:1 In the first year that Cyrus of Persia was emperor, the Lord made what he had said through the prophet Jeremiah come true. He prompted Cyrus to issue the following command and send it out in writing to be read aloud everywhere in his empire: 2 "This is the command of Cyrus, Emperor of Persia. The Lord, the God of Heaven, has made me ruler over the whole world and has given me the responsibility of building a temple for him in Jerusalem in Judah. 3 May God be with all of you who are his people. You are to go to Jerusalem and rebuild the Temple of the Lord, the God of Israel, the God who is worshiped in Jerusalem.

2062-Matt. 1:1 This is the list of the ancestors of Jesus Christ, a descendant of David, who was a descendant of Abraham. 2 a From Abraham to King David, the following ancestors are listed: Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Judah and his brothers; then Perez and Zerah (their mother was Tamar), Hezron, Ram, Amminadab, Nahshon, Salmon, Boaz (his mother was Rahab), Obed (his mother was Ruth), Jesse, and King David. 6 b-11 From David to the time when the people of Israel were taken into exile in Babylon, the following ancestors are listed: David, Solomon (his mother was the woman who had been Uriah's wife), Rehoboam, Abijah, Asa, Jehoshaphat, Jehoram, Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, Hezekiah, Manasseh, Amon, Josiah, and Jehoiachin and his brothers. 12 From the time after the exile in Babylon to the birth of Jesus, the following ancestors are listed: Jehoiachin, Shealtiel, Zerubbabel, Abiud, Eliakim, Azor, Zadok, Achim, Eliud, Eleazar, Matthan, Jacob, and Joseph, who married Mary, the mother of Jesus, who was called the Messiah. 17 So then, there were fourteen generations from Abraham to David, and fourteen from David to the exile in Babylon, and fourteen from then to the birth of the Messiah. 18 This was how the birth of Jesus Christ took place. His mother Mary was engaged to Joseph, but before they were married, she found out that she was going to have a baby by the Holy Spirit. 19 Joseph was a man who always did what was right, but he did not want to disgrace Mary publicly; so he made plans to break the engagement privately. 20 While he was thinking about this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, "Joseph, descendant of David, do not be afraid to take Mary to be your wife. For it is by the Holy Spirit that she has conceived. 21 She will have a son, and you will name him Jesus - because he will save his people from their sins." 22 Now all this happened in order to make come true what the Lord had said through the prophet, 23 "A virgin will become pregnant and have a son, and he will be called Immanuel" (which means, "God is with us"). 24 So when Joseph woke up, he married Mary, as the angel of the Lord had told him to. 25 But he had no sexual relations with her before she gave birth to her son. And Joseph named him Jesus.

2063-Luke 3:23 When Jesus began his work, he was about thirty years old. He was the son, so people thought, of Joseph, who was the son of Heli, 24 the son of Matthat, the son of Levi, the son of Melchi, the son of Jannai, the son of Joseph, 25 the son of Mattathias, the son of Amos, the son of Nahum, the son of Esli, the son of Naggai, 26 the son of Maath, the son of Mattathias, the son of Semein, the son of Josech, the son of Joda, 27 the son of Joanan, the son of Rhesa, the son of Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel, the son of Neri, 28 the son of Melchi, the son of Addi, the son of Cosam, the son of Elmadam, the son of Er, 29 the son of Joshua, the son of Eliezer, the son of Jorim, the son of Matthat, the son of Levi, 30 the son of Simeon, the son of Judah, the son of Joseph, the son of Jonam, the son of Eliakim, 31 the son of Melea, the son of Menna, the son of Mattatha, the son of Nathan, the son of David, 32 the son of Jesse, the son of Obed, the son of Boaz, the son of Salmon, the son of Nahshon, 33 the son of Amminadab, the son of Admin, the son of Arni, the son of Hezron, the son of Perez, the son of Judah, 34 the son of Jacob, the son of Isaac, the son of Abraham, the son of Terah, the son of Nahor, 35 the son of Serug, the son of Reu, the son of Peleg, the son of Eber, the son of Shelah, 36 the son of Cainan, the son of Arphaxad, the son of Shem, the son of Noah, the son of Lamech, 37 the son of Methuselah, the son of Enoch, the son of Jared, the son of Mahalaleel, the son of Kenan, 38 the son of Enosh, the son of Seth, the son of Adam, the son of God.

2064-1 Chron. 29:7 the following for the work on the Temple: 190 tons of gold, 380 tons of silver, 675 tons of bronze, and 3,750 tons of iron.

2065-1 Chron. 3:19 Pedaiah had two sons, Zerubbabel and Shimei. Zerubbabel was the father of two sons, Meshullam and Hananiah, and one daughter, Shelomith. 20 He had five other sons: Hashubah, Ohel, Berechiah, Hasadiah, and Jushab Hesed. 21 Hananiah had two sons, Pelatiah and Jeshaiah. Jeshaiah was the father of Rephaiah, who was the father of Arnan, the father of Obadiah, the father of Shecaniah. 22 Shecaniah had one son, Shemaiah, and five grandsons: Hattush, Igal, Bariah, Neariah, and Shaphat. 23 Neariah had three sons: Elioenai, Hizkiah, and Azrikam. 24 Elioenai had seven sons: Hodaviah, Eliashib, Pelaiah, Akkub, Johanan, Delaiah, and Anani.

2066-Ezra 1:1 In the first year that Cyrus of Persia was emperor, the Lord made what he had said through the prophet Jeremiah come true. He prompted Cyrus to issue the following command and send it out in writing to be read aloud everywhere in his empire: 2 "This is the command of Cyrus, Emperor of Persia. The Lord, the God of Heaven, has made me ruler over the whole world and has given me the responsibility of building a temple for him in Jerusalem in Judah.

2067-Ezra 2:2 Their leaders were Zerubbabel, Joshua, Nehemiah, Seraiah, Reelaiah, Mordecai, Bilshan, Mispar, Bigvai, Rehum, and Baanah. This is the list of the clans of Israel, with the number of those from each clan who returned from exile:

2068-Neh. 12:10 Joshua was the father of Joiakim; Joiakim was the father of Eliashib; Eliashib was the father of Joiada; 11 Joiada was the father of Jonathan; and Jonathan was the father of Jaddua.

Nehemiah 12:22 A record was kept of the heads of the Levite families and of the priestly families during the lifetimes of the following High Priests: Eliashib, Joiada, Jonathan, and Jaddua. This record was finished when Darius was emperor of Persia. 23 The heads of the Levite families, however, were recorded in the official records only until the time of Jonathan, the grandson of Eliashib.

2069-2 Chronicles 16:11 All the events of Asa's reign from beginning to end are recorded in [The History of the Kings of Judah and Israel.]

2 Chronicles 20:34 Everything else that Jehoshaphat did, from the beginning of his reign to its end, is recorded in [The History of Jehu Son of Hanani,] which is a part of [The History of the Kings of Israel.]

2 Chronicles 25:26 All the other things that Amaziah did from the beginning to the end of his reign are recorded in [The History of the Kings of Judah and Israel.]

2 Chronicles 28:26 All the other events of his reign, from beginning to end, are recorded in [The History of the Kings of Judah and Israel.]

2 Chronicles 32:32 Everything else that King Hezekiah did and his devotion to the Lord are recorded in [The Vision of the Prophet Isaiah Son of Amoz] and in [The History of the Kings of Judah and Israel.]

2 Chronicles 35:27 and his history from beginning to end - is all recorded in [The History of the Kings of Israel and Judah.]

2 Chronicles 36:8 Everything that Jehoiakim did, including his disgusting practices and the evil he committed, is recorded in [The History of the Kings of Israel and Judah.] His son Jehoiachin succeeded him as king.

2070-2 Chronicles 2:1 King Solomon decided to build a temple where the Lord would be worshiped, and also to build a palace for himself. 2 He put 70,000 men to work transporting materials, and 80,000 to work cutting stone in the hill country. There were 3,600 others responsible for supervising the work. 3 Solomon sent a message to King Hiram of Tyre: "Do business with me as you did with my father, King David, when you sold him cedar logs for building his palace. 4 I am building a temple to honor the Lord my God. It will be a holy place where my people and I will worship him by burning incense of fragrant spices, where we will present offerings of sacred bread to him continuously, and where we will offer burnt offerings every morning and evening, as well as on Sabbaths, New Moon Festivals, and other holy days honoring the Lord our God. He has commanded Israel to do this forever. 5 I intend to build a great temple, because our God is greater than any other god. 6 Yet no one can really build a temple for God, because even all the vastness of heaven cannot contain him. How then can I build a temple that would be anything more than a place to burn incense to God? 7 Now send me a man with skill in engraving, in working gold, silver, bronze, and iron, and in making blue, purple, and red cloth. He will work with the craftsmen of Judah and Jerusalem whom my father David selected. 8 I know how skillful your lumbermen are, so send me cedar, cypress, and juniper logs from Lebanon. I am ready to send my men to assist yours 9 in preparing large quantities of timber, because this temple I intend to build will be large and magnificent. 10 As provisions for your lumbermen, I will send you 100,000 bushels of wheat, 100,000 bushels of barley, 110,000 gallons of wine, and 110,000 gallons of olive oil." 11 King Hiram sent Solomon a letter in reply. He wrote, "Because the Lord loves his people, he has made you their king. 12 Praise the Lord God of Israel, Creator of heaven and earth! He has given King David a wise son, full of understanding and skill, who now plans to build a temple for the Lord and a palace for himself. 13 I am sending you a wise and skillful master metalworker named Huram. 14 His mother was a member of the tribe of Dan and his father was a native of Tyre. He knows how to make things out of gold, silver, bronze, iron, stone, and wood. He can work with blue, purple, and red cloth, and with linen. He can do all sorts of engraving and can follow any design suggested to him. Let him work with your skilled workers and with those who worked for your father, King David. 15 So now send us the wheat, barley, wine, and olive oil that you promised. 16 In the mountains of Lebanon we will cut down all the cedars you need, tie them together in rafts, and float them by sea as far as Joppa. From there you can take them to Jerusalem." 17 King Solomon took a census of all the foreigners living in the land of Israel, similar to the census his father David had taken. There were 153,600 resident foreigners. 18 He assigned 70,000 of them to transport materials and 80,000 to cut stones in the mountains, and appointed 3,600 supervisors to make sure the work was done.

2 Chronicles 3:1 King David, Solomon's father, had already prepared a place for the Temple. It was in Jerusalem, on Mount Moriah, where the Lord appeared to David, at the place which Araunah the Jebusite had used as a threshing place. King Solomon began the construction 2 in the second month of the fourth year that he was king. 3 The Temple which King Solomon built was 90 feet long and 30 feet wide. 4 The entrance room was the full width of the Temple, 30 feet, and was 180 feet high. The inside of the room was overlaid with pure gold. 5 The main room was paneled with cedar and overlaid with fine gold, in which were worked designs of palm trees and chain patterns. 6 The king decorated the Temple with beautiful precious stones and with gold imported from the land of Parvaim. 7 He used the gold to overlay the Temple walls, the rafters, the entryways, and the doors. On the walls the workers carved designs of winged creatures. 8 The inner room, called the Most Holy Place, was 30 feet long and 30 feet wide, which was the full width of the Temple. Twenty-five tons of gold were used to cover the walls of the Most Holy Place; 9 twenty ounces of gold were used for making nails, and the walls of the upper rooms were also covered with gold. 10 The king also had his workers make two winged creatures out of metal, cover them with gold, and place them in the Most Holy Place, 11 where they stood side by side facing the entrance. Each had two wings, each wing 7 1/2 feet long, which were spread out so that they touched each other in the center of the room and reached to the wall on either side of the room, stretching across the full width of 30 feet. 14 A curtain for the Most Holy Place was made of linen and of other material, which was dyed blue, purple, and red, with designs of the winged creatures worked into it. 15 The king had two columns made, each one 52 feet tall, and placed them in front of the Temple. Each one had a capital 7 1/2 feet tall.

2 Chronicles 4:1 King Solomon had a bronze altar made, which was 30 feet square and 15 feet high. 2 He also made a round tank of bronze, 7 1/2 feet deep, 15 feet in diameter, and 45 feet in circumference. 3 All around the outer edge of the rim of the tank were two rows of decorations, one above the other. The decorations were in the shape of bulls, which had been cast all in one piece with the rest of the tank. 4 The tank rested on the backs of twelve bronze bulls that faced outward, three facing in each direction. 5 The sides of the tank were 3 inches thick. Its rim was like the rim of a cup, curving outward like the petals of a flower. The tank held about 15,000 gallons. 6 They also made ten basins, five to be placed on the south side of the Temple and five on the north side. They were to be used to rinse the parts of the animals that were burned as sacrifices. The water in the large tank was for the priests to use for washing. 7 They made ten gold lampstands according to the usual pattern, and ten tables, and placed them in the main room of the Temple, five lampstands and five tables on each side. They also made a hundred gold bowls. 9 They made an inner courtyard for the priests, and also an outer courtyard. The doors in the gates between the courtyards were covered with bronze. 10 The tank was placed near the southeast corner of the Temple. 11 Huram also made pots, shovels, and bowls. He completed all the objects that he had promised King Solomon he would make for the Temple: The two columns The two bowl-shaped capitals on top of the columns The design of interwoven chains on each capital The 400 bronze pomegranates arranged in two rows around the design of each capital The ten carts The ten basins The tank The twelve bulls supporting the tank The pots, shovels, and forks Huram the master metalworker made all these objects out of polished bronze, as King Solomon had commanded, for use in the Temple of the Lord. 17 The king had them all made in the foundry between Sukkoth and Zeredah in the Jordan Valley. 18 So many objects were made that no one determined the total weight of the bronze used. 19 King Solomon also had gold furnishings made for the Temple: the altar and the tables for the bread offered to God; 20 the lampstands and the lamps of fine gold that were to burn in front of the Most Holy Place, according to plan; 21 the flower decorations, the lamps, and the tongs; 22 the lamp snuffers, the bowls, the dishes for incense, and the pans used for carrying live coals. All these objects were made of pure gold. The outer doors of the Temple and the doors to the Most Holy Place were overlaid with gold.

2 Chronicles 5:1 When King Solomon finished all the work on the Temple, he placed in the Temple storerooms all the things that his father David had dedicated to the Lord - the silver, gold, and other articles. 2 Then King Solomon summoned all the leaders of the tribes and clans of Israel to assemble in Jerusalem, in order to take the Lord's Covenant Box from Zion, David's City, to the Temple. 3 They all assembled at the time of the Festival of Shelters. 4 When all the leaders had gathered, then the Levites lifted the Covenant Box 5 and carried it to the Temple. The priests and the Levites also moved the Tent of the Lord's presence and all its equipment to the Temple. 6 King Solomon and all the people of Israel assembled in front of the Covenant Box and sacrificed a large number of sheep and cattle - too many to count. 7 Then the priests carried the Covenant Box of the Lord into the Temple and put it in the Most Holy Place, beneath the winged creatures. 8 Their outstretched wings covered the Box and the poles it was carried by. 9 The ends of the poles could be seen by anyone standing directly in front of the Most Holy Place, but from nowhere else. (The poles are still there today.) 10 There was nothing inside the Covenant Box except the two stone tablets which Moses had placed there at Mount Sinai, when the Lord made a covenant with the people of Israel as they were coming from Egypt. 11 All the priests present, regardless of the group to which they belonged, had consecrated themselves. And all the Levite musicians - Asaph, Heman, and Jeduthun, and the members of their clans - were wearing linen clothing. The Levites stood near the east side of the altar with cymbals and harps, and with them were 120 priests playing trumpets. The singers were accompanied in perfect harmony by trumpets, cymbals, and other instruments, as they praised the Lord singing: "Praise the Lord, because he is good, And his love is eternal." As the priests were leaving the Temple, it was suddenly filled with a cloud shining with the dazzling light of the Lord's presence, and they could not continue the service of worship.

2 Chronicles 6:1 Then King Solomon prayed, "Lord, you have chosen to live in clouds and darkness. 2 Now I have built a majestic temple for you, a place for you to live in forever." 3 All the people of Israel were standing there. The king turned to face them and asked God's blessing on them. 4 He said, "Praise the Lord God of Israel! He has kept the promise he made to my father David when he said to him, 5 "From the time I brought my people out of Egypt until now, I did not choose any city in the land of Israel as the place to build a temple where I would be worshiped, and I did not choose anyone to lead my people Israel. 6 But now I have chosen Jerusalem as the place where I will be worshiped, and you, David, to rule my people.' " 7 And Solomon continued, "My father David planned to build a temple for the worship of the Lord God of Israel, 8 but the Lord said to him, "You were right in wanting to build a temple for me, 9 but you will never build it. It is your son, your own son, who will build my temple.' 10 "Now the Lord has kept his promise: I have succeeded my father as king of Israel, and I have built a temple for the worship of the Lord God of Israel. 11 I have placed in the Temple the Covenant Box, which contains the stone tablets of the covenant which the Lord made with the people of Israel." 12 Then in the presence of the people Solomon went and stood in front of the altar and raised his arms in prayer 13 (Solomon had made a bronze platform and put it in the middle of the courtyard. It was eight feet square and five feet high. He mounted this platform, knelt down where everyone could see him, and raised his hands toward heaven.) 14 He prayed, "Lord God of Israel, in all heaven and earth there is no god like you. You keep your covenant with your people and show them your love when they live in wholehearted obedience to you. 15 You have kept the promise you made to my father David; today every word has been fulfilled. 16 Now, Lord God of Israel, keep the other promise you made to my father when you told him that there would always be one of his descendants ruling as king of Israel, provided that they carefully obeyed your Law just as he did. 17 So now, Lord God of Israel, let everything come true that you promised to your servant David. 18 "But can you, O God, really live on earth among men and women? Not even all of heaven is large enough to hold you, so how can this Temple that I have built be large enough? 19 Lord my God, I am your servant. Listen to my prayer and grant the requests I make to you. 20 Watch over this Temple day and night. You have promised that this is where you will be worshiped, so hear me when I face this Temple and pray. 21 Hear my prayers and the prayers of your people Israel when they face this place and pray. In your home in heaven hear us and forgive us. 22 "When people are accused of wronging others and are brought to your altar in this Temple to take an oath that they are innocent, 23 O Lord, listen in heaven and judge your servants. Punish the guilty ones as they deserve and acquit the innocent. 24 "When your people Israel are defeated by their enemies because they have sinned against you and then when they turn to you and come to this Temple, humbly praying to you for forgiveness, 25 listen to them in heaven. Forgive the sins of your people and bring them back to the land which you gave to them and to their ancestors. 26 "When you hold back the rain because your people have sinned against you and then when they repent and face this Temple, humbly praying to you, 27 O Lord, listen to them in heaven and forgive the sins of your servants, the people of Israel, and teach them to do what is right. Then, O Lord, send rain on this land of yours, which you gave to your people as a permanent possession. 28 "When there is famine in the land or an epidemic or the crops are destroyed by scorching winds or swarms of locusts, or when your people are attacked by their enemies, or when there is disease or sickness among them, 29 listen to their prayers. If any of your people Israel, out of heartfelt sorrow, stretch out their hands in prayer toward this Temple, 30 hear their prayer. Listen to them in your home in heaven and forgive them. You alone know the thoughts of the human heart. Deal with each of us as we deserve, 31 so that your people may honor you and obey you all the time they live in the land which you gave to our ancestors. 32 "When foreigners who live in a distant land hear how great and powerful you are and how you are always ready to act, and then they come to pray at this Temple, 33 listen to their prayers. In heaven, where you live, hear them and do what they ask you to do, so that all the peoples of the world may know you and obey you, as your people Israel do. Then they will know that this Temple I have built is where you are to be worshiped. 34 "When you command your people to go into battle against their enemies and they pray to you, wherever they are, facing this city which you have chosen and this Temple which I have built for you, 35 listen to their prayers. Hear them in heaven and give them victory. 36 "When your people sin against you - and there is no one who does not sin - and in your anger you let their enemies defeat them and take them as prisoners to some other land, even if that land is far away, 37 listen to your people's prayers. If there in that land they repent and pray to you, confessing how sinful and wicked they have been, hear their prayers, O Lord. 38 If in that land they truly and sincerely repent and pray to you as they face toward this land which you gave to our ancestors, this city which you have chosen, and this Temple which I have built for you, 39 then listen to their prayers. In your home in heaven hear them and be merciful to them and forgive all the sins of your people. 40 "Now, O my God, look on us and listen to the prayers offered in this place. 41 Rise up now, Lord God, and with the Covenant Box, the symbol of your power, enter the Temple and stay here forever. Bless your priests in all they do, and may all your people be happy because of your goodness to them. 42 Lord God, do not reject the king you have chosen. Remember the love you had for your servant David."

2 Chronicles 7:1 When King Solomon finished his prayer, fire came down from heaven and burned up the sacrifices that had been offered, and the dazzling light of the Lord's presence filled the Temple. 2 Because the Temple was full of the dazzling light, the priests could not enter it. 3 When the people of Israel saw the fire fall from heaven and the light fill the Temple, they fell face downward on the pavement, worshiping God and praising him for his goodness and his eternal love. 4 Then Solomon and all the people offered sacrifices to the Lord. 5 He sacrificed 22,000 head of cattle and 120,000 sheep as fellowship offerings. And so he and all the people dedicated the Temple. 6 The priests stood in the places that were assigned to them, and facing them stood the Levites, praising the Lord with the musical instruments that King David had provided and singing the hymn, "His Love Is Eternal!" as they had been commissioned by David. The priests blew trumpets while all the people stood. 7 Solomon consecrated the central part of the courtyard, the area in front of the Temple, and then offered there the sacrifices burned whole, the grain offerings, and the fat from the fellowship offerings. He did this because the bronze altar which he had made was too small for all these offerings. 8 Solomon and all the people of Israel celebrated the Festival of Shelters for seven days. There was a huge crowd of people from as far away as Hamath Pass in the north and the Egyptian border in the south. 9 They had spent seven days for the dedication of the altar and then seven more days for the festival. On the last day they had a closing celebration, 10 and on the following day, the twenty-third day of the seventh month, Solomon sent the people home. They were happy about all the blessings that the Lord had given to his people Israel, to David, and to Solomon. 11 After King Solomon had finished the Temple and the palace, successfully completing all his plans for them, 12 the Lord appeared to him at night. He said to him, "I have heard your prayer, and I accept this Temple as the place where sacrifices are to be offered to me. 13 Whenever I hold back the rain or send locusts to eat up the crops or send an epidemic on my people, 14 if they pray to me and repent and turn away from the evil they have been doing, then I will hear them in heaven, forgive their sins, and make their land prosperous again. 15 I will watch over this Temple and be ready to hear all the prayers that are offered here, 16 because I have chosen it and consecrated it as the place where I will be worshiped forever. I will watch over it and protect it for all time. 17 If you serve me faithfully as your father David did, obeying my laws and doing everything I have commanded you, 18 I will keep the promise I made to your father David when I told him that Israel would always be ruled by his descendants. 19 But if you and your people ever disobey the laws and commands I have given you and worship other gods, 20 then I will remove you from the land that I gave you, and I will abandon this Temple that I have consecrated as the place where I am to be worshiped. People everywhere will ridicule it and treat it with contempt. 21 "The Temple is now greatly honored, but then everyone who passes by it will be amazed and will ask, "Why did the Lord do this to this land and this Temple?' 22 People will answer, "It is because they abandoned the Lord their God, who brought their ancestors out of Egypt. They gave their allegiance to other gods and worshiped them. That is why the Lord has brought this disaster on them.' "

2 Chronicles 8:1 It took Solomon twenty years to build the Temple and his palace.

2071-2 Chronicles 20:5 and they and the people of Jerusalem gathered in the new courtyard of the Temple. King Jehoshaphat went and stood before them 6 and prayed aloud, "O Lord God of our ancestors, you rule in heaven over all the nations of the world. You are powerful and mighty, and no one can oppose you. 7 You are our God. When your people Israel moved into this land, you drove out the people who were living here and gave the land to the descendants of Abraham, your friend, to be theirs forever. 8 They have lived here and have built a temple to honor you, knowing 9 that if any disaster struck them to punish them - a war, an epidemic, or a famine - then they could come and stand in front of this Temple where you are worshiped. They could pray to you in their trouble, and you would hear them and rescue them. 10 "Now the people of Ammon, Moab, and Edom have attacked us. When our ancestors came out of Egypt, you did not allow them to enter those lands, so our ancestors went around them and did not destroy them. 11 This is how they repay us - they come to drive us out of the land that you gave us. 12 You are our God! Punish them, for we are helpless in the face of this large army that is attacking us. We do not know what to do, but we look to you for help." 13 All the men of Judah, with their wives and children, were standing there at the Temple.

2 Chronicles 20:24 When the Judean army reached a tower that was in the desert, they looked toward the enemy and saw that they were all lying on the ground dead. Not one had escaped. 25 Jehoshaphat and his troops moved in to take the loot, and they found many cattle, supplies, clothing, and other valuable objects. They spent three days gathering the loot, but there was so much that they could not take everything. 26 On the fourth day they assembled in Beracah Valley and praised the Lord for all he had done. That is why the valley is called "Beracah." 27 Jehoshaphat led his troops back to Jerusalem in triumph, because the Lord had defeated their enemies. 28 When they reached the city, they marched to the Temple to the music of harps and trumpets. 29 Every nation that heard how the Lord had defeated Israel's enemies was terrified, 30 so Jehoshaphat ruled in peace, and God gave him security on every side.

2 Chronicles 23:12 Athaliah heard the people cheering for the king, so she hurried to the Temple, where the crowd had gathered. 13 There she saw the new king at the Temple entrance, standing by the column reserved for kings and surrounded by the army officers and the trumpeters. All the people were shouting joyfully and blowing trumpets, and the Temple musicians with their instruments were leading the celebration. She tore her clothes in distress and shouted, "Treason! Treason!" 14 Jehoiada did not want Athaliah killed in the Temple area, so he called out the army officers and said, "Take her out between the rows of guards, and kill anyone who tries to rescue her." 15 They seized her, took her to the palace, and there at the Horse Gate they killed her. 16 The priest Jehoiada had King Joash and the people join him in making a covenant that they would be the Lord's people. 17 Then they all went to the temple of Baal and tore it down. They smashed the altars and idols there and killed Mattan, the priest of Baal, in front of the altars. 18 Jehoiada put the priests and Levites in charge of the work of the Temple. They were to carry out the duties assigned to them by King David and to burn the sacrifices offered to the Lord in accordance with the Law of Moses. They were also in charge of the music and the celebrations. 19 Jehoiada also put guards on duty at the Temple gates to keep out anyone who was ritually unclean. 20 The army officers, the leading citizens, the officials, and all the rest of the people joined Jehoiada in a procession that brought the king from the Temple to the palace. They entered by the main gate, and the king took his place on the throne. 21 All the people were filled with happiness, and the city was quiet, now that Athaliah had been killed.

2 Chronicles 24:4 After he had been king for a while, Joash decided to have the Temple repaired. 5 He ordered the priests and the Levites to go to the cities of Judah and collect from all the people enough money to make the annual repairs on the Temple. He told them to act promptly, but the Levites delayed, 6 so he called in Jehoiada, their leader, and demanded, "Why haven't you seen to it that the Levites collect from Judah and Jerusalem the tax which Moses, the servant of the Lord, required the people to pay for support of the Tent of the Lord's presence?" 7 (The followers of Athaliah, that corrupt woman, had damaged the Temple and had used many of the sacred objects in the worship of Baal.) 8 The king ordered the Levites to make a box for contributions and to place it at the Temple gate. 9 They sent word throughout Jerusalem and Judah for everyone to bring to the Lord the tax which Moses, God's servant, had first collected in the wilderness. 10 This pleased the people and their leaders, and they brought their tax money and filled the box with it. 11 Every day the Levites would take the box to the royal official who was in charge of it. Whenever it was full, the royal secretary and the High Priest's representative would take the money out and return the box to its place. And so they collected a large sum of money. 12 The king and Jehoiada would give the money to those who were in charge of repairing the Temple, and they hired stonemasons, carpenters, and metalworkers to make the repairs. 13 All of them worked hard, and they restored the Temple to its original condition, as solid as ever. 14 When the repairs were finished, the remaining gold and silver was given to the king and Jehoiada, who used it to have bowls and other utensils made for the Temple. As long as Jehoiada was alive, sacrifices were offered regularly at the Temple.

2 Chronicles 29:2 Following the example of his ancestor King David, he did what was pleasing to the Lord. 3 In the first month of the year after Hezekiah became king, he reopened the gates of the Temple and had them repaired. 4 He assembled a group of priests and Levites in the east courtyard of the Temple 5 and spoke to them there. He said, "You Levites are to consecrate yourselves and purify the Temple of the Lord, the God of your ancestors. Remove from the Temple everything that defiles it. 6 Our ancestors were unfaithful to the Lord our God and did what was displeasing to him. They abandoned him and turned their backs on the place where he dwells. 7 They closed the doors of the Temple, let the lamps go out, and failed to burn incense or offer burnt offerings in the Temple of the God of Israel. 8 Because of this the Lord has been angry with Judah and Jerusalem, and what he has done to them has shocked and frightened everyone. You know this very well. 9 Our fathers were killed in battle, and our wives and children have been taken away as prisoners. 10 "I have now decided to make a covenant with the Lord, the God of Israel, so that he will no longer be angry with us. 11 My sons, do not lose any time. You are the ones that the Lord has chosen to burn incense to him and to lead the people in worshiping him." 12 The following Levites were there: From the clan of Kohath, Mahath son of Amasai and Joel son of Azariah From the clan of Merari, Kish son of Abdi and Azariah son of Jehallelel From the clan of Gershon, Joah son of Zimmah and Eden son of Joah From the clan of Elizaphan, Shimri and Jeuel From the clan of Asaph, Zechariah and Mattaniah From the clan of Heman, Jehuel and Shimei From the clan of Jeduthun, Shemaiah and Uzziel 15 These men assembled their fellow Levites, and they all made themselves ritually clean. Then, as the king had commanded them to do, they began to make the Temple ritually clean, according to the Law of the Lord. 16 The priests went inside the Temple to purify it, and they carried out into the Temple courtyard everything that was ritually unclean. From there the Levites took it all outside the city to Kidron Valley. 17 The work was begun on the first day of the first month, and by the eighth day they had finished it all, including the entrance room to the Temple. Then they worked for the next eight days, until the sixteenth of the month, preparing the Temple for worship. 18 The Levites made the following report to King Hezekiah: "We have completed the ritual purification of the whole Temple, including the altar for burnt offerings, the table for the sacred bread, and all their equipment. 19 We have also brought back all the equipment which King Ahaz took away during those years he was unfaithful to God, and we have rededicated it. It is all in front of the Lord's altar." 20 Without delay King Hezekiah assembled the leading men of the city, and together they went to the Temple. 21 As an offering to take away the sins of the royal family and of the people of Judah and to purify the Temple, they took seven bulls, seven sheep, seven lambs, and seven goats. The king told the priests, who were descendants of Aaron, to offer the animals as sacrifices on the altar. 22 The priests killed the bulls first, then the sheep, and then the lambs, and sprinkled the blood of each sacrifice on the altar. 23 Finally they took the goats to the king and to the other worshipers, who laid their hands on them. 24 Then the priests killed the goats and poured their blood on the altar as a sacrifice to take away the sin of all the people, for the king had commanded that burnt offerings and sin offerings be made for all Israel. 25 The king followed the instructions that the Lord had given to King David through Gad, the king's prophet, and through the prophet Nathan; he stationed Levites in the Temple, with harps and cymbals, 26 instruments like those that King David had used. The priests also stood there with trumpets. 27 Hezekiah gave the order for the burnt offering to be presented; and as the offering began, the people sang praise to the Lord, and the musicians began to play the trumpets and all the other instruments. 28 Everyone who was there joined in worship, and the singing and the rest of the music continued until all the sacrifices had been burned. 29 Then King Hezekiah and all the people knelt down and worshiped God. 30 The king and the leaders of the nation told the Levites to sing to the Lord the songs of praise that were written by David and by Asaph the prophet. So everyone sang with great joy as they knelt and worshiped God. 31 Hezekiah said to the people, "Now that you are ritually clean, bring sacrifices as offerings of thanksgiving to the Lord." They obeyed, and some of them also voluntarily brought animals to be sacrificed as burnt offerings. 32 They brought 70 bulls, 100 sheep, and 200 lambs as burnt offerings for the Lord; 33 they also brought 600 bulls and 3,000 sheep as sacrifices for the people to eat. 34 Since there were not enough priests to kill all these animals, the Levites helped them until the work was finished. By then more priests had made themselves ritually clean. (The Levites were more faithful in keeping ritually clean than the priests were.)

2 Chronicles 30:1 The people had not been able to celebrate the Passover Festival at the proper time in the first month, because not enough priests were ritually clean and not many people had assembled in Jerusalem. So King Hezekiah, his officials, and the people of Jerusalem agreed to celebrate it in the second month, and the king sent word to all the people of Israel and Judah. He took special care to send letters to the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh, inviting them to come to the Temple in Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover in honor of the Lord, the God of Israel. 4 The king and the people were pleased with their plan, 5 so they invited all the Israelites, from Dan in the north to Beersheba in the south, to come together in Jerusalem and celebrate the Passover according to the Law, in larger numbers than ever before. 6 Messengers went out at the command of the king and his officials through all Judah and Israel with the following invitation: "People of Israel, you have survived the Assyrian conquest of the land. Now return to the Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and he will return to you. 7 Do not be like your ancestors and your Israelite relatives who were unfaithful to the Lord their God. As you can see, he punished them severely. 8 Do not be stubborn as they were, but obey the Lord. Come to the Temple in Jerusalem, which the Lord your God has made holy forever, and worship him so that he will no longer be angry with you. 9 If you return to the Lord, then those who have taken your relatives away as prisoners will take pity on them and let them come back home. The Lord your God is kind and merciful, and if you return to him, he will accept you." 10 The messengers went to every city in the territory of the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh, and as far north as the tribe of Zebulun, but people laughed at them and made fun of them. 11 Still, there were some from the tribes of Asher, Manasseh, and Zebulun who were willing to come to Jerusalem. 12 God was also at work in Judah and united the people in their determination to obey his will by following the commands of the king and his officials. 13 A great number of people gathered in Jerusalem in the second month to celebrate the Festival of Unleavened Bread. 14 They took all the altars that had been used in Jerusalem for offering sacrifices and burning incense and threw them into Kidron Valley. 15 And on the fourteenth day of the month they killed the lambs for the Passover sacrifice. The priests and Levites who were not ritually clean became so ashamed that they dedicated themselves to the Lord, and now they could sacrifice burnt offerings in the Temple. 16 They took their places in the Temple according to the instructions in the Law of Moses, the man of God. The Levites gave the blood of the sacrifices to the priests, who sprinkled it on the altar. 17 Because many of the people were not ritually clean, they could not kill the Passover lambs, so the Levites did it for them and dedicated the lambs to the Lord. 18 In addition, many of those who had come from the tribes of Ephraim, Manasseh, Issachar, and Zebulun had not performed the ritual of purification, and so they were observing Passover improperly. King Hezekiah offered this prayer for them: 19 "O Lord, the God of our ancestors, in your goodness forgive those who are worshiping you with all their heart, even though they are not ritually clean." 20 The Lord answered Hezekiah's prayer; he forgave the people and did not harm them. 21 For seven days the people who had gathered in Jerusalem celebrated the Festival of Unleavened Bread with great joy, and day after day the Levites and the priests praised the Lord with all their strength. 22 Hezekiah praised the Levites for their skill in conducting the worship of the Lord. After the seven days during which they offered sacrifices in praise of the Lord, the God of their ancestors, 23 they all decided to celebrate for another seven days. So they celebrated with joy. 24 King Hezekiah contributed 1,000 bulls and 7,000 sheep for the people to kill and eat, and the officials gave them another 1,000 bulls and 10,000 sheep. A large number of priests went through the ritual of purification. 25 So everyone was happy - the people of Judah, the priests, the Levites, the people who had come from the north, and the foreigners who had settled permanently in Israel and Judah.

2 Chronicles 31:1 After the festival ended, all the people of Israel went to every city in Judah and broke the stone pillars, cut down the symbols of the goddess Asherah, and destroyed the altars and the pagan places of worship. They did the same thing throughout the rest of Judah, and the territories of Benjamin, Ephraim, and Manasseh; then they all returned home. 2 King Hezekiah reestablished the organization of the priests and Levites, under which they each had specific duties. These included offering the burnt offerings and the fellowship offerings, taking part in the Temple worship, and giving praise and thanks in the various parts of the Temple. 3 From his own flocks and herds he provided animals for the burnt offerings each morning and evening, and for those offered on the Sabbath, at the New Moon Festival, and at the other festivals which are required by the Law of the Lord. 4 In addition, the king told the people of Jerusalem to bring the offerings to which the priests and the Levites were entitled, so that they could give all their time to the requirements of the Law of the Lord. 5 As soon as the order was given, the people of Israel brought gifts of their finest grain, wine, olive oil, honey, and other farm produce, and they also brought the tithes of everything they had. 6 All the people who lived in the cities of Judah brought tithes of their cattle and sheep, and they also brought large quantities of gifts which they dedicated to the Lord their God. 7 The gifts started arriving in the third month and continued to pile up for the next four months. 8 When King Hezekiah and his officials saw how much had been given, they praised the Lord and praised his people Israel. 9 The king spoke to the priests and the Levites about these gifts, 10 and Azariah the High Priest, a descendant of Zadok, said to him, "Since the people started bringing their gifts to the Temple, there has been enough to eat and a large surplus besides. We have all this because the Lord has blessed his people." 11 On the king's orders they prepared storerooms in the Temple area 12 and put all the gifts and tithes in them for safekeeping. They placed a Levite named Conaniah in charge and made his brother Shimei his assistant. 13 Ten Levites were assigned to work under them: Jehiel, Azaziah, Nahath, Asahel, Jerimoth, Jozabad, Eliel, Ismachiah, Mahath, and Benaiah. All this was done under the authority of King Hezekiah and Azariah the High Priest. 14 Kore son of Imnah, a Levite who was chief guard at the East Gate of the Temple, was in charge of receiving the gifts offered to the Lord and of distributing them. 15 In the other cities where priests lived, he was faithfully assisted in this by other Levites: Eden, Miniamin, Jeshua, Shemaiah, Amariah, and Shecaniah. They distributed the food equally to their fellow Levites according to what their duties were, 16 and not by clans. They gave a share to all males thirty years of age or older who had daily responsibilities in the Temple in accordance with their positions. 17 The priests were assigned their duties by clans, and the Levites twenty years of age or older were assigned theirs by work groups. 18 They were all registered together with their wives, children, and other dependents, because they were required to be ready to perform their sacred duties at any time. 19 Among the priests who lived in the cities assigned to Aaron's descendants or in the pasture lands belonging to these cities, there were responsible men who distributed the food to all the males in the priestly families and to everyone who was on the rolls of the Levite clans. 20 Throughout all Judah, King Hezekiah did what was right and what was pleasing to the Lord his God. 21 He was successful, because everything he did for the Temple or in observance of the Law, he did in a spirit of complete loyalty and devotion to his God.

2 Chronicles 34:2 He did what was pleasing to the Lord; he followed the example of his ancestor King David, strictly obeying all the laws of God. 3 In the eighth year that Josiah was king, while he was still very young, he began to worship the God of his ancestor King David. Four years later he began to destroy the pagan places of worship, the symbols of the goddess Asherah, and all the other idols. 4 Under his direction the altars where Baal was worshiped were smashed, and the incense altars near them were torn down. They ground to dust the images of Asherah and all the other idols and then scattered the dust on the graves of the people who had sacrificed to them. 5 He burned the bones of the pagan priests on the altars where they had worshiped. By doing all this, he made Judah and Jerusalem ritually clean again. 6 He did the same thing in the cities and the devastated areas of Manasseh, Ephraim, and Simeon, and as far north as Naphtali. 7 Throughout the territory of the Northern Kingdom he smashed the altars and the symbols of Asherah, ground the idols to dust, and broke into bits all the incense altars. Then he returned to Jerusalem. 8 In the eighteenth year of his reign, after he had purified the land and the Temple by ending pagan worship, King Josiah sent three men to repair the Temple of the Lord God: Shaphan son of Azaliah, Maaseiah, the governor of Jerusalem, and Joah son of Joahaz, a high official. 9 The money that the Levite guards had collected in the Temple was turned over to Hilkiah the High Priest. (It had been collected from the people of Ephraim and Manasseh and the rest of the Northern Kingdom, and from the people of Judah, Benjamin, and Jerusalem.) 10 This money was then handed over to the three men in charge of the Temple repairs, and they gave it to 11 the carpenters and the builders to buy the stones and the timber used to repair the buildings that the kings of Judah had allowed to decay. 12 The men who did the work were thoroughly honest. They were supervised by four Levites: Jahath and Obadiah of the clan of Merari, and Zechariah and Meshullam of the clan of Kohath. (The Levites were all skillful musicians.) 13 Other Levites were in charge of transporting materials and supervising the workers on various jobs, and others kept records or served as guards. 14 While the money was being taken out of the storeroom, Hilkiah found the book of the Law of the Lord, the Law that God had given to Moses. 15 He said to Shaphan, "I have found the book of the Law here in the Temple." He gave Shaphan the book, 16 and Shaphan took it to the king. He reported, "We have done everything that you commanded. 17 We have taken the money that was kept in the Temple and handed it over to the workers and their supervisors." 18 Then he added, "I have here a book that Hilkiah gave me." And he read it aloud to the king. 19 When the king heard the book being read, he tore his clothes in dismay 20 and gave the following order to Hilkiah, to Ahikam son of Shaphan, to Abdon son of Micaiah, to Shaphan, the court secretary, and to Asaiah, the king's attendant: 21 "Go and consult the Lord for me and for the people who still remain in Israel and Judah. Find out about the teachings of this book. The Lord is angry with us because our ancestors have not obeyed the word of the Lord and have not done what this book says must be done." 22 At the king's command, Hilkiah and the others went to consult a woman named Huldah, a prophet who lived in the newer part of Jerusalem. (Her husband Shallum, the son of Tikvah and grandson of Harhas, was in charge of the Temple robes.) They described to her what had happened, 23 and she told them to go back to the king and give him 24 the following message from the Lord: "I am going to punish Jerusalem and all its people with the curses written in the book that was read to the king. 25 They have rejected me and have offered sacrifices to other gods, and so have stirred up my anger by all they have done. My anger is aroused against Jerusalem, and it will not die down. 26 As for the king himself, this is what I, the Lord God of Israel, say: You listened to what is written in the book, 27 and you repented and humbled yourself before me, tearing your clothes and weeping, when you heard how I threatened to punish Jerusalem and its people. I have heard your prayer, 28 and the punishment which I am going to bring on Jerusalem will not come until after your death. I will let you die in peace." The men returned to King Josiah with this message. 29 King Josiah summoned all the leaders of Judah and Jerusalem, 30 and together they went to the Temple, accompanied by the priests and the Levites and all the rest of the people, rich and poor alike. Before them all the king read aloud the whole book of the covenant, which had been found in the Temple. 31 He stood by the royal column and made a covenant with the Lord to obey him, to keep his laws and commands with all his heart and soul, and to put into practice the demands attached to the covenant, as written in the book. 32 He made the people of Benjamin and everyone else present in Jerusalem promise to keep the covenant. And so the people of Jerusalem obeyed the requirements of the covenant they had made with the God of their ancestors. 33 King Josiah destroyed all the disgusting idols that were in the territory belonging to the people of Israel, and as long as he lived, he required the people to serve the Lord, the God of their ancestors.

2 Chronicles 35:1 King Josiah celebrated the Passover at Jerusalem in honor of the Lord; on the fourteenth day of the first month they killed the animals for the festival. 2 He assigned to the priests the duties they were to perform in the Temple and encouraged them to do them well. 3 He also gave these instructions to the Levites, the teachers of Israel, who were dedicated to the Lord: "Put the sacred Covenant Box in the Temple that King Solomon, the son of David, built. You are no longer to carry it from place to place, but you are to serve the Lord your God and his people Israel. 4 Take your places in the Temple by clans, according to the responsibilities assigned to you by King David and his son King Solomon, 5 and arrange yourselves so that some of you will be available to help each family of the people of Israel. 6 You are to kill the Passover lambs and goats. Now make yourselves ritually clean and prepare the sacrifices in order that your fellow Israelites may follow the instructions which the Lord gave through Moses." 7 For the use of the people at the Passover, King Josiah contributed from his own herds and flocks 30,000 sheep, lambs, and young goats, and 3,000 bulls. 8 His officials also made contributions for the people, the priests, and the Levites to use. And the officials in charge of the Temple - Hilkiah, the High Priest, Zechariah, and Jehiel - gave the priests 2,600 lambs and young goats and 300 bulls for sacrifices during the festival. 9 The leaders of the Levites - Conaniah, Shemaiah and his brother Nethanel, Hashabiah, Jeiel, and Jozabad - contributed 5,000 lambs and young goats and 500 bulls for the Levites to offer as sacrifices. 10 When everything was arranged for the Passover, the priests and the Levites took their posts, as commanded by the king. 11 After the lambs and goats had been killed, the Levites skinned them, and the priests sprinkled the blood on the altar. 12 Then they divided among the people, by family groups, the animals for burnt offerings, so that they could offer them according to the instructions in the Law of Moses. 13 The Levites roasted the Passover sacrifices over the fire, according to the regulations, and boiled the sacred offerings in pots, kettles, and pans, and quickly distributed the meat to the people. 14 After this was done, the Levites provided meat for themselves and for the priests descended from Aaron, for the priests were kept busy until night, burning the animals that were burned whole and the fat of the sacrifices. 15 The following musicians of the Levite clan of Asaph were in the places assigned to them by King David's instructions: Asaph, Heman, and Jeduthun, the king's prophet. The guards at the Temple gates did not need to leave their posts, because the other Levites prepared the Passover for them. 16 So, as King Josiah had commanded, everything was done that day for the worship of the Lord, the keeping of the Passover Festival, and the offering of burnt offerings on the altar. 17 For seven days all the people of Israel who were present celebrated the Passover and the Festival of Unleavened Bread. 18 Since the days of the prophet Samuel, the Passover had never been celebrated like this. None of the former kings had ever celebrated a Passover like this one celebrated by King Josiah, the priests, the Levites, and the people of Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem 19 in the eighteenth year of Josiah's reign.

2072-2 Chronicles 10:16 When the people saw that the king would not listen to them, they shouted, "Down with David and his family! What have they ever done for us? People of Israel, let's go home! Let Rehoboam look out for himself!" So the people of Israel rebelled, 17 leaving Rehoboam as king only of the people who lived in the territory of Judah. 18 Then King Rehoboam sent Adoniram, who was in charge of the forced labor, to go to the Israelites, but they stoned him to death. At this, Rehoboam hurriedly got in his chariot and escaped to Jerusalem. 19 Ever since that time the people of the northern kingdom of Israel have been in rebellion against the dynasty of David.

2073-1 Kin. 11:9 Even though the Lord, the God of Israel, had appeared to Solomon twice and had commanded him not to worship foreign gods, Solomon did not obey the Lord but turned away from him. So the Lord was angry with Solomon 11 and said to him, "Because you have deliberately broken your covenant with me and disobeyed my commands, I promise that I will take the kingdom away from you and give it to one of your officials. 12 However, for the sake of your father David I will not do this in your lifetime, but during the reign of your son. 13 And I will not take the whole kingdom away from him; instead, I will leave him one tribe for the sake of my servant David and for the sake of Jerusalem, the city I have made my own."

2074-1 Chr. 23:1 When David was very old, he made his son Solomon king of Israel.

2075-1 Kin. 11:1 Solomon loved many foreign women. Besides the daughter of the king of Egypt he married Hittite women and women from Moab, Ammon, Edom, and Sidon. 2 He married them even though the Lord had commanded the Israelites not to intermarry with these people, because they would cause the Israelites to give their loyalty to other gods. 3 Solomon married seven hundred princesses and also had three hundred concubines. They made him turn away from God, 4 and by the time he was old they had led him into the worship of foreign gods. He was not faithful to the Lord his God, as his father David had been. 5 He worshiped Astarte, the goddess of Sidon, and Molech, the disgusting god of Ammon. 6 He sinned against the Lord and was not true to him as his father David had been. 7 On the mountain east of Jerusalem he built a place to worship Chemosh, the disgusting god of Moab, and a place to worship Molech, the disgusting god of Ammon. 8 He also built places of worship where all his foreign wives could burn incense and offer sacrifices to their own gods. 9 Even though the Lord, the God of Israel, had appeared to Solomon twice and had commanded him not to worship foreign gods, Solomon did not obey the Lord but turned away from him. So the Lord was angry with Solomon 11 and said to him, "Because you have deliberately broken your covenant with me and disobeyed my commands, I promise that I will take the kingdom away from you and give it to one of your officials. 12 However, for the sake of your father David I will not do this in your lifetime, but during the reign of your son. 13 And I will not take the whole kingdom away from him; instead, I will leave him one tribe for the sake of my servant David and for the sake of Jerusalem, the city I have made my own." 14 So the Lord caused Hadad, of the royal family of Edom, to turn against Solomon. 15 Long before this, when David had conquered Edom, Joab the commander of his army had gone there to bury the dead. He and his men remained in Edom six months, and during that time they killed every male in Edom 17 except Hadad and some of his father's Edomite servants, who escaped to Egypt. (At that time Hadad was just a child.) 18 They left Midian and went to Paran, where some other men joined them. Then they traveled to Egypt and went to the king, who gave Hadad some land and a house and provided him with food. 19 Hadad won the friendship of the king, and the king gave his sister-in-law, the sister of Queen Tahpenes, to Hadad in marriage. 20 She bore him a son, Genubath, who was raised by the queen in the palace, where he lived with the king's sons. 21 When the news reached Hadad in Egypt that David had died and that Joab the commander of the army was dead, Hadad said to the king, "Let me go back to my own country." 22 "Why?" the king asked. "Have I failed to give you something? Is that why you want to go back home?" "Just let me go," Hadad answered the king. And he went back to his country. As king of Edom, Hadad was an evil, bitter enemy of Israel. 23 God also caused Rezon son of Eliada to turn against Solomon. Rezon had fled from his master, King Hadadezer of Zobah, 24 and had become the leader of a gang of outlaws. (This happened after David had defeated Hadadezer and had slaughtered his Syrian allies.) Rezon and his gang went and lived in Damascus, where his followers made him king of Syria. 25 He was an enemy of Israel during the lifetime of Solomon. 26 Another man who turned against King Solomon was one of his officials, Jeroboam son of Nebat, from Zeredah in Ephraim. His mother was a widow named Zeruah. 27 This is the story of the revolt. Solomon was filling in the land on the east side of Jerusalem and repairing the city walls. 28 Jeroboam was an able young man, and when Solomon noticed how hard he worked, he put him in charge of all the forced labor in the territory of the tribes of Manasseh and Ephraim. 29 One day, as Jeroboam was traveling from Jerusalem, the prophet Ahijah from Shiloh met him alone on the road in the open country. 30 Ahijah took off the new robe he was wearing, tore it into twelve pieces, 31 and said to Jeroboam, "Take ten pieces for yourself, because the Lord, the God of Israel, says to you, "I am going to take the kingdom away from Solomon, and I will give you ten tribes. 32 Solomon will keep one tribe for the sake of my servant David and for the sake of Jerusalem, the city I have chosen to be my own from the whole land of Israel. 33 I am going to do this because Solomon has rejected me and has worshiped foreign gods: Astarte, the goddess of Sidon; Chemosh, the god of Moab; and Molech, the god of Ammon. Solomon has disobeyed me; he has done wrong and has not kept my laws and commands as his father David did. 34 But I will not take the whole kingdom away from Solomon, and I will keep him in power as long as he lives. This I will do for the sake of my servant David, whom I chose and who obeyed my laws and commands. 35 I will take the kingdom away from Solomon's son and will give you ten tribes, 36 but I will let Solomon's son keep one tribe, so that I will always have a descendant of my servant David ruling in Jerusalem, the city I have chosen as the place where I am worshiped. 37 Jeroboam, I will make you king of Israel, and you will rule over all the territory that you want. 38 If you obey me completely, live by my laws, and win my approval by doing what I command, as my servant David did, I will always be with you. I will make you king of Israel and will make sure that your descendants rule after you, just as I have done for David. 39 Because of Solomon's sin I will punish the descendants of David, but not for all time.' " 40 And so Solomon tried to kill Jeroboam, but he escaped to King Shishak of Egypt and stayed there until Solomon's death.

2076-1 Chr. 11:1 All the people of Israel went to David at Hebron and said to him, "We are your own flesh and blood.

2077-2 Chronicles 2:1 King Solomon decided to build a temple where the Lord would be worshiped, and also to build a palace for himself. 2 He put 70,000 men to work transporting materials, and 80,000 to work cutting stone in the hill country. There were 3,600 others responsible for supervising the work. 3 Solomon sent a message to King Hiram of Tyre: "Do business with me as you did with my father, King David, when you sold him cedar logs for building his palace. 4 I am building a temple to honor the Lord my God. It will be a holy place where my people and I will worship him by burning incense of fragrant spices, where we will present offerings of sacred bread to him continuously, and where we will offer burnt offerings every morning and evening, as well as on Sabbaths, New Moon Festivals, and other holy days honoring the Lord our God. He has commanded Israel to do this forever. 5 I intend to build a great temple, because our God is greater than any other god. 6 Yet no one can really build a temple for God, because even all the vastness of heaven cannot contain him. How then can I build a temple that would be anything more than a place to burn incense to God? 7 Now send me a man with skill in engraving, in working gold, silver, bronze, and iron, and in making blue, purple, and red cloth. He will work with the craftsmen of Judah and Jerusalem whom my father David selected. 8 I know how skillful your lumbermen are, so send me cedar, cypress, and juniper logs from Lebanon. I am ready to send my men to assist yours 9 in preparing large quantities of timber, because this temple I intend to build will be large and magnificent. 10 As provisions for your lumbermen, I will send you 100,000 bushels of wheat, 100,000 bushels of barley, 110,000 gallons of wine, and 110,000 gallons of olive oil." 11 King Hiram sent Solomon a letter in reply. He wrote, "Because the Lord loves his people, he has made you their king. 12 Praise the Lord God of Israel, Creator of heaven and earth! He has given King David a wise son, full of understanding and skill, who now plans to build a temple for the Lord and a palace for himself. 13 I am sending you a wise and skillful master metalworker named Huram. 14 His mother was a member of the tribe of Dan and his father was a native of Tyre. He knows how to make things out of gold, silver, bronze, iron, stone, and wood. He can work with blue, purple, and red cloth, and with linen. He can do all sorts of engraving and can follow any design suggested to him. Let him work with your skilled workers and with those who worked for your father, King David. 15 So now send us the wheat, barley, wine, and olive oil that you promised. 16 In the mountains of Lebanon we will cut down all the cedars you need, tie them together in rafts, and float them by sea as far as Joppa. From there you can take them to Jerusalem." 17 King Solomon took a census of all the foreigners living in the land of Israel, similar to the census his father David had taken. There were 153,600 resident foreigners. 18 He assigned 70,000 of them to transport materials and 80,000 to cut stones in the mountains, and appointed 3,600 supervisors to make sure the work was done.

2 Chronicle 3:1 King David, Solomon's father, had already prepared a place for the Temple. It was in Jerusalem, on Mount Moriah, where the Lord appeared to David, at the place which Araunah the Jebusite had used as a threshing place. King Solomon began the construction 2 in the second month of the fourth year that he was king. 3 The Temple which King Solomon built was 90 feet long and 30 feet wide. 4 The entrance room was the full width of the Temple, 30 feet, and was 180 feet high. The inside of the room was overlaid with pure gold. 5 The main room was paneled with cedar and overlaid with fine gold, in which were worked designs of palm trees and chain patterns. 6 The king decorated the Temple with beautiful precious stones and with gold imported from the land of Parvaim. 7 He used the gold to overlay the Temple walls, the rafters, the entryways, and the doors. On the walls the workers carved designs of winged creatures. 8 The inner room, called the Most Holy Place, was 30 feet long and 30 feet wide, which was the full width of the Temple. Twenty-five tons of gold were used to cover the walls of the Most Holy Place; 9 twenty ounces of gold were used for making nails, and the walls of the upper rooms were also covered with gold. 10 The king also had his workers make two winged creatures out of metal, cover them with gold, and place them in the Most Holy Place, 11 where they stood side by side facing the entrance. Each had two wings, each wing 7 1/2 feet long, which were spread out so that they touched each other in the center of the room and reached to the wall on either side of the room, stretching across the full width of 30 feet. 14 A curtain for the Most Holy Place was made of linen and of other material, which was dyed blue, purple, and red, with designs of the winged creatures worked into it. 15 The king had two columns made, each one 52 feet tall, and placed them in front of the Temple. Each one had a capital 7 1/2 feet tall.

2 Chronicles 4:1 King Solomon had a bronze altar made, which was 30 feet square and 15 feet high. 2 He also made a round tank of bronze, 7 1/2 feet deep, 15 feet in diameter, and 45 feet in circumference. 3 All around the outer edge of the rim of the tank were two rows of decorations, one above the other. The decorations were in the shape of bulls, which had been cast all in one piece with the rest of the tank. 4 The tank rested on the backs of twelve bronze bulls that faced outward, three facing in each direction. 5 The sides of the tank were 3 inches thick. Its rim was like the rim of a cup, curving outward like the petals of a flower. The tank held about 15,000 gallons. 6 They also made ten basins, five to be placed on the south side of the Temple and five on the north side. They were to be used to rinse the parts of the animals that were burned as sacrifices. The water in the large tank was for the priests to use for washing. 7 They made ten gold lampstands according to the usual pattern, and ten tables, and placed them in the main room of the Temple, five lampstands and five tables on each side. They also made a hundred gold bowls. 9 They made an inner courtyard for the priests, and also an outer courtyard. The doors in the gates between the courtyards were covered with bronze. 10 The tank was placed near the southeast corner of the Temple. 11 Huram also made pots, shovels, and bowls. He completed all the objects that he had promised King Solomon he would make for the Temple: The two columns The two bowl-shaped capitals on top of the columns The design of interwoven chains on each capital The 400 bronze pomegranates arranged in two rows around the design of each capital The ten carts The ten basins The tank The twelve bulls supporting the tank The pots, shovels, and forks Huram the master metalworker made all these objects out of polished bronze, as King Solomon had commanded, for use in the Temple of the Lord. 17 The king had them all made in the foundry between Sukkoth and Zeredah in the Jordan Valley. 18 So many objects were made that no one determined the total weight of the bronze used. 19 King Solomon also had gold furnishings made for the Temple: the altar and the tables for the bread offered to God; 20 the lampstands and the lamps of fine gold that were to burn in front of the Most Holy Place, according to plan; 21 the flower decorations, the lamps, and the tongs; 22 the lamp snuffers, the bowls, the dishes for incense, and the pans used for carrying live coals. All these objects were made of pure gold. The outer doors of the Temple and the doors to the Most Holy Place were overlaid with gold.

2 Chronicles 5:1 When King Solomon finished all the work on the Temple, he placed in the Temple storerooms all the things that his father David had dedicated to the Lord - the silver, gold, and other articles. 2 Then King Solomon summoned all the leaders of the tribes and clans of Israel to assemble in Jerusalem, in order to take the Lord's Covenant Box from Zion, David's City, to the Temple. 3 They all assembled at the time of the Festival of Shelters. 4 When all the leaders had gathered, then the Levites lifted the Covenant Box 5 and carried it to the Temple. The priests and the Levites also moved the Tent of the Lord's presence and all its equipment to the Temple. 6 King Solomon and all the people of Israel assembled in front of the Covenant Box and sacrificed a large number of sheep and cattle - too many to count. 7 Then the priests carried the Covenant Box of the Lord into the Temple and put it in the Most Holy Place, beneath the winged creatures. 8 Their outstretched wings covered the Box and the poles it was carried by. 9 The ends of the poles could be seen by anyone standing directly in front of the Most Holy Place, but from nowhere else. (The poles are still there today.) 10 There was nothing inside the Covenant Box except the two stone tablets which Moses had placed there at Mount Sinai, when the Lord made a covenant with the people of Israel as they were coming from Egypt. 11 All the priests present, regardless of the group to which they belonged, had consecrated themselves. And all the Levite musicians - Asaph, Heman, and Jeduthun, and the members of their clans - were wearing linen clothing. The Levites stood near the east side of the altar with cymbals and harps, and with them were 120 priests playing trumpets. The singers were accompanied in perfect harmony by trumpets, cymbals, and other instruments, as they praised the Lord singing: "Praise the Lord, because he is good, And his love is eternal." As the priests were leaving the Temple, it was suddenly filled with a cloud shining with the dazzling light of the Lord's presence, and they could not continue the service of worship.

2 Chronicles 6:1 Then King Solomon prayed, "Lord, you have chosen to live in clouds and darkness. 2 Now I have built a majestic temple for you, a place for you to live in forever." 3 All the people of Israel were standing there. The king turned to face them and asked God's blessing on them. 4 He said, "Praise the Lord God of Israel! He has kept the promise he made to my father David when he said to him, 5 "From the time I brought my people out of Egypt until now, I did not choose any city in the land of Israel as the place to build a temple where I would be worshiped, and I did not choose anyone to lead my people Israel. 6 But now I have chosen Jerusalem as the place where I will be worshiped, and you, David, to rule my people.' " 7 And Solomon continued, "My father David planned to build a temple for the worship of the Lord God of Israel, 8 but the Lord said to him, "You were right in wanting to build a temple for me, 9 but you will never build it. It is your son, your own son, who will build my temple.' 10 "Now the Lord has kept his promise: I have succeeded my father as king of Israel, and I have built a temple for the worship of the Lord God of Israel. 11 I have placed in the Temple the Covenant Box, which contains the stone tablets of the covenant which the Lord made with the people of Israel." 12 Then in the presence of the people Solomon went and stood in front of the altar and raised his arms in prayer 13 (Solomon had made a bronze platform and put it in the middle of the courtyard. It was eight feet square and five feet high. He mounted this platform, knelt down where everyone could see him, and raised his hands toward heaven.) 14 He prayed, "Lord God of Israel, in all heaven and earth there is no god like you. You keep your covenant with your people and show them your love when they live in wholehearted obedience to you. 15 You have kept the promise you made to my father David; today every word has been fulfilled. 16 Now, Lord God of Israel, keep the other promise you made to my father when you told him that there would always be one of his descendants ruling as king of Israel, provided that they carefully obeyed your Law just as he did. 17 So now, Lord God of Israel, let everything come true that you promised to your servant David. 18 "But can you, O God, really live on earth among men and women? Not even all of heaven is large enough to hold you, so how can this Temple that I have built be large enough? 19 Lord my God, I am your servant. Listen to my prayer and grant the requests I make to you. 20 Watch over this Temple day and night. You have promised that this is where you will be worshiped, so hear me when I face this Temple and pray. 21 Hear my prayers and the prayers of your people Israel when they face this place and pray. In your home in heaven hear us and forgive us. 22 "When people are accused of wronging others and are brought to your altar in this Temple to take an oath that they are innocent, 23 O Lord, listen in heaven and judge your servants. Punish the guilty ones as they deserve and acquit the innocent. 24 "When your people Israel are defeated by their enemies because they have sinned against you and then when they turn to you and come to this Temple, humbly praying to you for forgiveness, 25 listen to them in heaven. Forgive the sins of your people and bring them back to the land which you gave to them and to their ancestors. 26 "When you hold back the rain because your people have sinned against you and then when they repent and face this Temple, humbly praying to you, 27 O Lord, listen to them in heaven and forgive the sins of your servants, the people of Israel, and teach them to do what is right. Then, O Lord, send rain on this land of yours, which you gave to your people as a permanent possession. 28 "When there is famine in the land or an epidemic or the crops are destroyed by scorching winds or swarms of locusts, or when your people are attacked by their enemies, or when there is disease or sickness among them, 29 listen to their prayers. If any of your people Israel, out of heartfelt sorrow, stretch out their hands in prayer toward this Temple, 30 hear their prayer. Listen to them in your home in heaven and forgive them. You alone know the thoughts of the human heart. Deal with each of us as we deserve, 31 so that your people may honor you and obey you all the time they live in the land which you gave to our ancestors. 32 "When foreigners who live in a distant land hear how great and powerful you are and how you are always ready to act, and then they come to pray at this Temple, 33 listen to their prayers. In heaven, where you live, hear them and do what they ask you to do, so that all the peoples of the world may know you and obey you, as your people Israel do. Then they will know that this Temple I have built is where you are to be worshiped. 34 "When you command your people to go into battle against their enemies and they pray to you, wherever they are, facing this city which you have chosen and this Temple which I have built for you, 35 listen to their prayers. Hear them in heaven and give them victory. 36 "When your people sin against you - and there is no one who does not sin - and in your anger you let their enemies defeat them and take them as prisoners to some other land, even if that land is far away, 37 listen to your people's prayers. If there in that land they repent and pray to you, confessing how sinful and wicked they have been, hear their prayers, O Lord. 38 If in that land they truly and sincerely repent and pray to you as they face toward this land which you gave to our ancestors, this city which you have chosen, and this Temple which I have built for you, 39 then listen to their prayers. In your home in heaven hear them and be merciful to them and forgive all the sins of your people. 40 "Now, O my God, look on us and listen to the prayers offered in this place. 41 Rise up now, Lord God, and with the Covenant Box, the symbol of your power, enter the Temple and stay here forever. Bless your priests in all they do, and may all your people be happy because of your goodness to them. 42 Lord God, do not reject the king you have chosen. Remember the love you had for your servant David."

2 Chronicles 7:1 When King Solomon finished his prayer, fire came down from heaven and burned up the sacrifices that had been offered, and the dazzling light of the Lord's presence filled the Temple. 2 Because the Temple was full of the dazzling light, the priests could not enter it. 3 When the people of Israel saw the fire fall from heaven and the light fill the Temple, they fell face downward on the pavement, worshiping God and praising him for his goodness and his eternal love. 4 Then Solomon and all the people offered sacrifices to the Lord. 5 He sacrificed 22,000 head of cattle and 120,000 sheep as fellowship offerings. And so he and all the people dedicated the Temple. 6 The priests stood in the places that were assigned to them, and facing them stood the Levites, praising the Lord with the musical instruments that King David had provided and singing the hymn, "His Love Is Eternal!" as they had been commissioned by David. The priests blew trumpets while all the people stood. 7 Solomon consecrated the central part of the courtyard, the area in front of the Temple, and then offered there the sacrifices burned whole, the grain offerings, and the fat from the fellowship offerings. He did this because the bronze altar which he had made was too small for all these offerings. 8 Solomon and all the people of Israel celebrated the Festival of Shelters for seven days. There was a huge crowd of people from as far away as Hamath Pass in the north and the Egyptian border in the south. 9 They had spent seven days for the dedication of the altar and then seven more days for the festival. On the last day they had a closing celebration, 10 and on the following day, the twenty-third day of the seventh month, Solomon sent the people home. They were happy about all the blessings that the Lord had given to his people Israel, to David, and to Solomon. 11 After King Solomon had finished the Temple and the palace, successfully completing all his plans for them, 12 the Lord appeared to him at night. He said to him, "I have heard your prayer, and I accept this Temple as the place where sacrifices are to be offered to me. 13 Whenever I hold back the rain or send locusts to eat up the crops or send an epidemic on my people, 14 if they pray to me and repent and turn away from the evil they have been doing, then I will hear them in heaven, forgive their sins, and make their land prosperous again. 15 I will watch over this Temple and be ready to hear all the prayers that are offered here, 16 because I have chosen it and consecrated it as the place where I will be worshiped forever. I will watch over it and protect it for all time. 17 If you serve me faithfully as your father David did, obeying my laws and doing everything I have commanded you, 18 I will keep the promise I made to your father David when I told him that Israel would always be ruled by his descendants. 19 But if you and your people ever disobey the laws and commands I have given you and worship other gods, 20 then I will remove you from the land that I gave you, and I will abandon this Temple that I have consecrated as the place where I am to be worshiped. People everywhere will ridicule it and treat it with contempt. 21 "The Temple is now greatly honored, but then everyone who passes by it will be amazed and will ask, "Why did the Lord do this to this land and this Temple?' 22 People will answer, "It is because they abandoned the Lord their God, who brought their ancestors out of Egypt. They gave their allegiance to other gods and worshiped them. That is why the Lord has brought this disaster on them.' "

2 Chronicles 8:1 It took Solomon twenty years to build the Temple and his palace. 2 He also rebuilt the cities that King Hiram had given him, and sent Israelites to settle in them. 3 He captured the territory of Hamath and Zobah 4 and fortified the city of Palmyra in the desert. He rebuilt all the cities in Hamath that were centers for storing supplies. 5 Solomon also rebuilt the following cities: Upper Beth Horon and Lower Beth Horon (fortified cities with gates that could be barred), 6 the city of Baalath, all the cities where he stored supplies, and the cities where his horses and chariots were stationed. He carried out all his plans for building in Jerusalem, in Lebanon, and throughout the territory that he ruled over. 7 Solomon employed at forced labor all the descendants of the people of Canaan whom the Israelites had not killed when they took possession of the land. These included Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites, whose descendants continue to be slaves down to the present time. 9 Israelites were not used at forced labor, but served as soldiers, officers, chariot commanders, and cavalry troops. 10 There were 250 officials in charge of the forced labor working on the various building projects. 11 Solomon moved his wife, the daughter of the king of Egypt, from David's City to a house he built for her. He said, "She must not live in the palace of King David of Israel, because any place where the Covenant Box has been is holy." 12 Solomon offered sacrifices to the Lord on the altar which he had built in front of the Temple. 13 He offered burnt offerings according to the requirements of the Law of Moses for each holy day: Sabbaths, New Moon Festivals, and the three annual festivals - the Festival of Unleavened Bread, the Harvest Festival, and the Festival of Shelters. 14 Following the rules laid down by his father David, he organized the daily work of the priests and of the Levites who assisted the priests in singing hymns and in doing their work. He also organized the Temple guards in sections for performing their daily duties at each gate, in accordance with the commands of David, the man of God. 15 The instructions which David had given the priests and the Levites concerning the storehouses and other matters were carried out in detail. 16 By this time all of Solomon's projects had been completed. From the laying of the foundation of the Lord's Temple to its completion, all the work had been successful.

2078-2 Chronicles 9:29 The rest of the history of Solomon from beginning to end is recorded in [The History of Nathan the Prophet,] in [The Prophecy of Ahijah of Shiloh,] and in [The Visions of Iddo the Prophet,] which also deal with the reign of King Jeroboam of Israel. 30 Solomon ruled in Jerusalem over all Israel for forty years. 31 He died and was buried in David's City, and his son Rehoboam succeeded him as king.

2079-2 Chronicles 1:1 Solomon, the son of King David, took firm control of the kingdom of Israel, and the Lord his God blessed him and made him very powerful. 2 King Solomon gave an order to all the officers in charge of units of a thousand men and of a hundred men, all the government officials, all the heads of families, and all the rest of the people, 3 commanding them to go with him to the place of worship at Gibeon. They went there because that was where the Tent of the Lord's presence was located, which Moses, the Lord's servant, had made in the wilderness 4 (The Covenant Box, however, was in Jerusalem, kept in a tent which King David had set up when he brought the Box from Kiriath Jearim.) 5 The bronze altar which had been made by Bezalel, the son of Uri and grandson of Hur, was also in Gibeon in front of the Tent of the Lord's presence. King Solomon and all the people worshiped the Lord there. 6 In front of the Tent the king worshiped the Lord by offering sacrifices on the bronze altar; he had a thousand animals killed and burned whole on it. 7 That night God appeared to Solomon and asked, "What would you like me to give you?" 8 Solomon answered, "You always showed great love for my father David, and now you have let me succeed him as king. 9 O Lord God, fulfill the promise you made to my father. You have made me king over a people who are so many that they cannot be counted, 10 so give me the wisdom and knowledge I need to rule over them. Otherwise, how would I ever be able to rule this great people of yours?" 11 God replied to Solomon, "You have made the right choice. Instead of asking for wealth or treasure or fame or the death of your enemies or even for long life for yourself, you have asked for wisdom and knowledge so that you can rule my people, over whom I have made you king. 12 I will give you wisdom and knowledge. And in addition, I will give you more wealth, treasure, and fame than any king has ever had before or will ever have again." 13 So Solomon left the place of worship at Gibeon, where the Tent of the Lord's presence was, and returned to Jerusalem. There he ruled over Israel. 14 He built up a force of fourteen hundred chariots and twelve thousand cavalry horses. Some of them he kept in Jerusalem, and the rest he stationed in various other cities. 15 During his reign silver and gold became as common in Jerusalem as stone, and cedar was as plentiful as ordinary sycamore in the foothills of Judah. 16 The king's agents controlled the export of horses from Musri and Cilicia, 17 and the export of chariots from Egypt. They supplied the Hittite and Syrian kings with horses and chariots, selling chariots for 600 pieces of silver each and horses for 150 each.

2 Chronicles 9:13 Every year King Solomon received over twenty-five tons of gold, 14 in addition to the taxes paid by the traders and merchants. The kings of Arabia and the governors of the Israelite districts also brought him silver and gold. 15 Solomon made two hundred large shields, each of which was covered with about fifteen pounds of beaten gold, 16 and three hundred smaller shields, each covered with about eight pounds of beaten gold. He had them all placed in the Hall of the Forest of Lebanon. 17 The king also had a large throne made. Part of it was covered with ivory and the rest of it was covered with pure gold. 18 Six steps led up to the throne, and there was a footstool attached to it, covered with gold. There were arms on each side of the throne, and the figure of a lion stood at each side. 19 Twelve figures of lions were on the steps, one at either end of each step. No throne like this had ever existed in any other kingdom. 20 All of King Solomon's drinking cups were made of gold, and all the utensils in the Hall of the Forest of Lebanon were of pure gold. Silver was not considered valuable in Solomon's day. 21 He had a fleet of ocean-going ships sailing with King Hiram's fleet. Every three years his fleet would return, bringing gold, silver, ivory, apes, and monkeys. 22 King Solomon was richer and wiser than any other king in the world. 23 They all consulted him, to hear the wisdom that God had given him. 24 Each of them brought Solomon gifts - articles of silver and gold, robes, weapons, spices, horses, and mules. This continued year after year. 25 King Solomon also had four thousand stalls for his chariots and horses, and had twelve thousand cavalry horses. Some of them he kept in Jerusalem and the rest he stationed in various other cities. 26 He was supreme ruler of all the kings in the territory from the Euphrates River to Philistia and the Egyptian border. 27 During his reign silver was as common in Jerusalem as stone, and cedar was as plentiful as ordinary sycamore in the foothills of Judah. 28 Solomon imported horses from Musri and from every other country.

2080-2 Chronicles 2:1 King Solomon decided to build a temple where the Lord would be worshiped, and also to build a palace for himself. 2 He put 70,000 men to work transporting materials, and 80,000 to work cutting stone in the hill country. There were 3,600 others responsible for supervising the work. 3 Solomon sent a message to King Hiram of Tyre: "Do business with me as you did with my father, King David, when you sold him cedar logs for building his palace. 4 I am building a temple to honor the Lord my God. It will be a holy place where my people and I will worship him by burning incense of fragrant spices, where we will present offerings of sacred bread to him continuously, and where we will offer burnt offerings every morning and evening, as well as on Sabbaths, New Moon Festivals, and other holy days honoring the Lord our God. He has commanded Israel to do this forever. 5 I intend to build a great temple, because our God is greater than any other god. 6 Yet no one can really build a temple for God, because even all the vastness of heaven cannot contain him. How then can I build a temple that would be anything more than a place to burn incense to God? 7 Now send me a man with skill in engraving, in working gold, silver, bronze, and iron, and in making blue, purple, and red cloth. He will work with the craftsmen of Judah and Jerusalem whom my father David selected. 8 I know how skillful your lumbermen are, so send me cedar, cypress, and juniper logs from Lebanon. I am ready to send my men to assist yours 9 in preparing large quantities of timber, because this temple I intend to build will be large and magnificent. 10 As provisions for your lumbermen, I will send you 100,000 bushels of wheat, 100,000 bushels of barley, 110,000 gallons of wine, and 110,000 gallons of olive oil." 11 King Hiram sent Solomon a letter in reply. He wrote, "Because the Lord loves his people, he has made you their king. 12 Praise the Lord God of Israel, Creator of heaven and earth! He has given King David a wise son, full of understanding and skill, who now plans to build a temple for the Lord and a palace for himself. 13 I am sending you a wise and skillful master metalworker named Huram. 14 His mother was a member of the tribe of Dan and his father was a native of Tyre. He knows how to make things out of gold, silver, bronze, iron, stone, and wood. He can work with blue, purple, and red cloth, and with linen. He can do all sorts of engraving and can follow any design suggested to him. Let him work with your skilled workers and with those who worked for your father, King David. 15 So now send us the wheat, barley, wine, and olive oil that you promised. 16 In the mountains of Lebanon we will cut down all the cedars you need, tie them together in rafts, and float them by sea as far as Joppa. From there you can take them to Jerusalem." 17 King Solomon took a census of all the foreigners living in the land of Israel, similar to the census his father David had taken. There were 153,600 resident foreigners. 18 He assigned 70,000 of them to transport materials and 80,000 to cut stones in the mountains, and appointed 3,600 supervisors to make sure the work was done.

2 Chronicles 8:17 Then Solomon went to Eziongeber and Elath, ports on the shore of the Gulf of Aqaba, in the land of Edom.

2 Chronicles 9:1 The queen of Sheba heard of King Solomon's fame, and she traveled to Jerusalem to test him with difficult questions. She brought with her a large group of attendants, as well as camels loaded with spices, jewels, and a large amount of gold. When she and Solomon met, she asked him all the questions that she could think of. 2 He answered them all; there was nothing too difficult for him to explain. 3 The queen of Sheba heard Solomon's wisdom and saw the palace he had built. 4 She saw the food that was served at his table, the living quarters for his officials, the organization of his palace staff and the uniforms they wore, the clothing of the servants who waited on him at feasts, and the sacrifices he offered in the Temple. It left her breathless and amazed. 5 She said to the king, "What I heard in my own country about you and your wisdom is true! 6 I did not believe what they told me until I came and saw for myself. I had not heard of even half your wisdom. You are even wiser than people say. 7 How fortunate are those who serve you, who are always in your presence and are privileged to hear your wise sayings! 8 Praise the Lord your God! He has shown how pleased he is with you by making you king, to rule in his name. Because he loves his people Israel and wants to preserve them forever, he has made you their king so that you can maintain law and justice." 9 She presented to King Solomon the gifts she had brought: almost five tons of gold and a very large amount of spices and jewels. There have never been any other spices as fine as those that the queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon. 10 (The sailors of King Hiram and of King Solomon who brought gold from Ophir also brought juniper wood and jewels. 11 Solomon used the wood to make stairs for the Temple and for his palace, and to make harps and lyres for the musicians. Nothing like that had ever been seen before in the land of Judah.) 12 King Solomon gave the queen of Sheba everything she asked for. This was in addition to what he gave her in exchange for the gifts she brought to him. Then she and her attendants returned to the land of Sheba.

2081-2 Chronicles 3:1 King David, Solomon's father, had already prepared a place for the Temple. It was in Jerusalem, on Mount Moriah, where the Lord appeared to David, at the place which Araunah the Jebusite had used as a threshing place. King Solomon began the construction 2 in the second month of the fourth year that he was king. 3 The Temple which King Solomon built was 90 feet long and 30 feet wide. 4 The entrance room was the full width of the Temple, 30 feet, and was 180 feet high. The inside of the room was overlaid with pure gold. 5 The main room was paneled with cedar and overlaid with fine gold, in which were worked designs of palm trees and chain patterns. 6 The king decorated the Temple with beautiful precious stones and with gold imported from the land of Parvaim. 7 He used the gold to overlay the Temple walls, the rafters, the entryways, and the doors. On the walls the workers carved designs of winged creatures. 8 The inner room, called the Most Holy Place, was 30 feet long and 30 feet wide, which was the full width of the Temple. Twenty-five tons of gold were used to cover the walls of the Most Holy Place; 9 twenty ounces of gold were used for making nails, and the walls of the upper rooms were also covered with gold. 10 The king also had his workers make two winged creatures out of metal, cover them with gold, and place them in the Most Holy Place, 11 where they stood side by side facing the entrance. Each had two wings, each wing 7 1/2 feet long, which were spread out so that they touched each other in the center of the room and reached to the wall on either side of the room, stretching across the full width of 30 feet. 14 A curtain for the Most Holy Place was made of linen and of other material, which was dyed blue, purple, and red, with designs of the winged creatures worked into it. 15 The king had two columns made, each one 52 feet tall, and placed them in front of the Temple. Each one had a capital 7 1/2 feet tall.

2 Chronicles 4:1 King Solomon had a bronze altar made, which was 30 feet square and 15 feet high. 2 He also made a round tank of bronze, 7 1/2 feet deep, 15 feet in diameter, and 45 feet in circumference. 3 All around the outer edge of the rim of the tank were two rows of decorations, one above the other. The decorations were in the shape of bulls, which had been cast all in one piece with the rest of the tank. 4 The tank rested on the backs of twelve bronze bulls that faced outward, three facing in each direction. 5 The sides of the tank were 3 inches thick. Its rim was like the rim of a cup, curving outward like the petals of a flower. The tank held about 15,000 gallons. 6 They also made ten basins, five to be placed on the south side of the Temple and five on the north side. They were to be used to rinse the parts of the animals that were burned as sacrifices. The water in the large tank was for the priests to use for washing. 7 They made ten gold lampstands according to the usual pattern, and ten tables, and placed them in the main room of the Temple, five lampstands and five tables on each side. They also made a hundred gold bowls. 9 They made an inner courtyard for the priests, and also an outer courtyard. The doors in the gates between the courtyards were covered with bronze. 10 The tank was placed near the southeast corner of the Temple. 11 Huram also made pots, shovels, and bowls. He completed all the objects that he had promised King Solomon he would make for the Temple: The two columns The two bowl-shaped capitals on top of the columns The design of interwoven chains on each capital The 400 bronze pomegranates arranged in two rows around the design of each capital The ten carts The ten basins The tank The twelve bulls supporting the tank The pots, shovels, and forks Huram the master metalworker made all these objects out of polished bronze, as King Solomon had commanded, for use in the Temple of the Lord. 17 The king had them all made in the foundry between Sukkoth and Zeredah in the Jordan Valley. 18 So many objects were made that no one determined the total weight of the bronze used. 19 King Solomon also had gold furnishings made for the Temple: the altar and the tables for the bread offered to God; 20 the lampstands and the lamps of fine gold that were to burn in front of the Most Holy Place, according to plan; 21 the flower decorations, the lamps, and the tongs; 22 the lamp snuffers, the bowls, the dishes for incense, and the pans used for carrying live coals. All these objects were made of pure gold. The outer doors of the Temple and the doors to the Most Holy Place were overlaid with gold.

2 Chronicles 5:1 When King Solomon finished all the work on the Temple, he placed in the Temple storerooms all the things that his father David had dedicated to the Lord - the silver, gold, and other articles.

2 Chronicles 8:1 It took Solomon twenty years to build the Temple and his palace. 2 He also rebuilt the cities that King Hiram had given him, and sent Israelites to settle in them. 3 He captured the territory of Hamath and Zobah 4 and fortified the city of Palmyra in the desert. He rebuilt all the cities in Hamath that were centers for storing supplies. 5 Solomon also rebuilt the following cities: Upper Beth Horon and Lower Beth Horon (fortified cities with gates that could be barred), 6 the city of Baalath, all the cities where he stored supplies, and the cities where his horses and chariots were stationed. He carried out all his plans for building in Jerusalem, in Lebanon, and throughout the territory that he ruled over. 7 Solomon employed at forced labor all the descendants of the people of Canaan whom the Israelites had not killed when they took possession of the land. These included Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites, whose descendants continue to be slaves down to the present time. 9 Israelites were not used at forced labor, but served as soldiers, officers, chariot commanders, and cavalry troops. 10 There were 250 officials in charge of the forced labor working on the various building projects. 11 Solomon moved his wife, the daughter of the king of Egypt, from David's City to a house he built for her. He said, "She must not live in the palace of King David of Israel, because any place where the Covenant Box has been is holy." 12 Solomon offered sacrifices to the Lord on the altar which he had built in front of the Temple. 13 He offered burnt offerings according to the requirements of the Law of Moses for each holy day: Sabbaths, New Moon Festivals, and the three annual festivals - the Festival of Unleavened Bread, the Harvest Festival, and the Festival of Shelters. 14 Following the rules laid down by his father David, he organized the daily work of the priests and of the Levites who assisted the priests in singing hymns and in doing their work. He also organized the Temple guards in sections for performing their daily duties at each gate, in accordance with the commands of David, the man of God. 15 The instructions which David had given the priests and the Levites concerning the storehouses and other matters were carried out in detail. 16 By this time all of Solomon's projects had been completed. From the laying of the foundation of the Lord's Temple to its completion, all the work had been successful.

2082-2 Chronicles 5:2 Then King Solomon summoned all the leaders of the tribes and clans of Israel to assemble in Jerusalem, in order to take the Lord's Covenant Box from Zion, David's City, to the Temple. 3 They all assembled at the time of the Festival of Shelters. 4 When all the leaders had gathered, then the Levites lifted the Covenant Box 5 and carried it to the Temple. The priests and the Levites also moved the Tent of the Lord's presence and all its equipment to the Temple. 6 King Solomon and all the people of Israel assembled in front of the Covenant Box and sacrificed a large number of sheep and cattle - too many to count. 7 Then the priests carried the Covenant Box of the Lord into the Temple and put it in the Most Holy Place, beneath the winged creatures. 8 Their outstretched wings covered the Box and the poles it was carried by. 9 The ends of the poles could be seen by anyone standing directly in front of the Most Holy Place, but from nowhere else. (The poles are still there today.) 10 There was nothing inside the Covenant Box except the two stone tablets which Moses had placed there at Mount Sinai, when the Lord made a covenant with the people of Israel as they were coming from Egypt. 11 All the priests present, regardless of the group to which they belonged, had consecrated themselves. And all the Levite musicians - Asaph, Heman, and Jeduthun, and the members of their clans - were wearing linen clothing. The Levites stood near the east side of the altar with cymbals and harps, and with them were 120 priests playing trumpets. The singers were accompanied in perfect harmony by trumpets, cymbals, and other instruments, as they praised the Lord singing: "Praise the Lord, because he is good, And his love is eternal." As the priests were leaving the Temple, it was suddenly filled with a cloud shining with the dazzling light of the Lord's presence, and they could not continue the service of worship.

2 Chronicles 6:1 Then King Solomon prayed, "Lord, you have chosen to live in clouds and darkness. 2 Now I have built a majestic temple for you, a place for you to live in forever." 3 All the people of Israel were standing there. The king turned to face them and asked God's blessing on them. 4 He said, "Praise the Lord God of Israel! He has kept the promise he made to my father David when he said to him, 5 "From the time I brought my people out of Egypt until now, I did not choose any city in the land of Israel as the place to build a temple where I would be worshiped, and I did not choose anyone to lead my people Israel. 6 But now I have chosen Jerusalem as the place where I will be worshiped, and you, David, to rule my people.' " 7 And Solomon continued, "My father David planned to build a temple for the worship of the Lord God of Israel, 8 but the Lord said to him, "You were right in wanting to build a temple for me, 9 but you will never build it. It is your son, your own son, who will build my temple.' 10 "Now the Lord has kept his promise: I have succeeded my father as king of Israel, and I have built a temple for the worship of the Lord God of Israel. 11 I have placed in the Temple the Covenant Box, which contains the stone tablets of the covenant which the Lord made with the people of Israel." 12 Then in the presence of the people Solomon went and stood in front of the altar and raised his arms in prayer 13 (Solomon had made a bronze platform and put it in the middle of the courtyard. It was eight feet square and five feet high. He mounted this platform, knelt down where everyone could see him, and raised his hands toward heaven.) 14 He prayed, "Lord God of Israel, in all heaven and earth there is no god like you. You keep your covenant with your people and show them your love when they live in wholehearted obedience to you. 15 You have kept the promise you made to my father David; today every word has been fulfilled. 16 Now, Lord God of Israel, keep the other promise you made to my father when you told him that there would always be one of his descendants ruling as king of Israel, provided that they carefully obeyed your Law just as he did. 17 So now, Lord God of Israel, let everything come true that you promised to your servant David. 18 "But can you, O God, really live on earth among men and women? Not even all of heaven is large enough to hold you, so how can this Temple that I have built be large enough? 19 Lord my God, I am your servant. Listen to my prayer and grant the requests I make to you. 20 Watch over this Temple day and night. You have promised that this is where you will be worshiped, so hear me when I face this Temple and pray. 21 Hear my prayers and the prayers of your people Israel when they face this place and pray. In your home in heaven hear us and forgive us. 22 "When people are accused of wronging others and are brought to your altar in this Temple to take an oath that they are innocent, 23 O Lord, listen in heaven and judge your servants. Punish the guilty ones as they deserve and acquit the innocent. 24 "When your people Israel are defeated by their enemies because they have sinned against you and then when they turn to you and come to this Temple, humbly praying to you for forgiveness, 25 listen to them in heaven. Forgive the sins of your people and bring them back to the land which you gave to them and to their ancestors. 26 "When you hold back the rain because your people have sinned against you and then when they repent and face this Temple, humbly praying to you, 27 O Lord, listen to them in heaven and forgive the sins of your servants, the people of Israel, and teach them to do what is right. Then, O Lord, send rain on this land of yours, which you gave to your people as a permanent possession. 28 "When there is famine in the land or an epidemic or the crops are destroyed by scorching winds or swarms of locusts, or when your people are attacked by their enemies, or when there is disease or sickness among them, 29 listen to their prayers. If any of your people Israel, out of heartfelt sorrow, stretch out their hands in prayer toward this Temple, 30 hear their prayer. Listen to them in your home in heaven and forgive them. You alone know the thoughts of the human heart. Deal with each of us as we deserve, 31 so that your people may honor you and obey you all the time they live in the land which you gave to our ancestors. 32 "When foreigners who live in a distant land hear how great and powerful you are and how you are always ready to act, and then they come to pray at this Temple, 33 listen to their prayers. In heaven, where you live, hear them and do what they ask you to do, so that all the peoples of the world may know you and obey you, as your people Israel do. Then they will know that this Temple I have built is where you are to be worshiped. 34 "When you command your people to go into battle against their enemies and they pray to you, wherever they are, facing this city which you have chosen and this Temple which I have built for you, 35 listen to their prayers. Hear them in heaven and give them victory. 36 "When your people sin against you - and there is no one who does not sin - and in your anger you let their enemies defeat them and take them as prisoners to some other land, even if that land is far away, 37 listen to your people's prayers. If there in that land they repent and pray to you, confessing how sinful and wicked they have been, hear their prayers, O Lord. 38 If in that land they truly and sincerely repent and pray to you as they face toward this land which you gave to our ancestors, this city which you have chosen, and this Temple which I have built for you, 39 then listen to their prayers. In your home in heaven hear them and be merciful to them and forgive all the sins of your people. 40 "Now, O my God, look on us and listen to the prayers offered in this place. 41 Rise up now, Lord God, and with the Covenant Box, the symbol of your power, enter the Temple and stay here forever. Bless your priests in all they do, and may all your people be happy because of your goodness to them. 42 Lord God, do not reject the king you have chosen. Remember the love you had for your servant David."

2 Chronicles 7:1 When King Solomon finished his prayer, fire came down from heaven and burned up the sacrifices that had been offered, and the dazzling light of the Lord's presence filled the Temple. 2 Because the Temple was full of the dazzling light, the priests could not enter it. 3 When the people of Israel saw the fire fall from heaven and the light fill the Temple, they fell face downward on the pavement, worshiping God and praising him for his goodness and his eternal love. 4 Then Solomon and all the people offered sacrifices to the Lord. 5 He sacrificed 22,000 head of cattle and 120,000 sheep as fellowship offerings. And so he and all the people dedicated the Temple. 6 The priests stood in the places that were assigned to them, and facing them stood the Levites, praising the Lord with the musical instruments that King David had provided and singing the hymn, "His Love Is Eternal!" as they had been commissioned by David. The priests blew trumpets while all the people stood. 7 Solomon consecrated the central part of the courtyard, the area in front of the Temple, and then offered there the sacrifices burned whole, the grain offerings, and the fat from the fellowship offerings. He did this because the bronze altar which he had made was too small for all these offerings. 8 Solomon and all the people of Israel celebrated the Festival of Shelters for seven days. There was a huge crowd of people from as far away as Hamath Pass in the north and the Egyptian border in the south. 9 They had spent seven days for the dedication of the altar and then seven more days for the festival. On the last day they had a closing celebration, 10 and on the following day, the twenty-third day of the seventh month, Solomon sent the people home. They were happy about all the blessings that the Lord had given to his people Israel, to David, and to Solomon.

2083-2 Chronicles 7:12 the Lord appeared to him at night. He said to him, "I have heard your prayer, and I accept this Temple as the place where sacrifices are to be offered to me. 13 Whenever I hold back the rain or send locusts to eat up the crops or send an epidemic on my people, 14 if they pray to me and repent and turn away from the evil they have been doing, then I will hear them in heaven, forgive their sins, and make their land prosperous again. 15 I will watch over this Temple and be ready to hear all the prayers that are offered here, 16 because I have chosen it and consecrated it as the place where I will be worshiped forever. I will watch over it and protect it for all time. 17 If you serve me faithfully as your father David did, obeying my laws and doing everything I have commanded you, 18 I will keep the promise I made to your father David when I told him that Israel would always be ruled by his descendants. 19 But if you and your people ever disobey the laws and commands I have given you and worship other gods, 20 then I will remove you from the land that I gave you, and I will abandon this Temple that I have consecrated as the place where I am to be worshiped. People everywhere will ridicule it and treat it with contempt. 21 "The Temple is now greatly honored, but then everyone who passes by it will be amazed and will ask, "Why did the Lord do this to this land and this Temple?' 22 People will answer, "It is because they abandoned the Lord their God, who brought their ancestors out of Egypt. They gave their allegiance to other gods and worshiped them. That is why the Lord has brought this disaster on them.' "

2084-Numbers 21:14 That is why [The Book of the Lord's Battles ]speaks of ". . . the town of Waheb in the area of Suphah, and the valleys; the Arnon River,

2085-Joshua 10:13 The sun stood still and the moon did not move until the nation had conquered its enemies. This is written in The Book of Jashar. The sun stood still in the middle of the sky and did not go down for a whole day.

2086-1 Kings 11:41 Everything else that Solomon did, his career, and his wisdom, are all recorded in [The History of Solomon.]

1 Kings 14:19 Everything else that King Jeroboam did, the wars he fought and how he ruled, are all recorded in [The History of the Kings of Israel.]

1 Kings 14:19 Everything else that King Jeroboam did, the wars he fought and how he ruled, are all recorded in [The History of the Kings of Israel.]

1 Kings 15:7 And everything else that Abijah did is recorded in [The History of the Kings of Judah.]

1 Kings 15:23 Everything else that King Asa did, his brave deeds and the towns he fortified, are all recorded in [The History of the Kings of Judah.] But in his old age he was crippled by a foot disease.

1 Kings 15:31 Everything else that Nadab did is recorded in [The History of the Kings of Israel.]

1 Kings 16:5 Everything else that Baasha did and all his brave deeds are recorded in [The History of the Kings of Israel.]

1 Kings 16:14 Everything else that Elah did is recorded in [The History of the Kings of Israel.]

1 Kings 16:20 Everything else that Zimri did, including the account of his conspiracy, is recorded in [The History of the Kings of Israel.]

1 Kings 16:27 Everything else that Omri did and all his accomplishments are recorded in [The History of the Kings of Israel.]

1 Kings 22:39 Everything else that King Ahab did, including an account of his palace decorated with ivory and of all the cities he built, is recorded in [The History of the Kings of Israel.]

1 Kings 22:45 Everything else that Jehoshaphat did, all his bravery and his battles, are recorded in [The History of the Kings of Judah.]

2087-2 Kings 1:18 Everything else that King Ahaziah did is recorded in [The History of the Kings of Israel.]

2 Kings 8:23 Everything else that Jehoram did is recorded in [The History of the Kings of Judah.]

2 Kings 10:34 Everything else that Jehu did, including his brave deeds, is recorded in [The History of the Kings of Israel.]

2 Kings 12:19 Everything else that King Joash did is recorded in [The History of the Kings of Judah.]

2 Kings 13:8 Everything else that Jehoahaz did and all his brave deeds are recorded in [The History of the Kings of Israel.]

2 Kings 13:12 Everything else that Jehoash did, including his bravery in the war against King Amaziah of Judah, is recorded in [The History of the Kings of Israel.]

2 Kings 14:15 Everything else that Jehoash did, including his bravery in the war against King Amaziah of Judah, is recorded in [The History of the Kings of Israel.]

2 Kings 14:17 King Amaziah of Judah lived fifteen years after the death of King Jehoash of Israel.

2 Kings 14:28 Everything else that Jeroboam II did, his brave battles, and how he restored Damascus and Hamath to Israel, are all recorded in [The History of the Kings of Israel.]

2 Kings 15:6 Everything else that Uzziah did is recorded in [The History of the Kings of Judah.]

2 Kings 15:11 Everything else that Zechariah did is recorded in [The History of the Kings of Israel.]

2 Kings 15:15 Everything else that Shallum did, including an account of his conspiracy, is recorded in [The History of the Kings of Israel.]

2 Kings 15:21 Everything else that Menahem did is recorded in [The History of the Kings of Israel.]

2 Kings 15:26 Everything else that Pekahiah did is recorded in [The History of the Kings of Israel.]

2 Kings 15:31 Everything else that Pekah did is recorded in [The History of the Kings of Israel.]

2 Kings 15:36 Everything else that Jotham did is recorded in [The History of the Kings of Judah.]

2 Kings 16:19 Everything else that King Ahaz did is recorded in [The History of the Kings of Judah.]

2 Kings 20:20 Everything else that King Hezekiah did, his brave deeds, and an account of how he built a reservoir and dug a tunnel to bring water into the city, are all recorded in [The History of the Kings of Judah.]

2 Kings 21:17 Everything else that Manasseh did, including the sins he committed, is recorded in [The History of the Kings of Judah.]

2 Kings 21:25 Everything else that Amon did is recorded in [The History of the Kings of Judah.]

2 Kings 23:21 King Josiah ordered the people to celebrate the Passover in honor of the Lord their God, as written in the book of the covenant.

2 Kings 23:28 Everything else that King Josiah did is recorded in [The History of the Kings of Judah.]

2 Kings 24:5 Everything that Jehoiakim did is recorded in [The History of the Kings of Judah.]

2088-1 Chronicles 9:1 All the people of Israel were listed according to their families, and this information was recorded in [The Book of the Kings of Israel.] The people of Judah had been deported to Babylon as punishment for their sins.

2089-2 Chronicles 9:29 The rest of the history of Solomon from beginning to end is recorded in [The History of Nathan the Prophet,] in [The Prophecy of Ahijah of Shiloh,] and in [The Visions of Iddo the Prophet,] which also deal with the reign of King Jeroboam of Israel.

2 Chronicles 12:15 Rehoboam's acts from beginning to end and his family records are found in [The History of Shemaiah the Prophet] and [The History of Iddo the Prophet.] Rehoboam and Jeroboam were constantly at war with each other.

2 Chronicles 13:22 The rest of the history of Abijah, what he said and what he did, is written in [The History of Iddo the Prophet.]

2 Chronicles 17:9 They took the book of the Law of the Lord and went through all the towns of Judah, teaching it to the people.

2 Chronicles 25:26 All the other things that Amaziah did from the beginning to the end of his reign are recorded in [The History of the Kings of Judah and Israel.]

2 Chronicles 27:7 The other events of Jotham's reign, his wars, and his policies, are all recorded in [The History of the Kings of Israel and Judah.]

2 Chronicles 28:26 All the other events of his reign, from beginning to end, are recorded in [The History of the Kings of Judah and Israel.]

2 Chronicles 32:32 Everything else that King Hezekiah did and his devotion to the Lord are recorded in [The Vision of the Prophet Isaiah Son of Amoz] and in [The History of the Kings of Judah and Israel.]

2 Chronicles 33:18 Everything else that Manasseh did, the prayer he made to his God, and the messages of the prophets who spoke to him in the name of the Lord, the God of Israel, are all recorded in [The History of the Kings of Israel.] 19 The king's prayer and God's answer to it, and an account of the sins he committed before he repented - the evil he did, the pagan places of worship and the symbols of the goddess Asherah that he made and the idols that he worshiped - are all recorded in [The History of the Prophets.]

2 Chronicles 35:26 Everything that Josiah did - his devotion to the Lord, his obedience to the Law,

2 Chronicles 36:8 Everything that Jehoiakim did, including his disgusting practices and the evil he committed, is recorded in [The History of the Kings of Israel and Judah.] His son Jehoiachin succeeded him as king.

2090-1 Corinthians 5:9 In the letter that I wrote you I told you not to associate with immoral people.

2091-3 John 9 I wrote a short letter to the church; but Diotrephes, who likes to be their leader, will not pay any attention to what I say.

2092-Luke 24:44 Then he said to them, "These are the very things I told you about while I was still with you: everything written about me in the Law of Moses, the writings of the prophets, and the Psalms had to come true."

2093-2 Tim.3:16 All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching the truth, rebuking error, correcting faults, and giving instruction for right living,

2094-Pet 1:21 Through him you believe in God, who raised him from death and gave him glory; and so your faith and hope are fixed on God.

1 Peter 3:2 because they will see how pure and reverent your conduct is.

2095-Luke 1:1 Dear Theophilus: Many people have done their best to write a report of the things that have taken place among us. 2 They wrote what we have been told by those who saw these things from the beginning and who proclaimed the message. 3 And so, Your Excellency, because I have carefully studied all these matters from their beginning, I thought it would be good to write an orderly account for you. 4 I do this so that you will know the full truth about everything which you have been taught.

2096-2 Chronicles 5:6 King Solomon and all the people of Israel assembled in front of the Covenant Box and sacrificed a large number of sheep and cattle - too many to count.

2097-2 Chronicles 5:13The singers were accompanied in perfect harmony by trumpets, cymbals, and other instruments, as they praised the Lord singing: "Praise the Lord, because he is good, And his love is eternal." As the priests were leaving the Temple, it was suddenly filled with a cloud shining with the dazzling light of the Lord's presence, and they could not continue the service of worship.

2098-Ezra 3:7 The people gave money to pay the stonemasons and the carpenters and gave food, drink, and olive oil to be sent to the cities of Tyre and Sidon in exchange for cedar trees from Lebanon, which were to be brought by sea to Joppa. All this was done with the permission of Emperor Cyrus of Persia. 8 So in the second month of the year after they came back to the site of the Temple in Jerusalem, they began work. Zerubbabel, Joshua, and the rest of their people, the priests, and the Levites, in fact all the exiles who had come back to Jerusalem, joined in the work. All the Levites twenty years of age or older were put in charge of the work of rebuilding the Temple. 9 The Levite Jeshua and his sons and relatives, and Kadmiel and his sons (the clan of Hodaviah ) joined together in taking charge of the rebuilding of the Temple. (They were helped by the Levites of the clan of Henadad.)

2099-Haggai 2:3 "Is there anyone among you who can still remember how splendid the Temple used to be? How does it look to you now? It must seem like nothing at all. 4 But now don't be discouraged, any of you. Do the work, for I am with you. 5 When you came out of Egypt, I promised that I would always be with you. I am still with you, so do not be afraid. 6 "Before long I will shake heaven and earth, land and sea. 7 I will overthrow all the nations, and their treasures will be brought here, and the Temple will be filled with wealth. 8 All the silver and gold of the world is mine. 9 The new Temple will be more splendid than the old one, and there I will give my people prosperity and peace." The Lord Almighty has spoken.

2100-Haggai 2:9 The new Temple will be more splendid than the old one, and there I will give my people prosperity and peace." The Lord Almighty has spoken.

2101-Ezra 3:10 When the builders started to lay the foundation of the Temple, the priests in their robes took their places with trumpets in their hands, and the Levites of the clan of Asaph stood there with cymbals. They praised the Lord according to the instructions handed down from the time of King David. 11 They sang the Lord's praises, repeating the refrain: "The Lord is good, and his love for Israel is eternal." Everyone shouted with all their might, praising the Lord, because the work on the foundation of the Temple had been started. 12 Many of the older priests, Levites, and heads of clans had seen the first Temple, and as they watched the foundation of this Temple being laid, they cried and wailed. But the others who were there shouted for joy. 13 No one could distinguish between the joyful shouts and the crying, because the noise they made was so loud that it could be heard for miles.

2102-2 Chronicles 6:12 Then in the presence of the people Solomon went and stood in front of the altar and raised his arms in prayer 13 (Solomon had made a bronze platform and put it in the middle of the courtyard. It was eight feet square and five feet high. He mounted this platform, knelt down where everyone could see him, and raised his hands toward heaven.) 14 He prayed, "Lord God of Israel, in all heaven and earth there is no god like you. You keep your covenant with your people and show them your love when they live in wholehearted obedience to you. 15 You have kept the promise you made to my father David; today every word has been fulfilled. 16 Now, Lord God of Israel, keep the other promise you made to my father when you told him that there would always be one of his descendants ruling as king of Israel, provided that they carefully obeyed your Law just as he did. 17 So now, Lord God of Israel, let everything come true that you promised to your servant David. 18 "But can you, O God, really live on earth among men and women? Not even all of heaven is large enough to hold you, so how can this Temple that I have built be large enough? 19 Lord my God, I am your servant. Listen to my prayer and grant the requests I make to you. 20 Watch over this Temple day and night. You have promised that this is where you will be worshiped, so hear me when I face this Temple and pray. 21 Hear my prayers and the prayers of your people Israel when they face this place and pray. In your home in heaven hear us and forgive us. 22 "When people are accused of wronging others and are brought to your altar in this Temple to take an oath that they are innocent, 23 O Lord, listen in heaven and judge your servants. Punish the guilty ones as they deserve and acquit the innocent. 24 "When your people Israel are defeated by their enemies because they have sinned against you and then when they turn to you and come to this Temple, humbly praying to you for forgiveness, 25 listen to them in heaven. Forgive the sins of your people and bring them back to the land which you gave to them and to their ancestors. 26 "When you hold back the rain because your people have sinned against you and then when they repent and face this Temple, humbly praying to you, 27 O Lord, listen to them in heaven and forgive the sins of your servants, the people of Israel, and teach them to do what is right. Then, O Lord, send rain on this land of yours, which you gave to your people as a permanent possession. 28 "When there is famine in the land or an epidemic or the crops are destroyed by scorching winds or swarms of locusts, or when your people are attacked by their enemies, or when there is disease or sickness among them, 29 listen to their prayers. If any of your people Israel, out of heartfelt sorrow, stretch out their hands in prayer toward this Temple, 30 hear their prayer. Listen to them in your home in heaven and forgive them. You alone know the thoughts of the human heart. Deal with each of us as we deserve, 31 so that your people may honor you and obey you all the time they live in the land which you gave to our ancestors. 32 "When foreigners who live in a distant land hear how great and powerful you are and how you are always ready to act, and then they come to pray at this Temple, 33 listen to their prayers. In heaven, where you live, hear them and do what they ask you to do, so that all the peoples of the world may know you and obey you, as your people Israel do. Then they will know that this Temple I have built is where you are to be worshiped. 34 "When you command your people to go into battle against their enemies and they pray to you, wherever they are, facing this city which you have chosen and this Temple which I have built for you, 35 listen to their prayers. Hear them in heaven and give them victory. 36 "When your people sin against you - and there is no one who does not sin - and in your anger you let their enemies defeat them and take them as prisoners to some other land, even if that land is far away, 37 listen to your people's prayers. If there in that land they repent and pray to you, confessing how sinful and wicked they have been, hear their prayers, O Lord. 38 If in that land they truly and sincerely repent and pray to you as they face toward this land which you gave to our ancestors, this city which you have chosen, and this Temple which I have built for you, 39 then listen to their prayers. In your home in heaven hear them and be merciful to them and forgive all the sins of your people. 40 "Now, O my God, look on us and listen to the prayers offered in this place. 41 Rise up now, Lord God, and with the Covenant Box, the symbol of your power, enter the Temple and stay here forever. Bless your priests in all they do, and may all your people be happy because of your goodness to them. 42 Lord God, do not reject the king you have chosen. Remember the love you had for your servant David."

2103-1 Kings 8:14 As the people stood there, King Solomon turned to face them, and he asked God's blessing on them. 15 He said, "Praise the Lord God of Israel! He has kept the promise he made to my father David, when he told him, 16 "From the time I brought my people out of Egypt, I have not chosen any city in all the land of Israel in which a temple should be built where I would be worshiped. But I chose you, David, to rule my people.' " 17 And Solomon continued, "My father David planned to build a temple for the worship of the Lord God of Israel, 18 but the Lord said to him, "You were right in wanting to build a temple for me, 19 but you will never build it. It is your son, your own son, who will build my temple.' 20 "And now the Lord has kept his promise. I have succeeded my father as king of Israel, and I have built the Temple for the worship of the Lord God of Israel. 21 I have also provided a place in the Temple for the Covenant Box containing the stone tablets of the covenant which the Lord made with our ancestors when he brought them out of Egypt." 22 Then in the presence of the people Solomon went and stood in front of the altar, where he raised his arms 23 and prayed, "Lord God of Israel, there is no god like you in heaven above or on earth below! You keep your covenant with your people and show them your love when they live in wholehearted obedience to you. 24 You have kept the promise you made to my father David; today every word has been fulfilled. 25 And now, Lord God of Israel, I pray that you will also keep the other promise you made to my father when you told him that there would always be one of his descendants ruling as king of Israel, provided they obeyed you as carefully as he did. 26 So now, O God of Israel, let everything come true that you promised to my father David, your servant. 27 "But can you, O God, really live on earth? Not even all of heaven is large enough to hold you, so how can this Temple that I have built be large enough? 28 Lord my God, I am your servant. Listen to my prayer, and grant the requests I make to you today. 29 Watch over this Temple day and night, this place where you have chosen to be worshiped. Hear me when I face this Temple and pray. 30 Hear my prayers and the prayers of your people when they face this place and pray. In your home in heaven hear us and forgive us. 31 "When a person is accused of wronging another and is brought to your altar in this Temple to take an oath that he is innocent, 32 O Lord, listen in heaven and judge your servants. Punish the guilty one as he deserves, and acquit the one who is innocent. 33 "When your people Israel are defeated by their enemies because they have sinned against you, and then when they turn to you and come to this Temple, humbly praying to you for forgiveness, 34 listen to them in heaven. Forgive the sins of your people and bring them back to the land which you gave to their ancestors. 35 "When you hold back the rain because your people have sinned against you, and then when they repent and face this Temple, humbly praying to you, 36 listen to them in heaven. Forgive the sins of the king and of the people of Israel, and teach them to do what is right. Then, O Lord, send rain on this land of yours, which you gave to your people as a permanent possession. 37 "When there is famine in the land or an epidemic or the crops are destroyed by scorching winds or swarms of locusts, or when your people are attacked by their enemies, or when there is disease or sickness among them, 38 listen to their prayers. If any of your people Israel, out of heartfelt sorrow, stretch out their hands in prayer toward this Temple, 39 hear their prayer. Listen to them in your home in heaven, forgive them, and help them. You alone know the thoughts of the human heart. Deal with each person as he deserves, 40 so that your people may obey you all the time they live in the land which you gave to our ancestors. 41 "When a foreigner who lives in a distant land hears of your fame and of the great things you have done for your people and comes to worship you and to pray at this Temple, 43 listen to his prayer. In heaven, where you live, hear him and do what he asks you to do, so that all the peoples of the world may know you and obey you, as your people Israel do. Then they will know that this Temple I have built is the place where you are to be worshiped. 44 "When you command your people to go into battle against their enemies and they pray to you, wherever they are, facing this city which you have chosen and this Temple which I have built for you, 45 listen to their prayers. Hear them in heaven and give them victory. 46 "When your people sin against you - and there is no one who does not sin - and in your anger you let their enemies defeat them and take them as prisoners to some other land, even if that land is far away, 47 listen to your people's prayers. If there in that land they repent and pray to you, confessing how sinful and wicked they have been, hear their prayers, O Lord. 48 If in that land they truly and sincerely repent and pray to you as they face toward this land which you gave to our ancestors, this city which you have chosen, and this Temple which I have built for you, 49 then listen to their prayers. In your home in heaven hear them and be merciful to them. 50 Forgive all their sins and their rebellion against you, and make their enemies treat them with kindness. 51 They are your own people, whom you brought out of Egypt, that blazing furnace. 52 "Sovereign Lord, may you always look with favor on your people Israel and their king, and hear their prayer whenever they call to you for help. 53 You chose them from all the peoples to be your own people, as you told them through your servant Moses when you brought our ancestors out of Egypt." 54 After Solomon had finished praying to the Lord, he stood up in front of the altar, where he had been kneeling with uplifted hands. 55 In a loud voice he asked God's blessings on all the people assembled there. He said, 56 "Praise the Lord who has given his people peace, as he promised he would. He has kept all the generous promises he made through his servant Moses. 57 May the Lord our God be with us as he was with our ancestors; may he never leave us or abandon us; 58 may he make us obedient to him, so that we will always live as he wants us to live, keeping all the laws and commands he gave our ancestors. 59 May the Lord our God remember at all times this prayer and these petitions I have made to him. May he always be merciful to the people of Israel and to their king, according to their daily needs. 60 And so all the nations of the world will know that the Lord alone is God - there is no other. 61 May you, his people, always be faithful to the Lord our God, obeying all his laws and commands as you do today."

2104-2 Chronicles 6:16 Now, Lord God of Israel, keep the other promise you made to my father when you told him that there would always be one of his descendants ruling as king of Israel, provided that they carefully obeyed your Law just as he did.

2 Chronicles 7:17 If you serve me faithfully as your father David did, obeying my laws and doing everything I have commanded you,

2105-1 Kings 11:38 If you obey me completely, live by my laws, and win my approval by doing what I command, as my servant David did, I will always be with you. I will make you king of Israel and will make sure that your descendants rule after you, just as I have done for David.

1 Kings 15:5 The Lord did this because David had done what pleased him and had never disobeyed any of his commands, except in the case of Uriah the Hittite.

2106-2 Chronicles 6:26 "When you hold back the rain because your people have sinned against you and then when they repent and face this Temple, humbly praying to you,

2107-Matthew 5:45 so that you may become the children of your Father in heaven. For he makes his sun to shine on bad and good people alike, and gives rain to those who do good and to those who do evil.

2108-2 Chronicles 6:28 "When there is famine in the land or an epidemic or the crops are destroyed by scorching winds or swarms of locusts, or when your people are attacked by their enemies, or when there is disease or sickness among them,

2109-2 Chronicles 6:30 hear their prayer. Listen to them in your home in heaven and forgive them. You alone know the thoughts of the human heart. Deal with each of us as we deserve,

2110-2 Chronicles 6:32 "When foreigners who live in a distant land hear how great and powerful you are and how you are always ready to act, and then they come to pray at this Temple, 33 listen to their prayers. In heaven, where you live, hear them and do what they ask you to do, so that all the peoples of the world may know you and obey you, as your people Israel do. Then they will know that this Temple I have built is where you are to be worshiped.

2111-Kings 11:1 Solomon loved many foreign women. Besides the daughter of the king of Egypt he married Hittite women and women from Moab, Ammon, Edom, and Sidon. 2 He married them even though the Lord had commanded the Israelites not to intermarry with these people, because they would cause the Israelites to give their loyalty to other gods. 3 Solomon married seven hundred princesses and also had three hundred concubines. They made him turn away from God, 4 and by the time he was old they had led him into the worship of foreign gods. He was not faithful to the Lord his God, as his father David had been. 5 He worshiped Astarte, the goddess of Sidon, and Molech, the disgusting god of Ammon. 6 He sinned against the Lord and was not true to him as his father David had been. 7 On the mountain east of Jerusalem he built a place to worship Chemosh, the disgusting god of Moab, and a place to worship Molech, the disgusting god of Ammon. 8 He also built places of worship where all his foreign wives could burn incense and offer sacrifices to their own gods. 9 Even though the Lord, the God of Israel, had appeared to Solomon twice and had commanded him not to worship foreign gods, Solomon did not obey the Lord but turned away from him. So the Lord was angry with Solomon 11 and said to him, "Because you have deliberately broken your covenant with me and disobeyed my commands, I promise that I will take the kingdom away from you and give it to one of your officials.

2112-2 Chronicles 6:36 "When your people sin against you - and there is no one who does not sin - and in your anger you let their enemies defeat them and take them as prisoners to some other land, even if that land is far away,

2113-Ecclesiastes 7:20 There is no one on earth who does what is right all the time and never makes a mistake.

2114-1 Kings 8:46 "When your people sin against you - and there is no one who does not sin - and in your anger you let their enemies defeat them and take them as prisoners to some other land, even if that land is far away,

2115-Romans 3:23 everyone has sinned and is far away from God's saving presence.

2116-Ex. 9:29 Moses said to him, "As soon as I go out of the city, I will lift up my hands in prayer to the Lord. The thunder will stop, and there will be no more hail, so that you may know that the earth belongs to the Lord.

Ex. 9:33 Moses left the king, went out of the city, and lifted up his hands in prayer to the Lord. The thunder, the hail, and the rain all stopped.

2117-1 Kin. 8:54 After Solomon had finished praying to the Lord, he stood up in front of the altar, where he had been kneeling with uplifted hands.

2118-Ezra 9:5 When the time came for the evening sacrifice, I got up from where I had been grieving, and still wearing my torn clothes, I knelt in prayer and stretched out my hands to the Lord my God.

2119-Ps. 87:1 The Lord built his city on the sacred hill; 2 more than any other place in Israel he loves the city of Jerusalem. 3 Listen, city of God, to the wonderful things he says about you: 4 "I will include Egypt and Babylonia when I list the nations that obey me; the people of Philistia, Tyre, and Ethiopia I will number among the inhabitants of Jerusalem." 5 Of Zion it will be said that all nations belong there and that the Almighty will make her strong. 6 The Lord will write a list of the peoples and include them all as citizens of Jerusalem. 7 They dance and sing, "In Zion is the source of all our blessings."

2120-Is. 56:6 And the Lord says to those foreigners who become part of his people, who love him and serve him, who observe the Sabbath and faithfully keep his covenant: 7 "I will bring you to Zion, my sacred hill, give you joy in my house of prayer, and accept the sacrifices you offer on my altar. My Temple will be called a house of prayer for the people of all nations." 8 The Sovereign Lord, who has brought his people Israel home from exile, has promised that he will bring still other people to join them.

2121-Zech. 8:20 The Lord Almighty says, "The time is coming when people from many cities will come to Jerusalem. 21 Those from one city will say to those from another, "We are going to worship the Lord Almighty and pray for his blessing. Come with us!' 22 Many peoples and powerful nations will come to Jerusalem to worship the Lord Almighty and to pray for his blessing. 23 In those days ten foreigners will come to one Jew and say, "We want to share in your destiny, because we have heard that God is with you.' "

Zechariah 14:16 Then all of the survivors from the nations that have attacked Jerusalem will go there each year to worship the Lord Almighty as king and to celebrate the Festival of Shelters. 17 If any nation refuses to go and worship the Lord Almighty as king, then rain will not fall on their land. 18 If the Egyptians refuse to celebrate the Festival of Shelters, then they will be struck by the same disease that the Lord will send on every nation that refuses to go. 19 This will be the punishment that will fall on Egypt and on all the other nations if they do not celebrate the Festival of Shelters. 20 At that time even the harness bells of the horses will be inscribed with the words "Dedicated to the Lord." The cooking pots in the Temple will be as sacred as the bowls before the altar. 21 Every cooking pot in Jerusalem and in all Judah will be set apart for use in the worship of the Lord Almighty. The people who offer sacrifices will use them for boiling the meat of the sacrifices. When that time comes, there will no longer be any merchant in the Temple of the Lord Almighty.

2122-2 Chr. 6:12 Then in the presence of the people Solomon went and stood in front of the altar and raised his arms in prayer 13 (Solomon had made a bronze platform and put it in the middle of the courtyard. It was eight feet square and five feet high. He mounted this platform, knelt down where everyone could see him, and raised his hands toward heaven.) 14 He prayed, "Lord God of Israel, in all heaven and earth there is no god like you. You keep your covenant with your people and show them your love when they live in wholehearted obedience to you. 15 You have kept the promise you made to my father David; today every word has been fulfilled. 16 Now, Lord God of Israel, keep the other promise you made to my father when you told him that there would always be one of his descendants ruling as king of Israel, provided that they carefully obeyed your Law just as he did. 17 So now, Lord God of Israel, let everything come true that you promised to your servant David. 18 "But can you, O God, really live on earth among men and women? Not even all of heaven is large enough to hold you, so how can this Temple that I have built be large enough? 19 Lord my God, I am your servant. Listen to my prayer and grant the requests I make to you. 20 Watch over this Temple day and night. You have promised that this is where you will be worshiped, so hear me when I face this Temple and pray. 21 Hear my prayers and the prayers of your people Israel when they face this place and pray. In your home in heaven hear us and forgive us. 22 "When people are accused of wronging others and are brought to your altar in this Temple to take an oath that they are innocent, 23 O Lord, listen in heaven and judge your servants. Punish the guilty ones as they deserve and acquit the innocent. 24 "When your people Israel are defeated by their enemies because they have sinned against you and then when they turn to you and come to this Temple, humbly praying to you for forgiveness, 25 listen to them in heaven. Forgive the sins of your people and bring them back to the land which you gave to them and to their ancestors. 26 "When you hold back the rain because your people have sinned against you and then when they repent and face this Temple, humbly praying to you, 27 O Lord, listen to them in heaven and forgive the sins of your servants, the people of Israel, and teach them to do what is right. Then, O Lord, send rain on this land of yours, which you gave to your people as a permanent possession. 28 "When there is famine in the land or an epidemic or the crops are destroyed by scorching winds or swarms of locusts, or when your people are attacked by their enemies, or when there is disease or sickness among them, 29 listen to their prayers. If any of your people Israel, out of heartfelt sorrow, stretch out their hands in prayer toward this Temple, 30 hear their prayer. Listen to them in your home in heaven and forgive them. You alone know the thoughts of the human heart. Deal with each of us as we deserve, 31 so that your people may honor you and obey you all the time they live in the land which you gave to our ancestors. 32 "When foreigners who live in a distant land hear how great and powerful you are and how you are always ready to act, and then they come to pray at this Temple, 33 listen to their prayers. In heaven, where you live, hear them and do what they ask you to do, so that all the peoples of the world may know you and obey you, as your people Israel do. Then they will know that this Temple I have built is where you are to be worshiped. 34 "When you command your people to go into battle against their enemies and they pray to you, wherever they are, facing this city which you have chosen and this Temple which I have built for you, 35 listen to their prayers. Hear them in heaven and give them victory. 36 "When your people sin against you - and there is no one who does not sin - and in your anger you let their enemies defeat them and take them as prisoners to some other land, even if that land is far away, 37 listen to your people's prayers. If there in that land they repent and pray to you, confessing how sinful and wicked they have been, hear their prayers, O Lord. 38 If in that land they truly and sincerely repent and pray to you as they face toward this land which you gave to our ancestors, this city which you have chosen, and this Temple which I have built for you, 39 then listen to their prayers. In your home in heaven hear them and be merciful to them and forgive all the sins of your people. 40 "Now, O my God, look on us and listen to the prayers offered in this place. 41 Rise up now, Lord God, and with the Covenant Box, the symbol of your power, enter the Temple and stay here forever. Bless your priests in all they do, and may all your people be happy because of your goodness to them. 42 Lord God, do not reject the king you have chosen. Remember the love you had for your servant David."

2123-2 Chronicles 7:11 After King Solomon had finished the Temple and the palace, successfully completing all his plans for them, 12 the Lord appeared to him at night. He said to him, "I have heard your prayer, and I accept this Temple as the place where sacrifices are to be offered to me. 13 Whenever I hold back the rain or send locusts to eat up the crops or send an epidemic on my people, 14 if they pray to me and repent and turn away from the evil they have been doing, then I will hear them in heaven, forgive their sins, and make their land prosperous again. 15 I will watch over this Temple and be ready to hear all the prayers that are offered here, 16 because I have chosen it and consecrated it as the place where I will be worshiped forever. I will watch over it and protect it for all time. 17 If you serve me faithfully as your father David did, obeying my laws and doing everything I have commanded you, 18 I will keep the promise I made to your father David when I told him that Israel would always be ruled by his descendants. 19 But if you and your people ever disobey the laws and commands I have given you and worship other gods, 20 then I will remove you from the land that I gave you, and I will abandon this Temple that I have consecrated as the place where I am to be worshiped. People everywhere will ridicule it and treat it with contempt. 21 "The Temple is now greatly honored, but then everyone who passes by it will be amazed and will ask, "Why did the Lord do this to this land and this Temple?' 22 People will answer, "It is because they abandoned the Lord their God, who brought their ancestors out of Egypt. They gave their allegiance to other gods and worshiped them. That is why the Lord has brought this disaster on them.' "

2124-2 Chronicles 7:19 But if you and your people ever disobey the laws and commands I have given you and worship other gods, 20 then I will remove you from the land that I gave you, and I will abandon this Temple that I have consecrated as the place where I am to be worshiped. People everywhere will ridicule it and treat it with contempt. 21 "The Temple is now greatly honored, but then everyone who passes by it will be amazed and will ask, "Why did the Lord do this to this land and this Temple?' 22 People will answer, "It is because they abandoned the Lord their God, who brought their ancestors out of Egypt. They gave their allegiance to other gods and worshiped them. That is why the Lord has brought this disaster on them.' "

2 Chronicles 15:2 and he went to meet King Asa. He called out, "Listen to me, King Asa, and all you people of Judah and Benjamin! The Lord is with you as long as you are with him. If you look for him, he will let you find him, but if you turn away, he will abandon you.

2125-Deuteronomy 8:18 Remember that it is the Lord your God who gives you the power to become rich. He does this because he is still faithful today to the covenant that he made with your ancestors. 19 Never forget the Lord your God or turn to other gods to worship and serve them. If you do, then I warn you today that you will certainly be destroyed. 20 If you do not obey the Lord, then you will be destroyed just like those nations that he is going to destroy as you advance.

Deuteronomy 27:11 Then Moses said to the people of Israel, 12 "After you have crossed the Jordan, the following tribes are to stand on Mount Gerizim when the blessings are pronounced on the people: Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Joseph, and Benjamin. 13 And the following tribes will stand on Mount Ebal when the curses are pronounced: Reuben, Gad, Asher, Zebulun, Dan, and Naphtali. 14 The Levites will speak these words in a loud voice: 15 " "God's curse on anyone who makes an idol of stone, wood, or metal and secretly worships it; the Lord hates idolatry.' "And all the people will answer, "Amen!' 16 " "God's curse on anyone who dishonors his father or mother.' "And all the people will answer, "Amen!' 17 " "God's curse on anyone who moves a neighbor's property line.' "And all the people will answer, "Amen!' 18 " "God's curse on anyone who leads a blind person in the wrong direction.' "And all the people will answer, "Amen!' 19 " "God's curse on anyone who deprives foreigners, orphans, and widows of their rights.' "And all the people will answer, "Amen!' 20 " "God's curse on anyone who disgraces his father by having intercourse with any of his father's wives.' "And all the people will answer, "Amen!' 21 " "God's curse on anyone who has sexual relations with an animal.' "And all the people will answer, "Amen!' 22 " "God's curse on anyone who has intercourse with his sister or half sister.' "And all the people will answer, "Amen!' 23 " "God's curse on anyone who has intercourse with his mother-in-law.' "And all the people will answer, "Amen!' 24 " "God's curse on anyone who secretly commits murder.' "And all the people will answer, "Amen!' 25 " "God's curse on anyone who accepts money to murder an innocent person.' "And all the people will answer, "Amen!' 26 " "God's curse on anyone who does not obey all of God's laws and teachings.' "And all the people will answer, "Amen!'

Deuteronomy 28:he will make you greater than any other nation on earth. 2 Obey the Lord your God and all these blessings will be yours: 3 "The Lord will bless your towns and your fields. 4 "The Lord will bless you with many children, with abundant crops, and with many cattle and sheep. 5 "The Lord will bless your grain crops and the food you prepare from them. 6 "The Lord will bless everything you do. 7 "The Lord will defeat your enemies when they attack you. They will attack from one direction, but they will run from you in all directions. 8 "The Lord your God will bless your work and fill your barns with grain. He will bless you in the land that he is giving you. 9 "If you obey the Lord your God and do everything he commands, he will make you his own people, as he has promised. 10 Then all the peoples on earth will see that the Lord has chosen you to be his own people, and they will be afraid of you. 11 The Lord will give you many children, many cattle, and abundant crops in the land that he promised your ancestors to give you. 12 He will send rain in season from his rich storehouse in the sky and bless all your work, so that you will lend to many nations, but you will not have to borrow from any. 13 The Lord your God will make you the leader among the nations and not a follower; you will always prosper and never fail if you obey faithfully all his commands that I am giving you today. 14 But you must never disobey them in any way, or worship and serve other gods. 15 "But if you disobey the Lord your God and do not faithfully keep all his commands and laws that I am giving you today, all these evil things will happen to you: 16 "The Lord will curse your towns and your fields. 17 "The Lord will curse your grain crops and the food you prepare from them. 18 "The Lord will curse you by giving you only a few children, poor crops, and few cattle and sheep. 19 "The Lord will curse everything you do. 20 "If you do evil and reject the Lord, he will bring on you disaster, confusion, and trouble in everything you do, until you are quickly and completely destroyed. 21 He will send disease after disease on you until there is not one of you left in the land that you are about to occupy. 22 The Lord will strike you with infectious diseases, with swelling and fever; he will send drought and scorching winds to destroy your crops. These disasters will be with you until you die. 23 No rain will fall, and your ground will become as hard as iron. 24 Instead of rain, the Lord will send down duststorms and sandstorms until you are destroyed. 25 "The Lord will give your enemies victory over you. You will attack them from one direction, but you will run from them in all directions, and all the people on earth will be terrified when they see what happens to you. 26 When you die, birds and wild animals will come and eat your bodies, and there will be no one to scare them off. 27 The Lord will send boils on you, as he did on the Egyptians. He will make your bodies break out with sores. You will be covered with scabs, and you will itch, but there will be no cure. 28 The Lord will make you lose your mind; he will strike you with blindness and confusion. 29 You will grope about in broad daylight like someone blind, and you will not be able to find your way. You will not prosper in anything you do. You will be constantly oppressed and robbed, and there will be no one to help you. 30 "You will be engaged to a young woman - but someone else will marry her. You will build a house - but never live in it. You will plant a vineyard - but never eat its grapes. 31 Your cattle will be butchered before your very eyes, but you will not eat any of the meat. Your donkeys will be dragged away while you look on, and they will not be given back to you. Your sheep will be given to your enemies, and there will be no one to help you. 32 Your sons and daughters will be given as slaves to foreigners while you look on. Every day you will strain your eyes, looking in vain for your children to return. 33 A foreign nation will take all the crops that you have worked so hard to grow, while you receive nothing but constant oppression and harsh treatment. 34 Your sufferings will make you lose your mind. 35 The Lord will cover your legs with incurable, painful sores; boils will cover you from head to foot. 36 "The Lord will take you and your king away to a foreign land, where neither you nor your ancestors ever lived before; there you will serve gods made of wood and stone. 37 In the countries to which the Lord will scatter you, the people will be shocked at what has happened to you; they will make fun of you and ridicule you. 38 "You will plant plenty of seed, but reap only a small harvest, because the locusts will eat your crops. 39 You will plant vineyards and take care of them, but you will not gather their grapes or drink wine from them, because worms will eat the vines. 40 Olive trees will grow everywhere in your land, but you will not have any olive oil, because the olives will drop off. 41 You will have sons and daughters, but you will lose them, because they will be taken away as prisoners of war. 42 All your trees and crops will be devoured by insects. 43 "Foreigners who live in your land will gain more and more power, while you gradually lose yours. 44 They will have money to lend you, but you will have none to lend them. In the end they will be your rulers. 45 "All these disasters will come on you, and they will be with you until you are destroyed, because you did not obey the Lord your God and keep all the laws that he gave you. 46 They will be the evidence of God's judgment on you and your descendants forever. 47 The Lord blessed you in every way, but you would not serve him with glad and joyful hearts. 48 So then, you will serve the enemies that the Lord is going to send against you. You will be hungry, thirsty, and naked - in need of everything. The Lord will oppress you harshly until you are destroyed. 49 The Lord will bring against you a nation from the ends of the earth, a nation whose language you do not know. They will swoop down on you like an eagle. 50 They will be ruthless and show no mercy to anyone, young or old. 51 They will eat your livestock and your crops, and you will starve to death. They will not leave you any grain, wine, olive oil, cattle, or sheep; and you will die. 52 They will attack every town in the land that the Lord your God is giving you, and the high, fortified walls in which you trust will fall. 53 "When your enemies are besieging your towns, you will become so desperate for food that you will even eat the children that the Lord your God has given you. 54 Even the most refined man of noble birth will become so desperate during the siege that he will eat some of his own children because he has no other food. He will not even give any to his brother or to the wife he loves or to any of his children who are left. 56 Even the most refined woman of noble birth, so rich that she has never had to walk anywhere, will behave in the same way. When the enemy besieges her town, she will become so desperate for food that she will secretly eat her newborn child and the afterbirth as well. She will not share them with the husband she loves or with any of her children. 58 "If you do not obey faithfully all of God's teachings that are written in this book and if you do not honor the wonderful and awesome name of the Lord your God, 59 he will send on you and on your descendants incurable diseases and horrible epidemics that can never be stopped. 60 He will bring on you once again all the dreadful diseases you experienced in Egypt, and you will never recover. 61 He will also send all kinds of diseases and epidemics that are not mentioned in this book of God's laws and teachings, and you will be destroyed. 62 Although you become as numerous as the stars in the sky, only a few of you will survive, because you did not obey the Lord your God. 63 Just as the Lord took delight in making you prosper and in making you increase in number, so he will take delight in destroying you and in bringing ruin on you. You will be uprooted from the land that you are about to occupy. 64 "The Lord will scatter you among all the nations, from one end of the earth to the other, and there you will serve gods made of wood and stone, gods that neither you nor your ancestors have ever worshiped before. 65 You will find no peace anywhere, no place to call your own; the Lord will overwhelm you with anxiety, hopelessness, and despair. 66 Your life will always be in danger. Day and night you will be filled with terror, and you will live in constant fear of death.

2126-Job 1:1 There was a man named Job, living in the land of Uz, who worshiped God and was faithful to him. He was a good man, careful not to do anything evil. 2 He had seven sons and three daughters, 3 and owned seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, one thousand head of cattle, and five hundred donkeys. He also had a large number of servants and was the richest man in the East. 4 Job's sons used to take turns giving a feast, to which all the others would come, and they always invited their three sisters to join them. 5 The morning after each feast, Job would get up early and offer sacrifices for each of his children in order to purify them. He always did this because he thought that one of them might have sinned by insulting God unintentionally. 6 When the day came for the heavenly beings to appear before the Lord, Satan was there among them. 7 The Lord asked him, "What have you been doing?" Satan answered, "I have been walking here and there, roaming around the earth." 8 "Did you notice my servant Job?" the Lord asked. "There is no one on earth as faithful and good as he is. He worships me and is careful not to do anything evil." 9 Satan replied, "Would Job worship you if he got nothing out of it? 10 You have always protected him and his family and everything he owns. You bless everything he does, and you have given him enough cattle to fill the whole country. 11 But now suppose you take away everything he has - he will curse you to your face!" 12 "All right," the Lord said to Satan, "everything he has is in your power, but you must not hurt Job himself." So Satan left. 13 One day when Job's children were having a feast at the home of their oldest brother, 14 a messenger came running to Job. "We were plowing the fields with the oxen," he said, "and the donkeys were in a nearby pasture. 15 Suddenly the Sabeans attacked and stole them all. They killed every one of your servants except me. I am the only one who escaped to tell you." 16 Before he had finished speaking, another servant came and said, "Lightning struck the sheep and the shepherds and killed them all. I am the only one who escaped to tell you." 17 Before he had finished speaking, another servant came and said, "Three bands of Chaldean raiders attacked us, took away the camels, and killed all your servants except me. I am the only one who escaped to tell you." 18 Before he had finished speaking, another servant came and said, "Your children were having a feast at the home of your oldest son, 19 when a storm swept in from the desert. It blew the house down and killed them all. I am the only one who escaped to tell you." 20 Then Job got up and tore his clothes in grief. He shaved his head and threw himself face downward on the ground. 21 He said, "I was born with nothing, and I will die with nothing. The Lord gave, and now he has taken away. May his name be praised!" 22 In spite of everything that had happened, Job did not sin by blaming God.

Job 2:1 When the day came for the heavenly beings to appear before the Lord again, Satan was there among them. 2 The Lord asked him, "Where have you been?" Satan answered, "I have been walking here and there, roaming around the earth." 3 "Did you notice my servant Job?" the Lord asked. "There is no one on earth as faithful and good as he is. He worships me and is careful not to do anything evil. You persuaded me to let you attack him for no reason at all, but Job is still as faithful as ever." 4 Satan replied, "A person will give up everything in order to stay alive. 5 But now suppose you hurt his body - he will curse you to your face!" 6 So the Lord said to Satan, "All right, he is in your power, but you are not to kill him." 7 Then Satan left the Lord's presence and made sores break out all over Job's body. 8 Job went and sat by the garbage dump and took a piece of broken pottery to scrape his sores. 9 His wife said to him, "You are still as faithful as ever, aren't you? Why don't you curse God and die?" 10 Job answered, "You are talking nonsense! When God sends us something good, we welcome it. How can we complain when he sends us trouble?" Even in all this suffering Job said nothing against God. 11 Three of Job's friends were Eliphaz, from the city of Teman, Bildad, from the land of Shuah, and Zophar, from the land of Naamah. When they heard how much Job had been suffering, they decided to go and comfort him. 12 While they were still a long way off they saw Job, but did not recognize him. When they did, they began to weep and wail, tearing their clothes in grief and throwing dust into the air and on their heads. 13 Then they sat there on the ground with him for seven days and nights without saying a word, because they saw how much he was suffering.

2127-2 Chronicles 13:1 In the eighteenth year of the reign of King Jeroboam of Israel, Abijah became king of Judah, 2 and he ruled three years in Jerusalem. His mother was Micaiah daughter of Uriel, from the city of Gibeah. War broke out between Abijah and Jeroboam. 3 Abijah raised an army of 400,000 soldiers, and Jeroboam opposed him with an army of 800,000. 4 The armies met in the hill country of Ephraim. King Abijah went up Mount Zemaraim and called out to Jeroboam and the Israelites: "Listen to me!" he said. 5 "Don't you know that the Lord, the God of Israel, made an unbreakable covenant with David, giving him and his descendants kingship over Israel forever? 6 Jeroboam son of Nebat rebelled against Solomon, his king. 7 Later he gathered together a group of worthless scoundrels, and they forced their will on Rehoboam son of Solomon, who was too young and inexperienced to resist them. 8 Now you propose to fight against the royal authority that the Lord gave to David's descendants. You have a huge army and have with you the gold bull-calves that Jeroboam made to be your gods. 9 You drove out the Lord's priests, the descendants of Aaron, and you drove out the Levites. In their place you appointed priests in the same way that other nations do. Anybody who comes along with a bull or seven sheep can get himself consecrated as a priest of those so-called gods of yours. 10 "But we still serve the Lord our God and have not abandoned him. Priests descended from Aaron perform their duties, and Levites assist them. 11 Every morning and every evening they offer him incense and animal sacrifices burned whole. They present the offerings of bread on a table that is ritually clean, and every evening they light the lamps on the gold lampstand. We do what the Lord has commanded, but you have abandoned him. 12 God himself is our leader and his priests are here with trumpets, ready to blow them and call us to battle against you. People of Israel, don't fight against the Lord, the God of your ancestors! You can't win!" 13 Meanwhile Jeroboam had sent some of his troops to ambush the Judean army from the rear, while the rest faced them from the front. 14 The Judeans looked around and saw that they were surrounded. They cried to the Lord for help, and the priests blew the trumpets. 15 The Judeans gave a loud shout, and led by Abijah, they attacked; God defeated Jeroboam and the Israelite army. 16 The Israelites fled from the Judeans, and God let the Judeans overpower them. 17 Abijah and his army dealt the Israelites a crushing defeat - half a million of Israel's best soldiers were killed. 18 And so the people of Judah were victorious over Israel, because they relied on the Lord, the God of their ancestors.

2128-1 Chronicles 14:8 When the Philistines heard that David had now been made king over the whole country of Israel, their army went out to capture him. So David marched out to meet them. 9 The Philistines arrived at Rephaim Valley and began plundering. 10 David asked God, "Shall I attack the Philistines? Will you give me the victory?" The Lord answered, "Yes, attack! I will give you the victory!" 11 So David attacked them at Baal Perazim and defeated them. He said, "God has used me to break through the enemy army like a flood." So that place is called Baal Perazim. 12 When the Philistines fled, they left their idols behind, and David gave orders for them to be burned.

2129-Numbers 31:6 Moses sent them to war under the command of Phinehas son of Eleazar the priest, who took charge of the sacred objects and the trumpets for giving signals.

Numbers 31:48 Then the officers who had commanded the army went to Moses 49 and reported, "Sir, we have counted the soldiers under our command and not one of them is missing. 50 So we are bringing the gold ornaments, armlets, bracelets, rings, earrings, and necklaces that each of us has taken. We offer them to the Lord as a payment for our lives, so that he will protect us." 51 Moses and Eleazar received the gold, all of which was in the form of ornaments. 52 The total contribution of the officers weighed over four hundred pounds. 53 Those who were not officers kept the loot they had taken. 54 So Moses and Eleazar took the gold to the Tent, so that the Lord would protect the people of Israel.

2130-1 Samuel 4:1 At that time the Philistines gathered to go to war against Israel, so the Israelites set out to fight them. The Israelites set up their camp at Ebenezer and the Philistines at Aphek. 2 The Philistines attacked, and after fierce fighting they defeated the Israelites and killed about four thousand men on the battlefield. 3 When the survivors came back to camp, the leaders of Israel said, "Why did the Lord let the Philistines defeat us today? Let's go and bring the Lord's Covenant Box from Shiloh, so that he will go with us and save us from our enemies." 4 So they sent messengers to Shiloh and got the Covenant Box of the Lord Almighty, who is enthroned above the winged creatures. And Eli's two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, came along with the Covenant Box. 5 When the Covenant Box arrived, the Israelites gave such a loud shout of joy that the earth shook. 6 The Philistines heard the shouting and said, "Listen to all that shouting in the Hebrew camp! What does it mean?" When they found out that the Lord's Covenant Box had arrived in the Hebrew camp, 7 they were afraid, and said, "A god has come into their camp! We're lost! Nothing like this has ever happened to us before! 8 Who can save us from those powerful gods? They are the gods who slaughtered the Egyptians in the desert! 9 Be brave, Philistines! Fight like men, or we will become slaves to the Hebrews, just as they were our slaves. So fight like men!" 10 The Philistines fought hard and defeated the Israelites, who went running to their homes. There was a great slaughter: thirty thousand Israelite soldiers were killed. 11 God's Covenant Box was captured, and Eli's sons, Hophni and Phinehas, were both killed.

2131-2 Chronicles 25:14 When Amaziah returned from defeating the Edomites, he brought their idols back with him, set them up, worshiped them, and burned incense to them. 15 This made the Lord angry, so he sent a prophet to Amaziah. The prophet demanded, "Why have you worshiped foreign gods that could not even save their own people from your power?"

2 Chronicles 28:22 When his troubles were at their worst, that man Ahaz sinned against the Lord more than ever. 23 He offered sacrifices to the gods of the Syrians, who had defeated him. He said, "The Syrian gods helped the kings of Syria, so if I sacrifice to them, they may help me too." This brought disaster on him and on his nation.

2132-2 Chr.15:18 He placed in the Temple all the objects his father Abijah had dedicated to God, as well as the gold and silver objects that he himself dedicated. 19 There was no more war until the thirty-fifth year of his reign.

2 Chronicles 12:2 In the fifth year of Rehoboam's reign their disloyalty to the Lord was punished. King Shishak of Egypt attacked Jerusalem 3 with an army of twelve hundred chariots, sixty thousand cavalry, and more soldiers than could be counted, including Libyan, Sukkite, and Ethiopian troops. 4 He captured the fortified cities of Judah and advanced as far as Jerusalem.

2 Chronicles 13:3 Abijah raised an army of 400,000 soldiers, and Jeroboam opposed him with an army of 800,000.

2133-2 Chr. 12:9 King Shishak came to Jerusalem and took the treasures from the Temple and from the palace. He took everything, including the gold shields that King Solomon had made. 10 To replace them, Rehoboam made bronze shields and entrusted them to the officers responsible for guarding the palace gates.

2134-Is. 18:1 Beyond the rivers of Ethiopia there is a land where the sound of wings is heard.

2135-Is. 18:2 From that land ambassadors come down the Nile in boats made of reeds. Go back home, swift messengers! Take a message back to your land divided by rivers, to your strong and powerful nation, to your tall and smooth-skinned people, who are feared all over the world.

2136-Job 28:19 The finest topaz and the purest gold Cannot compare with the value of wisdom.

2137-Jer. 13:23 Can people change the color of their skin, or a leopard remove its spots? If they could, then you that do nothing but evil could learn to do what is right.

2138-Jer. 46:9 Command the horses to go and the chariots to roll! Send out the soldiers: men from Ethiopia and Libya, carrying shields, and skilled archers from Lydia.' "

2139-Gen. 10:6 The sons of Ham - Cush, Egypt, Libya, and Canaan - were the ancestors of the peoples who bear their names.

2140-1 Chr. 1:8 The sons of Ham - Cush, Egypt, Libya, and Canaan - were the ancestors of the peoples who bear their names. 9 The descendants of Cush were the people of Seba, Havilah, Sabtah, Raamah, and Sabteca. The descendants of Raamah were the people of Sheba and Dedan 10 (Cush had a son named Nimrod, who became the world's first great conqueror.)

2141-Is. 20:3 When Ashdod was captured, the Lord said, "My servant Isaiah has been going around naked and barefoot for three years. This is a sign of what will happen to Egypt and Ethiopia. 4 The emperor of Assyria will lead away naked the prisoners he captures from those two countries. Young and old, they will walk barefoot and naked, with their buttocks exposed, bringing shame on Egypt. 5 Those who have put their trust in Ethiopia and have boasted about Egypt will be disillusioned, their hopes shattered.

2142-Ezek. 30:4 There will be war in Egypt And great distress in Ethiopia. Many in Egypt will be killed; The country will be plundered And left in ruins. 5 "That war will also kill the soldiers hired from Ethiopia, Libya, Lydia, Arabia, Kub, and even from among my own people."

2143-2 Sam. 18:21 Then he said to his Ethiopian slave, "Go and tell the king what you have seen." The slave bowed and ran off. 22 Ahimaaz insisted, "I don't care what happens; please let me take the news also." "Why do you want to do it, my son?" Joab asked. "You will get no reward for it." 23 "Whatever happens," Ahimaaz said again, "I want to go." "Then go," Joab said. So Ahimaaz ran off down the road through the Jordan Valley, and soon he passed the slave. 24 David was sitting in the space between the inner and outer gates of the city. The lookout went up to the top of the wall and stood on the roof of the gateway; he looked out and saw a man running alone. 25 He called down and told the king, and the king said, "If he is alone, he is bringing good news." The runner kept coming closer. 26 Then the lookout saw another man running alone, and he called down to the gatekeeper, "Look! There's another man running!" The king answered, "This one also is bringing good news." 27 The lookout said, "I can see that the first man runs like Ahimaaz." "He's a good man," the king said, "and he is bringing good news." 28 Ahimaaz called out a greeting to the king, threw himself down to the ground before him, and said, "Praise the Lord your God, who has given you victory over the men who rebelled against Your Majesty!" 29 "Is the young man Absalom all right?" the king asked. Ahimaaz answered, "Sir, when your officer Joab sent me, I saw a great commotion, but I couldn't tell what it was." 30 "Stand over there," the king told him; and he went over and stood there. 31 Then the Ethiopian slave arrived and said to the king, "I have good news for Your Majesty! Today the Lord has given you victory over all who rebelled against you!" 32 "Is the young man Absalom all right?" the king asked. The slave answered, "I wish that what has happened to him would happen to all your enemies, sir, and to all who rebel against you."

2144-2 Chr. 12:3 with an army of twelve hundred chariots, sixty thousand cavalry, and more soldiers than could be counted, including Libyan, Sukkite, and Ethiopian troops.

2145-Is. 20:2 Three years earlier the Lord had told Isaiah son of Amoz to take off his sandals and the sackcloth he was wearing. He obeyed and went around naked and barefoot. 3 When Ashdod was captured, the Lord said, "My servant Isaiah has been going around naked and barefoot for three years. This is a sign of what will happen to Egypt and Ethiopia. 4 The emperor of Assyria will lead away naked the prisoners he captures from those two countries. Young and old, they will walk barefoot and naked, with their buttocks exposed, bringing shame on Egypt. 5 Those who have put their trust in Ethiopia and have boasted about Egypt will be disillusioned, their hopes shattered. 6 When that time comes, the people who live along the coast of Philistia will say, "Look at what has happened to the people we relied on to protect us from the emperor of Assyria! How will we ever survive?' "

2146-Ezek. 30:4 There will be war in Egypt And great distress in Ethiopia. Many in Egypt will be killed; The country will be plundered And left in ruins. 5 "That war will also kill the soldiers hired from Ethiopia, Libya, Lydia, Arabia, Kub, and even from among my own people." 6 The Lord says, "From Migdol in the north to Aswan in the south, all Egypt's defenders will be killed in battle. Egypt's proud army will be destroyed. I, the Sovereign Lord, have spoken. 7 The land will be the most desolate in the world, and its cities will be left totally in ruins. 8 When I set fire to Egypt and all her defenders are killed, then they will know that I am the Lord. 9 "When that day comes and Egypt is destroyed, I will send messengers in ships to arouse the unsuspecting people of Ethiopia, and they will be terrified. That day is coming!" 10 The Sovereign Lord says, "I will use King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia to put an end to Egypt's wealth.

2147-Jer. 46:9 Command the horses to go and the chariots to roll! Send out the soldiers: men from Ethiopia and Libya, carrying shields, and skilled archers from Lydia.' " 10 This is the day of the Sovereign Lord Almighty: today he will take revenge; today he will punish his enemies. His sword will eat them until it is full, and drink their blood until it is satisfied. Today the Almighty sacrifices his victims in the north, by the Euphrates.

Jeremiah 46:13 When King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia came to attack Egypt, the Lord spoke to me. He said, 14 "Proclaim it in the towns of Egypt, in Migdol, Memphis, and Tahpanhes: "Get ready to defend yourselves; all you have will be destroyed in war!

2148-Esth. 1:1 From his royal throne in Persia's capital city of Susa, King Xerxes ruled 127 provinces, all the way from India to Ethiopia.

Esther 8:9 This happened on the twenty-third day of the third month, the month of Sivan. Mordecai called the king's secretaries and dictated letters to the Jews and to the governors, administrators, and officials of all the 127 provinces from India to Ethiopia. The letters were written to each province in its own language and system of writing and to the Jews in their language and system of writing.

2149-Is. 43:3 For I am the Lord your God, the holy God of Israel, who saves you. I will give up Egypt to set you free; I will give up Ethiopia and Seba.

2150-Ps. 68:31 Ambassadors will come from Egypt; the Ethiopians will raise their hands in prayer to God.

2151-Is. 45:14 The Lord says to Israel, "The wealth of Egypt and Ethiopia will be yours, and the tall men of Seba will be your slaves; they will follow you in chains. They will bow down to you and confess, "God is with you - he alone is God.

2152-Acts 8:14 The Lord says to Israel, "The wealth of Egypt and Ethiopia will be yours, and the tall men of Seba will be your slaves; they will follow you in chains. They will bow down to you and confess, "God is with you - he alone is God.

2153-I Sam 14:6 Jonathan said to the young man, "Let's cross over to the camp of those heathen Philistines. Maybe the Lord will help us; if he does, nothing can keep him from giving us the victory, no matter how few of us there are."

2154-2 Chronicles 14:2 Asa pleased the Lord, his God, by doing what was right and good. 3 He removed the foreign altars and the pagan places of worship, broke down the sacred stone columns, and cut down the symbols of the goddess Asherah.

2 Chronicles 15:8 When Asa heard the prophecy that Azariah son of Oded had spoken, he was encouraged. He did away with all the idols in the land of Judah and Benjamin and all the idols in the cities he had captured in the hill country of Ephraim. He also repaired the altar of the Lord that stood in the Temple courtyard.

2 Chronicles 15:16 King Asa removed his grandmother Maacah from her position as queen mother, because she had made an obscene idol of the fertility goddess Asherah. Asa cut down the idol, chopped it up, and burned the pieces in Kidron Valley.

2155-2 Chronicle 15:17 Even though Asa did not destroy all the pagan places of worship in the land, he remained faithful to the Lord all his life.

2156-1 Kings 15:11 Asa did what pleased the Lord, as his ancestor David had done. 12 He expelled from the country all the male and female prostitutes serving at the pagan places of worship, and he removed all the idols his predecessors had made. 13 He removed his grandmother Maacah from her position as queen mother, because she had made an obscene idol of the fertility goddess Asherah. Asa cut down the idol and burned it in Kidron Valley. 14 Even though Asa did not destroy all the pagan places of worship, he remained faithful to the Lord all his life. 15 He placed in the Temple all the objects his father had dedicated to God, as well as the gold and silver objects that he himself dedicated.

2157-2 Chronicles 14:3 He removed the foreign altars and the pagan places of worship, broke down the sacred stone columns, and cut down the symbols of the goddess Asherah.

2158-2 Chronicles 15:13 Anyone, young or old, male or female, who did not worship him was to be put to death.

2159-Joshua 1:18 Whoever questions your authority or disobeys any of your orders will be put to death. Be determined and confident!"

2160-Deuteronomy 17:2 "Suppose you hear that in one of your towns some men or women have sinned against the Lord and broken his covenant 3 by worshiping and serving other gods or the sun or the moon or the stars, contrary to the Lord's command. 4 If you hear such a report, then investigate it thoroughly. If it is true that this evil thing has happened in Israel, 5 then take them outside the town and stone them to death. 6 However, they may be put to death only if two or more witnesses testify against them; they are not to be put to death if there is only one witness. 7 The witnesses are to throw the first stones, and then the rest of the people are to stone them; in this way you will get rid of this evil. 8 "It may be that some cases will be too difficult for the local judges to decide, such as certain cases of property rights or of bodily injury or those cases that involve a distinction between murder and manslaughter. When this happens, go to the one place of worship chosen by the Lord your God, 9 and present your case to the levitical priests and to the judge who is in office at that time, and let them decide the case. 10 They will give their decision, and you are to do exactly as they tell you. 11 Accept their verdict and follow their instructions in every detail. 12 Anyone who dares to disobey either the judge or the priest on duty is to be put to death; in this way you will remove this evil from Israel. 13 Then everyone will hear of it and be afraid, and no one else will dare to act in such a way.

2161-Ex. 22:20 "Condemn to death anyone who offers sacrifices to any god except to me, the Lord.

2162-Deut. 13:6 "Even your brother or your son or your daughter or the wife you love or your closest friend may secretly encourage you to worship other gods, gods that you and your ancestors have never worshiped. 7 Some of them may encourage you to worship the gods of the people who live near you or the gods of those who live far away. 8 But do not let any of them persuade you; do not even listen to them. Show them no mercy or pity, and do not protect them. 9 Kill them! Be the first to stone them, and then let everyone else stone them too. 10 Stone them to death! They tried to lead you away from the Lord your God, who rescued you from Egypt, where you were slaves

Deuteronomy 13:12 "When you are living in the towns that the Lord your God gives you, you may hear 13 that some worthless people of your nation have misled the people of their town to worship gods that you have never worshiped before. 14 If you hear such a rumor, investigate it thoroughly; and if it is true that this evil thing did happen, 15 then kill all the people in that town and all their livestock too. Destroy that town completely.

2163-Luke 16:19 "There was once a rich man who dressed in the most expensive clothes and lived in great luxury every day. 20 There was also a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, who used to be brought to the rich man's door, 21 hoping to eat the bits of food that fell from the rich man's table. Even the dogs would come and lick his sores. 22 The poor man died and was carried by the angels to sit beside Abraham at the feast in heaven. The rich man died and was buried, 23 and in Hades, where he was in great pain, he looked up and saw Abraham, far away, with Lazarus at his side. 24 So he called out, "Father Abraham! Take pity on me, and send Lazarus to dip his finger in some water and cool off my tongue, because I am in great pain in this fire!' 25 But Abraham said, "Remember, my son, that in your lifetime you were given all the good things, while Lazarus got all the bad things. But now he is enjoying himself here, while you are in pain. 26 Besides all that, there is a deep pit lying between us, so that those who want to cross over from here to you cannot do so, nor can anyone cross over to us from where you are.' 27 The rich man said, "Then I beg you, father Abraham, send Lazarus to my father's house, 28 where I have five brothers. Let him go and warn them so that they, at least, will not come to this place of pain.' 29 Abraham said, "Your brothers have Moses and the prophets to warn them; your brothers should listen to what they say.' 30 The rich man answered, "That is not enough, father Abraham! But if someone were to rise from death and go to them, then they would turn from their sins.' 31 But Abraham said, "If they will not listen to Moses and the prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone were to rise from death.' "

2164-Jeremiah 14:10 The Lord says about these people, "They love to run away from me, and they will not control themselves. So I am not pleased with them. I will remember the wrongs they have done and punish them because of their sins." 11 The Lord said to me, "Do not ask me to help these people. 12 Even if they fast, I will not listen to their cry for help; and even if they offer me burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not be pleased with them. Instead, I will kill them in war and by starvation and disease." 13 Then I said, "Sovereign Lord, you know that the prophets are telling the people that there will be no war or starvation, because you have promised, they say, that there will be only peace in our land." 14 But the Lord replied, "The prophets are telling lies in my name; I did not send them, nor did I give them any orders or speak one word to them. The visions they talk about have not come from me; their predictions are worthless things that they have imagined. 15 I, the Lord, tell you what I am going to do to those prophets whom I did not send but who speak in my name and say war and starvation will not strike this land - I will kill them in war and by starvation. 16 The people to whom they have said these things will be killed in the same way. Their bodies will be thrown out into the streets of Jerusalem, and there will be no one to bury them. This will happen to all of them - including their wives, their sons, and their daughters. I will make them pay for their wickedness."

Jeremiah 23:15 "So then, this is what I, the Lord Almighty, say about the prophets of Jerusalem: I will give them bitter plants to eat and poison to drink, because they have spread ungodliness throughout the land." 16 The Lord Almighty said to the people of Jerusalem, "Do not listen to what the prophets say; they are filling you with false hopes. They tell you what they have imagined and not what I have said. 17 To the people who refuse to listen to what I have said, they keep saying that all will go well with them. And they tell everyone who is stubborn that disaster will never touch them." 18 I said, "None of these prophets has ever known the Lord's secret thoughts. None of them has ever heard or understood his message, or ever listened or paid attention to what he said. 19 His anger is a storm, a furious wind that will rage over the heads of the wicked, 20 and it will not end until he has done everything he intends to do. In days to come his people will understand this clearly." 21 The Lord said, "I did not send these prophets, but even so they went. I did not give them any message, but still they spoke in my name. 22 If they had known my secret thoughts, then they could have proclaimed my message to my people and could have made them give up the evil lives they live and the wicked things they do. 23 "I am a God who is everywhere and not in one place only. 24 No one can hide where I cannot see them. Do you not know that I am everywhere in heaven and on earth? 25 I know what those prophets have said who speak lies in my name and claim that I have given them my messages in their dreams. 26 How much longer will those prophets mislead my people with the lies they have invented? 27 They think that the dreams they tell will make my people forget me, just as their ancestors forgot me and turned to Baal. 28 The prophet who has had a dream should say it is only a dream, but the prophet who has heard my message should proclaim that message faithfully. What good is straw compared with wheat? 29 My message is like a fire and like a hammer that breaks rocks in pieces. 30 I am against those prophets who take each other's words and proclaim them as my message. 31 I am also against those prophets who speak their own words and claim they came from me. 32 Listen to what I, the Lord, say! I am against the prophets who tell their dreams that are full of lies. They tell these dreams and lead my people astray with their lies and their boasting. I did not send them or order them to go, and they are of no help at all to the people. I, the Lord, have spoken."

2165-2 Chronicles 20:20 Early the next morning the people went out to the wild country near Tekoa. As they were starting out, Jehoshaphat addressed them with these words: "People of Judah and Jerusalem! Put your trust in the Lord your God, and you will stand your ground. Believe what his prophets tell you, and you will succeed."

2166-Joshua 6:1 The gates of Jericho were kept shut and guarded to keep the Israelites out. No one could enter or leave the city. 2 The Lord said to Joshua, "I am putting into your hands Jericho, with its king and all its brave soldiers. 3 You and your soldiers are to march around the city once a day for six days. 4 Seven priests, each carrying a trumpet, are to go in front of the Covenant Box. On the seventh day you and your soldiers are to march around the city seven times while the priests blow the trumpets. 5 Then they are to sound one long note. As soon as you hear it, all the people are to give a loud shout, and the city walls will collapse. Then the whole army will go straight into the city." 6 Joshua called the priests and told them, "Take the Covenant Box, and seven of you go in front of it, carrying trumpets." 7 Then he ordered the people to start marching around the city, with an advance guard going on ahead of the Lord's Covenant Box. 8 So, just as Joshua had ordered, an advance guard started out ahead of the priests who were blowing trumpets; behind these came the priests who were carrying the Covenant Box, followed by a rear guard. All this time the trumpets were sounding. 10 But Joshua had ordered the people not to shout, not to say a word until he gave the order. 11 So he had this group of men take the Lord's Covenant Box around the city one time. Then they came back to camp and spent the night there. 12 Joshua got up early the next morning, and for the second time the priests and soldiers marched around the city in the same order as the day before: first, the advance guard; next, the seven priests blowing the seven trumpets; then, the priests carrying the Lord's Covenant Box; and finally, the rear guard. All this time the trumpets were sounding. 14 On this second day they again marched around the city one time and then returned to camp. They did this for six days. 15 On the seventh day they got up at daybreak and marched seven times around the city in the same way - this was the only day that they marched around it seven times. 16 The seventh time around, when the priests were about to sound the trumpets, Joshua ordered the people to shout, and he said, "The Lord has given you the city! 17 The city and everything in it must be totally destroyed as an offering to the Lord. Only the prostitute Rahab and her household will be spared, because she hid our spies. 18 But you are not to take anything that is to be destroyed; if you do, you will bring trouble and destruction on the Israelite camp. 19 Everything made of silver, gold, bronze, or iron is set apart for the Lord. It is to be put in the Lord's treasury." 20 So the priests blew the trumpets. As soon as the people heard it, they gave a loud shout, and the walls collapsed. Then all the army went straight up the hill into the city and captured it. 21 With their swords they killed everyone in the city, men and women, young and old. They also killed the cattle, sheep, and donkeys. 22 Joshua then told the two men who had served as spies, "Go into the prostitute's house, and bring her and her family out, as you promised her." 23 So they went and brought Rahab out, along with her father and mother, her brothers, and the rest of her family. They took them all, family and slaves, to safety near the Israelite camp. 24 Then they set fire to the city and burned it to the ground, along with everything in it, except the things made of gold, silver, bronze, and iron, which they took and put in the Lord's treasury. 25 But Joshua spared the lives of the prostitute Rahab and all her relatives, because she had hidden the two spies that he had sent to Jericho. (Her descendants have lived in Israel to this day.) 26 At this time Joshua issued a solemn warning: "Anyone who tries to rebuild the city of Jericho will be under the Lord's curse. Whoever lays the foundation will lose his oldest son; Whoever builds the gates will lose his youngest." 27 So the Lord was with Joshua, and his fame spread through the whole country.

2167-2 Kings 19:35 That night an angel of the Lord went to the Assyrian camp and killed 185,000 soldiers. At dawn the next day there they lay, all dead!

2168-2 Chronicles 32:21 The Lord sent an angel that killed the soldiers and officers of the Assyrian army. So the emperor went back to Assyria disgraced. One day when he was in the temple of his god, some of his sons killed him with their swords.

2169-Isaiah 37:36 An angel of the Lord went to the Assyrian camp and killed 185,000 soldiers. At dawn the next day there they lay, all dead!

2170-1 Chronicles 28:3 but he has forbidden me to do it, because I am a soldier and have shed too much blood.

2171-2 Chronicles 24:14 When the repairs were finished, the remaining gold and silver was given to the king and Jehoiada, who used it to have bowls and other utensils made for the Temple. As long as Jehoiada was alive, sacrifices were offered regularly at the Temple.

2172-2 Chronicles 24:15 After reaching the very old age of a hundred and thirty, he died. 16 They buried him in the royal tombs in David's City in recognition of the service he had done for the people of Israel, for God, and for the Temple. 17 But once Jehoiada was dead, the leaders of Judah persuaded King Joash to listen to them instead. 18 And so the people stopped worshiping in the Temple of the Lord, the God of their ancestors, and began to worship idols and the images of the goddess Asherah. Their guilt for these sins brought the Lord's anger on Judah and Jerusalem.

2173-2 Chronicles 24:1 Joash became king of Judah at the age of seven, and he ruled in Jerusalem for forty years. His mother was Zibiah from the city of Beersheba. 2 He did what was pleasing to the Lord as long as Jehoiada the priest was alive. 3 Jehoiada chose two wives for King Joash, and they bore him sons and daughters. 4 After he had been king for a while, Joash decided to have the Temple repaired. 5 He ordered the priests and the Levites to go to the cities of Judah and collect from all the people enough money to make the annual repairs on the Temple. He told them to act promptly, but the Levites delayed, 6 so he called in Jehoiada, their leader, and demanded, "Why haven't you seen to it that the Levites collect from Judah and Jerusalem the tax which Moses, the servant of the Lord, required the people to pay for support of the Tent of the Lord's presence?" 7 (The followers of Athaliah, that corrupt woman, had damaged the Temple and had used many of the sacred objects in the worship of Baal.) 8 The king ordered the Levites to make a box for contributions and to place it at the Temple gate. 9 They sent word throughout Jerusalem and Judah for everyone to bring to the Lord the tax which Moses, God's servant, had first collected in the wilderness. 10 This pleased the people and their leaders, and they brought their tax money and filled the box with it. 11 Every day the Levites would take the box to the royal official who was in charge of it. Whenever it was full, the royal secretary and the High Priest's representative would take the money out and return the box to its place. And so they collected a large sum of money. 12 The king and Jehoiada would give the money to those who were in charge of repairing the Temple, and they hired stonemasons, carpenters, and metalworkers to make the repairs. 13 All of them worked hard, and they restored the Temple to its original condition, as solid as ever. 14 When the repairs were finished, the remaining gold and silver was given to the king and Jehoiada, who used it to have bowls and other utensils made for the Temple. As long as Jehoiada was alive, sacrifices were offered regularly at the Temple. 15 After reaching the very old age of a hundred and thirty, he died. 16 They buried him in the royal tombs in David's City in recognition of the service he had done for the people of Israel, for God, and for the Temple. 17 But once Jehoiada was dead, the leaders of Judah persuaded King Joash to listen to them instead. 18 And so the people stopped worshiping in the Temple of the Lord, the God of their ancestors, and began to worship idols and the images of the goddess Asherah. Their guilt for these sins brought the Lord's anger on Judah and Jerusalem. 19 The Lord sent prophets to warn them to return to him, but the people refused to listen. 20 Then the spirit of God took control of Zechariah son of Jehoiada the priest. He stood where the people could see him and called out, "The Lord God asks why you have disobeyed his commands and are bringing disaster on yourselves! You abandoned him, so he has abandoned you!" 21 King Joash joined in a conspiracy against Zechariah, and on the king's orders the people stoned Zechariah in the Temple courtyard. 22 The king forgot about the loyal service that Zechariah's father Jehoiada had given him, and he had Zechariah killed. As Zechariah was dying, he called out, "May the Lord see what you are doing and punish you!" 23 When autumn came that year, the Syrian army attacked Judah and Jerusalem, killed all the leaders, and took large amounts of loot back to Damascus. 24 The Syrian army was small, but the Lord let them defeat a much larger Judean army because the people had abandoned him, the Lord God of their ancestors. In this way King Joash was punished. 25 He was severely wounded, and when the enemy withdrew, two of his officials plotted against him and killed him in his bed to avenge the murder of the son of Jehoiada the priest. He was buried in David's City, but not in the royal tombs 26 (Those who plotted against him were Zabad, the son of an Ammonite woman named Shimeath, and Jehozabad, the son of a Moabite woman named Shimrith.) 27 The [Commentary on the Book of Kings] contains the stories of the sons of Joash, the prophecies spoken against him, and the record of how he rebuilt the Temple. His son Amaziah succeeded him as king.

2174-2 Chr. 24:2 He did what was pleasing to the Lord as long as Jehoiada the priest was alive.

2175-2 Chr. 24:17 But once Jehoiada was dead, the leaders of Judah persuaded King Joash to listen to them instead. 18 And so the people stopped worshiping in the Temple of the Lord, the God of their ancestors, and began to worship idols and the images of the goddess Asherah. Their guilt for these sins brought the Lord's anger on Judah and Jerusalem. 19 The Lord sent prophets to warn them to return to him, but the people refused to listen. 20 Then the spirit of God took control of Zechariah son of Jehoiada the priest. He stood where the people could see him and called out, "The Lord God asks why you have disobeyed his commands and are bringing disaster on yourselves! You abandoned him, so he has abandoned you!" 21 King Joash joined in a conspiracy against Zechariah, and on the king's orders the people stoned Zechariah in the Temple courtyard. 22 The king forgot about the loyal service that Zechariah's father Jehoiada had given him, and he had Zechariah killed. As Zechariah was dying, he called out, "May the Lord see what you are doing and punish you!"

2176-2 Chronicles 26:16 But when King Uzziah became strong, he grew arrogant, and that led to his downfall. He defied the Lord his God by going into the Temple to burn incense on the altar of incense. 17 Azariah the priest, accompanied by eighty strong and courageous priests, followed the king 18 to resist him. They said, "Uzziah! You have no right to burn incense to the Lord. Only the priests who are descended from Aaron have been consecrated to do this. Leave this holy place. You have offended the Lord God, and you no longer have his blessing." 19 Uzziah was standing there in the Temple beside the incense altar and was holding an incense burner. He became angry with the priests, and immediately a dreaded skin disease broke out on his forehead. 20 Azariah and the other priests stared at the king's forehead in horror and then forced him to leave the Temple. He hurried to get out, because the Lord had punished him. 21 For the rest of his life King Uzziah was ritually unclean because of his disease. Unable to enter the Temple again, he lived in his own house, relieved of all duties, while his son Jotham governed the country.

2177-2 Samuel 6:6 As they came to the threshing place of Nacon, the oxen stumbled, and Uzzah reached out and took hold of the Covenant Box. 7 At once the Lord God became angry with Uzzah and killed him because of his irreverence. Uzzah died there beside the Covenant Box,

2178-Leviticus 10:1 Aaron's sons, Nadab and Abihu, each took his fire pan, put live coals in it, added incense, and presented it to the Lord. But this fire was not holy, because the Lord had not commanded them to present it. 2 Suddenly the Lord sent fire, and it burned them to death there in the presence of the Lord. 3 Then Moses said to Aaron, "This is what the Lord was speaking about when he said, "All who serve me must respect my holiness; I will reveal my glory to my people.' " But Aaron remained silent. 4 Moses called Mishael and Elzaphan, the sons of Uzziel, Aaron's uncle, and said to them, "Come here and carry your cousins' bodies away from the sacred Tent and put them outside the camp." 5 So they came and took hold of the clothing on the corpses and carried them outside the camp, just as Moses had commanded. 6 Then Moses said to Aaron and to his sons Eleazar and Ithamar, "Do not leave your hair uncombed or tear your clothes to show that you are in mourning. If you do, you will die, and the Lord will be angry with the whole community. But all other Israelites are allowed to mourn this death caused by the fire which the Lord sent. 7 Do not leave the entrance of the Tent or you will die, because you have been consecrated by the anointing oil of the Lord." So they did as Moses said. 8 The Lord said to Aaron, 9 "You and your sons are not to enter the Tent of my presence after drinking wine or beer; if you do, you will die. This is a law to be kept by all your descendants. 10 You must distinguish between what belongs to God and what is for general use, between what is ritually clean and what is unclean. 11 You must teach the people of Israel all the laws which I have given to you through Moses."

2179-Numbers 16:1 Korah son of Izhar, from the Levite clan of Kohath, rebelled against the leadership of Moses. He was joined by three members of the tribe of Reuben - Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, and On son of Peleth - and by 250 other Israelites, well-known leaders chosen by the community. 3 They assembled before Moses and Aaron and said to them, "You have gone too far! All the members of the community belong to the Lord, and the Lord is with all of us. Why, then, Moses, do you set yourself above the Lord's community?" 4 When Moses heard this, he threw himself on the ground and prayed. 5 Then he said to Korah and his followers, "Tomorrow morning the Lord will show us who belongs to him; he will let the one who belongs to him, that is, the one he has chosen, approach him at the altar. 6 Tomorrow morning you and your followers take fire pans, put live coals and incense on them, and take them to the altar. Then we will see which of us the Lord has chosen. You Levites are the ones who have gone too far!" 8 Moses continued to speak to Korah. "Listen, you Levites! 9 Do you consider it a small matter that the God of Israel has set you apart from the rest of the community, so that you can approach him, perform your service in the Lord's Tent, and minister to the community and serve them? 10 He has let you and all the other Levites have this honor - and now you are trying to get the priesthood too! 11 When you complain against Aaron, it is really against the Lord that you and your followers are rebelling." 12 Then Moses sent for Dathan and Abiram, but they said, "We will not come! 13 Isn't it enough that you have brought us out of the fertile land of Egypt to kill us here in the wilderness? Do you also have to lord it over us? 14 You certainly have not brought us into a fertile land or given us fields and vineyards as our possession, and now you are trying to deceive us. We will not come!" 15 Moses became angry and said to the Lord, "Do not accept any offerings these men bring. I have not wronged any of them; I have not even taken one of their donkeys." 16 Moses said to Korah, "Tomorrow you and your 250 followers must come to the Tent of the Lord's presence; Aaron will also be there. 17 Each of you will take his fire pan, put incense on it, and then present it at the altar." 18 So they each took their fire pans, put live coals and incense on them, and stood at the entrance of the Tent with Moses and Aaron. 19 Then Korah gathered the whole community, and they stood facing Moses and Aaron at the entrance of the Tent. Suddenly the dazzling light of the Lord's presence appeared to the whole community, 20 and the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, 21 "Move back from these people, and I will destroy them immediately." 22 But Moses and Aaron bowed down with their faces to the ground and said, "O God, you are the source of all life. When one of us sins, do you become angry with the whole community?" 23 The Lord said to Moses, 24 "Tell the people to move away from the tents of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram." 25 Then Moses, accompanied by the leaders of Israel, went to Dathan and Abiram. 26 He said to the people, "Get away from the tents of these wicked men and don't touch anything that belongs to them. Otherwise, you will be wiped out with them for all their sins." 27 So they moved away from the tents of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram. Dathan and Abiram had come out and were standing at the entrance of their tents, with their wives and children. 28 Moses said to the people, "This is how you will know that the Lord has sent me to do all these things and that it is not by my own choice that I have done them. 29 If these men die a natural death without some punishment from God, then the Lord did not send me. 30 But if the Lord does something unheard of, and the earth opens up and swallows them with all they own, so that they go down alive to the world of the dead, you will know that these men have rejected the Lord." 31 As soon as he had finished speaking, the ground under Dathan and Abiram split open 32 and swallowed them and their families, together with all of Korah's followers and their possessions. 33 So they went down alive to the world of the dead, with their possessions. The earth closed over them, and they vanished. 34 All the people of Israel who were there fled when they heard their cry. They shouted, "Run! The earth might swallow us too!" 35 Then the Lord sent a fire that blazed out and burned up the 250 men who had presented the incense.

2180-Matt. 22:21 "The Emperor's," they answered. So Jesus said to them, "Well, then, pay to the Emperor what belongs to the Emperor, and pay to God what belongs to God."

2181-1 Pet. 2:13 For the sake of the Lord submit yourselves to every human authority: to the Emperor, who is the supreme authority, 14 and to the governors, who have been appointed by him to punish the evildoers and to praise those who do good. 15 For God wants you to silence the ignorant talk of foolish people by the good things you do. 16 Live as free people; do not, however, use your freedom to cover up any evil, but live as God's slaves. 17 Respect everyone, love other believers, honor God, and respect the Emperor.

2182-1 Tim. 2:1 First of all, then, I urge that petitions, prayers, requests, and thanksgivings be offered to God for all people; 2 for kings and all others who are in authority, that we may live a quiet and peaceful life with all reverence toward God and with proper conduct. 3 This is good and it pleases God our Savior,

2183-Ex. 6:1 Then the Lord said to Moses, "Now you are going to see what I will do to the king. I will force him to let my people go. In fact, I will force him to drive them out of his land." 2 God spoke to Moses and said, "I am the Lord. 3 I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob as Almighty God, but I did not make myself known to them by my holy name, the Lord. 4 I also made my covenant with them, promising to give them the land of Canaan, the land in which they had lived as foreigners. 5 Now I have heard the groaning of the Israelites, whom the Egyptians have enslaved, and I have remembered my covenant. 6 So tell the Israelites that I say to them, "I am the Lord; I will rescue you and set you free from your slavery to the Egyptians. I will raise my mighty arm to bring terrible punishment upon them, and I will save you. 7 I will make you my own people, and I will be your God. You will know that I am the Lord your God when I set you free from slavery in Egypt. 8 I will bring you to the land that I solemnly promised to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; and I will give it to you as your own possession. I am the Lord.' " 9 Moses told this to the Israelites, but they would not listen to him, because their spirit had been broken by their cruel slavery. 10 Then the Lord said to Moses, 11 "Go and tell the king of Egypt that he must let the Israelites leave his land." 12 But Moses replied, "Even the Israelites will not listen to me, so why should the king? I am such a poor speaker." 13 The Lord commanded Moses and Aaron: "Tell the Israelites and the king of Egypt that I have ordered you to lead the Israelites out of Egypt." 14 Reuben, Jacob's first-born, had four sons: Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi; they were the ancestors of the clans that bear their names. 15 Simeon had six sons: Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jachin, Zohar, and Shaul, the son of a Canaanite woman; they were the ancestors of the clans that bear their names. 16 Levi had three sons: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari; they were the ancestors of the clans that bear their names. Levi lived 137 years. 17 Gershon had two sons: Libni and Shimei, and they had many descendants. 18 Kohath had four sons: Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel. Kohath lived 133 years. 19 Merari had two sons: Mahli and Mushi. These are the clans of Levi with their descendants. 20 Amram married his father's sister Jochebed, who bore him Aaron and Moses. Amram lived 137 years. 21 Izhar had three sons: Korah, Nepheg, and Zichri. 22 Uzziel also had three sons: Mishael, Elzaphan, and Sithri. 23 Aaron married Elisheba, the daughter of Amminadab and sister of Nahshon; she bore him Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar. 24 Korah had three sons: Assir, Elkanah, and Abiasaph; they were the ancestors of the divisions of the clan of Korah. 25 Eleazar, Aaron's son, married one of Putiel's daughters, who bore him Phinehas. These were the heads of the families and the clans of the tribe of Levi. 26 Aaron and Moses were the ones to whom the Lord said, "Lead the tribes of Israel out of Egypt." 27 They were the men who told the king of Egypt to free the Israelites. 28 When the Lord spoke to Moses in the land of Egypt, 29 he said, "I am the Lord. Tell the king of Egypt everything I tell you." 30 But Moses answered, "You know that I am such a poor speaker; why should the king listen to me?"

Ex.6:1 Then the Lord said to Moses, "Go to the king and tell him that the Lord says, "Let my people go, so that they can worship me. 2 If you refuse, I will punish your country by covering it with frogs. 3 The Nile will be so full of frogs that they will leave it and go into your palace, your bedroom, your bed, the houses of your officials and your people, and even into your ovens and baking pans. 4 They will jump up on you, your people, and all your officials.' " 5 The Lord said to Moses, "Tell Aaron to hold out his walking stick over the rivers, the canals, and the pools, and make frogs come up and cover the land of Egypt." 6 So Aaron held it out over all the water, and the frogs came out and covered the land. 7 But the magicians used magic, and they also made frogs come up on the land. 8 The king called for Moses and Aaron and said, "Pray to the Lord to take away these frogs, and I will let your people go, so that they can offer sacrifices to the Lord." 9 Moses replied, "I will be glad to pray for you. Just set the time when I am to pray for you, your officers, and your people. Then you will be rid of the frogs, and there will be none left except in the Nile." 10 The king answered, "Pray for me tomorrow." Moses said, "I will do as you ask, and then you will know that there is no other god like the Lord, our God. 11 You, your officials, and your people will be rid of the frogs, and there will be none left except in the Nile." 12 Then Moses and Aaron left the king, and Moses prayed to the Lord to take away the frogs which he had brought on the king. 13 The Lord did as Moses asked, and the frogs in the houses, the courtyards, and the fields died. 14 The Egyptians piled them up in great heaps, until the land stank with them. 15 When the king saw that the frogs were dead, he became stubborn again and, just as the Lord had said, the king would not listen to Moses and Aaron. 16 The Lord said to Moses, "Tell Aaron to strike the ground with his stick, and all over the land of Egypt the dust will change into gnats." 17 So Aaron struck the ground with his stick, and all the dust in Egypt was turned into gnats, which covered the people and the animals. 18 The magicians tried to use their magic to make gnats appear, but they failed. There were gnats everywhere, 19 and the magicians said to the king, "God has done this!" But the king was stubborn and, just as the Lord had said, the king would not listen to Moses and Aaron. 20 The Lord said to Moses, "Early tomorrow morning go and meet the king as he goes to the river, and tell him that the Lord says, "Let my people go, so that they can worship me. 21 I warn you that if you refuse, I will punish you by sending flies on you, your officials, and your people. The houses of the Egyptians will be full of flies, and the ground will be covered with them. 22 But I will spare the region of Goshen, where my people live, so that there will be no flies there. I will do this so that you will know that I, the Lord, am at work in this land. 23 I will make a distinction between my people and your people. This miracle will take place tomorrow.' " 24 The Lord sent great swarms of flies into the king's palace and the houses of his officials. The whole land of Egypt was brought to ruin by the flies. 25 Then the king called for Moses and Aaron and said, "Go and offer sacrifices to your God here in this country." 26 "It would not be right to do that," Moses answered, "because the Egyptians would be offended by our sacrificing the animals that we offer to the Lord our God. If we use these animals and offend the Egyptians by sacrificing them where they can see us, they will stone us to death. 27 We must travel three days into the desert to offer sacrifices to the Lord our God, just as he commanded us." 28 The king said, "I will let you go to sacrifice to the Lord, your God, in the desert, if you do not go very far. Pray for me." 29 Moses answered, "As soon as I leave, I will pray to the Lord that tomorrow the flies will leave you, your officials, and your people. But you must not deceive us again and prevent the people from going to sacrifice to the Lord." 30 Moses left the king and prayed to the Lord, 31 and the Lord did as Moses asked. The flies left the king, his officials, and his people; not one fly remained. 32 But even this time the king became stubborn, and again he would not let the people go.

Ex. 15:1 Then Moses and the Israelites sang this song to the Lord: "I will sing to the Lord, because he has won a glorious victory; he has thrown the horses and their riders into the sea. 2 The Lord is my strong defender; he is the one who has saved me. He is my God, and I will praise him, my father's God, and I will sing about his greatness. 3 The Lord is a warrior; the Lord is his name. 4 "He threw Egypt's army and its chariots into the sea; the best of its officers were drowned in the Red Sea. 5 The deep sea covered them; they sank to the bottom like a stone. 6 "Your right hand, Lord, is awesome in power; it breaks the enemy in pieces. 7 In majestic triumph you overthrow your foes; your anger blazes out and burns them up like straw. 8 You blew on the sea and the water piled up high; it stood up straight like a wall; the deepest part of the sea became solid. 9 The enemy said, "I will pursue them and catch them; I will divide their wealth and take all I want; I will draw my sword and take all they have.' 10 But one breath from you, Lord, and the Egyptians were drowned; they sank like lead in the terrible water. 11 "Lord, who among the gods is like you? Who is like you, wonderful in holiness? Who can work miracles and mighty acts like yours? 12 You stretched out your right hand, and the earth swallowed our enemies. 13 Faithful to your promise, you led the people you had rescued; by your strength you guided them to your sacred land. 14 The nations have heard, and they tremble with fear; the Philistines are seized with terror. 15 The leaders of Edom are terrified; Moab's mighty men are trembling; the people of Canaan lose their courage. 16 Terror and dread fall upon them. They see your strength, O Lord, and stand helpless with fear until your people have marched past - the people you set free from slavery. 17 You bring them in and plant them on your mountain, the place that you, Lord, have chosen for your home, the Temple that you yourself have built. 18 You, Lord, will be king forever and ever." 19 The Israelites walked through the sea on dry ground. But when the Egyptian chariots with their horses and drivers went into the sea, the Lord brought the water back, and it covered them. 20 The prophet Miriam, Aaron's sister, took her tambourine, and all the women followed her, playing tambourines and dancing. 21 Miriam sang for them: "Sing to the Lord, because he has won a glorious victory; he has thrown the horses and their riders into the sea." 22 Then Moses led the people of Israel away from the Red Sea into the desert of Shur. For three days they walked through the desert, but found no water. 23 Then they came to a place called Marah, but the water there was so bitter that they could not drink it. That is why it was named Marah. 24 The people complained to Moses and asked, "What are we going to drink?" 25 Moses prayed earnestly to the Lord, and the Lord showed him a piece of wood, which he threw into the water; and the water became fit to drink. There the Lord gave them laws to live by, and there he also tested them. 26 He said, "If you will obey me completely by doing what I consider right and by keeping my commands, I will not punish you with any of the diseases that I brought on the Egyptians. I am the Lord, the one who heals you." 27 Next they came to Elim, where there were twelve springs and seventy palm trees; there they camped by the water.

2184-1 Samuel 15:22 Samuel said, "Which does the Lord prefer: obedience or offerings and sacrifices? It is better to obey him than to sacrifice the best sheep to him. 23 Rebellion against him is as bad as witchcraft, and arrogance is as sinful as idolatry. Because you rejected the Lord's command, he has rejected you as king." 24 "Yes, I have sinned," Saul replied. "I disobeyed the Lord's command and your instructions. I was afraid of my men and did what they wanted. 25 But now I beg you, forgive my sin and go back with me, so that I can worship the Lord." 26 "I will not go back with you," Samuel answered. "You rejected the Lord's command, and he has rejected you as king of Israel."

1 Samuel 31:1 The Philistines fought a battle against the Israelites on Mount Gilboa. Many Israelites were killed there, and the rest of them, including King Saul and his sons, fled. 2 But the Philistines caught up with them and killed three of Saul's sons, Jonathan, Abinadab, and Malchishua. 3 The fighting was heavy around Saul, and he himself was hit by enemy arrows and badly wounded. 4 He said to the young man carrying his weapons, "Draw your sword and kill me, so that these godless Philistines won't gloat over me and kill me." But the young man was too terrified to do it. So Saul took his own sword and threw himself on it. 5 The young man saw that Saul was dead, so he too threw himself on his own sword and died with Saul. 6 And that is how Saul, his three sons, and the young man died; all of Saul's men died that day.

2185-1 Samuel 25:1 Samuel died, and all the Israelites came together and mourned for him. Then they buried him at his home in Ramah. After this, David went to the wilderness of Paran. 2 There was a man of the clan of Caleb named Nabal, who was from the town of Maon, and who owned land near the town of Carmel. He was a very rich man, the owner of three thousand sheep and one thousand goats. His wife Abigail was beautiful and intelligent, but he was a mean, bad-tempered man. Nabal was shearing his sheep in Carmel, 4 and David, who was in the wilderness, heard about it, 5 so he sent ten young men with orders to go to Carmel, find Nabal, and give him his greetings. 6 He instructed them to say to Nabal: "David sends you greetings, my friend, with his best wishes for you, your family, and all that is yours. 7 He heard that you were shearing your sheep, and he wants you to know that your shepherds have been with us and we did not harm them. Nothing that belonged to them was stolen all the time they were at Carmel. 8 Just ask them, and they will tell you. We have come on a feast day, and David asks you to receive us kindly. Please give what you can to us your servants and to your dear friend David." 9 David's men delivered this message to Nabal in David's name. Then they waited there, 10 and Nabal finally answered, "David? Who is he? I've never heard of him! The country is full of runaway slaves nowadays! 11 I'm not going to take my bread and water, and the animals I have butchered for my sheepshearers, and give them to people who come from I don't know where!" 12 David's men went back to him and told him what Nabal had said. 13 "Buckle on your swords!" he ordered, and they all did. David also buckled on his sword and left with about four hundred of his men, leaving two hundred behind with the supplies. 14 One of Nabal's servants said to Nabal's wife Abigail, "Have you heard? David sent some messengers from the wilderness with greetings for our master, but he insulted them. 15 Yet they were very good to us; they never bothered us, and all the time we were with them in the fields, nothing that belonged to us was stolen. 16 They protected us day and night the whole time we were with them looking after our flocks. 17 Please think this over and decide what to do. This could be disastrous for our master and all his family. He is so mean that he won't listen to anybody!" 18 Abigail quickly gathered two hundred loaves of bread, two leather bags full of wine, five roasted sheep, two bushels of roasted grain, a hundred bunches of raisins, and two hundred cakes of dried figs, and loaded them on donkeys. 19 Then she said to the servants, "You go on ahead and I will follow you." But she said nothing to her husband. 20 She was riding her donkey around a bend on a hillside when suddenly she met David and his men coming toward her. 21 David had been thinking, "Why did I ever protect that fellow's property out here in the wilderness? Not a thing that belonged to him was stolen, and this is how he pays me back for the help I gave him! 22 May God strike me dead if I don't kill every last one of those men before morning!" 23 When Abigail saw David, she quickly dismounted and threw herself on the ground 24 at David's feet, and said to him, "Please, sir, listen to me! Let me take the blame. 25 Please, don't pay any attention to Nabal, that good-for-nothing! He is exactly what his name means - a fool! I wasn't there when your servants arrived, sir. 26 It is the Lord who has kept you from taking revenge and killing your enemies. And now I swear to you by the living Lord that your enemies and all who want to harm you will be punished like Nabal. 27 Please, sir, accept this present I have brought you, and give it to your men. 28 Please forgive me, sir, for any wrong I have done. The Lord will make you king, and your descendants also, because you are fighting his battles; and you will not do anything evil as long as you live. 29 If anyone should attack you and try to kill you, the Lord your God will keep you safe, as someone guards a precious treasure. As for your enemies, however, he will throw them away, as someone hurls stones with a sling. 30 And when the Lord has done all the good things he has promised you and has made you king of Israel, 31 then you will not have to feel regret or remorse, sir, for having killed without cause or for having taken your own revenge. And when the Lord has blessed you, sir, please do not forget me." 32 David said to her, "Praise the Lord, the God of Israel, who sent you today to meet me! 33 Thank God for your good sense and for what you have done today in keeping me from the crime of murder and from taking my own revenge. 34 The Lord has kept me from harming you. But I swear by the living God of Israel that if you had not hurried to meet me, all of Nabal's men would have been dead by morning!" 35 Then David accepted what she had brought him and said to her, "Go back home and don't worry. I will do what you want." 36 Abigail went back to Nabal, who was at home having a feast fit for a king. He was drunk and in a good mood, so she did not tell him anything until the next morning. 37 Then, after he had sobered up, she told him everything. He suffered a stroke and was completely paralyzed. 38 Some ten days later the Lord struck Nabal and he died. 39 When David heard that Nabal had died, he said, "Praise the Lord! He has taken revenge on Nabal for insulting me and has kept me his servant from doing wrong. The Lord has punished Nabal for his evil." Then David sent a proposal of marriage to Abigail. 40 His servants went to her at Carmel and said to her, "David sent us to take you to him to be his wife." 41 Abigail bowed down to the ground and said, "I am his servant, ready to wash the feet of his servants." 42 She rose quickly and mounted her donkey. Accompanied by her five maids, she went with David's servants and became his wife. 43 David had married Ahinoam from Jezreel, and now Abigail also became his wife. 44 Meanwhile, Saul had given his daughter Michal, who had been David's wife, to Palti son of Laish, who was from the town of Gallim.

2186-1 Kings 11:1 Solomon loved many foreign women. Besides the daughter of the king of Egypt he married Hittite women and women from Moab, Ammon, Edom, and Sidon. 2 He married them even though the Lord had commanded the Israelites not to intermarry with these people, because they would cause the Israelites to give their loyalty to other gods. 3 Solomon married seven hundred princesses and also had three hundred concubines. They made him turn away from God, 4 and by the time he was old they had led him into the worship of foreign gods. He was not faithful to the Lord his God, as his father David had been. 5 He worshiped Astarte, the goddess of Sidon, and Molech, the disgusting god of Ammon. 6 He sinned against the Lord and was not true to him as his father David had been. 7 On the mountain east of Jerusalem he built a place to worship Chemosh, the disgusting god of Moab, and a place to worship Molech, the disgusting god of Ammon. 8 He also built places of worship where all his foreign wives could burn incense and offer sacrifices to their own gods. 9 Even though the Lord, the God of Israel, had appeared to Solomon twice and had commanded him not to worship foreign gods, Solomon did not obey the Lord but turned away from him. So the Lord was angry with Solomon 11 and said to him, "Because you have deliberately broken your covenant with me and disobeyed my commands, I promise that I will take the kingdom away from you and give it to one of your officials. 12 However, for the sake of your father David I will not do this in your lifetime, but during the reign of your son. 13 And I will not take the whole kingdom away from him; instead, I will leave him one tribe for the sake of my servant David and for the sake of Jerusalem, the city I have made my own." 14 So the Lord caused Hadad, of the royal family of Edom, to turn against Solomon. 15 Long before this, when David had conquered Edom, Joab the commander of his army had gone there to bury the dead. He and his men remained in Edom six months, and during that time they killed every male in Edom 17 except Hadad and some of his father's Edomite servants, who escaped to Egypt. (At that time Hadad was just a child.) 18 They left Midian and went to Paran, where some other men joined them. Then they traveled to Egypt and went to the king, who gave Hadad some land and a house and provided him with food. 19 Hadad won the friendship of the king, and the king gave his sister-in-law, the sister of Queen Tahpenes, to Hadad in marriage. 20 She bore him a son, Genubath, who was raised by the queen in the palace, where he lived with the king's sons. 21 When the news reached Hadad in Egypt that David had died and that Joab the commander of the army was dead, Hadad said to the king, "Let me go back to my own country." 22 "Why?" the king asked. "Have I failed to give you something? Is that why you want to go back home?" "Just let me go," Hadad answered the king. And he went back to his country. As king of Edom, Hadad was an evil, bitter enemy of Israel. 23 God also caused Rezon son of Eliada to turn against Solomon. Rezon had fled from his master, King Hadadezer of Zobah, 24 and had become the leader of a gang of outlaws. (This happened after David had defeated Hadadezer and had slaughtered his Syrian allies.) Rezon and his gang went and lived in Damascus, where his followers made him king of Syria. 25 He was an enemy of Israel during the lifetime of Solomon. 26 Another man who turned against King Solomon was one of his officials, Jeroboam son of Nebat, from Zeredah in Ephraim. His mother was a widow named Zeruah. 27 This is the story of the revolt. Solomon was filling in the land on the east side of Jerusalem and repairing the city walls. 28 Jeroboam was an able young man, and when Solomon noticed how hard he worked, he put him in charge of all the forced labor in the territory of the tribes of Manasseh and Ephraim. 29 One day, as Jeroboam was traveling from Jerusalem, the prophet Ahijah from Shiloh met him alone on the road in the open country. 30 Ahijah took off the new robe he was wearing, tore it into twelve pieces, 31 and said to Jeroboam, "Take ten pieces for yourself, because the Lord, the God of Israel, says to you, "I am going to take the kingdom away from Solomon, and I will give you ten tribes. 32 Solomon will keep one tribe for the sake of my servant David and for the sake of Jerusalem, the city I have chosen to be my own from the whole land of Israel. 33 I am going to do this because Solomon has rejected me and has worshiped foreign gods: Astarte, the goddess of Sidon; Chemosh, the god of Moab; and Molech, the god of Ammon. Solomon has disobeyed me; he has done wrong and has not kept my laws and commands as his father David did. 34 But I will not take the whole kingdom away from Solomon, and I will keep him in power as long as he lives. This I will do for the sake of my servant David, whom I chose and who obeyed my laws and commands. 35 I will take the kingdom away from Solomon's son and will give you ten tribes, 36 but I will let Solomon's son keep one tribe, so that I will always have a descendant of my servant David ruling in Jerusalem, the city I have chosen as the place where I am worshiped. 37 Jeroboam, I will make you king of Israel, and you will rule over all the territory that you want. 38 If you obey me completely, live by my laws, and win my approval by doing what I command, as my servant David did, I will always be with you. I will make you king of Israel and will make sure that your descendants rule after you, just as I have done for David. 39 Because of Solomon's sin I will punish the descendants of David, but not for all time.' " 40 And so Solomon tried to kill Jeroboam, but he escaped to King Shishak of Egypt and stayed there until Solomon's death. 41 Everything else that Solomon did, his career, and his wisdom, are all recorded in [The History of Solomon.] 42 He was king in Jerusalem over all Israel for forty years. 43 He died and was buried in David's City, and his son Rehoboam succeeded him as king.

2187-Ecclesiastes 2:1 I decided to enjoy myself and find out what happiness is. But I found that this is useless, too. 2 I discovered that laughter is foolish, that pleasure does you no good. 3 Driven on by my desire for wisdom, I decided to cheer myself up with wine and have a good time. I thought that this might be the best way people can spend their short lives on earth. 4 I accomplished great things. I built myself houses and planted vineyards. 5 I planted gardens and orchards, with all kinds of fruit trees in them; 6 I dug ponds to irrigate them. 7 I bought many slaves, and there were slaves born in my household. I owned more livestock than anyone else who had ever lived in Jerusalem. 8 I also piled up silver and gold from the royal treasuries of the lands I ruled. Men and women sang to entertain me, and I had all the women a man could want. 9 Yes, I was great, greater than anyone else who had ever lived in Jerusalem, and my wisdom never failed me. 10 Anything I wanted, I got. I did not deny myself any pleasure. I was proud of everything I had worked for, and all this was my reward. 11 Then I thought about all that I had done and how hard I had worked doing it, and I realized that it didn't mean a thing. It was like chasing the wind - of no use at all. 12 After all, a king can only do what previous kings have done. So I started thinking about what it meant to be wise or reckless or foolish. 13 Oh, I know, "Wisdom is better than foolishness, just as light is better than darkness. 14 The wise can see where they are going, and fools cannot." But I also know that the same fate is waiting for us all. 15 I thought to myself, "What happens to fools is going to happen to me, too. So what have I gained from being so wise?" "Nothing," I answered, "not a thing." 16 No one remembers the wise, and no one remembers fools. In days to come, we will all be forgotten. We must all die - wise and foolish alike. 17 So life came to mean nothing to me, because everything in it had brought me nothing but trouble. It had all been useless; I had been chasing the wind. 18 Nothing that I had worked for and earned meant a thing to me, because I knew that I would have to leave it to my successor, 19 and he might be wise, or he might be foolish - who knows? Yet he will own everything I have worked for, everything my wisdom has earned for me in this world. It is all useless. 20 So I came to regret that I had worked so hard. 21 You work for something with all your wisdom, knowledge, and skill, and then you have to leave it all to someone who hasn't had to work for it. It is useless, and it isn't right! 22 You work and worry your way through life, and what do you have to show for it? 23 As long as you live, everything you do brings nothing but worry and heartache. Even at night your mind can't rest. It is all useless. 24 The best thing we can do is eat and drink and enjoy what we have earned. And yet, I realized that even this comes from God. 25 How else could you have anything to eat or enjoy yourself at all? 26 God gives wisdom, knowledge, and happiness to those who please him, but he makes sinners work, earning and saving, so that what they get can be given to those who please him. It is all useless. It is like chasing the wind.

2188-Esther 3:1 Some time later King Xerxes promoted a man named Haman to the position of prime minister. Haman was the son of Hammedatha, a descendant of Agag. 2 The king ordered all the officials in his service to show their respect for Haman by kneeling and bowing to him. They all did so, except for Mordecai, who refused to do it. 3 The other officials in the royal service asked him why he was disobeying the king's command; 4 day after day they urged him to give in, but he would not listen to them. "I am a Jew," he explained, "and I cannot bow to Haman." So they told Haman about this, wondering if he would tolerate Mordecai's conduct. 5 Haman was furious when he realized that Mordecai was not going to kneel and bow to him, 6 and when he learned that Mordecai was a Jew, he decided to do more than punish Mordecai alone. He made plans to kill every Jew in the whole Persian Empire. 7 In the twelfth year of King Xerxes' rule, in the first month, the month of Nisan, Haman ordered the lots to be cast ("purim," they were called) to find out the right day and month to carry out his plot. The thirteenth day of the twelfth month, the month of Adar, was decided on. 8 So Haman told the king, "There is a certain race of people scattered all over your empire and found in every province. They observe customs that are not like those of any other people. Moreover, they do not obey the laws of the empire, so it is not in your best interests to tolerate them. 9 If it please Your Majesty, issue a decree that they are to be put to death. If you do, I guarantee that I will be able to put 375 tons of silver into the royal treasury for the administration of the empire." 10 The king took off his ring, which was used to stamp proclamations and make them official, and gave it to the enemy of the Jewish people, Haman son of Hammedatha, the descendant of Agag. 11 The king told him, "The people and their money are yours; do as you like with them." 12 So on the thirteenth day of the first month Haman called the king's secretaries and dictated a proclamation to be translated into every language and system of writing used in the empire and to be sent to all the rulers, governors, and officials. It was issued in the name of King Xerxes and stamped with his ring. 13 Runners took this proclamation to every province of the empire. It contained the instructions that on a single day, the thirteenth day of Adar, all Jews - young and old, women and children - were to be killed. They were to be slaughtered without mercy and their belongings were to be taken. 14 The contents of the proclamation were to be made public in every province, so that everyone would be prepared when that day came. 15 At the king's command the decree was made public in the capital city of Susa, and runners carried the news to the provinces. The king and Haman sat down and had a drink while the city of Susa was being thrown into confusion.

Esther 4:1 When Mordecai learned of all that had been done, he tore his clothes in anguish. Then he dressed in sackcloth, covered his head with ashes, and walked through the city, wailing loudly and bitterly, 2 until he came to the entrance of the palace. He did not go in because no one wearing sackcloth was allowed inside. 3 Throughout all the provinces, wherever the king's proclamation was made known, there was loud mourning among the Jews. They fasted, wept, wailed, and most of them put on sackcloth and lay in ashes. 4 When Esther's servant women and eunuchs told her what Mordecai was doing, she was deeply disturbed. She sent Mordecai some clothes to put on instead of the sackcloth, but he would not accept them. 5 Then she called Hathach, one of the palace eunuchs appointed as her servant by the king, and told him to go to Mordecai and find out what was happening and why. 6 Hathach went to Mordecai in the city square at the entrance of the palace. 7 Mordecai told him everything that had happened to him and just how much money Haman had promised to put into the royal treasury if all the Jews were killed. 8 He gave Hathach a copy of the proclamation that had been issued in Susa, ordering the destruction of the Jews. Mordecai asked him to take it to Esther, explain the situation to her, and have her go and plead with the king and beg him to have mercy on her people. 9 Hathach did this, 10 and Esther gave him this message to take back to Mordecai: 11 "If anyone, man or woman, goes to the inner courtyard and sees the king without being summoned, that person must die. That is the law; everyone, from the king's advisers to the people in the provinces, knows that. There is only one way to get around this law: if the king holds out his gold scepter to someone, then that person's life is spared. But it has been a month since the king sent for me." 12 When Mordecai received Esther's message, 13 he sent her this warning: "Don't imagine that you are safer than any other Jew just because you are in the royal palace. 14 If you keep quiet at a time like this, help will come from heaven to the Jews, and they will be saved, but you will die and your father's family will come to an end. Yet who knows - maybe it was for a time like this that you were made queen!" 15 Esther sent Mordecai this reply: 16 "Go and get all the Jews in Susa together; hold a fast and pray for me. Don't eat or drink anything for three days and nights. My servant women and I will be doing the same. After that, I will go to the king, even though it is against the law. If I must die for doing it, I will die." 17 Mordecai then left and did everything that Esther had told him to do.

Esther 5:1 On the third day of her fast Esther put on her royal robes and went and stood in the inner courtyard of the palace, facing the throne room. The king was inside, seated on the royal throne, facing the entrance. 2 When the king saw Queen Esther standing outside, she won his favor, and he held out to her the gold scepter. She then came up and touched the tip of it. 3 "What is it, Queen Esther?" the king asked. "Tell me what you want, and you shall have it - even if it is half my empire." 4 Esther replied, "If it please Your Majesty, I would like you and Haman to be my guests tonight at a banquet I am preparing for you." 5 The king then ordered Haman to come quickly, so that they could be Esther's guests. So the king and Haman went to Esther's banquet. 6 Over the wine the king asked her, "Tell me what you want, and you shall have it. I will grant your request, even if you ask for half my empire." 7 Esther replied, 8 "If Your Majesty is kind enough to grant my request, I would like you and Haman to be my guests tomorrow at another banquet that I will prepare for you. At that time I will tell you what I want." 9 When Haman left the banquet he was happy and in a good mood. But then he saw Mordecai at the entrance of the palace, and when Mordecai did not rise or show any sign of respect as he passed, Haman was furious with him. 10 But he controlled himself and went on home. Then he invited his friends to his house and asked his wife Zeresh to join them. 11 He boasted to them about how rich he was, how many sons he had, how the king had promoted him to high office, and how much more important he was than any of the king's other officials. 12 "What is more," Haman went on, "Queen Esther gave a banquet for no one but the king and me, and we are invited back tomorrow. 13 But none of this means a thing to me as long as I see that Jew Mordecai sitting at the entrance of the palace." 14 So his wife and all his friends suggested, "Why don't you have a gallows built, seventy-five feet tall? Tomorrow morning you can ask the king to have Mordecai hanged on it, and then you can go to the banquet happy." Haman thought this was a good idea, so he had the gallows built.

Esther 6:1 That same night the king could not get to sleep, so he had the official records of the empire brought and read to him. 2 The part they read included the account of how Mordecai had uncovered a plot to assassinate the king - the plot made by Bigthana and Teresh, the two palace eunuchs who had guarded the king's rooms. 3 The king asked, "How have we honored and rewarded Mordecai for this?" His servants answered, "Nothing has been done for him." 4 "Are any of my officials in the palace?" the king asked. Now Haman had just entered the courtyard; he had come to ask the king to have Mordecai hanged on the gallows that was now ready. 5 So the servants answered, "Haman is here, waiting to see you." "Show him in," said the king. 6 So Haman came in, and the king said to him, "There is someone I wish very much to honor. What should I do for this man?" Haman thought to himself, "Now who could the king want to honor so much? Me, of course." 7 So he answered the king, "Have royal robes brought for this man - robes that you yourself wear. Have a royal ornament put on your own horse. 9 Then have one of your highest noblemen dress the man in these robes and lead him, mounted on the horse, through the city square. Have the nobleman announce as they go: "See how the king rewards someone he wishes to honor!' " 10 Then the king said to Haman, "Hurry and get the robes and the horse, and provide these honors for Mordecai the Jew. Do everything for him that you have suggested. You will find him sitting at the entrance of the palace." 11 So Haman got the robes and the horse, and he put the robes on Mordecai. Mordecai got on the horse, and Haman led him through the city square, announcing to the people as they went: "See how the king rewards a man he wishes to honor!" 12 Mordecai then went back to the palace entrance while Haman hurried home, covering his face in embarrassment. 13 He told his wife and all his friends everything that had happened to him. Then she and those wise friends of his told him, "You are beginning to lose power to Mordecai. He is a Jew, and you cannot overcome him. He will certainly defeat you." 14 While they were still talking, the palace eunuchs arrived in a hurry to take Haman to Esther's banquet.

Esther 7:1 And so the king and Haman went to eat with Esther 2 for a second time. Over the wine the king asked her again, "Now, Queen Esther, what do you want? Tell me and you shall have it. I'll even give you half the empire." 3 Queen Esther answered, "If it please Your Majesty to grant my humble request, my wish is that I may live and that my people may live. 4 My people and I have been sold for slaughter. If it were nothing more serious than being sold into slavery, I would have kept quiet and not bothered you about it; but we are about to be destroyed - exterminated!" 5 Then King Xerxes asked Queen Esther, "Who dares to do such a thing? Where is this man?" 6 Esther answered, "Our enemy, our persecutor, is this evil man Haman!" Haman faced the king and queen with terror. 7 The king got up in a fury, left the room, and went outside to the palace gardens. Haman could see that the king was determined to punish him for this, so he stayed behind to beg Queen Esther for his life. 8 He had just thrown himself down on Esther's couch to beg for mercy, when the king came back into the room from the gardens. Seeing this, the king cried out, "Is this man going to rape the queen right here in front of me, in my own palace?" The king had no sooner said this than the eunuchs covered Haman's head. 9 Then one of them, who was named Harbonah, said, "Haman even went so far as to build a gallows at his house so that he could hang Mordecai, who saved Your Majesty's life. And it's seventy-five feet tall!" "Hang Haman on it!" the king commanded. 10 So Haman was hanged on the gallows that he had built for Mordecai. Then the king's anger cooled down.

2189-Isaiah 14:12 King of Babylon, bright morning star, you have fallen from heaven! In the past you conquered nations, but now you have been thrown to the ground. 13 You were determined to climb up to heaven and to place your throne above the highest stars. You thought you would sit like a king on that mountain in the north where the gods assemble. 14 You said you would climb to the tops of the clouds and be like the Almighty. 15 But instead, you have been brought down to the deepest part of the world of the dead. 16 The dead will stare and gape at you. They will ask, "Is this the man who shook the earth and made kingdoms tremble? 17 Is this the man who destroyed cities and turned the world into a desert? Is this the man who never freed his prisoners or let them go home?"

2190-Daniel 4:28 All this did happen to King Nebuchadnezzar. 29 Only twelve months later, while he was walking around on the roof of his royal palace in Babylon, 30 he said, "Look how great Babylon is! I built it as my capital city to display my power and might, my glory and majesty." 31 Before the words were out of his mouth, a voice spoke from heaven, "King Nebuchadnezzar, listen to what I say! Your royal power is now taken away from you. 32 You will be driven away from human society, live with wild animals, and eat grass like an ox for seven years. Then you will acknowledge that the Supreme God has power over human kingdoms and that he can give them to anyone he chooses." 33 The words came true immediately. Nebuchadnezzar was driven out of human society and ate grass like an ox. The dew fell on his body, and his hair grew as long as eagle feathers and his nails as long as bird claws. 34 "When the seven years had passed," said the king, "I looked up at the sky, and my sanity returned. I praised the Supreme God and gave honor and glory to the one who lives forever. "He will rule forever, and his kingdom will last for all time. 35 He looks on the people of the earth as nothing; angels in heaven and people on earth are under his control. No one can oppose his will or question what he does. 36 "When my sanity returned, my honor, my majesty, and the glory of my kingdom were given back to me. My officials and my noblemen welcomed me, and I was given back my royal power with even greater honor than before. 37 "And now, I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise, honor, and glorify the King of Heaven. Everything he does is right and just, and he can humble anyone who acts proudly."

2191-Daniel 5:1 One night King Belshazzar invited a thousand noblemen to a great banquet, and they drank wine together. 2 While they were drinking, Belshazzar gave orders to bring in the gold and silver cups and bowls which his father Nebuchadnezzar had carried off from the Temple in Jerusalem. The king sent for them so that he, his noblemen, his wives, and his concubines could drink out of them. 3 At once the gold cups and bowls were brought in, and they all drank wine out of them 4 and praised gods made of gold, silver, bronze, iron, wood, and stone. 5 Suddenly a human hand appeared and began writing on the plaster wall of the palace, where the light from the lamps was shining most brightly. And the king saw the hand as it was writing. 6 He turned pale and was so frightened that his knees began to shake. 7 He shouted for someone to bring in the magicians, wizards, and astrologers. When they came in, the king said to them, "Anyone who can read this writing and tell me what it means will be dressed in robes of royal purple, wear a gold chain of honor around his neck, and be the third in power in the kingdom." 8 The royal advisers came forward, but none of them could read the writing or tell the king what it meant. 9 In his distress King Belshazzar grew even paler, and his noblemen had no idea what to do. 10 The queen mother heard the noise made by the king and his noblemen and entered the banquet hall. She said, "May Your Majesty live forever! Please do not be so disturbed and look so pale. 11 There is a man in your kingdom who has the spirit of the holy gods in him. When your father was king, this man showed good sense, knowledge, and wisdom like the wisdom of the gods. And King Nebuchadnezzar, your father, made him chief of the fortunetellers, magicians, wizards, and astrologers. 12 He has unusual ability and is wise and skillful in interpreting dreams, solving riddles, and explaining mysteries; so send for this man Daniel, whom the king named Belteshazzar, and he will tell you what all this means." 13 Daniel was brought at once into the king's presence, and the king said to him, "Are you Daniel, that Jewish exile whom my father the king brought here from Judah? 14 I have heard that the spirit of the holy gods is in you and that you are skillful and have knowledge and wisdom. 15 The advisers and magicians were brought in to read this writing and tell me what it means, but they could not discover the meaning. 16 Now I have heard that you can find hidden meanings and explain mysteries. If you can read this writing and tell me what it means, you will be dressed in robes of royal purple, wear a gold chain of honor around your neck, and be the third in power in the kingdom." 17 Daniel replied, "Keep your gifts for yourself or give them to someone else. I will read for Your Majesty what has been written and tell you what it means. 18 "The Supreme God made your father Nebuchadnezzar a great king and gave him dignity and majesty. 19 He was so great that people of all nations, races, and languages were afraid of him and trembled. If he wanted to kill someone, he did; if he wanted to keep someone alive, he did. He honored or disgraced anyone he wanted to. 20 But because he became proud, stubborn, and cruel, he was removed from his royal throne and lost his place of honor. 21 He was driven away from human society, and his mind became like that of an animal. He lived with wild donkeys, ate grass like an ox, and slept in the open air with nothing to protect him from the dew. Finally he admitted that the Supreme God controls all human kingdoms and can give them to anyone he chooses. 22 "But you, his son, have not humbled yourself, even though you knew all this. 23 You acted against the Lord of heaven and brought in the cups and bowls taken from his Temple. You, your noblemen, your wives, and your concubines drank wine out of them and praised gods made of gold, silver, bronze, iron, wood, and stone - gods that cannot see or hear and that do not know anything. But you did not honor the God who determines whether you live or die and who controls everything you do. 24 That is why God has sent the hand to write these words. 25 "This is what was written: "Number, number, weight, divisions.' 26 And this is what it means: [number, ]God has numbered the days of your kingdom and brought it to an end; 27 [weight, ]you have been weighed on the scales and found to be too light; 28 [divisions, ]your kingdom is divided up and given to the Medes and Persians." 29 Immediately Belshazzar ordered his servants to dress Daniel in a robe of royal purple and to hang a gold chain of honor around his neck. And he made him the third in power in the kingdom. 30 That same night Belshazzar, the king of Babylonia, was killed; 31 and Darius the Mede, who was then sixty-two years old, seized the royal power

2192-Acts 12:20 Herod was very angry with the people of Tyre and Sidon, so they went in a group to see him. First they convinced Blastus, the man in charge of the palace, that he should help them. Then they went to Herod and asked him for peace, because their country got its food supplies from the king's country. 21 On a chosen day Herod put on his royal robes, sat on his throne, and made a speech to the people. 22 "It isn't a man speaking, but a god!" they shouted. 23 At once the angel of the Lord struck Herod down, because he did not give honor to God. He was eaten by worms and died.

2193-2 Chronicles 27:2 He did what was pleasing to the Lord, just as his father had done; but unlike his father he did not sin by burning incense in the Temple. The people, however, went on sinning.

2194-2 Kin. 15:30 In the twentieth year of the reign of Jotham son of Uzziah as king of Judah, Hoshea son of Elah plotted against King Pekah, assassinated him, and succeeded him as king.

2195-Isa. 1:4 You are doomed, you sinful nation, you corrupt and evil people! Your sins drag you down! You have rejected the Lord, the holy God of Israel, and have turned your backs on him.

Isaiah 1:21 The city that once was faithful is behaving like a whore! At one time it was filled with righteous people, but now only murderers remain. 22 Jerusalem, you were once like silver, but now you are worthless; you were like good wine, but now you are only water. 23 Your leaders are rebels and friends of thieves; they are always accepting gifts and bribes. They never defend orphans in court or listen when widows present their case. 24 So now, listen to what the Lord Almighty, Israel's powerful God, is saying: "I will take revenge on you, my enemies, and you will cause me no more trouble.

2196-Hosea 4:1 The Lord has an accusation to bring against the people who live in this land. Listen, Israel, to what he says: "There is no faithfulness or love in the land, and the people do not acknowledge me as God. 2 They make promises and break them; they lie, murder, steal, and commit adultery. Crimes increase, and there is one murder after another.

2197-Micah 3:10 You are building God's city, Jerusalem, on a foundation of murder and injustice. 11 The city's rulers govern for bribes, the priests interpret the Law for pay, the prophets give their revelations for money - and they all claim that the Lord is with them. "No harm will come to us," they say. "The Lord is with us." 12 And so, because of you, Zion will be plowed like a field, Jerusalem will become a pile of ruins, and the Temple hill will become a forest.

2198-2 Kings 15:32 In the second year of the reign of Pekah son of Remaliah as king of Israel, Jotham son of Uzziah became king of Judah 33 at the age of twenty-five, and he ruled in Jerusalem for sixteen years. His mother was Jerusha, the daughter of Zadok. 34 Following the example of his father Uzziah, Jotham did what was pleasing to the Lord. 35 But the pagan places of worship were not destroyed, and the people continued to offer sacrifices and burn incense there. It was Jotham who built the North Gate of the Temple. 36 Everything else that Jotham did is recorded in [The History of the Kings of Judah.] 37 It was while he was king that the Lord first sent King Rezin of Syria and King Pekah of Israel to attack Judah. 38 Jotham died and was buried in the royal tombs in David's City, and his son Ahaz succeeded him as king.

2199-Isaiah 10:1 You are doomed! You make unjust laws that oppress my people. 2 That is how you keep the poor from having their rights and from getting justice. That is how you take the property that belongs to widows and orphans.

2200-PK 306.1 The outlook was particularly discouraging as regards the social conditions of the people. In their desire for gain, men were adding house to house and field to field. See Isaiah 5:8. Justice was perverted, and no pity was shown the poor. Of these evils God declared, “The spoil of the poor is in your houses.” “Ye beat My people to pieces, and grind the faces of the poor.” Isaiah 3:14, 15. Even the magistrates, whose duty it was to protect the helpless, turned a deaf ear to the cries of the poor and needy, the widows and the fatherless. See Isaiah 10:1, 2. {PK 306.1}

2201-Isaiah 2:11 A day is coming when human pride will be ended and human arrogance destroyed. Then the Lord alone will be exalted. 12 On that day the Lord Almighty will humble everyone who is powerful, everyone who is proud and conceited.

Isaiah 3:16 The Lord said, "Look how proud the women of Jerusalem are! They walk along with their noses in the air. They are always flirting. They take dainty little steps, and the bracelets on their ankles jingle.

Isaiah 3:18 A day is coming when the Lord will take away from the women of Jerusalem everything they are so proud of - the ornaments they wear on their ankles, on their heads, on their necks, 19 and on their wrists. He will take away their veils 20 and their hats; the magic charms they wear on their arms and at their waists; 21 the rings they wear on their fingers and in their noses; 22 all their fine robes, gowns, cloaks, and purses; 23 their revealing garments, their linen handkerchiefs, and the scarves and long veils they wear on their heads.

Isaiah 5:22 You are doomed! Heroes of the wine bottle! Brave and fearless when it comes to mixing drinks!

Isaiah 11:11 You are doomed! You get up early in the morning to start drinking, and you spend long evenings getting drunk. 12 At your feasts you have harps and tambourines and flutes - and wine. But you don't understand what the Lord is doing,

2202-Isaiah 2:8 Their land is full of idols, and they worship objects that they have made with their own hands. 9 Everyone will be humiliated and disgraced. Do not forgive them, Lord!

2203-PK 306.2 With oppression and wealth came pride and love of display, gross drunkenness, and a spirit of revelry. See Isaiah 2:11, 12; 3:16, 18-23; Isaiah 5:22, 11, 12. And in Isaiah’s day idolatry itself no longer provoked surprise. See Isaiah 2:8, 9. Iniquitous practices had become so prevalent among all classes that the few who remained true to God were often tempted to lose heart and to give way to discouragement and despair. It seemed as if God’s purpose for Israel were about to fail and that the rebellious nation was to suffer a fate similar to that of Sodom and Gomorrah. {PK 306.2}

2204-2 Chronicles 28:5 Because King Ahaz sinned, the Lord his God let the king of Syria defeat him and take a large number of Judeans back to Damascus as prisoners. The Lord also let the king of Israel, Pekah son of Remaliah, defeat Ahaz and kill 120,000 of the bravest Judean soldiers in one day. The Lord, the God of their ancestors, permitted this to happen, because the people of Judah had abandoned him.

2205-2 Kings 16:5 King Rezin of Syria and King Pekah of Israel attacked Jerusalem and besieged it, but could not defeat Ahaz.

2206-Isaiah 7:1 When King Ahaz, the son of Jotham and grandson of Uzziah, ruled Judah, war broke out. Rezin, king of Syria, and Pekah son of Remaliah, king of Israel, attacked Jerusalem, but were unable to capture it. 2 When word reached the king of Judah that the armies of Syria were already in the territory of Israel, he and all his people were so terrified that they trembled like trees shaking in the wind. 3 The Lord said to Isaiah, "Take your son Shear Jashub, and go to meet King Ahaz. You will find him on the road where the cloth makers work, at the end of the ditch that brings water from the upper pool. 4 Tell him to keep alert, to stay calm, and not to be frightened or disturbed. The anger of King Rezin and his Syrians and of King Pekah is no more dangerous than the smoke from two smoldering sticks of wood. 5 Syria, together with Israel and its king, has made a plot. 6 They intend to invade Judah, terrify the people into joining their side, and then put Tabeel's son on the throne. 7 "But I, the Lord, declare that this will never happen. 8 Why? Because Syria is no stronger than Damascus, its capital city, and Damascus is no stronger than King Rezin. As for Israel, within sixty-five years it will be too shattered to survive as a nation. 9 Israel is no stronger than Samaria, its capital city, and Samaria is no stronger than King Pekah. "If your faith is not enduring, you will not endure." 10 The Lord sent another message to Ahaz: 11 "Ask the Lord your God to give you a sign. It can be from deep in the world of the dead or from high up in heaven." 12 Ahaz answered, "I will not ask for a sign. I refuse to put the Lord to the test." 13 To that Isaiah replied, "Listen, now, descendants of King David. It's bad enough for you to wear out the patience of people - do you have to wear out God's patience too? 14 Well then, the Lord himself will give you a sign: a young woman who is pregnant will have a son and will name him "Immanuel.' 15 By the time he is old enough to make his own decisions, people will be drinking milk and eating honey. 16 Even before that time comes, the lands of those two kings who terrify you will be deserted. 17 "The Lord is going to bring on you, on your people, and on the whole royal family, days of trouble worse than any that have come since the kingdom of Israel separated from Judah - he is going to bring the king of Assyria. 18 "When that time comes, the Lord will whistle as a signal for the Egyptians to come like flies from the farthest branches of the Nile, and for the Assyrians to come from their land like bees. 19 They will swarm in the rugged valleys and in the caves in the rocks, and they will cover every thorn bush and every pasture. 20 "When that time comes, the Lord will hire a barber from across the Euphrates - the emperor of Assyria! - and he will shave off your beards and the hair on your heads and your bodies. 21 "When that time comes, even if a farmer has been able to save only one young cow and two goats, 22 they will give so much milk that he will have all he needs. Yes, the few survivors left in the land will have milk and honey to eat. 23 "When that time comes, the fine vineyards, each with a thousand vines and each worth a thousand pieces of silver, will be overgrown with thorn bushes and briers. 24 People will go hunting there with bows and arrows. Yes, the whole country will be full of briers and thorn bushes. 25 All the hills where crops were once planted will be so overgrown with thorns that no one will go there. It will be a place where cattle and sheep graze."

Isaiah 8:1 The Lord said to me, "Take a large piece of writing material and write on it in large letters: "Quick Loot, Fast Plunder.' 2 Get two reliable men, the priest Uriah and Zechariah son of Jeberechiah, to serve as witnesses." 3 Some time later my wife became pregnant. When our son was born, the Lord said to me, "Name him "Quick-Loot-Fast-Plunder.' 4 Before the boy is old enough to say "Mamma' and "Daddy,' all the wealth of Damascus and all the loot of Samaria will be carried off by the king of Assyria." 5 The Lord spoke to me again. 6 He said, "Because these people have rejected the quiet waters of Shiloah Brook and tremble before King Rezin and King Pekah, 7 I, the Lord, will bring the emperor of Assyria and all his forces to attack Judah. They will advance like the flood waters of the Euphrates River, overflowing all its banks. 8 They will sweep through Judah in a flood, rising shoulder high and covering everything." God is with us! His outspread wings protect the land. 9 Gather together in fear, you nations! Listen, you distant parts of the earth. Get ready to fight, but be afraid! Yes, get ready, but be afraid! 10 Make your plans! But they will never succeed. Talk all you want to! But it is all useless, because God is with us. 11 With his great power the Lord warned me not to follow the road which the people were following. He said, 12 "Do not join in the schemes of the people and do not be afraid of the things that they fear. 13 Remember that I, the Lord Almighty, am holy; I am the one you must fear. 14 Because of my awesome holiness I am like a stone that people stumble over; I am like a trap that will catch the people of the kingdoms of Judah and Israel and the people of Jerusalem. 15 Many will stumble; they will fall and be crushed. They will be caught in a trap." 16 You, my disciples, are to guard and preserve the messages that God has given me. 17 The Lord has hidden himself from his people, but I trust him and place my hope in him. 18 Here I am with the children the Lord has given me. The Lord Almighty, whose throne is on Mount Zion, has sent us as living messages to the people of Israel. 19 But people will tell you to ask for messages from fortunetellers and mediums, who chirp and mutter. They will say, "After all, people should ask for messages from the spirits and consult the dead on behalf of the living." 20 You are to answer them, "Listen to what the Lord is teaching you! Don't listen to mediums - what they tell you cannot keep trouble away." 21 The people will wander through the land, discouraged and hungry. In their hunger and their anger they will curse their king and their God. They may look up to the sky 22 or stare at the ground, but they will see nothing but trouble and darkness, terrifying darkness into which they are being driven.

Isaiah 9:1 There will be no way for them to escape from this time of trouble. The land of the tribes of Zebulun and Naphtali was once disgraced, but the future will bring honor to this region, from the Mediterranean eastward to the land on the other side of the Jordan, and even to Galilee itself, where the foreigners live. 2 The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light. They lived in a land of shadows, but now light is shining on them. 3 You have given them great joy, Lord; you have made them happy. They rejoice in what you have done, as people rejoice when they harvest grain or when they divide captured wealth. 4 For you have broken the yoke that burdened them and the rod that beat their shoulders. You have defeated the nation that oppressed and exploited your people, just as you defeated the army of Midian long ago. 5 The boots of the invading army and all their bloodstained clothing will be destroyed by fire. 6 A child is born to us! A son is given to us! And he will be our ruler. He will be called, "Wonderful Counselor," "Mighty God," "Eternal Father," "Prince of Peace." 7 His royal power will continue to grow; his kingdom will always be at peace. He will rule as King David's successor, basing his power on right and justice, from now until the end of time. The Lord Almighty is determined to do all this. 8 The Lord has pronounced judgment on the kingdom of Israel, on the descendants of Jacob. 9 All the people of Israel, everyone who lives in the city of Samaria, will know that he has done this. Now they are proud and arrogant. They say, 10 "The brick buildings have fallen down, but we will replace them with stone buildings. The beams of sycamore wood have been cut down, but we will replace them with the finest cedar." 11 The Lord has stirred up their enemies to attack them. 12 Syria on the east and Philistia on the west have opened their mouths to devour Israel. Yet even so the Lord's anger is not ended; his hand is still stretched out to punish. 13 The people of Israel have not repented; even though the Lord Almighty has punished them, they have not returned to him. 14 In a single day the Lord will punish Israel's leaders and its people; he will cut them off, head and tail. 15 The old and honorable men are the head - and the tail is the prophets whose teachings are lies! 16 Those who lead these people have misled them and totally confused them. 17 And so the Lord will not let any of the young men escape, and he will not show pity on any of the widows and orphans, because all the people are godless and wicked and everything they say is evil. Yet even so the Lord's anger will not be ended, but his hand will still be stretched out to punish. 18 The wickedness of the people burns like a fire that destroys thorn bushes and thistles. It burns like a forest fire that sends up columns of smoke. 19 Because the Lord Almighty is angry, his punishment burns like a fire throughout the land and destroys the people, and it is each of us for ourselves. 20 Everywhere in the country people snatch and eat any bit of food they can find, but their hunger is never satisfied. They even eat their own children! 21 The people of Manasseh and the people of Ephraim attack each other, and together they attack Judah. Yet even so the Lord's anger is not ended; his hand is still stretched out to punish.

2207-2 Chronicles 28:8 Even though the Judeans were their own relatives, the Israelite army captured 200,000 women and children as prisoners and took them back to Samaria, along with large amounts of loot. 9 A man named Oded, a prophet of the Lord, lived in the city of Samaria. He met the returning Israelite army with its Judean prisoners as it was about to enter the city, and he said, "The Lord God of your ancestors was angry with Judah and let you defeat them, but now he has heard of the vicious way you slaughtered them. 10 And now you intend to make the men and women of Jerusalem and Judah your slaves. Don't you know that you also have committed sins against the Lord your God? 11 Listen to me! These prisoners are your brothers and sisters. Let them go, or the Lord will punish you in his anger." 12 Four of the leading men of the Northern Kingdom, Azariah son of Jehohanan, Berechiah son of Meshillemoth, Jehizkiah son of Shallum, and Amasa son of Hadlai also opposed the actions of the army. 13 They said, "Don't bring those prisoners here! We have already sinned against the Lord and made him angry enough to punish us. Now you want to do something that will increase our guilt." 14 So then the army handed the prisoners and the loot over to the people and their leaders, 15 and the four men were appointed to provide the prisoners with clothing from the captured loot. They gave them clothes and sandals to wear, gave them enough to eat and drink, and put olive oil on their wounds. Those who were too weak to walk were put on donkeys, and all the prisoners were taken back to Judean territory at Jericho, the city of palm trees. Then the Israelites returned home to Samaria.

2208-2 Chronicles 28:22 When his troubles were at their worst, that man Ahaz sinned against the Lord more than ever. 23 He offered sacrifices to the gods of the Syrians, who had defeated him. He said, "The Syrian gods helped the kings of Syria, so if I sacrifice to them, they may help me too." This brought disaster on him and on his nation.

2209-2 Chronicles 28:24 In addition, he took all the Temple equipment and broke it in pieces. He closed the Temple and set up altars in every part of Jerusalem. 25 In every city and town in Judah he built pagan places of worship, where incense was to be burned to foreign gods. In this way he brought on himself the anger of the Lord, the God of his ancestors.

2210-Lev. 18:21 Do not hand over any of your children to be used in the worship of the god Molech, because that would bring disgrace on the name of God, the Lord.

Leviticus 20:2 to say to the people of Israel, "Any of you or any foreigner living among you who gives any children to be used in the worship of the god Molech shall be stoned to death by the whole community.

2211-Deut. 18:10 Don't sacrifice your children in the fires on your altars; and don't let your people practice divination or look for omens or use spells

Deuteronomy 32:17 They sacrificed to gods that are not real, new gods their ancestors had never known, gods that Israel had never obeyed

2212-Jer. 7:31 In Hinnom Valley they have built an altar called Topheth, so that they can sacrifice their sons and daughters in the fire. I did not command them to do this - it did not even enter my mind.

Jeremiah 19:2 and to go through Potsherd Gate out to Hinnom Valley. There I was to proclaim the message that he would give me. 3 The Lord told me to say, "Kings of Judah and people of Jerusalem, listen to what I, the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, have to say. I am going to bring such a disaster on this place that everyone who hears about it will be stunned. 4 I am going to do this because the people have abandoned me and defiled this place by offering sacrifices here to other gods - gods that neither they nor their ancestors nor the kings of Judah have known anything about. They have filled this place with the blood of innocent people, 5 and they have built altars for Baal in order to burn their children in the fire as sacrifices. I never commanded them to do this; it never even entered my mind. 6 So then, the time will come when this place will no longer be called Topheth or Hinnom Valley. Instead, it will be known as Slaughter Valley.

Jeremiah 32:35 They have built altars to Baal in Hinnom Valley, to sacrifice their sons and daughters to the god Molech. I did not command them to do this, and it did not even enter my mind that they would do such a thing and make the people of Judah sin."

2213-Eze. 16:20 "Then you took the sons and the daughters you had borne me and offered them as sacrifices to idols. Wasn't it bad enough to be unfaithful to me, 21 without taking my children and sacrificing them to idols?

2214-2 Kings 23:10 King Josiah also desecrated Topheth, the pagan place of worship in Hinnom Valley, so that no one could sacrifice his son or daughter as a burnt offering to the god Molech.

2215-Prov. 3:5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart. Never rely on what you think you know. 6 Remember the Lord in everything you do, and he will show you the right way.

2216-2 Chronicles 28:9 A man named Oded, a prophet of the Lord, lived in the city of Samaria. He met the returning Israelite army with its Judean prisoners as it was about to enter the city, and he said, "The Lord God of your ancestors was angry with Judah and let you defeat them, but now he has heard of the vicious way you slaughtered them. 10 And now you intend to make the men and women of Jerusalem and Judah your slaves. Don't you know that you also have committed sins against the Lord your God? 11 Listen to me! These prisoners are your brothers and sisters. Let them go, or the Lord will punish you in his anger." 12 Four of the leading men of the Northern Kingdom, Azariah son of Jehohanan, Berechiah son of Meshillemoth, Jehizkiah son of Shallum, and Amasa son of Hadlai also opposed the actions of the army. 13 They said, "Don't bring those prisoners here! We have already sinned against the Lord and made him angry enough to punish us. Now you want to do something that will increase our guilt." 14 So then the army handed the prisoners and the loot over to the people and their leaders, 15 and the four men were appointed to provide the prisoners with clothing from the captured loot. They gave them clothes and sandals to wear, gave them enough to eat and drink, and put olive oil on their wounds. Those who were too weak to walk were put on donkeys, and all the prisoners were taken back to Judean territory at Jericho, the city of palm trees. Then the Israelites returned home to Samaria.

2217-Lev. 18:21 Do not hand over any of your children to be used in the worship of the god Molech, because that would bring disgrace on the name of God, the Lord.

2218-Deut. 12:21 Do not hand over any of your children to be used in the worship of the god Molech, because that would bring disgrace on the name of God, the Lord.

2219-2 Kin. 16:3 and followed the example of the kings of Israel. He even sacrificed his own son as a burnt offering to idols, imitating the disgusting practice of the people whom the Lord had driven out of the land as the Israelites advanced.

2 Kings 17:17 They sacrificed their sons and daughters as burnt offerings to pagan gods; they consulted mediums and fortunetellers, and they devoted themselves completely to doing what is wrong in the Lord's sight, and so aroused his anger.

2 Kings 21:6 He sacrificed his son as a burnt offering. He practiced divination and magic and consulted fortunetellers and mediums. He sinned greatly against the Lord and stirred up his anger.

2 Kings 23:10 King Josiah also desecrated Topheth, the pagan place of worship in Hinnom Valley, so that no one could sacrifice his son or daughter as a burnt offering to the god Molech.

2220-2 Chr. 33:6 He sacrificed his sons in Hinnom Valley as burnt offerings. He practiced divination and magic and consulted fortunetellers and mediums. He sinned greatly against the Lord and stirred up his anger.

2221-Ps. 106:37 They offered their own sons and daughters as sacrifices to the idols of Canaan. 38 They killed those innocent children, and the land was defiled by those murders.

2222-Is. 57:5 You worship the fertility gods by having sex under those sacred trees of yours. You offer your children as sacrifices in the rocky caves near stream beds.

2223-Jer. 7:30 "The people of Judah have done an evil thing. They have placed their idols, which I hate, in my Temple and have defiled it. 31 In Hinnom Valley they have built an altar called Topheth, so that they can sacrifice their sons and daughters in the fire. I did not command them to do this - it did not even enter my mind.

Jeremiah 19:5 and they have built altars for Baal in order to burn their children in the fire as sacrifices. I never commanded them to do this; it never even entered my mind.

Jeremiah 32:35 They have built altars to Baal in Hinnom Valley, to sacrifice their sons and daughters to the god Molech. I did not command them to do this, and it did not even enter my mind that they would do such a thing and make the people of Judah sin."

2224-Ezek. 16:20 "Then you took the sons and the daughters you had borne me and offered them as sacrifices to idols. Wasn't it bad enough to be unfaithful to me, 21 without taking my children and sacrificing them to idols?

2225-Mic. 6:7 Will the Lord be pleased if I bring him thousands of sheep or endless streams of olive oil? Shall I offer him my first-born child to pay for my sins?

2226-2 Chronicles 33:1 Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king of Judah, and he ruled in Jerusalem for fifty-five years. 2 Following the disgusting practices of the nations whom the Lord had driven out of the land as his people advanced, Manasseh sinned against the Lord. 3 He rebuilt the pagan places of worship that his father Hezekiah had destroyed. He built altars for the worship of Baal, made images of the goddess Asherah, and worshiped the stars. 4 He built pagan altars in the Temple, the place that the Lord had said was where he should be worshiped forever. 5 In the two courtyards of the Temple he built altars for the worship of the stars. 6 He sacrificed his sons in Hinnom Valley as burnt offerings. He practiced divination and magic and consulted fortunetellers and mediums. He sinned greatly against the Lord and stirred up his anger. 7 He placed an image in the Temple, the place about which God had said to David and his son Solomon: "Here in Jerusalem, in this Temple, is the place that I have chosen out of all the territory of the twelve tribes of Israel as the place where I am to be worshiped. 8 And if the people of Israel will obey all my commands and keep the whole Law that my servant Moses gave them, then I will not allow them to be driven out of the land that I gave to their ancestors." 9 Manasseh led the people of Judah to commit even greater sins than those committed by the nations whom the Lord had driven out of the land as his people advanced. 10 Although the Lord warned Manasseh and his people, they refused to listen. 11 So the Lord let the commanders of the Assyrian army invade Judah. They captured Manasseh, stuck hooks in him, put him in chains, and took him to Babylon. 12 In his suffering he became humble, turned to the Lord his God, and begged him for help. 13 God accepted Manasseh's prayer and answered it by letting him go back to Jerusalem and rule again. This convinced Manasseh that the Lord was God. 14 After this, Manasseh increased the height of the outer wall on the east side of David's City, from a point in the valley near Gihon Spring north to the Fish Gate and the area of the city called Ophel. He also stationed an army officer in command of a unit of troops in each of the fortified cities of Judah. 15 He removed from the Temple the foreign gods and the image that he had placed there, and the pagan altars that were on the hill where the Temple stood and in other places in Jerusalem; he took all these things outside the city and threw them away. 16 He also repaired the altar where the Lord was worshiped, and he sacrificed fellowship offerings and thanksgiving offerings on it. He commanded all the people of Judah to worship the Lord, the God of Israel. 17 Although the people continued to offer sacrifices at other places of worship, they offered them only to the Lord. 18 Everything else that Manasseh did, the prayer he made to his God, and the messages of the prophets who spoke to him in the name of the Lord, the God of Israel, are all recorded in [The History of the Kings of Israel.] 19 The king's prayer and God's answer to it, and an account of the sins he committed before he repented - the evil he did, the pagan places of worship and the symbols of the goddess Asherah that he made and the idols that he worshiped - are all recorded in [The History of the Prophets.] 20 Manasseh died and was buried at the palace, and his son Amon succeeded him as king. 21 Amon was twenty-two years old when he became king of Judah, and he ruled in Jerusalem for two years. 22 Like his father Manasseh, he sinned against the Lord, and he worshiped the idols that his father had worshiped. 23 But unlike his father, he did not become humble and turn to the Lord; he was even more sinful than his father had been. 24 Amon's officials plotted against him and assassinated him in the palace. 25 The people of Judah killed Amon's assassins and made his son Josiah king.

2227-Hebrews 11:37 They were stoned, they were sawed in two, they were killed by the sword. They went around clothed in skins of sheep or goats - poor, persecuted, and mistreated.

2228-PK 382 One of the first to fall was Isaiah, who for over half a century had stood before Judah as the appointed messenger of Jehovah. “Others had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds and imprisonment: they were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword: they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, tormented; (of whom the world was not worthy:) they wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth.” Hebrews 11:36-38. {PK 382.1}

Some of those who suffered persecution during Manasseh’s reign were commissioned to bear special messages of reproof and of judgment. The king of Judah, the prophets declared, “hath done wickedly above all ... which were before him.” Because of this wickedness, his kingdom was nearing a crisis; soon the inhabitants of the land were to be carried captive to Babylon, there to become “a prey and a spoil to all their enemies.” 2 Kings 21:11, 14. But the Lord would not utterly forsake those who in a strange land should acknowledge Him as their Ruler; they might suffer great tribulation, yet He would bring deliverance to them in His appointed time and way. Those who should put their trust wholly in Him would find a sure refuge. {PK 382.2}

Faithfully the prophets continued their warnings and their exhortations; fearlessly they spoke to Manasseh and to his people; but the messages were scorned; backsliding Judah would not heed. As an earnest of what would befall the people should they continue impenitent, the Lord permitted their king to be captured by a band of Assyrian soldiers, who “bound him with fetters, and carried him to Babylon,” their temporary capital. This affliction brought the king to his senses; “he besought the Lord his God, and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers, and prayed unto Him: and He was entreated of him, and heard his supplication, and brought him again to Jerusalem into his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the Lord He was God.” 2 Chronicles 33:11-13. But this repentance, remarkable though it was, came too late to save the kingdom from the corrupting influence of years of idolatrous practices. Many had stumbled and fallen, never again to rise. {PK 382.3}

2229-2 Chronicles 33:11 So the Lord let the commanders of the Assyrian army invade Judah. They captured Manasseh, stuck hooks in him, put him in chains, and took him to Babylon. 12 In his suffering he became humble, turned to the Lord his God, and begged him for help. 13 God accepted Manasseh's prayer and answered it by letting him go back to Jerusalem and rule again. This convinced Manasseh that the Lord was God.

2230-PK 382.3-383 Faithfully the prophets continued their warnings and their exhortations; fearlessly they spoke to Manasseh and to his people; but the messages were scorned; backsliding Judah would not heed. As an earnest of what would befall the people should they continue impenitent, the Lord permitted their king to be captured by a band of Assyrian soldiers, who “bound him with fetters, and carried him to Babylon,” their temporary capital. This affliction brought the king to his senses; “he besought the Lord his God, and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers, and prayed unto Him: and He was entreated of him, and heard his supplication, and brought him again to Jerusalem into his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the Lord He was God.” 2 Chronicles 33:11-13. But this repentance, remarkable though it was, came too late to save the kingdom from the corrupting influence of years of idolatrous practices. Many had stumbled and fallen, never again to rise. {PK 382.3}

Among those whose life experience had been shaped beyond recall by the fatal apostasy of Manasseh, was his own son, who came to the throne at the age of twenty-two. Of King Amon it is written: “He walked in all the way that his father walked in, and served the idols that his father served, and worshiped them: and he forsook the Lord God of his fathers” (2 Kings 21:21, 22); he “humbled not himself before the Lord, as Manasseh his father had humbled himself; but Amon trespassed more and more.” The wicked king was not permitted to reign long. In the midst of his daring impiety, only two years from the time he ascended the throne, he was slain in the palace by his own servants; and “the people of the land made Josiah his son king in his stead.” 2 Chronicles 33:23, 25. {PK 383.1}

2231-2 Chron. 33:9 Manasseh led the people of Judah to commit even greater sins than those committed by the nations whom the Lord had driven out of the land as his people advanced. 10 Although the Lord warned Manasseh and his people, they refused to listen. 11 So the Lord let the commanders of the Assyrian army invade Judah. They captured Manasseh, stuck hooks in him, put him in chains, and took him to Babylon. 12 In his suffering he became humble, turned to the Lord his God, and begged him for help. 13 God accepted Manasseh's prayer and answered it by letting him go back to Jerusalem and rule again. This convinced Manasseh that the Lord was God.

2232-2 Kin. 21:1 Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king of Judah, and he ruled in Jerusalem for fifty-five years. His mother was Hephzibah. 2 Following the disgusting practices of the nations whom the Lord had driven out of the land as his people advanced, Manasseh sinned against the Lord. 3 He rebuilt the pagan places of worship that his father Hezekiah had destroyed; he built altars for the worship of Baal and made an image of the goddess Asherah, as King Ahab of Israel had done. Manasseh also worshiped the stars. 4 He built pagan altars in the Temple, the place that the Lord had said was where he should be worshiped. 5 In the two courtyards of the Temple he built altars for the worship of the stars. 6 He sacrificed his son as a burnt offering. He practiced divination and magic and consulted fortunetellers and mediums. He sinned greatly against the Lord and stirred up his anger. 7 He placed the symbol of the goddess Asherah in the Temple, the place about which the Lord had said to David and his son Solomon: "Here in Jerusalem, in this Temple, is the place that I have chosen out of all the territory of the twelve tribes of Israel as the place where I am to be worshiped. 8 And if the people of Israel will obey all my commands and keep the whole Law that my servant Moses gave them, then I will not allow them to be driven out of the land that I gave to their ancestors." 9 But the people of Judah did not obey the Lord, and Manasseh led them to commit even greater sins than those committed by the nations whom the Lord had driven out of the land as his people advanced. 10 Through his servants the prophets the Lord said, 11 "King Manasseh has done these disgusting things, things far worse than what the Canaanites did; and with his idols he has led the people of Judah into sin. 12 So I, the Lord God of Israel, will bring such a disaster on Jerusalem and Judah that everyone who hears about it will be stunned. 13 I will punish Jerusalem as I did Samaria, as I did King Ahab of Israel and his descendants. I will wipe Jerusalem clean of its people, as clean as a plate that has been wiped and turned upside down. 14 I will abandon the people who survive, and will hand them over to their enemies, who will conquer them and plunder their land. 15 I will do this to my people because they have sinned against me and have stirred up my anger from the time their ancestors came out of Egypt to this day." 16 Manasseh killed so many innocent people that the streets of Jerusalem were flowing with blood; he did this in addition to leading the people of Judah into idolatry, causing them to sin against the Lord. 17 Everything else that Manasseh did, including the sins he committed, is recorded in [The History of the Kings of Judah.] 18 Manasseh died and was buried in the palace garden, the garden of Uzza, and his son Amon succeeded him as king.

2233-2 Chronicles 33:13 God accepted Manasseh's prayer and answered it by letting him go back to Jerusalem and rule again. This convinced Manasseh that the Lord was God. 14 After this, Manasseh increased the height of the outer wall on the east side of David's City, from a point in the valley near Gihon Spring north to the Fish Gate and the area of the city called Ophel. He also stationed an army officer in command of a unit of troops in each of the fortified cities of Judah. 15 He removed from the Temple the foreign gods and the image that he had placed there, and the pagan altars that were on the hill where the Temple stood and in other places in Jerusalem; he took all these things outside the city and threw them away. 16 He also repaired the altar where the Lord was worshiped, and he sacrificed fellowship offerings and thanksgiving offerings on it. He commanded all the people of Judah to worship the Lord, the God of Israel.

2234-2 Chronicles 33:18 Everything else that Manasseh did, the prayer he made to his God, and the messages of the prophets who spoke to him in the name of the Lord, the God of Israel, are all recorded in [The History of the Kings of Israel.] 19 The king's prayer and God's answer to it, and an account of the sins he committed before he repented - the evil he did, the pagan places of worship and the symbols of the goddess Asherah that he made and the idols that he worshiped - are all recorded in [The History of the Prophets.]

2235-2 Kin. 21:1 Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king of Judah, and he ruled in Jerusalem for fifty-five years. His mother was Hephzibah. 2 Following the disgusting practices of the nations whom the Lord had driven out of the land as his people advanced, Manasseh sinned against the Lord. 3 He rebuilt the pagan places of worship that his father Hezekiah had destroyed; he built altars for the worship of Baal and made an image of the goddess Asherah, as King Ahab of Israel had done. Manasseh also worshiped the stars. 4 He built pagan altars in the Temple, the place that the Lord had said was where he should be worshiped. 5 In the two courtyards of the Temple he built altars for the worship of the stars. 6 He sacrificed his son as a burnt offering. He practiced divination and magic and consulted fortunetellers and mediums. He sinned greatly against the Lord and stirred up his anger. 7 He placed the symbol of the goddess Asherah in the Temple, the place about which the Lord had said to David and his son Solomon: "Here in Jerusalem, in this Temple, is the place that I have chosen out of all the territory of the twelve tribes of Israel as the place where I am to be worshiped. 8 And if the people of Israel will obey all my commands and keep the whole Law that my servant Moses gave them, then I will not allow them to be driven out of the land that I gave to their ancestors." 9 But the people of Judah did not obey the Lord, and Manasseh led them to commit even greater sins than those committed by the nations whom the Lord had driven out of the land as his people advanced. 10 Through his servants the prophets the Lord said, 11 "King Manasseh has done these disgusting things, things far worse than what the Canaanites did; and with his idols he has led the people of Judah into sin. 12 So I, the Lord God of Israel, will bring such a disaster on Jerusalem and Judah that everyone who hears about it will be stunned. 13 I will punish Jerusalem as I did Samaria, as I did King Ahab of Israel and his descendants. I will wipe Jerusalem clean of its people, as clean as a plate that has been wiped and turned upside down. 14 I will abandon the people who survive, and will hand them over to their enemies, who will conquer them and plunder their land. 15 I will do this to my people because they have sinned against me and have stirred up my anger from the time their ancestors came out of Egypt to this day." 16 Manasseh killed so many innocent people that the streets of Jerusalem were flowing with blood; he did this in addition to leading the people of Judah into idolatry, causing them to sin against the Lord. 17 Everything else that Manasseh did, including the sins he committed, is recorded in [The History of the Kings of Judah.] 18 Manasseh died and was buried in the palace garden, the garden of Uzza, and his son Amon succeeded him as king.

2236-2 Chr. 33:10 Although the Lord warned Manasseh and his people, they refused to listen. 11 So the Lord let the commanders of the Assyrian army invade Judah. They captured Manasseh, stuck hooks in him, put him in chains, and took him to Babylon. 12 In his suffering he became humble, turned to the Lord his God, and begged him for help.

2237-Lev. 26:40 "But your descendants will confess their sins and the sins of their ancestors, who resisted me and rebelled against me, 41 and caused me to turn against them and send them into exile in the land of their enemies. At last, when your descendants are humbled and they have paid the penalty for their sin and rebellion, 42 I will remember my covenant with Jacob and with Isaac and with Abraham, and I will renew my promise to give my people the land. 43 First, however, the land must be rid of its people, so that it can enjoy its complete rest, and they must pay the full penalty for having rejected my laws and my commands. 44 But even then, when they are still in the land of their enemies, I will not completely abandon them or destroy them. That would put an end to my covenant with them, and I am the Lord their God. 45 I will renew the covenant that I made with their ancestors when I showed all the nations my power by bringing my people out of Egypt, in order that I, the Lord, might be their God."

2238-2 Chr. 33:13 God accepted Manasseh's prayer and answered it by letting him go back to Jerusalem and rule again. This convinced Manasseh that the Lord was God.

2239-2 Kin. 20:16 Isaiah then told the king, "The Lord Almighty says that 17 a time is coming when everything in your palace, everything that your ancestors have stored up to this day, will be carried off to Babylonia. Nothing will be left. 18 Some of your own direct descendants will be taken away and made eunuchs to serve in the palace of the king of Babylonia."

2240-2 Chronicles 36:15 The Lord, the God of their ancestors, had continued to send prophets to warn his people, because he wanted to spare them and the Temple. 16 But they made fun of God's messengers, ignoring his words and laughing at his prophets, until at last the Lord's anger against his people was so great that there was no escape.

2241-2 Kings 17:5 Then Shalmaneser invaded Israel and besieged Samaria. In the third year of the siege, 6 which was the ninth year of the reign of Hoshea, the Assyrian emperor captured Samaria, took the Israelites to Assyria as prisoners, and settled some of them in the city of Halah, some near the Habor River in the district of Gozan and some in the cities of Media. 7 Samaria fell because the Israelites sinned against the Lord their God, who had rescued them from the king of Egypt and had led them out of Egypt. They worshiped other gods, 8 followed the customs of the people whom the Lord had driven out as his people advanced, and adopted customs introduced by the kings of Israel. 9 The Israelites did things that the Lord their God disapproved of. They built pagan places of worship in all their towns, from the smallest village to the largest city. 10 On all the hills and under every shady tree they put up stone pillars and images of the goddess Asherah, 11 and they burned incense on all the pagan altars, following the practice of the people whom the Lord had driven out of the land. They aroused the Lord's anger with all their wicked deeds 12 and disobeyed the Lord's command not to worship idols. 13 The Lord had sent his messengers and prophets to warn Israel and Judah: "Abandon your evil ways and obey my commands, which are contained in the Law I gave to your ancestors and which I handed on to you through my servants the prophets." 14 But they would not obey; they were stubborn like their ancestors, who had not trusted in the Lord their God. 15 They refused to obey his instructions, they did not keep the covenant he had made with their ancestors, and they disregarded his warnings. They worshiped worthless idols and became worthless themselves, and they followed the customs of the surrounding nations, disobeying the Lord's command not to imitate them. 16 They broke all the laws of the Lord their God and made two metal bull-calves to worship; they also made an image of the goddess Asherah, worshiped the stars, and served the god Baal. 17 They sacrificed their sons and daughters as burnt offerings to pagan gods; they consulted mediums and fortunetellers, and they devoted themselves completely to doing what is wrong in the Lord's sight, and so aroused his anger. 18 The Lord was angry with the Israelites and banished them from his sight, leaving only the kingdom of Judah. 19 But even the people of Judah did not obey the laws of the Lord their God; they imitated the customs adopted by the people of Israel. 20 The Lord rejected all the Israelites, punishing them and handing them over to cruel enemies until at last he had banished them from his sight. 21 After the Lord had separated Israel from Judah, the Israelites made Jeroboam son of Nebat their king. Jeroboam caused them to abandon the Lord and led them into terrible sins. 22 They followed Jeroboam and continued to practice all the sins he had committed, 23 until at last the Lord banished them from his sight, as he had warned through his servants the prophets that he would do. So the people of Israel were taken into exile to Assyria, where they still live.

2242-1 Peter 4:1 Since Christ suffered physically, you too must strengthen yourselves with the same way of thinking that he had; because whoever suffers physically is no longer involved with sin.

2243-Ezra 9:1 After all this had been done, some of the leaders of the people of Israel came and told me that the people, the priests, and the Levites had not kept themselves separate from the people in the neighboring countries of Ammon, Moab, and Egypt or from the Canaanites, Hittites, Perizzites, Jebusites, and Amorites. They were doing the same disgusting things which these people did. 2 Jewish men were marrying foreign women, and so God's holy people had become contaminated. The leaders and officials were the chief offenders. 3 When I heard this, I tore my clothes in despair, tore my hair and my beard, and sat down crushed with grief. 4 I sat there grieving until the time for the evening sacrifice to be offered, and people began to gather around me - all those who were frightened because of what the God of Israel had said about the sins of those who had returned from exile. 5 When the time came for the evening sacrifice, I got up from where I had been grieving, and still wearing my torn clothes, I knelt in prayer and stretched out my hands to the Lord my God. 6 I said, "O God, I am too ashamed to raise my head in your presence. Our sins pile up higher than our heads; they reach as high as the heavens. 7 From the days of our ancestors until now, we, your people, have sinned greatly. Because of our sins we, our kings, and our priests have fallen into the hands of foreign kings, and we have been slaughtered, robbed, and carried away as prisoners. We have been totally disgraced, as we still are today. 8 Now for a short time, O Lord our God, you have been gracious to us and have let some of us escape from slavery and live in safety in this holy place. You have let us escape from slavery and have given us new life. 9 We were slaves, but you did not leave us in slavery. You made the emperors of Persia favor us and permit us to go on living and to rebuild your Temple, which was in ruins, and to find safety here in Judah and Jerusalem. 10 "But now, O God, what can we say after all that has happened? We have again disobeyed the commands 11 that you gave us through your servants, the prophets. They told us that the land we were going to occupy was an impure land because the people who lived in it filled it from one end to the other with disgusting, filthy actions. 12 They told us that we were never to intermarry with those people and never to help them prosper or succeed if we wanted to enjoy the land and pass it on to our descendants forever. 13 Even after everything that has happened to us in punishment for our sins and wrongs, we know that you, our God, have punished us less than we deserve and have allowed us to survive. 14 Then how can we ignore your commandments again and intermarry with these wicked people? If we do, you will be so angry that you will destroy us completely and let no one survive. 15 Lord God of Israel, you are just, but you have let us survive. We confess our guilt to you; we have no right to come into your presence."

Ezra 10:1 While Ezra was bowing in prayer in front of the Temple, weeping and confessing these sins, a large group of Israelites - men, women, and children - gathered around him, weeping bitterly. 2 Then Shecaniah son of Jehiel, of the clan of Elam, said to Ezra, "We have broken faith with God by marrying foreign women, but even so there is still hope for Israel. 3 Now we must make a solemn promise to our God that we will send these women and their children away. We will do what you and the others who honor God's commands advise us to do. We will do what God's Law demands. 4 It is your responsibility to act. We are behind you, so go ahead and get it done." 5 So Ezra began by making the leaders of the priests, of the Levites, and of the rest of the people take an oath that they would do what Shecaniah had proposed. 6 Then he went from in front of the Temple into the living quarters of Jehohanan son of Eliashib, and spent the night there grieving over the unfaithfulness of the exiles. He did not eat or drink anything. 7 A message was sent throughout Jerusalem and Judah that all those who had returned from exile were to meet in Jerusalem 8 by order of the leaders of the people. If any failed to come within three days, all their property would be confiscated, and they would lose their right to be members of the community. 9 Within the three days, on the twentieth day of the ninth month, all the men living in the territory of Judah and Benjamin came to Jerusalem and assembled in the Temple square. It was raining hard, and because of the weather and the importance of the meeting everyone was trembling. 10 Ezra the priest stood up and spoke to them. He said, "You have been faithless and have brought guilt on Israel by marrying foreign women. 11 Now then, confess your sins to the Lord, the God of your ancestors, and do what pleases him. Separate yourselves from the foreigners living in our land and get rid of your foreign wives." 12 The people shouted in answer, "We will do whatever you say." 13 But they added, "The crowd is too big, and it's raining hard. We can't stand here in the open like this. This isn't something that can be done in one or two days, because so many of us are involved in this sin. 14 Let our officials stay in Jerusalem and take charge of the matter. Then let anyone who has a foreign wife come at a set time, together with the leaders and the judges of his city. In this way God's anger over this situation will be turned away." 15 No one was opposed to the plan except Jonathan son of Asahel and Jahzeiah son of Tikvah, who had the support of Meshullam and of Shabbethai, a Levite. 16 The returned exiles accepted the plan, so Ezra the priest appointed men from among the heads of the clans and recorded their names. On the first day of the tenth month they began their investigation, 17 and within the next three months they investigated all the cases of men with foreign wives. 18 This is the list of the men who had foreign wives: [Priests, ]listed by clans: Clan of Joshua and his brothers, sons of Jehozadak: Maaseiah, Eliezer, Jarib, and Gedaliah. 19 They promised to divorce their wives, and they offered a ram as a sacrifice for their sins. 20 Clan of Immer: Hanani and Zebadiah 21 Clan of Harim: Maaseiah, Elijah, Shemaiah, Jehiel, and Uzziah 22 Clan of Pashhur: Elioenai, Maaseiah, Ishmael, Nethanel, Jozabad, and Elasah 23 [Levites:] Jozabad, Shimei, Kelaiah (also called Kelita), Pethahiah, Judah, and Eliezer 24 [Musicians:] Eliashib [Temple guards:] Shallum, Telem, and Uri 25 [Others:] Clan of Parosh: Ramiah, Izziah, Malchijah, Mijamin, Eleazar, Malchijah, and Benaiah 26 Clan of Elam: Mattaniah, Zechariah, Jehiel, Abdi, Jeremoth, and Elijah 27 Clan of Zattu: Elioenai, Eliashib, Mattaniah, Jeremoth, Zabad, and Aziza 28 Clan of Bebai: Jehohanan, Hananiah, Zabbai, and Athlai 29 Clan of Bani: Meshullam, Malluch, Adaiah, Jashub, Sheal, and Jeremoth 30 Clan of Pahath Moab: Adna, Chelal, Benaiah, Maaseiah, Mattaniah, Bezalel, Binnui, and Manasseh 31 Clan of Harim: Eliezer, Isshijah, Malchijah, Shemaiah, Shimeon, Benjamin, Malluch, and Shemariah 33 Clan of Hashum: Mattenai, Mattattah, Zabad, Eliphelet, Jeremai, Manasseh, and Shimei 34 Clan of Bani: Maadai, Amram, Uel, Benaiah, Bedeiah, Cheluhi, Vaniah, Meremoth, Eliashib, Mattaniah, Mattenai, and Jaasu 38 Clan of Binnui: Shimei, Shelemiah, Nathan, Adaiah, Machnadebai, Shashai, Sharai, Azarel, Shelemiah, Shemariah, Shallum, Amariah, and Joseph 43 Clan of Nebo: Jeiel, Mattithiah, Zabad, Zebina, Jaddai, Joel, and Benaiah 44 All these men had foreign wives. They divorced them and sent them and their children away.

2244-Nehemiah 5:1 Some time later many of the people, both men and women, began to complain against the other Jews. 2 Some said, "We have large families, we need grain to keep us alive." 3 Others said, "We have had to mortgage our fields and vineyards and houses to get enough grain to keep us from starving." 4 Still others said, "We had to borrow money to pay the royal tax on our fields and vineyards. 5 We are of the same race as the other Jews. Aren't our children just as good as theirs? But we have to make slaves of our children. Some of our daughters have already been sold as slaves. We are helpless because our fields and vineyards have been taken away from us." 6 When I heard their complaints, I grew angry 7 and decided to act. I denounced the leaders and officials of the people and told them, "You are oppressing your own relatives!" I called a public assembly to deal with the problem 8 and said, "As far as we have been able, we have been buying back our Jewish relatives who had to sell themselves to foreigners. Now you are forcing your own relatives to sell themselves to you, their own people!" The leaders were silent and could find nothing to say. 9 Then I said, "What you are doing is wrong! You ought to obey God and do what's right. Then you would not give our enemies, the Gentiles, any reason to ridicule us. 10 I have let the people borrow money and grain from me, and so have my companions and those who work for me. Now let's give up all our claims to repayment. 11 Cancel all the debts they owe you - money or grain or wine or olive oil. And give them back their fields, vineyards, olive groves, and houses right now!" 12 The leaders replied, "We'll do as you say. We'll give the property back and not try to collect the debts." I called in the priests and made the leaders swear in front of them to keep the promise they had just made. 13 Then I took off the sash I was wearing around my waist and shook it out. "This is how God will shake any of you who don't keep your promise," I said. "God will take away your houses and everything you own, and will leave you with nothing." Everyone who was present said, "Amen!" and praised the Lord. And the leaders kept their promise. 14 During all the twelve years that I was governor of the land of Judah, from the twentieth year that Artaxerxes was emperor until his thirty-second year, neither my relatives nor I ate the food I was entitled to have as governor. 15 Every governor who had been in office before me had been a burden to the people and had demanded forty silver coins a day for food and wine. Even their servants had oppressed the people. But I acted differently, because I honored God. 16 I put all my energy into rebuilding the wall and did not acquire any property. Everyone who worked for me joined in the rebuilding. 17 I regularly fed at my table a hundred and fifty of the Jewish people and their leaders, besides all the people who came to me from the surrounding nations. 18 Every day I served one beef, six of the best sheep, and many chickens, and every ten days I provided a fresh supply of wine. But I knew what heavy burdens the people had to bear, and so I did not claim the allowance that the governor is entitled to. 19 I pray you, O God, remember to my credit everything that I have done for this people.

Nehemiah 13:1 When the Law of Moses was being read aloud to the people, they came to the passage that said that no Ammonite or Moabite was ever to be permitted to join God's people. 2 This was because the people of Ammon and Moab did not give food and water to the Israelites on their way out of Egypt. Instead, they paid money to Balaam to curse Israel, but our God turned the curse into a blessing. 3 When the people of Israel heard this law read, they excluded all foreigners from the community. 4 The priest Eliashib, who was in charge of the Temple storerooms, had for a long time been on good terms with Tobiah. 5 He allowed Tobiah to use a large room that was intended only for storing offerings of grain and incense, the equipment used in the Temple, the offerings for the priests, and the tithes of grain, wine, and olive oil given to the Levites, to the Temple musicians, and to the Temple guards. 6 While this was going on, I was not in Jerusalem, because in the thirty-second year that Artaxerxes was king of Babylon I had gone back to report to him. After some time I received his permission 7 and returned to Jerusalem. There I was shocked to find that Eliashib had allowed Tobiah to use a room in the Temple. 8 I was furious and threw out all of Tobiah's belongings. 9 I gave orders for the rooms to be ritually purified and for the Temple equipment, grain offerings, and incense to be put back. 10 I also learned that the Temple musicians and other Levites had left Jerusalem and gone back to their farms, because the people had not been giving them enough to live on. 11 I reprimanded the officials for letting the Temple be neglected. And I brought the Levites and musicians back to the Temple and put them to work again. 12 Then all the people of Israel again started bringing to the Temple storerooms their tithes of grain, wine, and olive oil. 13 I put the following men in charge of the storerooms: Shelemiah, a priest; Zadok, a scholar of the Law; and Pedaiah, a Levite. Hanan, the son of Zaccur and grandson of Mattaniah, was to be their assistant. I knew I could trust these men to be honest in distributing the supplies to the other workers. 14 Remember, my God, all these things that I have done for your Temple and its worship. 15 At that time I saw people in Judah pressing juice from grapes on the Sabbath. Others were loading grain, wine, grapes, figs, and other things on their donkeys and taking them into Jerusalem; I warned them not to sell anything on the Sabbath. 16 Some people from the city of Tyre were living in Jerusalem, and they brought fish and all kinds of goods into the city to sell to our people on the Sabbath. 17 I reprimanded the Jewish leaders and told them, "Look at the evil you're doing! You're making the Sabbath unholy. 18 This is exactly why God punished your ancestors when he brought destruction on this city. And yet you insist on bringing more of God's anger down on Israel by profaning the Sabbath." 19 So I gave orders for the city gates to be shut at the beginning of every Sabbath, as soon as evening began to fall, and not to be opened again until the Sabbath was over. I stationed some of my men at the gates to make sure that nothing was brought into the city on the Sabbath. 20 Once or twice merchants who sold all kinds of goods spent Friday night outside the city walls. 21 I warned them, "It's no use waiting out there for morning to come. If you try this again, I'll use force on you." From then on they did not come back on the Sabbath. 22 I ordered the Levites to purify themselves and to go and guard the gates to make sure that the Sabbath was kept holy. Remember me, O God, for this also, and spare me because of your great love. 23 At that time I also discovered that many of the Jewish men had married women from Ashdod, Ammon, and Moab. 24 Half of their children spoke the language of Ashdod or some other language and didn't know how to speak our language. 25 I reprimanded the men, called down curses on them, beat them, and pulled out their hair. Then I made them take an oath in God's name that never again would they or their children intermarry with foreigners. 26 I told them, "It was foreign women that made King Solomon sin. Here was a man who was greater than any of the kings of other nations. God loved him and made him king over all of Israel, and yet he fell into this sin. 27 Are we then to follow your example and disobey our God by marrying foreign women?" 28 Joiada was the son of Eliashib the High Priest, but one of Joiada's sons married the daughter of Sanballat, from the town of Beth Horon, so I made Joiada leave Jerusalem. 29 Remember, God, how those people defiled both the office of priest and the covenant you made with the priests and the Levites. 30 I purified the people from everything foreign; I prepared regulations for the priests and the Levites so that all of them would know their duties; 31 I arranged for the wood used for burning the offerings to be brought at the proper times, and for the people to bring their offerings of the first grain and the first fruits that ripened. Remember all this, O God, and give me credit for it.

2245-Hosea 4:13 At sacred places on the mountaintops they offer sacrifices, and on the hills they burn incense under tall, spreading trees, because the shade is so pleasant! "As a result, your daughters serve as prostitutes, and your daughters-in-law commit adultery. 14 Yet I will not punish them for this, because you yourselves go off with temple prostitutes, and together with them you offer pagan sacrifices. As the proverb says, "A people without sense will be ruined.'

2246-Matthew 10:14 And if some home or town will not welcome you or listen to you, then leave that place and shake the dust off your feet. 15 I assure you that on the Judgment Day God will show more mercy to the people of Sodom and Gomorrah than to the people of that town!

Matthew 11:23 And as for you, Capernaum! Did you want to lift yourself up to heaven? You will be thrown down to hell! If the miracles which were performed in you had been performed in Sodom, it would still be in existence today! 24 You can be sure that on the Judgment Day God will show more mercy to Sodom than to you!"

2247-Ezra 9:1 After all this had been done, some of the leaders of the people of Israel came and told me that the people, the priests, and the Levites had not kept themselves separate from the people in the neighboring countries of Ammon, Moab, and Egypt or from the Canaanites, Hittites, Perizzites, Jebusites, and Amorites. They were doing the same disgusting things which these people did. 2 Jewish men were marrying foreign women, and so God's holy people had become contaminated. The leaders and officials were the chief offenders. 3 When I heard this, I tore my clothes in despair, tore my hair and my beard, and sat down crushed with grief. 4 I sat there grieving until the time for the evening sacrifice to be offered, and people began to gather around me - all those who were frightened because of what the God of Israel had said about the sins of those who had returned from exile. 5 When the time came for the evening sacrifice, I got up from where I had been grieving, and still wearing my torn clothes, I knelt in prayer and stretched out my hands to the Lord my God. 6 I said, "O God, I am too ashamed to raise my head in your presence. Our sins pile up higher than our heads; they reach as high as the heavens. 7 From the days of our ancestors until now, we, your people, have sinned greatly. Because of our sins we, our kings, and our priests have fallen into the hands of foreign kings, and we have been slaughtered, robbed, and carried away as prisoners. We have been totally disgraced, as we still are today. 8 Now for a short time, O Lord our God, you have been gracious to us and have let some of us escape from slavery and live in safety in this holy place. You have let us escape from slavery and have given us new life. 9 We were slaves, but you did not leave us in slavery. You made the emperors of Persia favor us and permit us to go on living and to rebuild your Temple, which was in ruins, and to find safety here in Judah and Jerusalem. 10 "But now, O God, what can we say after all that has happened? We have again disobeyed the commands 11 that you gave us through your servants, the prophets. They told us that the land we were going to occupy was an impure land because the people who lived in it filled it from one end to the other with disgusting, filthy actions. 12 They told us that we were never to intermarry with those people and never to help them prosper or succeed if we wanted to enjoy the land and pass it on to our descendants forever. 13 Even after everything that has happened to us in punishment for our sins and wrongs, we know that you, our God, have punished us less than we deserve and have allowed us to survive. 14 Then how can we ignore your commandments again and intermarry with these wicked people? If we do, you will be so angry that you will destroy us completely and let no one survive. 15 Lord God of Israel, you are just, but you have let us survive. We confess our guilt to you; we have no right to come into your presence."

Ezra 10:1 While Ezra was bowing in prayer in front of the Temple, weeping and confessing these sins, a large group of Israelites - men, women, and children - gathered around him, weeping bitterly. 2 Then Shecaniah son of Jehiel, of the clan of Elam, said to Ezra, "We have broken faith with God by marrying foreign women, but even so there is still hope for Israel. 3 Now we must make a solemn promise to our God that we will send these women and their children away. We will do what you and the others who honor God's commands advise us to do. We will do what God's Law demands. 4 It is your responsibility to act. We are behind you, so go ahead and get it done." 5 So Ezra began by making the leaders of the priests, of the Levites, and of the rest of the people take an oath that they would do what Shecaniah had proposed. 6 Then he went from in front of the Temple into the living quarters of Jehohanan son of Eliashib, and spent the night there grieving over the unfaithfulness of the exiles. He did not eat or drink anything. 7 A message was sent throughout Jerusalem and Judah that all those who had returned from exile were to meet in Jerusalem 8 by order of the leaders of the people. If any failed to come within three days, all their property would be confiscated, and they would lose their right to be members of the community. 9 Within the three days, on the twentieth day of the ninth month, all the men living in the territory of Judah and Benjamin came to Jerusalem and assembled in the Temple square. It was raining hard, and because of the weather and the importance of the meeting everyone was trembling. 10 Ezra the priest stood up and spoke to them. He said, "You have been faithless and have brought guilt on Israel by marrying foreign women. 11 Now then, confess your sins to the Lord, the God of your ancestors, and do what pleases him. Separate yourselves from the foreigners living in our land and get rid of your foreign wives." 12 The people shouted in answer, "We will do whatever you say." 13 But they added, "The crowd is too big, and it's raining hard. We can't stand here in the open like this. This isn't something that can be done in one or two days, because so many of us are involved in this sin. 14 Let our officials stay in Jerusalem and take charge of the matter. Then let anyone who has a foreign wife come at a set time, together with the leaders and the judges of his city. In this way God's anger over this situation will be turned away." 15 No one was opposed to the plan except Jonathan son of Asahel and Jahzeiah son of Tikvah, who had the support of Meshullam and of Shabbethai, a Levite. 16 The returned exiles accepted the plan, so Ezra the priest appointed men from among the heads of the clans and recorded their names. On the first day of the tenth month they began their investigation, 17 and within the next three months they investigated all the cases of men with foreign wives. 18 This is the list of the men who had foreign wives: [Priests, ]listed by clans: Clan of Joshua and his brothers, sons of Jehozadak: Maaseiah, Eliezer, Jarib, and Gedaliah. 19 They promised to divorce their wives, and they offered a ram as a sacrifice for their sins. 20 Clan of Immer: Hanani and Zebadiah 21 Clan of Harim: Maaseiah, Elijah, Shemaiah, Jehiel, and Uzziah 22 Clan of Pashhur: Elioenai, Maaseiah, Ishmael, Nethanel, Jozabad, and Elasah 23 [Levites:] Jozabad, Shimei, Kelaiah (also called Kelita), Pethahiah, Judah, and Eliezer 24 [Musicians:] Eliashib [Temple guards:] Shallum, Telem, and Uri 25 [Others:] Clan of Parosh: Ramiah, Izziah, Malchijah, Mijamin, Eleazar, Malchijah, and Benaiah 26 Clan of Elam: Mattaniah, Zechariah, Jehiel, Abdi, Jeremoth, and Elijah 27 Clan of Zattu: Elioenai, Eliashib, Mattaniah, Jeremoth, Zabad, and Aziza 28 Clan of Bebai: Jehohanan, Hananiah, Zabbai, and Athlai 29 Clan of Bani: Meshullam, Malluch, Adaiah, Jashub, Sheal, and Jeremoth 30 Clan of Pahath Moab: Adna, Chelal, Benaiah, Maaseiah, Mattaniah, Bezalel, Binnui, and Manasseh 31 Clan of Harim: Eliezer, Isshijah, Malchijah, Shemaiah, Shimeon, Benjamin, Malluch, and Shemariah 33 Clan of Hashum: Mattenai, Mattattah, Zabad, Eliphelet, Jeremai, Manasseh, and Shimei 34 Clan of Bani: Maadai, Amram, Uel, Benaiah, Bedeiah, Cheluhi, Vaniah, Meremoth, Eliashib, Mattaniah, Mattenai, and Jaasu 38 Clan of Binnui: Shimei, Shelemiah, Nathan, Adaiah, Machnadebai, Shashai, Sharai, Azarel, Shelemiah, Shemariah, Shallum, Amariah, and Joseph 43 Clan of Nebo: Jeiel, Mattithiah, Zabad, Zebina, Jaddai, Joel, and Benaiah 44 All these men had foreign wives. They divorced them and sent them and their children away.

2248-Nehemiah 13:1 When the Law of Moses was being read aloud to the people, they came to the passage that said that no Ammonite or Moabite was ever to be permitted to join God's people. 2 This was because the people of Ammon and Moab did not give food and water to the Israelites on their way out of Egypt. Instead, they paid money to Balaam to curse Israel, but our God turned the curse into a blessing. 3 When the people of Israel heard this law read, they excluded all foreigners from the community. 4 The priest Eliashib, who was in charge of the Temple storerooms, had for a long time been on good terms with Tobiah. 5 He allowed Tobiah to use a large room that was intended only for storing offerings of grain and incense, the equipment used in the Temple, the offerings for the priests, and the tithes of grain, wine, and olive oil given to the Levites, to the Temple musicians, and to the Temple guards. 6 While this was going on, I was not in Jerusalem, because in the thirty-second year that Artaxerxes was king of Babylon I had gone back to report to him. After some time I received his permission 7 and returned to Jerusalem. There I was shocked to find that Eliashib had allowed Tobiah to use a room in the Temple. 8 I was furious and threw out all of Tobiah's belongings. 9 I gave orders for the rooms to be ritually purified and for the Temple equipment, grain offerings, and incense to be put back. 10 I also learned that the Temple musicians and other Levites had left Jerusalem and gone back to their farms, because the people had not been giving them enough to live on. 11 I reprimanded the officials for letting the Temple be neglected. And I brought the Levites and musicians back to the Temple and put them to work again. 12 Then all the people of Israel again started bringing to the Temple storerooms their tithes of grain, wine, and olive oil. 13 I put the following men in charge of the storerooms: Shelemiah, a priest; Zadok, a scholar of the Law; and Pedaiah, a Levite. Hanan, the son of Zaccur and grandson of Mattaniah, was to be their assistant. I knew I could trust these men to be honest in distributing the supplies to the other workers. 14 Remember, my God, all these things that I have done for your Temple and its worship. 15 At that time I saw people in Judah pressing juice from grapes on the Sabbath. Others were loading grain, wine, grapes, figs, and other things on their donkeys and taking them into Jerusalem; I warned them not to sell anything on the Sabbath. 16 Some people from the city of Tyre were living in Jerusalem, and they brought fish and all kinds of goods into the city to sell to our people on the Sabbath. 17 I reprimanded the Jewish leaders and told them, "Look at the evil you're doing! You're making the Sabbath unholy. 18 This is exactly why God punished your ancestors when he brought destruction on this city. And yet you insist on bringing more of God's anger down on Israel by profaning the Sabbath." 19 So I gave orders for the city gates to be shut at the beginning of every Sabbath, as soon as evening began to fall, and not to be opened again until the Sabbath was over. I stationed some of my men at the gates to make sure that nothing was brought into the city on the Sabbath. 20 Once or twice merchants who sold all kinds of goods spent Friday night outside the city walls. 21 I warned them, "It's no use waiting out there for morning to come. If you try this again, I'll use force on you." From then on they did not come back on the Sabbath. 22 I ordered the Levites to purify themselves and to go and guard the gates to make sure that the Sabbath was kept holy. Remember me, O God, for this also, and spare me because of your great love. 23 At that time I also discovered that many of the Jewish men had married women from Ashdod, Ammon, and Moab. 24 Half of their children spoke the language of Ashdod or some other language and didn't know how to speak our language. 25 I reprimanded the men, called down curses on them, beat them, and pulled out their hair. Then I made them take an oath in God's name that never again would they or their children intermarry with foreigners. 26 I told them, "It was foreign women that made King Solomon sin. Here was a man who was greater than any of the kings of other nations. God loved him and made him king over all of Israel, and yet he fell into this sin. 27 Are we then to follow your example and disobey our God by marrying foreign women?" 28 Joiada was the son of Eliashib the High Priest, but one of Joiada's sons married the daughter of Sanballat, from the town of Beth Horon, so I made Joiada leave Jerusalem. 29 Remember, God, how those people defiled both the office of priest and the covenant you made with the priests and the Levites. 30 I purified the people from everything foreign; I prepared regulations for the priests and the Levites so that all of them would know their duties; 31 I arranged for the wood used for burning the offerings to be brought at the proper times, and for the people to bring their offerings of the first grain and the first fruits that ripened. Remember all this, O God, and give me credit for it.

2249-Exodus 23:20 "I will send an angel ahead of you to protect you as you travel and to bring you to the place which I have prepared. 21 Pay attention to him and obey him. Do not rebel against him, for I have sent him, and he will not pardon such rebellion. 22 But if you obey him and do everything I command, I will fight against all your enemies. 23 My angel will go ahead of you and take you into the land of the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Canaanites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, and I will destroy them. 24 Do not bow down to their gods or worship them, and do not adopt their religious practices. Destroy their gods and break down their sacred stone pillars. 25 If you worship me, the Lord your God, I will bless you with food and water and take away all your sicknesses. 26 In your land no woman will have a miscarriage or be without children. I will give you long lives. 27 "I will make the people who oppose you afraid of me; I will bring confusion among the people against whom you fight, and I will make all your enemies turn and run from you. 28 I will throw your enemies into panic; I will drive out the Hivites, the Canaanites, and the Hittites as you advance. 29 I will not drive them out within a year's time; if I did, the land would become deserted, and the wild animals would be too many for you. 30 Instead, I will drive them out little by little, until there are enough of you to take possession of the land. 31 I will make the borders of your land extend from the Gulf of Aqaba to the Mediterranean Sea and from the desert to the Euphrates River. I will give you power over the inhabitants of the land, and you will drive them out as you advance. 32 Do not make any agreement with them or with their gods. 33 Do not let those people live in your country; if you do, they will make you sin against me. If you worship their gods, it will be a fatal trap for you.”

Exodus 34:11 Obey the laws that I am giving you today. I will drive out the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, as you advance. 12 Do not make any treaties with the people of the country into which you are going, because this could be a fatal trap for you. 13 Instead, tear down their altars, destroy their sacred pillars, and cut down their symbols of the goddess Asherah. 14 "Do not worship any other god, because I, the Lord, tolerate no rivals. 15 Do not make any treaties with the people of the country, because when they worship their pagan gods and sacrifice to them, they will invite you to join them, and you will be tempted to eat the food they offer to their gods. 16 Your sons might marry those foreign women, who would lead them to be unfaithful to me and to worship their pagan gods.

Exodus 34:24 After I have driven out the nations before you and extended your territory, no one will try to conquer your country during the three festivals.

2250-Leviticus 18:24 Do not make yourselves unclean by any of these acts, for that is how the pagans made themselves unclean, those pagans who lived in the land before you and whom the Lord is driving out so that you can go in.

Leviticus :6 "I will give you peace in your land, and you can sleep without being afraid of anyone. I will get rid of the dangerous animals in the land, and there will be no more war there. 7 You will be victorious over your enemies;

2251-Deuteronomy 4:38 As you advanced, he drove out nations greater and more powerful than you, so that he might bring you in and give you their land, the land which still belongs to you.

Deuteronomy 7:1 "The Lord your God will bring you into the land that you are going to occupy, and he will drive many nations out of it. As you advance, he will drive out seven nations larger and more powerful than you: the Hittites, the Girgashites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. 2 When the Lord your God places these people in your power and you defeat them, you must put them all to death. Do not make an alliance with them or show them any mercy. 3 Do not marry any of them, and do not let your children marry any of them, 4 because then they would lead your children away from the Lord to worship other gods. If that happens, the Lord will be angry with you and destroy you at once. 5 So then, tear down their altars, break their sacred stone pillars in pieces, cut down their symbols of the goddess Asherah, and burn their idols. 6 Do this because you belong to the Lord your God. From all the peoples on earth he chose you to be his own special people. 7 "The Lord did not love you and choose you because you outnumbered other peoples; you were the smallest nation on earth. 8 But the Lord loved you and wanted to keep the promise that he made to your ancestors. That is why he saved you by his great might and set you free from slavery to the king of Egypt. 9 Remember that the Lord your God is the only God and that he is faithful. He will keep his covenant and show his constant love to a thousand generations of those who love him and obey his commands, 10 but he will not hesitate to punish those who hate him. 11 Now then, obey what you have been taught; obey all the laws that I have given you today. 12 "If you listen to these commands and obey them faithfully, then the Lord your God will continue to keep his covenant with you and will show you his constant love, as he promised your ancestors. 13 He will love you and bless you, so that you will increase in number and have many children; he will bless your fields, so that you will have grain, wine, and olive oil; and he will bless you by giving you many cattle and sheep. He will give you all these blessings in the land that he promised your ancestors he would give to you. 14 No people in the world will be as richly blessed as you. None of you nor any of your livestock will be sterile. 15 The Lord will protect you from all sickness, and he will not bring on you any of the dreadful diseases that you experienced in Egypt, but he will bring them on all your enemies. 16 Destroy every nation that the Lord your God places in your power, and do not show them any mercy. Do not worship their gods, for that would be fatal. 17 "Do not tell yourselves that these peoples outnumber you and that you cannot drive them out. 18 Do not be afraid of them; remember what the Lord your God did to the king of Egypt and to all his people. 19 Remember the terrible plagues that you saw with your own eyes, the miracles and wonders, and the great power and strength by which the Lord your God set you free. In the same way that he destroyed the Egyptians, he will destroy all these people that you now fear. 20 He will even cause panic among them and will destroy those who escape and go into hiding. 21 So do not be afraid of these people. The Lord your God is with you; he is a great God and one to be feared. 22 Little by little he will drive out these nations as you advance. You will not be able to destroy them all at once, for, if you did, the number of wild animals would increase and be a threat to you. 23 The Lord will put your enemies in your power and make them panic until they are destroyed. 24 He will put their kings in your power. You will kill them, and they will be forgotten. No one will be able to stop you; you will destroy everyone. 25 Burn their idols. Do not desire the silver or gold that is on them, and do not take it for yourselves. If you do, that will be fatal, because the Lord hates idolatry. 26 Do not bring any of these idols into your homes, or the same curse will be on you that is on them. You must hate and despise these idols, because they are under the Lord's curse.

Deuteronomy 9:1 "Listen, people of Israel! Today you are about to cross the Jordan River and occupy the land belonging to nations greater and more powerful than you. Their cities are large, with walls that reach the sky. 2 The people themselves are tall and strong; they are giants, and you have heard it said that no one can stand against them. 3 But now you will see for yourselves that the Lord your God will go ahead of you like a raging fire. He will defeat them as you advance, so that you will drive them out and destroy them quickly, as he promised. 4 "After the Lord your God has driven them out for you, do not say to yourselves that he brought you in to possess this land because you deserved it. No, the Lord is going to drive these people out for you because they are wicked. 5 It is not because you are good and do what is right that the Lord is letting you take their land. He will drive them out because they are wicked and because he intends to keep the promise that he made to your ancestors, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. 6 You can be sure that the Lord is not giving you this fertile land because you deserve it. No, you are a stubborn people.

Deuteronomy 11:23 Then he will drive out all those nations as you advance, and you will occupy the land belonging to nations greater and more powerful than you.

Deuteronomy 12:29 "The Lord your God will destroy the nations as you invade their land, and you will occupy it and settle there. 30 After the Lord destroys those nations, make sure that you don't follow their religious practices, because that would be fatal. Don't try to find out how they worship their gods, so that you can worship in the same way. 31 Do not worship the Lord your God in the way they worship their gods, for in the worship of their gods they do all the disgusting things that the Lord hates. They even sacrifice their children in the fires on their altars.

Deuteronomy 20:16 "But when you capture cities in the land that the Lord your God is giving you, kill everyone. 17 Completely destroy all the people: the Hittites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, as the Lord ordered you to do. 18 Kill them, so that they will not make you sin against the Lord by teaching you to do all the disgusting things that they do in the worship of their gods.

Deuteronomy 31:3 The Lord your God himself will go before you and destroy the nations living there, so that you can occupy their land; and Joshua will be your leader, as the Lord has said.

Deuteronomy 23:3 "No Ammonite or Moabite - or any of their descendants, even in the tenth generation - may be included among the Lord's people. 4 They refused to provide you with food and water when you were on your way out of Egypt, and they hired Balaam son of Beor, from the city of Pethor in Mesopotamia, to curse you. 5 But the Lord your God would not listen to Balaam; instead he turned the curse into a blessing, because he loved you. 6 As long as you are a nation, never do anything to help these nations or to make them prosperous.

2252-Joshua 1:1 After the death of the Lord's servant Moses, the Lord spoke to Moses' helper, Joshua son of Nun. 2 He said, "My servant Moses is dead. Get ready now, you and all the people of Israel, and cross the Jordan River into the land that I am giving them. 3 As I told Moses, I have given you and all my people the entire land that you will be marching over. 4 Your borders will reach from the desert in the south to the Lebanon Mountains in the north; from the great Euphrates River in the east, through the Hittite country, to the Mediterranean Sea in the west. 5 Joshua, no one will be able to defeat you as long as you live. I will be with you as I was with Moses. I will always be with you; I will never abandon you. 6 Be determined and confident, for you will be the leader of these people as they occupy this land which I promised their ancestors. 7 Just be determined, be confident; and make sure that you obey the whole Law that my servant Moses gave you. Do not neglect any part of it and you will succeed wherever you go. 8 Be sure that the book of the Law is always read in your worship. Study it day and night, and make sure that you obey everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. 9 Remember that I have commanded you to be determined and confident! Do not be afraid or discouraged, for I, the Lord your God, am with you wherever you go."

Joshua 10:1 Adonizedek, the king of Jerusalem, heard that Joshua had captured and totally destroyed Ai and had killed its king, just as he had done to Jericho and its king. He also heard that the people of Gibeon had made peace with the Israelites and were living among them. 2 The people of Jerusalem were greatly alarmed at this because Gibeon was as large as any of the cities that had a king; it was larger than Ai, and its men were good fighters. 3 So Adonizedek sent the following message to King Hoham of Hebron, King Piram of Jarmuth, King Japhia of Lachish, and to King Debir of Eglon: 4 "Come and help me attack Gibeon, because its people have made peace with Joshua and the Israelites." 5 These five Amorite kings, the kings of Jerusalem, Hebron, Jarmuth, Lachish, and Eglon, joined forces, surrounded Gibeon, and attacked it. 6 The men of Gibeon sent word to Joshua at the camp in Gilgal: "Do not abandon us, sir! Come at once and help us! Save us! All the Amorite kings in the hill country have joined forces and have attacked us!" 7 So Joshua and his whole army, including the best troops, started out from Gilgal. 8 The Lord said to Joshua, "Do not be afraid of them. I have already given you the victory. Not one of them will be able to stand against you." 9 All night Joshua and his army marched from Gilgal to Gibeon, and they made a surprise attack on the Amorites. 10 The Lord made the Amorites panic at the sight of Israel's army. The Israelites slaughtered them at Gibeon and pursued them down the mountain pass at Beth Horon, keeping up the attack as far south as Azekah and Makkedah. 11 While the Amorites were running down the pass from the Israelite army, the Lord made large hailstones fall down on them all the way to Azekah. More were killed by the hailstones than by the Israelites. 12 On the day that the Lord gave the men of Israel victory over the Amorites, Joshua spoke to the Lord. In the presence of the Israelites he said, "Sun, stand still over Gibeon; Moon, stop over Aijalon Valley." 13 The sun stood still and the moon did not move until the nation had conquered its enemies. This is written in The Book of Jashar. The sun stood still in the middle of the sky and did not go down for a whole day. 14 Never before, and never since, has there been a day like it, when the Lord obeyed a human being. The Lord fought on Israel's side! 15 After this, Joshua and his army went back to the camp at Gilgal. 16 The five Amorite kings, however, had escaped and were hiding in the cave at Makkedah. 17 Someone found them, and Joshua was told where they were hiding. 18 He said, "Roll some big stones in front of the entrance to the cave. Place some guards there, 19 but don't stay there yourselves. Keep on after the enemy and attack them from the rear; don't let them get to their cities! The Lord your God has given you victory over them." 20 Joshua and the men of Israel slaughtered them, although some managed to find safety inside their city walls and were not killed. 21 Then all of Joshua's men came back safe to him at the camp at Makkedah. No one in the land dared even to speak against the Israelites. 22 Then Joshua said, "Open the entrance to the cave and bring those five kings out to me." 23 So the cave was opened, and the kings of Jerusalem, Hebron, Jarmuth, Lachish, and Eglon were brought out 24 and taken to Joshua. Joshua then called all the men of Israel to him and ordered the officers who had gone with him to come and put their feet on the necks of the kings. They did so. 25 Then Joshua said to his officers, "Don't be afraid or discouraged. Be determined and confident because this is what the Lord is going to do to all your enemies." 26 Then Joshua killed the kings and hanged them on five trees, where their bodies stayed until evening. 27 At sundown Joshua gave orders, and their bodies were taken down and thrown into the same cave where they had hidden earlier. Large stones were placed at the entrance to the cave, and they are still there. 28 Joshua attacked and captured Makkedah and its king that day. He put everyone in the city to death; no one was left alive. He did to the king of Makkedah what he had done to the king of Jericho. 29 After this, Joshua and his army went on from Makkedah to Libnah and attacked it. 30 The Lord also gave the Israelites victory over this city and its king. They spared no one, but killed every person in it. They did to the king what they had done to the king of Jericho. 31 After this, Joshua and his army went on from Libnah to Lachish, surrounded it and attacked it. 32 The Lord gave the Israelites victory over Lachish on the second day of the battle. Just as they had done at Libnah, they spared no one, but killed every person in the city. 33 King Horam of Gezer came to the aid of Lachish, but Joshua defeated him and his army and left none of them alive. 34 Next, Joshua and his army went on from Lachish to Eglon, surrounded it and attacked it. 35 They captured it the same day and put everyone there to death, just as they had done at Lachish. 36 After this, Joshua and his army went from Eglon up into the hills to Hebron, attacked it 37 and captured it. They killed the king and everyone else in the city as well as in the nearby towns. Joshua condemned the city to total destruction, just as he had done to Eglon. No one in it was left alive. 38 Then Joshua and his army turned back to Debir and attacked it. 39 He captured it, with its king and all the nearby towns. They put everyone there to death. Joshua did to Debir and its king what he had done to Hebron and to Libnah and its king. 40 Joshua conquered the whole land. He defeated the kings of the hill country, the eastern slopes, and the western foothills, as well as those of the dry country in the south. He spared no one; everyone was put to death. This was what the Lord God of Israel had commanded. 41 Joshua's campaign took him from Kadesh Barnea in the south to Gaza near the coast, including all the area of Goshen, and as far north as Gibeon. 42 Joshua conquered all these kings and their territory in one campaign because the Lord, Israel's God, was fighting for Israel. 43 After this, Joshua and his army went back to the camp at Gilgal.

Joshua 11:1 When the news of Israel's victories reached King Jabin of Hazor, he sent word to King Jobab of Madon, to the kings of Shimron and Achshaph, 2 and to the kings in the hill country in the north, in the Jordan Valley south of Lake Galilee, in the foothills, and on the coast near Dor. 3 He also sent word to the Canaanites on both sides of the Jordan, to the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, and the Jebusites in the hill country, as well as to the Hivites who lived at the foot of Mount Hermon in the land of Mizpah. 4 They came with all their soldiers - an army with as many men as there are grains of sand on the seashore. They also had many horses and chariots. 5 All of these kings joined forces and came together and set up camp at Merom Brook to fight against Israel. 6 The Lord said to Joshua, "Do not be afraid of them. By this time tomorrow I will have killed all of them for Israel. You are to cripple their horses and burn their chariots." 7 So Joshua and all his men attacked them by surprise at Merom Brook. 8 The Lord gave the Israelites victory over them; the Israelites attacked and pursued them as far north as Misrephoth Maim and Sidon, and as far east as the valley of Mizpah. The fight continued until none of the enemy was left alive. 9 Joshua did to them what the Lord had commanded: he crippled their horses and burned their chariots. 10 Joshua then turned back, captured Hazor and killed its king. (At that time Hazor was the most powerful of all those kingdoms.) 11 They put everyone there to death; no one was left alive, and the city was burned. 12 Joshua captured all these cities and their kings, putting everyone to death, just as Moses, the Lord's servant, had commanded. 13 However, the Israelites did not burn any of the cities built on mounds, except Hazor, which Joshua did burn. 14 The people of Israel took all the valuables and livestock from these cities and kept them for themselves. But they put every person to death; no one was left alive. 15 The Lord had given his commands to his servant Moses, Moses had given them to Joshua, and Joshua obeyed them. He did everything that the Lord had commanded Moses. 16 Joshua captured all the land - the hill country and foothills, both north and south, all the area of Goshen and the dry country south of it, as well as the Jordan Valley. 17 The territory extended from Mount Halak in the south near Edom, as far as Baalgad in the north, in the valley of Lebanon south of Mount Hermon. Joshua was at war with the kings of this territory for a long time, but he captured them all and put them to death. 19 The only city that made peace with the people of Israel was Gibeon, where some of the Hivites lived. All the others were conquered in battle. 20 The Lord had made them determined to fight the Israelites, so that they would be condemned to total destruction and all be killed without mercy. This was what the Lord had commanded Moses. 21 At this time Joshua went and destroyed the race of giants called the Anakim who lived in the hill country - in Hebron, Debir, Anab, and in all the hill country of Judah and Israel. Joshua completely destroyed them and their cities. 22 None of the Anakim were left in the land of Israel; a few, however, were left in Gaza, Gath, and Ashdod. 23 Joshua captured the whole land, as the Lord had commanded Moses. Joshua gave it to the Israelites as their own and divided it into portions, one for each tribe. So the people rested from war.

Joshua 23:4 I have assigned as the possession of your tribes the land of the nations that are still left, as well as of all the nations that I have already conquered, from the Jordan River in the east to the Mediterranean Sea in the west. 5 The Lord your God will make them retreat from you, and he will drive them away as you advance. You shall have their land, as the Lord your God has promised you.

2253-Judges 2:11 Then the people of Israel sinned against the Lord and began to serve the Baals. 12 They stopped worshiping the Lord, the God of their ancestors, the God who had brought them out of Egypt, and they began to worship other gods, the gods of the peoples around them. They bowed down to them and made the Lord angry. 13 They stopped worshiping the Lord and served the Baals and the Astartes. 14 And so the Lord became furious with Israel and let raiders attack and rob them. He let the enemies all around overpower them, and the Israelites could no longer protect themselves. 15 Every time they would go into battle, the Lord was against them, just as he had said he would be. They were in great distress. 16 Then the Lord gave the Israelites leaders who saved them from the raiders. 17 But the Israelites paid no attention to their leaders. Israel was unfaithful to the Lord and worshiped other gods. Their fathers had obeyed the Lord's commands, but this new generation soon stopped doing so. 18 Whenever the Lord gave Israel a leader, the Lord would help that leader and would save the people from their enemies as long as that leader lived. The Lord would have mercy on them because they groaned under their suffering and oppression. 19 But when the leader died, the people would return to the old ways and behave worse than the previous generation. They would serve and worship other gods, and stubbornly continue their own evil ways. 20 Then the Lord would become furious with Israel and say, "This nation has broken the covenant that I commanded their ancestors to keep. Because they have not obeyed me, 21 I will no longer drive out any of the nations that were still in the land when Joshua died. 22 I will use them to find out whether or not these Israelites will follow my ways, as their ancestors did." 23 So the Lord allowed these nations to remain in the land; he did not give Joshua victory over them, nor did he drive them out soon after Joshua's death.

2254-Matthew 11:20 The people in the towns where Jesus had performed most of his miracles did not turn from their sins, so he reproached those towns. 21 "How terrible it will be for you, Chorazin! How terrible for you too, Bethsaida! If the miracles which were performed in you had been performed in Tyre and Sidon, the people there would have long ago put on sackcloth and sprinkled ashes on themselves, to show that they had turned from their sins! 22 I assure you that on the Judgment Day God will show more mercy to the people of Tyre and Sidon than to you! 23 And as for you, Capernaum! Did you want to lift yourself up to heaven? You will be thrown down to hell! If the miracles which were performed in you had been performed in Sodom, it would still be in existence today! 24 You can be sure that on the Judgment Day God will show more mercy to Sodom than to you!"

2255-Luke 10:13 "How terrible it will be for you, Chorazin! How terrible for you too, Bethsaida! If the miracles which were performed in you had been performed in Tyre and Sidon, the people there would have long ago sat down, put on sackcloth, and sprinkled ashes on themselves, to show that they had turned from their sins! 14 God will show more mercy on the Judgment Day to Tyre and Sidon than to you. 15 And as for you, Capernaum! Did you want to lift yourself up to heaven? You will be thrown down to hell!"

2256-Ezra 10:1 While Ezra was bowing in prayer in front of the Temple, weeping and confessing these sins, a large group of Israelites - men, women, and children - gathered around him, weeping bitterly. 2 Then Shecaniah son of Jehiel, of the clan of Elam, said to Ezra, "We have broken faith with God by marrying foreign women, but even so there is still hope for Israel. 3 Now we must make a solemn promise to our God that we will send these women and their children away. We will do what you and the others who honor God's commands advise us to do. We will do what God's Law demands. 4 It is your responsibility to act. We are behind you, so go ahead and get it done." 5 So Ezra began by making the leaders of the priests, of the Levites, and of the rest of the people take an oath that they would do what Shecaniah had proposed. 6 Then he went from in front of the Temple into the living quarters of Jehohanan son of Eliashib, and spent the night there grieving over the unfaithfulness of the exiles. He did not eat or drink anything. 7 A message was sent throughout Jerusalem and Judah that all those who had returned from exile were to meet in Jerusalem 8 by order of the leaders of the people. If any failed to come within three days, all their property would be confiscated, and they would lose their right to be members of the community. 9 Within the three days, on the twentieth day of the ninth month, all the men living in the territory of Judah and Benjamin came to Jerusalem and assembled in the Temple square. It was raining hard, and because of the weather and the importance of the meeting everyone was trembling. 10 Ezra the priest stood up and spoke to them. He said, "You have been faithless and have brought guilt on Israel by marrying foreign women. 11 Now then, confess your sins to the Lord, the God of your ancestors, and do what pleases him. Separate yourselves from the foreigners living in our land and get rid of your foreign wives." 12 The people shouted in answer, "We will do whatever you say." 13 But they added, "The crowd is too big, and it's raining hard. We can't stand here in the open like this. This isn't something that can be done in one or two days, because so many of us are involved in this sin. 14 Let our officials stay in Jerusalem and take charge of the matter. Then let anyone who has a foreign wife come at a set time, together with the leaders and the judges of his city. In this way God's anger over this situation will be turned away." 15 No one was opposed to the plan except Jonathan son of Asahel and Jahzeiah son of Tikvah, who had the support of Meshullam and of Shabbethai, a Levite. 16 The returned exiles accepted the plan, so Ezra the priest appointed men from among the heads of the clans and recorded their names. On the first day of the tenth month they began their investigation, 17 and within the next three months they investigated all the cases of men with foreign wives.

2257-Nehemiah 13:1 When the Law of Moses was being read aloud to the people, they came to the passage that said that no Ammonite or Moabite was ever to be permitted to join God's people. 2 This was because the people of Ammon and Moab did not give food and water to the Israelites on their way out of Egypt. Instead, they paid money to Balaam to curse Israel, but our God turned the curse into a blessing. 3 When the people of Israel heard this law read, they excluded all foreigners from the community.

Nehemiah 13:23 At that time I also discovered that many of the Jewish men had married women from Ashdod, Ammon, and Moab. 24 Half of their children spoke the language of Ashdod or some other language and didn't know how to speak our language. 25 I reprimanded the men, called down curses on them, beat them, and pulled out their hair. Then I made them take an oath in God's name that never again would they or their children intermarry with foreigners. 26 I told them, "It was foreign women that made King Solomon sin. Here was a man who was greater than any of the kings of other nations. God loved him and made him king over all of Israel, and yet he fell into this sin. 27 Are we then to follow your example and disobey our God by marrying foreign women?"

2258-Numbers 15:14 And if at any time foreigners living among you, whether on a temporary or a permanent basis, make a food offering, an odor that pleases the Lord, they are to observe the same regulations. 15 For all time to come, the same rules are binding on you and on the foreigners who live among you. You and they are alike in the Lord's sight; 16 the same laws and regulations apply to you and to them.

2259-1 Corinthians 7:12 To the others I say (I, myself, not the Lord): if a Christian man has a wife who is an unbeliever and she agrees to go on living with him, he must not divorce her. 13 And if a Christian woman is married to a man who is an unbeliever and he agrees to go on living with her, she must not divorce him. 14 For the unbelieving husband is made acceptable to God by being united to his wife, and the unbelieving wife is made acceptable to God by being united to her Christian husband. If this were not so, their children would be like pagan children; but as it is, they are acceptable to God.

2260-Ezra 10:16 The returned exiles accepted the plan, so Ezra the priest appointed men from among the heads of the clans and recorded their names. On the first day of the tenth month they began their investigation, 17 and within the next three months they investigated all the cases of men with foreign wives.

2261-Deuteronomy 24:1 "Suppose a man marries a woman and later decides that he doesn't want her, because he finds something about her that he doesn't like. So he writes out divorce papers, gives them to her, and sends her away from his home. 2 Then suppose she marries another man, 3 and he also decides that he doesn't want her, so he also writes out divorce papers, gives them to her, and sends her away from his home. Or suppose her second husband dies. 4 In either case, her first husband is not to marry her again; he is to consider her defiled. If he married her again, it would be offensive to the Lord. You are not to commit such a terrible sin in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.

2262-1 Corinthians 7:12 To the others I say (I, myself, not the Lord): if a Christian man has a wife who is an unbeliever and she agrees to go on living with him, he must not divorce her. 13 And if a Christian woman is married to a man who is an unbeliever and he agrees to go on living with her, she must not divorce him. 14 For the unbelieving husband is made acceptable to God by being united to his wife, and the unbelieving wife is made acceptable to God by being united to her Christian husband. If this were not so, their children would be like pagan children; but as it is, they are acceptable to God.

2263-Acts 5:1 But there was a man named Ananias, who with his wife Sapphira sold some property that belonged to them. 2 But with his wife's agreement he kept part of the money for himself and turned the rest over to the apostles. 3 Peter said to him, "Ananias, why did you let Satan take control of you and make you lie to the Holy Spirit by keeping part of the money you received for the property? 4 Before you sold the property, it belonged to you; and after you sold it, the money was yours. Why, then, did you decide to do such a thing? You have not lied to people - you have lied to God!" 5 As soon as Ananias heard this, he fell down dead; and all who heard about it were terrified. 6 The young men came in, wrapped up his body, carried him out, and buried him. 7 About three hours later his wife, not knowing what had happened, came in. 8 Peter asked her, "Tell me, was this the full amount you and your husband received for your property?" "Yes," she answered, "the full amount." 9 So Peter said to her, "Why did you and your husband decide to put the Lord's Spirit to the test? The men who buried your husband are at the door right now, and they will carry you out too!" 10 At once she fell down at his feet and died. The young men came in and saw that she was dead, so they carried her out and buried her beside her husband. 11 The whole church and all the others who heard of this were terrified.

2264-Revelation 14:10 will themselves drink God's wine, the wine of his fury, which he has poured at full strength into the cup of his anger! All who do this will be tormented in fire and sulfur before the holy angels and the Lamb. 11 The smoke of the fire that torments them goes up forever and ever. There is no relief day or night for those who worship the beast and its image, for anyone who has the mark of its name."

2265-Ezra 10:16 The returned exiles accepted the plan, so Ezra the priest appointed men from among the heads of the clans and recorded their names. On the first day of the tenth month they began their investigation, 17 and within the next three months they investigated all the cases of men with foreign wives.

2266-Ezra 9:13 Even after everything that has happened to us in punishment for our sins and wrongs, we know that you, our God, have punished us less than we deserve and have allowed us to survive. 14 Then how can we ignore your commandments again and intermarry with these wicked people? If we do, you will be so angry that you will destroy us completely and let no one survive. 15 Lord God of Israel, you are just, but you have let us survive. We confess our guilt to you; we have no right to come into your presence."

2267-Genesis 21:9 One day Ishmael, whom Hagar the Egyptian had borne to Abraham, was playing with Sarah's son Isaac. 10 Sarah saw them and said to Abraham, "Send this slave and her son away. The son of this woman must not get any part of your wealth, which my son Isaac should inherit." 11 This troubled Abraham very much, because Ishmael also was his son. 12 But God said to Abraham, "Don't be worried about the boy and your slave Hagar. Do whatever Sarah tells you, because it is through Isaac that you will have the descendants I have promised. 13 I will also give many children to the son of the slave woman, so that they will become a nation. He too is your son." 14 Early the next morning Abraham gave Hagar some food and a leather bag full of water. He put the child on her back and sent her away. She left and wandered about in the wilderness of Beersheba. 15 When the water was all gone, she left the child under a bush 16 and sat down about a hundred yards away. She said to herself, "I can't bear to see my child die." While she was sitting there, she began to cry. 17 God heard the boy crying, and from heaven the angel of God spoke to Hagar, "What are you troubled about, Hagar? Don't be afraid. God has heard the boy crying. 18 Get up, go and pick him up, and comfort him. I will make a great nation out of his descendants." 19 Then God opened her eyes, and she saw a well. She went and filled the leather bag with water and gave some to the boy. 20 God was with the boy as he grew up; he lived in the wilderness of Paran and became a skillful hunter. 21 His mother got an Egyptian wife for him.

2268-Nehemiah 13:26 I told them, "It was foreign women that made King Solomon sin. Here was a man who was greater than any of the kings of other nations. God loved him and made him king over all of Israel, and yet he fell into this sin.

2269-Ezra 9:3 When I heard this, I tore my clothes in despair, tore my hair and my beard, and sat down crushed with grief. 4 I sat there grieving until the time for the evening sacrifice to be offered, and people began to gather around me - all those who were frightened because of what the God of Israel had said about the sins of those who had returned from exile. 5 When the time came for the evening sacrifice, I got up from where I had been grieving, and still wearing my torn clothes, I knelt in prayer and stretched out my hands to the Lord my God.

2270-Jonah 3:5 The people of Nineveh believed God's message. So they decided that everyone should fast, and all the people, from the greatest to the least, put on sackcloth to show that they had repented. 6 When the king of Nineveh heard about it, he got up from his throne, took off his robe, put on sackcloth, and sat down in ashes. 7 He sent out a proclamation to the people of Nineveh: "This is an order from the king and his officials: No one is to eat anything; all persons, cattle, and sheep are forbidden to eat or drink. 8 All persons and animals must wear sackcloth. Everyone must pray earnestly to God and must give up their wicked behavior and their evil actions. 9 Perhaps God will change his mind; perhaps he will stop being angry, and we will not die!" 10 God saw what they did; he saw that they had given up their wicked behavior. So he changed his mind and did not punish them as he had said he would.

2271-2 Chronicles 34:14 While the money was being taken out of the storeroom, Hilkiah found the book of the Law of the Lord, the Law that God had given to Moses. 15 He said to Shaphan, "I have found the book of the Law here in the Temple." He gave Shaphan the book, 16 and Shaphan took it to the king. He reported, "We have done everything that you commanded. 17 We have taken the money that was kept in the Temple and handed it over to the workers and their supervisors." 18 Then he added, "I have here a book that Hilkiah gave me." And he read it aloud to the king. 19 When the king heard the book being read, he tore his clothes in dismay 20 and gave the following order to Hilkiah, to Ahikam son of Shaphan, to Abdon son of Micaiah, to Shaphan, the court secretary, and to Asaiah, the king's attendant: 21 "Go and consult the Lord for me and for the people who still remain in Israel and Judah. Find out about the teachings of this book. The Lord is angry with us because our ancestors have not obeyed the word of the Lord and have not done what this book says must be done." 22 At the king's command, Hilkiah and the others went to consult a woman named Huldah, a prophet who lived in the newer part of Jerusalem. (Her husband Shallum, the son of Tikvah and grandson of Harhas, was in charge of the Temple robes.) They described to her what had happened, 23 and she told them to go back to the king and give him 24 the following message from the Lord: "I am going to punish Jerusalem and all its people with the curses written in the book that was read to the king. 25 They have rejected me and have offered sacrifices to other gods, and so have stirred up my anger by all they have done. My anger is aroused against Jerusalem, and it will not die down. 26 As for the king himself, this is what I, the Lord God of Israel, say: You listened to what is written in the book, 27 and you repented and humbled yourself before me, tearing your clothes and weeping, when you heard how I threatened to punish Jerusalem and its people. I have heard your prayer, 28 and the punishment which I am going to bring on Jerusalem will not come until after your death. I will let you die in peace." The men returned to King Josiah with this message. 29 King Josiah summoned all the leaders of Judah and Jerusalem, 30 and together they went to the Temple, accompanied by the priests and the Levites and all the rest of the people, rich and poor alike. Before them all the king read aloud the whole book of the covenant, which had been found in the Temple. 31 He stood by the royal column and made a covenant with the Lord to obey him, to keep his laws and commands with all his heart and soul, and to put into practice the demands attached to the covenant, as written in the book. 32 He made the people of Benjamin and everyone else present in Jerusalem promise to keep the covenant. And so the people of Jerusalem obeyed the requirements of the covenant they had made with the God of their ancestors. 33 King Josiah destroyed all the disgusting idols that were in the territory belonging to the people of Israel, and as long as he lived, he required the people to serve the Lord, the God of their ancestors.

2272-Nehemiah 8:4 Ezra was standing on a wooden platform that had been built for the occasion. The following men stood at his right: Mattithiah, Shema, Anaiah, Uriah, Hilkiah, and Maaseiah; and the following stood at his left: Pedaiah, Mishael, Malchijah, Hashum, Hashbaddanah, Zechariah, and Meshullam. 5 As Ezra stood there on the platform high above the people, they all kept their eyes fixed on him. As soon as he opened the book, they all stood up. 6 Ezra said, "Praise the Lord, the great God!" All the people raised their arms in the air and answered, "Amen! Amen!" They knelt in worship, with their faces to the ground. 7 Then they rose and stood in their places, and the following Levites explained the Law to them: Jeshua, Bani, Sherebiah, Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai, Hodiah, Maaseiah, Kelita, Azariah, Jozabad, Hanan, and Pelaiah. 8 They gave an oral translation of God's Law and explained it so that the people could understand it. 9 When the people heard what the Law required, they were so moved that they began to cry. So Nehemiah, who was the governor, Ezra, the priest and scholar of the Law, and the Levites who were explaining the Law told all the people, "This day is holy to the Lord your God, so you are not to mourn or cry. 10 Now go home and have a feast. Share your food and wine with those who don't have enough. Today is holy to our Lord, so don't be sad. The joy that the Lord gives you will make you strong." 11 The Levites went around calming the people and telling them not to be sad on such a holy day. 12 So all the people went home and ate and drank joyfully and shared what they had with others, because they understood what had been read to them.

2273-Acts 2:5 There were Jews living in Jerusalem, religious people who had come from every country in the world. 6 When they heard this noise, a large crowd gathered. They were all excited, because all of them heard the believers talking in their own languages. 7 In amazement and wonder they exclaimed, "These people who are talking like this are Galileans! 8 How is it, then, that all of us hear them speaking in our own native languages? 9 We are from Parthia, Media, and Elam; from Mesopotamia, Judea, and Cappadocia; from Pontus and Asia, 10 from Phrygia and Pamphylia, from Egypt and the regions of Libya near Cyrene. Some of us are from Rome, 11 both Jews and Gentiles converted to Judaism, and some of us are from Crete and Arabia - yet all of us hear them speaking in our own languages about the great things that God has done!" 12 Amazed and confused, they kept asking each other, "What does this mean?"

2274-Exodus 23:20 "I will send an angel ahead of you to protect you as you travel and to bring you to the place which I have prepared. 21 Pay attention to him and obey him. Do not rebel against him, for I have sent him, and he will not pardon such rebellion. 22 But if you obey him and do everything I command, I will fight against all your enemies. 23 My angel will go ahead of you and take you into the land of the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Canaanites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, and I will destroy them. 24 Do not bow down to their gods or worship them, and do not adopt their religious practices. Destroy their gods and break down their sacred stone pillars. 25 If you worship me, the Lord your God, I will bless you with food and water and take away all your sicknesses. 26 In your land no woman will have a miscarriage or be without children. I will give you long lives. 27 "I will make the people who oppose you afraid of me; I will bring confusion among the people against whom you fight, and I will make all your enemies turn and run from you. 28 I will throw your enemies into panic; I will drive out the Hivites, the Canaanites, and the Hittites as you advance. 29 I will not drive them out within a year's time; if I did, the land would become deserted, and the wild animals would be too many for you. 30 Instead, I will drive them out little by little, until there are enough of you to take possession of the land. 31 I will make the borders of your land extend from the Gulf of Aqaba to the Mediterranean Sea and from the desert to the Euphrates River. I will give you power over the inhabitants of the land, and you will drive them out as you advance. 32 Do not make any agreement with them or with their gods. 33 Do not let those people live in your country; if you do, they will make you sin against me. If you worship their gods, it will be a fatal trap for you."

Exodus 34:10 The Lord said to Moses, "I now make a covenant with the people of Israel. In their presence I will do great things such as have never been done anywhere on earth among any of the nations. All the people will see what great things I, the Lord, can do, because I am going to do an awesome thing for you. 11 Obey the laws that I am giving you today. I will drive out the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, as you advance. 12 Do not make any treaties with the people of the country into which you are going, because this could be a fatal trap for you. 13 Instead, tear down their altars, destroy their sacred pillars, and cut down their symbols of the goddess Asherah. 14 "Do not worship any other god, because I, the Lord, tolerate no rivals. 15 Do not make any treaties with the people of the country, because when they worship their pagan gods and sacrifice to them, they will invite you to join them, and you will be tempted to eat the food they offer to their gods. 16 Your sons might marry those foreign women, who would lead them to be unfaithful to me and to worship their pagan gods. 17 "Do not make gods of metal and worship them. 18 "Keep the Festival of Unleavened Bread. As I have commanded you, eat unleavened bread for seven days in the month of Abib, because it was in that month that you left Egypt. 19 "Every first-born son and first-born male domestic animal belongs to me, 20 but you are to buy back every first-born donkey by offering a lamb in its place. If you do not buy it back, break its neck. Buy back every first-born son. "No one is to appear before me without an offering. 21 "You have six days in which to do your work, but do not work on the seventh day, not even during plowing time or harvest. 22 "Keep the Harvest Festival when you begin to harvest the first crop of your wheat, and keep the Festival of Shelters in the autumn when you gather your fruit. 23 "Three times a year all of your men must come to worship me, the Lord, the God of Israel. 24 After I have driven out the nations before you and extended your territory, no one will try to conquer your country during the three festivals. 25 "Do not offer bread made with yeast when you sacrifice an animal to me. Do not keep until the following morning any part of the animal killed at the Passover Festival. 26 "Each year bring to the house of the Lord the first grain that you harvest. "Do not cook a young sheep or goat in its mother's milk."

2275-Leviticus 26:1 The Lord said, "Do not make idols or set up statues, stone pillars, or carved stones to worship. I am the Lord your God. 2 Keep the religious festivals and honor the place where I am worshiped. I am the Lord. 3 "If you live according to my laws and obey my commands, 4 I will send you rain at the right time, so that the land will produce crops and the trees will bear fruit. 5 Your crops will be so plentiful that you will still be harvesting grain when it is time to pick grapes, and you will still be picking grapes when it is time to plant grain. You will have all that you want to eat, and you can live in safety in your land. 6 "I will give you peace in your land, and you can sleep without being afraid of anyone. I will get rid of the dangerous animals in the land, and there will be no more war there. 7 You will be victorious over your enemies; 8 five of you will be able to defeat a hundred, and a hundred will be able to defeat ten thousand. 9 I will bless you and give you many children; I will keep my part of the covenant that I made with you. 10 Your harvests will be so plentiful that they will last for a year, and even then you will have to throw away what is left of the old harvest to make room for the new. 11 I will live among you in my sacred Tent, and I will never turn away from you. 12 I will be with you; I will be your God, and you will be my people. 13 I, the Lord your God, brought you out of Egypt so that you would no longer be slaves. I broke the power that held you down and I let you walk with your head held high."

2276-Deuteronomy 7:1 "The Lord your God will bring you into the land that you are going to occupy, and he will drive many nations out of it. As you advance, he will drive out seven nations larger and more powerful than you: the Hittites, the Girgashites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. 2 When the Lord your God places these people in your power and you defeat them, you must put them all to death. Do not make an alliance with them or show them any mercy. 3 Do not marry any of them, and do not let your children marry any of them, 4 because then they would lead your children away from the Lord to worship other gods. If that happens, the Lord will be angry with you and destroy you at once. 5 So then, tear down their altars, break their sacred stone pillars in pieces, cut down their symbols of the goddess Asherah, and burn their idols. 6 Do this because you belong to the Lord your God. From all the peoples on earth he chose you to be his own special people. 7 "The Lord did not love you and choose you because you outnumbered other peoples; you were the smallest nation on earth. 8 But the Lord loved you and wanted to keep the promise that he made to your ancestors. That is why he saved you by his great might and set you free from slavery to the king of Egypt. 9 Remember that the Lord your God is the only God and that he is faithful. He will keep his covenant and show his constant love to a thousand generations of those who love him and obey his commands, 10 but he will not hesitate to punish those who hate him. 11 Now then, obey what you have been taught; obey all the laws that I have given you today. 12 "If you listen to these commands and obey them faithfully, then the Lord your God will continue to keep his covenant with you and will show you his constant love, as he promised your ancestors. 13 He will love you and bless you, so that you will increase in number and have many children; he will bless your fields, so that you will have grain, wine, and olive oil; and he will bless you by giving you many cattle and sheep. He will give you all these blessings in the land that he promised your ancestors he would give to you. 14 No people in the world will be as richly blessed as you. None of you nor any of your livestock will be sterile. 15 The Lord will protect you from all sickness, and he will not bring on you any of the dreadful diseases that you experienced in Egypt, but he will bring them on all your enemies. 16 Destroy every nation that the Lord your God places in your power, and do not show them any mercy. Do not worship their gods, for that would be fatal. 17 "Do not tell yourselves that these peoples outnumber you and that you cannot drive them out. 18 Do not be afraid of them; remember what the Lord your God did to the king of Egypt and to all his people. 19 Remember the terrible plagues that you saw with your own eyes, the miracles and wonders, and the great power and strength by which the Lord your God set you free. In the same way that he destroyed the Egyptians, he will destroy all these people that you now fear. 20 He will even cause panic among them and will destroy those who escape and go into hiding. 21 So do not be afraid of these people. The Lord your God is with you; he is a great God and one to be feared. 22 Little by little he will drive out these nations as you advance. You will not be able to destroy them all at once, for, if you did, the number of wild animals would increase and be a threat to you. 23 The Lord will put your enemies in your power and make them panic until they are destroyed. 24 He will put their kings in your power. You will kill them, and they will be forgotten. No one will be able to stop you; you will destroy everyone. 25 Burn their idols. Do not desire the silver or gold that is on them, and do not take it for yourselves. If you do, that will be fatal, because the Lord hates idolatry. 26 Do not bring any of these idols into your homes, or the same curse will be on you that is on them. You must hate and despise these idols, because they are under the Lord's curse.

Deuteronomy 8:1 "Obey faithfully all the laws that I have given you today, so that you may live, increase in number, and occupy the land that the Lord promised to your ancestors. 2 Remember how the Lord your God led you on this long journey through the desert these past forty years, sending hardships to test you, so that he might know what you intended to do and whether you would obey his commands. 3 He made you go hungry, and then he gave you manna to eat, food that you and your ancestors had never eaten before. He did this to teach you that you must not depend on bread alone to sustain you, but on everything that the Lord says. 4 During these forty years your clothes have not worn out, nor have your feet swollen up. 5 Remember that the Lord your God corrects and punishes you just as parents discipline their children. 6 So then, do as the Lord has commanded you: live according to his laws and obey him. 7 The Lord your God is bringing you into a fertile land - a land that has rivers and springs, and underground streams gushing out into the valleys and hills; 8 a land that produces wheat and barley, grapes, figs, pomegranates, olives, and honey. 9 There you will never go hungry or ever be in need. Its rocks have iron in them, and from its hills you can mine copper. 10 You will have all you want to eat, and you will give thanks to the Lord your God for the fertile land that he has given you. 11 "Make certain that you do not forget the Lord your God; do not fail to obey any of his laws that I am giving you today. 12 When you have all you want to eat and have built good houses to live in 13 and when your cattle and sheep, your silver and gold, and all your other possessions have increased, 14 be sure that you do not become proud and forget the Lord your God who rescued you from Egypt, where you were slaves. 15 He led you through that vast and terrifying desert where there were poisonous snakes and scorpions. In that dry and waterless land he made water flow out of solid rock for you. 16 In the desert he gave you manna to eat, food that your ancestors had never eaten. He sent hardships on you to test you, so that in the end he could bless you with good things. 17 So then, you must never think that you have made yourselves wealthy by your own power and strength. 18 Remember that it is the Lord your God who gives you the power to become rich. He does this because he is still faithful today to the covenant that he made with your ancestors. 19 Never forget the Lord your God or turn to other gods to worship and serve them. If you do, then I warn you today that you will certainly be destroyed. 20 If you do not obey the Lord, then you will be destroyed just like those nations that he is going to destroy as you advance.

Deuteronomy 9:1 "Listen, people of Israel! Today you are about to cross the Jordan River and occupy the land belonging to nations greater and more powerful than you. Their cities are large, with walls that reach the sky. 2 The people themselves are tall and strong; they are giants, and you have heard it said that no one can stand against them. 3 But now you will see for yourselves that the Lord your God will go ahead of you like a raging fire. He will defeat them as you advance, so that you will drive them out and destroy them quickly, as he promised. 4 "After the Lord your God has driven them out for you, do not say to yourselves that he brought you in to possess this land because you deserved it. No, the Lord is going to drive these people out for you because they are wicked. 5 It is not because you are good and do what is right that the Lord is letting you take their land. He will drive them out because they are wicked and because he intends to keep the promise that he made to your ancestors, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. 6 You can be sure that the Lord is not giving you this fertile land because you deserve it. No, you are a stubborn people. 7 "Never forget how you made the Lord your God angry in the desert. From the day that you left Egypt until the day you arrived here, you have rebelled against him. 8 Even at Mount Sinai you made the Lord angry - angry enough to destroy you. 9 I went up the mountain to receive the stone tablets on which was written the covenant that the Lord had made with you. I stayed there forty days and nights and did not eat or drink anything. 10 Then the Lord gave me the two stone tablets on which he had written with his own hand what he had said to you from the fire on the day that you were gathered there at the mountain. 11 Yes, after those forty days and nights the Lord gave me the two stone tablets on which he had written the covenant. 12 "Then the Lord said to me, "Go down the mountain at once, because your people, whom you led out of Egypt, have become corrupt and have done evil. They have already turned away from what I commanded them to do, and they have made an idol for themselves.' 13 "The Lord also said to me, "I know how stubborn these people are. 14 Don't try to stop me. I intend to destroy them so that no one will remember them any longer. Then I will make you the father of a nation larger and more powerful than they are.' 15 "So I turned and went down the mountain, carrying the two stone tablets on which the covenant was written. Flames of fire were coming from the mountain. 16 I saw that you had already disobeyed the command that the Lord your God had given you, and that you had sinned against him by making yourselves a metal idol in the form of a bull-calf. 17 So there in front of you I threw the stone tablets down and broke them to pieces. 18 Then once again I lay face downward in the Lord's presence for forty days and nights and did not eat or drink anything. I did this because you had sinned against the Lord and had made him angry. 19 I was afraid of the Lord's fierce anger, because he was furious enough to destroy you; but once again the Lord listened to me. 20 The Lord was also angry enough with Aaron to kill him, so I prayed for Aaron at the same time. 21 I took that sinful thing that you had made - that metal bull-calf - and threw it into the fire. Then I broke it in pieces, ground it to dust, and threw the dust into the stream that flowed down the mountain. 22 "You also made the Lord your God angry when you were at Taberah, Massah, and Kibroth Hattaavah. 23 And when he sent you from Kadesh Barnea with orders to go and take possession of the land that he was giving you, you rebelled against him; you did not trust him or obey him. 24 Ever since I have known you, you have rebelled against the Lord. 25 "So I lay face downward in the Lord's presence those forty days and nights, because I knew that he was determined to destroy you. 26 And I prayed, "Sovereign Lord, don't destroy your own people, the people you rescued and brought out of Egypt by your great strength and power. 27 Remember your servants, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and do not pay any attention to the stubbornness, wickedness, and sin of this people. 28 Otherwise, the Egyptians will say that you were unable to take your people into the land that you had promised them. They will say that you took your people out into the desert to kill them, because you hated them. 29 After all, these are the people whom you chose to be your own and whom you brought out of Egypt by your great power and might.'

Deuteronomy 10:12 "Now, people of Israel, listen to what the Lord your God demands of you: Worship the Lord and do all that he commands. Love him, serve him with all your heart, 13 and obey all his laws. I am giving them to you today for your benefit. 14 To the Lord belong even the highest heavens; the earth is his also, and everything on it. 15 But the Lord's love for your ancestors was so strong that he chose you instead of any other people, and you are still his chosen people. 16 So then, from now on be obedient to the Lord and stop being stubborn. 17 The Lord your God is supreme over all gods and over all powers. He is great and mighty, and he is to be obeyed. He does not show partiality, and he does not accept bribes. 18 He makes sure that orphans and widows are treated fairly; he loves the foreigners who live with our people, and gives them food and clothes. 19 So then, show love for those foreigners, because you were once foreigners in Egypt. 20 Have reverence for the Lord your God and worship only him. Be faithful to him and make your promises in his name alone. 21 Praise him - he is your God, and you have seen with your own eyes the great and astounding things that he has done for you. 22 When your ancestors went to Egypt, there were only seventy of them. But now the Lord your God has made you as numerous as the stars in the sky.

Deuteronomy 11:1 "Love the Lord your God and always obey all his laws. 2 Remember today what you have learned about the Lord through your experiences with him. It was you, not your children, who had these experiences. You saw the Lord's greatness, his power, his might, 3 and his miracles. You saw what he did to the king of Egypt and to his entire country. 4 You saw how the Lord completely wiped out the Egyptian army, along with their horses and chariots, by drowning them in the Red Sea when they were pursuing you. 5 You know what the Lord did for you in the desert before you arrived here. 6 You recall what he did to Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab of the tribe of Reuben. In the sight of everyone the earth opened up and swallowed them, along with their families, their tents, and all their servants and animals. 7 Yes, you are the ones who have seen all these great things that the Lord has done. 8 "Obey everything that I have commanded you today. Then you will be able to cross the river and occupy the land that you are about to enter.

Deuteronomy 12:29 "The Lord your God will destroy the nations as you invade their land, and you will occupy it and settle there. 30 After the Lord destroys those nations, make sure that you don't follow their religious practices, because that would be fatal. Don't try to find out how they worship their gods, so that you can worship in the same way. 31 Do not worship the Lord your God in the way they worship their gods, for in the worship of their gods they do all the disgusting things that the Lord hates. They even sacrifice their children in the fires on their altars.

Deuteronomy 28:1 "If you obey the Lord your God and faithfully keep all his commands that I am giving you today, he will make you greater than any other nation on earth. 2 Obey the Lord your God and all these blessings will be yours: 3 "The Lord will bless your towns and your fields. 4 "The Lord will bless you with many children, with abundant crops, and with many cattle and sheep. 5 "The Lord will bless your grain crops and the food you prepare from them. 6 "The Lord will bless everything you do. 7 "The Lord will defeat your enemies when they attack you. They will attack from one direction, but they will run from you in all directions. 8 "The Lord your God will bless your work and fill your barns with grain. He will bless you in the land that he is giving you. 9 "If you obey the Lord your God and do everything he commands, he will make you his own people, as he has promised. 10 Then all the peoples on earth will see that the Lord has chosen you to be his own people, and they will be afraid of you. 11 The Lord will give you many children, many cattle, and abundant crops in the land that he promised your ancestors to give you. 12 He will send rain in season from his rich storehouse in the sky and bless all your work, so that you will lend to many nations, but you will not have to borrow from any. 13 The Lord your God will make you the leader among the nations and not a follower; you will always prosper and never fail if you obey faithfully all his commands that I am giving you today. 14 But you must never disobey them in any way, or worship and serve other gods. 15 "But if you disobey the Lord your God and do not faithfully keep all his commands and laws that I am giving you today, all these evil things will happen to you: 16 "The Lord will curse your towns and your fields. 17 "The Lord will curse your grain crops and the food you prepare from them. 18 "The Lord will curse you by giving you only a few children, poor crops, and few cattle and sheep. 19 "The Lord will curse everything you do. 20 "If you do evil and reject the Lord, he will bring on you disaster, confusion, and trouble in everything you do, until you are quickly and completely destroyed. 21 He will send disease after disease on you until there is not one of you left in the land that you are about to occupy. 22 The Lord will strike you with infectious diseases, with swelling and fever; he will send drought and scorching winds to destroy your crops. These disasters will be with you until you die. 23 No rain will fall, and your ground will become as hard as iron. 24 Instead of rain, the Lord will send down duststorms and sandstorms until you are destroyed. 25 "The Lord will give your enemies victory over you. You will attack them from one direction, but you will run from them in all directions, and all the people on earth will be terrified when they see what happens to you. 26 When you die, birds and wild animals will come and eat your bodies, and there will be no one to scare them off. 27 The Lord will send boils on you, as he did on the Egyptians. He will make your bodies break out with sores. You will be covered with scabs, and you will itch, but there will be no cure. 28 The Lord will make you lose your mind; he will strike you with blindness and confusion. 29 You will grope about in broad daylight like someone blind, and you will not be able to find your way. You will not prosper in anything you do. You will be constantly oppressed and robbed, and there will be no one to help you. 30 "You will be engaged to a young woman - but someone else will marry her. You will build a house - but never live in it. You will plant a vineyard - but never eat its grapes. 31 Your cattle will be butchered before your very eyes, but you will not eat any of the meat. Your donkeys will be dragged away while you look on, and they will not be given back to you. Your sheep will be given to your enemies, and there will be no one to help you. 32 Your sons and daughters will be given as slaves to foreigners while you look on. Every day you will strain your eyes, looking in vain for your children to return. 33 A foreign nation will take all the crops that you have worked so hard to grow, while you receive nothing but constant oppression and harsh treatment. 34 Your sufferings will make you lose your mind. 35 The Lord will cover your legs with incurable, painful sores; boils will cover you from head to foot. 36 "The Lord will take you and your king away to a foreign land, where neither you nor your ancestors ever lived before; there you will serve gods made of wood and stone. 37 In the countries to which the Lord will scatter you, the people will be shocked at what has happened to you; they will make fun of you and ridicule you. 38 "You will plant plenty of seed, but reap only a small harvest, because the locusts will eat your crops. 39 You will plant vineyards and take care of them, but you will not gather their grapes or drink wine from them, because worms will eat the vines. 40 Olive trees will grow everywhere in your land, but you will not have any olive oil, because the olives will drop off. 41 You will have sons and daughters, but you will lose them, because they will be taken away as prisoners of war. 42 All your trees and crops will be devoured by insects. 43 "Foreigners who live in your land will gain more and more power, while you gradually lose yours. 44 They will have money to lend you, but you will have none to lend them. In the end they will be your rulers. 45 "All these disasters will come on you, and they will be with you until you are destroyed, because you did not obey the Lord your God and keep all the laws that he gave you. 46 They will be the evidence of God's judgment on you and your descendants forever. 47 The Lord blessed you in every way, but you would not serve him with glad and joyful hearts. 48 So then, you will serve the enemies that the Lord is going to send against you. You will be hungry, thirsty, and naked - in need of everything. The Lord will oppress you harshly until you are destroyed. 49 The Lord will bring against you a nation from the ends of the earth, a nation whose language you do not know. They will swoop down on you like an eagle. 50 They will be ruthless and show no mercy to anyone, young or old. 51 They will eat your livestock and your crops, and you will starve to death. They will not leave you any grain, wine, olive oil, cattle, or sheep; and you will die. 52 They will attack every town in the land that the Lord your God is giving you, and the high, fortified walls in which you trust will fall. 53 "When your enemies are besieging your towns, you will become so desperate for food that you will even eat the children that the Lord your God has given you. 54 Even the most refined man of noble birth will become so desperate during the siege that he will eat some of his own children because he has no other food. He will not even give any to his brother or to the wife he loves or to any of his children who are left. 56 Even the most refined woman of noble birth, so rich that she has never had to walk anywhere, will behave in the same way. When the enemy besieges her town, she will become so desperate for food that she will secretly eat her newborn child and the afterbirth as well. She will not share them with the husband she loves or with any of her children. 58 "If you do not obey faithfully all of God's teachings that are written in this book and if you do not honor the wonderful and awesome name of the Lord your God, 59 he will send on you and on your descendants incurable diseases and horrible epidemics that can never be stopped. 60 He will bring on you once again all the dreadful diseases you experienced in Egypt, and you will never recover. 61 He will also send all kinds of diseases and epidemics that are not mentioned in this book of God's laws and teachings, and you will be destroyed. 62 Although you become as numerous as the stars in the sky, only a few of you will survive, because you did not obey the Lord your God. 63 Just as the Lord took delight in making you prosper and in making you increase in number, so he will take delight in destroying you and in bringing ruin on you. You will be uprooted from the land that you are about to occupy. 64 "The Lord will scatter you among all the nations, from one end of the earth to the other, and there you will serve gods made of wood and stone, gods that neither you nor your ancestors have ever worshiped before. 65 You will find no peace anywhere, no place to call your own; the Lord will overwhelm you with anxiety, hopelessness, and despair. 66 Your life will always be in danger. Day and night you will be filled with terror, and you will live in constant fear of death. 67 Your hearts will pound with fear at everything you see. Every morning you will wish for evening; every evening you will wish for morning. 68 The Lord will send you back to Egypt in ships, even though he said that you would never have to go there again. There you will try to sell yourselves to your enemies as slaves, but no one will want to buy you."

Deuteronomy 29:1 These are the terms of the covenant that the Lord commanded Moses to make with the people of Israel in the land of Moab; all this was in addition to the covenant which the Lord had made with them at Mount Sinai. 2 Moses called together all the people of Israel and said to them, "You saw for yourselves what the Lord did to the king of Egypt, to his officials, and to his entire country. 3 You saw the terrible plagues, the miracles, and the great wonders that the Lord performed. 4 But to this very day he has not let you understand what you have experienced. 5 For forty years the Lord led you through the desert, and your clothes and sandals never wore out. 6 You did not have bread to eat or wine or beer to drink, but the Lord provided for your needs in order to teach you that he is your God. 7 And when we came to this place, King Sihon of Heshbon and King Og of Bashan came out to fight against us. But we defeated them, 8 took their land, and divided it among the tribes of Reuben and Gad, and half the tribe of Manasseh. 9 Obey faithfully all the terms of this covenant, so that you will be successful in everything you do. 10 "Today you are standing in the presence of the Lord your God, all of you - your leaders and officials, your men, 11 women, and children, and the foreigners who live among you and cut wood and carry water for you. 12 You are here today to enter into this covenant that the Lord your God is making with you and to accept its obligations, 13 so that the Lord may now confirm you as his people and be your God, as he promised you and your ancestors, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. 14 You are not the only ones with whom the Lord is making this covenant with its obligations. 15 He is making it with all of us who stand here in his presence today and also with our descendants who are not yet born. 16 "You remember what life was like in Egypt and what it was like to travel through the territory of other nations. 17 You saw their disgusting idols made of wood, stone, silver, and gold. 18 Make sure that no man, woman, family, or tribe standing here today turns from the Lord our God to worship the gods of other nations. This would be like a root that grows to be a bitter and poisonous plant. 19 Make sure that there is no one here today who hears these solemn demands and yet convinces himself that all will be well with him, even if he stubbornly goes his own way. That would destroy all of you, good and evil alike. 20 The Lord will not forgive such a man. Instead, the Lord's burning anger will flame up against him, and all the disasters written in this book will fall on him until the Lord has destroyed him completely. 21 The Lord will make an example of him before all the tribes of Israel and will bring disaster on him in accordance with all the curses listed in the covenant that is written in this book of the Lord's teachings. 22 "In future generations your descendants and foreigners from distant lands will see the disasters and sufferings that the Lord has brought on your land. 23 The fields will be a barren waste, covered with sulfur and salt; nothing will be planted, and not even weeds will grow there. Your land will be like the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, of Admah and Zeboiim, which the Lord destroyed when he was furiously angry. 24 Then the whole world will ask, "Why did the Lord do this to their land? What was the reason for his fierce anger?' 25 And the answer will be, "It is because the Lord's people broke the covenant they had made with him, the God of their ancestors, when he brought them out of Egypt. 26 They served other gods that they had never worshiped before, gods that the Lord had forbidden them to worship. 27 And so the Lord became angry with his people and brought on their land all the disasters written in this book. 28 The Lord became furiously angry, and in his great anger he uprooted them from their land and threw them into a foreign land, and there they are today.' 29 "There are some things that the Lord our God has kept secret; but he has revealed his Law, and we and our descendants are to obey it forever.

Deuteronomy 30:1 "I have now given you a choice between a blessing and a curse. When all these things have happened to you, and you are living among the nations where the Lord your God has scattered you, you will remember the choice I gave you. 2 If you and your descendants will turn back to the Lord and with all your heart obey his commands that I am giving you today, 3 then the Lord your God will have mercy on you. He will bring you back from the nations where he has scattered you, and he will make you prosperous again. 4 Even if you are scattered to the farthest corners of the earth, the Lord your God will gather you together and bring you back, 5 so that you may again take possession of the land where your ancestors once lived. And he will make you more prosperous and more numerous than your ancestors ever were. 6 The Lord your God will give you and your descendants obedient hearts, so that you will love him with all your heart, and you will continue to live in that land. 7 He will turn all these curses against your enemies, who hated you and oppressed you, 8 and you will again obey him and keep all his commands that I am giving you today. 9 The Lord will make you prosperous in all that you do; you will have many children and a lot of livestock, and your fields will produce abundant crops. He will be as glad to make you prosperous as he was to make your ancestors prosperous, 10 but you will have to obey him and keep all his laws that are written in this book of his teachings. You will have to turn to him with all your heart. 11 "The command that I am giving you today is not too difficult or beyond your reach. 12 It is not up in the sky. You do not have to ask, "Who will go up and bring it down for us, so that we can hear it and obey it?' 13 Nor is it on the other side of the ocean. You do not have to ask, "Who will go across the ocean and bring it to us, so that we may hear it and obey it?' 14 No, it is here with you. You know it and can quote it, so now obey it. 15 "Today I am giving you a choice between good and evil, between life and death. 16 If you obey the commands of the Lord your God, which I give you today, if you love him, obey him, and keep all his laws, then you will prosper and become a nation of many people. The Lord your God will bless you in the land that you are about to occupy. 17 But if you disobey and refuse to listen, and are led away to worship other gods, 18 you will be destroyed - I warn you here and now. You will not live long in that land across the Jordan that you are about to occupy. 19 I am now giving you the choice between life and death, between God's blessing and God's curse, and I call heaven and earth to witness the choice you make. Choose life. 20 Love the Lord your God, obey him and be faithful to him, and then you and your descendants will live long in the land that he promised to give your ancestors, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob."

2277-Chronicles 34:14 While the money was being taken out of the storeroom, Hilkiah found the book of the Law of the Lord, the Law that God had given to Moses. 15 He said to Shaphan, "I have found the book of the Law here in the Temple." He gave Shaphan the book, 16 and Shaphan took it to the king. He reported, "We have done everything that you commanded. 17 We have taken the money that was kept in the Temple and handed it over to the workers and their supervisors." 18 Then he added, "I have here a book that Hilkiah gave me." And he read it aloud to the king. 19 When the king heard the book being read, he tore his clothes in dismay 20 and gave the following order to Hilkiah, to Ahikam son of Shaphan, to Abdon son of Micaiah, to Shaphan, the court secretary, and to Asaiah, the king's attendant: 21 "Go and consult the Lord for me and for the people who still remain in Israel and Judah. Find out about the teachings of this book. The Lord is angry with us because our ancestors have not obeyed the word of the Lord and have not done what this book says must be done."

2278-Nehemiah 8:13 The next day the heads of the clans, together with the priests and the Levites, went to Ezra to study the teachings of the Law. 14 They discovered that the Law, which the Lord gave through Moses, ordered the people of Israel to live in temporary shelters during the Festival of Shelters. 15 So they gave the following instructions and sent them all through Jerusalem and the other cities and towns: "Go out to the hills and get branches from pines, olives, myrtles, palms, and other trees to make shelters according to the instructions written in the Law." 16 So the people got branches and built shelters on the flat roofs of their houses, in their yards, in the Temple courtyard, and in the public squares by the Water Gate and by the Ephraim Gate. 17 All the people who had come back from captivity built shelters and lived in them. This was the first time it had been done since the days of Joshua son of Nun, and everybody was excited and happy. 18 From the first day of the festival to the last they read a part of God's Law every day. They celebrated for seven days, and on the eighth day there was a closing ceremony, as required in the Law.

2279-Nehemiah 13:15 At that time I saw people in Judah pressing juice from grapes on the Sabbath. Others were loading grain, wine, grapes, figs, and other things on their donkeys and taking them into Jerusalem; I warned them not to sell anything on the Sabbath. 16 Some people from the city of Tyre were living in Jerusalem, and they brought fish and all kinds of goods into the city to sell to our people on the Sabbath. 17 I reprimanded the Jewish leaders and told them, "Look at the evil you're doing! You're making the Sabbath unholy. 18 This is exactly why God punished your ancestors when he brought destruction on this city. And yet you insist on bringing more of God's anger down on Israel by profaning the Sabbath." 19 So I gave orders for the city gates to be shut at the beginning of every Sabbath, as soon as evening began to fall, and not to be opened again until the Sabbath was over. I stationed some of my men at the gates to make sure that nothing was brought into the city on the Sabbath. 20 Once or twice merchants who sold all kinds of goods spent Friday night outside the city walls. 21 I warned them, "It's no use waiting out there for morning to come. If you try this again, I'll use force on you." From then on they did not come back on the Sabbath. 22 I ordered the Levites to purify themselves and to go and guard the gates to make sure that the Sabbath was kept holy. Remember me, O God, for this also, and spare me because of your great love.

2280-Numbers 15:32 Once, while the Israelites were still in the wilderness, a man was found gathering firewood on the Sabbath. 33 He was taken to Moses, Aaron, and the whole community, 34 and was put under guard, because it was not clear what should be done with him. 35 Then the Lord said to Moses, "The man must be put to death; the whole community is to stone him to death outside the camp." 36 So the whole community took him outside the camp and stoned him to death, as the Lord had commanded.

2281-Nehemiah 13:10 I also learned that the Temple musicians and other Levites had left Jerusalem and gone back to their farms, because the people had not been giving them enough to live on. 11 I reprimanded the officials for letting the Temple be neglected. And I brought the Levites and musicians back to the Temple and put them to work again. 12 Then all the people of Israel again started bringing to the Temple storerooms their tithes of grain, wine, and olive oil. 13 I put the following men in charge of the storerooms: Shelemiah, a priest; Zadok, a scholar of the Law; and Pedaiah, a Levite. Hanan, the son of Zaccur and grandson of Mattaniah, was to be their assistant. I knew I could trust these men to be honest in distributing the supplies to the other workers.

2282-Amos 8:4-4 Listen to this, you that trample on the needy and try to destroy the poor of the country. 5 You say to yourselves, "We can hardly wait for the holy days to be over so that we can sell our grain. When will the Sabbath end, so that we can start selling again? Then we can overcharge, use false measures, and fix the scales to cheat our customers. 6 We can sell worthless wheat at a high price. We'll find someone poor who can't pay his debts, not even the price of a pair of sandals, and we'll buy him as a slave."

2283-Galatians 4:4 But when the right time finally came, God sent his own Son. He came as the son of a human mother and lived under the Jewish Law,

2284-Esther 1:5 After that, the king gave a banquet for all the people in the capital city of Susa, rich and poor alike. It lasted a whole week and was held in the gardens of the royal palace.

Esther 1:10 On the seventh day of his banquet the king was drinking and feeling happy, so he called in the seven eunuchs who were his personal servants, Mehuman, Biztha, Harbona, Bigtha, Abagtha, Zethar, and Carkas.

Esther 1:14 Those he most often turned to for advice were Carshena, Shethar, Admatha, Tarshish, Meres, Marsena, and Memucan - seven officials of Persia and Media who held the highest offices in the kingdom.

Esther 2:21 During the time that Mordecai held office in the palace, Bigthana and Teresh, two of the palace eunuchs who guarded the entrance to the king's rooms, became hostile to King Xerxes and plotted to assassinate him.

Esther 2:23 There was an investigation, and it was discovered that the report was true, so both men were hanged on the gallows. The king ordered an account of this to be written down in the official records of the empire.

Esther 3:7 In the twelfth year of King Xerxes' rule, in the first month, the month of Nisan, Haman ordered the lots to be cast ("purim," they were called) to find out the right day and month to carry out his plot. The thirteenth day of the twelfth month, the month of Adar, was decided on.

Esther 3:12 So on the thirteenth day of the first month Haman called the king's secretaries and dictated a proclamation to be translated into every language and system of writing used in the empire and to be sent to all the rulers, governors, and officials. It was issued in the name of King Xerxes and stamped with his ring. 13 Runners took this proclamation to every province of the empire. It contained the instructions that on a single day, the thirteenth day of Adar, all Jews - young and old, women and children - were to be killed. They were to be slaughtered without mercy and their belongings were to be taken.

Esther 4:6 Hathach went to Mordecai in the city square at the entrance of the palace.

Esther 4:11 "If anyone, man or woman, goes to the inner courtyard and sees the king without being summoned, that person must die. That is the law; everyone, from the king's advisers to the people in the provinces, knows that. There is only one way to get around this law: if the king holds out his gold scepter to someone, then that person's life is spared. But it has been a month since the king sent for me."

Esther 5:4 Esther replied, "If it please Your Majesty, I would like you and Haman to be my guests tonight at a banquet I am preparing for you."

Eshter 8:8 But a proclamation issued in the king's name and stamped with the royal seal cannot be revoked. You may, however, write to the Jews whatever you like; and you may write it in my name and stamp it with the royal seal."

Esther 8:10 Mordecai had the letters written in the name of King Xerxes, and he stamped them with the royal seal. They were delivered by riders mounted on fast horses from the royal stables.

Esther 8:15 Mordecai left the palace, wearing royal robes of blue and white, a cloak of fine purple linen, and a magnificent gold crown. Then the streets of Susa rang with cheers and joyful shouts.

Esther 9:30 The letter was addressed to all the Jews, and copies were sent to all the 127 provinces of the Persian Empire. It wished the Jews peace and security

Esther 10:1 King Xerxes imposed forced labor on the people of the coastal regions of his empire as well as on those of the interior. 2 All the great and wonderful things he did, as well as the whole story of how he promoted Mordecai to high office, are recorded in the official records of the kings of Persia and Media.

2285-Exodus 17:8 The Amalekites came and attacked the Israelites at Rephidim. 9 Moses said to Joshua, "Pick out some men to go and fight the Amalekites tomorrow. I will stand on top of the hill holding the stick that God told me to carry." 10 Joshua did as Moses commanded him and went out to fight the Amalekites, while Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill. 11 As long as Moses held up his arms, the Israelites won, but when he put his arms down, the Amalekites started winning. 12 When Moses' arms grew tired, Aaron and Hur brought a stone for him to sit on, while they stood beside him and held up his arms, holding them steady until the sun went down. 13 In this way Joshua totally defeated the Amalekites. 14 Then the Lord said to Moses, "Write an account of this victory, so that it will be remembered. Tell Joshua that I will completely destroy the Amalekites." 15 Moses built an altar and named it "The Lord is my Banner." 16 He said, "Hold high the banner of the Lord! The Lord will continue to fight against the Amalekites forever!"

2286-Numbers 24:7 They will have abundant rainfall And plant their seed in well-watered fields. Their king shall be greater than Agag, And his rule shall be extended far and wide.

2287-1 Samuel 15:9 But Saul and his men spared Agag's life and did not kill the best sheep and cattle, the best calves and lambs, or anything else that was good; they destroyed only what was useless or worthless.

1 Samuel 15:20 "I did obey the Lord," Saul replied. "I went out as he told me to, brought back King Agag, and killed all the Amalekites.

1 Samuel 15:32 "Bring King Agag here to me," Samuel ordered. Agag came to him, trembling with fear, thinking to himself, "What a bitter thing it is to die!" 33 Samuel said, "As your sword has made many mothers childless, so now your mother will become childless." And he cut Agag to pieces in front of the altar in Gilgal.

2288-1 Chronicles 4:42 Five hundred other members of the tribe of Simeon went east to Edom. They were led by the sons of Ishi: Pelatiah, Neariah, Rephaiah, and Uzziel. 43 There they killed the surviving Amalekites, and they have lived there ever since.

2289-Esther 2:23 There was an investigation, and it was discovered that the report was true, so both men were hanged on the gallows. The king ordered an account of this to be written down in the official records of the empire.

Esther 6:1 That same night the king could not get to sleep, so he had the official records of the empire brought and read to him.

Esther 9:20 Mordecai had these events written down and sent letters to all the Jews, near and far, throughout the Persian Empire,

Esther 10:2 All the great and wonderful things he did, as well as the whole story of how he promoted Mordecai to high office, are recorded in the official records of the kings of Persia and Media.

2290-Esther 1:19 If it please Your Majesty, issue a royal proclamation that Vashti may never again appear before the king. Have it written into the laws of Persia and Media, so that it can never be changed. Then give her place as queen to some better woman. 20 When your proclamation is made known all over this huge empire, every woman will treat her husband with proper respect, whether he's rich or poor." 21 The king and his officials liked this idea, and the king did what Memucan suggested.

Esther 3:13 Runners took this proclamation to every province of the empire. It contained the instructions that on a single day, the thirteenth day of Adar, all Jews - young and old, women and children - were to be killed. They were to be slaughtered without mercy and their belongings were to be taken. 14 The contents of the proclamation were to be made public in every province, so that everyone would be prepared when that day came. 15 At the king's command the decree was made public in the capital city of Susa, and runners carried the news to the provinces. The king and Haman sat down and had a drink while the city of Susa was being thrown into confusion.

Esther 8:5 "If it please Your Majesty, and if you care about me and if it seems right to you, please issue a proclamation to keep Haman's orders from being carried out - those orders that the son of Hammedatha the descendant of Agag gave for the destruction of all the Jews in the empire. 6 How can I endure it if this disaster comes on my people, and my own relatives are killed?" 7 King Xerxes then said to Queen Esther and Mordecai, the Jew, "Look, I have hanged Haman for his plot against the Jews, and I have given Esther his property. 8 But a proclamation issued in the king's name and stamped with the royal seal cannot be revoked. You may, however, write to the Jews whatever you like; and you may write it in my name and stamp it with the royal seal." 9 This happened on the twenty-third day of the third month, the month of Sivan. Mordecai called the king's secretaries and dictated letters to the Jews and to the governors, administrators, and officials of all the 127 provinces from India to Ethiopia. The letters were written to each province in its own language and system of writing and to the Jews in their language and system of writing. 10 Mordecai had the letters written in the name of King Xerxes, and he stamped them with the royal seal. They were delivered by riders mounted on fast horses from the royal stables. 11 These letters explained that the king would allow the Jews in every city to organize for self-defense. If armed men of any nationality in any province attacked the Jewish men, their children, or their women, the Jews could fight back and destroy the attackers; they could slaughter them to the last man and take their possessions. 12 This decree was to take effect throughout the Persian Empire on the day set for the slaughter of the Jews, the thirteenth of Adar, the twelfth month. 13 It was to be proclaimed as law and made known to everyone in every province, so that the Jews would be ready to take revenge on their enemies when that day came. 14 At the king's command the riders mounted royal horses and rode off at top speed. The decree was also made public in Susa, the capital city.

Esther 9:20 Mordecai had these events written down and sent letters to all the Jews, near and far, throughout the Persian Empire,

2291-Ezra 2:2 Their leaders were Zerubbabel, Joshua, Nehemiah, Seraiah, Reelaiah, Mordecai, Bilshan, Mispar, Bigvai, Rehum, and Baanah. This is the list of the clans of Israel, with the number of those from each clan who returned from exile:

2292-Esther 2:5 There in Susa lived a Jew named Mordecai son of Jair; he was from the tribe of Benjamin and was a descendant of Kish and Shimei.

2293-Esther 2:7 He had a cousin, Esther, whose Hebrew name was Hadassah; she was a beautiful young woman, and had a good figure. At the death of her parents, Mordecai had adopted her and brought her up as his own daughter.

Esther 2:15 The time came for Esther to go to the king. Esther - the daughter of Abihail and the cousin of Mordecai, who had adopted her as his daughter; Esther - admired by everyone who saw her. When her turn came, she wore just what Hegai, the eunuch in charge of the harem, advised her to wear.

2294-Esther 2:19 Meanwhile Mordecai had been appointed by the king to an administrative position.

Esther 2:21 During the time that Mordecai held office in the palace, Bigthana and Teresh, two of the palace eunuchs who guarded the entrance to the king's rooms, became hostile to King Xerxes and plotted to assassinate him.

Esther 3:2 The king ordered all the officials in his service to show their respect for Haman by kneeling and bowing to him. They all did so, except for Mordecai, who refused to do it.

Esther 5:9 When Haman left the banquet he was happy and in a good mood. But then he saw Mordecai at the entrance of the palace, and when Mordecai did not rise or show any sign of respect as he passed, Haman was furious with him.

Esther 6:10 Then the king said to Haman, "Hurry and get the robes and the horse, and provide these honors for Mordecai the Jew. Do everything for him that you have suggested. You will find him sitting at the entrance of the palace."

Esther 6:12 Mordecai then went back to the palace entrance while Haman hurried home, covering his face in embarrassment.

2295-Esther 2:11 Every day Mordecai would walk back and forth in front of the courtyard of the harem, in order to find out how she was getting along and what was going to happen to her.

2296-Esther 3:2 The king ordered all the officials in his service to show their respect for Haman by kneeling and bowing to him. They all did so, except for Mordecai, who refused to do it. 3 The other officials in the royal service asked him why he was disobeying the king's command; 4 day after day they urged him to give in, but he would not listen to them. "I am a Jew," he explained, "and I cannot bow to Haman." So they told Haman about this, wondering if he would tolerate Mordecai's conduct. 5 Haman was furious when he realized that Mordecai was not going to kneel and bow to him, 6 and when he learned that Mordecai was a Jew, he decided to do more than punish Mordecai alone. He made plans to kill every Jew in the whole Persian Empire.

2297-1 Samuel 15:1 Samuel said to Saul, "I am the one whom the Lord sent to anoint you king of his people Israel. Now listen to what the Lord Almighty says. 2 He is going to punish the people of Amalek because their ancestors opposed the Israelites when they were coming from Egypt. 3 Go and attack the Amalekites and completely destroy everything they have. Don't leave a thing; kill all the men, women, children, and babies; the cattle, sheep, camels, and donkeys." 4 Saul called his forces together and inspected them at Telem: there were 200,000 soldiers from Israel and 10,000 from Judah. 5 Then he and his men went to the city of Amalek and waited in ambush in a dry riverbed. 6 He sent a warning to the Kenites, a people whose ancestors had been kind to the Israelites when they came from Egypt: "Go away and leave the Amalekites, so that I won't kill you along with them." So the Kenites left. 7 Saul defeated the Amalekites, fighting all the way from Havilah to Shur, east of Egypt; 8 he captured King Agag of Amalek alive and killed all the people. 9 But Saul and his men spared Agag's life and did not kill the best sheep and cattle, the best calves and lambs, or anything else that was good; they destroyed only what was useless or worthless. 10 The Lord said to Samuel, 11 "I am sorry that I made Saul king; he has turned away from me and disobeyed my commands." Samuel was angry, and all night long he pleaded with the Lord. 12 Early the following morning he went off to find Saul. He heard that Saul had gone to the town of Carmel, where he had built a monument to himself, and then had gone on to Gilgal. 13 Samuel went up to Saul, who greeted him, saying, "The Lord bless you, Samuel! I have obeyed the Lord's command." 14 Samuel asked, "Why, then, do I hear cattle mooing and sheep bleating?" 15 Saul answered, "My men took them from the Amalekites. They kept the best sheep and cattle to offer as a sacrifice to the Lord your God, and the rest we have destroyed completely." 16 "Stop," Samuel ordered, "and I will tell you what the Lord said to me last night." "Tell me," Saul said. 17 Samuel answered, "Even though you consider yourself of no importance, you are the leader of the tribes of Israel. The Lord anointed you king of Israel, 18 and he sent you out with orders to destroy those wicked people of Amalek. He told you to fight until you had killed them all. 19 Why, then, did you not obey him? Why did you rush to grab the loot, and so do what displeases the Lord?" 20 "I did obey the Lord," Saul replied. "I went out as he told me to, brought back King Agag, and killed all the Amalekites. 21 But my men did not kill the best sheep and cattle that they captured; instead, they brought them here to Gilgal to offer as a sacrifice to the Lord your God." 22 Samuel said, "Which does the Lord prefer: obedience or offerings and sacrifices? It is better to obey him than to sacrifice the best sheep to him. 23 Rebellion against him is as bad as witchcraft, and arrogance is as sinful as idolatry. Because you rejected the Lord's command, he has rejected you as king." 24 "Yes, I have sinned," Saul replied. "I disobeyed the Lord's command and your instructions. I was afraid of my men and did what they wanted. 25 But now I beg you, forgive my sin and go back with me, so that I can worship the Lord." 26 "I will not go back with you," Samuel answered. "You rejected the Lord's command, and he has rejected you as king of Israel." 27 Then Samuel turned to leave, but Saul caught hold of his cloak, and it tore. 28 Samuel said to him, "The Lord has torn the kingdom of Israel away from you today and given it to someone who is a better man than you. 29 Israel's majestic God does not lie or change his mind. He is not a human being - he does not change his mind." 30 "I have sinned," Saul replied. "But at least show me respect in front of the leaders of my people and all of Israel. Go back with me so that I can worship the Lord your God." 31 So Samuel went back with him, and Saul worshiped the Lord. 32 "Bring King Agag here to me," Samuel ordered. Agag came to him, trembling with fear, thinking to himself, "What a bitter thing it is to die!" 33 Samuel said, "As your sword has made many mothers childless, so now your mother will become childless." And he cut Agag to pieces in front of the altar in Gilgal. 34 Then Samuel went to Ramah, and King Saul went home to Gibeah. 35 As long as Samuel lived, he never again saw the king; but he grieved over him. The Lord was sorry that he had made Saul king of Israel.

2298-Exodus 17:8 The Amalekites came and attacked the Israelites at Rephidim. 9 Moses said to Joshua, "Pick out some men to go and fight the Amalekites tomorrow. I will stand on top of the hill holding the stick that God told me to carry." 10 Joshua did as Moses commanded him and went out to fight the Amalekites, while Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill. 11 As long as Moses held up his arms, the Israelites won, but when he put his arms down, the Amalekites started winning. 12 When Moses' arms grew tired, Aaron and Hur brought a stone for him to sit on, while they stood beside him and held up his arms, holding them steady until the sun went down. 13 In this way Joshua totally defeated the Amalekites. 14 Then the Lord said to Moses, "Write an account of this victory, so that it will be remembered. Tell Joshua that I will completely destroy the Amalekites." 15 Moses built an altar and named it "The Lord is my Banner." 16 He said, "Hold high the banner of the Lord! The Lord will continue to fight against the Amalekites forever!"

2299-1 Samuel 15:1 Samuel said to Saul, "I am the one whom the Lord sent to anoint you king of his people Israel. Now listen to what the Lord Almighty says. 2 He is going to punish the people of Amalek because their ancestors opposed the Israelites when they were coming from Egypt. 3 Go and attack the Amalekites and completely destroy everything they have. Don't leave a thing; kill all the men, women, children, and babies; the cattle, sheep, camels, and donkeys." 4 Saul called his forces together and inspected them at Telem: there were 200,000 soldiers from Israel and 10,000 from Judah. 5 Then he and his men went to the city of Amalek and waited in ambush in a dry riverbed. 6 He sent a warning to the Kenites, a people whose ancestors had been kind to the Israelites when they came from Egypt: "Go away and leave the Amalekites, so that I won't kill you along with them." So the Kenites left. 7 Saul defeated the Amalekites, fighting all the way from Havilah to Shur, east of Egypt; 8 he captured King Agag of Amalek alive and killed all the people.

1 Samuel 30:1 Two days later David and his men arrived back at Ziklag. The Amalekites had raided southern Judah and attacked Ziklag. They had burned down the town 2 and captured all the women; they had not killed anyone, but had taken everyone with them when they left. 3 When David and his men arrived, they found that the town had been burned down and that their wives, sons, and daughters had been carried away. 4 David and his men started crying and did not stop until they were completely exhausted. 5 Even David's two wives, Ahinoam and Abigail, had been taken away. 6 David was now in great trouble, because his men were all very bitter about losing their children, and they were threatening to stone him; but the Lord his God gave him courage. 7 David said to the priest Abiathar son of Ahimelech, "Bring me the ephod," and Abiathar brought it to him. 8 David asked the Lord, "Shall I go after those raiders? And will I catch them?" He answered, "Go after them; you will catch them and rescue the captives." 9 So David and his six hundred men started out, and when they arrived at Besor Brook, some of them stayed there. 10 David continued on his way with four hundred men; the other two hundred men were too tired to cross the brook and so stayed behind. 11 The men with David found a young Egyptian out in the country and brought him to David. They gave him some food and water, 12 some dried figs, and two bunches of raisins. After he had eaten, his strength returned; he had not had anything to eat or drink for three full days. 13 David asked him, "Who is your master, and where are you from?" "I am an Egyptian, the slave of an Amalekite," he answered. "My master left me behind three days ago because I got sick. 14 We had raided the territory of the Cherethites in the southern part of Judah and the territory of the clan of Caleb, and we burned down Ziklag." 15 "Will you lead me to those raiders?" David asked him. He answered, "I will if you promise me in God's name that you will not kill me or hand me over to my master." 16 And he led David to them. The raiders were scattered all over the place, eating, drinking, and celebrating because of the enormous amount of loot they had captured from Philistia and Judah. 17 At dawn the next day David attacked them and fought until evening. Except for four hundred young men who mounted camels and got away, none of them escaped. 18 David rescued everyone and everything the Amalekites had taken, including his two wives; 19 nothing at all was missing. David got back all his men's sons and daughters, and all the loot the Amalekites had taken. 20 He also recovered all the flocks and herds; his men drove all the livestock in front of them and said, "This belongs to David!"

2300-Est 10:3 Mordecai the Jew was second in rank only to King Xerxes himself. He was honored and well-liked by his fellow Jews. He worked for the good of his people and for the security of all their descendants.

2301-Ephesians 5:21 Submit yourselves to one another because of your reverence for Christ. 22 Wives, submit yourselves to your husbands as to the Lord. 23 For a husband has authority over his wife just as Christ has authority over the church; and Christ is himself the Savior of the church, his body. 24 And so wives must submit themselves completely to their husbands just as the church submits itself to Christ. 25 Husbands, love your wives just as Christ loved the church and gave his life for it. 26 He did this to dedicate the church to God by his word, after making it clean by washing it in water, 27 in order to present the church to himself in all its beauty - pure and faultless, without spot or wrinkle or any other imperfection. 28 Men ought to love their wives just as they love their own bodies. A man who loves his wife loves himself 29 (None of us ever hate our own bodies. Instead, we feed them, and take care of them, just as Christ does the church;

2302-James 4:7 So then, submit yourselves to God. Resist the Devil, and he will run away from you.

2303-Esther 3:2 The king ordered all the officials in his service to show their respect for Haman by kneeling and bowing to him. They all did so, except for Mordecai, who refused to do it. 3 The other officials in the royal service asked him why he was disobeying the king's command; 4 day after day they urged him to give in, but he would not listen to them. "I am a Jew," he explained, "and I cannot bow to Haman." So they told Haman about this, wondering if he would tolerate Mordecai's conduct. 5 Haman was furious when he realized that Mordecai was not going to kneel and bow to him,

2304-Esther 3:12 So on the thirteenth day of the first month Haman called the king's secretaries and dictated a proclamation to be translated into every language and system of writing used in the empire and to be sent to all the rulers, governors, and officials. It was issued in the name of King Xerxes and stamped with his ring. 13 Runners took this proclamation to every province of the empire. It contained the instructions that on a single day, the thirteenth day of Adar, all Jews - young and old, women and children - were to be killed. They were to be slaughtered without mercy and their belongings were to be taken. 14 The contents of the proclamation were to be made public in every province, so that everyone would be prepared when that day came.

2305-Esther 3:7 In the twelfth year of King Xerxes' rule, in the first month, the month of Nisan, Haman ordered the lots to be cast ("purim," they were called) to find out the right day and month to carry out his plot. The thirteenth day of the twelfth month, the month of Adar, was decided on.

2306-Esther 5:9 When Haman left the banquet he was happy and in a good mood. But then he saw Mordecai at the entrance of the palace, and when Mordecai did not rise or show any sign of respect as he passed, Haman was furious with him. 10 But he controlled himself and went on home. Then he invited his friends to his house and asked his wife Zeresh to join them. 11 He boasted to them about how rich he was, how many sons he had, how the king had promoted him to high office, and how much more important he was than any of the king's other officials. 12 "What is more," Haman went on, "Queen Esther gave a banquet for no one but the king and me, and we are invited back tomorrow. 13 But none of this means a thing to me as long as I see that Jew Mordecai sitting at the entrance of the palace." 14 So his wife and all his friends suggested, "Why don't you have a gallows built, seventy-five feet tall? Tomorrow morning you can ask the king to have Mordecai hanged on it, and then you can go to the banquet happy." Haman thought this was a good idea, so he had the gallows built.

2307-Esther 7:5 Then King Xerxes asked Queen Esther, "Who dares to do such a thing? Where is this man?" 6 Esther answered, "Our enemy, our persecutor, is this evil man Haman!" Haman faced the king and queen with terror. 7 The king got up in a fury, left the room, and went outside to the palace gardens. Haman could see that the king was determined to punish him for this, so he stayed behind to beg Queen Esther for his life. 8 He had just thrown himself down on Esther's couch to beg for mercy, when the king came back into the room from the gardens. Seeing this, the king cried out, "Is this man going to rape the queen right here in front of me, in my own palace?" The king had no sooner said this than the eunuchs covered Haman's head. 9 Then one of them, who was named Harbonah, said, "Haman even went so far as to build a gallows at his house so that he could hang Mordecai, who saved Your Majesty's life. And it's seventy-five feet tall!" "Hang Haman on it!" the king commanded. 10 So Haman was hanged on the gallows that he had built for Mordecai. Then the king's anger cooled down.

2308-Esth 3:1 Some time later King Xerxes promoted a man named Haman to the position of prime minister. Haman was the son of Hammedatha, a descendant of Agag.

Esther 3:10 The king took off his ring, which was used to stamp proclamations and make them official, and gave it to the enemy of the Jewish people, Haman son of Hammedatha, the descendant of Agag

Esther 8:3 Then Esther spoke to the king again, throwing herself at his feet and crying. She begged him to do something to stop the evil plot that Haman, the descendant of Agag, had made against the Jews.

Esther 8:5 "If it please Your Majesty, and if you care about me and if it seems right to you, please issue a proclamation to keep Haman's orders from being carried out - those orders that the son of Hammedatha the descendant of Agag gave for the destruction of all the Jews in the empire.

Esther 9:24 Haman son of Hammedatha - the descendant of Agag and the enemy of the Jewish people - had cast lots ("purim," they were called) to determine the day for destroying the Jews; he had planned to wipe them out.

2309-1 Samuel 15:1 Samuel said to Saul, "I am the one whom the Lord sent to anoint you king of his people Israel. Now listen to what the Lord Almighty says. 2 He is going to punish the people of Amalek because their ancestors opposed the Israelites when they were coming from Egypt. 3 Go and attack the Amalekites and completely destroy everything they have. Don't leave a thing; kill all the men, women, children, and babies; the cattle, sheep, camels, and donkeys." 4 Saul called his forces together and inspected them at Telem: there were 200,000 soldiers from Israel and 10,000 from Judah. 5 Then he and his men went to the city of Amalek and waited in ambush in a dry riverbed. 6 He sent a warning to the Kenites, a people whose ancestors had been kind to the Israelites when they came from Egypt: "Go away and leave the Amalekites, so that I won't kill you along with them." So the Kenites left. 7 Saul defeated the Amalekites, fighting all the way from Havilah to Shur, east of Egypt; 8 he captured King Agag of Amalek alive and killed all the people. 9 But Saul and his men spared Agag's life and did not kill the best sheep and cattle, the best calves and lambs, or anything else that was good; they destroyed only what was useless or worthless. 10 The Lord said to Samuel, 11 "I am sorry that I made Saul king; he has turned away from me and disobeyed my commands." Samuel was angry, and all night long he pleaded with the Lord. 12 Early the following morning he went off to find Saul. He heard that Saul had gone to the town of Carmel, where he had built a monument to himself, and then had gone on to Gilgal. 13 Samuel went up to Saul, who greeted him, saying, "The Lord bless you, Samuel! I have obeyed the Lord's command." 14 Samuel asked, "Why, then, do I hear cattle mooing and sheep bleating?" 15 Saul answered, "My men took them from the Amalekites. They kept the best sheep and cattle to offer as a sacrifice to the Lord your God, and the rest we have destroyed completely." 16 "Stop," Samuel ordered, "and I will tell you what the Lord said to me last night." "Tell me," Saul said. 17 Samuel answered, "Even though you consider yourself of no importance, you are the leader of the tribes of Israel. The Lord anointed you king of Israel, 18 and he sent you out with orders to destroy those wicked people of Amalek. He told you to fight until you had killed them all. 19 Why, then, did you not obey him? Why did you rush to grab the loot, and so do what displeases the Lord?" 20 "I did obey the Lord," Saul replied. "I went out as he told me to, brought back King Agag, and killed all the Amalekites. 21 But my men did not kill the best sheep and cattle that they captured; instead, they brought them here to Gilgal to offer as a sacrifice to the Lord your God." 22 Samuel said, "Which does the Lord prefer: obedience or offerings and sacrifices? It is better to obey him than to sacrifice the best sheep to him. 23 Rebellion against him is as bad as witchcraft, and arrogance is as sinful as idolatry. Because you rejected the Lord's command, he has rejected you as king." 24 "Yes, I have sinned," Saul replied. "I disobeyed the Lord's command and your instructions. I was afraid of my men and did what they wanted. 25 But now I beg you, forgive my sin and go back with me, so that I can worship the Lord." 26 "I will not go back with you," Samuel answered. "You rejected the Lord's command, and he has rejected you as king of Israel." 27 Then Samuel turned to leave, but Saul caught hold of his cloak, and it tore. 28 Samuel said to him, "The Lord has torn the kingdom of Israel away from you today and given it to someone who is a better man than you. 29 Israel's majestic God does not lie or change his mind. He is not a human being - he does not change his mind." 30 "I have sinned," Saul replied. "But at least show me respect in front of the leaders of my people and all of Israel. Go back with me so that I can worship the Lord your God." 31 So Samuel went back with him, and Saul worshiped the Lord. 32 "Bring King Agag here to me," Samuel ordered. Agag came to him, trembling with fear, thinking to himself, "What a bitter thing it is to die!" 33 Samuel said, "As your sword has made many mothers childless, so now your mother will become childless." And he cut Agag to pieces in front of the altar in Gilgal. 34 Then Samuel went to Ramah, and King Saul went home to Gibeah. 35 As long as Samuel lived, he never again saw the king; but he grieved over him. The Lord was sorry that he had made Saul king of Israel.

2310-Num 24:7 They will have abundant rainfall And plant their seed in well-watered fields. Their king shall be greater than Agag, And his rule shall be extended far and wide.

2311-Exod 17:8 The Amalekites came and attacked the Israelites at Rephidim. 9 Moses said to Joshua, "Pick out some men to go and fight the Amalekites tomorrow. I will stand on top of the hill holding the stick that God told me to carry." 10 Joshua did as Moses commanded him and went out to fight the Amalekites, while Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill. 11 As long as Moses held up his arms, the Israelites won, but when he put his arms down, the Amalekites started winning. 12 When Moses' arms grew tired, Aaron and Hur brought a stone for him to sit on, while they stood beside him and held up his arms, holding them steady until the sun went down. 13 In this way Joshua totally defeated the Amalekites. 14 Then the Lord said to Moses, "Write an account of this victory, so that it will be remembered. Tell Joshua that I will completely destroy the Amalekites." 15 Moses built an altar and named it "The Lord is my Banner." 16 He said, "Hold high the banner of the Lord! The Lord will continue to fight against the Amalekites forever!"

2312-Deut 25:17 "Remember what the Amalekites did to you as you were coming from Egypt. 18 They had no fear of God, and so they attacked you from the rear when you were tired and exhausted, and killed all who were straggling behind. 19 So then, when the Lord your God has given you the land and made you safe from all your enemies who live around you, be sure to kill all the Amalekites, so that no one will remember them any longer. Do not forget!

2313-Esth 4:16 "Go and get all the Jews in Susa together; hold a fast and pray for me. Don't eat or drink anything for three days and nights. My servant women and I will be doing the same. After that, I will go to the king, even though it is against the law. If I must die for doing it, I will die."

Esth 9:31 and directed them and their descendants to observe the days of Purim at the proper time, just as they had adopted rules for the observance of fasts and times of mourning. This was commanded by both Mordecai and Queen Esther.

2314-Ps. 121:4 The protector of Israel never dozes or sleeps.

2315-2 Maccabees 15:36 By unanimous vote it was decided that this day would never be forgotten, but would be celebrated each year on the eve of Mordecai's Day, which is the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, called Adar in Aramaic.

2316-Esth. 4:14 If you keep quiet at a time like this, help will come from heaven to the Jews, and they will be saved, but you will die and your father's family will come to an end. Yet who knows - maybe it was for a time like this that you were made queen!"

2317-Esth. 9:1 The thirteenth day of Adar came, the day on which the royal proclamation was to take effect, the day when the enemies of the Jews were hoping to get them in their power. But instead, the Jews triumphed over them. 2 In the Jewish quarter of every city in the empire the Jews organized to attack anyone who tried to harm them. People everywhere were afraid of them, and no one could stand against them. 3 In fact, all the provincial officials - governors, administrators, and royal representatives - helped the Jews because they were all afraid of Mordecai. 4 It was well-known throughout the empire that Mordecai was now a powerful man in the palace and was growing more powerful. 5 So the Jews could do what they wanted with their enemies. They attacked them with swords and slaughtered them. 6 In Susa, the capital city itself, the Jews killed five hundred people. 7 Among them were the ten sons of Haman son of Hammedatha, the enemy of the Jews: Parshandatha, Dalphon, Aspatha, Poratha, Adalia, Aridatha, Parmashta, Arisai, Aridai, and Vaizatha. However, there was no looting.

2318-Esther 9:15 On the fourteenth day of Adar the Jews of Susa got together again and killed three hundred more people in the city. But again, they did no looting. 16 The Jews in the provinces also organized and defended themselves. They rid themselves of their enemies by killing seventy-five thousand people who hated them. But they did no looting. 17 This was on the thirteenth day of Adar. On the next day, the fourteenth, there was no more killing, and they made it a joyful day of feasting.

2319-Esther 1:3 In the third year of his reign he gave a banquet for all his officials and administrators. The armies of Persia and Media were present, as well as the governors and noblemen of the provinces. 4 For six whole months he made a show of the riches of the imperial court with all its splendor and majesty. 5 After that, the king gave a banquet for all the people in the capital city of Susa, rich and poor alike. It lasted a whole week and was held in the gardens of the royal palace.

2320-Esther 2:17 The king liked her more than any of the other women, and more than any of the others she won his favor and affection. He placed the royal crown on her head and made her queen in place of Vashti.

2321-Esther 1:9 Meanwhile, inside the royal palace Queen Vashti was giving a banquet for the women.

Esther 2:22 Mordecai learned about it and told Queen Esther, who then told the king what Mordecai had found out.

2322-Ezra 1:1 In the first year that Cyrus of Persia was emperor, the Lord made what he had said through the prophet Jeremiah come true. He prompted Cyrus to issue the following command and send it out in writing to be read aloud everywhere in his empire:

2323-Jeremiah 43:6 the men, the women, the children, and the king's daughters. They took everyone whom Nebuzaradan the commanding officer had left under the care of Gedaliah, including Baruch and me.

2324-Luke 15:1 One day when many tax collectors and other outcasts came to listen to Jesus, 2 the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law started grumbling, "This man welcomes outcasts and even eats with them!" 3 So Jesus told them this parable: 4 "Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them - what do you do? You leave the other ninety-nine sheep in the pasture and go looking for the one that got lost until you find it. 5 When you find it, you are so happy that you put it on your shoulders 6 and carry it back home. Then you call your friends and neighbors together and say to them, "I am so happy I found my lost sheep. Let us celebrate!' 7 In the same way, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine respectable people who do not need to repent.

2325-Matthew 18:10 12 "What do you think a man does who has one hundred sheep and one of them gets lost? He will leave the other ninety-nine grazing on the hillside and go and look for the lost sheep. 13 When he finds it, I tell you, he feels far happier over this one sheep than over the ninety-nine that did not get lost. 14 In just the same way your Father in heaven does not want any of these little ones to be lost.

2326-Luke 15:11 Jesus went on to say, "There was once a man who had two sons. 12 The younger one said to him, "Father, give me my share of the property now.' So the man divided his property between his two sons. 13 After a few days the younger son sold his part of the property and left home with the money. He went to a country far away, where he wasted his money in reckless living. 14 He spent everything he had. Then a severe famine spread over that country, and he was left without a thing. 15 So he went to work for one of the citizens of that country, who sent him out to his farm to take care of the pigs. 16 He wished he could fill himself with the bean pods the pigs ate, but no one gave him anything to eat. 17 At last he came to his senses and said, "All my father's hired workers have more than they can eat, and here I am about to starve! 18 I will get up and go to my father and say, "Father, I have sinned against God and against you. 19 I am no longer fit to be called your son; treat me as one of your hired workers." ' 20 So he got up and started back to his father. "He was still a long way from home when his father saw him; his heart was filled with pity, and he ran, threw his arms around his son, and kissed him. 21 "Father,' the son said, "I have sinned against God and against you. I am no longer fit to be called your son.' 22 But the father called to his servants. "Hurry!' he said. "Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and shoes on his feet. 23 Then go and get the prize calf and kill it, and let us celebrate with a feast! 24 For this son of mine was dead, but now he is alive; he was lost, but now he has been found.' And so the feasting began. 25 "In the meantime the older son was out in the field. On his way back, when he came close to the house, he heard the music and dancing. 26 So he called one of the servants and asked him, "What's going on?' 27 "Your brother has come back home,' the servant answered, "and your father has killed the prize calf, because he got him back safe and sound.' 28 The older brother was so angry that he would not go into the house; so his father came out and begged him to come in. 29 But he spoke back to his father, "Look, all these years I have worked for you like a slave, and I have never disobeyed your orders. What have you given me? Not even a goat for me to have a feast with my friends! 30 But this son of yours wasted all your property on prostitutes, and when he comes back home, you kill the prize calf for him!' 31 "My son,' the father answered, "you are always here with me, and everything I have is yours. 32 But we had to celebrate and be happy, because your brother was dead, but now he is alive; he was lost, but now he has been found.' "

2327-Esther 2:1 Later, even after the king's anger had cooled down, he kept thinking about what Vashti had done and about his proclamation against her. 2 So some of the king's advisers who were close to him suggested, "Why don't you make a search to find some beautiful young virgins? 3 You can appoint officials in every province of the empire and have them bring all these beautiful young women to your harem here in Susa, the capital city. Put them in the care of Hegai, the eunuch who is in charge of your women, and let them be given a beauty treatment. 4 Then take the young woman you like best and make her queen in Vashti's place." The king thought this was good advice, so he followed it. 5 There in Susa lived a Jew named Mordecai son of Jair; he was from the tribe of Benjamin and was a descendant of Kish and Shimei. 6 When King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon took King Jehoiachin of Judah into exile from Jerusalem, along with a group of captives, Mordecai was among them. 7 He had a cousin, Esther, whose Hebrew name was Hadassah; she was a beautiful young woman, and had a good figure. At the death of her parents, Mordecai had adopted her and brought her up as his own daughter. 8 When the king had issued his new proclamation and many young women were being brought to Susa, Esther was among them. She too was put in the royal palace in the care of Hegai, who had charge of the harem. 9 Hegai liked Esther, and she won his favor. He lost no time in beginning her beauty treatment of massage and special diet. He gave her the best place in the harem and assigned seven young women specially chosen from the royal palace to serve her. 10 Now, on the advice of Mordecai, Esther had kept it secret that she was Jewish. 11 Every day Mordecai would walk back and forth in front of the courtyard of the harem, in order to find out how she was getting along and what was going to happen to her. 12 The regular beauty treatment for the women lasted a year - massages with oil of myrrh for six months and with oil of balsam for six more. After that, each woman would be taken in turn to King Xerxes. 13 When she went from the harem to the palace, she could wear whatever she wanted. 14 She would go there in the evening, and the next morning she would be taken to another harem and put in the care of Shaashgaz, the eunuch in charge of the king's concubines. She would not go to the king again unless he liked her enough to ask for her by name. 15 The time came for Esther to go to the king. Esther - the daughter of Abihail and the cousin of Mordecai, who had adopted her as his daughter; Esther - admired by everyone who saw her. When her turn came, she wore just what Hegai, the eunuch in charge of the harem, advised her to wear. 16 So in Xerxes' seventh year as king, in the tenth month, the month of Tebeth, Esther was brought to King Xerxes in the royal palace. 17 The king liked her more than any of the other women, and more than any of the others she won his favor and affection. He placed the royal crown on her head and made her queen in place of Vashti. 18 Then the king gave a great banquet in Esther's honor and invited all his officials and administrators. He proclaimed a holiday for the whole empire and distributed gifts worthy of a king.

2328-Esther 1:12 But when the servants told Queen Vashti of the king's command, she refused to come. This made the king furious.

2329-Esther 1:13 Now it was the king's custom to ask for expert opinion on questions of law and order, so he called for his advisers, who would know what should be done. 14 Those he most often turned to for advice were Carshena, Shethar, Admatha, Tarshish, Meres, Marsena, and Memucan - seven officials of Persia and Media who held the highest offices in the kingdom. 15 He said to these men, "I, King Xerxes, sent my servants to Queen Vashti with a command, and she refused to obey it! What does the law say that we should do with her?" 16 Then Memucan declared to the king and his officials: "Queen Vashti has insulted not only the king but also his officials - in fact, every man in the empire! 17 Every woman in the empire will start looking down on her husband as soon as she hears what the queen has done. They'll say, "King Xerxes commanded Queen Vashti to come to him, and she refused.' 18 When the wives of the royal officials of Persia and Media hear about the queen's behavior, they will be telling their husbands about it before the day is out. Wives everywhere will have no respect for their husbands, and husbands will be angry with their wives. 19 If it please Your Majesty, issue a royal proclamation that Vashti may never again appear before the king. Have it written into the laws of Persia and Media, so that it can never be changed. Then give her place as queen to some better woman. 20 When your proclamation is made known all over this huge empire, every woman will treat her husband with proper respect, whether he's rich or poor." 21 The king and his officials liked this idea, and the king did what Memucan suggested. 22 To each of the royal provinces he sent a message in the language and the system of writing of that province, saying that every husband should be the master of his home and speak with final authority.

2330-Genesis 14:7 Then they turned around and came back to Kadesh (then known as Enmishpat). They conquered all the land of the Amalekites and defeated the Amorites who lived in Hazazon Tamar.

2331-Exodus 17:8 The Amalekites came and attacked the Israelites at Rephidim. 9 Moses said to Joshua, "Pick out some men to go and fight the Amalekites tomorrow. I will stand on top of the hill holding the stick that God told me to carry." 10 Joshua did as Moses commanded him and went out to fight the Amalekites, while Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill. 11 As long as Moses held up his arms, the Israelites won, but when he put his arms down, the Amalekites started winning. 12 When Moses' arms grew tired, Aaron and Hur brought a stone for him to sit on, while they stood beside him and held up his arms, holding them steady until the sun went down. 13 In this way Joshua totally defeated the Amalekites. 14 Then the Lord said to Moses, "Write an account of this victory, so that it will be remembered. Tell Joshua that I will completely destroy the Amalekites." 15 Moses built an altar and named it "The Lord is my Banner." 16 He said, "Hold high the banner of the Lord! The Lord will continue to fight against the Amalekites forever!"

2332-Numbers 14:45 Then the Amalekites and the Canaanites who lived there attacked and defeated them, and pursued them as far as Hormah.

Numbers 24:7 They will have abundant rainfall And plant their seed in well-watered fields. Their king shall be greater than Agag, And his rule shall be extended far and wide.

2333-Deuteronomy 25:17 "Remember what the Amalekites did to you as you were coming from Egypt. 18 They had no fear of God, and so they attacked you from the rear when you were tired and exhausted, and killed all who were straggling behind. 19 So then, when the Lord your God has given you the land and made you safe from all your enemies who live around you, be sure to kill all the Amalekites, so that no one will remember them any longer. Do not forget!

2334-Judges 3:13 Eglon joined the Ammonites and the Amalekites; they defeated Israel and captured Jericho, the city of palm trees.

Judges 6:3 Whenever the Israelites would plant their crops, the Midianites would come with the Amalekites and the desert tribes and attack them.

Judges 6:33 Then all the Midianites, the Amalekites, and the desert tribes assembled, crossed the Jordan River, and camped in Jezreel Valley.

2335-1 Samuel 15:1 Samuel said to Saul, "I am the one whom the Lord sent to anoint you king of his people Israel. Now listen to what the Lord Almighty says. 2 He is going to punish the people of Amalek because their ancestors opposed the Israelites when they were coming from Egypt. 3 Go and attack the Amalekites and completely destroy everything they have. Don't leave a thing; kill all the men, women, children, and babies; the cattle, sheep, camels, and donkeys."

1 Samuel 15:9 But Saul and his men spared Agag's life and did not kill the best sheep and cattle, the best calves and lambs, or anything else that was good; they destroyed only what was useless or worthless.

1 Samuel 15:20 "I did obey the Lord," Saul replied. "I went out as he told me to, brought back King Agag, and killed all the Amalekites.

1 Samuel 15:32 "Bring King Agag here to me," Samuel ordered. Agag came to him, trembling with fear, thinking to himself, "What a bitter thing it is to die!" 33 Samuel said, "As your sword has made many mothers childless, so now your mother will become childless." And he cut Agag to pieces in front of the altar in Gilgal.

1 Samuel 27:8 During that time David and his men would attack the people of Geshur, Girzi, and Amalek, who had been living in the region a very long time. He would raid their land as far as Shur, all the way down to Egypt,

1 Samuel 30:1 Two days later David and his men arrived back at Ziklag. The Amalekites had raided southern Judah and attacked Ziklag. They had burned down the town

2336-2 Samuel 1:1 After Saul's death David came back from his victory over the Amalekites and stayed in Ziklag for two days.

2337-1 Chronicles 4:42 Five hundred other members of the tribe of Simeon went east to Edom. They were led by the sons of Ishi: Pelatiah, Neariah, Rephaiah, and Uzziel. 43 There they killed the surviving Amalekites, and they have lived there ever since.

2338-1 Samuel 24:8 Then David went out after him and called to him, "Your Majesty!" Saul turned around, and David bowed down to the ground in respect

2339-Genesis 23:7 Then Abraham bowed before them

Genesis 27:29 May nations be your servants, and may peoples bow down before you. May you rule over all your relatives, and may your mother's descendants bow down before you. May those who curse you be cursed, and may those who bless you be blessed."

Genesis 33:3 Jacob went ahead of them and bowed down to the ground seven times as he approached his brother.

2340-Genesis 23:7 Then Abraham bowed before them

2341-5T 450 The decree which is to go forth against the people of God will be very similar to that issued by Ahasuerus against the Jews in the time of Esther. The Persian edict sprang from the malice of Haman toward Mordecai. Not that Mordecai had done him harm, but he had refused to show him reverence which belongs only to God. The king’s decision against the Jews was secured under false pretenses through misrepresentation of that peculiar people. Satan instigated the scheme in order to rid the earth of those who preserved the knowledge of the true God. But his plots were defeated by a counterpower that reigns among the children of men. Angels that excel in strength were commissioned to protect the people of God, and the plots of their adversaries returned upon their own heads. The Protestant world today see in the little company keeping the Sabbath a Mordecai in the gate. His character and conduct, expressing reverence for the law of God, are a constant rebuke to those who have cast off the fear of the Lord and are trampling upon His Sabbath; the unwelcome intruder must by some means be put out of the way. {5T 450.1}

The same masterful mind that plotted against the faithful in ages past is still seeking to rid the earth of those who fear God and obey His law. Satan will excite indignation against the humble minority who conscientiously refuse to accept popular customs and traditions. Men of position and reputation will join with the lawless and the vile to take counsel against the people of God. Wealth, genius, education, will combine to cover them with contempt. Persecuting rulers, ministers, and church members will conspire against them. With voice and pen, by boasts, threats, and ridicule, they will seek to overthrow their faith. By false representations and angry appeals they will stir up the passions of the people. Not having a “Thus saith the Scriptures” to bring against the advocates of the Bible Sabbath, they will resort to oppressive enactments to supply the lack. To secure popularity and patronage, legislators will yield to the demand for a Sunday law. Those who fear God cannot accept an institution that violates a precept of the Decalogue. On this battlefield comes the last great conflict of the controversy between truth and error. And we are not left in doubt as to the issue. Now, as in the days of Mordecai, the Lord will vindicate His truth and His people. {5T 450.2}

2342-PK 600 Meanwhile conditions in the Medo-Persian realm were rapidly changing. Darius Hystaspes, under whose reign the Jews had been shown marked favor, was succeeded by Xerxes the Great. It was during his reign that those of the Jews who had failed of heeding the message to flee were called upon to face a terrible crisis. Having refused to take advantage of the way of escape God had provided, now they were brought face to face with death. {PK 600.1}

Through Haman the Agagite, an unscrupulous man high in authority in Medo-Persia, Satan worked at this time to counterwork the purposes of God. Haman cherished bitter malice against Mordecai, a Jew. Mordecai had done Haman no harm, but had simply refused to show him worshipful reverence. Scorning to “lay hands on Mordecai alone,” Haman plotted “to destroy all the Jews that were throughout the whole kingdom of Ahasuerus, even the people of Mordecai.” Esther 3:6. {PK 600.2}

Misled by the false statements of Haman, Xerxes was induced to issue a decree providing for the massacre of all the Jews “scattered abroad and dispersed among the people in all the provinces” of the Medo-Persian kingdom. Verse 8. A certain day was appointed on which the Jews were to be destroyed and their property confiscated. Little did the king realize the far-reaching results that would have accompanied the complete carrying out of this decree. Satan himself, the hidden instigator of the scheme, was trying to rid the earth of those who preserved the knowledge of the true God. {PK 600.3}

2343-Esther 3:4 day after day they urged him to give in, but he would not listen to them. "I am a Jew," he explained, "and I cannot bow to Haman." So they told Haman about this, wondering if he would tolerate Mordecai's conduct.

2344-Exodus 1:8 Then, a new king, who knew nothing about Joseph, came to power in Egypt. 9 He said to his people, "These Israelites are so numerous and strong that they are a threat to us. 10 In case of war they might join our enemies in order to fight against us, and might escape from the country. We must find some way to keep them from becoming even more numerous." 11 So the Egyptians put slave drivers over them to crush their spirits with hard labor. The Israelites built the cities of Pithom and Rameses to serve as supply centers for the king. 12 But the more the Egyptians oppressed the Israelites, the more they increased in number and the farther they spread through the land. The Egyptians came to fear the Israelites 13 and made their lives miserable by forcing them into cruel slavery. They made them work on their building projects and in their fields, and they had no pity on them. 15 Then the king of Egypt spoke to Shiphrah and Puah, the two midwives who helped the Hebrew women. 16 "When you help the Hebrew women give birth," he said to them, "kill the baby if it is a boy; but if it is a girl, let it live." 17 But the midwives were God-fearing and so did not obey the king; instead, they let the boys live. 18 So the king sent for the midwives and asked them, "Why are you doing this? Why are you letting the boys live?" 19 They answered, "The Hebrew women are not like Egyptian women; they give birth easily, and their babies are born before either of us gets there." 20 Because the midwives were God-fearing, God was good to them and gave them families of their own. And the Israelites continued to increase and become strong. 22 Finally the king issued a command to all his people: "Take every newborn Hebrew boy and throw him into the Nile, but let all the girls live."

2345-Esther 3:1 Some time later King Xerxes promoted a man named Haman to the position of prime minister. Haman was the son of Hammedatha, a descendant of Agag. 2 The king ordered all the officials in his service to show their respect for Haman by kneeling and bowing to him. They all did so, except for Mordecai, who refused to do it. 3 The other officials in the royal service asked him why he was disobeying the king's command; 4 day after day they urged him to give in, but he would not listen to them. "I am a Jew," he explained, "and I cannot bow to Haman." So they told Haman about this, wondering if he would tolerate Mordecai's conduct. 5 Haman was furious when he realized that Mordecai was not going to kneel and bow to him, 6 and when he learned that Mordecai was a Jew, he decided to do more than punish Mordecai alone. He made plans to kill every Jew in the whole Persian Empire. 7 In the twelfth year of King Xerxes' rule, in the first month, the month of Nisan, Haman ordered the lots to be cast ("purim," they were called) to find out the right day and month to carry out his plot. The thirteenth day of the twelfth month, the month of Adar, was decided on. 8 So Haman told the king, "There is a certain race of people scattered all over your empire and found in every province. They observe customs that are not like those of any other people. Moreover, they do not obey the laws of the empire, so it is not in your best interests to tolerate them. 9 If it please Your Majesty, issue a decree that they are to be put to death. If you do, I guarantee that I will be able to put 375 tons of silver into the royal treasury for the administration of the empire." 10 The king took off his ring, which was used to stamp proclamations and make them official, and gave it to the enemy of the Jewish people, Haman son of Hammedatha, the descendant of Agag. 11 The king told him, "The people and their money are yours; do as you like with them." 12 So on the thirteenth day of the first month Haman called the king's secretaries and dictated a proclamation to be translated into every language and system of writing used in the empire and to be sent to all the rulers, governors, and officials. It was issued in the name of King Xerxes and stamped with his ring. 13 Runners took this proclamation to every province of the empire. It contained the instructions that on a single day, the thirteenth day of Adar, all Jews - young and old, women and children - were to be killed. They were to be slaughtered without mercy and their belongings were to be taken. 14 The contents of the proclamation were to be made public in every province, so that everyone would be prepared when that day came. 15 At the king's command the decree was made public in the capital city of Susa, and runners carried the news to the provinces. The king and Haman sat down and had a drink while the city of Susa was being thrown into confusion.

2346-Exodus 1:15 Then the king of Egypt spoke to Shiphrah and Puah, the two midwives who helped the Hebrew women. 16 "When you help the Hebrew women give birth," he said to them, "kill the baby if it is a boy; but if it is a girl, let it live." 17 But the midwives were God-fearing and so did not obey the king; instead, they let the boys live. 18 So the king sent for the midwives and asked them, "Why are you doing this? Why are you letting the boys live?" 19 They answered, "The Hebrew women are not like Egyptian women; they give birth easily, and their babies are born before either of us gets there." 20 Because the midwives were God-fearing, God was good to them and gave them families of their own. And the Israelites continued to increase and become strong. 22 Finally the king issued a command to all his people: "Take every newborn Hebrew boy and throw him into the Nile, but let all the girls live."

2347-Matthew 2:16 When Herod realized that the visitors from the East had tricked him, he was furious. He gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its neighborhood who were two years old and younger - this was done in accordance with what he had learned from the visitors about the time when the star had appeared. 17 In this way what the prophet Jeremiah had said came true: 18 "A sound is heard in Ramah, the sound of bitter weeping. Rachel is crying for her children; she refuses to be comforted, for they are dead."

2348-Esther 4:15 Esther sent Mordecai this reply: 16 "Go and get all the Jews in Susa together; hold a fast and pray for me. Don't eat or drink anything for three days and nights. My servant women and I will be doing the same. After that, I will go to the king, even though it is against the law. If I must die for doing it, I will die."

2349-Esther 6:1 That same night the king could not get to sleep, so he had the official records of the empire brought and read to him.

Esther 2:19 Meanwhile Mordecai had been appointed by the king to an administrative position. 20 As for Esther, she had still not let it be known that she was Jewish. Mordecai had told her not to tell anyone, and she obeyed him in this, just as she had obeyed him when she was a little girl under his care. 21 During the time that Mordecai held office in the palace, Bigthana and Teresh, two of the palace eunuchs who guarded the entrance to the king's rooms, became hostile to King Xerxes and plotted to assassinate him. 22 Mordecai learned about it and told Queen Esther, who then told the king what Mordecai had found out. 23 There was an investigation, and it was discovered that the report was true, so both men were hanged on the gallows. The king ordered an account of this to be written down in the official records of the empire.

2350-Esther 6:10 Then the king said to Haman, "Hurry and get the robes and the horse, and provide these honors for Mordecai the Jew. Do everything for him that you have suggested. You will find him sitting at the entrance of the palace." 11 So Haman got the robes and the horse, and he put the robes on Mordecai. Mordecai got on the horse, and Haman led him through the city square, announcing to the people as they went: "See how the king rewards a man he wishes to honor!"

2351-Esther 6:12 Mordecai then went back to the palace entrance while Haman hurried home, covering his face in embarrassment. 13 He told his wife and all his friends everything that had happened to him. Then she and those wise friends of his told him, "You are beginning to lose power to Mordecai. He is a Jew, and you cannot overcome him. He will certainly defeat you."

2352-Esther 9:5 So the Jews could do what they wanted with their enemies. They attacked them with swords and slaughtered them. 6 In Susa, the capital city itself, the Jews killed five hundred people.

Esther 9:13 Esther answered, "If it please Your Majesty, let the Jews in Susa do again tomorrow what they were allowed to do today. And have the bodies of Haman's ten sons hung from the gallows." 14 The king ordered this to be done, and the proclamation was issued in Susa. The bodies of Haman's ten sons were publicly displayed. 15 On the fourteenth day of Adar the Jews of Susa got together again and killed three hundred more people in the city. But again, they did no looting.

2353-Joshua 10:12 On the day that the Lord gave the men of Israel victory over the Amorites, Joshua spoke to the Lord. In the presence of the Israelites he said, "Sun, stand still over Gibeon; Moon, stop over Aijalon Valley." 13 The sun stood still and the moon did not move until the nation had conquered its enemies. This is written in The Book of Jashar. The sun stood still in the middle of the sky and did not go down for a whole day. 14 Never before, and never since, has there been a day like it, when the Lord obeyed a human being. The Lord fought on Israel's side!

2354-Esther 1:3 In the third year of his reign he gave a banquet for all his officials and administrators. The armies of Persia and Media were present, as well as the governors and noblemen of the provinces.

Esther 1:14 Those he most often turned to for advice were Carshena, Shethar, Admatha, Tarshish, Meres, Marsena, and Memucan - seven officials of Persia and Media who held the highest offices in the kingdom.

Esther 1:18 When the wives of the royal officials of Persia and Media hear about the queen's behavior, they will be telling their husbands about it before the day is out. Wives everywhere will have no respect for their husbands, and husbands will be angry with their wives. 19 If it please Your Majesty, issue a royal proclamation that Vashti may never again appear before the king. Have it written into the laws of Persia and Media, so that it can never be changed. Then give her place as queen to some better woman.

Esther 10:2 All the great and wonderful things he did, as well as the whole story of how he promoted Mordecai to high office, are recorded in the official records of the kings of Persia and Media.

2355-Job 1:12 "All right," the Lord said to Satan, "everything he has is in your power, but you must not hurt Job himself." So Satan left. 13 One day when Job's children were having a feast at the home of their oldest brother, 14 a messenger came running to Job. "We were plowing the fields with the oxen," he said, "and the donkeys were in a nearby pasture. 15 Suddenly the Sabeans attacked and stole them all. They killed every one of your servants except me. I am the only one who escaped to tell you." 16 Before he had finished speaking, another servant came and said, "Lightning struck the sheep and the shepherds and killed them all. I am the only one who escaped to tell you." 17 Before he had finished speaking, another servant came and said, "Three bands of Chaldean raiders attacked us, took away the camels, and killed all your servants except me. I am the only one who escaped to tell you." 18 Before he had finished speaking, another servant came and said, "Your children were having a feast at the home of your oldest son, 19 when a storm swept in from the desert. It blew the house down and killed them all. I am the only one who escaped to tell you."

Job 1:12 The LORD said to Satan, "Very well, then, everything he has is in your hands, but on the man himself do not lay a finger." Then Satan went out from the presence of the LORD. 13 One day when Job's sons and daughters were feasting and drinking wine at the oldest brother's house, 14 a messenger came to Job and said, "The oxen were plowing and the donkeys were grazing nearby, 15 and the Sabeans attacked and carried them off. They put the servants to the sword, and I am the only one who has escaped to tell you!" 16 While he was still speaking, another messenger came and said, "The fire of God fell from the sky and burned up the sheep and the servants, and I am the only one who has escaped to tell you!" 17 While he was still speaking, another messenger came and said, "The Chaldeans formed three raiding parties and swept down on your camels and carried them off. They put the servants to the sword, and I am the only one who has escaped to tell you!" 18 While he was still speaking, yet another messenger came and said, "Your sons and daughters were feasting and drinking wine at the oldest brother's house, 19 when suddenly a mighty wind swept in from the desert and struck the four corners of the house. It collapsed on them and they are dead, and I am the only one who has escaped to tell you!" NIV

Job 2:3 "Did you notice my servant Job?" the Lord asked. "There is no one on earth as faithful and good as he is. He worships me and is careful not to do anything evil. You persuaded me to let you attack him for no reason at all, but Job is still as faithful as ever."

Job 2:3 Then the LORD said to Satan, "Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil. And he still maintains his integrity, though you incited me against him to ruin him without any reason." NIV

Job 2:6 So the Lord said to Satan, "All right, he is in your power, but you are not to kill him." 7 Then Satan left the Lord's presence and made sores break out all over Job's body. 8 Job went and sat by the garbage dump and took a piece of broken pottery to scrape his sores.

Job 2:6 The LORD said to Satan, "Very well, then, he is in your hands; but you must spare his life." 7 So Satan went out from the presence of the LORD and afflicted Job with painful sores from the soles of his feet to the top of his head. 8 Then Job took a piece of broken pottery and scraped himself with it as he sat among the ashes. NIV

2356-Job 2:3 And the LORD said to Satan, "Have you considered my servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, who fears God and turns away from evil? He still holds fast his integrity, although you moved me against him, to destroy him without cause." RSV

Job 2:6 And the LORD said to Satan, "Behold, he is in your power; only spare his life." RSV

2357-Job 1:6 When the day came for the heavenly beings to appear before the Lord, Satan was there among them.

Job 2:1 When the day came for the heavenly beings to appear before the Lord again, Satan was there among them.

2358-Daniel 7:9 While I was looking, thrones were put in place. One who had been living forever sat down on one of the thrones. His clothes were white as snow, and his hair was like pure wool. His throne, mounted on fiery wheels, was blazing with fire, 10 and a stream of fire was pouring out from it. There were many thousands of people there to serve him, and millions of people stood before him. The court began its session, and the books were opened. 11 While I was looking, I could still hear the little horn bragging and boasting. As I watched, the fourth beast was killed, and its body was thrown into the flames and destroyed. 12 The other beasts had their power taken away, but they were permitted to go on living for a limited time. 13 During this vision in the night, I saw what looked like a human being. He was approaching me, surrounded by clouds, and he went to the one who had been living forever and was presented to him.

2359-Zechariah 3:1 In another vision the Lord showed me the High Priest Joshua standing before the angel of the Lord. And there beside Joshua stood Satan, ready to bring an accusation against him. 2 The angel of the Lord said to Satan, "May the Lord condemn you, Satan! May the Lord, who loves Jerusalem, condemn you. This man is like a stick snatched from the fire." 3 Joshua was standing there, wearing filthy clothes. 4 The angel said to his heavenly attendants, "Take away the filthy clothes this man is wearing." Then he said to Joshua, "I have taken away your sin and will give you new clothes to wear." 5 He commanded the attendants to put a clean turban on Joshua's head. They did so, and then they put the new clothes on him while the angel of the Lord stood there.

2360-Revelation 12:7 Then war broke out in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, who fought back with his angels; 8 but the dragon was defeated, and he and his angels were not allowed to stay in heaven any longer. 9 The huge dragon was thrown out - that ancient serpent, named the Devil, or Satan, that deceived the whole world. He was thrown down to earth, and all his angels with him. 10 Then I heard a loud voice in heaven saying, "Now God's salvation has come! Now God has shown his power as King! Now his Messiah has shown his authority! For the one who stood before our God and accused believers day and night has been thrown out of heaven. 11 They won the victory over him by the blood of the Lamb and by the truth which they proclaimed; and they were willing to give up their lives and die. 12 And so be glad, you heavens, and all you that live there! But how terrible for the earth and the sea! For the Devil has come down to you, and he is filled with rage, because he knows that he has only a little time left."

2361-Ephesians 6:12 For we are not fighting against human beings but against the wicked spiritual forces in the heavenly world, the rulers, authorities, and cosmic powers of this dark age.

2362-Job 22:1 Is there anyone, even the wisest, 2 who could ever be of use to God? 3 Does your doing right benefit God, or does your being good help him at all?

Job 35:6 If you sin, that does no harm to God. If you do wrong many times, does that affect him? 7 Do you help God by being so righteous? There is nothing God needs from you.

2363-Job 1:1 There was a man named Job, living in the land of Uz, who worshiped God and was faithful to him. He was a good man, careful not to do anything evil.

Job 1:8 "Did you notice my servant Job?" the Lord asked. "There is no one on earth as faithful and good as he is. He worships me and is careful not to do anything evil."

Job 2:3 "Did you notice my servant Job?" the Lord asked. "There is no one on earth as faithful and good as he is. He worships me and is careful not to do anything evil. You persuaded me to let you attack him for no reason at all, but Job is still as faithful as ever."

2364-Job 1:9 Satan replied, "Would Job worship you if he got nothing out of it?

Job 2:4 Satan replied, "A person will give up everything in order to stay alive.

2365-Job 1:11 But now suppose you take away everything he has - he will curse you to your face!"

Job 2:5 But now suppose you hurt his body - he will curse you to your face!"

2366-Job 1:1 There was a man named Job, living in the land of Uz, who worshiped God and was faithful to him. He was a good man, careful not to do anything evil.

Job 1:8 "Did you notice my servant Job?" the Lord asked. "There is no one on earth as faithful and good as he is. He worships me and is careful not to do anything evil."

Job 2:3 "Did you notice my servant Job?" the Lord asked. "There is no one on earth as faithful and good as he is. He worships me and is careful not to do anything evil. You persuaded me to let you attack him for no reason at all, but Job is still as faithful as ever."

2367-Job 1:9 Satan replied, "Would Job worship you if he got nothing out of it? 10 You have always protected him and his family and everything he owns. You bless everything he does, and you have given him enough cattle to fill the whole country. 11 But now suppose you take away everything he has - he will curse you to your face!"

Job 2:4 Satan replied, "A person will give up everything in order to stay alive. 5 But now suppose you hurt his body - he will curse you to your face!"

2368-Job 33:15 At night when people are asleep, God speaks in dreams and visions. 16 He makes them listen to what he says, and they are frightened at his warnings. 17 God speaks to make them stop their sinning and to save them from becoming proud. 18 He will not let them be destroyed; he saves them from death itself.

2369-Job 1:13 One day when Job's children were having a feast at the home of their oldest brother, 14 a messenger came running to Job. "We were plowing the fields with the oxen," he said, "and the donkeys were in a nearby pasture. 15 Suddenly the Sabeans attacked and stole them all. They killed every one of your servants except me. I am the only one who escaped to tell you." 16 Before he had finished speaking, another servant came and said, "Lightning struck the sheep and the shepherds and killed them all. I am the only one who escaped to tell you." 17 Before he had finished speaking, another servant came and said, "Three bands of Chaldean raiders attacked us, took away the camels, and killed all your servants except me. I am the only one who escaped to tell you." 18 Before he had finished speaking, another servant came and said, "Your children were having a feast at the home of your oldest son, 19 when a storm swept in from the desert. It blew the house down and killed them all. I am the only one who escaped to tell you."

2370-Job 2:7 Then Satan left the Lord's presence and made sores break out all over Job's body.

2371-Job 2:9 His wife said to him, "You are still as faithful as ever, aren't you? Why don't you curse God and die?"

Job 19:17 My wife can't stand the smell of my breath, and my own brothers won't come near me.

2372-Job 12:4 Even my friends laugh at me now; they laugh, although I am righteous and blameless; but there was a time when God answered my prayers. 5 You have no troubles, and yet you make fun of me; you hit someone who is about to fall.

Job 19:9 He has taken away all my wealth and destroyed my reputation.

Job 30:1 But men younger than I am make fun of me now! Their fathers have always been so worthless that I wouldn't let them help my dogs guard sheep.

Job 30:9 Now they come and laugh at me; I am nothing but a joke to them. 10 They treat me with disgust; they think they are too good for me, and even come and spit in my face.

2373-Job 4:17 "Can anyone be righteous in the sight of God or be pure before his Creator? 18 God does not trust his heavenly servants; he finds fault even with his angels. 19 Do you think he will trust a creature of clay, a thing of dust that can be crushed like a moth?

2374-Job 15:14 Can any human being be really pure? Can anyone be right with God? 15 Why, God does not trust even his angels; even they are not pure in his sight. 16 And we drink evil as if it were water; yes, we are corrupt; we are worthless.

2375-Job 4:19 Do you think he will trust a creature of clay, a thing of dust that can be crushed like a moth?

Job 25:4 Can anyone be righteous or pure in God's sight? 5 In his eyes even the moon is not bright, or the stars pure. 6 Then what about a human being, that worm, that insect? What is a human life worth in God's eyes?

2376-Job 22:1 Is there anyone, even the wisest, 2 who could ever be of use to God? 3 Does your doing right benefit God, or does your being good help him at all?

Job 35:6 If you sin, that does no harm to God. If you do wrong many times, does that affect him? 7 Do you help God by being so righteous? There is nothing God needs from you.

2377-Job 4:7 Think back now. Name a single case where someone righteous met with disaster.

Job 8:20 But God will never abandon the faithful or ever give help to evil people.

Job 11:5 How I wish God would answer you! 6 He would tell you there are many sides to wisdom; there are things too deep for human knowledge. God is punishing you less than you deserve.

Job 11:13 Put your heart right, Job. Reach out to God. 14 Put away evil and wrong from your home.

Job 22:5 No, it's because you have sinned so much; it's because of all the evil you do. 6 To make a brother repay you the money he owed, you took away his clothes and left him nothing to wear. 7 You refused water to those who were tired, and refused to feed those who were hungry. 8 You used your power and your position to take over the whole land. 9 You not only refused to help widows, but you also robbed and mistreated orphans.

Job 34:34 Any sensible person will surely agree; and the wise who hear me will say 35 that Job is speaking from ignorance and that nothing he says makes sense. 36 Think through everything that Job says; you will see that he talks like an evil man.

Job 36:17 But now you are being punished as you deserve.

2378-Job 5:7 No indeed! We bring trouble on ourselves, as surely as sparks fly up from a fire. 8 If I were you, I would turn to God and present my case to him. 9 We cannot understand the great things he does, and to his miracles there is no end. 10 He sends rain on the land and he waters the fields. 11 Yes, it is God who raises the humble and gives joy to all who mourn.

Job 11:7 Can you discover the limits and bounds of the greatness and power of God? 8 The sky is no limit for God, but it lies beyond your reach. God knows the world of the dead, but you do not know it. 9 God's greatness is broader than the earth, wider than the sea. 10 If God arrests you and brings you to trial, who is there to stop him? 11 God knows which people are worthless; he sees all their evil deeds. 12 Stupid people will start being wise when wild donkeys are born tame.

Job 37:20 I won't ask to speak with God; why should I give him a chance to destroy me? 21 And now the light in the sky is dazzling, too bright for us to look at it; and the sky has been swept clean by the wind. 22 A golden glow is seen in the north, and the glory of God fills us with awe. 23 God's power is so great that we cannot come near him; he is righteous and just in his dealings with us. 24 No wonder, then, that everyone is awed by him, and that he ignores those who claim to be wise.

2379-Job 37:20 I won't ask to speak with God; why should I give him a chance to destroy me?

2380-Job 8:6 if you are so honest and pure, then God will come and help you and restore your household as your reward.

Job 11:6 He would tell you there are many sides to wisdom; there are things too deep for human knowledge. God is punishing you less than you deserve.

Job 34:11 He rewards people for what they do and treats them as they deserve.

Job 36:17 But now you are being punished as you deserve.

2381-Job 42:7 After the Lord had finished speaking to Job, he said to Eliphaz, "I am angry with you and your two friends, because you did not speak the truth about me, the way my servant Job did. 8 Now take seven bulls and seven rams to Job and offer them as a sacrifice for yourselves. Job will pray for you, and I will answer his prayer and not disgrace you the way you deserve. You did not speak the truth about me as he did."

2382-Job 5:27 Job, we have learned this by long study. It is true, so now accept it

2383-Job 8:8 Look for a moment at ancient wisdom; consider the truths our ancestors learned. 9 Our life is short, we know nothing at all; we pass like shadows across the earth. 10 But let the ancient wise people teach you; listen to what they had to say:

Job 15:10 We learned our wisdom from gray-haired people - those born before your father.

Job 15:18 Those who are wise have taught me truths which they learned from their ancestors, and they kept no secrets hidden.

Job 20:4 Surely you know that from ancient times, when we humans were first placed on earth, 5 no wicked people have been happy for long.

2384-Job 22:19 Good people are glad and the innocent laugh when they see the wicked punished.

2385-Psalms 58:10 The righteous will be glad when they see sinners punished; they will wade through the blood of the wicked.

2386-Job 9:21 I am innocent, but I no longer care. I am sick of living. 22 Nothing matters; innocent or guilty, God will destroy us. 23 When an innocent person suddenly dies, God laughs.

2387-Job 31:29 I have never been glad when my enemies suffered, or pleased when they met with disaster; 30 I never sinned by praying for their death.

2388-Job 15:4 If you had your way, no one would fear God; no one would pray to him.

2389-Job 35:15 You think that God does not punish, that he pays little attention to sin.

2390-Job 31:11 Such wickedness should be punished by death.

2391-Job 20:26 Everything they have saved is destroyed; a fire not lit by human hands burns them and all their family.

Job 22:20 All that the wicked own is destroyed, and fire burns up anything that is left.

2392-Job 31:12 It would be like a destructive, hellish fire, consuming everything I have.

2393-Job 12:16 God is strong and always victorious; both deceived and deceiver are in his power. 17 He takes away the wisdom of rulers and makes leaders act like fools. 18 He dethrones kings and makes them prisoners; 19 he humbles priests and men of power. 20 He silences those who are trusted, and takes the wisdom of old people away. 21 He disgraces those in power and puts an end to the strength of rulers. 22 He sends light to places dark as death. 23 He makes nations strong and great, but then he defeats and destroys them. 24 He makes their leaders foolish and lets them wander confused and lost; 25 they grope in the dark and stagger like drunkards.

2394-Job 19:6 Can't you see it is God who has done this? He has set a trap to catch me. 7 I protest his violence, but no one is listening; no one hears my cry for justice. 8 God has blocked the way, and I can't get through; he has hidden my path in darkness. 9 He has taken away all my wealth and destroyed my reputation.

2395-Job 21:19 You claim God punishes a child for the sins of his father. No! Let God punish the sinners themselves; let him show that he does it because of [their ]sins. 20 Let sinners bear their own punishment; let them feel the wrath of Almighty God.

2396-Job 6:24 All right, teach me; tell me my faults. I will be quiet and listen to you. 25 Honest words are convincing, but you are talking nonsense.

Job 10:2 Don't condemn me, God. Tell me! What is the charge against me?

2397-Job 10:6 Then why do you track down all my sins and hunt down every fault I have?

Job 14:16 Then you will watch every step I take, but you will not keep track of my sins. 17 You will forgive them and put them away; you will wipe out all the wrongs I have done.

Job 31:33 Others try to hide their sins, but I have never concealed mine.

2398-Job 27:5 I will never say that you men are right; I will insist on my innocence to my dying day. 6 I will never give up my claim to be right; my conscience is clear.

Job 29:7 Whenever the city elders met and I took my place among them, 8 young men stepped aside as soon as they saw me, and old men stood up to show me respect. 9 The leaders of the people would stop talking; 10 even the most important men kept silent. 11 Everyone who saw me or heard of me had good things to say about what I had done. 12 When the poor cried out, I helped them; I gave help to orphans who had nowhere to turn. 13 People who were in deepest misery praised me, and I helped widows find security. 14 I have always acted justly and fairly. 15 I was eyes for the blind, and feet for the lame. 16 I was like a father to the poor and took the side of strangers in trouble. 17 I destroyed the power of cruel men and rescued their victims.

Job 31:5 I swear I have never acted wickedly and never tried to deceive others. 6 Let God weigh me on honest scales, and he will see how innocent I am. 7 If I have turned from the right path or let myself be attracted to evil, if my hands are stained with sin, 8 then let my crops be destroyed, or let others eat the food I grow. 9 If I have been attracted to my neighbor's wife, and waited, hidden, outside her door, 10 then let my wife cook another man's food and sleep in another man's bed. 11 Such wickedness should be punished by death. 12 It would be like a destructive, hellish fire, consuming everything I have. 13 When any of my servants complained against me, I would listen and treat them fairly. 14 If I did not, how could I then face God? What could I say when God came to judge me? 15 The same God who created me created my servants also. 16 I have never refused to help the poor; never have I let widows live in despair 17 or let orphans go hungry while I ate. 18 All my life I have taken care of them. 19 When I found someone in need, too poor to buy clothes, 20 I would give him clothing made of wool that had come from my own flock of sheep. Then he would praise me with all his heart. 21 If I have ever cheated an orphan, knowing I could win in court, 22 then may my arms be broken; may they be torn from my shoulders. 23 Because I fear God's punishment, I could never do such a thing. 24 I have never trusted in riches 25 or taken pride in my wealth. 26 I have never worshiped the sun in its brightness or the moon in all its beauty. 27 I have not been led astray to honor them by kissing my hand in reverence to them. 28 Such a sin should be punished by death; it denies Almighty God. 29 I have never been glad when my enemies suffered, or pleased when they met with disaster; 30 I never sinned by praying for their death. 31 All those who work for me know that I have always welcomed strangers. 32 I invited travelers into my home and never let them sleep in the streets. 33 Others try to hide their sins, but I have never concealed mine. 34 I have never feared what people would say; I have never kept quiet or stayed indoors because I feared their scorn. 35 Will no one listen to what I am saying? I swear that every word is true. Let Almighty God answer me. If the charges my opponent brings against me were written down so that I could see them, 36 I would wear them proudly on my shoulder and place them on my head like a crown. 37 I would tell God everything I have done, and hold my head high in his presence. 38 If I have stolen the land I farm and taken it from its rightful owners - 39 if I have eaten the food that grew there but let the farmers that grew it starve - 40 then instead of wheat and barley, may weeds and thistles grow. The words of Job are ended.

Job 33:8 Now this is what I heard you say: 9 "I am not guilty; I have done nothing wrong. I am innocent and free from sin.

Job 34:5 Job claims that he is innocent, that God refuses to give him justice. 6 He asks, "How could I lie and say I am wrong? I am fatally wounded, but I am sinless."

2399-Job 6:8 Why won't God give me what I ask? Why won't he answer my prayer?

Job 13:3 But my dispute is with God, not you; I want to argue my case with him.

Job 13:19 Are you coming to accuse me, God? If you do, I am ready to be silent and die. 20 Let me ask for two things; agree to them, and I will not try to hide from you: 21 stop punishing me, and don't crush me with terror. 22 Speak first, O God, and I will answer. Or let me speak, and you answer me. 23 What are my sins? What wrongs have I done? What crimes am I charged with? 24 Why do you avoid me? Why do you treat me like an enemy? 25 Are you trying to frighten me? I'm nothing but a leaf; you are attacking a piece of dry straw. 26 You bring bitter charges against me, even for what I did when I was young. 27 You bind chains on my feet; you watch every step I take, and even examine my footprints.

Job 23:1 I still rebel and complain against God; 2 I cannot keep from groaning. 3 How I wish I knew where to find him, and knew how to go where he is. 4 I would state my case before him and present all the arguments in my favor. 5 I want to know what he would say and how he would answer me. 6 Would God use all his strength against me? No, he would listen as I spoke. 7 I am honest; I could reason with God; he would declare me innocent once and for all. 8 I have searched in the East, but God is not there; I have not found him when I searched in the West. 9 God has been at work in the North and the South, but still I have not seen him. 10 Yet God knows every step I take; if he tests me, he will find me pure. 11 I follow faithfully the road he chooses, and never wander to either side. 12 I always do what God commands; I follow his will, not my own desires. 13 He never changes. No one can oppose him or stop him from doing what he wants to do. 14 He will fulfill what he has planned for me; that plan is just one of the many he has; 15 I tremble with fear before him. 16 Almighty God has destroyed my courage. It is God, not the dark, that makes me afraid - even though the darkness has made me blind.

2400-Job 29:1 Job began speaking again. 2 If only my life could once again be as it was when God watched over me. 3 God was always with me then and gave me light as I walked through the darkness. 4 Those were the days when I was prosperous, and the friendship of God protected my home. 5 Almighty God was with me then, and I was surrounded by all my children. 6 My cows and goats gave plenty of milk, and my olive trees grew in the rockiest soil. 7 Whenever the city elders met and I took my place among them, 8 young men stepped aside as soon as they saw me, and old men stood up to show me respect. 9 The leaders of the people would stop talking; 10 even the most important men kept silent. 11 Everyone who saw me or heard of me had good things to say about what I had done. 12 When the poor cried out, I helped them; I gave help to orphans who had nowhere to turn. 13 People who were in deepest misery praised me, and I helped widows find security. 14 I have always acted justly and fairly. 15 I was eyes for the blind, and feet for the lame. 16 I was like a father to the poor and took the side of strangers in trouble. 17 I destroyed the power of cruel men and rescued their victims. 18 I always expected to live a long life and to die at home in comfort. 19 I was like a tree whose roots always have water and whose branches are wet with dew. 20 Everyone was always praising me, and my strength never failed me. 21 When I gave advice, people were silent and listened carefully to what I said; 22 they had nothing to add when I had finished. My words sank in like drops of rain; 23 everyone welcomed them just as farmers welcome rain in spring. 24 I smiled on them when they had lost confidence; my cheerful face encouraged them. 25 I took charge and made the decisions; I led them as a king leads his troops, and gave them comfort in their despair.

Job 3:1 But men younger than I am make fun of me now! Their fathers have always been so worthless that I wouldn't let them help my dogs guard sheep. 2 They were a bunch of worn-out men, too weak to do any work for me. 3 They were so poor and hungry that they would gnaw dry roots - at night, in wild, desolate places. 4 They pulled up the plants of the desert and ate them, even the tasteless roots of the broom tree! 5 Everyone drove them away with shouts, as if they were shouting at thieves. 6 They had to live in caves, in holes dug in the sides of cliffs. 7 Out in the wilds they howled like animals and huddled together under the bushes. 8 A worthless bunch of nameless nobodies! They were driven out of the land. 9 Now they come and laugh at me; I am nothing but a joke to them. 10 They treat me with disgust; they think they are too good for me, and even come and spit in my face. 11 Because God has made me weak and helpless, they turn against me with all their fury. 12 This mob attacks me head-on; they send me running; they prepare their final assault. 13 They cut off my escape and try to destroy me; and there is no one to stop them. 14 They pour through the holes in my defenses and come crashing down on top of me; 15 I am overcome with terror; my dignity is gone like a puff of wind, and my prosperity like a cloud. 16 Now I am about to die; there is no relief for my suffering. 17 At night my bones all ache; the pain that gnaws me never stops. 18 God seizes me by my collar and twists my clothes out of shape. 19 He throws me down in the mud; I am no better than dirt. 20 I call to you, O God, but you never answer; and when I pray, you pay no attention. 21 You are treating me cruelly; you persecute me with all your power. 22 You let the wind blow me away; you toss me about in a raging storm. 23 I know you are taking me off to my death, to the fate in store for everyone. 24 Why do you attack a ruined man, one who can do nothing but beg for pity? 25 Didn't I weep with people in trouble and feel sorry for those in need? 26 I hoped for happiness and light, but trouble and darkness came instead. 27 I am torn apart by worry and pain; I have had day after day of suffering. 28 I go about in gloom, without any sunshine; I stand up in public and plead for help. 29 My voice is as sad and lonely as the cries of a jackal or an ostrich. 30 My skin has turned dark; I am burning with fever. 31 Where once I heard joyful music, now I hear only mourning and weeping.

2401-Job 38:1 Then out of the storm the Lord spoke to Job. 2 Who are you to question my wisdom with your ignorant, empty words? 3 Now stand up straight and answer the questions I ask you. 4 Were you there when I made the world? If you know so much, tell me about it. 5 Who decided how large it would be? Who stretched the measuring line over it? Do you know all the answers? 6 What holds up the pillars that support the earth? Who laid the cornerstone of the world? 7 In the dawn of that day the stars sang together, and the heavenly beings shouted for joy. 8 Who closed the gates to hold back the sea when it burst from the womb of the earth? 9 It was I who covered the sea with clouds and wrapped it in darkness. 10 I marked a boundary for the sea and kept it behind bolted gates. 11 I told it, "So far and no farther! Here your powerful waves must stop." 12 Job, have you ever in all your life commanded a day to dawn? 13 Have you ordered the dawn to seize the earth and shake the wicked from their hiding places? 14 Daylight makes the hills and valleys stand out like the folds of a garment, clear as the imprint of a seal on clay. 15 The light of day is too bright for the wicked and restrains them from doing violence. 16 Have you been to the springs in the depths of the sea? Have you walked on the floor of the ocean? 17 Has anyone ever shown you the gates that guard the dark world of the dead? 18 Have you any idea how big the world is? Answer me if you know. 19 Do you know where the light comes from or what the source of darkness is? 20 Can you show them how far to go, or send them back again? 21 I am sure you can, because you're so old and were there when the world was made! 22 Have you ever visited the storerooms, where I keep the snow and the hail? 23 I keep them ready for times of trouble, for days of battle and war. 24 Have you been to the place where the sun comes up, or the place from which the east wind blows? 25 Who dug a channel for the pouring rain and cleared the way for the thunderstorm? 26 Who makes rain fall where no one lives? 27 Who waters the dry and thirsty land, so that grass springs up? 28 Does either the rain or the dew have a father? 29 Who is the mother of the ice and the frost, 30 which turn the waters to stone and freeze the face of the sea? 31 Can you tie the Pleiades together or loosen the bonds that hold Orion? 32 Can you guide the stars season by season and direct the Big and the Little Dipper? 33 Do you know the laws that govern the skies, and can you make them apply to the earth? 34 Can you shout orders to the clouds and make them drench you with rain? 35 And if you command the lightning to flash, will it come to you and say, "At your service"? 36 Who tells the ibis when the Nile will flood, or who tells the rooster that rain will fall? 37 Who is wise enough to count the clouds and tilt them over to pour out the rain, 38 rain that hardens the dust into lumps? 39 Do you find food for lions to eat, and satisfy hungry young lions 40 when they hide in their caves, or lie in wait in their dens? 41 Who is it that feeds the ravens when they wander about hungry, when their young cry to me for food?

Job 39:1 Do you know when mountain goats are born? Have you watched wild deer give birth? 2 Do you know how long they carry their young? Do you know the time for their birth? 3 Do you know when they will crouch down and bring their young into the world? 4 In the wilds their young grow strong; they go away and don't come back. 5 Who gave the wild donkeys their freedom? Who turned them loose and let them roam? 6 I gave them the desert to be their home, and let them live on the salt plains. 7 They keep far away from the noisy cities, and no one can tame them and make them work. 8 The mountains are the pastures where they feed, where they search for anything green to eat. 9 Will a wild ox work for you? Is he willing to spend the night in your stable? 10 Can you hold one with a rope and make him plow? Or make him pull a harrow in your fields? 11 Can you rely on his great strength and expect him to do your heavy work? 12 Do you expect him to bring in your harvest and gather the grain from your threshing place? 13 How fast the wings of an ostrich beat! But no ostrich can fly like a stork. 14 The ostrich leaves her eggs on the ground for the heat in the soil to warm them. 15 She is unaware that a foot may crush them or a wild animal break them. 16 She acts as if the eggs were not hers, and is unconcerned that her efforts were wasted. 17 It was I who made her foolish and did not give her wisdom. 18 But when she begins to run, she can laugh at any horse and rider. 19 Was it you, Job, who made horses so strong and gave them their flowing manes? 20 Did you make them leap like locusts and frighten people with their snorting? 21 They eagerly paw the ground in the valley; they rush into battle with all their strength. 22 They do not know the meaning of fear, and no sword can turn them back. 23 The weapons which their riders carry rattle and flash in the sun. 24 Trembling with excitement, the horses race ahead; when the trumpet blows, they can't stand still. 25 At each blast of the trumpet they snort; they can smell a battle before they get near, and they hear the officers shouting commands. 26 Does a hawk learn from you how to fly when it spreads its wings toward the south? 27 Does an eagle wait for your command to build its nest high in the mountains? 28 It makes its home on the highest rocks and makes the sharp peaks its fortress. 29 From there it watches near and far for something to kill and eat. 30 Around dead bodies the eagles gather, and the young eagles drink the blood.

Job 40:1 Job, you challenged Almighty God; will you give up now, or will you answer? 3 I spoke foolishly, Lord. What can I answer? I will not try to say anything else. 5 I have already said more than I should. 6 Then out of the storm the Lord spoke to Job once again. 7 Now stand up straight and answer my questions. 8 Are you trying to prove that I am unjust - to put me in the wrong and yourself in the right? 9 Are you as strong as I am? Can your voice thunder as loud as mine? 10 If so, stand up in your honor and pride; clothe yourself with majesty and glory. 11 Look at those who are proud; pour out your anger and humble them. 12 Yes, look at them and bring them down; crush the wicked where they stand. 13 Bury them all in the ground; bind them in the world of the dead. 14 Then I will be the first to praise you and admit that you won the victory yourself. 15 Look at the monster Behemoth; I created him and I created you. He eats grass like a cow, 16 but what strength there is in his body, and what power there is in his muscles! 17 His tail stands up like a cedar, and the muscles in his legs are strong. 18 His bones are as strong as bronze, and his legs are like iron bars. 19 The most amazing of all my creatures! Only his Creator can defeat him. 20 Grass to feed him grows on the hills where wild beasts play. 21 He lies down under the thorn bushes, and hides among the reeds in the swamp. 22 The thorn bushes and the willows by the stream give him shelter in their shade.

2402-Job 40:3 I spoke foolishly, Lord. What can I answer? I will not try to say anything else. 5 I have already said more than I should.

Job 42:2 I know, Lord, that you are all-powerful; that you can do everything you want. 3 You ask how I dare question your wisdom when I am so very ignorant. I talked about things I did not understand, about marvels too great for me to know.

2403-Job 40:3 I spoke foolishly, Lord. What can I answer? I will not try to say anything else. 5 I have already said more than I should. 6 Then out of the storm the Lord spoke to Job once again. 7 Now stand up straight and answer my questions. 8 Are you trying to prove that I am unjust - to put me in the wrong and yourself in the right? 9 Are you as strong as I am? Can your voice thunder as loud as mine? 10 If so, stand up in your honor and pride; clothe yourself with majesty and glory. 11 Look at those who are proud; pour out your anger and humble them. 12 Yes, look at them and bring them down; crush the wicked where they stand. 13 Bury them all in the ground; bind them in the world of the dead. 14 Then I will be the first to praise you and admit that you won the victory yourself. 15 Look at the monster Behemoth; I created him and I created you. He eats grass like a cow, 16 but what strength there is in his body, and what power there is in his muscles! 17 His tail stands up like a cedar, and the muscles in his legs are strong. 18 His bones are as strong as bronze, and his legs are like iron bars. 19 The most amazing of all my creatures! Only his Creator can defeat him. 20 Grass to feed him grows on the hills where wild beasts play. 21 He lies down under the thorn bushes, and hides among the reeds in the swamp. 22 The thorn bushes and the willows by the stream give him shelter in their shade.

Job 41:1 Can you catch Leviathan with a fishhook or tie his tongue down with a rope? 2 Can you put a rope through his snout or put a hook through his jaws? 3 Will he beg you to let him go? Will he plead with you for mercy? 4 Will he make an agreement with you and promise to serve you forever? 5 Will you tie him like a pet bird, like something to amuse your servant women? 6 Will fishermen bargain over him? Will merchants cut him up to sell? 7 Can you fill his hide with fishing spears or pierce his head with a harpoon? 8 Touch him once and you'll never try it again; you'll never forget the fight! 9 Anyone who sees Leviathan loses courage and falls to the ground. 10 When he is aroused, he is fierce; no one would dare to stand before him. 11 Who can attack him and still be safe? No one in all the world can do it. 12 Let me tell you about Leviathan's legs and describe how great and strong he is. 13 No one can tear off his outer coat or pierce the armor he wears. 14 Who can make him open his jaws, ringed with those terrifying teeth? 15 His back is made of rows of shields, fastened together and hard as stone. 16 Each one is joined so tight to the next, not even a breath can come between. 17 They all are fastened so firmly together that nothing can ever pull them apart. 18 Light flashes when he sneezes, and his eyes glow like the rising sun. 19 Flames blaze from his mouth, and streams of sparks fly out. 20 Smoke comes pouring out of his nose, like smoke from weeds burning under a pot. 21 His breath starts fires burning; flames leap out of his mouth. 22 His neck is so powerful that all who meet him are terrified. 23 There is not a weak spot in his skin; it is as hard and unyielding as iron. 24 His stony heart is without fear, as unyielding and hard as a millstone. 25 When he rises up, even the strongest are frightened; they are helpless with fear. 26 There is no sword that can wound him; no spear or arrow or lance that can harm him. 27 For him iron is as flimsy as straw, and bronze as soft as rotten wood. 28 There is no arrow that can make him run; rocks thrown at him are like bits of straw. 29 To him a club is a piece of straw, and he laughs when men throw spears. 30 The scales on his belly are like jagged pieces of pottery; they tear up the muddy ground like a threshing sledge. 31 He churns up the sea like boiling water and makes it bubble like a pot of oil. 32 He leaves a shining path behind him and turns the sea to white foam. 33 There is nothing on earth to compare with him; he is a creature that has no fear. 34 He looks down on even the proudest animals; he is king of all wild beasts.

2404-Job 42:1 Then Job answered the Lord. 2 I know, Lord, that you are all-powerful; that you can do everything you want. 3 You ask how I dare question your wisdom when I am so very ignorant. I talked about things I did not understand, about marvels too great for me to know. 4 You told me to listen while you spoke and to try to answer your questions. 5 In the past I knew only what others had told me, but now I have seen you with my own eyes. 6 So I am ashamed of all I have said and repent in dust and ashes.

2405-Job 4:19 Do you think he will trust a creature of clay, a thing of dust that can be crushed like a moth? 20 We may be alive in the morning, but die unnoticed before evening comes.

Job 5:9 We cannot understand the great things he does, and to his miracles there is no end.

Job 9:10 We cannot understand the great things he does, and to his miracles there is no end.

Job 35:6 If you sin, that does no harm to God. If you do wrong many times, does that affect him? 7 Do you help God by being so righteous? There is nothing God needs from you. 8 Others suffer from your sins, and the good you do helps them.

2406-Job 4:12 Once a message came quietly, so quietly I could hardly hear it. 13 Like a nightmare it disturbed my sleep. 14 I trembled and shuddered; my whole body shook with fear. 15 A light breeze touched my face, and my skin crawled with fright. 16 I could see something standing there; I stared, but couldn't tell what it was. Then I heard a voice out of the silence: 17 "Can anyone be righteous in the sight of God or be pure before his Creator? 18 God does not trust his heavenly servants; he finds fault even with his angels. 19 Do you think he will trust a creature of clay, a thing of dust that can be crushed like a moth? 20 We may be alive in the morning, but die unnoticed before evening comes. 21 All that we have is taken away; we die, still lacking wisdom."

Job 15:14 Can any human being be really pure? Can anyone be right with God? 15 Why, God does not trust even his angels; even they are not pure in his sight. 16 And we drink evil as if it were water; yes, we are corrupt; we are worthless.

Job 25:4 Can anyone be righteous or pure in God's sight? 5 In his eyes even the moon is not bright, or the stars pure. 6 Then what about a human being, that worm, that insect? What is a human life worth in God's eyes?

2407-Job 6:8 Why won't God give me what I ask? Why won't he answer my prayer?

Job 10:2 Don't condemn me, God. Tell me! What is the charge against me?

Job 13:3 But my dispute is with God, not you; I want to argue my case with him.

Job 13:22 Speak first, O God, and I will answer. Or let me speak, and you answer me. 23 What are my sins? What wrongs have I done? What crimes am I charged with? 24 Why do you avoid me? Why do you treat me like an enemy?

2408-Job 4:8 I have seen people plow fields of evil and plant wickedness like seed; now they harvest wickedness and evil. 9 Like a storm, God destroys them in his anger. 10 The wicked roar and growl like lions, but God silences them and breaks their teeth. 11 Like lions with nothing to kill and eat, they die, and all their children are scattered.

Job 11:13 Put your heart right, Job. Reach out to God. 14 Put away evil and wrong from your home. 15 Then face the world again, firm and courageous. 16 Then all your troubles will fade from your memory, like floods that are past and remembered no more.

2409-Job 6:10 If I knew he would, I would leap for joy, no matter how great my pain. I know that God is holy; I have never opposed what he commands.

Job 13:22 Speak first, O God, and I will answer. Or let me speak, and you answer me. 23 What are my sins? What wrongs have I done? What crimes am I charged with?

Job 27:1 I swear by the living Almighty God, 2 who refuses me justice and makes my life bitter - 3 as long as God gives me breath, 4 my lips will never say anything evil, my tongue will never tell a lie. 5 I will never say that you men are right; I will insist on my innocence to my dying day. 6 I will never give up my claim to be right; my conscience is clear.

Job 29:14 I have always acted justly and fairly. 15 I was eyes for the blind, and feet for the lame. 16 I was like a father to the poor and took the side of strangers in trouble. 17 I destroyed the power of cruel men and rescued their victims.

Job 31:1 I have made a solemn promise never to look with lust at a woman. 2 What does Almighty God do to us? How does he repay human deeds? 3 He sends disaster and ruin to those who do wrong. 4 God knows everything I do; he sees every step I take. 5 I swear I have never acted wickedly and never tried to deceive others. 6 Let God weigh me on honest scales, and he will see how innocent I am. 7 If I have turned from the right path or let myself be attracted to evil, if my hands are stained with sin, 8 then let my crops be destroyed, or let others eat the food I grow. 9 If I have been attracted to my neighbor's wife, and waited, hidden, outside her door, 10 then let my wife cook another man's food and sleep in another man's bed. 11 Such wickedness should be punished by death. 12 It would be like a destructive, hellish fire, consuming everything I have. 13 When any of my servants complained against me, I would listen and treat them fairly. 14 If I did not, how could I then face God? What could I say when God came to judge me? 15 The same God who created me created my servants also. 16 I have never refused to help the poor; never have I let widows live in despair 17 or let orphans go hungry while I ate. 18 All my life I have taken care of them. 19 When I found someone in need, too poor to buy clothes, 20 I would give him clothing made of wool that had come from my own flock of sheep. Then he would praise me with all his heart. 21 If I have ever cheated an orphan, knowing I could win in court, 22 then may my arms be broken; may they be torn from my shoulders. 23 Because I fear God's punishment, I could never do such a thing. 24 I have never trusted in riches 25 or taken pride in my wealth. 26 I have never worshiped the sun in its brightness or the moon in all its beauty. 27 I have not been led astray to honor them by kissing my hand in reverence to them. 28 Such a sin should be punished by death; it denies Almighty God. 29 I have never been glad when my enemies suffered, or pleased when they met with disaster; 30 I never sinned by praying for their death. 31 All those who work for me know that I have always welcomed strangers. 32 I invited travelers into my home and never let them sleep in the streets. 33 Others try to hide their sins, but I have never concealed mine. 34 I have never feared what people would say; I have never kept quiet or stayed indoors because I feared their scorn. 35 Will no one listen to what I am saying? I swear that every word is true. Let Almighty God answer me. If the charges my opponent brings against me were written down so that I could see them, 36 I would wear them proudly on my shoulder and place them on my head like a crown. 37 I would tell God everything I have done, and hold my head high in his presence. 38 If I have stolen the land I farm and taken it from its rightful owners - 39 if I have eaten the food that grew there but let the farmers that grew it starve - 40 then instead of wheat and barley, may weeds and thistles grow. The words of Job are ended.

2410-Job 22:23 Yes, you must humbly return to God and put an end to all the evil that is done in your house.

Job 34:34 Any sensible person will surely agree; and the wise who hear me will say 35 that Job is speaking from ignorance and that nothing he says makes sense. 36 Think through everything that Job says; you will see that he talks like an evil man.

2411-Job 11:6 He would tell you there are many sides to wisdom; there are things too deep for human knowledge. God is punishing you less than you deserve.

Job 36:17 But now you are being punished as you deserve.

Job 8:4 Your children must have sinned against God, and so he punished them as they deserved.

Job 34:11 He rewards people for what they do and treats them as they deserve.

2412-Job 13:22 Then call, and I will answer; or let me speak, and do thou reply to me. 23 How many are my iniquities and my sins? Make me know my transgression and my sin. 24 Why dost thou hide thy face, and count me as thy enemy? 25 Wilt thou frighten a driven leaf and pursue dry chaff? 26 For thou writest bitter things against me, and makest me inherit the iniquities of my youth. 27 Thou puttest my feet in the stocks, and watchest all my paths; thou settest a bound to the soles of my feet. 28 Man wastes away like a rotten thing, like a garment that is moth-eaten.

Job 23:17 for I am hemmed in by darkness, and thick darkness covers my face.

2413-Job 37:20 I won't ask to speak with God; why should I give him a chance to destroy me?

2414-Job 42:7 After the Lord had finished speaking to Job, he said to Eliphaz, "I am angry with you and your two friends, because you did not speak the truth about me, the way my servant Job did. 8 Now take seven bulls and seven rams to Job and offer them as a sacrifice for yourselves. Job will pray for you, and I will answer his prayer and not disgrace you the way you deserve. You did not speak the truth about me as he did."

2415-Job 42:7 After the Lord had finished speaking to Job, he said to Eliphaz, "I am angry with you and your two friends, because you did not speak the truth about me, the way my servant Job did. 8 Now take seven bulls and seven rams to Job and offer them as a sacrifice for yourselves. Job will pray for you, and I will answer his prayer and not disgrace you the way you deserve. You did not speak the truth about me as he did." 9 Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar did what the Lord had told them to do, and the Lord answered Job's prayer. 10 Then, after Job had prayed for his three friends, the Lord made him prosperous again and gave him twice as much as he had had before.

2416-Job 42:16 Job lived a hundred and forty years after this, long enough to see his grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

2417-Job 1:5 The morning after each feast, Job would get up early and offer sacrifices for each of his children in order to purify them. He always did this because he thought that one of them might have sinned by insulting God unintentionally.

2418-Numbers 3:5 The Lord said to Moses, 6 "Bring forward the tribe of Levi and appoint them as servants of Aaron the priest. 7 They shall do the work required for the Tent of my presence and perform duties for the priests and for the whole community. 8 They shall take charge of all the equipment of the Tent and perform the duties for the rest of the Israelites. 9 The only responsibility the Levites have is to serve Aaron and his sons. 10 You shall appoint Aaron and his sons to carry out the duties of the priesthood; anyone else who tries to do so shall be put to death." 11 The Lord said to Moses, 12 "The Levites are now to be mine. When I killed all the first-born of the Egyptians, I consecrated as my own the oldest son of each Israelite family and the first-born of every animal. Now, instead of having the first-born sons of Israel as my own, I have the Levites; they will belong to me. I am the Lord." 14 In the Sinai Desert the Lord commanded Moses 15 to register the Levites by clans and families, enrolling every male a month old or older, 16 and Moses did so. 17 Levi had three sons: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari, who were the ancestors of the clans that bear their names. Gershon had two sons: Libni and Shimei; Kohath had four sons: Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel; and Merari had two sons: Mahli and Mushi. They were the ancestors of the families that bear their names. 21 The clan of Gershon was composed of the families of Libni and Shimei. 22 The total number of males one month old or older that were enrolled was 7,500. 23 This clan was to camp on the west behind the Tent, 24 with Eliasaph son of Lael as chief of the clan. 25 They were responsible for the Tent, its inner cover, its outer cover, the curtain for the entrance, 26 the curtains for the court which is around the Tent and the altar, and the curtain for the entrance of the court. They were responsible for all the service connected with these items. 27 The clan of Kohath was composed of the families of Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel. 28 The total number of males one month old or older that were enrolled was 8,600. 29 This clan was to camp on the south side of the Tent, 30 with Elizaphan son of Uzziel as chief of the clan. 31 They were responsible for the Covenant Box, the table, the lampstand, the altars, the utensils the priests use in the Holy Place, and the curtain at the entrance to the Most Holy Place. They were responsible for all the service connected with these items. 32 The chief of the Levites was Eleazar son of Aaron the priest. He was in charge of those who carried out the duties in the Holy Place. 33 The clan of Merari was composed of the families of Mahli and Mushi. 34 The total number of males one month old or older that were enrolled was 6,200. 35 This clan was to camp on the north side of the Tent, with Zuriel son of Abihail as chief of the clan. 36 They were assigned responsibility for the frames for the Tent, its bars, posts, bases, and all its fittings. They were responsible for all the service connected with these items. 37 They were also responsible for the posts, bases, pegs, and ropes for the outer court. 38 Moses and Aaron and his sons were to camp in front of the Tent on the east. They were responsible for carrying out the services performed in the Holy Place for the people of Israel. Anyone else who tried to do so was to be put to death. 39 The total number of all the Levite males one month old or older that Moses enrolled by clans at the command of the Lord, was 22,000. 40 The Lord said to Moses, "All of Israel's first-born sons belong to me. So register by name every first-born male Israelite, one month old or older. But in place of them I claim all the Levites as mine! I am the Lord! I also claim the livestock of the Levites in place of all the first-born of the livestock." 42 Moses obeyed, and registered all the first-born males 43 one month old or older; the total was 22,273. 44 The Lord said to Moses, 45 "Now dedicate the Levites as mine in place of all the first-born Israelite sons, and dedicate the livestock of the Levites in place of the first-born of the Israelites' livestock. 46 Since the first-born Israelite sons outnumber the Levites by 273, you must buy back the extra sons. 47 For each one pay five pieces of silver, according to the official standard, 48 and give this money to Aaron and his sons." 49 Moses obeyed and took 50 the 1,365 pieces of silver 51 and gave them to Aaron and his sons.

2419-Job 1:3 and owned seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, one thousand head of cattle, and five hundred donkeys. He also had a large number of servants and was the richest man in the East.

Job 42:12 The Lord blessed the last part of Job's life even more than he had blessed the first. Job owned fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels, two thousand head of cattle, and one thousand donkeys.

2420-Genesis 12:16 Because of her the king treated Abram well and gave him flocks of sheep and goats, cattle, donkeys, slaves, and camels.

Genesis 13:2 Abram was a very rich man, with sheep, goats, and cattle, as well as silver and gold.

Genesis 30:43 In this way Jacob became very wealthy. He had many flocks, slaves, camels, and donkeys.

Genesis 32:5 I own cattle, donkeys, sheep, goats, and slaves. I am sending you word, sir, in the hope of gaining your favor."

2421-Job 1:15 Suddenly the Sabeans attacked and stole them all. They killed every one of your servants except me. I am the only one who escaped to tell you."

Job 1:17 Before he had finished speaking, another servant came and said, "Three bands of Chaldean raiders attacked us, took away the camels, and killed all your servants except me. I am the only one who escaped to tell you."

2422-Job 42:15 Suddenly the Sabeans attacked and stole them all. They killed every one of your servants except me. I am the only one who escaped to tell you."

Job 1:17 Before he had finished speaking, another servant came and said, "Three bands of Chaldean raiders attacked us, took away the camels, and killed all your servants except me. I am the only one who escaped to tell you."

2423-Genesis 33:19 He bought that part of the field from the descendants of Hamor father of Shechem for a hundred pieces of silver.

2424-Joshua 24:32 The body of Joseph, which the people of Israel had brought from Egypt, was buried at Shechem, in the piece of land that Jacob had bought from the sons of Hamor, the father of Shechem, for a hundred pieces of silver. This land was inherited by Joseph's descendants.

2425-Exodus 3:14 God said, "I am who I am. You must tell them: "The one who is called I AM has sent me to you.' 15 Tell the Israelites that I, the Lord, the God of their ancestors, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, have sent you to them. This is my name forever; this is what all future generations are to call me.

Exodus 6:2 God spoke to Moses and said, "I am the Lord.

2426-Ecclesiastes10 Whatever has come to be has already been named, and it is known what man is, and that he is not able to dispute with one stronger than he. 11 The more words, the more vanity, and what is man the better?

2427-Ezekiel 14:14 even if these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, they would deliver but their own lives by their righteousness, says the Lord GOD. 15 If I cause wild beasts to pass through the land, and they ravage it, and it be made desolate, so that no man may pass through because of the beasts; 16 even if these three men were in it, as I live, says the Lord GOD, they would deliver neither sons nor daughters; they alone would be delivered, but the land would be desolate. 17 Or if I bring a sword upon that land, and say, Let a sword go through the land; and I cut off from it man and beast; 18 though these three men were in it, as I live, says the Lord GOD, they would deliver neither sons nor daughters, but they alone would be delivered. 19 Or if I send a pestilence into that land, and pour out my wrath upon it with blood, to cut off from it man and beast; 20 even if Noah, Daniel, and Job were in it, as I live, says the Lord GOD, they would deliver neither son nor daughter; they would deliver but their own lives by their righteousness.

2428-James 5:11 Behold, we call those happy who were steadfast. You have heard of the steadfastness of Job, and you have seen the purpose of the Lord, how the Lord is compassionate and merciful.

2429-Job 1:1 There was a man named Job, living in the land of Uz, who worshiped God and was faithful to him. He was a good man, careful not to do anything evil.

Job 1:19 when a storm swept in from the desert. It blew the house down and killed them all. I am the only one who escaped to tell you."

2430-Job 42:16 Job lived a hundred and forty years after this, long enough to see his grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

2431-Job 1:3 and owned seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, one thousand head of cattle, and five hundred donkeys. He also had a large number of servants and was the richest man in the East.

Job 1:10 You have always protected him and his family and everything he owns. You bless everything he does, and you have given him enough cattle to fill the whole country.

2432-Job 1:4 Job's sons used to take turns giving a feast, to which all the others would come, and they always invited their three sisters to join them.

Job 29:7 Whenever the city elders met and I took my place among them,

2433-Job 29:7 Whenever the city elders met and I took my place among them, 8 young men stepped aside as soon as they saw me, and old men stood up to show me respect. 9 The leaders of the people would stop talking; 10 even the most important men kept silent. 11 Everyone who saw me or heard of me had good things to say about what I had done. 12 When the poor cried out, I helped them; I gave help to orphans who had nowhere to turn. 13 People who were in deepest misery praised me, and I helped widows find security. 14 I have always acted justly and fairly. 15 I was eyes for the blind, and feet for the lame. 16 I was like a father to the poor and took the side of strangers in trouble. 17 I destroyed the power of cruel men and rescued their victims. 18 I always expected to live a long life and to die at home in comfort. 19 I was like a tree whose roots always have water and whose branches are wet with dew. 20 Everyone was always praising me, and my strength never failed me. 21 When I gave advice, people were silent and listened carefully to what I said; 22 they had nothing to add when I had finished. My words sank in like drops of rain; 23 everyone welcomed them just as farmers welcome rain in spring. 24 I smiled on them when they had lost confidence; my cheerful face encouraged them. 25 I took charge and made the decisions; I led them as a king leads his troops, and gave them comfort in their despair.

2434-Job 1:1 There was a man named Job, living in the land of Uz, who worshiped God and was faithful to him. He was a good man, careful not to do anything evil.

Job 1:5 The morning after each feast, Job would get up early and offer sacrifices for each of his children in order to purify them. He always did this because he thought that one of them might have sinned by insulting God unintentionally.

Job 1:8 "Did you notice my servant Job?" the Lord asked. "There is no one on earth as faithful and good as he is. He worships me and is careful not to do anything evil."

Job 2:3 "Did you notice my servant Job?" the Lord asked. "There is no one on earth as faithful and good as he is. He worships me and is careful not to do anything evil. You persuaded me to let you attack him for no reason at all, but Job is still as faithful as ever."

2435-Job 1:6 When the day came for the heavenly beings to appear before the Lord, Satan was there among them. 7 The Lord asked him, "What have you been doing?" Satan answered, "I have been walking here and there, roaming around the earth." 8 "Did you notice my servant Job?" the Lord asked. "There is no one on earth as faithful and good as he is. He worships me and is careful not to do anything evil."

2436-Job 2:3 "Did you notice my servant Job?" the Lord asked. "There is no one on earth as faithful and good as he is. He worships me and is careful not to do anything evil. You persuaded me to let you attack him for no reason at all, but Job is still as faithful as ever."

2437-Gen. 36:8 So Esau lived in the hill country of Edom.

2438-Jer. 49:20 So listen to the plan that I have made against the people of Edom, and to what I intend to do to the people of the city of Teman. Even their children will be dragged off, and everyone will be horrified.

2439-Gen. 36:11 The sons of El'iphaz were Teman, Omar, Zepho, Gatam, and Kenaz.

2440-Jer. 49:7 This is what the Lord Almighty said about Edom: "Have the people of Edom lost their good judgment? Can their advisers no longer tell them what to do? Has all their wisdom disappeared?

2441-Job 6:19 Caravans from Sheba and Tema search,

2442-Job 1:15 Suddenly the Sabeans attacked and stole them all. They killed every one of your servants except me. I am the only one who escaped to tell you."

2443-Job 1:17 Before he had finished speaking, another servant came and said, "Three bands of Chaldean raiders attacked us, took away the camels, and killed all your servants except me. I am the only one who escaped to tell you."

2444-Jer. 25:17 So I took the cup from the Lord's hand, gave it to all the nations to whom the Lord had sent me, and made them drink from it. 18 Jerusalem and all the towns of Judah, together with its kings and leaders, were made to drink from it, so that they would become a desert, a terrible and shocking sight, and so that people would use their name as a curse - as they still do. 19 Here is the list of all the others who had to drink from the cup: the king of Egypt, his officials and leaders; all the Egyptians and all the foreigners in Egypt; all the kings of the land of Uz; all the kings of the Philistine cities of Ashkelon, Gaza, Ekron, and what remains of Ashdod; all the people of Edom, Moab, and Ammon; all the kings of Tyre and Sidon; all the kings of the Mediterranean lands; the cities of Dedan, Tema, and Buz; all the people who cut their hair short; all the kings of Arabia; all the kings of the desert tribes; all the kings of Zimri, Elam, and Media; all the kings of the north, far and near, one after another. Every nation on the face of the earth had to drink from it. Last of all, the king of Babylonia will drink from it. 27 Then the Lord said to me, "Tell the people that I, the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, am commanding them to drink until they are drunk and vomit, until they fall down and cannot get up, because of the war that I am sending against them. 28 And if they refuse to take the cup from your hand and drink from it, then tell them that the Lord Almighty has said that they will still have to drink from it. 29 I will begin my work of destruction in my own city. Do they think they will go unpunished? No, they will be punished, for I am going to send war on all the people on earth. I, the Lord Almighty, have spoken. 30 "You, Jeremiah, must proclaim everything I have said. You must tell these people, "The Lord will roar from heaven and thunder from the heights of heaven. He will roar against his people; he will shout like a man treading grapes. Everyone on earth will hear him, 31 and the sound will echo to the ends of the earth. The Lord has a case against the nations. He will bring all people to trial and put the wicked to death. The Lord has spoken.' " 32 The Lord Almighty says that disaster is coming on one nation after another, and a great storm is gathering at the far ends of the earth. 33 On that day the bodies of those whom the Lord has killed will lie scattered from one end of the earth to the other. No one will mourn for them, and they will not be taken away and buried. They will lie on the ground like piles of manure. 34 Cry, you leaders, you shepherds of my people, cry out loud! Mourn and roll in the dust. The time has come for you to be slaughtered, and you will be butchered like rams. 35 There will be no way for you to escape. 36 You moan and cry out in distress because the Lord in his anger has destroyed your nation and left your peaceful country in ruins. 38 The Lord has abandoned his people like a lion that leaves its cave. The horrors of war and the Lord's fierce anger have turned the country into a desert.

2445-Lam. 4:21 Laugh on, people of Edom and Uz; be glad while you can. Your disaster is coming too; you too will stagger naked in shame.

2446-Job 29:1 Job began speaking again. 2 If only my life could once again be as it was when God watched over me. 3 God was always with me then and gave me light as I walked through the darkness. 4 Those were the days when I was prosperous, and the friendship of God protected my home. 5 Almighty God was with me then, and I was surrounded by all my children. 6 My cows and goats gave plenty of milk, and my olive trees grew in the rockiest soil. 7 Whenever the city elders met and I took my place among them, 8 young men stepped aside as soon as they saw me, and old men stood up to show me respect. 9 The leaders of the people would stop talking; 10 even the most important men kept silent. 11 Everyone who saw me or heard of me had good things to say about what I had done. 12 When the poor cried out, I helped them; I gave help to orphans who had nowhere to turn. 13 People who were in deepest misery praised me, and I helped widows find security. 14 I have always acted justly and fairly. 15 I was eyes for the blind, and feet for the lame. 16 I was like a father to the poor and took the side of strangers in trouble. 17 I destroyed the power of cruel men and rescued their victims. 18 I always expected to live a long life and to die at home in comfort. 19 I was like a tree whose roots always have water and whose branches are wet with dew. 20 Everyone was always praising me, and my strength never failed me. 21 When I gave advice, people were silent and listened carefully to what I said; 22 they had nothing to add when I had finished. My words sank in like drops of rain; 23 everyone welcomed them just as farmers welcome rain in spring. 24 I smiled on them when they had lost confidence; my cheerful face encouraged them. 25 I took charge and made the decisions; I led them as a king leads his troops, and gave them comfort in their despair.

2447-Job 1:6 When the day came for the heavenly beings to appear before the Lord, Satan was there among them.

Job 2:1 When the day came for the heavenly beings to appear before the Lord again, Satan was there among them.

2448-Luke 3:38 the son of Enosh, the son of Seth, the son of Adam, the son of God.

2449-Daniel 7:9 While I was looking, thrones were put in place. One who had been living forever sat down on one of the thrones. His clothes were white as snow, and his hair was like pure wool. His throne, mounted on fiery wheels, was blazing with fire, 10 and a stream of fire was pouring out from it. There were many thousands of people there to serve him, and millions of people stood before him. The court began its session, and the books were opened. 11 While I was looking, I could still hear the little horn bragging and boasting. As I watched, the fourth beast was killed, and its body was thrown into the flames and destroyed. 12 The other beasts had their power taken away, but they were permitted to go on living for a limited time. 13 During this vision in the night, I saw what looked like a human being. He was approaching me, surrounded by clouds, and he went to the one who had been living forever and was presented to him.

2450-Ephesians 6:12 For we are not fighting against human beings but against the wicked spiritual forces in the heavenly world, the rulers, authorities, and cosmic powers of this dark age.

2451-1 Kings 22:19 Micaiah went on: "Now listen to what the Lord says! I saw the Lord sitting on his throne in heaven, with all his angels standing beside him. 20 The Lord asked, "Who will deceive Ahab so that he will go and be killed at Ramoth?' Some of the angels said one thing, and others said something else, 21 until a spirit stepped forward, approached the Lord, and said, "I will deceive him.' 22 "How?' the Lord asked. The spirit replied, "I will go and make all of Ahab's prophets tell lies.' The Lord said, "Go and deceive him. You will succeed.' " 23 And Micaiah concluded: "This is what has happened. The Lord has made these prophets of yours lie to you. But he himself has decreed that you will meet with disaster!"

2452-2 Chronicles 18:18 Micaiah went on: "Now listen to what the Lord says! I saw the Lord sitting on his throne in heaven, with all his angels standing beside him. 19 The Lord asked, "Who will deceive Ahab so that he will go and get killed at Ramoth?' Some of the angels said one thing, and others said something else, 20 until a spirit stepped forward, approached the Lord, and said, "I will deceive him.' "How?' the Lord asked. 21 The spirit replied, "I will go and make all of Ahab's prophets tell lies.' The Lord said, "Go and deceive him. You will succeed.' " 22 And Micaiah concluded: "This is what has happened. The Lord has made these prophets of yours lie to you. But he himself has decreed that you will meet with disaster!"

2453-Revelation 12:10 Then I heard a loud voice in heaven saying, "Now God's salvation has come! Now God has shown his power as King! Now his Messiah has shown his authority! For the one who stood before our God and accused believers day and night has been thrown out of heaven.

2454-Zechariah 3:1 In another vision the Lord showed me the High Priest Joshua standing before the angel of the Lord. And there beside Joshua stood Satan, ready to bring an accusation against him. 2 The angel of the Lord said to Satan, "May the Lord condemn you, Satan! May the Lord, who loves Jerusalem, condemn you. This man is like a stick snatched from the fire." 3 Joshua was standing there, wearing filthy clothes. 4 The angel said to his heavenly attendants, "Take away the filthy clothes this man is wearing." Then he said to Joshua, "I have taken away your sin and will give you new clothes to wear." 5 He commanded the attendants to put a clean turban on Joshua's head. They did so, and then they put the new clothes on him while the angel of the Lord stood there.

2455-Romans 3:4 Certainly not! God must be true, even though all human beings are liars. As the scripture says, "You must be shown to be right when you speak; you must win your case when you are being tried."

2456-Job 1:4 Job's sons used to take turns giving a feast, to which all the others would come, and they always invited their three sisters to join them. 5 The morning after each feast, Job would get up early and offer sacrifices for each of his children in order to purify them. He always did this because he thought that one of them might have sinned by insulting God unintentionally.

2457-Job 6:24 All right, teach me; tell me my faults. I will be quiet and listen to you.

Job 10:2 Don't condemn me, God. Tell me! What is the charge against me?

Job 13:20 Let me ask for two things; agree to them, and I will not try to hide from you: 21 stop punishing me, and don't crush me with terror. 22 Speak first, O God, and I will answer. Or let me speak, and you answer me. 23 What are my sins? What wrongs have I done? What crimes am I charged with? 24 Why do you avoid me? Why do you treat me like an enemy?

2458-Job 23:7 I am honest; I could reason with God; he would declare me innocent once and for all.

Job 23:12 I always do what God commands; I follow his will, not my own desires.

Job 27:5 I will never say that you men are right; I will insist on my innocence to my dying day.

2459-Job 42:7 After the Lord had finished speaking to Job, he said to Eliphaz, "I am angry with you and your two friends, because you did not speak the truth about me, the way my servant Job did. 8 Now take seven bulls and seven rams to Job and offer them as a sacrifice for yourselves. Job will pray for you, and I will answer his prayer and not disgrace you the way you deserve. You did not speak the truth about me as he did."

2460-Job 3:1 Finally Job broke the silence and cursed the day on which he had been born. 2 O God, put a curse on the day I was born; put a curse on the night when I was conceived! 4 Turn that day into darkness, God. Never again remember that day; never again let light shine on it. 5 Make it a day of gloom and thick darkness; cover it with clouds, and blot out the sun. 6 Blot that night out of the year, and never let it be counted again; 7 make it a barren, joyless night. 8 Tell the sorcerers to curse that day, those who know how to control Leviathan. 9 Keep the morning star from shining; give that night no hope of dawn. 10 Curse that night for letting me be born, for exposing me to trouble and grief. 11 I wish I had died in my mother's womb or died the moment I was born. 12 Why did my mother hold me on her knees? Why did she feed me at her breast? 13 If I had died then, I would be at rest now, 14 sleeping like the kings and rulers who rebuilt ancient palaces. 15 Then I would be sleeping like princes who filled their houses with gold and silver, 16 or sleeping like a stillborn child. 17 In the grave wicked people stop their evil, and tired workers find rest at last. 18 Even prisoners enjoy peace, free from shouts and harsh commands. 19 Everyone is there, the famous and the unknown, and slaves at last are free. 20 Why let people go on living in misery? Why give light to those in grief? 21 They wait for death, but it never comes; they prefer a grave to any treasure. 22 They are not happy till they are dead and buried; 23 God keeps their future hidden and hems them in on every side. 24 Instead of eating, I mourn, and I can never stop groaning. 25 Everything I fear and dread comes true. 26 I have no peace, no rest, and my troubles never end.

2461-Job 4:18 God does not trust his heavenly servants; he finds fault even with his angels.

2462-Job 5:7 People are born for trouble as predictably as sparks fly upward from a fire.

2463-Job 5:18 For though he wounds, he also bandages. He strikes, but his hands also heal.

2464-Job 9:23 When an innocent person suddenly dies, God laughs. 24 God gave the world to the wicked. He made all the judges blind. And if God didn't do it, who did?

2465-Psalms 2:11 Serve the Lord with fear; tremble 12 and bow down to him; or else his anger will be quickly aroused, and you will suddenly die. Happy are all who go to him for protection.

Psalm 58:1 Do you rulers ever give a just decision? Do you judge everyone fairly? 2 No! You think only of the evil you can do, and commit crimes of violence in the land. 3 Evildoers go wrong all their lives; they tell lies from the day they are born. 4 They are full of poison like snakes; they stop up their ears like a deaf cobra, 5 which does not hear the voice of the snake charmer, or the chant of the clever magician. 6 Break the teeth of these fierce lions, O God. 7 May they disappear like water draining away; may they be crushed like weeds on a path. 8 May they be like snails that dissolve into slime; may they be like a baby born dead that never sees the light. 9 Before they know it, they are cut down like weeds; in his fierce anger God will blow them away while they are still living. 10 The righteous will be glad when they see sinners punished; they will wade through the blood of the wicked. 11 People will say, "The righteous are indeed rewarded; there is indeed a God who judges the world."

Psalm 59:1 Save me from my enemies, my God; protect me from those who attack me! 2 Save me from those evil people; rescue me from those murderers! 3 Look! They are waiting to kill me; cruel people are gathering against me. It is not because of any sin or wrong I have done, 4 nor because of any fault of mine, O Lord, that they hurry to their places. 5 Rise, Lord God Almighty, and come to my aid; see for yourself, God of Israel! Wake up and punish the heathen; show no mercy to evil traitors! 6 They come back in the evening, snarling like dogs as they go about the city. 7 Listen to their insults and threats. Their tongues are like swords in their mouths, yet they think that no one hears them. 8 But you laugh at them, Lord; you mock all the heathen. 9 I have confidence in your strength; you are my refuge, O God. 10 My God loves me and will come to me; he will let me see my enemies defeated. 11 Do not kill them, O God, or my people may forget. Scatter them by your strength and defeat them, O Lord, our protector. 12 Sin is on their lips; all their words are sinful; may they be caught in their pride! Because they curse and lie, 13 destroy them in your anger; destroy them completely. Then everyone will know that God rules in Israel, that his rule extends over all the earth. 14 My enemies come back in the evening, snarling like dogs as they go about the city, 15 like dogs roaming about for food and growling if they do not find enough. 16 But I will sing about your strength; every morning I will sing aloud of your constant love. You have been a refuge for me, a shelter in my time of trouble. 17 I will praise you, my defender. My refuge is God, the God who loves me.

Psalm 77:Then I said, "What hurts me most is this - that God is no longer powerful."

2466-Job 4:12 Once a message came quietly, so quietly I could hardly hear it. 13 Like a nightmare it disturbed my sleep. 14 I trembled and shuddered; my whole body shook with fear. 15 A light breeze touched my face, and my skin crawled with fright. 16 I could see something standing there; I stared, but couldn't tell what it was. Then I heard a voice out of the silence: 17 "Can anyone be righteous in the sight of God or be pure before his Creator? 18 God does not trust his heavenly servants; he finds fault even with his angels. 19 Do you think he will trust a creature of clay, a thing of dust that can be crushed like a moth? 20 We may be alive in the morning, but die unnoticed before evening comes. 21 All that we have is taken away; we die, still lacking wisdom."

Job 15:14 Can any human being be really pure? Can anyone be right with God? 15 Why, God does not trust even his angels; even they are not pure in his sight. 16 And we drink evil as if it were water; yes, we are corrupt; we are worthless.

Job 25:4 Can anyone be righteous or pure in God's sight? 5 In his eyes even the moon is not bright, or the stars pure. 6 Then what about a human being, that worm, that insect? What is a human life worth in God's eyes?

2467-Job 33:15 At night when people are asleep, God speaks in dreams and visions.

2468-Job 4:17 "Can anyone be righteous in the sight of God or be pure before his Creator? 18 God does not trust his heavenly servants; he finds fault even with his angels. 19 Do you think he will trust a creature of clay, a thing of dust that can be crushed like a moth? 20 We may be alive in the morning, but die unnoticed before evening comes. 21 All that we have is taken away; we die, still lacking wisdom."

2469-Job 1:13 One day when Job's children were having a feast at the home of their oldest brother, 14 a messenger came running to Job. "We were plowing the fields with the oxen," he said, "and the donkeys were in a nearby pasture. 15 Suddenly the Sabeans attacked and stole them all. They killed every one of your servants except me. I am the only one who escaped to tell you." 16 Before he had finished speaking, another servant came and said, "Lightning struck the sheep and the shepherds and killed them all. I am the only one who escaped to tell you." 17 Before he had finished speaking, another servant came and said, "Three bands of Chaldean raiders attacked us, took away the camels, and killed all your servants except me. I am the only one who escaped to tell you." 18 Before he had finished speaking, another servant came and said, "Your children were having a feast at the home of your oldest son, 19 when a storm swept in from the desert. It blew the house down and killed them all. I am the only one who escaped to tell you."

Job 2:7 Then Satan left the Lord's presence and made sores break out all over Job's body.

2470-Job 34:34 After all, bright people will tell me, and wise people will hear me say, 35 'Job speaks without knowledge; his words lack insight.' 36 Job, you deserve the maximum penalty for the wicked way you have talked.

2471-Job 37:20 I won't ask to speak with God; why should I give him a chance to destroy me?

2472-Job 42:7 After the Lord had finished speaking to Job, he said to Eliphaz, "I am angry with you and your two friends, because you did not speak the truth about me, the way my servant Job did. 8 Now take seven bulls and seven rams to Job and offer them as a sacrifice for yourselves. Job will pray for you, and I will answer his prayer and not disgrace you the way you deserve. You did not speak the truth about me as he did." 9 Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar did what the Lord had told them to do, and the Lord answered Job's prayer.

2473-Matthew 24:21 For the trouble at that time will be far more terrible than any there has ever been, from the beginning of the world to this very day. Nor will there ever be anything like it again. 22 But God has already reduced the number of days; had he not done so, nobody would survive. For the sake of his chosen people, however, God will reduce the days.

2474-Job 2:13 Then they sat there on the ground with him for seven days and nights without saying a word, because they saw how much he was suffering.

2475-Job 8:4 Your children must have sinned against God, and so he punished them as they deserved.

2476-Job 11:6 He would tell you there are many sides to wisdom; there are things too deep for human knowledge. God is punishing you less than you deserve.

Job 34:11 He rewards people for what they do and treats them as they deserve.

Job 36:17 But now you are being punished as you deserve.

2477-Job 42:8 Now take seven bulls and seven rams to Job and offer them as a sacrifice for yourselves. Job will pray for you, and I will answer his prayer and not disgrace you the way you deserve. You did not speak the truth about me as he did."

2478-Deuteronomy 8:18 You shall remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth; that he may confirm his covenant which he swore to your fathers, as at this day. 19 And if you forget the LORD your God and go after other gods and serve them and worship them, I solemnly warn you this day that you shall surely perish. 20 Like the nations that the LORD makes to perish before you, so shall you perish, because you would not obey the voice of the LORD your God.

Deuteronomy 27:1 Now Moses and the elders of Israel commanded the people, saying, "Keep all the commandment which I command you this day. 2 And on the day you pass over the Jordan to the land which the LORD your God gives you, you shall set up large stones, and plaster them with plaster; 3 and you shall write upon them all the words of this law, when you pass over to enter the land which the LORD your God gives you, a land flowing with milk and honey, as the LORD, the God of your fathers, has promised you. 4 And when you have passed over the Jordan, you shall set up these stones, concerning which I command you this day, on Mount Ebal, and you shall plaster them with plaster. 5 And there you shall build an altar to the LORD your God, an altar of stones; you shall lift up no iron tool upon them. 6 You shall build an altar to the LORD your God of unhewn stones; and you shall offer burnt offerings on it to the LORD your God; 7 and you shall sacrifice peace offerings, and shall eat there; and you shall rejoice before the LORD your God. 8 And you shall write upon the stones all the words of this law very plainly." 9 And Moses and the Levitical priests said to all Israel, "Keep silence and hear, O Israel: this day you have become the people of the LORD your God. 10 You shall therefore obey the voice of the LORD your God, keeping his commandments and his statutes, which I command you this day." 11 And Moses charged the people the same day, saying, 12 "When you have passed over the Jordan, these shall stand upon Mount Ger'izim to bless the people: Simeon, Levi, Judah, Is'sachar, Joseph, and Benjamin. 13 And these shall stand upon Mount Ebal for the curse: Reuben, Gad, Asher, Zeb'ulun, Dan, and Naph'tali. 14 And the Levites shall declare to all the men of Israel with a loud voice: 15 "'Cursed be the man who makes a graven or molten image, an abomination to the LORD, a thing made by the hands of a craftsman, and sets it up in secret.' And all the people shall answer and say, 'Amen.' 16 "'Cursed be he who dishonors his father or his mother.' And all the people shall say, 'Amen.' 17 "'Cursed be he who removes his neighbor's landmark.' And all the people shall say, 'Amen.' 18 "'Cursed be he who misleads a blind man on the road.' And all the people shall say, 'Amen.' 19 "'Cursed be he who perverts the justice due to the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow.' And all the people shall say, 'Amen.' 20 "'Cursed be he who lies with his father's wife, because he has uncovered her who is his father's.' And all the people shall say, 'Amen.' 21 "'Cursed be he who lies with any kind of beast.' And all the people shall say, 'Amen.' 22 "'Cursed be he who lies with his sister, whether the daughter of his father or the daughter of his mother.' And all the people shall say, 'Amen.' 23 "'Cursed be he who lies with his mother-in-law.' And all the people shall say, 'Amen.' 24 "'Cursed be he who slays his neighbor in secret.' And all the people shall say, 'Amen.' 25 "'Cursed be he who takes a bribe to slay an innocent person.' And all the people shall say, 'Amen.' 26 "'Cursed be he who does not confirm the words of this law by doing them.' And all the people shall say, 'Amen.'

Job 28:1 "And if you obey the voice of the LORD your God, being careful to do all his commandments which I command you this day, the LORD your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth. 2 And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, if you obey the voice of the LORD your God. 3 Blessed shall you be in the city, and blessed shall you be in the field. 4 Blessed shall be the fruit of your body, and the fruit of your ground, and the fruit of your beasts, the increase of your cattle, and the young of your flock. 5 Blessed shall be your basket and your kneading-trough. 6 Blessed shall you be when you come in, and blessed shall you be when you go out. 7 "The LORD will cause your enemies who rise against you to be defeated before you; they shall come out against you one way, and flee before you seven ways. 8 The LORD will command the blessing upon you in your barns, and in all that you undertake; and he will bless you in the land which the LORD your God gives you. 9 The LORD will establish you as a people holy to himself, as he has sworn to you, if you keep the commandments of the LORD your God, and walk in his ways. 10 And all the peoples of the earth shall see that you are called by the name of the LORD; and they shall be afraid of you. 11 And the LORD will make you abound in prosperity, in the fruit of your body, and in the fruit of your cattle, and in the fruit of your ground, within the land which the LORD swore to your fathers to give you. 12 The LORD will open to you his good treasury the heavens, to give the rain of your land in its season and to bless all the work of your hands; and you shall lend to many nations, but you shall not borrow. 13 And the LORD will make you the head, and not the tail; and you shall tend upward only, and not downward; if you obey the commandments of the LORD your God, which I command you this day, being careful to do them, 14 and if you do not turn aside from any of the words which I command you this day, to the right hand or to the left, to go after other gods to serve them. 15 "But if you will not obey the voice of the LORD your God or be careful to do all his commandments and his statutes which I command you this day, then all these curses shall come upon you and overtake you. 16 Cursed shall you be in the city, and cursed shall you be in the field. 17 Cursed shall be your basket and your kneading-trough. 18 Cursed shall be the fruit of your body, and the fruit of your ground, the increase of your cattle, and the young of your flock. 19 Cursed shall you be when you come in, and cursed shall you be when you go out. 20 "The LORD will send upon you curses, confusion, and frustration, in all that you undertake to do, until you are destroyed and perish quickly, on account of the evil of your doings, because you have forsaken me. 21 The LORD will make the pestilence cleave to you until he has consumed you off the land which you are entering to take possession of it. 22 The LORD will smite you with consumption, and with fever, inflammation, and fiery heat, and with drought, and with blasting, and with mildew; they shall pursue you until you perish. 23 And the heavens over your head shall be brass, and the earth under you shall be iron. 24 The LORD will make the rain of your land powder and dust; from heaven it shall come down upon you until you are destroyed. 25 "The LORD will cause you to be defeated before your enemies; you shall go out one way against them, and flee seven ways before them; and you shall be a horror to all the kingdoms of the earth. 26 And your dead body shall be food for all birds of the air, and for the beasts of the earth; and there shall be no one to frighten them away. 27 The LORD will smite you with the boils of Egypt, and with the ulcers and the scurvy and the itch, of which you cannot be healed. 28 The LORD will smite you with madness and blindness and confusion of mind; 29 and you shall grope at noonday, as the blind grope in darkness, and you shall not prosper in your ways; and you shall be only oppressed and robbed continually, and there shall be no one to help you. 30 You shall betroth a wife, and another man shall lie with her; you shall build a house, and you shall not dwell in it; you shall plant a vineyard, and you shall not use the fruit of it. 31 Your ox shall be slain before your eyes, and you shall not eat of it; your ass shall be violently taken away before your face, and shall not be restored to you; your sheep shall be given to your enemies, and there shall be no one to help you. 32 Your sons and your daughters shall be given to another people, while your eyes look on and fail with longing for them all the day; and it shall not be in the power of your hand to prevent it. 33 A nation which you have not known shall eat up the fruit of your ground and of all your labors; and you shall be only oppressed and crushed continually; 34 so that you shall be driven mad by the sight which your eyes shall see. 35 The LORD will smite you on the knees and on the legs with grievous boils of which you cannot be healed, from the sole of your foot to the crown of your head. 36 "The LORD will bring you, and your king whom you set over you, to a nation that neither you nor your fathers have known; and there you shall serve other gods, of wood and stone. 37 And you shall become a horror, a proverb, and a byword, among all the peoples where the LORD will lead you away. 38 You shall carry much seed into the field, and shall gather little in; for the locust shall consume it. 39 You shall plant vineyards and dress them, but you shall neither drink of the wine nor gather the grapes; for the worm shall eat them. 40 You shall have olive trees throughout all your territory, but you shall not anoint yourself with the oil; for your olives shall drop off. 41 You shall beget sons and daughters, but they shall not be yours; for they shall go into captivity. 42 All your trees and the fruit of your ground the locust shall possess. 43 The sojourner who is among you shall mount above you higher and higher; and you shall come down lower and lower. 44 He shall lend to you, and you shall not lend to him; he shall be the head, and you shall be the tail. 45 All these curses shall come upon you and pursue you and overtake you, till you are destroyed, because you did not obey the voice of the LORD your God, to keep his commandments and his statutes which he commanded you. 46 They shall be upon you as a sign and a wonder, and upon your descendants for ever. 47 "Because you did not serve the LORD your God with joyfulness and gladness of heart, by reason of the abundance of all things, 48 therefore you shall serve your enemies whom the LORD will send against you, in hunger and thirst, in nakedness, and in want of all things; and he will put a yoke of iron upon your neck, until he has destroyed you. 49 The LORD will bring a nation against you from afar, from the end of the earth, as swift as the eagle flies, a nation whose language you do not understand, 50 a nation of stern countenance, who shall not regard the person of the old or show favor to the young, 51 and shall eat the offspring of your cattle and the fruit of your ground, until you are destroyed; who also shall not leave you grain, wine, or oil, the increase of your cattle or the young of your flock, until they have caused you to perish. 52 They shall besiege you in all your towns, until your high and fortified walls, in which you trusted, come down throughout all your land; and they shall besiege you in all your towns throughout all your land, which the LORD your God has given you. 53 And you shall eat the offspring of your own body, the flesh of your sons and daughters, whom the LORD your God has given you, in the siege and in the distress with which your enemies shall distress you. 54 The man who is the most tender and delicately bred among you will grudge food to his brother, to the wife of his bosom, and to the last of the children who remain to him; 55 so that he will not give to any of them any of the flesh of his children whom he is eating, because he has nothing left him, in the siege and in the distress with which your enemy shall distress you in all your towns. 56 The most tender and delicately bred woman among you, who would not venture to set the sole of her foot upon the ground because she is so delicate and tender, will grudge to the husband of her bosom, to her son and to her daughter, 57 her afterbirth that comes out from between her feet and her children whom she bears, because she will eat them secretly, for want of all things, in the siege and in the distress with which your enemy shall distress you in your towns. 58 "If you are not careful to do all the words of this law which are written in this book, that you may fear this glorious and awful name, the LORD your God, 59 then the LORD will bring on you and your offspring extraordinary afflictions, afflictions severe and lasting, and sicknesses grievous and lasting. 60 And he will bring upon you again all the diseases of Egypt, which you were afraid of; and they shall cleave to you. 61 Every sickness also, and every affliction which is not recorded in the book of this law, the LORD will bring upon you, until you are destroyed. 62 Whereas you were as the stars of heaven for multitude, you shall be left few in number; because you did not obey the voice of the LORD your God. 63 And as the LORD took delight in doing you good and multiplying you, so the LORD will take delight in bringing ruin upon you and destroying you; and you shall be plucked off the land which you are entering to take possession of it. 64 And the LORD will scatter you among all peoples, from one end of the earth to the other; and there you shall serve other gods, of wood and stone, which neither you nor your fathers have known. 65 And among these nations you shall find no ease, and there shall be no rest for the sole of your foot; but the LORD will give you there a trembling heart, and failing eyes, and a languishing soul; 66 your life shall hang in doubt before you; night and day you shall be in dread, and have no assurance of your life. 67 In the morning you shall say, 'Would it were evening!' and at evening you shall say, 'Would it were morning!' because of the dread which your heart shall fear, and the sights which your eyes shall see. 68 And the LORD will bring you back in ships to Egypt, a journey which I promised that you should never make again; and there you shall offer yourselves for sale to your enemies as male and female slaves, but no man will buy you."

2479-Job 1:4 His sons used to go and hold a feast in the house of each on his day; and they would send and invite their three sisters to eat and drink with them. 5 And when the days of the feast had run their course, Job would send and sanctify them, and he would rise early in the morning and offer burnt offerings according to the number of them all; for Job said, "It may be that my sons have sinned, and cursed God in their hearts." Thus Job did continually.

Job 1:18 While he was yet speaking, there came another, and said, "Your sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their eldest brother's house; 19 and behold, a great wind came across the wilderness, and struck the four corners of the house, and it fell upon the young people, and they are dead; and I alone have escaped to tell you."

2480-Job 1:21 He said, "I was born with nothing, and I will die with nothing. The Lord gave, and now he has taken away. May his name be praised!"

2481-Job 1:12 "All right," the Lord said to Satan, "everything he has is in your power, but you must not hurt Job himself." So Satan left.

Job 2:1 When the day came for the heavenly beings to appear before the Lord again, Satan was there among them. 2 The Lord asked him, "Where have you been?" Satan answered, "I have been walking here and there, roaming around the earth." 3 "Did you notice my servant Job?" the Lord asked. "There is no one on earth as faithful and good as he is. He worships me and is careful not to do anything evil. You persuaded me to let you attack him for no reason at all, but Job is still as faithful as ever." 4 Satan replied, "A person will give up everything in order to stay alive. 5 But now suppose you hurt his body - he will curse you to your face!" 6 So the Lord said to Satan, "All right, he is in your power, but you are not to kill him." 7 Then Satan left the Lord's presence and made sores break out all over Job's body. 8 Job went and sat by the garbage dump and took a piece of broken pottery to scrape his sores. 9 His wife said to him, "You are still as faithful as ever, aren't you? Why don't you curse God and die?" 10 Job answered, "You are talking nonsense! When God sends us something good, we welcome it. How can we complain when he sends us trouble?" Even in all this suffering Job said nothing against God.

2482-2 Samuel 24:1 On another occasion the Lord was angry with Israel, and he made David bring trouble on them. The Lord said to him, "Go and count the people of Israel and Judah."

2483-1 Chronicles 21:1 Satan wanted to bring trouble on the people of Israel, so he made David decide to take a census.

2484-Job 1:22 In spite of everything that had happened, Job did not sin by blaming God.

2485-Ruth 1:20 "Don't call me Naomi," she answered; "call me Marah, because Almighty God has made my life bitter. 21 When I left here, I had plenty, but the Lord has brought me back without a thing. Why call me Naomi when the Lord Almighty has condemned me and sent me trouble?"

2486-1 Chronicles 10:13 Saul died because he was unfaithful to the Lord. He disobeyed the Lord's commands; he tried to find guidance by consulting the spirits of the dead 14 instead of consulting the Lord. So the Lord killed him and gave control of the kingdom to David son of Jesse.

2487-1 Chronicles 10:1 The Philistines fought a battle against the Israelites on Mount Gilboa. Many Israelites were killed there, and the rest of them, including King Saul and his sons, fled. 2 But the Philistines caught up with them and killed three of Saul's sons, Jonathan, Abinadab, and Malchishua. 3 The fighting was heavy around Saul, and he was hit by enemy arrows and badly wounded. 4 He said to the young man carrying his weapons, "Draw your sword and kill me, to keep these godless Philistines from gloating over me." But the young man was too terrified to do it. So Saul took his own sword and threw himself on it. 5 The young man saw that Saul was dead, so he too threw himself on his sword and died. 6 So Saul and his three sons all died together, and none of his descendants ever ruled. 7 When the Israelites who lived in Jezreel Valley heard that the army had fled and that Saul and his sons had died, they abandoned their towns and ran off. Then the Philistines came and occupied them.

2488-1 Samuel 31:1 The Philistines fought a battle against the Israelites on Mount Gilboa. Many Israelites were killed there, and the rest of them, including King Saul and his sons, fled. 2 But the Philistines caught up with them and killed three of Saul's sons, Jonathan, Abinadab, and Malchishua. 3 The fighting was heavy around Saul, and he himself was hit by enemy arrows and badly wounded. 4 He said to the young man carrying his weapons, "Draw your sword and kill me, so that these godless Philistines won't gloat over me and kill me." But the young man was too terrified to do it. So Saul took his own sword and threw himself on it. 5 The young man saw that Saul was dead, so he too threw himself on his own sword and died with Saul. 6 And that is how Saul, his three sons, and the young man died; all of Saul's men died that day. 7 When the Israelites on the other side of Jezreel Valley and east of the Jordan River heard that the Israelite army had fled and that Saul and his sons had been killed, they abandoned their towns and fled. Then the Philistines came and occupied the towns. 8 The day after the battle the Philistines went to plunder the corpses, and they found the bodies of Saul and his three sons lying on Mount Gilboa. 9 They cut off Saul's head, stripped off his armor, and sent messengers with them throughout Philistia to tell the good news to their idols and to their people. 10 Then they put his weapons in the temple of the goddess Astarte, and they nailed his body to the wall of the city of Beth Shan. 11 When the people of Jabesh in Gilead heard what the Philistines had done to Saul, 12 the bravest men started out and marched all night to Beth Shan. They took down the bodies of Saul and his sons from the wall, brought them back to Jabesh, and burned them there. 13 Then they took the bones and buried them under the tamarisk tree in town, and fasted for seven days.

2489-Deuteronomy 6:4 "Israel, remember this! The Lord - and the Lord alone - is our God.

2490-Job 3:1 Finally Job broke the silence and cursed the day on which he had been born. 2 O God, put a curse on the day I was born; put a curse on the night when I was conceived! 4 Turn that day into darkness, God. Never again remember that day; never again let light shine on it. 5 Make it a day of gloom and thick darkness; cover it with clouds, and blot out the sun. 6 Blot that night out of the year, and never let it be counted again; 7 make it a barren, joyless night. 8 Tell the sorcerers to curse that day, those who know how to control Leviathan. 9 Keep the morning star from shining; give that night no hope of dawn. 10 Curse that night for letting me be born, for exposing me to trouble and grief. 11 I wish I had died in my mother's womb or died the moment I was born. 12 Why did my mother hold me on her knees? Why did she feed me at her breast? 13 If I had died then, I would be at rest now, 14 sleeping like the kings and rulers who rebuilt ancient palaces. 15 Then I would be sleeping like princes who filled their houses with gold and silver, 16 or sleeping like a stillborn child. 17 In the grave wicked people stop their evil, and tired workers find rest at last. 18 Even prisoners enjoy peace, free from shouts and harsh commands. 19 Everyone is there, the famous and the unknown, and slaves at last are free. 20 Why let people go on living in misery? Why give light to those in grief? 21 They wait for death, but it never comes; they prefer a grave to any treasure. 22 They are not happy till they are dead and buried; 23 God keeps their future hidden and hems them in on every side. 24 Instead of eating, I mourn, and I can never stop groaning. 25 Everything I fear and dread comes true. 26 I have no peace, no rest, and my troubles never end.

Job 13:1 Everything you say, I have heard before. I understand it all; I know as much as you do. I'm not your inferior. 3 But my dispute is with God, not you; I want to argue my case with him. 4 You cover up your ignorance with lies; you are like doctors who can't heal anyone. 5 Say nothing, and someone may think you are wise! 6 Listen while I state my case. 7 Why are you lying? Do you think your lies will benefit God? 8 Are you trying to defend him? Are you going to argue his case in court? 9 If God looks at you closely, will he find anything good? Do you think you can fool God the way you fool others? 10 Even though your prejudice is hidden, he will reprimand you, 11 and his power will fill you with terror. 12 Your proverbs are as useless as ashes; your arguments are as weak as clay. 13 Be quiet and give me a chance to speak, and let the results be what they will. 14 I am ready to risk my life. 15 I've lost all hope, so what if God kills me? I am going to state my case to him. 16 It may even be that my boldness will save me, since no wicked person would dare to face God. 17 Now listen to my words of explanation. 18 I am ready to state my case, because I know I am in the right. 19 Are you coming to accuse me, God? If you do, I am ready to be silent and die. 20 Let me ask for two things; agree to them, and I will not try to hide from you: 21 stop punishing me, and don't crush me with terror. 22 Speak first, O God, and I will answer. Or let me speak, and you answer me. 23 What are my sins? What wrongs have I done? What crimes am I charged with? 24 Why do you avoid me? Why do you treat me like an enemy? 25 Are you trying to frighten me? I'm nothing but a leaf; you are attacking a piece of dry straw. 26 You bring bitter charges against me, even for what I did when I was young. 27 You bind chains on my feet; you watch every step I take, and even examine my footprints. 28 As a result, I crumble like rotten wood, like a moth-eaten coat.

2491-Job 22:19 Good people are glad and the innocent laugh when they see the wicked punished.

2492-Psalms 58:10 The righteous will be glad when they see sinners punished; they will wade through the blood of the wicked.

2493-Job 31:29 I have never been glad when my enemies suffered, or pleased when they met with disaster;

2494-1 Kings 8:46 "When your people sin against you - and there is no one who does not sin - and in your anger you let their enemies defeat them and take them as prisoners to some other land, even if that land is far away,

2495-2 Chronicles 6:36 "When your people sin against you - and there is no one who does not sin - and in your anger you let their enemies defeat them and take them as prisoners to some other land, even if that land is far away,

2496-Psalms 5:9 What my enemies say can never be trusted; they only want to destroy. Their words are flattering and smooth, but full of deadly deceit.

Psalm 14:1 Fools say to themselves, "There is no God!" They are all corrupt, and they have done terrible things; there is no one who does what is right. 2 The Lord looks down from heaven at us humans to see if there are any who are wise, any who worship him. 3 But they have all gone wrong; they are all equally bad. Not one of them does what is right, not a single one.

Psalm 53:1 Fools say to themselves, "There is no God." They are all corrupt, and they have done terrible things; there is no one who does what is right. 2 God looks down from heaven at people to see if there are any who are wise, any who worship him. 3 But they have all turned away; they are all equally bad. Not one of them does what is right, not a single one.

2497-Ecclesiastes 7:20 There is no one on earth who does what is right all the time and never makes a mistake.

2498-Isaiah 59:7 You are always planning something evil, and you can hardly wait to do it. You never hesitate to murder innocent people. You leave ruin and destruction wherever you go, 8 and no one is safe when you are around. Everything you do is unjust. You follow a crooked path, and no one who walks that path will ever be safe.

2499-Romans 3:23 everyone has sinned and is far away from God's saving presence.

2500-Psalms 58:10 The righteous will be glad when they see sinners punished; they will wade through the blood of the wicked.

2501-Job 1:9 Satan replied, "Would Job worship you if he got nothing out of it?

2502-Job 9:24 God gave the world to the wicked. He made all the judges blind. And if God didn't do it, who did?

2503-Job 8:4 Your children must have sinned against God, and so he punished them as they deserved.

2504-Job 11:6 He would tell you there are many sides to wisdom; there are things too deep for human knowledge. God is punishing you less than you deserve.

Job 34:11 He rewards people for what they do and treats them as they deserve.

Job 36:17 But now you are being punished as you deserve.

2505-Job 42:8 Now take seven bulls and seven rams to Job and offer them as a sacrifice for yourselves. Job will pray for you, and I will answer his prayer and not disgrace you the way you deserve. You did not speak the truth about me as he did."

2506-1 Corinthians 10:13 Every test that you have experienced is the kind that normally comes to people. But God keeps his promise, and he will not allow you to be tested beyond your power to remain firm; at the time you are put to the test, he will give you the strength to endure it, and so provide you with a way out.

2507-Genesis 17:1 When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to him and said, "I am the Almighty God. Obey me and always do what is right. 2 I will make my covenant with you and give you many descendants." 3 Abram bowed down with his face touching the ground, and God said, 4 "I make this covenant with you: I promise that you will be the ancestor of many nations. 5 Your name will no longer be Abram, but Abraham, because I am making you the ancestor of many nations. 6 I will give you many descendants, and some of them will be kings. You will have so many descendants that they will become nations. 7 "I will keep my promise to you and to your descendants in future generations as an everlasting covenant. I will be your God and the God of your descendants. 8 I will give to you and to your descendants this land in which you are now a foreigner. The whole land of Canaan will belong to your descendants forever, and I will be their God." 9 God said to Abraham, "You also must agree to keep the covenant with me, both you and your descendants in future generations. 10 You and your descendants must all agree to circumcise every male among you. 11 From now on you must circumcise every baby boy when he is eight days old, including slaves born in your homes and slaves bought from foreigners. This will show that there is a covenant between you and me. 13 Each one must be circumcised, and this will be a physical sign to show that my covenant with you is everlasting. 14 Any male who has not been circumcised will no longer be considered one of my people, because he has not kept the covenant with me." 15 God said to Abraham, "You must no longer call your wife Sarai; from now on her name is Sarah. 16 I will bless her, and I will give you a son by her. I will bless her, and she will become the mother of nations, and there will be kings among her descendants." 17 Abraham bowed down with his face touching the ground, but he began to laugh when he thought, "Can a man have a child when he is a hundred years old? Can Sarah have a child at ninety?" 18 He asked God, "Why not let Ishmael be my heir?" 19 But God said, "No. Your wife Sarah will bear you a son and you will name him Isaac. I will keep my covenant with him and with his descendants forever. It is an everlasting covenant. 20 I have heard your request about Ishmael, so I will bless him and give him many children and many descendants. He will be the father of twelve princes, and I will make a great nation of his descendants. 21 But I will keep my covenant with your son Isaac, who will be born to Sarah about this time next year." 22 When God finished speaking to Abraham, he left him. 23 On that same day Abraham obeyed God and circumcised his son Ishmael and all the other males in his household, including the slaves born in his home and those he had bought. 24 Abraham was ninety-nine years old when he was circumcised, 25 and his son Ishmael was thirteen. 26 They were both circumcised on the same day, 27 together with all of Abraham's slaves.

Genesis 18:1 The Lord appeared to Abraham at the sacred trees of Mamre. As Abraham was sitting at the entrance of his tent during the hottest part of the day, 2 he looked up and saw three men standing there. As soon as he saw them, he ran out to meet them. Bowing down with his face touching the ground, 3 he said, "Sirs, please do not pass by my home without stopping; I am here to serve you. 4 Let me bring some water for you to wash your feet; you can rest here beneath this tree. 5 I will also bring a bit of food; it will give you strength to continue your journey. You have honored me by coming to my home, so let me serve you." They replied, "Thank you; we accept." 6 Abraham hurried into the tent and said to Sarah, "Quick, take a sack of your best flour, and bake some bread." 7 Then he ran to the herd and picked out a calf that was tender and fat, and gave it to a servant, who hurried to get it ready. 8 He took some cream, some milk, and the meat, and set the food before the men. There under the tree he served them himself, and they ate. 9 Then they asked him, "Where is your wife Sarah?" "She is there in the tent," he answered. 10 One of them said, "Nine months from now I will come back, and your wife Sarah will have a son." Sarah was behind him, at the door of the tent, listening. 11 Abraham and Sarah were very old, and Sarah had stopped having her monthly periods. 12 So Sarah laughed to herself and said, "Now that I am old and worn out, can I still enjoy sex? And besides, my husband is old too." 13 Then the Lord asked Abraham, "Why did Sarah laugh and say, "Can I really have a child when I am so old?' 14 Is anything too hard for the Lord? As I said, nine months from now I will return, and Sarah will have a son." 15 Because Sarah was afraid, she denied it. "I didn't laugh," she said. "Yes, you did," he replied. "You laughed." 16 Then the men left and went to a place where they could look down at Sodom, and Abraham went with them to send them on their way. 17 And the Lord said to himself, "I will not hide from Abraham what I am going to do. 18 His descendants will become a great and mighty nation, and through him I will bless all the nations. 19 I have chosen him in order that he may command his sons and his descendants to obey me and to do what is right and just. If they do, I will do everything for him that I have promised." 20 Then the Lord said to Abraham, "There are terrible accusations against Sodom and Gomorrah, and their sin is very great. 21 I must go down to find out whether or not the accusations which I have heard are true." 22 Then the two men left and went on toward Sodom, but the Lord remained with Abraham. 23 Abraham approached the Lord and asked, "Are you really going to destroy the innocent with the guilty? 24 If there are fifty innocent people in the city, will you destroy the whole city? Won't you spare it in order to save the fifty? 25 Surely you won't kill the innocent with the guilty. That's impossible! You can't do that. If you did, the innocent would be punished along with the guilty. That is impossible. The judge of all the earth has to act justly." 26 The Lord answered, "If I find fifty innocent people in Sodom, I will spare the whole city for their sake." 27 Abraham spoke again: "Please forgive my boldness in continuing to speak to you, Lord. I am only a man and have no right to say anything. 28 But perhaps there will be only forty-five innocent people instead of fifty. Will you destroy the whole city because there are five too few?" The Lord answered, "I will not destroy the city if I find forty-five innocent people." 29 Abraham spoke again: "Perhaps there will be only forty." He replied, "I will not destroy it if there are forty." 30 Abraham said, "Please don't be angry, Lord, but I must speak again. What if there are only thirty?" He said, "I will not do it if I find thirty." 31 Abraham said, "Please forgive my boldness in continuing to speak to you, Lord. Suppose that only twenty are found?" He said, "I will not destroy the city if I find twenty." 32 Abraham said, "Please don't be angry, Lord, and I will speak only once more. What if only ten are found?" He said, "I will not destroy it if there are ten." 33 After he had finished speaking with Abraham, the Lord went away, and Abraham returned home.

2508-Job 29:1 Job began speaking again. 2 If only my life could once again be as it was when God watched over me. 3 God was always with me then and gave me light as I walked through the darkness. 4 Those were the days when I was prosperous, and the friendship of God protected my home. 5 Almighty God was with me then, and I was surrounded by all my children. 6 My cows and goats gave plenty of milk, and my olive trees grew in the rockiest soil. 7 Whenever the city elders met and I took my place among them, 8 young men stepped aside as soon as they saw me, and old men stood up to show me respect. 9 The leaders of the people would stop talking; 10 even the most important men kept silent. 11 Everyone who saw me or heard of me had good things to say about what I had done. 12 When the poor cried out, I helped them; I gave help to orphans who had nowhere to turn. 13 People who were in deepest misery praised me, and I helped widows find security. 14 I have always acted justly and fairly. 15 I was eyes for the blind, and feet for the lame. 16 I was like a father to the poor and took the side of strangers in trouble. 17 I destroyed the power of cruel men and rescued their victims. 18 I always expected to live a long life and to die at home in comfort. 19 I was like a tree whose roots always have water and whose branches are wet with dew. 20 Everyone was always praising me, and my strength never failed me. 21 When I gave advice, people were silent and listened carefully to what I said; 22 they had nothing to add when I had finished. My words sank in like drops of rain; 23 everyone welcomed them just as farmers welcome rain in spring. 24 I smiled on them when they had lost confidence; my cheerful face encouraged them. 25 I took charge and made the decisions; I led them as a king leads his troops, and gave them comfort in their despair.

2509-Job 29:1 Job began speaking again. 2 If only my life could once again be as it was when God watched over me. 3 God was always with me then and gave me light as I walked through the darkness. 4 Those were the days when I was prosperous, and the friendship of God protected my home. 5 Almighty God was with me then, and I was surrounded by all my children.

2510-Luke 8:55 Her life returned, and she got up at once, and Jesus ordered them to give her something to eat.

2511-Matthew 14:13 When Jesus heard the news about John, he left there in a boat and went to a lonely place by himself. The people heard about it, and so they left their towns and followed him by land. 14 Jesus got out of the boat, and when he saw the large crowd, his heart was filled with pity for them, and he healed their sick. 15 That evening his disciples came to him and said, "It is already very late, and this is a lonely place. Send the people away and let them go to the villages to buy food for themselves." 16 "They don't have to leave," answered Jesus. "You yourselves give them something to eat!" 17 "All we have here are five loaves and two fish," they replied. 18 "Then bring them here to me," Jesus said. 19 He ordered the people to sit down on the grass; then he took the five loaves and the two fish, looked up to heaven, and gave thanks to God. He broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the people. 20 Everyone ate and had enough. Then the disciples took up twelve baskets full of what was left over. 21 The number of men who ate was about five thousand, not counting the women and children.

2512-Mark 6:30 The apostles returned and met with Jesus, and told him all they had done and taught. 31 There were so many people coming and going that Jesus and his disciples didn't even have time to eat. So he said to them, "Let us go off by ourselves to some place where we will be alone and you can rest a while." 32 So they started out in a boat by themselves to a lonely place. 33 Many people, however, saw them leave and knew at once who they were; so they went from all the towns and ran ahead by land and arrived at the place ahead of Jesus and his disciples. 34 When Jesus got out of the boat, he saw this large crowd, and his heart was filled with pity for them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So he began to teach them many things. 35 When it was getting late, his disciples came to him and said, "It is already very late, and this is a lonely place. 36 Send the people away, and let them go to the nearby farms and villages in order to buy themselves something to eat." 37 "You yourselves give them something to eat," Jesus answered. They asked, "Do you want us to go and spend two hundred silver coins on bread in order to feed them?" 38 So Jesus asked them, "How much bread do you have? Go and see." When they found out, they told him, "Five loaves and also two fish." 39 Jesus then told his disciples to make all the people divide into groups and sit down on the green grass. 40 So the people sat down in rows, in groups of a hundred and groups of fifty. 41 Then Jesus took the five loaves and the two fish, looked up to heaven, and gave thanks to God. He broke the loaves and gave them to his disciples to distribute to the people. He also divided the two fish among them all. 42 Everyone ate and had enough. 43 Then the disciples took up twelve baskets full of what was left of the bread and the fish. 44 The number of men who were fed was five thousand.

2513-Luke 9:10 The apostles came back and told Jesus everything they had done. He took them with him, and they went off by themselves to a town named Bethsaida. 11 When the crowds heard about it, they followed him. He welcomed them, spoke to them about the Kingdom of God, and healed those who needed it. 12 When the sun was beginning to set, the twelve disciples came to him and said, "Send the people away so that they can go to the villages and farms around here and find food and lodging, because this is a lonely place." 13 But Jesus said to them, "You yourselves give them something to eat." They answered, "All we have are five loaves and two fish. Do you want us to go and buy food for this whole crowd?" 14 (There were about five thousand men there.) Jesus said to his disciples, "Make the people sit down in groups of about fifty each." 15 After the disciples had done so, 16 Jesus took the five loaves and two fish, looked up to heaven, thanked God for them, broke them, and gave them to the disciples to distribute to the people. 17 They all ate and had enough, and the disciples took up twelve baskets of what was left over.

2514-John 6:1 After this, Jesus went across Lake Galilee (or, Lake Tiberias, as it is also called). 2 A large crowd followed him, because they had seen his miracles of healing the sick. 3 Jesus went up a hill and sat down with his disciples. 4 The time for the Passover Festival was near. 5 Jesus looked around and saw that a large crowd was coming to him, so he asked Philip, "Where can we buy enough food to feed all these people? 6 (He said this to test Philip; actually he already knew what he would do.) 7 Philip answered, "For everyone to have even a little, it would take more than two hundred silver coins to buy enough bread." 8 Another one of his disciples, Andrew, who was Simon Peter's brother, said, 9 "There is a boy here who has five loaves of barley bread and two fish. But they will certainly not be enough for all these people." 10 "Make the people sit down," Jesus told them. (There was a lot of grass there.) So all the people sat down; there were about five thousand men. 11 Jesus took the bread, gave thanks to God, and distributed it to the people who were sitting there. He did the same with the fish, and they all had as much as they wanted. 12 When they were all full, he said to his disciples, "Gather the pieces left over; let us not waste a bit." 13 So they gathered them all and filled twelve baskets with the pieces left over from the five barley loaves which the people had eaten. 14 Seeing this miracle that Jesus had performed, the people there said, "Surely this is the Prophet who was to come into the world!"

2515-John 5:1 After this, Jesus went to Jerusalem for a religious festival. 2 Near the Sheep Gate in Jerusalem there is a pool with five porches; in Hebrew it is called Bethzatha. 3 A large crowd of sick people were lying on the porches - the blind, the lame, and the paralyzed. 5 A man was there who had been sick for thirty-eight years. 6 Jesus saw him lying there, and he knew that the man had been sick for such a long time; so he asked him, "Do you want to get well?" 7 The sick man answered, "Sir, I don't have anyone here to put me in the pool when the water is stirred up; while I am trying to get in, somebody else gets there first." 8 Jesus said to him, "Get up, pick up your mat, and walk." 9 Immediately the man got well; he picked up his mat and started walking. The day this happened was a Sabbath, 10 so the Jewish authorities told the man who had been healed, "This is a Sabbath, and it is against our Law for you to carry your mat." 11 He answered, "The man who made me well told me to pick up my mat and walk." 12 They asked him, "Who is the man who told you to do this?" 13 But the man who had been healed did not know who Jesus was, for there was a crowd in that place, and Jesus had slipped away. 14 Afterward, Jesus found him in the Temple and said, "Listen, you are well now; so stop sinning or something worse may happen to you." 15 Then the man left and told the Jewish authorities that it was Jesus who had healed him. 16 So they began to persecute Jesus, because he had done this healing on a Sabbath. 17 Jesus answered them, "My Father is always working, and I too must work."

John 9:1 As Jesus was walking along, he saw a man who had been born blind. 2 His disciples asked him, "Teacher, whose sin caused him to be born blind? Was it his own or his parents' sin?" 3 Jesus answered, "His blindness has nothing to do with his sins or his parents' sins. He is blind so that God's power might be seen at work in him. 4 As long as it is day, we must do the work of him who sent me; night is coming when no one can work. 5 While I am in the world, I am the light for the world." 6 After he said this, Jesus spat on the ground and made some mud with the spittle; he rubbed the mud on the man's eyes 7 and told him, "Go and wash your face in the Pool of Siloam." (This name means "Sent.") So the man went, washed his face, and came back seeing. 8 His neighbors, then, and the people who had seen him begging before this, asked, "Isn't this the man who used to sit and beg?" 9 Some said, "He is the one," but others said, "No he isn't; he just looks like him." So the man himself said, "I am the man." 10 "How is it that you can now see?" they asked him. 11 He answered, "The man called Jesus made some mud, rubbed it on my eyes, and told me to go to Siloam and wash my face. So I went, and as soon as I washed, I could see." 12 "Where is he?" they asked. "I don't know," he answered. 13 Then they took to the Pharisees the man who had been blind. 14 The day that Jesus made the mud and cured him of his blindness was a Sabbath. 15 The Pharisees, then, asked the man again how he had received his sight. He told them, "He put some mud on my eyes; I washed my face, and now I can see." 16 Some of the Pharisees said, "The man who did this cannot be from God, for he does not obey the Sabbath law." Others, however, said, "How could a man who is a sinner perform such miracles as these?" And there was a division among them. 17 So the Pharisees asked the man once more, "You say he cured you of your blindness - well, what do you say about him?" "He is a prophet," the man answered. 18 The Jewish authorities, however, were not willing to believe that he had been blind and could now see, until they called his parents 19 and asked them, "Is this your son? You say that he was born blind; how is it, then, that he can now see?" 20 His parents answered, "We know that he is our son, and we know that he was born blind. 21 But we do not know how it is that he is now able to see, nor do we know who cured him of his blindness. Ask him; he is old enough, and he can answer for himself!" 22 His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jewish authorities, who had already agreed that anyone who said he believed that Jesus was the Messiah would be expelled from the synagogue. 23 That is why his parents said, "He is old enough; ask him!" 24 A second time they called back the man who had been born blind, and said to him, "Promise before God that you will tell the truth! We know that this man who cured you is a sinner." 25 "I do not know if he is a sinner or not," the man replied. "One thing I do know: I was blind, and now I see." 26 "What did he do to you?" they asked. "How did he cure you of your blindness?" 27 "I have already told you," he answered, "and you would not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Maybe you, too, would like to be his disciples?" 28 They insulted him and said, "You are that fellow's disciple; but we are Moses' disciples. 29 We know that God spoke to Moses; as for that fellow, however, we do not even know where he comes from!" 30 The man answered, "What a strange thing that is! You do not know where he comes from, but he cured me of my blindness! 31 We know that God does not listen to sinners; he does listen to people who respect him and do what he wants them to do. 32 Since the beginning of the world nobody has ever heard of anyone giving sight to a person born blind. 33 Unless this man came from God, he would not be able to do a thing." 34 They answered, "You were born and brought up in sin - and you are trying to teach us?" And they expelled him from the synagogue.

2516-John 11:35 Jesus wept.

2517-Matthew 19:13 Some people brought children to Jesus for him to place his hands on them and to pray for them, but the disciples scolded the people. 14 Jesus said, "Let the children come to me and do not stop them, because the Kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these." 15 He placed his hands on them and then went away.

2518-Luke 18:15 Some people brought their babies to Jesus for him to place his hands on them. The disciples saw them and scolded them for doing so, 16 but Jesus called the children to him and said, "Let the children come to me and do not stop them, because the Kingdom of God belongs to such as these. 17 Remember this! Whoever does not receive the Kingdom of God like a child will never enter it."

2519-Matthew 10:29 For only a penny you can buy two sparrows, yet not one sparrow falls to the ground without your Father's consent.

2520-Job 1:21 He said, "I was born with nothing, and I will die with nothing. The Lord gave, and now he has taken away. May his name be praised!"

Job 6:4 Almighty God has shot me with arrows, and their poison spreads through my body. God has lined up his terrors against me.

Job 6:13 I have no strength left to save myself; there is nowhere I can turn for help.

Job 12:16 God is strong and always victorious; both deceived and deceiver are in his power. 17 He takes away the wisdom of rulers and makes leaders act like fools. 18 He dethrones kings and makes them prisoners; 19 he humbles priests and men of power. 20 He silences those who are trusted, and takes the wisdom of old people away. 21 He disgraces those in power and puts an end to the strength of rulers. 22 He sends light to places dark as death. 23 He makes nations strong and great, but then he defeats and destroys them. 24 He makes their leaders foolish and lets them wander confused and lost;

Job 16:6 But nothing I say helps, and being silent does not calm my pain. 7 You have worn me out, God; you have let my family be killed. 8 You have seized me; you are my enemy. I am skin and bones, and people take that as proof of my guilt. 9 In anger God tears me limb from limb; he glares at me with hate. 10 People sneer at me; they crowd around me and slap my face. 11 God has handed me over to evil people. 12 I was living in peace, but God took me by the throat and battered me and crushed me. God uses me for target practice 13 and shoots arrows at me from every side - arrows that pierce and wound me; and even then he shows no pity. 14 He wounds me again and again; he attacks like a soldier gone mad with hate.

Job 17:11 My days have passed; my plans have failed; my hope is gone. 12 But my friends say night is daylight; they say that light is near, but I know I remain in darkness. 13 My only hope is the world of the dead, where I will lie down to sleep in the dark. 14 I will call the grave my father, and the worms that eat me I will call my mother and my sisters. 15 Where is there any hope for me? Who sees any? 16 Hope will not go with me when I go down to the world of the dead.

2521-Genesis 3:1 Now the snake was the most cunning animal that the Lord God had made. The snake asked the woman, "Did God really tell you not to eat fruit from any tree in the garden?" 2 "We may eat the fruit of any tree in the garden," the woman answered, 3 "except the tree in the middle of it. God told us not to eat the fruit of that tree or even touch it; if we do, we will die." 4 The snake replied, "That's not true; you will not die.

2522-Job 34:34 After all, bright people will tell me, and wise people will hear me say, 35 'Job speaks without knowledge; his words lack insight.' 36 Job, you deserve the maximum penalty for the wicked way you have talked.

2523-Job 37:20 I won't ask to speak with God; why should I give him a chance to destroy me?

2524-Job 42:7 After the Lord had finished speaking to Job, he said to Eliphaz, "I am angry with you and your two friends, because you did not speak the truth about me, the way my servant Job did. 8 Now take seven bulls and seven rams to Job and offer them as a sacrifice for yourselves. Job will pray for you, and I will answer his prayer and not disgrace you the way you deserve. You did not speak the truth about me as he did."

2525-Job 37:20 I won't ask to speak with God; why should I give him a chance to destroy me?

2526-Job 1:22 In spite of everything that had happened, Job did not sin by blaming God.

Job 2:10 Job answered, "You are talking nonsense! When God sends us something good, we welcome it. How can we complain when he sends us trouble?" Even in all this suffering Job said nothing against God.

Job 41:1 Then Job answered the Lord. 2 I know, Lord, that you are all-powerful; that you can do everything you want. 3 You ask how I dare question your wisdom when I am so very ignorant. I talked about things I did not understand, about marvels too great for me to know. 4 You told me to listen while you spoke and to try to answer your questions. 5 In the past I knew only what others had told me, but now I have seen you with my own eyes. 6 So I am ashamed of all I have said and repent in dust and ashes. 7 After the Lord had finished speaking to Job, he said to Eliphaz, "I am angry with you and your two friends, because you did not speak the truth about me, the way my servant Job did. 8 Now take seven bulls and seven rams to Job and offer them as a sacrifice for yourselves. Job will pray for you, and I will answer his prayer and not disgrace you the way you deserve. You did not speak the truth about me as he did."

2527-Ps. 90:1 O Lord, you have always been our home. 2 Before you created the hills or brought the world into being, you were eternally God, and will be God forever. 3 You tell us to return to what we were; you change us back to dust. 4 A thousand years to you are like one day; they are like yesterday, already gone, like a short hour in the night. 5 You carry us away like a flood; we last no longer than a dream. We are like weeds that sprout in the morning, 6 that grow and burst into bloom, then dry up and die in the evening. 7 We are destroyed by your anger; we are terrified by your fury. 8 You place our sins before you, our secret sins where you can see them. 9 Our life is cut short by your anger; it fades away like a whisper. 10 Seventy years is all we have - eighty years, if we are strong; yet all they bring us is trouble and sorrow; life is soon over, and we are gone. 11 Who has felt the full power of your anger? Who knows what fear your fury can bring? 12 Teach us how short our life is, so that we may become wise. 13 How much longer will your anger last? Have pity, O Lord, on your servants! 14 Fill us each morning with your constant love, so that we may sing and be glad all our life. 15 Give us now as much happiness as the sadness you gave us during all our years of misery. 16 Let us, your servants, see your mighty deeds; let our descendants see your glorious might. 17 Lord our God, may your blessings be with us. Give us success in all we do!

2528-Psalm 137:1 By the rivers of Babylon we sat down; there we wept when we remembered Zion. 2 On the willows near by we hung up our harps. 3 Those who captured us told us to sing; they told us to entertain them: "Sing us a song about Zion." 4 How can we sing a song to the Lord in a foreign land? 5 May I never be able to play the harp again if I forget you, Jerusalem! 6 May I never be able to sing again if I do not remember you, if I do not think of you as my greatest joy! 7 Remember, Lord, what the Edomites did the day Jerusalem was captured. Remember how they kept saying, "Tear it down to the ground!" 8 Babylon, you will be destroyed. Happy are those who pay you back for what you have done to us - 9 who take your babies and smash them against a rock.

2529-1 Kings 4:32 He composed three thousand proverbs and more than a thousand songs.

2530-Prov. 22:1 If you have to choose between a good reputation and great wealth, choose a good reputation.

2531-Psalms 3:1 I have so many enemies, Lord, so many who turn against me!

Psalm 24:1 The world and all that is in it belong to the Lord; the earth and all who live on it are his.

2532-Psalm 90:6 that grow and burst into bloom, then dry up and die in the evening.

2533-Psalm 19:7 The law of the Lord is perfect; it gives new strength. The commands of the Lord are trustworthy, giving wisdom to those who lack it.

2534-Psalm 42:1 As a deer longs for a stream of cool water, so I long for you, O God.

2535-Psalms 3:1 I have so many enemies, Lord, so many who turn against me! 2 They talk about me and say, "God will not help him." 3 But you, O Lord, are always my shield from danger; you give me victory and restore my courage. 4 I call to the Lord for help, and from his sacred hill he answers me. 5 I lie down and sleep, and all night long the Lord protects me. 6 I am not afraid of the thousands of enemies who surround me on every side. 7 Come, Lord! Save me, my God! You punish all my enemies and leave them powerless to harm me. 8 Victory comes from the Lord - may he bless his people.

Psalm 7:1 O Lord, my God, I come to you for protection; rescue me and save me from all who pursue me, 2 or else like a lion they will carry me off where no one can save me, and there they will tear me to pieces. 3 O Lord, my God, if I have wronged anyone, if I have betrayed a friend or without cause done violence to my enemy - if I have done any of these things - 5 then let my enemies pursue me and catch me, let them cut me down and kill me and leave me lifeless on the ground! 6 Rise in your anger, O Lord! Stand up against the fury of my enemies; rouse yourself and help me! Justice is what you demand, 7 so bring together all the peoples around you, and rule over them from above. 8 You are the judge of all people. Judge in my favor, O Lord; you know that I am innocent. 9 You are a righteous God and judge our thoughts and desires. Stop the wickedness of evildoers and reward those who are good. 10 God is my protector; he saves those who obey him. 11 God is a righteous judge and always condemns the wicked. 12 If they do not change their ways, God will sharpen his sword. He bends his bow and makes it ready; 13 he takes up his deadly weapons and aims his burning arrows. 14 See how wicked people think up evil; they plan trouble and practice deception. 15 But in the traps they set for others, they themselves get caught. 16 So they are punished by their own evil and are hurt by their own violence. 17 I thank the Lord for his justice; I sing praises to the Lord, the Most High.

Psalm 18:1 How I love you, Lord! You are my defender. 2 The Lord is my protector; he is my strong fortress. My God is my protection, and with him I am safe. He protects me like a shield; he defends me and keeps me safe. 3 I call to the Lord, and he saves me from my enemies. Praise the Lord! 4 The danger of death was all around me; the waves of destruction rolled over me. 5 The danger of death was around me, and the grave set its trap for me. 6 In my trouble I called to the Lord; I called to my God for help. In his temple he heard my voice; he listened to my cry for help. 7 Then the earth trembled and shook; the foundations of the mountains rocked and quivered, because God was angry. 8 Smoke poured out of his nostrils, a consuming flame and burning coals from his mouth. 9 He tore the sky open and came down with a dark cloud under his feet. 10 He flew swiftly on his winged creature; he traveled on the wings of the wind. 11 He covered himself with darkness; thick clouds, full of water, surrounded him. 12 Hailstones and flashes of fire came from the lightning before him and broke through the dark clouds. 13 Then the Lord thundered from the sky; and the voice of the Most High was heard. 14 He shot his arrows and scattered his enemies; with flashes of lightning he sent them running. 15 The floor of the ocean was laid bare, and the foundations of the earth were uncovered, when you rebuked your enemies, Lord, and roared at them in anger. 16 The Lord reached down from above and took hold of me; he pulled me out of the deep waters. 17 He rescued me from my powerful enemies and from all those who hate me - they were too strong for me. 18 When I was in trouble, they attacked me, but the Lord protected me. 19 He helped me out of danger; he saved me because he was pleased with me. 20 The Lord rewards me because I do what is right; he blesses me because I am innocent. 21 I have obeyed the law of the Lord; I have not turned away from my God. 22 I have observed all his laws; I have not disobeyed his commands. 23 He knows that I am faultless, that I have kept myself from doing wrong. 24 And so he rewards me because I do what is right, because he knows that I am innocent. 25 O Lord, you are faithful to those who are faithful to you; completely good to those who are perfect. 26 You are pure to those who are pure, but hostile to those who are wicked. 27 You save those who are humble, but you humble those who are proud. 28 O Lord, you give me light; you dispel my darkness. 29 You give me strength to attack my enemies and power to overcome their defenses. 30 This God - how perfect are his deeds! How dependable his words! He is like a shield for all who seek his protection. 31 The Lord alone is God; God alone is our defense. 32 He is the God who makes me strong, who makes my pathway safe. 33 He makes me sure-footed as a deer; he keeps me safe on the mountains. 34 He trains me for battle, so that I can use the strongest bow. 35 O Lord, you protect me and save me; your care has made me great, and your power has kept me safe. 36 You have kept me from being captured, and I have never fallen. 37 I pursue my enemies and catch them; I do not stop until I destroy them. 38 I strike them down, and they cannot rise; they lie defeated before me. 39 You give me strength for the battle and victory over my enemies. 40 You make my enemies run from me; I destroy those who hate me. 41 They cry for help, but no one saves them; they call to the Lord, but he does not answer. 42 I crush them, so that they become like dust which the wind blows away. I trample on them like mud in the streets. 43 You saved me from a rebellious people and made me ruler over the nations; people I did not know have now become my subjects. 44 Foreigners bow before me; when they hear me, they obey. 45 They lose their courage and come trembling from their fortresses. 46 The Lord lives! Praise my defender! Proclaim the greatness of the God who saves me. 47 He gives me victory over my enemies; he subdues the nations under me 48 and saves me from my foes. O Lord, you give me victory over my enemies and protect me from violent people. 49 And so I praise you among the nations; I sing praises to you. 50 God gives great victories to his king; he shows constant love to the one he has chosen, to David and his descendants forever.

Psalm 30:1 I praise you, Lord, because you have saved me and kept my enemies from gloating over me. 2 I cried to you for help, O Lord my God, and you healed me; 3 you kept me from the grave. I was on my way to the depths below, but you restored my life. 4 Sing praise to the Lord, all his faithful people! Remember what the Holy One has done, and give him thanks! 5 His anger lasts only a moment, his goodness for a lifetime. Tears may flow in the night, but joy comes in the morning. 6 I felt secure and said to myself, "I will never be defeated." 7 You were good to me, Lord; you protected me like a mountain fortress. But then you hid yourself from me, and I was afraid. 8 I called to you, Lord; I begged for your help: 9 "What will you gain from my death? What profit from my going to the grave? Are dead people able to praise you? Can they proclaim your unfailing goodness? 10 Hear me, Lord, and be merciful! Help me, Lord!" 11 You have changed my sadness into a joyful dance; you have taken away my sorrow and surrounded me with joy. 12 So I will not be silent; I will sing praise to you. Lord, you are my God; I will give you thanks forever.

Psalm 34:1 I will always thank the Lord; I will never stop praising him. 2 I will praise him for what he has done; may all who are oppressed listen and be glad! 3 Proclaim with me the Lord's greatness; let us praise his name together! 4 I prayed to the Lord, and he answered me; he freed me from all my fears. 5 The oppressed look to him and are glad; they will never be disappointed. 6 The helpless call to him, and he answers; he saves them from all their troubles. 7 His angel guards those who honor the Lord and rescues them from danger. 8 Find out for yourself how good the Lord is. Happy are those who find safety with him. 9 Honor the Lord, all his people; those who obey him have all they need. 10 Even lions go hungry for lack of food, but those who obey the Lord lack nothing good. 11 Come, my young friends, and listen to me, and I will teach you to honor the Lord. 12 Would you like to enjoy life? Do you want long life and happiness? 13 Then keep from speaking evil and from telling lies. 14 Turn away from evil and do good; strive for peace with all your heart. 15 The Lord watches over the righteous and listens to their cries; 16 but he opposes those who do evil, so that when they die, they are soon forgotten. 17 The righteous call to the Lord, and he listens; he rescues them from all their troubles. 18 The Lord is near to those who are discouraged; he saves those who have lost all hope. 19 Good people suffer many troubles, but the Lord saves them from them all; 20 the Lord preserves them completely; not one of their bones is broken. 21 Evil will kill the wicked; those who hate the righteous will be punished. 22 The Lord will save his people; those who go to him for protection will be spared.

Psalm 51:1 Be merciful to me, O God, because of your constant love. Because of your great mercy wipe away my sins! 2 Wash away all my evil and make me clean from my sin! 3 I recognize my faults; I am always conscious of my sins. 4 I have sinned against you - only against you - and done what you consider evil. So you are right in judging me; you are justified in condemning me. 5 I have been evil from the day I was born; from the time I was conceived, I have been sinful. 6 Sincerity and truth are what you require; fill my mind with your wisdom. 7 Remove my sin, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. 8 Let me hear the sounds of joy and gladness; and though you have crushed me and broken me, I will be happy once again. 9 Close your eyes to my sins and wipe out all my evil. 10 Create a pure heart in me, O God, and put a new and loyal spirit in me. 11 Do not banish me from your presence; do not take your holy spirit away from me. 12 Give me again the joy that comes from your salvation, and make me willing to obey you. 13 Then I will teach sinners your commands, and they will turn back to you. 14 Spare my life, O God, and save me, and I will gladly proclaim your righteousness. 15 Help me to speak, Lord, and I will praise you. 16 You do not want sacrifices, or I would offer them; you are not pleased with burnt offerings. 17 My sacrifice is a humble spirit, O God; you will not reject a humble and repentant heart. 18 O God, be kind to Zion and help her; rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. 19 Then you will be pleased with proper sacrifices and with our burnt offerings; and bulls will be sacrificed on your altar.

Psalm 52:1 Why do you boast, great one, of your evil? God's faithfulness is eternal. 2 You make plans to ruin others; your tongue is like a sharp razor. You are always inventing lies. 3 You love evil more than good and falsehood more than truth. 4 You love to hurt people with your words, you liar! 5 So God will ruin you forever; he will take hold of you and snatch you from your home; he will remove you from the world of the living. 6 Righteous people will see this and be afraid; then they will laugh at you and say, 7 "Look, here is someone who did not depend on God for safety, but trusted instead in great wealth and looked for security in being wicked." 8 But I am like an olive tree growing in the house of God; I trust in his constant love forever and ever. 9 I will always thank you, God, for what you have done; in the presence of your people I will proclaim that you are good.

Psalm 54:1 Save me by your power, O God; set me free by your might! 2 Hear my prayer, O God; listen to my words! 3 Proud people are coming to attack me; cruel people are trying to kill me - those who do not care about God. 4 But God is my helper. The Lord is my defender. 5 May God use their own evil to punish my enemies. He will destroy them because he is faithful. 6 I will gladly offer you a sacrifice, O Lord; I will give you thanks because you are good. 7 You have rescued me from all my troubles, and I have seen my enemies defeated.

Psalm 56:1 Be merciful to me, O God, because I am under attack; my enemies persecute me all the time. 2 All day long my opponents attack me. There are so many who fight against me. 3 When I am afraid, O Lord Almighty, I put my trust in you. 4 I trust in God and am not afraid; I praise him for what he has promised. What can a mere human being do to me? 5 My enemies make trouble for me all day long; they are always thinking up some way to hurt me! 6 They gather in hiding places and watch everything I do, hoping to kill me. 7 Punish them, O God, for their evil; defeat those people in your anger! 8 You know how troubled I am; you have kept a record of my tears. Aren't they listed in your book? 9 The day I call to you, my enemies will be turned back. I know this: God is on my side - 10 the Lord, whose promises I praise. 11 In him I trust, and I will not be afraid. What can a mere human being do to me? 12 O God, I will offer you what I have promised; I will give you my offering of thanksgiving, 13 because you have rescued me from death and kept me from defeat. And so I walk in the presence of God, in the light that shines on the living.

Psalm 57:1 Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful, because I come to you for safety. In the shadow of your wings I find protection until the raging storms are over. 2 I call to God, the Most High, to God, who supplies my every need. 3 He will answer from heaven and save me; he will defeat my oppressors. God will show me his constant love and faithfulness. 4 I am surrounded by enemies, who are like lions hungry for human flesh. Their teeth are like spears and arrows; their tongues are like sharp swords. 5 Show your greatness in the sky, O God, and your glory over all the earth. 6 My enemies have spread a net to catch me; I am overcome with distress. They dug a pit in my path, but fell into it themselves. 7 I have complete confidence, O God; I will sing and praise you! 8 Wake up, my soul! Wake up, my harp and lyre! I will wake up the sun. 9 I will thank you, O Lord, among the nations. I will praise you among the peoples. 10 Your constant love reaches the heavens; your faithfulness touches the skies. 11 Show your greatness in the sky, O God, and your glory over all the earth.

Psalm 59:those evil people; rescue me from those murderers! 3 Look! They are waiting to kill me; cruel people are gathering against me. It is not because of any sin or wrong I have done, 4 nor because of any fault of mine, O Lord, that they hurry to their places. 5 Rise, Lord God Almighty, and come to my aid; see for yourself, God of Israel! Wake up and punish the heathen; show no mercy to evil traitors! 6 They come back in the evening, snarling like dogs as they go about the city. 7 Listen to their insults and threats. Their tongues are like swords in their mouths, yet they think that no one hears them. 8 But you laugh at them, Lord; you mock all the heathen. 9 I have confidence in your strength; you are my refuge, O God. 10 My God loves me and will come to me; he will let me see my enemies defeated. 11 Do not kill them, O God, or my people may forget. Scatter them by your strength and defeat them, O Lord, our protector. 12 Sin is on their lips; all their words are sinful; may they be caught in their pride! Because they curse and lie, 13 destroy them in your anger; destroy them completely. Then everyone will know that God rules in Israel, that his rule extends over all the earth. 14 My enemies come back in the evening, snarling like dogs as they go about the city, 15 like dogs roaming about for food and growling if they do not find enough. 16 But I will sing about your strength; every morning I will sing aloud of your constant love. You have been a refuge for me, a shelter in my time of trouble. 17 I will praise you, my defender. My refuge is God, the God who loves me.

Psalm 60:1 You have rejected us, God, and defeated us; you have been angry with us - but now turn back to us. 2 You have made the land tremble, and you have cut it open; now heal its wounds, because it is falling apart. 3 You have made your people suffer greatly; we stagger around as though we were drunk. 4 You have warned those who have reverence for you, so that they might escape destruction. 5 Save us by your might; answer our prayer, so that the people you love may be rescued. 6 From his sanctuary God has said, "In triumph I will divide Shechem and distribute Sukkoth Valley to my people. 7 Gilead is mine, and Manasseh too; Ephraim is my helmet and Judah my royal scepter. 8 But I will use Moab as my washbowl, and I will throw my sandals on Edom, as a sign that I own it. Did the Philistines think they would shout in triumph over me?" 9 Who, O God, will take me into the fortified city? Who will lead me to Edom? 10 Have you really rejected us? Aren't you going to march out with our armies? 11 Help us against the enemy; human help is worthless. 12 With God on our side we will win; he will defeat our enemies.

Psalm 63:1 O God, you are my God, and I long for you. My whole being desires you; like a dry, worn-out, and waterless land, my soul is thirsty for you. 2 Let me see you in the sanctuary; let me see how mighty and glorious you are. 3 Your constant love is better than life itself, and so I will praise you. 4 I will give you thanks as long as I live; I will raise my hands to you in prayer. 5 My soul will feast and be satisfied, and I will sing glad songs of praise to you. 6 As I lie in bed, I remember you; all night long I think of you, 7 because you have always been my help. In the shadow of your wings I sing for joy. 8 I cling to you, and your hand keeps me safe. 9 Those who are trying to kill me will go down into the world of the dead. 10 They will be killed in battle, and their bodies eaten by wolves. 11 Because God gives him victory, the king will rejoice. Those who make promises in God's name will praise him, but the mouths of liars will be shut.

Psalm 142:1 I call to the Lord for help; I plead with him. 2 I bring him all my complaints; I tell him all my troubles. 3 When I am ready to give up, he knows what I should do. In the path where I walk, my enemies have hidden a trap for me. 4 When I look beside me, I see that there is no one to help me, no one to protect me. No one cares for me. 5 Lord, I cry to you for help; you, Lord, are my protector; you are all I want in this life. 6 Listen to my cry for help, for I am sunk in despair. Save me from my enemies; they are too strong for me. 7 Set me free from my distress; then in the assembly of your people I will praise you because of your goodness to me.

2536-Psalm 8:1 O Lord, our Lord, your greatness is seen in all the world! Your praise reaches up to the heavens; 2 it is sung by children and babies. You are safe and secure from all your enemies; you stop anyone who opposes you. 3 When I look at the sky, which you have made, at the moon and the stars, which you set in their places - 4 what are human beings, that you think of them; mere mortals, that you care for them? 5 Yet you made them inferior only to yourself; you crowned them with glory and honor. 6 You appointed them rulers over everything you made; you placed them over all creation: 7 sheep and cattle, and the wild animals too; 8 the birds and the fish and the creatures in the seas. 9 O Lord, our Lord, your greatness is seen in all the world!

Psalm 19:1 How clearly the sky reveals God's glory! How plainly it shows what he has done! 2 Each day announces it to the following day; each night repeats it to the next. 3 No speech or words are used, no sound is heard; 4 yet their message goes out to all the world and is heard to the ends of the earth. God made a home in the sky for the sun; 5 it comes out in the morning like a happy bridegroom, like an athlete eager to run a race. 6 It starts at one end of the sky and goes across to the other. Nothing can hide from its heat. 7 The law of the Lord is perfect; it gives new strength. The commands of the Lord are trustworthy, giving wisdom to those who lack it. 8 The laws of the Lord are right, and those who obey them are happy. The commands of the Lord are just and give understanding to the mind. 9 Reverence for the Lord is good; it will continue forever. The judgments of the Lord are just; they are always fair. 10 They are more desirable than the finest gold; they are sweeter than the purest honey. 11 They give knowledge to me, your servant; I am rewarded for obeying them. 12 None of us can see our own errors; deliver me, Lord, from hidden faults! 13 Keep me safe, also, from willful sins; don't let them rule over me. Then I shall be perfect and free from the evil of sin. 14 May my words and my thoughts be acceptable to you, O Lord, my refuge and my redeemer!

Psalm 29:1 Praise the Lord, you heavenly beings; praise his glory and power. 2 Praise the Lord's glorious name; bow down before the Holy One when he appears. 3 The voice of the Lord is heard on the seas; the glorious God thunders, and his voice echoes over the ocean. 4 The voice of the Lord is heard in all its might and majesty. 5 The voice of the Lord breaks the cedars, even the cedars of Lebanon. 6 He makes the mountains of Lebanon jump like calves and makes Mount Hermon leap like a young bull. 7 The voice of the Lord makes the lightning flash. 8 His voice makes the desert shake; he shakes the desert of Kadesh. 9 The Lord's voice shakes the oaks and strips the leaves from the trees while everyone in his Temple shouts, "Glory to God!" 10 The Lord rules over the deep waters; he rules as king forever. 11 The Lord gives strength to his people and blesses them with peace.

Psalm 104:1 Praise the Lord, my soul! O Lord, my God, how great you are! You are clothed with majesty and glory; 2 you cover yourself with light. You have spread out the heavens like a tent 3 and built your home on the waters above. You use the clouds as your chariot and ride on the wings of the wind. 4 You use the winds as your messengers and flashes of lightning as your servants. 5 You have set the earth firmly on its foundations, and it will never be moved. 6 You placed the ocean over it like a robe, and the water covered the mountains. 7 When you rebuked the waters, they fled; they rushed away when they heard your shout of command. 8 They flowed over the mountains and into the valleys, to the place you had made for them. 9 You set a boundary they can never pass, to keep them from covering the earth again. 10 You make springs flow in the valleys, and rivers run between the hills. 11 They provide water for the wild animals; there the wild donkeys quench their thirst. 12 In the trees near by, the birds make their nests and sing. 13 From the sky you send rain on the hills, and the earth is filled with your blessings. 14 You make grass grow for the cattle and plants for us to use, so that we can grow our crops 15 and produce wine to make us happy, olive oil to make us cheerful, and bread to give us strength. 16 The cedars of Lebanon get plenty of rain - the Lord's own trees, which he planted. 17 There the birds build their nests; the storks nest in the fir trees. 18 The wild goats live in the high mountains, and the rock badgers hide in the cliffs. 19 You created the moon to mark the months; the sun knows the time to set. 20 You made the night, and in the darkness all the wild animals come out. 21 The young lions roar while they hunt, looking for the food that God provides. 22 When the sun rises, they go back and lie down in their dens. 23 Then people go out to do their work and keep working until evening. 24 Lord, you have made so many things! How wisely you made them all! The earth is filled with your creatures. 25 There is the ocean, large and wide, where countless creatures live, large and small alike. 26 The ships sail on it, and in it plays Leviathan, that sea monster which you made. 27 All of them depend on you to give them food when they need it. 28 You give it to them, and they eat it; you provide food, and they are satisfied. 29 When you turn away, they are afraid; when you take away your breath, they die and go back to the dust from which they came. 30 But when you give them breath, they are created; you give new life to the earth. 31 May the glory of the Lord last forever! May the Lord be happy with what he has made! 32 He looks at the earth, and it trembles; he touches the mountains, and they pour out smoke. 33 I will sing to the Lord all my life; as long as I live I will sing praises to my God. 34 May he be pleased with my song, for my gladness comes from him. 35 May sinners be destroyed from the earth; may the wicked be no more. Praise the Lord, my soul! Praise the Lord!

2537-Psalm 46:1 God is our shelter and strength, always ready to help in times of trouble. 2 So we will not be afraid, even if the earth is shaken and mountains fall into the ocean depths; 3 even if the seas roar and rage, and the hills are shaken by the violence. 4 There is a river that brings joy to the city of God, to the sacred house of the Most High. 5 God is in that city, and it will never be destroyed; at early dawn he will come to its aid. 6 Nations are terrified, kingdoms are shaken; God thunders, and the earth dissolves. 7 The Lord Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. 8 Come and see what the Lord has done. See what amazing things he has done on earth. 9 He stops wars all over the world; he breaks bows, destroys spears, and sets shields on fire. 10 "Stop fighting," he says, "and know that I am God, supreme among the nations, supreme over the world." 11 The Lord Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge.

Psalm 68:1 God rises up and scatters his enemies. Those who hate him run away in defeat. 2 As smoke is blown away, so he drives them off; as wax melts in front of the fire, so do the wicked perish in God's presence. 3 But the righteous are glad and rejoice in his presence; they are happy and shout for joy. 4 Sing to God, sing praises to his name; prepare a way for him who rides on the clouds. His name is the Lord - be glad in his presence! 5 God, who lives in his sacred Temple, cares for orphans and protects widows. 6 He gives the lonely a home to live in and leads prisoners out into happy freedom, but rebels will have to live in a desolate land. 7 O God, when you led your people, when you marched across the desert, 8 the earth shook, and the sky poured down rain, because of the coming of the God of Sinai, the coming of the God of Israel. 9 You caused abundant rain to fall and restored your worn-out land; 10 your people made their home there; in your goodness you provided for the poor. 11 The Lord gave the command, and many women carried the news: 12 "Kings and their armies are running away!" The women at home divided what was captured: 13 figures of doves covered with silver, whose wings glittered with fine gold. (Why did some of you stay among the sheep pens on the day of battle?) 14 When Almighty God scattered the kings on Mount Zalmon, he caused snow to fall there. 15 What a mighty mountain is Bashan, a mountain of many peaks! 16 Why from your mighty peaks do you look with scorn on the mountain on which God chose to live? The Lord will live there forever! 17 With his many thousands of mighty chariots the Lord comes from Sinai into the holy place. 18 He goes up to the heights, taking many captives with him; he receives gifts from rebellious people. The Lord God will live there. 19 Praise the Lord, who carries our burdens day after day; he is the God who saves us. 20 Our God is a God who saves; he is the Lord, our Lord, who rescues us from death. 21 God will surely break the heads of his enemies, of those who persist in their sinful ways. 22 The Lord has said, "I will bring your enemies back from Bashan; I will bring them back from the depths of the ocean, 23 so that you may wade in their blood, and your dogs may lap up as much as they want." 24 O God, your march of triumph is seen by all, the procession of God, my king, into his sanctuary. 25 The singers are in front, the musicians are behind, in between are the young women beating the tambourines. 26 "Praise God in the meeting of his people; praise the Lord, all you descendants of Jacob!" 27 First comes Benjamin, the smallest tribe, then the leaders of Judah with their group, followed by the leaders of Zebulun and Naphtali. 28 Show your power, O God, the power you have used on our behalf 29 from your Temple in Jerusalem, where kings bring gifts to you. 30 Rebuke Egypt, that wild animal in the reeds; rebuke the nations, that herd of bulls with their calves, until they all bow down and offer you their silver. Scatter those people who love to make war! 31 Ambassadors will come from Egypt; the Ethiopians will raise their hands in prayer to God. 32 Sing to God, kingdoms of the world, sing praise to the Lord, 33 to him who rides in the sky, the ancient sky. Listen to him shout with a mighty roar. 34 Proclaim God's power; his majesty is over Israel, his might is in the skies. 35 How awesome is God as he comes from his sanctuary - the God of Israel! He gives strength and power to his people. Praise God!

Psalm 79:1 O God, the heathen have invaded your land. They have desecrated your holy Temple and left Jerusalem in ruins. 2 They left the bodies of your people for the vultures, the bodies of your servants for wild animals to eat. 3 They shed your people's blood like water; blood flowed like water all through Jerusalem, and no one was left to bury the dead. 4 The surrounding nations insult us; they laugh at us and mock us. 5 Lord, will you be angry with us forever? Will your anger continue to burn like fire? 6 Turn your anger on the nations that do not worship you, on the people who do not pray to you. 7 For they have killed your people; they have ruined your country. 8 Do not punish us for the sins of our ancestors. Have mercy on us now; we have lost all hope. 9 Help us, O God, and save us; rescue us and forgive our sins for the sake of your own honor. 10 Why should the nations ask us, "Where is your God?" Let us see you punish the nations for shedding the blood of your servants. 11 Listen to the groans of the prisoners, and by your great power free those who are condemned to die. 12 Lord, pay the other nations back seven times for all the insults they have hurled at you. 13 Then we, your people, the sheep of your flock, will thank you forever and praise you for all time to come.

Psalm 105:1 Give thanks to the Lord, proclaim his greatness; tell the nations what he has done. 2 Sing praise to the Lord; tell the wonderful things he has done. 3 Be glad that we belong to him; let all who worship him rejoice. 4 Go to the Lord for help; and worship him continually. 5 You descendants of Abraham, his servant; you descendants of Jacob, the man he chose: remember the miracles that God performed and the judgments that he gave. 7 The Lord is our God; his commands are for all the world. 8 He will keep his covenant forever, his promises for a thousand generations. 9 He will keep the agreement he made with Abraham and his promise to Isaac. 10 The Lord made a covenant with Jacob, one that will last forever. 11 "I will give you the land of Canaan," he said. "It will be your own possession." 12 God's people were few in number, strangers in the land of Canaan. 13 They wandered from country to country, from one kingdom to another. 14 But God let no one oppress them; to protect them, he warned the kings: 15 "Don't harm my chosen servants; do not touch my prophets." 16 The Lord sent famine to their country and took away all their food. 17 But he sent a man ahead of them, Joseph, who had been sold as a slave. 18 His feet were kept in chains, and an iron collar was around his neck, 19 until what he had predicted came true. The word of the Lord proved him right. 20 Then the king of Egypt had him released; the ruler of nations set him free. 21 He put him in charge of his government and made him ruler over all the land, 22 with power over the king's officials and authority to instruct his advisers. 23 Then Jacob went to Egypt and settled in that country. 24 The Lord gave many children to his people and made them stronger than their enemies. 25 He made the Egyptians hate his people and treat his servants with deceit. 26 Then he sent his servant Moses, and Aaron, whom he had chosen. 27 They did God's mighty acts and performed miracles in Egypt. 28 God sent darkness on the country, but the Egyptians did not obey his command. 29 He turned their rivers into blood and killed all their fish. 30 Their country was overrun with frogs; even the palace was filled with them. 31 God commanded, and flies and gnats swarmed throughout the whole country. 32 He sent hail and lightning on their land instead of rain; 33 he destroyed their grapevines and fig trees and broke down all the trees. 34 He commanded, and the locusts came, countless millions of them; 35 they ate all the plants in the land; they ate all the crops. 36 He killed the first-born sons of all the families of Egypt. 37 Then he led the Israelites out; they carried silver and gold, and all of them were healthy and strong. 38 The Egyptians were afraid of them and were glad when they left. 39 God put a cloud over his people and a fire at night to give them light. 40 They asked, and he sent quails; he gave them food from heaven to satisfy them. 41 He opened a rock, and water gushed out, flowing through the desert like a river. 42 He remembered his sacred promise to Abraham his servant. 43 So he led his chosen people out, and they sang and shouted for joy. 44 He gave them the lands of other peoples and let them take over their fields, 45 so that his people would obey his laws and keep all his commands. Praise the Lord!

Psalm 106:1 Praise the Lord! Give thanks to the Lord, because he is good; his love is eternal. 2 Who can tell all the great things he has done? Who can praise him enough? 3 Happy are those who obey his commands, who always do what is right. 4 Remember me, Lord, when you help your people; include me when you save them. 5 Let me see the prosperity of your people and share in the happiness of your nation, in the glad pride of those who belong to you. 6 We have sinned as our ancestors did; we have been wicked and evil. 7 Our ancestors in Egypt did not understand God's wonderful acts; they forgot the many times he showed them his love, and they rebelled against the Almighty at the Red Sea. 8 But he saved them, as he had promised, in order to show his great power. 9 He gave a command to the Red Sea, and it dried up; he led his people across on dry land. 10 He saved them from those who hated them; he rescued them from their enemies. 11 But the water drowned their enemies; not one of them was left. 12 Then his people believed his promises and sang praises to him. 13 But they quickly forgot what he had done and acted without waiting for his advice. 14 They were filled with craving in the desert and put God to the test; 15 so he gave them what they asked for, but also sent a terrible disease among them. 16 There in the desert they were jealous of Moses and of Aaron, the Lord's holy servant. 17 Then the earth opened up and swallowed Dathan and buried Abiram and his family; 18 fire came down on their followers and burned up those wicked people. 19 They made a gold bull-calf at Sinai and worshiped that idol; 20 they exchanged the glory of God for the image of an animal that eats grass. 21 They forgot the God who had saved them by his mighty acts in Egypt. 22 What wonderful things he did there! What amazing things at the Red Sea! 23 When God said that he would destroy his people, his chosen servant, Moses, stood up against God and kept his anger from destroying them. 24 Then they rejected the pleasant land, because they did not believe God's promise. 25 They stayed in their tents and grumbled and would not listen to the Lord. 26 So he gave them a solemn warning that he would make them die in the desert 27 and scatter their descendants among the heathen, letting them die in foreign countries. 28 Then at Peor, God's people joined in the worship of Baal and ate sacrifices offered to dead gods. 29 They stirred up the Lord's anger by their actions, and a terrible disease broke out among them. 30 But Phinehas stood up and punished the guilty, and the plague was stopped. 31 This has been remembered in his favor ever since and will be for all time to come. 32 At the springs of Meribah the people made the Lord angry, and Moses was in trouble on their account. 33 They made him so bitter that he spoke without stopping to think. 34 They did not kill the heathen, as the Lord had commanded them to do, 35 but they intermarried with them and adopted their pagan ways. 36 God's people worshiped idols, and this caused their destruction. 37 They offered their own sons and daughters as sacrifices to the idols of Canaan. 38 They killed those innocent children, and the land was defiled by those murders. 39 They made themselves impure by their actions and were unfaithful to God. 40 So the Lord was angry with his people; he was disgusted with them. 41 He abandoned them to the power of the heathen, and their enemies ruled over them. 42 They were oppressed by their enemies and were in complete subjection to them. 43 Many times the Lord rescued his people, but they chose to rebel against him and sank deeper into sin. 44 Yet the Lord heard them when they cried out, and he took notice of their distress. 45 For their sake he remembered his covenant, and because of his great love he relented. 46 He made all their oppressors feel sorry for them. 47 Save us, O Lord our God, and bring us back from among the nations, so that we may be thankful and praise your holy name. 48 Praise the Lord, the God of Israel; praise him now and forever! Let everyone say, "Amen!" Praise the Lord!

Psalm 114:1 When the people of Israel left Egypt, when Jacob's descendants left that foreign land, 2 Judah became the Lord's holy people, Israel became his own possession. 3 The Red Sea looked and ran away; the Jordan River stopped flowing. 4 The mountains skipped like goats; the hills jumped around like lambs. 5 What happened, Sea, to make you run away? And you, O Jordan, why did you stop flowing? 6 You mountains, why did you skip like goats? You hills, why did you jump around like lambs? 7 Tremble, earth, at the Lord's coming, at the presence of the God of Jacob, 8 who changes rocks into pools of water and solid cliffs into flowing springs.

2538-Psalm1;or join those who have no use for God. 2 Instead, they find joy in obeying the Law of the Lord, and they study it day and night. 3 They are like trees that grow beside a stream, that bear fruit at the right time, and whose leaves do not dry up. They succeed in everything they do. 4 But evil people are not like this at all; they are like straw that the wind blows away. 5 Sinners will be condemned by God and kept apart from God's own people. 6 The righteous are guided and protected by the Lord, but the evil are on the way to their doom.

Psalm 15:1 Lord, who may enter your Temple? Who may worship on Zion, your sacred hill? 2 Those who obey God in everything and always do what is right, whose words are true and sincere, 3 and who do not slander others. They do no wrong to their friends nor spread rumors about their neighbors. 4 They despise those whom God rejects, but honor those who obey the Lord. They always do what they promise, no matter how much it may cost. 5 They make loans without charging interest and cannot be bribed to testify against the innocent. Whoever does these things will always be secure.

Psalm 34:1 I will always thank the Lord; I will never stop praising him. 2 I will praise him for what he has done; may all who are oppressed listen and be glad! 3 Proclaim with me the Lord's greatness; let us praise his name together! 4 I prayed to the Lord, and he answered me; he freed me from all my fears. 5 The oppressed look to him and are glad; they will never be disappointed. 6 The helpless call to him, and he answers; he saves them from all their troubles. 7 His angel guards those who honor the Lord and rescues them from danger. 8 Find out for yourself how good the Lord is. Happy are those who find safety with him. 9 Honor the Lord, all his people; those who obey him have all they need. 10 Even lions go hungry for lack of food, but those who obey the Lord lack nothing good. 11 Come, my young friends, and listen to me, and I will teach you to honor the Lord. 12 Would you like to enjoy life? Do you want long life and happiness? 13 Then keep from speaking evil and from telling lies. 14 Turn away from evil and do good; strive for peace with all your heart. 15 The Lord watches over the righteous and listens to their cries; 16 but he opposes those who do evil, so that when they die, they are soon forgotten. 17 The righteous call to the Lord, and he listens; he rescues them from all their troubles. 18 The Lord is near to those who are discouraged; he saves those who have lost all hope. 19 Good people suffer many troubles, but the Lord saves them from them all; 20 the Lord preserves them completely; not one of their bones is broken. 21 Evil will kill the wicked; those who hate the righteous will be punished. 22 The Lord will save his people; those who go to him for protection will be spared.

Psalm 71:1 Lord, I have come to you for protection; never let me be defeated! 2 Because you are righteous, help me and rescue me. Listen to me and save me! 3 Be my secure shelter and a strong fortress to protect me; you are my refuge and defense. 4 My God, rescue me from wicked people, from the power of cruel and evil people. 5 Sovereign Lord, I put my hope in you; I have trusted in you since I was young. 6 I have relied on you all my life; you have protected me since the day I was born. I will always praise you. 7 My life has been an example to many, because you have been my strong defender. 8 All day long I praise you and proclaim your glory. 9 Do not reject me now that I am old; do not abandon me now that I am feeble. 10 My enemies want to kill me; they talk and plot against me. 11 They say, "God has abandoned him; let's go after him and catch him; there is no one to rescue him." 12 Don't stay so far away, O God; my God, hurry to my aid! 13 May those who attack me be defeated and destroyed. May those who try to hurt me be shamed and disgraced. 14 I will always put my hope in you; I will praise you more and more. 15 I will tell of your goodness; all day long I will speak of your salvation, though it is more than I can understand. 16 I will go in the strength of the Lord God; I will proclaim your goodness, yours alone. 17 You have taught me ever since I was young, and I still tell of your wonderful acts. 18 Now that I am old and my hair is gray, do not abandon me, O God! Be with me while I proclaim your power and might to all generations to come. 19 Your righteousness, God, reaches the skies. You have done great things; there is no one like you. 20 You have sent troubles and suffering on me, but you will restore my strength; you will keep me from the grave. 21 You will make me greater than ever; you will comfort me again. 22 I will indeed praise you with the harp; I will praise your faithfulness, my God. On my harp I will play hymns to you, the Holy One of Israel. 23 I will shout for joy as I play for you; with my whole being I will sing because you have saved me. 24 I will speak of your righteousness all day long, because those who tried to harm me have been defeated and disgraced.

2539-Psalm 2:1 Why do the nations plan rebellion? Why do people make their useless plots? 2 Their kings revolt, their rulers plot together against the Lord and against the king he chose. 3 "Let us free ourselves from their rule," they say; "let us throw off their control." 4 From his throne in heaven the Lord laughs and mocks their feeble plans. 5 Then he warns them in anger and terrifies them with his fury. 6 "On Zion, my sacred hill," he says, "I have installed my king." 7 "I will announce," says the king, "what the Lord has declared. He said to me: "You are my son; today I have become your father. 8 Ask, and I will give you all the nations; the whole earth will be yours. 9 You will break them with an iron rod; you will shatter them in pieces like a clay pot.' " 10 Now listen to this warning, you kings; learn this lesson, you rulers of the world: 11 Serve the Lord with fear; tremble 12 and bow down to him; or else his anger will be quickly aroused, and you will suddenly die. Happy are all who go to him for protection.

Psalm 8:1 O Lord, our Lord, your greatness is seen in all the world! Your praise reaches up to the heavens; 2 it is sung by children and babies. You are safe and secure from all your enemies; you stop anyone who opposes you. 3 When I look at the sky, which you have made, at the moon and the stars, which you set in their places - 4 what are human beings, that you think of them; mere mortals, that you care for them? 5 Yet you made them inferior only to yourself; you crowned them with glory and honor. 6 You appointed them rulers over everything you made; you placed them over all creation: 7 sheep and cattle, and the wild animals too; 8 the birds and the fish and the creatures in the seas. 9 O Lord, our Lord, your greatness is seen in all the world!

Psalm 16:1 Protect me, O God; I trust in you for safety. 2 I say to the Lord, "You are my Lord; all the good things I have come from you." 3 How excellent are the Lord's faithful people! My greatest pleasure is to be with them. 4 Those who rush to other gods bring many troubles on themselves. I will not take part in their sacrifices; I will not worship their gods. 5 You, Lord, are all I have, and you give me all I need; my future is in your hands. 6 How wonderful are your gifts to me; how good they are! 7 I praise the Lord, because he guides me, and in the night my conscience warns me. 8 I am always aware of the Lord's presence; he is near, and nothing can shake me. 9 And so I am thankful and glad, and I feel completely secure, 10 because you protect me from the power of death. I have served you faithfully, and you will not abandon me to the world of the dead. 11 You will show me the path that leads to life; your presence fills me with joy and brings me pleasure forever.

Psalm 22:1 My God, my God, why have you abandoned me? I have cried desperately for help, but still it does not come. 2 During the day I call to you, my God, but you do not answer; I call at night, but get no rest. 3 But you are enthroned as the Holy One, the one whom Israel praises. 4 Our ancestors put their trust in you; they trusted you, and you saved them. 5 They called to you and escaped from danger; they trusted you and were not disappointed. 6 But I am no longer a human being; I am a worm, despised and scorned by everyone! 7 All who see me make fun of me; they stick out their tongues and shake their heads. 8 "You relied on the Lord," they say. "Why doesn't he save you? If the Lord likes you, why doesn't he help you?" 9 It was you who brought me safely through birth, and when I was a baby, you kept me safe. 10 I have relied on you since the day I was born, and you have always been my God. 11 Do not stay away from me! Trouble is near, and there is no one to help. 12 Many enemies surround me like bulls; they are all around me, like fierce bulls from the land of Bashan. 13 They open their mouths like lions, roaring and tearing at me. 14 My strength is gone, gone like water spilled on the ground. All my bones are out of joint; my heart is like melted wax. 15 My throat is as dry as dust, and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth. You have left me for dead in the dust. 16 An evil gang is around me; like a pack of dogs they close in on me; they tear at my hands and feet. 17 All my bones can be seen. My enemies look at me and stare. 18 They gamble for my clothes and divide them among themselves. 19 O Lord, don't stay away from me! Come quickly to my rescue! 20 Save me from the sword; save my life from these dogs. 21 Rescue me from these lions; I am helpless before these wild bulls. 22 I will tell my people what you have done; I will praise you in their assembly: 23 "Praise him, you servants of the Lord! Honor him, you descendants of Jacob! Worship him, you people of Israel! 24 He does not neglect the poor or ignore their suffering; he does not turn away from them, but answers when they call for help." 25 In the full assembly I will praise you for what you have done; in the presence of those who worship you I will offer the sacrifices I promised. 26 The poor will eat as much as they want; those who come to the Lord will praise him. May they prosper forever! 27 All nations will remember the Lord. From every part of the world they will turn to him; all races will worship him. 28 The Lord is king, and he rules the nations. 29 All proud people will bow down to him; all mortals will bow down before him. 30 Future generations will serve him; they will speak of the Lord to the coming generation. 31 People not yet born will be told: "The Lord saved his people."

Psalm 23:1 The Lord is my shepherd; I have everything I need. 2 He lets me rest in fields of green grass and leads me to quiet pools of fresh water. 3 He gives me new strength. He guides me in the right paths, as he has promised. 4 Even if I go through the deepest darkness, I will not be afraid, Lord, for you are with me. Your shepherd's rod and staff protect me. 5 You prepare a banquet for me, where all my enemies can see me; you welcome me as an honored guest and fill my cup to the brim. 6 I know that your goodness and love will be with me all my life; and your house will be my home as long as I live.

Psalm 24:1 The world and all that is in it belong to the Lord; the earth and all who live on it are his. 2 He built it on the deep waters beneath the earth and laid its foundations in the ocean depths. 3 Who has the right to go up the Lord's hill? Who may enter his holy Temple? 4 Those who are pure in act and in thought, who do not worship idols or make false promises. 5 The Lord will bless them and save them; God will declare them innocent. 6 Such are the people who come to God, who come into the presence of the God of Jacob. 7 Fling wide the gates, open the ancient doors, and the great king will come in. 8 Who is this great king? He is the Lord, strong and mighty, the Lord, victorious in battle. 9 Fling wide the gates, open the ancient doors, and the great king will come in. 10 Who is this great king? The triumphant Lord - he is the great king!

Psalm 40:1 I waited patiently for the Lord's help; then he listened to me and heard my cry. 2 He pulled me out of a dangerous pit, out of the deadly quicksand. He set me safely on a rock and made me secure. 3 He taught me to sing a new song, a song of praise to our God. Many who see this will take warning and will put their trust in the Lord. 4 Happy are those who trust the Lord, who do not turn to idols or join those who worship false gods. 5 You have done many things for us, O Lord our God; there is no one like you! You have made many wonderful plans for us. I could never speak of them all - their number is so great! 6 You do not want sacrifices and offerings; you do not ask for animals burned whole on the altar or for sacrifices to take away sins. Instead, you have given me ears to hear you, 7 and so I answered, "Here I am; your instructions for me are in the book of the Law. 8 How I love to do your will, my God! I keep your teaching in my heart." 9 In the assembly of all your people, Lord, I told the good news that you save us. You know that I will never stop telling it. 10 I have not kept the news of salvation to myself; I have always spoken of your faithfulness and help. In the assembly of all your people I have not been silent about your loyalty and constant love. 11 Lord, I know you will never stop being merciful to me. Your love and loyalty will always keep me safe. 12 I am surrounded by many troubles - too many to count! My sins have caught up with me, and I can no longer see; they are more than the hairs of my head, and I have lost my courage. 13 Save me, Lord! Help me now! 14 May those who try to kill me be completely defeated and confused. May those who are happy because of my troubles be turned back and disgraced. 15 May those who make fun of me be dismayed by their defeat. 16 May all who come to you be glad and joyful. May all who are thankful for your salvation always say, "How great is the Lord!" 17 I am weak and poor, O Lord, but you have not forgotten me. You are my savior and my God - hurry to my aid!

Psalm 41:1 Happy are those who are concerned for the poor; the Lord will help them when they are in trouble. 2 The Lord will protect them and preserve their lives; he will make them happy in the land; he will not abandon them to the power of their enemies. 3 The Lord will help them when they are sick and will restore them to health. 4 I said, "I have sinned against you, Lord; be merciful to me and heal me." 5 My enemies say cruel things about me. They want me to die and be forgotten. 6 Those who come to see me are not sincere; they gather bad news about me and then go out and tell it everywhere. 7 All who hate me whisper to each other about me, they imagine the worst about me. 8 They say, "He is fatally ill; he will never leave his bed again." 9 Even my best friend, the one I trusted most, the one who shared my food, has turned against me. 10 Be merciful to me, Lord, and restore my health, and I will pay my enemies back. 11 They will not triumph over me, and I will know that you are pleased with me. 12 You will help me, because I do what is right; you will keep me in your presence forever. 13 Praise the Lord, the God of Israel! Praise him now and forever! Amen! Amen!

Psalm 45:1 Beautiful words fill my mind, as I compose this song for the king. Like the pen of a good writer my tongue is ready with a poem. 2 You are the most handsome of men; you are an eloquent speaker. God has always blessed you. 3 Buckle on your sword, mighty king; you are glorious and majestic. 4 Ride on in majesty to victory for the defense of truth and justice! Your strength will win you great victories! 5 Your arrows are sharp, they pierce the hearts of your enemies; nations fall down at your feet. 6 The kingdom that God has given you will last forever and ever. You rule over your people with justice; 7 you love what is right and hate what is evil. That is why God, your God, has chosen you and has poured out more happiness on you than on any other king. 8 The perfume of myrrh and aloes is on your clothes; musicians entertain you in palaces decorated with ivory. 9 Among the women of your court are daughters of kings, and at the right of your throne stands the queen, wearing ornaments of finest gold. 10 Bride of the king, listen to what I say - forget your people and your relatives. 11 Your beauty will make the king desire you; he is your master, so you must obey him. 12 The people of Tyre will bring you gifts; rich people will try to win your favor. 13 The princess is in the palace - how beautiful she is! Her gown is made of gold thread. 14 In her colorful gown she is led to the king, followed by her bridesmaids, and they also are brought to him. 15 With joy and gladness they come and enter the king's palace. 16 You, my king, will have many sons to succeed your ancestors as kings, and you will make them rulers over the whole earth. 17 My song will keep your fame alive forever, and everyone will praise you for all time to come.

Psalm 68:1 God rises up and scatters his enemies. Those who hate him run away in defeat. 2 As smoke is blown away, so he drives them off; as wax melts in front of the fire, so do the wicked perish in God's presence. 3 But the righteous are glad and rejoice in his presence; they are happy and shout for joy. 4 Sing to God, sing praises to his name; prepare a way for him who rides on the clouds. His name is the Lord - be glad in his presence! 5 God, who lives in his sacred Temple, cares for orphans and protects widows. 6 He gives the lonely a home to live in and leads prisoners out into happy freedom, but rebels will have to live in a desolate land. 7 O God, when you led your people, when you marched across the desert, 8 the earth shook, and the sky poured down rain, because of the coming of the God of Sinai, the coming of the God of Israel. 9 You caused abundant rain to fall and restored your worn-out land; 10 your people made their home there; in your goodness you provided for the poor. 11 The Lord gave the command, and many women carried the news: 12 "Kings and their armies are running away!" The women at home divided what was captured: 13 figures of doves covered with silver, whose wings glittered with fine gold. (Why did some of you stay among the sheep pens on the day of battle?) 14 When Almighty God scattered the kings on Mount Zalmon, he caused snow to fall there. 15 What a mighty mountain is Bashan, a mountain of many peaks! 16 Why from your mighty peaks do you look with scorn on the mountain on which God chose to live? The Lord will live there forever! 17 With his many thousands of mighty chariots the Lord comes from Sinai into the holy place. 18 He goes up to the heights, taking many captives with him; he receives gifts from rebellious people. The Lord God will live there. 19 Praise the Lord, who carries our burdens day after day; he is the God who saves us. 20 Our God is a God who saves; he is the Lord, our Lord, who rescues us from death. 21 God will surely break the heads of his enemies, of those who persist in their sinful ways. 22 The Lord has said, "I will bring your enemies back from Bashan; I will bring them back from the depths of the ocean, 23 so that you may wade in their blood, and your dogs may lap up as much as they want." 24 O God, your march of triumph is seen by all, the procession of God, my king, into his sanctuary. 25 The singers are in front, the musicians are behind, in between are the young women beating the tambourines. 26 "Praise God in the meeting of his people; praise the Lord, all you descendants of Jacob!" 27 First comes Benjamin, the smallest tribe, then the leaders of Judah with their group, followed by the leaders of Zebulun and Naphtali. 28 Show your power, O God, the power you have used on our behalf 29 from your Temple in Jerusalem, where kings bring gifts to you. 30 Rebuke Egypt, that wild animal in the reeds; rebuke the nations, that herd of bulls with their calves, until they all bow down and offer you their silver. Scatter those people who love to make war! 31 Ambassadors will come from Egypt; the Ethiopians will raise their hands in prayer to God. 32 Sing to God, kingdoms of the world, sing praise to the Lord, 33 to him who rides in the sky, the ancient sky. Listen to him shout with a mighty roar. 34 Proclaim God's power; his majesty is over Israel, his might is in the skies. 35 How awesome is God as he comes from his sanctuary - the God of Israel! He gives strength and power to his people. Praise God!

Psalm 69:1 Save me, O God! The water is up to my neck; 2 I am sinking in deep mud, and there is no solid ground; I am out in deep water, and the waves are about to drown me. 3 I am worn out from calling for help, and my throat is aching. I have strained my eyes, looking for your help. 4 Those who hate me for no reason are more numerous than the hairs of my head. My enemies tell lies against me; they are strong and want to kill me. They made me give back things I did not steal. 5 My sins, O God, are not hidden from you; you know how foolish I have been. 6 Don't let me bring shame on those who trust in you, Sovereign Lord Almighty! Don't let me bring disgrace to those who worship you, O God of Israel! 7 It is for your sake that I have been insulted and that I am covered with shame. 8 I am like a stranger to my relatives, like a foreigner to my family. 9 My devotion to your Temple burns in me like a fire; the insults which are hurled at you fall on me. 10 I humble myself by fasting, and people insult me; 11 I dress myself in clothes of mourning, and they laugh at me. 12 They talk about me in the streets, and drunkards make up songs about me. 13 But as for me, I will pray to you, Lord; answer me, God, at a time you choose. Answer me because of your great love, because you keep your promise to save. 14 Save me from sinking in the mud; keep me safe from my enemies, safe from the deep water. 15 Don't let the flood come over me; don't let me drown in the depths or sink into the grave. 16 Answer me, Lord, in the goodness of your constant love; in your great compassion turn to me! 17 Don't hide yourself from your servant; I am in great trouble - answer me now! 18 Come to me and save me; rescue me from my enemies. 19 You know how I am insulted, how I am disgraced and dishonored; you see all my enemies. 20 Insults have broken my heart, and I am in despair. I had hoped for sympathy, but there was none; for comfort, but I found none. 21 When I was hungry, they gave me poison; when I was thirsty, they offered me vinegar. 22 May their banquets cause their ruin; may their sacred feasts cause their downfall. 23 Strike them with blindness! Make their backs always weak! 24 Pour out your anger on them; let your indignation overtake them. 25 May their camps be left deserted; may no one be left alive in their tents. 26 They persecute those whom you have punished; they talk about the sufferings of those you have wounded. 27 Keep a record of all their sins; don't let them have any part in your salvation. 28 May their names be erased from the book of the living; may they not be included in the list of your people. 29 But I am in pain and despair; lift me up, O God, and save me! 30 I will praise God with a song; I will proclaim his greatness by giving him thanks. 31 This will please the Lord more than offering him cattle, more than sacrificing a full-grown bull. 32 When the oppressed see this, they will be glad; those who worship God will be encouraged. 33 The Lord listens to those in need and does not forget his people in prison. 34 Praise God, O heaven and earth, seas and all creatures in them. 35 He will save Jerusalem and rebuild the towns of Judah. His people will live there and possess the land; 36 the descendants of his servants will inherit it, and those who love him will live there.

Psalm 72:1 Teach the king to judge with your righteousness, O God; share with him your own justice, 2 so that he will rule over your people with justice and govern the oppressed with righteousness. 3 May the land enjoy prosperity; may it experience righteousness. 4 May the king judge the poor fairly; may he help the needy and defeat their oppressors. 5 May your people worship you as long as the sun shines, as long as the moon gives light, for ages to come. 6 May the king be like rain on the fields, like showers falling on the land. 7 May righteousness flourish in his lifetime, and may prosperity last as long as the moon gives light. 8 His kingdom will reach from sea to sea, from the Euphrates to the ends of the earth. 9 The peoples of the desert will bow down before him; his enemies will throw themselves to the ground. 10 The kings of Spain and of the islands will offer him gifts; the kings of Sheba and Seba will bring him offerings. 11 All kings will bow down before him; all nations will serve him. 12 He rescues the poor who call to him, and those who are needy and neglected. 13 He has pity on the weak and poor; he saves the lives of those in need. 14 He rescues them from oppression and violence; their lives are precious to him. 15 Long live the king! May he be given gold from Sheba; may prayers be said for him at all times; may God's blessings be on him always! 16 May there be plenty of grain in the land; may the hills be covered with crops, as fruitful as those of Lebanon. May the cities be filled with people, like fields full of grass. 17 May the king's name never be forgotten; may his fame last as long as the sun. May all nations ask God to bless them as he has blessed the king. 18 Praise the Lord, the God of Israel! He alone does these wonderful things. 19 Praise his glorious name forever! May his glory fill the whole world. Amen! Amen! 20 This is the end of the prayers of David son of Jesse.

Psalm 89:1 O Lord, I will always sing of your constant love; I will proclaim your faithfulness forever. 2 I know that your love will last for all time, that your faithfulness is as permanent as the sky. 3 You said, "I have made a covenant with the man I chose; I have promised my servant David, 4 "A descendant of yours will always be king; I will preserve your dynasty forever.' " 5 The heavens sing of the wonderful things you do; the holy ones sing of your faithfulness, Lord. 6 No one in heaven is like you, Lord; none of the heavenly beings is your equal. 7 You are feared in the council of the holy ones; they all stand in awe of you. 8 Lord God Almighty, none is as mighty as you; in all things you are faithful, O Lord. 9 You rule over the powerful sea; you calm its angry waves. 10 You crushed the monster Rahab and killed it; with your mighty strength you defeated your enemies. 11 Heaven is yours, the earth also; you made the world and everything in it. 12 You created the north and the south; Mount Tabor and Mount Hermon sing to you for joy. 13 How powerful you are! How great is your strength! 14 Your kingdom is founded on righteousness and justice; love and faithfulness are shown in all you do. 15 How happy are the people who worship you with songs, who live in the light of your kindness! 16 Because of you they rejoice all day long, and they praise you for your goodness. 17 You give us great victories; in your love you make us triumphant. 18 You, O Lord, chose our protector; you, the Holy God of Israel, gave us our king. 19 In a vision long ago you said to your faithful servants, "I have given help to a famous soldier; I have given the throne to one I chose from the people. 20 I have made my servant David king by anointing him with holy oil. 21 My strength will always be with him, my power will make him strong. 22 His enemies will never succeed against him; the wicked will not defeat him. 23 I will crush his foes and kill everyone who hates him. 24 I will love him and be loyal to him; I will make him always victorious. 25 I will extend his kingdom from the Mediterranean to the Euphrates River. 26 He will say to me, "You are my father and my God; you are my protector and savior.' 27 I will make him my first-born son, the greatest of all kings. 28 I will always keep my promise to him, and my covenant with him will last forever. 29 His dynasty will be as permanent as the sky; a descendant of his will always be king. 30 "But if his descendants disobey my law and do not live according to my commands, 31 if they disregard my instructions and do not keep my commandments, 32 then I will punish them for their sins; I will make them suffer for their wrongs. 33 But I will not stop loving David or fail to keep my promise to him. 34 I will not break my covenant with him or take back even one promise I made him. 35 "Once and for all I have promised by my holy name: I will never lie to David. 36 He will always have descendants, and I will watch over his kingdom as long as the sun shines. 37 It will be as permanent as the moon, that faithful witness in the sky." 38 But you are angry with your chosen king; you have deserted and rejected him. 39 You have broken your covenant with your servant and thrown his crown in the dirt. 40 You have torn down the walls of his city and left his forts in ruins. 41 All who pass by steal his belongings; all his neighbors laugh at him. 42 You have given the victory to his enemies; you have made them all happy. 43 You have made his weapons useless and let him be defeated in battle. 44 You have taken away his royal scepter and knocked his throne to the ground. 45 You have made him old before his time and covered him with disgrace. 46 Lord, will you hide yourself forever? How long will your anger burn like fire? 47 Remember how short my life is; remember that you created all of us mortal! 48 Who can live and never die? How can we humans keep ourselves from the grave? 49 Lord, where are the former proofs of your love? Where are the promises you made to David? 50 Don't forget how I, your servant, am insulted, how I endure all the curses of the heathen. 51 Your enemies insult your chosen king, O Lord! They insult him wherever he goes. 52 Praise the Lord forever! Amen! Amen!

Psalm 96:1 Sing a new song to the Lord! Sing to the Lord, all the world! 2 Sing to the Lord, and praise him! Proclaim every day the good news that he has saved us. 3 Proclaim his glory to the nations, his mighty deeds to all peoples. 4 The Lord is great and is to be highly praised; he is to be honored more than all the gods. 5 The gods of all other nations are only idols, but the Lord created the heavens. 6 Glory and majesty surround him; power and beauty fill his Temple. 7 Praise the Lord, all people on earth; praise his glory and might. 8 Praise the Lord's glorious name; bring an offering and come into his Temple. 9 Bow down before the Holy One when he appears; tremble before him, all the earth! 10 Say to all the nations, "The Lord is king! The earth is set firmly in place and cannot be moved; he will judge the peoples with justice." 11 Be glad, earth and sky! Roar, sea, and every creature in you; 12 be glad, fields, and everything in you! The trees in the woods will shout for joy 13 when the Lord comes to rule the earth. He will rule the peoples of the world with justice and fairness.

Psalm 97:1 The Lord is king! Earth, be glad! Rejoice, you islands of the seas! 2 Clouds and darkness surround him; he rules with righteousness and justice. 3 Fire goes in front of him and burns up his enemies around him. 4 His lightning lights up the world; the earth sees it and trembles. 5 The hills melt like wax before the Lord, before the Lord of all the earth. 6 The heavens proclaim his righteousness, and all the nations see his glory. 7 Everyone who worships idols is put to shame; all the gods bow down before the Lord. 8 The people of Zion are glad, and the cities of Judah rejoice because of your judgments, O Lord. 9 Lord Almighty, you are ruler of all the earth; you are much greater than all the gods. 10 The Lord loves those who hate evil; he protects the lives of his people; he rescues them from the power of the wicked. 11 Light shines on the righteous, and gladness on the good. 12 All you that are righteous be glad because of what the Lord has done! Remember what the holy God has done, and give thanks to him.

Psalm 98;1 Sing a new song to the Lord; he has done wonderful things! By his own power and holy strength he has won the victory. 2 The Lord announced his victory; he made his saving power known to the nations. 3 He kept his promise to the people of Israel with loyalty and constant love for them. All people everywhere have seen the victory of our God. 4 Sing for joy to the Lord, all the earth; praise him with songs and shouts of joy! 5 Sing praises to the Lord! Play music on the harps! 6 Blow trumpets and horns, and shout for joy to the Lord, our king. 7 Roar, sea, and every creature in you; sing, earth, and all who live on you! 8 Clap your hands, you rivers; you hills, sing together with joy before the Lord, 9 because he comes to rule the earth. He will rule the peoples of the world with justice and fairness.

Psalm 99:1 The Lord is king, and the people tremble. He sits on his throne above the winged creatures, and the earth shakes. 2 The Lord is mighty in Zion; he is supreme over all the nations. 3 Everyone will praise his great and majestic name. Holy is he! 4 Mighty king, you love what is right; you have established justice in Israel; you have brought righteousness and fairness. 5 Praise the Lord our God; worship before his throne! Holy is he! 6 Moses and Aaron were his priests, and Samuel was one who prayed to him; they called to the Lord, and he answered them. 7 He spoke to them from the pillar of cloud; they obeyed the laws and commands that he gave them. 8 O Lord, our God, you answered your people; you showed them that you are a God who forgives, even though you punished them for their sins. 9 Praise the Lord our God, and worship at his sacred hill! The Lord our God is holy.

Psalm 102;1 Listen to my prayer, O Lord, and hear my cry for help! 2 When I am in trouble, don't turn away from me! Listen to me, and answer me quickly when I call! 3 My life is disappearing like smoke; my body is burning like fire. 4 I am beaten down like dry grass; I have lost my desire for food. 5 I groan aloud; I am nothing but skin and bones. 6 I am like a wild bird in the desert, like an owl in abandoned ruins. 7 I lie awake; I am like a lonely bird on a housetop. 8 All day long my enemies insult me; those who mock me use my name in cursing. 9 Because of your anger and fury, ashes are my food, and my tears are mixed with my drink. You picked me up and threw me away. 11 My life is like the evening shadows; I am like dry grass. 12 But you, O Lord, are king forever; all generations will remember you. 13 You will rise and take pity on Zion; the time has come to have mercy on her; this is the right time. 14 Your servants love her, even though she is destroyed; they have pity on her, even though she is in ruins. 15 The nations will fear the Lord; all the kings of the earth will fear his power. 16 When the Lord rebuilds Zion, he will reveal his greatness. 17 He will hear his forsaken people and listen to their prayer. 18 Write down for the coming generation what the Lord has done, so that people not yet born will praise him. 19 The Lord looked down from his holy place on high, he looked down from heaven to earth. 20 He heard the groans of prisoners and set free those who were condemned to die. 21 And so his name will be proclaimed in Zion, and he will be praised in Jerusalem 22 when nations and kingdoms come together and worship the Lord. 23 The Lord has made me weak while I am still young; he has shortened my life. 24 O God, do not take me away now before I grow old. O Lord, you live forever; 25 long ago you created the earth, and with your own hands you made the heavens. 26 They will disappear, but you will remain; they will all wear out like clothes. You will discard them like clothes, and they will vanish. 27 But you are always the same, and your life never ends. 28 Our children will live in safety, and under your protection their descendants will be secure.

Psalm 110:1 The Lord said to my lord, "Sit here at my right side until I put your enemies under your feet." 2 From Zion the Lord will extend your royal power. "Rule over your enemies," he says. 3 On the day you fight your enemies, your people will volunteer. Like the dew of early morning your young men will come to you on the sacred hills. 4 The Lord made a solemn promise and will not take it back: "You will be a priest forever in the priestly order of Melchizedek." 5 The Lord is at your right side; when he becomes angry, he will defeat kings. 6 He will pass judgment on the nations and fill the battlefield with corpses; he will defeat kings all over the earth. 7 The king will drink from the stream by the road, and strengthened, he will stand victorious.

Psalm 118:1 Give thanks to the Lord, because he is good, and his love is eternal. 2 Let the people of Israel say, "His love is eternal." 3 Let the priests of God say, "His love is eternal." 4 Let all who worship him say, "His love is eternal." 5 In my distress I called to the Lord; he answered me and set me free. 6 The Lord is with me, I will not be afraid; what can anyone do to me? 7 It is the Lord who helps me, and I will see my enemies defeated. 8 It is better to trust in the Lord than to depend on people. 9 It is better to trust in the Lord than to depend on human leaders. 10 Many enemies were around me; but I destroyed them by the power of the Lord! 11 They were around me on every side; but I destroyed them by the power of the Lord! 12 They swarmed around me like bees, but they burned out as quickly as a brush fire; by the power of the Lord I destroyed them. 13 I was fiercely attacked and was being defeated, but the Lord helped me. 14 The Lord makes me powerful and strong; he has saved me. 15 Listen to the glad shouts of victory in the tents of God's people: "The Lord's mighty power has done it! 16 His power has brought us victory - his mighty power in battle!" 17 I will not die; instead, I will live and proclaim what the Lord has done. 18 He has punished me severely, but he has not let me die. 19 Open to me the gates of the Temple; I will go in and give thanks to the Lord! 20 This is the gate of the Lord; only the righteous can come in. 21 I praise you, Lord, because you heard me, because you have given me victory. 22 The stone which the builders rejected as worthless turned out to be the most important of all. 23 This was done by the Lord; what a wonderful sight it is! 24 This is the day of the Lord's victory; let us be happy, let us celebrate! 25 Save us, Lord, save us! Give us success, O Lord! 26 May God bless the one who comes in the name of the Lord! From the Temple of the Lord we bless you. 27 The Lord is God; he has been good to us. With branches in your hands, start the festival and march around the altar. 28 You are my God, and I give you thanks; I will proclaim your greatness. 29 Give thanks to the Lord, because he is good, and his love is eternal.

Psalm 132:1 Lord, do not forget David and all the hardships he endured. 2 Remember, Lord, what he promised, the vow he made to you, the Mighty God of Jacob: 3 "I will not go home or go to bed; 4 I will not rest or sleep, 5 until I provide a place for the Lord, a home for the Mighty God of Jacob." 6 In Bethlehem we heard about the Covenant Box, and we found it in the fields of Jearim. 7 We said, "Let us go to the Lord's house; let us worship before his throne." 8 Come to the Temple, Lord, with the Covenant Box, the symbol of your power, and stay here forever. 9 May your priests do always what is right; may your people shout for joy! 10 You made a promise to your servant David; do not reject your chosen king, Lord. 11 You made a solemn promise to David - a promise you will not take back: "I will make one of your sons king, and he will rule after you. 12 If your sons are true to my covenant and to the commands I give them, their sons, also, will succeed you for all time as kings." 13 The Lord has chosen Zion; he wants to make it his home: 14 "This is where I will live forever; this is where I want to rule. 15 I will richly provide Zion with all she needs; I will satisfy her poor with food. 16 I will bless her priests in all they do, and her people will sing and shout for joy. 17 Here I will make one of David's descendants a great king; here I will preserve the rule of my chosen king. 18 I will cover his enemies with shame, but his kingdom will prosper and flourish."

2540-Psalms 45:6 The kingdom that God has given you will last forever and ever. You rule over your people with justice;

Psalm 110:1 The Lord said to my lord, "Sit here at my right side until I put your enemies under your feet."

2541-Psalms 2:7 "I will announce," says the king, "what the Lord has declared. He said to me: "You are my son; today I have become your father.

2542-Psalms 40:6 You do not want sacrifices and offerings; you do not ask for animals burned whole on the altar or for sacrifices to take away sins. Instead, you have given me ears to hear you, 7 and so I answered, "Here I am; your instructions for me are in the book of the Law.

2543-Psalms 110:4 The Lord made a solemn promise and will not take it back: "You will be a priest forever in the priestly order of Melchizedek."

2544-Psalms 41:9 Even my best friend, the one I trusted most, the one who shared my food, has turned against me.

2545-Psalms 118:22 The stone which the builders rejected as worthless turned out to be the most important of all.

2546-Psalms 16:9 And so I am thankful and glad, and I feel completely secure, 10 because you protect me from the power of death. I have served you faithfully, and you will not abandon me to the world of the dead.

2547-Psalms 68:18 He goes up to the heights, taking many captives with him; he receives gifts from rebellious people. The Lord God will live there.

2548-Psalm 34:20 the Lord preserves them completely; not one of their bones is broken.

2549-Psalm 109:8 May his life soon be ended; may someone else take his job!

2550-Acts 1:20 "For it is written in the book of Psalms, "May his house become empty; may no one live in it.' It is also written, "May someone else take his place of service.'

2551-Psalm 6:1 Lord, don't be angry and rebuke me! Don't punish me in your anger! 2 I am worn out, O Lord; have pity on me! Give me strength; I am completely exhausted 3 and my whole being is deeply troubled. How long, O Lord, will you wait to help me? 4 Come and save me, Lord; in your mercy rescue me from death. 5 In the world of the dead you are not remembered; no one can praise you there. 6 I am worn out with grief; every night my bed is damp from my weeping; my pillow is soaked with tears. 7 I can hardly see; my eyes are so swollen from the weeping caused by my enemies. 8 Keep away from me, you evil people! The Lord hears my weeping; 9 he listens to my cry for help and will answer my prayer. 10 My enemies will know the bitter shame of defeat; in sudden confusion they will be driven away.

Psalm 32:1 Happy are those whose sins are forgiven, whose wrongs are pardoned. 2 Happy is the one whom the Lord does not accuse of doing wrong and who is free from all deceit. 3 When I did not confess my sins, I was worn out from crying all day long. 4 Day and night you punished me, Lord; my strength was completely drained, as moisture is dried up by the summer heat. 5 Then I confessed my sins to you; I did not conceal my wrongdoings. I decided to confess them to you, and you forgave all my sins. 6 So all your loyal people should pray to you in times of need; when a great flood of trouble comes rushing in, it will not reach them. 7 You are my hiding place; you will save me from trouble. I sing aloud of your salvation, because you protect me. 8 The Lord says, "I will teach you the way you should go; I will instruct you and advise you. 9 Don't be stupid like a horse or a mule, which must be controlled with a bit and bridle to make it submit." 10 The wicked will have to suffer, but those who trust in the Lord are protected by his constant love. 11 You that are righteous, be glad and rejoice because of what the Lord has done. You that obey him, shout for joy!

Psalm 38:1 O Lord, don't punish me in your anger! 2 You have wounded me with your arrows; you have struck me down. 3 Because of your anger, I am in great pain; my whole body is diseased because of my sins. 4 I am drowning in the flood of my sins; they are a burden too heavy to bear. 5 Because I have been foolish, my sores stink and rot. 6 I am bent over, I am crushed; I mourn all day long. 7 I am burning with fever and I am near death. 8 I am worn out and utterly crushed; my heart is troubled, and I groan with pain. 9 O Lord, you know what I long for; you hear all my groans. 10 My heart is pounding, my strength is gone, and my eyes have lost their brightness. 11 My friends and neighbors will not come near me, because of my sores; even my family keeps away from me. 12 Those who want to kill me lay traps for me, and those who want to hurt me threaten to ruin me; they never stop plotting against me. 13 I am like the deaf and cannot hear, like the dumb and cannot speak. 14 I am like those who do not answer, because they cannot hear. 15 But I trust in you, O Lord; and you, O Lord my God, will answer me. 16 Don't let my enemies gloat over my distress; don't let them boast about my downfall! 17 I am about to fall and am in constant pain. 18 I confess my sins; they fill me with anxiety. 19 My enemies are healthy and strong; there are many who hate me for no reason. 20 Those who pay back evil for good are against me because I try to do right. 21 Do not abandon me, O Lord; do not stay away, my God! 22 Help me now, O Lord my savior!

Psalm 51:1 Be merciful to me, O God, because of your constant love. Because of your great mercy wipe away my sins! 2 Wash away all my evil and make me clean from my sin! 3 I recognize my faults; I am always conscious of my sins. 4 I have sinned against you - only against you - and done what you consider evil. So you are right in judging me; you are justified in condemning me. 5 I have been evil from the day I was born; from the time I was conceived, I have been sinful. 6 Sincerity and truth are what you require; fill my mind with your wisdom. 7 Remove my sin, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. 8 Let me hear the sounds of joy and gladness; and though you have crushed me and broken me, I will be happy once again. 9 Close your eyes to my sins and wipe out all my evil. 10 Create a pure heart in me, O God, and put a new and loyal spirit in me. 11 Do not banish me from your presence; do not take your holy spirit away from me. 12 Give me again the joy that comes from your salvation, and make me willing to obey you. 13 Then I will teach sinners your commands, and they will turn back to you. 14 Spare my life, O God, and save me, and I will gladly proclaim your righteousness. 15 Help me to speak, Lord, and I will praise you. 16 You do not want sacrifices, or I would offer them; you are not pleased with burnt offerings. 17 My sacrifice is a humble spirit, O God; you will not reject a humble and repentant heart. 18 O God, be kind to Zion and help her; rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. 19 Then you will be pleased with proper sacrifices and with our burnt offerings; and bulls will be sacrificed on your altar.

Psalm 102:1 Listen to my prayer, O Lord, and hear my cry for help! 2 When I am in trouble, don't turn away from me! Listen to me, and answer me quickly when I call! 3 My life is disappearing like smoke; my body is burning like fire. 4 I am beaten down like dry grass; I have lost my desire for food. 5 I groan aloud; I am nothing but skin and bones. 6 I am like a wild bird in the desert, like an owl in abandoned ruins. 7 I lie awake; I am like a lonely bird on a housetop. 8 All day long my enemies insult me; those who mock me use my name in cursing. 9 Because of your anger and fury, ashes are my food, and my tears are mixed with my drink. You picked me up and threw me away. 11 My life is like the evening shadows; I am like dry grass. 12 But you, O Lord, are king forever; all generations will remember you. 13 You will rise and take pity on Zion; the time has come to have mercy on her; this is the right time. 14 Your servants love her, even though she is destroyed; they have pity on her, even though she is in ruins. 15 The nations will fear the Lord; all the kings of the earth will fear his power. 16 When the Lord rebuilds Zion, he will reveal his greatness. 17 He will hear his forsaken people and listen to their prayer. 18 Write down for the coming generation what the Lord has done, so that people not yet born will praise him. 19 The Lord looked down from his holy place on high, he looked down from heaven to earth. 20 He heard the groans of prisoners and set free those who were condemned to die. 21 And so his name will be proclaimed in Zion, and he will be praised in Jerusalem 22 when nations and kingdoms come together and worship the Lord. 23 The Lord has made me weak while I am still young; he has shortened my life. 24 O God, do not take me away now before I grow old. O Lord, you live forever; 25 long ago you created the earth, and with your own hands you made the heavens. 26 They will disappear, but you will remain; they will all wear out like clothes. You will discard them like clothes, and they will vanish. 27 But you are always the same, and your life never ends. 28 Our children will live in safety, and under your protection their descendants will be secure.

Psalm 130:1 From the depths of my despair I call to you, Lord. 2 Hear my cry, O Lord; listen to my call for help! 3 If you kept a record of our sins, who could escape being condemned? 4 But you forgive us, so that we should stand in awe of you. 5 I wait eagerly for the Lord's help, and in his word I trust. 6 I wait for the Lord more eagerly than sentries wait for the dawn - than sentries wait for the dawn. 7 Israel, trust in the Lord, because his love is constant and he is always willing to save. 8 He will save his people Israel from all their sins

Psalm 143:1 Lord, hear my prayer! In your righteousness listen to my plea; answer me in your faithfulness! 2 Don't put me, your servant, on trial; no one is innocent in your sight. 3 My enemies have hunted me down and completely defeated me. They have put me in a dark prison, and I am like those who died long ago. 4 So I am ready to give up; I am in deep despair. 5 I remember the days gone by; I think about all that you have done, I bring to mind all your deeds. 6 I lift up my hands to you in prayer; like dry ground my soul is thirsty for you. 7 Answer me now, Lord! I have lost all hope. Don't hide yourself from me, or I will be among those who go down to the world of the dead. 8 Remind me each morning of your constant love, for I put my trust in you. My prayers go up to you; show me the way I should go. 9 I go to you for protection, Lord; rescue me from my enemies. 10 You are my God; teach me to do your will. Be good to me, and guide me on a safe path. 11 Rescue me, Lord, as you have promised; in your goodness save me from my troubles! 12 Because of your love for me, kill my enemies and destroy all my oppressors, for I am your servant.

2552-Psalm 13,

Psalm 17:1 How much longer will you forget me, Lord? Forever? How much longer will you hide yourself from me? 2 How long must I endure trouble? How long will sorrow fill my heart day and night? How long will my enemies triumph over me? 3 Look at me, O Lord my God, and answer me. Restore my strength; don't let me die. 4 Don't let my enemies say, "We have defeated him." Don't let them gloat over my downfall. 5 I rely on your constant love; I will be glad, because you will rescue me. 6 I will sing to you, O Lord, because you have been good to me.

Psalm 22:1 My God, my God, why have you abandoned me? I have cried desperately for help, but still it does not come. 2 During the day I call to you, my God, but you do not answer; I call at night, but get no rest. 3 But you are enthroned as the Holy One, the one whom Israel praises. 4 Our ancestors put their trust in you; they trusted you, and you saved them. 5 They called to you and escaped from danger; they trusted you and were not disappointed. 6 But I am no longer a human being; I am a worm, despised and scorned by everyone! 7 All who see me make fun of me; they stick out their tongues and shake their heads. 8 "You relied on the Lord," they say. "Why doesn't he save you? If the Lord likes you, why doesn't he help you?" 9 It was you who brought me safely through birth, and when I was a baby, you kept me safe. 10 I have relied on you since the day I was born, and you have always been my God. 11 Do not stay away from me! Trouble is near, and there is no one to help. 12 Many enemies surround me like bulls; they are all around me, like fierce bulls from the land of Bashan. 13 They open their mouths like lions, roaring and tearing at me. 14 My strength is gone, gone like water spilled on the ground. All my bones are out of joint; my heart is like melted wax. 15 My throat is as dry as dust, and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth. You have left me for dead in the dust. 16 An evil gang is around me; like a pack of dogs they close in on me; they tear at my hands and feet. 17 All my bones can be seen. My enemies look at me and stare. 18 They gamble for my clothes and divide them among themselves. 19 O Lord, don't stay away from me! Come quickly to my rescue! 20 Save me from the sword; save my life from these dogs. 21 Rescue me from these lions; I am helpless before these wild bulls. 22 I will tell my people what you have done; I will praise you in their assembly: 23 "Praise him, you servants of the Lord! Honor him, you descendants of Jacob! Worship him, you people of Israel! 24 He does not neglect the poor or ignore their suffering; he does not turn away from them, but answers when they call for help." 25 In the full assembly I will praise you for what you have done; in the presence of those who worship you I will offer the sacrifices I promised. 26 The poor will eat as much as they want; those who come to the Lord will praise him. May they prosper forever! 27 All nations will remember the Lord. From every part of the world they will turn to him; all races will worship him. 28 The Lord is king, and he rules the nations. 29 All proud people will bow down to him; all mortals will bow down before him. 30 Future generations will serve him; they will speak of the Lord to the coming generation. 31 People not yet born will be told: "The Lord saved his people."

Psalm 25:1 To you, O Lord, I offer my prayer; 2 in you, my God, I trust. Save me from the shame of defeat; don't let my enemies gloat over me! 3 Defeat does not come to those who trust in you, but to those who are quick to rebel against you. 4 Teach me your ways, O Lord; make them known to me. 5 Teach me to live according to your truth, for you are my God, who saves me. I always trust in you. 6 Remember, O Lord, your kindness and constant love which you have shown from long ago. 7 Forgive the sins and errors of my youth. In your constant love and goodness, remember me, Lord! 8 Because the Lord is righteous and good, he teaches sinners the path they should follow. 9 He leads the humble in the right way and teaches them his will. 10 With faithfulness and love he leads all who keep his covenant and obey his commands. 11 Keep your promise, Lord, and forgive my sins, for they are many. 12 Those who have reverence for the Lord will learn from him the path they should follow. 13 They will always be prosperous, and their children will possess the land. 14 The Lord is the friend of those who obey him and he affirms his covenant with them. 15 I look to the Lord for help at all times, and he rescues me from danger. 16 Turn to me, Lord, and be merciful to me, because I am lonely and weak. 17 Relieve me of my worries and save me from all my troubles. 18 Consider my distress and suffering and forgive all my sins. 19 See how many enemies I have; see how much they hate me. 20 Protect me and save me; keep me from defeat. I come to you for safety. 21 May my goodness and honesty preserve me, because I trust in you. 22 From all their troubles, O God, save your people Israel!

Psalm 26:1 Declare me innocent, O Lord, because I do what is right and trust you completely. 2 Examine me and test me, Lord; judge my desires and thoughts. 3 Your constant love is my guide; your faithfulness always leads me. 4 I do not keep company with worthless people; I have nothing to do with hypocrites. 5 I hate the company of the evil and avoid the wicked. 6 Lord, I wash my hands to show that I am innocent and march in worship around your altar. 7 I sing a hymn of thanksgiving and tell of all your wonderful deeds. 8 I love the house where you live, O Lord, the place where your glory dwells. 9 Do not destroy me with the sinners; spare me from the fate of murderers - 10 those who do evil all the time and are always ready to take bribes. 11 As for me, I do what is right; be merciful to me and save me! 12 I am safe from all dangers; in the assembly of his people I praise the Lord.

Psalm 28:1 O Lord, my defender, I call to you. Listen to my cry! If you do not answer me, I will be among those who go down to the world of the dead. 2 Hear me when I cry to you for help, when I lift my hands toward your holy Temple. 3 Do not condemn me with the wicked, with those who do evil - those whose words are friendly, but who have hatred in their hearts. 4 Punish them for what they have done, for the evil they have committed. Punish them for all their deeds; give them what they deserve! 5 They take no notice of what the Lord has done or of what he has made; so he will punish them and destroy them forever. 6 Give praise to the Lord; he has heard my cry for help. 7 The Lord protects and defends me; I trust in him. He gives me help and makes me glad; I praise him with joyful songs. 8 The Lord protects his people; he defends and saves his chosen king. 9 Save your people, Lord, and bless those who are yours. Be their shepherd, and take care of them forever.

Psalm 31:1 I come to you, Lord, for protection; never let me be defeated. You are a righteous God; save me, I pray! 2 Hear me! Save me now! Be my refuge to protect me; my defense to save me. 3 You are my refuge and defense; guide me and lead me as you have promised. 4 Keep me safe from the trap that has been set for me; shelter me from danger. 5 I place myself in your care. You will save me, Lord; you are a faithful God. 6 You hate those who worship false gods, but I trust in you. 7 I will be glad and rejoice because of your constant love. You see my suffering; you know my trouble. 8 You have not let my enemies capture me; you have given me freedom to go where I wish. 9 Be merciful to me, Lord, for I am in trouble; my eyes are tired from so much crying; I am completely worn out. 10 I am exhausted by sorrow, and weeping has shortened my life. I am weak from all my troubles; even my bones are wasting away. 11 All my enemies, and especially my neighbors, treat me with contempt. Those who know me are afraid of me; when they see me in the street, they run away. 12 Everyone has forgotten me, as though I were dead; I am like something thrown away. 13 I hear many enemies whispering; terror is all around me. They are making plans against me, plotting to kill me. 14 But my trust is in you, O Lord; you are my God. 15 I am always in your care; save me from my enemies, from those who persecute me. 16 Look on your servant with kindness; save me in your constant love. 17 I call to you, Lord; don't let me be disgraced. May the wicked be disgraced; may they go silently down to the world of the dead. 18 Silence those liars - all the proud and arrogant who speak with contempt about the righteous. 19 How wonderful are the good things you keep for those who honor you! Everyone knows how good you are, how securely you protect those who trust you. 20 You hide them in the safety of your presence from the plots of others; in a safe shelter you hide them from the insults of their enemies. 21 Praise the Lord! How wonderfully he showed his love for me when I was surrounded and attacked! 22 I was afraid and thought that he had driven me out of his presence. But he heard my cry, when I called to him for help. 23 Love the Lord, all his faithful people. The Lord protects the faithful, but punishes the proud as they deserve. 24 Be strong, be courageous, all you that hope in the Lord.

Psalm 35:1 Oppose those who oppose me, Lord, and fight those who fight against me! 2 Take your shield and armor and come to my rescue. 3 Lift up your spear and war ax against those who pursue me. Promise that you will save me. 4 May those who try to kill me be defeated and disgraced! May those who plot against me be turned back and confused! 5 May they be like straw blown by the wind as the angel of the Lord pursues them! 6 May their path be dark and slippery while the angel of the Lord strikes them down! 7 Without any reason they laid a trap for me and dug a deep hole to catch me. 8 But destruction will catch them before they know it; they will be caught in their own trap and fall to their destruction! 9 Then I will be glad because of the Lord; I will be happy because he saved me. 10 With all my heart I will say to the Lord, "There is no one like you. You protect the weak from the strong, the poor from the oppressor." 11 Evil people testify against me and accuse me of crimes I know nothing about. 12 They pay me back evil for good, and I sink in despair. 13 But when they were sick, I dressed in mourning; I deprived myself of food; I prayed with my head bowed low, 14 as I would pray for a friend or a brother. I went around bent over in mourning, as one who mourns for his mother. 15 But when I was in trouble, they were all glad and gathered around to make fun of me; strangers beat me and kept striking me. 16 Like those who would mock a cripple, they glared at me with hate. 17 How much longer, Lord, will you just look on? Rescue me from their attacks; save my life from these lions! 18 Then I will thank you in the assembly of your people; I will praise you before them all. 19 Don't let my enemies, those liars, gloat over my defeat. Don't let those who hate me for no reason smirk with delight over my sorrow. 20 They do not speak in a friendly way; instead they invent all kinds of lies about peace-loving people. 21 They accuse me, shouting, "We saw what you did!" 22 But you, O Lord, have seen this. So don't be silent, Lord; don't keep yourself far away! 23 Rouse yourself, O Lord, and defend me; rise up, my God, and plead my cause. 24 You are righteous, O Lord, so declare me innocent; don't let my enemies gloat over me. 25 Don't let them say to themselves, "We are rid of him! That's just what we wanted!" 26 May those who gloat over my suffering be completely defeated and confused; may those who claim to be better than I am be covered with shame and disgrace. 27 May those who want to see me acquitted shout for joy and say again and again, "How great is the Lord! He is pleased with the success of his servant." 28 Then I will proclaim your righteousness, and I will praise you all day long.

Psalm 36:1 Sin speaks to the wicked deep in their hearts; they reject God and do not have reverence for him. 2 Because they think so highly of themselves, they think that God will not discover their sin and condemn it. 3 Their speech is wicked and full of lies; they no longer do what is wise and good. 4 They make evil plans as they lie in bed; nothing they do is good, and they never reject anything evil. 5 Lord, your constant love reaches the heavens; your faithfulness extends to the skies. 6 Your righteousness is towering like the mountains; your justice is like the depths of the sea. People and animals are in your care. 7 How precious, O God, is your constant love! We find protection under the shadow of your wings. 8 We feast on the abundant food you provide; you let us drink from the river of your goodness. 9 You are the source of all life, and because of your light we see the light. 10 Continue to love those who know you and to do good to those who are righteous. 11 Do not let proud people attack me or the wicked make me run away. 12 See where evil people have fallen. There they lie, unable to rise.

Psalm 38:struck me down. 3 Because of your anger, I am in great pain; my whole body is diseased because of my sins. 4 I am drowning in the flood of my sins; they are a burden too heavy to bear. 5 Because I have been foolish, my sores stink and rot. 6 I am bent over, I am crushed; I mourn all day long. 7 I am burning with fever and I am near death. 8 I am worn out and utterly crushed; my heart is troubled, and I groan with pain. 9 O Lord, you know what I long for; you hear all my groans. 10 My heart is pounding, my strength is gone, and my eyes have lost their brightness. 11 My friends and neighbors will not come near me, because of my sores; even my family keeps away from me. 12 Those who want to kill me lay traps for me, and those who want to hurt me threaten to ruin me; they never stop plotting against me. 13 I am like the deaf and cannot hear, like the dumb and cannot speak. 14 I am like those who do not answer, because they cannot hear. 15 But I trust in you, O Lord; and you, O Lord my God, will answer me. 16 Don't let my enemies gloat over my distress; don't let them boast about my downfall! 17 I am about to fall and am in constant pain. 18 I confess my sins; they fill me with anxiety. 19 My enemies are healthy and strong; there are many who hate me for no reason. 20 Those who pay back evil for good are against me because I try to do right. 21 Do not abandon me, O Lord; do not stay away, my God! 22 Help me now, O Lord my savior!

Psalm 39:1 I said, "I will be careful about what I do and will not let my tongue make me sin; I will not say anything while evil people are near." 2 I kept quiet, not saying a word, not even about anything good! But my suffering only grew worse, 3 and I was overcome with anxiety. The more I thought, the more troubled I became; I could not keep from asking: 4 "Lord, how long will I live? When will I die? Tell me how soon my life will end." 5 How short you have made my life! In your sight my lifetime seems nothing. Indeed every living being is no more than a puff of wind, 6 no more than a shadow. All we do is for nothing; we gather wealth, but don't know who will get it. 7 What, then, can I hope for, Lord? I put my hope in you. 8 Save me from all my sins, and don't let fools make fun of me. 9 I will keep quiet, I will not say a word, for you are the one who made me suffer like this. 10 Don't punish me any more! I am about to die from your blows. 11 You punish our sins by your rebukes, and like a moth you destroy what we love. Indeed we are no more than a puff of wind! 12 Hear my prayer, Lord, and listen to my cry; come to my aid when I weep. Like all my ancestors I am only your guest for a little while. 13 Leave me alone so that I may have some happiness before I go away and am no more.

Psalm 42:1 As a deer longs for a stream of cool water, so I long for you, O God. 2 I thirst for you, the living God. When can I go and worship in your presence? 3 Day and night I cry, and tears are my only food; all the time my enemies ask me, "Where is your God?" 4 My heart breaks when I remember the past, when I went with the crowds to the house of God and led them as they walked along, a happy crowd, singing and shouting praise to God. 5 Why am I so sad? Why am I so troubled? I will put my hope in God, and once again I will praise him, my savior and my God. 6 Here in exile my heart is breaking, and so I turn my thoughts to him. He has sent waves of sorrow over my soul; chaos roars at me like a flood, like waterfalls thundering down to the Jordan from Mount Hermon and Mount Mizar. 8 May the Lord show his constant love during the day, so that I may have a song at night, a prayer to the God of my life. 9 To God, my defender, I say, "Why have you forgotten me? Why must I go on suffering from the cruelty of my enemies?" 10 I am crushed by their insults, as they keep on asking me, "Where is your God?" 11 Why am I so sad? Why am I so troubled? I will put my hope in God, and once again I will praise him, my savior and my God.

Psalm 43:1 O God, declare me innocent, and defend my cause against the ungodly; deliver me from lying and evil people! 2 You are my protector; why have you abandoned me? Why must I go on suffering from the cruelty of my enemies? 3 Send your light and your truth; may they lead me and bring me back to Zion, your sacred hill, and to your Temple, where you live. 4 Then I will go to your altar, O God; you are the source of my happiness. I will play my harp and sing praise to you, O God, my God. 5 Why am I so sad? Why am I so troubled? I will put my hope in God, and once again I will praise him, my savior and my God.

Psalm 51:1 Be merciful to me, O God, because of your constant love. Because of your great mercy wipe away my sins! 2 Wash away all my evil and make me clean from my sin! 3 I recognize my faults; I am always conscious of my sins. 4 I have sinned against you - only against you - and done what you consider evil. So you are right in judging me; you are justified in condemning me. 5 I have been evil from the day I was born; from the time I was conceived, I have been sinful. 6 Sincerity and truth are what you require; fill my mind with your wisdom. 7 Remove my sin, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. 8 Let me hear the sounds of joy and gladness; and though you have crushed me and broken me, I will be happy once again. 9 Close your eyes to my sins and wipe out all my evil. 10 Create a pure heart in me, O God, and put a new and loyal spirit in me. 11 Do not banish me from your presence; do not take your holy spirit away from me. 12 Give me again the joy that comes from your salvation, and make me willing to obey you. 13 Then I will teach sinners your commands, and they will turn back to you. 14 Spare my life, O God, and save me, and I will gladly proclaim your righteousness. 15 Help me to speak, Lord, and I will praise you. 16 You do not want sacrifices, or I would offer them; you are not pleased with burnt offerings. 17 My sacrifice is a humble spirit, O God; you will not reject a humble and repentant heart. 18 O God, be kind to Zion and help her; rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. 19 Then you will be pleased with proper sacrifices and with our burnt offerings; and bulls will be sacrificed on your altar.

Psalm 54:1 Save me by your power, O God; set me free by your might! 2 Hear my prayer, O God; listen to my words! 3 Proud people are coming to attack me; cruel people are trying to kill me - those who do not care about God. 4 But God is my helper. The Lord is my defender. 5 May God use their own evil to punish my enemies. He will destroy them because he is faithful. 6 I will gladly offer you a sacrifice, O Lord; I will give you thanks because you are good. 7 You have rescued me from all my troubles, and I have seen my enemies defeated.

Psalm 55:1 Hear my prayer, O God; don't turn away from my plea! 2 Listen to me and answer me; I am worn out by my worries. 3 I am terrified by the threats of my enemies, crushed by the oppression of the wicked. They bring trouble on me; they are angry with me and hate me. 4 I am terrified, and the terrors of death crush me. 5 I am gripped by fear and trembling; I am overcome with horror. 6 I wish I had wings like a dove. I would fly away and find rest. 7 I would fly far away and make my home in the desert. 8 I would hurry and find myself a shelter from the raging wind and the storm. 9 Confuse the speech of my enemies, O Lord! I see violence and riots in the city, 10 surrounding it day and night, filling it with crime and trouble. 11 There is destruction everywhere; the streets are full of oppression and fraud. 12 If it were an enemy making fun of me, I could endure it; if it were an opponent boasting over me, I could hide myself from him. 13 But it is you, my companion, my colleague and close friend. 14 We had intimate talks with each other and worshiped together in the Temple. 15 May my enemies die before their time; may they go down alive into the world of the dead! Evil is in their homes and in their hearts. 16 But I call to the Lord God for help, and he will save me. 17 Morning, noon, and night my complaints and groans go up to him, and he will hear my voice. 18 He will bring me safely back from the battles that I fight against so many enemies. 19 God, who has ruled from eternity, will hear me and defeat them; for they refuse to change, and they do not fear him. 20 My former companion attacked his friends; he broke his promises. 21 His words were smoother than cream, but there was hatred in his heart; his words were as soothing as oil, but they cut like sharp swords. 22 Leave your troubles with the Lord, and he will defend you; he never lets honest people be defeated. 23 But you, O God, will bring those murderers and liars to their graves before half their life is over. As for me, I will trust in you.

Psalm 56:1 Be merciful to me, O God, because I am under attack; my enemies persecute me all the time. 2 All day long my opponents attack me. There are so many who fight against me. 3 When I am afraid, O Lord Almighty, I put my trust in you. 4 I trust in God and am not afraid; I praise him for what he has promised. What can a mere human being do to me? 5 My enemies make trouble for me all day long; they are always thinking up some way to hurt me! 6 They gather in hiding places and watch everything I do, hoping to kill me. 7 Punish them, O God, for their evil; defeat those people in your anger! 8 You know how troubled I am; you have kept a record of my tears. Aren't they listed in your book? 9 The day I call to you, my enemies will be turned back. I know this: God is on my side - 10 the Lord, whose promises I praise. 11 In him I trust, and I will not be afraid. What can a mere human being do to me? 12 O God, I will offer you what I have promised; I will give you my offering of thanksgiving, 13 because you have rescued me from death and kept me from defeat. And so I walk in the presence of God, in the light that shines on the living.

Psalm 57:1 Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful, because I come to you for safety. In the shadow of your wings I find protection until the raging storms are over. 2 I call to God, the Most High, to God, who supplies my every need. 3 He will answer from heaven and save me; he will defeat my oppressors. God will show me his constant love and faithfulness. 4 I am surrounded by enemies, who are like lions hungry for human flesh. Their teeth are like spears and arrows; their tongues are like sharp swords. 5 Show your greatness in the sky, O God, and your glory over all the earth. 6 My enemies have spread a net to catch me; I am overcome with distress. They dug a pit in my path, but fell into it themselves. 7 I have complete confidence, O God; I will sing and praise you! 8 Wake up, my soul! Wake up, my harp and lyre! I will wake up the sun. 9 I will thank you, O Lord, among the nations. I will praise you among the peoples. 10 Your constant love reaches the heavens; your faithfulness touches the skies. 11 Show your greatness in the sky, O God, and your glory over all the earth.

Psalm 59:1 Save me from my enemies, my God; protect me from those who attack me! 2 Save me from those evil people; rescue me from those murderers! 3 Look! They are waiting to kill me; cruel people are gathering against me. It is not because of any sin or wrong I have done, 4 nor because of any fault of mine, O Lord, that they hurry to their places. 5 Rise, Lord God Almighty, and come to my aid; see for yourself, God of Israel! Wake up and punish the heathen; show no mercy to evil traitors! 6 They come back in the evening, snarling like dogs as they go about the city. 7 Listen to their insults and threats. Their tongues are like swords in their mouths, yet they think that no one hears them. 8 But you laugh at them, Lord; you mock all the heathen. 9 I have confidence in your strength; you are my refuge, O God. 10 My God loves me and will come to me; he will let me see my enemies defeated. 11 Do not kill them, O God, or my people may forget. Scatter them by your strength and defeat them, O Lord, our protector. 12 Sin is on their lips; all their words are sinful; may they be caught in their pride! Because they curse and lie, 13 destroy them in your anger; destroy them completely. Then everyone will know that God rules in Israel, that his rule extends over all the earth. 14 My enemies come back in the evening, snarling like dogs as they go about the city, 15 like dogs roaming about for food and growling if they do not find enough. 16 But I will sing about your strength; every morning I will sing aloud of your constant love. You have been a refuge for me, a shelter in my time of trouble. 17 I will praise you, my defender. My refuge is God, the God who loves me.

Psalm 61:1 Hear my cry, O God; listen to my prayer! 2 In despair and far from home I call to you! Take me to a safe refuge, 3 for you are my protector, my strong defense against my enemies. 4 Let me live in your sanctuary all my life; let me find safety under your wings. 5 You have heard my promises, O God, and you have given me what belongs to those who honor you. 6 Add many years to the king's life; let him live on and on! 7 May he rule forever in your presence, O God; protect him with your constant love and faithfulness. 8 So I will always sing praises to you, as I offer you daily what I have promised.

Psalm 63:and waterless land, my soul is thirsty for you. 2 Let me see you in the sanctuary; let me see how mighty and glorious you are. 3 Your constant love is better than life itself, and so I will praise you. 4 I will give you thanks as long as I live; I will raise my hands to you in prayer. 5 My soul will feast and be satisfied, and I will sing glad songs of praise to you. 6 As I lie in bed, I remember you; all night long I think of you, 7 because you have always been my help. In the shadow of your wings I sing for joy. 8 I cling to you, and your hand keeps me safe. 9 Those who are trying to kill me will go down into the world of the dead. 10 They will be killed in battle, and their bodies eaten by wolves. 11 Because God gives him victory, the king will rejoice. Those who make promises in God's name will praise him, but the mouths of liars will be shut.

Psalm 64:1 I am in trouble, God - listen to my prayer! I am afraid of my enemies - save my life! 2 Protect me from the plots of the wicked, from mobs of evil people. 3 They sharpen their tongues like swords and aim cruel words like arrows. 4 They are quick to spread their shameless lies; they destroy good people with cowardly slander. 5 They encourage each other in their evil plots; they talk about where they will place their traps. "No one can see them," they say. 6 They make evil plans and say, "We have planned a perfect crime." The human heart and mind are a mystery. 7 But God shoots his arrows at them, and suddenly they are wounded. 8 He will destroy them because of those words; all who see them will shake their heads. 9 They will all be afraid; they will think about what God has done and tell about his deeds. 10 All righteous people will rejoice because of what the Lord has done. They will find safety in him; all good people will praise him.

Psalm 69:1 Save me, O God! The water is up to my neck; 2 I am sinking in deep mud, and there is no solid ground; I am out in deep water, and the waves are about to drown me. 3 I am worn out from calling for help, and my throat is aching. I have strained my eyes, looking for your help. 4 Those who hate me for no reason are more numerous than the hairs of my head. My enemies tell lies against me; they are strong and want to kill me. They made me give back things I did not steal. 5 My sins, O God, are not hidden from you; you know how foolish I have been. 6 Don't let me bring shame on those who trust in you, Sovereign Lord Almighty! Don't let me bring disgrace to those who worship you, O God of Israel! 7 It is for your sake that I have been insulted and that I am covered with shame. 8 I am like a stranger to my relatives, like a foreigner to my family. 9 My devotion to your Temple burns in me like a fire; the insults which are hurled at you fall on me. 10 I humble myself by fasting, and people insult me; 11 I dress myself in clothes of mourning, and they laugh at me. 12 They talk about me in the streets, and drunkards make up songs about me. 13 But as for me, I will pray to you, Lord; answer me, God, at a time you choose. Answer me because of your great love, because you keep your promise to save. 14 Save me from sinking in the mud; keep me safe from my enemies, safe from the deep water. 15 Don't let the flood come over me; don't let me drown in the depths or sink into the grave. 16 Answer me, Lord, in the goodness of your constant love; in your great compassion turn to me! 17 Don't hide yourself from your servant; I am in great trouble - answer me now! 18 Come to me and save me; rescue me from my enemies. 19 You know how I am insulted, how I am disgraced and dishonored; you see all my enemies. 20 Insults have broken my heart, and I am in despair. I had hoped for sympathy, but there was none; for comfort, but I found none. 21 When I was hungry, they gave me poison; when I was thirsty, they offered me vinegar. 22 May their banquets cause their ruin; may their sacred feasts cause their downfall. 23 Strike them with blindness! Make their backs always weak! 24 Pour out your anger on them; let your indignation overtake them. 25 May their camps be left deserted; may no one be left alive in their tents. 26 They persecute those whom you have punished; they talk about the sufferings of those you have wounded. 27 Keep a record of all their sins; don't let them have any part in your salvation. 28 May their names be erased from the book of the living; may they not be included in the list of your people. 29 But I am in pain and despair; lift me up, O God, and save me! 30 I will praise God with a song; I will proclaim his greatness by giving him thanks. 31 This will please the Lord more than offering him cattle, more than sacrificing a full-grown bull. 32 When the oppressed see this, they will be glad; those who worship God will be encouraged. 33 The Lord listens to those in need and does not forget his people in prison. 34 Praise God, O heaven and earth, seas and all creatures in them. 35 He will save Jerusalem and rebuild the towns of Judah. His people will live there and possess the land; 36 the descendants of his servants will inherit it, and those who love him will live there.

Psalm 70:1 Save me, O God! Lord, help me now! 2 May those who try to kill me be defeated and confused. May those who are happy because of my troubles be turned back and disgraced. 3 May those who make fun of me be dismayed by their defeat. 4 May all who come to you be glad and joyful. May all who are thankful for your salvation always say, "How great is God!" 5 I am weak and poor; come to me quickly, O God. You are my savior and my Lord - hurry to my aid!

Psalm 71:1 Lord, I have come to you for protection; never let me be defeated! 2 Because you are righteous, help me and rescue me. Listen to me and save me! 3 Be my secure shelter and a strong fortress to protect me; you are my refuge and defense. 4 My God, rescue me from wicked people, from the power of cruel and evil people. 5 Sovereign Lord, I put my hope in you; I have trusted in you since I was young. 6 I have relied on you all my life; you have protected me since the day I was born. I will always praise you. 7 My life has been an example to many, because you have been my strong defender. 8 All day long I praise you and proclaim your glory. 9 Do not reject me now that I am old; do not abandon me now that I am feeble. 10 My enemies want to kill me; they talk and plot against me. 11 They say, "God has abandoned him; let's go after him and catch him; there is no one to rescue him." 12 Don't stay so far away, O God; my God, hurry to my aid! 13 May those who attack me be defeated and destroyed. May those who try to hurt me be shamed and disgraced. 14 I will always put my hope in you; I will praise you more and more. 15 I will tell of your goodness; all day long I will speak of your salvation, though it is more than I can understand. 16 I will go in the strength of the Lord God; I will proclaim your goodness, yours alone. 17 You have taught me ever since I was young, and I still tell of your wonderful acts. 18 Now that I am old and my hair is gray, do not abandon me, O God! Be with me while I proclaim your power and might to all generations to come. 19 Your righteousness, God, reaches the skies. You have done great things; there is no one like you. 20 You have sent troubles and suffering on me, but you will restore my strength; you will keep me from the grave. 21 You will make me greater than ever; you will comfort me again. 22 I will indeed praise you with the harp; I will praise your faithfulness, my God. On my harp I will play hymns to you, the Holy One of Israel. 23 I will shout for joy as I play for you; with my whole being I will sing because you have saved me. 24 I will speak of your righteousness all day long, because those who tried to harm me have been defeated and disgraced.

Psalm 86:1 Listen to me, Lord, and answer me, for I am helpless and weak. 2 Save me from death, because I am loyal to you; save me, for I am your servant and I trust in you. 3 You are my God, so be merciful to me; I pray to you all day long. 4 Make your servant glad, O Lord, because my prayers go up to you. 5 You are good to us and forgiving, full of constant love for all who pray to you. 6 Listen, Lord, to my prayer; hear my cries for help. 7 I call to you in times of trouble, because you answer my prayers. 8 There is no god like you, O Lord, not one has done what you have done. 9 All the nations that you have created will come and bow down to you; they will praise your greatness. 10 You are mighty and do wonderful things; you alone are God. 11 Teach me, Lord, what you want me to do, and I will obey you faithfully; teach me to serve you with complete devotion. 12 I will praise you with all my heart, O Lord my God; I will proclaim your greatness forever. 13 How great is your constant love for me! You have saved me from the grave itself. 14 Proud people are coming against me, O God; a cruel gang is trying to kill me - people who pay no attention to you. 15 But you, O Lord, are a merciful and loving God, always patient, always kind and faithful. 16 Turn to me and have mercy on me; strengthen me and save me, because I serve you just as my mother did. 17 Show me proof of your goodness, Lord; those who hate me will be ashamed when they see that you have given me comfort and help.

Psalm 88:1 Lord God, my savior, I cry out all day, and at night I come before you. 2 Hear my prayer; listen to my cry for help! 3 So many troubles have fallen on me that I am close to death. 4 I am like all others who are about to die; all my strength is gone. 5 I am abandoned among the dead; I am like the slain lying in their graves, those you have forgotten completely, who are beyond your help. 6 You have thrown me into the depths of the tomb, into the darkest and deepest pit. 7 Your anger lies heavy on me, and I am crushed beneath its waves. 8 You have caused my friends to abandon me; you have made me repulsive to them. I am closed in and cannot escape; 9 my eyes are weak from suffering. Lord, every day I call to you and lift my hands to you in prayer. 10 Do you perform miracles for the dead? Do they rise up and praise you? 11 Is your constant love spoken of in the grave or your faithfulness in the place of destruction? 12 Are your miracles seen in that place of darkness or your goodness in the land of the forgotten? 13 Lord, I call to you for help; every morning I pray to you. 14 Why do you reject me, Lord? Why do you turn away from me? 15 Ever since I was young, I have suffered and been near death; I am worn out from the burden of your punishments. 16 Your furious anger crushes me; your terrible attacks destroy me. 17 All day long they surround me like a flood; they close in on me from every side. 18 You have made even my closest friends abandon me, and darkness is my only companion.

Psalm 102:1 Listen to my prayer, O Lord, and hear my cry for help! 2 When I am in trouble, don't turn away from me! Listen to me, and answer me quickly when I call! 3 My life is disappearing like smoke; my body is burning like fire. 4 I am beaten down like dry grass; I have lost my desire for food. 5 I groan aloud; I am nothing but skin and bones. 6 I am like a wild bird in the desert, like an owl in abandoned ruins. 7 I lie awake; I am like a lonely bird on a housetop. 8 All day long my enemies insult me; those who mock me use my name in cursing. 9 Because of your anger and fury, ashes are my food, and my tears are mixed with my drink. You picked me up and threw me away. 11 My life is like the evening shadows; I am like dry grass. 12 But you, O Lord, are king forever; all generations will remember you. 13 You will rise and take pity on Zion; the time has come to have mercy on her; this is the right time. 14 Your servants love her, even though she is destroyed; they have pity on her, even though she is in ruins. 15 The nations will fear the Lord; all the kings of the earth will fear his power. 16 When the Lord rebuilds Zion, he will reveal his greatness. 17 He will hear his forsaken people and listen to their prayer. 18 Write down for the coming generation what the Lord has done, so that people not yet born will praise him. 19 The Lord looked down from his holy place on high, he looked down from heaven to earth. 20 He heard the groans of prisoners and set free those who were condemned to die. 21 And so his name will be proclaimed in Zion, and he will be praised in Jerusalem 22 when nations and kingdoms come together and worship the Lord. 23 The Lord has made me weak while I am still young; he has shortened my life. 24 O God, do not take me away now before I grow old. O Lord, you live forever; 25 long ago you created the earth, and with your own hands you made the heavens. 26 They will disappear, but you will remain; they will all wear out like clothes. You will discard them like clothes, and they will vanish. 27 But you are always the same, and your life never ends. 28 Our children will live in safety, and under your protection their descendants will be secure.

Psalm 109:1 I praise you, God; don't remain silent! 2 Wicked people and liars have attacked me. They tell lies about me, 3 and they say evil things about me, attacking me for no reason. 4 They oppose me, even though I love them and have prayed for them. 5 They pay me back evil for good and hatred for love. 6 Choose some corrupt judge to try my enemy, and let one of his own enemies accuse him. 7 May he be tried and found guilty; may even his prayer be considered a crime! 8 May his life soon be ended; may someone else take his job! 9 May his children become orphans, and his wife a widow! 10 May his children be homeless beggars; may they be driven from the ruins they live in! 11 May his creditors take away all his property, and may strangers get everything he worked for. 12 May no one ever be kind to him or care for the orphans he leaves behind. 13 May all his descendants die, and may his name be forgotten in the next generation. 14 May the Lord remember the evil of his ancestors and never forgive his mother's sins. 15 May the Lord always remember their sins, but may they themselves be completely forgotten! 16 That man never thought of being kind; he persecuted and killed the poor, the needy, and the helpless. 17 He loved to curse - may he be cursed! He hated to give blessings - may no one bless him! 18 He cursed as naturally as he dressed himself; may his own curses soak into his body like water and into his bones like oil! 19 May they cover him like clothes and always be around him like a belt! 20 Lord, punish my enemies in that way - those who say such evil things against me! 21 But my Sovereign Lord, help me as you have promised, and rescue me because of the goodness of your love. 22 I am poor and needy; I am hurt to the depths of my heart. 23 Like an evening shadow I am about to vanish; I am blown away like an insect. 24 My knees are weak from lack of food; I am nothing but skin and bones. 25 When people see me, they laugh at me; they shake their heads in scorn. 26 Help me, O Lord my God; because of your constant love, save me! 27 Make my enemies know that you are the one who saves me. 28 They may curse me, but you will bless me. May my persecutors be defeated, and may I, your servant, be glad. 29 May my enemies be covered with disgrace; may they wear their shame like a robe. 30 I will give loud thanks to the Lord; I will praise him in the assembly of the people, 31 because he defends the poor and saves them from those who condemn them to death.

Psalm 120:1 When I was in trouble, I called to the Lord, and he answered me. 2 Save me, Lord, from liars and deceivers. 3 You liars, what will God do to you? How will he punish you? 4 With a soldier's sharp arrows, with red-hot coals! 5 Living among you is as bad as living in Meshech or among the people of Kedar. 6 I have lived too long with people who hate peace! 7 When I speak of peace, they are for war.

Psalm 130:1 From the depths of my despair I call to you, Lord. 2 Hear my cry, O Lord; listen to my call for help! 3 If you kept a record of our sins, who could escape being condemned? 4 But you forgive us, so that we should stand in awe of you. 5 I wait eagerly for the Lord's help, and in his word I trust. 6 I wait for the Lord more eagerly than sentries wait for the dawn - than sentries wait for the dawn. 7 Israel, trust in the Lord, because his love is constant and he is always willing to save. 8 He will save his people Israel from all their sins.

Psalm 140:1 Save me, Lord, from evildoers; keep me safe from violent people. 2 They are always plotting evil, always stirring up quarrels. 3 Their tongues are like deadly snakes; their words are like a cobra's poison. 4 Protect me, Lord, from the power of the wicked; keep me safe from violent people who plot my downfall. 5 The proud have set a trap for me; they have laid their snares, and along the path they have set traps to catch me. 6 I say to the Lord, "You are my God." Hear my cry for help, Lord! 7 My Sovereign Lord, my strong defender, you have protected me in battle. 8 Lord, don't give the wicked what they want; don't let their plots succeed. 9 Don't let my enemies be victorious; make their threats against me fall back on them. 10 May red-hot coals fall on them; may they be thrown into a pit and never get out. 11 May those who accuse others falsely not succeed; may evil overtake violent people and destroy them. 12 Lord, I know that you defend the cause of the poor and the rights of the needy. 13 The righteous will praise you indeed; they will live in your presence.

Psalm 141:1 I call to you, Lord; help me now! Listen to me when I call to you. 2 Receive my prayer as incense, my uplifted hands as an evening sacrifice. 3 Lord, place a guard at my mouth, a sentry at the door of my lips. 4 Keep me from wanting to do wrong and from joining evil people in their wickedness. May I never take part in their feasts. 5 Good people may punish me and rebuke me in kindness, but I will never accept honor from evil people, because I am always praying against their evil deeds. 6 When their rulers are thrown down from rocky cliffs, the people will admit that my words were true. 7 Like wood that is split and chopped into bits, so their bones are scattered at the edge of the grave. 8 But I keep trusting in you, my Sovereign Lord. I seek your protection; don't let me die! 9 Protect me from the traps they have set for me, from the snares of those evildoers. 10 May the wicked fall into their own traps while I go by unharmed.

Psalm 142:1 I call to the Lord for help; I plead with him. 2 I bring him all my complaints; I tell him all my troubles. 3 When I am ready to give up, he knows what I should do. In the path where I walk, my enemies have hidden a trap for me. 4 When I look beside me, I see that there is no one to help me, no one to protect me. No one cares for me. 5 Lord, I cry to you for help; you, Lord, are my protector; you are all I want in this life. 6 Listen to my cry for help, for I am sunk in despair. Save me from my enemies; they are too strong for me. 7 Set me free from my distress; then in the assembly of your people I will praise you because of your goodness to me.

Psalm 143:1 Lord, hear my prayer! In your righteousness listen to my plea; answer me in your faithfulness! 2 Don't put me, your servant, on trial; no one is innocent in your sight. 3 My enemies have hunted me down and completely defeated me. They have put me in a dark prison, and I am like those who died long ago. 4 So I am ready to give up; I am in deep despair. 5 I remember the days gone by; I think about all that you have done, I bring to mind all your deeds. 6 I lift up my hands to you in prayer; like dry ground my soul is thirsty for you. 7 Answer me now, Lord! I have lost all hope. Don't hide yourself from me, or I will be among those who go down to the world of the dead. 8 Remind me each morning of your constant love, for I put my trust in you. My prayers go up to you; show me the way I should go. 9 I go to you for protection, Lord; rescue me from my enemies. 10 You are my God; teach me to do your will. Be good to me, and guide me on a safe path. 11 Rescue me, Lord, as you have promised; in your goodness save me from my troubles! 12 Because of your love for me, kill my enemies and destroy all my oppressors, for I am your servant.

2553-Psalm 12:1 Help us, Lord! There is not a good person left; honest people can no longer be found. 2 All of them lie to one another; they deceive each other with flattery. 3 Silence those flattering tongues, O Lord! Close those boastful mouths that say, 4 "With our words we get what we want. We will say what we wish, and no one can stop us." 5 "But now I will come," says the Lord, "because the needy are oppressed and the persecuted groan in pain. I will give them the security they long for." 6 The promises of the Lord can be trusted; they are as genuine as silver refined seven times in the furnace. 7 The wicked are everywhere, and everyone praises what is evil. Keep us always safe, O Lord, and preserve us from such people.

Psalm 44:1 With our own ears we have heard it, O God - our ancestors have told us about it, about the great things you did in their time, in the days of long ago: 2 how you yourself drove out the heathen and established your people in their land; how you punished the other nations and caused your own to prosper. 3 Your people did not conquer the land with their swords; they did not win it by their own power; it was by your power and your strength, by the assurance of your presence, which showed that you loved them. 4 You are my king and my God; you give victory to your people, 5 and by your power we defeat our enemies. 6 I do not trust in my bow or in my sword to save me; 7 but you have saved us from our enemies and defeated those who hate us. 8 We will always praise you and give thanks to you forever. 9 But now you have rejected us and let us be defeated; you no longer march out with our armies. 10 You made us run from our enemies, and they took for themselves what was ours. 11 You allowed us to be slaughtered like sheep; you scattered us in foreign countries. 12 You sold your own people for a small price as though they had little value. 13 Our neighbors see what you did to us, and they mock us and laugh at us. 14 You have made us a joke among the nations; they shake their heads at us in scorn. 15 I am always in disgrace; I am covered with shame 16 from hearing the sneers and insults of my enemies and those who hate me. 17 All this has happened to us, even though we have not forgotten you or broken the covenant you made with us. 18 We have not been disloyal to you; we have not disobeyed your commands. 19 Yet you left us helpless among wild animals; you abandoned us in deepest darkness. 20 If we had stopped worshiping our God and prayed to a foreign god, 21 you would surely have discovered it, because you know our secret thoughts. 22 But it is on your account that we are being killed all the time, that we are treated like sheep to be slaughtered. 23 Wake up, Lord! Why are you asleep? Rouse yourself! Don't reject us forever! 24 Why are you hiding from us? Don't forget our suffering and trouble! 25 We fall crushed to the ground; we lie defeated in the dust. 26 Come to our aid! Because of your constant love save us!

Psalm 58:1 Do you rulers ever give a just decision? Do you judge everyone fairly? 2 No! You think only of the evil you can do, and commit crimes of violence in the land. 3 Evildoers go wrong all their lives; they tell lies from the day they are born. 4 They are full of poison like snakes; they stop up their ears like a deaf cobra, 5 which does not hear the voice of the snake charmer, or the chant of the clever magician. 6 Break the teeth of these fierce lions, O God. 7 May they disappear like water draining away; may they be crushed like weeds on a path. 8 May they be like snails that dissolve into slime; may they be like a baby born dead that never sees the light. 9 Before they know it, they are cut down like weeds; in his fierce anger God will blow them away while they are still living. 10 The righteous will be glad when they see sinners punished; they will wade through the blood of the wicked. 11 People will say, "The righteous are indeed rewarded; there is indeed a God who judges the world."

Psalm 60:1 You have rejected us, God, and defeated us; you have been angry with us - but now turn back to us. 2 You have made the land tremble, and you have cut it open; now heal its wounds, because it is falling apart. 3 You have made your people suffer greatly; we stagger around as though we were drunk. 4 You have warned those who have reverence for you, so that they might escape destruction. 5 Save us by your might; answer our prayer, so that the people you love may be rescued. 6 From his sanctuary God has said, "In triumph I will divide Shechem and distribute Sukkoth Valley to my people. 7 Gilead is mine, and Manasseh too; Ephraim is my helmet and Judah my royal scepter. 8 But I will use Moab as my washbowl, and I will throw my sandals on Edom, as a sign that I own it. Did the Philistines think they would shout in triumph over me?" 9 Who, O God, will take me into the fortified city? Who will lead me to Edom? 10 Have you really rejected us? Aren't you going to march out with our armies? 11 Help us against the enemy; human help is worthless. 12 With God on our side we will win; he will defeat our enemies.

Psalm 74:1 Why have you abandoned us like this, O God? Will you be angry with your own people forever? 2 Remember your people, whom you chose for yourself long ago, whom you brought out of slavery to be your own tribe. Remember Mount Zion, where once you lived. 3 Walk over these total ruins; our enemies have destroyed everything in the Temple. 4 Your enemies have shouted in triumph in your Temple; they have placed their flags there as signs of victory. 5 They looked like woodsmen cutting down trees with their axes. 6 They smashed all the wooden panels with their axes and sledge hammers. 7 They wrecked your Temple and set it on fire; they desecrated the place where you are worshiped. 8 They wanted to crush us completely; they burned down every holy place in the land. 9 All our sacred symbols are gone; there are no prophets left, and no one knows how long this will last. 10 How long, O God, will our enemies laugh at you? Will they insult your name forever? 11 Why have you refused to help us? Why do you keep your hands behind you? 12 But you have been our king from the beginning, O God; you have saved us many times. 13 With your mighty strength you divided the sea and smashed the heads of the sea monsters; 14 you crushed the heads of the monster Leviathan and fed his body to desert animals. 15 You made springs and fountains flow; you dried up large rivers. 16 You created the day and the night; you set the sun and the moon in their places; 17 you set the limits of the earth; you made summer and winter. 18 But remember, O Lord, that your enemies laugh at you, that they are godless and despise you. 19 Don't abandon your helpless people to their cruel enemies; don't forget your persecuted people! 20 Remember the covenant you made with us. There is violence in every dark corner of the land. 21 Don't let the oppressed be put to shame; let those poor and needy people praise you. 22 Rouse yourself, God, and defend your cause! Remember that godless people laugh at you all day long. 23 Don't forget the angry shouts of your enemies, the continuous noise made by your foes.

Psalm 77:1 I cry aloud to God; I cry aloud, and he hears me. 2 In times of trouble I pray to the Lord; all night long I lift my hands in prayer, but I cannot find comfort. 3 When I think of God, I sigh; when I meditate, I feel discouraged. 4 He keeps me awake all night; I am so worried that I cannot speak. 5 I think of days gone by and remember years of long ago. 6 I spend the night in deep thought; I meditate, and this is what I ask myself: 7 "Will the Lord always reject us? Will he never again be pleased with us? 8 Has he stopped loving us? Does his promise no longer stand? 9 Has God forgotten to be merciful? Has anger taken the place of his compassion?" 10 Then I said, "What hurts me most is this - that God is no longer powerful." 11 I will remember your great deeds, Lord; I will recall the wonders you did in the past. 12 I will think about all that you have done; I will meditate on all your mighty acts. 13 Everything you do, O God, is holy. No god is as great as you. 14 You are the God who works miracles; you showed your might among the nations. 15 By your power you saved your people, the descendants of Jacob and of Joseph. 16 When the waters saw you, O God, they were afraid, and the depths of the sea trembled. 17 The clouds poured down rain; thunder crashed from the sky, and lightning flashed in all directions. 18 The crash of your thunder rolled out, and flashes of lightning lit up the world; the earth trembled and shook. 19 You walked through the waves; you crossed the deep sea, but your footprints could not be seen. 20 You led your people like a shepherd, with Moses and Aaron in charge.

Psalm 79:1 O God, the heathen have invaded your land. They have desecrated your holy Temple and left Jerusalem in ruins. 2 They left the bodies of your people for the vultures, the bodies of your servants for wild animals to eat. 3 They shed your people's blood like water; blood flowed like water all through Jerusalem, and no one was left to bury the dead. 4 The surrounding nations insult us; they laugh at us and mock us. 5 Lord, will you be angry with us forever? Will your anger continue to burn like fire? 6 Turn your anger on the nations that do not worship you, on the people who do not pray to you. 7 For they have killed your people; they have ruined your country. 8 Do not punish us for the sins of our ancestors. Have mercy on us now; we have lost all hope. 9 Help us, O God, and save us; rescue us and forgive our sins for the sake of your own honor. 10 Why should the nations ask us, "Where is your God?" Let us see you punish the nations for shedding the blood of your servants. 11 Listen to the groans of the prisoners, and by your great power free those who are condemned to die. 12 Lord, pay the other nations back seven times for all the insults they have hurled at you. 13 Then we, your people, the sheep of your flock, will thank you forever and praise you for all time to come.

Psalm 80:1 Listen to us, O Shepherd of Israel; hear us, leader of your flock. Seated on your throne above the winged creatures, 2 reveal yourself to the tribes of Ephraim, Benjamin, and Manasseh. Show us your strength; come and save us! 3 Bring us back, O God! Show us your mercy, and we will be saved! 4 How much longer, Lord God Almighty, will you be angry with your people's prayers? 5 You have given us sorrow to eat, a large cup of tears to drink. 6 You let the surrounding nations fight over our land; our enemies insult us. 7 Bring us back, Almighty God! Show us your mercy, and we will be saved! 8 You brought a grapevine out of Egypt; you drove out other nations and planted it in their land. 9 You cleared a place for it to grow; its roots went deep, and it spread out over the whole land. 10 It covered the hills with its shade; its branches overshadowed the giant cedars. 11 It extended its branches to the Mediterranean Sea and as far as the Euphrates River. 12 Why did you break down the fences around it? Now anyone passing by can steal its grapes; 13 wild hogs trample it down, and wild animals feed on it. 14 Turn to us, Almighty God! Look down from heaven at us; come and save your people! 15 Come and save this grapevine that you planted, this young vine you made grow so strong! 16 Our enemies have set it on fire and cut it down; look at them in anger and destroy them! 17 Preserve and protect the people you have chosen, the nation you made so strong. 18 We will never turn away from you again; keep us alive, and we will praise you. 19 Bring us back, Lord God Almighty. Show us your mercy, and we will be saved.

Psalm 82:1 God presides in the heavenly council; in the assembly of the gods he gives his decision: 2 "You must stop judging unjustly; you must no longer be partial to the wicked! 3 Defend the rights of the poor and the orphans; be fair to the needy and the helpless. 4 Rescue them from the power of evil people. 5 "How ignorant you are! How stupid! You are completely corrupt, and justice has disappeared from the world. 6 "You are gods,' I said; "all of you are children of the Most High.' 7 But you will die like mortals; your life will end like that of any prince." 8 Come, O God, and rule the world; all the nations are yours.

Psalm 83:1 O God, do not keep silent; do not be still, do not be quiet! 2 Look! Your enemies are in revolt, and those who hate you are rebelling. 3 They are making secret plans against your people; they are plotting against those you protect. 4 "Come," they say, "let us destroy their nation, so that Israel will be forgotten forever." 5 They agree on their plan and form an alliance against you: 6 the people of Edom and the Ishmaelites; the people of Moab and the Hagrites; 7 the people of Gebal, Ammon, and Amalek, and of Philistia and Tyre. 8 Assyria has also joined them as a strong ally of the Ammonites and Moabites, the descendants of Lot. 9 Do to them what you did to the Midianites, and to Sisera and Jabin at the Kishon River. 10 You defeated them at Endor, and their bodies rotted on the ground. 11 Do to their leaders what you did to Oreb and Zeeb; defeat all their rulers as you did Zebah and Zalmunna, 12 who said, "We will take for our own the land that belongs to God." 13 Scatter them like dust, O God, like straw blown away by the wind. 14 As fire burns the forest, as flames set the hills on fire, 15 chase them away with your storm and terrify them with your fierce winds. 16 Cover their faces with shame, O Lord, and make them acknowledge your power. 17 May they be defeated and terrified forever; may they die in complete disgrace. 18 May they know that you alone are the Lord, supreme ruler over all the earth.

Psalm 85:1 Lord, you have been merciful to your land; you have made Israel prosperous again. 2 You have forgiven your people's sins and pardoned all their wrongs. 3 You stopped being angry with them and held back your furious rage. 4 Bring us back, O God our savior, and stop being displeased with us! 5 Will you be angry with us forever? Will your anger never cease? 6 Make us strong again, and we, your people, will praise you. 7 Show us your constant love, O Lord, and give us your saving help. 8 I am listening to what the Lord God is saying; he promises peace to us, his own people, if we do not go back to our foolish ways. 9 Surely he is ready to save those who honor him, and his saving presence will remain in our land. 10 Love and faithfulness will meet; righteousness and peace will embrace. 11 Human loyalty will reach up from the earth, and God's righteousness will look down from heaven. 12 The Lord will make us prosperous, and our land will produce rich harvests. 13 Righteousness will go before the Lord and prepare the path for him.

Psalm 90:1 O Lord, you have always been our home. 2 Before you created the hills or brought the world into being, you were eternally God, and will be God forever. 3 You tell us to return to what we were; you change us back to dust. 4 A thousand years to you are like one day; they are like yesterday, already gone, like a short hour in the night. 5 You carry us away like a flood; we last no longer than a dream. We are like weeds that sprout in the morning, 6 that grow and burst into bloom, then dry up and die in the evening. 7 We are destroyed by your anger; we are terrified by your fury. 8 You place our sins before you, our secret sins where you can see them. 9 Our life is cut short by your anger; it fades away like a whisper. 10 Seventy years is all we have - eighty years, if we are strong; yet all they bring us is trouble and sorrow; life is soon over, and we are gone. 11 Who has felt the full power of your anger? Who knows what fear your fury can bring? 12 Teach us how short our life is, so that we may become wise. 13 How much longer will your anger last? Have pity, O Lord, on your servants! 14 Fill us each morning with your constant love, so that we may sing and be glad all our life. 15 Give us now as much happiness as the sadness you gave us during all our years of misery. 16 Let us, your servants, see your mighty deeds; let our descendants see your glorious might. 17 Lord our God, may your blessings be with us. Give us success in all we do!

Psalm 94:1 Lord, you are a God who punishes; reveal your anger! 2 You are the judge of us all; rise and give the proud what they deserve! 3 How much longer will the wicked be glad? How much longer, Lord? 4 How much longer will criminals be proud and boast about their crimes? 5 They crush your people, Lord; they oppress those who belong to you. 6 They kill widows and orphans, and murder the strangers who live in our land. 7 They say, "The Lord does not see us; the God of Israel does not notice." 8 My people, how can you be such stupid fools? When will you ever learn? 9 God made our ears - can't he hear? He made our eyes - can't he see? 10 He scolds the nations - won't he punish them? He is the teacher of us all - hasn't he any knowledge? 11 The Lord knows what we think; he knows how senseless our reasoning is. 12 Lord, how happy are those you instruct, the ones to whom you teach your law! 13 You give them rest from days of trouble until a pit is dug to trap the wicked. 14 The Lord will not abandon his people; he will not desert those who belong to him. 15 Justice will again be found in the courts, and all righteous people will support it. 16 Who stood up for me against the wicked? Who took my side against the evildoers? 17 If the Lord had not helped me, I would have gone quickly to the land of silence. 18 I said, "I am falling"; but your constant love, O Lord, held me up. 19 Whenever I am anxious and worried, you comfort me and make me glad. 20 You have nothing to do with corrupt judges, who make injustice legal, 21 who plot against good people and sentence the innocent to death. 22 But the Lord defends me; my God protects me. 23 He will punish them for their wickedness and destroy them for their sins; the Lord our God will destroy them.

Psalm 106:1 Praise the Lord! Give thanks to the Lord, because he is good; his love is eternal. 2 Who can tell all the great things he has done? Who can praise him enough? 3 Happy are those who obey his commands, who always do what is right. 4 Remember me, Lord, when you help your people; include me when you save them. 5 Let me see the prosperity of your people and share in the happiness of your nation, in the glad pride of those who belong to you. 6 We have sinned as our ancestors did; we have been wicked and evil. 7 Our ancestors in Egypt did not understand God's wonderful acts; they forgot the many times he showed them his love, and they rebelled against the Almighty at the Red Sea. 8 But he saved them, as he had promised, in order to show his great power. 9 He gave a command to the Red Sea, and it dried up; he led his people across on dry land. 10 He saved them from those who hated them; he rescued them from their enemies. 11 But the water drowned their enemies; not one of them was left. 12 Then his people believed his promises and sang praises to him. 13 But they quickly forgot what he had done and acted without waiting for his advice. 14 They were filled with craving in the desert and put God to the test; 15 so he gave them what they asked for, but also sent a terrible disease among them. 16 There in the desert they were jealous of Moses and of Aaron, the Lord's holy servant. 17 Then the earth opened up and swallowed Dathan and buried Abiram and his family; 18 fire came down on their followers and burned up those wicked people. 19 They made a gold bull-calf at Sinai and worshiped that idol; 20 they exchanged the glory of God for the image of an animal that eats grass. 21 They forgot the God who had saved them by his mighty acts in Egypt. 22 What wonderful things he did there! What amazing things at the Red Sea! 23 When God said that he would destroy his people, his chosen servant, Moses, stood up against God and kept his anger from destroying them. 24 Then they rejected the pleasant land, because they did not believe God's promise. 25 They stayed in their tents and grumbled and would not listen to the Lord. 26 So he gave them a solemn warning that he would make them die in the desert 27 and scatter their descendants among the heathen, letting them die in foreign countries. 28 Then at Peor, God's people joined in the worship of Baal and ate sacrifices offered to dead gods. 29 They stirred up the Lord's anger by their actions, and a terrible disease broke out among them. 30 But Phinehas stood up and punished the guilty, and the plague was stopped. 31 This has been remembered in his favor ever since and will be for all time to come. 32 At the springs of Meribah the people made the Lord angry, and Moses was in trouble on their account. 33 They made him so bitter that he spoke without stopping to think. 34 They did not kill the heathen, as the Lord had commanded them to do, 35 but they intermarried with them and adopted their pagan ways. 36 God's people worshiped idols, and this caused their destruction. 37 They offered their own sons and daughters as sacrifices to the idols of Canaan. 38 They killed those innocent children, and the land was defiled by those murders. 39 They made themselves impure by their actions and were unfaithful to God. 40 So the Lord was angry with his people; he was disgusted with them. 41 He abandoned them to the power of the heathen, and their enemies ruled over them. 42 They were oppressed by their enemies and were in complete subjection to them. 43 Many times the Lord rescued his people, but they chose to rebel against him and sank deeper into sin. 44 Yet the Lord heard them when they cried out, and he took notice of their distress. 45 For their sake he remembered his covenant, and because of his great love he relented. 46 He made all their oppressors feel sorry for them. 47 Save us, O Lord our God, and bring us back from among the nations, so that we may be thankful and praise your holy name. 48 Praise the Lord, the God of Israel; praise him now and forever! Let everyone say, "Amen!" Praise the Lord!

Psalm 108:1 I have complete confidence, O God! I will sing and praise you! Wake up, my soul! 2 Wake up, my harp and lyre! I will wake up the sun. 3 I will thank you, O Lord, among the nations. I will praise you among the peoples. 4 Your constant love reaches above the heavens; your faithfulness touches the skies. 5 Show your greatness in the sky, O God, and your glory over all the earth. 6 Save us by your might; answer my prayer, so that the people you love may be rescued. 7 From his sanctuary God has said, "In triumph I will divide Shechem and distribute Sukkoth Valley to my people. 8 Gilead is mine, and Manasseh too; Ephraim is my helmet and Judah my royal scepter. 9 But I will use Moab as my washbowl, and I will throw my sandals on Edom, as a sign that I own it. I will shout in triumph over the Philistines." 10 Who, O God, will take me into the fortified city? Who will lead me to Edom? 11 Have you really rejected us? Aren't you going to march out with our armies? 12 Help us against the enemy; human help is worthless. 13 With God on our side we will win; he will defeat our enemies.

Psalm 123:1 Lord, I look up to you, up to heaven, where you rule. 2 As a servant depends on his master, as a maid depends on her mistress, so we will keep looking to you, O Lord our God, until you have mercy on us. 3 Be merciful to us, Lord, be merciful; we have been treated with so much contempt. 4 We have been mocked too long by the rich and scorned by proud oppressors.

Psalm 126:1 When the Lord brought us back to Jerusalem, it was like a dream! 2 How we laughed, how we sang for joy! Then the other nations said about us, "The Lord did great things for them." 3 Indeed he did great things for us; how happy we were! 4 Lord, make us prosperous again, just as the rain brings water back to dry riverbeds. 5 Let those who wept as they planted their crops, gather the harvest with joy! 6 Those who wept as they went out carrying the seed will come back singing for joy, as they bring in the harvest.

Psalm 137:1 By the rivers of Babylon we sat down; there we wept when we remembered Zion. 2 On the willows near by we hung up our harps. 3 Those who captured us told us to sing; they told us to entertain them: "Sing us a song about Zion." 4 How can we sing a song to the Lord in a foreign land? 5 May I never be able to play the harp again if I forget you, Jerusalem! 6 May I never be able to sing again if I do not remember you, if I do not think of you as my greatest joy! 7 Remember, Lord, what the Edomites did the day Jerusalem was captured. Remember how they kept saying, "Tear it down to the ground!" 8 Babylon, you will be destroyed. Happy are those who pay you back for what you have done to us - 9 who take your babies and smash them against a rock.

2554-Psalm 35:1 Oppose those who oppose me, Lord, and fight those who fight against me! 2 Take your shield and armor and come to my rescue. 3 Lift up your spear and war ax against those who pursue me. Promise that you will save me. 4 May those who try to kill me be defeated and disgraced! May those who plot against me be turned back and confused! 5 May they be like straw blown by the wind as the angel of the Lord pursues them! 6 May their path be dark and slippery while the angel of the Lord strikes them down! 7 Without any reason they laid a trap for me and dug a deep hole to catch me. 8 But destruction will catch them before they know it; they will be caught in their own trap and fall to their destruction! 9 Then I will be glad because of the Lord; I will be happy because he saved me. 10 With all my heart I will say to the Lord, "There is no one like you. You protect the weak from the strong, the poor from the oppressor." 11 Evil people testify against me and accuse me of crimes I know nothing about. 12 They pay me back evil for good, and I sink in despair. 13 But when they were sick, I dressed in mourning; I deprived myself of food; I prayed with my head bowed low, 14 as I would pray for a friend or a brother. I went around bent over in mourning, as one who mourns for his mother. 15 But when I was in trouble, they were all glad and gathered around to make fun of me; strangers beat me and kept striking me. 16 Like those who would mock a cripple, they glared at me with hate. 17 How much longer, Lord, will you just look on? Rescue me from their attacks; save my life from these lions! 18 Then I will thank you in the assembly of your people; I will praise you before them all. 19 Don't let my enemies, those liars, gloat over my defeat. Don't let those who hate me for no reason smirk with delight over my sorrow. 20 They do not speak in a friendly way; instead they invent all kinds of lies about peace-loving people. 21 They accuse me, shouting, "We saw what you did!" 22 But you, O Lord, have seen this. So don't be silent, Lord; don't keep yourself far away! 23 Rouse yourself, O Lord, and defend me; rise up, my God, and plead my cause. 24 You are righteous, O Lord, so declare me innocent; don't let my enemies gloat over me. 25 Don't let them say to themselves, "We are rid of him! That's just what we wanted!" 26 May those who gloat over my suffering be completely defeated and confused; may those who claim to be better than I am be covered with shame and disgrace. 27 May those who want to see me acquitted shout for joy and say again and again, "How great is the Lord! He is pleased with the success of his servant." 28 Then I will proclaim your righteousness, and I will praise you all day long.

Psalm 52:1 Why do you boast, great one, of your evil? God's faithfulness is eternal. 2 You make plans to ruin others; your tongue is like a sharp razor. You are always inventing lies. 3 You love evil more than good and falsehood more than truth. 4 You love to hurt people with your words, you liar! 5 So God will ruin you forever; he will take hold of you and snatch you from your home; he will remove you from the world of the living. 6 Righteous people will see this and be afraid; then they will laugh at you and say, 7 "Look, here is someone who did not depend on God for safety, but trusted instead in great wealth and looked for security in being wicked." 8 But I am like an olive tree growing in the house of God; I trust in his constant love forever and ever. 9 I will always thank you, God, for what you have done; in the presence of your people I will proclaim that you are good.

Psalm 58:1 Do you rulers ever give a just decision? Do you judge everyone fairly? 2 No! You think only of the evil you can do, and commit crimes of violence in the land. 3 Evildoers go wrong all their lives; they tell lies from the day they are born. 4 They are full of poison like snakes; they stop up their ears like a deaf cobra, 5 which does not hear the voice of the snake charmer, or the chant of the clever magician. 6 Break the teeth of these fierce lions, O God. 7 May they disappear like water draining away; may they be crushed like weeds on a path. 8 May they be like snails that dissolve into slime; may they be like a baby born dead that never sees the light. 9 Before they know it, they are cut down like weeds; in his fierce anger God will blow them away while they are still living. 10 The righteous will be glad when they see sinners punished; they will wade through the blood of the wicked. 11 People will say, "The righteous are indeed rewarded; there is indeed a God who judges the world."

Psalm 59:1 Save me from my enemies, my God; protect me from those who attack me! 2 Save me from those evil people; rescue me from those murderers! 3 Look! They are waiting to kill me; cruel people are gathering against me. It is not because of any sin or wrong I have done, 4 nor because of any fault of mine, O Lord, that they hurry to their places. 5 Rise, Lord God Almighty, and come to my aid; see for yourself, God of Israel! Wake up and punish the heathen; show no mercy to evil traitors! 6 They come back in the evening, snarling like dogs as they go about the city. 7 Listen to their insults and threats. Their tongues are like swords in their mouths, yet they think that no one hears them. 8 But you laugh at them, Lord; you mock all the heathen. 9 I have confidence in your strength; you are my refuge, O God. 10 My God loves me and will come to me; he will let me see my enemies defeated. 11 Do not kill them, O God, or my people may forget. Scatter them by your strength and defeat them, O Lord, our protector. 12 Sin is on their lips; all their words are sinful; may they be caught in their pride! Because they curse and lie, 13 destroy them in your anger; destroy them completely. Then everyone will know that God rules in Israel, that his rule extends over all the earth. 14 My enemies come back in the evening, snarling like dogs as they go about the city, 15 like dogs roaming about for food and growling if they do not find enough. 16 But I will sing about your strength; every morning I will sing aloud of your constant love. You have been a refuge for me, a shelter in my time of trouble. 17 I will praise you, my defender. My refuge is God, the God who loves me.

Psalm 69:1 Save me, O God! The water is up to my neck; 2 I am sinking in deep mud, and there is no solid ground; I am out in deep water, and the waves are about to drown me. 3 I am worn out from calling for help, and my throat is aching. I have strained my eyes, looking for your help. 4 Those who hate me for no reason are more numerous than the hairs of my head. My enemies tell lies against me; they are strong and want to kill me. They made me give back things I did not steal. 5 My sins, O God, are not hidden from you; you know how foolish I have been. 6 Don't let me bring shame on those who trust in you, Sovereign Lord Almighty! Don't let me bring disgrace to those who worship you, O God of Israel! 7 It is for your sake that I have been insulted and that I am covered with shame. 8 I am like a stranger to my relatives, like a foreigner to my family. 9 My devotion to your Temple burns in me like a fire; the insults which are hurled at you fall on me. 10 I humble myself by fasting, and people insult me; 11 I dress myself in clothes of mourning, and they laugh at me. 12 They talk about me in the streets, and drunkards make up songs about me. 13 But as for me, I will pray to you, Lord; answer me, God, at a time you choose. Answer me because of your great love, because you keep your promise to save. 14 Save me from sinking in the mud; keep me safe from my enemies, safe from the deep water. 15 Don't let the flood come over me; don't let me drown in the depths or sink into the grave. 16 Answer me, Lord, in the goodness of your constant love; in your great compassion turn to me! 17 Don't hide yourself from your servant; I am in great trouble - answer me now! 18 Come to me and save me; rescue me from my enemies. 19 You know how I am insulted, how I am disgraced and dishonored; you see all my enemies. 20 Insults have broken my heart, and I am in despair. I had hoped for sympathy, but there was none; for comfort, but I found none. 21 When I was hungry, they gave me poison; when I was thirsty, they offered me vinegar. 22 May their banquets cause their ruin; may their sacred feasts cause their downfall. 23 Strike them with blindness! Make their backs always weak! 24 Pour out your anger on them; let your indignation overtake them. 25 May their camps be left deserted; may no one be left alive in their tents. 26 They persecute those whom you have punished; they talk about the sufferings of those you have wounded. 27 Keep a record of all their sins; don't let them have any part in your salvation. 28 May their names be erased from the book of the living; may they not be included in the list of your people. 29 But I am in pain and despair; lift me up, O God, and save me! 30 I will praise God with a song; I will proclaim his greatness by giving him thanks. 31 This will please the Lord more than offering him cattle, more than sacrificing a full-grown bull. 32 When the oppressed see this, they will be glad; those who worship God will be encouraged. 33 The Lord listens to those in need and does not forget his people in prison. 34 Praise God, O heaven and earth, seas and all creatures in them. 35 He will save Jerusalem and rebuild the towns of Judah. His people will live there and possess the land; 36 the descendants of his servants will inherit it, and those who love him will live there.

Psalm 79:1 O God, the heathen have invaded your land. They have desecrated your holy Temple and left Jerusalem in ruins. 2 They left the bodies of your people for the vultures, the bodies of your servants for wild animals to eat. 3 They shed your people's blood like water; blood flowed like water all through Jerusalem, and no one was left to bury the dead. 4 The surrounding nations insult us; they laugh at us and mock us. 5 Lord, will you be angry with us forever? Will your anger continue to burn like fire? 6 Turn your anger on the nations that do not worship you, on the people who do not pray to you. 7 For they have killed your people; they have ruined your country. 8 Do not punish us for the sins of our ancestors. Have mercy on us now; we have lost all hope. 9 Help us, O God, and save us; rescue us and forgive our sins for the sake of your own honor. 10 Why should the nations ask us, "Where is your God?" Let us see you punish the nations for shedding the blood of your servants. 11 Listen to the groans of the prisoners, and by your great power free those who are condemned to die. 12 Lord, pay the other nations back seven times for all the insults they have hurled at you. 13 Then we, your people, the sheep of your flock, will thank you forever and praise you for all time to come.

Psalm 83:1 O God, do not keep silent; do not be still, do not be quiet! 2 Look! Your enemies are in revolt, and those who hate you are rebelling. 3 They are making secret plans against your people; they are plotting against those you protect. 4 "Come," they say, "let us destroy their nation, so that Israel will be forgotten forever." 5 They agree on their plan and form an alliance against you: 6 the people of Edom and the Ishmaelites; the people of Moab and the Hagrites; 7 the people of Gebal, Ammon, and Amalek, and of Philistia and Tyre. 8 Assyria has also joined them as a strong ally of the Ammonites and Moabites, the descendants of Lot. 9 Do to them what you did to the Midianites, and to Sisera and Jabin at the Kishon River. 10 You defeated them at Endor, and their bodies rotted on the ground. 11 Do to their leaders what you did to Oreb and Zeeb; defeat all their rulers as you did Zebah and Zalmunna, 12 who said, "We will take for our own the land that belongs to God." 13 Scatter them like dust, O God, like straw blown away by the wind. 14 As fire burns the forest, as flames set the hills on fire, 15 chase them away with your storm and terrify them with your fierce winds. 16 Cover their faces with shame, O Lord, and make them acknowledge your power. 17 May they be defeated and terrified forever; may they die in complete disgrace. 18 May they know that you alone are the Lord, supreme ruler over all the earth.

Psalm 109:1 I praise you, God; don't remain silent! 2 Wicked people and liars have attacked me. They tell lies about me, 3 and they say evil things about me, attacking me for no reason. 4 They oppose me, even though I love them and have prayed for them. 5 They pay me back evil for good and hatred for love. 6 Choose some corrupt judge to try my enemy, and let one of his own enemies accuse him. 7 May he be tried and found guilty; may even his prayer be considered a crime! 8 May his life soon be ended; may someone else take his job! 9 May his children become orphans, and his wife a widow! 10 May his children be homeless beggars; may they be driven from the ruins they live in! 11 May his creditors take away all his property, and may strangers get everything he worked for. 12 May no one ever be kind to him or care for the orphans he leaves behind. 13 May all his descendants die, and may his name be forgotten in the next generation. 14 May the Lord remember the evil of his ancestors and never forgive his mother's sins. 15 May the Lord always remember their sins, but may they themselves be completely forgotten! 16 That man never thought of being kind; he persecuted and killed the poor, the needy, and the helpless. 17 He loved to curse - may he be cursed! He hated to give blessings - may no one bless him! 18 He cursed as naturally as he dressed himself; may his own curses soak into his body like water and into his bones like oil! 19 May they cover him like clothes and always be around him like a belt! 20 Lord, punish my enemies in that way - those who say such evil things against me! 21 But my Sovereign Lord, help me as you have promised, and rescue me because of the goodness of your love. 22 I am poor and needy; I am hurt to the depths of my heart. 23 Like an evening shadow I am about to vanish; I am blown away like an insect. 24 My knees are weak from lack of food; I am nothing but skin and bones. 25 When people see me, they laugh at me; they shake their heads in scorn. 26 Help me, O Lord my God; because of your constant love, save me! 27 Make my enemies know that you are the one who saves me. 28 They may curse me, but you will bless me. May my persecutors be defeated, and may I, your servant, be glad. 29 May my enemies be covered with disgrace; may they wear their shame like a robe. 30 I will give loud thanks to the Lord; I will praise him in the assembly of the people, 31 because he defends the poor and saves them from those who condemn them to death.

Psalm 137:1 By the rivers of Babylon we sat down; there we wept when we remembered Zion. 2 On the willows near by we hung up our harps. 3 Those who captured us told us to sing; they told us to entertain them: "Sing us a song about Zion." 4 How can we sing a song to the Lord in a foreign land? 5 May I never be able to play the harp again if I forget you, Jerusalem! 6 May I never be able to sing again if I do not remember you, if I do not think of you as my greatest joy! 7 Remember, Lord, what the Edomites did the day Jerusalem was captured. Remember how they kept saying, "Tear it down to the ground!" 8 Babylon, you will be destroyed. Happy are those who pay you back for what you have done to us - 9 who take your babies and smash them against a rock.

Psalm 140:1 Save me, Lord, from evildoers; keep me safe from violent people. 2 They are always plotting evil, always stirring up quarrels. 3 Their tongues are like deadly snakes; their words are like a cobra's poison. 4 Protect me, Lord, from the power of the wicked; keep me safe from violent people who plot my downfall. 5 The proud have set a trap for me; they have laid their snares, and along the path they have set traps to catch me. 6 I say to the Lord, "You are my God." Hear my cry for help, Lord! 7 My Sovereign Lord, my strong defender, you have protected me in battle. 8 Lord, don't give the wicked what they want; don't let their plots succeed. 9 Don't let my enemies be victorious; make their threats against me fall back on them. 10 May red-hot coals fall on them; may they be thrown into a pit and never get out. 11 May those who accuse others falsely not succeed; may evil overtake violent people and destroy them. 12 Lord, I know that you defend the cause of the poor and the rights of the needy. 13 The righteous will praise you indeed; they will live in your presence.

2555-Psalm 16:1 Protect me, O God; I trust in you for safety. 2 I say to the Lord, "You are my Lord; all the good things I have come from you." 3 How excellent are the Lord's faithful people! My greatest pleasure is to be with them. 4 Those who rush to other gods bring many troubles on themselves. I will not take part in their sacrifices; I will not worship their gods. 5 You, Lord, are all I have, and you give me all I need; my future is in your hands. 6 How wonderful are your gifts to me; how good they are! 7 I praise the Lord, because he guides me, and in the night my conscience warns me. 8 I am always aware of the Lord's presence; he is near, and nothing can shake me. 9 And so I am thankful and glad, and I feel completely secure, 10 because you protect me from the power of death. I have served you faithfully, and you will not abandon me to the world of the dead. 11 You will show me the path that leads to life; your presence fills me with joy and brings me pleasure forever.

Psalm 55:1 Hear my prayer, O God; don't turn away from my plea! 2 Listen to me and answer me; I am worn out by my worries. 3 I am terrified by the threats of my enemies, crushed by the oppression of the wicked. They bring trouble on me; they are angry with me and hate me. 4 I am terrified, and the terrors of death crush me. 5 I am gripped by fear and trembling; I am overcome with horror. 6 I wish I had wings like a dove. I would fly away and find rest. 7 I would fly far away and make my home in the desert. 8 I would hurry and find myself a shelter from the raging wind and the storm. 9 Confuse the speech of my enemies, O Lord! I see violence and riots in the city, 10 surrounding it day and night, filling it with crime and trouble. 11 There is destruction everywhere; the streets are full of oppression and fraud. 12 If it were an enemy making fun of me, I could endure it; if it were an opponent boasting over me, I could hide myself from him. 13 But it is you, my companion, my colleague and close friend. 14 We had intimate talks with each other and worshiped together in the Temple. 15 May my enemies die before their time; may they go down alive into the world of the dead! Evil is in their homes and in their hearts. 16 But I call to the Lord God for help, and he will save me. 17 Morning, noon, and night my complaints and groans go up to him, and he will hear my voice. 18 He will bring me safely back from the battles that I fight against so many enemies. 19 God, who has ruled from eternity, will hear me and defeat them; for they refuse to change, and they do not fear him. 20 My former companion attacked his friends; he broke his promises. 21 His words were smoother than cream, but there was hatred in his heart; his words were as soothing as oil, but they cut like sharp swords. 22 Leave your troubles with the Lord, and he will defend you; he never lets honest people be defeated. 23 But you, O God, will bring those murderers and liars to their graves before half their life is over. As for me, I will trust in you.

Psalm 65:1 O God, it is right for us to praise you in Zion and keep our promises to you, 2 because you answer prayers. People everywhere will come to you 3 on account of their sins. Our faults defeat us, but you forgive them. 4 Happy are those whom you choose, whom you bring to live in your sanctuary. We shall be satisfied with the good things of your house, the blessings of your sacred Temple. 5 You answer us by giving us victory, and you do wonderful things to save us. People all over the world and across the distant seas trust in you. 6 You set the mountains in place by your strength, showing your mighty power. 7 You calm the roar of the seas and the noise of the waves; you calm the uproar of the peoples. 8 The whole world stands in awe of the great things that you have done. Your deeds bring shouts of joy from one end of the earth to the other. 9 You show your care for the land by sending rain; you make it rich and fertile. You fill the streams with water; you provide the earth with crops. This is how you do it: 10 you send abundant rain on the plowed fields and soak them with water; you soften the soil with showers and cause the young plants to grow. 11 What a rich harvest your goodness provides! Wherever you go there is plenty. 12 The pastures are filled with flocks; the hillsides are full of joy. 13 The fields are covered with sheep; the valleys are full of wheat. Everything shouts and sings for joy.

Psalm 86:1 Listen to me, Lord, and answer me, for I am helpless and weak. 2 Save me from death, because I am loyal to you; save me, for I am your servant and I trust in you. 3 You are my God, so be merciful to me; I pray to you all day long. 4 Make your servant glad, O Lord, because my prayers go up to you. 5 You are good to us and forgiving, full of constant love for all who pray to you. 6 Listen, Lord, to my prayer; hear my cries for help. 7 I call to you in times of trouble, because you answer my prayers. 8 There is no god like you, O Lord, not one has done what you have done. 9 All the nations that you have created will come and bow down to you; they will praise your greatness. 10 You are mighty and do wonderful things; you alone are God. 11 Teach me, Lord, what you want me to do, and I will obey you faithfully; teach me to serve you with complete devotion. 12 I will praise you with all my heart, O Lord my God; I will proclaim your greatness forever. 13 How great is your constant love for me! You have saved me from the grave itself. 14 Proud people are coming against me, O God; a cruel gang is trying to kill me - people who pay no attention to you. 15 But you, O Lord, are a merciful and loving God, always patient, always kind and faithful. 16 Turn to me and have mercy on me; strengthen me and save me, because I serve you just as my mother did. 17 Show me proof of your goodness, Lord; those who hate me will be ashamed when they see that you have given me comfort and help.

Psalm 90:1 O Lord, you have always been our home. 2 Before you created the hills or brought the world into being, you were eternally God, and will be God forever. 3 You tell us to return to what we were; you change us back to dust. 4 A thousand years to you are like one day; they are like yesterday, already gone, like a short hour in the night. 5 You carry us away like a flood; we last no longer than a dream. We are like weeds that sprout in the morning, 6 that grow and burst into bloom, then dry up and die in the evening. 7 We are destroyed by your anger; we are terrified by your fury. 8 You place our sins before you, our secret sins where you can see them. 9 Our life is cut short by your anger; it fades away like a whisper. 10 Seventy years is all we have - eighty years, if we are strong; yet all they bring us is trouble and sorrow; life is soon over, and we are gone. 11 Who has felt the full power of your anger? Who knows what fear your fury can bring? 12 Teach us how short our life is, so that we may become wise. 13 How much longer will your anger last? Have pity, O Lord, on your servants! 14 Fill us each morning with your constant love, so that we may sing and be glad all our life. 15 Give us now as much happiness as the sadness you gave us during all our years of misery. 16 Let us, your servants, see your mighty deeds; let our descendants see your glorious might. 17 Lord our God, may your blessings be with us. Give us success in all we do!

Psalm 95:1 Come, let us praise the Lord! Let us sing for joy to God, who protects us! 2 Let us come before him with thanksgiving and sing joyful songs of praise. 3 For the Lord is a mighty God, a mighty king over all the gods. 4 He rules over the whole earth, from the deepest caves to the highest hills. 5 He rules over the sea, which he made; the land also, which he himself formed. 6 Come, let us bow down and worship him; let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker! 7 He is our God; we are the people he cares for, the flock for which he provides. Listen today to what he says: 8 "Don't be stubborn, as your ancestors were at Meribah, as they were that day in the desert at Massah. 9 There they put me to the test and tried me, although they had seen what I did for them. 10 For forty years I was disgusted with those people. I said, "How disloyal they are! They refuse to obey my commands.' 11 I was angry and made a solemn promise: "You will never enter the land where I would have given you rest.' "

Psalm 96:1 Sing a new song to the Lord! Sing to the Lord, all the world! 2 Sing to the Lord, and praise him! Proclaim every day the good news that he has saved us. 3 Proclaim his glory to the nations, his mighty deeds to all peoples. 4 The Lord is great and is to be highly praised; he is to be honored more than all the gods. 5 The gods of all other nations are only idols, but the Lord created the heavens. 6 Glory and majesty surround him; power and beauty fill his Temple. 7 Praise the Lord, all people on earth; praise his glory and might. 8 Praise the Lord's glorious name; bring an offering and come into his Temple. 9 Bow down before the Holy One when he appears; tremble before him, all the earth! 10 Say to all the nations, "The Lord is king! The earth is set firmly in place and cannot be moved; he will judge the peoples with justice." 11 Be glad, earth and sky! Roar, sea, and every creature in you; 12 be glad, fields, and everything in you! The trees in the woods will shout for joy 13 when the Lord comes to rule the earth. He will rule the peoples of the world with justice and fairness.

Psalm 97:1 The Lord is king! Earth, be glad! Rejoice, you islands of the seas! 2 Clouds and darkness surround him; he rules with righteousness and justice. 3 Fire goes in front of him and burns up his enemies around him. 4 His lightning lights up the world; the earth sees it and trembles. 5 The hills melt like wax before the Lord, before the Lord of all the earth. 6 The heavens proclaim his righteousness, and all the nations see his glory. 7 Everyone who worships idols is put to shame; all the gods bow down before the Lord. 8 The people of Zion are glad, and the cities of Judah rejoice because of your judgments, O Lord. 9 Lord Almighty, you are ruler of all the earth; you are much greater than all the gods. 10 The Lord loves those who hate evil; he protects the lives of his people; he rescues them from the power of the wicked. 11 Light shines on the righteous, and gladness on the good. 12 All you that are righteous be glad because of what the Lord has done! Remember what the holy God has done, and give thanks to him.

Psalm 98:1 Sing a new song to the Lord; he has done wonderful things! By his own power and holy strength he has won the victory. 2 The Lord announced his victory; he made his saving power known to the nations. 3 He kept his promise to the people of Israel with loyalty and constant love for them. All people everywhere have seen the victory of our God. 4 Sing for joy to the Lord, all the earth; praise him with songs and shouts of joy! 5 Sing praises to the Lord! Play music on the harps! 6 Blow trumpets and horns, and shout for joy to the Lord, our king. 7 Roar, sea, and every creature in you; sing, earth, and all who live on you! 8 Clap your hands, you rivers; you hills, sing together with joy before the Lord, 9 because he comes to rule the earth. He will rule the peoples of the world with justice and fairness.

Psalm 99:1 The Lord is king, and the people tremble. He sits on his throne above the winged creatures, and the earth shakes. 2 The Lord is mighty in Zion; he is supreme over all the nations. 3 Everyone will praise his great and majestic name. Holy is he! 4 Mighty king, you love what is right; you have established justice in Israel; you have brought righteousness and fairness. 5 Praise the Lord our God; worship before his throne! Holy is he! 6 Moses and Aaron were his priests, and Samuel was one who prayed to him; they called to the Lord, and he answered them. 7 He spoke to them from the pillar of cloud; they obeyed the laws and commands that he gave them. 8 O Lord, our God, you answered your people; you showed them that you are a God who forgives, even though you punished them for their sins. 9 Praise the Lord our God, and worship at his sacred hill! The Lord our God is holy.

Psalm 100:1 Sing to the Lord, all the world! 2 Worship the Lord with joy; come before him with happy songs! 3 Acknowledge that the Lord is God. He made us, and we belong to him; we are his people, we are his flock. 4 Enter the Temple gates with thanksgiving; go into its courts with praise. Give thanks to him and praise him. 5 The Lord is good; his love is eternal and his faithfulness lasts forever.

Psalm 103:1 Praise the Lord, my soul! All my being, praise his holy name! 2 Praise the Lord, my soul, and do not forget how kind he is. 3 He forgives all my sins and heals all my diseases. 4 He keeps me from the grave and blesses me with love and mercy. 5 He fills my life with good things, so that I stay young and strong like an eagle. 6 The Lord judges in favor of the oppressed and gives them their rights. 7 He revealed his plans to Moses and let the people of Israel see his mighty deeds. 8 The Lord is merciful and loving, slow to become angry and full of constant love. 9 He does not keep on rebuking; he is not angry forever. 10 He does not punish us as we deserve or repay us according to our sins and wrongs. 11 As high as the sky is above the earth, so great is his love for those who honor him. 12 As far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our sins from us. 13 As a father is kind to his children, so the Lord is kind to those who honor him. 14 He knows what we are made of; he remembers that we are dust. 15 As for us, our life is like grass. We grow and flourish like a wild flower; 16 then the wind blows on it, and it is gone - no one sees it again. 17 But for those who honor the Lord, his love lasts forever, and his goodness endures for all generations 18 of those who are true to his covenant and who faithfully obey his commands. 19 The Lord placed his throne in heaven; he is king over all. 20 Praise the Lord, you strong and mighty angels, who obey his commands, who listen to what he says. 21 Praise the Lord, all you heavenly powers, you servants of his, who do his will! 22 Praise the Lord, all his creatures in all the places he rules. Praise the Lord, my soul!

Psalm 104:1 Praise the Lord, my soul! O Lord, my God, how great you are! You are clothed with majesty and glory; 2 you cover yourself with light. You have spread out the heavens like a tent 3 and built your home on the waters above. You use the clouds as your chariot and ride on the wings of the wind. 4 You use the winds as your messengers and flashes of lightning as your servants. 5 You have set the earth firmly on its foundations, and it will never be moved. 6 You placed the ocean over it like a robe, and the water covered the mountains. 7 When you rebuked the waters, they fled; they rushed away when they heard your shout of command. 8 They flowed over the mountains and into the valleys, to the place you had made for them. 9 You set a boundary they can never pass, to keep them from covering the earth again. 10 You make springs flow in the valleys, and rivers run between the hills. 11 They provide water for the wild animals; there the wild donkeys quench their thirst. 12 In the trees near by, the birds make their nests and sing. 13 From the sky you send rain on the hills, and the earth is filled with your blessings. 14 You make grass grow for the cattle and plants for us to use, so that we can grow our crops 15 and produce wine to make us happy, olive oil to make us cheerful, and bread to give us strength. 16 The cedars of Lebanon get plenty of rain - the Lord's own trees, which he planted. 17 There the birds build their nests; the storks nest in the fir trees. 18 The wild goats live in the high mountains, and the rock badgers hide in the cliffs. 19 You created the moon to mark the months; the sun knows the time to set. 20 You made the night, and in the darkness all the wild animals come out. 21 The young lions roar while they hunt, looking for the food that God provides. 22 When the sun rises, they go back and lie down in their dens. 23 Then people go out to do their work and keep working until evening. 24 Lord, you have made so many things! How wisely you made them all! The earth is filled with your creatures. 25 There is the ocean, large and wide, where countless creatures live, large and small alike. 26 The ships sail on it, and in it plays Leviathan, that sea monster which you made. 27 All of them depend on you to give them food when they need it. 28 You give it to them, and they eat it; you provide food, and they are satisfied. 29 When you turn away, they are afraid; when you take away your breath, they die and go back to the dust from which they came. 30 But when you give them breath, they are created; you give new life to the earth. 31 May the glory of the Lord last forever! May the Lord be happy with what he has made! 32 He looks at the earth, and it trembles; he touches the mountains, and they pour out smoke. 33 I will sing to the Lord all my life; as long as I live I will sing praises to my God. 34 May he be pleased with my song, for my gladness comes from him. 35 May sinners be destroyed from the earth; may the wicked be no more. Praise the Lord, my soul! Praise the Lord!

Psalm 107:1 "Give thanks to the Lord, because he is good; his love is eternal!" 2 Repeat these words in praise to the Lord, all you whom he has saved. He has rescued you from your enemies 3 and has brought you back from foreign countries, from east and west, from north and south. 4 Some wandered in the trackless desert and could not find their way to a city to live in. 5 They were hungry and thirsty and had given up all hope. 6 Then in their trouble they called to the Lord, and he saved them from their distress. 7 He led them by a straight road to a city where they could live. 8 They must thank the Lord for his constant love, for the wonderful things he did for them. 9 He satisfies those who are thirsty and fills the hungry with good things. 10 Some were living in gloom and darkness, prisoners suffering in chains, 11 because they had rebelled against the commands of Almighty God and had rejected his instructions. 12 They were worn out from hard work; they would fall down, and no one would help. 13 Then in their trouble they called to the Lord, and he saved them from their distress. 14 He brought them out of their gloom and darkness and broke their chains in pieces. 15 They must thank the Lord for his constant love, for the wonderful things he did for them. 16 He breaks down doors of bronze and smashes iron bars. 17 Some were fools, suffering because of their sins and because of their evil; 18 they couldn't stand the sight of food and were close to death. 19 Then in their trouble they called to the Lord, and he saved them from their distress. 20 He healed them with his command and saved them from the grave. 21 They must thank the Lord for his constant love, for the wonderful things he did for them. 22 They must thank him with sacrifices, and with songs of joy must tell all that he has done. 23 Some sailed over the ocean in ships, earning their living on the seas. 24 They saw what the Lord can do, his wonderful acts on the seas. 25 He commanded, and a mighty wind began to blow and stirred up the waves. 26 The ships were lifted high in the air and plunged down into the depths. In such danger the sailors lost their courage; 27 they stumbled and staggered like drunks - all their skill was useless. 28 Then in their trouble they called to the Lord, and he saved them from their distress. 29 He calmed the raging storm, and the waves became quiet. 30 They were glad because of the calm, and he brought them safe to the port they wanted. 31 They must thank the Lord for his constant love, for the wonderful things he did for them. 32 They must proclaim his greatness in the assembly of the people and praise him before the council of the leaders. 33 The Lord made rivers dry up completely and stopped springs from flowing. 34 He made rich soil become a salty wasteland because of the wickedness of those who lived there. 35 He changed deserts into pools of water and dry land into flowing springs. 36 He let hungry people settle there, and they built a city to live in. 37 They sowed the fields and planted grapevines and reaped an abundant harvest. 38 He blessed his people, and they had many children; he kept their herds of cattle from decreasing. 39 When God's people were defeated and humiliated by cruel oppression and suffering, 40 he showed contempt for their oppressors and made them wander in trackless deserts. 41 But he rescued the needy from their misery and made their families increase like flocks. 42 The righteous see this and are glad, but all the wicked are put to silence. 43 May those who are wise think about these things; may they consider the Lord's constant love.

Psalm 142:1 I call to the Lord for help; I plead with him. 2 I bring him all my complaints; I tell him all my troubles. 3 When I am ready to give up, he knows what I should do. In the path where I walk, my enemies have hidden a trap for me. 4 When I look beside me, I see that there is no one to help me, no one to protect me. No one cares for me. 5 Lord, I cry to you for help; you, Lord, are my protector; you are all I want in this life. 6 Listen to my cry for help, for I am sunk in despair. Save me from my enemies; they are too strong for me. 7 Set me free from my distress; then in the assembly of your people I will praise you because of your goodness to me.

Psalm 143:1 Lord, hear my prayer! In your righteousness listen to my plea; answer me in your faithfulness! 2 Don't put me, your servant, on trial; no one is innocent in your sight. 3 My enemies have hunted me down and completely defeated me. They have put me in a dark prison, and I am like those who died long ago. 4 So I am ready to give up; I am in deep despair. 5 I remember the days gone by; I think about all that you have done, I bring to mind all your deeds. 6 I lift up my hands to you in prayer; like dry ground my soul is thirsty for you. 7 Answer me now, Lord! I have lost all hope. Don't hide yourself from me, or I will be among those who go down to the world of the dead. 8 Remind me each morning of your constant love, for I put my trust in you. My prayers go up to you; show me the way I should go. 9 I go to you for protection, Lord; rescue me from my enemies. 10 You are my God; teach me to do your will. Be good to me, and guide me on a safe path. 11 Rescue me, Lord, as you have promised; in your goodness save me from my troubles! 12 Because of your love for me, kill my enemies and destroy all my oppressors, for I am your servant.

Psalm 145:1 I will proclaim your greatness, my God and king; I will thank you forever and ever. 2 Every day I will thank you; I will praise you forever and ever. 3 The Lord is great and is to be highly praised; his greatness is beyond understanding. 4 What you have done will be praised from one generation to the next; they will proclaim your mighty acts. 5 They will speak of your glory and majesty, and I will meditate on your wonderful deeds. 6 People will speak of your mighty deeds, and I will proclaim your greatness. 7 They will tell about all your goodness and sing about your kindness. 8 The Lord is loving and merciful, slow to become angry and full of constant love. 9 He is good to everyone and has compassion on all he made. 10 All your creatures, Lord, will praise you, and all your people will give you thanks. 11 They will speak of the glory of your royal power and tell of your might, 12 so that everyone will know your mighty deeds and the glorious majesty of your kingdom. 13 Your rule is eternal, and you are king forever. The Lord is faithful to his promises; he is merciful in all his acts. 14 He helps those who are in trouble; he lifts those who have fallen. 15 All living things look hopefully to you, and you give them food when they need it. 16 You give them enough and satisfy the needs of all. 17 The Lord is righteous in all he does, merciful in all his acts. 18 He is near to those who call to him, who call to him with sincerity. 19 He supplies the needs of those who honor him; he hears their cries and saves them. 20 He protects everyone who loves him, but he will destroy the wicked. 21 I will always praise the Lord; let all his creatures praise his holy name forever.

Psalm 146:1 Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord, my soul! 2 I will praise him as long as I live; I will sing to my God all my life. 3 Don't put your trust in human leaders; no human being can save you. 4 When they die, they return to the dust; on that day all their plans come to an end. 5 Happy are those who have the God of Jacob to help them and who depend on the Lord their God, 6 the Creator of heaven, earth, and sea, and all that is in them. He always keeps his promises; 7 he judges in favor of the oppressed and gives food to the hungry. The Lord sets prisoners free 8 and gives sight to the blind. He lifts those who have fallen; he loves his righteous people. 9 He protects the strangers who live in our land; he helps widows and orphans, but takes the wicked to their ruin. 10 The Lord is king forever. Your God, O Zion, will reign for all time. Praise the Lord!

Psalm 147:1 Praise the Lord! It is good to sing praise to our God; it is pleasant and right to praise him. 2 The Lord is restoring Jerusalem; he is bringing back the exiles. 3 He heals the broken-hearted and bandages their wounds. 4 He has decided the number of the stars and calls each one by name. 5 Great and mighty is our Lord; his wisdom cannot be measured. 6 He raises the humble, but crushes the wicked to the ground. 7 Sing hymns of praise to the Lord; play music on the harp to our God. 8 He spreads clouds over the sky; he provides rain for the earth and makes grass grow on the hills. 9 He gives animals their food and feeds the young ravens when they call. 10 His pleasure is not in strong horses, nor his delight in brave soldiers; 11 but he takes pleasure in those who honor him, in those who trust in his constant love. 12 Praise the Lord, O Jerusalem! Praise your God, O Zion! 13 He keeps your gates strong; he blesses your people. 14 He keeps your borders safe and satisfies you with the finest wheat. 15 He gives a command to the earth, and what he says is quickly done. 16 He spreads snow like a blanket and scatters frost like dust. 17 He sends hail like gravel; no one can endure the cold he sends! 18 Then he gives a command, and the ice melts; he sends the wind, and the water flows. 19 He gives his message to his people, his instructions and laws to Israel. 20 He has not done this for other nations; they do not know his laws. Praise the Lord!

Psalm 148:1 Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord from heaven, you that live in the heights above. 2 Praise him, all his angels, all his heavenly armies. 3 Praise him, sun and moon; praise him, shining stars. 4 Praise him, highest heavens, and the waters above the sky. 5 Let them all praise the name of the Lord! He commanded, and they were created; 6 by his command they were fixed in their places forever, and they cannot disobey. 7 Praise the Lord from the earth, sea monsters and all ocean depths; 8 lightning and hail, snow and clouds, strong winds that obey his command. 9 Praise him, hills and mountains, fruit trees and forests; 10 all animals, tame and wild, reptiles and birds. 11 Praise him, kings and all peoples, princes and all other rulers; 12 young women and young men, old people and children too. 13 Let them all praise the name of the Lord! His name is greater than all others; his glory is above earth and heaven. 14 He made his nation strong, so that all his people praise him - the people of Israel, so dear to him. Praise the Lord!

Psalm 149:1 Praise the Lord! Sing a new song to the Lord; praise him in the assembly of his faithful people! 2 Be glad, Israel, because of your Creator; rejoice, people of Zion, because of your king! 3 Praise his name with dancing; play drums and harps in praise of him. 4 The Lord takes pleasure in his people; he honors the humble with victory. 5 Let God's people rejoice in their triumph and sing joyfully all night long. 6 Let them shout aloud as they praise God, with their sharp swords in their hands 7 to defeat the nations and to punish the peoples; 8 to bind their kings in chains, their leaders in chains of iron; 9 to punish the nations as God has commanded. This is the victory of God's people. Praise the Lord!

Psalm 150:1 Praise the Lord! Praise God in his Temple! Praise his strength in heaven! 2 Praise him for the mighty things he has done. Praise his supreme greatness. 3 Praise him with trumpets. Praise him with harps and lyres. 4 Praise him with drums and dancing. Praise him with harps and flutes. 5 Praise him with cymbals. Praise him with loud cymbals. 6 Praise the Lord, all living creatures! Praise the Lord!

2556-Psalm 120:1 When I was in trouble, I called to the Lord, and he answered me. 2 Save me, Lord, from liars and deceivers. 3 You liars, what will God do to you? How will he punish you? 4 With a soldier's sharp arrows, with red-hot coals! 5 Living among you is as bad as living in Meshech or among the people of Kedar. 6 I have lived too long with people who hate peace! 7 When I speak of peace, they are for war.

Psalm 121:1 I look to the mountains; where will my help come from? 2 My help will come from the Lord, who made heaven and earth. 3 He will not let you fall; your protector is always awake. 4 The protector of Israel never dozes or sleeps. 5 The Lord will guard you; he is by your side to protect you. 6 The sun will not hurt you during the day, nor the moon during the night. 7 The Lord will protect you from all danger; he will keep you safe. 8 He will protect you as you come and go now and forever.

Psalm 122:1 I was glad when they said to me, "Let us go to the Lord's house." 2 And now we are here, standing inside the gates of Jerusalem! 3 Jerusalem is a city restored in beautiful order and harmony. 4 This is where the tribes come, the tribes of Israel, to give thanks to the Lord according to his command. 5 Here the kings of Israel sat to judge their people. 6 Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: "May those who love you prosper. 7 May there be peace inside your walls and safety in your palaces." 8 For the sake of my relatives and friends I say to Jerusalem, "Peace be with you!" 9 For the sake of the house of the Lord our God I pray for your prosperity.

Psalm 123:1 Lord, I look up to you, up to heaven, where you rule. 2 As a servant depends on his master, as a maid depends on her mistress, so we will keep looking to you, O Lord our God, until you have mercy on us. 3 Be merciful to us, Lord, be merciful; we have been treated with so much contempt. 4 We have been mocked too long by the rich and scorned by proud oppressors.

Psalm 124:1 What if the Lord had not been on our side? Answer, O Israel! 2 "If the Lord had not been on our side when our enemies attacked us, 3 then they would have swallowed us alive in their furious anger against us; 4 then the flood would have carried us away, the water would have covered us, 5 the raging torrent would have drowned us." 6 Let us thank the Lord, who has not let our enemies destroy us. 7 We have escaped like a bird from a hunter's trap; the trap is broken, and we are free! 8 Our help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.

Psalm 125:1 Those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion, which can never be shaken, never be moved. 2 As the mountains surround Jerusalem, so the Lord surrounds his people, now and forever. 3 The wicked will not always rule over the land of the righteous; if they did, the righteous themselves might do evil. 4 Lord, do good to those who are good, to those who obey your commands. 5 But when you punish the wicked, punish also those who abandon your ways. Peace be with Israel!

Psalm 126:1 When the Lord brought us back to Jerusalem, it was like a dream! 2 How we laughed, how we sang for joy! Then the other nations said about us, "The Lord did great things for them." 3 Indeed he did great things for us; how happy we were! 4 Lord, make us prosperous again, just as the rain brings water back to dry riverbeds. 5 Let those who wept as they planted their crops, gather the harvest with joy! 6 Those who wept as they went out carrying the seed will come back singing for joy, as they bring in the harvest.

Psalm 127:1 If the Lord does not build the house, the work of the builders is useless; if the Lord does not protect the city, it does no good for the sentries to stand guard. 2 It is useless to work so hard for a living, getting up early and going to bed late. For the Lord provides for those he loves, while they are asleep. 3 Children are a gift from the Lord; they are a real blessing. 4 The sons a man has when he is young are like arrows in a soldier's hand. 5 Happy is the man who has many such arrows. He will never be defeated when he meets his enemies in the place of judgment.

Psalm 128:1 Happy are those who obey the Lord, who live by his commands. 2 Your work will provide for your needs; you will be happy and prosperous. 3 Your wife will be like a fruitful vine in your home, and your children will be like young olive trees around your table. 4 A man who obeys the Lord will surely be blessed like this. 5 May the Lord bless you from Zion! May you see Jerusalem prosper all the days of your life! 6 May you live to see your grandchildren! Peace be with Israel!

Psalm 129:1 Israel, tell us how your enemies have persecuted you ever since you were young. 2 "Ever since I was young, my enemies have persecuted me cruelly, but they have not overcome me. 3 They cut deep wounds in my back and made it like a plowed field. 4 But the Lord, the righteous one, has freed me from slavery." 5 May everyone who hates Zion be defeated and driven back. 6 May they all be like grass growing on the housetops, which dries up before it can grow; 7 no one gathers it up or carries it away in bundles. 8 No one who passes by will say, "May the Lord bless you! We bless you in the name of the Lord."

Psalm 130:1 From the depths of my despair I call to you, Lord. 2 Hear my cry, O Lord; listen to my call for help! 3 If you kept a record of our sins, who could escape being condemned? 4 But you forgive us, so that we should stand in awe of you. 5 I wait eagerly for the Lord's help, and in his word I trust. 6 I wait for the Lord more eagerly than sentries wait for the dawn - than sentries wait for the dawn. 7 Israel, trust in the Lord, because his love is constant and he is always willing to save. 8 He will save his people Israel from all their sins.

Psalm 131:1 Lord, I have given up my pride and turned away from my arrogance. I am not concerned with great matters or with subjects too difficult for me. 2 Instead, I am content and at peace. As a child lies quietly in its mother's arms, so my heart is quiet within me. 3 Israel, trust in the Lord now and forever!

Psalm 132:1 Lord, do not forget David and all the hardships he endured. 2 Remember, Lord, what he promised, the vow he made to you, the Mighty God of Jacob: 3 "I will not go home or go to bed; 4 I will not rest or sleep, 5 until I provide a place for the Lord, a home for the Mighty God of Jacob." 6 In Bethlehem we heard about the Covenant Box, and we found it in the fields of Jearim. 7 We said, "Let us go to the Lord's house; let us worship before his throne." 8 Come to the Temple, Lord, with the Covenant Box, the symbol of your power, and stay here forever. 9 May your priests do always what is right; may your people shout for joy! 10 You made a promise to your servant David; do not reject your chosen king, Lord. 11 You made a solemn promise to David - a promise you will not take back: "I will make one of your sons king, and he will rule after you. 12 If your sons are true to my covenant and to the commands I give them, their sons, also, will succeed you for all time as kings." 13 The Lord has chosen Zion; he wants to make it his home: 14 "This is where I will live forever; this is where I want to rule. 15 I will richly provide Zion with all she needs; I will satisfy her poor with food. 16 I will bless her priests in all they do, and her people will sing and shout for joy. 17 Here I will make one of David's descendants a great king; here I will preserve the rule of my chosen king. 18 I will cover his enemies with shame, but his kingdom will prosper and flourish."

Psalm 133:1 How wonderful it is, how pleasant, for God's people to live together in harmony! 2 It is like the precious anointing oil running down from Aaron's head and beard, down to the collar of his robes. 3 It is like the dew on Mount Hermon, falling on the hills of Zion. That is where the Lord has promised his blessing - life that never ends.

Psalm 134:1 Come, praise the Lord, all his servants, all who serve in his Temple at night. 2 Raise your hands in prayer in the Temple, and praise the Lord! 3 May the Lord, who made heaven and earth, bless you from Zion!

2557-Psalm 9:1 I will praise you, Lord, with all my heart; I will tell of all the wonderful things you have done. 2 I will sing with joy because of you. I will sing praise to you, Almighty God. 3 My enemies turn back when you appear; they fall down and die. 4 You are fair and honest in your judgments, and you have judged in my favor. 5 You have condemned the heathen and destroyed the wicked; they will be remembered no more. 6 Our enemies are finished forever; you have destroyed their cities, and they are completely forgotten. 7 But the Lord is king forever; he has set up his throne for judgment. 8 He rules the world with righteousness; he judges the nations with justice. 9 The Lord is a refuge for the oppressed, a place of safety in times of trouble. 10 Those who know you, Lord, will trust you; you do not abandon anyone who comes to you. 11 Sing praise to the Lord, who rules in Zion! Tell every nation what he has done! 12 God remembers those who suffer; he does not forget their cry, and he punishes those who wrong them. 13 Be merciful to me, O Lord! See the sufferings my enemies cause me! Rescue me from death, O Lord, 14 that I may stand before the people of Jerusalem and tell them all the things for which I praise you. I will rejoice because you saved me. 15 The heathen have dug a pit and fallen in; they have been caught in their own trap. 16 The Lord has revealed himself by his righteous judgments, and the wicked are trapped by their own deeds. 17 Death is the destiny of all the wicked, of all those who reject God. 18 The needy will not always be neglected; the hope of the poor will not be crushed forever. 19 Come, Lord! Do not let anyone defy you! Bring the heathen before you and pronounce judgment on them. 20 Make them afraid, O Lord; make them know that they are only mortal beings.

Psalm 10:1 Why are you so far away, O Lord? Why do you hide yourself when we are in trouble? 2 The wicked are proud and persecute the poor; catch them in the traps they have made. 3 The wicked are proud of their evil desires; the greedy curse and reject the Lord. 4 The wicked do not care about the Lord; in their pride they think that God doesn't matter. 5 The wicked succeed in everything. They cannot understand God's judgments; they sneer at their enemies. 6 They say to themselves, "We will never fail; we will never be in trouble." 7 Their speech is filled with curses, lies, and threats; they are quick to speak hateful, evil words. 8 They hide themselves in the villages, waiting to murder innocent people. They spy on their helpless victims; 9 they wait in their hiding place like lions. They lie in wait for the poor; they catch them in their traps and drag them away. 10 The helpless victims lie crushed; brute strength has defeated them. 11 The wicked say to themselves, "God doesn't care! He has closed his eyes and will never see me!" 12 O Lord, punish those wicked people! Remember those who are suffering! 13 How can the wicked despise God and say to themselves, "He will not punish me"? 14 But you do see; you take notice of trouble and suffering and are always ready to help. The helpless commit themselves to you; you have always helped the needy. 15 Break the power of wicked and evil people; punish them for the wrong they have done until they do it no more. 16 The Lord is king forever and ever. Those who worship other gods will vanish from his land. 17 You will listen, O Lord, to the prayers of the lowly; you will give them courage. 18 You will hear the cries of the oppressed and the orphans; you will judge in their favor, so that mortal men may cause terror no more.

Psalm 25:1 To you, O Lord, I offer my prayer; 2 in you, my God, I trust. Save me from the shame of defeat; don't let my enemies gloat over me! 3 Defeat does not come to those who trust in you, but to those who are quick to rebel against you. 4 Teach me your ways, O Lord; make them known to me. 5 Teach me to live according to your truth, for you are my God, who saves me. I always trust in you. 6 Remember, O Lord, your kindness and constant love which you have shown from long ago. 7 Forgive the sins and errors of my youth. In your constant love and goodness, remember me, Lord! 8 Because the Lord is righteous and good, he teaches sinners the path they should follow. 9 He leads the humble in the right way and teaches them his will. 10 With faithfulness and love he leads all who keep his covenant and obey his commands. 11 Keep your promise, Lord, and forgive my sins, for they are many. 12 Those who have reverence for the Lord will learn from him the path they should follow. 13 They will always be prosperous, and their children will possess the land. 14 The Lord is the friend of those who obey him and he affirms his covenant with them. 15 I look to the Lord for help at all times, and he rescues me from danger. 16 Turn to me, Lord, and be merciful to me, because I am lonely and weak. 17 Relieve me of my worries and save me from all my troubles. 18 Consider my distress and suffering and forgive all my sins. 19 See how many enemies I have; see how much they hate me. 20 Protect me and save me; keep me from defeat. I come to you for safety. 21 May my goodness and honesty preserve me, because I trust in you. 22 From all their troubles, O God, save your people Israel!

Psalm 34:1 I will always thank the Lord; I will never stop praising him. 2 I will praise him for what he has done; may all who are oppressed listen and be glad! 3 Proclaim with me the Lord's greatness; let us praise his name together! 4 I prayed to the Lord, and he answered me; he freed me from all my fears. 5 The oppressed look to him and are glad; they will never be disappointed. 6 The helpless call to him, and he answers; he saves them from all their troubles. 7 His angel guards those who honor the Lord and rescues them from danger. 8 Find out for yourself how good the Lord is. Happy are those who find safety with him. 9 Honor the Lord, all his people; those who obey him have all they need. 10 Even lions go hungry for lack of food, but those who obey the Lord lack nothing good. 11 Come, my young friends, and listen to me, and I will teach you to honor the Lord. 12 Would you like to enjoy life? Do you want long life and happiness? 13 Then keep from speaking evil and from telling lies. 14 Turn away from evil and do good; strive for peace with all your heart. 15 The Lord watches over the righteous and listens to their cries; 16 but he opposes those who do evil, so that when they die, they are soon forgotten. 17 The righteous call to the Lord, and he listens; he rescues them from all their troubles. 18 The Lord is near to those who are discouraged; he saves those who have lost all hope. 19 Good people suffer many troubles, but the Lord saves them from them all; 20 the Lord preserves them completely; not one of their bones is broken. 21 Evil will kill the wicked; those who hate the righteous will be punished. 22 The Lord will save his people; those who go to him for protection will be spared.

Psalm 37:1 Don't be worried on account of the wicked; don't be jealous of those who do wrong. 2 They will soon disappear like grass that dries up; they will die like plants that wither. 3 Trust in the Lord and do good; live in the land and be safe. 4 Seek your happiness in the Lord, and he will give you your heart's desire. 5 Give yourself to the Lord; trust in him, and he will help you; 6 he will make your righteousness shine like the noonday sun. 7 Be patient and wait for the Lord to act; don't be worried about those who prosper or those who succeed in their evil plans. 8 Don't give in to worry or anger; it only leads to trouble. 9 Those who trust in the Lord will possess the land, but the wicked will be driven out. 10 Soon the wicked will disappear; you may look for them, but you won't find them; 11 but the humble will possess the land and enjoy prosperity and peace. 12 The wicked plot against good people and glare at them with hate. 13 But the Lord laughs at wicked people, because he knows they will soon be destroyed. 14 The wicked draw their swords and bend their bows to kill the poor and needy, to slaughter those who do what is right; 15 but they will be killed by their own swords, and their bows will be smashed. 16 The little that a good person owns is worth more than the wealth of all the wicked, 17 because the Lord will take away the strength of the wicked, but protect those who are good. 18 The Lord takes care of those who obey him, and the land will be theirs forever. 19 They will not suffer when times are bad; they will have enough in time of famine. 20 But the wicked will die; the enemies of the Lord will vanish like wild flowers; they will disappear like smoke. 21 The wicked borrow and never pay back, but good people are generous with their gifts. 22 Those who are blessed by the Lord will possess the land, but those who are cursed by him will be driven out. 23 The Lord guides us in the way we should go and protects those who please him. 24 If they fall, they will not stay down, because the Lord will help them up. 25 I am old now; I have lived a long time, but I have never seen good people abandoned by the Lord or their children begging for food. 26 At all times they give freely and lend to others, and their children are a blessing. 27 Turn away from evil and do good, and your descendants will always live in the land; 28 for the Lord loves what is right and does not abandon his faithful people. He protects them forever, but the descendants of the wicked will be driven out. 29 The righteous will possess the land and live in it forever. 30 The words of good people are wise, and they are always fair. 31 They keep the law of their God in their hearts and never depart from it. 32 Wicked people watch good people and try to kill them; 33 but the Lord will not abandon them to their enemy's power or let them be condemned when they are on trial. 34 Put your hope in the Lord and obey his commands; he will honor you by giving you the land, and you will see the wicked driven out. 35 I once knew someone wicked who was a tyrant; he towered over everyone like a cedar of Lebanon; 36 but later I passed by, and he wasn't there; I looked for him, but couldn't find him. 37 Notice good people, observe the righteous; peaceful people have descendants, 38 but sinners are completely destroyed, and their descendants are wiped out. 39 The Lord saves the righteous and protects them in times of trouble. 40 He helps them and rescues them; he saves them from the wicked, because they go to him for protection.

Psalm 111:1 Praise the Lord! With all my heart I will thank the Lord in the assembly of his people. 2 How wonderful are the things the Lord does! All who are delighted with them want to understand them. 3 All he does is full of honor and majesty; his righteousness is eternal. 4 The Lord does not let us forget his wonderful actions; he is kind and merciful. 5 He provides food for those who honor him; he never forgets his covenant. 6 He has shown his power to his people by giving them the lands of foreigners. 7 In all he does he is faithful and just; all his commands are dependable. 8 They last for all time; they were given in truth and righteousness. 9 He set his people free and made an eternal covenant with them. Holy and mighty is he! 10 The way to become wise is to honor the Lord; he gives sound judgment to all who obey his commands. He is to be praised forever.

Psalm 112:1 Praise the Lord! Happy is the person who honors the Lord, who takes pleasure in obeying his commands. 2 The good man's children will be powerful in the land; his descendants will be blessed. 3 His family will be wealthy and rich, and he will be prosperous forever. 4 Light shines in the darkness for good people, for those who are merciful, kind, and just. 5 Happy is the person who is generous with his loans, who runs his business honestly. 6 A good person will never fail; he will always be remembered. 7 He is not afraid of receiving bad news; his faith is strong, and he trusts in the Lord. 8 He is not worried or afraid; he is certain to see his enemies defeated. 9 He gives generously to the needy, and his kindness never fails; he will be powerful and respected. 10 The wicked see this and are angry; they glare in hate and disappear; their hopes are gone forever.

Psalm 119:1 Happy are those whose lives are faultless, who live according to the law of the Lord. 2 Happy are those who follow his commands, who obey him with all their heart. 3 They never do wrong; they walk in the Lord's ways. 4 Lord, you have given us your laws and told us to obey them faithfully. 5 How I hope that I shall be faithful in keeping your instructions! 6 If I pay attention to all your commands, then I will not be put to shame. 7 As I learn your righteous judgments, I will praise you with a pure heart. 8 I will obey your laws; never abandon me! 9 How can young people keep their lives pure? By obeying your commands. 10 With all my heart I try to serve you; keep me from disobeying your commandments. 11 I keep your law in my heart, so that I will not sin against you. 12 I praise you, O Lord; teach me your ways. 13 I will repeat aloud all the laws you have given. 14 I delight in following your commands more than in having great wealth. 15 I study your instructions; I examine your teachings. 16 I take pleasure in your laws; your commands I will not forget. 17 Be good to me, your servant, so that I may live and obey your teachings. 18 Open my eyes, so that I may see the wonderful truths in your law. 19 I am here on earth for just a little while; do not hide your commands from me. 20 My heart aches with longing; I want to know your judgments at all times. 21 You reprimand the proud; cursed are those who disobey your commands. 22 Free me from their insults and scorn, because I have kept your laws. 23 The rulers meet and plot against me, but I will study your teachings. 24 Your instructions give me pleasure; they are my advisers. 25 I lie defeated in the dust; revive me, as you have promised. 26 I confessed all I have done, and you answered me; teach me your ways. 27 Help me to understand your laws, and I will meditate on your wonderful teachings. 28 I am overcome by sorrow; strengthen me, as you have promised. 29 Keep me from going the wrong way, and in your goodness teach me your law. 30 I have chosen to be obedient; I have paid attention to your judgments. 31 I have followed your instructions, Lord; don't let me be put to shame. 32 I will eagerly obey your commands, because you will give me more understanding. 33 Teach me, Lord, the meaning of your laws, and I will obey them at all times. 34 Explain your law to me, and I will obey it; I will keep it with all my heart. 35 Keep me obedient to your commandments, because in them I find happiness. 36 Give me the desire to obey your laws rather than to get rich. 37 Keep me from paying attention to what is worthless; be good to me, as you have promised. 38 Keep your promise to me, your servant - the promise you make to those who obey you. 39 Save me from the insults I fear; how wonderful are your judgments! 40 I want to obey your commands; give me new life, for you are righteous. 41 Show me how much you love me, Lord, and save me according to your promise. 42 Then I can answer those who insult me because I trust in your word. 43 Enable me to speak the truth at all times, because my hope is in your judgments. 44 I will always obey your law, forever and ever. 45 I will live in perfect freedom, because I try to obey your teachings. 46 I will announce your commands to kings and I will not be ashamed. 47 I find pleasure in obeying your commands, because I love them. 48 I respect and love your commandments; I will meditate on your instructions. 49 Remember your promise to me, your servant; it has given me hope. 50 Even in my suffering I was comforted because your promise gave me life. 51 The proud are always scornful of me, but I have not departed from your law. 52 I remember your judgments of long ago, and they bring me comfort, O Lord. 53 When I see the wicked breaking your law, I am filled with anger. 54 During my brief earthly life I compose songs about your commands. 55 In the night I remember you, Lord, and I think about your law. 56 I find my happiness in obeying your commands. 57 You are all I want, O Lord; I promise to obey your laws. 58 I ask you with all my heart to have mercy on me, as you have promised! 59 I have considered my conduct, and I promise to follow your instructions. 60 Without delay I hurry to obey your commands. 61 The wicked have laid a trap for me, but I do not forget your law. 62 In the middle of the night I wake up to praise you for your righteous judgments. 63 I am a friend of all who serve you, of all who obey your laws. 64 Lord, the earth is full of your constant love; teach me your commandments. 65 You have kept your promise, Lord, and you are good to me, your servant. 66 Give me wisdom and knowledge, because I trust in your commands. 67 Before you punished me, I used to go wrong, but now I obey your word. 68 How good you are - how kind! Teach me your commands. 69 The proud have told lies about me, but with all my heart I obey your instructions. 70 They have no understanding, but I find pleasure in your law. 71 My punishment was good for me, because it made me learn your commands. 72 The law that you gave means more to me than all the money in the world. 73 You created me, and you keep me safe; give me understanding, so that I may learn your laws. 74 Those who honor you will be glad when they see me, because I trust in your promise. 75 I know that your judgments are righteous, Lord, and that you punished me because you are faithful. 76 Let your constant love comfort me, as you have promised me, your servant. 77 Have mercy on me, and I will live because I take pleasure in your law. 78 May the proud be ashamed for falsely accusing me; as for me, I will meditate on your instructions. 79 May those who honor you come to me - all those who know your commands. 80 May I perfectly obey your commandments and be spared the shame of defeat. 81 I am worn out, Lord, waiting for you to save me; I place my trust in your word. 82 My eyes are tired from watching for what you promised, while I ask, "When will you help me?" 83 I am as useless as a discarded wineskin; yet I have not forgotten your commands. 84 How much longer must I wait? When will you punish those who persecute me? 85 The proud, who do not obey your law, have dug pits to trap me. 86 Your commandments are all trustworthy; people persecute me with lies - help me! 87 They have almost succeeded in killing me, but I have not neglected your commands. 88 Because of your constant love be good to me, so that I may obey your laws. 89 Your word, O Lord, will last forever; it is eternal in heaven. 90 Your faithfulness endures through all the ages; you have set the earth in place, and it remains. 91 All things remain to this day because of your command, because they are all your servants. 92 If your law had not been the source of my joy, I would have died from my sufferings. 93 I will never neglect your instructions, because by them you have kept me alive. 94 I am yours - save me! I have tried to obey your commands. 95 The wicked are waiting to kill me, but I will meditate on your laws. 96 I have learned that everything has limits; but your commandment is perfect. 97 How I love your law! I think about it all day long. 98 Your commandment is with me all the time and makes me wiser than my enemies. 99 I understand more than all my teachers, because I meditate on your instructions. 100 I have greater wisdom than those who are old, because I obey your commands. 101 I have avoided all evil conduct, because I want to obey your word. 102 I have not neglected your instructions, because you yourself are my teacher. 103 How sweet is the taste of your instructions - sweeter even than honey! 104 I gain wisdom from your laws, and so I hate all bad conduct. 105 Your word is a lamp to guide me and a light for my path. 106 I will keep my solemn promise to obey your just instructions. 107 My sufferings, Lord, are terrible indeed; keep me alive, as you have promised. 108 Accept my prayer of thanks, O Lord, and teach me your commands. 109 I am always ready to risk my life; I have not forgotten your law. 110 The wicked lay a trap for me, but I have not disobeyed your commands. 111 Your commandments are my eternal possession; they are the joy of my heart. 112 I have decided to obey your laws until the day I die. 113 I hate those who are not completely loyal to you, but I love your law. 114 You are my defender and protector; I put my hope in your promise. 115 Go away from me, you sinful people. I will obey the commands of my God. 116 Give me strength, as you promised, and I shall live; don't let me be disappointed in my hope! 117 Hold me, and I will be safe, and I will always pay attention to your commands. 118 You reject everyone who disobeys your laws; their deceitful schemes are useless. 119 You treat all the wicked like rubbish, and so I love your instructions. 120 Because of you I am afraid; I am filled with fear because of your judgments. 121 I have done what is right and good; don't abandon me to my enemies! 122 Promise that you will help your servant; don't let the arrogant oppress me! 123 My eyes are tired from watching for your saving help, for the deliverance you promised. 124 Treat me according to your constant love, and teach me your commands. 125 I am your servant; give me understanding, so that I may know your teachings. 126 Lord, it is time for you to act, because people are disobeying your law. 127 I love your commands more than gold, more than the finest gold. 128 And so I follow all your instructions; I hate all wrong ways. 129 Your teachings are wonderful; I obey them with all my heart. 130 The explanation of your teachings gives light and brings wisdom to the ignorant. 131 In my desire for your commands I pant with open mouth. 132 Turn to me and have mercy on me as you do on all those who love you. 133 As you have promised, keep me from falling; don't let me be overcome by evil. 134 Save me from those who oppress me, so that I may obey your commands. 135 Bless me with your presence and teach me your laws. 136 My tears pour down like a river, because people do not obey your law. 137 You are righteous, Lord, and your laws are just. 138 The rules that you have given are completely fair and right. 139 My anger burns in me like a fire, because my enemies disregard your commands. 140 How certain your promise is! How I love it! 141 I am unimportant and despised, but I do not neglect your teachings. 142 Your righteousness will last forever, and your law is always true. 143 I am filled with trouble and anxiety, but your commandments bring me joy. 144 Your instructions are always just; give me understanding, and I shall live. 145 With all my heart I call to you; answer me, Lord, and I will obey your commands! 146 I call to you; save me, and I will keep your laws. 147 Before sunrise I call to you for help; I place my hope in your promise. 148 All night long I lie awake, to meditate on your instructions. 149 Because your love is constant, hear me, O Lord; show your mercy, and preserve my life! 150 My cruel persecutors are coming closer, people who never keep your law. 151 But you are near to me, Lord, and all your commands are permanent. 152 Long ago I learned about your instructions; you made them to last forever. 153 Look at my suffering, and save me, because I have not neglected your law. 154 Defend my cause, and set me free; save me, as you have promised. 155 The wicked will not be saved, for they do not obey your laws. 156 But your compassion, Lord, is great; show your mercy and save me! 157 I have many enemies and oppressors, but I do not fail to obey your laws. 158 When I look at those traitors, I am filled with disgust, because they do not keep your commands. 159 See how I love your instructions, Lord. Your love never changes, so save me! 160 The heart of your law is truth, and all your righteous judgments are eternal. 161 Powerful people attack me unjustly, but I respect your law. 162 How happy I am because of your promises - as happy as someone who finds rich treasure. 163 I hate and detest all lies, but I love your law. 164 Seven times each day I thank you for your righteous judgments. 165 Those who love your law have perfect security, and there is nothing that can make them fall. 166 I wait for you to save me, Lord, and I do what you command. 167 I obey your teachings; I love them with all my heart. 168 I obey your commands and your instructions; you see everything I do. 169 Let my cry for help reach you, Lord! Give me understanding, as you have promised. 170 Listen to my prayer, and save me according to your promise! 171 I will always praise you, because you teach me your laws. 172 I will sing about your law, because your commands are just. 173 Always be ready to help me, because I follow your commands. 174 How I long for your saving help, O Lord! I find happiness in your law. 175 Give me life, so that I may praise you; may your instructions help me. 176 I wander about like a lost sheep; so come and look for me, your servant, because I have not neglected your laws.

Psalm 145:1 I will proclaim your greatness, my God and king; I will thank you forever and ever. 2 Every day I will thank you; I will praise you forever and ever. 3 The Lord is great and is to be highly praised; his greatness is beyond understanding. 4 What you have done will be praised from one generation to the next; they will proclaim your mighty acts. 5 They will speak of your glory and majesty, and I will meditate on your wonderful deeds. 6 People will speak of your mighty deeds, and I will proclaim your greatness. 7 They will tell about all your goodness and sing about your kindness. 8 The Lord is loving and merciful, slow to become angry and full of constant love. 9 He is good to everyone and has compassion on all he made. 10 All your creatures, Lord, will praise you, and all your people will give you thanks. 11 They will speak of the glory of your royal power and tell of your might, 12 so that everyone will know your mighty deeds and the glorious majesty of your kingdom. 13 Your rule is eternal, and you are king forever. The Lord is faithful to his promises; he is merciful in all his acts. 14 He helps those who are in trouble; he lifts those who have fallen. 15 All living things look hopefully to you, and you give them food when they need it. 16 You give them enough and satisfy the needs of all. 17 The Lord is righteous in all he does, merciful in all his acts. 18 He is near to those who call to him, who call to him with sincerity. 19 He supplies the needs of those who honor him; he hears their cries and saves them. 20 He protects everyone who loves him, but he will destroy the wicked. 21 I will always praise the Lord; let all his creatures praise his holy name forever.

2558-Psalm 136:1 Give thanks to the Lord, because he is good; his love is eternal. 2 Give thanks to the greatest of all gods; his love is eternal. 3 Give thanks to the mightiest of all lords; his love is eternal. 4 He alone performs great miracles; his love is eternal. 5 By his wisdom he made the heavens; his love is eternal; 6 he built the earth on the deep waters; his love is eternal. 7 He made the sun and the moon; his love is eternal; 8 the sun to rule over the day; his love is eternal; 9 the moon and the stars to rule over the night; his love is eternal. 10 He killed the first-born sons of the Egyptians; his love is eternal. 11 He led the people of Israel out of Egypt; his love is eternal; 12 with his strong hand, his powerful arm; his love is eternal. 13 He divided the Red Sea; his love is eternal; 14 he led his people through it; his love is eternal; 15 but he drowned the king of Egypt and his army; his love is eternal. 16 He led his people through the desert; his love is eternal. 17 He killed powerful kings; his love is eternal; 18 he killed famous kings; his love is eternal; 19 Sihon, king of the Amorites; his love is eternal; 20 and Og, king of Bashan; his love is eternal. 21 He gave their lands to his people; his love is eternal; 22 he gave them to Israel, his servant; his love is eternal. 23 He did not forget us when we were defeated; his love is eternal; 24 he freed us from our enemies; his love is eternal. 25 He gives food to every living creature; his love is eternal. 26 Give thanks to the God of heaven; his love is eternal.

2559-Psalm 1:1 Happy are those who reject the advice of evil people, who do not follow the example of sinners or join those who have no use for God. 2 Instead, they find joy in obeying the Law of the Lord, and they study it day and night. 3 They are like trees that grow beside a stream, that bear fruit at the right time, and whose leaves do not dry up. They succeed in everything they do. 4 But evil people are not like this at all; they are like straw that the wind blows away. 5 Sinners will be condemned by God and kept apart from God's own people. 6 The righteous are guided and protected by the Lord, but the evil are on the way to their doom.

Psalm 32:1 Happy are those whose sins are forgiven, whose wrongs are pardoned. 2 Happy is the one whom the Lord does not accuse of doing wrong and who is free from all deceit. 3 When I did not confess my sins, I was worn out from crying all day long. 4 Day and night you punished me, Lord; my strength was completely drained, as moisture is dried up by the summer heat. 5 Then I confessed my sins to you; I did not conceal my wrongdoings. I decided to confess them to you, and you forgave all my sins. 6 So all your loyal people should pray to you in times of need; when a great flood of trouble comes rushing in, it will not reach them. 7 You are my hiding place; you will save me from trouble. I sing aloud of your salvation, because you protect me. 8 The Lord says, "I will teach you the way you should go; I will instruct you and advise you. 9 Don't be stupid like a horse or a mule, which must be controlled with a bit and bridle to make it submit." 10 The wicked will have to suffer, but those who trust in the Lord are protected by his constant love. 11 You that are righteous, be glad and rejoice because of what the Lord has done. You that obey him, shout for joy!

Psalm 34:1 I will always thank the Lord; I will never stop praising him. 2 I will praise him for what he has done; may all who are oppressed listen and be glad! 3 Proclaim with me the Lord's greatness; let us praise his name together! 4 I prayed to the Lord, and he answered me; he freed me from all my fears. 5 The oppressed look to him and are glad; they will never be disappointed. 6 The helpless call to him, and he answers; he saves them from all their troubles. 7 His angel guards those who honor the Lord and rescues them from danger. 8 Find out for yourself how good the Lord is. Happy are those who find safety with him. 9 Honor the Lord, all his people; those who obey him have all they need. 10 Even lions go hungry for lack of food, but those who obey the Lord lack nothing good. 11 Come, my young friends, and listen to me, and I will teach you to honor the Lord. 12 Would you like to enjoy life? Do you want long life and happiness? 13 Then keep from speaking evil and from telling lies. 14 Turn away from evil and do good; strive for peace with all your heart. 15 The Lord watches over the righteous and listens to their cries; 16 but he opposes those who do evil, so that when they die, they are soon forgotten. 17 The righteous call to the Lord, and he listens; he rescues them from all their troubles. 18 The Lord is near to those who are discouraged; he saves those who have lost all hope. 19 Good people suffer many troubles, but the Lord saves them from them all; 20 the Lord preserves them completely; not one of their bones is broken. 21 Evil will kill the wicked; those who hate the righteous will be punished. 22 The Lord will save his people; those who go to him for protection will be spared.

Psalm 65:1 O God, it is right for us to praise you in Zion and keep our promises to you, 2 because you answer prayers. People everywhere will come to you 3 on account of their sins. Our faults defeat us, but you forgive them. 4 Happy are those whom you choose, whom you bring to live in your sanctuary. We shall be satisfied with the good things of your house, the blessings of your sacred Temple. 5 You answer us by giving us victory, and you do wonderful things to save us. People all over the world and across the distant seas trust in you. 6 You set the mountains in place by your strength, showing your mighty power. 7 You calm the roar of the seas and the noise of the waves; you calm the uproar of the peoples. 8 The whole world stands in awe of the great things that you have done. Your deeds bring shouts of joy from one end of the earth to the other. 9 You show your care for the land by sending rain; you make it rich and fertile. You fill the streams with water; you provide the earth with crops. This is how you do it: 10 you send abundant rain on the plowed fields and soak them with water; you soften the soil with showers and cause the young plants to grow. 11 What a rich harvest your goodness provides! Wherever you go there is plenty. 12 The pastures are filled with flocks; the hillsides are full of joy. 13 The fields are covered with sheep; the valleys are full of wheat. Everything shouts and sings for joy.

Psalm 84:1 How I love your Temple, Lord Almighty! 2 How I want to be there! I long to be in the Lord's Temple. With my whole being I sing for joy to the living God. 3 Even the sparrows have built a nest, and the swallows have their own home; they keep their young near your altars, Lord Almighty, my king and my God. 4 How happy are those who live in your Temple, always singing praise to you. 5 How happy are those whose strength comes from you, who are eager to make the pilgrimage to Mount Zion. 6 As they pass through the dry valley of Baca, it becomes a place of springs; the autumn rain fills it with pools. 7 They grow stronger as they go; they will see the God of gods on Zion. 8 Hear my prayer, Lord God Almighty. Listen, O God of Jacob! 9 Bless our king, O God, the king you have chosen. 10 One day spent in your Temple is better than a thousand anywhere else; I would rather stand at the gate of the house of my God than live in the homes of the wicked. 11 The Lord is our protector and glorious king, blessing us with kindness and honor. He does not refuse any good thing to those who do what is right. 12 Lord Almighty, how happy are those who trust in you!

2560-Psalm 13:1 How much longer will you forget me, Lord? Forever? How much longer will you hide yourself from me? 2 How long must I endure trouble? How long will sorrow fill my heart day and night? How long will my enemies triumph over me? 3 Look at me, O Lord my God, and answer me. Restore my strength; don't let me die. 4 Don't let my enemies say, "We have defeated him." Don't let them gloat over my downfall. 5 I rely on your constant love; I will be glad, because you will rescue me. 6 I will sing to you, O Lord, because you have been good to me.

Psalm 22:1 My God, my God, why have you abandoned me? I have cried desperately for help, but still it does not come. 2 During the day I call to you, my God, but you do not answer; I call at night, but get no rest. 3 But you are enthroned as the Holy One, the one whom Israel praises. 4 Our ancestors put their trust in you; they trusted you, and you saved them. 5 They called to you and escaped from danger; they trusted you and were not disappointed. 6 But I am no longer a human being; I am a worm, despised and scorned by everyone! 7 All who see me make fun of me; they stick out their tongues and shake their heads. 8 "You relied on the Lord," they say. "Why doesn't he save you? If the Lord likes you, why doesn't he help you?" 9 It was you who brought me safely through birth, and when I was a baby, you kept me safe. 10 I have relied on you since the day I was born, and you have always been my God. 11 Do not stay away from me! Trouble is near, and there is no one to help. 12 Many enemies surround me like bulls; they are all around me, like fierce bulls from the land of Bashan. 13 They open their mouths like lions, roaring and tearing at me. 14 My strength is gone, gone like water spilled on the ground. All my bones are out of joint; my heart is like melted wax. 15 My throat is as dry as dust, and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth. You have left me for dead in the dust. 16 An evil gang is around me; like a pack of dogs they close in on me; they tear at my hands and feet. 17 All my bones can be seen. My enemies look at me and stare. 18 They gamble for my clothes and divide them among themselves. 19 O Lord, don't stay away from me! Come quickly to my rescue! 20 Save me from the sword; save my life from these dogs. 21 Rescue me from these lions; I am helpless before these wild bulls. 22 I will tell my people what you have done; I will praise you in their assembly: 23 "Praise him, you servants of the Lord! Honor him, you descendants of Jacob! Worship him, you people of Israel! 24 He does not neglect the poor or ignore their suffering; he does not turn away from them, but answers when they call for help." 25 In the full assembly I will praise you for what you have done; in the presence of those who worship you I will offer the sacrifices I promised. 26 The poor will eat as much as they want; those who come to the Lord will praise him. May they prosper forever! 27 All nations will remember the Lord. From every part of the world they will turn to him; all races will worship him. 28 The Lord is king, and he rules the nations. 29 All proud people will bow down to him; all mortals will bow down before him. 30 Future generations will serve him; they will speak of the Lord to the coming generation. 31 People not yet born will be told: "The Lord saved his people."

Psalm 69:1 Save me, O God! The water is up to my neck; 2 I am sinking in deep mud, and there is no solid ground; I am out in deep water, and the waves are about to drown me. 3 I am worn out from calling for help, and my throat is aching. I have strained my eyes, looking for your help. 4 Those who hate me for no reason are more numerous than the hairs of my head. My enemies tell lies against me; they are strong and want to kill me. They made me give back things I did not steal. 5 My sins, O God, are not hidden from you; you know how foolish I have been. 6 Don't let me bring shame on those who trust in you, Sovereign Lord Almighty! Don't let me bring disgrace to those who worship you, O God of Israel! 7 It is for your sake that I have been insulted and that I am covered with shame. 8 I am like a stranger to my relatives, like a foreigner to my family. 9 My devotion to your Temple burns in me like a fire; the insults which are hurled at you fall on me. 10 I humble myself by fasting, and people insult me; 11 I dress myself in clothes of mourning, and they laugh at me. 12 They talk about me in the streets, and drunkards make up songs about me. 13 But as for me, I will pray to you, Lord; answer me, God, at a time you choose. Answer me because of your great love, because you keep your promise to save. 14 Save me from sinking in the mud; keep me safe from my enemies, safe from the deep water. 15 Don't let the flood come over me; don't let me drown in the depths or sink into the grave. 16 Answer me, Lord, in the goodness of your constant love; in your great compassion turn to me! 17 Don't hide yourself from your servant; I am in great trouble - answer me now! 18 Come to me and save me; rescue me from my enemies. 19 You know how I am insulted, how I am disgraced and dishonored; you see all my enemies. 20 Insults have broken my heart, and I am in despair. I had hoped for sympathy, but there was none; for comfort, but I found none. 21 When I was hungry, they gave me poison; when I was thirsty, they offered me vinegar. 22 May their banquets cause their ruin; may their sacred feasts cause their downfall. 23 Strike them with blindness! Make their backs always weak! 24 Pour out your anger on them; let your indignation overtake them. 25 May their camps be left deserted; may no one be left alive in their tents. 26 They persecute those whom you have punished; they talk about the sufferings of those you have wounded. 27 Keep a record of all their sins; don't let them have any part in your salvation. 28 May their names be erased from the book of the living; may they not be included in the list of your people. 29 But I am in pain and despair; lift me up, O God, and save me! 30 I will praise God with a song; I will proclaim his greatness by giving him thanks. 31 This will please the Lord more than offering him cattle, more than sacrificing a full-grown bull. 32 When the oppressed see this, they will be glad; those who worship God will be encouraged. 33 The Lord listens to those in need and does not forget his people in prison. 34 Praise God, O heaven and earth, seas and all creatures in them. 35 He will save Jerusalem and rebuild the towns of Judah. His people will live there and possess the land; 36 the descendants of his servants will inherit it, and those who love him will live there.

Psalm 88:1 Lord God, my savior, I cry out all day, and at night I come before you. 2 Hear my prayer; listen to my cry for help! 3 So many troubles have fallen on me that I am close to death. 4 I am like all others who are about to die; all my strength is gone. 5 I am abandoned among the dead; I am like the slain lying in their graves, those you have forgotten completely, who are beyond your help. 6 You have thrown me into the depths of the tomb, into the darkest and deepest pit. 7 Your anger lies heavy on me, and I am crushed beneath its waves. 8 You have caused my friends to abandon me; you have made me repulsive to them. I am closed in and cannot escape; 9 my eyes are weak from suffering. Lord, every day I call to you and lift my hands to you in prayer. 10 Do you perform miracles for the dead? Do they rise up and praise you? 11 Is your constant love spoken of in the grave or your faithfulness in the place of destruction? 12 Are your miracles seen in that place of darkness or your goodness in the land of the forgotten? 13 Lord, I call to you for help; every morning I pray to you. 14 Why do you reject me, Lord? Why do you turn away from me? 15 Ever since I was young, I have suffered and been near death; I am worn out from the burden of your punishments. 16 Your furious anger crushes me; your terrible attacks destroy me. 17 All day long they surround me like a flood; they close in on me from every side. 18 You have made even my closest friends abandon me, and darkness is my only companion.

Psalm 143:1 Lord, hear my prayer! In your righteousness listen to my plea; answer me in your faithfulness! 2 Don't put me, your servant, on trial; no one is innocent in your sight. 3 My enemies have hunted me down and completely defeated me. They have put me in a dark prison, and I am like those who died long ago. 4 So I am ready to give up; I am in deep despair. 5 I remember the days gone by; I think about all that you have done, I bring to mind all your deeds. 6 I lift up my hands to you in prayer; like dry ground my soul is thirsty for you. 7 Answer me now, Lord! I have lost all hope. Don't hide yourself from me, or I will be among those who go down to the world of the dead. 8 Remind me each morning of your constant love, for I put my trust in you. My prayers go up to you; show me the way I should go. 9 I go to you for protection, Lord; rescue me from my enemies. 10 You are my God; teach me to do your will. Be good to me, and guide me on a safe path. 11 Rescue me, Lord, as you have promised; in your goodness save me from my troubles! 12 Because of your love for me, kill my enemies and destroy all my oppressors, for I am your servant.

2561-Psalm 3:1 I have so many enemies, Lord, so many who turn against me! 2 They talk about me and say, "God will not help him." 3 But you, O Lord, are always my shield from danger; you give me victory and restore my courage. 4 I call to the Lord for help, and from his sacred hill he answers me. 5 I lie down and sleep, and all night long the Lord protects me. 6 I am not afraid of the thousands of enemies who surround me on every side. 7 Come, Lord! Save me, my God! You punish all my enemies and leave them powerless to harm me. 8 Victory comes from the Lord - may he bless his people.

Psalm 31:1 I come to you, Lord, for protection; never let me be defeated. You are a righteous God; save me, I pray! 2 Hear me! Save me now! Be my refuge to protect me; my defense to save me. 3 You are my refuge and defense; guide me and lead me as you have promised. 4 Keep me safe from the trap that has been set for me; shelter me from danger. 5 I place myself in your care. You will save me, Lord; you are a faithful God. 6 You hate those who worship false gods, but I trust in you. 7 I will be glad and rejoice because of your constant love. You see my suffering; you know my trouble. 8 You have not let my enemies capture me; you have given me freedom to go where I wish. 9 Be merciful to me, Lord, for I am in trouble; my eyes are tired from so much crying; I am completely worn out. 10 I am exhausted by sorrow, and weeping has shortened my life. I am weak from all my troubles; even my bones are wasting away. 11 All my enemies, and especially my neighbors, treat me with contempt. Those who know me are afraid of me; when they see me in the street, they run away. 12 Everyone has forgotten me, as though I were dead; I am like something thrown away. 13 I hear many enemies whispering; terror is all around me. They are making plans against me, plotting to kill me. 14 But my trust is in you, O Lord; you are my God. 15 I am always in your care; save me from my enemies, from those who persecute me. 16 Look on your servant with kindness; save me in your constant love. 17 I call to you, Lord; don't let me be disgraced. May the wicked be disgraced; may they go silently down to the world of the dead. 18 Silence those liars - all the proud and arrogant who speak with contempt about the righteous. 19 How wonderful are the good things you keep for those who honor you! Everyone knows how good you are, how securely you protect those who trust you. 20 You hide them in the safety of your presence from the plots of others; in a safe shelter you hide them from the insults of their enemies. 21 Praise the Lord! How wonderfully he showed his love for me when I was surrounded and attacked! 22 I was afraid and thought that he had driven me out of his presence. But he heard my cry, when I called to him for help. 23 Love the Lord, all his faithful people. The Lord protects the faithful, but punishes the proud as they deserve. 24 Be strong, be courageous, all you that hope in the Lord.

Psalm 39:1 I said, "I will be careful about what I do and will not let my tongue make me sin; I will not say anything while evil people are near." 2 I kept quiet, not saying a word, not even about anything good! But my suffering only grew worse, 3 and I was overcome with anxiety. The more I thought, the more troubled I became; I could not keep from asking: 4 "Lord, how long will I live? When will I die? Tell me how soon my life will end." 5 How short you have made my life! In your sight my lifetime seems nothing. Indeed every living being is no more than a puff of wind, 6 no more than a shadow. All we do is for nothing; we gather wealth, but don't know who will get it. 7 What, then, can I hope for, Lord? I put my hope in you. 8 Save me from all my sins, and don't let fools make fun of me. 9 I will keep quiet, I will not say a word, for you are the one who made me suffer like this. 10 Don't punish me any more! I am about to die from your blows. 11 You punish our sins by your rebukes, and like a moth you destroy what we love. Indeed we are no more than a puff of wind! 12 Hear my prayer, Lord, and listen to my cry; come to my aid when I weep. Like all my ancestors I am only your guest for a little while. 13 Leave me alone so that I may have some happiness before I go away and am no more.

Psalm 42:1 As a deer longs for a stream of cool water, so I long for you, O God. 2 I thirst for you, the living God. When can I go and worship in your presence? 3 Day and night I cry, and tears are my only food; all the time my enemies ask me, "Where is your God?" 4 My heart breaks when I remember the past, when I went with the crowds to the house of God and led them as they walked along, a happy crowd, singing and shouting praise to God. 5 Why am I so sad? Why am I so troubled? I will put my hope in God, and once again I will praise him, my savior and my God. 6 Here in exile my heart is breaking, and so I turn my thoughts to him. He has sent waves of sorrow over my soul; chaos roars at me like a flood, like waterfalls thundering down to the Jordan from Mount Hermon and Mount Mizar. 8 May the Lord show his constant love during the day, so that I may have a song at night, a prayer to the God of my life. 9 To God, my defender, I say, "Why have you forgotten me? Why must I go on suffering from the cruelty of my enemies?" 10 I am crushed by their insults, as they keep on asking me, "Where is your God?" 11 Why am I so sad? Why am I so troubled? I will put my hope in God, and once again I will praise him, my savior and my God.

Psalm 43:1 O God, declare me innocent, and defend my cause against the ungodly; deliver me from lying and evil people! 2 You are my protector; why have you abandoned me? Why must I go on suffering from the cruelty of my enemies? 3 Send your light and your truth; may they lead me and bring me back to Zion, your sacred hill, and to your Temple, where you live. 4 Then I will go to your altar, O God; you are the source of my happiness. I will play my harp and sing praise to you, O God, my God. 5 Why am I so sad? Why am I so troubled? I will put my hope in God, and once again I will praise him, my savior and my God.

Psalm 142:1 I call to the Lord for help; I plead with him. 2 I bring him all my complaints; I tell him all my troubles. 3 When I am ready to give up, he knows what I should do. In the path where I walk, my enemies have hidden a trap for me. 4 When I look beside me, I see that there is no one to help me, no one to protect me. No one cares for me. 5 Lord, I cry to you for help; you, Lord, are my protector; you are all I want in this life. 6 Listen to my cry for help, for I am sunk in despair. Save me from my enemies; they are too strong for me. 7 Set me free from my distress; then in the assembly of your people I will praise you because of your goodness to me.

2562-Psalm 11:1 I trust in the Lord for safety. How foolish of you to say to me, "Fly away like a bird to the mountains, 2 because the wicked have drawn their bows and aimed their arrows to shoot from the shadows at good people. 3 There is nothing a good person can do when everything falls apart." 4 The Lord is in his holy temple; he has his throne in heaven. He watches people everywhere and knows what they are doing. 5 He examines the good and the wicked alike; the lawless he hates with all his heart. 6 He sends down flaming coals and burning sulfur on the wicked; he punishes them with scorching winds. 7 The Lord is righteous and loves good deeds; those who do them will live in his presence.

Psalm 23:1 The Lord is my shepherd; I have everything I need. 2 He lets me rest in fields of green grass and leads me to quiet pools of fresh water. 3 He gives me new strength. He guides me in the right paths, as he has promised. 4 Even if I go through the deepest darkness, I will not be afraid, Lord, for you are with me. Your shepherd's rod and staff protect me. 5 You prepare a banquet for me, where all my enemies can see me; you welcome me as an honored guest and fill my cup to the brim. 6 I know that your goodness and love will be with me all my life; and your house will be my home as long as I live.

Psalm 27:1 The Lord is my light and my salvation; I will fear no one. The Lord protects me from all danger; I will never be afraid. 2 When evil people attack me and try to kill me, they stumble and fall. 3 Even if a whole army surrounds me, I will not be afraid; even if enemies attack me, I will still trust God. 4 I have asked the Lord for one thing; one thing only do I want: to live in the Lord's house all my life, to marvel there at his goodness, and to ask for his guidance. 5 In times of trouble he will shelter me; he will keep me safe in his Temple and make me secure on a high rock. 6 So I will triumph over my enemies around me. With shouts of joy I will offer sacrifices in his Temple; I will sing, I will praise the Lord. 7 Hear me, Lord, when I call to you! Be merciful and answer me! 8 When you said, "Come worship me," I answered, "I will come, Lord." 9 Don't hide yourself from me! Don't be angry with me; don't turn your servant away. You have been my help; don't leave me, don't abandon me, O God, my savior. 10 My father and mother may abandon me, but the Lord will take care of me. 11 Teach me, Lord, what you want me to do, and lead me along a safe path, because I have many enemies. 12 Don't abandon me to my enemies, who attack me with lies and threats. 13 I know that I will live to see the Lord's goodness in this present life. 14 Trust in the Lord. Have faith, do not despair. Trust in the Lord.

Psalm 63:1 O God, you are my God, and I long for you. My whole being desires you; like a dry, worn-out, and waterless land, my soul is thirsty for you. 2 Let me see you in the sanctuary; let me see how mighty and glorious you are. 3 Your constant love is better than life itself, and so I will praise you. 4 I will give you thanks as long as I live; I will raise my hands to you in prayer. 5 My soul will feast and be satisfied, and I will sing glad songs of praise to you. 6 As I lie in bed, I remember you; all night long I think of you, 7 because you have always been my help. In the shadow of your wings I sing for joy. 8 I cling to you, and your hand keeps me safe. 9 Those who are trying to kill me will go down into the world of the dead. 10 They will be killed in battle, and their bodies eaten by wolves. 11 Because God gives him victory, the king will rejoice. Those who make promises in God's name will praise him, but the mouths of liars will be shut.

Psalm 107:1 "Give thanks to the Lord, because he is good; his love is eternal!" 2 Repeat these words in praise to the Lord, all you whom he has saved. He has rescued you from your enemies 3 and has brought you back from foreign countries, from east and west, from north and south. 4 Some wandered in the trackless desert and could not find their way to a city to live in. 5 They were hungry and thirsty and had given up all hope. 6 Then in their trouble they called to the Lord, and he saved them from their distress. 7 He led them by a straight road to a city where they could live. 8 They must thank the Lord for his constant love, for the wonderful things he did for them. 9 He satisfies those who are thirsty and fills the hungry with good things. 10 Some were living in gloom and darkness, prisoners suffering in chains, 11 because they had rebelled against the commands of Almighty God and had rejected his instructions. 12 They were worn out from hard work; they would fall down, and no one would help. 13 Then in their trouble they called to the Lord, and he saved them from their distress. 14 He brought them out of their gloom and darkness and broke their chains in pieces. 15 They must thank the Lord for his constant love, for the wonderful things he did for them. 16 He breaks down doors of bronze and smashes iron bars. 17 Some were fools, suffering because of their sins and because of their evil; 18 they couldn't stand the sight of food and were close to death. 19 Then in their trouble they called to the Lord, and he saved them from their distress. 20 He healed them with his command and saved them from the grave. 21 They must thank the Lord for his constant love, for the wonderful things he did for them. 22 They must thank him with sacrifices, and with songs of joy must tell all that he has done. 23 Some sailed over the ocean in ships, earning their living on the seas. 24 They saw what the Lord can do, his wonderful acts on the seas. 25 He commanded, and a mighty wind began to blow and stirred up the waves. 26 The ships were lifted high in the air and plunged down into the depths. In such danger the sailors lost their courage; 27 they stumbled and staggered like drunks - all their skill was useless. 28 Then in their trouble they called to the Lord, and he saved them from their distress. 29 He calmed the raging storm, and the waves became quiet. 30 They were glad because of the calm, and he brought them safe to the port they wanted. 31 They must thank the Lord for his constant love, for the wonderful things he did for them. 32 They must proclaim his greatness in the assembly of the people and praise him before the council of the leaders. 33 The Lord made rivers dry up completely and stopped springs from flowing. 34 He made rich soil become a salty wasteland because of the wickedness of those who lived there. 35 He changed deserts into pools of water and dry land into flowing springs. 36 He let hungry people settle there, and they built a city to live in. 37 They sowed the fields and planted grapevines and reaped an abundant harvest. 38 He blessed his people, and they had many children; he kept their herds of cattle from decreasing. 39 When God's people were defeated and humiliated by cruel oppression and suffering, 40 he showed contempt for their oppressors and made them wander in trackless deserts. 41 But he rescued the needy from their misery and made their families increase like flocks. 42 The righteous see this and are glad, but all the wicked are put to silence. 43 May those who are wise think about these things; may they consider the Lord's constant love.

2563-Psalm 32:1 Happy are those whose sins are forgiven, whose wrongs are pardoned. 2 Happy is the one whom the Lord does not accuse of doing wrong and who is free from all deceit. 3 When I did not confess my sins, I was worn out from crying all day long. 4 Day and night you punished me, Lord; my strength was completely drained, as moisture is dried up by the summer heat. 5 Then I confessed my sins to you; I did not conceal my wrongdoings. I decided to confess them to you, and you forgave all my sins. 6 So all your loyal people should pray to you in times of need; when a great flood of trouble comes rushing in, it will not reach them. 7 You are my hiding place; you will save me from trouble. I sing aloud of your salvation, because you protect me. 8 The Lord says, "I will teach you the way you should go; I will instruct you and advise you. 9 Don't be stupid like a horse or a mule, which must be controlled with a bit and bridle to make it submit." 10 The wicked will have to suffer, but those who trust in the Lord are protected by his constant love. 11 You that are righteous, be glad and rejoice because of what the Lord has done. You that obey him, shout for joy!

Psalm 51:1 Be merciful to me, O God, because of your constant love. Because of your great mercy wipe away my sins! 2 Wash away all my evil and make me clean from my sin! 3 I recognize my faults; I am always conscious of my sins. 4 I have sinned against you - only against you - and done what you consider evil. So you are right in judging me; you are justified in condemning me. 5 I have been evil from the day I was born; from the time I was conceived, I have been sinful. 6 Sincerity and truth are what you require; fill my mind with your wisdom. 7 Remove my sin, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. 8 Let me hear the sounds of joy and gladness; and though you have crushed me and broken me, I will be happy once again. 9 Close your eyes to my sins and wipe out all my evil. 10 Create a pure heart in me, O God, and put a new and loyal spirit in me. 11 Do not banish me from your presence; do not take your holy spirit away from me. 12 Give me again the joy that comes from your salvation, and make me willing to obey you. 13 Then I will teach sinners your commands, and they will turn back to you. 14 Spare my life, O God, and save me, and I will gladly proclaim your righteousness. 15 Help me to speak, Lord, and I will praise you. 16 You do not want sacrifices, or I would offer them; you are not pleased with burnt offerings. 17 My sacrifice is a humble spirit, O God; you will not reject a humble and repentant heart. 18 O God, be kind to Zion and help her; rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. 19 Then you will be pleased with proper sacrifices and with our burnt offerings; and bulls will be sacrificed on your altar.

Psalm 90:1 O Lord, you have always been our home. 2 Before you created the hills or brought the world into being, you were eternally God, and will be God forever. 3 You tell us to return to what we were; you change us back to dust. 4 A thousand years to you are like one day; they are like yesterday, already gone, like a short hour in the night. 5 You carry us away like a flood; we last no longer than a dream. We are like weeds that sprout in the morning, 6 that grow and burst into bloom, then dry up and die in the evening. 7 We are destroyed by your anger; we are terrified by your fury. 8 You place our sins before you, our secret sins where you can see them. 9 Our life is cut short by your anger; it fades away like a whisper. 10 Seventy years is all we have - eighty years, if we are strong; yet all they bring us is trouble and sorrow; life is soon over, and we are gone. 11 Who has felt the full power of your anger? Who knows what fear your fury can bring? 12 Teach us how short our life is, so that we may become wise. 13 How much longer will your anger last? Have pity, O Lord, on your servants! 14 Fill us each morning with your constant love, so that we may sing and be glad all our life. 15 Give us now as much happiness as the sadness you gave us during all our years of misery. 16 Let us, your servants, see your mighty deeds; let our descendants see your glorious might. 17 Lord our God, may your blessings be with us. Give us success in all we do!

Psalm 102:1 Listen to my prayer, O Lord, and hear my cry for help! 2 When I am in trouble, don't turn away from me! Listen to me, and answer me quickly when I call! 3 My life is disappearing like smoke; my body is burning like fire. 4 I am beaten down like dry grass; I have lost my desire for food. 5 I groan aloud; I am nothing but skin and bones. 6 I am like a wild bird in the desert, like an owl in abandoned ruins. 7 I lie awake; I am like a lonely bird on a housetop. 8 All day long my enemies insult me; those who mock me use my name in cursing. 9 Because of your anger and fury, ashes are my food, and my tears are mixed with my drink. You picked me up and threw me away. 11 My life is like the evening shadows; I am like dry grass. 12 But you, O Lord, are king forever; all generations will remember you. 13 You will rise and take pity on Zion; the time has come to have mercy on her; this is the right time. 14 Your servants love her, even though she is destroyed; they have pity on her, even though she is in ruins. 15 The nations will fear the Lord; all the kings of the earth will fear his power. 16 When the Lord rebuilds Zion, he will reveal his greatness. 17 He will hear his forsaken people and listen to their prayer. 18 Write down for the coming generation what the Lord has done, so that people not yet born will praise him. 19 The Lord looked down from his holy place on high, he looked down from heaven to earth. 20 He heard the groans of prisoners and set free those who were condemned to die. 21 And so his name will be proclaimed in Zion, and he will be praised in Jerusalem 22 when nations and kingdoms come together and worship the Lord. 23 The Lord has made me weak while I am still young; he has shortened my life. 24 O God, do not take me away now before I grow old. O Lord, you live forever; 25 long ago you created the earth, and with your own hands you made the heavens. 26 They will disappear, but you will remain; they will all wear out like clothes. You will discard them like clothes, and they will vanish. 27 But you are always the same, and your life never ends. 28 Our children will live in safety, and under your protection their descendants will be secure.

Psalm 106:1 Praise the Lord! Give thanks to the Lord, because he is good; his love is eternal. 2 Who can tell all the great things he has done? Who can praise him enough? 3 Happy are those who obey his commands, who always do what is right. 4 Remember me, Lord, when you help your people; include me when you save them. 5 Let me see the prosperity of your people and share in the happiness of your nation, in the glad pride of those who belong to you. 6 We have sinned as our ancestors did; we have been wicked and evil. 7 Our ancestors in Egypt did not understand God's wonderful acts; they forgot the many times he showed them his love, and they rebelled against the Almighty at the Red Sea. 8 But he saved them, as he had promised, in order to show his great power. 9 He gave a command to the Red Sea, and it dried up; he led his people across on dry land. 10 He saved them from those who hated them; he rescued them from their enemies. 11 But the water drowned their enemies; not one of them was left. 12 Then his people believed his promises and sang praises to him. 13 But they quickly forgot what he had done and acted without waiting for his advice. 14 They were filled with craving in the desert and put God to the test; 15 so he gave them what they asked for, but also sent a terrible disease among them. 16 There in the desert they were jealous of Moses and of Aaron, the Lord's holy servant. 17 Then the earth opened up and swallowed Dathan and buried Abiram and his family; 18 fire came down on their followers and burned up those wicked people. 19 They made a gold bull-calf at Sinai and worshiped that idol; 20 they exchanged the glory of God for the image of an animal that eats grass. 21 They forgot the God who had saved them by his mighty acts in Egypt. 22 What wonderful things he did there! What amazing things at the Red Sea! 23 When God said that he would destroy his people, his chosen servant, Moses, stood up against God and kept his anger from destroying them. 24 Then they rejected the pleasant land, because they did not believe God's promise. 25 They stayed in their tents and grumbled and would not listen to the Lord. 26 So he gave them a solemn warning that he would make them die in the desert 27 and scatter their descendants among the heathen, letting them die in foreign countries. 28 Then at Peor, God's people joined in the worship of Baal and ate sacrifices offered to dead gods. 29 They stirred up the Lord's anger by their actions, and a terrible disease broke out among them. 30 But Phinehas stood up and punished the guilty, and the plague was stopped. 31 This has been remembered in his favor ever since and will be for all time to come. 32 At the springs of Meribah the people made the Lord angry, and Moses was in trouble on their account. 33 They made him so bitter that he spoke without stopping to think. 34 They did not kill the heathen, as the Lord had commanded them to do, 35 but they intermarried with them and adopted their pagan ways. 36 God's people worshiped idols, and this caused their destruction. 37 They offered their own sons and daughters as sacrifices to the idols of Canaan. 38 They killed those innocent children, and the land was defiled by those murders. 39 They made themselves impure by their actions and were unfaithful to God. 40 So the Lord was angry with his people; he was disgusted with them. 41 He abandoned them to the power of the heathen, and their enemies ruled over them. 42 They were oppressed by their enemies and were in complete subjection to them. 43 Many times the Lord rescued his people, but they chose to rebel against him and sank deeper into sin. 44 Yet the Lord heard them when they cried out, and he took notice of their distress. 45 For their sake he remembered his covenant, and because of his great love he relented. 46 He made all their oppressors feel sorry for them. 47 Save us, O Lord our God, and bring us back from among the nations, so that we may be thankful and praise your holy name. 48 Praise the Lord, the God of Israel; praise him now and forever! Let everyone say, "Amen!" Praise the Lord!

2564-Psalm 35:1 Oppose those who oppose me, Lord, and fight those who fight against me! 2 Take your shield and armor and come to my rescue. 3 Lift up your spear and war ax against those who pursue me. Promise that you will save me. 4 May those who try to kill me be defeated and disgraced! May those who plot against me be turned back and confused! 5 May they be like straw blown by the wind as the angel of the Lord pursues them! 6 May their path be dark and slippery while the angel of the Lord strikes them down! 7 Without any reason they laid a trap for me and dug a deep hole to catch me. 8 But destruction will catch them before they know it; they will be caught in their own trap and fall to their destruction! 9 Then I will be glad because of the Lord; I will be happy because he saved me. 10 With all my heart I will say to the Lord, "There is no one like you. You protect the weak from the strong, the poor from the oppressor." 11 Evil people testify against me and accuse me of crimes I know nothing about. 12 They pay me back evil for good, and I sink in despair. 13 But when they were sick, I dressed in mourning; I deprived myself of food; I prayed with my head bowed low, 14 as I would pray for a friend or a brother. I went around bent over in mourning, as one who mourns for his mother. 15 But when I was in trouble, they were all glad and gathered around to make fun of me; strangers beat me and kept striking me. 16 Like those who would mock a cripple, they glared at me with hate. 17 How much longer, Lord, will you just look on? Rescue me from their attacks; save my life from these lions! 18 Then I will thank you in the assembly of your people; I will praise you before them all. 19 Don't let my enemies, those liars, gloat over my defeat. Don't let those who hate me for no reason smirk with delight over my sorrow. 20 They do not speak in a friendly way; instead they invent all kinds of lies about peace-loving people. 21 They accuse me, shouting, "We saw what you did!" 22 But you, O Lord, have seen this. So don't be silent, Lord; don't keep yourself far away! 23 Rouse yourself, O Lord, and defend me; rise up, my God, and plead my cause. 24 You are righteous, O Lord, so declare me innocent; don't let my enemies gloat over me. 25 Don't let them say to themselves, "We are rid of him! That's just what we wanted!" 26 May those who gloat over my suffering be completely defeated and confused; may those who claim to be better than I am be covered with shame and disgrace. 27 May those who want to see me acquitted shout for joy and say again and again, "How great is the Lord! He is pleased with the success of his servant." 28 Then I will proclaim your righteousness, and I will praise you all day long.

Psalm 58:1 Do you rulers ever give a just decision? Do you judge everyone fairly? 2 No! You think only of the evil you can do, and commit crimes of violence in the land. 3 Evildoers go wrong all their lives; they tell lies from the day they are born. 4 They are full of poison like snakes; they stop up their ears like a deaf cobra, 5 which does not hear the voice of the snake charmer, or the chant of the clever magician. 6 Break the teeth of these fierce lions, O God. 7 May they disappear like water draining away; may they be crushed like weeds on a path. 8 May they be like snails that dissolve into slime; may they be like a baby born dead that never sees the light. 9 Before they know it, they are cut down like weeds; in his fierce anger God will blow them away while they are still living. 10 The righteous will be glad when they see sinners punished; they will wade through the blood of the wicked. 11 People will say, "The righteous are indeed rewarded; there is indeed a God who judges the world."

Psalm 59:1 Save me from my enemies, my God; protect me from those who attack me! 2 Save me from those evil people; rescue me from those murderers! 3 Look! They are waiting to kill me; cruel people are gathering against me. It is not because of any sin or wrong I have done, 4 nor because of any fault of mine, O Lord, that they hurry to their places. 5 Rise, Lord God Almighty, and come to my aid; see for yourself, God of Israel! Wake up and punish the heathen; show no mercy to evil traitors! 6 They come back in the evening, snarling like dogs as they go about the city. 7 Listen to their insults and threats. Their tongues are like swords in their mouths, yet they think that no one hears them. 8 But you laugh at them, Lord; you mock all the heathen. 9 I have confidence in your strength; you are my refuge, O God. 10 My God loves me and will come to me; he will let me see my enemies defeated. 11 Do not kill them, O God, or my people may forget. Scatter them by your strength and defeat them, O Lord, our protector. 12 Sin is on their lips; all their words are sinful; may they be caught in their pride! Because they curse and lie, 13 destroy them in your anger; destroy them completely. Then everyone will know that God rules in Israel, that his rule extends over all the earth. 14 My enemies come back in the evening, snarling like dogs as they go about the city, 15 like dogs roaming about for food and growling if they do not find enough. 16 But I will sing about your strength; every morning I will sing aloud of your constant love. You have been a refuge for me, a shelter in my time of trouble. 17 I will praise you, my defender. My refuge is God, the God who loves me.

Psalm 129:1 Israel, tell us how your enemies have persecuted you ever since you were young. 2 "Ever since I was young, my enemies have persecuted me cruelly, but they have not overcome me. 3 They cut deep wounds in my back and made it like a plowed field. 4 But the Lord, the righteous one, has freed me from slavery." 5 May everyone who hates Zion be defeated and driven back. 6 May they all be like grass growing on the housetops, which dries up before it can grow; 7 no one gathers it up or carries it away in bundles. 8 No one who passes by will say, "May the Lord bless you! We bless you in the name of the Lord."

Psalm 137:1 By the rivers of Babylon we sat down; there we wept when we remembered Zion. 2 On the willows near by we hung up our harps. 3 Those who captured us told us to sing; they told us to entertain them: "Sing us a song about Zion." 4 How can we sing a song to the Lord in a foreign land? 5 May I never be able to play the harp again if I forget you, Jerusalem! 6 May I never be able to sing again if I do not remember you, if I do not think of you as my greatest joy! 7 Remember, Lord, what the Edomites did the day Jerusalem was captured. Remember how they kept saying, "Tear it down to the ground!" 8 Babylon, you will be destroyed. Happy are those who pay you back for what you have done to us - 9 who take your babies and smash them against a rock.

2565-Psalm 2:1 Why do the nations plan rebellion? Why do people make their useless plots? 2 Their kings revolt, their rulers plot together against the Lord and against the king he chose. 3 "Let us free ourselves from their rule," they say; "let us throw off their control." 4 From his throne in heaven the Lord laughs and mocks their feeble plans. 5 Then he warns them in anger and terrifies them with his fury. 6 "On Zion, my sacred hill," he says, "I have installed my king." 7 "I will announce," says the king, "what the Lord has declared. He said to me: "You are my son; today I have become your father. 8 Ask, and I will give you all the nations; the whole earth will be yours. 9 You will break them with an iron rod; you will shatter them in pieces like a clay pot.' " 10 Now listen to this warning, you kings; learn this lesson, you rulers of the world: 11 Serve the Lord with fear; tremble 12 and bow down to him; or else his anger will be quickly aroused, and you will suddenly die. Happy are all who go to him for protection.

Psalm 21:1 The king is glad, O Lord, because you gave him strength; he rejoices because you made him victorious. 2 You have given him his heart's desire; you have answered his request. 3 You came to him with great blessings and set a crown of gold on his head. 4 He asked for life, and you gave it, a long and lasting life. 5 His glory is great because of your help; you have given him fame and majesty. 6 Your blessings are with him forever, and your presence fills him with joy. 7 The king trusts in the Lord Almighty; and because of the Lord's constant love he will always be secure. 8 The king will capture all his enemies; he will capture everyone who hates him. 9 He will destroy them like a blazing fire when he appears. The Lord will devour them in his anger, and fire will consume them. 10 None of their descendants will survive; the king will kill them all. 11 They make their plans, and plot against him, but they will not succeed. 12 He will shoot his arrows at them and make them turn and run. 13 We praise you, Lord, for your great strength! We will sing and praise your power.

Psalm 45:1 Beautiful words fill my mind, as I compose this song for the king. Like the pen of a good writer my tongue is ready with a poem. 2 You are the most handsome of men; you are an eloquent speaker. God has always blessed you. 3 Buckle on your sword, mighty king; you are glorious and majestic. 4 Ride on in majesty to victory for the defense of truth and justice! Your strength will win you great victories! 5 Your arrows are sharp, they pierce the hearts of your enemies; nations fall down at your feet. 6 The kingdom that God has given you will last forever and ever. You rule over your people with justice; 7 you love what is right and hate what is evil. That is why God, your God, has chosen you and has poured out more happiness on you than on any other king. 8 The perfume of myrrh and aloes is on your clothes; musicians entertain you in palaces decorated with ivory. 9 Among the women of your court are daughters of kings, and at the right of your throne stands the queen, wearing ornaments of finest gold. 10 Bride of the king, listen to what I say - forget your people and your relatives. 11 Your beauty will make the king desire you; he is your master, so you must obey him. 12 The people of Tyre will bring you gifts; rich people will try to win your favor. 13 The princess is in the palace - how beautiful she is! Her gown is made of gold thread. 14 In her colorful gown she is led to the king, followed by her bridesmaids, and they also are brought to him. 15 With joy and gladness they come and enter the king's palace. 16 You, my king, will have many sons to succeed your ancestors as kings, and you will make them rulers over the whole earth. 17 My song will keep your fame alive forever, and everyone will praise you for all time to come.

Psalm 72:1 Teach the king to judge with your righteousness, O God; share with him your own justice, 2 so that he will rule over your people with justice and govern the oppressed with righteousness. 3 May the land enjoy prosperity; may it experience righteousness. 4 May the king judge the poor fairly; may he help the needy and defeat their oppressors. 5 May your people worship you as long as the sun shines, as long as the moon gives light, for ages to come. 6 May the king be like rain on the fields, like showers falling on the land. 7 May righteousness flourish in his lifetime, and may prosperity last as long as the moon gives light. 8 His kingdom will reach from sea to sea, from the Euphrates to the ends of the earth. 9 The peoples of the desert will bow down before him; his enemies will throw themselves to the ground. 10 The kings of Spain and of the islands will offer him gifts; the kings of Sheba and Seba will bring him offerings. 11 All kings will bow down before him; all nations will serve him. 12 He rescues the poor who call to him, and those who are needy and neglected. 13 He has pity on the weak and poor; he saves the lives of those in need. 14 He rescues them from oppression and violence; their lives are precious to him. 15 Long live the king! May he be given gold from Sheba; may prayers be said for him at all times; may God's blessings be on him always! 16 May there be plenty of grain in the land; may the hills be covered with crops, as fruitful as those of Lebanon. May the cities be filled with people, like fields full of grass. 17 May the king's name never be forgotten; may his fame last as long as the sun. May all nations ask God to bless them as he has blessed the king. 18 Praise the Lord, the God of Israel! He alone does these wonderful things. 19 Praise his glorious name forever! May his glory fill the whole world. Amen! Amen! 20 This is the end of the prayers of David son of Jesse.

Psalm 110:1 The Lord said to my lord, "Sit here at my right side until I put your enemies under your feet." 2 From Zion the Lord will extend your royal power. "Rule over your enemies," he says. 3 On the day you fight your enemies, your people will volunteer. Like the dew of early morning your young men will come to you on the sacred hills. 4 The Lord made a solemn promise and will not take it back: "You will be a priest forever in the priestly order of Melchizedek." 5 The Lord is at your right side; when he becomes angry, he will defeat kings. 6 He will pass judgment on the nations and fill the battlefield with corpses; he will defeat kings all over the earth. 7 The king will drink from the stream by the road, and strengthened, he will stand victorious.

2566-Psalm 10:1 Why are you so far away, O Lord? Why do you hide yourself when we are in trouble? 2 The wicked are proud and persecute the poor; catch them in the traps they have made. 3 The wicked are proud of their evil desires; the greedy curse and reject the Lord. 4 The wicked do not care about the Lord; in their pride they think that God doesn't matter. 5 The wicked succeed in everything. They cannot understand God's judgments; they sneer at their enemies. 6 They say to themselves, "We will never fail; we will never be in trouble." 7 Their speech is filled with curses, lies, and threats; they are quick to speak hateful, evil words. 8 They hide themselves in the villages, waiting to murder innocent people. They spy on their helpless victims; 9 they wait in their hiding place like lions. They lie in wait for the poor; they catch them in their traps and drag them away. 10 The helpless victims lie crushed; brute strength has defeated them. 11 The wicked say to themselves, "God doesn't care! He has closed his eyes and will never see me!" 12 O Lord, punish those wicked people! Remember those who are suffering! 13 How can the wicked despise God and say to themselves, "He will not punish me"? 14 But you do see; you take notice of trouble and suffering and are always ready to help. The helpless commit themselves to you; you have always helped the needy. 15 Break the power of wicked and evil people; punish them for the wrong they have done until they do it no more. 16 The Lord is king forever and ever. Those who worship other gods will vanish from his land. 17 You will listen, O Lord, to the prayers of the lowly; you will give them courage. 18 You will hear the cries of the oppressed and the orphans; you will judge in their favor, so that mortal men may cause terror no more.

Psalm 42:1 As a deer longs for a stream of cool water, so I long for you, O God. 2 I thirst for you, the living God. When can I go and worship in your presence? 3 Day and night I cry, and tears are my only food; all the time my enemies ask me, "Where is your God?" 4 My heart breaks when I remember the past, when I went with the crowds to the house of God and led them as they walked along, a happy crowd, singing and shouting praise to God. 5 Why am I so sad? Why am I so troubled? I will put my hope in God, and once again I will praise him, my savior and my God. 6 Here in exile my heart is breaking, and so I turn my thoughts to him. He has sent waves of sorrow over my soul; chaos roars at me like a flood, like waterfalls thundering down to the Jordan from Mount Hermon and Mount Mizar. 8 May the Lord show his constant love during the day, so that I may have a song at night, a prayer to the God of my life. 9 To God, my defender, I say, "Why have you forgotten me? Why must I go on suffering from the cruelty of my enemies?" 10 I am crushed by their insults, as they keep on asking me, "Where is your God?" 11 Why am I so sad? Why am I so troubled? I will put my hope in God, and once again I will praise him, my savior and my God.

Psalm 55:1 Hear my prayer, O God; don't turn away from my plea! 2 Listen to me and answer me; I am worn out by my worries. 3 I am terrified by the threats of my enemies, crushed by the oppression of the wicked. They bring trouble on me; they are angry with me and hate me. 4 I am terrified, and the terrors of death crush me. 5 I am gripped by fear and trembling; I am overcome with horror. 6 I wish I had wings like a dove. I would fly away and find rest. 7 I would fly far away and make my home in the desert. 8 I would hurry and find myself a shelter from the raging wind and the storm. 9 Confuse the speech of my enemies, O Lord! I see violence and riots in the city, 10 surrounding it day and night, filling it with crime and trouble. 11 There is destruction everywhere; the streets are full of oppression and fraud. 12 If it were an enemy making fun of me, I could endure it; if it were an opponent boasting over me, I could hide myself from him. 13 But it is you, my companion, my colleague and close friend. 14 We had intimate talks with each other and worshiped together in the Temple. 15 May my enemies die before their time; may they go down alive into the world of the dead! Evil is in their homes and in their hearts. 16 But I call to the Lord God for help, and he will save me. 17 Morning, noon, and night my complaints and groans go up to him, and he will hear my voice. 18 He will bring me safely back from the battles that I fight against so many enemies. 19 God, who has ruled from eternity, will hear me and defeat them; for they refuse to change, and they do not fear him. 20 My former companion attacked his friends; he broke his promises. 21 His words were smoother than cream, but there was hatred in his heart; his words were as soothing as oil, but they cut like sharp swords. 22 Leave your troubles with the Lord, and he will defend you; he never lets honest people be defeated. 23 But you, O God, will bring those murderers and liars to their graves before half their life is over. As for me, I will trust in you.

Psalm 73:1 God is indeed good to Israel, to those who have pure hearts. 2 But I had nearly lost confidence; my faith was almost gone 3 because I was jealous of the proud when I saw that things go well for the wicked. 4 They do not suffer pain; they are strong and healthy. 5 They do not suffer as other people do; they do not have the troubles that others have. 6 And so they wear pride like a necklace and violence like a robe; 7 their hearts pour out evil, and their minds are busy with wicked schemes. 8 They laugh at other people and speak of evil things; they are proud and make plans to oppress others. 9 They speak evil of God in heaven and give arrogant orders to everyone on earth, 10 so that even God's people turn to them and eagerly believe whatever they say. 11 They say, "God will not know; the Most High will not find out." 12 That is what the wicked are like. They have plenty and are always getting more. 13 Is it for nothing, then, that I have kept myself pure and have not committed sin? 14 O God, you have made me suffer all day long; every morning you have punished me. 15 If I had said such things, I would not be acting as one of your people. 16 I tried to think this problem through, but it was too difficult for me 17 until I went into your Temple. Then I understood what will happen to the wicked. 18 You will put them in slippery places and make them fall to destruction! 19 They are instantly destroyed; they go down to a horrible end. 20 They are like a dream that goes away in the morning; when you rouse yourself, O Lord, they disappear. 21 When my thoughts were bitter and my feelings were hurt, 22 I was as stupid as an animal; I did not understand you. 23 Yet I always stay close to you, and you hold me by the hand. 24 You guide me with your instruction and at the end you will receive me with honor. 25 What else do I have in heaven but you? Since I have you, what else could I want on earth? 26 My mind and my body may grow weak, but God is my strength; he is all I ever need. 27 Those who abandon you will certainly perish; you will destroy those who are unfaithful to you. 28 But as for me, how wonderful to be near God, to find protection with the Sovereign Lord and to proclaim all that he has done!

Psalm 74:1 Why have you abandoned us like this, O God? Will you be angry with your own people forever? 2 Remember your people, whom you chose for yourself long ago, whom you brought out of slavery to be your own tribe. Remember Mount Zion, where once you lived. 3 Walk over these total ruins; our enemies have destroyed everything in the Temple. 4 Your enemies have shouted in triumph in your Temple; they have placed their flags there as signs of victory. 5 They looked like woodsmen cutting down trees with their axes. 6 They smashed all the wooden panels with their axes and sledge hammers. 7 They wrecked your Temple and set it on fire; they desecrated the place where you are worshiped. 8 They wanted to crush us completely; they burned down every holy place in the land. 9 All our sacred symbols are gone; there are no prophets left, and no one knows how long this will last. 10 How long, O God, will our enemies laugh at you? Will they insult your name forever? 11 Why have you refused to help us? Why do you keep your hands behind you? 12 But you have been our king from the beginning, O God; you have saved us many times. 13 With your mighty strength you divided the sea and smashed the heads of the sea monsters; 14 you crushed the heads of the monster Leviathan and fed his body to desert animals. 15 You made springs and fountains flow; you dried up large rivers. 16 You created the day and the night; you set the sun and the moon in their places; 17 you set the limits of the earth; you made summer and winter. 18 But remember, O Lord, that your enemies laugh at you, that they are godless and despise you. 19 Don't abandon your helpless people to their cruel enemies; don't forget your persecuted people! 20 Remember the covenant you made with us. There is violence in every dark corner of the land. 21 Don't let the oppressed be put to shame; let those poor and needy people praise you. 22 Rouse yourself, God, and defend your cause! Remember that godless people laugh at you all day long. 23 Don't forget the angry shouts of your enemies, the continuous noise made by your foes.

Psalm 77:1 I cry aloud to God; I cry aloud, and he hears me. 2 In times of trouble I pray to the Lord; all night long I lift my hands in prayer, but I cannot find comfort. 3 When I think of God, I sigh; when I meditate, I feel discouraged. 4 He keeps me awake all night; I am so worried that I cannot speak. 5 I think of days gone by and remember years of long ago. 6 I spend the night in deep thought; I meditate, and this is what I ask myself: 7 "Will the Lord always reject us? Will he never again be pleased with us? 8 Has he stopped loving us? Does his promise no longer stand? 9 Has God forgotten to be merciful? Has anger taken the place of his compassion?" 10 Then I said, "What hurts me most is this - that God is no longer powerful." 11 I will remember your great deeds, Lord; I will recall the wonders you did in the past. 12 I will think about all that you have done; I will meditate on all your mighty acts. 13 Everything you do, O God, is holy. No god is as great as you. 14 You are the God who works miracles; you showed your might among the nations. 15 By your power you saved your people, the descendants of Jacob and of Joseph. 16 When the waters saw you, O God, they were afraid, and the depths of the sea trembled. 17 The clouds poured down rain; thunder crashed from the sky, and lightning flashed in all directions. 18 The crash of your thunder rolled out, and flashes of lightning lit up the world; the earth trembled and shook. 19 You walked through the waves; you crossed the deep sea, but your footprints could not be seen. 20 You led your people like a shepherd, with Moses and Aaron in charge.

2567-Psalm 91:1 Whoever goes to the Lord for safety, whoever remains under the protection of the Almighty, 2 can say to him, "You are my defender and protector. You are my God; in you I trust." 3 He will keep you safe from all hidden dangers and from all deadly diseases. 4 He will cover you with his wings; you will be safe in his care; his faithfulness will protect and defend you. 5 You need not fear any dangers at night or sudden attacks during the day 6 or the plagues that strike in the dark or the evils that kill in daylight. 7 A thousand may fall dead beside you, ten thousand all around you, but you will not be harmed. 8 You will look and see how the wicked are punished. 9 You have made the Lord your defender, the Most High your protector, 10 and so no disaster will strike you, no violence will come near your home. 11 God will put his angels in charge of you to protect you wherever you go. 12 They will hold you up with their hands to keep you from hurting your feet on the stones. 13 You will trample down lions and snakes, fierce lions and poisonous snakes. 14 God says, "I will save those who love me and will protect those who acknowledge me as Lord. 15 When they call to me, I will answer them; when they are in trouble, I will be with them. I will rescue them and honor them. 16 I will reward them with long life; I will save them."

Psalm 16:1 Protect me, O God; I trust in you for safety. 2 I say to the Lord, "You are my Lord; all the good things I have come from you." 3 How excellent are the Lord's faithful people! My greatest pleasure is to be with them. 4 Those who rush to other gods bring many troubles on themselves. I will not take part in their sacrifices; I will not worship their gods. 5 You, Lord, are all I have, and you give me all I need; my future is in your hands. 6 How wonderful are your gifts to me; how good they are! 7 I praise the Lord, because he guides me, and in the night my conscience warns me. 8 I am always aware of the Lord's presence; he is near, and nothing can shake me. 9 And so I am thankful and glad, and I feel completely secure, 10 because you protect me from the power of death. I have served you faithfully, and you will not abandon me to the world of the dead. 11 You will show me the path that leads to life; your presence fills me with joy and brings me pleasure forever.

Psalm 18:1 How I love you, Lord! You are my defender. 2 The Lord is my protector; he is my strong fortress. My God is my protection, and with him I am safe. He protects me like a shield; he defends me and keeps me safe. 3 I call to the Lord, and he saves me from my enemies. Praise the Lord! 4 The danger of death was all around me; the waves of destruction rolled over me. 5 The danger of death was around me, and the grave set its trap for me. 6 In my trouble I called to the Lord; I called to my God for help. In his temple he heard my voice; he listened to my cry for help. 7 Then the earth trembled and shook; the foundations of the mountains rocked and quivered, because God was angry. 8 Smoke poured out of his nostrils, a consuming flame and burning coals from his mouth. 9 He tore the sky open and came down with a dark cloud under his feet. 10 He flew swiftly on his winged creature; he traveled on the wings of the wind. 11 He covered himself with darkness; thick clouds, full of water, surrounded him. 12 Hailstones and flashes of fire came from the lightning before him and broke through the dark clouds. 13 Then the Lord thundered from the sky; and the voice of the Most High was heard. 14 He shot his arrows and scattered his enemies; with flashes of lightning he sent them running. 15 The floor of the ocean was laid bare, and the foundations of the earth were uncovered, when you rebuked your enemies, Lord, and roared at them in anger. 16 The Lord reached down from above and took hold of me; he pulled me out of the deep waters. 17 He rescued me from my powerful enemies and from all those who hate me - they were too strong for me. 18 When I was in trouble, they attacked me, but the Lord protected me. 19 He helped me out of danger; he saved me because he was pleased with me. 20 The Lord rewards me because I do what is right; he blesses me because I am innocent. 21 I have obeyed the law of the Lord; I have not turned away from my God. 22 I have observed all his laws; I have not disobeyed his commands. 23 He knows that I am faultless, that I have kept myself from doing wrong. 24 And so he rewards me because I do what is right, because he knows that I am innocent. 25 O Lord, you are faithful to those who are faithful to you; completely good to those who are perfect. 26 You are pure to those who are pure, but hostile to those who are wicked. 27 You save those who are humble, but you humble those who are proud. 28 O Lord, you give me light; you dispel my darkness. 29 You give me strength to attack my enemies and power to overcome their defenses. 30 This God - how perfect are his deeds! How dependable his words! He is like a shield for all who seek his protection. 31 The Lord alone is God; God alone is our defense. 32 He is the God who makes me strong, who makes my pathway safe. 33 He makes me sure-footed as a deer; he keeps me safe on the mountains. 34 He trains me for battle, so that I can use the strongest bow. 35 O Lord, you protect me and save me; your care has made me great, and your power has kept me safe. 36 You have kept me from being captured, and I have never fallen. 37 I pursue my enemies and catch them; I do not stop until I destroy them. 38 I strike them down, and they cannot rise; they lie defeated before me. 39 You give me strength for the battle and victory over my enemies. 40 You make my enemies run from me; I destroy those who hate me. 41 They cry for help, but no one saves them; they call to the Lord, but he does not answer. 42 I crush them, so that they become like dust which the wind blows away. I trample on them like mud in the streets. 43 You saved me from a rebellious people and made me ruler over the nations; people I did not know have now become my subjects. 44 Foreigners bow before me; when they hear me, they obey. 45 They lose their courage and come trembling from their fortresses. 46 The Lord lives! Praise my defender! Proclaim the greatness of the God who saves me. 47 He gives me victory over my enemies; he subdues the nations under me 48 and saves me from my foes. O Lord, you give me victory over my enemies and protect me from violent people. 49 And so I praise you among the nations; I sing praises to you. 50 God gives great victories to his king; he shows constant love to the one he has chosen, to David and his descendants forever.

Psalm 31:1 I come to you, Lord, for protection; never let me be defeated. You are a righteous God; save me, I pray! 2 Hear me! Save me now! Be my refuge to protect me; my defense to save me. 3 You are my refuge and defense; guide me and lead me as you have promised. 4 Keep me safe from the trap that has been set for me; shelter me from danger. 5 I place myself in your care. You will save me, Lord; you are a faithful God. 6 You hate those who worship false gods, but I trust in you. 7 I will be glad and rejoice because of your constant love. You see my suffering; you know my trouble. 8 You have not let my enemies capture me; you have given me freedom to go where I wish. 9 Be merciful to me, Lord, for I am in trouble; my eyes are tired from so much crying; I am completely worn out. 10 I am exhausted by sorrow, and weeping has shortened my life. I am weak from all my troubles; even my bones are wasting away. 11 All my enemies, and especially my neighbors, treat me with contempt. Those who know me are afraid of me; when they see me in the street, they run away. 12 Everyone has forgotten me, as though I were dead; I am like something thrown away. 13 I hear many enemies whispering; terror is all around me. They are making plans against me, plotting to kill me. 14 But my trust is in you, O Lord; you are my God. 15 I am always in your care; save me from my enemies, from those who persecute me. 16 Look on your servant with kindness; save me in your constant love. 17 I call to you, Lord; don't let me be disgraced. May the wicked be disgraced; may they go silently down to the world of the dead. 18 Silence those liars - all the proud and arrogant who speak with contempt about the righteous. 19 How wonderful are the good things you keep for those who honor you! Everyone knows how good you are, how securely you protect those who trust you. 20 You hide them in the safety of your presence from the plots of others; in a safe shelter you hide them from the insults of their enemies. 21 Praise the Lord! How wonderfully he showed his love for me when I was surrounded and attacked! 22 I was afraid and thought that he had driven me out of his presence. But he heard my cry, when I called to him for help. 23 Love the Lord, all his faithful people. The Lord protects the faithful, but punishes the proud as they deserve. 24 Be strong, be courageous, all you that hope in the Lord.

Psalm 112:1 Praise the Lord! Happy is the person who honors the Lord, who takes pleasure in obeying his commands. 2 The good man's children will be powerful in the land; his descendants will be blessed. 3 His family will be wealthy and rich, and he will be prosperous forever. 4 Light shines in the darkness for good people, for those who are merciful, kind, and just. 5 Happy is the person who is generous with his loans, who runs his business honestly. 6 A good person will never fail; he will always be remembered. 7 He is not afraid of receiving bad news; his faith is strong, and he trusts in the Lord. 8 He is not worried or afraid; he is certain to see his enemies defeated. 9 He gives generously to the needy, and his kindness never fails; he will be powerful and respected. 10 The wicked see this and are angry; they glare in hate and disappear; their hopes are gone forever.

2568-Psalm 99:1 The Lord is king, and the people tremble. He sits on his throne above the winged creatures, and the earth shakes. 2 The Lord is mighty in Zion; he is supreme over all the nations. 3 Everyone will praise his great and majestic name. Holy is he! 4 Mighty king, you love what is right; you have established justice in Israel; you have brought righteousness and fairness. 5 Praise the Lord our God; worship before his throne! Holy is he! 6 Moses and Aaron were his priests, and Samuel was one who prayed to him; they called to the Lord, and he answered them. 7 He spoke to them from the pillar of cloud; they obeyed the laws and commands that he gave them. 8 O Lord, our God, you answered your people; you showed them that you are a God who forgives, even though you punished them for their sins. 9 Praise the Lord our God, and worship at his sacred hill! The Lord our God is holy.

Psalm 93:1 The Lord is king. He is clothed with majesty and strength. The earth is set firmly in place and cannot be moved. 2 Your throne, O Lord, has been firm from the beginning, and you existed before time began. 3 The ocean depths raise their voice, O Lord; they raise their voice and roar. 4 The Lord rules supreme in heaven, greater than the roar of the ocean, more powerful than the waves of the sea. 5 Your laws are eternal, Lord, and your Temple is holy indeed, forever and ever.

Psalm 94:1 Lord, you are a God who punishes; reveal your anger! 2 You are the judge of us all; rise and give the proud what they deserve! 3 How much longer will the wicked be glad? How much longer, Lord? 4 How much longer will criminals be proud and boast about their crimes? 5 They crush your people, Lord; they oppress those who belong to you. 6 They kill widows and orphans, and murder the strangers who live in our land. 7 They say, "The Lord does not see us; the God of Israel does not notice." 8 My people, how can you be such stupid fools? When will you ever learn? 9 God made our ears - can't he hear? He made our eyes - can't he see? 10 He scolds the nations - won't he punish them? He is the teacher of us all - hasn't he any knowledge? 11 The Lord knows what we think; he knows how senseless our reasoning is. 12 Lord, how happy are those you instruct, the ones to whom you teach your law! 13 You give them rest from days of trouble until a pit is dug to trap the wicked. 14 The Lord will not abandon his people; he will not desert those who belong to him. 15 Justice will again be found in the courts, and all righteous people will support it. 16 Who stood up for me against the wicked? Who took my side against the evildoers? 17 If the Lord had not helped me, I would have gone quickly to the land of silence. 18 I said, "I am falling"; but your constant love, O Lord, held me up. 19 Whenever I am anxious and worried, you comfort me and make me glad. 20 You have nothing to do with corrupt judges, who make injustice legal, 21 who plot against good people and sentence the innocent to death. 22 But the Lord defends me; my God protects me. 23 He will punish them for their wickedness and destroy them for their sins; the Lord our God will destroy them.

Psalm 95:1 Come, let us praise the Lord! Let us sing for joy to God, who protects us! 2 Let us come before him with thanksgiving and sing joyful songs of praise. 3 For the Lord is a mighty God, a mighty king over all the gods. 4 He rules over the whole earth, from the deepest caves to the highest hills. 5 He rules over the sea, which he made; the land also, which he himself formed. 6 Come, let us bow down and worship him; let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker! 7 He is our God; we are the people he cares for, the flock for which he provides. Listen today to what he says: 8 "Don't be stubborn, as your ancestors were at Meribah, as they were that day in the desert at Massah. 9 There they put me to the test and tried me, although they had seen what I did for them. 10 For forty years I was disgusted with those people. I said, "How disloyal they are! They refuse to obey my commands.' 11 I was angry and made a solemn promise: "You will never enter the land where I would have given you rest.' "

Psalm 96:1 Sing a new song to the Lord! Sing to the Lord, all the world! 2 Sing to the Lord, and praise him! Proclaim every day the good news that he has saved us. 3 Proclaim his glory to the nations, his mighty deeds to all peoples. 4 The Lord is great and is to be highly praised; he is to be honored more than all the gods. 5 The gods of all other nations are only idols, but the Lord created the heavens. 6 Glory and majesty surround him; power and beauty fill his Temple. 7 Praise the Lord, all people on earth; praise his glory and might. 8 Praise the Lord's glorious name; bring an offering and come into his Temple. 9 Bow down before the Holy One when he appears; tremble before him, all the earth! 10 Say to all the nations, "The Lord is king! The earth is set firmly in place and cannot be moved; he will judge the peoples with justice." 11 Be glad, earth and sky! Roar, sea, and every creature in you; 12 be glad, fields, and everything in you! The trees in the woods will shout for joy 13 when the Lord comes to rule the earth. He will rule the peoples of the world with justice and fairness.

Psalm 97:1 The Lord is king! Earth, be glad! Rejoice, you islands of the seas! 2 Clouds and darkness surround him; he rules with righteousness and justice. 3 Fire goes in front of him and burns up his enemies around him. 4 His lightning lights up the world; the earth sees it and trembles. 5 The hills melt like wax before the Lord, before the Lord of all the earth. 6 The heavens proclaim his righteousness, and all the nations see his glory. 7 Everyone who worships idols is put to shame; all the gods bow down before the Lord. 8 The people of Zion are glad, and the cities of Judah rejoice because of your judgments, O Lord. 9 Lord Almighty, you are ruler of all the earth; you are much greater than all the gods. 10 The Lord loves those who hate evil; he protects the lives of his people; he rescues them from the power of the wicked. 11 Light shines on the righteous, and gladness on the good. 12 All you that are righteous be glad because of what the Lord has done! Remember what the holy God has done, and give thanks to him.

Psalm 98:1 Sing a new song to the Lord; he has done wonderful things! By his own power and holy strength he has won the victory. 2 The Lord announced his victory; he made his saving power known to the nations. 3 He kept his promise to the people of Israel with loyalty and constant love for them. All people everywhere have seen the victory of our God. 4 Sing for joy to the Lord, all the earth; praise him with songs and shouts of joy! 5 Sing praises to the Lord! Play music on the harps! 6 Blow trumpets and horns, and shout for joy to the Lord, our king. 7 Roar, sea, and every creature in you; sing, earth, and all who live on you! 8 Clap your hands, you rivers; you hills, sing together with joy before the Lord, 9 because he comes to rule the earth. He will rule the peoples of the world with justice and fairness.

2569-Psalm 6:1 Lord, don't be angry and rebuke me! Don't punish me in your anger! 2 I am worn out, O Lord; have pity on me! Give me strength; I am completely exhausted 3 and my whole being is deeply troubled. How long, O Lord, will you wait to help me? 4 Come and save me, Lord; in your mercy rescue me from death. 5 In the world of the dead you are not remembered; no one can praise you there. 6 I am worn out with grief; every night my bed is damp from my weeping; my pillow is soaked with tears. 7 I can hardly see; my eyes are so swollen from the weeping caused by my enemies. 8 Keep away from me, you evil people! The Lord hears my weeping; 9 he listens to my cry for help and will answer my prayer. 10 My enemies will know the bitter shame of defeat; in sudden confusion they will be driven away.

Psalm 38:1 O Lord, don't punish me in your anger! 2 You have wounded me with your arrows; you have struck me down. 3 Because of your anger, I am in great pain; my whole body is diseased because of my sins. 4 I am drowning in the flood of my sins; they are a burden too heavy to bear. 5 Because I have been foolish, my sores stink and rot. 6 I am bent over, I am crushed; I mourn all day long. 7 I am burning with fever and I am near death. 8 I am worn out and utterly crushed; my heart is troubled, and I groan with pain. 9 O Lord, you know what I long for; you hear all my groans. 10 My heart is pounding, my strength is gone, and my eyes have lost their brightness. 11 My friends and neighbors will not come near me, because of my sores; even my family keeps away from me. 12 Those who want to kill me lay traps for me, and those who want to hurt me threaten to ruin me; they never stop plotting against me. 13 I am like the deaf and cannot hear, like the dumb and cannot speak. 14 I am like those who do not answer, because they cannot hear. 15 But I trust in you, O Lord; and you, O Lord my God, will answer me. 16 Don't let my enemies gloat over my distress; don't let them boast about my downfall! 17 I am about to fall and am in constant pain. 18 I confess my sins; they fill me with anxiety. 19 My enemies are healthy and strong; there are many who hate me for no reason. 20 Those who pay back evil for good are against me because I try to do right. 21 Do not abandon me, O Lord; do not stay away, my God! 22 Help me now, O Lord my savior!

Psalm 103:1 Praise the Lord, my soul! All my being, praise his holy name! 2 Praise the Lord, my soul, and do not forget how kind he is. 3 He forgives all my sins and heals all my diseases. 4 He keeps me from the grave and blesses me with love and mercy. 5 He fills my life with good things, so that I stay young and strong like an eagle. 6 The Lord judges in favor of the oppressed and gives them their rights. 7 He revealed his plans to Moses and let the people of Israel see his mighty deeds. 8 The Lord is merciful and loving, slow to become angry and full of constant love. 9 He does not keep on rebuking; he is not angry forever. 10 He does not punish us as we deserve or repay us according to our sins and wrongs. 11 As high as the sky is above the earth, so great is his love for those who honor him. 12 As far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our sins from us. 13 As a father is kind to his children, so the Lord is kind to those who honor him. 14 He knows what we are made of; he remembers that we are dust. 15 As for us, our life is like grass. We grow and flourish like a wild flower; 16 then the wind blows on it, and it is gone - no one sees it again. 17 But for those who honor the Lord, his love lasts forever, and his goodness endures for all generations 18 of those who are true to his covenant and who faithfully obey his commands. 19 The Lord placed his throne in heaven; he is king over all. 20 Praise the Lord, you strong and mighty angels, who obey his commands, who listen to what he says. 21 Praise the Lord, all you heavenly powers, you servants of his, who do his will! 22 Praise the Lord, all his creatures in all the places he rules. Praise the Lord, my soul!

Psalm 123:1 Lord, I look up to you, up to heaven, where you rule. 2 As a servant depends on his master, as a maid depends on her mistress, so we will keep looking to you, O Lord our God, until you have mercy on us. 3 Be merciful to us, Lord, be merciful; we have been treated with so much contempt. 4 We have been mocked too long by the rich and scorned by proud oppressors.

Psalm 130:1 From the depths of my despair I call to you, Lord. 2 Hear my cry, O Lord; listen to my call for help! 3 If you kept a record of our sins, who could escape being condemned? 4 But you forgive us, so that we should stand in awe of you. 5 I wait eagerly for the Lord's help, and in his word I trust. 6 I wait for the Lord more eagerly than sentries wait for the dawn - than sentries wait for the dawn. 7 Israel, trust in the Lord, because his love is constant and he is always willing to save. 8 He will save his people Israel from all their sins.

2570-Psalm 8:1 O Lord, our Lord, your greatness is seen in all the world! Your praise reaches up to the heavens; 2 it is sung by children and babies. You are safe and secure from all your enemies; you stop anyone who opposes you. 3 When I look at the sky, which you have made, at the moon and the stars, which you set in their places - 4 what are human beings, that you think of them; mere mortals, that you care for them? 5 Yet you made them inferior only to yourself; you crowned them with glory and honor. 6 You appointed them rulers over everything you made; you placed them over all creation: 7 sheep and cattle, and the wild animals too; 8 the birds and the fish and the creatures in the seas. 9 O Lord, our Lord, your greatness is seen in all the world!

Psalm 19:1 How clearly the sky reveals God's glory! How plainly it shows what he has done! 2 Each day announces it to the following day; each night repeats it to the next. 3 No speech or words are used, no sound is heard; 4 yet their message goes out to all the world and is heard to the ends of the earth. God made a home in the sky for the sun; 5 it comes out in the morning like a happy bridegroom, like an athlete eager to run a race. 6 It starts at one end of the sky and goes across to the other. Nothing can hide from its heat. 7 The law of the Lord is perfect; it gives new strength. The commands of the Lord are trustworthy, giving wisdom to those who lack it. 8 The laws of the Lord are right, and those who obey them are happy. The commands of the Lord are just and give understanding to the mind. 9 Reverence for the Lord is good; it will continue forever. The judgments of the Lord are just; they are always fair. 10 They are more desirable than the finest gold; they are sweeter than the purest honey. 11 They give knowledge to me, your servant; I am rewarded for obeying them. 12 None of us can see our own errors; deliver me, Lord, from hidden faults! 13 Keep me safe, also, from willful sins; don't let them rule over me. Then I shall be perfect and free from the evil of sin. 14 May my words and my thoughts be acceptable to you, O Lord, my refuge and my redeemer!

Psalm 37:1 Don't be worried on account of the wicked; don't be jealous of those who do wrong. 2 They will soon disappear like grass that dries up; they will die like plants that wither. 3 Trust in the Lord and do good; live in the land and be safe. 4 Seek your happiness in the Lord, and he will give you your heart's desire. 5 Give yourself to the Lord; trust in him, and he will help you; 6 he will make your righteousness shine like the noonday sun. 7 Be patient and wait for the Lord to act; don't be worried about those who prosper or those who succeed in their evil plans. 8 Don't give in to worry or anger; it only leads to trouble. 9 Those who trust in the Lord will possess the land, but the wicked will be driven out. 10 Soon the wicked will disappear; you may look for them, but you won't find them; 11 but the humble will possess the land and enjoy prosperity and peace. 12 The wicked plot against good people and glare at them with hate. 13 But the Lord laughs at wicked people, because he knows they will soon be destroyed. 14 The wicked draw their swords and bend their bows to kill the poor and needy, to slaughter those who do what is right; 15 but they will be killed by their own swords, and their bows will be smashed. 16 The little that a good person owns is worth more than the wealth of all the wicked, 17 because the Lord will take away the strength of the wicked, but protect those who are good. 18 The Lord takes care of those who obey him, and the land will be theirs forever. 19 They will not suffer when times are bad; they will have enough in time of famine. 20 But the wicked will die; the enemies of the Lord will vanish like wild flowers; they will disappear like smoke. 21 The wicked borrow and never pay back, but good people are generous with their gifts. 22 Those who are blessed by the Lord will possess the land, but those who are cursed by him will be driven out. 23 The Lord guides us in the way we should go and protects those who please him. 24 If they fall, they will not stay down, because the Lord will help them up. 25 I am old now; I have lived a long time, but I have never seen good people abandoned by the Lord or their children begging for food. 26 At all times they give freely and lend to others, and their children are a blessing. 27 Turn away from evil and do good, and your descendants will always live in the land; 28 for the Lord loves what is right and does not abandon his faithful people. He protects them forever, but the descendants of the wicked will be driven out. 29 The righteous will possess the land and live in it forever. 30 The words of good people are wise, and they are always fair. 31 They keep the law of their God in their hearts and never depart from it. 32 Wicked people watch good people and try to kill them; 33 but the Lord will not abandon them to their enemy's power or let them be condemned when they are on trial. 34 Put your hope in the Lord and obey his commands; he will honor you by giving you the land, and you will see the wicked driven out. 35 I once knew someone wicked who was a tyrant; he towered over everyone like a cedar of Lebanon; 36 but later I passed by, and he wasn't there; I looked for him, but couldn't find him. 37 Notice good people, observe the righteous; peaceful people have descendants, 38 but sinners are completely destroyed, and their descendants are wiped out. 39 The Lord saves the righteous and protects them in times of trouble. 40 He helps them and rescues them; he saves them from the wicked, because they go to him for protection.

Psalm 89:1 O Lord, I will always sing of your constant love; I will proclaim your faithfulness forever. 2 I know that your love will last for all time, that your faithfulness is as permanent as the sky. 3 You said, "I have made a covenant with the man I chose; I have promised my servant David, 4 "A descendant of yours will always be king; I will preserve your dynasty forever.' " 5 The heavens sing of the wonderful things you do; the holy ones sing of your faithfulness, Lord. 6 No one in heaven is like you, Lord; none of the heavenly beings is your equal. 7 You are feared in the council of the holy ones; they all stand in awe of you. 8 Lord God Almighty, none is as mighty as you; in all things you are faithful, O Lord. 9 You rule over the powerful sea; you calm its angry waves. 10 You crushed the monster Rahab and killed it; with your mighty strength you defeated your enemies. 11 Heaven is yours, the earth also; you made the world and everything in it. 12 You created the north and the south; Mount Tabor and Mount Hermon sing to you for joy. 13 How powerful you are! How great is your strength! 14 Your kingdom is founded on righteousness and justice; love and faithfulness are shown in all you do. 15 How happy are the people who worship you with songs, who live in the light of your kindness! 16 Because of you they rejoice all day long, and they praise you for your goodness. 17 You give us great victories; in your love you make us triumphant. 18 You, O Lord, chose our protector; you, the Holy God of Israel, gave us our king. 19 In a vision long ago you said to your faithful servants, "I have given help to a famous soldier; I have given the throne to one I chose from the people. 20 I have made my servant David king by anointing him with holy oil. 21 My strength will always be with him, my power will make him strong. 22 His enemies will never succeed against him; the wicked will not defeat him. 23 I will crush his foes and kill everyone who hates him. 24 I will love him and be loyal to him; I will make him always victorious. 25 I will extend his kingdom from the Mediterranean to the Euphrates River. 26 He will say to me, "You are my father and my God; you are my protector and savior.' 27 I will make him my first-born son, the greatest of all kings. 28 I will always keep my promise to him, and my covenant with him will last forever. 29 His dynasty will be as permanent as the sky; a descendant of his will always be king. 30 "But if his descendants disobey my law and do not live according to my commands, 31 if they disregard my instructions and do not keep my commandments, 32 then I will punish them for their sins; I will make them suffer for their wrongs. 33 But I will not stop loving David or fail to keep my promise to him. 34 I will not break my covenant with him or take back even one promise I made him. 35 "Once and for all I have promised by my holy name: I will never lie to David. 36 He will always have descendants, and I will watch over his kingdom as long as the sun shines. 37 It will be as permanent as the moon, that faithful witness in the sky." 38 But you are angry with your chosen king; you have deserted and rejected him. 39 You have broken your covenant with your servant and thrown his crown in the dirt. 40 You have torn down the walls of his city and left his forts in ruins. 41 All who pass by steal his belongings; all his neighbors laugh at him. 42 You have given the victory to his enemies; you have made them all happy. 43 You have made his weapons useless and let him be defeated in battle. 44 You have taken away his royal scepter and knocked his throne to the ground. 45 You have made him old before his time and covered him with disgrace. 46 Lord, will you hide yourself forever? How long will your anger burn like fire? 47 Remember how short my life is; remember that you created all of us mortal! 48 Who can live and never die? How can we humans keep ourselves from the grave? 49 Lord, where are the former proofs of your love? Where are the promises you made to David? 50 Don't forget how I, your servant, am insulted, how I endure all the curses of the heathen. 51 Your enemies insult your chosen king, O Lord! They insult him wherever he goes. 52 Praise the Lord forever! Amen!

Psalm 139:1 Lord, you have examined me and you know me. 2 You know everything I do; from far away you understand all my thoughts. 3 You see me, whether I am working or resting; you know all my actions. 4 Even before I speak, you already know what I will say. 5 You are all around me on every side; you protect me with your power. 6 Your knowledge of me is too deep; it is beyond my understanding. 7 Where could I go to escape from you? Where could I get away from your presence? 8 If I went up to heaven, you would be there; if I lay down in the world of the dead, you would be there. 9 If I flew away beyond the east or lived in the farthest place in the west, 10 you would be there to lead me, you would be there to help me. 11 I could ask the darkness to hide me or the light around me to turn into night, 12 but even darkness is not dark for you, and the night is as bright as the day. Darkness and light are the same to you. 13 You created every part of me; you put me together in my mother's womb. 14 I praise you because you are to be feared; all you do is strange and wonderful. I know it with all my heart. 15 When my bones were being formed, carefully put together in my mother's womb, when I was growing there in secret, you knew that I was there - 16 you saw me before I was born. The days allotted to me had all been recorded in your book, before any of them ever began. 17 O God, how difficult I find your thoughts; how many of them there are! 18 If I counted them, they would be more than the grains of sand. When I awake, I am still with you. 19 O God, how I wish you would kill the wicked! How I wish violent people would leave me alone! 20 They say wicked things about you; they speak evil things against your name. 21 O Lord, how I hate those who hate you! How I despise those who rebel against you! 22 I hate them with a total hatred; I regard them as my enemies. 23 Examine me, O God, and know my mind; test me, and discover my thoughts. 24 Find out if there is any evil in me and guide me in the everlasting way.

2571-Psalm 145:

Psalm 111: 1 I will proclaim your greatness, my God and king; I will thank you forever and ever. 2 Every day I will thank you; I will praise you forever and ever. 3 The Lord is great and is to be highly praised; his greatness is beyond understanding. 4 What you have done will be praised from one generation to the next; they will proclaim your mighty acts. 5 They will speak of your glory and majesty, and I will meditate on your wonderful deeds. 6 People will speak of your mighty deeds, and I will proclaim your greatness. 7 They will tell about all your goodness and sing about your kindness. 8 The Lord is loving and merciful, slow to become angry and full of constant love. 9 He is good to everyone and has compassion on all he made. 10 All your creatures, Lord, will praise you, and all your people will give you thanks. 11 They will speak of the glory of your royal power and tell of your might, 12 so that everyone will know your mighty deeds and the glorious majesty of your kingdom. 13 Your rule is eternal, and you are king forever. The Lord is faithful to his promises; he is merciful in all his acts. 14 He helps those who are in trouble; he lifts those who have fallen. 15 All living things look hopefully to you, and you give them food when they need it. 16 You give them enough and satisfy the needs of all. 17 The Lord is righteous in all he does, merciful in all his acts. 18 He is near to those who call to him, who call to him with sincerity. 19 He supplies the needs of those who honor him; he hears their cries and saves them. 20 He protects everyone who loves him, but he will destroy the wicked. 21 I will always praise the Lord; let all his creatures praise his holy name forever.

Psalm 112:1 Praise the Lord! With all my heart I will thank the Lord in the assembly of his people. 2 How wonderful are the things the Lord does! All who are delighted with them want to understand them. 3 All he does is full of honor and majesty; his righteousness is eternal. 4 The Lord does not let us forget his wonderful actions; he is kind and merciful. 5 He provides food for those who honor him; he never forgets his covenant. 6 He has shown his power to his people by giving them the lands of foreigners. 7 In all he does he is faithful and just; all his commands are dependable. 8 They last for all time; they were given in truth and righteousness. 9 He set his people free and made an eternal covenant with them. Holy and mighty is he! 10 The way to become wise is to honor the Lord; he gives sound judgment to all who obey his commands. He is to be praised forever.

Psalm 113:1 Praise the Lord! You servants of the Lord, praise his name! 2 May his name be praised, now and forever. 3 From the east to the west praise the name of the Lord! 4 The Lord rules over all nations; his glory is above the heavens. 5 There is no one like the Lord our God. He lives in the heights above, 6 but he bends down to see the heavens and the earth. 7 He raises the poor from the dust; he lifts the needy from their misery 8 and makes them companions of princes, the princes of his people. 9 He honors the childless wife in her home; he makes her happy by giving her children. Praise the Lord!

Psalm 114:1 When the people of Israel left Egypt, when Jacob's descendants left that foreign land, 2 Judah became the Lord's holy people, Israel became his own possession. 3 The Red Sea looked and ran away; the Jordan River stopped flowing. 4 The mountains skipped like goats; the hills jumped around like lambs. 5 What happened, Sea, to make you run away? And you, O Jordan, why did you stop flowing? 6 You mountains, why did you skip like goats? You hills, why did you jump around like lambs? 7 Tremble, earth, at the Lord's coming, at the presence of the God of Jacob, 8 who changes rocks into pools of water and solid cliffs into flowing springs.

Psalm 115:1 To you alone, O Lord, to you alone, and not to us, must glory be given because of your constant love and faithfulness. 2 Why should the nations ask us, "Where is your God?" 3 Our God is in heaven; he does whatever he wishes. 4 Their gods are made of silver and gold, formed by human hands. 5 They have mouths, but cannot speak, and eyes, but cannot see. 6 They have ears, but cannot hear, and noses, but cannot smell. 7 They have hands, but cannot feel, and feet, but cannot walk; they cannot make a sound. 8 May all who made them and who trust in them become like the idols they have made. 9 Trust in the Lord, you people of Israel. He helps you and protects you. 10 Trust in the Lord, you priests of God. He helps you and protects you. 11 Trust in the Lord, all you that worship him. He helps you and protects you. 12 The Lord remembers us and will bless us; he will bless the people of Israel and all the priests of God. 13 He will bless everyone who honors him, the great and the small alike. 14 May the Lord give you children - you and your descendants! 15 May you be blessed by the Lord, who made heaven and earth! 16 Heaven belongs to the Lord alone, but he gave the earth to us humans. 17 The Lord is not praised by the dead, by any who go down to the land of silence. 18 But we, the living, will give thanks to him now and forever. Praise the Lord!

Psalm 116:1 I love the Lord, because he hears me; he listens to my prayers. 2 He listens to me every time I call to him. 3 The danger of death was all around me; the horrors of the grave closed in on me; I was filled with fear and anxiety. 4 Then I called to the Lord, "I beg you, Lord, save me!" 5 The Lord is merciful and good; our God is compassionate. 6 The Lord protects the helpless; when I was in danger, he saved me. 7 Be confident, my heart, because the Lord has been good to me. 8 The Lord saved me from death; he stopped my tears and kept me from defeat. 9 And so I walk in the presence of the Lord in the world of the living. 10 I kept on believing, even when I said, "I am completely crushed," 11 even when I was afraid and said, "No one can be trusted." 12 What can I offer the Lord for all his goodness to me? 13 I will bring a wine offering to the Lord, to thank him for saving me. 14 In the assembly of all his people I will give him what I have promised. 15 How painful it is to the Lord when one of his people dies! 16 I am your servant, Lord; I serve you just as my mother did. You have saved me from death. 17 I will give you a sacrifice of thanksgiving and offer my prayer to you. 18 In the assembly of all your people, in the sanctuary of your Temple in Jerusalem, I will give you what I have promised. Praise the Lord!

Psalm 117:1 Praise the Lord, all nations! Praise him, all peoples! 2 His love for us is strong, and his faithfulness is eternal. Praise the Lord!

Psalm 118:1 Give thanks to the Lord, because he is good, and his love is eternal. 2 Let the people of Israel say, "His love is eternal." 3 Let the priests of God say, "His love is eternal." 4 Let all who worship him say, "His love is eternal." 5 In my distress I called to the Lord; he answered me and set me free. 6 The Lord is with me, I will not be afraid; what can anyone do to me? 7 It is the Lord who helps me, and I will see my enemies defeated. 8 It is better to trust in the Lord than to depend on people. 9 It is better to trust in the Lord than to depend on human leaders. 10 Many enemies were around me; but I destroyed them by the power of the Lord! 11 They were around me on every side; but I destroyed them by the power of the Lord! 12 They swarmed around me like bees, but they burned out as quickly as a brush fire; by the power of the Lord I destroyed them. 13 I was fiercely attacked and was being defeated, but the Lord helped me. 14 The Lord makes me powerful and strong; he has saved me. 15 Listen to the glad shouts of victory in the tents of God's people: "The Lord's mighty power has done it! 16 His power has brought us victory - his mighty power in battle!" 17 I will not die; instead, I will live and proclaim what the Lord has done. 18 He has punished me severely, but he has not let me die. 19 Open to me the gates of the Temple; I will go in and give thanks to the Lord! 20 This is the gate of the Lord; only the righteous can come in. 21 I praise you, Lord, because you heard me, because you have given me victory. 22 The stone which the builders rejected as worthless turned out to be the most important of all. 23 This was done by the Lord; what a wonderful sight it is! 24 This is the day of the Lord's victory; let us be happy, let us celebrate! 25 Save us, Lord, save us! Give us success, O Lord! 26 May God bless the one who comes in the name of the Lord! From the Temple of the Lord we bless you. 27 The Lord is God; he has been good to us. With branches in your hands, start the festival and march around the altar. 28 You are my God, and I give you thanks; I will proclaim your greatness. 29 Give thanks to the Lord, because he is good, and his love is eternal.

Psalm 146:1 Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord, my soul! 2 I will praise him as long as I live; I will sing to my God all my life. 3 Don't put your trust in human leaders; no human being can save you. 4 When they die, they return to the dust; on that day all their plans come to an end. 5 Happy are those who have the God of Jacob to help them and who depend on the Lord their God, 6 the Creator of heaven, earth, and sea, and all that is in them. He always keeps his promises; 7 he judges in favor of the oppressed and gives food to the hungry. The Lord sets prisoners free 8 and gives sight to the blind. He lifts those who have fallen; he loves his righteous people. 9 He protects the strangers who live in our land; he helps widows and orphans, but takes the wicked to their ruin. 10 The Lord is king forever. Your God, O Zion, will reign for all time. Praise the Lord!

Psalm 147:1 Praise the Lord! It is good to sing praise to our God; it is pleasant and right to praise him. 2 The Lord is restoring Jerusalem; he is bringing back the exiles. 3 He heals the broken-hearted and bandages their wounds. 4 He has decided the number of the stars and calls each one by name. 5 Great and mighty is our Lord; his wisdom cannot be measured. 6 He raises the humble, but crushes the wicked to the ground. 7 Sing hymns of praise to the Lord; play music on the harp to our God. 8 He spreads clouds over the sky; he provides rain for the earth and makes grass grow on the hills. 9 He gives animals their food and feeds the young ravens when they call. 10 His pleasure is not in strong horses, nor his delight in brave soldiers; 11 but he takes pleasure in those who honor him, in those who trust in his constant love. 12 Praise the Lord, O Jerusalem! Praise your God, O Zion! 13 He keeps your gates strong; he blesses your people. 14 He keeps your borders safe and satisfies you with the finest wheat. 15 He gives a command to the earth, and what he says is quickly done. 16 He spreads snow like a blanket and scatters frost like dust. 17 He sends hail like gravel; no one can endure the cold he sends! 18 Then he gives a command, and the ice melts; he sends the wind, and the water flows. 19 He gives his message to his people, his instructions and laws to Israel. 20 He has not done this for other nations; they do not know his laws. Praise the Lord!

Psalm 148:1 Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord from heaven, you that live in the heights above. 2 Praise him, all his angels, all his heavenly armies. 3 Praise him, sun and moon; praise him, shining stars. 4 Praise him, highest heavens, and the waters above the sky. 5 Let them all praise the name of the Lord! He commanded, and they were created; 6 by his command they were fixed in their places forever, and they cannot disobey. 7 Praise the Lord from the earth, sea monsters and all ocean depths; 8 lightning and hail, snow and clouds, strong winds that obey his command. 9 Praise him, hills and mountains, fruit trees and forests; 10 all animals, tame and wild, reptiles and birds. 11 Praise him, kings and all peoples, princes and all other rulers; 12 young women and young men, old people and children too. 13 Let them all praise the name of the Lord! His name is greater than all others; his glory is above earth and heaven. 14 He made his nation strong, so that all his people praise him - the people of Israel, so dear to him. Praise the Lord!

Psalm 149:1 Praise the Lord! Sing a new song to the Lord; praise him in the assembly of his faithful people! 2 Be glad, Israel, because of your Creator; rejoice, people of Zion, because of your king! 3 Praise his name with dancing; play drums and harps in praise of him. 4 The Lord takes pleasure in his people; he honors the humble with victory. 5 Let God's people rejoice in their triumph and sing joyfully all night long. 6 Let them shout aloud as they praise God, with their sharp swords in their hands 7 to defeat the nations and to punish the peoples; 8 to bind their kings in chains, their leaders in chains of iron; 9 to punish the nations as God has commanded. This is the victory of God's people. Praise the Lord!

Psalm 150:1 Praise the Lord! Praise God in his Temple! Praise his strength in heaven! 2 Praise him for the mighty things he has done. Praise his supreme greatness. 3 Praise him with trumpets. Praise him with harps and lyres. 4 Praise him with drums and dancing. Praise him with harps and flutes. 5 Praise him with cymbals. Praise him with loud cymbals. 6 Praise the Lord, all living creatures! Praise the Lord!

2572-Psalm 18:1 How I love you, Lord! You are my defender. 2 The Lord is my protector; he is my strong fortress. My God is my protection, and with him I am safe. He protects me like a shield; he defends me and keeps me safe. 3 I call to the Lord, and he saves me from my enemies. Praise the Lord! 4 The danger of death was all around me; the waves of destruction rolled over me. 5 The danger of death was around me, and the grave set its trap for me. 6 In my trouble I called to the Lord; I called to my God for help. In his temple he heard my voice; he listened to my cry for help. 7 Then the earth trembled and shook; the foundations of the mountains rocked and quivered, because God was angry. 8 Smoke poured out of his nostrils, a consuming flame and burning coals from his mouth. 9 He tore the sky open and came down with a dark cloud under his feet. 10 He flew swiftly on his winged creature; he traveled on the wings of the wind. 11 He covered himself with darkness; thick clouds, full of water, surrounded him. 12 Hailstones and flashes of fire came from the lightning before him and broke through the dark clouds. 13 Then the Lord thundered from the sky; and the voice of the Most High was heard. 14 He shot his arrows and scattered his enemies; with flashes of lightning he sent them running. 15 The floor of the ocean was laid bare, and the foundations of the earth were uncovered, when you rebuked your enemies, Lord, and roared at them in anger. 16 The Lord reached down from above and took hold of me; he pulled me out of the deep waters. 17 He rescued me from my powerful enemies and from all those who hate me - they were too strong for me. 18 When I was in trouble, they attacked me, but the Lord protected me. 19 He helped me out of danger; he saved me because he was pleased with me. 20 The Lord rewards me because I do what is right; he blesses me because I am innocent. 21 I have obeyed the law of the Lord; I have not turned away from my God. 22 I have observed all his laws; I have not disobeyed his commands. 23 He knows that I am faultless, that I have kept myself from doing wrong. 24 And so he rewards me because I do what is right, because he knows that I am innocent. 25 O Lord, you are faithful to those who are faithful to you; completely good to those who are perfect. 26 You are pure to those who are pure, but hostile to those who are wicked. 27 You save those who are humble, but you humble those who are proud. 28 O Lord, you give me light; you dispel my darkness. 29 You give me strength to attack my enemies and power to overcome their defenses. 30 This God - how perfect are his deeds! How dependable his words! He is like a shield for all who seek his protection. 31 The Lord alone is God; God alone is our defense. 32 He is the God who makes me strong, who makes my pathway safe. 33 He makes me sure-footed as a deer; he keeps me safe on the mountains. 34 He trains me for battle, so that I can use the strongest bow. 35 O Lord, you protect me and save me; your care has made me great, and your power has kept me safe. 36 You have kept me from being captured, and I have never fallen. 37 I pursue my enemies and catch them; I do not stop until I destroy them. 38 I strike them down, and they cannot rise; they lie defeated before me. 39 You give me strength for the battle and victory over my enemies. 40 You make my enemies run from me; I destroy those who hate me. 41 They cry for help, but no one saves them; they call to the Lord, but he does not answer. 42 I crush them, so that they become like dust which the wind blows away. I trample on them like mud in the streets. 43 You saved me from a rebellious people and made me ruler over the nations; people I did not know have now become my subjects. 44 Foreigners bow before me; when they hear me, they obey. 45 They lose their courage and come trembling from their fortresses. 46 The Lord lives! Praise my defender! Proclaim the greatness of the God who saves me. 47 He gives me victory over my enemies; he subdues the nations under me 48 and saves me from my foes. O Lord, you give me victory over my enemies and protect me from violent people. 49 And so I praise you among the nations; I sing praises to you. 50 God gives great victories to his king; he shows constant love to the one he has chosen, to David and his descendants forever.

2 Samuel 22:1 When the Lord saved David from Saul and his other enemies, David sang this song to the Lord: 2 The Lord is my protector; he is my strong fortress. 3 My God is my protection, and with him I am safe. He protects me like a shield; he defends me and keeps me safe. He is my savior; he protects me and saves me from violence. 4 I call to the Lord, and he saves me from my enemies. Praise the Lord! 5 The waves of death were all around me; the waves of destruction rolled over me. 6 The danger of death was around me, and the grave set its trap for me. 7 In my trouble I called to the Lord; I called to my God for help. In his temple he heard my voice; he listened to my cry for help. 8 Then the earth trembled and shook; the foundations of the sky rocked and quivered because God was angry! 9 Smoke poured out of his nostrils, a consuming flame and burning coals from his mouth. 10 He tore the sky open and came down, with a dark cloud under his feet. 11 He flew swiftly on his winged creature; he traveled on the wings of the wind. 12 He covered himself with darkness; thick clouds, full of water, surrounded him; 13 burning coals flamed up from the lightning before him. 14 Then the Lord thundered from the sky, and the voice of Almighty God was heard. 15 He shot his arrows and scattered his enemies; with flashes of lightning he sent them running. 16 The floor of the ocean was laid bare, and the foundations of the earth were uncovered when the Lord rebuked his enemies and roared at them in anger. 17 The Lord reached down from above and took hold of me; he pulled me out of the deep waters. 18 He rescued me from my powerful enemies and from all those who hate me - they were too strong for me. 19 When I was in trouble, they attacked me, but the Lord protected me. 20 He helped me out of danger; he saved me because he was pleased with me. 21 The Lord rewards me because I do what is right; he blesses me because I am innocent. 22 I have obeyed the law of the Lord; I have not turned away from my God. 23 I have observed all his laws; I have not disobeyed his commands. 24 He knows that I am faultless, that I have kept myself from doing wrong. 25 And so he rewards me because I do what is right, because he knows that I am innocent. 26 O Lord, you are faithful to those who are faithful to you, and completely good to those who are perfect. 27 You are pure to those who are pure, but hostile to those who are wicked. 28 You save those who are humble, but you humble those who are proud. 29 You, Lord, are my light; you dispel my darkness. 30 You give me strength to attack my enemies and power to overcome their defenses. 31 This God - how perfect are his deeds, how dependable his words! He is like a shield for all who seek his protection. 32 The Lord alone is God; God alone is our defense. 33 This God is my strong refuge; he makes my pathway safe. 34 He makes me sure-footed as a deer; he keeps me safe on the mountains. 35 He trains me for battle, so that I can use the strongest bow. 36 O Lord, you protect me and save me; your help has made me great. 37 You have kept me from being captured, and I have never fallen. 38 I pursue my enemies and defeat them; I do not stop until I destroy them. 39 I strike them down, and they cannot rise; they lie defeated before me. 40 You give me strength for the battle and victory over my enemies. 41 You make my enemies run from me; I destroy those who hate me. 42 They look for help, but no one saves them; they call to the Lord, but he does not answer. 43 I crush them, and they become like dust; I trample on them like mud in the streets. 44 You saved me from my rebellious people and maintained my rule over the nations; people I did not know have now become my subjects. 45 Foreigners bow before me; when they hear me, they obey. 46 They lose their courage and come trembling from their fortresses. 47 The Lord lives! Praise my defender! Proclaim the greatness of the strong God who saves me! 48 He gives me victory over my enemies; he subdues the nations under me 49 and saves me from my foes. O Lord, you give me victory over my enemies and protect me from violent men. 50 And so I praise you among the nations; I sing praises to you. 51 God gives great victories to his king; he shows constant love to the one he has chosen, to David and his

Psalm 58:1 Do you rulers ever give a just decision? Do you judge everyone fairly? 2 No! You think only of the evil you can do, and commit crimes of violence in the land. 3 Evildoers go wrong all their lives; they tell lies from the day they are born. 4 They are full of poison like snakes; they stop up their ears like a deaf cobra, 5 which does not hear the voice of the snake charmer, or the chant of the clever magician. 6 Break the teeth of these fierce lions, O God. 7 May they disappear like water draining away; may they be crushed like weeds on a path. 8 May they be like snails that dissolve into slime; may they be like a baby born dead that never sees the light. 9 Before they know it, they are cut down like weeds; in his fierce anger God will blow them away while they are still living. 10 The righteous will be glad when they see sinners punished; they will wade through the blood of the wicked. 11 People will say, "The righteous are indeed rewarded; there is indeed a God who judges the world."

Psalm 68:blown away, so he drives them off; as wax melts in front of the fire, so do the wicked perish in God's presence. 3 But the righteous are glad and rejoice in his presence; they are happy and shout for joy. 4 Sing to God, sing praises to his name; prepare a way for him who rides on the clouds. His name is the Lord - be glad in his presence! 5 God, who lives in his sacred Temple, cares for orphans and protects widows. 6 He gives the lonely a home to live in and leads prisoners out into happy freedom, but rebels will have to live in a desolate land. 7 O God, when you led your people, when you marched across the desert, 8 the earth shook, and the sky poured down rain, because of the coming of the God of Sinai, the coming of the God of Israel. 9 You caused abundant rain to fall and restored your worn-out land; 10 your people made their home there; in your goodness you provided for the poor. 11 The Lord gave the command, and many women carried the news: 12 "Kings and their armies are running away!" The women at home divided what was captured: 13 figures of doves covered with silver, whose wings glittered with fine gold. (Why did some of you stay among the sheep pens on the day of battle?) 14 When Almighty God scattered the kings on Mount Zalmon, he caused snow to fall there. 15 What a mighty mountain is Bashan, a mountain of many peaks! 16 Why from your mighty peaks do you look with scorn on the mountain on which God chose to live? The Lord will live there forever! 17 With his many thousands of mighty chariots the Lord comes from Sinai into the holy place. 18 He goes up to the heights, taking many captives with him; he receives gifts from rebellious people. The Lord God will live there. 19 Praise the Lord, who carries our burdens day after day; he is the God who saves us. 20 Our God is a God who saves; he is the Lord, our Lord, who rescues us from death. 21 God will surely break the heads of his enemies, of those who persist in their sinful ways. 22 The Lord has said, "I will bring your enemies back from Bashan; I will bring them back from the depths of the ocean, 23 so that you may wade in their blood, and your dogs may lap up as much as they want." 24 O God, your march of triumph is seen by all, the procession of God, my king, into his sanctuary. 25 The singers are in front, the musicians are behind, in between are the young women beating the tambourines. 26 "Praise God in the meeting of his people; praise the Lord, all you descendants of Jacob!" 27 First comes Benjamin, the smallest tribe, then the leaders of Judah with their group, followed by the leaders of Zebulun and Naphtali. 28 Show your power, O God, the power you have used on our behalf 29 from your Temple in Jerusalem, where kings bring gifts to you. 30 Rebuke Egypt, that wild animal in the reeds; rebuke the nations, that herd of bulls with their calves, until they all bow down and offer you their silver. Scatter those people who love to make war! 31 Ambassadors will come from Egypt; the Ethiopians will raise their hands in prayer to God. 32 Sing to God, kingdoms of the world, sing praise to the Lord, 33 to him who rides in the sky, the ancient sky. Listen to him shout with a mighty roar. 34 Proclaim God's power; his majesty is over Israel, his might is in the skies. 35 How awesome is God as he comes from his sanctuary - the God of Israel! He gives strength and power to his people. Praise God!

Psalm 69:1 Save me, O God! The water is up to my neck; 2 I am sinking in deep mud, and there is no solid ground; I am out in deep water, and the waves are about to drown me. 3 I am worn out from calling for help, and my throat is aching. I have strained my eyes, looking for your help. 4 Those who hate me for no reason are more numerous than the hairs of my head. My enemies tell lies against me; they are strong and want to kill me. They made me give back things I did not steal. 5 My sins, O God, are not hidden from you; you know how foolish I have been. 6 Don't let me bring shame on those who trust in you, Sovereign Lord Almighty! Don't let me bring disgrace to those who worship you, O God of Israel! 7 It is for your sake that I have been insulted and that I am covered with shame. 8 I am like a stranger to my relatives, like a foreigner to my family. 9 My devotion to your Temple burns in me like a fire; the insults which are hurled at you fall on me. 10 I humble myself by fasting, and people insult me; 11 I dress myself in clothes of mourning, and they laugh at me. 12 They talk about me in the streets, and drunkards make up songs about me. 13 But as for me, I will pray to you, Lord; answer me, God, at a time you choose. Answer me because of your great love, because you keep your promise to save. 14 Save me from sinking in the mud; keep me safe from my enemies, safe from the deep water. 15 Don't let the flood come over me; don't let me drown in the depths or sink into the grave. 16 Answer me, Lord, in the goodness of your constant love; in your great compassion turn to me! 17 Don't hide yourself from your servant; I am in great trouble - answer me now! 18 Come to me and save me; rescue me from my enemies. 19 You know how I am insulted, how I am disgraced and dishonored; you see all my enemies. 20 Insults have broken my heart, and I am in despair. I had hoped for sympathy, but there was none; for comfort, but I found none. 21 When I was hungry, they gave me poison; when I was thirsty, they offered me vinegar. 22 May their banquets cause their ruin; may their sacred feasts cause their downfall. 23 Strike them with blindness! Make their backs always weak! 24 Pour out your anger on them; let your indignation overtake them. 25 May their camps be left deserted; may no one be left alive in their tents. 26 They persecute those whom you have punished; they talk about the sufferings of those you have wounded. 27 Keep a record of all their sins; don't let them have any part in your salvation. 28 May their names be erased from the book of the living; may they not be included in the list of your people. 29 But I am in pain and despair; lift me up, O God, and save me! 30 I will praise God with a song; I will proclaim his greatness by giving him thanks. 31 This will please the Lord more than offering him cattle, more than sacrificing a full-grown bull. 32 When the oppressed see this, they will be glad; those who worship God will be encouraged. 33 The Lord listens to those in need and does not forget his people in prison. 34 Praise God, O heaven and earth, seas and all creatures in them. 35 He will save Jerusalem and rebuild the towns of Judah. His people will live there and possess the land; 36 the descendants of his servants will inherit it, and those who love him will live there.

2573-Psalm 78:1 Listen, my people, to my teaching, and pay attention to what I say. 2 I am going to use wise sayings and explain mysteries from the past, 3 things we have heard and known, things that our ancestors told us. 4 We will not keep them from our children; we will tell the next generation about the Lord's power and his great deeds and the wonderful things he has done. 5 He gave laws to the people of Israel and commandments to the descendants of Jacob. He instructed our ancestors to teach his laws to their children, 6 so that the next generation might learn them and in turn should tell their children. 7 In this way they also will put their trust in God and not forget what he has done, but always obey his commandments. 8 They will not be like their ancestors, a rebellious and disobedient people, whose trust in God was never firm and who did not remain faithful to him. 9 The Ephraimites, armed with bows and arrows, ran away on the day of battle. 10 They did not keep their covenant with God; they refused to obey his law. 11 They forgot what he had done, the miracles they had seen him perform. 12 While their ancestors watched, God performed miracles in the plain of Zoan in the land of Egypt. 13 He divided the sea and took them through it; he made the waters stand like walls. 14 By day he led them with a cloud and all night long with the light of a fire. 15 He split rocks open in the desert and gave them water from the depths. 16 He caused a stream to come out of the rock and made water flow like a river. 17 But they continued to sin against God, and in the desert they rebelled against the Most High. 18 They deliberately put God to the test by demanding the food they wanted. 19 They spoke against God and said, "Can God supply food in the desert? 20 It is true that he struck the rock, and water flowed out in a torrent; but can he also provide us with bread and give his people meat?" 21 And so the Lord was angry when he heard them; he attacked his people with fire, and his anger against them grew, 22 because they had no faith in him and did not believe that he would save them. 23 But he spoke to the sky above and commanded its doors to open; 24 he gave them grain from heaven, by sending down manna for them to eat. 25 So they ate the food of angels, and God gave them all they wanted. 26 He also caused the east wind to blow, and by his power he stirred up the south wind; 27 and to his people he sent down birds, as many as the grains of sand on the shore; 28 they fell in the middle of the camp all around the tents. 29 So the people ate and were satisfied; God gave them what they wanted. 30 But they had not yet satisfied their craving and were still eating, 31 when God became angry with them and killed their strongest men, the best young men of Israel. 32 In spite of all this the people kept sinning; in spite of his miracles they did not trust him. 33 So he ended their days like a breath and their lives with sudden disaster. 34 Whenever he killed some of them, the rest would turn to him; they would repent and pray earnestly to him. 35 They remembered that God was their protector, that the Almighty came to their aid. 36 But their words were all lies; nothing they said was sincere. 37 They were not loyal to him; they were not faithful to their covenant with him. 38 But God was merciful to his people. He forgave their sin and did not destroy them. Many times he held back his anger and restrained his fury. 39 He remembered that they were only mortal beings, like a wind that blows by and is gone. 40 How often they rebelled against him in the desert; how many times they made him sad! 41 Again and again they put God to the test and brought pain to the Holy God of Israel. 42 They forgot his great power and the day when he saved them from their enemies 43 and performed his mighty acts and miracles in the plain of Zoan in the land of Egypt. 44 He turned the rivers into blood, and the Egyptians had no water to drink. 45 He sent flies among them, that tormented them, and frogs that ruined their land. 46 He sent locusts to eat their crops and to destroy their fields. 47 He killed their grapevines with hail and their fig trees with frost. 48 He killed their cattle with hail and their flocks with lightning. 49 He caused them great distress by pouring out his anger and fierce rage, which came as messengers of death. 50 He did not restrain his anger or spare their lives, but killed them with a plague. 51 He killed the first-born sons of all the families of Egypt. 52 Then he led his people out like a shepherd and guided them through the desert. 53 He led them safely, and they were not afraid; but the sea came rolling over their enemies. 54 He brought them to his holy land, to the mountains which he himself conquered. 55 He drove out the inhabitants as his people advanced; he divided their land among the tribes of Israel and gave their homes to his people. 56 But they rebelled against Almighty God and put him to the test. They did not obey his commandments, 57 but were rebellious and disloyal like their ancestors, unreliable as a crooked arrow. 58 They angered him with their heathen places of worship, and with their idols they made him furious. 59 God was angry when he saw it, so he rejected his people completely. 60 He abandoned his tent in Shiloh, the home where he had lived among us. 61 He allowed our enemies to capture the Covenant Box, the symbol of his power and glory. 62 He was angry with his own people and let them be killed by their enemies. 63 Young men were killed in war, and young women had no one to marry. 64 Priests died by violence, and their widows were not allowed to mourn. 65 At last the Lord woke up as though from sleep; he was like a strong man excited by wine. 66 He drove his enemies back in lasting and shameful defeat. 67 But he rejected the descendants of Joseph; he did not select the tribe of Ephraim. 68 Instead he chose the tribe of Judah and Mount Zion, which he dearly loves. 69 There he built his Temple like his home in heaven; he made it firm like the earth itself, secure for all time. 70 He chose his servant David; he took him from the pastures, 71 where he looked after his flocks, and he made him king of Israel, the shepherd of the people of God. 72 David took care of them with unselfish devotion and led them with skill.

Psalm 105:1 Give thanks to the Lord, proclaim his greatness; tell the nations what he has done. 2 Sing praise to the Lord; tell the wonderful things he has done. 3 Be glad that we belong to him; let all who worship him rejoice. 4 Go to the Lord for help; and worship him continually. 5 You descendants of Abraham, his servant; you descendants of Jacob, the man he chose: remember the miracles that God performed and the judgments that he gave. 7 The Lord is our God; his commands are for all the world. 8 He will keep his covenant forever, his promises for a thousand generations. 9 He will keep the agreement he made with Abraham and his promise to Isaac. 10 The Lord made a covenant with Jacob, one that will last forever. 11 "I will give you the land of Canaan," he said. "It will be your own possession." 12 God's people were few in number, strangers in the land of Canaan. 13 They wandered from country to country, from one kingdom to another. 14 But God let no one oppress them; to protect them, he warned the kings: 15 "Don't harm my chosen servants; do not touch my prophets." 16 The Lord sent famine to their country and took away all their food. 17 But he sent a man ahead of them, Joseph, who had been sold as a slave. 18 His feet were kept in chains, and an iron collar was around his neck, 19 until what he had predicted came true. The word of the Lord proved him right. 20 Then the king of Egypt had him released; the ruler of nations set him free. 21 He put him in charge of his government and made him ruler over all the land, 22 with power over the king's officials and authority to instruct his advisers. 23 Then Jacob went to Egypt and settled in that country. 24 The Lord gave many children to his people and made them stronger than their enemies. 25 He made the Egyptians hate his people and treat his servants with deceit. 26 Then he sent his servant Moses, and Aaron, whom he had chosen. 27 They did God's mighty acts and performed miracles in Egypt. 28 God sent darkness on the country, but the Egyptians did not obey his command. 29 He turned their rivers into blood and killed all their fish. 30 Their country was overrun with frogs; even the palace was filled with them. 31 God commanded, and flies and gnats swarmed throughout the whole country. 32 He sent hail and lightning on their land instead of rain; 33 he destroyed their grapevines and fig trees and broke down all the trees. 34 He commanded, and the locusts came, countless millions of them; 35 they ate all the plants in the land; they ate all the crops. 36 He killed the first-born sons of all the families of Egypt. 37 Then he led the Israelites out; they carried silver and gold, and all of them were healthy and strong. 38 The Egyptians were afraid of them and were glad when they left. 39 God put a cloud over his people and a fire at night to give them light. 40 They asked, and he sent quails; he gave them food from heaven to satisfy them. 41 He opened a rock, and water gushed out, flowing through the desert like a river. 42 He remembered his sacred promise to Abraham his servant. 43 So he led his chosen people out, and they sang and shouted for joy. 44 He gave them the lands of other peoples and let them take over their fields, 45 so that his people would obey his laws and keep all his commands. Praise the Lord!

Psalm 106:1 Praise the Lord! Give thanks to the Lord, because he is good; his love is eternal. 2 Who can tell all the great things he has done? Who can praise him enough? 3 Happy are those who obey his commands, who always do what is right. 4 Remember me, Lord, when you help your people; include me when you save them. 5 Let me see the prosperity of your people and share in the happiness of your nation, in the glad pride of those who belong to you. 6 We have sinned as our ancestors did; we have been wicked and evil. 7 Our ancestors in Egypt did not understand God's wonderful acts; they forgot the many times he showed them his love, and they rebelled against the Almighty at the Red Sea. 8 But he saved them, as he had promised, in order to show his great power. 9 He gave a command to the Red Sea, and it dried up; he led his people across on dry land. 10 He saved them from those who hated them; he rescued them from their enemies. 11 But the water drowned their enemies; not one of them was left. 12 Then his people believed his promises and sang praises to him. 13 But they quickly forgot what he had done and acted without waiting for his advice. 14 They were filled with craving in the desert and put God to the test; 15 so he gave them what they asked for, but also sent a terrible disease among them. 16 There in the desert they were jealous of Moses and of Aaron, the Lord's holy servant. 17 Then the earth opened up and swallowed Dathan and buried Abiram and his family; 18 fire came down on their followers and burned up those wicked people. 19 They made a gold bull-calf at Sinai and worshiped that idol; 20 they exchanged the glory of God for the image of an animal that eats grass. 21 They forgot the God who had saved them by his mighty acts in Egypt. 22 What wonderful things he did there! What amazing things at the Red Sea! 23 When God said that he would destroy his people, his chosen servant, Moses, stood up against God and kept his anger from destroying them. 24 Then they rejected the pleasant land, because they did not believe God's promise. 25 They stayed in their tents and grumbled and would not listen to the Lord. 26 So he gave them a solemn warning that he would make them die in the desert 27 and scatter their descendants among the heathen, letting them die in foreign countries. 28 Then at Peor, God's people joined in the worship of Baal and ate sacrifices offered to dead gods. 29 They stirred up the Lord's anger by their actions, and a terrible disease broke out among them. 30 But Phinehas stood up and punished the guilty, and the plague was stopped. 31 This has been remembered in his favor ever since and will be for all time to come. 32 At the springs of Meribah the people made the Lord angry, and Moses was in trouble on their account. 33 They made him so bitter that he spoke without stopping to think. 34 They did not kill the heathen, as the Lord had commanded them to do, 35 but they intermarried with them and adopted their pagan ways. 36 God's people worshiped idols, and this caused their destruction. 37 They offered their own sons and daughters as sacrifices to the idols of Canaan. 38 They killed those innocent children, and the land was defiled by those murders. 39 They made themselves impure by their actions and were unfaithful to God. 40 So the Lord was angry with his people; he was disgusted with them. 41 He abandoned them to the power of the heathen, and their enemies ruled over them. 42 They were oppressed by their enemies and were in complete subjection to them. 43 Many times the Lord rescued his people, but they chose to rebel against him and sank deeper into sin. 44 Yet the Lord heard them when they cried out, and he took notice of their distress. 45 For their sake he remembered his covenant, and because of his great love he relented. 46 He made all their oppressors feel sorry for them. 47 Save us, O Lord our God, and bring us back from among the nations, so that we may be thankful and praise your holy name. 48 Praise the Lord, the God of Israel; praise him now and forever! Let everyone say, "Amen!" Praise the Lord!

Psalm 136:1 Give thanks to the Lord, because he is good; his love is eternal. 2 Give thanks to the greatest of all gods; his love is eternal. 3 Give thanks to the mightiest of all lords; his love is eternal. 4 He alone performs great miracles; his love is eternal. 5 By his wisdom he made the heavens; his love is eternal; 6 he built the earth on the deep waters; his love is eternal. 7 He made the sun and the moon; his love is eternal; 8 the sun to rule over the day; his love is eternal; 9 the moon and the stars to rule over the night; his love is eternal. 10 He killed the first-born sons of the Egyptians; his love is eternal. 11 He led the people of Israel out of Egypt; his love is eternal; 12 with his strong hand, his powerful arm; his love is eternal. 13 He divided the Red Sea; his love is eternal; 14 he led his people through it; his love is eternal; 15 but he drowned the king of Egypt and his army; his love is eternal. 16 He led his people through the desert; his love is eternal. 17 He killed powerful kings; his love is eternal; 18 he killed famous kings; his love is eternal; 19 Sihon, king of the Amorites; his love is eternal; 20 and Og, king of Bashan; his love is eternal. 21 He gave their lands to his people; his love is eternal; 22 he gave them to Israel, his servant; his love is eternal. 23 He did not forget us when we were defeated; his love is eternal; 24 he freed us from our enemies; his love is eternal. 25 He gives food to every living creature; his love is eternal. 26 Give thanks to the God of heaven; his love is eternal.

2574-Psalm 45:1 Beautiful words fill my mind, as I compose this song for the king. Like the pen of a good writer my tongue is ready with a poem. 2 You are the most handsome of men; you are an eloquent speaker. God has always blessed you. 3 Buckle on your sword, mighty king; you are glorious and majestic. 4 Ride on in majesty to victory for the defense of truth and justice! Your strength will win you great victories! 5 Your arrows are sharp, they pierce the hearts of your enemies; nations fall down at your feet. 6 The kingdom that God has given you will last forever and ever. You rule over your people with justice; 7 you love what is right and hate what is evil. That is why God, your God, has chosen you and has poured out more happiness on you than on any other king. 8 The perfume of myrrh and aloes is on your clothes; musicians entertain you in palaces decorated with ivory. 9 Among the women of your court are daughters of kings, and at the right of your throne stands the queen, wearing ornaments of finest gold. 10 Bride of the king, listen to what I say - forget your people and your relatives. 11 Your beauty will make the king desire you; he is your master, so you must obey him. 12 The people of Tyre will bring you gifts; rich people will try to win your favor. 13 The princess is in the palace - how beautiful she is! Her gown is made of gold thread. 14 In her colorful gown she is led to the king, followed by her bridesmaids, and they also are brought to him. 15 With joy and gladness they come and enter the king's palace. 16 You, my king, will have many sons to succeed your ancestors as kings, and you will make them rulers over the whole earth. 17 My song will keep your fame alive forever, and everyone will praise you for all time to come.

2575-Psalm 73:my faith was almost gone 3 because I was jealous of the proud when I saw that things go well for the wicked. 4 They do not suffer pain; they are strong and healthy. 5 They do not suffer as other people do; they do not have the troubles that others have. 6 And so they wear pride like a necklace and violence like a robe; 7 their hearts pour out evil, and their minds are busy with wicked schemes. 8 They laugh at other people and speak of evil things; they are proud and make plans to oppress others. 9 They speak evil of God in heaven and give arrogant orders to everyone on earth, 10 so that even God's people turn to them and eagerly believe whatever they say. 11 They say, "God will not know; the Most High will not find out." 12 That is what the wicked are like. They have plenty and are always getting more. 13 Is it for nothing, then, that I have kept myself pure and have not committed sin? 14 O God, you have made me suffer all day long; every morning you have punished me. 15 If I had said such things, I would not be acting as one of your people. 16 I tried to think this problem through, but it was too difficult for me 17 until I went into your Temple. Then I understood what will happen to the wicked. 18 You will put them in slippery places and make them fall to destruction! 19 They are instantly destroyed; they go down to a horrible end. 20 They are like a dream that goes away in the morning; when you rouse yourself, O Lord, they disappear. 21 When my thoughts were bitter and my feelings were hurt, 22 I was as stupid as an animal; I did not understand you. 23 Yet I always stay close to you, and you hold me by the hand. 24 You guide me with your instruction and at the end you will receive me with honor. 25 What else do I have in heaven but you? Since I have you, what else could I want on earth? 26 My mind and my body may grow weak, but God is my strength; he is all I ever need. 27 Those who abandon you will certainly perish; you will destroy those who are unfaithful to you. 28 But as for me, how wonderful to be near God, to find protection with the Sovereign Lord and to proclaim all that he has done!

2576-Psalm 23:1 The Lord is my shepherd; I have everything I need. 2 He lets me rest in fields of green grass and leads me to quiet pools of fresh water. 3 He gives me new strength. He guides me in the right paths, as he has promised. 4 Even if I go through the deepest darkness, I will not be afraid, Lord, for you are with me. Your shepherd's rod and staff protect me. 5 You prepare a banquet for me, where all my enemies can see me; you welcome me as an honored guest and fill my cup to the brim. 6 I know that your goodness and love will be with me all my life; and your house will be my home as long as I live.

2577-Psalm 92:1 How good it is to give thanks to you, O Lord, to sing in your honor, O Most High God, 2 to proclaim your constant love every morning and your faithfulness every night, 3 with the music of stringed instruments and with melody on the harp. 4 Your mighty deeds, O Lord, make me glad; because of what you have done, I sing for joy. 5 How great are your actions, Lord! How deep are your thoughts! 6 This is something a fool cannot know; someone who is stupid cannot understand: 7 the wicked may grow like weeds, those who do wrong may prosper; yet they will be totally destroyed, 8 because you, Lord, are supreme forever. 9 We know that your enemies will die, and all the wicked will be defeated. 10 You have made me as strong as a wild ox; you have blessed me with happiness. 11 I have seen the defeat of my enemies and heard the cries of the wicked. 12 The righteous will flourish like palm trees; they will grow like the cedars of Lebanon. 13 They are like trees planted in the house of the Lord, that flourish in the Temple of our God, 14 that still bear fruit in old age and are always green and strong. 15 This shows that the Lord is just, that there is no wrong in my protector.

Psalm 93:1 The Lord is king. He is clothed with majesty and strength. The earth is set firmly in place and cannot be moved. 2 Your throne, O Lord, has been firm from the beginning, and you existed before time began. 3 The ocean depths raise their voice, O Lord; they raise their voice and roar. 4 The Lord rules supreme in heaven, greater than the roar of the ocean, more powerful than the waves of the sea. 5 Your laws are eternal, Lord, and your Temple is holy indeed, forever and ever

Psalm 94:1 Lord, you are a God who punishes; reveal your anger! 2 You are the judge of us all; rise and give the proud what they deserve! 3 How much longer will the wicked be glad? How much longer, Lord? 4 How much longer will criminals be proud and boast about their crimes? 5 They crush your people, Lord; they oppress those who belong to you. 6 They kill widows and orphans, and murder the strangers who live in our land. 7 They say, "The Lord does not see us; the God of Israel does not notice." 8 My people, how can you be such stupid fools? When will you ever learn? 9 God made our ears - can't he hear? He made our eyes - can't he see? 10 He scolds the nations - won't he punish them? He is the teacher of us all - hasn't he any knowledge? 11 The Lord knows what we think; he knows how senseless our reasoning is. 12 Lord, how happy are those you instruct, the ones to whom you teach your law! 13 You give them rest from days of trouble until a pit is dug to trap the wicked. 14 The Lord will not abandon his people; he will not desert those who belong to him. 15 Justice will again be found in the courts, and all righteous people will support it. 16 Who stood up for me against the wicked? Who took my side against the evildoers? 17 If the Lord had not helped me, I would have gone quickly to the land of silence. 18 I said, "I am falling"; but your constant love, O Lord, held me up. 19 Whenever I am anxious and worried, you comfort me and make me glad. 20 You have nothing to do with corrupt judges, who make injustice legal, 21 who plot against good people and sentence the innocent to death. 22 But the Lord defends me; my God protects me. 23 He will punish them for their wickedness and destroy them for their sins; the Lord our God will destroy them.

Psalm 95:1 Come, let us praise the Lord! Let us sing for joy to God, who protects us! 2 Let us come before him with thanksgiving and sing joyful songs of praise. 3 For the Lord is a mighty God, a mighty king over all the gods. 4 He rules over the whole earth, from the deepest caves to the highest hills. 5 He rules over the sea, which he made; the land also, which he himself formed. 6 Come, let us bow down and worship him; let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker! 7 He is our God; we are the people he cares for, the flock for which he provides. Listen today to what he says: 8 "Don't be stubborn, as your ancestors were at Meribah, as they were that day in the desert at Massah. 9 There they put me to the test and tried me, although they had seen what I did for them. 10 For forty years I was disgusted with those people. I said, "How disloyal they are! They refuse to obey my commands.' 11 I was angry and made a solemn promise: "You will never enter the land where I would have given you rest.' "

Psalm 96:1 Sing a new song to the Lord! Sing to the Lord, all the world! 2 Sing to the Lord, and praise him! Proclaim every day the good news that he has saved us. 3 Proclaim his glory to the nations, his mighty deeds to all peoples. 4 The Lord is great and is to be highly praised; he is to be honored more than all the gods. 5 The gods of all other nations are only idols, but the Lord created the heavens. 6 Glory and majesty surround him; power and beauty fill his Temple. 7 Praise the Lord, all people on earth; praise his glory and might. 8 Praise the Lord's glorious name; bring an offering and come into his Temple. 9 Bow down before the Holy One when he appears; tremble before him, all the earth! 10 Say to all the nations, "The Lord is king! The earth is set firmly in place and cannot be moved; he will judge the peoples with justice." 11 Be glad, earth and sky! Roar, sea, and every creature in you; 12 be glad, fields, and everything in you! The trees in the woods will shout for joy 13 when the Lord comes to rule the earth. He will rule the peoples of the world with justice and fairness.

Psalm 97:1 The Lord is king! Earth, be glad! Rejoice, you islands of the seas! 2 Clouds and darkness surround him; he rules with righteousness and justice. 3 Fire goes in front of him and burns up his enemies around him. 4 His lightning lights up the world; the earth sees it and trembles. 5 The hills melt like wax before the Lord, before the Lord of all the earth. 6 The heavens proclaim his righteousness, and all the nations see his glory. 7 Everyone who worships idols is put to shame; all the gods bow down before the Lord. 8 The people of Zion are glad, and the cities of Judah rejoice because of your judgments, O Lord. 9 Lord Almighty, you are ruler of all the earth; you are much greater than all the gods. 10 The Lord loves those who hate evil; he protects the lives of his people; he rescues them from the power of the wicked. 11 Light shines on the righteous, and gladness on the good. 12 All you that are righteous be glad because of what the Lord has done! Remember what the holy God has done, and give thanks to him.

Psalm 98:1 Sing a new song to the Lord; he has done wonderful things! By his own power and holy strength he has won the victory. 2 The Lord announced his victory; he made his saving power known to the nations. 3 He kept his promise to the people of Israel with loyalty and constant love for them. All people everywhere have seen the victory of our God. 4 Sing for joy to the Lord, all the earth; praise him with songs and shouts of joy! 5 Sing praises to the Lord! Play music on the harps! 6 Blow trumpets and horns, and shout for joy to the Lord, our king. 7 Roar, sea, and every creature in you; sing, earth, and all who live on you! 8 Clap your hands, you rivers; you hills, sing together with joy before the Lord, 9 because he comes to rule the earth. He will rule the peoples of the world with justice and fairness.

Psalm 99:1 The Lord is king, and the people tremble. He sits on his throne above the winged creatures, and the earth shakes. 2 The Lord is mighty in Zion; he is supreme over all the nations. 3 Everyone will praise his great and majestic name. Holy is he! 4 Mighty king, you love what is right; you have established justice in Israel; you have brought righteousness and fairness. 5 Praise the Lord our God; worship before his throne! Holy is he! 6 Moses and Aaron were his priests, and Samuel was one who prayed to him; they called to the Lord, and he answered them. 7 He spoke to them from the pillar of cloud; they obeyed the laws and commands that he gave them. 8 O Lord, our God, you answered your people; you showed them that you are a God who forgives, even though you punished them for their sins. 9 Praise the Lord our God, and worship at his sacred hill! The Lord our God is holy.

Psalm 100:1 Sing to the Lord, all the world! 2 Worship the Lord with joy; come before him with happy songs! 3 Acknowledge that the Lord is God. He made us, and we belong to him; we are his people, we are his flock. 4 Enter the Temple gates with thanksgiving; go into its courts with praise. Give thanks to him and praise him. 5 The Lord is good; his love is eternal and his faithfulness lasts forever.

2578-Psalm 96:1 Sing a new song to the Lord! Sing to the Lord, all the world! 2 Sing to the Lord, and praise him! Proclaim every day the good news that he has saved us. 3 Proclaim his glory to the nations, his mighty deeds to all peoples. 4 The Lord is great and is to be highly praised; he is to be honored more than all the gods. 5 The gods of all other nations are only idols, but the Lord created the heavens. 6 Glory and majesty surround him; power and beauty fill his Temple. 7 Praise the Lord, all people on earth; praise his glory and might. 8 Praise the Lord's glorious name; bring an offering and come into his Temple. 9 Bow down before the Holy One when he appears; tremble before him, all the earth! 10 Say to all the nations, "The Lord is king! The earth is set firmly in place and cannot be moved; he will judge the peoples with justice." 11 Be glad, earth and sky! Roar, sea, and every creature in you; 12 be glad, fields, and everything in you! The trees in the woods will shout for joy 13 when the Lord comes to rule the earth. He will rule the peoples of the world with justice and fairness.

Psalm 97:1 The Lord is king! Earth, be glad! Rejoice, you islands of the seas! 2 Clouds and darkness surround him; he rules with righteousness and justice. 3 Fire goes in front of him and burns up his enemies around him. 4 His lightning lights up the world; the earth sees it and trembles. 5 The hills melt like wax before the Lord, before the Lord of all the earth. 6 The heavens proclaim his righteousness, and all the nations see his glory. 7 Everyone who worships idols is put to shame; all the gods bow down before the Lord. 8 The people of Zion are glad, and the cities of Judah rejoice because of your judgments, O Lord. 9 Lord Almighty, you are ruler of all the earth; you are much greater than all the gods. 10 The Lord loves those who hate evil; he protects the lives of his people; he rescues them from the power of the wicked. 11 Light shines on the righteous, and gladness on the good. 12 All you that are righteous be glad because of what the Lord has done! Remember what the holy God has done, and give thanks to him.

Psalm 98:1 Sing a new song to the Lord; he has done wonderful things! By his own power and holy strength he has won the victory. 2 The Lord announced his victory; he made his saving power known to the nations. 3 He kept his promise to the people of Israel with loyalty and constant love for them. All people everywhere have seen the victory of our God. 4 Sing for joy to the Lord, all the earth; praise him with songs and shouts of joy! 5 Sing praises to the Lord! Play music on the harps! 6 Blow trumpets and horns, and shout for joy to the Lord, our king. 7 Roar, sea, and every creature in you; sing, earth, and all who live on you! 8 Clap your hands, you rivers; you hills, sing together with joy before the Lord, 9 because he comes to rule the earth. He will rule the peoples of the world with justice and fairness.

Psalm 99:1 The Lord is king, and the people tremble. He sits on his throne above the winged creatures, and the earth shakes. 2 The Lord is mighty in Zion; he is supreme over all the nations. 3 Everyone will praise his great and majestic name. Holy is he! 4 Mighty king, you love what is right; you have established justice in Israel; you have brought righteousness and fairness. 5 Praise the Lord our God; worship before his throne! Holy is he! 6 Moses and Aaron were his priests, and Samuel was one who prayed to him; they called to the Lord, and he answered them. 7 He spoke to them from the pillar of cloud; they obeyed the laws and commands that he gave them. 8 O Lord, our God, you answered your people; you showed them that you are a God who forgives, even though you punished them for their sins. 9 Praise the Lord our God, and worship at his sacred hill! The Lord our God is holy.

2579-Psalm 130:1 From the depths of my despair I call to you, Lord. 2 Hear my cry, O Lord; listen to my call for help! 3 If you kept a record of our sins, who could escape being condemned? 4 But you forgive us, so that we should stand in awe of you. 5 I wait eagerly for the Lord's help, and in his word I trust. 6 I wait for the Lord more eagerly than sentries wait for the dawn - than sentries wait for the dawn. 7 Israel, trust in the Lord, because his love is constant and he is always willing to save. 8 He will save his people Israel from all their sins.

2580-Psalm 135:1 Praise the Lord! Praise his name, you servants of the Lord, 2 who stand in the Lord's house, in the Temple of our God. 3 Praise the Lord, because he is good; sing praises to his name, because he is kind. 4 He chose Jacob for himself, the people of Israel for his own. 5 I know that our Lord is great, greater than all the gods. 6 He does whatever he wishes in heaven and on earth, in the seas and in the depths below. 7 He brings storm clouds from the ends of the earth; he makes lightning for the storms, and he brings out the wind from his storeroom. 8 In Egypt he killed all the first-born of people and animals alike. 9 There he performed miracles and wonders to punish the king and all his officials. 10 He destroyed many nations and killed powerful kings: 11 Sihon, king of the Amorites, Og, king of Bashan, and all the kings in Canaan. 12 He gave their lands to his people; he gave them to Israel. 13 Lord, you will always be proclaimed as God; all generations will remember you. 14 The Lord will defend his people; he will take pity on his servants. 15 The gods of the nations are made of silver and gold; they are formed by human hands. 16 They have mouths, but cannot speak, and eyes, but cannot see. 17 They have ears, but cannot hear; they are not even able to breathe. 18 May all who made them and who trust in them become like the idols they have made! 19 Praise the Lord, people of Israel; praise him, you priests of God! 20 Praise the Lord, you Levites; praise him, all you that worship him! 21 Praise the Lord in Zion, in Jerusalem, his home. Praise the Lord!

2581-Psalm 72:20 This is the end of the prayers of David son of Jesse.

2582-Acts 4:25 By means of the Holy Spirit you spoke through our ancestor David, your servant, when he said, "Why were the Gentiles furious; why did people make their useless plots?

2583-Hebrews 4:7 This is shown by the fact that God sets another day, which is called "Today." Many years later he spoke of it through David in the scripture already quoted: "If you hear God's voice today, do not be stubborn."

2584-Psalm 105:1 Give thanks to the Lord, proclaim his greatness; tell the nations what he has done. 2 Sing praise to the Lord; tell the wonderful things he has done. 3 Be glad that we belong to him; let all who worship him rejoice. 4 Go to the Lord for help; and worship him continually. 5 You descendants of Abraham, his servant; you descendants of Jacob, the man he chose: remember the miracles that God performed and the judgments that he gave. 7 The Lord is our God; his commands are for all the world. 8 He will keep his covenant forever, his promises for a thousand generations. 9 He will keep the agreement he made with Abraham and his promise to Isaac. 10 The Lord made a covenant with Jacob, one that will last forever. 11 "I will give you the land of Canaan," he said. "It will be your own possession." 12 God's people were few in number, strangers in the land of Canaan. 13 They wandered from country to country, from one kingdom to another. 14 But God let no one oppress them; to protect them, he warned the kings: 15 "Don't harm my chosen servants; do not touch my prophets."

1 Chronicles 16:8 Give thanks to the Lord, proclaim his greatness; tell the nations what he has done. 9 Sing praise to the Lord; tell the wonderful things he has done. 10 Be glad that we belong to him; let all who worship him rejoice! 11 Go to the Lord for help, and worship him continually. 12 You descendants of Jacob, God's servant, descendants of Israel, whom God chose, remember the miracles that God performed and the judgments that he gave. 14 The Lord is our God; his commands are for all the world. 15 Never forget God's covenant, which he made to last forever, 16 the covenant he made with Abraham, the promise he made to Isaac. 17 The Lord made a covenant with Jacob, one that will last forever. 18 "I will give you the land of Canaan," he said. "It will be your own possession." 19 God's people were few in number, strangers in the land of Canaan. 20 They wandered from country to country, from one kingdom to another. 21 But God let no one oppress them; to protect them, he warned the kings: 22 "Don't harm my chosen servants; do not touch my prophets."

2585-Psalm 96:1 Sing a new song to the Lord! Sing to the Lord, all the world! 2 Sing to the Lord, and praise him! Proclaim every day the good news that he has saved us. 3 Proclaim his glory to the nations, his mighty deeds to all peoples. 4 The Lord is great and is to be highly praised; he is to be honored more than all the gods. 5 The gods of all other nations are only idols, but the Lord created the heavens. 6 Glory and majesty surround him; power and beauty fill his Temple. 7 Praise the Lord, all people on earth; praise his glory and might. 8 Praise the Lord's glorious name; bring an offering and come into his Temple. 9 Bow down before the Holy One when he appears; tremble before him, all the earth! 10 Say to all the nations, "The Lord is king! The earth is set firmly in place and cannot be moved; he will judge the peoples with justice." 11 Be glad, earth and sky! Roar, sea, and every creature in you; 12 be glad, fields, and everything in you! The trees in the woods will shout for joy 13 when the Lord comes to rule the earth. He will rule the peoples of the world with justice and fairness.

1 Chronicles 16:23 Sing to the Lord, all the world! Proclaim every day the good news that he has saved us. 24 Proclaim his glory to the nations, his mighty deeds to all peoples. 25 The Lord is great and is to be highly praised; he is to be honored more than all the gods. 26 The gods of all other nations are only idols, but the Lord created the heavens. 27 Glory and majesty surround him, power and joy fill his Temple. 28 Praise the Lord, all people on earth, praise his glory and might. 29 Praise the Lord's glorious name; bring an offering and come into his Temple. Bow down before the Holy One when he appears; 30 tremble before him, all the earth! The earth is set firmly in place and cannot be moved. 31 Be glad, earth and sky! Tell the nations that the Lord is king. 32 Roar, sea, and every creature in you; be glad, fields, and everything in you! 33 The trees in the woods will shout for joy when the Lord comes to rule the earth.

2586-2 Sam. 23:1 David son of Jesse was the man whom God made great, whom the God of Jacob chose to be king, and who was the composer of beautiful songs for Israel. These are David's last words:

2587-Psalms 72:20 This is the end of the prayers of David son of Jesse.

2588-2 Samuel 22:35 He trains me for battle, so that I can use the strongest bow. 36 O Lord, you protect me and save me; your help has made me great. 37 You have kept me from being captured, and I have never fallen. 38 I pursue my enemies and defeat them; I do not stop until I destroy them. 39 I strike them down, and they cannot rise; they lie defeated before me. 40 You give me strength for the battle and victory over my enemies. 41 You make my enemies run from me; I destroy those who hate me. 42 They look for help, but no one saves them; they call to the Lord, but he does not answer. 43 I crush them, and they become like dust; I trample on them like mud in the streets. 44 You saved me from my rebellious people and maintained my rule over the nations; people I did not know have now become my subjects. 45 Foreigners bow before me; when they hear me, they obey. 46 They lose their courage and come trembling from their fortresses. 47 The Lord lives! Praise my defender! Proclaim the greatness of the strong God who saves me! 48 He gives me victory over my enemies; he subdues the nations under me 49 and saves me from my foes. O Lord, you give me victory over my enemies and protect me from violent men. 50 And so I praise you among the nations; I sing praises to you. 51 God gives great victories to his king; he shows constant love to the one he has chosen, to David and his descendants forever.

2589-Hosea 13:16 Samaria must be punished for rebelling against me. Her people will die in war; babies will be dashed to the ground, and pregnant women will be ripped open."

2590-Amos 1:13 The Lord says, "The people of Ammon have sinned again and again, and for this I will certainly punish them. In their wars for more territory they even ripped open pregnant women in Gilead.

2591-Nahum 3:10 Yet the people of Thebes were carried off into exile. At every street corner their children were beaten to death. Their leading men were carried off in chains and divided among their captors.

2592-Exodus 32:32 Please forgive their sin; but if you won't, then remove my name from the book in which you have written the names of your people."

Romans 12:14 Ask God to bless those who persecute you - yes, ask him to bless, not to curse. 15 Be happy with those who are happy, weep with those who weep. 16 Have the same concern for everyone. Do not be proud, but accept humble duties. Do not think of yourselves as wise. 17 If someone has done you wrong, do not repay him with a wrong. Try to do what everyone considers to be good. 18 Do everything possible on your part to live in peace with everybody. 19 Never take revenge, my friends, but instead let God's anger do it. For the scripture says, "I will take revenge, I will pay back, says the Lord." 20 Instead, as the scripture says: "If your enemies are hungry, feed them; if they are thirsty, give them a drink; for by doing this you will make them burn with shame." 21 Do not let evil defeat you; instead, conquer evil with good.

2593-1 Samuel 17:1 The Philistines gathered for battle in Socoh, a town in Judah; they camped at a place called Ephes Dammim, between Socoh and Azekah. 2 Saul and the Israelites assembled and camped in Elah Valley, where they got ready to fight the Philistines. 3 The Philistines lined up on one hill and the Israelites on another, with a valley between them. 4 A man named Goliath, from the city of Gath, came out from the Philistine camp to challenge the Israelites. He was over nine feet tall 5 and wore bronze armor that weighed about 125 pounds and a bronze helmet. 6 His legs were also protected by bronze armor, and he carried a bronze javelin slung over his shoulder. 7 His spear was as thick as the bar on a weaver's loom, and its iron head weighed about fifteen pounds. A soldier walked in front of him carrying his shield. 8 Goliath stood and shouted at the Israelites, "What are you doing there, lined up for battle? I am a Philistine, you slaves of Saul! Choose one of your men to fight me. 9 If he wins and kills me, we will be your slaves; but if I win and kill him, you will be our slaves. 10 Here and now I challenge the Israelite army. I dare you to pick someone to fight me!" 11 When Saul and his men heard this, they were terrified. 12 David was the son of Jesse, who was an Ephrathite from Bethlehem in Judah. Jesse had eight sons, and at the time Saul was king, he was already a very old man. 13 His three oldest sons had gone with Saul to war. The oldest was Eliab, the next was Abinadab, and the third was Shammah. 14 David was the youngest son, and while the three oldest brothers stayed with Saul, 15 David would go back to Bethlehem from time to time, to take care of his father's sheep. 16 Goliath challenged the Israelites every morning and evening for forty days. 17 One day Jesse said to David, "Take a half-bushel of this roasted grain and these ten loaves of bread, and hurry with them to your brothers in the camp. 18 And take these ten cheeses to the commanding officer. Find out how your brothers are getting along and bring back something to show that you saw them and that they are well. 19 King Saul, your brothers, and all the other Israelites are in Elah Valley fighting the Philistines." 20 David got up early the next morning, left someone else in charge of the sheep, took the food, and went as Jesse had told him to. He arrived at the camp just as the Israelites were going out to their battle line, shouting the war cry. 21 The Philistine and the Israelite armies took positions for battle, facing each other. 22 David left the food with the officer in charge of the supplies, ran to the battle line, went to his brothers, and asked how they were getting along. 23 As he was talking with them, Goliath came forward and challenged the Israelites as he had done before. And David heard him. 24 When the Israelites saw Goliath, they ran away in terror. 25 "Look at him!" they said to each other. "Listen to his challenge! King Saul has promised to give a big reward to the man who kills him; the king will also give him his daughter to marry and will not require his father's family to pay taxes." 26 David asked the men who were near him, "What will the man get who kills this Philistine and frees Israel from this disgrace? After all, who is this heathen Philistine to defy the army of the living God?" 27 They told him what would be done for the man who killed Goliath. 28 Eliab, David's oldest brother, heard David talking to the men. He became angry with David and said, "What are you doing here? Who is taking care of those sheep of yours out there in the wilderness? You smart aleck, you! You just came to watch the fighting!" 29 "Now what have I done?" David asked. "Can't I even ask a question?" 30 He turned to another man and asked him the same question, and every time he asked, he got the same answer. 31 Some men heard what David had said, and they told Saul, who sent for him. 32 David said to Saul, "Your Majesty, no one should be afraid of this Philistine! I will go and fight him." 33 "No," answered Saul. "How could you fight him? You're just a boy, and he has been a soldier all his life!" 34 "Your Majesty," David said, "I take care of my father's sheep. Any time a lion or a bear carries off a lamb, 35 I go after it, attack it, and rescue the lamb. And if the lion or bear turns on me, I grab it by the throat and beat it to death. 36 I have killed lions and bears, and I will do the same to this heathen Philistine, who has defied the army of the living God. 37 The Lord has saved me from lions and bears; he will save me from this Philistine." "All right," Saul answered. "Go, and the Lord be with you." 38 He gave his own armor to David for him to wear: a bronze helmet, which he put on David's head, and a coat of armor. 39 David strapped Saul's sword over the armor and tried to walk, but he couldn't, because he wasn't used to wearing them. "I can't fight with all this," he said to Saul. "I'm not used to it." So he took it all off. 40 He took his shepherd's stick and then picked up five smooth stones from the stream and put them in his bag. With his sling ready, he went out to meet Goliath. 41 The Philistine started walking toward David, with his shield bearer walking in front of him. He kept coming closer, 42 and when he got a good look at David, he was filled with scorn for him because he was just a nice, good-looking boy. 43 He said to David, "What's that stick for? Do you think I'm a dog?" And he called down curses from his god on David. 44 "Come on," he challenged David, "and I will give your body to the birds and animals to eat." 45 David answered, "You are coming against me with sword, spear, and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty, the God of the Israelite armies, which you have defied. 46 This very day the Lord will put you in my power; I will defeat you and cut off your head. And I will give the bodies of the Philistine soldiers to the birds and animals to eat. Then the whole world will know that Israel has a God, 47 and everyone here will see that the Lord does not need swords or spears to save his people. He is victorious in battle, and he will put all of you in our power." 48 Goliath started walking toward David again, and David ran quickly toward the Philistine battle line to fight him. 49 He reached into his bag and took out a stone, which he slung at Goliath. It hit him on the forehead and broke his skull, and Goliath fell face downward on the ground. 50 And so, without a sword, David defeated and killed Goliath with a sling and a stone! 51 He ran to him, stood over him, took Goliath's sword out of its sheath, and cut off his head and killed him. When the Philistines saw that their hero was dead, they ran away. 52 The men of Israel and Judah shouted and ran after them, pursuing them all the way to Gath and to the gates of Ekron. The Philistines fell wounded all along the road that leads to Shaaraim, as far as Gath and Ekron. 53 When the Israelites came back from pursuing the Philistines, they looted their camp. 54 David got Goliath's head and took it to Jerusalem, but he kept Goliath's weapons in his own tent. 55 When Saul saw David going out to fight Goliath, he asked Abner, the commander of his army, "Abner, whose son is he?" "I have no idea, Your Majesty," Abner answered. 56 "Then go and find out," Saul ordered. 57 So when David returned to camp after killing Goliath, Abner took him to Saul. David was still carrying Goliath's head. 58 Saul asked him, "Young man, whose son are you?" "I am the son of your servant Jesse from Bethlehem," David answered.

2594-Exodus 23:27 "I will make the people who oppose you afraid of me; I will bring confusion among the people against whom you fight, and I will make all your enemies turn and run from you. 28 I will throw your enemies into panic; I will drive out the Hivites, the Canaanites, and the Hittites as you advance.

2595-1 Samuel 17:51 He ran to him, stood over him, took Goliath's sword out of its sheath, and cut off his head and killed him. When the Philistines saw that their hero was dead, they ran away.

1 Samuel 17:54 David got Goliath's head and took it to Jerusalem, but he kept Goliath's weapons in his own tent.

1 Samuel 17:57 So when David returned to camp after killing Goliath, Abner took him to Saul. David was still carrying Goliath's head.

2596-Psalms 137:8 Babylon, you will be destroyed. Happy are those who pay you back for what you have done to us - 9 who take your babies and smash them against a rock.

2597-Hosea 13:16 Samaria must be punished for rebelling against me. Her people will die in war; babies will be dashed to the ground, and pregnant women will be ripped open."

2598-Amos 1:13 The Lord says, "The people of Ammon have sinned again and again, and for this I will certainly punish them. In their wars for more territory they even ripped open pregnant women in Gilead.

2599-Nahum 3:13 The Lord says, "The people of Ammon have sinned again and again, and for this I will certainly punish them. In their wars for more territory they even ripped open pregnant women in Gilead.

2600-John 8:44 You are the children of your father, the Devil, and you want to follow your father's desires. From the very beginning he was a murderer and has never been on the side of truth, because there is no truth in him. When he tells a lie, he is only doing what is natural to him, because he is a liar and the father of all lies.

2601-Isaiah 1:10 Jerusalem, your rulers and your people are like those of Sodom and Gomorrah. Listen to what the Lord is saying to you. Pay attention to what our God is teaching you. 11 He says, "Do you think I want all these sacrifices you keep offering to me? I have had more than enough of the sheep you burn as sacrifices and of the fat of your fine animals. I am tired of the blood of bulls and sheep and goats. 12 Who asked you to bring me all this when you come to worship me? Who asked you to do all this tramping around in my Temple? 13 It's useless to bring your offerings. I am disgusted with the smell of the incense you burn. I cannot stand your New Moon Festivals, your Sabbaths, and your religious gatherings; they are all corrupted by your sins. 14 I hate your New Moon Festivals and holy days; they are a burden that I am tired of bearing. 15 "When you lift your hands in prayer, I will not look at you. No matter how much you pray, I will not listen, for your hands are covered with blood. 16 Wash yourselves clean. Stop all this evil that I see you doing. Yes, stop doing evil 17 and learn to do right. See that justice is done - help those who are oppressed, give orphans their rights, and defend widows." 18 The Lord says, "Now, let's settle the matter. You are stained red with sin, but I will wash you as clean as snow. Although your stains are deep red, you will be as white as wool. 19 If you will only obey me, you will eat the good things the land produces. 20 But if you defy me, you are doomed to die. I, the Lord, have spoken." 21 The city that once was faithful is behaving like a whore! At one time it was filled with righteous people, but now only murderers remain.

2602-Amos 5:21 The Lord says, "I hate your religious festivals; I cannot stand them! 22 When you bring me burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them; I will not accept the animals you have fattened to bring me as offerings. 23 Stop your noisy songs; I do not want to listen to your harps. 24 Instead, let justice flow like a stream, and righteousness like a river that never goes dry.

2603-Psalms 51:Be merciful to me, O God, because of your constant love. Because of your great mercy wipe away my sins! 2 Wash away all my evil and make me clean from my sin! 3 I recognize my faults; I am always conscious of my sins. 4 I have sinned against you - only against you - and done what you consider evil. So you are right in judging me; you are justified in condemning me. 5 I have been evil from the day I was born; from the time I was conceived, I have been sinful. 6 Sincerity and truth are what you require; fill my mind with your wisdom. 7 Remove my sin, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. 8 Let me hear the sounds of joy and gladness; and though you have crushed me and broken me, I will be happy once again. 9 Close your eyes to my sins and wipe out all my evil. 10 Create a pure heart in me, O God, and put a new and loyal spirit in me. 11 Do not banish me from your presence; do not take your holy spirit away from me. 12 Give me again the joy that comes from your salvation, and make me willing to obey you. 13 Then I will teach sinners your commands, and they will turn back to you. 14 Spare my life, O God, and save me, and I will gladly proclaim your righteousness. 15 Help me to speak, Lord, and I will praise you. 16 You do not want sacrifices, or I would offer them; you are not pleased with burnt offerings. 17 My sacrifice is a humble spirit, O God; you will not reject a humble and repentant heart. 18 O God, be kind to Zion and help her; rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. 19 Then you will be pleased with proper sacrifices and with our burnt offerings; and bulls will be sacrificed on your altar.

2604-Micah 6:1 Listen to the Lord's case against Israel. Arise, O Lord, and present your case; let the mountains and the hills hear what you say. 2 You mountains, you everlasting foundations of the earth, listen to the Lord's case! The Lord has a case against his people. He is going to bring an accusation against Israel. 3 The Lord says, "My people, what have I done to you? How have I been a burden to you? Answer me. 4 I brought you out of Egypt; I rescued you from slavery; I sent Moses, Aaron, and Miriam to lead you. 5 My people, remember what King Balak of Moab planned to do to you and how Balaam son of Beor answered him. Remember the things that happened on the way from the camp at Acacia to Gilgal. Remember these things and you will realize what I did in order to save you." 6 What shall I bring to the Lord, the God of heaven, when I come to worship him? Shall I bring the best calves to burn as offerings to him? 7 Will the Lord be pleased if I bring him thousands of sheep or endless streams of olive oil? Shall I offer him my first-born child to pay for my sins? 8 No, the Lord has told us what is good. What he requires of us is this: to do what is just, to show constant love, and to live in humble fellowship with our God.

2605-Hosea 6:4 But the Lord says, "Israel and Judah, what am I going to do with you? Your love for me disappears as quickly as morning mist; it is like dew, that vanishes early in the day. 5 That is why I have sent my prophets to you with my message of judgment and destruction. What I want from you is plain and clear: 6 I want your constant love, not your animal sacrifices. I would rather have my people know me than burn offerings to me.

2606-Jeremiah 3:15 I will give you rulers who obey me, and they will rule you with wisdom and understanding. 16 Then when you have become numerous in that land, people will no longer talk about my Covenant Box. They will no longer think about it or remember it; they will not even need it, nor will they make another one.

Jeremiah 7:21 "My people, some sacrifices you burn completely on the altar, and some you are permitted to eat. But what I, the Lord, say is that you might as well eat them all. 22 I gave your ancestors no commands about burnt offerings or any other kinds of sacrifices when I brought them out of Egypt. 23 But I did command them to obey me, so that I would be their God and they would be my people. And I told them to live the way I had commanded them, so that things would go well for them. 24 But they did not obey or pay any attention. Instead, they did whatever their stubborn and evil hearts told them to do, and they became worse instead of better. 25 From the day that your ancestors came out of Egypt until this very day I have kept on sending to you my servants, the prophets. 26 Yet no one listened or paid any attention. Instead, you became more stubborn and rebellious than your ancestors.

Jeremiah 29:13 You will seek me, and you will find me because you will seek me with all your heart.

Jeremiah 31:31 The Lord says, "The time is coming when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and with the people of Judah. 32 It will not be like the old covenant that I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand and led them out of Egypt. Although I was like a husband to them, they did not keep that covenant. 33 The new covenant that I will make with the people of Israel will be this: I will put my law within them and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. 34 None of them will have to teach a neighbor to know the Lord, because all will know me, from the least to the greatest. I will forgive their sins and I will no longer remember their wrongs. I, the Lord, have spoken."

2607-Hebrews 9:16 In the case of a will it is necessary to prove that the person who made it has died, 17 for a will means nothing while the person who made it is alive; it goes into effect only after his death. 18 That is why even the first covenant went into effect only with the use of blood. 19 First, Moses proclaimed to the people all the commandments as set forth in the Law. Then he took the blood of bulls and goats, mixed it with water, and sprinkled it on the book of the Law and all the people, using a sprig of hyssop and some red wool. 20 He said, "This is the blood which seals the covenant that God has commanded you to obey." 21 In the same way Moses also sprinkled the blood on the Sacred Tent and over all the things used in worship. 22 Indeed, according to the Law almost everything is purified by blood, and sins are forgiven only if blood is poured out. 23 Those things, which are copies of the heavenly originals, had to be purified in that way. But the heavenly things themselves require much better sacrifices. 24 For Christ did not go into a Holy Place made by human hands, which was a copy of the real one. He went into heaven itself, where he now appears on our behalf in the presence of God. 25 The Jewish high priest goes into the Most Holy Place every year with the blood of an animal. But Christ did not go in to offer himself many times, 26 for then he would have had to suffer many times ever since the creation of the world. Instead, now when all ages of time are nearing the end, he has appeared once and for all, to remove sin through the sacrifice of himself. 27 Everyone must die once, and after that be judged by God. 28 In the same manner Christ also was offered in sacrifice once to take away the sins of many. He will appear a second time, not to deal with sin, but to save those who are waiting for him.

Hebrews 10:1 The Jewish Law is not a full and faithful model of the real things; it is only a faint outline of the good things to come. The same sacrifices are offered forever, year after year. How can the Law, then, by means of these sacrifices make perfect the people who come to God? 2 If the people worshiping God had really been purified from their sins, they would not feel guilty of sin any more, and all sacrifices would stop. 3 As it is, however, the sacrifices serve year after year to remind people of their sins. 4 For the blood of bulls and goats can never take away sins.

2608-Psalms 44:23 Wake up, Lord! Why are you asleep? Rouse yourself! Don't reject us forever!

2609-1 Kings 18:27 At noon Elijah started making fun of them: "Pray louder! He is a god! Maybe he is day-dreaming or relieving himself, or perhaps he's gone off on a trip! Or maybe he's sleeping, and you've got to wake him up!"

2610-Psalms 121:3 He will not let you fall; your protector is always awake. 4 The protector of Israel never dozes or sleeps.

2611-Psalms 121:1 I look to the mountains; where will my help come from? 2 My help will come from the Lord, who made heaven and earth. 3 He will not let you fall; your protector is always awake. 4 The protector of Israel never dozes or sleeps. 5 The Lord will guard you; he is by your side to protect you. 6 The sun will not hurt you during the day, nor the moon during the night. 7 The Lord will protect you from all danger; he will keep you safe. 8 He will protect you as you come and go now and forever.

2612-1 Samuel 13:14 But now your rule will not continue. Because you have disobeyed him, the Lord will find the kind of man he wants and make him ruler of his people."

2613-Acts 13:22 After removing him, God made David their king. This is what God said about him: "I have found that David son of Jesse is the kind of man I like, a man who will do all I want him to do.'

2614-Psalm 23:1 The Lord is my shepherd; I have everything I need. 2 He lets me rest in fields of green grass and leads me to quiet pools of fresh water. 3 He gives me new strength. He guides me in the right paths, as he has promised. 4 Even if I go through the deepest darkness, I will not be afraid, Lord, for you are with me. Your shepherd's rod and staff protect me. 5 You prepare a banquet for me, where all my enemies can see me; you welcome me as an honored guest and fill my cup to the brim. 6 I know that your goodness and love will be with me all my life; and your house will be my home as long as I live.

2615-Psalm 51:1 Be merciful to me, O God, because of your constant love. Because of your great mercy wipe away my sins! 2 Wash away all my evil and make me clean from my sin! 3 I recognize my faults; I am always conscious of my sins. 4 I have sinned against you - only against you - and done what you consider evil. So you are right in judging me; you are justified in condemning me. 5 I have been evil from the day I was born; from the time I was conceived, I have been sinful. 6 Sincerity and truth are what you require; fill my mind with your wisdom. 7 Remove my sin, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. 8 Let me hear the sounds of joy and gladness; and though you have crushed me and broken me, I will be happy once again. 9 Close your eyes to my sins and wipe out all my evil. 10 Create a pure heart in me, O God, and put a new and loyal spirit in me. 11 Do not banish me from your presence; do not take your holy spirit away from me. 12 Give me again the joy that comes from your salvation, and make me willing to obey you. 13 Then I will teach sinners your commands, and they will turn back to you. 14 Spare my life, O God, and save me, and I will gladly proclaim your righteousness. 15 Help me to speak, Lord, and I will praise you. 16 You do not want sacrifices, or I would offer them; you are not pleased with burnt offerings. 17 My sacrifice is a humble spirit, O God; you will not reject a humble and repentant heart. 18 O God, be kind to Zion and help her; rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. 19 Then you will be pleased with proper sacrifices and with our burnt offerings; and bulls will be sacrificed on your altar.

2616-Psalms 51:4 I have sinned against you - only against you - and done what you consider evil. So you are right in judging me; you are justified in condemning me.

2617-Psalms 51:10 Create a pure heart in me, O God, and put a new and loyal spirit in me.

Psalms 19:14 May my words and my thoughts be acceptable to you, O Lord, my refuge and my redeemer!

Psalms 139:23 Examine me, O God, and know my mind; test me, and discover my thoughts. 24 Find out if there is any evil in me and guide me in the everlasting way.

2618-Proverbs 22:17 Listen, and I will teach you what the wise have said. Study their teachings,

Proverbs 24:23 The wise have also said these things: It is wrong for judges to be prejudiced.

Proverbs 25:1 Here are more of Solomon's proverbs, copied by scribes at the court of King Hezekiah of Judah.

Proverbs 30:1 These are the solemn words of Agur son of Jakeh: "God is not with me, God is not with me, and I am helpless.

Proverbs 31:1 These are the solemn words which King Lemuel's mother said to him:

2619-1 Kings 4:32 He composed three thousand proverbs and more than a thousand songs.

2620-Matthew 7:12 "Do for others what you want them to do for you: this is the meaning of the Law of Moses and of the teachings of the prophets.

2621-Proverbs 1:7 To have knowledge, you must first have reverence for the Lord. Stupid people have no respect for wisdom and refuse to learn. Proverbs 9:10 To be wise you must first have reverence for the Lord. If you know the Holy One, you have understanding.

Proverbs 19:13 Stupid children can bring their parents to ruin. A nagging wife is like water going drip-drip-drip. Proverbs 27:15 A nagging wife is like water going drip-drip-drip on a rainy day.

Proverbs 21:9 Better to live on the roof than share the house with a nagging wife. Proverbs 25:24 Better to live on the roof than share the house with a nagging wife.

Proverbs 6:10 "I'll just take a short nap," he says; "I'll fold my hands and rest a while." 11 But while he sleeps, poverty will attack him like an armed robber. Proverbs 24:33 Go ahead and take your nap; go ahead and sleep. Fold your hands and rest awhile, 34 but while you are asleep, poverty will attack you like an armed robber.

Proverbs 14:12 What you think is the right road may lead to death. Proverbs 16:25 What you think is the right road may lead to death.

2622-Num. 23:7 Balaam uttered this prophecy: "Balak king of Moab has brought me From Syria, from the eastern mountains. "Come speak for me,' he said. "Put a curse on the people of Israel.'

Numbers 24:15 Then he uttered this prophecy: "The message of Balaam son of Beor, The words of the man who can see clearly,

2623-Is. 14:4 When he does this, they are to mock the king of Babylon and say: "The cruel king has fallen! He will never oppress anyone again!

Hab. 2:6 The conquered people will taunt their conquerors and show their scorn for them. They will say, "You take what isn't yours, but you are doomed! How long will you go on getting rich by forcing your debtors to pay up?"

2624-Ezek. 17:2 "Mortal man," he said, "tell the Israelites a parable

Ezekiel 20:49 But I protested, "Sovereign Lord, don't make me do it! Everyone is already complaining that I always speak in riddles."

Ezekiel 24:3 Tell my rebellious people this parable that I, the Sovereign Lord, have for them: Set the pot on the fire and fill it up with water.

2625-Proverbs 6:27 Can you carry fire against your chest without burning your clothes? 28 Can you walk on hot coals without burning your feet?

2626-Proverbs 1:17 It does no good to spread a net when the bird you want to catch is watching, Proverbs 6:6 Lazy people should learn a lesson from the way ants live.

2627-Proverbs 30:4 Have any ever mastered heavenly knowledge? Have any ever caught the wind in their hands? Or wrapped up water in a piece of cloth? Or fixed the boundaries of the earth? Who are they, if you know? Who are their children? Proverbs 30:15 A leech has two daughters, and both are named "Give me!" There are four things that are never satisfied:

2628-Proverbs 9:1 Wisdom has built her house and made seven columns for it.

2629-Proverbs 1:5 These proverbs can even add to the knowledge of the wise and give guidance to the educated, Proverbs 1:33 But whoever listens to me will have security. He will be safe, with no reason to be afraid." Proverbs 2:1 My child, learn what I teach you and never forget what I tell you to do. 2 Listen to what is wise and try to understand it. 3 Yes, beg for knowledge; plead for insight. 4 Look for it as hard as you would for silver or some hidden treasure. 5 If you do, you will know what it means to fear the Lord and you will succeed in learning about God.

2630-Proverbs 1:1 The proverbs of Solomon, son of David and king of Israel. Proverbs 10:1 These are Solomon's proverbs: Wise children make their fathers proud of them; foolish ones bring their mothers grief. Proverbs 25:1 Here are more of Solomon's proverbs, copied by scribes at the court of King Hezekiah of Judah.

2631-1 Kin. 4:29 God gave Solomon unusual wisdom and insight, and knowledge too great to be measured. 30 Solomon was wiser than the wise men of the East or the wise men of Egypt. 31 He was the wisest of all men: wiser than Ethan the Ezrahite, and Heman, Calcol, and Darda, the sons of Mahol, and his fame spread throughout all the neighboring countries. 32 He composed three thousand proverbs and more than a thousand songs. 33 He spoke of trees and plants, from the Lebanon cedars to the hyssop that grows on walls; he talked about animals, birds, reptiles, and fish. 34 Kings all over the world heard of his wisdom and sent people to listen to him.

Matthew 12:42 On the Judgment Day the Queen of Sheba will stand up and accuse you, because she traveled all the way from her country to listen to King Solomon's wise teaching; and I assure you that there is something here greater than Solomon!

2632-Proverbs 22:17 Listen, and I will teach you what the wise have said. Study their teachings,

Proverbs 24:23 The wise have also said these things: It is wrong for judges to be prejudiced.

Proverbs 30:1 These are the solemn words of Agur son of Jakeh: "God is not with me, God is not with me, and I am helpless.

Proverbs 31:1 These are the solemn words which King Lemuel's mother said to him:

2633-Proverbs 25:1 Here are more of Solomon's proverbs, copied by scribes at the court of King Hezekiah of Judah.

2634-Proverbs 1:2 Here are proverbs that will help you recognize wisdom and good advice, and understand sayings with deep meaning. 3 They can teach you how to live intelligently and how to be honest, just, and fair. 4 They can make an inexperienced person clever and teach young people how to be resourceful.

2635-Prov 1:7 To have knowledge, you must first have reverence for the Lord. Stupid people have no respect for wisdom and refuse to learn.

Prov 3:5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart. Never rely on what you think you know.

Prov 14:9 Foolish people don't care if they sin, but good people want to be forgiven.

2636-Prov 1:10 My child, when sinners tempt you, don't give in.

Prov 14:30 Peace of mind makes the body healthy, but jealousy is like a cancer.

Prov 16:5 The Lord hates everyone who is arrogant; he will never let them escape punishment.

Prov 16:18 Pride leads to destruction, and arrogance to downfall. 19 It is better to be humble and stay poor than to be one of the arrogant and get a share of their loot.

2637-Prov 12:25 Worry can rob you of happiness, but kind words will cheer you up.

Prov 16:24 Kind words are like honey - sweet to the taste and good for your health.

2638-Prov 20:7 Children are fortunate if they have a father who is honest and does what is right.

Prov 22:6 Teach children how they should live, and they will remember it all their life.

2639-Prov 16:10 The king speaks with divine authority; his decisions are always right.

Prov 16:12 Kings cannot tolerate evil, because justice is what makes a government strong.

Prov 20:28 A king will remain in power as long as his rule is honest, just, and fair.

2640-Prov 15:3 The Lord sees what happens everywhere; he is watching us, whether we do good or evil.

Prov 15:11 Not even the world of the dead can keep the Lord from knowing what is there; how then can we hide our thoughts from God?

Prov 15:11 Not even the world of the dead can keep the Lord from knowing what is there; how then can we hide our thoughts from God?

Prov 22:2 You may think that everything you do is right, but remember that the Lord judges your motives.

2641-Prov 10:27 Obey the Lord, and you will live longer. The wicked die before their time.

Prov 10:29 The Lord protects honest people, but destroys those who do wrong.

Prov 12:2 The Lord is pleased with good people, but condemns those who plan evil.

2642-Prov 15:27 Obey the Lord, and you will live longer. The wicked die before their time.

Prov 10:29 The Lord protects honest people, but destroys those who do wrong.

Prov 12:2 The Lord is pleased with good people, but condemns those who plan evil.

2643-Prov 2:16 You will be able to resist any immoral woman who tries to seduce you with her smooth talk, 17 who is faithless to her own husband and forgets her sacred vows. 18 If you go to her house, you are traveling the road to death. To go there is to approach the world of the dead. 19 No one who visits her ever comes back. He never returns to the road to life. 20 So you must follow the example of good people and live a righteous life. 21 Righteous people - people of integrity - will live in this land of ours. 22 But God will snatch the wicked from the land and pull sinners out of it like plants from the ground.

Prov 3:5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart. Never rely on what you think you know.

Prov 3:7 Never let yourself think that you are wiser than you are; simply obey the Lord and refuse to do wrong.

Prov 22:19 I want you to put your trust in the Lord; that is why I am going to tell them to you now.

Prov 29:25 It is dangerous to be concerned with what others think of you, but if you trust the Lord, you are safe.

2644-Prov 16:4 Everything the Lord has made has its destiny; and the destiny of the wicked is destruction.

Prov 16:9 You may make your plans, but God directs your actions.

Prov 19:21 People may plan all kinds of things, but the Lord's will is going to be done.

Prov 22:2 The rich and the poor have this in common: the Lord made them both.

2645-Prov 10:1 These are Solomon's proverbs: Wise children make their fathers proud of them; foolish ones bring their mothers grief.

Prov 17:21 There is nothing but sadness and sorrow for parents whose children do foolish things.

Prov 17:25 Foolish children bring grief to their fathers and bitter regrets to their mothers.

Prov 18:22 Find a wife and you find a good thing; it shows that the Lord is good to you.

Prov 19:14 A man can inherit a house and money from his parents, but only the Lord can give him a sensible wife.

Prov 19:26 Only a shameful, disgraceful person would mistreat his father or turn his mother away from his home.

Prov 20:7 Children are fortunate if they have a father who is honest and does what is right.

Prov 21:9 Better to live on the roof than share the house with a nagging wife.

Prov 21:19 Better to live out in the desert than with a nagging, complaining wife.

Prov 23:24 A righteous person's parents have good reason to be happy. You can take pride in a wise child. 25 Let your father and mother be proud of you; give your mother that happiness. 26 Pay close attention, son, and let my life be your example. 27 Prostitutes and immoral women are a deadly trap. 28 They wait for you like robbers and cause many men to be unfaithful. 29 Show me people who drink too much, who have to try out fancy drinks, and I will show you people who are miserable and sorry for themselves, always causing trouble and always complaining. Their eyes are bloodshot, and they have bruises that could have been avoided. 31 Don't let wine tempt you, even though it is rich red, and it sparkles in the cup, and it goes down smoothly. 32 The next morning you will feel as if you had been bitten by a poisonous snake. 33 Weird sights will appear before your eyes, and you will not be able to think or speak clearly. 34 You will feel as if you were out on the ocean, seasick, swinging high up in the rigging of a tossing ship.

Prov 27:15 A nagging wife is like water going drip-drip-drip on a rainy day. 16 How can you keep her quiet? Have you ever tried to stop the wind or ever tried to hold a handful of oil? 17 People learn from one another, just as iron sharpens iron. 18 Take care of a fig tree and you will have figs to eat. Servants who take care of their master will be honored. 19 It is your own face that you see reflected in the water and it is your own self that you see in your heart. 20 Human desires are like the world of the dead - there is always room for more. 21 Fire tests gold and silver; a person's reputation can also be tested. 22 Even if you beat fools half to death, you still can't beat their foolishness out of them. 23 Look after your sheep and cattle as carefully as you can, 24 because wealth is not permanent. Not even nations last forever. 25 You cut the hay and then cut the grass on the hillsides while the next crop of hay is growing. 26 You can make clothes from the wool of your sheep and buy land with the money you get from selling some of your goats. 27 The rest of the goats will provide milk for you and your family, and for your servant women as well.

Prov 31:30 Charm is deceptive and beauty disappears, but a woman who honors the Lord should be praised.

2646-Ex. 20:12 "Respect your father and your mother, so that you may live a long time in the land that I am giving you.

Exodus 20:14 "Do not commit adultery.

Exodus 20:17 "Do not desire another man's house; do not desire his wife, his slaves, his cattle, his donkeys, or anything else that he owns."

2647-Prov 1:8 My child, pay attention to what your father and mother tell you.

Prov 1:10 My child, when sinners tempt you, don't give in.

Prov 1:15 My child, don't go with people like that. Stay away from them.

Prov 2:1 My child, learn what I teach you and never forget what I tell you to do.

Prov 3:1 My child, don't forget what I teach you. Always remember what I tell you to do.

Prov 3:11 My child, when the Lord corrects you, pay close attention and take it as a warning. 12 The Lord corrects those he loves, as parents correct a child of whom they are proud.

Prov 23:22 Listen to your father; without him you would not exist. When your mother is old, show her your appreciation. 23 Truth, wisdom, learning, and good sense - these are worth paying for, but too valuable for you to sell. 24 A righteous person's parents have good reason to be happy. You can take pride in a wise child. 25 Let your father and mother be proud of you; give your mother that happiness.

Prov 29:15 Correction and discipline are good for children. If they have their own way, they will make their mothers ashamed of them.

Prov 30:17 If you make fun of your father or despise your mother in her old age, you ought to be eaten by vultures or have your eyes picked out by wild ravens.

Prov 31:1 These are the solemn words which King Lemuel's mother said to him:

2648-Pro 5:21 The Lord sees everything you do. Wherever you go, he is watching.

Prov 15:3 The Lord sees what happens everywhere; he is watching us, whether we do good or evil. 4 Kind words bring life, but cruel words crush your spirit. 5 It is foolish to ignore what your parents taught you; it is wise to accept their correction.

2649-Pro 19:21 People may plan all kinds of things, but the Lord's will is going to be done.

Prov 21:30 Human wisdom, brilliance, insight - they are of no help if the Lord is against you.

2650-Pro 20:1 Drinking too much makes you loud and foolish. It's stupid to get drunk. 2 Fear an angry king as you would a growling lion; making him angry is suicide. 3 Any fool can start arguments; the honorable thing is to stay out of them. 4 A farmer too lazy to plow his fields at the right time will have nothing to harvest.

2651-Pro 15:29 When good people pray, the Lord listens, but he ignores those who are evil.

2652-Pro 3:5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart. Never rely on what you think you know.

Prov 16:20 Pay attention to what you are taught, and you will be successful; trust in the Lord and you will be happy.

Prov 18:10 The Lord is like a strong tower, where the righteous can go and be safe.

2653-Pro 1:7 To have knowledge, you must first have reverence for the Lord. Stupid people have no respect for wisdom and refuse to learn.

Prov 9:10 To be wise you must first have reverence for the Lord. If you know the Holy One, you have understanding.

2654-Pro8:22 "The Lord created me first of all, the first of his works, long ago.

2655-Pro 30.1 These are the solemn words of Agur son of Jakeh: "God is not with me, God is not with me, and I am helpless.

2656-Pro 31.1 These are the solemn words which King Lemuel's mother said to him:

2657-Prov 26.1 Praise for a fool is out of place, like snow in summer or rain at harvest time. 2 Curses cannot hurt you unless you deserve them. They are like birds that fly by and never light. 3 You have to whip a horse, you have to bridle a donkey, and you have to beat a fool. 4 If you answer a silly question, you are just as silly as the person who asked it. 5 Give a silly answer to a silly question, and the one who asked it will realize that he's not as smart as he thinks. 6 If you let a fool deliver a message, you might as well cut off your own feet; you are asking for trouble. 7 A fool can use a proverb about as well as crippled people can use their legs. 8 Praising someone who is stupid makes as much sense as tying a stone in a sling. 9 A fool quoting a wise saying reminds you of a drunk trying to pick a thorn out of his hand. 10 An employer who hires any fool that comes along is only hurting everybody concerned. 11 A fool doing some stupid thing a second time is like a dog going back to its vomit. 12 The most stupid fool is better off than those who think they are wise when they are not.

2658-Prov 8:1 Listen! Wisdom is calling out. Reason is making herself heard. 2 On the hilltops near the road and at the crossroads she stands. 3 At the entrance to the city, beside the gates, she calls: 4 "I appeal to all of you; I call to everyone on earth. 5 Are you immature? Learn to be mature. Are you foolish? Learn to have sense. 6 Listen to my excellent words; all I tell you is right. 7 What I say is the truth; lies are hateful to me. 8 Everything I say is true; nothing is false or misleading. 9 To those with insight, it is all clear; to the well-informed, it is all plain. 10 Choose my instruction instead of silver; choose knowledge rather than the finest gold. 11 "I am Wisdom, I am better than jewels; nothing you want can compare with me. 12 I am Wisdom, and I have insight; I have knowledge and sound judgment. 13 To honor the Lord is to hate evil; I hate pride and arrogance, evil ways and false words. 14 I make plans and carry them out. I have understanding, and I am strong. 15 I help kings to govern and rulers to make good laws. 16 Every ruler on earth governs with my help, officials and nobles alike. 17 I love those who love me; whoever looks for me can find me. 18 I have riches and honor to give, prosperity and success. 19 What you get from me is better than the finest gold, better than the purest silver. 20 I walk the way of righteousness; I follow the paths of justice, 21 giving wealth to those who love me, filling their houses with treasures. 22 "The Lord created me first of all, the first of his works, long ago. 23 I was made in the very beginning, at the first, before the world began. 24 I was born before the oceans, when there were no springs of water. 25 I was born before the mountains, before the hills were set in place, 26 before God made the earth and its fields or even the first handful of soil. 27 I was there when he set the sky in place, when he stretched the horizon across the ocean, 28 when he placed the clouds in the sky, when he opened the springs of the ocean 29 and ordered the waters of the sea to rise no further than he said. I was there when he laid the earth's foundations. 30 I was beside him like an architect, I was his daily source of joy, always happy in his presence - 31 happy with the world and pleased with the human race. 32 "Now, young people, listen to me. Do as I say, and you will be happy. 33 Listen to what you are taught. Be wise; do not neglect it. 34 Those who listen to me will be happy - those who stay at my door every day, waiting at the entrance to my home. 35 Those who find me find life, and the Lord will be pleased with them. 36 Those who do not find me hurt themselves; anyone who hates me loves death."

Prov 9:1 Wisdom has built her house and made seven columns for it. 2 She has had an animal killed for a feast, mixed spices in the wine, and set the table. 3 She has sent her servant women to call out from the highest place in town: 4 "Come in, ignorant people!" And to the foolish she says, 5 "Come, eat my food and drink the wine that I have mixed. 6 Leave the company of ignorant people, and live. Follow the way of knowledge." 7 If you correct conceited people, you will only be insulted. If you reprimand evil people, you will only get hurt. 8 Never correct conceited people; they will hate you for it. But if you correct the wise, they will respect you. 9 Anything you say to the wise will make them wiser. Whatever you tell the righteous will add to their knowledge. 10 To be wise you must first have reverence for the Lord. If you know the Holy One, you have understanding. 11 Wisdom will add years to your life. 12 You are the one who will profit if you have wisdom, and if you reject it, you are the one who will suffer. 13 Stupidity is like a loud, ignorant, shameless woman. 14 She sits at the door of her house or on a seat in the highest part of town, 15 and calls out to people passing by, who are minding their own business: 16 "Come in, ignorant people!" To the foolish she says, 17 "Stolen water is sweeter. Stolen bread tastes better." 18 Her victims do not know that the people die who go to her house, that those who have already entered are now deep in the world of the dead.

2659-1 Kings 3:9 So give me the wisdom I need to rule your people with justice and to know the difference between good and evil. Otherwise, how would I ever be able to rule this great people of yours?"

2660-James 1:5 But if any of you lack wisdom, you should pray to God, who will give it to you; because God gives generously and graciously to all.

2661-1 Kings 11:1 Solomon loved many foreign women. Besides the daughter of the king of Egypt he married Hittite women and women from Moab, Ammon, Edom, and Sidon. 2 He married them even though the Lord had commanded the Israelites not to intermarry with these people, because they would cause the Israelites to give their loyalty to other gods. 3 Solomon married seven hundred princesses and also had three hundred concubines. They made him turn away from God, 4 and by the time he was old they had led him into the worship of foreign gods. He was not faithful to the Lord his God, as his father David had been. 5 He worshiped Astarte, the goddess of Sidon, and Molech, the disgusting god of Ammon. 6 He sinned against the Lord and was not true to him as his father David had been. 7 On the mountain east of Jerusalem he built a place to worship Chemosh, the disgusting god of Moab, and a place to worship Molech, the disgusting god of Ammon. 8 He also built places of worship where all his foreign wives could burn incense and offer sacrifices to their own gods. 9 Even though the Lord, the God of Israel, had appeared to Solomon twice and had commanded him not to worship foreign gods, Solomon did not obey the Lord but turned away from him. So the Lord was angry with Solomon

2662-2 Peter 1:2 May grace and peace be yours in full measure through your knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.

2663-Exodus 20:20 Moses replied, "Don't be afraid; God has only come to test you and make you keep on obeying him, so that you will not sin."

1 John 4:18 There is no fear in love; perfect love drives out all fear. So then, love has not been made perfect in anyone who is afraid, because fear has to do with punishment.

Psalms 112:1 Praise the Lord! Happy is the person who honors the Lord, who takes pleasure in obeying his commands.

Prov 128:1 Happy are those who obey the Lord, who live by his commands.

Proverbs 28:4 A man who obeys the Lord will surely be blessed like this.

Prov 28:14 Always obey the Lord and you will be happy. If you are stubborn, you will be ruined.

2664-Exodus 20:18 When the people heard the thunder and the trumpet blast and saw the lightning and the smoking mountain, they trembled with fear and stood a long way off. 19 They said to Moses, "If you speak to us, we will listen; but we are afraid that if God speaks to us, we will die." 20 Moses replied, "Don't be afraid; God has only come to test you and make you keep on obeying him, so that you will not sin." 21 But the people continued to stand a long way off, and only Moses went near the dark cloud where God was.

2665-Deuteronomy 9:9 I went up the mountain to receive the stone tablets on which was written the covenant that the Lord had made with you. I stayed there forty days and nights and did not eat or drink anything. 10 Then the Lord gave me the two stone tablets on which he had written with his own hand what he had said to you from the fire on the day that you were gathered there at the mountain. 11 Yes, after those forty days and nights the Lord gave me the two stone tablets on which he had written the covenant.

2666-Revelation 14:6 Then I saw another angel flying high in the air, with an eternal message of Good News to announce to the peoples of the earth, to every race, tribe, language, and nation. 7 He said in a loud voice, "Honor God and praise his greatness! For the time has come for him to judge all people. Worship him who made heaven, earth, sea, and the springs of water!" 8 A second angel followed the first one, saying, "She has fallen! Great Babylon has fallen! She made all peoples drink her wine - the strong wine of her immoral lust!" 9 A third angel followed the first two, saying in a loud voice, "Those who worship the beast and its image and receive the mark on their forehead or on their hand 10 will themselves drink God's wine, the wine of his fury, which he has poured at full strength into the cup of his anger! All who do this will be tormented in fire and sulfur before the holy angels and the Lamb. 11 The smoke of the fire that torments them goes up forever and ever. There is no relief day or night for those who worship the beast and its image, for anyone who has the mark of its name." 12 This calls for endurance on the part of God's people, those who obey God's commandments and are faithful to Jesus.

2667-Proverbs 3:11 My child, when the Lord corrects you, pay close attention and take it as a warning. 12 The Lord corrects those he loves, as parents correct a child of whom they are proud.

Hebrews 12:5 Have you forgotten the encouraging words which God speaks to you as his children? "My child, pay attention when the Lord corrects you, and do not be discouraged when he rebukes you. 6 Because the Lord corrects everyone he loves, and punishes everyone he accepts as a child."

2668-Revelation 3:19 I rebuke and punish all whom I love. Be in earnest, then, and turn from your sins.

2669-Proverbs 13:24 If you don't punish your children, you don't love them. If you do love them, you will correct them.

Prov 22:15 Children just naturally do silly, careless things, but a good spanking will teach them how to behave.

2670-Genesis 6:1 When people had spread all over the world, and daughters were being born, 2 some of the heavenly beings saw that these young women were beautiful, so they took the ones they liked. 3 Then the Lord said, "I will not allow people to live forever; they are mortal. From now on they will live no longer than 120 years." 4 In those days, and even later, there were giants on the earth who were descendants of human women and the heavenly beings. They were the great heroes and famous men of long ago. 5 When the Lord saw how wicked everyone on earth was and how evil their thoughts were all the time, 6 he was sorry that he had ever made them and put them on the earth. He was so filled with regret 7 that he said, "I will wipe out these people I have created, and also the animals and the birds, because I am sorry that I made any of them." 8 But the Lord was pleased with Noah. 9 This is the story of Noah. He had three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth. Noah had no faults and was the only good man of his time. He lived in fellowship with God, 10 11 but everyone else was evil in God's sight, and violence had spread everywhere. 12 God looked at the world and saw that it was evil, for the people were all living evil lives. 13 God said to Noah, "I have decided to put an end to all people. I will destroy them completely, because the world is full of their violent deeds. 14 Build a boat for yourself out of good timber; make rooms in it and cover it with tar inside and out. 15 Make it 450 feet long, 75 feet wide, and 45 feet high. 16 Make a roof for the boat and leave a space of 18 inches between the roof and the sides. Build it with three decks and put a door in the side. 17 I am going to send a flood on the earth to destroy every living being. Everything on the earth will die, 18 but I will make a covenant with you. Go into the boat with your wife, your sons, and their wives. 19 Take into the boat with you a male and a female of every kind of animal and of every kind of bird, in order to keep them alive. 20 21 Take along all kinds of food for you and for them." 22 Noah did everything that God commanded.

Genesis 7:1 The Lord said to Noah, "Go into the boat with your whole family; I have found that you are the only one in all the world who does what is right. 2 Take with you seven pairs of each kind of ritually clean animal, but only one pair of each kind of unclean animal. 3 Take also seven pairs of each kind of bird. Do this so that every kind of animal and bird will be kept alive to reproduce again on the earth. 4 Seven days from now I am going to send rain that will fall for forty days and nights, in order to destroy all the living beings that I have made." 5 And Noah did everything that the Lord commanded. 6 Noah was six hundred years old when the flood came on the earth. 7 He and his wife, and his sons and their wives, went into the boat to escape the flood. 8 A male and a female of every kind of animal and bird, whether ritually clean or unclean, 9 went into the boat with Noah, as God had commanded. 10 Seven days later the flood came. 11 When Noah was six hundred years old, on the seventeenth day of the second month all the outlets of the vast body of water beneath the earth burst open, all the floodgates of the sky were opened, 12 and rain fell on the earth for forty days and nights. 13 On that same day Noah and his wife went into the boat with their three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth, and their wives. 14 With them went every kind of animal, domestic and wild, large and small, and every kind of bird. 15 A male and a female of each kind of living being went into the boat with Noah, 16 as God had commanded. Then the Lord shut the door behind Noah. 17 The flood continued for forty days, and the water became deep enough for the boat to float. 18 The water became deeper, and the boat drifted on the surface. 19 It became so deep that it covered the highest mountains; 20 it went on rising until it was about twenty-five feet above the tops of the mountains. 21 Every living being on the earth died - every bird, every animal, and every person. 22 Everything on earth that breathed died. 23 The Lord destroyed all living beings on the earth - human beings, animals, and birds. The only ones left were Noah and those who were with him in the boat. 24 The water did not start going down for a hundred and fifty days.

Genesis 8:1 God had not forgotten Noah and all the animals with him in the boat; he caused a wind to blow, and the water started going down. 2 The outlets of the water beneath the earth and the floodgates of the sky were closed. The rain stopped, 3 and the water gradually went down for 150 days. 4 On the seventeenth day of the seventh month the boat came to rest on a mountain in the Ararat range. 5 The water kept going down, and on the first day of the tenth month the tops of the mountains appeared. 6 After forty days Noah opened a window 7 and sent out a raven. It did not come back, but kept flying around until the water was completely gone. 8 Meanwhile, Noah sent out a dove to see if the water had gone down, 9 but since the water still covered all the land, the dove did not find a place to light. It flew back to the boat, and Noah reached out and took it in. 10 He waited another seven days and sent out the dove again. 11 It returned to him in the evening with a fresh olive leaf in its beak. So Noah knew that the water had gone down. 12 Then he waited another seven days and sent out the dove once more; this time it did not come back. 13 When Noah was 601 years old, on the first day of the first month, the water was gone. Noah removed the covering of the boat, looked around, and saw that the ground was getting dry. 14 By the twenty-seventh day of the second month the earth was completely dry. 15 God said to Noah, 16 "Go out of the boat with your wife, your sons, and their wives. 17 Take all the birds and animals out with you, so that they may reproduce and spread over all the earth." 18 So Noah went out of the boat with his wife, his sons, and their wives. 19 All the animals and birds went out of the boat in groups of their own kind. 20 Noah built an altar to the Lord; he took one of each kind of ritually clean animal and bird, and burned them whole as a sacrifice on the altar. 21 The odor of the sacrifice pleased the Lord, and he said to himself, "Never again will I put the earth under a curse because of what people do; I know that from the time they are young their thoughts are evil. Never again will I destroy all living beings, as I have done this time. 22 As long as the world exists, there will be a time for planting and a time for harvest. There will always be cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night."

2671-Exodus 32:25 Moses saw that Aaron had let the people get out of control and make fools of themselves in front of their enemies. 26 So he stood at the gate of the camp and shouted, "Everyone who is on the Lord's side come over here!" So all the Levites gathered around him, 27 and he said to them, "The Lord God of Israel commands every one of you to put on your sword and go through the camp from this gate to the other and kill your brothers, your friends, and your neighbors." 28 The Levites obeyed, and killed about three thousand men that day. 29 Moses said to the Levites, "Today you have consecrated yourselves as priests in the service of the Lord by killing your sons and brothers, so the Lord has given you his blessing."

2672-2 Samuel 6:6 As they came to the threshing place of Nacon, the oxen stumbled, and Uzzah reached out and took hold of the Covenant Box. 7 At once the Lord God became angry with Uzzah and killed him because of his irreverence. Uzzah died there beside the Covenant Box, 8 and so that place has been called Perez Uzzah ever since. David was furious because the Lord had punished Uzzah in anger.

1 Chronicles 13:9 As they came to the threshing place of Chidon, the oxen stumbled, and Uzzah reached out and took hold of the Covenant Box. 10 At once the Lord became angry with Uzzah and killed him for touching the Box. He died there in God's presence, 11 and so that place has been called Perez Uzzah ever since. David was furious because the Lord had punished Uzzah in anger. 12 Then David was afraid of God and said, "How can I take the Covenant Box with me now?" 13 So David did not take it with him to Jerusalem. Instead, he left it at the house of a man named Obed Edom, a native of the city of Gath. 14 It stayed there three months, and the Lord blessed Obed Edom's family and everything that belonged to him.

1 Chronicles 15:1 For his own use, David built houses in David's City. He also prepared a place for God's Covenant Box and put up a tent for it. 2 Then he said, "Only Levites should carry the Covenant Box, because they are the ones the Lord chose to carry it and to serve him forever." 3 So David summoned all the people of Israel to Jerusalem in order to bring the Covenant Box to the place he had prepared for it. 4 Next he sent for the descendants of Aaron and for the Levites.

2673-Genesis 19:1 When the two angels came to Sodom that evening, Lot was sitting at the city gate. As soon as he saw them, he got up and went to meet them. He bowed down before them 2 and said, "Sirs, I am here to serve you. Please come to my house. You can wash your feet and spend the night. In the morning you can get up early and go on your way." But they answered, "No, we will spend the night here in the city square." 3 He kept on urging them, and finally they went with him to his house. Lot ordered his servants to bake some bread and prepare a fine meal for the guests. When it was ready, they ate it. 4 Before the guests went to bed, the men of Sodom surrounded the house. All the men of the city, both young and old, were there. 5 They called out to Lot and asked, "Where are the men who came to stay with you tonight? Bring them out to us!" The men of Sodom wanted to have sex with them. 6 Lot went outside and closed the door behind him. 7 He said to them, "Friends, I beg you, don't do such a wicked thing! 8 Look, I have two daughters who are still virgins. Let me bring them out to you, and you can do whatever you want with them. But don't do anything to these men; they are guests in my house, and I must protect them." 9 But they said, "Get out of our way, you foreigner! Who are you to tell us what to do? Out of our way, or we will treat you worse than them." They pushed Lot back and moved up to break down the door. 10 But the two men inside reached out, pulled Lot back into the house, and shut the door. 11 Then they struck all the men outside with blindness, so that they couldn't find the door. 12 The two men said to Lot, "If you have anyone else here - sons, daughters, sons-in-law, or any other relatives living in the city - get them out of here, 13 because we are going to destroy this place. The Lord has heard the terrible accusations against these people and has sent us to destroy Sodom." 14 Then Lot went to the men that his daughters were going to marry, and said, "Hurry up and get out of here; the Lord is going to destroy this place." But they thought he was joking. 15 At dawn the angels tried to make Lot hurry. "Quick!" they said. "Take your wife and your two daughters and get out, so that you will not lose your lives when the city is destroyed." 16 Lot hesitated. The Lord, however, had pity on him; so the men took him, his wife, and his two daughters by the hand and led them out of the city. 17 Then one of the angels said, "Run for your lives! Don't look back and don't stop in the valley. Run to the hills, so that you won't be killed." 18 But Lot answered, "No, please don't make us do that, sir. 19 You have done me a great favor and saved my life. But the hills are too far away; the disaster will overtake me, and I will die before I get there. 20 Do you see that little town? It is near enough. Let me go over there - you can see it is just a small place - and I will be safe." 21 He answered, "All right, I agree. I won't destroy that town. 22 Hurry! Run! I can't do anything until you get there." Because Lot called it small, the town was named Zoar. 23 The sun was rising when Lot reached Zoar. 24 Suddenly the Lord rained burning sulfur on the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah 25 and destroyed them and the whole valley, along with all the people there and everything that grew on the land. 26 But Lot's wife looked back and was turned into a pillar of salt. 27 Early the next morning Abraham hurried to the place where he had stood in the presence of the Lord. 28 He looked down at Sodom and Gomorrah and the whole valley and saw smoke rising from the land, like smoke from a huge furnace. 29 But when God destroyed the cities of the valley where Lot was living, he kept Abraham in mind and allowed Lot to escape to safety. 30 Because Lot was afraid to stay in Zoar, he and his two daughters moved up into the hills and lived in a cave. 31 The older daughter said to her sister, "Our father is getting old, and there are no men in the whole world to marry us so that we can have children. 32 Come on, let's get our father drunk, so that we can sleep with him and have children by him." 33 That night they gave him wine to drink, and the older daughter had intercourse with him. But he was so drunk that he didn't know it. 34 The next day the older daughter said to her sister, "I slept with him last night; now let's get him drunk again tonight, and you sleep with him. Then each of us will have a child by our father." 35 So that night they got him drunk, and the younger daughter had intercourse with him. Again he was so drunk that he didn't know it. 36 In this way both of Lot's daughters became pregnant by their own father. 37 The older daughter had a son, whom she named Moab. He was the ancestor of the present-day Moabites. 38 The younger daughter also had a son, whom she named Benammi. He was the ancestor of the present-day Ammonites.

2674-Proverbs 5:1 My child, pay attention and listen to my wisdom and insight. 2 Then you will know how to behave properly, and your words will show that you have knowledge. 3 The lips of another man's wife may be as sweet as honey and her kisses as smooth as olive oil, 4 but when it is all over, she leaves you nothing but bitterness and pain. 5 She will take you down to the world of the dead; the road she walks is the road to death. 6 She does not stay on the road to life; but wanders off, and does not realize what is happening. 7 Now listen to me, sons, and never forget what I am saying. 8 Keep away from such a woman! Don't even go near her door! 9 If you do, others will gain the respect that you once had, and you will die young at the hands of merciless people. 10 Yes, strangers will take all your wealth, and what you have worked for will belong to someone else. 11 You will lie groaning on your deathbed, your flesh and muscles being eaten away, 12 and you will say, "Why would I never learn? Why would I never let anyone correct me? 13 I wouldn't listen to my teachers. I paid no attention to them. 14 And suddenly I found myself publicly disgraced." 15 Be faithful to your own wife and give your love to her alone. 16 Children that you have by other women will do you no good. 17 Your children should grow up to help you, not strangers. 18 So be happy with your wife and find your joy with the woman you married - 19 pretty and graceful as a deer. Let her charms keep you happy; let her surround you with her love. 20 Son, why should you give your love to another woman? Why should you prefer the charms of another man's wife? 21 The Lord sees everything you do. Wherever you go, he is watching. 22 The sins of the wicked are a trap. They get caught in the net of their own sin. 23 They die because they have no self-control. Their utter stupidity will send them to their graves.

Prov 7:1 My child, remember what I say and never forget what I tell you to do. 2 Do what I say, and you will live. Be as careful to follow my teaching as you are to protect your eyes. 3 Keep my teaching with you all the time; write it on your heart. 4 Treat wisdom as your sister, and insight as your closest friend. 5 They will keep you away from other men's wives, from women with seductive words. 6 Once I was looking out the window of my house, 7 and I saw many inexperienced young men, but noticed one foolish fellow in particular. 8 He was walking along the street near the corner where a certain woman lived. He was passing near her house 9 in the evening after it was dark. 10 And then she met him; she was dressed like a prostitute and was making plans. 11 She was a bold and shameless woman who always walked the streets 12 or stood waiting at a corner, sometimes in the streets, sometimes in the marketplace. 13 She threw her arms around the young man, kissed him, looked him straight in the eye, and said, 14 "I made my offerings today and have the meat from the sacrifices. 15 So I came out looking for you. I wanted to find you, and here you are! 16 I've covered my bed with sheets of colored linen from Egypt. 17 I've perfumed it with myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon. 18 Come on! Let's make love all night long. We'll be happy in each other's arms. 19 My husband isn't at home. He's on a long trip. 20 He took plenty of money with him and won't be back for two weeks." 21 So she tempted him with her charms, and he gave in to her smooth talk. 22 Suddenly he was going with her like an ox on the way to be slaughtered, like a deer prancing into a trap 23 where an arrow would pierce its heart. He was like a bird going into a net - he did not know that his life was in danger. 24 Now then, sons, listen to me. Pay attention to what I say. 25 Do not let such a woman win your heart; don't go wandering after her. 26 She has been the ruin of many men and caused the death of too many to count. 27 If you go to her house, you are on the way to the world of the dead. It is a shortcut to death.

2675-1 Kings 11:1 Solomon loved many foreign women. Besides the daughter of the king of Egypt he married Hittite women and women from Moab, Ammon, Edom, and Sidon. 2 He married them even though the Lord had commanded the Israelites not to intermarry with these people, because they would cause the Israelites to give their loyalty to other gods. 3 Solomon married seven hundred princesses and also had three hundred concubines. They made him turn away from God,

2676-Song of Solomon 3:10 Its posts are of silver, its canopy is gold, and its seat is upholstered in purple cloth. Its interior was a gift of love from the young women of Jerusalem." Young Woman:

2677-Numbers 1:2 "You and Aaron are to take a census of the people of Israel by clans and families. List the names of all the men 3 twenty years old or older who are fit for military service.

Numbers 1:18 called together the whole community on the first day of the second month and registered all the people by clans and families. The names of all the men twenty years old or older were recorded and counted,

Numbers 1:49 "When you take a census of the men fit for military service, do not include the tribe of Levi.

Numbers 26:3 Moses and Eleazar obeyed and called together all the men of that age group. They assembled in the plains of Moab across the Jordan River from Jericho. These were the Israelites who came out of Egypt:

Numbers 26:51 The total number of the Israelite men was 601,730.

Matthew 14:21 The number of men who ate was about five thousand, not counting the women and children.

Matthew 15:38 The number of men who ate was four thousand, not counting the women and children.

2678-Romans 8:28 We know that in all things God works for good with those who love him, those whom he has called according to his purpose.

Romans 9:14 Shall we say, then, that God is unjust? Not at all. 15 For he said to Moses, "I will have mercy on anyone I wish; I will take pity on anyone I wish." 16 So then, everything depends, not on what we humans want or do, but only on God's mercy. 17 For the scripture says to the king of Egypt, "I made you king in order to use you to show my power and to spread my fame over the whole world." 18 So then, God has mercy on anyone he wishes, and he makes stubborn anyone he wishes. 19 But one of you will say to me, "If this is so, how can God find fault with anyone? Who can resist God's will?" 20 But who are you, my friend, to talk back to God? A clay pot does not ask the man who made it, "Why did you make me like this?" 21 After all, the man who makes the pots has the right to use the clay as he wishes, and to make two pots from the same lump of clay, one for special occasions and the other for ordinary use. 22 And the same is true of what God has done. He wanted to show his anger and to make his power known. But he was very patient in enduring those who were the objects of his anger, who were doomed to destruction. 23 And he also wanted to reveal his abundant glory, which was poured out on us who are the objects of his mercy, those of us whom he has prepared to receive his glory. 24 For we are the people he called, not only from among the Jews but also from among the Gentiles. 25 This is what he says in the book of Hosea: "The people who were not mine I will call "My People.' The nation that I did not love I will call "My Beloved.' 26 And in the very place where they were told, "You are not my people,' there they will be called the children of the living God." 27 And Isaiah exclaims about Israel: "Even if the people of Israel are as many as the grains of sand by the sea, yet only a few of them will be saved; 28 for the Lord will quickly settle his full account with the world." 29 It is as Isaiah had said before, "If the Lord Almighty had not left us some descendants, we would have become like Sodom, we would have been like Gomorrah."

2679-Proverbs 20:1 Drinking too much makes you loud and foolish. It's stupid to get drunk.

Prov 23:29 Show me people who drink too much, who have to try out fancy drinks, and I will show you people who are miserable and sorry for themselves, always causing trouble and always complaining. Their eyes are bloodshot, and they have bruises that could have been avoided. 31 Don't let wine tempt you, even though it is rich red, and it sparkles in the cup, and it goes down smoothly. 32 The next morning you will feel as if you had been bitten by a poisonous snake. 33 Weird sights will appear before your eyes, and you will not be able to think or speak clearly. 34 You will feel as if you were out on the ocean, seasick, swinging high up in the rigging of a tossing ship.

Prov 31:4 Listen, Lemuel. Kings should not drink wine or have a craving for alcohol. 5 When they drink, they forget the laws and ignore the rights of people in need.

2680-Proverbs 31:6 Alcohol is for people who are dying, for those who are in misery. 7 Let them drink and forget their poverty and unhappiness.

2681-1 Timothy 5:23 Do not drink water only, but take a little wine to help your digestion, since you are sick so often

2682-Leviticus 10:8 The Lord said to Aaron, 9 "You and your sons are not to enter the Tent of my presence after drinking wine or beer; if you do, you will die. This is a law to be kept by all your descendants.

Judges 13:4 Be sure not to drink any wine or beer, or eat any forbidden food; 5 and after your son is born, you must never cut his hair, because from the day of his birth he will be dedicated to God as a nazirite. He will begin the work of rescuing Israel from the Philistines."

Luke 1:1 Dear Theophilus: Many people have done their best to write a report of the things that have taken place among us.

2683-Proverbs 31:10 How hard it is to find a capable wife! She is worth far more than jewels! 11 Her husband puts his confidence in her, and he will never be poor. 12 As long as she lives, she does him good and never harm. 13 She keeps herself busy making wool and linen cloth. 14 She brings home food from out-of-the-way places, as merchant ships do. 15 She gets up before daylight to prepare food for her family and to tell her servant women what to do. 16 She looks at land and buys it, and with money she has earned she plants a vineyard. 17 She is a hard worker, strong and industrious. 18 She knows the value of everything she makes, and works late into the night. 19 She spins her own thread and weaves her own cloth. 20 She is generous to the poor and needy. 21 She doesn't worry when it snows, because her family has warm clothing. 22 She makes bedspreads and wears clothes of fine purple linen. 23 Her husband is well known, one of the leading citizens. 24 She makes clothes and belts, and sells them to merchants. 25 She is strong and respected and not afraid of the future. 26 She speaks with a gentle wisdom. 27 She is always busy and looks after her family's needs. 28 Her children show their appreciation, and her husband praises her. 29 He says, "Many women are good wives, but you are the best of them all." 30 Charm is deceptive and beauty disappears, but a woman who honors the Lord should be praised. 31 Give her credit for all she does. She deserves the respect of everyone.

2684-Proverbs 31:23 Her husband is well known, one of the leading citizens.

2685-Ecc 1:16 I told myself, "I have become a great man, far wiser than anyone who ruled Jerusalem before me. I know what wisdom and knowledge really are."

Ecc 2:4 I accomplished great things. I built myself houses and planted vineyards. 5 I planted gardens and orchards, with all kinds of fruit trees in them; 6 I dug ponds to irrigate them. 7 I bought many slaves, and there were slaves born in my household. I owned more livestock than anyone else who had ever lived in Jerusalem. 8 I also piled up silver and gold from the royal treasuries of the lands I ruled. Men and women sang to entertain me, and I had all the women a man could want. 9 Yes, I was great, greater than anyone else who had ever lived in Jerusalem, and my wisdom never failed me.

Ecc 7:26 I found something more bitter than death - the woman who is like a trap. The love she offers you will catch you like a net, and her arms around you will hold you like a chain. A man who pleases God can get away, but she will catch the sinner. 27 Yes, said the Philosopher, I found this out little by little while I was looking for answers. 28 I have looked for other answers but have found none. I found one man in a thousand that I could respect, but not one woman. 29 This is all that I have learned: God made us plain and simple, but we have made ourselves very complicated

Ecc 12:9 But because the Philosopher was wise, he kept on teaching the people what he knew. He studied proverbs and honestly tested their truth.

1 Kin. 3:12 I will do what you have asked. I will give you more wisdom and understanding than anyone has ever had before or will ever have again.

1 Kin.4:20 The people of Judah and Israel were as numerous as the grains of sand on the seashore; they ate and drank, and were happy. 21 Solomon's kingdom included all the nations from the Euphrates River to Philistia and the Egyptian border. They paid him taxes and were subject to him all his life. 22 The supplies Solomon needed each day were 150 bushels of fine flour and 300 bushels of meal; 23 10 stall-fed cattle, 20 pasture-fed cattle, and 100 sheep, besides deer, gazelles, roebucks, and poultry. 24 Solomon ruled over all the land west of the Euphrates River, from Tiphsah on the Euphrates as far west as the city of Gaza. All the kings west of the Euphrates were subject to him, and he was at peace with all the neighboring countries. 25 As long as he lived, the people throughout Judah and Israel lived in safety, each family with its own grapevines and fig trees. 26 Solomon had forty thousand stalls for his chariot horses and twelve thousand cavalry horses. 27 His twelve governors, each one in the month assigned to him, supplied the food King Solomon needed for himself and for all who ate in the palace; they always supplied everything needed. 28 Each governor also supplied his share of barley and straw, where it was needed, for the chariot horses and the work animals. 29 God gave Solomon unusual wisdom and insight, and knowledge too great to be measured. 30 Solomon was wiser than the wise men of the East or the wise men of Egypt. 31 He was the wisest of all men: wiser than Ethan the Ezrahite, and Heman, Calcol, and Darda, the sons of Mahol, and his fame spread throughout all the neighboring countries. 32 He composed three thousand proverbs and more than a thousand songs. 33 He spoke of trees and plants, from the Lebanon cedars to the hyssop that grows on walls; he talked about animals, birds, reptiles, and fish. 34 Kings all over the world heard of his wisdom and sent people to listen to him.

1 King 10:23 King Solomon was richer and wiser than any other king, 24 and the whole world wanted to come and listen to the wisdom that God had given him. 25 Everyone who came brought him a gift - articles of silver and gold, robes, weapons, spices, horses, and mules. This continued year after year. 26 Solomon built up a force of fourteen hundred chariots and twelve thousand cavalry horses. Some of them he kept in Jerusalem and the rest he stationed in various other cities. 27 During his reign silver was as common in Jerusalem as stone, and cedar was as plentiful as ordinary sycamore in the foothills of Judah.

2686-Ecc. 4:13 Someone may rise from poverty to become king of his country, or go from prison to the throne, but if in his old age he is too foolish to take advice, he is not as well off as a young man who is poor but intelligent. 15 I thought about all the people who live in this world, and I realized that somewhere among them there is a young man who will take the king's place.

Ecc 6:2 God will give us wealth, honor, and property, yes, everything we want, but then will not let us enjoy it. Some stranger will enjoy it instead. It is useless, and it just isn't right. 3 We may have a hundred children and live a long time, but no matter how long we live, if we do not get our share of happiness and do not receive a decent burial, then I say that a baby born dead is better off.

Ecc 9:13 There is something else I saw, a good example of how wisdom is regarded in this world. 14 There was a little town without many people in it. A powerful king attacked it. He surrounded it and prepared to break through the walls. 15 Someone lived there who was poor, but so clever that he could have saved the town. But no one thought about him. 16 I have always said that wisdom is better than strength, but no one thinks of the poor as wise or pays any attention to what they say. 17 It is better to listen to the quiet words of someone wise than to the shouts of a ruler at a council of fools. 18 Wisdom does more good than weapons, but one sinner can undo a lot of good.

2687-Ecc 2:17 So life came to mean nothing to me, because everything in it had brought me nothing but trouble. It had all been useless; I had been chasing the wind.

2688-Ecclesiastes 3:12 So I realized that all we can do is be happy and do the best we can while we are still alive. 13 All of us should eat and drink and enjoy what we have worked for. It is God's gift.

Ecc 2:24 The best thing we can do is eat and drink and enjoy what we have earned. And yet, I realized that even this comes from God. 25 How else could you have anything to eat or enjoy yourself at all?

Ecc 5:18 Here is what I have found out: the best thing we can do is eat and drink and enjoy what we have worked for during the short life that God has given us; this is our fate.

Ecc 8:15 So I am convinced that we should enjoy ourselves, because the only pleasure we have in this life is eating and drinking and enjoying ourselves. We can at least do this as we labor during the life that God has given us in this world.

Ecc 9:7 Go ahead - eat your food and be happy; drink your wine and be cheerful. It's all right with God. 8 Always look happy and cheerful. 9 Enjoy life with the one you love, as long as you live the useless life that God has given you in this world. Enjoy every useless day of it, because that is all you will get for all your trouble. 10 Work hard at whatever you do, because there will be no action, no thought, no knowledge, no wisdom in the world of the dead - and that is where you are going.

2689-Ecclesiastes 2:24 The best thing we can do is eat and drink and enjoy what we have earned. And yet, I realized that even this comes from God.

Ecc 3:12 So I realized that all we can do is be happy and do the best we can while we are still alive.

Ecc 3:22 So I realized then that the best thing we can do is enjoy what we have worked for. There is nothing else we can do. There is no way for us to know what will happen after we die.

Ecc 5:18 Here is what I have found out: the best thing we can do is eat and drink and enjoy what we have worked for during the short life that God has given us; this is our fate.

2690-Ecclesiastes 1:1 These are the words of the Philosopher, David's son, who was king in Jerusalem. 2 It is useless, useless, said the Philosopher. Life is useless, all useless. 3 You spend your life working, laboring, and what do you have to show for it? 4 Generations come and generations go, but the world stays just the same. 5 The sun still rises, and it still goes down, going wearily back to where it must start all over again. 6 The wind blows south, the wind blows north - round and round and back again. 7 Every river flows into the sea, but the sea is not yet full. The water returns to where the rivers began, and starts all over again. 8 Everything leads to weariness - a weariness too great for words. Our eyes can never see enough to be satisfied; our ears can never hear enough. 9 What has happened before will happen again. What has been done before will be done again. There is nothing new in the whole world. 10 "Look," they say, "here is something new!" But no, it has all happened before, long before we were born. 11 No one remembers what has happened in the past, and no one in days to come will remember what happens between now and then.

2691-Ecclesiastes 1:12 I, the Philosopher, have been king over Israel in Jerusalem. 13 I determined that I would examine and study all the things that are done in this world. God has laid a miserable fate upon us. 14 I have seen everything done in this world, and I tell you, it is all useless. It is like chasing the wind. 15 You can't straighten out what is crooked; you can't count things that aren't there. 16 I told myself, "I have become a great man, far wiser than anyone who ruled Jerusalem before me. I know what wisdom and knowledge really are." 17 I was determined to learn the difference between knowledge and foolishness, wisdom and madness. But I found out that I might as well be chasing the wind. 18 The wiser you are, the more worries you have; the more you know, the more it hurts.

Eccl 2:1 I decided to enjoy myself and find out what happiness is. But I found that this is useless, too. 2 I discovered that laughter is foolish, that pleasure does you no good. 3 Driven on by my desire for wisdom, I decided to cheer myself up with wine and have a good time. I thought that this might be the best way people can spend their short lives on earth. 4 I accomplished great things. I built myself houses and planted vineyards. 5 I planted gardens and orchards, with all kinds of fruit trees in them; 6 I dug ponds to irrigate them. 7 I bought many slaves, and there were slaves born in my household. I owned more livestock than anyone else who had ever lived in Jerusalem. 8 I also piled up silver and gold from the royal treasuries of the lands I ruled. Men and women sang to entertain me, and I had all the women a man could want. 9 Yes, I was great, greater than anyone else who had ever lived in Jerusalem, and my wisdom never failed me. 10 Anything I wanted, I got. I did not deny myself any pleasure. I was proud of everything I had worked for, and all this was my reward. 11 Then I thought about all that I had done and how hard I had worked doing it, and I realized that it didn't mean a thing. It was like chasing the wind - of no use at all. 12 After all, a king can only do what previous kings have done. So I started thinking about what it meant to be wise or reckless or foolish. 13 Oh, I know, "Wisdom is better than foolishness, just as light is better than darkness. 14 The wise can see where they are going, and fools cannot." But I also know that the same fate is waiting for us all. 15 I thought to myself, "What happens to fools is going to happen to me, too. So what have I gained from being so wise?" "Nothing," I answered, "not a thing." 16 No one remembers the wise, and no one remembers fools. In days to come, we will all be forgotten. We must all die - wise and foolish alike. 17 So life came to mean nothing to me, because everything in it had brought me nothing but trouble. It had all been useless; I had been chasing the wind. 18 Nothing that I had worked for and earned meant a thing to me, because I knew that I would have to leave it to my successor, 19 and he might be wise, or he might be foolish - who knows? Yet he will own everything I have worked for, everything my wisdom has earned for me in this world. It is all useless. 20 So I came to regret that I had worked so hard. 21 You work for something with all your wisdom, knowledge, and skill, and then you have to leave it all to someone who hasn't had to work for it. It is useless, and it isn't right! 22 You work and worry your way through life, and what do you have to show for it? 23 As long as you live, everything you do brings nothing but worry and heartache. Even at night your mind can't rest. It is all useless. 24 The best thing we can do is eat and drink and enjoy what we have earned. And yet, I realized that even this comes from God. 25 How else could you have anything to eat or enjoy yourself at all? 26 God gives wisdom, knowledge, and happiness to those who please him, but he makes sinners work, earning and saving, so that what they get can be given to those who please him. It is all useless. It is like chasing the wind.

2692-Ecclesiastes 3:1 Everything that happens in this world happens at the time God chooses. 2 He sets the time for birth and the time for death, the time for planting and the time for pulling up, 3 the time for killing and the time for healing, the time for tearing down and the time for building. 4 He sets the time for sorrow and the time for joy, the time for mourning and the time for dancing, 5 the time for making love and the time for not making love, the time for kissing and the time for not kissing. 6 He sets the time for finding and the time for losing, the time for saving and the time for throwing away, 7 the time for tearing and the time for mending, the time for silence and the time for talk. 8 He sets the time for love and the time for hate, the time for war and the time for peace. 9 What do we gain from all our work? 10 I know the heavy burdens that God has laid on us. 11 He has set the right time for everything. He has given us a desire to know the future, but never gives us the satisfaction of fully understanding what he does. 12 So I realized that all we can do is be happy and do the best we can while we are still alive. 13 All of us should eat and drink and enjoy what we have worked for. It is God's gift. 14 I know that everything God does will last forever. You can't add anything to it or take anything away from it. And one thing God does is to make us stand in awe of him. 15 Whatever happens or can happen has already happened before. God makes the same thing happen again and again. 16 In addition, I have also noticed that in this world you find wickedness where justice and right ought to be. 17 I told myself, "God is going to judge the righteous and the evil alike, because every thing, every action, will happen at its own set time." 18 I decided that God is testing us, to show us that we are no better than animals. 19 After all, the same fate awaits human beings and animals alike. One dies just like the other. They are the same kind of creature. A human being is no better off than an animal, because life has no meaning for either. 20 They are both going to the same place - the dust. They both came from it; they will both go back to it. 21 How can anyone be sure that the human spirit goes upward while an animal's spirit goes down into the ground? 22 So I realized then that the best thing we can do is enjoy what we have worked for. There is nothing else we can do. There is no way for us to know what will happen after we die.

Ecc 4:1 Then I looked again at all the injustice that goes on in this world. The oppressed were crying, and no one would help them. No one would help them, because their oppressors had power on their side. 2 I envy those who are dead and gone; they are better off than those who are still alive. 3 But better off than either are those who have never been born, who have never seen the injustice that goes on in this world. 4 I have also learned why people work so hard to succeed: it is because they envy the things their neighbors have. But it is useless. It is like chasing the wind. 5 They say that we would be fools to fold our hands and let ourselves starve to death. 6 Maybe so, but it is better to have only a little, with peace of mind, than be busy all the time with both hands, trying to catch the wind. 7 I have noticed something else in life that is useless. 8 Here is someone who lives alone. He has no son, no brother, yet he is always working, never satisfied with the wealth he has. For whom is he working so hard and denying himself any pleasure? This is useless, too - and a miserable way to live.

2693-Ecclesiastes 4:9 Two are better off than one, because together they can work more effectively. 10 If one of them falls down, the other can help him up. But if someone is alone and falls, it's just too bad, because there is no one to help him. 11 If it is cold, two can sleep together and stay warm, but how can you keep warm by yourself? 12 Two people can resist an attack that would defeat one person alone. A rope made of three cords is hard to break. 13 Someone may rise from poverty to become king of his country, or go from prison to the throne, but if in his old age he is too foolish to take advice, he is not as well off as a young man who is poor but intelligent. 15 I thought about all the people who live in this world, and I realized that somewhere among them there is a young man who will take the king's place.

Ecc 5:1 Be careful about going to the Temple. It is better to go there to learn than to offer sacrifices like foolish people who don't know right from wrong. 2 Think before you speak, and don't make any rash promises to God. He is in heaven and you are on earth, so don't say any more than you have to. 3 The more you worry, the more likely you are to have bad dreams, and the more you talk, the more likely you are to say something foolish. 4 So when you make a promise to God, keep it as quickly as possible. He has no use for a fool. Do what you promise to do. 5 Better not to promise at all than to make a promise and not keep it. 6 Don't let your own words lead you into sin, so that you have to tell God's priest that you didn't mean it. Why make God angry with you? Why let him destroy what you have worked for? 7 No matter how much you dream, how much useless work you do, or how much you talk, you must still stand in awe of God. 8 Don't be surprised when you see that the government oppresses the poor and denies them justice and their rights. Every official is protected by someone higher, and both are protected by still higher officials. 9 Even a king depends on the harvest.

2694-Ecclesiastes 5:10 If you love money, you will never be satisfied; if you long to be rich, you will never get all you want. It is useless. 11 The richer you are, the more mouths you have to feed. All you gain is the knowledge that you are rich. 12 Workers may or may not have enough to eat, but at least they can get a good night's sleep. The rich, however, have so much that they stay awake worrying. 13 Here is a terrible thing that I have seen in this world: people save up their money for a time when they may need it, 14 and then lose it all in some bad deal and end up with nothing left to pass on to their children. 15 We leave this world just as we entered it - with nothing. In spite of all our work there is nothing we can take with us. 16 It isn't right! We go just as we came. We labor, trying to catch the wind, and what do we get? 17 We get to live our lives in darkness and grief, worried, angry, and sick. 18 Here is what I have found out: the best thing we can do is eat and drink and enjoy what we have worked for during the short life that God has given us; this is our fate. 19 If God gives us wealth and property and lets us enjoy them, we should be grateful and enjoy what we have worked for. It is a gift from God. 20 Since God has allowed us to be happy, we will not worry too much about how short life is.

Ecc 6:1 I have noticed that in this world a serious injustice is done. 2 God will give us wealth, honor, and property, yes, everything we want, but then will not let us enjoy it. Some stranger will enjoy it instead. It is useless, and it just isn't right. 3 We may have a hundred children and live a long time, but no matter how long we live, if we do not get our share of happiness and do not receive a decent burial, then I say that a baby born dead is better off. 4 It does that baby no good to be born; it disappears into darkness, where it is forgotten. 5 It never sees the light of day or knows what life is like, but at least it has found rest - 6 more so than the man who never enjoys life, though he may live two thousand years. After all, both of them are going to the same place. 7 We do all our work just to get something to eat, but we never have enough. 8 How are the wise better off than fools? What good does it do the poor to know how to face life? 9 It is useless; it is like chasing the wind. It is better to be satisfied with what you have than to be always wanting something else. 10 Everything that happens was already determined long ago, and we all know that you cannot argue with someone who is stronger than you. 11 The longer you argue, the more useless it is, and you are no better off. 12 How can anyone know what is best for us in this short, useless life of ours - a life that passes like a shadow? How can we know what will happen in the world after we die?

2695-Ecclesiastes 7:1 A good reputation is better than expensive perfume; and the day you die is better than the day you are born. 2 It is better to go to a home where there is mourning than to one where there is a party, because the living should always remind themselves that death is waiting for us all. 3 Sorrow is better than laughter; it may sadden your face, but it sharpens your understanding. 4 Someone who is always thinking about happiness is a fool. A wise person thinks about death. 5 It is better to have wise people reprimand you than to have stupid people sing your praises. 6 When a fool laughs, it is like thorns crackling in a fire. It doesn't mean a thing. 7 You may be wise, but if you cheat someone, you are acting like a fool. If you take a bribe, you ruin your character. 8 The end of something is better than its beginning. Patience is better than pride. 9 Keep your temper under control; it is foolish to harbor a grudge. 10 Never ask, "Oh, why were things so much better in the old days?" It's not an intelligent question. 11 Everyone who lives ought to be wise; it is as good as receiving an inheritance 12 and will give you as much security as money can. Wisdom keeps you safe - this is the advantage of knowledge. 13 Think about what God has done. How can anyone straighten out what God has made crooked? 14 When things are going well for you, be glad, and when trouble comes, just remember: God sends both happiness and trouble; you never know what is going to happen next. 15 My life has been useless, but in it I have seen everything. Some good people may die while others live on, even though they are evil. 16 So don't be too good or too wise - why kill yourself? 17 But don't be too wicked or too foolish, either - why die before you have to? 18 Avoid both extremes. If you have reverence for God, you will be successful anyway. 19 Wisdom does more for a person than ten rulers can do for a city. 20 There is no one on earth who does what is right all the time and never makes a mistake. 21 Don't pay attention to everything people say - you may hear your servant insulting you, 22 and you know yourself that you have insulted other people many times.

2696-Ecclesiastes 7:23 I used my wisdom to test all of this. I was determined to be wise, but it was beyond me. 24 How can anyone discover what life means? It is too deep for us, too hard to understand. 25 But I devoted myself to knowledge and study; I was determined to find wisdom and the answers to my questions, and to learn how wicked and foolish stupidity is. 26 I found something more bitter than death - the woman who is like a trap. The love she offers you will catch you like a net, and her arms around you will hold you like a chain. A man who pleases God can get away, but she will catch the sinner. 27 Yes, said the Philosopher, I found this out little by little while I was looking for answers. 28 I have looked for other answers but have found none. I found one man in a thousand that I could respect, but not one woman. 29 This is all that I have learned: God made us plain and simple, but we have made ourselves very complicated.

Ecc 8:1 Only the wise know what things really mean. Wisdom makes them smile and makes their frowns disappear. 2 Do what the king says, and don't make any rash promises to God. 3 The king can do anything he likes, so depart from his presence; don't stay in such a dangerous place. 4 The king acts with authority, and no one can challenge what he does. 5 As long as you obey his commands, you are safe, and a wise person knows how and when to do it. 6 There is a right time and a right way to do everything, but we know so little! 7 None of us knows what is going to happen, and there is no one to tell us. 8 No one can keep from dying or put off the day of death. That is a battle we cannot escape; we cannot cheat our way out. 9 I saw all this when I thought about the things that are done in this world, a world where some people have power and others have to suffer under them. 10 Yes, I have seen the wicked buried and in their graves, but on the way back from the cemetery people praise them in the very city where they did their evil. It is useless. 11 Why do people commit crimes so readily? Because crime is not punished quickly enough. 12 A sinner may commit a hundred crimes and still live. Oh yes, I know what they say: "If you obey God, everything will be all right, 13 but it will not go well for the wicked. Their life is like a shadow and they will die young, because they do not obey God." 14 But this is nonsense. Look at what happens in the world: sometimes the righteous get the punishment of the wicked, and the wicked get the reward of the righteous. I say it is useless. 15 So I am convinced that we should enjoy ourselves, because the only pleasure we have in this life is eating and drinking and enjoying ourselves. We can at least do this as we labor during the life that God has given us in this world

2697-Ecclesiastes 8:16 Whenever I tried to become wise and learn what goes on in the world, I realized that you could stay awake night and day 17 and never be able to understand what God is doing. However hard you try, you will never find out. The wise may claim to know, but they don't.

Ecc 9:1 I thought long and hard about all this and saw that God controls the actions of wise and righteous people, even their love and their hate. No one knows anything about what lies ahead. 2 It makes no difference. The same fate comes to the righteous and the wicked, to the good and the bad, to those who are religious and those who are not, to those who offer sacrifices and those who do not. A good person is no better off than a sinner; one who takes an oath is no better off than one who does not. 3 One fate comes to all alike, and this is as wrong as anything that happens in this world. As long as people live, their minds are full of evil and madness, and suddenly they die. 4 But anyone who is alive in the world of the living has some hope; a live dog is better off than a dead lion. 5 Yes, the living know they are going to die, but the dead know nothing. They have no further reward; they are completely forgotten. 6 Their loves, their hates, their passions, all died with them. They will never again take part in anything that happens in this world. 7 Go ahead - eat your food and be happy; drink your wine and be cheerful. It's all right with God. 8 Always look happy and cheerful. 9 Enjoy life with the one you love, as long as you live the useless life that God has given you in this world. Enjoy every useless day of it, because that is all you will get for all your trouble. 10 Work hard at whatever you do, because there will be no action, no thought, no knowledge, no wisdom in the world of the dead - and that is where you are going. 11 I realized another thing, that in this world fast runners do not always win the races, and the brave do not always win the battles. The wise do not always earn a living, intelligent people do not always get rich, and capable people do not always rise to high positions. Bad luck happens to everyone. 12 You never know when your time is coming. Like birds suddenly caught in a trap, like fish caught in a net, we are trapped at some evil moment when we least expect it. 13 There is something else I saw, a good example of how wisdom is regarded in this world. 14 There was a little town without many people in it. A powerful king attacked it. He surrounded it and prepared to break through the walls. 15 Someone lived there who was poor, but so clever that he could have saved the town. But no one thought about him. 16 I have always said that wisdom is better than strength, but no one thinks of the poor as wise or pays any attention to what they say. 17 It is better to listen to the quiet words of someone wise than to the shouts of a ruler at a council of fools. 18 Wisdom does more good than weapons, but one sinner can undo a lot of good.

Ecc 10:1 Dead flies can make a whole bottle of perfume stink, and a little stupidity can cancel out the greatest wisdom. 2 It is natural for the wise to do the right thing and for fools to do the wrong thing. 3 Their stupidity will be evident even to strangers they meet along the way; they let everyone know that they are fools. 4 If your ruler becomes angry with you, do not hand in your resignation; serious wrongs may be pardoned if you keep calm. 5 Here is an injustice I have seen in the world - an injustice caused by rulers. 6 Stupid people are given positions of authority while the rich are ignored. 7 I have seen slaves on horseback while noblemen go on foot like slaves. 8 If you dig a pit, you fall in it; if you break through a wall, a snake bites you. 9 If you work in a stone quarry, you get hurt by stones. If you split wood, you get hurt doing it. 10 If your ax is dull and you don't sharpen it, you have to work harder to use it. It is smarter to plan ahead. 11 Knowing how to charm a snake is of no use if you let the snake bite first. 12 What the wise say brings them honor, but fools are destroyed by their own words. 13 They start out with silly talk and end up with pure madness. 14 A fool talks on and on. No one knows what is going to happen next, and no one can tell us what will happen after we die. 15 Only someone too stupid to find his way home would wear himself out with work. 16 A country is in trouble when its king is a youth and its leaders feast all night long. 17 But a country is fortunate to have a king who makes his own decisions and leaders who eat at the proper time, who control themselves and don't get drunk. 18 When you are too lazy to repair your roof, it will leak, and the house will fall in. 19 Feasting makes you happy and wine cheers you up, but you can't have either without money. 20 Don't criticize the king, even silently, and don't criticize the rich, even in the privacy of your bedroom. A bird might carry the message and tell them what you said.

Ecc 11:1 Invest your money in foreign trade, and one of these days you will make a profit. 2 Put your investments in several places - many places even - because you never know what kind of bad luck you are going to have in this world. 3 No matter which direction a tree falls, it will lie where it fell. When the clouds are full, it rains. 4 If you wait until the wind and the weather are just right, you will never plant anything and never harvest anything. 5 God made everything, and you can no more understand what he does than you understand how new life begins in the womb of a pregnant woman. 6 Do your planting in the morning and in the evening, too. You never know whether it will all grow well or whether one planting will do better than the other. 7 It is good to be able to enjoy the pleasant light of day. 8 Be grateful for every year you live. No matter how long you live, remember that you will be dead much longer. There is nothing at all to look forward to. 9 Young people, enjoy your youth. Be happy while you are still young. Do what you want to do, and follow your heart's desire. But remember that God is going to judge you for whatever you do. 10 Don't let anything worry you or cause you pain. You aren't going to be young very long.

Ecc 12:1 So remember your Creator while you are still young, before those dismal days and years come when you will say, "I don't enjoy life." 2 That is when the light of the sun, the moon, and the stars will grow dim for you, and the rain clouds will never pass away. 3 Then your arms, that have protected you, will tremble, and your legs, now strong, will grow weak. Your teeth will be too few to chew your food, and your eyes too dim to see clearly. 4 Your ears will be deaf to the noise of the street. You will barely be able to hear the mill as it grinds or music as it plays, but even the song of a bird will wake you from sleep. 5 You will be afraid of high places, and walking will be dangerous. Your hair will turn white; you will hardly be able to drag yourself along, and all desire will be gone. We are going to our final resting place, and then there will be mourning in the streets. 6 The silver chain will snap, and the golden lamp will fall and break; the rope at the well will break, and the water jar will be shattered. 7 Our bodies will return to the dust of the earth, and the breath of life will go back to God, who gave it to us. 8 Useless, useless, said the Philosopher. It is all useless. 9 But because the Philosopher was wise, he kept on teaching the people what he knew. He studied proverbs and honestly tested their truth. 10 The Philosopher tried to find comforting words, but the words he wrote were honest. 11 The sayings of the wise are like the sharp sticks that shepherds use to guide sheep, and collected proverbs are as lasting as firmly driven nails. They have been given by God, the one Shepherd of us all. 12 My child, there is something else to watch out for. There is no end to the writing of books, and too much study will wear you out. 13 After all this, there is only one thing to say: Have reverence for God, and obey his commands, because this is all that we were created for. 14 God is going to judge everything we do, whether good or bad, even things done in secret.

2698-Ecclesiastes 3:15 Whatever happens or can happen has already happened before. God makes the same thing happen again and again.

2699-Ecclesiastes 2:14 The wise can see where they are going, and fools cannot." But I also know that the same fate is waiting for us all. 15 I thought to myself, "What happens to fools is going to happen to me, too. So what have I gained from being so wise?" "Nothing," I answered, "not a thing." 16 No one remembers the wise, and no one remembers fools. In days to come, we will all be forgotten. We must all die - wise and foolish alike. 17 So life came to mean nothing to me, because everything in it had brought me nothing but trouble. It had all been useless; I had been chasing the wind.

2700-Ecclesiastes 3:14 I know that everything God does will last forever. You can't add anything to it or take anything away from it. And one thing God does is to make us stand in awe of him.

Ecc 5:7 No matter how much you dream, how much useless work you do, or how much you talk, you must still stand in awe of God.

Ecc 8:12 A sinner may commit a hundred crimes and still live. Oh yes, I know what they say: "If you obey God, everything will be all right,

Ecc 12:13 After all this, there is only one thing to say: Have reverence for God, and obey his commands, because this is all that we were created for.

2701-Lev. 19:2 to say to the community of Israel, "Be holy, because I, the Lord your God, am holy.

Eph. 3:14 For this reason I fall on my knees before the Father,

Eph. 3:17 and I pray that Christ will make his home in your hearts through faith. I pray that you may have your roots and foundation in love, 18 so that you, together with all God's people, may have the power to understand how broad and long, how high and deep, is Christ's love. 19 Yes, may you come to know his love - although it can never be fully known - and so be completely filled with the very nature of God.

2702-Rom. 9:20 But who are you, my friend, to talk back to God? A clay pot does not ask the man who made it, "Why did you make me like this?" 21 After all, the man who makes the pots has the right to use the clay as he wishes, and to make two pots from the same lump of clay, one for special occasions and the other for ordinary use. 22 And the same is true of what God has done. He wanted to show his anger and to make his power known. But he was very patient in enduring those who were the objects of his anger, who were doomed to destruction. 23 And he also wanted to reveal his abundant glory, which was poured out on us who are the objects of his mercy, those of us whom he has prepared to receive his glory.

2703-Luke 18:9 Jesus also told this parable to people who were sure of their own goodness and despised everybody else. 10 "Once there were two men who went up to the Temple to pray: one was a Pharisee, the other a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee stood apart by himself and prayed, "I thank you, God, that I am not greedy, dishonest, or an adulterer, like everybody else. I thank you that I am not like that tax collector over there. 12 I fast two days a week, and I give you one tenth of all my income.' 13 But the tax collector stood at a distance and would not even raise his face to heaven, but beat on his breast and said, "God, have pity on me, a sinner!' 14 I tell you," said Jesus, "the tax collector, and not the Pharisee, was in the right with God when he went home. For those who make themselves great will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be made great."

2704-Ps. 10:11 The wicked say to themselves, "God doesn't care! He has closed his eyes and will never see me!"

Mal. 1:2 The Lord says to his people, "I have always loved you." But they reply, "How have you shown your love for us?" The Lord answers, "Esau and Jacob were brothers, but I have loved Jacob and his descendants,

Mal 1:6 The Lord Almighty says to the priests, "Children honor their parents, and servants honor their masters. I am your father - why don't you honor me? I am your master - why don't you respect me? You despise me, and yet you ask, "How have we despised you?'

Mal 2:17 You have tired the Lord out with your talk. But you ask, "How have we tired him?" By saying, "The Lord Almighty thinks all evildoers are good; in fact he likes them." Or by asking, "Where is the God who is supposed to be just?"

Mal 3:8 I ask you, is it right for a person to cheat God? Of course not, yet you are cheating me. "How?' you ask. In the matter of tithes and offerings.

Mal 3:13 "You have said terrible things about me," says the Lord. "But you ask, "What have we said about you?'

2705-Prov 7:15 So I came out looking for you. I wanted to find you, and here you are! 16 I've covered my bed with sheets of colored linen from Egypt. 17 I've perfumed it with myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon. 18 Come on! Let's make love all night long. We'll be happy in each other's arms. 19 My husband isn't at home. He's on a long trip. 20 He took plenty of money with him and won't be back for two weeks." 21 So she tempted him with her charms, and he gave in to her smooth talk. 22 Suddenly he was going with her like an ox on the way to be slaughtered, like a deer prancing into a trap

2706-Job 42:7 After the Lord had finished speaking to Job, he said to Eliphaz, "I am angry with you and your two friends, because you did not speak the truth about me, the way my servant Job did. 8 Now take seven bulls and seven rams to Job and offer them as a sacrifice for yourselves. Job will pray for you, and I will answer his prayer and not disgrace you the way you deserve. You did not speak the truth about me as he did."

2707-Genesis 5:21 When Enoch was 65, he had a son, Methuselah. 22 After that, Enoch lived in fellowship with God for 300 years and had other children. 23 He lived to be 365 years old. 24 He spent his life in fellowship with God, and then he disappeared, because God took him away.

Hebrews 11:5 It was faith that kept Enoch from dying. Instead, he was taken up to God, and nobody could find him, because God had taken him up. The scripture says that before Enoch was taken up, he had pleased God.

2708-Daniel 6:1 Darius decided to appoint a hundred and twenty governors to hold office throughout his empire. 2 In addition, he chose Daniel and two others to supervise the governors and to look after the king's interests. 3 Daniel soon showed that he could do better work than the other supervisors or the governors. Because he was so outstanding, the king considered putting him in charge of the whole empire. 4 Then the other supervisors and the governors tried to find something wrong with the way Daniel administered the empire, but they couldn't, because Daniel was reliable and did not do anything wrong or dishonest. 5 They said to each other, "We are not going to find anything of which to accuse Daniel unless it is something in connection with his religion." 6 So they went to see the king and said, "King Darius, may Your Majesty live forever! 7 All of us who administer your empire - the supervisors, the governors, the lieutenant governors, and the other officials - have agreed that Your Majesty should issue an order and enforce it strictly. Give orders that for thirty days no one be permitted to request anything from any god or from any human being except from Your Majesty. Anyone who violates this order is to be thrown into a pit filled with lions. 8 So let Your Majesty issue this order and sign it, and it will be in force, a law of the Medes and Persians, which cannot be changed." 9 And so King Darius signed the order. 10 When Daniel learned that the order had been signed, he went home. In an upstairs room of his house there were windows that faced toward Jerusalem. There, just as he had always done, he knelt down at the open windows and prayed to God three times a day. 11 When Daniel's enemies observed him praying to God, 12 all of them went together to the king to accuse Daniel. They said, "Your Majesty, you signed an order that for the next thirty days anyone who requested anything from any god or from any human being except you, would be thrown into a pit filled with lions." The king replied, "Yes, that is a strict order, a law of the Medes and Persians, which cannot be changed." 13 Then they said to the king, "Daniel, one of the exiles from Judah, does not respect Your Majesty or obey the order you issued. He prays regularly three times a day." 14 When the king heard this, he was upset and did his best to find some way to rescue Daniel. He kept trying until sunset. 15 Then Daniel's enemies came back to the king and said to him, "Your Majesty knows that according to the laws of the Medes and Persians no order which the king issues can be changed." 16 So the king gave orders for Daniel to be taken and thrown into the pit filled with lions. He said to Daniel, "May your God, whom you serve so loyally, rescue you." 17 A stone was put over the mouth of the pit, and the king placed his own royal seal and the seal of his noblemen on the stone, so that no one could rescue Daniel. 18 Then the king returned to the palace and spent a sleepless night, without food or any form of entertainment. 19 At dawn the king got up and hurried to the pit. 20 When he got there, he called out anxiously, "Daniel, servant of the living God! Was the God you serve so loyally able to save you from the lions?" 21 Daniel answered, "May Your Majesty live forever! 22 God sent his angel to shut the mouths of the lions so that they would not hurt me. He did this because he knew that I was innocent and because I have not wronged you, Your Majesty." 23 The king was overjoyed and gave orders for Daniel to be pulled up out of the pit. So they pulled him up and saw that he had not been hurt at all, for he trusted God. 24 Then the king gave orders to arrest all those who had accused Daniel, and he had them thrown, together with their wives and children, into the pit filled with lions. Before they even reached the bottom of the pit, the lions pounced on them and broke all their bones. 25 Then King Darius wrote to the people of all nations, races, and languages on earth: "Greetings! 26 I command that throughout my empire everyone should fear and respect Daniel's God. "He is a living God, and he will rule forever. His kingdom will never be destroyed, and his power will never come to an end. 27 He saves and rescues; he performs wonders and miracles in heaven and on earth. He saved Daniel from being killed by the lions." 28 Daniel prospered during the reign of Darius and the reign of Cyrus the Persian.

2709-Exodus 32:11 But Moses pleaded with the Lord his God and said, "Lord, why should you be so angry with your people, whom you rescued from Egypt with great might and power? 12 Why should the Egyptians be able to say that you led your people out of Egypt, planning to kill them in the mountains and destroy them completely? Stop being angry; change your mind and do not bring this disaster on your people. 13 Remember your servants Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Remember the solemn promise you made to them to give them as many descendants as there are stars in the sky and to give their descendants all that land you promised would be their possession forever." 14 So the Lord changed his mind and did not bring on his people the disaster he had threatened.

Numbers 14:11 The Lord said to Moses, "How much longer will these people reject me? How much longer will they refuse to trust in me, even though I have performed so many miracles among them? 12 I will send an epidemic and destroy them, but I will make you the father of a nation that is larger and more powerful than they are!" 13 But Moses said to the Lord, "You brought these people out of Egypt by your power. When the Egyptians hear what you have done to your people, 14 they will tell it to the people who live in this land. These people have already heard that you, Lord, are with us, that you appear in plain sight when your cloud stops over us, and that you go before us in a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. 15 Now if you kill all your people, the nations who have heard of your fame will say 16 that you killed your people in the wilderness because you were not able to bring them into the land you promised to give them. 17 So now, Lord, I pray, show us your power and do what you promised when you said, 18 "I, the Lord, am not easily angered, and I show great love and faithfulness and forgive sin and rebellion. Yet I will not fail to punish children and grandchildren to the third and fourth generation for the sins of their parents.' 19 And now, Lord, according to the greatness of your unchanging love, forgive, I pray, the sin of these people, just as you have forgiven them ever since they left Egypt." 20 The Lord answered, "I will forgive them, as you have asked. 21 But I promise that as surely as I live and as surely as my presence fills the earth, 22 none of these people will live to enter that land. They have seen the dazzling light of my presence and the miracles that I performed in Egypt and in the wilderness, but they have tried my patience over and over again and have refused to obey me. 23 They will never enter the land which I promised to their ancestors. None of those who have rejected me will ever enter it. 24 But because my servant Caleb has a different attitude and has remained loyal to me, I will bring him into the land which he explored, and his descendants will possess the land 25 in whose valleys the Amalekites and the Canaanites now live. Turn back tomorrow and go into the wilderness in the direction of the Gulf of Aqaba."

2710-John 15:15 I do not call you servants any longer, because servants do not know what their master is doing. Instead, I call you friends, because I have told you everything I heard from my Father.

John 16:26 When that day comes, you will ask him in my name; and I do not say that I will ask him on your behalf,

2711-Psalms 51:1 Be merciful to me, O God, because of your constant love. Because of your great mercy wipe away my sins! 2 Wash away all my evil and make me clean from my sin! 3 I recognize my faults; I am always conscious of my sins. 4 I have sinned against you - only against you - and done what you consider evil. So you are right in judging me; you are justified in condemning me. 5 I have been evil from the day I was born; from the time I was conceived, I have been sinful. 6 Sincerity and truth are what you require; fill my mind with your wisdom. 7 Remove my sin, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. 8 Let me hear the sounds of joy and gladness; and though you have crushed me and broken me, I will be happy once again. 9 Close your eyes to my sins and wipe out all my evil. 10 Create a pure heart in me, O God, and put a new and loyal spirit in me. 11 Do not banish me from your presence; do not take your holy spirit away from me. 12 Give me again the joy that comes from your salvation, and make me willing to obey you. 13 Then I will teach sinners your commands, and they will turn back to you. 14 Spare my life, O God, and save me, and I will gladly proclaim your righteousness. 15 Help me to speak, Lord, and I will praise you. 16 You do not want sacrifices, or I would offer them; you are not pleased with burnt offerings. 17 My sacrifice is a humble spirit, O God; you will not reject a humble and repentant heart. 18 O God, be kind to Zion and help her; rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. 19 Then you will be pleased with proper sacrifices and with our burnt offerings; and bulls will be sacrificed on your altar.

2712-Ecclesiastes 12:13 After all this, there is only one thing to say: Have reverence for God, and obey his commands, because this is all that we were created for. 14 God is going to judge everything we do, whether good or bad, even things done in secret.

2713-1 John 4:17 Love is made perfect in us in order that we may have courage on the Judgment Day; and we will have it because our life in this world is the same as Christ's. 18 There is no fear in love; perfect love drives out all fear. So then, love has not been made perfect in anyone who is afraid, because fear has to do with punishment.

2714-Psalms 139:1 Lord, you have examined me and you know me. 2 You know everything I do; from far away you understand all my thoughts. 3 You see me, whether I am working or resting; you know all my actions. 4 Even before I speak, you already know what I will say. 5 You are all around me on every side; you protect me with your power. 6 Your knowledge of me is too deep; it is beyond my understanding. 7 Where could I go to escape from you? Where could I get away from your presence? 8 If I went up to heaven, you would be there; if I lay down in the world of the dead, you would be there. 9 If I flew away beyond the east or lived in the farthest place in the west, 10 you would be there to lead me, you would be there to help me. 11 I could ask the darkness to hide me or the light around me to turn into night, 12 but even darkness is not dark for you, and the night is as bright as the day. Darkness and light are the same to you. 13 You created every part of me; you put me together in my mother's womb. 14 I praise you because you are to be feared; all you do is strange and wonderful. I know it with all my heart. 15 When my bones were being formed, carefully put together in my mother's womb, when I was growing there in secret, you knew that I was there - 16 you saw me before I was born. The days allotted to me had all been recorded in your book, before any of them ever began. 17 O God, how difficult I find your thoughts; how many of them there are! 18 If I counted them, they would be more than the grains of sand. When I awake, I am still with you. 19 O God, how I wish you would kill the wicked! How I wish violent people would leave me alone! 20 They say wicked things about you; they speak evil things against your name. 21 O Lord, how I hate those who hate you! How I despise those who rebel against you! 22 I hate them with a total hatred; I regard them as my enemies. 23 Examine me, O God, and know my mind; test me, and discover my thoughts. 24 Find out if there is any evil in me and guide me in the everlasting way.

Pr. 5: The Lord sees everything you do. Wherever you go, he is watching.

Prov 15:3 The Lord sees what happens everywhere; he is watching us, whether we do good or evil.

Prov 15:11 Not even the world of the dead can keep the Lord from knowing what is there; how then can we hide our thoughts from God?

Rom 2:16 And so, according to the Good News I preach, this is how it will be on that Day when God through Jesus Christ will judge the secret thoughts of all.

2715-Job 42:7 After the Lord had finished speaking to Job, he said to Eliphaz, "I am angry with you and your two friends, because you did not speak the truth about me, the way my servant Job did. 8 Now take seven bulls and seven rams to Job and offer them as a sacrifice for yourselves. Job will pray for you, and I will answer his prayer and not disgrace you the way you deserve. You did not speak the truth about me as he did."

2716-Ecclesiastes 3:1 Everything that happens in this world happens at the time God chooses. 2 He sets the time for birth and the time for death, the time for planting and the time for pulling up, 3 the time for killing and the time for healing, the time for tearing down and the time for building. 4 He sets the time for sorrow and the time for joy, the time for mourning and the time for dancing, 5 the time for making love and the time for not making love, the time for kissing and the time for not kissing. 6 He sets the time for finding and the time for losing, the time for saving and the time for throwing away, 7 the time for tearing and the time for mending, the time for silence and the time for talk. 8 He sets the time for love and the time for hate, the time for war and the time for peace.

2717-Isaiah 5:1 Listen while I sing you this song, a song of my friend and his vineyard: My friend had a vineyard on a very fertile hill. 2 He dug the soil and cleared it of stones; he planted the finest vines. He built a tower to guard them, dug a pit for treading the grapes. He waited for the grapes to ripen, but every grape was sour. 3 So now my friend says, "You people who live in Jerusalem and Judah, judge between my vineyard and me. 4 Is there anything I failed to do for it? Then why did it produce sour grapes and not the good grapes I expected? 5 "Here is what I am going to do to my vineyard: I will take away the hedge around it, break down the wall that protects it, and let wild animals eat it and trample it down. 6 I will let it be overgrown with weeds. I will not trim the vines or hoe the ground; instead, I will let briers and thorns cover it. I will even forbid the clouds to let rain fall on it." 7 Israel is the vineyard of the Lord Almighty; the people of Judah are the vines he planted. He expected them to do what was good, but instead they committed murder. He expected them to do what was right, but their victims cried out for justice.

Isaiah 54:4 Do not be afraid - you will not be disgraced again; you will not be humiliated. You will forget your unfaithfulness as a young wife, and your desperate loneliness as a widow. 5 Your Creator will be like a husband to you - the Lord Almighty is his name. The holy God of Israel will save you - he is the ruler of all the world. 6 Israel, you are like a young wife, deserted by her husband and deeply distressed. But the Lord calls you back to him and says: 7 "For one brief moment I left you; with deep love I will take you back. 8 I turned away angry for only a moment, but I will show you my love forever." So says the Lord who saves you.

Jeremiah 2:2 to proclaim this message to everyone in Jerusalem. "I remember how faithful you were when you were young, how you loved me when we were first married; you followed me through the desert, through a land that had not been planted. 3 Israel, you belonged to me alone; you were my sacred possession. I sent suffering and disaster on everyone who hurt you. I, the Lord, have spoken."

Jeremiah 2:32 Does a young woman forget her jewelry, or a bride her wedding dress? But my people have forgotten me for more days than can be counted.

Ezekiel 16:1 The Lord spoke to me again. 2 "Mortal man," he said, "point out to Jerusalem what disgusting things she has done. 3 Tell Jerusalem what the Sovereign Lord is saying to her: "You were born in the land of Canaan. Your father was an Amorite, and your mother was a Hittite. 4 When you were born, no one cut your umbilical cord or washed you or rubbed you with salt or wrapped you in cloths. 5 No one took enough pity on you to do any of these things for you. When you were born, no one loved you. You were thrown out in an open field. 6 "Then I passed by and saw you squirming in your own blood. You were covered with blood, but I wouldn't let you die. 7 I made you grow like a healthy plant. You grew strong and tall and became a young woman. Your breasts were well-formed, and your hair had grown, but you were naked. 8 "As I passed by again, I saw that the time had come for you to fall in love. I covered your naked body with my coat and promised to love you. Yes, I made a marriage covenant with you, and you became mine." This is what the Sovereign Lord says. 9 "Then I took water and washed the blood off you. I rubbed olive oil on your skin. 10 I dressed you in embroidered gowns and gave you shoes of the best leather, a linen headband, and a silk cloak. 11 I put jewels on you - bracelets and necklaces. 12 I gave you a nose ring and earrings and a beautiful crown to wear. 13 You had ornaments of gold and silver, and you always wore clothes of embroidered linen and silk. You ate bread made from the best flour, and had honey and olive oil to eat. Your beauty was dazzling, and you became a queen. 14 You became famous in every nation for your perfect beauty, because I was the one who made you so lovely." This is what the Sovereign Lord says. 15 "But you took advantage of your beauty and fame to sleep with everyone who came along. 16 You used some of your clothes to decorate your places of worship, and just like a prostitute, you gave yourself to everyone. 17 You took the silver and gold jewelry that I had given you, used it to make male images, and committed adultery with them. 18 You took the embroidered clothes I gave you and put them on the images, and you offered to the images the olive oil and incense I had given you. 19 I gave you food - the best flour, olive oil, and honey - but you offered it as a sacrifice to win the favor of idols." This is what the Sovereign Lord says. 20 "Then you took the sons and the daughters you had borne me and offered them as sacrifices to idols. Wasn't it bad enough to be unfaithful to me, 21 without taking my children and sacrificing them to idols? 22 During your disgusting life as a prostitute you never once remembered your childhood - when you were naked, squirming in your own blood." 23 The Sovereign Lord said, "You are doomed! Doomed! You did all that evil, and then 24 by the side of every road you built places to worship idols and practice prostitution. 25 You dragged your beauty through the mud. You offered yourself to everyone who came by, and you were more of a prostitute every day. 26 You let your lustful neighbors, the Egyptians, go to bed with you, and you used your prostitution to make me angry. 27 "Now I have raised my hand to punish you and to take away your share of my blessing. I have handed you over to the Philistines, who hate you and are disgusted with your immoral actions. 28 "Because you were not satisfied by the others, you went running after the Assyrians. You were their prostitute, but they didn't satisfy you either. 29 You were also a prostitute for the Babylonians, that nation of merchants, but they didn't satisfy you either." 30 This is what the Sovereign Lord is saying: "You have done all this like a shameless prostitute. 31 On every street you built places to worship idols and practice prostitution. But you are not out for money like a common prostitute. 32 You are like a woman who commits adultery with strangers instead of loving her husband. 33 A prostitute is paid, but you gave presents to all your lovers and bribed them to come from everywhere to sleep with you. 34 You are a special kind of prostitute. No one forced you to become one. You didn't get paid; you paid them! Yes, you are different." 35 Now then, Jerusalem, you whore! Hear what the Lord is saying. 36 This is what the Sovereign Lord says: "You stripped off your clothes, and like a prostitute, you gave yourself to your lovers and to all your disgusting idols, and you killed your children as sacrifices to idols. 37 Because of this I will bring all your former lovers together - the ones you liked and the ones you hated. I will bring them around you in a circle, and then I will strip off your clothes and let them see you naked. 38 I will condemn you for adultery and murder, and in my anger and fury I will punish you with death. 39 I will put you in their power, and they will tear down the places where you engage in prostitution and worship idols. They will take away your clothes and jewels and leave you completely naked. 40 "They will stir up a crowd to stone you, and they will cut you to pieces with their swords. 41 They will burn your houses down and let crowds of women see your punishment. I will make you stop being a prostitute and make you stop giving gifts to your lovers. 42 Then my anger will be over, and I will be calm. I will not be angry or jealous any more. 43 You have forgotten how I treated you when you were young, and you have made me angry by all the things you did. That is why I have made you pay for them all. Why did you add sexual immorality to all the other disgusting things you did?" The Sovereign Lord has spoken. 44 The Lord said, "People will use this proverb about you, Jerusalem: "Like mother, like daughter.' 45 You really are your mother's daughter. She detested her husband and her children. You are like your sisters, who hated their husbands and their children. You and your sister cities had a Hittite mother and an Amorite father. 46 "Your older sister, with her villages, is Samaria, in the north. Your younger sister, with her villages, is Sodom, in the south. 47 Were you satisfied to follow in their footsteps and copy their disgusting actions? No, in only a little while you were acting worse than they were in everything you did. 48 "As surely as I am the living God," the Sovereign Lord says, "your sister Sodom and her villages never did the evil that you and your villages have done. 49 She and her daughters were proud because they had plenty to eat and lived in peace and quiet, but they did not take care of the poor and the underprivileged. 50 They were proud and stubborn and did the things that I hate, so I destroyed them, as you well know. 51 "Samaria did not sin half as much as you have. You have acted more disgustingly than she ever did. Your corruption makes your sisters look innocent by comparison. 52 And now you will have to endure your disgrace. Your sins are so much worse than those of your sisters that they look innocent beside you. Now blush and bear your shame, because you make your sisters look pure." 53 The Lord said to Jerusalem, "I will make them prosperous again - Sodom and her villages and Samaria and her villages. Yes, I will make you prosperous too. 54 You will be ashamed of yourself, and your disgrace will show your sisters how well-off they are. 55 They will become prosperous again, and you and your villages will also be restored. 56 Didn't you joke about Sodom in those days when you were proud 57 and before the evil you did had been exposed? Now you are just like her - a joke to the Edomites, the Philistines, and your other neighbors who hate you. 58 You must suffer for the obscene, disgusting things you have done." The Lord has spoken. 59 The Sovereign Lord says, "I will treat you the way you deserve, because you ignored your promises and broke the covenant. 60 But I will honor the covenant I made with you when you were young, and I will make a covenant with you that will last forever. 61 You will remember how you have acted, and be ashamed of it when you get your older sister and your younger sister back. I will let them be like daughters to you, even though this was not part of my covenant with you. 62 I will renew my covenant with you, and you will know that I am the Lord. 63 I will forgive all the wrongs you have done, but you will remember them and be too ashamed to open your mouth." The Sovereign Lord has spoken.

Ezekiel 23:1 The Lord spoke to me. 2 "Mortal man," he said, "there were once two sisters. 3 When they were young, living in Egypt, they lost their virginity and became prostitutes. 4 The older one was named Oholah (she represents Samaria), and the younger one was named Oholibah (she represents Jerusalem). I married both of them, and they bore me children. 5 Although she was mine, Oholah continued to be a prostitute and was full of lust for her lovers from Assyria. 6 They were soldiers in uniforms of purple, noblemen and high-ranking officers; all of them were handsome young cavalry officers. 7 She was the whore for all the Assyrian officers, and her lust led her to defile herself by worshiping Assyrian idols. 8 She continued what she had begun as a prostitute in Egypt, where she lost her virginity. From the time she was a young woman, men slept with her and treated her like a prostitute. 9 So I handed her over to her Assyrian lovers whom she wanted so much. 10 They stripped her naked, seized her sons and daughters, and then killed her with a sword. Women everywhere gossiped about her fate. 11 "Even though her sister Oholibah saw this, she was wilder and more of a prostitute than Oholah had ever been. 12 She too was full of lust for the Assyrian noblemen and officers - soldiers in bright uniforms - and for the cavalry officers, all of those handsome young men. 13 I saw that she was completely immoral, that the second sister was as bad as the first. 14 "She sank deeper and deeper in her immorality. She was attracted by the images of high Babylonian officials carved into the wall and painted bright red, with sashes around their waists and fancy turbans on their heads. 16 As soon as she saw them, she was filled with lust and sent messengers to them in Babylonia. 17 The Babylonians came to have sex with her. They used her and defiled her so much that finally she became disgusted with them. 18 She exposed herself publicly and let everyone know she was a whore. I was as disgusted with her as I had been with her sister. 19 She became more of a prostitute than ever, acting the way she did as a young woman, when she was a prostitute in Egypt. 20 She was filled with lust for oversexed men who had all the lustfulness of donkeys or stallions. 21 (Oholibah, you wanted to repeat the immorality you were guilty of as a young woman in Egypt, where men played with your breasts and you lost your virginity.) 22 "Now then, Oholibah, this is what I, the Sovereign Lord, am saying to you. You are tired of those lovers, but I will make them angry with you and bring them to surround you. 23 I will bring all the Babylonians and Chaldeans, men from Pekod, Shoa, and Koa, and all the Assyrians. I will gather all those handsome young noblemen and officers, all those important officials and high-ranking cavalry officers. 24 They will attack you from the north, bringing a large army with chariots and supply wagons. Protected by shields and helmets, they will surround you. I will hand you over to them, and they will judge you by their own laws. 25 Because I am angry with you, I will let them deal with you in their anger. They will cut off your nose and your ears and kill your children. Yes, they will take your sons and daughters from you and burn them alive. 26 They will tear off your clothes and take your jewels. 27 I will put a stop to your lust and to the obscenities you have committed ever since you were in Egypt. You won't look at any more idols or think about Egypt any more." 28 This is what the Sovereign Lord says: "I will hand you over to people you hate and are disgusted with. 29 And because they hate you, they will take away everything you have worked for and leave you stripped naked, exposed like a prostitute. Your lust and your prostitution 30 have brought this on you. You were a prostitute for the nations and defiled yourself with their idols. 31 You followed in your sister's footsteps, and so I will give you the same cup of punishment to drink." 32 The Sovereign Lord says, "You will drink from your sister's cup; it is large and deep. Everyone will scorn and mock you; the cup is full. 33 It will make you miserable and drunk, that cup of fear and ruin, your sister Samaria's cup. 34 You will drink and drain it dry, and with its broken pieces tear your breast. I, the Sovereign Lord, have spoken." 35 Now this is what the Sovereign Lord is saying: "Because you forgot me and turned your back on me, you will suffer for your lust and your prostitution." 36 The Lord said to me, "Mortal man, are you ready to judge Oholah and Oholibah? Accuse them of the disgusting things they have done. 37 They have committed adultery and murder - adultery with idols and murder of the children they bore me. They sacrificed my children to their idols. 38 And that is not all they did. They profaned my Temple and broke the Sabbath, which I had established. 39 The very day that they killed my children as sacrifices to idols, they came to my Temple and profaned it! 40 "Again and again they sent messengers to invite men to come from a great distance, and the men came. The two sisters would bathe and put on eye shadow and jewelry. 41 They would sit on a beautiful couch, and in front of them they would have a table covered with good things, including the incense and the olive oil that I had given them. 42 The sound of a carefree crowd could be heard, a group of men brought in from the desert. They put bracelets on the women's arms and beautiful crowns on their heads. 43 And I said to myself that they were using as a prostitute a woman worn out by adultery. 44 They went back to these prostitutes again and again. They went back to Oholah and Oholibah, those immoral women. 45 Righteous men will condemn them on the charge of adultery and murder, because they practice adultery and their hands are stained with blood." 46 This is what the Sovereign Lord says: "Bring a mob to terrorize them and rob them. 47 Let the mob stone them and attack them with swords, kill their children, and burn down their houses. 48 Throughout the land I will put a stop to immorality, as a warning to every woman not to commit adultery as they did. 49 And you two sisters - I will punish you for your immorality and your sin of worshiping idols. Then you will know that I am the Sovereign Lord."

2718-Matthew 9:15 And Jesus said to them, "The attendants of the bridegroom cannot mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them, can they? But the days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast.

Matthew 25:1 "Then the kingdom of heaven will be comparable to ten virgins, who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. 2 "Five of them were foolish, and five were prudent. 3 "For when the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them, 4 but the prudent took oil in flasks along with their lamps. 5 "Now while the bridegroom was delaying, they all got drowsy and began to sleep. 6 "But at midnight there was a shout, 'Behold, the bridegroom ! Come out to meet him.' 7 "Then all those virgins rose and trimmed their lamps. 8 "The foolish said to the prudent, 'Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.' 9 "But the prudent answered, 'No, there will not be enough for us and you too; go instead to the dealers and buy some for yourselves.' 10 "And while they were going away to make the purchase, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding feast ; and the door was shut. 11 "Later the other virgins also came, saying, 'Lord, lord, open up for us.' 12 "But he answered, 'Truly I say to you, I do not know you.' 13 "Be on the alert then, for you do not know the day nor the hour.

John 3:29 "He who has the bride is the bridegroom ; but the friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom's voice. So this joy of mine has been made full.

2 Corinthians 11:2 For I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy ; for I betrothed you to one husband, so that to Christ I might present you as a pure virgin.

Ephesians 5:23 For the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ also is the head of the church, He Himself being the Savior of the body. 24 But as the church is subject to Christ, so also the wives ought to be to their husbands in everything. 25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her, 26 so that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, 27 that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing ; but that she would be holy and blameless. 28 So husbands ought also to love their own wives as their own bodies. He who loves his own wife loves himself ; 29 for no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ also does the church, 30 because we are members of His body. 31 FOR THIS REASON A MAN SHALL LEAVE HIS FATHER AND MOTHER AND SHALL BE JOINED TO HIS WIFE, AND THE TWO SHALL BECOME ONE FLESH. 32 This mystery is great ; but I am speaking with reference to Christ and the church.

Revelation 19:7 "Let us rejoice and be glad and give the glory to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb has come and His bride has made herself ready." 8 It was given to her to clothe herself in fine linen, bright and clean ; for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints. 9 Then he said to me, "Write, 'Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.' " And he said to me, "These are true words of God."

Revelation 21:9 Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues came and spoke with me, saying, "Come here, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb." 10 And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the holy city, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, 11 having the glory of God. Her brilliance was like a very costly stone, as a stone of crystal-clear jasper.

2719-Song of Songs 6:8 "There are sixty queens and eighty concubines, And maidens without number ;

2720-1 Kings 11:1 Solomon loved many foreign women. Besides the daughter of the king of Egypt he married Hittite women and women from Moab, Ammon, Edom, and Sidon. 2 He married them even though the Lord had commanded the Israelites not to intermarry with these people, because they would cause the Israelites to give their loyalty to other gods. 3 Solomon married seven hundred princesses and also had three hundred concubines. They made him turn away from God, 4 and by the time he was old they had led him into the worship of foreign gods. He was not faithful to the Lord his God, as his father David had been. 5 He worshiped Astarte, the goddess of Sidon, and Molech, the disgusting god of Ammon. 6 He sinned against the Lord and was not true to him as his father David had been. 7 On the mountain east of Jerusalem he built a place to worship Chemosh, the disgusting god of Moab, and a place to worship Molech, the disgusting god of Ammon. 8 He also built places of worship where all his foreign wives could burn incense and offer sacrifices to their own gods.

2721-Genesis 2:18 Then the Lord God said, "It is not good for the man to live alone. I will make a suitable companion to help him." 19 So he took some soil from the ground and formed all the animals and all the birds. Then he brought them to the man to see what he would name them; and that is how they all got their names. 20 So the man named all the birds and all the animals; but not one of them was a suitable companion to help him. 21 Then the Lord God made the man fall into a deep sleep, and while he was sleeping, he took out one of the man's ribs and closed up the flesh. 22 He formed a woman out of the rib and brought her to him. 23 Then the man said, "At last, here is one of my own kind - Bone taken from my bone, and flesh from my flesh. "Woman' is her name because she was taken out of man." 24 That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united with his wife, and they become one. 25 The man and the woman were both naked, but they were not embarrassed.

Matthew 19:4 Jesus answered, "Haven't you read the scripture that says that in the beginning the Creator made people male and female? 5 And God said, "For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and unite with his wife, and the two will become one.' 6 So they are no longer two, but one. No human being must separate, then, what God has joined together."

2722-Song of Songs 8:6 Close your heart to every love but mine; hold no one in your arms but me. Love is as powerful as death; passion is as strong as death itself. It bursts into flame and burns like a raging fire. 7 Water cannot put it out; no flood can drown it. But if any tried to buy love with their wealth, contempt is all they would get.

2723-2 Kings 4:8 One day Elisha went to Shunem, where a rich woman lived. She invited him to a meal, and from then on every time he went to Shunem he would have his meals at her house. 9 She said to her husband, "I am sure that this man who comes here so often is a holy man. 10 Let's build a small room on the roof, put a bed, a table, a chair, and a lamp in it, and he can stay there whenever he visits us." 11 One day Elisha returned to Shunem and went up to his room to rest. 12 He told his servant Gehazi to go and call the woman. When she came, 13 he said to Gehazi, "Ask her what I can do for her in return for all the trouble she has had in providing for our needs. Maybe she would like me to go to the king or the army commander and put in a good word for her." "I have all I need here among my own people," she answered. 14 Elisha asked Gehazi, "What can I do for her then?" He answered, "Well, she has no son, and her husband is an old man." 15 "Tell her to come here," Elisha ordered. She came and stood in the doorway, 16 and Elisha said to her, "By this time next year you will be holding a son in your arms." "Oh!" she exclaimed. "Please, sir, don't lie to me. You are a man of God!" 17 But, as Elisha had said, at about that time the following year she gave birth to a son. 18 Some years later, at harvest time, the boy went out one morning to join his father, who was in the field with the harvest workers. 19 Suddenly he cried out to his father, "My head hurts! My head hurts!" "Carry the boy to his mother," the father said to a servant. 20 The servant carried the boy back to his mother, who held him in her lap until noon, at which time he died. 21 She carried him up to Elisha's room, put him on the bed and left, closing the door behind her. 22 Then she called her husband and said to him, "Send a servant here with a donkey. I need to go to the prophet Elisha. I'll be back as soon as I can." 23 "Why do you have to go today?" her husband asked. "It's neither a Sabbath nor a New Moon Festival." "Never mind," she answered. 24 Then she had the donkey saddled, and ordered the servant, "Make the donkey go as fast as it can, and don't slow down unless I tell you to." 25 So she set out and went to Mount Carmel, where Elisha was. Elisha saw her coming while she was still some distance away, and he said to his servant Gehazi, "Look, there comes the woman from Shunem! 26 Hurry to her and find out if everything is all right with her, her husband, and her son." She told Gehazi that everything was all right, 27 but when she came to Elisha, she bowed down before him and took hold of his feet. Gehazi was about to push her away, but Elisha said, "Leave her alone. Can't you see she's deeply distressed? And the Lord has not told me a thing about it." 28 The woman said to him, "Sir, did I ask you for a son? Didn't I tell you not to get my hopes up?" 29 Elisha turned to Gehazi and said, "Hurry! Take my walking stick and go. Don't stop to greet anyone you meet, and if anyone greets you, don't take time to answer. Go straight to the house and hold my stick over the boy." 30 The woman said to Elisha, "I swear by my loyalty to the living Lord and to you that I will not leave you!" So the two of them started back together. 31 Gehazi went on ahead and held Elisha's stick over the child, but there was no sound or any other sign of life. So he went back to meet Elisha and said, "The boy didn't wake up." 32 When Elisha arrived, he went alone into the room and saw the boy lying dead on the bed. 33 He closed the door and prayed to the Lord. 34 Then he lay down on the boy, placing his mouth, eyes, and hands on the boy's mouth, eyes, and hands. As he lay stretched out over the boy, the boy's body started to get warm. 35 Elisha got up, walked around the room, and then went back and again stretched himself over the boy. The boy sneezed seven times and then opened his eyes. 36 Elisha called Gehazi and told him to call the boy's mother. When she came in, he said to her, "Here's your son." 37 She fell at Elisha's feet, with her face touching the ground; then she took her son and left.

2724-Song 1:1 The most beautiful of songs, by Solomon. 5 Women of Jerusalem, I am dark but beautiful, dark as the desert tents of Kedar, but beautiful as the draperies in Solomon's palace.

Song 3:7 Solomon is coming, carried on his throne; sixty soldiers form the bodyguard, the finest soldiers in Israel. 9 King Solomon is carried on a throne made of the finest wood. 11 Women of Zion, come and see King Solomon. He is wearing the crown that his mother placed on his head on his wedding day, on the day of his gladness and joy.

Song 8:11 Solomon has a vineyard in a place called Baal Hamon. There are farmers who rent it from him; each one pays a thousand silver coins. 12 Solomon is welcome to his thousand coins, and the farmers to two hundred as their share; I have a vineyard of my own!

2725-Song 8:6 Close your heart to every love but mine; hold no one in your arms but me. Love is as powerful as death; passion is as strong as death itself. It bursts into flame and burns like a raging fire.

2726-1 Kings 4:32 He composed three thousand proverbs and more than a thousand songs.

2727-Psalms 72:1 Teach the king to judge with your righteousness, O God; share with him your own justice, 2 so that he will rule over your people with justice and govern the oppressed with righteousness. 3 May the land enjoy prosperity; may it experience righteousness. 4 May the king judge the poor fairly; may he help the needy and defeat their oppressors. 5 May your people worship you as long as the sun shines, as long as the moon gives light, for ages to come. 6 May the king be like rain on the fields, like showers falling on the land. 7 May righteousness flourish in his lifetime, and may prosperity last as long as the moon gives light. 8 His kingdom will reach from sea to sea, from the Euphrates to the ends of the earth. 9 The peoples of the desert will bow down before him; his enemies will throw themselves to the ground. 10 The kings of Spain and of the islands will offer him gifts; the kings of Sheba and Seba will bring him offerings. 11 All kings will bow down before him; all nations will serve him. 12 He rescues the poor who call to him, and those who are needy and neglected. 13 He has pity on the weak and poor; he saves the lives of those in need. 14 He rescues them from oppression and violence; their lives are precious to him. 15 Long live the king! May he be given gold from Sheba; may prayers be said for him at all times; may God's blessings be on him always! 16 May there be plenty of grain in the land; may the hills be covered with crops, as fruitful as those of Lebanon. May the cities be filled with people, like fields full of grass. 17 May the king's name never be forgotten; may his fame last as long as the sun. May all nations ask God to bless them as he has blessed the king. 18 Praise the Lord, the God of Israel! He alone does these wonderful things. 19 Praise his glorious name forever! May his glory fill the whole world. Amen! Amen! 20 This is the end of the prayers of David son of Jesse.

Psalm 127:1 If the Lord does not build the house, the work of the builders is useless; if the Lord does not protect the city, it does no good for the sentries to stand guard. 2 It is useless to work so hard for a living, getting up early and going to bed late. For the Lord provides for those he loves, while they are asleep. 3 Children are a gift from the Lord; they are a real blessing. 4 The sons a man has when he is young are like arrows in a soldier's hand. 5 Happy is the man who has many such arrows. He will never be defeated when he meets his enemies in the place of judgment.

2728-Jeremiah 2:2 to proclaim this message to everyone in Jerusalem. "I remember how faithful you were when you were young, how you loved me when we were first married; you followed me through the desert, through a land that had not been planted.

Hosea 2:14 So I am going to take her into the desert again; there I will win her back with words of love. 15 I will give back to her the vineyards she had and make Trouble Valley a door of hope. She will respond to me there as she did when she was young, when she came from Egypt. 16 Then once again she will call me her husband - she will no longer call me her Baal. 17 I will never let her speak the name of Baal again. 18 At that time I will make a covenant with all the wild animals and birds, so that they will not harm my people. I will also remove all weapons of war from the land, all swords and bows, and will let my people live in peace and safety. 19 Israel, I will make you my wife; I will be true and faithful; I will show you constant love and mercy and make you mine forever. 20 I will keep my promise and make you mine, and you will acknowledge me as Lord.

2729-Ephesians 5:22 Wives, submit yourselves to your husbands as to the Lord. 33 But it also applies to you: every husband must love his wife as himself, and every wife must respect her husband.

2730-Lam 3:14 People laugh at me all day long; I am a joke to them all. 48 My eyes flow with rivers of tears at the destruction of my people.

Jer 9:1 I wish my head were a well of water, and my eyes a fountain of tears, so that I could cry day and night for my people who have been killed. 20:7 Lord, you have deceived me, and I was deceived. You are stronger than I am, and you have overpowered me. Everyone makes fun of me; they laugh at me all day long.

Lam 3:52 "I was trapped like a bird by enemies who had no cause to hate me. 53 They threw me alive into a pit and closed the opening with a stone. 54 Water began to close over me, and I thought death was near. 55 "From the bottom of the pit, O Lord, I cried out to you, 56 And when I begged you to listen to my cry, you heard.

Jer 12:9 My chosen people are like a bird attacked from all sides by hawks. Call the wild animals to come and join in the feast! 37:16 I was put in an underground cell and kept there a long time. 38:6 So they took me and let me down by ropes into Prince Malchiah's well, which was in the palace courtyard. There was no water in the well, only mud, and I sank down in it.

2731-Lam 3:14 People laugh at me all day long; I am a joke to them all.

Lam 3:48 My eyes flow with rivers of tears at the destruction of my people. 49 "My tears will pour out in a ceaseless stream 50 Until the Lord looks down from heaven and sees us. 51 My heart is grieved when I see what has happened to the women of the city. 52 "I was trapped like a bird by enemies who had no cause to hate me. 53 They threw me alive into a pit and closed the opening with a stone. 54 Water began to close over me, and I thought death was near. 55 "From the bottom of the pit, O Lord, I cried out to you, 56 And when I begged you to listen to my cry, you heard. 57 You answered me and told me not to be afraid.

Lam 3:61 "You have heard them insult me, O Lord; you know all their plots. 62 All day long they talk about me and make their plans. 63 From morning till night they make fun of me.

2732-Jer 4:19 The pain! I can't bear the pain! My heart! My heart is beating wildly! I can't keep quiet; I hear the trumpets and the shouts of battle.

Jer 10:20 Our tents are ruined; the ropes that held them have broken. Our children have all gone away; there is no one left to put up our tents again; there is no one to hang their curtains."

Jer 13:17 If you will not listen, I will cry in secret because of your pride; I will cry bitterly, and my tears will flow because the Lord's people have been taken away as captives.

Jer 14:17 The Lord commanded me to tell the people about my sorrow and to say: "May my eyes flow with tears day and night, may I never stop weeping, for my people are deeply wounded and are badly hurt.

2733-Jer 27:11 But if any nation submits to the king of Babylonia and serves him, then I will let it stay on in its own land, to farm it and live there. I, the Lord, have spoken." 12 I said the same thing to King Zedekiah of Judah, "Submit to the king of Babylonia. Serve him and his people, and you will live. 13 Why should you and your people die in war or of starvation or disease? That is what the Lord has said will happen to any nation that does not submit to the king of Babylonia. 14 Do not listen to the prophets who tell you not to surrender to him. They are deceiving you.

Jer 29:4 "The Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says to all those people whom he allowed Nebuchadnezzar to take away as prisoners from Jerusalem to Babylonia: 5 "Build houses and settle down. Plant gardens and eat what you grow in them. 6 Marry and have children. Then let your children get married, so that they also may have children. You must increase in numbers and not decrease. 7 Work for the good of the cities where I have made you go as prisoners. Pray to me on their behalf, because if they are prosperous, you will be prosperous too.

2734-Lam 2:1 The Lord in his anger has covered Zion with darkness. Its heavenly splendor he has turned into ruins. On the day of his anger he abandoned even his Temple. 4:1 Our glittering gold has grown dull; the stones of the Temple lie scattered in the streets.

Isaiah 1:21 The city that once was faithful is behaving like a whore! At one time it was filled with righteous people, but now only murderers remain.

2735-2 Chr. 35:25 The prophet Jeremiah composed a lament for King Josiah. It has become a custom in Israel for the singers, both men and women, to use this song when they mourn for him. The song is found in the collection of laments.

2736-Lamentations 3:48 My eyes flow with rivers of tears at the destruction of my people. 49 "My tears will pour out in a ceaseless stream 50 Until the Lord looks down from heaven and sees us. 51 My heart is grieved when I see what has happened to the women of the city.

Jer. 14:17 The Lord commanded me to tell the people about my sorrow and to say: "May my eyes flow with tears day and night, may I never stop weeping, for my people are deeply wounded and are badly hurt.

2737-Lam 5:21 Bring us back to you, Lord! Bring us back! Restore our ancient glory.

2738-Lam 3:22 The Lord's unfailing love and mercy still continue, 23 Fresh as the morning, as sure as the sunrise.

2739-Lam 1:5 Her enemies succeeded; they hold her in their power. The Lord has made her suffer for all her many sins; Her children have been captured and taken away. 2:14 Your prophets had nothing to tell you but lies; Their preaching deceived you by never exposing your sin. They made you think you did not need to repent. 3:42 "We have sinned and rebelled, and you, O Lord, have not forgiven us. 4:13 But it happened, because her prophets sinned and her priests were guilty of causing the death of innocent people. 5:16 Nothing is left of all we were proud of. We sinned, and now we are doomed.

2740-Jer. 40:3 and now he has done what he said he would. All this happened because your people sinned against the Lord and disobeyed him.

2741-Lam 2:1 The Lord in his anger has covered Zion with darkness. Its heavenly splendor he has turned into ruins. On the day of his anger he abandoned even his Temple.

2742-Lam 1:13 "He sent fire from above, a fire that burned inside me. He set a trap for me and brought me to the ground. Then he abandoned me and left me in constant pain. 1:15 "The Lord laughed at all my strongest soldiers; He sent an army to destroy my young men. He crushed my people like grapes in a wine press. 2:1 The Lord in his anger has covered Zion with darkness. Its heavenly splendor he has turned into ruins. On the day of his anger he abandoned even his Temple. 2:4 He aimed his arrows at us like an enemy; He killed all those who were our joy and delight. Here in Jerusalem we felt his burning anger. 3:1 I am one who knows what it is to be punished by God. 3:37 The will of the Lord alone is always carried out. 38 Good and evil alike take place at his command.

2743-Lam 2:20 Look, O Lord! Why are you punishing us like this? Women are eating the bodies of the children they loved! Priests and prophets are being killed in the Temple itself! 21 Young and old alike lie dead in the streets, Young men and women, killed by enemy swords. You slaughtered them without mercy on the day of your anger.

Lam 5:1 Remember, O Lord, what has happened to us. Look at us, and see our disgrace. 2 Our property is in the hands of strangers; foreigners are living in our homes. 3 Our fathers have been killed by the enemy, and now our mothers are widows. 4 We must pay for the water we drink; we must buy the wood we need for fuel. 5 Driven hard like donkeys or camels, we are tired, but are allowed no rest. 6 To get food enough to stay alive, we went begging to Egypt and Assyria. 7 Our ancestors sinned, but now they are gone, and we are suffering for their sins. 8 Our rulers are no better than slaves, and no one can save us from their power. 9 Murderers roam through the countryside; we risk our lives when we look for food. 10 Hunger has made us burn with fever until our skin is as hot as an oven.

2744-Lam 1:20 "Look, O Lord, at my agony, at the anguish of my soul! My heart is broken in sorrow for my sins. There is murder in the streets; even indoors there is death. 21 "Listen to my groans; there is no one to comfort me. My enemies are glad that you brought disaster on me. Bring the day you promised; make my enemies suffer as I do.

Lam 3:48 My eyes flow with rivers of tears at the destruction of my people. 49 "My tears will pour out in a ceaseless stream 50 Until the Lord looks down from heaven and sees us. 51 My heart is grieved when I see what has happened to the women of the city.

2745-Lam 1:20 "Look, O Lord, at my agony, at the anguish of my soul! My heart is broken in sorrow for my sins. There is murder in the streets; even indoors there is death.

Lam 3:40 Let us examine our ways and turn back to the Lord. 41 Let us open our hearts to God in heaven and pray, 42 "We have sinned and rebelled, and you, O Lord, have not forgiven us.

2746-Lam 3:21 Yet hope returns when I remember this one thing: 22 The Lord's unfailing love and mercy still continue, 23 Fresh as the morning, as sure as the sunrise. 24 The Lord is all I have, and so in him I put my hope.

2747-Lam 3:31 The Lord is merciful and will not reject us forever. 32 He may bring us sorrow, but his love for us is sure and strong.

2748-Lam 3:34 The Lord knows when our spirits are crushed in prison; 35 He knows when we are denied the rights he gave us; 36 When justice is perverted in court, he knows.

2749-Lam 3:58 "You came to my rescue, Lord, and saved my life. 59 Judge in my favor; you know the wrongs done against me. 60 You know how my enemies hate me and how they plot against me. 61 "You have heard them insult me, O Lord; you know all their plots. 62 All day long they talk about me and make their plans. 63 From morning till night they make fun of me. 64 "Punish them for what they have done, O Lord; 65 Curse them and fill them with despair! 66 Hunt them down and wipe them off the earth!"

2750-Lam 3:26 So it is best for us to wait in patience - to wait for him to save us - 27 And it is best to learn this patience in our youth. 28 When we suffer, we should sit alone in silent patience; 29 We should bow in submission, for there may still be hope. 30 Though beaten and insulted, we should accept it all. 31 The Lord is merciful and will not reject us forever. 32 He may bring us sorrow, but his love for us is sure and strong.

2751-2 Kings 25:1 Zedekiah rebelled against King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia, and so Nebuchadnezzar came with all his army and attacked Jerusalem on the tenth day of the tenth month of the ninth year of Zedekiah's reign. They set up camp outside the city, built siege walls around it, 2 and kept it under siege until Zedekiah's eleventh year. 3 On the ninth day of the fourth month of that same year, when the famine was so bad that the people had nothing left to eat, 4 the city walls were broken through. Although the Babylonians were surrounding the city, all the soldiers escaped during the night. They left by way of the royal garden, went through the gateway connecting the two walls, and fled in the direction of the Jordan Valley. 5 But the Babylonian army pursued King Zedekiah, captured him in the plains near Jericho, and all his soldiers deserted him. 6 Zedekiah was taken to King Nebuchadnezzar, who was in the city of Riblah, and there Nebuchadnezzar passed sentence on him. 7 While Zedekiah was looking on, his sons were put to death; then Nebuchadnezzar had Zedekiah's eyes put out, placed him in chains, and took him to Babylon. 8 On the seventh day of the fifth month of the nineteenth year of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia, Nebuzaradan, adviser to the king and commander of his army, entered Jerusalem. 9 He burned down the Temple, the palace, and the houses of all the important people in Jerusalem, 10 and his soldiers tore down the city walls. 11 Then Nebuzaradan took away to Babylonia the people who were left in the city, the remaining skilled workers, and those who had deserted to the Babylonians. 12 But he left in Judah some of the poorest people, who owned no property, and put them to work in the vineyards and fields. 13 The Babylonians broke in pieces the bronze columns and the carts that were in the Temple, together with the large bronze tank, and they took all the bronze to Babylon. 14 They also took away the shovels and the ash containers used in cleaning the altar, the tools used in tending the lamps, the bowls used for catching the blood from the sacrifices, the bowls used for burning incense, and all the other bronze articles used in the Temple service. 15 They took away everything that was made of gold or silver, including the small bowls and the pans used for carrying live coals. 16 The bronze objects that King Solomon had made for the Temple - the two columns, the carts, and the large tank - were too heavy to weigh. 17 The two columns were identical: each one was 27 feet high, with a bronze capital on top, 4 1/2 feet high. All around each capital was a bronze grillwork decorated with pomegranates made of bronze. 18 In addition, Nebuzaradan, the commanding officer, took away as prisoners Seraiah the High Priest, Zephaniah the priest next in rank, and the three other important Temple officials. 19 From the city he took the officer who had been in command of the troops, five of the king's personal advisers who were still in the city, the commander's assistant, who was in charge of military records, and sixty other important men. 20 Nebuzaradan took them to the king of Babylonia, who was in the city of Riblah 21 in the territory of Hamath. There the king had them beaten and put to death. So the people of Judah were carried away from their land into exile. 22 King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia made Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam and grandson of Shaphan, governor of Judah, and placed him in charge of all those who had not been taken away to Babylonia. 23 When the Judean officers and soldiers who had not surrendered heard about this, they joined Gedaliah at Mizpah. These officers were Ishmael son of Nethaniah, Johanan son of Kareah, Seraiah son of Tanhumeth from the town of Netophah, and Jezaniah from Maacah. 24 Gedaliah said to them, "I give you my word that there is no need for you to be afraid of the Babylonian officials. Settle in this land, serve the king of Babylonia, and all will go well with you." 25 But in the seventh month of that year, Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah and grandson of Elishama, a member of the royal family, went to Mizpah with ten men, attacked Gedaliah, and killed him. He also killed the Israelites and Babylonians who were there with him. 26 Then all the Israelites, rich and poor alike, together with the army officers, left and went to Egypt, because they were afraid of the Babylonians. 27 In the year that Evilmerodach became king of Babylonia, he showed kindness to King Jehoiachin of Judah by releasing him from prison. This happened on the twenty-seventh day of the twelfth month of the thirty-seventh year after Jehoiachin had been taken away as prisoner. 28 Evilmerodach treated him kindly and gave him a position of greater honor than he gave the other kings who were exiles with him in Babylonia. 29 So Jehoiachin was permitted to change from his prison clothes and to dine at the king's table for the rest of his life. 30 Each day, for as long as he lived, he was given a regular allowance for his needs.

Jeremiah 52:1 Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king of Judah, and he ruled in Jerusalem for eleven years. His mother's name was Hamutal, the daughter of the Jeremiah who lived in the city of Libnah. 2 King Zedekiah sinned against the Lord, just as King Jehoiakim had done. 3 The Lord became so angry with the people of Jerusalem and Judah that he banished them from his sight. Zedekiah rebelled against King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia, 4 and so Nebuchadnezzar came with all his army and attacked Jerusalem on the tenth day of the tenth month of the ninth year of Zedekiah's reign. They set up camp outside the city, built siege walls around it, 5 and kept it under siege until Zedekiah's eleventh year. 6 On the ninth day of the fourth month of that same year, when the famine was so bad that the people had nothing left to eat, 7 the city walls were broken through. Although the Babylonians were surrounding the city, all the soldiers escaped during the night. They left by way of the royal garden, went through the gateway connecting the two walls, and fled in the direction of the Jordan Valley. 8 But the Babylonian army pursued King Zedekiah, captured him in the plains near Jericho, and all his soldiers deserted him. 9 Zedekiah was taken to King Nebuchadnezzar, who was in the city of Riblah in the territory of Hamath, and there Nebuchadnezzar passed sentence on him. 10 At Riblah he put Zedekiah's sons to death while Zedekiah was looking on and he also had the officials of Judah executed. 11 After that, he had Zedekiah's eyes put out and had him placed in chains and taken to Babylon. Zedekiah remained in prison in Babylon until the day he died. 12 On the tenth day of the fifth month of the nineteenth year of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia, Nebuzaradan, adviser to the king and commander of his army, entered Jerusalem. 13 He burned down the Temple, the palace, and the houses of all the important people in Jerusalem; 14 and his soldiers tore down the city walls. 15 Then Nebuzaradan took away to Babylonia the people who were left in the city, the remaining skilled workers, and those who had deserted to the Babylonians. 16 But he left in Judah some of the poorest people, who owned no property, and he put them to work in the vineyards and fields. 17 The Babylonians broke in pieces the bronze columns and the carts that were in the Temple, together with the large bronze tank, and they took all the bronze to Babylon. 18 They also took away the shovels and the ash containers used in cleaning the altar, the tools used in tending the lamps, the bowls used for catching the blood from the sacrifices, the bowls used for burning incense, and all the other bronze articles used in the Temple service. 19 They took away everything that was made of gold or silver: the small bowls, the pans used for carrying live coals, the bowls for holding the blood from the sacrifices, the ash containers, the lampstands, the bowls used for incense, and the bowls used for pouring out wine offerings. 20 The bronze objects that King Solomon had made for the Temple - the two columns, the carts, the large tank, and the twelve bulls that supported it - were too heavy to weigh. 21 The two columns were identical: each one was 27 feet high and 18 feet around. They were hollow, and the metal was 3 inches thick. On top of each column was a bronze capital 7 1/2 feet high, and all around it was a grillwork decorated with pomegranates, all of which was also made of bronze. 23 On the grillwork of each column there were a hundred pomegranates in all, and ninety-six of these were visible from the ground. 24 In addition, Nebuzaradan, the commanding officer, took away as prisoners Seraiah the High Priest, Zephaniah the priest next in rank, and the three other important Temple officials. 25 From the city he took the officer who had been in command of the troops, seven of the king's personal advisers who were still in the city, the commander's assistant, who was in charge of military records, and sixty other important men. 26 Nebuzaradan took them to the king of Babylonia, who was in the city of Riblah 27 in the territory of Hamath. There the king had them beaten and put to death. So the people of Judah were carried away from their land into exile. 28 This is the record of the people that Nebuchadnezzar took away as prisoners: in his seventh year as king he carried away 3,023; 29 in his eighteenth year, 832 from Jerusalem; 30 and in his twenty-third year, 745 - taken away by Nebuzaradan. In all, 4,600 people were taken away. 31 In the year that Evil-merodach became king of Babylonia, he showed kindness to King Jehoiachin of Judah by releasing him from prison. This happened on the twenty-fifth day of the twelfth month of the thirty-seventh year after Jehoiachin had been taken away as a prisoner. 32 Evil-merodach treated him kindly and gave him a position of greater honor than he gave the other kings who were exiles with him in Babylonia. 33 So Jehoiachin was permitted to change from his prison clothes and to dine at the king's table for the rest of his life. 34 Each day for as long as he lived, he was given a regular allowance for his needs.

2752-Amos 5:1 Listen, people of Israel, to this funeral song which I sing over you: 2 Virgin Israel has fallen, Never to rise again! She lies abandoned on the ground, And no one helps her up. 3 The Sovereign Lord says, "A city in Israel sends out a thousand soldiers, but only a hundred return; another city sends out a hundred, but only ten come back."

2753-Lamentations 1:5 Her enemies succeeded; they hold her in their power. The Lord has made her suffer for all her many sins; Her children have been captured and taken away.

Lam 1:12 "Look at me!" she cries to everyone who passes by. "No one has ever had pain like mine, Pain that the Lord brought on me in the time of his anger.

Lam 1:15 "The Lord laughed at all my strongest soldiers; He sent an army to destroy my young men. He crushed my people like grapes in a wine press. 16 "That is why my eyes are overflowing with tears. No one can comfort me; no one can give me courage. The enemy has conquered me; my people have nothing left.

Lam 2:1 The Lord in his anger has covered Zion with darkness. Its heavenly splendor he has turned into ruins. On the day of his anger he abandoned even his Temple. 2 The Lord destroyed without mercy every village in Judah And tore down the forts that defended the land. He brought disgrace on the kingdom and its rulers. 3 In his fury he shattered the strength of Israel; He refused to help us when the enemy came. He raged against us like fire, destroying everything. 4 He aimed his arrows at us like an enemy; He killed all those who were our joy and delight. Here in Jerusalem we felt his burning anger. 5 Like an enemy, the Lord has destroyed Israel; He has left her forts and palaces in ruins. He has brought on the people of Judah unending sorrow. 6 He smashed to pieces the Temple where we worshiped him; He has put an end to holy days and Sabbaths. King and priest alike have felt the force of his anger. 7 The Lord rejected his altar and deserted his holy Temple; He allowed the enemy to tear down its walls. They shouted in victory where once we had worshiped in joy. 8 The Lord was determined that the walls of Zion should fall; He measured them off to make sure of total destruction. The towers and walls now lie in ruins together. 9 The gates lie buried in rubble, their bars smashed to pieces. The king and the noblemen now are in exile. The Law is no longer taught, and the prophets have no visions from the Lord. 10 Jerusalem's old men sit on the ground in silence, With dust on their heads and sackcloth on their bodies. Young women bow their heads to the ground. 11 My eyes are worn out with weeping; my soul is in anguish. I am exhausted with grief at the destruction of my people. Children and babies are fainting in the streets of the city. 12 Hungry and thirsty, they cry to their mothers; They fall in the streets as though they were wounded, And slowly die in their mothers' arms.

Lam 2:16 All your enemies mock you and glare at you with hate. They curl their lips and sneer, "We have destroyed it! This is the day we have waited for!"

2754-Jeremiah 25:8 "So then, because you would not listen to him, the Lord Almighty says, 9 "I am going to send for all the peoples from the north and for my servant, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia. I am going to bring them to fight against Judah and its inhabitants and against all the neighboring nations. I am going to destroy this nation and its neighbors and leave them in ruins forever, a terrible and shocking sight. I, the Lord, have spoken.

Jeremiah 27:6 I am the one who has placed all these nations under the power of my servant, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia, and I have made even the wild animals serve him.

Jeremiah 43:10 Then tell them that I, the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, am going to bring my servant King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia to this place, and he will put his throne over these stones that you buried, and will spread the royal tent over them.

2755-Psalms 6:6 I am worn out with grief; every night my bed is damp from my weeping; my pillow is soaked with tears.

Lamentations 1:16 "That is why my eyes are overflowing with tears. No one can comfort me; no one can give me courage. The enemy has conquered me; my people have nothing left.

2756-Psalms 22:1 My God, my God, why have you abandoned me? I have cried desperately for help, but still it does not come.

Matthew 27:46 At about three o'clock Jesus cried out with a loud shout, ["Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?"] which means, "My God, my God, why did you abandon me?"

2757-Lamentations 2:20 Look, O Lord! Why are you punishing us like this? Women are eating the bodies of the children they loved! Priests and prophets are being killed in the Temple itself!

Lam 4:10 The disaster that came to my people brought horror; loving mothers boiled their own children for food.

Leviticus 26:27 "If after all of this you still continue to defy me and refuse to obey me, 28 then in my anger I will turn on you and again make your punishment seven times worse than before. 29 Your hunger will be so great that you will eat your own children.

Deuteronomy 28:53 "When your enemies are besieging your towns, you will become so desperate for food that you will even eat the children that the Lord your God has given you. 54 Even the most refined man of noble birth will become so desperate during the siege that he will eat some of his own children because he has no other food. He will not even give any to his brother or to the wife he loves or to any of his children who are left. 56 Even the most refined woman of noble birth, so rich that she has never had to walk anywhere, will behave in the same way. When the enemy besieges her town, she will become so desperate for food that she will secretly eat her newborn child and the afterbirth as well. She will not share them with the husband she loves or with any of her children. 58 "If you do not obey faithfully all of God's teachings that are written in this book and if you do not honor the wonderful and awesome name of the Lord your God, 59 he will send on you and on your descendants incurable diseases and horrible epidemics that can never be stopped. 60 He will bring on you once again all the dreadful diseases you experienced in Egypt, and you will never recover. 61 He will also send all kinds of diseases and epidemics that are not mentioned in this book of God's laws and teachings, and you will be destroyed. 62 Although you become as numerous as the stars in the sky, only a few of you will survive, because you did not obey the Lord your God. 63 Just as the Lord took delight in making you prosper and in making you increase in number, so he will take delight in destroying you and in bringing ruin on you. You will be uprooted from the land that you are about to occupy. 64 "The Lord will scatter you among all the nations, from one end of the earth to the other, and there you will serve gods made of wood and stone, gods that neither you nor your ancestors have ever worshiped before. 65 You will find no peace anywhere, no place to call your own; the Lord will overwhelm you with anxiety, hopelessness, and despair. 66 Your life will always be in danger. Day and night you will be filled with terror, and you will live in constant fear of death.

2 Kings 6:26 The king of Israel was walking by on the city wall when a woman cried out, "Help me, Your Majesty!" 27 He replied, "If the Lord won't help you, what help can I provide? Do I have any wheat or wine? 28 What's your trouble?" She answered, "The other day this woman here suggested that we eat my child, and then eat her child the next day. 29 So we cooked my son and ate him. The next day I told her that we would eat her son, but she had hidden him!"

Jeremiah 19:9 The enemy will surround the city and try to kill its people. The siege will be so terrible that the people inside the city will eat one another and even their own children."

Ezekiel 5:10 As a result, parents in Jerusalem will eat their children, and children will eat their parents. I will punish you and scatter in every direction any who are left alive.

2758-Job 19:7 I protest his violence, but no one is listening; no one hears my cry for justice. 8 God has blocked the way, and I can't get through; he has hidden my path in darkness.

Job 30:20 I call to you, O God, but you never answer; and when I pray, you pay no attention.

Habakkuk 1:2 O Lord, how long must I call for help before you listen, before you save us from violence?

2759-Lamentations 3:13 He shot his arrows deep into my body. 14 People laugh at me all day long; I am a joke to them all. 15 Bitter suffering is all he has given me for food and drink.

Lam 3:61 "You have heard them insult me, O Lord; you know all their plots. 62 All day long they talk about me and make their plans. 63 From morning till night they make fun of me.

2760-Ps. 137:8 Babylon, you will be destroyed. Happy are those who pay you back for what you have done to us - 9 who take your babies and smash them against a rock.

Hab. 2:6 The conquered people will taunt their conquerors and show their scorn for them. They will say, "You take what isn't yours, but you are doomed! How long will you go on getting rich by forcing your debtors to pay up?" 7 But before you know it, you that have conquered others will be in debt yourselves and be forced to pay interest. Enemies will come and make you tremble. They will plunder you! 8 You have plundered the people of many nations, but now those who have survived will plunder you because of the murders you have committed and because of your violence against the people of the world and its cities. 9 You are doomed! You have made your family rich with what you took by violence, and have tried to make your own home safe from harm and danger! 10 But your schemes have brought shame on your family; by destroying many nations you have only brought ruin on yourself. 11 Even the stones of the walls cry out against you, and the rafters echo the cry. 12 You are doomed! You founded a city on crime and built it up by murder. 13 The nations you conquered wore themselves out in useless labor, and all they have built goes up in flames. The Lord Almighty has done this. 14 But the earth will be as full of the knowledge of the Lord's glory as the seas are full of water. 15 You are doomed! In your fury you humiliated and disgraced your neighbors; you made them stagger as though they were drunk. 16 You in turn will be covered with shame instead of honor. You yourself will drink and stagger. The Lord will make you drink your own cup of punishment, and your honor will be turned to disgrace. 17 You have cut down the forests of Lebanon; now you will be cut down. You killed its animals; now animals will terrify you. This will happen because of the murders you have committed and because of your violence against the people of the world and its cities. 18 What's the use of an idol? It is only something that a human being has made, and it tells you nothing but lies. What good does it do for its maker to trust it - a god that can't even talk! 19 You are doomed! You say to a piece of wood, "Wake up!" or to a block of stone, "Get up!" Can an idol reveal anything to you? It may be covered with silver and gold, but there is no life in it.

2761-Jer. 50:9 I am going to stir up a group of strong nations in the north and make them attack Babylonia. They will line up in battle against the country and conquer it. They are skillful hunters, shooting arrows that never miss the mark.

2762-Jer. 39:4 When King Zedekiah and all his soldiers saw what was happening, they tried to escape from the city during the night. They left by way of the royal garden, went through the gateway connecting the two walls, and escaped in the direction of the Jordan Valley. 5 But the Babylonian army pursued them and captured Zedekiah in the plains near Jericho. Then they took him to King Nebuchadnezzar, who was in the city of Riblah in the territory of Hamath, and there Nebuchadnezzar passed sentence on him. 6 At Riblah he put Zedekiah's sons to death while Zedekiah was looking on, and he also had the officials of Judah executed. 7 After that, he had Zedekiah's eyes put out and had him placed in chains to be taken to Babylonia.

Jeremiah 52:7 the city walls were broken through. Although the Babylonians were surrounding the city, all the soldiers escaped during the night. They left by way of the royal garden, went through the gateway connecting the two walls, and fled in the direction of the Jordan Valley.

Jeremiah 52:11 After that, he had Zedekiah's eyes put out and had him placed in chains and taken to Babylon. Zedekiah remained in prison in Babylon until the day he died.

Jeremiah 52:24 In addition, Nebuzaradan, the commanding officer, took away as prisoners Seraiah the High Priest, Zephaniah the priest next in rank, and the three other important Temple officials. 25 From the city he took the officer who had been in command of the troops, seven of the king's personal advisers who were still in the city, the commander's assistant, who was in charge of military records, and sixty other important men. 26 Nebuzaradan took them to the king of Babylonia, who was in the city of Riblah 27 in the territory of Hamath. There the king had them beaten and put to death. So the people of Judah were carried away from their land into exile.

2763-Lamentations 3:46 "We are insulted and mocked by all our enemies. 47 We have been through disaster and ruin; we live in danger and fear.

2764-Lamentations 3:21 Yet hope returns when I remember this one thing: 22 The Lord's unfailing love and mercy still continue, 23 Fresh as the morning, as sure as the sunrise. 24 The Lord is all I have, and so in him I put my hope. 25 The Lord is good to everyone who trusts in him, 26 So it is best for us to wait in patience - to wait for him to save us - 27 And it is best to learn this patience in our youth. 28 When we suffer, we should sit alone in silent patience; 29 We should bow in submission, for there may still be hope. 30 Though beaten and insulted, we should accept it all. 31 The Lord is merciful and will not reject us forever. 32 He may bring us sorrow, but his love for us is sure and strong. 33 He takes no pleasure in causing us grief or pain.

Lamentations 3:55 "From the bottom of the pit, O Lord, I cried out to you, 56 And when I begged you to listen to my cry, you heard. 57 You answered me and told me not to be afraid. 58 "You came to my rescue, Lord, and saved my life. 59 Judge in my favor; you know the wrongs done against me. 60 You know how my enemies hate me and how they plot against me.

2765-Jeremiah 25:8 "So then, because you would not listen to him, the Lord Almighty says, 9 "I am going to send for all the peoples from the north and for my servant, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia. I am going to bring them to fight against Judah and its inhabitants and against all the neighboring nations. I am going to destroy this nation and its neighbors and leave them in ruins forever, a terrible and shocking sight. I, the Lord, have spoken.

Jeremiah 27:6 I am the one who has placed all these nations under the power of my servant, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia, and I have made even the wild animals serve him.

Jeremiah 43:10 Then tell them that I, the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, am going to bring my servant King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia to this place, and he will put his throne over these stones that you buried, and will spread the royal tent over them.

2766-Lamentations 3:37 The will of the Lord alone is always carried out. 38 Good and evil alike take place at his command. 39 Why should we ever complain when we are punished for our sin?

2767-Isaiah 45:37 Who is he that saith , and it cometh to pass, when the Lord commandeth it not? 38 Out of the mouth of the most High proceedeth not evil and good? 39 Wherefore doth a living man complain , a man for the punishment of his sins?

2768-Lamentations 2:3 He hath cut off in his fierce anger all the horn of Israel: he hath drawn back his right hand from before the enemy , and he burned against Jacob like a flaming fire, which devoureth round about. 4 He hath bent his bow like an enemy : he stood with his right hand as an adversary, and slew all that were pleasant to the eye in the tabernacle of the daughter of Zion: he poured out his fury like fire. 5 The Lord was as an enemy : he hath swallowed up Israel, he hath swallowed up all her palaces: he hath destroyed his strong holds, and hath increased in the daughter of Judah mourning and lamentation. 6 And he hath violently taken away his tabernacle, as if it were of a garden: he hath destroyed his places of the assembly: the LORD hath caused the solemn feasts and sabbaths to be forgotten in Zion, and hath despised in the indignation of his anger the king and the priest. 7 The Lord hath cast off his altar, he hath abhorred his sanctuary, he hath given up into the hand of the enemy the walls of her palaces; they have made a noise in the house of the LORD, as in the day of a solemn feast. 8 The LORD hath purposed to destroy the wall of the daughter of Zion: he hath stretched out a line, he hath not withdrawn his hand from destroying : therefore he made the rampart and the wall to lament ; they languished together.

Lamentations 2:17 The LORD hath done that which he had devised ; he hath fulfilled his word that he had commanded in the days of old: he hath thrown down , and hath not pitied : and he hath caused thine enemy to rejoice over thee, he hath set up the horn of thine adversaries.

Lamentations 3:1 I am the man that hath seen affliction by the rod of his wrath. 2 He hath led me, and brought me into darkness, but not into light. 3 Surely against me is he turned ; he turneth his hand against me all the day. 4 My flesh and my skin hath he made old ; he hath broken my bones. 5 He hath builded against me, and compassed me with gall and travail. 6 He hath set me in dark places, as they that be dead of old. 7 He hath hedged me about, that I cannot get out : he hath made my chain heavy . 8 Also when I cry and shout , he shutteth out my prayer. 9 He hath inclosed my ways with hewn stone, he hath made my paths crooked . 10 He was unto me as a bear lying in wait , and as a lion in secret places. 11 He hath turned aside my ways, and pulled me in pieces : he hath made me desolate . 12 He hath bent his bow, and set me as a mark for the arrow. 13 He hath caused the arrows of his quiver to enter into my reins. 14 I was a derision to all my people; and their song all the day. 15 He hath filled me with bitterness, he hath made me drunken with wormwood. 16 He hath also broken my teeth with gravel stones, he hath covered me with ashes. 17 And thou hast removed my soul far off from peace: I forgat prosperity. 18 And I said , My strength and my hope is perished from the LORD:

Lamentations 3:37 Who is he that saith , and it cometh to pass, when the Lord commandeth it not? 38 Out of the mouth of the most High proceedeth not evil and good? 39 Wherefore doth a living man complain , a man for the punishment of his sins?

Lamentations 4:6 For the punishment of the iniquity of the daughter of my people is greater than the punishment of the sin of Sodom, that was overthrown as in a moment, and no hands stayed on her.

Lamentations 5:20 Wherefore dost thou forget us for ever, and forsake us so long time? 21 Turn thou us unto thee, O LORD, and we shall be turned ; renew our days as of old. 22 But thou hast utterly rejected us; thou art very wroth against us.

2769-Lamentations 2:16 All thine enemies have opened their mouth against thee: they hiss and gnash the teeth: they say , We have swallowed her up : certainly this is the day that we looked for ; we have found , we have seen it.

Lamentations 3:52 Mine enemies chased me sore , like a bird, without cause. 53 They have cut off my life in the dungeon, and cast a stone upon me. 54 Waters flowed over mine head; then I said , I am cut off . 55 I called upon thy name, O LORD, out of the low dungeon. 56 Thou hast heard my voice: hide not thine ear at my breathing, at my cry. 57 Thou drewest near in the day that I called upon thee: thou saidst , Fear not. 58 O Lord, thou hast pleaded the causes of my soul; thou hast redeemed my life. 59 O LORD, thou hast seen my wrong: judge thou my cause. 60 Thou hast seen all their vengeance and all their imaginations against me.

Lamentations 5:3 We are orphans and fatherless , our mothers are as widows.

2770-Lamentations 3:37 Who is he that saith , and it cometh to pass, when the Lord commandeth it not?

2771-Jeremiah 25:8 Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts; Because ye have not heard my words, 9 Behold, I will send and take all the families of the north, saith the LORD, and Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon, my servant, and will bring them against this land, and against the inhabitants thereof, and against all these nations round about, and will utterly destroy them, and make them an astonishment, and an hissing, and perpetual desolations.

Jeremiah 27:6 And now have I given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, my servant; and the beasts of the field have I given him also to serve him.

Jeremiah 43:10 And say unto them, Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will send and take Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon, my servant, and will set his throne upon these stones that I have hid ; and he shall spread his royal pavilion over them.

2772-Isaiah 36:1 Now it came to pass in the fourteenth year of king Hezekiah, that Sennacherib king of Assyria came up against all the defenced cities of Judah, and took them. 2 And the king of Assyria sent Rabshakeh from Lachish to Jerusalem unto king Hezekiah with a great army. And he stood by the conduit of the upper pool in the highway of the fuller's field. 3 Then came forth unto him Eliakim, Hilkiah's son, which was over the house, and Shebna the scribe , and Joah, Asaph's son, the recorder . 4 And Rabshakeh said unto them, Say ye now to Hezekiah, Thus saith the great king, the king of Assyria, What confidence is this wherein thou trustest ? 5 I say , sayest thou, (but they are but vain words) I have counsel and strength for war: now on whom dost thou trust , that thou rebellest against me? 6 Lo, thou trustest in the staff of this broken reed, on Egypt; whereon if a man lean , it will go into his hand, and pierce it: so is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all that trust in him. 7 But if thou say to me, We trust in the LORD our God: is it not he, whose high places and whose altars Hezekiah hath taken away , and said to Judah and to Jerusalem, Ye shall worship before this altar? 8 Now therefore give pledges , I pray thee, to my master the king of Assyria, and I will give thee two thousand horses, if thou be able on thy part to set riders upon them. 9 How then wilt thou turn away the face of one captain of the least of my master's servants, and put thy trust on Egypt for chariots and for horsemen? 10 And am I now come up without the LORD against this land to destroy it? the LORD said unto me, Go up against this land, and destroy it. 11 Then said Eliakim and Shebna and Joah unto Rabshakeh, Speak , I pray thee, unto thy servants in the Syrian language; for we understand it: and speak not to us in the Jews' language, in the ears of the people that are on the wall. 12 But Rabshakeh said , Hath my master sent me to thy master and to thee to speak these words? hath he not sent me to the men that sit upon the wall, that they may eat their own dung , and drink their own piss with you? 13 Then Rabshakeh stood , and cried with a loud voice in the Jews' language, and said , Hear ye the words of the great king, the king of Assyria. 14 Thus saith the king, Let not Hezekiah deceive you: for he shall not be able to deliver you. 15 Neither let Hezekiah make you trust in the LORD, saying , The LORD will surely deliver us: this city shall not be delivered into the hand of the king of Assyria. 16 Hearken not to Hezekiah: for thus saith the king of Assyria, Make an agreement with me by a present, and come out to me: and eat ye every one of his vine, and every one of his fig tree, and drink ye every one the waters of his own cistern; 17 Until I come and take you away to a land like your own land, a land of corn and wine, a land of bread and vineyards. 18 Beware lest Hezekiah persuade you, saying , The LORD will deliver us. Hath any of the gods of the nations delivered his land out of the hand of the king of Assyria? 19 Where are the gods of Hamath and Arphad? where are the gods of Sepharvaim? and have they delivered Samaria out of my hand? 20 Who are they among all the gods of these lands, that have delivered their land out of my hand, that the LORD should deliver Jerusalem out of my hand? 21 But they held their peace , and answered him not a word: for the king's commandment was, saying , Answer him not. 22 Then came Eliakim, the son of Hilkiah, that was over the household, and Shebna the scribe , and Joah, the son of Asaph, the recorder , to Hezekiah with their clothes rent , and told him the words of Rabshakeh.

2 Kings 18:1 Now it came to pass in the third year of Hoshea son of Elah king of Israel, that Hezekiah the son of Ahaz king of Judah began to reign . 2 Twenty and five years old was he when he began to reign ; and he reigned twenty and nine years in Jerusalem. His mother's name also was Abi, the daughter of Zachariah. 3 And he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD, according to all that David his father did . 4 He removed the high places, and brake the images, and cut down the groves, and brake in pieces the brasen serpent that Moses had made : for unto those days the children of Israel did burn incense to it: and he called it Nehushtan. 5 He trusted in the LORD God of Israel; so that after him was none like him among all the kings of Judah, nor any that were before him. 6 For he clave to the LORD, and departed not from following him, but kept his commandments, which the LORD commanded Moses. 7 And the LORD was with him; and he prospered whithersoever he went forth : and he rebelled against the king of Assyria, and served him not. 8 He smote the Philistines, even unto Gaza, and the borders thereof, from the tower of the watchmen to the fenced city. 9 And it came to pass in the fourth year of king Hezekiah, which was the seventh year of Hoshea son of Elah king of Israel, that Shalmaneser king of Assyria came up against Samaria, and besieged it. 10 And at the end of three years they took it: even in the sixth year of Hezekiah, that is the ninth year of Hoshea king of Israel, Samaria was taken . 11 And the king of Assyria did carry away Israel unto Assyria, and put them in Halah and in Habor by the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes: 12 Because they obeyed not the voice of the LORD their God, but transgressed his covenant, and all that Moses the servant of the LORD commanded , and would not hear them, nor do them. 13 Now in the fourteenth year of king Hezekiah did Sennacherib king of Assyria come up against all the fenced cities of Judah, and took them. 14 And Hezekiah king of Judah sent to the king of Assyria to Lachish, saying , I have offended ; return from me: that which thou puttest on me will I bear . And the king of Assyria appointed unto Hezekiah king of Judah three hundred talents of silver and thirty talents of gold. 15 And Hezekiah gave him all the silver that was found in the house of the LORD, and in the treasures of the king's house. 16 At that time did Hezekiah cut off the gold from the doors of the temple of the LORD, and from the pillars which Hezekiah king of Judah had overlaid , and gave it to the king of Assyria. 17 And the king of Assyria sent Tartan and Rabsaris and Rabshakeh from Lachish to king Hezekiah with a great host against Jerusalem. And they went up and came to Jerusalem. And when they were come up , they came and stood by the conduit of the upper pool, which is in the highway of the fuller's field. 18 And when they had called to the king, there came out to them Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, which was over the household, and Shebna the scribe , and Joah the son of Asaph the recorder . 19 And Rabshakeh said unto them, Speak ye now to Hezekiah, Thus saith the great king, the king of Assyria, What confidence is this wherein thou trustest ? 20 Thou sayest , (but they are but vain words,) I have counsel and strength for the war. Now on whom dost thou trust , that thou rebellest against me? 21 Now, behold, thou trustest upon the staff of this bruised reed, even upon Egypt, on which if a man lean , it will go into his hand, and pierce it: so is Pharaoh king of Egypt unto all that trust on him. 22 But if ye say unto me, We trust in the LORD our God: is not that he, whose high places and whose altars Hezekiah hath taken away , and hath said to Judah and Jerusalem, Ye shall worship before this altar in Jerusalem? 23 Now therefore, I pray thee, give pledges to my lord the king of Assyria, and I will deliver thee two thousand horses, if thou be able on thy part to set riders upon them. 24 How then wilt thou turn away the face of one captain of the least of my master's servants, and put thy trust on Egypt for chariots and for horsemen? 25 Am I now come up without the LORD against this place to destroy it? The LORD said to me, Go up against this land, and destroy it. 26 Then said Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, and Shebna, and Joah, unto Rabshakeh, Speak , I pray thee, to thy servants in the Syrian language; for we understand it: and talk not with us in the Jews' language in the ears of the people that are on the wall. 27 But Rabshakeh said unto them, Hath my master sent me to thy master, and to thee, to speak these words? hath he not sent me to the men which sit on the wall, that they may eat their own dung , and drink their own piss with you? 28 Then Rabshakeh stood and cried with a loud voice in the Jews' language, and spake , saying , Hear the word of the great king, the king of Assyria: 29 Thus saith the king, Let not Hezekiah deceive you: for he shall not be able to deliver you out of his hand: 30 Neither let Hezekiah make you trust in the LORD, saying , The LORD will surely deliver us, and this city shall not be delivered into the hand of the king of Assyria. 31 Hearken not to Hezekiah: for thus saith the king of Assyria, Make an agreement with me by a present, and come out to me, and then eat ye every man of his own vine, and every one of his fig tree, and drink ye every one the waters of his cistern: 32 Until I come and take you away to a land like your own land, a land of corn and wine, a land of bread and vineyards, a land of oil olive and of honey, that ye may live , and not die : and hearken not unto Hezekiah, when he persuadeth you, saying , The LORD will deliver us. 33 Hath any of the gods of the nations delivered at all his land out of the hand of the king of Assyria? 34 Where are the gods of Hamath, and of Arpad? where are the gods of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivah? have they delivered Samaria out of mine hand? 35 Who are they among all the gods of the countries, that have delivered their country out of mine hand, that the LORD should deliver Jerusalem out of mine hand? 36 But the people held their peace , and answered him not a word: for the king's commandment was, saying , Answer him not. 37 Then came Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, which was over the household, and Shebna the scribe , and Joah the son of Asaph the recorder , to Hezekiah with their clothes rent , and told him the words of Rabshakeh.

2773-2 Kings 19:35 That night an angel of the Lord went to the Assyrian camp and killed 185,000 soldiers. At dawn the next day there they lay, all dead!

Isaiah 37:36 Then the angel of the LORD went forth , and smote in the camp of the Assyrians a hundred and fourscore and five thousand: and when they arose early in the morning, behold, they were all dead corpses.

2774-2 Kings 21:16 Manasseh killed so many innocent people that the streets of Jerusalem were flowing with blood; he did this in addition to leading the people of Judah into idolatry, causing them to sin against the Lord.

Hebrews 11:37 They were stoned, they were sawed in two, they were killed by the sword. They went around clothed in skins of sheep or goats - poor, persecuted, and mistreated.

2775-Matt. 3:3 John was the man the prophet Isaiah was talking about when he said, "Someone is shouting in the desert, "Prepare a road for the Lord; make a straight path for him to travel!' "

Matthew 8:17 He did this to make come true what the prophet Isaiah had said, "He himself took our sickness and carried away our diseases."

Matthew 12:17 He did this so as to make come true what God had said through the prophet Isaiah:

Luke 3:4 As it is written in the book of the prophet Isaiah: "Someone is shouting in the desert: "Get the road ready for the Lord; make a straight path for him to travel!

Luke 4:17 and was handed the book of the prophet Isaiah. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it is written,

John 1:23 John answered by quoting the prophet Isaiah: "I am "the voice of someone shouting in the desert: Make a straight path for the Lord to travel!' "

John 12:38 so that what the prophet Isaiah had said might come true: "Lord, who believed the message we told? To whom did the Lord reveal his power?"

Acts 8:28 and was returning; seated in his chariot, he was reading the prophet Isaiah.

Rom. 10:16 But not all have accepted the Good News. Isaiah himself said, "Lord, who believed our message?" 17 So then, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message comes through preaching Christ. 18 But I ask: Is it true that they did not hear the message? Of course they did - for as the scripture says: "The sound of their voice went out to all the world; their words reached the ends of the earth." 19 Again I ask: Did the people of Israel not understand? Moses himself is the first one to answer: "I will use a so-called nation to make my people jealous; and by means of a nation of fools I will make my people angry." 20 And Isaiah is even bolder when he says, "I was found by those who were not looking for me; I appeared to those who were not asking for me."

2776-Isaiah 53:4 "But he endured the suffering that should have been ours, the pain that we should have borne. All the while we thought that his suffering was punishment sent by God.

Matt. 8:17 He did this to make come true what the prophet Isaiah had said, "He himself took our sickness and carried away our diseases."

Isaiah 44:1 The Lord says, "Listen now, Israel, my servant, my chosen people, the descendants of Jacob.

Matt. 12:17 He did this so as to make come true what God had said through the prophet Isaiah:

Isaiah 61:1 The Sovereign Lord has filled me with his Spirit. He has chosen me and sent me To bring good news to the poor, To heal the broken-hearted, To announce release to captives And freedom to those in prison.

Luke 4:17 and was handed the book of the prophet Isaiah. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it is written,

Isaiah 53:1 The people reply, "Who would have believed what we now report? Who could have seen the Lord's hand in this?

John 12:38 so that what the prophet Isaiah had said might come true: "Lord, who believed the message we told? To whom did the Lord reveal his power?"

2777-Isaiah 41:19 I will make cedars grow in the desert, and acacias and myrtles and olive trees. Forests will grow in barren land, forests of pine and juniper and cypress.

Isaiah 44:14 He might cut down cedars to use, or choose oak or cypress wood from the forest. Or he might plant a laurel tree and wait for the rain to make it grow.

2778-Isaiah 45:22 "Turn to me now and be saved, people all over the world! I am the only God there is.

Isaiah 46:11 I am calling a man to come from the east; he will swoop down like a hawk and accomplish what I have planned. I have spoken, and it will be done.

2779-Isaiah 52:11 Be sure to leave Babylonia, all you that carry the Temple equipment. Touch no forbidden thing; keep yourselves holy and leave.

2780-Isaiah 7:9 Israel is no stronger than Samaria, its capital city, and Samaria is no stronger than King Pekah. "If your faith is not enduring, you will not endure."

Isaiah 28:16 This, now, is what the Sovereign Lord says: "I am placing in Zion a foundation that is firm and strong. In it I am putting a solid cornerstone on which are written the words, "Faith that is firm is also patient.'

Isaiah 30:15 The Sovereign Lord, the Holy One of Israel, says to the people, "Come back and quietly trust in me. Then you will be strong and secure." But you refuse to do it.

2781-Isaiah 6:1 In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord. He was sitting on his throne, high and exalted, and his robe filled the whole Temple. 2 Around him flaming creatures were standing, each of which had six wings. Each creature covered its face with two wings, and its body with two, and used the other two for flying. 3 They were calling out to each other: "Holy, holy, holy! The Lord Almighty is holy! His glory fills the world." 4 The sound of their voices made the foundation of the Temple shake, and the Temple itself became filled with smoke. 5 I said, "There is no hope for me! I am doomed because every word that passes my lips is sinful, and I live among a people whose every word is sinful. And yet, with my own eyes I have seen the King, the Lord Almighty." 6 Then one of the creatures flew down to me, carrying a burning coal that he had taken from the altar with a pair of tongs. 7 He touched my lips with the burning coal and said, "This has touched your lips, and now your guilt is gone, and your sins are forgiven." 8 Then I heard the Lord say, "Whom shall I send? Who will be our messenger?" I answered, "I will go! Send me!"

Isaiah 37:23 Whom do you think you have been insulting and ridiculing? You have been disrespectful to me, the holy God of Israel.

2782-Isaiah 1:2 The Lord said, "Earth and sky, listen to what I am saying! The children I brought up have rebelled against me. 3 Cattle know who owns them, and donkeys know where their master feeds them. But that is more than my people Israel know. They don't understand at all." 4 You are doomed, you sinful nation, you corrupt and evil people! Your sins drag you down! You have rejected the Lord, the holy God of Israel, and have turned your backs on him.

Isaiah 29:13 The Lord said, "These people claim to worship me, but their words are meaningless, and their hearts are somewhere else. Their religion is nothing but human rules and traditions, which they have simply memorized. 14 So I will startle them with one unexpected blow after another. Those who are wise will turn out to be fools, and all their cleverness will be useless." 15 Those who try to hide their plans from the Lord are doomed! They carry out their schemes in secret and think no one will see them or know what they are doing. 16 They turn everything upside down. Which is more important, the potter or the clay? Can something you have made say, "You didn't make me"? Or can it say, "You don't know what you are doing"? 17 As the saying goes, before long the dense forest will become farmland, and the farmland will go back to forest.

2783-Isaiah 1:9 If the Lord Almighty had not let some of the people survive, Jerusalem would have been totally destroyed, just as Sodom and Gomorrah were.

Isaiah 1:19 If you will only obey me, you will eat the good things the land produces.

Isaiah 10:19 There will be so few trees left that even a child will be able to count them. 20 A time is coming when the people of Israel who have survived will not rely any more on the nation that almost destroyed them. They will truly put their trust in the Lord, Israel's holy God. 21 A few of the people of Israel will come back to their mighty God. 22 Even though now there are as many people of Israel as there are grains of sand by the sea, only a few will come back. Destruction is in store for the people, and it is fully deserved.

Isaiah 46:3 "Listen to me, descendants of Jacob, all who are left of my people. I have cared for you from the time you were born. 4 I am your God and will take care of you until you are old and your hair is gray. I made you and will care for you; I will give you help and rescue you.

Isaiah 65:8 The Lord says, "No one destroys good grapes; instead, they make wine with them. Neither will I destroy all my people - I will save those who serve me. 9 I will bless the Israelites who belong to the tribe of Judah, and their descendants will possess my land of mountains. My chosen people, who serve me, will live there. 10 They will worship me and will lead their sheep and cattle to pasture in the Plain of Sharon in the west and in Trouble Valley in the east.

2784-Isaiah 7:14 Well then, the Lord himself will give you a sign: a young woman who is pregnant will have a son and will name him "Immanuel.'

Isaiah 9:6 A child is born to us! A son is given to us! And he will be our ruler. He will be called, "Wonderful Counselor," "Mighty God," "Eternal Father," "Prince of Peace."

2785-Isaiah 7:15 By the time he is old enough to make his own decisions, people will be drinking milk and eating honey.

Isaiah 11:1 The royal line of David is like a tree that has been cut down; but just as new branches sprout from a stump, so a new king will arise from among David's descendants.

Isaiah 53:2 It was the will of the Lord that his servant grow like a plant taking root in dry ground. He had no dignity or beauty to make us take notice of him. There was nothing attractive about him, nothing that would draw us to him.

2786-Isaiah 42:2 He will not shout or raise his voice or make loud speeches in the streets.

2787-Isaiah 50:5 The Lord has given me understanding, and I have not rebelled or turned away from him.

2788-Isaiah 61:1 The Sovereign Lord has filled me with his Spirit. He has chosen me and sent me To bring good news to the poor, To heal the broken-hearted, To announce release to captives And freedom to those in prison. 2 He has sent me to proclaim That the time has come When the Lord will save his people And defeat their enemies. He has sent me to comfort all who mourn,

2789-Isaiah 35: 5 The blind will be able to see, and the deaf will hear. 6 The lame will leap and dance, and those who cannot speak will shout for joy. Streams of water will flow through the desert;

2790-Isaiah 50:6 I bared my back to those who beat me. I did not stop them when they insulted me, when they pulled out the hairs of my beard and spit in my face.

2791-Isaiah 53:1 The people reply, "Who would have believed what we now report? Who could have seen the Lord's hand in this? 2 It was the will of the Lord that his servant grow like a plant taking root in dry ground. He had no dignity or beauty to make us take notice of him. There was nothing attractive about him, nothing that would draw us to him. 3 We despised him and rejected him; he endured suffering and pain. No one would even look at him - we ignored him as if he were nothing.

2792-Isaiah 53:4 "But he endured the suffering that should have been ours, the pain that we should have borne. All the while we thought that his suffering was punishment sent by God. 5 But because of our sins he was wounded, beaten because of the evil we did. We are healed by the punishment he suffered, made whole by the blows he received. 6 All of us were like sheep that were lost, each of us going his own way. But the Lord made the punishment fall on him, the punishment all of us deserved.

2793-Isaiah 53:10 The Lord says, "It was my will that he should suffer; his death was a sacrifice to bring forgiveness. And so he will see his descendants; he will live a long life, and through him my purpose will succeed.

2794-Isaiah 52:13 The Lord says, "My servant will succeed in his task; he will be highly honored.

2795-Isaiah 44:28 I say to Cyrus, "You are the one who will rule for me; you will do what I want you to do: you will order that Jerusalem be rebuilt and that the foundations of the Temple be laid.' "

Isaiah 45:1 The Lord has chosen Cyrus to be king. He has appointed him to conquer nations; he sends him to strip kings of their power; the Lord will open the gates of cities for him. To Cyrus the Lord says,

2796-Isaiah 7:7 "But I, the Lord, declare that this will never happen. 8 Why? Because Syria is no stronger than Damascus, its capital city, and Damascus is no stronger than King Rezin. As for Israel, within sixty-five years it will be too shattered to survive as a nation.

Isaiah 7:16 Even before that time comes, the lands of those two kings who terrify you will be deserted.

2797-Isaiah 14:25 I will destroy the Assyrians in my land of Israel and trample them on my mountains. I will free my people from the Assyrian yoke and from the burdens they have had to bear.

Isaiah 31:8 Assyria will be destroyed in war, but not by human power. The Assyrians will run from battle, and their young men will be made slaves.

Isaiah 37:6 he sent back this answer: "The Lord tells you not to let the Assyrians frighten you by their claims that he cannot save you. 7 The Lord will cause the emperor to hear a rumor that will make him go back to his own country, and the Lord will have him killed there."

Isaiah 37:29 I have received the report of that rage and that pride of yours, and now I will put a hook through your nose and a bit in your mouth and will take you back by the same road you came."

Isaiah 37:33 "And this is what the Lord has said about the Assyrian emperor: "He will not enter this city or shoot a single arrow against it. No soldiers with shields will come near the city, and no siege mounds will be built around it. 34 He will go back by the same road he came, without entering this city. I, the Lord, have spoken. 35 I will defend this city and protect it, for the sake of my own honor and because of the promise I made to my servant David.' "

2798-Isaiah 14:4 When he does this, they are to mock the king of Babylon and say: "The cruel king has fallen! He will never oppress anyone again! 5 The Lord has ended the power of the evil rulers 6 who angrily oppressed the peoples and never stopped persecuting the nations they had conquered. 7 Now at last the whole world enjoys rest and peace, and everyone sings for joy. 8 The cypress trees and the cedars of Lebanon rejoice over the fallen king, because there is no one to cut them down, now that he is gone! 9 "The world of the dead is getting ready to welcome the king of Babylon. The ghosts of those who were powerful on earth are stirring about. The ghosts of kings are rising from their thrones. 10 They all call out to him, "Now you are as weak as we are! You are one of us! 11 You used to be honored with the music of harps, but now here you are in the world of the dead. You lie on a bed of maggots and are covered with a blanket of worms.' " 12 King of Babylon, bright morning star, you have fallen from heaven! In the past you conquered nations, but now you have been thrown to the ground. 13 You were determined to climb up to heaven and to place your throne above the highest stars. You thought you would sit like a king on that mountain in the north where the gods assemble. 14 You said you would climb to the tops of the clouds and be like the Almighty. 15 But instead, you have been brought down to the deepest part of the world of the dead. 16 The dead will stare and gape at you. They will ask, "Is this the man who shook the earth and made kingdoms tremble? 17 Is this the man who destroyed cities and turned the world into a desert? Is this the man who never freed his prisoners or let them go home?" 18 All the kings of the earth lie in their magnificent tombs, 19 but you have no tomb, and your corpse is thrown out to rot. It is covered by the bodies of soldiers killed in battle, thrown with them into a rocky pit, and trampled down. 20 Because you ruined your country and killed your own people, you will not be buried like other kings. None of your evil family will survive. 21 Let the slaughter begin! The sons of this king will die because of their ancestors' sins. None of them will ever rule the earth or cover it with cities. 22 The Lord Almighty says, "I will attack Babylon and bring it to ruin. I will leave nothing - no children, no survivors at all. I, the Lord, have spoken. 23 I will turn Babylon into a marsh, and owls will live there. I will sweep Babylon with a broom that will sweep everything away. I, the Lord Almighty, have spoken."

2799-Isaiah 30:1 The Lord has spoken: "Those who rule Judah are doomed because they rebel against me. They follow plans that I did not make, and sign treaties against my will, piling one sin on another. 2 They go to Egypt for help without asking for my advice. They want Egypt to protect them, so they put their trust in Egypt's king. 3 But the king will be powerless to help them, and Egypt's protection will end in disaster.

Isaiah 31:1 Those who go to Egypt for help are doomed! They are relying on Egypt's vast military strength - horses, chariots, and soldiers. But they do not rely on the Lord, the holy God of Israel, or ask him for help. 2 He knows what he is doing! He sends disaster. He carries out his threats to punish evil people and those who protect them. 3 The Egyptians are not gods - they are only human. Their horses are not supernatural. When the Lord acts, the strong nation will crumble, and the weak nation it helped will fall. Both of them will be destroyed.

2800-Isaiah 44:28 I say to Cyrus, "You are the one who will rule for me; you will do what I want you to do: you will order that Jerusalem be rebuilt and that the foundations of the Temple be laid.' "

Isaiah 45:1 The Lord has chosen Cyrus to be king. He has appointed him to conquer nations; he sends him to strip kings of their power; the Lord will open the gates of cities for him. To Cyrus the Lord says, 2 "I myself will prepare your way, leveling mountains and hills. I will break down bronze gates and smash their iron bars. 3 I will give you treasures from dark, secret places; then you will know that I am the Lord and that the God of Israel has called you by name. 4 I appoint you to help my servant Israel, the people that I have chosen. I have given you great honor, although you do not know me

2801-Isaiah 41:21 The Lord, the king of Israel, has this to say: "You gods of the nations, present your case. Bring the best arguments you have! 22 Come here and predict what will happen, so that we will know it when it takes place. Explain to the court the events of the past, and tell us what they mean. 23 Tell us what the future holds - then we will know that you are gods! Do something good or bring some disaster; fill us with fear and awe!

Isaiah 42:9 The things I predicted have now come true. Now I will tell you of new things even before they begin to happen."

Isaiah 43:9 Summon the nations to come to the trial. Which of their gods can predict the future? Which of them foretold what is happening now? Let these gods bring in their witnesses to prove that they are right, to testify to the truth of their words.

Isaiah 45:11 The Lord, the holy God of Israel, the one who shapes the future, says: "You have no right to question me about my children or to tell me what I ought to do!

Isaiah 45:21 Come and present your case in court; let the defendants consult one another. Who predicted long ago what would happen? Was it not I, the Lord, the God who saves his people? There is no other god.

Isaiah 46:9 Remember what happened long ago; acknowledge that I alone am God and that there is no one else like me. 10 From the beginning I predicted the outcome; long ago I foretold what would happen. I said that my plans would never fail, that I would do everything I intended to do.

Isaiah 48:3 The Lord says to Israel, "Long ago I predicted what would take place; then suddenly I made it happen.

Isaiah 48:5 And so I predicted your future long ago, announcing events before they took place, to keep you from claiming that your idols and images made them happen. 6 "All I foretold has now taken place; you have to admit my predictions were right. Now I will tell you of new things to come, events that I did not reveal before. 7 Only now am I making them happen; nothing like this took place in the past. If it had, you would claim that you knew all about it. 8 I knew that you couldn't be trusted, that you have always been known as a rebel. That is why you never heard of this at all, why no word of it ever came to your ears.

2802-Isaiah 58:12 Your people will rebuild what has long been in ruins, building again on the old foundations. You will be known as the people who rebuilt the walls, who restored the ruined houses."

Isaiah 61:4 They will rebuild cities that have long been in ruins.

Isaiah 64:10 Your sacred cities are like a desert; Jerusalem is a deserted ruin,

2803-Isaiah 66:1 The Lord says, "Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool. What kind of house, then, could you build for me, what kind of place for me to live in?

2804-Isaiah 56:9 The Lord has told the foreign nations to come like wild animals and devour his people. 10 He says, "All the leaders, who are supposed to warn my people, are blind! They know nothing. They are like watch dogs that don't bark - they only lie around and dream. How they love to sleep! 11 They are like greedy dogs that never get enough. These leaders have no understanding. They each do as they please and seek their own advantage.

2805-Isaiah 56:12 "Let's get some wine,' these drunkards say, "and drink all we can hold! Tomorrow will be even better than today!' "

2806-Isaiah 57:3 Come here to be judged, you sinners! You are no better than sorcerers, adulterers, and prostitutes. 4 Who are you making fun of? Who are you liars jeering at? 5 You worship the fertility gods by having sex under those sacred trees of yours. You offer your children as sacrifices in the rocky caves near stream beds. 6 You take smooth stones from there and worship them as gods. You pour out wine as offerings to them and bring them grain offerings. Do you think I am pleased with all this? 7 You go to the high mountains to offer sacrifices and have sex. 8 You set up your obscene idols just inside your front doors. You forsake me; you take off your clothes and climb in your large beds with your lovers, whom you pay to sleep with you. And there you satisfy your lust. 9 You put on your perfumes and ointments and go to worship the god Molech. To find gods to worship, you send messengers far and wide, even to the world of the dead. 10 You wear yourselves out looking for other gods, but you never give up. You think your obscene idols give you strength, and so you never grow weak.

2807-Isaiah 57:11 The Lord says, "Who are these gods that make you afraid, so that you tell me lies and forget me completely? Have you stopped honoring me because I have kept silent for so long? 12 You think that what you do is right, but I will expose your conduct, and your idols will not be able to help you. 13 When you cry for help, let those idols of yours save you! A puff of wind will carry them off! But those who trust in me will live in the land and will worship me in my Temple."

2808-Isaiah 58:1 The Lord says, "Shout as loud as you can! Tell my people Israel about their sins! 2 They worship me every day, claiming that they are eager to know my ways and obey my laws. They say they want me to give them just laws and that they take pleasure in worshiping me." 3 The people ask, "Why should we fast if the Lord never notices? Why should we go without food if he pays no attention?" The Lord says to them, "The truth is that at the same time you fast, you pursue your own interests and oppress your workers. 4 Your fasting makes you violent, and you quarrel and fight. Do you think this kind of fasting will make me listen to your prayers? 5 When you fast, you make yourselves suffer; you bow your heads low like a blade of grass and spread out sackcloth and ashes to lie on. Is that what you call fasting? Do you think I will be pleased with that?

2809-Isaiah 65:1 The Lord said, "I was ready to answer my people's prayers, but they did not pray. I was ready for them to find me, but they did not even try. The nation did not pray to me, even though I was always ready to answer, "Here I am; I will help you.' 2 I have always been ready to welcome my people, who stubbornly do what is wrong and go their own way. 3 They shamelessly keep on making me angry. They offer pagan sacrifices at sacred gardens and burn incense on pagan altars. 4 At night they go to caves and tombs to consult the spirits of the dead. They eat pork and drink broth made from meat offered in pagan sacrifices. 5 And then they say to others, "Keep away from us; we are too holy for you to touch!' I cannot stand people like that - my anger against them is like a fire that never goes out. 6 "I have already decided on their punishment, and their sentence is written down. I will not overlook what they have done, but will repay them 7 for their sins and the sins of their ancestors. They have burned incense at pagan hill shrines and spoken evil of me. So I will punish them as their past deeds deserve." 8 The Lord says, "No one destroys good grapes; instead, they make wine with them. Neither will I destroy all my people - I will save those who serve me. 9 I will bless the Israelites who belong to the tribe of Judah, and their descendants will possess my land of mountains. My chosen people, who serve me, will live there. 10 They will worship me and will lead their sheep and cattle to pasture in the Plain of Sharon in the west and in Trouble Valley in the east. 11 "But it will be different for you that forsake me, who ignore Zion, my sacred hill, and worship Gad and Meni, the gods of luck and fate. 12 It will be your fate to die a violent death, because you did not answer when I called you or listen when I spoke. You chose to disobey me and do evil. 13 And so I tell you that those who worship and obey me will have plenty to eat and drink, but you will be hungry and thirsty. They will be happy, but you will be disgraced. 14 They will sing for joy, but you will cry with a broken heart. 15 My chosen people will use your name as a curse. I, the Sovereign Lord, will put you to death. But I will give a new name to those who obey me. 16 Anyone in the land who asks for a blessing will ask to be blessed by the faithful God. Whoever takes an oath will swear by the name of the faithful God. The troubles of the past will be gone and forgotten." 17 The Lord says, "I am making a new earth and new heavens. The events of the past will be completely forgotten. 18 Be glad and rejoice forever in what I create. The new Jerusalem I make will be full of joy, and her people will be happy. 19 I myself will be filled with joy because of Jerusalem and her people. There will be no weeping there, no calling for help. 20 Babies will no longer die in infancy, and all people will live out their life span. Those who live to be a hundred will be considered young. To die before that would be a sign that I had punished them. 21 People will build houses and get to live in them - they will not be used by someone else. They will plant vineyards and enjoy the wine - it will not be drunk by others. Like trees, my people will live long lives. They will fully enjoy the things that they have worked for. 23 The work they do will be successful, and their children will not meet with disaster. I will bless them and their descendants for all time to come. 24 Even before they finish praying to me, I will answer their prayers. 25 Wolves and lambs will eat together; lions will eat straw, as cattle do, and snakes will no longer be dangerous. On Zion, my sacred hill, there will be nothing harmful or evil."

Isaiah 66:1 The Lord says, "Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool. What kind of house, then, could you build for me, what kind of place for me to live in? 2 I myself created the whole universe! I am pleased with those who are humble and repentant, who fear me and obey me. 3 "The people do as they please. It's all the same to them whether they kill a bull as a sacrifice or sacrifice a human being; whether they sacrifice a lamb or break a dog's neck; whether they present a grain offering or offer pigs' blood; whether they offer incense or pray to an idol. They take pleasure in disgusting ways of worship. 4 So I will bring disaster upon them - the very things they are afraid of - because no one answered when I called or listened when I spoke. They chose to disobey me and do evil." 5 Listen to what the Lord says, you that fear him and obey him: "Because you are faithful to me, some of your own people hate you and will have nothing to do with you. They mock you and say, "Let the Lord show his greatness and save you, so that we may see you rejoice.' But they themselves will be disgraced! 6 Listen! That loud noise in the city, that sound in the Temple, is the sound of the Lord punishing his enemies! 7 "My holy city is like a woman who suddenly gives birth to a child without ever going into labor. 8 Has anyone ever seen or heard of such a thing? Has a nation ever been born in a day? Zion will not have to suffer long, before the nation is born. 9 Do not think that I will bring my people to the point of birth and not let them be born." The Lord has spoken. 10 Rejoice with Jerusalem; be glad for her, all you that love this city! Rejoice with her now, all you that have mourned for her! 11 You will enjoy her prosperity, like a child at its mother's breast. 12 The Lord says, "I will bring you lasting prosperity; the wealth of the nations will flow to you like a river that never goes dry. You will be like a child that is nursed by its mother, carried in her arms, and treated with love. 13 I will comfort you in Jerusalem, as a mother comforts her child. 14 When you see this happen, you will be glad; it will make you strong and healthy. Then you will know that I, the Lord, help those who obey me, and I show my anger against my enemies." 15 The Lord will come with fire. He will ride on the wings of a storm to punish those he is angry with. 16 By fire and sword he will punish all the people of the world whom he finds guilty - and many will be put to death. 17 The Lord says, "The end is near for those who purify themselves for pagan worship, who go in procession to sacred gardens, and who eat pork and mice and other disgusting foods. 18 I know their thoughts and their deeds. I am coming to gather the people of all the nations. When they come together, they will see what my power can do 19 and will know that I am the one who punishes them. "But I will spare some of them and send them to the nations and the distant lands that have not heard of my fame or seen my greatness and power: to Spain, Libya, and Lydia, with its skilled archers, and to Tubal and Greece. Among these nations they will proclaim my greatness. 20 They will bring back all your people from the nations as a gift to me. They will bring them to my sacred hill in Jerusalem on horses, mules, and camels, and in chariots and wagons, just as Israelites bring grain offerings to the Temple in ritually clean containers. 21 I will make some of them priests and Levites. 22 "Just as the new earth and the new heavens will endure by my power, so your descendants and your name will endure. 23 On every New Moon Festival and every Sabbath people of every nation will come to worship me here in Jerusalem," says the Lord. 24 "As they leave, they will see the dead bodies of those who have rebelled against me. The worms that eat them will never die, and the fire that burns them will never be put out. The sight of them will be disgusting to all people."

2810-Isaiah49:8 The Lord says to his people, "When the time comes to save you, I will show you favor and answer your cries for help. I will guard and protect you and through you make a covenant with all peoples. I will let you settle once again in your land that is now laid waste. 9 I will say to the prisoners, "Go free!' and to those who are in darkness, "Come out to the light!' They will be like sheep that graze on the hills; 10 they will never be hungry or thirsty. Sun and desert heat will not hurt them, for they will be led by one who loves them. He will lead them to springs of water. 11 "I will make a highway across the mountains and prepare a road for my people to travel. 12 My people will come from far away, from the north and the west, and from Aswan in the south." 13 Sing, heavens! Shout for joy, earth! Let the mountains burst into song! The Lord will comfort his people; he will have pity on his suffering people. 14 But the people of Jerusalem said, "The Lord has abandoned us! He has forgotten us." 15 So the Lord answers, "Can a woman forget her own baby and not love the child she bore? Even if a mother should forget her child, I will never forget you. 16 Jerusalem, I can never forget you! I have written your name on the palms of my hands. 17 "Those who will rebuild you are coming soon, and those who destroyed you will leave. 18 Look around and see what is happening! Your people are assembling - they are coming home! As surely as I am the living God, you will be proud of your people, as proud as a bride is of her jewels. 19 "Your country was ruined and desolate - but now it will be too small for those who are coming to live there. And those who left you in ruins will be far removed from you. 20 Your people who were born in exile will one day say to you, "This land is too small - we need more room to live in!' 21 Then you will say to yourself, "Who bore all these children for me? I lost my children and could have no more. I was exiled and driven away - who brought these children up? I was left all alone - where did these children come from?' " 22 The Sovereign Lord says to his people: "I will signal to the nations, and they will bring your children home. 23 Kings will be like fathers to you; queens will be like mothers. They will bow low before you and honor you; they will humbly show their respect for you. Then you will know that I am the Lord; no one who waits for my help will be disappointed." 24 Can you take away a soldier's loot? Can you rescue the prisoners of a tyrant? 25 The Lord replies, "That is just what is going to happen. The soldier's prisoners will be taken away, and the tyrant's loot will be seized. I will fight against whoever fights you, and I will rescue your children. 26 I will make your oppressors kill each other; they will be drunk with murder and rage. Then all people will know that I am the Lord, the one who saves you and sets you free. They will know that I am Israel's powerful God."

2811-Isaiah 61:1 The Sovereign Lord has filled me with his Spirit. He has chosen me and sent me To bring good news to the poor, To heal the broken-hearted, To announce release to captives And freedom to those in prison. 2 He has sent me to proclaim That the time has come When the Lord will save his people And defeat their enemies. He has sent me to comfort all who mourn, 3 To give to those who mourn in Zion Joy and gladness instead of grief, A song of praise instead of sorrow. They will be like trees That the Lord himself has planted. They will all do what is right, And God will be praised for what he has done.

2812-Isaiah 56:3 A foreigner who has joined the Lord's people should not say, "The Lord will not let me worship with his people." A man who has been castrated should never think that because he cannot have children, he can never be part of God's people.

Isaiah 65:1 The Lord said, "I was ready to answer my people's prayers, but they did not pray. I was ready for them to find me, but they did not even try. The nation did not pray to me, even though I was always ready to answer, "Here I am; I will help you.'

Isaiah 65:15 My chosen people will use your name as a curse. I, the Sovereign Lord, will put you to death. But I will give a new name to those who obey me. 16 Anyone in the land who asks for a blessing will ask to be blessed by the faithful God. Whoever takes an oath will swear by the name of the faithful God. The troubles of the past will be gone and forgotten."

2813-Isaiah 65:1 The Lord said, "I was ready to answer my people's prayers, but they did not pray. I was ready for them to find me, but they did not even try. The nation did not pray to me, even though I was always ready to answer, "Here I am; I will help you.'

Isaiah 66:8 Has anyone ever seen or heard of such a thing? Has a nation ever been born in a day? Zion will not have to suffer long, before the nation is born.

2814-Isaiah 65:17 The Lord says, "I am making a new earth and new heavens. The events of the past will be completely forgotten. 18 Be glad and rejoice forever in what I create. The new Jerusalem I make will be full of joy, and her people will be happy. 19 I myself will be filled with joy because of Jerusalem and her people. There will be no weeping there, no calling for help.

2815-Isaiah 7:10 The Lord sent another message to Ahaz:

2816-Isaiah 37:14 King Hezekiah took the letter from the messengers and read it. Then he went to the Temple, placed the letter there in the presence of the Lord, 15 and prayed, 16 "Almighty Lord, God of Israel, seated above the winged creatures, you alone are God, ruling all the kingdoms of the world. You created the earth and the sky. 17 Now, Lord, hear us and look at what is happening to us. Listen to all the things that Sennacherib is saying to insult you, the living God. 18 We all know, Lord, that the emperors of Assyria have destroyed many nations, made their lands desolate, 19 and burned up their gods - which were no gods at all, only images of wood and stone made by human hands. 20 Now, Lord our God, rescue us from the Assyrians, so that all the nations of the world will know that you alone are God." 21 Then Isaiah sent a message telling King Hezekiah that in answer to the king's prayer 22 the Lord had said, "The city of Jerusalem laughs at you, Sennacherib, and makes fun of you. 23 Whom do you think you have been insulting and ridiculing? You have been disrespectful to me, the holy God of Israel. 24 You sent your servants to boast to me that with all your chariots you had conquered the highest mountains of Lebanon. You boasted that there you cut down the tallest cedars and the finest cypress trees, and that you reached the deepest parts of the forests. 25 You boasted that you dug wells and drank water in foreign lands, and that the feet of your soldiers tramped the Nile River dry. 26 "Have you never heard that I planned all this long ago? And now I have carried it out. I gave you the power to turn fortified cities into piles of rubble. 27 The people who lived there were powerless; they were frightened and stunned. They were like grass in a field or weeds growing on a roof when the hot east wind blasts them. 28 "But I know everything about you, what you do and where you go. I know how you rage against me. 29 I have received the report of that rage and that pride of yours, and now I will put a hook through your nose and a bit in your mouth and will take you back by the same road you came." 30 Then Isaiah said to King Hezekiah, "Here is a sign of what will happen. This year and next you will have only wild grain to eat, but the following year you will be able to plant grain and harvest it, and plant vines and eat grapes. 31 Those in Judah who survive will flourish like plants that send roots deep into the ground and produce fruit. 32 There will be people in Jerusalem and on Mount Zion who will survive, because the Lord Almighty is determined to make this happen. 33 "And this is what the Lord has said about the Assyrian emperor: "He will not enter this city or shoot a single arrow against it. No soldiers with shields will come near the city, and no siege mounds will be built around it. 34 He will go back by the same road he came, without entering this city. I, the Lord, have spoken. 35 I will defend this city and protect it, for the sake of my own honor and because of the promise I made to my servant David.' "

2817-Isaiah 1:10 Jerusalem, your rulers and your people are like those of Sodom and Gomorrah. Listen to what the Lord is saying to you. Pay attention to what our God is teaching you. 11 He says, "Do you think I want all these sacrifices you keep offering to me? I have had more than enough of the sheep you burn as sacrifices and of the fat of your fine animals. I am tired of the blood of bulls and sheep and goats. 12 Who asked you to bring me all this when you come to worship me? Who asked you to do all this tramping around in my Temple? 13 It's useless to bring your offerings. I am disgusted with the smell of the incense you burn. I cannot stand your New Moon Festivals, your Sabbaths, and your religious gatherings; they are all corrupted by your sins. 14 I hate your New Moon Festivals and holy days; they are a burden that I am tired of bearing. 15 "When you lift your hands in prayer, I will not look at you. No matter how much you pray, I will not listen, for your hands are covered with blood.

Isaiah 5:8 You are doomed! You buy more houses and fields to add to those you already have. Soon there will be no place for anyone else to live, and you alone will live in the land.

Isaiah 5:11 You are doomed! You get up early in the morning to start drinking, and you spend long evenings getting drunk.

Isaiah 5:19 You say, "Let the Lord hurry up and do what he says he will, so that we can see it. Let Israel's holy God carry out his plans; let's see what he has in mind."

2818-Isaiah 6:11 I asked, "How long will it be like this, Lord?" He answered, "Until the cities are ruined and empty - until the houses are uninhabited - until the land itself is a desolate wasteland. 12 I will send the people far away and make the whole land desolate. 13 Even if one person out of ten remains in the land, he too will be destroyed; he will be like the stump of an oak tree that has been cut down." (The stump represents a new beginning for God's people.)

2819-Isaiah 36:1 In the fourteenth year that Hezekiah was king of Judah, Sennacherib, the emperor of Assyria, attacked the fortified cities of Judah and captured them. 2 Then he ordered his chief official to go from Lachish to Jerusalem with a large military force to demand that King Hezekiah surrender. The official occupied the road where the cloth makers work, by the ditch that brings water from the upper pool. 3 Three Judeans came out to meet him: the official in charge of the palace, Eliakim son of Hilkiah; the court secretary, Shebna; and the official in charge of the records, Joah son of Asaph. 4 The Assyrian official told them that the emperor wanted to know what made King Hezekiah so confident. 5 He demanded, "Do you think that words can take the place of military skill and might? Who do you think will help you rebel against Assyria? 6 You are expecting Egypt to help you, but that would be like using a reed as a walking stick - it would break and would jab your hand. That is what the king of Egypt is like when anyone relies on him." 7 The Assyrian official went on, "Or will you tell me that you are relying on the Lord your God? It was the Lord's shrines and altars that Hezekiah destroyed when he told the people of Judah and Jerusalem to worship at one altar only. 8 I will make a bargain with you in the name of the emperor. I will give you two thousand horses if you can find that many riders. 9 You are no match for even the lowest ranking Assyrian official, and yet you expect the Egyptians to send you chariots and horsemen. 10 Do you think I have attacked your country and destroyed it without the Lord's help? The Lord himself told me to attack it and destroy it." 11 Then Eliakim, Shebna, and Joah told the official, "Speak Aramaic to us. We understand it. Don't speak Hebrew; all the people on the wall are listening." 12 He replied, "Do you think you and the king are the only ones the emperor sent me to say all these things to? No, I am also talking to the people who are sitting on the wall, who will have to eat their excrement and drink their urine, just as you will." 13 Then the official stood up and shouted in Hebrew, "Listen to what the emperor of Assyria is telling you. 14 He warns you not to let Hezekiah deceive you. Hezekiah can't save you. 15 And don't let him persuade you to rely on the Lord. Don't think that the Lord will save you and that he will stop our Assyrian army from capturing your city. 16 Don't listen to Hezekiah! The emperor of Assyria commands you to come out of the city and surrender. You will all be allowed to eat grapes from your own vines and figs from your own trees, and to drink water from your own wells - 17 until the emperor resettles you in a country much like your own, where there are vineyards to give wine and there is grain for making bread. 18 Don't let Hezekiah fool you into thinking that the Lord will rescue you. Did the gods of any other nations save their countries from the emperor of Assyria? 19 Where are they now, the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim? Did anyone save Samaria? 20 When did any of the gods of all these countries ever save their country from our emperor? Then what makes you think the Lord can save Jerusalem?" 21 The people kept quiet, just as King Hezekiah had told them to; they did not say a word. 22 Then Eliakim, Shebna, and Joah tore their clothes in grief and went and reported to the king what the Assyrian official had said.

Isaiah 37:1 As soon as King Hezekiah heard their report, he tore his clothes in grief, put on sackcloth, and went to the Temple of the Lord. 2 He sent Eliakim, the official in charge of the palace, Shebna, the court secretary, and the senior priests to the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz. They also were wearing sackcloth. 3 This is the message which he told them to give to Isaiah: "Today is a day of suffering; we are being punished and are in disgrace. We are like a woman who is ready to give birth, but is too weak to do it. 4 The Assyrian emperor has sent his chief official to insult the living God. May the Lord your God hear these insults and punish those who spoke them. So pray to God for those of our people who survive." 5 When Isaiah received King Hezekiah's message, 6 he sent back this answer: "The Lord tells you not to let the Assyrians frighten you by their claims that he cannot save you. 7 The Lord will cause the emperor to hear a rumor that will make him go back to his own country, and the Lord will have him killed there." 8 The Assyrian official learned that the emperor had left Lachish and was fighting against the nearby city of Libnah; so he went there to consult him. 9 Word reached the Assyrians that the Egyptian army, led by King Tirhakah of Ethiopia, was coming to attack them. When the emperor heard this, he sent a letter to King Hezekiah 10 of Judah to tell him: "The god you are trusting in has told you that you will not fall into my hands, but don't let that deceive you. 11 You have heard what an Assyrian emperor does to any country he decides to destroy. Do you think that you can escape? 12 My ancestors destroyed the cities of Gozan, Haran, and Rezeph, and killed the people of Betheden who lived in Telassar, and none of their gods could save them. 13 Where are the kings of the cities of Hamath, Arpad, Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivvah?" 14 King Hezekiah took the letter from the messengers and read it. Then he went to the Temple, placed the letter there in the presence of the Lord, 15 and prayed, 16 "Almighty Lord, God of Israel, seated above the winged creatures, you alone are God, ruling all the kingdoms of the world. You created the earth and the sky. 17 Now, Lord, hear us and look at what is happening to us. Listen to all the things that Sennacherib is saying to insult you, the living God. 18 We all know, Lord, that the emperors of Assyria have destroyed many nations, made their lands desolate, 19 and burned up their gods - which were no gods at all, only images of wood and stone made by human hands. 20 Now, Lord our God, rescue us from the Assyrians, so that all the nations of the world will know that you alone are God." 21 Then Isaiah sent a message telling King Hezekiah that in answer to the king's prayer 22 the Lord had said, "The city of Jerusalem laughs at you, Sennacherib, and makes fun of you. 23 Whom do you think you have been insulting and ridiculing? You have been disrespectful to me, the holy God of Israel. 24 You sent your servants to boast to me that with all your chariots you had conquered the highest mountains of Lebanon. You boasted that there you cut down the tallest cedars and the finest cypress trees, and that you reached the deepest parts of the forests. 25 You boasted that you dug wells and drank water in foreign lands, and that the feet of your soldiers tramped the Nile River dry. 26 "Have you never heard that I planned all this long ago? And now I have carried it out. I gave you the power to turn fortified cities into piles of rubble. 27 The people who lived there were powerless; they were frightened and stunned. They were like grass in a field or weeds growing on a roof when the hot east wind blasts them. 28 "But I know everything about you, what you do and where you go. I know how you rage against me. 29 I have received the report of that rage and that pride of yours, and now I will put a hook through your nose and a bit in your mouth and will take you back by the same road you came." 30 Then Isaiah said to King Hezekiah, "Here is a sign of what will happen. This year and next you will have only wild grain to eat, but the following year you will be able to plant grain and harvest it, and plant vines and eat grapes. 31 Those in Judah who survive will flourish like plants that send roots deep into the ground and produce fruit. 32 There will be people in Jerusalem and on Mount Zion who will survive, because the Lord Almighty is determined to make this happen. 33 "And this is what the Lord has said about the Assyrian emperor: "He will not enter this city or shoot a single arrow against it. No soldiers with shields will come near the city, and no siege mounds will be built around it. 34 He will go back by the same road he came, without entering this city. I, the Lord, have spoken. 35 I will defend this city and protect it, for the sake of my own honor and because of the promise I made to my servant David.' " 36 An angel of the Lord went to the Assyrian camp and killed 185,000 soldiers. At dawn the next day there they lay, all dead! 37 Then the Assyrian emperor Sennacherib withdrew and returned to Nineveh.

2820-Isaiah 46:1 "This is the end for Babylon's gods! Bel and Nebo once were worshiped, but now they are loaded on donkeys, a burden for the backs of tired animals. 2 The idols cannot save themselves; they are captured and carried away. This is the end for Babylon's gods! 3 "Listen to me, descendants of Jacob, all who are left of my people. I have cared for you from the time you were born. 4 I am your God and will take care of you until you are old and your hair is gray. I made you and will care for you; I will give you help and rescue you. 5 "To whom will you compare me?" says the Lord. "Is there anyone else like me? 6 People open their purses and pour out gold; they weigh out silver on the scales. They hire a goldsmith to make a god; then they bow down and worship it. 7 They lift it to their shoulders and carry it; they put it in place, and there it stands, unable to move from where it is. If any pray to it, it cannot answer or save them from disaster. 8 "Remember this, you sinners; consider what I have done. 9 Remember what happened long ago; acknowledge that I alone am God and that there is no one else like me. 10 From the beginning I predicted the outcome; long ago I foretold what would happen. I said that my plans would never fail, that I would do everything I intended to do. 11 I am calling a man to come from the east; he will swoop down like a hawk and accomplish what I have planned. I have spoken, and it will be done. 12 "Listen to me, you stubborn people who think that victory is far away. 13 I am bringing the day of victory near - it is not far away at all. My triumph will not be delayed. I will save Jerusalem and bring honor to Israel there."

Isaiah 47:1 The Lord says, "Babylon, come down from your throne, and sit in the dust on the ground. You were once like a virgin, a city unconquered, but you are soft and delicate no longer! You are now a slave! 2 Turn the millstone! Grind the flour! Off with your veil! Strip off your fine clothes! Lift up your skirts to cross the streams! 3 People will see you naked; they will see you humbled and shamed. I will take vengeance, and no one will stop me." 4 The holy God of Israel sets us free - his name is the Lord Almighty. 5 The Lord says to Babylon, "Sit in silence and darkness; no more will they call you the queen of nations! 6 I was angry with my people; I treated them as no longer mine: I put them in your power, and you showed them no mercy; even the aged you treated harshly. 7 You thought you would always be a queen, and did not take these things to heart or think how it all would end. 8 "Listen to this, you lover of pleasure, you that think you are safe and secure. You claim you are as great as God - that there is no one else like you. You thought that you would never be a widow or suffer the loss of your children. 9 But in a moment, in a single day, both of these things will happen. In spite of all the magic you use, you will lose your husband and children. 10 "You felt sure of yourself in your evil; you thought that no one could see you. Your wisdom and knowledge led you astray, and you said to yourself, "I am God - there is no one else like me.' 11 Disaster will come upon you, and none of your magic can stop it. Ruin will come on you suddenly - ruin you never dreamed of! 12 Keep all your magic spells and charms; you have used them since you were young. Perhaps they will be of some help to you; perhaps you can frighten your enemies. 13 You are powerless in spite of the advice you get. Let your astrologers come forward and save you - those people who study the stars, who map out the zones of the heavens and tell you from month to month what is going to happen to you. 14 "They will be like bits of straw, and a fire will burn them up! They will not even be able to save themselves - the flames will be too hot for them, not a cozy fire to warm themselves by. 15 That is all the good they will do you - those astrologers you've consulted all your life. They all will leave you and go their own way, and none will be left to save you."

2821-Isaiah 44:24 "I am the Lord, your savior; I am the one who created you. I am the Lord, the Creator of all things. I alone stretched out the heavens; when I made the earth, no one helped me. 25 I make fools of fortunetellers and frustrate the predictions of astrologers. The words of the wise I refute and show that their wisdom is foolishness. 26 But when my servant makes a prediction, when I send a messenger to reveal my plans, I make those plans and predictions come true. I tell Jerusalem that people will live there again, and the cities of Judah that they will be rebuilt. Those cities will rise from the ruins. 27 With a word of command I dry up the ocean. 28 I say to Cyrus, "You are the one who will rule for me; you will do what I want you to do: you will order that Jerusalem be rebuilt and that the foundations of the Temple be laid.' "

Isaiah 45:1 The Lord has chosen Cyrus to be king. He has appointed him to conquer nations; he sends him to strip kings of their power; the Lord will open the gates of cities for him. To Cyrus the Lord says, 2 "I myself will prepare your way, leveling mountains and hills. I will break down bronze gates and smash their iron bars. 3 I will give you treasures from dark, secret places; then you will know that I am the Lord and that the God of Israel has called you by name. 4 I appoint you to help my servant Israel, the people that I have chosen. I have given you great honor, although you do not know me. 5 "I am the Lord; there is no other god. I will give you the strength you need, although you do not know me. 6 I do this so that everyone from one end of the world to the other may know that I am the Lord and that there is no other god. 7 I create both light and darkness; I bring both blessing and disaster. I, the Lord, do all these things. 8 I will send victory from the sky like rain; the earth will open to receive it and will blossom with freedom and justice. I, the Lord, will make this happen." 9 Does a clay pot dare argue with its maker, a pot that is like all the others? Does the clay ask the potter what he is doing? Does the pot complain that its maker has no skill? 10 Do we dare say to our parents, "Why did you make me like this?" 11 The Lord, the holy God of Israel, the one who shapes the future, says: "You have no right to question me about my children or to tell me what I ought to do! 12 I am the one who made the earth and created human beings to live there. By my power I stretched out the heavens; I control the sun, the moon, and the stars. 13 I myself have stirred Cyrus to action to fulfill my purpose and put things right. I will straighten out every road that he travels. He will rebuild my city, Jerusalem, and set my captive people free. No one has hired him or bribed him to do this." The Lord Almighty has spoken.

2822-Isaiah 48:20 Go out from Babylon, go free! Shout the news gladly; make it known everywhere: "The Lord has saved his servant Israel!" 21 When the Lord led his people through a hot, dry desert, they did not suffer from thirst. He made water come from a rock for them; he split the rock open, and water flowed out.

2823-Isaiah 56:1 The Lord says to his people, "Do what is just and right, for soon I will save you. 2 I will bless those who always observe the Sabbath and do not misuse it. I will bless those who do nothing evil." 3 A foreigner who has joined the Lord's people should not say, "The Lord will not let me worship with his people." A man who has been castrated should never think that because he cannot have children, he can never be part of God's people. 4 The Lord says to such a man, "If you honor me by observing the Sabbath and if you do what pleases me and faithfully keep my covenant, 5 then your name will be remembered in my Temple and among my people longer than if you had sons and daughters. You will never be forgotten." 6 And the Lord says to those foreigners who become part of his people, who love him and serve him, who observe the Sabbath and faithfully keep his covenant: 7 "I will bring you to Zion, my sacred hill, give you joy in my house of prayer, and accept the sacrifices you offer on my altar. My Temple will be called a house of prayer for the people of all nations." 8 The Sovereign Lord, who has brought his people Israel home from exile, has promised that he will bring still other people to join them.

2824-Isaiah 57:3 Come here to be judged, you sinners! You are no better than sorcerers, adulterers, and prostitutes. 4 Who are you making fun of? Who are you liars jeering at? 5 You worship the fertility gods by having sex under those sacred trees of yours. You offer your children as sacrifices in the rocky caves near stream beds. 6 You take smooth stones from there and worship them as gods. You pour out wine as offerings to them and bring them grain offerings. Do you think I am pleased with all this? 7 You go to the high mountains to offer sacrifices and have sex. 8 You set up your obscene idols just inside your front doors. You forsake me; you take off your clothes and climb in your large beds with your lovers, whom you pay to sleep with you. And there you satisfy your lust. 9 You put on your perfumes and ointments and go to worship the god Molech. To find gods to worship, you send messengers far and wide, even to the world of the dead. 10 You wear yourselves out looking for other gods, but you never give up. You think your obscene idols give you strength, and so you never grow weak. 11 The Lord says, "Who are these gods that make you afraid, so that you tell me lies and forget me completely? Have you stopped honoring me because I have kept silent for so long? 12 You think that what you do is right, but I will expose your conduct, and your idols will not be able to help you. 13 When you cry for help, let those idols of yours save you! A puff of wind will carry them off! But those who trust in me will live in the land and will worship me in my Temple."

2825-Isaiah 42:1 The Lord says, "Here is my servant, whom I strengthen - the one I have chosen, with whom I am pleased. I have filled him with my Spirit, and he will bring justice to every nation. 2 He will not shout or raise his voice or make loud speeches in the streets. 3 He will not break off a bent reed nor put out a flickering lamp. He will bring lasting justice to all. 4 He will not lose hope or courage; he will establish justice on the earth. Distant lands eagerly wait for his teaching."

2826-Isaiah 42:5 God created the heavens and stretched them out; he fashioned the earth and all that lives there; he gave life and breath to all its people. And now the Lord God says to his servant, 6 "I, the Lord, have called you and given you power to see that justice is done on earth. Through you I will make a covenant with all peoples; through you I will bring light to the nations. 7 You will open the eyes of the blind and set free those who sit in dark prisons.

2827-Isaiah 49:1 Listen to me, distant nations, you people who live far away! Before I was born, the Lord chose me and appointed me to be his servant. 2 He made my words as sharp as a sword. With his own hand he protected me. He made me like an arrow, sharp and ready for use. 3 He said to me, "Israel, you are my servant; because of you, people will praise me." 4 I said, "I have worked, but how hopeless it is! I have used up my strength, but have accomplished nothing." Yet I can trust the Lord to defend my cause; he will reward me for what I do. 5 Before I was born, the Lord appointed me; he made me his servant to bring back his people, to bring back the scattered people of Israel. The Lord gives me honor; he is the source of my strength. 6 The Lord said to me, "I have a greater task for you, my servant. Not only will you restore to greatness the people of Israel who have survived, but I will also make you a light to the nations - so that all the world may be saved." 7 Israel's holy God and savior says to the one who is deeply despised, who is hated by the nations and is the servant of rulers: "Kings will see you released and will rise to show their respect; princes also will see it, and they will bow low to honor you." This will happen because the Lord has chosen his servant; the holy God of Israel keeps his promises.

2828-Isaiah 52:13 The Lord says, "My servant will succeed in his task; he will be highly honored. 14 Many people were shocked when they saw him; he was so disfigured that he hardly looked human. 15 But now many nations will marvel at him, and kings will be speechless with amazement. They will see and understand something they had never known."

Isaiah 53:1 The people reply, "Who would have believed what we now report? Who could have seen the Lord's hand in this? 2 It was the will of the Lord that his servant grow like a plant taking root in dry ground. He had no dignity or beauty to make us take notice of him. There was nothing attractive about him, nothing that would draw us to him. 3 We despised him and rejected him; he endured suffering and pain. No one would even look at him - we ignored him as if he were nothing. 4 "But he endured the suffering that should have been ours, the pain that we should have borne. All the while we thought that his suffering was punishment sent by God. 5 But because of our sins he was wounded, beaten because of the evil we did. We are healed by the punishment he suffered, made whole by the blows he received. 6 All of us were like sheep that were lost, each of us going his own way. But the Lord made the punishment fall on him, the punishment all of us deserved. 7 "He was treated harshly, but endured it humbly; he never said a word. Like a lamb about to be slaughtered, like a sheep about to be sheared, he never said a word. 8 He was arrested and sentenced and led off to die, and no one cared about his fate. He was put to death for the sins of our people. 9 He was placed in a grave with those who are evil, he was buried with the rich, even though he had never committed a crime or ever told a lie." 10 The Lord says, "It was my will that he should suffer; his death was a sacrifice to bring forgiveness. And so he will see his descendants; he will live a long life, and through him my purpose will succeed. 11 After a life of suffering, he will again have joy; he will know that he did not suffer in vain. My devoted servant, with whom I am pleased, will bear the punishment of many and for his sake I will forgive them. 12 And so I will give him a place of honor, a place among the great and powerful. He willingly gave his life and shared the fate of evil men. He took the place of many sinners and prayed that they might be forgiven."

2829-Isaiah 50:4 The Sovereign Lord has taught me what to say, so that I can strengthen the weary. Every morning he makes me eager to hear what he is going to teach me. 5 The Lord has given me understanding, and I have not rebelled or turned away from him. 6 I bared my back to those who beat me. I did not stop them when they insulted me, when they pulled out the hairs of my beard and spit in my face. 7 But their insults cannot hurt me because the Sovereign Lord gives me help. I brace myself to endure them. I know that I will not be disgraced, 8 for God is near, and he will prove me innocent. Does anyone dare bring charges against me? Let us go to court together! Let him bring his accusation! 9 The Sovereign Lord himself defends me - who, then, can prove me guilty? All my accusers will disappear; they will vanish like moth-eaten cloth. 10 All of you that honor the Lord and obey the words of his servant, the path you walk may be dark indeed, but trust in the Lord, rely on your God. 11 All of you that plot to destroy others will be destroyed by your own plots. The Lord himself will make this happen; you will suffer a miserable fate.

2830-Isaiah 45:1 The Lord has chosen Cyrus to be king. He has appointed him to conquer nations; he sends him to strip kings of their power; the Lord will open the gates of cities for him. To Cyrus the Lord says,

2831-Deut. 29:1 These are the terms of the covenant that the Lord commanded Moses to make with the people of Israel in the land of Moab; all this was in addition to the covenant which the Lord had made with them at Mount Sinai. 2 Moses called together all the people of Israel and said to them, "You saw for yourselves what the Lord did to the king of Egypt, to his officials, and to his entire country. 3 You saw the terrible plagues, the miracles, and the great wonders that the Lord performed. 4 But to this very day he has not let you understand what you have experienced. 5 For forty years the Lord led you through the desert, and your clothes and sandals never wore out. 6 You did not have bread to eat or wine or beer to drink, but the Lord provided for your needs in order to teach you that he is your God. 7 And when we came to this place, King Sihon of Heshbon and King Og of Bashan came out to fight against us. But we defeated them, 8 took their land, and divided it among the tribes of Reuben and Gad, and half the tribe of Manasseh. 9 Obey faithfully all the terms of this covenant, so that you will be successful in everything you do. 10 "Today you are standing in the presence of the Lord your God, all of you - your leaders and officials, your men, 11 women, and children, and the foreigners who live among you and cut wood and carry water for you. 12 You are here today to enter into this covenant that the Lord your God is making with you and to accept its obligations, 13 so that the Lord may now confirm you as his people and be your God, as he promised you and your ancestors, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. 14 You are not the only ones with whom the Lord is making this covenant with its obligations. 15 He is making it with all of us who stand here in his presence today and also with our descendants who are not yet born. 16 "You remember what life was like in Egypt and what it was like to travel through the territory of other nations. 17 You saw their disgusting idols made of wood, stone, silver, and gold. 18 Make sure that no man, woman, family, or tribe standing here today turns from the Lord our God to worship the gods of other nations. This would be like a root that grows to be a bitter and poisonous plant. 19 Make sure that there is no one here today who hears these solemn demands and yet convinces himself that all will be well with him, even if he stubbornly goes his own way. That would destroy all of you, good and evil alike. 20 The Lord will not forgive such a man. Instead, the Lord's burning anger will flame up against him, and all the disasters written in this book will fall on him until the Lord has destroyed him completely. 21 The Lord will make an example of him before all the tribes of Israel and will bring disaster on him in accordance with all the curses listed in the covenant that is written in this book of the Lord's teachings. 22 "In future generations your descendants and foreigners from distant lands will see the disasters and sufferings that the Lord has brought on your land. 23 The fields will be a barren waste, covered with sulfur and salt; nothing will be planted, and not even weeds will grow there. Your land will be like the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, of Admah and Zeboiim, which the Lord destroyed when he was furiously angry. 24 Then the whole world will ask, "Why did the Lord do this to their land? What was the reason for his fierce anger?' 25 And the answer will be, "It is because the Lord's people broke the covenant they had made with him, the God of their ancestors, when he brought them out of Egypt. 26 They served other gods that they had never worshiped before, gods that the Lord had forbidden them to worship. 27 And so the Lord became angry with his people and brought on their land all the disasters written in this book. 28 The Lord became furiously angry, and in his great anger he uprooted them from their land and threw them into a foreign land, and there they are today.' 29 "There are some things that the Lord our God has kept secret; but he has revealed his Law, and we and our descendants are to obey it forever.

Deuteronomy 30:1 "I have now given you a choice between a blessing and a curse. When all these things have happened to you, and you are living among the nations where the Lord your God has scattered you, you will remember the choice I gave you. 2 If you and your descendants will turn back to the Lord and with all your heart obey his commands that I am giving you today, 3 then the Lord your God will have mercy on you. He will bring you back from the nations where he has scattered you, and he will make you prosperous again. 4 Even if you are scattered to the farthest corners of the earth, the Lord your God will gather you together and bring you back, 5 so that you may again take possession of the land where your ancestors once lived. And he will make you more prosperous and more numerous than your ancestors ever were. 6 The Lord your God will give you and your descendants obedient hearts, so that you will love him with all your heart, and you will continue to live in that land. 7 He will turn all these curses against your enemies, who hated you and oppressed you, 8 and you will again obey him and keep all his commands that I am giving you today. 9 The Lord will make you prosperous in all that you do; you will have many children and a lot of livestock, and your fields will produce abundant crops. He will be as glad to make you prosperous as he was to make your ancestors prosperous, 10 but you will have to obey him and keep all his laws that are written in this book of his teachings. You will have to turn to him with all your heart. 11 "The command that I am giving you today is not too difficult or beyond your reach. 12 It is not up in the sky. You do not have to ask, "Who will go up and bring it down for us, so that we can hear it and obey it?' 13 Nor is it on the other side of the ocean. You do not have to ask, "Who will go across the ocean and bring it to us, so that we may hear it and obey it?' 14 No, it is here with you. You know it and can quote it, so now obey it. 15 "Today I am giving you a choice between good and evil, between life and death. 16 If you obey the commands of the Lord your God, which I give you today, if you love him, obey him, and keep all his laws, then you will prosper and become a nation of many people. The Lord your God will bless you in the land that you are about to occupy. 17 But if you disobey and refuse to listen, and are led away to worship other gods, 18 you will be destroyed - I warn you here and now. You will not live long in that land across the Jordan that you are about to occupy. 19 I am now giving you the choice between life and death, between God's blessing and God's curse, and I call heaven and earth to witness the choice you make. Choose life. 20 Love the Lord your God, obey him and be faithful to him, and then you and your descendants will live long in the land that he promised to give your ancestors, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob."

2832-Isaiah 44:28 I say to Cyrus, "You are the one who will rule for me; you will do what I want you to do: you will order that Jerusalem be rebuilt and that the foundations of the Temple be laid.' "

Isaiah 45:1 The Lord has chosen Cyrus to be king. He has appointed him to conquer nations; he sends him to strip kings of their power; the Lord will open the gates of cities for him. To Cyrus the Lord says,

2833-Micah 5:2 The Lord says, "Bethlehem Ephrathah, you are one of the smallest towns in Judah, but out of you I will bring a ruler for Israel, whose family line goes back to ancient times."

2834-Isaiah 1:14 I hate your New Moon Festivals and holy days; they are a burden that I am tired of bearing. 15 "When you lift your hands in prayer, I will not look at you. No matter how much you pray, I will not listen, for your hands are covered with blood. 16 Wash yourselves clean. Stop all this evil that I see you doing. Yes, stop doing evil 17 and learn to do right. See that justice is done - help those who are oppressed, give orphans their rights, and defend widows." 18 The Lord says, "Now, let's settle the matter. You are stained red with sin, but I will wash you as clean as snow. Although your stains are deep red, you will be as white as wool. 19 If you will only obey me, you will eat the good things the land produces. 20 But if you defy me, you are doomed to die. I, the Lord, have spoken."

Jeremiah 7:21 "My people, some sacrifices you burn completely on the altar, and some you are permitted to eat. But what I, the Lord, say is that you might as well eat them all. 22 I gave your ancestors no commands about burnt offerings or any other kinds of sacrifices when I brought them out of Egypt. 23 But I did command them to obey me, so that I would be their God and they would be my people. And I told them to live the way I had commanded them, so that things would go well for them.

Amos 5:25 "People of Israel, I did not demand sacrifices and offerings during those forty years that I led you through the desert.

2835-John 12:31 Now is the time for this world to be judged; now the ruler of this world will be overthrown. 32 When I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw everyone to me.

2836-Isaiah 2:2 In days to come the mountain where the Temple stands will be the highest one of all, towering above all the hills. Many nations will come streaming to it, 3 and their people will say, "Let us go up the hill of the Lord, to the Temple of Israel's God. He will teach us what he wants us to do; we will walk in the paths he has chosen. For the Lord's teaching comes from Jerusalem; from Zion he speaks to his people." 4 He will settle disputes among great nations. They will hammer their swords into plows and their spears into pruning knives. Nations will never again go to war, never prepare for battle again.

Micah 4:2 and their people will say, "Let us go up the hill of the Lord, to the Temple of Israel's God. He will teach us what he wants us to do; we will walk in the paths he has chosen. For the Lord's teaching comes from Jerusalem; from Zion he speaks to his people." 3 He will settle disputes among the nations, among the great powers near and far. They will hammer their swords into plows and their spears into pruning knives. Nations will never again go to war, never prepare for battle again

2837-Isaiah 36:1 In the fourteenth year that Hezekiah was king of Judah, Sennacherib, the emperor of Assyria, attacked the fortified cities of Judah and captured them.

2 Kings 18:13 In the fourteenth year of the reign of King Hezekiah, Sennacherib, the emperor of Assyria, attacked the fortified cities of Judah and conquered them.

2838-Isaiah 37:1 As soon as King Hezekiah heard their report, he tore his clothes in grief, put on sackcloth, and went to the Temple of the Lord. 2 He sent Eliakim, the official in charge of the palace, Shebna, the court secretary, and the senior priests to the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz. They also were wearing sackcloth. 3 This is the message which he told them to give to Isaiah: "Today is a day of suffering; we are being punished and are in disgrace. We are like a woman who is ready to give birth, but is too weak to do it. 4 The Assyrian emperor has sent his chief official to insult the living God. May the Lord your God hear these insults and punish those who spoke them. So pray to God for those of our people who survive." 5 When Isaiah received King Hezekiah's message, 6 he sent back this answer: "The Lord tells you not to let the Assyrians frighten you by their claims that he cannot save you. 7 The Lord will cause the emperor to hear a rumor that will make him go back to his own country, and the Lord will have him killed there." 8 The Assyrian official learned that the emperor had left Lachish and was fighting against the nearby city of Libnah; so he went there to consult him. 9 Word reached the Assyrians that the Egyptian army, led by King Tirhakah of Ethiopia, was coming to attack them. When the emperor heard this, he sent a letter to King Hezekiah 10 of Judah to tell him: "The god you are trusting in has told you that you will not fall into my hands, but don't let that deceive you. 11 You have heard what an Assyrian emperor does to any country he decides to destroy. Do you think that you can escape? 12 My ancestors destroyed the cities of Gozan, Haran, and Rezeph, and killed the people of Betheden who lived in Telassar, and none of their gods could save them. 13 Where are the kings of the cities of Hamath, Arpad, Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivvah?" 14 King Hezekiah took the letter from the messengers and read it. Then he went to the Temple, placed the letter there in the presence of the Lord, 15 and prayed, 16 "Almighty Lord, God of Israel, seated above the winged creatures, you alone are God, ruling all the kingdoms of the world. You created the earth and the sky. 17 Now, Lord, hear us and look at what is happening to us. Listen to all the things that Sennacherib is saying to insult you, the living God. 18 We all know, Lord, that the emperors of Assyria have destroyed many nations, made their lands desolate, 19 and burned up their gods - which were no gods at all, only images of wood and stone made by human hands. 20 Now, Lord our God, rescue us from the Assyrians, so that all the nations of the world will know that you alone are God." 21 Then Isaiah sent a message telling King Hezekiah that in answer to the king's prayer 22 the Lord had said, "The city of Jerusalem laughs at you, Sennacherib, and makes fun of you. 23 Whom do you think you have been insulting and ridiculing? You have been disrespectful to me, the holy God of Israel. 24 You sent your servants to boast to me that with all your chariots you had conquered the highest mountains of Lebanon. You boasted that there you cut down the tallest cedars and the finest cypress trees, and that you reached the deepest parts of the forests. 25 You boasted that you dug wells and drank water in foreign lands, and that the feet of your soldiers tramped the Nile River dry. 26 "Have you never heard that I planned all this long ago? And now I have carried it out. I gave you the power to turn fortified cities into piles of rubble. 27 The people who lived there were powerless; they were frightened and stunned. They were like grass in a field or weeds growing on a roof when the hot east wind blasts them. 28 "But I know everything about you, what you do and where you go. I know how you rage against me. 29 I have received the report of that rage and that pride of yours, and now I will put a hook through your nose and a bit in your mouth and will take you back by the same road you came." 30 Then Isaiah said to King Hezekiah, "Here is a sign of what will happen. This year and next you will have only wild grain to eat, but the following year you will be able to plant grain and harvest it, and plant vines and eat grapes. 31 Those in Judah who survive will flourish like plants that send roots deep into the ground and produce fruit. 32 There will be people in Jerusalem and on Mount Zion who will survive, because the Lord Almighty is determined to make this happen. 33 "And this is what the Lord has said about the Assyrian emperor: "He will not enter this city or shoot a single arrow against it. No soldiers with shields will come near the city, and no siege mounds will be built around it. 34 He will go back by the same road he came, without entering this city. I, the Lord, have spoken. 35 I will defend this city and protect it, for the sake of my own honor and because of the promise I made to my servant David.' " 36 An angel of the Lord went to the Assyrian camp and killed 185,000 soldiers. At dawn the next day there they lay, all dead! 37 Then the Assyrian emperor Sennacherib withdrew and returned to Nineveh. 38 One day when he was worshiping in the temple of his god Nisroch, two of his sons, Adrammelech and Sharezer, killed him with their swords and then escaped to the land of Ararat. Another of his sons, Esarhaddon, succeeded him as emperor.

2 Kings 19:1 As soon as King Hezekiah heard their report, he tore his clothes in grief, put on sackcloth, and went to the Temple of the Lord. 2 He sent Eliakim, the official in charge of the palace, Shebna, the court secretary, and the senior priests to the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz. They also were wearing sackcloth. 3 This is the message which he told them to give Isaiah: "Today is a day of suffering; we are being punished and are in disgrace. We are like a woman who is ready to give birth, but is too weak to do it. 4 The Assyrian emperor has sent his chief official to insult the living God. May the Lord your God hear these insults and punish those who spoke them. So pray to God for those of our people who survive." 5 When Isaiah received King Hezekiah's message, 6 he sent back this answer: "The Lord tells you not to let the Assyrians frighten you with their claims that he cannot save you. 7 The Lord will cause the emperor to hear a rumor that will make him go back to his own country, and the Lord will have him killed there." 8 The Assyrian official learned that the emperor had left Lachish and was fighting against the nearby city of Libnah; so he went there to consult him. 9 Word reached the Assyrians that the Egyptian army, led by King Tirhakah of Ethiopia, was coming to attack them. When the emperor heard this, he sent a letter to King Hezekiah of Judah 10 to tell him, "The god you are trusting in has told you that you will not fall into my hands, but don't let that deceive you. 11 You have heard what an Assyrian emperor does to any country he decides to destroy. Do you think that you can escape? 12 My ancestors destroyed the cities of Gozan, Haran, and Rezeph, and killed the people of Betheden who lived in Telassar, and none of their gods could save them. 13 Where are the kings of the cities of Hamath, Arpad, Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivvah?" 14 King Hezekiah took the letter from the messengers and read it. Then he went to the Temple, placed the letter there in the presence of the Lord, 15 and prayed, "O Lord, the God of Israel, seated on your throne above the winged creatures, you alone are God, ruling all the kingdoms of the world. You created the earth and the sky. 16 Now, Lord, look at what is happening to us. Listen to all the things that Sennacherib is saying to insult you, the living God. 17 We all know, Lord, that the emperors of Assyria have destroyed many nations, made their lands desolate, 18 and burned up their gods - which were no gods at all, only images of wood and stone made by human hands. 19 Now, Lord our God, rescue us from the Assyrians, so that all the nations of the world will know that only you, O Lord, are God." 20 Then Isaiah sent a message telling King Hezekiah that in answer to the king's prayer 21 the Lord had said, "The city of Jerusalem laughs at you, Sennacherib, and makes fun of you. 22 Whom do you think you have been insulting and ridiculing? You have been disrespectful to me, the holy God of Israel. 23 You sent your messengers to boast to me that with all your chariots you had conquered the highest mountains of Lebanon. You boasted that there you cut down the tallest cedars and the finest cypress trees and that you reached the deepest parts of the forests. 24 You boasted that you dug wells and drank water in foreign lands and that the feet of your soldiers tramped the Nile River dry. 25 "Have you never heard that I planned all this long ago? And now I have carried it out. I gave you the power to turn fortified cities into piles of rubble. 26 The people who lived there were powerless; they were frightened and stunned. They were like grass in a field or weeds growing on a roof when the hot east wind blasts them. 27 "But I know everything about you, what you do and where you go. I know how you rage against me. 28 I have received the report of that rage and that pride of yours, and now I will put a hook through your nose and a bit in your mouth, and take you back by the same road you came." 29 Then Isaiah said to King Hezekiah, "Here is a sign of what will happen. This year and next you will have only wild grain to eat, but the following year you will be able to plant your grain and harvest it, and plant vines and eat grapes. 30 Those in Judah who survive will flourish like plants that send roots deep into the ground and produce fruit. 31 There will be people in Jerusalem and on Mount Zion who will survive, because the Lord is determined to make this happen. 32 "And this is what the Lord has said about the Assyrian emperor: "He will not enter this city or shoot a single arrow against it. No soldiers with shields will come near the city, and no siege mounds will be built around it. 33 He will go back by the same road he came, without entering this city. I, the Lord, have spoken. 34 I will defend this city and protect it, for the sake of my own honor and because of the promise I made to my servant David.' " 35 That night an angel of the Lord went to the Assyrian camp and killed 185,000 soldiers. At dawn the next day there they lay, all dead! 36 Then the Assyrian emperor Sennacherib withdrew and returned to Nineveh. 37 One day, when he was worshiping in the temple of his god Nisroch, two of his sons, Adrammelech and Sharezer, killed him with their swords and then escaped to the land of Ararat. Another of his sons, Esarhaddon, succeeded him as emperor.

2839-Matthew 21:33 "Hear another parable. There was a householder who planted a vineyard, and set a hedge around it, and dug a wine press in it, and built a tower, and let it out to tenants, and went into another country. 34 When the season of fruit drew near, he sent his servants to the tenants, to get his fruit; 35 and the tenants took his servants and beat one, killed another, and stoned another. 36 Again he sent other servants, more than the first; and they did the same to them. 37 Afterward he sent his son to them, saying, 'They will respect my son.' 38 But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, 'This is the heir; come, let us kill him and have his inheritance.' 39 And they took him and cast him out of the vineyard, and killed him. 40 When therefore the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?" 41 They said to him, "He will put those wretches to a miserable death, and let out the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the fruits in their seasons." 42 Jesus said to them, "Have you never read in the scriptures: 'The very stone which the builders rejected has become the head of the corner; this was the Lord's doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes'? 43 Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a nation producing the fruits of it." 44 * [No text] 45 When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they perceived that he was speaking about them. 46 But when they tried to arrest him, they feared the multitudes, because they held him to be a prophet.

Mark 12:1 And he began to speak to them in parables. "A man planted a vineyard, and set a hedge around it, and dug a pit for the wine press, and built a tower, and let it out to tenants, and went into another country. 2 When the time came, he sent a servant to the tenants, to get from them some of the fruit of the vineyard. 3 And they took him and beat him, and sent him away empty-handed. 4 Again he sent to them another servant, and they wounded him in the head, and treated him shamefully. 5 And he sent another, and him they killed; and so with many others, some they beat and some they killed. 6 He had still one other, a beloved son; finally he sent him to them, saying, 'They will respect my son.' 7 But those tenants said to one another, 'This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.' 8 And they took him and killed him, and cast him out of the vineyard. 9 What will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy the tenants, and give the vineyard to others. 10 Have you not read this scripture: 'The very stone which the builders rejected has become the head of the corner; 11 this was the Lord's doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes'?" 12 And they tried to arrest him, but feared the multitude, for they perceived that he had told the parable against them; so they left him and went away.

Luke 20:9 And he began to tell the people this parable: "A man planted a vineyard, and let it out to tenants, and went into another country for a long while. 10 When the time came, he sent a servant to the tenants, that they should give him some of the fruit of the vineyard; but the tenants beat him, and sent him away empty-handed. 11 And he sent another servant; him also they beat and treated shamefully, and sent him away empty-handed. 12 And he sent yet a third; this one they wounded and cast out. 13 Then the owner of the vineyard said, 'What shall I do? I will send my beloved son; it may be they will respect him.' 14 But when the tenants saw him, they said to themselves, 'This is the heir; let us kill him, that the inheritance may be ours.' 15 And they cast him out of the vineyard and killed him. What then will the owner of the vineyard do to them? 16 He will come and destroy those tenants, and give the vineyard to others." When they heard this, they said, "God forbid!" 17 But he looked at them and said, "What then is this that is written: 'The very stone which the builders rejected has become the head of the corner'? 18 Every one who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces; but when it falls on any one it will crush him." 19 The scribes and the chief priests tried to lay hands on him at that very hour, but they feared the people; for they perceived that he had told this parable against them.

2840-Isaiah 6:1 In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord. He was sitting on his throne, high and exalted, and his robe filled the whole Temple. 2 Around him flaming creatures were standing, each of which had six wings. Each creature covered its face with two wings, and its body with two, and used the other two for flying. 3 They were calling out to each other: "Holy, holy, holy! The Lord Almighty is holy! His glory fills the world." 4 The sound of their voices made the foundation of the Temple shake, and the Temple itself became filled with smoke. 5 I said, "There is no hope for me! I am doomed because every word that passes my lips is sinful, and I live among a people whose every word is sinful. And yet, with my own eyes I have seen the King, the Lord Almighty." 6 Then one of the creatures flew down to me, carrying a burning coal that he had taken from the altar with a pair of tongs. 7 He touched my lips with the burning coal and said, "This has touched your lips, and now your guilt is gone, and your sins are forgiven." 8 Then I heard the Lord say, "Whom shall I send? Who will be our messenger?" I answered, "I will go! Send me!"

Isaiah 14:4 When he does this, they are to mock the king of Babylon and say: "The cruel king has fallen! He will never oppress anyone again! 5 The Lord has ended the power of the evil rulers 6 who angrily oppressed the peoples and never stopped persecuting the nations they had conquered. 7 Now at last the whole world enjoys rest and peace, and everyone sings for joy. 8 The cypress trees and the cedars of Lebanon rejoice over the fallen king, because there is no one to cut them down, now that he is gone! 9 "The world of the dead is getting ready to welcome the king of Babylon. The ghosts of those who were powerful on earth are stirring about. The ghosts of kings are rising from their thrones. 10 They all call out to him, "Now you are as weak as we are! You are one of us! 11 You used to be honored with the music of harps, but now here you are in the world of the dead. You lie on a bed of maggots and are covered with a blanket of worms.' " 12 King of Babylon, bright morning star, you have fallen from heaven! In the past you conquered nations, but now you have been thrown to the ground. 13 You were determined to climb up to heaven and to place your throne above the highest stars. You thought you would sit like a king on that mountain in the north where the gods assemble. 14 You said you would climb to the tops of the clouds and be like the Almighty. 15 But instead, you have been brought down to the deepest part of the world of the dead.

2841-Ezekiel 1:1 On the fifth day of the fourth month of the thirtieth year, I, Ezekiel the priest, son of Buzi, was living with the Jewish exiles by the Chebar River in Babylonia. The sky opened, and I saw a vision of God. 2 It was the fifth year since King Jehoiachin had been taken into exile.) 3 There in Babylonia beside the Chebar River, I heard the Lord speak to me, and I felt his power. 4 I looked up and saw a windstorm coming from the north. Lightning was flashing from a huge cloud, and the sky around it was glowing. Where the lightning was flashing, something shone like bronze. 5 At the center of the storm I saw what looked like four living creatures in human form, 6 but each of them had four faces and four wings. 7 Their legs were straight, and they had hoofs like those of a bull. They shone like polished bronze. 8 In addition to their four faces and four wings, they each had four human hands, one under each wing. 9 Two wings of each creature were spread out so that the creatures formed a square, with their wing tips touching. When they moved, they moved as a group without turning their bodies. 10 Each living creature had four different faces: a human face in front, a lion's face at the right, a bull's face at the left, and an eagle's face at the back. 11 Two wings of each creature were raised so that they touched the tips of the wings of the creatures next to it, and their other two wings were folded against their bodies. 12 Each creature faced all four directions, and so the group could go wherever they wished, without having to turn. 13 Among the creatures there was something that looked like a blazing torch, constantly moving. The fire would blaze up and shoot out flashes of lightning. 14 The creatures themselves darted back and forth with the speed of lightning. 15 As I was looking at the four creatures I saw four wheels touching the ground, one beside each of them. 16 All four wheels were alike; each one shone like a precious stone, and each had another wheel intersecting it at right angles, 17 so that the wheels could move in any of the four directions. 18 The rims of the wheels were covered with eyes. 19 Whenever the creatures moved, the wheels moved with them, and if the creatures rose up from the earth, so did the wheels. 20 The creatures went wherever they wished, and the wheels did exactly what the creatures did, because the creatures controlled them. 21 So every time the creatures moved or stopped or rose in the air, the wheels did exactly the same. 22 Above the heads of the creatures there was something that looked like a dome made of dazzling crystal. 23 There under the dome stood the creatures, each stretching out two wings toward the ones next to it and covering its body with the other two wings. 24 I heard the noise their wings made in flight; it sounded like the roar of the sea, like the noise of a huge army, like the voice of Almighty God. When they stopped flying, they folded their wings, 25 but there was still a sound coming from above the dome over their heads. 26 Above the dome there was something that looked like a throne made of sapphire, and sitting on the throne was a figure that looked like a human being. 27 The figure seemed to be shining like bronze in the middle of a fire. It shone all over with a bright light 28 that had in it all the colors of the rainbow. This was the dazzling light which shows the presence of the Lord. When I saw this, I fell face downward on the ground. Then I heard a voice

Ezekiel 28:1 The Lord spoke to me. 2 "Mortal man," he said, "tell the ruler of Tyre what I, the Sovereign Lord, am saying to him: Puffed up with pride, you claim to be a god. You say that like a god you sit on a throne, surrounded by the seas. You may pretend to be a god, but, no, you are mortal, not divine. 3 You think you are wiser than Danel, that no secret can be kept from you. 4 Your wisdom and skill made you rich with treasures of gold and silver. 5 You made clever business deals and kept on making profits. How proud you are of your wealth! 6 "Now then, this is what I, the Sovereign Lord, am saying: Because you think you are as wise as a god, 7 I will bring ruthless enemies to attack you. They will destroy all the beautiful things you have acquired by skill and wisdom. 8 They will kill you and send you to a watery grave. 9 When they come to kill you, will you still claim that you are a god? When you face your murderers, you will be mortal and not at all divine. 10 You will die like a dog at the hand of godless foreigners. I, the Sovereign Lord, have given the command." 11 The Lord spoke to me again. 12 "Mortal man," he said, "grieve for the fate that is waiting for the king of Tyre. Tell him what I, the Sovereign Lord, am saying: You were once an example of perfection. How wise and handsome you were! 13 You lived in Eden, the garden of God, and wore gems of every kind: rubies and diamonds; topaz, beryl, carnelian, and jasper; sapphires, emeralds, and garnets. You had ornaments of gold. They were made for you on the day you were created. 14 I put a terrifying angel there to guard you. You lived on my holy mountain and walked among sparkling gems. 15 Your conduct was perfect from the day you were created until you began to do evil. 16 You were busy buying and selling, and this led you to violence and sin. So I forced you to leave my holy mountain, and the angel who guarded you drove you away from the sparkling gems. 17 You were proud of being handsome, and your fame made you act like a fool. Because of this I hurled you to the ground and left you as a warning to other kings. 18 You did such evil in buying and selling that your places of worship were corrupted. So I set fire to the city and burned it to the ground. All who look at you now see you reduced to ashes. 19 You are gone, gone forever, and all the nations that had come to know you are terrified, afraid that they will share your fate."

2842-Zechariah 3:1 In another vision the Lord showed me the High Priest Joshua standing before the angel of the Lord. And there beside Joshua stood Satan, ready to bring an accusation against him. 2 The angel of the Lord said to Satan, "May the Lord condemn you, Satan! May the Lord, who loves Jerusalem, condemn you. This man is like a stick snatched from the fire." 3 Joshua was standing there, wearing filthy clothes. 4 The angel said to his heavenly attendants, "Take away the filthy clothes this man is wearing." Then he said to Joshua, "I have taken away your sin and will give you new clothes to wear." 5 He commanded the attendants to put a clean turban on Joshua's head. They did so, and then they put the new clothes on him while the angel of the Lord stood there.

2843-Job 1:1 There was a man named Job, living in the land of Uz, who worshiped God and was faithful to him. He was a good man, careful not to do anything evil. 2 He had seven sons and three daughters, 3 and owned seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, one thousand head of cattle, and five hundred donkeys. He also had a large number of servants and was the richest man in the East. 4 Job's sons used to take turns giving a feast, to which all the others would come, and they always invited their three sisters to join them. 5 The morning after each feast, Job would get up early and offer sacrifices for each of his children in order to purify them. He always did this because he thought that one of them might have sinned by insulting God unintentionally. 6 When the day came for the heavenly beings to appear before the Lord, Satan was there among them. 7 The Lord asked him, "What have you been doing?" Satan answered, "I have been walking here and there, roaming around the earth." 8 "Did you notice my servant Job?" the Lord asked. "There is no one on earth as faithful and good as he is. He worships me and is careful not to do anything evil." 9 Satan replied, "Would Job worship you if he got nothing out of it? 10 You have always protected him and his family and everything he owns. You bless everything he does, and you have given him enough cattle to fill the whole country. 11 But now suppose you take away everything he has - he will curse you to your face!" 12 "All right," the Lord said to Satan, "everything he has is in your power, but you must not hurt Job himself." So Satan left. 13 One day when Job's children were having a feast at the home of their oldest brother, 14 a messenger came running to Job. "We were plowing the fields with the oxen," he said, "and the donkeys were in a nearby pasture. 15 Suddenly the Sabeans attacked and stole them all. They killed every one of your servants except me. I am the only one who escaped to tell you." 16 Before he had finished speaking, another servant came and said, "Lightning struck the sheep and the shepherds and killed them all. I am the only one who escaped to tell you." 17 Before he had finished speaking, another servant came and said, "Three bands of Chaldean raiders attacked us, took away the camels, and killed all your servants except me. I am the only one who escaped to tell you." 18 Before he had finished speaking, another servant came and said, "Your children were having a feast at the home of your oldest son, 19 when a storm swept in from the desert. It blew the house down and killed them all. I am the only one who escaped to tell you." 20 Then Job got up and tore his clothes in grief. He shaved his head and threw himself face downward on the ground. 21 He said, "I was born with nothing, and I will die with nothing. The Lord gave, and now he has taken away. May his name be praised!" 22 In spite of everything that had happened, Job did not sin by blaming God.

Job 2:1 When the day came for the heavenly beings to appear before the Lord again, Satan was there among them. 2 The Lord asked him, "Where have you been?" Satan answered, "I have been walking here and there, roaming around the earth." 3 "Did you notice my servant Job?" the Lord asked. "There is no one on earth as faithful and good as he is. He worships me and is careful not to do anything evil. You persuaded me to let you attack him for no reason at all, but Job is still as faithful as ever." 4 Satan replied, "A person will give up everything in order to stay alive. 5 But now suppose you hurt his body - he will curse you to your face!" 6 So the Lord said to Satan, "All right, he is in your power, but you are not to kill him." 7 Then Satan left the Lord's presence and made sores break out all over Job's body. 8 Job went and sat by the garbage dump and took a piece of broken pottery to scrape his sores. 9 His wife said to him, "You are still as faithful as ever, aren't you? Why don't you curse God and die?" 10 Job answered, "You are talking nonsense! When God sends us something good, we welcome it. How can we complain when he sends us trouble?" Even in all this suffering Job said nothing against God. 11 Three of Job's friends were Eliphaz, from the city of Teman, Bildad, from the land of Shuah, and Zophar, from the land of Naamah. When they heard how much Job had been suffering, they decided to go and comfort him. 12 While they were still a long way off they saw Job, but did not recognize him. When they did, they began to weep and wail, tearing their clothes in grief and throwing dust into the air and on their heads. 13 Then they sat there on the ground with him for seven days and nights without saying a word, because they saw how much he was suffering.

Job 38:1 Then out of the storm the Lord spoke to Job. 2 Who are you to question my wisdom with your ignorant, empty words? 3 Now stand up straight and answer the questions I ask you. 4 Were you there when I made the world? If you know so much, tell me about it. 5 Who decided how large it would be? Who stretched the measuring line over it? Do you know all the answers? 6 What holds up the pillars that support the earth? Who laid the cornerstone of the world? 7 In the dawn of that day the stars sang together, and the heavenly beings shouted for joy. 8 Who closed the gates to hold back the sea when it burst from the womb of the earth? 9 It was I who covered the sea with clouds and wrapped it in darkness. 10 I marked a boundary for the sea and kept it behind bolted gates. 11 I told it, "So far and no farther! Here your powerful waves must stop." 12 Job, have you ever in all your life commanded a day to dawn? 13 Have you ordered the dawn to seize the earth and shake the wicked from their hiding places? 14 Daylight makes the hills and valleys stand out like the folds of a garment, clear as the imprint of a seal on clay. 15 The light of day is too bright for the wicked and restrains them from doing violence. 16 Have you been to the springs in the depths of the sea? Have you walked on the floor of the ocean? 17 Has anyone ever shown you the gates that guard the dark world of the dead? 18 Have you any idea how big the world is? Answer me if you know. 19 Do you know where the light comes from or what the source of darkness is? 20 Can you show them how far to go, or send them back again? 21 I am sure you can, because you're so old and were there when the world was made! 22 Have you ever visited the storerooms, where I keep the snow and the hail? 23 I keep them ready for times of trouble, for days of battle and war. 24 Have you been to the place where the sun comes up, or the place from which the east wind blows? 25 Who dug a channel for the pouring rain and cleared the way for the thunderstorm? 26 Who makes rain fall where no one lives? 27 Who waters the dry and thirsty land, so that grass springs up? 28 Does either the rain or the dew have a father? 29 Who is the mother of the ice and the frost, 30 which turn the waters to stone and freeze the face of the sea? 31 Can you tie the Pleiades together or loosen the bonds that hold Orion? 32 Can you guide the stars season by season and direct the Big and the Little Dipper? 33 Do you know the laws that govern the skies, and can you make them apply to the earth? 34 Can you shout orders to the clouds and make them drench you with rain? 35 And if you command the lightning to flash, will it come to you and say, "At your service"? 36 Who tells the ibis when the Nile will flood, or who tells the rooster that rain will fall? 37 Who is wise enough to count the clouds and tilt them over to pour out the rain, 38 rain that hardens the dust into lumps? 39 Do you find food for lions to eat, and satisfy hungry young lions 40 when they hide in their caves, or lie in wait in their dens? 41 Who is it that feeds the ravens when they wander about hungry, when their young cry to me for food?

Job 39:1 Do you know when mountain goats are born? Have you watched wild deer give birth? 2 Do you know how long they carry their young? Do you know the time for their birth? 3 Do you know when they will crouch down and bring their young into the world? 4 In the wilds their young grow strong; they go away and don't come back. 5 Who gave the wild donkeys their freedom? Who turned them loose and let them roam? 6 I gave them the desert to be their home, and let them live on the salt plains. 7 They keep far away from the noisy cities, and no one can tame them and make them work. 8 The mountains are the pastures where they feed, where they search for anything green to eat. 9 Will a wild ox work for you? Is he willing to spend the night in your stable? 10 Can you hold one with a rope and make him plow? Or make him pull a harrow in your fields? 11 Can you rely on his great strength and expect him to do your heavy work? 12 Do you expect him to bring in your harvest and gather the grain from your threshing place? 13 How fast the wings of an ostrich beat! But no ostrich can fly like a stork. 14 The ostrich leaves her eggs on the ground for the heat in the soil to warm them. 15 She is unaware that a foot may crush them or a wild animal break them. 16 She acts as if the eggs were not hers, and is unconcerned that her efforts were wasted. 17 It was I who made her foolish and did not give her wisdom. 18 But when she begins to run, she can laugh at any horse and rider. 19 Was it you, Job, who made horses so strong and gave them their flowing manes? 20 Did you make them leap like locusts and frighten people with their snorting? 21 They eagerly paw the ground in the valley; they rush into battle with all their strength. 22 They do not know the meaning of fear, and no sword can turn them back. 23 The weapons which their riders carry rattle and flash in the sun. 24 Trembling with excitement, the horses race ahead; when the trumpet blows, they can't stand still. 25 At each blast of the trumpet they snort; they can smell a battle before they get near, and they hear the officers shouting commands. 26 Does a hawk learn from you how to fly when it spreads its wings toward the south? 27 Does an eagle wait for your command to build its nest high in the mountains? 28 It makes its home on the highest rocks and makes the sharp peaks its fortress. 29 From there it watches near and far for something to kill and eat. 30 Around dead bodies the eagles gather, and the young eagles drink the blood.

Job 40:1 Job, you challenged Almighty God; will you give up now, or will you answer? 3 I spoke foolishly, Lord. What can I answer? I will not try to say anything else. 5 I have already said more than I should. 6 Then out of the storm the Lord spoke to Job once again. 7 Now stand up straight and answer my questions. 8 Are you trying to prove that I am unjust - to put me in the wrong and yourself in the right? 9 Are you as strong as I am? Can your voice thunder as loud as mine? 10 If so, stand up in your honor and pride; clothe yourself with majesty and glory. 11 Look at those who are proud; pour out your anger and humble them. 12 Yes, look at them and bring them down; crush the wicked where they stand. 13 Bury them all in the ground; bind them in the world of the dead. 14 Then I will be the first to praise you and admit that you won the victory yourself. 15 Look at the monster Behemoth; I created him and I created you. He eats grass like a cow, 16 but what strength there is in his body, and what power there is in his muscles! 17 His tail stands up like a cedar, and the muscles in his legs are strong. 18 His bones are as strong as bronze, and his legs are like iron bars. 19 The most amazing of all my creatures! Only his Creator can defeat him. 20 Grass to feed him grows on the hills where wild beasts play. 21 He lies down under the thorn bushes, and hides among the reeds in the swamp. 22 The thorn bushes and the willows by the stream give him shelter in their shade. 23 He is not afraid of a rushing river; he is calm when the Jordan dashes in his face. 24 Who can blind his eyes and capture him? Or who can catch his snout in a trap?

Job 41:1 Can you catch Leviathan with a fishhook or tie his tongue down with a rope? 2 Can you put a rope through his snout or put a hook through his jaws? 3 Will he beg you to let him go? Will he plead with you for mercy? 4 Will he make an agreement with you and promise to serve you forever? 5 Will you tie him like a pet bird, like something to amuse your servant women? 6 Will fishermen bargain over him? Will merchants cut him up to sell? 7 Can you fill his hide with fishing spears or pierce his head with a harpoon? 8 Touch him once and you'll never try it again; you'll never forget the fight! 9 Anyone who sees Leviathan loses courage and falls to the ground. 10 When he is aroused, he is fierce; no one would dare to stand before him. 11 Who can attack him and still be safe? No one in all the world can do it. 12 Let me tell you about Leviathan's legs and describe how great and strong he is. 13 No one can tear off his outer coat or pierce the armor he wears. 14 Who can make him open his jaws, ringed with those terrifying teeth? 15 His back is made of rows of shields, fastened together and hard as stone. 16 Each one is joined so tight to the next, not even a breath can come between. 17 They all are fastened so firmly together that nothing can ever pull them apart. 18 Light flashes when he sneezes, and his eyes glow like the rising sun. 19 Flames blaze from his mouth, and streams of sparks fly out. 20 Smoke comes pouring out of his nose, like smoke from weeds burning under a pot. 21 His breath starts fires burning; flames leap out of his mouth. 22 His neck is so powerful that all who meet him are terrified. 23 There is not a weak spot in his skin; it is as hard and unyielding as iron. 24 His stony heart is without fear, as unyielding and hard as a millstone. 25 When he rises up, even the strongest are frightened; they are helpless with fear. 26 There is no sword that can wound him; no spear or arrow or lance that can harm him. 27 For him iron is as flimsy as straw, and bronze as soft as rotten wood. 28 There is no arrow that can make him run; rocks thrown at him are like bits of straw. 29 To him a club is a piece of straw, and he laughs when men throw spears. 30 The scales on his belly are like jagged pieces of pottery; they tear up the muddy ground like a threshing sledge. 31 He churns up the sea like boiling water and makes it bubble like a pot of oil. 32 He leaves a shining path behind him and turns the sea to white foam. 33 There is nothing on earth to compare with him; he is a creature that has no fear. 34 He looks down on even the proudest animals; he is king of all wild beasts.

Job 42:1 Then Job answered the Lord. 2 I know, Lord, that you are all-powerful; that you can do everything you want. 3 You ask how I dare question your wisdom when I am so very ignorant. I talked about things I did not understand, about marvels too great for me to know. 4 You told me to listen while you spoke and to try to answer your questions. 5 In the past I knew only what others had told me, but now I have seen you with my own eyes. 6 So I am ashamed of all I have said and repent in dust and ashes. 7 After the Lord had finished speaking to Job, he said to Eliphaz, "I am angry with you and your two friends, because you did not speak the truth about me, the way my servant Job did. 8 Now take seven bulls and seven rams to Job and offer them as a sacrifice for yourselves. Job will pray for you, and I will answer his prayer and not disgrace you the way you deserve. You did not speak the truth about me as he did." 9 Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar did what the Lord had told them to do, and the Lord answered Job's prayer. 10 Then, after Job had prayed for his three friends, the Lord made him prosperous again and gave him twice as much as he had had before. 11 All Job's brothers and sisters and former friends came to visit him and feasted with him in his house. They expressed their sympathy and comforted him for all the troubles the Lord had brought on him. Each of them gave him some money and a gold ring. 12 The Lord blessed the last part of Job's life even more than he had blessed the first. Job owned fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels, two thousand head of cattle, and one thousand donkeys. 13 He was the father of seven sons and three daughters. 14 He called the oldest daughter Jemimah, the second Keziah, and the youngest Keren Happuch. 15 There were no other women in the whole world as beautiful as Job's daughters. Their father gave them a share of the inheritance along with their brothers. 16 Job lived a hundred and forty years after this, long enough to see his grandchildren and great-grandchildren. 17 And then he died at a very great age.

2844-Revelation 1:1 This book is the record of the events that Jesus Christ revealed. God gave him this revelation in order to show to his servants what must happen very soon. Christ made these things known to his servant John by sending his angel to him, 2 and John has told all that he has seen. This is his report concerning the message from God and the truth revealed by Jesus Christ. 3 Happy is the one who reads this book, and happy are those who listen to the words of this prophetic message and obey what is written in this book! For the time is near when all these things will happen. 4 From John to the seven churches in the province of Asia: Grace and peace be yours from God, who is, who was, and who is to come, and from the seven spirits in front of his throne, 5 and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the first to be raised from death and who is also the ruler of the kings of the world. He loves us, and by his sacrificial death he has freed us from our sins 6 and made us a kingdom of priests to serve his God and Father. To Jesus Christ be the glory and power forever and ever! Amen. 7 Look, he is coming on the clouds! Everyone will see him, including those who pierced him. All peoples on earth will mourn over him. So shall it be! 8 "I am the first and the last," says the Lord God Almighty, who is, who was, and who is to come. 9 I am John, your brother, and as a follower of Jesus I am your partner in patiently enduring the suffering that comes to those who belong to his Kingdom. I was put on the island of Patmos because I had proclaimed God's word and the truth that Jesus revealed. 10 On the Lord's day the Spirit took control of me, and I heard a loud voice, that sounded like a trumpet, speaking behind me. 11 It said, "Write down what you see, and send the book to the churches in these seven cities: Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea." 12 I turned around to see who was talking to me, and I saw seven gold lampstands, 13 and among them there was what looked like a human being, wearing a robe that reached to his feet, and a gold band around his chest. 14 His hair was white as wool, or as snow, and his eyes blazed like fire; 15 his feet shone like brass that has been refined and polished, and his voice sounded like a roaring waterfall. 16 He held seven stars in his right hand, and a sharp two-edged sword came out of his mouth. His face was as bright as the midday sun. 17 When I saw him, I fell down at his feet like a dead man. He placed his right hand on me and said, "Don't be afraid! I am the first and the last. 18 I am the living one! I was dead, but now I am alive forever and ever. I have authority over death and the world of the dead. 19 Write, then, the things you see, both the things that are now and the things that will happen afterward. 20 Here is the secret meaning of the seven stars that you see in my right hand, and of the seven gold lampstands: the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.

Revelation 12:1 Then a great and mysterious sight appeared in the sky. There was a woman, whose dress was the sun and who had the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head. 2 She was soon to give birth, and the pains and suffering of childbirth made her cry out. 3 Another mysterious sight appeared in the sky. There was a huge red dragon with seven heads and ten horns and a crown on each of his heads. 4 With his tail he dragged a third of the stars out of the sky and threw them down to the earth. He stood in front of the woman, in order to eat her child as soon as it was born. 5 Then she gave birth to a son, who will rule over all nations with an iron rod. But the child was snatched away and taken to God and his throne. 6 The woman fled to the desert, to a place God had prepared for her, where she will be taken care of for 1,260 days. 7 Then war broke out in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, who fought back with his angels; 8 but the dragon was defeated, and he and his angels were not allowed to stay in heaven any longer. 9 The huge dragon was thrown out - that ancient serpent, named the Devil, or Satan, that deceived the whole world. He was thrown down to earth, and all his angels with him. 10 Then I heard a loud voice in heaven saying, "Now God's salvation has come! Now God has shown his power as King! Now his Messiah has shown his authority! For the one who stood before our God and accused believers day and night has been thrown out of heaven. 11 They won the victory over him by the blood of the Lamb and by the truth which they proclaimed; and they were willing to give up their lives and die. 12 And so be glad, you heavens, and all you that live there! But how terrible for the earth and the sea! For the Devil has come down to you, and he is filled with rage, because he knows that he has only a little time left." 13 When the dragon realized that he had been thrown down to the earth, he began to pursue the woman who had given birth to the boy. 14 She was given the two wings of a large eagle in order to fly to her place in the desert, where she will be taken care of for three and a half years, safe from the dragon's attack. 15 And then from his mouth the dragon poured out a flood of water after the woman, so that it would carry her away. 16 But the earth helped the woman; it opened its mouth and swallowed the water that had come from the dragon's mouth. 17 The dragon was furious with the woman and went off to fight against the rest of her descendants, all those who obey God's commandments and are faithful to the truth revealed by Jesus. 18 And the dragon stood on the seashore.

Revelation 12:1 Then I saw a beast coming up out of the sea. It had ten horns and seven heads; on each of its horns there was a crown, and on each of its heads there was a name that was insulting to God. 2 The beast looked like a leopard, with feet like a bear's feet and a mouth like a lion's mouth. The dragon gave the beast his own power, his throne, and his vast authority. 3 One of the heads of the beast seemed to have been fatally wounded, but the wound had healed. The whole earth was amazed and followed the beast. 4 Everyone worshiped the dragon because he had given his authority to the beast. They worshiped the beast also, saying, "Who is like the beast? Who can fight against it?" 5 The beast was allowed to make proud claims which were insulting to God, and it was permitted to have authority for forty-two months. 6 It began to curse God, his name, the place where he lives, and all those who live in heaven. 7 It was allowed to fight against God's people and to defeat them, and it was given authority over every tribe, nation, language, and race. 8 All people living on earth will worship it, except those whose names were written before the creation of the world in the book of the living which belongs to the Lamb that was killed. 9 "Listen, then, if you have ears! 10 Whoever is meant to be captured will surely be captured; whoever is meant to be killed by the sword will surely be killed by the sword. This calls for endurance and faith on the part of God's people." 11 Then I saw another beast, which came up out of the earth. It had two horns like a lamb's horns, and it spoke like a dragon. 12 It used the vast authority of the first beast in its presence. It forced the earth and all who live on it to worship the first beast, whose wound had healed. 13 This second beast performed great miracles; it made fire come down out of heaven to earth in the sight of everyone. 14 And it deceived all the people living on earth by means of the miracles which it was allowed to perform in the presence of the first beast. The beast told them to build an image in honor of the beast that had been wounded by the sword and yet lived. 15 The second beast was allowed to breathe life into the image of the first beast, so that the image could talk and put to death all those who would not worship it. 16 The beast forced all the people, small and great, rich and poor, slave and free, to have a mark placed on their right hands or on their foreheads. 17 No one could buy or sell without this mark, that is, the beast's name or the number that stands for the name. 18 This calls for wisdom. Whoever is intelligent can figure out the meaning of the number of the beast, because the number stands for the name of someone. Its number is 666.

Revelation 14:1 Then I looked, and there was the Lamb standing on Mount Zion; with him were 144,000 people who have his name and his Father's name written on their foreheads. 2 And I heard a voice from heaven that sounded like a roaring waterfall, like a loud peal of thunder. It sounded like the music made by musicians playing their harps. 3 The 144,000 people stood before the throne, the four living creatures, and the elders; they were singing a new song, which only they could learn. Of the whole human race they are the only ones who have been redeemed. 4 They are the men who have kept themselves pure by not having sexual relations with women; they are virgins. They follow the Lamb wherever he goes. They have been redeemed from the rest of the human race and are the first ones to be offered to God and to the Lamb. 5 They have never been known to tell lies; they are faultless. 6 Then I saw another angel flying high in the air, with an eternal message of Good News to announce to the peoples of the earth, to every race, tribe, language, and nation. 7 He said in a loud voice, "Honor God and praise his greatness! For the time has come for him to judge all people. Worship him who made heaven, earth, sea, and the springs of water!" 8 A second angel followed the first one, saying, "She has fallen! Great Babylon has fallen! She made all peoples drink her wine - the strong wine of her immoral lust!" 9 A third angel followed the first two, saying in a loud voice, "Those who worship the beast and its image and receive the mark on their forehead or on their hand 10 will themselves drink God's wine, the wine of his fury, which he has poured at full strength into the cup of his anger! All who do this will be tormented in fire and sulfur before the holy angels and the Lamb. 11 The smoke of the fire that torments them goes up forever and ever. There is no relief day or night for those who worship the beast and its image, for anyone who has the mark of its name." 12 This calls for endurance on the part of God's people, those who obey God's commandments and are faithful to Jesus. 13 Then I heard a voice from heaven saying, "Write this: Happy are those who from now on die in the service of the Lord!" "Yes indeed!" answers the Spirit. "They will enjoy rest from their hard work, because the results of their service go with them." 14 Then I looked, and there was a white cloud, and sitting on the cloud was what looked like a human being, with a crown of gold on his head and a sharp sickle in his hand. 15 Then another angel came out from the temple and cried out in a loud voice to the one who was sitting on the cloud, "Use your sickle and reap the harvest, because the time has come; the earth is ripe for the harvest!" 16 Then the one who sat on the cloud swung his sickle on the earth, and the earth's harvest was reaped. 17 Then I saw another angel come out of the temple in heaven, and he also had a sharp sickle. 18 Then another angel, who is in charge of the fire, came from the altar. He shouted in a loud voice to the angel who had the sharp sickle, "Use your sickle, and cut the grapes from the vineyard of the earth, because the grapes are ripe!" 19 So the angel swung his sickle on the earth, cut the grapes from the vine, and threw them into the wine press of God's furious anger. 20 The grapes were squeezed out in the wine press outside the city, and blood came out of the wine press in a flood two hundred miles long and about five feet deep.

2845-Isaiah 14:13 You were determined to climb up to heaven and to place your throne above the highest stars. You thought you would sit like a king on that mountain in the north where the gods assemble. 14 You said you would climb to the tops of the clouds and be like the Almighty.

Matthew 4:8 Then the Devil took Jesus to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in all their greatness. 9 "All this I will give you," the Devil said, "if you kneel down and worship me."

Revelation 13:5 The beast was allowed to make proud claims which were insulting to God, and it was permitted to have authority for forty-two months. 6 It began to curse God, his name, the place where he lives, and all those who live in heaven. 7 It was allowed to fight against God's people and to defeat them, and it was given authority over every tribe, nation, language, and race. 8 All people living on earth will worship it, except those whose names were written before the creation of the world in the book of the living which belongs to the Lamb that was killed.

2846-Isaiah 7:14 Well then, the Lord himself will give you a sign: a young woman who is pregnant will have a son and will name him "Immanuel.'

2847-Isaiah 7:1 When King Ahaz, the son of Jotham and grandson of Uzziah, ruled Judah, war broke out. Rezin, king of Syria, and Pekah son of Remaliah, king of Israel, attacked Jerusalem, but were unable to capture it.

Isaiah 7:10 The Lord sent another message to Ahaz: 11 "Ask the Lord your God to give you a sign. It can be from deep in the world of the dead or from high up in heaven." 12 Ahaz answered, "I will not ask for a sign. I refuse to put the Lord to the test." 13 To that Isaiah replied, "Listen, now, descendants of King David. It's bad enough for you to wear out the patience of people - do you have to wear out God's patience too? 14 Well then, the Lord himself will give you a sign: a young woman who is pregnant will have a son and will name him "Immanuel.' 15 By the time he is old enough to make his own decisions, people will be drinking milk and eating honey. 16 Even before that time comes, the lands of those two kings who terrify you will be deserted.

Isaiah 8:1 The Lord said to me, "Take a large piece of writing material and write on it in large letters: "Quick Loot, Fast Plunder.' 2 Get two reliable men, the priest Uriah and Zechariah son of Jeberechiah, to serve as witnesses." 3 Some time later my wife became pregnant. When our son was born, the Lord said to me, "Name him "Quick-Loot-Fast-Plunder.'

2848-Isaiah 9:6 A child is born to us! A son is given to us! And he will be our ruler. He will be called, "Wonderful Counselor," "Mighty God," "Eternal Father," "Prince of Peace."

2849-4 When he does this, they are to mock the king of Babylon and say: "The cruel king has fallen! He will never oppress anyone again! 5 The Lord has ended the power of the evil rulers 6 who angrily oppressed the peoples and never stopped persecuting the nations they had conquered. 7 Now at last the whole world enjoys rest and peace, and everyone sings for joy. 8 The cypress trees and the cedars of Lebanon rejoice over the fallen king, because there is no one to cut them down, now that he is gone! 9 "The world of the dead is getting ready to welcome the king of Babylon. The ghosts of those who were powerful on earth are stirring about. The ghosts of kings are rising from their thrones. 10 They all call out to him, "Now you are as weak as we are! You are one of us! 11 You used to be honored with the music of harps, but now here you are in the world of the dead. You lie on a bed of maggots and are covered with a blanket of worms.' " 12 King of Babylon, bright morning star, you have fallen from heaven! In the past you conquered nations, but now you have been thrown to the ground. 13 You were determined to climb up to heaven and to place your throne above the highest stars. You thought you would sit like a king on that mountain in the north where the gods assemble. 14 You said you would climb to the tops of the clouds and be like the Almighty. 15 But instead, you have been brought down to the deepest part of the world of the dead.

2850-Ezekiel 28:2 "Mortal man," he said, "tell the ruler of Tyre what I, the Sovereign Lord, am saying to him: Puffed up with pride, you claim to be a god. You say that like a god you sit on a throne, surrounded by the seas. You may pretend to be a god, but, no, you are mortal, not divine. 3 You think you are wiser than Danel, that no secret can be kept from you. 4 Your wisdom and skill made you rich with treasures of gold and silver. 5 You made clever business deals and kept on making profits. How proud you are of your wealth! 6 "Now then, this is what I, the Sovereign Lord, am saying: Because you think you are as wise as a god, 7 I will bring ruthless enemies to attack you. They will destroy all the beautiful things you have acquired by skill and wisdom. 8 They will kill you and send you to a watery grave. 9 When they come to kill you, will you still claim that you are a god? When you face your murderers, you will be mortal and not at all divine. 10 You will die like a dog at the hand of godless foreigners. I, the Sovereign Lord, have given the command." 11 The Lord spoke to me again. 12 "Mortal man," he said, "grieve for the fate that is waiting for the king of Tyre. Tell him what I, the Sovereign Lord, am saying: You were once an example of perfection. How wise and handsome you were! 13 You lived in Eden, the garden of God, and wore gems of every kind: rubies and diamonds; topaz, beryl, carnelian, and jasper; sapphires, emeralds, and garnets. You had ornaments of gold. They were made for you on the day you were created. 14 I put a terrifying angel there to guard you. You lived on my holy mountain and walked among sparkling gems. 15 Your conduct was perfect from the day you were created until you began to do evil. 16 You were busy buying and selling, and this led you to violence and sin. So I forced you to leave my holy mountain, and the angel who guarded you drove you away from the sparkling gems. 17 You were proud of being handsome, and your fame made you act like a fool. Because of this I hurled you to the ground and left you as a warning to other kings. 18 You did such evil in buying and selling that your places of worship were corrupted. So I set fire to the city and burned it to the ground. All who look at you now see you reduced to ashes. 19 You are gone, gone forever, and all the nations that had come to know you are terrified, afraid that they will share your fate."

2851-Genesis 24:43 Here I am at the well. When a young woman comes out to get water, I will ask her to give me a drink of water from her jar.

Exodus 2:8 "Please do," she answered. So the girl went and brought the baby's own mother.

Psalms 68:25 The singers are in front, the musicians are behind, in between are the young women beating the tambourines.

Proverbs 30:19 an eagle flying in the sky, a snake moving on a rock, a ship finding its way over the sea, and a man and a woman falling in love.

Song of Solomon 1:3 There is a fragrance about you; the sound of your name recalls it. No woman could keep from loving you.

Song of Solomon 6:8 Let the king have sixty queens, eighty concubines, young women without number!

Isaiah 7:14 Well then, the Lord himself will give you a sign: a young woman who is pregnant will have a son and will name him "Immanuel.'

2852-Isaiah 9:6 A child is born to us! A son is given to us! And he will be our ruler. He will be called, "Wonderful Counselor," "Mighty God," "Eternal Father," "Prince of Peace."

Isaiah 11:1 The royal line of David is like a tree that has been cut down; but just as new branches sprout from a stump, so a new king will arise from among David's descendants. 2 The spirit of the Lord will give him wisdom and the knowledge and skill to rule his people. He will know the Lord's will and honor him, 3 and find pleasure in obeying him. He will not judge by appearance or hearsay; 4 he will judge the poor fairly and defend the rights of the helpless. At his command the people will be punished, and evil persons will die. 5 He will rule his people with justice and integrity. 6 Wolves and sheep will live together in peace, and leopards will lie down with young goats. Calves and lion cubs will feed together, and little children will take care of them. 7 Cows and bears will eat together, and their calves and cubs will lie down in peace. Lions will eat straw as cattle do. 8 Even a baby will not be harmed if it plays near a poisonous snake. 9 On Zion, God's sacred hill, there will be nothing harmful or evil. The land will be as full of knowledge of the Lord as the seas are full of water. 10 A day is coming when the new king from the royal line of David will be a symbol to the nations. They will gather in his royal city and give him honor.

2853-Isaiah 7:14 Well then, the Lord himself will give you a sign: a young woman who is pregnant will have a son and will name him "Immanuel.'

2854-Matt. 1:23 "A virgin will become pregnant and have a son, and he will be called Immanuel" (which means, "God is with us").

2855-Isaiah 7:1 When King Ahaz, the son of Jotham and grandson of Uzziah, ruled Judah, war broke out. Rezin, king of Syria, and Pekah son of Remaliah, king of Israel, attacked Jerusalem, but were unable to capture it. 2 When word reached the king of Judah that the armies of Syria were already in the territory of Israel, he and all his people were so terrified that they trembled like trees shaking in the wind. 3 The Lord said to Isaiah, "Take your son Shear Jashub, and go to meet King Ahaz. You will find him on the road where the cloth makers work, at the end of the ditch that brings water from the upper pool.

2856-Isaiah 8:18 Here I am with the children the Lord has given me. The Lord Almighty, whose throne is on Mount Zion, has sent us as living messages to the people of Israel.

2857-Isaiah 7:16 Even before that time comes, the lands of those two kings who terrify you will be deserted.

Isaiah 8:4 Before the boy is old enough to say "Mamma' and "Daddy,' all the wealth of Damascus and all the loot of Samaria will be carried off by the king of Assyria."

2858-Matt. 1:23 "A virgin will become pregnant and have a son, and he will be called Immanuel" (which means, "God is with us").

2859-Matt. 1:18 This was how the birth of Jesus Christ took place. His mother Mary was engaged to Joseph, but before they were married, she found out that she was going to have a baby by the Holy Spirit. 19 Joseph was a man who always did what was right, but he did not want to disgrace Mary publicly; so he made plans to break the engagement privately. 20 While he was thinking about this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, "Joseph, descendant of David, do not be afraid to take Mary to be your wife. For it is by the Holy Spirit that she has conceived. 21 She will have a son, and you will name him Jesus - because he will save his people from their sins." 22 Now all this happened in order to make come true what the Lord had said through the prophet, 23 "A virgin will become pregnant and have a son, and he will be called Immanuel" (which means, "God is with us"). 24 So when Joseph woke up, he married Mary, as the angel of the Lord had told him to. 25 But he had no sexual relations with her before she gave birth to her son. And Joseph named him Jesus.

2860-Isaiah 7:3 The Lord said to Isaiah, "Take your son Shear Jashub, and go to meet King Ahaz. You will find him on the road where the cloth makers work, at the end of the ditch that brings water from the upper pool. 4 Tell him to keep alert, to stay calm, and not to be frightened or disturbed. The anger of King Rezin and his Syrians and of King Pekah is no more dangerous than the smoke from two smoldering sticks of wood.

2861-Isaiah 7:14 Well then, the Lord himself will give you a sign: a young woman who is pregnant will have a son and will name him "Immanuel.' 15 By the time he is old enough to make his own decisions, people will be drinking milk and eating honey. 16 Even before that time comes, the lands of those two kings who terrify you will be deserted.

2862-Matt. 1:22 Now all this happened in order to make come true what the Lord had said through the prophet, 23 "A virgin will become pregnant and have a son, and he will be called Immanuel" (which means, "God is with us").

2863-Isaiah 8:11 With his great power the Lord warned me not to follow the road which the people were following. He said, 12 "Do not join in the schemes of the people and do not be afraid of the things that they fear. 13 Remember that I, the Lord Almighty, am holy; I am the one you must fear. 14 Because of my awesome holiness I am like a stone that people stumble over; I am like a trap that will catch the people of the kingdoms of Judah and Israel and the people of Jerusalem. 15 Many will stumble; they will fall and be crushed. They will be caught in a trap." 16 You, my disciples, are to guard and preserve the messages that God has given me. 17 The Lord has hidden himself from his people, but I trust him and place my hope in him. 18 Here I am with the children the Lord has given me. The Lord Almighty, whose throne is on Mount Zion, has sent us as living messages to the people of Israel. 19 But people will tell you to ask for messages from fortunetellers and mediums, who chirp and mutter. They will say, "After all, people should ask for messages from the spirits and consult the dead on behalf of the living." 20 You are to answer them, "Listen to what the Lord is teaching you! Don't listen to mediums - what they tell you cannot keep trouble away." 21 The people will wander through the land, discouraged and hungry. In their hunger and their anger they will curse their king and their God. They may look up to the sky 22 or stare at the ground, but they will see nothing but trouble and darkness, terrifying darkness into which they are being driven.

Isaiah 9:1 There will be no way for them to escape from this time of trouble. The land of the tribes of Zebulun and Naphtali was once disgraced, but the future will bring honor to this region, from the Mediterranean eastward to the land on the other side of the Jordan, and even to Galilee itself, where the foreigners live. 2 The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light. They lived in a land of shadows, but now light is shining on them. 3 You have given them great joy, Lord; you have made them happy. They rejoice in what you have done, as people rejoice when they harvest grain or when they divide captured wealth. 4 For you have broken the yoke that burdened them and the rod that beat their shoulders. You have defeated the nation that oppressed and exploited your people, just as you defeated the army of Midian long ago. 5 The boots of the invading army and all their bloodstained clothing will be destroyed by fire. 6 A child is born to us! A son is given to us! And he will be our ruler. He will be called, "Wonderful Counselor," "Mighty God," "Eternal Father," "Prince of Peace." 7 His royal power will continue to grow; his kingdom will always be at peace. He will rule as King David's successor, basing his power on right and justice, from now until the end of time. The Lord Almighty is determined to do all this.

2864-1 Samuel 28:3 Now Samuel had died, and all the Israelites had mourned for him and had buried him in his hometown of Ramah. Saul had forced all the fortunetellers and mediums to leave Israel. 4 The Philistine troops assembled and camped near the town of Shunem; Saul gathered the Israelites and camped at Mount Gilboa. 5 When Saul saw the Philistine army, he was terrified, 6 and so he asked the Lord what to do. But the Lord did not answer him at all, either by dreams or by the use of Urim and Thummim or by prophets. 7 Then Saul ordered his officials, "Find me a woman who is a medium, and I will go and consult her." "There is one in Endor," they answered. 8 So Saul disguised himself; he put on different clothes, and after dark he went with two of his men to see the woman. "Consult the spirits for me and tell me what is going to happen," he said to her. "Call up the spirit of the man I name." 9 The woman answered, "Surely you know what King Saul has done, how he forced the fortunetellers and mediums to leave Israel. Why, then, are you trying to trap me and get me killed?" 10 Then Saul made a sacred vow. "By the living Lord I promise that you will not be punished for doing this," he told her. 11 "Whom shall I call up for you?" the woman asked. "Samuel," he answered. 12 When the woman saw Samuel, she screamed and said to Saul, "Why have you tricked me? You are King Saul!" 13 "Don't be afraid!" the king said to her. "What do you see?" "I see a spirit coming up from the earth," she answered. 14 "What does it look like?" he asked. "It's an old man coming up," she answered. "He is wearing a cloak." Then Saul knew that it was Samuel, and he bowed to the ground in respect. 15 Samuel said to Saul, "Why have you disturbed me? Why did you make me come back?" Saul answered, "I am in great trouble! The Philistines are at war with me, and God has abandoned me. He doesn't answer me any more, either by prophets or by dreams. And so I have called you, for you to tell me what I must do." 16 Samuel said, "Why do you call me when the Lord has abandoned you and become your enemy? 17 The Lord has done to you what he told you through me: he has taken the kingdom away from you and given it to David instead. 18 You disobeyed the Lord's command and did not completely destroy the Amalekites and all they had. That is why the Lord is doing this to you now. 19 He will give you and Israel over to the Philistines. Tomorrow you and your sons will join me, and the Lord will also give the army of Israel over to the Philistines." 20 At once Saul fell down and lay stretched out on the ground, terrified by what Samuel had said. He was weak, because he had not eaten anything all day and all night. 21 The woman went over to him and saw that he was terrified, so she said to him, "Please, sir, I risked my life by doing what you asked. 22 Now please do what I ask. Let me fix you some food. You must eat so that you will be strong enough to travel." 23 Saul refused and said he would not eat anything. But his officers also urged him to eat. He finally gave in, got up from the ground, and sat on the bed. 24 The woman quickly killed a calf which she had been fattening. Then she took some flour, prepared it, and baked some bread without yeast. 25 She set the food before Saul and his officers, and they ate it. And they left that same night.

2865-2 Chronicles 26:16 But when King Uzziah became strong, he grew arrogant, and that led to his downfall. He defied the Lord his God by going into the Temple to burn incense on the altar of incense.

2 Chronicles 32:25 But Hezekiah was too proud to show gratitude for what the Lord had done for him, and Judah and Jerusalem suffered for it.

2866-Isaiah 11:6 Wolves and sheep will live together in peace, and leopards will lie down with young goats. Calves and lion cubs will feed together, and little children will take care of them. 7 Cows and bears will eat together, and their calves and cubs will lie down in peace. Lions will eat straw as cattle do.

Isaiah 65:25 Wolves and lambs will eat together; lions will eat straw, as cattle do, and snakes will no longer be dangerous. On Zion, my sacred hill, there will be nothing harmful or evil."

Isaiah 35:9 No lions will be there; no fierce animals will pass that way. Those whom the Lord has rescued will travel home by that road.

2867-Isaiah 27:9 But Israel's sins will be forgiven only when the stones of pagan altars are ground up like chalk, and no more incense altars or symbols of the goddess Asherah are left.

2868-Isaiah 28:9 They complain about me. They say, "Who does that man think he's teaching? Who needs his message? It's only good for babies that have just stopped nursing! 10 He is trying to teach us letter by letter, line by line, lesson by lesson." 11 If you won't listen to me, then God will use foreigners speaking some strange-sounding language to teach you a lesson. 12 He offered rest and comfort to all of you, but you refused to listen to him. 13 That is why the Lord is going to teach you letter by letter, line by line, lesson by lesson. Then you will stumble with every step you take. You will be wounded, trapped, and taken prisoner.

Isaiah 28:16 This, now, is what the Sovereign Lord says: "I am placing in Zion a foundation that is firm and strong. In it I am putting a solid cornerstone on which are written the words, "Faith that is firm is also patient.'

2869-Hebrews 10:17 And then he says, "I will not remember their sins and evil deeds any longer."

2870-Isa. 37:35 I will defend this city and protect it, for the sake of my own honor and because of the promise I made to my servant David.' "

Isaiah 42:21 The Lord is a God who is eager to save, so he exalted his laws and teachings, and he wanted his people to honor them.

Isaiah 48:9 "In order that people will praise my name, I am holding my anger in check; I am keeping it back and will not destroy you.

Isaiah 48:11 What I do is done for my own sake - I will not let my name be dishonored or let anyone else share the glory that should be mine and mine alone."

2871-Romans 2:4 Or perhaps you despise his great kindness, tolerance, and patience. Surely you know that God is kind, because he is trying to lead you to repent.

2872-Matthew 5:16 In the same way your light must shine before people, so that they will see the good things you do and praise your Father in heaven.

2873-Isaiah 36:7 The Assyrian official went on, "Or will you tell me that you are relying on the Lord your God? It was the Lord's shrines and altars that Hezekiah destroyed when he told the people of Judah and Jerusalem to worship at one altar only.

Isaiah 36:10 Do you think I have attacked your country and destroyed it without the Lord's help? The Lord himself told me to attack it and destroy it."

Isaiah 36:13 Then the official stood up and shouted in Hebrew, "Listen to what the emperor of Assyria is telling you. 14 He warns you not to let Hezekiah deceive you. Hezekiah can't save you. 15 And don't let him persuade you to rely on the Lord. Don't think that the Lord will save you and that he will stop our Assyrian army from capturing your city. 16 Don't listen to Hezekiah! The emperor of Assyria commands you to come out of the city and surrender. You will all be allowed to eat grapes from your own vines and figs from your own trees, and to drink water from your own wells - 17 until the emperor resettles you in a country much like your own, where there are vineyards to give wine and there is grain for making bread. 18 Don't let Hezekiah fool you into thinking that the Lord will rescue you. Did the gods of any other nations save their countries from the emperor of Assyria? 19 Where are they now, the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim? Did anyone save Samaria? 20 When did any of the gods of all these countries ever save their country from our emperor? Then what makes you think the Lord can save Jerusalem?"

Isaiah 37:8 The Assyrian official learned that the emperor had left Lachish and was fighting against the nearby city of Libnah; so he went there to consult him. 9 Word reached the Assyrians that the Egyptian army, led by King Tirhakah of Ethiopia, was coming to attack them. When the emperor heard this, he sent a letter to King Hezekiah 10 of Judah to tell him: "The god you are trusting in has told you that you will not fall into my hands, but don't let that deceive you. 11 You have heard what an Assyrian emperor does to any country he decides to destroy. Do you think that you can escape? 12 My ancestors destroyed the cities of Gozan, Haran, and Rezeph, and killed the people of Betheden who lived in Telassar, and none of their gods could save them. 13 Where are the kings of the cities of Hamath, Arpad, Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivvah?"

2874-Isaiah 37:36 An angel of the Lord went to the Assyrian camp and killed 185,000 soldiers. At dawn the next day there they lay, all dead!

2875-Isaiah 44:9 All those who make idols are worthless, and the gods they prize so highly are useless. Those who worship these gods are blind and ignorant - and they will be disgraced. 10 It does no good to make a metal image to worship as a god! 11 Everyone who worships it will be humiliated. The people who make idols are human beings and nothing more. Let them come and stand trial - they will be terrified and will suffer disgrace. 12 The metalworker takes a piece of metal and works with it over a fire. His strong arm swings a hammer to pound the metal into shape. As he works, he gets hungry, thirsty, and tired. 13 The carpenter measures the wood. He outlines a figure with chalk, carves it out with his tools, and makes it in the form of a man, a handsome human figure, to be placed in his house. 14 He might cut down cedars to use, or choose oak or cypress wood from the forest. Or he might plant a laurel tree and wait for the rain to make it grow. 15 A person uses part of a tree for fuel and part of it for making an idol. With one part he builds a fire to warm himself and bake bread; with the other part he makes a god and worships it. 16 With some of the wood he makes a fire; he roasts meat, eats it, and is satisfied. He warms himself and says, "How nice and warm! What a beautiful fire!" 17 The rest of the wood he makes into an idol, and then he bows down and worships it. He prays to it and says, "You are my god - save me!" 18 Such people are too stupid to know what they are doing. They close their eyes and their minds to the truth. 19 The maker of idols hasn't the wit or the sense to say, "Some of the wood I burned up. I baked some bread on the coals, and I roasted meat and ate it. And the rest of the wood I made into an idol. Here I am bowing down to a block of wood!" 20 It makes as much sense as eating ashes. His foolish ideas have so misled him that he is beyond help. He won't admit to himself that the idol he holds in his hand is not a god at all.

Isaiah 41:21 The Lord, the king of Israel, has this to say: "You gods of the nations, present your case. Bring the best arguments you have! 22 Come here and predict what will happen, so that we will know it when it takes place. Explain to the court the events of the past, and tell us what they mean. 23 Tell us what the future holds - then we will know that you are gods! Do something good or bring some disaster; fill us with fear and awe! 24 You and all you do are nothing; those who worship you are disgusting! 25 "I have chosen a man who lives in the east; I will bring him to attack from the north. He tramples on rulers as if they were mud, like a potter trampling clay. 26 Which of you predicted that this would happen, so that we could say that you were right? None of you said a word about it; no one heard you say a thing! 27 I, the Lord, was the first to tell Zion the news; I sent a messenger to Jerusalem to say, "Your people are coming! They are coming home!' 28 When I looked among the gods, none of them had a thing to say; not one could answer the questions I asked. 29 All these gods are useless; they can do nothing at all - these idols are weak and powerless."

Isaiah 46:5 "To whom will you compare me?" says the Lord. "Is there anyone else like me? 6 People open their purses and pour out gold; they weigh out silver on the scales. They hire a goldsmith to make a god; then they bow down and worship it. 7 They lift it to their shoulders and carry it; they put it in place, and there it stands, unable to move from where it is. If any pray to it, it cannot answer or save them from disaster.

Psalms 115:1 To you alone, O Lord, to you alone, and not to us, must glory be given because of your constant love and faithfulness. 2 Why should the nations ask us, "Where is your God?" 3 Our God is in heaven; he does whatever he wishes. 4 Their gods are made of silver and gold, formed by human hands. 5 They have mouths, but cannot speak, and eyes, but cannot see. 6 They have ears, but cannot hear, and noses, but cannot smell. 7 They have hands, but cannot feel, and feet, but cannot walk; they cannot make a sound. 8 May all who made them and who trust in them become like the idols they have made.

Habakkuk 2:18 What's the use of an idol? It is only something that a human being has made, and it tells you nothing but lies. What good does it do for its maker to trust it - a god that can't even talk! 19 You are doomed! You say to a piece of wood, "Wake up!" or to a block of stone, "Get up!" Can an idol reveal anything to you? It may be covered with silver and gold, but there is no life in it.

2876-Isaiah 48:9 "In order that people will praise my name, I am holding my anger in check; I am keeping it back and will not destroy you.

Isaiah 48:11 What I do is done for my own sake - I will not let my name be dishonored or let anyone else share the glory that should be mine and mine alone."

2877-Isaiah 37:35 I will defend this city and protect it, for the sake of my own honor and because of the promise I made to my servant David.' "

Isaiah 42:21 The Lord is a God who is eager to save, so he exalted his laws and teachings, and he wanted his people to honor them.

Isaiah 43:25 And yet, I am the God who forgives your sins, and I do this because of who I am. I will not hold your sins against you.

2878-2 Kings 19:34 I will defend this city and protect it, for the sake of my own honor and because of the promise I made to my servant David.' "

2 Kings 20:6 I will let you live fifteen years longer. I will rescue you and this city Jerusalem from the emperor of Assyria. I will defend this city, for the sake of my own honor and because of the promise I made to my servant David."

2879-Lev. 5:1 Sin offerings are required in the following cases. If you are officially summoned to give evidence in court and do not give information about something you have seen or heard, you must suffer the consequences.

Leviticus 5:17 If any of you sin unintentionally by breaking any of the Lord's commands, you are guilty and must pay the penalty.

Leviticus 16:22 The goat will carry all their sins away with him into some uninhabited land.

2880-1 Pet. 2:24 Christ himself carried our sins in his body to the cross, so that we might die to sin and live for righteousness. It is by his wounds that you have been healed. 25 You were like sheep that had lost their way, but now you have been brought back to follow the Shepherd and Keeper of your souls.

2881-Isa 66:3 "The people do as they please. It's all the same to them whether they kill a bull as a sacrifice or sacrifice a human being; whether they sacrifice a lamb or break a dog's neck; whether they present a grain offering or offer pigs' blood; whether they offer incense or pray to an idol. They take pleasure in disgusting ways of worship.

Prov. 12:15 Stupid people always think they are right. Wise people listen to advice.

Prov 14:12 What you think is the right road may lead to death.

2882-Isa 19:22 The Lord will punish the Egyptians, but then he will heal them. They will turn to him, and he will hear their prayers and heal them.

Isa 57:18 "I have seen how they acted, but I will heal them. I will lead them and help them, and I will comfort those who mourn.

2883-John 1:29 The next day John saw Jesus coming to him, and said, "There is the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!

Revelation 5:6 Then I saw a Lamb standing in the center of the throne, surrounded by the four living creatures and the elders. The Lamb appeared to have been killed. It had seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God that have been sent through the whole earth.

Revelation 5:12 and sang in a loud voice: "The Lamb who was killed is worthy to receive power, wealth, wisdom, and strength, honor, glory, and praise!"

2884-Isaiah 58:13 The Lord says, "If you treat the Sabbath as sacred and do not pursue your own interests on that day; if you value my holy day and honor it by not traveling, working, or talking idly on that day, 14 then you will find the joy that comes from serving me. I will make you honored all over the world, and you will enjoy the land I gave to your ancestor, Jacob. I, the Lord, have spoken."

2885-Deuteronomy 32:9 but Jacob's descendants he chose for himself.

Deuteronomy 32:13 "He let them rule the highlands, and they ate what grew in the fields. They found wild honey among the rocks; their olive trees flourished in stony ground.

2886-Jer. 17:24 "Tell these people that they must obey all my commands. They must not carry any load in through the gates of this city on the Sabbath. They must observe the Sabbath as a sacred day and must not do any work at all. 25 Then their kings and princes will enter the gates of Jerusalem and have the same royal power that David had. Together with the people of Judah and of Jerusalem, they will ride in chariots and on horses, and the city of Jerusalem will always be filled with people. 26 People will come from the towns of Judah and from the villages around Jerusalem; they will come from the territory of Benjamin, from the foothills, from the mountains, and from southern Judah. They will bring to my Temple burnt offerings and sacrifices, grain offerings and incense, as well as thank offerings. 27 But they must obey me and observe the Sabbath as a sacred day. They must not carry any load through the gates of Jerusalem on that day, for if they do, I will set the gates of Jerusalem on fire. Fire will burn down the palaces of Jerusalem, and no one will be able to put it out."

2887-Ex. 20:8 "Observe the Sabbath and keep it holy.

2888-1 John 3:22 We receive from him whatever we ask, because we obey his commands and do what pleases him.

2889-Isa. 58:5 When you fast, you make yourselves suffer; you bow your heads low like a blade of grass and spread out sackcloth and ashes to lie on. Is that what you call fasting? Do you think I will be pleased with that? 6 "The kind of fasting I want is this: Remove the chains of oppression and the yoke of injustice, and let the oppressed go free. 7 Share your food with the hungry and open your homes to the homeless poor. Give clothes to those who have nothing to wear, and do not refuse to help your own relatives. 8 "Then my favor will shine on you like the morning sun, and your wounds will be quickly healed. I will always be with you to save you; my presence will protect you on every side. 9 When you pray, I will answer you. When you call to me, I will respond. "If you put an end to oppression, to every gesture of contempt, and to every evil word; 10 if you give food to the hungry and satisfy those who are in need, then the darkness around you will turn to the brightness of noon. 11 And I will always guide you and satisfy you with good things. I will keep you strong and well. You will be like a garden that has plenty of water, like a spring of water that never goes dry. 12 Your people will rebuild what has long been in ruins, building again on the old foundations. You will be known as the people who rebuilt the walls, who restored the ruined houses."

2890-Isaiah 66:24 "As they leave, they will see the dead bodies of those who have rebelled against me. The worms that eat them will never die, and the fire that burns them will never be put out. The sight of them will be disgusting to all people."

2891-Mark 9:42 "If anyone should cause one of these little ones to lose faith in me, it would be better for that person to have a large millstone tied around the neck and be thrown into the sea. 43 So if your hand makes you lose your faith, cut it off! It is better for you to enter life without a hand than to keep both hands and go off to hell, to the fire that never goes out. 45 And if your foot makes you lose your faith, cut it off! It is better for you to enter life without a foot than to keep both feet and be thrown into hell. 47 And if your eye makes you lose your faith, take it out! It is better for you to enter the Kingdom of God with only one eye than to keep both eyes and be thrown into hell. 48 There "the worms that eat them never die, and the fire that burns them is never put out.' 49 "Everyone will be purified by fire as a sacrifice is purified by salt.

2892-Isaiah 66:17 The Lord says, "The end is near for those who purify themselves for pagan worship, who go in procession to sacred gardens, and who eat pork and mice and other disgusting foods. 18 I know their thoughts and their deeds. I am coming to gather the people of all the nations. When they come together, they will see what my power can do 19 and will know that I am the one who punishes them. "But I will spare some of them and send them to the nations and the distant lands that have not heard of my fame or seen my greatness and power: to Spain, Libya, and Lydia, with its skilled archers, and to Tubal and Greece. Among these nations they will proclaim my greatness. 20 They will bring back all your people from the nations as a gift to me. They will bring them to my sacred hill in Jerusalem on horses, mules, and camels, and in chariots and wagons, just as Israelites bring grain offerings to the Temple in ritually clean containers. 21 I will make some of them priests and Levites. 22 "Just as the new earth and the new heavens will endure by my power, so your descendants and your name will endure. 23 On every New Moon Festival and every Sabbath people of every nation will come to worship me here in Jerusalem," says the Lord. 24 "As they leave, they will see the dead bodies of those who have rebelled against me. The worms that eat them will never die, and the fire that burns them will never be put out. The sight of them will be disgusting to all people."

2893-Mark 9:44 Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched .

Rev. 20:14 Then death and the world of the dead were thrown into the lake of fire. (This lake of fire is the second death.) 15 Those who did not have their name written in the book of the living were thrown into the lake of fire.

2894-Isa 5:25 Therefore the anger of the LORD was kindled against his people, and he stretched out his hand against them and smote them, and the mountains quaked; and their corpses were as refuse in the midst of the streets. For all this his anger is not turned away and his hand is stretched out still.

Isaiah 34:3 Their slain shall be cast out, and the stench of their corpses shall rise; the mountains shall flow with their blood.

2895-Isa 48:22 "There is no peace," says the LORD, "for the wicked."

Isaiah 57:20 But the wicked are like the tossing sea; for it cannot rest, and its waters toss up mire and dirt.

2896-Mark 9:44 Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched .

Mark 9:46 Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched .

Mark 9:48 Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched .

2897-Mt 25:41 Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed , into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:

Matthew 25:46 And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.

Revelation 20:10 And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.

2898-Isaiah 66:24 And they shall go forth , and look upon the carcases of the men that have transgressed against me: for their worm shall not die , neither shall their fire be quenched ; and they shall be an abhorring unto all flesh.

2899-Revelation 14:8 A second angel followed the first one, saying, "She has fallen! Great Babylon has fallen! She made all peoples drink her wine - the strong wine of her immoral lust!"

Revelation 17:2 The kings of the earth practiced sexual immorality with her, and the people of the world became drunk from drinking the wine of her immorality."

2900-Jeremiah 36:4 So I called Baruch son of Neriah and dictated to him everything that the Lord had said to me. And Baruch wrote it all down on a scroll.

Jeremiah 36:27 After King Jehoiakim had burned the scroll that I had dictated to Baruch, the Lord told me 28 to take another scroll and write on it everything that had been on the first one.

Jeremiah 36:32 Then I took another scroll and gave it to my secretary Baruch, and he wrote down everything that I dictated. He wrote everything that had been on the first scroll and similar messages that I dictated to him.

2901-1 Kings 1:7 He talked with Joab (whose mother was Zeruiah) and with Abiathar the priest, and they agreed to support his cause.

1 Kings 2:26 Then King Solomon said to Abiathar the priest, "Go to your country home in Anathoth. You deserve to die, but I will not have you put to death now, for you were in charge of the Lord's Covenant Box while you were with my father David, and you shared in all his troubles." 27 Then Solomon dismissed Abiathar from serving as a priest of the Lord, and so made come true what the Lord had said in Shiloh about the priest Eli and his descendants.

2902-Jeremiah 11:18 The Lord informed me of the plots that my enemies were making against me. 19 I was like a trusting lamb taken out to be killed, and I did not know that it was against me that they were planning evil things. They were saying, "Let's chop down the tree while it is still healthy; let's kill him so that no one will remember him any more." 20 Then I prayed, "Almighty Lord, you are a just judge; you test people's thoughts and feelings. I have placed my cause in your hands; so let me watch you take revenge on these people." 21 The people of Anathoth wanted me killed, and they told me that they would kill me if I kept on proclaiming the Lord's message. 22 So the Lord Almighty said, "I will punish them! Their young men will be killed in war; their children will die of starvation. 23 I have set a time for bringing disaster on the people of Anathoth, and when that time comes, none of them will survive."

Jeremiah 12:1 "Lord, if I argued my case with you, you would prove to be right. Yet I must question you about matters of justice. Why are the wicked so prosperous? Why do dishonest people succeed? 2 You plant them, and they take root; they grow and bear fruit. They always speak well of you, yet they do not really care about you. 3 But, Lord, you know me; you see what I do and how I love you. Drag these evil people away like sheep to be butchered; guard them until it is time for them to be slaughtered. 4 How long will our land be dry, and the grass in every field be withered? Animals and birds are dying because of the wickedness of our people, people who say, "God doesn't see what we are doing.' " 5 The Lord said, "Jeremiah, if you get tired racing against people, how can you race against horses? If you can't even stand up in open country, how will you manage in the jungle by the Jordan?

Jeremiah 15:10 What an unhappy man I am! Why did my mother bring me into the world? I have to quarrel and argue with everyone in the land. I have not lent any money or borrowed any; yet everyone curses me. 11 Lord, may all their curses come true if I have not served you well, if I have not pleaded with you on behalf of my enemies when they were in trouble and distress 12 (No one can break iron, especially the iron from the north that is mixed with bronze.) 13 The Lord said to me, "I will send enemies to carry away the wealth and treasures of my people, in order to punish them for the sins they have committed throughout the land. 14 I will make them serve their enemies in a land they know nothing about, because my anger is like fire, and it will burn forever." 15 Then I said, "Lord, you understand. Remember me and help me. Let me have revenge on those who persecute me. Do not be so patient with them that they succeed in killing me. Remember that it is for your sake that I am insulted. 16 You spoke to me, and I listened to every word. I belong to you, Lord God Almighty, and so your words filled my heart with joy and happiness. 17 I did not spend my time with other people, laughing and having a good time. In obedience to your orders I stayed by myself and was filled with anger. 18 Why do I keep on suffering? Why are my wounds incurable? Why won't they heal? Do you intend to disappoint me like a stream that goes dry in the summer?"

Jeremiah 17:14 Lord, heal me and I will be completely well; rescue me and I will be perfectly safe. You are the one I praise! 15 The people say to me, "Where are those threats the Lord made against us? Let him carry them out now!" 16 But, Lord, I never urged you to bring disaster on them; I did not wish a time of trouble for them. Lord, you know this; you know what I have said. 17 Do not be a terror to me; you are my place of safety when trouble comes. 18 Bring disgrace on those who persecute me, but spare me, Lord. Fill them with terror, but do not terrify me. Bring disaster on them and break them to pieces.

Jeremiah 18:18 Then the people said, "Let's do something about Jeremiah! There will always be priests to instruct us, the wise to give us counsel, and prophets to proclaim God's message. Let's bring charges against him and stop listening to what he says." 19 So I prayed, "Lord, hear what I am saying and listen to what my enemies are saying about me. 20 Is evil the payment for good? Yet they have dug a pit for me to fall in. Remember how I came to you and spoke on their behalf, so that you would not deal with them in anger. 21 But now, Lord, let their children starve to death; let them be killed in war. Let the women lose their husbands and children; let the men die of disease and the young men be killed in battle. 22 Send a mob to plunder their homes without warning; make them cry out in terror. They have dug a pit for me to fall in and have set traps to catch me. 23 But, Lord, you know all their plots to kill me. Do not forgive their evil or pardon their sin. Throw them down in defeat and deal with them while you are angry."

Jeremiah 20:7 Lord, you have deceived me, and I was deceived. You are stronger than I am, and you have overpowered me. Everyone makes fun of me; they laugh at me all day long. 8 Whenever I speak, I have to cry out and shout, "Violence! Destruction!" Lord, I am ridiculed and scorned all the time because I proclaim your message. 9 But when I say, "I will forget the Lord and no longer speak in his name," then your message is like a fire burning deep within me. I try my best to hold it in, but can no longer keep it back. 10 I hear everybody whispering, "Terror is everywhere! So let's report him to the authorities!" Even my close friends wait for my downfall. "Perhaps he can be tricked," they say; "then we can catch him and get revenge." 11 But you, Lord, are on my side, strong and mighty, and those who persecute me will fail. They will be disgraced forever, because they cannot succeed. Their disgrace will never be forgotten. 12 But, Almighty Lord, you test people justly; you know what is in their hearts and minds. So let me see you take revenge on my enemies, for I have placed my cause in your hands. 13 Sing to the Lord! Praise the Lord! He rescues the oppressed from the power of evil people. 14 Curse the day I was born! Forget the day my mother gave me birth! 15 Curse the one who made my father glad by bringing him the news, "It's a boy! You have a son!" 16 May he be like those cities that the Lord destroyed without mercy. May he hear cries of pain in the morning and the battle alarm at noon, 17 for not killing me before I was born. Then my mother's womb would have been my grave. 18 Why was I born? Was it only to have trouble and sorrow, to end my life in disgrace?

2903-Jeremiah 1:4 The Lord said to me, 5 "I chose you before I gave you life, and before you were born I selected you to be a prophet to the nations." 6 I answered, "Sovereign Lord, I don't know how to speak; I am too young." 7 But the Lord said to me, "Do not say that you are too young, but go to the people I send you to, and tell them everything I command you to say. 8 Do not be afraid of them, for I will be with you to protect you. I, the Lord, have spoken!" 9 Then the Lord reached out, touched my lips, and said to me, "Listen, I am giving you the words you must speak. 10 Today I give you authority over nations and kingdoms to uproot and to pull down, to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant."

Jeremiah 6:11 Your anger against them burns in me too, Lord, and I can't hold it in any longer." Then the Lord said to me, "Pour out my anger on the children in the streets and on the gatherings of the young people. Husbands and wives will be taken away, and even the very old will not be spared.

Jeremiah 8:21 My heart has been crushed because my people are crushed; I mourn; I am completely dismayed. 22 Is there no medicine in Gilead? Are there no doctors there? Why, then, have my people not been healed?

Jeremiah 9:1 I wish my head were a well of water, and my eyes a fountain of tears, so that I could cry day and night for my people who have been killed.

2904-Jer.1:5 "I chose you before I gave you life, and before you were born I selected you to be a prophet to the nations." 6 I answered, "Sovereign Lord, I don't know how to speak; I am too young." 7 But the Lord said to me, "Do not say that you are too young, but go to the people I send you to, and tell them everything I command you to say. 8 Do not be afraid of them, for I will be with you to protect you. I, the Lord, have spoken!"

2905-Jer.15:10 What an unhappy man I am! Why did my mother bring me into the world? I have to quarrel and argue with everyone in the land. I have not lent any money or borrowed any; yet everyone curses me.

Jeremiah 20:7 Lord, you have deceived me, and I was deceived. You are stronger than I am, and you have overpowered me. Everyone makes fun of me; they laugh at me all day long. 8 Whenever I speak, I have to cry out and shout, "Violence! Destruction!" Lord, I am ridiculed and scorned all the time because I proclaim your message. 9 But when I say, "I will forget the Lord and no longer speak in his name," then your message is like a fire burning deep within me. I try my best to hold it in, but can no longer keep it back. 10 I hear everybody whispering, "Terror is everywhere! So let's report him to the authorities!" Even my close friends wait for my downfall. "Perhaps he can be tricked," they say; "then we can catch him and get revenge." 11 But you, Lord, are on my side, strong and mighty, and those who persecute me will fail. They will be disgraced forever, because they cannot succeed. Their disgrace will never be forgotten. 12 But, Almighty Lord, you test people justly; you know what is in their hearts and minds. So let me see you take revenge on my enemies, for I have placed my cause in your hands. 13 Sing to the Lord! Praise the Lord! He rescues the oppressed from the power of evil people. 14 Curse the day I was born! Forget the day my mother gave me birth! 15 Curse the one who made my father glad by bringing him the news, "It's a boy! You have a son!" 16 May he be like those cities that the Lord destroyed without mercy. May he hear cries of pain in the morning and the battle alarm at noon, 17 for not killing me before I was born. Then my mother's womb would have been my grave. 18 Why was I born? Was it only to have trouble and sorrow, to end my life in disgrace?

2906-Jer.1:6 I answered, "Sovereign Lord, I don't know how to speak; I am too young."

2907-Jer.16:1 Again the Lord spoke to me and said, 2 "Do not marry or have children in a place like this. 3 I will tell you what is going to happen to the children who are born here and to their parents. 4 They will die of terrible diseases, and no one will mourn for them or bury them. Their bodies will lie like piles of manure on the ground. They will be killed in war or die of starvation, and their bodies will be food for the birds and the wild animals.

2908-Jer.32:8 Then, just as the Lord had said, Hanamel came to me there in the courtyard and asked me to buy the field. So I knew that the Lord had really spoken to me. 9 I bought the field from Hanamel and weighed out the money to him; the price came to seventeen pieces of silver. 10 I signed and sealed the deed, had it witnessed, and weighed out the money on scales.

2909-Jer.26:8 and as soon as I had finished all that the Lord had commanded me to speak, they grabbed me and shouted, "You ought to be killed for this! 9 Why have you said in the Lord's name that this Temple will become like Shiloh and that this city will be destroyed and no one will live in it?" Then the people crowded around me.

Jeremiah 27:16 Then I told the priests and the people that the Lord had said: "Do not listen to the prophets who say that the Temple treasures will soon be brought back from Babylonia. They are lying to you. 17 Don't listen to them! Submit to the king of Babylonia and you will live! Why should this city become a pile of ruins? 18 If they are really prophets and if they have my message, let them ask me, the Lord Almighty, not to allow the treasures that remain in the Temple and in the royal palace to be taken to Babylonia."

2910-Jer.11:21 The people of Anathoth wanted me killed, and they told me that they would kill me if I kept on proclaiming the Lord's message.

Jeremiah 12:6 Even your relatives, members of your own family, have betrayed you; they join in the attacks against you. Do not trust them, even though they speak friendly words."

2911-Matt. 13:57 And so they rejected him. Jesus said to them, "A prophet is respected everywhere except in his hometown and by his own family."

2912-Jer.25:13 I will punish Babylonia with all the disasters that I threatened to bring on the nations when I spoke through Jeremiah - all the disasters recorded in this book.

2913-Jer.9:1 I wish my head were a well of water, and my eyes a fountain of tears, so that I could cry day and night for my people who have been killed.

Jeremiah 9:10 I said, "I will mourn for the mountains and weep for the pastures, because they have dried up, and no one travels through them. The sound of livestock is no longer heard; birds and wild animals have fled and gone."

2914-2 Kings 22:8 Shaphan delivered the king's order to Hilkiah, and Hilkiah told him that he had found the book of the Law in the Temple. Hilkiah gave him the book, and Shaphan read it. 9 Then he went back to the king and reported: "Your servants have taken the money that was in the Temple and have handed it over to the men in charge of the repairs." 10 And then he said, "I have here a book that Hilkiah gave me." And he read it aloud to the king. 11 When the king heard the book being read, he tore his clothes in dismay, 12 and gave the following order to Hilkiah the priest, to Ahikam son of Shaphan, to Achbor son of Micaiah, to Shaphan, the court secretary, and to Asaiah, the king's attendant: 13 "Go and consult the Lord for me and for all the people of Judah about the teachings of this book. The Lord is angry with us because our ancestors have not done what this book says must be done." 14 Hilkiah, Ahikam, Achbor, Shaphan, and Asaiah went to consult a woman named Huldah, a prophet who lived in the newer part of Jerusalem. (Her husband Shallum, the son of Tikvah and grandson of Harhas, was in charge of the Temple robes.) They described to her what had happened,

2915-Jer.7:1 The Lord sent me to the gate of the Temple where the people of Judah went in to worship. He told me to stand there and announce what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, had to say to them: "Change the way you are living and the things you are doing, and I will let you go on living here. 4 Stop believing those deceitful words, "We are safe! This is the Lord's Temple, this is the Lord's Temple, this is the Lord's Temple!' 5 "Change the way you are living and stop doing the things you are doing. Be fair in your treatment of one another. 6 Stop taking advantage of aliens, orphans, and widows. Stop killing innocent people in this land. Stop worshiping other gods, for that will destroy you. 7 If you change, I will let you go on living here in the land which I gave your ancestors as a permanent possession. 8 "Look, you put your trust in deceitful words. 9 You steal, murder, commit adultery, tell lies under oath, offer sacrifices to Baal, and worship gods that you had not known before. 10 You do these things I hate, and then you come and stand in my presence, in my own Temple, and say, "We are safe!' 11 Do you think that my Temple is a hiding place for robbers? I have seen what you are doing. 12 Go to Shiloh, the first place where I chose to be worshiped, and see what I did to it because of the sins of my people Israel. 13 You have committed all these sins, and even though I spoke to you over and over again, you refused to listen. You would not answer when I called you. 14 And so, what I did to Shiloh I will do to this Temple of mine, in which you trust. Here in this place that I gave to your ancestors and you, I will do the same thing that I did to Shiloh. 15 I will drive you out of my sight as I drove out your relatives, the people of Israel. I, the Lord, have spoken." 16 The Lord said, "Jeremiah, do not pray for these people. Do not cry or pray on their behalf; do not plead with me, for I will not listen to you. 17 Don't you see what they are doing in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem? 18 The children gather firewood, the men build fires, and the women mix dough to bake cakes for the goddess they call the Queen of Heaven. They also pour out offerings of wine to other gods, in order to hurt me. 19 But am I really the one they are hurting? No, they are hurting themselves and bringing shame on themselves. 20 And so I, the Sovereign Lord, will pour out my fierce anger on this Temple. I will pour it out on people and animals alike, and even on the trees and the crops. My anger will be like a fire that no one can put out.

2916-Jer.11:1 The Lord said to me, 2 "Listen to the terms of the covenant. Tell the people of Judah and of Jerusalem 3 that I, the Lord God of Israel, have placed a curse on everyone who does not obey the terms of this covenant. 4 It is the covenant I made with their ancestors when I brought them out of Egypt, the land that was like a blazing furnace to them. I told them to obey me and to do everything that I had commanded. I told them that if they obeyed, they would be my people and I would be their God. 5 Then I would keep the promise I made to their ancestors that I would give them the rich and fertile land which they now have." I said, "Yes, Lord." 6 Then the Lord said to me, "Go to the cities of Judah and to the streets of Jerusalem. Proclaim my message there and tell the people to listen to the terms of the covenant and to obey them. 7 When I brought their ancestors out of Egypt, I solemnly warned them to obey me, and I have kept on warning the people until this day. 8 But they did not listen or obey. Instead, everyone continued to be as stubborn and evil as ever. I had commanded them to keep the covenant, but they refused. So I brought on them all the punishments described in it." 9 Then the Lord said to me, "The people of Judah and of Jerusalem are plotting against me. 10 They have gone back to the sins of their ancestors, who refused to do what I said; they have worshiped other gods. Both Israel and Judah have broken the covenant that I made with their ancestors. 11 So now I, the Lord, warn them that I am going to bring destruction on them, and they will not escape. And when they cry out to me for help, I will not listen to them. 12 Then the people of Judah and of Jerusalem will go to the gods to whom they offer sacrifices and will cry out to them for help. But those gods will not be able to save them when this destruction comes. 13 The people of Judah have as many gods as they have cities, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem have set up as many altars for sacrifices to that disgusting god Baal as there are streets in the city. 14 Jeremiah, don't pray to me or plead with me on behalf of these people. When they are in trouble and call to me for help, I will not listen to them." 15 The Lord says, "The people I love are doing evil things. What right do they have to be in my Temple? Do they think they can prevent disaster by making promises and by offering animal sacrifices? Will they then rejoice? 16 I once called them a leafy olive tree, full of beautiful fruit; but now, with a roar like thunder I will set its leaves on fire and break its branches. 17 "I, the Lord Almighty, planted Israel and Judah; but now I threaten them with disaster. They have brought this on themselves because they have done wrong; they have made me angry by offering sacrifices to Baal."

2917-Jer.26:1 Soon after Jehoiakim son of Josiah became king of Judah, 2 the Lord said to me, "Stand in the court of the Temple and proclaim all I have commanded you to say to the people who come from the towns of Judah to worship there. Do not leave out anything. 3 Perhaps the people will listen and give up their evil ways. If they do, then I will change my mind about the destruction I plan to bring on them for all their wicked deeds." 4 The Lord told me to say to the people, "I, the Lord, have said that you must obey me by following the teaching that I gave you, 5 and by paying attention to the words of my servants, the prophets, whom I have kept on sending to you. You have never obeyed what they said. 6 If you continue to disobey, then I will do to this Temple what I did to Shiloh, and all the nations of the world will use the name of this city as a curse." 7 The priests, the prophets, and all the people heard me saying these things in the Temple, 8 and as soon as I had finished all that the Lord had commanded me to speak, they grabbed me and shouted, "You ought to be killed for this! 9 Why have you said in the Lord's name that this Temple will become like Shiloh and that this city will be destroyed and no one will live in it?" Then the people crowded around me. 10 When the leaders of Judah heard what had happened, they hurried from the royal palace to the Temple and took their places at the New Gate. 11 Then the priests and the prophets said to the leaders and to the people, "This man deserves to be sentenced to death because he has spoken against our city. You heard him with your own ears." 12 Then I said, "The Lord sent me to proclaim everything that you heard me say against this Temple and against this city. 13 You must change the way you are living and the things you are doing, and must obey the Lord your God. If you do, he will change his mind about the destruction that he said he would bring on you. 14 As for me, I am in your power! Do with me whatever you think is fair and right. 15 But be sure of this: if you kill me, you and the people of this city will be guilty of killing an innocent man, because it is the Lord who sent me to give you this warning." 16 Then the leaders and the people said to the priests and the prophets, "This man spoke to us in the name of the Lord our God; he should not be put to death." 17 After that, some of the elders stood up and said to the people who had gathered, 18 "When Hezekiah was king of Judah, the prophet Micah of Moresheth told all the people that the Lord Almighty had said, "Zion will be plowed like a field; Jerusalem will become a pile of ruins, and the Temple hill will become a forest.' 19 King Hezekiah and the people of Judah did not put Micah to death. Instead, Hezekiah honored the Lord and tried to win his favor. And the Lord changed his mind about the disaster that he said he would bring on them. Now we are about to bring a terrible disaster on ourselves." 20 (There was another man, Uriah son of Shemaiah from Kiriath Jearim, who spoke in the name of the Lord against this city and nation just as Jeremiah did. 21 When King Jehoiakim and his soldiers and officials heard what Uriah had said, the king tried to have him killed. But Uriah heard about it; so he fled in terror and escaped to Egypt. 22 King Jehoiakim, however, sent Elnathan son of Achbor and some other men to Egypt to get Uriah. 23 They brought him back to King Jehoiakim, who had him killed and his body thrown into the public burial ground.) 24 But because I had the support of Ahikam son of Shaphan, I was not handed over to the people and killed.

2918-Jer.27:1 Soon after Josiah's son Zedekiah became king of Judah, the Lord told me 2 to make myself a yoke out of leather straps and wooden crossbars and to put it on my neck. 3 Then the Lord told me to send a message to the kings of Edom, Moab, Ammon, Tyre, and Sidon through their ambassadors who had come to Jerusalem to see King Zedekiah. 4 The Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, told me to command them to tell their kings that the Lord had said: 5 "By my great power and strength I created the world, human beings, and all the animals that live on the earth; and I give it to anyone I choose. 6 I am the one who has placed all these nations under the power of my servant, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia, and I have made even the wild animals serve him. 7 All nations will serve him, and they will serve his son and his grandson until the time comes for his own nation to fall. Then his nation will serve powerful nations and great kings. 8 "But if any nation or kingdom will not submit to his rule, then I will punish that nation by war, starvation, and disease until I have let Nebuchadnezzar destroy it completely. 9 Do not listen to your prophets or to those who claim they can predict the future, either by dreams or by calling up the spirits of the dead or by magic. They all tell you not to submit to the king of Babylonia. 10 They are deceiving you and will cause you to be taken far away from your country. I will drive you out, and you will be destroyed. 11 But if any nation submits to the king of Babylonia and serves him, then I will let it stay on in its own land, to farm it and live there. I, the Lord, have spoken." 12 I said the same thing to King Zedekiah of Judah, "Submit to the king of Babylonia. Serve him and his people, and you will live. 13 Why should you and your people die in war or of starvation or disease? That is what the Lord has said will happen to any nation that does not submit to the king of Babylonia. 14 Do not listen to the prophets who tell you not to surrender to him. They are deceiving you. 15 The Lord himself has said that he did not send them and that they are lying to you in his name. And so he will drive you out, and you will be killed, you and the prophets who are telling you these lies." 16 Then I told the priests and the people that the Lord had said: "Do not listen to the prophets who say that the Temple treasures will soon be brought back from Babylonia. They are lying to you. 17 Don't listen to them! Submit to the king of Babylonia and you will live! Why should this city become a pile of ruins? 18 If they are really prophets and if they have my message, let them ask me, the Lord Almighty, not to allow the treasures that remain in the Temple and in the royal palace to be taken to Babylonia." 19 (When King Nebuchadnezzar took away to Babylonia the king of Judah, Jehoiachin son of Jehoiakim, and the leading men of Judah and Jerusalem, he left the columns, the bronze tank, the carts, and some of the other Temple treasures.) 21 "Listen to what I, the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, say about the treasures that are left in the Temple and in the royal palace in Jerusalem:

Jeremiah 28:1 That same year, in the fifth month of the fourth year that Zedekiah was king, Hananiah son of Azzur, a prophet from the town of Gibeon, spoke to me in the Temple. In the presence of the priests and of the people he told me 2 that the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, had said: "I have broken the power of the king of Babylonia. 3 Within two years I will bring back to this place all the Temple treasures that King Nebuchadnezzar took to Babylonia. 4 I will also bring back the king of Judah, Jehoiachin son of Jehoiakim, along with all of the people of Judah who went into exile in Babylonia. Yes, I will break the power of the king of Babylonia. I, the Lord, have spoken." 5 Then in the presence of the priests and of all the people who were standing in the Temple, I said to Hananiah, 6 "Wonderful! I hope the Lord will do this! I certainly hope he will make your prophecy come true and will bring back from Babylonia all the Temple treasures and all the people who were taken away as prisoners. 7 But listen to what I say to you and to the people. 8 The prophets who spoke long ago, before my time and yours, predicted that war, starvation, and disease would come to many nations and powerful kingdoms. 9 But a prophet who predicts peace can only be recognized as a prophet whom the Lord has truly sent when that prophet's predictions come true." 10 Then Hananiah took the yoke off my neck, broke it in pieces, 11 and said in the presence of all the people, "The Lord has said that this is how he will break the yoke that King Nebuchadnezzar has put on the neck of all the nations; and he will do this within two years." Then I left. 12 Some time after this the Lord told me 13 to go and tell Hananiah: "The Lord has said that you may be able to break a wooden yoke, but he will replace it with an iron yoke. 14 The Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, has said that he will put an iron yoke on all these nations and that they will serve King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia. The Lord has said that he will make even the wild animals serve Nebuchadnezzar." 15 Then I told Hananiah this, and added, "Listen, Hananiah! The Lord did not send you, and you are making these people believe a lie. 16 And so the Lord himself says that he is going to get rid of you. Before this year is over you will die because you have told the people to rebel against the Lord." 17 And Hananiah died in the seventh month of that same year

2919-Jer.28:10 Then Hananiah took the yoke off my neck, broke it in pieces, 11 and said in the presence of all the people, "The Lord has said that this is how he will break the yoke that King Nebuchadnezzar has put on the neck of all the nations; and he will do this within two years." Then I left. 12 Some time after this the Lord told me 13 to go and tell Hananiah: "The Lord has said that you may be able to break a wooden yoke, but he will replace it with an iron yoke. 14 The Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, has said that he will put an iron yoke on all these nations and that they will serve King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia. The Lord has said that he will make even the wild animals serve Nebuchadnezzar."

2920-Jeremiah 2:1 The Lord told me 2 to proclaim this message to everyone in Jerusalem. "I remember how faithful you were when you were young, how you loved me when we were first married; you followed me through the desert, through a land that had not been planted. 3 Israel, you belonged to me alone; you were my sacred possession. I sent suffering and disaster on everyone who hurt you. I, the Lord, have spoken."

Jer. 31:18 "I hear the people of Israel say in grief, "Lord, we were like an untamed animal, but you taught us to obey. Bring us back; we are ready to return to you, the Lord our God. 19 We turned away from you, but soon we wanted to return. After you had punished us, we hung our heads in grief. We were ashamed and disgraced because we sinned when we were young.' 20 "Israel, you are my dearest child, the one I love best. Whenever I mention your name, I think of you with love. My heart goes out to you; I will be merciful.

Ezekiel 20:4 "Are you ready to pass sentence on them, mortal man? Then do so. Remind them of the disgusting things their ancestors did. 5 Tell them what I am saying. When I chose Israel, I made them a promise. I revealed myself to them in Egypt and told them: I am the Lord your God. 6 It was then that I promised to take them out of Egypt and lead them to a land I had chosen for them, a rich and fertile land, the finest land of all. 7 I told them to throw away the disgusting idols they loved and not to make themselves unclean with the false gods of Egypt, because I am the Lord their God. 8 But they defied me and refused to listen. They did not throw away their disgusting idols or give up the Egyptian gods. I was ready to let them feel the full force of my anger there in Egypt. 9 But I did not, since that would have brought dishonor to my name, for in the presence of the people among whom they were living I had announced to Israel that I was going to lead them out of Egypt. 10 "And so I led them out of Egypt into the desert. 11 I gave them my commands and taught them my laws, which bring life to anyone who obeys them. 12 I made the keeping of the Sabbath a sign of the agreement between us, to remind them that I, the Lord, make them holy. 13 But even in the desert they defied me. They broke my laws and rejected my commands, which bring life to anyone who obeys them. They completely profaned the Sabbath. I was ready to let them feel the force of my anger there in the desert and to destroy them. 14 But I did not, since that would have brought dishonor to my name among the nations which had seen me lead Israel out of Egypt. 15 So I made a vow in the desert that I would not take them to the land I had given them, a rich and fertile land, the finest land of all. 16 I made the vow because they had rejected my commands, broken my laws, and profaned the Sabbath - they preferred to worship their idols. 17 "But then I took pity on them. I decided not to kill them there in the desert. 18 Instead, I warned the young people among them: Do not keep the laws your ancestors made; do not follow their customs or defile yourselves with their idols. 19 I am the Lord your God. Obey my laws and my commands. 20 Make the Sabbath a holy day, so that it will be a sign of the covenant we made, and will remind you that I am the Lord your God. 21 "But that generation also defied me. They broke my laws and did not keep my commands, which bring life to anyone who obeys them. They profaned the Sabbath. I was ready to let them feel the force of my anger there in the desert and to kill them all. 22 But I did not, since that would have brought dishonor to my name among the nations which had seen me bring Israel out of Egypt. 23 So I made another vow in the desert. I vowed that I would scatter them all over the world. 24 I did this because they had rejected my commands, broken my laws, profaned the Sabbath, and worshiped the same idols their ancestors had served. 25 "Then I gave them laws that are not good and commands that do not bring life. 26 I let them defile themselves with their own offerings, and I let them sacrifice their first-born sons. This was to punish them and show them that I am the Lord.

2921-Isaiah 54:4 Do not be afraid - you will not be disgraced again; you will not be humiliated. You will forget your unfaithfulness as a young wife, and your desperate loneliness as a widow. 5 Your Creator will be like a husband to you - the Lord Almighty is his name. The holy God of Israel will save you - he is the ruler of all the world. 6 Israel, you are like a young wife, deserted by her husband and deeply distressed. But the Lord calls you back to him and says: 7 "For one brief moment I left you; with deep love I will take you back. 8 I turned away angry for only a moment, but I will show you my love forever." So says the Lord who saves you. 9 "In the time of Noah I promised never again to flood the earth. Now I promise not to be angry with you again; I will not reprimand or punish you. 10 The mountains and hills may crumble, but my love for you will never end; I will keep forever my promise of peace." So says the Lord who loves you. 11 The Lord says, "O Jerusalem, you suffering, helpless city, with no one to comfort you, I will rebuild your foundations with precious stones. 12 I will build your towers with rubies, your gates with stones that glow like fire, and the wall around you with jewels. 13 "I myself will teach your people and give them prosperity and peace. 14 Justice and right will make you strong. You will be safe from oppression and terror. 15 Whoever attacks you, does it without my consent; whoever fights against you will fall. 16 "I create the blacksmith, who builds a fire and forges weapons. I also create the soldier, who uses the weapons to kill. 17 But no weapon will be able to hurt you; you will have an answer for all who accuse you. I will defend my servants and give them victory." The Lord has spoken.

Ezekiel 16:1 The Lord spoke to me again. 2 "Mortal man," he said, "point out to Jerusalem what disgusting things she has done. 3 Tell Jerusalem what the Sovereign Lord is saying to her: "You were born in the land of Canaan. Your father was an Amorite, and your mother was a Hittite. 4 When you were born, no one cut your umbilical cord or washed you or rubbed you with salt or wrapped you in cloths. 5 No one took enough pity on you to do any of these things for you. When you were born, no one loved you. You were thrown out in an open field. 6 "Then I passed by and saw you squirming in your own blood. You were covered with blood, but I wouldn't let you die. 7 I made you grow like a healthy plant. You grew strong and tall and became a young woman. Your breasts were well-formed, and your hair had grown, but you were naked. 8 "As I passed by again, I saw that the time had come for you to fall in love. I covered your naked body with my coat and promised to love you. Yes, I made a marriage covenant with you, and you became mine." This is what the Sovereign Lord says. 9 "Then I took water and washed the blood off you. I rubbed olive oil on your skin. 10 I dressed you in embroidered gowns and gave you shoes of the best leather, a linen headband, and a silk cloak. 11 I put jewels on you - bracelets and necklaces. 12 I gave you a nose ring and earrings and a beautiful crown to wear. 13 You had ornaments of gold and silver, and you always wore clothes of embroidered linen and silk. You ate bread made from the best flour, and had honey and olive oil to eat. Your beauty was dazzling, and you became a queen. 14 You became famous in every nation for your perfect beauty, because I was the one who made you so lovely." This is what the Sovereign Lord says. 15 "But you took advantage of your beauty and fame to sleep with everyone who came along. 16 You used some of your clothes to decorate your places of worship, and just like a prostitute, you gave yourself to everyone. 17 You took the silver and gold jewelry that I had given you, used it to make male images, and committed adultery with them. 18 You took the embroidered clothes I gave you and put them on the images, and you offered to the images the olive oil and incense I had given you. 19 I gave you food - the best flour, olive oil, and honey - but you offered it as a sacrifice to win the favor of idols." This is what the Sovereign Lord says. 20 "Then you took the sons and the daughters you had borne me and offered them as sacrifices to idols. Wasn't it bad enough to be unfaithful to me, 21 without taking my children and sacrificing them to idols? 22 During your disgusting life as a prostitute you never once remembered your childhood - when you were naked, squirming in your own blood." 23 The Sovereign Lord said, "You are doomed! Doomed! You did all that evil, and then 24 by the side of every road you built places to worship idols and practice prostitution. 25 You dragged your beauty through the mud. You offered yourself to everyone who came by, and you were more of a prostitute every day. 26 You let your lustful neighbors, the Egyptians, go to bed with you, and you used your prostitution to make me angry. 27 "Now I have raised my hand to punish you and to take away your share of my blessing. I have handed you over to the Philistines, who hate you and are disgusted with your immoral actions. 28 "Because you were not satisfied by the others, you went running after the Assyrians. You were their prostitute, but they didn't satisfy you either. 29 You were also a prostitute for the Babylonians, that nation of merchants, but they didn't satisfy you either." 30 This is what the Sovereign Lord is saying: "You have done all this like a shameless prostitute. 31 On every street you built places to worship idols and practice prostitution. But you are not out for money like a common prostitute. 32 You are like a woman who commits adultery with strangers instead of loving her husband. 33 A prostitute is paid, but you gave presents to all your lovers and bribed them to come from everywhere to sleep with you. 34 You are a special kind of prostitute. No one forced you to become one. You didn't get paid; you paid them! Yes, you are different." 35 Now then, Jerusalem, you whore! Hear what the Lord is saying. 36 This is what the Sovereign Lord says: "You stripped off your clothes, and like a prostitute, you gave yourself to your lovers and to all your disgusting idols, and you killed your children as sacrifices to idols. 37 Because of this I will bring all your former lovers together - the ones you liked and the ones you hated. I will bring them around you in a circle, and then I will strip off your clothes and let them see you naked. 38 I will condemn you for adultery and murder, and in my anger and fury I will punish you with death. 39 I will put you in their power, and they will tear down the places where you engage in prostitution and worship idols. They will take away your clothes and jewels and leave you completely naked. 40 "They will stir up a crowd to stone you, and they will cut you to pieces with their swords. 41 They will burn your houses down and let crowds of women see your punishment. I will make you stop being a prostitute and make you stop giving gifts to your lovers. 42 Then my anger will be over, and I will be calm. I will not be angry or jealous any more. 43 You have forgotten how I treated you when you were young, and you have made me angry by all the things you did. That is why I have made you pay for them all. Why did you add sexual immorality to all the other disgusting things you did?" The Sovereign Lord has spoken. 44 The Lord said, "People will use this proverb about you, Jerusalem: "Like mother, like daughter.' 45 You really are your mother's daughter. She detested her husband and her children. You are like your sisters, who hated their husbands and their children. You and your sister cities had a Hittite mother and an Amorite father. 46 "Your older sister, with her villages, is Samaria, in the north. Your younger sister, with her villages, is Sodom, in the south. 47 Were you satisfied to follow in their footsteps and copy their disgusting actions? No, in only a little while you were acting worse than they were in everything you did. 48 "As surely as I am the living God," the Sovereign Lord says, "your sister Sodom and her villages never did the evil that you and your villages have done. 49 She and her daughters were proud because they had plenty to eat and lived in peace and quiet, but they did not take care of the poor and the underprivileged. 50 They were proud and stubborn and did the things that I hate, so I destroyed them, as you well know. 51 "Samaria did not sin half as much as you have. You have acted more disgustingly than she ever did. Your corruption makes your sisters look innocent by comparison. 52 And now you will have to endure your disgrace. Your sins are so much worse than those of your sisters that they look innocent beside you. Now blush and bear your shame, because you make your sisters look pure." 53 The Lord said to Jerusalem, "I will make them prosperous again - Sodom and her villages and Samaria and her villages. Yes, I will make you prosperous too. 54 You will be ashamed of yourself, and your disgrace will show your sisters how well-off they are. 55 They will become prosperous again, and you and your villages will also be restored. 56 Didn't you joke about Sodom in those days when you were proud 57 and before the evil you did had been exposed? Now you are just like her - a joke to the Edomites, the Philistines, and your other neighbors who hate you. 58 You must suffer for the obscene, disgusting things you have done." The Lord has spoken. 59 The Sovereign Lord says, "I will treat you the way you deserve, because you ignored your promises and broke the covenant. 60 But I will honor the covenant I made with you when you were young, and I will make a covenant with you that will last forever. 61 You will remember how you have acted, and be ashamed of it when you get your older sister and your younger sister back. I will let them be like daughters to you, even though this was not part of my covenant with you. 62 I will renew my covenant with you, and you will know that I am the Lord. 63 I will forgive all the wrongs you have done, but you will remember them and be too ashamed to open your mouth." The Sovereign Lord has spoken.

Hosea 1:1 This is the message which the Lord gave Hosea son of Beeri during the time that Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah were kings of Judah, and Jeroboam son of Jehoash was king of Israel. 2 When the Lord first spoke to Israel through Hosea, he said to Hosea, "Go and get married; your wife will be unfaithful, and your children will be just like her. In the same way my people have left me and become unfaithful." 3 So Hosea married a woman named Gomer, the daughter of Diblaim. After the birth of their first child, a son, 4 the Lord said to Hosea, "Name him "Jezreel,' because it will not be long before I punish the king of Israel for the murders that his ancestor Jehu committed at Jezreel. I am going to put an end to Jehu's dynasty. 5 And in Jezreel Valley I will at that time destroy Israel's military power." 6 Gomer had a second child - this time it was a daughter. The Lord said to Hosea, "Name her "Unloved,' because I will no longer show love to the people of Israel or forgive them. 7 But to the people of Judah I will show love. I, the Lord their God, will save them, but I will not do it by war - with swords or bows and arrows or with horses and horsemen." 8 After Gomer had weaned her daughter, she became pregnant again and had another son. 9 The Lord said to Hosea, "Name him "Not-My-People,' because the people of Israel are not my people, and I am not their God." 10 The people of Israel will become like the sand of the sea, more than can be counted or measured. Now God says to them, "You are not my people," but the day is coming when he will say to them, "You are the children of the living God!" 11 The people of Judah and the people of Israel will be reunited. They will choose for themselves a single leader, and once again they will grow and prosper in their land. Yes, the day of Jezreel will be a great day!

Hosea 2:1 So call your fellow Israelites "God's People" and "Loved-by-the-Lord." 2 My children, plead with your mother - though she is no longer a wife to me, and I am no longer her husband. Plead with her to stop her adultery and prostitution. 3 If she does not, I will strip her as naked as she was on the day she was born. I will make her like a dry and barren land, and she will die of thirst. 4 I will not show mercy to her children; they are the children of a shameless prostitute. She herself said, "I will go to my lovers - they give me food and water, wool and linen, olive oil and wine." 6 So I am going to fence her in with thorn bushes and build a wall to block her way. 7 She will run after her lovers but will not catch them. She will look for them but will not find them. Then she will say, "I am going back to my first husband - I was better off then than I am now." 8 She would never acknowledge that I am the one who gave her the grain, the wine, the olive oil, and all the silver and gold that she used in the worship of Baal. 9 So at harvest time I will take back my gifts of grain and wine, and will take away the wool and the linen I gave her for clothing. 10 I will strip her naked in front of her lovers, and no one will be able to save her from my power. 11 I will put an end to all her festivities - her annual and monthly festivals and her Sabbath celebrations - all her religious meetings. 12 I will destroy her grapevines and her fig trees, which she said her lovers gave her for serving them. I will turn her vineyards and orchards into a wilderness; wild animals will destroy them. 13 I will punish her for the times that she forgot me, when she burned incense to Baal and put on her jewelry to go chasing after her lovers. The Lord has spoken. 14 So I am going to take her into the desert again; there I will win her back with words of love. 15 I will give back to her the vineyards she had and make Trouble Valley a door of hope. She will respond to me there as she did when she was young, when she came from Egypt. 16 Then once again she will call me her husband - she will no longer call me her Baal. 17 I will never let her speak the name of Baal again. 18 At that time I will make a covenant with all the wild animals and birds, so that they will not harm my people. I will also remove all weapons of war from the land, all swords and bows, and will let my people live in peace and safety. 19 Israel, I will make you my wife; I will be true and faithful; I will show you constant love and mercy and make you mine forever. 20 I will keep my promise and make you mine, and you will acknowledge me as Lord. 21 At that time I will answer the prayers of my people Israel. I will make rain fall on the earth, and the earth will produce grain and grapes and olives. 23 I will establish my people in the land and make them prosper. I will show love to those who were called "Unloved," and to those who were called "Not-My-People" I will say, "You are my people," and they will answer, "You are our God."

Hosea 3:1 The Lord said to me, "Go again and show your love for a woman who is committing adultery with a lover. You must love her just as I still love the people of Israel, even though they turn to other gods and like to take offerings of raisins to idols." 2 So I paid fifteen pieces of silver and seven bushels of barley to buy her. 3 I told her that for a long time she would have to wait for me without being a prostitute or committing adultery; and during this time I would wait for her. 4 In just this way the people of Israel will have to live for a long time without kings or leaders, without sacrifices or sacred stone pillars, without idols or images to use for divination. 5 But the time will come when the people of Israel will once again turn to the Lord their God and to a descendant of David their king. Then they will fear the Lord and will receive his good gifts.

2922-Jeremiah 2:11 No other nation has ever changed its gods, even though they were not real. But my people have exchanged me, the God who has brought them honor, for gods that can do nothing for them.

Jeremiah 3:13 Only admit that you are guilty and that you have rebelled against the Lord, your God. Confess that under every green tree you have given your love to foreign gods and that you have not obeyed my commands. I, the Lord, have spoken.

Jeremiah 7:16 The Lord said, "Jeremiah, do not pray for these people. Do not cry or pray on their behalf; do not plead with me, for I will not listen to you. 17 Don't you see what they are doing in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem? 18 The children gather firewood, the men build fires, and the women mix dough to bake cakes for the goddess they call the Queen of Heaven. They also pour out offerings of wine to other gods, in order to hurt me. 19 But am I really the one they are hurting? No, they are hurting themselves and bringing shame on themselves.

2923-Revelation 12:4 With his tail he dragged a third of the stars out of the sky and threw them down to the earth. He stood in front of the woman, in order to eat her child as soon as it was born.

2924-1 Samuel 5:1 After the Philistines captured the Covenant Box, they carried it from Ebenezer to their city of Ashdod, 2 took it into the temple of their god Dagon, and set it up beside his statue. 3 Early the next morning the people of Ashdod saw that the statue of Dagon had fallen face downward on the ground in front of the Lord's Covenant Box. So they lifted it up and put it back in its place. 4 Early the following morning they saw that the statue had again fallen down in front of the Covenant Box. This time its head and both its arms were broken off and were lying in the doorway; only the body was left. 5 (That is why even today the priests of Dagon and all his worshipers in Ashdod step over that place and do not walk on it.)

2925-Isaiah 44:9 All those who make idols are worthless, and the gods they prize so highly are useless. Those who worship these gods are blind and ignorant - and they will be disgraced. 10 It does no good to make a metal image to worship as a god! 11 Everyone who worships it will be humiliated. The people who make idols are human beings and nothing more. Let them come and stand trial - they will be terrified and will suffer disgrace. 12 The metalworker takes a piece of metal and works with it over a fire. His strong arm swings a hammer to pound the metal into shape. As he works, he gets hungry, thirsty, and tired. 13 The carpenter measures the wood. He outlines a figure with chalk, carves it out with his tools, and makes it in the form of a man, a handsome human figure, to be placed in his house. 14 He might cut down cedars to use, or choose oak or cypress wood from the forest. Or he might plant a laurel tree and wait for the rain to make it grow. 15 A person uses part of a tree for fuel and part of it for making an idol. With one part he builds a fire to warm himself and bake bread; with the other part he makes a god and worships it. 16 With some of the wood he makes a fire; he roasts meat, eats it, and is satisfied. He warms himself and says, "How nice and warm! What a beautiful fire!" 17 The rest of the wood he makes into an idol, and then he bows down and worships it. He prays to it and says, "You are my god - save me!" 18 Such people are too stupid to know what they are doing. They close their eyes and their minds to the truth. 19 The maker of idols hasn't the wit or the sense to say, "Some of the wood I burned up. I baked some bread on the coals, and I roasted meat and ate it. And the rest of the wood I made into an idol. Here I am bowing down to a block of wood!" 20 It makes as much sense as eating ashes. His foolish ideas have so misled him that he is beyond help. He won't admit to himself that the idol he holds in his hand is not a god at all.

Jeremiah 2:27 You will all be disgraced - you that say that a tree is your father and that a rock is your mother. This will happen because you turned away from me instead of turning to me. But when you are in trouble, you ask me to come and save you.

Jeremiah 3:9 and was not at all ashamed. She defiled the land, and she committed adultery by worshiping stones and trees.

Jeremiah 10:2 He says, "Do not follow the ways of other nations; do not be disturbed by unusual sights in the sky, even though other nations are terrified. 3 The religion of these people is worthless. A tree is cut down in the forest; it is carved by the tools of the woodworker 4 and decorated with silver and gold. It is fastened down with nails to keep it from falling over. 5 Such idols are like scarecrows in a field of melons; they cannot speak; they have to be carried because they cannot walk. Do not be afraid of them: they can cause you no harm, and they can do you no good." 6 Lord, there is no one like you; you are mighty, and your name is great and powerful. 7 Who would not honor you, the king of all nations? You deserve to be honored. There is no one like you among all the wise men of the nations or among any of their kings. 8 All of them are stupid and foolish. What can they learn from wooden idols? 9 Their idols are covered with silver from Spain and with gold from Uphaz, all the work of artists; they are dressed in violet and purple cloth woven by skilled weavers. 10 But you, Lord, are the true God, you are the living God and the eternal king. When you are angry, the world trembles; the nations cannot endure your anger. 11 (You people must tell them that the gods who did not make the earth and the sky will be destroyed. They will no longer exist anywhere on earth.) 12 The Lord made the earth by his power; by his wisdom he created the world and stretched out the heavens. 13 At his command the waters above the sky roar; he brings clouds from the ends of the earth. He makes lightning flash in the rain and sends the wind from his storeroom. 14 At the sight of this, people feel stupid and senseless; those who make idols are disillusioned, because the gods they make are false and lifeless. 15 They are worthless and should be despised; they will be destroyed when the Lord comes to deal with them. 16 The God of Jacob is not like them; he is the one who made everything, and he has chosen Israel to be his very own people. The Lord Almighty is his name.

2926-Jeremiah 7:9 You steal, murder, commit adultery, tell lies under oath, offer sacrifices to Baal, and worship gods that you had not known before. 10 You do these things I hate, and then you come and stand in my presence, in my own Temple, and say, "We are safe!' 11 Do you think that my Temple is a hiding place for robbers? I have seen what you are doing.

2927-Jeremiah 2:5 The Lord says: "What accusation did your ancestors bring against me? What made them turn away from me? They worshiped worthless idols and became worthless themselves.

Jeremiah 2:19 Your own evil will punish you, and your turning from me will condemn you. You will learn how bitter and wrong it is to abandon me, the Lord your God, and no longer to remain faithful to me. I, the Sovereign Lord Almighty, have spoken."

Jeremiah 7:19 But am I really the one they are hurting? No, they are hurting themselves and bringing shame on themselves.

Hosea 9:10 The Lord says, "When I first found Israel, it was like finding grapes growing in the desert. When I first saw your ancestors, it was like seeing the first ripe figs of the season. But when they came to Mount Peor, they began to worship Baal and soon became as disgusting as the gods they loved.

Romans 1:18 God's anger is revealed from heaven against all the sin and evil of the people whose evil ways prevent the truth from being known. 19 God punishes them, because what can be known about God is plain to them, for God himself made it plain. 20 Ever since God created the world, his invisible qualities, both his eternal power and his divine nature, have been clearly seen; they are perceived in the things that God has made. So those people have no excuse at all! 21 They know God, but they do not give him the honor that belongs to him, nor do they thank him. Instead, their thoughts have become complete nonsense, and their empty minds are filled with darkness. 22 They say they are wise, but they are fools; 23 instead of worshiping the immortal God, they worship images made to look like mortals or birds or animals or reptiles. 24 And so God has given those people over to do the filthy things their hearts desire, and they do shameful things with each other. 25 They exchange the truth about God for a lie; they worship and serve what God has created instead of the Creator himself, who is to be praised forever! Amen. 26 Because they do this, God has given them over to shameful passions. Even the women pervert the natural use of their sex by unnatural acts. 27 In the same way the men give up natural sexual relations with women and burn with passion for each other. Men do shameful things with each other, and as a result they bring upon themselves the punishment they deserve for their wrongdoing. 28 Because those people refuse to keep in mind the true knowledge about God, he has given them over to corrupted minds, so that they do the things that they should not do. 29 They are filled with all kinds of wickedness, evil, greed, and vice; they are full of jealousy, murder, fighting, deceit, and malice. They gossip 30 and speak evil of one another; they are hateful to God, insolent, proud, and boastful; they think of more ways to do evil; they disobey their parents; 31 they have no conscience; they do not keep their promises, and they show no kindness or pity for others.

2928-Jeremiah 2:32 Does a young woman forget her jewelry, or a bride her wedding dress? But my people have forgotten me for more days than can be counted. 33 You certainly know how to chase after lovers. Even the worst of women can learn from you.

Jeremiah 3:9 and was not at all ashamed. She defiled the land, and she committed adultery by worshiping stones and trees.

Jeremiah 3:12 He told me to go and say to Israel, "Unfaithful Israel, come back to me. I am merciful and will not be angry; I will not be angry with you forever. 13 Only admit that you are guilty and that you have rebelled against the Lord, your God. Confess that under every green tree you have given your love to foreign gods and that you have not obeyed my commands. I, the Lord, have spoken.

Jeremiah 10:14 At the sight of this, people feel stupid and senseless; those who make idols are disillusioned, because the gods they make are false and lifeless.

Jeremiah 11:13 The people of Judah have as many gods as they have cities, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem have set up as many altars for sacrifices to that disgusting god Baal as there are streets in the city.

Psalms 121:1 I look to the mountains; where will my help come from? 2 My help will come from the Lord, who made heaven and earth. 3 He will not let you fall; your protector is always awake. 4 The protector of Israel never dozes or sleeps. 5 The Lord will guard you; he is by your side to protect you. 6 The sun will not hurt you during the day, nor the moon during the night. 7 The Lord will protect you from all danger; he will keep you safe. 8 He will protect you as you come and go now and forever.

2929-Jeremiah 3:12 He told me to go and say to Israel, "Unfaithful Israel, come back to me. I am merciful and will not be angry; I will not be angry with you forever. 13 Only admit that you are guilty and that you have rebelled against the Lord, your God. Confess that under every green tree you have given your love to foreign gods and that you have not obeyed my commands. I, the Lord, have spoken.

Jeremiah 15:1 Then the Lord said to me, "Even if Moses and Samuel were standing here pleading with me, I would not show these people any mercy. Make them go away; make them get out of my sight. 2 When they ask you where they should go, tell them that I have said: Some are doomed to die by disease - that's where they will go! Others are doomed to die in war - that's where they will go! Some are doomed to die of starvation - that's where they will go! Others are doomed to be taken away as prisoners - that's where they will go! 3 I, the Lord, have decided that four terrible things will happen to them: they will be killed in war; their bodies will be dragged off by dogs; birds will eat them, and wild animals will devour what is left over. 4 I will make all the people of the world horrified at them because of what Hezekiah's son Manasseh did in Jerusalem when he was king of Judah." 5 The Lord says, "Who will pity you, people of Jerusalem, and who will grieve over you? Who will stop long enough to ask how you are? 6 You people have rejected me; you have turned your backs on me. So I reached out and crushed you because I was tired of controlling my anger. 7 In every town in the land I threw you to the wind like straw. I destroyed you, my people, I killed your children because you did not stop your evil ways. 8 There are more widows in your land than grains of sand by the sea. I killed your young men in their prime and made their mothers suffer. I suddenly struck them with anguish and terror. 9 The mother who lost her seven children has fainted, gasping for breath. Her daylight has turned to darkness; she is disgraced and sick at heart. I will let your enemies kill those of you who are still alive. I, the Lord, have spoken."

Jeremiah 23:1 How terrible will be the Lord's judgment on those rulers who destroy and scatter his people! 2 This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says about the rulers who were supposed to take care of his people: "You have not taken care of my people; you have scattered them and driven them away. Now I am going to punish you for the evil you have done. 3 I will gather the rest of my people from the countries where I have scattered them, and I will bring them back to their homeland. They will have many children and increase in number. 4 I will appoint rulers to take care of them. My people will no longer be afraid or terrified, and I will not punish them again. I, the Lord, have spoken." 5 The Lord says, "The time is coming when I will choose as king a righteous descendant of David. That king will rule wisely and do what is right and just throughout the land. 6 When he is king, the people of Judah will be safe, and the people of Israel will live in peace. He will be called "The Lord Our Salvation.' 7 "The time is coming," says the Lord, "when people will no longer swear by me as the living God who brought the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt. 8 Instead, they will swear by me as the living God who brought the people of Israel out of a northern land and out of all the other countries where I had scattered them. Then they will live in their own land."

2930-Jeremiah 3:17 When that time comes, Jerusalem will be called "The Throne of the Lord,' and all nations will gather there to worship me. They will no longer do what their stubborn and evil hearts tell them.

2931-Jeremiah 3:17 When that time comes, Jerusalem will be called "The Throne of the Lord,' and all nations will gather there to worship me. They will no longer do what their stubborn and evil hearts tell them. 18 Israel will join with Judah, and together they will come from exile in the country in the north and will return to the land that I gave your ancestors as a permanent possession."

2932-Isaiah 11:12 The Lord will raise a signal flag to show the nations that he is gathering together again the scattered people of Israel and Judah and bringing them back from the four corners of the earth.

Ezekiel 37:16 "Mortal man," he said, "take a wooden stick and write on it the words, "The kingdom of Judah.' Then take another stick and write on it the words, "The kingdom of Israel.' 17 Then hold the two sticks end to end in your hand so that they look like one stick. 18 When your people ask you to tell them what this means, 19 tell them that I, the Sovereign Lord, am going to take the stick representing Israel and put it with the one that represents Judah. Out of the two I will make one stick and hold it in my hand. 20 "Hold in your hand the two sticks and let the people see them. 21 Then tell them that I, the Sovereign Lord, am going to take all my people out of the nations where they have gone, gather them together, and bring them back to their own land. 22 I will unite them into one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel. They will have one king to rule over them, and they will no longer be divided into two nations or split into two kingdoms. 23 They will not defile themselves with disgusting idols any more or corrupt themselves with sin. I will free them from all the ways in which they sin and betray me. I will purify them; they will be my people, and I will be their God. 24 A king like my servant David will be their king. They will all be united under one ruler and will obey my laws faithfully. 25 They will live on the land I gave to my servant Jacob, the land where their ancestors lived. They will live there forever, and so will their children and all their descendants. A king like my servant David will rule them forever. 26 I will make a covenant with them that guarantees their security forever. I will establish them and increase their population, and will see to it that my Temple stands forever in their land. 27 I will live there with them; I will be their God, and they will be my people. 28 When I place my Temple there to be among them forever, then the nations will know that I, the Lord, have chosen Israel to be my own people."

Hosea 1:11 The people of Judah and the people of Israel will be reunited. They will choose for themselves a single leader, and once again they will grow and prosper in their land. Yes, the day of Jezreel will be a great day!

Zech. 2:10 The Lord said, "Sing for joy, people of Jerusalem! I am coming to live among you!" 11 At that time many nations will come to the Lord and become his people. He will live among you, and you will know that he has sent me to you. 12 Once again Judah will be the special possession of the Lord in his sacred land, and Jerusalem will be the city he loves most of all.

Zechariah 14:16 Then all of the survivors from the nations that have attacked Jerusalem will go there each year to worship the Lord Almighty as king and to celebrate the Festival of Shelters. 17 If any nation refuses to go and worship the Lord Almighty as king, then rain will not fall on their land. 18 If the Egyptians refuse to celebrate the Festival of Shelters, then they will be struck by the same disease that the Lord will send on every nation that refuses to go. 19 This will be the punishment that will fall on Egypt and on all the other nations if they do not celebrate the Festival of Shelters.

2933-Jeremiah 7:16 The Lord said, "Jeremiah, do not pray for these people. Do not cry or pray on their behalf; do not plead with me, for I will not listen to you.

Jeremiah 11:14 Jeremiah, don't pray to me or plead with me on behalf of these people. When they are in trouble and call to me for help, I will not listen to them."

1 John 5:16 If you see a believer commit a sin that does not lead to death, you should pray to God, who will give that person life. This applies to those whose sins do not lead to death. But there is sin which leads to death, and I do not say that you should pray to God about that.

2934-Jeremiah 14:19 Lord, have you completely rejected Judah? Do you hate the people of Zion? Why have you hurt us so badly that we cannot be healed? We looked for peace, but nothing good happened; we hoped for healing, but terror came instead. 20 We have sinned against you, Lord; we confess our own sins and the sins of our ancestors. 21 Remember your promises and do not despise us; do not bring disgrace on Jerusalem, the place of your glorious throne. Do not break the covenant you made with us. 22 None of the idols of the nations can send rain; the sky by itself cannot make showers fall. We have put our hope in you, O Lord our God, because you are the one who does these things.

Jeremiah 15:1 Then the Lord said to me, "Even if Moses and Samuel were standing here pleading with me, I would not show these people any mercy. Make them go away; make them get out of my sight. 2 When they ask you where they should go, tell them that I have said: Some are doomed to die by disease - that's where they will go! Others are doomed to die in war - that's where they will go! Some are doomed to die of starvation - that's where they will go! Others are doomed to be taken away as prisoners - that's where they will go!

2935-See Revelation 22:11 Whoever is evil must go on doing evil, and whoever is filthy must go on being filthy; whoever is good must go on doing good, and whoever is holy must go on being holy."

2936-Jeremiah 7:22 I gave your ancestors no commands about burnt offerings or any other kinds of sacrifices when I brought them out of Egypt. 23 But I did command them to obey me, so that I would be their God and they would be my people. And I told them to live the way I had commanded them, so that things would go well for them.

2937-1 Sam. 15:22 Samuel said, "Which does the Lord prefer: obedience or offerings and sacrifices? It is better to obey him than to sacrifice the best sheep to him.

Is. 1:11; 11 He says, "Do you think I want all these sacrifices you keep offering to me? I have had more than enough of the sheep you burn as sacrifices and of the fat of your fine animals. I am tired of the blood of bulls and sheep and goats.

Hos. 6:6 I want your constant love, not your animal sacrifices. I would rather have my people know me than burn offerings to me.

Mic. 6:6 What shall I bring to the Lord, the God of heaven, when I come to worship him? Shall I bring the best calves to burn as offerings to him? 7 Will the Lord be pleased if I bring him thousands of sheep or endless streams of olive oil? Shall I offer him my first-born child to pay for my sins? 8 No, the Lord has told us what is good. What he requires of us is this: to do what is just, to show constant love, and to live in humble fellowship with our God.

2938-1 Sam. 15:22 Samuel said, "Which does the Lord prefer: obedience or offerings and sacrifices? It is better to obey him than to sacrifice the best sheep to him. 23 Rebellion against him is as bad as witchcraft, and arrogance is as sinful as idolatry. Because you rejected the Lord's command, he has rejected you as king."

Ps. 40:6 You do not want sacrifices and offerings; you do not ask for animals burned whole on the altar or for sacrifices to take away sins. Instead, you have given me ears to hear you, 7 and so I answered, "Here I am; your instructions for me are in the book of the Law. 8 How I love to do your will, my God! I keep your teaching in my heart."

Is. 1:10 Jerusalem, your rulers and your people are like those of Sodom and Gomorrah. Listen to what the Lord is saying to you. Pay attention to what our God is teaching you. 11 He says, "Do you think I want all these sacrifices you keep offering to me? I have had more than enough of the sheep you burn as sacrifices and of the fat of your fine animals. I am tired of the blood of bulls and sheep and goats. 12 Who asked you to bring me all this when you come to worship me? Who asked you to do all this tramping around in my Temple? 13 It's useless to bring your offerings. I am disgusted with the smell of the incense you burn. I cannot stand your New Moon Festivals, your Sabbaths, and your religious gatherings; they are all corrupted by your sins. 14 I hate your New Moon Festivals and holy days; they are a burden that I am tired of bearing. 15 "When you lift your hands in prayer, I will not look at you. No matter how much you pray, I will not listen, for your hands are covered with blood. 16 Wash yourselves clean. Stop all this evil that I see you doing. Yes, stop doing evil 17 and learn to do right. See that justice is done - help those who are oppressed, give orphans their rights, and defend widows." 18 The Lord says, "Now, let's settle the matter. You are stained red with sin, but I will wash you as clean as snow. Although your stains are deep red, you will be as white as wool. 19 If you will only obey me, you will eat the good things the land produces. 20 But if you defy me, you are doomed to die. I, the Lord, have spoken."

Mic. 6:8 No, the Lord has told us what is good. What he requires of us is this: to do what is just, to show constant love, and to live in humble fellowship with our God.

2939-1 Sam. 15:23 Rebellion against him is as bad as witchcraft, and arrogance is as sinful as idolatry. Because you rejected the Lord's command, he has rejected you as king."

Is. 1:11 He says, "Do you think I want all these sacrifices you keep offering to me? I have had more than enough of the sheep you burn as sacrifices and of the fat of your fine animals. I am tired of the blood of bulls and sheep and goats. 12 Who asked you to bring me all this when you come to worship me? Who asked you to do all this tramping around in my Temple? 13 It's useless to bring your offerings. I am disgusted with the smell of the incense you burn. I cannot stand your New Moon Festivals, your Sabbaths, and your religious gatherings; they are all corrupted by your sins. 14 I hate your New Moon Festivals and holy days; they are a burden that I am tired of bearing. 15 "When you lift your hands in prayer, I will not look at you. No matter how much you pray, I will not listen, for your hands are covered with blood.

Hos. 6:6 I want your constant love, not your animal sacrifices. I would rather have my people know me than burn offerings to me.

Amos 5:21 The Lord says, "I hate your religious festivals; I cannot stand them! 22 When you bring me burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them; I will not accept the animals you have fattened to bring me as offerings. 23 Stop your noisy songs; I do not want to listen to your harps. 24 Instead, let justice flow like a stream, and righteousness like a river that never goes dry. 25 "People of Israel, I did not demand sacrifices and offerings during those forty years that I led you through the desert.

Mic. 6:6 What shall I bring to the Lord, the God of heaven, when I come to worship him? Shall I bring the best calves to burn as offerings to him? 7 Will the Lord be pleased if I bring him thousands of sheep or endless streams of olive oil? Shall I offer him my first-born child to pay for my sins? 8 No, the Lord has told us what is good. What he requires of us is this: to do what is just, to show constant love, and to live in humble fellowship with our God.

2940-Jeremiah 17:26 People will come from the towns of Judah and from the villages around Jerusalem; they will come from the territory of Benjamin, from the foothills, from the mountains, and from southern Judah. They will bring to my Temple burnt offerings and sacrifices, grain offerings and incense, as well as thank offerings.

Jeremiah 31:14 I will fill the priests with the richest food and satisfy all the needs of my people. I, the Lord, have spoken."

Jeremiah 33:11 the shouts of gladness and joy and the happy sounds of wedding feasts. You will hear people sing as they bring thank offerings to my Temple; they will say, "Give thanks to the Lord Almighty, because he is good and his love is eternal.' I will make this land as prosperous as it was before. I, the Lord, have spoken."

Jeremiah 33:17 I, the Lord, promise that there will always be a descendant of David to be king of Israel 18 and that there will always be priests from the tribe of Levi to serve me and to offer burnt offerings, grain offerings, and sacrifices." 19 The Lord said to me, 20 "I have made a covenant with the day and with the night, so that they always come at their proper times; and that covenant can never be broken. 21 In the same way I have made a covenant with my servant David that he would always have a descendant to be king, and I have made a covenant with the priests from the tribe of Levi that they would always serve me; and those covenants can never be broken. 22 I will increase the number of descendants of my servant David and the number of priests from the tribe of Levi, so that it will be as impossible to count them as it is to count the stars in the sky or the grains of sand on the seashore." 23 The Lord said to me, 24 "Have you noticed how people are saying that I have rejected Israel and Judah, the two families that I chose? And so they look with contempt on my people and no longer consider them a nation.

2941-Gen. 45:8 So it was not really you who sent me here, but God. He has made me the king's highest official. I am in charge of his whole country; I am the ruler of all Egypt.

2942-Luke 14:26 "Those who come to me cannot be my disciples unless they love me more than they love father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, and themselves as well.

2943-Jeremiah 7:27 "So, Jeremiah, you will speak all these words to my people, but they will not listen to you; you will call them, but they will not answer. 28 You will tell them that their nation does not obey me, the Lord their God, or learn from their punishment. Faithfulness is dead. No longer is it even talked about.

2944-Jeremiah 15:1 Then the Lord said to me, "Even if Moses and Samuel were standing here pleading with me, I would not show these people any mercy. Make them go away; make them get out of my sight. 2 When they ask you where they should go, tell them that I have said: Some are doomed to die by disease - that's where they will go! Others are doomed to die in war - that's where they will go! Some are doomed to die of starvation - that's where they will go! Others are doomed to be taken away as prisoners - that's where they will go! 3 I, the Lord, have decided that four terrible things will happen to them: they will be killed in war; their bodies will be dragged off by dogs; birds will eat them, and wild animals will devour what is left over. 4 I will make all the people of the world horrified at them because of what Hezekiah's son Manasseh did in Jerusalem when he was king of Judah." 5 The Lord says, "Who will pity you, people of Jerusalem, and who will grieve over you? Who will stop long enough to ask how you are? 6 You people have rejected me; you have turned your backs on me. So I reached out and crushed you because I was tired of controlling my anger. 7 In every town in the land I threw you to the wind like straw. I destroyed you, my people, I killed your children because you did not stop your evil ways. 8 There are more widows in your land than grains of sand by the sea. I killed your young men in their prime and made their mothers suffer. I suddenly struck them with anguish and terror. 9 The mother who lost her seven children has fainted, gasping for breath. Her daylight has turned to darkness; she is disgraced and sick at heart. I will let your enemies kill those of you who are still alive. I, the Lord, have spoken."

Jeremiah 23:1 How terrible will be the Lord's judgment on those rulers who destroy and scatter his people! 2 This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says about the rulers who were supposed to take care of his people: "You have not taken care of my people; you have scattered them and driven them away. Now I am going to punish you for the evil you have done. 3 I will gather the rest of my people from the countries where I have scattered them, and I will bring them back to their homeland. They will have many children and increase in number. 4 I will appoint rulers to take care of them. My people will no longer be afraid or terrified, and I will not punish them again. I, the Lord, have spoken." 5 The Lord says, "The time is coming when I will choose as king a righteous descendant of David. That king will rule wisely and do what is right and just throughout the land. 6 When he is king, the people of Judah will be safe, and the people of Israel will live in peace. He will be called "The Lord Our Salvation.' 7 "The time is coming," says the Lord, "when people will no longer swear by me as the living God who brought the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt. 8 Instead, they will swear by me as the living God who brought the people of Israel out of a northern land and out of all the other countries where I had scattered them. Then they will live in their own land."

2945-Daniel 9:1 Darius the Mede, who was the son of Xerxes, ruled over the kingdom of Babylonia. 2 In the first year of his reign I was studying the sacred books and thinking about the seventy years that Jerusalem would be in ruins, according to what the Lord had told the prophet Jeremiah. 3 And I prayed earnestly to the Lord God, pleading with him, fasting, wearing sackcloth, and sitting in ashes. 4 I prayed to the Lord my God and confessed the sins of my people. I said, "Lord God, you are great, and we honor you. You are faithful to your covenant and show constant love to those who love you and do what you command. 5 "We have sinned, we have been evil, we have done wrong. We have rejected what you commanded us to do and have turned away from what you showed us was right. 6 We have not listened to your servants the prophets, who spoke in your name to our kings, our rulers, our ancestors, and our whole nation. 7 You, Lord, always do what is right, but we have always brought disgrace on ourselves. This is true of all of us who live in Judea and in Jerusalem and of all the Israelites whom you scattered in countries near and far because they were unfaithful to you. 8 Our kings, our rulers, and our ancestors have acted shamefully and sinned against you, Lord. 9 You are merciful and forgiving, although we have rebelled against you. 10 We did not listen to you, O Lord our God, when you told us to live according to the laws which you gave us through your servants the prophets. 11 All Israel broke your laws and refused to listen to what you said. We sinned against you, and so you brought on us the curses that are written in the Law of Moses, your servant. 12 You did what you said you would do to us and our rulers. You punished Jerusalem more severely than any other city on earth, 13 giving us all the punishment described in the Law of Moses. But even now, O Lord our God, we have not tried to please you by turning from our sins or by following your truth. 14 You, O Lord our God, were prepared to punish us, and you did, because you always do what is right, and we did not listen to you. 15 "O Lord our God, you showed your power by bringing your people out of Egypt, and your power is still remembered. We have sinned; we have done wrong. 16 You have defended us in the past, so do not be angry with Jerusalem any longer. It is your city, your sacred hill. All the people in the neighboring countries look down on Jerusalem and on your people because of our sins and the evil our ancestors did. 17 O God, hear my prayer and pleading. Restore your Temple, which has been destroyed; restore it so that everyone will know that you are God. 18 Listen to us, O God; look at us and see the trouble we are in and the suffering of the city that bears your name. We are praying to you because you are merciful, not because we have done right. 19 Lord, hear us. Lord, forgive us. Lord, listen to us, and act! In order that everyone will know that you are God, do not delay! This city and these people are yours." 20 I went on praying, confessing my sins and the sins of my people Israel and pleading with the Lord my God to restore his holy Temple. 21 While I was praying, Gabriel, whom I had seen in the earlier vision, came flying down to where I was. It was the time for the evening sacrifice to be offered.

2946-Jeremiah 3:13 Only admit that you are guilty and that you have rebelled against the Lord, your God. Confess that under every green tree you have given your love to foreign gods and that you have not obeyed my commands. I, the Lord, have spoken.

2947-Jeremiah 3:11 Then the Lord told me that, even though Israel had turned away from him, she had proved to be better than unfaithful Judah. 12 He told me to go and say to Israel, "Unfaithful Israel, come back to me. I am merciful and will not be angry; I will not be angry with you forever. 13 Only admit that you are guilty and that you have rebelled against the Lord, your God. Confess that under every green tree you have given your love to foreign gods and that you have not obeyed my commands. I, the Lord, have spoken. 14 "Unfaithful people, come back; you belong to me. I will take one of you from each town and two from each clan, and I will bring you back to Mount Zion. 15 I will give you rulers who obey me, and they will rule you with wisdom and understanding. 16 Then when you have become numerous in that land, people will no longer talk about my Covenant Box. They will no longer think about it or remember it; they will not even need it, nor will they make another one. 17 When that time comes, Jerusalem will be called "The Throne of the Lord,' and all nations will gather there to worship me. They will no longer do what their stubborn and evil hearts tell them. 18 Israel will join with Judah, and together they will come from exile in the country in the north and will return to the land that I gave your ancestors as a permanent possession."

John 13:34 And now I give you a new commandment: love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. 35 If you have love for one another, then everyone will know that you are my disciples."

2948-Jeremiah 7:23 But I did command them to obey me, so that I would be their God and they would be my people. And I told them to live the way I had commanded them, so that things would go well for them. 24 But they did not obey or pay any attention. Instead, they did whatever their stubborn and evil hearts told them to do, and they became worse instead of better. 25 From the day that your ancestors came out of Egypt until this very day I have kept on sending to you my servants, the prophets. 26 Yet no one listened or paid any attention. Instead, you became more stubborn and rebellious than your ancestors. 27 "So, Jeremiah, you will speak all these words to my people, but they will not listen to you; you will call them, but they will not answer. 28 You will tell them that their nation does not obey me, the Lord their God, or learn from their punishment. Faithfulness is dead. No longer is it even talked about.

Jeremiah 9:23 The Lord says, "The wise should not boast of their wisdom, nor the strong of their strength, nor the rich of their wealth. 24 If any want to boast, they should boast that they know and understand me, because my love is constant, and I do what is just and right. These are the things that please me. I, the Lord, have spoken." 25 The Lord says, "The time is coming when I will punish the people of Egypt, Judah, Edom, Ammon, Moab, and the desert people, who have their hair cut short. All these people are circumcised, but have not kept the covenant it symbolizes. None of these people and none of the people of Israel have kept my covenant."

Romans 1:16 I have complete confidence in the gospel; it is God's power to save all who believe, first the Jews and also the Gentiles.

Jeremiah 14:7 My people cry out to me, "Even though our sins accuse us, help us, Lord, as you have promised. We have turned away from you many times; we have sinned against you. 21 Remember your promises and do not despise us; do not bring disgrace on Jerusalem, the place of your glorious throne. Do not break the covenant you made with us.

Jeremiah 31:31 The Lord says, "The time is coming when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and with the people of Judah. 32 It will not be like the old covenant that I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand and led them out of Egypt. Although I was like a husband to them, they did not keep that covenant. 33 The new covenant that I will make with the people of Israel will be this: I will put my law within them and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. 34 None of them will have to teach a neighbor to know the Lord, because all will know me, from the least to the greatest. I will forgive their sins and I will no longer remember their wrongs. I, the Lord, have spoken."

2949-Jeremiah 32:38 Then they will be my people, and I will be their God. 39 I will give them a single purpose in life: to honor me for all time, for their own good and the good of their descendants. 40 I will make an eternal covenant with them. I will never stop doing good things for them, and I will make them fear me with all their heart, so that they will never turn away from me. 41 I will take pleasure in doing good things for them, and I will establish them permanently in this land.

2950-Jeremiah 2:8 The priests did not ask, "Where is the Lord?' My own priests did not know me. The rulers rebelled against me; the prophets spoke in the name of Baal and worshiped useless idols.

Jeremiah 5:4 Then I thought, "These are only the poor and ignorant. They behave foolishly; they don't know what their God requires, what the Lord wants them to do. 5 I will go to the people in power and talk with them. Surely they know what their God requires, what the Lord wants them to do." But all of them have rejected the Lord's authority and refuse to obey him.

Jer 8:7 Even storks know when it is time to return; doves, swallows, and thrushes know when it is time to migrate. But, my people, you do not know the laws by which I rule you.

Jer 9:3 They are always ready to tell lies; dishonesty instead of truth rules the land. The Lord says, "My people do one evil thing after another and do not acknowledge me as their God." 7 I will give them the desire to know that I am the Lord. Then they will be my people, and I will be their God, because they will return to me with all their heart. 34 None of them will have to teach a neighbor to know the Lord, because all will know me, from the least to the greatest. I will forgive their sins and I will no longer remember their wrongs. I, the Lord, have spoken."

jer 16:21 "So then," says the Lord, "once and for all I will make the nations know my power and my might; they will know that I am the Lord."

Jer 22:16 He gave the poor a fair trial, and all went well with him. That is what it means to know the Lord.

Jer 24:7 I will give them the desire to know that I am the Lord. Then they will be my people, and I will be their God, because they will return to me with all their heart.

Jer 31:34 None of them will have to teach a neighbor to know the Lord, because all will know me, from the least to the greatest. I will forgive their sins and I will no longer remember their wrongs. I, the Lord, have spoken."

2951-Jeremiah 4:19 My bowels, my bowels! I am pained at my very heart; my heart maketh a noise in me; I cannot hold my peace , because thou hast heard , O my soul, the sound of the trumpet, the alarm of war.

Jer 31:20 Is Ephraim my dear son? is he a pleasant child? for since I spake against him, I do earnestly remember him still: therefore my bowels are troubled for him; I will surely have mercy upon him, saith the LORD.

2952-John 15:1 "I am the real vine, and my Father is the gardener. 2 He breaks off every branch in me that does not bear fruit, and he prunes every branch that does bear fruit, so that it will be clean and bear more fruit. 3 You have been made clean already by the teaching I have given you. 4 Remain united to me, and I will remain united to you. A branch cannot bear fruit by itself; it can do so only if it remains in the vine. In the same way you cannot bear fruit unless you remain in me. 5 "I am the vine, and you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will bear much fruit; for you can do nothing without me. 6 Those who do not remain in me are thrown out like a branch and dry up; such branches are gathered up and thrown into the fire, where they are burned. 7 If you remain in me and my words remain in you, then you will ask for anything you wish, and you shall have it. 8 My Father's glory is shown by your bearing much fruit; and in this way you become my disciples. 9 I love you just as the Father loves me; remain in my love. 10 If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father's commands and remain in his love. 11 "I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. 12 My commandment is this: love one another, just as I love you. 13 The greatest love you can have for your friends is to give your life for them. 14 And you are my friends if you do what I command you. 15 I do not call you servants any longer, because servants do not know what their master is doing. Instead, I call you friends, because I have told you everything I heard from my Father.

2953-Isaiah 11: Isaiah 11:9; Habakkuk 2:14

Habakkuk 2:14 But the earth will be as full of the knowledge of the Lord's glory as the seas are full of water.

2954-2 Cor. 6:16 How can God's temple come to terms with pagan idols? For we are the temple of the living God! As God himself has said, "I will make my home with my people and live among them; I will be their God, and they shall be my people."

Gal. 3:6 Consider the experience of Abraham; as the scripture says, "He believed God, and because of his faith God accepted him as righteous." 7 You should realize, then, that the real descendants of Abraham are the people who have faith. 8 The scripture predicted that God would put the Gentiles right with himself through faith. And so the scripture announced the Good News to Abraham: "Through you God will bless all people." 9 Abraham believed and was blessed; so all who believe are blessed as he was.

Gal 3;15 My friends, I am going to use an everyday example: when two people agree on a matter and sign an agreement, no one can break it or add anything to it. 16 Now, God made his promises to Abraham and to his descendant. The scripture does not use the plural "descendants," meaning many people, but the singular "descendant," meaning one person only, namely, Christ. 17 What I mean is that God made a covenant with Abraham and promised to keep it. The Law, which was given four hundred and thirty years later, cannot break that covenant and cancel God's promise. 18 For if God's gift depends on the Law, then it no longer depends on his promise. However, it was because of his promise that God gave that gift to Abraham.

Gal 3:26 It is through faith that all of you are God's children in union with Christ Jesus. 27 You were baptized into union with Christ, and now you are clothed, so to speak, with the life of Christ himself. 28 So there is no difference between Jews and Gentiles, between slaves and free people, between men and women; you are all one in union with Christ Jesus. 29 If you belong to Christ, then you are the descendants of Abraham and will receive what God has promised.

Titus 2:14 He gave himself for us, to rescue us from all wickedness and to make us a pure people who belong to him alone and are eager to do good.

2955-Jeremiah 2:8 The priests did not ask, "Where is the Lord?' My own priests did not know me. The rulers rebelled against me; the prophets spoke in the name of Baal and worshiped useless idols.

4:22 The Lord says, "My people are stupid; they don't know me. They are like foolish children; they have no understanding. They are experts at doing what is evil, but failures at doing what is good."

5:4 Then I thought, "These are only the poor and ignorant. They behave foolishly; they don't know what their God requires, what the Lord wants them to do.

8:7 Even storks know when it is time to return; doves, swallows, and thrushes know when it is time to migrate. But, my people, you do not know the laws by which I rule you.

2956-Hos. 5:4 The evil that the people have done keeps them from returning to their God. Idolatry has a powerful hold on them, and they do not acknowledge the Lord.

2957-Ex. 33:13 Now if you are, tell me your plans, so that I may serve you and continue to please you. Remember also that you have chosen this nation to be your own."

Jer. 31:34 None of them will have to teach a neighbor to know the Lord, because all will know me, from the least to the greatest. I will forgive their sins and I will no longer remember their wrongs. I, the Lord, have spoken."

Jer 8:8 How can you say that you are wise and that you know my laws? Look, the laws have been changed by dishonest scribes. 9 Your wise men are put to shame; they are confused and trapped. They have rejected my words; what wisdom do they have now? 10 So I will give their fields to new owners and their wives to other men. Everyone, great and small, tries to make money dishonestly. Even prophets and priests cheat the people. 11 They act as if my people's wounds were only scratches. "All is well,' they say, when all is not well. 12 My people, were you ashamed because you did these disgusting things? No, you were not ashamed at all; you don't even know how to blush! And so you will fall as others have fallen; when I punish you, that will be the end of you. I, the Lord, have spoken.

Dan. 11:32 By deceit the king will win the support of those who have already abandoned their religion, but those who follow God will fight back.

John 17:3 And eternal life means to know you, the only true God, and to know Jesus Christ, whom you sent.

Gal. 4:8 In the past you did not know God, and so you were slaves of beings who are not gods. 9 But now that you know God - or, I should say, now that God knows you - how is it that you want to turn back to those weak and pitiful ruling spirits? Why do you want to become their slaves all over again?

Phil. 3:8-11; 8 Not only those things; I reckon everything as complete loss for the sake of what is so much more valuable, the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have thrown everything away; I consider it all as mere garbage, so that I may gain Christ 9 and be completely united with him. I no longer have a righteousness of my own, the kind that is gained by obeying the Law. I now have the righteousness that is given through faith in Christ, the righteousness that comes from God and is based on faith. 10 All I want is to know Christ and to experience the power of his resurrection, to share in his sufferings and become like him in his death, 11 in the hope that I myself will be raised from death to life.

2 Tim. 1:12 and it is for this reason that I suffer these things. But I am still full of confidence, because I know whom I have trusted, and I am sure that he is able to keep safe until that Day what he has entrusted to me.

Heb. 8:8 But God finds fault with his people when he says, "The days are coming, says the Lord, when I will draw up a new covenant with the people of Israel and with the people of Judah. 9 It will not be like the covenant that I made with their ancestors on the day I took them by the hand and led them out of Egypt. They were not faithful to the covenant I made with them, and so I paid no attention to them. 10 Now, this is the covenant that I will make with the people of Israel in the days to come, says the Lord: I will put my laws in their minds and write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. 11 None of them will have to teach their friends or tell their neighbors, "Know the Lord.' For they will all know me, from the least to the greatest. 12 I will forgive their sins and will no longer remember their wrongs."

2958-Deut. 7:9 Remember that the Lord your God is the only God and that he is faithful. He will keep his covenant and show his constant love to a thousand generations of those who love him and obey

Ps. 100:3 Acknowledge that the Lord is God. He made us, and we belong to him; we are his people, we are his flock.

2959-Jer. 22:16 He gave the poor a fair trial, and all went well with him. That is what it means to know the Lord.

1 John 4:7 Dear friends, let us love one another, because love comes from God. Whoever loves is a child of God and knows God. 8 Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love.

2960-Phil. 3:8 Not only those things; I reckon everything as complete loss for the sake of what is so much more valuable, the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have thrown everything away; I consider it all as mere garbage, so that I may gain Christ 9 and be completely united with him. I no longer have a righteousness of my own, the kind that is gained by obeying the Law. I now have the righteousness that is given through faith in Christ, the righteousness that comes from God and is based on faith. 10 All I want is to know Christ and to experience the power of his resurrection, to share in his sufferings and become like him in his death, 11 in the hope that I myself will be raised from death to life. 12 I do not claim that I have already succeeded or have already become perfect. I keep striving to win the prize for which Christ Jesus has already won me to himself. 13 Of course, my friends, I really do not think that I have already won it; the one thing I do, however, is to forget what is behind me and do my best to reach what is ahead. 14 So I run straight toward the goal in order to win the prize, which is God's call through Christ Jesus to the life above.

2961-John 10:14 I am the good shepherd. As the Father knows me and I know the Father, in the same way I know my sheep and they know me. And I am willing to die for them.

Gal. 4:9 But now that you know God - or, I should say, now that God knows you - how is it that you want to turn back to those weak and pitiful ruling spirits? Why do you want to become their slaves all over again?

2 Tim. 2:19 But the solid foundation that God has laid cannot be shaken; and on it are written these words: "The Lord knows those who are his" and "Those who say that they belong to the Lord must turn away from wrongdoing."

2962-Heb. 8:7 If there had been nothing wrong with the first covenant, there would have been no need for a second one. 8 But God finds fault with his people when he says, "The days are coming, says the Lord, when I will draw up a new covenant with the people of Israel and with the people of Judah. 9 It will not be like the covenant that I made with their ancestors on the day I took them by the hand and led them out of Egypt. They were not faithful to the covenant I made with them, and so I paid no attention to them. 10 Now, this is the covenant that I will make with the people of Israel in the days to come, says the Lord: I will put my laws in their minds and write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. 11 None of them will have to teach their friends or tell their neighbors, "Know the Lord.' For they will all know me, from the least to the greatest. 12 I will forgive their sins and will no longer remember their wrongs." 13 By speaking of a new covenant, God has made the first one old; and anything that becomes old and worn out will soon disappear.

2963-Jer. 31:1 The Lord says, "The time is coming when I will be the God of all the tribes of Israel, and they will be my people. 2 In the desert I showed mercy to those people who had escaped death. When the people of Israel longed for rest, 3 I appeared to them from far away. People of Israel, I have always loved you, so I continue to show you my constant love. 4 Once again I will rebuild you. Once again you will take up your tambourines and dance joyfully. 5 Once again you will plant vineyards on the hills of Samaria, and those who plant them will eat what the vineyards produce. 6 Yes, the time is coming when sentries will call out on the hills of Ephraim, "Let's go up to Zion, to the Lord our God.' " 7 The Lord says, "Sing with joy for Israel, the greatest of the nations. Sing your song of praise, "The Lord has saved his people; he has rescued all who are left.' 8 I will bring them from the north and gather them from the ends of the earth. The blind and the lame will come with them, pregnant women and those about to give birth. They will come back a great nation. 9 My people will return weeping, praying as I lead them back. I will guide them to streams of water, on a smooth road where they will not stumble. I am like a father to Israel, and Ephraim is my oldest son." 10 The Lord says, "Nations, listen to me and proclaim my words on the far-off shores. I scattered my people, but I will gather them and guard them as a shepherd guards his flock. 11 I have set Israel's people free and have saved them from a mighty nation. 12 They will come and sing for joy on Mount Zion and be delighted with my gifts - gifts of grain and wine and olive oil, gifts of sheep and cattle. They will be like a well-watered garden; they will have everything they need. 13 Then the young women will dance and be happy, and men, young and old, will rejoice. I will comfort them and turn their mourning into joy, their sorrow into gladness. 14 I will fill the priests with the richest food and satisfy all the needs of my people. I, the Lord, have spoken." 15 The Lord says, "A sound is heard in Ramah, the sound of bitter weeping. Rachel is crying for her children; they are gone, and she refuses to be comforted. 16 Stop your crying and wipe away your tears. All that you have done for your children will not go unrewarded; they will return from the enemy's land. 17 There is hope for your future; your children will come back home. I, the Lord, have spoken. 18 "I hear the people of Israel say in grief, "Lord, we were like an untamed animal, but you taught us to obey. Bring us back; we are ready to return to you, the Lord our God. 19 We turned away from you, but soon we wanted to return. After you had punished us, we hung our heads in grief. We were ashamed and disgraced because we sinned when we were young.' 20 "Israel, you are my dearest child, the one I love best. Whenever I mention your name, I think of you with love. My heart goes out to you; I will be merciful. 21 Set up signs and mark the road; find again the way by which you left. Come back, people of Israel, come home to the towns you left. 22 How long will you hesitate, faithless people? I have created something new and different, as different as a woman protecting a man." 23 The Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says, "When I restore the people to their land, they will once again say in the land of Judah and in its towns, "May the Lord bless the sacred hill of Jerusalem, the holy place where he lives.' 24 People will live in Judah and in all its towns, and there will be farmers, and shepherds with their flocks. 25 I will refresh those who are weary and will satisfy with food everyone who is weak from hunger. 26 So then, people will say, "I went to sleep and woke up refreshed.' 27 "I, the Lord, say that the time is coming when I will fill the land of Israel and Judah with people and animals. 28 And just as I took care to uproot, to pull down, to overthrow, to destroy, and to demolish them, so I will take care to plant them and to build them up. 29 When that time comes, people will no longer say, "The parents ate the sour grapes, But the children got the sour taste.' 30 Instead, those who eat sour grapes will have their own teeth set on edge; and everyone will die because of their own sin." 31 The Lord says, "The time is coming when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and with the people of Judah. 32 It will not be like the old covenant that I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand and led them out of Egypt. Although I was like a husband to them, they did not keep that covenant. 33 The new covenant that I will make with the people of Israel will be this: I will put my law within them and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. 34 None of them will have to teach a neighbor to know the Lord, because all will know me, from the least to the greatest. I will forgive their sins and I will no longer remember their wrongs. I, the Lord, have spoken." 35 The Lord provides the sun for light by day, the moon and the stars to shine at night. He stirs up the sea and makes it roar; his name is the Lord Almighty. 36 He promises that as long as the natural order lasts, so long will Israel be a nation. 37 If one day the sky could be measured and the foundations of the earth explored, only then would he reject the people of Israel because of all they have done. The Lord has spoken. 38 "The time is coming," says the Lord, "when all of Jerusalem will be rebuilt as my city, from Hananel Tower west to the Corner Gate. 39 And the boundary line will continue from there on the west to the hill of Gareb and then around to Goah. 40 The entire valley, where the dead are buried and garbage is dumped, and all the fields above Kidron Brook as far as the Horse Gate to the east, will be sacred to me. The city will never again be torn down or destroyed."

2964-John 5:19 So Jesus answered them, "I tell you the truth: the Son can do nothing on his own; he does only what he sees his Father doing. What the Father does, the Son also does.

John 8:28 So he said to them, "When you lift up the Son of Man, you will know that "I Am Who I Am'; then you will know that I do nothing on my own authority, but I say only what the Father has instructed me to say.

John 12:49 This is true, because I have not spoken on my own authority, but the Father who sent me has commanded me what I must say and speak.

John 14:10 Do you not believe, Philip, that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I have spoken to you," Jesus said to his disciples, "do not come from me. The Father, who remains in me, does his own work.

2965-2 Cor. 3:1 Does this sound as if we were again boasting about ourselves? Could it be that, like some other people, we need letters of recommendation to you or from you? 2 You yourselves are the letter we have, written on our hearts for everyone to know and read. 3 It is clear that Christ himself wrote this letter and sent it by us. It is written, not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, and not on stone tablets but on human hearts.

2966-John 6:45 The prophets wrote, "Everyone will be taught by God.' Anyone who hears the Father and learns from him comes to me.

Heb. 8:10 Now, this is the covenant that I will make with the people of Israel in the days to come, says the Lord: I will put my laws in their minds and write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.

Heb 10:16 "This is the covenant that I will make with them in the days to come, says the Lord: I will put my laws in their hearts and write them on their minds." 17 And then he says, "I will not remember their sins and evil deeds any longer."

2967-Jeremiah 8:18 My sorrow cannot be healed; I am sick at heart. 19 Listen! Throughout the land I hear my people crying out, "Is the Lord no longer in Zion? Is Zion's king no longer there?" The Lord, their king, replies, "Why have you made me angry by worshiping your idols and by bowing down to your useless foreign gods?" 20 The people cry out, "The summer is gone, the harvest is over, but we have not been saved." 21 My heart has been crushed because my people are crushed; I mourn; I am completely dismayed. 22 Is there no medicine in Gilead? Are there no doctors there? Why, then, have my people not been healed? Jer 9:1 I wish my head were a well of water, and my eyes a fountain of tears, so that I could cry day and night for my people who have been killed.

Jer 14:19 Lord, have you completely rejected Judah? Do you hate the people of Zion? Why have you hurt us so badly that we cannot be healed? We looked for peace, but nothing good happened; we hoped for healing, but terror came instead. 20 We have sinned against you, Lord; we confess our own sins and the sins of our ancestors. 21 Remember your promises and do not despise us; do not bring disgrace on Jerusalem, the place of your glorious throne. Do not break the covenant you made with us. 22 None of the idols of the nations can send rain; the sky by itself cannot make showers fall. We have put our hope in you, O Lord our God, because you are the one who does these things. Jer 1:1 Then the Lord said to me, "Even if Moses and Samuel were standing here pleading with me, I would not show these people any mercy. Make them go away; make them get out of my sight. 2 When they ask you where they should go, tell them that I have said: Some are doomed to die by disease - that's where they will go! Others are doomed to die in war - that's where they will go! Some are doomed to die of starvation - that's where they will go! Others are doomed to be taken away as prisoners - that's where they will go!

Jer 23:1 How terrible will be the Lord's judgment on those rulers who destroy and scatter his people! 2 This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says about the rulers who were supposed to take care of his people: "You have not taken care of my people; you have scattered them and driven them away. Now I am going to punish you for the evil you have done. 3 I will gather the rest of my people from the countries where I have scattered them, and I will bring them back to their homeland. They will have many children and increase in number. 4 I will appoint rulers to take care of them. My people will no longer be afraid or terrified, and I will not punish them again. I, the Lord, have spoken." 5 The Lord says, "The time is coming when I will choose as king a righteous descendant of David. That king will rule wisely and do what is right and just throughout the land. 6 When he is king, the people of Judah will be safe, and the people of Israel will live in peace. He will be called "The Lord Our Salvation.' 7 "The time is coming," says the Lord, "when people will no longer swear by me as the living God who brought the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt. 8 Instead, they will swear by me as the living God who brought the people of Israel out of a northern land and out of all the other countries where I had scattered them. Then they will live in their own land."

Jer 31:20 "Israel, you are my dearest child, the one I love best. Whenever I mention your name, I think of you with love. My heart goes out to you; I will be merciful.

Hosea 11:7 They insist on turning away from me. They will cry out because of the yoke that is on them, but no one will lift it from them. 8 "How can I give you up, Israel? How can I abandon you? Could I ever destroy you as I did Admah, or treat you as I did Zeboiim? My heart will not let me do it! My love for you is too strong.

2968-Romans 1:16 I have complete confidence in the gospel; it is God's power to save all who believe, first the Jews and also the Gentiles. 17 For the gospel reveals how God puts people right with himself: it is through faith from beginning to end. As the scripture says, "The person who is put right with God through faith shall live."

2969-John 6:25 When the people found Jesus on the other side of the lake, they said to him, "Teacher, when did you get here?" 26 Jesus answered, "I am telling you the truth: you are looking for me because you ate the bread and had all you wanted, not because you understood my miracles. 27 Do not work for food that spoils; instead, work for the food that lasts for eternal life. This is the food which the Son of Man will give you, because God, the Father, has put his mark of approval on him." 28 So they asked him, "What can we do in order to do what God wants us to do?" 29 Jesus answered, "What God wants you to do is to believe in the one he sent." 30 They replied, "What miracle will you perform so that we may see it and believe you? What will you do? 31 Our ancestors ate manna in the desert, just as the scripture says, "He gave them bread from heaven to eat.' " 32 "I am telling you the truth," Jesus said. "What Moses gave you was not the bread from heaven; it is my Father who gives you the real bread from heaven. 33 For the bread that God gives is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world." 34 "Sir," they asked him, "give us this bread always." 35 "I am the bread of life," Jesus told them. "Those who come to me will never be hungry; those who believe in me will never be thirsty. 36 Now, I told you that you have seen me but will not believe. 37 Everyone whom my Father gives me will come to me. I will never turn away anyone who comes to me, 38 because I have come down from heaven to do not my own will but the will of him who sent me. 39 And it is the will of him who sent me that I should not lose any of all those he has given me, but that I should raise them all to life on the last day. 40 For what my Father wants is that all who see the Son and believe in him should have eternal life. And I will raise them to life on the last day." 41 The people started grumbling about him, because he said, "I am the bread that came down from heaven." 42 So they said, "This man is Jesus son of Joseph, isn't he? We know his father and mother. How, then, does he now say he came down from heaven?" 43 Jesus answered, "Stop grumbling among yourselves. 44 People cannot come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them to me; and I will raise them to life on the last day. 45 The prophets wrote, "Everyone will be taught by God.' Anyone who hears the Father and learns from him comes to me. 46 This does not mean that anyone has seen the Father; he who is from God is the only one who has seen the Father. 47 I am telling you the truth: he who believes has eternal life. 48 I am the bread of life. 49 Your ancestors ate manna in the desert, but they died. 50 But the bread that comes down from heaven is of such a kind that whoever eats it will not die. 51 I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If you eat this bread, you will live forever. The bread that I will give you is my flesh, which I give so that the world may live." 52 This started an angry argument among them. "How can this man give us his flesh to eat?" they asked. 53 Jesus said to them, "I am telling you the truth: if you do not eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you will not have life in yourselves. 54 Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood have eternal life, and I will raise them to life on the last day. 55 For my flesh is the real food; my blood is the real drink. 56 Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood live in me, and I live in them. 57 The living Father sent me, and because of him I live also. In the same way whoever eats me will live because of me. 58 This, then, is the bread that came down from heaven; it is not like the bread that your ancestors ate, but then later died. Those who eat this bread will live forever." 59 Jesus said this as he taught in the synagogue in Capernaum. 60 Many of his followers heard this and said, "This teaching is too hard. Who can listen to it?" 61 Without being told, Jesus knew that they were grumbling about this, so he said to them, "Does this make you want to give up? 62 Suppose, then, that you should see the Son of Man go back up to the place where he was before? 63 What gives life is God's Spirit; human power is of no use at all. The words I have spoken to you bring God's life-giving Spirit. 64 Yet some of you do not believe." (Jesus knew from the very beginning who were the ones that would not believe and which one would betray him.) 65 And he added, "This is the very reason I told you that no people can come to me unless the Father makes it possible for them to do so." 66 Because of this, many of Jesus' followers turned back and would not go with him any more. 67 So he asked the twelve disciples, "And you - would you also like to leave?" 68 Simon Peter answered him, "Lord, to whom would we go? You have the words that give eternal life. 69 And now we believe and know that you are the Holy One who has come from God." 70 Jesus replied, "I chose the twelve of you, didn't I? Yet one of you is a devil!" 71 He was talking about Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot. For Judas, even though he was one of the twelve disciples, was going to betray him.

2970-Jeremiah 25:11 This whole land will be left in ruins and will be a shocking sight, and the neighboring nations will serve the king of Babylonia for seventy years. 12 After that I will punish Babylonia and its king for their sin. I will destroy that country and leave it in ruins forever. 13 I will punish Babylonia with all the disasters that I threatened to bring on the nations when I spoke through Jeremiah - all the disasters recorded in this book. 14 I will pay the Babylonians back for what they have done, and many nations and great kings will make slaves of them.' "

Jeremiah 29:10 "The Lord says, "When Babylonia's seventy years are over, I will show my concern for you and keep my promise to bring you back home. 11 I alone know the plans I have for you, plans to bring you prosperity and not disaster, plans to bring about the future you hope for. 12 Then you will call to me. You will come and pray to me, and I will answer you. 13 You will seek me, and you will find me because you will seek me with all your heart. 14 Yes, I say, you will find me, and I will restore you to your land. I will gather you from every country and from every place to which I have scattered you, and I will bring you back to the land from which I had sent you away into exile. I, the Lord, have spoken.'

Daniel 9:1 Darius the Mede, who was the son of Xerxes, ruled over the kingdom of Babylonia. 2 In the first year of his reign I was studying the sacred books and thinking about the seventy years that Jerusalem would be in ruins, according to what the Lord had told the prophet Jeremiah.

Jeremiah 30:3 because the time is coming when I will restore my people, Israel and Judah. I will bring them back to the land that I gave their ancestors, and they will take possession of it again. I, the Lord, have spoken."

Jer 31:16 Stop your crying and wipe away your tears. All that you have done for your children will not go unrewarded; they will return from the enemy's land. 17 There is hope for your future; your children will come back home. I, the Lord, have spoken.

2971-Romans 3:4 Certainly not! God must be true, even though all human beings are liars. As the scripture says, "You must be shown to be right when you speak; you must win your case when you are being tried."

2972-1 John 2:12 I write to you, my children, because your sins are forgiven for the sake of Christ.

2973-Ps. 23:3 He gives me new strength. He guides me in the right paths, as he has promised.

Ps 31:3 You are my refuge and defense; guide me and lead me as you have promised.

2974-Ps. 109:21 But my Sovereign Lord, help me as you have promised, and rescue me because of the goodness of your love.

2975-Ps. 143:11 Rescue me, Lord, as you have promised; in your goodness save me from my troubles!

2976-3 John 7:7 For they set out on their trip in the service of Christ without accepting any help from unbelievers.

Rev. 2:3 You are patient, you have suffered for my sake, and you have not given up.

2977-Matt. 19:29 And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or fields for my sake, will receive a hundred times more and will be given eternal life.

2978-Matt. 10:22 Everyone will hate you because of me. But whoever holds out to the end will be saved.

Matt 24:9 "Then you will be arrested and handed over to be punished and be put to death. Everyone will hate you because of me.

2979-1 Cor. 10:31 Well, whatever you do, whether you eat or drink, do it all for God's glory.

2980-Job 1:1 There was a man named Job, living in the land of Uz, who worshiped God and was faithful to him. He was a good man, careful not to do anything evil. 2 He had seven sons and three daughters, 3 and owned seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, one thousand head of cattle, and five hundred donkeys. He also had a large number of servants and was the richest man in the East. 4 Job's sons used to take turns giving a feast, to which all the others would come, and they always invited their three sisters to join them. 5 The morning after each feast, Job would get up early and offer sacrifices for each of his children in order to purify them. He always did this because he thought that one of them might have sinned by insulting God unintentionally. 6 When the day came for the heavenly beings to appear before the Lord, Satan was there among them. 7 The Lord asked him, "What have you been doing?" Satan answered, "I have been walking here and there, roaming around the earth." 8 "Did you notice my servant Job?" the Lord asked. "There is no one on earth as faithful and good as he is. He worships me and is careful not to do anything evil." 9 Satan replied, "Would Job worship you if he got nothing out of it? 10 You have always protected him and his family and everything he owns. You bless everything he does, and you have given him enough cattle to fill the whole country. 11 But now suppose you take away everything he has - he will curse you to your face!" 12 "All right," the Lord said to Satan, "everything he has is in your power, but you must not hurt Job himself." So Satan left. 13 One day when Job's children were having a feast at the home of their oldest brother, 14 a messenger came running to Job. "We were plowing the fields with the oxen," he said, "and the donkeys were in a nearby pasture. 15 Suddenly the Sabeans attacked and stole them all. They killed every one of your servants except me. I am the only one who escaped to tell you." 16 Before he had finished speaking, another servant came and said, "Lightning struck the sheep and the shepherds and killed them all. I am the only one who escaped to tell you." 17 Before he had finished speaking, another servant came and said, "Three bands of Chaldean raiders attacked us, took away the camels, and killed all your servants except me. I am the only one who escaped to tell you." 18 Before he had finished speaking, another servant came and said, "Your children were having a feast at the home of your oldest son, 19 when a storm swept in from the desert. It blew the house down and killed them all. I am the only one who escaped to tell you." 20 Then Job got up and tore his clothes in grief. He shaved his head and threw himself face downward on the ground. 21 He said, "I was born with nothing, and I will die with nothing. The Lord gave, and now he has taken away. May his name be praised!" 22 In spite of everything that had happened, Job did not sin by blaming God.

Job 2:1 When the day came for the heavenly beings to appear before the Lord again, Satan was there among them. 2 The Lord asked him, "Where have you been?" Satan answered, "I have been walking here and there, roaming around the earth." 3 "Did you notice my servant Job?" the Lord asked. "There is no one on earth as faithful and good as he is. He worships me and is careful not to do anything evil. You persuaded me to let you attack him for no reason at all, but Job is still as faithful as ever." 4 Satan replied, "A person will give up everything in order to stay alive. 5 But now suppose you hurt his body - he will curse you to your face!" 6 So the Lord said to Satan, "All right, he is in your power, but you are not to kill him." 7 Then Satan left the Lord's presence and made sores break out all over Job's body. 8 Job went and sat by the garbage dump and took a piece of broken pottery to scrape his sores. 9 His wife said to him, "You are still as faithful as ever, aren't you? Why don't you curse God and die?" 10 Job answered, "You are talking nonsense! When God sends us something good, we welcome it. How can we complain when he sends us trouble?" Even in all this suffering Job said nothing against God. 11 Three of Job's friends were Eliphaz, from the city of Teman, Bildad, from the land of Shuah, and Zophar, from the land of Naamah. When they heard how much Job had been suffering, they decided to go and comfort him. 12 While they were still a long way off they saw Job, but did not recognize him. When they did, they began to weep and wail, tearing their clothes in grief and throwing dust into the air and on their heads. 13 Then they sat there on the ground with him for seven days and nights without saying a word, because they saw how much he was suffering.

Job 42:7 After the Lord had finished speaking to Job, he said to Eliphaz, "I am angry with you and your two friends, because you did not speak the truth about me, the way my servant Job did. 8 Now take seven bulls and seven rams to Job and offer them as a sacrifice for yourselves. Job will pray for you, and I will answer his prayer and not disgrace you the way you deserve. You did not speak the truth about me as he did."

Romans 3:1 When the people saw that Moses had not come down from the mountain but was staying there a long time, they gathered around Aaron and said to him, "We do not know what has happened to this man Moses, who led us out of Egypt; so make us a god to lead us." 2 Aaron said to them, "Take off the gold earrings which your wives, your sons, and your daughters are wearing, and bring them to me." 3 So all the people took off their gold earrings and brought them to Aaron. 4 He took the earrings, melted them, poured the gold into a mold, and made a gold bull-calf. The people said, "Israel, this is our god, who led us out of Egypt!" 5 Then Aaron built an altar in front of the gold bull-calf and announced, "Tomorrow there will be a festival to honor the Lord." 6 Early the next morning they brought some animals to burn as sacrifices and others to eat as fellowship offerings. The people sat down to a feast, which turned into an orgy of drinking and sex. 7 The Lord said to Moses, "Hurry and go back down, because your people, whom you led out of Egypt, have sinned and rejected me. 8 They have already left the way that I commanded them to follow; they have made a bull-calf out of melted gold and have worshiped it and offered sacrifices to it. They are saying that this is their god, who led them out of Egypt. 9 I know how stubborn these people are. 10 Now, don't try to stop me. I am angry with them, and I am going to destroy them. Then I will make you and your descendants into a great nation." 11 But Moses pleaded with the Lord his God and said, "Lord, why should you be so angry with your people, whom you rescued from Egypt with great might and power? 12 Why should the Egyptians be able to say that you led your people out of Egypt, planning to kill them in the mountains and destroy them completely? Stop being angry; change your mind and do not bring this disaster on your people. 13 Remember your servants Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Remember the solemn promise you made to them to give them as many descendants as there are stars in the sky and to give their descendants all that land you promised would be their possession forever." 14 So the Lord changed his mind and did not bring on his people the disaster he had threatened.

Exodus 32:1 When the people saw that Moses had not come down from the mountain but was staying there a long time, they gathered around Aaron and said to him, "We do not know what has happened to this man Moses, who led us out of Egypt; so make us a god to lead us." 2 Aaron said to them, "Take off the gold earrings which your wives, your sons, and your daughters are wearing, and bring them to me." 3 So all the people took off their gold earrings and brought them to Aaron. 4 He took the earrings, melted them, poured the gold into a mold, and made a gold bull-calf. The people said, "Israel, this is our god, who led us out of Egypt!" 5 Then Aaron built an altar in front of the gold bull-calf and announced, "Tomorrow there will be a festival to honor the Lord." 6 Early the next morning they brought some animals to burn as sacrifices and others to eat as fellowship offerings. The people sat down to a feast, which turned into an orgy of drinking and sex. 7 The Lord said to Moses, "Hurry and go back down, because your people, whom you led out of Egypt, have sinned and rejected me. 8 They have already left the way that I commanded them to follow; they have made a bull-calf out of melted gold and have worshiped it and offered sacrifices to it. They are saying that this is their god, who led them out of Egypt. 9 I know how stubborn these people are. 10 Now, don't try to stop me. I am angry with them, and I am going to destroy them. Then I will make you and your descendants into a great nation." 11 But Moses pleaded with the Lord his God and said, "Lord, why should you be so angry with your people, whom you rescued from Egypt with great might and power? 12 Why should the Egyptians be able to say that you led your people out of Egypt, planning to kill them in the mountains and destroy them completely? Stop being angry; change your mind and do not bring this disaster on your people. 13 Remember your servants Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Remember the solemn promise you made to them to give them as many descendants as there are stars in the sky and to give their descendants all that land you promised would be their possession forever." 14 So the Lord changed his mind and did not bring on his people the disaster he had threatened.

Numbers 14:13 But Moses said to the Lord, "You brought these people out of Egypt by your power. When the Egyptians hear what you have done to your people, 14 they will tell it to the people who live in this land. These people have already heard that you, Lord, are with us, that you appear in plain sight when your cloud stops over us, and that you go before us in a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. 15 Now if you kill all your people, the nations who have heard of your fame will say 16 that you killed your people in the wilderness because you were not able to bring them into the land you promised to give them. 17 So now, Lord, I pray, show us your power and do what you promised when you said, 18 "I, the Lord, am not easily angered, and I show great love and faithfulness and forgive sin and rebellion. Yet I will not fail to punish children and grandchildren to the third and fourth generation for the sins of their parents.' 19 And now, Lord, according to the greatness of your unchanging love, forgive, I pray, the sin of these people, just as you have forgiven them ever since they left Egypt."

Deuteronomy 9:7 "Never forget how you made the Lord your God angry in the desert. From the day that you left Egypt until the day you arrived here, you have rebelled against him. 8 Even at Mount Sinai you made the Lord angry - angry enough to destroy you. 9 I went up the mountain to receive the stone tablets on which was written the covenant that the Lord had made with you. I stayed there forty days and nights and did not eat or drink anything. 10 Then the Lord gave me the two stone tablets on which he had written with his own hand what he had said to you from the fire on the day that you were gathered there at the mountain. 11 Yes, after those forty days and nights the Lord gave me the two stone tablets on which he had written the covenant. 12 "Then the Lord said to me, "Go down the mountain at once, because your people, whom you led out of Egypt, have become corrupt and have done evil. They have already turned away from what I commanded them to do, and they have made an idol for themselves.' 13 "The Lord also said to me, "I know how stubborn these people are. 14 Don't try to stop me. I intend to destroy them so that no one will remember them any longer. Then I will make you the father of a nation larger and more powerful than they are.' 15 "So I turned and went down the mountain, carrying the two stone tablets on which the covenant was written. Flames of fire were coming from the mountain. 16 I saw that you had already disobeyed the command that the Lord your God had given you, and that you had sinned against him by making yourselves a metal idol in the form of a bull-calf. 17 So there in front of you I threw the stone tablets down and broke them to pieces. 18 Then once again I lay face downward in the Lord's presence for forty days and nights and did not eat or drink anything. I did this because you had sinned against the Lord and had made him angry. 19 I was afraid of the Lord's fierce anger, because he was furious enough to destroy you; but once again the Lord listened to me. 20 The Lord was also angry enough with Aaron to kill him, so I prayed for Aaron at the same time. 21 I took that sinful thing that you had made - that metal bull-calf - and threw it into the fire. Then I broke it in pieces, ground it to dust, and threw the dust into the stream that flowed down the mountain. 22 "You also made the Lord your God angry when you were at Taberah, Massah, and Kibroth Hattaavah. 23 And when he sent you from Kadesh Barnea with orders to go and take possession of the land that he was giving you, you rebelled against him; you did not trust him or obey him. 24 Ever since I have known you, you have rebelled against the Lord. 25 "So I lay face downward in the Lord's presence those forty days and nights, because I knew that he was determined to destroy you. 26 And I prayed, "Sovereign Lord, don't destroy your own people, the people you rescued and brought out of Egypt by your great strength and power. 27 Remember your servants, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and do not pay any attention to the stubbornness, wickedness, and sin of this people. 28 Otherwise, the Egyptians will say that you were unable to take your people into the land that you had promised them. They will say that you took your people out into the desert to kill them, because you hated them. 29 After all, these are the people whom you chose to be your own and whom you brought out of Egypt by your great power and might.'

Joshua 7:9 The Canaanites and everyone else in the country will hear about it. They will surround us and kill every one of us! And then what will you do to protect your honor?"

2981-Ezekiel 1:15 As I was looking at the four creatures I saw four wheels touching the ground, one beside each of them. 16 All four wheels were alike; each one shone like a precious stone, and each had another wheel intersecting it at right angles, 17 so that the wheels could move in any of the four directions. 18 The rims of the wheels were covered with eyes. 19 Whenever the creatures moved, the wheels moved with them, and if the creatures rose up from the earth, so did the wheels. 20 The creatures went wherever they wished, and the wheels did exactly what the creatures did, because the creatures controlled them. 21 So every time the creatures moved or stopped or rose in the air, the wheels did exactly the same.

Ezekiel 10:6 When the Lord commanded the man wearing linen clothes to take some fire from between the wheels that were under the creatures, the man went in and stood by one of the wheels. 7 One of the creatures reached his hand into the fire that was there among them, picked up some coals, and put them in the hands of the man in linen. The man took the coals and left. 8 I saw that each creature had what looked like a human hand under each of its wings. 9 I also saw that there were four wheels, all alike, one beside each creature. The wheels shone like precious stones, and each one had another wheel which intersected it at right angles. 11 When the creatures moved, they could go in any direction without turning. They all moved together in the direction they wanted to go, without having to turn around. 12 Their bodies, backs, hands, wings, and wheels were covered with eyes. 13 I heard a voice calling out, "Whirling wheels."

2982-Ez1:1 On the fifth day of the fourth month of the thirtieth year, I, Ezekiel the priest, son of Buzi, was living with the Jewish exiles by the Chebar River in Babylonia. The sky opened, and I saw a vision of God. 2 It was the fifth year since King Jehoiachin had been taken into exile.) 3 There in Babylonia beside the Chebar River, I heard the Lord speak to me, and I felt his power.

2983-Ez 44:15 The Sovereign Lord said, "Those priests belonging to the tribe of Levi who are descended from Zadok, however, continued to serve me faithfully in the Temple when the rest of the people of Israel turned away from me. So now they are the ones who are to serve me and come into my presence to offer me the fat and the blood of the sacrifices.

1 Kin. 1:32 Then King David sent for Zadok, Nathan, and Benaiah. When they came in,

2984-Ez 29:17 On the first day of the first month of the twenty-seventh year of our exile, the Lord spoke to me.

2985-Ez 24:15 The Lord spoke to me. 16 "Mortal man," he said, "with one blow I am going to take away the person you love most. You are not to complain or cry or shed any tears. 17 Don't let your sobbing be heard. Do not go bareheaded or barefoot as a sign of mourning. Don't cover your face or eat the food that mourners eat." 18 Early in the day I was talking with the people. That evening my wife died, and the next day I did as I had been told. 19 The people asked me, "Why are you acting like this?" 20 So I said to them, "The Lord spoke to me and told me 21 to give you Israelites this message: You are proud of the strength of the Temple. You like to look at it and to visit it, but the Lord is going to profane it. And the younger members of your families who are left in Jerusalem will be killed in war. 22 Then you will do what I have done. You will not cover your faces or eat the food that mourners eat. 23 You will not go bareheaded or barefoot or mourn or cry. You will waste away because of your sins, and you will groan to one another. 24 Then I will be a sign to you; you will do everything I have done. The Lord says that when this happens, you will know that he is the Sovereign Lord." 25 The Lord said, "Now, mortal man, I will take away from them the strong Temple that was their pride and joy, which they liked to look at and to visit. And I will take away their sons and daughters. 26 On the day that I do this, some who escape the destruction will come and tell you about it. 27 That same day you will get back the power of speech which you had lost, and you will talk with them. In this way you will be a sign to the people, and they will know that I am the Lord."

2986-Ezekiel 5:11 "Therefore, as I am the living God - this is the word of the Sovereign Lord - because you defiled my Temple with all the evil, disgusting things you did, I will cut you down without mercy.

Ex 14:16 and even if those three men lived there - as surely as I, the Sovereign Lord, am the living God - they would not be able to save even their own children. They would save only their own lives, and the land would become a wilderness.

Ez 18:1 The Lord spoke to me 2 and said, "What is this proverb people keep repeating in the land of Israel? "The parents ate the sour grapes, But the children got the sour taste.' 3 "As surely as I am the living God," says the Sovereign Lord, "you will not repeat this proverb in Israel any more. 4 The life of every person belongs to me, the life of the parent as well as that of the child. The person who sins is the one who will die. 5 "Suppose there is a truly good man, righteous and honest. 6 He doesn't worship the idols of the Israelites or eat the sacrifices offered at forbidden shrines. He doesn't seduce another man's wife or have intercourse with a woman during her period. 7 He doesn't cheat or rob anyone. He returns what a borrower gives him as security; he feeds the hungry and gives clothing to the naked. 8 He doesn't lend money for profit. He refuses to do evil and gives an honest decision in any dispute. 9 Such a man obeys my commands and carefully keeps my laws. He is righteous, and he will live," says the Sovereign Lord. 10 "Then suppose this man has a son who robs and kills, who does any of these things 11 that the father never did. He eats sacrifices offered at forbidden shrines and seduces other men's wives. 12 He cheats the poor, he robs, he keeps what a borrower gives him as security. He goes to pagan shrines, worships disgusting idols, 13 and lends money for profit. Will he live? No, he will not. He has done all these disgusting things, and so he will die. He will be to blame for his own death. 14 "Now suppose this second man has a son. He sees all the sins his father practiced, but does not follow his example. 15 He doesn't worship the idols of the Israelites or eat the sacrifices offered at forbidden shrines. He doesn't seduce another man's wife 16 or oppress anyone or rob anyone. He returns what a borrower gives him as security. He feeds the hungry and gives clothing to the naked. 17 He refuses to do evil and doesn't lend money for profit. He keeps my laws and obeys my commands. He will not die because of his father's sins, but he will certainly live. 18 His father, on the other hand, cheated and robbed and always did evil to everyone. And so he died because of the sins he himself had committed. 19 "But you ask, "Why shouldn't the son suffer because of his father's sins?' The answer is that the son did what was right and good. He kept my laws and followed them carefully, and so he will certainly live. 20 It is the one who sins who will die. A son is not to suffer because of his father's sins, nor a father because of the sins of his son. Good people will be rewarded for doing good, and evil people will suffer for the evil they do. 21 "If someone evil stops sinning and keeps my laws, if he does what is right and good, he will not die; he will certainly live. 22 All his sins will be forgiven, and he will live, because he did what is right. 23 Do you think I enjoy seeing evil people die?" asks the Sovereign Lord. "No, I would rather see them repent and live. 24 "But if a righteous person stops doing good and starts doing all the evil, disgusting things that evil people do, will he go on living? No! None of the good he did will be remembered. He will die because of his unfaithfulness and his sins. 25 "But you say, "What the Lord does isn't right.' Listen to me, you Israelites. Do you think my way of doing things isn't right? It is your way that isn't right. 26 When a righteous person stops doing good and starts doing evil and then dies, he dies because of the evil he has done. 27 When someone evil stops sinning and does what is right and good, he saves his life. 28 He realizes what he is doing and stops sinning, so he will certainly not die, but go on living. 29 And you Israelites say, "What the Lord does isn't right.' You think my way isn't right, do you? It is your way that isn't right. 30 "Now I, the Sovereign Lord, am telling you Israelites that I will judge each of you by what you have done. Turn away from all the evil you are doing, and don't let your sin destroy you. 31 Give up all the evil you have been doing, and get yourselves new minds and hearts. Why do you Israelites want to die? 32 I do not want anyone to die," says the Sovereign Lord. "Turn away from your sins and live."

Ez 20:1 It was the tenth day of the fifth month of the seventh year of our exile. Some of the leaders of the Israelite community came to consult me about the Lord's will, and they sat down in front of me. 2 Then the Lord spoke to me. 3 "Mortal man," he said, "speak to these leaders and tell them that the Sovereign Lord is saying: You have come to ask my will, have you? As surely as I am the living God, I will not let you ask me anything. I, the Sovereign Lord, have spoken. 4 "Are you ready to pass sentence on them, mortal man? Then do so. Remind them of the disgusting things their ancestors did. 5 Tell them what I am saying. When I chose Israel, I made them a promise. I revealed myself to them in Egypt and told them: I am the Lord your God. 6 It was then that I promised to take them out of Egypt and lead them to a land I had chosen for them, a rich and fertile land, the finest land of all. 7 I told them to throw away the disgusting idols they loved and not to make themselves unclean with the false gods of Egypt, because I am the Lord their God. 8 But they defied me and refused to listen. They did not throw away their disgusting idols or give up the Egyptian gods. I was ready to let them feel the full force of my anger there in Egypt. 9 But I did not, since that would have brought dishonor to my name, for in the presence of the people among whom they were living I had announced to Israel that I was going to lead them out of Egypt. 10 "And so I led them out of Egypt into the desert. 11 I gave them my commands and taught them my laws, which bring life to anyone who obeys them. 12 I made the keeping of the Sabbath a sign of the agreement between us, to remind them that I, the Lord, make them holy. 13 But even in the desert they defied me. They broke my laws and rejected my commands, which bring life to anyone who obeys them. They completely profaned the Sabbath. I was ready to let them feel the force of my anger there in the desert and to destroy them. 14 But I did not, since that would have brought dishonor to my name among the nations which had seen me lead Israel out of Egypt. 15 So I made a vow in the desert that I would not take them to the land I had given them, a rich and fertile land, the finest land of all. 16 I made the vow because they had rejected my commands, broken my laws, and profaned the Sabbath - they preferred to worship their idols. 17 "But then I took pity on them. I decided not to kill them there in the desert. 18 Instead, I warned the young people among them: Do not keep the laws your ancestors made; do not follow their customs or defile yourselves with their idols. 19 I am the Lord your God. Obey my laws and my commands. 20 Make the Sabbath a holy day, so that it will be a sign of the covenant we made, and will remind you that I am the Lord your God. 21 "But that generation also defied me. They broke my laws and did not keep my commands, which bring life to anyone who obeys them. They profaned the Sabbath. I was ready to let them feel the force of my anger there in the desert and to kill them all. 22 But I did not, since that would have brought dishonor to my name among the nations which had seen me bring Israel out of Egypt. 23 So I made another vow in the desert. I vowed that I would scatter them all over the world. 24 I did this because they had rejected my commands, broken my laws, profaned the Sabbath, and worshiped the same idols their ancestors had served. 25 "Then I gave them laws that are not good and commands that do not bring life. 26 I let them defile themselves with their own offerings, and I let them sacrifice their first-born sons. This was to punish them and show them that I am the Lord. 27 "Now then, mortal man, tell the Israelites what I, the Sovereign Lord, am saying to them. This is another way their ancestors insulted me by their unfaithfulness. 28 I brought them to the land I had promised to give them. When they saw the high hills and green trees, they offered sacrifices at all of them. They made me angry by the sacrifices they burned and by the wine they brought as offerings. 29 I asked them: What are these high places where you go? So they have been called "High Places' ever since. 30 Now tell the Israelites what I am saying: Why must you commit the same sins your ancestors did and go running after their idols? 31 Even today you offer the same gifts and defile yourselves with the same idols by sacrificing your children to them in the fire. And then you Israelites still come to ask what my will is! As surely as I, the Sovereign Lord, am the living God, I will not let you ask me anything. 32 You have made up your minds that you want to be like the other nations, like the people who live in other countries and worship trees and rocks. But that will never be. 33 "As surely as I, the Sovereign Lord, am the living God, I warn you that in my anger I will rule over you with a strong hand, with all my power. 34 I will show you my power and my anger when I gather you together and bring you back from all the countries where you have been scattered. 35 I will bring you into the "Desert of the Nations,' and there I will condemn you to your face. 36 I will now condemn you just as I condemned your ancestors in the Sinai Desert," says the Sovereign Lord. 37 "I will take firm control of you and make you obey my covenant. 38 I will take away from among you those who are rebellious and sinful. I will take them out of the lands where they are living now, but I will not let them return to the land of Israel. Then you will know that I am the Lord." 39 The Sovereign Lord says, "And now, all you Israelites, suit yourselves! Go on and serve your idols! But I warn you that after this you will have to obey me and stop dishonoring my holy name by offering gifts to your idols. 40 There in the land, on my holy mountain, the high mountain of Israel, all you people of Israel will worship me. I will be pleased with you and will expect you to bring me your sacrifices, your best offerings, and your holy gifts. 41 After I bring you out of the countries where you have been scattered and gather you together, I will accept the sacrifices that you burn, and the nations will see that I am holy. 42 When I bring you back to Israel, the land that I promised I would give to your ancestors, then you will know that I am the Lord. 43 Then you will remember all the disgraceful things you did and how you defiled yourselves. You will be disgusted with yourselves because of all the evil things you did. 44 When I act to protect my honor, you Israelites will know that I am the Lord, because I do not deal with you as your wicked, evil actions deserve." The Sovereign Lord has spoken. 45 The Lord spoke to me. 46 "Mortal man," he said, "look toward the south. Speak against the south and prophesy against the forest of the south. 47 Tell the southern forest to hear what the Sovereign Lord is saying: Look! I am starting a fire, and it will burn up every tree in you, whether green or dry. Nothing will be able to put it out. It will spread from south to north, and everyone will feel the heat of the flames. 48 They will all see that I, the Lord, set it on fire and that no one can put it out." 49 But I protested, "Sovereign Lord, don't make me do it! Everyone is already complaining that I always speak in riddles."

16:48 "As surely as I am the living God," the Sovereign Lord says, "your sister Sodom and her villages never did the evil that you and your villages have done.

17:16 "As surely as I am the living God," says the Sovereign Lord, "this king will die in Babylonia because he broke his oath and the treaty he had made with the king of Babylonia, who put him on the throne.

18:3 "As surely as I am the living God," says the Sovereign Lord, "you will not repeat this proverb in Israel any more.

20:3 "Mortal man," he said, "speak to these leaders and tell them that the Sovereign Lord is saying: You have come to ask my will, have you? As surely as I am the living God, I will not let you ask me anything. I, the Sovereign Lord, have spoken.

33:11 Tell them that as surely as I, the Sovereign Lord, am the living God, I do not enjoy seeing sinners die. I would rather see them stop sinning and live. Israel, stop the evil you are doing. Why do you want to die?

34:8 As surely as I am the living God, you had better listen to me. My sheep have been attacked by wild animals that killed and ate them because there was no shepherd. My shepherds did not try to find the sheep. They were taking care of themselves and not the sheep.

35:6 So then - as surely as I, the Sovereign Lord, am the living God - death is your fate, and you cannot escape it. You are guilty of murder, and murder will follow you.... 11 So then, as surely as I, the Sovereign Lord, am the living God, I will pay you back for your anger, your jealousy, and your hate toward my people. They will know that I am punishing you for what you did to them.

2987-Ez 26:1 On the first day of the . . . month of the eleventh year of our exile, the Lord spoke to me.

Ez 32:17 On the fifteenth day of the first month of the twelfth year of our exile, the Lord spoke to me.

2988-Ez 1:1 On the fifth day of the fourth month of the thirtieth year, I, Ezekiel the priest, son of Buzi, was living with the Jewish exiles by the Chebar River in Babylonia. The sky opened, and I saw a vision of God. 2 It was the fifth year since King Jehoiachin had been taken into exile

8:1 On the fifth day of the sixth month of the sixth year of our exile, the leaders of the exiles from Judah were sitting in my house with me. Suddenly the power of the Sovereign Lord came on me.

20:1 It was the tenth day of the fifth month of the seventh year of our exile. Some of the leaders of the Israelite community came to consult me about the Lord's will, and they sat down in front of me

24:1 On the tenth day of the tenth month of the ninth year of our exile, the Lord spoke to me.

26:1 On the first day of the . . . month of the eleventh year of our exile, the Lord spoke to me.

29:1 On the twelfth day of the tenth month of the tenth year of our exile, the Lord spoke to me.... 17 On the first day of the first month of the twenty-seventh year of our exile, the Lord spoke to me.

30:20 On the seventh day of the first month of the eleventh year of our exile, the Lord spoke to me

31:1 On the first day of the third month of the eleventh year of our exile, the Lord spoke to me. ….17 They will go with it to the world of the dead to join those that have already fallen. And all who live under its shadow will be scattered among the nations.

33:21 On the fifth day of the tenth month of the twelfth year of our exile, someone who had escaped from Jerusalem came and told me that the city had fallen.

40:1 It was the tenth day of the new year, which was the twenty-fifth year after we had been taken into exile and the fourteenth year after Jerusalem was captured. On that day I felt the powerful presence of the Lord, and he carried me away.

2989-Ezekiel 11:1 God's spirit lifted me up and took me to the east gate of the Temple. There near the gate I saw twenty-five men, including Jaazaniah son of Azzur and Pelatiah son of Benaiah, two leaders of the nation. 2 God said to me, "Mortal man, these men make evil plans and give bad advice in this city. 3 They say, "We will soon be building houses again. The city is like a cooking pot, and we are like the meat in it, but at least it protects us from the fire.' 4 Now then, denounce them, mortal man." 5 The spirit of the Lord took control of me, and the Lord told me to give the people this message: "People of Israel, I know what you are saying and what you are planning. 6 You have murdered so many people here in the city that the streets are full of corpses. 7 "So this is what I, the Sovereign Lord, am saying to you. This city is a cooking pot all right, but what is the meat? The corpses of those you have killed! You will not be here - I will throw you out of the city! 8 Are you afraid of swords? I will bring soldiers with swords to attack you. 9 I will take you out of the city and hand you over to foreigners. I have sentenced you to death, 10 and you will be killed in battle in your own country. Then everyone will know that I am the Lord. 11 This city will not protect you the way a pot protects the meat in it. I will punish you wherever you may be in the land of Israel. 12 You will know that I am the Lord and that while you were keeping the laws of the neighboring nations, you were breaking [my ]laws and disobeying [my ]commands."

Ez 24:3-143 Tell my rebellious people this parable that I, the Sovereign Lord, have for them: Set the pot on the fire and fill it up with water. 4 Put in the best pieces of meat - the shoulders and the legs - fill it with choice bony pieces too. 5 Use the meat of the finest sheep; pile the wood under the pot. Let the water boil; boil the bones and the meat." 6 This is what the Sovereign Lord is saying: "The city of murderers is doomed! It is like a corroded pot that is never cleaned. Piece after piece of meat is taken out, and not one is left. 7 There was murder in the city, but the blood was not spilled on the ground where the dust could hide it; it was spilled on a bare rock. 8 I have left the blood there, where it cannot be hidden, where it demands angry revenge." 9 This is what the Sovereign Lord is saying: "The city of murderers is doomed! I myself will pile up the firewood. 10 Bring more wood! Fan the flames! Cook the meat! Boil away the broth! Burn up the bones! 11 Now set the empty bronze pot on the coals and let it get red-hot. Then the pot will be ritually pure again after the corrosion is burned off, 12 although all that corrosion will not disappear in the flames. 13 Jerusalem, your immoral actions have defiled you. Although I tried to purify you, you remained defiled. You will not be pure again until you have felt the full force of my anger. 14 I, the Lord, have spoken. The time has come for me to act. I will not ignore your sins or show pity or be merciful. You will be punished for what you have done." The Sovereign Lord has spoken.

Jer. 1:13 Then the Lord spoke to me again. "What else do you see?" he asked. I answered, "I see a pot boiling in the north, and it is about to tip over this way." 14 He said to me, "Destruction will boil over from the north on all who live in this land, 15 because I am calling all the nations in the north to come. Their kings will set up their thrones at the gates of Jerusalem and around its walls and also around the other cities of Judah.

2990-Ez18:2 and said, "What is this proverb people keep repeating in the land of Israel? "The parents ate the sour grapes, But the children got the sour taste.' 3 "As surely as I am the living God," says the Sovereign Lord, "you will not repeat this proverb in Israel any more. 4 The life of every person belongs to me, the life of the parent as well as that of the child. The person who sins is the one who will die. 5 "Suppose there is a truly good man, righteous and honest. 6 He doesn't worship the idols of the Israelites or eat the sacrifices offered at forbidden shrines. He doesn't seduce another man's wife or have intercourse with a woman during her period. 7 He doesn't cheat or rob anyone. He returns what a borrower gives him as security; he feeds the hungry and gives clothing to the naked. 8 He doesn't lend money for profit. He refuses to do evil and gives an honest decision in any dispute. 9 Such a man obeys my commands and carefully keeps my laws. He is righteous, and he will live," says the Sovereign Lord. 10 "Then suppose this man has a son who robs and kills, who does any of these things 11 that the father never did. He eats sacrifices offered at forbidden shrines and seduces other men's wives. 12 He cheats the poor, he robs, he keeps what a borrower gives him as security. He goes to pagan shrines, worships disgusting idols, 13 and lends money for profit. Will he live? No, he will not. He has done all these disgusting things, and so he will die. He will be to blame for his own death. 14 "Now suppose this second man has a son. He sees all the sins his father practiced, but does not follow his example. 15 He doesn't worship the idols of the Israelites or eat the sacrifices offered at forbidden shrines. He doesn't seduce another man's wife 16 or oppress anyone or rob anyone. He returns what a borrower gives him as security. He feeds the hungry and gives clothing to the naked. 17 He refuses to do evil and doesn't lend money for profit. He keeps my laws and obeys my commands. He will not die because of his father's sins, but he will certainly live. 18 His father, on the other hand, cheated and robbed and always did evil to everyone. And so he died because of the sins he himself had committed. 19 "But you ask, "Why shouldn't the son suffer because of his father's sins?' The answer is that the son did what was right and good. He kept my laws and followed them carefully, and so he will certainly live. 20 It is the one who sins who will die. A son is not to suffer because of his father's sins, nor a father because of the sins of his son. Good people will be rewarded for doing good, and evil people will suffer for the evil they do. 21 "If someone evil stops sinning and keeps my laws, if he does what is right and good, he will not die; he will certainly live. 22 All his sins will be forgiven, and he will live, because he did what is right. 23 Do you think I enjoy seeing evil people die?" asks the Sovereign Lord. "No, I would rather see them repent and live. 24 "But if a righteous person stops doing good and starts doing all the evil, disgusting things that evil people do, will he go on living? No! None of the good he did will be remembered. He will die because of his unfaithfulness and his sins. 25 "But you say, "What the Lord does isn't right.' Listen to me, you Israelites. Do you think my way of doing things isn't right? It is your way that isn't right. 26 When a righteous person stops doing good and starts doing evil and then dies, he dies because of the evil he has done. 27 When someone evil stops sinning and does what is right and good, he saves his life. 28 He realizes what he is doing and stops sinning, so he will certainly not die, but go on living. 29 And you Israelites say, "What the Lord does isn't right.' You think my way isn't right, do you? It is your way that isn't right. 30 "Now I, the Sovereign Lord, am telling you Israelites that I will judge each of you by what you have done. Turn away from all the evil you are doing, and don't let your sin destroy you. 31 Give up all the evil you have been doing, and get yourselves new minds and hearts. Why do you Israelites want to die? 32 I do not want anyone to die," says the Sovereign Lord. "Turn away from your sins and live."

Jer. 31:29 When that time comes, people will no longer say, "The parents ate the sour grapes, But the children got the sour taste.' 30 Instead, those who eat sour grapes will have their own teeth set on edge; and everyone will die because of their own sin."

2991-Ez 23:1 The Lord spoke to me. 2 "Mortal man," he said, "there were once two sisters. 3 When they were young, living in Egypt, they lost their virginity and became prostitutes. 4 The older one was named Oholah (she represents Samaria), and the younger one was named Oholibah (she represents Jerusalem). I married both of them, and they bore me children. 5 Although she was mine, Oholah continued to be a prostitute and was full of lust for her lovers from Assyria. 6 They were soldiers in uniforms of purple, noblemen and high-ranking officers; all of them were handsome young cavalry officers. 7 She was the whore for all the Assyrian officers, and her lust led her to defile herself by worshiping Assyrian idols. 8 She continued what she had begun as a prostitute in Egypt, where she lost her virginity. From the time she was a young woman, men slept with her and treated her like a prostitute. 9 So I handed her over to her Assyrian lovers whom she wanted so much. 10 They stripped her naked, seized her sons and daughters, and then killed her with a sword. Women everywhere gossiped about her fate. 11 "Even though her sister Oholibah saw this, she was wilder and more of a prostitute than Oholah had ever been. 12 She too was full of lust for the Assyrian noblemen and officers - soldiers in bright uniforms - and for the cavalry officers, all of those handsome young men. 13 I saw that she was completely immoral, that the second sister was as bad as the first. 14 "She sank deeper and deeper in her immorality. She was attracted by the images of high Babylonian officials carved into the wall and painted bright red, with sashes around their waists and fancy turbans on their heads. 16 As soon as she saw them, she was filled with lust and sent messengers to them in Babylonia. 17 The Babylonians came to have sex with her. They used her and defiled her so much that finally she became disgusted with them. 18 She exposed herself publicly and let everyone know she was a whore. I was as disgusted with her as I had been with her sister. 19 She became more of a prostitute than ever, acting the way she did as a young woman, when she was a prostitute in Egypt. 20 She was filled with lust for oversexed men who had all the lustfulness of donkeys or stallions. 21 (Oholibah, you wanted to repeat the immorality you were guilty of as a young woman in Egypt, where men played with your breasts and you lost your virginity.) 22 "Now then, Oholibah, this is what I, the Sovereign Lord, am saying to you. You are tired of those lovers, but I will make them angry with you and bring them to surround you. 23 I will bring all the Babylonians and Chaldeans, men from Pekod, Shoa, and Koa, and all the Assyrians. I will gather all those handsome young noblemen and officers, all those important officials and high-ranking cavalry officers. 24 They will attack you from the north, bringing a large army with chariots and supply wagons. Protected by shields and helmets, they will surround you. I will hand you over to them, and they will judge you by their own laws. 25 Because I am angry with you, I will let them deal with you in their anger. They will cut off your nose and your ears and kill your children. Yes, they will take your sons and daughters from you and burn them alive. 26 They will tear off your clothes and take your jewels. 27 I will put a stop to your lust and to the obscenities you have committed ever since you were in Egypt. You won't look at any more idols or think about Egypt any more." 28 This is what the Sovereign Lord says: "I will hand you over to people you hate and are disgusted with. 29 And because they hate you, they will take away everything you have worked for and leave you stripped naked, exposed like a prostitute. Your lust and your prostitution 30 have brought this on you. You were a prostitute for the nations and defiled yourself with their idols. 31 You followed in your sister's footsteps, and so I will give you the same cup of punishment to drink." 32 The Sovereign Lord says, "You will drink from your sister's cup; it is large and deep. Everyone will scorn and mock you; the cup is full. 33 It will make you miserable and drunk, that cup of fear and ruin, your sister Samaria's cup. 34 You will drink and drain it dry, and with its broken pieces tear your breast. I, the Sovereign Lord, have spoken." 35 Now this is what the Sovereign Lord is saying: "Because you forgot me and turned your back on me, you will suffer for your lust and your prostitution." 36 The Lord said to me, "Mortal man, are you ready to judge Oholah and Oholibah? Accuse them of the disgusting things they have done. 37 They have committed adultery and murder - adultery with idols and murder of the children they bore me. They sacrificed my children to their idols. 38 And that is not all they did. They profaned my Temple and broke the Sabbath, which I had established. 39 The very day that they killed my children as sacrifices to idols, they came to my Temple and profaned it! 40 "Again and again they sent messengers to invite men to come from a great distance, and the men came. The two sisters would bathe and put on eye shadow and jewelry. 41 They would sit on a beautiful couch, and in front of them they would have a table covered with good things, including the incense and the olive oil that I had given them. 42 The sound of a carefree crowd could be heard, a group of men brought in from the desert. They put bracelets on the women's arms and beautiful crowns on their heads. 43 And I said to myself that they were using as a prostitute a woman worn out by adultery. 44 They went back to these prostitutes again and again. They went back to Oholah and Oholibah, those immoral women. 45 Righteous men will condemn them on the charge of adultery and murder, because they practice adultery and their hands are stained with blood." 46 This is what the Sovereign Lord says: "Bring a mob to terrorize them and rob them. 47 Let the mob stone them and attack them with swords, kill their children, and burn down their houses. 48 Throughout the land I will put a stop to immorality, as a warning to every woman not to commit adultery as they did.

Jer. 3:6 When Josiah was king, the Lord said to me, "Have you seen what Israel, that unfaithful woman, has done? She has turned away from me, and on every high hill and under every green tree she has acted like a prostitute. 7 I thought that after she had done all this, she would surely return to me. But she did not return, and her unfaithful sister Judah saw it all. 8 Judah also saw that I divorced Israel and sent her away because she had turned from me and had become a prostitute. But Judah, Israel's unfaithful sister, was not afraid. She too became a prostitute 9 and was not at all ashamed. She defiled the land, and she committed adultery by worshiping stones and trees. 10 And after all this, Judah, Israel's unfaithful sister, only pretended to return to me; she was not sincere. I, the Lord, have spoken." 11 Then the Lord told me that, even though Israel had turned away from him, she had proved to be better than unfaithful Judah.

2992-Ez 20:9 But I did not, since that would have brought dishonor to my name, for in the presence of the people among whom they were living I had announced to Israel that I was going to lead them out of Egypt. ….14 But I did not, since that would have brought dishonor to my name among the nations which had seen me lead Israel out of Egypt. ….22 But I did not, since that would have brought dishonor to my name among the nations which had seen me bring Israel out of Egypt.

2993-Ez 18:1 The Lord spoke to me 2 and said, "What is this proverb people keep repeating in the land of Israel? "The parents ate the sour grapes, But the children got the sour taste.' 3 "As surely as I am the living God," says the Sovereign Lord, "you will not repeat this proverb in Israel any more. 4 The life of every person belongs to me, the life of the parent as well as that of the child. The person who sins is the one who will die. 5 "Suppose there is a truly good man, righteous and honest. 6 He doesn't worship the idols of the Israelites or eat the sacrifices offered at forbidden shrines. He doesn't seduce another man's wife or have intercourse with a woman during her period. 7 He doesn't cheat or rob anyone. He returns what a borrower gives him as security; he feeds the hungry and gives clothing to the naked. 8 He doesn't lend money for profit. He refuses to do evil and gives an honest decision in any dispute. 9 Such a man obeys my commands and carefully keeps my laws. He is righteous, and he will live," says the Sovereign Lord. 10 "Then suppose this man has a son who robs and kills, who does any of these things 11 that the father never did. He eats sacrifices offered at forbidden shrines and seduces other men's wives. 12 He cheats the poor, he robs, he keeps what a borrower gives him as security. He goes to pagan shrines, worships disgusting idols, 13 and lends money for profit. Will he live? No, he will not. He has done all these disgusting things, and so he will die. He will be to blame for his own death. 14 "Now suppose this second man has a son. He sees all the sins his father practiced, but does not follow his example. 15 He doesn't worship the idols of the Israelites or eat the sacrifices offered at forbidden shrines. He doesn't seduce another man's wife 16 or oppress anyone or rob anyone. He returns what a borrower gives him as security. He feeds the hungry and gives clothing to the naked. 17 He refuses to do evil and doesn't lend money for profit. He keeps my laws and obeys my commands. He will not die because of his father's sins, but he will certainly live. 18 His father, on the other hand, cheated and robbed and always did evil to everyone. And so he died because of the sins he himself had committed. 19 "But you ask, "Why shouldn't the son suffer because of his father's sins?' The answer is that the son did what was right and good. He kept my laws and followed them carefully, and so he will certainly live. 20 It is the one who sins who will die. A son is not to suffer because of his father's sins, nor a father because of the sins of his son. Good people will be rewarded for doing good, and evil people will suffer for the evil they do. 21 "If someone evil stops sinning and keeps my laws, if he does what is right and good, he will not die; he will certainly live. 22 All his sins will be forgiven, and he will live, because he did what is right. 23 Do you think I enjoy seeing evil people die?" asks the Sovereign Lord. "No, I would rather see them repent and live. 24 "But if a righteous person stops doing good and starts doing all the evil, disgusting things that evil people do, will he go on living? No! None of the good he did will be remembered. He will die because of his unfaithfulness and his sins. 25 "But you say, "What the Lord does isn't right.' Listen to me, you Israelites. Do you think my way of doing things isn't right? It is your way that isn't right. 26 When a righteous person stops doing good and starts doing evil and then dies, he dies because of the evil he has done. 27 When someone evil stops sinning and does what is right and good, he saves his life. 28 He realizes what he is doing and stops sinning, so he will certainly not die, but go on living. 29 And you Israelites say, "What the Lord does isn't right.' You think my way isn't right, do you? It is your way that isn't right. 30 "Now I, the Sovereign Lord, am telling you Israelites that I will judge each of you by what you have done. Turn away from all the evil you are doing, and don't let your sin destroy you. 31 Give up all the evil you have been doing, and get yourselves new minds and hearts. Why do you Israelites want to die? 32 I do not want anyone to die," says the Sovereign Lord. "Turn away from your sins and live."

Ez 33:10 The Lord spoke to me. "Mortal man," he said, "repeat to the Israelites what they are saying: "We are burdened with our sins and the wrongs we have done. We are wasting away. How can we live?' 11 Tell them that as surely as I, the Sovereign Lord, am the living God, I do not enjoy seeing sinners die. I would rather see them stop sinning and live. Israel, stop the evil you are doing. Why do you want to die? 12 "Now, mortal man, tell the Israelites that when someone good sins, the good he has done will not save him. If an evil person stops doing evil, he won't be punished, and if a good man starts sinning, his life will not be spared. 13 I may promise life to someone good, but if he starts thinking that his past goodness is enough and begins to sin, I will not remember any of the good he did. He will die because of his sins. 14 I may warn someone evil that he is going to die, but if he stops sinning and does what is right and good - 15 for example, if he returns the security he took for a loan or gives back what he stole - if he stops sinning and follows the laws that give life, he will not die, but live. 16 I will forgive the sins he has committed, and he will live because he has done what is right and good. 17 "And your people say that what I do isn't right! No, it's their way that isn't right. 18 When someone righteous stops doing good and starts doing evil, he will die for it. 19 When someone evil quits sinning and does what is right and good, he has saved his life. 20 But Israel, you say that what I do isn't right. I am going to judge you by what you do."

2994-Ez 40:1 It was the tenth day of the new year, which was the twenty-fifth year after we had been taken into exile and the fourteenth year after Jerusalem was captured. On that day I felt the powerful presence of the Lord, and he carried me away. 2 In a vision God took me to the land of Israel and put me on a high mountain. I saw in front of me a group of buildings that looked like a city. 3 He took me closer, and I saw a man who shone like bronze. He was holding a linen tape measure and a measuring rod and was standing by a gateway. 4 He said to me, "Watch, mortal man. Listen carefully and pay close attention to everything I show you, because this is why you were brought here. You are to tell the people of Israel everything you see." 5 What I saw was the Temple, and there was a wall around it. The man took his measuring rod, which was 10 feet long, and measured the wall. It was 10 feet high and 10 feet thick. 6 Then he went to the gateway that faced east. He went up the steps, and at the top he measured the entrance; it was 10 feet deep. 7 Beyond it there was a passageway, which had three guardrooms on each side. Each of the rooms was square, 10 feet on each side, and the walls between them were 8 feet thick. Beyond the guardrooms there was a passageway 10 feet long that led to an entrance room which faced the Temple. 8 He measured this room and found it was 14 feet deep. It formed that end of the gateway which was nearest the Temple, and at its far end the walls were 4 feet thick 10 (These guardrooms on each side of the passageway were all the same size, and the walls between them were all of the same thickness.) 11 Next, the man measured the width of the passageway in the gateway. It was 22 feet altogether, and the space between the open gates was 16 feet. 12 In front of each of the guardrooms there was a low wall 20 inches high and 20 inches thick. (The rooms were 10 feet square.) 13 Then he measured the distance from the back wall of one room to the back wall of the room across the passageway from it, and it was 42 feet. 14 The room at the far end led out to a courtyard. He measured that room and found it was 34 feet wide. 15 The total length of the gateway from the outside wall of the gate to the far side of the last room was 84 feet. 16 There were small openings in the outside walls of all the rooms and also in the inner walls between the rooms. There were palm trees carved on the inner walls that faced the passageway. 17 The man took me through the gateway into the courtyard. There were thirty rooms built against the outer wall, and in front of them there was an area paved with stones, 18 which extended around the courtyard. This outer courtyard was at a lower level than the inner courtyard. 19 There was a gateway at a higher level that led to the inner courtyard. The man measured the distance between the two gateways, and it was 168 feet. 20 Then the man measured the gateway on the north side that led into the outer courtyard. 21 The three guardrooms on each side of the passageway, the walls between them, and the entrance room all had the same measurements as those in the east gateway. The total length of the gateway was 84 feet and the width 42 feet. 22 The entrance room, the windows, and the carved palm trees were like those in the east gate. Here seven steps led up to the gate, and the entrance room was at the end facing the courtyard. 23 Across the courtyard from this north gateway was another gateway leading to the inner courtyard, just as there was on the east side. The man measured the distance between these two gateways, and it was 168 feet. 24 Next, the man took me to the south side, and there we saw another gateway. He measured its inner walls and its entrance room, and they were the same as the others. 25 There were windows in the rooms of this gateway just as in the others. The total length of the gateway was 84 feet and the width 42 feet. 26 Seven steps led up to it, and its entrance room was also at the end facing the courtyard. There were palm trees carved on the inner walls that faced the passageway. 27 Here, too, there was a gateway leading to the inner courtyard. The man measured the distance to this second gateway, and it was 168 feet. 28 The man took me through the south gateway into the inner courtyard. He measured the gateway, and it was the same size as the gateways in the outer wall. 29 Its guardrooms, its entrance room, and its inner walls were the same size as those in the other gateways. There were also windows in the rooms of this gateway. The total length was 84 feet and the width 42 feet. 31 Its entrance room faced the other courtyard, and palm trees were carved on the walls along the passageway. Eight steps led up to this gate. 32 The man took me through the east gateway into the inner courtyard. He measured the gateway, and it was the same size as the others. 33 Its guardrooms, its entrance room, and its inner walls measured the same as those in the other gateways. There were windows all around, and in the entrance room also. The total length was 84 feet and the width 42 feet. 34 The entrance room faced the outer courtyard. Palm trees were carved on the walls along the passageway. Eight steps led up to this gate. 35 Then the man took me to the north gateway. He measured it, and it was the same size as the others. 36 Like them, it also had guardrooms, decorated inner walls, an entrance room, and windows all around. Its total length was 84 feet and its width 42 feet. 37 The entrance room faced the outer courtyard. Palm trees were carved on the walls along the passageway. Eight steps led up to this gate. 38 In the outer courtyard there was an annex attached to the inner gateway on the north side. It opened into the entrance room that faced the courtyard, and there they washed the carcasses of the animals to be burned whole as sacrifices. 39 In this entrance room there were four tables, two on each side of the room. It was on these tables that they killed the animals to be offered as sacrifices, either to be burned whole or to be sacrifices for sin or as repayment offerings. 40 Outside the room there were four similar tables, two on either side of the entrance of the north gate. 41 Altogether there were eight tables on which the animals to be sacrificed were killed: four inside the room and four out in the courtyard. 42 The four tables in the annex, used to prepare the offerings to be burned whole, were of cut stone. They were 20 inches high, and their tops were 30 inches square. All the equipment used in killing the sacrificial animals was kept on these tables. 43 Ledges 3 inches wide ran around the edge of the tables. All the meat to be offered in sacrifice was placed on the tables. 44 Then he brought me into the inner court. There were two rooms opening on the inner court, one facing south beside the north gateway and the other facing north beside the south gateway. 45 The man told me that the room which faced south was for the priests who served in the Temple, 46 and the room which faced north was for the priests who served at the altar. All the priests are descended from Zadok; they are the only members of the tribe of Levi who are permitted to go into the Lord's presence to serve him. 47 The man measured the inner courtyard, and it was 168 feet square. The Temple was on the west side, and in front of it was an altar.

Ez 41:1 Next, the man took me into the central room, the Holy Place. He measured the passageway into it: it was 10 feet deep 2 and 18 feet wide, with walls 8 feet thick on either side. He measured the room itself: it was 68 feet long and 34 feet wide. 3 Then he went to the innermost room. He measured the passageway into it: it was 3 feet deep and 10 feet wide, with walls on either side 12 feet thick. 4 He measured the room itself, and it was 34 feet square. This room was beyond the central room. Then he said to me, "This is the Most Holy Place." 5 The man measured the thickness of the inner wall of the Temple building, and it was 10 feet. Against this wall, all around the Temple, was a series of small rooms 7 feet wide. 6 These rooms were in three stories, with thirty rooms on each floor. The Temple's outer wall on each floor was thinner than on the floor below, so that the rooms could rest on the wall without being anchored into it. 7 And so the Temple walls, when seen from the outside, seemed to have the same thickness all the way to the top. Against the Temple's outer wall, on the outside of the rooms, two wide stairways were built, so that it was possible to go from the lower story to the middle and the upper stories. 8 The outside wall of these rooms was 8 feet thick; there was one door into the rooms on the north side of the Temple, and one into those on the south side. I saw that there was a terrace 8 feet wide around the Temple; it was 10 feet above the ground and it was level with the foundation of the rooms by the Temple walls. Between the terrace and the buildings used by the priests there was an open space 34 feet across, along the sides of the Temple. 12 At the far end of the open space on the west side of the Temple there was a building 150 feet long and 116 feet wide; its walls were 9 feet thick all around. 13 The man measured the outside of the Temple, and it was 168 feet long. And from the back of the Temple, across the open space to the far side of the building to the west, the distance was also 168 feet. 14 The distance across the front of the Temple, including the open space on either side, was also 168 feet. 15 He measured the length of the building to the west, including its galleries on both sides, and it was also 168 feet. The entrance room of the Temple, the Holy Place, and the Most Holy Place 16 were all paneled with wood from the floor to the windows. These windows could be covered. 17 The inside walls of the Temple, up as high as above the doors, were completely covered with carvings 18 of palm trees and winged creatures. Palm trees alternated with creatures, one following the other, all the way around the room. Each creature had two faces: 19 a human face that was turned toward the palm tree on one side, and a lion's face that was turned toward the tree on the other side. It was like this all around the wall, 20 from the floor to above the doors. 21 The doorposts of the Holy Place were square. In front of the entrance of the Most Holy Place there was something that looked like 22 a wooden altar. It was 5 feet high and 4 feet wide. Its corner posts, its base, and its sides were all made of wood. The man said to me, "This is the table which stands in the presence of the Lord." 23 There was a door at the end of the passageway to the Holy Place and one also at the end of the passageway to the Most Holy Place.

Ez 42:1 Then the man took me into the outer courtyard and led me to a building on the north side of the Temple, not far from the building at the west end of the Temple. 2 This building was 168 feet long and 84 feet wide. 3 On one side it faced the space 34 feet wide which was alongside the Temple, and on the other side it faced the pavement of the outer courtyard. It was built on three levels, each one set further back than the one below it. 4 Along the north side of this building was a passageway 16 feet wide and 168 feet long, with entrances on that side. 5 The rooms at the upper level of the building were narrower than those at the middle and lower levels because they were set further back. 6 The rooms at all three levels were on terraces and were not supported by columns like the other buildings in the courtyard. 7 At the lower level the outer wall of the building was solid for 84 feet, half its length; and there were rooms in the remaining 84 feet. At the top level there were rooms in the entire length of the building. 9 Below these rooms at the east end of the building, where the wall of the courtyard began, there was an entrance into the outer courtyard. At the south side of the Temple there was an identical building not far from the building at the west end of the Temple. 11 In front of the rooms there was a passageway just like the one on the north side. It had the same measurements, the same design, and the same kind of entrances. 12 There was a door under the rooms on the south side of the building, at the east end where the wall began. 13 The man said to me, "Both these buildings are holy. In them the priests who enter the Lord's presence eat the holiest offerings. Because the rooms are holy, the priests will place the holiest offerings there: the offerings of grain and the sacrifices offered for sin or as repayment offerings. 14 When priests have been in the Temple and want to go to the outer courtyard, they must leave in these rooms the holy clothing they wore while serving the Lord. They must put on other clothes before going out to the area where the people gather." 15 When the man had finished measuring inside the Temple area, he took me out through the east gate and then measured the outside of the area. 16 He took the measuring rod and measured the east side, and it was 840 feet.

Ez 43:1 The man took me to the gate that faces east, 2 and there I saw coming from the east the dazzling light of the presence of the God of Israel. God's voice sounded like the roar of the sea, and the earth shone with the dazzling light. 3 This vision was like the one I had seen when God came to destroy Jerusalem, and the one I saw by the Chebar River. Then I threw myself face downward on the ground. 4 The dazzling light passed through the east gate and went into the Temple. 5 The Lord's spirit lifted me up and took me into the inner courtyard, where I saw that the Temple was filled with the glory of the Lord. 6 The man stood beside me there, and I heard the Lord speak to me out of the Temple: 7 "Mortal man, here is my throne. I will live here among the people of Israel and rule them forever. Neither the people of Israel nor their kings will ever again disgrace my holy name by worshiping other gods or by burying the corpses of their dead kings. 8 The kings built the doorsills and doorposts of their palace right against the doorsills and doorposts of my Temple, so that there was only a wall between us. They disgraced my holy name by all the disgusting things they did, and so in my anger I destroyed them. 9 Now they must stop worshiping other gods and remove the corpses of their kings. If they do, I will live among them forever." 10 And the Lord continued, "Mortal man, tell the people of Israel about the Temple, and let them study its plan. Make them ashamed of their sinful actions. 11 Then if they are ashamed of what they have done, explain the plan of the Temple to them: its design, its entrances and exits, its shape, the arrangement of everything, and all its rules and regulations. Write all this down for them so that they can see how everything is arranged and can carry out all the rules. 12 This is the law of the Temple: All the area surrounding it on the top of the mountain is sacred and holy." 13 These are the measurements of the altar, using the same unit of measure as in measuring the Temple. All around the base of the altar there was a gutter 20 inches deep and 20 inches wide, with a rim at the outside edge 10 inches high. 14 The lowest section of the altar, from the top of the base, was 4 feet high. The next section was set back from the edge 20 inches all around, and was 7 feet high. The section after that was also set back from the edge 20 inches all around. 15 This top section, on which the sacrifices were burned, was also 7 feet high. The projections on the four corners were higher than the rest of the top. 16 The top of the altar was a square, 20 feet on each side. 17 The middle section was also a square, 24 feet on each side, with a rim at the outside edge 10 inches high. (The gutter was 20 inches wide.) The steps going up the altar were on the east side. 18 The Sovereign Lord said to me, "Mortal man, listen to what I tell you. When the altar is built, you are to dedicate it by burning sacrifices on it and by sprinkling on it the blood of the animals that were sacrificed. 19 Those priests belonging to the tribe of Levi who are descended from Zadok are the only ones who are to come into my presence to serve me. I, the Sovereign Lord, command this. You will give them a young bull to offer as a sacrifice for sin. 20 You are to take some of its blood and put it on the projections on the top corners of the altar, on the corners of the middle section of the altar, and all around its edges. In this way you will purify the altar and consecrate it. 21 You are to take the bull that is offered as a sacrifice for sin and burn it at the specified place outside the Temple area. 22 The next day you are to take a male goat without any defects and offer it as a sacrifice for sin. Purify the altar with its blood the same way you did with the bull. 23 When you have finished doing that, take a young bull and a young ram, both of them without any defects, 24 and bring them to me. The priests will sprinkle salt on them and burn them as an offering to me. 25 Each day for seven days you are to offer a goat, a bull, and a ram as sacrifices for sin. All of them must be without any defects. 26 For seven days the priests are to consecrate the altar and make it ready for use. 27 When the week is over, the priests are to begin offering on the altar the burnt offerings and the fellowship offerings of the people. Then I will be pleased with all of you. I, the Sovereign Lord, have spoken."

Ez 44:1 The man led me to the outer gate at the east side of the Temple area. The gate was closed, 2 and the Lord said to me, "This gate will stay closed and will never be opened. No human being is allowed to use it, because I, the Lord God of Israel, have entered through it. It is to remain closed. 3 The ruling prince, however, may go there to eat a holy meal in my presence. He is to enter and leave the gateway through the entrance room at the inner end." 4 Then the man took me through the north gate to the front of the Temple. As I looked, I saw that the Temple of the Lord was filled with the dazzling light of his presence. I threw myself face downward on the ground, 5 and the Lord said to me, "Mortal man, pay attention to everything you see and hear. I am going to tell you the rules and regulations for the Temple. Note carefully which persons are allowed to go in and out of the Temple, and which persons are not allowed. 6 "Tell those rebellious people of Israel that I, the Sovereign Lord, will no longer tolerate the disgusting things that they have been doing. 7 They have profaned my Temple by letting uncircumcised foreigners, people who do not obey me, enter the Temple when the fat and the blood of the sacrifices are being offered to me. So my people have broken my covenant by all the disgusting things they have done. 8 They have not taken charge of the sacred rituals in my Temple, but instead have put foreigners in charge. 9 "I, the Sovereign Lord, declare that no uncircumcised foreigner, no one who disobeys me, will enter my Temple, not even a foreigner who lives among the people of Israel." 10 The Lord said to me, "I am punishing those Levites who, together with the rest of the people of Israel, deserted me and worshiped idols. 11 They may serve me in the Temple by taking charge of the gates and by performing the work of the Temple. They may kill the animals which the people offer for burnt offerings and for sacrifices, and they are to be on duty to serve the people. 12 But because they conducted the worship of idols for the people of Israel and in this way led the people into sin, I, the Sovereign Lord, solemnly swear that they must be punished. 13 They are not to serve me as priests or to go near anything that is holy to me or to enter the Most Holy Place. This is the punishment for the disgusting things they have done. 14 I am assigning to them the menial work that is to be done in the Temple." 15 The Sovereign Lord said, "Those priests belonging to the tribe of Levi who are descended from Zadok, however, continued to serve me faithfully in the Temple when the rest of the people of Israel turned away from me. So now they are the ones who are to serve me and come into my presence to offer me the fat and the blood of the sacrifices. 16 They alone will enter my Temple, serve at my altar, and conduct the Temple worship. 17 When they enter the gateway to the inner courtyard of the Temple, they are to put on linen clothing. They must not wear anything made of wool when they are on duty in the inner courtyard or in the Temple. 18 So that they won't perspire, they are to wear linen turbans and linen trousers, but no belt. 19 Before they go to the outer courtyard where the people are, they must first take off the clothes they wore on duty in the Temple and leave them in the holy rooms. They are to put on other clothing in order to keep their sacred clothing from harming the people. 20 "Priests must neither shave their heads nor let their hair grow long. They are to keep it a proper length. 21 Priests must not drink any wine before going into the inner courtyard. 22 No priest may marry a divorced woman; he is to marry only an Israelite virgin or the widow of another priest. 23 "The priests are to teach my people the difference between what is holy and what is not, and between what is ritually clean and what is not. 24 When a legal dispute arises, the priests are to decide the case according to my laws. They are to keep the religious festivals according to my rules and regulations, and they are to keep the Sabbaths holy. 25 "A priest is not to become ritually unclean by touching a corpse, unless it is one of his parents, one of his children or a brother or an unmarried sister. 26 After he has become clean again, he must wait seven days 27 and then go into the inner courtyard of the Temple and offer a sacrifice for his purification, so that he can serve in the Temple again. I, the Sovereign Lord, have spoken. 28 "The priests have the priesthood as their share of what I have given Israel to be handed down from one generation to another. They are not to hold property in Israel; I am all they need. 29 The grain offerings, the sin offerings, and the repayment offerings will be the priests' food, and they are to receive everything in Israel that is set apart for me. 30 The priests are to have the best of all the first harvest and of everything else that is offered to me. Each time the people bake bread, they are to give the priests the first loaf as an offering, and my blessing will rest on their homes. 31 The priests must not eat any bird or animal that dies a natural death or is killed by another animal."

Ez 45:1 When the land is divided to give each tribe a share, one part is to be dedicated to the Lord. It is to be 10 miles long by 8 miles wide. The entire area will be holy. 2 In this area there is to be a square plot of land for the Temple, 840 feet on each side, entirely surrounded by an open space 84 feet wide. 3 Half of this area, a section 10 miles by 4 miles, is to be measured off; it will contain the Temple, the holiest place of all. 4 It will be a holy part of the country, set aside for the priests who serve the Lord in his Temple. It will contain their houses and the section of land for the Temple. 5 The other half of the area is to be set aside as the possession of the Levites, who do the work in the Temple. There will be towns there for them to live in. 6 Next to the holy area, another section, 10 miles long and 2 miles wide, is to be set aside for a city where any of the people of Israel may live. 7 Land is also to be set aside for the ruling prince. From the west boundary of the holy area it will extend west to the Mediterranean Sea; and from the east boundary it will extend to the eastern border of the country, so that its length will be the same as the length of one of the areas allotted to the tribes of Israel. 8 This area will be the share the ruling prince will have in the land of Israel, so that he will no longer oppress the people, but will let the rest of the country belong to the tribes of Israel. 9 The Sovereign Lord said, "You have sinned too long, you rulers of Israel! Stop your violence and oppression. Do what is right and just. You must never again drive my people off their land. I, the Sovereign Lord, am telling you this. 10 "Everyone must use honest weights and measures: 11 "The [ephah ]for dry measure is to be equal to the [bath ]for liquid measure. The standard is the [homer.] The resulting measures are as follows: 1 [homer ]= 10 [ephahs ]= 10 [baths] 12 "Your weights are to be as follows: 20 [gerahs ]= 1 [shekel] 60 [shekels ]= 1 [mina] 13 "This is the basis on which you are to make your offerings: Wheat: 1/60th of your harvest Barley: 1/60th of your harvest Olive oil: 1/100th of the yield of your trees (Measure it by the [bath]: 10 [baths ]= 1 [homer ]= 1 [kor].) Sheep: 1 sheep out of every 200 from the meadows of Israel "You are to bring grain offerings, animals to be burned whole, and animals for fellowship offerings, so that your sins will be forgiven. I, the Sovereign Lord, command it. 16 "All the people of the land must take these offerings to the ruling prince of Israel. 17 It will be his duty to provide the animals to be burned whole, the grain offerings, and the wine offerings for the whole nation of Israel at the New Moon Festivals, the Sabbaths, and the other festivals. He is to provide the sin offerings, the grain offerings, the offerings to be burned whole, and the fellowship offerings, to take away the sins of the people of Israel." 18 The Sovereign Lord said, "On the first day of the first month you are to sacrifice a bull without any defects and purify the Temple. 19 The priest will take some of the blood of this sin offering and put it on the doorposts of the Temple, on the four corners of the altar, and on the posts of the gateways to the inner courtyard. 20 On the seventh day of the month you are to do the same thing on behalf of anyone who sins unintentionally or through ignorance. In this way you will keep the Temple holy. 21 "On the fourteenth day of the first month you will begin the celebration of the Passover Festival. For seven days everyone will eat bread made without yeast. 22 On the first day of the festival the ruling prince must offer a bull as a sacrifice for his sins and for those of all the people. 23 On each of the seven days of the festival he is to sacrifice to the Lord seven bulls and seven rams without any defects and burn them whole. He is also to sacrifice a male goat each day as a sin offering.

Ez 46:1 The Sovereign Lord says, "The east gateway to the inner courtyard must be kept closed during the six working days, but it is to be opened on the Sabbath and at the New Moon Festival. 2 The ruling prince will go from the outer courtyard into the entrance room of the gateway and stand beside the posts of the gate while the priests burn his sacrifices whole and offer his fellowship offerings. There at the gate he must worship and then go back out. The gate must not be shut until evening. 3 Each Sabbath and each New Moon Festival all the people are also to bow down and worship the Lord in front of the gate. 4 On the Sabbath the prince is to bring to the Lord, as sacrifices to be burned whole, six lambs and one ram, all without any defects. 5 With each ram he is to bring an offering of half a bushel of grain, and with each lamb he is to bring whatever he wants to give. For each half-bushel of grain offering he is to bring three quarts of olive oil. 6 At the New Moon Festival he will offer a young bull, six lambs, and a ram, all without any defects. 7 With each bull and each ram the offering is to be half a bushel of grain, and with each lamb the offering is to be whatever the prince wants to give. Three quarts of olive oil are to be offered with each half-bushel of grain. 8 The prince must leave the entrance room of the gateway and go out by the same way he went in. 9 "When the people come to worship the Lord at any festival, those who enter by the north gate are to leave by the south gate after they have worshiped, and those who enter by the south gate are to leave by the north gate. No one may go out by the same way he entered, but must leave by the opposite gate. 10 The prince is to come in when the people come, and leave when they leave. 11 On the feast days and at the festivals the grain offering will be half a bushel with each bull or ram, and whatever the worshiper wants to give with each lamb. Three quarts of olive oil are to be offered with each half-bushel of grain. 12 "When the ruling prince wants to make a voluntary offering to the Lord, either an offering to be burned whole or a fellowship offering, the east gate to the inner courtyard will be opened for him. He is to make the offering in the same way he does on the Sabbath, and the gate is to be closed after he goes back out." 13 The Lord says, "Every morning a one-year-old lamb without any defects is to be burned whole as an offering to the Lord. This offering must be made every day. 14 Also an offering of five pounds of flour is to be made every morning, along with one quart of olive oil for mixing with the flour. The rules for this offering to the Lord are to be in force forever. 15 The lamb, the flour, and the olive oil are to be offered to the Lord every morning forever." 16 The Sovereign Lord commands: "If the ruling prince gives any of the land he owns to one of his sons as a present, it will belong to that son as a part of his family property. 17 But if the ruling prince gives any of his land to anyone who is in his service, it will become the prince's property again when the Year of Restoration comes. It belongs to him, and only he and his sons can own it permanently. 18 The ruling prince must not take any of the people's property away from them. Any land he gives to his sons must be from the land that is assigned to him, so that he will not oppress any of my people by taking their land." 19 Then the man took me to the entrance of the rooms facing north near the gate on the south side of the inner courtyard. These are holy rooms for the priests. He pointed out a place on the west side of the rooms 20 and said, "This is the place where the priests are to boil the meat offered as sacrifices for sin or as repayment offerings, and to bake the offerings of flour, so that nothing holy is carried to the outer courtyard, where it might harm the people." 21 Then he led me to the outer courtyard and showed me that in each of its four corners there was a smaller courtyard, 68 feet long and 48 feet wide. 23 Each one had a stone wall around it, with fireplaces built against the wall.

Ez 47:1 The man led me back to the entrance of the Temple. Water was coming out from under the entrance and flowing east, the direction the Temple faced. It was flowing down from under the south part of the Temple past the south side of the altar. 2 The man then took me out of the Temple area by way of the north gate and led me around to the gate that faces east. A small stream of water was flowing out at the south side of the gate. 3 With his measuring rod the man measured 560 yards downstream to the east and told me to wade through the stream there. The water came only to my ankles. 4 Then he measured another 560 yards, and the water came up to my knees. Another 560 yards farther down, the water was up to my waist. 5 He measured 560 yards more, and there the stream was so deep I could not wade through it. It was too deep to cross except by swimming. 6 He said to me, "Mortal man, note all this carefully." Then the man took me back to the riverbank, 7 and when I got there, I saw that there were very many trees on each bank. 8 He said to me, "This water flows through the land to the east and down into the Jordan Valley and to the Dead Sea. When it flows into the Dead Sea, it replaces the salt water of that sea with fresh water. 9 Wherever the stream flows, there will be all kinds of animals and fish. The stream will make the water of the Dead Sea fresh, and wherever it flows, it will bring life. 10 From the Springs of Engedi all the way to the Springs of Eneglaim, there will be fishermen on the shore of the sea, and they will spread out their nets there to dry. There will be as many different kinds of fish there as there are in the Mediterranean Sea. 11 But the water in the marshes and ponds along the shore will not be made fresh. They will remain there as a source of salt. 12 On each bank of the stream all kinds of trees will grow to provide food. Their leaves will never wither, and they will never stop bearing fruit. They will have fresh fruit every month, because they are watered by the stream that flows from the Temple. The trees will provide food, and their leaves will be used for healing people." 13 The Sovereign Lord said, "These are the boundaries of the land that is to be divided among the twelve tribes, with the tribe of Joseph receiving two sections. 14 I solemnly promised your ancestors that I would give them possession of this land; now divide it equally among you. 15 "The northern boundary runs eastward from the Mediterranean Sea to the city of Hethlon, to Hamath Pass, to the city of Zedad, 16 to the cities of Berothah and Sibraim (they are located between the territory of the kingdom of Damascus and that of the kingdom of Hamath), and to the city of Ticon (located by the border of the district of Hauran). 17 So the northern boundary runs from the Mediterranean eastward to Enon City, with the border regions of Damascus and Hamath to the north of it. 18 "The eastern boundary runs south from a point between the territory of Damascus and that of Hauran, with the Jordan River forming the boundary between the land of Israel on the west and Gilead on the east, as far as Tamar on the Dead Sea. 19 "The southern boundary runs southwest from Tamar to the oasis of Kadesh Meribah and then northwest along the Egyptian border to the Mediterranean Sea. 20 "The western boundary is formed by the Mediterranean and runs north to a point west of Hamath Pass. 21 "Divide this land among your tribes; 22 it is to be your permanent possession. The foreigners who are living among you and who have had children born here are also to receive their share of the land when you divide it. They are to be treated like full Israelite citizens and are to draw lots for shares of the land along with the tribes of Israel. 23 All foreign residents will receive their share with the people of the tribe among whom they are living. I, the Sovereign Lord, have spoken."

Ez 48:1 The northern boundary of the land runs eastward from the Mediterranean Sea to the city of Hethlon, to Hamath Pass, to Enon City, to the boundary between the kingdoms of Damascus and Hamath. Each tribe is to receive one section of land extending from the eastern boundary west to the Mediterranean Sea, in the following order from north to south: Dan Asher Naphtali Manasseh Ephraim Reuben Judah 8 The next section of the land is to be set apart for special use. It is to be 10 miles wide from north to south, and the same length from east to west as the sections given to the tribes. The Temple will be located within this section. 9 In the center of this section, a special area 10 miles by 8 miles is to be dedicated to the Lord. 10 The priests are to have a portion of this holy area. From east to west their portion is to measure 10 miles, and from north to south, 4 miles. The Temple of the Lord is to be located in the middle of this area. 11 This holy area is to be for the priests who are descendants of Zadok. They served me faithfully and did not join the rest of the Israelites in doing wrong, as the other members of the tribe of Levi did. 12 So they are to have a special area next to the area belonging to the Levites, and it will be the holiest of all. 13 The Levites also are to have a special area, south of that of the priests. It too is to be 10 miles from east to west, by 4 miles from north to south. 14 The area dedicated to the Lord is the best part of all the land, and none of it may be sold or exchanged or transferred to anyone else. It is holy and belongs to the Lord. 15 The part of the special area that is left, 10 miles by 2 miles, is not holy, but is for the general use of the people. They may live there and use the land. The city is to be in the center of it, 16 and it will be a square, 2,520 yards on each side. 17 All around the city on each side there will be an open space 140 yards across. 18 The land that is left after the city has been built in the area immediately to the south of the holy area - 4 miles by 2 miles on the east and 4 miles by 2 miles on the west - is to be used as farmland by the people who live in the city. 19 Anyone who lives in the city, no matter which tribe he comes from, may farm that land. 20 And so the total area in the center of the section which was set apart will be a square measuring 10 miles on each side, and it will include the area occupied by the city.

2995-Matthew 3:1 At that time John the Baptist came to the desert of Judea and started preaching.

Luke 3:23 When Jesus began his work, he was about thirty years old. He was the son, so people thought, of Joseph, who was the son of Heli,

2996-Ezekiel 1:1 On the fifth day of the fourth month of the thirtieth year, I, Ezekiel the priest, son of Buzi, was living with the Jewish exiles by the Chebar River in Babylonia. The sky opened, and I saw a vision of God. 2 It was the fifth year since King Jehoiachin had been taken into exile.) 3 There in Babylonia beside the Chebar River, I heard the Lord speak to me, and I felt his power. 4 I looked up and saw a windstorm coming from the north. Lightning was flashing from a huge cloud, and the sky around it was glowing. Where the lightning was flashing, something shone like bronze. 5 At the center of the storm I saw what looked like four living creatures in human form, 6 but each of them had four faces and four wings. 7 Their legs were straight, and they had hoofs like those of a bull. They shone like polished bronze. 8 In addition to their four faces and four wings, they each had four human hands, one under each wing. 9 Two wings of each creature were spread out so that the creatures formed a square, with their wing tips touching. When they moved, they moved as a group without turning their bodies. 10 Each living creature had four different faces: a human face in front, a lion's face at the right, a bull's face at the left, and an eagle's face at the back. 11 Two wings of each creature were raised so that they touched the tips of the wings of the creatures next to it, and their other two wings were folded against their bodies. 12 Each creature faced all four directions, and so the group could go wherever they wished, without having to turn. 13 Among the creatures there was something that looked like a blazing torch, constantly moving. The fire would blaze up and shoot out flashes of lightning. 14 The creatures themselves darted back and forth with the speed of lightning. 15 As I was looking at the four creatures I saw four wheels touching the ground, one beside each of them. 16 All four wheels were alike; each one shone like a precious stone, and each had another wheel intersecting it at right angles, 17 so that the wheels could move in any of the four directions. 18 The rims of the wheels were covered with eyes. 19 Whenever the creatures moved, the wheels moved with them, and if the creatures rose up from the earth, so did the wheels. 20 The creatures went wherever they wished, and the wheels did exactly what the creatures did, because the creatures controlled them. 21 So every time the creatures moved or stopped or rose in the air, the wheels did exactly the same. 22 Above the heads of the creatures there was something that looked like a dome made of dazzling crystal. 23 There under the dome stood the creatures, each stretching out two wings toward the ones next to it and covering its body with the other two wings. 24 I heard the noise their wings made in flight; it sounded like the roar of the sea, like the noise of a huge army, like the voice of Almighty God. When they stopped flying, they folded their wings, 25 but there was still a sound coming from above the dome over their heads. 26 Above the dome there was something that looked like a throne made of sapphire, and sitting on the throne was a figure that looked like a human being. 27 The figure seemed to be shining like bronze in the middle of a fire. It shone all over with a bright light 28 that had in it all the colors of the rainbow. This was the dazzling light which shows the presence of the Lord. When I saw this, I fell face downward on the ground. Then I heard a voice

Ez 10:1 I looked at the dome over the heads of the living creatures and above them was something that seemed to be a throne made of sapphire. 2 God said to the man wearing linen clothes, "Go between the wheels under the creatures and fill your hands with burning coals. Then scatter the coals over the city." I watched him go. 3 The creatures were standing to the south of the Temple when he went in, and a cloud filled the inner courtyard. 4 The dazzling light of the Lord's presence rose up from the creatures and moved to the entrance of the Temple. Then the cloud filled the Temple, and the courtyard was blazing with the light. 5 The noise made by the creatures' wings was heard even in the outer courtyard. It sounded like the voice of Almighty God. 6 When the Lord commanded the man wearing linen clothes to take some fire from between the wheels that were under the creatures, the man went in and stood by one of the wheels. 7 One of the creatures reached his hand into the fire that was there among them, picked up some coals, and put them in the hands of the man in linen. The man took the coals and left. 8 I saw that each creature had what looked like a human hand under each of its wings. 9 I also saw that there were four wheels, all alike, one beside each creature. The wheels shone like precious stones, and each one had another wheel which intersected it at right angles. 11 When the creatures moved, they could go in any direction without turning. They all moved together in the direction they wanted to go, without having to turn around. 12 Their bodies, backs, hands, wings, and wheels were covered with eyes. 13 I heard a voice calling out, "Whirling wheels." 14 Each creature had four faces. The first was the face of a bull, the second a human face, the third the face of a lion, and the fourth the face of an eagle. 15 (They were the same creatures that I had seen by the Chebar River.) When the creatures rose in the air 16 and moved, the wheels went with them. Whenever they spread their wings to fly, the wheels still went with them. 17 When the creatures stopped, the wheels stopped; and when the creatures flew, the wheels went with them, because the creatures controlled them. 18 Then the dazzling light of the Lord's presence left the entrance of the Temple and moved to a place above the creatures. 19 They spread their wings and flew up from the earth while I was watching, and the wheels went with them. They paused at the east gate of the Temple, and the dazzling light was over them. 20 I recognized them as the same creatures which I had seen beneath the God of Israel at the Chebar River. 21 Each of them had four faces, four wings, and what looked like a human hand under each wing. 22 Their faces looked exactly like the faces I had seen by the Chebar River. Each creature moved straight ahead.

2997-Ezekiel 20:9 But I did not, since that would have brought dishonor to my name, for in the presence of the people among whom they were living I had announced to Israel that I was going to lead them out of Egypt. ….14 But I did not, since that would have brought dishonor to my name among the nations which had seen me lead Israel out of Egypt. ….22 But I did not, since that would have brought dishonor to my name among the nations which had seen me bring Israel out of Egypt. ….44 When I act to protect my honor, you Israelites will know that I am the Lord, because I do not deal with you as your wicked, evil actions deserve." The Sovereign Lord has spoken.

Ez 36:22 "Now then, give the Israelites the message that I, the Sovereign Lord, have for them: What I am going to do is not for the sake of you Israelites, but for the sake of my holy name, which you have disgraced in every country where you have gone.

Jeremiah 14:7 My people cry out to me, "Even though our sins accuse us, help us, Lord, as you have promised. We have turned away from you many times; we have sinned against you. ….21 Remember your promises and do not despise us; do not bring disgrace on Jerusalem, the place of your glorious throne. Do not break the covenant you made with us.

Jer 15:15 Then I said, "Lord, you understand. Remember me and help me. Let me have revenge on those who persecute me. Do not be so patient with them that they succeed in killing me. Remember that it is for your sake that I am insulted.

2998-Ezekiel 1:1 On the fifth day of the fourth month of the thirtieth year, I, Ezekiel the priest, son of Buzi, was living with the Jewish exiles by the Chebar River in Babylonia. The sky opened, and I saw a vision of God. 2 It was the fifth year since King Jehoiachin had been taken into exile.) 3 There in Babylonia beside the Chebar River, I heard the Lord speak to me, and I felt his power. 4 I looked up and saw a windstorm coming from the north. Lightning was flashing from a huge cloud, and the sky around it was glowing. Where the lightning was flashing, something shone like bronze. 5 At the center of the storm I saw what looked like four living creatures in human form, 6 but each of them had four faces and four wings. 7 Their legs were straight, and they had hoofs like those of a bull. They shone like polished bronze. 8 In addition to their four faces and four wings, they each had four human hands, one under each wing. 9 Two wings of each creature were spread out so that the creatures formed a square, with their wing tips touching. When they moved, they moved as a group without turning their bodies. 10 Each living creature had four different faces: a human face in front, a lion's face at the right, a bull's face at the left, and an eagle's face at the back. 11 Two wings of each creature were raised so that they touched the tips of the wings of the creatures next to it, and their other two wings were folded against their bodies. 12 Each creature faced all four directions, and so the group could go wherever they wished, without having to turn. 13 Among the creatures there was something that looked like a blazing torch, constantly moving. The fire would blaze up and shoot out flashes of lightning. 14 The creatures themselves darted back and forth with the speed of lightning. 15 As I was looking at the four creatures I saw four wheels touching the ground, one beside each of them. 16 All four wheels were alike; each one shone like a precious stone, and each had another wheel intersecting it at right angles, 17 so that the wheels could move in any of the four directions. 18 The rims of the wheels were covered with eyes. 19 Whenever the creatures moved, the wheels moved with them, and if the creatures rose up from the earth, so did the wheels. 20 The creatures went wherever they wished, and the wheels did exactly what the creatures did, because the creatures controlled them. 21 So every time the creatures moved or stopped or rose in the air, the wheels did exactly the same. 22 Above the heads of the creatures there was something that looked like a dome made of dazzling crystal. 23 There under the dome stood the creatures, each stretching out two wings toward the ones next to it and covering its body with the other two wings. 24 I heard the noise their wings made in flight; it sounded like the roar of the sea, like the noise of a huge army, like the voice of Almighty God. When they stopped flying, they folded their wings, 25 but there was still a sound coming from above the dome over their heads. 26 Above the dome there was something that looked like a throne made of sapphire, and sitting on the throne was a figure that looked like a human being. 27 The figure seemed to be shining like bronze in the middle of a fire. It shone all over with a bright light 28 that had in it all the colors of the rainbow. This was the dazzling light which shows the presence of the Lord. When I saw this, I fell face downward on the ground. Then I heard a voice

2999-Ezekiel 8:1 On the fifth day of the sixth month of the sixth year of our exile, the leaders of the exiles from Judah were sitting in my house with me. Suddenly the power of the Sovereign Lord came on me. 2 I looked up and saw a vision of a fiery human form. From the waist down his body looked like fire, and from the waist up he was shining like polished bronze. 3 He reached out what seemed to be a hand and grabbed me by the hair. Then in this vision God's spirit lifted me high in the air and took me to Jerusalem. He took me to the inner entrance of the north gate of the Temple, where there was an idol that was an outrage to God. 4 There I saw the dazzling light that shows the presence of Israel's God, just as I had seen it when I was by the Chebar River. 5 God said to me, "Mortal man, look toward the north." I looked, and there near the altar by the entrance of the gateway I saw the idol that was an outrage to God. 6 God said to me, "Mortal man, do you see what is happening? Look at the disgusting things the people of Israel are doing here, driving me farther and farther away from my holy place. You will see even more disgraceful things than this." 7 He took me to the entrance of the outer courtyard and showed me a hole in the wall. 8 He said, "Mortal man, break through the wall here." I broke through it and found a door. 9 He told me, "Go in and look at the evil, disgusting things they are doing there." 10 So I went in and looked. The walls were covered with drawings of snakes and other unclean animals, and of the other things which the Israelites were worshiping. 11 Seventy Israelite leaders were there, including Jaazaniah son of Shaphan. Each one was holding an incense burner, and smoke was rising from the incense. 12 God asked me, "Mortal man, do you see what the Israelite leaders are doing in secret? They are all worshiping in a room full of images. Their excuse is: "The Lord doesn't see us! He has abandoned the country.' " 13 Then the Lord said to me, "You are going to see them do even more disgusting things than that." 14 So he took me to the north gate of the Temple and showed me women weeping over the death of the god Tammuz. 15 He asked, "Mortal man, do you see that? You will see even more disgusting things." 16 So he took me to the inner courtyard of the Temple. There near the entrance of the sanctuary, between the altar and the porch, were about twenty-five men. They had turned their backs to the sanctuary and were bowing low toward the east, worshiping the rising sun. 17 The Lord said to me, "Mortal man, do you see that? These people of Judah are not satisfied with merely doing all the disgusting things you have seen here and with spreading violence throughout the country. No, they must come and do them right here in the Temple and make me even more angry. Look how they insult me in the most offensive way possible! 18 They will feel all the force of my anger. I will not spare them or show them any mercy. They will shout prayers to me as loud as they can, but I will not listen to them."

3000-Habakkuk 1:1 This is the message that the Lord revealed to the prophet Habakkuk. 2 O Lord, how long must I call for help before you listen, before you save us from violence? 3 Why do you make me see such trouble? How can you stand to look on such wrongdoing? Destruction and violence are all around me, and there is fighting and quarreling everywhere. 4 The law is weak and useless, and justice is never done. Evil people get the better of the righteous, and so justice is perverted. 5 Then the Lord said to his people, "Keep watching the nations around you, and you will be astonished at what you see. I am going to do something that you will not believe when you hear about it. 6 I am bringing the Babylonians to power, those fierce, restless people. They are marching out across the world to conquer other lands. 7 They spread fear and terror, and in their pride they are a law to themselves. 8 "Their horses are faster than leopards, fiercer than hungry wolves. Their cavalry troops come riding from distant lands; their horses paw the ground. They come swooping down like eagles attacking their prey. 9 "Their armies advance in violent conquest, and everyone is terrified as they approach. Their captives are as numerous as grains of sand. 10 They treat kings with contempt and laugh at high officials. No fortress can stop them - they pile up earth against it and capture it. 11 Then they sweep on like the wind and are gone, these men whose power is their god." 12 Lord, from the very beginning you are God. You are my God, holy and eternal. Lord, my God and protector, you have chosen the Babylonians and made them strong so that they can punish us. 13 But how can you stand these treacherous, evil men? Your eyes are too holy to look at evil, and you cannot stand the sight of people doing wrong. So why are you silent while they destroy people who are more righteous than they are? 14 How can you treat people like fish or like a swarm of insects that have no ruler to direct them? 15 The Babylonians catch people with hooks, as though they were fish. They drag them off in nets and shout for joy over their catch! 16 They even worship their nets and offer sacrifices to them, because their nets provide them with the best of everything. 17 Are they going to use their swords forever and keep on destroying nations without mercy?

Hab 2:1 I will climb my watchtower and wait to see what the Lord will tell me to say and what answer he will give to my complaint. 2 The Lord gave me this answer: "Write down clearly on tablets what I reveal to you, so that it can be read at a glance. 3 Put it in writing, because it is not yet time for it to come true. But the time is coming quickly, and what I show you will come true. It may seem slow in coming, but wait for it; it will certainly take place, and it will not be delayed. 4 And this is the message: "Those who are evil will not survive, but those who are righteous will live because they are faithful to God.' " 5 Wealth is deceitful. Greedy people are proud and restless - like death itself they are never satisfied. That is why they conquer nation after nation for themselves. 6 The conquered people will taunt their conquerors and show their scorn for them. They will say, "You take what isn't yours, but you are doomed! How long will you go on getting rich by forcing your debtors to pay up?" 7 But before you know it, you that have conquered others will be in debt yourselves and be forced to pay interest. Enemies will come and make you tremble. They will plunder you! 8 You have plundered the people of many nations, but now those who have survived will plunder you because of the murders you have committed and because of your violence against the people of the world and its cities. 9 You are doomed! You have made your family rich with what you took by violence, and have tried to make your own home safe from harm and danger! 10 But your schemes have brought shame on your family; by destroying many nations you have only brought ruin on yourself. 11 Even the stones of the walls cry out against you, and the rafters echo the cry. 12 You are doomed! You founded a city on crime and built it up by murder. 13 The nations you conquered wore themselves out in useless labor, and all they have built goes up in flames. The Lord Almighty has done this. 14 But the earth will be as full of the knowledge of the Lord's glory as the seas are full of water. 15 You are doomed! In your fury you humiliated and disgraced your neighbors; you made them stagger as though they were drunk. 16 You in turn will be covered with shame instead of honor. You yourself will drink and stagger. The Lord will make you drink your own cup of punishment, and your honor will be turned to disgrace. 17 You have cut down the forests of Lebanon; now you will be cut down. You killed its animals; now animals will terrify you. This will happen because of the murders you have committed and because of your violence against the people of the world and its cities. 18 What's the use of an idol? It is only something that a human being has made, and it tells you nothing but lies. What good does it do for its maker to trust it - a god that can't even talk! 19 You are doomed! You say to a piece of wood, "Wake up!" or to a block of stone, "Get up!" Can an idol reveal anything to you? It may be covered with silver and gold, but there is no life in it. 20 The Lord is in his holy Temple; let everyone on earth be silent in his presence.

3001-Exodus 24:17 Now the appearance of the glory of the LORD was like a devouring fire on the top of the mountain in the sight of the people of Israel.

Deuteronomy 4:24 because the Lord your God is like a flaming fire; he tolerates no rivals.

Isaiah 33:10 The Lord says to the nations, "Now I will act. I will show how powerful I am. 11 You make worthless plans and everything you do is useless. My spirit is like a fire that will destroy you. 12 You will crumble like rocks burned to make lime, like thorns burned to ashes. 13 Let everyone near and far hear what I have done and acknowledge my power." 14 The sinful people of Zion are trembling with fright. They say, "God's judgment is like a fire that burns forever. Can any of us survive a fire like that?" 15 You can survive if you say and do what is right. Don't use your power to cheat the poor and don't accept bribes. Don't join with those who plan to commit murder or to do other evil things. 16 Then you will be safe; you will be as secure as if in a strong fortress. You will have food to eat and water to drink. 17 Once again you will see a king ruling in splendor over a land that stretches in all directions.

Daniel 7:9 While I was looking, thrones were put in place. One who had been living forever sat down on one of the thrones. His clothes were white as snow, and his hair was like pure wool. His throne, mounted on fiery wheels, was blazing with fire, 10 and a stream of fire was pouring out from it. There were many thousands of people there to serve him, and millions of people stood before him. The court began its session, and the books were opened.

Hebrews 12:29 because our God is indeed a destroying fire.

3002-Hebrews 12:29 for our God is a consuming fire.

3003-Revelation 4:3 And he who sat there appeared like jasper and carnelian, and round the throne was a rainbow that looked like an emerald.

3004-Ezekiel 1:4 As I looked, behold, a stormy wind came out of the north, and a great cloud, with brightness round about it, and fire flashing forth continually, and in the midst of the fire, as it were gleaming bronze. 5 And from the midst of it came the likeness of four living creatures. And this was their appearance: they had the form of men, 6 but each had four faces, and each of them had four wings. 7 Their legs were straight, and the soles of their feet were like the sole of a calf's foot; and they sparkled like burnished bronze. 8 Under their wings on their four sides they had human hands. And the four had their faces and their wings thus: 9 their wings touched one another; they went every one straight forward, without turning as they went. 10 As for the likeness of their faces, each had the face of a man in front; the four had the face of a lion on the right side, the four had the face of an ox on the left side, and the four had the face of an eagle at the back. 11 Such were their faces. And their wings were spread out above; each creature had two wings, each of which touched the wing of another, while two covered their bodies. 12 And each went straight forward; wherever the spirit would go, they went, without turning as they went. 13 In the midst of the living creatures there was something that looked like burning coals of fire, like torches moving to and fro among the living creatures; and the fire was bright, and out of the fire went forth lightning. 14 And the living creatures darted to and fro, like a flash of lightning. 15 Now as I looked at the living creatures, I saw a wheel upon the earth beside the living creatures, one for each of the four of them. 16 As for the appearance of the wheels and their construction: their appearance was like the gleaming of a chrysolite; and the four had the same likeness, their construction being as it were a wheel within a wheel. 17 When they went, they went in any of their four directions without turning as they went. 18 The four wheels had rims and they had spokes; and their rims were full of eyes round about. 19 And when the living creatures went, the wheels went beside them; and when the living creatures rose from the earth, the wheels rose. 20 Wherever the spirit would go, they went, and the wheels rose along with them; for the spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels. 21 When those went, these went; and when those stood, these stood; and when those rose from the earth, the wheels rose along with them; for the spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels. 22 Over the heads of the living creatures there was the likeness of a firmament, shining like crystal, spread out above their heads. 23 And under the firmament their wings were stretched out straight, one toward another; and each creature had two wings covering its body. 24 And when they went, I heard the sound of their wings like the sound of many waters, like the thunder of the Almighty, a sound of tumult like the sound of a host; when they stood still, they let down their wings. 25 And there came a voice from above the firmament over their heads; when they stood still, they let down their wings. 26 And above the firmament over their heads there was the likeness of a throne, in appearance like sapphire; and seated above the likeness of a throne was a likeness as it were of a human form. 27 And upward from what had the appearance of his loins I saw as it were gleaming bronze, like the appearance of fire enclosed round about; and downward from what had the appearance of his loins I saw as it were the appearance of fire, and there was brightness round about him. 28 Like the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud on the day of rain, so was the appearance of the brightness round about. Such was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the LORD. And when I saw it, I fell upon my face, and I heard the voice of one speaking.

3005-Ez 8:22 Then I beheld, and, lo, a form that had the appearance of a man; below what appeared to be his loins it was fire, and above his loins it was like the appearance of brightness, like gleaming bronze. 3 He put forth the form of a hand, and took me by a lock of my head; and the Spirit lifted me up between earth and heaven, and brought me in visions of God to Jerusalem, to the entrance of the gateway of the inner court that faces north, where was the seat of the image of jealousy, which provokes to jealousy. 4 And behold, the glory of the God of Israel was there, like the vision that I saw in the plain.

Ez 10:1 Then I looked, and behold, on the firmament that was over the heads of the cherubim there appeared above them something like a sapphire, in form resembling a throne. 2 And he said to the man clothed in linen, "Go in among the whirling wheels underneath the cherubim; fill your hands with burning coals from between the cherubim, and scatter them over the city." And he went in before my eyes. 3 Now the cherubim were standing on the south side of the house, when the man went in; and a cloud filled the inner court. 4 And the glory of the LORD went up from the cherubim to the threshold of the house; and the house was filled with the cloud, and the court was full of the brightness of the glory of the LORD. 5 And the sound of the wings of the cherubim was heard as far as the outer court, like the voice of God Almighty when he speaks. 6 And when he commanded the man clothed in linen, "Take fire from between the whirling wheels, from between the cherubim," he went in and stood beside a wheel. 7 And a cherub stretched forth his hand from between the cherubim to the fire that was between the cherubim, and took some of it, and put it into the hands of the man clothed in linen, who took it and went out. 8 The cherubim appeared to have the form of a human hand under their wings. 9 And I looked, and behold, there were four wheels beside the cherubim, one beside each cherub; and the appearance of the wheels was like sparkling chrysolite. 10 And as for their appearance, the four had the same likeness, as if a wheel were within a wheel. 11 When they went, they went in any of their four directions without turning as they went, but in whatever direction the front wheel faced the others followed without turning as they went. 12 And their rims, and their spokes, and the wheels were full of eyes round about--the wheels that the four of them had. 13 As for the wheels, they were called in my hearing the whirling wheels. 14 And every one had four faces: the first face was the face of the cherub, and the second face was the face of a man, and the third the face of a lion, and the fourth the face of an eagle. 15 And the cherubim mounted up. These were the living creatures that I saw by the river Chebar. 16 And when the cherubim went, the wheels went beside them; and when the cherubim lifted up their wings to mount up from the earth, the wheels did not turn from beside them. 17 When they stood still, these stood still, and when they mounted up, these mounted up with them; for the spirit of the living creatures was in them. 18 Then the glory of the LORD went forth from the threshold of the house, and stood over the cherubim. 19 And the cherubim lifted up their wings and mounted up from the earth in my sight as they went forth, with the wheels beside them; and they stood at the door of the east gate of the house of the LORD; and the glory of the God of Israel was over them. 20 These were the living creatures that I saw underneath the God of Israel by the river Chebar; and I knew that they were cherubim. 21 Each had four faces, and each four wings, and underneath their wings the semblance of human hands. 22 And as for the likeness of their faces, they were the very faces whose appearance I had seen by the river Chebar. They went every one straight forward.

3006-Exodus 13:21 And the LORD went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead them along the way, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, that they might travel by day and by night; 22 the pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night did not depart from before the people.

3007-Exodus 16:1 They set out from Elim, and all the congregation of the people of Israel came to the wilderness of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after they had departed from the land of Egypt. 2 And the whole congregation of the people of Israel murmured against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness, 3 and said to them, "Would that we had died by the hand of the LORD in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the fleshpots and ate bread to the full; for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger." 4 Then the LORD said to Moses, "Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you; and the people shall go out and gather a day's portion every day, that I may prove them, whether they will walk in my law or not. 5 On the sixth day, when they prepare what they bring in, it will be twice as much as they gather daily." 6 So Moses and Aaron said to all the people of Israel, "At evening you shall know that it was the LORD who brought you out of the land of Egypt, 7 and in the morning you shall see the glory of the LORD, because he has heard your murmurings against the LORD. For what are we, that you murmur against us?" 8 And Moses said, "When the LORD gives you in the evening flesh to eat and in the morning bread to the full, because the LORD has heard your murmurings which you murmur against him--what are we? Your murmurings are not against us but against the LORD." 9 And Moses said to Aaron, "Say to the whole congregation of the people of Israel, 'Come near before the LORD, for he has heard your murmurings.'" 10 And as Aaron spoke to the whole congregation of the people of Israel, they looked toward the wilderness, and behold, the glory of the LORD appeared in the cloud. 11 And the LORD said to Moses, 12 "I have heard the murmurings of the people of Israel; say to them, 'At twilight you shall eat flesh, and in the morning you shall be filled with bread; then you shall know that I am the LORD your God.'" 13 In the evening quails came up and covered the camp; and in the morning dew lay round about the camp. 14 And when the dew had gone up, there was on the face of the wilderness a fine, flake-like thing, fine as hoarfrost on the ground. 15 When the people of Israel saw it, they said to one another, "What is it?" For they did not know what it was. And Moses said to them, "It is the bread which the LORD has given you to eat. 16 This is what the LORD has commanded: 'Gather of it, every man of you, as much as he can eat; you shall take an omer apiece, according to the number of the persons whom each of you has in his tent.'" 17 And the people of Israel did so; they gathered, some more, some less. 18 But when they measured it with an omer, he that gathered much had nothing over, and he that gathered little had no lack; each gathered according to what he could eat. 19 And Moses said to them, "Let no man leave any of it till the morning." 20 But they did not listen to Moses; some left part of it till the morning, and it bred worms and became foul; and Moses was angry with them. 21 Morning by morning they gathered it, each as much as he could eat; but when the sun grew hot, it melted. 22 On the sixth day they gathered twice as much bread, two omers apiece; and when all the leaders of the congregation came and told Moses, 23 he said to them, "This is what the LORD has commanded: 'Tomorrow is a day of solemn rest, a holy sabbath to the LORD; bake what you will bake and boil what you will boil, and all that is left over lay by to be kept till the morning.'" 24 So they laid it by till the morning, as Moses bade them; and it did not become foul, and there were no worms in it. 25 Moses said, "Eat it today, for today is a sabbath to the LORD; today you will not find it in the field. 26 Six days you shall gather it; but on the seventh day, which is a sabbath, there will be none." 27 On the seventh day some of the people went out to gather, and they found none. 28 And the LORD said to Moses, "How long do you refuse to keep my commandments and my laws? 29 See! The LORD has given you the sabbath, therefore on the sixth day he gives you bread for two days; remain every man of you in his place, let no man go out of his place on the seventh day." 30 So the people rested on the seventh day. 31 Now the house of Israel called its name manna; it was like coriander seed, white, and the taste of it was like wafers made with honey. 32 And Moses said, "This is what the LORD has commanded: 'Let an omer of it be kept throughout your generations, that they may see the bread with which I fed you in the wilderness, when I brought you out of the land of Egypt.'" 33 And Moses said to Aaron, "Take a jar, and put an omer of manna in it, and place it before the LORD, to be kept throughout your generations." 34 As the LORD commanded Moses, so Aaron placed it before the testimony, to be kept. 35 And the people of Israel ate the manna forty years, till they came to a habitable land; they ate the manna, till they came to the border of the land of Canaan. 36 (An omer is the tenth part of an ephah.)

Numbers 11:4 Now the rabble that was among them had a strong craving; and the people of Israel also wept again, and said, "O that we had meat to eat! 5 We remember the fish we ate in Egypt for nothing, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic; 6 but now our strength is dried up, and there is nothing at all but this manna to look at." 7 Now the manna was like coriander seed, and its appearance like that of bdellium. 8 The people went about and gathered it, and ground it in mills or beat it in mortars, and boiled it in pots, and made cakes of it; and the taste of it was like the taste of cakes baked with oil. 9 When the dew fell upon the camp in the night, the manna fell with it. 10 Moses heard the people weeping throughout their families, every man at the door of his tent; and the anger of the LORD blazed hotly, and Moses was displeased. 11 Moses said to the LORD, "Why hast thou dealt ill with thy servant? And why have I not found favor in thy sight, that thou dost lay the burden of all this people upon me? 12 Did I conceive all this people? Did I bring them forth, that thou shouldst say to me, 'Carry them in your bosom, as a nurse carries the sucking child, to the land which thou didst swear to give their fathers?' 13 Where am I to get meat to give to all this people? For they weep before me and say, 'Give us meat, that we may eat.' 14 I am not able to carry all this people alone, the burden is too heavy for me. 15 If thou wilt deal thus with me, kill me at once, if I find favor in thy sight, that I may not see my wretchedness." 16 And the LORD said to Moses, "Gather for me seventy men of the elders of Israel, whom you know to be the elders of the people and officers over them; and bring them to the tent of meeting, and let them take their stand there with you. 17 And I will come down and talk with you there; and I will take some of the spirit which is upon you and put it upon them; and they shall bear the burden of the people with you, that you may not bear it yourself alone. 18 And say to the people, 'Consecrate yourselves for tomorrow, and you shall eat meat; for you have wept in the hearing of the LORD, saying, "Who will give us meat to eat? For it was well with us in Egypt." Therefore the LORD will give you meat, and you shall eat. 19 You shall not eat one day, or two days, or five days, or ten days, or twenty days, 20 but a whole month, until it comes out at your nostrils and becomes loathsome to you, because you have rejected the LORD who is among you, and have wept before him, saying, "Why did we come forth out of Egypt?"'" 21 But Moses said, "The people among whom I am number six hundred thousand on foot; and thou hast said, 'I will give them meat, that they may eat a whole month!' 22 Shall flocks and herds be slaughtered for them, to suffice them? Or shall all the fish of the sea be gathered together for them, to suffice them?" 23 And the LORD said to Moses, "Is the LORD's hand shortened? Now you shall see whether my word will come true for you or not." 24 So Moses went out and told the people the words of the LORD; and he gathered seventy men of the elders of the people, and placed them round about the tent. 25 Then the LORD came down in the cloud and spoke to him, and took some of the spirit that was upon him and put it upon the seventy elders; and when the spirit rested upon them, they prophesied. But they did so no more. 26 Now two men remained in the camp, one named Eldad, and the other named Medad, and the spirit rested upon them; they were among those registered, but they had not gone out to the tent, and so they prophesied in the camp. 27 And a young man ran and told Moses, "Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp." 28 And Joshua the son of Nun, the minister of Moses, one of his chosen men, said, "My lord Moses, forbid them." 29 But Moses said to him, "Are you jealous for my sake? Would that all the LORD's people were prophets, that the LORD would put his spirit upon them!" 30 And Moses and the elders of Israel returned to the camp. 31 And there went forth a wind from the LORD, and it brought quails from the sea, and let them fall beside the camp, about a day's journey on this side and a day's journey on the other side, round about the camp, and about two cubits above the face of the earth. 32 And the people rose all that day, and all night, and all the next day, and gathered the quails; he who gathered least gathered ten homers; and they spread them out for themselves all around the camp. 33 While the meat was yet between their teeth, before it was consumed, the anger of the LORD was kindled against the people, and the LORD smote the people with a very great plague. 34 Therefore the name of that place was called Kib'roth-hatta'avah, because there they buried the people who had the craving.

Numbers 21:4 From Mount Hor they set out by the way to the Red Sea, to go around the land of Edom; and the people became impatient on the way. 5 And the people spoke against God and against Moses, "Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and we loathe this worthless food." 6 Then the LORD sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people, so that many people of Israel died. 7 And the people came to Moses, and said, "We have sinned, for we have spoken against the LORD and against you; pray to the LORD, that he take away the serpents from us." So Moses prayed for the people. 8 And the LORD said to Moses, "Make a fiery serpent, and set it on a pole; and every one who is bitten, when he sees it, shall live." 9 So Moses made a bronze serpent, and set it on a pole; and if a serpent bit any man, he would look at the bronze serpent and live.

3008-Exodus 32:1 When the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mountain, the people gathered themselves together to Aaron, and said to him, "Up, make us gods, who shall go before us; as for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him." 2 And Aaron said to them, "Take off the rings of gold which are in the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters, and bring them to me." 3 So all the people took off the rings of gold which were in their ears, and brought them to Aaron. 4 And he received the gold at their hand, and fashioned it with a graving tool, and made a molten calf; and they said, "These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!" 5 When Aaron saw this, he built an altar before it; and Aaron made proclamation and said, "Tomorrow shall be a feast to the LORD." 6 And they rose up early on the morrow, and offered burnt offerings and brought peace offerings; and the people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play. 7 And the LORD said to Moses, "Go down; for your people, whom you brought up out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves; 8 they have turned aside quickly out of the way which I commanded them; they have made for themselves a molten calf, and have worshiped it and sacrificed to it, and said, 'These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!'" 9 And the LORD said to Moses, "I have seen this people, and behold, it is a stiff-necked people; 10 now therefore let me alone, that my wrath may burn hot against them and I may consume them; but of you I will make a great nation." 11 But Moses besought the LORD his God, and said, "O LORD, why does thy wrath burn hot against thy people, whom thou hast brought forth out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand? 12 Why should the Egyptians say, 'With evil intent did he bring them forth, to slay them in the mountains, and to consume them from the face of the earth'? Turn from thy fierce wrath, and repent of this evil against thy people. 13 Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, thy servants, to whom thou didst swear by thine own self, and didst say to them, 'I will multiply your descendants as the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have promised I will give to your descendants, and they shall inherit it for ever.'" 14 And the LORD repented of the evil which he thought to do to his people. 15 And Moses turned, and went down from the mountain with the two tables of the testimony in his hands, tables that were written on both sides; on the one side and on the other were they written. 16 And the tables were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God, graven upon the tables. 17 When Joshua heard the noise of the people as they shouted, he said to Moses, "There is a noise of war in the camp." 18 But he said, "It is not the sound of shouting for victory, or the sound of the cry of defeat, but the sound of singing that I hear." 19 And as soon as he came near the camp and saw the calf and the dancing, Moses' anger burned hot, and he threw the tables out of his hands and broke them at the foot of the mountain. 20 And he took the calf which they had made, and burnt it with fire, and ground it to powder, and scattered it upon the water, and made the people of Israel drink it. 21 And Moses said to Aaron, "What did this people do to you that you have brought a great sin upon them?" 22 And Aaron said, "Let not the anger of my lord burn hot; you know the people, that they are set on evil. 23 For they said to me, 'Make us gods, who shall go before us; as for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.' 24 And I said to them, 'Let any who have gold take it off'; so they gave it to me, and I threw it into the fire, and there came out this calf." 25 And when Moses saw that the people had broken loose (for Aaron had let them break loose, to their shame among their enemies), 26 then Moses stood in the gate of the camp, and said, "Who is on the LORD's side? Come to me." And all the sons of Levi gathered themselves together to him. 27 And he said to them, "Thus says the LORD God of Israel, 'Put every man his sword on his side, and go to and fro from gate to gate throughout the camp, and slay every man his brother, and every man his companion, and every man his neighbor.'" 28 And the sons of Levi did according to the word of Moses; and there fell of the people that day about three thousand men. 29 And Moses said, "Today you have ordained yourselves for the service of the LORD, each one at the cost of his son and of his brother, that he may bestow a blessing upon you this day." 30 On the morrow Moses said to the people, "You have sinned a great sin. And now I will go up to the LORD; perhaps I can make atonement for your sin." 31 So Moses returned to the LORD and said, "Alas, this people have sinned a great sin; they have made for themselves gods of gold. 32 But now, if thou wilt forgive their sin--and if not, blot me, I pray thee, out of thy book which thou hast written." 33 But the LORD said to Moses, "Whoever has sinned against me, him will I blot out of my book. 34 But now go, lead the people to the place of which I have spoken to you; behold, my angel shall go before you. Nevertheless, in the day when I visit, I will visit their sin upon them." 35 And the LORD sent a plague upon the people, because they made the calf which Aaron made.

Deuteronomy 9:6 "Know therefore, that the LORD your God is not giving you this good land to possess because of your righteousness; for you are a stubborn people. 7 Remember and do not forget how you provoked the LORD your God to wrath in the wilderness; from the day you came out of the land of Egypt, until you came to this place, you have been rebellious against the LORD. 8 Even at Horeb you provoked the LORD to wrath, and the LORD was so angry with you that he was ready to destroy you. 9 When I went up the mountain to receive the tables of stone, the tables of the covenant which the LORD made with you, I remained on the mountain forty days and forty nights; I neither ate bread nor drank water. 10 And the LORD gave me the two tables of stone written with the finger of God; and on them were all the words which the LORD had spoken with you on the mountain out of the midst of the fire on the day of the assembly. 11 And at the end of forty days and forty nights the LORD gave me the two tables of stone, the tables of the covenant. 12 Then the LORD said to me, 'Arise, go down quickly from here; for your people whom you have brought from Egypt have acted corruptly; they have turned aside quickly out of the way which I commanded them; they have made themselves a molten image.' 13 "Furthermore the LORD said to me, 'I have seen this people, and behold, it is a stubborn people; 14 let me alone, that I may destroy them and blot out their name from under heaven; and I will make of you a nation mightier and greater than they.' 15 So I turned and came down from the mountain, and the mountain was burning with fire; and the two tables of the covenant were in my two hands. 16 And I looked, and behold, you had sinned against the LORD your God; you had made yourselves a molten calf; you had turned aside quickly from the way which the LORD had commanded you. 17 So I took hold of the two tables, and cast them out of my two hands, and broke them before your eyes. 18 Then I lay prostrate before the LORD as before, forty days and forty nights; I neither ate bread nor drank water, because of all the sin which you had committed, in doing what was evil in the sight of the LORD, to provoke him to anger. 19 For I was afraid of the anger and hot displeasure which the LORD bore against you, so that he was ready to destroy you. But the LORD hearkened to me that time also. 20 And the LORD was so angry with Aaron that he was ready to destroy him; and I prayed for Aaron also at the same time. 21 Then I took the sinful thing, the calf which you had made, and burned it with fire and crushed it, grinding it very small, until it was as fine as dust; and I threw the dust of it into the brook that descended out of the mountain. 22 "At Tab'erah also, and at Massah, and at Kib'roth-hatta'avah, you provoked the LORD to wrath. 23 And when the LORD sent you from Ka'desh-bar'nea, saying, 'Go up and take possession of the land which I have given you,' then you rebelled against the commandment of the LORD your God, and did not believe him or obey his voice. 24 You have been rebellious against the LORD from the day that I knew you. 25 "So I lay prostrate before the LORD for these forty days and forty nights, because the LORD had said he would destroy you. 26 And I prayed to the LORD, 'O Lord GOD, destroy not thy people and thy heritage, whom thou hast redeemed through thy greatness, whom thou hast brought out of Egypt with a mighty hand. 27 Remember thy servants, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; do not regard the stubbornness of this people, or their wickedness, or their sin, 28 lest the land from which thou didst bring us say, "Because the LORD was not able to bring them into the land which he promised them, and because he hated them, he has brought them out to slay them in the wilderness." 29 For they are thy people and thy heritage, whom thou didst bring out by thy great power and by thy outstretched arm.'

3009-Exodus 24:17 Now the appearance of the glory of the LORD was like a devouring fire on the top of the mountain in the sight of the people of Israel.

1 Corinthians 10:4 and all drank the same supernatural drink. For they drank from the supernatural Rock which followed them, and the Rock was Christ.

3010-Patriarchs and Prophets 62.2 The Garden of Eden remained upon the earth long after man had become an outcast from its pleasant paths. The fallen race were long permitted to gaze upon the home of innocence, their entrance barred only by the watching angels. At the cherubim-guarded gate of Paradise the divine glory was revealed. Hither came Adam and his sons to worship God. Here they renewed their vows of obedience to that law the transgression of which had banished them from Eden. When the tide of iniquity overspread the world, and the wickedness of men determined their destruction by a flood of waters, the hand that had planted Eden withdrew it from the earth. But in the final restitution, when there shall be “a new heaven and a new earth” (Revelation 21:1), it is to be restored more gloriously adorned than at the beginning. {PP 62.2}

83.2 The advantages enjoyed by men of that age to gain a knowledge of God through His works have never been equaled since. And so far from being an era of religious darkness, that was an age of great light. All the world had opportunity to receive instruction from Adam, and those who feared the Lord had also Christ and angels for their teachers. And they had a silent witness to the truth, in the garden of God, which for so many centuries remained among men. At the cherubim-guarded gate of Paradise the glory of God was revealed, and hither came the first worshipers. Here their altars were reared, and their offerings presented. It was here that Cain and Abel had brought their sacrifices, and God had condescended to communicate with them. {PP 83.2}

3011-1 Kings 19:9 And there he came to a cave, and lodged there; and behold, the word of the LORD came to him, and he said to him, "What are you doing here, Eli'jah?" 10 He said, "I have been very jealous for the LORD, the God of hosts; for the people of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thy altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword; and I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away." 11 And he said, "Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the LORD." And behold, the LORD passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and broke in pieces the rocks before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake; 12 and after the earthquake a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire; and after the fire a still small voice. 13 And when Eli'jah heard it, he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. And behold, there came a voice to him, and said, "What are you doing here, Eli'jah?" 14 He said, "I have been very jealous for the LORD, the God of hosts; for the people of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thy altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword; and I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away."

3012-Exodus 32:1 When the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mountain, the people gathered themselves together to Aaron, and said to him, "Up, make us gods, who shall go before us; as for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him." 2 And Aaron said to them, "Take off the rings of gold which are in the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters, and bring them to me." 3 So all the people took off the rings of gold which were in their ears, and brought them to Aaron. 4 And he received the gold at their hand, and fashioned it with a graving tool, and made a molten calf; and they said, "These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!" 5 When Aaron saw this, he built an altar before it; and Aaron made proclamation and said, "Tomorrow shall be a feast to the LORD." 6 And they rose up early on the morrow, and offered burnt offerings and brought peace offerings; and the people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play. 7 And the LORD said to Moses, "Go down; for your people, whom you brought up out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves; 8 they have turned aside quickly out of the way which I commanded them; they have made for themselves a molten calf, and have worshiped it and sacrificed to it, and said, 'These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!'" 9 And the LORD said to Moses, "I have seen this people, and behold, it is a stiff-necked people; 10 now therefore let me alone, that my wrath may burn hot against them and I may consume them; but of you I will make a great nation." 11 But Moses besought the LORD his God, and said, "O LORD, why does thy wrath burn hot against thy people, whom thou hast brought forth out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand? 12 Why should the Egyptians say, 'With evil intent did he bring them forth, to slay them in the mountains, and to consume them from the face of the earth'? Turn from thy fierce wrath, and repent of this evil against thy people. 13 Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, thy servants, to whom thou didst swear by thine own self, and didst say to them, 'I will multiply your descendants as the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have promised I will give to your descendants, and they shall inherit it for ever.'" 14 And the LORD repented of the evil which he thought to do to his people. 15 And Moses turned, and went down from the mountain with the two tables of the testimony in his hands, tables that were written on both sides; on the one side and on the other were they written. 16 And the tables were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God, graven upon the tables. 17 When Joshua heard the noise of the people as they shouted, he said to Moses, "There is a noise of war in the camp." 18 But he said, "It is not the sound of shouting for victory, or the sound of the cry of defeat, but the sound of singing that I hear." 19 And as soon as he came near the camp and saw the calf and the dancing, Moses' anger burned hot, and he threw the tables out of his hands and broke them at the foot of the mountain. 20 And he took the calf which they had made, and burnt it with fire, and ground it to powder, and scattered it upon the water, and made the people of Israel drink it. 21 And Moses said to Aaron, "What did this people do to you that you have brought a great sin upon them?" 22 And Aaron said, "Let not the anger of my lord burn hot; you know the people, that they are set on evil. 23 For they said to me, 'Make us gods, who shall go before us; as for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.' 24 And I said to them, 'Let any who have gold take it off'; so they gave it to me, and I threw it into the fire, and there came out this calf." 25 And when Moses saw that the people had broken loose (for Aaron had let them break loose, to their shame among their enemies), 26 then Moses stood in the gate of the camp, and said, "Who is on the LORD's side? Come to me." And all the sons of Levi gathered themselves together to him. 27 And he said to them, "Thus says the LORD God of Israel, 'Put every man his sword on his side, and go to and fro from gate to gate throughout the camp, and slay every man his brother, and every man his companion, and every man his neighbor.'" 28 And the sons of Levi did according to the word of Moses; and there fell of the people that day about three thousand men. 29 And Moses said, "Today you have ordained yourselves for the service of the LORD, each one at the cost of his son and of his brother, that he may bestow a blessing upon you this day." 30 On the morrow Moses said to the people, "You have sinned a great sin. And now I will go up to the LORD; perhaps I can make atonement for your sin." 31 So Moses returned to the LORD and said, "Alas, this people have sinned a great sin; they have made for themselves gods of gold. 32 But now, if thou wilt forgive their sin--and if not, blot me, I pray thee, out of thy book which thou hast written." 33 But the LORD said to Moses, "Whoever has sinned against me, him will I blot out of my book. 34 But now go, lead the people to the place of which I have spoken to you; behold, my angel shall go before you. Nevertheless, in the day when I visit, I will visit their sin upon them." 35 And the LORD sent a plague upon the people, because they made the calf which Aaron made.

3013-Ezekiel 20:1 It was the tenth day of the fifth month of the seventh year of our exile. Some of the leaders of the Israelite community came to consult me about the Lord's will, and they sat down in front of me. 2 Then the Lord spoke to me. 3 "Mortal man," he said, "speak to these leaders and tell them that the Sovereign Lord is saying: You have come to ask my will, have you? As surely as I am the living God, I will not let you ask me anything. I, the Sovereign Lord, have spoken. 4 "Are you ready to pass sentence on them, mortal man? Then do so. Remind them of the disgusting things their ancestors did. 5 Tell them what I am saying. When I chose Israel, I made them a promise. I revealed myself to them in Egypt and told them: I am the Lord your God. 6 It was then that I promised to take them out of Egypt and lead them to a land I had chosen for them, a rich and fertile land, the finest land of all. 7 I told them to throw away the disgusting idols they loved and not to make themselves unclean with the false gods of Egypt, because I am the Lord their God. 8 But they defied me and refused to listen. They did not throw away their disgusting idols or give up the Egyptian gods. I was ready to let them feel the full force of my anger there in Egypt. 9 But I did not, since that would have brought dishonor to my name, for in the presence of the people among whom they were living I had announced to Israel that I was going to lead them out of Egypt. 10 "And so I led them out of Egypt into the desert. 11 I gave them my commands and taught them my laws, which bring life to anyone who obeys them. 12 I made the keeping of the Sabbath a sign of the agreement between us, to remind them that I, the Lord, make them holy. 13 But even in the desert they defied me. They broke my laws and rejected my commands, which bring life to anyone who obeys them. They completely profaned the Sabbath. I was ready to let them feel the force of my anger there in the desert and to destroy them. 14 But I did not, since that would have brought dishonor to my name among the nations which had seen me lead Israel out of Egypt. 15 So I made a vow in the desert that I would not take them to the land I had given them, a rich and fertile land, the finest land of all. 16 I made the vow because they had rejected my commands, broken my laws, and profaned the Sabbath - they preferred to worship their idols. 17 "But then I took pity on them. I decided not to kill them there in the desert. 18 Instead, I warned the young people among them: Do not keep the laws your ancestors made; do not follow their customs or defile yourselves with their idols. 19 I am the Lord your God. Obey my laws and my commands. 20 Make the Sabbath a holy day, so that it will be a sign of the covenant we made, and will remind you that I am the Lord your God. 21 "But that generation also defied me. They broke my laws and did not keep my commands, which bring life to anyone who obeys them. They profaned the Sabbath. I was ready to let them feel the force of my anger there in the desert and to kill them all. 22 But I did not, since that would have brought dishonor to my name among the nations which had seen me bring Israel out of Egypt. 23 So I made another vow in the desert. I vowed that I would scatter them all over the world. 24 I did this because they had rejected my commands, broken my laws, profaned the Sabbath, and worshiped the same idols their ancestors had served. 25 "Then I gave them laws that are not good and commands that do not bring life. 26 I let them defile themselves with their own offerings, and I let them sacrifice their first-born sons. This was to punish them and show them that I am the Lord. 27 "Now then, mortal man, tell the Israelites what I, the Sovereign Lord, am saying to them. This is another way their ancestors insulted me by their unfaithfulness. 28 I brought them to the land I had promised to give them. When they saw the high hills and green trees, they offered sacrifices at all of them. They made me angry by the sacrifices they burned and by the wine they brought as offerings. 29 I asked them: What are these high places where you go? So they have been called "High Places' ever since. 30 Now tell the Israelites what I am saying: Why must you commit the same sins your ancestors did and go running after their idols? 31 Even today you offer the same gifts and defile yourselves with the same idols by sacrificing your children to them in the fire. And then you Israelites still come to ask what my will is! As surely as I, the Sovereign Lord, am the living God, I will not let you ask me anything. 32 You have made up your minds that you want to be like the other nations, like the people who live in other countries and worship trees and rocks. But that will never be. 33 "As surely as I, the Sovereign Lord, am the living God, I warn you that in my anger I will rule over you with a strong hand, with all my power. 34 I will show you my power and my anger when I gather you together and bring you back from all the countries where you have been scattered. 35 I will bring you into the "Desert of the Nations,' and there I will condemn you to your face. 36 I will now condemn you just as I condemned your ancestors in the Sinai Desert," says the Sovereign Lord. 37 "I will take firm control of you and make you obey my covenant. 38 I will take away from among you those who are rebellious and sinful. I will take them out of the lands where they are living now, but I will not let them return to the land of Israel. Then you will know that I am the Lord." 39 The Sovereign Lord says, "And now, all you Israelites, suit yourselves! Go on and serve your idols! But I warn you that after this you will have to obey me and stop dishonoring my holy name by offering gifts to your idols. 40 There in the land, on my holy mountain, the high mountain of Israel, all you people of Israel will worship me. I will be pleased with you and will expect you to bring me your sacrifices, your best offerings, and your holy gifts. 41 After I bring you out of the countries where you have been scattered and gather you together, I will accept the sacrifices that you burn, and the nations will see that I am holy. 42 When I bring you back to Israel, the land that I promised I would give to your ancestors, then you will know that I am the Lord. 43 Then you will remember all the disgraceful things you did and how you defiled yourselves. You will be disgusted with yourselves because of all the evil things you did. 44 When I act to protect my honor, you Israelites will know that I am the Lord, because I do not deal with you as your wicked, evil actions deserve." The Sovereign Lord has spoken. 45 The Lord spoke to me. 46 "Mortal man," he said, "look toward the south. Speak against the south and prophesy against the forest of the south. 47 Tell the southern forest to hear what the Sovereign Lord is saying: Look! I am starting a fire, and it will burn up every tree in you, whether green or dry. Nothing will be able to put it out. It will spread from south to north, and everyone will feel the heat of the flames. 48 They will all see that I, the Lord, set it on fire and that no one can put it out." 49 But I protested, "Sovereign Lord, don't make me do it! Everyone is already complaining that I always speak in riddles."

3014-Ezekiel 36:1 The Lord said, "Mortal man, speak to the mountains of Israel and tell them to listen to the message which I, 2 the Sovereign Lord, have for them: Israel's enemies gloated and said, "Now those ancient hills are ours!' 3 "Prophesy, then, and announce what I, the Sovereign Lord, am saying. When the neighboring nations captured and plundered the mountains of Israel, everyone made fun of Israel. 4 So now listen to what I, the Sovereign Lord, say to you mountains and hills, to you brooks and valleys, to you places that were left in ruins, and to you deserted cities which were plundered and mocked by all the surrounding nations. 5 "I, the Sovereign Lord, have spoken out in the heat of my anger against the surrounding nations, and especially against Edom. With glee and contempt they captured my land and took possession of its pastures. 6 "So prophesy to the land of Israel; tell the mountains, hills, brooks, and valleys what I, the Sovereign Lord, am saying in jealous anger because of the way the nations have insulted and humiliated them. 7 I, the Sovereign Lord, solemnly promise that the surrounding nations will be humiliated. 8 But on the mountains of Israel the trees will again grow leaves and bear fruit for you, my people Israel. You are going to come home soon. 9 I am on your side, and I will make sure that your land is plowed again and crops are planted on it. 10 I will make your population grow. You will live in the cities and rebuild everything that was left in ruins. 11 I will make people and cattle increase in number. There will be more of you than ever before, and you will have many children. I will let you live there as you used to live, and I will make you more prosperous than ever. Then you will know that I am the Lord. 12 I will bring you, my people Israel, back to live again in the land. It will be your own land, and it will never again let your children starve. 13 "I, the Sovereign Lord, say: It is true that people say that the land eats people and that it robs the nation of its children. 14 But from now on it will no longer eat people and rob you of your children. I, the Sovereign Lord, have spoken. 15 The land will no longer have to listen to the nations making fun of it or see the peoples sneer at it. The land will no longer rob the nation of its children. I, the Sovereign Lord, have spoken." 16 The Lord spoke to me. 17 "Mortal man," he said, "when the Israelites were living in their land, they defiled it by the way they lived and acted. I regarded their behavior as being as ritually unclean as a woman is during her monthly period. 18 I let them feel the force of my anger because of the murders they had committed in the land and because of the idols by which they had defiled it. 19 I condemned them for the way they lived and acted, and I scattered them through foreign countries. 20 Wherever they went, they brought disgrace on my holy name, because people would say, "These are the people of the Lord, but they had to leave his land.' 21 That made me concerned for my holy name, since the Israelites brought disgrace on it everywhere they went. 22 "Now then, give the Israelites the message that I, the Sovereign Lord, have for them: What I am going to do is not for the sake of you Israelites, but for the sake of my holy name, which you have disgraced in every country where you have gone. 23 When I demonstrate to the nations the holiness of my great name - the name you disgraced among them - then they will know that I am the Lord. I, the Sovereign Lord, have spoken. I will use you to show the nations that I am holy. 24 I will take you from every nation and country and bring you back to your own land. 25 I will sprinkle clean water on you and make you clean from all your idols and everything else that has defiled you. 26 I will give you a new heart and a new mind. I will take away your stubborn heart of stone and give you an obedient heart. 27 I will put my spirit in you and will see to it that you follow my laws and keep all the commands I have given you. 28 Then you will live in the land I gave your ancestors. You will be my people, and I will be your God. 29 I will save you from everything that defiles you. I will command the grain to be plentiful, so that you will not have any more famines. 30 I will increase the yield of your fruit trees and your fields, so that there will be no more famines to disgrace you among the nations. 31 You will remember your evil conduct and the wrongs that you committed, and you will be disgusted with yourselves because of your sins and your iniquities. 32 Israel, I want you to know that I am not doing all this for your sake. I want you to feel the shame and disgrace of what you are doing. I, the Sovereign Lord, have spoken." 33 The Sovereign Lord says, "When I make you clean from all your sins, I will let you live in your cities again and let you rebuild the ruins. 34 Everyone who used to walk by your fields saw how overgrown and wild they were, but I will let you farm them again. 35 Everyone will talk about how this land, which was once a wilderness, has become like the Garden of Eden, and how the cities which were torn down, looted, and left in ruins, are now inhabited and fortified. 36 Then the neighboring nations that have survived will know that I, the Lord, rebuild ruined cities and replant waste fields. I, the Lord, have promised that I would do this - and I will." 37 The Sovereign Lord says, "I will once again let the Israelites ask me for help, and I will let them increase in numbers like a flock of sheep. 38 The cities that are now in ruins will then be as full of people as Jerusalem was once full of the sheep which were offered as sacrifices at a festival. Then they will know that I am the Lord."

3015-Ezekiel 20:25 "Then I gave them laws that are not good and commands that do not bring life. 26 I let them defile themselves with their own offerings, and I let them sacrifice their first-born sons. This was to punish them and show them that I am the Lord.

3016-Isaiah 45:7 I create both light and darkness; I bring both blessing and disaster. I, the Lord, do all these things.

3017-Ez 20:4 "Are you ready to pass sentence on them, mortal man? Then do so. Remind them of the disgusting things their ancestors did. 5 Tell them what I am saying. When I chose Israel, I made them a promise. I revealed myself to them in Egypt and told them: I am the Lord your God. 6 It was then that I promised to take them out of Egypt and lead them to a land I had chosen for them, a rich and fertile land, the finest land of all. 7 I told them to throw away the disgusting idols they loved and not to make themselves unclean with the false gods of Egypt, because I am the Lord their God.

3018-Ez 20:10 "And so I led them out of Egypt into the desert. 11 I gave them my commands and taught them my laws, which bring life to anyone who obeys them. 12 I made the keeping of the Sabbath a sign of the agreement between us, to remind them that I, the Lord, make them holy.

3019-Exodus 32:7 The Lord said to Moses, "Hurry and go back down, because your people, whom you led out of Egypt, have sinned and rejected me. 8 They have already left the way that I commanded them to follow; they have made a bull-calf out of melted gold and have worshiped it and offered sacrifices to it. They are saying that this is their god, who led them out of Egypt. 9 I know how stubborn these people are. 10 Now, don't try to stop me. I am angry with them, and I am going to destroy them. Then I will make you and your descendants into a great nation." 11 But Moses pleaded with the Lord his God and said, "Lord, why should you be so angry with your people, whom you rescued from Egypt with great might and power? 12 Why should the Egyptians be able to say that you led your people out of Egypt, planning to kill them in the mountains and destroy them completely? Stop being angry; change your mind and do not bring this disaster on your people. 13 Remember your servants Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Remember the solemn promise you made to them to give them as many descendants as there are stars in the sky and to give their descendants all that land you promised would be their possession forever." 14 So the Lord changed his mind and did not bring on his people the disaster he had threatened.

3020-Ex 20:15 "Do not steal. 16 "Do not accuse anyone falsely. 17 "Do not desire another man's house; do not desire his wife, his slaves, his cattle, his donkeys, or anything else that he owns." 18 When the people heard the thunder and the trumpet blast and saw the lightning and the smoking mountain, they trembled with fear and stood a long way off. 19 They said to Moses, "If you speak to us, we will listen; but we are afraid that if God speaks to us, we will die." 20 Moses replied, "Don't be afraid; God has only come to test you and make you keep on obeying him, so that you will not sin."

3021-Ez 20:37 "I will take firm control of you and make you obey my covenant. 38 I will take away from among you those who are rebellious and sinful. I will take them out of the lands where they are living now, but I will not let them return to the land of Israel. Then you will know that I am the Lord." 39 The Sovereign Lord says, "And now, all you Israelites, suit yourselves! Go on and serve your idols! But I warn you that after this you will have to obey me and stop dishonoring my holy name by offering gifts to your idols. 40 There in the land, on my holy mountain, the high mountain of Israel, all you people of Israel will worship me. I will be pleased with you and will expect you to bring me your sacrifices, your best offerings, and your holy gifts. 41 After I bring you out of the countries where you have been scattered and gather you together, I will accept the sacrifices that you burn, and the nations will see that I am holy. 42 When I bring you back to Israel, the land that I promised I would give to your ancestors, then you will know that I am the Lord.

3022-Ezekiel 20:12 I made the keeping of the Sabbath a sign of the agreement between us, to remind them that I, the Lord, make them holy. ….20 Make the Sabbath a holy day, so that it will be a sign of the covenant we made, and will remind you that I am the Lord your God.

3023-Ezekiel 20:13 But even in the desert they defied me. They broke my laws and rejected my commands, which bring life to anyone who obeys them. They completely profaned the Sabbath. I was ready to let them feel the force of my anger there in the desert and to destroy them. ...16 I made the vow because they had rejected my commands, broken my laws, and profaned the Sabbath - they preferred to worship their idols. ….21 "But that generation also defied me. They broke my laws and did not keep my commands, which bring life to anyone who obeys them. They profaned the Sabbath. I was ready to let them feel the force of my anger there in the desert and to kill them all.

3024-Ezekiel 2:1 saying, "Mortal man, stand up. I want to talk to you." 2 While the voice was speaking, God's spirit entered me and raised me to my feet, and I heard the voice continue, 3 "Mortal man, I am sending you to the people of Israel. They have rebelled and turned against me and are still rebels, just as their ancestors were. 4 They are stubborn and do not respect me, so I am sending you to tell them what I, the Sovereign Lord, am saying to them. 5 Whether those rebels listen to you or not, they will know that a prophet has been among them. 6 "But you, mortal man, must not be afraid of them or of anything they say. They will defy and despise you; it will be like living among scorpions. Still, don't be afraid of those rebels or of anything they say. 7 You will tell them whatever I tell you to say, whether they listen or not. Remember what rebels they are. 8 "Mortal man, listen to what I tell you. Don't be rebellious like them. Open your mouth and eat what I am going to give you." 9 I saw a hand reaching out toward me, and it was holding a scroll. 10 The hand unrolled the scroll, and I saw that there was writing on both sides - cries of grief were written there, and wails and groans.

Ez 12:1 The Lord spoke to me. 2 "Mortal man," he said, "you are living among rebellious people. They have eyes, but they see nothing; they have ears, but they hear nothing, because they are rebellious. 3 "Now, mortal man, pack a bundle just as a refugee would and start out before nightfall. Let everyone see you leaving and going to another place. Maybe those rebels will notice you. 4 While it is still daylight, pack your bundle for exile, so that they can see you, and then let them watch you leave in the evening as if you were going into exile. 5 While they are watching, break a hole through the wall of your house and take your pack out through it. 6 Let them watch you putting your pack on your shoulder and going out into the dark with your eyes covered, so that you can't see where you are going. What you do will be a warning to the Israelites." 7 I did what the Lord told me to do. That day I packed a bundle as a refugee would, and that evening as it was getting dark I dug a hole in the wall with my hands and went out. While everyone watched, I put the pack on my shoulder and left. 8 The next morning the Lord spoke to me. 9 "Mortal man," he said, "now that those Israelite rebels are asking you what you're doing, 10 tell them what I, the Sovereign Lord, am saying to them. This message is for the prince ruling in Jerusalem and for all the people who live there. 11 Tell them that what you have done is a sign of what will happen to them - they will be refugees and captives. 12 The prince who is ruling them will shoulder his pack in the dark and escape through a hole that they dig for him in the wall. He will cover his eyes and not see where he is going. 13 But I will spread out my net and trap him in it. Then I will take him to the city of Babylon, where he will die without having seen it. 14 I will scatter in every direction all the members of his court and his advisers and bodyguards, and people will search for them to kill them. 15 "When I scatter them among the other nations and in foreign countries, they will know that I am the Lord. 16 I will let a few of them survive the war, the famine, and the diseases, so that there among the nations they will realize how disgusting their actions have been and will acknowledge that I am the Lord." 17 The Lord spoke to me. 18 "Mortal man," he said, "tremble when you eat, and shake with fear when you drink. 19 Tell the whole nation that this is the message of the Sovereign Lord to the people of Jerusalem who are still living in their land: They will tremble when they eat and shake with fear when they drink. Their land will be stripped bare, because everyone who lives there is lawless. 20 Cities that are now full of people will be destroyed, and the country will be made a wilderness. Then they will know that I am the Lord." 21 The Lord spoke to me. 22 "Mortal man," he said, "why do the people of Israel repeat this proverb: "Time goes by, and predictions come to nothing'? 23 Now tell them what I, the Sovereign Lord, have to say about that. I will put an end to that proverb. It won't be repeated in Israel any more. Tell them instead: The time has come, and the predictions are coming true! 24 "Among the people of Israel there will be no more false visions or misleading prophecies. 25 I, the Lord, will speak to them, and what I say will be done. There will be no more delay. In your own lifetime, you rebels, I will do what I have warned you I would do. I have spoken," says the Sovereign Lord. 26 The Lord said to me, 27 "Mortal man, the Israelites think that your visions and prophecies are about the distant future. 28 So tell them that I, the Sovereign Lord, am saying: There will be no more delay. What I have said will be done. I, the Sovereign Lord, have spoken!"

Ez 20:1 It was the tenth day of the fifth month of the seventh year of our exile. Some of the leaders of the Israelite community came to consult me about the Lord's will, and they sat down in front of me. 2 Then the Lord spoke to me. 3 "Mortal man," he said, "speak to these leaders and tell them that the Sovereign Lord is saying: You have come to ask my will, have you? As surely as I am the living God, I will not let you ask me anything. I, the Sovereign Lord, have spoken. 4 "Are you ready to pass sentence on them, mortal man? Then do so. Remind them of the disgusting things their ancestors did. 5 Tell them what I am saying. When I chose Israel, I made them a promise. I revealed myself to them in Egypt and told them: I am the Lord your God. 6 It was then that I promised to take them out of Egypt and lead them to a land I had chosen for them, a rich and fertile land, the finest land of all. 7 I told them to throw away the disgusting idols they loved and not to make themselves unclean with the false gods of Egypt, because I am the Lord their God. 8 But they defied me and refused to listen. They did not throw away their disgusting idols or give up the Egyptian gods. I was ready to let them feel the full force of my anger there in Egypt. 9 But I did not, since that would have brought dishonor to my name, for in the presence of the people among whom they were living I had announced to Israel that I was going to lead them out of Egypt. 10 "And so I led them out of Egypt into the desert. 11 I gave them my commands and taught them my laws, which bring life to anyone who obeys them. 12 I made the keeping of the Sabbath a sign of the agreement between us, to remind them that I, the Lord, make them holy. 13 But even in the desert they defied me. They broke my laws and rejected my commands, which bring life to anyone who obeys them. They completely profaned the Sabbath. I was ready to let them feel the force of my anger there in the desert and to destroy them. 14 But I did not, since that would have brought dishonor to my name among the nations which had seen me lead Israel out of Egypt. 15 So I made a vow in the desert that I would not take them to the land I had given them, a rich and fertile land, the finest land of all. 16 I made the vow because they had rejected my commands, broken my laws, and profaned the Sabbath - they preferred to worship their idols. 17 "But then I took pity on them. I decided not to kill them there in the desert. 18 Instead, I warned the young people among them: Do not keep the laws your ancestors made; do not follow their customs or defile yourselves with their idols. 19 I am the Lord your God. Obey my laws and my commands. 20 Make the Sabbath a holy day, so that it will be a sign of the covenant we made, and will remind you that I am the Lord your God. 21 "But that generation also defied me. They broke my laws and did not keep my commands, which bring life to anyone who obeys them. They profaned the Sabbath. I was ready to let them feel the force of my anger there in the desert and to kill them all. 22 But I did not, since that would have brought dishonor to my name among the nations which had seen me bring Israel out of Egypt. 23 So I made another vow in the desert. I vowed that I would scatter them all over the world. 24 I did this because they had rejected my commands, broken my laws, profaned the Sabbath, and worshiped the same idols their ancestors had served. 25 "Then I gave them laws that are not good and commands that do not bring life. 26 I let them defile themselves with their own offerings, and I let them sacrifice their first-born sons. This was to punish them and show them that I am the Lord. 27 "Now then, mortal man, tell the Israelites what I, the Sovereign Lord, am saying to them. This is another way their ancestors insulted me by their unfaithfulness. 28 I brought them to the land I had promised to give them. When they saw the high hills and green trees, they offered sacrifices at all of them. They made me angry by the sacrifices they burned and by the wine they brought as offerings. 29 I asked them: What are these high places where you go? So they have been called "High Places' ever since. 30 Now tell the Israelites what I am saying: Why must you commit the same sins your ancestors did and go running after their idols? 31 Even today you offer the same gifts and defile yourselves with the same idols by sacrificing your children to them in the fire. And then you Israelites still come to ask what my will is! As surely as I, the Sovereign Lord, am the living God, I will not let you ask me anything. 32 You have made up your minds that you want to be like the other nations, like the people who live in other countries and worship trees and rocks. But that will never be. 33 "As surely as I, the Sovereign Lord, am the living God, I warn you that in my anger I will rule over you with a strong hand, with all my power. 34 I will show you my power and my anger when I gather you together and bring you back from all the countries where you have been scattered. 35 I will bring you into the "Desert of the Nations,' and there I will condemn you to your face. 36 I will now condemn you just as I condemned your ancestors in the Sinai Desert," says the Sovereign Lord. 37 "I will take firm control of you and make you obey my covenant. 38 I will take away from among you those who are rebellious and sinful. I will take them out of the lands where they are living now, but I will not let them return to the land of Israel. Then you will know that I am the Lord." 39 The Sovereign Lord says, "And now, all you Israelites, suit yourselves! Go on and serve your idols! But I warn you that after this you will have to obey me and stop dishonoring my holy name by offering gifts to your idols. 40 There in the land, on my holy mountain, the high mountain of Israel, all you people of Israel will worship me. I will be pleased with you and will expect you to bring me your sacrifices, your best offerings, and your holy gifts. 41 After I bring you out of the countries where you have been scattered and gather you together, I will accept the sacrifices that you burn, and the nations will see that I am holy. 42 When I bring you back to Israel, the land that I promised I would give to your ancestors, then you will know that I am the Lord. 43 Then you will remember all the disgraceful things you did and how you defiled yourselves. You will be disgusted with yourselves because of all the evil things you did. 44 When I act to protect my honor, you Israelites will know that I am the Lord, because I do not deal with you as your wicked, evil actions deserve." The Sovereign Lord has spoken. 45 The Lord spoke to me. 46 "Mortal man," he said, "look toward the south. Speak against the south and prophesy against the forest of the south. 47 Tell the southern forest to hear what the Sovereign Lord is saying: Look! I am starting a fire, and it will burn up every tree in you, whether green or dry. Nothing will be able to put it out. It will spread from south to north, and everyone will feel the heat of the flames. 48 They will all see that I, the Lord, set it on fire and that no one can put it out." 49 But I protested, "Sovereign Lord, don't make me do it! Everyone is already complaining that I always speak in riddles."

3025-Ezekiel 20:12 I made the keeping of the Sabbath a sign of the agreement between us, to remind them that I, the Lord, make them holy. ...20 Make the Sabbath a holy day, so that it will be a sign of the covenant we made, and will remind you that I am the Lord your God. ….44 When I act to protect my honor, you Israelites will know that I am the Lord, because I do not deal with you as your wicked, evil actions deserve." The Sovereign Lord has spoken.

Ez 36:11 I will make people and cattle increase in number. There will be more of you than ever before, and you will have many children. I will let you live there as you used to live, and I will make you more prosperous than ever. Then you will know that I am the Lord. ….23 When I demonstrate to the nations the holiness of my great name - the name you disgraced among them - then they will know that I am the Lord. I, the Sovereign Lord, have spoken. I will use you to show the nations that I am holy. ….36 Then the neighboring nations that have survived will know that I, the Lord, rebuild ruined cities and replant waste fields. I, the Lord, have promised that I would do this - and I will."

Ez 39:7 I will make sure that my people Israel know my holy name, and I will not let my name be disgraced any more. Then the nations will know that I, the Lord, am the holy God of Israel.".... 22 The Israelites will know from then on that I am the Lord their God. ….28 Then my people will know that I am the Lord their God. They will know this, because I sent them into captivity and now gather them and bring them back into their own land, not leaving even one of them behind.

3026-Ezekiel 20:9 But I did not, since that would have brought dishonor to my name, for in the presence of the people among whom they were living I had announced to Israel that I was going to lead them out of Egypt. ...14 But I did not, since that would have brought dishonor to my name among the nations which had seen me lead Israel out of Egypt. ….22 But I did not, since that would have brought dishonor to my name among the nations which had seen me bring Israel out of Egypt. ….44 When I act to protect my honor, you Israelites will know that I am the Lord, because I do not deal with you as your wicked, evil actions deserve." The Sovereign Lord has spoken.

Ez 36:20 Wherever they went, they brought disgrace on my holy name, because people would say, "These are the people of the Lord, but they had to leave his land.' 21 That made me concerned for my holy name, since the Israelites brought disgrace on it everywhere they went. 22 "Now then, give the Israelites the message that I, the Sovereign Lord, have for them: What I am going to do is not for the sake of you Israelites, but for the sake of my holy name, which you have disgraced in every country where you have gone. 23 When I demonstrate to the nations the holiness of my great name - the name you disgraced among them - then they will know that I am the Lord. I, the Sovereign Lord, have spoken. I will use you to show the nations that I am holy. …..31 You will remember your evil conduct and the wrongs that you committed, and you will be disgusted with yourselves because of your sins and your iniquities. 32 Israel, I want you to know that I am not doing all this for your sake. I want you to feel the shame and disgrace of what you are doing. I, the Sovereign Lord, have spoken." …..36 Then the neighboring nations that have survived will know that I, the Lord, rebuild ruined cities and replant waste fields. I, the Lord, have promised that I would do this - and I will." ….38 The cities that are now in ruins will then be as full of people as Jerusalem was once full of the sheep which were offered as sacrifices at a festival. Then they will know that I am the Lord."

Ez 39:6 I will start a fire in the land of Magog and along all the seacoasts where people live undisturbed, and everyone will know that I am the Lord. 7 I will make sure that my people Israel know my holy name, and I will not let my name be disgraced any more. Then the nations will know that I, the Lord, am the holy God of Israel."

Ez 25:1 The Lord spoke to me. 2 "Mortal man," he said, "denounce the country of Ammon. 3 Tell them to listen to what I, the Sovereign Lord, am saying: You were delighted to see my Temple profaned, to see the land of Israel devastated, to see the people of Judah go into exile. 4 Because you were glad, I will let the tribes from the eastern desert conquer you. They will set up their camps in your country and settle there. They will eat the fruit and drink the milk that should have been yours. 5 I will turn the city of Rabbah into a place to keep camels, and the whole country of Ammon will become a place to keep sheep, so that you will know I am the Lord. 6 "This is what the Sovereign Lord is saying: You clapped your hands and jumped for joy. You despised the land of Israel. 7 Because you did, I will hand you over to other nations who will rob you and plunder you. I will destroy you so completely that you will not be a nation any more or have a country of your own. Then you will know that I am the Lord." 8 The Sovereign Lord said, "Because Moab has said that Judah is like all the other nations, 9 I will let the cities that defend the border of Moab be attacked, including even the finest cities - Beth Jeshimoth, Baal Meon, and Kiriathaim. 10 I will let the tribes of the eastern desert conquer Moab, together with Ammon, so that Moab will no longer be a nation. 11 I will punish Moab, and they will know that I am the Lord." 12 The Sovereign Lord said, "The people of Edom took cruel revenge on Judah, and that revenge has brought lasting guilt on Edom. 13 Now I announce that I will punish Edom and kill every person and animal there. I will make it a wasteland, from the city of Teman to the city of Dedan, and the people will be killed in battle. 14 My people Israel will take revenge on Edom for me, and they will make Edom feel my furious anger. Edom will know what it means to be the object of my revenge." The Sovereign Lord has spoken. 15 The Sovereign Lord said, "The Philistines have taken cruel revenge on their agelong enemies and destroyed them in their hate. 16 And so I am announcing that I will attack the Philistines and wipe them out. I will destroy everyone left living there on the Philistine Plain. 17 I will punish them severely and take full revenge on them. They will feel my anger. Then they will know that I am the Lord."

Ez 26:1 On the first day of the . . . month of the eleventh year of our exile, the Lord spoke to me. 2 "Mortal man," he said, "this is what the people in the city of Tyre are cheering about. They shout, "Jerusalem is shattered! Her commercial power is gone! She won't be our rival any more!' 3 "Now then, this is what I, the Sovereign Lord, am saying: I am your enemy, city of Tyre. I will bring many nations to attack you, and they will come like the waves of the sea. 4 They will destroy your city walls and tear down your towers. Then I will sweep away all the dust and leave only a bare rock. 5 Fishermen will dry their nets on it, there where it stands in the sea. I, the Sovereign Lord, have spoken. The nations will plunder Tyre, 6 and with their swords they will kill those who live in her towns on the mainland. Then Tyre will know that I am the Lord." 7 The Sovereign Lord says, "I am going to bring the greatest king of all - King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia - to attack Tyre. He will come from the north with a huge army, with horses and chariots and with cavalry. 8 Those who live in the towns on the mainland will be killed in the fighting. The enemy will dig trenches, build earthworks, and make a solid wall of shields against you. 9 They will pound in your walls with battering rams and tear down your towers with iron bars. 10 The clouds of dust raised by their horses will cover you. The noise of their horses pulling wagons and chariots will shake your walls as they pass through the gates of the ruined city. 11 Their cavalry will storm through your streets, killing your people with their swords. Your mighty pillars will be thrown to the ground. 12 Your enemies will help themselves to your wealth and merchandise. They will pull down your walls and shatter your luxurious houses. They will take the stones and wood and all the rubble, and dump them into the sea. 13 I will put an end to all your songs, and I will silence the music of your harps. 14 I will leave only a bare rock where fishermen can dry their nets. The city will never be rebuilt. I, the Sovereign Lord, have spoken." 15 The Sovereign Lord has this to say to the city of Tyre: "When you are being conquered, the people who live along the coast will be terrified at the screams of those who are slaughtered. 16 All the kings of the seafaring nations will come down from their thrones. They will take off their robes and their embroidered clothes and sit trembling on the ground. They will be so terrified at your fate that they will not be able to stop trembling. 17 They will sing this funeral song for you: The famous city is destroyed! Her ships have been swept from the seas. The people of this city ruled the seas And terrified all who lived on the coast. 18 Now, on the day it has fallen, The islands are trembling, And their people are shocked at such destruction." 19 The Sovereign Lord says: "I will make you as desolate as ruined cities where no one lives. I will cover you with the water of the ocean depths. 20 I will send you down to the world of the dead to join the people who lived in ancient times. I will make you stay in that underground world among eternal ruins, keeping company with the dead. As a result you will never again be inhabited and take your place in the land of the living. 21 I will make you a terrifying example, and that will be the end of you. People may look for you, but you will never be found." The Sovereign Lord has spoken.

Ez 27:1 The Lord said to me, 2 "Mortal man, sing a funeral song for Tyre, 3 that city which stands at the edge of the sea and does business with the people living on every seacoast. Tell her what the Sovereign Lord is saying: "Tyre, you boasted of your perfect beauty. 4 Your home is the sea. Your builders made you like a beautiful ship; 5 They used fir trees from Mount Hermon for timber And a cedar from Lebanon for your mast. 6 They took oak trees from Bashan to make oars; They made your deck out of pine from Cyprus And inlaid it with ivory. 7 Your sails were made of linen, Embroidered linen from Egypt, Easily recognized from afar. Your awnings were made of finest cloth, Of purple from the island of Cyprus. 8 Your oarsmen were from the cities of Sidon and Arvad. Your own skillful men were the sailors. 9 The ship's carpenters Were well-trained men from Byblos. Sailors from every seagoing ship Did business in your shops. 10 "Soldiers from Persia, Lydia, and Libya served in your army. They hung their shields and their helmets in your barracks. They are the men who won glory for you. 11 Soldiers from Arvad guarded your walls, and troops from Gamad guarded your towers. They hung their shields on your walls. They are the ones who made you beautiful. 12 "You did business in Spain and took silver, iron, tin, and lead in payment for your abundant goods. 13 You did business in Greece, Tubal, and Meshech and traded your goods for slaves and for articles of bronze. 14 You sold your goods for workhorses, war-horses, and mules from Beth Togarmah. 15 The people of Rhodes traded with you; people of many coastal lands gave you ivory and ebony in exchange for your goods. 16 The people of Syria bought your merchandise and your many products. They gave emeralds, purple cloth, embroidery, fine linen, coral, and rubies in payment for your wares. 17 Judah and Israel paid for your goods with wheat, honey, olive oil, and spices. 18 The people of Damascus bought your merchandise and your products, paying for them with wine from Helbon and wool from Sahar. They traded wrought iron and spices for your goods. 20 The people of Dedan traded saddle blankets for your goods. 21 The Arabians and the rulers of the land of Kedar paid for your merchandise with lambs, sheep, and goats. 22 For your goods the merchants of Sheba and Raamah traded jewels, gold, and the finest spices. 23 The cities of Haran, Canneh, and Eden, the merchants of Sheba, the cities of Asshur and Chilmad - they all traded with you. 24 They sold you luxurious clothing, purple cloth, and embroidery, brightly colored carpets, and well-made cords and ropes. 25 Your merchandise was carried in fleets of the largest cargo ships. "You were like a ship at sea Loaded with heavy cargo. 26 When your oarsmen brought you out to sea, An east wind wrecked you far from land. 27 All your wealth of merchandise, All the sailors in your crew, Your ship's carpenters and your merchants, Every soldier on board the ship - All, all were lost at sea When your ship was wrecked. 28 The shouts of the drowning sailors Echoed on the shore. 29 "Every ship is now deserted, And every sailor has gone ashore. 30 They all mourn bitterly for you, Throwing dust on their heads and rolling in ashes. 31 They shave their heads for you And dress themselves in sackcloth. Their hearts are bitter as they weep. 32 They chant a funeral song for you: "Who can be compared to Tyre, To Tyre now silent in the sea? 33 When your merchandise went overseas, You filled the needs of every nation. Kings were made rich By the wealth of your goods. 34 Now you are wrecked in the sea; You have sunk to the ocean depths. Your goods and all who worked for you Have vanished with you in the sea.' 35 "Everyone who lives along the coast is shocked at your fate. Even their kings are terrified, and fear is written on their faces. 36 You are gone, gone forever, and merchants all over the world are terrified, afraid that they will share your fate."

Ez 28:1 The Lord spoke to me. 2 "Mortal man," he said, "tell the ruler of Tyre what I, the Sovereign Lord, am saying to him: Puffed up with pride, you claim to be a god. You say that like a god you sit on a throne, surrounded by the seas. You may pretend to be a god, but, no, you are mortal, not divine. 3 You think you are wiser than Danel, that no secret can be kept from you. 4 Your wisdom and skill made you rich with treasures of gold and silver. 5 You made clever business deals and kept on making profits. How proud you are of your wealth! 6 "Now then, this is what I, the Sovereign Lord, am saying: Because you think you are as wise as a god, 7 I will bring ruthless enemies to attack you. They will destroy all the beautiful things you have acquired by skill and wisdom. 8 They will kill you and send you to a watery grave. 9 When they come to kill you, will you still claim that you are a god? When you face your murderers, you will be mortal and not at all divine. 10 You will die like a dog at the hand of godless foreigners. I, the Sovereign Lord, have given the command." 11 The Lord spoke to me again. 12 "Mortal man," he said, "grieve for the fate that is waiting for the king of Tyre. Tell him what I, the Sovereign Lord, am saying: You were once an example of perfection. How wise and handsome you were! 13 You lived in Eden, the garden of God, and wore gems of every kind: rubies and diamonds; topaz, beryl, carnelian, and jasper; sapphires, emeralds, and garnets. You had ornaments of gold. They were made for you on the day you were created. 14 I put a terrifying angel there to guard you. You lived on my holy mountain and walked among sparkling gems. 15 Your conduct was perfect from the day you were created until you began to do evil. 16 You were busy buying and selling, and this led you to violence and sin. So I forced you to leave my holy mountain, and the angel who guarded you drove you away from the sparkling gems. 17 You were proud of being handsome, and your fame made you act like a fool. Because of this I hurled you to the ground and left you as a warning to other kings. 18 You did such evil in buying and selling that your places of worship were corrupted. So I set fire to the city and burned it to the ground. All who look at you now see you reduced to ashes. 19 You are gone, gone forever, and all the nations that had come to know you are terrified, afraid that they will share your fate." 20 The Lord said to me, 21 "Mortal man, denounce the city of Sidon. 22 Tell the people there what I, the Sovereign Lord, say about them: I am your enemy, Sidon; people will praise me because of what I do to you. They will know that I am the Lord, when I show how holy I am by punishing those who live in you. 23 I will send diseases on you and make blood flow in your streets. You will be attacked from every side, and your people will be killed. Then you will know that I am the Lord." 24 The Lord said, "None of the surrounding nations that treated Israel with scorn will ever again be like thorns and briers to hurt Israel. And they will know that I am the Sovereign Lord." 25 The Sovereign Lord said, "I will bring back the people of Israel from the nations where I scattered them, and all the nations will know that I am holy. The people of Israel will live in their own land, the land that I gave to my servant Jacob. 26 They will live there in safety. They will build houses and plant vineyards. I will punish all their neighbors who treated them with scorn, and Israel will be secure. Then they will know that I am the Lord their God."

Ez 29:1 On the twelfth day of the tenth month of the tenth year of our exile, the Lord spoke to me. 2 "Mortal man," he said, "denounce the king of Egypt. Tell him how he and all the land of Egypt will be punished. 3 Say that this is what the Sovereign Lord is telling the king of Egypt: I am your enemy, you monster crocodile, lying in the river. You say that the Nile is yours and that you made it. 4 I am going to put a hook through your jaw and make the fish in your river stick fast to you. Then I will pull you up out of the Nile, with all the fish sticking to you. 5 I will throw you and all those fish into the desert. Your body will fall on the ground and be left unburied. I will give it to the birds and animals for food. 6 Then all the people of Egypt will know that I am the Lord." The Lord says, "The Israelites relied on you Egyptians for support, but you were no better than a weak stick. 7 When they leaned on you, you broke, pierced their armpits, and made them wrench their backs. 8 Now then, I, the Sovereign Lord, am telling you that I will have troops attack you with swords, and they will kill your people and your animals. 9 Egypt will become an empty wasteland. Then you will know that I am the Lord. "Because you said that the Nile is yours and you made it, 10 I am your enemy and the enemy of your Nile. I will make all of Egypt an empty wasteland, from the city of Migdol in the north to the city of Aswan in the south, all the way to the Ethiopian border. 11 No human being or animal will walk through it. For forty years nothing will live there. 12 I will make Egypt the most desolate country in the world. For forty years the cities of Egypt will lie in ruins, ruins worse than those of any other city. I will make the Egyptians refugees. They will flee to every country and live among other peoples." 13 The Sovereign Lord says, "After forty years I will bring the Egyptians back from the nations where I have scattered them, 14 and I will let them live in southern Egypt, their original home. There they will be a weak kingdom, 15 the weakest kingdom of all, and they will never again rule other nations. I will make them so unimportant that they will not be able to bend any other nation to their will. 16 Israel will never again depend on them for help. Egypt's fate will remind Israel how wrong it was to rely on them. Then Israel will know that I am the Sovereign Lord." 17 On the first day of the first month of the twenty-seventh year of our exile, the Lord spoke to me. 18 "Mortal man," he said, "King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia launched an attack on Tyre. He made his soldiers carry such heavy loads that their heads were rubbed bald and their shoulders were worn raw, but neither the king nor his army got anything for all their trouble. 19 So now this is what I, the Sovereign Lord, am saying: I am giving the land of Egypt to King Nebuchadnezzar. He will loot and plunder it and carry off all the wealth of Egypt as his army's pay. 20 I am giving him Egypt in payment for his services, because his army was working for me. I, the Sovereign Lord, have spoken. 21 "When that happens, I will make the people of Israel strong and let you, Ezekiel, speak out where everyone can hear you, so that they will know that I am the Lord."

Ez 43:5 The Lord's spirit lifted me up and took me into the inner courtyard, where I saw that the Temple was filled with the glory of the Lord. 6 The man stood beside me there, and I heard the Lord speak to me out of the Temple: 7 "Mortal man, here is my throne. I will live here among the people of Israel and rule them forever. Neither the people of Israel nor their kings will ever again disgrace my holy name by worshiping other gods or by burying the corpses of their dead kings. 8 The kings built the doorsills and doorposts of their palace right against the doorsills and doorposts of my Temple, so that there was only a wall between us. They disgraced my holy name by all the disgusting things they did, and so in my anger I destroyed them. 9 Now they must stop worshiping other gods and remove the corpses of their kings. If they do, I will live among them forever."

3027-Isaiah 48:11 What I do is done for my own sake - I will not let my name be dishonored or let anyone else share the glory that should be mine and mine alone."

3028-Ezekiel 5:1 The Lord said, "Mortal man, take a sharp sword and use it to shave off your beard and all your hair. Then weigh the hair on scales and divide it into three parts. 2 Burn up a third of it in the city when the siege is over. Take another third and chop it up with your sword as you move around outside the city. Scatter the remaining third to the winds, and I will pursue it with my sword. 3 Keep back a few hairs and wrap them in the hem of your clothes. 4 Then take a few of them out again, throw them in the fire, and let them burn up. From them fire will spread to the whole nation of Israel." 5 The Sovereign Lord said, "Look at Jerusalem. I put her at the center of the world, with other countries all around her. 6 But Jerusalem rebelled against my commands and showed that she was more wicked than the other nations, more disobedient than the countries around her. Jerusalem rejected my commands and refused to keep my laws. 7 Now listen, Jerusalem, to what I, the Sovereign Lord, am saying. By not obeying my laws or keeping my commands, you have caused more trouble than the nations around you. You have followed the customs of other nations. 8 And so I, the Sovereign Lord, am telling you that I am your enemy. I will pass judgment on you where all the nations can see it. 9 Because of all the things you do that I hate, I will punish Jerusalem as I have never done before and will never do again. 10 As a result, parents in Jerusalem will eat their children, and children will eat their parents. I will punish you and scatter in every direction any who are left alive. 11 "Therefore, as I am the living God - this is the word of the Sovereign Lord - because you defiled my Temple with all the evil, disgusting things you did, I will cut you down without mercy. 12 A third of your people will die from sickness and hunger in the city; a third will be cut down by swords outside the city; and I will scatter the last third to the winds and pursue them with a sword. 13 "You will feel all the force of my anger and rage until I am satisfied. When all this happens, you will be convinced that I, the Lord, have spoken to you because I am outraged at your unfaithfulness. 14 Everyone from the nations around you who passes by will sneer at you and keep their distance. 15 "When I am angry and furious with you and punish you, all the nations around you will be terrified. They will look at you with disgust and make fun of you. 16 I will cut off your supply of food and let you starve. You will feel the pains of hunger like sharp arrows sent to destroy you. 17 I will send hunger and wild animals to kill your children, and will send sickness, violence, and war to kill you. I, the Lord, have spoken."

Ez 7:1 The Lord spoke to me. 2 "Mortal man," he said, "this is what I, the Sovereign Lord, am saying to the land of Israel: This is the end for the whole land! 3 "Israel, the end has come. You will feel my anger, because I am judging you for what you have done. I will pay you back for all your disgusting conduct. 4 I will not spare you or show you any mercy. I am going to punish you for the disgusting things you have done, so that you will know that I am the Lord." 5 This is what the Sovereign Lord is saying: "One disaster after another is coming on you. 6 It's all over. This is the end. You are finished. 7 The end is coming for you people who live in the land. The time is near when there will be no more celebrations at the mountain shrines, only confusion. 8 "Very soon now you will feel all the force of my anger. I am judging you for what you have done, and I will pay you back for all your disgusting conduct. 9 I will not spare you or show you any mercy. I am going to punish you for the disgusting things you have done, so that you will know that I am the Lord and that I am the one who punishes you." 10 The day of disaster is coming. Violence is flourishing. Pride is at its height. 11 Violence produces more wickedness. Nothing of theirs will remain, nothing of their wealth, their splendor, or their glory. 12 The time is coming. The day is near when buying and selling will have no more meaning, because God's punishment will fall on everyone alike. 13 No merchants will live long enough to get back what they have lost, because God's anger is on everyone. Those who are evil cannot survive. 14 The trumpet blows, and everyone gets ready. But no one goes off to war, for God's anger will fall on everyone alike. 15 There is fighting in the streets, and sickness and hunger in the houses. Anyone who is out in the country will die in the fighting, and anyone in the city will be a victim of sickness and hunger. 16 Some will escape to the mountains like doves frightened from the valleys. All of them will moan over their sins. 17 Everyone's hands will be weak, and their knees will shake. 18 They will put on sackcloth and they will tremble all over. Their heads will be shaved, and they will all be disgraced. 19 They will throw their gold and silver away in the streets like garbage, because neither silver nor gold can save them when the Lord pours out his fury. They cannot use it to satisfy their desires or fill their stomachs. Gold and silver led them into sin. 20 Once they were proud of their beautiful jewels, but they used them to make disgusting idols. That is why the Lord has made their wealth repulsive to them. 21 "I will let foreigners rob them," says the Lord, "and lawbreakers will take all their wealth and defile it. 22 I will not interfere when my treasured Temple is profaned, when robbers break into it and defile it. 23 "Everything is in confusion - the land is full of murders and the cities are full of violence. 24 I will bring the most evil nations here and let them have your homes. Your strongest men will lose their confidence when I let the nations profane the places where you worship. 25 Despair is coming. You will look for peace and never find it. 26 One disaster will follow another, and a steady stream of bad news will pour in. You will beg the prophets to reveal what they foresee. The priests will have nothing to teach the people, and the elders will have no advice to give. 27 The king will mourn, the prince will give up hope, and the people will shake with fear. I will punish you for all you have done, and will judge you in the same way as you have judged others. This will show you that I am the Lord."

Ez 8;1 On the fifth day of the sixth month of the sixth year of our exile, the leaders of the exiles from Judah were sitting in my house with me. Suddenly the power of the Sovereign Lord came on me. 2 I looked up and saw a vision of a fiery human form. From the waist down his body looked like fire, and from the waist up he was shining like polished bronze. 3 He reached out what seemed to be a hand and grabbed me by the hair. Then in this vision God's spirit lifted me high in the air and took me to Jerusalem. He took me to the inner entrance of the north gate of the Temple, where there was an idol that was an outrage to God. 4 There I saw the dazzling light that shows the presence of Israel's God, just as I had seen it when I was by the Chebar River. 5 God said to me, "Mortal man, look toward the north." I looked, and there near the altar by the entrance of the gateway I saw the idol that was an outrage to God. 6 God said to me, "Mortal man, do you see what is happening? Look at the disgusting things the people of Israel are doing here, driving me farther and farther away from my holy place. You will see even more disgraceful things than this." 7 He took me to the entrance of the outer courtyard and showed me a hole in the wall. 8 He said, "Mortal man, break through the wall here." I broke through it and found a door. 9 He told me, "Go in and look at the evil, disgusting things they are doing there." 10 So I went in and looked. The walls were covered with drawings of snakes and other unclean animals, and of the other things which the Israelites were worshiping. 11 Seventy Israelite leaders were there, including Jaazaniah son of Shaphan. Each one was holding an incense burner, and smoke was rising from the incense. 12 God asked me, "Mortal man, do you see what the Israelite leaders are doing in secret? They are all worshiping in a room full of images. Their excuse is: "The Lord doesn't see us! He has abandoned the country.' " 13 Then the Lord said to me, "You are going to see them do even more disgusting things than that." 14 So he took me to the north gate of the Temple and showed me women weeping over the death of the god Tammuz. 15 He asked, "Mortal man, do you see that? You will see even more disgusting things." 16 So he took me to the inner courtyard of the Temple. There near the entrance of the sanctuary, between the altar and the porch, were about twenty-five men. They had turned their backs to the sanctuary and were bowing low toward the east, worshiping the rising sun. 17 The Lord said to me, "Mortal man, do you see that? These people of Judah are not satisfied with merely doing all the disgusting things you have seen here and with spreading violence throughout the country. No, they must come and do them right here in the Temple and make me even more angry. Look how they insult me in the most offensive way possible! 18 They will feel all the force of my anger. I will not spare them or show them any mercy. They will shout prayers to me as loud as they can, but I will not listen to them."

Ez 13:1 The Lord spoke to me. 2 "Mortal man," he said, "denounce the prophets of Israel who make up their own prophecies. Tell them to listen to the word of the Lord." 3 This is what the Sovereign Lord says: "These foolish prophets are doomed! They provide their own inspiration and invent their own visions. 4 People of Israel, your prophets are as useless as foxes living among the ruins of a city. 5 They don't guard the places where the walls have crumbled, nor do they rebuild the walls, and so Israel cannot be defended when war comes on the day of the Lord. 6 Their visions are false, and their predictions are lies. They claim that they are speaking my message, but I have not sent them. Yet they expect their words to come true! 7 I tell them: Those visions you see are false, and the predictions you make are lies. You say that they are my words, but I haven't spoken to you!" 8 So the Sovereign Lord says to them, "Your words are false, and your visions are lies. I am against you. 9 I am about to punish you prophets who have false visions and make misleading predictions. You will not be there when my people gather to make decisions; your names will not be included in the list of the citizens of Israel; you will never return to your land. Then you will know that I am the Sovereign Lord. 10 "The prophets mislead my people by saying that all is well. All is certainly not well! My people have put up a wall of loose stones, and then the prophets have come and covered it with whitewash. 11 Tell the prophets that their wall is going to fall down. I will send a pouring rain. Hailstones will fall on it, and a strong wind will blow against it. 12 The wall will collapse, and everyone will ask you what good the whitewash did." 13 Now this is what the Sovereign Lord says: "In my anger I will send a strong wind, pouring rain, and hailstones to destroy the wall. 14 I intend to break down the wall they whitewashed, to shatter it, and to leave the foundation stones bare. It will collapse and kill you all. Then everyone will know that I am the Lord. 15 "The wall and those who covered it with whitewash will feel the force of my anger. Then I will tell you that the wall is gone and so are those who whitewashed it - 16 those prophets who assured Jerusalem that all was well, when all was not well!" The Sovereign Lord has spoken. 17 The Lord said, "Now, mortal man, look at the women among your people who make up predictions. Denounce them 18 and tell them what the Sovereign Lord is saying to them: "You women are doomed! You sew magic wristbands for everyone and make magic scarves for everyone to wear on their heads, so that they can have power over other people's lives. You want to possess the power of life and death over my people and to use it for your own benefit. 19 You dishonor me in front of my people in order to get a few handfuls of barley and a few pieces of bread. You kill people who don't deserve to die, and you keep people alive who don't deserve to live. So you tell lies to my people, and they believe you." 20 Now this is what the Sovereign Lord says: "I hate the wristbands that you use in your attempt to control life and death. I will rip them off your arms and set free the people that you were controlling. 21 I will rip off your scarves and let my people escape from your power once and for all. Then you will know that I am the Lord. 22 "By your lies you discourage good people, whom I do not wish to hurt. You prevent evil people from giving up evil and saving their lives. 23 So now your false visions and misleading predictions are over. I am rescuing my people from your power, so that you will know that I am the Lord."

Ez 22:1 The Lord spoke to me. 2 "Mortal man," he said, "are you ready to judge the city that is full of murderers? Make clear to her all the disgusting things she has done. 3 Tell the city what I, the Sovereign Lord, am saying: Because you have murdered so many of your own people and have defiled yourself by worshiping idols, your time is coming. 4 You are guilty of those murders and are defiled by the idols you made, and so your day is coming, your time is up! That is why I have let the nations make fun of you and all the countries sneer at you. 5 Countries nearby and countries far away sneer at you because of your lawlessness. 6 All Israel's leaders trust in their own strength and commit murder. 7 None of you in the city honor your parents. You cheat foreigners and take advantage of widows and orphans. 8 You have no respect for the holy places, and you don't keep the Sabbath. 9 Some of your people tell lies about others in order to have them put to death. Some of them eat sacrifices offered to idols. Some are always satisfying their lusts. 10 Some of them sleep with their father's wife. Some force women to have intercourse with them during their period. 11 Some commit adultery, and others seduce their daughters-in-law or their half sisters. 12 Some of your people murder for pay. Some charge interest on the loans they make to other Israelites and get rich by taking advantage of them. They have forgotten me." The Sovereign Lord has spoken. 13 "I will bring my fist down on your robberies and murders. 14 Do you think you will have any courage left or have strength enough to lift your hand when I am finished with you? I, the Lord, have spoken, and I keep my word. 15 I will scatter your people to every country and nation and will put an end to your evil actions. 16 And so the other nations will dishonor you, but you will know that I am the Lord." 17 The Lord said to me, 18 "Mortal man, the Israelites are of no use to me. They are like waste metal - copper, tin, iron, and lead - left over after silver has been refined in a furnace. 19 So now I, the Sovereign Lord, am telling them that they are just as useless as that. I will bring them all together in Jerusalem 20 in the same way that the ore of silver, copper, iron, lead, and tin is put in a refining furnace. My anger and rage will melt them the way fire melts ore. 21 Yes, I will gather them in Jerusalem, build a fire under them, and melt them with my anger. 22 They will be melted in Jerusalem the way silver is melted in a furnace, and then they will know that they are feeling the anger of the Lord." 23 The Lord spoke to me again. 24 "Mortal man," he said, "tell the Israelites that their land is unholy, and so I am punishing it in my anger. 25 The leaders are like lions roaring over the animals they have killed. They kill the people, take all the money and property they can get, and by their murders leave many widows. 26 The priests break my law and have no respect for what is holy. They make no distinction between what is holy and what is not. They do not teach the difference between clean and unclean things, and they ignore the Sabbath. As a result the people of Israel do not respect me. 27 The government officials are like wolves tearing apart the animals they have killed. They commit murder in order to get rich. 28 The prophets have hidden these sins like workers covering a wall with whitewash. They see false visions and make false predictions. They claim to speak the word of the Sovereign Lord, but I, the Lord, have not spoken to them. 29 The wealthy cheat and rob. They mistreat the poor and take advantage of foreigners. 30 I looked for someone who could build a wall, who could stand in the places where the walls have crumbled and defend the land when my anger is about to destroy it, but I could find no one. 31 So I will turn my anger loose on them, and like a fire I will destroy them for what they have done." The Sovereign Lord has spoken.

Ez 36:1 The Lord said, "Mortal man, speak to the mountains of Israel and tell them to listen to the message which I, 2 the Sovereign Lord, have for them: Israel's enemies gloated and said, "Now those ancient hills are ours!' 3 "Prophesy, then, and announce what I, the Sovereign Lord, am saying. When the neighboring nations captured and plundered the mountains of Israel, everyone made fun of Israel. 4 So now listen to what I, the Sovereign Lord, say to you mountains and hills, to you brooks and valleys, to you places that were left in ruins, and to you deserted cities which were plundered and mocked by all the surrounding nations. 5 "I, the Sovereign Lord, have spoken out in the heat of my anger against the surrounding nations, and especially against Edom. With glee and contempt they captured my land and took possession of its pastures. 6 "So prophesy to the land of Israel; tell the mountains, hills, brooks, and valleys what I, the Sovereign Lord, am saying in jealous anger because of the way the nations have insulted and humiliated them. 7 I, the Sovereign Lord, solemnly promise that the surrounding nations will be humiliated. 8 But on the mountains of Israel the trees will again grow leaves and bear fruit for you, my people Israel. You are going to come home soon. 9 I am on your side, and I will make sure that your land is plowed again and crops are planted on it. 10 I will make your population grow. You will live in the cities and rebuild everything that was left in ruins. 11 I will make people and cattle increase in number. There will be more of you than ever before, and you will have many children. I will let you live there as you used to live, and I will make you more prosperous than ever. Then you will know that I am the Lord. 12 I will bring you, my people Israel, back to live again in the land. It will be your own land, and it will never again let your children starve. 13 "I, the Sovereign Lord, say: It is true that people say that the land eats people and that it robs the nation of its children. 14 But from now on it will no longer eat people and rob you of your children. I, the Sovereign Lord, have spoken. 15 The land will no longer have to listen to the nations making fun of it or see the peoples sneer at it. The land will no longer rob the nation of its children. I, the Sovereign Lord, have spoken." 16 The Lord spoke to me. 17 "Mortal man," he said, "when the Israelites were living in their land, they defiled it by the way they lived and acted. I regarded their behavior as being as ritually unclean as a woman is during her monthly period. 18 I let them feel the force of my anger because of the murders they had committed in the land and because of the idols by which they had defiled it. 19 I condemned them for the way they lived and acted, and I scattered them through foreign countries. 20 Wherever they went, they brought disgrace on my holy name, because people would say, "These are the people of the Lord, but they had to leave his land.' 21 That made me concerned for my holy name, since the Israelites brought disgrace on it everywhere they went. 22 "Now then, give the Israelites the message that I, the Sovereign Lord, have for them: What I am going to do is not for the sake of you Israelites, but for the sake of my holy name, which you have disgraced in every country where you have gone. 23 When I demonstrate to the nations the holiness of my great name - the name you disgraced among them - then they will know that I am the Lord. I, the Sovereign Lord, have spoken. I will use you to show the nations that I am holy. 24 I will take you from every nation and country and bring you back to your own land. 25 I will sprinkle clean water on you and make you clean from all your idols and everything else that has defiled you. 26 I will give you a new heart and a new mind. I will take away your stubborn heart of stone and give you an obedient heart. 27 I will put my spirit in you and will see to it that you follow my laws and keep all the commands I have given you. 28 Then you will live in the land I gave your ancestors. You will be my people, and I will be your God. 29 I will save you from everything that defiles you. I will command the grain to be plentiful, so that you will not have any more famines. 30 I will increase the yield of your fruit trees and your fields, so that there will be no more famines to disgrace you among the nations. 31 You will remember your evil conduct and the wrongs that you committed, and you will be disgusted with yourselves because of your sins and your iniquities. 32 Israel, I want you to know that I am not doing all this for your sake. I want you to feel the shame and disgrace of what you are doing. I, the Sovereign Lord, have spoken." 33 The Sovereign Lord says, "When I make you clean from all your sins, I will let you live in your cities again and let you rebuild the ruins. 34 Everyone who used to walk by your fields saw how overgrown and wild they were, but I will let you farm them again. 35 Everyone will talk about how this land, which was once a wilderness, has become like the Garden of Eden, and how the cities which were torn down, looted, and left in ruins, are now inhabited and fortified. 36 Then the neighboring nations that have survived will know that I, the Lord, rebuild ruined cities and replant waste fields. I, the Lord, have promised that I would do this - and I will." 37 The Sovereign Lord says, "I will once again let the Israelites ask me for help, and I will let them increase in numbers like a flock of sheep. 38 The cities that are now in ruins will then be as full of people as Jerusalem was once full of the sheep which were offered as sacrifices at a festival. Then they will know that I am the Lord."

3029-Ezekiel 2:4 They are stubborn and do not respect me, so I am sending you to tell them what I, the Sovereign Lord, am saying to them.

3030-Matthew 12:8 for the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath."

Matt 16:27 For the Son of Man is about to come in the glory of his Father with his angels, and then he will reward each one according to his deeds.

Mark 8:31 Then Jesus began to teach his disciples: "The Son of Man must suffer much and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the teachers of the Law. He will be put to death, but three days later he will rise to life." ….38 If you are ashamed of me and of my teaching in this godless and wicked day, then the Son of Man will be ashamed of you when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels."

Luke 22:22 The Son of Man will die as God has decided, but how terrible for that man who betrays him!"

John 3:13 And no one has ever gone up to heaven except the Son of Man, who came down from heaven." 14 As Moses lifted up the bronze snake on a pole in the desert, in the same way the Son of Man must be lifted up,

3031-Exodus 19:6 a people dedicated to me alone, and you will serve me as priests."

3032-Ezekiel 2:4 They are stubborn and do not respect me, so I am sending you to tell them what I, the Sovereign Lord, am saying to them. 5 Whether those rebels listen to you or not, they will know that a prophet has been among them. 6 "But you, mortal man, must not be afraid of them or of anything they say. They will defy and despise you; it will be like living among scorpions. Still, don't be afraid of those rebels or of anything they say. 7 You will tell them whatever I tell you to say, whether they listen or not. Remember what rebels they are. 8 "Mortal man, listen to what I tell you. Don't be rebellious like them. Open your mouth and eat what I am going to give you."

Ez 3:9 I will make you as firm as a rock, as hard as a diamond; don't be afraid of those rebels." ….26 I will paralyze your tongue so that you won't be able to warn these rebellious people. 27 Then, when I speak to you again and give you back the power of speech, you will tell them what I, the Sovereign Lord, am saying. Some of them will listen, but some will ignore you, for they are a nation of rebels."

Ez 12:1 The Lord spoke to me. 2 "Mortal man," he said, "you are living among rebellious people. They have eyes, but they see nothing; they have ears, but they hear nothing, because they are rebellious. 3 "Now, mortal man, pack a bundle just as a refugee would and start out before nightfall. Let everyone see you leaving and going to another place. Maybe those rebels will notice you. ….9 "Mortal man," he said, "now that those Israelite rebels are asking you what you're doing, …..25 I, the Lord, will speak to them, and what I say will be done. There will be no more delay. In your own lifetime, you rebels, I will do what I have warned you I would do. I have spoken," says the Sovereign Lord. …..25 I, the Lord, will speak to them, and what I say will be done. There will be no more delay. In your own lifetime, you rebels, I will do what I have warned you I would do. I have spoken," says the Sovereign Lord.

Ez 17:11 The Lord said to me,

Ez 24:2 "Mortal man," he said, "write down today's date, because this is the day that the king of Babylonia is beginning the siege of Jerusalem.

Ez 44:6 "Tell those rebellious people of Israel that I, the Sovereign Lord, will no longer tolerate the disgusting things that they have been doing.

3033-Exodus 32:9 I know how stubborn these people are.

Ex 33:3 You are going to a rich and fertile land. But I will not go with you myself, because you are a stubborn people, and I might destroy you on the way." ….5 For the Lord had commanded Moses to tell them, "You are a stubborn people. If I were to go with you even for a moment, I would completely destroy you. Now take off your jewelry, and I will decide what to do with you."

Deuteronomy 9:13 "The Lord also said to me, "I know how stubborn these people are.

3034-Ez 3:7 But none of the people of Israel will be willing to listen; they will not even listen to me. All of them are stubborn and defiant.

3035-Ex. 19:6 a people dedicated to me alone, and you will serve me as priests."

3036-Ez 6:7 People will be killed everywhere, and those who survive will acknowledge that I am the Lord. ….10 They will know that I am the Lord and that my warnings were not empty threats." ….13 Corpses will be scattered among the idols and around the altars, scattered on every high hill, on the top of every mountain, under every green tree and every large oak, in every place where they burned sacrifices to their idols. Then everyone will know that I am the Lord. 14 Yes, I will reach out and destroy their country. I will make it a wasteland from the southern desert to the city of Riblah in the north, not sparing any place where the Israelites live. Then everyone will know that I am the Lord."

3037-Ezek. 2:1 saying, "Mortal man, stand up. I want to talk to you." 2 While the voice was speaking, God's spirit entered me and raised me to my feet, and I heard the voice continue, 3 "Mortal man, I am sending you to the people of Israel. They have rebelled and turned against me and are still rebels, just as their ancestors were. 4 They are stubborn and do not respect me, so I am sending you to tell them what I, the Sovereign Lord, am saying to them. 5 Whether those rebels listen to you or not, they will know that a prophet has been among them.

Ez 3:14 The power of the Lord came on me with great force, and as his spirit carried me off, I felt bitter and angry. 15 So I came to Tel Abib beside the Chebar River, where the exiles were living, and for seven days I stayed there, overcome by what I had seen and heard.

3038-Ez. 6:7 People will be killed everywhere, and those who survive will acknowledge that I am the Lord. ….10 They will know that I am the Lord and that my warnings were not empty threats." ….. 13 Corpses will be scattered among the idols and around the altars, scattered on every high hill, on the top of every mountain, under every green tree and every large oak, in every place where they burned sacrifices to their idols. Then everyone will know that I am the Lord. 14 Yes, I will reach out and destroy their country. I will make it a wasteland from the southern desert to the city of Riblah in the north, not sparing any place where the Israelites live. Then everyone will know that I am the Lord."

Ezk 7:4 I will not spare you or show you any mercy. I am going to punish you for the disgusting things you have done, so that you will know that I am the Lord." ….9 I will not spare you or show you any mercy. I am going to punish you for the disgusting things you have done, so that you will know that I am the Lord and that I am the one who punishes you." …...27 The king will mourn, the prince will give up hope, and the people will shake with fear. I will punish you for all you have done, and will judge you in the same way as you have judged others. This will show you that I am the Lord."

Ez 11:10 and you will be killed in battle in your own country. Then everyone will know that I am the Lord. …...12 You will know that I am the Lord and that while you were keeping the laws of the neighboring nations, you were breaking [my ]laws and disobeying [my ]commands."

Ez 12:15 "When I scatter them among the other nations and in foreign countries, they will know that I am the Lord. 16 I will let a few of them survive the war, the famine, and the diseases, so that there among the nations they will realize how disgusting their actions have been and will acknowledge that I am the Lord." ….20 Cities that are now full of people will be destroyed, and the country will be made a wilderness. Then they will know that I am the Lord."

Ez 13:9 I am about to punish you prophets who have false visions and make misleading predictions. You will not be there when my people gather to make decisions; your names will not be included in the list of the citizens of Israel; you will never return to your land. Then you will know that I am the Sovereign Lord. ….14 I intend to break down the wall they whitewashed, to shatter it, and to leave the foundation stones bare. It will collapse and kill you all. Then everyone will know that I am the Lord. ….21 I will rip off your scarves and let my people escape from your power once and for all. Then you will know that I am the Lord. ….23 So now your false visions and misleading predictions are over. I am rescuing my people from your power, so that you will know that I am the Lord."

Ez 14:8 I will oppose you. I will make an example of you. I will remove you from the community of my people, so that all of you will know that I am the Lord.

Ez 15:7 and will punish them. They have escaped one fire, but now fire will burn them up. When I punish them, you will know that I am the Lord.

*Ez 16:62 I will renew my covenant with you, and you will know that I am the Lord.

Ez 17:21 His best soldiers will be killed in battle, and the survivors will be scattered in every direction. Then you will know that I, the Lord, have spoken." …..24 All the trees in the land will know that I am the Lord. I cut down the tall trees and make small trees grow tall. I wither up the green trees and make the dry trees become green. I, the Lord, have spoken. I will do what I have said I would do."

Ez 20:12 I made the keeping of the Sabbath a sign of the agreement between us, to remind them that I, the Lord, make them holy. ….20 Make the Sabbath a holy day, so that it will be a sign of the covenant we made, and will remind you that I am the Lord your God. ….38 I will take away from among you those who are rebellious and sinful. I will take them out of the lands where they are living now, but I will not let them return to the land of Israel. Then you will know that I am the Lord." ….42 When I bring you back to Israel, the land that I promised I would give to your ancestors, then you will know that I am the Lord. ….44 When I act to protect my honor, you Israelites will know that I am the Lord, because I do not deal with you as your wicked, evil actions deserve." The Sovereign Lord has spoken.

Ez 21:5 Everyone will know that I, the Lord, have drawn my sword and that I will not put it away.

Ez 22:16 And so the other nations will dishonor you, but you will know that I am the Lord." …..22 They will be melted in Jerusalem the way silver is melted in a furnace, and then they will know that they are feeling the anger of the Lord."

Ez 23:49 And you two sisters - I will punish you for your immorality and your sin of worshiping idols. Then you will know that I am the Sovereign Lord."

Ez 24:24 Then I will be a sign to you; you will do everything I have done. The Lord says that when this happens, you will know that he is the Sovereign Lord." ….27 That same day you will get back the power of speech which you had lost, and you will talk with them. In this way you will be a sign to the people, and they will know that I am the Lord."

Ez 25:5 I will turn the city of Rabbah into a place to keep camels, and the whole country of Ammon will become a place to keep sheep, so that you will know I am the Lord. ….7 Because you did, I will hand you over to other nations who will rob you and plunder you. I will destroy you so completely that you will not be a nation any more or have a country of your own. Then you will know that I am the Lord." ….11 I will punish Moab, and they will know that I am the Lord." ….17 I will punish them severely and take full revenge on them. They will feel my anger. Then they will know that I am the Lord."

Ez 26:6 and with their swords they will kill those who live in her towns on the mainland. Then Tyre will know that I am the Lord."

Ez 28:22 Tell the people there what I, the Sovereign Lord, say about them: I am your enemy, Sidon; people will praise me because of what I do to you. They will know that I am the Lord, when I show how holy I am by punishing those who live in you. 23 I will send diseases on you and make blood flow in your streets. You will be attacked from every side, and your people will be killed. Then you will know that I am the Lord." 24 The Lord said, "None of the surrounding nations that treated Israel with scorn will ever again be like thorns and briers to hurt Israel. And they will know that I am the Sovereign Lord." *26 They will live there in safety. They will build houses and plant vineyards. I will punish all their neighbors who treated them with scorn, and Israel will be secure. Then they will know that I am the Lord their God."

Ez 29:6 Then all the people of Egypt will know that I am the Lord." The Lord says, "The Israelites relied on you Egyptians for support, but you were no better than a weak stick. ….9 Egypt will become an empty wasteland. Then you will know that I am the Lord. "Because you said that the Nile is yours and you made it, ….16 Israel will never again depend on them for help. Egypt's fate will remind Israel how wrong it was to rely on them. Then Israel will know that I am the Sovereign Lord." ….21 "When that happens, I will make the people of Israel strong and let you, Ezekiel, speak out where everyone can hear you, so that they will know that I am the Lord."

Ez 30:8 When I set fire to Egypt and all her defenders are killed, then they will know that I am the Lord. ….19 When I punish Egypt in this way, they will know that I am the Lord." …..25 Yes, I will weaken him and strengthen the king of Babylonia. When I give him my sword and he points it toward Egypt, everyone will know that I am the Lord. 26 I will scatter the Egyptians throughout the world. Then they will know that I am the Lord." …..

Ez 32:15 When I make Egypt a desolate wasteland and destroy all who live there, they will know that I am the Lord.

Ez 33:29 When I punish the people for their sins and make the country a wasteland, then they will know that I am the Lord."

*Ez 34:27 The trees will bear fruit, the fields will produce crops, and everyone will live in safety on his own land. When I break my people's chains and set them free from those who made them slaves, then they will know that I am the Lord. ….30 Everyone will know that I protect Israel and that they are my people. I, the Sovereign Lord, have spoken.

Ez 35:4 I will leave your cities in ruins And your land desolate; Then you will know that I am the Lord. ….9 I will make you desolate forever, and no one will live in your cities again. Then you will know that I am the Lord. ….12 Then you will know that I, the Lord, heard you say with contempt that the mountains of Israel were desolate and that they were yours to devour. ….15 just as you rejoiced at the devastation of Israel, my own possession. The mountains of Seir, yes, all the land of Edom, will be desolate. Then everyone will know that I am the Lord."

*Ez 36:11 I will make people and cattle increase in number. There will be more of you than ever before, and you will have many children. I will let you live there as you used to live, and I will make you more prosperous than ever. Then you will know that I am the Lord. ….23 When I demonstrate to the nations the holiness of my great name - the name you disgraced among them - then they will know that I am the Lord. I, the Sovereign Lord, have spoken. I will use you to show the nations that I am holy. ….36 Then the neighboring nations that have survived will know that I, the Lord, rebuild ruined cities and replant waste fields. I, the Lord, have promised that I would do this - and I will." ….38 The cities that are now in ruins will then be as full of people as Jerusalem was once full of the sheep which were offered as sacrifices at a festival. Then they will know that I am the Lord."

*Ez 37:6 I will give you sinews and muscles, and cover you with skin. I will put breath into you and bring you back to life. Then you will know that I am the Lord." ….13 When I open the graves where my people are buried and bring them out, they will know that I am the Lord. 14 I will put my breath in them, bring them back to life, and let them live in their own land. Then they will know that I am the Lord. I have promised that I would do this - and I will. I, the Lord, have spoken." ….28 When I place my Temple there to be among them forever, then the nations will know that I, the Lord, have chosen Israel to be my own people."

*Ez 38:16 You will attack my people Israel like a storm moving across the land. When the time comes, I will send you to invade my land in order to show the nations who I am, to show my holiness by what I do through you. ….23 In this way I will show all the nations that I am great and that I am holy. They will know then that I am the Lord."

Ez 39:6 I will start a fire in the land of Magog and along all the seacoasts where people live undisturbed, and everyone will know that I am the Lord...* 7 I will make sure that my people Israel know my holy name, and I will not let my name be disgraced any more. Then the nations will know that I, the Lord, am the holy God of Israel." …..22 The Israelites will know from then on that I am the Lord their God. ..*23 And the nations will know that the Israelites went into exile because of the sins which they committed against me. I turned away from them and let their enemies defeat them and kill them in battle. …..28 Then my people will know that I am the Lord their God. They will know this, because I sent them into captivity and now gather them and bring them back into their own land, not leaving even one of them behind.

Ex 7:5 The Egyptians will then know that I am the Lord, when I raise my hand against them and bring the Israelites out of their country."

Ex 10:2 and in order that you may be able to tell your children and grandchildren how I made fools of the Egyptians when I performed the miracles. All of you will know that I am the Lord."

Ex 14:4 I will make him stubborn, and he will pursue you, and my victory over the king and his army will bring me honor. Then the Egyptians will know that I am the Lord." The Israelites did as they were told. …..18 When I defeat them, the Egyptians will know that I am the Lord."

1 K 20:28 A prophet went to King Ahab and said, "This is what the Lord says: "Because the Syrians say that I am a god of the hills and not of the plains, I will give you victory over their huge army, and you and your people will know that I am the Lord.' "

2 K 19:19 Now, Lord our God, rescue us from the Assyrians, so that all the nations of the world will know that only you, O Lord, are God."

Ps 83:17 May they be defeated and terrified forever; may they die in complete disgrace. 18 May they know that you alone are the Lord, supreme ruler over all the earth.

Jer 24:7 I will give them the desire to know that I am the Lord. Then they will be my people, and I will be their God, because they will return to me with all their heart.

*Dan 4:35 He looks on the people of the earth as nothing; angels in heaven and people on earth are under his control. No one can oppose his will or question what he does. 36 "When my sanity returned, my honor, my majesty, and the glory of my kingdom were given back to me. My officials and my noblemen welcomed me, and I was given back my royal power with even greater honor than before. 37 "And now, I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise, honor, and glorify the King of Heaven. Everything he does is right and just, and he can humble anyone who acts proudly."

Dan 6:26 I command that throughout my empire everyone should fear and respect Daniel's God. "He is a living God, and he will rule forever. His kingdom will never be destroyed, and his power will never come to an end. 27 He saves and rescues; he performs wonders and miracles in heaven and on earth. He saved Daniel from being killed by the lions."

Joel 2:27 Then, Israel, you will know that I am among you and that I, the Lord, am your God and there is no other. My people will never be despised again.

*Joel 3:17.17 "Then, Israel, you will know that I am the Lord your God. I live on Zion, my sacred hill. Jerusalem will be a sacred city; foreigners will never conquer it again.

3039-Jeremiah 16:21 "So then," says the Lord, "once and for all I will make the nations know my power and my might; they will know that I am the Lord."

3040-Exod 7:5 The Egyptians will then know that I am the Lord, when I raise my hand against them and bring the Israelites out of their country."

14:4 I will make him stubborn, and he will pursue you, and my victory over the king and his army will bring me honor. Then the Egyptians will know that I am the Lord." The Israelites did as they were told.....18 When I defeat them, the Egyptians will know that I am the Lord."

3041-I Kings 20:13 Meanwhile, a prophet went to King Ahab and said, "The Lord says, "Don't be afraid of that huge army! I will give you victory over it today, and you will know that I am the Lord.' " …...28 A prophet went to King Ahab and said, "This is what the Lord says: "Because the Syrians say that I am a god of the hills and not of the plains, I will give you victory over their huge army, and you and your people will know that I am the Lord.' "

3042-2 Chron. 36:16 But they made fun of God's messengers, ignoring his words and laughing at his prophets, until at last the Lord's anger against his people was so great that there was no escape.

3043-2 Chron. 28:23 He offered sacrifices to the gods of the Syrians, who had defeated him. He said, "The Syrian gods helped the kings of Syria, so if I sacrifice to them, they may help me too." This brought disaster on him and on his nation.

3044-John 14:29 I have told you this now before it all happens, so that when it does happen, you will believe.

3045-Isa. 1:3 Cattle know who owns them, and donkeys know where their master feeds them. But that is more than my people Israel know. They don't understand at all."

Isa 5:13 and so you will be carried away as prisoners. Your leaders will starve to death, and the common people will die of thirst.

Hosea 4:6 My people are doomed because they do not acknowledge me. You priests have refused to acknowledge me and have rejected my teaching, and so I reject you and will not acknowledge your sons as my priests.

3046-Ezekiel 5:8 And so I, the Sovereign Lord, am telling you that I am your enemy. I will pass judgment on you where all the nations can see it. 9 Because of all the things you do that I hate, I will punish Jerusalem as I have never done before and will never do again. 10 As a result, parents in Jerusalem will eat their children, and children will eat their parents. I will punish you and scatter in every direction any who are left alive. 11 "Therefore, as I am the living God - this is the word of the Sovereign Lord - because you defiled my Temple with all the evil, disgusting things you did, I will cut you down without mercy. 12 A third of your people will die from sickness and hunger in the city; a third will be cut down by swords outside the city; and I will scatter the last third to the winds and pursue them with a sword. 13 "You will feel all the force of my anger and rage until I am satisfied. When all this happens, you will be convinced that I, the Lord, have spoken to you because I am outraged at your unfaithfulness. 14 Everyone from the nations around you who passes by will sneer at you and keep their distance. 15 "When I am angry and furious with you and punish you, all the nations around you will be terrified. They will look at you with disgust and make fun of you. 16 I will cut off your supply of food and let you starve. You will feel the pains of hunger like sharp arrows sent to destroy you. 17 I will send hunger and wild animals to kill your children, and will send sickness, violence, and war to kill you. I, the Lord, have spoken."

7:12 The time is coming. The day is near when buying and selling will have no more meaning, because God's punishment will fall on everyone alike. 13 No merchants will live long enough to get back what they have lost, because God's anger is on everyone. Those who are evil cannot survive. 14 The trumpet blows, and everyone gets ready. But no one goes off to war, for God's anger will fall on everyone alike. 15 There is fighting in the streets, and sickness and hunger in the houses. Anyone who is out in the country will die in the fighting, and anyone in the city will be a victim of sickness and hunger. 16 Some will escape to the mountains like doves frightened from the valleys. All of them will moan over their sins. 17 Everyone's hands will be weak, and their knees will shake. 18 They will put on sackcloth and they will tremble all over. Their heads will be shaved, and they will all be disgraced. 19 They will throw their gold and silver away in the streets like garbage, because neither silver nor gold can save them when the Lord pours out his fury. They cannot use it to satisfy their desires or fill their stomachs. Gold and silver led them into sin.

13:13 Now this is what the Sovereign Lord says: "In my anger I will send a strong wind, pouring rain, and hailstones to destroy the wall. 14 I intend to break down the wall they whitewashed, to shatter it, and to leave the foundation stones bare. It will collapse and kill you all. Then everyone will know that I am the Lord. 15 "The wall and those who covered it with whitewash will feel the force of my anger. Then I will tell you that the wall is gone and so are those who whitewashed it

16:26 You let your lustful neighbors, the Egyptians, go to bed with you, and you used your prostitution to make me angry.

20:8 But they defied me and refused to listen. They did not throw away their disgusting idols or give up the Egyptian gods. I was ready to let them feel the full force of my anger there in Egypt. ….13 But even in the desert they defied me. They broke my laws and rejected my commands, which bring life to anyone who obeys them. They completely profaned the Sabbath. I was ready to let them feel the force of my anger there in the desert and to destroy them. ….21 "But that generation also defied me. They broke my laws and did not keep my commands, which bring life to anyone who obeys them. They profaned the Sabbath. I was ready to let them feel the force of my anger there in the desert and to kill them all. 22 But I did not, since that would have brought dishonor to my name among the nations which had seen me bring Israel out of Egypt. ….25 "Then I gave them laws that are not good and commands that do not bring life. 26 I let them defile themselves with their own offerings, and I let them sacrifice their first-born sons. This was to punish them and show them that I am the Lord. …..33 "As surely as I, the Sovereign Lord, am the living God, I warn you that in my anger I will rule over you with a strong hand, with all my power.

21:31 You will feel my anger when I turn it loose on you like a blazing fire. And I will hand you over to brutal men, experts at destruction.

22:18 "Mortal man, the Israelites are of no use to me. They are like waste metal - copper, tin, iron, and lead - left over after silver has been refined in a furnace. 19 So now I, the Sovereign Lord, am telling them that they are just as useless as that. I will bring them all together in Jerusalem 20 in the same way that the ore of silver, copper, iron, lead, and tin is put in a refining furnace. My anger and rage will melt them the way fire melts ore. 21 Yes, I will gather them in Jerusalem, build a fire under them, and melt them with my anger. 22 They will be melted in Jerusalem the way silver is melted in a furnace, and then they will know that they are feeling the anger of the Lord." 23 The Lord spoke to me again. 24 "Mortal man," he said, "tell the Israelites that their land is unholy, and so I am punishing it in my anger. 25 The leaders are like lions roaring over the animals they have killed. They kill the people, take all the money and property they can get, and by their murders leave many widows. 26 The priests break my law and have no respect for what is holy. They make no distinction between what is holy and what is not. They do not teach the difference between clean and unclean things, and they ignore the Sabbath. As a result the people of Israel do not respect me. 27 The government officials are like wolves tearing apart the animals they have killed. They commit murder in order to get rich. 28 The prophets have hidden these sins like workers covering a wall with whitewash. They see false visions and make false predictions. They claim to speak the word of the Sovereign Lord, but I, the Lord, have not spoken to them. 29 The wealthy cheat and rob. They mistreat the poor and take advantage of foreigners. 30 I looked for someone who could build a wall, who could stand in the places where the walls have crumbled and defend the land when my anger is about to destroy it, but I could find no one. 31 So I will turn my anger loose on them, and like a fire I will destroy them for what they have done." The Sovereign Lord has spoken.

24:3 Tell my rebellious people this parable that I, the Sovereign Lord, have for them: Set the pot on the fire and fill it up with water. 4 Put in the best pieces of meat - the shoulders and the legs - fill it with choice bony pieces too. 5 Use the meat of the finest sheep; pile the wood under the pot. Let the water boil; boil the bones and the meat." 6 This is what the Sovereign Lord is saying: "The city of murderers is doomed! It is like a corroded pot that is never cleaned. Piece after piece of meat is taken out, and not one is left. 7 There was murder in the city, but the blood was not spilled on the ground where the dust could hide it; it was spilled on a bare rock. 8 I have left the blood there, where it cannot be hidden, where it demands angry revenge." 9 This is what the Sovereign Lord is saying: "The city of murderers is doomed! I myself will pile up the firewood. 10 Bring more wood! Fan the flames! Cook the meat! Boil away the broth! Burn up the bones! 11 Now set the empty bronze pot on the coals and let it get red-hot. Then the pot will be ritually pure again after the corrosion is burned off, 12 although all that corrosion will not disappear in the flames. 13 Jerusalem, your immoral actions have defiled you. Although I tried to purify you, you remained defiled. You will not be pure again until you have felt the full force of my anger. 14 I, the Lord, have spoken. The time has come for me to act. I will not ignore your sins or show pity or be merciful. You will be punished for what you have done." The Sovereign Lord has spoken.

36:5 "I, the Sovereign Lord, have spoken out in the heat of my anger against the surrounding nations, and especially against Edom. With glee and contempt they captured my land and took possession of its pastures. 6 "So prophesy to the land of Israel; tell the mountains, hills, brooks, and valleys what I, the Sovereign Lord, am saying in jealous anger because of the way the nations have insulted and humiliated them. 7 I, the Sovereign Lord, solemnly promise that the surrounding nations will be humiliated. 8 But on the mountains of Israel the trees will again grow leaves and bear fruit for you, my people Israel. You are going to come home soon. 9 I am on your side, and I will make sure that your land is plowed again and crops are planted on it. 10 I will make your population grow. You will live in the cities and rebuild everything that was left in ruins. 11 I will make people and cattle increase in number. There will be more of you than ever before, and you will have many children. I will let you live there as you used to live, and I will make you more prosperous than ever. Then you will know that I am the Lord. 12 I will bring you, my people Israel, back to live again in the land. It will be your own land, and it will never again let your children starve. 13 "I, the Sovereign Lord, say: It is true that people say that the land eats people and that it robs the nation of its children. 14 But from now on it will no longer eat people and rob you of your children. I, the Sovereign Lord, have spoken. 15 The land will no longer have to listen to the nations making fun of it or see the peoples sneer at it. The land will no longer rob the nation of its children. I, the Sovereign Lord, have spoken."

38:18 The Sovereign Lord says, "On the day when Gog invades Israel, I will become furious. 19 I declare in the heat of my anger that on that day there will be a severe earthquake in the land of Israel. 20 Every fish and bird, every animal large and small, and every human being on the face of the earth will tremble for fear of me. Mountains will fall, cliffs will crumble, and every wall will collapse. 21 I will terrify Gog with all sorts of calamities. I, the Sovereign Lord, have spoken. His men will turn their swords against one another. 22 I will punish him with disease and bloodshed. Torrents of rain and hail, together with fire and sulfur, will pour down on him and his army and on the many nations that are on his side. 23 In this way I will show all the nations that I am great and that I am holy. They will know then that I am the Lord."

39:21 The Lord said, "I will let the nations see my glory and show them how I use my power to carry out my just decisions. 22 The Israelites will know from then on that I am the Lord their God. 23 And the nations will know that the Israelites went into exile because of the sins which they committed against me. I turned away from them and let their enemies defeat them and kill them in battle. 24 I gave them what they deserved for their uncleanness and their wickedness, and I turned away from them." 25 The Sovereign Lord said, "But now I will be merciful to Jacob's descendants, the people of Israel, and make them prosperous again. I will protect my holy name. 26 When they are once more living in safety in their own land, with no one to threaten them, they will be able to forget how they were disgraced for having betrayed me. 27 In order to show to the many nations that I am holy, I will bring my people back from all the countries where their enemies live. 28 Then my people will know that I am the Lord their God. They will know this, because I sent them into captivity and now gather them and bring them back into their own land, not leaving even one of them behind. 29 I will pour out my spirit on the people of Israel and never again turn away from them. I, the Sovereign Lord, have spoken."

3047-Genesis 3:1 Now the snake was the most cunning animal that the Lord God had made. The snake asked the woman, "Did God really tell you not to eat fruit from any tree in the garden?" 2 "We may eat the fruit of any tree in the garden," the woman answered, 3 "except the tree in the middle of it. God told us not to eat the fruit of that tree or even touch it; if we do, we will die." 4 The snake replied, "That's not true; you will not die. 5 God said that because he knows that when you eat it, you will be like God and know what is good and what is bad." 6 The woman saw how beautiful the tree was and how good its fruit would be to eat, and she thought how wonderful it would be to become wise. So she took some of the fruit and ate it. Then she gave some to her husband, and he also ate it. 7 As soon as they had eaten it, they were given understanding and realized that they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and covered themselves. 8 That evening they heard the Lord God walking in the garden, and they hid from him among the trees. 9 But the Lord God called out to the man, "Where are you?" 10 He answered, "I heard you in the garden; I was afraid and hid from you, because I was naked." 11 "Who told you that you were naked?" God asked. "Did you eat the fruit that I told you not to eat?" 12 The man answered, "The woman you put here with me gave me the fruit, and I ate it." 13 The Lord God asked the woman, "Why did you do this?" She replied, "The snake tricked me into eating it." 14 Then the Lord God said to the snake, "You will be punished for this; you alone of all the animals must bear this curse: From now on you will crawl on your belly, and you will have to eat dust as long as you live. 15 I will make you and the woman hate each other; her offspring and yours will always be enemies. Her offspring will crush your head, and you will bite her offspring's heel." 16 And he said to the woman, "I will increase your trouble in pregnancy and your pain in giving birth. In spite of this, you will still have desire for your husband, yet you will be subject to him." 17 And he said to the man, "You listened to your wife and ate the fruit which I told you not to eat. Because of what you have done, the ground will be under a curse. You will have to work hard all your life to make it produce enough food for you. 18 It will produce weeds and thorns, and you will have to eat wild plants. 19 You will have to work hard and sweat to make the soil produce anything, until you go back to the soil from which you were formed. You were made from soil, and you will become soil again." 20 Adam named his wife Eve, because she was the mother of all human beings. 21 And the Lord God made clothes out of animal skins for Adam and his wife, and he clothed them. 22 Then the Lord God said, "Now these human beings have become like one of us and have knowledge of what is good and what is bad. They must not be allowed to take fruit from the tree that gives life, eat it, and live forever." 23 So the Lord God sent them out of the Garden of Eden and made them cultivate the soil from which they had been formed. 24 Then at the east side of the garden he put living creatures and a flaming sword which turned in all directions. This was to keep anyone from coming near the tree that gives life.

3048-Exodus 33:1 The Lord said to Moses, "Leave this place, you and the people you brought out of Egypt, and go to the land that I promised to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and to their descendants. 2 I will send an angel to guide you, and I will drive out the Canaanites, the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. 3 You are going to a rich and fertile land. But I will not go with you myself, because you are a stubborn people, and I might destroy you on the way." 4 When the people heard this, they began to mourn and did not wear jewelry any more. 5 For the Lord had commanded Moses to tell them, "You are a stubborn people. If I were to go with you even for a moment, I would completely destroy you. Now take off your jewelry, and I will decide what to do with you." 6 So after they left Mount Sinai, the people of Israel no longer wore jewelry. 7 Whenever the people of Israel set up camp, Moses would take the sacred Tent and put it up some distance outside the camp. It was called the Tent of the Lord's presence, and anyone who wanted to consult the Lord would go out to it. 8 Whenever Moses went out there, the people would stand at the door of their tents and watch Moses until he entered it. 9 After Moses had gone in, the pillar of cloud would come down and stay at the door of the Tent, and the Lord would speak to Moses from the cloud. 10 As soon as the people saw the pillar of cloud at the door of the Tent, they would bow down. 11 The Lord would speak with Moses face-to-face, just as someone speaks with a friend. Then Moses would return to the camp. But the young man who was his helper, Joshua son of Nun, stayed in the Tent. 12 Moses said to the Lord, "It is true that you have told me to lead these people to that land, but you did not tell me whom you would send with me. You have said that you know me well and are pleased with me. 13 Now if you are, tell me your plans, so that I may serve you and continue to please you. Remember also that you have chosen this nation to be your own." 14 The Lord said, "I will go with you, and I will give you victory." 15 Moses replied, "If you do not go with us, don't make us leave this place. 16 How will anyone know that you are pleased with your people and with me if you do not go with us? Your presence with us will distinguish us from any other people on earth." 17 The Lord said to Moses, "I will do just as you have asked, because I know you very well and I am pleased with you." 18 Then Moses requested, "Please, let me see the dazzling light of your presence." 19 The Lord answered, "I will make all my splendor pass before you and in your presence I will pronounce my sacred name. I am the Lord, and I show compassion and pity on those I choose. 20 I will not let you see my face, because no one can see me and stay alive, 21 but here is a place beside me where you can stand on a rock. 22 When the dazzling light of my presence passes by, I will put you in an opening in the rock and cover you with my hand until I have passed by. 23 Then I will take my hand away, and you will see my back but not my face."

Ex 34:1 The Lord said to Moses, "Cut two stone tablets like the first ones, and I will write on them the words that were on the first tablets, which you broke. 2 Get ready tomorrow morning, and come up Mount Sinai to meet me there at the top. 3 No one is to come up with you; no one is to be seen on any part of the mountain; and no sheep or cattle are to graze at the foot of the mountain." 4 So Moses cut two more stone tablets, and early the next morning he carried them up Mount Sinai, just as the Lord had commanded. 5 The Lord came down in a cloud, stood with him there, and pronounced his holy name, the Lord. 6 The Lord then passed in front of him and called out, "I, the Lord, am a God who is full of compassion and pity, who is not easily angered and who shows great love and faithfulness. 7 I keep my promise for thousands of generations and forgive evil and sin; but I will not fail to punish children and grandchildren to the third and fourth generation for the sins of their parents." 8 Moses quickly bowed down to the ground and worshiped. 9 He said, "Lord, if you really are pleased with me, I ask you to go with us. These people are stubborn, but forgive our evil and our sin, and accept us as your own people." 10 The Lord said to Moses, "I now make a covenant with the people of Israel. In their presence I will do great things such as have never been done anywhere on earth among any of the nations. All the people will see what great things I, the Lord, can do, because I am going to do an awesome thing for you. 11 Obey the laws that I am giving you today. I will drive out the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, as you advance. 12 Do not make any treaties with the people of the country into which you are going, because this could be a fatal trap for you. 13 Instead, tear down their altars, destroy their sacred pillars, and cut down their symbols of the goddess Asherah. 14 "Do not worship any other god, because I, the Lord, tolerate no rivals. 15 Do not make any treaties with the people of the country, because when they worship their pagan gods and sacrifice to them, they will invite you to join them, and you will be tempted to eat the food they offer to their gods. 16 Your sons might marry those foreign women, who would lead them to be unfaithful to me and to worship their pagan gods. 17 "Do not make gods of metal and worship them. 18 "Keep the Festival of Unleavened Bread. As I have commanded you, eat unleavened bread for seven days in the month of Abib, because it was in that month that you left Egypt. 19 "Every first-born son and first-born male domestic animal belongs to me, 20 but you are to buy back every first-born donkey by offering a lamb in its place. If you do not buy it back, break its neck. Buy back every first-born son. "No one is to appear before me without an offering. 21 "You have six days in which to do your work, but do not work on the seventh day, not even during plowing time or harvest. 22 "Keep the Harvest Festival when you begin to harvest the first crop of your wheat, and keep the Festival of Shelters in the autumn when you gather your fruit. 23 "Three times a year all of your men must come to worship me, the Lord, the God of Israel. 24 After I have driven out the nations before you and extended your territory, no one will try to conquer your country during the three festivals. 25 "Do not offer bread made with yeast when you sacrifice an animal to me. Do not keep until the following morning any part of the animal killed at the Passover Festival. 26 "Each year bring to the house of the Lord the first grain that you harvest. "Do not cook a young sheep or goat in its mother's milk." 27 The Lord said to Moses, "Write these words down, because it is on the basis of these words that I am making a covenant with you and with Israel." 28 Moses stayed there with the Lord forty days and nights, eating and drinking nothing. He wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant - the Ten Commandments. 29 When Moses went down from Mount Sinai carrying the Ten Commandments, his face was shining because he had been speaking with the Lord; but he did not know it. 30 Aaron and all the people looked at Moses and saw that his face was shining, and they were afraid to go near him. 31 But Moses called them, and Aaron and all the leaders of the community went to him, and Moses spoke with them. 32 After that, all the people of Israel gathered around him, and Moses gave them all the laws that the Lord had given him on Mount Sinai. 33 When Moses had finished speaking with them, he covered his face with a veil. 34 Whenever Moses went into the Tent of the Lord's presence to speak to the Lord, he would take the veil off. When he came out, he would tell the people of Israel everything that he had been commanded to say, 35 and they would see that his face was shining. Then he would put the veil back on until the next time he went to speak with the Lord.

3049-Job 1:1 There was a man named Job, living in the land of Uz, who worshiped God and was faithful to him. He was a good man, careful not to do anything evil. 2 He had seven sons and three daughters, 3 and owned seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, one thousand head of cattle, and five hundred donkeys. He also had a large number of servants and was the richest man in the East. 4 Job's sons used to take turns giving a feast, to which all the others would come, and they always invited their three sisters to join them. 5 The morning after each feast, Job would get up early and offer sacrifices for each of his children in order to purify them. He always did this because he thought that one of them might have sinned by insulting God unintentionally. 6 When the day came for the heavenly beings to appear before the Lord, Satan was there among them. 7 The Lord asked him, "What have you been doing?" Satan answered, "I have been walking here and there, roaming around the earth." 8 "Did you notice my servant Job?" the Lord asked. "There is no one on earth as faithful and good as he is. He worships me and is careful not to do anything evil." 9 Satan replied, "Would Job worship you if he got nothing out of it? 10 You have always protected him and his family and everything he owns. You bless everything he does, and you have given him enough cattle to fill the whole country. 11 But now suppose you take away everything he has - he will curse you to your face!" 12 "All right," the Lord said to Satan, "everything he has is in your power, but you must not hurt Job himself." So Satan left. 13 One day when Job's children were having a feast at the home of their oldest brother, 14 a messenger came running to Job. "We were plowing the fields with the oxen," he said, "and the donkeys were in a nearby pasture. 15 Suddenly the Sabeans attacked and stole them all. They killed every one of your servants except me. I am the only one who escaped to tell you." 16 Before he had finished speaking, another servant came and said, "Lightning struck the sheep and the shepherds and killed them all. I am the only one who escaped to tell you." 17 Before he had finished speaking, another servant came and said, "Three bands of Chaldean raiders attacked us, took away the camels, and killed all your servants except me. I am the only one who escaped to tell you." 18 Before he had finished speaking, another servant came and said, "Your children were having a feast at the home of your oldest son, 19 when a storm swept in from the desert. It blew the house down and killed them all. I am the only one who escaped to tell you." 20 Then Job got up and tore his clothes in grief. He shaved his head and threw himself face downward on the ground. 21 He said, "I was born with nothing, and I will die with nothing. The Lord gave, and now he has taken away. May his name be praised!" 22 In spite of everything that had happened, Job did not sin by blaming God.

Job 2:1 When the day came for the heavenly beings to appear before the Lord again, Satan was there among them. 2 The Lord asked him, "Where have you been?" Satan answered, "I have been walking here and there, roaming around the earth." 3 "Did you notice my servant Job?" the Lord asked. "There is no one on earth as faithful and good as he is. He worships me and is careful not to do anything evil. You persuaded me to let you attack him for no reason at all, but Job is still as faithful as ever." 4 Satan replied, "A person will give up everything in order to stay alive. 5 But now suppose you hurt his body - he will curse you to your face!" 6 So the Lord said to Satan, "All right, he is in your power, but you are not to kill him." 7 Then Satan left the Lord's presence and made sores break out all over Job's body. 8 Job went and sat by the garbage dump and took a piece of broken pottery to scrape his sores. 9 His wife said to him, "You are still as faithful as ever, aren't you? Why don't you curse God and die?" 10 Job answered, "You are talking nonsense! When God sends us something good, we welcome it. How can we complain when he sends us trouble?" Even in all this suffering Job said nothing against God. 11 Three of Job's friends were Eliphaz, from the city of Teman, Bildad, from the land of Shuah, and Zophar, from the land of Naamah. When they heard how much Job had been suffering, they decided to go and comfort him. 12 While they were still a long way off they saw Job, but did not recognize him. When they did, they began to weep and wail, tearing their clothes in grief and throwing dust into the air and on their heads. 13 Then they sat there on the ground with him for seven days and nights without saying a word, because they saw how much he was suffering.

3050-Isaiah: 9:1 There will be no way for them to escape from this time of trouble. The land of the tribes of Zebulun and Naphtali was once disgraced, but the future will bring honor to this region, from the Mediterranean eastward to the land on the other side of the Jordan, and even to Galilee itself, where the foreigners live. 2 The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light. They lived in a land of shadows, but now light is shining on them. 3 You have given them great joy, Lord; you have made them happy. They rejoice in what you have done, as people rejoice when they harvest grain or when they divide captured wealth. 4 For you have broken the yoke that burdened them and the rod that beat their shoulders. You have defeated the nation that oppressed and exploited your people, just as you defeated the army of Midian long ago. 5 The boots of the invading army and all their bloodstained clothing will be destroyed by fire. 6 A child is born to us! A son is given to us! And he will be our ruler. He will be called, "Wonderful Counselor," "Mighty God," "Eternal Father," "Prince of Peace." 7 His royal power will continue to grow; his kingdom will always be at peace. He will rule as King David's successor, basing his power on right and justice, from now until the end of time. The Lord Almighty is determined to do all this. 8 The Lord has pronounced judgment on the kingdom of Israel, on the descendants of Jacob. 9 All the people of Israel, everyone who lives in the city of Samaria, will know that he has done this. Now they are proud and arrogant. They say, 10 "The brick buildings have fallen down, but we will replace them with stone buildings. The beams of sycamore wood have been cut down, but we will replace them with the finest cedar." 11 The Lord has stirred up their enemies to attack them. 12 Syria on the east and Philistia on the west have opened their mouths to devour Israel. Yet even so the Lord's anger is not ended; his hand is still stretched out to punish. 13 The people of Israel have not repented; even though the Lord Almighty has punished them, they have not returned to him. 14 In a single day the Lord will punish Israel's leaders and its people; he will cut them off, head and tail. 15 The old and honorable men are the head - and the tail is the prophets whose teachings are lies! 16 Those who lead these people have misled them and totally confused them. 17 And so the Lord will not let any of the young men escape, and he will not show pity on any of the widows and orphans, because all the people are godless and wicked and everything they say is evil. Yet even so the Lord's anger will not be ended, but his hand will still be stretched out to punish. 18 The wickedness of the people burns like a fire that destroys thorn bushes and thistles. It burns like a forest fire that sends up columns of smoke. 19 Because the Lord Almighty is angry, his punishment burns like a fire throughout the land and destroys the people, and it is each of us for ourselves. 20 Everywhere in the country people snatch and eat any bit of food they can find, but their hunger is never satisfied. They even eat their own children! 21 The people of Manasseh and the people of Ephraim attack each other, and together they attack Judah. Yet even so the Lord's anger is not ended; his hand is still stretched out to punish.

Isa 14:1 The Lord will once again be merciful to his people Israel and choose them as his own. He will let them live in their own land again, and foreigners will come and live there with them. 2 Many nations will help the people of Israel return to the land which the Lord gave them, and there the nations will serve Israel as slaves. Those who once captured Israel will now be captured by Israel, and the people of Israel will rule over those who once oppressed them. 3 The Lord will give the people of Israel relief from their pain and suffering and from the hard work they were forced to do. 4 When he does this, they are to mock the king of Babylon and say: "The cruel king has fallen! He will never oppress anyone again! 5 The Lord has ended the power of the evil rulers 6 who angrily oppressed the peoples and never stopped persecuting the nations they had conquered. 7 Now at last the whole world enjoys rest and peace, and everyone sings for joy. 8 The cypress trees and the cedars of Lebanon rejoice over the fallen king, because there is no one to cut them down, now that he is gone! 9 "The world of the dead is getting ready to welcome the king of Babylon. The ghosts of those who were powerful on earth are stirring about. The ghosts of kings are rising from their thrones. 10 They all call out to him, "Now you are as weak as we are! You are one of us! 11 You used to be honored with the music of harps, but now here you are in the world of the dead. You lie on a bed of maggots and are covered with a blanket of worms.' " 12 King of Babylon, bright morning star, you have fallen from heaven! In the past you conquered nations, but now you have been thrown to the ground. 13 You were determined to climb up to heaven and to place your throne above the highest stars. You thought you would sit like a king on that mountain in the north where the gods assemble. 14 You said you would climb to the tops of the clouds and be like the Almighty. 15 But instead, you have been brought down to the deepest part of the world of the dead. 16 The dead will stare and gape at you. They will ask, "Is this the man who shook the earth and made kingdoms tremble? 17 Is this the man who destroyed cities and turned the world into a desert? Is this the man who never freed his prisoners or let them go home?" 18 All the kings of the earth lie in their magnificent tombs, 19 but you have no tomb, and your corpse is thrown out to rot. It is covered by the bodies of soldiers killed in battle, thrown with them into a rocky pit, and trampled down. 20 Because you ruined your country and killed your own people, you will not be buried like other kings. None of your evil family will survive. 21 Let the slaughter begin! The sons of this king will die because of their ancestors' sins. None of them will ever rule the earth or cover it with cities. 22 The Lord Almighty says, "I will attack Babylon and bring it to ruin. I will leave nothing - no children, no survivors at all. I, the Lord, have spoken. 23 I will turn Babylon into a marsh, and owls will live there. I will sweep Babylon with a broom that will sweep everything away. I, the Lord Almighty, have spoken." 24 The Lord Almighty has sworn an oath: "What I have planned will happen. What I have determined to do will be done. 25 I will destroy the Assyrians in my land of Israel and trample them on my mountains. I will free my people from the Assyrian yoke and from the burdens they have had to bear. 26 This is my plan for the world, and my arm is stretched out to punish the nations." 27 The Lord Almighty is determined to do this; he has stretched out his arm to punish, and no one can stop him. 28 This is a message that was proclaimed in the year that King Ahaz died. 29 People of Philistia, the rod that beat you is broken, but you have no reason to be glad. When one snake dies, a worse one comes in its place. A snake's egg hatches a flying dragon. 30 The Lord will be a shepherd to the poor of his people and will let them live in safety. But he will send a terrible famine on you Philistines, and it will not leave any of you alive. 31 Howl and cry for help, all you Philistine cities! Be terrified, all of you! A cloud of dust is coming from the north - it is an army with no cowards in its ranks. 32 How shall we answer the messengers that come to us from Philistia? We will tell them that the Lord has established Zion and that his suffering people will find safety there.

3051-Ezekiel: 1:1 On the fifth day of the fourth month of the thirtieth year, I, Ezekiel the priest, son of Buzi, was living with the Jewish exiles by the Chebar River in Babylonia. The sky opened, and I saw a vision of God. 2 It was the fifth year since King Jehoiachin had been taken into exile.) 3 There in Babylonia beside the Chebar River, I heard the Lord speak to me, and I felt his power. 4 I looked up and saw a windstorm coming from the north. Lightning was flashing from a huge cloud, and the sky around it was glowing. Where the lightning was flashing, something shone like bronze. 5 At the center of the storm I saw what looked like four living creatures in human form, 6 but each of them had four faces and four wings. 7 Their legs were straight, and they had hoofs like those of a bull. They shone like polished bronze. 8 In addition to their four faces and four wings, they each had four human hands, one under each wing. 9 Two wings of each creature were spread out so that the creatures formed a square, with their wing tips touching. When they moved, they moved as a group without turning their bodies. 10 Each living creature had four different faces: a human face in front, a lion's face at the right, a bull's face at the left, and an eagle's face at the back. 11 Two wings of each creature were raised so that they touched the tips of the wings of the creatures next to it, and their other two wings were folded against their bodies. 12 Each creature faced all four directions, and so the group could go wherever they wished, without having to turn. 13 Among the creatures there was something that looked like a blazing torch, constantly moving. The fire would blaze up and shoot out flashes of lightning. 14 The creatures themselves darted back and forth with the speed of lightning. 15 As I was looking at the four creatures I saw four wheels touching the ground, one beside each of them. 16 All four wheels were alike; each one shone like a precious stone, and each had another wheel intersecting it at right angles, 17 so that the wheels could move in any of the four directions. 18 The rims of the wheels were covered with eyes. 19 Whenever the creatures moved, the wheels moved with them, and if the creatures rose up from the earth, so did the wheels. 20 The creatures went wherever they wished, and the wheels did exactly what the creatures did, because the creatures controlled them. 21 So every time the creatures moved or stopped or rose in the air, the wheels did exactly the same. 22 Above the heads of the creatures there was something that looked like a dome made of dazzling crystal. 23 There under the dome stood the creatures, each stretching out two wings toward the ones next to it and covering its body with the other two wings. 24 I heard the noise their wings made in flight; it sounded like the roar of the sea, like the noise of a huge army, like the voice of Almighty God. When they stopped flying, they folded their wings, 25 but there was still a sound coming from above the dome over their heads. 26 Above the dome there was something that looked like a throne made of sapphire, and sitting on the throne was a figure that looked like a human being. 27 The figure seemed to be shining like bronze in the middle of a fire. It shone all over with a bright light 28 that had in it all the colors of the rainbow. This was the dazzling light which shows the presence of the Lord. When I saw this, I fell face downward on the ground. Then I heard a voice

Eze 10:1 I looked at the dome over the heads of the living creatures and above them was something that seemed to be a throne made of sapphire. 2 God said to the man wearing linen clothes, "Go between the wheels under the creatures and fill your hands with burning coals. Then scatter the coals over the city." I watched him go. 3 The creatures were standing to the south of the Temple when he went in, and a cloud filled the inner courtyard. 4 The dazzling light of the Lord's presence rose up from the creatures and moved to the entrance of the Temple. Then the cloud filled the Temple, and the courtyard was blazing with the light. 5 The noise made by the creatures' wings was heard even in the outer courtyard. It sounded like the voice of Almighty God. 6 When the Lord commanded the man wearing linen clothes to take some fire from between the wheels that were under the creatures, the man went in and stood by one of the wheels. 7 One of the creatures reached his hand into the fire that was there among them, picked up some coals, and put them in the hands of the man in linen. The man took the coals and left. 8 I saw that each creature had what looked like a human hand under each of its wings. 9 I also saw that there were four wheels, all alike, one beside each creature. The wheels shone like precious stones, and each one had another wheel which intersected it at right angles. 11 When the creatures moved, they could go in any direction without turning. They all moved together in the direction they wanted to go, without having to turn around. 12 Their bodies, backs, hands, wings, and wheels were covered with eyes. 13 I heard a voice calling out, "Whirling wheels." 14 Each creature had four faces. The first was the face of a bull, the second a human face, the third the face of a lion, and the fourth the face of an eagle. 15 (They were the same creatures that I had seen by the Chebar River.) When the creatures rose in the air 16 and moved, the wheels went with them. Whenever they spread their wings to fly, the wheels still went with them. 17 When the creatures stopped, the wheels stopped; and when the creatures flew, the wheels went with them, because the creatures controlled them. 18 Then the dazzling light of the Lord's presence left the entrance of the Temple and moved to a place above the creatures. 19 They spread their wings and flew up from the earth while I was watching, and the wheels went with them. They paused at the east gate of the Temple, and the dazzling light was over them. 20 I recognized them as the same creatures which I had seen beneath the God of Israel at the Chebar River. 21 Each of them had four faces, four wings, and what looked like a human hand under each wing. 22 Their faces looked exactly like the faces I had seen by the Chebar River. Each creature moved straight ahead.

Eze 28:1 The Lord spoke to me. 2 "Mortal man," he said, "tell the ruler of Tyre what I, the Sovereign Lord, am saying to him: Puffed up with pride, you claim to be a god. You say that like a god you sit on a throne, surrounded by the seas. You may pretend to be a god, but, no, you are mortal, not divine. 3 You think you are wiser than Danel, that no secret can be kept from you. 4 Your wisdom and skill made you rich with treasures of gold and silver. 5 You made clever business deals and kept on making profits. How proud you are of your wealth! 6 "Now then, this is what I, the Sovereign Lord, am saying: Because you think you are as wise as a god, 7 I will bring ruthless enemies to attack you. They will destroy all the beautiful things you have acquired by skill and wisdom. 8 They will kill you and send you to a watery grave. 9 When they come to kill you, will you still claim that you are a god? When you face your murderers, you will be mortal and not at all divine. 10 You will die like a dog at the hand of godless foreigners. I, the Sovereign Lord, have given the command." 11 The Lord spoke to me again. 12 "Mortal man," he said, "grieve for the fate that is waiting for the king of Tyre. Tell him what I, the Sovereign Lord, am saying: You were once an example of perfection. How wise and handsome you were! 13 You lived in Eden, the garden of God, and wore gems of every kind: rubies and diamonds; topaz, beryl, carnelian, and jasper; sapphires, emeralds, and garnets. You had ornaments of gold. They were made for you on the day you were created. 14 I put a terrifying angel there to guard you. You lived on my holy mountain and walked among sparkling gems. 15 Your conduct was perfect from the day you were created until you began to do evil. 16 You were busy buying and selling, and this led you to violence and sin. So I forced you to leave my holy mountain, and the angel who guarded you drove you away from the sparkling gems. 17 You were proud of being handsome, and your fame made you act like a fool. Because of this I hurled you to the ground and left you as a warning to other kings. 18 You did such evil in buying and selling that your places of worship were corrupted. So I set fire to the city and burned it to the ground. All who look at you now see you reduced to ashes. 19 You are gone, gone forever, and all the nations that had come to know you are terrified, afraid that they will share your fate." 20 The Lord said to me, 21 "Mortal man, denounce the city of Sidon. 22 Tell the people there what I, the Sovereign Lord, say about them: I am your enemy, Sidon; people will praise me because of what I do to you. They will know that I am the Lord, when I show how holy I am by punishing those who live in you. 23 I will send diseases on you and make blood flow in your streets. You will be attacked from every side, and your people will be killed. Then you will know that I am the Lord." 24 The Lord said, "None of the surrounding nations that treated Israel with scorn will ever again be like thorns and briers to hurt Israel. And they will know that I am the Sovereign Lord." 25 The Sovereign Lord said, "I will bring back the people of Israel from the nations where I scattered them, and all the nations will know that I am holy. The people of Israel will live in their own land, the land that I gave to my servant Jacob. 26 They will live there in safety. They will build houses and plant vineyards. I will punish all their neighbors who treated them with scorn, and Israel will be secure. Then they will know that I am the Lord their God."

3052-Daniel 7:9 While I was looking, thrones were put in place. One who had been living forever sat down on one of the thrones. His clothes were white as snow, and his hair was like pure wool. His throne, mounted on fiery wheels, was blazing with fire, 10 and a stream of fire was pouring out from it. There were many thousands of people there to serve him, and millions of people stood before him. The court began its session, and the books were opened. 11 While I was looking, I could still hear the little horn bragging and boasting. As I watched, the fourth beast was killed, and its body was thrown into the flames and destroyed. 12 The other beasts had their power taken away, but they were permitted to go on living for a limited time. 13 During this vision in the night, I saw what looked like a human being. He was approaching me, surrounded by clouds, and he went to the one who had been living forever and was presented to him. 14 He was given authority, honor, and royal power, so that the people of all nations, races, and languages would serve him. His authority would last forever, and his kingdom would never end.

10:4 On the twenty-fourth day of the first month of the year I was standing on the bank of the mighty Tigris River. 5 I looked up and saw someone who was wearing linen clothes and a belt of fine gold. 6 His body shone like a jewel. His face was as bright as a flash of lightning, and his eyes blazed like fire. His arms and legs shone like polished bronze, and his voice sounded like the roar of a great crowd. 7 I was the only one who saw the vision. Those who were with me did not see anything, but they were terrified and ran and hid. 8 I was left there alone, watching this amazing vision. I had no strength left, and my face was so changed that no one could have recognized me. 9 When I heard his voice, I fell to the ground unconscious and lay there face downward. 10 Then a hand took hold of me and raised me to my hands and knees; I was still trembling. 11 The angel said to me, "Daniel, God loves you. Stand up and listen carefully to what I am going to say. I have been sent to you." When he had said this, I stood up, still trembling. 12 Then he said, "Daniel, don't be afraid. God has heard your prayers ever since the first day you decided to humble yourself in order to gain understanding. I have come in answer to your prayer. 13 The angel prince of the kingdom of Persia opposed me for twenty-one days. Then Michael, one of the chief angels, came to help me, because I had been left there alone in Persia. 14 I have come to make you understand what will happen to your people in the future. This is a vision about the future." 15 When he said this, I stared at the ground, speechless. 16 Then the angel, who looked like a human being, reached out and touched my lips. I said to him, "Sir, this vision makes me so weak that I can't stop trembling. 17 I am like a slave standing before his master. How can I talk to you? I have no strength or breath left in me." 18 Once more he took hold of me, and I felt stronger. 19 He said, "God loves you, so don't let anything worry you or frighten you." When he had said this, I felt even stronger and said, "Sir, tell me what you have to say. You have made me feel better." 20 He said, "Do you know why I came to you? It is to reveal to you what is written in the Book of Truth. Now I have to go back and fight the guardian angel of Persia. After that the guardian angel of Greece will appear. There is no one to help me except Michael, Israel's guardian angel.

Dan 11:1 He is responsible for helping and defending me. 2 And what I am now going to tell you is true." The angel said, "Three more kings will rule over Persia, followed by a fourth, who will be richer than all the others. At the height of his power and wealth he will challenge the kingdom of Greece.

3053-Zechariah 3:1 In another vision the Lord showed me the High Priest Joshua standing before the angel of the Lord. And there beside Joshua stood Satan, ready to bring an accusation against him. 2 The angel of the Lord said to Satan, "May the Lord condemn you, Satan! May the Lord, who loves Jerusalem, condemn you. This man is like a stick snatched from the fire." 3 Joshua was standing there, wearing filthy clothes. 4 The angel said to his heavenly attendants, "Take away the filthy clothes this man is wearing." Then he said to Joshua, "I have taken away your sin and will give you new clothes to wear." 5 He commanded the attendants to put a clean turban on Joshua's head. They did so, and then they put the new clothes on him while the angel of the Lord stood there.

3054-Revelation 1:1 This book is the record of the events that Jesus Christ revealed. God gave him this revelation in order to show to his servants what must happen very soon. Christ made these things known to his servant John by sending his angel to him, 2 and John has told all that he has seen. This is his report concerning the message from God and the truth revealed by Jesus Christ. 3 Happy is the one who reads this book, and happy are those who listen to the words of this prophetic message and obey what is written in this book! For the time is near when all these things will happen. 4 From John to the seven churches in the province of Asia: Grace and peace be yours from God, who is, who was, and who is to come, and from the seven spirits in front of his throne, 5 and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the first to be raised from death and who is also the ruler of the kings of the world. He loves us, and by his sacrificial death he has freed us from our sins 6 and made us a kingdom of priests to serve his God and Father. To Jesus Christ be the glory and power forever and ever! Amen. 7 Look, he is coming on the clouds! Everyone will see him, including those who pierced him. All peoples on earth will mourn over him. So shall it be! 8 "I am the first and the last," says the Lord God Almighty, who is, who was, and who is to come. 9 I am John, your brother, and as a follower of Jesus I am your partner in patiently enduring the suffering that comes to those who belong to his Kingdom. I was put on the island of Patmos because I had proclaimed God's word and the truth that Jesus revealed. 10 On the Lord's day the Spirit took control of me, and I heard a loud voice, that sounded like a trumpet, speaking behind me. 11 It said, "Write down what you see, and send the book to the churches in these seven cities: Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea." 12 I turned around to see who was talking to me, and I saw seven gold lampstands, 13 and among them there was what looked like a human being, wearing a robe that reached to his feet, and a gold band around his chest. 14 His hair was white as wool, or as snow, and his eyes blazed like fire; 15 his feet shone like brass that has been refined and polished, and his voice sounded like a roaring waterfall. 16 He held seven stars in his right hand, and a sharp two-edged sword came out of his mouth. His face was as bright as the midday sun. 17 When I saw him, I fell down at his feet like a dead man. He placed his right hand on me and said, "Don't be afraid! I am the first and the last. 18 I am the living one! I was dead, but now I am alive forever and ever. I have authority over death and the world of the dead. 19 Write, then, the things you see, both the things that are now and the things that will happen afterward. 20 Here is the secret meaning of the seven stars that you see in my right hand, and of the seven gold lampstands: the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.

Rev 2:1 Then a great and mysterious sight appeared in the sky. There was a woman, whose dress was the sun and who had the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head. 2 She was soon to give birth, and the pains and suffering of childbirth made her cry out. 3 Another mysterious sight appeared in the sky. There was a huge red dragon with seven heads and ten horns and a crown on each of his heads. 4 With his tail he dragged a third of the stars out of the sky and threw them down to the earth. He stood in front of the woman, in order to eat her child as soon as it was born. 5 Then she gave birth to a son, who will rule over all nations with an iron rod. But the child was snatched away and taken to God and his throne. 6 The woman fled to the desert, to a place God had prepared for her, where she will be taken care of for 1,260 days. 7 Then war broke out in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, who fought back with his angels; 8 but the dragon was defeated, and he and his angels were not allowed to stay in heaven any longer. 9 The huge dragon was thrown out - that ancient serpent, named the Devil, or Satan, that deceived the whole world. He was thrown down to earth, and all his angels with him. 10 Then I heard a loud voice in heaven saying, "Now God's salvation has come! Now God has shown his power as King! Now his Messiah has shown his authority! For the one who stood before our God and accused believers day and night has been thrown out of heaven. 11 They won the victory over him by the blood of the Lamb and by the truth which they proclaimed; and they were willing to give up their lives and die. 12 And so be glad, you heavens, and all you that live there! But how terrible for the earth and the sea! For the Devil has come down to you, and he is filled with rage, because he knows that he has only a little time left." 13 When the dragon realized that he had been thrown down to the earth, he began to pursue the woman who had given birth to the boy. 14 She was given the two wings of a large eagle in order to fly to her place in the desert, where she will be taken care of for three and a half years, safe from the dragon's attack. 15 And then from his mouth the dragon poured out a flood of water after the woman, so that it would carry her away. 16 But the earth helped the woman; it opened its mouth and swallowed the water that had come from the dragon's mouth. 17 The dragon was furious with the woman and went off to fight against the rest of her descendants, all those who obey God's commandments and are faithful to the truth revealed by Jesus. 18 And the dragon stood on the seashore.

Rev 13:1 Then I saw a beast coming up out of the sea. It had ten horns and seven heads; on each of its horns there was a crown, and on each of its heads there was a name that was insulting to God. 2 The beast looked like a leopard, with feet like a bear's feet and a mouth like a lion's mouth. The dragon gave the beast his own power, his throne, and his vast authority. 3 One of the heads of the beast seemed to have been fatally wounded, but the wound had healed. The whole earth was amazed and followed the beast. 4 Everyone worshiped the dragon because he had given his authority to the beast. They worshiped the beast also, saying, "Who is like the beast? Who can fight against it?" 5 The beast was allowed to make proud claims which were insulting to God, and it was permitted to have authority for forty-two months. 6 It began to curse God, his name, the place where he lives, and all those who live in heaven. 7 It was allowed to fight against God's people and to defeat them, and it was given authority over every tribe, nation, language, and race. 8 All people living on earth will worship it, except those whose names were written before the creation of the world in the book of the living which belongs to the Lamb that was killed. 9 "Listen, then, if you have ears! 10 Whoever is meant to be captured will surely be captured; whoever is meant to be killed by the sword will surely be killed by the sword. This calls for endurance and faith on the part of God's people." 11 Then I saw another beast, which came up out of the earth. It had two horns like a lamb's horns, and it spoke like a dragon. 12 It used the vast authority of the first beast in its presence. It forced the earth and all who live on it to worship the first beast, whose wound had healed. 13 This second beast performed great miracles; it made fire come down out of heaven to earth in the sight of everyone. 14 And it deceived all the people living on earth by means of the miracles which it was allowed to perform in the presence of the first beast. The beast told them to build an image in honor of the beast that had been wounded by the sword and yet lived. 15 The second beast was allowed to breathe life into the image of the first beast, so that the image could talk and put to death all those who would not worship it. 16 The beast forced all the people, small and great, rich and poor, slave and free, to have a mark placed on their right hands or on their foreheads. 17 No one could buy or sell without this mark, that is, the beast's name or the number that stands for the name. 18 This calls for wisdom. Whoever is intelligent can figure out the meaning of the number of the beast, because the number stands for the name of someone. Its number is 666.

Rev 14:1 Then I looked, and there was the Lamb standing on Mount Zion; with him were 144,000 people who have his name and his Father's name written on their foreheads. 2 And I heard a voice from heaven that sounded like a roaring waterfall, like a loud peal of thunder. It sounded like the music made by musicians playing their harps. 3 The 144,000 people stood before the throne, the four living creatures, and the elders; they were singing a new song, which only they could learn. Of the whole human race they are the only ones who have been redeemed. 4 They are the men who have kept themselves pure by not having sexual relations with women; they are virgins. They follow the Lamb wherever he goes. They have been redeemed from the rest of the human race and are the first ones to be offered to God and to the Lamb. 5 They have never been known to tell lies; they are faultless. 6 Then I saw another angel flying high in the air, with an eternal message of Good News to announce to the peoples of the earth, to every race, tribe, language, and nation. 7 He said in a loud voice, "Honor God and praise his greatness! For the time has come for him to judge all people. Worship him who made heaven, earth, sea, and the springs of water!" 8 A second angel followed the first one, saying, "She has fallen! Great Babylon has fallen! She made all peoples drink her wine - the strong wine of her immoral lust!" 9 A third angel followed the first two, saying in a loud voice, "Those who worship the beast and its image and receive the mark on their forehead or on their hand 10 will themselves drink God's wine, the wine of his fury, which he has poured at full strength into the cup of his anger! All who do this will be tormented in fire and sulfur before the holy angels and the Lamb. 11 The smoke of the fire that torments them goes up forever and ever. There is no relief day or night for those who worship the beast and its image, for anyone who has the mark of its name." 12 This calls for endurance on the part of God's people, those who obey God's commandments and are faithful to Jesus. 13 Then I heard a voice from heaven saying, "Write this: Happy are those who from now on die in the service of the Lord!" "Yes indeed!" answers the Spirit. "They will enjoy rest from their hard work, because the results of their service go with them." 14 Then I looked, and there was a white cloud, and sitting on the cloud was what looked like a human being, with a crown of gold on his head and a sharp sickle in his hand. 15 Then another angel came out from the temple and cried out in a loud voice to the one who was sitting on the cloud, "Use your sickle and reap the harvest, because the time has come; the earth is ripe for the harvest!" 16 Then the one who sat on the cloud swung his sickle on the earth, and the earth's harvest was reaped. 17 Then I saw another angel come out of the temple in heaven, and he also had a sharp sickle. 18 Then another angel, who is in charge of the fire, came from the altar. He shouted in a loud voice to the angel who had the sharp sickle, "Use your sickle, and cut the grapes from the vineyard of the earth, because the grapes are ripe!" 19 So the angel swung his sickle on the earth, cut the grapes from the vine, and threw them into the wine press of God's furious anger. 20 The grapes were squeezed out in the wine press outside the city, and blood came out of the wine press in a flood two hundred miles long and about five feet deep.

Rev 20:1 Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding in his hand the key of the abyss and a heavy chain. 2 He seized the dragon, that ancient serpent - that is, the Devil, or Satan - and chained him up for a thousand years. 3 The angel threw him into the abyss, locked it, and sealed it, so that he could not deceive the nations any more until the thousand years were over. After that he must be set loose for a little while. 4 Then I saw thrones, and those who sat on them were given the power to judge. I also saw the souls of those who had been executed because they had proclaimed the truth that Jesus revealed and the word of God. They had not worshiped the beast or its image, nor had they received the mark of the beast on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and ruled as kings with Christ for a thousand years. 5 (The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were over.) This is the first raising of the dead. 6 Happy and greatly blessed are those who are included in this first raising of the dead. The second death has no power over them; they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and they will rule with him for a thousand years. 7 After the thousand years are over, Satan will be set loose from his prison, 8 and he will go out to deceive the nations scattered over the whole world, that is, Gog and Magog. Satan will bring them all together for battle, as many as the grains of sand on the seashore. 9 They spread out over the earth and surrounded the camp of God's people and the city that he loves. But fire came down from heaven and destroyed them. 10 Then the Devil, who deceived them, was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet had already been thrown; and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever. 11 Then I saw a great white throne and the one who sits on it. Earth and heaven fled from his presence and were seen no more. 12 And I saw the dead, great and small alike, standing before the throne. Books were opened, and then another book was opened, the book of the living. The dead were judged according to what they had done, as recorded in the books. 13 Then the sea gave up its dead. Death and the world of the dead also gave up the dead they held. And all were judged according to what they had done. 14 Then death and the world of the dead were thrown into the lake of fire. (This lake of fire is the second death.) 15 Those who did not have their name written in the book of the living were thrown into the lake of fire.

Rev 21:1 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth. The first heaven and the first earth disappeared, and the sea vanished. 2 And I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared and ready, like a bride dressed to meet her husband. 3 I heard a loud voice speaking from the throne: "Now God's home is with people! He will live with them, and they shall be his people. God himself will be with them, and he will be their God. 4 He will wipe away all tears from their eyes. There will be no more death, no more grief or crying or pain. The old things have disappeared." 5 Then the one who sits on the throne said, "And now I make all things new!" He also said to me, "Write this, because these words are true and can be trusted." 6 And he said, "It is done! I am the first and the last, the beginning and the end. To anyone who is thirsty I will give the right to drink from the spring of the water of life without paying for it. 7 Those who win the victory will receive this from me: I will be their God, and they will be my children. 8 But cowards, traitors, perverts, murderers, the immoral, those who practice magic, those who worship idols, and all liars - the place for them is the lake burning with fire and sulfur, which is the second death." 9 One of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues came to me and said, "Come, and I will show you the Bride, the wife of the Lamb." 10 The Spirit took control of me, and the angel carried me to the top of a very high mountain. He showed me Jerusalem, the Holy City, coming down out of heaven from God 11 and shining with the glory of God. The city shone like a precious stone, like a jasper, clear as crystal. 12 It had a great, high wall with twelve gates and with twelve angels in charge of the gates. On the gates were written the names of the twelve tribes of the people of Israel. 13 There were three gates on each side: three on the east, three on the south, three on the north, and three on the west. 14 The city's wall was built on twelve foundation stones, on which were written the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. 15 The angel who spoke to me had a gold measuring stick to measure the city, its gates, and its wall. 16 The city was perfectly square, as wide as it was long. The angel measured the city with his measuring stick: it was fifteen hundred miles long and was as wide and as high as it was long. 17 The angel also measured the wall, and it was 216 feet high, according to the standard unit of measure which he was using. 18 The wall was made of jasper, and the city itself was made of pure gold, as clear as glass. 19 The foundation stones of the city wall were adorned with all kinds of precious stones. The first foundation stone was jasper, the second sapphire, the third agate, the fourth emerald, 20 the fifth onyx, the sixth carnelian, the seventh yellow quartz, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chalcedony, the eleventh turquoise, the twelfth amethyst. 21 The twelve gates were twelve pearls; each gate was made from a single pearl. The street of the city was of pure gold, transparent as glass. 22 I did not see a temple in the city, because its temple is the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb. 23 The city has no need of the sun or the moon to shine on it, because the glory of God shines on it, and the Lamb is its lamp. 24 The peoples of the world will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their wealth into it. 25 The gates of the city will stand open all day; they will never be closed, because there will be no night there. 26 The greatness and the wealth of the nations will be brought into the city. 27 But nothing that is impure will enter the city, nor anyone who does shameful things or tells lies. Only those whose names are written in the Lamb's book of the living will enter the city.

Rev 22:1 The angel also showed me the river of the water of life, sparkling like crystal, and coming from the throne of God and of the Lamb 2 and flowing down the middle of the city's street. On each side of the river was the tree of life, which bears fruit twelve times a year, once each month; and its leaves are for the healing of the nations. 3 Nothing that is under God's curse will be found in the city. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will worship him. 4 They will see his face, and his name will be written on their foreheads. 5 There shall be no more night, and they will not need lamps or sunlight, because the Lord God will be their light, and they will rule as kings forever and ever. 6 Then the angel said to me, "These words are true and can be trusted. And the Lord God, who gives his Spirit to the prophets, has sent his angel to show his servants what must happen very soon." 7 "Listen!" says Jesus. "I am coming soon! Happy are those who obey the prophetic words in this book!" 8 I, John, have heard and seen all these things. And when I finished hearing and seeing them, I fell down at the feet of the angel who had shown me these things, and I was about to worship him. 9 But he said to me, "Don't do it! I am a servant together with you and with your brothers the prophets and of all those who obey the words in this book. Worship God!" 10 And he said to me, "Do not keep the prophetic words of this book a secret, because the time is near when all this will happen. 11 Whoever is evil must go on doing evil, and whoever is filthy must go on being filthy; whoever is good must go on doing good, and whoever is holy must go on being holy." 12 "Listen!" says Jesus. "I am coming soon! I will bring my rewards with me, to give to each one according to what he has done. 13 I am the first and the last, the beginning and the end." 14 Happy are those who wash their robes clean and so have the right to eat the fruit from the tree of life and to go through the gates into the city. 15 But outside the city are the perverts and those who practice magic, the immoral and the murderers, those who worship idols and those who are liars both in words and deeds. 16 "I, Jesus, have sent my angel to announce these things to you in the churches. I am descended from the family of David; I am the bright morning star." 17 The Spirit and the Bride say, "Come!" Everyone who hears this must also say, "Come!" Come, whoever is thirsty; accept the water of life as a gift, whoever wants it. 18 I, John, solemnly warn everyone who hears the prophetic words of this book: if any add anything to them, God will add to their punishment the plagues described in this book. 19 And if any take anything away from the prophetic words of this book, God will take away from them their share of the fruit of the tree of life and of the Holy City, which are described in this book. 20 He who gives his testimony to all this says, "Yes indeed! I am coming soon!" So be it. Come, Lord Jesus! 21 May the grace of the Lord Jesus be with everyone.

3055-Job 1:6 When the day came for the heavenly beings to appear before the Lord, Satan was there among them. 7 The Lord asked him, "What have you been doing?" Satan answered, "I have been walking here and there, roaming around the earth." 8 "Did you notice my servant Job?" the Lord asked. "There is no one on earth as faithful and good as he is. He worships me and is careful not to do anything evil." 9 Satan replied, "Would Job worship you if he got nothing out of it? 10 You have always protected him and his family and everything he owns. You bless everything he does, and you have given him enough cattle to fill the whole country. 11 But now suppose you take away everything he has - he will curse you to your face!" 12 "All right," the Lord said to Satan, "everything he has is in your power, but you must not hurt Job himself." So Satan left. 13 One day when Job's children were having a feast at the home of their oldest brother, 14 a messenger came running to Job. "We were plowing the fields with the oxen," he said, "and the donkeys were in a nearby pasture. 15 Suddenly the Sabeans attacked and stole them all. They killed every one of your servants except me. I am the only one who escaped to tell you." 16 Before he had finished speaking, another servant came and said, "Lightning struck the sheep and the shepherds and killed them all. I am the only one who escaped to tell you." 17 Before he had finished speaking, another servant came and said, "Three bands of Chaldean raiders attacked us, took away the camels, and killed all your servants except me. I am the only one who escaped to tell you." 18 Before he had finished speaking, another servant came and said, "Your children were having a feast at the home of your oldest son, 19 when a storm swept in from the desert. It blew the house down and killed them all. I am the only one who escaped to tell you." 20 Then Job got up and tore his clothes in grief. He shaved his head and threw himself face downward on the ground. 21 He said, "I was born with nothing, and I will die with nothing. The Lord gave, and now he has taken away. May his name be praised!" 22 In spite of everything that had happened, Job did not sin by blaming God.

Job 2:1 When the day came for the heavenly beings to appear before the Lord again, Satan was there among them. 2 The Lord asked him, "Where have you been?" Satan answered, "I have been walking here and there, roaming around the earth." 3 "Did you notice my servant Job?" the Lord asked. "There is no one on earth as faithful and good as he is. He worships me and is careful not to do anything evil. You persuaded me to let you attack him for no reason at all, but Job is still as faithful as ever." 4 Satan replied, "A person will give up everything in order to stay alive. 5 But now suppose you hurt his body - he will curse you to your face!" 6 So the Lord said to Satan, "All right, he is in your power, but you are not to kill him." 7 Then Satan left the Lord's presence and made sores break out all over Job's body.

3056-1 Chronicles 21:1 Satan wanted to bring trouble on the people of Israel, so he made David decide to take a census.

3057-Zechariah 3:1 In another vision the Lord showed me the High Priest Joshua standing before the angel of the Lord. And there beside Joshua stood Satan, ready to bring an accusation against him. 2 The angel of the Lord said to Satan, "May the Lord condemn you, Satan! May the Lord, who loves Jerusalem, condemn you. This man is like a stick snatched from the fire." 3 Joshua was standing there, wearing filthy clothes. 4 The angel said to his heavenly attendants, "Take away the filthy clothes this man is wearing." Then he said to Joshua, "I have taken away your sin and will give you new clothes to wear." 5 He commanded the attendants to put a clean turban on Joshua's head. They did so, and then they put the new clothes on him while the angel of the Lord stood there.

3058-Matthew 4:1 Then the Spirit led Jesus into the desert to be tempted by the Devil. 2 After spending forty days and nights without food, Jesus was hungry. 3 Then the Devil came to him and said, "If you are God's Son, order these stones to turn into bread." 4 But Jesus answered, "The scripture says, "Human beings cannot live on bread alone, but need every word that God speaks.' " 5 Then the Devil took Jesus to Jerusalem, the Holy City, set him on the highest point of the Temple, 6 and said to him, "If you are God's Son, throw yourself down, for the scripture says, "God will give orders to his angels about you; they will hold you up with their hands, so that not even your feet will be hurt on the stones.' " 7 Jesus answered, "But the scripture also says, "Do not put the Lord your God to the test.' " 8 Then the Devil took Jesus to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in all their greatness. 9 "All this I will give you," the Devil said, "if you kneel down and worship me." 10 Then Jesus answered, "Go away, Satan! The scripture says, "Worship the Lord your God and serve only him!' " 11 Then the Devil left Jesus; and angels came and helped him.

Matt 6:13 Do not bring us to hard testing, but keep us safe from the Evil One.'

Matt 12:22 Then some people brought to Jesus a man who was blind and could not talk because he had a demon. Jesus healed the man, so that he was able to talk and see. 23 The crowds were all amazed at what Jesus had done. "Could he be the Son of David?" they asked. 24 When the Pharisees heard this, they replied, "He drives out demons only because their ruler Beelzebul gives him power to do so." 25 Jesus knew what they were thinking, and so he said to them, "Any country that divides itself into groups which fight each other will not last very long. And any town or family that divides itself into groups which fight each other will fall apart. 26 So if one group is fighting another in Satan's kingdom, this means that it is already divided into groups and will soon fall apart! 27 You say that I drive out demons because Beelzebul gives me the power to do so. Well, then, who gives your followers the power to drive them out? What your own followers do proves that you are wrong! 28 No, it is not Beelzebul, but God's Spirit, who gives me the power to drive out demons, which proves that the Kingdom of God has already come upon you.

Matt 16:23 Jesus turned around and said to Peter, "Get away from me, Satan! You are an obstacle in my way, because these thoughts of yours don't come from God, but from human nature."

3059-Mark 3:22 Some teachers of the Law who had come from Jerusalem were saying, "He has Beelzebul in him! It is the chief of the demons who gives him the power to drive them out." 23 So Jesus called them to him and spoke to them in parables: "How can Satan drive out Satan? 24 If a country divides itself into groups which fight each other, that country will fall apart. 25 If a family divides itself into groups which fight each other, that family will fall apart. 26 So if Satan's kingdom divides into groups, it cannot last, but will fall apart and come to an end.

Mark 4:15 Some people are like the seeds that fall along the path; as soon as they hear the message, Satan comes and takes it away.

Mark 8:33 But Jesus turned around, looked at his disciples, and rebuked Peter. "Get away from me, Satan," he said. "Your thoughts don't come from God but from human nature!"

3060-Luke 4:1 Jesus returned from the Jordan full of the Holy Spirit and was led by the Spirit into the desert, 2 where he was tempted by the Devil for forty days. In all that time he ate nothing, so that he was hungry when it was over. 3 The Devil said to him, "If you are God's Son, order this stone to turn into bread." 4 But Jesus answered, "The scripture says, "Human beings cannot live on bread alone.' " 5 Then the Devil took him up and showed him in a second all the kingdoms of the world. 6 "I will give you all this power and all this wealth," the Devil told him. "It has all been handed over to me, and I can give it to anyone I choose. 7 All this will be yours, then, if you worship me." 8 Jesus answered, "The scripture says, "Worship the Lord your God and serve only him!' " 9 Then the Devil took him to Jerusalem and set him on the highest point of the Temple, and said to him, "If you are God's Son, throw yourself down from here. 10 For the scripture says, "God will order his angels to take good care of you.' 11 It also says, "They will hold you up with their hands so that not even your feet will be hurt on the stones.' " 12 But Jesus answered, "The scripture says, "Do not put the Lord your God to the test.' " 13 When the Devil finished tempting Jesus in every way, he left him for a while.

Luke 10:18 Jesus answered them, "I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.

Luke 11:14 Jesus was driving out a demon that could not talk; and when the demon went out, the man began to talk. The crowds were amazed, 15 but some of the people said, "It is Beelzebul, the chief of the demons, who gives him the power to drive them out." 16 Others wanted to trap Jesus, so they asked him to perform a miracle to show that God approved of him. 17 But Jesus knew what they were thinking, so he said to them, "Any country that divides itself into groups which fight each other will not last very long; a family divided against itself falls apart. 18 So if Satan's kingdom has groups fighting each other, how can it last? You say that I drive out demons because Beelzebul gives me the power to do so. 19 If this is how I drive them out, how do your followers drive them out? Your own followers prove that you are wrong! 20 No, it is rather by means of God's power that I drive out demons, and this proves that the Kingdom of God has already come to you.

Luke 13:16; 16 Now here is this descendant of Abraham whom Satan has kept in bonds for eighteen years; should she not be released on the Sabbath?"

Luke 22:3 Then Satan entered into Judas, called Iscariot, who was one of the twelve disciples. ….31 "Simon, Simon! Listen! Satan has received permission to test all of you, to separate the good from the bad, as a farmer separates the wheat from the chaff.

3061-John 12:31 Now is the time for this world to be judged; now the ruler of this world will be overthrown.

John 13:27 As soon as Judas took the bread, Satan entered into him. Jesus said to him, "Hurry and do what you must!"

3062-Acts 5:3 Peter said to him, "Ananias, why did you let Satan take control of you and make you lie to the Holy Spirit by keeping part of the money you received for the property?

3063-Romans 16:20 And God, our source of peace, will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus be with you.

3064-1 Corinthians 7:5 Do not deny yourselves to each other, unless you first agree to do so for a while in order to spend your time in prayer; but then resume normal marital relations. In this way you will be kept from giving in to Satan's temptation because of your lack of self-control.

3065-2 Corinthians 2:11 in order to keep Satan from getting the upper hand over us; for we know what his plans are.

2 Cor 4:4 They do not believe, because their minds have been kept in the dark by the evil god of this world. He keeps them from seeing the light shining on them, the light that comes from the Good News about the glory of Christ, who is the exact likeness of God.

2 Cor 11:3 I am afraid that your minds will be corrupted and that you will abandon your full and pure devotion to Christ - in the same way that Eve was deceived by the snake's clever lies. …..14 Well, no wonder! Even Satan can disguise himself to look like an angel of light!

2 Cor 12:7 But to keep me from being puffed up with pride because of the many wonderful things I saw, I was given a painful physical ailment, which acts as Satan's messenger to beat me and keep me from being proud.

3066-Ephesians 2:2 At that time you followed the world's evil way; you obeyed the ruler of the spiritual powers in space, the spirit who now controls the people who disobey God.

Eph 6:11 Put on all the armor that God gives you, so that you will be able to stand up against the Devil's evil tricks. 12 For we are not fighting against human beings but against the wicked spiritual forces in the heavenly world, the rulers, authorities, and cosmic powers of this dark age. 13 So put on God's armor now! Then when the evil day comes, you will be able to resist the enemy's attacks; and after fighting to the end, you will still hold your ground. 14 So stand ready, with truth as a belt tight around your waist, with righteousness as your breastplate, 15 and as your shoes the readiness to announce the Good News of peace. 16 At all times carry faith as a shield; for with it you will be able to put out all the burning arrows shot by the Evil One. 17 And accept salvation as a helmet, and the word of God as the sword which the Spirit gives you.

3067-1 Thessalonians 2:18 We wanted to return to you. I myself tried to go back more than once, but Satan would not let us.

1 Thess 3:5 That is why I had to send Timothy. I could not bear it any longer, so I sent him to find out about your faith. Surely it could not be that the Devil had tempted you and all our work had been for nothing!

3068-1 Timothy 1:20 Among them are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have punished by handing them over to the power of Satan; this will teach them to stop their blasphemy.

2:14 And it was not Adam who was deceived; it was the woman who was deceived and broke God's law.

3:7 He should be a man who is respected by the people outside the church, so that he will not be disgraced and fall into the Devil's trap.

5:15 For some widows have already turned away to follow Satan.

3069-2 Timothy 3:13 and evil persons and impostors will keep on going from bad to worse, deceiving others and being deceived themselves.

3070-1 Peter 5:8 Be alert, be on watch! Your enemy, the Devil, roams around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour.

3071-1 John 2:13 I write to you, fathers, because you know him who has existed from the beginning. I write to you, young people, because you have defeated the Evil One. 14 I write to you, my children, because you know the Father. I write to you, fathers, because you know him who has existed from the beginning. I write to you, young people, because you are strong; the word of God lives in you, and you have defeated the Evil One.

3:8 Whoever continues to sin belongs to the Devil, because the Devil has sinned from the very beginning. The Son of God appeared for this very reason, to destroy what the Devil had done. 9 Those who are children of God do not continue to sin, for God's very nature is in them; and because God is their Father, they cannot continue to sin. 10 Here is the clear difference between God's children and the Devil's children: those who do not do what is right or do not love others are not God's children. 11 The message you heard from the very beginning is this: we must love one another. 12 We must not be like Cain; he belonged to the Evil One and murdered his own brother Abel. Why did Cain murder him? Because the things he himself did were wrong, and the things his brother did were right.

3072-Jude 1:9 Not even the chief angel Michael did this. In his quarrel with the Devil, when they argued about who would have the body of Moses, Michael did not dare condemn the Devil with insulting words, but said, "The Lord rebuke you!"

3073-Revelation 2:9 I know your troubles; I know that you are poor - but really you are rich! I know the evil things said against you by those who claim to be Jews but are not; they are a group that belongs to Satan! …..24 "But the rest of you in Thyatira have not followed this evil teaching; you have not learned what the others call "the deep secrets of Satan.' I say to you that I will not put any other burden on you.

3:9 Listen! As for that group that belongs to Satan, those liars who claim that they are Jews but are not, I will make them come and bow down at your feet. They will all know that I love you.

12:9 The huge dragon was thrown out - that ancient serpent, named the Devil, or Satan, that deceived the whole world. He was thrown down to earth, and all his angels with him.

12:1 Then a great and mysterious sight appeared in the sky. There was a woman, whose dress was the sun and who had the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head. 2 She was soon to give birth, and the pains and suffering of childbirth made her cry out. 3 Another mysterious sight appeared in the sky. There was a huge red dragon with seven heads and ten horns and a crown on each of his heads. 4 With his tail he dragged a third of the stars out of the sky and threw them down to the earth. He stood in front of the woman, in order to eat her child as soon as it was born. 5 Then she gave birth to a son, who will rule over all nations with an iron rod. But the child was snatched away and taken to God and his throne. 6 The woman fled to the desert, to a place God had prepared for her, where she will be taken care of for 1,260 days. 7 Then war broke out in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, who fought back with his angels; 8 but the dragon was defeated, and he and his angels were not allowed to stay in heaven any longer. 9 The huge dragon was thrown out - that ancient serpent, named the Devil, or Satan, that deceived the whole world. He was thrown down to earth, and all his angels with him. 10 Then I heard a loud voice in heaven saying, "Now God's salvation has come! Now God has shown his power as King! Now his Messiah has shown his authority! For the one who stood before our God and accused believers day and night has been thrown out of heaven. 11 They won the victory over him by the blood of the Lamb and by the truth which they proclaimed; and they were willing to give up their lives and die. 12 And so be glad, you heavens, and all you that live there! But how terrible for the earth and the sea! For the Devil has come down to you, and he is filled with rage, because he knows that he has only a little time left." 13 When the dragon realized that he had been thrown down to the earth, he began to pursue the woman who had given birth to the boy. 14 She was given the two wings of a large eagle in order to fly to her place in the desert, where she will be taken care of for three and a half years, safe from the dragon's attack. 15 And then from his mouth the dragon poured out a flood of water after the woman, so that it would carry her away. 16 But the earth helped the woman; it opened its mouth and swallowed the water that had come from the dragon's mouth. 17 The dragon was furious with the woman and went off to fight against the rest of her descendants, all those who obey God's commandments and are faithful to the truth revealed by Jesus. 18 And the dragon stood on the seashore.

13:1 Then I saw a beast coming up out of the sea. It had ten horns and seven heads; on each of its horns there was a crown, and on each of its heads there was a name that was insulting to God. 2 The beast looked like a leopard, with feet like a bear's feet and a mouth like a lion's mouth. The dragon gave the beast his own power, his throne, and his vast authority. 3 One of the heads of the beast seemed to have been fatally wounded, but the wound had healed. The whole earth was amazed and followed the beast. 4 Everyone worshiped the dragon because he had given his authority to the beast. They worshiped the beast also, saying, "Who is like the beast? Who can fight against it?" 5 The beast was allowed to make proud claims which were insulting to God, and it was permitted to have authority for forty-two months. 6 It began to curse God, his name, the place where he lives, and all those who live in heaven. 7 It was allowed to fight against God's people and to defeat them, and it was given authority over every tribe, nation, language, and race. 8 All people living on earth will worship it, except those whose names were written before the creation of the world in the book of the living which belongs to the Lamb that was killed. 9 "Listen, then, if you have ears! 10 Whoever is meant to be captured will surely be captured; whoever is meant to be killed by the sword will surely be killed by the sword. This calls for endurance and faith on the part of God's people." 11 Then I saw another beast, which came up out of the earth. It had two horns like a lamb's horns, and it spoke like a dragon. 12 It used the vast authority of the first beast in its presence. It forced the earth and all who live on it to worship the first beast, whose wound had healed. 13 This second beast performed great miracles; it made fire come down out of heaven to earth in the sight of everyone. 14 And it deceived all the people living on earth by means of the miracles which it was allowed to perform in the presence of the first beast. The beast told them to build an image in honor of the beast that had been wounded by the sword and yet lived. 15 The second beast was allowed to breathe life into the image of the first beast, so that the image could talk and put to death all those who would not worship it. 16 The beast forced all the people, small and great, rich and poor, slave and free, to have a mark placed on their right hands or on their foreheads. 17 No one could buy or sell without this mark, that is, the beast's name or the number that stands for the name. 18 This calls for wisdom. Whoever is intelligent can figure out the meaning of the number of the beast, because the number stands for the name of someone. Its number is 666.

20:1 Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding in his hand the key of the abyss and a heavy chain. 2 He seized the dragon, that ancient serpent - that is, the Devil, or Satan - and chained him up for a thousand years. 3 The angel threw him into the abyss, locked it, and sealed it, so that he could not deceive the nations any more until the thousand years were over. After that he must be set loose for a little while. 4 Then I saw thrones, and those who sat on them were given the power to judge. I also saw the souls of those who had been executed because they had proclaimed the truth that Jesus revealed and the word of God. They had not worshiped the beast or its image, nor had they received the mark of the beast on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and ruled as kings with Christ for a thousand years. 5 (The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were over.) This is the first raising of the dead. 6 Happy and greatly blessed are those who are included in this first raising of the dead. The second death has no power over them; they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and they will rule with him for a thousand years. 7 After the thousand years are over, Satan will be set loose from his prison, 8 and he will go out to deceive the nations scattered over the whole world, that is, Gog and Magog. Satan will bring them all together for battle, as many as the grains of sand on the seashore. 9 They spread out over the earth and surrounded the camp of God's people and the city that he loves. But fire came down from heaven and destroyed them. 10 Then the Devil, who deceived them, was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet had already been thrown; and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever. 11 Then I saw a great white throne and the one who sits on it. Earth and heaven fled from his presence and were seen no more. 12 And I saw the dead, great and small alike, standing before the throne. Books were opened, and then another book was opened, the book of the living. The dead were judged according to what they had done, as recorded in the books. 13 Then the sea gave up its dead. Death and the world of the dead also gave up the dead they held. And all were judged according to what they had done. 14 Then death and the world of the dead were thrown into the lake of fire. (This lake of fire is the second death.) 15 Those who did not have their name written in the book of the living were thrown into the lake of fire.

3074-Ezekiel 20:12 I made the keeping of the Sabbath a sign of the agreement between us, to remind them that I, the Lord, make them holy. …..20 Make the Sabbath a holy day, so that it will be a sign of the covenant we made, and will remind you that I am the Lord your God.

3075-Hebrews 4:9 As it is, however, there still remains for God's people a rest like God's resting on the seventh day. 10 For those who receive that rest which God promised will rest from their own work, just as God rested from his. 11 Let us, then, do our best to receive that rest, so that no one of us will fail as they did because of their lack of faith.

Isaiah 66:23 On every New Moon Festival and every Sabbath people of every nation will come to worship me here in Jerusalem," says the Lord.

3076-Ez 20:13 But even in the desert they defied me. They broke my laws and rejected my commands, which bring life to anyone who obeys them. They completely profaned the Sabbath. I was ready to let them feel the force of my anger there in the desert and to destroy them. …..16 I made the vow because they had rejected my commands, broken my laws, and profaned the Sabbath - they preferred to worship their idols. ….21 "But that generation also defied me. They broke my laws and did not keep my commands, which bring life to anyone who obeys them. They profaned the Sabbath. I was ready to let them feel the force of my anger there in the desert and to kill them all. ….24 I did this because they had rejected my commands, broken my laws, profaned the Sabbath, and worshiped the same idols their ancestors had served

3077-Ez 22:8 You have no respect for the holy places, and you don't keep the Sabbath. …..26 The priests break my law and have no respect for what is holy. They make no distinction between what is holy and what is not. They do not teach the difference between clean and unclean things, and they ignore the Sabbath. As a result the people of Israel do not respect me.

Ez 23:38 And that is not all they did. They profaned my Temple and broke the Sabbath, which I had established.

3078-Neh. 13:18 This is exactly why God punished your ancestors when he brought destruction on this city. And yet you insist on bringing more of God's anger down on Israel by profaning the Sabbath."

Is. 56:2 I will bless those who always observe the Sabbath and do not misuse it. I will bless those who do nothing evil.".....4 The Lord says to such a man, "If you honor me by observing the Sabbath and if you do what pleases me and faithfully keep my covenant, ….. 6 And the Lord says to those foreigners who become part of his people, who love him and serve him, who observe the Sabbath and faithfully keep his covenant:

Jer. 17:19 The Lord said to me, "Jeremiah, go and announce my message at the People's Gate, through which the kings of Judah enter and leave the city; then go to all the other gates of Jerusalem. 20 Tell the kings and all the people of Judah and everyone who lives in Jerusalem and enters these gates, to listen to what I say. 21 Tell them that if they love their lives, they must not carry any load on the Sabbath; they must not carry anything in through the gates of Jerusalem 22 or carry anything out of their houses on the Sabbath. They must not work on the Sabbath; they must observe it as a sacred day, as I commanded their ancestors. 23 Their ancestors did not listen to me or pay any attention. Instead, they became stubborn; they would not obey me or learn from me. 24 "Tell these people that they must obey all my commands. They must not carry any load in through the gates of this city on the Sabbath. They must observe the Sabbath as a sacred day and must not do any work at all. 25 Then their kings and princes will enter the gates of Jerusalem and have the same royal power that David had. Together with the people of Judah and of Jerusalem, they will ride in chariots and on horses, and the city of Jerusalem will always be filled with people. 26 People will come from the towns of Judah and from the villages around Jerusalem; they will come from the territory of Benjamin, from the foothills, from the mountains, and from southern Judah. They will bring to my Temple burnt offerings and sacrifices, grain offerings and incense, as well as thank offerings. 27 But they must obey me and observe the Sabbath as a sacred day. They must not carry any load through the gates of Jerusalem on that day, for if they do, I will set the gates of Jerusalem on fire. Fire will burn down the palaces of Jerusalem, and no one will be able to put it out."

3079-Gen. 2:1 And so the whole universe was completed. 2 By the seventh day God finished what he had been doing and stopped working. 3 He blessed the seventh day and set it apart as a special day, because by that day he had completed his creation and stopped working.

3080-Ex. 16:22 On the sixth day they gathered twice as much food, four quarts for each person. All the leaders of the community came and told Moses about it, 23 and he said to them, "The Lord has commanded that tomorrow is a holy day of rest, dedicated to him. Bake today what you want to bake and boil what you want to boil. Whatever is left should be put aside and kept for tomorrow." 24 As Moses had commanded, they kept what was left until the next day; it did not spoil or get worms in it. 25 Moses said, "Eat this today, because today is the Sabbath, a day of rest dedicated to the Lord, and you will not find any food outside the camp. 26 You must gather food for six days, but on the seventh day, the day of rest, there will be none." 27 On the seventh day some of the people went out to gather food, but they did not find any. 28 Then the Lord said to Moses, "How much longer will you people refuse to obey my commands?

3081-PP 258 In their bondage the Israelites had to some extent lost the knowledge of God’s law, and they had departed from its precepts. The Sabbath had been generally disregarded, and the exactions of their taskmasters made its observance apparently impossible. But Moses had shown his people that obedience to God was the first condition of deliverance; and the efforts made to restore the observance of the Sabbath had come to the notice of their oppressors. [See appendix, note 1.] {PP 258.1}

The king, thoroughly roused, suspected the Israelites of a design to revolt from his service. Disaffection was the result of idleness; he would see that no time was left them for dangerous scheming. And he at once adopted measures to tighten their bonds and crush out their independent spirit. The same day orders were issued that rendered their labor still more cruel and oppressive. The most common building material of that country was sun-dried brick; the walls of the finest edifices were made of this, and then faced with stone; and the manufacture of brick employed great numbers of the bondmen. Cut straw being intermixed with the clay, to hold it together, large quantities of straw were required for the work; the king now directed that no more straw be furnished; the laborers must find it for themselves, while the same amount of brick should be exacted. {PP 258.2}

This order produced great distress among the Israelites throughout the land. The Egyptian taskmasters had appointed Hebrew officers to oversee the work of the people, and these officers were responsible for the labor performed by those under their charge. When the requirement of the king was put in force, the people scattered themselves throughout the land, to gather stubble instead of straw; but they found it impossible to accomplish the usual amount of labor. For this failure the Hebrew officers were cruelly beaten. {PP 258.3}

3082-Ex. 20:8 "Observe the Sabbath and keep it holy. 9 You have six days in which to do your work, 10 but the seventh day is a day of rest dedicated to me. On that day no one is to work - neither you, your children, your slaves, your animals, nor the foreigners who live in your country. 11 In six days I, the Lord, made the earth, the sky, the seas, and everything in them, but on the seventh day I rested. That is why I, the Lord, blessed the Sabbath and made it holy.

3083-Gen. 1:5 and he named the light "Day" and the darkness "Night." Evening passed and morning came - that was the first day.

3084-Mark 2:5 and he named the light "Day" and the darkness "Night." Evening passed and morning came - that was the first day.

3085-Isa. 58:13 The Lord says, "If you treat the Sabbath as sacred and do not pursue your own interests on that day; if you value my holy day and honor it by not traveling, working, or talking idly on that day,

3086-Rev. 12:1 Then a great and mysterious sight appeared in the sky. There was a woman, whose dress was the sun and who had the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head. 2 She was soon to give birth, and the pains and suffering of childbirth made her cry out. 3 Another mysterious sight appeared in the sky. There was a huge red dragon with seven heads and ten horns and a crown on each of his heads. 4 With his tail he dragged a third of the stars out of the sky and threw them down to the earth. He stood in front of the woman, in order to eat her child as soon as it was born. 5 Then she gave birth to a son, who will rule over all nations with an iron rod. But the child was snatched away and taken to God and his throne. 6 The woman fled to the desert, to a place God had prepared for her, where she will be taken care of for 1,260 days. 7 Then war broke out in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, who fought back with his angels; 8 but the dragon was defeated, and he and his angels were not allowed to stay in heaven any longer. 9 The huge dragon was thrown out - that ancient serpent, named the Devil, or Satan, that deceived the whole world. He was thrown down to earth, and all his angels with him. 10 Then I heard a loud voice in heaven saying, "Now God's salvation has come! Now God has shown his power as King! Now his Messiah has shown his authority! For the one who stood before our God and accused believers day and night has been thrown out of heaven. 11 They won the victory over him by the blood of the Lamb and by the truth which they proclaimed; and they were willing to give up their lives and die. 12 And so be glad, you heavens, and all you that live there! But how terrible for the earth and the sea! For the Devil has come down to you, and he is filled with rage, because he knows that he has only a little time left." 13 When the dragon realized that he had been thrown down to the earth, he began to pursue the woman who had given birth to the boy. 14 She was given the two wings of a large eagle in order to fly to her place in the desert, where she will be taken care of for three and a half years, safe from the dragon's attack. 15 And then from his mouth the dragon poured out a flood of water after the woman, so that it would carry her away. 16 But the earth helped the woman; it opened its mouth and swallowed the water that had come from the dragon's mouth. 17 The dragon was furious with the woman and went off to fight against the rest of her descendants, all those who obey God's commandments and are faithful to the truth revealed by Jesus. 18 And the dragon stood on the seashore.

Rev 13:1 Then I saw a beast coming up out of the sea. It had ten horns and seven heads; on each of its horns there was a crown, and on each of its heads there was a name that was insulting to God. 2 The beast looked like a leopard, with feet like a bear's feet and a mouth like a lion's mouth. The dragon gave the beast his own power, his throne, and his vast authority. 3 One of the heads of the beast seemed to have been fatally wounded, but the wound had healed. The whole earth was amazed and followed the beast. 4 Everyone worshiped the dragon because he had given his authority to the beast. They worshiped the beast also, saying, "Who is like the beast? Who can fight against it?" 5 The beast was allowed to make proud claims which were insulting to God, and it was permitted to have authority for forty-two months. 6 It began to curse God, his name, the place where he lives, and all those who live in heaven. 7 It was allowed to fight against God's people and to defeat them, and it was given authority over every tribe, nation, language, and race. 8 All people living on earth will worship it, except those whose names were written before the creation of the world in the book of the living which belongs to the Lamb that was killed. 9 "Listen, then, if you have ears! 10 Whoever is meant to be captured will surely be captured; whoever is meant to be killed by the sword will surely be killed by the sword. This calls for endurance and faith on the part of God's people." 11 Then I saw another beast, which came up out of the earth. It had two horns like a lamb's horns, and it spoke like a dragon. 12 It used the vast authority of the first beast in its presence. It forced the earth and all who live on it to worship the first beast, whose wound had healed. 13 This second beast performed great miracles; it made fire come down out of heaven to earth in the sight of everyone. 14 And it deceived all the people living on earth by means of the miracles which it was allowed to perform in the presence of the first beast. The beast told them to build an image in honor of the beast that had been wounded by the sword and yet lived. 15 The second beast was allowed to breathe life into the image of the first beast, so that the image could talk and put to death all those who would not worship it. 16 The beast forced all the people, small and great, rich and poor, slave and free, to have a mark placed on their right hands or on their foreheads. 17 No one could buy or sell without this mark, that is, the beast's name or the number that stands for the name. 18 This calls for wisdom. Whoever is intelligent can figure out the meaning of the number of the beast, because the number stands for the name of someone. Its number is 666.

Rev 14:1 Then I looked, and there was the Lamb standing on Mount Zion; with him were 144,000 people who have his name and his Father's name written on their foreheads. 2 And I heard a voice from heaven that sounded like a roaring waterfall, like a loud peal of thunder. It sounded like the music made by musicians playing their harps. 3 The 144,000 people stood before the throne, the four living creatures, and the elders; they were singing a new song, which only they could learn. Of the whole human race they are the only ones who have been redeemed. 4 They are the men who have kept themselves pure by not having sexual relations with women; they are virgins. They follow the Lamb wherever he goes. They have been redeemed from the rest of the human race and are the first ones to be offered to God and to the Lamb. 5 They have never been known to tell lies; they are faultless. 6 Then I saw another angel flying high in the air, with an eternal message of Good News to announce to the peoples of the earth, to every race, tribe, language, and nation. 7 He said in a loud voice, "Honor God and praise his greatness! For the time has come for him to judge all people. Worship him who made heaven, earth, sea, and the springs of water!" 8 A second angel followed the first one, saying, "She has fallen! Great Babylon has fallen! She made all peoples drink her wine - the strong wine of her immoral lust!" 9 A third angel followed the first two, saying in a loud voice, "Those who worship the beast and its image and receive the mark on their forehead or on their hand 10 will themselves drink God's wine, the wine of his fury, which he has poured at full strength into the cup of his anger! All who do this will be tormented in fire and sulfur before the holy angels and the Lamb. 11 The smoke of the fire that torments them goes up forever and ever. There is no relief day or night for those who worship the beast and its image, for anyone who has the mark of its name." 12 This calls for endurance on the part of God's people, those who obey God's commandments and are faithful to Jesus. 13 Then I heard a voice from heaven saying, "Write this: Happy are those who from now on die in the service of the Lord!" "Yes indeed!" answers the Spirit. "They will enjoy rest from their hard work, because the results of their service go with them." 14 Then I looked, and there was a white cloud, and sitting on the cloud was what looked like a human being, with a crown of gold on his head and a sharp sickle in his hand. 15 Then another angel came out from the temple and cried out in a loud voice to the one who was sitting on the cloud, "Use your sickle and reap the harvest, because the time has come; the earth is ripe for the harvest!" 16 Then the one who sat on the cloud swung his sickle on the earth, and the earth's harvest was reaped. 17 Then I saw another angel come out of the temple in heaven, and he also had a sharp sickle. 18 Then another angel, who is in charge of the fire, came from the altar. He shouted in a loud voice to the angel who had the sharp sickle, "Use your sickle, and cut the grapes from the vineyard of the earth, because the grapes are ripe!" 19 So the angel swung his sickle on the earth, cut the grapes from the vine, and threw them into the wine press of God's furious anger. 20 The grapes were squeezed out in the wine press outside the city, and blood came out of the wine press in a flood two hundred miles long and about five feet deep.

3087-GC 605 But not one is made to suffer the wrath of God until the truth has been brought home to his mind and conscience, and has been rejected. There are many who have never had an opportunity to hear the special truths for this time. The obligation of the fourth commandment has never been set before them in its true light. He who reads every heart and tries every motive will leave none who desire a knowledge of the truth, to be deceived as to the issues of the controversy. The decree is not to be urged upon the people blindly. Everyone is to have sufficient light to make his decision intelligently. {GC 605.1}

The Sabbath will be the great test of loyalty, for it is the point of truth especially controverted. When the final test shall be brought to bear upon men, then the line of distinction will be drawn between those who serve God and those who serve Him not. While the observance of the false sabbath in compliance with the law of the state, contrary to the fourth commandment, will be an avowal of allegiance to a power that is in opposition to God, the keeping of the true Sabbath, in obedience to God’s law, is an evidence of loyalty to the Creator. While one class, by accepting the sign of submission to earthly powers, receive the mark of the beast, the other choosing the token of allegiance to divine authority, receive the seal of God. {GC 605.2}

Heretofore those who presented the truths of the third angel’s message have often been regarded as mere alarmists. Their predictions that religious intolerance would gain control in the United States, that church and state would unite to persecute those who keep the commandments of God, have been pronounced groundless and absurd. It has been confidently declared that this land could never become other than what it has been—the defender of religious freedom. But as the question of enforcing Sunday observance is widely agitated, the event so long doubted and disbelieved is seen to be approaching, and the third message will produce an effect which it could not have had before. {GC 605.3}

3088-Rev.12:17 The dragon was furious with the woman and went off to fight against the rest of her descendants, all those who obey God's commandments and are faithful to the truth revealed by Jesus.

Rev 14:12 This calls for endurance on the part of God's people, those who obey God's commandments and are faithful to Jesus.

3089-GC 640 The enemies of God’s law, from the ministers down to the least among them, have a new conception of truth and duty. Too late they see that the Sabbath of the fourth commandment is the seal of the living God. Too late they see the true nature of their spurious sabbath and the sandy foundation upon which they have been building. They find that they have been fighting against God. Religious teachers have led souls to perdition while professing to guide them to the gates of Paradise. Not until the day of final accounts will it be known how great is the responsibility of men in holy office and how terrible are the results of their unfaithfulness. Only in eternity can we rightly estimate the loss of a single soul. Fearful will be the doom of him to whom God shall say: Depart, thou wicked servant. {GC 640.1}

The voice of God is heard from heaven, declaring the day and hour of Jesus’ coming, and delivering the everlasting covenant to His people. Like peals of loudest thunder His words roll through the earth. The Israel of God stand listening, with their eyes fixed upward. Their countenances are lighted up with His glory, and shine as did the face of Moses when he came down from Sinai. The wicked cannot look upon them. And when the blessing is pronounced on those who have honored God by keeping His Sabbath holy, there is a mighty shout of victory. {GC 640.2}

Soon there appears in the east a small black cloud, about half the size of a man’s hand. It is the cloud which surrounds the Saviour and which seems in the distance to be shrouded in darkness. The people of God know this to be the sign of the Son of man. In solemn silence they gaze upon it as it draws nearer the earth, becoming lighter and more glorious, until it is a great white cloud, its base a glory like consuming fire, and above it the rainbow of the covenant. Jesus rides forth as a mighty conqueror. Not now a “Man of Sorrows,” to drink the bitter cup of shame and woe, He comes, victor in heaven and earth, to judge the living and the dead. “Faithful and True,” “in righteousness He doth judge and make war.” And “the armies which were in heaven” (Revelation 19:11, 14) follow Him. With anthems of celestial melody the holy angels, a vast, unnumbered throng, attend Him on His way. The firmament seems filled with radiant forms—“ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands.” No human pen can portray the scene; no mortal mind is adequate to conceive its splendor. “His glory covered the heavens, and the earth was full of His praise. And His brightness was as the light.” Habakkuk 3:3, 4. As the living cloud comes still nearer, every eye beholds the Prince of life. No crown of thorns now mars that sacred head; but a diadem of glory rests on His holy brow. His countenance outshines the dazzling brightness of the noonday sun. “And He hath on His vesture and on His thigh a name written, King of kings, and Lord of lords.” Revelation 19:16. {GC 640.3}

3090-Ezekiel 20:1 It was the tenth day of the fifth month of the seventh year of our exile. Some of the leaders of the Israelite community came to consult me about the Lord's will, and they sat down in front of me. 2 Then the Lord spoke to me. 3 "Mortal man," he said, "speak to these leaders and tell them that the Sovereign Lord is saying: You have come to ask my will, have you? As surely as I am the living God, I will not let you ask me anything. I, the Sovereign Lord, have spoken. 4 "Are you ready to pass sentence on them, mortal man? Then do so. Remind them of the disgusting things their ancestors did. 5 Tell them what I am saying. When I chose Israel, I made them a promise. I revealed myself to them in Egypt and told them: I am the Lord your God. 6 It was then that I promised to take them out of Egypt and lead them to a land I had chosen for them, a rich and fertile land, the finest land of all. 7 I told them to throw away the disgusting idols they loved and not to make themselves unclean with the false gods of Egypt, because I am the Lord their God. 8 But they defied me and refused to listen. They did not throw away their disgusting idols or give up the Egyptian gods. I was ready to let them feel the full force of my anger there in Egypt. 9 But I did not, since that would have brought dishonor to my name, for in the presence of the people among whom they were living I had announced to Israel that I was going to lead them out of Egypt. 10 "And so I led them out of Egypt into the desert. 11 I gave them my commands and taught them my laws, which bring life to anyone who obeys them. 12 I made the keeping of the Sabbath a sign of the agreement between us, to remind them that I, the Lord, make them holy. 13 But even in the desert they defied me. They broke my laws and rejected my commands, which bring life to anyone who obeys them. They completely profaned the Sabbath. I was ready to let them feel the force of my anger there in the desert and to destroy them. 14 But I did not, since that would have brought dishonor to my name among the nations which had seen me lead Israel out of Egypt. 15 So I made a vow in the desert that I would not take them to the land I had given them, a rich and fertile land, the finest land of all. 16 I made the vow because they had rejected my commands, broken my laws, and profaned the Sabbath - they preferred to worship their idols. 17 "But then I took pity on them. I decided not to kill them there in the desert. 18 Instead, I warned the young people among them: Do not keep the laws your ancestors made; do not follow their customs or defile yourselves with their idols. 19 I am the Lord your God. Obey my laws and my commands. 20 Make the Sabbath a holy day, so that it will be a sign of the covenant we made, and will remind you that I am the Lord your God. 21 "But that generation also defied me. They broke my laws and did not keep my commands, which bring life to anyone who obeys them. They profaned the Sabbath. I was ready to let them feel the force of my anger there in the desert and to kill them all. 22 But I did not, since that would have brought dishonor to my name among the nations which had seen me bring Israel out of Egypt. 23 So I made another vow in the desert. I vowed that I would scatter them all over the world. 24 I did this because they had rejected my commands, broken my laws, profaned the Sabbath, and worshiped the same idols their ancestors had served. 25 "Then I gave them laws that are not good and commands that do not bring life. 26 I let them defile themselves with their own offerings, and I let them sacrifice their first-born sons. This was to punish them and show them that I am the Lord. 27 "Now then, mortal man, tell the Israelites what I, the Sovereign Lord, am saying to them. This is another way their ancestors insulted me by their unfaithfulness. 28 I brought them to the land I had promised to give them. When they saw the high hills and green trees, they offered sacrifices at all of them. They made me angry by the sacrifices they burned and by the wine they brought as offerings. 29 I asked them: What are these high places where you go? So they have been called "High Places' ever since. 30 Now tell the Israelites what I am saying: Why must you commit the same sins your ancestors did and go running after their idols? 31 Even today you offer the same gifts and defile yourselves with the same idols by sacrificing your children to them in the fire. And then you Israelites still come to ask what my will is! As surely as I, the Sovereign Lord, am the living God, I will not let you ask me anything. 32 You have made up your minds that you want to be like the other nations, like the people who live in other countries and worship trees and rocks. But that will never be. 33 "As surely as I, the Sovereign Lord, am the living God, I warn you that in my anger I will rule over you with a strong hand, with all my power. 34 I will show you my power and my anger when I gather you together and bring you back from all the countries where you have been scattered. 35 I will bring you into the "Desert of the Nations,' and there I will condemn you to your face. 36 I will now condemn you just as I condemned your ancestors in the Sinai Desert," says the Sovereign Lord. 37 "I will take firm control of you and make you obey my covenant. 38 I will take away from among you those who are rebellious and sinful. I will take them out of the lands where they are living now, but I will not let them return to the land of Israel. Then you will know that I am the Lord." 39 The Sovereign Lord says, "And now, all you Israelites, suit yourselves! Go on and serve your idols! But I warn you that after this you will have to obey me and stop dishonoring my holy name by offering gifts to your idols. 40 There in the land, on my holy mountain, the high mountain of Israel, all you people of Israel will worship me. I will be pleased with you and will expect you to bring me your sacrifices, your best offerings, and your holy gifts. 41 After I bring you out of the countries where you have been scattered and gather you together, I will accept the sacrifices that you burn, and the nations will see that I am holy. 42 When I bring you back to Israel, the land that I promised I would give to your ancestors, then you will know that I am the Lord. 43 Then you will remember all the disgraceful things you did and how you defiled yourselves. You will be disgusted with yourselves because of all the evil things you did. 44 When I act to protect my honor, you Israelites will know that I am the Lord, because I do not deal with you as your wicked, evil actions deserve." The Sovereign Lord has spoken. 45 The Lord spoke to me. 46 "Mortal man," he said, "look toward the south. Speak against the south and prophesy against the forest of the south. 47 Tell the southern forest to hear what the Sovereign Lord is saying: Look! I am starting a fire, and it will burn up every tree in you, whether green or dry. Nothing will be able to put it out. It will spread from south to north, and everyone will feel the heat of the flames. 48 They will all see that I, the Lord, set it on fire and that no one can put it out." 49 But I protested, "Sovereign Lord, don't make me do it! Everyone is already complaining that I always speak in riddles."

3091-Isaiah 58:13 The Lord says, "If you treat the Sabbath as sacred and do not pursue your own interests on that day; if you value my holy day and honor it by not traveling, working, or talking idly on that day, 14 then you will find the joy that comes from serving me. I will make you honored all over the world, and you will enjoy the land I gave to your ancestor, Jacob. I, the Lord, have spoken."

3092-Ezekiel 16:1 The Lord spoke to me again. 2 "Mortal man," he said, "point out to Jerusalem what disgusting things she has done. 3 Tell Jerusalem what the Sovereign Lord is saying to her: "You were born in the land of Canaan. Your father was an Amorite, and your mother was a Hittite. 4 When you were born, no one cut your umbilical cord or washed you or rubbed you with salt or wrapped you in cloths. 5 No one took enough pity on you to do any of these things for you. When you were born, no one loved you. You were thrown out in an open field. 6 "Then I passed by and saw you squirming in your own blood. You were covered with blood, but I wouldn't let you die. 7 I made you grow like a healthy plant. You grew strong and tall and became a young woman. Your breasts were well-formed, and your hair had grown, but you were naked. 8 "As I passed by again, I saw that the time had come for you to fall in love. I covered your naked body with my coat and promised to love you. Yes, I made a marriage covenant with you, and you became mine." This is what the Sovereign Lord says. 9 "Then I took water and washed the blood off you. I rubbed olive oil on your skin. 10 I dressed you in embroidered gowns and gave you shoes of the best leather, a linen headband, and a silk cloak. 11 I put jewels on you - bracelets and necklaces. 12 I gave you a nose ring and earrings and a beautiful crown to wear. 13 You had ornaments of gold and silver, and you always wore clothes of embroidered linen and silk. You ate bread made from the best flour, and had honey and olive oil to eat. Your beauty was dazzling, and you became a queen. 14 You became famous in every nation for your perfect beauty, because I was the one who made you so lovely." This is what the Sovereign Lord says. 15 "But you took advantage of your beauty and fame to sleep with everyone who came along. 16 You used some of your clothes to decorate your places of worship, and just like a prostitute, you gave yourself to everyone. 17 You took the silver and gold jewelry that I had given you, used it to make male images, and committed adultery with them. 18 You took the embroidered clothes I gave you and put them on the images, and you offered to the images the olive oil and incense I had given you. 19 I gave you food - the best flour, olive oil, and honey - but you offered it as a sacrifice to win the favor of idols." This is what the Sovereign Lord says. 20 "Then you took the sons and the daughters you had borne me and offered them as sacrifices to idols. Wasn't it bad enough to be unfaithful to me, 21 without taking my children and sacrificing them to idols? 22 During your disgusting life as a prostitute you never once remembered your childhood - when you were naked, squirming in your own blood." 23 The Sovereign Lord said, "You are doomed! Doomed! You did all that evil, and then 24 by the side of every road you built places to worship idols and practice prostitution. 25 You dragged your beauty through the mud. You offered yourself to everyone who came by, and you were more of a prostitute every day. 26 You let your lustful neighbors, the Egyptians, go to bed with you, and you used your prostitution to make me angry. 27 "Now I have raised my hand to punish you and to take away your share of my blessing. I have handed you over to the Philistines, who hate you and are disgusted with your immoral actions. 28 "Because you were not satisfied by the others, you went running after the Assyrians. You were their prostitute, but they didn't satisfy you either. 29 You were also a prostitute for the Babylonians, that nation of merchants, but they didn't satisfy you either." 30 This is what the Sovereign Lord is saying: "You have done all this like a shameless prostitute. 31 On every street you built places to worship idols and practice prostitution. But you are not out for money like a common prostitute. 32 You are like a woman who commits adultery with strangers instead of loving her husband. 33 A prostitute is paid, but you gave presents to all your lovers and bribed them to come from everywhere to sleep with you. 34 You are a special kind of prostitute. No one forced you to become one. You didn't get paid; you paid them! Yes, you are different." 35 Now then, Jerusalem, you whore! Hear what the Lord is saying. 36 This is what the Sovereign Lord says: "You stripped off your clothes, and like a prostitute, you gave yourself to your lovers and to all your disgusting idols, and you killed your children as sacrifices to idols. 37 Because of this I will bring all your former lovers together - the ones you liked and the ones you hated. I will bring them around you in a circle, and then I will strip off your clothes and let them see you naked. 38 I will condemn you for adultery and murder, and in my anger and fury I will punish you with death. 39 I will put you in their power, and they will tear down the places where you engage in prostitution and worship idols. They will take away your clothes and jewels and leave you completely naked. 40 "They will stir up a crowd to stone you, and they will cut you to pieces with their swords. 41 They will burn your houses down and let crowds of women see your punishment. I will make you stop being a prostitute and make you stop giving gifts to your lovers. 42 Then my anger will be over, and I will be calm. I will not be angry or jealous any more. 43 You have forgotten how I treated you when you were young, and you have made me angry by all the things you did. That is why I have made you pay for them all. Why did you add sexual immorality to all the other disgusting things you did?" The Sovereign Lord has spoken. 44 The Lord said, "People will use this proverb about you, Jerusalem: "Like mother, like daughter.' 45 You really are your mother's daughter. She detested her husband and her children. You are like your sisters, who hated their husbands and their children. You and your sister cities had a Hittite mother and an Amorite father. 46 "Your older sister, with her villages, is Samaria, in the north. Your younger sister, with her villages, is Sodom, in the south. 47 Were you satisfied to follow in their footsteps and copy their disgusting actions? No, in only a little while you were acting worse than they were in everything you did. 48 "As surely as I am the living God," the Sovereign Lord says, "your sister Sodom and her villages never did the evil that you and your villages have done. 49 She and her daughters were proud because they had plenty to eat and lived in peace and quiet, but they did not take care of the poor and the underprivileged. 50 They were proud and stubborn and did the things that I hate, so I destroyed them, as you well know. 51 "Samaria did not sin half as much as you have. You have acted more disgustingly than she ever did. Your corruption makes your sisters look innocent by comparison. 52 And now you will have to endure your disgrace. Your sins are so much worse than those of your sisters that they look innocent beside you. Now blush and bear your shame, because you make your sisters look pure." 53 The Lord said to Jerusalem, "I will make them prosperous again - Sodom and her villages and Samaria and her villages. Yes, I will make you prosperous too. 54 You will be ashamed of yourself, and your disgrace will show your sisters how well-off they are. 55 They will become prosperous again, and you and your villages will also be restored. 56 Didn't you joke about Sodom in those days when you were proud 57 and before the evil you did had been exposed? Now you are just like her - a joke to the Edomites, the Philistines, and your other neighbors who hate you. 58 You must suffer for the obscene, disgusting things you have done." The Lord has spoken. 59 The Sovereign Lord says, "I will treat you the way you deserve, because you ignored your promises and broke the covenant. 60 But I will honor the covenant I made with you when you were young, and I will make a covenant with you that will last forever. 61 You will remember how you have acted, and be ashamed of it when you get your older sister and your younger sister back. I will let them be like daughters to you, even though this was not part of my covenant with you. 62 I will renew my covenant with you, and you will know that I am the Lord. 63 I will forgive all the wrongs you have done, but you will remember them and be too ashamed to open your mouth." The Sovereign Lord has spoken.

Ez 23:1 The Lord spoke to me. 2 "Mortal man," he said, "there were once two sisters. 3 When they were young, living in Egypt, they lost their virginity and became prostitutes. 4 The older one was named Oholah (she represents Samaria), and the younger one was named Oholibah (she represents Jerusalem). I married both of them, and they bore me children. 5 Although she was mine, Oholah continued to be a prostitute and was full of lust for her lovers from Assyria. 6 They were soldiers in uniforms of purple, noblemen and high-ranking officers; all of them were handsome young cavalry officers. 7 She was the whore for all the Assyrian officers, and her lust led her to defile herself by worshiping Assyrian idols. 8 She continued what she had begun as a prostitute in Egypt, where she lost her virginity. From the time she was a young woman, men slept with her and treated her like a prostitute. 9 So I handed her over to her Assyrian lovers whom she wanted so much. 10 They stripped her naked, seized her sons and daughters, and then killed her with a sword. Women everywhere gossiped about her fate. 11 "Even though her sister Oholibah saw this, she was wilder and more of a prostitute than Oholah had ever been. 12 She too was full of lust for the Assyrian noblemen and officers - soldiers in bright uniforms - and for the cavalry officers, all of those handsome young men. 13 I saw that she was completely immoral, that the second sister was as bad as the first. 14 "She sank deeper and deeper in her immorality. She was attracted by the images of high Babylonian officials carved into the wall and painted bright red, with sashes around their waists and fancy turbans on their heads. 16 As soon as she saw them, she was filled with lust and sent messengers to them in Babylonia. 17 The Babylonians came to have sex with her. They used her and defiled her so much that finally she became disgusted with them. 18 She exposed herself publicly and let everyone know she was a whore. I was as disgusted with her as I had been with her sister. 19 She became more of a prostitute than ever, acting the way she did as a young woman, when she was a prostitute in Egypt. 20 She was filled with lust for oversexed men who had all the lustfulness of donkeys or stallions. 21 (Oholibah, you wanted to repeat the immorality you were guilty of as a young woman in Egypt, where men played with your breasts and you lost your virginity.) 22 "Now then, Oholibah, this is what I, the Sovereign Lord, am saying to you. You are tired of those lovers, but I will make them angry with you and bring them to surround you. 23 I will bring all the Babylonians and Chaldeans, men from Pekod, Shoa, and Koa, and all the Assyrians. I will gather all those handsome young noblemen and officers, all those important officials and high-ranking cavalry officers. 24 They will attack you from the north, bringing a large army with chariots and supply wagons. Protected by shields and helmets, they will surround you. I will hand you over to them, and they will judge you by their own laws. 25 Because I am angry with you, I will let them deal with you in their anger. They will cut off your nose and your ears and kill your children. Yes, they will take your sons and daughters from you and burn them alive. 26 They will tear off your clothes and take your jewels. 27 I will put a stop to your lust and to the obscenities you have committed ever since you were in Egypt. You won't look at any more idols or think about Egypt any more." 28 This is what the Sovereign Lord says: "I will hand you over to people you hate and are disgusted with. 29 And because they hate you, they will take away everything you have worked for and leave you stripped naked, exposed like a prostitute. Your lust and your prostitution 30 have brought this on you. You were a prostitute for the nations and defiled yourself with their idols. 31 You followed in your sister's footsteps, and so I will give you the same cup of punishment to drink." 32 The Sovereign Lord says, "You will drink from your sister's cup; it is large and deep. Everyone will scorn and mock you; the cup is full. 33 It will make you miserable and drunk, that cup of fear and ruin, your sister Samaria's cup. 34 You will drink and drain it dry, and with its broken pieces tear your breast. I, the Sovereign Lord, have spoken." 35 Now this is what the Sovereign Lord is saying: "Because you forgot me and turned your back on me, you will suffer for your lust and your prostitution." 36 The Lord said to me, "Mortal man, are you ready to judge Oholah and Oholibah? Accuse them of the disgusting things they have done. 37 They have committed adultery and murder - adultery with idols and murder of the children they bore me. They sacrificed my children to their idols. 38 And that is not all they did. They profaned my Temple and broke the Sabbath, which I had established. 39 The very day that they killed my children as sacrifices to idols, they came to my Temple and profaned it! 40 "Again and again they sent messengers to invite men to come from a great distance, and the men came. The two sisters would bathe and put on eye shadow and jewelry. 41 They would sit on a beautiful couch, and in front of them they would have a table covered with good things, including the incense and the olive oil that I had given them. 42 The sound of a carefree crowd could be heard, a group of men brought in from the desert. They put bracelets on the women's arms and beautiful crowns on their heads. 43 And I said to myself that they were using as a prostitute a woman worn out by adultery. 44 They went back to these prostitutes again and again. They went back to Oholah and Oholibah, those immoral women. 45 Righteous men will condemn them on the charge of adultery and murder, because they practice adultery and their hands are stained with blood." 46 This is what the Sovereign Lord says: "Bring a mob to terrorize them and rob them. 47 Let the mob stone them and attack them with swords, kill their children, and burn down their houses. 48 Throughout the land I will put a stop to immorality, as a warning to every woman not to commit adultery as they did. 49 And you two sisters - I will punish you for your immorality and your sin of worshiping idols. Then you will know that I am the Sovereign Lord."

3093-Ezekiel 18:1 The Lord spoke to me 2 and said, "What is this proverb people keep repeating in the land of Israel? "The parents ate the sour grapes, But the children got the sour taste.' 3 "As surely as I am the living God," says the Sovereign Lord, "you will not repeat this proverb in Israel any more. 4 The life of every person belongs to me, the life of the parent as well as that of the child. The person who sins is the one who will die. ….8 He doesn't lend money for profit. He refuses to do evil and gives an honest decision in any dispute. …..23 Do you think I enjoy seeing evil people die?" asks the Sovereign Lord. "No, I would rather see them repent and live. ….31 Give up all the evil you have been doing, and get yourselves new minds and hearts. Why do you Israelites want to die? 32 I do not want anyone to die," says the Sovereign Lord. "Turn away from your sins and live."

33:11 Tell them that as surely as I, the Sovereign Lord, am the living God, I do not enjoy seeing sinners die. I would rather see them stop sinning and live. Israel, stop the evil you are doing. Why do you want to die?

3094-Jeremiah 31:29 When that time comes, people will no longer say, "The parents ate the sour grapes, But the children got the sour taste.' 30 Instead, those who eat sour grapes will have their own teeth set on edge; and everyone will die because of their own sin." 31 The Lord says, "The time is coming when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and with the people of Judah. 32 It will not be like the old covenant that I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand and led them out of Egypt. Although I was like a husband to them, they did not keep that covenant. 33 The new covenant that I will make with the people of Israel will be this: I will put my law within them and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. 34 None of them will have to teach a neighbor to know the Lord, because all will know me, from the least to the greatest. I will forgive their sins and I will no longer remember their wrongs. I, the Lord, have spoken."

3095-Ezekiel 21:3 that I, the Lord, am saying: I am your enemy. I will draw my sword and kill all of you, good and evil alike. 4 I will use my sword against everyone from south to north.

3096-Ezekiel 20:47 Tell the southern forest to hear what the Sovereign Lord is saying: Look! I am starting a fire, and it will burn up every tree in you, whether green or dry. Nothing will be able to put it out. It will spread from south to north, and everyone will feel the heat of the flames.

3097-Deuteronomy 29:19 Make sure that there is no one here today who hears these solemn demands and yet convinces himself that all will be well with him, even if he stubbornly goes his own way. That would destroy all of you, good and evil alike.

3098-Isaiah 40:12 Can anyone measure the ocean by handfuls or measure the sky with his hands? Can anyone hold the soil of the earth in a cup or weigh the mountains and hills on scales? 13 Can anyone tell the Lord what to do? Who can teach him or give him advice? 14 With whom does God consult in order to know and understand and to learn how things should be done? 15 To the Lord the nations are nothing, no more than a drop of water; the distant islands are as light as dust. 16 All the animals in the forests of Lebanon are not enough for a sacrifice to our God, and its trees are too few to kindle the fire. 17 The nations are nothing at all to him. 18 To whom can God be compared? How can you describe what he is like? 19 He is not like an idol that workers make, that metalworkers cover with gold and set in a base of silver. 20 Anyone who cannot afford silver or gold chooses wood that will not rot. He finds a skillful worker to make an image that won't fall down. 21 Do you not know? Were you not told long ago? Have you not heard how the world began? 22 It was made by the one who sits on his throne above the earth and beyond the sky; the people below look as tiny as ants. He stretched out the sky like a curtain, like a tent in which to live. 23 He brings down powerful rulers and reduces them to nothing. 24 They are like young plants, just set out and barely rooted. When the Lord sends a wind, they dry up and blow away like straw. 25 To whom can the holy God be compared? Is there anyone else like him? 26 Look up at the sky! Who created the stars you see? The one who leads them out like an army, he knows how many there are and calls each one by name! His power is so great - not one of them is ever missing! 27 Israel, why then do you complain that the Lord doesn't know your troubles or care if you suffer injustice? 28 Don't you know? Haven't you heard? The Lord is the everlasting God; he created all the world. He never grows tired or weary. No one understands his thoughts. 29 He strengthens those who are weak and tired. 30 Even those who are young grow weak; young people can fall exhausted. 31 But those who trust in the Lord for help will find their strength renewed. They will rise on wings like eagles; they will run and not get weary; they will walk and not grow weak.

Isa 44:9 All those who make idols are worthless, and the gods they prize so highly are useless. Those who worship these gods are blind and ignorant - and they will be disgraced. 10 It does no good to make a metal image to worship as a god! 11 Everyone who worships it will be humiliated. The people who make idols are human beings and nothing more. Let them come and stand trial - they will be terrified and will suffer disgrace. 12 The metalworker takes a piece of metal and works with it over a fire. His strong arm swings a hammer to pound the metal into shape. As he works, he gets hungry, thirsty, and tired. 13 The carpenter measures the wood. He outlines a figure with chalk, carves it out with his tools, and makes it in the form of a man, a handsome human figure, to be placed in his house. 14 He might cut down cedars to use, or choose oak or cypress wood from the forest. Or he might plant a laurel tree and wait for the rain to make it grow. 15 A person uses part of a tree for fuel and part of it for making an idol. With one part he builds a fire to warm himself and bake bread; with the other part he makes a god and worships it. 16 With some of the wood he makes a fire; he roasts meat, eats it, and is satisfied. He warms himself and says, "How nice and warm! What a beautiful fire!" 17 The rest of the wood he makes into an idol, and then he bows down and worships it. He prays to it and says, "You are my god - save me!" 18 Such people are too stupid to know what they are doing. They close their eyes and their minds to the truth. 19 The maker of idols hasn't the wit or the sense to say, "Some of the wood I burned up. I baked some bread on the coals, and I roasted meat and ate it. And the rest of the wood I made into an idol. Here I am bowing down to a block of wood!" 20 It makes as much sense as eating ashes. His foolish ideas have so misled him that he is beyond help. He won't admit to himself that the idol he holds in his hand is not a god at all.

3099-Ezekiel 28:1 The Lord spoke to me. 2 "Mortal man," he said, "tell the ruler of Tyre what I, the Sovereign Lord, am saying to him: Puffed up with pride, you claim to be a god. You say that like a god you sit on a throne, surrounded by the seas. You may pretend to be a god, but, no, you are mortal, not divine. 3 You think you are wiser than Danel, that no secret can be kept from you. 4 Your wisdom and skill made you rich with treasures of gold and silver. 5 You made clever business deals and kept on making profits. How proud you are of your wealth! 6 "Now then, this is what I, the Sovereign Lord, am saying: Because you think you are as wise as a god, 7 I will bring ruthless enemies to attack you. They will destroy all the beautiful things you have acquired by skill and wisdom. 8 They will kill you and send you to a watery grave. 9 When they come to kill you, will you still claim that you are a god? When you face your murderers, you will be mortal and not at all divine. 10 You will die like a dog at the hand of godless foreigners. I, the Sovereign Lord, have given the command." 11 The Lord spoke to me again. 12 "Mortal man," he said, "grieve for the fate that is waiting for the king of Tyre. Tell him what I, the Sovereign Lord, am saying: You were once an example of perfection. How wise and handsome you were! 13 You lived in Eden, the garden of God, and wore gems of every kind: rubies and diamonds; topaz, beryl, carnelian, and jasper; sapphires, emeralds, and garnets. You had ornaments of gold. They were made for you on the day you were created. 14 I put a terrifying angel there to guard you. You lived on my holy mountain and walked among sparkling gems. 15 Your conduct was perfect from the day you were created until you began to do evil. 16 You were busy buying and selling, and this led you to violence and sin. So I forced you to leave my holy mountain, and the angel who guarded you drove you away from the sparkling gems. 17 You were proud of being handsome, and your fame made you act like a fool. Because of this I hurled you to the ground and left you as a warning to other kings. 18 You did such evil in buying and selling that your places of worship were corrupted. So I set fire to the city and burned it to the ground. All who look at you now see you reduced to ashes. 19 You are gone, gone forever, and all the nations that had come to know you are terrified, afraid that they will share your fate." 20 The Lord said to me, 21 "Mortal man, denounce the city of Sidon. 22 Tell the people there what I, the Sovereign Lord, say about them: I am your enemy, Sidon; people will praise me because of what I do to you. They will know that I am the Lord, when I show how holy I am by punishing those who live in you. 23 I will send diseases on you and make blood flow in your streets. You will be attacked from every side, and your people will be killed. Then you will know that I am the Lord." 24 The Lord said, "None of the surrounding nations that treated Israel with scorn will ever again be like thorns and briers to hurt Israel. And they will know that I am the Sovereign Lord." 25 The Sovereign Lord said, "I will bring back the people of Israel from the nations where I scattered them, and all the nations will know that I am holy. The people of Israel will live in their own land, the land that I gave to my servant Jacob. 26 They will live there in safety. They will build houses and plant vineyards. I will punish all their neighbors who treated them with scorn, and Israel will be secure. Then they will know that I am the Lord their God."

3100-Isaiah 14:1 The Lord will once again be merciful to his people Israel and choose them as his own. He will let them live in their own land again, and foreigners will come and live there with them. 2 Many nations will help the people of Israel return to the land which the Lord gave them, and there the nations will serve Israel as slaves. Those who once captured Israel will now be captured by Israel, and the people of Israel will rule over those who once oppressed them. 3 The Lord will give the people of Israel relief from their pain and suffering and from the hard work they were forced to do. 4 When he does this, they are to mock the king of Babylon and say: "The cruel king has fallen! He will never oppress anyone again! 5 The Lord has ended the power of the evil rulers 6 who angrily oppressed the peoples and never stopped persecuting the nations they had conquered. 7 Now at last the whole world enjoys rest and peace, and everyone sings for joy. 8 The cypress trees and the cedars of Lebanon rejoice over the fallen king, because there is no one to cut them down, now that he is gone! 9 "The world of the dead is getting ready to welcome the king of Babylon. The ghosts of those who were powerful on earth are stirring about. The ghosts of kings are rising from their thrones. 10 They all call out to him, "Now you are as weak as we are! You are one of us! 11 You used to be honored with the music of harps, but now here you are in the world of the dead. You lie on a bed of maggots and are covered with a blanket of worms.' " 12 King of Babylon, bright morning star, you have fallen from heaven! In the past you conquered nations, but now you have been thrown to the ground. 13 You were determined to climb up to heaven and to place your throne above the highest stars. You thought you would sit like a king on that mountain in the north where the gods assemble. 14 You said you would climb to the tops of the clouds and be like the Almighty. 15 But instead, you have been brought down to the deepest part of the world of the dead. 16 The dead will stare and gape at you. They will ask, "Is this the man who shook the earth and made kingdoms tremble? 17 Is this the man who destroyed cities and turned the world into a desert? Is this the man who never freed his prisoners or let them go home?" 18 All the kings of the earth lie in their magnificent tombs, 19 but you have no tomb, and your corpse is thrown out to rot. It is covered by the bodies of soldiers killed in battle, thrown with them into a rocky pit, and trampled down. 20 Because you ruined your country and killed your own people, you will not be buried like other kings. None of your evil family will survive. 21 Let the slaughter begin! The sons of this king will die because of their ancestors' sins. None of them will ever rule the earth or cover it with cities. 22 The Lord Almighty says, "I will attack Babylon and bring it to ruin. I will leave nothing - no children, no survivors at all. I, the Lord, have spoken. 23 I will turn Babylon into a marsh, and owls will live there. I will sweep Babylon with a broom that will sweep everything away. I, the Lord Almighty, have spoken." 24 The Lord Almighty has sworn an oath: "What I have planned will happen. What I have determined to do will be done. 25 I will destroy the Assyrians in my land of Israel and trample them on my mountains. I will free my people from the Assyrian yoke and from the burdens they have had to bear. 26 This is my plan for the world, and my arm is stretched out to punish the nations." 27 The Lord Almighty is determined to do this; he has stretched out his arm to punish, and no one can stop him. 28 This is a message that was proclaimed in the year that King Ahaz died. 29 People of Philistia, the rod that beat you is broken, but you have no reason to be glad. When one snake dies, a worse one comes in its place. A snake's egg hatches a flying dragon. 30 The Lord will be a shepherd to the poor of his people and will let them live in safety. But he will send a terrible famine on you Philistines, and it will not leave any of you alive. 31 Howl and cry for help, all you Philistine cities! Be terrified, all of you! A cloud of dust is coming from the north - it is an army with no cowards in its ranks. 32 How shall we answer the messengers that come to us from Philistia? We will tell them that the Lord has established Zion and that his suffering people will find safety there.

3101-Num. 22:22 God was angry that Balaam was going, and as Balaam was riding along on his donkey, accompanied by his two servants, the angel of the Lord stood in the road to bar his way.

3102-Zech. 3:1 In another vision the Lord showed me the High Priest Joshua standing before the angel of the Lord. And there beside Joshua stood Satan, ready to bring an accusation against him.

3103-Eph. 2:2 At that time you followed the world's evil way; you obeyed the ruler of the spiritual powers in space, the spirit who now controls the people who disobey God.

3104-John 12:31 Now is the time for this world to be judged; now the ruler of this world will be overthrown.

3105-Matt. 12:24 When the Pharisees heard this, they replied, "He drives out demons only because their ruler Beelzebul gives him power to do so."

3106-Rev. 12:9 The huge dragon was thrown out - that ancient serpent, named the Devil, or Satan, that deceived the whole world. He was thrown down to earth, and all his angels with him.

3107-Isa. 14:1 The Lord will once again be merciful to his people Israel and choose them as his own. He will let them live in their own land again, and foreigners will come and live there with them. 2 Many nations will help the people of Israel return to the land which the Lord gave them, and there the nations will serve Israel as slaves. Those who once captured Israel will now be captured by Israel, and the people of Israel will rule over those who once oppressed them. 3 The Lord will give the people of Israel relief from their pain and suffering and from the hard work they were forced to do. 4 When he does this, they are to mock the king of Babylon and say: "The cruel king has fallen! He will never oppress anyone again! 5 The Lord has ended the power of the evil rulers 6 who angrily oppressed the peoples and never stopped persecuting the nations they had conquered. 7 Now at last the whole world enjoys rest and peace, and everyone sings for joy. 8 The cypress trees and the cedars of Lebanon rejoice over the fallen king, because there is no one to cut them down, now that he is gone! 9 "The world of the dead is getting ready to welcome the king of Babylon. The ghosts of those who were powerful on earth are stirring about. The ghosts of kings are rising from their thrones. 10 They all call out to him, "Now you are as weak as we are! You are one of us! 11 You used to be honored with the music of harps, but now here you are in the world of the dead. You lie on a bed of maggots and are covered with a blanket of worms.' " 12 King of Babylon, bright morning star, you have fallen from heaven! In the past you conquered nations, but now you have been thrown to the ground. 13 You were determined to climb up to heaven and to place your throne above the highest stars. You thought you would sit like a king on that mountain in the north where the gods assemble. 14 You said you would climb to the tops of the clouds and be like the Almighty. 15 But instead, you have been brought down to the deepest part of the world of the dead. 16 The dead will stare and gape at you. They will ask, "Is this the man who shook the earth and made kingdoms tremble? 17 Is this the man who destroyed cities and turned the world into a desert? Is this the man who never freed his prisoners or let them go home?" 18 All the kings of the earth lie in their magnificent tombs, 19 but you have no tomb, and your corpse is thrown out to rot. It is covered by the bodies of soldiers killed in battle, thrown with them into a rocky pit, and trampled down. 20 Because you ruined your country and killed your own people, you will not be buried like other kings. None of your evil family will survive. 21 Let the slaughter begin! The sons of this king will die because of their ancestors' sins. None of them will ever rule the earth or cover it with cities. 22 The Lord Almighty says, "I will attack Babylon and bring it to ruin. I will leave nothing - no children, no survivors at all. I, the Lord, have spoken. 23 I will turn Babylon into a marsh, and owls will live there. I will sweep Babylon with a broom that will sweep everything away. I, the Lord Almighty, have spoken." 24 The Lord Almighty has sworn an oath: "What I have planned will happen. What I have determined to do will be done. 25 I will destroy the Assyrians in my land of Israel and trample them on my mountains. I will free my people from the Assyrian yoke and from the burdens they have had to bear. 26 This is my plan for the world, and my arm is stretched out to punish the nations." 27 The Lord Almighty is determined to do this; he has stretched out his arm to punish, and no one can stop him. 28 This is a message that was proclaimed in the year that King Ahaz died. 29 People of Philistia, the rod that beat you is broken, but you have no reason to be glad. When one snake dies, a worse one comes in its place. A snake's egg hatches a flying dragon. 30 The Lord will be a shepherd to the poor of his people and will let them live in safety. But he will send a terrible famine on you Philistines, and it will not leave any of you alive. 31 Howl and cry for help, all you Philistine cities! Be terrified, all of you! A cloud of dust is coming from the north - it is an army with no cowards in its ranks. 32 How shall we answer the messengers that come to us from Philistia? We will tell them that the Lord has established Zion and that his suffering people will find safety there.

2 Pet. 2:4 God did not spare the angels who sinned, but threw them into hell, where they are kept chained in darkness, waiting for the Day of Judgment.

Jude 6:6 Remember the angels who did not stay within the limits of their proper authority, but abandoned their own dwelling place: they are bound with eternal chains in the darkness below, where God is keeping them for that great Day on which they will be condemned.

3108-Luke 10:18 Jesus answered them, "I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.

2 Pet. 2:4 God did not spare the angels who sinned, but threw them into hell, where they are kept chained in darkness, waiting for the Day of Judgment.

Jude 6 Remember the angels who did not stay within the limits of their proper authority, but abandoned their own dwelling place: they are bound with eternal chains in the darkness below, where God is keeping them for that great Day on which they will be condemned.

Rev. 12:4 With his tail he dragged a third of the stars out of the sky and threw them down to the earth. He stood in front of the woman, in order to eat her child as soon as it was born.

3109-1 Tim. 3:7 He should be a man who is respected by the people outside the church, so that he will not be disgraced and fall into the Devil's trap.

2 Tim. 2:26 And then they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the Devil, who had caught them and made them obey his will.

3110-1 Pet. 5:8 Be alert, be on watch! Your enemy, the Devil, roams around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour.

3111-Rev. 20:10 Then the Devil, who deceived them, was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet had already been thrown; and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.

3112-1 Cor. 7:5 Do not deny yourselves to each other, unless you first agree to do so for a while in order to spend your time in prayer; but then resume normal marital relations. In this way you will be kept from giving in to Satan's temptation because of your lack of self-control.

3113-Matt. 13:19 Those who hear the message about the Kingdom but do not understand it are like the seeds that fell along the path. The Evil One comes and snatches away what was sown in them.

Matt 16:23 Jesus turned around and said to Peter, "Get away from me, Satan! You are an obstacle in my way, because these thoughts of yours don't come from God, but from human nature."

3114-2 Cor. 11:14 Well, no wonder! Even Satan can disguise himself to look like an angel of light!

Acts 5:3 Peter said to him, "Ananias, why did you let Satan take control of you and make you lie to the Holy Spirit by keeping part of the money you received for the property?

3115-Rev. 16:14 They are the spirits of demons that perform miracles. These three spirits go out to all the kings of the world, to bring them together for the battle on the great Day of Almighty God.

3116-John 8:44 You are the children of your father, the Devil, and you want to follow your father's desires. From the very beginning he was a murderer and has never been on the side of truth, because there is no truth in him. When he tells a lie, he is only doing what is natural to him, because he is a liar and the father of all lies.

John 13:2 Jesus and his disciples were at supper. The Devil had already put into the heart of Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, the thought of betraying Jesus. ….27 As soon as Judas took the bread, Satan entered into him. Jesus said to him, "Hurry and do what you must!"

1 Thess. 2:18 We wanted to return to you. I myself tried to go back more than once, but Satan would not let us.

3117-Eph. 6:11 Put on all the armor that God gives you, so that you will be able to stand up against the Devil's evil tricks.

James 4:7 So then, submit yourselves to God. Resist the Devil, and he will run away from you.

1 Pet. 5:9 Be firm in your faith and resist him, because you know that other believers in all the world are going through the same kind of sufferings.

3118-1 Cor. 10:13 Every test that you have experienced is the kind that normally comes to people. But God keeps his promise, and he will not allow you to be tested beyond your power to remain firm; at the time you are put to the test, he will give you the strength to endure it, and so provide you with a way out.

3119-2 Cor. 12:7 But to keep me from being puffed up with pride because of the many wonderful things I saw, I was given a painful physical ailment, which acts as Satan's messenger to beat me and keep me from being proud.

3120-1 John 3:8 Whoever continues to sin belongs to the Devil, because the Devil has sinned from the very beginning. The Son of God appeared for this very reason, to destroy what the Devil had done.

3121-Gen. 3:15 I will make you and the woman hate each other; her offspring and yours will always be enemies. Her offspring will crush your head, and you will bite her offspring's heel."

John 12:31 Now is the time for this world to be judged; now the ruler of this world will be overthrown. 32 When I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw everyone to me. 33 (In saying this he indicated the kind of death he was going to suffer.)

Col. 2:14 he canceled the unfavorable record of our debts with its binding rules and did away with it completely by nailing it to the cross. 15 And on that cross Christ freed himself from the power of the spiritual rulers and authorities; he made a public spectacle of them by leading them as captives in his victory procession.

Heb. 2:14 Since the children, as he calls them, are people of flesh and blood, Jesus himself became like them and shared their human nature. He did this so that through his death he might destroy the Devil, who has the power over death,

3122-Ps. 48:2 Zion, the mountain of God, is high and beautiful; the city of the great king brings joy to all the world.

3123-1 Tim. 3:6 He must be mature in the faith, so that he will not swell up with pride and be condemned, as the Devil was.

3124-Ez 20:40 There in the land, on my holy mountain, the high mountain of Israel, all you people of Israel will worship me. I will be pleased with you and will expect you to bring me your sacrifices, your best offerings, and your holy gifts.

Ex. 19:23 Moses said to the Lord, "The people cannot come up, because you commanded us to consider the mountain sacred and to mark a boundary around it."

Deut. 33:2 The Lord came from Mount Sinai; he rose like the sun over Edom and shone on his people from Mount Paran. Ten thousand angels were with him, a flaming fire at his right hand.

Ps. 43:3 Send your light and your truth; may they lead me and bring me back to Zion, your sacred hill, and to your Temple, where you live.

Ps 48:1 The Lord is great and is to be highly praised in the city of our God, on his sacred hill.

Ps 87:1 The Lord built his city on the sacred hill;

Ps 99:9 Praise the Lord our God, and worship at his sacred hill! The Lord our God is holy.

Is. 27:13 When that day comes, a trumpet will be blown to call back from Assyria and Egypt all the Israelites who are in exile there. They will come and worship the Lord in Jerusalem, on his sacred hill.

Is 56:7 "I will bring you to Zion, my sacred hill, give you joy in my house of prayer, and accept the sacrifices you offer on my altar. My Temple will be called a house of prayer for the people of all nations."

Is 57:13 When you cry for help, let those idols of yours save you! A puff of wind will carry them off! But those who trust in me will live in the land and will worship me in my Temple."

Is 66:20 They will bring back all your people from the nations as a gift to me. They will bring them to my sacred hill in Jerusalem on horses, mules, and camels, and in chariots and wagons, just as Israelites bring grain offerings to the Temple in ritually clean containers.

3125-Ez40:16 There were small openings in the outside walls of all the rooms and also in the inner walls between the rooms. There were palm trees carved on the inner walls that faced the passageway. 17 The man took me through the gateway into the courtyard. There were thirty rooms built against the outer wall, and in front of them there was an area paved with stones, 18 which extended around the courtyard. This outer courtyard was at a lower level than the inner courtyard. 19 There was a gateway at a higher level that led to the inner courtyard. The man measured the distance between the two gateways, and it was 168 feet. 20 Then the man measured the gateway on the north side that led into the outer courtyard. 21 The three guardrooms on each side of the passageway, the walls between them, and the entrance room all had the same measurements as those in the east gateway. The total length of the gateway was 84 feet and the width 42 feet. 22 The entrance room, the windows, and the carved palm trees were like those in the east gate. Here seven steps led up to the gate, and the entrance room was at the end facing the courtyard. 23 Across the courtyard from this north gateway was another gateway leading to the inner courtyard, just as there was on the east side. The man measured the distance between these two gateways, and it was 168 feet. 24 Next, the man took me to the south side, and there we saw another gateway. He measured its inner walls and its entrance room, and they were the same as the others. 25 There were windows in the rooms of this gateway just as in the others. The total length of the gateway was 84 feet and the width 42 feet. 26 Seven steps led up to it, and its entrance room was also at the end facing the courtyard. There were palm trees carved on the inner walls that faced the passageway. 27 Here, too, there was a gateway leading to the inner courtyard. The man measured the distance to this second gateway, and it was 168 feet. 28 The man took me through the south gateway into the inner courtyard. He measured the gateway, and it was the same size as the gateways in the outer wall. 29 Its guardrooms, its entrance room, and its inner walls were the same size as those in the other gateways. There were also windows in the rooms of this gateway. The total length was 84 feet and the width 42 feet. 31 Its entrance room faced the other courtyard, and palm trees were carved on the walls along the passageway. Eight steps led up to this gate. 32 The man took me through the east gateway into the inner courtyard. He measured the gateway, and it was the same size as the others. 33 Its guardrooms, its entrance room, and its inner walls measured the same as those in the other gateways. There were windows all around, and in the entrance room also. The total length was 84 feet and the width 42 feet. 34 The entrance room faced the outer courtyard. Palm trees were carved on the walls along the passageway. Eight steps led up to this gate. 35 Then the man took me to the north gateway. He measured it, and it was the same size as the others. 36 Like them, it also had guardrooms, decorated inner walls, an entrance room, and windows all around. Its total length was 84 feet and its width 42 feet. 37 The entrance room faced the outer courtyard. Palm trees were carved on the walls along the passageway. Eight steps led up to this gate.

Ez 41:18 of palm trees and winged creatures. Palm trees alternated with creatures, one following the other, all the way around the room. Each creature had two faces: 19 a human face that was turned toward the palm tree on one side, and a lion's face that was turned toward the tree on the other side. It was like this all around the wall, 20 from the floor to above the doors. ….25 There were palm trees and winged creatures carved on the doors of the Holy Place, just as there were on the walls. And there was a wooden covering over the outside of the doorway of the entrance room. 26 At the sides of this room there were windows, and the walls were decorated with palm trees.

1 Kin. 6:29 The walls of the main room and of the inner room were all decorated with carved figures of winged creatures, palm trees, and flowers. ….32 The doors were decorated with carved figures of winged creatures, palm trees, and flowers. The doors, the winged creatures, and the palm trees were covered with gold. …..35 and decorated with carved figures of winged creatures, palm trees, and flowers, which were evenly covered with gold.

1 Kin 7:18 and two rows of bronze pomegranates. ….20 and were placed on a rounded section which was above the chain design. There were 200 pomegranates in two rows around each capital. …..22 The lily-shaped bronze capitals were on top of the columns. And so the work on the columns was completed. ….36 The supports and panels were decorated with figures of winged creatures, lions, and palm trees, wherever there was space for them, with spiral figures all around.

2 Chr. 3:5 The main room was paneled with cedar and overlaid with fine gold, in which were worked designs of palm trees and chain patterns.

3126-Gen. 1:27 So God created human beings, making them to be like himself. He created them male and female, ….31 God looked at everything he had made, and he was very pleased. Evening passed and morning came - that was the sixth day.

3127-Gen. 2:25 The man and the woman were both naked, but they were not embarrassed.

3128-Ex. 28:17 Mount four rows of precious stones on it; in the first row mount a ruby, a topaz, and a garnet; 18 in the second row, an emerald, a sapphire, and a diamond; 19 in the third row, a turquoise, an agate, and an amethyst; 20 and in the fourth row, a beryl, a carnelian, and a jasper. These are to be mounted in gold settings.

3129-Is. 14:12 King of Babylon, bright morning star, you have fallen from heaven! In the past you conquered nations, but now you have been thrown to the ground. 13 You were determined to climb up to heaven and to place your throne above the highest stars. You thought you would sit like a king on that mountain in the north where the gods assemble. 14 You said you would climb to the tops of the clouds and be like the Almighty. 15 But instead, you have been brought down to the deepest part of the world of the dead. 16 The dead will stare and gape at you. They will ask, "Is this the man who shook the earth and made kingdoms tremble? 17 Is this the man who destroyed cities and turned the world into a desert? Is this the man who never freed his prisoners or let them go home?"

3130-Ezek. 28:14 I put a terrifying angel there to guard you. You lived on my holy mountain and walked among sparkling gems.

3131-Revelation 12:7 Then war broke out in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, who fought back with his angels; 8 but the dragon was defeated, and he and his angels were not allowed to stay in heaven any longer. 9 The huge dragon was thrown out - that ancient serpent, named the Devil, or Satan, that deceived the whole world. He was thrown down to earth, and all his angels with him. 10 Then I heard a loud voice in heaven saying, "Now God's salvation has come! Now God has shown his power as King! Now his Messiah has shown his authority! For the one who stood before our God and accused believers day and night has been thrown out of heaven. 11 They won the victory over him by the blood of the Lamb and by the truth which they proclaimed; and they were willing to give up their lives and die. 12 And so be glad, you heavens, and all you that live there! But how terrible for the earth and the sea! For the Devil has come down to you, and he is filled with rage, because he knows that he has only a little time left."

3132-Isaiah 9:6 A child is born to us! A son is given to us! And he will be our ruler. He will be called, "Wonderful Counselor," "Mighty God," "Eternal Father," "Prince of Peace."

3133-Matthew 16:23 Jesus turned around and said to Peter, "Get away from me, Satan! You are an obstacle in my way, because these thoughts of yours don't come from God, but from human nature."

3134-Ezekiel 28:18 By the multitude of your iniquities, in the unrighteousness of your trade you profaned your sanctuaries; so I brought forth fire from the midst of you; it consumed you, and I turned you to ashes upon the earth in the sight of all who saw you.

3135-Revelation 20:10 Then the Devil, who deceived them, was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet had already been thrown; and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.

3136-Malachi 4:1 The Lord Almighty says, "The day is coming when all proud and evil people will burn like straw. On that day they will burn up, and there will be nothing left of them.

3137-2 Peter 3:10 But the Day of the Lord will come like a thief. On that Day the heavens will disappear with a shrill noise, the heavenly bodies will burn up and be destroyed, and the earth with everything in it will vanish. …..12 as you wait for the Day of God and do your best to make it come soon - the Day when the heavens will burn up and be destroyed, and the heavenly bodies will be melted by the heat.

3138-Isaiah 14:1 The Lord will once again be merciful to his people Israel and choose them as his own. He will let them live in their own land again, and foreigners will come and live there with them. 2 Many nations will help the people of Israel return to the land which the Lord gave them, and there the nations will serve Israel as slaves. Those who once captured Israel will now be captured by Israel, and the people of Israel will rule over those who once oppressed them. 3 The Lord will give the people of Israel relief from their pain and suffering and from the hard work they were forced to do. 4 When he does this, they are to mock the king of Babylon and say: "The cruel king has fallen! He will never oppress anyone again! 5 The Lord has ended the power of the evil rulers 6 who angrily oppressed the peoples and never stopped persecuting the nations they had conquered. 7 Now at last the whole world enjoys rest and peace, and everyone sings for joy. 8 The cypress trees and the cedars of Lebanon rejoice over the fallen king, because there is no one to cut them down, now that he is gone! 9 "The world of the dead is getting ready to welcome the king of Babylon. The ghosts of those who were powerful on earth are stirring about. The ghosts of kings are rising from their thrones. 10 They all call out to him, "Now you are as weak as we are! You are one of us! 11 You used to be honored with the music of harps, but now here you are in the world of the dead. You lie on a bed of maggots and are covered with a blanket of worms.' " 12 King of Babylon, bright morning star, you have fallen from heaven! In the past you conquered nations, but now you have been thrown to the ground. 13 You were determined to climb up to heaven and to place your throne above the highest stars. You thought you would sit like a king on that mountain in the north where the gods assemble. 14 You said you would climb to the tops of the clouds and be like the Almighty. 15 But instead, you have been brought down to the deepest part of the world of the dead. 16 The dead will stare and gape at you. They will ask, "Is this the man who shook the earth and made kingdoms tremble? 17 Is this the man who destroyed cities and turned the world into a desert? Is this the man who never freed his prisoners or let them go home?" 18 All the kings of the earth lie in their magnificent tombs, 19 but you have no tomb, and your corpse is thrown out to rot. It is covered by the bodies of soldiers killed in battle, thrown with them into a rocky pit, and trampled down. 20 Because you ruined your country and killed your own people, you will not be buried like other kings. None of your evil family will survive. 21 Let the slaughter begin! The sons of this king will die because of their ancestors' sins. None of them will ever rule the earth or cover it with cities. 22 The Lord Almighty says, "I will attack Babylon and bring it to ruin. I will leave nothing - no children, no survivors at all. I, the Lord, have spoken. 23 I will turn Babylon into a marsh, and owls will live there. I will sweep Babylon with a broom that will sweep everything away. I, the Lord Almighty, have spoken." 24 The Lord Almighty has sworn an oath: "What I have planned will happen. What I have determined to do will be done. 25 I will destroy the Assyrians in my land of Israel and trample them on my mountains. I will free my people from the Assyrian yoke and from the burdens they have had to bear. 26 This is my plan for the world, and my arm is stretched out to punish the nations." 27 The Lord Almighty is determined to do this; he has stretched out his arm to punish, and no one can stop him. 28 This is a message that was proclaimed in the year that King Ahaz died. 29 People of Philistia, the rod that beat you is broken, but you have no reason to be glad. When one snake dies, a worse one comes in its place. A snake's egg hatches a flying dragon. 30 The Lord will be a shepherd to the poor of his people and will let them live in safety. But he will send a terrible famine on you Philistines, and it will not leave any of you alive. 31 Howl and cry for help, all you Philistine cities! Be terrified, all of you! A cloud of dust is coming from the north - it is an army with no cowards in its ranks. 32 How shall we answer the messengers that come to us from Philistia? We will tell them that the Lord has established Zion and that his suffering people will find safety there.

Ezekiel 28:1 The Lord spoke to me. 2 "Mortal man," he said, "tell the ruler of Tyre what I, the Sovereign Lord, am saying to him: Puffed up with pride, you claim to be a god. You say that like a god you sit on a throne, surrounded by the seas. You may pretend to be a god, but, no, you are mortal, not divine. 3 You think you are wiser than Danel, that no secret can be kept from you. 4 Your wisdom and skill made you rich with treasures of gold and silver. 5 You made clever business deals and kept on making profits. How proud you are of your wealth! 6 "Now then, this is what I, the Sovereign Lord, am saying: Because you think you are as wise as a god, 7 I will bring ruthless enemies to attack you. They will destroy all the beautiful things you have acquired by skill and wisdom. 8 They will kill you and send you to a watery grave. 9 When they come to kill you, will you still claim that you are a god? When you face your murderers, you will be mortal and not at all divine. 10 You will die like a dog at the hand of godless foreigners. I, the Sovereign Lord, have given the command." 11 The Lord spoke to me again. 12 "Mortal man," he said, "grieve for the fate that is waiting for the king of Tyre. Tell him what I, the Sovereign Lord, am saying: You were once an example of perfection. How wise and handsome you were! 13 You lived in Eden, the garden of God, and wore gems of every kind: rubies and diamonds; topaz, beryl, carnelian, and jasper; sapphires, emeralds, and garnets. You had ornaments of gold. They were made for you on the day you were created. 14 I put a terrifying angel there to guard you. You lived on my holy mountain and walked among sparkling gems. 15 Your conduct was perfect from the day you were created until you began to do evil. 16 You were busy buying and selling, and this led you to violence and sin. So I forced you to leave my holy mountain, and the angel who guarded you drove you away from the sparkling gems. 17 You were proud of being handsome, and your fame made you act like a fool. Because of this I hurled you to the ground and left you as a warning to other kings. 18 You did such evil in buying and selling that your places of worship were corrupted. So I set fire to the city and burned it to the ground. All who look at you now see you reduced to ashes. 19 You are gone, gone forever, and all the nations that had come to know you are terrified, afraid that they will share your fate." 20 The Lord said to me, 21 "Mortal man, denounce the city of Sidon. 22 Tell the people there what I, the Sovereign Lord, say about them: I am your enemy, Sidon; people will praise me because of what I do to you. They will know that I am the Lord, when I show how holy I am by punishing those who live in you. 23 I will send diseases on you and make blood flow in your streets. You will be attacked from every side, and your people will be killed. Then you will know that I am the Lord." 24 The Lord said, "None of the surrounding nations that treated Israel with scorn will ever again be like thorns and briers to hurt Israel. And they will know that I am the Sovereign Lord." 25 The Sovereign Lord said, "I will bring back the people of Israel from the nations where I scattered them, and all the nations will know that I am holy. The people of Israel will live in their own land, the land that I gave to my servant Jacob. 26 They will live there in safety. They will build houses and plant vineyards. I will punish all their neighbors who treated them with scorn, and Israel will be secure. Then they will know that I am the Lord their God."

Matthew 4:8 Then the Devil took Jesus to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in all their greatness. 9 "All this I will give you," the Devil said, "if you kneel down and worship me."

3139-Philippians 2:5 The attitude you should have is the one that Christ Jesus had: 6 He always had the nature of God, but he did not think that by force he should try to remain equal with God. 7 Instead of this, of his own free will he gave up all he had, and took the nature of a servant. He became like a human being and appeared in human likeness. 8 He was humble and walked the path of obedience all the way to death - his death on the cross.

3140-1 Timothy 3:16 No one can deny how great is the secret of our religion: He appeared in human form, was shown to be right by the Spirit, and was seen by angels. He was preached among the nations, was believed in throughout the world, and was taken up to heaven.

3141-2 Thessalonians 2:7 The Mysterious Wickedness is already at work, but what is going to happen will not happen until the one who holds it back is taken out of the way.

3142-Ezekiel 11:18 When they return, they are to get rid of all the filthy, disgusting idols they find. 19 I will give them a new heart and a new mind. I will take away their stubborn heart of stone and will give them an obedient heart. 20 Then they will keep my laws and faithfully obey all my commands. They will be my people, and I will be their God.

Ez 18:30 "Now I, the Sovereign Lord, am telling you Israelites that I will judge each of you by what you have done. Turn away from all the evil you are doing, and don't let your sin destroy you. 31 Give up all the evil you have been doing, and get yourselves new minds and hearts. Why do you Israelites want to die? 32 I do not want anyone to die," says the Sovereign Lord. "Turn away from your sins and live."

Ez 36:24 I will take you from every nation and country and bring you back to your own land. 25 I will sprinkle clean water on you and make you clean from all your idols and everything else that has defiled you. 26 I will give you a new heart and a new mind. I will take away your stubborn heart of stone and give you an obedient heart. 27 I will put my spirit in you and will see to it that you follow my laws and keep all the commands I have given you. 28 Then you will live in the land I gave your ancestors. You will be my people, and I will be your God. 29 I will save you from everything that defiles you. I will command the grain to be plentiful, so that you will not have any more famines.

3143-Jeremiah 31:31 The Lord says, "The time is coming when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and with the people of Judah. 32 It will not be like the old covenant that I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand and led them out of Egypt. Although I was like a husband to them, they did not keep that covenant. 33 The new covenant that I will make with the people of Israel will be this: I will put my law within them and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. 34 None of them will have to teach a neighbor to know the Lord, because all will know me, from the least to the greatest. I will forgive their sins and I will no longer remember their wrongs. I, the Lord, have spoken."

Psalms 51:10 Create a pure heart in me, O God, and put a new and loyal spirit in me.

Zephaniah 3:7 I thought that then my people would have reverence for me and accept my discipline, that they would never forget the lesson I taught them. But soon they were behaving as badly as ever. 8 "Just wait," the Lord says. "Wait for the day when I rise to accuse the nations. I have made up my mind to gather nations and kingdoms in order to let them feel the force of my anger. The whole earth will be destroyed by the fire of my fury. 9 "Then I will change the people of the nations, and they will pray to me alone and not to other gods. They will all obey me. 10 Even from distant Ethiopia my scattered people will bring offerings to me. 11 At that time you, my people, will no longer need to be ashamed that you rebelled against me. I will remove everyone who is proud and arrogant, and you will never again rebel against me on my sacred hill. 12 I will leave there a humble and lowly people, who will come to me for help. 13 The people of Israel who survive will do no wrong to anyone, tell no lies, nor try to deceive. They will be prosperous and secure, afraid of no one."

3144-Ezekiel 5:6 But Jerusalem rebelled against my commands and showed that she was more wicked than the other nations, more disobedient than the countries around her. Jerusalem rejected my commands and refused to keep my laws.

3145-Isaiah 52:5 And now in Babylonia the same thing has happened: you are captives, and nothing was paid for you. Those who rule over you boast and brag and constantly show contempt for me.

Jeremiah 2:33 You certainly know how to chase after lovers. Even the worst of women can learn from you.

Ezekiel 36:22 "Now then, give the Israelites the message that I, the Sovereign Lord, have for them: What I am going to do is not for the sake of you Israelites, but for the sake of my holy name, which you have disgraced in every country where you have gone.

Romans 2:17 What about you? You call yourself a Jew; you depend on the Law and boast about God;

3146-Jeremiah 23:1 How terrible will be the Lord's judgment on those rulers who destroy and scatter his people! 2 This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says about the rulers who were supposed to take care of his people: "You have not taken care of my people; you have scattered them and driven them away. Now I am going to punish you for the evil you have done. 3 I will gather the rest of my people from the countries where I have scattered them, and I will bring them back to their homeland. They will have many children and increase in number. 4 I will appoint rulers to take care of them. My people will no longer be afraid or terrified, and I will not punish them again. I, the Lord, have spoken."

Jeremiah 16:1 Again the Lord spoke to me and said, 2 "Do not marry or have children in a place like this. 3 I will tell you what is going to happen to the children who are born here and to their parents. 4 They will die of terrible diseases, and no one will mourn for them or bury them. Their bodies will lie like piles of manure on the ground. They will be killed in war or die of starvation, and their bodies will be food for the birds and the wild animals. 5 "You must not enter a house where there is mourning. Do not grieve for anyone. I will no longer bless my people with peace or show them love and mercy. 6 The rich and the poor will die in this land, but no one will bury them or mourn for them. Not one of you will gash yourself or shave your head to show your grief. 7 No one will eat or drink with anyone to offer comfort when a loved one dies. No one will show sympathy, not even for someone who has lost a father or mother. 8 "Do not enter a house where people are feasting. Do not sit down with them to eat and drink. 9 Listen to what I, the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, have to say. I will silence the sounds of joy and gladness and the happy sounds of wedding feasts. The people here will live to see this happen. 10 "When you tell them all this, they will ask you why I have decided to punish them so harshly. They will ask what crime they are guilty of and what sin they have committed against the Lord their God. 11 Then tell them that the Lord has said, "Your ancestors turned away from me and worshiped and served other gods. They abandoned me and did not obey my teachings. 12 But you have done even worse than your ancestors. All of you are stubborn and evil, and you do not obey me. 13 So then, I will throw you out of this land into a land that neither you nor your ancestors have ever known. And there you will serve other gods day and night, and I will show you no mercy.' " 14 The Lord says, "The time is coming when people will no longer swear by me as the living God who brought the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt. 15 Instead, they will swear by me as the living God who brought the people of Israel out of a northern land and out of all the other countries where I had scattered them. I will bring them back to their own country, to the land that I gave their ancestors. I, the Lord, have spoken." 16 The Lord says, "I am sending for many fishermen to come and catch these people. Then I will send for many hunters to hunt them down on every mountain and hill and in the caves among the rocks. 17 I see everything they do. Nothing is hidden from me; their sins do not escape my sight. 18 I will make them pay double for their sin and wickedness, because they have defiled my land with idols that are as lifeless as corpses, and have filled it with their false gods." 19 Lord, you are the one who protects me and gives me strength; you help me in times of trouble. Nations will come to you from the ends of the earth and say, "Our ancestors had nothing but false gods, nothing but useless idols. 20 Can people make their own gods? No, if they did, those would not really be gods." 21 "So then," says the Lord, "once and for all I will make the nations know my power and my might; they will know that I am the Lord."

Jeremiah 16:1 King Zedekiah of Judah sent to me Pashhur son of Malchiah and the priest Zephaniah son of Maaseiah with this request: 2 "Please speak to the Lord for us, because King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia and his army are besieging the city. Maybe the Lord will perform one of his miracles for us and force Nebuchadnezzar to retreat." 3 Then the Lord spoke to me, and I told those who had been sent to me 4 to tell Zedekiah that the Lord, the God of Israel, had said, "Zedekiah, I am going to defeat your army that is fighting against the king of Babylonia and his army. I will pile up your soldiers' weapons in the center of the city. 5 I will fight against you with all my might, my anger, my wrath, and my fury. 6 I will kill everyone living in this city; people and animals alike will die of a terrible disease. 7 But as for you, your officials, and the people who survive the war, the famine, and the disease - I will let all of you be captured by King Nebuchadnezzar and by your enemies, who want to kill you. Nebuchadnezzar will put you to death. He will not spare any of you or show mercy or pity to any of you. I, the Lord, have spoken." 8 Then the Lord told me to say to the people, "Listen! I, the Lord, am giving you a choice between the way that leads to life and the way that leads to death. 9 Anyone who stays in the city will be killed in war or by starvation or disease. But those who go out and surrender to the Babylonians, who are now attacking the city, will not be killed; they will at least escape with their life. 10 I have made up my mind not to spare this city, but to destroy it. It will be given over to the king of Babylonia, and he will burn it to the ground. I, the Lord, have spoken." 11 The Lord told me to give this message to the royal house of Judah, the descendants of David: "Listen to what I, the Lord, am saying. See that justice is done every day. Protect the person who is being cheated from the one who is cheating him. If you don't, the evil you are doing will make my anger burn like a fire that cannot be put out. 13 You, Jerusalem, are sitting high above the valleys, like a rock rising above the plain. But I will fight against you. You say that no one can attack you or break through your defenses. 14 But I will punish you for what you have done. I will set your palace on fire, and the fire will burn down everything around it. I, the Lord, have spoken."

3147-Jeremiah 23:25 I know what those prophets have said who speak lies in my name and claim that I have given them my messages in their dreams. 26 How much longer will those prophets mislead my people with the lies they have invented? 27 They think that the dreams they tell will make my people forget me, just as their ancestors forgot me and turned to Baal. 28 The prophet who has had a dream should say it is only a dream, but the prophet who has heard my message should proclaim that message faithfully. What good is straw compared with wheat? 29 My message is like a fire and like a hammer that breaks rocks in pieces. 30 I am against those prophets who take each other's words and proclaim them as my message. 31 I am also against those prophets who speak their own words and claim they came from me. 32 Listen to what I, the Lord, say! I am against the prophets who tell their dreams that are full of lies. They tell these dreams and lead my people astray with their lies and their boasting. I did not send them or order them to go, and they are of no help at all to the people. I, the Lord, have spoken." 33 The Lord said to me, "Jeremiah, when one of my people or a prophet or a priest asks you, "What is the Lord's message?' you are to say, "You are a burden to the Lord, and he is going to get rid of you.' 34 If any of my people or a prophet or a priest even uses the words "the Lord's burden,' I will punish them and their families. 35 Instead, each one of them should ask their friends and their relatives, "What answer has the Lord given? What has the Lord said?' 36 So they must no longer use the words "the Lord's burden,' because if any of them do, I will make my message a real burden to them. The people have perverted the words of their God, the living God, the Lord Almighty. 37 Jeremiah, ask the prophets, "What answer did the Lord give you? What did the Lord say?' 38 And if they disobey my command and use the words "the Lord's burden,' then tell them that 39 I will certainly pick them up and throw them far away from me, both them and the city that I gave to them and their ancestors. 40 I will bring on them everlasting shame and disgrace that will never be forgotten."

3148-Jeremiah 28:1 That same year, in the fifth month of the fourth year that Zedekiah was king, Hananiah son of Azzur, a prophet from the town of Gibeon, spoke to me in the Temple. In the presence of the priests and of the people he told me 2 that the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, had said: "I have broken the power of the king of Babylonia. 3 Within two years I will bring back to this place all the Temple treasures that King Nebuchadnezzar took to Babylonia. 4 I will also bring back the king of Judah, Jehoiachin son of Jehoiakim, along with all of the people of Judah who went into exile in Babylonia. Yes, I will break the power of the king of Babylonia. I, the Lord, have spoken." 5 Then in the presence of the priests and of all the people who were standing in the Temple, I said to Hananiah, 6 "Wonderful! I hope the Lord will do this! I certainly hope he will make your prophecy come true and will bring back from Babylonia all the Temple treasures and all the people who were taken away as prisoners. 7 But listen to what I say to you and to the people. 8 The prophets who spoke long ago, before my time and yours, predicted that war, starvation, and disease would come to many nations and powerful kingdoms. 9 But a prophet who predicts peace can only be recognized as a prophet whom the Lord has truly sent when that prophet's predictions come true." 10 Then Hananiah took the yoke off my neck, broke it in pieces, 11 and said in the presence of all the people, "The Lord has said that this is how he will break the yoke that King Nebuchadnezzar has put on the neck of all the nations; and he will do this within two years." Then I left. 12 Some time after this the Lord told me 13 to go and tell Hananiah: "The Lord has said that you may be able to break a wooden yoke, but he will replace it with an iron yoke. 14 The Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, has said that he will put an iron yoke on all these nations and that they will serve King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia. The Lord has said that he will make even the wild animals serve Nebuchadnezzar." 15 Then I told Hananiah this, and added, "Listen, Hananiah! The Lord did not send you, and you are making these people believe a lie. 16 And so the Lord himself says that he is going to get rid of you. Before this year is over you will die because you have told the people to rebel against the Lord." 17 And Hananiah died in the seventh month of that same year.

3149-Daniel 1:1 In the third year that Jehoiakim was king of Judah, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia attacked Jerusalem and surrounded the city. 2 The Lord let him capture King Jehoiakim and seize some of the Temple treasures. He took some prisoners back with him to the temple of his gods in Babylon, and put the captured treasures in the temple storerooms. 3 The king ordered Ashpenaz, his chief official, to select from among the Israelite exiles some young men of the royal family and of the noble families. 4 They had to be handsome, intelligent, well-trained, quick to learn, and free from physical defects, so that they would be qualified to serve in the royal court. Ashpenaz was to teach them to read and write the Babylonian language. 5 The king also gave orders that every day they were to be given the same food and wine as the members of the royal court. After three years of this training they were to appear before the king. 6 Among those chosen were Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, all of whom were from the tribe of Judah.

2 Kings 20:17 a time is coming when everything in your palace, everything that your ancestors have stored up to this day, will be carried off to Babylonia. Nothing will be left. 18 Some of your own direct descendants will be taken away and made eunuchs to serve in the palace of the king of Babylonia."

3150-Daniel 8:1 In the third year that Belshazzar was king, I saw a second vision. 2 In the vision I suddenly found myself in the walled city of Susa in the province of Elam. I was standing by the Ulai River, 3 and there beside the river I saw a ram that had two long horns, one of which was longer and newer than the other. 4 I watched the ram butting with his horns to the west, the north, and the south. No animal could stop him or escape his power. He did as he pleased and grew arrogant. 5 While I was wondering what this meant, a goat came rushing out of the west, moving so fast that his feet didn't touch the ground. He had one prominent horn between his eyes. 6 He came toward the ram, which I had seen standing beside the river, and rushed at him with all his force. 7 I watched him attack the ram. He was so angry that he smashed into him and broke the two horns. The ram had no strength to resist. He was thrown to the ground and trampled on, and there was no one who could save him. ….13 Then I heard one angel ask another, "How long will these things that were seen in the vision continue? How long will an awful sin replace the daily sacrifices? How long will the army of heaven and the Temple be trampled on?" 14 I heard the other angel answer, "It will continue for 2,300 evenings and mornings, during which sacrifices will not be offered. Then the Temple will be restored." 15 I was trying to understand what the vision meant, when suddenly someone was standing in front of me. 16 I heard a voice call out over the Ulai River, "Gabriel, explain to him the meaning of what he saw." 17 Gabriel came and stood beside me, and I was so terrified that I fell to the ground. He said to me, "Mortal man, understand the meaning. The vision has to do with the end of the world." 18 While he was talking, I fell to the ground unconscious. But he took hold of me, raised me to my feet, 19 and said, "I am showing you what the result of God's anger will be. The vision refers to the time of the end. …..27 I was depressed and ill for several days. Then I got up and went back to the work that the king had assigned to me, but I was puzzled by the vision and could not understand it.

9:2 In the first year of his reign I was studying the sacred books and thinking about the seventy years that Jerusalem would be in ruins, according to what the Lord had told the prophet Jeremiah. 3 And I prayed earnestly to the Lord God, pleading with him, fasting, wearing sackcloth, and sitting in ashes. 4 I prayed to the Lord my God and confessed the sins of my people. I said, "Lord God, you are great, and we honor you. You are faithful to your covenant and show constant love to those who love you and do what you command. 5 "We have sinned, we have been evil, we have done wrong. We have rejected what you commanded us to do and have turned away from what you showed us was right. 6 We have not listened to your servants the prophets, who spoke in your name to our kings, our rulers, our ancestors, and our whole nation. 7 You, Lord, always do what is right, but we have always brought disgrace on ourselves. This is true of all of us who live in Judea and in Jerusalem and of all the Israelites whom you scattered in countries near and far because they were unfaithful to you. 8 Our kings, our rulers, and our ancestors have acted shamefully and sinned against you, Lord. 9 You are merciful and forgiving, although we have rebelled against you. 10 We did not listen to you, O Lord our God, when you told us to live according to the laws which you gave us through your servants the prophets. 11 All Israel broke your laws and refused to listen to what you said. We sinned against you, and so you brought on us the curses that are written in the Law of Moses, your servant. 12 You did what you said you would do to us and our rulers. You punished Jerusalem more severely than any other city on earth, 13 giving us all the punishment described in the Law of Moses. But even now, O Lord our God, we have not tried to please you by turning from our sins or by following your truth. 14 You, O Lord our God, were prepared to punish us, and you did, because you always do what is right, and we did not listen to you. 15 "O Lord our God, you showed your power by bringing your people out of Egypt, and your power is still remembered. We have sinned; we have done wrong. 16 You have defended us in the past, so do not be angry with Jerusalem any longer. It is your city, your sacred hill. All the people in the neighboring countries look down on Jerusalem and on your people because of our sins and the evil our ancestors did. 17 O God, hear my prayer and pleading. Restore your Temple, which has been destroyed; restore it so that everyone will know that you are God. 18 Listen to us, O God; look at us and see the trouble we are in and the suffering of the city that bears your name. We are praying to you because you are merciful, not because we have done right. 19 Lord, hear us. Lord, forgive us. Lord, listen to us, and act! In order that everyone will know that you are God, do not delay! This city and these people are yours." 20 I went on praying, confessing my sins and the sins of my people Israel and pleading with the Lord my God to restore his holy Temple. 21 While I was praying, Gabriel, whom I had seen in the earlier vision, came flying down to where I was. It was the time for the evening sacrifice to be offered. 22 He explained, "Daniel, I have come here to help you understand the prophecy.

10:2 At that time I was mourning for three weeks. 3 I did not eat any rich food or any meat, drink any wine, or comb my hair until the three weeks were past. 4 On the twenty-fourth day of the first month of the year I was standing on the bank of the mighty Tigris River. 5 I looked up and saw someone who was wearing linen clothes and a belt of fine gold.

3151-Matthew 24:15 "You will see "The Awful Horror' of which the prophet Daniel spoke. It will be standing in the holy place." (Note to the reader: understand what this means!)

3152-Daniel 1:7 The chief official gave them new names: Belteshazzar, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.

3153-Isaiah 39:6 a time is coming when everything in your palace, everything that your ancestors have stored up to this day, will be carried off to Babylonia. Nothing will be left. 7 Some of your own direct descendants will be taken away and made eunuchs to serve in the palace of the king of Babylonia."

3154-Gen. 37:36 Meanwhile, in Egypt the Midianites had sold Joseph to Potiphar, one of the king's officers, who was the captain of the palace guard.

Gen 39:1 Now the Ishmaelites had taken Joseph to Egypt and sold him to Potiphar, one of the king's officers, who was the captain of the palace guard.

Gen 40:2 He was angry with these two officials ….7 He asked them, "Why do you look so worried today?"

1 Kin. 22:9 Then Ahab called in a court official and told him to go and get Micaiah at once.

1 Chr. 28:1 King David commanded all the officials of Israel to assemble in Jerusalem. So all the officials of the tribes, the officials who administered the work of the kingdom, the leaders of the clans, the supervisors of the property and livestock that belonged to the king and his sons - indeed all the palace officials, leading soldiers, and important men - gathered in Jerusalem.

Jer. 52:25 From the city he took the officer who had been in command of the troops, seven of the king's personal advisers who were still in the city, the commander's assistant, who was in charge of military records, and sixty other important men.

3155-Matt. 24:15 "You will see "The Awful Horror' of which the prophet Daniel spoke. It will be standing in the holy place." (Note to the reader: understand what this means!)

Mark 13:14 "You will see "The Awful Horror' standing in the place where he should not be." (Note to the reader: understand what this means!) "Then those who are in Judea must run away to the hills.

3156-Ezek. 14:14 Even if those three men, Noah, Danel, and Job, were living there, their goodness would save only their own lives." The Sovereign Lord has spoken. ….20 even if Noah, Danel, and Job lived there - as surely as I, the Sovereign Lord, am the living God - they would not be able to save even their own children. Their goodness would save only their own lives."

Ez 28:3 You think you are wiser than Danel, that no secret can be kept from you.

3157-Dan 2:21 He controls the times and the seasons; he makes and unmakes kings; it is he who gives wisdom and understanding.

Dan 4:18 18 "This is the dream I had," said King Nebuchadnezzar. "Now, Belteshazzar, tell me what it means. None of my royal advisers could tell me, but you can, because the spirit of the holy gods is in you."

3158-Dan 2:47 The king said, "Your God is the greatest of all gods, the Lord over kings, and the one who reveals mysteries. I know this because you have been able to explain this mystery."

Dan 3:17 If the God whom we serve is able to save us from the blazing furnace and from your power, then he will. 18 But even if he doesn't, Your Majesty may be sure that we will not worship your god, and we will not bow down to the gold statue that you have set up."

Dan 4:28 All this did happen to King Nebuchadnezzar. 29 Only twelve months later, while he was walking around on the roof of his royal palace in Babylon, 30 he said, "Look how great Babylon is! I built it as my capital city to display my power and might, my glory and majesty." 31 Before the words were out of his mouth, a voice spoke from heaven, "King Nebuchadnezzar, listen to what I say! Your royal power is now taken away from you. 32 You will be driven away from human society, live with wild animals, and eat grass like an ox for seven years. Then you will acknowledge that the Supreme God has power over human kingdoms and that he can give them to anyone he chooses." 33 The words came true immediately. Nebuchadnezzar was driven out of human society and ate grass like an ox. The dew fell on his body, and his hair grew as long as eagle feathers and his nails as long as bird claws. 34 "When the seven years had passed," said the king, "I looked up at the sky, and my sanity returned. I praised the Supreme God and gave honor and glory to the one who lives forever. "He will rule forever, and his kingdom will last for all time. 35 He looks on the people of the earth as nothing; angels in heaven and people on earth are under his control. No one can oppose his will or question what he does. 36 "When my sanity returned, my honor, my majesty, and the glory of my kingdom were given back to me. My officials and my noblemen welcomed me, and I was given back my royal power with even greater honor than before. 37 "And now, I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise, honor, and glorify the King of Heaven. Everything he does is right and just, and he can humble anyone who acts proudly."

Dan 5:18 "The Supreme God made your father Nebuchadnezzar a great king and gave him dignity and majesty. 19 He was so great that people of all nations, races, and languages were afraid of him and trembled. If he wanted to kill someone, he did; if he wanted to keep someone alive, he did. He honored or disgraced anyone he wanted to. 20 But because he became proud, stubborn, and cruel, he was removed from his royal throne and lost his place of honor. 21 He was driven away from human society, and his mind became like that of an animal. He lived with wild donkeys, ate grass like an ox, and slept in the open air with nothing to protect him from the dew. Finally he admitted that the Supreme God controls all human kingdoms and can give them to anyone he chooses. 22 "But you, his son, have not humbled yourself, even though you knew all this. 23 You acted against the Lord of heaven and brought in the cups and bowls taken from his Temple. You, your noblemen, your wives, and your concubines drank wine out of them and praised gods made of gold, silver, bronze, iron, wood, and stone - gods that cannot see or hear and that do not know anything. But you did not honor the God who determines whether you live or die and who controls everything you do. 24 That is why God has sent the hand to write these words. 25 "This is what was written: "Number, number, weight, divisions.' 26 And this is what it means: [number, ]God has numbered the days of your kingdom and brought it to an end; 27 [weight, ]you have been weighed on the scales and found to be too light; 28 [divisions, ]your kingdom is divided up and given to the Medes and Persians." 29 Immediately Belshazzar ordered his servants to dress Daniel in a robe of royal purple and to hang a gold chain of honor around his neck. And he made him the third in power in the kingdom. 30 That same night Belshazzar, the king of Babylonia, was killed; 31 and Darius the Mede, who was then sixty-two years old, seized the royal power.

Dan 6:25 Then King Darius wrote to the people of all nations, races, and languages on earth: "Greetings! 26 I command that throughout my empire everyone should fear and respect Daniel's God. "He is a living God, and he will rule forever. His kingdom will never be destroyed, and his power will never come to an end. 27 He saves and rescues; he performs wonders and miracles in heaven and on earth. He saved Daniel from being killed by the lions." 28 Daniel prospered during the reign of Darius and the reign of Cyrus the Persian.

3159-John 13:19 I tell you this now before it happens, so that when it does happen, you will believe that "I Am Who I Am.'

John 14:29 I have told you this now before it all happens, so that when it does happen, you will believe.

John 16:1 "I have told you this, so that you will not give up your faith. 2 You will be expelled from the synagogues, and the time will come when those who kill you will think that by doing this they are serving God. 3 People will do these things to you because they have not known either the Father or me. 4 But I have told you this, so that when the time comes for them to do these things, you will remember what I told you. "I did not tell you these things at the beginning, for I was with you.

3160-Daniel 2:42 The toes - partly iron and partly clay - mean that part of the empire will be strong and part of it weak. 43 You also saw that the iron was mixed with the clay. This means that the rulers of that empire will try to unite their families by intermarriage, but they will not be able to, any more than iron can mix with clay. 44 At the time of those rulers the God of heaven will establish a kingdom that will never end. It will never be conquered, but will completely destroy all those empires and then last forever. 45 You saw how a stone broke loose from a cliff without anyone touching it and how it struck the statue made of iron, bronze, clay, silver, and gold. The great God is telling Your Majesty what will happen in the future. I have told you exactly what you dreamed, and have given you its true meaning."

3161-Daniel 1:3 The king ordered Ashpenaz, his chief official, to select from among the Israelite exiles some young men of the royal family and of the noble families.

3162-2 Kings 20:17 a time is coming when everything in your palace, everything that your ancestors have stored up to this day, will be carried off to Babylonia. Nothing will be left. 18 Some of your own direct descendants will be taken away and made eunuchs to serve in the palace of the king of Babylonia."

3163-Daniel 1:5 The king also gave orders that every day they were to be given the same food and wine as the members of the royal court. After three years of this training they were to appear before the king.

Daniel 10:2 At that time I was mourning for three weeks. 3 I did not eat any rich food or any meat, drink any wine, or comb my hair until the three weeks were past.

1 Corinthians 10:25 You are free to eat anything sold in the meat market, without asking any questions because of your conscience.

Romans 14:25 You are free to eat anything sold in the meat market, without asking any questions because of your conscience.

3164-Daniel 1:17 God gave the four young men knowledge and skill in literature and philosophy. In addition, he gave Daniel skill in interpreting visions and dreams.

3165-Daniel 1:5 The king also gave orders that every day they were to be given the same food and wine as the members of the royal court. After three years of this training they were to appear before the king.

Dan 10:2 At that time I was mourning for three weeks. 3 I did not eat any rich food or any meat, drink any wine, or comb my hair until the three weeks were past.

3166-Acts 15; 1 Some men came from Judea to Antioch and started teaching the believers, "You cannot be saved unless you are circumcised as the Law of Moses requires." 2 Paul and Barnabas got into a fierce argument with them about this, so it was decided that Paul and Barnabas and some of the others in Antioch should go to Jerusalem and see the apostles and elders about this matter. 3 They were sent on their way by the church; and as they went through Phoenicia and Samaria, they reported how the Gentiles had turned to God; this news brought great joy to all the believers. 4 When they arrived in Jerusalem, they were welcomed by the church, the apostles, and the elders, to whom they told all that God had done through them. 5 But some of the believers who belonged to the party of the Pharisees stood up and said, "The Gentiles must be circumcised and told to obey the Law of Moses." 6 The apostles and the elders met together to consider this question. 7 After a long debate Peter stood up and said, "My friends, you know that a long time ago God chose me from among you to preach the Good News to the Gentiles, so that they could hear and believe. 8 And God, who knows the thoughts of everyone, showed his approval of the Gentiles by giving the Holy Spirit to them, just as he had to us. 9 He made no difference between us and them; he forgave their sins because they believed. 10 So then, why do you now want to put God to the test by laying a load on the backs of the believers which neither our ancestors nor we ourselves were able to carry? 11 No! We believe and are saved by the grace of the Lord Jesus, just as they are." 12 The whole group was silent as they heard Barnabas and Paul report all the miracles and wonders that God had performed through them among the Gentiles. 13 When they had finished speaking, James spoke up: "Listen to me, my friends! 14 Simon has just explained how God first showed his care for the Gentiles by taking from among them a people to belong to him. 15 The words of the prophets agree completely with this. As the scripture says, 16 "After this I will return, says the Lord, and restore the kingdom of David. I will rebuild its ruins and make it strong again. 17 And so all the rest of the human race will come to me, all the Gentiles whom I have called to be my own. 18 So says the Lord, who made this known long ago.' 19 "It is my opinion," James went on, "that we should not trouble the Gentiles who are turning to God. 20 Instead, we should write a letter telling them not to eat any food that is ritually unclean because it has been offered to idols; to keep themselves from sexual immorality; and not to eat any animal that has been strangled, or any blood. 21 For the Law of Moses has been read for a very long time in the synagogues every Sabbath, and his words are preached in every town." 22 Then the apostles and the elders, together with the whole church, decided to choose some men from the group and send them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas. They chose two men who were highly respected by the believers, Judas, called Barsabbas, and Silas, 23 and they sent the following letter by them: "We, the apostles and the elders, your brothers, send greetings to all our brothers of Gentile birth who live in Antioch, Syria, and Cilicia. 24 We have heard that some who went from our group have troubled and upset you by what they said; they had not, however, received any instruction from us. 25 And so we have met together and have all agreed to choose some messengers and send them to you. They will go with our dear friends Barnabas and Paul, 26 who have risked their lives in the service of our Lord Jesus Christ. 27 We send you, then, Judas and Silas, who will tell you in person the same things we are writing. 28 The Holy Spirit and we have agreed not to put any other burden on you besides these necessary rules: 29 eat no food that has been offered to idols; eat no blood; eat no animal that has been strangled; and keep yourselves from sexual immorality. You will do well if you take care not to do these things. With our best wishes." 30 The messengers were sent off and went to Antioch, where they gathered the whole group of believers and gave them the letter. 31 When the people read it, they were filled with joy by the message of encouragement. 32 Judas and Silas, who were themselves prophets, spoke a long time with them, giving them courage and strength. 33 After spending some time there, they were sent off in peace by the believers and went back to those who had sent them. 35 Paul and Barnabas spent some time in Antioch, and together with many others they taught and preached the word of the Lord. 36 Some time later Paul said to Barnabas, "Let us go back and visit the believers in every town where we preached the word of the Lord, and let us find out how they are getting along." 37 Barnabas wanted to take John Mark with them, 38 but Paul did not think it was right to take him, because he had not stayed with them to the end of their mission, but had turned back and left them in Pamphylia. 39 There was a sharp argument, and they separated: Barnabas took Mark and sailed off for Cyprus, 40 while Paul chose Silas and left, commended by the believers to the care of the Lord's grace. 41 He went through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches.

1 Corinthians 8:1 Now, concerning what you wrote about food offered to idols. It is true, of course, that "all of us have knowledge," as they say. Such knowledge, however, puffs a person up with pride; but love builds up. 2 Those who think they know something really don't know as they ought to know. 3 But the person who loves God is known by him. 4 So then, about eating the food offered to idols: we know that an idol stands for something that does not really exist; we know that there is only the one God. 5 Even if there are so-called "gods," whether in heaven or on earth, and even though there are many of these "gods" and "lords," 6 yet there is for us only one God, the Father, who is the Creator of all things and for whom we live; and there is only one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things were created and through whom we live. 7 But not everyone knows this truth. Some people have been so used to idols that to this day when they eat such food they still think of it as food that belongs to an idol; their conscience is weak, and they feel they are defiled by the food. 8 Food, however, will not improve our relation with God; we shall not lose anything if we do not eat, nor shall we gain anything if we do eat. 9 Be careful, however, not to let your freedom of action make those who are weak in the faith fall into sin. 10 Suppose a person whose conscience is weak in this matter sees you, who have so-called "knowledge," eating in the temple of an idol; will not this encourage him to eat food offered to idols? 11 And so this weak person, your brother for whom Christ died, will perish because of your "knowledge"! 12 And in this way you will be sinning against Christ by sinning against other Christians and wounding their weak conscience. 13 So then, if food makes a believer sin, I will never eat meat again, so as not to make a believer fall into sin.

1 Cor 10; 1 I want you to remember, my friends, what happened to our ancestors who followed Moses. They were all under the protection of the cloud, and all passed safely through the Red Sea. 2 In the cloud and in the sea they were all baptized as followers of Moses. 3 All ate the same spiritual bread 4 and drank the same spiritual drink. They drank from the spiritual rock that went with them; and that rock was Christ himself. 5 But even then God was not pleased with most of them, and so their dead bodies were scattered over the desert. 6 Now, all of this is an example for us, to warn us not to desire evil things, as they did, 7 nor to worship idols, as some of them did. As the scripture says, "The people sat down to a feast which turned into an orgy of drinking and sex." 8 We must not be guilty of sexual immorality, as some of them were - and in one day twenty-three thousand of them fell dead. 9 We must not put the Lord to the test, as some of them did - and they were killed by snakes. 10 We must not complain, as some of them did - and they were destroyed by the Angel of Death. 11 All these things happened to them as examples for others, and they were written down as a warning for us. For we live at a time when the end is about to come. 12 If you think you are standing firm you had better be careful that you do not fall. 13 Every test that you have experienced is the kind that normally comes to people. But God keeps his promise, and he will not allow you to be tested beyond your power to remain firm; at the time you are put to the test, he will give you the strength to endure it, and so provide you with a way out. 14 So then, my dear friends, keep away from the worship of idols. 15 I speak to you as sensible people; judge for yourselves what I say. 16 The cup we use in the Lord's Supper and for which we give thanks to God: when we drink from it, we are sharing in the blood of Christ. And the bread we break: when we eat it, we are sharing in the body of Christ. 17 Because there is the one loaf of bread, all of us, though many, are one body, for we all share the same loaf. 18 Consider the people of Israel; those who eat what is offered in sacrifice share in the altar's service to God. 19 Do I imply, then, that an idol or the food offered to it really amounts to anything? 20 No! What I am saying is that what is sacrificed on pagan altars is offered to demons, not to God. And I do not want you to be partners with demons. 21 You cannot drink from the Lord's cup and also from the cup of demons; you cannot eat at the Lord's table and also at the table of demons. 22 Or do we want to make the Lord jealous? Do we think that we are stronger than he? 23 "We are allowed to do anything," so they say. That is true, but not everything is good. "We are allowed to do anything" - but not everything is helpful. 24 None of you should be looking out for your own interests, but for the interests of others. 25 You are free to eat anything sold in the meat market, without asking any questions because of your conscience. 26 For, as the scripture says, "The earth and everything in it belong to the Lord." 27 If an unbeliever invites you to a meal and you decide to go, eat what is set before you, without asking any questions because of your conscience. 28 But if someone tells you, "This food was offered to idols," then do not eat that food, for the sake of the one who told you and for conscience' sake - 29 that is, not your own conscience, but the other person's conscience. "Well, then," someone asks, "why should my freedom to act be limited by another person's conscience? 30 If I thank God for my food, why should anyone criticize me about food for which I give thanks?" 31 Well, whatever you do, whether you eat or drink, do it all for God's glory. 32 Live in such a way as to cause no trouble either to Jews or Gentiles or to the church of God. 33 Just do as I do; I try to please everyone in all that I do, not thinking of my own good, but of the good of all, so that they might be saved.

Romans 14:1 Welcome those who are weak in faith, but do not argue with them about their personal opinions. 2 Some people's faith allows them to eat anything, but the person who is weak in the faith eats only vegetables. 3 The person who will eat anything is not to despise the one who doesn't; while the one who eats only vegetables is not to pass judgment on the one who will eat anything; for God has accepted that person. 4 Who are you to judge the servants of someone else? It is their own Master who will decide whether they succeed or fail. And they will succeed, because the Lord is able to make them succeed. 5 Some people think that a certain day is more important than other days, while others think that all days are the same. We each should firmly make up our own minds. 6 Those who think highly of a certain day do so in honor of the Lord; those who will eat anything do so in honor of the Lord, because they give thanks to God for the food. Those who refuse to eat certain things do so in honor of the Lord, and they give thanks to God. 7 We do not live for ourselves only, and we do not die for ourselves only. 8 If we live, it is for the Lord that we live, and if we die, it is for the Lord that we die. So whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord. 9 For Christ died and rose to life in order to be the Lord of the living and of the dead. 10 You then, who eat only vegetables - why do you pass judgment on others? And you who eat anything - why do you despise other believers? All of us will stand before God to be judged by him. 11 For the scripture says, "As surely as I am the living God, says the Lord, everyone will kneel before me, and everyone will confess that I am God." 12 Every one of us, then, will have to give an account to God. 13 So then, let us stop judging one another. Instead, you should decide never to do anything that would make others stumble or fall into sin. 14 My union with the Lord Jesus makes me certain that no food is of itself ritually unclean; but if you believe that some food is unclean, then it becomes unclean for you. 15 If you hurt others because of something you eat, then you are no longer acting from love. Do not let the food that you eat ruin the person for whom Christ died! 16 Do not let what you regard as good get a bad name. 17 For God's Kingdom is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of the righteousness, peace, and joy which the Holy Spirit gives. 18 And when you serve Christ in this way, you please God and are approved by others. 19 So then, we must always aim at those things that bring peace and that help strengthen one another. 20 Do not, because of food, destroy what God has done. All foods may be eaten, but it is wrong to eat anything that will cause someone else to fall into sin. 21 The right thing to do is to keep from eating meat, drinking wine, or doing anything else that will make other believers fall. 22 Keep what you believe about this matter, then, between yourself and God. Happy are those who do not feel guilty when they do something they judge is right! 23 But if they have doubts about what they eat, God condemns them when they eat it, because their action is not based on faith. And anything that is not based on faith is sin.

3167-Daniel 2:3 he said to them, "I'm worried about a dream I've had. I want to know what it means." 4 They answered the king in Aramaic, "May Your Majesty live forever! Tell us your dream, and we will explain it to you." 5 The king said to them, "I have made up my mind that you must tell me the dream and then tell me what it means. If you can't, I'll have you torn limb from limb and make your houses a pile of ruins. 6 But if you can tell me both the dream and its meaning, I will reward you with gifts and great honor. Now then, tell me what the dream was and what it means." 7 They answered the king again, "If Your Majesty will only tell us what the dream was, we will explain it." 8 At that, the king exclaimed, "Just as I thought! You are trying to gain time, because you see that I have made up my mind 9 to give all of you the same punishment if you don't tell me the dream. You have agreed among yourselves to go on telling me lies because you hope that in time things will change. Tell me what the dream was, and then I will know that you can also tell me what it means." 10 The advisers replied, "There is no one on the face of the earth who can tell Your Majesty what you want to know. No king, not even the greatest and most powerful, has ever made such a demand of his fortunetellers, magicians, and wizards. 11 What Your Majesty is asking for is so difficult that no one can do it for you except the gods, and they do not live among human beings." 12 At that, the king flew into a rage and ordered the execution of all the royal advisers in Babylon.

3168-Daniel 3:29 "And now I command that if anyone of any nation, race, or language speaks disrespectfully of the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, he is to be torn limb from limb, and his house is to be made a pile of ruins. There is no other god who can rescue like this."

3169-Daniel 4:34 "When the seven years had passed," said the king, "I looked up at the sky, and my sanity returned. I praised the Supreme God and gave honor and glory to the one who lives forever. "He will rule forever, and his kingdom will last for all time. 35 He looks on the people of the earth as nothing; angels in heaven and people on earth are under his control. No one can oppose his will or question what he does. 36 "When my sanity returned, my honor, my majesty, and the glory of my kingdom were given back to me. My officials and my noblemen welcomed me, and I was given back my royal power with even greater honor than before. 37 "And now, I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise, honor, and glorify the King of Heaven. Everything he does is right and just, and he can humble anyone who acts proudly."

3170-Daniel 2:1 In the second year that Nebuchadnezzar was king, he had a dream. It worried him so much that he couldn't sleep, 2 so he sent for his fortunetellers, magicians, sorcerers, and wizards to come and explain the dream to him. When they came and stood before the king, 3 he said to them, "I'm worried about a dream I've had. I want to know what it means." 4 They answered the king in Aramaic, "May Your Majesty live forever! Tell us your dream, and we will explain it to you." 5 The king said to them, "I have made up my mind that you must tell me the dream and then tell me what it means. If you can't, I'll have you torn limb from limb and make your houses a pile of ruins. 6 But if you can tell me both the dream and its meaning, I will reward you with gifts and great honor. Now then, tell me what the dream was and what it means." 7 They answered the king again, "If Your Majesty will only tell us what the dream was, we will explain it." 8 At that, the king exclaimed, "Just as I thought! You are trying to gain time, because you see that I have made up my mind 9 to give all of you the same punishment if you don't tell me the dream. You have agreed among yourselves to go on telling me lies because you hope that in time things will change. Tell me what the dream was, and then I will know that you can also tell me what it means." 10 The advisers replied, "There is no one on the face of the earth who can tell Your Majesty what you want to know. No king, not even the greatest and most powerful, has ever made such a demand of his fortunetellers, magicians, and wizards. 11 What Your Majesty is asking for is so difficult that no one can do it for you except the gods, and they do not live among human beings." 12 At that, the king flew into a rage and ordered the execution of all the royal advisers in Babylon. 13 So the order was issued for all of them to be killed, including Daniel and his friends. 14 Then Daniel went to Arioch, commander of the king's bodyguard, who had been ordered to carry out the execution. Choosing his words carefully, 15 he asked Arioch why the king had issued such a harsh order. So Arioch told Daniel what had happened. 16 Daniel went at once and obtained royal permission for more time, so that he could tell the king what the dream meant. 17 Then Daniel went home and told his friends Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah what had happened. 18 He told them to pray to the God of heaven for mercy and to ask him to explain the mystery to them so that they would not be killed along with the other advisers in Babylon. 19 Then that same night the mystery was revealed to Daniel in a vision, and he praised the God of heaven: 20 "God is wise and powerful! Praise him forever and ever. 21 He controls the times and the seasons; he makes and unmakes kings; it is he who gives wisdom and understanding. 22 He reveals things that are deep and secret; he knows what is hidden in darkness, and he himself is surrounded by light. 23 I praise you and honor you, God of my ancestors. You have given me wisdom and strength; you have answered my prayer and shown us what to tell the king." 24 So Daniel went to Arioch, whom the king had commanded to execute the royal advisers. He said to him, "Don't put them to death. Take me to the king, and I will tell him what his dream means." 25 At once Arioch took Daniel into King Nebuchadnezzar's presence and told the king, "I have found one of the Jewish exiles who can tell Your Majesty the meaning of your dream." 26 The king said to Daniel (who was also called Belteshazzar), "Can you tell me what I dreamed and what it means?" 27 Daniel replied, "Your Majesty, there is no wizard, magician, fortuneteller, or astrologer who can tell you that. 28 But there is a God in heaven, who reveals mysteries. He has informed Your Majesty what will happen in the future. Now I will tell you the dream, the vision you had while you were asleep. 29 "While Your Majesty was sleeping, you dreamed about the future; and God, who reveals mysteries, showed you what is going to happen. 30 Now, this mystery was revealed to me, not because I am wiser than anyone else, but so that Your Majesty may learn the meaning of your dream and understand the thoughts that have come to you. 31 "Your Majesty, in your vision you saw standing before you a giant statue, bright and shining, and terrifying to look at. 32 Its head was made of the finest gold; its chest and arms were made of silver; its waist and hips of bronze, 33 its legs of iron, and its feet partly of iron and partly of clay. 34 While you were looking at it, a great stone broke loose from a cliff without anyone touching it, struck the iron and clay feet of the statue, and shattered them. 35 At once the iron, clay, bronze, silver, and gold crumbled and became like the dust on a threshing place in summer. The wind carried it all away, leaving not a trace. But the stone grew to be a mountain that covered the whole earth. 36 "This was the dream. Now I will tell Your Majesty what it means. 37 Your Majesty, you are the greatest of all kings. The God of heaven has made you emperor and given you power, might, and honor. 38 He has made you ruler of all the inhabited earth and ruler over all the animals and birds. You are the head of gold. 39 After you there will be another empire, not as great as yours, and after that a third, an empire of bronze, which will rule the whole earth. 40 And then there will be a fourth empire, as strong as iron, which shatters and breaks everything. And just as iron shatters everything, it will shatter and crush all the earlier empires. 41 You also saw that the feet and the toes were partly clay and partly iron. This means that it will be a divided empire. It will have something of the strength of iron, because there was iron mixed with the clay. 42 The toes - partly iron and partly clay - mean that part of the empire will be strong and part of it weak. 43 You also saw that the iron was mixed with the clay. This means that the rulers of that empire will try to unite their families by intermarriage, but they will not be able to, any more than iron can mix with clay. 44 At the time of those rulers the God of heaven will establish a kingdom that will never end. It will never be conquered, but will completely destroy all those empires and then last forever. 45 You saw how a stone broke loose from a cliff without anyone touching it and how it struck the statue made of iron, bronze, clay, silver, and gold. The great God is telling Your Majesty what will happen in the future. I have told you exactly what you dreamed, and have given you its true meaning." 46 Then King Nebuchadnezzar bowed to the ground and gave orders for sacrifices and offerings to be made to Daniel. 47 The king said, "Your God is the greatest of all gods, the Lord over kings, and the one who reveals mysteries. I know this because you have been able to explain this mystery." 48 Then he gave Daniel a high position, presented him with many splendid gifts, put him in charge of the province of Babylon, and made him the head of all the royal advisers. 49 At Daniel's request the king put Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in charge of the affairs of the province of Babylon; Daniel, however, remained at the royal court.

3171-Daniel 3:1 King Nebuchadnezzar had a gold statue made, ninety feet high and nine feet wide, and he had it set up in the plain of Dura in the province of Babylon. 2 Then the king gave orders for all his officials to come together - the princes, governors, lieutenant governors, commissioners, treasurers, judges, magistrates, and all the other officials of the provinces. They were to attend the dedication of the statue which King Nebuchadnezzar had set up. 3 When all these officials gathered for the dedication and stood in front of the statue, 4 a herald announced in a loud voice, "People of all nations, races, and languages! 5 You will hear the sound of the trumpets, followed by the playing of oboes, lyres, zithers, and harps; and then all the other instruments will join in. As soon as the music starts, you are to bow down and worship the gold statue that King Nebuchadnezzar has set up. 6 Anyone who does not bow down and worship will immediately be thrown into a blazing furnace." 7 And so, as soon as they heard the sound of the instruments, the people of all the nations, races, and languages bowed down and worshiped the gold statue which King Nebuchadnezzar had set up. 8 It was then that some Babylonians took the opportunity to denounce the Jews. 9 They said to King Nebuchadnezzar, "May Your Majesty live forever! 10 Your Majesty has issued an order that as soon as the music starts, everyone is to bow down and worship the gold statue, 11 and that anyone who does not bow down and worship it is to be thrown into a blazing furnace. 12 There are some Jews whom you put in charge of the province of Babylon - Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego - who are disobeying Your Majesty's orders. They do not worship your god or bow down to the statue you set up." 13 At that, the king flew into a rage and ordered the three men to be brought before him. 14 He said to them, "Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, is it true that you refuse to worship my god and to bow down to the gold statue I have set up? 15 Now then, as soon as you hear the sound of the trumpets, oboes, lyres, zithers, harps, and all the other instruments, bow down and worship the statue. If you do not, you will immediately be thrown into a blazing furnace. Do you think there is any god who can save you?" 16 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered, "Your Majesty, we will not try to defend ourselves. 17 If the God whom we serve is able to save us from the blazing furnace and from your power, then he will. 18 But even if he doesn't, Your Majesty may be sure that we will not worship your god, and we will not bow down to the gold statue that you have set up." 19 Then Nebuchadnezzar lost his temper, and his face turned red with anger at Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. So he ordered the furnace to be heated seven times hotter than usual. 20 And he commanded the strongest men in his army to tie the three men up and throw them into the blazing furnace. 21 So they tied them up, fully dressed - shirts, robes, caps, and all - and threw them into the blazing furnace. 22 Now because the king had given strict orders for the furnace to be made extremely hot, the flames burned up the guards who took the men to the furnace. 23 Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, still tied up, fell into the heart of the blazing fire. 24 Suddenly Nebuchadnezzar leaped to his feet in amazement. He asked his officials, "Didn't we tie up three men and throw them into the blazing furnace?" They answered, "Yes, we did, Your Majesty." 25 "Then why do I see four men walking around in the fire?" he asked. "They are not tied up, and they show no sign of being hurt - and the fourth one looks like an angel." 26 So Nebuchadnezzar went up to the door of the blazing furnace and called out, "Shadrach! Meshach! Abednego! Servants of the Supreme God! Come out!" And they came out at once. 27 All the princes, governors, lieutenant governors, and other officials of the king gathered to look at the three men, who had not been harmed by the fire. Their hair was not singed, their clothes were not burned, and there was no smell of smoke on them. 28 The king said, "Praise the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego! He sent his angel and rescued these men who serve and trust him. They disobeyed my orders and risked their lives rather than bow down and worship any god except their own. 29 "And now I command that if anyone of any nation, race, or language speaks disrespectfully of the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, he is to be torn limb from limb, and his house is to be made a pile of ruins. There is no other god who can rescue like this." 30 And the king promoted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego to higher positions in the province of Babylon.

3172-Daniel 4:1 King Nebuchadnezzar sent the following message to the people of all nations, races, and languages in the world: "Greetings! 2 Listen to my account of the wonders and miracles which the Supreme God has shown me. 3 "How great are the wonders God shows us! How powerful are the miracles he performs! God is king forever; he will rule for all time. 4 "I was living comfortably in my palace, enjoying great prosperity. 5 But I had a frightening dream and saw terrifying visions while I was asleep. 6 I ordered all the royal advisers in Babylon to be brought to me so that they could tell me what the dream meant. 7 Then all the fortunetellers, magicians, wizards, and astrologers were brought in, and I told them my dream, but they could not explain it to me. 8 Then Daniel came in. (He is also called Belteshazzar, after the name of my god.) The spirit of the holy gods is in him, so I told him what I had dreamed. I said to him: 9 Belteshazzar, chief of the fortunetellers, I know that the spirit of the holy gods is in you and that you understand all mysteries. This is my dream. Tell me what it means. 10 "While I was asleep, I had a vision of a huge tree in the middle of the earth. 11 It grew bigger and bigger until it reached the sky and could be seen by everyone in the world. 12 Its leaves were beautiful, and it was loaded down with fruit - enough for the whole world to eat. Wild animals rested in its shade, birds built nests in its branches, and every kind of living being ate its fruit. 13 "While I was thinking about the vision, I saw coming down from heaven an angel, alert and watchful. 14 He proclaimed in a loud voice, "Cut the tree down and chop off its branches; strip off its leaves and scatter its fruit. Drive the animals from under it and the birds out of its branches. 15 But leave the stump in the ground with a band of iron and bronze around it. Leave it there in the field with the grass. " "Now let the dew fall on this man, and let him live with the animals and the plants. 16 For seven years he will not have a human mind, but the mind of an animal. 17 This is the decision of the alert and watchful angels. So then, let all people everywhere know that the Supreme God has power over human kingdoms and that he can give them to anyone he chooses - even to those who are least important.' 18 "This is the dream I had," said King Nebuchadnezzar. "Now, Belteshazzar, tell me what it means. None of my royal advisers could tell me, but you can, because the spirit of the holy gods is in you." 19 At this, Daniel, who is also called Belteshazzar, was so alarmed that he could not say anything. The king said to him, "Belteshazzar, don't let the dream and its message alarm you." Belteshazzar replied, "Your Majesty, I wish that the dream and its explanation applied to your enemies and not to you. 20 The tree, so tall that it reached the sky, could be seen by everyone in the world. 21 Its leaves were beautiful, and it had enough fruit on it to feed the whole world. Wild animals rested under it, and birds made their nests in its branches. 22 "Your Majesty, you are the tree, tall and strong. You have grown so great that you reach the sky, and your power extends over the whole world. 23 While Your Majesty was watching, an angel came down from heaven and said, "Cut the tree down and destroy it, but leave the stump in the ground. Wrap a band of iron and bronze around it, and leave it there in the field with the grass. Let the dew fall on this man, and let him live there with the animals for seven years.' 24 "This, then, is what it means, Your Majesty, and this is what the Supreme God has declared will happen to you. 25 You will be driven away from human society and will live with wild animals. For seven years you will eat grass like an ox and sleep in the open air, where the dew will fall on you. Then you will admit that the Supreme God controls all human kingdoms and that he can give them to anyone he chooses. 26 The angel ordered the stump to be left in the ground. This means that you will become king again when you acknowledge that God rules all the world. 27 So then, Your Majesty, follow my advice. Stop sinning, do what is right, and be merciful to the poor. Then you will continue to be prosperous." 28 All this did happen to King Nebuchadnezzar. 29 Only twelve months later, while he was walking around on the roof of his royal palace in Babylon, 30 he said, "Look how great Babylon is! I built it as my capital city to display my power and might, my glory and majesty." 31 Before the words were out of his mouth, a voice spoke from heaven, "King Nebuchadnezzar, listen to what I say! Your royal power is now taken away from you. 32 You will be driven away from human society, live with wild animals, and eat grass like an ox for seven years. Then you will acknowledge that the Supreme God has power over human kingdoms and that he can give them to anyone he chooses." 33 The words came true immediately. Nebuchadnezzar was driven out of human society and ate grass like an ox. The dew fell on his body, and his hair grew as long as eagle feathers and his nails as long as bird claws. 34 "When the seven years had passed," said the king, "I looked up at the sky, and my sanity returned. I praised the Supreme God and gave honor and glory to the one who lives forever. "He will rule forever, and his kingdom will last for all time. 35 He looks on the people of the earth as nothing; angels in heaven and people on earth are under his control. No one can oppose his will or question what he does. 36 "When my sanity returned, my honor, my majesty, and the glory of my kingdom were given back to me. My officials and my noblemen welcomed me, and I was given back my royal power with even greater honor than before. 37 "And now, I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise, honor, and glorify the King of Heaven. Everything he does is right and just, and he can humble anyone who acts proudly."

3173-Daniel 2:3 he said to them, "I'm worried about a dream I've had. I want to know what it means." 4 They answered the king in Aramaic, "May Your Majesty live forever! Tell us your dream, and we will explain it to you." 5 The king said to them, "I have made up my mind that you must tell me the dream and then tell me what it means. If you can't, I'll have you torn limb from limb and make your houses a pile of ruins. 6 But if you can tell me both the dream and its meaning, I will reward you with gifts and great honor. Now then, tell me what the dream was and what it means." 7 They answered the king again, "If Your Majesty will only tell us what the dream was, we will explain it." 8 At that, the king exclaimed, "Just as I thought! You are trying to gain time, because you see that I have made up my mind 9 to give all of you the same punishment if you don't tell me the dream. You have agreed among yourselves to go on telling me lies because you hope that in time things will change. Tell me what the dream was, and then I will know that you can also tell me what it means." 10 The advisers replied, "There is no one on the face of the earth who can tell Your Majesty what you want to know. No king, not even the greatest and most powerful, has ever made such a demand of his fortunetellers, magicians, and wizards. 11 What Your Majesty is asking for is so difficult that no one can do it for you except the gods, and they do not live among human beings." 12 At that, the king flew into a rage and ordered the execution of all the royal advisers in Babylon.

Dan 3:29 "And now I command that if anyone of any nation, race, or language speaks disrespectfully of the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, he is to be torn limb from limb, and his house is to be made a pile of ruins. There is no other god who can rescue like this."

Dan 4:34 "When the seven years had passed," said the king, "I looked up at the sky, and my sanity returned. I praised the Supreme God and gave honor and glory to the one who lives forever. "He will rule forever, and his kingdom will last for all time. 35 He looks on the people of the earth as nothing; angels in heaven and people on earth are under his control. No one can oppose his will or question what he does. 36 "When my sanity returned, my honor, my majesty, and the glory of my kingdom were given back to me. My officials and my noblemen welcomed me, and I was given back my royal power with even greater honor than before. 37 "And now, I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise, honor, and glorify the King of Heaven. Everything he does is right and just, and he can humble anyone who acts proudly."

3174-Daniel 3:5 You will hear the sound of the trumpets, followed by the playing of oboes, lyres, zithers, and harps; and then all the other instruments will join in. As soon as the music starts, you are to bow down and worship the gold statue that King Nebuchadnezzar has set up. 6 Anyone who does not bow down and worship will immediately be thrown into a blazing furnace."

3175-Matthew 4:9 "All this I will give you," the Devil said, "if you kneel down and worship me." 10 Then Jesus answered, "Go away, Satan! The scripture says, "Worship the Lord your God and serve only him!'

3176-Daniel 3:25 He answered, "But I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they are not hurt; and the appearance of the fourth is like a son of the gods." RSV

Dan 3:25 He answered and said , Lo, I see four men loose , walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt; and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God. KJV

3177-Daniel 4:29 At the end of twelve months he walked in the palace of the kingdom of Babylon. 30 The king spake , and said , Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for the house of the kingdom by the might of my power, and for the honour of my majesty? 31 While the word was in the king's mouth, there fell a voice from heaven, saying, O king Nebuchadnezzar, to thee it is spoken ; The kingdom is departed from thee. 32 And they shall drive thee from men, and thy dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field: they shall make thee to eat grass as oxen, and seven times shall pass over thee, until thou know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will . 33 The same hour was the thing fulfilled upon Nebuchadnezzar: and he was driven from men, and did eat grass as oxen, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven, till his hairs were grown like eagles' feathers, and his nails like birds' claws.

3178-Acts 9:3 And as he journeyed , he came near Damascus: and suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven: 4 And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? 5 And he said , Who art thou , Lord? And the Lord said , I am Jesus whom thou persecutest : it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks. 6 And he trembling and astonished said , Lord, what wilt thou have me to do ? And the Lord said unto him, Arise , and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do .

Acts 22:6 And it came to pass , that, as I made my journey , and was come nigh unto Damascus about noon, suddenly there shone from heaven a great light round about me. 7 And I fell unto the ground, and heard a voice saying unto me, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? 8 And I answered , Who art thou , Lord? And he said unto me, I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom thou persecutest .

Acts 26:12 Whereupon as I went to Damascus with authority and commission from the chief priests, 13 At midday , O king, I saw in the way a light from heaven, above the brightness of the sun, shining round about me and them which journeyed with me. 14 And when we were all fallen to the earth, I heard a voice speaking unto me, and saying in the Hebrew tongue, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks. 15 And I said , Who art thou , Lord? And he said , I am Jesus whom thou persecutest .

3179-Daniel 2:3 And the king said unto them, I have dreamed a dream, and my spirit was troubled to know the dream. 4 Then spake the Chaldeans to the king in Syriack, O king, live for ever: tell thy servants the dream, and we will shew the interpretation. 5 The king answered and said to the Chaldeans, The thing is gone from me: if ye will not make known unto me the dream, with the interpretation thereof, ye shall be cut in pieces, and your houses shall be made a dunghill. 6 But if ye shew the dream, and the interpretation thereof, ye shall receive of me gifts and rewards and great honour: therefore shew me the dream, and the interpretation thereof. 7 They answered again and said , Let the king tell his servants the dream, and we will shew the interpretation of it. 8 The king answered and said , I know of certainty that ye would gain the time, because ye see the thing is gone from me. 9 But if ye will not make known unto me the dream, there is but one decree for you: for ye have prepared lying and corrupt words to speak before me, till the time be changed : therefore tell me the dream, and I shall know that ye can shew me the interpretation thereof. 10 The Chaldeans answered before the king, and said , There is not a man upon the earth that can shew the king's matter: therefore there is no king, lord, nor ruler, that asked such things at any magician, or astrologer, or Chaldean. 11 And it is a rare thing that the king requireth , and there is none other that can shew it before the king, except the gods, whose dwelling is not with flesh. 12 For this cause the king was angry and very furious , and commanded to destroy all the wise men of Babylon.

Dan 3:29 Therefore I make a decree, That every people, nation, and language, which speak any thing amiss against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, shall be cut in pieces, and their houses shall be made a dunghill: because there is no other God that can deliver after this sort.

Dan 4:34 And at the end of the days I Nebuchadnezzar lifted up mine eyes unto heaven, and mine understanding returned unto me, and I blessed the most High, and I praised and honoured him that liveth for ever, whose dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom is from generation to generation: 35 And all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing: and he doeth according to his will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth: and none can stay his hand, or say unto him, What doest thou? 36 At the same time my reason returned unto me; and for the glory of my kingdom, mine honour and brightness returned unto me; and my counsellors and my lords sought unto me; and I was established in my kingdom, and excellent majesty was added unto me. 37 Now I Nebuchadnezzar praise and extol and honour the King of heaven, all whose works are truth, and his ways judgment: and those that walk in pride he is able to abase .

3180-Daniel 6:10 Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed , he went into his house; and his windows being open in his chamber toward Jerusalem, he kneeled upon his knees three times a day, and prayed , and gave thanks before his God, as he did aforetime .

3181-Daniel 9:4 And I prayed unto the LORD my God, and made my confession , and said , O Lord, the great and dreadful God, keeping the covenant and mercy to them that love him, and to them that keep his commandments; 5 We have sinned , and have committed iniquity , and have done wickedly , and have rebelled , even by departing from thy precepts and from thy judgments: 6 Neither have we hearkened unto thy servants the prophets, which spake in thy name to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, and to all the people of the land. 7 O Lord, righteousness belongeth unto thee, but unto us confusion of faces, as at this day; to the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and unto all Israel, that are near, and that are far off, through all the countries whither thou hast driven them, because of their trespass that they have trespassed against thee. 8 O Lord, to us belongeth confusion of face, to our kings, to our princes, and to our fathers, because we have sinned against thee. 9 To the Lord our God belong mercies and forgivenesses, though we have rebelled against him; 10 Neither have we obeyed the voice of the LORD our God, to walk in his laws, which he set before us by his servants the prophets. 11 Yea, all Israel have transgressed thy law, even by departing , that they might not obey thy voice; therefore the curse is poured upon us, and the oath that is written in the law of Moses the servant of God, because we have sinned against him. 12 And he hath confirmed his words, which he spake against us, and against our judges that judged us, by bringing upon us a great evil: for under the whole heaven hath not been done as hath been done upon Jerusalem. 13 As it is written in the law of Moses, all this evil is come upon us: yet made we not our prayer before the LORD our God, that we might turn from our iniquities, and understand thy truth. 14 Therefore hath the LORD watched upon the evil, and brought it upon us: for the LORD our God is righteous in all his works which he doeth : for we obeyed not his voice. 15 And now, O Lord our God, that hast brought thy people forth out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand, and hast gotten thee renown, as at this day; we have sinned , we have done wickedly . 16 O Lord, according to all thy righteousness, I beseech thee, let thine anger and thy fury be turned away from thy city Jerusalem, thy holy mountain: because for our sins, and for the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and thy people are become a reproach to all that are about us. 17 Now therefore, O our God, hear the prayer of thy servant, and his supplications, and cause thy face to shine upon thy sanctuary that is desolate, for the Lord's sake. 18 O my God, incline thine ear, and hear ; open thine eyes, and behold our desolations , and the city which is called by thy name: for we do not present our supplications before thee for our righteousnesses, but for thy great mercies. 19 O Lord, hear ; O Lord, forgive ; O Lord, hearken and do ; defer not, for thine own sake, O my God: for thy city and thy people are called by thy name.

3182-Daniel 9:4 And I prayed unto the LORD my God, and made my confession , and said , O Lord, the great and dreadful God, keeping the covenant and mercy to them that love him, and to them that keep his commandments;

Revelation 12:17 And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.

Rev 14:12 Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.

3183-Daniel 9:15 And now, O Lord our God, that hast brought thy people forth out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand, and hast gotten thee renown, as at this day; we have sinned , we have done wickedly . 16 O Lord, according to all thy righteousness, I beseech thee, let thine anger and thy fury be turned away from thy city Jerusalem, thy holy mountain: because for our sins, and for the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and thy people are become a reproach to all that are about us. 17 Now therefore, O our God, hear the prayer of thy servant, and his supplications, and cause thy face to shine upon thy sanctuary that is desolate, for the Lord's sake. 18 O my God, incline thine ear, and hear ; open thine eyes, and behold our desolations , and the city which is called by thy name: for we do not present our supplications before thee for our righteousnesses, but for thy great mercies. 19 O Lord, hear ; O Lord, forgive ; O Lord, hearken and do ; defer not, for thine own sake, O my God: for thy city and thy people are called by thy name. 20 And whiles I was speaking , and praying , and confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my supplication before the LORD my God for the holy mountain of my God;

3184-Daniel 10:4 And in the four and twentieth day of the first month, as I was by the side of the great river, which is Hiddekel; 5 Then I lifted up mine eyes, and looked , and behold a certain man clothed in linen, whose loins were girded with fine gold of Uphaz: 6 His body also was like the beryl, and his face as the appearance of lightning, and his eyes as lamps of fire, and his arms and his feet like in colour to polished brass, and the voice of his words like the voice of a multitude.

3185-Daniel 8:16 And I heard a man's voice between the banks of Ulai, which called , and said , Gabriel, make this man to understand the vision.

Dan 9:21 Yea, whiles I was speaking in prayer, even the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the beginning, being caused to fly swiftly, touched me about the time of the evening oblation.

DA 234 The time of Christ’s coming, His anointing by the Holy Spirit, His death, and the giving of the gospel to the Gentiles, were definitely pointed out. It was the privilege of the Jewish people to understand these prophecies, and to recognize their fulfillment in the mission of Jesus. Christ urged upon His disciples the importance of prophetic study. Referring to the prophecy given to Daniel in regard to their time, He said, “Whoso readeth, let him understand.” Matthew 24:15. After His resurrection He explained to the disciples in “all the prophets” “the things concerning Himself.” Luke 24:27. The Saviour had spoken through all the prophets. “The Spirit of Christ which was in them” “testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow.” 1 Peter 1:11. {DA 234.1}

It was Gabriel, the angel next in rank to the Son of God, who came with the divine message to Daniel. It was Gabriel, “His angel,” whom Christ sent to open the future to the beloved John; and a blessing is pronounced on those who read and hear the words of the prophecy, and keep the things written therein. Revelation 1:3. {DA 234.2}

“The Lord God will do nothing, but He revealeth His secret unto His servants and prophets.” While “the secret things belong unto the Lord our God,” “those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children forever.” Amos 3:7; Deuteronomy 29:29. God has given these things to us, and His blessing will attend the reverent, prayerful study of the prophetic scriptures. {DA 234.3}

As the message of Christ’s first advent announced the kingdom of His grace, so the message of His second advent announces the kingdom of His glory. And the second message, like the first, is based on the prophecies. The words of the angel to Daniel relating to the last days were to be understood in the time of the end. At that time, “many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased.” “The wicked shall do wickedly: and none of the wicked shall understand; but the wise shall understand.” Daniel 12:4, 10. The Saviour Himself has given signs of His coming, and He says, “When ye see these things come to pass, know ye that the kingdom of God is nigh at hand.” “And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares.” “Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.” Luke 21:31, 34, 36. {DA 234.4}

3186-Daniel 10:13 But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me one and twenty days: but, lo, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me; and I remained there with the kings of Persia. …..21 But I will shew thee that which is noted in the scripture of truth: and there is none that holdeth with me in these things, but Michael your prince.

3187-1 Thessalonians 4:16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:

John 5:25 Verily, verily, I say unto you , The hour is coming , and now is , when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live .

3188-Revelation 1:13 And in the midst of the seven candlesticks one like unto the Son of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the paps with a golden girdle. 14 His head and his hairs were white like wool, as white as snow; and his eyes were as a flame of fire;

Daniel 7:13 I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him.

3189-Daniel 8:16 And I heard a man's voice between the banks of Ulai, which called , and said , Gabriel, make this man to understand the vision.

Dan 9:21 Yea, whiles I was speaking in prayer, even the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the beginning, being caused to fly swiftly, touched me about the time of the evening oblation.

3190-Daniel 8:11 Yea, he magnified himself even to the prince of the host, and by him the daily sacrifice was taken away , and the place of his sanctuary was cast down . …..25 And through his policy also he shall cause craft to prosper in his hand; and he shall magnify himself in his heart, and by peace shall destroy many: he shall also stand up against the Prince of princes; but he shall be broken without hand.

Dan 10:13 But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me one and twenty days: but, lo, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me; and I remained there with the kings of Persia. …..21 But I will shew thee that which is noted in the scripture of truth: and there is none that holdeth with me in these things, but Michael your prince.

Dan 12:1 And at that time shall Michael stand up , the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people: and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered , every one that shall be found written in the book.

3191-PK 571,572 Untiring in their opposition, the Samaritans “weakened the hands of the people of Judah, and troubled them in building, and hired counselors against them, to frustrate their purpose, all the days of Cyrus king of Persia, even until the reign of Darius.” Ezra 4:4, 5. By false reports they aroused suspicion in minds easily led to suspect. But for many years the powers of evil were held in check, and the people in Judea had liberty to continue their work. {PK 571.1}

While Satan was striving to influence the highest powers in the kingdom of Medo-Persia to show disfavor to God’s people, angels worked in behalf of the exiles. The controversy was one in which all heaven was interested. Through the prophet Daniel we are given a glimpse of this mighty struggle between the forces of good and the forces of evil. For three weeks Gabriel wrestled with the powers of darkness, seeking to counteract the influences at work on the mind of Cyrus; and before the contest closed, Christ Himself came to Gabriel’s aid. “The prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me one and twenty days,” Gabriel declares; “but, lo, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me; and I remained there with the kings of Persia.” Daniel 10:13. All that heaven could do in behalf of the people of God was done. The victory was finally gained; the forces of the enemy were held in check all the days of Cyrus, and all the days of his son Cambyses, who reigned about seven and a half years. {PK 571.2}

This was a time of wonderful opportunity for the Jews. The highest agencies of heaven were working on the hearts of kings, and it was for the people of God to labor with the utmost activity to carry out the decree of Cyrus. They should have spared no effort to restore the temple and its services, and to re-establish themselves in their Judean homes. But in the day of God’s power many proved unwilling. The opposition of their enemies was strong and determined, and gradually the builders lost heart. Some could not forget the scene at the laying of the cornerstone, when many had given expression to their lack of confidence in the enterprise. And as the Samaritans grew more bold, many of the Jews questioned whether, after all, the time had come to rebuild. The feeling soon became widespread. Many of the workmen, discouraged and disheartened, returned to their homes to take up the ordinary pursuits of life. {PK 572.1}

During the reign of Cambyses the work on the temple progressed slowly. And during the reign of the false Smerdis (called Artaxerxes in Ezra 4:7) the Samaritans induced the unscrupulous impostor to issue a decree forbidding the Jews to rebuild their temple and city. {PK 572.2}

3192-1 Thessalonians 4:16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:

John 5:25 Verily, verily, I say unto you , The hour is coming , and now is , when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live .

3193-Daniel 10:13 But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me one and twenty days: but, lo, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me; and I remained there with the kings of Persia. …..20 Then said he, Knowest thou wherefore I come unto thee? and now will I return to fight with the prince of Persia: and when I am gone forth , lo, the prince of Grecia shall come

Dan 12:1 And at that time shall Michael stand up , the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people: and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered , every one that shall be found written in the book.

Jude 9 Yet Michael the archangel, when contending with the devil he disputed about the body of Moses, durst not bring against him a railing accusation, but said , The Lord rebuke thee.

Revelation 12:7 And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels,

3194-Daniel 7:9 I beheld till the thrones were cast down , and the Ancient of days did sit , whose garment was white as snow, and the hair of his head like the pure wool: his throne was like the fiery flame, and his wheels as burning fire. 10 A fiery stream issued and came forth from before him: thousand thousands ministered unto him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him: the judgment was set , and the books were opened . 11 I beheld then because of the voice of the great words which the horn spake : I beheld even till the beast was slain , and his body destroyed , and given to the burning flame. 12 As concerning the rest of the beasts, they had their dominion taken away : yet their lives were prolonged for a season and time. 13 I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him. 14 And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away , and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed .

3195-Job 1:1 There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job; and that man was perfect and upright, and one that feared God, and eschewed evil. 2 And there were born unto him seven sons and three daughters. 3 His substance also was seven thousand sheep, and three thousand camels, and five hundred yoke of oxen, and five hundred she asses, and a very great household; so that this man was the greatest of all the men of the east. 4 And his sons went and feasted in their houses, every one his day; and sent and called for their three sisters to eat and to drink with them. 5 And it was so, when the days of their feasting were gone about , that Job sent and sanctified them, and rose up early in the morning, and offered burnt offerings according to the number of them all: for Job said , It may be that my sons have sinned , and cursed God in their hearts. Thus did Job continually. 6 Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan came also among them. 7 And the LORD said unto Satan, Whence comest thou? Then Satan answered the LORD, and said , From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it. 8 And the LORD said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil? 9 Then Satan answered the LORD, and said , Doth Job fear God for nought? 10 Hast not thou made an hedge about him, and about his house, and about all that he hath on every side? thou hast blessed the work of his hands, and his substance is increased in the land. 11 But put forth thine hand now, and touch all that he hath, and he will curse thee to thy face. 12 And the LORD said unto Satan, Behold, all that he hath is in thy power; only upon himself put not forth thine hand. So Satan went forth from the presence of the LORD. 13 And there was a day when his sons and his daughters were eating and drinking wine in their eldest brother's house: 14 And there came a messenger unto Job, and said , The oxen were plowing , and the asses feeding beside them: 15 And the Sabeans fell upon them, and took them away ; yea, they have slain the servants with the edge of the sword; and I only am escaped alone to tell thee. 16 While he was yet speaking , there came also another, and said , The fire of God is fallen from heaven, and hath burned up the sheep, and the servants, and consumed them; and I only am escaped alone to tell thee. 17 While he was yet speaking , there came also another, and said , The Chaldeans made out three bands, and fell upon the camels, and have carried them away , yea, and slain the servants with the edge of the sword; and I only am escaped alone to tell thee. 18 While he was yet speaking , there came also another, and said , Thy sons and thy daughters were eating and drinking wine in their eldest brother's house: 19 And, behold, there came a great wind from the wilderness, and smote the four corners of the house, and it fell upon the young men, and they are dead ; and I only am escaped alone to tell thee. 20 Then Job arose , and rent his mantle, and shaved his head, and fell down upon the ground, and worshipped , 21 And said , Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return thither: the LORD gave , and the LORD hath taken away ; blessed be the name of the LORD. 22 In all this Job sinned not, nor charged God foolishly.

Job 2:1 Again there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan came also among them to present himself before the LORD. 2 And the LORD said unto Satan, From whence comest thou? And Satan answered the LORD, and said , From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it. 3 And the LORD said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil? and still he holdeth fast his integrity, although thou movedst me against him, to destroy him without cause. 4 And Satan answered the LORD, and said , Skin for skin, yea, all that a man hath will he give for his life. 5 But put forth thine hand now, and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will curse thee to thy face. 6 And the LORD said unto Satan, Behold, he is in thine hand; but save his life. 7 So went Satan forth from the presence of the LORD, and smote Job with sore boils from the sole of his foot unto his crown. 8 And he took him a potsherd to scrape himself withal; and he sat down among the ashes. 9 Then said his wife unto him, Dost thou still retain thine integrity? curse God, and die . 10 But he said unto her, Thou speakest as one of the foolish women speaketh . What? shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil? In all this did not Job sin with his lips. 11 Now when Job's three friends heard of all this evil that was come upon him, they came every one from his own place; Eliphaz the Temanite, and Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite: for they had made an appointment together to come to mourn with him and to comfort him. 12 And when they lifted up their eyes afar off, and knew him not, they lifted up their voice, and wept ; and they rent every one his mantle, and sprinkled dust upon their heads toward heaven. 13 So they sat down with him upon the ground seven days and seven nights, and none spake a word unto him: for they saw that his grief was very great .

Zechariah 3:1 And he shewed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the LORD, and Satan standing at his right hand to resist him. 2 And the LORD said unto Satan, The LORD rebuke thee, O Satan; even the LORD that hath chosen Jerusalem rebuke thee: is not this a brand plucked out of the fire? 3 Now Joshua was clothed with filthy garments, and stood before the angel. 4 And he answered and spake unto those that stood before him, saying , Take away the filthy garments from him. And unto him he said , Behold , I have caused thine iniquity to pass from thee, and I will clothe thee with change of raiment. 5 And I said , Let them set a fair mitre upon his head. So they set a fair mitre upon his head, and clothed him with garments. And the angel of the LORD stood by .

Revelation 12:10 And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down , which accused them before our God day and night.

3196-Romans 3:4 Certainly not! God must be true, even though all human beings are liars. As the scripture says, "You must be shown to be right when you speak; you must win your case when you are being tried."

3197-Psalms 19:9 Reverence for the Lord is good; it will continue forever. The judgments of the Lord are just; they are always fair.

3198-Daniel 12:1 The angel wearing linen clothes said, "At that time the great angel Michael, who guards your people, will appear. Then there will be a time of troubles, the worst since nations first came into existence. When that time comes, all the people of your nation whose names are written in God's book will be saved. 2 Many of those who have already died will live again: some will enjoy eternal life, and some will suffer eternal disgrace. 3 The wise leaders will shine with all the brightness of the sky. And those who have taught many people to do what is right will shine like the stars forever." 4 He said to me, "And now, Daniel, close the book and put a seal on it until the end of the world. Meanwhile, many people will waste their efforts trying to understand what is happening." 5 Then I saw two men standing by a river, one on each bank. 6 One of them asked the angel who was standing further upstream, "How long will it be until these amazing events come to an end?" 7 The angel raised both hands toward the sky and made a solemn promise in the name of the Eternal God. I heard him say, "It will be three and a half years. When the persecution of God's people ends, all these things will have happened." 8 I heard what he said, but I did not understand it. So I asked, "But, sir, how will it all end?" 9 He answered, "You must go now, Daniel, because these words are to be kept secret and hidden until the end comes. 10 Many people will be purified. Those who are wicked will not understand but will go on being wicked; only those who are wise will understand. 11 "From the time the daily sacrifices are stopped, that is, from the time of The Awful Horror, 1,290 days will pass. 12 Happy are those who remain faithful until 1,335 days are over! 13 "And you, Daniel, be faithful to the end. Then you will die, but you will rise to receive your reward at the end of time."

3199-2 Kin. 25:27 In the year that Evilmerodach became king of Babylonia, he showed kindness to King Jehoiachin of Judah by releasing him from prison. This happened on the twenty-seventh day of the twelfth month of the thirty-seventh year after Jehoiachin had been taken away as prisoner.

3200-Daniel 5:25 "This is what was written: "Number, number, weight, divisions.' 26 And this is what it means: [number, ]God has numbered the days of your kingdom and brought it to an end; 27 [weight, ]you have been weighed on the scales and found to be too light; 28 [divisions, ]your kingdom is divided up and given to the Medes and Persians."

3201-Hosea 1:3 So Hosea married a woman named Gomer, the daughter of Diblaim. After the birth of their first child, a son, 4 the Lord said to Hosea, "Name him "Jezreel,' because it will not be long before I punish the king of Israel for the murders that his ancestor Jehu committed at Jezreel. I am going to put an end to Jehu's dynasty.

3202-Hosea 1:3 So Hosea married a woman named Gomer, the daughter of Diblaim. After the birth of their first child, a son, 4 the Lord said to Hosea, "Name him "Jezreel,' because it will not be long before I punish the king of Israel for the murders that his ancestor Jehu committed at Jezreel. I am going to put an end to Jehu's dynasty. 5 And in Jezreel Valley I will at that time destroy Israel's military power." 6 Gomer had a second child - this time it was a daughter. The Lord said to Hosea, "Name her "Unloved,' because I will no longer show love to the people of Israel or forgive them. 7 But to the people of Judah I will show love. I, the Lord their God, will save them, but I will not do it by war - with swords or bows and arrows or with horses and horsemen." 8 After Gomer had weaned her daughter, she became pregnant again and had another son. 9 The Lord said to Hosea, "Name him "Not-My-People,' because the people of Israel are not my people, and I am not their God."

3203-Hosea 7:5 On the day of the king's celebration they made the king and his officials drunk and foolish with wine.

3204-Isaiah 1:1 This book contains the messages about Judah and Jerusalem which God revealed to Isaiah son of Amoz during the time when Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah were kings of Judah.

Amos 1:1 These are the words of Amos, a shepherd from the town of Tekoa. Two years before the earthquake, when Uzziah was king of Judah and Jeroboam son of Jehoash was king of Israel, God revealed to Amos all these things about Israel.

Micah 1:1 During the time that Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah were kings of Judah, the Lord gave this message to Micah, who was from the town of Moresheth. The Lord revealed to Micah all these things about Samaria and Jerusalem.

3205-Hosea 2:19 Israel, I will make you my wife; I will be true and faithful; I will show you constant love and mercy and make you mine forever.

Hos. 4:1 The Lord has an accusation to bring against the people who live in this land. Listen, Israel, to what he says: "There is no faithfulness or love in the land, and the people do not acknowledge me as God.

Hos. 6:4 But the Lord says, "Israel and Judah, what am I going to do with you? Your love for me disappears as quickly as morning mist; it is like dew, that vanishes early in the day. 5 That is why I have sent my prophets to you with my message of judgment and destruction. What I want from you is plain and clear: 6 I want your constant love, not your animal sacrifices. I would rather have my people know me than burn offerings to me.

Hos. 10:12 I said, "Plow new ground for yourselves, plant righteousness, and reap the blessings that your devotion to me will produce. It is time for you to turn to me, your Lord, and I will come and pour out blessings upon you.'

Hos. 12:6 So now, descendants of Jacob, trust in your God and return to him. Be loyal and just, and wait patiently for your God to act.

3206-Hosea 9:15 The Lord says, "All their evildoing began in Gilgal. It was there that I began to hate them. And because of the evil they have done, I will drive them out of my land. I will not love them any more; all their leaders have rebelled against me.

3207-2 Kings 17:7 Samaria fell because the Israelites sinned against the Lord their God, who had rescued them from the king of Egypt and had led them out of Egypt. They worshiped other gods, 8 followed the customs of the people whom the Lord had driven out as his people advanced, and adopted customs introduced by the kings of Israel. 9 The Israelites did things that the Lord their God disapproved of. They built pagan places of worship in all their towns, from the smallest village to the largest city. 10 On all the hills and under every shady tree they put up stone pillars and images of the goddess Asherah, 11 and they burned incense on all the pagan altars, following the practice of the people whom the Lord had driven out of the land. They aroused the Lord's anger with all their wicked deeds 12 and disobeyed the Lord's command not to worship idols. 13 The Lord had sent his messengers and prophets to warn Israel and Judah: "Abandon your evil ways and obey my commands, which are contained in the Law I gave to your ancestors and which I handed on to you through my servants the prophets." 14 But they would not obey; they were stubborn like their ancestors, who had not trusted in the Lord their God. 15 They refused to obey his instructions, they did not keep the covenant he had made with their ancestors, and they disregarded his warnings. They worshiped worthless idols and became worthless themselves, and they followed the customs of the surrounding nations, disobeying the Lord's command not to imitate them. 16 They broke all the laws of the Lord their God and made two metal bull-calves to worship; they also made an image of the goddess Asherah, worshiped the stars, and served the god Baal. 17 They sacrificed their sons and daughters as burnt offerings to pagan gods; they consulted mediums and fortunetellers, and they devoted themselves completely to doing what is wrong in the Lord's sight, and so aroused his anger. 18 The Lord was angry with the Israelites and banished them from his sight, leaving only the kingdom of Judah. 19 But even the people of Judah did not obey the laws of the Lord their God; they imitated the customs adopted by the people of Israel. 20 The Lord rejected all the Israelites, punishing them and handing them over to cruel enemies until at last he had banished them from his sight.

3208-Ezekiel 16:1 The Lord spoke to me again. 2 "Mortal man," he said, "point out to Jerusalem what disgusting things she has done. 3 Tell Jerusalem what the Sovereign Lord is saying to her: "You were born in the land of Canaan. Your father was an Amorite, and your mother was a Hittite. 4 When you were born, no one cut your umbilical cord or washed you or rubbed you with salt or wrapped you in cloths. 5 No one took enough pity on you to do any of these things for you. When you were born, no one loved you. You were thrown out in an open field. 6 "Then I passed by and saw you squirming in your own blood. You were covered with blood, but I wouldn't let you die. 7 I made you grow like a healthy plant. You grew strong and tall and became a young woman. Your breasts were well-formed, and your hair had grown, but you were naked. 8 "As I passed by again, I saw that the time had come for you to fall in love. I covered your naked body with my coat and promised to love you. Yes, I made a marriage covenant with you, and you became mine." This is what the Sovereign Lord says. 9 "Then I took water and washed the blood off you. I rubbed olive oil on your skin. 10 I dressed you in embroidered gowns and gave you shoes of the best leather, a linen headband, and a silk cloak. 11 I put jewels on you - bracelets and necklaces. 12 I gave you a nose ring and earrings and a beautiful crown to wear. 13 You had ornaments of gold and silver, and you always wore clothes of embroidered linen and silk. You ate bread made from the best flour, and had honey and olive oil to eat. Your beauty was dazzling, and you became a queen. 14 You became famous in every nation for your perfect beauty, because I was the one who made you so lovely." This is what the Sovereign Lord says. 15 "But you took advantage of your beauty and fame to sleep with everyone who came along. 16 You used some of your clothes to decorate your places of worship, and just like a prostitute, you gave yourself to everyone. 17 You took the silver and gold jewelry that I had given you, used it to make male images, and committed adultery with them. 18 You took the embroidered clothes I gave you and put them on the images, and you offered to the images the olive oil and incense I had given you. 19 I gave you food - the best flour, olive oil, and honey - but you offered it as a sacrifice to win the favor of idols." This is what the Sovereign Lord says. 20 "Then you took the sons and the daughters you had borne me and offered them as sacrifices to idols. Wasn't it bad enough to be unfaithful to me, 21 without taking my children and sacrificing them to idols? 22 During your disgusting life as a prostitute you never once remembered your childhood - when you were naked, squirming in your own blood." 23 The Sovereign Lord said, "You are doomed! Doomed! You did all that evil, and then 24 by the side of every road you built places to worship idols and practice prostitution. 25 You dragged your beauty through the mud. You offered yourself to everyone who came by, and you were more of a prostitute every day. 26 You let your lustful neighbors, the Egyptians, go to bed with you, and you used your prostitution to make me angry. 27 "Now I have raised my hand to punish you and to take away your share of my blessing. I have handed you over to the Philistines, who hate you and are disgusted with your immoral actions. 28 "Because you were not satisfied by the others, you went running after the Assyrians. You were their prostitute, but they didn't satisfy you either. 29 You were also a prostitute for the Babylonians, that nation of merchants, but they didn't satisfy you either." 30 This is what the Sovereign Lord is saying: "You have done all this like a shameless prostitute. 31 On every street you built places to worship idols and practice prostitution. But you are not out for money like a common prostitute. 32 You are like a woman who commits adultery with strangers instead of loving her husband. 33 A prostitute is paid, but you gave presents to all your lovers and bribed them to come from everywhere to sleep with you. 34 You are a special kind of prostitute. No one forced you to become one. You didn't get paid; you paid them! Yes, you are different." 35 Now then, Jerusalem, you whore! Hear what the Lord is saying. 36 This is what the Sovereign Lord says: "You stripped off your clothes, and like a prostitute, you gave yourself to your lovers and to all your disgusting idols, and you killed your children as sacrifices to idols. 37 Because of this I will bring all your former lovers together - the ones you liked and the ones you hated. I will bring them around you in a circle, and then I will strip off your clothes and let them see you naked. 38 I will condemn you for adultery and murder, and in my anger and fury I will punish you with death. 39 I will put you in their power, and they will tear down the places where you engage in prostitution and worship idols. They will take away your clothes and jewels and leave you completely naked. 40 "They will stir up a crowd to stone you, and they will cut you to pieces with their swords. 41 They will burn your houses down and let crowds of women see your punishment. I will make you stop being a prostitute and make you stop giving gifts to your lovers. 42 Then my anger will be over, and I will be calm. I will not be angry or jealous any more. 43 You have forgotten how I treated you when you were young, and you have made me angry by all the things you did. That is why I have made you pay for them all. Why did you add sexual immorality to all the other disgusting things you did?" The Sovereign Lord has spoken. 44 The Lord said, "People will use this proverb about you, Jerusalem: "Like mother, like daughter.' 45 You really are your mother's daughter. She detested her husband and her children. You are like your sisters, who hated their husbands and their children. You and your sister cities had a Hittite mother and an Amorite father. 46 "Your older sister, with her villages, is Samaria, in the north. Your younger sister, with her villages, is Sodom, in the south. 47 Were you satisfied to follow in their footsteps and copy their disgusting actions? No, in only a little while you were acting worse than they were in everything you did. 48 "As surely as I am the living God," the Sovereign Lord says, "your sister Sodom and her villages never did the evil that you and your villages have done. 49 She and her daughters were proud because they had plenty to eat and lived in peace and quiet, but they did not take care of the poor and the underprivileged. 50 They were proud and stubborn and did the things that I hate, so I destroyed them, as you well know. 51 "Samaria did not sin half as much as you have. You have acted more disgustingly than she ever did. Your corruption makes your sisters look innocent by comparison. 52 And now you will have to endure your disgrace. Your sins are so much worse than those of your sisters that they look innocent beside you. Now blush and bear your shame, because you make your sisters look pure." 53 The Lord said to Jerusalem, "I will make them prosperous again - Sodom and her villages and Samaria and her villages. Yes, I will make you prosperous too. 54 You will be ashamed of yourself, and your disgrace will show your sisters how well-off they are. 55 They will become prosperous again, and you and your villages will also be restored. 56 Didn't you joke about Sodom in those days when you were proud 57 and before the evil you did had been exposed? Now you are just like her - a joke to the Edomites, the Philistines, and your other neighbors who hate you. 58 You must suffer for the obscene, disgusting things you have done." The Lord has spoken. 59 The Sovereign Lord says, "I will treat you the way you deserve, because you ignored your promises and broke the covenant. 60 But I will honor the covenant I made with you when you were young, and I will make a covenant with you that will last forever. 61 You will remember how you have acted, and be ashamed of it when you get your older sister and your younger sister back. I will let them be like daughters to you, even though this was not part of my covenant with you. 62 I will renew my covenant with you, and you will know that I am the Lord. 63 I will forgive all the wrongs you have done, but you will remember them and be too ashamed to open your mouth." The Sovereign Lord has spoken.

Jeremiah 31:27 "I, the Lord, say that the time is coming when I will fill the land of Israel and Judah with people and animals. 28 And just as I took care to uproot, to pull down, to overthrow, to destroy, and to demolish them, so I will take care to plant them and to build them up. 29 When that time comes, people will no longer say, "The parents ate the sour grapes, But the children got the sour taste.' 30 Instead, those who eat sour grapes will have their own teeth set on edge; and everyone will die because of their own sin." 31 The Lord says, "The time is coming when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and with the people of Judah. 32 It will not be like the old covenant that I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand and led them out of Egypt. Although I was like a husband to them, they did not keep that covenant. 33 The new covenant that I will make with the people of Israel will be this: I will put my law within them and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. 34 None of them will have to teach a neighbor to know the Lord, because all will know me, from the least to the greatest. I will forgive their sins and I will no longer remember their wrongs. I, the Lord, have spoken."

Ephesians 5:21 Submit yourselves to one another because of your reverence for Christ. 22 Wives, submit yourselves to your husbands as to the Lord. 23 For a husband has authority over his wife just as Christ has authority over the church; and Christ is himself the Savior of the church, his body. 24 And so wives must submit themselves completely to their husbands just as the church submits itself to Christ. 25 Husbands, love your wives just as Christ loved the church and gave his life for it. 26 He did this to dedicate the church to God by his word, after making it clean by washing it in water, 27 in order to present the church to himself in all its beauty - pure and faultless, without spot or wrinkle or any other imperfection. 28 Men ought to love their wives just as they love their own bodies. A man who loves his wife loves himself 29 (None of us ever hate our own bodies. Instead, we feed them, and take care of them, just as Christ does the church; 30 for we are members of his body.) 31 As the scripture says, "For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and unite with his wife, and the two will become one." 32 There is a deep secret truth revealed in this scripture, which I understand as applying to Christ and the church. 33 But it also applies to you: every husband must love his wife as himself, and every wife must respect her husband.

Revelation 21:1 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth. The first heaven and the first earth disappeared, and the sea vanished. 2 And I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared and ready, like a bride dressed to meet her husband. 3 I heard a loud voice speaking from the throne: "Now God's home is with people! He will live with them, and they shall be his people. God himself will be with them, and he will be their God.

3209-Exodus 20:18 When the people heard the thunder and the trumpet blast and saw the lightning and the smoking mountain, they trembled with fear and stood a long way off. 19 They said to Moses, "If you speak to us, we will listen; but we are afraid that if God speaks to us, we will die." 20 Moses replied, "Don't be afraid; God has only come to test you and make you keep on obeying him, so that you will not sin."

Exodus 32:1 When the people saw that Moses had not come down from the mountain but was staying there a long time, they gathered around Aaron and said to him, "We do not know what has happened to this man Moses, who led us out of Egypt; so make us a god to lead us." 2 Aaron said to them, "Take off the gold earrings which your wives, your sons, and your daughters are wearing, and bring them to me." 3 So all the people took off their gold earrings and brought them to Aaron. 4 He took the earrings, melted them, poured the gold into a mold, and made a gold bull-calf. The people said, "Israel, this is our god, who led us out of Egypt!" 5 Then Aaron built an altar in front of the gold bull-calf and announced, "Tomorrow there will be a festival to honor the Lord." 6 Early the next morning they brought some animals to burn as sacrifices and others to eat as fellowship offerings. The people sat down to a feast, which turned into an orgy of drinking and sex. 7 The Lord said to Moses, "Hurry and go back down, because your people, whom you led out of Egypt, have sinned and rejected me. 8 They have already left the way that I commanded them to follow; they have made a bull-calf out of melted gold and have worshiped it and offered sacrifices to it. They are saying that this is their god, who led them out of Egypt. 9 I know how stubborn these people are. 10 Now, don't try to stop me. I am angry with them, and I am going to destroy them. Then I will make you and your descendants into a great nation." 11 But Moses pleaded with the Lord his God and said, "Lord, why should you be so angry with your people, whom you rescued from Egypt with great might and power? 12 Why should the Egyptians be able to say that you led your people out of Egypt, planning to kill them in the mountains and destroy them completely? Stop being angry; change your mind and do not bring this disaster on your people. 13 Remember your servants Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Remember the solemn promise you made to them to give them as many descendants as there are stars in the sky and to give their descendants all that land you promised would be their possession forever." 14 So the Lord changed his mind and did not bring on his people the disaster he had threatened. 15 Moses went back down the mountain, carrying the two stone tablets with the commandments written on both sides. 16 God himself had made the tablets and had engraved the commandments on them. 17 Joshua heard the people shouting and said to Moses, "I hear the sound of battle in the camp." 18 Moses said, "That doesn't sound like a shout of victory or a cry of defeat; it's the sound of singing." 19 When Moses came close enough to the camp to see the bull-calf and to see the people dancing, he became furious. There at the foot of the mountain, he threw down the tablets he was carrying and broke them. 20 He took the bull-calf which they had made, melted it, ground it into fine powder, and mixed it with water. Then he made the people of Israel drink it. 21 He said to Aaron, "What did these people do to you, that you have made them commit such a terrible sin?" 22 Aaron answered, "Don't be angry with me; you know how determined these people are to do evil. 23 They said to me, "We don't know what has happened to this man Moses, who brought us out of Egypt; so make us a god to lead us.' 24 I asked them to bring me their gold ornaments, and those who had any took them off and gave them to me. I threw the ornaments into the fire and out came this bull-calf!" 25 Moses saw that Aaron had let the people get out of control and make fools of themselves in front of their enemies. 26 So he stood at the gate of the camp and shouted, "Everyone who is on the Lord's side come over here!" So all the Levites gathered around him, 27 and he said to them, "The Lord God of Israel commands every one of you to put on your sword and go through the camp from this gate to the other and kill your brothers, your friends, and your neighbors." 28 The Levites obeyed, and killed about three thousand men that day. 29 Moses said to the Levites, "Today you have consecrated yourselves as priests in the service of the Lord by killing your sons and brothers, so the Lord has given you his blessing." 30 The next day Moses said to the people, "You have committed a terrible sin. But now I will again go up the mountain to the Lord; perhaps I can obtain forgiveness for your sin." 31 Moses then returned to the Lord and said, "These people have committed a terrible sin. They have made a god out of gold and worshiped it. 32 Please forgive their sin; but if you won't, then remove my name from the book in which you have written the names of your people." 33 The Lord answered, "It is those who have sinned against me whose names I will remove from my book. 34 Now go, lead the people to the place I told you about. Remember that my angel will guide you, but the time is coming when I will punish these people for their sin." 35 So the Lord sent a disease on the people, because they had caused Aaron to make the gold bull-calf.

3210-Genesis 22:1 Some time later God tested Abraham; he called to him, "Abraham!" And Abraham answered, "Yes, here I am!" 2 "Take your son," God said, "your only son, Isaac, whom you love so much, and go to the land of Moriah. There on a mountain that I will show you, offer him as a sacrifice to me." 3 Early the next morning Abraham cut some wood for the sacrifice, loaded his donkey, and took Isaac and two servants with him. They started out for the place that God had told him about. 4 On the third day Abraham saw the place in the distance. 5 Then he said to the servants, "Stay here with the donkey. The boy and I will go over there and worship, and then we will come back to you." 6 Abraham made Isaac carry the wood for the sacrifice, and he himself carried a knife and live coals for starting the fire. As they walked along together, 7 Isaac spoke up, "Father!" He answered, "Yes, my son?" Isaac asked, "I see that you have the coals and the wood, but where is the lamb for the sacrifice?" 8 Abraham answered, "God himself will provide one." And the two of them walked on together. 9 When they came to the place which God had told him about, Abraham built an altar and arranged the wood on it. He tied up his son and placed him on the altar, on top of the wood. 10 Then he picked up the knife to kill him. 11 But the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven, "Abraham, Abraham!" He answered, "Yes, here I am." 12 "Don't hurt the boy or do anything to him," he said. "Now I know that you honor and obey God, because you have not kept back your only son from him." 13 Abraham looked around and saw a ram caught in a bush by its horns. He went and got it and offered it as a burnt offering instead of his son. 14 Abraham named that place "The Lord Provides." And even today people say, "On the Lord's mountain he provides." 15 The angel of the Lord called to Abraham from heaven a second time, 16 "I make a vow by my own name - the Lord is speaking - that I will richly bless you. Because you did this and did not keep back your only son from me, 17 I promise that I will give you as many descendants as there are stars in the sky or grains of sand along the seashore. Your descendants will conquer their enemies. 18 All the nations will ask me to bless them as I have blessed your descendants - all because you obeyed my command." 19 Abraham went back to his servants, and they went together to Beersheba, where Abraham settled. 20 Some time later Abraham learned that Milcah had borne eight children to his brother Nahor: 21 Uz the first-born, Buz his brother, Kemuel the father of Aram, 22 Chesed, Hazo, Pildash, Jidlaph, and Bethuel, 23 Rebecca's father. Milcah bore these eight sons to Nahor, Abraham's brother. 24 Reumah, Nahor's concubine, bore Tebah, Gaham, Tahash, and Maacah.

3211-Acts 10:9 The next day, as they were on their way and coming near Joppa, Peter went up on the roof of the house about noon in order to pray. 10 He became hungry and wanted something to eat; while the food was being prepared, he had a vision. 11 He saw heaven opened and something coming down that looked like a large sheet being lowered by its four corners to the earth. 12 In it were all kinds of animals, reptiles, and wild birds. 13 A voice said to him, "Get up, Peter; kill and eat!" 14 But Peter said, "Certainly not, Lord! I have never eaten anything ritually unclean or defiled." 15 The voice spoke to him again, "Do not consider anything unclean that God has declared clean." 16 This happened three times, and then the thing was taken back up into heaven.

3212-2 Kings 17:7 Samaria fell because the Israelites sinned against the Lord their God, who had rescued them from the king of Egypt and had led them out of Egypt. They worshiped other gods, 8 followed the customs of the people whom the Lord had driven out as his people advanced, and adopted customs introduced by the kings of Israel. 9 The Israelites did things that the Lord their God disapproved of. They built pagan places of worship in all their towns, from the smallest village to the largest city. 10 On all the hills and under every shady tree they put up stone pillars and images of the goddess Asherah, 11 and they burned incense on all the pagan altars, following the practice of the people whom the Lord had driven out of the land. They aroused the Lord's anger with all their wicked deeds 12 and disobeyed the Lord's command not to worship idols. 13 The Lord had sent his messengers and prophets to warn Israel and Judah: "Abandon your evil ways and obey my commands, which are contained in the Law I gave to your ancestors and which I handed on to you through my servants the prophets." 14 But they would not obey; they were stubborn like their ancestors, who had not trusted in the Lord their God. 15 They refused to obey his instructions, they did not keep the covenant he had made with their ancestors, and they disregarded his warnings. They worshiped worthless idols and became worthless themselves, and they followed the customs of the surrounding nations, disobeying the Lord's command not to imitate them. 16 They broke all the laws of the Lord their God and made two metal bull-calves to worship; they also made an image of the goddess Asherah, worshiped the stars, and served the god Baal. 17 They sacrificed their sons and daughters as burnt offerings to pagan gods; they consulted mediums and fortunetellers, and they devoted themselves completely to doing what is wrong in the Lord's sight, and so aroused his anger. 18 The Lord was angry with the Israelites and banished them from his sight, leaving only the kingdom of Judah.

Hosea 4:11 The Lord says, "Wine, both old and new, is robbing my people of their senses! 12 They ask for revelations from a piece of wood! A stick tells them what they want to know! They have left me. Like a woman who becomes a prostitute, they have given themselves to other gods. 13 At sacred places on the mountaintops they offer sacrifices, and on the hills they burn incense under tall, spreading trees, because the shade is so pleasant! "As a result, your daughters serve as prostitutes, and your daughters-in-law commit adultery. 14 Yet I will not punish them for this, because you yourselves go off with temple prostitutes, and together with them you offer pagan sacrifices. As the proverb says, "A people without sense will be ruined.'

3213-Isaiah 7:1 When King Ahaz, the son of Jotham and grandson of Uzziah, ruled Judah, war broke out. Rezin, king of Syria, and Pekah son of Remaliah, king of Israel, attacked Jerusalem, but were unable to capture it. 2 When word reached the king of Judah that the armies of Syria were already in the territory of Israel, he and all his people were so terrified that they trembled like trees shaking in the wind. 3 The Lord said to Isaiah, "Take your son Shear Jashub, and go to meet King Ahaz. You will find him on the road where the cloth makers work, at the end of the ditch that brings water from the upper pool. 4 Tell him to keep alert, to stay calm, and not to be frightened or disturbed. The anger of King Rezin and his Syrians and of King Pekah is no more dangerous than the smoke from two smoldering sticks of wood. 5 Syria, together with Israel and its king, has made a plot. 6 They intend to invade Judah, terrify the people into joining their side, and then put Tabeel's son on the throne. 7 "But I, the Lord, declare that this will never happen. 8 Why? Because Syria is no stronger than Damascus, its capital city, and Damascus is no stronger than King Rezin. As for Israel, within sixty-five years it will be too shattered to survive as a nation. 9 Israel is no stronger than Samaria, its capital city, and Samaria is no stronger than King Pekah. "If your faith is not enduring, you will not endure." 10 The Lord sent another message to Ahaz: 11 "Ask the Lord your God to give you a sign. It can be from deep in the world of the dead or from high up in heaven." 12 Ahaz answered, "I will not ask for a sign. I refuse to put the Lord to the test." 13 To that Isaiah replied, "Listen, now, descendants of King David. It's bad enough for you to wear out the patience of people - do you have to wear out God's patience too? 14 Well then, the Lord himself will give you a sign: a young woman who is pregnant will have a son and will name him "Immanuel.' 15 By the time he is old enough to make his own decisions, people will be drinking milk and eating honey. 16 Even before that time comes, the lands of those two kings who terrify you will be deserted. 17 "The Lord is going to bring on you, on your people, and on the whole royal family, days of trouble worse than any that have come since the kingdom of Israel separated from Judah - he is going to bring the king of Assyria. 18 "When that time comes, the Lord will whistle as a signal for the Egyptians to come like flies from the farthest branches of the Nile, and for the Assyrians to come from their land like bees. 19 They will swarm in the rugged valleys and in the caves in the rocks, and they will cover every thorn bush and every pasture. 20 "When that time comes, the Lord will hire a barber from across the Euphrates - the emperor of Assyria! - and he will shave off your beards and the hair on your heads and your bodies. 21 "When that time comes, even if a farmer has been able to save only one young cow and two goats, 22 they will give so much milk that he will have all he needs. Yes, the few survivors left in the land will have milk and honey to eat. 23 "When that time comes, the fine vineyards, each with a thousand vines and each worth a thousand pieces of silver, will be overgrown with thorn bushes and briers. 24 People will go hunting there with bows and arrows. Yes, the whole country will be full of briers and thorn bushes. 25 All the hills where crops were once planted will be so overgrown with thorns that no one will go there. It will be a place where cattle and sheep graze."

Isaiah 8: 1 The Lord said to me, "Take a large piece of writing material and write on it in large letters: "Quick Loot, Fast Plunder.' 2 Get two reliable men, the priest Uriah and Zechariah son of Jeberechiah, to serve as witnesses." 3 Some time later my wife became pregnant. When our son was born, the Lord said to me, "Name him "Quick-Loot-Fast-Plunder.' 4 Before the boy is old enough to say "Mamma' and "Daddy,' all the wealth of Damascus and all the loot of Samaria will be carried off by the king of Assyria." 5 The Lord spoke to me again. 6 He said, "Because these people have rejected the quiet waters of Shiloah Brook and tremble before King Rezin and King Pekah, 7 I, the Lord, will bring the emperor of Assyria and all his forces to attack Judah. They will advance like the flood waters of the Euphrates River, overflowing all its banks. 8 They will sweep through Judah in a flood, rising shoulder high and covering everything." God is with us! His outspread wings protect the land. 9 Gather together in fear, you nations! Listen, you distant parts of the earth. Get ready to fight, but be afraid! Yes, get ready, but be afraid! 10 Make your plans! But they will never succeed. Talk all you want to! But it is all useless, because God is with us. 11 With his great power the Lord warned me not to follow the road which the people were following. He said, 12 "Do not join in the schemes of the people and do not be afraid of the things that they fear. 13 Remember that I, the Lord Almighty, am holy; I am the one you must fear. 14 Because of my awesome holiness I am like a stone that people stumble over; I am like a trap that will catch the people of the kingdoms of Judah and Israel and the people of Jerusalem. 15 Many will stumble; they will fall and be crushed. They will be caught in a trap." 16 You, my disciples, are to guard and preserve the messages that God has given me. 17 The Lord has hidden himself from his people, but I trust him and place my hope in him. 18 Here I am with the children the Lord has given me. The Lord Almighty, whose throne is on Mount Zion, has sent us as living messages to the people of Israel. 19 But people will tell you to ask for messages from fortunetellers and mediums, who chirp and mutter. They will say, "After all, people should ask for messages from the spirits and consult the dead on behalf of the living." 20 You are to answer them, "Listen to what the Lord is teaching you! Don't listen to mediums - what they tell you cannot keep trouble away." 21 The people will wander through the land, discouraged and hungry. In their hunger and their anger they will curse their king and their God. They may look up to the sky 22 or stare at the ground, but they will see nothing but trouble and darkness, terrifying darkness into which they are being driven.

Jeremiah 27:1 Soon after Josiah's son Zedekiah became king of Judah, the Lord told me 2 to make myself a yoke out of leather straps and wooden crossbars and to put it on my neck. 3 Then the Lord told me to send a message to the kings of Edom, Moab, Ammon, Tyre, and Sidon through their ambassadors who had come to Jerusalem to see King Zedekiah. 4 The Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, told me to command them to tell their kings that the Lord had said: 5 "By my great power and strength I created the world, human beings, and all the animals that live on the earth; and I give it to anyone I choose. 6 I am the one who has placed all these nations under the power of my servant, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia, and I have made even the wild animals serve him. 7 All nations will serve him, and they will serve his son and his grandson until the time comes for his own nation to fall. Then his nation will serve powerful nations and great kings. 8 "But if any nation or kingdom will not submit to his rule, then I will punish that nation by war, starvation, and disease until I have let Nebuchadnezzar destroy it completely. 9 Do not listen to your prophets or to those who claim they can predict the future, either by dreams or by calling up the spirits of the dead or by magic. They all tell you not to submit to the king of Babylonia. 10 They are deceiving you and will cause you to be taken far away from your country. I will drive you out, and you will be destroyed. 11 But if any nation submits to the king of Babylonia and serves him, then I will let it stay on in its own land, to farm it and live there. I, the Lord, have spoken." 12 I said the same thing to King Zedekiah of Judah, "Submit to the king of Babylonia. Serve him and his people, and you will live. 13 Why should you and your people die in war or of starvation or disease? That is what the Lord has said will happen to any nation that does not submit to the king of Babylonia. 14 Do not listen to the prophets who tell you not to surrender to him. They are deceiving you. 15 The Lord himself has said that he did not send them and that they are lying to you in his name. And so he will drive you out, and you will be killed, you and the prophets who are telling you these lies." 16 Then I told the priests and the people that the Lord had said: "Do not listen to the prophets who say that the Temple treasures will soon be brought back from Babylonia. They are lying to you. 17 Don't listen to them! Submit to the king of Babylonia and you will live! Why should this city become a pile of ruins? 18 If they are really prophets and if they have my message, let them ask me, the Lord Almighty, not to allow the treasures that remain in the Temple and in the royal palace to be taken to Babylonia." 19 (When King Nebuchadnezzar took away to Babylonia the king of Judah, Jehoiachin son of Jehoiakim, and the leading men of Judah and Jerusalem, he left the columns, the bronze tank, the carts, and some of the other Temple treasures.) 21 "Listen to what I, the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, say about the treasures that are left in the Temple and in the royal palace in Jerusalem: 22 They will be taken to Babylonia and will remain there until I turn my attention to them. Then I will bring them back and restore them to this place. I, the Lord, have spoken."

Jeremiah 32:1 The Lord spoke to me in the tenth year that Zedekiah was king of Judah, which was also the eighteenth year of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia. 2 At that time the army of the king of Babylonia was attacking Jerusalem, and I was locked up in the courtyard of the royal palace. 3 King Zedekiah had imprisoned me there and had accused me of announcing that the Lord had said, "I am going to let the king of Babylonia capture this city, 4 and King Zedekiah will not escape. He will be handed over to the king of Babylonia; he will see him face-to-face and will speak to him in person. 5 Zedekiah will be taken to Babylonia, and he will remain there until I deal with him. Even if he fights the Babylonians, he will not be successful. I, the Lord, have spoken." 6 The Lord told me 7 that Hanamel, my uncle Shallum's son, would come to me with the request to buy his field at Anathoth in the territory of Benjamin, because I was his nearest relative and had the right to buy it for myself. 8 Then, just as the Lord had said, Hanamel came to me there in the courtyard and asked me to buy the field. So I knew that the Lord had really spoken to me. 9 I bought the field from Hanamel and weighed out the money to him; the price came to seventeen pieces of silver. 10 I signed and sealed the deed, had it witnessed, and weighed out the money on scales. 11 Then I took both copies of the deed of purchase - the sealed copy containing the contract and its conditions, and the open copy - 12 and gave them to Baruch, the son of Neriah and grandson of Mahseiah. I gave them to him in the presence of Hanamel and of the witnesses who had signed the deed of purchase and of the people who were sitting in the courtyard. 13 Before them all I said to Baruch, 14 "The Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, has ordered you to take these deeds, both the sealed deed of purchase and the open copy, and to place them in a clay jar, so that they may be preserved for years to come. 15 The Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, has said that houses, fields, and vineyards will again be bought in this land." 16 After I had given the deed of purchase to Baruch, I prayed, 17 "Sovereign Lord, you made the earth and the sky by your great power and might; nothing is too difficult for you. 18 You have shown constant love to thousands, but you also punish people for the sins of their parents. You are a great and powerful God; you are the Lord Almighty. 19 You make wise plans and do mighty things; you see everything that people do, and you reward them according to their actions. 20 Long ago you performed miracles and wonders in Egypt, and you have continued to perform them to this day, both in Israel and among all the other nations, so that you are now known everywhere. 21 By means of miracles and wonders that terrified our enemies, you used your power and might to bring your people Israel out of Egypt. 22 You gave them this rich and fertile land, as you had promised their ancestors. 23 But when they came into this land and took possession of it, they did not obey your commands or live according to your teaching; they did nothing that you had ordered them to do. And so you brought all this destruction on them. 24 "The Babylonians have built siege mounds around the city to capture it, and they are attacking. War, starvation, and disease will make the city fall into their hands. You can see that all you have said has come true. 25 Yet, Sovereign Lord, you are the one who ordered me to buy the field in the presence of witnesses, even though the city is about to be captured by the Babylonians." 26 Then the Lord said to me, 27 "I am the Lord, the God of all people. Nothing is too difficult for me. 28 I am going to give this city over to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia and his army; they will capture it 29 and set it on fire. They will burn it down, together with the houses where people have made me angry by burning incense to Baal on the rooftops and by pouring out wine offerings to other gods. 30 From the very beginning of their history the people of Israel and the people of Judah have displeased me and made me angry by what they have done. 31 The people of this city have made me angry and furious from the day it was built. I have decided to destroy it 32 because of all the evil that has been done by the people of Judah and Jerusalem, together with their kings and leaders, their priests and prophets. 33 They turned their backs on me; and though I kept on teaching them, they would not listen and learn. 34 They even placed their disgusting idols in the Temple built for my worship, and they have defiled it. 35 They have built altars to Baal in Hinnom Valley, to sacrifice their sons and daughters to the god Molech. I did not command them to do this, and it did not even enter my mind that they would do such a thing and make the people of Judah sin." 36 The Lord, the God of Israel, said to me, "Jeremiah, the people are saying that war, starvation, and disease will make this city fall into the hands of the king of Babylonia. Now listen to what else I have to say. 37 I am going to gather the people from all the countries where I have scattered them in my anger and fury, and I am going to bring them back to this place and let them live here in safety. 38 Then they will be my people, and I will be their God. 39 I will give them a single purpose in life: to honor me for all time, for their own good and the good of their descendants. 40 I will make an eternal covenant with them. I will never stop doing good things for them, and I will make them fear me with all their heart, so that they will never turn away from me. 41 I will take pleasure in doing good things for them, and I will establish them permanently in this land. 42 "Just as I have brought this disaster on these people, so I am going to give them all the good things that I have promised. 43 The people are saying that this land will be like a desert where neither people nor animals live, and that it will be given over to the Babylonians. But fields will once again be bought in this land. 44 People will buy them, and the deeds will be signed, sealed, and witnessed. This will take place in the territory of Benjamin, in the villages around Jerusalem, in the towns of Judah, and in the towns in the hill country, in the foothills, and in southern Judah. I will restore the people to their land. I, the Lord, have spoken."

Ezekiel 5:1 The Lord said, "Mortal man, take a sharp sword and use it to shave off your beard and all your hair. Then weigh the hair on scales and divide it into three parts. 2 Burn up a third of it in the city when the siege is over. Take another third and chop it up with your sword as you move around outside the city. Scatter the remaining third to the winds, and I will pursue it with my sword. 3 Keep back a few hairs and wrap them in the hem of your clothes. 4 Then take a few of them out again, throw them in the fire, and let them burn up. From them fire will spread to the whole nation of Israel." 5 The Sovereign Lord said, "Look at Jerusalem. I put her at the center of the world, with other countries all around her. 6 But Jerusalem rebelled against my commands and showed that she was more wicked than the other nations, more disobedient than the countries around her. Jerusalem rejected my commands and refused to keep my laws. 7 Now listen, Jerusalem, to what I, the Sovereign Lord, am saying. By not obeying my laws or keeping my commands, you have caused more trouble than the nations around you. You have followed the customs of other nations. 8 And so I, the Sovereign Lord, am telling you that I am your enemy. I will pass judgment on you where all the nations can see it. 9 Because of all the things you do that I hate, I will punish Jerusalem as I have never done before and will never do again. 10 As a result, parents in Jerusalem will eat their children, and children will eat their parents. I will punish you and scatter in every direction any who are left alive. 11 "Therefore, as I am the living God - this is the word of the Sovereign Lord - because you defiled my Temple with all the evil, disgusting things you did, I will cut you down without mercy. 12 A third of your people will die from sickness and hunger in the city; a third will be cut down by swords outside the city; and I will scatter the last third to the winds and pursue them with a sword. 13 "You will feel all the force of my anger and rage until I am satisfied. When all this happens, you will be convinced that I, the Lord, have spoken to you because I am outraged at your unfaithfulness. 14 Everyone from the nations around you who passes by will sneer at you and keep their distance. 15 "When I am angry and furious with you and punish you, all the nations around you will be terrified. They will look at you with disgust and make fun of you. 16 I will cut off your supply of food and let you starve. You will feel the pains of hunger like sharp arrows sent to destroy you. 17 I will send hunger and wild animals to kill your children, and will send sickness, violence, and war to kill you. I, the Lord, have spoken."

Ezekiel 24:15 The Lord spoke to me. 16 "Mortal man," he said, "with one blow I am going to take away the person you love most. You are not to complain or cry or shed any tears. 17 Don't let your sobbing be heard. Do not go bareheaded or barefoot as a sign of mourning. Don't cover your face or eat the food that mourners eat." 18 Early in the day I was talking with the people. That evening my wife died, and the next day I did as I had been told. 19 The people asked me, "Why are you acting like this?" 20 So I said to them, "The Lord spoke to me and told me 21 to give you Israelites this message: You are proud of the strength of the Temple. You like to look at it and to visit it, but the Lord is going to profane it. And the younger members of your families who are left in Jerusalem will be killed in war. 22 Then you will do what I have done. You will not cover your faces or eat the food that mourners eat. 23 You will not go bareheaded or barefoot or mourn or cry. You will waste away because of your sins, and you will groan to one another. 24 Then I will be a sign to you; you will do everything I have done. The Lord says that when this happens, you will know that he is the Sovereign Lord." 25 The Lord said, "Now, mortal man, I will take away from them the strong Temple that was their pride and joy, which they liked to look at and to visit. And I will take away their sons and daughters. 26 On the day that I do this, some who escape the destruction will come and tell you about it. 27 That same day you will get back the power of speech which you had lost, and you will talk with them. In this way you will be a sign to the people, and they will know that I am the Lord."

3214-Deuteronomy 29:19 Make sure that there is no one here today who hears these solemn demands and yet convinces himself that all will be well with him, even if he stubbornly goes his own way. That would destroy all of you, good and evil alike.

3215-Joshua 2:1 Then Joshua sent two spies from the camp at Acacia with orders to go and secretly explore the land of Canaan, especially the city of Jericho. When they came to the city, they went to spend the night in the house of a prostitute named Rahab.

1 Chronicles 2:11 Salmon, Boaz,

Ruth 4:21 Salmon of Bo'az, Bo'az of Obed, 22 Obed of Jesse, and Jesse of David.

Matthew 1:4 and Ram the father of Ammin'adab, and Ammin'adab the father of Nahshon, and Nahshon the father of Salmon, 5 and Salmon the father of Bo'az by Rahab, and Bo'az the father of Obed by Ruth, and Obed the father of Jesse,

Luke 3:32 the son of Jesse, the son of Obed, the son of Bo'az, the son of Sala, the son of Nahshon,

3216-2 Kings 17:7 And this was so, because the people of Israel had sinned against the LORD their God, who had brought them up out of the land of Egypt from under the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and had feared other gods 8 and walked in the customs of the nations whom the LORD drove out before the people of Israel, and in the customs which the kings of Israel had introduced. 9 And the people of Israel did secretly against the LORD their God things that were not right. They built for themselves high places at all their towns, from watchtower to fortified city; 10 they set up for themselves pillars and Ashe'rim on every high hill and under every green tree; 11 and there they burned incense on all the high places, as the nations did whom the LORD carried away before them. And they did wicked things, provoking the LORD to anger, 12 and they served idols, of which the LORD had said to them, "You shall not do this." 13 Yet the LORD warned Israel and Judah by every prophet and every seer, saying, "Turn from your evil ways and keep my commandments and my statutes, in accordance with all the law which I commanded your fathers, and which I sent to you by my servants the prophets." 14 But they would not listen, but were stubborn, as their fathers had been, who did not believe in the LORD their God. 15 They despised his statutes, and his covenant that he made with their fathers, and the warnings which he gave them. They went after false idols, and became false, and they followed the nations that were round about them, concerning whom the LORD had commanded them that they should not do like them. 16 And they forsook all the commandments of the LORD their God, and made for themselves molten images of two calves; and they made an Ashe'rah, and worshiped all the host of heaven, and served Ba'al. 17 And they burned their sons and their daughters as offerings, and used divination and sorcery, and sold themselves to do evil in the sight of the LORD, provoking him to anger. 18 Therefore the LORD was very angry with Israel, and removed them out of his sight; none was left but the tribe of Judah only.

Hosea 4:13 They sacrifice on the tops of the mountains, and make offerings upon the hills, under oak, poplar, and terebinth, because their shade is good. Therefore your daughters play the harlot, and your brides commit adultery. 14 I will not punish your daughters when they play the harlot, nor your brides when they commit adultery; for the men themselves go aside with harlots, and sacrifice with cult prostitutes, and a people without understanding shall come to ruin.

3217-DA 22 The earth was dark through misapprehension of God. That the gloomy shadows might be lightened, that the world might be brought back to God, Satan’s deceptive power was to be broken. This could not be done by force. The exercise of force is contrary to the principles of God’s government; He desires only the service of love; and love cannot be commanded; it cannot be won by force or authority. Only by love is love awakened. To know God is to love Him; His character must be manifested in contrast to the character of Satan. This work only one Being in all the universe could do. Only He who knew the height and depth of the love of God could make it known. Upon the world’s dark night the Sun of Righteousness must rise, “with healing in His wings.” Malachi 4:2. {DA 22.1}

The plan for our redemption was not an afterthought, a plan formulated after the fall of Adam. It was a revelation of “the mystery which hath been kept in silence through times eternal.” Romans 16:25, R. V. It was an unfolding of the principles that from eternal ages have been the foundation of God’s throne. From the beginning, God and Christ knew of the apostasy of Satan, and of the fall of man through the deceptive power of the apostate. God did not ordain that sin should exist, but He foresaw its existence, and made provision to meet the terrible emergency. So great was His love for the world, that He covenanted to give His only-begotten Son, “that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” John 3:16. {DA 22.2}

Lucifer had said, “I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; ... I will be like the Most High.” Isaiah 14:13, 14. But Christ, “being in the form of God, counted it not a thing to be grasped to be on an equality with God, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of men.” Philippians 2:6, 7, R. V., margin. {DA 22.3}

This was a voluntary sacrifice. Jesus might have remained at the Father’s side. He might have retained the glory of heaven, and the homage of the angels. But He chose to give back the scepter into the Father’s hands, and to step down from the throne of the universe, that He might bring light to the benighted, and life to the perishing. {DA 22.4}

3218-Revelation 13:1 And I saw a beast rising out of the sea, with ten horns and seven heads, with ten diadems upon its horns and a blasphemous name upon its heads. 2 And the beast that I saw was like a leopard, its feet were like a bear's, and its mouth was like a lion's mouth. And to it the dragon gave his power and his throne and great authority. 3 One of its heads seemed to have a mortal wound, but its mortal wound was healed, and the whole earth followed the beast with wonder. 4 Men worshiped the dragon, for he had given his authority to the beast, and they worshiped the beast, saying, "Who is like the beast, and who can fight against it?" 5 And the beast was given a mouth uttering haughty and blasphemous words, and it was allowed to exercise authority for forty-two months; 6 it opened its mouth to utter blasphemies against God, blaspheming his name and his dwelling, that is, those who dwell in heaven. 7 Also it was allowed to make war on the saints and to conquer them. And authority was given it over every tribe and people and tongue and nation, 8 and all who dwell on earth will worship it, every one whose name has not been written before the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb that was slain. 9 If any one has an ear, let him hear: 10 If any one is to be taken captive, to captivity he goes; if any one slays with the sword, with the sword must he be slain. Here is a call for the endurance and faith of the saints. 11 Then I saw another beast which rose out of the earth; it had two horns like a lamb and it spoke like a dragon. 12 It exercises all the authority of the first beast in its presence, and makes the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast, whose mortal wound was healed. 13 It works great signs, even making fire come down from heaven to earth in the sight of men; 14 and by the signs which it is allowed to work in the presence of the beast, it deceives those who dwell on earth, bidding them make an image for the beast which was wounded by the sword and yet lived; 15 and it was allowed to give breath to the image of the beast so that the image of the beast should even speak, and to cause those who would not worship the image of the beast to be slain. 16 Also it causes all, both small and great, both rich and poor, both free and slave, to be marked on the right hand or the forehead, 17 so that no one can buy or sell unless he has the mark, that is, the name of the beast or the number of its name. 18 This calls for wisdom: let him who has understanding reckon the number of the beast, for it is a human number, its number is six hundred and sixty-six.

Rev 14:1 Then I looked, and lo, on Mount Zion stood the Lamb, and with him a hundred and forty-four thousand who had his name and his Father's name written on their foreheads. 2 And I heard a voice from heaven like the sound of many waters and like the sound of loud thunder; the voice I heard was like the sound of harpers playing on their harps, 3 and they sing a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and before the elders. No one could learn that song except the hundred and forty-four thousand who had been redeemed from the earth. 4 It is these who have not defiled themselves with women, for they are chaste; it is these who follow the Lamb wherever he goes; these have been redeemed from mankind as first fruits for God and the Lamb, 5 and in their mouth no lie was found, for they are spotless. 6 Then I saw another angel flying in midheaven, with an eternal gospel to proclaim to those who dwell on earth, to every nation and tribe and tongue and people; 7 and he said with a loud voice, "Fear God and give him glory, for the hour of his judgment has come; and worship him who made heaven and earth, the sea and the fountains of water." 8 Another angel, a second, followed, saying, "Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great, she who made all nations drink the wine of her impure passion." 9 And another angel, a third, followed them, saying with a loud voice, "If any one worships the beast and its image, and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand, 10 he also shall drink the wine of God's wrath, poured unmixed into the cup of his anger, and he shall be tormented with fire and sulphur in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. 11 And the smoke of their torment goes up for ever and ever; and they have no rest, day or night, these worshipers of the beast and its image, and whoever receives the mark of its name." 12 Here is a call for the endurance of the saints, those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus. 13 And I heard a voice from heaven saying, "Write this: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord henceforth." "Blessed indeed," says the Spirit, "that they may rest from their labors, for their deeds follow them!" 14 Then I looked, and lo, a white cloud, and seated on the cloud one like a son of man, with a golden crown on his head, and a sharp sickle in his hand. 15 And another angel came out of the temple, calling with a loud voice to him who sat upon the cloud, "Put in your sickle, and reap, for the hour to reap has come, for the harvest of the earth is fully ripe." 16 So he who sat upon the cloud swung his sickle on the earth, and the earth was reaped. 17 And another angel came out of the temple in heaven, and he too had a sharp sickle. 18 Then another angel came out from the altar, the angel who has power over fire, and he called with a loud voice to him who had the sharp sickle, "Put in your sickle, and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth, for its grapes are ripe." 19 So the angel swung his sickle on the earth and gathered the vintage of the earth, and threw it into the great wine press of the wrath of God; 20 and the wine press was trodden outside the city, and blood flowed from the wine press, as high as a horse's bridle, for one thousand six hundred stadia

3219-2 Kings 17:1 In the twelfth year of Ahaz king of Judah Hoshe'a the son of Elah began to reign in Sama'ria over Israel, and he reigned nine years. 2 And he did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, yet not as the kings of Israel who were before him. 3 Against him came up Shalmane'ser king of Assyria; and Hoshe'a became his vassal, and paid him tribute. 4 But the king of Assyria found treachery in Hoshe'a; for he had sent messengers to So, king of Egypt, and offered no tribute to the king of Assyria, as he had done year by year; therefore the king of Assyria shut him up, and bound him in prison. 5 Then the king of Assyria invaded all the land and came to Sama'ria, and for three years he besieged it. 6 In the ninth year of Hoshe'a the king of Assyria captured Sama'ria, and he carried the Israelites away to Assyria, and placed them in Halah, and on the Habor, the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes. 7 And this was so, because the people of Israel had sinned against the LORD their God, who had brought them up out of the land of Egypt from under the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and had feared other gods 8 and walked in the customs of the nations whom the LORD drove out before the people of Israel, and in the customs which the kings of Israel had introduced. 9 And the people of Israel did secretly against the LORD their God things that were not right. They built for themselves high places at all their towns, from watchtower to fortified city; 10 they set up for themselves pillars and Ashe'rim on every high hill and under every green tree; 11 and there they burned incense on all the high places, as the nations did whom the LORD carried away before them. And they did wicked things, provoking the LORD to anger, 12 and they served idols, of which the LORD had said to them, "You shall not do this." 13 Yet the LORD warned Israel and Judah by every prophet and every seer, saying, "Turn from your evil ways and keep my commandments and my statutes, in accordance with all the law which I commanded your fathers, and which I sent to you by my servants the prophets." 14 But they would not listen, but were stubborn, as their fathers had been, who did not believe in the LORD their God. 15 They despised his statutes, and his covenant that he made with their fathers, and the warnings which he gave them. They went after false idols, and became false, and they followed the nations that were round about them, concerning whom the LORD had commanded them that they should not do like them. 16 And they forsook all the commandments of the LORD their God, and made for themselves molten images of two calves; and they made an Ashe'rah, and worshiped all the host of heaven, and served Ba'al. 17 And they burned their sons and their daughters as offerings, and used divination and sorcery, and sold themselves to do evil in the sight of the LORD, provoking him to anger. 18 Therefore the LORD was very angry with Israel, and removed them out of his sight; none was left but the tribe of Judah only. 19 Judah also did not keep the commandments of the LORD their God, but walked in the customs which Israel had introduced. 20 And the LORD rejected all the descendants of Israel, and afflicted them, and gave them into the hand of spoilers, until he had cast them out of his sight. 21 When he had torn Israel from the house of David they made Jerobo'am the son of Nebat king. And Jerobo'am drove Israel from following the LORD and made them commit great sin. 22 The people of Israel walked in all the sins which Jerobo'am did; they did not depart from them, 23 until the LORD removed Israel out of his sight, as he had spoken by all his servants the prophets. So Israel was exiled from their own land to Assyria until this day. 24 And the king of Assyria brought people from Babylon, Cuthah, Avva, Hamath, and Sephar-va'im, and placed them in the cities of Sama'ria instead of the people of Israel; and they took possession of Sama'ria, and dwelt in its cities. 25 And at the beginning of their dwelling there, they did not fear the LORD; therefore the LORD sent lions among them, which killed some of them. 26 So the king of Assyria was told, "The nations which you have carried away and placed in the cities of Sama'ria do not know the law of the god of the land; therefore he has sent lions among them, and behold, they are killing them, because they do not know the law of the god of the land." 27 Then the king of Assyria commanded, "Send there one of the priests whom you carried away thence; and let him go and dwell there, and teach them the law of the god of the land." 28 So one of the priests whom they had carried away from Sama'ria came and dwelt in Bethel, and taught them how they should fear the LORD. 29 But every nation still made gods of its own, and put them in the shrines of the high places which the Samaritans had made, every nation in the cities in which they dwelt; 30 the men of Babylon made Suc'coth-be'noth, the men of Cuth made Nergal, the men of Hamath made Ashi'ma, 31 and the Av'vites made Nibhaz and Tartak; and the Sephar'vites burned their children in the fire to Adram'melech and Anam'melech, the gods of Sephar-va'im. 32 They also feared the LORD, and appointed from among themselves all sorts of people as priests of the high places, who sacrificed for them in the shrines of the high places. 33 So they feared the LORD but also served their own gods, after the manner of the nations from among whom they had been carried away. 34 To this day they do according to the former manner. They do not fear the LORD, and they do not follow the statutes or the ordinances or the law or the commandment which the LORD commanded the children of Jacob, whom he named Israel. 35 The LORD made a covenant with them, and commanded them, "You shall not fear other gods or bow yourselves to them or serve them or sacrifice to them; 36 but you shall fear the LORD, who brought you out of the land of Egypt with great power and with an outstretched arm; you shall bow yourselves to him, and to him you shall sacrifice. 37 And the statutes and the ordinances and the law and the commandment which he wrote for you, you shall always be careful to do. You shall not fear other gods, 38 and you shall not forget the covenant that I have made with you. You shall not fear other gods, 39 but you shall fear the LORD your God, and he will deliver you out of the hand of all your enemies." 40 However they would not listen, but they did according to their former manner. 41 So these nations feared the LORD, and also served their graven images; their children likewise, and their children's children--as their fathers did, so they do to this day.

2 Chron. 36:14 All the leading priests and the people likewise were exceedingly unfaithful, following all the abominations of the nations; and they polluted the house of the LORD which he had hallowed in Jerusalem. 15 The LORD, the God of their fathers, sent persistently to them by his messengers, because he had compassion on his people and on his dwelling place; 16 but they kept mocking the messengers of God, despising his words, and scoffing at his prophets, till the wrath of the LORD rose against his people, till there was no remedy.

3220-Revelation 13:15 and it was allowed to give breath to the image of the beast so that the image of the beast should even speak, and to cause those who would not worship the image of the beast to be slain

3221-Revelation 14:1 Then I looked, and lo, on Mount Zion stood the Lamb, and with him a hundred and forty-four thousand who had his name and his Father's name written on their foreheads. 2 And I heard a voice from heaven like the sound of many waters and like the sound of loud thunder; the voice I heard was like the sound of harpers playing on their harps, 3 and they sing a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and before the elders. No one could learn that song except the hundred and forty-four thousand who had been redeemed from the earth. 4 It is these who have not defiled themselves with women, for they are chaste; it is these who follow the Lamb wherever he goes; these have been redeemed from mankind as first fruits for God and the Lamb, 5 and in their mouth no lie was found, for they are spotless. 6 Then I saw another angel flying in midheaven, with an eternal gospel to proclaim to those who dwell on earth, to every nation and tribe and tongue and people; 7 and he said with a loud voice, "Fear God and give him glory, for the hour of his judgment has come; and worship him who made heaven and earth, the sea and the fountains of water." 8 Another angel, a second, followed, saying, "Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great, she who made all nations drink the wine of her impure passion." 9 And another angel, a third, followed them, saying with a loud voice, "If any one worships the beast and its image, and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand, 10 he also shall drink the wine of God's wrath, poured unmixed into the cup of his anger, and he shall be tormented with fire and sulphur in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. 11 And the smoke of their torment goes up for ever and ever; and they have no rest, day or night, these worshipers of the beast and its image, and whoever receives the mark of its name." 12 Here is a call for the endurance of the saints, those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus. 13 And I heard a voice from heaven saying, "Write this: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord henceforth." "Blessed indeed," says the Spirit, "that they may rest from their labors, for their deeds follow them!" 14 Then I looked, and lo, a white cloud, and seated on the cloud one like a son of man, with a golden crown on his head, and a sharp sickle in his hand. 15 And another angel came out of the temple, calling with a loud voice to him who sat upon the cloud, "Put in your sickle, and reap, for the hour to reap has come, for the harvest of the earth is fully ripe." 16 So he who sat upon the cloud swung his sickle on the earth, and the earth was reaped. 17 And another angel came out of the temple in heaven, and he too had a sharp sickle. 18 Then another angel came out from the altar, the angel who has power over fire, and he called with a loud voice to him who had the sharp sickle, "Put in your sickle, and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth, for its grapes are ripe." 19 So the angel swung his sickle on the earth and gathered the vintage of the earth, and threw it into the great wine press of the wrath of God; 20 and the wine press was trodden outside the city, and blood flowed from the wine press, as high as a horse's bridle, for one thousand six hundred stadia

3222-2 Kings 17:1 In the twelfth year of Ahaz king of Judah Hoshe'a the son of Elah began to reign in Sama'ria over Israel, and he reigned nine years. 2 And he did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, yet not as the kings of Israel who were before him. 3 Against him came up Shalmane'ser king of Assyria; and Hoshe'a became his vassal, and paid him tribute. 4 But the king of Assyria found treachery in Hoshe'a; for he had sent messengers to So, king of Egypt, and offered no tribute to the king of Assyria, as he had done year by year; therefore the king of Assyria shut him up, and bound him in prison. 5 Then the king of Assyria invaded all the land and came to Sama'ria, and for three years he besieged it. 6 In the ninth year of Hoshe'a the king of Assyria captured Sama'ria, and he carried the Israelites away to Assyria, and placed them in Halah, and on the Habor, the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes. 7 And this was so, because the people of Israel had sinned against the LORD their God, who had brought them up out of the land of Egypt from under the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and had feared other gods 8 and walked in the customs of the nations whom the LORD drove out before the people of Israel, and in the customs which the kings of Israel had introduced. 9 And the people of Israel did secretly against the LORD their God things that were not right. They built for themselves high places at all their towns, from watchtower to fortified city; 10 they set up for themselves pillars and Ashe'rim on every high hill and under every green tree; 11 and there they burned incense on all the high places, as the nations did whom the LORD carried away before them. And they did wicked things, provoking the LORD to anger, 12 and they served idols, of which the LORD had said to them, "You shall not do this." 13 Yet the LORD warned Israel and Judah by every prophet and every seer, saying, "Turn from your evil ways and keep my commandments and my statutes, in accordance with all the law which I commanded your fathers, and which I sent to you by my servants the prophets." 14 But they would not listen, but were stubborn, as their fathers had been, who did not believe in the LORD their God. 15 They despised his statutes, and his covenant that he made with their fathers, and the warnings which he gave them. They went after false idols, and became false, and they followed the nations that were round about them, concerning whom the LORD had commanded them that they should not do like them. 16 And they forsook all the commandments of the LORD their God, and made for themselves molten images of two calves; and they made an Ashe'rah, and worshiped all the host of heaven, and served Ba'al. 17 And they burned their sons and their daughters as offerings, and used divination and sorcery, and sold themselves to do evil in the sight of the LORD, provoking him to anger. 18 Therefore the LORD was very angry with Israel, and removed them out of his sight; none was left but the tribe of Judah only. 19 Judah also did not keep the commandments of the LORD their God, but walked in the customs which Israel had introduced. 20 And the LORD rejected all the descendants of Israel, and afflicted them, and gave them into the hand of spoilers, until he had cast them out of his sight. 21 When he had torn Israel from the house of David they made Jerobo'am the son of Nebat king. And Jerobo'am drove Israel from following the LORD and made them commit great sin. 22 The people of Israel walked in all the sins which Jerobo'am did; they did not depart from them, 23 until the LORD removed Israel out of his sight, as he had spoken by all his servants the prophets. So Israel was exiled from their own land to Assyria until this day. 24 And the king of Assyria brought people from Babylon, Cuthah, Avva, Hamath, and Sephar-va'im, and placed them in the cities of Sama'ria instead of the people of Israel; and they took possession of Sama'ria, and dwelt in its cities. 25 And at the beginning of their dwelling there, they did not fear the LORD; therefore the LORD sent lions among them, which killed some of them. 26 So the king of Assyria was told, "The nations which you have carried away and placed in the cities of Sama'ria do not know the law of the god of the land; therefore he has sent lions among them, and behold, they are killing them, because they do not know the law of the god of the land." 27 Then the king of Assyria commanded, "Send there one of the priests whom you carried away thence; and let him go and dwell there, and teach them the law of the god of the land." 28 So one of the priests whom they had carried away from Sama'ria came and dwelt in Bethel, and taught them how they should fear the LORD. 29 But every nation still made gods of its own, and put them in the shrines of the high places which the Samaritans had made, every nation in the cities in which they dwelt; 30 the men of Babylon made Suc'coth-be'noth, the men of Cuth made Nergal, the men of Hamath made Ashi'ma, 31 and the Av'vites made Nibhaz and Tartak; and the Sephar'vites burned their children in the fire to Adram'melech and Anam'melech, the gods of Sephar-va'im. 32 They also feared the LORD, and appointed from among themselves all sorts of people as priests of the high places, who sacrificed for them in the shrines of the high places. 33 So they feared the LORD but also served their own gods, after the manner of the nations from among whom they had been carried away. 34 To this day they do according to the former manner. They do not fear the LORD, and they do not follow the statutes or the ordinances or the law or the commandment which the LORD commanded the children of Jacob, whom he named Israel. 35 The LORD made a covenant with them, and commanded them, "You shall not fear other gods or bow yourselves to them or serve them or sacrifice to them; 36 but you shall fear the LORD, who brought you out of the land of Egypt with great power and with an outstretched arm; you shall bow yourselves to him, and to him you shall sacrifice. 37 And the statutes and the ordinances and the law and the commandment which he wrote for you, you shall always be careful to do. You shall not fear other gods, 38 and you shall not forget the covenant that I have made with you. You shall not fear other gods, 39 but you shall fear the LORD your God, and he will deliver you out of the hand of all your enemies." 40 However they would not listen, but they did according to their former manner. 41 So these nations feared the LORD, and also served their graven images; their children likewise, and their children's children--as their fathers did, so they do to this day.

3223-DA 37 Sin had become a science, and vice was consecrated as a part of religion. Rebellion had struck its roots deep into the heart, and the hostility of man was most violent against heaven. It was demonstrated before the universe that, apart from God, humanity could not be uplifted. A new element of life and power must be imparted by Him who made the world. {DA 37.1}

With intense interest the unfallen worlds had watched to see Jehovah arise, and sweep away the inhabitants of the earth. And if God should do this, Satan was ready to carry out his plan for securing to himself the allegiance of heavenly beings. He had declared that the principles of God’s government make forgiveness impossible. Had the world been destroyed, he would have claimed that his accusations were proved true. He was ready to cast blame upon God, and to spread his rebellion to the worlds above. But instead of destroying the world, God sent His Son to save it. Though corruption and defiance might be seen in every part of the alien province, a way for its recovery was provided. At the very crisis, when Satan seemed about to triumph, the Son of God came with the embassage of divine grace. Through every age, through every hour, the love of God had been exercised toward the fallen race. Notwithstanding the perversity of men, the signals of mercy had been continually exhibited. And when the fullness of the time had come, the Deity was glorified by pouring upon the world a flood of healing grace that was never to be obstructed or withdrawn till the plan of salvation should be fulfilled. {DA 37.2}

Satan was exulting that he had succeeded in debasing the image of God in humanity. Then Jesus came to restore in man the image of his Maker. None but Christ can fashion anew the character that has been ruined by sin. He came to expel the demons that had controlled the will. He came to lift us up from the dust, to reshape the marred character after the pattern of His divine character, and to make it beautiful with His own glory. {DA 37.3}

3224-TMK 19 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. John 3:16. {TMK 19.1}

Having undertaken the work of man’s redemption, the Father would spare nothing, however dear, which was essential for the completion of His work. He would make opportunities for men; He would pour upon them His blessings; He would heap favor upon favor, gift upon gift, until the whole treasury of heaven was open to those whom He came to save. Having collected all the riches of the universe, and laid open all the resources of His divine nature, God gave them all for the use of man. They were His free gift. What an ocean of love is circulating, like a divine atmosphere, around the world! What manner of love is this, that the eternal God should adopt human nature in the person of His Son, and carry the same into the highest heaven! {TMK 19.2}

All the heavenly intelligences were watching with intense interest the warfare that was going on upon the earth—the earth that Satan claimed as his dominion. Every moment was big with eternal realities. How would the conflict end? The angels looked for the justice of God to be revealed, His anger to be aroused against the prince of darkness and his sympathizers. But lo, mercy prevailed. When the Son of God might have come to the world to condemn, He came as righteousness and peace, to save not merely the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, but all the world—every son and daughter of Adam who would believe on Him, the Way, the Truth, and the Life. What an exhibition of the love of Jehovah! This is love without a parallel.28 {TMK 19.3}

Our Redeemer determined on nothing less than that through His merits the love of God should be transfused through the soul that believes in Him. As our life, the vitality of God’s love is to circulate through every part of our nature, that it may abide in us as it dwells in Christ Jesus. United with Christ by living faith, the Father loves us as the members of Christ’s mystical body, of which Christ is the glorified head.29 {TMK 19.4}

3225-Ezra 9:1 After all this had been done, some of the leaders of the people of Israel came and told me that the people, the priests, and the Levites had not kept themselves separate from the people in the neighboring countries of Ammon, Moab, and Egypt or from the Canaanites, Hittites, Perizzites, Jebusites, and Amorites. They were doing the same disgusting things which these people did. 2 Jewish men were marrying foreign women, and so God's holy people had become contaminated. The leaders and officials were the chief offenders. 3 When I heard this, I tore my clothes in despair, tore my hair and my beard, and sat down crushed with grief. 4 I sat there grieving until the time for the evening sacrifice to be offered, and people began to gather around me - all those who were frightened because of what the God of Israel had said about the sins of those who had returned from exile. 5 When the time came for the evening sacrifice, I got up from where I had been grieving, and still wearing my torn clothes, I knelt in prayer and stretched out my hands to the Lord my God. 6 I said, "O God, I am too ashamed to raise my head in your presence. Our sins pile up higher than our heads; they reach as high as the heavens. 7 From the days of our ancestors until now, we, your people, have sinned greatly. Because of our sins we, our kings, and our priests have fallen into the hands of foreign kings, and we have been slaughtered, robbed, and carried away as prisoners. We have been totally disgraced, as we still are today. 8 Now for a short time, O Lord our God, you have been gracious to us and have let some of us escape from slavery and live in safety in this holy place. You have let us escape from slavery and have given us new life. 9 We were slaves, but you did not leave us in slavery. You made the emperors of Persia favor us and permit us to go on living and to rebuild your Temple, which was in ruins, and to find safety here in Judah and Jerusalem. 10 "But now, O God, what can we say after all that has happened? We have again disobeyed the commands 11 that you gave us through your servants, the prophets. They told us that the land we were going to occupy was an impure land because the people who lived in it filled it from one end to the other with disgusting, filthy actions. 12 They told us that we were never to intermarry with those people and never to help them prosper or succeed if we wanted to enjoy the land and pass it on to our descendants forever. 13 Even after everything that has happened to us in punishment for our sins and wrongs, we know that you, our God, have punished us less than we deserve and have allowed us to survive. 14 Then how can we ignore your commandments again and intermarry with these wicked people? If we do, you will be so angry that you will destroy us completely and let no one survive. 15 Lord God of Israel, you are just, but you have let us survive. We confess our guilt to you; we have no right to come into your

Ezra10:1 While Ezra was bowing in prayer in front of the Temple, weeping and confessing these sins, a large group of Israelites - men, women, and children - gathered around him, weeping bitterly. 2 Then Shecaniah son of Jehiel, of the clan of Elam, said to Ezra, "We have broken faith with God by marrying foreign women, but even so there is still hope for Israel. 3 Now we must make a solemn promise to our God that we will send these women and their children away. We will do what you and the others who honor God's commands advise us to do. We will do what God's Law demands. 4 It is your responsibility to act. We are behind you, so go ahead and get it done." 5 So Ezra began by making the leaders of the priests, of the Levites, and of the rest of the people take an oath that they would do what Shecaniah had proposed. 6 Then he went from in front of the Temple into the living quarters of Jehohanan son of Eliashib, and spent the night there grieving over the unfaithfulness of the exiles. He did not eat or drink anything. 7 A message was sent throughout Jerusalem and Judah that all those who had returned from exile were to meet in Jerusalem 8 by order of the leaders of the people. If any failed to come within three days, all their property would be confiscated, and they would lose their right to be members of the community. 9 Within the three days, on the twentieth day of the ninth month, all the men living in the territory of Judah and Benjamin came to Jerusalem and assembled in the Temple square. It was raining hard, and because of the weather and the importance of the meeting everyone was trembling. 10 Ezra the priest stood up and spoke to them. He said, "You have been faithless and have brought guilt on Israel by marrying foreign women. 11 Now then, confess your sins to the Lord, the God of your ancestors, and do what pleases him. Separate yourselves from the foreigners living in our land and get rid of your foreign wives." 12 The people shouted in answer, "We will do whatever you say." 13 But they added, "The crowd is too big, and it's raining hard. We can't stand here in the open like this. This isn't something that can be done in one or two days, because so many of us are involved in this sin. 14 Let our officials stay in Jerusalem and take charge of the matter. Then let anyone who has a foreign wife come at a set time, together with the leaders and the judges of his city. In this way God's anger over this situation will be turned away." 15 No one was opposed to the plan except Jonathan son of Asahel and Jahzeiah son of Tikvah, who had the support of Meshullam and of Shabbethai, a Levite. 16 The returned exiles accepted the plan, so Ezra the priest appointed men from among the heads of the clans and recorded their names. On the first day of the tenth month they began their investigation, 17 and within the next three months they investigated all the cases of men with foreign wives. 18 This is the list of the men who had foreign wives: [Priests, ]listed by clans: Clan of Joshua and his brothers, sons of Jehozadak: Maaseiah, Eliezer, Jarib, and Gedaliah. 19 They promised to divorce their wives, and they offered a ram as a sacrifice for their sins. 20 Clan of Immer: Hanani and Zebadiah 21 Clan of Harim: Maaseiah, Elijah, Shemaiah, Jehiel, and Uzziah 22 Clan of Pashhur: Elioenai, Maaseiah, Ishmael, Nethanel, Jozabad, and Elasah 23 [Levites:] Jozabad, Shimei, Kelaiah (also called Kelita), Pethahiah, Judah, and Eliezer 24 [Musicians:] Eliashib [Temple guards:] Shallum, Telem, and Uri 25 [Others:] Clan of Parosh: Ramiah, Izziah, Malchijah, Mijamin, Eleazar, Malchijah, and Benaiah 26 Clan of Elam: Mattaniah, Zechariah, Jehiel, Abdi, Jeremoth, and Elijah 27 Clan of Zattu: Elioenai, Eliashib, Mattaniah, Jeremoth, Zabad, and Aziza 28 Clan of Bebai: Jehohanan, Hananiah, Zabbai, and Athlai 29 Clan of Bani: Meshullam, Malluch, Adaiah, Jashub, Sheal, and Jeremoth 30 Clan of Pahath Moab: Adna, Chelal, Benaiah, Maaseiah, Mattaniah, Bezalel, Binnui, and Manasseh 31 Clan of Harim: Eliezer, Isshijah, Malchijah, Shemaiah, Shimeon, Benjamin, Malluch, and Shemariah 33 Clan of Hashum: Mattenai, Mattattah, Zabad, Eliphelet, Jeremai, Manasseh, and Shimei 34 Clan of Bani: Maadai, Amram, Uel, Benaiah, Bedeiah, Cheluhi, Vaniah, Meremoth, Eliashib, Mattaniah, Mattenai, and Jaasu 38 Clan of Binnui: Shimei, Shelemiah, Nathan, Adaiah, Machnadebai, Shashai, Sharai, Azarel, Shelemiah, Shemariah, Shallum, Amariah, and Joseph 43 Clan of Nebo: Jeiel, Mattithiah, Zabad, Zebina, Jaddai, Joel, and Benaiah 44 All these men had foreign wives. They divorced them and sent them and their children away.

Nehemiah 13:1 When the Law of Moses was being read aloud to the people, they came to the passage that said that no Ammonite or Moabite was ever to be permitted to join God's people.

3226-Nehemiah 13:26 I told them, "It was foreign women that made King Solomon sin. Here was a man who was greater than any of the kings of other nations. God loved him and made him king over all of Israel, and yet he fell into this sin.

3227-Romans 1:18 God's anger is revealed from heaven against all the sin and evil of the people whose evil ways prevent the truth from being known.

3228-Hosea 4:1 The Lord has an accusation to bring against the people who live in this land. Listen, Israel, to what he says: "There is no faithfulness or love in the land, and the people do not acknowledge me as God.

Hosea 6:6 I want your constant love, not your animal sacrifices. I would rather have my people know me than burn offerings to me.

3229-Revelation 14:10 will themselves drink God's wine, the wine of his fury, which he has poured at full strength into the cup of his anger! All who do this will be tormented in fire and sulfur before the holy angels and the Lamb.

3230-Rom 1:16 I have complete confidence in the gospel; it is God's power to save all who believe, first the Jews and also the Gentiles.

3231-Romans 1:18 God's anger is revealed from heaven against all the sin and evil of the people whose evil ways prevent the truth from being known.

3232-Romans 1:24 And so God has given those people over to do the filthy things their hearts desire, and they do shameful things with each other. 25 They exchange the truth about God for a lie; they worship and serve what God has created instead of the Creator himself, who is to be praised forever! Amen. 26 Because they do this, God has given them over to shameful passions. Even the women pervert the natural use of their sex by unnatural acts. 27 In the same way the men give up natural sexual relations with women and burn with passion for each other. Men do shameful things with each other, and as a result they bring upon themselves the punishment they deserve for their wrongdoing. 28 Because those people refuse to keep in mind the true knowledge about God, he has given them over to corrupted minds, so that they do the things that they should not do.

3233-Hosea 4:16 The people of Israel are as stubborn as mules. How can I feed them like lambs in a meadow? 17 The people of Israel are under the spell of idols. Let them go their own way.

Hos. 11:1 The Lord says, "When Israel was a child, I loved him and called him out of Egypt as my son. 2 But the more I called to him, the more he turned away from me. My people sacrificed to Baal; they burned incense to idols. 3 Yet I was the one who taught Israel to walk. I took my people up in my arms, but they did not acknowledge that I took care of them. 4 I drew them to me with affection and love. I picked them up and held them to my cheek; I bent down to them and fed them. 5 "They refuse to return to me, and so they must return to Egypt, and Assyria will rule them. 6 War will sweep through their cities and break down the city gates. It will destroy my people because they do what they themselves think best. 7 They insist on turning away from me. They will cry out because of the yoke that is on them, but no one will lift it from them. 8 "How can I give you up, Israel? How can I abandon you? Could I ever destroy you as I did Admah, or treat you as I did Zeboiim? My heart will not let me do it! My love for you is too strong. 9 I will not punish you in my anger; I will not destroy Israel again. For I am God and not a mere human being. I, the Holy One, am with you. I will not come to you in anger. 10 "My people will follow me when I roar like a lion at their enemies. They will hurry to me from the west. 11 They will come from Egypt, as swiftly as birds, and from Assyria, like doves. I will bring them to their homes again. I, the Lord, have spoken." 12 The Lord says, "The people of Israel have surrounded me with lies and deceit, and the people of Judah are still rebelling against me, the faithful and holy God.

3234-Genesis 2:17 except the tree that gives knowledge of what is good and what is bad. You must not eat the fruit of that tree; if you do, you will die the same day."

3235-Romans 6:23 For sin pays its wage - death; but God's free gift is eternal life in union with Christ Jesus our Lord.

3236-Romans 4:25 Because of our sins he was given over to die, and he was raised to life in order to put us right with God.

3237-Matthew 27:46 At about three o'clock Jesus cried out with a loud shout, ["Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?"] which means, "My God, my God, why did you abandon me?"

3238-Revelation 14:9 A third angel followed the first two, saying in a loud voice, "Those who worship the beast and its image and receive the mark on their forehead or on their hand 10 will themselves drink God's wine, the wine of his fury, which he has poured at full strength into the cup of his anger! All who do this will be tormented in fire and sulfur before the holy angels and the Lamb. 11 The smoke of the fire that torments them goes up forever and ever. There is no relief day or night for those who worship the beast and its image, for anyone who has the mark of its name."

3239-Isaiah 53:4 "But he endured the suffering that should have been ours, the pain that we should have borne. All the while we thought that his suffering was punishment sent by God. 5 But because of our sins he was wounded, beaten because of the evil we did. We are healed by the punishment he suffered, made whole by the blows he received. 6 All of us were like sheep that were lost, each of us going his own way. But the Lord made the punishment fall on him, the punishment all of us deserved. 7 "He was treated harshly, but endured it humbly; he never said a word. Like a lamb about to be slaughtered, like a sheep about to be sheared, he never said a word. 8 He was arrested and sentenced and led off to die, and no one cared about his fate. He was put to death for the sins of our people. 9 He was placed in a grave with those who are evil, he was buried with the rich, even though he had never committed a crime or ever told a lie."

2 Corinthians 5:21 Christ was without sin, but for our sake God made him share our sin in order that in union with him we might share the righteousness of God.

3240-Revelation 2:11 "If you have ears, then, listen to what the Spirit says to the churches! "Those who win the victory will not be hurt by the second death.

Rev. 20:6 Happy and greatly blessed are those who are included in this first raising of the dead. The second death has no power over them; they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and they will rule with him for a thousand years. ….14 Then death and the world of the dead were thrown into the lake of fire. (This lake of fire is the second death

Rev. 21:8 But cowards, traitors, perverts, murderers, the immoral, those who practice magic, those who worship idols, and all liars - the place for them is the lake burning with fire and sulfur, which is the second death."

3241-Galatians 6:7 Do not deceive yourselves; no one makes a fool of God. You will reap exactly what you plant.

3242-Genesis 2:17 except the tree that gives knowledge of what is good and what is bad. You must not eat the fruit of that tree; if you do, you will die the same day."

3243-Hosea 1:3 So Hosea married a woman named Gomer, the daughter of Diblaim. After the birth of their first child, a son, 4 the Lord said to Hosea, "Name him "Jezreel,' because it will not be long before I punish the king of Israel for the murders that his ancestor Jehu committed at Jezreel. I am going to put an end to Jehu's dynasty. 5 And in Jezreel Valley I will at that time destroy Israel's military power." 6 Gomer had a second child - this time it was a daughter. The Lord said to Hosea, "Name her "Unloved,' because I will no longer show love to the people of Israel or forgive them. 7 But to the people of Judah I will show love. I, the Lord their God, will save them, but I will not do it by war - with swords or bows and arrows or with horses and horsemen." 8 After Gomer had weaned her daughter, she became pregnant again and had another son. 9 The Lord said to Hosea, "Name him "Not-My-People,' because the people of Israel are not my people, and I am not their God."

3244-Job 1:1 There was a man named Job, living in the land of Uz, who worshiped God and was faithful to him. He was a good man, careful not to do anything evil. 2 He had seven sons and three daughters, 3 and owned seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, one thousand head of cattle, and five hundred donkeys. He also had a large number of servants and was the richest man in the East. 4 Job's sons used to take turns giving a feast, to which all the others would come, and they always invited their three sisters to join them. 5 The morning after each feast, Job would get up early and offer sacrifices for each of his children in order to purify them. He always did this because he thought that one of them might have sinned by insulting God unintentionally. 6 When the day came for the heavenly beings to appear before the Lord, Satan was there among them. 7 The Lord asked him, "What have you been doing?" Satan answered, "I have been walking here and there, roaming around the earth." 8 "Did you notice my servant Job?" the Lord asked. "There is no one on earth as faithful and good as he is. He worships me and is careful not to do anything evil." 9 Satan replied, "Would Job worship you if he got nothing out of it? 10 You have always protected him and his family and everything he owns. You bless everything he does, and you have given him enough cattle to fill the whole country. 11 But now suppose you take away everything he has - he will curse you to your face!" 12 "All right," the Lord said to Satan, "everything he has is in your power, but you must not hurt Job himself." So Satan left. 13 One day when Job's children were having a feast at the home of their oldest brother, 14 a messenger came running to Job. "We were plowing the fields with the oxen," he said, "and the donkeys were in a nearby pasture. 15 Suddenly the Sabeans attacked and stole them all. They killed every one of your servants except me. I am the only one who escaped to tell you." 16 Before he had finished speaking, another servant came and said, "Lightning struck the sheep and the shepherds and killed them all. I am the only one who escaped to tell you." 17 Before he had finished speaking, another servant came and said, "Three bands of Chaldean raiders attacked us, took away the camels, and killed all your servants except me. I am the only one who escaped to tell you." 18 Before he had finished speaking, another servant came and said, "Your children were having a feast at the home of your oldest son, 19 when a storm swept in from the desert. It blew the house down and killed them all. I am the only one who escaped to tell you." 20 Then Job got up and tore his clothes in grief. He shaved his head and threw himself face downward on the ground. 21 He said, "I was born with nothing, and I will die with nothing. The Lord gave, and now he has taken away. May his name be praised!" 22 In spite of everything that had happened, Job did not sin by blaming God.

3245-Isaiah 8:1 The Lord said to me, "Take a large piece of writing material and write on it in large letters: "Quick Loot, Fast Plunder.' 2 Get two reliable men, the priest Uriah and Zechariah son of Jeberechiah, to serve as witnesses." 3 Some time later my wife became pregnant. When our son was born, the Lord said to me, "Name him "Quick-Loot-Fast-Plunder.' 4 Before the boy is old enough to say "Mamma' and "Daddy,' all the wealth of Damascus and all the loot of Samaria will be carried off by the king of Assyria." 5 The Lord spoke to me again. 6 He said, "Because these people have rejected the quiet waters of Shiloah Brook and tremble before King Rezin and King Pekah, 7 I, the Lord, will bring the emperor of Assyria and all his forces to attack Judah. They will advance like the flood waters of the Euphrates River, overflowing all its banks. 8 They will sweep through Judah in a flood, rising shoulder high and covering everything." God is with us! His outspread wings protect the land. 9 Gather together in fear, you nations! Listen, you distant parts of the earth. Get ready to fight, but be afraid! Yes, get ready, but be afraid! 10 Make your plans! But they will never succeed. Talk all you want to! But it is all useless, because God is with us. 11 With his great power the Lord warned me not to follow the road which the people were following. He said, 12 "Do not join in the schemes of the people and do not be afraid of the things that they fear. 13 Remember that I, the Lord Almighty, am holy; I am the one you must fear. 14 Because of my awesome holiness I am like a stone that people stumble over; I am like a trap that will catch the people of the kingdoms of Judah and Israel and the people of Jerusalem. 15 Many will stumble; they will fall and be crushed. They will be caught in a trap." 16 You, my disciples, are to guard and preserve the messages that God has given me. 17 The Lord has hidden himself from his people, but I trust him and place my hope in him. 18 Here I am with the children the Lord has given me. The Lord Almighty, whose throne is on Mount Zion, has sent us as living messages to the people of Israel. 19 But people will tell you to ask for messages from fortunetellers and mediums, who chirp and mutter. They will say, "After all, people should ask for messages from the spirits and consult the dead on behalf of the living." 20 You are to answer them, "Listen to what the Lord is teaching you! Don't listen to mediums - what they tell you cannot keep trouble away." 21 The people will wander through the land, discouraged and hungry. In their hunger and their anger they will curse their king and their God. They may look up to the sky 22 or stare at the ground, but they will see nothing but trouble and darkness, terrifying darkness into which they are being driven.

3246-Hosea 7:13 "They are doomed! They have left me and rebelled against me. They will be destroyed. I wanted to save them, but their worship of me was false. 14 They have not prayed to me sincerely, but instead they throw themselves down and wail as the heathen do. When they pray for grain and wine, they gash themselves like pagans. What rebels they are!

Hos. 8:2 Even though they call me their God and claim that they are my people and that they know me, 3 they have rejected what is good. Because of this their enemies will pursue them. …..13 They offer sacrifices to me and eat the meat of the sacrifices. But I, the Lord, am not pleased with them, and now I will remember their sin and punish them for it; I will send them back to Egypt!

Hos. 9:10 The Lord says, "When I first found Israel, it was like finding grapes growing in the desert. When I first saw your ancestors, it was like seeing the first ripe figs of the season. But when they came to Mount Peor, they began to worship Baal and soon became as disgusting as the gods they loved.

Hos. 4:17 The people of Israel are under the spell of idols. Let them go their own way.

3247-2 Chronicles 36:14 In addition, the leaders of Judah, the priests, and the people followed the sinful example of the nations around them in worshiping idols, and so they defiled the Temple, which the Lord himself had made holy. 15 The Lord, the God of their ancestors, had continued to send prophets to warn his people, because he wanted to spare them and the Temple. 16 But they made fun of God's messengers, ignoring his words and laughing at his prophets, until at last the Lord's anger against his people was so great that there was no escape.

Ps. 115:1 To you alone, O Lord, to you alone, and not to us, must glory be given because of your constant love and faithfulness. 2 Why should the nations ask us, "Where is your God?" 3 Our God is in heaven; he does whatever he wishes. 4 Their gods are made of silver and gold, formed by human hands. 5 They have mouths, but cannot speak, and eyes, but cannot see. 6 They have ears, but cannot hear, and noses, but cannot smell. 7 They have hands, but cannot feel, and feet, but cannot walk; they cannot make a sound. 8 May all who made them and who trust in them become like the idols they have made.

Isaiah 44:9 All those who make idols are worthless, and the gods they prize so highly are useless. Those who worship these gods are blind and ignorant - and they will be disgraced. 10 It does no good to make a metal image to worship as a god! 11 Everyone who worships it will be humiliated. The people who make idols are human beings and nothing more. Let them come and stand trial - they will be terrified and will suffer disgrace. 12 The metalworker takes a piece of metal and works with it over a fire. His strong arm swings a hammer to pound the metal into shape. As he works, he gets hungry, thirsty, and tired. 13 The carpenter measures the wood. He outlines a figure with chalk, carves it out with his tools, and makes it in the form of a man, a handsome human figure, to be placed in his house. 14 He might cut down cedars to use, or choose oak or cypress wood from the forest. Or he might plant a laurel tree and wait for the rain to make it grow. 15 A person uses part of a tree for fuel and part of it for making an idol. With one part he builds a fire to warm himself and bake bread; with the other part he makes a god and worships it. 16 With some of the wood he makes a fire; he roasts meat, eats it, and is satisfied. He warms himself and says, "How nice and warm! What a beautiful fire!" 17 The rest of the wood he makes into an idol, and then he bows down and worships it. He prays to it and says, "You are my god - save me!" 18 Such people are too stupid to know what they are doing. They close their eyes and their minds to the truth. 19 The maker of idols hasn't the wit or the sense to say, "Some of the wood I burned up. I baked some bread on the coals, and I roasted meat and ate it. And the rest of the wood I made into an idol. Here I am bowing down to a block of wood!" 20 It makes as much sense as eating ashes. His foolish ideas have so misled him that he is beyond help. He won't admit to himself that the idol he holds in his hand is not a god at all.

3248-Matthew 7:22 When the Judgment Day comes, many will say to me, "Lord, Lord! In your name we spoke God's message, by your name we drove out many demons and performed many miracles!' 23 Then I will say to them, "I never knew you. Get away from me, you wicked people!'

3249-Hosea 9:10 The Lord says, "When I first found Israel, it was like finding grapes growing in the desert. When I first saw your ancestors, it was like seeing the first ripe figs of the season. But when they came to Mount Peor, they began to worship Baal and soon became as disgusting as the gods they loved

3250-Isaiah 28:21 The Lord will fight as he did at Mount Perazim and in the valley of Gibeon, in order to do what he intends to do - strange as his actions may seem. He will complete his work, his mysterious work.

3251-Joel 1:4 Swarm after swarm of locusts settled on the crops; what one swarm left, the next swarm devoured. ….15 The day of the Lord is near, the day when the Almighty brings destruction. What terror that day will bring!

2:1 Blow the trumpet; sound the alarm on Zion, God's sacred hill. Tremble, people of Judah! The day of the Lord is coming soon. 2 It will be a dark and gloomy day, a black and cloudy day. The great army of locusts advances like darkness spreading over the mountains. There has never been anything like it, and there never will be again. …..10 The earth shakes as they advance; the sky trembles. The sun and the moon grow dark, and the stars no longer shine. 11 The Lord thunders commands to his army. The troops that obey him are many and mighty. How terrible is the day of the Lord! Who will survive it? ….13 Let your broken heart show your sorrow; tearing your clothes is not enough." Come back to the Lord your God. He is kind and full of mercy; he is patient and keeps his promise; he is always ready to forgive and not punish. …..17 The priests, serving the Lord between the altar and the entrance of the Temple, must weep and pray: "Have pity on your people, Lord. Do not let other nations despise us and mock us by saying, "Where is your God?' " …..27 Then, Israel, you will know that I am among you and that I, the Lord, am your God and there is no other. My people will never be despised again. 28 "Afterward I will pour out my Spirit on everyone: your sons and daughters will proclaim my message; your old people will have dreams, and your young people will see visions. …..31 The sun will be darkened, and the moon will turn red as blood before the great and terrible day of the Lord comes.

3:1 The Lord says, "At that time I will restore the prosperity of Judah and Jerusalem. 2 I will gather all the nations and bring them to the Valley of Judgment. There I will judge them for all they have done to my people. They have scattered the Israelites in foreign countries and divided Israel, my land. …..12 "The nations must get ready and come to the Valley of Judgment. There I, the Lord, will sit to judge all the surrounding nations. …..14 Thousands and thousands are in the Valley of Judgment. It is there that the day of the Lord will soon come. …..17 "Then, Israel, you will know that I am the Lord your God. I live on Zion, my sacred hill. Jerusalem will be a sacred city; foreigners will never conquer it again.

3252-1 Sam. 8:2 The older son was named Joel and the younger one Abijah; they were judges in Beersheba.

1 Chr. 4:35 Jo'el, Jehu the son of Joshibi'ah, son of Serai'ah, son of As'i-el,

1 Chr 6:33 These are the men who served and their sons. Of the sons of the Ko'hathites: Heman the singer the son of Jo'el, son of Samuel,

1 Chr 11:38 Jo'el the brother of Nathan, Mibhar the son of Hagri,

1 Chr15:7 of the sons of Gershom, Jo'el the chief, with a hundred and thirty of his brethren; ….11 Then David summoned the priests Zadok and Abi'athar, and the Levites Uri'el, Asai'ah, Jo'el, Shemai'ah, Eli'el, and Ammin'adab, …..17 So the Levites appointed Heman the son of Jo'el; and of his brethren Asaph the son of Berechi'ah; and of the sons of Merar'i, their brethren, Ethan the son of Kusha'iah;

Ezra 10:43 Of the sons of Nebo: Je-i'el, Mattithi'ah, Zabad, Zebi'na, Jaddai, Jo'el, and Benai'ah.

Neh. 11:9 Jo'el the son of Zichri was their overseer; and Judah the son of Hassen'u-ah was second over the city.

3253-Joe 2:28 "And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions. 29 Even upon the menservants and maidservants in those days, I will pour out my spirit.

3254-2 Kin. 11:4 But in the seventh year Jehoi'ada sent and brought the captains of the Carites and of the guards, and had them come to him in the house of the LORD; and he made a covenant with them and put them under oath in the house of the LORD, and he showed them the king's son. 5 And he commanded them, "This is the thing that you shall do: one third of you, those who come off duty on the sabbath and guard the king's house 6 (another third being at the gate Sur and a third at the gate behind the guards), shall guard the palace; 7 and the two divisions of you, which come on duty in force on the sabbath and guard the house of the LORD, 8 shall surround the king, each with his weapons in his hand; and whoever approaches the ranks is to be slain. Be with the king when he goes out and when he comes in." 9 The captains did according to all that Jehoi'ada the priest commanded, and each brought his men who were to go off duty on the sabbath, with those who were to come on duty on the sabbath, and came to Jehoi'ada the priest. 10 And the priest delivered to the captains the spears and shields that had been King David's, which were in the house of the LORD; 11 and the guards stood, every man with his weapons in his hand, from the south side of the house to the north side of the house, around the altar and the house. 12 Then he brought out the king's son, and put the crown upon him, and gave him the testimony; and they proclaimed him king, and anointed him; and they clapped their hands, and said, "Long live the king!" 13 When Athali'ah heard the noise of the guard and of the people, she went into the house of the LORD to the people; 14 and when she looked, there was the king standing by the pillar, according to the custom, and the captains and the trumpeters beside the king, and all the people of the land rejoicing and blowing trumpets. And Athali'ah rent her clothes, and cried, "Treason! Treason!" 15 Then Jehoi'ada the priest commanded the captains who were set over the army, "Bring her out between the ranks; and slay with the sword any one who follows her." For the priest said, "Let her not be slain in the house of the LORD." 16 So they laid hands on her; and she went through the horses' entrance to the king's house, and there she was slain. 17 And Jehoi'ada made a covenant between the LORD and the king and people, that they should be the LORD's people; and also between the king and the people. 18 Then all the people of the land went to the house of Ba'al, and tore it down; his altars and his images they broke in pieces, and they slew Mattan the priest of Ba'al before the altars. And the priest posted watchmen over the house of the LORD. 19 And he took the captains, the Carites, the guards, and all the people of the land; and they brought the king down from the house of the LORD, marching through the gate of the guards to the king's house. And he took his seat on the throne of the kings. 20 So all the people of the land rejoiced; and the city was quiet after Athali'ah had been slain with the sword at the king's house. 21 Jeho'ash was seven years old when he began to reign.

2 Kings 12:1 In the seventh year of Jehu Jeho'ash began to reign, and he reigned forty years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Zib'iah of Beer-sheba. 2 And Jeho'ash did what was right in the eyes of the LORD all his days, because Jehoi'ada the priest instructed him. 3 Nevertheless the high places were not taken away; the people continued to sacrifice and burn incense on the high places. 4 Jeho'ash said to the priests, "All the money of the holy things which is brought into the house of the LORD, the money for which each man is assessed--the money from the assessment of persons--and the money which a man's heart prompts him to bring into the house of the LORD, 5 let the priests take, each from his acquaintance; and let them repair the house wherever any need of repairs is discovered." 6 But by the twenty-third year of King Jeho'ash the priests had made no repairs on the house. 7 Therefore King Jeho'ash summoned Jehoi'ada the priest and the other priests and said to them, "Why are you not repairing the house? Now therefore take no more money from your acquaintances, but hand it over for the repair of the house." 8 So the priests agreed that they should take no more money from the people, and that they should not repair the house. 9 Then Jehoi'ada the priest took a chest, and bored a hole in the lid of it, and set it beside the altar on the right side as one entered the house of the LORD; and the priests who guarded the threshold put in it all the money that was brought into the house of the LORD. 10 And whenever they saw that there was much money in the chest, the king's secretary and the high priest came up and they counted and tied up in bags the money that was found in the house of the LORD. 11 Then they would give the money that was weighed out into the hands of the workmen who had the oversight of the house of the LORD; and they paid it out to the carpenters and the builders who worked upon the house of the LORD, 12 and to the masons and the stonecutters, as well as to buy timber and quarried stone for making repairs on the house of the LORD, and for any outlay upon the repairs of the house. 13 But there were not made for the house of the LORD basins of silver, snuffers, bowls, trumpets, or any vessels of gold, or of silver, from the money that was brought into the house of the LORD, 14 for that was given to the workmen who were repairing the house of the LORD with it. 15 And they did not ask an accounting from the men into whose hand they delivered the money to pay out to the workmen, for they dealt honestly. 16 The money from the guilt offerings and the money from the sin offerings was not brought into the house of the LORD; it belonged to the priests. 17 At that time Haz'ael king of Syria went up and fought against Gath, and took it. But when Haz'ael set his face to go up against Jerusalem, 18 Jeho'ash king of Judah took all the votive gifts that Jehosh'aphat and Jeho'ram and Ahazi'ah, his fathers, the kings of Judah, had dedicated, and his own votive gifts, and all the gold that was found in the treasuries of the house of the LORD and of the king's house, and sent these to Haz'ael king of Syria. Then Haz'ael went away from Jerusalem. 19 Now the rest of the acts of Jo'ash, and all that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? 20 His servants arose and made a conspiracy, and slew Jo'ash in the house of Millo, on the way that goes down to Silla. 21 It was Jo'zacar the son of Shim'e-ath and Jeho'zabad the son of Shomer, his servants, who struck him down, so that he died. And they buried him with his fathers in the city of David, and Amazi'ah his son reigned in his stead.

3255-Joel 2:2 a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and thick darkness! Like blackness there is spread upon the mountains a great and powerful people; their like has never been from of old, nor will be again after them through the years of all generations.

Zeph. 1:14 The great day of the LORD is near, near and hastening fast; the sound of the day of the LORD is bitter, the mighty man cries aloud there. 15 A day of wrath is that day, a day of distress and anguish, a day of ruin and devastation, a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and thick darkness, 16 a day of trumpet blast and battle cry against the fortified cities and against the lofty battlements.

3256-2 Kin. 11:1 Now when Athali'ah the mother of Ahazi'ah saw that her son was dead, she arose and destroyed all the royal family. 2 But Jehosh'eba, the daughter of King Joram, sister of Ahazi'ah, took Jo'ash the son of Ahazi'ah, and stole him away from among the king's sons who were about to be slain, and she put him and his nurse in a bedchamber. Thus she hid him from Athali'ah, so that he was not slain; 3 and he remained with her six years, hid in the house of the LORD, while Athali'ah reigned over the land. 4 But in the seventh year Jehoi'ada sent and brought the captains of the Carites and of the guards, and had them come to him in the house of the LORD; and he made a covenant with them and put them under oath in the house of the LORD, and he showed them the king's son. 5 And he commanded them, "This is the thing that you shall do: one third of you, those who come off duty on the sabbath and guard the king's house 6 (another third being at the gate Sur and a third at the gate behind the guards), shall guard the palace; 7 and the two divisions of you, which come on duty in force on the sabbath and guard the house of the LORD, 8 shall surround the king, each with his weapons in his hand; and whoever approaches the ranks is to be slain. Be with the king when he goes out and when he comes in." 9 The captains did according to all that Jehoi'ada the priest commanded, and each brought his men who were to go off duty on the sabbath, with those who were to come on duty on the sabbath, and came to Jehoi'ada the priest. 10 And the priest delivered to the captains the spears and shields that had been King David's, which were in the house of the LORD; 11 and the guards stood, every man with his weapons in his hand, from the south side of the house to the north side of the house, around the altar and the house. 12 Then he brought out the king's son, and put the crown upon him, and gave him the testimony; and they proclaimed him king, and anointed him; and they clapped their hands, and said, "Long live the king!" 13 When Athali'ah heard the noise of the guard and of the people, she went into the house of the LORD to the people; 14 and when she looked, there was the king standing by the pillar, according to the custom, and the captains and the trumpeters beside the king, and all the people of the land rejoicing and blowing trumpets. And Athali'ah rent her clothes, and cried, "Treason! Treason!" 15 Then Jehoi'ada the priest commanded the captains who were set over the army, "Bring her out between the ranks; and slay with the sword any one who follows her." For the priest said, "Let her not be slain in the house of the LORD." 16 So they laid hands on her; and she went through the horses' entrance to the king's house, and there she was slain. 17 And Jehoi'ada made a covenant between the LORD and the king and people, that they should be the LORD's people; and also between the king and the people. 18 Then all the people of the land went to the house of Ba'al, and tore it down; his altars and his images they broke in pieces, and they slew Mattan the priest of Ba'al before the altars. And the priest posted watchmen over the house of the LORD. 19 And he took the captains, the Carites, the guards, and all the people of the land; and they brought the king down from the house of the LORD, marching through the gate of the guards to the king's house. And he took his seat on the throne of the kings. 20 So all the people of the land rejoiced; and the city was quiet after Athali'ah had been slain with the sword at the king's house. 21 Jeho'ash was seven years old when he began to reign.

2 Kings 12:1 In the seventh year of Jehu Jeho'ash began to reign, and he reigned forty years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Zib'iah of Beer-sheba. 2 And Jeho'ash did what was right in the eyes of the LORD all his days, because Jehoi'ada the priest instructed him. 3 Nevertheless the high places were not taken away; the people continued to sacrifice and burn incense on the high places. 4 Jeho'ash said to the priests, "All the money of the holy things which is brought into the house of the LORD, the money for which each man is assessed--the money from the assessment of persons--and the money which a man's heart prompts him to bring into the house of the LORD, 5 let the priests take, each from his acquaintance; and let them repair the house wherever any need of repairs is discovered." 6 But by the twenty-third year of King Jeho'ash the priests had made no repairs on the house. 7 Therefore King Jeho'ash summoned Jehoi'ada the priest and the other priests and said to them, "Why are you not repairing the house? Now therefore take no more money from your acquaintances, but hand it over for the repair of the house." 8 So the priests agreed that they should take no more money from the people, and that they should not repair the house. 9 Then Jehoi'ada the priest took a chest, and bored a hole in the lid of it, and set it beside the altar on the right side as one entered the house of the LORD; and the priests who guarded the threshold put in it all the money that was brought into the house of the LORD. 10 And whenever they saw that there was much money in the chest, the king's secretary and the high priest came up and they counted and tied up in bags the money that was found in the house of the LORD. 11 Then they would give the money that was weighed out into the hands of the workmen who had the oversight of the house of the LORD; and they paid it out to the carpenters and the builders who worked upon the house of the LORD, 12 and to the masons and the stonecutters, as well as to buy timber and quarried stone for making repairs on the house of the LORD, and for any outlay upon the repairs of the house. 13 But there were not made for the house of the LORD basins of silver, snuffers, bowls, trumpets, or any vessels of gold, or of silver, from the money that was brought into the house of the LORD, 14 for that was given to the workmen who were repairing the house of the LORD with it. 15 And they did not ask an accounting from the men into whose hand they delivered the money to pay out to the workmen, for they dealt honestly. 16 The money from the guilt offerings and the money from the sin offerings was not brought into the house of the LORD; it belonged to the priests. 17 At that time Haz'ael king of Syria went up and fought against Gath, and took it. But when Haz'ael set his face to go up against Jerusalem, 18 Jeho'ash king of Judah took all the votive gifts that Jehosh'aphat and Jeho'ram and Ahazi'ah, his fathers, the kings of Judah, had dedicated, and his own votive gifts, and all the gold that was found in the treasuries of the house of the LORD and of the king's house, and sent these to Haz'ael king of Syria. Then Haz'ael went away from Jerusalem. 19 Now the rest of the acts of Jo'ash, and all that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? 20 His servants arose and made a conspiracy, and slew Jo'ash in the house of Millo, on the way that goes down to Silla. 21 It was Jo'zacar the son of Shim'e-ath and Jeho'zabad the son of Shomer, his servants, who struck him down, so that he died. And they buried him with his fathers in the city of David, and Amazi'ah his son reigned in his stead.

3257-Joel 3:6 You have sold the people of Judah and Jerusalem to the Greeks, removing them far from their own border.

3258-Joel 2:2 a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and thick darkness! Like blackness there is spread upon the mountains a great and powerful people; their like has never been from of old, nor will be again after them through the years of all generations.

Amos 5:18 Woe to you who desire the day of the LORD! Why would you have the day of the LORD? It is darkness, and not light;

Joel 3:16 And the LORD roars from Zion, and utters his voice from Jerusalem, and the heavens and the earth shake. But the LORD is a refuge to his people, a stronghold to the people of Israel.

Amos 2:2 So I will send a fire upon Moab, and it shall devour the strongholds of Ker'ioth, and Moab shall die amid uproar, amid shouting and the sound of the trumpet;

Joel 3:18 "And in that day the mountains shall drip sweet wine, and the hills shall flow with milk, and all the stream beds of Judah shall flow with water; and a fountain shall come forth from the house of the LORD and water the valley of Shittim.

Amos 9:13 "Behold, the days are coming," says the LORD, "when the plowman shall overtake the reaper and the treader of grapes him who sows the seed; the mountains shall drip sweet wine, and all the hills shall flow with it.

3259-Joel 2:1 Blow the trumpet in Zion; sound the alarm on my holy mountain! Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble, for the day of the LORD is coming, it is near,

3260-Joel 2:28 "And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions.

3261-Acts 2:1 When the day of Pentecost came, all the believers were gathered together in one place. 2 Suddenly there was a noise from the sky which sounded like a strong wind blowing, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3 Then they saw what looked like tongues of fire which spread out and touched each person there. 4 They were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to talk in other languages, as the Spirit enabled them to speak. 5 There were Jews living in Jerusalem, religious people who had come from every country in the world. 6 When they heard this noise, a large crowd gathered. They were all excited, because all of them heard the believers talking in their own languages. 7 In amazement and wonder they exclaimed, "These people who are talking like this are Galileans! 8 How is it, then, that all of us hear them speaking in our own native languages? 9 We are from Parthia, Media, and Elam; from Mesopotamia, Judea, and Cappadocia; from Pontus and Asia, 10 from Phrygia and Pamphylia, from Egypt and the regions of Libya near Cyrene. Some of us are from Rome, 11 both Jews and Gentiles converted to Judaism, and some of us are from Crete and Arabia - yet all of us hear them speaking in our own languages about the great things that God has done!" 12 Amazed and confused, they kept asking each other, "What does this mean?" 13 But others made fun of the believers, saying, "These people are drunk!" 14 Then Peter stood up with the other eleven apostles and in a loud voice began to speak to the crowd: "Fellow Jews and all of you who live in Jerusalem, listen to me and let me tell you what this means. 15 These people are not drunk, as you suppose; it is only nine o'clock in the morning. 16 Instead, this is what the prophet Joel spoke about: 17 "This is what I will do in the last days, God says: I will pour out my Spirit on everyone. Your sons and daughters will proclaim my message; your young men will see visions, and your old men will have dreams. 18 Yes, even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will proclaim my message. 19 I will perform miracles in the sky above and wonders on the earth below. There will be blood, fire, and thick smoke; 20 the sun will be darkened, and the moon will turn red as blood, before the great and glorious Day of the Lord comes. 21 And then, whoever calls out to the Lord for help will be saved.'

3262-Mark 13:24 "In the days after that time of trouble the sun will grow dark, the moon will no longer shine,

Luke 21:25 "There will be strange things happening to the sun, the moon, and the stars. On earth whole countries will be in despair, afraid of the roar of the sea and the raging tides.

Rev. 6:9 Then the Lamb broke open the fifth seal. I saw underneath the altar the souls of those who had been killed because they had proclaimed God's word and had been faithful in their witnessing.

Rev 9:2 The star opened the abyss, and smoke poured out of it, like the smoke from a large furnace; the sunlight and the air were darkened by the smoke from the abyss.

3263-Acts 2:16 Instead, this is what the prophet Joel spoke about: 17 "This is what I will do in the last days, God says: I will pour out my Spirit on everyone. Your sons and daughters will proclaim my message; your young men will see visions, and your old men will have dreams. 18 Yes, even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will proclaim my message. 19 I will perform miracles in the sky above and wonders on the earth below. There will be blood, fire, and thick smoke; 20 the sun will be darkened, and the moon will turn red as blood, before the great and glorious Day of the Lord comes. 21 And then, whoever calls out to the Lord for help will be saved.'

3264-Joel 2:32 But all who ask the Lord for help will be saved. As the Lord has said, "Some in Jerusalem will escape; those whom I choose will survive.' "

3265-Joel 1:1 This is the Lord's message to Joel son of Pethuel. 2 Pay attention, you older people; everyone in Judah, listen. Has anything like this ever happened in your time or the time of your ancestors? 3 Tell your children about it; they will tell their children, who in turn will tell the next generation. 4 Swarm after swarm of locusts settled on the crops; what one swarm left, the next swarm devoured. 5 Wake up and weep, you drunkards; cry, you wine-drinkers; the grapes for making new wine have been destroyed. 6 An army of locusts has attacked our land; they are powerful and too many to count; their teeth are as sharp as those of a lion.

3266-Joel 1:15 The day of the Lord is near, the day when the Almighty brings destruction. What terror that day will bring!

Joel 2:1 Blow the trumpet; sound the alarm on Zion, God's sacred hill. Tremble, people of Judah! The day of the Lord is coming soon. ….11 The Lord thunders commands to his army. The troops that obey him are many and mighty. How terrible is the day of the Lord! Who will survive it? …..31 The sun will be darkened, and the moon will turn red as blood before the great and terrible day of the Lord comes.

Joel 3:14 Thousands and thousands are in the Valley of Judgment. It is there that the day of the Lord will soon come.

3267-Joel 2:11 The Lord thunders commands to his army. The troops that obey him are many and mighty. How terrible is the day of the Lord! Who will survive it? …..31 The sun will be darkened, and the moon will turn red as blood before the great and terrible day of the Lord comes.

3268-2 Peter 3:8 But do not forget one thing, my dear friends! There is no difference in the Lord's sight between one day and a thousand years; to him the two are the same.

3269-Isaiah 25:9 When it happens, everyone will say, "He is our God! We have put our trust in him, and he has rescued us. He is the Lord! We have put our trust in him, and now we are happy and joyful because he has saved us."

Amos 5:18 How terrible it will be for you who long for the day of the Lord! What good will that day do you? For you it will be a day of darkness and not of light. 19 It will be like someone who runs from a lion and meets a bear! Or like someone who comes home and puts his hand on the wall - only to be bitten by a snake! 20 The day of the Lord will bring darkness and not light; it will be a day of gloom, without any brightness.

Obadiah 15 "The day is near when I, the Lord, will judge all nations. Edom, what you have done will be done to you. You will get back what you have given.

Zephaniah 1:14 The great day of the Lord is near - very near and coming fast! That day will be bitter, for even the bravest soldiers will cry out in despair! 15 It will be a day of fury, a day of trouble and distress, a day of ruin and destruction, a day of darkness and gloom, a black and cloudy day, 16 a day filled with the sound of war trumpets and the battle cry of soldiers attacking fortified cities and high towers. 17 The Lord says, "I will bring such disasters on the human race that everyone will grope about like someone blind. They have sinned against me, and now their blood will be poured out like water, and their dead bodies will lie rotting on the ground." 18 On the day when the Lord shows his fury, not even all their silver and gold will save them. The whole earth will be destroyed by the fire of his anger. He will put an end - a sudden end - to everyone who lives on earth.

Acts 2:20 the sun will be darkened, and the moon will turn red as blood, before the great and glorious Day of the Lord comes. 21 And then, whoever calls out to the Lord for help will be saved.'

1 Thessalonians 5:1 There is no need to write you, friends, about the times and occasions when these things will happen. 2 For you yourselves know very well that the Day of the Lord will come as a thief comes at night. 3 When people say, "Everything is quiet and safe," then suddenly destruction will hit them! It will come as suddenly as the pains that come upon a woman in labor, and people will not escape. 4 But you, friends, are not in the darkness, and the Day should not take you by surprise like a thief. 5 All of you are people who belong to the light, who belong to the day. We do not belong to the night or to the darkness. 6 So then, we should not be sleeping like the others; we should be awake and sober. 7 It is at night when people sleep; it is at night when they get drunk. 8 But we belong to the day, and we should be sober. We must wear faith and love as a breastplate, and our hope of salvation as a helmet. 9 God did not choose us to suffer his anger, but to possess salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, 10 who died for us in order that we might live together with him, whether we are alive or dead when he comes. 11 And so encourage one another and help one another, just as you are now doing.

Peter 3:10 As the scripture says, "If you want to enjoy life and wish to see good times, you must keep from speaking evil and stop telling lies.

3270-Joel 1:15 The day of the Lord is near, the day when the Almighty brings destruction. What terror that day will bring!

Joel 2:1 Blow the trumpet; sound the alarm on Zion, God's sacred hill. Tremble, people of Judah! The day of the Lord is coming soon.

3271-Deut. 1:30 The Lord your God will lead you, and he will fight for you, just as you saw him do in Egypt

Deut 3:22 Don't be afraid of them, for the Lord your God will fight for you.'

Josh. 5:13 While Joshua was near Jericho, he suddenly saw a man standing in front of him, holding a sword. Joshua went up to him and asked, "Are you one of our soldiers, or an enemy?" 14 "Neither," the man answered. "I am here as the commander of the Lord's army." Joshua threw himself on the ground in worship and said, "I am your servant, sir. What do you want me to do?" 15 And the commander of the Lord's army told him, "Take your sandals off; you are standing on holy ground." And Joshua did as he was told.

Josh 6:2 The Lord said to Joshua, "I am putting into your hands Jericho, with its king and all its brave soldiers.

3272-Lev. 18:25 Their actions made the land unclean, and so the Lord is punishing the land and making it reject the people who lived there.

Deut. 9:4 "After the Lord your God has driven them out for you, do not say to yourselves that he brought you in to possess this land because you deserved it. No, the Lord is going to drive these people out for you because they are wicked. 5 It is not because you are good and do what is right that the Lord is letting you take their land. He will drive them out because they are wicked and because he intends to keep the promise that he made to your ancestors, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

3273-Is. 22:1 This is a message about the Valley of Vision. What is happening? Why are all the people of the city celebrating on the roofs of the houses? 2 The whole city is in an uproar, filled with noise and excitement. Your people who died in this war did not die fighting. 3 All your leaders ran away and were captured before they shot a single arrow. 4 Now leave me alone to weep bitterly over all those of my people who have died. Don't try to comfort me. 5 This is a time of panic, defeat, and confusion in the Valley of Vision, and the Sovereign Lord Almighty has sent it on us. The walls of our city have been battered down, and cries for help have echoed among the hills. 6 The soldiers from the land of Elam came riding on horseback, armed with bows and arrows. Soldiers from the land of Kir had their shields ready. 7 The fertile valleys of Judah were filled with chariots; soldiers on horseback stood in front of Jerusalem's gates. 8 All of Judah's defenses crumbled. When that happened, you brought weapons out of the arsenal. 9 You found the places where the walls of Jerusalem needed repair. You inspected all the houses in Jerusalem and tore some of them down to get stones to repair the city walls. In order to store water, 11 you built a reservoir inside the city to hold the water flowing down from the old pool. But you paid no attention to God, who planned all this long ago and who caused it to happen. 12 The Sovereign Lord Almighty was calling you then to weep and mourn, to shave your heads and wear sackcloth. 13 Instead, you laughed and celebrated. You killed sheep and cattle to eat, and you drank wine. You said, "We might as well eat and drink! Tomorrow we'll be dead." 14 The Sovereign Lord Almighty himself spoke to me and said, "This evil will never be forgiven them as long as they live. I, the Sovereign Lord Almighty, have spoken."

Jer. 46:2 beginning with Egypt. This is what he said about the army of King Neco of Egypt, which King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia defeated at Carchemish near the Euphrates River in the fourth year that Jehoiakim was king of Judah: 3 "The Egyptian officers shout, "Get your shields ready and march into battle! 4 Harness your horses and mount them! Fall in line and put on your helmets! Sharpen your spears! Put on your armor!' 5 "But what do I see?" asks the Lord. "They are turning back in terror. Their soldiers are beaten back; overcome with fear, they run as fast as they can and do not look back. 6 Those who run fast cannot get away; the soldiers cannot escape. In the north, by the Euphrates, they stumble and fall. 7 Who is this that rises like the Nile, like a river flooding its banks? 8 It is Egypt, rising like the Nile, like a river flooding its banks. Egypt said, "I will rise and cover the world; I will destroy cities and the people who live there. 9 Command the horses to go and the chariots to roll! Send out the soldiers: men from Ethiopia and Libya, carrying shields, and skilled archers from Lydia.' " 10 This is the day of the Sovereign Lord Almighty: today he will take revenge; today he will punish his enemies. His sword will eat them until it is full, and drink their blood until it is satisfied. Today the Almighty sacrifices his victims in the north, by the Euphrates. 11 People of Egypt, go to Gilead and look for medicine! All your medicine has proved useless; nothing can heal you. 12 Nations have heard of your shame; everyone has heard you cry. One soldier trips over another, and both of them fall to the ground.

Lam. 1:1 How lonely lies Jerusalem, once so full of people! Once honored by the world, she is now like a widow; The noblest of cities has fallen into slavery. 2 All night long she cries; tears run down her cheeks. Of all her former friends, not one is left to comfort her. Her allies have betrayed her and are all against her now. 3 Judah's people are helpless slaves, forced away from home. They live in other lands, with no place to call their own - Surrounded by enemies, with no way to escape. 4 No one comes to the Temple now to worship on the holy days. The young women who sang there suffer, and the priests can only groan. The city gates stand empty, and Zion is in agony. 5 Her enemies succeeded; they hold her in their power. The Lord has made her suffer for all her many sins; Her children have been captured and taken away. 6 The splendor of Jerusalem is a thing of the past. Her leaders are like deer that are weak from hunger, Whose strength is almost gone as they flee from the hunters. 7 A lonely ruin now, Jerusalem recalls her ancient splendor. When she fell to the enemy, there was no one to help her; Her conquerors laughed at her downfall. 8 Her honor is gone; she is naked and held in contempt. She groans and hides her face in shame. Jerusalem made herself filthy with terrible sin. 9 Her uncleanness was easily seen, but she showed no concern for her fate. Her downfall was terrible; no one can comfort her. Her enemies have won, and she cries to the Lord for mercy. 10 The enemies robbed her of all her treasures. She saw them enter the Temple itself, Where the Lord had forbidden Gentiles to go. 11 Her people groan as they look for something to eat; They exchange their treasures for food to keep themselves alive. "Look at me, Lord," the city cries; "see me in my misery." 12 "Look at me!" she cries to everyone who passes by. "No one has ever had pain like mine, Pain that the Lord brought on me in the time of his anger. 13 "He sent fire from above, a fire that burned inside me. He set a trap for me and brought me to the ground. Then he abandoned me and left me in constant pain. 14 "He took note of all my sins and tied them all together; He hung them around my neck, and I grew weak beneath the weight. The Lord gave me to my foes, and I was helpless against them. 15 "The Lord laughed at all my strongest soldiers; He sent an army to destroy my young men. He crushed my people like grapes in a wine press. 16 "That is why my eyes are overflowing with tears. No one can comfort me; no one can give me courage. The enemy has conquered me; my people have nothing left. 17 "I stretch out my hands, but no one will help me. The Lord has called enemies against me from every side; They treat me like some filthy thing. 18 "But the Lord is just, for I have disobeyed him. Listen to me, people everywhere; look at me in my pain. My young men and women have been taken away captive. 19 "I called to my allies, but they refused to help me. The priests and the leaders died in the city streets, Looking for food to keep themselves alive. 20 "Look, O Lord, at my agony, at the anguish of my soul! My heart is broken in sorrow for my sins. There is murder in the streets; even indoors there is death. 21 "Listen to my groans; there is no one to comfort me. My enemies are glad that you brought disaster on me. Bring the day you promised; make my enemies suffer as I do. 22 "Condemn them for all their wickedness; Punish them as you punished me for my sins. I groan in misery, and I am sick at heart."

Lam 2:1 The Lord in his anger has covered Zion with darkness. Its heavenly splendor he has turned into ruins. On the day of his anger he abandoned even his Temple. 2 The Lord destroyed without mercy every village in Judah And tore down the forts that defended the land. He brought disgrace on the kingdom and its rulers. 3 In his fury he shattered the strength of Israel; He refused to help us when the enemy came. He raged against us like fire, destroying everything. 4 He aimed his arrows at us like an enemy; He killed all those who were our joy and delight. Here in Jerusalem we felt his burning anger. 5 Like an enemy, the Lord has destroyed Israel; He has left her forts and palaces in ruins. He has brought on the people of Judah unending sorrow. 6 He smashed to pieces the Temple where we worshiped him; He has put an end to holy days and Sabbaths. King and priest alike have felt the force of his anger. 7 The Lord rejected his altar and deserted his holy Temple; He allowed the enemy to tear down its walls. They shouted in victory where once we had worshiped in joy. 8 The Lord was determined that the walls of Zion should fall; He measured them off to make sure of total destruction. The towers and walls now lie in ruins together. 9 The gates lie buried in rubble, their bars smashed to pieces. The king and the noblemen now are in exile. The Law is no longer taught, and the prophets have no visions from the Lord. 10 Jerusalem's old men sit on the ground in silence, With dust on their heads and sackcloth on their bodies. Young women bow their heads to the ground. 11 My eyes are worn out with weeping; my soul is in anguish. I am exhausted with grief at the destruction of my people. Children and babies are fainting in the streets of the city. 12 Hungry and thirsty, they cry to their mothers; They fall in the streets as though they were wounded, And slowly die in their mothers' arms. 13 O Jerusalem, beloved Jerusalem, what can I say? How can I comfort you? No one has ever suffered like this. Your disaster is boundless as the ocean; there is no possible hope. 14 Your prophets had nothing to tell you but lies; Their preaching deceived you by never exposing your sin. They made you think you did not need to repent. 15 People passing by the city look at you in scorn. They shake their heads and laugh at Jerusalem's ruins: "Is this that lovely city? Is this the pride of the world?" 16 All your enemies mock you and glare at you with hate. They curl their lips and sneer, "We have destroyed it! This is the day we have waited for!" 17 The Lord has finally done what he threatened to do: He has destroyed us without mercy, as he warned us long ago. He gave our enemies victory, gave them joy at our downfall. 18 O Jerusalem, let your very walls cry out to the Lord! Let your tears flow like rivers night and day; Wear yourself out with weeping and grief! 19 All through the night get up again and again to cry out to the Lord; Pour out your heart and beg him for mercy on your children - Children starving to death on every street corner! 20 Look, O Lord! Why are you punishing us like this? Women are eating the bodies of the children they loved! Priests and prophets are being killed in the Temple itself! 21 Young and old alike lie dead in the streets, Young men and women, killed by enemy swords. You slaughtered them without mercy on the day of your anger. 22 You invited my enemies to hold a carnival of terror all around me, And no one could escape on that day of your anger. They murdered my children, whom I had raised and loved

Ezek. 13:1 The Lord spoke to me. 2 "Mortal man," he said, "denounce the prophets of Israel who make up their own prophecies. Tell them to listen to the word of the Lord." 3 This is what the Sovereign Lord says: "These foolish prophets are doomed! They provide their own inspiration and invent their own visions. 4 People of Israel, your prophets are as useless as foxes living among the ruins of a city. 5 They don't guard the places where the walls have crumbled, nor do they rebuild the walls, and so Israel cannot be defended when war comes on the day of the Lord. 6 Their visions are false, and their predictions are lies. They claim that they are speaking my message, but I have not sent them. Yet they expect their words to come true! 7 I tell them: Those visions you see are false, and the predictions you make are lies. You say that they are my words, but I haven't spoken to you!" 8 So the Sovereign Lord says to them, "Your words are false, and your visions are lies. I am against you. 9 I am about to punish you prophets who have false visions and make misleading predictions. You will not be there when my people gather to make decisions; your names will not be included in the list of the citizens of Israel; you will never return to your land. Then you will know that I am the Sovereign Lord.

3274-Joel 1:15 The day of the Lord is near, the day when the Almighty brings destruction. What terror that day will bring!

Is. 13:6 Howl in pain! The day of the Lord is near, the day when the Almighty brings destruction. ….9 The day of the Lord is coming - that cruel day of his fierce anger and fury. The earth will be made a wilderness, and every sinner will be destroyed.

Zeph. 1:14 The great day of the Lord is near - very near and coming fast! That day will be bitter, for even the bravest soldiers will cry out in despair! 15 It will be a day of fury, a day of trouble and distress, a day of ruin and destruction, a day of darkness and gloom, a black and cloudy day, 16 a day filled with the sound of war trumpets and the battle cry of soldiers attacking fortified cities and high towers. 17 The Lord says, "I will bring such disasters on the human race that everyone will grope about like someone blind. They have sinned against me, and now their blood will be poured out like water, and their dead bodies will lie rotting on the ground." 18 On the day when the Lord shows his fury, not even all their silver and gold will save them. The whole earth will be destroyed by the fire of his anger. He will put an end - a sudden end - to everyone who lives on earth.

3275-Is. 4:2 The time is coming when the Lord will make every plant and tree in the land grow large and beautiful. All the people of Israel who survive will take delight and pride in the crops that the land produces. 3 Everyone who is left in Jerusalem, whom God has chosen for survival, will be called holy. 4 By his power the Lord will judge and purify the nation and wash away the guilt of Jerusalem and the blood that has been shed there. 5 Then over Mount Zion and over all who are gathered there, the Lord will send a cloud in the daytime and smoke and a bright flame at night. God's glory will cover and protect the whole city. 6 His glory will shade the city from the heat of the day and make it a place of safety, sheltered from the rain and storm.

Hos. 2:18 At that time I will make a covenant with all the wild animals and birds, so that they will not harm my people. I will also remove all weapons of war from the land, all swords and bows, and will let my people live in peace and safety. 19 Israel, I will make you my wife; I will be true and faithful; I will show you constant love and mercy and make you mine forever. 20 I will keep my promise and make you mine, and you will acknowledge me as Lord. 21 At that time I will answer the prayers of my people Israel. I will make rain fall on the earth, and the earth will produce grain and grapes and olives.

Amos 9:11 The Lord says, "A day is coming when I will restore the kingdom of David, which is like a house fallen into ruins. I will repair its walls and restore it. I will rebuild it and make it as it was long ago. 12 And so the people of Israel will conquer what is left of the land of Edom and all the nations that were once mine," says the Lord, who will cause this to happen. 13 "The days are coming," says the Lord, "when grain will grow faster than it can be harvested, and grapes will grow faster than the wine can be made. The mountains will drip with sweet wine, and the hills will flow with it. 14 I will bring my people back to their land. They will rebuild their ruined cities and live there; they will plant vineyards and drink the wine; they will plant gardens and eat what they grow. 15 I will plant my people on the land I gave them, and they will not be pulled up again." The Lord your God has spoken.

Mic. 4:6 "The time is coming," says the Lord, "when I will gather together the people I punished, those who have suffered in exile. 7 They are crippled and far from home, but I will make a new beginning with those who are left, and they will become a great nation. I will rule over them on Mount Zion from that time on and forever." 8 And you, Jerusalem, where God, like a shepherd from his lookout tower, watches over his people, will once again be the capital of the kingdom that was yours.

3276-Amos 5:18 How terrible it will be for you who long for the day of the Lord! What good will that day do you? For you it will be a day of darkness and not of light. 19 It will be like someone who runs from a lion and meets a bear! Or like someone who comes home and puts his hand on the wall - only to be bitten by a snake! 20 The day of the Lord will bring darkness and not light; it will be a day of gloom, without any brightness.

3277-Joel 2:32 But all who ask the Lord for help will be saved. As the Lord has said, "Some in Jerusalem will escape; those whom I choose will survive.' "

Joel 3:16 The Lord roars from Mount Zion; his voice thunders from Jerusalem; earth and sky tremble. But he will defend his people. ….18 At that time the mountains will be covered with vineyards, and cattle will be found on every hill; there will be plenty of water for all of Judah. A stream will flow from the Temple of the Lord, and it will water Acacia Valley. 19 "Egypt will become a desert, and Edom a ruined waste, because they attacked the land of Judah and killed its innocent people. 20 I will avenge those who were killed; I will not spare the guilty. But Judah and Jerusalem will be inhabited forever, and I, the Lord, will live on Mount Zion."

1 Thess. 5:2 For you yourselves know very well that the Day of the Lord will come as a thief comes at night. 3 When people say, "Everything is quiet and safe," then suddenly destruction will hit them! It will come as suddenly as the pains that come upon a woman in labor, and people will not escape. 4 But you, friends, are not in the darkness, and the Day should not take you by surprise like a thief. 5 All of you are people who belong to the light, who belong to the day. We do not belong to the night or to the darkness.

3278-Jeremiah 46:10 This is the day of the Sovereign Lord Almighty: today he will take revenge; today he will punish his enemies. His sword will eat them until it is full, and drink their blood until it is satisfied. Today the Almighty sacrifices his victims in the north, by the Euphrates.

3279-Isaiah 13:6 Howl in pain! The day of the Lord is near, the day when the Almighty brings destruction. …..9 The day of the Lord is coming - that cruel day of his fierce anger and fury. The earth will be made a wilderness, and every sinner will be destroyed.

3280-Isaiah 14:1 The Lord will once again be merciful to his people Israel and choose them as his own. He will let them live in their own land again, and foreigners will come and live there with them. 2 Many nations will help the people of Israel return to the land which the Lord gave them, and there the nations will serve Israel as slaves. Those who once captured Israel will now be captured by Israel, and the people of Israel will rule over those who once oppressed them.

Jer 46:27 "My people, do not be afraid, people of Israel, do not be terrified. I will rescue you from that faraway land, from the land where you are prisoners. You will come back home and live in peace; you will be secure, and no one will make you afraid. 28 I will come to you and save you. I will destroy all the nations where I have scattered you, but I will not destroy you. I will not let you go unpunished; but when I punish you, I will be fair. I, the Lord, have spoken."

3281-Joel 1:15 The day of the Lord is near, the day when the Almighty brings destruction. What terror that day will bring!

Joel 2:1 Blow the trumpet; sound the alarm on Zion, God's sacred hill. Tremble, people of Judah! The day of the Lord is coming soon.

3282-Zep 1:7 The day is near when the Lord will sit in judgment; so be silent in his presence. The Lord is preparing to sacrifice his people and has invited enemies to plunder Judah. …..14 The great day of the Lord is near - very near and coming fast! That day will be bitter, for even the bravest soldiers will cry out in despair! …..18 On the day when the Lord shows his fury, not even all their silver and gold will save them. The whole earth will be destroyed by the fire of his anger. He will put an end - a sudden end - to everyone who lives on earth.

Zep 2:2 before you are driven away like chaff blown by the wind, before the burning anger of the Lord comes upon you, before the day when he shows his fury.

3283-Isaiah 2:2 In days to come the mountain where the Temple stands will be the highest one of all, towering above all the hills. Many nations will come streaming to it, …..12 On that day the Lord Almighty will humble everyone who is powerful, everyone who is proud and conceited.

Isa 34:8 This is the time when the Lord will rescue Zion and take vengeance on her enemies.

Joel 3:14 Thousands and thousands are in the Valley of Judgment. It is there that the day of the Lord will soon come.

Obadiah 15 "The day is near when I, the Lord, will judge all nations. Edom, what you have done will be done to you. You will get back what you have given. ….17 "But on Mount Zion some will escape, and it will be a sacred place. The people of Jacob will possess the land that is theirs by right.

Zec 14:1 The day when the Lord will sit in judgment is near. Then Jerusalem will be looted, and the loot will be divided up before your eyes.

Mal 4:5 "But before the great and terrible day of the Lord comes, I will send you the prophet Elijah.

3284-Joel 2:1 Blow the trumpet; sound the alarm on Zion, God's sacred hill. Tremble, people of Judah! The day of the Lord is coming soon. 2 It will be a dark and gloomy day, a black and cloudy day. The great army of locusts advances like darkness spreading over the mountains. There has never been anything like it, and there never will be again.

Amos 5:18 How terrible it will be for you who long for the day of the Lord! What good will that day do you? For you it will be a day of darkness and not of light. 19 It will be like someone who runs from a lion and meets a bear! Or like someone who comes home and puts his hand on the wall - only to be bitten by a snake! 20 The day of the Lord will bring darkness and not light; it will be a day of gloom, without any brightness.

3285-Eze 7:19 They will throw their gold and silver away in the streets like garbage, because neither silver nor gold can save them when the Lord pours out his fury. They cannot use it to satisfy their desires or fill their stomachs. Gold and silver led them into sin.

3286-Rom 2:5 But you have a hard and stubborn heart, and so you are making your own punishment even greater on the Day when God's anger and righteous judgments will be revealed. 6 For God will reward each of us according to what we have done.

3287-Mt 10:15 I assure you that on the Judgment Day God will show more mercy to the people of Sodom and Gomorrah than to the people of that town!

2 Pe 3:7 But the heavens and the earth that now exist are being preserved by the same command of God, in order to be destroyed by fire. They are being kept for the day when godless people will be judged and destroyed.

3288-2 Cor 1:14 as you have understood in part, that you can be proud of us as we can be of you, on the day of the Lord Jesus.

3289-Philippians 1:6 And I am sure that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.

3290-Jude 6 And the angels that did not keep their own position but left their proper dwelling have been kept by him in eternal chains in the nether gloom until the judgment of the great day;

3291-Mt 7:22 On that day many will say to me, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?'

1 Th 5:4 But you are not in darkness, brethren, for that day to surprise you like a thief.

3292-1 Cor 3:13 each man's work will become manifest; for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done.

3293-Jn 6:39 and this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up at the last day.

3294-2 Pe 3:7 But by the same word the heavens and earth that now exist have been stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men. 8 But do not ignore this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. 9 The Lord is not slow about his promise as some count slowness, but is forbearing toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. 10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a loud noise, and the elements will be dissolved with fire, and the earth and the works that are upon it will be burned up. 11 Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of persons ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, 12 waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be kindled and dissolved, and the elements will melt with fire!

3295-Matt 25:31 "When the Son of man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. …..34 Then the King will say to those at his right hand, 'Come, O blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world;

2 Peter 3:13 But according to his promise we wait for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. 14 Therefore, beloved, since you wait for these, be zealous to be found by him without spot or blemish, and at peace.

3296-Joel 1:15 Alas for the day! For the day of the LORD is near, and as destruction from the Almighty it comes

3297-Joel 2:1 Blow the trumpet in Zion; sound the alarm on my holy mountain! Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble, for the day of the LORD is coming, it is near, 2 a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and thick darkness! Like blackness there is spread upon the mountains a great and powerful people; their like has never been from of old, nor will be again after them through the years of all generations. 3 Fire devours before them, and behind them a flame burns. The land is like the garden of Eden before them, but after them a desolate wilderness, and nothing escapes them. 4 Their appearance is like the appearance of horses, and like war horses they run. 5 As with the rumbling of chariots, they leap on the tops of the mountains, like the crackling of a flame of fire devouring the stubble, like a powerful army drawn up for battle. 6 Before them peoples are in anguish, all faces grow pale. 7 Like warriors they charge, like soldiers they scale the wall. They march each on his way, they do not swerve from their paths. 8 They do not jostle one another, each marches in his path; they burst through the weapons and are not halted. 9 They leap upon the city, they run upon the walls; they climb up into the houses, they enter through the windows like a thief. 10 The earth quakes before them, the heavens tremble. The sun and the moon are darkened, and the stars withdraw their shining. 11 The LORD utters his voice before his army, for his host is exceedingly great; he that executes his word is powerful. For the day of the LORD is great and very terrible; who can endure it?

3298-Joel 2:28 "And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions. 29 Even upon the menservants and maidservants in those days, I will pour out my spirit. 30 "And I will give portents in the heavens and on the earth, blood and fire and columns of smoke. 31 The sun shall be turned to darkness, and the moon to blood, before the great and terrible day of the LORD comes. 32 And it shall come to pass that all who call upon the name of the LORD shall be delivered; for in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be those who escape, as the LORD has said, and among the survivors shall be those whom the LORD calls.

3299-Joel 3:1 "For behold, in those days and at that time, when I restore the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem, 2 I will gather all the nations and bring them down to the valley of Jehosh'aphat, and I will enter into judgment with them there, on account of my people and my heritage Israel, because they have scattered them among the nations, and have divided up my land, 3 and have cast lots for my people, and have given a boy for a harlot, and have sold a girl for wine, and have drunk it. 4 "What are you to me, O Tyre and Sidon, and all the regions of Philistia? Are you paying me back for something? If you are paying me back, I will requite your deed upon your own head swiftly and speedily. 5 For you have taken my silver and my gold, and have carried my rich treasures into your temples. 6 You have sold the people of Judah and Jerusalem to the Greeks, removing them far from their own border. 7 But now I will stir them up from the place to which you have sold them, and I will requite your deed upon your own head. 8 I will sell your sons and your daughters into the hand of the sons of Judah, and they will sell them to the Sabe'ans, to a nation far off; for the LORD has spoken." 9 Proclaim this among the nations: Prepare war, stir up the mighty men. Let all the men of war draw near, let them come up. 10 Beat your plowshares into swords, and your pruning hooks into spears; let the weak say, "I am a warrior." 11 Hasten and come, all you nations round about, gather yourselves there. Bring down thy warriors, O LORD. 12 Let the nations bestir themselves, and come up to the valley of Jehosh'aphat; for there I will sit to judge all the nations round about. 13 Put in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe. Go in, tread, for the wine press is full. The vats overflow, for their wickedness is great. 14 Multitudes, multitudes, in the valley of decision! For the day of the LORD is near in the valley of decision. 15 The sun and the moon are darkened, and the stars withdraw their shining. 16 And the LORD roars from Zion, and utters his voice from Jerusalem, and the heavens and the earth shake. But the LORD is a refuge to his people, a stronghold to the people of Israel. 17 "So you shall know that I am the LORD your God, who dwell in Zion, my holy mountain. And Jerusalem shall be holy and strangers shall never again pass through it. 18 "And in that day the mountains shall drip sweet wine, and the hills shall flow with milk, and all the stream beds of Judah shall flow with water; and a fountain shall come forth from the house of the LORD and water the valley of Shittim. 19 "Egypt shall become a desolation and Edom a desolate wilderness, for the violence done to the people of Judah, because they have shed innocent blood in their land. 20 But Judah shall be inhabited for ever, and Jerusalem to all generations. 21 I will avenge their blood, and I will not clear the guilty, for the LORD dwells in Zion."

3300-Isaiah 6:1 In the year that King Uzzi'ah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and his train filled the temple. 2 Above him stood the seraphim; each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. 3 And one called to another and said: "Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory."

3301-DA 322,323 The Pharisees to whom Jesus spoke this warning did not themselves believe the charge they brought against Him. There was not one of those dignitaries but had felt drawn toward the Saviour. They had heard the Spirit’s voice in their own hearts declaring Him to be the Anointed of Israel, and urging them to confess themselves His disciples. In the light of His presence they had realized their unholiness, and had longed for a righteousness which they could not create. But after their rejection of Him it would be too humiliating to receive Him as the Messiah. Having set their feet in the path of unbelief, they were too proud to confess their error. And in order to avoid acknowledging the truth, they tried with desperate violence to dispute the Saviour’s teaching. The evidence of His power and mercy exasperated them. They could not prevent the Saviour from working miracles, they could not silence His teaching; but they did everything in their power to misrepresent Him and to falsify His words. Still the convicting Spirit of God followed them, and they had to build up many barriers in order to withstand its power. The mightiest agency that can be brought to bear upon the human heart was striving with them, but they would not yield. {DA 322.1}

It is not God that blinds the eyes of men or hardens their hearts. He sends them light to correct their errors, and to lead them in safe paths; it is by the rejection of this light that the eyes are blinded and the heart hardened. Often the process is gradual, and almost imperceptible. Light comes to the soul through God’s word, through His servants, or by the direct agency of His Spirit; but when one ray of light is disregarded, there is a partial benumbing of the spiritual perceptions, and the second revealing of light is less clearly discerned. So the darkness increases, until it is night in the soul. Thus it had been with these Jewish leaders. They were convinced that a divine power attended Christ, but in order to resist the truth, they attributed the work of the Holy Spirit to Satan. In doing this they deliberately chose deception; they yielded themselves to Satan, and henceforth they were controlled by his power. {DA 322.2}

Closely connected with Christ’s warning in regard to the sin against the Holy Spirit is a warning against idle and evil words. The words are an indication of that which is in the heart. “Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.” But the words are more than an indication of character; they have power to react on the character. Men are influenced by their own words. Often under a momentary impulse, prompted by Satan, they give utterance to jealousy or evil surmising, expressing that which they do not really believe; but the expression reacts on the thoughts. They are deceived by their words, and come to believe that true which was spoken at Satan’s instigation. Having once expressed an opinion or decision, they are often too proud to retract it, and try to prove themselves in the right, until they come to believe that they are. It is dangerous to utter a word of doubt, dangerous to question and criticize divine light. The habit of careless and irreverent criticism reacts upon the character, in fostering irreverence and unbelief. Many a man indulging this habit has gone on unconscious of danger, until he was ready to criticize and reject the work of the Holy Spirit. Jesus said, “Every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment. For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.” {DA 323.1}

Then He added a warning to those who had been impressed by His words, who had heard Him gladly, but who had not surrendered themselves for the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. It is not only by resistance but by neglect that the soul is destroyed. “When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man,” said Jesus, “he walketh through dry places, seeking rest, and findeth none. Then he saith, I will return into my house from whence I came out; and when he is come, he findeth it empty, swept, and garnished. Then goeth he, and taketh with himself seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter in and dwell there.” {DA 323.2}

There were many in Christ’s day, as there are today, over whom the control of Satan for the time seemed broken; through the grace of God they were set free from the evil spirits that had held dominion over the soul. They rejoiced in the love of God; but, like the stony-ground hearers of the parable, they did not abide in His love. They did not surrender themselves to God daily, that Christ might dwell in the heart; and when the evil spirit returned, with “seven other spirits more wicked than himself,” they were wholly dominated by the power of evil. {DA 323.3}

3302-Galatians 6:7 Do not be deceived; God is not mocked, for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap.

3303-Ezekiel 1:28 that had in it all the colors of the rainbow. This was the dazzling light which shows the presence of the Lord. When I saw this, I fell face downward on the ground. Then I heard a voice

Ez 2:1 saying, "Mortal man, stand up. I want to talk to you." 2 While the voice was speaking, God's spirit entered me and raised me to my feet, and I heard the voice ….6 "But you, mortal man, must not be afraid of them or of anything they say. They will defy and despise you; it will be like living among scorpions. Still, don't be afraid of those rebels or of anything they say.

Ez 44:4 Then the man took me through the north gate to the front of the Temple. As I looked, I saw that the Temple of the Lord was filled with the dazzling light of his presence. I threw myself face downward on the ground,

Daniel 8:17 Gabriel came and stood beside me, and I was so terrified that I fell to the ground. He said to me, "Mortal man, understand the meaning. The vision has to do with the end of the world." 18 While he was talking, I fell to the ground unconscious. But he took hold of me, raised me to my feet,

Dan 10:4 On the twenty-fourth day of the first month of the year I was standing on the bank of the mighty Tigris River. 5 I looked up and saw someone who was wearing linen clothes and a belt of fine gold. 6 His body shone like a jewel. His face was as bright as a flash of lightning, and his eyes blazed like fire. His arms and legs shone like polished bronze, and his voice sounded like the roar of a great crowd. 7 I was the only one who saw the vision. Those who were with me did not see anything, but they were terrified and ran and hid. 8 I was left there alone, watching this amazing vision. I had no strength left, and my face was so changed that no one could have recognized me. 9 When I heard his voice, I fell to the ground unconscious and lay there face downward. 10 Then a hand took hold of me and raised me to my hands and knees; I was still trembling. 11 The angel said to me, "Daniel, God loves you. Stand up and listen carefully to what I am going to say. I have been sent to you." When he had said this, I stood up, still trembling. 12 Then he said, "Daniel, don't be afraid. God has heard your prayers ever since the first day you decided to humble yourself in order to gain understanding. I have come in answer to your prayer.

Revelation 1:17 When I saw him, I fell down at his feet like a dead man. He placed his right hand on me and said, "Don't be afraid! I am the first and the last.

Rev 19:10 I fell down at his feet to worship him, but he said to me, "Don't do it! I am a servant together with you and with other believers, all those who hold to the truth that Jesus revealed. Worship God!" For the truth that Jesus revealed is what inspires the prophets.

3304-Exodus 20:20 Moses replied, "Don't be afraid; God has only come to test you and make you keep on obeying him, so that you will not sin."

Deuteronomy 9:7 "Never forget how you made the Lord your God angry in the desert. From the day that you left Egypt until the day you arrived here, you have rebelled against him. 8 Even at Mount Sinai you made the Lord angry - angry enough to destroy you. 9 I went up the mountain to receive the stone tablets on which was written the covenant that the Lord had made with you. I stayed there forty days and nights and did not eat or drink anything. 10 Then the Lord gave me the two stone tablets on which he had written with his own hand what he had said to you from the fire on the day that you were gathered there at the mountain. 11 Yes, after those forty days and nights the Lord gave me the two stone tablets on which he had written the covenant. 12 "Then the Lord said to me, "Go down the mountain at once, because your people, whom you led out of Egypt, have become corrupt and have done evil. They have already turned away from what I commanded them to do, and they have made an idol for themselves.' 13 "The Lord also said to me, "I know how stubborn these people are. 14 Don't try to stop me. I intend to destroy them so that no one will remember them any longer. Then I will make you the father of a nation larger and more powerful than they are.' 15 "So I turned and went down the mountain, carrying the two stone tablets on which the covenant was written. Flames of fire were coming from the mountain. 16 I saw that you had already disobeyed the command that the Lord your God had given you, and that you had sinned against him by making yourselves a metal idol in the form of a bull-calf. 17 So there in front of you I threw the stone tablets down and broke them to pieces. 18 Then once again I lay face downward in the Lord's presence for forty days and nights and did not eat or drink anything. I did this because you had sinned against the Lord and had made him angry. 19 I was afraid of the Lord's fierce anger, because he was furious enough to destroy you; but once again the Lord listened to me. 20 The Lord was also angry enough with Aaron to kill him, so I prayed for Aaron at the same time. 21 I took that sinful thing that you had made - that metal bull-calf - and threw it into the fire. Then I broke it in pieces, ground it to dust, and threw the dust into the stream that flowed down the mountain.

Hebrews 12:21 The sight was so terrifying that Moses said, "I am trembling and afraid!"

John 15:15 I do not call you servants any longer, because servants do not know what their master is doing. Instead, I call you friends, because I have told you everything I heard from my Father.

Daniel 2:46 Then King Nebuchadnezzar bowed to the ground and gave orders for sacrifices and offerings to be made to Daniel.

3305-Joel 1:15 The day of the Lord is near, the day when the Almighty brings destruction. What terror that day will bring!

Joel 2:1 Blow the trumpet; sound the alarm on Zion, God's sacred hill. Tremble, people of Judah! The day of the Lord is coming soon. 2 It will be a dark and gloomy day, a black and cloudy day. The great army of locusts advances like darkness spreading over the mountains. There has never been anything like it, and there never will be again.

Joel 3:14 Thousands and thousands are in the Valley of Judgment. It is there that the day of the Lord will soon come.

Zephaniah 1:14 The great day of the Lord is near - very near and coming fast! That day will be bitter, for even the bravest soldiers will cry out in despair!

1 Thessalonians 5:1 There is no need to write you, friends, about the times and occasions when these things will happen. 2 For you yourselves know very well that the Day of the Lord will come as a thief comes at night. 3 When people say, "Everything is quiet and safe," then suddenly destruction will hit them! It will come as suddenly as the pains that come upon a woman in labor, and people will not escape. 4 But you, friends, are not in the darkness, and the Day should not take you by surprise like a thief. 5 All of you are people who belong to the light, who belong to the day. We do not belong to the night or to the darkness. 6 So then, we should not be sleeping like the others; we should be awake and sober. 7 It is at night when people sleep; it is at night when they get drunk. 8 But we belong to the day, and we should be sober. We must wear faith and love as a breastplate, and our hope of salvation as a helmet. 9 God did not choose us to suffer his anger, but to possess salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, 10 who died for us in order that we might live together with him, whether we are alive or dead when he comes. 11 And so encourage one another and help one another, just as you are now doing.

1 John 2:18 My children, the end is near! You were told that the Enemy of Christ would come; and now many enemies of Christ have already appeared, and so we know that the end is near.

Romans 13:11 You must do this, because you know that the time has come for you to wake up from your sleep. For the moment when we will be saved is closer now than it was when we first believed. 12 The night is nearly over, day is almost here. Let us stop doing the things that belong to the dark, and let us take up weapons for fighting in the light.

1 Corinthians 7:29 What I mean, my friends, is this: there is not much time left, and from now on married people should live as though they were not married;

1 Thessalonians 4:15 W_ hat we are teaching you now is the Lord's teaching: we who are alive on the day the Lord comes will not go ahead of those who have died. …..17 then we who are living at that time will be gathered up along with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will always be with the Lord.

Hebrews 10:25 Let us not give up the habit of meeting together, as some are doing. Instead, let us encourage one another all the more, since you see that the Day of the Lord is coming nearer.

James 5:8 You also must be patient. Keep your hopes high, for the day of the Lord's coming is near. 9 Do not complain against one another, my friends, so that God will not judge you. The Judge is near, ready to appear.

1 Peter 4:7 The end of all things is near. You must be self-controlled and alert, to be able to pray.

Revelation 22:6 Then the angel said to me, "These words are true and can be trusted. And the Lord God, who gives his Spirit to the prophets, has sent his angel to show his servants what must happen very soon." 7 "Listen!" says Jesus. "I am coming soon! Happy are those who obey the prophetic words in this book!"

3306-2 Thessalonians 2:1 Concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered together to be with him: I beg you, my friends, 2 not to be so easily confused in your thinking or upset by the claim that the Day of the Lord has come. Perhaps it is thought that we said this while prophesying or preaching, or that we wrote it in a letter. 3 Do not let anyone deceive you in any way. For the Day will not come until the final Rebellion takes place and the Wicked One appears, who is destined to hell. 4 He will oppose every so-called god or object of worship and will put himself above them all. He will even go in and sit down in God's Temple and claim to be God. 5 Don't you remember? I told you all this while I was with you. 6 Yet there is something that keeps this from happening now, and you know what it is. At the proper time, then, the Wicked One will appear.

Revelation 7:1 After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds so that no wind should blow on the earth or the sea or against any tree. 2 And I saw another angel coming up from the east with the seal of the living God. He called out in a loud voice to the four angels to whom God had given the power to damage the earth and the sea. 3 The angel said, "Do not harm the earth, the sea, or the trees, until we mark the servants of our God with a seal on their foreheads."

3307-Zephaniah 1:14 The great day of the Lord is near - very near and coming fast! That day will be bitter, for even the bravest soldiers will cry out in despair!

3308-2 Pet. 3:3 First of all, you must understand that in the last days some people will appear whose lives are controlled by their own lusts. They will make fun of you 4 and will ask, "He promised to come, didn't he? Where is he? Our ancestors have already died, but everything is still the same as it was since the creation of the world!"

3309-2 Pet. 3:12 as you wait for the Day of God and do your best to make it come soon - the Day when the heavens will burn up and be destroyed, and the heavenly bodies will be melted by the heat.

3310-Romans 13:11 You must do this, because you know that the time has come for you to wake up from your sleep. For the moment when we will be saved is closer now than it was when we first believed. 12 The night is nearly over, day is almost here. Let us stop doing the things that belong to the dark, and let us take up weapons for fighting in the light.

1 Corinthians 7:29 What I mean, my friends, is this: there is not much time left, and from now on married people should live as though they were not married;

1 Thessalonians 4:15 W_ hat we are teaching you now is the Lord's teaching: we who are alive on the day the Lord comes will not go ahead of those who have died. …..17 then we who are living at that time will be gathered up along with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will always be with the Lord.

Hebrews 10:25 Let us not give up the habit of meeting together, as some are doing. Instead, let us encourage one another all the more, since you see that the Day of the Lord is coming nearer.

James 5:8 You also must be patient. Keep your hopes high, for the day of the Lord's coming is near. 9 Do not complain against one another, my friends, so that God will not judge you. The Judge is near, ready to appear.

1 Peter 4:7 The end of all things is near. You must be self-controlled and alert, to be able to pray.

1 John 2:18 My children, the end is near! You were told that the Enemy of Christ would come; and now many enemies of Christ have already appeared, and so we know that the end is near.

Revelation 22:6 Then the angel said to me, "These words are true and can be trusted. And the Lord God, who gives his Spirit to the prophets, has sent his angel to show his servants what must happen very soon." 7 "Listen!" says Jesus. "I am coming soon! Happy are those who obey the prophetic words in this book!"

3311-Amos 5:18 How terrible it will be for you who long for the day of the Lord! What good will that day do you? For you it will be a day of darkness and not of light. 19 It will be like someone who runs from a lion and meets a bear! Or like someone who comes home and puts his hand on the wall - only to be bitten by a snake! 20 The day of the Lord will bring darkness and not light; it will be a day of gloom, without any brightness.

Zephaniah 1:14 The great day of the Lord is near - very near and coming fast! That day will be bitter, for even the bravest soldiers will cry out in despair! 15 It will be a day of fury, a day of trouble and distress, a day of ruin and destruction, a day of darkness and gloom, a black and cloudy day, 16 a day filled with the sound of war trumpets and the battle cry of soldiers attacking fortified cities and high towers. 17 The Lord says, "I will bring such disasters on the human race that everyone will grope about like someone blind. They have sinned against me, and now their blood will be poured out like water, and their dead bodies will lie rotting on the ground." 18 On the day when the Lord shows his fury, not even all their silver and gold will save them. The whole earth will be destroyed by the fire of his anger. He will put an end - a sudden end - to everyone who lives on earth.

Matthew 7:22 When the Judgment Day comes, many will say to me, "Lord, Lord! In your name we spoke God's message, by your name we drove out many demons and performed many miracles!' 23 Then I will say to them, "I never knew you. Get away from me, you wicked people!'

Revelation 6:16 They called out to the mountains and to the rocks, "Fall on us and hide us from the eyes of the one who sits on the throne and from the anger of the Lamb!

3312-Amos 5:20 The day of the Lord will bring darkness and not light; it will be a day of gloom, without any brightness. 21 The Lord says, "I hate your religious festivals; I cannot stand them! 22 When you bring me burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them; I will not accept the animals you have fattened to bring me as offerings. 23 Stop your noisy songs; I do not want to listen to your harps. 24 Instead, let justice flow like a stream, and righteousness like a river that never goes dry

3313-Joel 2:28 "Afterward I will pour out my Spirit on everyone: your sons and daughters will proclaim my message; your old people will have dreams, and your young people will see visions. 29 At that time I will pour out my Spirit even on servants, both men and women. 30 "I will give warnings of that day in the sky and on the earth; there will be bloodshed, fire, and clouds of smoke. 31 The sun will be darkened, and the moon will turn red as blood before the great and terrible day of the Lord comes. 32 But all who ask the Lord for help will be saved. As the Lord has said, "Some in Jerusalem will escape; those whom I choose will survive.' "

Joel 3:14 Thousands and thousands are in the Valley of Judgment. It is there that the day of the Lord will soon come. 15 The sun and the moon grow dark, and the stars no longer shine. 16 The Lord roars from Mount Zion; his voice thunders from Jerusalem; earth and sky tremble. But he will defend his people. 17 "Then, Israel, you will know that I am the Lord your God. I live on Zion, my sacred hill. Jerusalem will be a sacred city; foreigners will never conquer it again.

Matthew 24:29 "Soon after the trouble of those days, the sun will grow dark, the moon will no longer shine, the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers in space will be driven from their courses. 30 Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky; and all the peoples of earth will weep as they see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. 31 The great trumpet will sound, and he will send out his angels to the four corners of the earth, and they will gather his chosen people from one end of the world to the other.

Mark 13:24 "In the days after that time of trouble the sun will grow dark, the moon will no longer shine, 25 the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers in space will be driven from their courses. 26 Then the Son of Man will appear, coming in the clouds with great power and glory. 27 He will send the angels out to the four corners of the earth to gather God's chosen people from one end of the world to the other.

Luke 21:25 "There will be strange things happening to the sun, the moon, and the stars. On earth whole countries will be in despair, afraid of the roar of the sea and the raging tides. 26 People will faint from fear as they wait for what is coming over the whole earth, for the powers in space will be driven from their courses. 27 Then the Son of Man will appear, coming in a cloud with great power and glory. 28 When these things begin to happen, stand up and raise your heads, because your salvation is near."

Acts 2:17 "This is what I will do in the last days, God says: I will pour out my Spirit on everyone. Your sons and daughters will proclaim my message; your young men will see visions, and your old men will have dreams. 18 Yes, even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will proclaim my message. 19 I will perform miracles in the sky above and wonders on the earth below. There will be blood, fire, and thick smoke; 20 the sun will be darkened, and the moon will turn red as blood, before the great and glorious Day of the Lord comes. 21 And then, whoever calls out to the Lord for help will be saved.'

3314-Acts 2:1 When the day of Pentecost came, all the believers were gathered together in one place. 2 Suddenly there was a noise from the sky which sounded like a strong wind blowing, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3 Then they saw what looked like tongues of fire which spread out and touched each person there. 4 They were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to talk in other languages, as the Spirit enabled them to speak. 5 There were Jews living in Jerusalem, religious people who had come from every country in the world. 6 When they heard this noise, a large crowd gathered. They were all excited, because all of them heard the believers talking in their own languages. 7 In amazement and wonder they exclaimed, "These people who are talking like this are Galileans! 8 How is it, then, that all of us hear them speaking in our own native languages? 9 We are from Parthia, Media, and Elam; from Mesopotamia, Judea, and Cappadocia; from Pontus and Asia, 10 from Phrygia and Pamphylia, from Egypt and the regions of Libya near Cyrene. Some of us are from Rome, 11 both Jews and Gentiles converted to Judaism, and some of us are from Crete and Arabia - yet all of us hear them speaking in our own languages about the great things that God has done!" 12 Amazed and confused, they kept asking each other, "What does this mean?" 13 But others made fun of the believers, saying, "These people are drunk!" 14 Then Peter stood up with the other eleven apostles and in a loud voice began to speak to the crowd: "Fellow Jews and all of you who live in Jerusalem, listen to me and let me tell you what this means. 15 These people are not drunk, as you suppose; it is only nine o'clock in the morning. 16 Instead, this is what the prophet Joel spoke about: 17 "This is what I will do in the last days, God says: I will pour out my Spirit on everyone. Your sons and daughters will proclaim my message; your young men will see visions, and your old men will have dreams. 18 Yes, even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will proclaim my message. 19 I will perform miracles in the sky above and wonders on the earth below. There will be blood, fire, and thick smoke; 20 the sun will be darkened, and the moon will turn red as blood, before the great and glorious Day of the Lord comes. 21 And then, whoever calls out to the Lord for help will be saved.' 22 "Listen to these words, fellow Israelites! Jesus of Nazareth was a man whose divine authority was clearly proven to you by all the miracles and wonders which God performed through him. You yourselves know this, for it happened here among you. 23 In accordance with his own plan God had already decided that Jesus would be handed over to you; and you killed him by letting sinful men crucify him. 24 But God raised him from death, setting him free from its power, because it was impossible that death should hold him prisoner. 25 For David said about him, "I saw the Lord before me at all times; he is near me, and I will not be troubled. 26 And so I am filled with gladness, and my words are full of joy. And I, mortal though I am, will rest assured in hope, 27 because you will not abandon me in the world of the dead; you will not allow your faithful servant to rot in the grave. 28 You have shown me the paths that lead to life, and your presence will fill me with joy.' 29 "My friends, I must speak to you plainly about our famous ancestor King David. He died and was buried, and his grave is here with us to this very day. 30 He was a prophet, and he knew what God had promised him: God had made a vow that he would make one of David's descendants a king, just as David was. 31 David saw what God was going to do in the future, and so he spoke about the resurrection of the Messiah when he said, "He was not abandoned in the world of the dead; his body did not rot in the grave.' 32 God has raised this very Jesus from death, and we are all witnesses to this fact. 33 He has been raised to the right side of God, his Father, and has received from him the Holy Spirit, as he had promised. What you now see and hear is his gift that he has poured out on us. 34 For it was not David who went up into heaven; rather he said, "The Lord said to my Lord: Sit here at my right side 35 until I put your enemies as a footstool under your feet.' 36 "All the people of Israel, then, are to know for sure that this Jesus, whom you crucified, is the one that God has made Lord and Messiah!" 37 When the people heard this, they were deeply troubled and said to Peter and the other apostles, "What shall we do, brothers?" 38 Peter said to them, "Each one of you must turn away from your sins and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ, so that your sins will be forgiven; and you will receive God's gift, the Holy Spirit. 39 For God's promise was made to you and your children, and to all who are far away - all whom the Lord our God calls to himself." 40 Peter made his appeal to them and with many other words he urged them, saying, "Save yourselves from the punishment coming on this wicked people!" 41 Many of them believed his message and were baptized, and about three thousand people were added to the group that day. 42 They spent their time in learning from the apostles, taking part in the fellowship, and sharing in the fellowship meals and the prayers. 43 Many miracles and wonders were being done through the apostles, and everyone was filled with awe. 44 All the believers continued together in close fellowship and shared their belongings with one another. 45 They would sell their property and possessions, and distribute the money among all, according to what each one needed. 46 Day after day they met as a group in the Temple, and they had their meals together in their homes, eating with glad and humble hearts, 47 praising God, and enjoying the good will of all the people. And every day the Lord added to their group those who were being saved.

Acts 10:46 For they heard them speaking in strange tongues and praising God's greatness. Peter spoke up:

Acts 19:6 Paul placed his hands on them, and the Holy Spirit came upon them; they spoke in strange tongues and also proclaimed God's message.

3315-Heb. 1:1 In the past God spoke to our ancestors many times and in many ways through the prophets, 2 but in these last days he has spoken to us through his Son. He is the one through whom God created the universe, the one whom God has chosen to possess all things at the end.

3316-Acts 2:17 "This is what I will do in the last days, God says: I will pour out my Spirit on everyone. Your sons and daughters will proclaim my message; your young men will see visions, and your old men will have dreams. 18 Yes, even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will proclaim my message. 19 I will perform miracles in the sky above and wonders on the earth below. There will be blood, fire, and thick smoke; 20 the sun will be darkened, and the moon will turn red as blood, before the great and glorious Day of the Lord comes. 21 And then, whoever calls out to the Lord for help will be saved.'

3317-Gal. 3:28 So there is no difference between Jews and Gentiles, between slaves and free people, between men and women; you are all one in union with Christ Jesus.

3318-John 14:15 "If you love me, you will obey my commandments. 16 I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, who will stay with you forever. 17 He is the Spirit, who reveals the truth about God. The world cannot receive him, because it cannot see him or know him. But you know him, because he remains with you and is in you.

John 16:7 But I am telling you the truth: it is better for you that I go away, because if I do not go, the Helper will not come to you. But if I do go away, then I will send him to you. 8 And when he comes, he will prove to the people of the world that they are wrong about sin and about what is right and about God's judgment. 9 They are wrong about sin, because they do not believe in me; 10 they are wrong about what is right, because I am going to the Father and you will not see me any more; 11 and they are wrong about judgment, because the ruler of this world has already been judged. 12 "I have much more to tell you, but now it would be too much for you to bear. 13 When, however, the Spirit comes, who reveals the truth about God, he will lead you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own authority, but he will speak of what he hears and will tell you of things to come. 14 He will give me glory, because he will take what I say and tell it to you. 15 All that my Father has is mine; that is why I said that the Spirit will take what I give him and tell it to you.

3319-1 Thessalonians 5:4 But you, friends, are not in the darkness, and the Day should not take you by surprise like a thief.

3320-Amos 1:1 These are the words of Amos, a shepherd from the town of Tekoa. Two years before the earthquake, when Uzziah was king of Judah and Jeroboam son of Jehoash was king of Israel, God revealed to Amos all these things about Israel.

Amos 7:14 Amos answered, "I am not the kind of prophet who prophesies for pay. I am a herdsman, and I take care of fig trees.

3321-Hosea 1:1 This is the message which the Lord gave Hosea son of Beeri during the time that Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah were kings of Judah, and Jeroboam son of Jehoash was king of Israel

Isaiah 1:1 This book contains the messages about Judah and Jerusalem which God revealed to Isaiah son of Amoz during the time when Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah were kings of Judah.

Is. 6:1 In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord. He was sitting on his throne, high and exalted, and his robe filled the whole Temple.

Micah 1:1 During the time that Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah were kings of Judah, the Lord gave this message to Micah, who was from the town of Moresheth. The Lord revealed to Micah all these things about Samaria and Jerusalem.

3322-Amos 7:9 The places where Isaac's descendants worship will be destroyed. The holy places of Israel will be left in ruins. I will bring the dynasty of King Jeroboam to an end."

3323-2 Kin. 14:25 He reconquered all the territory that had belonged to Israel, from Hamath Pass in the north to the Dead Sea in the south. This was what the Lord, the God of Israel, had promised through his servant the prophet Jonah son of Amittai from Gath Hepher.

3324-Amos 9:11 The Lord says, "A day is coming when I will restore the kingdom of David, which is like a house fallen into ruins. I will repair its walls and restore it. I will rebuild it and make it as it was long ago. 12 And so the people of Israel will conquer what is left of the land of Edom and all the nations that were once mine," says the Lord, who will cause this to happen. 13 "The days are coming," says the Lord, "when grain will grow faster than it can be harvested, and grapes will grow faster than the wine can be made. The mountains will drip with sweet wine, and the hills will flow with it. 14 I will bring my people back to their land. They will rebuild their ruined cities and live there; they will plant vineyards and drink the wine; they will plant gardens and eat what they grow. 15 I will plant my people on the land I gave them, and they will not be pulled up again." The Lord your God has spoken.

3325-Amos 1:1 These are the words of Amos, a shepherd from the town of Tekoa. Two years before the earthquake, when Uzziah was king of Judah and Jeroboam son of Jehoash was king of Israel, God revealed to Amos all these things about Israel.

3326-Amos 3:7 The Sovereign Lord never does anything without revealing his plan to his servants, the prophets.

Amos 7:14 Amos answered, "I am not the kind of prophet who prophesies for pay. I am a herdsman, and I take care of fig trees.

3327-Amos 5:18 How terrible it will be for you who long for the day of the Lord! What good will that day do you? For you it will be a day of darkness and not of light. 19 It will be like someone who runs from a lion and meets a bear! Or like someone who comes home and puts his hand on the wall - only to be bitten by a snake! 20 The day of the Lord will bring darkness and not light; it will be a day of gloom, without any brightness. 21 The Lord says, "I hate your religious festivals; I cannot stand them! 22 When you bring me burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them; I will not accept the animals you have fattened to bring me as offerings. 23 Stop your noisy songs; I do not want to listen to your harps. 24 Instead, let justice flow like a stream, and righteousness like a river that never goes dry.

Amos 8:5 You say to yourselves, "We can hardly wait for the holy days to be over so that we can sell our grain. When will the Sabbath end, so that we can start selling again? Then we can overcharge, use false measures, and fix the scales to cheat our customers. 6 We can sell worthless wheat at a high price. We'll find someone poor who can't pay his debts, not even the price of a pair of sandals, and we'll buy him as a slave."

3328-Daniel 12:3 The wise leaders will shine with all the brightness of the sky. And those who have taught many people to do what is right will shine like the stars forever."

Amos 8:11 "The time is coming when I will send famine on the land. People will be hungry, but not for bread; they will be thirsty, but not for water. They will hunger and thirst for a message from the Lord. I, the Sovereign Lord, have spoken. 12 People will wander from the Dead Sea to the Mediterranean and then on around from the north to the east. They will look everywhere for a message from the Lord, but they will not find it.

3329-Genesis 4:1 Then Adam had intercourse with his wife, and she became pregnant. She bore a son and said, "By the Lord's help I have gotten a son." So she named him Cain.

1 Kings 1:4 She was very beautiful, and waited on the king and took care of him, but he did not have intercourse with her.

Matthew 7:22 When the Judgment Day comes, many will say to me, "Lord, Lord! In your name we spoke God's message, by your name we drove out many demons and performed many miracles!' 23 Then I will say to them, "I never knew you. Get away from me, you wicked people!'

3330-John 15:15 I do not call you servants any longer, because servants do not know what their master is doing. Instead, I call you friends, because I have told you everything I heard from my Father.

3331-Amos 8:5 You say to yourselves, "We can hardly wait for the holy days to be over so that we can sell our grain. When will the Sabbath end, so that we can start selling again? Then we can overcharge, use false measures, and fix the scales to cheat our customers. 6 We can sell worthless wheat at a high price. We'll find someone poor who can't pay his debts, not even the price of a pair of sandals, and we'll buy him as a slave."

3332-Amos 1:1 These are the words of Amos, a shepherd from the town of Tekoa. Two years before the earthquake, when Uzziah was king of Judah and Jeroboam son of Jehoash was king of Israel, God revealed to Amos all these things about Israel. 2 Amos said, "The Lord roars from Mount Zion; his voice thunders from Jerusalem. The pastures dry up, and the grass on Mount Carmel turns brown." 3 The Lord says, "The people of Damascus have sinned again and again, and for this I will certainly punish them. They treated the people of Gilead with savage cruelty. 4 So I will send fire upon the palace built by King Hazael and I will burn down the fortresses of King Benhadad. 5 I will smash the city gates of Damascus and remove the inhabitants of Aven Valley and the ruler of Betheden. The people of Syria will be taken away as prisoners to the land of Kir." 6 The Lord says, "The people of Gaza have sinned again and again, and for this I will certainly punish them. They carried off a whole nation and sold them as slaves to the people of Edom. 7 So I will send fire upon the city walls of Gaza and burn down its fortresses. 8 I will remove the rulers of the cities of Ashdod and Ashkelon. I will punish the city of Ekron, and all the Philistines who are left will die." 9 The Lord says, "The people of Tyre have sinned again and again, and for this I will certainly punish them. They carried off a whole nation into exile in the land of Edom, and did not keep the treaty of friendship they had made. 10 So I will send fire upon the city walls of Tyre and burn down its fortresses." 11 The Lord says, "The people of Edom have sinned again and again, and for this I will certainly punish them. They hunted down their relatives, the Israelites, and showed them no mercy. Their anger had no limits, and they never let it die. 12 So I will send fire upon the city of Teman and burn down the fortresses of Bozrah." 13 The Lord says, "The people of Ammon have sinned again and again, and for this I will certainly punish them. In their wars for more territory they even ripped open pregnant women in Gilead. 14 So I will send fire upon the city walls of Rabbah and burn down its fortresses. Then there will be shouts on the day of battle, and the fighting will rage like a storm. 15 Their king and his officers will go into exile."

Amos 2:1 The Lord says, "The people of Moab have sinned again and again, and for this I will certainly punish them. They dishonored the bones of the king of Edom by burning them to ashes. 2 I will send fire upon the land of Moab and burn down the fortresses of Kerioth. The people of Moab will die in the noise of battle while soldiers are shouting and trumpets are sounding. 3 I will kill the ruler of Moab and all the leaders of the land." 4 The Lord says, "The people of Judah have sinned again and again, and for this I will certainly punish them. They have despised my teachings and have not kept my commands. They have been led astray by the same false gods that their ancestors served. 5 So I will send fire upon Judah and burn down the fortresses of Jerusalem." 6 The Lord says, "The people of Israel have sinned again and again, and for this I will certainly punish them. They sell into slavery honest people who cannot pay their debts, the poor who cannot repay even the price of a pair of sandals. 7 They trample down the weak and helpless and push the poor out of the way. A man and his father have intercourse with the same slave woman, and so profane my holy name. 8 At every place of worship people sleep on clothing that they have taken from the poor as security for debts. In the temple of their God they drink wine which they have taken from those who owe them money. 9 "And yet, my people, it was for your sake that I totally destroyed the Amorites, who were as tall as cedar trees and as strong as oaks. 10 I brought you out of Egypt, led you through the desert for forty years, and gave you the land of the Amorites to be your own. 11 I chose some of your sons to be prophets and some of your young men to be nazirites. Isn't this true, people of Israel? I, the Lord, have spoken. 12 But you made the nazirites drink wine, and ordered the prophets not to speak my message. 13 And now I will crush you to the ground, and you will groan like a cart loaded with grain. 14 Not even fast runners will escape; strong men will lose their strength, and soldiers will not be able to save their own lives. 15 Archers will not stand their ground, fast runners will not get away, and men on horses will not escape with their lives. 16 On that day even the bravest soldiers will drop their weapons and run." The Lord has spoken.

3333-Matthew 5:1 Jesus saw the crowds and went up a hill, where he sat down. His disciples gathered around him, 2 and he began to teach them: 3 "Happy are those who know they are spiritually poor; the Kingdom of heaven belongs to them! 4 "Happy are those who mourn; God will comfort them! 5 "Happy are those who are humble; they will receive what God has promised! 6 "Happy are those whose greatest desire is to do what God requires; God will satisfy them fully! 7 "Happy are those who are merciful to others; God will be merciful to them! 8 "Happy are the pure in heart; they will see God! 9 "Happy are those who work for peace; God will call them his children! 10 "Happy are those who are persecuted because they do what God requires; the Kingdom of heaven belongs to them! 11 "Happy are you when people insult you and persecute you and tell all kinds of evil lies against you because you are my followers. 12 Be happy and glad, for a great reward is kept for you in heaven. This is how the prophets who lived before you were persecuted. 13 "You are like salt for the whole human race. But if salt loses its saltiness, there is no way to make it salty again. It has become worthless, so it is thrown out and people trample on it. 14 "You are like light for the whole world. A city built on a hill cannot be hid. 15 No one lights a lamp and puts it under a bowl; instead it is put on the lampstand, where it gives light for everyone in the house. 16 In the same way your light must shine before people, so that they will see the good things you do and praise your Father in heaven. 17 "Do not think that I have come to do away with the Law of Moses and the teachings of the prophets. I have not come to do away with them, but to make their teachings come true. 18 Remember that as long as heaven and earth last, not the least point nor the smallest detail of the Law will be done away with - not until the end of all things. 19 So then, whoever disobeys even the least important of the commandments and teaches others to do the same, will be least in the Kingdom of heaven. On the other hand, whoever obeys the Law and teaches others to do the same, will be great in the Kingdom of heaven. 20 I tell you, then, that you will be able to enter the Kingdom of heaven only if you are more faithful than the teachers of the Law and the Pharisees in doing what God requires. 21 "You have heard that people were told in the past, "Do not commit murder; anyone who does will be brought to trial.' 22 But now I tell you: if you are angry with your brother you will be brought to trial, if you call your brother "You good-for-nothing!' you will be brought before the Council, and if you call your brother a worthless fool you will be in danger of going to the fire of hell. 23 So if you are about to offer your gift to God at the altar and there you remember that your brother has something against you, 24 leave your gift there in front of the altar, go at once and make peace with your brother, and then come back and offer your gift to God. 25 "If someone brings a lawsuit against you and takes you to court, settle the dispute while there is time, before you get to court. Once you are there, you will be turned over to the judge, who will hand you over to the police, and you will be put in jail. 26 There you will stay, I tell you, until you pay the last penny of your fine. 27 "You have heard that it was said, "Do not commit adultery.' 28 But now I tell you: anyone who looks at a woman and wants to possess her is guilty of committing adultery with her in his heart. 29 So if your right eye causes you to sin, take it out and throw it away! It is much better for you to lose a part of your body than to have your whole body thrown into hell. 30 If your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away! It is much better for you to lose one of your limbs than to have your whole body go off to hell. 31 "It was also said, "Anyone who divorces his wife must give her a written notice of divorce.' 32 But now I tell you: if a man divorces his wife for any cause other than her unfaithfulness, then he is guilty of making her commit adultery if she marries again; and the man who marries her commits adultery also. 33 "You have also heard that people were told in the past, "Do not break your promise, but do what you have vowed to the Lord to do.' 34 But now I tell you: do not use any vow when you make a promise. Do not swear by heaven, for it is God's throne; 35 nor by earth, for it is the resting place for his feet; nor by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. 36 Do not even swear by your head, because you cannot make a single hair white or black. 37 Just say "Yes' or "No' - anything else you say comes from the Evil One. 38 "You have heard that it was said, "An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth.' 39 But now I tell you: do not take revenge on someone who wrongs you. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, let him slap your left cheek too. 40 And if someone takes you to court to sue you for your shirt, let him have your coat as well. 41 And if one of the occupation troops forces you to carry his pack one mile, carry it two miles. 42 When someone asks you for something, give it to him; when someone wants to borrow something, lend it to him. 43 "You have heard that it was said, "Love your friends, hate your enemies.' 44 But now I tell you: love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 so that you may become the children of your Father in heaven. For he makes his sun to shine on bad and good people alike, and gives rain to those who do good and to those who do evil. 46 Why should God reward you if you love only the people who love you? Even the tax collectors do that! 47 And if you speak only to your friends, have you done anything out of the ordinary? Even the pagans do that! 48 You must be perfect - just as your Father in heaven is perfect.

Matt 6:1 "Make certain you do not perform your religious duties in public so that people will see what you do. If you do these things publicly, you will not have any reward from your Father in heaven. 2 "So when you give something to a needy person, do not make a big show of it, as the hypocrites do in the houses of worship and on the streets. They do it so that people will praise them. I assure you, they have already been paid in full. 3 But when you help a needy person, do it in such a way that even your closest friend will not know about it. 4 Then it will be a private matter. And your Father, who sees what you do in private, will reward you. 5 "When you pray, do not be like the hypocrites! They love to stand up and pray in the houses of worship and on the street corners, so that everyone will see them. I assure you, they have already been paid in full. 6 But when you pray, go to your room, close the door, and pray to your Father, who is unseen. And your Father, who sees what you do in private, will reward you. 7 "When you pray, do not use a lot of meaningless words, as the pagans do, who think that their gods will hear them because their prayers are long. 8 Do not be like them. Your Father already knows what you need before you ask him. 9 This, then, is how you should pray: "Our Father in heaven: May your holy name be honored; 10 may your Kingdom come; may your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. 11 Give us today the food we need. 12 Forgive us the wrongs we have done, as we forgive the wrongs that others have done to us. 13 Do not bring us to hard testing, but keep us safe from the Evil One.' 14 "If you forgive others the wrongs they have done to you, your Father in heaven will also forgive you. 15 But if you do not forgive others, then your Father will not forgive the wrongs you have done. 16 "And when you fast, do not put on a sad face as the hypocrites do. They neglect their appearance so that everyone will see that they are fasting. I assure you, they have already been paid in full. 17 When you go without food, wash your face and comb your hair, 18 so that others cannot know that you are fasting - only your Father, who is unseen, will know. And your Father, who sees what you do in private, will reward you. 19 "Do not store up riches for yourselves here on earth, where moths and rust destroy, and robbers break in and steal. 20 Instead, store up riches for yourselves in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy, and robbers cannot break in and steal. 21 For your heart will always be where your riches are. 22 "The eyes are like a lamp for the body. If your eyes are sound, your whole body will be full of light; 23 but if your eyes are no good, your body will be in darkness. So if the light in you is darkness, how terribly dark it will be! 24 "You cannot be a slave of two masters; you will hate one and love the other; you will be loyal to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money. 25 "This is why I tell you: do not be worried about the food and drink you need in order to stay alive, or about clothes for your body. After all, isn't life worth more than food? And isn't the body worth more than clothes? 26 Look at the birds: they do not plant seeds, gather a harvest and put it in barns; yet your Father in heaven takes care of them! Aren't you worth much more than birds? 27 Can any of you live a bit longer by worrying about it? 28 "And why worry about clothes? Look how the wild flowers grow: they do not work or make clothes for themselves. 29 But I tell you that not even King Solomon with all his wealth had clothes as beautiful as one of these flowers. 30 It is God who clothes the wild grass - grass that is here today and gone tomorrow, burned up in the oven. Won't he be all the more sure to clothe you? What little faith you have! 31 "So do not start worrying: "Where will my food come from? or my drink? or my clothes?' 32 (These are the things the pagans are always concerned about.) Your Father in heaven knows that you need all these things. 33 Instead, be concerned above everything else with the Kingdom of God and with what he requires of you, and he will provide you with all these other things. 34 So do not worry about tomorrow; it will have enough worries of its own. There is no need to add to the troubles each day brings.

Matt 7:1 "Do not judge others, so that God will not judge you, 2 for God will judge you in the same way you judge others, and he will apply to you the same rules you apply to others. 3 Why, then, do you look at the speck in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the log in your own eye? 4 How dare you say to your brother, "Please, let me take that speck out of your eye,' when you have a log in your own eye? 5 You hypocrite! First take the log out of your own eye, and then you will be able to see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye. 6 "Do not give what is holy to dogs - they will only turn and attack you. Do not throw your pearls in front of pigs - they will only trample them underfoot. 7 "Ask, and you will receive; seek, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks will receive, and anyone who seeks will find, and the door will be opened to those who knock. 9 Would any of you who are fathers give your son a stone when he asks for bread? 10 Or would you give him a snake when he asks for a fish? 11 As bad as you are, you know how to give good things to your children. How much more, then, will your Father in heaven give good things to those who ask him! 12 "Do for others what you want them to do for you: this is the meaning of the Law of Moses and of the teachings of the prophets. 13 "Go in through the narrow gate, because the gate to hell is wide and the road that leads to it is easy, and there are many who travel it. 14 But the gate to life is narrow and the way that leads to it is hard, and there are few people who find it. 15 "Be on your guard against false prophets; they come to you looking like sheep on the outside, but on the inside they are really like wild wolves. 16 You will know them by what they do. Thorn bushes do not bear grapes, and briers do not bear figs. 17 A healthy tree bears good fruit, but a poor tree bears bad fruit. 18 A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a poor tree cannot bear good fruit. 19 And any tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown in the fire. 20 So then, you will know the false prophets by what they do. 21 "Not everyone who calls me "Lord, Lord' will enter the Kingdom of heaven, but only those who do what my Father in heaven wants them to do. 22 When the Judgment Day comes, many will say to me, "Lord, Lord! In your name we spoke God's message, by your name we drove out many demons and performed many miracles!' 23 Then I will say to them, "I never knew you. Get away from me, you wicked people!' 24 "So then, anyone who hears these words of mine and obeys them is like a wise man who built his house on rock. 25 The rain poured down, the rivers flooded over, and the wind blew hard against that house. But it did not fall, because it was built on rock. 26 "But anyone who hears these words of mine and does not obey them is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. 27 The rain poured down, the rivers flooded over, the wind blew hard against that house, and it fell. And what a terrible fall that was!" 28 When Jesus finished saying these things, the crowd was amazed at the way he taught. 29 He wasn't like the teachers of the Law; instead, he taught with authority.

3334-Amos 7:10 Amaziah, the priest of Bethel, then sent a report to King Jeroboam of Israel: "Amos is plotting against you among the people. His speeches will destroy the country. 11 This is what he says: "Jeroboam will die in battle, and the people of Israel will be taken away from their land into exile.' " 12 Amaziah then said to Amos, "That's enough, prophet! Go on back to Judah and do your preaching there. Let [them ]pay you for it. 13 Don't prophesy here at Bethel any more. This is the king's place of worship, the national temple."

3335-Amos 3:7 Surely the Sovereign LORD does nothing without revealing his plan to his servants the prophets. NIV

3336-Deuteronomy 29:29 The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may follow all the words of this law.

2 Chronicles 20:20 Early in the morning they left for the Desert of Tekoa. As they set out, Jehoshaphat stood and said, "Listen to me, Judah and people of Jerusalem! Have faith in the LORD your God and you will be upheld; have faith in his prophets and you will be successful."

3337-John 13:19 "I am telling you now before it happens, so that when it does happen you will believe that I am He.

John 14:29 I have told you now before it happens, so that when it does happen you will believe.

3338-Psalms 139:1 Lord, you have examined me and you know me. 2 You know everything I do; from far away you understand all my thoughts. 3 You see me, whether I am working or resting; you know all my actions. 4 Even before I speak, you already know what I will say. 5 You are all around me on every side; you protect me with your power. 6 Your knowledge of me is too deep; it is beyond my understanding. 7 Where could I go to escape from you? Where could I get away from your presence? 8 If I went up to heaven, you would be there; if I lay down in the world of the dead, you would be there. 9 If I flew away beyond the east or lived in the farthest place in the west, 10 you would be there to lead me, you would be there to help me. 11 I could ask the darkness to hide me or the light around me to turn into night, 12 but even darkness is not dark for you, and the night is as bright as the day. Darkness and light are the same to you. 13 You created every part of me; you put me together in my mother's womb. 14 I praise you because you are to be feared; all you do is strange and wonderful. I know it with all my heart. 15 When my bones were being formed, carefully put together in my mother's womb, when I was growing there in secret, you knew that I was there - 16 you saw me before I was born. The days allotted to me had all been recorded in your book, before any of them ever began. 17 O God, how difficult I find your thoughts; how many of them there are! 18 If I counted them, they would be more than the grains of sand. When I awake, I am still with you. 19 O God, how I wish you would kill the wicked! How I wish violent people would leave me alone! 20 They say wicked things about you; they speak evil things against your name. 21 O Lord, how I hate those who hate you! How I despise those who rebel against you! 22 I hate them with a total hatred; I regard them as my enemies. 23 Examine me, O God, and know my mind; test me, and discover my thoughts. 24 Find out if there is any evil in me and guide me in the everlasting way.

Daniel 2:1 In the second year that Nebuchadnezzar was king, he had a dream. It worried him so much that he couldn't sleep, 2 so he sent for his fortunetellers, magicians, sorcerers, and wizards to come and explain the dream to him. When they came and stood before the king, 3 he said to them, "I'm worried about a dream I've had. I want to know what it means." 4 They answered the king in Aramaic, "May Your Majesty live forever! Tell us your dream, and we will explain it to you." 5 The king said to them, "I have made up my mind that you must tell me the dream and then tell me what it means. If you can't, I'll have you torn limb from limb and make your houses a pile of ruins. 6 But if you can tell me both the dream and its meaning, I will reward you with gifts and great honor. Now then, tell me what the dream was and what it means." 7 They answered the king again, "If Your Majesty will only tell us what the dream was, we will explain it." 8 At that, the king exclaimed, "Just as I thought! You are trying to gain time, because you see that I have made up my mind 9 to give all of you the same punishment if you don't tell me the dream. You have agreed among yourselves to go on telling me lies because you hope that in time things will change. Tell me what the dream was, and then I will know that you can also tell me what it means." 10 The advisers replied, "There is no one on the face of the earth who can tell Your Majesty what you want to know. No king, not even the greatest and most powerful, has ever made such a demand of his fortunetellers, magicians, and wizards. 11 What Your Majesty is asking for is so difficult that no one can do it for you except the gods, and they do not live among human beings." 12 At that, the king flew into a rage and ordered the execution of all the royal advisers in Babylon. 13 So the order was issued for all of them to be killed, including Daniel and his friends. 14 Then Daniel went to Arioch, commander of the king's bodyguard, who had been ordered to carry out the execution. Choosing his words carefully, 15 he asked Arioch why the king had issued such a harsh order. So Arioch told Daniel what had happened. 16 Daniel went at once and obtained royal permission for more time, so that he could tell the king what the dream meant. 17 Then Daniel went home and told his friends Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah what had happened. 18 He told them to pray to the God of heaven for mercy and to ask him to explain the mystery to them so that they would not be killed along with the other advisers in Babylon. 19 Then that same night the mystery was revealed to Daniel in a vision, and he praised the God of heaven: 20 "God is wise and powerful! Praise him forever and ever. 21 He controls the times and the seasons; he makes and unmakes kings; it is he who gives wisdom and understanding. 22 He reveals things that are deep and secret; he knows what is hidden in darkness, and he himself is surrounded by light. 23 I praise you and honor you, God of my ancestors. You have given me wisdom and strength; you have answered my prayer and shown us what to tell the king." 24 So Daniel went to Arioch, whom the king had commanded to execute the royal advisers. He said to him, "Don't put them to death. Take me to the king, and I will tell him what his dream means." 25 At once Arioch took Daniel into King Nebuchadnezzar's presence and told the king, "I have found one of the Jewish exiles who can tell Your Majesty the meaning of your dream." 26 The king said to Daniel (who was also called Belteshazzar), "Can you tell me what I dreamed and what it means?" 27 Daniel replied, "Your Majesty, there is no wizard, magician, fortuneteller, or astrologer who can tell you that. 28 But there is a God in heaven, who reveals mysteries. He has informed Your Majesty what will happen in the future. Now I will tell you the dream, the vision you had while you were asleep. 29 "While Your Majesty was sleeping, you dreamed about the future; and God, who reveals mysteries, showed you what is going to happen. 30 Now, this mystery was revealed to me, not because I am wiser than anyone else, but so that Your Majesty may learn the meaning of your dream and understand the thoughts that have come to you. 31 "Your Majesty, in your vision you saw standing before you a giant statue, bright and shining, and terrifying to look at. 32 Its head was made of the finest gold; its chest and arms were made of silver; its waist and hips of bronze, 33 its legs of iron, and its feet partly of iron and partly of clay. 34 While you were looking at it, a great stone broke loose from a cliff without anyone touching it, struck the iron and clay feet of the statue, and shattered them. 35 At once the iron, clay, bronze, silver, and gold crumbled and became like the dust on a threshing place in summer. The wind carried it all away, leaving not a trace. But the stone grew to be a mountain that covered the whole earth. 36 "This was the dream. Now I will tell Your Majesty what it means. 37 Your Majesty, you are the greatest of all kings. The God of heaven has made you emperor and given you power, might, and honor. 38 He has made you ruler of all the inhabited earth and ruler over all the animals and birds. You are the head of gold. 39 After you there will be another empire, not as great as yours, and after that a third, an empire of bronze, which will rule the whole earth. 40 And then there will be a fourth empire, as strong as iron, which shatters and breaks everything. And just as iron shatters everything, it will shatter and crush all the earlier empires. 41 You also saw that the feet and the toes were partly clay and partly iron. This means that it will be a divided empire. It will have something of the strength of iron, because there was iron mixed with the clay. 42 The toes - partly iron and partly clay - mean that part of the empire will be strong and part of it weak. 43 You also saw that the iron was mixed with the clay. This means that the rulers of that empire will try to unite their families by intermarriage, but they will not be able to, any more than iron can mix with clay. 44 At the time of those rulers the God of heaven will establish a kingdom that will never end. It will never be conquered, but will completely destroy all those empires and then last forever. 45 You saw how a stone broke loose from a cliff without anyone touching it and how it struck the statue made of iron, bronze, clay, silver, and gold. The great God is telling Your Majesty what will happen in the future. I have told you exactly what you dreamed, and have given you its true meaning." 46 Then King Nebuchadnezzar bowed to the ground and gave orders for sacrifices and offerings to be made to Daniel. 47 The king said, "Your God is the greatest of all gods, the Lord over kings, and the one who reveals mysteries. I know this because you have been able to explain this mystery." 48 Then he gave Daniel a high position, presented him with many splendid gifts, put him in charge of the province of Babylon, and made him the head of all the royal advisers. 49 At Daniel's request the king put Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in charge of the affairs of the province of Babylon; Daniel, however, remained at the royal court.

Daniel 7:1 In the first year that Belshazzar was king of Babylonia, I had a dream and saw a vision in the night. I wrote the dream down, and this is the record 2 of what I saw that night: Winds were blowing from all directions and lashing the surface of the ocean. 3 Four huge beasts came up out of the ocean, each one different from the others. 4 The first one looked like a lion, but had wings like an eagle. While I was watching, the wings were torn off. The beast was lifted up and made to stand up straight. And then a human mind was given to it. 5 The second beast looked like a bear standing on its hind legs. It was holding three ribs between its teeth, and a voice said to it, "Go on, eat as much meat as you can!" 6 While I was watching, another beast appeared. It looked like a leopard, but on its back there were four wings, like the wings of a bird, and it had four heads. It had a look of authority about it. 7 As I was watching, a fourth beast appeared. It was powerful, horrible, terrifying. With its huge iron teeth it crushed its victims, and then it trampled on them. Unlike the other beasts, it had ten horns. 8 While I was staring at the horns, I saw a little horn coming up among the others. It tore out three of the horns that were already there. This horn had human eyes and a mouth that was boasting proudly. 9 While I was looking, thrones were put in place. One who had been living forever sat down on one of the thrones. His clothes were white as snow, and his hair was like pure wool. His throne, mounted on fiery wheels, was blazing with fire, 10 and a stream of fire was pouring out from it. There were many thousands of people there to serve him, and millions of people stood before him. The court began its session, and the books were opened. 11 While I was looking, I could still hear the little horn bragging and boasting. As I watched, the fourth beast was killed, and its body was thrown into the flames and destroyed. 12 The other beasts had their power taken away, but they were permitted to go on living for a limited time. 13 During this vision in the night, I saw what looked like a human being. He was approaching me, surrounded by clouds, and he went to the one who had been living forever and was presented to him. 14 He was given authority, honor, and royal power, so that the people of all nations, races, and languages would serve him. His authority would last forever, and his kingdom would never end. 15 The visions I saw alarmed me, and I was deeply disturbed. 16 I went up to one of those standing there and asked him to explain it all. So he told me the meaning. 17 He said, "These four huge beasts are four empires which will arise on earth. 18 And the people of the Supreme God will receive royal power and keep it forever and ever." 19 Then I wanted to know more about the fourth beast, which was not like any of the others - the terrifying beast which crushed its victims with its bronze claws and iron teeth and then trampled on them. 20 And I wanted to know about the ten horns on its head and the horn that had come up afterward and had made three of the horns fall. It had eyes and a mouth and was boasting proudly. It was more terrifying than any of the others. 21 While I was looking, that horn made war on God's people and conquered them. 22 Then the one who had been living forever came and pronounced judgment in favor of the people of the Supreme God. The time had arrived for God's people to receive royal power. 23 This is the explanation I was given: "The fourth beast is a fourth empire that will be on the earth and will be different from all other empires. It will crush the whole earth and trample it down. 24 The ten horns are ten kings who will rule that empire. Then another king will appear; he will be very different from the earlier ones and will overthrow three kings. 25 He will speak against the Supreme God and oppress God's people. He will try to change their religious laws and festivals, and God's people will be under his power for three and a half years. 26 Then the heavenly court will sit in judgment, take away his power, and destroy him completely. 27 The power and greatness of all the kingdoms on earth will be given to the people of the Supreme God. Their royal power will never end, and all rulers on earth will serve and obey them." 28 This is the end of the account. I was so frightened that I turned pale, and I kept everything to myself.

Daniel 8:1 In the third year that Belshazzar was king, I saw a second vision. 2 In the vision I suddenly found myself in the walled city of Susa in the province of Elam. I was standing by the Ulai River, 3 and there beside the river I saw a ram that had two long horns, one of which was longer and newer than the other. 4 I watched the ram butting with his horns to the west, the north, and the south. No animal could stop him or escape his power. He did as he pleased and grew arrogant. 5 While I was wondering what this meant, a goat came rushing out of the west, moving so fast that his feet didn't touch the ground. He had one prominent horn between his eyes. 6 He came toward the ram, which I had seen standing beside the river, and rushed at him with all his force. 7 I watched him attack the ram. He was so angry that he smashed into him and broke the two horns. The ram had no strength to resist. He was thrown to the ground and trampled on, and there was no one who could save him. 8 The goat grew more and more arrogant, but at the height of his power his horn was broken. In its place four prominent horns came up, each pointing in a different direction. 9 Out of one of these four horns grew a little horn, whose power extended toward the south and the east and toward the Promised Land. 10 It grew strong enough to attack the army of heaven, the stars themselves, and it threw some of them to the ground and trampled on them. 11 It even defied the Prince of the heavenly army, stopped the daily sacrifices offered to him, and ruined the Temple. 12 People sinned there instead of offering the proper daily sacrifices, and true religion was thrown to the ground. The horn was successful in everything it did. 13 Then I heard one angel ask another, "How long will these things that were seen in the vision continue? How long will an awful sin replace the daily sacrifices? How long will the army of heaven and the Temple be trampled on?" 14 I heard the other angel answer, "It will continue for 2,300 evenings and mornings, during which sacrifices will not be offered. Then the Temple will be restored." 15 I was trying to understand what the vision meant, when suddenly someone was standing in front of me. 16 I heard a voice call out over the Ulai River, "Gabriel, explain to him the meaning of what he saw." 17 Gabriel came and stood beside me, and I was so terrified that I fell to the ground. He said to me, "Mortal man, understand the meaning. The vision has to do with the end of the world." 18 While he was talking, I fell to the ground unconscious. But he took hold of me, raised me to my feet, 19 and said, "I am showing you what the result of God's anger will be. The vision refers to the time of the end. 20 "The ram you saw that had two horns represents the kingdoms of Media and Persia. 21 The goat represents the kingdom of Greece, and the prominent horn between his eyes is the first king. 22 The four horns that came up when the first horn was broken represent the four kingdoms into which that nation will be divided and which will not be as strong as the first kingdom. 23 "When the end of those kingdoms is near and they have become so wicked that they must be punished, there will be a stubborn, vicious, and deceitful king. 24 He will grow strong - but not by his own power. He will cause terrible destruction and be successful in everything he does. He will bring destruction on powerful men and on God's own people. 25 Because he is cunning, he will succeed in his deceitful ways. He will be proud of himself and destroy many people without warning. He will even defy the greatest King of all, but he will be destroyed without the use of any human power. 26 This vision about the evening and morning sacrifices which has been explained to you will come true. But keep it secret now, because it will be a long time before it does come true." 27 I was depressed and ill for several days. Then I got up and went back to the work that the king had assigned to me, but I was puzzled by the vision and could not understand it.

Daniel 9:1 Darius the Mede, who was the son of Xerxes, ruled over the kingdom of Babylonia. 2 In the first year of his reign I was studying the sacred books and thinking about the seventy years that Jerusalem would be in ruins, according to what the Lord had told the prophet Jeremiah. 3 And I prayed earnestly to the Lord God, pleading with him, fasting, wearing sackcloth, and sitting in ashes. 4 I prayed to the Lord my God and confessed the sins of my people. I said, "Lord God, you are great, and we honor you. You are faithful to your covenant and show constant love to those who love you and do what you command. 5 "We have sinned, we have been evil, we have done wrong. We have rejected what you commanded us to do and have turned away from what you showed us was right. 6 We have not listened to your servants the prophets, who spoke in your name to our kings, our rulers, our ancestors, and our whole nation. 7 You, Lord, always do what is right, but we have always brought disgrace on ourselves. This is true of all of us who live in Judea and in Jerusalem and of all the Israelites whom you scattered in countries near and far because they were unfaithful to you. 8 Our kings, our rulers, and our ancestors have acted shamefully and sinned against you, Lord. 9 You are merciful and forgiving, although we have rebelled against you. 10 We did not listen to you, O Lord our God, when you told us to live according to the laws which you gave us through your servants the prophets. 11 All Israel broke your laws and refused to listen to what you said. We sinned against you, and so you brought on us the curses that are written in the Law of Moses, your servant. 12 You did what you said you would do to us and our rulers. You punished Jerusalem more severely than any other city on earth, 13 giving us all the punishment described in the Law of Moses. But even now, O Lord our God, we have not tried to please you by turning from our sins or by following your truth. 14 You, O Lord our God, were prepared to punish us, and you did, because you always do what is right, and we did not listen to you. 15 "O Lord our God, you showed your power by bringing your people out of Egypt, and your power is still remembered. We have sinned; we have done wrong. 16 You have defended us in the past, so do not be angry with Jerusalem any longer. It is your city, your sacred hill. All the people in the neighboring countries look down on Jerusalem and on your people because of our sins and the evil our ancestors did. 17 O God, hear my prayer and pleading. Restore your Temple, which has been destroyed; restore it so that everyone will know that you are God. 18 Listen to us, O God; look at us and see the trouble we are in and the suffering of the city that bears your name. We are praying to you because you are merciful, not because we have done right. 19 Lord, hear us. Lord, forgive us. Lord, listen to us, and act! In order that everyone will know that you are God, do not delay! This city and these people are yours." 20 I went on praying, confessing my sins and the sins of my people Israel and pleading with the Lord my God to restore his holy Temple. 21 While I was praying, Gabriel, whom I had seen in the earlier vision, came flying down to where I was. It was the time for the evening sacrifice to be offered. 22 He explained, "Daniel, I have come here to help you understand the prophecy. 23 When you began to plead with God, he answered you. He loves you, and so I have come to tell you the answer. Now pay attention while I explain the vision. 24 "Seven times seventy years is the length of time God has set for freeing your people and your holy city from sin and evil. Sin will be forgiven and eternal justice established, so that the vision and the prophecy will come true, and the holy Temple will be rededicated. 25 Note this and understand it: From the time the command is given to rebuild Jerusalem until God's chosen leader comes, seven times seven years will pass. Jerusalem will be rebuilt with streets and strong defenses, and will stand for seven times sixty-two years, but this will be a time of troubles. 26 And at the end of that time God's chosen leader will be killed unjustly. The city and the Temple will be destroyed by the invading army of a powerful ruler. The end will come like a flood, bringing the war and destruction which God has prepared. 27 That ruler will have a firm agreement with many people for seven years, and when half this time is past, he will put an end to sacrifices and offerings. The Awful Horror will be placed on the highest point of the Temple and will remain there until the one who put it there meets the end which God has prepared for him."

Jeremiah 23:23 "I am a God who is everywhere and not in one place only. 24 No one can hide where I cannot see them. Do you not know that I am everywhere in heaven and on earth?

Zechariah 4:10 a) They are disappointed because so little progress is being made. But they will see Zerubbabel continuing to build the Temple, and they will be glad." b) The angel said to me, "The seven lamps are the seven eyes of the Lord, which see all over the earth."

Isaiah 53:1 The people reply, "Who would have believed what we now report? Who could have seen the Lord's hand in this? 2 It was the will of the Lord that his servant grow like a plant taking root in dry ground. He had no dignity or beauty to make us take notice of him. There was nothing attractive about him, nothing that would draw us to him. 3 We despised him and rejected him; he endured suffering and pain. No one would even look at him - we ignored him as if he were nothing. 4 "But he endured the suffering that should have been ours, the pain that we should have borne. All the while we thought that his suffering was punishment sent by God. 5 But because of our sins he was wounded, beaten because of the evil we did. We are healed by the punishment he suffered, made whole by the blows he received. 6 All of us were like sheep that were lost, each of us going his own way. But the Lord made the punishment fall on him, the punishment all of us deserved. 7 "He was treated harshly, but endured it humbly; he never said a word. Like a lamb about to be slaughtered, like a sheep about to be sheared, he never said a word. 8 He was arrested and sentenced and led off to die, and no one cared about his fate. He was put to death for the sins of our people. 9 He was placed in a grave with those who are evil, he was buried with the rich, even though he had never committed a crime or ever told a lie." 10 The Lord says, "It was my will that he should suffer; his death was a sacrifice to bring forgiveness. And so he will see his descendants; he will live a long life, and through him my purpose will succeed. 11 After a life of suffering, he will again have joy; he will know that he did not suffer in vain. My devoted servant, with whom I am pleased, will bear the punishment of many and for his sake I will forgive them. 12 And so I will give him a place of honor, a place among the great and powerful. He willingly gave his life and shared the fate of evil men. He took the place of many sinners and prayed that they might be forgiven."

Isaiah 40:13 Can anyone tell the Lord what to do? Who can teach him or give him advice? 14 With whom does God consult in order to know and understand and to learn how things should be done? …..25 To whom can the holy God be compared? Is there anyone else like him? 26 Look up at the sky! Who created the stars you see? The one who leads them out like an army, he knows how many there are and calls each one by name! His power is so great - not one of them is ever missing! 27 Israel, why then do you complain that the Lord doesn't know your troubles or care if you suffer injustice? 28 Don't you know? Haven't you heard? The Lord is the everlasting God; he created all the world. He never grows tired or weary. No one understands his thoughts.

Matthew 24:1 Jesus left and was going away from the Temple when his disciples came to him to call his attention to its buildings. 2 "Yes," he said, "you may well look at all these. I tell you this: not a single stone here will be left in its place; every one of them will be thrown down." 3 As Jesus sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him in private. "Tell us when all this will be," they asked, "and what will happen to show that it is the time for your coming and the end of the age." 4 Jesus answered, "Watch out, and do not let anyone fool you. 5 Many men, claiming to speak for me, will come and say, "I am the Messiah!' and they will fool many people. 6 You are going to hear the noise of battles close by and the news of battles far away; but do not be troubled. Such things must happen, but they do not mean that the end has come. 7 Countries will fight each other; kingdoms will attack one another. There will be famines and earthquakes everywhere. 8 All these things are like the first pains of childbirth. 9 "Then you will be arrested and handed over to be punished and be put to death. Everyone will hate you because of me. 10 Many will give up their faith at that time; they will betray one another and hate one another. 11 Then many false prophets will appear and fool many people. 12 Such will be the spread of evil that many people's love will grow cold. 13 But whoever holds out to the end will be saved. 14 And this Good News about the Kingdom will be preached through all the world for a witness to all people; and then the end will come. 15 "You will see "The Awful Horror' of which the prophet Daniel spoke. It will be standing in the holy place." (Note to the reader: understand what this means!) 16 "Then those who are in Judea must run away to the hills. 17 Someone who is on the roof of a house must not take the time to go down and get any belongings from the house. 18 Someone who is in the field must not go back to get a cloak. 19 How terrible it will be in those days for women who are pregnant and for mothers with little babies! 20 Pray to God that you will not have to run away during the winter or on a Sabbath! 21 For the trouble at that time will be far more terrible than any there has ever been, from the beginning of the world to this very day. Nor will there ever be anything like it again. 22 But God has already reduced the number of days; had he not done so, nobody would survive. For the sake of his chosen people, however, God will reduce the days. 23 "Then, if anyone says to you, "Look, here is the Messiah!' or "There he is!' - do not believe it. 24 For false Messiahs and false prophets will appear; they will perform great miracles and wonders in order to deceive even God's chosen people, if possible. 25 Listen! I have told you this ahead of time. 26 "Or, if people should tell you, "Look, he is out in the desert!' - don't go there; or if they say, "Look, he is hiding here!' - don't believe it. 27 For the Son of Man will come like the lightning which flashes across the whole sky from the east to the west. 28 "Wherever there is a dead body, the vultures will gather. 29 "Soon after the trouble of those days, the sun will grow dark, the moon will no longer shine, the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers in space will be driven from their courses. 30 Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky; and all the peoples of earth will weep as they see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. 31 The great trumpet will sound, and he will send out his angels to the four corners of the earth, and they will gather his chosen people from one end of the world to the other. 32 "Let the fig tree teach you a lesson. When its branches become green and tender and it starts putting out leaves, you know that summer is near. 33 In the same way, when you see all these things, you will know that the time is near, ready to begin. 34 Remember that all these things will happen before the people now living have all died. 35 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away. 36 "No one knows, however, when that day and hour will come - neither the angels in heaven nor the Son; the Father alone knows. 37 The coming of the Son of Man will be like what happened in the time of Noah. 38 In the days before the flood people ate and drank, men and women married, up to the very day Noah went into the boat; 39 yet they did not realize what was happening until the flood came and swept them all away. That is how it will be when the Son of Man comes. 40 At that time two men will be working in a field: one will be taken away, the other will be left behind. 41 Two women will be at a mill grinding meal: one will be taken away, the other will be left behind. 42 Watch out, then, because you do not know what day your Lord will come. 43 If the owner of a house knew the time when the thief would come, you can be sure that he would stay awake and not let the thief break into his house. 44 So then, you also must always be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you are not expecting him. 45 "Who, then, is a faithful and wise servant? It is the one that his master has placed in charge of the other servants to give them their food at the proper time. 46 How happy that servant is if his master finds him doing this when he comes home! 47 Indeed, I tell you, the master will put that servant in charge of all his property. 48 But if he is a bad servant, he will tell himself that his master will not come back for a long time, 49 and he will begin to beat his fellow servants and to eat and drink with drunkards. 50 Then that servant's master will come back one day when the servant does not expect him and at a time he does not know. 51 The master will cut him in pieces and make him share the fate of the hypocrites. There he will cry and gnash his teeth.

Mark 13:1 As Jesus was leaving the Temple, one of his disciples said, "Look, Teacher! What wonderful stones and buildings!" 2 Jesus answered, "You see these great buildings? Not a single stone here will be left in its place; every one of them will be thrown down." 3 Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, across from the Temple, when Peter, James, John, and Andrew came to him in private. 4 "Tell us when this will be," they said, "and tell us what will happen to show that the time has come for all these things to take place." 5 Jesus said to them, "Watch out, and don't let anyone fool you. 6 Many men, claiming to speak for me, will come and say, "I am he!' and they will fool many people. 7 And don't be troubled when you hear the noise of battles close by and news of battles far away. Such things must happen, but they do not mean that the end has come. 8 Countries will fight each other; kingdoms will attack one another. There will be earthquakes everywhere, and there will be famines. These things are like the first pains of childbirth. 9 "You yourselves must watch out. You will be arrested and taken to court. You will be beaten in the synagogues; you will stand before rulers and kings for my sake to tell them the Good News. 10 But before the end comes, the gospel must be preached to all peoples. 11 And when you are arrested and taken to court, do not worry ahead of time about what you are going to say; when the time comes, say whatever is then given to you. For the words you speak will not be yours; they will come from the Holy Spirit. 12 Men will hand over their own brothers to be put to death, and fathers will do the same to their children. Children will turn against their parents and have them put to death. 13 Everyone will hate you because of me. But whoever holds out to the end will be saved. 14 "You will see "The Awful Horror' standing in the place where he should not be." (Note to the reader: understand what this means!) "Then those who are in Judea must run away to the hills. 15 Someone who is on the roof of a house must not lose time by going down into the house to get anything to take along. 16 Someone who is in the field must not go back to the house for a cloak. 17 How terrible it will be in those days for women who are pregnant and for mothers with little babies! 18 Pray to God that these things will not happen in the winter! 19 For the trouble of those days will be far worse than any the world has ever known from the very beginning when God created the world until the present time. Nor will there ever be anything like it again. 20 But the Lord has reduced the number of those days; if he had not, nobody would survive. For the sake of his chosen people, however, he has reduced those days. 21 "Then, if anyone says to you, "Look, here is the Messiah!' or, "Look, there he is!' - do not believe it. 22 For false Messiahs and false prophets will appear. They will perform miracles and wonders in order to deceive even God's chosen people, if possible. 23 Be on your guard! I have told you everything ahead of time. 24 "In the days after that time of trouble the sun will grow dark, the moon will no longer shine, 25 the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers in space will be driven from their courses. 26 Then the Son of Man will appear, coming in the clouds with great power and glory. 27 He will send the angels out to the four corners of the earth to gather God's chosen people from one end of the world to the other. 28 "Let the fig tree teach you a lesson. When its branches become green and tender and it starts putting out leaves, you know that summer is near. 29 In the same way, when you see these things happening, you will know that the time is near, ready to begin. 30 Remember that all these things will happen before the people now living have all died. 31 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away. 32 "No one knows, however, when that day or hour will come - neither the angels in heaven, nor the Son; only the Father knows. 33 Be on watch, be alert, for you do not know when the time will come. 34 It will be like a man who goes away from home on a trip and leaves his servants in charge, after giving to each one his own work to do and after telling the doorkeeper to keep watch. 35 Watch, then, because you do not know when the master of the house is coming - it might be in the evening or at midnight or before dawn or at sunrise. 36 If he comes suddenly, he must not find you asleep. 37 What I say to you, then, I say to all: Watch!"

Luke 21:1 Jesus looked around and saw rich people dropping their gifts in the Temple treasury, 2 and he also saw a very poor widow dropping in two little copper coins. 3 He said, "I tell you that this poor widow put in more than all the others. 4 For the others offered their gifts from what they had to spare of their riches; but she, poor as she is, gave all she had to live on." 5 Some of the disciples were talking about the Temple, how beautiful it looked with its fine stones and the gifts offered to God. Jesus said, 6 "All this you see - the time will come when not a single stone here will be left in its place; every one will be thrown down." 7 "Teacher," they asked, "when will this be? And what will happen in order to show that the time has come for it to take place?" 8 Jesus said, "Watch out; don't be fooled. Many men, claiming to speak for me, will come and say, "I am he!' and, "The time has come!' But don't follow them. 9 Don't be afraid when you hear of wars and revolutions; such things must happen first, but they do not mean that the end is near." 10 He went on to say, "Countries will fight each other; kingdoms will attack one another. 11 There will be terrible earthquakes, famines, and plagues everywhere; there will be strange and terrifying things coming from the sky. 12 Before all these things take place, however, you will be arrested and persecuted; you will be handed over to be tried in synagogues and be put in prison; you will be brought before kings and rulers for my sake. 13 This will be your chance to tell the Good News. 14 Make up your minds ahead of time not to worry about how you will defend yourselves, 15 because I will give you such words and wisdom that none of your enemies will be able to refute or contradict what you say. 16 You will be handed over by your parents, your brothers, your relatives, and your friends; and some of you will be put to death. 17 Everyone will hate you because of me. 18 But not a single hair from your heads will be lost. 19 Stand firm, and you will save yourselves. 20 "When you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then you will know that it will soon be destroyed. 21 Then those who are in Judea must run away to the hills; those who are in the city must leave, and those who are out in the country must not go into the city. 22 For those will be "The Days of Punishment,' to make come true all that the Scriptures say. 23 How terrible it will be in those days for women who are pregnant and for mothers with little babies! Terrible distress will come upon this land, and God's punishment will fall on this people. 24 Some will be killed by the sword, and others will be taken as prisoners to all countries; and the heathen will trample over Jerusalem until their time is up. 25 "There will be strange things happening to the sun, the moon, and the stars. On earth whole countries will be in despair, afraid of the roar of the sea and the raging tides. 26 People will faint from fear as they wait for what is coming over the whole earth, for the powers in space will be driven from their courses. 27 Then the Son of Man will appear, coming in a cloud with great power and glory. 28 When these things begin to happen, stand up and raise your heads, because your salvation is near." 29 Then Jesus told them this parable: "Think of the fig tree and all the other trees. 30 When you see their leaves beginning to appear, you know that summer is near. 31 In the same way, when you see these things happening, you will know that the Kingdom of God is about to come. 32 "Remember that all these things will take place before the people now living have all died. 33 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away. 34 "Be careful not to let yourselves become occupied with too much feasting and drinking and with the worries of this life, or that Day may suddenly catch you 35 like a trap. For it will come upon all people everywhere on earth. 36 Be on watch and pray always that you will have the strength to go safely through all those things that will happen and to stand before the Son of Man." 37 Jesus spent those days teaching in the Temple, and when evening came, he would go out and spend the night on the Mount of Olives. 38 Early each morning all the people went to the Temple to listen to him.

Revelation 12:1 Then a great and mysterious sight appeared in the sky. There was a woman, whose dress was the sun and who had the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head. 2 She was soon to give birth, and the pains and suffering of childbirth made her cry out. 3 Another mysterious sight appeared in the sky. There was a huge red dragon with seven heads and ten horns and a crown on each of his heads. 4 With his tail he dragged a third of the stars out of the sky and threw them down to the earth. He stood in front of the woman, in order to eat her child as soon as it was born. 5 Then she gave birth to a son, who will rule over all nations with an iron rod. But the child was snatched away and taken to God and his throne. 6 The woman fled to the desert, to a place God had prepared for her, where she will be taken care of for 1,260 days. 7 Then war broke out in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, who fought back with his angels; 8 but the dragon was defeated, and he and his angels were not allowed to stay in heaven any longer. 9 The huge dragon was thrown out - that ancient serpent, named the Devil, or Satan, that deceived the whole world. He was thrown down to earth, and all his angels with him. 10 Then I heard a loud voice in heaven saying, "Now God's salvation has come! Now God has shown his power as King! Now his Messiah has shown his authority! For the one who stood before our God and accused believers day and night has been thrown out of heaven. 11 They won the victory over him by the blood of the Lamb and by the truth which they proclaimed; and they were willing to give up their lives and die. 12 And so be glad, you heavens, and all you that live there! But how terrible for the earth and the sea! For the Devil has come down to you, and he is filled with rage, because he knows that he has only a little time left." 13 When the dragon realized that he had been thrown down to the earth, he began to pursue the woman who had given birth to the boy. 14 She was given the two wings of a large eagle in order to fly to her place in the desert, where she will be taken care of for three and a half years, safe from the dragon's attack. 15 And then from his mouth the dragon poured out a flood of water after the woman, so that it would carry her away. 16 But the earth helped the woman; it opened its mouth and swallowed the water that had come from the dragon's mouth. 17 The dragon was furious with the woman and went off to fight against the rest of her descendants, all those who obey God's commandments and are faithful to the truth revealed by Jesus. 18 And the dragon stood on the seashore.

Rev 13:1 Then I saw a beast coming up out of the sea. It had ten horns and seven heads; on each of its horns there was a crown, and on each of its heads there was a name that was insulting to God. 2 The beast looked like a leopard, with feet like a bear's feet and a mouth like a lion's mouth. The dragon gave the beast his own power, his throne, and his vast authority. 3 One of the heads of the beast seemed to have been fatally wounded, but the wound had healed. The whole earth was amazed and followed the beast. 4 Everyone worshiped the dragon because he had given his authority to the beast. They worshiped the beast also, saying, "Who is like the beast? Who can fight against it?" 5 The beast was allowed to make proud claims which were insulting to God, and it was permitted to have authority for forty-two months. 6 It began to curse God, his name, the place where he lives, and all those who live in heaven. 7 It was allowed to fight against God's people and to defeat them, and it was given authority over every tribe, nation, language, and race. 8 All people living on earth will worship it, except those whose names were written before the creation of the world in the book of the living which belongs to the Lamb that was killed. 9 "Listen, then, if you have ears! 10 Whoever is meant to be captured will surely be captured; whoever is meant to be killed by the sword will surely be killed by the sword. This calls for endurance and faith on the part of God's people." 11 Then I saw another beast, which came up out of the earth. It had two horns like a lamb's horns, and it spoke like a dragon. 12 It used the vast authority of the first beast in its presence. It forced the earth and all who live on it to worship the first beast, whose wound had healed. 13 This second beast performed great miracles; it made fire come down out of heaven to earth in the sight of everyone. 14 And it deceived all the people living on earth by means of the miracles which it was allowed to perform in the presence of the first beast. The beast told them to build an image in honor of the beast that had been wounded by the sword and yet lived. 15 The second beast was allowed to breathe life into the image of the first beast, so that the image could talk and put to death all those who would not worship it. 16 The beast forced all the people, small and great, rich and poor, slave and free, to have a mark placed on their right hands or on their foreheads. 17 No one could buy or sell without this mark, that is, the beast's name or the number that stands for the name. 18 This calls for wisdom. Whoever is intelligent can figure out the meaning of the number of the beast, because the number stands for the name of someone. Its number is 666.

Rev 14:1 Then I looked, and there was the Lamb standing on Mount Zion; with him were 144,000 people who have his name and his Father's name written on their foreheads. 2 And I heard a voice from heaven that sounded like a roaring waterfall, like a loud peal of thunder. It sounded like the music made by musicians playing their harps. 3 The 144,000 people stood before the throne, the four living creatures, and the elders; they were singing a new song, which only they could learn. Of the whole human race they are the only ones who have been redeemed. 4 They are the men who have kept themselves pure by not having sexual relations with women; they are virgins. They follow the Lamb wherever he goes. They have been redeemed from the rest of the human race and are the first ones to be offered to God and to the Lamb. 5 They have never been known to tell lies; they are faultless. 6 Then I saw another angel flying high in the air, with an eternal message of Good News to announce to the peoples of the earth, to every race, tribe, language, and nation. 7 He said in a loud voice, "Honor God and praise his greatness! For the time has come for him to judge all people. Worship him who made heaven, earth, sea, and the springs of water!" 8 A second angel followed the first one, saying, "She has fallen! Great Babylon has fallen! She made all peoples drink her wine - the strong wine of her immoral lust!" 9 A third angel followed the first two, saying in a loud voice, "Those who worship the beast and its image and receive the mark on their forehead or on their hand 10 will themselves drink God's wine, the wine of his fury, which he has poured at full strength into the cup of his anger! All who do this will be tormented in fire and sulfur before the holy angels and the Lamb. 11 The smoke of the fire that torments them goes up forever and ever. There is no relief day or night for those who worship the beast and its image, for anyone who has the mark of its name." 12 This calls for endurance on the part of God's people, those who obey God's commandments and are faithful to Jesus. 13 Then I heard a voice from heaven saying, "Write this: Happy are those who from now on die in the service of the Lord!" "Yes indeed!" answers the Spirit. "They will enjoy rest from their hard work, because the results of their service go with them." 14 Then I looked, and there was a white cloud, and sitting on the cloud was what looked like a human being, with a crown of gold on his head and a sharp sickle in his hand. 15 Then another angel came out from the temple and cried out in a loud voice to the one who was sitting on the cloud, "Use your sickle and reap the harvest, because the time has come; the earth is ripe for the harvest!" 16 Then the one who sat on the cloud swung his sickle on the earth, and the earth's harvest was reaped. 17 Then I saw another angel come out of the temple in heaven, and he also had a sharp sickle. 18 Then another angel, who is in charge of the fire, came from the altar. He shouted in a loud voice to the angel who had the sharp sickle, "Use your sickle, and cut the grapes from the vineyard of the earth, because the grapes are ripe!" 19 So the angel swung his sickle on the earth, cut the grapes from the vine, and threw them into the wine press of God's furious anger. 20 The grapes were squeezed out in the wine press outside the city, and blood came out of the wine press in a flood two hundred miles long and about five feet deep.

Rev 15:1 Then I saw in the sky another mysterious sight, great and amazing. There were seven angels with seven plagues, which are the last ones, because they are the final expression of God's anger. 2 Then I saw what looked like a sea of glass mixed with fire. I also saw those who had won the victory over the beast and its image and over the one whose name is represented by a number. They were standing by the sea of glass, holding harps that God had given them 3 and singing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb: "Lord God Almighty, how great and wonderful are your deeds! King of the nations, how right and true are your ways! 4 Who will not stand in awe of you, Lord? Who will refuse to declare your greatness? You alone are holy. All the nations will come and worship you, because your just actions are seen by all." 5 After this I saw the temple in heaven open, with the Sacred Tent in it. 6 The seven angels who had the seven plagues came out of the temple, dressed in clean shining linen and with gold bands tied around their chests. 7 Then one of the four living creatures gave the seven angels seven gold bowls full of the anger of God, who lives forever and ever. 8 The temple was filled with smoke from the glory and power of God, and no one could go into the temple until the seven plagues brought by the seven angels had come to an end.

Rev 16:1 Then I heard a loud voice speaking from the temple to the seven angels: "Go and pour out the seven bowls of God's anger on the earth!" 2 The first angel went and poured out his bowl on the earth. Terrible and painful sores appeared on those who had the mark of the beast and on those who had worshiped its image. 3 Then the second angel poured out his bowl on the sea. The water became like the blood of a dead person, and every living creature in the sea died. 4 Then the third angel poured out his bowl on the rivers and the springs of water, and they turned into blood. 5 I heard the angel in charge of the waters say, "The judgments you have made are just, O Holy One, you who are and who were! 6 They poured out the blood of God's people and of the prophets, and so you have given them blood to drink. They are getting what they deserve!" 7 Then I heard a voice from the altar saying, "Lord God Almighty! True and just indeed are your judgments!" 8 Then the fourth angel poured out his bowl on the sun, and it was allowed to burn people with its fiery heat. 9 They were burned by the fierce heat, and they cursed the name of God, who has authority over these plagues. But they would not turn from their sins and praise his greatness. 10 Then the fifth angel poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast. Darkness fell over the beast's kingdom, and people bit their tongues because of their pain, 11 and they cursed the God of heaven for their pains and sores. But they did not turn from their evil ways. 12 Then the sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great Euphrates River. The river dried up, to provide a way for the kings who come from the east. 13 Then I saw three unclean spirits that looked like frogs. They were coming out of the mouth of the dragon, the mouth of the beast, and the mouth of the false prophet. 14 They are the spirits of demons that perform miracles. These three spirits go out to all the kings of the world, to bring them together for the battle on the great Day of Almighty God. 15 "Listen! I am coming like a thief! Happy is he who stays awake and guards his clothes, so that he will not walk around naked and be ashamed in public!" 16 Then the spirits brought the kings together in the place that in Hebrew is called Armageddon. 17 Then the seventh angel poured out his bowl in the air. A loud voice came from the throne in the temple, saying, "It is done!" 18 There were flashes of lightning, rumblings and peals of thunder, and a terrible earthquake. There has never been such an earthquake since the creation of human beings; this was the worst earthquake of all! 19 The great city was split into three parts, and the cities of all countries were destroyed. God remembered great Babylon and made her drink the wine from his cup - the wine of his furious anger. 20 All the islands disappeared, all the mountains vanished. 21 Huge hailstones, each weighing as much as a hundred pounds, fell from the sky on people, who cursed God on account of the plague of hail, because it was such a terrible plague.

Rev 17:1 Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came to me and said, "Come, and I will show you how the famous prostitute is to be punished, that great city that is built near many rivers. 2 The kings of the earth practiced sexual immorality with her, and the people of the world became drunk from drinking the wine of her immorality." 3 The Spirit took control of me, and the angel carried me to a desert. There I saw a woman sitting on a red beast that had names insulting to God written all over it; the beast had seven heads and ten horns. 4 The woman was dressed in purple and scarlet, and covered with gold ornaments, precious stones, and pearls. In her hand she held a gold cup full of obscene and filthy things, the result of her immorality. 5 On her forehead was written a name that has a secret meaning: "Great Babylon, the mother of all prostitutes and perverts in the world." 6 And I saw that the woman was drunk with the blood of God's people and the blood of those who were killed because they had been loyal to Jesus. When I saw her, I was completely amazed. 7 "Why are you amazed?" the angel asked me. "I will tell you the secret meaning of the woman and of the beast that carries her, the beast with seven heads and ten horns. 8 That beast was once alive, but lives no longer; it is about to come up from the abyss and will go off to be destroyed. The people living on earth whose names have not been written before the creation of the world in the book of the living, will all be amazed as they look at the beast. It was once alive; now it no longer lives, but it will reappear. 9 "This calls for wisdom and understanding. The seven heads are seven hills, on which the woman sits. They are also seven kings: 10 five of them have fallen, one still rules, and the other one has not yet come; when he comes, he must rule only a little while. 11 And the beast that was once alive, but lives no longer, is itself an eighth king who is one of the seven and is going off to be destroyed. 12 "The ten horns you saw are ten kings who have not yet begun to rule, but who will be given authority to rule as kings for one hour with the beast. 13 These ten all have the same purpose, and they give their power and authority to the beast. 14 They will fight against the Lamb; but the Lamb, together with his called, chosen, and faithful followers, will defeat them, because he is Lord of lords and King of kings." 15 The angel also said to me, "The waters you saw, on which the prostitute sits, are nations, peoples, races, and languages. 16 The ten horns you saw and the beast will hate the prostitute; they will take away everything she has and leave her naked; they will eat her flesh and destroy her with fire. 17 For God has placed in their hearts the will to carry out his purpose by acting together and giving to the beast their power to rule until God's words come true. 18 "The woman you saw is the great city that rules over the kings of the earth."

Rev 18:1 After this I saw another angel coming down out of heaven. He had great authority, and his splendor brightened the whole earth. 2 He cried out in a loud voice: "She has fallen! Great Babylon has fallen! She is now haunted by demons and unclean spirits; all kinds of filthy and hateful birds live in her. 3 For all the nations have drunk her wine - the strong wine of her immoral lust. The kings of the earth practiced sexual immorality with her, and the merchants of the world grew rich from her unrestrained lust." 4 Then I heard another voice from heaven, saying, "Come out, my people! Come out from her! You must not take part in her sins; you must not share in her punishment! 5 For her sins are piled up as high as heaven, and God remembers her wicked ways. 6 Treat her exactly as she has treated you; pay her back double for all she has done. Fill her cup with a drink twice as strong as the drink she prepared for you. 7 Give her as much suffering and grief as the glory and luxury she gave herself. For she keeps telling herself: "Here I sit, a queen! I am no widow, I will never know grief!' 8 Because of this, in one day she will be struck with plagues - disease, grief, and famine. And she will be burned with fire, because the Lord God, who judges her, is mighty." 9 The kings of the earth who took part in her immorality and lust will cry and weep over the city when they see the smoke from the flames that consume her. 10 They stand a long way off, because they are afraid of sharing in her suffering. They say, "How terrible! How awful! This great and mighty city Babylon! In just one hour you have been punished!" 11 The merchants of the earth also cry and mourn for her, because no one buys their goods any longer; 12 no one buys their gold, silver, precious stones, and pearls; their goods of linen, purple cloth, silk, and scarlet cloth; all kinds of rare woods and all kinds of objects made of ivory and of expensive wood, of bronze, iron, and marble; 13 and cinnamon, spice, incense, myrrh, and frankincense; wine and oil, flour and wheat, cattle and sheep, horses and carriages, slaves, and even human lives. 14 The merchants say to her, "All the good things you longed to own have disappeared, and all your wealth and glamor are gone, and you will never find them again!" 15 The merchants, who became rich from doing business in that city, will stand a long way off, because they are afraid of sharing in her suffering. They will cry and mourn, 16 and say, "How terrible! How awful for the great city! She used to dress herself in linen, purple, and scarlet, and cover herself with gold ornaments, precious stones, and pearls! 17 And in one hour she has lost all this wealth!" All the ships' captains and passengers, the sailors and all others who earn their living on the sea, stood a long way off, 18 and cried out as they saw the smoke from the flames that consumed her: "There never has been another city like this great city!" 19 They threw dust on their heads, they cried and mourned, saying, "How terrible! How awful for the great city! She is the city where all who have ships sailing the seas became rich on her wealth! And in one hour she has lost everything!" 20 Be glad, heaven, because of her destruction! Be glad, God's people and the apostles and prophets! For God has condemned her for what she did to you! 21 Then a mighty angel picked up a stone the size of a large millstone and threw it into the sea, saying, "This is how the great city Babylon will be violently thrown down and will never be seen again. 22 The music of harps and of human voices, of players of the flute and the trumpet, will never be heard in you again! No workman in any trade will ever be found in you again; and the sound of the millstone will be heard no more! 23 Never again will the light of a lamp be seen in you; no more will the voices of brides and grooms be heard in you. Your merchants were the most powerful in all the world, and with your false magic you deceived all the peoples of the world!" 24 Babylon was punished because the blood of prophets and of God's people was found in the city; yes, the blood of all those who have been killed on earth.

Rev 19:1 After this I heard what sounded like the roar of a large crowd of people in heaven, saying, "Praise God! Salvation, glory, and power belong to our God! 2 True and just are his judgments! He has condemned the prostitute who was corrupting the earth with her immorality. God has punished her because she killed his servants." 3 Again they shouted, "Praise God! The smoke from the flames that consume the great city goes up forever and ever!" 4 The twenty-four elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped God, who was seated on the throne. They said, "Amen! Praise God!" 5 Then there came from the throne the sound of a voice, saying, "Praise our God, all his servants and all people, both great and small, who have reverence for him!" 6 Then I heard what sounded like a crowd, like the sound of a roaring waterfall, like loud peals of thunder. I heard them say, "Praise God! For the Lord, our Almighty God, is King! 7 Let us rejoice and be glad; let us praise his greatness! For the time has come for the wedding of the Lamb, and his bride has prepared herself for it. 8 She has been given clean shining linen to wear." (The linen is the good deeds of God's people.) 9 Then the angel said to me, "Write this: Happy are those who have been invited to the wedding feast of the Lamb." And the angel added, "These are the true words of God." 10 I fell down at his feet to worship him, but he said to me, "Don't do it! I am a servant together with you and with other believers, all those who hold to the truth that Jesus revealed. Worship God!" For the truth that Jesus revealed is what inspires the prophets. 11 Then I saw heaven open, and there was a white horse. Its rider is called Faithful and True; it is with justice that he judges and fights his battles. 12 His eyes were like a flame of fire, and he wore many crowns on his head. He had a name written on him, but no one except himself knows what it is. 13 The robe he wore was covered with blood. His name is "The Word of God." 14 The armies of heaven followed him, riding on white horses and dressed in clean white linen. 15 Out of his mouth came a sharp sword, with which he will defeat the nations. He will rule over them with a rod of iron, and he will trample out the wine in the wine press of the furious anger of the Almighty God. 16 On his robe and on his thigh was written the name: "King of kings and Lord of lords." 17 Then I saw an angel standing on the sun. He shouted in a loud voice to all the birds flying in midair: "Come and gather together for God's great feast! 18 Come and eat the flesh of kings, generals, and soldiers, the flesh of horses and their riders, the flesh of all people, slave and free, great and small!" 19 Then I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies gathered to fight against the one who was riding the horse and against his army. 20 The beast was taken prisoner, together with the false prophet who had performed miracles in his presence. (It was by those miracles that he had deceived those who had the mark of the beast and those who had worshiped the image of the beast.) The beast and the false prophet were both thrown alive into the lake of fire that burns with sulfur. 21 Their armies were killed by the sword that comes out of the mouth of the one who was riding the horse; and all the birds ate all they could of their flesh

Rev 20:1 Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding in his hand the key of the abyss and a heavy chain. 2 He seized the dragon, that ancient serpent - that is, the Devil, or Satan - and chained him up for a thousand years. 3 The angel threw him into the abyss, locked it, and sealed it, so that he could not deceive the nations any more until the thousand years were over. After that he must be set loose for a little while. 4 Then I saw thrones, and those who sat on them were given the power to judge. I also saw the souls of those who had been executed because they had proclaimed the truth that Jesus revealed and the word of God. They had not worshiped the beast or its image, nor had they received the mark of the beast on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and ruled as kings with Christ for a thousand years. 5 (The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were over.) This is the first raising of the dead. 6 Happy and greatly blessed are those who are included in this first raising of the dead. The second death has no power over them; they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and they will rule with him for a thousand years. 7 After the thousand years are over, Satan will be set loose from his prison, 8 and he will go out to deceive the nations scattered over the whole world, that is, Gog and Magog. Satan will bring them all together for battle, as many as the grains of sand on the seashore. 9 They spread out over the earth and surrounded the camp of God's people and the city that he loves. But fire came down from heaven and destroyed them. 10 Then the Devil, who deceived them, was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet had already been thrown; and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever. 11 Then I saw a great white throne and the one who sits on it. Earth and heaven fled from his presence and were seen no more. 12 And I saw the dead, great and small alike, standing before the throne. Books were opened, and then another book was opened, the book of the living. The dead were judged according to what they had done, as recorded in the books. 13 Then the sea gave up its dead. Death and the world of the dead also gave up the dead they held. And all were judged according to what they had done. 14 Then death and the world of the dead were thrown into the lake of fire. (This lake of fire is the second death.) 15 Those who did not have their name written in the book of the living were thrown into the lake of fire.

Rev 21:1 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth. The first heaven and the first earth disappeared, and the sea vanished. 2 And I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared and ready, like a bride dressed to meet her husband. 3 I heard a loud voice speaking from the throne: "Now God's home is with people! He will live with them, and they shall be his people. God himself will be with them, and he will be their God. 4 He will wipe away all tears from their eyes. There will be no more death, no more grief or crying or pain. The old things have disappeared." 5 Then the one who sits on the throne said, "And now I make all things new!" He also said to me, "Write this, because these words are true and can be trusted." 6 And he said, "It is done! I am the first and the last, the beginning and the end. To anyone who is thirsty I will give the right to drink from the spring of the water of life without paying for it. 7 Those who win the victory will receive this from me: I will be their God, and they will be my children. 8 But cowards, traitors, perverts, murderers, the immoral, those who practice magic, those who worship idols, and all liars - the place for them is the lake burning with fire and sulfur, which is the second death." 9 One of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues came to me and said, "Come, and I will show you the Bride, the wife of the Lamb." 10 The Spirit took control of me, and the angel carried me to the top of a very high mountain. He showed me Jerusalem, the Holy City, coming down out of heaven from God 11 and shining with the glory of God. The city shone like a precious stone, like a jasper, clear as crystal. 12 It had a great, high wall with twelve gates and with twelve angels in charge of the gates. On the gates were written the names of the twelve tribes of the people of Israel. 13 There were three gates on each side: three on the east, three on the south, three on the north, and three on the west. 14 The city's wall was built on twelve foundation stones, on which were written the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. 15 The angel who spoke to me had a gold measuring stick to measure the city, its gates, and its wall. 16 The city was perfectly square, as wide as it was long. The angel measured the city with his measuring stick: it was fifteen hundred miles long and was as wide and as high as it was long. 17 The angel also measured the wall, and it was 216 feet high, according to the standard unit of measure which he was using. 18 The wall was made of jasper, and the city itself was made of pure gold, as clear as glass. 19 The foundation stones of the city wall were adorned with all kinds of precious stones. The first foundation stone was jasper, the second sapphire, the third agate, the fourth emerald, 20 the fifth onyx, the sixth carnelian, the seventh yellow quartz, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chalcedony, the eleventh turquoise, the twelfth amethyst. 21 The twelve gates were twelve pearls; each gate was made from a single pearl. The street of the city was of pure gold, transparent as glass. 22 I did not see a temple in the city, because its temple is the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb. 23 The city has no need of the sun or the moon to shine on it, because the glory of God shines on it, and the Lamb is its lamp. 24 The peoples of the world will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their wealth into it. 25 The gates of the city will stand open all day; they will never be closed, because there will be no night there. 26 The greatness and the wealth of the nations will be brought into the city. 27 But nothing that is impure will enter the city, nor anyone who does shameful things or tells lies. Only those whose names are written in the Lamb's book of the living will enter the city.

Rev 22:1 The angel also showed me the river of the water of life, sparkling like crystal, and coming from the throne of God and of the Lamb 2 and flowing down the middle of the city's street. On each side of the river was the tree of life, which bears fruit twelve times a year, once each month; and its leaves are for the healing of the nations. 3 Nothing that is under God's curse will be found in the city. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will worship him. 4 They will see his face, and his name will be written on their foreheads. 5 There shall be no more night, and they will not need lamps or sunlight, because the Lord God will be their light, and they will rule as kings forever and ever. 6 Then the angel said to me, "These words are true and can be trusted. And the Lord God, who gives his Spirit to the prophets, has sent his angel to show his servants what must happen very soon." 7 "Listen!" says Jesus. "I am coming soon! Happy are those who obey the prophetic words in this book!" 8 I, John, have heard and seen all these things. And when I finished hearing and seeing them, I fell down at the feet of the angel who had shown me these things, and I was about to worship him. 9 But he said to me, "Don't do it! I am a servant together with you and with your brothers the prophets and of all those who obey the words in this book. Worship God!" 10 And he said to me, "Do not keep the prophetic words of this book a secret, because the time is near when all this will happen. 11 Whoever is evil must go on doing evil, and whoever is filthy must go on being filthy; whoever is good must go on doing good, and whoever is holy must go on being holy." 12 "Listen!" says Jesus. "I am coming soon! I will bring my rewards with me, to give to each one according to what he has done. 13 I am the first and the last, the beginning and the end." 14 Happy are those who wash their robes clean and so have the right to eat the fruit from the tree of life and to go through the gates into the city. 15 But outside the city are the perverts and those who practice magic, the immoral and the murderers, those who worship idols and those who are liars both in words and deeds. 16 "I, Jesus, have sent my angel to announce these things to you in the churches. I am descended from the family of David; I am the bright morning star." 17 The Spirit and the Bride say, "Come!" Everyone who hears this must also say, "Come!" Come, whoever is thirsty; accept the water of life as a gift, whoever wants it. 18 I, John, solemnly warn everyone who hears the prophetic words of this book: if any add anything to them, God will add to their punishment the plagues described in this book. 19 And if any take anything away from the prophetic words of this book, God will take away from them their share of the fruit of the tree of life and of the Holy City, which are described in this book. 20 He who gives his testimony to all this says, "Yes indeed! I am coming soon!" So be it. Come, Lord Jesus! 21 May the grace of the Lord Jesus be with everyone.

3339-John 21:25 Now, there are many other things that Jesus did. If they were all written down one by one, I suppose that the whole world could not hold the books that would be written.

3340-Amos 4:4 The Sovereign Lord says, "People of Israel, go to the holy place in Bethel and sin, if you must! Go to Gilgal and sin with all your might! Go ahead and bring animals to be sacrificed morning after morning, and bring your tithes every third day. 5 Go on and offer your bread in thanksgiving to God, and brag about the extra offerings you bring! This is the kind of thing you love to do.

Amos 5:21 The Lord says, "I hate your religious festivals; I cannot stand them! 22 When you bring me burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them; I will not accept the animals you have fattened to bring me as offerings. 23 Stop your noisy songs; I do not want to listen to your harps. 24 Instead, let justice flow like a stream, and righteousness like a river that never goes dry.

3341-Matthew 23:1 Then Jesus spoke to the crowds and to his disciples. 2 "The teachers of the Law and the Pharisees are the authorized interpreters of Moses' Law. 3 So you must obey and follow everything they tell you to do; do not, however, imitate their actions, because they don't practice what they preach. 4 They tie onto people's backs loads that are heavy and hard to carry, yet they aren't willing even to lift a finger to help them carry those loads. 5 They do everything so that people will see them. Look at the straps with scripture verses on them which they wear on their foreheads and arms, and notice how large they are! Notice also how long are the tassels on their cloaks! 6 They love the best places at feasts and the reserved seats in the synagogues; 7 they love to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces and to have people call them "Teacher.' 8 You must not be called "Teacher,' because you are all equal and have only one Teacher. 9 And you must not call anyone here on earth "Father,' because you have only the one Father in heaven. 10 Nor should you be called "Leader,' because your one and only leader is the Messiah. 11 The greatest one among you must be your servant. 12 Whoever makes himself great will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be made great. 13 "How terrible for you, teachers of the Law and Pharisees! You hypocrites! You lock the door to the Kingdom of heaven in people's faces, but you yourselves don't go in, nor do you allow in those who are trying to enter! 15 "How terrible for you, teachers of the Law and Pharisees! You hypocrites! You sail the seas and cross whole countries to win one convert; and when you succeed, you make him twice as deserving of going to hell as you yourselves are! 16 "How terrible for you, blind guides! You teach, "If someone swears by the Temple, he isn't bound by his vow; but if he swears by the gold in the Temple, he is bound.' 17 Blind fools! Which is more important, the gold or the Temple which makes the gold holy? 18 You also teach, "If someone swears by the altar, he isn't bound by his vow; but if he swears by the gift on the altar, he is bound.' 19 How blind you are! Which is the more important, the gift or the altar which makes the gift holy? 20 So then, when a person swears by the altar, he is swearing by it and by all the gifts on it; 21 and when he swears by the Temple, he is swearing by it and by God, who lives there; 22 and when someone swears by heaven, he is swearing by God's throne and by him who sits on it. 23 "How terrible for you, teachers of the Law and Pharisees! You hypocrites! You give to God one tenth even of the seasoning herbs, such as mint, dill, and cumin, but you neglect to obey the really important teachings of the Law, such as justice and mercy and honesty. These you should practice, without neglecting the others. 24 Blind guides! You strain a fly out of your drink, but swallow a camel! 25 "How terrible for you, teachers of the Law and Pharisees! You hypocrites! You clean the outside of your cup and plate, while the inside is full of what you have gotten by violence and selfishness. 26 Blind Pharisee! Clean what is inside the cup first, and then the outside will be clean too! 27 "How terrible for you, teachers of the Law and Pharisees! You hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look fine on the outside but are full of bones and decaying corpses on the inside. 28 In the same way, on the outside you appear good to everybody, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and sins. 29 "How terrible for you, teachers of the Law and Pharisees! You hypocrites! You make fine tombs for the prophets and decorate the monuments of those who lived good lives; 30 and you claim that if you had lived during the time of your ancestors, you would not have done what they did and killed the prophets. 31 So you actually admit that you are the descendants of those who murdered the prophets! 32 Go on, then, and finish up what your ancestors started! 33 You snakes and children of snakes! How do you expect to escape from being condemned to hell? 34 And so I tell you that I will send you prophets and wise men and teachers; you will kill some of them, crucify others, and whip others in the synagogues and chase them from town to town. 35 As a result, the punishment for the murder of all innocent people will fall on you, from the murder of innocent Abel to the murder of Zechariah son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the Temple and the altar. 36 I tell you indeed: the punishment for all these murders will fall on the people of this day!

Mark 12:38 As he taught them, he said, "Watch out for the teachers of the Law, who like to walk around in their long robes and be greeted with respect in the marketplace, 39 who choose the reserved seats in the synagogues and the best places at feasts. 40 They take advantage of widows and rob them of their homes, and then make a show of saying long prayers. Their punishment will be all the worse!" 41 As Jesus sat near the Temple treasury, he watched the people as they dropped in their money. Many rich men dropped in a lot of money; 42 then a poor widow came along and dropped in two little copper coins, worth about a penny. 43 He called his disciples together and said to them, "I tell you that this poor widow put more in the offering box than all the others. 44 For the others put in what they had to spare of their riches; but she, poor as she is, put in all she had - she gave all she had to live on."

Luke 20:45 As all the people listened to him, Jesus said to his disciples, 46 "Be on your guard against the teachers of the Law, who like to walk around in their long robes and love to be greeted with respect in the marketplace; who choose the reserved seats in the synagogues and the best places at feasts; 47 who take advantage of widows and rob them of their homes, and then make a show of saying long prayers! Their punishment will be all the worse!"

Luke 21:1 Jesus looked around and saw rich people dropping their gifts in the Temple treasury, 2 and he also saw a very poor widow dropping in two little copper coins. 3 He said, "I tell you that this poor widow put in more than all the others. 4 For the others offered their gifts from what they had to spare of their riches; but she, poor as she is, gave all she had to live on."

3342-Amos 3:7 The Sovereign Lord never does anything without revealing his plan to his servants, the prophets.

Hosea 6:6 I want your constant love, not your animal sacrifices. I would rather have my people know me than burn offerings to me.

3343-Jeremiah 7:22 I gave your ancestors no commands about burnt offerings or any other kinds of sacrifices when I brought them out of Egypt. 23 But I did command them to obey me, so that I would be their God and they would be my people. And I told them to live the way I had commanded them, so that things would go well for them.

Isaiah 43:23 You did not bring me your burnt offerings of sheep; you did not honor me with your sacrifices. I did not burden you by demanding offerings or wear you out by asking for incense.

Exodus 6:6 So tell the Israelites that I say to them, "I am the Lord; I will rescue you and set you free from your slavery to the Egyptians. I will raise my mighty arm to bring terrible punishment upon them, and I will save you. 7 I will make you my own people, and I will be your God. You will know that I am the Lord your God when I set you free from slavery in Egypt. 8 I will bring you to the land that I solemnly promised to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; and I will give it to you as your own possession. I am the Lord.' " 9 Moses told this to the Israelites, but they would not listen to him, because their spirit had been broken by their cruel slavery.

Acts 7:42 So God turned away from them and gave them over to worship the stars of heaven, as it is written in the book of the prophets: "People of Israel! It was not to me that you slaughtered and sacrificed animals for forty years in the desert. 43 It was the tent of the god Molech that you carried, and the image of Rephan, your star god; they were idols that you had made to worship. And so I will send you into exile beyond Babylon.'

Galatians 3:19 What, then, was the purpose of the Law? It was added in order to show what wrongdoing is, and it was meant to last until the coming of Abraham's descendant, to whom the promise was made. The Law was handed down by angels, with a man acting as a go-between. 20 But a go-between is not needed when only one person is involved; and God is one. 21 Does this mean that the Law is against God's promises? No, not at all! For if human beings had received a law that could bring life, then everyone could be put right with God by obeying it. 22 But the scripture says that the whole world is under the power of sin; and so the gift which is promised on the basis of faith in Jesus Christ is given to those who believe. 23 But before the time for faith came, the Law kept us all locked up as prisoners until this coming faith should be revealed. 24 And so the Law was in charge of us until Christ came, in order that we might then be put right with God through faith. 25 Now that the time for faith is here, the Law is no longer in charge of us.

3344-1 Kings 18:19 Now order all the people of Israel to meet me at Mount Carmel. Bring along the 450 prophets of Baal and the 400 prophets of the goddess Asherah who are supported by Queen Jezebel."

1 Kin. 22:6 So Ahab called in the prophets, about four hundred of them, and asked them, "Should I go and attack Ramoth, or not?" "Attack it," they answered. "The Lord will give you victory."

2 Chronicles 18:5 So Ahab called in the prophets, about four hundred of them, and asked them, "Should I go and attack Ramoth, or not?" "Attack it," they answered. "God will give you victory."

3345-Amos 5:21 The Lord says, "I hate your religious festivals; I cannot stand them! 22 When you bring me burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them; I will not accept the animals you have fattened to bring me as offerings. 23 Stop your noisy songs; I do not want to listen to your harps. 24 Instead, let justice flow like a stream, and righteousness like a river that never goes dry.

Amos 8:5 You say to yourselves, "We can hardly wait for the holy days to be over so that we can sell our grain. When will the Sabbath end, so that we can start selling again? Then we can overcharge, use false measures, and fix the scales to cheat our customers. 6 We can sell worthless wheat at a high price. We'll find someone poor who can't pay his debts, not even the price of a pair of sandals, and we'll buy him as a slave."

3346-Job 1:7 The Lord asked him, "What have you been doing?" Satan answered, "I have been walking here and there, roaming around the earth."

Job 2:2 The Lord asked him, "Where have you been?" Satan answered, "I have been walking here and there, roaming around the earth."

Daniel 12:4 He said to me, "And now, Daniel, close the book and put a seal on it until the end of the world. Meanwhile, many people will waste their efforts trying to understand what is happening."

Zechariah 4:10 a) They are disappointed because so little progress is being made. But they will see Zerubbabel continuing to build the Temple, and they will be glad." b) The angel said to me, "The seven lamps are the seven eyes of the Lord, which see all over the earth."

3347-DA 234,5; The time of Christ’s coming, His anointing by the Holy Spirit, His death, and the giving of the gospel to the Gentiles, were definitely pointed out. It was the privilege of the Jewish people to understand these prophecies, and to recognize their fulfillment in the mission of Jesus. Christ urged upon His disciples the importance of prophetic study. Referring to the prophecy given to Daniel in regard to their time, He said, “Whoso readeth, let him understand.” Matthew 24:15. After His resurrection He explained to the disciples in “all the prophets” “the things concerning Himself.” Luke 24:27. The Saviour had spoken through all the prophets. “The Spirit of Christ which was in them” “testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow.” 1 Peter 1:11. {DA 234.1}

It was Gabriel, the angel next in rank to the Son of God, who came with the divine message to Daniel. It was Gabriel, “His angel,” whom Christ sent to open the future to the beloved John; and a blessing is pronounced on those who read and hear the words of the prophecy, and keep the things written therein. Revelation 1:3. {DA 234.2}

“The Lord God will do nothing, but He revealeth His secret unto His servants and prophets.” While “the secret things belong unto the Lord our God,” “those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children forever.” Amos 3:7; Deuteronomy 29:29. God has given these things to us, and His blessing will attend the reverent, prayerful study of the prophetic scriptures. {DA 234.3}

As the message of Christ’s first advent announced the kingdom of His grace, so the message of His second advent announces the kingdom of His glory. And the second message, like the first, is based on the prophecies. The words of the angel to Daniel relating to the last days were to be understood in the time of the end. At that time, “many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased.” “The wicked shall do wickedly: and none of the wicked shall understand; but the wise shall understand.” Daniel 12:4, 10. The Saviour Himself has given signs of His coming, and He says, “When ye see these things come to pass, know ye that the kingdom of God is nigh at hand.” “And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares.” “Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.” Luke 21:31, 34, 36. {DA 234.4}

We have reached the period foretold in these scriptures. The time of the end is come, the visions of the prophets are unsealed, and their solemn warnings point us to our Lord’s coming in glory as near at hand. {DA 235.1}

The Jews misinterpreted and misapplied the word of God, and they knew not the time of their visitation. The years of the ministry of Christ and His apostles,—the precious last years of grace to the chosen people,—they spent in plotting the destruction of the Lord’s messengers. Earthly ambitions absorbed them, and the offer of the spiritual kingdom came to them in vain. So today the kingdom of this world absorbs men’s thoughts, and they take no note of the rapidly fulfilling prophecies and the tokens of the swift-coming kingdom of God. {DA 235.2}

“But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness.” While we are not to know the hour of our Lord’s return, we may know when it is near. “Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober.” 1 Thessalonians 5:4-6. {DA 235.3}

GC 356 The apostle Paul warned the church not to look for the coming of Christ in his day. “That day shall not come,” he says, “except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed.” 2 Thessalonians 2:3. Not till after the great apostasy, and the long period of the reign of the “man of sin,” can we look for the advent of our Lord. The “man of sin,” which is also styled “the mystery of iniquity,” “the son of perdition,” and “that wicked,” represents the papacy, which, as foretold in prophecy, was to maintain its supremacy for 1260 years. This period ended in 1798. The coming of Christ could not take place before that time. Paul covers with his caution the whole of the Christian dispensation down to the year 1798. It is this side of that time that the message of Christ’s second coming is to be proclaimed. {GC 356.1}

No such message has ever been given in past ages. Paul, as we have seen, did not preach it; he pointed his brethren into the then far-distant future for the coming of the Lord. The Reformers did not proclaim it. Martin Luther placed the judgment about three hundred years in the future from his day. But since 1798 the book of Daniel has been unsealed, knowledge of the prophecies has increased, and many have proclaimed the solemn message of the judgment near. {GC 356.2}

3348-Amos 9:11 The Lord says, "A day is coming when I will restore the kingdom of David, which is like a house fallen into ruins. I will repair its walls and restore it. I will rebuild it and make it as it was long ago. 12 And so the people of Israel will conquer what is left of the land of Edom and all the nations that were once mine," says the Lord, who will cause this to happen. 13 "The days are coming," says the Lord, "when grain will grow faster than it can be harvested, and grapes will grow faster than the wine can be made. The mountains will drip with sweet wine, and the hills will flow with it. 14 I will bring my people back to their land. They will rebuild their ruined cities and live there; they will plant vineyards and drink the wine; they will plant gardens and eat what they grow. 15 I will plant my people on the land I gave them, and they will not be pulled up again." The Lord your God has spoken.

3349-1 Kin. 18:3 so Ahab called in Obadiah, who was in charge of the palace. (Obadiah was a devout worshiper of the Lord,

1 Chr. 7:3 Uzzi had one son, Izrahiah. Izrahiah and his four sons, Michael, Obadiah, Joel, and Isshiah, were all heads of families.

1 Chr 8:38 Azel had six sons: Azrikam, Bocheru, Ishmael, Sheariah, Obadiah, and Hanan.

1 Chr 9:16 And Obadiah the son of Shemaiah, the son of Galal, the son of Jeduthun, and Berechiah the son of Asa, the son of Elkanah, that dwelt in the villages of the Netophathites. …..44 And Azel had six sons, whose names are these, Azrikam, Bocheru, and Ishmael, and Sheariah, and Obadiah, and Hanan: these were the sons of Azel.

1 Chr 12:9 Ezer was the first, Obadiah the second, Eliab the third,

1 Chr 27:19 Of Zebulun, Ishmaiah the son of Obadiah: of Naphtali, Jerimoth the son of Azriel:

2 Chr. 17:7 In the third year of his reign he sent out the following officials to teach in the cities of Judah: Benhail, Obadiah, Zechariah, Nethanel, and Micaiah.

2 Chr 34:12 The men who did the work were thoroughly honest. They were supervised by four Levites: Jahath and Obadiah of the clan of Merari, and Zechariah and Meshullam of the clan of Kohath. (The Levites were all skillful musicians.)

Ezra 8:9 Obadiah son of Jehiel, of the clan of Joab, with 218 men

Neh. 10:5 Harim, Meremoth, Obadiah,

Neh 12:25 The following Temple guards were in charge of guarding the storerooms by the gates to the Temple: Mattaniah, Bakbukiah, Obadiah, Meshullam, Talmon, and Akkub.

3350-2 Chr. 21:8 In his days the Edomites revolted from under the dominion of Judah, and made themselves a king. 9 Then Jehoram went forth with his princes, and all his chariots with him: and he rose up by night, and smote the Edomites which compassed him in , and the captains of the chariots. 10 So the Edomites revolted from under the hand of Judah unto this day. The same time also did Libnah revolt from under his hand; because he had forsaken the LORD God of his fathers. ….16 Moreover the LORD stirred up against Jehoram the spirit of the Philistines, and of the Arabians, that were near the Ethiopians: 17 And they came up into Judah, and brake into it, and carried away all the substance that was found in the king's house, and his sons also, and his wives; so that there was never a son left him, save Jehoahaz, the youngest of his sons.

3351-2 Chr. 25:14 Now it came to pass, after that Amaziah was come from the slaughter of the Edomites, that he brought the gods of the children of Seir, and set them up to be his gods, and bowed down himself before them, and burned incense unto them. 15 Wherefore the anger of the LORD was kindled against Amaziah, and he sent unto him a prophet, which said unto him, Why hast thou sought after the gods of the people, which could not deliver their own people out of thine hand? 16 And it came to pass, as he talked with him, that the king said unto him, Art thou made of the king's counsel ? forbear ; why shouldest thou be smitten ? Then the prophet forbare , and said , I know that God hath determined to destroy thee, because thou hast done this, and hast not hearkened unto my counsel. 17 Then Amaziah king of Judah took advice , and sent to Joash, the son of Jehoahaz, the son of Jehu, king of Israel, saying , Come , let us see one another in the face. 18 And Joash king of Israel sent to Amaziah king of Judah, saying , The thistle that was in Lebanon sent to the cedar that was in Lebanon, saying , Give thy daughter to my son to wife: and there passed by a wild beast that was in Lebanon, and trode down the thistle. 19 Thou sayest , Lo, thou hast smitten the Edomites; and thine heart lifteth thee up to boast : abide now at home; why shouldest thou meddle to thine hurt, that thou shouldest fall , even thou, and Judah with thee? 20 But Amaziah would not hear ; for it came of God, that he might deliver them into the hand of their enemies, because they sought after the gods of Edom. 21 So Joash the king of Israel went up ; and they saw one another in the face, both he and Amaziah king of Judah, at Bethshemesh, which belongeth to Judah. 22 And Judah was put to the worse before Israel, and they fled every man to his tent. 23 And Joash the king of Israel took Amaziah king of Judah, the son of Joash, the son of Jehoahaz, at Bethshemesh, and brought him to Jerusalem, and brake down the wall of Jerusalem from the gate of Ephraim to the corner gate, four hundred cubits. 24 And he took all the gold and the silver, and all the vessels that were found in the house of God with Obededom, and the treasures of the king's house, the hostages also, and returned to Samaria.

3352-2 Chr. 36:11 Zedekiah was one and twenty years old when he began to reign , and reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. 12 And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD his God, and humbled not himself before Jeremiah the prophet speaking from the mouth of the LORD. 13 And he also rebelled against king Nebuchadnezzar, who had made him swear by God: but he stiffened his neck, and hardened his heart from turning unto the LORD God of Israel. 14 Moreover all the chief of the priests, and the people, transgressed very much after all the abominations of the heathen; and polluted the house of the LORD which he had hallowed in Jerusalem. 15 And the LORD God of their fathers sent to them by his messengers, rising up betimes , and sending ; because he had compassion on his people, and on his dwelling place: 16 But they mocked the messengers of God, and despised his words, and misused his prophets, until the wrath of the LORD arose against his people, till there was no remedy. 17 Therefore he brought upon them the king of the Chaldees, who slew their young men with the sword in the house of their sanctuary, and had no compassion upon young man or maiden, old man, or him that stooped for age: he gave them all into his hand. 18 And all the vessels of the house of God, great and small, and the treasures of the house of the LORD, and the treasures of the king, and of his princes; all these he brought to Babylon. 19 And they burnt the house of God, and brake down the wall of Jerusalem, and burnt all the palaces thereof with fire, and destroyed all the goodly vessels thereof. 20 And them that had escaped from the sword carried he away to Babylon; where they were servants to him and his sons until the reign of the kingdom of Persia: 21 To fulfil the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed her sabbaths: for as long as she lay desolate she kept sabbath , to fulfil threescore and ten years.

Ps. 137:7 Remember , O LORD, the children of Edom in the day of Jerusalem; who said , Rase it, rase it, even to the foundation thereof.

Lam. 4:21 Rejoice and be glad , O daughter of Edom, that dwellest in the land of Uz; the cup also shall pass through unto thee: thou shalt be drunken , and shalt make thyself naked . 22 The punishment of thine iniquity is accomplished , O daughter of Zion; he will no more carry thee away into captivity : he will visit thine iniquity, O daughter of Edom; he will discover thy sins.

Ezek. 25:12 Thus saith the Lord GOD; Because that Edom hath dealt against the house of Judah by taking vengeance, and hath greatly offended , and revenged himself upon them; 13 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; I will also stretch out mine hand upon Edom, and will cut off man and beast from it; and I will make it desolate from Teman; and they of Dedan shall fall by the sword. 14 And I will lay my vengeance upon Edom by the hand of my people Israel: and they shall do in Edom according to mine anger and according to my fury; and they shall know my vengeance, saith the Lord GOD

Ez 35:5 Because thou hast had a perpetual hatred, and hast shed the blood of the children of Israel by the force of the sword in the time of their calamity, in the time that their iniquity had an end:

Ez 12:1 The word of the LORD also came unto me, saying , 2 Son of man, thou dwellest in the midst of a rebellious house, which have eyes to see , and see not; they have ears to hear , and hear not: for they are a rebellious house. 3 Therefore, thou son of man, prepare thee stuff for removing, and remove by day in their sight; and thou shalt remove from thy place to another place in their sight: it may be they will consider , though they be a rebellious house. 4 Then shalt thou bring forth thy stuff by day in their sight, as stuff for removing: and thou shalt go forth at even in their sight, as they that go forth into captivity. 5 Dig thou through the wall in their sight, and carry out thereby. 6 In their sight shalt thou bear it upon thy shoulders, and carry it forth in the twilight: thou shalt cover thy face, that thou see not the ground: for I have set thee for a sign unto the house of Israel. 7 And I did so as I was commanded : I brought forth my stuff by day, as stuff for captivity, and in the even I digged through the wall with mine hand; I brought it forth in the twilight, and I bare it upon my shoulder in their sight. 8 And in the morning came the word of the LORD unto me, saying , 9 Son of man, hath not the house of Israel, the rebellious house, said unto thee, What doest thou? 10 Say thou unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; This burden concerneth the prince in Jerusalem, and all the house of Israel that are among them. 11 Say , I am your sign: like as I have done , so shall it be done unto them: they shall remove and go into captivity. 12 And the prince that is among them shall bear upon his shoulder in the twilight, and shall go forth : they shall dig through the wall to carry out thereby: he shall cover his face, that he see not the ground with his eyes. 13 My net also will I spread upon him, and he shall be taken in my snare: and I will bring him to Babylon to the land of the Chaldeans; yet shall he not see it, though he shall die there. 14 And I will scatter toward every wind all that are about him to help him, and all his bands; and I will draw out the sword after them. 15 And they shall know that I am the LORD, when I shall scatter them among the nations, and disperse them in the countries. 16 But I will leave a few men of them from the sword, from the famine, and from the pestilence; that they may declare all their abominations among the heathen whither they come ; and they shall know that I am the LORD. 17 Moreover the word of the LORD came to me, saying , 18 Son of man, eat thy bread with quaking, and drink thy water with trembling and with carefulness; 19 And say unto the people of the land, Thus saith the Lord GOD of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and of the land of Israel; They shall eat their bread with carefulness, and drink their water with astonishment, that her land may be desolate from all that is therein, because of the violence of all them that dwell therein. 20 And the cities that are inhabited shall be laid waste , and the land shall be desolate; and ye shall know that I am the LORD. 21 And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying , 22 Son of man, what is that proverb that ye have in the land of Israel, saying , The days are prolonged , and every vision faileth ? 23 Tell them therefore, Thus saith the Lord GOD; I will make this proverb to cease , and they shall no more use it as a proverb in Israel; but say unto them, The days are at hand , and the effect of every vision. 24 For there shall be no more any vain vision nor flattering divination within the house of Israel. 25 For I am the LORD: I will speak , and the word that I shall speak shall come to pass ; it shall be no more prolonged : for in your days, O rebellious house, will I say the word, and will perform it, saith the Lord GOD. 26 Again the word of the LORD came to me, saying , 27 Son of man, behold, they of the house of Israel say , The vision that he seeth is for many days to come, and he prophesieth of the times that are far off. 28 Therefore say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; There shall none of my words be prolonged any more, but the word which I have spoken shall be done , saith the Lord GOD.

Ez 13:1 And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying , 2 Son of man, prophesy against the prophets of Israel that prophesy , and say thou unto them that prophesy out of their own hearts, Hear ye the word of the LORD; 3 Thus saith the Lord GOD; Woe unto the foolish prophets, that follow their own spirit, and have seen nothing! 4 O Israel, thy prophets are like the foxes in the deserts. 5 Ye have not gone up into the gaps, neither made up the hedge for the house of Israel to stand in the battle in the day of the LORD. 6 They have seen vanity and lying divination, saying , The LORD saith : and the LORD hath not sent them: and they have made others to hope that they would confirm the word. 7 Have ye not seen a vain vision, and have ye not spoken a lying divination, whereas ye say , The LORD saith it; albeit I have not spoken ? 8 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Because ye have spoken vanity, and seen lies, therefore, behold, I am against you, saith the Lord GOD. 9 And mine hand shall be upon the prophets that see vanity, and that divine lies: they shall not be in the assembly of my people, neither shall they be written in the writing of the house of Israel, neither shall they enter into the land of Israel; and ye shall know that I am the Lord GOD. 10 Because, even because they have seduced my people, saying , Peace; and there was no peace; and one built up a wall, and, lo, others daubed it with untempered morter: 11 Say unto them which daub it with untempered morter, that it shall fall : there shall be an overflowing shower; and ye, O great hailstones , shall fall ; and a stormy wind shall rend it. 12 Lo, when the wall is fallen , shall it not be said unto you, Where is the daubing wherewith ye have daubed it? 13 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; I will even rend it with a stormy wind in my fury; and there shall be an overflowing shower in mine anger, and great hailstones in my fury to consume it. 14 So will I break down the wall that ye have daubed with untempered morter, and bring it down to the ground, so that the foundation thereof shall be discovered , and it shall fall , and ye shall be consumed in the midst thereof: and ye shall know that I am the LORD. 15 Thus will I accomplish my wrath upon the wall, and upon them that have daubed it with untempered morter, and will say unto you, The wall is no more, neither they that daubed it; 16 To wit, the prophets of Israel which prophesy concerning Jerusalem, and which see visions of peace for her, and there is no peace, saith the Lord GOD. 17 Likewise, thou son of man, set thy face against the daughters of thy people, which prophesy out of their own heart; and prophesy thou against them, 18 And say , Thus saith the Lord GOD; Woe to the women that sew pillows to all armholes , and make kerchiefs upon the head of every stature to hunt souls! Will ye hunt the souls of my people, and will ye save the souls alive that come unto you? 19 And will ye pollute me among my people for handfuls of barley and for pieces of bread, to slay the souls that should not die , and to save the souls alive that should not live , by your lying to my people that hear your lies? 20 Wherefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against your pillows, wherewith ye there hunt the souls to make them fly , and I will tear them from your arms, and will let the souls go , even the souls that ye hunt to make them fly . 21 Your kerchiefs also will I tear , and deliver my people out of your hand, and they shall be no more in your hand to be hunted; and ye shall know that I am the LORD. 22 Because with lies ye have made the heart of the righteous sad , whom I have not made sad ; and strengthened the hands of the wicked, that he should not return from his wicked way, by promising him life : 23 Therefore ye shall see no more vanity, nor divine divinations: for I will deliver my people out of your hand: and ye shall know that I am the LORD.

Ez 14:1 Then came certain of the elders of Israel unto me, and sat before me. 2 And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying , 3 Son of man, these men have set up their idols in their heart, and put the stumblingblock of their iniquity before their face: should I be enquired of at all by them? 4 Therefore speak unto them, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Every man of the house of Israel that setteth up his idols in his heart, and putteth the stumblingblock of his iniquity before his face, and cometh to the prophet; I the LORD will answer him that cometh according to the multitude of his idols; 5 That I may take the house of Israel in their own heart, because they are all estranged from me through their idols. 6 Therefore say unto the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Repent , and turn yourselves from your idols; and turn away your faces from all your abominations. 7 For every one of the house of Israel, or of the stranger that sojourneth in Israel, which separateth himself from me, and setteth up his idols in his heart, and putteth the stumblingblock of his iniquity before his face, and cometh to a prophet to enquire of him concerning me; I the LORD will answer him by myself: 8 And I will set my face against that man, and will make him a sign and a proverb, and I will cut him off from the midst of my people; and ye shall know that I am the LORD. 9 And if the prophet be deceived when he hath spoken a thing, I the LORD have deceived that prophet, and I will stretch out my hand upon him, and will destroy him from the midst of my people Israel. 10 And they shall bear the punishment of their iniquity: the punishment of the prophet shall be even as the punishment of him that seeketh unto him; 11 That the house of Israel may go no more astray from me, neither be polluted any more with all their transgressions; but that they may be my people, and I may be their God, saith the Lord GOD. 12 The word of the LORD came again to me, saying , 13 Son of man, when the land sinneth against me by trespassing grievously, then will I stretch out mine hand upon it, and will break the staff of the bread thereof, and will send famine upon it, and will cut off man and beast from it: 14 Though these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, they should deliver but their own souls by their righteousness, saith the Lord GOD. 15 If I cause noisome beasts to pass through the land, and they spoil it, so that it be desolate, that no man may pass through because of the beasts: 16 Though these three men were in it, as I live, saith the Lord GOD, they shall deliver neither sons nor daughters; they only shall be delivered , but the land shall be desolate. 17 Or if I bring a sword upon that land, and say , Sword, go through the land; so that I cut off man and beast from it: 18 Though these three men were in it, as I live, saith the Lord GOD, they shall deliver neither sons nor daughters, but they only shall be delivered themselves. 19 Or if I send a pestilence into that land, and pour out my fury upon it in blood, to cut off from it man and beast: 20 Though Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, as I live, saith the Lord GOD, they shall deliver neither son nor daughter; they shall but deliver their own souls by their righteousness. 21 For thus saith the Lord GOD; How much more when I send my four sore judgments upon Jerusalem, the sword, and the famine, and the noisome beast, and the pestilence, to cut off from it man and beast? 22 Yet, behold, therein shall be left a remnant that shall be brought forth , both sons and daughters: behold, they shall come forth unto you, and ye shall see their way and their doings: and ye shall be comforted concerning the evil that I have brought upon Jerusalem, even concerning all that I have brought upon it. 23 And they shall comfort you, when ye see their ways and their doings: and ye shall know that I have not done without cause all that I have done in it, saith the Lord GOD.

Ez 15:than any tree, or than a branch which is among the trees of the forest? 3 Shall wood be taken thereof to do any work? or will men take a pin of it to hang any vessel thereon? 4 Behold, it is cast into the fire for fuel; the fire devoureth both the ends of it, and the midst of it is burned . Is it meet for any work? 5 Behold, when it was whole, it was meet for no work: how much less shall it be meet yet for any work, when the fire hath devoured it, and it is burned ? 6 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; As the vine tree among the trees of the forest, which I have given to the fire for fuel, so will I give the inhabitants of Jerusalem. 7 And I will set my face against them; they shall go out from one fire, and another fire shall devour them; and ye shall know that I am the LORD, when I set my face against them. 8 And I will make the land desolate, because they have committed a trespass, saith the Lord GOD.

3353-Obad. 11 In the day that thou stoodest on the other side, in the day that the strangers carried away captive his forces, and foreigners entered into his gates, and cast lots upon Jerusalem, even thou wast as one of them. 12 But thou shouldest not have looked on the day of thy brother in the day that he became a stranger; neither shouldest thou have rejoiced over the children of Judah in the day of their destruction ; neither shouldest thou have spoken proudly in the day of distress. 13 Thou shouldest not have entered into the gate of my people in the day of their calamity; yea, thou shouldest not have looked on their affliction in the day of their calamity, nor have laid hands on their substance in the day of their calamity; 14 Neither shouldest thou have stood in the crossway, to cut off those of his that did escape; neither shouldest thou have delivered up those of his that did remain in the day of distress.

3354-1 Kin. 14:25 And it came to pass in the fifth year of king Rehoboam, that Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem: 26 And he took away the treasures of the house of the LORD, and the treasures of the king's house; he even took away all: and he took away all the shields of gold which Solomon had made .

2 Chr. 12:2 And it came to pass, that in the fifth year of king Rehoboam Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem, because they had transgressed against the LORD, 3 With twelve hundred chariots, and threescore thousand horsemen: and the people were without number that came with him out of Egypt; the Lubims, the Sukkiims, and the Ethiopians. 4 And he took the fenced cities which pertained to Judah, and came to Jerusalem. 5 Then came Shemaiah the prophet to Rehoboam, and to the princes of Judah, that were gathered together to Jerusalem because of Shishak, and said unto them, Thus saith the LORD, Ye have forsaken me, and therefore have I also left you in the hand of Shishak. 6 Whereupon the princes of Israel and the king humbled themselves; and they said , The LORD is righteous. 7 And when the LORD saw that they humbled themselves, the word of the LORD came to Shemaiah, saying , They have humbled themselves; therefore I will not destroy them, but I will grant them some deliverance; and my wrath shall not be poured out upon Jerusalem by the hand of Shishak. 8 Nevertheless they shall be his servants; that they may know my service, and the service of the kingdoms of the countries. 9 So Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem, and took away the treasures of the house of the LORD, and the treasures of the king's house; he took all: he carried away also the shields of gold which Solomon had made .

3355-2 Chr. 21:8 In his days the Edomites revolted from under the dominion of Judah, and made themselves a king. 9 Then Jehoram went forth with his princes, and all his chariots with him: and he rose up by night, and smote the Edomites which compassed him in , and the captains of the chariots. 10 So the Edomites revolted from under the hand of Judah unto this day. The same time also did Libnah revolt from under his hand; because he had forsaken the LORD God of his fathers. …..16 Moreover the LORD stirred up against Jehoram the spirit of the Philistines, and of the Arabians, that were near the Ethiopians: 17 And they came up into Judah, and brake into it, and carried away all the substance that was found in the king's house, and his sons also, and his wives; so that there was never a son left him, save Jehoahaz, the youngest of his sons.

3356-2 Chr. 25:1 Amaziah was twenty and five years old when he began to reign , and he reigned twenty and nine years in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Jehoaddan of Jerusalem. 2 And he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD, but not with a perfect heart. 3 Now it came to pass, when the kingdom was established to him, that he slew his servants that had killed the king his father. 4 But he slew not their children, but did as it is written in the law in the book of Moses, where the LORD commanded , saying , The fathers shall not die for the children, neither shall the children die for the fathers, but every man shall die for his own sin. 5 Moreover Amaziah gathered Judah together , and made them captains over thousands, and captains over hundreds, according to the houses of their fathers, throughout all Judah and Benjamin: and he numbered them from twenty years old and above, and found them three hundred thousand choice men, able to go forth to war, that could handle spear and shield. 6 He hired also an hundred thousand mighty men of valour out of Israel for an hundred talents of silver. 7 But there came a man of God to him, saying , O king, let not the army of Israel go with thee; for the LORD is not with Israel, to wit, with all the children of Ephraim. 8 But if thou wilt go , do it, be strong for the battle: God shall make thee fall before the enemy : for God hath power to help , and to cast down . 9 And Amaziah said to the man of God, But what shall we do for the hundred talents which I have given to the army of Israel? And the man of God answered , The LORD is able to give thee much more than this. 10 Then Amaziah separated them, to wit, the army that was come to him out of Ephraim, to go home again : wherefore their anger was greatly kindled against Judah, and they returned home in great anger. 11 And Amaziah strengthened himself, and led forth his people, and went to the valley of salt, and smote of the children of Seir ten thousand. 12 And other ten thousand left alive did the children of Judah carry away captive , and brought them unto the top of the rock, and cast them down from the top of the rock, that they all were broken in pieces . 13 But the soldiers of the army which Amaziah sent back , that they should not go with him to battle, fell upon the cities of Judah, from Samaria even unto Bethhoron, and smote three thousand of them, and took much spoil. 14 Now it came to pass, after that Amaziah was come from the slaughter of the Edomites, that he brought the gods of the children of Seir, and set them up to be his gods, and bowed down himself before them, and burned incense unto them. 15 Wherefore the anger of the LORD was kindled against Amaziah, and he sent unto him a prophet, which said unto him, Why hast thou sought after the gods of the people, which could not deliver their own people out of thine hand? 16 And it came to pass, as he talked with him, that the king said unto him, Art thou made of the king's counsel ? forbear ; why shouldest thou be smitten ? Then the prophet forbare , and said , I know that God hath determined to destroy thee, because thou hast done this, and hast not hearkened unto my counsel. 17 Then Amaziah king of Judah took advice , and sent to Joash, the son of Jehoahaz, the son of Jehu, king of Israel, saying , Come , let us see one another in the face. 18 And Joash king of Israel sent to Amaziah king of Judah, saying , The thistle that was in Lebanon sent to the cedar that was in Lebanon, saying , Give thy daughter to my son to wife: and there passed by a wild beast that was in Lebanon, and trode down the thistle. 19 Thou sayest , Lo, thou hast smitten the Edomites; and thine heart lifteth thee up to boast : abide now at home; why shouldest thou meddle to thine hurt, that thou shouldest fall , even thou, and Judah with thee? 20 But Amaziah would not hear ; for it came of God, that he might deliver them into the hand of their enemies, because they sought after the gods of Edom. 21 So Joash the king of Israel went up ; and they saw one another in the face, both he and Amaziah king of Judah, at Bethshemesh, which belongeth to Judah. 22 And Judah was put to the worse before Israel, and they fled every man to his tent. 23 And Joash the king of Israel took Amaziah king of Judah, the son of Joash, the son of Jehoahaz, at Bethshemesh, and brought him to Jerusalem, and brake down the wall of Jerusalem from the gate of Ephraim to the corner gate, four hundred cubits. 24 And he took all the gold and the silver, and all the vessels that were found in the house of God with Obededom, and the treasures of the king's house, the hostages also, and returned to Samaria. 25 And Amaziah the son of Joash king of Judah lived after the death of Joash son of Jehoahaz king of Israel fifteen years. 26 Now the rest of the acts of Amaziah, first and last, behold, are they not written in the book of the kings of Judah and Israel? 27 Now after the time that Amaziah did turn away from following the LORD they made a conspiracy against him in Jerusalem; and he fled to Lachish: but they sent to Lachish after him, and slew him there. 28 And they brought him upon horses, and buried him with his fathers in the city of Judah.

3357-2 Kin. 25:1 And it came to pass in the ninth year of his reign , in the tenth month, in the tenth day of the month, that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came , he, and all his host, against Jerusalem, and pitched against it; and they built forts against it round about. 2 And the city was besieged unto the eleventh year of king Zedekiah.

3358-Ob 11 In the day that thou stoodest on the other side, in the day that the strangers carried away captive his forces, and foreigners entered into his gates, and cast lots upon Jerusalem, even thou wast as one of them. 12 But thou shouldest not have looked on the day of thy brother in the day that he became a stranger; neither shouldest thou have rejoiced over the children of Judah in the day of their destruction ; neither shouldest thou have spoken proudly in the day of distress. ….17 But upon mount Zion shall be deliverance, and there shall be holiness; and the house of Jacob shall possess their possessions. ….20 And the captivity of this host of the children of Israel shall possess that of the Canaanites, even unto Zarephath; and the captivity of Jerusalem, which is in Sepharad, shall possess the cities of the south. 21 And saviours shall come up on mount Zion to judge the mount of Esau; and the kingdom shall be the LORD'S.

3359-2 Kings 8:20 In his days Edom revolted from under the hand of Judah, and made a king over themselves. 21 So Joram went over to Zair, and all the chariots with him: and he rose by night, and smote the Edomites which compassed him about , and the captains of the chariots: and the people fled into their tents. 22 Yet Edom revolted from under the hand of Judah unto this day. Then Libnah revolted at the same time.

3360-Jer 49:7 Concerning Edom, thus saith the LORD of hosts; Is wisdom no more in Teman? is counsel perished from the prudent ? is their wisdom vanished ? 8 Flee ye, turn back , dwell deep , O inhabitants of Dedan; for I will bring the calamity of Esau upon him, the time that I will visit him. 9 If grapegatherers come to thee, would they not leave some gleaning grapes? if thieves by night, they will destroy till they have enough. 10 But I have made Esau bare , I have uncovered his secret places, and he shall not be able to hide himself: his seed is spoiled , and his brethren, and his neighbours, and he is not. 11 Leave thy fatherless children, I will preserve them alive ; and let thy widows trust in me. 12 For thus saith the LORD; Behold, they whose judgment was not to drink of the cup have assuredly drunken ; and art thou he that shall altogether go unpunished ? thou shalt not go unpunished , but thou shalt surely drink of it. 13 For I have sworn by myself, saith the LORD, that Bozrah shall become a desolation, a reproach, a waste, and a curse; and all the cities thereof shall be perpetual wastes. 14 I have heard a rumour from the LORD, and an ambassador is sent unto the heathen, saying, Gather ye together , and come against her, and rise up to the battle. 15 For, lo, I will make thee small among the heathen, and despised among men. 16 Thy terribleness hath deceived thee, and the pride of thine heart, O thou that dwellest in the clefts of the rock, that holdest the height of the hill: though thou shouldest make thy nest as high as the eagle, I will bring thee down from thence, saith the LORD. 17 Also Edom shall be a desolation: every one that goeth by it shall be astonished , and shall hiss at all the plagues thereof. 18 As in the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah and the neighbour cities thereof, saith the LORD, no man shall abide there, neither shall a son of man dwell in it. 19 Behold, he shall come up like a lion from the swelling of Jordan against the habitation of the strong: but I will suddenly make him run away from her: and who is a chosen man, that I may appoint over her? for who is like me? and who will appoint me the time ? and who is that shepherd that will stand before me? 20 Therefore hear the counsel of the LORD, that he hath taken against Edom; and his purposes, that he hath purposed against the inhabitants of Teman: Surely the least of the flock shall draw them out : surely he shall make their habitations desolate with them. 21 The earth is moved at the noise of their fall , at the cry the noise thereof was heard in the Red sea. 22 Behold, he shall come up and fly as the eagle, and spread his wings over Bozrah: and at that day shall the heart of the mighty men of Edom be as the heart of a woman in her pangs .

3361-Eze 25:12 Thus saith the Lord GOD; Because that Edom hath dealt against the house of Judah by taking vengeance, and hath greatly offended , and revenged himself upon them; 13 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; I will also stretch out mine hand upon Edom, and will cut off man and beast from it; and I will make it desolate from Teman; and they of Dedan shall fall by the sword. 14 And I will lay my vengeance upon Edom by the hand of my people Israel: and they shall do in Edom according to mine anger and according to my fury; and they shall know my vengeance, saith the Lord GOD

Ez 35:1 Moreover the word of the LORD came unto me, saying , 2 Son of man, set thy face against mount Seir, and prophesy against it, 3 And say unto it, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, O mount Seir, I am against thee, and I will stretch out mine hand against thee, and I will make thee most desolate. 4 I will lay thy cities waste, and thou shalt be desolate, and thou shalt know that I am the LORD. 5 Because thou hast had a perpetual hatred, and hast shed the blood of the children of Israel by the force of the sword in the time of their calamity, in the time that their iniquity had an end: 6 Therefore, as I live, saith the Lord GOD, I will prepare thee unto blood, and blood shall pursue thee: sith thou hast not hated blood, even blood shall pursue thee. 7 Thus will I make mount Seir most desolate, and cut off from it him that passeth out and him that returneth . 8 And I will fill his mountains with his slain men: in thy hills, and in thy valleys, and in all thy rivers, shall they fall that are slain with the sword. 9 I will make thee perpetual desolations, and thy cities shall not return : and ye shall know that I am the LORD. 10 Because thou hast said , These two nations and these two countries shall be mine, and we will possess it; whereas the LORD was there: 11 Therefore, as I live, saith the Lord GOD, I will even do according to thine anger, and according to thine envy which thou hast used out of thy hatred against them; and I will make myself known among them, when I have judged thee. 12 And thou shalt know that I am the LORD, and that I have heard all thy blasphemies which thou hast spoken against the mountains of Israel, saying , They are laid desolate , they are given us to consume. 13 Thus with your mouth ye have boasted against me, and have multiplied your words against me: I have heard them. 14 Thus saith the Lord GOD; When the whole earth rejoiceth , I will make thee desolate. 15 As thou didst rejoice at the inheritance of the house of Israel, because it was desolate , so will I do unto thee: thou shalt be desolate, O mount Seir, and all Idumea, even all of it: and they shall know that I am the LORD.

3362-Ps 137:7 Remember , O LORD, the children of Edom in the day of Jerusalem; who said , Rase it, rase it, even to the foundation thereof.

3363-Ob 10 "Because you robbed and killed your relatives, the descendants of Jacob, you will be destroyed and dishonored forever. 11 You stood aside on that day when enemies broke down their gates. You were as bad as those strangers who carried off Jerusalem's wealth and divided it among themselves. 12 You should not have gloated over the misfortune of your relatives in Judah. You should not have been glad on the day of their ruin. You should not have laughed at them in their distress. 13 You should not have entered the city of my people to gloat over their suffering and to seize their riches on the day of their disaster. 14 You should not have stood at the crossroads to catch those trying to escape. You should not have handed them over to the enemy on the day of their distress.

3364-2 Samuel 8:13 David became even more famous when he returned from killing eighteen thousand Edomites in Salt Valley. 14 He set up military camps throughout Edom, and the people there became his subjects. The Lord made David victorious everywhere.

1 Kings 11:14 So the Lord caused Hadad, of the royal family of Edom, to turn against Solomon. 15 Long before this, when David had conquered Edom, Joab the commander of his army had gone there to bury the dead. He and his men remained in Edom six months, and during that time they killed every male in Edom 17 except Hadad and some of his father's Edomite servants, who escaped to Egypt. (At that time Hadad was just a child.) 18 They left Midian and went to Paran, where some other men joined them. Then they traveled to Egypt and went to the king, who gave Hadad some land and a house and provided him with food. 19 Hadad won the friendship of the king, and the king gave his sister-in-law, the sister of Queen Tahpenes, to Hadad in marriage. 20 She bore him a son, Genubath, who was raised by the queen in the palace, where he lived with the king's sons. 21 When the news reached Hadad in Egypt that David had died and that Joab the commander of the army was dead, Hadad said to the king, "Let me go back to my own country." 22 "Why?" the king asked. "Have I failed to give you something? Is that why you want to go back home?" "Just let me go," Hadad answered the king. And he went back to his country. As king of Edom, Hadad was an evil, bitter enemy of Israel.

2 Chr 20:22 When they began to sing, the Lord threw the invading armies into a panic.

2 Chr21:8 During Jehoram's reign Edom revolted against Judah and became an independent kingdom. 9 So Jehoram and his officers set out with chariots and invaded Edom. There the Edomite army surrounded them, but during the night they managed to break out and escape. 10 Edom has been independent of Judah ever since. During this same period the city of Libnah also revolted, because Jehoram had abandoned the Lord, the God of his ancestors.

2 Chr 25:11 Amaziah summoned up his courage and led his army to Salt Valley. There they fought and killed ten thousand Edomite soldiers 12 and captured another ten thousand. They took the prisoners to the top of the cliff at the city of Sela and threw them off, so that they were killed on the rocks below.

2 Chr 28:17 For the E'domites had again invaded and defeated Judah, and carried away captives.

3365-Matthew 5:21 "You have heard that it was said to the men of old, 'You shall not kill; and whoever kills shall be liable to judgment.' 22 But I say to you that every one who is angry with his brother shall be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother shall be liable to the council, and whoever says, 'You fool!' shall be liable to the hell of fire. 23 So if you are offering your gift at the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, 24 leave your gift there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift. 25 Make friends quickly with your accuser, while you are going with him to court, lest your accuser hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you be put in prison; 26 truly, I say to you, you will never get out till you have paid the last penny.

3366-Obadiah 15 For the day of the LORD is near upon all the nations. As you have done, it shall be done to you, your deeds shall return on your own head.

Matthew 7:12 So whatever you wish that men would do to you, do so to them; for this is the law and the prophets.

3367-Exodus 21:24 eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot,

Leviticus 24:20 If you break a bone, one of your bones shall be broken; if you put out an eye, one of your eyes shall be put out; if you knock out a tooth, one of your teeth shall be knocked out. Whatever injury you cause another person shall be done to you in return.

Deuteronomy 19:21 In such cases show no mercy; the punishment is to be a life for a life, an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, a hand for a hand, and a foot for a foot.

Matthew 5:38 "You have heard that it was said, "An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth.' 39 But now I tell you: do not take revenge on someone who wrongs you. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, let him slap your left cheek too. 40 And if someone takes you to court to sue you for your shirt, let him have your coat as well. 41 And if one of the occupation troops forces you to carry his pack one mile, carry it two miles. 42 When someone asks you for something, give it to him; when someone wants to borrow something, lend it to him.

3368-Is. 2:11 A day is coming when human pride will be ended and human arrogance destroyed. Then the Lord alone will be exalted. 12 On that day the Lord Almighty will humble everyone who is powerful, everyone who is proud and conceited.

3369-Is. 61:1 The Sovereign Lord has filled me with his Spirit. He has chosen me and sent me To bring good news to the poor, To heal the broken-hearted, To announce release to captives And freedom to those in prison. 2 He has sent me to proclaim That the time has come When the Lord will save his people And defeat their enemies. He has sent me to comfort all who mourn,

3370-Luke 4:18 "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has chosen me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set free the oppressed 19 and announce that the time has come when the Lord will save his people."

Joel 2:25 I will give you back what you lost in the years when swarms of locusts ate your crops. It was I who sent this army against you. 26 Now you will have plenty to eat, and be satisfied. You will praise the Lord your God, who has done wonderful things for you. My people will never be despised again. 27 Then, Israel, you will know that I am among you and that I, the Lord, am your God and there is no other. My people will never be despised again. 28 "Afterward I will pour out my Spirit on everyone: your sons and daughters will proclaim my message; your old people will have dreams, and your young people will see visions. 29 At that time I will pour out my Spirit even on servants, both men and women. 30 "I will give warnings of that day in the sky and on the earth; there will be bloodshed, fire, and clouds of smoke. 31 The sun will be darkened, and the moon will turn red as blood before the great and terrible day of the Lord comes. 32 But all who ask the Lord for help will be saved. As the Lord has said, "Some in Jerusalem will escape; those whom I choose will survive.' "

3371-Acts 2:16 Instead, this is what the prophet Joel spoke about: 17 "This is what I will do in the last days, God says: I will pour out my Spirit on everyone. Your sons and daughters will proclaim my message; your young men will see visions, and your old men will have dreams. 18 Yes, even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will proclaim my message. 19 I will perform miracles in the sky above and wonders on the earth below. There will be blood, fire, and thick smoke; 20 the sun will be darkened, and the moon will turn red as blood, before the great and glorious Day of the Lord comes. 21 And then, whoever calls out to the Lord for help will be saved.'

3372-Is. 11:6 Wolves and sheep will live together in peace, and leopards will lie down with young goats. Calves and lion cubs will feed together, and little children will take care of them. 7 Cows and bears will eat together, and their calves and cubs will lie down in peace. Lions will eat straw as cattle do. 8 Even a baby will not be harmed if it plays near a poisonous snake. 9 On Zion, God's sacred hill, there will be nothing harmful or evil. The land will be as full of knowledge of the Lord as the seas are full of water.

Amos 9:13 "The days are coming," says the Lord, "when grain will grow faster than it can be harvested, and grapes will grow faster than the wine can be made. The mountains will drip with sweet wine, and the hills will flow with it.

3373-Ezek. 47:1 The man led me back to the entrance of the Temple. Water was coming out from under the entrance and flowing east, the direction the Temple faced. It was flowing down from under the south part of the Temple past the south side of the altar. 2 The man then took me out of the Temple area by way of the north gate and led me around to the gate that faces east. A small stream of water was flowing out at the south side of the gate. 3 With his measuring rod the man measured 560 yards downstream to the east and told me to wade through the stream there. The water came only to my ankles. 4 Then he measured another 560 yards, and the water came up to my knees. Another 560 yards farther down, the water was up to my waist. 5 He measured 560 yards more, and there the stream was so deep I could not wade through it. It was too deep to cross except by swimming. 6 He said to me, "Mortal man, note all this carefully." Then the man took me back to the riverbank, 7 and when I got there, I saw that there were very many trees on each bank. 8 He said to me, "This water flows through the land to the east and down into the Jordan Valley and to the Dead Sea. When it flows into the Dead Sea, it replaces the salt water of that sea with fresh water. 9 Wherever the stream flows, there will be all kinds of animals and fish. The stream will make the water of the Dead Sea fresh, and wherever it flows, it will bring life. 10 From the Springs of Engedi all the way to the Springs of Eneglaim, there will be fishermen on the shore of the sea, and they will spread out their nets there to dry. There will be as many different kinds of fish there as there are in the Mediterranean Sea. 11 But the water in the marshes and ponds along the shore will not be made fresh. They will remain there as a source of salt. 12 On each bank of the stream all kinds of trees will grow to provide food. Their leaves will never wither, and they will never stop bearing fruit. They will have fresh fruit every month, because they are watered by the stream that flows from the Temple. The trees will provide food, and their leaves will be used for healing people."

Rev. 22:1 The angel also showed me the river of the water of life, sparkling like crystal, and coming from the throne of God and of the Lamb 2 and flowing down the middle of the city's street. On each side of the river was the tree of life, which bears fruit twelve times a year, once each month; and its leaves are for the healing of the nations. 3 Nothing that is under God's curse will be found in the city. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will worship him. 4 They will see his face, and his name will be written on their foreheads. 5 There shall be no more night, and they will not need lamps or sunlight, because the Lord God will be their light, and they will rule as kings forever and ever.

3374-Psalm 137:7 Remember, Lord, what the Edomites did the day Jerusalem was captured. Remember how they kept saying, "Tear it down to the ground!" 8 Babylon, you will be destroyed. Happy are those who pay you back for what you have done to us -

3375-Obadiah 1 This is the prophecy of Obadiah - what the Sovereign Lord said about the nation of Edom. The Lord has sent his messenger to the nations, and we have heard his message: "Get ready! Let us go to war against Edom!" 2 The Lord says to Edom, "I will make you weak; everyone will despise you. 3 Your pride has deceived you. Your capital is a fortress of solid rock; your home is high in the mountains, and so you say to yourself, "Who can ever pull me down?' 4 Even though you make your home as high as an eagle's nest, so that it seems to be among the stars, yet I will pull you down. 5 "When thieves come at night, they take only what they want. When people gather grapes, they always leave a few. But your enemies have wiped you out completely. 6 Descendants of Esau, your treasures have been looted. 7 Your allies have deceived you; they have driven you from your country. People who were at peace with you have now conquered you. Those friends who ate with you have laid a trap for you; they say of you, "Where is all that cleverness he had?' 8 "On the day I punish Edom, I will destroy their clever men and wipe out all their wisdom. 9 The fighting men of Teman will be terrified, and every soldier in Edom will be killed. 10 "Because you robbed and killed your relatives, the descendants of Jacob, you will be destroyed and dishonored forever. 11 You stood aside on that day when enemies broke down their gates. You were as bad as those strangers who carried off Jerusalem's wealth and divided it among themselves. 12 You should not have gloated over the misfortune of your relatives in Judah. You should not have been glad on the day of their ruin. You should not have laughed at them in their distress. 13 You should not have entered the city of my people to gloat over their suffering and to seize their riches on the day of their disaster. 14 You should not have stood at the crossroads to catch those trying to escape. You should not have handed them over to the enemy on the day of their distress.

Ezekiel 25:12 The Sovereign Lord said, "The people of Edom took cruel revenge on Judah, and that revenge has brought lasting guilt on Edom. 13 Now I announce that I will punish Edom and kill every person and animal there. I will make it a wasteland, from the city of Teman to the city of Dedan, and the people will be killed in battle. 14 My people Israel will take revenge on Edom for me, and they will make Edom feel my furious anger. Edom will know what it means to be the object of my revenge." The Sovereign Lord has spoken.

Ez 35:1 The Lord spoke to me. 2 "Mortal man," he said, "denounce the country of Edom. 3 Tell the people what I, the Sovereign Lord, am saying: "I am your enemy, mountains of Edom! I will make you a desolate wasteland. 4 I will leave your cities in ruins And your land desolate; Then you will know that I am the Lord. 5 "You were Israel's constant enemy and let her people be slaughtered in the time of her disaster, the time of final punishment for her sins. 6 So then - as surely as I, the Sovereign Lord, am the living God - death is your fate, and you cannot escape it. You are guilty of murder, and murder will follow you. 7 I will make the hill country of Edom a wasteland and kill everyone who travels through it. 8 I will cover the mountains with corpses, and the bodies of those who are killed in battle will cover the hills and valleys. 9 I will make you desolate forever, and no one will live in your cities again. Then you will know that I am the Lord. 10 "You said that the two nations, Judah and Israel, together with their lands, belonged to you and that you would possess them, even though I, the Lord, was their God. 11 So then, as surely as I, the Sovereign Lord, am the living God, I will pay you back for your anger, your jealousy, and your hate toward my people. They will know that I am punishing you for what you did to them. 12 Then you will know that I, the Lord, heard you say with contempt that the mountains of Israel were desolate and that they were yours to devour. 13 I have heard the wild, boastful way you have talked against me." 14 The Sovereign Lord says, "I will make you so desolate that the whole world will rejoice at your downfall, 15 just as you rejoiced at the devastation of Israel, my own possession. The mountains of Seir, yes, all the land of Edom, will be desolate. Then everyone will know that I am the Lord."

Joel 3:19 "Egypt will become a desert, and Edom a ruined waste, because they attacked the land of Judah and killed its innocent people.

Amos 1:11 The Lord says, "The people of Edom have sinned again and again, and for this I will certainly punish them. They hunted down their relatives, the Israelites, and showed them no mercy. Their anger had no limits, and they never let it die. 12 So I will send fire upon the city of Teman and burn down the fortresses of Bozrah."

Malachi 1:2 The Lord says to his people, "I have always loved you." But they reply, "How have you shown your love for us?" The Lord answers, "Esau and Jacob were brothers, but I have loved Jacob and his descendants, 3 and have hated Esau and his descendants. I have devastated Esau's hill country and abandoned the land to jackals." 4 If Esau's descendants, the Edomites, say, "Our towns have been destroyed, but we will rebuild them," then the Lord will reply, "Let them rebuild - I will tear them down again. People will call them "The evil country' and "The nation with whom the Lord is angry forever.' "

3376-Genesis 25:19 This is the story of Abraham's son Isaac. 20 Isaac was forty years old when he married Rebecca, the daughter of Bethuel (an Aramean from Mesopotamia) and sister of Laban. 21 Because Rebecca had no children, Isaac prayed to the Lord for her. The Lord answered his prayer, and Rebecca became pregnant. 22 She was going to have twins, and before they were born, they struggled against each other in her womb. She said, "Why should something like this happen to me?" So she went to ask the Lord for an answer. 23 The Lord said to her, "Two nations are within you; You will give birth to two rival peoples. One will be stronger than the other; The older will serve the younger." 24 The time came for her to give birth, and she had twin sons. 25 The first one was reddish, and his skin was like a hairy robe, so he was named Esau. 26 The second one was born holding on tightly to the heel of Esau, so he was named Jacob. Isaac was sixty years old when they were born.

3377-Numbers 24:18 He will conquer his enemies in Edom And make their land his property, While Israel continues victorious.

3378-Numbers 20:14 Moses sent messengers from Kadesh to the king of Edom. They said, "This message is from your kinsmen, the tribes of Israel. You know the hardships we have suffered, 15 how our ancestors went to Egypt, where we lived many years. The Egyptians mistreated our ancestors and us, 16 and we cried to the Lord for help. He heard our cry and sent an angel, who led us out of Egypt. Now we are at Kadesh, a town at the border of your territory. 17 Please permit us to pass through your land. We and our cattle will not leave the road or go into your fields or vineyards, and we will not drink from your wells. We will stay on the main road until we are out of your territory." 18 But the Edomites answered, "We refuse to let you pass through our country! If you try, we will march out and attack you." 19 The people of Israel said, "We will stay on the main road, and if we or our animals drink any of your water, we will pay for it - all we want is to pass through." 20 The Edomites repeated, "We refuse!" and they marched out with a powerful army to attack the people of Israel. 21 Because the Edomites would not let the Israelites pass through their territory, the Israelites turned and went another way.

3379-Isaiah 34:5 The Lord has prepared his sword in heaven, and now it will strike Edom, those people whom he has condemned to destruction. 6 His sword will be covered with their blood and fat, like the blood and fat of lambs and goats that are sacrificed. The Lord will offer this sacrifice in the city of Bozrah; he will make this a great slaughter in the land of Edom. 7 The people will fall like wild oxen and young bulls, and the earth will be red with blood and covered with fat. 8 This is the time when the Lord will rescue Zion and take vengeance on her enemies. 9 The rivers of Edom will turn into tar, and the soil will turn into sulfur. The whole country will burn like tar. 10 It will burn day and night, and smoke will rise from it forever. The land will lie waste age after age, and no one will ever travel through it again. 11 Owls and ravens will take over the land. The Lord will make it a barren waste again, as it was before the creation. 12 There will be no king to rule the country, and the leaders will all be gone. 13 Thorns and thistles will grow up in all the palaces and walled towns, and jackals and owls will live in them. 14 Wild animals will roam there, and demons will call to each other. The night monster will come there looking for a place to rest. 15 Owls will build their nests, lay eggs, hatch their young, and care for them there. Vultures will gather there, one after another. 16 Search in the Lord's book of living creatures and read what it says. Not one of these creatures will be missing, and not one will be without its mate. The Lord has commanded it to be so; he himself will bring them together. 17 It is the Lord who will divide the land among them and give each of them a share. They will live in the land age after age, and it will belong to them forever.

Jeremiah 9:25 "Behold, the days are coming, says the LORD, when I will punish all those who are circumcised but yet uncircumcised-- 26 Egypt, Judah, Edom, the sons of Ammon, Moab, and all who dwell in the desert that cut the corners of their hair; for all these nations are uncircumcised, and all the house of Israel is uncircumcised in heart."

Jer 49:7 This is what the Lord Almighty said about Edom: "Have the people of Edom lost their good judgment? Can their advisers no longer tell them what to do? Has all their wisdom disappeared? 8 People of Dedan, turn and run! Hide! I am going to destroy Esau's descendants because the time has come for me to punish them. 9 When people pick grapes, they leave a few on the vines, and when robbers come at night, they take only what they want. 10 But I have stripped Esau's descendants completely and uncovered their hiding places, so that they can no longer hide. All the people of Edom are destroyed. Not one of them is left. 11 Leave your orphans with me, and I will take care of them. Your widows can depend on me. 12 "If even those who did not deserve to be punished had to drink from the cup of punishment, do you think that you will go unpunished? No, you must drink from the cup! 13 I myself have sworn that the city of Bozrah will become a horrifying sight and a desert; people will make fun of it and use its name as a curse. All the nearby villages will be in ruins forever. I, the Lord, have spoken." 14 I said, "Edom, I have received a message from the Lord. He has sent a messenger to tell the nations to assemble their armies and to get ready to attack you. 15 The Lord is going to make you weak, and no one will respect you. 16 Your pride has deceived you. No one fears you as much as you think they do. You live on the rocky cliffs, high on top of the mountain; but even though you live as high up as an eagle, the Lord will bring you down. The Lord has spoken." 17 The Lord said, "The destruction that will come on Edom will be so terrible that everyone who passes by will be shocked and terrified. 18 The same thing will happen to Edom that happened to Sodom and Gomorrah, when they and the nearby towns were destroyed. No one will ever live there again. I, the Lord, have spoken. 19 Like a lion coming out of the thick woods along the Jordan River up to the green pasture land, I will come and make the Edomites run away suddenly from their country. Then the leader I choose will rule the nation. Who can be compared to me? Who would dare challenge me? What ruler could oppose me? 20 So listen to the plan that I have made against the people of Edom, and to what I intend to do to the people of the city of Teman. Even their children will be dragged off, and everyone will be horrified. 21 When Edom falls, there will be such a noise that the entire earth will shake, and the cries of alarm will be heard as far away as the Gulf of Aqaba. 22 The enemy will attack Bozrah like an eagle swooping down with outspread wings. On that day Edom's soldiers will be as frightened as a woman in labor."

Obadiah 1 This is the prophecy of Obadiah - what the Sovereign Lord said about the nation of Edom. The Lord has sent his messenger to the nations, and we have heard his message: "Get ready! Let us go to war against Edom!" 2 The Lord says to Edom, "I will make you weak; everyone will despise you. 3 Your pride has deceived you. Your capital is a fortress of solid rock; your home is high in the mountains, and so you say to yourself, "Who can ever pull me down?' 4 Even though you make your home as high as an eagle's nest, so that it seems to be among the stars, yet I will pull you down. 5 "When thieves come at night, they take only what they want. When people gather grapes, they always leave a few. But your enemies have wiped you out completely. 6 Descendants of Esau, your treasures have been looted. 7 Your allies have deceived you; they have driven you from your country. People who were at peace with you have now conquered you. Those friends who ate with you have laid a trap for you; they say of you, "Where is all that cleverness he had?' 8 "On the day I punish Edom, I will destroy their clever men and wipe out all their wisdom. 9 The fighting men of Teman will be terrified, and every soldier in Edom will be killed. 10 "Because you robbed and killed your relatives, the descendants of Jacob, you will be destroyed and dishonored forever. 11 You stood aside on that day when enemies broke down their gates. You were as bad as those strangers who carried off Jerusalem's wealth and divided it among themselves. 12 You should not have gloated over the misfortune of your relatives in Judah. You should not have been glad on the day of their ruin. You should not have laughed at them in their distress. 13 You should not have entered the city of my people to gloat over their suffering and to seize their riches on the day of their disaster. 14 You should not have stood at the crossroads to catch those trying to escape. You should not have handed them over to the enemy on the day of their distress.

Ezekiel 25:12 The Sovereign Lord said, "The people of Edom took cruel revenge on Judah, and that revenge has brought lasting guilt on Edom. 13 Now I announce that I will punish Edom and kill every person and animal there. I will make it a wasteland, from the city of Teman to the city of Dedan, and the people will be killed in battle. 14 My people Israel will take revenge on Edom for me, and they will make Edom feel my furious anger. Edom will know what it means to be the object of my revenge." The Sovereign Lord has spoken.

Ez 35:1 The Lord spoke to me. 2 "Mortal man," he said, "denounce the country of Edom. 3 Tell the people what I, the Sovereign Lord, am saying: "I am your enemy, mountains of Edom! I will make you a desolate wasteland. 4 I will leave your cities in ruins And your land desolate; Then you will know that I am the Lord. 5 "You were Israel's constant enemy and let her people be slaughtered in the time of her disaster, the time of final punishment for her sins. 6 So then - as surely as I, the Sovereign Lord, am the living God - death is your fate, and you cannot escape it. You are guilty of murder, and murder will follow you. 7 I will make the hill country of Edom a wasteland and kill everyone who travels through it. 8 I will cover the mountains with corpses, and the bodies of those who are killed in battle will cover the hills and valleys. 9 I will make you desolate forever, and no one will live in your cities again. Then you will know that I am the Lord. 10 "You said that the two nations, Judah and Israel, together with their lands, belonged to you and that you would possess them, even though I, the Lord, was their God. 11 So then, as surely as I, the Sovereign Lord, am the living God, I will pay you back for your anger, your jealousy, and your hate toward my people. They will know that I am punishing you for what you did to them. 12 Then you will know that I, the Lord, heard you say with contempt that the mountains of Israel were desolate and that they were yours to devour. 13 I have heard the wild, boastful way you have talked against me." 14 The Sovereign Lord says, "I will make you so desolate that the whole world will rejoice at your downfall, 15 just as you rejoiced at the devastation of Israel, my own possession. The mountains of Seir, yes, all the land of Edom, will be desolate. Then everyone will know that I am the Lord."

Joel 3:19 "Egypt will become a desert, and Edom a ruined waste, because they attacked the land of Judah and killed its innocent people.

Amos 1:11 The Lord says, "The people of Edom have sinned again and again, and for this I will certainly punish them. They hunted down their relatives, the Israelites, and showed them no mercy. Their anger had no limits, and they never let it die. 12 So I will send fire upon the city of Teman and burn down the fortresses of Bozrah."

Malachi 1:2 The Lord says to his people, "I have always loved you." But they reply, "How have you shown your love for us?" The Lord answers, "Esau and Jacob were brothers, but I have loved Jacob and his descendants, 3 and have hated Esau and his descendants. I have devastated Esau's hill country and abandoned the land to jackals." 4 If Esau's descendants, the Edomites, say, "Our towns have been destroyed, but we will rebuild them," then the Lord will reply, "Let them rebuild - I will tear them down again. People will call them "The evil country' and "The nation with whom the Lord is angry forever.' "

3380-Isaiah 66:24 And they shall go out and look at the dead bodies of the people who have rebelled against me; for their worm shall not die, their fire shall not be quenched, and they shall be an abhorrence to all flesh. NRSV

Isaiah 43:17 He led a mighty army to destruction, an army of chariots and horses. Down they fell, never to rise, snuffed out like the flame of a lamp!

Malachi 4:1 The Lord Almighty says, "The day is coming when all proud and evil people will burn like straw. On that day they will burn up, and there will be nothing left of them.

Revelation 14:9 A third angel followed the first two, saying in a loud voice, "Those who worship the beast and its image and receive the mark on their forehead or on their hand 10 will themselves drink God's wine, the wine of his fury, which he has poured at full strength into the cup of his anger! All who do this will be tormented in fire and sulfur before the holy angels and the Lamb. 11 The smoke of the fire that torments them goes up forever and ever. There is no relief day or night for those who worship the beast and its image, for anyone who has the mark of its name."

Rev 20:7 After the thousand years are over, Satan will be set loose from his prison, 8 and he will go out to deceive the nations scattered over the whole world, that is, Gog and Magog. Satan will bring them all together for battle, as many as the grains of sand on the seashore. 9 They spread out over the earth and surrounded the camp of God's people and the city that he loves. But fire came down from heaven and destroyed them. 10 Then the Devil, who deceived them, was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet had already been thrown; and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.

3381-Ezek. 28:6 "Now then, this is what I, the Sovereign Lord, am saying: Because you think you are as wise as a god, 7 I will bring ruthless enemies to attack you. They will destroy all the beautiful things you have acquired by skill and wisdom. 8 They will kill you and send you to a watery grave. 9 When they come to kill you, will you still claim that you are a god? When you face your murderers, you will be mortal and not at all divine. 10 You will die like a dog at the hand of godless foreigners. I, the Sovereign Lord, have given the command." 11 The Lord spoke to me again. 12 "Mortal man," he said, "grieve for the fate that is waiting for the king of Tyre. Tell him what I, the Sovereign Lord, am saying: You were once an example of perfection. How wise and handsome you were! 13 You lived in Eden, the garden of God, and wore gems of every kind: rubies and diamonds; topaz, beryl, carnelian, and jasper; sapphires, emeralds, and garnets. You had ornaments of gold. They were made for you on the day you were created. 14 I put a terrifying angel there to guard you. You lived on my holy mountain and walked among sparkling gems. 15 Your conduct was perfect from the day you were created until you began to do evil. 16 You were busy buying and selling, and this led you to violence and sin. So I forced you to leave my holy mountain, and the angel who guarded you drove you away from the sparkling gems. 17 You were proud of being handsome, and your fame made you act like a fool. Because of this I hurled you to the ground and left you as a warning to other kings. 18 You did such evil in buying and selling that your places of worship were corrupted. So I set fire to the city and burned it to the ground. All who look at you now see you reduced to ashes. 19 You are gone, gone forever, and all the nations that had come to know you are terrified, afraid that they will share your fate."

Ps. 37:10 Soon the wicked will disappear; you may look for them, but you won't find them;

Obadiah 16 My people have drunk a bitter cup of punishment on my sacred hill. But all the surrounding nations will drink a still more bitter cup of punishment; they will drink it all and vanish away.

3382-DA 763.4 Then the end will come. God will vindicate His law and deliver His people. Satan and all who have joined him in rebellion will be cut off. Sin and sinners will perish, root and branch, (Malachi 4:1),—Satan the root, and his followers the branches. The word will be fulfilled to the prince of evil, “Because thou hast set thine heart as the heart of God; ... I will destroy thee, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire.... Thou shalt be a terror, and never shalt thou be any more.” Then “the wicked shall not be: yea, thou shalt diligently consider his place, and it shall not be;” “they shall be as though they had not been.” Ezekiel 28:6-19; Psalm 37:10; Obadiah 1:16. {DA 763.4}

3383-GC 544,545 “The wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” Romans 6:23. While life is the inheritance of the righteous, death is the portion of the wicked. Moses declared to Israel: “I have set before thee this day life and good, and death and evil.” Deuteronomy 30:15. The death referred to in these scriptures is not that pronounced upon Adam, for all mankind suffer the penalty of his transgression. It is “the second death” that is placed in contrast with everlasting life. {GC 544.1}

In consequence of Adam’s sin, death passed upon the whole human race. All alike go down into the grave. And through the provisions of the plan of salvation, all are to be brought forth from their graves. “There shall be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and unjust;” “for as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.” Acts 24:15; 1 Corinthians 15:22. But a distinction is made between the two classes that are brought forth. “All that are in the graves shall hear His voice, and shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.” John 5:28, 29. They who have been “accounted worthy” of the resurrection of life are “blessed and holy.” “On such the second death hath no power.” Revelation 20:6. But those who have not, through repentance and faith, secured pardon, must receive the penalty of transgression—“the wages of sin.” They suffer punishment varying in duration and intensity, “according to their works,” but finally ending in the second death. Since it is impossible for God, consistently with His justice and mercy, to save the sinner in his sins, He deprives him of the existence which his transgressions have forfeited and of which he has proved himself unworthy. Says an inspired writer: “Yet a little while, and the wicked shall not be: yea, thou shalt diligently consider his place, and it shall not be.” And another declares: “They shall be as though they had not been.” Psalm 37:10; Obadiah 16. Covered with infamy, they sink into hopeless, eternal oblivion. {GC 544.2}

Thus will be made an end of sin, with all the woe and ruin which have resulted from it. Says the psalmist: “Thou hast destroyed the wicked, Thou hast put out their name forever and ever. O thou enemy, destructions are come to a perpetual end.” Psalm 9:5, 6. John, in the Revelation, looking forward to the eternal state, hears a universal anthem of praise undisturbed by one note of discord. Every creature in heaven and earth was heard ascribing glory to God. Revelation 5:13. There will then be no lost souls to blaspheme God as they writhe in never-ending torment; no wretched beings in hell will mingle their shrieks with the songs of the saved. {GC 545.1}

Upon the fundamental error of natural immortality rests the doctrine of consciousness in death—a doctrine, like eternal torment, opposed to the teachings of the Scriptures, to the dictates of reason, and to our feelings of humanity. According to the popular belief, the redeemed in heaven are acquainted with all that takes place on the earth and especially with the lives of the friends whom they have left behind. But how could it be a source of happiness to the dead to know the troubles of the living, to witness the sins committed by their own loved ones, and to see them enduring all the sorrows, disappointments, and anguish of life? How much of heaven’s bliss would be enjoyed by those who were hovering over their friends on earth? And how utterly revolting is the belief that as soon as the breath leaves the body the soul of the impenitent is consigned to the flames of hell! To what depths of anguish must those be plunged who see their friends passing to the grave unprepared, to enter upon an eternity of woe and sin! Many have been driven to insanity by this harrowing thought. {GC 545.2}

What say the Scriptures concerning these things? David declares that man is not conscious in death. “His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish.” Psalm 146:4. Solomon bears the same testimony: “The living know that they shall die: but the dead know not anything.” “Their love, and their hatred, and their envy, is now perished; neither have they any more a portion forever in anything that is done under the sun.” “There is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest.” Ecclesiastes 9:5, 6, 10. {GC 545.3}

3384-Deuteronomy 32:35 The Lord will take revenge and punish them; the time will come when they will fall; the day of their doom is near. …..41 that I will sharpen my flashing sword and see that justice is done. I will take revenge on my enemies and punish those who hate me. …..43 "Nations, you must praise the Lord's people - he punishes all who kill them. He takes revenge on his enemies and forgives the sins of his people."

Romans 12:19 Never take revenge, my friends, but instead let God's anger do it. For the scripture says, "I will take revenge, I will pay back, says the Lord."

Hebrews 10:30 For we know who said, "I will take revenge, I will repay"; and who also said, "The Lord will judge his people."

3385-2 Timothy 3:16 Every holy Writing which comes from God is of profit for teaching, for training, for guiding, for education in righteousness: Bible in Basic English

3386-Matthew 12:38 Then some of the scribes and Pharisees, hearing this, said to him, Master, we are looking for a sign from you. 39 But he, answering, said to them, An evil and false generation is looking for a sign; and no sign will be given to it but the sign of the prophet Jonah: 40 For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the stomach of the great fish, so will the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. 41 The men of Nineveh will come up in the day of judging and give their decision against this generation: because they were turned from their sins at the preaching of Jonah; and now a greater than Jonah is here.

3387-2 Kings 14:25 He got back the old limits of Israel from the way into Hamath to the sea of the Arabah, as the Lord had said by his servant Jonah, the son of Amittai, the prophet of Gath-hepher.

3388-Matt. 12:39 But he, answering, said to them, An evil and false generation is looking for a sign; and no sign will be given to it but the sign of the prophet Jonah:

Luke 11:29 And when a great number of people came together to him, he said, This generation is an evil generation: it is looking for a sign and no sign will be given to it but the sign of Jonah.

3389-Matt. 12:39 But he, answering, said to them, An evil and false generation is looking for a sign; and no sign will be given to it but the sign of the prophet Jonah: 40 For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the stomach of the great fish, so will the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. 41 The men of Nineveh will come up in the day of judging and give their decision against this generation: because they were turned from their sins at the preaching of Jonah; and now a greater than Jonah is here.

3390-Luke 11:29 And when a great number of people came together to him, he said, This generation is an evil generation: it is looking for a sign and no sign will be given to it but the sign of Jonah. 30 For even as Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites, so will the Son of man be to this generation. 31 The queen of the South will come up on the day of judging and give her decision against the men of this generation: for she came from the ends of the earth to give ear to the wisdom of Solomon; and now something greater than Solomon is here. 32 The men of Nineveh will come up in the day of judging and give their decision against this generation: for they were turned away from their sins at the preaching of Jonah; but now something greater than Jonah is here.

3391-Hos. 7:11 And Ephraim is like a foolish dove, without wisdom; they send out their cry to Egypt, they go to Assyria.

Hos 11:11 Shaking with fear like a bird, they will come out of Egypt, like a dove out of the land of Assyria: and I will give them rest in their houses, says the Lord.

3392-2 Kin. 14:25 He got back the old limits of Israel from the way into Hamath to the sea of the Arabah, as the Lord had said by his servant Jonah, the son of Amittai, the prophet of Gath-hepher.

3393-Amos 7:8 And the Lord said to me, Amos, what do you see? And I said, A weighted line. Then the Lord said, See, I will let down a weighted line among my people Israel; never again will my eyes be shut to their sin:

Amos 8:2 And he said, Amos, what do you see? And I said, A basket of summer fruit. Then the Lord said to me, The end has come to my people Israel; never again will my eyes be shut to their sin.

3394-Amos 5:27 And I will send you away as prisoners farther than Damascus, says the Lord, whose name is the God of armies.

3395-Hosea 9:3 They will have no resting-place in the Lord's land, but Ephraim will go back to Egypt, and they will take unclean food in Assyria.

Hosea 10:6 And they will take it to Assyria and give it to the great king; shame will come on Ephraim, and Israel will be shamed because of its image.

Hosea 11:5 He will go back to the land of Egypt and the Assyrian will be his king, because they would not come back to me.

3396-Matt. 12:38 Then some of the scribes and Pharisees, hearing this, said to him, Master, we are looking for a sign from you. 39 But he, answering, said to them, An evil and false generation is looking for a sign; and no sign will be given to it but the sign of the prophet Jonah: 40 For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the stomach of the great fish, so will the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. 41 The men of Nineveh will come up in the day of judging and give their decision against this generation: because they were turned from their sins at the preaching of Jonah; and now a greater than Jonah is here.

Matt 16:4 An evil and false generation is searching after a sign; and no sign will be given to it but the sign of Jonah. And he went away from them.

Luke 11:29 And when a great number of people came together to him, he said, This generation is an evil generation: it is looking for a sign and no sign will be given to it but the sign of Jonah. 30 For even as Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites, so will the Son of man be to this generation. …..32 The men of Nineveh will come up in the day of judging and give their decision against this generation: for they were turned away from their sins at the preaching of Jonah; but now something greater than Jonah is here.

3397-Matt. 12:38 Then some of the scribes and Pharisees, hearing this, said to him, Master, we are looking for a sign from you. 39 But he, answering, said to them, An evil and false generation is looking for a sign; and no sign will be given to it but the sign of the prophet Jonah: 40 For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the stomach of the great fish, so will the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. 41 The men of Nineveh will come up in the day of judging and give their decision against this generation: because they were turned from their sins at the preaching of Jonah; and now a greater than Jonah is here.

3398-Gen. 10:11 From that land he went out into Assyria, building Nineveh with its wide streets and Calah, 12 And Resen between Nineveh and Calah, which is a very great town.

3399-Zeph. 2:13 And his hand will be stretched out against the north, for the destruction of Assyria; and he will make Nineveh unpeopled and dry like the waste land. 14 And herds will take their rest in the middle of her, all the beasts of the valley: the pelican and the porcupine will make their living-places on the tops of its pillars; the owl will be crying in the window; the raven will be seen on the doorstep. 15 This is the town which was full of joy, living without fear of danger, saying in her heart, I am, and there is no other: how has she been made waste, a place for beasts to take their rest in! everyone who goes by her will make hisses, waving his hand.

3400-Nah. 1:1 The word about Nineveh. The book of the vision of Nahum the Elkoshite.

Nah 3:1 A curse is on the town of blood; it is full of deceit and violent acts; and there is no end to the taking of life.

3401-Nah. 2:6 The river doorways are forced open, and the king's house is flowing away. 7 And the queen is uncovered, she is taken away and her servant-girls are weeping like the sound of doves, hammering on their breasts. 8 But Nineveh is like a pool of water whose waters are flowing away; Keep your place, they say; but no one is turning back.

3402-Matt. 12:41 The men of Nineveh will come up in the day of judging and give their decision against this generation: because they were turned from their sins at the preaching of Jonah; and now a greater than Jonah is here.

Luke 11:32 The men of Nineveh will come up in the day of judging and give their decision against this generation: for they were turned away from their sins at the preaching of Jonah; but now something greater than Jonah is here.

3403-Matt. 17:11 And in answer he said, Elijah truly has to come and put all things right: 12 But I say to you that Elijah has come, and they had no knowledge of him, but did to him whatever they were pleased to do; the same will the Son of man undergo at their hands.

3404-Luke 4:27 And there were a number of lepers in Israel in the time of Elisha the prophet, and not one of them was made clean, but only Naaman the Syrian.

3405-Matt. 15:7 You hypocrites! How right Isaiah was when he prophesied about you!

3406-2 Kings 14:25 He reconquered all the territory that had belonged to Israel, from Hamath Pass in the north to the Dead Sea in the south. This was what the Lord, the God of Israel, had promised through his servant the prophet Jonah son of Amittai from Gath Hepher.

3407-Matthew 12:38 Then some teachers of the Law and some Pharisees spoke up. "Teacher," they said, "we want to see you perform a miracle." 39 "How evil and godless are the people of this day!" Jesus exclaimed. "You ask me for a miracle? No! The only miracle you will be given is the miracle of the prophet Jonah. 40 In the same way that Jonah spent three days and nights in the big fish, so will the Son of Man spend three days and nights in the depths of the earth. 41 On the Judgment Day the people of Nineveh will stand up and accuse you, because they turned from their sins when they heard Jonah preach; and I tell you that there is something here greater than Jonah!

Matt 16:4 How evil and godless are the people of this day! You ask me for a miracle? No! The only miracle you will be given is the miracle of Jonah." So he left them and went away.

Luke 11:29 As the people crowded around Jesus, he went on to say, "How evil are the people of this day! They ask for a miracle, but none will be given them except the miracle of Jonah. 30 In the same way that the prophet Jonah was a sign for the people of Nineveh, so the Son of Man will be a sign for the people of this day. 31 On the Judgment Day the Queen of Sheba will stand up and accuse the people of today, because she traveled all the way from her country to listen to King Solomon's wise teaching; and there is something here, I tell you, greater than Solomon. 32 On the Judgment Day the people of Nineveh will stand up and accuse you, because they turned from their sins when they heard Jonah preach; and I assure you that there is something here greater than Jonah!

3408-Jonah 4:1 Jonah was very unhappy about this and became angry. 2 So he prayed, "Lord, didn't I say before I left home that this is just what you would do? That's why I did my best to run away to Spain! I knew that you are a loving and merciful God, always patient, always kind, and always ready to change your mind and not punish. 3 Now then, Lord, let me die. I am better off dead than alive."

3409-Jeremiah 9:23 The Lord says, "The wise should not boast of their wisdom, nor the strong of their strength, nor the rich of their wealth. 24 If any want to boast, they should boast that they know and understand me, because my love is constant, and I do what is just and right. These are the things that please me. I, the Lord, have spoken."

Romans 1:16 I have complete confidence in the gospel; it is God's power to save all who believe, first the Jews and also the Gentiles. 17 For the gospel reveals how God puts people right with himself: it is through faith from beginning to end. As the scripture says, "The person who is put right with God through faith shall live."

3410-Genesis 18:25 Surely you won't kill the innocent with the guilty. That's impossible! You can't do that. If you did, the innocent would be punished along with the guilty. That is impossible. The judge of all the earth has to act justly."

Exodus 32:7 The Lord said to Moses, "Hurry and go back down, because your people, whom you led out of Egypt, have sinned and rejected me. 8 They have already left the way that I commanded them to follow; they have made a bull-calf out of melted gold and have worshiped it and offered sacrifices to it. They are saying that this is their god, who led them out of Egypt. 9 I know how stubborn these people are. 10 Now, don't try to stop me. I am angry with them, and I am going to destroy them. Then I will make you and your descendants into a great nation." 11 But Moses pleaded with the Lord his God and said, "Lord, why should you be so angry with your people, whom you rescued from Egypt with great might and power? 12 Why should the Egyptians be able to say that you led your people out of Egypt, planning to kill them in the mountains and destroy them completely? Stop being angry; change your mind and do not bring this disaster on your people. 13 Remember your servants Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Remember the solemn promise you made to them to give them as many descendants as there are stars in the sky and to give their descendants all that land you promised would be their possession forever." 14 So the Lord changed his mind and did not bring on his people the disaster he had threatened.

Deuteronomy 9:6 You can be sure that the Lord is not giving you this fertile land because you deserve it. No, you are a stubborn people. 7 "Never forget how you made the Lord your God angry in the desert. From the day that you left Egypt until the day you arrived here, you have rebelled against him. 8 Even at Mount Sinai you made the Lord angry - angry enough to destroy you. 9 I went up the mountain to receive the stone tablets on which was written the covenant that the Lord had made with you. I stayed there forty days and nights and did not eat or drink anything. 10 Then the Lord gave me the two stone tablets on which he had written with his own hand what he had said to you from the fire on the day that you were gathered there at the mountain. 11 Yes, after those forty days and nights the Lord gave me the two stone tablets on which he had written the covenant. 12 "Then the Lord said to me, "Go down the mountain at once, because your people, whom you led out of Egypt, have become corrupt and have done evil. They have already turned away from what I commanded them to do, and they have made an idol for themselves.' 13 "The Lord also said to me, "I know how stubborn these people are. ….26 And I prayed, "Sovereign Lord, don't destroy your own people, the people you rescued and brought out of Egypt by your great strength and power. 27 Remember your servants, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and do not pay any attention to the stubbornness, wickedness, and sin of this people. 28 Otherwise, the Egyptians will say that you were unable to take your people into the land that you had promised them. They will say that you took your people out into the desert to kill them, because you hated them. 29 After all, these are the people whom you chose to be your own and whom you brought out of Egypt by your great power and might.'

Deuteronomy 32:26 I would have destroyed them completely, so that no one would remember them. 27 But I could not let their enemies boast that they had defeated my people, when it was I myself who had crushed them.'

Numbers 14:11 The Lord said to Moses, "How much longer will these people reject me? How much longer will they refuse to trust in me, even though I have performed so many miracles among them? 12 I will send an epidemic and destroy them, but I will make you the father of a nation that is larger and more powerful than they are!" 13 But Moses said to the Lord, "You brought these people out of Egypt by your power. When the Egyptians hear what you have done to your people, 14 they will tell it to the people who live in this land. These people have already heard that you, Lord, are with us, that you appear in plain sight when your cloud stops over us, and that you go before us in a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. 15 Now if you kill all your people, the nations who have heard of your fame will say 16 that you killed your people in the wilderness because you were not able to bring them into the land you promised to give them.

Job 42:7 After the Lord had finished speaking to Job, he said to Eliphaz, "I am angry with you and your two friends, because you did not speak the truth about me, the way my servant Job did. 8 Now take seven bulls and seven rams to Job and offer them as a sacrifice for yourselves. Job will pray for you, and I will answer his prayer and not disgrace you the way you deserve. You did not speak the truth about me as he did."

Ezekiel 36:22 "Now then, give the Israelites the message that I, the Sovereign Lord, have for them: What I am going to do is not for the sake of you Israelites, but for the sake of my holy name, which you have disgraced in every country where you have gone. 23 When I demonstrate to the nations the holiness of my great name - the name you disgraced among them - then they will know that I am the Lord. I, the Sovereign Lord, have spoken. I will use you to show the nations that I am holy.

Daniel 9:14 You, O Lord our God, were prepared to punish us, and you did, because you always do what is right, and we did not listen to you. 15 "O Lord our God, you showed your power by bringing your people out of Egypt, and your power is still remembered. We have sinned; we have done wrong. 16 You have defended us in the past, so do not be angry with Jerusalem any longer. It is your city, your sacred hill. All the people in the neighboring countries look down on Jerusalem and on your people because of our sins and the evil our ancestors did. 17 O God, hear my prayer and pleading. Restore your Temple, which has been destroyed; restore it so that everyone will know that you are God. 18 Listen to us, O God; look at us and see the trouble we are in and the suffering of the city that bears your name. We are praying to you because you are merciful, not because we have done right. 19 Lord, hear us. Lord, forgive us. Lord, listen to us, and act! In order that everyone will know that you are God, do not delay! This city and these people are yours."

John 15:15 I do not call you servants any longer, because servants do not know what their master is doing. Instead, I call you friends, because I have told you everything I heard from my Father.

Romans 1:18 God's anger is revealed from heaven against all the sin and evil of the people whose evil ways prevent the truth from being known.

2:17 What about you? You call yourself a Jew; you depend on the Law and boast about God; 18 you know what God wants you to do, and you have learned from the Law to choose what is right; 19 you are sure that you are a guide for the blind, a light for those who are in darkness, 20 an instructor for the foolish, and a teacher for the ignorant. You are certain that in the Law you have the full content of knowledge and of truth. 21 You teach others - why don't you teach yourself? You preach, "Do not steal" - but do you yourself steal? 22 You say, "Do not commit adultery" - but do you commit adultery? You detest idols - but do you rob temples? 23 You boast about having God's law - but do you bring shame on God by breaking his law? 24 The scripture says, "Because of you Jews, the Gentiles speak evil of God."

3411-Jonah 1:9 "I am a Hebrew," Jonah answered. "I worship the Lord, the God of heaven, who made land and sea." 10 Jonah went on to tell them that he was running away from the Lord. The sailors were terrified, and said to him, "That was an awful thing to do!" 11 The storm was getting worse all the time, so the sailors asked him, "What should we do to you to stop the storm?" 12 Jonah answered, "Throw me into the sea, and it will calm down. I know it is my fault that you are caught in this violent storm."

3412-Jonah 1:4 But the Lord sent a strong wind on the sea, and the storm was so violent that the ship was in danger of breaking up.

3413-1 Chronicles 10:3 The fighting was heavy around Saul, and he was hit by enemy arrows and badly wounded. 4 He said to the young man carrying his weapons, "Draw your sword and kill me, to keep these godless Philistines from gloating over me." But the young man was too terrified to do it. So Saul took his own sword and threw himself on it. 5 The young man saw that Saul was dead, so he too threw himself on his sword and died. 6 So Saul and his three sons all died together, and none of his descendants ever ruled. 7 When the Israelites who lived in Jezreel Valley heard that the army had fled and that Saul and his sons had died, they abandoned their towns and ran off. Then the Philistines came and occupied them. 8 The day after the battle the Philistines went to plunder the corpses, and they found the bodies of Saul and his sons lying on Mount Gilboa. 9 They cut off Saul's head, stripped off his armor, and sent messengers with them throughout Philistia to tell the good news to their idols and to their people. 10 They put his weapons in one of their temples and hung his head in the temple of their god Dagon. 11 When the people of Jabesh in Gilead heard what the Philistines had done to Saul, 12 the bravest men went and got the bodies of Saul and his sons and took them to Jabesh. They buried them there under an oak and fasted for seven days. 13 Saul died because he was unfaithful to the Lord. He disobeyed the Lord's commands; he tried to find guidance by consulting the spirits of the dead 14 instead of consulting the Lord. So the Lord killed him and gave control of the kingdom to David son of Jesse.

3414-Jonah 1:10 Jonah went on to tell them that he was running away from the Lord. The sailors were terrified, and said to him, "That was an awful thing to do!"

3415-Jonah 1:17 At the Lord's command a large fish swallowed Jonah, and he was inside the fish for three days and three nights.

3416-Acts 1:12 Then the apostles went back to Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives, which is about half a mile away from the city. 13 They entered the city and went up to the room where they were staying: Peter, John, James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James son of Alphaeus, Simon the Patriot, and Judas son of James. 14 They gathered frequently to pray as a group, together with the women and with Mary the mother of Jesus and with his brothers. 15 A few days later there was a meeting of the believers, about a hundred and twenty in all, and Peter stood up to speak. 16 "My friends," he said, "the scripture had to come true in which the Holy Spirit, speaking through David, made a prediction about Judas, who was the guide for those who arrested Jesus. 17 Judas was a member of our group, for he had been chosen to have a part in our work." 18 (With the money that Judas got for his evil act he bought a field, where he fell to his death; he burst open and all his insides spilled out. 19 All the people living in Jerusalem heard about it, and so in their own language they call that field Akeldama, which means "Field of Blood.") 20 "For it is written in the book of Psalms, "May his house become empty; may no one live in it.' It is also written, "May someone else take his place of service.' 21 "So then, someone must join us as a witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. He must be one of the men who were in our group during the whole time that the Lord Jesus traveled about with us, beginning from the time John preached his message of baptism until the day Jesus was taken up from us to heaven." 23 So they proposed two men: Joseph, who was called Barsabbas (also known as Justus), and Matthias. 24 Then they prayed, "Lord, you know the thoughts of everyone, so show us which of these two you have chosen 25 to serve as an apostle in the place of Judas, who left to go to the place where he belongs." 26 Then they drew lots to choose between the two men, and the one chosen was Matthias, who was added to the group of eleven apostles.

3417-Jonah 3:6 When the king of Nineveh heard about it, he got up from his throne, took off his robe, put on sackcloth, and sat down in ashes. 7 He sent out a proclamation to the people of Nineveh: "This is an order from the king and his officials: No one is to eat anything; all persons, cattle, and sheep are forbidden to eat or drink. 8 All persons and animals must wear sackcloth. Everyone must pray earnestly to God and must give up their wicked behavior and their evil actions. 9 Perhaps God will change his mind; perhaps he will stop being angry, and we will not die!"

3418-Isaiah 53:4 "But he endured the suffering that should have been ours, the pain that we should have borne. All the while we thought that his suffering was punishment sent by God. 5 But because of our sins he was wounded, beaten because of the evil we did. We are healed by the punishment he suffered, made whole by the blows he received. 6 All of us were like sheep that were lost, each of us going his own way. But the Lord made the punishment fall on him, the punishment all of us deserved. 7 "He was treated harshly, but endured it humbly; he never said a word. Like a lamb about to be slaughtered, like a sheep about to be sheared, he never said a word. 8 He was arrested and sentenced and led off to die, and no one cared about his fate. He was put to death for the sins of our people. 9 He was placed in a grave with those who are evil, he was buried with the rich, even though he had never committed a crime or ever told a lie." 10 The Lord says, "It was my will that he should suffer; his death was a sacrifice to bring forgiveness. And so he will see his descendants; he will live a long life, and through him my purpose will succeed.

2 Corinthians 5:21 Christ was without sin, but for our sake God made him share our sin in order that in union with him we might share the righteousness of God.

3419-Genesis 6:5 The LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. 6 And the LORD was sorry that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart. 7 So the LORD said, "I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the ground, man and beast and creeping things and birds of the air, for I am sorry that I have made them."

Exodus 32:14 And the LORD repented of the evil which he thought to do to his people.

1 Samuel 15:11 "I repent that I have made Saul king; for he has turned back from following me, and has not performed my commandments." And Samuel was angry; and he cried to the LORD all night. …..35 And Samuel did not see Saul again until the day of his death, but Samuel grieved over Saul. And the LORD repented that he had made Saul king over Israel.

2 Samuel 24:16 When the Lord's angel was about to destroy Jerusalem, the Lord changed his mind about punishing the people and said to the angel who was killing them, "Stop! That's enough!" The angel was by the threshing place of Araunah, a Jebusite.

1 Chronicles 21:15 Then he sent an angel to destroy Jerusalem, but he changed his mind and said to the angel, "Stop! That's enough!" The angel was standing by the threshing place of Araunah, a Jebusite.

Jeremiah 26:13 You must change the way you are living and the things you are doing, and must obey the Lord your God. If you do, he will change his mind about the destruction that he said he would bring on you. …..19 King Hezekiah and the people of Judah did not put Micah to death. Instead, Hezekiah honored the Lord and tried to win his favor. And the Lord changed his mind about the disaster that he said he would bring on them. Now we are about to bring a terrible disaster on ourselves."

Ezekiel 24:14 I, the Lord, have spoken. The time has come for me to act. I will not ignore your sins or show pity or be merciful. You will be punished for what you have done." The Sovereign Lord has spoken.

Joel 2:13 Let your broken heart show your sorrow; tearing your clothes is not enough." Come back to the Lord your God. He is kind and full of mercy; he is patient and keeps his promise; he is always ready to forgive and not punish. 14 Perhaps the Lord your God will change his mind and bless you with abundant crops. Then you can offer him grain and wine.

Amos 7:3 The Lord changed his mind and said, "What you saw will not take place." …..6 The Lord changed his mind again and said, "This will not take place either."

Jonah 4:2 So he prayed, "Lord, didn't I say before I left home that this is just what you would do? That's why I did my best to run away to Spain! I knew that you are a loving and merciful God, always patient, always kind, and always ready to change your mind and not punish.

Psalms 2:12 and bow down to him; or else his anger will be quickly aroused, and you will suddenly die. Happy are all who go to him for protection.

1 Samuel 15:29 Israel's majestic God does not lie or change his mind. He is not a human being - he does not change his mind."

Numbers 23:19 God is not like people, who lie; He is not a human who changes his mind. Whatever he promises, he does; He speaks, and it is done.

Malachi 3:6 "I am the Lord, and I do not change. And so you, the descendants of Jacob, are not yet completely lost.

3420-Jonah 4:1 Jonah was very unhappy about this and became angry. 2 So he prayed, "Lord, didn't I say before I left home that this is just what you would do? That's why I did my best to run away to Spain! I knew that you are a loving and merciful God, always patient, always kind, and always ready to change your mind and not punish. 3 Now then, Lord, let me die. I am better off dead than alive."

3421-1 John 2:18 My children, the end is near! You were told that the Enemy of Christ would come; and now many enemies of Christ have already appeared, and so we know that the end is near.

Joel 1:15 The day of the Lord is near, the day when the Almighty brings destruction. What terror that day will bring!

Joel 2:1 Blow the trumpet; sound the alarm on Zion, God's sacred hill. Tremble, people of Judah! The day of the Lord is coming soon. 2 It will be a dark and gloomy day, a black and cloudy day. The great army of locusts advances like darkness spreading over the mountains. There has never been anything like it, and there never will be again.

Joel 3:14 Thousands and thousands are in the Valley of Judgment. It is there that the day of the Lord will soon come.

2 Thessalonians 2:1 Concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered together to be with him: I beg you, my friends, 2 not to be so easily confused in your thinking or upset by the claim that the Day of the Lord has come. Perhaps it is thought that we said this while prophesying or preaching, or that we wrote it in a letter. 3 Do not let anyone deceive you in any way. For the Day will not come until the final Rebellion takes place and the Wicked One appears, who is destined to hell. 4 He will oppose every so-called god or object of worship and will put himself above them all. He will even go in and sit down in God's Temple and claim to be God. 5 Don't you remember? I told you all this while I was with you. 6 Yet there is something that keeps this from happening now, and you know what it is. At the proper time, then, the Wicked One will appear.

Revelation 7:1 After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds so that no wind should blow on the earth or the sea or against any tree. 2 And I saw another angel coming up from the east with the seal of the living God. He called out in a loud voice to the four angels to whom God had given the power to damage the earth and the sea. 3 The angel said, "Do not harm the earth, the sea, or the trees, until we mark the servants of our God with a seal on their foreheads."

3422-Nehemiah 8:1 By the seventh month the people of Israel were all settled in their towns. On the first day of that month they all assembled in Jerusalem, in the square just inside the Water Gate. They asked Ezra, the priest and scholar of the Law which the Lord had given Israel through Moses, to get the book of the Law. 2 So Ezra brought it to the place where the people had gathered - men, women, and the children who were old enough to understand. 3 There in the square by the gate he read the Law to them from dawn until noon, and they all listened attentively. 4 Ezra was standing on a wooden platform that had been built for the occasion. The following men stood at his right: Mattithiah, Shema, Anaiah, Uriah, Hilkiah, and Maaseiah; and the following stood at his left: Pedaiah, Mishael, Malchijah, Hashum, Hashbaddanah, Zechariah, and Meshullam. 5 As Ezra stood there on the platform high above the people, they all kept their eyes fixed on him. As soon as he opened the book, they all stood up. 6 Ezra said, "Praise the Lord, the great God!" All the people raised their arms in the air and answered, "Amen! Amen!" They knelt in worship, with their faces to the ground. 7 Then they rose and stood in their places, and the following Levites explained the Law to them: Jeshua, Bani, Sherebiah, Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai, Hodiah, Maaseiah, Kelita, Azariah, Jozabad, Hanan, and Pelaiah. 8 They gave an oral translation of God's Law and explained it so that the people could understand it. 9 When the people heard what the Law required, they were so moved that they began to cry. So Nehemiah, who was the governor, Ezra, the priest and scholar of the Law, and the Levites who were explaining the Law told all the people, "This day is holy to the Lord your God, so you are not to mourn or cry. 10 Now go home and have a feast. Share your food and wine with those who don't have enough. Today is holy to our Lord, so don't be sad. The joy that the Lord gives you will make you strong." 11 The Levites went around calming the people and telling them not to be sad on such a holy day. 12 So all the people went home and ate and drank joyfully and shared what they had with others, because they understood what had been read to them. 13 The next day the heads of the clans, together with the priests and the Levites, went to Ezra to study the teachings of the Law. 14 They discovered that the Law, which the Lord gave through Moses, ordered the people of Israel to live in temporary shelters during the Festival of Shelters. 15 So they gave the following instructions and sent them all through Jerusalem and the other cities and towns: "Go out to the hills and get branches from pines, olives, myrtles, palms, and other trees to make shelters according to the instructions written in the Law." 16 So the people got branches and built shelters on the flat roofs of their houses, in their yards, in the Temple courtyard, and in the public squares by the Water Gate and by the Ephraim Gate. 17 All the people who had come back from captivity built shelters and lived in them. This was the first time it had been done since the days of Joshua son of Nun, and everybody was excited and happy. 18 From the first day of the festival to the last they read a part of God's Law every day. They celebrated for seven days, and on the eighth day there was a closing ceremony, as required in the Law.

2 Kings 22:1 Josiah was eight years old when he became king of Judah, and he ruled in Jerusalem for thirty-one years. His mother was Jedidah, the daughter of Adaiah from the town of Bozkath. 2 Josiah did what was pleasing to the Lord; he followed the example of his ancestor King David, strictly obeying all the laws of God. 3 In the eighteenth year of his reign, King Josiah sent the court secretary Shaphan, the son of Azaliah and grandson of Meshullam, to the Temple with the order: 4 "Go to the High Priest Hilkiah and get a report on the amount of money that the priests on duty at the entrance to the Temple have collected from the people. 5 Tell him to give the money to the men who are in charge of the repairs in the Temple. They are to pay 6 the carpenters, the builders, and the masons, and buy the timber and the stones used in the repairs. 7 The men in charge of the work are thoroughly honest, so there is no need to require them to account for the funds." 8 Shaphan delivered the king's order to Hilkiah, and Hilkiah told him that he had found the book of the Law in the Temple. Hilkiah gave him the book, and Shaphan read it. 9 Then he went back to the king and reported: "Your servants have taken the money that was in the Temple and have handed it over to the men in charge of the repairs." 10 And then he said, "I have here a book that Hilkiah gave me." And he read it aloud to the king. 11 When the king heard the book being read, he tore his clothes in dismay, 12 and gave the following order to Hilkiah the priest, to Ahikam son of Shaphan, to Achbor son of Micaiah, to Shaphan, the court secretary, and to Asaiah, the king's attendant: 13 "Go and consult the Lord for me and for all the people of Judah about the teachings of this book. The Lord is angry with us because our ancestors have not done what this book says must be done." 14 Hilkiah, Ahikam, Achbor, Shaphan, and Asaiah went to consult a woman named Huldah, a prophet who lived in the newer part of Jerusalem. (Her husband Shallum, the son of Tikvah and grandson of Harhas, was in charge of the Temple robes.) They described to her what had happened, 15 and she told them to go back to the king and give him 16 the following message from the Lord: "I am going to punish Jerusalem and all its people, as written in the book that the king has read. 17 They have rejected me and have offered sacrifices to other gods, and so have stirred up my anger by all they have done. My anger is aroused against Jerusalem, and it will not die down. 18 As for the king himself, this is what I, the Lord God of Israel, say: You listened to what is written in the book, 19 and you repented and humbled yourself before me, tearing your clothes and weeping, when you heard how I threatened to punish Jerusalem and its people. I will make it a terrifying sight, a place whose name people will use as a curse. But I have heard your prayer, 20 and the punishment which I am going to bring on Jerusalem will not come until after your death. I will let you die in peace." The men returned to King Josiah with this message.

3423-Jeremiah 26:18 "When Hezekiah was king of Judah, the prophet Micah of Moresheth told all the people that the Lord Almighty had said, "Zion will be plowed like a field; Jerusalem will become a pile of ruins, and the Temple hill will become a forest.' 19 King Hezekiah and the people of Judah did not put Micah to death. Instead, Hezekiah honored the Lord and tried to win his favor. And the Lord changed his mind about the disaster that he said he would bring on them. Now we are about to bring a terrible disaster on ourselves."

3424-Micah 1:14 And now, people of Judah, say good-bye to the town of Moresheth Gath. The kings of Israel will get no help from the town of Achzib.

3425-Micah 1:2 Hear this, all you nations; listen to this, all who live on earth! The Sovereign Lord will testify against you. Listen! He speaks from his heavenly temple. 3 The Lord is coming from his holy place; he will come down and walk on the tops of the mountains. 4 Then the mountains will melt under him like wax in a fire; they will pour down into the valleys like water pouring down a hill. 5 All this will happen because the people of Israel have sinned and rebelled against God. Who is to blame for Israel's rebellion? Samaria, the capital city itself! Who is guilty of idolatry in Judah? Jerusalem itself! 6 So the Lord says, "I will make Samaria a pile of ruins in the open country, a place for planting grapevines. I will pour the rubble of the city down into the valley, and will lay bare the city's foundations. 7 All its precious idols will be smashed to pieces, everything given to its temple prostitutes will be destroyed by fire, and all its images will become a desolate heap. Samaria acquired these things for its fertility rites, and now her enemies will carry them off for temple prostitutes elsewhere." 8 Then Micah said, "Because of this I will mourn and lament. To show my sorrow, I will walk around barefoot and naked. I will howl like a jackal and wail like an ostrich. 9 Samaria's wounds cannot be healed, and Judah is about to suffer in the same way; destruction has reached the gates of Jerusalem itself, where my people live." 10 Don't tell our enemies in Gath about our defeat; don't let them see you weeping. People of Beth Leaphrah, show your despair by rolling in the dust! 11 You people of Shaphir, go into exile, naked and ashamed. Those who live in Zaanan do not dare to come out of their city. When you hear the people of Bethezel mourn, you will know that there is no refuge there. 12 The people of Maroth anxiously wait for relief, because the Lord has brought disaster close to Jerusalem. 13 You that live in Lachish, hitch the horses to the chariots. You imitated the sins of Israel and so caused Jerusalem to sin. 14 And now, people of Judah, say good-bye to the town of Moresheth Gath. The kings of Israel will get no help from the town of Achzib. 15 People of Mareshah, the Lord will hand you over to an enemy, who is going to capture your town. The leaders of Israel will go and hide in the cave at Adullam. 16 People of Judah, cut off your hair in mourning for the children you love. Make yourselves as bald as vultures, because your children will be taken away from you into exile.

Micah 2:1 How terrible it will be for those who lie awake and plan evil! When morning comes, as soon as they have the chance, they do the evil they planned. 2 When they want fields, they seize them; when they want houses, they take them. No one's family or property is safe. 3 And so the Lord says, "I am planning to bring disaster on you, and you will not be able to escape it. You are going to find yourselves in trouble, and then you will not walk so proudly any more. 4 When that time comes, people will use the story about you as an example of disaster, and they will sing this song of despair about your experience: We are completely ruined! The Lord has taken our land away And given it to those who took us captive." 5 So then, when the time comes for the land to be given back to the Lord's people, there will be no share for any of you. 6 The people preach at me and say, "Don't preach at us. Don't preach about all that. God is not going to disgrace us. 7 Do you think the people of Israel are under a curse? Has the Lord lost his patience? Would he really do such things? Doesn't he speak kindly to those who do right?" 8 The Lord replies, "You attack my people like enemies. Men return from battle, thinking they are safe at home, but there you are, waiting to steal the coats off their backs. 9 You drive the women of my people out of the homes they love, and you have robbed their children of my blessings forever. 10 Get up and go; there is no safety here any more. Your sins have doomed this place to destruction. 11 "These people want the kind of prophet who goes around full of lies and deceit and says, "I prophesy that wine and liquor will flow for you.' 12 "But I will gather you together, all you people of Israel that are left. I will bring you together like sheep returning to the fold. Like a pasture full of sheep, your land will once again be filled with many people." 13 God will open the way for them and lead them out of exile. They will break out of the city gates and go free. Their king, the Lord himself, will lead them out.

Micah 3:1 Listen, you rulers of Israel! You are supposed to be concerned about justice, 2 yet you hate what is good and you love what is evil. You skin my people alive and tear the flesh off their bones. 3 You eat my people up. You strip off their skin, break their bones, and chop them up like meat for the pot. 4 The time is coming when you will cry out to the Lord, but he will not answer you. He will not listen to your prayers, for you have done evil. 5 My people are deceived by prophets who promise peace to those who pay them, but threaten war for those who don't. To these prophets the Lord says, 6 "Prophets, your day is almost over; the sun is going down on you. Because you mislead my people, you will have no more prophetic visions, and you will not be able to predict anything." 7 Those who predict the future will be disgraced by their failure. They will all be humiliated because God does not answer them. 8 But as for me, the Lord fills me with his spirit and power, and gives me a sense of justice and the courage to tell the people of Israel what their sins are. 9 Listen to me, you rulers of Israel, you that hate justice and turn right into wrong. 10 You are building God's city, Jerusalem, on a foundation of murder and injustice. 11 The city's rulers govern for bribes, the priests interpret the Law for pay, the prophets give their revelations for money - and they all claim that the Lord is with them. "No harm will come to us," they say. "The Lord is with us." 12 And so, because of you, Zion will be plowed like a field, Jerusalem will become a pile of ruins, and the Temple hill will become a forest. ….1 In days to come the mountain where the Temple stands will be the highest one of all, towering above all the hills. Many nations will come streaming to it, 2 and their people will say, "Let us go up the hill of the Lord, to the Temple of Israel's God. He will teach us what he wants us to do; we will walk in the paths he has chosen. For the Lord's teaching comes from Jerusalem; from Zion he speaks to his people." 3 He will settle disputes among the nations, among the great powers near and far. They will hammer their swords into plows and their spears into pruning knives. Nations will never again go to war, never prepare for battle again. 4 Everyone will live in peace among their own vineyards and fig trees, and no one will make them afraid. The Lord Almighty has promised this. 5 Each nation worships and obeys its own god, but we will worship and obey the Lord our God forever and ever. 6 "The time is coming," says the Lord, "when I will gather together the people I punished, those who have suffered in exile. 7 They are crippled and far from home, but I will make a new beginning with those who are left, and they will become a great nation. I will rule over them on Mount Zion from that time on and forever." 8 And you, Jerusalem, where God, like a shepherd from his lookout tower, watches over his people, will once again be the capital of the kingdom that was yours. 9 Why do you cry out so loudly? Why are you suffering like a woman in labor? Is it because you have no king, and your counselors are dead? 10 Twist and groan, people of Jerusalem, like a woman giving birth, for now you will have to leave the city and live in the open country. You will have to go to Babylon, but there the Lord will save you from your enemies. 11 Many nations have gathered to attack you. They say, "Jerusalem must be destroyed! We will see this city in ruins!" 12 But these nations do not know what is in the Lord's mind. They do not realize that they have been gathered together to be punished in the same way that grain is brought in to be threshed. 13 The Lord says, "People of Jerusalem, go and punish your enemies! I will make you as strong as a bull with iron horns and bronze hoofs. You will crush many nations, and the wealth they got by violence you will present to me, the Lord of the whole world."

Micah 5:1 People of Jerusalem, gather your forces! We are besieged! They are attacking the leader of Israel! 2 The Lord says, "Bethlehem Ephrathah, you are one of the smallest towns in Judah, but out of you I will bring a ruler for Israel, whose family line goes back to ancient times." 3 So the Lord will abandon his people to their enemies until the woman who is to give birth has her son. Then those Israelites who are in exile will be reunited with their own people. 4 When he comes, he will rule his people with the strength that comes from the Lord and with the majesty of the Lord God himself. His people will live in safety because people all over the earth will acknowledge his greatness, 5 and he will bring peace. When the Assyrians invade our country and break through our defenses, we will send our strongest leaders to fight them. 6 By force of arms they will conquer Assyria, the land of Nimrod, and they will save us from the Assyrians when they invade our territory. 7 The people of Israel who survive will be like refreshing dew sent by the Lord for many nations, like showers on growing plants. They will depend on God, not people. 8 Those who are left among the nations will be like a lion hunting for food in a forest or a pasture: it gets in among the sheep, pounces on them, and tears them to pieces - and there is no hope of rescue. 9 Israel will conquer her enemies and destroy them all. 10 The Lord says, "At that time I will take away your horses and destroy your chariots. 11 I will destroy the cities in your land and tear down all your defenses. 12 I will destroy the magic charms you use and leave you without any fortunetellers. 13 I will destroy your idols and sacred stone pillars; no longer will you worship the things that you yourselves have made. 14 I will pull down the images of the goddess Asherah in your land and destroy your cities. 15 And in my great anger I will take revenge on all nations that have not obeyed me."

Micah 6:1 Listen to the Lord's case against Israel. Arise, O Lord, and present your case; let the mountains and the hills hear what you say. 2 You mountains, you everlasting foundations of the earth, listen to the Lord's case! The Lord has a case against his people. He is going to bring an accusation against Israel. 3 The Lord says, "My people, what have I done to you? How have I been a burden to you? Answer me. 4 I brought you out of Egypt; I rescued you from slavery; I sent Moses, Aaron, and Miriam to lead you. 5 My people, remember what King Balak of Moab planned to do to you and how Balaam son of Beor answered him. Remember the things that happened on the way from the camp at Acacia to Gilgal. Remember these things and you will realize what I did in order to save you." 6 What shall I bring to the Lord, the God of heaven, when I come to worship him? Shall I bring the best calves to burn as offerings to him? 7 Will the Lord be pleased if I bring him thousands of sheep or endless streams of olive oil? Shall I offer him my first-born child to pay for my sins? 8 No, the Lord has told us what is good. What he requires of us is this: to do what is just, to show constant love, and to live in humble fellowship with our God. 9 It is wise to fear the Lord. He calls to the city, "Listen, you people who assemble in the city! 10 In the houses of evil people are treasures which they got dishonestly. They use false measures, a thing that I hate. 11 How can I forgive those who use false scales and weights? 12 Your rich people exploit the poor, and all of you are liars. 13 So I have already begun your ruin and destruction because of your sins. 14 You will eat, but not be satisfied - in fact you will still be hungry. You will carry things off, but you will not be able to save them; anything you do save I will destroy in war. 15 You will sow grain, but not harvest the crop. You will press oil from olives, but never get to use it. You will make wine, but never drink it. 16 This will happen because you have followed the evil practices of King Omri and of his son, King Ahab. You have continued their policies, and so I will bring you to ruin, and everyone will despise you. People everywhere will treat you with contempt."

Micah 7:1 It's hopeless! I am like a hungry person who finds no fruit left on the trees and no grapes on the vines. All the grapes and all the tasty figs have been picked. 2 There is not an honest person left in the land, no one loyal to God. Everyone is waiting for a chance to commit murder. Everyone hunts down their own people. 3 They are all experts at doing evil. Officials and judges ask for bribes. The influential people tell them what they want, and so they scheme together. 4 Even the best and most honest of them are as worthless as weeds. The day has come when God will punish the people, as he warned them through their watchmen, the prophets. Now they are in confusion. 5 Don't believe your neighbor or trust your friend. Be careful what you say even to your husband or wife. 6 In these times sons treat their fathers like fools, daughters oppose their mothers, and young women quarrel with their mothers-in-law; your enemies are the members of your own family. 7 But I will watch for the Lord; I will wait confidently for God, who will save me. My God will hear me. 8 Our enemies have no reason to gloat over us. We have fallen, but we will rise again. We are in darkness now, but the Lord will give us light. 9 We have sinned against the Lord, so now we must endure his anger for a while. But in the end he will defend us and right the wrongs that have been done to us. He will bring us out to the light; we will live to see him save us. 10 Then our enemies will see this and be disgraced - the same enemies who taunted us by asking, "Where is the Lord your God?" We will see them defeated, trampled down like mud in the streets. 11 People of Jerusalem, the time to rebuild the city walls is coming. At that time your territory will be enlarged. 12 Your people will return to you from everywhere - from Assyria in the east, from Egypt in the south, from the region of the Euphrates River, from distant seas and far-off mountains. 13 But the earth will become a desert because of the wickedness of those who live on it. 14 Be a shepherd to your people, Lord, the people you have chosen. Although they live apart in the wilderness, there is fertile land around them. Let them go and feed in the rich pastures of Bashan and Gilead, as they did long ago. 15 Work miracles for us, Lord, as you did in the days when you brought us out of Egypt. 16 The nations will see this and be frustrated in spite of all their strength. In dismay they will close their mouths and cover their ears. 17 They will crawl in the dust like snakes; they will come from their fortresses, trembling and afraid. They will turn in fear to the Lord our God. 18 There is no other god like you, O Lord; you forgive the sins of your people who have survived. You do not stay angry forever, but you take pleasure in showing us your constant love. 19 You will be merciful to us once again. You will trample our sins underfoot and send them to the bottom of the sea! 20 You will show your faithfulness and constant love to your people, the descendants of Abraham and of Jacob, as you promised our ancestors long ago.

3426-Micah 1:2 Hear this, all you nations; listen to this, all who live on earth! The Sovereign Lord will testify against you. Listen! He speaks from his heavenly temple.

Micah 3:1 Listen, you rulers of Israel! You are supposed to be concerned about justice,

Micah 6:1 Listen to the Lord's case against Israel. Arise, O Lord, and present your case; let the mountains and the hills hear what you say.

3427-Micah 2:12 "I will surely gather all of you, O Jacob; I will surely bring together the remnant of Israel. I will bring them together like sheep in a pen, like a flock in its pasture; the place will throng with people. NIV

Micah 4:8 As for you, O watchtower of the flock, O stronghold of the Daughter of Zion, the former dominion will be restored to you; kingship will come to the Daughter of Jerusalem." NIV

Micah 5:4 He will stand and shepherd his flock in the strength of the LORD, in the majesty of the name of the LORD his God. And they will live securely, for then his greatness will reach to the ends of the earth. NIV

Micah 7:14 Shepherd your people with your staff, the flock of your inheritance, which lives by itself in a forest, in fertile pasturelands. Let them feed in Bashan and Gilead as in days long ago. NIV

3428-2 Kings 15:34 He did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, just as his father Uzziah had done. 35 The high places, however, were not removed; the people continued to offer sacrifices and burn incense there. Jotham rebuilt the Upper Gate of the temple of the LORD.

3429-2 Chron. 28:3 He burned sacrifices in the Valley of Ben Hinnom and sacrificed his sons in the fire, following the detestable ways of the nations the LORD had driven out before the Israelites.

3430-2 Kings 16:10 Then King Ahaz went to Damascus to meet Tiglath-Pileser king of Assyria. He saw an altar in Damascus and sent to Uriah the priest a sketch of the altar, with detailed plans for its construction. 11 So Uriah the priest built an altar in accordance with all the plans that King Ahaz had sent from Damascus and finished it before King Ahaz returned. 12 When the king came back from Damascus and saw the altar, he approached it and presented offerings on it. …..14 The bronze altar that stood before the LORD he brought from the front of the temple--from between the new altar and the temple of the LORD--and put it on the north side of the new altar. 15 King Ahaz then gave these orders to Uriah the priest: "On the large new altar, offer the morning burnt offering and the evening grain offering, the king's burnt offering and his grain offering, and the burnt offering of all the people of the land, and their grain offering and their drink offering. Sprinkle on the altar all the blood of the burnt offerings and sacrifices. But I will use the bronze altar for seeking guidance." 16 And Uriah the priest did just as King Ahaz had ordered. 17 King Ahaz took away the side panels and removed the basins from the movable stands. He removed the Sea from the bronze bulls that supported it and set it on a stone base.

3431-2 Kings 18:5 Hezekiah trusted in the LORD, the God of Israel. There was no one like him among all the kings of Judah, either before him or after him.

3432-2 Kings 15:29 In the time of Pekah king of Israel, Tiglath-Pileser king of Assyria came and took Ijon, Abel Beth Maacah, Janoah, Kedesh and Hazor. He took Gilead and Galilee, including all the land of Naphtali, and deported the people to Assyria.

3433-2 Kings 17:5 The king of Assyria invaded the entire land, marched against Samaria and laid siege to it for three years. 6 In the ninth year of Hoshea, the king of Assyria captured Samaria and deported the Israelites to Assyria. He settled them in Halah, in Gozan on the Habor River and in the towns of the Medes.

3434-Micah 4:1 In the last days the mountain of the LORD's temple will be established as chief among the mountains; it will be raised above the hills, and peoples will stream to it. 2 Many nations will come and say, "Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob. He will teach us his ways, so that we may walk in his paths." The law will go out from Zion, the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. 3 He will judge between many peoples and will settle disputes for strong nations far and wide. They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore.

Isa. 2:2 In the last days the mountain of the LORD's temple will be established as chief among the mountains; it will be raised above the hills, and all nations will stream to it. 3 Many peoples will come and say, "Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob. He will teach us his ways, so that we may walk in his paths." The law will go out from Zion, the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. 4 He will judge between the nations and will settle disputes for many peoples. They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore.

3435-Micah 1:6 "Therefore I will make Samaria a heap of rubble, a place for planting vineyards. I will pour her stones into the valley and lay bare her foundations.

Micah 3:12 Therefore because of you, Zion will be plowed like a field, Jerusalem will become a heap of rubble, the temple hill a mound overgrown with thickets.

3436-Micah 2:8 Lately my people have risen up like an enemy. You strip off the rich robe from those who pass by without a care, like men returning from battle. 9 You drive the women of my people from their pleasant homes. You take away my blessing from their children forever.

3437-Micah 2:1 Woe to those who plan iniquity, to those who plot evil on their beds! At morning's light they carry it out because it is in their power to do it. 2 They covet fields and seize them, and houses, and take them. They defraud a man of his home, a fellowman of his inheritance. 3 Therefore, the LORD says: "I am planning disaster against this people, from which you cannot save yourselves. You will no longer walk proudly, for it will be a time of calamity. 4 In that day men will ridicule you; they will taunt you with this mournful song: 'We are utterly ruined; my people's possession is divided up. He takes it from me! He assigns our fields to traitors.' " 5 Therefore you will have no one in the assembly of the LORD to divide the land by lot.

3438-Micah 3:1 Then I said, "Listen, you leaders of Jacob, you rulers of the house of Israel. Should you not know justice, 2 you who hate good and love evil; who tear the skin from my people and the flesh from their bones; 3 who eat my people's flesh, strip off their skin and break their bones in pieces; who chop them up like meat for the pan, like flesh for the pot?" 4 Then they will cry out to the LORD, but he will not answer them. At that time he will hide his face from them because of the evil they have done. 5 This is what the LORD says: "As for the prophets who lead my people astray, if one feeds them, they proclaim 'peace'; if he does not, they prepare to wage war against him. 6 Therefore night will come over you, without visions, and darkness, without divination. The sun will set for the prophets, and the day will go dark for them. 7 The seers will be ashamed and the diviners disgraced. They will all cover their faces because there is no answer from God." 8 But as for me, I am filled with power, with the Spirit of the LORD, and with justice and might, to declare to Jacob his transgression, to Israel his sin. 9 Hear this, you leaders of the house of Jacob, you rulers of the house of Israel, who despise justice and distort all that is right; 10 who build Zion with bloodshed, and Jerusalem with wickedness. 11 Her leaders judge for a bribe, her priests teach for a price, and her prophets tell fortunes for money. Yet they lean upon the LORD and say, "Is not the LORD among us? No disaster will come upon us." 12 Therefore because of you, Zion will be plowed like a field, Jerusalem will become a heap of rubble, the temple hill a mound overgrown with thickets.

3439-Micah 6:9 Listen! The LORD is calling to the city-- and to fear your name is wisdom-- "Heed the rod and the One who appointed it. 10 Am I still to forget, O wicked house, your ill-gotten treasures and the short ephah, which is accursed? 11 Shall I acquit a man with dishonest scales, with a bag of false weights? 12 Her rich men are violent; her people are liars and their tongues speak deceitfully. 13 Therefore, I have begun to destroy you, to ruin you because of your sins. 14 You will eat but not be satisfied; your stomach will still be empty. You will store up but save nothing, because what you save I will give to the sword. 15 You will plant but not harvest; you will press olives but not use the oil on yourselves, you will crush grapes but not drink the wine. 16 You have observed the statutes of Omri and all the practices of Ahab's house, and you have followed their traditions. Therefore I will give you over to ruin and your people to derision; you will bear the scorn of the nations. "

7:1 What misery is mine! I am like one who gathers summer fruit at the gleaning of the vineyard; there is no cluster of grapes to eat, none of the early figs that I crave. 2 The godly have been swept from the land; not one upright man remains. All men lie in wait to shed blood; each hunts his brother with a net. 3 Both hands are skilled in doing evil; the ruler demands gifts, the judge accepts bribes, the powerful dictate what they desire-- they all conspire together. 4 The best of them is like a brier, the most upright worse than a thorn hedge. The day of your watchmen has come, the day God visits you. Now is the time of their confusion. 5 Do not trust a neighbor; put no confidence in a friend. Even with her who lies in your embrace be careful of your words. 6 For a son dishonors his father, a daughter rises up against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law-- a man's enemies are the members of his own household. 7 But as for me, I watch in hope for the LORD, I wait for God my Savior; my God will hear me.

3440-Isaiah 10:5 The Lord said, "Assyria! I use Assyria like a club to punish those with whom I am angry. 6 I sent Assyria to attack a godless nation, people who have made me angry. I sent them to loot and steal and trample the people like dirt in the streets." 7 But the Assyrian emperor has his own violent plans in mind. He is determined to destroy many nations. 8 He boasts, "Every one of my commanders is a king! 9 I conquered the cities of Calno and Carchemish, the cities of Hamath and Arpad. I conquered Samaria and Damascus. 10 I reached out to punish those kingdoms that worship idols, idols more numerous than those of Jerusalem and Samaria. 11 I have destroyed Samaria and all its idols, and I will do the same to Jerusalem and the images that are worshiped there."

3441-Micah 1:8 Then Micah said, "Because of this I will mourn and lament. To show my sorrow, I will walk around barefoot and naked. I will howl like a jackal and wail like an ostrich. 9 Samaria's wounds cannot be healed, and Judah is about to suffer in the same way; destruction has reached the gates of Jerusalem itself, where my people live." 10 Don't tell our enemies in Gath about our defeat; don't let them see you weeping. People of Beth Leaphrah, show your despair by rolling in the dust! 11 You people of Shaphir, go into exile, naked and ashamed. Those who live in Zaanan do not dare to come out of their city. When you hear the people of Bethezel mourn, you will know that there is no refuge there. 12 The people of Maroth anxiously wait for relief, because the Lord has brought disaster close to Jerusalem. 13 You that live in Lachish, hitch the horses to the chariots. You imitated the sins of Israel and so caused Jerusalem to sin. 14 And now, people of Judah, say good-bye to the town of Moresheth Gath. The kings of Israel will get no help from the town of Achzib. 15 People of Mareshah, the Lord will hand you over to an enemy, who is going to capture your town. The leaders of Israel will go and hide in the cave at Adullam. 16 People of Judah, cut off your hair in mourning for the children you love. Make yourselves as bald as vultures, because your children will be taken away from you into exile.

3442-Micah 1:10 Don't tell our enemies in Gath about our defeat; don't let them see you weeping. People of Beth Leaphrah, show your despair by rolling in the dust! 11 You people of Shaphir, go into exile, naked and ashamed. Those who live in Zaanan do not dare to come out of their city. When you hear the people of Bethezel mourn, you will know that there is no refuge there. 12 The people of Maroth anxiously wait for relief, because the Lord has brought disaster close to Jerusalem. 13 You that live in Lachish, hitch the horses to the chariots. You imitated the sins of Israel and so caused Jerusalem to sin. 14 And now, people of Judah, say good-bye to the town of Moresheth Gath. The kings of Israel will get no help from the town of Achzib. 15 People of Mareshah, the Lord will hand you over to an enemy, who is going to capture your town. The leaders of Israel will go and hide in the cave at Adullam. 16 People of Judah, cut off your hair in mourning for the children you love. Make yourselves as bald as vultures, because your children will be taken away from you into exile.

3443-Mic. 1:5 All this will happen because the people of Israel have sinned and rebelled against God. Who is to blame for Israel's rebellion? Samaria, the capital city itself! Who is guilty of idolatry in Judah? Jerusalem itself!

2 Kin. 16:1 In the seventeenth year of the reign of Pekah son of Remaliah as king of Israel, Ahaz son of Jotham became king of Judah 2 at the age of twenty, and he ruled in Jerusalem for sixteen years. He did not follow the good example of his ancestor King David; instead, he did what was not pleasing to the Lord his God 3 and followed the example of the kings of Israel. He even sacrificed his own son as a burnt offering to idols, imitating the disgusting practice of the people whom the Lord had driven out of the land as the Israelites advanced. 4 At the pagan places of worship, on the hills, and under every shady tree, Ahaz offered sacrifices and burned incense. 5 King Rezin of Syria and King Pekah of Israel attacked Jerusalem and besieged it, but could not defeat Ahaz. 6 (At the same time the king of Edom regained control of the city of Elath and drove out the Judeans who lived there. The Edomites settled in Elath and still live there.) 7 Ahaz sent men to Tiglath Pileser, the emperor of Assyria, with this message: "I am your devoted servant. Come and rescue me from the kings of Syria and of Israel, who are attacking me." 8 Ahaz took the silver and gold from the Temple and the palace treasury, and sent it as a present to the emperor. 9 Tiglath Pileser, in answer to Ahaz' plea, marched out with his army against Damascus, captured it, killed King Rezin, and took the people to Kir as prisoners. 10 When King Ahaz went to Damascus to meet Emperor Tiglath Pileser, he saw the altar there and sent back to Uriah the priest an exact model of it, down to the smallest details.

3444-Mic. 2:1 How terrible it will be for those who lie awake and plan evil! When morning comes, as soon as they have the chance, they do the evil they planned. 2 When they want fields, they seize them; when they want houses, they take them. No one's family or property is safe.

Mic 6:9 It is wise to fear the Lord. He calls to the city, "Listen, you people who assemble in the city! 10 In the houses of evil people are treasures which they got dishonestly. They use false measures, a thing that I hate. 11 How can I forgive those who use false scales and weights? 12 Your rich people exploit the poor, and all of you are liars.

Mic 7:2 There is not an honest person left in the land, no one loyal to God. Everyone is waiting for a chance to commit murder. Everyone hunts down their own people. 3 They are all experts at doing evil. Officials and judges ask for bribes. The influential people tell them what they want, and so they scheme together.

3445-Mic. 6:8 No, the Lord has told us what is good. What he requires of us is this: to do what is just, to show constant love, and to live in humble fellowship with our God.

3446-1 Kings 22:28 "If you return safely," Micaiah exclaimed, "then the Lord has not spoken through me!" And he added, "Listen, everyone, to what I have said!"

3447-Micah 2:11 "These people want the kind of prophet who goes around full of lies and deceit and says, "I prophesy that wine and liquor will flow for you.'

3448-2 Timothy 4:3 The time will come when people will not listen to sound doctrine, but will follow their own desires and will collect for themselves more and more teachers who will tell them what they are itching to hear. 4 They will turn away from listening to the truth and give their attention to legends.

3449-Jeremiah 14:13 Then I said, "Sovereign Lord, you know that the prophets are telling the people that there will be no war or starvation, because you have promised, they say, that there will be only peace in our land." 14 But the Lord replied, "The prophets are telling lies in my name; I did not send them, nor did I give them any orders or speak one word to them. The visions they talk about have not come from me; their predictions are worthless things that they have imagined. 15 I, the Lord, tell you what I am going to do to those prophets whom I did not send but who speak in my name and say war and starvation will not strike this land - I will kill them in war and by starvation.

Jer 23:25 I know what those prophets have said who speak lies in my name and claim that I have given them my messages in their dreams. 26 How much longer will those prophets mislead my people with the lies they have invented? 27 They think that the dreams they tell will make my people forget me, just as their ancestors forgot me and turned to Baal.

Jer 28:1 That same year, in the fifth month of the fourth year that Zedekiah was king, Hananiah son of Azzur, a prophet from the town of Gibeon, spoke to me in the Temple. In the presence of the priests and of the people he told me 2 that the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, had said: "I have broken the power of the king of Babylonia. 3 Within two years I will bring back to this place all the Temple treasures that King Nebuchadnezzar took to Babylonia. 4 I will also bring back the king of Judah, Jehoiachin son of Jehoiakim, along with all of the people of Judah who went into exile in Babylonia. Yes, I will break the power of the king of Babylonia. I, the Lord, have spoken." 5 Then in the presence of the priests and of all the people who were standing in the Temple, I said to Hananiah, 6 "Wonderful! I hope the Lord will do this! I certainly hope he will make your prophecy come true and will bring back from Babylonia all the Temple treasures and all the people who were taken away as prisoners. 7 But listen to what I say to you and to the people. 8 The prophets who spoke long ago, before my time and yours, predicted that war, starvation, and disease would come to many nations and powerful kingdoms. 9 But a prophet who predicts peace can only be recognized as a prophet whom the Lord has truly sent when that prophet's predictions come true." 10 Then Hananiah took the yoke off my neck, broke it in pieces, 11 and said in the presence of all the people, "The Lord has said that this is how he will break the yoke that King Nebuchadnezzar has put on the neck of all the nations; and he will do this within two years." Then I left. 12 Some time after this the Lord told me 13 to go and tell Hananiah: "The Lord has said that you may be able to break a wooden yoke, but he will replace it with an iron yoke. 14 The Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, has said that he will put an iron yoke on all these nations and that they will serve King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia. The Lord has said that he will make even the wild animals serve Nebuchadnezzar." 15 Then I told Hananiah this, and added, "Listen, Hananiah! The Lord did not send you, and you are making these people believe a lie. 16 And so the Lord himself says that he is going to get rid of you. Before this year is over you will die because you have told the people to rebel against the Lord." 17 And Hananiah died in the seventh month of that same year.

Ezekiel 13:1 The Lord spoke to me. 2 "Mortal man," he said, "denounce the prophets of Israel who make up their own prophecies. Tell them to listen to the word of the Lord." 3 This is what the Sovereign Lord says: "These foolish prophets are doomed! They provide their own inspiration and invent their own visions. 4 People of Israel, your prophets are as useless as foxes living among the ruins of a city. 5 They don't guard the places where the walls have crumbled, nor do they rebuild the walls, and so Israel cannot be defended when war comes on the day of the Lord. 6 Their visions are false, and their predictions are lies. They claim that they are speaking my message, but I have not sent them. Yet they expect their words to come true! 7 I tell them: Those visions you see are false, and the predictions you make are lies. You say that they are my words, but I haven't spoken to you!"

3450-Micah 3:5 My people are deceived by prophets who promise peace to those who pay them, but threaten war for those who don't. To these prophets the Lord says, 6 "Prophets, your day is almost over; the sun is going down on you. Because you mislead my people, you will have no more prophetic visions, and you will not be able to predict anything." 7 Those who predict the future will be disgraced by their failure. They will all be humiliated because God does not answer them. 8 But as for me, the Lord fills me with his spirit and power, and gives me a sense of justice and the courage to tell the people of Israel what their sins are. 9 Listen to me, you rulers of Israel, you that hate justice and turn right into wrong. 10 You are building God's city, Jerusalem, on a foundation of murder and injustice. 11 The city's rulers govern for bribes, the priests interpret the Law for pay, the prophets give their revelations for money - and they all claim that the Lord is with them. "No harm will come to us," they say. "The Lord is with us."

3451-Micah 4:2 and their people will say, "Let us go up the hill of the Lord, to the Temple of Israel's God. He will teach us what he wants us to do; we will walk in the paths he has chosen. For the Lord's teaching comes from Jerusalem; from Zion he speaks to his people." 3 He will settle disputes among the nations, among the great powers near and far. They will hammer their swords into plows and their spears into pruning knives. Nations will never again go to war, never prepare for battle again.

Isaiah 2:2 In days to come the mountain where the Temple stands will be the highest one of all, towering above all the hills. Many nations will come streaming to it, 3 and their people will say, "Let us go up the hill of the Lord, to the Temple of Israel's God. He will teach us what he wants us to do; we will walk in the paths he has chosen. For the Lord's teaching comes from Jerusalem; from Zion he speaks to his people." 4 He will settle disputes among great nations. They will hammer their swords into plows and their spears into pruning knives. Nations will never again go to war, never prepare for battle again.

3452-Joel 3:10 Hammer the points of your plows into swords and your pruning knives into spears. Even the weak must fight.

3453-Jude 1 From Jude, servant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James - To those who have been called by God, who live in the love of God the Father and the protection of Jesus Christ: 2 May mercy, peace, and love be yours in full measure. 3 My dear friends, I was doing my best to write to you about the salvation we share in common, when I felt the need of writing at once to encourage you to fight on for the faith which once and for all God has given to his people. 4 For some godless people have slipped in unnoticed among us, persons who distort the message about the grace of our God in order to excuse their immoral ways, and who reject Jesus Christ, our only Master and Lord. Long ago the Scriptures predicted the condemnation they have received. 5 For even though you know all this, I want to remind you of how the Lord once rescued the people of Israel from Egypt, but afterward destroyed those who did not believe. 6 Remember the angels who did not stay within the limits of their proper authority, but abandoned their own dwelling place: they are bound with eternal chains in the darkness below, where God is keeping them for that great Day on which they will be condemned. 7 Remember Sodom and Gomorrah, and the nearby towns, whose people acted as those angels did and indulged in sexual immorality and perversion: they suffer the punishment of eternal fire as a plain warning to all. 8 In the same way also, these people have visions which make them sin against their own bodies; they despise God's authority and insult the glorious beings above. 9 Not even the chief angel Michael did this. In his quarrel with the Devil, when they argued about who would have the body of Moses, Michael did not dare condemn the Devil with insulting words, but said, "The Lord rebuke you!" 10 But these people attack with insults anything they do not understand; and those things that they know by instinct, like wild animals, are the very things that destroy them. 11 How terrible for them! They have followed the way that Cain took. For the sake of money they have given themselves over to the error that Balaam committed. They have rebelled as Korah rebelled, and like him they are destroyed. 12 With their shameless carousing they are like dirty spots in your fellowship meals. They take care only of themselves. They are like clouds carried along by the wind, but bringing no rain. They are like trees that bear no fruit, even in autumn, trees that have been pulled up by the roots and are completely dead. 13 They are like wild waves of the sea, with their shameful deeds showing up like foam. They are like wandering stars, for whom God has reserved a place forever in the deepest darkness. 14 It was Enoch, the seventh direct descendant from Adam, who long ago prophesied this about them: "The Lord will come with many thousands of his holy angels 15 to bring judgment on all, to condemn them all for the godless deeds they have performed and for all the terrible words that godless sinners have spoken against him!" 16 These people are always grumbling and blaming others; they follow their own evil desires; they brag about themselves and flatter others in order to get their own way. 17 But remember, my friends, what you were told in the past by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ. 18 They said to you, "When the last days come, people will appear who will make fun of you, people who follow their own godless desires." 19 These are the people who cause divisions, who are controlled by their natural desires, who do not have the Spirit. 20 But you, my friends, keep on building yourselves up on your most sacred faith. Pray in the power of the Holy Spirit, 21 and keep yourselves in the love of God, as you wait for our Lord Jesus Christ in his mercy to give you eternal life. 22 Show mercy toward those who have doubts; 23 save others by snatching them out of the fire; and to others show mercy mixed with fear, but hate their very clothes, stained by their sinful lusts. 24 To him who is able to keep you from falling and to bring you faultless and joyful before his glorious presence - 25 to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, might, and authority, from all ages past, and now, and forever and ever! Amen.

2 Peter 2:1 False prophets appeared in the past among the people, and in the same way false teachers will appear among you. They will bring in destructive, untrue doctrines, and will deny the Master who redeemed them, and so they will bring upon themselves sudden destruction. 2 Even so, many will follow their immoral ways; and because of what they do, others will speak evil of the Way of truth. 3 In their greed these false teachers will make a profit out of telling you made-up stories. For a long time now their Judge has been ready, and their Destroyer has been wide awake! 4 God did not spare the angels who sinned, but threw them into hell, where they are kept chained in darkness, waiting for the Day of Judgment. 5 God did not spare the ancient world, but brought the flood on the world of godless people; the only ones he saved were Noah, who preached righteousness, and seven other people. 6 God condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, destroying them with fire, and made them an example of what will happen to the godless. 7 He rescued Lot, a good man, who was distressed by the immoral conduct of lawless people. 8 That good man lived among them, and day after day he suffered agony as he saw and heard their evil actions. 9 And so the Lord knows how to rescue godly people from their trials and how to keep the wicked under punishment for the Day of Judgment, 10 especially those who follow their filthy bodily lusts and despise God's authority. These false teachers are bold and arrogant, and show no respect for the glorious beings above; instead, they insult them. 11 Even the angels, who are so much stronger and mightier than these false teachers, do not accuse them with insults in the presence of the Lord. 12 But these people act by instinct, like wild animals born to be captured and killed; they attack with insults anything they do not understand. They will be destroyed like wild animals, 13 and they will be paid with suffering for the suffering they have caused. Pleasure for them is to do anything in broad daylight that will satisfy their bodily appetites; they are a shame and a disgrace as they join you in your meals, all the while enjoying their deceitful ways! 14 They want to look for nothing but the chance to commit adultery; their appetite for sin is never satisfied. They lead weak people into a trap. Their hearts are trained to be greedy. They are under God's curse! 15 They have left the straight path and have lost their way; they have followed the path taken by Balaam son of Beor, who loved the money he would get for doing wrong 16 and was rebuked for his sin. His donkey spoke with a human voice and stopped the prophet's insane action. 17 These people are like dried-up springs, like clouds blown along by a storm; God has reserved a place for them in the deepest darkness. 18 They make proud and stupid statements, and use immoral bodily lusts to trap those who are just beginning to escape from among people who live in error. 19 They promise them freedom while they themselves are slaves of destructive habits - for we are slaves of anything that has conquered us. 20 If people have escaped from the corrupting forces of the world through their knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and then are again caught and conquered by them, such people are in worse condition at the end than they were at the beginning. 21 It would have been much better for them never to have known the way of righteousness than to know it and then turn away from the sacred command that was given them. 22 What happened to them shows that the proverbs are true: "A dog goes back to what it has vomited" and "A pig that has been washed goes back to roll in the mud."

3454-Isaiah 37:1 As soon as King Hezekiah heard their report, he tore his clothes in grief, put on sackcloth, and went to the Temple of the Lord. 2 He sent Eliakim, the official in charge of the palace, Shebna, the court secretary, and the senior priests to the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz. They also were wearing sackcloth. 3 This is the message which he told them to give to Isaiah: "Today is a day of suffering; we are being punished and are in disgrace. We are like a woman who is ready to give birth, but is too weak to do it. 4 The Assyrian emperor has sent his chief official to insult the living God. May the Lord your God hear these insults and punish those who spoke them. So pray to God for those of our people who survive." 5 When Isaiah received King Hezekiah's message, 6 he sent back this answer: "The Lord tells you not to let the Assyrians frighten you by their claims that he cannot save you. 7 The Lord will cause the emperor to hear a rumor that will make him go back to his own country, and the Lord will have him killed there." 8 The Assyrian official learned that the emperor had left Lachish and was fighting against the nearby city of Libnah; so he went there to consult him. 9 Word reached the Assyrians that the Egyptian army, led by King Tirhakah of Ethiopia, was coming to attack them. When the emperor heard this, he sent a letter to King Hezekiah 10 of Judah to tell him: "The god you are trusting in has told you that you will not fall into my hands, but don't let that deceive you. 11 You have heard what an Assyrian emperor does to any country he decides to destroy. Do you think that you can escape? 12 My ancestors destroyed the cities of Gozan, Haran, and Rezeph, and killed the people of Betheden who lived in Telassar, and none of their gods could save them. 13 Where are the kings of the cities of Hamath, Arpad, Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivvah?" 14 King Hezekiah took the letter from the messengers and read it. Then he went to the Temple, placed the letter there in the presence of the Lord, 15 and prayed, 16 "Almighty Lord, God of Israel, seated above the winged creatures, you alone are God, ruling all the kingdoms of the world. You created the earth and the sky. 17 Now, Lord, hear us and look at what is happening to us. Listen to all the things that Sennacherib is saying to insult you, the living God. 18 We all know, Lord, that the emperors of Assyria have destroyed many nations, made their lands desolate, 19 and burned up their gods - which were no gods at all, only images of wood and stone made by human hands. 20 Now, Lord our God, rescue us from the Assyrians, so that all the nations of the world will know that you alone are God." 21 Then Isaiah sent a message telling King Hezekiah that in answer to the king's prayer 22 the Lord had said, "The city of Jerusalem laughs at you, Sennacherib, and makes fun of you. 23 Whom do you think you have been insulting and ridiculing? You have been disrespectful to me, the holy God of Israel. 24 You sent your servants to boast to me that with all your chariots you had conquered the highest mountains of Lebanon. You boasted that there you cut down the tallest cedars and the finest cypress trees, and that you reached the deepest parts of the forests. 25 You boasted that you dug wells and drank water in foreign lands, and that the feet of your soldiers tramped the Nile River dry. 26 "Have you never heard that I planned all this long ago? And now I have carried it out. I gave you the power to turn fortified cities into piles of rubble. 27 The people who lived there were powerless; they were frightened and stunned. They were like grass in a field or weeds growing on a roof when the hot east wind blasts them. 28 "But I know everything about you, what you do and where you go. I know how you rage against me. 29 I have received the report of that rage and that pride of yours, and now I will put a hook through your nose and a bit in your mouth and will take you back by the same road you came." 30 Then Isaiah said to King Hezekiah, "Here is a sign of what will happen. This year and next you will have only wild grain to eat, but the following year you will be able to plant grain and harvest it, and plant vines and eat grapes. 31 Those in Judah who survive will flourish like plants that send roots deep into the ground and produce fruit. 32 There will be people in Jerusalem and on Mount Zion who will survive, because the Lord Almighty is determined to make this happen. 33 "And this is what the Lord has said about the Assyrian emperor: "He will not enter this city or shoot a single arrow against it. No soldiers with shields will come near the city, and no siege mounds will be built around it. 34 He will go back by the same road he came, without entering this city. I, the Lord, have spoken. 35 I will defend this city and protect it, for the sake of my own honor and because of the promise I made to my servant David.' " 36 An angel of the Lord went to the Assyrian camp and killed 185,000 soldiers. At dawn the next day there they lay, all dead! 37 Then the Assyrian emperor Sennacherib withdrew and returned to Nineveh. 38 One day when he was worshiping in the temple of his god Nisroch, two of his sons, Adrammelech and Sharezer, killed him with their swords and then escaped to the land of Ararat. Another of his sons, Esarhaddon, succeeded him as emperor.

2 Kings 19:1 As soon as King Hezekiah heard their report, he tore his clothes in grief, put on sackcloth, and went to the Temple of the Lord. 2 He sent Eliakim, the official in charge of the palace, Shebna, the court secretary, and the senior priests to the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz. They also were wearing sackcloth. 3 This is the message which he told them to give Isaiah: "Today is a day of suffering; we are being punished and are in disgrace. We are like a woman who is ready to give birth, but is too weak to do it. 4 The Assyrian emperor has sent his chief official to insult the living God. May the Lord your God hear these insults and punish those who spoke them. So pray to God for those of our people who survive." 5 When Isaiah received King Hezekiah's message, 6 he sent back this answer: "The Lord tells you not to let the Assyrians frighten you with their claims that he cannot save you. 7 The Lord will cause the emperor to hear a rumor that will make him go back to his own country, and the Lord will have him killed there." 8 The Assyrian official learned that the emperor had left Lachish and was fighting against the nearby city of Libnah; so he went there to consult him. 9 Word reached the Assyrians that the Egyptian army, led by King Tirhakah of Ethiopia, was coming to attack them. When the emperor heard this, he sent a letter to King Hezekiah of Judah 10 to tell him, "The god you are trusting in has told you that you will not fall into my hands, but don't let that deceive you. 11 You have heard what an Assyrian emperor does to any country he decides to destroy. Do you think that you can escape? 12 My ancestors destroyed the cities of Gozan, Haran, and Rezeph, and killed the people of Betheden who lived in Telassar, and none of their gods could save them. 13 Where are the kings of the cities of Hamath, Arpad, Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivvah?" 14 King Hezekiah took the letter from the messengers and read it. Then he went to the Temple, placed the letter there in the presence of the Lord, 15 and prayed, "O Lord, the God of Israel, seated on your throne above the winged creatures, you alone are God, ruling all the kingdoms of the world. You created the earth and the sky. 16 Now, Lord, look at what is happening to us. Listen to all the things that Sennacherib is saying to insult you, the living God. 17 We all know, Lord, that the emperors of Assyria have destroyed many nations, made their lands desolate, 18 and burned up their gods - which were no gods at all, only images of wood and stone made by human hands. 19 Now, Lord our God, rescue us from the Assyrians, so that all the nations of the world will know that only you, O Lord, are God." 20 Then Isaiah sent a message telling King Hezekiah that in answer to the king's prayer 21 the Lord had said, "The city of Jerusalem laughs at you, Sennacherib, and makes fun of you. 22 Whom do you think you have been insulting and ridiculing? You have been disrespectful to me, the holy God of Israel. 23 You sent your messengers to boast to me that with all your chariots you had conquered the highest mountains of Lebanon. You boasted that there you cut down the tallest cedars and the finest cypress trees and that you reached the deepest parts of the forests. 24 You boasted that you dug wells and drank water in foreign lands and that the feet of your soldiers tramped the Nile River dry. 25 "Have you never heard that I planned all this long ago? And now I have carried it out. I gave you the power to turn fortified cities into piles of rubble. 26 The people who lived there were powerless; they were frightened and stunned. They were like grass in a field or weeds growing on a roof when the hot east wind blasts them. 27 "But I know everything about you, what you do and where you go. I know how you rage against me. 28 I have received the report of that rage and that pride of yours, and now I will put a hook through your nose and a bit in your mouth, and take you back by the same road you came." 29 Then Isaiah said to King Hezekiah, "Here is a sign of what will happen. This year and next you will have only wild grain to eat, but the following year you will be able to plant your grain and harvest it, and plant vines and eat grapes. 30 Those in Judah who survive will flourish like plants that send roots deep into the ground and produce fruit. 31 There will be people in Jerusalem and on Mount Zion who will survive, because the Lord is determined to make this happen. 32 "And this is what the Lord has said about the Assyrian emperor: "He will not enter this city or shoot a single arrow against it. No soldiers with shields will come near the city, and no siege mounds will be built around it. 33 He will go back by the same road he came, without entering this city. I, the Lord, have spoken. 34 I will defend this city and protect it, for the sake of my own honor and because of the promise I made to my servant David.' " 35 That night an angel of the Lord went to the Assyrian camp and killed 185,000 soldiers. At dawn the next day there they lay, all dead! 36 Then the Assyrian emperor Sennacherib withdrew and returned to Nineveh. 37 One day, when he was worshiping in the temple of his god Nisroch, two of his sons, Adrammelech and Sharezer, killed him with their swords and then escaped to the land of Ararat. Another of his sons, Esarhaddon, succeeded him as emperor.

3455-2 Samuel 22:1 When the Lord saved David from Saul and his other enemies, David sang this song to the Lord: 2 The Lord is my protector; he is my strong fortress. 3 My God is my protection, and with him I am safe. He protects me like a shield; he defends me and keeps me safe. He is my savior; he protects me and saves me from violence. 4 I call to the Lord, and he saves me from my enemies. Praise the Lord! 5 The waves of death were all around me; the waves of destruction rolled over me. 6 The danger of death was around me, and the grave set its trap for me. 7 In my trouble I called to the Lord; I called to my God for help. In his temple he heard my voice; he listened to my cry for help. 8 Then the earth trembled and shook; the foundations of the sky rocked and quivered because God was angry! 9 Smoke poured out of his nostrils, a consuming flame and burning coals from his mouth. 10 He tore the sky open and came down, with a dark cloud under his feet. 11 He flew swiftly on his winged creature; he traveled on the wings of the wind. 12 He covered himself with darkness; thick clouds, full of water, surrounded him; 13 burning coals flamed up from the lightning before him. 14 Then the Lord thundered from the sky, and the voice of Almighty God was heard. 15 He shot his arrows and scattered his enemies; with flashes of lightning he sent them running. 16 The floor of the ocean was laid bare, and the foundations of the earth were uncovered when the Lord rebuked his enemies and roared at them in anger. 17 The Lord reached down from above and took hold of me; he pulled me out of the deep waters. 18 He rescued me from my powerful enemies and from all those who hate me - they were too strong for me. 19 When I was in trouble, they attacked me, but the Lord protected me. 20 He helped me out of danger; he saved me because he was pleased with me. 21 The Lord rewards me because I do what is right; he blesses me because I am innocent. 22 I have obeyed the law of the Lord; I have not turned away from my God. 23 I have observed all his laws; I have not disobeyed his commands. 24 He knows that I am faultless, that I have kept myself from doing wrong. 25 And so he rewards me because I do what is right, because he knows that I am innocent. 26 O Lord, you are faithful to those who are faithful to you, and completely good to those who are perfect. 27 You are pure to those who are pure, but hostile to those who are wicked. 28 You save those who are humble, but you humble those who are proud. 29 You, Lord, are my light; you dispel my darkness. 30 You give me strength to attack my enemies and power to overcome their defenses. 31 This God - how perfect are his deeds, how dependable his words! He is like a shield for all who seek his protection. 32 The Lord alone is God; God alone is our defense. 33 This God is my strong refuge; he makes my pathway safe. 34 He makes me sure-footed as a deer; he keeps me safe on the mountains. 35 He trains me for battle, so that I can use the strongest bow. 36 O Lord, you protect me and save me; your help has made me great. 37 You have kept me from being captured, and I have never fallen. 38 I pursue my enemies and defeat them; I do not stop until I destroy them. 39 I strike them down, and they cannot rise; they lie defeated before me. 40 You give me strength for the battle and victory over my enemies. 41 You make my enemies run from me; I destroy those who hate me. 42 They look for help, but no one saves them; they call to the Lord, but he does not answer. 43 I crush them, and they become like dust; I trample on them like mud in the streets. 44 You saved me from my rebellious people and maintained my rule over the nations; people I did not know have now become my subjects. 45 Foreigners bow before me; when they hear me, they obey. 46 They lose their courage and come trembling from their fortresses. 47 The Lord lives! Praise my defender! Proclaim the greatness of the strong God who saves me! 48 He gives me victory over my enemies; he subdues the nations under me 49 and saves me from my foes. O Lord, you give me victory over my enemies and protect me from violent men. 50 And so I praise you among the nations; I sing praises to you. 51 God gives great victories to his king; he shows constant love to the one he has chosen, to David and his descendants forever.

Psalms 18:1 How I love you, Lord! You are my defender. 2 The Lord is my protector; he is my strong fortress. My God is my protection, and with him I am safe. He protects me like a shield; he defends me and keeps me safe. 3 I call to the Lord, and he saves me from my enemies. Praise the Lord! 4 The danger of death was all around me; the waves of destruction rolled over me. 5 The danger of death was around me, and the grave set its trap for me. 6 In my trouble I called to the Lord; I called to my God for help. In his temple he heard my voice; he listened to my cry for help. 7 Then the earth trembled and shook; the foundations of the mountains rocked and quivered, because God was angry. 8 Smoke poured out of his nostrils, a consuming flame and burning coals from his mouth. 9 He tore the sky open and came down with a dark cloud under his feet. 10 He flew swiftly on his winged creature; he traveled on the wings of the wind. 11 He covered himself with darkness; thick clouds, full of water, surrounded him. 12 Hailstones and flashes of fire came from the lightning before him and broke through the dark clouds. 13 Then the Lord thundered from the sky; and the voice of the Most High was heard. 14 He shot his arrows and scattered his enemies; with flashes of lightning he sent them running. 15 The floor of the ocean was laid bare, and the foundations of the earth were uncovered, when you rebuked your enemies, Lord, and roared at them in anger. 16 The Lord reached down from above and took hold of me; he pulled me out of the deep waters. 17 He rescued me from my powerful enemies and from all those who hate me - they were too strong for me. 18 When I was in trouble, they attacked me, but the Lord protected me. 19 He helped me out of danger; he saved me because he was pleased with me. 20 The Lord rewards me because I do what is right; he blesses me because I am innocent. 21 I have obeyed the law of the Lord; I have not turned away from my God. 22 I have observed all his laws; I have not disobeyed his commands. 23 He knows that I am faultless, that I have kept myself from doing wrong. 24 And so he rewards me because I do what is right, because he knows that I am innocent. 25 O Lord, you are faithful to those who are faithful to you; completely good to those who are perfect. 26 You are pure to those who are pure, but hostile to those who are wicked. 27 You save those who are humble, but you humble those who are proud. 28 O Lord, you give me light; you dispel my darkness. 29 You give me strength to attack my enemies and power to overcome their defenses. 30 This God - how perfect are his deeds! How dependable his words! He is like a shield for all who seek his protection. 31 The Lord alone is God; God alone is our defense. 32 He is the God who makes me strong, who makes my pathway safe. 33 He makes me sure-footed as a deer; he keeps me safe on the mountains. 34 He trains me for battle, so that I can use the strongest bow. 35 O Lord, you protect me and save me; your care has made me great, and your power has kept me safe. 36 You have kept me from being captured, and I have never fallen. 37 I pursue my enemies and catch them; I do not stop until I destroy them. 38 I strike them down, and they cannot rise; they lie defeated before me. 39 You give me strength for the battle and victory over my enemies. 40 You make my enemies run from me; I destroy those who hate me. 41 They cry for help, but no one saves them; they call to the Lord, but he does not answer. 42 I crush them, so that they become like dust which the wind blows away. I trample on them like mud in the streets. 43 You saved me from a rebellious people and made me ruler over the nations; people I did not know have now become my subjects. 44 Foreigners bow before me; when they hear me, they obey. 45 They lose their courage and come trembling from their fortresses. 46 The Lord lives! Praise my defender! Proclaim the greatness of the God who saves me. 47 He gives me victory over my enemies; he subdues the nations under me 48 and saves me from my foes. O Lord, you give me victory over my enemies and protect me from violent people. 49 And so I praise you among the nations; I sing praises to you. 50 God gives great victories to his king; he shows constant love to the one he has chosen, to David and his descendants forever.

3456-Joel 3:10 Hammer the points of your plows into swords and your pruning knives into spears. Even the weak must fight.

3457-Micah 4:11 Many nations have gathered to attack you. They say, "Jerusalem must be destroyed! We will see this city in ruins!" 12 But these nations do not know what is in the Lord's mind. They do not realize that they have been gathered together to be punished in the same way that grain is brought in to be threshed.

3458-Micah 4:13 The Lord says, "People of Jerusalem, go and punish your enemies! I will make you as strong as a bull with iron horns and bronze hoofs. You will crush many nations, and the wealth they got by violence you will present to me, the Lord of the whole world."

Micah 5:1 People of Jerusalem, gather your forces! We are besieged! They are attacking the leader of Israel!

3459-Micah 6:1 Listen to the Lord's case against Israel. Arise, O Lord, and present your case; let the mountains and the hills hear what you say. 2 You mountains, you everlasting foundations of the earth, listen to the Lord's case! The Lord has a case against his people. He is going to bring an accusation against Israel. 3 The Lord says, "My people, what have I done to you? How have I been a burden to you? Answer me. 4 I brought you out of Egypt; I rescued you from slavery; I sent Moses, Aaron, and Miriam to lead you. 5 My people, remember what King Balak of Moab planned to do to you and how Balaam son of Beor answered him. Remember the things that happened on the way from the camp at Acacia to Gilgal. Remember these things and you will realize what I did in order to save you." 6 What shall I bring to the Lord, the God of heaven, when I come to worship him? Shall I bring the best calves to burn as offerings to him? 7 Will the Lord be pleased if I bring him thousands of sheep or endless streams of olive oil? Shall I offer him my first-born child to pay for my sins? 8 No, the Lord has told us what is good. What he requires of us is this: to do what is just, to show constant love, and to live in humble fellowship with our God. 9 It is wise to fear the Lord. He calls to the city, "Listen, you people who assemble in the city! 10 In the houses of evil people are treasures which they got dishonestly. They use false measures, a thing that I hate. 11 How can I forgive those who use false scales and weights? 12 Your rich people exploit the poor, and all of you are liars. 13 So I have already begun your ruin and destruction because of your sins. 14 You will eat, but not be satisfied - in fact you will still be hungry. You will carry things off, but you will not be able to save them; anything you do save I will destroy in war. 15 You will sow grain, but not harvest the crop. You will press oil from olives, but never get to use it. You will make wine, but never drink it. 16 This will happen because you have followed the evil practices of King Omri and of his son, King Ahab. You have continued their policies, and so I will bring you to ruin, and everyone will despise you. People everywhere will treat you with contempt."

Micah 7:1 It's hopeless! I am like a hungry person who finds no fruit left on the trees and no grapes on the vines. All the grapes and all the tasty figs have been picked. 2 There is not an honest person left in the land, no one loyal to God. Everyone is waiting for a chance to commit murder. Everyone hunts down their own people. 3 They are all experts at doing evil. Officials and judges ask for bribes. The influential people tell them what they want, and so they scheme together. 4 Even the best and most honest of them are as worthless as weeds. The day has come when God will punish the people, as he warned them through their watchmen, the prophets. Now they are in confusion. 5 Don't believe your neighbor or trust your friend. Be careful what you say even to your husband or wife. 6 In these times sons treat their fathers like fools, daughters oppose their mothers, and young women quarrel with their mothers-in-law; your enemies are the members of your own family. 7 But I will watch for the Lord; I will wait confidently for God, who will save me. My God will hear me. 8 Our enemies have no reason to gloat over us. We have fallen, but we will rise again. We are in darkness now, but the Lord will give us light. 9 We have sinned against the Lord, so now we must endure his anger for a while. But in the end he will defend us and right the wrongs that have been done to us. He will bring us out to the light; we will live to see him save us. 10 Then our enemies will see this and be disgraced - the same enemies who taunted us by asking, "Where is the Lord your God?" We will see them defeated, trampled down like mud in the streets. 11 People of Jerusalem, the time to rebuild the city walls is coming. At that time your territory will be enlarged. 12 Your people will return to you from everywhere - from Assyria in the east, from Egypt in the south, from the region of the Euphrates River, from distant seas and far-off mountains. 13 But the earth will become a desert because of the wickedness of those who live on it. 14 Be a shepherd to your people, Lord, the people you have chosen. Although they live apart in the wilderness, there is fertile land around them. Let them go and feed in the rich pastures of Bashan and Gilead, as they did long ago. 15 Work miracles for us, Lord, as you did in the days when you brought us out of Egypt. 16 The nations will see this and be frustrated in spite of all their strength. In dismay they will close their mouths and cover their ears. 17 They will crawl in the dust like snakes; they will come from their fortresses, trembling and afraid. They will turn in fear to the Lord our God. 18 There is no other god like you, O Lord; you forgive the sins of your people who have survived. You do not stay angry forever, but you take pleasure in showing us your constant love. 19 You will be merciful to us once again. You will trample our sins underfoot and send them to the bottom of the sea! 20 You will show your faithfulness and constant love to your people, the descendants of Abraham and of Jacob, as you promised our ancestors long ago.

3460-Exodus 6:2 God spoke to Moses and said, "I am the Lord. 3 I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob as Almighty God, but I did not make myself known to them by my holy name, the Lord. 4 I also made my covenant with them, promising to give them the land of Canaan, the land in which they had lived as foreigners. 5 Now I have heard the groaning of the Israelites, whom the Egyptians have enslaved, and I have remembered my covenant. 6 So tell the Israelites that I say to them, "I am the Lord; I will rescue you and set you free from your slavery to the Egyptians. I will raise my mighty arm to bring terrible punishment upon them, and I will save you. 7 I will make you my own people, and I will be your God. You will know that I am the Lord your God when I set you free from slavery in Egypt. 8 I will bring you to the land that I solemnly promised to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; and I will give it to you as your own possession. I am the Lord.' " 9 Moses told this to the Israelites, but they would not listen to him, because their spirit had been broken by their cruel slavery.

Leviticus 1:1 The Lord called to Moses from the Tent of the Lord's presence and gave him the following rules 2 for the Israelites to observe when they offer their sacrifices. When you offer an animal sacrifice, it may be one of your cattle or one of your sheep or goats. 3 If you are offering one of your cattle as a burnt offering, you must bring a bull without any defects. You must present it at the entrance of the Tent of the Lord's presence so that the Lord will accept you. ….10 If you are offering one of your sheep or goats, it must be a male without any defects. ….14 If you are offering a bird as a burnt offering, it must be a dove or a pigeon.

Lev 2:1 When any of you present an offering of grain to the Lord, you must first grind it into flour. You must put olive oil and incense on it

Lev 3:1 When any of you offer one of your cattle as a fellowship offering, it is to be a bull or a cow without any defects.

Lev 5:11 If you cannot afford two doves or two pigeons, you shall bring two pounds of flour as a sin offering. You shall not put any olive oil or any incense on it, because it is a sin offering, not a grain offering.

Deuteronomy 10:12 "Now, people of Israel, listen to what the Lord your God demands of you: Worship the Lord and do all that he commands. Love him, serve him with all your heart, 13 and obey all his laws. I am giving them to you today for your benefit. 14 To the Lord belong even the highest heavens; the earth is his also, and everything on it. 15 But the Lord's love for your ancestors was so strong that he chose you instead of any other people, and you are still his chosen people. 16 So then, from now on be obedient to the Lord and stop being stubborn. 17 The Lord your God is supreme over all gods and over all powers. He is great and mighty, and he is to be obeyed. He does not show partiality, and he does not accept bribes. 18 He makes sure that orphans and widows are treated fairly; he loves the foreigners who live with our people, and gives them food and clothes. 19 So then, show love for those foreigners, because you were once foreigners in Egypt. 20 Have reverence for the Lord your God and worship only him. Be faithful to him and make your promises in his name alone. 21 Praise him - he is your God, and you have seen with your own eyes the great and astounding things that he has done for you. 22 When your ancestors went to Egypt, there were only seventy of them. But now the Lord your God has made you as numerous as the stars in the sky.

1 Samuel 15:22 Samuel said, "Which does the Lord prefer: obedience or offerings and sacrifices? It is better to obey him than to sacrifice the best sheep to him. 23 Rebellion against him is as bad as witchcraft, and arrogance is as sinful as idolatry. Because you rejected the Lord's command, he has rejected you as king."

Psalms 51:16 You do not want sacrifices, or I would offer them; you are not pleased with burnt offerings. 17 My sacrifice is a humble spirit, O God; you will not reject a humble and repentant heart. 18 O God, be kind to Zion and help her; rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. 19 Then you will be pleased with proper sacrifices and with our burnt offerings; and bulls will be sacrificed on your altar.

Isaiah 1:10 Jerusalem, your rulers and your people are like those of Sodom and Gomorrah. Listen to what the Lord is saying to you. Pay attention to what our God is teaching you. 11 He says, "Do you think I want all these sacrifices you keep offering to me? I have had more than enough of the sheep you burn as sacrifices and of the fat of your fine animals. I am tired of the blood of bulls and sheep and goats. 12 Who asked you to bring me all this when you come to worship me? Who asked you to do all this tramping around in my Temple? 13 It's useless to bring your offerings. I am disgusted with the smell of the incense you burn. I cannot stand your New Moon Festivals, your Sabbaths, and your religious gatherings; they are all corrupted by your sins. 14 I hate your New Moon Festivals and holy days; they are a burden that I am tired of bearing. 15 "When you lift your hands in prayer, I will not look at you. No matter how much you pray, I will not listen, for your hands are covered with blood. 16 Wash yourselves clean. Stop all this evil that I see you doing. Yes, stop doing evil 17 and learn to do right. See that justice is done - help those who are oppressed, give orphans their rights, and defend widows." 18 The Lord says, "Now, let's settle the matter. You are stained red with sin, but I will wash you as clean as snow. Although your stains are deep red, you will be as white as wool. 19 If you will only obey me, you will eat the good things the land produces. 20 But if you defy me, you are doomed to die. I, the Lord, have spoken." …..13 The Lord said, "These people claim to worship me, but their words are meaningless, and their hearts are somewhere else. Their religion is nothing but human rules and traditions, which they have simply memorized.

Jeremiah 3:7 I thought that after she had done all this, she would surely return to me. But she did not return, and her unfaithful sister Judah saw it all. 8 Judah also saw that I divorced Israel and sent her away because she had turned from me and had become a prostitute. But Judah, Israel's unfaithful sister, was not afraid. She too became a prostitute 9 and was not at all ashamed. She defiled the land, and she committed adultery by worshiping stones and trees. 10 And after all this, Judah, Israel's unfaithful sister, only pretended to return to me; she was not sincere. I, the Lord, have spoken." 11 Then the Lord told me that, even though Israel had turned away from him, she had proved to be better than unfaithful Judah. 12 He told me to go and say to Israel, "Unfaithful Israel, come back to me. I am merciful and will not be angry; I will not be angry with you forever. 13 Only admit that you are guilty and that you have rebelled against the Lord, your God. Confess that under every green tree you have given your love to foreign gods and that you have not obeyed my commands. I, the Lord, have spoken. 14 "Unfaithful people, come back; you belong to me. I will take one of you from each town and two from each clan, and I will bring you back to Mount Zion. 15 I will give you rulers who obey me, and they will rule you with wisdom and understanding. 16 Then when you have become numerous in that land, people will no longer talk about my Covenant Box. They will no longer think about it or remember it; they will not even need it, nor will they make another one. 17 When that time comes, Jerusalem will be called "The Throne of the Lord,' and all nations will gather there to worship me. They will no longer do what their stubborn and evil hearts tell them. 18 Israel will join with Judah, and together they will come from exile in the country in the north and will return to the land that I gave your ancestors as a permanent possession."

Jer 7:16 The Lord said, "Jeremiah, do not pray for these people. Do not cry or pray on their behalf; do not plead with me, for I will not listen to you. 17 Don't you see what they are doing in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem? 18 The children gather firewood, the men build fires, and the women mix dough to bake cakes for the goddess they call the Queen of Heaven. They also pour out offerings of wine to other gods, in order to hurt me. 19 But am I really the one they are hurting? No, they are hurting themselves and bringing shame on themselves. 20 And so I, the Sovereign Lord, will pour out my fierce anger on this Temple. I will pour it out on people and animals alike, and even on the trees and the crops. My anger will be like a fire that no one can put out. 21 "My people, some sacrifices you burn completely on the altar, and some you are permitted to eat. But what I, the Lord, say is that you might as well eat them all. 22 I gave your ancestors no commands about burnt offerings or any other kinds of sacrifices when I brought them out of Egypt. 23 But I did command them to obey me, so that I would be their God and they would be my people. And I told them to live the way I had commanded them, so that things would go well for them. 24 But they did not obey or pay any attention. Instead, they did whatever their stubborn and evil hearts told them to do, and they became worse instead of better. 25 From the day that your ancestors came out of Egypt until this very day I have kept on sending to you my servants, the prophets. 26 Yet no one listened or paid any attention. Instead, you became more stubborn and rebellious than your ancestors.

Jer 29:10 "The Lord says, "When Babylonia's seventy years are over, I will show my concern for you and keep my promise to bring you back home. 11 I alone know the plans I have for you, plans to bring you prosperity and not disaster, plans to bring about the future you hope for. 12 Then you will call to me. You will come and pray to me, and I will answer you. 13 You will seek me, and you will find me because you will seek me with all your heart. 14 Yes, I say, you will find me, and I will restore you to your land. I will gather you from every country and from every place to which I have scattered you, and I will bring you back to the land from which I had sent you away into exile. I, the Lord, have spoken.'

Jer 31:31 The Lord says, "The time is coming when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and with the people of Judah. 32 It will not be like the old covenant that I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand and led them out of Egypt. Although I was like a husband to them, they did not keep that covenant. 33 The new covenant that I will make with the people of Israel will be this: I will put my law within them and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. 34 None of them will have to teach a neighbor to know the Lord, because all will know me, from the least to the greatest. I will forgive their sins and I will no longer remember their wrongs. I, the Lord, have spoken."

Hosea 6:4 But the Lord says, "Israel and Judah, what am I going to do with you? Your love for me disappears as quickly as morning mist; it is like dew, that vanishes early in the day. 5 That is why I have sent my prophets to you with my message of judgment and destruction. What I want from you is plain and clear: 6 I want your constant love, not your animal sacrifices. I would rather have my people know me than burn offerings to me.

Amos 5:21 The Lord says, "I hate your religious festivals; I cannot stand them! 22 When you bring me burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them; I will not accept the animals you have fattened to bring me as offerings. 23 Stop your noisy songs; I do not want to listen to your harps. 24 Instead, let justice flow like a stream, and righteousness like a river that never goes dry.

Matthew 9:13 Go and find out what is meant by the scripture that says: "It is kindness that I want, not animal sacrifices.' I have not come to call respectable people, but outcasts." …..12:7 The scripture says, "It is kindness that I want, not animal sacrifices.' If you really knew what this means, you would not condemn people who are not guilty;

Romans 2:17 What about you? You call yourself a Jew; you depend on the Law and boast about God; 18 you know what God wants you to do, and you have learned from the Law to choose what is right; 19 you are sure that you are a guide for the blind, a light for those who are in darkness, 20 an instructor for the foolish, and a teacher for the ignorant. You are certain that in the Law you have the full content of knowledge and of truth. 21 You teach others - why don't you teach yourself? You preach, "Do not steal" - but do you yourself steal? 22 You say, "Do not commit adultery" - but do you commit adultery? You detest idols - but do you rob temples? 23 You boast about having God's law - but do you bring shame on God by breaking his law? 24 The scripture says, "Because of you Jews, the Gentiles speak evil of God." 25 If you obey the Law, your circumcision is of value; but if you disobey the Law, you might as well never have been circumcised. 26 If the Gentile, who is not circumcised, obeys the commands of the Law, will not God regard him as though he were circumcised? 27 And so you Jews will be condemned by the Gentiles because you break the Law, even though you have it written down and are circumcised; but they obey the Law, even though they are not physically circumcised. 28 After all, who is a real Jew, truly circumcised? It is not the man who is a Jew on the outside, whose circumcision is a physical thing. 29 Rather, the real Jew is the person who is a Jew on the inside, that is, whose heart has been circumcised, and this is the work of God's Spirit, not of the written Law. Such a person receives praise from God, not from human beings.

Hebrews 9:16 In the case of a will it is necessary to prove that the person who made it has died, 17 for a will means nothing while the person who made it is alive; it goes into effect only after his death. 18 That is why even the first covenant went into effect only with the use of blood. 19 First, Moses proclaimed to the people all the commandments as set forth in the Law. Then he took the blood of bulls and goats, mixed it with water, and sprinkled it on the book of the Law and all the people, using a sprig of hyssop and some red wool. 20 He said, "This is the blood which seals the covenant that God has commanded you to obey." 21 In the same way Moses also sprinkled the blood on the Sacred Tent and over all the things used in worship. 22 Indeed, according to the Law almost everything is purified by blood, and sins are forgiven only if blood is poured out. 23 Those things, which are copies of the heavenly originals, had to be purified in that way. But the heavenly things themselves require much better sacrifices. 24 For Christ did not go into a Holy Place made by human hands, which was a copy of the real one. He went into heaven itself, where he now appears on our behalf in the presence of God. 25 The Jewish high priest goes into the Most Holy Place every year with the blood of an animal. But Christ did not go in to offer himself many times, 26 for then he would have had to suffer many times ever since the creation of the world. Instead, now when all ages of time are nearing the end, he has appeared once and for all, to remove sin through the sacrifice of himself. 27 Everyone must die once, and after that be judged by God. 28 In the same manner Christ also was offered in sacrifice once to take away the sins of many. He will appear a second time, not to deal with sin, but to save those who are waiting for him.

Heb 10:1 The Jewish Law is not a full and faithful model of the real things; it is only a faint outline of the good things to come. The same sacrifices are offered forever, year after year. How can the Law, then, by means of these sacrifices make perfect the people who come to God? 2 If the people worshiping God had really been purified from their sins, they would not feel guilty of sin any more, and all sacrifices would stop. 3 As it is, however, the sacrifices serve year after year to remind people of their sins. 4 For the blood of bulls and goats can never take away sins.

3461-Nahum 3:5 The Lord Almighty says, "I will punish you, Nineveh! I will strip you naked and let the nations see you, see you in all your shame. 6 I will treat you with contempt and cover you with filth. People will stare at you in horror. 7 All who see you will shrink back. They will say, "Nineveh lies in ruins! Who has any sympathy for her? Who will want to comfort her?' "

3462-2 Kings 17:1 In the twelfth year of the reign of King Ahaz of Judah, Hoshea son of Elah became king of Israel, and he ruled in Samaria for nine years. 2 He sinned against the Lord, but not as much as the kings who had ruled Israel before him. 3 Emperor Shalmaneser of Assyria made war against him; Hoshea surrendered to Shalmaneser and paid him tribute every year. 4 But one year Hoshea sent messengers to So, king of Egypt, asking for his help, and stopped paying the annual tribute to Assyria. When Shalmaneser learned of this, he had Hoshea arrested and put in prison. 5 Then Shalmaneser invaded Israel and besieged Samaria. In the third year of the siege, 6 which was the ninth year of the reign of Hoshea, the Assyrian emperor captured Samaria, took the Israelites to Assyria as prisoners, and settled some of them in the city of Halah, some near the Habor River in the district of Gozan and some in the cities of Media. 7 Samaria fell because the Israelites sinned against the Lord their God, who had rescued them from the king of Egypt and had led them out of Egypt. They worshiped other gods, 8 followed the customs of the people whom the Lord had driven out as his people advanced, and adopted customs introduced by the kings of Israel. 9 The Israelites did things that the Lord their God disapproved of. They built pagan places of worship in all their towns, from the smallest village to the largest city. 10 On all the hills and under every shady tree they put up stone pillars and images of the goddess Asherah, 11 and they burned incense on all the pagan altars, following the practice of the people whom the Lord had driven out of the land. They aroused the Lord's anger with all their wicked deeds 12 and disobeyed the Lord's command not to worship idols. 13 The Lord had sent his messengers and prophets to warn Israel and Judah: "Abandon your evil ways and obey my commands, which are contained in the Law I gave to your ancestors and which I handed on to you through my servants the prophets." 14 But they would not obey; they were stubborn like their ancestors, who had not trusted in the Lord their God. 15 They refused to obey his instructions, they did not keep the covenant he had made with their ancestors, and they disregarded his warnings. They worshiped worthless idols and became worthless themselves, and they followed the customs of the surrounding nations, disobeying the Lord's command not to imitate them. 16 They broke all the laws of the Lord their God and made two metal bull-calves to worship; they also made an image of the goddess Asherah, worshiped the stars, and served the god Baal. 17 They sacrificed their sons and daughters as burnt offerings to pagan gods; they consulted mediums and fortunetellers, and they devoted themselves completely to doing what is wrong in the Lord's sight, and so aroused his anger. 18 The Lord was angry with the Israelites and banished them from his sight, leaving only the kingdom of Judah. 19 But even the people of Judah did not obey the laws of the Lord their God; they imitated the customs adopted by the people of Israel. 20 The Lord rejected all the Israelites, punishing them and handing them over to cruel enemies until at last he had banished them from his sight. 21 After the Lord had separated Israel from Judah, the Israelites made Jeroboam son of Nebat their king. Jeroboam caused them to abandon the Lord and led them into terrible sins. 22 They followed Jeroboam and continued to practice all the sins he had committed, 23 until at last the Lord banished them from his sight, as he had warned through his servants the prophets that he would do. So the people of Israel were taken into exile to Assyria, where they still live. 24 The emperor of Assyria took people from the cities of Babylon, Cuth, Ivvah, Hamath, and Sepharvaim, and settled them in the cities of Samaria in place of the exiled Israelites. They took possession of these cities and lived there. 25 When they first settled there, they did not worship the Lord, and so he sent lions, which killed some of them. 26 The emperor of Assyria was told that the people he had settled in the cities of Samaria did not know the law of the god of that land, and so the god had sent lions, which were killing them. 27 So the emperor commanded: "Send back one of the priests we brought as prisoners; have him go back and live there, in order to teach the people the law of the god of that land." 28 So an Israelite priest who had been deported from Samaria went and lived in Bethel, where he taught the people how to worship the Lord. 29 But the people who settled in Samaria continued to make their own idols, and they placed them in the shrines that the Israelites had built. Each different group made idols in the cities they were living in: 30 the people of Babylon made idols of the god Succoth Benoth; the people of Cuth, idols of Nergal; the people of Hamath, idols of Ashima; 31 the people of Ivvah, idols of Nibhaz and Tartak; and the people of Sepharvaim sacrificed their children as burnt offerings to their gods Adrammelech and Anammelech. 32 These people also worshiped the Lord and chose from among their own number all sorts of people to serve as priests at the pagan places of worship and to offer sacrifices for them there. 33 So they worshiped the Lord, but they also worshiped their own gods according to the customs of the countries from which they had come. 34 They still carry on their old customs to this day. They do not worship the Lord nor do they obey the laws and commands which he gave to the descendants of Jacob, whom he named Israel. 35 The Lord had made a covenant with them and had ordered them: "Do not worship other gods; do not bow down to them or serve them or offer sacrifices to them. 36 You shall obey me, the Lord, who brought you out of Egypt with great power and strength; you are to bow down to me and offer sacrifices to me. 37 You shall always obey the laws and commands that I wrote for you. You shall not obey other gods, 38 and you shall not forget the covenant I made with you. 39 You shall obey me, the Lord your God, and I will rescue you from your enemies." 40 But those people would not listen, and they continued to follow their old customs. 41 So those people worshiped the Lord, but they also worshiped their idols; and to this day their descendants continue to do the same.

3463-2 Kings 19:35 That night an angel of the Lord went to the Assyrian camp and killed 185,000 soldiers. At dawn the next day there they lay, all dead!

Isaiah 37:36 An angel of the Lord went to the Assyrian camp and killed 185,000 soldiers. At dawn the next day there they lay, all dead!

2 Chronicles 32:21 The Lord sent an angel that killed the soldiers and officers of the Assyrian army. So the emperor went back to Assyria disgraced. One day when he was in the temple of his god, some of his sons killed him with their swords.

3464-Nahum 3:8 Nineveh, are you any better than Thebes, the capital of Egypt? She too had a river to protect her like a wall - the Nile was her defense. 9 She ruled Ethiopia and Egypt, there was no limit to her power; Libya was her ally. 10 Yet the people of Thebes were carried off into exile. At every street corner their children were beaten to death. Their leading men were carried off in chains and divided among their captors.

3465-2 Kings 22:1 Josiah was eight years old when he became king of Judah, and he ruled in Jerusalem for thirty-one years. His mother was Jedidah, the daughter of Adaiah from the town of Bozkath. 2 Josiah did what was pleasing to the Lord; he followed the example of his ancestor King David, strictly obeying all the laws of God. 3 In the eighteenth year of his reign, King Josiah sent the court secretary Shaphan, the son of Azaliah and grandson of Meshullam, to the Temple with the order: 4 "Go to the High Priest Hilkiah and get a report on the amount of money that the priests on duty at the entrance to the Temple have collected from the people. 5 Tell him to give the money to the men who are in charge of the repairs in the Temple. They are to pay 6 the carpenters, the builders, and the masons, and buy the timber and the stones used in the repairs. 7 The men in charge of the work are thoroughly honest, so there is no need to require them to account for the funds." 8 Shaphan delivered the king's order to Hilkiah, and Hilkiah told him that he had found the book of the Law in the Temple. Hilkiah gave him the book, and Shaphan read it. 9 Then he went back to the king and reported: "Your servants have taken the money that was in the Temple and have handed it over to the men in charge of the repairs." 10 And then he said, "I have here a book that Hilkiah gave me." And he read it aloud to the king. 11 When the king heard the book being read, he tore his clothes in dismay, 12 and gave the following order to Hilkiah the priest, to Ahikam son of Shaphan, to Achbor son of Micaiah, to Shaphan, the court secretary, and to Asaiah, the king's attendant: 13 "Go and consult the Lord for me and for all the people of Judah about the teachings of this book. The Lord is angry with us because our ancestors have not done what this book says must be done." 14 Hilkiah, Ahikam, Achbor, Shaphan, and Asaiah went to consult a woman named Huldah, a prophet who lived in the newer part of Jerusalem. (Her husband Shallum, the son of Tikvah and grandson of Harhas, was in charge of the Temple robes.) They described to her what had happened, 15 and she told them to go back to the king and give him 16 the following message from the Lord: "I am going to punish Jerusalem and all its people, as written in the book that the king has read. 17 They have rejected me and have offered sacrifices to other gods, and so have stirred up my anger by all they have done. My anger is aroused against Jerusalem, and it will not die down. 18 As for the king himself, this is what I, the Lord God of Israel, say: You listened to what is written in the book, 19 and you repented and humbled yourself before me, tearing your clothes and weeping, when you heard how I threatened to punish Jerusalem and its people. I will make it a terrifying sight, a place whose name people will use as a curse. But I have heard your prayer, 20 and the punishment which I am going to bring on Jerusalem will not come until after your death. I will let you die in peace." The men returned to King Josiah with this message.

2 Kings 23:1 King Josiah summoned all the leaders of Judah and Jerusalem, 2 and together they went to the Temple, accompanied by the priests and the prophets and all the rest of the people, rich and poor alike. Before them all the king read aloud the whole book of the covenant which had been found in the Temple. 3 He stood by the royal column and made a covenant with the Lord to obey him, to keep his laws and commands with all his heart and soul, and to put into practice the demands attached to the covenant, as written in the book. And all the people promised to keep the covenant. 4 Then Josiah ordered the High Priest Hilkiah, his assistant priests, and the guards on duty at the entrance to the Temple to bring out of the Temple all the objects used in the worship of Baal, of the goddess Asherah, and of the stars. The king burned all these objects outside the city near Kidron Valley and then had the ashes taken to Bethel. 5 He removed from office the priests that the kings of Judah had ordained to offer sacrifices on the pagan altars in the cities of Judah and in places near Jerusalem - all the priests who offered sacrifices to Baal, to the sun, the moon, the planets, and the stars. 6 He removed from the Temple the symbol of the goddess Asherah, took it out of the city to Kidron Valley, burned it, pounded its ashes to dust, and scattered it over the public burying ground. 7 He destroyed the living quarters in the Temple occupied by the temple prostitutes. (It was there that women wove robes used in the worship of Asherah.) 8 He brought to Jerusalem the priests who were in the cities of Judah, and throughout the whole country he desecrated the altars where they had offered sacrifices. He also tore down the altars dedicated to the goat demons near the gate built by Joshua, the city governor, which was to the left of the main gate as one enters the city. 9 Those priests were not allowed to serve in the Temple, but they could eat the unleavened bread provided for their fellow priests. 10 King Josiah also desecrated Topheth, the pagan place of worship in Hinnom Valley, so that no one could sacrifice his son or daughter as a burnt offering to the god Molech. 11 He also removed the horses that the kings of Judah had dedicated to the worship of the sun, and he burned the chariots used in this worship. (These were kept in the temple courtyard, near the gate and not far from the living quarters of Nathan Melech, a high official.) 12 The altars which the kings of Judah had built on the palace roof above King Ahaz' quarters, King Josiah tore down, along with the altars put up by King Manasseh in the two courtyards of the Temple; he smashed the altars to bits and threw them into Kidron Valley. 13 Josiah desecrated the altars that King Solomon had built east of Jerusalem, south of the Mount of Olives, for the worship of disgusting idols - Astarte the goddess of Sidon, Chemosh the god of Moab, and Molech the god of Ammon. 14 King Josiah broke the stone pillars to pieces, cut down the symbols of the goddess Asherah, and the ground where they had stood he covered with human bones. 15 Josiah also tore down the place of worship in Bethel, which had been built by King Jeroboam son of Nebat, who led Israel into sin. Josiah pulled down the altar, broke its stones into pieces, and pounded them to dust; he also burned the image of Asherah. 16 Then Josiah looked around and saw some tombs there on the hill; he had the bones taken out of them and burned on the altar. In this way he desecrated the altar, doing what the prophet had predicted long before during the festival as King Jeroboam was standing by the altar. King Josiah looked around and saw the tomb of the prophet who had made this prediction. 17 "Whose tomb is that?" he asked. The people of Bethel answered, "It is the tomb of the prophet who came from Judah and predicted these things that you have done to this altar." 18 "Leave it as it is," Josiah ordered. "His bones are not to be moved." So his bones were not moved, neither were those of the prophet who had come from Samaria. 19 In every city of Israel King Josiah tore down all the pagan places of worship which had been built by the kings of Israel, who thereby aroused the Lord's anger. He did to all those altars what he had done in Bethel. 20 He killed all the pagan priests on the altars where they served, and he burned human bones on every altar. Then he returned to Jerusalem. 21 King Josiah ordered the people to celebrate the Passover in honor of the Lord their God, as written in the book of the covenant. 22 No Passover like this one had ever been celebrated by any of the kings of Israel or of Judah, since the time when judges ruled the nation. 23 Now at last, in the eighteenth year of the reign of Josiah, the Passover was celebrated in Jerusalem. 24 In order to enforce the laws written in the book that the High Priest Hilkiah had found in the Temple, King Josiah removed from Jerusalem and the rest of Judah all the mediums and fortunetellers, and all the household gods, idols, and all other pagan objects of worship. 25 There had never been a king like him before, who served the Lord with all his heart, mind, and strength, obeying all the Law of Moses; nor has there been a king like him since. 26 But the Lord's fierce anger had been aroused against Judah by what King Manasseh had done, and even now it did not die down. 27 The Lord said, "I will do to Judah what I have done to Israel: I will banish the people of Judah from my sight, and I will reject Jerusalem, the city I chose, and the Temple, the place I said was where I should be worshiped." 28 Everything else that King Josiah did is recorded in [The History of the Kings of Judah.] 29 While Josiah was king, King Neco of Egypt led an army to the Euphrates River to help the emperor of Assyria. King Josiah tried to stop the Egyptian army at Megiddo and was killed in battle. 30 His officials placed his body in a chariot and took it back to Jerusalem, where he was buried in the royal tombs. The people of Judah chose Josiah's son Joahaz and anointed him king. 31 Joahaz was twenty-three years old when he became king of Judah, and he ruled in Jerusalem for three months. His mother was Hamutal, the daughter of Jeremiah from the city of Libnah. 32 Following the example of his ancestors, he sinned against the Lord. 33 His reign ended when King Neco of Egypt took him prisoner in Riblah, in the land of Hamath, and made Judah pay 7,500 pounds of silver and 75 pounds of gold as tribute. 34 King Neco made Josiah's son Eliakim king of Judah as successor to Josiah, and changed his name to Jehoiakim. Joahaz was taken to Egypt by King Neco, and there he died. 35 King Jehoiakim collected a tax from the people in proportion to their wealth, in order to raise the amount needed to pay the tribute demanded by the king of Egypt. 36 Jehoiakim was twenty-five years old when he became king of Judah, and he ruled in Jerusalem for eleven years. His mother was Zebidah, the daughter of Pedaiah from the town of Rumah. 37 Following the example of his ancestors, Jehoiakim sinned against the Lord.

3466-Nahum 2:12 The lion killed his prey and tore it to pieces for his mate and her cubs; he filled his den with torn flesh.

3467-Nahum 3:4 Nineveh the whore is being punished. Attractive and full of deadly charms, she enchanted nations and enslaved them.

3468-Nahum 1:2 The Lord God tolerates no rivals; he punishes those who oppose him. In his anger he pays them back. 3 The Lord does not easily become angry, but he is powerful and never lets the guilty go unpunished. Where the Lord walks, storms arise; the clouds are the dust raised by his feet! 4 He commands the sea, and it dries up! He makes the rivers go dry. The fields of Bashan wither, Mount Carmel turns brown, and the flowers of Lebanon fade. 5 Mountains quake in the presence of the Lord; hills melt before him. The earth shakes when the Lord appears; the world and all its people tremble. 6 When he is angry, who can survive? Who can survive his terrible fury? He pours out his flaming anger; rocks crumble to dust before him. 7 The Lord is good; he protects his people in times of trouble; he takes care of those who turn to him. 8 Like a great rushing flood he completely destroys his enemies; he sends to their death those who oppose him. 9 What are you plotting against the Lord? He will destroy you. No one opposes him more than once. 10 Like tangled thorns and dry straw you drunkards will be burned up!

3469-Nahum 1:2 The Lord God tolerates no rivals; he punishes those who oppose him. In his anger he pays them back. 3 The Lord does not easily become angry, but he is powerful and never lets the guilty go unpunished. Where the Lord walks, storms arise; the clouds are the dust raised by his feet! 4 He commands the sea, and it dries up! He makes the rivers go dry. The fields of Bashan wither, Mount Carmel turns brown, and the flowers of Lebanon fade. 5 Mountains quake in the presence of the Lord; hills melt before him. The earth shakes when the Lord appears; the world and all its people tremble. 6 When he is angry, who can survive? Who can survive his terrible fury? He pours out his flaming anger; rocks crumble to dust before him. 7 The Lord is good; he protects his people in times of trouble; he takes care of those who turn to him. 8 Like a great rushing flood he completely destroys his enemies; he sends to their death those who oppose him.

3470-Nahum 1:2 The Lord God tolerates no rivals; he punishes those who oppose him. In his anger he pays them back. 3 The Lord does not easily become angry, but he is powerful and never lets the guilty go unpunished. Where the Lord walks, storms arise; the clouds are the dust raised by his feet!

3471-Matt. 5:43 "You have heard that it was said, "Love your friends, hate your enemies.' 44 But now I tell you: love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 so that you may become the children of your Father in heaven. For he makes his sun to shine on bad and good people alike, and gives rain to those who do good and to those who do evil. 46 Why should God reward you if you love only the people who love you? Even the tax collectors do that! 47 And if you speak only to your friends, have you done anything out of the ordinary? Even the pagans do that! 48 You must be perfect - just as your Father in heaven is perfect.

3472-Matt. 5:21 "You have heard that people were told in the past, "Do not commit murder; anyone who does will be brought to trial.' ….29 So if your right eye causes you to sin, take it out and throw it away! It is much better for you to lose a part of your body than to have your whole body thrown into hell. 30 If your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away! It is much better for you to lose one of your limbs than to have your whole body go off to hell.

Matt 7:13 "Go in through the narrow gate, because the gate to hell is wide and the road that leads to it is easy, and there are many who travel it. ….23 Then I will say to them, "I never knew you. Get away from me, you wicked people!'

3473-Matt. 26:52 "Put your sword back in its place," Jesus said to him. "All who take the sword will die by the sword.

3474-Nahum 1:7 The Lord is good; he protects his people in times of trouble; he takes care of those who turn to him. 8 Like a great rushing flood he completely destroys his enemies; he sends to their death those who oppose him.

3475-Isaiah 28:21 The Lord will fight as he did at Mount Perazim and in the valley of Gibeon, in order to do what he intends to do - strange as his actions may seem. He will complete his work, his mysterious work

3476-Deuteronomy 8:15 He led you through that vast and terrifying desert where there were poisonous snakes and scorpions. In that dry and waterless land he made water flow out of solid rock for you.

3477-Deuteronomy 31:16 The Lord said to Moses, "You will soon die, and after your death the people will become unfaithful to me and break the covenant that I made with them. They will abandon me and worship the pagan gods of the land they are about to enter. 17 When that happens, I will become angry with them; I will abandon them, and they will be destroyed. Many terrible disasters will come upon them, and then they will realize that these things are happening to them because I, their God, am no longer with them. 18 And I will refuse to help them then, because they have done evil and worshiped other gods.

Joshua 7:1 The Lord's command to Israel not to take from Jericho anything that was to be destroyed was not obeyed. A man named Achan disobeyed that order, and so the Lord was furious with the Israelites. (Achan was the son of Carmi and grandson of Zabdi, and belonged to the clan of Zerah, a part of the tribe of Judah.) 2 Joshua sent some men from Jericho to Ai, a city east of Bethel, near Bethaven, with orders to go and explore the land. When they had done so, 3 they reported back to Joshua: "There is no need for everyone to attack Ai. Send only about two or three thousand men. Don't send the whole army up there to fight; it is not a large city." 4 So about three thousand Israelites made the attack, but they were forced to retreat. 5 The men of Ai chased them from the city gate as far as some quarries and killed about thirty-six of them on the way down the hill. Then the Israelites lost their courage and were afraid. 6 Joshua and the leaders of Israel tore their clothes in grief, threw themselves to the ground before the Lord's Covenant Box, and lay there till evening, with dust on their heads to show their sorrow. 7 And Joshua said, "Sovereign Lord! Why did you bring us across the Jordan at all? To turn us over to the Amorites? To destroy us? Why didn't we just stay on the other side of the Jordan? 8 What can I say, O Lord, now that Israel has retreated from the enemy? 9 The Canaanites and everyone else in the country will hear about it. They will surround us and kill every one of us! And then what will you do to protect your honor?" 10 The Lord said to Joshua, "Get up! Why are you lying on the ground like this? 11 Israel has sinned! They have broken the agreement with me that I ordered them to keep. They have taken some of the things condemned to destruction. They stole them, lied about it, and put them with their own things. 12 This is why the Israelites cannot stand against their enemies. They retreat from them because they themselves have now been condemned to destruction! I will not stay with you any longer unless you destroy the things you were ordered not to take!

Josh 23:16 If you do not keep the covenant which the Lord your God commanded you to keep and if you serve and worship other gods, then in his anger he will punish you, and soon none of you will be left in this good land that he has given you."

Judges 2:12 They stopped worshiping the Lord, the God of their ancestors, the God who had brought them out of Egypt, and they began to worship other gods, the gods of the peoples around them. They bowed down to them and made the Lord angry. 13 They stopped worshiping the Lord and served the Baals and the Astartes. 14 And so the Lord became furious with Israel and let raiders attack and rob them. He let the enemies all around overpower them, and the Israelites could no longer protect themselves. …..19 But when the leader died, the people would return to the old ways and behave worse than the previous generation. They would serve and worship other gods, and stubbornly continue their own evil ways. 20 Then the Lord would become furious with Israel and say, "This nation has broken the covenant that I commanded their ancestors to keep. Because they have not obeyed me, 21 I will no longer drive out any of the nations that were still in the land when Joshua died. 22 I will use them to find out whether or not these Israelites will follow my ways, as their ancestors did." 23 So the Lord allowed these nations to remain in the land; he did not give Joshua victory over them, nor did he drive them out soon after Joshua's death.

Judges 3:7 The people of Israel forgot the Lord their God; they sinned against him and worshiped the idols of Baal and Asherah. 8 So the Lord became angry with Israel and let King Cushan Rishathaim of Mesopotamia conquer them. They were subject to him for eight years. 9 Then the Israelites cried out to the Lord, and he sent someone to free them. This was Othniel, the son of Caleb's younger brother Kenaz.

Judges 10:6 Once again the Israelites sinned against the Lord by worshiping the Baals and the Astartes, as well as the gods of Syria, of Sidon, of Moab, of Ammon, and of Philistia. They abandoned the Lord and stopped worshiping him. 7 So the Lord became angry with the Israelites, and let the Philistines and the Ammonites conquer them. 8 For eighteen years they oppressed and persecuted all the Israelites who lived in Amorite country east of the Jordan River in Gilead. 9 The Ammonites even crossed the Jordan to fight the tribes of Judah, Benjamin, and Ephraim. Israel was in great distress. 10 Then the Israelites cried out to the Lord and said, "We have sinned against you, for we left you, our God, and worshiped the Baals." 11 The Lord gave them this answer: "The Egyptians, the Amorites, the Ammonites, the Philistines, 12 the Sidonians, the Amalekites, and the Maonites oppressed you in the past, and you cried out to me. Did I not save you from them?

3478-John 9:1 As Jesus was walking along, he saw a man who had been born blind. 2 His disciples asked him, "Teacher, whose sin caused him to be born blind? Was it his own or his parents' sin?" 3 Jesus answered, "His blindness has nothing to do with his sins or his parents' sins. He is blind so that God's power might be seen at work in him.

3479-Nahum 1:1 This is a message about Nineveh, the account of a vision seen by Nahum, who was from Elkosh. 2 The Lord God tolerates no rivals; he punishes those who oppose him. In his anger he pays them back. 3 The Lord does not easily become angry, but he is powerful and never lets the guilty go unpunished. Where the Lord walks, storms arise; the clouds are the dust raised by his feet! 4 He commands the sea, and it dries up! He makes the rivers go dry. The fields of Bashan wither, Mount Carmel turns brown, and the flowers of Lebanon fade. 5 Mountains quake in the presence of the Lord; hills melt before him. The earth shakes when the Lord appears; the world and all its people tremble. 6 When he is angry, who can survive? Who can survive his terrible fury? He pours out his flaming anger; rocks crumble to dust before him. …..8 Like a great rushing flood he completely destroys his enemies; he sends to their death those who oppose him. 9 What are you plotting against the Lord? He will destroy you. No one opposes him more than once. 10 Like tangled thorns and dry straw you drunkards will be burned up!

3480-Nahum 1:7 The Lord is good; he protects his people in times of trouble; he takes care of those who turn to him.

3481-Hosea 11:7 They insist on turning away from me. They will cry out because of the yoke that is on them, but no one will lift it from them. 8 "How can I give you up, Israel? How can I abandon you? Could I ever destroy you as I did Admah, or treat you as I did Zeboiim? My heart will not let me do it! My love for you is too strong.

3482-Romans 1:18 God's anger is revealed from heaven against all the sin and evil of the people whose evil ways prevent the truth from being known. …..24 And so God has given those people over to do the filthy things their hearts desire, and they do shameful things with each other. ….26 Because they do this, God has given them over to shameful passions. Even the women pervert the natural use of their sex by unnatural acts. …..28 Because those people refuse to keep in mind the true knowledge about God, he has given them over to corrupted minds, so that they do the things that they should not do.

3483-Romans 2:4 Or perhaps you despise his great kindness, tolerance, and patience. Surely you know that God is kind, because he is trying to lead you to repent.

3484-Exodus 20:18 When the people heard the thunder and the trumpet blast and saw the lightning and the smoking mountain, they trembled with fear and stood a long way off. 19 They said to Moses, "If you speak to us, we will listen; but we are afraid that if God speaks to us, we will die." 20 Moses replied, "Don't be afraid; God has only come to test you and make you keep on obeying him, so that you will not sin."

3485-2 Kings 2:24 Elisha turned around, glared at them, and cursed them in the name of the Lord. Then two she-bears came out of the woods and tore forty-two of the boys to pieces.

3486-Leviticus 10:1 Aaron's sons, Nadab and Abihu, each took his fire pan, put live coals in it, added incense, and presented it to the Lord. But this fire was not holy, because the Lord had not commanded them to present it. 2 Suddenly the Lord sent fire, and it burned them to death there in the presence of the Lord. 3 Then Moses said to Aaron, "This is what the Lord was speaking about when he said, "All who serve me must respect my holiness; I will reveal my glory to my people.' " But Aaron remained silent. 4 Moses called Mishael and Elzaphan, the sons of Uzziel, Aaron's uncle, and said to them, "Come here and carry your cousins' bodies away from the sacred Tent and put them outside the camp." 5 So they came and took hold of the clothing on the corpses and carried them outside the camp, just as Moses had commanded. 6 Then Moses said to Aaron and to his sons Eleazar and Ithamar, "Do not leave your hair uncombed or tear your clothes to show that you are in mourning. If you do, you will die, and the Lord will be angry with the whole community. But all other Israelites are allowed to mourn this death caused by the fire which the Lord sent. 7 Do not leave the entrance of the Tent or you will die, because you have been consecrated by the anointing oil of the Lord." So they did as Moses said. 8 The Lord said to Aaron, 9 "You and your sons are not to enter the Tent of my presence after drinking wine or beer; if you do, you will die. This is a law to be kept by all your descendants. 10 You must distinguish between what belongs to God and what is for general use, between what is ritually clean and what is unclean. 11 You must teach the people of Israel all the laws which I have given to you through Moses."

3487-Numbers 16:1 Korah son of Izhar, from the Levite clan of Kohath, rebelled against the leadership of Moses. He was joined by three members of the tribe of Reuben - Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, and On son of Peleth - and by 250 other Israelites, well-known leaders chosen by the community. 3 They assembled before Moses and Aaron and said to them, "You have gone too far! All the members of the community belong to the Lord, and the Lord is with all of us. Why, then, Moses, do you set yourself above the Lord's community?" 4 When Moses heard this, he threw himself on the ground and prayed. 5 Then he said to Korah and his followers, "Tomorrow morning the Lord will show us who belongs to him; he will let the one who belongs to him, that is, the one he has chosen, approach him at the altar. 6 Tomorrow morning you and your followers take fire pans, put live coals and incense on them, and take them to the altar. Then we will see which of us the Lord has chosen. You Levites are the ones who have gone too far!" 8 Moses continued to speak to Korah. "Listen, you Levites! 9 Do you consider it a small matter that the God of Israel has set you apart from the rest of the community, so that you can approach him, perform your service in the Lord's Tent, and minister to the community and serve them? 10 He has let you and all the other Levites have this honor - and now you are trying to get the priesthood too! 11 When you complain against Aaron, it is really against the Lord that you and your followers are rebelling." 12 Then Moses sent for Dathan and Abiram, but they said, "We will not come! 13 Isn't it enough that you have brought us out of the fertile land of Egypt to kill us here in the wilderness? Do you also have to lord it over us? 14 You certainly have not brought us into a fertile land or given us fields and vineyards as our possession, and now you are trying to deceive us. We will not come!" 15 Moses became angry and said to the Lord, "Do not accept any offerings these men bring. I have not wronged any of them; I have not even taken one of their donkeys." 16 Moses said to Korah, "Tomorrow you and your 250 followers must come to the Tent of the Lord's presence; Aaron will also be there. 17 Each of you will take his fire pan, put incense on it, and then present it at the altar." 18 So they each took their fire pans, put live coals and incense on them, and stood at the entrance of the Tent with Moses and Aaron. 19 Then Korah gathered the whole community, and they stood facing Moses and Aaron at the entrance of the Tent. Suddenly the dazzling light of the Lord's presence appeared to the whole community, 20 and the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, 21 "Move back from these people, and I will destroy them immediately." 22 But Moses and Aaron bowed down with their faces to the ground and said, "O God, you are the source of all life. When one of us sins, do you become angry with the whole community?" 23 The Lord said to Moses, 24 "Tell the people to move away from the tents of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram." 25 Then Moses, accompanied by the leaders of Israel, went to Dathan and Abiram. 26 He said to the people, "Get away from the tents of these wicked men and don't touch anything that belongs to them. Otherwise, you will be wiped out with them for all their sins." 27 So they moved away from the tents of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram. Dathan and Abiram had come out and were standing at the entrance of their tents, with their wives and children. 28 Moses said to the people, "This is how you will know that the Lord has sent me to do all these things and that it is not by my own choice that I have done them. 29 If these men die a natural death without some punishment from God, then the Lord did not send me. 30 But if the Lord does something unheard of, and the earth opens up and swallows them with all they own, so that they go down alive to the world of the dead, you will know that these men have rejected the Lord." 31 As soon as he had finished speaking, the ground under Dathan and Abiram split open 32 and swallowed them and their families, together with all of Korah's followers and their possessions. 33 So they went down alive to the world of the dead, with their possessions. The earth closed over them, and they vanished. 34 All the people of Israel who were there fled when they heard their cry. They shouted, "Run! The earth might swallow us too!" 35 Then the Lord sent a fire that blazed out and burned up the 250 men who had presented the incense.

3488-2 Samuel 6:1 Once more David called together the best soldiers in Israel, a total of thirty thousand men, 2 and led them to Baalah in Judah, in order to bring from there God's Covenant Box, bearing the name of the Lord Almighty, whose throne is above the winged creatures. 3 They took it from Abinadab's home on the hill and placed it on a new cart. Uzzah and Ahio, sons of Abinadab, were guiding the cart, 4 with Ahio walking in front. 5 David and all the Israelites were dancing and singing with all their might to honor the Lord. They were playing harps, lyres, drums, rattles, and cymbals. 6 As they came to the threshing place of Nacon, the oxen stumbled, and Uzzah reached out and took hold of the Covenant Box. 7 At once the Lord God became angry with Uzzah and killed him because of his irreverence. Uzzah died there beside the Covenant Box, 8 and so that place has been called Perez Uzzah ever since. David was furious because the Lord had punished Uzzah in anger.

3489-Revelation 14:6 Then I saw another angel flying high in the air, with an eternal message of Good News to announce to the peoples of the earth, to every race, tribe, language, and nation. 7 He said in a loud voice, "Honor God and praise his greatness! For the time has come for him to judge all people. Worship him who made heaven, earth, sea, and the springs of water!" 8 A second angel followed the first one, saying, "She has fallen! Great Babylon has fallen! She made all peoples drink her wine - the strong wine of her immoral lust!" 9 A third angel followed the first two, saying in a loud voice, "Those who worship the beast and its image and receive the mark on their forehead or on their hand 10 will themselves drink God's wine, the wine of his fury, which he has poured at full strength into the cup of his anger! All who do this will be tormented in fire and sulfur before the holy angels and the Lamb. 11 The smoke of the fire that torments them goes up forever and ever. There is no relief day or night for those who worship the beast and its image, for anyone who has the mark of its name." 12 This calls for endurance on the part of God's people, those who obey God's commandments and are faithful to Jesus.

3490-Hab. 1:1 This is the message that the Lord revealed to the prophet Habakkuk.

Hab 3:1 This is a prayer of the prophet Habakkuk:

3491-Hab. 3:19 The Sovereign Lord gives me strength. He makes me sure-footed as a deer and keeps me safe on the mountains.

3492-Jer. 46:1 The Lord spoke to me about the nations, 2 beginning with Egypt. This is what he said about the army of King Neco of Egypt, which King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia defeated at Carchemish near the Euphrates River in the fourth year that Jehoiakim was king of Judah: 3 "The Egyptian officers shout, "Get your shields ready and march into battle! 4 Harness your horses and mount them! Fall in line and put on your helmets! Sharpen your spears! Put on your armor!' 5 "But what do I see?" asks the Lord. "They are turning back in terror. Their soldiers are beaten back; overcome with fear, they run as fast as they can and do not look back. 6 Those who run fast cannot get away; the soldiers cannot escape. In the north, by the Euphrates, they stumble and fall. 7 Who is this that rises like the Nile, like a river flooding its banks? 8 It is Egypt, rising like the Nile, like a river flooding its banks. Egypt said, "I will rise and cover the world; I will destroy cities and the people who live there. 9 Command the horses to go and the chariots to roll! Send out the soldiers: men from Ethiopia and Libya, carrying shields, and skilled archers from Lydia.' " 10 This is the day of the Sovereign Lord Almighty: today he will take revenge; today he will punish his enemies. His sword will eat them until it is full, and drink their blood until it is satisfied. Today the Almighty sacrifices his victims in the north, by the Euphrates. 11 People of Egypt, go to Gilead and look for medicine! All your medicine has proved useless; nothing can heal you. 12 Nations have heard of your shame; everyone has heard you cry. One soldier trips over another, and both of them fall to the ground.

3493-2 Chronicles 36:6 King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia invaded Judah, captured Jehoiakim, and took him to Babylonia in chains. 7 Nebuchadnezzar carried off some of the treasures of the Temple and put them in his palace in Babylon.

2 Kings 24:1 While Jehoiakim was king, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia invaded Judah, and for three years Jehoiakim was forced to submit to his rule; then he rebelled. 2 The Lord sent armed bands of Babylonians, Syrians, Moabites, and Ammonites against Jehoiakim to destroy Judah, as the Lord had said through his servants the prophets that he would do. 3 This happened at the Lord's command, in order to banish the people of Judah from his sight because of all the sins that King Manasseh had committed, 4 and especially because of all the innocent people he had killed. The Lord could not forgive Manasseh for that.

Jer. 22:13 Doomed is the one who builds his house by injustice and enlarges it by dishonesty; who makes his people work for nothing and does not pay their wages. 14 Doomed is the one who says, "I will build myself a mansion with spacious rooms upstairs." So he puts windows in his house, panels it with cedar, and paints it red. 15 Does it make you a better king if you build houses of cedar, finer than those of others? Your father enjoyed a full life. He was always just and fair, and he prospered in everything he did. 16 He gave the poor a fair trial, and all went well with him. That is what it means to know the Lord. 17 But you can only see your selfish interests; you kill the innocent and violently oppress your people. The Lord has spoken. 18 So then, the Lord says about Josiah's son Jehoiakim, king of Judah, "No one will mourn his death or say, "How terrible, my friend, how terrible!' No one will weep for him or cry, "My lord! My king!' 19 With the funeral honors of a donkey, he will be dragged away and thrown outside Jerusalem's gates."

Jer 25:1 In the fourth year that Jehoiakim son of Josiah was king of Judah, I received a message from the Lord concerning all the people of Judah. (This was the first year that Nebuchadnezzar was king of Babylonia.) 2 I said to all the people of Judah and of Jerusalem, 3 "For twenty-three years, from the thirteenth year that Josiah son of Amon was king of Judah until this very day, the Lord has spoken to me, and I have never failed to tell you what he said. But you have paid no attention. 4 You would not listen or pay attention, even though the Lord has continued to send you his servants the prophets. 5 They told you to turn from your wicked way of life and from the evil things you are doing, so that you could go on living in the land that the Lord gave you and your ancestors as a permanent possession. 6 They told you not to worship and serve other gods and not to make the Lord angry by worshiping the idols you had made. If you had obeyed the Lord, then he would not have punished you. 7 But the Lord himself says that you refused to listen to him. Instead, you made him angry with your idols and have brought his punishment on yourselves. 8 "So then, because you would not listen to him, the Lord Almighty says, 9 "I am going to send for all the peoples from the north and for my servant, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia. I am going to bring them to fight against Judah and its inhabitants and against all the neighboring nations. I am going to destroy this nation and its neighbors and leave them in ruins forever, a terrible and shocking sight. I, the Lord, have spoken.

Dan. 1:1 In the third year that Jehoiakim was king of Judah, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia attacked Jerusalem and surrounded the city.

Hab. 1:6 I am bringing the Babylonians to power, those fierce, restless people. They are marching out across the world to conquer other lands.

3494-2 Chr. 36:15 The Lord, the God of their ancestors, had continued to send prophets to warn his people, because he wanted to spare them and the Temple. 16 But they made fun of God's messengers, ignoring his words and laughing at his prophets, until at last the Lord's anger against his people was so great that there was no escape. 17 So the Lord brought the king of Babylonia to attack them. The king killed the young men of Judah even in the Temple. He had no mercy on anyone, young or old, man or woman, sick or healthy. God handed them all over to him. 18 The king of Babylonia looted the Temple, the Temple treasury, and the wealth of the king and his officials, and took everything back to Babylon. 19 He burned down the Temple and the city, with all its palaces and its wealth, and broke down the city wall. 20 He took all the survivors to Babylonia, where they served him and his descendants as slaves until the rise of the Persian Empire. 21 And so what the Lord had foretold through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled: "The land will lie desolate for seventy years, to make up for the Sabbath rest that has not been observed."

3495-Hab. 1:5 Then the Lord said to his people, "Keep watching the nations around you, and you will be astonished at what you see. I am going to do something that you will not believe when you hear about it. 6 I am bringing the Babylonians to power, those fierce, restless people. They are marching out across the world to conquer other lands. 7 They spread fear and terror, and in their pride they are a law to themselves. 8 "Their horses are faster than leopards, fiercer than hungry wolves. Their cavalry troops come riding from distant lands; their horses paw the ground. They come swooping down like eagles attacking their prey. 9 "Their armies advance in violent conquest, and everyone is terrified as they approach. Their captives are as numerous as grains of sand. 10 They treat kings with contempt and laugh at high officials. No fortress can stop them - they pile up earth against it and capture it. 11 Then they sweep on like the wind and are gone, these men whose power is their god."

3496-Jer. 22:13 Doomed is the one who builds his house by injustice and enlarges it by dishonesty; who makes his people work for nothing and does not pay their wages. 14 Doomed is the one who says, "I will build myself a mansion with spacious rooms upstairs." So he puts windows in his house, panels it with cedar, and paints it red. 15 Does it make you a better king if you build houses of cedar, finer than those of others? Your father enjoyed a full life. He was always just and fair, and he prospered in everything he did. 16 He gave the poor a fair trial, and all went well with him. That is what it means to know the Lord. 17 But you can only see your selfish interests; you kill the innocent and violently oppress your people. The Lord has spoken. 18 So then, the Lord says about Josiah's son Jehoiakim, king of Judah, "No one will mourn his death or say, "How terrible, my friend, how terrible!' No one will weep for him or cry, "My lord! My king!' 19 With the funeral honors of a donkey, he will be dragged away and thrown outside Jerusalem's gates." 20 People of Jerusalem, go to Lebanon and shout, go to the land of Bashan and cry; call out from the mountains of Moab, because all your allies have been defeated. 21 The Lord spoke to you when you were prosperous, but you refused to listen. That is what you've done all your life; you never would obey the Lord. 22 Your leaders will be blown away by the wind, your allies taken as prisoners of war, your city disgraced and put to shame because of all the evil you have done. 23 You rest secure among the cedars brought from Lebanon; but how pitiful you'll be when pains strike you, pains like those of a woman in labor.

3497-Dan. 1:1 In the third year that Jehoiakim was king of Judah, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia attacked Jerusalem and surrounded the city.

3498-Habakkuk 2:20 The Lord is in his holy Temple; let everyone on earth be silent in his presence.

3499-Habakkuk 1:5 Then the Lord said to his people, "Keep watching the nations around you, and you will be astonished at what you see. I am going to do something that you will not believe when you hear about it. 6 I am bringing the Babylonians to power, those fierce, restless people. They are marching out across the world to conquer other lands. 7 They spread fear and terror, and in their pride they are a law to themselves.

3500-Romans 1:17 For the gospel reveals how God puts people right with himself: it is through faith from beginning to end. As the scripture says, "The person who is put right with God through faith shall live."

Galatians 3:11 Now, it is clear that no one is put right with God by means of the Law, because the scripture says, "Only the person who is put right with God through faith shall live."

Hebrews 10:38 My righteous people, however, will believe and live; but if any of them turns back, I will not be pleased with them."

3501-Galatians 4:4 But when the right time finally came, God sent his own Son. He came as the son of a human mother and lived under the Jewish Law,

3502-Habakkuk 2:4 And this is the message: "Those who are evil will not survive, but those who are righteous will live because they are faithful to God.' "

3503-Habakkuk 1:5 Then the Lord said to his people, "Keep watching the nations around you, and you will be astonished at what you see. I am going to do something that you will not believe when you hear about it.

3504-2 Kings 19:34 I will defend this city and protect it, for the sake of my own honor and because of the promise I made to my servant David.' "

2 Kings 20:6 I will let you live fifteen years longer. I will rescue you and this city Jerusalem from the emperor of Assyria. I will defend this city, for the sake of my own honor and because of the promise I made to my servant David."

Psalms 25:11 Keep your promise, Lord, and forgive my sins, for they are many.

Isaiah 37:35 I will defend this city and protect it, for the sake of my own honor and because of the promise I made to my servant David.' "

Isa 48:9 "In order that people will praise my name, I am holding my anger in check; I am keeping it back and will not destroy you. 10 I have tested you in the fire of suffering, as silver is refined in a furnace. But I have found that you are worthless. 11 What I do is done for my own sake - I will not let my name be dishonored or let anyone else share the glory that should be mine and mine alone."

Jeremiah 14:7 My people cry out to me, "Even though our sins accuse us, help us, Lord, as you have promised. We have turned away from you many times; we have sinned against you. ….21 Remember your promises and do not despise us; do not bring disgrace on Jerusalem, the place of your glorious throne. Do not break the covenant you made with us.

Ezekiel 20:9 But I did not, since that would have brought dishonor to my name, for in the presence of the people among whom they were living I had announced to Israel that I was going to lead them out of Egypt.

3505-Isaiah 1:3 Cattle know who owns them, and donkeys know where their master feeds them. But that is more than my people Israel know. They don't understand at all."

Isa 5:12 At your feasts you have harps and tambourines and flutes - and wine. But you don't understand what the Lord is doing, 13 and so you will be carried away as prisoners. Your leaders will starve to death, and the common people will die of thirst.

Hosea 4:6 My people are doomed because they do not acknowledge me. You priests have refused to acknowledge me and have rejected my teaching, and so I reject you and will not acknowledge your sons as my priests.

3506-Psalms 115:1 To you alone, O Lord, to you alone, and not to us, must glory be given because of your constant love and faithfulness. 2 Why should the nations ask us, "Where is your God?" 3 Our God is in heaven; he does whatever he wishes. 4 Their gods are made of silver and gold, formed by human hands. 5 They have mouths, but cannot speak, and eyes, but cannot see. 6 They have ears, but cannot hear, and noses, but cannot smell. 7 They have hands, but cannot feel, and feet, but cannot walk; they cannot make a sound. 8 May all who made them and who trust in them become like the idols they have made.

Isaiah 44:9 All those who make idols are worthless, and the gods they prize so highly are useless. Those who worship these gods are blind and ignorant - and they will be disgraced. 10 It does no good to make a metal image to worship as a god! 11 Everyone who worships it will be humiliated. The people who make idols are human beings and nothing more. Let them come and stand trial - they will be terrified and will suffer disgrace. 12 The metalworker takes a piece of metal and works with it over a fire. His strong arm swings a hammer to pound the metal into shape. As he works, he gets hungry, thirsty, and tired. 13 The carpenter measures the wood. He outlines a figure with chalk, carves it out with his tools, and makes it in the form of a man, a handsome human figure, to be placed in his house. 14 He might cut down cedars to use, or choose oak or cypress wood from the forest. Or he might plant a laurel tree and wait for the rain to make it grow. 15 A person uses part of a tree for fuel and part of it for making an idol. With one part he builds a fire to warm himself and bake bread; with the other part he makes a god and worships it. 16 With some of the wood he makes a fire; he roasts meat, eats it, and is satisfied. He warms himself and says, "How nice and warm! What a beautiful fire!" 17 The rest of the wood he makes into an idol, and then he bows down and worships it. He prays to it and says, "You are my god - save me!" 18 Such people are too stupid to know what they are doing. They close their eyes and their minds to the truth. 19 The maker of idols hasn't the wit or the sense to say, "Some of the wood I burned up. I baked some bread on the coals, and I roasted meat and ate it. And the rest of the wood I made into an idol. Here I am bowing down to a block of wood!" 20 It makes as much sense as eating ashes. His foolish ideas have so misled him that he is beyond help. He won't admit to himself that the idol he holds in his hand is not a god at all.

1 Kings 18:25 Then Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, "Since there are so many of you, you take a bull and prepare it first. Pray to your god, but don't set fire to the wood." 26 They took the bull that was brought to them, prepared it, and prayed to Baal until noon. They shouted, "Answer us, Baal!" and kept dancing around the altar they had built. But no answer came. 27 At noon Elijah started making fun of them: "Pray louder! He is a god! Maybe he is day-dreaming or relieving himself, or perhaps he's gone off on a trip! Or maybe he's sleeping, and you've got to wake him up!" 28 So the prophets prayed louder and cut themselves with knives and daggers, according to their ritual, until blood flowed. 29 They kept on ranting and raving until the middle of the afternoon; but no answer came, not a sound was heard.

3507-Habakkuk 2:18 What's the use of an idol? It is only something that a human being has made, and it tells you nothing but lies. What good does it do for its maker to trust it - a god that can't even talk! 19 You are doomed! You say to a piece of wood, "Wake up!" or to a block of stone, "Get up!" Can an idol reveal anything to you? It may be covered with silver and gold, but there is no life in it.

3508-1 Kings 18:25 Then Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, "Since there are so many of you, you take a bull and prepare it first. Pray to your god, but don't set fire to the wood." 26 They took the bull that was brought to them, prepared it, and prayed to Baal until noon. They shouted, "Answer us, Baal!" and kept dancing around the altar they had built. But no answer came. 27 At noon Elijah started making fun of them: "Pray louder! He is a god! Maybe he is day-dreaming or relieving himself, or perhaps he's gone off on a trip! Or maybe he's sleeping, and you've got to wake him up!" 28 So the prophets prayed louder and cut themselves with knives and daggers, according to their ritual, until blood flowed. 29 They kept on ranting and raving until the middle of the afternoon; but no answer came, not a sound was heard.

3509-Isaiah 33:16 Then you will be safe; you will be as secure as if in a strong fortress. You will have food to eat and water to drink.

3510-Habakkuk 3:17 Even though the fig trees have no fruit and no grapes grow on the vines, even though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no grain, even though the sheep all die and the cattle stalls are empty, 18 I will still be joyful and glad, because the Lord God is my savior. 19 The Sovereign Lord gives me strength. He makes me sure-footed as a deer and keeps me safe on the mountains.

3511-Isaiah 40:10 The Sovereign Lord is coming to rule with power, bringing with him the people he has rescued. 11 He will take care of his flock like a shepherd; he will gather the lambs together and carry them in his arms; he will gently lead their mothers. 12 Can anyone measure the ocean by handfuls or measure the sky with his hands? Can anyone hold the soil of the earth in a cup or weigh the mountains and hills on scales? 13 Can anyone tell the Lord what to do? Who can teach him or give him advice? 14 With whom does God consult in order to know and understand and to learn how things should be done? 15 To the Lord the nations are nothing, no more than a drop of water; the distant islands are as light as dust. 16 All the animals in the forests of Lebanon are not enough for a sacrifice to our God, and its trees are too few to kindle the fire. 17 The nations are nothing at all to him. 18 To whom can God be compared? How can you describe what he is like? 19 He is not like an idol that workers make, that metalworkers cover with gold and set in a base of silver. 20 Anyone who cannot afford silver or gold chooses wood that will not rot. He finds a skillful worker to make an image that won't fall down. 21 Do you not know? Were you not told long ago? Have you not heard how the world began? 22 It was made by the one who sits on his throne above the earth and beyond the sky; the people below look as tiny as ants. He stretched out the sky like a curtain, like a tent in which to live. 23 He brings down powerful rulers and reduces them to nothing. 24 They are like young plants, just set out and barely rooted. When the Lord sends a wind, they dry up and blow away like straw. 25 To whom can the holy God be compared? Is there anyone else like him? 26 Look up at the sky! Who created the stars you see? The one who leads them out like an army, he knows how many there are and calls each one by name! His power is so great - not one of them is ever missing! 27 Israel, why then do you complain that the Lord doesn't know your troubles or care if you suffer injustice? 28 Don't you know? Haven't you heard? The Lord is the everlasting God; he created all the world. He never grows tired or weary. No one understands his thoughts. 29 He strengthens those who are weak and tired. 30 Even those who are young grow weak; young people can fall exhausted. 31 But those who trust in the Lord for help will find their strength renewed. They will rise on wings like eagles; they will run and not get weary; they will walk and not grow weak.

3512-Isaiah 40:1 "Comfort my people," says our God. "Comfort them! 2 Encourage the people of Jerusalem. Tell them they have suffered long enough and their sins are now forgiven. I have punished them in full for all their sins." 3 A voice cries out, "Prepare in the wilderness a road for the Lord! Clear the way in the desert for our God! 4 Fill every valley; level every mountain. The hills will become a plain, and the rough country will be made smooth. 5 Then the glory of the Lord will be revealed, and all people will see it. The Lord himself has promised this." 6 A voice cries out, "Proclaim a message!" "What message shall I proclaim?" I ask. "Proclaim that all human beings are like grass; they last no longer than wild flowers. 7 Grass withers and flowers fade when the Lord sends the wind blowing over them. People are no more enduring than grass. 8 Yes, grass withers and flowers fade, but the word of our God endures forever." 9 Jerusalem, go up on a high mountain and proclaim the good news! Call out with a loud voice, Zion; announce the good news! Speak out and do not be afraid. Tell the towns of Judah that their God is coming! 10 The Sovereign Lord is coming to rule with power, bringing with him the people he has rescued. 11 He will take care of his flock like a shepherd; he will gather the lambs together and carry them in his arms; he will gently lead their mothers. 12 Can anyone measure the ocean by handfuls or measure the sky with his hands? Can anyone hold the soil of the earth in a cup or weigh the mountains and hills on scales? 13 Can anyone tell the Lord what to do? Who can teach him or give him advice? 14 With whom does God consult in order to know and understand and to learn how things should be done? 15 To the Lord the nations are nothing, no more than a drop of water; the distant islands are as light as dust. 16 All the animals in the forests of Lebanon are not enough for a sacrifice to our God, and its trees are too few to kindle the fire. 17 The nations are nothing at all to him. 18 To whom can God be compared? How can you describe what he is like? 19 He is not like an idol that workers make, that metalworkers cover with gold and set in a base of silver. 20 Anyone who cannot afford silver or gold chooses wood that will not rot. He finds a skillful worker to make an image that won't fall down. 21 Do you not know? Were you not told long ago? Have you not heard how the world began? 22 It was made by the one who sits on his throne above the earth and beyond the sky; the people below look as tiny as ants. He stretched out the sky like a curtain, like a tent in which to live. 23 He brings down powerful rulers and reduces them to nothing. 24 They are like young plants, just set out and barely rooted. When the Lord sends a wind, they dry up and blow away like straw. 25 To whom can the holy God be compared? Is there anyone else like him? 26 Look up at the sky! Who created the stars you see? The one who leads them out like an army, he knows how many there are and calls each one by name! His power is so great - not one of them is ever missing! 27 Israel, why then do you complain that the Lord doesn't know your troubles or care if you suffer injustice? 28 Don't you know? Haven't you heard? The Lord is the everlasting God; he created all the world. He never grows tired or weary. No one understands his thoughts. 29 He strengthens those who are weak and tired. 30 Even those who are young grow weak; young people can fall exhausted. 31 But those who trust in the Lord for help will find their strength renewed. They will rise on wings like eagles; they will run and not get weary; they will walk and not grow weak.

Isa 41:1 God says, "Be silent and listen to me, you distant lands! Get ready to present your case in court; you will have your chance to speak. Let us come together to decide who is right. 2 "Who was it that brought the conqueror from the east and makes him triumphant wherever he goes? Who gives him victory over kings and nations? His sword strikes them down as if they were dust. His arrows scatter them like straw before the wind. 3 He follows in pursuit and marches safely on, so fast that he hardly touches the ground! 4 Who was it that made this happen? Who has determined the course of history? I, the Lord, was there at the beginning, and I, the Lord, will be there at the end. 5 "The people of distant lands have seen what I have done; they are frightened and tremble with fear. So they all assemble and come. 6 The skilled workers help and encourage each other. 7 The carpenter says to the goldsmith, "Well done!' The one who beats the idol smooth encourages the one who nails it together. They say, "The soldering is good' - and they fasten the idol in place with nails. 8 "But you, Israel my servant, you are the people that I have chosen, the descendants of Abraham, my friend. 9 I brought you from the ends of the earth; I called you from its farthest corners and said to you, "You are my servant.' I did not reject you, but chose you. 10 Do not be afraid - I am with you! I am your God - let nothing terrify you! I will make you strong and help you; I will protect you and save you. 11 "Those who are angry with you will know the shame of defeat. Those who fight against you will die 12 and will disappear from the earth. 13 I am the Lord your God; I strengthen you and tell you, "Do not be afraid; I will help you.' " 14 The Lord says, "Small and weak as you are, Israel, don't be afraid; I will help you. I, the holy God of Israel, am the one who saves you. 15 I will make you like a threshing board, with spikes that are new and sharp. You will thresh mountains and destroy them; hills will crumble into dust. 16 You will toss them in the air; the wind will carry them off, and they will be scattered by the storm. Then you will be happy because I am your God; you will praise me, the holy God of Israel. 17 "When my people in their need look for water, when their throats are dry with thirst, then I, the Lord, will answer their prayer; I, the God of Israel, will never abandon them. 18 I will make rivers flow among barren hills and springs of water run in the valleys. I will turn the desert into pools of water and the dry land into flowing springs. 19 I will make cedars grow in the desert, and acacias and myrtles and olive trees. Forests will grow in barren land, forests of pine and juniper and cypress. 20 People will see this and know that I, the Lord, have done it. They will come to understand that Israel's holy God has made it happen." 21 The Lord, the king of Israel, has this to say: "You gods of the nations, present your case. Bring the best arguments you have! 22 Come here and predict what will happen, so that we will know it when it takes place. Explain to the court the events of the past, and tell us what they mean. 23 Tell us what the future holds - then we will know that you are gods! Do something good or bring some disaster; fill us with fear and awe! 24 You and all you do are nothing; those who worship you are disgusting! 25 "I have chosen a man who lives in the east; I will bring him to attack from the north. He tramples on rulers as if they were mud, like a potter trampling clay. 26 Which of you predicted that this would happen, so that we could say that you were right? None of you said a word about it; no one heard you say a thing! 27 I, the Lord, was the first to tell Zion the news; I sent a messenger to Jerusalem to say, "Your people are coming! They are coming home!' 28 When I looked among the gods, none of them had a thing to say; not one could answer the questions I asked. 29 All these gods are useless; they can do nothing at all - these idols are weak and powerless."

Isa 42:1 The Lord says, "Here is my servant, whom I strengthen - the one I have chosen, with whom I am pleased. I have filled him with my Spirit, and he will bring justice to every nation. 2 He will not shout or raise his voice or make loud speeches in the streets. 3 He will not break off a bent reed nor put out a flickering lamp. He will bring lasting justice to all. 4 He will not lose hope or courage; he will establish justice on the earth. Distant lands eagerly wait for his teaching." 5 God created the heavens and stretched them out; he fashioned the earth and all that lives there; he gave life and breath to all its people. And now the Lord God says to his servant, 6 "I, the Lord, have called you and given you power to see that justice is done on earth. Through you I will make a covenant with all peoples; through you I will bring light to the nations. 7 You will open the eyes of the blind and set free those who sit in dark prisons. 8 "I alone am the Lord your God. No other god may share my glory; I will not let idols share my praise. 9 The things I predicted have now come true. Now I will tell you of new things even before they begin to happen." 10 Sing a new song to the Lord; sing his praise, all the world! Praise him, you that sail the sea; praise him, all creatures of the sea! Sing, distant lands and all who live there! 11 Let the desert and its towns praise God; let the people of Kedar praise him! Let those who live in the city of Sela shout for joy from the tops of the mountains! 12 Let those who live in distant lands give praise and glory to the Lord! 13 The Lord goes out to fight like a warrior; he is ready and eager for battle. He gives a war cry, a battle shout; he shows his power against his enemies. 14 God says, "For a long time I kept silent; I did not answer my people. But now the time to act has come; I cry out like a woman in labor. 15 I will destroy the hills and mountains and dry up the grass and trees. I will turn the river valleys into deserts and dry up the pools of water. 16 "I will lead my blind people by roads they have never traveled. I will turn their darkness into light and make rough country smooth before them. These are my promises, and I will keep them without fail. 17 All who trust in idols, who call images their gods, will be humiliated and disgraced." 18 The Lord says, "Listen, you deaf people! Look closely, you that are blind! 19 Is anyone more blind than my servant, more deaf than the messenger I send? 20 Israel, you have seen so much, but what has it meant to you? You have ears to hear with, but what have you really heard?" 21 The Lord is a God who is eager to save, so he exalted his laws and teachings, and he wanted his people to honor them. 22 But now his people have been plundered; they are locked up in dungeons and hidden away in prisons. They were robbed and plundered, with no one to come to their rescue. 23 Will any of you listen to this? From now on will you listen with care? 24 Who gave Israel up to the looters? It was the Lord himself, against whom we sinned! We would not live as he wanted us to live or obey the teachings he gave us. 25 So he made us feel the force of his anger and suffer the violence of war. Like fire his anger burned throughout Israel, but we never knew what was happening; we learned nothing at all from it.

Isa 43:1 Israel, the Lord who created you says, "Do not be afraid - I will save you. I have called you by name - you are mine. 2 When you pass through deep waters, I will be with you; your troubles will not overwhelm you. When you pass through fire, you will not be burned; the hard trials that come will not hurt you. 3 For I am the Lord your God, the holy God of Israel, who saves you. I will give up Egypt to set you free; I will give up Ethiopia and Seba. 4 I will give up whole nations to save your life, because you are precious to me and because I love you and give you honor. 5 Do not be afraid - I am with you! "From the distant east and the farthest west I will bring your people home. 6 I will tell the north to let them go and the south not to hold them back. Let my people return from distant lands, from every part of the world. 7 They are my own people, and I created them to bring me glory." 8 God says, "Summon my people to court. They have eyes, but they are blind; they have ears, but they are deaf! 9 Summon the nations to come to the trial. Which of their gods can predict the future? Which of them foretold what is happening now? Let these gods bring in their witnesses to prove that they are right, to testify to the truth of their words. 10 "People of Israel, you are my witnesses; I chose you to be my servant, so that you would know me and believe in me and understand that I am the only God. Besides me there is no other god; there never was and never will be. 11 "I alone am the Lord, the only one who can save you. 12 I predicted what would happen, and then I came to your aid. No foreign god has ever done this; you are my witnesses. 13 I am God and always will be. No one can escape from my power; no one can change what I do." 14 Israel's holy God, the Lord who saves you, says, "To save you, I will send an army against Babylon; I will break down the city gates, and the shouts of her people will turn into crying. 15 I am the Lord, your holy God. I created you, Israel, and I am your king." 16 Long ago the Lord made a road through the sea, a path through the swirling waters. 17 He led a mighty army to destruction, an army of chariots and horses. Down they fell, never to rise, snuffed out like the flame of a lamp! 18 But the Lord says, "Do not cling to events of the past or dwell on what happened long ago. 19 Watch for the new thing I am going to do. It is happening already - you can see it now! I will make a road through the wilderness and give you streams of water there. 20 Even the wild animals will honor me; jackals and ostriches will praise me when I make rivers flow in the desert to give water to my chosen people. 21 They are the people I made for myself, and they will sing my praises!" 22 The Lord says, "But you were tired of me, Israel; you did not worship me. 23 You did not bring me your burnt offerings of sheep; you did not honor me with your sacrifices. I did not burden you by demanding offerings or wear you out by asking for incense. 24 You didn't buy incense for me or satisfy me with the fat of your animals. Instead you burdened me with your sins; you wore me out with the wrongs you have committed. 25 And yet, I am the God who forgives your sins, and I do this because of who I am. I will not hold your sins against you. 26 "Let us go to court; bring your accusation! Present your case to prove you are in the right! 27 Your earliest ancestor sinned; your leaders sinned against me, 28 and your rulers profaned my sanctuary. So I brought destruction on Israel; I let my own people be insulted."

Isa 44:1 The Lord says, "Listen now, Israel, my servant, my chosen people, the descendants of Jacob. 2 I am the Lord who created you; from the time you were born, I have helped you. Do not be afraid; you are my servant, my chosen people whom I love. 3 "I will give water to the thirsty land and make streams flow on the dry ground. I will pour out my spirit on your children and my blessing on your descendants. 4 They will thrive like well-watered grass, like willows by streams of running water. 5 "One by one, people will say, "I am the Lord's.' They will come to join the people of Israel. They each will mark the name of the Lord on their arms and call themselves one of God's people." 6 The Lord, who rules and protects Israel, the Lord Almighty, has this to say: "I am the first, the last, the only God; there is no other god but me. 7 Could anyone else have done what I did? Who could have predicted all that would happen from the very beginning to the end of time? 8 Do not be afraid, my people! You know that from ancient times until now I have predicted all that would happen, and you are my witnesses. Is there any other god? Is there some powerful god I never heard of?" 9 All those who make idols are worthless, and the gods they prize so highly are useless. Those who worship these gods are blind and ignorant - and they will be disgraced. 10 It does no good to make a metal image to worship as a god! 11 Everyone who worships it will be humiliated. The people who make idols are human beings and nothing more. Let them come and stand trial - they will be terrified and will suffer disgrace. 12 The metalworker takes a piece of metal and works with it over a fire. His strong arm swings a hammer to pound the metal into shape. As he works, he gets hungry, thirsty, and tired. 13 The carpenter measures the wood. He outlines a figure with chalk, carves it out with his tools, and makes it in the form of a man, a handsome human figure, to be placed in his house. 14 He might cut down cedars to use, or choose oak or cypress wood from the forest. Or he might plant a laurel tree and wait for the rain to make it grow. 15 A person uses part of a tree for fuel and part of it for making an idol. With one part he builds a fire to warm himself and bake bread; with the other part he makes a god and worships it. 16 With some of the wood he makes a fire; he roasts meat, eats it, and is satisfied. He warms himself and says, "How nice and warm! What a beautiful fire!" 17 The rest of the wood he makes into an idol, and then he bows down and worships it. He prays to it and says, "You are my god - save me!" 18 Such people are too stupid to know what they are doing. They close their eyes and their minds to the truth. 19 The maker of idols hasn't the wit or the sense to say, "Some of the wood I burned up. I baked some bread on the coals, and I roasted meat and ate it. And the rest of the wood I made into an idol. Here I am bowing down to a block of wood!" 20 It makes as much sense as eating ashes. His foolish ideas have so misled him that he is beyond help. He won't admit to himself that the idol he holds in his hand is not a god at all. 21 The Lord says, "Israel, remember this; remember that you are my servant. I created you to be my servant, and I will never forget you. 22 I have swept your sins away like a cloud. Come back to me; I am the one who saves you." 23 Shout for joy, you heavens! Shout, deep places of the earth! Shout for joy, mountains, and every tree of the forest! The Lord has shown his greatness by saving his people Israel. 24 "I am the Lord, your savior; I am the one who created you. I am the Lord, the Creator of all things. I alone stretched out the heavens; when I made the earth, no one helped me. 25 I make fools of fortunetellers and frustrate the predictions of astrologers. The words of the wise I refute and show that their wisdom is foolishness. 26 But when my servant makes a prediction, when I send a messenger to reveal my plans, I make those plans and predictions come true. I tell Jerusalem that people will live there again, and the cities of Judah that they will be rebuilt. Those cities will rise from the ruins. 27 With a word of command I dry up the ocean. 28 I say to Cyrus, "You are the one who will rule for me; you will do what I want you to do: you will order that Jerusalem be rebuilt and that the foundations of the Temple be laid.' "

Isa 45:1 The Lord has chosen Cyrus to be king. He has appointed him to conquer nations; he sends him to strip kings of their power; the Lord will open the gates of cities for him. To Cyrus the Lord says, 2 "I myself will prepare your way, leveling mountains and hills. I will break down bronze gates and smash their iron bars. 3 I will give you treasures from dark, secret places; then you will know that I am the Lord and that the God of Israel has called you by name. 4 I appoint you to help my servant Israel, the people that I have chosen. I have given you great honor, although you do not know me. 5 "I am the Lord; there is no other god. I will give you the strength you need, although you do not know me. 6 I do this so that everyone from one end of the world to the other may know that I am the Lord and that there is no other god. 7 I create both light and darkness; I bring both blessing and disaster. I, the Lord, do all these things. 8 I will send victory from the sky like rain; the earth will open to receive it and will blossom with freedom and justice. I, the Lord, will make this happen." 9 Does a clay pot dare argue with its maker, a pot that is like all the others? Does the clay ask the potter what he is doing? Does the pot complain that its maker has no skill? 10 Do we dare say to our parents, "Why did you make me like this?" 11 The Lord, the holy God of Israel, the one who shapes the future, says: "You have no right to question me about my children or to tell me what I ought to do! 12 I am the one who made the earth and created human beings to live there. By my power I stretched out the heavens; I control the sun, the moon, and the stars. 13 I myself have stirred Cyrus to action to fulfill my purpose and put things right. I will straighten out every road that he travels. He will rebuild my city, Jerusalem, and set my captive people free. No one has hired him or bribed him to do this." The Lord Almighty has spoken. 14 The Lord says to Israel, "The wealth of Egypt and Ethiopia will be yours, and the tall men of Seba will be your slaves; they will follow you in chains. They will bow down to you and confess, "God is with you - he alone is God. 15 The God of Israel, who saves his people, is a God who conceals himself. 16 Those who make idols will all be ashamed; all of them will be disgraced. 17 But Israel is saved by the Lord, and her victory lasts forever; her people will never be disgraced.' " 18 The Lord created the heavens - he is the one who is God! He formed and made the earth - he made it firm and lasting. He did not make it a desolate waste, but a place for people to live. It is he who says, "I am the Lord, and there is no other god. 19 I have not spoken in secret or kept my purpose hidden. I did not require the people of Israel to look for me in a desolate waste. I am the Lord, and I speak the truth; I make known what is right." 20 The Lord says, "Come together, people of the nations, all who survive the fall of the empire; present yourselves for the trial! The people who parade with their idols of wood and pray to gods that cannot save them - those people know nothing at all! 21 Come and present your case in court; let the defendants consult one another. Who predicted long ago what would happen? Was it not I, the Lord, the God who saves his people? There is no other god. 22 "Turn to me now and be saved, people all over the world! I am the only God there is. 23 My promise is true, and it will not be changed. I solemnly promise by all that I am: Everyone will come and kneel before me and vow to be loyal to me. 24 "They will say that only through me are victory and strength to be found; but all who hate me will suffer disgrace. 25 I, the Lord, will rescue all the descendants of Jacob, and they will give me praise.

Isa 46:1 "This is the end for Babylon's gods! Bel and Nebo once were worshiped, but now they are loaded on donkeys, a burden for the backs of tired animals. 2 The idols cannot save themselves; they are captured and carried away. This is the end for Babylon's gods! 3 "Listen to me, descendants of Jacob, all who are left of my people. I have cared for you from the time you were born. 4 I am your God and will take care of you until you are old and your hair is gray. I made you and will care for you; I will give you help and rescue you. 5 "To whom will you compare me?" says the Lord. "Is there anyone else like me? 6 People open their purses and pour out gold; they weigh out silver on the scales. They hire a goldsmith to make a god; then they bow down and worship it. 7 They lift it to their shoulders and carry it; they put it in place, and there it stands, unable to move from where it is. If any pray to it, it cannot answer or save them from disaster. 8 "Remember this, you sinners; consider what I have done. 9 Remember what happened long ago; acknowledge that I alone am God and that there is no one else like me. 10 From the beginning I predicted the outcome; long ago I foretold what would happen. I said that my plans would never fail, that I would do everything I intended to do. 11 I am calling a man to come from the east; he will swoop down like a hawk and accomplish what I have planned. I have spoken, and it will be done. 12 "Listen to me, you stubborn people who think that victory is far away. 13 I am bringing the day of victory near - it is not far away at all. My triumph will not be delayed. I will save Jerusalem and bring honor to Israel there."

Isa 47:1 The Lord says, "Babylon, come down from your throne, and sit in the dust on the ground. You were once like a virgin, a city unconquered, but you are soft and delicate no longer! You are now a slave! 2 Turn the millstone! Grind the flour! Off with your veil! Strip off your fine clothes! Lift up your skirts to cross the streams! 3 People will see you naked; they will see you humbled and shamed. I will take vengeance, and no one will stop me." 4 The holy God of Israel sets us free - his name is the Lord Almighty. 5 The Lord says to Babylon, "Sit in silence and darkness; no more will they call you the queen of nations! 6 I was angry with my people; I treated them as no longer mine: I put them in your power, and you showed them no mercy; even the aged you treated harshly. 7 You thought you would always be a queen, and did not take these things to heart or think how it all would end. 8 "Listen to this, you lover of pleasure, you that think you are safe and secure. You claim you are as great as God - that there is no one else like you. You thought that you would never be a widow or suffer the loss of your children. 9 But in a moment, in a single day, both of these things will happen. In spite of all the magic you use, you will lose your husband and children. 10 "You felt sure of yourself in your evil; you thought that no one could see you. Your wisdom and knowledge led you astray, and you said to yourself, "I am God - there is no one else like me.' 11 Disaster will come upon you, and none of your magic can stop it. Ruin will come on you suddenly - ruin you never dreamed of! 12 Keep all your magic spells and charms; you have used them since you were young. Perhaps they will be of some help to you; perhaps you can frighten your enemies. 13 You are powerless in spite of the advice you get. Let your astrologers come forward and save you - those people who study the stars, who map out the zones of the heavens and tell you from month to month what is going to happen to you. 14 "They will be like bits of straw, and a fire will burn them up! They will not even be able to save themselves - the flames will be too hot for them, not a cozy fire to warm themselves by. 15 That is all the good they will do you - those astrologers you've consulted all your life. They all will leave you and go their own way, and none will be left to save you."

Isa 48:1 Listen to this, people of Israel, you that are descended from Judah: You swear by the name of the Lord and claim to worship the God of Israel - but you don't mean a word you say. 2 And yet you are proud to say that you are citizens of the holy city and that you depend on Israel's God, whose name is the Lord Almighty. 3 The Lord says to Israel, "Long ago I predicted what would take place; then suddenly I made it happen. 4 I knew that you would prove to be stubborn, as rigid as iron and unyielding as bronze. 5 And so I predicted your future long ago, announcing events before they took place, to keep you from claiming that your idols and images made them happen. 6 "All I foretold has now taken place; you have to admit my predictions were right. Now I will tell you of new things to come, events that I did not reveal before. 7 Only now am I making them happen; nothing like this took place in the past. If it had, you would claim that you knew all about it. 8 I knew that you couldn't be trusted, that you have always been known as a rebel. That is why you never heard of this at all, why no word of it ever came to your ears. 9 "In order that people will praise my name, I am holding my anger in check; I am keeping it back and will not destroy you. 10 I have tested you in the fire of suffering, as silver is refined in a furnace. But I have found that you are worthless. 11 What I do is done for my own sake - I will not let my name be dishonored or let anyone else share the glory that should be mine and mine alone." 12 The Lord says, "Listen to me, Israel, the people I have called! I am God, the first, the last, the only God! 13 My hands made the earth's foundations and spread the heavens out. When I summon earth and sky, they come at once and present themselves. 14 "Assemble and listen, all of you! None of the gods could predict that the man I have chosen would attack Babylon; he will do what I want him to do. 15 I am the one who spoke and called him; I led him out and gave him success. 16 "Now come close to me and hear what I say. From the beginning I have spoken openly and have always made my words come true." (Now the Sovereign Lord has given me his power and sent me.) 17 The holy God of Israel, the Lord who saves you, says: "I am the Lord your God, the one who wants to teach you for your own good and direct you in the way you should go. 18 "If only you had listened to my commands! Then blessings would have flowed for you like a stream that never goes dry. Victory would have come to you like the waves that roll on the shore. 19 Your descendants would be as numerous as grains of sand, and I would have made sure they were never destroyed." 20 Go out from Babylon, go free! Shout the news gladly; make it known everywhere: "The Lord has saved his servant Israel!" 21 When the Lord led his people through a hot, dry desert, they did not suffer from thirst. He made water come from a rock for them; he split the rock open, and water flowed out. 22 "There is no safety for sinners," says the Lord.

3513-Isaiah 10:5 The Lord said, "Assyria! I use Assyria like a club to punish those with whom I am angry. 6 I sent Assyria to attack a godless nation, people who have made me angry. I sent them to loot and steal and trample the people like dirt in the streets." 7 But the Assyrian emperor has his own violent plans in mind. He is determined to destroy many nations. 8 He boasts, "Every one of my commanders is a king! 9 I conquered the cities of Calno and Carchemish, the cities of Hamath and Arpad. I conquered Samaria and Damascus. 10 I reached out to punish those kingdoms that worship idols, idols more numerous than those of Jerusalem and Samaria. 11 I have destroyed Samaria and all its idols, and I will do the same to Jerusalem and the images that are worshiped there." 12 But the Lord says, "When I finish what I am doing on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem, I will punish the emperor of Assyria for all his boasting and all his pride." 13 The emperor of Assyria boasts, "I have done it all myself. I am strong and wise and clever. I wiped out the boundaries between nations and took the supplies they had stored. Like a bull I have trampled the people who live there. 14 The nations of the world were like a bird's nest, and I gathered their wealth as easily as gathering eggs. Not a wing fluttered to scare me off; no beak opened to scream at me!" 15 But the Lord says, "Can an ax claim to be greater than the one who uses it? Is a saw more important than the one who saws with it? A club doesn't lift up a person; a person lifts up a club." 16 The Lord Almighty is going to send disease to punish those who are now well-fed. In their bodies there will be a fire that burns and burns. 17 God, the light of Israel, will become a fire. Israel's holy God will become a flame, which in a single day will burn up everything, even the thorns and thistles. 18 The rich forests and farmlands will be totally destroyed, in the same way that a fatal sickness destroys someone. 19 There will be so few trees left that even a child will be able to count them. 20 A time is coming when the people of Israel who have survived will not rely any more on the nation that almost destroyed them. They will truly put their trust in the Lord, Israel's holy God. 21 A few of the people of Israel will come back to their mighty God. 22 Even though now there are as many people of Israel as there are grains of sand by the sea, only a few will come back. Destruction is in store for the people, and it is fully deserved. 23 Yes, throughout the whole country the Sovereign Lord Almighty will bring destruction, as he said he would. 24 The Sovereign Lord Almighty says to his people who live in Zion, "Do not be afraid of the Assyrians, even though they oppress you as the Egyptians used to do. 25 In only a little while I will finish punishing you, and then I will destroy them. 26 I, the Lord Almighty, will beat them with my whip as I did the people of Midian at Oreb Rock. I will punish Assyria as I punished Egypt. 27 When that time comes, I will free you from the power of Assyria, and their yoke will no longer be a burden on your shoulders."

3514-Habakkuk 3:16 I hear all this, and I tremble; my lips quiver with fear. My body goes limp, and my feet stumble beneath me. I will quietly wait for the time to come when God will punish those who attack us. 17 Even though the fig trees have no fruit and no grapes grow on the vines, even though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no grain, even though the sheep all die and the cattle stalls are empty, 18 I will still be joyful and glad, because the Lord God is my savior. 19 The Sovereign Lord gives me strength. He makes me sure-footed as a deer and keeps me safe on the mountains.

3515-Acts 16:31 They answered, "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved - you and your family."

3516-Zephaniah 1:1 This is the message that the Lord gave to Zephaniah during the time that Josiah son of Amon was king of Judah. (Zephaniah was descended from King Hezekiah through Amariah, Gedaliah, and Cushi.)

3517-13 The Lord will use his power to destroy Assyria. He will make the city of Nineveh a deserted ruin, a waterless desert.

3518-1 Chr. 6:36 Elkanah, Joel, Azariah, Zephaniah,

Jer. 21:1 King Zedekiah of Judah sent to me Pashhur son of Malchiah and the priest Zephaniah son of Maaseiah with this request:

Zech. 6:10 He said, "Take the gifts given by the exiles Heldai, Tobijah, and Jedaiah, and go at once to the home of Josiah son of Zephaniah. All of them have returned from exile in Babylonia. …..14 The crown will be a memorial in the Lord's Temple in honor of Heldai, Tobijah, Jedaiah, and Josiah."

3519-.Zep 2:13 The Lord will use his power to destroy Assyria. He will make the city of Nineveh a deserted ruin, a waterless desert. 14 It will be a place where flocks, herds, and animals of every kind will lie down. Owls will live among its ruins and hoot from the windows. Crows will caw on the doorsteps. The cedar wood of her buildings will be stripped away. 15 That is what will happen to the city that is so proud of its own power and thinks it is safe. Its people think that their city is the greatest in the world. What a desolate place it will become, a place where wild animals will rest! Everyone who passes by will shrink back in horror.

3520-2 Chr. 24:2 He did what was pleasing to the Lord as long as Jehoiada the priest was alive. 3 Jehoiada chose two wives for King Joash, and they bore him sons and daughters. 4 After he had been king for a while, Joash decided to have the Temple repaired. 5 He ordered the priests and the Levites to go to the cities of Judah and collect from all the people enough money to make the annual repairs on the Temple. He told them to act promptly, but the Levites delayed, 6 so he called in Jehoiada, their leader, and demanded, "Why haven't you seen to it that the Levites collect from Judah and Jerusalem the tax which Moses, the servant of the Lord, required the people to pay for support of the Tent of the Lord's presence?" 7 (The followers of Athaliah, that corrupt woman, had damaged the Temple and had used many of the sacred objects in the worship of Baal.) 8 The king ordered the Levites to make a box for contributions and to place it at the Temple gate. 9 They sent word throughout Jerusalem and Judah for everyone to bring to the Lord the tax which Moses, God's servant, had first collected in the wilderness. 10 This pleased the people and their leaders, and they brought their tax money and filled the box with it. 11 Every day the Levites would take the box to the royal official who was in charge of it. Whenever it was full, the royal secretary and the High Priest's representative would take the money out and return the box to its place. And so they collected a large sum of money. 12 The king and Jehoiada would give the money to those who were in charge of repairing the Temple, and they hired stonemasons, carpenters, and metalworkers to make the repairs. 13 All of them worked hard, and they restored the Temple to its original condition, as solid as ever.

3521-2 Kin. 21:1 Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king of Judah, and he ruled in Jerusalem for fifty-five years. His mother was Hephzibah. 2 Following the disgusting practices of the nations whom the Lord had driven out of the land as his people advanced, Manasseh sinned against the Lord. 3 He rebuilt the pagan places of worship that his father Hezekiah had destroyed; he built altars for the worship of Baal and made an image of the goddess Asherah, as King Ahab of Israel had done. Manasseh also worshiped the stars. 4 He built pagan altars in the Temple, the place that the Lord had said was where he should be worshiped. 5 In the two courtyards of the Temple he built altars for the worship of the stars. 6 He sacrificed his son as a burnt offering. He practiced divination and magic and consulted fortunetellers and mediums. He sinned greatly against the Lord and stirred up his anger. 7 He placed the symbol of the goddess Asherah in the Temple, the place about which the Lord had said to David and his son Solomon: "Here in Jerusalem, in this Temple, is the place that I have chosen out of all the territory of the twelve tribes of Israel as the place where I am to be worshiped. 8 And if the people of Israel will obey all my commands and keep the whole Law that my servant Moses gave them, then I will not allow them to be driven out of the land that I gave to their ancestors." 9 But the people of Judah did not obey the Lord, and Manasseh led them to commit even greater sins than those committed by the nations whom the Lord had driven out of the land as his people advanced. 10 Through his servants the prophets the Lord said, 11 "King Manasseh has done these disgusting things, things far worse than what the Canaanites did; and with his idols he has led the people of Judah into sin. 12 So I, the Lord God of Israel, will bring such a disaster on Jerusalem and Judah that everyone who hears about it will be stunned. 13 I will punish Jerusalem as I did Samaria, as I did King Ahab of Israel and his descendants. I will wipe Jerusalem clean of its people, as clean as a plate that has been wiped and turned upside down. 14 I will abandon the people who survive, and will hand them over to their enemies, who will conquer them and plunder their land. 15 I will do this to my people because they have sinned against me and have stirred up my anger from the time their ancestors came out of Egypt to this day." 16 Manasseh killed so many innocent people that the streets of Jerusalem were flowing with blood; he did this in addition to leading the people of Judah into idolatry, causing them to sin against the Lord. 17 Everything else that Manasseh did, including the sins he committed, is recorded in [The History of the Kings of Judah.] 18 Manasseh died and was buried in the palace garden, the garden of Uzza, and his son Amon succeeded him as king. 19 Amon was twenty-two years old when he became king of Judah, and he ruled in Jerusalem for two years. His mother was Meshullemeth, the daughter of Haruz from the town of Jotbah. 20 Like his father Manasseh, he sinned against the Lord; 21 he imitated his father's actions, and he worshiped the idols that his father had worshiped. 22 He rejected the Lord, the God of his ancestors, and disobeyed the Lord's commands. 23 Amon's officials plotted against him and assassinated him in the palace. 24 The people of Judah killed Amon's assassins and made his son Josiah king. 25 Everything else that Amon did is recorded in [The History of the Kings of Judah.] 26 Amon was buried in the tomb in the garden of Uzza, and his son Josiah succeeded him as king.

; 2 Chr. 33:1 Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king of Judah, and he ruled in Jerusalem for fifty-five years. 2 Following the disgusting practices of the nations whom the Lord had driven out of the land as his people advanced, Manasseh sinned against the Lord. 3 He rebuilt the pagan places of worship that his father Hezekiah had destroyed. He built altars for the worship of Baal, made images of the goddess Asherah, and worshiped the stars. 4 He built pagan altars in the Temple, the place that the Lord had said was where he should be worshiped forever. 5 In the two courtyards of the Temple he built altars for the worship of the stars. 6 He sacrificed his sons in Hinnom Valley as burnt offerings. He practiced divination and magic and consulted fortunetellers and mediums. He sinned greatly against the Lord and stirred up his anger. 7 He placed an image in the Temple, the place about which God had said to David and his son Solomon: "Here in Jerusalem, in this Temple, is the place that I have chosen out of all the territory of the twelve tribes of Israel as the place where I am to be worshiped. 8 And if the people of Israel will obey all my commands and keep the whole Law that my servant Moses gave them, then I will not allow them to be driven out of the land that I gave to their ancestors." 9 Manasseh led the people of Judah to commit even greater sins than those committed by the nations whom the Lord had driven out of the land as his people advanced. 10 Although the Lord warned Manasseh and his people, they refused to listen. 11 So the Lord let the commanders of the Assyrian army invade Judah. They captured Manasseh, stuck hooks in him, put him in chains, and took him to Babylon. 12 In his suffering he became humble, turned to the Lord his God, and begged him for help. 13 God accepted Manasseh's prayer and answered it by letting him go back to Jerusalem and rule again. This convinced Manasseh that the Lord was God. 14 After this, Manasseh increased the height of the outer wall on the east side of David's City, from a point in the valley near Gihon Spring north to the Fish Gate and the area of the city called Ophel. He also stationed an army officer in command of a unit of troops in each of the fortified cities of Judah. 15 He removed from the Temple the foreign gods and the image that he had placed there, and the pagan altars that were on the hill where the Temple stood and in other places in Jerusalem; he took all these things outside the city and threw them away. 16 He also repaired the altar where the Lord was worshiped, and he sacrificed fellowship offerings and thanksgiving offerings on it. He commanded all the people of Judah to worship the Lord, the God of Israel. 17 Although the people continued to offer sacrifices at other places of worship, they offered them only to the Lord. 18 Everything else that Manasseh did, the prayer he made to his God, and the messages of the prophets who spoke to him in the name of the Lord, the God of Israel, are all recorded in [The History of the Kings of Israel.] 19 The king's prayer and God's answer to it, and an account of the sins he committed before he repented - the evil he did, the pagan places of worship and the symbols of the goddess Asherah that he made and the idols that he worshiped - are all recorded in [The History of the Prophets.] 20 Manasseh died and was buried at the palace, and his son Amon succeeded him as king. 21 Amon was twenty-two years old when he became king of Judah, and he ruled in Jerusalem for two years. 22 Like his father Manasseh, he sinned against the Lord, and he worshiped the idols that his father had worshiped. 23 But unlike his father, he did not become humble and turn to the Lord; he was even more sinful than his father had been. 24 Amon's officials plotted against him and assassinated him in the palace. 25 The people of Judah killed Amon's assassins and made his son Josiah king.

3522-2 Kin. 22:8 Shaphan delivered the king's order to Hilkiah, and Hilkiah told him that he had found the book of the Law in the Temple. Hilkiah gave him the book, and Shaphan read it.

3523-2 Kin. 22:3 In the eighteenth year of his reign, King Josiah sent the court secretary Shaphan, the son of Azaliah and grandson of Meshullam, to the Temple with the order:

3524-Zep 1:7 The day is near when the Lord will sit in judgment; so be silent in his presence. The Lord is preparing to sacrifice his people and has invited enemies to plunder Judah.

Zep 2:1 Shameless nation, come to your senses 2 before you are driven away like chaff blown by the wind, before the burning anger of the Lord comes upon you, before the day when he shows his fury. 3 Turn to the Lord, all you humble people of the land, who obey his commands. Do what is right, and humble yourselves before the Lord. Perhaps you will escape punishment on the day when the Lord shows his anger.

3525-Is. 13:6 Howl in pain! The day of the Lord is near, the day when the Almighty brings destruction.

Jer. 46:10 This is the day of the Sovereign Lord Almighty: today he will take revenge; today he will punish his enemies. His sword will eat them until it is full, and drink their blood until it is satisfied. Today the Almighty sacrifices his victims in the north, by the Euphrates.

Ezek. 30:3 The day is near, the day when the Lord will act, A day of clouds and trouble for the nations.

Joel 1:15 The day of the Lord is near, the day when the Almighty brings destruction. What terror that day will bring!

3526-1 Cor. 5:5 you are to hand this man over to Satan for his body to be destroyed, so that his spirit may be saved in the Day of the Lord.

2 Cor. 1:14 as you have understood in part, that you can be proud of us as we can be of you, on the day of the Lord Jesus.

1 Thess. 4:13 Our friends, we want you to know the truth about those who have died, so that you will not be sad, as are those who have no hope. 14 We believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will take back with Jesus those who have died believing in him. 15 W_ hat we are teaching you now is the Lord's teaching: we who are alive on the day the Lord comes will not go ahead of those who have died. 16 There will be the shout of command, the archangel's voice, the sound of God's trumpet, and the Lord himself will come down from heaven. Those who have died believing in Christ will rise to life first; 17 then we who are living at that time will be gathered up along with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will always be with the Lord. 18 So then, encourage one another with these words.

1 Thes 5:1 There is no need to write you, friends, about the times and occasions when these things will happen. 2 For you yourselves know very well that the Day of the Lord will come as a thief comes at night. 3 When people say, "Everything is quiet and safe," then suddenly destruction will hit them! It will come as suddenly as the pains that come upon a woman in labor, and people will not escape. 4 But you, friends, are not in the darkness, and the Day should not take you by surprise like a thief. 5 All of you are people who belong to the light, who belong to the day. We do not belong to the night or to the darkness. 6 So then, we should not be sleeping like the others; we should be awake and sober. 7 It is at night when people sleep; it is at night when they get drunk. 8 But we belong to the day, and we should be sober. We must wear faith and love as a breastplate, and our hope of salvation as a helmet. 9 God did not choose us to suffer his anger, but to possess salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, 10 who died for us in order that we might live together with him, whether we are alive or dead when he comes. 11 And so encourage one another and help one another, just as you are now doing.

3527-Zephaniah 1:4 "I will stretch out my hand against Judah, and against all the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and I will cut off from this place the remnant of Ba'al and the name of the idolatrous priests;

Zep 2:7 The seacoast shall become the possession of the remnant of the house of Judah, on which they shall pasture, and in the houses of Ash'kelon they shall lie down at evening. For the LORD their God will be mindful of them and restore their fortunes. ….9 Therefore, as I live," says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, "Moab shall become like Sodom, and the Ammonites like Gomor'rah, a land possessed by nettles and salt pits, and a waste for ever. The remnant of my people shall plunder them, and the survivors of my nation shall possess them."

3528-Zephaniah 1:7 Be silent before the Lord GOD! For the day of the LORD is at hand; the LORD has prepared a sacrifice and consecrated his guests. 8 And on the day of the LORD'S Sacrifice--"i will punish the officials and the king's sons and all who array themselves in foreign attire. 9 On that day I will punish every one who leaps over the threshold, and those who fill their master's house with violence and fraud." 10 "On that day," says the LORD, "a cry will be heard from the Fish Gate, a wail from the Second Quarter, a loud crash from the hills. ….14 The great day of the LORD is near, near and hastening fast; the sound of the day of the LORD is bitter, the mighty man cries aloud there. 15 A day of wrath is that day, a day of distress and anguish, a day of ruin and devastation, a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and thick darkness, 16 a day of trumpet blast and battle cry against the fortified cities and against the lofty battlements. …..18 Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them on the day of the wrath of the LORD. In the fire of his jealous wrath, all the earth shall be consumed; for a full, yea, sudden end he will make of all the inhabitants of the earth.

Zep 2:2 before you are driven away like the drifting chaff, before there comes upon you the fierce anger of the LORD, before there comes upon you the day of the wrath of the LORD. 3 Seek the LORD, all you humble of the land, who do his commands; seek righteousness, seek humility; perhaps you may be hidden on the day of the wrath of the LORD.

Zep 3:8 "Therefore wait for me," says the LORD, "for the day when I arise as a witness. For my decision is to gather nations, to assemble kingdoms, to pour out upon them my indignation, all the heat of my anger; for in the fire of my jealous wrath all the earth shall be consumed. …..11 "On that day you shall not be put to shame because of the deeds by which you have rebelled against me; for then I will remove from your midst your proudly exultant ones, and you shall no longer be haughty in my holy mountain. …..16 On that day it shall be said to Jerusalem: "Do not fear, O Zion; let not your hands grow weak.

3529-Zephaniah 1:2 "I will utterly sweep away everything from the face of the earth," says the LORD. 3 "I will sweep away man and beast; I will sweep away the birds of the air and the fish of the sea. I will overthrow the wicked; I will cut off mankind from the face of the earth," says the LORD. 4 "I will stretch out my hand against Judah, and against all the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and I will cut off from this place the remnant of Ba'al and the name of the idolatrous priests; 5 those who bow down on the roofs to the host of the heavens; those who bow down and swear to the LORD and yet swear by Milcom; 6 those who have turned back from following the LORD, who do not seek the LORD or inquire of him." 7 Be silent before the Lord GOD! For the day of the LORD is at hand; the LORD has prepared a sacrifice and consecrated his guests. 8 And on the day of the LORD'S Sacrifice--"i will punish the officials and the king's sons and all who array themselves in foreign attire. 9 On that day I will punish every one who leaps over the threshold, and those who fill their master's house with violence and fraud." 10 "On that day," says the LORD, "a cry will be heard from the Fish Gate, a wail from the Second Quarter, a loud crash from the hills. 11 Wail, O inhabitants of the Mortar! For all the traders are no more; all who weigh out silver are cut off. 12 At that time I will search Jerusalem with lamps, and I will punish the men who are thickening upon their lees, those who say in their hearts, 'The LORD will not do good, nor will he do ill.' 13 Their goods shall be plundered, and their houses laid waste. Though they build houses, they shall not inhabit them; though they plant vineyards, they shall not drink wine from them." 14 The great day of the LORD is near, near and hastening fast; the sound of the day of the LORD is bitter, the mighty man cries aloud there. 15 A day of wrath is that day, a day of distress and anguish, a day of ruin and devastation, a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and thick darkness, 16 a day of trumpet blast and battle cry against the fortified cities and against the lofty battlements. 17 I will bring distress on men, so that they shall walk like the blind, because they have sinned against the LORD; their blood shall be poured out like dust, and their flesh like dung. 18 Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them on the day of the wrath of the LORD. In the fire of his jealous wrath, all the earth shall be consumed; for a full, yea, sudden end he will make of all the inhabitants of the earth.

Zep 2:1 Come together and hold assembly, O shameless nation, 2 before you are driven away like the drifting chaff, before there comes upon you the fierce anger of the LORD, before there comes upon you the day of the wrath of the LORD. 3 Seek the LORD, all you humble of the land, who do his commands; seek righteousness, seek humility; perhaps you may be hidden on the day of the wrath of the LORD. 4 For Gaza shall be deserted, and Ash'kelon shall become a desolation; Ashdod's people shall be driven out at noon, and Ekron shall be uprooted. 5 Woe to you inhabitants of the seacoast, you nation of the Cher'ethites! The word of the LORD is against you, O Canaan, land of the Philistines; and I will destroy you till no inhabitant is left. 6 And you, O seacoast, shall be pastures, meadows for shepherds and folds for flocks. 7 The seacoast shall become the possession of the remnant of the house of Judah, on which they shall pasture, and in the houses of Ash'kelon they shall lie down at evening. For the LORD their God will be mindful of them and restore their fortunes. 8 "I have heard the taunts of Moab and the revilings of the Ammonites, how they have taunted my people and made boasts against their territory. 9 Therefore, as I live," says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, "Moab shall become like Sodom, and the Ammonites like Gomor'rah, a land possessed by nettles and salt pits, and a waste for ever. The remnant of my people shall plunder them, and the survivors of my nation shall possess them." 10 This shall be their lot in return for their pride, because they scoffed and boasted against the people of the LORD of hosts. 11 The LORD will be terrible against them; yea, he will famish all the gods of the earth, and to him shall bow down, each in its place, all the lands of the nations. 12 You also, O Ethiopians, shall be slain by my sword. 13 And he will stretch out his hand against the north, and destroy Assyria; and he will make Nin'eveh a desolation, a dry waste like the desert. 14 Herds shall lie down in the midst of her, all the beasts of the field; the vulture and the hedgehog shall lodge in her capitals; the owl shall hoot in the window, the raven croak on the threshold; for her cedar work will be laid bare. 15 This is the exultant city that dwelt secure, that said to herself, "I am and there is none else." What a desolation she has become, a lair for wild beasts! Every one who passes by her hisses and shakes his fist.

Zep 3:1 Woe to her that is rebellious and defiled, the oppressing city! 2 She listens to no voice, she accepts no correction. She does not trust in the LORD, she does not draw near to her God. 3 Her officials within her are roaring lions; her judges are evening wolves that leave nothing till the morning. 4 Her prophets are wanton, faithless men; her priests profane what is sacred, they do violence to the law. 5 The LORD within her is righteous, he does no wrong; every morning he shows forth his justice, each dawn he does not fail; but the unjust knows no shame. 6 "I have cut off nations; their battlements are in ruins; I have laid waste their streets so that none walks in them; their cities have been made desolate, without a man, without an inhabitant. 7 I said, 'Surely she will fear me, she will accept correction; she will not lose sight of all that I have enjoined upon her.' But all the more they were eager to make all their deeds corrupt."

3530-Zeph. 3:8 "Therefore wait for me," says the LORD, "for the day when I arise as a witness. For my decision is to gather nations, to assemble kingdoms, to pour out upon them my indignation, all the heat of my anger; for in the fire of my jealous wrath all the earth shall be consumed. 9 "Yea, at that time I will change the speech of the peoples to a pure speech, that all of them may call on the name of the LORD and serve him with one accord. 10 From beyond the rivers of Ethiopia my suppliants, the daughter of my dispersed ones, shall bring my offering. 11 "On that day you shall not be put to shame because of the deeds by which you have rebelled against me; for then I will remove from your midst your proudly exultant ones, and you shall no longer be haughty in my holy mountain. 12 For I will leave in the midst of you a people humble and lowly. They shall seek refuge in the name of the LORD, 13 those who are left in Israel; they shall do no wrong and utter no lies, nor shall there be found in their mouth a deceitful tongue. For they shall pasture and lie down, and none shall make them afraid." 14 Sing aloud, O daughter of Zion; shout, O Israel! Rejoice and exult with all your heart, O daughter of Jerusalem! 15 The LORD has taken away the judgments against you, he has cast out your enemies. The King of Israel, the LORD, is in your midst; you shall fear evil no more. 16 On that day it shall be said to Jerusalem: "Do not fear, O Zion; let not your hands grow weak. 17 The LORD, your God, is in your midst, a warrior who gives victory; he will rejoice over you with gladness, he will renew you in his love; he will exult over you with loud singing 18 as on a day of festival. "I will remove disaster from you, so that you will not bear reproach for it. 19 Behold, at that time I will deal with all your oppressors. And I will save the lame and gather the outcast, and I will change their shame into praise and renown in all the earth. 20 At that time I will bring you home, at the time when I gather you together; yea, I will make you renowned and praised among all the peoples of the earth, when I restore your fortunes before your eyes," says the LORD.

3531-Zephaniah 1:12 At that time I will search Jerusalem with lamps, and I will punish the men who are thickening upon their lees, those who say in their hearts, 'The LORD will not do good, nor will he do ill.'

Jeremiah 5:12 They have spoken falsely of the LORD, and have said, 'He will do nothing; no evil will come upon us, nor shall we see sword or famine.

2 Peter 3:3 First of all you must understand this, that scoffers will come in the last days with scoffing, following their own passions 4 and saying, "Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things have continued as they were from the beginning of creation."

3532-Zephaniah 1:2 "I will utterly sweep away everything from the face of the earth," says the LORD. 3 "I will sweep away man and beast; I will sweep away the birds of the air and the fish of the sea. I will overthrow the wicked; I will cut off mankind from the face of the earth," says the LORD. 4 "I will stretch out my hand against Judah, and against all the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and I will cut off from this place the remnant of Ba'al and the name of the idolatrous priests; 5 those who bow down on the roofs to the host of the heavens; those who bow down and swear to the LORD and yet swear by Milcom; 6 those who have turned back from following the LORD, who do not seek the LORD or inquire of him." 7 Be silent before the Lord GOD! For the day of the LORD is at hand; the LORD has prepared a sacrifice and consecrated his guests. 8 And on the day of the LORD'S Sacrifice--"i will punish the officials and the king's sons and all who array themselves in foreign attire. 9 On that day I will punish every one who leaps over the threshold, and those who fill their master's house with violence and fraud." 10 "On that day," says the LORD, "a cry will be heard from the Fish Gate, a wail from the Second Quarter, a loud crash from the hills. 11 Wail, O inhabitants of the Mortar! For all the traders are no more; all who weigh out silver are cut off. 12 At that time I will search Jerusalem with lamps, and I will punish the men who are thickening upon their lees, those who say in their hearts, 'The LORD will not do good, nor will he do ill.' 13 Their goods shall be plundered, and their houses laid waste. Though they build houses, they shall not inhabit them; though they plant vineyards, they shall not drink wine from them." 14 The great day of the LORD is near, near and hastening fast; the sound of the day of the LORD is bitter, the mighty man cries aloud there. 15 A day of wrath is that day, a day of distress and anguish, a day of ruin and devastation, a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and thick darkness, 16 a day of trumpet blast and battle cry against the fortified cities and against the lofty battlements. 17 I will bring distress on men, so that they shall walk like the blind, because they have sinned against the LORD; their blood shall be poured out like dust, and their flesh like dung. 18 Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them on the day of the wrath of the LORD. In the fire of his jealous wrath, all the earth shall be consumed; for a full, yea, sudden end he will make of all the inhabitants of the earth.

Zep 2:1 Come together and hold assembly, O shameless nation, 2 before you are driven away like the drifting chaff, before there comes upon you the fierce anger of the LORD, before there comes upon you the day of the wrath of the LORD. 3 Seek the LORD, all you humble of the land, who do his commands; seek righteousness, seek humility; perhaps you may be hidden on the day of the wrath of the LORD. 4 For Gaza shall be deserted, and Ash'kelon shall become a desolation; Ashdod's people shall be driven out at noon, and Ekron shall be uprooted.

Zep 3:16 On that day it shall be said to Jerusalem: "Do not fear, O Zion; let not your hands grow weak. 17 The LORD, your God, is in your midst, a warrior who gives victory; he will rejoice over you with gladness, he will renew you in his love; he will exult over you with loud singing 18 as on a day of festival. "I will remove disaster from you, so that you will not bear reproach for it. 19 Behold, at that time I will deal with all your oppressors. And I will save the lame and gather the outcast, and I will change their shame into praise and renown in all the earth. 20 At that time I will bring you home, at the time when I gather you together; yea, I will make you renowned and praised among all the peoples of the earth, when I restore your fortunes before your eyes," says the LORD.

3533-Joel 1:15 Alas for the day! For the day of the LORD is near, and as destruction from the Almighty it comes.

Zep 2:1 Blow the trumpet in Zion; sound the alarm on my holy mountain! Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble, for the day of the LORD is coming, it is near, 2 a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and thick darkness! Like blackness there is spread upon the mountains a great and powerful people; their like has never been from of old, nor will be again after them through the years of all generations. …..11 The LORD utters his voice before his army, for his host is exceedingly great; he that executes his word is powerful. For the day of the LORD is great and very terrible; who can endure it? …...31 The sun shall be turned to darkness, and the moon to blood, before the great and terrible day of the LORD comes.

Zep 3:14 Multitudes, multitudes, in the valley of decision! For the day of the LORD is near in the valley of decision.

3534-Revelation 14:6 Then I saw another angel flying in midheaven, with an eternal gospel to proclaim to those who dwell on earth, to every nation and tribe and tongue and people; 7 and he said with a loud voice, "Fear God and give him glory, for the hour of his judgment has come; and worship him who made heaven and earth, the sea and the fountains of water." 8 Another angel, a second, followed, saying, "Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great, she who made all nations drink the wine of her impure passion." 9 And another angel, a third, followed them, saying with a loud voice, "If any one worships the beast and its image, and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand, 10 he also shall drink the wine of God's wrath, poured unmixed into the cup of his anger, and he shall be tormented with fire and sulphur in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. 11 And the smoke of their torment goes up for ever and ever; and they have no rest, day or night, these worshipers of the beast and its image, and whoever receives the mark of its name." 12 Here is a call for the endurance of the saints, those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus.

3535-Zephaniah 1:18 Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them on the day of the wrath of the LORD. In the fire of his jealous wrath, all the earth shall be consumed; for a full, yea, sudden end he will make of all the inhabitants of the earth.

Zep 2:1 Come together and hold assembly, O shameless nation, 2 before you are driven away like the drifting chaff, before there comes upon you the fierce anger of the LORD, before there comes upon you the day of the wrath of the LORD. 3 Seek the LORD, all you humble of the land, who do his commands; seek righteousness, seek humility; perhaps you may be hidden on the day of the wrath of the LORD.

3536-Zephaniah 1:2 "I will utterly sweep away everything from the face of the earth," says the LORD. 3 "I will sweep away man and beast; I will sweep away the birds of the air and the fish of the sea. I will overthrow the wicked; I will cut off mankind from the face of the earth," says the LORD. 4 "I will stretch out my hand against Judah, and against all the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and I will cut off from this place the remnant of Ba'al and the name of the idolatrous priests; 5 those who bow down on the roofs to the host of the heavens; those who bow down and swear to the LORD and yet swear by Milcom; 6 those who have turned back from following the LORD, who do not seek the LORD or inquire of him." 7 Be silent before the Lord GOD! For the day of the LORD is at hand; the LORD has prepared a sacrifice and consecrated his guests. 8 And on the day of the LORD'S Sacrifice--"i will punish the officials and the king's sons and all who array themselves in foreign attire. 9 On that day I will punish every one who leaps over the threshold, and those who fill their master's house with violence and fraud." …...14 The great day of the LORD is near, near and hastening fast; the sound of the day of the LORD is bitter, the mighty man cries aloud there. 15 A day of wrath is that day, a day of distress and anguish, a day of ruin and devastation, a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and thick darkness, 16 a day of trumpet blast and battle cry against the fortified cities and against the lofty battlements. …..18 Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them on the day of the wrath of the LORD. In the fire of his jealous wrath, all the earth shall be consumed; for a full, yea, sudden end he will make of all the inhabitants of the earth.

Zep 2:1 Come together and hold assembly, O shameless nation, 2 before you are driven away like the drifting chaff, before there comes upon you the fierce anger of the LORD, before there comes upon you the day of the wrath of the LORD. 3 Seek the LORD, all you humble of the land, who do his commands; seek righteousness, seek humility; perhaps you may be hidden on the day of the wrath of the LORD.

Zep 3:6 "I have cut off nations; their battlements are in ruins; I have laid waste their streets so that none walks in them; their cities have been made desolate, without a man, without an inhabitant. 7 I said, 'Surely she will fear me, she will accept correction; she will not lose sight of all that I have enjoined upon her.' But all the more they were eager to make all their deeds corrupt." 8 "Therefore wait for me," says the LORD, "for the day when I arise as a witness. For my decision is to gather nations, to assemble kingdoms, to pour out upon them my indignation, all the heat of my anger; for in the fire of my jealous wrath all the earth shall be consumed.

3537-2 Chronicles 36:15 The LORD, the God of their fathers, sent persistently to them by his messengers, because he had compassion on his people and on his dwelling place; 16 but they kept mocking the messengers of God, despising his words, and scoffing at his prophets, till the wrath of the LORD rose against his people, till there was no remedy.

3538-2 Kings 17:1 In the twelfth year of Ahaz king of Judah Hoshe'a the son of Elah began to reign in Sama'ria over Israel, and he reigned nine years. 2 And he did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, yet not as the kings of Israel who were before him. 3 Against him came up Shalmane'ser king of Assyria; and Hoshe'a became his vassal, and paid him tribute. 4 But the king of Assyria found treachery in Hoshe'a; for he had sent messengers to So, king of Egypt, and offered no tribute to the king of Assyria, as he had done year by year; therefore the king of Assyria shut him up, and bound him in prison. 5 Then the king of Assyria invaded all the land and came to Sama'ria, and for three years he besieged it. 6 In the ninth year of Hoshe'a the king of Assyria captured Sama'ria, and he carried the Israelites away to Assyria, and placed them in Halah, and on the Habor, the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes. 7 And this was so, because the people of Israel had sinned against the LORD their God, who had brought them up out of the land of Egypt from under the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and had feared other gods 8 and walked in the customs of the nations whom the LORD drove out before the people of Israel, and in the customs which the kings of Israel had introduced. 9 And the people of Israel did secretly against the LORD their God things that were not right. They built for themselves high places at all their towns, from watchtower to fortified city; 10 they set up for themselves pillars and Ashe'rim on every high hill and under every green tree; 11 and there they burned incense on all the high places, as the nations did whom the LORD carried away before them. And they did wicked things, provoking the LORD to anger, 12 and they served idols, of which the LORD had said to them, "You shall not do this." 13 Yet the LORD warned Israel and Judah by every prophet and every seer, saying, "Turn from your evil ways and keep my commandments and my statutes, in accordance with all the law which I commanded your fathers, and which I sent to you by my servants the prophets." 14 But they would not listen, but were stubborn, as their fathers had been, who did not believe in the LORD their God. 15 They despised his statutes, and his covenant that he made with their fathers, and the warnings which he gave them. They went after false idols, and became false, and they followed the nations that were round about them, concerning whom the LORD had commanded them that they should not do like them. 16 And they forsook all the commandments of the LORD their God, and made for themselves molten images of two calves; and they made an Ashe'rah, and worshiped all the host of heaven, and served Ba'al. 17 And they burned their sons and their daughters as offerings, and used divination and sorcery, and sold themselves to do evil in the sight of the LORD, provoking him to anger. 18 Therefore the LORD was very angry with Israel, and removed them out of his sight; none was left but the tribe of Judah only. 19 Judah also did not keep the commandments of the LORD their God, but walked in the customs which Israel had introduced. 20 And the LORD rejected all the descendants of Israel, and afflicted them, and gave them into the hand of spoilers, until he had cast them out of his sight. 21 When he had torn Israel from the house of David they made Jerobo'am the son of Nebat king. And Jerobo'am drove Israel from following the LORD and made them commit great sin. 22 The people of Israel walked in all the sins which Jerobo'am did; they did not depart from them, 23 until the LORD removed Israel out of his sight, as he had spoken by all his servants the prophets. So Israel was exiled from their own land to Assyria until this day. 24 And the king of Assyria brought people from Babylon, Cuthah, Avva, Hamath, and Sephar-va'im, and placed them in the cities of Sama'ria instead of the people of Israel; and they took possession of Sama'ria, and dwelt in its cities. 25 And at the beginning of their dwelling there, they did not fear the LORD; therefore the LORD sent lions among them, which killed some of them. 26 So the king of Assyria was told, "The nations which you have carried away and placed in the cities of Sama'ria do not know the law of the god of the land; therefore he has sent lions among them, and behold, they are killing them, because they do not know the law of the god of the land." 27 Then the king of Assyria commanded, "Send there one of the priests whom you carried away thence; and let him go and dwell there, and teach them the law of the god of the land." 28 So one of the priests whom they had carried away from Sama'ria came and dwelt in Bethel, and taught them how they should fear the LORD. 29 But every nation still made gods of its own, and put them in the shrines of the high places which the Samaritans had made, every nation in the cities in which they dwelt; 30 the men of Babylon made Suc'coth-be'noth, the men of Cuth made Nergal, the men of Hamath made Ashi'ma, 31 and the Av'vites made Nibhaz and Tartak; and the Sephar'vites burned their children in the fire to Adram'melech and Anam'melech, the gods of Sephar-va'im. 32 They also feared the LORD, and appointed from among themselves all sorts of people as priests of the high places, who sacrificed for them in the shrines of the high places. 33 So they feared the LORD but also served their own gods, after the manner of the nations from among whom they had been carried away. 34 To this day they do according to the former manner. They do not fear the LORD, and they do not follow the statutes or the ordinances or the law or the commandment which the LORD commanded the children of Jacob, whom he named Israel. 35 The LORD made a covenant with them, and commanded them, "You shall not fear other gods or bow yourselves to them or serve them or sacrifice to them; 36 but you shall fear the LORD, who brought you out of the land of Egypt with great power and with an outstretched arm; you shall bow yourselves to him, and to him you shall sacrifice. 37 And the statutes and the ordinances and the law and the commandment which he wrote for you, you shall always be careful to do. You shall not fear other gods, 38 and you shall not forget the covenant that I have made with you. You shall not fear other gods, 39 but you shall fear the LORD your God, and he will deliver you out of the hand of all your enemies." 40 However they would not listen, but they did according to their former manner. 41 So these nations feared the LORD, and also served their graven images; their children likewise, and their children's children--as their fathers did, so they do to this day.

3539-2 Chronicles 36:1 The people of the land took Jeho'ahaz the son of Josi'ah and made him king in his father's stead in Jerusalem. 2 Jeho'ahaz was twenty-three years old when he began to reign; and he reigned three months in Jerusalem. 3 Then the king of Egypt deposed him in Jerusalem and laid upon the land a tribute of a hundred talents of silver and a talent of gold. 4 And the king of Egypt made Eli'akim his brother king over Judah and Jerusalem, and changed his name to Jehoi'akim; but Neco took Jeho'ahaz his brother and carried him to Egypt. 5 Jehoi'akim was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. He did what was evil in the sight of the LORD his God. 6 Against him came up Nebuchadnez'zar king of Babylon, and bound him in fetters to take him to Babylon. 7 Nebuchadnez'zar also carried part of the vessels of the house of the LORD to Babylon and put them in his palace in Babylon. 8 Now the rest of the acts of Jehoi'akim, and the abominations which he did, and what was found against him, behold, they are written in the Book of the Kings of Israel and Judah; and Jehoi'achin his son reigned in his stead. 9 Jehoi'achin was eight years old when he began to reign, and he reigned three months and ten days in Jerusalem. He did what was evil in the sight of the LORD. 10 In the spring of the year King Nebuchadnez'zar sent and brought him to Babylon, with the precious vessels of the house of the LORD, and made his brother Zedeki'ah king over Judah and Jerusalem. 11 Zedeki'ah was twenty-one years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. 12 He did what was evil in the sight of the LORD his God. He did not humble himself before Jeremiah the prophet, who spoke from the mouth of the LORD. 13 He also rebelled against King Nebuchadnez'zar, who had made him swear by God; he stiffened his neck and hardened his heart against turning to the LORD, the God of Israel. 14 All the leading priests and the people likewise were exceedingly unfaithful, following all the abominations of the nations; and they polluted the house of the LORD which he had hallowed in Jerusalem. 15 The LORD, the God of their fathers, sent persistently to them by his messengers, because he had compassion on his people and on his dwelling place; 16 but they kept mocking the messengers of God, despising his words, and scoffing at his prophets, till the wrath of the LORD rose against his people, till there was no remedy. 17 Therefore he brought up against them the king of the Chalde'ans, who slew their young men with the sword in the house of their sanctuary, and had no compassion on young man or virgin, old man or aged; he gave them all into his hand. 18 And all the vessels of the house of God, great and small, and the treasures of the house of the LORD, and the treasures of the king and of his princes, all these he brought to Babylon. 19 And they burned the house of God, and broke down the wall of Jerusalem, and burned all its palaces with fire, and destroyed all its precious vessels. 20 He took into exile in Babylon those who had escaped from the sword, and they became servants to him and to his sons until the establishment of the kingdom of Persia, 21 to fulfil the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed its sabbaths. All the days that it lay desolate it kept sabbath, to fulfil seventy years. 22 Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah might be accomplished, the LORD stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia so that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom and also put it in writing: 23 "Thus says Cyrus king of Persia, 'The LORD, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and he has charged me to build him a house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Whoever is among you of all his people, may the LORD his God be with him. Let him go up.'"

3540-Revelation 14:9 And another angel, a third, followed them, saying with a loud voice, "If any one worships the beast and its image, and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand, 10 he also shall drink the wine of God's wrath, poured unmixed into the cup of his anger, and he shall be tormented with fire and sulphur in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. 11 And the smoke of their torment goes up for ever and ever; and they have no rest, day or night, these worshipers of the beast and its image, and whoever receives the mark of its name."

3541-Zephaniah 1:12 At that time I will search Jerusalem with lamps, and I will punish the men who are thickening upon their lees, those who say in their hearts, 'The LORD will not do good, nor will he do ill.'

3542-Proverbs 1:7 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.

Prov 9:10 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight.

3543-Zephaniah 2:3 Seek the LORD, all you humble of the land, who do his commands; seek righteousness, seek humility; perhaps you may be hidden on the day of the wrath of the LORD.

3544-Micah 6:6 "With what shall I come before the LORD, and bow myself before God on high? Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old? 7 Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousands of rivers of oil? Shall I give my first-born for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?" 8 He has showed you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?

Jeremiah 31:of Israel and the house of Judah, 32 not like the covenant which I made with their fathers when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant which they broke, though I was their husband, says the LORD. 33 But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD: I will put my law within them, and I will write it upon their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 34 And no longer shall each man teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, 'Know the LORD,' for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, says the LORD; for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more."

3545-2 Chronicles 33:9 Manas'seh seduced Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that they did more evil than the nations whom the LORD destroyed before the people of Israel.

3546-Ezra 1:1 In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah might be accomplished, the LORD stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia so that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom and also put it in writing: 2 "Thus says Cyrus king of Persia: The LORD, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and he has charged me to build him a house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah. 3 Whoever is among you of all his people, may his God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, and rebuild the house of the LORD, the God of Israel--he is the God who is in Jerusalem; 4 and let each survivor, in whatever place he sojourns, be assisted by the men of his place with silver and gold, with goods and with beasts, besides freewill offerings for the house of God which is in Jerusalem." 5 Then rose up the heads of the fathers' houses of Judah and Benjamin, and the priests and the Levites, every one whose spirit God had stirred to go up to rebuild the house of the LORD which is in Jerusalem; 6 and all who were about them aided them with vessels of silver, with gold, with goods, with beasts, and with costly wares, besides all that was freely offered. 7 Cyrus the king also brought out the vessels of the house of the LORD which Nebuchadnez'zar had carried away from Jerusalem and placed in the house of his gods. 8 Cyrus king of Persia brought these out in charge of Mith'redath the treasurer, who counted them out to Shesh-baz'zar the prince of Judah. 9 And this was the number of them: a thousand basins of gold, a thousand basins of silver, twenty-nine censers, 10 thirty bowls of gold, two thousand four hundred and ten bowls of silver, and a thousand other vessels; 11 all the vessels of gold and of silver were five thousand four hundred and sixty-nine. All these did Shesh-baz'zar bring up, when the exiles were brought up from Babylonia to Jerusalem.

Ezra 2:1 Now these were the people of the province who came up out of the captivity of those exiles whom Nebuchadnez'zar the king of Babylon had carried captive to Babylonia; they returned to Jerusalem and Judah, each to his own town. 2 They came with Zerub'babel, Jeshua, Nehemi'ah, Serai'ah, Re-el-ai'ah, Mor'decai, Bilshan, Mispar, Bigva'i, Rehum, and Ba'anah. The number of the men of the people of Israel: 3 the sons of Parosh, two thousand one hundred and seventy-two. 4 The sons of Shephati'ah, three hundred and seventy-two. 5 The sons of Arah, seven hundred and seventy-five. 6 The sons of Pa'hath-moab, namely the sons of Jeshua and Jo'ab, two thousand eight hundred and twelve. 7 The sons of Elam, one thousand two hundred and fifty-four. 8 The sons of Zattu, nine hundred and forty-five. 9 The sons of Zac'cai, seven hundred and sixty. 10 The sons of Bani, six hundred and forty-two. 11 The sons of Be'bai, six hundred and twenty-three. 12 The sons of Azgad, one thousand two hundred and twenty-two. 13 The sons of Adoni'kam, six hundred and sixty-six. 14 The sons of Bigva'i, two thousand and fifty-six. 15 The sons of Adin, four hundred and fifty-four. 16 The sons of Ater, namely of Hezeki'ah, ninety-eight. 17 The sons of Be'zai, three hundred and twenty-three. 18 The sons of Jorah, one hundred and twelve. 19 The sons of Hashum, two hundred and twenty-three. 20 The sons of Gibbar, ninety-five. 21 The sons of Bethlehem, one hundred and twenty-three. 22 The men of Neto'phah, fifty-six. 23 The men of An'athoth, one hundred and twenty-eight. 24 The sons of Az'maveth, forty-two. 25 The sons of Kir'iathar'im, Chephi'rah, and Be-er'oth, seven hundred and forty-three. 26 The sons of Ramah and Geba, six hundred and twenty-one. 27 The men of Michmas, one hundred and twenty-two. 28 The men of Bethel and Ai, two hundred and twenty-three. 29 The sons of Nebo, fifty-two. 30 The sons of Magbish, one hundred and fifty-six. 31 The sons of the other Elam, one thousand two hundred and fifty-four. 32 The sons of Harim, three hundred and twenty. 33 The sons of Lod, Hadid, and Ono, seven hundred and twenty-five. 34 The sons of Jericho, three hundred and forty-five. 35 The sons of Sena'ah, three thousand six hundred and thirty. 36 The priests: the sons of Jedai'ah, of the house of Jeshua, nine hundred and seventy-three. 37 The sons of Immer, one thousand and fifty-two. 38 The sons of Pashhur, one thousand two hundred and forty-seven. 39 The sons of Harim, one thousand and seventeen. 40 The Levites: the sons of Jeshua and Kad'mi-el, of the sons of Hodavi'ah, seventy-four. 41 The singers: the sons of Asaph, one hundred and twenty-eight. 42 The sons of the gatekeepers: the sons of Shallum, the sons of Ater, the sons of Talmon, the sons of Akkub, the sons of Hati'ta, and the sons of Sho'bai, in all one hundred and thirty-nine. 43 The temple servants: the sons of Ziha, the sons of Hasu'pha, the sons of Tabba'oth, 44 the sons of Keros, the sons of Si'aha, the sons of Padon, 45 the sons of Leba'nah, the sons of Hag'abah, the sons of Akkub, 46 the sons of Hagab, the sons of Shamlai, the sons of Hanan, 47 the sons of Giddel, the sons of Gahar, the sons of Re-ai'ah, 48 the sons of Rezin, the sons of Neko'da, the sons of Gazzam, 49 the sons of Uzza, the sons of Pase'ah, the sons of Besai, 50 the sons of Asnah, the sons of Me-u'nim, the sons of Nephi'sim, 51 the sons of Bakbuk, the sons of Haku'pha, the sons of Harhur, 52 the sons of Bazluth, the sons of Mehi'da, the sons of Harsha, 53 the sons of Barkos, the sons of Sis'era, the sons of Temah, 54 the sons of Nezi'ah, and the sons of Hati'pha. 55 The sons of Solomon's servants: the sons of So'tai, the sons of Hasso'phereth, the sons of Peru'da, 56 the sons of Ja'alah, the sons of Darkon, the sons of Giddel, 57 the sons of Shephati'ah, the sons of Hattil, the sons of Po'chereth-hazzeba'im, and the sons of Ami. 58 All the temple servants and the sons of Solomon's servants were three hundred and ninety-two. 59 The following were those who came up from Tel-me'lah, Tel-har'sha, Cherub, Addan, and Immer, though they could not prove their fathers' houses or their descent, whether they belonged to Israel: 60 the sons of Delai'ah, the sons of Tobi'ah, and the sons of Neko'da, six hundred and fifty-two. 61 Also, of the sons of the priests: the sons of Habai'ah, the sons of Hakkoz, and the sons of Barzil'lai (who had taken a wife from the daughters of Barzil'lai the Gileadite, and was called by their name). 62 These sought their registration among those enrolled in the genealogies, but they were not found there, and so they were excluded from the priesthood as unclean; 63 the governor told them that they were not to partake of the most holy food, until there should be a priest to consult Urim and Thummim. 64 The whole assembly together was forty-two thousand three hundred and sixty, 65 besides their menservants and maidservants, of whom there were seven thousand three hundred and thirty-seven; and they had two hundred male and female singers. 66 Their horses were seven hundred and thirty-six, their mules were two hundred and forty-five, 67 their camels were four hundred and thirty-five, and their asses were six thousand seven hundred and twenty. 68 Some of the heads of families, when they came to the house of the LORD which is in Jerusalem, made freewill offerings for the house of God, to erect it on its site; 69 according to their ability they gave to the treasury of the work sixty-one thousand darics of gold, five thousand minas of silver, and one hundred priests' garments. 70 The priests, the Levites, and some of the people lived in Jerusalem and its vicinity; and the singers, the gatekeepers, and the temple servants lived in their towns, and all Israel in their towns.

Ezra 3:1 When the seventh month came, and the sons of Israel were in the towns, the people gathered as one man to Jerusalem. 2 Then arose Jeshua the son of Jo'zadak, with his fellow priests, and Zerub'babel the son of She-al'ti-el with his kinsmen, and they built the altar of the God of Israel, to offer burnt offerings upon it, as it is written in the law of Moses the man of God. 3 They set the altar in its place, for fear was upon them because of the peoples of the lands, and they offered burnt offerings upon it to the LORD, burnt offerings morning and evening. 4 And they kept the feast of booths, as it is written, and offered the daily burnt offerings by number according to the ordinance, as each day required, 5 and after that the continual burnt offerings, the offerings at the new moon and at all the appointed feasts of the LORD, and the offerings of every one who made a freewill offering to the LORD. 6 From the first day of the seventh month they began to offer burnt offerings to the LORD. But the foundation of the temple of the LORD was not yet laid. 7 So they gave money to the masons and the carpenters, and food, drink, and oil to the Sido'nians and the Tyrians to bring cedar trees from Lebanon to the sea, to Joppa, according to the grant which they had from Cyrus king of Persia. 8 Now in the second year of their coming to the house of God at Jerusalem, in the second month, Zerub'babel the son of She-al'ti-el and Jeshua the son of Jo'zadak made a beginning, together with the rest of their brethren, the priests and the Levites and all who had come to Jerusalem from the captivity. They appointed the Levites, from twenty years old and upward, to have the oversight of the work of the house of the LORD. 9 And Jeshua with his sons and his kinsmen, and Kad'mi-el and his sons, the sons of Judah, together took the oversight of the workmen in the house of God, along with the sons of Hen'adad and the Levites, their sons and kinsmen. 10 And when the builders laid the foundation of the temple of the LORD, the priests in their vestments came forward with trumpets, and the Levites, the sons of Asaph, with cymbals, to praise the LORD, according to the directions of David king of Israel; 11 and they sang responsively, praising and giving thanks to the LORD, "For he is good, for his steadfast love endures for ever toward Israel." And all the people shouted with a great shout, when they praised the LORD, because the foundation of the house of the LORD was laid. 12 But many of the priests and Levites and heads of fathers' houses, old men who had seen the first house, wept with a loud voice when they saw the foundation of this house being laid, though many shouted aloud for joy; 13 so that the people could not distinguish the sound of the joyful shout from the sound of the people's weeping, for the people shouted with a great shout, and the sound was heard afar.

Ezra 4:1 Now when the adversaries of Judah and Benjamin heard that the returned exiles were building a temple to the LORD, the God of Israel, 2 they approached Zerub'babel and the heads of fathers' houses and said to them, "Let us build with you; for we worship your God as you do, and we have been sacrificing to him ever since the days of E'sar-had'don king of Assyria who brought us here." 3 But Zerub'babel, Jeshua, and the rest of the heads of fathers' houses in Israel said to them, "You have nothing to do with us in building a house to our God; but we alone will build to the LORD, the God of Israel, as King Cyrus the king of Persia has commanded us." 4 Then the people of the land discouraged the people of Judah, and made them afraid to build, 5 and hired counselors against them to frustrate their purpose, all the days of Cyrus king of Persia, even until the reign of Darius king of Persia. 6 And in the reign of Ahasu-e'rus, in the beginning of his reign, they wrote an accusation against the inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem. 7 And in the days of Ar-ta-xerx'es, Bishlam and Mith'redath and Tab'eel and the rest of their associates wrote to Ar-ta-xerx'es king of Persia; the letter was written in Aramaic and translated. 8 Rehum the commander and Shim'shai the scribe wrote a letter against Jerusalem to Ar-ta-xerx'es the king as follows-- 9 then wrote Rehum the commander, Shim'shai the scribe, and the rest of their associates, the judges, the governors, the officials, the Persians, the men of Erech, the Babylonians, the men of Susa, that is, the Elamites, 10 and the rest of the nations whom the great and noble Osnap'par deported and settled in the cities of Sama'ria and in the rest of the province Beyond the River, and now 11 this is a copy of the letter that they Sent--"to Ar-ta-xerx'es the king: Your servants, the men of the province Beyond the River, send greeting. And now 12 be it known to the king that the Jews who came up from you to us have gone to Jerusalem. They are rebuilding that rebellious and wicked city; they are finishing the walls and repairing the foundations. 13 Now be it known to the king that, if this city is rebuilt and the walls finished, they will not pay tribute, custom, or toll, and the royal revenue will be impaired. 14 Now because we eat the salt of the palace and it is not fitting for us to witness the king's dishonor, therefore we send and inform the king, 15 in order that search may be made in the book of the records of your fathers. You will find in the book of the records and learn that this city is a rebellious city, hurtful to kings and provinces, and that sedition was stirred up in it from of old. That was why this city was laid waste. 16 We make known to the king that, if this city is rebuilt and its walls finished, you will then have no possession in the province Beyond the River." 17 The king sent an answer: "To Rehum the commander and Shim'shai the scribe and the rest of their associates who live in Sama'ria and in the rest of the province Beyond the River, greeting. And now 18 the letter which you sent to us has been plainly read before me. 19 And I made a decree, and search has been made, and it has been found that this city from of old has risen against kings, and that rebellion and sedition have been made in it. 20 And mighty kings have been over Jerusalem, who ruled over the whole province Beyond the River, to whom tribute, custom, and toll were paid. 21 Therefore make a decree that these men be made to cease, and that this city be not rebuilt, until a decree is made by me. 22 And take care not to be slack in this matter; why should damage grow to the hurt of the king?" 23 Then, when the copy of King Ar-ta-xerx'es' letter was read before Rehum and Shim'shai the scribe and their associates, they went in haste to the Jews at Jerusalem and by force and power made them cease. 24 Then the work on the house of God which is in Jerusalem stopped; and it ceased until the second year of the reign of Darius king of Persia.

Ezra 5:1 Now the prophets, Haggai and Zechari'ah the son of Iddo, prophesied to the Jews who were in Judah and Jerusalem, in the name of the God of Israel who was over them. 2 Then Zerub'babel the son of She-al'ti-el and Jeshua the son of Jo'zadak arose and began to rebuild the house of God which is in Jerusalem; and with them were the prophets of God, helping them. 3 At the same time Tat'tenai the governor of the province Beyond the River and She'thar-boz'enai and their associates came to them and spoke to them thus, "Who gave you a decree to build this house and to finish this structure?" 4 They also asked them this, "What are the names of the men who are building this building?" 5 But the eye of their God was upon the elders of the Jews, and they did not stop them till a report should reach Darius and then answer be returned by letter concerning it. 6 The copy of the letter which Tat'tenai the governor of the province Beyond the River and She'thar-boz'enai and his associates the governors who were in the province Beyond the River sent to Darius the king; 7 they sent him a report, in which was written as follows: "To Darius the king, all peace. 8 Be it known to the king that we went to the province of Judah, to the house of the great God. It is being built with huge stones, and timber is laid in the walls; this work goes on diligently and prospers in their hands. 9 Then we asked those elders and spoke to them thus, 'Who gave you a decree to build this house and to finish this structure?' 10 We also asked them their names, for your information, that we might write down the names of the men at their head. 11 And this was their reply to us: 'We are the servants of the God of heaven and earth, and we are rebuilding the house that was built many years ago, which a great king of Israel built and finished. 12 But because our fathers had angered the God of heaven, he gave them into the hand of Nebuchadnez'zar king of Babylon, the Chalde'an, who destroyed this house and carried away the people to Babylonia. 13 However in the first year of Cyrus king of Babylon, Cyrus the king made a decree that this house of God should be rebuilt. 14 And the gold and silver vessels of the house of God, which Nebuchadnez'zar had taken out of the temple that was in Jerusalem and brought into the temple of Babylon, these Cyrus the king took out of the temple of Babylon, and they were delivered to one whose name was Shesh-baz'zar, whom he had made governor; 15 and he said to him, "Take these vessels, go and put them in the temple which is in Jerusalem, and let the house of God be rebuilt on its site." 16 Then this Shesh-baz'zar came and laid the foundations of the house of God which is in Jerusalem; and from that time until now it has been in building, and it is not yet finished.' 17 Therefore, if it seem good to the king, let search be made in the royal archives there in Babylon, to see whether a decree was issued by Cyrus the king for the rebuilding of this house of God in Jerusalem. And let the king send us his pleasure in this matter."

Ezra 6:1 Then Darius the king made a decree, and search was made in Babylonia, in the house of the archives where the documents were stored. 2 And in Ecbat'ana, the capital which is in the province of Media, a scroll was found on which this was written: "A record. 3 In the first year of Cyrus the king, Cyrus the king issued a decree: Concerning the house of God at Jerusalem, let the house be rebuilt, the place where sacrifices are offered and burnt offerings are brought; its height shall be sixty cubits and its breadth sixty cubits, 4 with three courses of great stones and one course of timber; let the cost be paid from the royal treasury. 5 And also let the gold and silver vessels of the house of God, which Nebuchadnez'zar took out of the temple that is in Jerusalem and brought to Babylon, be restored and brought back to the temple which is in Jerusalem, each to its place; you shall put them in the house of God." 6 "Now therefore, Tat'tenai, governor of the province Beyond the River, She'thar-boz'enai, and your associates the governors who are in the province Beyond the River, keep away; 7 let the work on this house of God alone; let the governor of the Jews and the elders of the Jews rebuild this house of God on its site. 8 Moreover I make a decree regarding what you shall do for these elders of the Jews for the rebuilding of this house of God; the cost is to be paid to these men in full and without delay from the royal revenue, the tribute of the province from Beyond the River. 9 And whatever is needed--young bulls, rams, or sheep for burnt offerings to the God of heaven, wheat, salt, wine, or oil, as the priests at Jerusalem require--let that be given to them day by day without fail, 10 that they may offer pleasing sacrifices to the God of heaven, and pray for the life of the king and his sons. 11 Also I make a decree that if any one alters this edict, a beam shall be pulled out of his house, and he shall be impaled upon it, and his house shall be made a dunghill. 12 May the God who has caused his name to dwell there overthrow any king or people that shall put forth a hand to alter this, or to destroy this house of God which is in Jerusalem. I Darius make a decree; let it be done with all diligence." 13 Then, according to the word sent by Darius the king, Tat'tenai, the governor of the province Beyond the River, She'thar-boz'enai, and their associates did with all diligence what Darius the king had ordered. 14 And the elders of the Jews built and prospered, through the prophesying of Haggai the prophet and Zechari'ah the son of Iddo. They finished their building by command of the God of Israel and by decree of Cyrus and Darius and Ar-ta-xerx'es king of Persia; 15 and this house was finished on the third day of the month of Adar, in the sixth year of the reign of Darius the king. 16 And the people of Israel, the priests and the Levites, and the rest of the returned exiles, celebrated the dedication of this house of God with joy. 17 They offered at the dedication of this house of God one hundred bulls, two hundred rams, four hundred lambs, and as a sin offering for all Israel twelve he-goats, according to the number of the tribes of Israel. 18 And they set the priests in their divisions and the Levites in their courses, for the service of God at Jerusalem, as it is written in the book of Moses. 19 On the fourteenth day of the first month the returned exiles kept the passover. 20 For the priests and the Levites had purified themselves together; all of them were clean. So they killed the passover lamb for all the returned exiles, for their fellow priests, and for themselves; 21 it was eaten by the people of Israel who had returned from exile, and also by every one who had joined them and separated himself from the pollutions of the peoples of the land to worship the LORD, the God of Israel. 22 And they kept the feast of unleavened bread seven days with joy; for the LORD had made them joyful, and had turned the heart of the king of Assyria to them, so that he aided them in the work of the house of God, the God of Israel.

Ezra 7:1 Now after this, in the reign of Ar-ta-xerx'es king of Persia, Ezra the son of Serai'ah, son of Azari'ah, son of Hilki'ah, 2 son of Shallum, son of Zadok, son of Ahi'tub, 3 son of Amari'ah, son of Azari'ah, son of Merai'oth, 4 son of Zerahi'ah, son of Uzzi, son of Bukki, 5 son of Abi'shu-a, son of Phin'ehas, son of Elea'zar, son of Aaron the chief priest-- 6 this Ezra went up from Babylonia. He was a scribe skilled in the law of Moses which the LORD the God of Israel had given; and the king granted him all that he asked, for the hand of the LORD his God was upon him. 7 And there went up also to Jerusalem, in the seventh year of Ar-ta-xerx'es the king, some of the people of Israel, and some of the priests and Levites, the singers and gatekeepers, and the temple servants. 8 And he came to Jerusalem in the fifth month, which was in the seventh year of the king; 9 for on the first day of the first month he began to go up from Babylonia, and on the first day of the fifth month he came to Jerusalem, for the good hand of his God was upon him. 10 For Ezra had set his heart to study the law of the LORD, and to do it, and to teach his statutes and ordinances in Israel. 11 This is a copy of the letter which King Ar-ta-xerx'es gave to Ezra the priest, the scribe, learned in matters of the commandments of the LORD and his statutes for Israel: 12 "Ar-ta-xerx'es, king of kings, to Ezra the priest, the scribe of the law of the God of heaven. And now 13 I make a decree that any one of the people of Israel or their priests or Levites in my kingdom, who freely offers to go to Jerusalem, may go with you. 14 For you are sent by the king and his seven counselors to make inquiries about Judah and Jerusalem according to the law of your God, which is in your hand, 15 and also to convey the silver and gold which the king and his counselors have freely offered to the God of Israel, whose dwelling is in Jerusalem, 16 with all the silver and gold which you shall find in the whole province of Babylonia, and with the freewill offerings of the people and the priests, vowed willingly for the house of their God which is in Jerusalem. 17 With this money, then, you shall with all diligence buy bulls, rams, and lambs, with their cereal offerings and their drink offerings, and you shall offer them upon the altar of the house of your God which is in Jerusalem. 18 Whatever seems good to you and your brethren to do with the rest of the silver and gold, you may do, according to the will of your God. 19 The vessels that have been given you for the service of the house of your God, you shall deliver before the God of Jerusalem. 20 And whatever else is required for the house of your God, which you have occasion to provide, you may provide it out of the king's treasury. 21 "And I, Ar-ta-xerx'es the king, make a decree to all the treasurers in the province Beyond the River: Whatever Ezra the priest, the scribe of the law of the God of heaven, requires of you, be it done with all diligence, 22 up to a hundred talents of silver, a hundred cors of wheat, a hundred baths of wine, a hundred baths of oil, and salt without prescribing how much. 23 Whatever is commanded by the God of heaven, let it be done in full for the house of the God of heaven, lest his wrath be against the realm of the king and his sons. 24 We also notify you that it shall not be lawful to impose tribute, custom, or toll upon any one of the priests, the Levites, the singers, the doorkeepers, the temple servants, or other servants of this house of God. 25 "And you, Ezra, according to the wisdom of your God which is in your hand, appoint magistrates and judges who may judge all the people in the province Beyond the River, all such as know the laws of your God; and those who do not know them, you shall teach. 26 Whoever will not obey the law of your God and the law of the king, let judgment be strictly executed upon him, whether for death or for banishment or for confiscation of his goods or for imprisonment." 27 Blessed be the LORD, the God of our fathers, who put such a thing as this into the heart of the king, to beautify the house of the LORD which is in Jerusalem, 28 and who extended to me his steadfast love before the king and his counselors, and before all the king's mighty officers. I took courage, for the hand of the LORD my God was upon me, and I gathered leading men from Israel to go up with me.

3547-Ezra 5:1 Now the prophets, Haggai and Zechari'ah the son of Iddo, prophesied to the Jews who were in Judah and Jerusalem, in the name of the God of Israel who was over them.

Ezra 6:14 And the elders of the Jews built and prospered, through the prophesying of Haggai the prophet and Zechari'ah the son of Iddo. They finished their building by command of the God of Israel and by decree of Cyrus and Darius and Ar-ta-xerx'es king of Persia;

3548-Haggai 2:3 'Who is left among you that saw this house in its former glory? How do you see it now? Is it not in your sight as nothing?

3549-Ezra 1:8 Cyrus king of Persia brought these out in charge of Mith'redath the treasurer, who counted them out to Shesh-baz'zar the prince of Judah. …..11 all the vessels of gold and of silver were five thousand four hundred and sixty-nine. All these did Shesh-baz'zar bring up, when the exiles were brought up from Babylonia to Jerusalem.

Ezra 5:14 And the gold and silver vessels of the house of God, which Nebuchadnez'zar had taken out of the temple that was in Jerusalem and brought into the temple of Babylon, these Cyrus the king took out of the temple of Babylon, and they were delivered to one whose name was Shesh-baz'zar, whom he had made governor; …..16 Then this Shesh-baz'zar came and laid the foundations of the house of God which is in Jerusalem; and from that time until now it has been in building, and it is not yet finished.'

3550-Ezra 2:64 The whole assembly together was forty-two thousand three hundred and sixty,

Ezra 3:1 When the seventh month came, and the sons of Israel were in the towns, the people gathered as one man to Jerusalem. 2 Then arose Jeshua the son of Jo'zadak, with his fellow priests, and Zerub'babel the son of She-al'ti-el with his kinsmen, and they built the altar of the God of Israel, to offer burnt offerings upon it, as it is written in the law of Moses the man of God. 3 They set the altar in its place, for fear was upon them because of the peoples of the lands, and they offered burnt offerings upon it to the LORD, burnt offerings morning and evening. 4 And they kept the feast of booths, as it is written, and offered the daily burnt offerings by number according to the ordinance, as each day required, 5 and after that the continual burnt offerings, the offerings at the new moon and at all the appointed feasts of the LORD, and the offerings of every one who made a freewill offering to the LORD. 6 From the first day of the seventh month they began to offer burnt offerings to the LORD. But the foundation of the temple of the LORD was not yet laid. 7 So they gave money to the masons and the carpenters, and food, drink, and oil to the Sido'nians and the Tyrians to bring cedar trees from Lebanon to the sea, to Joppa, according to the grant which they had from Cyrus king of Persia. 8 Now in the second year of their coming to the house of God at Jerusalem, in the second month, Zerub'babel the son of She-al'ti-el and Jeshua the son of Jo'zadak made a beginning, together with the rest of their brethren, the priests and the Levites and all who had come to Jerusalem from the captivity. They appointed the Levites, from twenty years old and upward, to have the oversight of the work of the house of the LORD. 9 And Jeshua with his sons and his kinsmen, and Kad'mi-el and his sons, the sons of Judah, together took the oversight of the workmen in the house of God, along with the sons of Hen'adad and the Levites, their sons and kinsmen. 10 And when the builders laid the foundation of the temple of the LORD, the priests in their vestments came forward with trumpets, and the Levites, the sons of Asaph, with cymbals, to praise the LORD, according to the directions of David king of Israel;

3551-Daniel 10:12 Then he said to me, "Fear not, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your mind to understand and humbled yourself before your God, your words have been heard, and I have come because of your words. 13 The prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me twenty-one days; but Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, so I left him there with the prince of the kingdom of Persia

3552-Ezra 4:1 Now when the adversaries of Judah and Benjamin heard that the returned exiles were building a temple to the LORD, the God of Israel, 2 they approached Zerub'babel and the heads of fathers' houses and said to them, "Let us build with you; for we worship your God as you do, and we have been sacrificing to him ever since the days of E'sar-had'don king of Assyria who brought us here." 3 But Zerub'babel, Jeshua, and the rest of the heads of fathers' houses in Israel said to them, "You have nothing to do with us in building a house to our God; but we alone will build to the LORD, the God of Israel, as King Cyrus the king of Persia has commanded us." 4 Then the people of the land discouraged the people of Judah, and made them afraid to build, 5 and hired counselors against them to frustrate their purpose, all the days of Cyrus king of Persia, even until the reign of Darius king of Persia.

3553-Haggai 1:14 And the LORD stirred up the spirit of Zerub'babel the son of She-al'ti-el, governor of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua the son of Jehoz'adak, the high priest, and the spirit of all the remnant of the people; and they came and worked on the house of the LORD of hosts, their God, 15 on the twenty-fourth day of the month, in the sixth month. In the second year of Darius the king,

3554-Ezra 5:3 Almost at once Governor Tattenai of West-of-Euphrates, Shethar Bozenai, and their fellow officials came to Jerusalem and demanded: "Who gave you orders to build this Temple and equip it?" 4 They also asked for the names of all the men who were helping build the Temple. 5 But God was watching over the Jewish leaders, and the Persian officials decided to take no action until they could write to Emperor Darius and receive a reply. 6 This is the report that they sent to the emperor: 7 "To Emperor Darius, may you rule in peace. 8 "Your Majesty should know that we went to the province of Judah and found that the Temple of the great God is being rebuilt with large stone blocks and with wooden beams set in the wall. The work is being done with great care and is moving ahead steadily. 9 "We then asked the leaders of the people to tell us who had given them authority to rebuild the Temple and to equip it. 10 We also asked them their names so that we could inform you who the leaders of this work are. 11 "They answered, "We are servants of the God of heaven and earth, and we are rebuilding the Temple which was originally built and equipped many years ago by a powerful king of Israel. 12 But because our ancestors made the God of Heaven angry, he let them be conquered by King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia, a king of the Chaldean dynasty. The Temple was destroyed, and the people were taken into exile in Babylonia. 13 Then in the first year of the reign of King Cyrus as emperor of Babylonia, Cyrus issued orders for the Temple to be rebuilt. 14 He restored the gold and silver Temple utensils which Nebuchadnezzar had taken from the Temple in Jerusalem and had placed in the temple in Babylon. Emperor Cyrus turned these utensils over to a man named Sheshbazzar, whom he appointed governor of Judah. 15 The emperor told him to take them and return them to the Temple in Jerusalem, and to rebuild the Temple where it had stood before. 16 So Sheshbazzar came and laid its foundation; construction has continued from then until the present, but it is still not finished.' 17 "Now, if it please Your Majesty, have a search made in the royal records in Babylon to find whether or not Emperor Cyrus gave orders for this Temple in Jerusalem to be rebuilt, and then inform us what your will is in this matter."

Ezra 6:1 So Emperor Darius issued orders for a search to be made in the royal records that were kept in Babylon. 2 But it was in the city of Ecbatana in the province of Media that a scroll was found, containing the following record: 3 "In the first year of his reign Emperor Cyrus commanded that the Temple in Jerusalem be rebuilt as a place where sacrifices are made and offerings are burned. The Temple is to be ninety feet high and ninety feet wide. 4 The walls are to be built with one layer of wood on top of each three layers of stone. All expenses are to be paid by the royal treasury. 5 Also the gold and silver utensils which King Nebuchadnezzar brought to Babylon from the Temple in Jerusalem are to be returned to their proper place in the Jerusalem Temple." 6 Then Emperor Darius sent the following reply: "To Tattenai, governor of West-of-Euphrates, Shethar Bozenai, and your fellow officials in West-of-Euphrates. "Stay away from the Temple 7 and do not interfere with its construction. Let the governor of Judah and the Jewish leaders rebuild the Temple of God where it stood before. 8 I hereby command you to help them rebuild it. Their expenses are to be paid promptly out of the royal funds received from taxes in West-of-Euphrates, so that the work is not interrupted. 9 Day by day, without fail, you are to give the priests in Jerusalem whatever they tell you they need: young bulls, sheep, or lambs to be burned as offerings to the God of Heaven, or wheat, salt, wine, or olive oil. 10 This is to be done so that they can offer sacrifices that are acceptable to the God of Heaven and pray for his blessing on me and my sons. 11 I further command that if any disobey this order, a wooden beam is to be torn out of their houses, sharpened on one end, and then driven through their bodies. And their houses are to be made a rubbish heap. 12 May the God who chose Jerusalem as the place where he is to be worshiped overthrow any king or nation that defies this command and tries to destroy the Temple there. I, Darius, have commanded. My command is to be fully obeyed." 13 Then Governor Tattenai, Shethar Bozenai, and their fellow officials did exactly as the emperor had commanded.

3555-Ezra 5:1 At that time two prophets, Haggai and Zechariah son of Iddo, began to speak in the name of the God of Israel to the Jews who lived in Judah and Jerusalem. 2 When Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel and Joshua son of Jehozadak heard their messages, they began to rebuild the Temple in Jerusalem, and the two prophets helped them.

Ezra 6:14 The Jewish leaders made good progress with the building of the Temple, encouraged by the prophets Haggai and Zechariah. They completed the Temple as they had been commanded by the God of Israel and by Cyrus, Darius, and Artaxerxes, emperors of Persia.

3556-Ezra 6:15 They finished the Temple on the third day of the month Adar in the sixth year of the reign of Emperor Darius.

3557-Haggai 1:

1 During the second year that Darius was emperor of Persia, on the first day of the sixth month, the Lord spoke through the prophet Haggai. The message was for the governor of Judah, Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, and for the High Priest, Joshua son of Jehozadak. 2 The Lord Almighty said to Haggai, "These people say that this is not the right time to rebuild the Temple." 3 The Lord then gave this message to the people through the prophet Haggai: 4 "My people, why should you be living in well-built houses while my Temple lies in ruins? 5 Don't you see what is happening to you? 6 You have planted much grain, but have harvested very little. You have food to eat, but not enough to make you full. You have wine to drink, but not enough to get drunk on! You have clothing, but not enough to keep you warm. And workers cannot earn enough to live on. 7 Can't you see why this has happened? 8 Now go up into the hills, get lumber, and rebuild the Temple; then I will be pleased and will be worshiped as I should be. 9 "You hoped for large harvests, but they turned out to be small. And when you brought the harvest home, I blew it away. Why did I do that? Because my Temple lies in ruins while every one of you is busy working on your own house. 10 That is why there is no rain and nothing can grow. 11 I have brought drought on the land - on its hills, grainfields, vineyards, and olive orchards - on every crop the ground produces, on people and animals, on everything you try to grow." 12 Then Zerubbabel and Joshua and all the people who had returned from the exile in Babylonia, did what the Lord their God told them to do. They were afraid and obeyed the prophet Haggai, the Lord's messenger. 13 Then Haggai gave the Lord's message to the people: "I will be with you - that is my promise." 14 The Lord inspired everyone to work on the Temple: Zerubbabel, the governor of Judah; Joshua, the High Priest, and all the people who had returned from the exile. They began working on the Temple of the Lord Almighty, their God, 15 on the twenty-fourth day of the sixth month of the second year that Darius was emperor.

Haggai 2:1 On the twenty-first day of the seventh month of that same year, the Lord spoke again through the prophet Haggai. 2 He told Haggai to speak to Zerubbabel, the governor of Judah, to Joshua, the High Priest, and to the people, and to say to them, 3 "Is there anyone among you who can still remember how splendid the Temple used to be? How does it look to you now? It must seem like nothing at all. 4 But now don't be discouraged, any of you. Do the work, for I am with you. 5 When you came out of Egypt, I promised that I would always be with you. I am still with you, so do not be afraid. 6 "Before long I will shake heaven and earth, land and sea. 7 I will overthrow all the nations, and their treasures will be brought here, and the Temple will be filled with wealth. 8 All the silver and gold of the world is mine. 9 The new Temple will be more splendid than the old one, and there I will give my people prosperity and peace." The Lord Almighty has spoken. 10 On the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month of the second year that Darius was emperor, the Lord Almighty spoke again to the prophet Haggai. 11 He said, "Ask the priests for a ruling on this question: 12 Suppose someone takes a piece of consecrated meat from a sacrifice and carries it in a fold of his robe. If he then lets his robe touch any bread, cooked food, wine, olive oil, or any kind of food at all, will it make that food consecrated also?" When the question was asked, the priests answered, "No." 13 Then Haggai asked, "Suppose someone is defiled because he has touched a dead body. If he then touches any of these foods, will that make them defiled too?" The priests answered, "Yes." 14 Then Haggai said, "The Lord says that the same thing applies to the people of this nation and to everything they produce; and so everything they offer on the altar is defiled." 15 The Lord says, "Can't you see what has happened to you? Before you started to rebuild the Temple, 16 you would go to a pile of grain expecting to find twenty bushels, but there would be only ten. You would go to draw fifty gallons of wine from a vat, but find only twenty. 17 I sent scorching winds and hail to ruin everything you tried to grow, but still you did not repent. 18 Today is the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month, the day that the foundation of the Temple has been completed. See what is going to happen from now on. 19 Although there is no grain left, and the grapevines, fig trees, pomegranates, and olive trees have not yet produced, yet from now on I will bless you." 20 On that same day, the twenty-fourth of the month, the Lord gave Haggai a second message 21 for Zerubbabel, the governor of Judah: "I am about to shake heaven and earth 22 and overthrow kingdoms and end their power. I will overturn chariots and their drivers; the horses will die, and their riders will kill one another. 23 On that day I will take you, Zerubbabel my servant, and I will appoint you to rule in my name. You are the one I have chosen." The Lord Almighty has spoken.

3558-Ezra 2:2 Their leaders were Zerubbabel, Joshua, Nehemiah, Seraiah, Reelaiah, Mordecai, Bilshan, Mispar, Bigvai, Rehum, and Baanah. This is the list of the clans of Israel, with the number of those from each clan who returned from exile:

3559-Ezra 5:1 At that time two prophets, Haggai and Zechariah son of Iddo, began to speak in the name of the God of Israel to the Jews who lived in Judah and Jerusalem.

Ezra 6:14 The Jewish leaders made good progress with the building of the Temple, encouraged by the prophets Haggai and Zechariah. They completed the Temple as they had been commanded by the God of Israel and by Cyrus, Darius, and Artaxerxes, emperors of Persia.

3560-Hag 1:1 During the second year that Darius was emperor of Persia, on the first day of the sixth month, the Lord spoke through the prophet Haggai. The message was for the governor of Judah, Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, and for the High Priest, Joshua son of Jehozadak. 2 The Lord Almighty said to Haggai, "These people say that this is not the right time to rebuild the Temple." 3 The Lord then gave this message to the people through the prophet Haggai: 4 "My people, why should you be living in well-built houses while my Temple lies in ruins? 5 Don't you see what is happening to you? 6 You have planted much grain, but have harvested very little. You have food to eat, but not enough to make you full. You have wine to drink, but not enough to get drunk on! You have clothing, but not enough to keep you warm. And workers cannot earn enough to live on. 7 Can't you see why this has happened? 8 Now go up into the hills, get lumber, and rebuild the Temple; then I will be pleased and will be worshiped as I should be. 9 "You hoped for large harvests, but they turned out to be small. And when you brought the harvest home, I blew it away. Why did I do that? Because my Temple lies in ruins while every one of you is busy working on your own house. 10 That is why there is no rain and nothing can grow. 11 I have brought drought on the land - on its hills, grainfields, vineyards, and olive orchards - on every crop the ground produces, on people and animals, on everything you try to grow." 12 Then Zerubbabel and Joshua and all the people who had returned from the exile in Babylonia, did what the Lord their God told them to do. They were afraid and obeyed the prophet Haggai, the Lord's messenger. 13 Then Haggai gave the Lord's message to the people: "I will be with you - that is my promise." 14 The Lord inspired everyone to work on the Temple: Zerubbabel, the governor of Judah; Joshua, the High Priest, and all the people who had returned from the exile. They began working on the Temple of the Lord Almighty, their God, 15 on the twenty-fourth day of the sixth month of the second year that Darius was emperor.

3561-Ezra 1:2 "This is the command of Cyrus, Emperor of Persia. The Lord, the God of Heaven, has made me ruler over the whole world and has given me the responsibility of building a temple for him in Jerusalem in Judah. 3 May God be with all of you who are his people. You are to go to Jerusalem and rebuild the Temple of the Lord, the God of Israel, the God who is worshiped in Jerusalem. 4 If any of his people in exile need help to return, their neighbors are to give them this help. They are to provide them with silver and gold, supplies and pack animals, as well as offerings to present in the Temple of God in Jerusalem."

3562-Hag 2:1 On the twenty-first day of the seventh month of that same year, the Lord spoke again through the prophet Haggai. 2 He told Haggai to speak to Zerubbabel, the governor of Judah, to Joshua, the High Priest, and to the people, and to say to them, 3 "Is there anyone among you who can still remember how splendid the Temple used to be? How does it look to you now? It must seem like nothing at all. 4 But now don't be discouraged, any of you. Do the work, for I am with you. 5 When you came out of Egypt, I promised that I would always be with you. I am still with you, so do not be afraid. 6 "Before long I will shake heaven and earth, land and sea. 7 I will overthrow all the nations, and their treasures will be brought here, and the Temple will be filled with wealth. 8 All the silver and gold of the world is mine. 9 The new Temple will be more splendid than the old one, and there I will give my people prosperity and peace." The Lord Almighty has spoken.

3563-Hag 2:10 On the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month of the second year that Darius was emperor, the Lord Almighty spoke again to the prophet Haggai. 11 He said, "Ask the priests for a ruling on this question: 12 Suppose someone takes a piece of consecrated meat from a sacrifice and carries it in a fold of his robe. If he then lets his robe touch any bread, cooked food, wine, olive oil, or any kind of food at all, will it make that food consecrated also?" When the question was asked, the priests answered, "No." 13 Then Haggai asked, "Suppose someone is defiled because he has touched a dead body. If he then touches any of these foods, will that make them defiled too?" The priests answered, "Yes." 14 Then Haggai said, "The Lord says that the same thing applies to the people of this nation and to everything they produce; and so everything they offer on the altar is defiled." 15 The Lord says, "Can't you see what has happened to you? Before you started to rebuild the Temple, 16 you would go to a pile of grain expecting to find twenty bushels, but there would be only ten. You would go to draw fifty gallons of wine from a vat, but find only twenty. 17 I sent scorching winds and hail to ruin everything you tried to grow, but still you did not repent. 18 Today is the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month, the day that the foundation of the Temple has been completed. See what is going to happen from now on. 19 Although there is no grain left, and the grapevines, fig trees, pomegranates, and olive trees have not yet produced, yet from now on I will bless you." 20 On that same day, the twenty-fourth of the month, the Lord gave Haggai a second message 21 for Zerubbabel, the governor of Judah: "I am about to shake heaven and earth 22 and overthrow kingdoms and end their power. I will overturn chariots and their drivers; the horses will die, and their riders will kill one another. 23 On that day I will take you, Zerubbabel my servant, and I will appoint you to rule in my name. You are the one I have chosen." The Lord Almighty has spoken.

3564-John 8:48 They asked Jesus, "Were we not right in saying that you are a Samaritan and have a demon in you?"

3565-Haggai 1:2 The Lord Almighty said to Haggai, "These people say that this is not the right time to rebuild the Temple." 3 The Lord then gave this message to the people through the prophet Haggai: 4 "My people, why should you be living in well-built houses while my Temple lies in ruins? 5 Don't you see what is happening to you? 6 You have planted much grain, but have harvested very little. You have food to eat, but not enough to make you full. You have wine to drink, but not enough to get drunk on! You have clothing, but not enough to keep you warm. And workers cannot earn enough to live on. 7 Can't you see why this has happened? 8 Now go up into the hills, get lumber, and rebuild the Temple; then I will be pleased and will be worshiped as I should be. 9 "You hoped for large harvests, but they turned out to be small. And when you brought the harvest home, I blew it away. Why did I do that? Because my Temple lies in ruins while every one of you is busy working on your own house. 10 That is why there is no rain and nothing can grow. 11 I have brought drought on the land - on its hills, grainfields, vineyards, and olive orchards - on every crop the ground produces, on people and animals, on everything you try to grow."

3566-Isaiah 40:9 Jerusalem, go up on a high mountain and proclaim the good news! Call out with a loud voice, Zion; announce the good news! Speak out and do not be afraid. Tell the towns of Judah that their God is coming! 10 The Sovereign Lord is coming to rule with power, bringing with him the people he has rescued. 11 He will take care of his flock like a shepherd; he will gather the lambs together and carry them in his arms; he will gently lead their mothers. 12 Can anyone measure the ocean by handfuls or measure the sky with his hands? Can anyone hold the soil of the earth in a cup or weigh the mountains and hills on scales? 13 Can anyone tell the Lord what to do? Who can teach him or give him advice? 14 With whom does God consult in order to know and understand and to learn how things should be done? 15 To the Lord the nations are nothing, no more than a drop of water; the distant islands are as light as dust. 16 All the animals in the forests of Lebanon are not enough for a sacrifice to our God, and its trees are too few to kindle the fire. 17 The nations are nothing at all to him. 18 To whom can God be compared? How can you describe what he is like? 19 He is not like an idol that workers make, that metalworkers cover with gold and set in a base of silver. 20 Anyone who cannot afford silver or gold chooses wood that will not rot. He finds a skillful worker to make an image that won't fall down. 21 Do you not know? Were you not told long ago? Have you not heard how the world began? 22 It was made by the one who sits on his throne above the earth and beyond the sky; the people below look as tiny as ants. He stretched out the sky like a curtain, like a tent in which to live. 23 He brings down powerful rulers and reduces them to nothing. 24 They are like young plants, just set out and barely rooted. When the Lord sends a wind, they dry up and blow away like straw. 25 To whom can the holy God be compared? Is there anyone else like him? 26 Look up at the sky! Who created the stars you see? The one who leads them out like an army, he knows how many there are and calls each one by name! His power is so great - not one of them is ever missing!

3567-Isaiah 44:6 The Lord, who rules and protects Israel, the Lord Almighty, has this to say: "I am the first, the last, the only God; there is no other god but me. 7 Could anyone else have done what I did? Who could have predicted all that would happen from the very beginning to the end of time? 8 Do not be afraid, my people! You know that from ancient times until now I have predicted all that would happen, and you are my witnesses. Is there any other god? Is there some powerful god I never heard of?" 9 All those who make idols are worthless, and the gods they prize so highly are useless. Those who worship these gods are blind and ignorant - and they will be disgraced. 10 It does no good to make a metal image to worship as a god! 11 Everyone who worships it will be humiliated. The people who make idols are human beings and nothing more. Let them come and stand trial - they will be terrified and will suffer disgrace. 12 The metalworker takes a piece of metal and works with it over a fire. His strong arm swings a hammer to pound the metal into shape. As he works, he gets hungry, thirsty, and tired. 13 The carpenter measures the wood. He outlines a figure with chalk, carves it out with his tools, and makes it in the form of a man, a handsome human figure, to be placed in his house. 14 He might cut down cedars to use, or choose oak or cypress wood from the forest. Or he might plant a laurel tree and wait for the rain to make it grow. 15 A person uses part of a tree for fuel and part of it for making an idol. With one part he builds a fire to warm himself and bake bread; with the other part he makes a god and worships it. 16 With some of the wood he makes a fire; he roasts meat, eats it, and is satisfied. He warms himself and says, "How nice and warm! What a beautiful fire!" 17 The rest of the wood he makes into an idol, and then he bows down and worships it. He prays to it and says, "You are my god - save me!" 18 Such people are too stupid to know what they are doing. They close their eyes and their minds to the truth. 19 The maker of idols hasn't the wit or the sense to say, "Some of the wood I burned up. I baked some bread on the coals, and I roasted meat and ate it. And the rest of the wood I made into an idol. Here I am bowing down to a block of wood!" 20 It makes as much sense as eating ashes. His foolish ideas have so misled him that he is beyond help. He won't admit to himself that the idol he holds in his hand is not a god at all.

1 Kings 18:20 So Ahab summoned all the Israelites and the prophets of Baal to meet at Mount Carmel. 21 Elijah went up to the people and said, "How much longer will it take you to make up your minds? If the Lord is God, worship him; but if Baal is God, worship him!" But the people didn't say a word. 22 Then Elijah said, "I am the only prophet of the Lord still left, but there are 450 prophets of Baal. 23 Bring two bulls; let the prophets of Baal take one, kill it, cut it in pieces, and put it on the wood - but don't light the fire. I will do the same with the other bull. 24 Then let the prophets of Baal pray to their god, and I will pray to the Lord, and the one who answers by sending fire - he is God." The people shouted their approval. 25 Then Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, "Since there are so many of you, you take a bull and prepare it first. Pray to your god, but don't set fire to the wood." 26 They took the bull that was brought to them, prepared it, and prayed to Baal until noon. They shouted, "Answer us, Baal!" and kept dancing around the altar they had built. But no answer came. 27 At noon Elijah started making fun of them: "Pray louder! He is a god! Maybe he is day-dreaming or relieving himself, or perhaps he's gone off on a trip! Or maybe he's sleeping, and you've got to wake him up!" 28 So the prophets prayed louder and cut themselves with knives and daggers, according to their ritual, until blood flowed. 29 They kept on ranting and raving until the middle of the afternoon; but no answer came, not a sound was heard. 30 Then Elijah said to the people, "Come closer to me," and they all gathered around him. He set about repairing the altar of the Lord which had been torn down. 31 He took twelve stones, one for each of the twelve tribes named for the sons of Jacob, the man to whom the Lord had given the name Israel. 32 With these stones he rebuilt the altar for the worship of the Lord. He dug a trench around it, large enough to hold about four gallons of water. 33 Then he placed the wood on the altar, cut the bull in pieces, and laid it on the wood. He said, "Fill four jars with water and pour it on the offering and the wood." They did so, 34 and he said, "Do it again" - and they did. "Do it once more," he said - and they did. 35 The water ran down around the altar and filled the trench. 36 At the hour of the afternoon sacrifice the prophet Elijah approached the altar and prayed, "O Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, prove now that you are the God of Israel and that I am your servant and have done all this at your command. 37 Answer me, Lord, answer me, so that this people will know that you, the Lord, are God and that you are bringing them back to yourself." 38 The Lord sent fire down, and it burned up the sacrifice, the wood, and the stones, scorched the earth and dried up the water in the trench. 39 When the people saw this, they threw themselves on the ground and exclaimed, "The Lord is God; the Lord alone is God!" 40 Elijah ordered, "Seize the prophets of Baal; don't let any of them get away!" The people seized them all, and Elijah led them down to Kishon Brook and killed them.

3568-2 Kings 17:15 They refused to obey his instructions, they did not keep the covenant he had made with their ancestors, and they disregarded his warnings. They worshiped worthless idols and became worthless themselves, and they followed the customs of the surrounding nations, disobeying the Lord's command not to imitate them.

Hosea 9:10 The Lord says, "When I first found Israel, it was like finding grapes growing in the desert. When I first saw your ancestors, it was like seeing the first ripe figs of the season. But when they came to Mount Peor, they began to worship Baal and soon became as disgusting as the gods they loved.

Numbers 25:1 When the Israelites were camped at Acacia Valley, the men began to have sexual intercourse with the Moabite women who were there. 2 These women invited them to sacrificial feasts, where the god of Moab was worshiped. The Israelites ate the food and worshiped the god 3 Baal of Peor. So the Lord was angry with them 4 and said to Moses, "Take all the leaders of Israel and, in obedience to me, execute them in broad daylight, and then I will no longer be angry with the people." 5 Moses said to the officials, "Each of you is to kill every man in your tribe who has become a worshiper of Baal of Peor."

Psalms 115:8 May all who made them and who trust in them become like the idols they have made.

Jeremiah 2:5 The Lord says: "What accusation did your ancestors bring against me? What made them turn away from me? They worshiped worthless idols and became worthless themselves. …..17 Israel, you brought this on yourself! You deserted me, the Lord your God, while I was leading you along the way. 18 What do you think you will gain by going to Egypt to drink water from the Nile? What do you think you will gain by going to Assyria to drink water from the Euphrates?

Jer 7:6 Stop taking advantage of aliens, orphans, and widows. Stop killing innocent people in this land. Stop worshiping other gods, for that will destroy you.

2 Corinthians 3:18 All of us, then, reflect the glory of the Lord with uncovered faces; and that same glory, coming from the Lord, who is the Spirit, transforms us into his likeness in an ever greater degree of glory.

3569-Haggai 2:9 The new Temple will be more splendid than the old one, and there I will give my people prosperity and peace." The Lord Almighty has spoken.

Ezra 3:10 When the builders started to lay the foundation of the Temple, the priests in their robes took their places with trumpets in their hands, and the Levites of the clan of Asaph stood there with cymbals. They praised the Lord according to the instructions handed down from the time of King David. 11 They sang the Lord's praises, repeating the refrain: "The Lord is good, and his love for Israel is eternal." Everyone shouted with all their might, praising the Lord, because the work on the foundation of the Temple had been started. 12 Many of the older priests, Levites, and heads of clans had seen the first Temple, and as they watched the foundation of this Temple being laid, they cried and wailed. But the others who were there shouted for joy. 13 No one could distinguish between the joyful shouts and the crying, because the noise they made was so loud that it could be heard for miles.

3570-2 Chronicles 5:11 Now when the priests came out of the holy place (for all the priests who were present had sanctified themselves, without regard to their divisions; 12 and all the Levitical singers, Asaph, Heman, and Jedu'thun, their sons and kinsmen, arrayed in fine linen, with cymbals, harps, and lyres, stood east of the altar with a hundred and twenty priests who were trumpeters; 13 and it was the duty of the trumpeters and singers to make themselves heard in unison in praise and thanksgiving to the LORD), and when the song was raised, with trumpets and cymbals and other musical instruments, in praise to the LORD, "For he is good, for his steadfast love endures for ever," the house, the house of the LORD, was filled with a cloud, 14 so that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud; for the glory of the LORD filled the house of God.

3571-John 8:2 Early in the morning he came again to the temple; all the people came to him, and he sat down and taught them.

Matthew 26:55 At that hour Jesus said to the crowds, "Have you come out as against a robber, with swords and clubs to capture me? Day after day I sat in the temple teaching, and you did not seize me.

3572-1 Kings 8:10 And when the priests came out of the holy place, a cloud filled the house of the LORD,

2 Chronicles 5:11 Now when the priests came out of the holy place (for all the priests who were present had sanctified themselves, without regard to their divisions; 12 and all the Levitical singers, Asaph, Heman, and Jedu'thun, their sons and kinsmen, arrayed in fine linen, with cymbals, harps, and lyres, stood east of the altar with a hundred and twenty priests who were trumpeters; 13 and it was the duty of the trumpeters and singers to make themselves heard in unison in praise and thanksgiving to the LORD), and when the song was raised, with trumpets and cymbals and other musical instruments, in praise to the LORD, "For he is good, for his steadfast love endures for ever," the house, the house of the LORD, was filled with a cloud, 14 so that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud; for the glory of the LORD filled the house of God.

2 Chron 7:1 When Solomon had ended his prayer, fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices, and the glory of the LORD filled the temple. 2 And the priests could not enter the house of the LORD, because the glory of the LORD filled the LORD's house. 3 When all the children of Israel saw the fire come down and the glory of the LORD upon the temple, they bowed down with their faces to the earth on the pavement, and worshiped and gave thanks to the LORD, saying, "For he is good, for his steadfast love endures for ever." 4 Then the king and all the people offered sacrifice before the LORD. 5 King Solomon offered as a sacrifice twenty-two thousand oxen and a hundred and twenty thousand sheep. So the king and all the people dedicated the house of God. 6 The priests stood at their posts; the Levites also, with the instruments for music to the LORD which King David had made for giving thanks to the LORD--for his steadfast love endures for ever--whenever David offered praises by their ministry; opposite them the priests sounded trumpets; and all Israel stood. 7 And Solomon consecrated the middle of the court that was before the house of the LORD; for there he offered the burnt offering and the fat of the peace offerings, because the bronze altar Solomon had made could not hold the burnt offering and the cereal offering and the fat. 8 At that time Solomon held the feast for seven days, and all Israel with him, a very great congregation, from the entrance of Hamath to the Brook of Egypt. 9 And on the eighth day they held a solemn assembly; for they had kept the dedication of the altar seven days and the feast seven days. 10 On the twenty-third day of the seventh month he sent the people away to their homes, joyful and glad of heart for the goodness that the LORD had shown to David and to Solomon and to Israel his people.

3573-1 Kings 8:1 Then Solomon assembled the elders of Israel and all the heads of the tribes, the leaders of the fathers' houses of the people of Israel, before King Solomon in Jerusalem, to bring up the ark of the covenant of the LORD out of the city of David, which is Zion. 2 And all the men of Israel assembled to King Solomon at the feast in the month Eth'anim, which is the seventh month. 3 And all the elders of Israel came, and the priests took up the ark. 4 And they brought up the ark of the LORD, the tent of meeting, and all the holy vessels that were in the tent; the priests and the Levites brought them up. 5 And King Solomon and all the congregation of Israel, who had assembled before him, were with him before the ark, sacrificing so many sheep and oxen that they could not be counted or numbered. 6 Then the priests brought the ark of the covenant of the LORD to its place, in the inner sanctuary of the house, in the most holy place, underneath the wings of the cherubim. 7 For the cherubim spread out their wings over the place of the ark, so that the cherubim made a covering above the ark and its poles. 8 And the poles were so long that the ends of the poles were seen from the holy place before the inner sanctuary; but they could not be seen from outside; and they are there to this day. 9 There was nothing in the ark except the two tables of stone which Moses put there at Horeb, where the LORD made a covenant with the people of Israel, when they came out of the land of Egypt. 10 And when the priests came out of the holy place, a cloud filled the house of the LORD, 11 so that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud; for the glory of the LORD filled the house of the LORD. 12 Then Solomon said, "The LORD has set the sun in the heavens, but has said that he would dwell in thick darkness. 13 I have built thee an exalted house, a place for thee to dwell in for ever." 14 Then the king faced about, and blessed all the assembly of Israel, while all the assembly of Israel stood. 15 And he said, "Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel, who with his hand has fulfilled what he promised with his mouth to David my father, saying, 16 'Since the day that I brought my people Israel out of Egypt, I chose no city in all the tribes of Israel in which to build a house, that my name might be there; but I chose David to be over my people Israel.' 17 Now it was in the heart of David my father to build a house for the name of the LORD, the God of Israel. 18 But the LORD said to David my father, 'Whereas it was in your heart to build a house for my name, you did well that it was in your heart; 19 nevertheless you shall not build the house, but your son who shall be born to you shall build the house for my name.' 20 Now the LORD has fulfilled his promise which he made; for I have risen in the place of David my father, and sit on the throne of Israel, as the LORD promised, and I have built the house for the name of the LORD, the God of Israel. 21 And there I have provided a place for the ark, in which is the covenant of the LORD which he made with our fathers, when he brought them out of the land of Egypt." 22 Then Solomon stood before the altar of the LORD in the presence of all the assembly of Israel, and spread forth his hands toward heaven; 23 and said, "O LORD, God of Israel, there is no God like thee, in heaven above or on earth beneath, keeping covenant and showing steadfast love to thy servants who walk before thee with all their heart; 24 who hast kept with thy servant David my father what thou didst declare to him; yea, thou didst speak with thy mouth, and with thy hand hast fulfilled it this day. 25 Now therefore, O LORD, God of Israel, keep with thy servant David my father what thou hast promised him, saying, 'There shall never fail you a man before me to sit upon the throne of Israel, if only your sons take heed to their way, to walk before me as you have walked before me.' 26 Now therefore, O God of Israel, let thy word be confirmed, which thou hast spoken to thy servant David my father. 27 "But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain thee; how much less this house which I have built! 28 Yet have regard to the prayer of thy servant and to his supplication, O LORD my God, hearkening to the cry and to the prayer which thy servant prays before thee this day; 29 that thy eyes may be open night and day toward this house, the place of which thou hast said, 'My name shall be there,' that thou mayest hearken to the prayer which thy servant offers toward this place. 30 And hearken thou to the supplication of thy servant and of thy people Israel, when they pray toward this place; yea, hear thou in heaven thy dwelling place; and when thou hearest, forgive. 31 "If a man sins against his neighbor and is made to take an oath, and comes and swears his oath before thine altar in this house, 32 then hear thou in heaven, and act, and judge thy servants, condemning the guilty by bringing his conduct upon his own head, and vindicating the righteous by rewarding him according to his righteousness. 33 "When thy people Israel are defeated before the enemy because they have sinned against thee, if they turn again to thee, and acknowledge thy name, and pray and make supplication to thee in this house; 34 then hear thou in heaven, and forgive the sin of thy people Israel, and bring them again to the land which thou gavest to their fathers. 35 "When heaven is shut up and there is no rain because they have sinned against thee, if they pray toward this place, and acknowledge thy name, and turn from their sin, when thou dost afflict them, 36 then hear thou in heaven, and forgive the sin of thy servants, thy people Israel, when thou dost teach them the good way in which they should walk; and grant rain upon thy land, which thou hast given to thy people as an inheritance. 37 "If there is famine in the land, if there is pestilence or blight or mildew or locust or caterpillar; if their enemy besieges them in any of their cities; whatever plague, whatever sickness there is; 38 whatever prayer, whatever supplication is made by any man or by all thy people Israel, each knowing the affliction of his own heart and stretching out his hands toward this house; 39 then hear thou in heaven thy dwelling place, and forgive, and act, and render to each whose heart thou knowest, according to all his ways (for thou, thou only, knowest the hearts of all the children of men); 40 that they may fear thee all the days that they live in the land which thou gavest to our fathers. 41 "Likewise when a foreigner, who is not of thy people Israel, comes from a far country for thy name's sake 42 (for they shall hear of thy great name, and thy mighty hand, and of thy outstretched arm), when he comes and prays toward this house, 43 hear thou in heaven thy dwelling place, and do according to all for which the foreigner calls to thee; in order that all the peoples of the earth may know thy name and fear thee, as do thy people Israel, and that they may know that this house which I have built is called by thy name. 44 "If thy people go out to battle against their enemy, by whatever way thou shalt send them, and they pray to the LORD toward the city which thou hast chosen and the house which I have built for thy name, 45 then hear thou in heaven their prayer and their supplication, and maintain their cause. 46 "If they sin against thee--for there is no man who does not sin--and thou art angry with them, and dost give them to an enemy, so that they are carried away captive to the land of the enemy, far off or near; 47 yet if they lay it to heart in the land to which they have been carried captive, and repent, and make supplication to thee in the land of their captors, saying, 'We have sinned, and have acted perversely and wickedly'; 48 if they repent with all their mind and with all their heart in the land of their enemies, who carried them captive, and pray to thee toward their land, which thou gavest to their fathers, the city which thou hast chosen, and the house which I have built for thy name; 49 then hear thou in heaven thy dwelling place their prayer and their supplication, and maintain their cause 50 and forgive thy people who have sinned against thee, and all their transgressions which they have committed against thee; and grant them compassion in the sight of those who carried them captive, that they may have compassion on them 51 (for they are thy people, and thy heritage, which thou didst bring out of Egypt, from the midst of the iron furnace). 52 Let thy eyes be open to the supplication of thy servant, and to the supplication of thy people Israel, giving ear to them whenever they call to thee. 53 For thou didst separate them from among all the peoples of the earth, to be thy heritage, as thou didst declare through Moses, thy servant, when thou didst bring our fathers out of Egypt, O Lord GOD." 54 Now as Solomon finished offering all this prayer and supplication to the LORD, he arose from before the altar of the LORD, where he had knelt with hands outstretched toward heaven; 55 and he stood, and blessed all the assembly of Israel with a loud voice, saying, 56 "Blessed be the LORD who has given rest to his people Israel, according to all that he promised; not one word has failed of all his good promise, which he uttered by Moses his servant. 57 The LORD our God be with us, as he was with our fathers; may he not leave us or forsake us; 58 that he may incline our hearts to him, to walk in all his ways, and to keep his commandments, his statutes, and his ordinances, which he commanded our fathers. 59 Let these words of mine, wherewith I have made supplication before the LORD, be near to the LORD our God day and night, and may he maintain the cause of his servant, and the cause of his people Israel, as each day requires; 60 that all the peoples of the earth may know that the LORD is God; there is no other. 61 Let your heart therefore be wholly true to the LORD our God, walking in his statutes and keeping his commandments, as at this day." 62 Then the king, and all Israel with him, offered sacrifice before the LORD. 63 Solomon offered as peace offerings to the LORD twenty-two thousand oxen and a hundred and twenty thousand sheep. So the king and all the people of Israel dedicated the house of the LORD. 64 The same day the king consecrated the middle of the court that was before the house of the LORD; for there he offered the burnt offering and the cereal offering and the fat pieces of the peace offerings, because the bronze altar that was before the LORD was too small to receive the burnt offering and the cereal offering and the fat pieces of the peace offerings. 65 So Solomon held the feast at that time, and all Israel with him, a great assembly, from the entrance of Hamath to the Brook of Egypt, before the LORD our God, seven days. 66 On the eighth day he sent the people away; and they blessed the king, and went to their homes joyful and glad of heart for all the goodness that the LORD had shown to David his servant and to Israel his people.

1 Chronicles 28:1 David assembled at Jerusalem all the officials of Israel, the officials of the tribes, the officers of the divisions that served the king, the commanders of thousands, the commanders of hundreds, the stewards of all the property and cattle of the king and his sons, together with the palace officials, the mighty men, and all the seasoned warriors. 2 Then King David rose to his feet and said: "Hear me, my brethren and my people. I had it in my heart to build a house of rest for the ark of the covenant of the LORD, and for the footstool of our God; and I made preparations for building. 3 But God said to me, 'You may not build a house for my name, for you are a warrior and have shed blood.' 4 Yet the LORD God of Israel chose me from all my father's house to be king over Israel for ever; for he chose Judah as leader, and in the house of Judah my father's house, and among my father's sons he took pleasure in me to make me king over all Israel. 5 And of all my sons (for the LORD has given me many sons) he has chosen Solomon my son to sit upon the throne of the kingdom of the LORD over Israel. 6 He said to me, 'It is Solomon your son who shall build my house and my courts, for I have chosen him to be my son, and I will be his father. 7 I will establish his kingdom for ever if he continues resolute in keeping my commandments and my ordinances, as he is today.' 8 Now therefore in the sight of all Israel, the assembly of the LORD, and in the hearing of our God, observe and seek out all the commandments of the LORD your God; that you may possess this good land, and leave it for an inheritance to your children after you for ever. 9 "And you, Solomon my son, know the God of your father, and serve him with a whole heart and with a willing mind; for the LORD searches all hearts, and understands every plan and thought. If you seek him, he will be found by you; but if you forsake him, he will cast you off for ever. 10 Take heed now, for the LORD has chosen you to build a house for the sanctuary; be strong, and do it." 11 Then David gave Solomon his son the plan of the vestibule of the temple, and of its houses, its treasuries, its upper rooms, and its inner chambers, and of the room for the mercy seat; 12 and the plan of all that he had in mind for the courts of the house of the LORD, all the surrounding chambers, the treasuries of the house of God, and the treasuries for dedicated gifts; 13 for the divisions of the priests and of the Levites, and all the work of the service in the house of the LORD; for all the vessels for the service in the house of the LORD, 14 the weight of gold for all golden vessels for each service, the weight of silver vessels for each service, 15 the weight of the golden lampstands and their lamps, the weight of gold for each lampstand and its lamps, the weight of silver for a lampstand and its lamps, according to the use of each lampstand in the service, 16 the weight of gold for each table for the showbread, the silver for the silver tables, 17 and pure gold for the forks, the basins, and the cups; for the golden bowls and the weight of each; for the silver bowls and the weight of each; 18 for the altar of incense made of refined gold, and its weight; also his plan for the golden chariot of the cherubim that spread their wings and covered the ark of the covenant of the LORD. 19 All this he made clear by the writing from the hand of the LORD concerning it, all the work to be done according to the plan. 20 Then David said to Solomon his son, "Be strong and of good courage, and do it. Fear not, be not dismayed; for the LORD God, even my God, is with you. He will not fail you or forsake you, until all the work for the service of the house of the LORD is finished. 21 And behold the divisions of the priests and the Levites for all the service of the house of God; and with you in all the work will be every willing man who has skill for any kind of service; also the officers and all the people will be wholly at your command."

1 Chron 29:1 And David the king said to all the assembly, "Solomon my son, whom alone God has chosen, is young and inexperienced, and the work is great; for the palace will not be for man but for the LORD God. 2 So I have provided for the house of my God, so far as I was able, the gold for the things of gold, the silver for the things of silver, and the bronze for the things of bronze, the iron for the things of iron, and wood for the things of wood, besides great quantities of onyx and stones for setting, antimony, colored stones, all sorts of precious stones, and marble. 3 Moreover, in addition to all that I have provided for the holy house, I have a treasure of my own of gold and silver, and because of my devotion to the house of my God I give it to the house of my God: 4 three thousand talents of gold, of the gold of Ophir, and seven thousand talents of refined silver, for overlaying the walls of the house, 5 and for all the work to be done by craftsmen, gold for the things of gold and silver for the things of silver. Who then will offer willingly, consecrating himself today to the LORD?" 6 Then the heads of fathers' houses made their freewill offerings, as did also the leaders of the tribes, the commanders of thousands and of hundreds, and the officers over the king's work. 7 They gave for the service of the house of God five thousand talents and ten thousand darics of gold, ten thousand talents of silver, eighteen thousand talents of bronze, and a hundred thousand talents of iron. 8 And whoever had precious stones gave them to the treasury of the house of the LORD, in the care of Jehi'el the Gershonite. 9 Then the people rejoiced because these had given willingly, for with a whole heart they had offered freely to the LORD; David the king also rejoiced greatly. 10 Therefore David blessed the LORD in the presence of all the assembly; and David said: "Blessed art thou, O LORD, the God of Israel our father, for ever and ever. 11 Thine, O LORD, is the greatness, and the power, and the glory, and the victory, and the majesty; for all that is in the heavens and in the earth is thine; thine is the kingdom, O LORD, and thou art exalted as head above all. 12 Both riches and honor come from thee, and thou rulest over all. In thy hand are power and might; and in thy hand it is to make great and to give strength to all. 13 And now we thank thee, our God, and praise thy glorious name. 14 "But who am I, and what is my people, that we should be able thus to offer willingly? For all things come from thee, and of thy own have we given thee. 15 For we are strangers before thee, and sojourners, as all our fathers were; our days on the earth are like a shadow, and there is no abiding. 16 O LORD our God, all this abundance that we have provided for building thee a house for thy holy name comes from thy hand and is all thy own. 17 I know, my God, that thou triest the heart, and hast pleasure in uprightness; in the uprightness of my heart I have freely offered all these things, and now I have seen thy people, who are present here, offering freely and joyously to thee. 18 O LORD, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, our fathers, keep for ever such purposes and thoughts in the hearts of thy people, and direct their hearts toward thee. 19 Grant to Solomon my son that with a whole heart he may keep thy commandments, thy testimonies, and thy statutes, performing all, and that he may build the palace for which I have made provision." 20 Then David said to all the assembly, "Bless the LORD your God." And all the assembly blessed the LORD, the God of their fathers, and bowed their heads, and worshiped the LORD, and did obeisance to the king. 21 And they performed sacrifices to the LORD, and on the next day offered burnt offerings to the LORD, a thousand bulls, a thousand rams, and a thousand lambs, with their drink offerings, and sacrifices in abundance for all Israel; 22 and they ate and drank before the LORD on that day with great gladness. And they made Solomon the son of David king the second time, and they anointed him as prince for the LORD, and Zadok as priest. 23 Then Solomon sat on the throne of the LORD as king instead of David his father; and he prospered, and all Israel obeyed him. 24 All the leaders and the mighty men, and also all the sons of King David, pledged their allegiance to King Solomon. 25 And the LORD gave Solomon great repute in the sight of all Israel, and bestowed upon him such royal majesty as had not been on any king before him in Israel. 26 Thus David the son of Jesse reigned over all Israel. 27 The time that he reigned over Israel was forty years; he reigned seven years in Hebron, and thirty-three years in Jerusalem. 28 Then he died in a good old age, full of days, riches, and honor; and Solomon his son reigned in his stead. 29 Now the acts of King David, from first to last, are written in the Chronicles of Samuel the seer, and in the Chronicles of Nathan the prophet, and in the Chronicles of Gad the seer, 30 with accounts of all his rule and his might and of the circumstances that came upon him and upon Israel, and upon all the kingdoms of the countries.

2 Chronicles 1:1 Solomon the son of David established himself in his kingdom, and the LORD his God was with him and made him exceedingly great. 2 Solomon spoke to all Israel, to the commanders of thousands and of hundreds, to the judges, and to all the leaders in all Israel, the heads of fathers' houses. 3 And Solomon, and all the assembly with him, went to the high place that was at Gibeon; for the tent of meeting of God, which Moses the servant of the LORD had made in the wilderness, was there. 4 (But David had brought up the ark of God from Kir'iath-je'arim to the place that David had prepared for it, for he had pitched a tent for it in Jerusalem.) 5 Moreover the bronze altar that Bez'alel the son of Uri, son of Hur, had made, was there before the tabernacle of the LORD. And Solomon and the assembly sought the LORD. 6 And Solomon went up there to the bronze altar before the LORD, which was at the tent of meeting, and offered a thousand burnt offerings upon it. 7 In that night God appeared to Solomon, and said to him, "Ask what I shall give you." 8 And Solomon said to God, "Thou hast shown great and steadfast love to David my father, and hast made me king in his stead. 9 O LORD God, let thy promise to David my father be now fulfilled, for thou hast made me king over a people as many as the dust of the earth. 10 Give me now wisdom and knowledge to go out and come in before this people, for who can rule this thy people, that is so great?" 11 God answered Solomon, "Because this was in your heart, and you have not asked possessions, wealth, honor, or the life of those who hate you, and have not even asked long life, but have asked wisdom and knowledge for yourself that you may rule my people over whom I have made you king, 12 wisdom and knowledge are granted to you. I will also give you riches, possessions, and honor, such as none of the kings had who were before you, and none after you shall have the like." 13 So Solomon came from the high place at Gibeon, from before the tent of meeting, to Jerusalem. And he reigned over Israel. 14 Solomon gathered together chariots and horsemen; he had fourteen hundred chariots and twelve thousand horsemen, whom he stationed in the chariot cities and with the king in Jerusalem. 15 And the king made silver and gold as common in Jerusalem as stone, and he made cedar as plentiful as the sycamore of the Shephe'lah. 16 And Solomon's import of horses was from Egypt and Ku'e, and the king's traders received them from Ku'e for a price. 17 They imported a chariot from Egypt for six hundred shekels of silver, and a horse for a hundred and fifty; likewise through them these were exported to all the kings of the Hittites and the kings of Syria.

2 Chron 2:1 Now Solomon purposed to build a temple for the name of the LORD, and a royal palace for himself. 2 And Solomon assigned seventy thousand men to bear burdens and eighty thousand to quarry in the hill country, and three thousand six hundred to oversee them. 3 And Solomon sent word to Huram the king of Tyre: "As you dealt with David my father and sent him cedar to build himself a house to dwell in, so deal with me. 4 Behold, I am about to build a house for the name of the LORD my God and dedicate it to him for the burning of incense of sweet spices before him, and for the continual offering of the showbread, and for burnt offerings morning and evening, on the sabbaths and the new moons and the appointed feasts of the LORD our God, as ordained for ever for Israel. 5 The house which I am to build will be great, for our God is greater than all gods. 6 But who is able to build him a house, since heaven, even highest heaven, cannot contain him? Who am I to build a house for him, except as a place to burn incense before him? 7 So now send me a man skilled to work in gold, silver, bronze, and iron, and in purple, crimson, and blue fabrics, trained also in engraving, to be with the skilled workers who are with me in Judah and Jerusalem, whom David my father provided. 8 Send me also cedar, cypress, and algum timber from Lebanon, for I know that your servants know how to cut timber in Lebanon. And my servants will be with your servants, 9 to prepare timber for me in abundance, for the house I am to build will be great and wonderful. 10 I will give for your servants, the hewers who cut timber, twenty thousand cors of crushed wheat, twenty thousand cors of barley, twenty thousand baths of wine, and twenty thousand baths of oil." 11 Then Huram the king of Tyre answered in a letter which he sent to Solomon, "Because the LORD loves his people he has made you king over them." 12 Huram also said, "Blessed be the LORD God of Israel, who made heaven and earth, who has given King David a wise son, endued with discretion and understanding, who will build a temple for the LORD, and a royal palace for himself. 13 "Now I have sent a skilled man, endued with understanding, Huram-abi, 14 the son of a woman of the daughters of Dan, and his father was a man of Tyre. He is trained to work in gold, silver, bronze, iron, stone, and wood, and in purple, blue, and crimson fabrics and fine linen, and to do all sorts of engraving and execute any design that may be assigned him, with your craftsmen, the craftsmen of my lord, David your father. 15 Now therefore the wheat and barley, oil and wine, of which my lord has spoken, let him send to his servants; 16 and we will cut whatever timber you need from Lebanon, and bring it to you in rafts by sea to Joppa, so that you may take it up to Jerusalem." 17 Then Solomon took a census of all the aliens who were in the land of Israel, after the census of them which David his father had taken; and there were found a hundred and fifty-three thousand six hundred. 18 Seventy thousand of them he assigned to bear burdens, eighty thousand to quarry in the hill country, and three thousand six hundred as overseers to make the people work.

2 Chron 3:1 Then Solomon began to build the house of the LORD in Jerusalem on Mount Mori'ah, where the LORD had appeared to David his father, at the place that David had appointed, on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jeb'usite. 2 He began to build in the second month of the fourth year of his reign. 3 These are Solomon's measurements for building the house of God: the length, in cubits of the old standard, was sixty cubits, and the breadth twenty cubits. 4 The vestibule in front of the nave of the house was twenty cubits long, equal to the width of the house; and its height was a hundred and twenty cubits. He overlaid it on the inside with pure gold. 5 The nave he lined with cypress, and covered it with fine gold, and made palms and chains on it. 6 He adorned the house with settings of precious stones. The gold was gold of Parva'im. 7 So he lined the house with gold--its beams, its thresholds, its walls, and its doors; and he carved cherubim on the walls. 8 And he made the most holy place; its length, corresponding to the breadth of the house, was twenty cubits, and its breadth was twenty cubits; he overlaid it with six hundred talents of fine gold. 9 The weight of the nails was one shekel to fifty shekels of gold. And he overlaid the upper chambers with gold. 10 In the most holy place he made two cherubim of wood and overlaid them with gold. 11 The wings of the cherubim together extended twenty cubits: one wing of the one, of five cubits, touched the wall of the house, and its other wing, of five cubits, touched the wing of the other cherub; 12 and of this cherub, one wing, of five cubits, touched the wall of the house, and the other wing, also of five cubits, was joined to the wing of the first cherub. 13 The wings of these cherubim extended twenty cubits; the cherubim stood on their feet, facing the nave. 14 And he made the veil of blue and purple and crimson fabrics and fine linen, and worked cherubim on it. 15 In front of the house he made two pillars thirty-five cubits high, with a capital of five cubits on the top of each. 16 He made chains like a necklace and put them on the tops of the pillars; and he made a hundred pomegranates, and put them on the chains. 17 He set up the pillars in front of the temple, one on the south, the other on the north; that on the south he called Jachin, and that on the north Bo'az.

2 Chron 4:1 He made an altar of bronze, twenty cubits long, and twenty cubits wide, and ten cubits high. 2 Then he made the molten sea; it was round, ten cubits from brim to brim, and five cubits high, and a line of thirty cubits measured its circumference. 3 Under it were figures of gourds, for thirty cubits, compassing the sea round about; the gourds were in two rows, cast with it when it was cast. 4 It stood upon twelve oxen, three facing north, three facing west, three facing south, and three facing east; the sea was set upon them, and all their hinder parts were inward. 5 Its thickness was a handbreadth; and its brim was made like the brim of a cup, like the flower of a lily; it held over three thousand baths. 6 He also made ten lavers in which to wash, and set five on the south side, and five on the north side. In these they were to rinse off what was used for the burnt offering, and the sea was for the priests to wash in. 7 And he made ten golden lampstands as prescribed, and set them in the temple, five on the south side and five on the north. 8 He also made ten tables, and placed them in the temple, five on the south side and five on the north. And he made a hundred basins of gold. 9 He made the court of the priests, and the great court, and doors for the court, and overlaid their doors with bronze; 10 and he set the sea at the southeast corner of the house. 11 Huram also made the pots, the shovels, and the basins. So Huram finished the work that he did for King Solomon on the house of God: 12 the two pillars, the bowls, and the two capitals on the top of the pillars; and the two networks to cover the two bowls of the capitals that were on the top of the pillars; 13 and the four hundred pomegranates for the two networks, two rows of pomegranates for each network, to cover the two bowls of the capitals that were upon the pillars. 14 He made the stands also, and the lavers upon the stands, 15 and the one sea, and the twelve oxen underneath it. 16 The pots, the shovels, the forks, and all the equipment for these Huram-abi made of burnished bronze for King Solomon for the house of the LORD. 17 In the plain of the Jordan the king cast them, in the clay ground between Succoth and Zer'edah. 18 Solomon made all these things in great quantities, so that the weight of the bronze was not ascertained. 19 So Solomon made all the things that were in the house of God: the golden altar, the tables for the bread of the Presence, 20 the lampstands and their lamps of pure gold to burn before the inner sanctuary, as prescribed; 21 the flowers, the lamps, and the tongs, of purest gold; 22 the snuffers, basins, dishes for incense, and firepans, of pure gold; and the sockets of the temple, for the inner doors to the most holy place and for the doors of the nave of the temple were of gold.

2 Chron 5:1 Thus all the work that Solomon did for the house of the LORD was finished. And Solomon brought in the things which David his father had dedicated, and stored the silver, the gold, and all the vessels in the treasuries of the house of God. 2 Then Solomon assembled the elders of Israel and all the heads of the tribes, the leaders of the fathers' houses of the people of Israel, in Jerusalem, to bring up the ark of the covenant of the LORD out of the city of David, which is Zion. 3 And all the men of Israel assembled before the king at the feast which is in the seventh month. 4 And all the elders of Israel came, and the Levites took up the ark. 5 And they brought up the ark, the tent of meeting, and all the holy vessels that were in the tent; the priests and the Levites brought them up. 6 And King Solomon and all the congregation of Israel, who had assembled before him, were before the ark, sacrificing so many sheep and oxen that they could not be counted or numbered. 7 So the priests brought the ark of the covenant of the LORD to its place, in the inner sanctuary of the house, in the most holy place, underneath the wings of the cherubim. 8 For the cherubim spread out their wings over the place of the ark, so that the cherubim made a covering above the ark and its poles. 9 And the poles were so long that the ends of the poles were seen from the holy place before the inner sanctuary; but they could not be seen from outside; and they are there to this day. 10 There was nothing in the ark except the two tables which Moses put there at Horeb, where the LORD made a covenant with the people of Israel, when they came out of Egypt. 11 Now when the priests came out of the holy place (for all the priests who were present had sanctified themselves, without regard to their divisions; 12 and all the Levitical singers, Asaph, Heman, and Jedu'thun, their sons and kinsmen, arrayed in fine linen, with cymbals, harps, and lyres, stood east of the altar with a hundred and twenty priests who were trumpeters; 13 and it was the duty of the trumpeters and singers to make themselves heard in unison in praise and thanksgiving to the LORD), and when the song was raised, with trumpets and cymbals and other musical instruments, in praise to the LORD, "For he is good, for his steadfast love endures for ever," the house, the house of the LORD, was filled with a cloud, 14 so that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud; for the glory of the LORD filled the house of God.

2 Chron 6:1 Then Solomon said, "The LORD has said that he would dwell in thick darkness. 2 I have built thee an exalted house, a place for thee to dwell in for ever." 3 Then the king faced about, and blessed all the assembly of Israel, while all the assembly of Israel stood. 4 And he said, "Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel, who with his hand has fulfilled what he promised with his mouth to David my father, saying, 5 'Since the day that I brought my people out of the land of Egypt, I chose no city in all the tribes of Israel in which to build a house, that my name might be there, and I chose no man as prince over my people Israel; 6 but I have chosen Jerusalem that my name may be there and I have chosen David to be over my people Israel.' 7 Now it was in the heart of David my father to build a house for the name of the LORD, the God of Israel. 8 But the LORD said to David my father, 'Whereas it was in your heart to build a house for my name, you did well that it was in your heart; 9 nevertheless you shall not build the house, but your son who shall be born to you shall build the house for my name.' 10 Now the LORD has fulfilled his promise which he made; for I have risen in the place of David my father, and sit on the throne of Israel, as the LORD promised, and I have built the house for the name of the LORD, the God of Israel. 11 And there I have set the ark, in which is the covenant of the LORD which he made with the people of Israel." 12 Then Solomon stood before the altar of the LORD in the presence of all the assembly of Israel, and spread forth his hands. 13 Solomon had made a bronze platform five cubits long, five cubits wide, and three cubits high, and had set it in the court; and he stood upon it. Then he knelt upon his knees in the presence of all the assembly of Israel, and spread forth his hands toward heaven; 14 and said, "O LORD, God of Israel, there is no God like thee, in heaven or on earth, keeping covenant and showing steadfast love to thy servants who walk before thee with all their heart; 15 who hast kept with thy servant David my father what thou didst declare to him; yea, thou didst speak with thy mouth, and with thy hand hast fulfilled it this day. 16 Now therefore, O LORD, God of Israel, keep with thy servant David my father what thou hast promised him, saying, 'There shall never fail you a man before me to sit upon the throne of Israel, if only your sons take heed to their way, to walk in my law as you have walked before me.' 17 Now therefore, O LORD, God of Israel, let thy word be confirmed, which thou hast spoken to thy servant David. 18 "But will God dwell indeed with man on the earth? Behold, heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain thee; how much less this house which I have built! 19 Yet have regard to the prayer of thy servant and to his supplication, O LORD my God, hearkening to the cry and to the prayer which thy servant prays before thee; 20 that thy eyes may be open day and night toward this house, the place where thou hast promised to set thy name, that thou mayest hearken to the prayer which thy servant offers toward this place. 21 And hearken thou to the supplications of thy servant and of thy people Israel, when they pray toward this place; yea, hear thou from heaven thy dwelling place; and when thou hearest, forgive. 22 "If a man sins against his neighbor and is made to take an oath, and comes and swears his oath before thy altar in this house, 23 then hear thou from heaven, and act, and judge thy servants, requiting the guilty by bringing his conduct upon his own head, and vindicating the righteous by rewarding him according to his righteousness. 24 "If thy people Israel are defeated before the enemy because they have sinned against thee, when they turn again and acknowledge thy name, and pray and make supplication to thee in this house, 25 then hear thou from heaven, and forgive the sin of thy people Israel, and bring them again to the land which thou gavest to them and to their fathers. 26 "When heaven is shut up and there is no rain because they have sinned against thee, if they pray toward this place, and acknowledge thy name, and turn from their sin, when thou dost afflict them, 27 then hear thou in heaven, and forgive the sin of thy servants, thy people Israel, when thou dost teach them the good way in which they should walk; and grant rain upon thy land, which thou hast given to thy people as an inheritance. 28 "If there is famine in the land, if there is pestilence or blight or mildew or locust or caterpillar; if their enemies besiege them in any of their cities; whatever plague, whatever sickness there is; 29 whatever prayer, whatever supplication is made by any man or by all thy people Israel, each knowing his own affliction, and his own sorrow and stretching out his hands toward this house; 30 then hear thou from heaven thy dwelling place, and forgive, and render to each whose heart thou knowest, according to all his ways (for thou, thou only, knowest the hearts of the children of men); 31 that they may fear thee and walk in thy ways all the days that they live in the land which thou gavest to our fathers. 32 "Likewise when a foreigner, who is not of thy people Israel, comes from a far country for the sake of thy great name, and thy mighty hand, and thy outstretched arm, when he comes and prays toward this house, 33 hear thou from heaven thy dwelling place, and do according to all for which the foreigner calls to thee; in order that all the peoples of the earth may know thy name and fear thee, as do thy people Israel, and that they may know that this house which I have built is called by thy name. 34 "If thy people go out to battle against their enemies, by whatever way thou shalt send them, and they pray to thee toward this city which thou hast chosen and the house which I have built for thy name, 35 then hear thou from heaven their prayer and their supplication, and maintain their cause. 36 "If they sin against thee--for there is no man who does not sin--and thou art angry with them, and dost give them to an enemy, so that they are carried away captive to a land far or near; 37 yet if they lay it to heart in the land to which they have been carried captive, and repent, and make supplication to thee in the land of their captivity, saying, 'We have sinned, and have acted perversely and wickedly'; 38 if they repent with all their mind and with all their heart in the land of their captivity, to which they were carried captive, and pray toward their land, which thou gavest to their fathers, the city which thou hast chosen, and the house which I have built for thy name, 39 then hear thou from heaven thy dwelling place their prayer and their supplications, and maintain their cause and forgive thy people who have sinned against thee. 40 Now, O my God, let thy eyes be open and thy ears attentive to a prayer of this place. 41 "And now arise, O LORD God, and go to thy resting place, thou and the ark of thy might. Let thy priests, O LORD God, be clothed with salvation, and let thy saints rejoice in thy goodness. 42 O LORD God, do not turn away the face of thy anointed one! Remember thy steadfast love for David thy servant."

2 Chron 7:1 When Solomon had ended his prayer, fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices, and the glory of the LORD filled the temple. 2 And the priests could not enter the house of the LORD, because the glory of the LORD filled the LORD's house. 3 When all the children of Israel saw the fire come down and the glory of the LORD upon the temple, they bowed down with their faces to the earth on the pavement, and worshiped and gave thanks to the LORD, saying, "For he is good, for his steadfast love endures for ever." 4 Then the king and all the people offered sacrifice before the LORD. 5 King Solomon offered as a sacrifice twenty-two thousand oxen and a hundred and twenty thousand sheep. So the king and all the people dedicated the house of God. 6 The priests stood at their posts; the Levites also, with the instruments for music to the LORD which King David had made for giving thanks to the LORD--for his steadfast love endures for ever--whenever David offered praises by their ministry; opposite them the priests sounded trumpets; and all Israel stood. 7 And Solomon consecrated the middle of the court that was before the house of the LORD; for there he offered the burnt offering and the fat of the peace offerings, because the bronze altar Solomon had made could not hold the burnt offering and the cereal offering and the fat. 8 At that time Solomon held the feast for seven days, and all Israel with him, a very great congregation, from the entrance of Hamath to the Brook of Egypt. 9 And on the eighth day they held a solemn assembly; for they had kept the dedication of the altar seven days and the feast seven days. 10 On the twenty-third day of the seventh month he sent the people away to their homes, joyful and glad of heart for the goodness that the LORD had shown to David and to Solomon and to Israel his people. 11 Thus Solomon finished the house of the LORD and the king's house; all that Solomon had planned to do in the house of the LORD and in his own house he successfully accomplished. 12 Then the LORD appeared to Solomon in the night and said to him: "I have heard your prayer, and have chosen this place for myself as a house of sacrifice. 13 When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command the locust to devour the land, or send pestilence among my people, 14 if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land. 15 Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayer that is made in this place. 16 For now I have chosen and consecrated this house that my name may be there for ever; my eyes and my heart will be there for all time. 17 And as for you, if you walk before me, as David your father walked, doing according to all that I have commanded you and keeping my statutes and my ordinances, 18 then I will establish your royal throne, as I covenanted with David your father, saying, 'There shall not fail you a man to rule Israel.' 19 "But if you turn aside and forsake my statutes and my commandments which I have set before you, and go and serve other gods and worship them, 20 then I will pluck you up from the land which I have given you; and this house, which I have consecrated for my name, I will cast out of my sight, and will make it a proverb and a byword among all peoples. 21 And at this house, which is exalted, every one passing by will be astonished, and say, 'Why has the LORD done thus to this land and to this house?" 22 Then they will say, 'Because they forsook the LORD the God of their fathers who brought them out of the land of Egypt, and laid hold on other gods, and worshiped them and served them; therefore he has brought all this evil upon them'"

3574-1 Kings 8:10 And when the priests came out of the holy place, a cloud filled the house of the LORD, 11 so that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud; for the glory of the LORD filled the house of the LORD.

2 Chronicles 5:11 Now when the priests came out of the holy place (for all the priests who were present had sanctified themselves, without regard to their divisions; 12 and all the Levitical singers, Asaph, Heman, and Jedu'thun, their sons and kinsmen, arrayed in fine linen, with cymbals, harps, and lyres, stood east of the altar with a hundred and twenty priests who were trumpeters; 13 and it was the duty of the trumpeters and singers to make themselves heard in unison in praise and thanksgiving to the LORD), and when the song was raised, with trumpets and cymbals and other musical instruments, in praise to the LORD, "For he is good, for his steadfast love endures for ever," the house, the house of the LORD, was filled with a cloud, 14 so that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud; for the glory of the LORD filled the house of God.

2 Chron 7:1 When Solomon had ended his prayer, fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices, and the glory of the LORD filled the temple. 2 And the priests could not enter the house of the LORD, because the glory of the LORD filled the LORD's house. 3 When all the children of Israel saw the fire come down and the glory of the LORD upon the temple, they bowed down with their faces to the earth on the pavement, and worshiped and gave thanks to the LORD, saying, "For he is good, for his steadfast love endures for ever." 4 Then the king and all the people offered sacrifice before the LORD. 5 King Solomon offered as a sacrifice twenty-two thousand oxen and a hundred and twenty thousand sheep. So the king and all the people dedicated the house of God. 6 The priests stood at their posts; the Levites also, with the instruments for music to the LORD which King David had made for giving thanks to the LORD--for his steadfast love endures for ever--whenever David offered praises by their ministry; opposite them the priests sounded trumpets; and all Israel stood. 7 And Solomon consecrated the middle of the court that was before the house of the LORD; for there he offered the burnt offering and the fat of the peace offerings, because the bronze altar Solomon had made could not hold the burnt offering and the cereal offering and the fat. 8 At that time Solomon held the feast for seven days, and all Israel with him, a very great congregation, from the entrance of Hamath to the Brook of Egypt. 9 And on the eighth day they held a solemn assembly; for they had kept the dedication of the altar seven days and the feast seven days. 10 On the twenty-third day of the seventh month he sent the people away to their homes, joyful and glad of heart for the goodness that the LORD had shown to David and to Solomon and to Israel his people.

3575-1 Kings 10:27 And the king made silver as common in Jerusalem as stone, and he made cedar as plentiful as the sycamore of the Shephe'lah.

3576-Ezra 3:10 And when the builders laid the foundation of the temple of the LORD, the priests in their vestments came forward with trumpets, and the Levites, the sons of Asaph, with cymbals, to praise the LORD, according to the directions of David king of Israel; 11 and they sang responsively, praising and giving thanks to the LORD, "For he is good, for his steadfast love endures for ever toward Israel." And all the people shouted with a great shout, when they praised the LORD, because the foundation of the house of the LORD was laid. 12 But many of the priests and Levites and heads of fathers' houses, old men who had seen the first house, wept with a loud voice when they saw the foundation of this house being laid, though many shouted aloud for joy; 13 so that the people could not distinguish the sound of the joyful shout from the sound of the people's weeping, for the people shouted with a great shout, and the sound was heard afar.

Haggai 2:3 'Who is left among you that saw this house in its former glory? How do you see it now? Is it not in your sight as nothing?

3577-Isaiah 9:6 For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government will be upon his shoulder, and his name will be called "Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace."

3578-Haggai 2:5 according to the promise that I made you when you came out of Egypt. My Spirit abides among you; fear not.

Zechariah 7:12 They made their hearts like adamant lest they should hear the law and the words which the LORD of hosts had sent by his Spirit through the former prophets. Therefore great wrath came from the LORD of hosts.

3579-Genesis 1:2 The earth was without form and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep; and the Spirit of God was moving over the face of the waters.

Psalms 51:11 Cast me not away from thy presence, and take not thy holy Spirit from me.

3580-John 14:16 And I will pray the Father, and he will give you another Counselor, to be with you for ever, 17 even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him; you know him, for he dwells with you, and will be in you. …..26 But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.

15:26 But when the Counselor comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness to me

16:7 Nevertheless I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you.

3581-Revelation 7:1 After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds of the earth, that no wind might blow on earth or sea or against any tree. 2 Then I saw another angel ascend from the rising of the sun, with the seal of the living God, and he called with a loud voice to the four angels who had been given power to harm earth and sea, 3 saying, "Do not harm the earth or the sea or the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God upon their foreheads."

3582-Galatians 4:4 But when the time had fully come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law,

3583-John 19:30 When Jesus had received the vinegar, he said, "It is finished"; and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.

3584-Ezra 5:1 Now the prophets, Haggai and Zechari'ah the son of Iddo, prophesied to the Jews who were in Judah and Jerusalem, in the name of the God of Israel who was over them.

Ezra 6:14 And the elders of the Jews built and prospered, through the prophesying of Haggai the prophet and Zechari'ah the son of Iddo. They finished their building by command of the God of Israel and by decree of Cyrus and Darius and Ar-ta-xerx'es king of Persia;

3585-Neh. 12:12 And in the days of Joi'akim were priests, heads of fathers' houses: of Serai'ah, Merai'ah; of Jeremiah, Hanani'ah; 13 of Ezra, Meshul'lam; of Amari'ah, Jehoha'nan; 14 of Mal'luchi, Jonathan; of Shebani'ah, Joseph; 15 of Harim, Adna; of Merai'oth, Hel'kai; 16 of Iddo, Zechari'ah; of Gin'nethon, Meshul'lam;

3586-Zechariah 1:1 In the eighth month, in the second year of Darius, the word of the LORD came to Zechari'ah the son of Berechi'ah, son of Iddo, the prophet, saying,

Haggai 1:1 In the second year of Darius the king, in the sixth month, on the first day of the month, the word of the LORD came by Haggai the prophet to Zerub'babel the son of She-al'ti-el, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Jehoz'adak, the high priest,

3587-2 Chronicles 24:20 Then the Spirit of God took possession of Zechari'ah the son of Jehoi'ada the priest; and he stood above the people, and said to them, "Thus says God, 'Why do you transgress the commandments of the LORD, so that you cannot prosper? Because you have forsaken the LORD, he has forsaken you.'" 21 But they conspired against him, and by command of the king they stoned him with stones in the court of the house of the LORD. 22 Thus Jo'ash the king did not remember the kindness which Jehoi'ada, Zechari'ah's father, had shown him, but killed his son. And when he was dying, he said, "May the LORD see and avenge!"

3588-2 Chr. 36:22 Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah might be accomplished, the LORD stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia so that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom and also put it in writing: 23 "Thus says Cyrus king of Persia, 'The LORD, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and he has charged me to build him a house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Whoever is among you of all his people, may the LORD his God be with him. Let him go up.'"

Ezra 1:1 In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah might be accomplished, the LORD stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia so that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom and also put it in writing: 2 "Thus says Cyrus king of Persia: The LORD, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and he has charged me to build him a house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah. 3 Whoever is among you of all his people, may his God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, and rebuild the house of the LORD, the God of Israel--he is the God who is in Jerusalem; 4 and let each survivor, in whatever place he sojourns, be assisted by the men of his place with silver and gold, with goods and with beasts, besides freewill offerings for the house of God which is in Jerusalem."

3589-Matt. 3:1 In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judea, 2 "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand."

3590-See Zechariah 9:9 Rejoice, rejoice, people of Zion! Shout for joy, you people of Jerusalem! Look, your king is coming to you! He comes triumphant and victorious, but humble and riding on a donkey - on a colt, the foal of a donkey.

Zech 11:12 I said to them, "If you are willing, give me my wages. But if not, keep them." So they paid me thirty pieces of silver as my wages.

3591-Zechariah 14:4 At that time he will stand on the Mount of Olives, to the east of Jerusalem. Then the Mount of Olives will be split in two from east to west by a large valley. Half of the mountain will move northward, and half of it southward. 5 You will escape through this valley that divides the mountain in two. You will flee as your ancestors did when the earthquake struck in the time of King Uzziah of Judah. The Lord my God will come, bringing all the angels with him.

3592-Zechariah 1:15 and I am very angry with the nations that enjoy quiet and peace. For while I was holding back my anger against my people, those nations made the sufferings of my people worse.

Zech 2:8 Anyone who strikes you strikes what is most precious to me." So the Lord Almighty sent me with this message for the nations that had plundered his people:

Micah 4:11 Many nations have gathered to attack you. They say, "Jerusalem must be destroyed! We will see this city in ruins!" 12 But these nations do not know what is in the Lord's mind. They do not realize that they have been gathered together to be punished in the same way that grain is brought in to be threshed. 13 The Lord says, "People of Jerusalem, go and punish your enemies! I will make you as strong as a bull with iron horns and bronze hoofs. You will crush many nations, and the wealth they got by violence you will present to me, the Lord of the whole world."

Isaiah 47:6 I was angry with my people; I treated them as no longer mine: I put them in your power, and you showed them no mercy; even the aged you treated harshly.

3593-Zechariah 2:8 Anyone who strikes you strikes what is most precious to me." So the Lord Almighty sent me with this message for the nations that had plundered his people:

3594-Jeremiah 43:10 Then tell them that I, the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, am going to bring my servant King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia to this place, and he will put his throne over these stones that you buried, and will spread the royal tent over them.

3595-Zechariah 2:8 Anyone who strikes you strikes what is most precious to me." So the Lord Almighty sent me with this message for the nations that had plundered his people:

3596-Deuteronomy 32:10 "He found them wandering through the desert, a desolate, wind-swept wilderness. He protected them and cared for them, as he would protect himself.

Psalms 17:8 Protect me as you would your very eyes; hide me in the shadow of your wings

3597-Zechariah 1:15 and I am very angry with the nations that enjoy quiet and peace. For while I was holding back my anger against my people, those nations made the sufferings of my people worse.

3598-Zechariah 3:1 In another vision the Lord showed me the High Priest Joshua standing before the angel of the Lord. And there beside Joshua stood Satan, ready to bring an accusation against him. 2 The angel of the Lord said to Satan, "May the Lord condemn you, Satan! May the Lord, who loves Jerusalem, condemn you. This man is like a stick snatched from the fire." 3 Joshua was standing there, wearing filthy clothes. 4 The angel said to his heavenly attendants, "Take away the filthy clothes this man is wearing." Then he said to Joshua, "I have taken away your sin and will give you new clothes to wear." 5 He commanded the attendants to put a clean turban on Joshua's head. They did so, and then they put the new clothes on him while the angel of the Lord stood there.

3599-Revelation 12:9 The huge dragon was thrown out - that ancient serpent, named the Devil, or Satan, that deceived the whole world. He was thrown down to earth, and all his angels with him. 10 Then I heard a loud voice in heaven saying, "Now God's salvation has come! Now God has shown his power as King! Now his Messiah has shown his authority! For the one who stood before our God and accused believers day and night has been thrown out of heaven.

3600-1 John 2:1 I am writing this to you, my children, so that you will not sin; but if anyone does sin, we have someone who pleads with the Father on our behalf - Jesus Christ, the righteous one.

Romans 8:26 In the same way the Spirit also comes to help us, weak as we are. For we do not know how we ought to pray; the Spirit himself pleads with God for us in groans that words cannot express. 27 And God, who sees into our hearts, knows what the thought of the Spirit is; because the Spirit pleads with God on behalf of his people and in accordance with his will.

Job 1:6 When the day came for the heavenly beings to appear before the Lord, Satan was there among them.

Job 2:1 When the day came for the heavenly beings to appear before the Lord again, Satan was there among them.

3601-John 5:27 And he has given the Son the right to judge, because he is the Son of Man.

3602-Eccl. 3:17 I told myself, "God is going to judge the righteous and the evil alike, because every thing, every action, will happen at its own set time."

Eccl 11:9 Young people, enjoy your youth. Be happy while you are still young. Do what you want to do, and follow your heart's desire. But remember that God is going to judge you for whatever you do.

Eccl 2:13 After all this, there is only one thing to say: Have reverence for God, and obey his commands, because this is all that we were created for. 14 God is going to judge everything we do, whether good or bad, even things done in secret.

Isaiah 66:16 By fire and sword he will punish all the people of the world whom he finds guilty - and many will be put to death.

Jeremiah 25:31 and the sound will echo to the ends of the earth. The Lord has a case against the nations. He will bring all people to trial and put the wicked to death. The Lord has spoken.' "

John 5:28 Do not be surprised at this; the time is coming when all the dead will hear his voice 29 and come out of their graves: those who have done good will rise and live, and those who have done evil will rise and be condemned.

Romans 14:10 You then, who eat only vegetables - why do you pass judgment on others? And you who eat anything - why do you despise other believers? All of us will stand before God to be judged by him

2 Corinthians 5:10 For all of us must appear before Christ, to be judged by him. We will each receive what we deserve, according to everything we have done, good or bad, in our bodily life.

3603-Isaiah 66:16 By fire and sword he will punish all the people of the world whom he finds guilty - and many will be put to death.

Jeremiah 25:31 and the sound will echo to the ends of the earth. The Lord has a case against the nations. He will bring all people to trial and put the wicked to death. The Lord has spoken.' "

Hebrews 10:27 Instead, all that is left is to wait in fear for the coming Judgment and the fierce fire which will destroy those who oppose God!

3604-Daniel 7:22 Then the one who had been living forever came and pronounced judgment in favor of the people of the Supreme God. The time had arrived for God's people to receive royal power.

3605-John 5:28 Do not be surprised at this; the time is coming when all the dead will hear his voice 29 and come out of their graves: those who have done good will rise and live, and those who have done evil will rise and be condemned. 30 "I can do nothing on my own authority; I judge only as God tells me, so my judgment is right, because I am not trying to do what I want, but only what he who sent me wants.

Hebrews 9:27 Everyone must die once, and after that be judged by God.

3606-John 12:31 Now is the time for this world to be judged; now the ruler of this world will be overthrown.

John 16:11 and they are wrong about judgment, because the ruler of this world has already been judged.

3607-Eccl. 12:13 After all this, there is only one thing to say: Have reverence for God, and obey his commands, because this is all that we were created for. 14 God is going to judge everything we do, whether good or bad, even things done in secret.

2 Peter 2:4 God did not spare the angels who sinned, but threw them into hell, where they are kept chained in darkness, waiting for the Day of Judgment. …..9 And so the Lord knows how to rescue godly people from their trials and how to keep the wicked under punishment for the Day of Judgment,

2 Peter 3:7 But the heavens and the earth that now exist are being preserved by the same command of God, in order to be destroyed by fire. They are being kept for the day when godless people will be judged and destroyed.

Jude 1:6 Remember the angels who did not stay within the limits of their proper authority, but abandoned their own dwelling place: they are bound with eternal chains in the darkness below, where God is keeping them for that great Day on which they will be condemned.

3608-Matt. 12:42 On the Judgment Day the Queen of Sheba will stand up and accuse you, because she traveled all the way from her country to listen to King Solomon's wise teaching; and I assure you that there is something here greater than Solomon!

Luke 11:31 On the Judgment Day the Queen of Sheba will stand up and accuse the people of today, because she traveled all the way from her country to listen to King Solomon's wise teaching; and there is something here, I tell you, greater than Solomon.

3609-Zechariah 3:2 The angel of the Lord said to Satan, "May the Lord condemn you, Satan! May the Lord, who loves Jerusalem, condemn you. This man is like a stick snatched from the fire."

Revelation 12:10 Then I heard a loud voice in heaven saying, "Now God's salvation has come! Now God has shown his power as King! Now his Messiah has shown his authority! For the one who stood before our God and accused believers day and night has been thrown out of heaven. 11 They won the victory over him by the blood of the Lamb and by the truth which they proclaimed; and they were willing to give up their lives and die. 12 And so be glad, you heavens, and all you that live there! But how terrible for the earth and the sea! For the Devil has come down to you, and he is filled with rage, because he knows that he has only a little time left."

3610-1 Peter 4:17 The time has come for judgment to begin, and God's own people are the first to be judged. If it starts with us, how will it end with those who do not believe the Good News from God?

2 Peter 2:4 God did not spare the angels who sinned, but threw them into hell, where they are kept chained in darkness, waiting for the Day of Judgment. …..9 And so the Lord knows how to rescue godly people from their trials and how to keep the wicked under punishment for the Day of Judgment,

2 Peter 3:7 But the heavens and the earth that now exist are being preserved by the same command of God, in order to be destroyed by fire. They are being kept for the day when godless people will be judged and destroyed.

John 11:11 Jesus said this and then added, "Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I will go and wake him up." 12 The disciples answered, "If he is asleep, Lord, he will get well." 13 Jesus meant that Lazarus had died, but they thought he meant natural sleep. 14 So Jesus told them plainly, "Lazarus is dead, 15 but for your sake I am glad that I was not with him, so that you will believe. Let us go to him."

3611-2 Peter 2:9 And so the Lord knows how to rescue godly people from their trials and how to keep the wicked under punishment for the Day of Judgment,

3612-2 Peter 2:4 God did not spare the angels who sinned, but threw them into hell, where they are kept chained in darkness, waiting for the Day of Judgment.

3613-Job 1:1 There was a man named Job, living in the land of Uz, who worshiped God and was faithful to him. He was a good man, careful not to do anything evil. 2 He had seven sons and three daughters, 3 and owned seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, one thousand head of cattle, and five hundred donkeys. He also had a large number of servants and was the richest man in the East. 4 Job's sons used to take turns giving a feast, to which all the others would come, and they always invited their three sisters to join them. 5 The morning after each feast, Job would get up early and offer sacrifices for each of his children in order to purify them. He always did this because he thought that one of them might have sinned by insulting God unintentionally. 6 When the day came for the heavenly beings to appear before the Lord, Satan was there among them. 7 The Lord asked him, "What have you been doing?" Satan answered, "I have been walking here and there, roaming around the earth." 8 "Did you notice my servant Job?" the Lord asked. "There is no one on earth as faithful and good as he is. He worships me and is careful not to do anything evil." 9 Satan replied, "Would Job worship you if he got nothing out of it? 10 You have always protected him and his family and everything he owns. You bless everything he does, and you have given him enough cattle to fill the whole country. 11 But now suppose you take away everything he has - he will curse you to your face!" 12 "All right," the Lord said to Satan, "everything he has is in your power, but you must not hurt Job himself." So Satan left. 13 One day when Job's children were having a feast at the home of their oldest brother, 14 a messenger came running to Job. "We were plowing the fields with the oxen," he said, "and the donkeys were in a nearby pasture. 15 Suddenly the Sabeans attacked and stole them all. They killed every one of your servants except me. I am the only one who escaped to tell you." 16 Before he had finished speaking, another servant came and said, "Lightning struck the sheep and the shepherds and killed them all. I am the only one who escaped to tell you." 17 Before he had finished speaking, another servant came and said, "Three bands of Chaldean raiders attacked us, took away the camels, and killed all your servants except me. I am the only one who escaped to tell you." 18 Before he had finished speaking, another servant came and said, "Your children were having a feast at the home of your oldest son, 19 when a storm swept in from the desert. It blew the house down and killed them all. I am the only one who escaped to tell you." 20 Then Job got up and tore his clothes in grief. He shaved his head and threw himself face downward on the ground. 21 He said, "I was born with nothing, and I will die with nothing. The Lord gave, and now he has taken away. May his name be praised!" 22 In spite of everything that had happened, Job did not sin by blaming God.

Job 2:1 When the day came for the heavenly beings to appear before the Lord again, Satan was there among them. 2 The Lord asked him, "Where have you been?" Satan answered, "I have been walking here and there, roaming around the earth." 3 "Did you notice my servant Job?" the Lord asked. "There is no one on earth as faithful and good as he is. He worships me and is careful not to do anything evil. You persuaded me to let you attack him for no reason at all, but Job is still as faithful as ever." 4 Satan replied, "A person will give up everything in order to stay alive. 5 But now suppose you hurt his body - he will curse you to your face!" 6 So the Lord said to Satan, "All right, he is in your power, but you are not to kill him." 7 Then Satan left the Lord's presence and made sores break out all over Job's body. 8 Job went and sat by the garbage dump and took a piece of broken pottery to scrape his sores. 9 His wife said to him, "You are still as faithful as ever, aren't you? Why don't you curse God and die?" 10 Job answered, "You are talking nonsense! When God sends us something good, we welcome it. How can we complain when he sends us trouble?" Even in all this suffering Job said nothing against God. 11 Three of Job's friends were Eliphaz, from the city of Teman, Bildad, from the land of Shuah, and Zophar, from the land of Naamah. When they heard how much Job had been suffering, they decided to go and comfort him. 12 While they were still a long way off they saw Job, but did not recognize him. When they did, they began to weep and wail, tearing their clothes in grief and throwing dust into the air and on their heads. 13 Then they sat there on the ground with him for seven days and nights without saying a word, because they saw how much he was suffering.

Revelation 12:1 Then a great and mysterious sight appeared in the sky. There was a woman, whose dress was the sun and who had the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head. 2 She was soon to give birth, and the pains and suffering of childbirth made her cry out. 3 Another mysterious sight appeared in the sky. There was a huge red dragon with seven heads and ten horns and a crown on each of his heads. 4 With his tail he dragged a third of the stars out of the sky and threw them down to the earth. He stood in front of the woman, in order to eat her child as soon as it was born. 5 Then she gave birth to a son, who will rule over all nations with an iron rod. But the child was snatched away and taken to God and his throne. 6 The woman fled to the desert, to a place God had prepared for her, where she will be taken care of for 1,260 days. 7 Then war broke out in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, who fought back with his angels; 8 but the dragon was defeated, and he and his angels were not allowed to stay in heaven any longer. 9 The huge dragon was thrown out - that ancient serpent, named the Devil, or Satan, that deceived the whole world. He was thrown down to earth, and all his angels with him. 10 Then I heard a loud voice in heaven saying, "Now God's salvation has come! Now God has shown his power as King! Now his Messiah has shown his authority! For the one who stood before our God and accused believers day and night has been thrown out of heaven. 11 They won the victory over him by the blood of the Lamb and by the truth which they proclaimed; and they were willing to give up their lives and die. 12 And so be glad, you heavens, and all you that live there! But how terrible for the earth and the sea! For the Devil has come down to you, and he is filled with rage, because he knows that he has only a little time left." 13 When the dragon realized that he had been thrown down to the earth, he began to pursue the woman who had given birth to the boy. 14 She was given the two wings of a large eagle in order to fly to her place in the desert, where she will be taken care of for three and a half years, safe from the dragon's attack. 15 And then from his mouth the dragon poured out a flood of water after the woman, so that it would carry her away. 16 But the earth helped the woman; it opened its mouth and swallowed the water that had come from the dragon's mouth. 17 The dragon was furious with the woman and went off to fight against the rest of her descendants, all those who obey God's commandments and are faithful to the truth revealed by Jesus. 18 And the dragon stood on the seashore.

Daniel 7:9 While I was looking, thrones were put in place. One who had been living forever sat down on one of the thrones. His clothes were white as snow, and his hair was like pure wool. His throne, mounted on fiery wheels, was blazing with fire, 10 and a stream of fire was pouring out from it. There were many thousands of people there to serve him, and millions of people stood before him. The court began its session, and the books were opened.

3614-Job 42:7 After the Lord had finished speaking to Job, he said to Eliphaz, "I am angry with you and your two friends, because you did not speak the truth about me, the way my servant Job did. 8 Now take seven bulls and seven rams to Job and offer them as a sacrifice for yourselves. Job will pray for you, and I will answer his prayer and not disgrace you the way you deserve. You did not speak the truth about me as he did."

3615-1 Kings 8:46 "When your people sin against you - and there is no one who does not sin - and in your anger you let their enemies defeat them and take them as prisoners to some other land, even if that land is far away,

2 Chronicles 6:36 "When your people sin against you - and there is no one who does not sin - and in your anger you let their enemies defeat them and take them as prisoners to some other land, even if that land is far away,

Ecclesiastes 7:20 There is no one on earth who does what is right all the time and never makes a mistake.

Romans 3:23 everyone has sinned and is far away from God's saving presence.

3616-Psalms 51:10 Create a pure heart in me, O God, and put a new and loyal spirit in me.

Jeremiah 31:33 The new covenant that I will make with the people of Israel will be this: I will put my law within them and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. 34 None of them will have to teach a neighbor to know the Lord, because all will know me, from the least to the greatest. I will forgive their sins and I will no longer remember their wrongs. I, the Lord, have spoken."

John 3:3 Jesus answered, "I am telling you the truth: no one can see the Kingdom of God without being born again." 4 "How can a grown man be born again?" Nicodemus asked. "He certainly cannot enter his mother's womb and be born a second time!" 5 "I am telling you the truth," replied Jesus, "that no one can enter the Kingdom of God without being born of water and the Spirit. 6 A person is born physically of human parents, but is born spiritually of the Spirit. 7 Do not be surprised because I tell you that you must all be born again. 8 The wind blows wherever it wishes; you hear the sound it makes, but you do not know where it comes from or where it is going. It is like that with everyone who is born of the Spirit."

3617-Psalms 51:10 Create a pure heart in me, O God, and put a new and loyal spirit in me.

John 3:3 Jesus answered, "I am telling you the truth: no one can see the Kingdom of God without being born again." 4 "How can a grown man be born again?" Nicodemus asked. "He certainly cannot enter his mother's womb and be born a second time!" 5 "I am telling you the truth," replied Jesus, "that no one can enter the Kingdom of God without being born of water and the Spirit. 6 A person is born physically of human parents, but is born spiritually of the Spirit. 7 Do not be surprised because I tell you that you must all be born again. 8 The wind blows wherever it wishes; you hear the sound it makes, but you do not know where it comes from or where it is going. It is like that with everyone who is born of the Spirit."

3618-John 13:1 It was now the day before the Passover Festival. Jesus knew that the hour had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. He had always loved those in the world who were his own, and he loved them to the very end. 2 Jesus and his disciples were at supper. The Devil had already put into the heart of Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, the thought of betraying Jesus. 3 Jesus knew that the Father had given him complete power; he knew that he had come from God and was going to God. 4 So he rose from the table, took off his outer garment, and tied a towel around his waist. 5 Then he poured some water into a washbasin and began to wash the disciples' feet and dry them with the towel around his waist. 6 He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, "Are you going to wash my feet, Lord?" 7 Jesus answered him, "You do not understand now what I am doing, but you will understand later." 8 Peter declared, "Never at any time will you wash my feet!" "If I do not wash your feet," Jesus answered, "you will no longer be my disciple." 9 Simon Peter answered, "Lord, do not wash only my feet, then! Wash my hands and head, too!" 10 Jesus said, "Those who have taken a bath are completely clean and do not have to wash themselves, except for their feet. All of you are clean - all except one. 11 (Jesus already knew who was going to betray him; that is why he said, "All of you, except one, are clean.") 12 After Jesus had washed their feet, he put his outer garment back on and returned to his place at the table. "Do you understand what I have just done to you?" he asked. 13 "You call me Teacher and Lord, and it is right that you do so, because that is what I am. 14 I, your Lord and Teacher, have just washed your feet. You, then, should wash one another's feet. 15 I have set an example for you, so that you will do just what I have done for you. 16 I am telling you the truth: no slaves are greater than their master, and no messengers are greater than the one who sent them. 17 Now that you know this truth, how happy you will be if you put it into practice! 18 "I am not talking about all of you; I know those I have chosen. But the scripture must come true that says, "The man who shared my food turned against me.' 19 I tell you this now before it happens, so that when it does happen, you will believe that "I Am Who I Am.' 20 I am telling you the truth: whoever receives anyone I send receives me also; and whoever receives me receives him who sent me." 21 After Jesus had said this, he was deeply troubled and declared openly, "I am telling you the truth: one of you is going to betray me." 22 The disciples looked at one another, completely puzzled about whom he meant. 23 One of the disciples, the one whom Jesus loved, was sitting next to Jesus. 24 Simon Peter motioned to him and said, "Ask him whom he is talking about." 25 So that disciple moved closer to Jesus' side and asked, "Who is it, Lord?" 26 Jesus answered, "I will dip some bread in the sauce and give it to him; he is the man." So he took a piece of bread, dipped it, and gave it to Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot. 27 As soon as Judas took the bread, Satan entered into him. Jesus said to him, "Hurry and do what you must!" 28 None of the others at the table understood why Jesus said this to him. 29 Since Judas was in charge of the money bag, some of the disciples thought that Jesus had told him to go and buy what they needed for the festival, or to give something to the poor. 30 Judas accepted the bread and went out at once. It was night.

3619-Romans 1:29 They are filled with all kinds of wickedness, evil, greed, and vice; they are full of jealousy, murder, fighting, deceit, and malice. They gossip

3620-John 16:25 "I have used figures of speech to tell you these things. But the time will come when I will not use figures of speech, but will speak to you plainly about the Father. 26 When that day comes, you will ask him in my name; and I do not say that I will ask him on your behalf, 27 for the Father himself loves you. He loves you because you love me and have believed that I came from God.

3621-John 3:16 For God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not die but have eternal life.

John 16:25 "I have used figures of speech to tell you these things. But the time will come when I will not use figures of speech, but will speak to you plainly about the Father. 26 When that day comes, you will ask him in my name; and I do not say that I will ask him on your behalf, 27 for the Father himself loves you. He loves you because you love me and have believed that I came from God.

Romans 8:14 Those who are led by God's Spirit are God's children. 15 For the Spirit that God has given you does not make you slaves and cause you to be afraid; instead, the Spirit makes you God's children, and by the Spirit's power we cry out to God, "Father! my Father!" 16 God's Spirit joins himself to our spirits to declare that we are God's children. 17 Since we are his children, we will possess the blessings he keeps for his people, and we will also possess with Christ what God has kept for him; for if we share Christ's suffering, we will also share his glory. …..26 In the same way the Spirit also comes to help us, weak as we are. For we do not know how we ought to pray; the Spirit himself pleads with God for us in groans that words cannot express. 27 And God, who sees into our hearts, knows what the thought of the Spirit is; because the Spirit pleads with God on behalf of his people and in accordance with his will. 28 We know that in all things God works for good with those who love him, those whom he has called according to his purpose. 29 Those whom God had already chosen he also set apart to become like his Son, so that the Son would be the first among many believers. 30 And so those whom God set apart, he called; and those he called, he put right with himself, and he shared his glory with them. 31 In view of all this, what can we say? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 Certainly not God, who did not even keep back his own Son, but offered him for us all! He gave us his Son - will he not also freely give us all things? 33 Who will accuse God's chosen people? God himself declares them not guilty! 34 Who, then, will condemn them? Not Christ Jesus, who died, or rather, who was raised to life and is at the right side of God, pleading with him for us! 35 Who, then, can separate us from the love of Christ? Can trouble do it, or hardship or persecution or hunger or poverty or danger or death? 36 As the scripture says, "For your sake we are in danger of death at all times; we are treated like sheep that are going to be slaughtered." 37 No, in all these things we have complete victory through him who loved us! 38 For I am certain that nothing can separate us from his love: neither death nor life, neither angels nor other heavenly rulers or powers, neither the present nor the future, 39 neither the world above nor the world below - there is nothing in all creation that will ever be able to separate us from the love of God which is ours through Christ Jesus our Lord.

3622-Matthew 19:20 "I have obeyed all these commandments," the young man replied. "What else do I need to do?" 21 Jesus said to him, "If you want to be perfect, go and sell all you have and give the money to the poor, and you will have riches in heaven; then come and follow me." 22 When the young man heard this, he went away sad, because he was very rich. 23 Jesus then said to his disciples, "I assure you: it will be very hard for rich people to enter the Kingdom of heaven.

Mark 10:35 Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to Jesus. "Teacher," they said, "there is something we want you to do for us." 36 "What is it?" Jesus asked them. 37 They answered, "When you sit on your throne in your glorious Kingdom, we want you to let us sit with you, one at your right and one at your left." 38 Jesus said to them, "You don't know what you are asking for. Can you drink the cup of suffering that I must drink? Can you be baptized in the way I must be baptized?" 39 "We can," they answered. Jesus said to them, "You will indeed drink the cup I must drink and be baptized in the way I must be baptized. 40 But I do not have the right to choose who will sit at my right and my left. It is God who will give these places to those for whom he has prepared them."

3623-Romans 8:27 And God, who sees into our hearts, knows what the thought of the Spirit is; because the Spirit pleads with God on behalf of his people and in accordance with his will.

1 Corinthians 4:5 So you should not pass judgment on anyone before the right time comes. Final judgment must wait until the Lord comes; he will bring to light the dark secrets and expose the hidden purposes of people's minds. And then all will receive from God the praise they deserve.

Hebrews 4:13 There is nothing that can be hid from God; everything in all creation is exposed and lies open before his eyes. And it is to him that we must all give an account of ourselves.

3624-James 2:19 Do you believe that there is only one God? Good! The demons also believe - and tremble with fear.

3625-Exodus 32:1 When the people saw that Moses had not come down from the mountain but was staying there a long time, they gathered around Aaron and said to him, "We do not know what has happened to this man Moses, who led us out of Egypt; so make us a god to lead us." 2 Aaron said to them, "Take off the gold earrings which your wives, your sons, and your daughters are wearing, and bring them to me." 3 So all the people took off their gold earrings and brought them to Aaron. 4 He took the earrings, melted them, poured the gold into a mold, and made a gold bull-calf. The people said, "Israel, this is our god, who led us out of Egypt!" 5 Then Aaron built an altar in front of the gold bull-calf and announced, "Tomorrow there will be a festival to honor the Lord." 6 Early the next morning they brought some animals to burn as sacrifices and others to eat as fellowship offerings. The people sat down to a feast, which turned into an orgy of drinking and sex. 7 The Lord said to Moses, "Hurry and go back down, because your people, whom you led out of Egypt, have sinned and rejected me. 8 They have already left the way that I commanded them to follow; they have made a bull-calf out of melted gold and have worshiped it and offered sacrifices to it. They are saying that this is their god, who led them out of Egypt. 9 I know how stubborn these people are. 10 Now, don't try to stop me. I am angry with them, and I am going to destroy them. Then I will make you and your descendants into a great nation." 11 But Moses pleaded with the Lord his God and said, "Lord, why should you be so angry with your people, whom you rescued from Egypt with great might and power? 12 Why should the Egyptians be able to say that you led your people out of Egypt, planning to kill them in the mountains and destroy them completely? Stop being angry; change your mind and do not bring this disaster on your people. 13 Remember your servants Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Remember the solemn promise you made to them to give them as many descendants as there are stars in the sky and to give their descendants all that land you promised would be their possession forever." 14 So the Lord changed his mind and did not bring on his people the disaster he had threatened. 15 Moses went back down the mountain, carrying the two stone tablets with the commandments written on both sides. 16 God himself had made the tablets and had engraved the commandments on them. 17 Joshua heard the people shouting and said to Moses, "I hear the sound of battle in the camp." 18 Moses said, "That doesn't sound like a shout of victory or a cry of defeat; it's the sound of singing." 19 When Moses came close enough to the camp to see the bull-calf and to see the people dancing, he became furious. There at the foot of the mountain, he threw down the tablets he was carrying and broke them. 20 He took the bull-calf which they had made, melted it, ground it into fine powder, and mixed it with water. Then he made the people of Israel drink it. 21 He said to Aaron, "What did these people do to you, that you have made them commit such a terrible sin?" 22 Aaron answered, "Don't be angry with me; you know how determined these people are to do evil. 23 They said to me, "We don't know what has happened to this man Moses, who brought us out of Egypt; so make us a god to lead us.' 24 I asked them to bring me their gold ornaments, and those who had any took them off and gave them to me. I threw the ornaments into the fire and out came this bull-calf!" 25 Moses saw that Aaron had let the people get out of control and make fools of themselves in front of their enemies. 26 So he stood at the gate of the camp and shouted, "Everyone who is on the Lord's side come over here!" So all the Levites gathered around him, 27 and he said to them, "The Lord God of Israel commands every one of you to put on your sword and go through the camp from this gate to the other and kill your brothers, your friends, and your neighbors." 28 The Levites obeyed, and killed about three thousand men that day. 29 Moses said to the Levites, "Today you have consecrated yourselves as priests in the service of the Lord by killing your sons and brothers, so the Lord has given you his blessing." 30 The next day Moses said to the people, "You have committed a terrible sin. But now I will again go up the mountain to the Lord; perhaps I can obtain forgiveness for your sin." 31 Moses then returned to the Lord and said, "These people have committed a terrible sin. They have made a god out of gold and worshiped it. 32 Please forgive their sin; but if you won't, then remove my name from the book in which you have written the names of your people." 33 The Lord answered, "It is those who have sinned against me whose names I will remove from my book. 34 Now go, lead the people to the place I told you about. Remember that my angel will guide you, but the time is coming when I will punish these people for their sin." 35 So the Lord sent a disease on the people, because they had caused Aaron to make the gold bull-calf.

3626-John 6:25 When the people found Jesus on the other side of the lake, they said to him, "Teacher, when did you get here?" 26 Jesus answered, "I am telling you the truth: you are looking for me because you ate the bread and had all you wanted, not because you understood my miracles. 27 Do not work for food that spoils; instead, work for the food that lasts for eternal life. This is the food which the Son of Man will give you, because God, the Father, has put his mark of approval on him." 28 So they asked him, "What can we do in order to do what God wants us to do?" 29 Jesus answered, "What God wants you to do is to believe in the one he sent." 30 They replied, "What miracle will you perform so that we may see it and believe you? What will you do? 31 Our ancestors ate manna in the desert, just as the scripture says, "He gave them bread from heaven to eat.' " 32 "I am telling you the truth," Jesus said. "What Moses gave you was not the bread from heaven; it is my Father who gives you the real bread from heaven. 33 For the bread that God gives is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world." 34 "Sir," they asked him, "give us this bread always." 35 "I am the bread of life," Jesus told them. "Those who come to me will never be hungry; those who believe in me will never be thirsty. 36 Now, I told you that you have seen me but will not believe. 37 Everyone whom my Father gives me will come to me. I will never turn away anyone who comes to me, 38 because I have come down from heaven to do not my own will but the will of him who sent me. 39 And it is the will of him who sent me that I should not lose any of all those he has given me, but that I should raise them all to life on the last day. 40 For what my Father wants is that all who see the Son and believe in him should have eternal life. And I will raise them to life on the last day." 41 The people started grumbling about him, because he said, "I am the bread that came down from heaven." 42 So they said, "This man is Jesus son of Joseph, isn't he? We know his father and mother. How, then, does he now say he came down from heaven?" 43 Jesus answered, "Stop grumbling among yourselves. 44 People cannot come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them to me; and I will raise them to life on the last day. 45 The prophets wrote, "Everyone will be taught by God.' Anyone who hears the Father and learns from him comes to me. 46 This does not mean that anyone has seen the Father; he who is from God is the only one who has seen the Father. 47 I am telling you the truth: he who believes has eternal life. 48 I am the bread of life. 49 Your ancestors ate manna in the desert, but they died. 50 But the bread that comes down from heaven is of such a kind that whoever eats it will not die. 51 I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If you eat this bread, you will live forever. The bread that I will give you is my flesh, which I give so that the world may live." 52 This started an angry argument among them. "How can this man give us his flesh to eat?" they asked. 53 Jesus said to them, "I am telling you the truth: if you do not eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you will not have life in yourselves. 54 Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood have eternal life, and I will raise them to life on the last day. 55 For my flesh is the real food; my blood is the real drink. 56 Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood live in me, and I live in them. 57 The living Father sent me, and because of him I live also. In the same way whoever eats me will live because of me. 58 This, then, is the bread that came down from heaven; it is not like the bread that your ancestors ate, but then later died. Those who eat this bread will live forever." 59 Jesus said this as he taught in the synagogue in Capernaum. 60 Many of his followers heard this and said, "This teaching is too hard. Who can listen to it?" 61 Without being told, Jesus knew that they were grumbling about this, so he said to them, "Does this make you want to give up? 62 Suppose, then, that you should see the Son of Man go back up to the place where he was before? 63 What gives life is God's Spirit; human power is of no use at all. The words I have spoken to you bring God's life-giving Spirit. 64 Yet some of you do not believe." (Jesus knew from the very beginning who were the ones that would not believe and which one would betray him.) 65 And he added, "This is the very reason I told you that no people can come to me unless the Father makes it possible for them to do so." 66 Because of this, many of Jesus' followers turned back and would not go with him any more. 67 So he asked the twelve disciples, "And you - would you also like to leave?" 68 Simon Peter answered him, "Lord, to whom would we go? You have the words that give eternal life. 69 And now we believe and know that you are the Holy One who has come from God."

3627-Zechariah 8:11 But now I am treating the survivors of this nation differently. 12 They will plant their crops in peace. Their vines will bear grapes, the earth will produce crops, and there will be plenty of rain. I will give all these blessings to the people of my nation who survive. 13 People of Judah and Israel! In the past foreigners have cursed one another by saying, "May the same disasters fall on you that fell on Judah and Israel!' But I will save you, and then those foreigners will say to one another, "May you receive the same blessings that came to Judah and Israel!' So have courage and don't be afraid." …..23 In those days ten foreigners will come to one Jew and say, "We want to share in your destiny, because we have heard that God is with you.' "

Zech 12:6 "At that time I will make the clans of Judah like a fire in a forest or in a field of ripe grain - they will destroy all the surrounding nations. The people of Jerusalem will remain safe in the city. …..9 At that time I will destroy every nation that tries to attack Jerusalem.

3628-Zechariah 8:3 I will return to Jerusalem, my holy city, and live there. It will be known as the faithful city, and the hill of the Lord Almighty will be called the sacred hill. …..8 and will bring them back from east and west to live in Jerusalem. They will be my people, and I will be their God, ruling over them faithfully and justly.

3629-Zechariah 8:1 The Lord Almighty gave this message to Zechariah: 2 "I have longed to help Jerusalem because of my deep love for her people, a love which has made me angry with her enemies. 3 I will return to Jerusalem, my holy city, and live there. It will be known as the faithful city, and the hill of the Lord Almighty will be called the sacred hill. 4 Once again old men and women, so old that they use canes when they walk, will be sitting in the city squares. 5 And the streets will again be full of boys and girls playing. 6 "This may seem impossible to those of the nation who are now left, but it's not impossible for me. 7 I will rescue my people from the lands where they have been taken, 8 and will bring them back from east and west to live in Jerusalem. They will be my people, and I will be their God, ruling over them faithfully and justly.

3630-Isaiah 11:6 Wolves and sheep will live together in peace, and leopards will lie down with young goats. Calves and lion cubs will feed together, and little children will take care of them. 7 Cows and bears will eat together, and their calves and cubs will lie down in peace. Lions will eat straw as cattle do. 8 Even a baby will not be harmed if it plays near a poisonous snake. 9 On Zion, God's sacred hill, there will be nothing harmful or evil. The land will be as full of knowledge of the Lord as the seas are full of water.

Isa 35:1 The desert will rejoice, and flowers will bloom in the wastelands. 2 The desert will sing and shout for joy; it will be as beautiful as the Lebanon Mountains and as fertile as the fields of Carmel and Sharon. Everyone will see the Lord's splendor, see his greatness and power. 3 Give strength to hands that are tired and to knees that tremble with weakness. 4 Tell everyone who is discouraged, "Be strong and don't be afraid! God is coming to your rescue, coming to punish your enemies." 5 The blind will be able to see, and the deaf will hear. 6 The lame will leap and dance, and those who cannot speak will shout for joy. Streams of water will flow through the desert; 7 the burning sand will become a lake, and dry land will be filled with springs. Where jackals used to live, marsh grass and reeds will grow. 8 There will be a highway there, called "The Road of Holiness." No sinner will ever travel that road; no fools will mislead those who follow it. 9 No lions will be there; no fierce animals will pass that way. Those whom the Lord has rescued will travel home by that road. 10 They will reach Jerusalem with gladness, singing and shouting for joy. They will be happy forever, forever free from sorrow and grief.

Isa 65:17 The Lord says, "I am making a new earth and new heavens. The events of the past will be completely forgotten. 18 Be glad and rejoice forever in what I create. The new Jerusalem I make will be full of joy, and her people will be happy. 19 I myself will be filled with joy because of Jerusalem and her people. There will be no weeping there, no calling for help. 20 Babies will no longer die in infancy, and all people will live out their life span. Those who live to be a hundred will be considered young. To die before that would be a sign that I had punished them. 21 People will build houses and get to live in them - they will not be used by someone else. They will plant vineyards and enjoy the wine - it will not be drunk by others. Like trees, my people will live long lives. They will fully enjoy the things that they have worked for. 23 The work they do will be successful, and their children will not meet with disaster. I will bless them and their descendants for all time to come. 24 Even before they finish praying to me, I will answer their prayers.

3631-Lamentations 2:21 Young and old alike lie dead in the streets, Young men and women, killed by enemy swords. You slaughtered them without mercy on the day of your anger.

3632-Zechariah 8:20 The Lord Almighty says, "The time is coming when people from many cities will come to Jerusalem. 21 Those from one city will say to those from another, "We are going to worship the Lord Almighty and pray for his blessing. Come with us!' 22 Many peoples and powerful nations will come to Jerusalem to worship the Lord Almighty and to pray for his blessing. 23 In those days ten foreigners will come to one Jew and say, "We want to share in your destiny, because we have heard that God is with you.' "

3633-Zech.14:16 Then all of the survivors from the nations that have attacked Jerusalem will go there each year to worship the Lord Almighty as king and to celebrate the Festival of Shelters. 17 If any nation refuses to go and worship the Lord Almighty as king, then rain will not fall on their land. 18 If the Egyptians refuse to celebrate the Festival of Shelters, then they will be struck by the same disease that the Lord will send on every nation that refuses to go. 19 This will be the punishment that will fall on Egypt and on all the other nations if they do not celebrate the Festival of Shelters. 20 At that time even the harness bells of the horses will be inscribed with the words "Dedicated to the Lord." The cooking pots in the Temple will be as sacred as the bowls before the altar.

Isaiah 2:1 Here is the message which God gave to Isaiah son of Amoz about Judah and Jerusalem: 2 In days to come the mountain where the Temple stands will be the highest one of all, towering above all the hills. Many nations will come streaming to it, 3 and their people will say, "Let us go up the hill of the Lord, to the Temple of Israel's God. He will teach us what he wants us to do; we will walk in the paths he has chosen. For the Lord's teaching comes from Jerusalem; from Zion he speaks to his people." 4 He will settle disputes among great nations. They will hammer their swords into plows and their spears into pruning knives. Nations will never again go to war, never prepare for battle again.

Micah 4:1 In days to come the mountain where the Temple stands will be the highest one of all, towering above all the hills. Many nations will come streaming to it, 2 and their people will say, "Let us go up the hill of the Lord, to the Temple of Israel's God. He will teach us what he wants us to do; we will walk in the paths he has chosen. For the Lord's teaching comes from Jerusalem; from Zion he speaks to his people." 3 He will settle disputes among the nations, among the great powers near and far. They will hammer their swords into plows and their spears into pruning knives. Nations will never again go to war, never prepare for battle again.

Malachi 1:5 The people of Israel are going to see this with their own eyes, and they will say, "The Lord is mighty even outside the land of Israel!"

3634-Zechariah 14:4 At that time he will stand on the Mount of Olives, to the east of Jerusalem. Then the Mount of Olives will be split in two from east to west by a large valley. Half of the mountain will move northward, and half of it southward.

3635-Zechariah 8:20 The Lord Almighty says, "The time is coming when people from many cities will come to Jerusalem. 21 Those from one city will say to those from another, "We are going to worship the Lord Almighty and pray for his blessing. Come with us!' 22 Many peoples and powerful nations will come to Jerusalem to worship the Lord Almighty and to pray for his blessing. 23 In those days ten foreigners will come to one Jew and say, "We want to share in your destiny, because we have heard that God is with you.' "

3636-Romans 11:25 There is a secret truth, my friends, which I want you to know, for it will keep you from thinking how wise you are. It is that the stubbornness of the people of Israel is not permanent, but will last only until the complete number of Gentiles comes to God. 26 And this is how all Israel will be saved. As the scripture says, "The Savior will come from Zion and remove all wickedness from the descendants of Jacob. 27 I will make this covenant with them when I take away their sins."

3637-Matthew 21:4 This happened in order to make come true what the prophet had said: 5 "Tell the city of Zion, Look, your king is coming to you! He is humble and rides on a donkey and on a colt, the foal of a donkey." 6 So the disciples went and did what Jesus had told them to do: 7 they brought the donkey and the colt, threw their cloaks over them, and Jesus got on.

John 12:14 Jesus found a donkey and rode on it, just as the scripture says, 15 "Do not be afraid, city of Zion! Here comes your king, riding on a young donkey."

3638-Zechariah 10:2 People consult idols and fortunetellers, but the answers they get are lies and nonsense. Some interpret dreams, but only mislead you; the comfort they give is useless. So the people wander about like lost sheep. They are in trouble because they have no leader. 3 The Lord says, "I am angry with those foreigners who rule my people, and I am going to punish them. The people of Judah are mine, and I, the Lord Almighty, will take care of them. They will be my powerful war-horses. 4 From among them will come rulers, leaders, and commanders to govern my people. 5 The people of Judah will be victorious like soldiers who trample their enemies in the mud of the streets. They will fight because the Lord is with them, and they will defeat even the enemy cavalry

3639-John 13:19 I tell you this now before it happens, so that when it does happen, you will believe that "I Am Who I Am.'

John 14:29 I have told you this now before it all happens, so that when it does happen, you will believe.

3640-John 13:19 I tell you this now before it happens, so that when it does happen, you will believe that "I Am Who I Am.'

John 14:29 I have told you this now before it all happens, so that when it does happen, you will believe.

3641-Luke 2:25 At that time there was a man named Simeon living in Jerusalem. He was a good, God-fearing man and was waiting for Israel to be saved. The Holy Spirit was with him 26 and had assured him that he would not die before he had seen the Lord's promised Messiah. 27 Led by the Spirit, Simeon went into the Temple. When the parents brought the child Jesus into the Temple to do for him what the Law required, 28 Simeon took the child in his arms and gave thanks to God: 29 "Now, Lord, you have kept your promise, and you may let your servant go in peace. 30 With my own eyes I have seen your salvation, 31 which you have prepared in the presence of all peoples: 32 A light to reveal your will to the Gentiles and bring glory to your people Israel." 33 The child's father and mother were amazed at the things Simeon said about him. 34 Simeon blessed them and said to Mary, his mother, "This child is chosen by God for the destruction and the salvation of many in Israel. He will be a sign from God which many people will speak against 35 and so reveal their secret thoughts. And sorrow, like a sharp sword, will break your own heart." 36 There was a very old prophet, a widow named Anna, daughter of Phanuel of the tribe of Asher. She had been married for only seven years and was now eighty-four years old. She never left the Temple; day and night she worshiped God, fasting and praying. 38 That very same hour she arrived and gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were waiting for God to set Jerusalem free.

3642-Zechariah 14:4 At that time he will stand on the Mount of Olives, to the east of Jerusalem. Then the Mount of Olives will be split in two from east to west by a large valley. Half of the mountain will move northward, and half of it southward. 5 You will escape through this valley that divides the mountain in two. You will flee as your ancestors did when the earthquake struck in the time of King Uzziah of Judah. The Lord my God will come, bringing all the angels with him.

3643-Mal 1:7 This is how - by offering worthless food on my altar. Then you ask, "How have we failed to respect you?' I will tell you - by showing contempt for my altar.

Mal 3:10 Bring the full amount of your tithes to the Temple, so that there will be plenty of food there. Put me to the test and you will see that I will open the windows of heaven and pour out on you in abundance all kinds of good things.

3644-Mal 2:11 The people of Judah have broken their promise to God and done a horrible thing in Jerusalem and all over the country. They have defiled the Temple which the Lord loves. Men have married women who worship foreign gods.

Neh. 13:23 At that time I also discovered that many of the Jewish men had married women from Ashdod, Ammon, and Moab. 24 Half of their children spoke the language of Ashdod or some other language and didn't know how to speak our language. 25 I reprimanded the men, called down curses on them, beat them, and pulled out their hair. Then I made them take an oath in God's name that never again would they or their children intermarry with foreigners. 26 I told them, "It was foreign women that made King Solomon sin. Here was a man who was greater than any of the kings of other nations. God loved him and made him king over all of Israel, and yet he fell into this sin. 27 Are we then to follow your example and disobey our God by marrying foreign women?" 28 Joiada was the son of Eliashib the High Priest, but one of Joiada's sons married the daughter of Sanballat, from the town of Beth Horon, so I made Joiada leave Jerusalem. 29 Remember, God, how those people defiled both the office of priest and the covenant you made with the priests and the Levites. 30 I purified the people from everything foreign; I prepared regulations for the priests and the Levites so that all of them would know their duties; 31 I arranged for the wood used for burning the offerings to be brought at the proper times, and for the people to bring their offerings of the first grain and the first fruits that ripened. Remember all this, O God, and give me credit for it.

3645-Mal 3:8 I ask you, is it right for a person to cheat God? Of course not, yet you are cheating me. "How?' you ask. In the matter of tithes and offerings. 9 A curse is on all of you because the whole nation is cheating me. 10 Bring the full amount of your tithes to the Temple, so that there will be plenty of food there. Put me to the test and you will see that I will open the windows of heaven and pour out on you in abundance all kinds of good things.

Neh. 13:10 I also learned that the Temple musicians and other Levites had left Jerusalem and gone back to their farms, because the people had not been giving them enough to live on. 11 I reprimanded the officials for letting the Temple be neglected. And I brought the Levites and musicians back to the Temple and put them to work again. 12 Then all the people of Israel again started bringing to the Temple storerooms their tithes of grain, wine, and olive oil. 13 I put the following men in charge of the storerooms: Shelemiah, a priest; Zadok, a scholar of the Law; and Pedaiah, a Levite. Hanan, the son of Zaccur and grandson of Mattaniah, was to be their assistant. I knew I could trust these men to be honest in distributing the supplies to the other workers. 14 Remember, my God, all these things that I have done for your Temple and its worship.

3646-Neh. 13:6 While this was going on, I was not in Jerusalem, because in the thirty-second year that Artaxerxes was king of Babylon I had gone back to report to him. After some time I received his permission

3647-Malachi 1:6 The Lord Almighty says to the priests, "Children honor their parents, and servants honor their masters. I am your father - why don't you honor me? I am your master - why don't you respect me? You despise me, and yet you ask, "How have we despised you?' ….13 You say, "How tired we are of all this!' and you turn up your nose at me. As your offering to me you bring a stolen animal or one that is lame or sick. Do you think I will accept that from you?

3648-Malachi 1:10 The Lord Almighty says, "I wish one of you would close the Temple doors so as to prevent you from lighting useless fires on my altar. I am not pleased with you; I will not accept the offerings you bring me. …..13 You say, "How tired we are of all this!' and you turn up your nose at me. As your offering to me you bring a stolen animal or one that is lame or sick. Do you think I will accept that from you?

Mal 2:13 This is another thing you do. You drown the Lord's altar with tears, weeping and wailing because he no longer accepts the offerings you bring him. …..17 You have tired the Lord out with your talk. But you ask, "How have we tired him?" By saying, "The Lord Almighty thinks all evildoers are good; in fact he likes them." Or by asking, "Where is the God who is supposed to be just?"

3649-Malachi 1:2 The Lord says to his people, "I have always loved you." But they reply, "How have you shown your love for us?" The Lord answers, "Esau and Jacob were brothers, but I have loved Jacob and his descendants, …..6 The Lord Almighty says to the priests, "Children honor their parents, and servants honor their masters. I am your father - why don't you honor me? I am your master - why don't you respect me? You despise me, and yet you ask, "How have we despised you?' 7 This is how - by offering worthless food on my altar. Then you ask, "How have we failed to respect you?' I will tell you - by showing contempt for my altar.

Mal 2: 13 This is another thing you do. You drown the Lord's altar with tears, weeping and wailing because he no longer accepts the offerings you bring him. 14 You ask why he no longer accepts them. It is because he knows you have broken your promise to the wife you married when you were young. She was your partner, and you have broken your promise to her, although you promised before God that you would be faithful to her. …..17 You have tired the Lord out with your talk. But you ask, "How have we tired him?" By saying, "The Lord Almighty thinks all evildoers are good; in fact he likes them." Or by asking, "Where is the God who is supposed to be just?"

Mal 3:7 You, like your ancestors before you, have turned away from my laws and have not kept them. Turn back to me, and I will turn to you. But you ask, "What must we do to turn back to you?' 8 I ask you, is it right for a person to cheat God? Of course not, yet you are cheating me. "How?' you ask. In the matter of tithes and offerings. …...13 "You have said terrible things about me," says the Lord. "But you ask, "What have we said about you?' 14 You have said, "It's useless to serve God. What's the use of doing what he says or of trying to show the Lord Almighty that we are sorry for what we have done?

3650-Revelation 3:14 "To the angel of the church in Laodicea write: "This is the message from the Amen, the faithful and true witness, who is the origin of all that God has created. 15 I know what you have done; I know that you are neither cold nor hot. How I wish you were either one or the other! 16 But because you are lukewarm, neither hot nor cold, I am going to spit you out of my mouth! 17 You say, "I am rich and well off; I have all I need.' But you do not know how miserable and pitiful you are! You are poor, naked, and blind. 18 I advise you, then, to buy gold from me, pure gold, in order to be rich. Buy also white clothing to dress yourself and cover up your shameful nakedness. Buy also some ointment to put on your eyes, so that you may see. 19 I rebuke and punish all whom I love. Be in earnest, then, and turn from your sins. 20 Listen! I stand at the door and knock; if any hear my voice and open the door, I will come into their house and eat with them, and they will eat with me. 21 To those who win the victory I will give the right to sit beside me on my throne, just as I have been victorious and now sit by my Father on his throne. 22 "If you have ears, then, listen to what the Spirit says to the churches!"

3651-Ex. 5:1 Then Moses and Aaron went to the king of Egypt and said, "The Lord, the God of Israel, says, "Let my people go, so that they can hold a festival in the desert to honor me.' "

3652-Malachi 1:2 The Lord says to his people, "I have always loved you." But they reply, "How have you shown your love for us?" The Lord answers, "Esau and Jacob were brothers, but I have loved Jacob and his descendants, 3 and have hated Esau and his descendants. I have devastated Esau's hill country and abandoned the land to jackals."

3653-Genesis 36:1 These are the descendants of Esau, also called Edom. 2 Esau married Canaanite women: Adah, the daughter of Elon the Hittite; Oholibamah, the daughter of Anah son of Zibeon the Hivite; 3 and Basemath, the daughter of Ishmael and sister of Nebaioth. 4 Adah bore Eliphaz; Basemath bore Reuel; 5 and Oholibamah bore Jeush, Jalam, and Korah. All these sons were born to Esau in the land of Canaan. 6 Then Esau took his wives, his sons, his daughters, and all the people of his house, along with all his livestock and all the possessions he had gotten in the land of Canaan, and went away from his brother Jacob to another land. 7 He left because the land where he and Jacob were living was not able to support them; they had too much livestock and could no longer stay together. 8 So Esau lived in the hill country of Edom. 9 These are the descendants of Esau, the ancestor of the Edomites.

Isaiah 34:5 The Lord has prepared his sword in heaven, and now it will strike Edom, those people whom he has condemned to destruction. 6 His sword will be covered with their blood and fat, like the blood and fat of lambs and goats that are sacrificed. The Lord will offer this sacrifice in the city of Bozrah; he will make this a great slaughter in the land of Edom. 7 The people will fall like wild oxen and young bulls, and the earth will be red with blood and covered with fat. 8 This is the time when the Lord will rescue Zion and take vengeance on her enemies. 9 The rivers of Edom will turn into tar, and the soil will turn into sulfur. The whole country will burn like tar. 10 It will burn day and night, and smoke will rise from it forever. The land will lie waste age after age, and no one will ever travel through it again. 11 Owls and ravens will take over the land. The Lord will make it a barren waste again, as it was before the creation. 12 There will be no king to rule the country, and the leaders will all be gone. 13 Thorns and thistles will grow up in all the palaces and walled towns, and jackals and owls will live in them. 14 Wild animals will roam there, and demons will call to each other. The night monster will come there looking for a place to rest. 15 Owls will build their nests, lay eggs, hatch their young, and care for them there. Vultures will gather there, one after another. 16 Search in the Lord's book of living creatures and read what it says. Not one of these creatures will be missing, and not one will be without its mate. The Lord has commanded it to be so; he himself will bring them together. 17 It is the Lord who will divide the land among them and give each of them a share. They will live in the land age after age, and it will belong to them forever.

Isaiah 63:1 "Who is this coming from the city of Bozrah in Edom? Who is this so splendidly dressed in red, marching along in power and strength?" It is the Lord, powerful to save, coming to announce his victory. 2 "Why is his clothing so red, like that of someone who tramples grapes to make wine?" 3 The Lord answers, "I have trampled the nations like grapes, and no one came to help me. I trampled them in my anger, and their blood has stained all my clothing. 4 I decided that the time to save my people had come; it was time to punish their enemies. 5 I was amazed when I looked and saw that there was no one to help me. But my anger made me strong, and I won the victory myself. 6 In my anger I trampled whole nations and shattered them. I poured out their lifeblood on the ground."

Jeremiah 49:7 This is what the Lord Almighty said about Edom: "Have the people of Edom lost their good judgment? Can their advisers no longer tell them what to do? Has all their wisdom disappeared? 8 People of Dedan, turn and run! Hide! I am going to destroy Esau's descendants because the time has come for me to punish them. 9 When people pick grapes, they leave a few on the vines, and when robbers come at night, they take only what they want. 10 But I have stripped Esau's descendants completely and uncovered their hiding places, so that they can no longer hide. All the people of Edom are destroyed. Not one of them is left. 11 Leave your orphans with me, and I will take care of them. Your widows can depend on me. 12 "If even those who did not deserve to be punished had to drink from the cup of punishment, do you think that you will go unpunished? No, you must drink from the cup! 13 I myself have sworn that the city of Bozrah will become a horrifying sight and a desert; people will make fun of it and use its name as a curse. All the nearby villages will be in ruins forever. I, the Lord, have spoken." 14 I said, "Edom, I have received a message from the Lord. He has sent a messenger to tell the nations to assemble their armies and to get ready to attack you. 15 The Lord is going to make you weak, and no one will respect you. 16 Your pride has deceived you. No one fears you as much as you think they do. You live on the rocky cliffs, high on top of the mountain; but even though you live as high up as an eagle, the Lord will bring you down. The Lord has spoken." 17 The Lord said, "The destruction that will come on Edom will be so terrible that everyone who passes by will be shocked and terrified. 18 The same thing will happen to Edom that happened to Sodom and Gomorrah, when they and the nearby towns were destroyed. No one will ever live there again. I, the Lord, have spoken. 19 Like a lion coming out of the thick woods along the Jordan River up to the green pasture land, I will come and make the Edomites run away suddenly from their country. Then the leader I choose will rule the nation. Who can be compared to me? Who would dare challenge me? What ruler could oppose me? 20 So listen to the plan that I have made against the people of Edom, and to what I intend to do to the people of the city of Teman. Even their children will be dragged off, and everyone will be horrified. 21 When Edom falls, there will be such a noise that the entire earth will shake, and the cries of alarm will be heard as far away as the Gulf of Aqaba. 22 The enemy will attack Bozrah like an eagle swooping down with outspread wings. On that day Edom's soldiers will be as frightened as a woman in labor."

Ezekiel 25:12 The Sovereign Lord said, "The people of Edom took cruel revenge on Judah, and that revenge has brought lasting guilt on Edom. 13 Now I announce that I will punish Edom and kill every person and animal there. I will make it a wasteland, from the city of Teman to the city of Dedan, and the people will be killed in battle. 14 My people Israel will take revenge on Edom for me, and they will make Edom feel my furious anger. Edom will know what it means to be the object of my revenge." The Sovereign Lord has spoken.

Ezekiel 35:1 The Lord spoke to me. 2 "Mortal man," he said, "denounce the country of Edom. 3 Tell the people what I, the Sovereign Lord, am saying: "I am your enemy, mountains of Edom! I will make you a desolate wasteland. 4 I will leave your cities in ruins And your land desolate; Then you will know that I am the Lord. 5 "You were Israel's constant enemy and let her people be slaughtered in the time of her disaster, the time of final punishment for her sins. 6 So then - as surely as I, the Sovereign Lord, am the living God - death is your fate, and you cannot escape it. You are guilty of murder, and murder will follow you. 7 I will make the hill country of Edom a wasteland and kill everyone who travels through it. 8 I will cover the mountains with corpses, and the bodies of those who are killed in battle will cover the hills and valleys. 9 I will make you desolate forever, and no one will live in your cities again. Then you will know that I am the Lord. 10 "You said that the two nations, Judah and Israel, together with their lands, belonged to you and that you would possess them, even though I, the Lord, was their God. 11 So then, as surely as I, the Sovereign Lord, am the living God, I will pay you back for your anger, your jealousy, and your hate toward my people. They will know that I am punishing you for what you did to them. 12 Then you will know that I, the Lord, heard you say with contempt that the mountains of Israel were desolate and that they were yours to devour. 13 I have heard the wild, boastful way you have talked against me." 14 The Sovereign Lord says, "I will make you so desolate that the whole world will rejoice at your downfall, 15 just as you rejoiced at the devastation of Israel, my own possession. The mountains of Seir, yes, all the land of Edom, will be desolate. Then everyone will know that I am the Lord."

Amos 1:11 The Lord says, "The people of Edom have sinned again and again, and for this I will certainly punish them. They hunted down their relatives, the Israelites, and showed them no mercy. Their anger had no limits, and they never let it die. 12 So I will send fire upon the city of Teman and burn down the fortresses of Bozrah."

Obadiah 1 This is the prophecy of Obadiah - what the Sovereign Lord said about the nation of Edom. The Lord has sent his messenger to the nations, and we have heard his message: "Get ready! Let us go to war against Edom!" 2 The Lord says to Edom, "I will make you weak; everyone will despise you. 3 Your pride has deceived you. Your capital is a fortress of solid rock; your home is high in the mountains, and so you say to yourself, "Who can ever pull me down?' 4 Even though you make your home as high as an eagle's nest, so that it seems to be among the stars, yet I will pull you down. 5 "When thieves come at night, they take only what they want. When people gather grapes, they always leave a few. But your enemies have wiped you out completely. 6 Descendants of Esau, your treasures have been looted. 7 Your allies have deceived you; they have driven you from your country. People who were at peace with you have now conquered you. Those friends who ate with you have laid a trap for you; they say of you, "Where is all that cleverness he had?' 8 "On the day I punish Edom, I will destroy their clever men and wipe out all their wisdom. 9 The fighting men of Teman will be terrified, and every soldier in Edom will be killed. 10 "Because you robbed and killed your relatives, the descendants of Jacob, you will be destroyed and dishonored forever. 11 You stood aside on that day when enemies broke down their gates. You were as bad as those strangers who carried off Jerusalem's wealth and divided it among themselves. 12 You should not have gloated over the misfortune of your relatives in Judah. You should not have been glad on the day of their ruin. You should not have laughed at them in their distress. 13 You should not have entered the city of my people to gloat over their suffering and to seize their riches on the day of their disaster. 14 You should not have stood at the crossroads to catch those trying to escape. You should not have handed them over to the enemy on the day of their distress.

3654-Malachi 2:16 "I hate divorce," says the Lord God of Israel. "I hate it when one of you does such a cruel thing to his wife. Make sure that you do not break your promise to be faithful to your wife."

3655-Deuteronomy 24:1 "Suppose a man marries a woman and later decides that he doesn't want her, because he finds something about her that he doesn't like. So he writes out divorce papers, gives them to her, and sends her away from his home. 2 Then suppose she marries another man, 3 and he also decides that he doesn't want her, so he also writes out divorce papers, gives them to her, and sends her away from his home. Or suppose her second husband dies. 4 In either case, her first husband is not to marry her again; he is to consider her defiled. If he married her again, it would be offensive to the Lord. You are not to commit such a terrible sin in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.

Matthew 5:31 "It was also said, "Anyone who divorces his wife must give her a written notice of divorce.' 32 But now I tell you: if a man divorces his wife for any cause other than her unfaithfulness, then he is guilty of making her commit adultery if she marries again; and the man who marries her commits adultery also.

Matt 19:1 When Jesus finished saying these things, he left Galilee and went to the territory of Judea on the other side of the Jordan River. 2 Large crowds followed him, and he healed them there. 3 Some Pharisees came to him and tried to trap him by asking, "Does our Law allow a man to divorce his wife for whatever reason he wishes?" 4 Jesus answered, "Haven't you read the scripture that says that in the beginning the Creator made people male and female? 5 And God said, "For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and unite with his wife, and the two will become one.' 6 So they are no longer two, but one. No human being must separate, then, what God has joined together." 7 The Pharisees asked him, "Why, then, did Moses give the law for a man to hand his wife a divorce notice and send her away?" 8 Jesus answered, "Moses gave you permission to divorce your wives because you are so hard to teach. But it was not like that at the time of creation. 9 I tell you, then, that any man who divorces his wife for any cause other than her unfaithfulness, commits adultery if he marries some other woman." 10 His disciples said to him, "If this is how it is between a man and his wife, it is better not to marry." 11 Jesus answered, "This teaching does not apply to everyone, but only to those to whom God has given it. 12 For there are different reasons why men cannot marry: some, because they were born that way; others, because men made them that way; and others do not marry for the sake of the Kingdom of heaven. Let him who can accept this teaching do so."

Mark 10:11 He said to them, "A man who divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery against his wife. 12 In the same way, a woman who divorces her husband and marries another man commits adultery."

Luke 16:18 "Any man who divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery; and the man who marries a divorced woman commits adultery.

3656-Genesis 1:27 So God created human beings, making them to be like himself. He created them male and female, 28 blessed them, and said, "Have many children, so that your descendants will live all over the earth and bring it under their control. I am putting you in charge of the fish, the birds, and all the wild animals.

Gen 2:21 Then the Lord God made the man fall into a deep sleep, and while he was sleeping, he took out one of the man's ribs and closed up the flesh. 22 He formed a woman out of the rib and brought her to him. 23 Then the man said, "At last, here is one of my own kind - Bone taken from my bone, and flesh from my flesh. "Woman' is her name because she was taken out of man." 24 That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united with his wife, and they become one. 25 The man and the woman were both naked, but they were not embarrassed.

Gen 5:1 This is the list of the descendants of Adam. (When God created human beings, he made them like himself. 2 He created them male and female, blessed them, and named them "Human Beings.")

3657-Malachi 3:8 I ask you, is it right for a person to cheat God? Of course not, yet you are cheating me. "How?' you ask. In the matter of tithes and offerings. 9 A curse is on all of you because the whole nation is cheating me. 10 Bring the full amount of your tithes to the Temple, so that there will be plenty of food there. Put me to the test and you will see that I will open the windows of heaven and pour out on you in abundance all kinds of good things. 11 I will not let insects destroy your crops, and your grapevines will be loaded with grapes. 12 Then the people of all nations will call you happy, because your land will be a good place to live.

3658-Genesis 14:20 May the Most High God, who gave you victory over your enemies, be praised!" And Abram gave Melchizedek a tenth of all the loot he had recovered.

3659-Genesis 28:22 This memorial stone which I have set up will be the place where you are worshiped, and I will give you a tenth of everything you give me."

3660-Leviticus 27:30 One tenth of all the produce of the land, whether grain or fruit, belongs to the Lord. 31 If you wish to buy any of it back, you must pay the standard price plus an additional 20 percent. 32 One of every ten domestic animals belongs to the Lord. When the animals are counted, every tenth one belongs to the Lord. 33 You may not arrange the animals so that the poor animals are chosen, and you may not make any substitutions. If you do substitute one animal for another, then both animals will belong to the Lord and may not be bought back.

3661-Mark 12:41 As Jesus sat near the Temple treasury, he watched the people as they dropped in their money. Many rich men dropped in a lot of money; 42 then a poor widow came along and dropped in two little copper coins, worth about a penny. 43 He called his disciples together and said to them, "I tell you that this poor widow put more in the offering box than all the others. 44 For the others put in what they had to spare of their riches; but she, poor as she is, put in all she had - she gave all she had to live on."

Luke 21:1 Jesus looked around and saw rich people dropping their gifts in the Temple treasury, 2 and he also saw a very poor widow dropping in two little copper coins. 3 He said, "I tell you that this poor widow put in more than all the others. 4 For the others offered their gifts from what they had to spare of their riches; but she, poor as she is, gave all she had to live on."

3662-Malachi 3:16 Then the people who feared the Lord spoke to one another, and the Lord listened and heard what they said. In his presence, there was written down in a book a record of those who feared the Lord and respected him.

3663-Ex. 32:32 Please forgive their sin; but if you won't, then remove my name from the book in which you have written the names of your people."

Ps. 56:8 You know how troubled I am; you have kept a record of my tears. Aren't they listed in your book?

Ps 69:28 May their names be erased from the book of the living; may they not be included in the list of your people.

Daniel 7:10 and a stream of fire was pouring out from it. There were many thousands of people there to serve him, and millions of people stood before him. The court began its session, and the books were opened.

Ecclesiastes 12:13 After all this, there is only one thing to say: Have reverence for God, and obey his commands, because this is all that we were created for. 14 God is going to judge everything we do, whether good or bad, even things done in secret.

Revelation 20:12 And I saw the dead, great and small alike, standing before the throne. Books were opened, and then another book was opened, the book of the living. The dead were judged according to what they had done, as recorded in the books.

3664-Malachi 3:17 "They will be my people," says the Lord Almighty. "On the day when I act, they will be my very own. I will be merciful to them as parents are merciful to the children who serve them.

3665-Malachi 3:18 Once again my people will see the difference between what happens to the righteous and to the wicked, to the person who serves me and the one who does not."

3666-John 15:15 I do not call you servants any longer, because servants do not know what their master is doing. Instead, I call you friends, because I have told you everything I heard from my Father.

3667-Hebrews 4:12 The word of God is alive and active, sharper than any double-edged sword. It cuts all the way through, to where soul and spirit meet, to where joints and marrow come together. It judges the desires and thoughts of the heart. 13 There is nothing that can be hid from God; everything in all creation is exposed and lies open before his eyes. And it is to him that we must all give an account of ourselves.

3668-Isaiah 45:23 My promise is true, and it will not be changed. I solemnly promise by all that I am: Everyone will come and kneel before me and vow to be loyal to me.

Romans 14:10 You then, who eat only vegetables - why do you pass judgment on others? And you who eat anything - why do you despise other believers? All of us will stand before God to be judged by him. 11 For the scripture says, "As surely as I am the living God, says the Lord, everyone will kneel before me, and everyone will confess that I am God." 12 Every one of us, then, will have to give an account to God.

Philippians 2:10 And so, in honor of the name of Jesus all beings in heaven, on earth, and in the world below will fall on their knees, 11 and all will openly proclaim that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

3669-Malachi 4:1 The Lord Almighty says, "The day is coming when all proud and evil people will burn like straw. On that day they will burn up, and there will be nothing left of them. …..3 On the day when I act, you will overcome the wicked, and they will be like dust under your feet.

3670-Exodus 15:7 In majestic triumph you overthrow your foes; your anger blazes out and burns them up like straw.

Isaiah 5:24 So now, just as straw and dry grass shrivel and burn in the fire, your roots will rot and your blossoms will dry up and blow away, because you have rejected what the Lord Almighty, Israel's holy God, has taught us.

Isa 40:24 They are like young plants, just set out and barely rooted. When the Lord sends a wind, they dry up and blow away like straw.

Isa 41:2 "Who was it that brought the conqueror from the east and makes him triumphant wherever he goes? Who gives him victory over kings and nations? His sword strikes them down as if they were dust. His arrows scatter them like straw before the wind.

Isa 47:14 "They will be like bits of straw, and a fire will burn them up! They will not even be able to save themselves - the flames will be too hot for them, not a cozy fire to warm themselves by.

Isa 66:24 "As they leave, they will see the dead bodies of those who have rebelled against me. The worms that eat them will never die, and the fire that burns them will never be put out. The sight of them will be disgusting to all people."

Joel 2:5 As they leap on the tops of the mountains, they rattle like chariots; they crackle like dry grass on fire. They are lined up like a great army ready for battle.

Obadiah 1:18 The people of Jacob and of Joseph will be like fire; they will destroy the people of Esau as fire burns stubble. No descendant of Esau will survive. I, the Lord, have spoken.

Nahum 1:10 Like tangled thorns and dry straw you drunkards will be burned up!

2 Peter 2:6 God condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, destroying them with fire, and made them an example of what will happen to the godless.

3671-2 Chronicles 33:6 He sacrificed his sons in Hinnom Valley as burnt offerings. He practiced divination and magic and consulted fortunetellers and mediums. He sinned greatly against the Lord and stirred up his anger.

3672-Malachi 4:5 "But before the great and terrible day of the Lord comes, I will send you the prophet Elijah. 6 He will bring fathers and children together again; otherwise I would have to come and destroy your country."

3673-Matthew 11:14 and if you are willing to believe their message, John is Elijah, whose coming was predicted.

3674-Isaiah 7:14 Well then, the Lord himself will give you a sign: a young woman who is pregnant will have a son and will name him "Immanuel.' 15 By the time he is old enough to make his own decisions, people will be drinking milk and eating honey. 16 Even before that time comes, the lands of those two kings who terrify you will be deserted. 17 "The Lord is going to bring on you, on your people, and on the whole royal family, days of trouble worse than any that have come since the kingdom of Israel separated from Judah - he is going to bring the king of Assyria. 18 "When that time comes, the Lord will whistle as a signal for the Egyptians to come like flies from the farthest branches of the Nile, and for the Assyrians to come from their land like bees. 19 They will swarm in the rugged valleys and in the caves in the rocks, and they will cover every thorn bush and every pasture. 20 "When that time comes, the Lord will hire a barber from across the Euphrates - the emperor of Assyria! - and he will shave off your beards and the hair on your heads and your bodies. 21 "When that time comes, even if a farmer has been able to save only one young cow and two goats, 22 they will give so much milk that he will have all he needs. Yes, the few survivors left in the land will have milk and honey to eat. 23 "When that time comes, the fine vineyards, each with a thousand vines and each worth a thousand pieces of silver, will be overgrown with thorn bushes and briers. 24 People will go hunting there with bows and arrows. Yes, the whole country will be full of briers and thorn bushes. 25 All the hills where crops were once planted will be so overgrown with thorns that no one will go there. It will be a place where cattle and sheep graze."

Isa 8:1 The Lord said to me, "Take a large piece of writing material and write on it in large letters: "Quick Loot, Fast Plunder.' 2 Get two reliable men, the priest Uriah and Zechariah son of Jeberechiah, to serve as witnesses." 3 Some time later my wife became pregnant. When our son was born, the Lord said to me, "Name him "Quick-Loot-Fast-Plunder.' 4 Before the boy is old enough to say "Mamma' and "Daddy,' all the wealth of Damascus and all the loot of Samaria will be carried off by the king of Assyria." 5 The Lord spoke to me again. 6 He said, "Because these people have rejected the quiet waters of Shiloah Brook and tremble before King Rezin and King Pekah, 7 I, the Lord, will bring the emperor of Assyria and all his forces to attack Judah. They will advance like the flood waters of the Euphrates River, overflowing all its banks. 8 They will sweep through Judah in a flood, rising shoulder high and covering everything." God is with us! His outspread wings protect the land. 9 Gather together in fear, you nations! Listen, you distant parts of the earth. Get ready to fight, but be afraid! Yes, get ready, but be afraid! 10 Make your plans! But they will never succeed. Talk all you want to! But it is all useless, because God is with us. 11 With his great power the Lord warned me not to follow the road which the people were following. He said, 12 "Do not join in the schemes of the people and do not be afraid of the things that they fear. 13 Remember that I, the Lord Almighty, am holy; I am the one you must fear. 14 Because of my awesome holiness I am like a stone that people stumble over; I am like a trap that will catch the people of the kingdoms of Judah and Israel and the people of Jerusalem. 15 Many will stumble; they will fall and be crushed. They will be caught in a trap." 16 You, my disciples, are to guard and preserve the messages that God has given me. 17 The Lord has hidden himself from his people, but I trust him and place my hope in him. 18 Here I am with the children the Lord has given me. The Lord Almighty, whose throne is on Mount Zion, has sent us as living messages to the people of Israel. 19 But people will tell you to ask for messages from fortunetellers and mediums, who chirp and mutter. They will say, "After all, people should ask for messages from the spirits and consult the dead on behalf of the living." 20 You are to answer them, "Listen to what the Lord is teaching you! Don't listen to mediums - what they tell you cannot keep trouble away." 21 The people will wander through the land, discouraged and hungry. In their hunger and their anger they will curse their king and their God. They may look up to the sky 22 or stare at the ground, but they will see nothing but trouble and darkness, terrifying darkness into which they are being driven.

Isa 9:1 There will be no way for them to escape from this time of trouble. The land of the tribes of Zebulun and Naphtali was once disgraced, but the future will bring honor to this region, from the Mediterranean eastward to the land on the other side of the Jordan, and even to Galilee itself, where the foreigners live. 2 The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light. They lived in a land of shadows, but now light is shining on them. 3 You have given them great joy, Lord; you have made them happy. They rejoice in what you have done, as people rejoice when they harvest grain or when they divide captured wealth. 4 For you have broken the yoke that burdened them and the rod that beat their shoulders. You have defeated the nation that oppressed and exploited your people, just as you defeated the army of Midian long ago. 5 The boots of the invading army and all their bloodstained clothing will be destroyed by fire. 6 A child is born to us! A son is given to us! And he will be our ruler. He will be called, "Wonderful Counselor," "Mighty God," "Eternal Father," "Prince of Peace."

3675-Revelation 19:10 I fell down at his feet to worship him, but he said to me, "Don't do it! I am a servant together with you and with other believers, all those who hold to the truth that Jesus revealed. Worship God!" For the truth that Jesus revealed is what inspires the prophets.

3676-Revelation 19:10 I fell down at his feet to worship him, but he said to me, "Don't do it! I am a servant together with you and with other believers, all those who hold to the truth that Jesus revealed. Worship God!" For the truth that Jesus revealed is what inspires the prophets.

3677-Matthew 5:1 Jesus saw the crowds and went up a hill, where he sat down. His disciples gathered around him, 2 and he began to teach them: 3 "Happy are those who know they are spiritually poor; the Kingdom of heaven belongs to them! 4 "Happy are those who mourn; God will comfort them! 5 "Happy are those who are humble; they will receive what God has promised! 6 "Happy are those whose greatest desire is to do what God requires; God will satisfy them fully! 7 "Happy are those who are merciful to others; God will be merciful to them! 8 "Happy are the pure in heart; they will see God! 9 "Happy are those who work for peace; God will call them his children! 10 "Happy are those who are persecuted because they do what God requires; the Kingdom of heaven belongs to them! 11 "Happy are you when people insult you and persecute you and tell all kinds of evil lies against you because you are my followers. 12 Be happy and glad, for a great reward is kept for you in heaven. This is how the prophets who lived before you were persecuted. 13 "You are like salt for the whole human race. But if salt loses its saltiness, there is no way to make it salty again. It has become worthless, so it is thrown out and people trample on it. 14 "You are like light for the whole world. A city built on a hill cannot be hid. 15 No one lights a lamp and puts it under a bowl; instead it is put on the lampstand, where it gives light for everyone in the house. 16 In the same way your light must shine before people, so that they will see the good things you do and praise your Father in heaven. 17 "Do not think that I have come to do away with the Law of Moses and the teachings of the prophets. I have not come to do away with them, but to make their teachings come true. 18 Remember that as long as heaven and earth last, not the least point nor the smallest detail of the Law will be done away with - not until the end of all things. 19 So then, whoever disobeys even the least important of the commandments and teaches others to do the same, will be least in the Kingdom of heaven. On the other hand, whoever obeys the Law and teaches others to do the same, will be great in the Kingdom of heaven. 20 I tell you, then, that you will be able to enter the Kingdom of heaven only if you are more faithful than the teachers of the Law and the Pharisees in doing what God requires. 21 "You have heard that people were told in the past, "Do not commit murder; anyone who does will be brought to trial.' 22 But now I tell you: if you are angry with your brother you will be brought to trial, if you call your brother "You good-for-nothing!' you will be brought before the Council, and if you call your brother a worthless fool you will be in danger of going to the fire of hell. 23 So if you are about to offer your gift to God at the altar and there you remember that your brother has something against you, 24 leave your gift there in front of the altar, go at once and make peace with your brother, and then come back and offer your gift to God. 25 "If someone brings a lawsuit against you and takes you to court, settle the dispute while there is time, before you get to court. Once you are there, you will be turned over to the judge, who will hand you over to the police, and you will be put in jail. 26 There you will stay, I tell you, until you pay the last penny of your fine. 27 "You have heard that it was said, "Do not commit adultery.' 28 But now I tell you: anyone who looks at a woman and wants to possess her is guilty of committing adultery with her in his heart. 29 So if your right eye causes you to sin, take it out and throw it away! It is much better for you to lose a part of your body than to have your whole body thrown into hell. 30 If your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away! It is much better for you to lose one of your limbs than to have your whole body go off to hell. 31 "It was also said, "Anyone who divorces his wife must give her a written notice of divorce.' 32 But now I tell you: if a man divorces his wife for any cause other than her unfaithfulness, then he is guilty of making her commit adultery if she marries again; and the man who marries her commits adultery also. 33 "You have also heard that people were told in the past, "Do not break your promise, but do what you have vowed to the Lord to do.' 34 But now I tell you: do not use any vow when you make a promise. Do not swear by heaven, for it is God's throne; 35 nor by earth, for it is the resting place for his feet; nor by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. 36 Do not even swear by your head, because you cannot make a single hair white or black. 37 Just say "Yes' or "No' - anything else you say comes from the Evil One. 38 "You have heard that it was said, "An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth.' 39 But now I tell you: do not take revenge on someone who wrongs you. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, let him slap your left cheek too. 40 And if someone takes you to court to sue you for your shirt, let him have your coat as well. 41 And if one of the occupation troops forces you to carry his pack one mile, carry it two miles. 42 When someone asks you for something, give it to him; when someone wants to borrow something, lend it to him. 43 "You have heard that it was said, "Love your friends, hate your enemies.' 44 But now I tell you: love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 so that you may become the children of your Father in heaven. For he makes his sun to shine on bad and good people alike, and gives rain to those who do good and to those who do evil. 46 Why should God reward you if you love only the people who love you? Even the tax collectors do that! 47 And if you speak only to your friends, have you done anything out of the ordinary? Even the pagans do that! 48 You must be perfect - just as your Father in heaven is perfect.

Matt 6:1 "Make certain you do not perform your religious duties in public so that people will see what you do. If you do these things publicly, you will not have any reward from your Father in heaven. 2 "So when you give something to a needy person, do not make a big show of it, as the hypocrites do in the houses of worship and on the streets. They do it so that people will praise them. I assure you, they have already been paid in full. 3 But when you help a needy person, do it in such a way that even your closest friend will not know about it. 4 Then it will be a private matter. And your Father, who sees what you do in private, will reward you. 5 "When you pray, do not be like the hypocrites! They love to stand up and pray in the houses of worship and on the street corners, so that everyone will see them. I assure you, they have already been paid in full. 6 But when you pray, go to your room, close the door, and pray to your Father, who is unseen. And your Father, who sees what you do in private, will reward you. 7 "When you pray, do not use a lot of meaningless words, as the pagans do, who think that their gods will hear them because their prayers are long. 8 Do not be like them. Your Father already knows what you need before you ask him. 9 This, then, is how you should pray: "Our Father in heaven: May your holy name be honored; 10 may your Kingdom come; may your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. 11 Give us today the food we need. 12 Forgive us the wrongs we have done, as we forgive the wrongs that others have done to us. 13 Do not bring us to hard testing, but keep us safe from the Evil One.' 14 "If you forgive others the wrongs they have done to you, your Father in heaven will also forgive you. 15 But if you do not forgive others, then your Father will not forgive the wrongs you have done. 16 "And when you fast, do not put on a sad face as the hypocrites do. They neglect their appearance so that everyone will see that they are fasting. I assure you, they have already been paid in full. 17 When you go without food, wash your face and comb your hair, 18 so that others cannot know that you are fasting - only your Father, who is unseen, will know. And your Father, who sees what you do in private, will reward you. 19 "Do not store up riches for yourselves here on earth, where moths and rust destroy, and robbers break in and steal. 20 Instead, store up riches for yourselves in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy, and robbers cannot break in and steal. 21 For your heart will always be where your riches are. 22 "The eyes are like a lamp for the body. If your eyes are sound, your whole body will be full of light; 23 but if your eyes are no good, your body will be in darkness. So if the light in you is darkness, how terribly dark it will be! 24 "You cannot be a slave of two masters; you will hate one and love the other; you will be loyal to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money. 25 "This is why I tell you: do not be worried about the food and drink you need in order to stay alive, or about clothes for your body. After all, isn't life worth more than food? And isn't the body worth more than clothes? 26 Look at the birds: they do not plant seeds, gather a harvest and put it in barns; yet your Father in heaven takes care of them! Aren't you worth much more than birds? 27 Can any of you live a bit longer by worrying about it? 28 "And why worry about clothes? Look how the wild flowers grow: they do not work or make clothes for themselves. 29 But I tell you that not even King Solomon with all his wealth had clothes as beautiful as one of these flowers. 30 It is God who clothes the wild grass - grass that is here today and gone tomorrow, burned up in the oven. Won't he be all the more sure to clothe you? What little faith you have! 31 "So do not start worrying: "Where will my food come from? or my drink? or my clothes?' 32 (These are the things the pagans are always concerned about.) Your Father in heaven knows that you need all these things. 33 Instead, be concerned above everything else with the Kingdom of God and with what he requires of you, and he will provide you with all these other things. 34 So do not worry about tomorrow; it will have enough worries of its own. There is no need to add to the troubles each day brings.

Matt 7:1 "Do not judge others, so that God will not judge you, 2 for God will judge you in the same way you judge others, and he will apply to you the same rules you apply to others. 3 Why, then, do you look at the speck in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the log in your own eye? 4 How dare you say to your brother, "Please, let me take that speck out of your eye,' when you have a log in your own eye? 5 You hypocrite! First take the log out of your own eye, and then you will be able to see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye. 6 "Do not give what is holy to dogs - they will only turn and attack you. Do not throw your pearls in front of pigs - they will only trample them underfoot. 7 "Ask, and you will receive; seek, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks will receive, and anyone who seeks will find, and the door will be opened to those who knock. 9 Would any of you who are fathers give your son a stone when he asks for bread? 10 Or would you give him a snake when he asks for a fish? 11 As bad as you are, you know how to give good things to your children. How much more, then, will your Father in heaven give good things to those who ask him! 12 "Do for others what you want them to do for you: this is the meaning of the Law of Moses and of the teachings of the prophets. 13 "Go in through the narrow gate, because the gate to hell is wide and the road that leads to it is easy, and there are many who travel it. 14 But the gate to life is narrow and the way that leads to it is hard, and there are few people who find it. 15 "Be on your guard against false prophets; they come to you looking like sheep on the outside, but on the inside they are really like wild wolves. 16 You will know them by what they do. Thorn bushes do not bear grapes, and briers do not bear figs. 17 A healthy tree bears good fruit, but a poor tree bears bad fruit. 18 A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a poor tree cannot bear good fruit. 19 And any tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown in the fire. 20 So then, you will know the false prophets by what they do. 21 "Not everyone who calls me "Lord, Lord' will enter the Kingdom of heaven, but only those who do what my Father in heaven wants them to do. 22 When the Judgment Day comes, many will say to me, "Lord, Lord! In your name we spoke God's message, by your name we drove out many demons and performed many miracles!' 23 Then I will say to them, "I never knew you. Get away from me, you wicked people!' 24 "So then, anyone who hears these words of mine and obeys them is like a wise man who built his house on rock. 25 The rain poured down, the rivers flooded over, and the wind blew hard against that house. But it did not fall, because it was built on rock. 26 "But anyone who hears these words of mine and does not obey them is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. 27 The rain poured down, the rivers flooded over, the wind blew hard against that house, and it fell. And what a terrible fall that was!" 28 When Jesus finished saying these things, the crowd was amazed at the way he taught. 29 He wasn't like the teachers of the Law; instead, he taught with authority.

3678-Deuteronomy 6:5 Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.

Leviticus 19:18 Do not take revenge on others or continue to hate them, but love your neighbors as you love yourself. I am the Lord.

3679-John 7:15 The Jewish authorities were greatly surprised and said, "How does this man know so much when he has never been to school?"

3680-Revelation 3:17 You say, "I am rich and well off; I have all I need.' But you do not know how miserable and pitiful you are! You are poor, naked, and blind. 18 I advise you, then, to buy gold from me, pure gold, in order to be rich. Buy also white clothing to dress yourself and cover up your shameful nakedness. Buy also some ointment to put on your eyes, so that you may see.

3681-2 Kings 22:3 In the eighteenth year of his reign, King Josiah sent the court secretary Shaphan, the son of Azaliah and grandson of Meshullam, to the Temple with the order: 4 "Go to the High Priest Hilkiah and get a report on the amount of money that the priests on duty at the entrance to the Temple have collected from the people. 5 Tell him to give the money to the men who are in charge of the repairs in the Temple. They are to pay 6 the carpenters, the builders, and the masons, and buy the timber and the stones used in the repairs. 7 The men in charge of the work are thoroughly honest, so there is no need to require them to account for the funds." 8 Shaphan delivered the king's order to Hilkiah, and Hilkiah told him that he had found the book of the Law in the Temple. Hilkiah gave him the book, and Shaphan read it. 9 Then he went back to the king and reported: "Your servants have taken the money that was in the Temple and have handed it over to the men in charge of the repairs." 10 And then he said, "I have here a book that Hilkiah gave me." And he read it aloud to the king. 11 When the king heard the book being read, he tore his clothes in dismay, 12 and gave the following order to Hilkiah the priest, to Ahikam son of Shaphan, to Achbor son of Micaiah, to Shaphan, the court secretary, and to Asaiah, the king's attendant: 13 "Go and consult the Lord for me and for all the people of Judah about the teachings of this book. The Lord is angry with us because our ancestors have not done what this book says must be done." 14 Hilkiah, Ahikam, Achbor, Shaphan, and Asaiah went to consult a woman named Huldah, a prophet who lived in the newer part of Jerusalem. (Her husband Shallum, the son of Tikvah and grandson of Harhas, was in charge of the Temple robes.) They described to her what had happened, 15 and she told them to go back to the king and give him 16 the following message from the Lord: "I am going to punish Jerusalem and all its people, as written in the book that the king has read. 17 They have rejected me and have offered sacrifices to other gods, and so have stirred up my anger by all they have done. My anger is aroused against Jerusalem, and it will not die down. 18 As for the king himself, this is what I, the Lord God of Israel, say: You listened to what is written in the book, 19 and you repented and humbled yourself before me, tearing your clothes and weeping, when you heard how I threatened to punish Jerusalem and its people. I will make it a terrifying sight, a place whose name people will use as a curse. But I have heard your prayer, 20 and the punishment which I am going to bring on Jerusalem will not come until after your death. I will let you die in peace." The men returned to King Josiah with this message.

2 Chronicles 34:8 In the eighteenth year of his reign, after he had purified the land and the Temple by ending pagan worship, King Josiah sent three men to repair the Temple of the Lord God: Shaphan son of Azaliah, Maaseiah, the governor of Jerusalem, and Joah son of Joahaz, a high official. 9 The money that the Levite guards had collected in the Temple was turned over to Hilkiah the High Priest. (It had been collected from the people of Ephraim and Manasseh and the rest of the Northern Kingdom, and from the people of Judah, Benjamin, and Jerusalem.) 10 This money was then handed over to the three men in charge of the Temple repairs, and they gave it to 11 the carpenters and the builders to buy the stones and the timber used to repair the buildings that the kings of Judah had allowed to decay. 12 The men who did the work were thoroughly honest. They were supervised by four Levites: Jahath and Obadiah of the clan of Merari, and Zechariah and Meshullam of the clan of Kohath. (The Levites were all skillful musicians.) 13 Other Levites were in charge of transporting materials and supervising the workers on various jobs, and others kept records or served as guards. 14 While the money was being taken out of the storeroom, Hilkiah found the book of the Law of the Lord, the Law that God had given to Moses. 15 He said to Shaphan, "I have found the book of the Law here in the Temple." He gave Shaphan the book, 16 and Shaphan took it to the king. He reported, "We have done everything that you commanded. 17 We have taken the money that was kept in the Temple and handed it over to the workers and their supervisors." 18 Then he added, "I have here a book that Hilkiah gave me." And he read it aloud to the king. 19 When the king heard the book being read, he tore his clothes in dismay 20 and gave the following order to Hilkiah, to Ahikam son of Shaphan, to Abdon son of Micaiah, to Shaphan, the court secretary, and to Asaiah, the king's attendant: 21 "Go and consult the Lord for me and for the people who still remain in Israel and Judah. Find out about the teachings of this book. The Lord is angry with us because our ancestors have not obeyed the word of the Lord and have not done what this book says must be done." 22 At the king's command, Hilkiah and the others went to consult a woman named Huldah, a prophet who lived in the newer part of Jerusalem. (Her husband Shallum, the son of Tikvah and grandson of Harhas, was in charge of the Temple robes.) They described to her what had happened, 23 and she told them to go back to the king and give him 24 the following message from the Lord: "I am going to punish Jerusalem and all its people with the curses written in the book that was read to the king. 25 They have rejected me and have offered sacrifices to other gods, and so have stirred up my anger by all they have done. My anger is aroused against Jerusalem, and it will not die down. 26 As for the king himself, this is what I, the Lord God of Israel, say: You listened to what is written in the book, 27 and you repented and humbled yourself before me, tearing your clothes and weeping, when you heard how I threatened to punish Jerusalem and its people. I have heard your prayer, 28 and the punishment which I am going to bring on Jerusalem will not come until after your death. I will let you die in peace." The men returned to King Josiah with this message.

3682-Nehemiah 8:1 By the seventh month the people of Israel were all settled in their towns. On the first day of that month they all assembled in Jerusalem, in the square just inside the Water Gate. They asked Ezra, the priest and scholar of the Law which the Lord had given Israel through Moses, to get the book of the Law. 2 So Ezra brought it to the place where the people had gathered - men, women, and the children who were old enough to understand. 3 There in the square by the gate he read the Law to them from dawn until noon, and they all listened attentively. 4 Ezra was standing on a wooden platform that had been built for the occasion. The following men stood at his right: Mattithiah, Shema, Anaiah, Uriah, Hilkiah, and Maaseiah; and the following stood at his left: Pedaiah, Mishael, Malchijah, Hashum, Hashbaddanah, Zechariah, and Meshullam. 5 As Ezra stood there on the platform high above the people, they all kept their eyes fixed on him. As soon as he opened the book, they all stood up. 6 Ezra said, "Praise the Lord, the great God!" All the people raised their arms in the air and answered, "Amen! Amen!" They knelt in worship, with their faces to the ground. 7 Then they rose and stood in their places, and the following Levites explained the Law to them: Jeshua, Bani, Sherebiah, Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai, Hodiah, Maaseiah, Kelita, Azariah, Jozabad, Hanan, and Pelaiah. 8 They gave an oral translation of God's Law and explained it so that the people could understand it. 9 When the people heard what the Law required, they were so moved that they began to cry. So Nehemiah, who was the governor, Ezra, the priest and scholar of the Law, and the Levites who were explaining the Law told all the people, "This day is holy to the Lord your God, so you are not to mourn or cry. 10 Now go home and have a feast. Share your food and wine with those who don't have enough. Today is holy to our Lord, so don't be sad. The joy that the Lord gives you will make you strong." 11 The Levites went around calming the people and telling them not to be sad on such a holy day. 12 So all the people went home and ate and drank joyfully and shared what they had with others, because they understood what had been read to them. 13 The next day the heads of the clans, together with the priests and the Levites, went to Ezra to study the teachings of the Law. 14 They discovered that the Law, which the Lord gave through Moses, ordered the people of Israel to live in temporary shelters during the Festival of Shelters. 15 So they gave the following instructions and sent them all through Jerusalem and the other cities and towns: "Go out to the hills and get branches from pines, olives, myrtles, palms, and other trees to make shelters according to the instructions written in the Law." 16 So the people got branches and built shelters on the flat roofs of their houses, in their yards, in the Temple courtyard, and in the public squares by the Water Gate and by the Ephraim Gate. 17 All the people who had come back from captivity built shelters and lived in them. This was the first time it had been done since the days of Joshua son of Nun, and everybody was excited and happy. 18 From the first day of the festival to the last they read a part of God's Law every day. They celebrated for seven days, and on the eighth day there was a closing ceremony, as required in the Law.

3683-Malachi 1:2 The Lord says to his people, "I have always loved you." But they reply, "How have you shown your love for us?" The Lord answers, "Esau and Jacob were brothers, but I have loved Jacob and his descendants, …..6 The Lord Almighty says to the priests, "Children honor their parents, and servants honor their masters. I am your father - why don't you honor me? I am your master - why don't you respect me? You despise me, and yet you ask, "How have we despised you?' 7 This is how - by offering worthless food on my altar. Then you ask, "How have we failed to respect you?' I will tell you - by showing contempt for my altar.

Mal 2:17 You have tired the Lord out with your talk. But you ask, "How have we tired him?" By saying, "The Lord Almighty thinks all evildoers are good; in fact he likes them." Or by asking, "Where is the God who is supposed to be just?"

Mal 3:7 You, like your ancestors before you, have turned away from my laws and have not kept them. Turn back to me, and I will turn to you. But you ask, "What must we do to turn back to you?' 8 I ask you, is it right for a person to cheat God? Of course not, yet you are cheating me. "How?' you ask. In the matter of tithes and offerings. …..13 "You have said terrible things about me," says the Lord. "But you ask, "What have we said about you?'

Table of Contents

1. The Great Controversy in Scripture

2. Love

3. What is the Reason for the Delay?

4. Who Wrote Genesis?

5. Genesis—Some Background Thoughts

6. The Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil

7. GENESIS—A TEACHER'S GUIDE

8. From Sodom and Gomorrah to Hell

9. God Seeks to Kill Moses

10. Pagan Gods of Egypt

11. Was God Fair to the Egyptians and the Canaanites?

12. EXODUS---A TEACHER'S GUIDE

13. The Levitical Offerings

14. LEVITICUS---A TEACHER'S GUIDE

15. Smiting the Rock-The Sin of Moses

16. NUMBERS---A TEACHER'S GUIDE

17. DEUTERONOMY---A TEACHER'S GUIDE

18. Rahab and the Two Spies

19. JOSHUA ---- A TEACHER'S GUIDE

20. JUDGES--- A TEACHER'S GUIDE

21. RUTH --- A TEACHER'S GUIDE

22. Major Study Questions for 1 Samuel

23. 1 SAMUEL--- A TEACHER'S GUIDE

24. David: A Man After God's Own Heart?

25. 2 SAMUEL---A TEACHER'S GUIDE

26. 1 KINGS---A TEACHER'S GUIDE

27. 2 KINGS---A TEACHER'S GUIDE

28. 1 CHRONICLES---A TEACHER'S GUIDE

29. 2 CHRONICLES---A TEACHER'S GUIDE

30. EZRA AND NEHEMIAH---A TEACHER'S GUIDE

31. ESTHER---A TEACHER'S GUIDE

32. Job “If God Didn't Do It, Who Did?”

33. JOB---A TEACHER'S GUIDE

34. PSALMS---A TEACHER'S GUIDE

35. PROVERBS---A TEACHER'S GUIDE

36. ECCLESIASTES---A TEACHER'S GUIDE

37. THE SONG OF SOLOMON---A TEACHER'S GUIDE

38. LAMENTATIONS---A TEACHER'S GUIDE

39. ISAIAH---A TEACHER'S GUIDE

40. JEREMIAH---A TEACHER'S GUIDE

41. “For My Own Name's Sake”

42. EZEKIEL---A TEACHER'S GUIDE

43. DANIEL---A TEACHER'S GUIDE

44. HOSEA---A TEACHER'S GUIDE

45. JOEL---A TEACHER'S GUIDE

46. AMOS---A TEACHER'S GUIDE

47. OBADIAH---A TEACHER'S GUIDE

48. JONAH---A TEACHER'S GUIDE

49. MICAH---A TEACHER'S GUIDE

50. NAHUM---A TEACHER'S GUIDE